I started to elaborate on how it is important to look at the references that Paul is using in Romans 9 to fully understand what exactly he is trying to communicate. In this way we can let scripture speak for itself. There is no better commentary for scripture than scripture itself. I focused on two key passages Romans 9:13 quoting Malachi 1:3 and Romans 9:12 quoting Genesis 25:23. I now am looking at the other quotes in Romans 9.
Neither is it the case that all of Abraham’s children
are his descendants. On the contrary, your offspring will be traced through
Isaac.
The statement “your offspring will be traced through Isaac”
is a clear focus on Israel. Isaac is inheriting the promised covenant that God
has given to Abraham.
This was very distressing to Abraham because of his son.
But God said to Abraham, “Do not be distressed about the boy and about your
slave. Whatever Sarah says to you, listen to her, because your offspring will
be traced through Isaac, and I will also make a nation of the slave’s son
because he is your offspring.”
Sarah asked Abraham to get rid of Hagar and Ishmael. Abraham
was understandably distressed by this request. However, God was going to use
this for good. Notice the quote your offspring will be traced through Isaac.
This is a reminder to Abraham about God’s promises (Genesis 15:4-6).
It is a promise to Abraham that is repeated multiple times in Genesis (Genesis 12:7,
15:18, 17:8, 24:7). On each occasion the promise was related to Israel not
individually to Isaac.
Also notice that God is fulfilling his promise to Abraham by
saying Ishmael will be a nation as well (Genesis 21:13).
So this quote is dealing with Israel and decedents of Ishmael. Interestingly
Ishmaelites are often associated with Arabs and even the Islamic religion
considers Ishmael a patriarch of their religion.
The next quote is when God and angels visit Abraham and
Sarah before she is pregnant with Isaac (Romans 9:9
and Genesis
18:10-15). This particular quote is dealing with the promise of Isaac. It
focuses on the fact that Sarah was in disbelief that she could have a child of
her own. She had been through menopause and recognized that she would never
have children. And so when God said that she would have a baby she laughed.
We move forward to Moses with the next quote. In this quote
he is referencing when Moses asked to see God’s face.
Then Moses said, “Please, let me see your glory.” He
said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will
proclaim the name ‘the Lord’ before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be
gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” But he
added, “You cannot see my face, for humans cannot see me and live.”
The graciousness was Three-fold. God was promising that the
goodness of His presence and rest (Exodus
33:13-17). God was also protecting Moses from His consuming glory (Exodus 33:20).
Specifically notice the larger context of this quote. Moses in not asking for
favor on himself alone he also is asking for God’s grace toward the nation of
Israel (Exodus
33:13). He is interceding for the nation (Exodus
32:30-33). God has already promised to care for Moses, but Moses wants God
to show grace (undeserving) to Israel. It also is interesting that the renewal
of the law covenant immediately follows in Exodus
34:1-10. Even in this case though the covenant is with the nation of Israel
(Exodus
34:10).
As mentioned in the previous blog posts it is important to
understand the context of the quotes that Paul is using here to fully
understand his intended meaning. There are several other quotes in Romans 9.
One way to think about this in the modern sense is Paul is providing hyperlinks
for us to explore. In the time of Paul giving a snip it of a quote was the same
as providing a reference as I have in these posts. My intent is to give you the
opportunity to go look these passages up. In the same way Paul is inviting us to
look at the passages that he is quoting.
The only way to interpret that Paul is referring to saving
election is to ignore the contexts of the verses that he is quoting and say
Paul is not talking about Israel as a nation and that he is talking about individuals.
Someone who holds to this view I would ask, “So is Paul proof texting the Old
Testament?” When contemporary pastors string together a set of verses out of
context to make a point in sermon, we rightly criticize this. However, to take
Romans 9 as evidence that God salvifically chooses some individuals and
condemns other individuals is to believe that proof texting is OK if Paul is
the one doing it.
Clearly, I do not think that is Paul’s intent here. I
believe that Paul’s focus in the part of the letter to the Roman church is on
the election of the nation of Israel as the nation of promise, covenant of the
law, and the seed of salvation.
Blessings
~ BJ
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