An exposition of Paul's Letter to Romans

An exposition of Paul’s Letter to Romans

Chapter 19 of 29 • Chapter 10 • George Booker

Israel's present rejection:

Outline:

Verses 1-7: The reason God has set Israel aside
Verses 8-15: The remedy for Israel's rejection
Verses 16-21: The continuing unbelief of Israel

Comment on Rom 10:1

BROTHERS, MY HEART'S DESIRE AND PRAYER TO GOD FOR THE ISRAELITES IS THAT THEY MAY BE SAVED: This is a repetition of Paul's point in Romans 9:1-5. He knew that he could not actually lay down his life for them; but he could certainly pray for them, unreservedly and without ceasing.

Even though Paul has expounded Israel's prophetically forecast rejection of God's grace, he is yet careful to emphasize that he still has great yearning for Israel to enter into salvation. His desire for their salvation is reflected in his going to the Jews first (Acts 13:46; 18:5,6; Rom 1:16) and also in praying to God on their behalf.

"We see here the love of a Christian to his bitterest enemies. Paul was abused, reviled, and persecuted by his countrymen, yet he not only forgave them, but constantly prayed for their conversion. Unbelievers often accuse Christians, though very falsely, as haters of mankind, because they faithfully declare that there is no salvation but through faith in Christ. Here we should especially remark, that while the salvation of his countrymen was the desire of Paul's heart, and while he was endeavoring in every way possible to call their attention to the gospel, he did not neglect to offer up prayer for them to God.” Robert Haldane

MY HEART'S DESIRE: The word ‘eudokia means either: (a) good pleasure, (b) sovereign purpose (Matt 11:26; Luke 2:14; 2 Thes 1:11; Eph 1:5,9), or (c) benevolence, kind feeling, or desire (Phil 1:15). The latter sense best suits this passage. Paul meant to assure his brethren according to the flesh, that all his feelings towards them were kind, and that he earnestly desired their salvation.

Comment on Rom 10:2

FOR I CAN TESTIFY ABOUT THEM THAT THEY ARE ZEALOUS FOR GOD, BUT THEIR ZEAL IS NOT BASED ON KNOWLEDGE: Paul knew this, because he had earlier strived alongside them, in the same spirit of zeal and in the same ignorance (Acts 8:3; 9:1; Gal 1:14; 4:17; Phil 3:6; 1 Tim 1:13). They knew much of the Scriptures, but in one area they were terribly deficient, as he describes in verse 3.

No practical mistake is more common or more dangerous than to suppose that all zeal about God and religion is necessarily a godly zeal. Some of the very worst forms of human character have been exhibited by men zealous for God and his service; as, for example, the persecutors both in the Jewish and Christian churches. Zeal should be according to knowledge, i.e., directed towards proper objects. Its true character is easily ascertained by noticing its effects, whether it produces self-righteousness or humility, censoriousness or charity; whether it leads to self-denial or self-congratulation and praise; and whether it manifests itself in prayer and effort, or in loud talking and boasting.

Charles Hodge

Comment on Rom 10:3

SINCE THEY DID NOT KNOW THE RIGHTEOUSNESS THAT COMES FROM GOD: In other words, they failed to accept (or "they ignored": NET) what God had graciously provided in His Son: free and unmerited favor and blessing and forgiveness, through faith.

AND SOUGHT TO ESTABLISH THEIR OWN: They sought to establish their own righteousness, by the works of the Law (Rom 9:31,32). Newell says, "The Law was designed not to bring about self-righteousness… but contrariwise, to bring about self-despair."

Saul of Tarsus had been a perfect example of this sort of self-righteousness, as he admitted when he wrote of his previous "zeal", demonstrated in his persecution of the church or ecclesia of God and his scrupulous pursuit of "legalistic righteousness", a righteousness of his own that came from the law (Phil 3:6,9). In this zeal, he reminds us very much of the Pharisee praying in the temple:

"God, I thank you that I am not like other men — robbers, evildoers, adulterers — or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get" (Luke 18:9-12).

