Tis a Difficult Thing … who can abide it?      Romans 9.6-33                                                

Romans 9 started with Paul saying he would do whatever it took—if only his Jewish brethren would come to saving faith in Jesus.  From there, there is just no natural break in his explanation to the Roman church about God’s sovereign will.  In truth, we should read Romans 9 through 11 in one block, but we will just look at the remainder of this chapter. It is long, but necessary to grasp Paul's meaning. I have underlined some key phrases for our consideration:

So, even though God had shown the Jewish people their chosen-ness, and many rejected Christ, Paul writes:  “Don't suppose for a moment, though, that God's Word has malfunctioned in some way or other. The problem goes back a long way. From the outset, not all Israelites of the flesh were Israelites of the spirit. It wasn't Abraham's sperm that gave identity here, but God's promise. Remember how it was put: "Your family will be defined by Isaac"? That means that Israelite identity was never racially determined by sexual transmission, but it was God-determined by promise. Remember that promise, "When I come back next year at this time, Sarah will have a son"?

 10-13 And that's not the only time. To Rebecca, also, a promise was made that took priority over genetics. When she became pregnant by our one-of-a-kind ancestor, Isaac, and her babies were still innocent in the womb—incapable of good or bad—she received a special assurance from God. What God did in this case made it perfectly plain that his purpose is not a hit-or-miss thing dependent on what we do or don't do, but a sure thing determined by his decision, flowing steadily from his initiative. God told Rebecca, "The firstborn of your twins will take second place." Later that was turned into a stark epigram: "I loved Jacob; I hated Esau."

 14-18 Is that grounds for complaining that God is unfair? Not so fast, please. God told Moses, "I'm in charge of mercy. I'm in charge of compassion." Compassion doesn't originate in our bleeding hearts or moral sweat, but in God's mercy. The same point was made when God said to Pharaoh, "I picked you as a bit player in this drama of my salvation power." All we're saying is that God has the first word, initiating the action in which we play our part for good or ill.  [Compassion originates in God’s mercy]

 19Are you going to object, "So how can God blame us for anything since he's in charge of everything? If the big decisions are already made, what say do we have in it?"

 20-33Who in the world do you think you are to second-guess God? Do you for one moment suppose any of us knows enough to call God into question? Clay doesn't talk back to the fingers that mold it, saying, "Why did you shape me like this?" Isn't it obvious that a potter has a perfect right to shape one lump of clay into a vase for holding flowers and another into a pot for cooking beans? If God needs one style of pottery especially designed to show his angry displeasure and another style carefully crafted to show his glorious goodness, isn't that all right? Either or both happens to Jews, but it also happens to the other people. Hosea put it well: I'll call nobodies and make them somebodies; I'll call the unloved and make them beloved. In the place where they yelled out, "You're nobody!" they're calling you "God's living children."

   Isaiah maintained this same emphasis: ?If each grain of sand on the seashore were numbered and the sum labeled "chosen of God," ?They'd be numbers still, not names; salvation comes by personal selection.  God doesn't count us; he calls us by name. ?Arithmetic is not his focus.? Isaiah had looked ahead and spoken the truth:  If our powerful God had not provided us a legacy of living children, we would have ended up like ghost towns, like Sodom and Gomorrah.? How can we sum this up? All those people who didn't seem interested in what God was doing actually embraced what God was doing as he straightened out their lives. And Israel, who seemed so interested in reading and talking about what God was doing, missed it. How could they miss it?  Because instead of trusting God, they took over. They were absorbed in what they themselves were doing. They were so absorbed in their "God projects" that they didn't notice God right in front of them, like a huge rock in the middle of the road. And so they stumbled into him and went sprawling. Isaiah (again!) gives us the metaphor for pulling this together: Careful! I've put a huge stone on the road to Mount Zion, ?a stone you can't get around. But the stone is me! If you're looking for me, you'll find me on the way, not in the way.        Romans 9.6-33, The Message

If you wish to read the same verses from the New International Version:  http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%209&version=NIV

Though the meaning of several of these thoughts is clear, their understanding is difficult.  Because though the heart of God is good, his ways may not appear to us as fair.  One thing for sure—he is God . . . we are not.  And though so many folks today try to remake him into a tame, easily managed and explained God, he is none of these.  His ways are higher than ours.

More tomorrow . . . until then, aren't you glad God calls you by name?

Christine