Rom 9:25-29 | Barnes | STEP | Verse 25. As he saith also . The doctrine which he had established he proceeds now to confirm by quotations from the writings of Jews , that he might remove every objection. The doctrine was, (1.) that God intended to call his people from the Gentiles as well as the Jews. (2.) That he was bound by no promise and no principle of obligation to bestow salvation on all the Jews. (3.) That therefore it was right for him to reject any or all of the Jews, if he chose, and cut them off from their privileges as a people, and from salvation. In Osee . This is the Greek form of writing the Hebrew word Hosea . It means in the book of Hosea, as in David means in the book of David, or by David, . The passage is found in . This quotation is not made according to the letter , but the sense of the prophet is preserved. The meaning is the same in Hosea and in this place, that God would bring those into a covenant relation to himself, who were before deemed outcasts and strangers. Thus he supports his main position that God would choose his people from among the Gentiles as well as the Jews, or would exercise towards both his right as a sovereign, bestowing or withholding his blessings as he pleases. (y) "Osee"

Romans 9:25-29

Verse 25. As he saith also. The doctrine which he had established he proceeds now to confirm by quotations from the writings of Jews, that he might remove every objection. The doctrine was,

(1.) that God intended to call his people from the Gentiles as well as the Jews.

(2.) That he was bound by no promise and no principle of obligation to bestow salvation on all the Jews.

(3.) That therefore it was right for him to reject any or all of the Jews, if he chose, and cut them off from their privileges as a people, and from salvation.

In Osee. This is the Greek form of writing the Hebrew word Hosea. It means in the book of Hosea, as in David means in the book of David, or by David, Heb 4:7. The passage is found in Hoss 2:23. This quotation is not made according to the letter, but the sense of the prophet is preserved. The meaning is the same in Hosea and in this place, that God would bring those into a covenant relation to himself, who were before deemed outcasts and strangers. Thus he supports his main position that God would choose his people from among the Gentiles as well as the Jews, or would exercise towards both his right as a sovereign, bestowing or withholding his blessings as he pleases.

(y) "Osee" Hoss 2:23 Verse 26. And it shall come to pass. It shall happen, or take place. This is a continuation of the quotation from the prophet Hosea, (Rom 1:10) designed to confirm the doctrine which he was establishing. Both these quotations have the same design, and are introduced for the same end. In Hosea they did not refer to the calling Of the Gentiles, but to the recalling the rejected Jews. God says, after the Jews had been rejected and scattered for their idolatry; after they had forfeited his favour, and been cast off as if they were not his people, he would recall them, and bestow them again the appellation of sons. The apostle does not quote this as having original reference to the Gentiles, but for the following purposes:--

(1.) If God formerly purposed to recall to himself a people whom he had rejected; if he bestowed favours on his own people after they had forfeited his favour, and ceased to be entitled to the name of "his people " then the same thing was not to be regarded as absurd if he dealt in a similar manner with the Gentiles, also a part of his original great family--the family of man--but long since rejected and deemed strangers.

(2.) The dealings of God towards the Jews in the time of Hosea settled a general principle of government. His treatment of them in this manner was a part of his great plan of governing the world. On the same plan he now admitted the Gentiles to favour. And as this general principle was established; as the history of the Jews themselves was a precedent in the case, it ought not to be objected in the time of Paul that the same principle should be carried out to meet the case also of the Gentiles.

In the place. The place where they may be scattered, or where they may dwell. Or rather, perhaps, in those nations which were not regarded as the people of God, there shall be a people to whom this shall apply.

Where it was said unto them. Where the proper appellation of the people was, that they were not the people of God; where they were idolatrous, sinful, aliens, strangers; so that they had none of the marks of the children of God.

Ye are not my people. People in covenant with God; under his protection, as their Sovereign, and keeping his laws.

There shall they be called. That is, there they shall be. The verb to call, in the Hebrew writings, means often the same as to be. It denotes that this shall be the appellation which properly expresses their character. It is a figure perhaps almost peculiar to the Hebrews; and it gives additional interest to the case. Instead of saying coldly and abstractedly, "they are such," it introduces also the idea that such is the favourable judgment of God in the case. See Mt 5:9, "Peacemakers--shall be called the children of God." Mt 5:9; also Rom 9:19, Mt 21:13, "My house shall be called the house of prayer." Mk 11:17, Lk 1:32, 35, 76, Isa 56:7.

