So I will make them jealous with those who are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation
An examination of Romans 10:10-21
Continuing on from the previous concepts, Shaul/Paul now shuvah (returns) our attention to Romans 9:33 and the passage quoted from Isaiah 28. The initial use of the Isaiah 28:16 passage in Romans 9:33 is as a warning regarding a failure to acknowledge the stone (Messiah) that causes men to stumble: here the same Scripture is used as an assurance of eternal security in Messiah (the stone) for those who emunah (trust). In fact the Scripture reads as concerning Messiah, “A costly corner stone, firmly placed.”
It is therefore prudent for us to understand the context of this entire chapter of Isaiah:
YESHAIYAHU/ISAIAH 28
28:1 Woe to the proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim,
And to the fading flower of its glorious beauty,
Which is at the head of the fertile valley
Of those who are overcome with wine!
2 Behold, Adonai has a strong and mighty agent;
As a storm of hail, a tempest of destruction,
Like a storm of mighty overflowing waters,
He has cast it down to the earth with His hand.
3 The proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim is trodden under foot.
4 And the fading flower of its glorious beauty,
Which is at the head of the fertile valley,
Will be like the first-ripe fig prior to summer,
Which one sees, and as soon as it is in his hand, he swallows it.
5 In that day HaShem tzvaot (of hosts) will become a beautiful crown
And a glorious diadem to the remnant of His people;
6 A spirit of justice for him who sits in judgment,
A strength to those who repel the onslaught at the gate.
7 And these also reel with wine and stagger from strong drink:
The priest and the prophet reel with strong drink,
They are confused by wine, they stagger from strong drink;
They reel while having visions,
They totter when rendering judgment.
8 For all the tables are full of filthy vomit, without a single clean place.
9 “To whom would He teach knowledge,
And to whom would He interpret the message?
Those just weaned from milk?
Those just taken from the breast?
10 “For He says, precept upon precept, precept upon precept,
Line upon line, line upon line, a little here, a little there.’”
Tzav latzav, tzav latzav, Kav lakav, kav lakav, Ze’ er sham, ze’ er sham (These Hebrew monosyllables, imitating the babbling of a child, mock the prophet’s preaching)
11 Indeed, He will speak to this people
Through stammering lips and a foreign tongue,
12 He who said to them, “Here is rest, give rest to the weary,”
And, “Here is repose,” but they would not listen.
13 So the D’var (word) of HaShem to them will be,
“Precept upon precept, precept upon precept,
Line upon line, line upon line, a little here, a little there,”
That they may go and stumble backward, be broken, snared and taken captive
14 Therefore, hear the D’var (word) of HaShem, O scoffers,
Who rule this people who are in Jerusalem,
15 Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death,
And with Sheol we have made a pact.
The overwhelming scourge will not reach us when it passes by,
For we have made falsehood our refuge and we have concealed ourselves with deception.”
16 Therefore thus says the Adonai (Merciful) HaShem (Judge),
“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a proven stone,
A costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed.
He who trusts (Him) will not be put to shame.
17 “I will make justice the measuring line
And righteousness the level;
Then hail will sweep away the refuge of lies
And the waters will overflow the secret place.
18 “Your covenant with death will be cancelled,
And your pact with Sheol will not stand;
When the overwhelming scourge passes through,
Then you become its trampling place.
19 “As often as it passes through, it will seize you;
For morning after morning it will pass through, anytime during the day or night,
And it will be sheer terror to understand what it means.”
20 The bed is too short on which to stretch out,
And the blanket is too small to wrap oneself in.
21 For the HaShem will rise up as at Mount Perazim,
He will be stirred up as in the valley of Gibeon,
To do His task, His unusual task,
And to work His work, His extraordinary work.
22 And now do not carry on as scoffers,
Or your fetters will be made stronger;
For I have heard from Adonai (merciful) HaShem (Judge) tz’vaot (of hosts)
Of decisive destruction on all the earth.
23 Give ear and hear my Kol (voice),
Listen and hear my emrah (speech).
24 Does the farmer plow continually to plant seed?
Does he continually turn and harrow the ground?
25 Does he not level its surface and sow dill and scatter cumin
And plant wheat in rows, barley in its place and rye within its area?
26 For his Elohim instructs and teaches him properly.
27 For dill is not threshed with a threshing sledge,
Nor is the cartwheel driven over cumin;
But dill is beaten out with a rod, and cumin with a club.
28 Grain for bread is crushed,
Indeed, he does not continue to thresh it forever.
Because the wheel of his cart and his horses eventually damage it,
He does not thresh it longer.
