Down an Unfamiliar Road

Preparatory Insights Into Our Study of Romans, Chapter Eleven

I am a firm believer in the principles of Bible study as taught by Dr. Charles A. Briggs (1841-1913), an American theologian.¹ He believed that for us to really understand almost any portion of Scripture, we must begin by noting who the author is and their place in the evolving history of God’s revelation of Himself to the world.

Then we must examine how what was written applied to the people, situation, and times in which it was penned. Were they addressing any particular problem or explaining any issues on which God wanted His voice to be heard. Then to look and see what was said on the same subject being studied by other writers of Scripture to examine their various opinions. If this writer has other books in the Bible, then see if they address the same subject elsewhere to note if there is any deviation from what they said in the text you are studying.

While doing this, the original language which the writer used must be kept in mind. Why? Because if you are reading what they say in English or any other language, the translation may not have revealed all the nuances and possible play-on-words that the writer employed. Also, check to see if any specific original words were translated using a different English word elsewhere in Scripture. This will help in putting what the writer is saying into context.

Then comes an acknowledgment that these writers were influenced by the customs and manners of their ethnicity and time in history. This is especially true when they attempt to explain something that the Spirit inspired them to write by using illustrations which were in vogue at that time. To understand these will help to better understand the point the writer was trying to make.

Following this, the Bible student must take into account that whatever capacity they may possess intellectually and emotionally to comprehend and formulate ideas and inspiration that comes to their mind over is being read, there are many others who are even more qualified to explain what the writer was saying, and had insights that they have. Not only will examining those commentaries help the text blossom into a more significant source of perceptivity, but it will also no doubt challenge what they thought they just read and force them to reexamine the text again. Is this a bad thing? No! It will either help them confirm what they have believed all along and that they have the right concept of doctrine, or it may change their mind because they found out that what they believed cannot be supported by Scripture.

This is the method I have been using in our study of Romans, and we will see how important this is in understanding Paul’s message to both Jews and Gentiles in Chapter 11. I look forward to sharing with you what the Holy Spirit has helped me to assimilate from the text and great scholars over the centuries. Hopefully, it will inspire you not be satisfied with just being a reader Scripture, but a student of Scripture.

And finally, let me say that the most successful students in my classes in Seminary were those who asked questions and shared impressions. So please feel free to do this either in our classes on Facebook or on my Blog page. Believe me, I will endeavor to give you a response as quickly as I can. I promise! – Dr. Robert R Seyda

TO ALL MY PRECIOUS READERS

You are all exceptional people. Despite all the distractions that demand your attention each day, you still stop and take time to study your Bible. I’m sure our heavenly Father looks down and smiles each time He sees you reading His word. I’m sure it brings joy to His heart.

In fact, the Scriptures say that you are a blessed person because your delight is in the Word of God.¹ In other words, it makes you happy when you open the pages of the Bible and let the words penetrate your heart and mind. You are like the Psalmist who said that God’s Word was like a lamp to his feet and a light on his pathway.² The same writer went on to ask God to open his eyes so that he could see the wonderful things contained in His Word.³ But he wasn’t finished, he prayed to the Lord and told Him that this was his way of seeking to know Him better so that by having His Word stored up in his heart it would give him strength to avoid doing anything that displeased his Lord and Master. That’s why I’m so proud of all of you!

We will continue our study of Romans by taking a walk through Chapter 11. As a teacher, I can tell you that this chapter would not speak to you so insightfully if you had not already read Chapters 9 & 10. They are an introduction to what Paul is going to say now to the Church in Rome. That’s why I’m so excited to begin our lesson on this important part of Paul’s message to God’s people. He starts by informing his fellow Jews that in spite of their being a disobedient and contrary people, God has not thrown them away as defective and unusable.

This provides a lesson for us today to see that no matter how long we’ve served the Lord as His children, the danger of growing cold and getting away from His guidance and direction is a constant, daily threat. Yes, there have been times when God allowed us to stray from His Light, but it was all done to teach us a lesson. No matter how far astray we went, He was right behind us, ready to embrace us when we turned around to answer His call to come back to Him.

Remember, when we were grafted into the original vine in order to partake in all of God’s promises that He made to His people, that grafting was necessary because without being in Him we would not be able to survive the storms and diseases of life. If you still call yourself a Christian and are a true follower of Jesus Christ, it’s not because of your strength you made it, it’s because of His Strength, His Love, His Kindness, His Mercy and His Forgiveness.

So I’m excited to start our exploration of Romans 11. But I’m just as excited that you are walking along with me. And since the Holy Spirit is our constant comforter and guide, we will discover some things we never knew before. How exhilarating is that! God bless you for your willingness to make God’s Word an important part of your life. – Dr. Robert R Seyda

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

Dr. Robert R. Seyda

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

SUMMARY OF CHAPTER TEN

The Apostle Paul had been writing earlier about the love he had for his fellow Jews even though they kept focused on keeping the Law and thereby establishing their own righteousness by works. But the problem was, they had no interest in submitting to God’s righteousness. They rejected the idea that Christ had brought an end to using the Law to gain righteousness. They just couldn’t see the impossibility involved, even though Moses had written about righteousness based on the Law, that the person who believed in and practiced them must also live by them down to the last letter. This was a matter of having more zeal than knowledge. It takes both of these combined in one faith. Such faith was now available in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Israel was being given plenty of opportunities to heed the Gospel of Christ, but for the most part, they refused it, thereby hurting only themselves.

By Paul explaining the Law in this light and the keeping of the Law in self-righteousness compared to the righteousness offered by God, it showed the Jews (and the Gentiles) that no one can be saved by keeping the Law. It takes a public profession of the faith in Christ a person has in their heart that Jesus is the Son of God and that God raised Jesus from the dead, that a person can be saved. Jesus kept the law perfectly, something no Jew, and certainly no Gentile, had ever done or could do. And until they believe and confess this as the basis for their faith, there was no other way to get right with God.

The righteousness that God now offers through Christ is based upon faith in Christ’s work on the cross, not keeping the Law. It doesn’t involve the accomplishment of some great feat (like ascending to heaven or descending to hell). That’s impossible, to begin with. As foretold by Scripture, it is extended to all, both Jew and Gentile. And it is offered to both through the same medium of preaching the Gospel. God is no respecter of a person’s national origin, skin color, or gender. He makes no distinction between the Jew or the Gentile because He is Lord of all. This is why the Gospel is such Good News. It is for “everyone,” no matter who they are, that “calls on the name of the Lord” which saves them. Even with this, it still doesn’t depend on the will of man alone. As the Apostle John wrote, “all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”¹

The problem with the nation of Israel, then, is that not all of them accepted the Gospel message, even when they had ample opportunity. But as Moses predicted, the day would come when God would provoke Israel to jealousy by another people, who Isaiah said did not seek God yet found Him, while Israel continually rebelled against Him. And even though their salvation didn’t depend on them but on Christ, they still needed to listen to the Gospel message.

How else were they supposed to believe unless they heard what Jesus had to say? Paul clarifies his point by writing that “faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of God.” The fact that faith comes by hearing the “word of God,” means that by hearing Christ they were listening to God, Paul also asks how those who preach the Word of God can do so unless they are sent? This is why it was so crucial for them to understand that he had been sent by God to tell them the Good News of Christ.