THEY DID NOT SUBMIT TO GOD'S RIGHTEOUSNESS: It is by an attitude of faith that a man may subject himself before God:

"I will come and proclaim your mighty acts, Oh Sovereign Lord; I will proclaim your righteousness, yours alone" (Psa 71:16).

Comment on Rom 10:4

CHRIST IS THE END OF THE LAW SO THAT THERE MAY BE RIGHTEOUSNESS FOR EVERYONE WHO BELIEVES: Those who believed in Christ Jesus, as the only means of receiving the imputed "righteousness" from God, saw the eclipse of the Law (in fact, of any "law") as an important step in God's plan of salvation.

THE END: In English we speak of "the end of the matter", meaning the conclusion or termination. We also use the expression "to the end that", in the sense of a goal or purpose. The same possibilities are found in the Greek word "telos". The work of God in Christ put a termination point to the Law, and at the same time it also fulfilled the goal or purpose of the Law. The Law was a "schoolmaster" or "guide" to point the way and to lead others to Christ (Gal 3:24). In a similar vein, Jesus said:

"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them" (Matt 5:17).

But in being fulfilled, in and through Christ, the Law — by necessity — came to its end or conclusion.

In Christ, the Law came to an end in the same way that the seed, when planted, will come to an end in the new plant that springs up, or the bud comes to an end in the blossoming flower.

"The new is in the old concealed; the old is in the new revealed."

The same word, "telos", occurs in John 13:1. There the apostle says that Jesus loved his disciples "to the end". In this passage also, "telos" may convey a couple of related, but different, meanings:

He loved them to the very end of his ministry; as he celebrated the special "passover" with them, he had less than 24 hours of mortal life left to him.
He also loved them to the uttermost, to the absolute conclusion of what love could accomplish: "He now showed them the full extent of his love" (NIV).

FOR EVERYONE WHO BELIEVES: On this point, the Expositor's Bible cites Albert Schweitzer: "Paul adds a certain qualification to the statement about Christ as the end of the law for righteousness. He is that [end] 'for everyone who believes'. This seems to suggest that the law is still applicable to those who do not believe. 'Those who have not yet passed from the being-in-the-Law to the being-in-Christ, and those who allow themselves to be misled into exchanging the being-in-Christ for the being-under-the-Law, are under the Law and are made to feel its power'."

Comment on Rom 10:5

MOSES DESCRIBES IN THIS WAY THE RIGHTEOUSNESS THAT IS BY THE LAW: "THE MAN WHO DOES THESE THINGS WILL LIVE BY THEM": Paul quotes Leviticus 18:5. The Law of Moses does indeed seem to offer life to those who keep it blamelessly (Gal 3:10). Such a goal is praiseworthy, in a way, but it is also foolhardy because it is, just as clearly, humanly impossible.

However, if the Law were to be followed, in faith, recognizing that it pointed forward to the true righteousness of God revealed in Christ, then a man might "live" by such a law! For he would be keeping the Law, as best he was able, as a gesture of his faith in the Lord Himself — and as a means of sustaining that faith; and it would be that faith, in God's promises, that would ultimately save him — not his perfect obedience (which, as we know, was impossible anyway).

Comment on Rom 10:6-8

In Christ, there is no need for us to do the impossible, because, in Christ, God has already done it for us.

These verses cite Deuteronomy 30:12-14. At first sight, the selection of this portion seems inappropriate, since neither "righteousness" nor "faith" can be found here, and there is heavy emphasis on 'doing' something, as in Leviticus 18:5. But the context helps us, for the passage presupposes an attitude of heart, an attitude of loving obedience (Deut 30:6-10) rather than a legalistic attempt to attain righteousness. The whole point of the passage, it seems, is to discourage the idea that the doing of God's will means to aspire after something that is too difficult and out of reach. Actually, if the life is inclined toward God, His will is as near as the mouth and heart (the mouth to repeat the word of God and to pray and praise Him, and the heart to seek Him and yearn for Him).