29 This also comes from the HaShem tz’vaot of hosts,
Who has made His counsel wonderful and His wisdom great. –Yeshaiyahu/Isaiah 28
10 For from the core being (Levav, heart) one goes on trusting and thus continues toward righteousness, while with the mouth one keeps on making acknowledgement and thus continues toward salvation (Yeshua). 11 For the passage quoted says that “everyone who rests his trust on him will not be humiliated.” (Isaiah 28:16)
Shaul/Paul is connecting Deuteronomy 30:11-14 with an affirmative reading of Isaiah 28:16. Note that the passage from Deuteronomy places the D’var (Word) in the mouth and heart of the believer and that in turn it is from a heart (core being) trust and through the mouth (verbal declaration) that the D’var (Word) connects us to a place of right standing with G-d. Standing up after stumbling on the foundation stone, rather than being crushed by Him.
Throughout Romans 10 Shaul/Paul challenges his readers to, “hear, listen, acknowledge.” The Hebrew regarding words is repeated many times in the Isaiah 28 passage. It is presented in a number of formats: ketvi (writing), emra (speech), kol (voice/sound), and D’var (word consciousness). Israel is instructed to receive every aspect of the D’var so that she might find the goal of Torah, which is the D’var Himself, Yeshua.
It is interesting to note that G-d, through the prophet Isaiah, is expressing the simple truth of salvation by alluding to a child’s chant, the simplest of understandings. The Hebrew phrase, “Tzav latzav, tzav latzav, Kav lakav, kav lakav, Ze’ er sham, ze’ er sham.” These Hebrew monosyllables, imitating the babbling of a child, mock the prophet’s preaching at first, but the outcome is that G-d turns this very simple language back upon Israel so that she is without excuse.
The ironic claim of the disobedient nation of Israel in Isaiah 28, is one of having made an agreement with death in order to spare her life. G-d responds with a dissolving of Israel’s covenant with death and by withdrawing His hand to allow her to be disciplined so that He might save her from eternal death. Therefore the following verse has a certain ambiguity. On the one hand it disables the protection Israel thought she had arranged with demonic forces, but on the other hand HaShem has removed the power death from her because of the work of His D’var (Word, Yeshua).
“Your covenant with death will be cancelled,
And your pact with Sheol will not stand;”
The word play here is both clever and profound, a sobering reminder of the severity of G-d’s discipline and the absolute security of His love.
By familiarizing ourselves with Joel 2, we prepare ourselves to understand the subsequent verses of Romans 10. We are beginning to see that the perceived length of this chapter is somewhat smaller than the total volume of the conversation Shaul/Paul is having with the ancient Scriptures of the Tanakh. We see that like Doctor Who’s science fiction craft the TARDIS, Romans 10 opens a door to an immeasurable wealth of depth.
YOEL/JOEL 2
2:1 Sound a shofar (rams horn) in Zion,
And sound an alarm on My holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
For the day of HaShem is coming;
Surely it is near,
2 A day of darkness and gloom,
A day of clouds and thick darkness.
As the dawn is spread over the mountains,
So there is a great and mighty people;
There has never been anything like it,
Nor will there be again after it
To the years of many generations.
3 A fire consumes before them
And behind them a flame burns.
The land is like the garden of Eden before them
But a desolate wilderness behind them,
And nothing at all escapes them.
4 Their appearance is like the appearance of horses;
And like war horses, so they run.
5 With a noise as of chariots
They leap on the tops of the mountains,
Like the crackling of a flame of fire consuming the stubble,
Like a mighty people arranged for battle.
6 Before them the people are in anguish;
All faces turn pale.
7 They run like mighty men,
They climb the wall like soldiers;
And they each march in line,
Nor do they deviate from their paths.
8 They do not crowd each other,
They march everyone in his path;
When they burst through the defences,
They do not break ranks.
9 They rush on the city,
They run on the wall;
They climb into the houses,
They enter through the windows like a thief.
10 Before them the earth quakes,
The heavens tremble,
The sun and the moon grow dark
And the stars lose their brightness.
11 HaShem utters His kol (voice) before His army;
Surely His camp is very great,
For strong is he who carries out His word.
The day of HaShem is indeed great and very awesome,
And who can endure it?
12 “Yet even now,” declares HaShem,
“Return to Me with all your heart,
And with fasting, weeping and mourning;
13 And rend your heart and not your garments.”
Now return to HaShem your Elohim,
For He is gracious and compassionate,
Slow to anger, abounding in loving kindness
And relenting of evil.
14 Who knows whether He will not turn and relent
And leave a blessing behind Him,
Even a grain offering and a drink offering
For HaShem your Elohim?
15 Blow a shofar (rams horn) in Zion,
Consecrate a fast, proclaim a solemn assembly,
16 Gather the people, sanctify the congregation,
Assemble the elders,
Gather the children and the nursing infants.