Paul, in quoting Isaiah, writes a compelling line by asking a question; “who has believed what he has heard from us?” In Isaiah’s day, very few believed, even though many heard. That is still true today. Many believe, but few are saved. Jesus said many will cry out to Him on the day of His return, “Lord, Lord” but He tells them to depart because He never knew them at all.² Many are called, but few are chosen. Why? To hear the Gospel and believe it, is not enough…it must be obeyed. Paul saw the same problem that Isaiah identified in ancient Israel, and that’s the fact that “not all obeyed the Gospel.” It takes a person of God with the Word of God and the Spirit of God to make the children of God for the glory of God. There is real power in the Gospel, as Paul wrote, “it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”³ If all we had to depend on were our own power, then none would be ever saved.

The Jews just didn’t get it. They thought that by their law-keeping, they would be accepted by God but that’s legalism and salvation by works, and God will not allow that⁴ because it’s nothing more than filthy rags.⁵ It is “Christ [Who] is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” In other words, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth, one confesses and is saved.”

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

Dr. Robert R. Seyda

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

CHAPTER TEN (Lesson XXXI)

Adam Clarke sees Paul proving, by answering the objection raised in verse 16, that the unfaithfulness of the Jews was caused by their own stubbornness. In fact, the opposition they were now making to the Gospel was foretold and criticized 700 years earlier. And with the acceptance of the Gospel by the Gentiles it was proof that the Jew’s opposition would not in any way keep the Gospel from reaching those who were lost. Furthermore, by the Jews having rejected this Gospel, they could expect no other gospel to come. Having turned their back on Jesus the Messiah, there would no other messiah coming to take His place. The same is true today. Anyone who turns away from reaching God and heaven as outlined in the Scriptures, need not look for another path. There is none!¹

For Scottish Bible scholar Robert Haldane, if Moses was hinting about the calling of the Gentiles, Isaiah screamed it out loud. It was a two-edged sword message. On the one hand, telling the world that the door was opening to the Gentiles to come in and enjoy a seat at the table with Abraham and become part of the family of God through Jesus Christ was remarkable! On the other hand, telling the Jews that because of their obstinance and unbelief, their name card on the banquet table with Abraham had been removed. Not only that but since their invitation to become part of the family of God through Jesus Christ had been returned unanswered, it was obvious they had no interest in changing their ways in order to enjoy the blessings of salvation through Christ Jesus.

But that’s not all. While Haldane sees the wall that kept the Gentiles out of being included in Abraham’s promise for so long having been knocked down, at the same time he sees the Jews trying to erect that wall again because they couldn’t accept God’s decision to enlarge the family of believers. With the Jews, God had employed the outward means of righteousness through the Law to lead men to obedience. This was done without the accompanying influence of His grace applied through the Holy Spirit. With the Gentiles, God used the inward means of righteousness that was accredited to them for their obedience through faith, just as it was with Abraham. The Jews had been chosen through Abraham, the Gentiles through grace. The Jews had their lineage and circumcision to submit as proof of a covenant, the Gentiles had nothing to offer. The Jews sought salvation based on merit, the Gentiles sought salvation based on mercy.² In other words, the Gentiles were walking by faith and the Jews by sight.³ How odd that the Gentiles who were once on the outside looking in are now on the inside looking out. Meanwhile, for the Jews it is exactly the reverse, they’re now on the outside looking in.

When viewing this from today’s perspective, Albert Barnes believes there are a number of things we can learn. First of all, the unconverted in this world are in serious danger without the Gospel. They are sinful, polluted, and wretched. In some countries like India and China, the pagan temples are still around, but in other highly industrialized countries, they have erected their own temples where they gather to worship in self-indulgence and immorality. Secondly, the power of the Gospel still brings salvation to those who believe. And it is not just for one nation.

When it is preached in all the languages of the world it brings about tremendous change in the lives of those who are touched by its power and redeeming grace. Thirdly, the Gospel has not undergone any revision to remain relevant. The Gospel preached today is the same spoken of by Jesus Christ when He gave the great commission to go into all the world and preach it to every person who would listen. Fourthly, those who are touched and changed by the Gospel must themselves be ready to go and share it with others. As was quoted by Paul, “How beautiful are the feet of those that preach the gospel of peace.”

Charles Hodge focuses on the mercy of God in this verse. It shows how God was willing to deal with the most depraved and despised sinner with tenderness and compassion. To love the unlovable. As Paul saw it through the eyes of Isaiah, all the day long He extends His arms of mercy, even to the disobedient and the doubters. This will be testified to by all those who are saved and all those who perish. Everyone will be compelled to acknowledge the glory of God’s patience, as well as their own confusion and self-condemnation. Every soul that is saved will bow before Him who saved them and confess that He is the one who did the work to make it happen. Meanwhile, those who refuse to listen or decline the call and are then destined for eternal separation from God will also have to admit that the person who made that happen was no one other than themselves.⁴

Charles Spurgeon laments that so many who hear the Word and hear it most often, still turn away from it in disgust and apathy. Meanwhile, others who hear it for the first time and are moved and shaken by its clarity and power, are blessed from the beginning. Spurgeon used this illustration to describe some of those who regularly attended his Metropolitan Tabernacle in London that some of them were just like pieces of rubber from India. They are easily impressed, they yield to every truth that is uttered, but they soon get back into their same old shape again.

Remorsefully, after twenty years of hearing the Gospel says Spurgeon, they’ve become what they were before, only this time, they are hardened and will not bend. That is difficult for any pastor to admit. At the same time, Spurgeon recounted how when he dropped in on even the most irreligious individual, whose heart was as hard as a piece of stone, the very first tap of the hammer of the Gospel was enough to shatter the stone so effectually, that it never gets hard again.⁵

Frédéric Godet is impacted by what is said leading up to verse 21. It is the emotional contrast between the conduct of Israel and that of the Gentiles in receiving the Gospel. The Israelites react with stubborn resistance while the Gentiles respond with openness and pliability. The Lord is represented as a Father figure, who from morning to night stands with arms outstretched to receive His children. But instead of hugs and joyful laughter among the Jews, they experience nothing but refusal and contradiction. No one reading this can come away with the impression that this rejection is God’s fault. It is the hardheartedness of the Israelites themselves. Yet, praise God, where sin abounds God’s grace is there in greater quantity.

This story of the Jews and Gentiles seems to come to an end, at least for a season. God’s efforts toward His rebellious people seems to be over. Only the Gentiles now appear destined for all the glory once ascribed to the descendants of Abraham. But Godet asks that we all wait until we read Chapter 11. Once more God will allow the overflowing of His grace to reach out again to Israel. Only this time, instead of feeling pain and disappointment at the Jew’s response, our heavenly Father will see a more glorious and victorious result.⁶ When that will happen no one knows but God. But let’s pray that it comes sooner rather than later to the glory of God.

