Down an Unfamiliar Road

While searching for the original source of a quote I was planning to use, I came across this poem written for Mothers Day. And when I looked closer, I discovered that the Magazine I was looking at was published in the same month and same year of my birth. As I started to read the poem, I begin to wonder if my Mom felt the same way about me, her first-born son. Although my Mom is no longer with me here on earth, I knew her well enough that I could accept what the writer of this poem penned the same what my mother would have said in her prayer to God.

Because I am a mother
Help me not to ask one excessive favor
Of this child given to me.
Teach me instead the way
To pay my debt
To one young boy
Who, in his mother heart
Will have the faith there needs to be.
Teach me to seek no small return
For what I have to give.
Better, that unrequested
His smallest thoughts of me
Will be born – and longer live.
He is my blessing – teach me that –
It’s not me, but him!
Teach me to say,
“Make me worthy, God,
Of this, my son,
Every day!”1

I can only pray that when my mother closed her eyes for the last time, she was happy with what God had done in her little boy’s life and that it pleased her as well as the Lord. But this poem is not just about me, it can also apply to you. So on this Mothers day ask yourself if your Mom could repeat the same thing the writer of this poem expressed. If so, then you are blessed, and I’m sure your Mom will feel blessed too. – Dr. Robert R Seyda

1 Mother’s Prayer by Clara Hood Rugel, Good Housekeeping Magazine, May 1938 – Redacted by Robert R Seyda.

FOLLOW THE SCRIPT

I read this article by Roger Darlington, a British portfolio worker, specializing in consumer affairs and the communications industry, and having enjoyed seeing the same movie he did, I could relate very well to what he was saying. He wrote that his all-time favorite film is “Lawrence Of Arabia,” starring Peter O’Toole. And one of his best-loved scenes from the movie takes place in the hot Nefud desert. The crossing of the Nefud desert was considered impossible, even by the local Arabs, but Lawrence persuades them that, in this way, they can conquer the Turkish port at Aqaba from the rear.

Having carried out the superhuman feat of traversing this outdoor furnace, it is discovered that one of the Arabs, Gasim, has fallen off his camel and is no doubt dying somewhere back in the desert. Lawrence is told that any idea of rescue is futile and, in any event, Gasim’s death is “written.” However, Lawrence achieves the impossible and returns with Gasim still alive. The Arab leader, Sherif Ali, admits to him: “Truly, for some men nothing is written unless they write it.”

As an impressionable teenager, Darlington was awed by Lawrence’s courage and unselfishness in going back into the hell of the Nefud to attempt to find a man he hardly knew laying unseen the vast expanse of a fiery terrain. But he was moved most by the sense of purpose of a man who is determined to take nothing as “written” but to shape his own destiny. This sense of anti-determinism and this belief that anything is possible had stayed with him and continues to inspire him in large and small ways.

Sometimes, people tell us that what we’re planning to do because it needs to get done is impossible. All that they’ve heard, seen, or experienced showed them that it can’t be accomplished. That’s when we too need to let them know that while many things that happened in our lives were written by others, like our parents, our teachers, our friends, there comes a time when we need to write the script ourselves.

And for that, we need God’s help because if it is His will, then we know it can happen. The prophet Jeremiah required a plan to get through a difficult and trying time, so he went to his Divine Father, and God told him that He already had the plans Jeremiah needed and that they were to make things better, not worse.¹ Perhaps the prophet remembered the words of the wise King Solomon who stated that while a person may have a plan in their heart where they want to go, God will show them every step to take in order to get there.² That’s why the Apostle Paul could say for certain if you love God and know His purpose for your life, everything will work out just fine.³

So the next time someone tells you that their mother, brother, or friend tried that and it didn’t work, just tell them you are following a different script that God helped you to write for yourself. Not only that, but when God shows you what He wants for you to do, or be, or where to go, He will not confuse you by changing His mind. And just to prove that He keeps His word, He took an oath never to let you down.⁴ – Dr. Robert R Seyda

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

Dr. Robert R. Seyda

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

CHAPTER ELEVEN (Lesson XV)

But how does the Apostle Paul magnify his office? By boasting that he, after the rejection of the Jews, is preaching the riches of Christ to the Gentiles? If through his office the Gentiles receive such glorious gifts, which are taken from the Jews, does this truly and solemnly prove the glory of his Gospel ministry? Or is it that by this the Jews will be moved with zeal to seek the riches of the ministry God gave him?¹ This sort of reminds me of when a mother bakes some brownies and tries to give it to her son but he shows no interest. So then she gives them to the neighborhood kids who grab and eat them with enthusiasm. It isn’t long before the son is grabbing the tray away from them and saying, “They are mine!” Nothing would have pleased Paul more than if the Jews began to plead with him to hear the Gospel of their Messiah.

John Calvin offers his understanding of the point Paul is making here. For him, Paul confirms, by strong reasoning, that the Jews will lose nothing because the Gentiles are so blessed as long as they return again to favor with God. Paul, thereby, shows that the salvation of both is so connected that by one and the same means both can be promoted. So this is Paul’s message to the Gentiles: Though I have been called, in particular, to be your Apostle, and ought, therefore, with special care seek your salvation, with which I am charged, and to omit, as it were, all other things, and to labor for that only, I will nevertheless faithfully discharge my office by gaining for Christ any of my own nation. This will not only be the glory for my ministry but also good for yours.²

John Bengel makes the point that Paul is not expecting the Gentile members of the church in Rome to be elated by the fact that the same grace given to them was also available to the Jews. Rather, He wants them to know how elated he is, after being called as an Apostle to the Gentiles, to also be given the privilege of sharing the Good News with His fellow countrymen, the Jews.³ The same is true today. The powerful message of the Gospel was not given to just one church or denomination to hold onto as though it was theirs alone to interpret and only share with those they preapproved of before accepting them into their fellowship. It was meant for the whole world, rich and poor, educated and uneducated, regardless of race, ethnicity, or color of their skin. To treat the Gospel any other way is an insult to the One who sent it and the One who died to give it the power to save.

Adam Clarke advises us that these two verses should be read in parenthesis between verses 12 and 15. Paul, as the Apostle to the Gentiles, wished to show them the high pinnacle of glory and blessedness to which they had been raised that they might experience a deep sense of God‘s mercy in calling them to salvation. But even more, that they might be jealous of their position in Christ lest they should fall as the Jews had done before them. And Paul dwells particularly on the greatness of those privileges which the Gentiles had now received, that he might stir up the minds of his countrymen to emulation, and that might be the means of saving some of them.⁴

Clarke goes on to say that Paul desired to magnify his office to show how much he honored the ministry given to him by Christ. In so doing, the Apostle simply means that he does justice to his ministry, by stating the glorious things which he was commissioned to preach among the Gentiles: blessings which the Jews by their obstinacy had forfeited. So now that the Gentiles were safely part of the Last Covenant, why not rejoice that the Jews were being invited to come in as well.⁵

Robert Haldane focuses on Paul’s message to believing Gentile on how their salvation was God’s way of dealing with the Jews. They could see that they were largely blessed with the Gospel when it was rejected by the Jews, but they will be blessed with it to an unspeakably greater extent when the Jews return to faith in Christ. Paul was no doubt the Apostle to the Gentiles, and by making this prediction with regard to the Gentiles’ role in the possible restoration of the Jews, he, thereby, magnifies his office.

