God’s Mercy and Blessings on the Jews

Transcript

GR 2238
5/17/2020
God’s Mercy and Blessings on the Jews
Romans 9:1-4
Gil Rugh

Great truths, great reminders! It is good to be together, worship the Lord, and look into His Word. We’re going to be in Romans chapter 9 so you can get your bibles and get turned there.

Through the first eight chapters of Romans, Paul has unfolded in a very systematic way the gospel of Jesus Christ. And there is no place in all of Scripture where the gospel is unfolded so much in detail for our understanding. You can see for the bulk of the first eight chapters of Romans the Spirit of God has directed Paul to unfold the details of the gospel. We don’t want there to be any misunderstanding of that. He covered three basic areas after the introduction to this letter. The matter of our condemnation, the fact that we are all sinners. He demonstrated all are sinners under the judgment of God. That includes Jews. That includes Gentiles. There are no exceptions. All have sinned. We come under the penalty of sin, which is death which includes eternal separation from God. Then he moved to talk about the matter of justification. How those who are defiled by their sin, condemned justly by a holy God, can come to be acceptable before Him. To have the righteousness they need to be accepted in the presence of God. And He has provided His righteousness. This is key. Not righteousness that we can produce or acquire by our works or deeds or religious activities. But God has provided His righteousness by having His Son come, take our place, die for our sins on the cross so that when we place our faith in Him God can identify us with Christ and accept the payment that Christ made on our behalf. Credit that to our account so God can justly declare us forgiven. Cleansed. Credit us with His righteousness. There are no charges to be brought against us.

From there Paul moved on to the doctrine of sanctification. How those who have experienced the salvation of God in cleansing from sin and being credited with God’s righteousness now live. Is there provision in that for daily life now as one who belongs to the living God? And he covered that in chapters 6, 7, and 8.

Come back to chapter 1 and we’ll look at two verses there. When Paul began this discussion, he said this gospel that he proclaimed, the gospel of God, the good news that comes from God, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy scriptures. So that connects us back to the Old Testament and to the Jews. It’s what was prophesied and promised in the Old Testament scriptures. What we have as our Old Testament, and it concerned His Son. Look at verse 3, and you’ll note the connection, “…concerning His Son, who was born of a descendent of David according to the flesh…” So, these two things, he connects it back to the Old Testament scriptures and he connects it clearly to Jesus Christ who is identified as a descendent of David, king of Israel. And it was in the line of David that the Messiah would come who is Jesus Christ. So that connection is made, that draws attention to the nation Israel and the foundational place they have in the gospel that God has provided.

And then down in verse 16 of chapter 1, Paul who was was eager to preach the gospel to those who were in Rome, says, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek (the non-Jew).” So again, that connection with Israel and the Jews, as he talked about condemnation of all men. He started out by showing all the Gentiles are under condemnation, revealed and convicted as sinners. Then in chapter 2 he moved to talk about the Jews who were also under condemnation, convicted by God as sinners. In verse 17 of chapter 2 he said, “But if you bear the name “Jew” and rely upon the Law and boast in God…” and on, all the things Jews do, don’t think that will get you to heaven. Because you are a sinner, you can’t earn righteousness. It will take a change of heart that only God can bring about. All those external things, religious activities that the Jews did, similar to what people do today to try to earn righteousness. Go to church, get baptized, partake of the sacraments, they’re all external things. It’s faith, as he will demonstrate as he proceeds and we’ve examined, that can bring God’s salvation. That can change a heart and only that. So, the Jews also are identified in the condemnation.

But as he came into chapter 3, he wanted to make something clear. “Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the benefit of circumcision? Great in every respect. First of all, that they were entrusted with the oracles of God.” The revelation that God had given which we have as our Old Testament scriptures were given to the Jews. Well, where are they now? “What then? If some did not believe, their unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God, will it? May it never be!” In other words, the Jews had been shown to be in unbelief. They were dependent on their physical activities to make them acceptable to God. Keeping the Ten Commandments and the other six hundred plus commandments of the Law. But they didn’t place their faith in God, their trust in His provision for them, the God who is the Savior. Does that mean God is done with Israel? If they didn’t believe will that nullify all the promises God made to Israel? No! Because that would make God’s promises dependent on man. And He’s the God who cannot lie. He fulfills what He promises. So that’s why Paul said, “May it never be!” Every man on earth might be found to be a liar, but God is faithful and true to His promises and His word.

