Romans 9:10-13 - God's Purpose of Election

Romans 9:10-13 - 10 And not only this, but there was Rebekah also, when she had conceived twins by one man, our father Isaac; 11 for though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls, 12 it was said to her, “The older will serve the younger.” 13 Just as it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

Message: God's Purpose of Election;

Time: Romulus founded ancient Rome about 753 BC. By 600 BC it had become a wealthy, flourishing city with a monarch. Around 500 BC, the monarch was overthrown. A republic resulted and after war, Rome became the only great power in the Mediterranean, succeeding the empire of Alexander the Great. Before and after the birth of Christ, Rome's dominion continued to expand to about two thirds the size of the continental US. At the time Paul wrote, Rome had a population of about 1,000,000. Most were slaves. It was a vast empire, but had many religions present. It is unknown how the church started in Rome, but Gentiles and Jews both were involved. Paul was writing to address a problem, but he wanted to be there and perhaps, make Rome his base for his missionary journey's

What the Lord is Saying:

Review
Paul begins Romans 9 with a question: How can this Jesus be the Messiah when the leaders of Israel don't believe in Him? How can the new covenant set aside the old covenant? How could God give a gospel that His own leaders would deny and consider to be a heresy or a blasphemy? If the Jews are God's people and yet they never have believed in the gospel, the new covenant, the message of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, that Jesus is the Messiah, then how can it all be true? It really just seems like Christianity is just another religion.

And so Paul, in these verses, 6 to 33 is going to state how God character has not changed. The unbelief of Israel is not inconsistent with God's person. The fact that Israel doesn't believe does not mean that God's promise has been violated.

This is a hard text. It is not just a hard text to understand based upon what it says. It is a hard text and message because it does infer a difficulty people have to believe in Jesus, and specifically here, the difficulty that Israel's people have, the Jews, to believe in Jesus. If they embrace the gospel, they are saying no to their heritage, their traditions, their families, their entire ways of life. That is a very difficult thing that I don't even understand or comprehend. I grew up in a family of faith and specifically a family of Christian faith and so me embracing the salvation of Jesus is not anything bewildering and it doesn't place me as an outsider.

But, I think of the missionaries we support in India and the message of the gospel they are presenting to Hindu's and Muslims and this message that flies as not just an opposite, but really as an opposition to the prevailing truth these people know and have been taught throughout the centuries. Those missionaries are discovering that the people they are ministering to, their current faith, pervades all areas of their life. They have celebrations and ritualistic times that affect their entire life.

One thing they are dealing with is that they don't want the message of the gospel to just be an addition to these people's faith. They don't want it to just be a cute story that they can add onto their faith. There is that tendency even if they embrace it. I really feel for those missionaries because they are facing every day a big battle. 

This is why I've noticed when talking to people about their beliefs and faith and it is harder for people that are older because they are more set in their ways and they have more that they are attached to and therefore, they have a harder time changing.

Verses 6-9
In these verses Paul declared that the word of God had not failed. And a true descendant of Israel is one who has embraced the gospel of Jesus Christ. And we can hold on to God's promises. They are true, but they are only true to those that have true faith in Him.

God's example of His calling
He previously stated that two sons were born from the same man, but two women. One from Hagar and one from Sarah. In that instance, he chose one and did not choose the other. In this case though Paul shows that two sons were born from the same union of one couple, Rebekah and Isaac and also in this situation one was chosen and one not. Paul seems to be making the point here in verse 10 and previously in verse 9, that God chooses based upon His own doing. He uses whatever circumstance to carry out his commission.

And then in verse 11, it is also mentioned that God's purpose in His choosing is based upon whom He calls and not based upon the works of the individuals. God doesn't wait to see how a person will perform to then count that person as worthy or not and then choose the one that is worthy and not choose the unworthy one. No, instead he chooses one. And then the crazy thing is this: the story of Isaac makes more sense to us because God chose Isaac born of the union of Abraham and Sarah. He gave a promise to Abraham and carried it out. Sarah gave her husband Hagar, but this wasn't God's timing. Ishmael resulted from that union.

But, in the instance of Jacob and Esau. Jacob is loved even though Esau comes out first. Rebekah has to sort of trick Isaac by getting the blessing of Isaac for Jacob. And yet Jacob is the chosen one. Jacob was loved. Esau was not. Jacob was chosen before the birth of either.

Verse 13 is a quote from Malachi 1:2,3 "2  “I have loved you,” says the Lord. But you say, “How have You loved us?” “Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet I have loved Jacob; 3  but I have hated Esau, and I have made his mountains a desolation and appointed his inheritance for the jackals of the wilderness.”

It is easy to see why God did not choose Esau. Esau was godless, filled with pride, having sold his birthright for food. But, still, while that is clear, it is not clear why Jacob would be chosen instead. Esau was the first born.

So Paul uses these two lessons to put forth the point that God's choosing of people is based upon God, not man. One could argue that Isaac was chosen because Abraham and Sarah were both Jewish and Hagar was not. But, Isaac and Rebekah were both Jewish. One Jew was chosen, one was not. God chooses based upon His decision. It's actually a tough truth. 

Promise: From Tabletalk, July 10, 2014: 'God chooses people for salvation according to His good pleasure and not because of anything in them. He chooses to save sinners in spite of their sin."