He addresses himself particularly to those in the church at Rome, who were Gentiles. For as he had been appointed their Apostle, he was desirous to commend his ministry among them, to assert the honor of his commission, and to prove its great importance in imparting to them the knowledge of the Gospel. He shows, with regard to the Gentiles, that its value was enhanced in proportion to the great number of Gentiles who will be saved. In this view, it is should be of particular interest to the Gentiles that the Jews should be brought back, and this should increase their own efforts for their conversion.⁶

Albert Barnes also speaks about this same topic. By Paul showing that the Gospel is to be preached to the Gentiles, that the barrier between them and the Jews is to be broken down, that the Gospel may be preached to all people, he showed that the office he holds proclaims this as one of its great honors. A minister may not magnify himself, but he may magnify his office. He may esteem himself as less than the least of all saints, and unworthy to be called a servant of God,⁷ yet he may feel that he is an ambassador of Christ, entrusted with a message of salvation, entitled to the respect due to a diplomat, and to the honor which is appropriate to an emissary of God. To unite these two things constitutes the dignity of the Christian ministry.⁸

H. A. Ironside believes that since Paul was the called Apostle to the Gentiles, he had every right to magnify his office. But he did not want the Gentiles to think for a moment that he had somehow lost his interest in Israel’s salvation. Rather, he wanted to see the Jews stirred to such emulation that many might be saved from among them as they saw the grace of God going out to the Gentiles. On the other hand, he would not have the Gentiles glory over the Jews because the latter was set aside and the former enjoyed the blessings that the Jew would have had, had they only been ready to receive them.⁹

Charles Hodge also sees Paul’s statement here as having a very personal feeling. That’s because these two verses contain a passing remark relating to the Apostle’s own emotions and mode of acting in reference to the subject in hand. His readers were not supposed to think that just because he was the Apostle to the Gentiles, his labors had no reference to the Jews, or that he was unconcerned about their salvation. This passage is, therefore, connected with the last clause of verse 12 in which Paul mentioned that the conversion of the Gentiles was adapted and designed to bring about the restoration of the Jews.”¹⁰

Hodge believes that Paul wanted the Gentiles to realize that the restoration of the Jews would in no way jeopardize their position in God’s Kingdom. Therefore, there should be no reason for them not to support such an effort. Hodge feels this is the reason why Paul desired the spiritual rebirth of the Jews. If the two events involving the salvation of the Gentiles and conversion of the Jews were found to be intimately related, there would be no grounds for ill feelings on either one’s part. The Gentiles need not fear that the restoration of the Jews would hurt their chances with God. This would be to think that the happiness of one would jeopardize that of the other.¹¹

Charles Spurgeon also has some interesting thoughts on this subject. For him, the dignity that God gives to His servants is bestowed upon their office, not something on them individually apart from their office. They must never run away with it into daily life and think that they can call themselves “reverend,” simply because their Lord is equally revered. Also, they have no reason to claim the same serious attention for their own thoughts which they rightly demand for the Word of the Lord.¹² What Spurgeon is saying here is that some ministers feel that their ideas and opinions on the subject of politics, sports, or finances are superior to others just because they are called, “Reverend.” However, the Apostle Paul was wanting the Gentiles to know that his desire to see the Jews come into the fold was not due solely to his being a Jew or that he was called an Apostle of Christ, but of his being a chosen carrier of the Good News to those who were lost.

Frédéric Godet shares his view on what Paul was trying to say here. He begins by asking: “What does Paul understand when using the expression: ‘I magnify my office?‘” These words might be applied to the defenses which he was constantly obliged to make of his Apostleship. But instead of this being seen as contributing to his effort to bring the Jews to the faith, such claims would only embitter them. It is, therefore, only the zeal and dedication displayed by him in the service of his mission that the Apostle is thinking. To magnify his ministry as the Apostle of the Gentiles is to convert as many heathens as possible. When understood this way, Paul would be saying that it all had to do with expanding his office as an Apostle, not only to go to the Gentiles but also to the Jews.

So could it be that Paul is telling everyone that he will try in every way possible to awakening his own people from their passivity, whom he loves as his own flesh, should it only be by jealousy, even as he attempts to reach as many Gentiles as possible? Here, as in Romans 11:11, he uses the expression which Moses employed (see verse 19). No doubt he does not deceive himself; he does not take the conversion of Israel en masse as a possibility before the end times. But he would like, at least, to be instrumental in saving some of them as first-fruits of the harvest yet to come.¹³

Charles Ellicott hears Paul saying something like this: I am talking to you Gentiles. It is you who will benefit if the Jews are restored. And that’s the real reason why, as Apostle of the Gentiles I make the most of my office. I do it in order to create a dream for my own countrymen, knowing that the effects of their rejection can still lead us to the happiest consequences of their readmission to the kingdom of God. For their end will be as their beginning was. They began as the chosen people of God, and the conclusion of it will be the same only more glorious.¹⁴ Would we not feel the same today if all the atheist, secularist, and verbal critics of the church were to suddenly turn and be saved, and join us in declaring the glory of the cross, the power of the Gospel, and the joy of everlasting life? I believe we all would.

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

Dr. Robert R. Seyda

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

CHAPTER ELEVEN (Lesson XIV)

Bible scholar Albert Barnes goes on to say that it is easy to see that if the Jewish people should be converted to the Christian faith, they would have facilities for spreading the truth, which the Church has struggled to maintain. First of all, they are scattered throughout the world and have access to all people. Second, their conversion, after such a long period of unbelief would have all the power and influence of a miracle performed for all nations to see. It would be seen why they had been preserved, and their conversion would be a most striking fulfillment of the prophecies. Thirdly, their familiarity with the languages of the world, and their conversion would at once establish many Christian missionaries in the heart of all the kingdoms of the world. It would kindle thousands of additional lights in all the dark parts of the earth. Fourthly, the Jews have shown that they are eminently suited to spread the true religion.

It was by Jews converted to Christianity that the Gospel was first spread throughout the Roman and Greek empires. Each of the Apostles was a Jew, and they have lost none of the eagerness, enterprise, and zeal that always characterized their nation. Their conversion would be, therefore, to give to the church a host of missionaries prepared for their work, familiar with all customs, languages, and climates, and already in the heart of all nations, and with facilities for their work already available, which others must gain only by the slow toil of many years. It sure sounds like something we could join Dr. Barnes in praying for.¹

Henry Alford makes the point that it must be noticed, that the fact of Israel being the chosen people of God, lies at the root of this whole argument. Israel is the nation, the covenant people – the vessel of God’s gracious purposes to mankind. As a nation, Israel is not positioned to receive God’s favor. However, that imposition has been accompanied by an outpouring of God’s riches of mercy on the Gentiles; not as rivals to Israel, but still considered as further from God, formally and nationally, than Israel. If then the disgrace of Israel has had such a blessed accompaniment, how much more blessed it would be if Israel were stationed as a lighted torch of praise in the midst of the earth, and the glory of the nations!²

Karl Barth also addresses this tandem between the Jews’ loss and the Gentiles’ gain. He says that God has used their present alienation to make known His riches of grace toward the Gentiles, and this, in turn, will eventually be used to provoke Israel to jealousy and to turn them back to the God of their forefathers and to the Christ whom they have rejected. This recovery will be a means of untold blessing to that part of the world which has not yet come to a saving knowledge of the Gospel. With holy enthusiasm, Paul exclaims: “If their trespass means riches for the world and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fullness mean?” It is interesting to note how Paul uses the term “fullness,”³ further on in this chapter.