Now jump over to chapter 8. We’ve moved through the sections I mentioned earlier. He concluded chapter 8 by saying, “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Great! And he quoted Old Testament scriptures. You can see them set apart in verse 36 as he quoted the Old Testament scriptures. But where is Israel in all this? Is there anything for them as a distinct and unique nation chosen by God? Or have all the promises given to the nation Israel been forfeited? How does Israel, if at all, fit into the promises of God? The assurance of their salvation, God’s purposes for them as a nation? And if their unfaithfulness cancelled the promises given to them, how can we be sure that our unfaithfulness, and the failure of the church, will not result in the promises of God being cancelled for us also? He has said that nothing can separate us, but if Israel’s lack of belief brought an end and cancelled out all God’s promises, are God’s promises only good as long as we are faithful? In other words, God’s character is dependent upon me? Will He be faithful to His word or will my unfaithfulness cancel the word? Obviously, that’s not a possibility.

What Paul is going to do in chapters 9, 10, and 11 is explain how the promises of God to Israel as a nation will be realized just as He said. And that is an encouragement to us as believers today, and it is a reminder and encouragement to the nation Israel that God will keep His word. This is true because as we studied earlier today, as was emphasized in the music tonight, God is sovereign. And we noted, God is sovereign over all. Man is responsible. But God’s plan includes the decisions of men and even their sinful activities so that His plan always works according to His revelation. Nothing can cause it to fail.

This assures us that all the promises of God to the nation Israel will be realized as He gave them. Watch for the magician’s trick here. People say, well, they were God’s promises but it’s not what they thought they were. It’s not what it looked like when He gave them. Like the magician does. He does something with slight of hand. You have something else, they got switched. Well, we switched it. Now the promises of God have been switched from the nation Israel and the uniqueness of Israel as a nation is lost. It’s going to be important that as we work through these three chapters, we follow it carefully. Just as Paul has unfolded the gospel and it was important, that we follow it step by step. And if you got off track along the way as we talked about in our last study on Sunday evening, you end up in confusion on the doctrine of sanctification. And you begin to bring confusion on the whole subject of the gospel. So, we want to be careful that we work through as Paul, under the direction of the Spirit, very carefully unfolds God’s plan for the nation Israel. And how when all is said and done, every promise will be fulfilled. Not in some sort of figurative or spiritualized way, but exactly as it was given and understood in that day.

Let me read you a comment. A very fine commentary. It’s not available to everyone because it’s based on the Greek text. It’s two volumes by C. E. B. Cranfield. He’s not a dispensationalist. He doesn’t have what we would call consistent literal hermeneutic regarding eschatology, but his study of the Scriptures did cause him to change his view on God’s plan for the nation Israel. And he says, “We shall misunderstand these chapters…” as he started talking about Romans chapters 9, 10, and 11. “We shall misunderstand these chapters if we fail to recognize their key word is mercy.” And the word mercy is used seven times in these three chapters, the verb to have mercy. Used seven times in these three chapters. And he goes on to say further, “It is only where the church persists in refusing to learn this message, where it secretly believes that its own existence is based on human achievement and so fails to understand God’s mercy to itself, that it is unable to believe in God’s mercy for still unbelieving Israel and so entertains the ugly and unscriptural notion that God has cast off His people Israel and simply replaced it by the Christian church. These three chapters emphatically forbid us to speak of the church having once and for all taken the place of the Jewish people.” Then he supports that with a footnote. And he says, “But the assumption that the church has simply replaced Israel as the people of God is extremely common.” And he gives some examples in the footnote, and I’ll skip those. And he concludes by saying, “And I confess with shame to having myself also, myself used in print on more than one occasion, this language of the replacement of Israel by the church.” And I appreciate the honesty that he not only taught it wrongly, but he had put it in print. And he said I’m ashamed that he taught it one time too that the church replaced Israel. But you can’t study Romans 9, 10, and 11 and think that God has replaced Israel. Not if you take the scripture at face value. So, a tremendously important section of the Word!

Keep in mind as we go through this that God is talking about the election of the nation. How He deals with Israel as a nation and the church as a group. They are separate and distinct. But he’ll be talking about the focus on the church as a body of believers and he’ll be talking about Israel as a nation. Now what he says will have application to believers, individuals. But we want to remember his focus is on the larger entities.

