Down an Unfamiliar Road

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.

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

Dr. Robert R. Seyda

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

CHAPTER TEN (Lesson XXIV)

Jewish commentator David Stern interprets what Paul says in these verses from a Jew’s perspective. Paul follows a tactic used by Rabbis throughout the writing of the Talmud. They introduce an imaginary opponent who states their objections. By answering this mystical opponent, they are able to explain their case. In Paul’s example, this imagined opponent can be accepted as an unconverted Jew defending Israel and looking for flaws in Paul’s argument.¹ The opponent appears five times: First in verse 13, by implication here in verses 14–15, and explicitly in verses 18-19; and later in 11:1–2 and 11:11. Stern also sees that Paul quotes some twelve times from the First Covenant in this chapter to prove his point. So it is clear that he is directing his message to the Jewish contingent of the Church in Rome.²

This mystical opponent’s objection was that calling on the name of ADONAI should not be applied to Jews in the way Paul has done. Their point is, it isn’t our fault if we don’t call on the name of ADONAI through Yeshua; no one was ever sent to proclaim Him to us. The opponent then goes on to defend their point by using four arguments: How can they call if they haven’t believed; how can they believe if they have not heard; how can they hear if no one has told them; and how can anyone tell them if they are not sent. Even the opponent agrees that the sender must be God.

What this all adds up to is that the opponent ends up blaming God. Why didn’t God send someone to tell the Good News to the Jews? Certainly, they would have welcomed this messenger from the Almighty. In fact, they would have been thrilled to hear the sound of his feet. After all, isn’t that what Isaiah said? Stern says that a similar objection is heard today when it is claimed that the Jewish Bible (the First Covenant) does not contain Messianic prophecies fulfilled by Yeshua. In fact, the Jews have found all the prophecies accepted by Christians as relevant to the coming of Jesus of Nazareth are actually related to other historical figures in Judaism. So how can anyone blame modern Jews for not becoming believers that Jesus was the Messiah? Again, some blame God because He didn’t send anyone at the appropriate time. Such doubters need to read the Gospels in the Last Covenant.³

Verses 16-17: But not all the people accepted that good news. Isaiah said, “Lord, who believed what we told them?”⁴ So faith comes from hearing the Good News. And people hear the Good News when someone tells them about Christ.

What Paul says here in verse 17 can be somewhat unclear. Did he mean, “Hearing of the Word results in faith?” Or could it possibly be defined as “The Word brings the power to hear and through hearing, faith is born?” It would seem that the first pertains to physical hearing; the sensing of audible sound. The latter would apply to spiritual hearing; sensing of inaudible thoughts. Is it possible to hear the voice of God with the soul’s ear while the physical organ hears nothing? Yes, when it is communicated properly. But it is possible to hear the Word with the perishable ear while the imperishable one remains deaf. Unbelief and disbelief deafen the spiritual ear. No wonder Christ admonished, “He who has ears, let him hear.”⁵ Not physical reception of sound, but spiritual assimilation of life-giving words. Read it again! Oh, that people would stop listening just with their ears and start hearing with their hearts!

 What Paul says here in verse 17 can be somewhat unclear. Did he mean, “Hearing of the Word results in faith?” Or could it possibly be defined as “The Word brings the power to hear and through hearing, faith is born?” It would seem that the first pertains to physical hearing; the sensing of audible sound. The latter would apply to spiritual hearing; sensing of inaudible thoughts. Is it possible to hear the voice of God with the soul’s ear while the physical organ hears nothing? Yes, when it is communicated properly. But it is possible to hear the Word with the perishable ear while the imperishable one remains deaf. Unbelief and disbelief deafen the spiritual ear. No wonder Christ admonished, “He who has ears, let him hear.”

Jesus encountered such individuals when He visited the Temple during the Feast of the Dedication in the winter. As He walked along the Portico of Solomon, He was confronted by many Jews who wanted to know, are you the real Messiah or not? Jesus pointed at them and said: You’ve heard what I’ve told you and you’ve seen the works that I’ve done in my Father’s name to prove that I am. But here’s your problem: “You don’t believe Me because you are not part of My flock. My sheep recognize My voice, and I know who they are, and so they follow Me.”⁶ In other words, unless the Spirit of God awakens the heart and mind to hear communication on a spiritual level, it is impossible for anyone to understand the Gospel enough to see the truth and become a follower of Jesus.

