The Christian Church would never lack converts if all its members or even its ministers felt for their friends and fellow countrymen the deep concern expressed by the

Apostle Paul for his kinsmen the Jews.

He has been gazing with rapture upon the present blessedness and future glory of Christian believers; and as he now turns to consider the unbelief of his own people, Israel, the contrast causes him to cry out with anguish of heart. He attests the truth of his statement by affirming that he speaks as one whose life is centered "in Christ" and whose "conscience" is under the direct influence of "the Holy Spirit."�

The intensity of his feeling is emphasized by, describing it as "great sorrow,"� and as "unceasing pain"� of heart. He does not specify the cause of his grief, but leaves it to be implied; and he solemnly attests his sincerity by stating that, if thus he might secure his salvation of his people, he could wish himself "anathema,"� "accursed," and so separated "from Christ."� He does not assert that such a wish is actual or that such an end could be accomplished by such means. Here we must avoid "the error of explaining the language of feeling as though it were that of reasoning and reflection." Paul thus expresses his unmeasured devotion. He was like Moses, who prayed for his guilty people, "Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin ; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which "thou hast written.'" So the apostle is expressing his willingness to make any sacrifice to accomplish the salvation of Israel.

"He states two grounds for his intense passion. The first is that the Jews are his "brethren,"� his "kinsmen according to the flesh."� They are not members of that even dearer Christian brotherhood which is "according to'" the Spirit. Nevertheless, Paul here recognizes and glorifies those human ties of blood and kinship which are ever to be held sacred, which Paul refuses to renounce in spite of the Jewish hatred which has caused him constant pain and peril. He never forgot the claims of nature. He loved his people just because they were his people.

However, there is a second cause for his passionate concern; it consists in the special privileges which have been given to the Jews as the chosen people of God. He cannot endure the thought that those so highly favored are perishing for lack of faith. They are "Israelites,' and as bearers of that sacred name, they are partakers of the promises made to Jacob, to whom the name " Israel' was first given. They are the descendants and heirs of Israel: can it be that they are shut off from the blessings God assured to his seed? They are a people in covenant relation with God: has God cast them off?

Theirs is "the adoption,"� the status of an adopted son, for from among all the nations of the world God chose Israel to be his peculiar people, his "son,"� his "firstborn."� Ex. 4:22; Hos. 11:1.

Theirs is "the glory,"� the Shekinah, the visible presence of God in the tabernacle and in the Temple of old: had this presence been permanently withdrawn?

Theirs are "the covenants," repeatedly renewed, binding them as a people to God. To them had been given "the law,' by direct revelation and amidst circumstances of peculiar awe and splendor.

Theirs is the Temple "service," a ritual of divine appointment and of unparalleled significance and solemnity.

Theirs are "the promises," pointing forward to a coming Messiah in whom they, and through them all the nations, are to be blest.

Theirs are "the fathers,"� the ancient Patriarchs, who as saintly ancestors cast a glory over all the generations of Jews.

Last of all, their supreme privilege and distinction is this, that from them has come Christ, of their own blood so far as his assumed humanity is concerned, but in his eternal "being" "over all, God blessed for ever."�

It is true that many devout scholars prefer to read the last clause as a doxology: He "who is over all, God be blessed forever." If that reading is accepted, still it can be remembered that there are many other New Testament passages which assert the deity of our Lord; but it is probably safe to follow the Authorized and the Revised Version and to regard this as the most positive statement of the divine nature of Christ found in all the writings of Paul.

Such peculiar privileges, culminating in their gift to the world, even Christ, their promised Messiah, are enough to explain Paul's love for his Jewish kinsmen, and his anguish of heart at their unbelief.

The paragraph, however, serves as an admirable introduction to the three chapters which it opens, for while Paul is to set forth the responsibility and the guilt of Israel, such an opening expression of passionate love disarms any suspicion of prejudice or of hostility on his part; and at the same time, this recital of the high privileges of Israel only emphasizes the problem of Israel's rejection. Each item of the long list indicates that the nation has been chosen of God and is peculiarly precious to him. How can such a people fail to enjoy the salvation which has been provided by God? This is the problem Paul is now to discuss.

However, on turning from this inspired catalogue of Jewish privileges, it may be well for Christians to consider how the larger privileges which they enjoy may be associated with these same terms.

The Jews bore the name of "Israelites."�"� What is the fuller and more glorious significance of the name " Christians?" Theirs, as a nation, was "the adoption,"� but all who accept the gospel message, are "heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ,"� and theirs is the spirit of sonship whereby they cry to God, "Abba, Father." Theirs is "the glory"� which shines from the face of Jesus Christ, the supreme revelation of God to men. Theirs is a "new covenant" in the blood of Christ, "poured out for many unto remission of sins." Theirs is the gift of the Spirit of God by whose power can be fulfilled "the law"� of God. Theirs, too, are "precious and exceeding great promises," by which they "become partakers of the divine nature."� Theirs, too, are the "fathers,"�"� and they are ever inspired by the consciousness that they belong to the great company of saints, apostles, prophets, martyrs, whose lives have hallowed the earth, with whom they shall be united in heaven. "Christ" is theirs and they are his, and having him they have all things.

Such exalted privileges imply sacred obligations. Should not all Christians feel "great sorrow and unceasing pain" for those whose hearts are hardened, who in blind unbelief are rejecting the salvation of God?

b. Israel's Rejection and God's Promise. Ch. 9:6-13

6 But it is not as though the word of God hath come to nought. For they are not all Israel, that are of Israel: 7 neither, because they are Abraham's seed, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. 8 That is, it is not the children of the flesh that are children of God; but the children of the promise are reckoned for a seed. 9 For this is a word of promise, according to this season will I come, and Sarah shall have a son. 10 And not only so; but Rebecca also having conceived by one, even by our father Isaac"11 for the children being not yet born, neither having done anything good or bad, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth, 12 it was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. 13 Even as it is written, Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.