The children of, etc. Greek, Sons. Mt 1:1.

Living God. Called living God in opposition to dead idols. Mt 16:16 also Mt 26:63; Jn 6:69, Acts 14:15; 1Thes 1:9, "Turn from idols to serve the living and true God " Jer 10:10. This is a most honourable and distinguished appellation. No higher favour can be conferred on mortals than to be the sons of the living God, members of his family, entitled to his protection, and secure of his watch and care. This was an object of the highest desire with the saints of old. See Ps 42:2, 84:2, "My soul thirsteth for God, the living God;" "My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God."

(z) "it shall come" Hoss 1:10 Verse 27,28. Esias. The Greek way of writing the word Isaiah.

Crieth. Isa 10:22,23. Exclaims, or speaks aloud or openly. Comp. Jn 1:15. Isaiah brings forth the doctrine fully, and without any concealment or disguise. This doctrine related to the rejection of the Jews; a far more difficult point to establish than was that of the calling of the Gentiles. It was needful, therefore to fortify it by some explicit passage of the Scriptures.

Concerning Israel. Concerning the Jews. It is probable that Isaiah had reference primarily to the Jews of his own time; to that wicked generation that God was about to punish, by sending them captive into other lands. The case was one, however, which settled a general principle of the Jewish government; and therefore it was applicable to the case before the apostle. If the thing for which he was contending--that the Jews might be rejected---existed in the time of Isaiah, and was settled then as a precedent, it might exist also in his time and under the gospel.

As the sand of the sea. This expression is used to denote an indefinite or an innumerable multitude. It often occurs in the sacred writings. In the infancy of society, before the art of numbering was carried to a great extent, men were obliged to express themselves very much in this manner. Gen 22:17, "I will multiply thy seed--as the sand which is upon the sea-shore;" Gen 32:12.- Isaiah doubtless had reference to this promise: "Though all that was promised to Abraham shall be fulfilled, and his seed shall be as numerous as God declared, yet a remnant only," etc. The apostle thus shows that his doctrine does not conflict at all with the utmost expectation of the Jews drawn from the promises of God. See a similar use of the term sand in Jud 7:12, 1Sam 13:5, 2Sam 17:11, etc. In the same manner great numbers were denoted by the stars of heaven, Gen 22:17, 15:5.

A remnant shall be saved. Meaning a remnant only. This implies that great multitudes of them would be cast off, and be not saved. If only a remnant was to be saved, many must be lost; and this was just the point which the apostle was endeavouring to establish. The word remnant means that which is left, particularly what may remain after a battle or a great calamity, 2Kgs 19:31, 10:11, Jud 5:13 Isa 14:22. In this place, however, it means a small part or portion. Out of the great multitude there shall be so few left as to make it proper to say that it was a mere remnant. This implies, of course, that the great mass should be cast away or rejected. And this was the use which the apostle intended to make of it. Comp. the Wisdom of Sirach xliv. 17, "Noah--was left unto the earth as a remnant when the flood came."

Shall be saved. Shall be preserved, or kept from destruction. As Isaiah had reference to the captivity of Babylon, this means that only a remnant should return to their native land. The great mass should be rejected and cast off. This was the case with the ten tribes, and also with many others who chose to remain in the land of their captivity. The use which the apostle makes of it is this: In the history of the Jews, by the testimony of Isaiah, a large part of the Jews of that time were rejected, and cast off from being the peculiar people of God. It is clear, therefore, that God has brought himself under no obligation to save all the descendants of Abraham. This case settles the principle. If God did it then, it was equally consistent for him to do it in the time of Paul, under the gospel. The conclusion, therefore, to which the apostle came, that it was the intention of God to reject and cast off the Jews as a people, was in strict accordance with their own history and the prophecies. It was still true that a remnant was to be saved, while the great mass of the people was rejected. The apostle is not to be understood here as affirming that the passage in Isaiah had reference to the gospel, but only that it settled one great principle of the Divine administration in regard to the Jews, and that their rejection under the gospel was strictly in accordance with that principle.

