Israel Under Judgment, then Restoration

Transcript

GR 1452
11/28/10
Israel under Judgment, then Restoration
Romans 9:24-33
Gil Rugh


We're going to Romans 9. The sovereignty of God is the subject really of Romans 9, demonstrating His sovereignty in dealing with His people, the nation Israel. And in demonstrating that, reminding us that He is the sovereign God. He rules over all, He controls all. And this is a great comfort and encouragement to us who are His children. Everything is under control, there are no accidents, His perfect purposes for me as His child are always being accomplished.

How this subject comes up is that Paul has been unfolding the subject of the gospel, the good news of the finished work of Jesus Christ as the payment for sin, explaining to us what the impact of sin has been on each and every person, the provision of God's righteousness, His enablement for a life of holiness. But where does all this leave Israel? God made great and wonderful promises to the nation Israel. Where are they? As Paul carries on his ministry, as he writes this letter to the church at Rome, it is obvious that Israel is fading into the background in the work of God. Churches are being established in various parts of the world but they are overwhelmingly comprised of Gentiles. This is a drastic change and turn of events. For the 2000 years preceding this the work, God has focused almost exclusively in the nation Israel. It is to this nation He has committed Himself, established a covenantal relationship, worked His program of salvation out in and through that nation. And now it seems they are a sidelight at best and receding from the focal point of God's work.

What Paul has been demonstrating in Romans 9 is the plan of God is completely on track. He made great and wonderful promises to the Israelites. He mentioned those in the first five verses of chapter 9. But we must understand those promises did not include every single physical descendant of Abraham. We start with Abraham because he is the first. He is the founding father of Israel. He is the one with whom God entered into a covenantal relationship for him and his descendants. But that did not include every physical descendant. So Paul demonstrated that God sovereignly exercised His choice in choosing first Abraham and then choosing Abraham's son Isaac but not choosing Abraham's son Ishmael. Furthermore He chose Isaac's son, Jacob, but not Jacob's older twin brother, Esau, demonstrating that God exercises His choice. And a reminder that God's promises to Abraham will be fulfilled but not every physical descendant of Abraham is included. You have to be in the line of promise.

Then Paul took time in verses 14-23 to explain something of God's prerogative to exercise mercy and compassion at His discretion, and to withhold mercy and compassion, but rather harden other people. We noted that key in this is to remember how we started the book of Romans, demonstrating that everyone is a sinner, every single person ever born on the face of the earth from Adam on, with the exclusion of Jesus Christ, has been a sinner. That continues down to our day. There are no exceptions. Paul demonstrated that all have sinned.

So God is free in dealing with sinful beings to bestow mercy or not bestow mercy. We like to think of God being obligated to show mercy. He is not obligated to show mercy. He is obligated to exercise justice, to deal with sinners righteously. But He is free to exercise compassion and to deal with sinners according to what they deserve, not what He chooses to give in mercy. So that has established the prerogative of God in selecting and choosing some from among sinful humanity to experience His mercy and choosing not to show His mercy on others.

Now with that general fact established in the character of God, He is ready to come back to the nation Israel. So in verse 22 we read, “What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction?” Those are sinners deserving of God's wrath, deserving of the punishment for their sin, deserving ultimate destruction. “And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory.” It is God's sovereign right to bestow mercy on those that He bestows mercy upon. And their ultimate end will not be destruction, it will be glory. And He could do it because that's His prerogative to do it. And these vessels of mercy prepared beforehand for glory, verse 24 says, “Even us whom He also called.” The call of God is a manifestation of the mercy of God. Not from among Jews also, but also from among Gentiles. He is explaining here what has happened to Israel. God has exercised His prerogative in bringing judgment on Israel. He has exercised His prerogative to show mercy to some in Israel, but He has also exercised His prerogative to show His mercy to many more Gentiles.