Paul has been voicing his sorrow for the people of Israel, a sorrow deepened by the fact that they are his own kindred, and further, that they have been the recipients of divine promises and have enjoyed unparalleled privileges as the chosen people of God. He has not stated, however, the cause of his sorrow. This has been implied. His pain of heart is due to the rejection of Israel; they have been cast off; they are not receiving the blessings which Gentiles are enjoying through faith in Christ. It would seem, then, that God had broken his promise, that God was unfaithful to his word.

Paul at once replies that the case is not such, "as though the word of God hath come to nought,"� for the promises made to Israel were never intended for all who were descended from Jacob, any more than the promise made to Abraham was intended for all his sons. Among the latter, Ishmael was older than Isaac, yet when Abraham had cast forth Hagar and her son, there came to him the divine word, "In Isaac shall thy seed be called."� This shows that the right to be the children of God and heirs of his promises does not depend upon the mere accident of birth but upon the action of the divine will in accordance with the divine word. The promise is the important matter, not mere physical birth. Thus before Isaac was born, the promise was made, "According to this season will I come, and Sarah shall have a son."� Thus Isaac was a child of promise, born not only in accord with the promise but because of the will of God which the promise expressed, and because of Abraham's faith in God which rested on the promise of God.

Therefore, the promises of God to the nation of Israel are not being broken even though Israelites are being rejected for their unbelief and Gentiles are being saved through their faith in the Saviour whom God has sent. Some Israelites are being saved. Israel's rejection is not complete; but "they are not all Israel, that are of Israel."�

Or take an even more startling example of rejection. The two sons of Isaac, unlike Isaac and Ishmael, had the same mother as well as the same father; indeed they were twins. Yet before their birth and thus before they had "done anything good or bad" God rejected one and accepted the other as heir of the promises. He declared, "The elder shall serve the younger,"� and the whole course of history, as related to these sons and the nations which sprang from them, could be summed up in the words of the Prophet Malachi, "I loved Jacob; but Esau I hated."�

It is true that the "profane,"� faithless character of Esau justified God in rejecting him; nevertheless the action of God preceded his birth and was absolutely free and quite independent of any claims based upon birth or good works. It illustrates "the purpose of God according to election,"� showing that the choices of God, while always righteous and holy, are absolutely sovereign and not determined by human claims of birth or merit.

It also illustrates the fact that while the promises were made to Israel, God does not disregard his promises when he determines to accept some and to reject others from among those who are Israelites merely by natural descent.

Of course Paul does here bring to mind the mysteries of divine election and does intimate that the careers of Jacob and Esau were in some way determined before their birth; yet it is quite aside from the point to argue from these words that the eternal salvation or perdition of individual souls is determined by a divine decree "which has no relation to what they are or do."

The purpose of Paul is plain and practical. It is to warn any Israelite against supposing that simply because of his birth and his outward obedience to Jewish law he can claim from God a share in the promises made to Israel; and further, Paul thus definitely shows that God is faithful to his promises even when rejecting the present unbelieving masses of his chosen race.

That practical purpose of the apostle bears a message to men of all races to-day. No one should suppose that birth or blood gives one a right to the privileges of a child of God; one "must be born again."�"� No one should allow his position in a Christian community or in a godly family to make him careless as to his personal relation to Christ. No one should claim that membership in a church or participation in the sacraments can make him an heir to the glory of God; it is only by vital faith in Jesus Christ that we become. Abraham's seed, and heirs according to promise.

c. Israel's Rejection and God's Justice., Ch. 9: 14-29

14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. 15 For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion. 16 So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that hath mercy. 17 For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, For this very purpose did I raise thee up, that I might show "in thee my power, and that my name might be published abroad in all the earth. 18 So then he se mercy on whom he will, and whom he will he hardeneth.

19 Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he still find fault? For who withstandeth his willP 20 Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why didst thou make me thus? 21 Or hath not the potter a right over the clay, from the same lump to make one part a vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor? 22 What if God, willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering vessels of wrath fitted unto destruction: 23 and that he might make known the riches of his glory upon vessels of mercy, which he afore prepared unto glory, 24 even us, whom he also called, not from the Jews only, but also from the Gentiles?

25 As he saith also in Hosea,

I will call that my people, which was not my people; And her beloved, that was not beloved.

26 And it shall be, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, There shall they be called sons of the living God.

27 And Isaiah crieth concerning Israel, If the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, it is the remnant that shall be saved: 28 for the Lord will execute his word upon the earth, finishing it and cutting it short. 29 And, as Isaiah hath said before,

Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed,

We had become as Sodom, and had been "made like unto Gomorrah.

The hardening of Pharaoh's heart has proved a stubborn problem, if not an actual stumblingblock to many readers of the Old Testament story. It has been supposed that God hardened Pharaoh's heart and then unjustly punished Pharaoh for his hardness.

However, it should be noted, first, that if God is said to have hardened Pharoah's heart, it is said quite as distinctly that Pharaoh hardened his own heart. Secondly, God was working through natural laws, and the heart of Pharaoh was hardened as a result of his own free, defiant, and cruel choices and-acts. Thirdly, it is evident that the story is not correctly interpreted if it is supposed to show injustice on the part of God, for Paul is here quoting the story with the one purpose of proving the justice of God. The very matter under discussion is that of divine justice. The question is just this: In saving certain Jews and many Gentiles, while most Jews are allowed to continue in unbelief, is not God exercising an unjust choice? On the contrary, Paul shows that according to Scripture, God himself asserts his freedom of choice in two similar or typical cases, namely, in showing mercy toward Moses and severity toward Pharaoh.