We’re going to focus on the first five verses of chapter 9, where Paul shows that depth of his love and passionate concern for the salvation of the nation of Israel. God has not thrown Israel away, discarded them on the rubbish heap, shut down His promises. And Paul has the heart of God in his view of Israel and he is passionate for their salvation. They are a people of unique privileges that have not been given to any other nation as a nation. He wants that to be clear and those promises still are valid and are indicators that God has not shut down His promise with Israel. Somewhere along the line the church got off the track. We’ve talked about this on other occasions and began to spiritualize and allegorize the promises God had given to Israel in the Old Testament and came up with the idea that the church was the new Israel and had replaced Israel. And some today try to make a blended view. Well, the promises are still to Israel, but they’re fulfilled for the Jews as part of the church. The distinctness of Israel as a separate entity with separate promises is lost. So, we want to be careful as we work through this.

He starts out very clearly. “I am telling the truth in Christ…” I am speaking out of my relationship with Christ. “…I am not lying…” You see here how he wants this to be clearly understood. “…my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit…” So, this three-fold emphasis. “I am telling the truth...” The first word in chapter 9 in the Greek text is the word truth, because that’s where the emphasis is. Remember this is true in some other languages. In Greek you can rearrange the words because by endings and form and so on, you can tell what they are. We put it in a certain sentence structure. There they can arrange it, so you put the word truth in first because that’s what hits you as you begin the sentence.

Truth I’m saying. I’m not lying. My conscience under the control of the Holy Spirit confirms what I’m saying. So, I don’t want you to think this is hyperbole. This is just me going a little bit beyond just for emphasis. I’m telling you, I’m revealing to you my heart and mind, “…that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart.” And we often don’t think of Paul that way because sometimes again, we don’t keep things in balance. With just the sovereignty of God, this is God’s will, this is God’s plan, this is what Israel’s going through. And obviously, they deserve whatever they get. And we’ll leave it with God. Not Paul. He says “…that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart.” This weighs upon me. I’m burdened. This is on me constantly. Why do you see the Jews keep coming up? Part of it is the Judaizers, false believers from Israel keep trying to corrupt what Paul’s ministry is and bring confusion. But he has a passion for the Jews. I want them.

Look at verse 3 and there you get to the strongest language of all. “For I could wish that I myself were accursed…” Remember, we have that word in Galatians 1, anyone who preaches another gospel is accursed, anathema! Under the condemning judgment of God. I would be willing to be under God’s eternal condemnation, “…separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh...” I’m a Jew! I love them. They’re my physical people. I have a passion for them. This is amazing. Paul is writing this, and yet it is the Jews who are trying to destroy his ministry. The Jews want to have him killed.

Back up to the book of Acts, chapter 22, towards the end of the book of Acts. I just picked up a couple of verses, pulled out a couple of verses here. In Acts chapter 22, verse 22, Paul is sharing his testimony where he has opportunity to give his defense in the presence of the Jews. In verse 22 he tells them how God had saved him and now was sending him to carry the gospel to the Gentiles. Verse 22, “They listened to him up to this statement, and then they raised their voices and said, ‘Away with such a fellow from the earth, for he should not be allowed to live!’” So here they’re putting on such a commotion that the Romans have to intervene and rescue Paul. If the Jews had their way, they’d have stoned him, executed him on the spot.

Come over to chapter 25. Again, he’s having opportunity to present the gospel. He’s doing it in the context of Roman authorities again, and before Agrippa also, one of the sons of Herod, the great leader among the Jews. Festus, he’s a Roman, and doesn’t know about all these Jewish issues. Verse 24 of Acts 25, “Festus said, ‘King Agrippa, and all you gentlemen here present with us, you see this man about whom all the people of the Jews appealed to me, both at Jerusalem and here, loudly declaring that he ought not to live any longer. But I found that he had committed nothing worthy of death…” He appealed to the Emperor. Agrippa, I need help. What do I do with this guy? But you see, what the Jews want? He can’t live any longer! Paul doesn’t let the attitude of these fallen, sinful Jews who desperately need the salvation that’s found in their Messiah, affect him.

Remember we talked about our responsibility? Well, if that’s the way they’re going to treat me, if they’re going to do all they can to see that I’m executed, if they’re going to try even to turn the pagan Roman authorities as a machine of execution, if it’s only the Roman authorities that kept me from being executed by them to this point, I’m done with them! My ministry is primarily to the Gentiles anyway. They deserve what they get. Even if he said in the end God will work it out, but in the meantime, I hope they suffer for what they do. Paul doesn’t let that shape him. And we can be thankful for that, because he’s reflecting the heart of God in this. How He puts up with sinners, day after day, not willing that any should perish, but all should come to the knowledge of the truth. He’s reflecting that in his dealing here. It’s important that we see it.