Let the bridegroom come out of his room
And the bride out of her bridal chamber.
17 Let the priests, HaShem’s ministers,
Weep between the porch and the altar,
And let them say, “Spare Your people, O HaShem,
And do not make Your inheritance a reproach,
A byword among the nations.
Why should they among the peoples say,
‘Where is their G-d?’
18 Then HaShem will be zealous for His land
And will have pity on His people.
19 HaShem will answer and say to His people,
“Behold, I am going to send you grain, new wine and oil,
And you will be satisfied in full with them;
And I will never again make you a reproach among the nations.
20 “But I will remove the northern army far from you,
And I will drive it into a parched and desolate land,
And its vanguard into the eastern sea,
And its rear guard into the western sea.
And its stench will arise and its foul smell will come up,
For it has done great things.”
21 Do not fear, O land, rejoice and be glad,
For HaShem has done great things.
22 Do not fear, beasts of the field,
For the pastures of the wilderness have turned green,
For the tree has borne its fruit,
The fig tree and the vine have yielded in full.
23 So rejoice, O sons of Zion,
And be glad in HaShem your Elohim;
For He has given you the early rain for your vindication.
And He has poured down for you the rain,
The early and latter rain as before.
24 The threshing floors will be full of grain,
And the vats will overflow with the new wine and oil.
25 “Then I will make up to you for the years
That the swarming locust has eaten,
The creeping locust, the stripping locust and the gnawing locust,
My great army which I sent among you.
26 “You will have plenty to eat and be satisfied
And praise the name of HaShem your Elohim,
Who has dealt wondrously with you;
Then My people will never be put to shame.
27 “Thus you will know that I am in the midst of Israel,
And that I am HaShem your Elohim,
And there is no other;
And My people will never be put to shame.
28 “It will come about after this
That I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind;
And your sons and daughters will prophesy,
Your old men will dream dreams,
Your young men will see visions.
29 “Even on the male and female servants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days
30 “I will display wonders in the sky and on the earth,
Blood, fire and columns of smoke.
31 “The sun will be turned into darkness
And the moon into blood
Before the great and awesome day of HaShem comes.
32 “And it will come about that whoever calls on the name of the Lord
Will be delivered;
For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem
There will be those who escape,
As HaShem has said,
Even among the survivors whom the Lord calls.
12 That means that there is no difference between Jew and Gentile (with regard to salvation) — Adonai is the same for everyone, rich toward everyone who calls on Him, 13 since everyone who calls on the name of Adonai (YHVH) will be delivered. (Joel 2:32)
Shaul/Paul by G-d’s chesed (grace) offers a drash (illumination, non-literal meaning) on Joel 2 in order to apply its eternal effect to all who trust in HaShem. He presumes that his hearers, especially his Jewish hearers, will understand the context of Joel 2 regarding Israel.
It is interesting to note that it was most likely Jews returning from Shavuot/Pentecost to Rome having received salvation at the pouring out of the Ruach ha-Kodesh in Acts chapter 2, who were the founders of the Roman ecclesia. Therefore the quote from Joel 2 bears even greater significance here, because it alludes to that very event, the result of which has been the salvation of every member of the Roman ecclesia and thus validates Shaul/Pauls allusion to its application to all believers, both Jew and Gentile.
Our reading of Tanakh passages continues as we move on to Shaul’s quote from Isaiah 52.
YESHAIYAHU/ISAIAH 52
52:1 Awake, awake,
Clothe yourself in your strength, O Zion;
Clothe yourself in your beautiful garments,
O Jerusalem, the holy city;
For the uncircumcised and the unclean
Will no longer come into you.
2 Shake yourself from the dust, rise up,
O captive Jerusalem;
Loose yourself from the chains around your neck,
O captive daughter of Zion.
3 For thus says HaShem, “You were sold for nothing and you will be redeemed without money.”
4 For thus says HaShem Elohim, “My people went down at the first into Egypt to reside there; then the Assyrian oppressed them without cause.
5 Now therefore, what do I have here,” declares HaShem, “seeing that My people have been taken away without cause?” Again HaShem declares, “Those who rule over them howl, and My name is continually blasphemed all day long.
6 Therefore My people shall know My name; therefore in that day I am the one who is speaking, ‘Here I am.’”
7 How lovely on the mountains
Are the feet of him who brings good news,
Who announces peace
And brings good news of happiness,
Who announces salvation,
And says to Zion, “Your G-d reigns!”
8 Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices,
They shout joyfully together;
For they will see with their own eyes
When HaShem restores Zion.
9 Break forth, shout joyfully together,
You waste places of Jerusalem;
For HaShem has comforted His people,
He has redeemed Jerusalem.