In the case of Moses it was not due to human will or effort, it was "not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth,"� but it was due wholly to the sovereign grace of God that his great mercy was shown. So in the case of Pharaoh, it was the sovereign choice of God that selected him to be the historic example of God's resistless power and of his certainty to punish defiant and rebellious disobedience. Paul does not here mention the complementary truths of faith and fault on the part of men; he is asserting only the sovereign freedom of God, whether in showing mercy or in hardening, whether in the cases of Moses and Pharaoh, or in the case of the believing and unbelieving Jews in the days of Paul. The choices and actions of God are not capricious or unjust, but they are absolutely free and uncontrolled. Vs. 14-18.

If, however, God is sovereign and carries out his purposes through or in spite of the will of man, how can God blame men for disobedience or unbelief? Does not divine sovereignty abolish all human responsibility? Would not God be unjust if he punished those who rejected Christ?

Paul replies by another appeal to the Old Testament Scriptures. He cites the familiar parable of the potter. If the relation of God to men is that of the potter to the vessels he forms from the clay, how can man, the creature, find fault with the Creator? The potter has a right to make of the same clay one vessel for an honorable use, another for a dishonorable; can man, therefore, charge God with injustice if he chooses to show his severity towards those who merit his displeasure, and his mercy toward chosen objects of his grace?

Indeed, as creatures of God, men could hardly sit in judgment upon God and accuse him of injustice if he had been arbitrary and capricious and severe; but how can anyone accuse God of injustice in view of the way he actually has dealt with men? He has been patient and long-suffering toward his impenitent people, Israel, and has purposed to show all the wealth of his glory toward the objects of his mercy, chosen not only from among the Jews, his covenant people, but even from among the Gentiles? The sovereignty of God is absolute; yet it is never exercised in condemning men who ought to be saved, but rather it has resulted in the salvation of men who deserved to be lost. Surely no one can regard God as unjust if he is rejecting impenitent and unbelieving Israelites and is saving Gentiles who turn to him in penitence and faith. Vs. 19-24.

This salvation of Gentiles and rejection of Israel had indeed been predicted by the prophets, and thus, in further establishing the justice of God, Paul again appeals to Scripture. In the case of the Gentiles he quotes the beautiful words of Hosea, spoken in reference to the apostate and idolatrous Ten Tribes but involving the same principle of divine pardon and mercy:

"I will call that my people, which was not my people; And her beloved, that was not beloved."�

And further, as these tribes were to be restored to their sown land, so that the scene of their new adoption would be the same as that of their sin; thus the words spoken of them by Hosea are applied by Paul to Gentiles, who, in the lands where they had lived in ignorance of God or in disobedience to his will, would know the blessedness of being his children: "There shall they be called sons of the living God."�

In the case of Israel, Paul quotes from Isaiah to show that it has been predicted that, for a time at least, the whole nation would be rejected and only a small remnant be saved. Because of their unbelief, God would cut off his people, exercising his sharp and decisive sentence upon them, although in his mercy he would save some. The prophet was probably describing the punishment of Israel in his own day, and the remnant which was to escape from the devastating hosts of Assyria; but Paul applies the words to those in Israel who at the time he was writing were being saved by the gospel message. So he applies, in a similar way, an earlier prediction of Isaiah to the effect that the whole apostate nation would be blotted out and forgotten were it not that the Lord of hosts, in his mercy, would save some to preserve their seed and name:

"Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, We had become as Sodom, and had been made: like unto Gomorrah."�

From Sodom only four souls escaped; Gomorrah was utterly destroyed. Thus from the mouth of the Old Testament prophets Paul establishes the fact that God is not only just but merciful, even in his present rejection of Israel. Vs. 25-29.

In the next paragraph, vs. 30-33, he shows that in this rejection, prophecy has merely passed into history: Gentiles are being saved while Israel as a nation is being set aside. The latter, however, is due to the fault of Israel. The paragraph properly belongs, therefore, to the next chapter, which deals with Israel's responsibility even as chapter nine has been setting forth God's sovereignty. It serves, however, as a climax to the present phase of the argument which is establishing God's justice. Even though he is acting in sovereign freedom, yet he is acting justly in setting aside a nation which is rejecting Christ, refusing God's way of salvation, and neglecting his offer of grace. The doctrines of election and divine sovereignty do perplex and baffle the mind of man; yet no little relief is found when one faces the complementary truths of human freedom and responsibility. Paul has not hesitated to speak boldly and without qualification in "setting forth the sovereignty of God in the rejection of Israel; he will now speak with equal unreserve in revealing Israel's guilt, which after all is the occasion of Israel's rejection.

2. The Rejection of Israel Is Not Arbitrary. Chs. 9:30 to 10:21

a. Israel's Failure to Accept Christ. Ch. 9: 30-33

30 What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, who followed not after righteousness, attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith: 31 but Israel, following after a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law. 32 Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by works. They stumbled at the stone of stumbling; 33 even as it is written,

Behold, I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence:

And he that believeth on him shall not be put to shame.

It is a remarkable but familiar fact of religious history that men who most eagerly have sought to win for themselves the favor of God by fasts and forms and sacrifices and obedience to law have failed to secure either peace of conscience or victory over sin, while others, who long have been indifferent to religion and unmindful of God, by an act of simple faith, of surrender and trust, have obtained a sense of pardon and a consciousness of invincible moral power. Many men to-day who think and talk the most about religion lack peace and purity and love, while others, comparatively ignorant of religious problems and processes, so abandon themselves to God that they enjoy his presence and find fulfilled in their lives all his promises of blessedness and grace.

This great fact Paul found illustrated on a national scale in the case of unbelieving Israel and the contrasted converts from among the Gentiles. He is discussing in chapters nine, ten, and eleven, the problem of Israel's rejection; and as he passes to a new phase of his argument he practically restates the problem, but with an element which increases its perplexity. He has been attempting to reconcile with the promises of God and the justice of God the fact that the chosen people are being lost while Gentiles are being saved. He now adds the consideration that the very people who are failing to attain salvation are earnestly seeking for salvation. "What shall we say then?"� asks the apostle. What is the state of the case? What is the problem we are stating? It is this: Gentiles, not all but many Gentiles, "who followed not after righteousness," who did not make the attainment of righteousness their chief concern" these "attained to righteousness"; but Israel, as a nation, "following after a law of righteousness," seeking to obey the law which would win for them righteousness, "did not arrive at that law"� but failed to attain what that law promised and enjoined.