In short, it does not require a superhuman effort to achieve the righteousness which our Father has prepared in Christ for us. All it requires is a sincere desire to have what they offer, and a will not to let go until the gift is ours: "I will not let you go unless (or until) you bless me" (Gen 32:26).

Comment on Rom 10:6

BUT THE RIGHTEOUSNESS THAT IS BY FAITH SAYS…: "Then" or "For" is better here than "But". This is not a contrast with, but a continuation from the previous verses.

"Righteousness ‘ek’ (by, out of) faith" is the "spirit" of righteousness by faith, personified in Moses! This is an extraordinary expression, since to the devout Jew Moses might better exemplify "the righteousness that is by the Law"!

"DO NOT SAY IN YOUR HEART, 'WHO WILL ASCEND INTO HEAVEN?' " (THAT IS, TO BRING CHRIST DOWN): God has already sent His Son "from heaven" (John 3:13; 6:50,51,58).

DO NOT SAY IN YOUR HEART": This may also be a quotation from Deuteronomy 9:4:

"Do not say to yourself, 'The Lord has brought me here to take possession of this land because of my righteousness.' No, it is on account of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is going to drive them out before you."

"WHO WILL ASCEND INTO HEAVEN?": This verse and the next two verses refer to Deuteronomy 30:10-14: The commands and decrees of the Lord are not beyond your reach. They are not up in heaven, nor are they beyond the sea. Instead, the word of God is near you, and accessible to be heard, and obeyed.

Comment on Rom 10:7

OR 'WHO WILL DESCEND INTO THE DEEP?' (THAT IS, TO BRING CHRIST UP FROM THE DEAD): This has been done already by God: He raised His Son from the dead (Acts 17:31), thereby demonstrated the working of His mighty power (Eph 3:19,20; Rom 1:4).

THE DEEP: The word "abyss" signifies that which has no bottom, and therefore is often applied to the sea as fathomless (Gen 1:2; 7:11, Septuagint).

Comment on Rom 10:8

BUT WHAT DOES IT SAY? "THE WORD IS NEAR YOU; IT IS IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEART," THAT IS, THE WORD OF FAITH WE ARE PROCLAIMING: And so Paul asserts that he and the apostles were proclaiming the same "gospel" that Moses had, which was justification by faith.

Comment on Rom 10:9

THAT IF YOU CONFESS WITH YOUR MOUTH…: This contains no promise about law, and no external ordinances. It requires an open declaration from the lips revealing a sincere belief within. On this basis a man could be saved.

"Confess" is the Greek word “homologeo" (cp. 1 John 1:9). In this context it refers to saying the same thing about Jesus Christ as other believers do. It is an acknowledgment of one's faith in Christ. Obedient Christians in the early church made this confession verbally and in water baptism, as we do today (cp. Matt 28:19,20).

"JESUS IS LORD," AND BELIEVE IN YOUR HEART THAT GOD RAISED HIM FROM THE DEAD, YOU WILL BE SAVED: It is important to realize that verse 9 is not intending to set out all that a man must believe for salvation. What can be said here is the briefest of summaries, and intended to imply other matters of the gospel.

Jesus is Lord because he is the Son of God, sent by God to be Saviour and King over all mankind (cp. Phil 2:11); this was particularly confirmed by the Father when He lifted him to His own right hand (Acts 2:33-36). To openly confess that Jesus is Lord is thus to acknowledge all of God's purpose with His Son, both "the things of the Kingdom and the things of the Name" (Acts 8:12). To believe that God raised him from the dead is to acknowledge God's seal upon him, for it was always upon the basis of his resurrection that the apostles proved that Jesus indeed was the Messiah (Acts 2:31,32,36; 13:35-38).

