Proceeding From or Belong To. The Difference is Life and Death.

Paul tackles a massive question in Romans 9.  The Jewish nation had incredible privileges.  They had a status before God unlike any other nation.  They had been given His Law and the order of His described worship.  They had been given a multitude of promises.   They were the nation to whom God chose to bring forth His Messiah – the Lord Jesus Christ.

But they are cut off from Christ.  They are cursed.

The question we would all have is: "How can these things be?"   Did the promises of God to this nation fail?  That's the question Paul deals with.

Romans 9:6–9 (ESV),

⁶ But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, ⁷ and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” ⁸ This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. ⁹ For this is what the promise said: “About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.”

So Paul asserts: The Word of God has NOT failed?   We respond: "It sure looks like it did?"  I was just reading in Isaiah this morning: ““Listen to me, you stubborn of heart, you who are far from righteousness: I bring near my righteousness; it is not far off, and my salvation will not delay; I will put salvation in Zion, for Israel my glory.”” (Isaiah 46:12–13, ESV).  That sounds like a pretty sure promise of restoration and redemption for this nation.  Well Paul explains it this way:

The promises of grace and salvation given to Israel do not apply to all Israel.

That is not double-talk.  In fact  Paul is going to show that this was God's plan from the beginning. In fact it is clearly spelled out in the Old Testament.   There is an Israel that is not part of Israel.  It looks like this[1]:

Now Paul is going to describe these two Israel's (which the diagram above describes as: 1. National Israel; 2. The Believing Remnant.) and the description will fall out like this:

 Stated otherwise: The eternal, grace-filled, redemptive promises of God never applied to national Israel, descendants from Abraham; his offspring, children of the flesh – but no, they applied only to those who "belonged to" Israel, who were counted as offspring, children of God and of promise; and thereby divinely named by God.

Now Paul has, in this passage so far given to us two hermeneutical (interpretive) principles as to how to read and understand the Old Testament. 

Principle #1: Everything culminates in the Messiah, Jesus Christ.  Everything!

Principle #2: The saving promises to Israel apply ONLY to believing Israel.

So let's go back to my Bible reading in Isaiah 46.  The NIV translates the verse this way: “I am bringing my righteousness near, it is not far away; and my salvation will not be delayed. I will grant salvation to Zion, my splendor to Israel.” (Isaiah 46:13, NIV). 

How would you interpret that verse based upon Paul's criteria in Romans 9?

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Previous Blogs on this topic:

1	The Truth. The Whole Truth. And Nothing But The Truth	Romans 9:1-2
2	How They Have Fallen!	Romans 9:3-5

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[1] http://www.spiritandtruth.org/questions/42.htm?x=x