Castlebar Christian Fellowship

What about Israel and what about the God of Israel?

Reading: Romans 9:1-5.(ESV)

1 I am speaking the truth in Christ-I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit- 2that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. 4They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. 5To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.



Introduction:

We left off last time on the glorious heights of Romans chapter eight. Somebody described it as, "Paul's grand celebration of God's faithfulness to us in Christ" Douglas J. Moo. And then in these verses in chapter nine its like were being plunged into a deep valley!
Some see chapters 9-11 of Romans as a sort of digression or parenthesis. As a sort of an 'aside' for those with a specialist interest in Israel.
However wouldn't it be better to see it as a continuation of all that Paul has already said in this letter and an important theme that he has already highlighted at the beginning of the letter? From the very outset he wanted to underline heavily that the gospel, the 'good news', had its origin in the God of the Old Testament. In the words of Paul, Romans 1:2 the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures
It was not some new fangled innovation.
Of course the lack of response by Israel raised questions for Paul. The church in Paul's day was mostly made up of Gentile converts! As somebody put it, "God seems to have promised 'A' and then done 'B'. Can 'B' then really be tied to 'A' as the fulfilment of what was promised?" (D. Moo)

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Israel is always in the news, often with lots of controversy and heated debate surrounding its actions.
There seems to be a lot of different views expressed by Christians regarding Israel over the years.
Like most views on controversial subjects they tend to get polarized. And so throughout history we have seen anti-Semitism on the one hand, often promoted by those who professed to be Christians and then at the other extreme we have seen an idealized view of Israel where the 'can do no wrong honour' has been somehow and mysteriously conferred on it. (A brief look at the Old Testament would surely blow that view out of the water! They got it wrong again and again!)

I think in these days we need to examine again what Paul says in chapters 9-11 of Romans. This will help us not only to understand a scriptural view of Israel but also even more importantly, the God of Israel who is also the God and Father of all believers in Christ.
Israel's historic response to Jesus raises a lot of questions about God's faithfulness, his purpose and his promises. And Paul seeks to answer those questions.


By way of some background to this mornings' reading it's important to remember that,

*Paul was often perceived as a renegade by his fellow Jews?

(He was seen as a traitor to the cause!) Not just that he was perceived as NOT being mainstream but also that he was seen as an active enemy of Israel.
Acts 21:27-28. Some Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul at the temple. They stirred up the whole crowd and seized him,
28 shouting, Men of Israel, help us! This is the man who teaches all men everywhere against our people and our law and this place.
Acts 24:5f. We have found this man [Paul] to be a troublemaker, stirring up riots among the Jews all over the world. He is a ringleader of the Nazarene sect and even tried to desecrate the temple
In places Paul used some very strong words regarding his fellow Jews and it's not so surprising that they took offence! E.g. Paul's words to the Thessalonian believers, For you, brothers, became imitators of God's churches in Judea, which are in Christ Jesus: You suffered from your own countrymen the same things those churches suffered from the Jews,
15 who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets and also drove us out. They displease God and are hostile to all men in their effort to keep us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. In this way they always heap up their sins to the limit. The wrath of God has come upon them at last. 1 Thessalonians 2:14-16
"His kinsmen might easily have drawn the conclusion, 'Paul hates us.'" William Hendriksen.

All that being said,

*Paul cared deeply for his people!

Look at those amazing words in VV1-3
I am speaking the truth in Christ-I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit- 2that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh.
He strongly affirms that he is speaking the truth in Christ and in the Holy Spirit.
He was deeply affected by Israel's condition.
We're told in the Beatitudes God blesses those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Matthew 5:4
Paul mourned for his people. He wanted them to be saved! Romans 10:1. Believe me, friends, all I want for Israel is what's best for Israel: salvation, nothing less. I want it with all my heart and pray to God for it all the time. Message Bible.
There is an intense and unceasing sorrow described here.
V3 expresses something that we can't even begin to imagine. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. The implication here is that he sees his fellow Israelites accursed and cut off from Christ. The word for accursed is anathema in the Greek. "In the New Testament, it refers to a person excluded from God's people and under sentence of damnation." (Douglas Moo) It's like as if he was wishing himself damned if it could somehow save his people.
But Paul knows that it could not avail to save the people. He knew somehow even as he expressed it that nothing could separate him from the love of God and yet he was expressing something intensely Christ like. He was expressing something substitutionary. When he says for the sake of my brothers the Greek word translated 'for the sake of' means 'in place of'. Paul was willing to offer himself as a substitute for the people of Israel.
The idea is found throughout the Old Testament. The phrase reminds us of Judah who acted as the guarantor for his brother Benjamin, Genesis 44:33 Now therefore, please let your servant remain instead of [in the place of] the boy as a servant to my lord, and let the boy go back with his brothers. (Look at the verse before that! V32)
Of course Paul knew that offering himself in the place of others could not save them. He knew that Christ was our only substitute; that he became our curse at the cross so that we wouldn't be accursed and cut off. Galatians 3:13. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree. Paul knew that Christ became sin for us. 2Corinthians 5:21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
However in knowing all these tremendous things about the meaning of the cross he was pained that others didn't know and he was determined that they would know whatever the personal cost to himself.
Paul is not a bitter begrudger regarding his people. He wants all the people to be saved, Jew and Gentile. Remember Paul's words as he stood in his chains before King Agrippa, Bernice, the Roman governor Festus, the military tribunes and the prominent men of the city. As Paul continued his speech were told,
Then Agrippa said to Paul, Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?
29 Paul replied, Short time or long- I pray God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains.
Acts 26:28-29. He wanted them to know and have everything he had except for the chains of course! (I wonder did he smile when he said that bit!)
He knew that God our Saviour,
wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 1Timothy 2:3-4
Remember Jesus, as he looked out over Jerusalem with sorrow in his heart. Luke 19:41-42
As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it
42 and said, If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace- but now it is hidden from your eyes.