Come back to the Old Testament, to Moses in Exodus. All the way back to Exodus chapter 32. Moses had his hands full with the people of Israel. They caused him problem after problem. And sometimes it discouraged him. It disappointed him and sometimes frustrated him. This is after he goes up the mountain to get the Law from God. He comes down and they had made a golden calf. Even Aaron, his brother, has stumbled. Verse 30 of Exodus 32, “On the next day Moses said to the people, ‘You yourselves have committed a great sin...” Remember, they are responsible for their decisions. “‘You yourselves have committed a great sin; and now I am going up to the Lord, perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.’ Then Moses returned to the Lord, and said, ‘Alas, this people has committed a great sin, and they have made a god of gold for themselves. But now, if You will, forgive their sin---and if not, please blot me out from Your book which You have written!’”

Doesn’t that sound like Paul? I would be accursed if it would bring about the salvation of the Jews. Moses said, Lord take me. I’m willing to step in and bear it for their benefit. This people who caused You so much grief? I can’t leave them alone for a little bit while I go to receive the word of God from You? And they’re having a party, out of control around the false god they had made? I’m hardly gone for a brief period of time and they’re out of control! And yet, oh! Same kind of prayer Paul brings. I would be accursed for them. Blot me out of the book. Please forgive them. If not, take me.

Come over to 1 Timothy. One thing about Paul, and a good reminder for us, and we’ve reminded ourselves, but the scripture reminds us. Paul never lost sight of God’s mercy and grace that made him what he was. He didn’t slide into that over time. Sometimes we’re believers long enough and we begin to look back and think, you know, I wasn’t all that bad! I was definitely not in the depths of depravity like some people! And pretty soon we minimize our own sin and that causes us to become more self-righteous in looking at others because we could say, I would have never done that, even when I was an unbeliever. I would have never thought of acting like that when I was an unbeliever. As though we were somewhere between being totally sinful and being totally righteous. You know, I was somewhere in here.

Paul writes to Timothy in 1 Timothy 1:12. He doesn’t sugar-coat his life. But remember, he was a Pharisee. His testimony was, I did everything I could humanly do. Remember, Philippians 3, to keep the Law? As far as a man could be, I was blameless, as far as the Law was concerned. But how does he see himself? Come down to verse 12 here. “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service, even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. Yet I was shown mercy…” You see Paul also saw his life as what? A testimony of mercy. That’s why I can say this is going to be a key word when you talk about the nation Israel. Why he knows that they’re not written off? Mercy! Well, how could you say that about Israel in repeated unbelief? Who crucified their Messiah? Mercy. Mercy.

It’s when we begin to think that we were not as bad. So, the mercy shown to us didn’t have to be as great a mercy. He goes on, “…I acted ignorantly in unbelief…” That was my condition. That’s how an unbeliever thinks. He could understand it. I was as bad as bad and the grace of our Lord. You know, mercy. Now we are in verse 14, “…and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and the love which are found in Christ Jesus. It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost. Yet for this reason I found (here we’re back to this word again) mercy…” How amazing it is! Paul what? Mercy, mercy. What else do you say?

Come over to Titus, since we just did that book. In Titus chapter 3, Paul reminds believers, don’t you forget what you were before the mercy and grace of God came. He told them in Chapter 3 of Titus, in the first two verses, “…be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good deed, to malign no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing every consideration for all men.” Why? “For we also once were foolish ourselves…” Now he includes them when he writes for Titus to share with the Cretans, “…disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another.” Remember those words? Then verse 4, “But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared…” Down in verse 5, “…He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to (here’s our word) His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace…” Kindness, love, mercy, grace. This is what it’s about.