So as Paul writes to the church at Rome he can talk about, verse 24, we are ones whom He has called, “not from among Jews only but also from among Gentiles” as He also says in Hosea. What he's going to do is clarify things further, first regarding Israel. Important to keep in mind that verses 25-29 all refer to Israel because the real issue before us in Romans 9-11 is how does the condition of Israel being outside the framework of God's work of salvation in these days fit with the promises God gave to Israel throughout the Old Testament. So he is not primarily explaining the Gentiles' salvation, he is explaining what has happened to Israel, but in this he is explaining how the Gentiles have come to experience God's mercy.

Now I mention this because many get confused over the relationship of Israel and the church. And this is one of those passages where the confusion gets focused and a misunderstanding of these verses drawn from the Old Testament causes some people to think that the church has assumed and taken over the promises of God's blessings given to Israel in the Old Testament. And that is not so.

So in verse 24 he has referred to those who have received God's mercy and have been called by God. “Not from the Jews only, but from also among the Gentiles.” Is this consistent with what God has revealed in the Old Testament? Yes. First he is going to quote from Hosea, the prophet Hosea. Then he is going to quote from the prophet Isaiah. And they are both going to be dealing with Israel in about the same time framework. The time framework is God is about to bring the Assyrians into Israel. And the Assyrians, the mighty Assyrian Empire, will become the instrument that God is going to use to judge the nation Israel for their sin. And through the Assyrians, the ten northern tribes, remember twelve tribes, family units, made up the nation Israel. Ten of those, they are called the ten northern tribes because they are north of the southern two tribes, Judah and Benjamin, will be carried out of the land and into captivity. The Assyrians will not only crush them and defeat them, but then they will deport the bulk of them out of the land and distribute them into other places in their empire that they have conquered. It was a way the Assyrians had of keeping rebellion from developing in parts of the world that they conquered. They would remove people from their homeland and transport them to other areas. So this is what Hosea and Isaiah will be dealing with.

So note the quote from Hosea. “He has called not only from among Jews but also from among Gentiles,” as he also says in Hosea. “I will call those who are not My people, My people. And her who was not beloved, beloved. And it shall be that in the place where it was said to them, you are not My people, they shall be called sons of the living God.” Everyone is clear on the object of Hosea's prophecy.

Come back to Hosea 1. Paul doesn't take these quotes in order, which is no problem, but we'll take them as we have them in Hosea. The context here is that Hosea the prophet was commanded to go and marry an immoral woman whose name was Gomer and have children with this woman. And the woman and her children are representative of Israel God says, because this woman is unfaithful to Hosea. She is a prostitute who commits whoredom, adultery. Well that pictures what Israel has done to Jehovah. Israel is the wife of Jehovah, spiritually, and she has been unfaithful, she has pursued other religions, other nations, other relationships. And the three children born to Hosea and Gomer are given names and the names are significant because they picture God's relationship with His people Israel as well. The first boy born to them is named Jezreel, verse 4. Jezreel means God sows. Israel, particularly the northern nations, are about to be thrown out of the land and into the world. They are deported. The second child born, verse 6, is a girl named Lo-ruhamah. It means one who is not pitied, does not receive mercy, does not receive compassion. That will picture the fact that God is going to withhold His mercy and compassion on Israel. He's going to turn them over to the Assyrians who were a cruel and brutal people. And then the third child is a boy, verse 9, and his name is Lo-ammi, which means not my people. And this will picture the fact that God is going to deal with Israel as though they were not His people anymore. He is going to turn them over to their enemies and their enemies will have their way with them.

So you come down to verse 9, the Lord said, “Name him Lo-ammi for you are not My people and I am not your God. Yet the number of the sons of Israel will be like the sand of the sea which cannot be measured. And in the place where it is said to them, you are not My people, it will be said to them, you are sons of the living God.” We'll get to this point in a moment when we get back to Romans 9. But you see the connection. You call this son Lo-ammi, not my people. Why? “For you are not My people, I'm not your God.” But that's not the last word because you read the next statement. “Yet the number of the sons of Israel will be like the sands of the sea which cannot be measured. And in the place where it is said to them, you are not My people, it will be said to them, you are sons of the living God.” So the fact that I am going to treat you as though you are not My people, I'm going to turn you over to your enemies and let them bring withering judgment and destruction on you. Yet when the last chapter is written it will be said of you, “you are sons of the living God.”

