Frederick Wright
Romans 9-11
The question often arises, Has God finished with his people? Paul gives a very clear answer in his Epistle to the Romans in chapters 9 through 11. The essential element is in chapter 9. The Epistle to the Romans has several unique elements not in the least concerning Israel. Romans is one of the most accepted Paulines along with Galatians, the Corinthian correspondence, Philemon, Philippians and 1 Thessalonians. N T Wright points out that many treat Romans "as a book with eight chapters of 'gospel' at the beginning, four of 'application' at the end, and three of puzzle in the middle."
The epistle is particularly interesting as there is no record or suggestion at the time of the composition that Paul had visited Rome or had any influence or leadership role there.
It is considered that the epistle was composed in Corinth while Paul was staying in the house of Gaius. The epistle was probably transcribed by Paul’s amanuenses Tertius and is considered to be dated c late 55 to early 57.
An analysis of surviving Greek letters yielded these data: Papyri letters average 87 words, and hardly ever exceed 200 words. The 796 letters by Cicero range from 22 to 2530 words, with an average of 295 words. The 124 extant letters of Seneca range from 149 to 4134 words. Romans is considered the longest letter in the ancient world at 7111 words!
Chapters and verses were non-existent when Paul composed his letter. The works were all in capital letters without any grammatical indicators. With the development of the printing press chapters and verses were introduced that were intended as signposts not theological or historic edits. Printed editions arrived consisting of 16 chapter. Importantly, early non-printed versions with only the first 14 or 15 chapters circulated in the Early Church. The names contained in Chapter16 are often related to individualsnear Ephesus and are thought to be a later addition.
Some recensions lacked all references to the original audience of Christians in Rome making it very general in nature. Some scholars believe it was a general epistle that was redacted illustrate the growing influence of the church at Rome at the time and possibly started as a further correspondence to Ephesus. Other textual variants include subscripts explicitly mentioning Corinth as the place of composition and name, Phoebe who is described as a deaconess of church in Cenchreae near Corinth, as the messenger who carried the epistle and probably read [performed] the letter to the audience(s).
Paul follows the classic Hebraic practice of putting the climax of his witing in roughly the middle, rather than the end. Thus Romans 9 through 11 is the centrepiece of his magisterial work and it centres on the issue of Israel. It is essential to clear away misconceptions and prejudices, trying to find out exactly what Paul does teach about Israel.
Christians historically have taught a displacement view that the church has taken the place of the Jews as the chosen people of God. The Jews as taught from Justin Martyr in his 2nd c work Dialogue with Trypho the Jew (Ch 16), have effectively disenfranchised themselves by their rejection of Jesus as the Messiah. The teaching that followed held them directly and wickedly responsible for his death.
By denying that the Jews remain God’s chosen, or better representative people, Christian theology opens the door to anti-Semitism and its destructive consequences. There are three general ways that Christian theologians have reacted to this analysis.
Position One
The replacement or better termed displacement view is the only correct view according to the early church and from thence onwards. Therefore, the only way forward is to follow New Testament teachings and those of the Fathers that disenfranchise the Jews.
Position Two
The New Testament, while anti-Judaic, is not anti-Semitic. In other words, whilst the early Christians believed that the Jewish expression of faith in God was no longer authentic or real, they had nothing at all against the Jewish people. The said position is at the best naïve and at the worst a denial of reality and the historical, theological record.
Position Three
Some passages in the New Testament teach that the Jewish faith is still a valid way of salvation. There should be recognition that keeping the Torah covenant is the Jewish way of salvation. This view is sometimes referred to as Dual Covenant Theology.
Overall Considerations
The antisemitic character of position one, possibly the most pervasive, that of displacement - replacement theology shows through in the irony that while it calls itself “the true Israel of God,” it selectively and arbitrarily claims to inherit all of the divine blessings promised to Israel – but none of the curses! In this view the judgments and curses stay with Israel only!
Without the presuppositions of displacement - replacement theology, it is impossible to find any example in the Biblical corpus where the word Israel refers to anything but the Jewish people. Interpretations of “the Israel of God” at Galatians 6:6 as referring to the church are at the best, tenuous in the extreme. In the canonical scriptures, Israel means Israel - the Jewish people alone!
In all of the above positions and the debates surrounding them, Romans 9–11 is central to the matter. It is important to note at the beginning of the Epistle Paul expresses the centrality of the gospel in regard to the Jewish people.