JESUS IS LORD: It was natural for the church to have a fundamental confession or profession of this fact, since at the beginning it was Jewish-Christian in its composition and therefore had in its background the example of confession in Israel, "The Lord our God is one Lord" (Deut 6:4). The coming of Christ necessitated the enlargement of the confession to include Jesus as Lord:

"For us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live" (1 Cor 8:6).

Comment on Rom 10:10

FOR IT IS WITH YOUR HEART THAT YOU BELIEVE AND ARE JUSTIFIED, AND IT IS WITH YOUR MOUTH THAT YOU CONFESS AND ARE SAVED: References to the "heart" and the "mouth" are clearly carried over from Deuteronomy 30:14 (which is verse 8 here). Here, these two words become symbols of belief and confession. "For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks" (Matt 12:34).

YOU BELIEVE AND ARE JUSTIFIED: The KJV has: "Man believeth unto righteousness", which is better. "Unto" here is "eis", which implies movement toward a specific objective. Belief or faith has one purpose, one goal, toward which it turns and moves, and that is righteousness or justification.

YOU CONFESS AND ARE SAVED: The KJV is similar here: "Confession is made unto ['eis'] salvation." The act of confession is the means by which salvation is demonstrated. Jesus reinforces this when he says,

"Whoever acknowledges ['homologeo': cp. Rom 10:9] me before men, I will also acknowledge ['homologeo'] him before my Father in heaven" (Matt 10:32; cp. Luke 12:8). John writes, "If anyone acknowledges ['homologeo'] that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God" (1 John 4:15).

On this, Haldane writes: "Faith is necessary to obtain the gift of righteousness. Confession is necessary to prove that this gift is received. If a man does not confess Christ at the hazard of life, character, property, liberty, and everything dear to him, he has not the faith of Christ. In saying, then, that confession is made unto salvation, the apostle does not mean that it is the cause of salvation, or that without it the title to salvation is incomplete. When a man believes in his heart, he is justified. But confession of Christ is the effect of faith, and will be evidence of it at the last day. Faith which interests the sinner in the righteousness of Christ is manifested by the confession of his name in the midst of enemies, or in the face of danger."

WITH YOUR HEART: Islip Collyer writes: "We use the word heart now with the same meaning that it bears in the language of Scripture. We refer to the deeper part of the mind where character is formed. A man may believe the Gospel in the sense that he gives intellectual assent to the argument presented to him, yet with such shallow belief that he may quite fail to play the part of a Christian. To use an old phrase, 'he is convinced but not converted.' If, however, he goes further and believes 'with all the heart', it will be 'unto righteousness' (Rom 10:10). 'Ye shall seek me', said God through the prophet Jeremiah, 'and ye shall find me if ye search with all the heart' [Jer 29:13].

"In this sense the word heart is frequently used in the Book of Proverbs. 'My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes delight in my ways' (Prov 23:26). Death and destruction are before the Lord: how much more the hearts of the children of men (Prov 15:11). And referring to the undesirable patron, "Eat and drink, says he, but his heart is not with thee" [Prov 23:7].

"All these passages may contain hidden depths, but the main meaning needs no interpretation. The word heart is used just as we employ it now. We may know what a man says, what he does and how he appears to us, but we do not know what is in his heart; how he thinks and feels. Does that smile cover an opposite feeling which would better be expressed by a scowl? Are those smooth words genuine, or are they intended to deceive? We cannot know what is in the heart of another man. We may be deceived even as to what is in our own, but all hearts are open and naked to God.”

Comment on Rom 10:11

AS THE SCRIPTURE SAYS, "ANYONE WHO TRUSTS IN HIM WILL NEVER BE PUT TO SHAME": This is from Isaiah 28:16: Scripture indicates how faith can be transforming for one's life, replacing fear and hesitation with bold confidence that rests on the sure promises of God. For this purpose Paul uses Isaiah 28:16 (cf Rom 9:33).

