ROMANS: Children of Israel vs. Children of God (cont.); “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion!”

What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.” [Exodus 33:19] So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. (Romans 9:14-16)

For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh,“For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.” [Exodus 9:16] Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens. (Romans 9:17-18) 

In the previous lesson we studied, For they are not all Israel who are of Israel, nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham;... That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed. (Romans 9:6-8) Paul went on to use the example of Isaac and Rebecca's twin sons, (for the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls), it was said to her, “The older shall serve the younger." As it is written, “Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.” (Romans 9:11-12) 

God will have mercy on whomever He will have mercy, and He will have compassion on whomever He will have compassion. You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?” But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, “Why have you made me like this?” Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor? (Romans 9:19-21) 

This is a hard truth to accept, but we must try to understand.  God is Omniscient, knowing everything,  For He knows the secrets of the heart. (Psalm 44:21) That's why he told Adam and Eve's son Cain before he killed his brother Abel, because the Lord respected Abel and his offering, but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. So the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.” (Genesis 4:4-7) 

God also told the children of Israel before He lead them into the promised land, “Do not think in your heart, after the Lord your God has cast them out before you, saying, ‘Because of my righteousness the Lord has brought me in to possess this land’; but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is driving them out from before you. It is not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart that you go in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord your God drives them out from before you, and that He may fulfill the word which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Therefore understand that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stiff-necked people." (Deuteronomy 9:4-6) 

God knew the heart of Cain, Esau, the children of Israel, and the wickedness of these nations that He drove out of the promised land before them.  So we may make the mistake in saying that God made everyone so, “Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?”  Paul used the example of the potter and the clay, just as God did through the prophet Isaiah. The children of Israel were behaving as wickedly as the other nations around them. Therefore the Lord said:“Inasmuch as these people [children of Israel] draw near with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but have removed their hearts far from Me, and their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men, therefore, behold, I will again do a marvelous work among this people, a marvelous work and a wonder; For the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hidden.” (Isaiah 29:13-14)

Woe to those who seek deep to hide their counsel far from the Lord, and their works are in the dark; They say, “Who sees us?” and, “Who knows us?” Surely you have things turned around! Shall the potter be esteemed as the clay; for shall the thing made say of him who made it, “He did not make me”? Or shall the thing formed say of him who formed it, “He has no understanding”? (Isaiah 29:15-16) But one day the children of Israel will come to realize, just as God told Cain, If you do well, will you not be accepted. But now, O Lord, You are our Father; We are the clay, and You our potter; and all we are the work of Your hand. Do not be furious, O Lord, nor remember iniquity forever; indeed, please look—we all are Your people! (Isaiah 64:8-9) 

One day the children of Israel will accept that fact that Christ Jesus is the Son of God, and that through faith in Him, we all are God's people, and have the same right to be called ... seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all (Romans 4:16)  What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory, even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? (Romans 9:22-24) 

What Paul is explaining is that God knew everyone he made wouldn't believe the Truth.  That's why the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was in the midst of the garden of Eden, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world (Revelations 12:9) God described Him as, "... the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God;... You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; You were on the holy mountain of God; You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones. You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you. ... You have become a horror, and shall be no more forever.” (Ezekiel 28:12-19) 

Just as God has endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, beginning with Satan, He is doing the same with all people who refuse to believe the Truth, the Word of God, in Christ Jesus.  Why? That He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy; that He may fulfill the word which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; that in their seed ALL the nations of the earth shall be blessed, which He had prepared beforehand for glory, even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles:

 - As He says also in Hosea: “I will call them My people, who were not My people, and her beloved, who was not beloved.” [Hosea 2:23] “And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ There they shall be called sons of the living God.” [Hosea 1:10] (Romans 9:25-26)

- Isaiah also cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, the remnant will be saved. For He will finish the work and cut it short in righteousness, because the Lord will make a short work upon the earth.” [Isaiah 10:22-23] (Romans 9:27-28)

 - And as Isaiah said before: “Unless the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we would have become like Sodom, and we would have been made like Gomorrah.” [Isaiah 1:9] (Romans 9:29) 

Just as Jesus taught, “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it." (Matthew 7:13-14) Only a remnant of the children of Israel will be saved, even though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea.  But God did not call the Jews only, but also the Gentiles.  God is also Omnipotent, having unlimited power, able to do anything, and through much endurance and longsuffering, He has shown His wrath and made His power known. 

“I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion!” The Lord is ... longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. (II Peter 3:9)  We can make a choice, because we are the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory, even us whom He called. Jesus said, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him..." (Revelations 3:20)  We are all called, we just have to answer the call of faith in Christ Jesus, not the Jews only, but also the Gentiles!