Thayer in his Greek Lexicon says that this word not only means when something is filled but here, in this case, it means, “that by which a loss is repaired.” In other words, when a part that has been missing is finally found and put back into place, just like the lost piece of a jigsaw puzzle. This then refers to the fullness of Israel will be the conversion of Israel – the fulfillment of God’s purpose for their very existence. This should help better understand the use of this word “fullness” in reference to God’s appointed time for the arrival of His Son upon the earth.⁴

On the subject of the fate of the Jews, one Messianic writer says that the Jews, who do not yet accept Yeshua, have not permanently fallen; according to the Apostle Paul they are still “stumbling.” Although they are considering Paul’s message about Yeshua, they are wavering. Their faith is weak in that they are missing the goal of Torah,⁵ by not accepting Yeshua. This idea of “weak” versus “strong” faith will be important in understanding chapters 12-15. The fate of the Gentiles is intertwined with Israel’s. Paul explains how the Jew’s current unbelief has evolved as part of God’s merciful plan to use the hardening of some of Israel, in order to bring salvation to the Gentiles, which in turn should lead more of Israel into accepting Yeshua. Paul states that even though blessings come to the world from this acceptance of Yeshua on the part of but a portion of Israel, there will be even greater blessings when more of Israel comes to faith. Therefore, the Gentiles’ goal ought to be a consideration for and the help of those Jews who do not yet believe.⁶

Verses 13-14: However, to you who are not Jews, let me tell you this: The fact that I am an Apostle to non-Jewish people is something I consider to be of the highest honor. So while I have that work, I will do the best I can in hopes that I can somehow make my own people jealous. In doing so, perhaps I can help some of them to be saved.

Paul now shares with the non-Jews the two burdens that he carries because of the Jew’s failure to recognize Jesus as the Messiah. One is for them and the other for his own people. The one he has for the Gentiles he received by the word of the Lord,⁷ and the one for the Jews he bore as having been one of them and even persecuted the believers in Christ, especially the Messianic Jews.⁸ In fact, Paul had a special commission from Jesus when they met on the road to Damascus, the one he shared in his testimony before King Agrippa: “I will keep you safe from the Jews and from the people who are not Jews. I am sending you to these people. You are to open their eyes. You are to turn them from darkness to light. You are to turn them from the power of Satan to the power of God. In this way, they may have their sins forgiven. They may have what is given to them, along with all those who are set apart for God by having faith in Me.”⁹

Yet he would not be sidetracked from his mission to the non-Jews, for he felt that it had a special purpose in God’s plan for the world. Paul told the Galatians: “God chose me before I was born. By His loving-favor He called me to work for Him. His Son was to be seen in me. He did this so I could preach about Christ to the people who are not Jews.”¹⁰ Paul was so impressed with this mission that he made a special trip to Jerusalem to speak to the leading council of the church.¹¹ Paul had no doubt but that he had been chosen to be a vital part of God’s mission to save the world. He told young Timothy: “He wants all people to be saved from the punishment of sin. He wants them to come to know the truth… This is why I was chosen to be a teacher and a missionary. I am to teach faith and truth to the people who do not know God.”¹²

But Paul saw more beyond God’s effort to reach out to the Gentiles in a gracious and compassionate manner, and that was to use that news as a way to wake up the Jews who thought they had gotten rid of Jesus and kept their religion under their own control. God wanted them to say: This can’t be happening to us, how could we have missed such a golden opportunity; how could we have been so blind? In other words, the good Lord wanted to provoke them into action so that they would not be passed over. In fact, Paul wanted husbands and wives to demonstrate this same attitude that God was showing for the disobedient Jews.¹³ Paul goes so far as to say that whatever moral and useful tactic it takes to win over an unbeliever, consider the possibilities before you reject it.¹⁴ On a personal note, that’s why I have read the Book of Mormon, Pearl of Great Price, Jehovah’s Witnesses Magazines, and “Jesus Only” material, etc., so that I can speak intelligently with them.

Early church scholar Ambrosiaster shares his impression of what Paul says here. Paul is showing the Gentiles how much he loves his fellow Jews. For he does not try to hide the fact that his ministry is that of an Apostle to the Gentiles. He is only praying that by loving his own people he wins them to the faith as well. For he is more honored still if he wins to eternal life those to whom he has not been sent. For he who finds his lost brothers will have the greatest honor with his parents.¹⁵

What Ambrosiaster points out here is one thing that is lacking in many Personal Evangelism courses today, and that is how one learns to win the lost by starting with their own family. But too often, those who try to win their parents and siblings start out with a perceived position of superiority and witness as though speaking down to them. Think of it this way: If you have discovered a new way to lose weight or found a fabulous new wrinkle-remover, or they just can’t believe how much younger you look with the new anti-aging supplement you are taking, your enthusiasm and joy are often enough to get them to try these things for themselves. It’s the same way with testifying about your newfound life in Jesus Christ, and all the love, joy, and peace it brought into your life. Instead of blaming them for being wrong, show them how fortunate they can be in being right.

Apparently, that’s how Paul felt about his brothers and sisters in the Jewish faith. As Origen puts it, by Paul’s attentive care and close attention to the teaching of the Gentiles and by making their behavior worthy of eternal life, Paul is inviting and urging the Jews, his kinsmen according to the flesh, to imitate those who are progressing in the faith of God. It is the glory of his ministry that he can use the teaching of the Gentiles to reach some of his own people as well.¹⁶

And Bishop Theodoret gives his own point of view on how he understands Paul efforts here to reach his own people. For him, Paul evangelized the Gentiles out of necessity, addressing himself to them and showing that the prophets had predicted this many centuries before.¹⁷ His aim was to make the Jews jealous and thus encourage some of them to come to salvation also.¹⁸ However, Martin Luther sees a possible personal bias in Paul’s highlighting the rejection by the Jews of the Gospel and the opening of the door to the Gentiles so that the sacrifice of Christ may not be in vain. The Apostle Paul preached to the Jews and was rejected.¹⁹ Therefore, he amplifies the importance of his office among the Gentiles in order that the Jews might be provoked into wanting the same. For what we despise when offered to us, we commonly esteem when others take it because we respect them, and we respect their choices.

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

Dr. Robert R. Seyda

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

CHAPTER ELEVEN (Lesson XIII)

Jewish theologian David Stern shares an interesting perspective on the rejection of the Jews from his point of view. He tells us that it has been a traditional Jewish belief that the righteous of all nations have always had a place in the world-to-come, and, therefore, Christianity was an unnecessary invention of some misguided Jews of that day. However, they do give it credit for helping to lead many Gentiles out of idolatry toward serving one God. Nevertheless, it does not lead them to spiritually worshiping the One True God because it teaches that God became a man. Moreover, because of this view, Jews consider Christianity not only as unnecessary for Jews, but a potential problem since it tends to lead them away from their more perfect faith in the Lord their God, the One Living God.¹

Stern then shares from his personal experience by saying that he has dealt with these arguments at various places in his writings before. For example, in commenting on John 14:6 he pointed out that Yeshua is the only route to righteousness for Jews as well as for Gentiles so that monotheism which excludes Yeshua as the Messiah is a mistaken concept. It is a fact that first century Gentiles, as a rule, did not know, fear, or obey God.² As such, they did not meet the Jewish criterion for having a place in the world-to-come, so that if the Gospel had not been proclaimed to them, very few of them would have received deliverance. It is pointless to speculate how God might have brought them that deliverance, had the leaders and the majority of Israel obeyed the Gospel when it was first offered. What we do know is that God did, in fact, use Israel’s disobedience as a means, causing Messianic Jews (notably Paul, see verse 13) to evangelize Gentiles as well as Jews, and we know that many Gentiles responded positively.³

