Romans 9 Commentary
Selective application of mercy: It never goes well with our understanding of fairness.
Election: It is a hard one to stomach given God’s righteousness, justice, and perfection. Deuteronomy 32 verse 4.
We have references to a bad Pharaoh who enslaved Israel. He was raised specifically so that God’s glory might be displayed. Thus, the purposes of the LORD prevailed. We also know of a good Pharaoh of Joseph’s times. He hosted Jacob in Egypt and Israel prospered under his watch. Again, the LORD achieved His purposes. Who wins against God!
Chapter 9 has plenty of bones for many people’s liking! Probably because nothing works with humanity! We desire that God move in and clean up His creation in one swipe. Slay the sinners (apart from you) and remove all the bad elements from existence. Yes, against their will. In this moment, we ask God to be exactly what we detest in this chapter.
Justice cannot be justice without this special shape and color of God.
Justice is never an operation or a function that exists exclusively to grant an individual his or her wishes. Applaud them when they punch their neighbor in the face simply because they feel nice doing so. Send them to the Bahamas for a holiday instead of jail because they dislike jail facilities. Justice exists because of a standard. God is the standard, regardless of our ‘likes’ or ‘dislikes’.
The word mercy features quite prominently in this chapter. The word won’t exist if there is no offense.
The argument before this thought is that men and women are forced to offend or are designed to offend at creation – the Adamic sin. Yes, but it was a decision. This argument is balanced by the relentless call to repent and choose God again. Yes, it is yet another decision.
“I will call her ‘my loved one’ who is not my loved one”. Verse 25. Don’t dwell too much in the home of ‘Election’: Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated. The LORD would call the hated one, “my loved one”. This should be good news for the hated ones!
Is the LORD telling us that Esau would be loved, having been hated from before he was born? Yes. Gentiles fall in that category – the category outside the chosen race.
Check the facts of Esau’s life and see how good decisions would have favored him. He didn’t have to sell his birthright. See how it pained his father Isaac that Esau didn’t get the blessing! It is a picture of our heavenly Father’s pain; many won’t get their blessing because of poor decisions.
Paul’s anguish is reflected by Esau’s loss of the blessing. It belonged to him until he thoughtlessly sold it. Jacob was born to forever take the second slot. Call it predestination. Call it ‘election’. But see the results at the end of the game!
The more you think about it, the more you see the grace of God. The phrase, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated” wasn’t cast in steel and concrete at the factory! The behaviors of the two sons (decisions) defined this statement. What was cast in steel and concrete was Jacob’s second-born slot. The fact that this didn’t count against him is the greatest news from this chapter. Individuals who feel condemned under the weight of their sins can find salvation in the mercies of the LORD.
Jacob is a “cheat sheet”. You understand why Paul has whined. Esau is the rightful owner of the blessing. He is the hard worker type. We can think of how Paul has thought of his own brothers as lawkeepers. Esau is also loved by Isaac. But then we also have the cheat sheet, Jacob! Second-born and last on the blessing list.
The love of the mother for Jacob may remind the believer that even in moments of disadvantage, there remains an old ray of hope. It is a love that isn’t sudden but one from before one’s birth. See how the Gentile’s inclusion into the family of God isn’t an afterthought!
In the previous chapters, Paul brought two elements of the Law and contrasted them, the Law of Moses and the Law of the Spirit. We can think of the same here. Israel may be represented by Esau – born with advantages but never living the dream. Jacob may represent the Gentiles. They are last on the list and they steal into the blessing at last. We can play with the events and see how an animal is slaughtered to extract Jacob’s camouflage!
The skin that Jacob wears is actually the Skin – the place that Jesus takes to hide the real Jacob from his identity – the lazy deceiver, conman brother who, to his credit, at least knows the value of the blessing. Esau knows nothing, cares nothing, and easily despises it.
Jacob only gets it because of the skin!
God knows the truth but the Skin… This chapter underlines the core message of the New Testament. Neither the Jew nor the Gentile can claim to be disadvantaged under God’s grace. The Gentile can still cheat his way to Heaven through Jesus – the only cheat sheet available. The cheat sheet is available to the Jew as well as to the Gentile. It is a cheat sheet to Heaven and not a stumbling block!
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