Down an Unfamiliar Road

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.

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

Dr. Robert R. Seyda

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

CHAPTER TEN (Lesson XXVI)

Reformer John Calvin makes one more point that I think is important. Real faith is not speculation or grand wishing, it is grounded on nothing else than the truth found in God’s Word. The Apostle Paul teaches that faith does not spring from mere doctrine. If this was not true, then we could say that faith can arise from what anyone says. So Calvin more disregards all the devices invented by mankind when we speak of the certainty of faith. No doubt this is why Calvin was so against what he felt the Roman Catholic Church taught about “implicit faith.” This charge was levied against a teaching by the Vatican that there are some people who were so incapable of understanding the Gospel so as to have faith for salvation on their own. This could only come by partaking of the sacraments the church offered through which faith is imputed to them.¹

On the subject of how faith comes not just by hearing but by listening to the Word of God, Robert Haldane agrees with the Prophet Isaiah that faith comes only by listening. Listening means more than just detecting noise or hearing something. The Greek word akoē which Paul uses here includes understanding the thing heard. Thayer in his Greek lexicon places it under the definition of “instruction.” and ties it to Isaiah 53:1 where the Hebrew word shĕmuw`ah means instruction, teaching, doctrine.

When I was in seminary, we used to say of some students, they only came to get a degree, not an education. They were hearing their professors, but they were not listening and comprehending what they were saying. The same with our spiritual learning. It comes when that which is heard is listened to, assimilated, and made a part of one’s understanding. This, in turn, produces faith. That’s why it was so necessary that the Gospel be preached, especially to the Gentiles. They were not raised to learn under the teaching of their Rabbis. They never memorized the Ten Commandments. Their manners and customs were not based on Laws given by God to their forefathers. There was no such thing as saving faith among heathens who had never heard of Christ. So they were hearing the Gospel for the first time. And yet, upon hearing the Word of God they listened and believed and thereby gained faith.²

Charles Hodge comments on Paul’s use of Isaiah to make a point. The Apostle’s purpose for using the prophet’s message was for the Jews to believe. Since Isaiah was one of their Prophets, they were required to accept it and lean upon it as true. That’s because without it there could be no solid ground; nothing on which to build their faith. Therefore, they are to understand that faith comes from hearing the message, and upon hearing, listening to what they’ve heard and believing that it is genuine.

And why shouldn’t they? This message was given to Isaiah by the word or command of God. That makes it a sure foundation for faith to build on. And since everyone is required to believe, and believing only comes from hearing and listening, then the message must be sent to all so they can call upon the name of the Lord to be saved. This was to be a universal Gospel, not meant only for the Jews. So with these two ideas presented in the context, namely, the necessity of knowledge to faith, and the purpose of God to extend that knowledge to the Gentiles, both are confirmed in this verse.³

Albert Barnes also sees Paul drawing a comparison between the Word of God preached during Isaiah’s time and his own. The fact that it existed during Isaiah’s day confirmed that it was not a new thing that only came into existence with the Gospel. Paul wanted the Jews of his day to know that this message of salvation had already been sent out. Originally, it was the doctrine of a coming Messiah who would be Savior of all who believed, not just the Jews. And now that the Messiah had come it would apply from this day on. All who want to be saved must call upon the name of Yeshua – Jesus of Nazareth. That’s why in the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah he proceeds to give the reasons why the report would not be taken seriously and why the Messiah would be rejected, suffer, and die.

One reason was that the Jews were awaiting a Champion, a Warrior who would free them from Rome’s clutches. But Isaiah said He would be a root out of dry ground; a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. So because Yeshua did not come with splendor, pomp, and circumstances as a prince, He was rejected, and put to death. This no doubt is what led to His being rejected by thousands. But it was not all bad news for the Messiah. The ending parenthesis says, “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the messenger who brings good news the good news of peace and salvation.”⁴ So, could it be that it was the passion and death of Jesus who claimed to be the Messiah is what turned off most of the Jews to the message of His resurrection? They wanted an unbeatable warrior to champion their cause and reestablish the throne of David so they could be admired in the world again. No doubt Paul was trying to point out that this Sacrificial Lamb on the cross had defeated their enemies, hell, death, and the grave, and would one day return as the Lion of Judah,⁵ the bright and morning star⁶.⁷