In the context of Isaiah 28, "him" here refers to the "sure foundation stone". This stone is the subject here, in contrast to the Temple itself or the Law! This in itself suggests that, in the days of Isaiah, it was understood that there was, and there would be, someone greater than the Temple and the Law, and that someone — as Paul knows — was, ultimately, the Lord Jesus Christ.

The KJV of Isaiah 28:16 reads: "He that believeth shall not make haste", but the NIV for the verse has: "…will never be dismayed." This aligns more nearly with its other New Testament citations (Rom 9:33; 1 Pet 2:6).

Comment on Rom 10:12

FOR THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN JEW AND GENTILE: This belief and its blessing is open to "anyone" — Jew and Gentile alike. Whatever "difference" or "distinction" (NET) there may be in the two groups in certain respects, there is no difference when it comes to the need for Christ and the availability of his salvation (cf Rom 3:22). Thus Paul writes elsewhere, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Gal 3:28).

THE SAME LORD IS LORD OF ALL AND RICHLY BLESSES ALL WHO CALL ON HIM: In Romans 3:30 Paul reasoned that because God is one there is only one means of salvation for all. Now, in a similar way, he argues that because Jesus is Lord, a title that implies that he is over all (both Jew and Gentile, e.g., Isaiah 49:6,7; Psalm 22:7,8; Acts 10:36), then his riches must extend to all. The sense in which he is "rich" to all may be seen from:

Romans 2:4: "the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience";
Romans 9:23: "the riches of his glory"; and
Ephesus 1:7: "the riches of God's grace".

Comment on Rom 10:13

FOR, "EVERYONE WHO CALLS ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED": This is a quotation from Joel 2:32. The same passage, from Joel, had been quoted by Peter on the Day of Pentecost, in his appeal to Jews, to believe, repent, and be saved (Acts 2:16-21). The "salvation" of which Peter speaks involves deliverance for God's people on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem.

A word like "everyone" means, often, representative from all kinds (classes, or races) of mankind, but not of course every single human being. There are many Bible examples of "all" meaning "without distinction" rather than "without exception" (John 1:7, 9; 3:26; 5:28; 8:2; 12:32; 13:35; 1 Tim 2:1,2; 4:15; 5:20; 6:17; Heb 2:9).

WHO CALLS ON: This implies trust, or faith, in the One called upon.

THE NAME OF THE LORD: Jesus bears his Father's Name. Thus those who call upon him, call upon Yahweh or Jehovah, thus fulfilling the words of the prophet (Acts 2:21-39; 3:13).

SHALL BE SAVED: This is the end reached; it forcefully concludes the apostle's argument, namely: Salvation by faith is an opportunity offered to all.

Comment on Rom 10:14

HOW, THEN, CAN THEY CALL ON THE ONE THEY HAVE NOT BELIEVED IN?: Now the apostle turns from the responsibility of the seeker after salvation to emphasize the role that believers are intended to have in God's plan for preaching the gospel. Calling on the Lord is meaningless apart from some assurance that he is worthy of confidence and trust, and that he has something to offer which guilty sinners need. Calling on Him and trusting in Him are two sides of the same coin. The verse suggests that calling on the Lord continues to be a mark of the believer, not simply the first step in the direction of establishing a relationship with him (cp. 1 Cor 1:2).

AND HOW CAN THEY BELIEVE IN THE ONE OF WHOM THEY HAVE NOT HEARD?: Paul proceeds to the second consideration in his closely reasoned argument: Faith depends on knowledge. One must hear the gospel before he can be expected either to receive it or reject it.

AND HOW CAN THEY HEAR WITHOUT SOMEONE PREACHING TO THEM?: The KJV has "without a preacher", which may be misleading, in that it implies (or it may be inferred therefrom) that there is a special office of preacher. This is of course not the case at all. All God's children are (or should be) preachers, in one way or another.

Comment on Rom 10:15

AND HOW CAN THEY PREACH UNLESS THEY ARE SENT?: Preachers will not go forth unless they are sent. Is there any Scriptural support that God intended to send forth preachers to all men? Yes! For starters, Isaiah 52:7, which Paul now quotes, with perhaps an allusion to Nahum 1:15 also.