Turn over to Hosea 2:23, “I will sow her for Myself in the land. I will also have compassion on her. So the one who is going to be scattered is now going to be brought back and scattered throughout the land in Israel. I will have compassion on her who had not obtained compassion.” Remember Lo-ruhamah? The one who has no compassion, no pity, picturing Israel without God's compassion? “I will also have compassion on her who had not obtained compassion. I will say to those who were not My people, you are My people. They will say, ‘you are my God.’“ Verse 19 gives that assurance as well in Israel's restoration. “I will betroth you to Me forever, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and justice, in lovingkindness and in compassion. I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness. Then you will know the Lord.” People like to say, God is done with Israel, they are under the judgment of God. He has discarded them and now He is dealing only with the church. There is no future for Israel. They like to take the judgments of the Old Testament on Israel and take them literally, but then take the promised blessings and spiritualize it and transfer it from Israel. It's not literal Israel, it's going to be given to the church. That's no way to deal with the scripture, just pick and choose. I want them to get the judgment but not the blessings, so I'll give them the judgment and we'll take the blessings. You understand the blessings are given to the same people who are going to experience the judgment.

Down in Hosea 3:5, “Afterwards the sons of Israel will return and seek the Lord their God and David their king, and they will come trembling to the Lord and His goodness in the last days.” We'll get to this more fully when we get to Romans 11 and the future restoration of the nations Israel.

So in this context, God is talking about the judgment that He is going to bring on the nation Israel. Now in spite of this some, when you get to Romans 9, change the rules of the game. Now I want to read you some commentaries because most of you are familiar. There are many today who think that the church has replaced Israel and that there is no future for the nation Israel or variations of that. One very prominent commentator has written this regarding Romans 9 where Paul quotes from Hosea. And he says, “a potentially serious instance of what seems to be arbitrary hermeneutics.” Hermeneutics are the rules of Bible interpretation. “A potentially serious instance of what seems to be arbitrary hermeneutics on Paul's part is his application of these Hosea texts to the calling of Gentiles. For the prophet Hosea is predicting a renewal of God's mercy toward the rebellious northern tribes of Israel.” So he admits, “if you take Hosea literally, Hosea is talking about God's judgment on Israel and the restoration of Israel.” But he is convinced that in Romans 9:25-26 Paul is using Hosea and saying “it's the Gentiles that Hosea is talking about.” The conclusion? “We must conclude that his text, in Romans 9, reflects a hermeneutical supposition for which we find evidence elsewhere in Paul and in the New Testament.” He doesn't give any of those “elsewheres” in the New Testament. “That Old Testament predictions of a renewed Israel find their fulfillment in the church.” What is he saying here? “The Old Testament predictions, prophecies, of God's promises to restore Israel, to renew Israel, find their fulfillment in the church.” He has a footnote to explain this. “God's final revelation in Christ gives Paul a new hermeneutical key by which to interpret and apply the Old Testament.” I think that is arbitrary hermeneutics. I don't think Paul is talking about the Gentiles or the church in Romans 9:25-26. What Hosea meant when he gave his prophecy has to be what Hosea meant. Hosea meant the judgment of God, as He gave it, would be on Israel. Everybody is agreed that was fulfilled literally. Then what right do we have to say, we're going to take the promised blessings on Israel and give Paul a new hermeneutical key to reinterpret the Old Testament blessings now as transferred to the church. So we can keep all the Old Testament judgments on Israel literally, we'll use the old way of interpreting the Bible. But when it comes to the blessing we'll give Paul the authority to interpret them in a different way. Not good hermeneutics.