10 HaShem has bared His holy arm
In the sight of all the nations,
That all the ends of the earth may see
The Yeshua (salvation) of our G-d.
11 Depart, depart, go out from there,
Touch nothing unclean;
Go out of the midst of her, purify yourselves,
You who carry the vessels of HaShem.
12 But you will not go out in haste,
Nor will you go as fugitives;
For HaShem will go before you,
And the G-d of Israel will be your rear guard.
13 Behold, My servant will prosper,
He will be high and lifted up and greatly exalted.
14 Just as many were astonished at you, My people,
So His appearance was marred more than any man
And His form more than the sons of men.
15 Thus He will sprinkle many nations,
Kings will shut their mouths on account of Him;
For what had not been told them they will see,
And what they had not heard they will understand.
14 But how can they call on someone if they haven’t trusted in Him? And how can they trust in someone if they haven’t heard about Him? And how can they hear about someone if no one is proclaiming Him? 15 And how can people proclaim Him unless G-d sends them? — as the Tanakh puts it, “How beautiful are the feet of those announcing good news about good things!” (Isaiah 52:7)
Shaul/Paul is not giving a method for evangelism here, on the contrary, he is carrying on an imagined diatribe with a non-Messianic Jew who is seeking an excuse for not accepting the gift of G-d in Messiah. The non-Messianic Jew is saying, “But we didn’t know He was the Messiah, we didn’t understand that this is how He would manifest Himself to us?” To which Shaul/Paul responds, “But the Scriptures told you clearly, the very Torah you examine daily explains Yeshua in detail and reports the events that have now come about. The rumours of these events have spread throughout the known world so that you are without excuse, and Isaiah 52:7 affirms what the whole of Isaiah 52 is expounding. That Yeshua has brought Good news to you, even as you hear my gospel, for my feet also perpetuate that news.
Shaul/Paul doesn’t stop there, he continues with the next chapter of Isaiah, solidifying his argument with undeniable Scriptural proof:
YESHAIYAHU/ISAIAH 53
53:1 Who has believed our message?
And to whom has the arm of HaShem been revealed?
2 For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot,
And like a root out of parched ground;
He has no stately form or majesty
That we should look upon Him,
Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.
3 He was despised and forsaken of men,
A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
And like one from whom men hide their face
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
4 Surely our grief He Himself bore,
And our sorrows He carried;
Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten of G-d, and afflicted.
5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,
And by His scourging we are healed.
6 All of us like sheep have gone astray,
Each of us has turned to his own way;
But HaShem has caused the iniquity of us all
To fall on Him.
7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
Yet He did not open His mouth;
Like a lamb that is led to slaughter,
And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers,
So He did not open His mouth.
8 By oppression and judgment He was taken away;
And as for His generation, who considered
That He was cut off out of the land of the living
For the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due?
9 His grave was assigned with wicked men,
Yet He was with a rich man in His death,
Because He had done no violence,
Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.
10 But HaShem was pleased
To crush Him, putting Him to grief;
If He would render Himself as a guilt offering,
He will see His offspring,
He will prolong His days,
And the good pleasure of HaShem will prosper in His hand.
11 As a result of the anguish of His soul,
He will see it and be satisfied;
By His knowledge the Righteous One,
My Servant, will justify the many,
As He will bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great,
And He will divide the booty with the strong;
Because He poured out Himself to death,
And was numbered with the transgressors;
Yet He Himself bore the sin of many,
And interceded for the transgressors.
6 The problem is that they haven’t all paid attention to the Good News and obeyed it. For Yesha‘yahu says,
“Adonai, who has trusted what he has heard from us?” (Isaiah 53:1)
The reason Shaul has quoted the first verse of Isaiah 53 is because he intends his non-Messianic Jewish opponent to recall the entire passage and be brought to repentance as a result of seeing it illuminated by the Ruach ha-Kodesh. Messiah is clearly seen in every word.
Again using a quote from the following Psalm, Shaul rebuts his opponent, saying, “They did hear!”
TEHILLIM/PSALM 19
19:1 The heavens are telling of the glory of God;
And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.
2 Day to day pours forth speech,
And night to night reveals knowledge.
3 There is no speech, nor are there words;
Their voice is not heard.
4 Their line has gone out through all the earth,
And their utterances to the end of the world.
In them He has placed a tent for the sun,
5 Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber;
It rejoices as a strong man to run his course.
6 Its rising is from one end of the heavens,
And its circuit to the other end of them;
And there is nothing hidden from its heat.
7 The Instruction of HaShem is perfect, restoring the soul;
The testimony of HaShem is sure, making wise the simple.
8 The precepts of HaShem are right, rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of HaShem is pure, enlightening the eyes.