British theologian Dr. Gerald Bray gives us a good summary of what Paul was dealing with here. For him, the Jews have stumbled, but they have not fallen away completely. Moreover, God has used their tragedy for good because the gateway of salvation was opened to the Gentiles. The Gentiles were shown mercy because of the stumbling of the Jews, but they must be careful not to boast. The Jews were branches on the divine olive tree by nature, but because of their unbelief, they have been broken off. The Gentiles have been grafted in from a wild olive tree, but it follows that if they turn away from Christ, they too will be removed because they did not belong there in the first place. Early church scholars recognized that Paul was humbling both Jews and Gentiles in different ways, and was being warned against presumption on the goodness of God.”⁴

Verse 12: Yes, their mistake brought rich blessings to the world – that is, what they temporarily lost resulted in rich blessings coming to the non-Jewish people. So surely the world will get greater blessings when the Jews as a nation are finally repaired and become the kind of people God always wanted them to be.

No matter how sad and irresponsible it may be that the Jews rejected Jesus as the Messiah, it created a second Passover whereby salvation by grace passed over them to the Gentiles. For Paul, he considered this a rich blessing for the world-at-large. Even as he sat in prison, he wrote the Ephesians: “Of all those who belong to Christ, I am the least important. But this loving-favor was given to me to preach to the people who are not Jews. I was to tell them of the great riches in Christ which will never come to an end.”⁵ Too bad that the Jews did not recognize the Messiah and say with Isaiah: “I thank you, Adonai, because, although you were angry at me, your anger is now turned away; and you are comforting me. See! God is my salvation. I am confident and unafraid; for Yah Adonai⁶ is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation!”⁷ They had also ignored Isaiah’s pronouncement: “Arise, shine [Yerushalayim], for your light has come, the glory of Adonai has risen over you.”⁸

When it comes to how the Gentiles benefited from the Jews lack of faith, early church scholar Origen tells us to consider the wisdom of God in all of this. For with Him not even the sins and backslidings of the Jews was enough to stop His effort to save all who are lost. But whenever someone rejects freedom of their own accord, God has the license of divine wisdom to take the riches of the faith they discard and give it to those who are poor in spirit. Now indeed, until all the Gentiles come to salvation the riches of God are concentrated in the multitude of believers, but as long as Israel remains in its unbelief it will not be possible to say that the fullness of the Lord’s portion is still theirs. The people of Israel are still missing from the complete picture. But when the fullness of the Gentiles has come and Israel is brought to salvation in Christ at the end of time, then it will be those called the children of God long ago who will, at last, be given the complete fullness of their portion of the Lord’s inheritance.⁹

Chrysostom gives us some insight by saying that even if the Jews had fallen a thousand times, the Gentiles would not have been saved had they failed to put their faith in Christ. Likewise, the Jews would not have been abandoned had they not been so unbelieving and contentious. Here Paul is consoling the Jews in their distress, giving them a reason to be confident of their salvation if they would only be willing to change.¹⁰ Pelagius adds another thought to this understanding, and that is, if the transgression of the Jews benefits all of us to the extent that without the works of the law we were made coheirs with them, and, if the few Jews who did believe caused all of us to be offered salvation, then how much more could they benefit us with instruction if they all come to believe, to begin with?¹¹

So, just as Jesus rose again from physical death, likewise Paul declares that the Jews, as a people, will rise again from spiritual death. Martin Luther puts it in his perspective by saying that Jesus the stumbling-block did not cause the Jews to fall just for the sake of showing the error they had made. Rather, they fell so that God could raise them up again in the same manner as the Gentiles, who were already fallen, were raised. This is illustrated in the death and resurrection of Christ and baptism. Even though they refused the love He showed by sending His Son with the message of salvation, still, He decided to win them back by inciting them to jealousy as a loving parent often does with a child.

For Luther, God’s salvation was extended to the Gentiles because of the Jew’s fall, in order that their fall might not be fruitless and their sin keep good from being done. Since all things must work together for good to them that love God and are the called according to His purpose, it shows that God can use both good and bad, right and wrong, to make that happen.¹² This would not be the first time God turned something bad into something beautiful, such as man’s fall in the Garden of Eden, Abraham’s illegitimate son with Hagar, Jacob’s deceit of Esau, Joseph’s sale into Egypt, etc.

Fellow Reformer John Calvin echoes much of what Luther said. In Calvin’s mind, Paul seemed to focus on the fact that although the Jew’s repudiation of Christ allowed the Gentiles to be introduced to the Gospel, he didn’t want to make the salvation lost by the Jews to become a negative factor for the Gentiles. In other words, he didn’t want to lead them into thinking that their salvation depended on the Jews losing theirs. Paul anticipates this false notion and lays down a clear opinion of an opposite kind. He wanted them to know that nothing contributed more to the salvation of the Gentiles than the grace of God. To prove this, he derives an argument from the lesser to the greater. In other words, if the Jew’s rejection of the Messiah and their fall raised the Gentiles out of idolatry into fellowship with God, how much more would the Jews’ acceptance of the Messiah have enriched and enhanced both them and the Gentiles?

And there should be no objection to this reasoning that the word of God flowed to the Gentiles after the Jews rejected it, and, as it were, cast it from them. For if they had received it, their faith would have brought forth much more fruit than what their unbelief resulted in. That way, the truth of God’s promise would have been, thereby, confirmed that they were to be the source that would bless the whole world. Just remember, all of the first Apostles were converted Jews, such as Peter, James, John, and Paul. So what would have happened if the whole nation of Israel had become Apostles? How many more Gentiles would have been led to the Lord by their preaching and teaching? Unfortunately, because of the contrariness and stubbornness, this had all been thrown away.¹³

Haldane explains how the fall of the Jews brought rich blessings to the rest of the world. Their rejection of the Messiah did not keep the great sacrifice of Christ dying on the cross for sin from being preached to all nations. As a consequence of their rejecting the testimony of the Apostles, the remnant who believed fled from the persecution of their countrymen, and, being scattered abroad, went everywhere preaching the Word. Besides, the Jewish nation which had been designated as God’s witnesses to the world,¹⁴ and to whom the oracles of God had been committed, were still able to preserve the sacred trust given them even in the middle of much unbelief and consequent sufferings. In this, we discern an illustrious proof of the Divine origin of the First Covenant Scriptures which testify of the Messiah; while the preservation of the Jews as a distinct people stands forth as a lasting miracle. This cannot be explained using natural principles of human logic but furnishes undeniable evidence of the truth of the Gospel.¹⁵

Albert Barnes strikes a different tone in his commentary. As far as this passage is concerned, it involves the rejection and punishment of the Jews; their being cut off from God’s favor, an event that apparently would hinder the spread of their religion. However, if their being withdrawn from all active influence in spreading the true knowledge of God turned into an occasion for so many blessings to flow out to the rest of the world, how much more should we expect once they are restored to fellowship with God; when the energy and zeal of the Jewish nation will be united with the efforts of believing Gentiles in spreading the knowledge of the true Messiah. In what way or when this shall be, we still do not know, but it will be revealed at the time of God’s choosing.