Another prominent commentator says, and these are probably two of the best and most recognized commentaries on Romans. They are good except when they start talking about Israel, they get goofy. That's not a theological word. This writer says, “both of these verses were originally addressed to the northern tribes of Israel. So no doubt everybody is agreed that when Hosea gave these prophecies, they were addressed to the northern tribes of Israel. Paul applies them to Gentile Christians who are now God's people.” Well wait a minute, that's a major, major leap you have taken. The application of these terms to the church constitutes firm evidence that the church formed the new people of God in Pauline thought. Well first you have to demonstrate that these verses are referring to the church. We're going to look at that in a moment and we'll insure that they don't. “The church is the renewed Israel and the arena in which God's promises find their fulfillment.” All of a sudden we make these statements, and since they are made by scholars who write books, they become true. But I read and reread this and I say, wait a minute. “This application of terms to the church constitutes firm evidence that the church forms a new people.” I say, wait a minute, you have to demonstrate to me that that's what Paul is doing. Isn't there another option that would allow the prophecy of Hosea to be interpreted literally, just like the judgments were? And this goes on and on and on, commentator after commentator.

Here is another commentator. Now “Hosea is saying that God will show mercy to Israel and restore them so that they will once again be His people.” Sounds good. He goes on though. “However it is clear that Paul is applying this verse to the Gentiles.” Another commentator, “Paul reapplies Hosea's prophecies from Israel to the Gentiles.” Now note what he says, “that innovative boldness of Paul's hermeneutics in reinterpreting the Hosea text is hard to imagine.” By his own statement it would take innovative boldness on Paul's part to reinterpret the Old Testament text to apply to the Gentiles. “That's hard to imagine,” he says, but he does it. Maybe your interpretation here is wrong. And then another one. “In the context these passages from Hosea refer to the northern ten tribes, but here Paul refers to the Gentiles. This is typical of New Testament authors' use of the Old Testament. They say the church is the fulfillment of the promises to Israel.” Then he gives three verses that have absolutely nothing to demonstrate that the church has taken over the promises to Israel.


What is Paul saying here? Look at verse 25. “I will call those who are not My people, My people.” Who was he talking to? Israel. What is going to happen? You are going to be treated like you are not My people for a time, I'm going to withdraw My protection over you and the Assyrians, a godless, pagan, cruel people are going to come in and bring judgment on you. So judgment is coming and yet following that I will call you My people. And you had not experienced mercy and love. Now you'll be called My beloved. Verse 26, “and in the place where it was said to them, you are not My people, they will be called the sons of the living God.” We read this in Hosea. Obviously that is God's promise to Israel. What does He say? “I'm going to place you under judgment and following that time of judgment there will be a restoration.” Now what Paul is saying is we are experiencing that ongoing judgment. The judgment of God continues.

But that's not the last chapter. So we're answering the basic issue, Romans 9:6, “but it is not as though the word of God has failed.” We are right on schedule, God is never early and He is never late. This is the time of judgment on the nation Israel, but do not mistake this and think that God is done with the nation Israel. Because those who are being dealt with as though they are not His people, are going to be restored to their position as His people. Those who have not been receiving God's mercy are going to receive His mercy. And there will come a time when they will be called sons of the living God. That's just part of Paul’s demonstrating that the word of God has not failed. Rather than seeing the word of God failing, we are seeing the word of God fulfilled. We are in the time of Israel's judgment that continues right down to today. Israel is under the judgment of God. And He is withholding His mercy from Israel by and large. That doesn't mean there are no Jews who get saved. By God's mercy there are a small number of Jews that are saved and become part of the church. The Apostle Paul is an example of that. Maybe some of you are, but if we took a poll and asked how many of you are Jewish, there would be relatively few hands. How many are Gentiles? The vast majority are. And this is true of the church around the world. By and large it is comprised of Gentiles. Why? God has withdrawn His mercy from the nation. During Old Testament times and really up to the time of Christ, Israel was the focus. Where would you go to find the people of God? Israel. But today they are under the judgment of God.