9 The fear of HaShem is clean, enduring forever;
The judgments of HaShem are true; they are righteous altogether.
10 They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold;
Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.
11 Moreover, by them Your servant is warned;
In keeping them there is great reward.
12 Who can discern his errors? Acquit me of hidden faults.
13 Also keep back Your servant from presumptuous sins;
Let them not rule over me;
Then I will be blameless,
And I shall be acquitted of great transgression.
14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Your sight,
O HaShem, my rock and my Redeemer.
17 So trust comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through a word proclaimed about the Messiah.
18 “But, I say, isn’t it rather that they didn’t hear?” No, they did hear --
“Their voice has gone out throughout the whole world
and their words to the ends of the earth.” (Psalm 19:4)
Shaul builds on the argument of Romans 1:20-21, showing through the psalmist that creation itself declares this truth to the ends of the earth. He secures this line of thought with the statement, “Their voice has gone out throughout the whole world and their words to the ends of the earth.”
“You have heard.” Says Shaul/Paul, you know this, that:
“The Instruction of HaShem is perfect, restoring the soul;
The testimony of HaShem is sure, making wise the simple.
8 The precepts of HaShem are right, rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of HaShem is pure, enlightening the eyes.
9 The fear of HaShem is clean, enduring forever;
The judgments of HaShem are true; they are righteous altogether.
10 They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold;
Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.
11 Moreover, by them Your servant is warned;
In keeping them there is great reward.
And again we read of the need for trust of the heart and confession of the mouth, hence:
“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Your sight,
O HaShem, my rock and my Redeemer.”
However, Shaul is loathed to stop here, he continues with a quotation from Deuteronomy 32:
D’VARIM/DEUTERONOMY 32
32:1 “Give ear, O heavens, and let me emra (speak);
And let the earth hear the words of my mouth.
2 “Let my teaching drop as the rain,
My emra (speech) distil as the dew,
As the droplets on the fresh grass
And as the showers on the herb.
3 “For I proclaim the name of HaShem;
Ascribe greatness to our G-d!
4 “The Rock! His work is perfect,
For all His ways are just;
A G-d of faithfulness and without injustice,
Righteous and upright is He.
5 “They have acted corruptly toward Him,
They are not His children, because of their defect;
But are a perverse and crooked generation.
6 “Do you thus repay HaShem,
O foolish and unwise people?
Is not He your Father who has bought you?
He has made you and established you.
7 “Remember the days of old,
Consider the years of all generations.
Ask your father, and he will inform you,
Your elders, and they will tell you.
8 “When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance,
When He separated the sons of man,
He set the boundaries of the peoples
According to the number of the sons of Israel.
9 “For HaShem’s portion is His people;
Jacob is the allotment of His inheritance.
10 “He found him in a desert land,
And in the howling waste of a wilderness;
He encircled him, He cared for him,
He guarded him as the pupil of His eye.
11 “Like an eagle that stirs up its nest,
That hovers over its young,
He spread His wings and caught them,
He carried them on His pinions.
12 “HaShem alone guided him,
And there was no foreign god with him.
13 “He made him ride on the high places of the earth,
And he ate the produce of the field;
And He made him suck honey from the rock,
And oil from the flinty rock,
14 Curds of cows, and milk of the flock,
With fat of lambs,
And rams, the breed of Bashan, and goats,
With the finest of the wheat--
And of the blood of grapes you drank wine.
15 “But Yeshurun grew fat and kicked--
You are grown fat, thick, and sleek--
Then he forsook G-d who made him,
And scorned the Rock of his Yeshua (salvation).
16 “They made Him jealous with strange gods;
With abominations they provoked Him to anger.
17 “They sacrificed to demons who were not G-d,
To gods whom they have not known,
New gods who came lately,
Whom your fathers did not dread.
18 “You neglected the Rock who begot you,
And forgot the G-d who gave you birth.
19 “HaShem saw this, and spurned them
Because of the provocation of His sons and daughters.
20 “Then He said, ‘I will hide My face from them,
I will see what their end shall be;
For they are a perverse generation,
Sons in whom is no faithfulness.
21 ‘They have made Me jealous with what is not G-d;
They have provoked Me to anger with their idols.
So I will make them jealous with those who are not a people;
I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation,
22 For a fire is kindled in My anger,
And burns to the lowest part of Sheol,
And consumes the earth with its yield,
And sets on fire the foundations of the mountains.
23 ‘I will heap misfortunes on them;
I will use My arrows on them.
24 ‘They will be wasted by famine, and consumed by plague
And bitter destruction;
And the teeth of beasts I will send upon them,
With the venom of crawling things of the dust.
25 ‘Outside the sword will bereave,
And inside terror--
Both young man and virgin,
The nursling with the man of grey hair.