The writer of Hebrews also points out that Moses had the same difficulty. He writes: “For this wonderful news – the message that God wants to save us – has been given to us just as it was to those who lived in the time of Moses. But it didn’t do them any good because they didn’t believe it. They didn’t combine what they heard with faith.”⁷ That’s why, while a minister or teacher of the Gospel may feel let down because there is no response from some in the audience to their message, they should not conclude that they have failed. But at the same time, don’t give up. In God’s time, they will hear what the Lord is trying to tell them.

Paul experienced a similar situation long after he wrote this letter when he was transferred to Rome by the military where he was put under house arrest. That’s when he called together the local Jewish leaders to explain why he had been arrested for the Gospel that he preached. They told him that in Rome the Christians had a bad reputation. So Paul opened the Torah and writings of the Prophets and began to teach them about Jesus. His lecture lasted from morning until late into the evening. When it was over, Luke tells us: “Some believed and some didn’t.”⁸ An argument broke out between those Jews who did believe and those who didn’t. As they left, Paul called out to them: “The Holy Spirit was right when he said through Isaiah the prophet, ‘Say to the Jews, “You will hear and see but not understand, for your hearts are too fat and your ears don’t listen and you have closed your eyes against understanding, for you don’t want to see and hear and understand and turn to me to heal you.”’⁹”¹⁰

So it wasn’t so much that they didn’t hear, but that they didn’t listen. Anyone who has raised children can testify to the fact that often when they told their child to do something, or stop doing something, or go somewhere, they got no response. So they would call out loudly, “Didn’t you hear me?” Of course, they heard, but they didn’t listen. Listening gives the hearer the opportunity to obey. The writer of Hebrews said that after Jesus did everything needed to prove Himself by learning obedience through His suffering, He became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey Him.¹¹ Not just those who hear the Word, but those who obey by listening. Abraham heard God speaking to him, but he did more than listen, he obeyed, even though it took him places he had never been before.¹²

The prophet Isaiah knew the frustration of trying to get people to listen to what God gave him to say. Even after saying this: “See, my Servant will be successful; He shall be highly praised. Yet many will be amazed when they see Him—yes, even far-off foreign nations and their kings; they shall stand dumbfounded, speechless in His presence. For they shall see and understand what they had not been told before. They shall see my Servant beaten and bloodied, so disfigured one would scarcely know it was a person standing there. That’s how He will cleanse many nations,” He ended up by lamenting, “But who will believe my message? To whom will God reveal His saving power?”¹³ Isaiah knew they heard him, but they weren’t listening. This is also how John saw it after the Jews had seen all the miracles Jesus performed, they still didn’t believe He was the Messiah. That’s why John said: “This is exactly what Isaiah the prophet predicted.”¹⁴

So Paul concludes that faith can only come by listening. But listening to what? This is where every Christian preacher and teacher must take note, because Paul clearly says that faith blossomed because they were listening to the “Word of God.” Does that mean only the reading of the Bible? No! But it does mean that what is being said must be in complete harmony with what God said in His Word. However, listening is still not enough, it must be followed by a response.

In Jesus’ story about the rich man who found himself in Hades and saw Abraham with Lazarus in his arms on the other side of the huge gap that divided them, he pleaded with Abraham to send Lazarus back to tell his five brothers not to make the same mistake he did. But Abraham responded: “The Scriptures have warned them again and again. Your brothers can read them any time they want to. The rich man replied, ‘No, Father Abraham, they won’t bother to read them. But if someone is sent to them from the dead, then they will turn from their sins.’ But Abraham said, ‘If they won’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they won’t listen even though someone rises from the dead.’”¹⁵ Of course, Jesus told this parable as an omen of what many unbelieving Jews would do, even after He was raised from the dead by His heavenly Father.

So when people began to question why Paul was only sent to evangelize and not to baptize and pastor those who believed, Paul said: “Christ didn’t send me to baptize, but to preach the Gospel; and even my preaching sounds poor, for I do not fill my sermons with profound words and high-sounding ideas, for fear of diluting the mighty power there is in the simple message of the cross of Christ. I know very well how foolish it sounds to those who are lost, when they hear that Jesus died to save them. But we who are saved recognize this message as the very power of God.”¹⁶

Not everyone needs to emulate Paul and say they have no interest in pastoring. That was particular to his calling, every calling is unique. Nor should anyone take this to mean that their sermons should sound so simple that even 4-year-old’s can understand. Paul was making reference here to the how Greek orators used to try and astound their listeners with complicated arguments. But it is important that we keep the message at such a level that we do not purposely add to the Word that God gives us something that makes it sound more complicated than it needs to be. This only brings honor to the speaking, not the One who sent them.

