CHAPTER IX. _Paul expresses his great sorrow for the unbelief and obstinacy_ _of the Jews_, 1-3. _Whose high privileges he enumerates_, 4, 5. _Points out the manner in which God has chosen to communicate the_ _knowledge of his name to both Jews and Gentiles; and how he_ _deals, whether in judg... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Romans 9:3. _FOR I COULD WISH THAT MYSELF WERE ACCURSED FROM_ _CHRIST_] This and the two preceding verses are thus paraphrased by Dr. Taylor: I am so far from insisting on the doctrine (of the rejection of the Jews) out of any ill-will to my countrymen, that I solemnly declare, in the sinceri... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Romans 9:4. _WHO ARE ISRAELITES_] Descendants of Jacob, a man so highly favoured of God, and from whom he received his name _Israel-a prince of God_, Genesis 32:28; from which name his descendants were called _Israelites_, and separated unto God for his glory and praise. Their very name of _Is... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Romans 9:5. _WHOSE_ ARE _THE FATHERS_] Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, the twelve patriarchs, Moses, Joshua, Samuel, David, c., c., without controversy, the greatest and most eminent men that ever flourished under heaven. From these, is an uninterrupted and unpolluted line, the _Jewish people_... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Romans 9:6. _NOT AS THOUGH THE WORD OF GOD HATH TAKEN NONE_ _EFFECT._] A Jew might have objected, as in Romans 3:3: "Is not God bound by his faithfulness to continue the Jews as his peculiar Church and people, notwithstanding the infidelity of the major part of them? If they are brought to a... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Romans 9:7. _NEITHER BECAUSE THEY ARE THE SEED OF ABRAHAM_, c.] Nor can they conclude, because they are the natural descendants of Abraham, that therefore they are all of them, without exception, the _children_ in whom the promise is to be fulfilled. _BUT, IN ISAAC SHALL THY SEED BE CALLED._... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Romans 9:8. _THAT IS, THEY WHICH ARE THE CHILDREN OF THE FLESH_] Whence it appears that not the children who descend from Abraham's loins, nor those who were circumcised as he was, nor even those whom he might expect and desire, are _therefore_ the Church and people of God; but those who are m... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Romans 9:9. _FOR THIS IS THE WORD OF PROMISE_, c.] That is, this is evidently implied in the promise recorded Genesis 18:10: _At this time I will come_, saith God, and exert my Divine power, and _Sarah_, though fourscore and ten years old, _shall have a son_ which shows that it is the sovereig... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Romans 9:10. _AND NOT ONLY THIS_] A Jew might object: "Ishmael was rejected, not by the sovereign will of God, but because he was the son of the _handmaid_, or _bond-woman_, and therefore unworthy to be the peculiar seed; but observe, this was not the only limitation of the seed of Abraham wi... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Romans 9:11. _FOR_ THE CHILDREN _BEING NOT YET BORN_] As the word _children_ is not in the text, the word _nations_ would be more proper; for it is of _nations_ that the apostle speaks, as the following verses show, as well as the history to which he refers. _NEITHER HAVING DONE ANY GOOD_] T... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Romans 9:12. _THE ELDER SHALL SERVE THE YOUNGER_] These words, with those of Malachi, _Jacob have I loved, and Esau have I hated_, are cited by the apostle to prove, according to their typical signification, that the _purpose of God, according to election_, does and will stand, not of _works_... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Romans 9:14. _WHAT SHALL WE SAY THEN?_] To what conclusion shall we come on the facts before us? Shall we suggest that God's bestowing peculiar privileges in this unequal manner, on those who otherwise are in equal circumstances, is inconsistent with _justice_ and _equity? By no means_. Whatev... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Romans 9:15. _FOR HE SAITH TO MOSES, I WILL HAVE MERCY_, c.] The words of God to Moses, Exodus 33:19, show that God has a right to dispense his blessings as he pleases for, after he had declared that he would spare the Jews of old, and continue them in the relation of his peculiar people, whe... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Romans 9:16. _SO THEN IT IS NOT OF HIM THAT WILLETH_, c.] I conclude, therefore, from these several instances, that the making or continuing any body of men the peculiar people of God, is righteously determined not by the _judgment, hopes_, or _wishes_ of men, but by the _will_ and _wisdom_ o... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 17. _FOR THE SCRIPTURE SAITH UNTO PHARAOH_] Instead of showing the Israelites mercy he might justly have suffered them to have gone on in sin, till he should have signalized his wisdom and justice in their destruction; as appears from what God in his word declares concerning his dealings with... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 18. _THEREFORE HATH HE MERCY ON WHOM HE WILL_] This is the apostle's conclusion from the facts already laid down: that God, according to his own will and wisdom, in perfect righteousness, bestows _mercy_; that is to say, his blessings upon one part of mankind, (the Jews of old, and the Gentile... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 19. _WHY DOTH HE YET FIND FAULT?_] The apostle here introduces the Jew making an objection similar to that in Romans 3:7: _If the truth of God hath more abounded through my lie unto his_ _glory_, that is, if God's faithfulness is glorified by my wickedness, _why yet am I also judged as a sinne... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 20. _NAY BUT, O MAN, WHO ART THOU_] As if he had said: Weak, ignorant man, darest thou retort on the infinitely good and righteous GOD? Reflect on _thyself_; and tell me, after thou hast abused the grace of God, and transgressed his laws, wilt thou cavil at his dispensations? God hath _made, c... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 21. _HATH NOT THE POTTER POWER OVER THE CLAY_] The apostle continues his answer to the Jew. Hath not God shown, by the parable of the potter, Jeremiah 18:1, c., that he may justly dispose of nations, and of the Jews in particular, according as he in his infinite wisdom may judge most right an... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 22. What _IF GOD, WILLING TO SHOW_ his _wrath_] The apostle refers here to the case of _Pharaoh_ and the _Egyptians_, and to which he applies Jeremiah's parable of the potter, and, from them, to the then state of the Jews. Pharaoh and the Egyptians were _vessels of wrath_-persons deeply guilt... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 23. _AND THAT HE MIGHT MAKE KNOWN_] God endured with much long-suffering the _vessels of wrath_: 1. To _show his wrath_, and to make his power known. And also, 2. That he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy. _WHICH HE HAD AFORE PREPARED UNTO GLORY_] The Jews we... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 24. _EVEN US, WHOM HE HATH CALLED_] All the Jews and Gentiles who have been invited by the preaching of the Gospel to receive justification by faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, and have come to the _Gospel feast_ on this invitation.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 25. _AS HE SAITH ALSO IN OSEE_] It is a cause of not a little confusion, that a uniformity in the orthography of the proper names of the Old and New Testaments has not been preserved. What _stranger_ to our sacred books would suppose that the _Osee_ above meant the Prophet _Hosea_, from whom,... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 26. _AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS_, c.] These quotations are taken out of Hosea, Hosea 1:10, where (immediately after God had rejected the _ten tribes, or kingdom of Israel_, Hosea 1:9, _then saith God, Call his name Lo-ammi for ye are not my people,_ _and I will not be your God_,) he adds, _yet... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 27. _ESAIAS ALSO CRIETH_] The apostle pursues his argument, which had for its object the proof that God, for their infidelity, had rejected the great body of the Jews, and that but a few of them would embrace the Gospel, and be saved from that besom of destruction which was now coming to swee... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 28. _FOR HE WILL FINISH THE WORK, AND CUT IT SHORT_, c.] These appear to be forensic terms, and refer to the _conclusion_ of a _judicial proceeding_ the Lord has _tried_ and _found them guilty_, and will _immediately execute_ upon them the punishment due to their transgressions.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 29. _AND AS ESAIAS SAID BEFORE_] What God designs to do with the Jews at present, because of their obstinacy and rebellion, is similar to what he has done before, to which the same prophet refers, Isaiah 1:9: _Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we_ _should have bee... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Romans 9:30. _WHAT SHALL WE SAY THEN?_] What is the final conclusion to be drawn from all these prophecies, facts, and reasonings? This: That _the Gentiles which followed not after_ _righteousness_, c. This, with the succeeding verses, together with what belongs to the same subject in the beg... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Romans 9:31. _BUT ISRAEL, WHICH FOLLOWED AFTER_] But the _Jews_, who have hitherto been the people of God, though they have been industrious in observing a _rule_ by which they supposed they could secure the blessings of God's peculiar kingdom, yet have not come up to the _true_ and _only rule... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Romans 9:32. _WHEREFORE?_] And where lies their mistake? _Being_ _ignorant of God's righteousness_-of his method of saving sinners by faith in Christ, _they went about to establish their own_ _righteousness_-their own method of obtaining everlasting salvation. They attend not to the _Abrahamic... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Romans 9:33. _AS IT IS WRITTEN, BEHOLD, I LAY IN SION_] Christ, the Messiah, is become a stone of stumbling to them: and thus what is written in the prophecy of Isaiah is verified in their case, Isaiah 8:14; Isaiah 28:16: _Behold, I lay in Sion_, i.e. I shall bring in my Messiah; but he shall... [ Continue Reading ]