26 ‘I would have said, “I will cut them to pieces,
I will remove the memory of them from men,”
27 Had I not feared the provocation by the enemy,
That their adversaries would misjudge,
That they would say, “Our hand is triumphant,
And HaShem has not done all this.”’
28 “For they are a nation lacking in counsel,
And there is no understanding in them.
29 “Would that they were wise, that they understood this,
That they would discern their future!
30 “How could one chase a thousand,
And two put ten thousand to flight,
Unless their Rock had sold them,
And HaShem had given them up?
31 “Indeed their rock is not like our Rock,
Even our enemies themselves judge this.
32 “For their vine is from the vine of Sodom,
And from the fields of Gomorrah;
Their grapes are grapes of poison,
Their clusters, bitter.
33 “Their wine is the venom of serpents,
And the deadly poison of cobras.
34 ‘Is it not laid up in store with Me,
Sealed up in My treasuries?
35 ‘Vengeance is Mine, and retribution,
In due time their foot will slip;
For the day of their calamity is near,
And the impending things are hastening upon them.’
36 “For HaShem will vindicate His people,
And will have compassion on His servants,
When He sees that their strength is gone,
And there is none remaining, bond or free.
37 “And He will say, ‘Where are their gods,
The rock in which they sought refuge?
38 ‘Who ate the fat of their sacrifices,
And drank the wine of their drink offering?
Let them rise up and help you,
Let them be your hiding place!
39 ‘See now that I, I am He,
And there is no god besides Me;
It is I who put to death and give life.
I have wounded and it is I who heal,
And there is no one who can deliver from My hand.
40 ‘Indeed, I lift up My hand to heaven,
And say, as I live forever,
41 If I sharpen My flashing sword,
And My hand takes hold on justice,
I will render vengeance on My adversaries,
And I will repay those who hate Me.
42 ‘I will make My arrows drunk with blood,
And My sword will devour flesh,
With the blood of the slain and the captives,
From the long-haired leaders of the enemy.’
43 “Rejoice, O nations, with His people;
For He will avenge the blood of His servants,
And will render vengeance on His adversaries,
And will atone for His land and His people.”
44 Then Moses came and spoke all the words of this song in the hearing of the people, he, with Joshua the son of Nun. 45 When Moses had finished speaking all these words to all Israel, 46 he said to them, “Take to your heart all the words with which I am warning you today, which you shall command your sons to observe carefully, even all the words of this law. 47 For it is not an idle word for you; indeed it is your life. And by this word you will prolong your days in the land, which you are about to cross the Jordan to possess.”
48 HaShem spoke to Moses that very same day, saying, 49 “Go up to this mountain of the Abarim, Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab opposite Jericho, and look at the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the sons of Israel for a possession. 50 Then die on the mountain where you ascend, and be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people, 51 because you broke faith with Me in the midst of the sons of Israel at the waters of Meribah-kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin, because you did not treat Me as holy in the midst of the sons of Israel. 52 For you shall see the land at a distance, but you shall not go there, into the land which I am giving the sons of Israel.”
19 “But, I say, isn’t it rather that Israel didn’t understand?”
“I will provoke you to jealousy over a non-nation,
over a nation void of understanding I will make you angry.” (Deuteronomy 32:21)
Shaul/Paul uses this verse from Deuteronomy to set up its conclusion in chapter 11, where he will show the Gentile believers their obligation to provoke Israel to jealousy. For G-ds purpose has always been for Israel’s reconciliation to Him through Messiah Yeshua.
YESHAIYAHU/ISAIAH 65
65:1 “I permitted Myself to be sought by those who did not ask for Me;
I permitted Myself to be found by those who did not seek Me.
I said, ‘Here am I, here am I,’
To a nation which did not call on My name.
2 “I have spread out My hands all day long to a rebellious people,
Who walk in the way which is not good, following their own thoughts,
3 A people who continually provoke Me to My face,
Offering sacrifices in gardens and burning incense on bricks;
4 Who sit among graves and spend the night in secret places;
Who eat swine’s flesh,
And the broth of unclean meat is in their pots.
5 “Who say, ‘Keep to yourself, do not come near me,
For I am holier than you!’
These are smoke in My nostrils,
A fire that burns all the day.
6 “Behold, it is written before Me,
I will not keep silent, but I will repay;
I will even repay into their bosom,
7 Both their own iniquities and the iniquities of their fathers together,” says HaShem.
“Because they have burned incense on the mountains
And scorned Me on the hills,
Therefore I will measure their former work into their bosom.”
8 Thus says HaShem,
“As the new wine is found in the cluster,
And one says, ‘Do not destroy it, for there is benefit in it,’
So I will act on behalf of My servants
In order not to destroy all of them.