When you come back to Romans 9, what has Paul done? I see myself as I am. Remember Moses, the humblest man on the earth? But he saw himself, I would die for these people. God offers, let me kill, get rid of those people, I’ll build you…No, no, no! Why? It would be contrary to what God promised. Couldn’t do that. It’s too easy. When we’ve been believers for a while, to slide and lose focus. That’s why we’re reminded. So, that’s what Paul is saying. Verse 3 of Chapter 9 of Romans, “For I could wish that I myself were accursed…” (anathema), if I could take the place of Israel and die for them and it would bring about their salvation. That’s why he could live his life facing martyrdom like he did. Because Israel is not going to get saved, nor the Gentiles unless I give it everything I have. And if I die doing it, so be it. “…separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh…”

Now, in verses 4 and 5, he’s going to talk about the position that the Jews have before God. He’s going to talk about nine blessings of the nation Israel in these two verses. And they will remind us of the exalted position God has given to the nation Israel. It’s true in this day, they are under God’s judgement. God’s work of salvation is focused in the Gentiles. We’ll get to that as we move through these chapters. But that doesn’t mean that God has discarded Israel. Don’t get confused. And as Paul will remind us, as we work through this, don’t get arrogant. Well, the Jews decided, they had their chance. Be careful.

Paul says in verse 4, as he starts this list of nine things that are the blessing. I’ve called them nine blessings of the Jews and God choosing them. They are Israelites, first thing. And the name Israel goes back to what? The book of Genesis, when Jacob wrestled with, what most believe the pre-incarnate Christ. That’s in Genesis 32. Maybe you want to come back there. We’ll be back in Exodus, so if you come back to Genesis, you can read the verse since it’s foundational. We talk about Israel, but he’s talking about that they are Israelites. That connects them to Jacob. Connects them to what? The covenant given to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and the twelve tribes come out from the twelve sons of Jacob. So, it’s foundational, they’re Israelites. They go back to Jacob who is the last in the singular line of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. Then it divides to the twelve fathers or patriarchs in Genesis 32. Genesis 32:28, when Jacob wrestled with the man, would be the pre-incarnate Christ, I take it. And he holds on for the blessing. And realizes the importance of this and this person’s uniqueness. It says, “‘…Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel...’” That’s where the name comes from. “‘…for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed.’” And in verse 30, Jacob says, “‘…I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been preserved.’”

A unique time. In the preserving of Jacob and the confirming of the promises and the name Israel down until today, identifies them. And them as a nation. They are the Israelites. So, that’s the first, and it will be elaborated here. They are the Israelites. Now the rest of these connect to being Israelites, the descendants of Jacob who is a son of Isaac, who is the son of Abraham. And that Abrahamic covenant is repeated to each of these as well. Said first to Abraham, then it will be repeated to Isaac, it will be repeated to Jacob, and carries on. So, they are Israelites, that’s unique, that’s the only nation.

Remember Amos, chapter 3, verse2, God says, “‘You only (referring to Israel) have I chosen (for Myself) among all the families (nations) of the earth…” So, people say, well, the United States is the most blessed nation that this world has ever known. Well, it doesn’t occupy that position. We have been greatly blessed of God. Marilyn and I were talking today how blessed we’ve been to live in this country. But the nation that is the object of God’s special affection, the apple or pupil of His eye, is Israel. That’s why it’s the center of the earth as far as the working of God is. The church, God is working with the church today, but the church is not a nation. People pick that up from Peter, but it’s a misunderstanding of Peter. But we won’t go there now.

So, they’re Israelites. Now the second thing he says in Romans 9, verse 4 is, “…to whom belongs the adoption as sons...” God has chosen the nation Israel and placed that nation as His own son. Put them in that special relationship with Him. No other nation has been put in that relationship with the living God but the nation Israel. Come back to Exodus, chapter 4. There are a number of passages we could look at, but for time, we’re not going to be able to support them all with many verses. Exodus chapter 4. This is when God is preparing to bring deliverance out of Egypt for the nation Israel because they went down into Egypt just as a family, a large family, seventy people, but they come out a nation of some two million people. In Exodus chapter 4, verse 22, Moses is going to go to Pharaoh. “Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Israel is My son, My firstborn.”’” I want you to know this is serious business with Me. This is My son. I view this nation in the position as My son, My firstborn. They have priority to Me. They’ve importance. “So I said to you, ‘Let My son go that he may serve Me…’” You refuse, so what? I will kill your son. I’m going to take what is most precious from you. But Israel here is My son. You can’t be honored as a nation. Remember we’re talking about a nation. We are the sons of God as believers, but the only nation given that identity is not the United States of America. It’s not one of the other nations. Israel is God’s son. That as a national entity is the unique position. That’s found a couple of times in Isaiah. You’re in Exodus, it’s mentioned in Jeremiah 31:9, Hosea 11:1, and then a couple verses in Isaiah, chapter 63 and chapter 64. Israel is called God’s son. So, the nation Israel.

