Whose Is This?
They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. Romans 9:4 ESV
Belong – Are you under the false impression that the biblical experience of God belongs to the Church? Do you think God’s promises are promises for the Church? Did you imagine that the bride of the Messiah is the Church? Did you think your relationship with the Father is a result of the Messiah’s accomplishments for the Church? Do you believe that God is glorified by the Church? Do you suppose that it is the Church that worships YHWH? Did you assume that God gave His instructions to the Church?
Paul’s single sentence in Romans 9 puts aside all of these false conclusions. In one powerful claim, Paul asserts that it is the Israelites who are the focal point of all of God’s actions. To them belong God’s election from the nations. To them belong God’s glorification in human history. To them belong God’s unbreakable commitments, God’s instructions, God’s directions for worship. To them belongs all of the promises of human destiny, cosmic fulfillment and heavenly ecstasy. Paul is quite clear. If you and I want to participate in any of these gifs from God, we must join ourselves to Israel, God’s chosen ones. To put it as bluntly as possible, the Bible was not written for Gentiles. It was written for Jews and for those Gentiles who are grafted into the commonwealth of Israel. The ekklesia of Scripture is nothing more than the extended synagogue.
Paul captures this entire relationship in a single pronoun, hos. It is more than “to them belong.” The English text has to add “belong” to capture the idea, but the Greek literally equates these God-given processes with the Israelites. It is not as if the adoption, covenants, law and promises existed separately and were simply assigned to the Israelites. In Paul’s Hebraic thinking, the adoption, covenants, Torah and promises do not exist without the Israelites. This Hebraic view is critical because it demonstrates that the adoption, the covenants, the Torah, the glory and the promises cannot be re-assigned to some other entity. They are essentially Jewish. Remove their Jewish connection and they disappear!
This is why replacement theology or believing that the “church” stands in primary relationship to any of these themes is completely mistaken. In fact, it is more than a mistake. It is blasphemy. To remove the Jewish nature of any of these events is to deny God’s sovereign purposes. It is to replace God with the authority of the Church, a human organization that was created ex nihilo between 135AD and 325AD. To suggest that the Church is the object of God’s desire is to call Paul a liar and dismiss the Tanakh and all of the Jewish authorship of the New Testament. Paul claims that everything we hold dear in Christian theology is of the Israelites. Are we so arrogant that we can claim Paul got it wrong and that all these things belong to a religion that didn’t even exist when Paul wrote to the synagogue in Rome?
Let’s be very clear about who owns all of these divine gifts. They belong to the Israelites. It’s important to notice that Paul does not say “Jews.” What’s the difference? All of the divine gifts were given to those who follow the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. They are the Israelites. We are not Israelites simply because we are ethnically Jewish. We are Israelites because we follow the God of Jacob-Israel.
Let’s add this caution. Judaism today is not the way of the Israelites that we find in the apostolic writings. Lots of things have changed in 2000 years. We are not arguing that Paul says we must all become followers of Judaism today. What Paul says is that in the first century it was impossible to imagine anything God had done or was going to do without recognizing the essential character of God’s handiwork among the Israelites. That’s where we must begin – again.
Topical Index: belong, covenants, promises, adoption, Israelites, Romans 9:4, hos
The Context: Paul’s Concern for the Jews
Romans 4…v3 ~ For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh,
v4 ~ who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons, and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises, v5 whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen ~
~ For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believes; (always and forever!) to the Jew first, AND also (praise God!) to the Greek ~
(Romans 1.16)
~ There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.
He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him.…
~ He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces He was despised, and we held Him in low esteem ~ (Isaiah 53.3)
~ But unto those that received him, to them He gave authority to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His Name. Those who had not been born of blood, nor of the desire of the flesh, nor of the desire of a man, but of God ~ (John 1.12,13)
In context. God’s concern for gentiles who would join themselves to Israel (i.e., joined themselves to the God of Israel):
Isaiah 56:3-8
Do not let the son of the foreigner
Who has joined himself to the Lord
Speak, saying,
“The Lord has utterly separated me from His people”;
Nor let the eunuch say,
“Here I am, a dry tree.”
4 For thus says the Lord:
“To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths,
And choose what pleases Me,
And hold fast My covenant,
5 Even to them I will give in My house
And within My walls a place and a name
Better than that of sons and daughters;
I will give them[a] an everlasting name
That shall not be cut off.