9 “I will bring forth offspring from Jacob,
And an heir of My mountains from Judah;
Even My chosen ones shall inherit it,
And My servants will dwell there.
10 “Sharon will be a pasture land for flocks,
And the valley of Achor a resting place for herds,
For My people who seek Me.
11 “But you who forsake the Lord,
Who forget My holy mountain,
Who set a table for Fortune,
And who fill cups with mixed wine for Destiny,
12 I will destine you for the sword,
And all of you will bow down to the slaughter.
Because I called, but you did not answer;
I spoke, but you did not hear.
And you did evil in My sight
And chose that in which I did not delight.”
13 Therefore, thus says HaShem G-d,
“Behold, My servants will eat, but you will be hungry.
Behold, My servants will drink, but you will be thirsty.
Behold, My servants will rejoice, but you will be put to shame.
14 “Behold, My servants will shout joyfully with a glad heart,
But you will cry out with a heavy heart,
And you will wail with a broken spirit.
15 “You will leave your name for a curse to My chosen ones,
And HaShem G-d will slay you.
But My servants will be called by another name.
16 “Because he who is blessed in the earth
Will be blessed by the G-d of truth;
And he who swears in the earth
Will swear by the G-d of truth;
Because the former troubles are forgotten,
And because they are hidden from My sight!
17 “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth;
And the former things will not be remembered or come to mind.
18 “But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create;
For behold, I create Jerusalem for rejoicing
And her people for gladness.
19 “I will also rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in My people;
And there will no longer be heard in her
The voice of weeping and the sound of crying.
20 “No longer will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days,
Or an old man who does not live out his days;
For the youth will die at the age of one hundred
And the one who does not reach the age of one hundred
Will be thought accursed.
21 “They will build houses and inhabit them;
They will also plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22 “They will not build and another inhabit,
They will not plant and another eat;
For as the lifetime of a tree, so will be the days of My people,
And My chosen ones will wear out the work of their hands.
23 “They will not labour in vain,
Or bear children for calamity;
For they are the offspring of those blessed by the Lord,
And their descendants with them.
24 It will also come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear. 25 The wolf and the lamb will graze together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox; and dust will be the serpent’s food. They will do no evil or harm in all My holy mountain,” says HaShem.
20 Moreover, Yesha‘yahu boldly says,
“I was found by those who were not looking for me,
I became known to those who did not ask for me”; (Isaiah 65:1)
Again Shaul/Paul forces home the point that the Gentiles are being reconciled to G-d through trust in His Son, while Israel remains numb to His gospel.
21 but to Isra’el he says,
“All day long I held out my hands
to a people who kept disobeying and contradicting.” (Isaiah 65:2)
Shaul/Paul desperately relays the ache of HaShem’s heart as He cries out to His people. This anguish call and the desperate open arms of a pleading Father are the premise for all of Romans 11. Hence, all of Romans 9 through 10 has been leading us to the pre-conclusion of Romans 11 and the consolidation of Israel.
© Alastair Jacob Brown 2014
Continuing on from the previous concepts, Shaul/Paul now shuvah (returns) our attention to Romans 9:33 and the passage quoted from Isaiah 28. The initial use of the Isaiah 28:16 passage in Romans 9:33 is as a warning regarding a failure to acknowledge the stone (Messiah) that causes men to stumble: here the same Scripture is used as an assurance of eternal security in Messiah (the stone) for those who emunah (trust). In fact the Scripture reads as concerning Messiah, “A costly corner stone, firmly placed.”
It is therefore prudent for us to understand the context of this entire chapter of Isaiah:
YESHAIYAHU/ISAIAH 28
28:1 Woe to the proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim,
And to the fading flower of its glorious beauty,
Which is at the head of the fertile valley
Of those who are overcome with wine!
2 Behold, Adonai has a strong and mighty agent;
As a storm of hail, a tempest of destruction,
Like a storm of mighty overflowing waters,
He has cast it down to the earth with His hand.
3 The proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim is trodden under foot.
4 And the fading flower of its glorious beauty,
Which is at the head of the fertile valley,
Will be like the first-ripe fig prior to summer,
Which one sees, and as soon as it is in his hand, he swallows it.
5 In that day HaShem tzvaot (of hosts) will become a beautiful crown
And a glorious diadem to the remnant of His people;
6 A spirit of justice for him who sits in judgment,
A strength to those who repel the onslaught at the gate.
7 And these also reel with wine and stagger from strong drink:
The priest and the prophet reel with strong drink,
They are confused by wine, they stagger from strong drink;
They reel while having visions,
They totter when rendering judgment.