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

Dr. Robert R. Seyda

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

CHAPTER ELEVEN (Lesson XII)

John Calvin offers his advice on understanding what Paul says here about there still being hope for his fellow unbelieving Jews to accept Jesus as the Messiah and be saved. He feels that the Romans might be hindered in understanding this argument unless they made note that sometimes he speaks of the whole nation of the Jews, and sometimes of single individuals. That’s why on the one hand he talks about the Jewish nation being banished from the kingdom of God and cut off from the tree of life which will hasten their destruction. But on the other hand, he denies that they had fallen from grace. On the contrary, they continued in the possession of the covenant and still had a place in the kingdom of God. In other words, Israel may no longer be the chosen children of God as a nation, but there are many among them who will be called into the fellowship of God’s children as Christians.¹

Calvin goes on to say that while the Jews, for the most part, rejected Christ which allowed such thinking to pervade the whole nation, yet there were many who did accept Jesus as the Messiah. This was enough to conclude that while the Jewish nation had stumbled, it still was not finished for them universally with no hope of repentance. Calvin says that we should derive the following conclusion from all that Paul has said so far: Although they brought on their own ruin with spiritual blindness, he now gives hope of their rising again. These two things are totally different. The nation of Israel foolishly stumbled over Jesus being the Messiah and fell into destruction. Yet, every individual Jew was not automatically included so that even those who believed would perish or be alienated from God.² In the words of a song we used to hear sung many years ago that said, “There is still room at the cross for one.”³

John Taylor is quick to point out that the fall of the Jews was not, in itself, the cause or reason for the calling of the Gentiles into the family of God. Whether or not the Jews had rejected Jesus as the Messiah it was already part of God’s original purpose to bring the Gentiles into the church under the final covenant. This was not decided when Paul was called as the Apostle to the Gentiles but was in God’s covenant with Abraham. For how could the unbelief of the Jews give the Gentiles any reason to believe? If it were not yet part of the divine plan to save the whole world, then Jesus would have had to return to the cross after his resurrection and die again, this time for the Gentiles. God’s grace would not be hindered from reaching every sinner on earth regardless of what the Jews did. So their rejecting Jesus as their Messiah and Savior was exclusive to them. The call going out to the Gentiles had been scheduled before the creation of mankind. In fact, it was the realization that the Gentiles were now included in the family of God that was supposed to make the Jews jealous and fight to keep their place at the banquet table with Abraham.⁴

Adam Clarke makes the same point that the fall of the Jews was not in itself the cause or reason for the calling of the Gentiles. Whether the Jews stood or fell, embraced or rejected the Gospel, it was the original purpose of God to take the Gentiles into the Church. This was clearly implied in the covenant made with Abraham, and it was by the goodness of God in that covenant that the Gentiles were now called, not just because of the Jews’ unbelief.

Simply put, the Jews, in the most obstinate and unprincipled manner, rejected Jesus Christ as God’s Savior which He offered to them in His name. That’s why the Apostles then turned to the Gentiles with the Gospel message, and they heard and believed. The Jews then perceived that the Gentiles would be given possession of similar privileges which they once enjoyed as the peculiar people of God. This they could not bear or even imagine to be possible. So they rallied all their strength in opposition and persecution against it.⁵

Robert Haldane comments on why he thinks God used jealousy to bring the Jews to a fuller understanding of their fallen state. It was meant to open the eyes of their when they saw how God was pouring out mercy and favor on the Gentiles, and that this would cause them to reflect on their own fallen condition, and desire to possess the same advantages. So when the Jews could no longer hide the fact that the God of their forefathers is now with the nations whom they once abhorred, they would be led to reconsider their disobedient ways and brought again into the fold of Israel. This is according to the prophecy already quoted by the Apostle Paul in the 19th verse of the preceding chapter.

Haldane believes that it was in this manner that God purposed to finally bring the Jewish nation to their knees in submission to Him in order be under His Shekinah cloud of blessings again. That’s why by His sovereign will, the fall and ruin of so many Jews would lead to the salvation of even more Gentiles. His dreadful judgments against the shameless transgressors of His laws should warn those who see it to flee from the wrath to come. On the other hand, the conversion of heathens who had been notorious sinners should excite some of the Jews to seek salvation from Christ. After all, who could have calculated how extensive, permanent, and glorious the effects of God’s redemption plan would be throughout all creation, and into the eternal ages, from the fall of angels and mankind for the Church and the whole world?⁶ We ought to remember that the Lord has very wise and gracious motives for His most severe and frightening decisions. We can see this in how the fall of the Jews became an occasion for the Gentiles to be enriched with the inexhaustible grace, love, and mercy that is in Christ so that the justice, the wisdom, and the faithfulness of God can be glorified even in the worst of times.⁷

Charles Hodge sums up what appears to be the accepted understanding of most Bible scholars. Since the rejection of the Jews was not total, neither was it final. They have not fallen so deep as to be hopelessly unable to rise again. First, it was not God’s design to get rid of His people entirely, but, by their rejection to facilitate the progress of the Gospel among the Gentiles. This, in turn, would make the conversion of the Gentiles the means of converting the Jews.⁸ Then Hodge notes that the Jews, even those who were professors of Christianity, were, in the first place, very slow to allow the Gospel to be preached to the Gentiles; and in the second place, they appear almost uniformly to have desired to clog the Gospel with the ceremonial observances of the Law. This was one of the greatest hindrances to the progress of the cause of Christ during the apostolic age, which would, in all probability, have been a thousand-fold greater, had the Jews, as a nation, embraced the Christian faith. On both these accounts, the rejection of the Jews became a means of facilitating the progress of the Gospel.⁹

Frédéric Godet also comments on the apparent blessing that came to the Gentiles and will come to the Jews, because of their rejection of Jesus at His first coming. As he sees it, we can call this a wonderful result in that Israel, having been unwilling to concur with God in saving the Gentiles, will still, in the end, be responsible for themselves being saved through the salvation of the Gentiles. It is undoubtedly a humiliation for them to be the last to enter where they should have introduced all others to God’s kingdom. But on God’s part, it is the height of mercy.

There is perhaps a more remote reason for which the conversion of the Gentiles becomes a means for the salvation of the Jews. Paul indicates this in words borrowed from the passage of Moses quoted by later in verse 19. Seeing all the blessings of God’s kingdom such as pardon, justification, the Holy Spirit, and adoption showed in abundance on the Gentile nations through faith in the One they rejected, how can they still keep endlessly keep saying, “These blessings are ours?” And how can they not open their eyes and recognize that Jesus is the Messiah since in Him the works prophesied were accomplished? How can the elder son, seeing his younger brother seated and celebrating the feast at his father’s table, not ask that he may re-enter the paternal home and come to sit down side by side with his brother? Such is the spectacle of which Paul gives us a glimpse in the words: “to make the Jews jealous.” The sin of the Jews could modify the execution of God’s plan, but by no means prevent it.¹⁰