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

Dr. Robert R. Seyda

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

CHAPTER TEN (Lesson XXIII)

Scottish Bible scholar Robert Haldane believes that in the sequence of how the Gospel is to reach the ears of mankind so they can hear God’s offer of salvation, God had no intention of simply speaking directly from heaven or sending His angels to do the job. First He sent His Son Jesus to deliver the message to a few, and then through His great commission, Jesus made it clear that His followers were going to carry out that mission. Haldane notes that Paul isn’t saying that God cannot speak to us from the pages of the Scriptures, but that whatever the words in the Bible may be saying to us we still need to hear a living voice communicate that to our minds, and with the help of the Holy Spirit it is made clear for understanding. In Haldane’s opinion, people are not only saved through Christ, but they are saved through the knowledge of Christ communicated by way of the Gospel.¹

Bible scholar Albert Barnes sees what Paul is saying here as being a response to any possible objection on the part of those who heard him say that in order for someone to believe in Jesus as Savior they must call on His name. Also, their confession must include their faith in His death on the cross and resurrection in order to be justified. So what happens to those who haven’t heard the Gospel? Shouldn’t someone be responsible for sending a messenger of the Gospel to them?

It appears that this objection was coming from the premise upon which Paul said: If the world is to be saved, it cannot happen without certain factors being involved. First, how could they call on someone for salvation of who they had heard nothing? How could they be aware of His existence, ability, and willingness to help if they weren’t informed? Most Bible scholars believe that Paul was anticipating such a question involving these particulars and decided to answer ahead of time.² Paul uses Isaiah to answer the objection by saying: You have every right to ask, and I’m happy to tell you how beautiful are the feet of those who go and preach the Good News.³

Charles Spurgeon took what Paul says here to make it applicable to his generation of believers. The first thing he wants them to think about is this: “If the Word of the Lord does not get to someone either by a living voice or by the written word, how are they to believe in Christ as their Savior? So all that is being asked is: If the plan of salvation has some built-in factor that will make this happen, what are they? So their next conclusion must be that someone ought to be found to go and spread the Good News. They must share the Gospel in such a powerful way that people will want to listen to more. Then, those who are listening will be convinced by the Holy Spirit that it is true and will accept it and believe in it. Once this happens they will then be emboldened by the Spirit to call on the name of the Lord and ask Him for salvation.

So Spurgeon concludes that his audience will see what he calls the mechanism of salvation and the great engine that drives it, which is the Gospel. And when they see this force in action they will note that it is God who sends the preacher; it is God who blesses the Word; it is God who sends faith into the heart of those who hear; it is God who accepts their prayer for forgiveness and salvation. When seen this way, then the humblest of preachers of the gospel can stand as a symbol that God is present, They are speaking to those who come to hear them, and God will see to it that what the preachers say will happen. So happy are the messengers. May the messengers’ hearts rejoice, even when sometimes their soul may be heavy because they know they are doing the work of their Master, for their Master’s sake, and by their Master’s authority.

Still, in spite of the God’s efforts and the messengers’ efforts, for Spurgeon, the heart of it all must be real faith if the call for salvation has any meaning. There can never be such a thing as believing in what one has never heard. It must also be the kind of hearing that changes a person’s perspective. The words Jesus spoke were often doubted until His miracles convinced even the hardest skeptic that this Son of man was for real. No wonder Paul spoke of the power of the Gospel.

The Holy Spirit uses it like a spark that can set fire to a person’s heart. Then when they sincerely call on the name of the Lord, the heat of redemption arrives covered by the blood of the Lamb. So what is the difference between any two preachers carrying the same message? Paul says it is very simple, the one who is sent by the One who is calling will make the Word active. So when it enters the heart and mind it will wake up the spirit of mankind that has been in a coma since the Garden of Eden. Then it will come to life and a new creature will be born in Christ by the power of the Word and the Holy Spirit.⁴

Frédéric Godet sees something here that suggests Paul is making a defense of his ministry. Why was he going into all these territories and preaching first to the Jews in their synagogues, and then to the Gentiles in open spaces? Why not let the Christian faith spread like the faith of Abraham among the Israelites in which each set of parents taught their children, who then taught their children, and so on? Paul is making the case that there is not enough time for that because the Lord may be coming back soon. Also, since this message was to also be spread by the Gentiles, there was no way for them to spread a religion they know nothing about. So someone has to go, someone has to preach, someone has to inspire faith in the message of salvation so that those who hear can call on the Lord and be saved.