Charles Spurgeon is also struck by what Isaiah said in that so many who heard the message from God did not obey it. When we understand that the message of the Good News Isaiah is talking about is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, then we can understand why the Gospel has such an authority about it. Why else would the Apostle make obeying it so indispensable? People must believe that anything God says is true. To disbelieve is to disobey. Spurgeon then has a message for those who are wise enough to seek salvation by becoming a listener to God’s Word. But they must make sure that it is God’s Word they are hearing because the words of mankind cannot save them. In fact, it may deceive them. It might give them a false sense of security. The hearing that saves, is listening to what comes by the Word of God.

That’s why, says Spurgeon, it is not necessary to run here and there seeking to hear a particular speaker. Instead, you should run to wherever you can to hear the Gospel preached in all of its power, authority, and truth. For faith comes by hearing and listening to the Word of God. Yet, all who have heard it have not obeyed it! There are many who have heard it from their childhood, and yet they have not obeyed it. Notice the word “obeyed,” for the Gospel comes with the force of a command. If you reject it, you sin against it, for it is your duty to accept it in order to be saved.⁸

Verse 18: But I ask, “Didn’t those people hear the Good News?” Yes, they heard—as the Scriptures say, ‘Their voices went out all around the world.  Their words went everywhere in the world’.”⁹

Paul isn’t finished with the subject of the difference between hearing and listening. It wasn’t a question whether or not the people were hearing what God was saying through His prophet, but were they listening and accepting what He said? Again, Paul uses Isaiah to point out that the message went around the known world at the time, in every synagogue where the Jews had migrated to for whatever reason. So there was no excuse for not hearing. The Jews that Paul was writing to understood what Isaiah said and why it was relevant in their day.

After all, does not their own Talmud talk about voices that go around the world? We read where there was a controversy among the Rabbis concerning the writings of the early Rabbinic sages. There was a legend about Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, who was a priest of Midian.¹⁰ The story was that he heard some breaking news. So the question is asked: “What news did he hear that he came and became a convert [of Yahweh]?” A Rabbi named Joshua believes that Jethro was told about the battle with the Amalekites since this story of Jethro is told right after Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.¹¹

But another Rabbi named Eleazar of Modim said that Jethro heard about the giving of the Torah and was converted. For when the Torah was given to Israel the news traveled from one end of the earth to the other. This caused all the heathen kings to tremble in their palaces. That prompted then to reverence God so that: “While in His temple, all cry, ‘Glory,’”¹² was fulfilled.¹³ So it was Rabbi Eleazar who believed that it was upon hearing the Word of God that Jethro was converted. Therefore, this idea of faith coming by hearing was not new to the Jews.

But there is another aspect to consider what Paul is referring to here by using Isaiah’s words. On the Day of Pentecost when the disciples and followers of Christ were gathered in the Upper Room for prayer and meditation, they were unnoticed by those passing by down on the street below until Luke tells us: “Suddenly there was a sound like the roaring of a mighty windstorm in the skies above them and it filled the house where they were meeting… Many devout Jews were in Jerusalem that day for the religious celebrations, having arrived from many nations. And when they heard the roaring in the sky above the house, crowds came running to see what it was all about, and were stunned to hear their own languages being spoken by the disciples… Parthians, Medes, Elamites, men from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia Minor, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, the Cyrene language areas of Libya, visitors from Rome—both Jews and Jewish converts— Cretans, and Arabians. And we all hear these men telling in our own languages about the mighty miracles of God!”¹⁴

The Holy Spirit used Peter that day to preach a sermon on a subject many of these visitors had never heard before, about a man named Jesus of Nazareth, His crucifixion, death, and resurrection. He used the words of David to convince them that what he was saying was not about him, but about the Messiah. And now this same Jesus is sitting on a throne in heaven next to God the Father. Peter’s sermon moved those who listen very deeply, so they asked what should they do to be saved. Peter told them: “Each one of you must turn from sin, return to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; then you will also receive this gift, the Holy Spirit.”¹⁵ Then Luke tells us: “Those who believed Peter were baptized – about three thousand in all! They joined with the other believers in regular attendance at the Apostles’ teaching sessions and at the Communion services and prayer meetings.”¹⁶ So we can see, that the Word of God and only the Word of God has the power to save.