Karl Barth offers his definition of this “guilt” on the part of the Jews. He says we must stop and consider this: “Guilt is not innocence. Guilt means we can but we won’t.” It is a case of an unwillingness on the part of many to give up what they have for what God has to offer. It’s the refusal to come down from a lofty pinnacle of self-pride and bow humbly at the feet of a new Master. In a way, the Jews simply wanted to sit comfortably in their tents and not go out, like Abraham, to meet the God who has come to see them.⁷ Unfortunately, this is one characteristic of all people who are stubborn in their opposition to God.⁸ God is not a tyrant nor a dictator. He is a loving, caring heavenly Father who wants to protect His creation from the coming disaster on the Day of Judgment.

John Stott hears this message from Paul: God has been actively holding out His arms to Israel to enter His Promised Land ever since He had Moses lead them out of Egyptian bondage. He is like the father of the Prodigal Son in Jesus’ parable.⁹ But the only response He has received from the Jews is that they are comfortable in the pig pen with the estranged relationship they have with Him. Sort of like a wife and husband who are separated. They don’t want a divorce, but they don’t want to live together anymore.

On the other hand, the Gentiles who have had no interest to ask or even seek God are open to His invitation to enter a new relationship. So when the Jews find out that God has another love, they are jealous. But God tells them, I did it on purpose to see if you even cared about our love affair. In spite of this, however, the Jews are determined to remain a disobedient and obstinate people until God apologizes. When reading this, you can almost feel God’s disappointment, His dismay, His grief.¹⁰ The same can be said today of those who live in a Christian nation where the spires of churches, topped with crosses, are seen throughout the land, yet they drive by without giving it a second thought. Oh God have mercy on all of us!

Methodist preacher Charles Simeon imagines these closing words of Paul as an altar call. He hears Paul saying to the Jews, you must seek Him if you want to find Him. It must be you calling out to God, not God calling out to you. Yes, He is sovereign and dispenses His blessings to whomsoever He will, and under whatever circumstances He deems necessary. But you must desire His blessings. And if you have no desire to seek them, then you are choosing the consequences. And what consequences will they be?

Look at all those over the centuries who have turned away from God. Remember Sodom and Gomorrah. Thank Him for the patience He has already exercised on your account. Take into consideration his long-suffering in reaching out to you with the hand of salvation. Even at this moment, He is waiting to be gracious to you. And once you are His you can be content as you go on your way weeping with gladness, bearing the seed of His Word for sowing, so that you can come back with shouts of joy, bringing bundles of grain from the harvest He has given you¹¹.¹²

As the Apostle Paul closes out this part of his letter to the church in Rome, we not only hear the cries of desperation by the Prophet Isaiah, but they are magnified by Paul’s own grief at the plight of his people, the Jews, and their belligerent denial of Jesus as the Messiah. From Moses, down through the Prophets, continuing through Jesus the Messiah’s time here on earth up until Paul, the Jews had shown a rebellious spirit in complying with God’s Word and Will for them. The Apostle was hoping that this time they would listen. Today if a minister expresses the same passion for the lost they are criticized as being insensitive to people’s personal freedoms to be who they want to be. But the day is coming went it will no longer be a gentle invitation to be saved, but a cry desperation by God’s servants for all to come in while there is yet time. That day may be closer than we think.

THE END OF CHAPTER TEN

In the 1957 Broadway show, “The Music Man,” the character named Professor Harold Hill said to a librarian named Marian Paroo: “You pile up enough tomorrows, and you’ll find you’ve collected a lot of empty yesterdays.” How many of us have either heard or said, “I’ll do that tomorrow, or mañana?”

Otherwise known as procrastination, the habit of putting things off to do later is often a sign of something more serious. Yes, there is a difference between procrastination and laziness. For some people, they delay doing things they know they must do because they have an uncomfortable feeling about it. Sometimes it’s a feeling of potential failure or low self-worth. They know that they are not perfect, but they have no interest in proving it.

It’s not surprising that unpleasurable tasks are often put off for later. It’s another way of waiting for just the right time and conditions before starting. A person wants to be in the right frame of mind before they tackle the job. But in reality, it is a case of “avoidance behavior.” The person is not sure that once they start, they’ll have enough motivation to finish. But that doesn’t solve the problem, it only complicates it. The longer a person waits, the harder it will become to get moving. Then they start beating up on themselves for being so indecisive.

Some psychologists suggest that it is a matter of subjective value. That’s when an individual feels that the value of what they want or need to do is not high enough to start working on it right away. To overcome this, they must find a way to boost the subjective value of their project. That begins by comparing it to other things they are doing and see if it comes out more important than what they are involved in now.

One of America’s founders and Presidents, Thomas Jefferson, advised: “Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today.”¹ This certainly conforms to what Jesus said about making things right with others before we try to make things right with God.² And the Apostle Paul warned that we should not let the sun go down on our anger.³ In other words, don’t drag disagreements and grudges from one day to the next. But the Apostle James put it more succinctly when he wrote: “Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit’ – yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.”⁴

So don’t let yourself get caught in this trap of procrastination. Things only get harder the longer you wait. By letting time go by, new factors may enter the picture that makes what you need to do even more complicated. As Professor Hill said, if you pile up enough tomorrows, you’ll find that you’ve collected a lot of empty yesterdays. But I like the way he finishes his advice, “I don’t know about you, but I’d like to make today worth remembering. – Dr. Robert R Seyda

DO YOU KNOW HOW THE APOSTLES DIED?

Let this serve as a reminder that Christianity did not survive in the early years after Christ’s ascension because of it’s political power, nor did the Apostles strut around in pomp and glitter. They paid the ultimate price just as their Master did so that the message of salvation could reach the ends of the earth.

Seeing what they went through will make our personal sufferings and discomfort as Christians a minor nuisance. Some of our fellow believers have endured the same treatment even at the present time. But they were inspired by the intense persecution and cold cruelty the Apostles and disciples of Jesus Christ faced in those times, and all because of their undying faith.

Matthew 
Suffered martyrdom in Ethiopia, killed by a sword wound.

Mark 
Died in  Alexandria, Egypt, after being dragged by horses
through the streets until he was dead.

Luke 
Was hanged in Greece as a result of his tremendous preaching to the lost.

John
Faced martyrdom when he was boiled in a huge cauldron of boiling oil during a wave of persecution in Rome. However, he was miraculously delivered from death. John was then sentenced to the mines on the prison island of Patmos. He wrote his prophetic “Book of Revelation” on the Isle of Patmos. The Apostle John was later freed and returned to serve as Bishop of Edessa in modern Turkey. He died as an old man, the only Apostle to die peacefully.

Peter
He was crucified upside down on an x-shaped cross.
According to church tradition, it was because he told his tormentors that
he felt unworthy to die in the same way that Jesus Christ had died.

James the brother of our Lord
Just “The Leader” of the church in Jerusalem, he was thrown over a hundred feet down from the southeast pinnacle of the Temple when he refused to deny his faith in Christ. When they discovered that he survived the fall, his enemies beat James to death with a fuller’s club. This was the same pinnacle where Satan had taken Jesus during “The Temptation.”

James the Great
Son of Zebedee, James was a fisherman by trade when Jesus called him to a lifetime of ministry. As a strong leader of the church, James was ultimately beheaded at Jerusalem. The Roman officer who guarded James watched amazed as James defended his faith at his trial. Later, the officer walked beside James to the place of execution. Overcome by conviction, he declared his new faith to the judge and knelt beside James to accept beheading as a Christian.