The context of Isaiah's words was the announcement of god's favor in restoring Jerusalem following the Babylonian captivity. Likewise, the hope of the gospel involves the final and complete restoration of Jerusalem, from all captivity, to become the capital of God's Kingdom on earth.

THEY ARE SENT: To be "sent" suggests at least two things:

that one operates under a higher authority, and
that his message does not originate with himself, but is given him by the sending authority.

The prophets were men who were sent in these two respects. So was the Lord Jesus (John 3:34; 7:16). So is the believer today in his or her witness-bearing capacity. The apostles received their commission from the risen Lord as he in turn had been sent by the Father (John 20:21). In addressing the Roman ecclesia, Paul was careful to state at the very beginning that he was called and set apart for the ministering of the gospel (Rom 1:1).

In the context of Isaiah 52, these preachers are being sent to all men:

”The Lord will lay bare his holy arm in the sight of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God… so will he sprinkle many nations, and kings will shut their mouths because of him" (Isa 52:10,15).

AS IT IS WRITTEN, "HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF THOSE WHO BRING GOOD NEWS!": The NET translates, "How timely is the arrival of those who proclaim the good news." While the Greek word "horaios" means generally "beautiful, attractive, or welcome", it means in this context "coming at the right or opportune time" (Bauer and Danker, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament). In effect, "beautiful feet" are those which arrive at the right time, bringing good news.

The identical Greek word appears in Acts 3, where the man who was crippled from birth is healed by Peter, who makes his feet strong. The man jumped to his feet and began to walk. Leaping about, he praises God. All of this happened at the temple gate called "Beautiful" ("Horaios") (Acts 3:2, 10)!

Referring to Isaiah 52:7, Paul appropriates the same words to himself: As Paul quotes, or paraphrases, Isaiah, the "feet of him" becomes the "feet of those".

There are other examples of Paul (and perhaps others) typically changing from the singular (Christ) to the plural (believers in Christ), when speaking of God's commission to preach:

The singular (Jesus Christ). The plural (Paul, the apostles, and other believers). "I will make you (singular) a light for the Gentiles" (Isa 49:6). "The Lord has commanded us (plural): 'I have made you a light for the Gentiles' " (Acts 13:47). "I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people…" (Isa 49:8). "As God's fellow workers (plural) we urge you not to receive God's grace in vail. For he says…" (2 Cor 6:1,2). "I will never leave you (singular, i.e., Joshua) nor forsake you" (Josh 1:5). "Keep your lives (plural) free from the love of money… 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you" (Heb 13:5,6).

Paul' use of "our message" in the next verse confirms this view.

Comment on Rom 10:16,17

That is, "Who has believed (literally, 'given FAITH') to our teaching? So then FAITH (the same word) comes by teaching…" The idea of "faith" provides the connection between these two verses.

BUT NOT ALL THE ISRAELITES ACCEPTED THE GOOD NEWS. FOR ISAIAH SAYS, "LORD, WHO HAS BELIEVED OUR MESSAGE?" CONSEQUENTLY, FAITH COMES FROM HEARING THE MESSAGE, AND THE MESSAGE IS HEARD THROUGH THE WORD OF CHRIST: "Message" is "report" (KJV), but even better is "preaching" (NIV mg). Hodge writes, "What faith really is, in Biblical language, is receiving the testimony of God. It is the inward conviction that what God says to us in the gospel is true. That — and that alone — is saving faith."

"The word of Christ" here is, in some manuscripts, "the word of God", but most scholars favor the former. "Word of Christ" can mean the word which Christ proclaims, or the word of others who proclaim Christ.