Come back to verse 4 in chapter 9 of Romans. “…to whom belong the adoption as sons…” That’s uniqueness. They’re important. To whom belongs the glory. The third characteristic of Israel. “…to whom belongs the adoption as sons, and the glory...” What is the glory? This is the nation among which God, and that nation only, manifested the fullness of the glory of His presence. It was in Israel. The glory of God’s presence was among them. Remember when Naaman the Syrian comes down and he is supernaturally healed and the best he can do is take some ground, some earth back from the land of Israel. This is an evidence of recognizing how special that land is. The military may not be as strong, but this is where God’s presence is. It’s in Israel. They have the glory.

You’re in Exodus, come over to Exodus 16. You’re familiar with what we call it sometimes, the shekinah, which is His presence, the manifestation of God’s presence. In Exodus 16, verse 10, “It came about as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the sons of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud.” When you come over to Exodus chapter 40, get to the end of the book of Exodus here, and in verses 34 and 35, “Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting…” The cloud came over when the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. So that presence of God among this nation. It goes with this nation and will settle in the land of this nation when the tabernacle is replaced with the Temple. But it’s in the presence of this people, the nation Israel even as they’re moving through the wilderness. God manifests His presence among them.

So, when you come back to Romans 9, they have the glory. They’re the nation among which God has placed His presence. Now we have the glory of God, His presence, dwelling within our bodies as a believer. But the national identity of the place where God’s presence will be manifested, where will it be when the kingdom is established? It will be in Jerusalem and the nations of the earth will come up to Jerusalem. Then the new Jerusalem, because that’s the nation God has chosen. They have the glory. That makes them unique among the nations. So even as the church, we appreciate and rejoice in the privileges given to us. I don’t want to lose sight of the fact that Israel has a national uniqueness. Now that glory has departed. They are under the judgment of God, but the promises of God still hold. So even with Israel under the judgment of God as Paul writes to a church, to them belongs the glory. He doesn’t transfer that to another nation, indicating that nation now has replaced Israel. The United States hasn’t replaced Israel. We can get a lot of blessings and we have, but not that uniqueness of the glory, the presence of God connected to that nation.

“…and the covenants…” these special covenantal agreements that God entered into with Israel. There are four of them covered and then there’ll be a fifth, but it stands out by itself, the Law. But the four permanent or unconditional covenants, the Abrahamic, the Land covenant, the Davidic covenant, and the new covenant. The Abrahamic covenant is the foundational covenant and the following three elaborate the provisions of the Abrahamic covenant. We’ve gone through these in other studies and you can access them on the church website, but important to understand. The covenants belong to Israel. They are not out of existence nor have they been transferred. He’s talking about the Israelites to whom belong the covenants. They don’t belong to the Church now. Now we receive some blessings provided in those covenants, particularly the new covenant. And we will enjoy some of the provisions under the old when the new Jerusalem is in existence as the focal point of God’s presence.

We want to be careful. The covenants belong to Israel. They were given to the descendants of Abraham. There was provision in it for those who weren’t physical descendants, but we come in attached. We will get to that when we get to chapter 11. So, a failure to understand in a consistent way what he starts out by telling us, these things still belong to Israel. Don’t try to do that magic trick, sleight of hand! Yes, but now the Church is Israel. That is the whole point of what Paul is saying. If the Church was now Israel, he could be telling the church what you are. It doesn’t belong to Israel anymore. It belongs to you. Well, Israel now means the Church. I can’t get over the commentaries I read that say that. Who gives you the authority to do your magic trick with the scripture and say, abracadabra? It couldn’t get any clearer. He’s talking about my kinsman according to the flesh. Physical connection here that he has. And there is something for this physical people that they won’t get until they have the spiritual connection that has to come with it. It was always necessary.

“…and the covenants…” the Abrahamic covenant. We’ll go back to the basic one in Genesis 12. Some of you could probably quote that, we go to it often enough. Genesis chapter 12, verse 1, “Now the Lord said to Abram,” (his name will be changed to Abraham, as you are aware) ‘Go forth from your country, and from your relatives and from your father’s house, to the land I will show you...’” Now note, “‘…and I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and so you shall be a blessing; and I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.’” So that’s the basic foundational covenant. It will be repeated a number of times. He’ll remind them when you get to chapter 13 that the land I promised, this will be your land, and so on.