Preacher Charles Spurgeon shares his thoughts. He puts it this way: There will be a day when those who have for so long refused to acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah, will finally recognize the purpose of His mission and will mourn the fact that they stabbed Him in the side. When the nation of Israel finally shows sorrow for their sin with holy sincerity, there has never been a time of grieving that will match it. Once they discover that their nation rejected the Son of God when they crucified Jesus of Nazareth, their deeply religious spirit will be filled with the utmost remorse as they repent in tears of regret. Each man and each woman will cry out for pardon to the Lord of mercy. Then suddenly their weeping will turn to joy as they feel His forgiveness sweep over them. All their sins of ages past will be washed away in one moment. They will then perceive that the very side which they pierced has yielded a fountain to cleanse them from all their unrighteousness. They will look up and with great joy behold the cross on Calvary upon which was sacrificed the Lamb of God that brought them redemption and healing. They will see the sin-offering slain on their behalf. What a blessed day that will be when “all Israel shall be saved.” O that you and I might live to see that happy scene when all the Jewish race will behold their Messiah. For then shall Israel be joined with Gentiles believers in sweet communion forever and ever.¹¹

H. A. Ironside comments about the Jews, then and today, and their relationship with God. He notes that many Christians have taken for granted that God is through with them as a nation forever. This, the Apostle now shows, is far from the truth. Did they stumble so many times that they finally fell? And did their fall result in removing any hope or possibility of Israel recovering? The answer again, “By no means.” God has used their present defection to make known His riches of grace toward the Gentiles, and this, in turn, will be used eventually to provoke Israel to become so jealous that they will turn back to the God of their fathers and to the Christ whom they have rejected. This recovery will be a means of untold blessing to that part of the world which has not yet come to a saving knowledge of the Gospel.¹² It has been some seventy years since Dr. Ironside taught this lesson, and Israel is no closer to accepting Jesus as the Messiah now than then. But is God any closer to opening that door for them to see the truth and acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord of all? I’m sure He is. Oh, what a day that will be so that all heaven can rejoice.

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

Dr. Robert R. Seyda

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

CHAPTER ELEVEN (Lesson XI)

Adam Clarke sees what Paul is saying here as a direct message to the unbelieving Jews. He is not asking questions, he is telling them what he thinks about those who’ve become comfortable in their self-righteousness arrogance and have grown lax in their dedication to God’s Word. Paul is telling them that their proverbial good life will end up being their downfall. As a result of their always closing their eyes against the truth, they will become blind to even the slightest glimmer of light. Not only that but as they continue to sit around drinking and dining on God’s goodness with no signs of gratitude, they will grow so spiritually weak they will not be able to walk without stumbling and falling. So instead of their becoming a great and powerful nation, they will continue to be a persecuted minority. In that case, they will end up worse off than the Gentiles. This will go on until they acknowledge Jesus as the promised Messiah, and submit to God’s plan of grace in receiving redemption through His blood.¹

But it can also be seen as a warning to the Gentiles, should they too stray away from the true Gospel preached to them and begin to interpret Scripture to support their own teachings and dogmas. In such cases, the communion table could easily become a snare, a trap, and a stumbling-block, causing them to suffer because of misbelief and begin to grow weary and burdened down as they pile more and more rites and rituals upon the shoulders of their followers.

Robert Haldane has his thoughts on interpreting Paul’s use of Psalm 69. For anyone to represent this passage other than as a prediction of the coming Messiah, our Lord Jesus Christ, gives a false view of this blessed hymn. God is announcing through David the coming condemnation connected with Jewish backsliding. Those described here by Paul as quoted from the 9th and 10th verses of the Psalm, immediately follow the prophetical description, also in the Psalm, of their treatment of the Messiah. It should also be observed, that during the whole period of the First Covenant, God employed the most powerful external means to bring them back to Himself, so that if they failed to do so they would be entirely without excuse.

Haldane then goes on to explain further that Psalm 69 consists of three parts. The first involves the violent persecutions which the Lord Jesus Christ experienced from His enemies and the Jews. It introduces the prophetical characters of the Psalm as representative of the extraordinary sufferings of Him of whom it speaks, and of the reproaches against Him — sufferings and persecutions which would be both exaggerated were they limited to those persecutions which David endured at the hand of His enemies. The second part is a prediction of the fearful judgments of the Lord, especially upon the traitor Judas. We also find the cause of His sufferings is ascribed to His love of God. “For your sake I suffer insults, shame covers my face. I am estranged from my brothers, an alien to my mother’s children, because zeal for your house is eating me up, and on me are falling the insults of those insulting you.” Now, we do not read that David was ever persecuted on account of his religion, nor that he suffered because of His love for God.² The third part regards the exaltation of Jesus Christ to eternal glory, and the success of the Gospel. Only the words, “They put a sedative in my food; in my thirst, they gave me vinegar to drink.”³ may be understood figuratively of David, but they cannot be literally applied to him, only to Jesus Christ.⁴

Albert Barnes offers his insights on these two verses in a way that might allow us to draw this picture of a person who was invited to a table where they expected to enjoy good healthy nourishment and refreshment, only to find out that what they were fed was poisonous to their system. Like a trap and snare, they were decoyed into it by walking carelessly and not paying attention. While they were not anticipating any danger or had any fear about what they going to be fed, it could well turn out to be their spiritual ruin. The Psalmist said: “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!”⁵ Every believer should become so familiar with God’s Word that when something is purported to be Scripture, it doesn’t taste like it.

Charles Hodge believes that doctrinally we can take away from these verses that when people are forsaken by God, all their powers as God’s children are useless and all their blessings become curses. Although they have eyes, yet they can’t see that their obsession with the good life has become a trap.⁶ Hodge then goes on to remark that people are commonly ruined by things in which they put their trust or take the most delight in doing. The whole Mosaic system, with its rites and ceremonies, was the ground of confidence and boasting to the Jews, and it ended up being the cause of their destruction. So, in our day, those who take refuge in some ecclesiastical organization instead of Christ, will find what they expected to get out of this would prove their salvation to be real, will only be to their ruin. The same is true of all improvements made by mankind to God’s plan of Salvation and blessings. In the end, they become the worst thing that can happen to a believer.⁷

Frédéric Godet has similar thoughts. He interprets the term “table” used in the Psalmist’s words as an emblem of the material pleasures which the ungodly enjoy. Their life of immoral enjoyments will become to them the same as those traps people set to catch birds and animals. It is difficult to avoid thinking that the Apostle is applying this figure of speech in a spiritual sense. The punishment which he has in view is of a spiritual nature; it is a moral hardening of the heart against the truth. So the cause of such entrapment must, therefore, be something more than simple worldly pleasure. For Paul, it is, as we have seen, the proud confidence of Israel in their ceremonial works. The table is, therefore, in Paul’s sense the emblem of presumptuous eternal security founded on their faithfulness to keeping their rites, rituals, ceremonies, feasts, and Holy Days. These acts of devotion, by which they expect to be saved, are precisely what is blinding them to any real opportunity for salvation they may be given.⁸

Verse 11: In that case, when the Jews stumbled, did their fall mean they were forever lost? Heavens no! In fact, their mistake brought salvation to those who are not Jews. The purpose of this was to make the Jews jealous.⁹

After having made clear all the evidence incriminating the unbelieving Jews for bringing on their own despair and punishment, Paul is quick to add that God still did not give up on them so that they lost all hope of being saved. This effort by a compassionate God was expressed by Isaiah when He told the prophet: “‘Am I pleased with the death of a sinful man?’ says the Lord God. ‘No, instead I would like him to turn from his sinful ways and live… For I am not pleased with the death of anyone who dies,” says the Lord God. So be sorry for your sins and turn away from them, and live.’”¹⁰ However, some of those who heard the Gospel preached by Paul were unmoved and so he had no other choice but to take the Good News to those who would listen.