So what he is demonstrating from verse 24, He has called people “not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles.” But this is consistent and this will get fully explained in Romans 11 because during this time, when the Jews are under judgment, the Gentiles will experience the blessing of God. So this is an absolutely literal use of Hosea. The blessings of Israel haven't been transferred in any way to the church. They are being reserved for the nation Israel.

All right, what about verse 27? Verses 27-29 are clearly talking about Israel. “Isaiah cries out concerning Israel.” One of those that I read to you said, “Isaiah said he cried out concerning Israel” so we know that verses 25-26 are talking about Gentiles because he didn't say Hosea cried out to Israel. We all agree Hosea was speaking to Israel. I couldn't find any commentator that didn't agree that Hosea, when he gave his prophecy and wrote it, was talking about Israel. So Isaiah cries out concerning Israel. The fact that Israel is outside the boundaries of God's work of redemption today is consistent with what God prophesied through the prophets. They are under the judgment of God. But the last chapter reminds that they'll be restored to their place of preeminence.

What does Isaiah say? Isaiah cries out concerning Israel. Though the number of the sons of Israel be like the sand of the sea, it is the remnant that will be saved.

We'll see this in the Old Testament passage he is quoting. “Unless the Lord of Hosts had left to us a posterity we would have become like Sodom and would have resembled Gomorrah.” The move here, what Isaiah's prophecies Paul is using, add to what has been revealed. Hosea made clear that the nation would come under judgment and God's mercy would be withheld. But in the end He would restore them. Now Isaiah is used here to make clear that even though the Israelites multiply and there are a huge number of them, only a remnant will ultimately experience the blessing of God's salvation and His restoration. The rest will be doomed to destruction. So God's work has not changed, the word of God has not failed because what is happening in our day is consistent with what God has revealed in the Old Testament. Nothing has changed.

We have to come back to the Old Testament, Isaiah 10. We have read these verses but I want you to see them. And you see the context. You read in these contexts in the prophets, the judgments and the blessings flow in and out. He'll talk about judgment and from that he'll move to talk about coming blessing and then coming judgment and then coming blessing. You just don't pull out the judgments and say that's what Israel gets and the church gets the blessing. So in Isaiah 10 where Paul was referring, verse 20. Now in that day the remnant of Israel, and the remnant becomes key because remember what we're dealing with in Romans 9—God is sovereign in His choice. Not every physical Jew will inherit the promises of God by virtue of being a physical descendant of Abraham. There is going to be a remnant according to the choice or election of God. Now in that day the remnant of Israel and those of the house of Jacob who have escaped will never again rely on the one who struck them. Israel's problem was every time they got into trouble they didn't turn to the Lord, they would run to Egypt for help, they would run to Assyria for help, they would run to the other nations of the world for help. And they end up being the ones that devastate them in judgment. But they will truly rely on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel.

The remnant of Israel, we're talking about the Jews, the house of Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel, will truly rely on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob. Note what we're talking about here. We're not talking about the church. We're talking about a remnant and it's the remnant of Jacob. For though your people Israel will be like the sand of the sea, only a remnant within them will return. A destruction is determined, overflowing with righteousness for a complete destruction, one that is decreed. There is that expression the Lord of Sabaoth, the Lord of Hosts, the One who commands the hosts of heaven, the armies of heaven. The Lord of Hosts will execute in the midst of the whole land.

So, devastating judgment on the majority of unbelieving Israel, but mercy and grace of God will be bestowed on a remnant. Though the number might be like the sand of the seashore, the physical descendants, but it is going to be a small number receiving His mercy. Not so different from anyone, the Gentiles or anyone else. Jesus said that the gate is broad and the way is wide that leads to destruction, and there are many who go that way. The gate is narrow and the way is narrow that leads to life. And few find it. That principle we find here in Isaiah as well.