(a) "Esias also crieth" Isa 10:22,23 Verse 28. He will finish the work. This is taken from the Septuagint translation of Isa 10:23. The Hebrew is, "The Lord God of hosts shall make a consumption, even determined, in the midst of all the land." Or, as it may be rendered, "Destruction is decreed which shall make justice overflow; yea, destruction is verily determined on; the Lord Jehovah will execute it in the midst of all the land." (Stuart.) The Septuagint and the apostle adhere to the sense of the passage, but do not follow the words. The phrase, will finish the work, means, he will bring the thing to an end, or will accomplish it. It is an expression applicable to a firm purpose to accomplish an object. It refers here to his threat of cutting off the people; and means that he will fulfil it.

Cut it short. This word here means to execute it speedily. The destruction shall not be delayed.

In righteousness. So as to manifest his own justice. The work, though apparently severe, yet shall be a just expression of God's abhorrence of the sins of the people.

Because a short work. The word here rendered "short" means, properly, that which is determined on or decreed. This is the sense of the Hebrew; and the phrase here denotes the purpose which was determined on in relation to the Jews.

Upon the earth. Upon the land of Israel. Mt 5:5; Mt 4:8. The design for which the apostle introduces this passage is to show that God of old destroyed many of the Jews for their sin; and that, therefore, the doctrine of the apostle was no new thing, that the Jews might be excluded from the peculiar privileges of the children of God.

(1) "the work" or, "the account" (a) "because a short work" Isa 28:22 Verse 29. And as Esaias said. Isa 1:9.

Before. The apostle had just cited one prediction from the tenth chapter of Isaiah. He now says that Isaiah had affirmed the same thing in a previous part of his prophecy.

Except the Lord of Sabaoth. In Isaiah, the Lord of Hosts. The word Sabaoth is the Hebrew word rendered hosts. It properly denotes armies or military hosts organized for war. Hence it denotes the hosts of heaven, and means

(1.) the angels, who are represented as marshalled or arranged into military orders, Eph 1:21, 3:10, 6:12, Col 1:16, 2:15, Jude 1:6 1Kgs 22:19, "I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him" Ps 103:21, 148:2.

(2.) The stars, Jer 33:22, "As the host of heaven cannot be numbered," etc.; Isa 40:26, De 4:19, etc. God is called the Lord of hosts, as being at the head of all these armies; their King and their Commander. It is a phrase properly expressive of his majesty and power, and is appropriately introduced here, as the act of saving "the seed" was a signal act of power in the midst of great surrounding wickedness.

Had left. Had preserved, or kept from destruction. Here their preservation is ascribed to God, and it is affirmed that if God had not interposed, the whole nation would have been cut off. This fully establishes the doctrine of the apostle, that God might cast off the Jews, and extend the blessings to the Gentiles.

A seed. The Hebrew in Isaiah means one surviving or escaping, corresponding with the word remnant. The word seed commonly means, in the Scriptures, descendants, posterity. In this place it means a part, a small portion; a remnant, like the small portion of the harvest which is reserved for sowing.

We had been as Sodoma. The nation was so wicked, that unless God had preserved a small number who were pious from the general corruption of the people, they would have been swept off by judgment, like Sodom and Gomorrah. We are told that ten righteous men would have saved Sodom, Gen 18:32. Among the Israelites, in a time of great general depravity, a small number of holy men were found who preserved the nation. The design of the apostle here was the same as in the previous verses--to show that it was settled in the Jewish history that God might cast off the people, and reject them from enjoying the peculiar privileges of his friends. It is true that in Isaiah he has reference to the temporal punishment of the Jews. But it settles a great principle, for which Paul was contending, that God might cast off the nation consistently with his promises and his plans.--We may learn here,

(1.) that the existence of religion among a people is owing to the love of God. "Except the Lord had left us," etc.

(2.) It is owing to his mercy that any men are kept from sin, and any nation from destruction.

(3.) We see the value of religion and of pious men in a nation. Ten such would have saved Sodom; and a few such saved Judea. Comp. Mt 5:13,14.

(4.) God has a right to withdraw his mercies from any other people, however exalted their privileges, and leave them to ruin; and we should not be high-minded, but fear, Rom 10:20.