That’s what happened when Paul and Barnabas reached Antioch in the country of Pisidia.¹¹ It also occurred when Paul was in Athens. Paul went into the synagogue to preach the Good News, but Luke tells us: “They [the Jews] worked against Paul and said bad things about him. He shook his clothes and said, ‘Whatever happens to you is your own doing. I am free from your guilt. From now on I will go to the people who are not Jews.’”¹² So any blame for their not becoming part of the believing family of God was on their own shoulders.

Origen takes note of Israel’s condition and how Paul distinguishes between stumbling and sinning on the one hand and falling on the other. As Paul sees it, he is offering the cure for stumbling and sinning, but not for falling. This is why he denies that Israel has fallen. For the Israelites, although they rejected their redeemer and stoned and persecuted those who were sent to them, nevertheless, there still remains a remnant within them of true believers. For they still have the law to guide them even if they do not understand it all. This is the doorway through which they will be led to Christ.¹³

Preacher Chrysostom, however has a different interpretation. After showing that the Jews were guilty of sins without number, Paul offers something that can be used as extenuating causes. Note, he accuses them on the basis of what the prophets have said but modifies the condemnation by his own words. For nobody will deny that they have sinned greatly and fallen out of favor with God. But let us see if the fall is such that it proves to be incurable. The answer is, “No, it is not!” Paul believes that God has not given up all hope for their salvation, so neither should he.¹⁴

Then Augustine finds a middle ground. For him Paul is saying that the Jews have not fallen in vain, since it led to the salvation of the Gentiles. The Jews did not sin only to fall as a punishment but so that their fall might serve a greater purpose. Paul even begins to praise the Jewish people for this fall of unbelief, in order that the Gentiles should not become proud, seeing that the fall of the Jews was so important for their own salvation. On the contrary, the Gentiles ought to be all the more careful, lest they too should grow proud and fall also.¹⁵

Pelagius sees Paul attempting to explain to the Jew their real position with God. In Paul’s mind, they have not fallen completely away beyond hope. So while they are struggling to believe, God reached out to the Gentiles and called them to salvation. It was Paul’s hope that when the Jews saw that the Gentiles were being allowed into the kingdom of God, they might perhaps repent more quickly.¹⁶ And Bishop Cyril sees Paul artfully crafting the words announcing a divine dispensation. By asserting that the Gentiles were called not because the Israelites had lost all hope of salvation, but because Christ had become a stumbling stone but rather to the Jews, Paul hoped that they would imitate those who were so unexpectedly accepted by God and recognize where their wickedness really was. And in so doing, they would come to a better understanding of God’s plan of salvation and accept Jesus Christ the Redeemer as their Lord and Savior.¹⁷

Ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus, who lived in Ephesus around 500 B.C., once made this statement: “The soul is dyed the color of its thoughts. Think only on those things that are in line with your principles and can bear the light of day. The content of your character is your choice. Day by day, what you choose, what you think, and what you do is who you become. Your integrity is your destiny – it is the light that guides your way.”¹

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. made this same line even more famous in a speech in Washington D.C., in 1963, when he said, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” But character is not something we are born with, it is something we develop. As Heraclitus said, its content is based on what we choose to build it with.

Whether these quotes were part of his inspiration or not, character was also an essential part of what Thomas D. Willhite, founder of PSI World,² a nonprofit service organization and PSI Seminars, taught as a motivational speaker who traveled around the world. In his speeches, he always emphasized the importance of choosing what we want to build our character and future upon. In one of his manuscripts we read, “People get what they want in life when they reach the point at which they can see themselves having what they seek.³

There is one thing we know about Good Character, we recognize it when we see it. Maybe more importantly, we know when it is missing. Every day headlines tell us about individuals lacking character. The main stories feature more than the common criminals, it includes politicians and business leaders, who make the front page with incidents of bad character. Bad character knows no boundaries.

The good news is that good character knows no boundaries either. Good character is exemplified every day and too often goes unnoticed. Media attention gets attracted to stories of bad behavior too often. But character is more than visual. Character is engraved on our hearts. The engraving isn’t something we dream about, but something we’ve accomplished. The word “character” comes from the Greek kharakter that means “engraved mark.” In other words, it just doesn’t show up, it has to be placed there on purpose to identify its source.

The Bible is very vocal on the subject of character. Solomon once said, “The person who is right in their walk is sure in their steps, but the person who goes the wrong way will be exposed.”⁴ And again Solomon wrote: “A good name is to be chosen instead of many riches. Favor is better than silver and gold.”⁵ But what God said to Samuel is so insightful when he went to anoint a new king for Israel: Don’t choose someone by the way they look on the outside or how tall they are, that’s not what I’m looking for. As the Lord, I don’t look at the things the way a human does. Human’s look at the outside of a person, but I, the Lord, I look at their heart.⁶

In short, don’t try to fool people by putting on a persona or disguise. Be your true self by developing the character you want people to recognize you. Take the time to study, pray, and seek advice to build the person God wants you to be. Jesus gave us a great outline in his Sermon on the Mount.⁷ And to this, you can add the Apostle Paul’s famous list of character traits.⁸ Not only will you be received well down here on earth, but you’ll be more than welcomed up above. – Dr. Robert R Seyda

A LESSON IN COMMUNICATING

When I first read this anecdote, it struck me as being quite simple but very powerful. So I thought I’d share it with you. I hope it sends the right message to your heart and life.

A blind boy sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet. He had a sign which read: “I am blind. Please Help.” There were only a few coins in the hat. When a man came walking by, he took a few coins from his pocket and dropped them into the hat. Then he took the sign, turned it around, and wrote some words on the back. He put the sign back where it was so that everyone who walked by would see the new words.

Soon the hat began to fill up. A lot more people were giving money to the blind boy.

That afternoon the man who had changed the sign came to see how things were going. The boy recognized his footsteps and asked, “Weren’t you the one who changed my sign this morning? What did you write?” The man said, “I only wrote the truth. I said what you were trying to say but in a different way. I wrote: ‘Today is a beautiful day, but I cannot see it.'”

Both signs told people the same thing… that the boy was blind. But the first sign simply said, in a negative way, it was unfortunate that the boy was blind. The second sign told people, in a positive way, that they were extremely fortunate that they were not blind. Should we be surprised that the second sign was more effective?

Moral of the Story:

Be thankful for what you have.

Be creative. Be innovative. Think differently and positively. When life gives you a reason to cry, show life that you have 100 reasons to smile. Face your past without regret because you can’t change it anyway. Handle your present with confidence. Prepare for the future without fear.

Keep the faith and drop the fear… just remember God is Near!

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

Dr. Robert R. Seyda

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

CHAPTER ELEVEN (Lesson X)

Verses 9-10: And David said: “Let the dining table they recline next to become a snare for them; when they feel satisfied enough to relax, let it become a trap; let their eyes become so cloudy they cannot see, and it causes them to stumble whenever they try to walk.¹”

Paul has one more witness to call on in proving that what he is saying about the Jews not accepting the Messiah when He came is true. Consequently, they must understand that what they may perceive as punishment from God, is, in fact, a dilemma of their own creation.² To understand what David was referring to, we go back to the message given to Israel through Moses before they went into the Promised Land. First, they were instructed to love the LORD their God with all their heart, soul, and strength, while keeping all the instructions they had received sealed in their hearts. Not only that, but teach them to their children. If they followed these guidelines, God promised them: “Houses will be full of good things which you did not fill. There will be pools for keeping water which you did not dig, and grapevines and olive trees which you did not plant. You will eat and be filled.”³

But they have not given their full dedication to God and followed all His instructions, because had they done so they would have recognized the Messiah when He came. So Paul is saying that all the good things they were given to eat and drink had become a snare to them, taking their eyes off the One who was so gracious to them. Therefore, they had become a persecuted people scattered around the world. Now it was time to reassemble around the cross of Jesus Christ and become united again through His sacrifice, grace, and mercy. But the worse was yet to come. Everything they had been given would soon be taken away from them because of their rejection of the Messiah.