Bartholomew
Also known as Nathaniel, he was a missionary to Asia.
He witnessed for our Lord in present-day Turkey. Bartholomew was martyred for his preaching in Armenia where he was flayed to death by a whip.

Andrew
He was crucified on an x-shaped cross in Patras, Greece.
After being whipped severely by seven soldiers, they tied his body to the cross with cords to prolong his agony. His followers reported that, when he was led toward the cross, Andrew saluted it in these words: “I have long desired and expected this happy hour. The cross has been consecrated by the body of Christ hanging on it.” He continued to preach to his tormentors for two days until he expired.

Thomas
Thomas was stabbed with a spear in India during one of his missionary trips
to establish the church in the sub-continent.

Jude
Was killed with arrows when he refused to deny his faith in Christ.

Matthias
The Apostle chosen to replace the traitor Judas Iscariot,
was stoned and then beheaded.

Paul
Was tortured and then beheaded by the evil Emperor Nero at Rome in A.D. 67.
Paul endured a lengthy imprisonment, which allowed him to write his many epistles to the churches he had formed throughout the Roman Empire. These letters, which taught many of the foundational doctrines of Christianity, form a large portion of the New Testament

We know Judas Iscariot died by suicide as an embarrassed traitor. But there are thousands of other portraits in God’s Museum of Martyrs. The first, and foremost, is Jesus of Nazareth. Also, Stephen who died as Paul stood by and watched. And down through the centuries thousands of portraits have been added. It is the greatest honor any follower of Jesus can receive. Do you think you would be willing to pay the price for your portrait to hang there? Jesus said that if you aren’t, then you are not one of His true disciples. – Dr. Robert R Seyda

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

Dr. Robert R. Seyda

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

CHAPTER TEN (Lesson XXX)

Charles Hodge believes that Paul is quoting the passage from Isaiah out of the Septuagint version where the sense is accurately expressed.¹ A literal translation of the Hebrew reads, “I am sought of them that asked not for me, I am found of them that sought me not.” To understand this verse in context, we go back to Isaiah and see that in the first verse of chapter 65 it says that God will manifest Himself to those of “a nation not called by His name.” Ironically, it was because God was being overlooked by those closest to Him but could be found among those the farthest away.² For Charles Spurgeon, looking at this quote by Paul from Isaiah he can see the manifestation of God’s sovereign grace. God is choosing and saving whom He wills, irrespective of their condition; exercising the sovereignty of His mercy in saving the most undeserving.³

Frédéric Godet finds the thought of Romans 10:20-21 being analogous to that of Romans 10:30-31. The uncomplicated ignorance and corruptness of the Gentiles was an easier object for the light of God’s Word to shine through than the religious fog of hardheadedness and hardheartedness of the Jews. That was difficult to comprehend since God’s voice had been heard by the Jews for centuries. The words: “I was made manifest,” are intended by the Apostle to refer to how the truth about God and the Savior Jesus Christ was revealed through the preaching of the Gospel.⁴

Karl Barth takes a philosophical approach to interpreting this verse. For him, the Jews were looking for a way out by asking if it might not be possible to remove their guilt by claiming that although they heard the Gospel, they were not expected to understand it and do away with the Law. This would require them to explain their definition of the word, “understand.” Is that something that takes very little effort, or does it require a great deal of study? Can anyone with basic intellect grasp or comprehend the Gospel, or would it necessitate having a mind with advanced intellect to which a strong faith? That would immediately prompt another question, Where is such understanding to be found? Is there anyone, anywhere who has that level of spiritual understanding on their own without training?

The Jews based this objection on the fact that when deep things pertaining to God and His wisdom are being discussed, no one is able to comprehend such lofty and deep ideas with mere human intellect. That’s why for Isaiah to say that the Word went to a nation void of understanding, and to a people who were less than wise men and women was ridiculous. How could Isaiah dared claim that God permitted Himself to be discovered in His boundless mercy by those who did not seek Him. In other words, He revealed Himself to those who weren’t even asking about Him. That clearly means that there is no exalted pinnacle of religious insight to which a person must climb on our own. If we are to ever know God it will be because He reveals Himself to us. Karl Barth says that what is demanded of us here is that we should believe that we are understood by God, not that we understand Him.⁵

Verse 21: But about the people of Israel God says, “All day long I stood ready to accept those people, but they are stubborn and refuse to obey me.”⁶

Now Paul adds what else Isaiah said about the children of Israel. These words should impact anyone who has experienced offering all they had to help someone in desperate need, only to have them reject it, and then go around denouncing and making fun of the offer. Solomon says this was the same thing that happened to Wisdom when she said: “I have called you so often, but still you won’t come. I have pleaded, but all in vain.”⁷

And the prophet Jeremiah had a similar message: “Again and again down through the years, God has sent you His prophets, but you have refused to hear.”⁸ Later on, things had not gotten better, so God Himself cried out: “I kept sending you prophet after prophet to give you this message, ‘Every one of you should turn back now from your wicked ways and to stop worshiping other gods, and that if you obeyed, then I would let you live in peace here in the land I gave to you and your fathers.’ But you wouldn’t listen or obey.”⁹

Things had grown even worse by the time Jesus came. In fact, He told a parable about an estate owner who rented out his land to tenant farmers. But when he sent emissaries to collect the rent, they abused them and even killed some. Finally, he sent his only son and they dragged him out of the vineyard and killed him. And since the owner now had no heir to bequeath the land to, they assumed that they would then be able to take ownership by default.¹⁰ Then we are told: “When the chief priests and other Jewish leaders realized that Jesus was talking about them – that they were the farmers in His story – they wanted to get rid of Him but were afraid to try because of the crowds, for they accepted Jesus as a prophet.”¹¹

It wasn’t so much that these people were in error and did not see the light sent to them, but that in spite of seeing the light and hearing the message they continued to close their ears and eyes to the truth. In fact, one time in the wilderness God was so upset at the way the children of Israel had turned their backs on Him, that He threatened to wipe them out. He told Moses: “Let me alone that I may destroy this evil, stubborn people!’ the Lord told me, ‘and I will blot out their name from under heaven, and I will make a mighty nation out of you, mightier and greater than they are.”¹² Was that enough to make them change their ways? It doesn’t seem so. Later on, we hear Moses himself saying: “I know how rebellious and stubborn you are. If even today, while I am still here with you, you are defiant rebels against the Lord, how much more rebellious will you be after my death!”¹³

And when Samuel said that the children of Israel were rejecting him as their leader, God told him: “I am the one they are rejecting, not you—they don’t want me to be their king any longer. Ever since I brought them from Egypt they have continually forsaken me and followed other gods. And now they are giving you the same treatment.”¹⁴ Even during the time of the prophet Jeremiah, God was still lamenting their hardheartedness. He said: “I sent my servants, the prophets, to protest over and over again and to plead with them not to do this horrible thing I hate, but they wouldn’t listen and wouldn’t turn back from their wicked ways; they have kept right on with their sacrifices to these idols.”¹⁵

Even after the Messiah came, they were still belligerent. As they attacked Stephen, as he was preparing to die he told them: “You stiff-necked heathens! Must you forever resist the Holy Spirit as your fathers did? Name one prophet your ancestors didn’t persecute! They even killed the ones who predicted the coming of the Righteous One—the Messiah whom you betrayed and murdered.”¹⁶ So it is no wonder that one of the persecutors who stood there watching Stephen being stoned to death would later find the same resistance to his message after his conversion to believe in Jesus on the road to Damascus.

