Text: Romans 9:6-18
6 Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: 7a Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children:
Just being the seed of Abraham is not enough. Half of the Arab world is the seed of Abraham through Ishmael. Another large portion is the seed of Abraham through Esau and yet God said in Malachi 1:3 that He hates Esau.
Matthew 3:7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: 9 And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. 10 And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
One might think God means that unless you are of the seed of Jacob (Israel) that you aren’t of the seed of Abraham but that is not completely true either. Paul declares that having a genetic bond with either Abraham or Jacob is not enough to consider yourself part of the family. There are some that God has disowned, disinherited and removed. Jesus called the Pharisees and Sadducees snakes. It is obvious that a genetic bond with Abraham was not sufficient.
As we read in Malachi, God even hated and disdained some for their lack of faith. Genesis 25:32-34 says Esau despised his birthright. He married those of the pagan nations surrounding them. He made himself even more of a stench to God.
7b…but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. 8 That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.
Stating that in Isaac the seed will be blessed means that only the son of the promise has any connection to God’s plan (Genesis 21:12, Hebrews 11:18 (faith chapter) and of course Romans 9.) Obtaining the promise requires faith.
Romans 4:16 - Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all, 17 (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.
Not merely for years; but for decades, Abraham lived with this promise without seeing it. They were well past the season of child bearing and Sarah had despaired of even having a child which is why Hagar and Ishmael came to be part of the genes though not part of the promise. The promise came through Sara, not Hagar.
Genesis 17:18 And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before You!” 19 But God said, “No, but Sarah your wife will bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; and I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. 20 “As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I will bless him, and will make him fruitful and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. 21 “But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this season next year.” 22 When He finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham.
The Angel of the Lord Speaks to Hagar
Genesis 16:10 The angel added, “I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count.” 11 The angel of the Lord also said to her: “You are now pregnant and you will give birth to a son. You shall name him Ishmael, for the Lord has heard of your misery. 12 He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers.”
This is God’s promise to Hagar. Can you see how it fits with the Arab world today? God made them strong but wild and argumentative. When it says that everyone’s hand will be against them and that they will live in hostility toward all his brothers; that perfectly describes the relationship between the Arabs and Israel and the Arabs and their fellow Arab groups. Even their own Muslim sects don’t get along with one another. Arabs are a troubled and troubling people. This is not just a cultural thing; this is a prophetic fulfillment of God’s promise.
10 And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac; 11a (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand,
Rebecca, bearing Jacob and Esau, was carrying two children who had done no evil or good as yet. Nevertheless, God had ALREADY called the younger…Jacob and not the elder Esau. Neither had done good or evil. Both were as innocent as anyone could be. Nevertheless; God has declared that His will and His purpose would be done. He elected Jacob. He chose Jacob. He loved Jacob.
11b… not of works, but of him that calleth;)
Those who say God is unfair or that God is unreasonable; we should bear in mind that He is the one who created matter, life and all that is seen. He divided that matter into planets and stars and eco-systems. He set the rules of this universe and made it to be understandable and observable to mankind, whom He also created.
When you are the creator of all, you make the rules and do things your way. Mocking statements by small minded human beings will not affect His will or actions in the least.
12 It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger.
Rebecca knew in the beginning that Jacob was to be her most important child. She loved him more than Esau. Isaac loved Esau more. People have often asked, “What would have happened if she had not tricked Isaac through Jacob?” On the one hand, she did trick her husband so he prophesied in Jacob’s favor. On the other hand; there is no other hand. God knew what would happen. God chose Jacob. Things worked out God’s way. I’ve heard preachers say that Jacob was wrong and that things should have worked out another way through total honesty and integrity. In truth, God made things work out…period.
13 As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.
As we noted above in Malachi 1; God actually hated Esau. It even goes so far as to say he utterly destroyed and wiped out Edom (the descendants of Esau) from their habitations. This is evidence against those Christians who say we are the replacement of all Israel. This is nonsense, because if God had replaced the natural seed of Abraham utterly with the purely spiritual seed of Abraham - the church - then He never would have restored Israel in 1948. Edom is as if they never have been. Israel is restored.
Those who curse Israel are cursed; those who bless Israel are blessed. Consider who hates Israel these days. They are cursed utterly. Never forget that. No matter what country or people or college or group; if they hate and curse Jews they are cursed.
Regarding Israel and Esau, both were chastened for sin. One fatally so. What will happen to all those Middle Eastern countries who hate Israel without reservation? Armageddon perhaps?
It says in Judges 17:6 that without a king or a leader, we do what is right in our own eyes.
We make decisions based on our upbringing, education, desires and abilities. We judge God with those same attributes and our judgment is flawed because God is further above us as we are above the amoebas.
15 For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
God calls us and we either answer or not. It is in His mercy that He takes the time to press harder with some of us and does not simply drown the entire world again. It was mercy that saved Noah. It is His mercy that you are reading this.
We pollute our world; our minds; our offspring and our cultures and He still takes the time to tenderly reach out and call us. Matthew 22:14 says, “Many are called but few are chosen.” Why is that? Why are we so hard headed; so insistent that we are right. He reaches out and we choose ignorance. He gives His Word and we don’t even try to understand it. A few have taken the time to seriously study the original Hebrew scripture with a computer to see if there are any hidden codes or lessons. Those who have immediately chose to make drastic changes in their lives to serve God more fully. God does not lead often by powerful outward supernatural moves. He generally choses to touch individual hearts.
1 Corinthians 1:26-29 says, “For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence.”
How excited should we be about the fact that we are only able to accomplish things for God by His grace. Very few of noble birth or wise or even honorable are called. It can take years for God to get us where He wants us. We have to grow into the place He wants us to be.
1 Timothy 5:22 says, “Do not lay hands on anyone suddenly.” This means that we should be slow to promote others in God’s kingdom. In cases like this someone may be filled with pride over a promotion rather than accepting that it is merely from God’s grace that we have obtained it. In this country we are currently pressing toward an election. Scripture says that God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. Which candidate is most filled with pride? Which is most honest? Which has the most integrity? These are the questions we ought to ask. Those answers should be the basis of our votes.
17 For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.
Pharaoh was allowed to become the most powerful ruler on earth so God could cause the nation to utterly fail to keep Hebrew slaves in captivity. He even moved a non-Egyptian into the role of Pharaoh so that leader would have no positive memories of Joseph. God performs macro and micro changes in our lives daily to make his plan come forth.
A lot of mankind’s problems come from attitudes toward God. We have the idea that we can make our own rules and live our own ways. God says different.
Quite often He reaches out in love and when we spurn Him He hardens our hearts until it is too late for us.
A wise man will be gracious and not act rashly. One never knows who we might affect by our actions. We shouldn’t treat people with respect merely because they have money or a title. We should treat people with respect because God has ordained it to be so. If we offend one of His little ones scripture says it would be better that we were never born or that we tied a millstone around our neck and drowned ourselves in the sea.
Lamentations 3:22-23:
It is of the Lord 's mercies that we are not consumed,
because his compassions fail not.
They are new every morning:
great is thy faithfulness.
Blessings my beloved!
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