"Wherefore?" asks Paul, "Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by works." This is the explanation. This is the real answer to the problem. Israel is being rejected because of Israel's guilty and stubborn unbelief. There has been on the part of Israel no real submission to God, no actual abandonment to his will. Israel has been attempting to put God under obligation by formal observance of his law. Israel has failed because seeking for righteousness not by faith but by works. In the preceding portion of this chapter, Paul has viewed the problem of Israel's rejection in the light of God's sovereignty, which made it impossible for anyone to place God under obligation to save him; Paul now enters upon that portion of his discussion where he dwells upon Israel's responsibility, and shows that Israel's rejection is not arbitrary on the part of God but is due to Israel's unbelief. Chs. 9:30 to 10:21

This unbelief has been given its supreme manifestation in Israel's rejection of the Messiah. Christ came as the One on whom Israel might have founded all their hopes of salvation, but he proved to be for them "a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence." If Israel has fallen it is Israel's fault.

In referring to Christ, Paul does not at once name him, but quotes and mingles two Old Testament prophecies in which God's appointed King, and even God himself, is designated as the hope of Israel but also as "a rock of offence'" to those who showed themselves to him. Paul finds the fulfillment of the prophecies in Christ, and refers to him the blessed assurance that "he that believeth on him shall not be put to shame."

So Christ is presented to men to-day. The refusal to accept him as God's appointed Saviour is to reveal the fact that one does not really wish to submit to the will of God. One who rests on him for righteousness, for salvation, for eternal life, will never be disappointed, will never "De put to shame"; but one who depends on his own goodness and righteousness, and therefore rejects Christ, condemns himself and finds Christ to be for him "a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence." The rejection or acceptance of Christ is still the proof of the attitude of a soul toward God, as being either guilty unbelief or saving faith.

b. Israel's Refusal of God's Righteousness. Ch. 10:1-15

1 Brethren, my heart's desire and my supplication to God is for them, that they may be saved. 2 For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. 3 For being ignorant of God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. 4 For Christ is the end of the law unto righteousness to every one that believeth. 5 For Moses writeth that the man that doeth the righteousness which is of the law shall live thereby. 6 But the righteousness which is of faith saith thus, Say not in thy heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down:) 7 or, Who shall descend into the abyss? (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead.) 8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach: 9 because if thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord, and shalt believe in thy heart that God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved: 10 for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be put to shame. 12. For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek: for the same Lord is Lord of all, and is rich unto all that call upon him: 13 for, Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. 14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? 15 and how shall they preach, except they be sent? even as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that bring glad tidings of good things!

There would be no lack of converts to the Christian faith if all who profess to follow Christ felt for the spiritual welfare of their fellow countrymen the deep concern expressed by Paul for his own people: " Brethren, my heart's desire and my supplication to God is for them, that they may be saved."�

This expression, of deep solicitude for their salvation is due to the fact that he is about to emphasize even more severely his previous intimation that the rejection of Israel is due to the fault of the Israelites. His concern for them is deepened by the consideration that they really have a zeal for God and are making painful efforts to win his approval. Their zeal, however, is not according to true spiritual knowledge. They are seeking to attain a righteousness of their own and are thus refusing the righteousness which God provides.

Their own way of salvation, one indeed which men seem to prefer naturally, is by the way of strict observance of laws by which one achieves merit for himself. This way has come to its end in Christ. As a way of salvation it finds its termination in him; for everyone who has found peace and pardon through faith in him has abandoned the old way of seeking righteousness by works of the law.

That the old way was difficult, if not impossible, was implied by the lawgiver Moses when he wrote, " Ye shall therefore keep my statutes; . . . which if a man do, he shall live in them"; by which he meant that life in all its fullness, here and hereafter, was to be attained by undeviating obedience to legal rules. Such an obedience, however, Paul earlier in this epistle has shown to be impossible.

We are not to conclude, however, that Moses deceived or mocked his people. In his day, and under his system, men could be right with God; but it was by the way of faith, which regarded the law as an expression of God's will and trusted in God for pardon and grace. Now that God has revealed himself more fully in Christ, true faith places no reliance upon the self-righteousness which consists in the formal observance of rules, but accepts the salvation, the power, and peace, the new life, which are offered in Christ.

In contrast with that old way of salvation, "the righteousness which is of faith'" is supposed by Paul to speak and to say that it is near and accessible to all. It employs familiar words of Scripture to which it gives new meaning: There is no need to say who will go up to heaven to bring Christ down, or who will ascend into the deep to bring Christ from the dead, for the Christ who is the object of true faith is one who has already come to earth in the form of man, and has already been raised from the dead. The gospel message centers in such an incarnate and risen Christ. It is a message which is familiar to each one, "in thy mouth, and in thy heart."�

The substance of the message is this: "Confess with your mouth Jesus as your Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead and you shall be saved, for real faith of the heart results in righteousness and will naturally express itself in open confession."� Paul refers here to incarnation and resurrection not as exclusive but as typical truths, as intimating a necessary belief in the divine person and saving work of Christ.

This way of salvation is now supported by a quotation from Scripture: "Whosoever believeth on him shall not be put to shame."� The universal application of these words of Isaiah is warranted because no difference is made between Jews and Gentiles in the bestowal of righteousness upon believers, because the same Lord of all, even Jesus Christ, is rich in his bestowal of grace and salvation upon all who call upon him in faith and trust. That salvation is certain to be granted to all who so call upon Christ is shown by a quotation from Joel describing the deliverance to be granted in the Kingdom of the Messiah before the great day of the Lord.