Paul expressed a longing and grief over his people that I confess I know very little of.
Alan Johnson poses the question, "Do those who stand opposed to the gospel in our day (including Jewish neighbours) so break our hearts?"
I'm sure that this is not something that can be worked up. (If it is, it will prove useless in the end!) But surely there is something here that we need to ask God for! That somehow our hearts will catch his love and sorrow for the people that will drive us to prayer and to action.

This pain that Paul experienced no doubt was greatly intensified by his knowledge of the great advantages that had been conferred on them. They were a thoroughly blest people. To whom much is given of him much is required. With great privilege comes great responsibility.

*The tremendous privileges of Israel.

Paul had already mentioned the 'advantage' of the Jew in Romans 2:17-18, Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and brag about your relationship to God;
18 if you know his will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law;

3:1-2. What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision?
2 Much in every way! First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of God.

In these verses in chapter nine he describes several privileges. One writer reminds us and rightly so, "An advantage is not necessarily a virtue, and a privilege is not a merit." W. Hendriksen.
Paul begins the list,

They are Israelites, As this chapter unfolds we can see that Paul makes a distinction between ethnic Israel and spiritual Israel. That being said, Paul is still using it as term of honour in this context. They are descended from the famous Jacob who strove with God and was given a new name Israel.

And to them belong the adoption, They are called in scripture God's firstborn (Exodus 4:22), his own possession (Exodus 19:5), his son (Hosea 11:1), his people, his chosen. (Isaiah 43:20)

The glory, The word often expresses the 'divine radiance'. In the book of Exodus it was often made manifest in a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. It was known among the Jews as the shekinah glory. It has been called 'the visible manifestation of the invisible God'. (cited by William Hendriksen)

The covenants, God repeatedly entered into covenantal relationships with his people. And of course there was the great promise of the New Covenant given by Jeremiah. Jeremiah 31:31ff

The giving of the law: "Paul considers it one of their high privileges" Leon Morris.

The worship: The primary place of worship was the temple and the tabernacle before that.

The promises: The many promise he gave to his people throughout the ages, particularly with regards to the coming Messiah.

5To them belong the patriarchs: We think primarily of Abraham. Isaac and Jacob.

And from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen. That seems to be the best way to render the original Greek.
Paul contrasts the human origins of Christ with his divine nature. He is not only a human descendant of David (Rom.1:3) but he is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.


Not only had they great privileges and advantages, the pinnacle being Jesus the Messiah, they seemed in the main, to have completely missed their opportunity and rejected their Messiah.


*Why did Israel, on such a large scale, fail to accept their Messiah?

The underwhelming response of Israel to the gospel raised issues about God's promises and God's faithfulness. Why was their such a small influx of the Jews into the early Christian church right up to this present day? (These chapters 9-11 raise questions not only about the present place of Israel in the scheme of things but they also raise questions about the nature of God?)
For Paul there was a seamless continuity from the Old Testament to the New Testament. He didn't see a contradiction between the two. He saw in Christ and the gospel a fulfilment of all that the scriptures had promised. As somebody reminded us, "the church is directly continuous with Israel and [that] the 'word of God' (Rom.9:6) given to Israel is not frustrated by Israel's unbelief but is fulfilled in the church." George Eldon Ladd.

Paul saw that God was faithful and sovereign in all his ways!
Romans 9:6. It is not as though God's word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.
For Paul being a true Israelite was not about your DNA. It was not about your natural descent from Abraham. It was not about ethnicity! In the words of Eugene Peterson's translation, Don't suppose for a moment, though, that God's Word has malfunctioned in some way or other. The problem goes back a long way. From the outset, not all Israelites of the flesh were Israelites of the spirit. It wasn't Abraham's sperm that gave identity here, but God's promise. Remember how it was put: "Your family will be defined by Isaac"? That means that Israelite identity was never racially determined by sexual transmission, but it was God-determined by promise.

What kind of thoughts come to mind this morning, when you consider this passage of scripture

Conclusion:

Praise God for the good news promised away back in the time of Abraham and before! John 3:16.
Lord help us to have your heart for an unbelieving generation. That we would care enough to show and tell the good news. That we would pray and care for all the nations, including Israel and our own nation. That we would know the godly sorrow and be sustained by the joy of the Lord.
That we would grasp by your Spirit the meaning and implications of all these words. That we would be transformed in our thinking. That self would be truly dethroned and God would be glorified.