Rom 11:7, Heb 3:13 | Barnes | STEP | Verse 7. What then ? What is the proper conclusion from this argument? Israel hath not obtained . That is, the Jews as a people have not obtained that which they sought. They sought the favour of God by their own merit; and as it was impossible to obtain it in that manner, they have, as a people , failed of obtaining his favour at all, and will be rejected. That which he seeketh for . To wit, salvation by their own obedience to the law. The election hath . The purpose of choosing , on the part of God, has obtained, or secured, that which the seeking on the part of the Jews could not secure. Or the abstract here may be put for the concrete, and the word "election" may mean the same as the elect . The elect , the reserved , the chosen part of the people, have obtained the favour of God. Hath obtained it . That is, the favour or mercy of God. The rest . The great mass of the people who remained in unbelief, and had rejected the Messiah. Were blinded . The word in the original means, also, were hardened , (επωρωθησαν). It comes from a word which signifies, properly, to become hard , as bones do which are broken and are then united; or as the joints sometimes do when they become callous or stiff. "It was probably applied also to the formation of a hard substance in the eye, a, cataract; and then means the same as to be blinded. Hence, applied to the mind, it means that which is hard, obdurate , insensible, stupid . Thus it is applied to the Jews, and means that they were blind and obstinate. See , "Their heart was hardened." . The word does not occur in any other place in the New Testament. This verse affirms simply, that "the rest were hardened," but it does not affirm anything about the mode by which it was done. In regard to "the election," it is affirmed that it was of God , . Of the remainder, the fact of their blindness is simply mentioned, without affirming anything of the cause. See . (h) "Israel hath not obtained" (1) "blinded" or, "hardened".

Romans 11:7

Verse 7. What then? What is the proper conclusion from this argument?

Israel hath not obtained. That is, the Jews as a people have not obtained that which they sought. They sought the favour of God by their own merit; and as it was impossible to obtain it in that manner, they have, as a people, failed of obtaining his favour at all, and will be rejected.

That which he seeketh for. To wit, salvation by their own obedience to the law.

The election hath. The purpose of choosing, on the part of God, has obtained, or secured, that which the seeking on the part of the Jews could not secure. Or the abstract here may be put for the concrete, and the word "election" may mean the same as the elect. The elect, the reserved, the chosen part of the people, have obtained the favour of God.

Hath obtained it. That is, the favour or mercy of God.

The rest. The great mass of the people who remained in unbelief, and had rejected the Messiah.

Were blinded. The word in the original means, also, were hardened, (επωρωθησαν). It comes from a word which signifies, properly, to become hard, as bones do which are broken and are then united; or as the joints sometimes do when they become callous or stiff. "It was probably applied also to the formation of a hard substance in the eye, a, cataract; and then means the same as to be blinded. Hence, applied to the mind, it means that which is hard, obdurate, insensible, stupid. Thus it is applied to the Jews, and means that they were blind and obstinate. See Mk 6:52, "Their heart was hardened." Rom 8:17, Jn 12:40. The word does not occur in any other place in the New Testament. This verse affirms simply, that "the rest were hardened," but it does not affirm anything about the mode by which it was done. In regard to "the election," it is affirmed that it was of God, Rom 11:4. Of the remainder, the fact of their blindness is simply mentioned, without affirming anything of the cause. See Rom 11:8.

(h) "Israel hath not obtained" Rom 9:31 (1) "blinded" or, "hardened".

Hebrews 3:13

Verse 13. But exhort one another daily. This is addressed to the members of the churches; and it follows, therefore,

(1.) that it is their duty to exhort their brethren; and

(2.) that it is their duty to do it daily; that is, constantly. See Heb 10:24, 1Thes 4:18, 5:11; Rom 12:8. While this is the special duty of the ministers of the gospel, 1Timm 6:2, 2Ti 4:2; Tit 2:6,15, it is also the duty of all the members of the churches --and a most important, but much neglected duty. This does not refer to public exhortation, which more appropriately pertains to the ministers of the gospel, but to that private watch and care which the individual members of the church should have over one another. But in what cases is such exhortation proper? What rules should regulate it ? I answer, It may be regarded as a duty, or is to be performed in such cases as the following:--

(1.) Intimate friends in the church should exhort and counsel one another; should admonish each other of their faults; and should aid one another in the divine life.