Dr. Paul Tillich, a German-born theologian and philosopher, whose controversial discussions of God and faith in an attempt to connect traditional Christianity with modern culture once wrote: “The first duty of love is to listen.”¹ Sometimes we forget that the best way of showing our love for someone is simply to listen to what they have to say about how they feel before we start talking.

One of the most effective ways to show strength as a mature person is to practice two types of listening: active listening and authentic listening. Active listening involves getting involved in the conversation. Instead of gazing off into the distance while they are talking, or drumming your fingers on the desk or even began to do something else while you listen, look into their face and encourage them to share openly and honestly. You can do this by saying to them, “Tell me more,” or “That’s very interesting,” or even, “It sounds like you had a lot to deal with.”

Authentic listening involves active listening plus giving them feedback on what you think you hear them saying, and keep confirming with them that you understood them correctly. Don’t do it in a way that they feel you are questioning their honesty, but as a way to test your own interest in what they’re telling you. You can do this by asking, “Let me see if I understood you correctly. This is what I heard you say. Then repeat not just the words spoken but what you detected was the point they were trying to make.

Research has shown how listening can transform both professional and personal relationships. Set the goal of fully understanding the thoughts and feelings people are trying to express in all your conversation. Pose questions and communicate insights to draw people out, to open them up, and to clarify what is said. Encourage people to say what is behind their thoughts. Resist the urge to express your viewpoint, or give an answer, which shuts people down.

Not only will this help you to understand the value and contribution others can offer, but it will also create a new openness – a platform for genuine interaction – that allow you and everyone else to gain a greater respect for each other. I always told those who came to me for counseling that I did not provide answers wrapped in a beautiful box with a bow on top. My goal would be to let them know what I was hearing them say, and compare that to what they really meant to say.

King Solomon suggested that it is better to be a listener than a talker. He advised that even when a person who does not know a lot is willing to listen, they are considered to be smart; when they are silently engaged in the conversation, they are thought of as intelligent.² That way you can learn what is going on instead telling someone what is going on. Mark Twain made this very famous statement: “Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.” Twain was not suggesting we just shut up and listen, but to help us prevent saying things before we’ve really thought them through.

The Apostle James echoed these words when giving some wise advice for his readers when he told them: “Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry.”³ In other words, let the other person know that you are interested in what they have to say. Don’t keep interrupting them with your unsolicited advice. And don’t get emotionally involved by trying to straighten them out. After all, that’s what God does when we talk Him about our problems or how we feel about something He did or did not do for us. – Dr. Robert R Seyda

GOD KNEW HER BEFORE SHE WAS BORN

I happen to see a video on YouTube about a CNN report showcasing the story of a very gifted 12-year-old artist named Akiane Kramarik. There have been several young gifted artists in the past, but Akiane’s story is so fascinating.

What makes Akiane so unique is not how well she paints, but the subject of her work and her inspiration. When she was 4 she had many visions of meeting God. He told her that she needs to paint and help the less fortunate. At that age, when she had a vision she didn’t even know what the word “vision” really meant. She reported seeing millions of colors in her beautiful pictures of heaven that our eyes haven’t even seen yet on earth.

What makes her story even more bizarre is when you discover that her mother was an Atheist and her father is a recovering Catholic. Religion was never discussed in the house and the children are all homeschooled. Even her little brother is a talented, budding artist. Akiane was born in Mount Morris, Illinois. She is primarily a self-taught painter, but she states that she is taught by God. She started drawing at age four, painting at six, and writing poetry at seven. Her first completed self-portrait sold for $10,000.00. A large portion of the money generated from sales is donated by Akiane to charities. Her art, which depicts life, landscape, and people, is inspired by her visions of heaven, and her personal connection with God.