In writing to the Thessalonians, that convert who watched Stephen die, Paul of Tarsus, told them that he understood they were going through the same thing that the churches in Judea had gone through: “Dear brothers, you suffered what the churches in Judea did, persecution from your own countrymen, just as they suffered from their own people, the Jews. After they had killed their own prophets, they even executed the Lord Jesus; and now they have brutally persecuted us and driven us out. They are against both God and man, trying to keep us from preaching to the Gentiles for fear some might be saved.”¹⁷

So Paul was on the right track by warning the Jewish believers in Roman about the persecution they could expect from their own countrymen. It should not cause them to doubt their own acceptance of the Gentiles as fellow believers. They must understand that such vitriol resulted from their jealousy in hearing that God had rejected them in favor of the Gentiles, and it had been done by the prophet from Galilee named Jesus, whom they have accepted as the Messiah, who chose Paul as His Apostle to the heathen nations. They had already forgotten what happened to those in the wilderness who rebelled against God and Moses, and were left to die to keep them from going into the Promised Land.

The Bishop of Paul’s hometown of Tarsus believes that Paul is painting a picture here of God holding out His hands and calling people to Himself. If God’s arms are open wide, this would project the form of a cross.¹⁸ Pelagius agrees. Isaiah made promises to the Gentiles while issuing warnings to the Jews as a way of affecting both groups. And since this appears to be God holding out His arms it is representative of the cross.¹⁹ How true that is even in everyday life. If a person holds out their arms in a sign of welcome, but the person they are calling does not respond or even walks away. What was meant as a sign of acceptance is now turned into a sign of rejection.

Reformer John Calvin believes that it was the mockery by the Jews to God’s compassion and love that led Him to push them aside in favor of a people who had never met Him and did not know Him. This seems like a clear message from the words in Isaiah 65:2. When we combine it with verse 1 the picture is even clearer. If we can imagine in our own minds, we see God in His Son standing facing the Jews with His arms outstretched saying, “Come unto me all of you that are burdened down and I will give you rest.” Meanwhile, behind Him stand the Gentiles. And because God’s back is turned to them that don’t know who He is nor have they ever attempted to find out.

But suddenly, Jesus turns around and faces the Gentiles. Now they can see Him and He gives the same offer for them to come to Him and they readily accept. How often have they spoken to their idols who had mouths but could not speak, had ears but could not hear, had eyes but could not see?21 Now this God can speak, hear, and see. What a revelation! So we can understand why the contempt shown to His truth by the Jews makes them more detestable than the ones He is now inviting to know Him so He can love them even more.22

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

Dr. Robert R. Seyda

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

CHAPTER TEN (Lesson XXVIX)

Professor F. F. Bruce catches a play on words in the phrase that Paul uses from Hosea to make his point of why God decided to choose a new people to worship Him. Let’s put it this way to make it clearer: Because they had provoked God to jealousy by their worship of a “non-god” (Hebrew, lo’-’el), He would provoke them to jealousy by means of choosing a “non-people” (Hebrew, lo’-‘am). To understand the term “non-people,” this was meant to describe any ethnic or racial group that was never part of God’s electing purpose in the same way Israel was predestined to be.

When we compare what Moses said here in Deuteronomy 32:21 with what was said in Hosea 2:23, we get the whole picture. In Hosea this is combined as follows: “I will plant her for Myself in the land. Those who were not loved, I will call, ‘My loved ones.’ Those who were ‘not My people,’ I will call, ‘My people.’ And they will say, ‘You are our God!’” This may sound complicated in English, but in Hebrew, it is a beautiful play on words. One of the closest renderings I would give is as follows: “Those who are mere people, I will now call, My people, and they will call Me, ‘their God.’”¹

How sad then that God must turn around and say to those who were His people, you are my people no more. I would hate to think that one day this will be repeated if God had to say to America, “You were once My proud Christian nation, but you are My proud Christian nation no more.” And how would America, who was founded by Christian forefathers, feel if God were to choose some other nation that was founded by nonbelievers to be His Christian nation? It would be a sad day indeed.

Jewish scholar David Stern takes note of the same play on words that makes this verse even more interesting. For him, Paul is not surprised that Israel failed to understand the true impact of these words, but will not accept that as a valid excuse. Israel should have understood it. The poetic parallelism of Deuteronomy 32:21 Paul quotes here in verse 19 draws a clear comparative argument. After all, if a non-nation, that is, a nation void of understanding about God, understands the message declared without words by the stars in heaven, how much more should Israel have understood it from the written Word of God!

But what makes the argument even stronger is that this passage shows that God predicted long ago He would do it exactly as planned to provoke Israel to jealousy and make them angry. How could they as a nation under God, who had gone so long and come so far, still not understand the destiny of disobedient people? How much clearer could God have made it? No wonder they missed the prophet from Galilee who everyone celebrated as the true Messiah.²

Verse 20: Then Isaiah is bold enough to say this for God:

“The people who were not looking for me—

they are the ones who found me.

I made myself known to those who did not ask for me.”³

Now Paul brings Isaiah back into the conversation as if to add insult to injury. Not only were the Gentiles not looking for a Savior like the Jews but when they found out that God was looking for them they responded by love and faith and were accepted into the family of God without having to go through circumcision or keeping of the Law. Furthermore, they were not required to practice all the rites, rituals, and keep the holy days. When Isaiah used the term, “found me,” it doesn’t mean that God was living or hiding somewhere and they were in search of Him and came across His dwelling place, but it means they became aware of why He was who He was. And it was God who arranged their encounter with Him by sending them His emissaries and representatives.

In Isaiah’s mind, it was Israel God wanted to make a light to the world. Unfortunately, they had fallen into such darkness by the time the Messiah came that they didn’t recognize Him. So God sent His Son as a light to the world and let that light shine in every corner where the Gospel went. And he found those outside the camp of Israel who were willing to recognize Him, reverence Him, and revere Him as their Redeemer and Savior. Ironically, all Gentiles who had embraced Judaism were despised by the Jews and treated as second-class members of their society. And now, it was those very same people that He was sending out to be lights into a world so dark in ignorance and idolatry.

Our Lord illustrated it in his parable about the king who first invited his friends to his son’s wedding. But when they refused to come, he sent out his servants with this commission: “The wedding feast is ready, and the guests I invited aren’t worthy of the honor. Now go out to the street corners and invite everyone you see. So the servants did, and brought in all they could find, good and bad alike; and the banquet hall was filled with guests.”⁴ The Apostle John explained it this way: “You see, our love for Him comes as a result of His loving us first.”⁵

Bible teacher John Gill believes these words should be applied to the nations of the world. The inhabitants of these lands were interested in the things of this world. Their philosophers constructed their theories around the wisdom of the human thinking. The religious among them dabbled in the observance of superstitious rites and ceremonies. What morality there was among them, ascribed to the basic instincts of right and wrong, good and bad. But none of them wanted to learn about a Messiah because they knew nothing of Him. Therefore, none of them asked about Him, sought counsel from Him, or asked about His coming into the world. But for the Jews, this was their greatest expectation. Nevertheless, they did not evangelize the peoples of the world. Any Gentiles who had any interest in the God of Abraham or the Torah had to come to the Jews for instructions.