Chapter 1:16
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
Isaiah 49:6 speaks of the Jewish people being made a light unto the nations, so that salvation reaches to the end of the earth. Then, at 56:7 he describes a future Jerusalem that will be a house of prayer for all nations.
In Hebrew literature the climactic or major elements are designed to appear in the middle, rather than at the end of a work as is the general convention in Western literature. The magisterial material in 9-11 may be viewed in such a manner. Of particular note is the opening stanza where Paul employs three short statements for triple emphasis on the truth, he is about speak.
As letters were read aloud to groups and were delivered as a performance rather just relaying information the opening would have been very dramatic.
I am speaking the truth in Christ - I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen (Romans 9:1-5).
After expressing his grief over the current status of ethnic Israel (vv. 1-3), the above passage v3f clearly states that these privileges have not become forfeit and are now the legitimate property of the church. Paul, in this passage, provides a sound scriptural basis for his series of statements.
Firstly,
By the use of the word adoption, Paul is referring to the Roman custom of the time whereby the heir of the household, even if the firstborn son was to be recognised, a legal process of adoption had to be carried out in order to legitimise the status of the young man. In the case of the Jewish people the deeds of adoption could be said to be found in Exodus 4:22 where Israel is referred to as God’s firstborn son, His treasured possession, Exodus 19:5b, His son, Hosea 11:1 and His chosen, Isaiah 43:20.
Secondly
The glory. The expression is a way of saying the light or fire of God, symbolising His presence, or approving the acceptability of a sacrifice. The glory is an essential facet of God’s relationship with the people whom He had separated unto Himself. Very simply, a revealing of, and receiving to, Himself in all of His holiness (Exodus 14:20; 24:17; 40:34,36; Leviticus 16:2; 2 Chronicles 7:1-2).
Thirdly
The covenants. Commentators vary in their interpretation as to whether this should be understood in the singular, as in the sense of the Sinai Covenant, or the full range of covenants, which are outside the scope of this discussion. It is sufficient to say that Paul is using this as a shorthand way of pointing to the whole gamut of God’s relationship with mankind which He chose to reveal through His relationship with His elect nation, Israel.
The Hebrew term בְּרִית – berît - covenant occurs 286 times in the Masoretic text. The term has been subjected to extensive linguistic research on its etymology and verbal root. Translation and interpretation are drawn from usage and variously may be rendered "treaty", "pact", "agreement", "solemn promise", "obligation” but generally as "covenant’. The term Greek. διαθήκη is used 270 times in the Septuagint to translate the Hebrew word berît. In the NT it occurs 33 times (7 citing the OT). There is, however, an additional meaning employed in the sense of the Greek legislative process, namely "testament" or "will". In the NT the concept of covenant drawing from the LXX can be noted both in Paul and the writer to the Hebrews.
Fourthly
The receiving of the law. As Paul points out elsewhere (Galatians 3:24), the law was a schoolteacher to prepare the elect nation to recognise the Messiah and become versed in a way that would enable the means of salvation to be appropriated and disseminated by them. The concept of the law as a teacher, or exemplar, can be found in such passages as Romans 3:20, where Paul points out, although the law and its observation will not result in anyone being declared righteous, it is through the law that we become aware of sin. Romans 5:20 implies that the law was put in place in order that God’s grace might be seen for all its worth. The law also was a means of worshipful expression, giving thanks and honour to the Lord (Psalm 19:7-8; Psalm 118:105; 142-145, echoed in the Christian context in James 1:25. In turn, this was understood to bring sustenance to the devotee. The law itself should be understood as being beneficial in that it was a means of restraining the sinful impulse that resides in fallen man (1 Timothy 1:8-9).
In Jewish thought, as opposed to the later Augustinian doctrine of Original Sin, was that it was the individual’s choice to follow the sitra achra (evil impulse) – or sitra tov good impulse).
Fifthly
The Temple worship. Some commentators imply that the Temple worship, in the context of the passage, and in keeping with the understanding of the first recipients of Paul’s letter, should be better understood as the Temple cultus. That is to say the full operation of the Temple along with the rituals, sacrifices, the priesthood, the Levitical system and the accompanying practices. The law and the Temple were privileges bestowed upon Israel, along with the covenants. The threefold privilege is expressed thus by Shimeon the Righteous in the Mishna:
By three things is the World maintained: by the law, by the Temple worship, and by deeds of loving kindness (Pirkei Avot 1:2)
The Ark of the Covenant was placed in the Holy of Holies within the Temple. It was considered that the very presence of God was thought to dwell between the cherubim, which were placed at each end of the atonement cover. This cover was, in due course, considered to be the throne of the divine King of Israel (1 Samuel 4:4; Samuel 6:2; 2 Kings 9:15; 1 Chronicles 13:6; Psalm 80:1; 99:1).