For more on her story you must these videos on Akiane:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tstVt-oyo1o

https://art-soulworks.com/blogs/posts/98897542-akiane-now-20-moves-to-the-gold-coast-fulfilling-the-kramarik-family-s-life-long-dream

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

Dr. Robert R. Seyda

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

CHAPTER TEN (Lesson XXV)

Paul was so happy at the Thessalonians’ response to his teaching. When he wrote them he said: “We will never stop thanking God for this: that when we preached to you, you didn’t think of the words we spoke as being just our own, but you accepted what we said as the very Word of God – which, of course, it was – and it changed your lives when you believed it.”¹

The pastor of one of America’s largest churches always begins his homily every Sunday by announcing his text but then does not read it to the congregation or those listening on the radio, watching on TV or streaming live on the internet. It is a big step to assume that the millions of viewers and listeners know exactly where to turn to find the text. Instead, he begins by saying, “I want to talk to you today…”

I gladly admit, I adopted my father’s approach of reading the text at the very beginning of my sermons. Then after reading it, I would often ask: Do you know who the writer was who said this? Why do you think the writer said this particular thing to those he was writing to? What point was he trying to get across; what question was he trying to answer; what problem was he trying to discuss? I wanted my listeners to know that everything I said after that was based solely on the Word of God.

Later on, Paul clearly gives God’s Spirit the credit for the effect his message had on those who heard him. He wrote the Thessalonians: “We must forever give thanks to God for you, our brothers loved by the Lord because God chose from the very first to give you salvation, cleansing you by the work of the Holy Spirit and by your trusting in the Truth. Through us, He told you the Good News. Through us He called you to share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.”² Even the Apostle James talks about the wonderful message of salvation and how it is able to save souls after it is implanted in the heart.³ And Peter speaks of it as the pure milk of the Word.⁴

Jesus knew that there were many in the crowds that heard Him who wanted to know more and desired to become part of God’s kingdom. So He told them: “If you have ears, listen! And be sure to put into practice what you hear. The more you do this, the more you will understand what I’m telling you.”⁵ And on one occasion when Jesus was speaking to a crowd and performing miracles, a woman in the crowd called out loudly, “God bless the mother who gave You birth and nursed You.”⁶ Here was an opportunity for Jesus to give His mother a compliment and add to this woman’s request for God’s blessing on her. Instead, Jesus said: “Far more blessed are those who hear the word of God and obey it!”⁷ In other words, even though Mary was a blessed woman for being chosen by God as the vessel through whom Jesus came into this world in human form, yet Jesus is saying that those who allow Him to live in their hearts are even more blessed.

That’s why Paul felt so strongly that whenever and wherever those who are called share the Word of God in a public setting, they should make sure it’s His word and not their word that is emphasized. He told the Corinthians: “Who is adequate for such a task as this? Only those who, like ourselves, are men of integrity, sent by God, speaking with Christ’s power, with God’s eye upon us. We are not like those hucksters—and there are many of them—whose idea of getting out the Gospel is to make a good living out of it.”⁸ But the writer of Hebrews knew that the Word of God was not a tool that was always meant to make people feel good or happy. He told his readers: “See, the Word of God is alive! It is at work and is sharper than any double-edged sword — it cuts right through to where soul meets spirit and joints meet marrow, and it is quick to judge the inner reflections and attitudes of the heart. ”⁹

A medieval scholar, who was born into a wealthy Arab-Christian family and founder of a school on Biblical exegesis, is struck by what Paul says about how there are two kinds of faith for believers to utilize. First, there is the faith that comes from hearing what the sacred Scriptures have to say. What the Scriptures contain is the teaching inspired by the Holy Spirit. This faith can grow and get stronger and stronger when evidence is shown that it works. Such faith is unshakable, fully committed, and loyal through obedience to what the Word has to say through the “catholic” church.¹⁰ He goes on to say that anyone who rejects this is in danger of being in agreement with the devil and is without faith.¹¹ The writer then goes on to mention there is another kind of faith which is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things that are not yet seen.¹² He makes it clear that just hearing is not enough, it must be made certain that what they are listening to is the true Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Martin Luther puts these verses in context by pointing back to verse 13 where it says that whosoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. So, then, if the Jews now refuse to obey the Gospel, how can they claim that they have called on the name of the Lord according to the word of the prophet Joel? How could they claim to call on the Lord when the One who came with His Father’s authority they refused to believe in? As the Apostle John said so succinctly: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”¹³ So Paul was right in using the words of Isaiah to prove that they had not believed the message of salvation as the Word of God through Christ.