Jewish historian Josephus gives us a graphic and disturbing picture of those living in Jerusalem when this happened during the siege by Roman General Titus in 70 A.D. “Now the number of those that were carried captive during this whole war was estimated to be 97,000, and counting the number of those that perished during the whole siege it amounted to 1,100,000 souls. The greater part of who were exiled were all Israelites, although not all of them were residents of Jerusalem. Most of them had made their pilgrimage from all over the country to attend the feast of unleavened bread in Jerusalem.”

Josephus continues, “They were all of a sudden shut up in the city by the Roman army. It wasn’t long before a destructive epidemic caused great sickness and suffering among them. That was followed closely by the lack of food which resulted in a famine. This killed many of them in a short time. And that this city could contain so many people in it, is proven by the number that was counted during the campaign of Cestius Gallus, who was anxious to inform Emperor Nero of the city’s influence. So he requested that the high priests, if it were possible, to count the number of the whole multitude who came. So these high priests, at the start of that feast which is called the Passover, when they slay their sacrifices, from the ninth hour till the eleventh. With the rule of not less than ten were to be fed by sacrificed lamb, (for it is not lawful for them to feast singly by themselves,) there were so many they were forced to feed up to twenty on one sacrifice.”⁴

Early church scholar Origen shares some interesting details about the research that was made on this quote by Paul from David. After examining the source of the quote, he informed his readers that the snare and trap mentioned here by Paul when quoting David is not mentioned either in the Hebrew Text or in the Greek Septuagint.⁵ He said that he and his students had examined these things in the Hebrew, following the text from right to left, and the accuracy of other researchers consulted in order to show by these details that the authority of the Apostle does not rely on the texts of the Hebrews nor does it always retain the words of the translators, but rather it expounds the meaning of the Scriptures in whatever words are most suitable.⁶

Those of you who may have access to the Hebrew text of the Psalms or the Greek Septuagint version will find that both words are indeed mentioned there in verse 22. Perhaps that’s why Bishop Theodore sees things from a different angle. He tells us that while Paul is not using these words as a prophecy, it is a quote from the Scriptures which backs up what he has already said about the Jews, and at the same time he shows that there is nothing new under the sun.⁷

Then Augustine makes clear his humanistic thinking (something Martin Luther accused him of) more clearly here when he comments on the subject of mercy and judgment. He says that mercy on the elect reflects their having obtained the righteousness of God, but judgment upon the others who have been blinded. And yet the former have believed because they wanted to do so, while the latter have not believed because they have not wanted to do so. Hence mercy and judgment were executed based on their own willingness or unwillingness to believe.⁸ So it is clear that Augustine did not ascribe to the idea that man has absolutely nothing to do in attaining a right standing with God. Instead of God willing it and a person accepting it, it appears to him that a person wills it and God grants it because they want it. This was very much in line with the humanistic philosophy of the Greeks.

Martin Luther has much to say about the quote from David that Paul uses here and assesses it as to what was going on during his time when he suspected that the Roman Catholic church was misusing Holy Scripture to support certain doctrines and practices. As far as Luther is concerned, the Scriptures had become the biggest snare to many scholars in the church because the version or translation they were reading (he was speaking of the Latin Vulgate) was corrupt because of sloppy translation. This then found its way into their schools and ended up deceiving many of the lesser educated. Those sitting at the same study table can read the same passage of Scripture, and one will come away with an understanding that leads to spiritual death and the other to spiritual life.

To put it another way, Luther says that one draws out honey and the other poison. That’s why nothing else must be treated with more reverence and so little haughtiness as the Word of God. To the proud, the Scripture can easily end up offending them and trapping them in their lies and deceit, even though they may not be aware of it because it was so fascinatingly and beautifully disguised. This is not the Word’s fault, but that of human pride, which causes some to arrogantly lift their nose in the air to show they know more than what the Scriptures say.⁹

Luther goes on to clarify what he meant by saying the “snare” was when Scripture was used for false teaching. And that if one becomes ensnared, it is because they mistakenly draw the wrong conclusion from what the Scripture is saying. Not only that, but once they codify their false belief, they hang on to it because it says what they want it to say. So without realizing it, they have permitted themselves to be ensnared willingly. Yet, when their error is pointed out to them they take offence because they don’t want to let go. But it gets worse. They become defensive and distort the Scripture even more and then deny that it can be understood any other way. In so doing, they cover their eyes and do not allow themselves to be enlightened. In the meantime, others who do see the light and do accept that they were wrong are raised up to a new level of understanding while those who continue to reject any enlightenment remain perverted in their understanding. No doubt this is what led Luther to nail his ninety-five thesis to the castle door in Wittenberg.

Daniel Whitby validates what others have been saying about this Psalm Paul quoted as pointing to the future. He notes that anyone who is skilled in Hebrew knows that these words are easily understood as pointing to what was yet to come. Even the seventy Hebrew scholars in 250 B.C., translated it into Greek with an imperative mood and tense. Furthermore, since the Jews know what it meant to be in bondage and slavery because of their ancestor’s experience in Egypt, they would certainly understand what Paul was trying to tell them. This was especially true of the Jews living in Rome, who after the fall of Jerusalem would never be allowed back into their homeland again. This signifies that once a person has fallen from grace it is impossible for them to regain their position in Christ without a miracle from God.¹⁰

John Bengel sees a real picture form when we look at this sequence of words in David’s psalm: snare, trap, stumbling-block, and results. Bengel sees this as follows, the snare is a noose tied to a trap, so that the noose catches the foot of its prey and the trap then lifts it off the ground and holds it so it cannot get loose. As such, the noose was like a stumbling-block and the result of walking into the trap.¹¹ This is no doubt why Jesus told His disciples that they were not to go out to win the world through preaching the gospel before they were endowed with power from on high by God through the infilling of the Holy Spirit. This was to fulfill what Jesus had earlier promised: “The Counselor is the Holy Spirit. The Father will send Him in My place. He will teach you everything and help you remember everything I have told you.”¹²

John Taylor sees Paul’s use of this Psalm in a different light. He does not believe that Paul was trying to show that the blindness and stubbornness of the Jews in his day was being predicted by David. Rather, that it was the plight of those who would follow David’s time and end up in Babylonian captivity because they were unfaithful to God who had redeemed them from Egyptian bondage. For Taylor, the point Paul is trying to make here are the consequences of unfaithfulness, hardheartedness, and miserableness that would come as a result of their rejection of the Gospel and Jesus the Messiah. Paul hoped that they would see the malignant cause and dire effects of their continued unbelief.¹³

And none of this should be dismissed as part of the past and no longer relevant for believers today. Think of it this way: poison ivy that caused a burning rash back in Noah’s day, causes the same rash today. Likewise, unbelief and misuse of the Scriptures that plunged the Medieval church into darkness will do the same thing today if left to spread its poison without lifting the banner of truth for all to see.