And yet, such was God’s grace and goodness that He sent emissaries to tell the Gentiles about the Messiah through the preaching of the Gospel. They didn’t deserve it nor had they earned it. Only by God’s kindness and goodness, grace and mercy was it brought to them. And once they heard the Gospel they were given faith to believe. Thus the Spirit of God directed them to Him, and it was there they found new life, peace, pardon, righteousness, and rest for their weary souls. That’s why it is such a mystery why the Jews could not have found this pearl of great price.⁶ Clearly, Christ manifested Himself among them in word and miracles. Yet, because of the hardness of their hearts, they had no internal revelation of Him since they turned away His Spirit who wanted to bring them His grace and salvation. That’s why Paul’s heart broke because they showed no interest to explore this prophecy in order to gain some knowledge of the mystery of God’s grace.⁷

Martin Luther sees Paul’s quote of Isaiah was to censor the Jews who boasted of their merits in order to have a special place in God’s kingdom. It was certainly a shock to hear that they had been rejected by God in place of the Gentiles. Luther recalls the incident where Jesus told His Jewish critics that during the time of Elisha there were many widows in Israel, but God sent him to the pagan widow in Sarepta.⁸ That’s when they wanted to throw Jesus over the cliff. They could not stand it when He told them that their pride in the self-righteousness of the Law did not meet God’s standards.⁹ So you can imagine what ire Paul thought he might cause by telling the Jewish believers in Rome that it was for that reason God called him to go and evangelize the Gentiles. Therefore, they should do the same.

John Calvin believed that in his day some Rabbis had taken it upon themselves to interpret this passage from Isaiah as a promise of God that He would cause the Jews to repent of their renunciation of Jesus. But for Calvin, it could not be any clearer that these words pertained to the Gentiles. How else could you understand the words, “The people who were not looking for me?” Paul would not have used this Scripture if he were talking about his fellow Jews. His point was on how God rejected the Jews when they rejected His Son and sent the message of salvation to a people who didn’t know anything about Him, were looking for Him, or asking for Him. He wanted to adopt new members into the family of God. Calvin also sees in this a representation of the calling of all the faithful out of the world’s masses. None who have been saved were anticipating that the Lord would come calling. But when He knocked they opened the door and He came in.¹⁰

Albert Barnes focuses on Paul’s statement about the boldness of Isaiah saying such a thing about God going in search of a people who did not know Him in order to make them His own. Isaiah said this with no hesitation, boldly, and with assurance. The word Greek word apotolmaō used here and translated as “bold” means to be venturous, daring. And why wouldn’t it be? There’s no doubt but that the Jews would have found this to be a very unpopular doctrine if they truly believed Isaiah was talking about Gentiles replacing them as the apple of God’s eye. The Jews saw themselves as extremely righteous and the Gentiles as extremely wicked. But it was for the very reason of the Jew’s wickedness that God cast them aside. This was the point which Paul was making and no doubt expected the most opposition on the part of the Jews. But Paul did not want anyone overlooking the fact that God was the One who let Himself be found. It was the knowledge of Him that they were given, even though they had not sought after Him before.

How ironic that the Gentiles would forsake their idols in favor of God when the Jews had done just the opposite. Barnes sees this application to believers today from a somewhat different angle, He says that no one should expect to find God if they do not seek for Him; or that, in fact, any would become Christians if they did not seek for it, and make an effort to find it. He bases this on the phrase in Isaiah’s prophecy, “ones who found Me.” Barnes notes that it is in the past tense here in English, but in the Hebrew, it is in the present tense. That then would make it even more obvious that the time would come when God would say this of Himself; The time would come for the Gentiles to be brought to the knowledge of who I AM.¹¹

I would disagree with Barnes if he meant that there are sinners in the world looking for God or Christ. What they are looking for is that which is missing in their lives to bring them joy and peace. Many are desperately looking for help to get them out of their dire situation of sinful bondage. It’s that desire to be free that causes God to send His servants to tell them the Good News of salvation and liberty.

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

Dr. Robert R. Seyda

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

CHAPTER TEN (Lesson XXVIII)

One Jewish scholar gives us his view of how this subject of the message going out to all the world applied to the Jews. He sees as a pretend debate between Paul and an imagined opponent who raises the question about Paul’s contention that Israel should have listened to the messengers who were sent with the Good News about the Messiah and how salvation can come only in His name. The opponent readily admits, for argument’s sake, that people were sent to proclaim the Gospel. However, that’s not the problem. It isn’t that Israel didn’t hear, it’s the fact that they never got the whole message.

But Paul has his answer ready. “Yes they did get the whole message,” Paul exclaims. I can prove it to you from Psalms where it says the message went out to everyone in the world, including the Gentiles.¹ It isn’t that Israel didn’t get the message, it’s that they didn’t listen.² As an educator, I was often surprised when on a test a student would claim that the reason they missed the question is that it was never taught in class. But when they were shown the lesson they saw that the information had been shared. It’s just that they weren’t listening. This is the point Paul is trying to make about the Jews

So the point here is that if any heathen can look up into the heavens and see the splendor of creation and admire the complexity of the flora and fauna that surrounds them, and this leads them to believe that there is a higher power, how much more should the Jews, who saw the power of God displayed in Egypt to free them, – a cloud by day and pillar of fire by night in the Sinai wilderness to lead and protect them, and drink water from a rock, not believe the message of God sent them through the prophets, and now through His Son, along with signs and wonders. Truth is, they have no excuse.

Verse 19: Again I ask, “Did the people of Israel not understand?” Yes, they did understand. First, Moses says this for God: “I will use those who are not really a nation to make you jealous. I will use a foolish nation to make you angry.”³

Now that Paul, with the help of Isaiah and David, has shown that the word about God has gone out for Jews everywhere to hear that the Messiah had come and brought with Him God’s final covenant of salvation by faith, the next question is obvious: Did they understand what they heard? To answer his own question, Paul said yes, they did understand what was being preached to them. So what did God think when the whole nation of Israel did not respond and accept Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah? Paul now turns to Moses to present his case on what happened when the Jews turned down a golden opportunity to become the first partakers of the final covenant.

God decided to make the same offer to the Gentiles in hopes that it would make Israel jealous. But He didn’t choose the Gentiles because He had been courting them all along. In fact, not only did they know nothing about Him, they weren’t even the descendants of Abraham through Isaac. We know that for a long time, up until recently, it was considered unacceptable for a man or woman to marry outside the ethnic, cultural, and religious circle they were born and raised in. When I was younger, a biracial marriage was considered out of bounds and their children usually bore the brunt of the discrimination and ridicule. Of all people, for a Jew to marry a Gentile was an abomination.