Come back to Isaiah 1. Romans 9:29 quotes from Isaiah 1. And again you'll note the context, it is judgment, Israel is guilty of sin. Verse 2, “listen oh heavens and hear oh earth, for the Lord speaks. Sons I have reared and brought up, but they have revolted against Me. An ox knows its owner, a donkey its master's manger. But Israel does not know, My people does not understand. Alas, sinful nation, people weighed down with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, sons who act corruptly. They have abandoned the Lord, they have despised the Holy One of Israel. They have turned away from Him.” It goes on to say their whole body is sick, from the top of their head to the bottom of their feet. They are diseased, sin has totally corrupted them. They are under judgment. Verse 7, “your land is desolate, your cities burned with fire” and so on. Come down to verse 9, “unless the Lord of Hosts, the Lord of Sabaoth, had left us a few survivors, we would be like Sodom, we would be like Gomorrah.”

Now this is in the context of God's grace. You'll note there will be the survivors, the remnant. So verse 27, “Zion will be redeemed with justice and her repentant ones with righteousness.” Righteousness will become a key word in a moment in Romans 9. “Transgressors and sinners will be crushed together, those who forsake the Lord will come to an end.” But how does chapter 2 go on? Verse 2, “now it will come about in the last days the mountain of the house of the Lord will be established as the chief of the mountains.” Jerusalem will be the capital of the world, the Messiah will be reigning. So you see this balance in the prophets.

So we come back to Romans 9. Isaiah 14:24 says “the Lord of Hosts has sworn saying, surely just as I have intended, so it has happened; just as I have planned, so it will stand.” This is a promise of assurance. The judgment is on Israel, just as God promised He would; the blessings on Israel will come just as He promised. I think it is a terrible, terrible affront to the word of God to take it and say we have new hermeneutical principles so we can transfer the blessings promised to Israel to the church. God says it will be as He has given it, it will stand as He gave it. What a terrible thing—the judgments are for literal Israel but the blessings, I fooled you, you don't get them after all. You can't deal with the scripture that way.

So when we come to Romans 9 what do we have? The balance. From Hosea he demonstrates that the rejection of Israel is part of the plan of God. They are not My people, Lo-Ammi. But that's not the last chapter. I'm dealing with them as though they are not My people, and some people take that today and assume God is done with Israel. That has happened down through the last 2000 years since Christ. It doesn't look like they are God's people anymore. No, they are not, they are under the judgment of God. These are the times of the Gentiles and Israel has experienced the destruction and the judgment dominated by Gentiles. But that's not the last word, one day she will be called the beloved of God. They will be called the sons of the living God. So that's from Hosea.

So the word of God has not failed, we're just seeing unfolded exactly as what God says. And keep in mind the promises of God are also limited to a remnant. And so even today there is a faithful remnant. There are some Jews, not a lot, but there some. And that is a reminder of God's faithfulness. He has not forgotten His people. Some Jews have believed in Jesus Christ as their Savior and Messiah. They are a part of the church now but they are a reminder, God is not totally done with Israel. He has not dealt with them as Sodom and Gomorrah, which was totally annihilated and wiped out. No one is left.

But then as we get to the end and we study this in the book of Revelation. We'll get to it in Romans 11. There we will see that there will be a remnant of Israel that will turn to the Lord as representative of the nation, the 144,000 that we saw in Revelation 7 and again in Revelation 14, for example. They will be part of that remnant in the last days.

So God's word is true. I take it these Old Testament prophecies should be understood exactly as they were given in the Old Testament. We don't reinterpret them. We have a clearer understanding of them with the passing of time, and we can look from our perspective and see the hand of God in it, and the judgment on Israel, and the way God is working.

So we come to verse 30, “What shall we say then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith. but Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone, just as it is written, behold I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. And he who believes in Him will not be disappointed.” You ought to note two key words, the word righteousness is used four times, three times in verse 30 and one time in verse 31. It's going to become a theme in the opening verses of chapter 10. Righteousness, righteousness, righteousness. The other key word here is the word faith. It appears at the end of verse 30, it appears in the first part of verse 32, “they did not pursue it by faith.” It appears in the second part of the quote in verse 33. “He who believes,” same word, verb form of the noun faith. “He who has faith in Him will not be disappointed.” These two themes will carry over into chapter 10—the righteousness of God, the righteousness of God by faith.

