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The Daily Word of Righteousness
Divine Intervention and Human Activation, #3
It is not as though God's word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham's children. On the contrary, "It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned." In other words, it is not the natural children who are God's children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham's offspring. (Romans 9:6-8—NIV)
Paul here is supporting his argument that the Jew who practices the letter of the Law of Moses is not necessarily the one who is favored of God. Paul is getting ready to show that the promise, which alone insures God's blessing, can come also to Gentiles.
Paul is saying being born of Jewish parents does not insure the status of belonging to Abraham. Rather the critical factor is that of the promise of God, the promise that many times comes through a prophetic declaration.
The idea is that since God's blessing does not come through human birth, or by human efforts to do the works of the Law, but by sovereign Divine choice, no person can boast. God's mercy and choice are the deciding factors.
For this was how the promise was stated: "At the appointed time I will return, and Sarah will have a son." (Romans 9:9—NIV)
Ishmael and Isaac were both sons of Abraham. Because of the Divine promise, the Messianic blessing, the Olive Tree, passed to Isaac but not to Ishmael.
The fact that Ishmael was born from a servant and not Abraham's wife has nothing to do with it. Several of Jacob's sons were born from servants rather than from Jacob's two wives. Yet the blessing passed to them by promise.
Not only that, but Rebekah's children had one and the same father, our father Isaac. Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad—in order that God's purpose in election might stand: Not by works but by him who calls—she was told, "The older will serve the younger." Just as it is written: "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated." (Romans 9:10-13—NIV)
Some have explained the fact that before they were born God loved Jacob and hated Esau, by reasoning that God knew their personalities before they came into the world. People who take this point of view emphasize God's foreknowledge.
The Scripture supports this reasoning, at least in part (Romans 8:29).
However, Paul's following statements seem to stress God's seemingly arbitrary decisions rather than His foreknowledge of a given personality.
If the sole answer is God's foreknowledge, then we may be saying in the last analysis it actually does depend on our goodness, the goodness God foreknew. Therefore we have a basis for boasting of our own goodness. God loves us because He saw in advance that we would be a good person.
This definitely is not the direction Paul takes in this chapter.
Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden. (Romans 9:18—NIV)
I do not believe the above verse can be explained solely on the basis that God knew in advance what kind of person Pharaoh was. It sounds to me like an arbitrary (at least from our point of view) decision on God's part.
To be continued.