Augustine is sure he knows why Paul called the Gentiles a “foolish nation.” Augustine believes it was because those who are really not God’s people should not only be called foolish but should not even be called a nation. Today we might parse these words so that the term “people” would indicate a civilized group, and the word “nation,” would mean a nation-state with Laws, boundaries, functioning government, who believe in God. No wonder the Jewish people would be angered if God exchanged their place in the covenant with Abraham with a heathen group without any real identity as a nation.

How could God give something so precious away to such a worthless group? But Paul’s point is, God didn’t give it away. The Jews threw it away when they rejected the gift of His Son, so He didn’t want to see that go to waste. Yes, the Gentiles were idol worshipers. But at one time or another Israel had worshiped idols as well. No, Gentiles didn’t have the Law of Moses, but they did have the Laws of nature and of conscience. Strangely enough, God had more faith that they would accept the Gospel and put away their idols and worship Him than He did the Jews. Did not Paul say earlier: “If a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the Law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision?’⁴ It was that God was out to get rid of and destroy the descendants of Abraham, He was only trying to make them jealous.⁵ After all, God had a right to choose whom He wanted to be His children.⁶

Ambrosiaster feels that the Jews flew into a rage when they were told that a people, which had lived without God as barbarians, now claimed Yahweh as their own and would receive promises which had originally been made to them through Abraham. No doubt that’s why they treated Paul with such disrespect and disdain when he came to their synagogues with the message that he, a Jew, a Pharisee, had been handpicked by God to take the message of His love to the Gentiles. It’s no wonder they became jealous. Nothing destroys a person like jealousy. Still, even jealousy did not drive them back into the arms of God.⁷

Pelagius has a similar view as to why Israel did not comprehend that the Gentiles were to be called to faith in God. Paul lists Moses first because the prophets after him spoke of the salvation of the Gentiles. It is same as someone who has a disobedient son and in order to help him appreciate what was coming to him, decided to give half of his inheritance to his slave. That way, if the son repents at least he will appreciate what he receives. And if the son does not repent, some of the inheritance will not be wasted.⁸ This same thought is illustrated in Jesus’ parable of the prodigal son.⁹

Martin Luther sees God using Isaiah to tell the people of Israel that if they provoke Him by choosing another god to worship, He in turn will provoke them by choosing a different nation to bless with all the promises He gave to Abraham. As such, this would be His form of punishment for what they did in forsaking the One who brought them into existence. For Luther, these are actually words of grace because as he sees it: “God saves only sinners, makes wise only the foolish and the weak, enriches only the poor, and makes alive on the dead.”

There is no debate over the fact that the Gentiles were not God’s chosen people. Their way of life and idolatry made them a foolish nation indeed. But God’s love was such that he chose them that He might save them by His grace instead of waiting on the Jews to acquire salvation by good works. But instead of becoming jealous and humbling themselves, the Jews became angry and murmured when they saw how others were given so freely and without their merit what they had worked for so hard and with such zeal. Luther concludes that had they really sought God, they would have been glad that others were saved, and would not have been enraged at the conversion of the Gentiles.¹⁰

John Calvin notes that Paul had argued from the beginning that Gentiles were not to be excluded from getting to know God better, even though up until now God had depended on His creative powers to woo them to Himself. But what can we say about Israel, asks Calvin? Another way to put this would be, “What excuse does Israel have for not recognizing that the hour of salvation had come?” They certainly had more than creation to convince them. They had Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses and the Prophets. Like the pillar of light in the wilderness, they had been led by God to the safety of the Promised Land. What can you say about people who had been illuminated by a far different light of truth than the rest of the world? Why is it that aliens and complete strangers would run to a light they could barely see from far away when the people of God had that same light within arms reach?

So is it reasonable then to ask, why those who followed the Law and were bathed in such light of God’s presence did not immediately discern the story of Jesus as being that of the Messiah? Why did those who were so highly favored of the LORD fall out of favor so quickly? Was it because they just didn’t see the truth? No! It was because they didn’t want to accept the truth.¹¹ It is easy to see how this same dilemma can be attributed to our world today. We certainly can understand why people in some far off land where the Bible has not yet been translated might be given some extra leniency for not having yet embraced the Gospel. However, what about those who live where TV and radio stations broadcast religious content on an hourly basis? We certainly would expect God to have more tolerance for those who’ve never heard than for those who choose not to listen.

Robert Haldane questions why Israel did not accept the fact that they already knew about what was coming with regard to the Gentiles. It is clear that such an event was already recorded in the sacred texts. If they would just read Deuteronomy, Chapter 32 , they would see that this outcome was foretold by Moses long ago. In fact, Moses introduces it in such a way that it was sure to get their attention.

Listen to these words: “Hear, oh heavens, as I speak! Listen, earth, to the words from my mouth!” In verse 5, Moses declares the ingratitude and unbelief of Israel. ‘God is not the One who is corrupt; the defect is in His children. They are an evil and sinful people.” But Moses is not through. He continues his complaint to verse 20. This is where he pronounces what God said would happen to them because of their ungrateful disobedience: “I will hide My face from them. Let’s see what will happen to them. They are nothing more than a sinful and untrustworthy group of children.”

Then in verse 21 comes the chilling words that Paul uses here: “They have made Me jealous by worshiping something that is a non-god. Yes, they have made Me angry with their foolish religion. So I will make them jealous with a non-group. I will make them angry with a disorganized band of humans. How could any astute Jewish scholar miss this in their study of the Torah? But what they surely would have missed was that this prophecy would be fulfilled with the conversion of the Gentiles by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. No doubt that is what Paul was trying to say all along.¹²

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

Dr. Robert R. Seyda

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

CHAPTER TEN (Lesson XXVII)

Let us remember, that when the Holy Spirit was poured out on the Day of Pentecost, most of the 3000 who were converted were visiting Jerusalem for the Feast. So what happened when they left to go back home? I’m willing to believe that most of them went back and told everyone in their local synagogue what happened to them. It should not then be a surprise if many of those who heard them also were converted. So in a sense, that’s how the Gospel first began to spread around the world. Later on, Paul would tell King Agrippa about his own missionary efforts to the Jews in Damascus, Jerusalem, Judea and then to the Gentiles in various places.¹ So this was not wishful thinking on Paul’s part, he knew that by the time the Roman believers received this letter, they too would agree that it took the hearing of the Gospel to bring about conversion to Christianity.

For early church scholar Ambrosiaster, the spreading of the Gospel in an effort to announce the Good News of salvation was hindered only by the fact that some chose not to believe. In spite of the message being loud and clear to the Gentiles and often accompanied by miracles, they were so absorbed with idolatry that they closed their ears, minds, and hearts. As far as the Jews were concerned, many refused to listen even though the Messiah was part of their belief. So not only were they deprived of faith, but also forgiveness for their unbelief and sins.²

John Calvin, however, takes Paul’s question here of whether or not people have heard God’s message to be an indictment of the Gentiles. As far as Calvin was concerned, God had already manifested His divinity from the time of the Garden of Eden onward. It may not have been through preaching, but by way of the testimony of His creation.³ It seems clear that Calvin is taking his cue from what Paul said back in Romans 1:18-20.⁴ Bible scholar John Bengel agrees with Calvin’s point of view that what Paul is doing here is making an analogy between the declaring of the glory of God by the heavens to the Gentiles and by the all-penetrating Gospel to the Jews. Therefore, the comparison must rest mainly on what Paul intended to say rather than on what the quote from Isaiah implies.⁵ However, the question in the next verse seems to suggest that Paul was talking primarily to the Jews.