6 “Also the sons of the foreigner
Who join themselves to the Lord, to serve Him,
And to love the name of the Lord, to be His servants—
Everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath,
And holds fast My covenant—
7 Even them I will bring to My holy mountain,
And make them joyful in My house of prayer.
Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices
Will be accepted on My altar;
For My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.”
8 The Lord God, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, says,
“Yet I will gather to him
Others besides those who are gathered to him.”
Again In Context: Paul’s concern for gentiles joining themselves to Israel (i.e., the God of Israel)
Romans 11:16-18
16 For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches. 17 And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree, 18 do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you.
I was going to post this in yesterdays TW, however due to the reference to “ex nihilo”, it may fit in better here.
Some considerations on the term “BARA”,
It is assumed that the term bara is strictly used of God’s creative power in forming something from nothing, or ex nihilo”, however there are a number of places in scripture where this term is referencing human behavior. Please don’t think that I’m, somehow, trying to discredit God and His creative power or to elevate man to a status that doesn’t belong to him, I’m just trying to find the true essence of this term as used in scripture by God’s choice and how it differs from other terms, such as, make, form and mold, etc.
Here’s a number of references to “bara” and it’s use concerning human activities. (I think there are a few others, however I can’t place them at the moment)
Joshua 17:15 &18, the tribe of Joseph is complaining concerning the allotment of land being given to them as being too small. And Joshua answered them, If thou be a great people, then get thee up to the wood country, and cut down for thyself there in the land of the Perizzites and of the giants, if mount Ephraim be too narrow for thee. “cut down” is B-R-A_TH, bara with a “tav” at the end.
1 Sam. 2:29 (this is the one I’m going to “pick on”) God is telling Eli that his sons are dishonoring Him (God) by their activities in the tabernacle.
Wherefore kick ye at my sacrifice and at mine offering, which I have commanded in my habitation; and honourest thy sons above me, to make yourselves fat with the chiefest of all the offerings of Israel my people? B-R-A is the root of this word and it can be translated, “to the “making fat or creating” of your posterity.” In other words, they were attempting to secure wealth and position for their generations. If you have any doubts about that, look at the judgment on Eli and his sons. It goes far past the immediate activities.
Here are the others;
2 Sam. 12:17, David wouldn’t eat (B-R-A) bread for sustenance.
Eze.21:19, Ezekiel was to choose (B-R-A) a path or way for the enemy to come.
Eze. 23:47, the people would stone with stones, and dispatch (B-R-A) with swords.
To further explore the term bara as used in 1 Sam. Look at the story as described in the scripture and the complaint that God had against Eli and his sons. I find it interesting that although the fact that the sons of Eli were sleeping with the women who served at the tabernacle is mentioned, it doesn’t even show up in the judgment given to Eli by God. How come? You’ll notice that the sons of Eli had not only abused their position, they changed the order.
God had provided for Aaron and his sons quite nicely with the provisions gleaned from the sacrifices of God’s people. Some of what Hophni and Phinehas were doing was to change a random and willing gift into a selected and coerced one. Note that the fat is always mentioned in scripture as belonging to the LORD, and yet these men were insisting that the meat with the fat was to be given to them and if it wasn’t, it was taken by force.
While there is much more to this issue, the only other one I’ll bring up is that, simply stated, the worship of YHWH was given in a certain order and that it involved the “lifting up” of the people, not their subjection. Subjection to God is possibly another of those terms that we confuse. Much like a “ruler” is in truth the ultimate servant, subjection or slavery to God is not limiting ourselves but in fact enabling us to accomplish God’s purposes on earth. This is possibly the fundamental issue with Eli’s sons. They were supposed to be the representatives of God and His nature to the people as a whole. They had twisted this authority to not lifting up the people, but rather a segment of the people, at their discretion and the rest had better fall in line, or else. They had “bara-ed” a new order and more than that, had changed (at least attempted to) the very nature that God had revealed to His people concerning Himself. That’s called blasphemy. Note also that the judgment given to Eli went far past him and his sons but rather extended to their posterity as well. As I mentioned above, this new created order was not to be only for them, but for the securing of their children as well, hence the judgment.
The reason I write this is not only to explore the essence of “posterity” in the term bara, but also to allow us to ask some questions of ourselves and our traditions. As is mentioned in the TW above, the “church” as determined today was created ex nihilo, I would suggest that it’s far deeper than that. Have we not done exactly what Hophni and Phinehas tried? To change the order as God has given it. To “replace” what God has elected to use with our own selection and claim the “inherent promises” for ourselves at the expense of others. It’s not as though God has not given us ample provision through the “grafting in” to His elected people, yet we have taken advantage of it in the same way as these men did. I’m not so sure that the same judgment isn’t being rendered to us today as it was then.