Furthermore, even though the Jews were first to hear, they had no such evangelistic efforts to reach the heathen masses. Yes, there were even some Jews, who took offence at the universal character of Paul’s Apostleship that included the Gentiles. So we can see Paul’s ministry doing exactly what he said those messengers would do who were sent out to announce the Good News. And he was not just any messenger, but one who was sent by the Lord Himself. This gave Paul strength, courage, and resolve to do the work for which he had been anointed. And this should translate into the same reason why any minister of the Gospel goes out today to spread the Good News of salvation.⁵

F. F. Bruce sees another facet of Paul’s ministry. He is called an Apostle. The word itself means to be sent. As such, he is a herald, an ambassador conveying a message from someone royal leader who has commissioned him to deliver it. In doing so, Paul magnifies the office of the Gospel preacher. They are more than just conveyors of a kingly message, they also have been given the authority to proclaim His amnesty to those who believe the message. Anyone who accepts the invitation to call on the Lord to be saved can be welcomed by the preacher into the Kingdom of God.

For those persons who bring such a joyful message Paul uses the words of the prophet Isaiah, who spoke centuries before: “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good tidings, who publishes peace, who brings good tidings of good, who publishes salvation.”⁶ Even though what Isaiah said referred to the messenger who announced to the desolate city of Zion, “Your God reigns!” it can now be applied to carriers of the Gospel around the world to go and tell those living in darkness and chaos, “Our God reigns!”⁷

So the question now is, how does this apply to the problem of Jewish unbelief? After all, the Gentiles were hearing the same message that the Jews first heard from Yeshua Himself. But, for the most part, the Jewish establishment paid little attention to it. Was this a surprise, or was it something that had been foreseen? The prophet Isaiah may give us a clue where he asks: “Who has believed our message? To whom has the LORD revealed His powerful arm?”⁸

These words become relevant to the Gospel when they are examined in the context of what has been called “The Song of the Suffering Servant.”⁹ In the Last Covenant, the presentation of the passion and triumph of Jesus seems anchored in this passage. But when the disappointed messenger asks, “Who has believed our message?” there should be little doubt that it was meant as a question for the Jews who first heard Jesus. Not only that but in Paul’s case, just as it was for Jesus, the message he brought rested on the direct command and commission of Christ, which is the powerful arm of the Lord reaching out to save.¹⁰

Bruce agrees with Barnes on the possible source for the question on how can they believe something they’ve never heard. The proposition is that someone expressed doubt about Paul’s claim that the Gospel had reached all of Israel so some must have been left out. As far as Paul was concerned, considering the world community as it was constituted then, he had taken this message to every place where there was a Jewish synagogue. Not only that, he was not welcomed by many of them so he was forced to turn to the Gentiles.

So the next question proposes that even if this message had reached into all the Jewish communities in the known world at that time, could Paul be sure that everyone had understood. That was easy for Paul to answer. They understood well enough that they found it hard to accept and so they refused to obey. What made things so odd, was that while the Jews were turning Paul away from their synagogues they showed great hostility that he then went to the Gentiles with the message they had just rejected. Everyone knows that when a person discovers the truth about something that proves them wrong, they are not too happy when that is spread around. But this too had already been predicted. The song that Moses wrote contains a sustained indictment of Israel’s ingratitude and disobedience throughout her history.¹¹ So what was the next question? There was none. Especially since their own Bible testified against them.¹²

John Stott sees a grammatical factor in helping the reader to understand Paul’s narrative here. He says that it begins by putting the six verbs Paul uses in reverse order: Christ sends heralds; heralds preach; people hear; hearers believe; believers call; and those who call are saved. Not only that but when these stages are stated negatively and each is seen as necessary for the other to succeed, that makes it even more powerful. In other words, if Christ did not send, if heralds did not preach, if people did not hear, if hearers did not believe, if believers did not call, then no one would be saved. We must also keep in mind that Paul began this chapter by sharing his yearning that his fellow Israelites will be saved. So we must believe he had them in mind when developing this evangelistic strategy.¹³