So he is explaining here now. We are on track with the plan of God for Israel. What has happened to bring us to this point? Well the Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness attained righteousness. The pagan world, the godless world, we saw some of their activities described in Romans 1. A vile, godless people, by and large turned over to the wrath of God to their sin and its destructive ends. But it is Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness. They couldn't have been any less interested in the God of Israel, in the requirements the God of Israel set down and what He said would be pleasing to Him. They were not looking for God's righteousness at all. But they have attained righteousness. The church at Rome is an example. It is primarily comprised of Gentiles. What do you think they were like? The righteousness which is by faith, that's how the Gentiles got it. They weren't pursuing righteousness by trying to live lives that were pleasing to the God of Israel, but they received the righteousness of God because they believed in the provision God made.

But Israel, in contrast, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law. Why? Because, they did not pursue it by faith as though it were by works. The Jews had received the law of God through Moses on Mt. Sinai and all of its commands. But you know the Law was never given, as we've already been through this in Romans, as a way of salvation. The Ten Commandments were not given as a way to be saved. No one can ever be saved by keeping the Law, by keeping the Ten Commandments. “For by works of the Law no flesh will be declared righteous in His sight,” Paul said in Romans 3. But Israel tried by their own works. What was the law to be? Well they were to believe in the God who revealed Himself, the God who would be their Savior. And as a result of their faith in Him they naturally would do what He said. They received their righteousness by faith, they were to live as His people in obedience to Him. But the Jews failed to believe in God and place their trust in Him. They decided their good works would get them there. And pretty soon it comes as it always does, externals become the issue. And so we have the Law, you don't; we are the people of God, you're not. We don't practice adultery and homosexuality. Go back to Romans 1, all the things the Jews would have abhorred. The Jews were trying to be righteous by their own doing.

Remember the prayer in Luke 18? The Pharisee prayed, “I thank you, Lord, that I am not a sinner like other men.” They thought they could be righteous by their works, their own doing. But they have failed at it. I mean, the law had built in the provision for their failure. You have the whole sacrificial system. You have the Day of Atonement. Why did you have to have the sacrifices? Because, the people would sin. If you sinned you failed to keep the Law. You can't have perfect righteousness by keeping the Law. But the Jews began the externals. You know it's always externals. What is the church today? People think they'll be saved because they were baptized. The Bible says believers should be baptized. You are saved by believing. Then as a believer you obey and are baptized to be identified with Christ and show you are committed to Him. But people move it over and say if you are baptized you are saved, if you go to church you are saved, if you partake of communion or the sacraments as they are called in some churches, you are saved. And the externals always press in. That's what happened to Israel, the externals pressed in.

The Gentiles were going on in their sinful behavior and Paul comes in and preaches the gospel to them. They believe and they get saved. And here are the Jews, struggling every day to keep the Law and all the commandments they added to the Law to be righteous before God and they failed. What happened? Exactly what the scripture says. Let's quote Isaiah, and here we have two verses from Isaiah put together—Isaiah 28:16 and Isaiah 8:14, both quoted here at the end of Romans 9:32, “they stumbled over the stumbling stone, just as it is written, behold I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. And he who believes in Him will not be disappointed.” And you have the two sides—those who find Jesus Christ to be a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. That's what happened to Israel, they were offended by Christ, they stumbled over Him, and they rejected Him. “But he who believes in Him will not be disappointed.” Disappointed means to be put to shame, embarrassed because of failure. In other words if you believe a lie, somebody tricks you, you are embarrassed sometimes. Why? Because, they pulled one over on me. I trusted them, I believed what they promised me. I gave them $20,000 and they told me they would bring me back a Rolls Royce and they never came back. And you were put to shame, you believed a lie, you were gullible. The one who believes in Jesus Christ will never be put to shame, never disappointed because what God has promised will happen.