Luther then points to verse 14 where it talks about not being able to believe in One whom they have heard nothing about, while in fact they were hearing about Him but were not listening. Also, the excuse that they are not liable because there has been no preacher to come and tell them the truth is also untrue because the Apostles were going everywhere the Spirit led them to preach the Gospel. That’s why in verse 15 those who go are told how beautiful are the feet of those who carry the Word of God to the world. As Luther sees it, Paul is emphasizing the fact that he is speaking of a message which cannot be comprehended by just anyone. It can be only be understood when it is listened to by faith, not logic.

The odd thing is that the Jews accosted Jesus because He could not show them any evidence that He had been sent by a well-known synagogue or renown Rabban.¹⁴ Listen to what the great Moses Maimonides said about the Messiah: “In the future, the Messianic king will arise and renew the Davidic dynasty. Anyone who does not believe in Him or does not await His coming denies not only the statements of the other prophets but those of the Torah and Moses, our teacher. The Torah testified of His coming.¹⁵”¹⁶ Maimonides lived between 1138-1204 AD, so he wrote this over a thousand years after Jesus came the first time. But if they did not believe Him then, will they believe Him in the future when He comes again to set up His kingdom? This was the test of a true Messiah. But when Jesus did perform miracles, they still didn’t believe because they didn’t want to believe. So they credited His miracle powers to Satan.¹⁷

For John Calvin, Paul introduces the exception claimed by some that they were excused because they hadn’t yet heard. They did so in order to prove that just by hearing does not automatically mean faith will follow. Later, however, Paul does point out the reason for this is because Isaiah made it clear that it would take divine intervention.¹⁸ It was another way of saying that there is no benefit from the Word being preached unless God uses it to shine His light through the Holy Spirit into people’s hearts so that they can see sin lurking there. So how ridiculous it is for some to claim that everyone in the world, even if they don’t know it yet, are already saved because the doctrine of salvation is universal. So all God is doing is inviting them to came and partake of their salvation. This in no way proves that salvation is common to all. Rather, that the salvation being offered is common to everyone who receives it as a gift.

In other words, Calvin is saying that just hearing the Gospel is not enough to bring sufficient faith so that salvation may be received. It takes the opening of the mind by the Holy Spirit for the seed of faith to be planted. In this way, it is easy to discern between those who are called and those who are chosen. That’s why not all who are called get chosen. Something happens in between the calling and the choosing. The calling opens a person up to hearing the message of salvation. And as the mind is illuminated through listening, those who reach out in faith and in Jesus’ name to receive their calling will be the ones chosen.

That is why both Jews and Gentiles are given the same opportunity to participate in the eternal inheritance promised to those who believe and obey. Therefore, no one can claim that their salvation came because they were bright or intelligent enough to recognize the call to salvation and made up their own minds to accept the invitation. It would be like a deaf person saying how much they loved the wonderful melody of a Beethoven Symphony because they saw the musical score and recognized that it was a piece of classical music.

Calvin then goes on to say that the efficacy of preaching is the fact that it has the potential to produce faith. But preaching in itself is of no avail unless the Lord uses it as an instrument of His power to save. The voice of man can enter the ear but cannot penetrate the soul without the power of the Holy Spirit. Let no person think that they have the oratory skills to regenerate a sinner’s heart on their own. The flame of the Spirit is stronger and shines deeper than the candlelight of man’s intelligence. Its truth is more subliminal than what can be conveyed by man’s loftiest words. That God can communicate effectually through the voice of a human is a tribute to His genius, not that of any person.

As a child growing up in a Pentecostal preacher’s home and attending numerous revivals and camp meetings, I was always struck with curiosity when I heard adults say after a meeting: “That preacher was certainly under the anointing.” I found out later they were pointing out how many sermons only enter the mind through the ear, but anointed sermons enter through the mind through the heart. They are profound, captivating, motivating, inspiring, and causes the heart to open wide in a desire to hear more of what they just listened to.