We did that on other occasions where we spent our study working through each of these covenants to show how He elaborates the Abrahamic covenant. I encourage you to go back. It’s foundational. The land covenant sometimes misnamed the “Palestinian covenant,” but it’s the land that is being promised here. If you’re still back there, you can stop at Deuteronomy. We’re not going to read it, but I’d like you to know where to go for this. I didn’t write all the references down like to the Abrahamic covenant. You can get those. If you go to Deuteronomy chapter 29 and 30, you’ll get the land. These are not distinct from the Abrahamic covenant.

What he does is take the Abrahamic covenant, then unfold more detail about what was provided in the Abrahamic covenant. Like the land, and all the land you walk on. So, verse 1 in chapter 29 of Deuteronomy, “These are the words of the covenant which the Lord commanded Moses to make with the sons of Israel in the land of Moab, besides the covenant which He had made with them at Horeb.” This is different than the Mosaic Law. This is an additional covenant. In chapters 29 and 30 you can read that elaborated. If you read the different references to the Abrahamic covenant in Genesis, you see the land gets a strong emphasis. Here He elaborates now. I have a special covenant. It’s like when we might have some kind of agreement and then you have sub-points, in that they elaborate the various areas of the basic agreements, so that there’s no misunderstanding.

So, the land is given to Israel. That’s whose it is. Now I realize they are under the judgment of God and part of the judgment of God is for them to be out of the land. And even back in the land they have trouble and the worst of their trouble is yet to come. But when all is said and done, Israel will be in the land. Jerusalem will be the capitol of the world and so on. The Davidic covenant elaborates on them being a nation, because as a nation they’ll have a king. 2 Samuel chapter 7, 1 Chronicles chapter 17 both give what we call the Davidic covenant which will provide for the king who will rule over the nation Israel, and ultimately over the world with Jerusalem as the capitol. So, the Davidic covenant elaborates that promise of being a nation and all that will go with that.

And then the new covenant. Jeremiah 31 is usually the basic passage. Ezekiel 36 also gives the details on that and some other passages in a more limited way. The new covenant is important. Perhaps you want to turn there because remember as you go to Jeremiah 31. God said to Abraham in the basic covenant, “…and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” (Genesis 12:3) The new covenant unfolds the salvation provision required for the Abrahamic covenant. In all its aspects, to be realized, there needs to be salvation because the Jews are sinful people. Like everybody else. We saw that in Romans. So, God will provide the Savior. In chapter 31 of Jeremiah, and pick up with verse 31 here, “‘Behold, days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah...’”

Now make no mistake, the covenant is made with Israel. And some of my dispensational friends believe therefore, that the church has no part in the new covenant. I don’t hold that. I take it that the new covenant, in all its provisions here, will be for the nation of Israel but we come in because we come in under the Abrahamic covenant. We’ll be grafted in. So, the provision of God for the salvation of the Jews also enables us to understand the Jewish Messiah, the Savior of Israel, in His provision provides for all men. Part of what He’ll do is give them a new heart. The Spirit will be placed within them. Those are things we realize. That’s why when we take communion we say, this is the new covenant in Christ’s blood, as He established at that last night.

I take it the New covenant, but the full implementation, the Church hasn’t taken that over. This is consistent with the fact that the Abrahamic covenant made provision for us, in that all nations will be blessed. That’s salvation blessings. How can that happen? Well, the Savior provided for Israel. Remember when Jesus said, I have other sheep not of this fold, outside the bounds of Israel, that He was going to give His life for. That’s you and me. That in no way replaces Israel or undoes the provisions for Israel. It was established by the death of Christ. So, the saving provisions, but Israel won’t enter into the benefits of it and all the provisions that are made, some of which may be unique to the nation Israel, and the time when Israel enters into it. But the saving provisions are there. And Paul was saved under that. That’s why he says “I’ve been made a servant of the new covenant” when he writes to the church at Corinth. So, the covenants belong to Israel.