However, Adam Clarke hears Paul asking had not the message of salvation been carried to every Jew in Palestine, and within the reach of all those who immigrated to the surrounding Gentile countries where it was not only shared with the Jews but the Gentiles as well?⁶ When taken that way, then all mankind is without excuse for not heeding the message. Clarke also points to the stars as testimonies of God’s eternal power and sovereignty over the habitable world. Not only that, but emissaries had taken the Gospel of Christ to proclaim His eternal goodness and mercy to all the land of Palestine, and to the entire Roman empire.⁷ There is not a part of the Promised Land in which these glad tidings have not been preached. Furthermore, there is scarcely a place in the Roman empire in which the doctrine of Christ crucified had not been heard. So the fault lies not with the Gospel or those who preached it. Rather, it belongs to those who hear but refuse to listen and believe. God amply furnished them with the truth about faith and of salvation.⁸

Albert Barnes also sees a dual condemnation of both Gentiles and Jews in verse 19 on the question of whether or not they had heard. But it was not whether they had heard, but whether they had listened. The Apostle strongly affirms that they had heard. It wasn’t a case of one formula of salvation for the Gentiles and another for the Jews, perhaps permitting the right message being preached to the wrong crowd. It was the same for both. Some objected that there had not been enough time for it to reach everyone. So why should Paul jump to the conclusion that they didn’t believe when in fact they hadn’t yet heard? But Paul was not buying the argument. He saw it as an excuse, not a fact.⁹

Charles Hodge addresses the dilemma of deciding who the Apostle Paul was referring to. He notes that when we examine the concise and abrupt manner of the expression in this verse and the ones that follow, it still leaves in doubt who exactly Paul was speaking about. Many scholars take this verse as a reference to the Jews. It was intended to show them that in the words of their own Psalmist they could not excuse themselves on the grounds they hadn’t heard. The truth was, they had heard. Not only from Jesus Himself, but the Apostles after His ascension. In other words, they had been given ample opportunity to believe. However, there are other scholars who object to this view. They say this interpretation does not fit well in the context of this passage. As they see it, Paul is not speaking of the rejection of the Jews or the grounds for it, but of the calling of the Gentiles.¹⁰

Hodge points to the fact that in verse 16 Paul insinuates that the Jews were to be the first to hear the good news of salvation through Christ and then the Gentiles. With that in mind, then Paul is working backward by implying in this verse that the Gentiles have indeed heard because in the next verse (19) he clearly speaks of the Jews as having heard even before the Gentiles received the message. Hodge feels that Paul is vindicating the propriety of extending the Gospel to all nations, both Jew and Gentile.

So this verse, therefore, is to be taken as Paul’s way of saying that this had already been accomplished because there was no longer any reason to separate Jews and Gentiles when it came to being eligible to hear and believe the Gospel. As Paul put it, “The middle wall of partition had been broken down,¹¹ the gospel of salvation, the religion of God, was free from its shackles, the offers of mercy were as wide and general as the proclamation of the heavens.”¹²

Hodge then concludes that the Apostle beautifully and appropriately expresses this in the sublime language of the Psalmist: “The heavens declare the glory of God, the dome of the sky speaks the work of his hands. Every day it utters speech, every night it reveals knowledge. Without speech, without a word, without their voices being heard, their line goes out through all the earth and their words to the end of the world.”¹³ As Hodge sees it, Paul’s purpose in using the words of the Psalmist was to convey to everyone that the proclamation of the Gospel was never meant to be limited to just one people. It was to be free from all national or ecclesiastical restrictions just as the lights in the sky shine down on everyone on earth. Hodge doesn’t think that Paul was quoting the Psalmist as though the ancient writer was speaking of the Gospel. He was doing the same as many do today. They use the Bible or poetry to express their thoughts in a more rhetorical way than in everyday language.¹⁴

Frédéric Godet follows the same line of thinking and feels that Paul chose to use the writings of the Psalmist to show that just as the heavens and their starry hosts proclaim God’s existence and perfections throughout the whole universe, although they are mute, still they let their voices echo in the hearts of all mankind through the Word of God. So in Paul’s mind, he sees himself and all those who spread out over the known world to preach the Gospel are like the stars that shine in the heavens. As far as we can tell from the record, there was not a synagogue wherever Paul went that had not been filled with the Gospel; not a Jew in the world who heard any of the Apostles preach could justly plead ignorance on the subject. For Godet, the Apostle was evidently speaking of those who had heard but did not believe. On a personal note, Godet asks how could Origen and Calvin think Paul was speaking here only to the Gentiles? It is the case of the Jews’ stubbornness in not believing what they heard that is being pleaded here.¹⁵

F. F. Bruce gives us his studied analysis of Paul’s intent in this verse in quoting Psalm 19. He finds no difficulty in applying the words of the Psalmist, in their original context, to the universal witness of the heavenly bodies. So it is not necessary to look for a reason to assign Psalm 19:4 as a prophecy of the world-wide dissemination of the Gospel in Paul’s day. Rather, the dissemination of the Gospel to the world can be illustrated by using how the light of the heavenly bodies disseminates its light to the world. Some find this to be an exaggeration. As far as they can tell, the Gospel had not been carried throughout all the earth, not even to all the lands that were then known to inhabitants of the Graeco-Roman empires. Paul was fully aware of that fact. He no doubt was thinking not only of his own plans to evangelize Spain, a province where the name of Christ was not yet known but of the work of the other Apostles and those yet to come.¹⁶ It was a “representative universalism” that we find implied in the quotation of Psalm 19:4 both here and previously in Romans 1:23, but also in Colossians 1:5–6. So it need not be taken literally.¹⁷

Douglas Moo also sees Paul using the scripture as an exaggeration, much as a person would say today, to impress the fact that they were fully aware of some advice, “I’ve heard that a million times!” Moo admits it puzzles him that Paul would claim that the message has gone into all the earth, even in his day. But we may find a clue in the second line of Psalm 19:4 in the Septuagint Greek Version (LXX) that uses “inhabited world.” Since Paul, like many others, including Jesus, used the Septuagint version, he may have taken this as a reference to the Greek and Roman empires of his day. He may have also been thinking in terms of ethnic groups or regions rather than villages or individuals. Thus, a person can either view Paul’s application of this verse as hyperbole or a generality.¹⁸

I find no reason to criticize Paul for such a broad statement that implied the Gospel had reached every corner of the world. We must remember that he was writing to the Church in Rome. Any world that he was referring to here was the one in their minds. And at that time the world consisted of the Greek and Roman Empires that has spread to Europe, Asia Minor, North Africa and the Middle East. Remember, Copernicus did not convince humanity that the world was round until 1543. The point Paul was making was to use what David said about how the message of the heavens had been shown to all who looked into the sky with how the Gospel had been delivered to everyone who would listen.