So you see the scripture has not failed, what Isaiah said has happened. “He lay in Zion a stone, Jesus Christ, the One crucified, in Zion a stone of stumbling, a rock of offense.” How offended they are. “And he who believes in Him will not be disappointed.” Isn't it amazing? Jesus Christ is totally different, to different people. The people who refuse to believe in Him are offended by Him, they stumble over Him. They are doomed to destruction. The same Jesus Christ is a loving Savior and anyone who believes in Him will receive all that has been promised in Jesus Christ. So what is Paul saying? We are exactly where the prophet said we would be. The stone has been laid in Zion, established there with the coming of Jesus Christ and His crucifixion on the cross. Now He is either the object of your faith or the object of your rejection. What has happened to Israel? They stumbled over Him, they are offended with Him. The Gentiles are believing in Him. That explains where Israel is right now.

But we are not done, and that's why we go on. Paul will start the next verse in chapter 10, “my heart's desire and prayer to God for them is their salvation. For I want to testify they have a zeal for God but it's not according to knowledge.” And zeal that is not according to knowledge is of no value. So we understand where we are in the program of God. God is sovereign. He is in control. Everything He has promised will come about exactly as He has promised. He is sovereign in dealing with sinful people. Israel is in sinful rebellion against God and it is God's prerogative to place them under judgment. It is not God's prerogative because He has chosen to limit Himself, to fail to fulfill the promises of blessing to them. The promise of blessing will come, but they will come after the promises of judgment have fulfilled their purpose. So they are being treated now that “they are not My people.” They are being treated now as they are not loved, not the object of mercy. But they will be called “My people,” verse 25, “they will be called beloved, those who will receive mercy.” Right now it says “they are not My people, but they will be called sons of the living God.” Don't misunderstand, God is not done with Israel. What about all the promises? Has the word of God failed? No, this is exactly what God has promised as well.

And further, keep in mind though Israel multiply in number, God still exercises His limiting choice from among sinful, rebellious people, from among sinful, rebellious Israel. And only a remnant will survive to experience the wonder of His salvation. Again, he'll go to that in Romans 11. That's what Isaiah has promised. So how did we get to this place? The Messiah of Israel came, the Law was a schoolmaster that was to help Israel stay on track and be ready for Him. But when He came He was a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense and they refused to believe in Him. But the Gentiles are believing and the Jews are still striving to be acceptable by their works. And the Gentiles are receiving the righteousness of Christ, credited to them because of their faith. And all of this just fulfills what Isaiah said, “I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. And he who believes in Him will not be disappointed.”

Now where are we? What is Jesus Christ to you? Stone of stumbling? A rock of offense? Or One in whom you believed to become a child of God who will receive the promises of God's blessing? Nothing changes. Israel is trapped in their own self-righteousness, refusing to acknowledge their sin and need of the Savior that God has provided. They may think they are righteous, they may be trying their best to be righteous, but there is only one way to receive righteousness from God. And that is by faith in the Savior, His Son. And “the one who believes in Him will not be disappointed.” God never fails to give everything He promises, and He promises great blessing. He promises the privilege of being sons of God to those who believe in Him. The alternative is that Jesus Christ will be a rock of offense and a stone of stumbling. That means the end of that is destruction, and God will fulfill His word for that as well.

Let's pray together. Thank you, Lord, for your word. You are a gracious God, a kind God, a patient God. We are here gathered in your presence today as your people. Father, some may be gathered here who have never placed their faith in Christ. Some may be here thinking that coming to this church week after week will make them acceptable before you, righteous in your sight. Lord, what a horrible mistake. We thank you that Jesus Christ is not only a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, but He is the One in whom salvation is provided, the One in whom righteousness is freely given to any and all who believe in Him. Lord, we praise you for your faithfulness, we praise you that we have full confidence in knowing that you are a God in total control of every detail of life, you are a God who is bringing everything to your appointed conclusion. How privileged we are to belong to you. We thank you in Christ's name, amen.