We’re not going to get through all of those but let me mention one more, and we’ll stop there. And we’ll pick up with these at our next time. You see the covenants, to them belong the covenants. Why does he separate out “…and the giving of the Law…”? You note how he separates the Law out. And he does this in other writings, but he says the Law was added later and it is a conditional covenant. It was. It requires the obedience of the nation. Moses brought it down and remember they as a nation agreed. All that God has said we will do. It was conditioned upon their obedience. It was given for a time. It was like the constitution governing the nation until the coming of the Messiah. That’s why Galatians says it was the ‘schoolmaster’. It was that overseer until Messiah comes. With the coming of Christ, it served its purpose. It was to prepare the way, to keep Israel on track and prepare them for the coming of the Messiah. They had wandered off in unbelief. The one sacrifice that all the other sacrifices anticipated, and they missed it because they were in unbelief. A reminder that you can fill your mind with the word of God and it never changes your heart, as was with Israel.

The Mosaic Law is the Law given to Moses beginning in Exodus 19. The Mosaic Law because it was given through Moses on Mount Sinai. It is separated out here, “…and the giving of the Law…” It pertained to them. That’s another blessing because throughout that time, from the fifteen hundred years from Moses down to the coming of Christ, the Law governed Israel. You have the prophets in Israel. You have all the sacrificial system going on in Israel. All the provision for sins in the sacrifices for Israel. God’s presence manifested in Israel at the tabernacle and then the Temple. But he separates it out from the covenants because the Abrahamic, the Land covenant, the Davidic covenant, the new covenant, they are permanent covenants because they are all embraced under the Abrahamic covenant and its provisions. So, the elaboration. And the Law is a revelation of righteous character.

We’ll overview the rest of these. But you see the fact that the nation Israel is special. He goes back and reviews these things and makes it. We’ve looked at that first five of the nine. Don’t look down on Israel. Now Paul doesn’t go soft on Israel’s sin, but he’s concerned also that the Gentiles realize that the nation Israel is still a special nation. They can never be replaced because God’s word would have to fail. So, they are the nation. That’s why we even give special attention to the nation of Israel today. But I can’t rescue them because they will persist in their unbelief. It doesn’t mean we don’t share the gospel with them, but this is a day of Gentile salvation. We will get to that in chapter 11. It doesn’t mean individual Jews aren’t saved. Paul uses himself as an example. He’s saved. God is still saving Jews. So, don’t think He’s cast away His people in the sense there is no salvation for them. We’ll get to that in chapter 10. He’s going to take us through, carefully, but he starts out first, are you well grounded? He’s writing to a Gentile church. You understand the uniqueness of the nation. Why they are such a burden to me? Because they are special to God. And what’s precious to God is precious to me. And He made them precious as a nation. And I love God and I’m part of that nation, so I love them for that reason, but I want to have the heart of God in this, so I appreciate the uniqueness and specialness.

This is a serious matter. It is not taken seriously enough that people and teachers and theologies say that somehow God is done with Israel or has replaced Israel. What does God have to do to tell us? And to transfer all of this and say well now they belong to us. Too bad. Fooled you. You thought that all applied to you, but somehow here, zub, zub, zub, abracadabra, it’s us! Paul doesn’t say that. He doesn’t say, what I really want you to know, now all this is what belongs to you because Israel’s out of the picture. And be careful or you won’t get it either because if you fail like Israel did, you’ll be out too. I have had plan A, plan B, I guess we’ll have to have plan C. We went from Israel and God wiped them out. Now the church, God may wipe it out. We’ll just have this continuing process go on and on. No! So that’s what chapters 9, 10, and 11 are about. I don’t wish I was a Jew because I think there are great privileges and blessings for being a Gentile believer in the church age. Part of the bride of Christ, but I don’t want that to make me look down on the nation or not appreciate the uniqueness of the nation of Israel, as a nation and all that God has promised them.

Let’s pray together. Thank You Lord, for the riches of Your word. Lord, mercy is a word we want to have impressed upon our hearts and minds. We are testimonies of Your mercy, Your grace, Your love, Your kindness. There’s no other reason, no other explanation for why we should stand, saints, holy ones, children of the living God. Righteous in the sight of the holy God. Lord Your mercy is great, and we would not presume upon that. And we realize Israel will some day experience the fullness of all You promised because of mercy, because of grace, because of Your love, Your kindness. And You have reached out to us in providing a Savior, not only for the Jews, but for the Gentiles and we have been reached in our hopeless, lost, rebellious, wretched condition. And we have been transformed by the power of Your grace, Your salvation. We don’t want to forget that. We want to live in light of it every day. Bless the week before us. These are days of opportunity. Every day is unique. Every day will pass and cannot be regained. May we be faithful with the days and the time of the days in carrying out Your will. We pray in Christ’s name. Amen.