It should cause us to pause and consider what we’re leaving to our children, destruction or life. How do we portray our God to those around us, according to His order or against it? Many questions, many possibilities.
Repentance is difficult, even when we know the issues, but it has to start somewhere. How about with me. Today.
YHWH bless you and keep you……
What an excellent extension of the thought. Thanks for posting this and for asking the questions. I worry a lot that what we generally pass off as worship is precisely in the same category that you outline. We have decided what God wants rather than listening to what He tell us. This is the height of blasphemy.
Skip, your encouragement has come at the right time. I’ve been struggling as of late with the “validity?” of what I’m gleaning from a word to word study in Genesis. It’s encouraging to hear that it at least makes some sense to others and that it strikes a note. What a God send. Thanks again, and to you also Suzanne.
YHWH bless you and keep you…..
Robert – Wow!
It seems as if when bara is used in the contexts you mentioned it is always leading to destruction because of being out of God’s will or against His plan. Or have I totally missed your point?
No ma’am, you didn’t miss it. 🙂
Here’s the short form, if it helps. B-R or bar is an agricultural term and it can be pictured as a parent plant that drops a seed, that eventually grows and drops more seeds, etc. Picture a single grass that eventually covers an entire field with all the roots entangled and mutually supporting one another. That’s why Bar (son) is a son of inheritance. What this son (or seed) has is not given to him as a gift, but rather it is a natural right, ie; it’s part of him.
So seemingly, here’s the deal. Technically, B-R is the very first term of scripture (berashith) so that in the beginning this concept is set in stone, if you will. God’s order is then revealed in the rest of Gen.1 and any “seed” dropped in the ground that complies with that order will prosper. If it’s contrary to that same order, it’s doomed to eventual destruction. By the way, there’s an A-SH or fire in the beginning also that works in conjunction with this. b-r-A-SH-I-th
We “create” things out of the given order all the time. We contemplate something and eventually we “manifest it” by building or doing that thing. We are only limited by our own imagination.
God’s verdict on human ability: And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.
I would suppose that our most important question concerning these things is, the thing we’ve created and made. Is it against the given order or in alignment with it. Nothings neutral. Life or death. That goes far past our generation, it’s the “inheritance” we leave to those who follow us.
YHWH bless you and keep you……
And again, in context,
~ if any man (woman, child, Jew or Gentile) be *in Christ, he (or she) is a new creation. All things have passed away, behold, all things are become new ~ 2 Corinthians 5.17)
We are Christ’s Ambassadors
…Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh;
even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer.
King of the Jews? Yes. King of ALL kings? Yes.
~ Therefore if anyone (Jew or Gentile) is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us (Jew and Gentile) to Himself through Christ and has given unto us the ministry of reconciliation,… ~
to wit.. (to know) God was in Christ, reconciling (the Jew?-yes. the Gentile? yes.) the WORLD unto Himself…
~ For “WHOSOEVER” calls upon the Name of the LORD shall be saved ~
Who does “whosoever” include? The Jew? yes. The Gentile? yes. ~ and again, in context.. “whosoever will,” may come. None are “excluded!”- ALL are included.
Brothers, sisters.. ~ the veil of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom..~ So, who now has access to God? The high priest (only?) No. Yeshua ever lives to make intercession for us. He is OUR high priest- a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. King of Salem, King of peace. Prophet-Priest-Sovereign.
The Vine we (Gentiles or Jews) are grafted into is Christ. And ~ without Him, we (none of us) can do nothing ~
Our (common) salvation? Brought to you by, sponsored by- the LORD Jesus (who is the) Christ. Our (common) deliverance? Brought to you by, sponsored by- the LORD Jesus (who is the) Christ, whose very Name is “YHWH saves,” or “YHWH is Salvation.”
Salvation/deliverance/redemption is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to (all) mankind by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4.12)
And again, in context: ~For I am not ashamed of the gospel (the Good News) of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believes; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek ~
(Romans 1.16)
If this is true (and it is!) then may we hear more concerning this “Good News?” What is this “good news” or gospel of Christ?
~ Who is this King of glory? ~
Thank you, Robert. What a beautifully structured argument.