Nevertheless, not all had welcomed his glad tidings and obeyed it. But this also had been predicted by Isaiah: "Lord, who has believed our message?" (Isa 53:1). What a change of atmosphere from Paul's quotation of Isaiah 52:7 (v. 15) to his quotation of Isaiah 53:1 (v. 16)! The prophet foresaw a repudiation of the message about salvation through a suffering Servant. History has sustained that prophecy, as Paul himself stated elsewhere: "Christ crucified… a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles" (1 Cor 1:23).

Comment on Rom 10:18

BUT I ASK: DID THEY NOT HEAR? OF COURSE THEY DID: "THEIR VOICE HAS GONE OUT INTO ALL THE EARTH, THEIR WORDS TO THE ENDS OF THE WORLD": Psalm 19:4 speaks of a universal extension of the gospel to all the world.

Comment on Rom 10:19

AGAIN I ASK: DID ISRAEL NOT UNDERSTAND?: There remains the possibility, however, that in spite of hearing the message, Israel has not understood it. So in all fairness this should be considered, for if it were true, it would be a mitigating factor in their situation. But the very form of the question in the original contains an implicit denial that Israel's failure results from lack of understanding.

At Pentecost Peter spoke of the ignorance of his countrymen as explaining the crucifixion. But as time went on, fewer and fewer Jews in proportion to the total population of the nation responded to the gospel. A hardened attitude set in. The precedent of the Jews who did respond to the gospel, instead of moving their fellow-Jews, only embittered them. Then, as the gospel spread abroad and was received by Gentiles in ever greater numbers, this served to antagonize them still further.

FIRST, MOSES SAYS, "I WILL MAKE YOU ENVIOUS BY THOSE WHO ARE NOT A NATION; I WILL MAKE YOU ANGRY BY A NATION THAT HAS NO UNDERSTANDING": Now Paul quotes Deuteronomy 32:21: Because of the Jews’ lack of faith, and their idolatry, God would turn from them to the Gentiles. By the time Paul writes this, Gentile response to God and His Word had surpassed the response of the Israelites, so the quotation here is apt and telling in its effect. And those Gentiles who lacked special revelation and the moral and religious training which God provided for Israel, have proved more responsive than the “chosen people”.

I WILL MAKE YOU ANGRY: Indeed, the people of Israel were angry at the repentance of the Gentiles. The Acts give considerable evidence of this (Acts 17:4,5; 21:28; 22:21,22; cp. 1 Thes 2:16).

This quotation from Deuteronomy 32:21 is again put to use in Romans 11:11, 14. It echoes the "not-people" passages of Hosea in Romans 9:25,26.

Comment on Rom 10:20

AND ISAIAH BOLDLY SAYS, "I WAS FOUND BY THOSE WHO DID NOT SEEK ME; I REVEALED MYSELF TO THOSE WHO DID NOT ASK FOR ME": Isaiah, in 65:1, proclaimed daring words intended to boldly disturb the self-contented minds of the Jews. This thought is reminiscent of Romans 9:30: the Gentiles, who had not even sought after righteousness, found it on the basis of faith, and also in increasing numbers compared to the Jews.

Comment on Rom 10:21

BUT CONCERNING ISRAEL HE SAYS, "ALL DAY LONG I HAVE HELD OUT MY HANDS TO A DISOBEDIENT AND OBSTINATE PEOPLE": This is from Isaiah 65:2. The Lord God is the one who is seeking, reaching out to His people continually with a plea that Israel return to Him in loving obedience. Sadly, all He meets with is rejection.

The people of Israel not only proved themselves to be "disobedient", but also "obstinate". This word "antilego" means 'to speak against, to talk back, or to contradict". Not only did they refuse to obey, but they spoke and acted against what the Lord asked them to do.

We may conclude that the spiritual condition of Israel does not come from a lack of opportunity to hear the gospel or a lack of understanding of its content. Instead, it must be traced to a stubborn and rebellious spirit like that which arose in the days of Moses and the days of the prophets. It is the more grievous now because God has spoken His final word in His Son and has been rebuffed by those who should have been the most ready to respond to His message.