(2.) Parents should do the same thing to their children. They are placed particularly under their watch and care. A pastor cannot often see the members of his flock in private; and a parent may greatly aid him in his work by watching over the members of their families who are connected with the church.

(3.) Sabbath school teachers may aid much in this duty. They are to be assistants to parents and to pastors. They often have under their care youthful members of the churches. They have an opportunity of knowing their state of mind, their temptations, and their dangers, better than the pastor can have. It should be theirs, therefore, to exhort them to a holy life.

(4.) The aged should exhort the young. Every aged Christian may thus do much for the promotion of religion. His experience is the property of the church; and he is bound so to employ it, as to be useful in aiding the feeble, reclaiming the wandering, recovering the backslider, and directing the inquiring. There is a vast amount of spiritual capital of this kind in the church that is unemployed, and that might be made eminently useful in helping others to heaven.

(5.) Church members should exhort one another. There may not be the intimacy of personal friendship among all the members of a large church, but still the connexion between them should be regarded as sufficiently tender and confidential to make it proper for any one to admonish a brother who goes astray. They belong to the same communion. They sit down at the same Supper of the Lord. They express their assent to the same articles of faith. They are regarded by the community as united. Each member sustains a portion of the honour and the responsibility of the whole; and each member should feel that he has a right, and that it is his duty, to admonish a brother if he goes astray. Yet this duty is greatly neglected. In what church is it performed! How often do church-members see a fellow-member go astray, without any exhortation or admonition! How often do they hear reports of the inconsistent lives of other members, and perhaps contribute to the circulation of these reports themselves, without any pains taken to inquire whether they are true! How often do the poor fear the rich members of the church, or the rich despise the poor, and see each other live in sin, without any attempt to entreat or save them! I would not have the courtesies of life violated. I would not have any assume a dogmatical or dictatorial air. I would have no one step out of his proper sphere of life. But the principle which I would lay down is, that the fact of church-membership should inspire such confidence, as to make it proper for one member to exhort another whom he sees going astray. Belonging to the same family; having the same interest in religion; and all suffering when one suffers, why should they not be allowed tenderly and kindly to exhort one another to a holy life?

While it is called To-day. While life lasts; or while you may be permitted to use the language, "To-day hear the voice of God." The idea is, that the exhortation is not to be intermitted. It is to be our daily business to admonish and exhort one another. Christians are liable every day to go astray; every day they need aid in the divine life; and they who are fellow;heirs with them of salvation should be ever ready to counsel and advise them.

Lest any of you be hardened. Heb 3:8. It is possible for Christians to become, in a sense, hardened. Their minds become less sensitive than they were to the claims of duty, and their consciences become less tender. Hence the propriety of mutual exhortation, that they may always have the right feeling, and may always listen to the commands of God.

The deceitfulness of sin. Eph 4:22. Sin is always deceitful. It promises more than it performs. It assures us of pleasure which it never imparts. It leads us on beyond what was supposed when we began to indulge in it. The man who commits sin is always under a delusion; and sin, if he indulges it, will lead him on from one step to another, until the heart becomes entirely hardened. Sin puts on plausible appearances and pretences; it assumes the name of virtue; it offers excuses and palliations, until the victim is snared; and then, spell-bound, he is hurried on to every excess. If sin was always seen in its true aspect when man is tempted to commit it, it would be so hateful that he would flee from it with the utmost abhorrence. What young man would become a drunkard, if he saw, when he began, exactly the career which he would run? What young man, now vigorous and healthful, and with fair prospects of usefulness and happiness, would ever touch the intoxicating bowl, if he saw what he would be when he became a sot? What man would ever enter the room of the gambler, if he saw just where indulgence would soon lead him, and if, at the commencement he saw exactly the woe and despair which would inevitably ensue? Who would become a voluptuary and a sensualist, if he saw exactly the close of such a career? Sin deceives, deludes, blinds. Men do not, or will not, see the fearful results of indulgence. They are deluded by the hope of happiness or of gain; they are drawn along by the fascinations and allurements of pleasure, until the heart becomes hard and the conscience seared--and then they give way without remorse. From such a course the apostle would have Christians guarded by kind and affectionate exhortation. Each one should feel that he has an interest in keeping his brother from such a doom; and each Christian, thus in danger should be willing to listen to the kind exhortation of a Christian brother.