Sixthly
The promises. Commentators vary as to the precise meaning of what Paul means by the promises. Some Evangelicals and those following the replacement stance, feel that this simply refers to the promises of the coming Messiah. However, in the context of the passage, Paul is obviously referring to all of the promises God made to His people throughout the Old Testament period from the Patriarchs onwards. These promises include the giving of the land, the full range of covenants and, of course, the promises of the Redeemer who would come from Zion (Isaiah 59:20).
Of the promises and judgements made to the Jewish people, one was that Jerusalem would be trampled underfoot until the time of the fulfilment of the Gentiles was past (Luke 21:24). It is implicit that at this time there would a return to the land of those who are the descendants of the exiles. It is the considered opinion of some that the time of the Gentiles was fulfilled in June 1967 when Jerusalem was returned to the Jewish people.
Jesus, prior to His ascension, declared the gospel would first be heard in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria (the Jewish people), re-enforcing the promise that the message of salvation was first to the recipients of the promise (Acts 1:8) prior to it being spread throughout the earth.
Seventhly
. . .and theirs are the fathers. Generally, this should be understood to refer to the Patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. As well as being the founders of the nation they were all considered to be righteous men. As we have seen above, both Jesus and Paul commend Abraham as being one who was in possession of faith in Messiah and the gospel (John 8:56; Galatians 3:8) even though he, along with the others, lived many centuries before the advent of Jesus. In the Epistle, Paul also draws upon David as an example (1:3; 4:6-8; 11:9,10) therefore it is reasonable to assume that along with the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Paul is thinking of most of the major figures of the Old Testament. The conclusion of the Old Testament speaks powerfully of the last days when God will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to the fathers (Mal 4:6).
The passage begs the question, who is the father spoken of here and who are the children?
Is this a picture of the remnant turning their hearts back to the faith of the fathers of ancient Israel and, in so doing, discovering the Messiah? A second suggestion is that the fathers in question are the Jewish people as a whole and the children are the Christians who the spiritual children of Judaism. Maybe Paul had this in mind in Romans 15:27 where he speaks of the immense debt the Christians have to the Jews?
Eighthly
Eighthly and finally, Paul points out, or climaxes with the overwhelming fact that from the Jewish people can be traced the human ancestry of the Messiah who is to be understood as being divine (See Romans 1:4; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Philippians 2:6; Colossians 1:15-20; 2:9; Titus 2:13 for other examples in the Pauline corpus). The ending is a clear statement that Jesus is both the promised Jewish Messiah and that He is the fulfilment of the preceding list of privileges. It is almost as if Paul is saying that salvation is first to the Jew in the opening of the Epistle as the setting of the scene to which his whole thrust will lead.
Conclusion
The Romans chapter 9 passage above could be viewed a list of the treasures that will be added to the church when the Jewish people come to salvation (Romans 11:12). The Jewish people are still loved by God on account of the Patriarchs, also the gifts and calling that God has bestowed upon them that are irrevocable (Romans 11:28-29). They have not been transferred to the church wholesale with the Jews left abandoned.
Usage of the overarching ‘theirs are,’ throughout the Romans passage may be regarded as ‘theirs remain’ which makes it very hard to find a legitimate reason to isolate this passage in its application in time and space. Hence, the implication is that this statement made by the Apostle stands for all time until the Lord returns.
In Romans 11:11, Paul pronounces the gospel dynamic of the gentile calling. It is to stoke up jealousy in the Jewish people through their faith in Jesus, the Messiah of Israel and be a living word.
“So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall? By no means! Rather, through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous.”
The church through its antisemitic reading of the New Testament has failed abysmally in this task
The last word on the matter is neatly summed up thus.
“But now in Messiah Yeshua you who once were far off (Gentiles) have been brought near by the blood of Messiah. For He Himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments…that He might create in Himself one new man in place of the two.” (Ephesians 2:13-15).
For further reading:
F Wright
Words From the Scroll of Fire
Father Forgive Us
A Three Stranded Cord
Towards a Theology of Aliyah
Pat Frame
Intercession and Aliyah
Aliyah Course book
F Wright and Pat Frame
Banner to the Nations
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