So yesterday I was talking about the tough chapter, Romans 11. My approach was to recount Romans 9-10, particularly in those ‘controversial’ words that would stir us up regarding our perspective, and even our relationship with God.
I talked about where Paul mentioned God’s words to Malachi: ‘Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated’. Now, first of all, the word used for ‘hated’ was, in the Greek, miseō / mis-eh’-o / From a primary word μῖσος misos (hatred); to detest (especially to persecute); by extension to love less: – hate (-ful); and, in the Hebrew in Malachi 1:2-3, it’s śânê’ / saw-nay’ / A primitive root; to hate (personally): – enemy, foe, (be) hate (-ful, -r), odious (find extremely unpleasant, repulsive), X utterly.
I understand that the words ‘personally hate’ were there, but if you take the other translations into consideration, you would find that in place of the quite powerful word ‘hate’, we can write: ‘Jacob I loved, but Esau I detested, I loved less, I found utterly odious, or I found extremely unpleasant and repulsive’.
Second – I preached this, and I am still open to correction for this, by the way – God surely meant that He hated Esau (or, as some people would emphasize, the people of Esau)… however, there was no mention of His cutting him or his people off, nor was there any mention of this ‘hate’ meaning a lack of love towards them, or a total absence of love to them.
In light of this I told the folks who bothered to listen to me that when you feel as if you are hated, even by God, know that, again, as Paul mentioned in the end of Romans 8: NOTHING can ever separate you from the LOVE of God, in Christ Jesus.
And one side note before we continue: When the controversial verse was mentioned in Malachi, it was followed with God’s response to Esau, should ‘he’ (or, the nation of Edom) choose to build back all they lost: “They may build, but I will tear down, and they will be called ‘the wicked country,’ and ‘the people with whom the LORD is angry forever.’” 5 Your own eyes shall see this, and you shall say, “Great is the LORD beyond the border of Israel!”Malachi 1:4-5
If you catch the tail end of that portion of Scripture, you’ll see that God had a purpose and a reason, or a context behind what He said – for the people of Israel to see that God’s greatness extends ‘beyond the border of Israel’.
I’d like to clarify that God doesn’t just say anything so flippantly, or carelessly – Every word He speaks is laced with His divine purpose.
I also talked about how, in the same chapter of Romans 9, Paul pointed out that it was God who hardened Pharaoh’s heart, but He has a purpose and reason for doing so – He said He hardened His heart so ‘that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”Romans 9:17
As we rolled into Romans 11, I also talked to them about that other ‘controversial’ topic – that, apparently, God allowed the Israelites to ‘stumble’ in order for the Gentiles to receive salvation. And, apparently, in ensuring that the Gentiles receive salvation, that was to provoke the Israelites to jealousy, that they too would desire and receive the same salvation.
The point that I left with the congregation is as follows: Contrary to the implication of the famous phrase, that ‘everything happens for a reason’ (a phrase which we also associate with the famous verse, Romans 8:28) – the implication, that is, that we can know why anything and everything happens – the Truth is God is only One who truly knows why anything and everything happens.
And as we can see through the examples of Jacob and Esau, of Pharaoh, and of the salvation of the Gentiles leading to the jealousy of the Jews, we see how God not only merely knows, but He is also able to move in anything and everything that does happen.
We are not in any position to condemn the moves of God; The sooner we realize that it was also in God’s intention and prerogative to love us, and, through Christ, to save us completely and to reconcile us absolutely (resulting in our complete separation from sin and death, and our being ushered into the Kingdom of Light, with life everlasting), the sooner we would accede to truly realizing and appreciating God’s sovereignty.
We have a God who is omnipotent and all-powerful – that is, He is willing and able to do whatever He wants. He is omniscient and omnipresent – all knowing and all-present; so that anything He does has its impact beyond the confines of creation; beyond time and space, it has no beginning, no end, not first, not the last.
We praise God, because of all His options regarding what to do with us, His creation who failed at the Garden of Eden – He chose to love us, and through Christ, He saved us – again, completely and absolutely.
My point to the congregation is that, in their own times of confusion, and not knowing what’s going on, what’s next, what caused what’s happening to happen… in their own times of uncertainty, anxiety and fear, they can certainly trust God.
We will never understand everything that goes on. Fortunately, God does, and He is for us, not against us. He wants the best for us, because He already gave His best to us, in the form of His Son; Incidentally, we only have the confidence to say that this great Creator of all things seen and unseen is for us, and not against us, all because of His Son, Jesus Christ.
All we can say, before, during, and after all that happened, is happening, and will happen – all we can say is condensed in the final verses of this challenging chapter, Romans 11:
33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!
34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?”
35 “Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?”
36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.
Romans 11:33-36
Awesome stuff. I hope I made some sense here.
Until the next post, God bless us all. Amen and amen.
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