Romans 9:6-13
6: But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel;
7: nor are they all children because they are Abraham’s descendants, but: “THROUGH ISAAC YOUR DESCENDANTS WILL BE NAMED.”
8: That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants.
9: For this is the word of promise: “AT THIS TIME I WILL COME, AND SARAH SHALL HAVE A SON.”
10: And not only this, but there was Rebekah also, when she had conceived twins by one man, our father Isaac;
11: for though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls,
12: it was said to her, “THE OLDER WILL SERVE THE YOUNGER.”
13: Just as it is written, “JACOB I LOVED, BUT ESAU I HATED.”
Paul began talking about who the descendants of Abraham were that made up the true Israel. He made the point that the promise to Abraham did not necessarily include all of his descendants. He used Old Testament Scripture to establish that true Israelites were those who were children of promise, not of the flesh. He quoted Genesis 21:12 where God told Abraham that his descendants would be named through Isaac, the son he had with Sarah, not the firstborn Ishmael whom he had with Sarah’s maid Hagar.
Previously God had told Abraham that the promised son would be with Sarah, and Paul quoted this from Genesis 18:10. Even though Abraham tried to hurry up the promise of God by having a son with Hagar, God stuck to His word and enabled Sarah to conceive just as He had said.
Paul went on to speak of Rebekah, Isaac’s wife, who was carrying twins. Before they were born, God chose the younger—Jacob—to be the one through whom His purpose would stand. The promise would be carried on through Jacob, not Esau.
The point here is to clarify that the nation of Israel was not birthed from the traditional practice of inheritance to the firstborn son, or through any work of the flesh, but by the promise of God—by what He had spoken and whom He had called.
It was in God’s mind all along that His promises, His salvation, sonship, redemption, justification, and glorification, would not be to the physical nation of Israel—the descendants of Abraham in the flesh—but to the true Israel, established by a word of promise. As we saw in Romans 2:28-29, a true Jew is one who has an inner circumcision of the heart—not the outer circumcision in the flesh. The inner circumcision occurs when one believes in Jesus Christ, receiving salvation by faith.
See Genesis 21:12, Genesis 18:10, Genesis 25:23, Malachi 1:2
7: nor are they all children because they are Abraham’s descendants, but: “THROUGH ISAAC YOUR DESCENDANTS WILL BE NAMED.”
8: That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants.
9: For this is the word of promise: “AT THIS TIME I WILL COME, AND SARAH SHALL HAVE A SON.”
10: And not only this, but there was Rebekah also, when she had conceived twins by one man, our father Isaac;
11: for though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls,
12: it was said to her, “THE OLDER WILL SERVE THE YOUNGER.”
13: Just as it is written, “JACOB I LOVED, BUT ESAU I HATED.”
***
Paul began talking about who the descendants of Abraham were that made up the true Israel. He made the point that the promise to Abraham did not necessarily include all of his descendants. He used Old Testament Scripture to establish that true Israelites were those who were children of promise, not of the flesh. He quoted Genesis 21:12 where God told Abraham that his descendants would be named through Isaac, the son he had with Sarah, not the firstborn Ishmael whom he had with Sarah’s maid Hagar.
Previously God had told Abraham that the promised son would be with Sarah, and Paul quoted this from Genesis 18:10. Even though Abraham tried to hurry up the promise of God by having a son with Hagar, God stuck to His word and enabled Sarah to conceive just as He had said.
Paul went on to speak of Rebekah, Isaac’s wife, who was carrying twins. Before they were born, God chose the younger—Jacob—to be the one through whom His purpose would stand. The promise would be carried on through Jacob, not Esau.
The point here is to clarify that the nation of Israel was not birthed from the traditional practice of inheritance to the firstborn son, or through any work of the flesh, but by the promise of God—by what He had spoken and whom He had called.
It was in God’s mind all along that His promises, His salvation, sonship, redemption, justification, and glorification, would not be to the physical nation of Israel—the descendants of Abraham in the flesh—but to the true Israel, established by a word of promise. As we saw in Romans 2:28-29, a true Jew is one who has an inner circumcision of the heart—not the outer circumcision in the flesh. The inner circumcision occurs when one believes in Jesus Christ, receiving salvation by faith.
See Genesis 21:12, Genesis 18:10, Genesis 25:23, Malachi 1:2
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