Passage
But I say, did they not hear? On the contrary! “Their voice went out into all the earth! And their breath went out into the ends of
the inhabited world!” But I say, did
Israel not know? First Moses says, “I
will provoke you to jealousy upon those who are not a nation. I will provoke you to anger upon a senseless
nation.” And Isaiah is very bold and
says, “I was found by the ones who did not seek me. I became evident to the ones who did not ask
for me.” And with reference to Israel he
says, “All day long I held out my hand to a people being disobedient and while
speaking in opposition.”
Thoughts for Today
First Thought:
Now Paul begins to lay out a full accusation against the
Hebrew people using the standard that we’ve studied over the past few days. Paul knows that the Hebrew people were called
by God to proclaim His name to the Gentiles – a calling they refused to embrace
as a whole. Paul asks whether or not
they heard. Then he quotes scripture to
say that the Hebrew did indeed hear and they did know. After all, God’s voice has gone out to all of
the world. They have heard, and they
have not obeyed.
Has God’s voice come to you?
Are you a part of those who have heard?
Second Thought:
The second question is whether or not the Hebrew people
knew. In other words, did they
understand? Did they comprehend? Paul’s response in quoting Moses and Isaiah is
actually brilliant. If the Gentiles can
comprehend the message, surely the Hebrew people can comprehend it! He’s basically saying that people have no
excuse. The message is easy. Understanding the message is not the
problem. The problem is our submission
to God’s call. The problem is not one of
comprehension but of obedience!
Do you believe God’s message of salvation is simple? What is that message? How obedient are you to God’s call out of
that message?
Third Thought:
This is truly the theme of this chapter. Salvation comes from God, but it falls to us
to respond. God’s message is simple, but
we wrestle with obedience. We are truly
no different than the Hebrew people in our wrestling with obedience to
God. God holds His hands out to us all
day long. It is ours to choose as to
whether we are to be a disobedient people and who speak in opposition to what
God is trying to say to us.
How receptive are you to God? Why is it hard to be obedient to His
calling? Why do we struggle so much with
this concept as a human race?
Passage for Tomorrow: Romans 11:1-6
No comments:
Post a Comment