A way of salvation so universal in its application demands a world- wide proclamation. This fact Paul emphasizes by a series of four significant questions: "How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? and how shall they preach except they be sent?"

This universal character of the gospel has always been a valid and cogent argument for Christian missions. It should be noted, however, that in this passage the Lord who hear the "messengers really hear "him i in whose name they speak, and by hearing come to believe in him and to call upon him for salvation.

The glory of this mission is such that Paul describes it in words borrowed from Isaiah when depicting the messengers who carried the glad tidings of restoration from the Captivity in Babylon. Thus indeed the messengers of Christ are carrying into all the world the good news of deliverance from sin and death, of a return to God, of the glorious Jerusalem above, of the joys of the ransomed, of the eternal blessings of the redeemed.

c. Israel's Neglect of the Gospel Message. Ch. 10:16-21

16 But they did not all hearken to the glad tidings. For Isaiah saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? 17 So belief cometh of hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. 18 But I say, Did they not hear? Yea, verily,

Their sound went out into all the earth,

And their words unto the ends of the world.

19 But I say, Did Israel not know? First Moses saith,

I will provoke you to jealousy with that which is no nation,

With a nation void of understanding will I anger you.

20 And Isaiah is very bold, and saith,

I was found of them that sought me not;

I became manifest unto them that asked not of me. 21 But as to Israel he saith, All the day long did I spread out my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.

Religious opportunities are too frequently neglected. Multitudes of men who are quite familiar with the gospel are indifferent to its message, while others who for the first time hear its glad tidings eagerly accept the salvation it offers in the name of Christ. Of the former class were the Jews of Paul's day. In proving that Israel's rejection is due to Israel's fault, Paul here shows that the people are without excuse, and that their rejection is due to their proud, stubborn, willful unbelief.

The "glad tidings of good things" were proclaimed to all, "but they did not all hearken"; far from it; Israel practically as a nation had rejected Christ. This was the tragic fact; and this guilty unbelief had been predicted by Isaiah in his pathetic words, "Lord, who hath believed our report?" The message had been sent and should have been received. The opportunity for faith had been given, for "belief cometh of hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ."� That is, the gospel is not a matter of intuition or imagination or conjecture or reverie, but of revelation. It is a message given by God to men; its sum and substance is the person and work of Christ; and faith consists in a humble, grateful acceptance of this message.

Israel could not plead as an excuse that this message had not been heard, for the gospel had been preached throughout the whole Roman world. So wide was this proclamation that Paul quotes in reference to it the words of the psalmist written of the revelation of God in nature:

"Their sound went out into all the earth,

And their words unto the ends of the world."�

As the silent voices of the skies proclaim to the whole world the power of the Creator, so the voices of Christian heralds are declaring in all lands the glory of the redeeming Christ.

Nor can the excuse be given that the gospel message has not been understood. That it was designed for other nations, and that Israel would be slow to accept it, had been predicted from the earliest days of Israel's history. Even Moses had declared that heathen would be given a share in the blessings of God's people and would thus excite the jealousy and anger of the Jews:

"I will provoke you to jealousy with that which is no nation,

With a nation void of understanding will I anger you."�

The words were in the ancient days a warning to the idolatrous people of Israel. If they continued to be untrue to Jehovah, he would provoke their jealousy by showing mercy to nations who were, from the Jewish point of view, no real nations, and void of religious knowledge. Such a situation was paralleled in Paul's day by the rejection of Israel and the call of the Gentiles.

The same truth was set forth boldly by Isaiah, in spite of the natural displeasure of his people at such a prediction. Words which referred first of all to apostate Jews are applied in principle to Gentiles:

"I was found of them that sought me not;

I became manifest unto them that asked not of me."

Finally Paul makes another quotation from the prophet to show that God's love had been unique and exhaustless. He had ever sought to bring Israel back into fellowship with himself. He had stood with outstretched hands. He had called them to him by the voices of pleading messengers. Last of all he had sent his Son. If Israel was still unsaved"if, for the time, the nation was rejected—it was only because of Israel's fault. The people of Israel were disobedient and rebellious. In truth God could say to them, "All the day long did I spread out my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people."�

How tenderly God is dealing to-day with many who are refusing his gospel! Patiently he is pleading; his offers are full of grace and mercy. Where will the fault lie in the case of those who reject his messages of love?

3. The Rejection of Israel Is Not Final. Ch. 11

a. The Present Election of Grace. Ch. 11:1-10

1 I say then, Did God cast off his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God did not cast off his people which he foreknew. Or know ye not what the scripture saith of Elijah? how he pleadeth with God against Israel: 3 Lord, they have killed thy prophets, they have digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life. 4 But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have left for myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to Baal. 5 Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. 6 But if it is by grace, it is no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. 7 What then? That which Israel seeketh for, that he obtained not; but the election obtained it, and the rest were hardened: 8 according as it is written, God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear, unto this very day. 9 And David saith,

Let their table be made a snare, and a trap,

And a stumblingblock, and a recompense unto them:

10 Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see,

And bow thou down their back always.

Can Jews be converted to faith in Christ? Is Jewish evangelization a futile and impertinent enterprise on the part of the Christian Church? Is the spiritual condition of Israel hopeless? To these important and searching questions of the present day, Paul here gives his inspired reply.

It is not difficult to trace the train of thought which has given rise to these questions. Paul has been discussing the problem of Israel's rejection; that is, he has been attempting to reconcile the Old Testament predictions of Israel's godliness and glory with Israel's present failure to share in the salvation which the Messiah is bringing to Gentile believers. The ninth chapter of the epistle has shown that Israel's present rejection is not inconsistent with the inspired prediction or with the justice of God; chapter ten has shown that Israel's rejection is due to Israel's stubborn unbelief; chapter eleven reveals that Israel's rejection is neither complete, vs. 1-10, nor final, vs. 11-32, but is to issue in such a national restoration as will result in universal blessing. Paul closes the discussion with adoration and praise. Vs. 33-36.

Chapter nine has emphasized God's sovereignty ; chapter ten, Israel's sin; chapter eleven declares that according to the providence of God even Israel's sin is to be overruled to further the redemption of the whole world.

"I say then, Did God cast off his people?" One might have so concluded from the solemn arraignment of rebellious and unbelieving Israel with which the previous chapter had closed. "God forbid,"� cries the apostle, and he at once explains why he rejects with horror the very idea as impious and incredible. "I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.'" He is himself a Jew by birth and not a proselyte, a lineal descendant of Abraham, and a member of the tribe which, with Judah, formed the restored nation after the exile and became the hope of the world. No wonder that he sovehemently denies that God has repudiated his people! "God did not cast off his people which he foreknew."�"� It is true that the case of Israel seems desperate, but the situation is exactly like that which existed in the days of Elijah. The poor disheartened prophet had stood on the slopes of lonely Horeb and had cried out in despair, "The children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword: and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away,'" but God had made answer " Yet will I leave me seven thousand in Israel, .. . which have not bowed unto Baal."� Thus Paul concludes, "Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace."�

It was not due to their merit or their own attainments that such a saved remnant existed; it was due wholly to the grace of God. Yet it did exist. Jewish converts formed a very considerable fraction of the church at Rome, and a larger fraction still of the Church throughout the world.

No Jewish convert to-day must allow himself to be overwhelmed by his loneliness; nor must the Church look upon the conversion of Jews as an impossible task. In proportion to the efforts made, more converts are being secured from among the Jews than from among any other race. Nor should we feel discouraged in any work to which God has called us. When doubt and denial seem universal and the cause of the Church appears desperate, let no prophet of God take too gloomy a view of the situation; let no one take himself too seriously and suppose that he is the only soul loyal to the Lord. There are always the seven thousand faithful ones, always "a remnant according to the election of grace," always a church within the Church through which God is working for the redemption of the world.

On the other hand, it cannot be denied that the Jews as a nation are stubbornly fixed in their unbelief. "What then?"� writes the apostle. Although this remnant does exist, what are we to say about the people as a whole? We cannot but admit the fact that "that which Israel seeketh for, that he obtained not; but the election obtained it, and the rest were hardened." This, too, is in accordance with the predictions of the prophet. He declared that the people of Israel failed to receive the very righteousness they sought and that because of their sin and unbelief they were judicially hardened so that they could not believe: "God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear, unto this very day." Or, as the psalmist declared, "Let their table be made a snare," that is, let the place in which they feel secure, or the very objects in which they delight, prove to be the source of their downfall and the occasion of their ruin.

Paul recognized the noble but misguided efforts of the Jews to attain righteousness and to win the favor of God. The law in which they delighted proved to be their "snare,"� their "trap,"� their "stumblingblock"; because of false confidence in their ability to keep its precepts and their stubborn rejection of Christ, it became their "recompense," that is to say, their perverse attitude toward the gospel reacted in an incapacity to understand and to receive it. In consequence they were in spiritual blindness and bondage, groping for light and bending beneath burdens too heavy to be borne.

Such is the pathetic picture of many serious men to-day. They earnestly seek to live right lives, but trusting to their own strength and righteousness they reject the grace that is offered in Christ; they- refuse to accept the pardon and peace and power which he is ready to give. They stumble along in darkness, they struggle in weakness and weariness, when in him they might find rest for their souls.

b. The Future Salvation of Israel. Ch. 11:11-32

11 I say then, Did they stumble that they might fall? God forbid: but by their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, to provoke them to jealousy. 12 Now if their fall is the riches of the world, and their loss the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness? 13 But I speak to you that are Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle of Gentiles, I glorify my ministry; 14 if by any means I may provoke to jealousy them that are my flesh, and may save some of them. 15 For if the casting away of them is the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead? 16 And if the first-fruit is holy, so is the lump: and if the root is holy, so are the branches. 17 But if some of the branches were broken off, and thou, being a wild olive, wast grafted in among them, and didst become partaker with them of the root of the fatness of the olive tree; 18 glory not over the branches: but if thou gloriest, it is not thou that bearest the root, but the root thee. 19 Thou wilt say then, Branches were broken off, that I might be grafted in. 20 Well; by their unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by thy faith. Be not high-minded, but fear: 21 for if God spared not the natural branches, neither will he spare thee. 22 Behold then the goodness and severity of God: toward them that fell, severity; but toward thee, God's goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off. 23 And they also, if they continue not in their unbelief, shall be grafted in: for God is able to graft them in again. 24 For if thou wast cut out of that which is by nature a wild olive tree, and wast grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree; how much more shall these, which are the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?

25 For I would not, brethren, have you ignorant of this mystery, lest ye be wise in your own conceits, that a hardening in part hath befallen Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in; 26 and so all Israel shall be saved: even as it is written,

There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer;

He shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: 27 And this is my covenant unto them,

When I shall take away their sins.

28 As touching the gospel, they are enemies for your sake: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers' sake. 29 For the gifts and the calling of God are not repented of. 30 For as ye in time past were disobedient to God, but now have obtained mercy by their disobedience, 31 even so have these also now been disobedient, that by the mercy shown to you they also may now obtain mercy. 32 For God hath shut up all unto disobedience, that he might have mercy upon all.

What is to be the future of the Jewish people? By intermarriage and by the abandonment of distinguishing customs are they to be amalgamated and lost among the other races of the world? Or, as is now true of many, are they to lose their ancestral faith and, as a people possessing great elements of power and yet lacking moral restraint, are they to become a menace to civilization? Or again, is the dream of Zionism to be realized, is a Jewish state to be established in Palestine, is the nation to be reborn, and is it to add another problem and peril to the international politics of the world? Far different from any of these alternatives is the prediction of the Apostle Paul. He asserts that the present rejection of Israel is being overruled for the salvation of Gentiles; that the latter should be warned against unbelief by the present condition of Israel, and also warned against pride in view of the future restoration of Israel which is to result in the spiritual renewal of the whole human race.

The providential purpose served by the present unbelief of Israel is twofold: first, the rejection of the gospel by the Jews has resulted in the preaching of the gospel to the Gentiles; and secondly, spiritual blessings thus brought to the Gentiles will ultimately stir the Jews to emulation, will result in their conversion, and will issue in universal blessing.

"I say then, Did they stumble that they might fall?"� Is the condition of Israel incurable? Is their repudiation final? Is their ruin complete? "God forbid,' writes the apostle, "but by their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles," and this is in order to arouse unbelieving Israel to emulation and so to bring them back to the place which rightfully belongs to them.

"Therefore," continues the apostle, "if the fall of Israel has brought to the world a wealth of spiritual blessing, by giving the gospel to the world and if their defection has thus enriched the world, what. will result when they all are brought to Christ?" Or, as one has paraphrased the sentence, "If the Gentiles have been enriched in a sense through the very miscarriage and disaster of Israel, what wealth is in store for them in the great return, when all Israel shall be saved "when God hath made the pile complete!"�

Why the future of the Jew is of such deep concern to Paul, the apostle of the Gentiles, he now explains. It is because his mission to the Gentiles is vitally related to his own countrymen. The more successful he can make his mission, the more faithfully he can discharge it, the greater will be the certainty that some Jews will be stirred to jealousy and be saved, and all who are saved go to make up that promised "fulness" of the Jews which will result in universal blessing. "For if the casting away" of the Jews, continues the apostle, has been the means of reconciling the world to God, by diverting the gospel to the Gentiles, in what will the restoration of Israel result but in a spiritual revival for all mankind, in a veritable "life from the dead?"�

That there is to be such a national restoration of the Jews, Paul argues from their actual relationship to God. He employs two figures of speech. The "first-fruit" which is offered to God makes holy the entire mass from which it is taken; it indicates that the whole belongs to God. So, too, the root of a tree gives life and character to the branches, and "if the root is holy, so are the branches."� Vs. 11-16.

Thus it is with Israel. The ancient patriarchs from which the race sprang belonged to God; they were chosen of him, and therefore the people which came from them were holy; they are the people of God, and in spite of temporary unbelief and rejection, they will yet appear in their real character and will manifest that relation to God which is theirs by right, and is in accordance with his changeless purpose.

Is there not in all this a message of cheer and comfort for all those who have been "sanctified in*Christ Jesus" and "called to be saints?" Does not God show himself able to overrule for good even their failures and their faults, and when in penitence they are brought back to him, does he not use them in enlarging spheres of service, and make them of wider blessing to the world?

Paul's reference to the Jewish race as branches from a holy root might be employed by Gentile Christians as an argument to disprove the predicted restoration of Israel and as a ground for their own self-confidence, because the casting away of the Jews and the creation of a Gentile Church might indicate that this new people of God had permanently displaced rejected Israel.

This is a very common misconception among Christians to-day. They disregard as visionary all predictions concerning the national future of Israel, and they appropriate to themselves all the blessings promised to the ancient people of God.

All this Paul anticipates; and from the simile of the root and the branches he draws two special lessons: one of humility, for Gentile believers; another of hope, for Israel.

The people of God, as forming one continuous body, according to a figure taken from the prophecy of Jeremiah, are pictured as "a green olive-tree, fair with goodly fruit."� The root, or stock, from which Jews and Gentiles all receive their spiritual strength and nourishment is found in the patriarchs and other believers from whom the people of God have sprung. The branches are the individuals who derive their life from the body to which they belong. These branches are of two kinds: first, the original branches representing the Jews, some of which have been "cut off"� because of unbelief; and second, branches from a wild olive, which have been grafted in, representing the Gentile Church. Such grafting, Paul insists, is a wholly unnatural process. Shoots from a wild tree are never grafted into a cultivated stock; only the reverse process would produce good fruit. Paul has been' accused of ignorance of horticulture because of his suggesting such grafting as is "contrary to nature"; but that is the very point of his argument. Gentile Christians are reminded that any virtues or blessings that they possess are due wholly to the grace of God and not to any merit of their own. These favors have been received through faith and, at best, Gentile believers only share a life drawn from a Jewish root. If Jewish branches "were broken off" that Gentile believers might be grafted in, this is no reason for pride and self-confidence on the part of these Gentiles. On the contrary, they should be warned, by the breaking off of the Jewish branches, of the peril of unbelief. At any time they themselves may be cut off; it would be a much less violent process to break off the wild olive branches than it was to break off those which belonged originally to the cultivated tree. The Gentile Christians, therefore, should observe and take to heart the goodness of God shown toward themselves and the severity of God shown toward Israel, and they should be warned that such goodness can be enjoyed only by those who continue-in faith, loyal to God and dependent upon his will.

On the other hand, the second lesson is still more impressive, the lesson of hope for Israel. If the bringing of Gentiles into fellowship with the people of God was as unnatural as the grafting of wild olive branches into a cultivated stock, much more easily will God be able to restore to their original place these Jewish branches and to graft them into "their own olive tree."�"� Vs. 16-24.

Such lessons are greatly needed to-day. What could be more unworthy or more unreasonable than for Gentile Christians to despise unbelieving Jews? Christians have merely inherited the blessings which through Jews have been brought to the whole world. The words of Christ, "Salvation is from the Jews,"� should never be forgotten. Nor must Gentile believers be skeptical about the conversion of Israel. The surprising thing is not that Jews can be brought back into the body of God's true people; they have every spiritual and religious advantage. The strange thing is that Gentiles can be saved in spite of their inheritance of pantheism and atheism and idolatry. The conversion of a heathen may be regarded ,as a marvel. What is more natural on the part of a Jew than his return to the real faith of his fathers and his acceptance of the Messiah predicted by his prophets, of the Redeemer who came first of all to save his own people?

Paul now distinctly predicts the conversion of Israel. He indicates the importance of the event by using, to introduce his prediction, a characteristic phrase which he frequently employs for this purpose: "I would not, brethren, have you ignorant." He indicates further that this event has been divinely disclosed to him, for he describes it as a "mystery," by which Paul always means a secret once hidden but now revealed. Still further he states his desire to have the Roman church know of this coming conversion of Israel, lest this church might be wise in its own conceits and might imagine that it was to retain permanently the religious supremacy of the world.

How strangely the Roman Church still labors under that delusion, and how surprisingly Protestants imitate Rome in their appraisal of the Jew! The fact is, as Paul declares, that the unbelief of Israel is only partial: "a hardening in part hath befallen Israel"; it is only temporary: "until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in,"� that is, until the "full complement of the Gentiles,"� or the Gentile nations as a whole, are converted or brought into the Christian Church; and so, in consequence, all Israel shall be saved.

Evidently Paul is speaking here of Israel as a nation; he is not referring to every individual Israelite; just as in speaking of the "fulness of the Gentiles' he does not mean to indicate every individual in the Gentile world. Nor yet does he refer to the dead; nor to those who are to die before this salvation of Israel comes to pass. Paul is speaking here of nations and he is pointing to a time when Gentile kingdoms and the people of Israel shall be united in the blessings of a redeemed world.

Paul confirms his prediction by a quotation from Isaiah, in which it is stated that a Deliverer "shall come out of Zion"� who "shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob,"� who will secure for Israel the benefits of a new covenant of grace and of forgiveness. Whether the reference here is to the first or the second coming of the Messiah is not made plain. The hope of Israel is in Christ, who surely has come and is now giving deliverance from sin to all who put their trust in him.

If Israel now especially seems to need such a deliverance, this should only make one more certain that the prophecy will be fulfilled, for in the divine plan, according to which the good tidings of salvation have been preached, the Jews in their unbelief have been treated as enemies of God in order that Gentiles might be saved; but this does not alter the fact that the people of Israel are the chosen people of God, and "beloved for the fathers' sake."� God has given them special blessings, he has called them to a high destiny, and he never revokes his choice. That there is a parallel in the case of the Gentile Church to the case of Israel, Paul further points out, and it is mentioned as a ground of universal hope. It was through Israel's disobedience and rejection of the gospel that the mercy of God came to the Roman believers; even so, the mercy now shown to Gentile believers will be the occasion of Israel's repentance and of Israel's enjoyment of divine favor. In both cases God's universal plan and purpose of salvation is being carried out. God, so to speak, has locked up in the prison house of hopeless unbelief and sin all mankind, both Jews and Gentiles, that he might show toward all in their absolute hopelessness his free and unmerited grace. This does not mean that Jews and Gentiles are not responsible for the unbelief and sin which resulted in their helplessness and hopelessness; nor does it mean that ultimately every individual will be saved; nor yet that any individual is saved without faith. These truths are elsewhere safeguarded. Paul is here reaching the great climax of his epistle and is affirming not only that Israel is yet to be saved in spite of present unbelief and rejection but also that ultimately all nations are to be included in the blessings which by his mercy and grace God is providing through Jesus Christ our Lord. Vs. 25-32.

c. The Doxology. Ch. 11:33-36

33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past tracing out! 34 For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? 35 or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? 36 For of him, and through him, and unto him, are all things. To him be the glory for ever. Amen.

The doxologies which occur not infrequently in the Pauline Epistles are stately, majestic, sublime, and yet apparently quite spontaneous. They seem to arise naturally from the emotions of a heart stirred by the contemplation of the matchless grace and goodness of God. Thus when the apostle has clearly set forth the way of salvation which God has prepared in Jesus Christ for all mankind, when he has shown that men are justified freely, that the rejection is due to the fault of Israel, that this rejection has been overruled for the salvation of Gentiles and ultimately will give place to a national restoration which will result in universal blessing, no wonder that the survey of such a vast panorama of divine providence is succeeded by a hymn of praise to "the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God!"�

Possibly it is best to regard these great words as co6rdinate and to read, as in the margin, "O the depth of the riches and the wisdom and the knowledge of God!"� The riches of God would thus refer to " the wealth of love that enables God to meet, and far more than meet, the appalling necessities of the world."�

In any case, "the wisdom and the knowledge"� which Paul adores refer to God's comprehensive view of all things and his penetrating perception of details, which enable him to adapt his love to all the forces and conditions of the world, even to failure and unbelief and sin, and to work out his plans and purposes of grace.

His "judgments,"�"� whether of punishment or of salvation, are "unsearchable"; his "ways" of dealing with men are "past tracing out."� This is the reason for worship; this is the occasion for faith. We know only in part. However, if in one case, as in that of Israel, his mysterious providence has been vindicated, therefore in other cases, we can await his explanations and the ultimate demonstration of his love.

Surely God's ways are "past tracing out," for, to quote from the Old Testament, no one has been his "counsellor" so as "to know how he would proceed to attain his purposes, and so rich is he that he needs nothing at the hands of man; all that he gives must be the expression of grace, as none can merit anything from him; and this is true because in this vast universe, and specifically in the sphere of salvation, all things have their source in him, through him they flow as he upholds, rules, and directs; he is their final cause, their exalted goal; they serve his eternal purpose, his gracious ends. Therefore, "to him be the glory for ever."�

This is the expression of a faith which trusts where it cannot understand, which loves when it cannot explain, which reasons wisely that nothing but good can ultimately come from God to those who accept the grace he has revealed in the gift of his Son, our Saviour and our Lord.