8 For all the tables are full of filthy vomit, without a single clean place.
9 “To whom would He teach knowledge,
And to whom would He interpret the message?
Those just weaned from milk?
Those just taken from the breast?
10 “For He says, precept upon precept, precept upon precept,
Line upon line, line upon line, a little here, a little there.’”
Tzav latzav, tzav latzav, Kav lakav, kav lakav, Ze’ er sham, ze’ er sham (These Hebrew monosyllables, imitating the babbling of a child, mock the prophet’s preaching)
11 Indeed, He will speak to this people
Through stammering lips and a foreign tongue,
12 He who said to them, “Here is rest, give rest to the weary,”
And, “Here is repose,” but they would not listen.
13 So the D’var (word) of HaShem to them will be,
“Precept upon precept, precept upon precept,
Line upon line, line upon line, a little here, a little there,”
That they may go and stumble backward, be broken, snared and taken captive
14 Therefore, hear the D’var (word) of HaShem, O scoffers,
Who rule this people who are in Jerusalem,
15 Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death,
And with Sheol we have made a pact.
The overwhelming scourge will not reach us when it passes by,
For we have made falsehood our refuge and we have concealed ourselves with deception.”
16 Therefore thus says the Adonai (Merciful) HaShem (Judge),
“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a proven stone,
A costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed.
He who trusts (Him) will not be put to shame.
17 “I will make justice the measuring line
And righteousness the level;
Then hail will sweep away the refuge of lies
And the waters will overflow the secret place.
18 “Your covenant with death will be cancelled,
And your pact with Sheol will not stand;
When the overwhelming scourge passes through,
Then you become its trampling place.
19 “As often as it passes through, it will seize you;
For morning after morning it will pass through, anytime during the day or night,
And it will be sheer terror to understand what it means.”
20 The bed is too short on which to stretch out,
And the blanket is too small to wrap oneself in.
21 For the HaShem will rise up as at Mount Perazim,
He will be stirred up as in the valley of Gibeon,
To do His task, His unusual task,
And to work His work, His extraordinary work.
22 And now do not carry on as scoffers,
Or your fetters will be made stronger;
For I have heard from Adonai (merciful) HaShem (Judge) tz’vaot (of hosts)
Of decisive destruction on all the earth.
23 Give ear and hear my Kol (voice),
Listen and hear my emrah (speech).
24 Does the farmer plow continually to plant seed?
Does he continually turn and harrow the ground?
25 Does he not level its surface and sow dill and scatter cumin
And plant wheat in rows, barley in its place and rye within its area?
26 For his Elohim instructs and teaches him properly.
27 For dill is not threshed with a threshing sledge,
Nor is the cartwheel driven over cumin;
But dill is beaten out with a rod, and cumin with a club.
28 Grain for bread is crushed,
Indeed, he does not continue to thresh it forever.
Because the wheel of his cart and his horses eventually damage it,
He does not thresh it longer.
29 This also comes from the HaShem tz’vaot of hosts,
Who has made His counsel wonderful and His wisdom great. –Yeshaiyahu/Isaiah 28
10 For from the core being (Levav, heart) one goes on trusting and thus continues toward righteousness, while with the mouth one keeps on making acknowledgement and thus continues toward salvation (Yeshua). 11 For the passage quoted says that “everyone who rests his trust on him will not be humiliated.” (Isaiah 28:16)
Shaul/Paul is connecting Deuteronomy 30:11-14 with an affirmative reading of Isaiah 28:16. Note that the passage from Deuteronomy places the D’var (Word) in the mouth and heart of the believer and that in turn it is from a heart (core being) trust and through the mouth (verbal declaration) that the D’var (Word) connects us to a place of right standing with G-d. Standing up after stumbling on the foundation stone, rather than being crushed by Him.
Throughout Romans 10 Shaul/Paul challenges his readers to, “hear, listen, acknowledge.” The Hebrew regarding words is repeated many times in the Isaiah 28 passage. It is presented in a number of formats: ketvi (writing), emra (speech), kol (voice/sound), and D’var (word consciousness). Israel is instructed to receive every aspect of the D’var so that she might find the goal of Torah, which is the D’var Himself, Yeshua.
It is interesting to note that G-d, through the prophet Isaiah, is expressing the simple truth of salvation by alluding to a child’s chant, the simplest of understandings. The Hebrew phrase, “Tzav latzav, tzav latzav, Kav lakav, kav lakav, Ze’ er sham, ze’ er sham.” These Hebrew monosyllables, imitating the babbling of a child, mock the prophet’s preaching at first, but the outcome is that G-d turns this very simple language back upon Israel so that she is without excuse.
The ironic claim of the disobedient nation of Israel in Isaiah 28, is one of having made an agreement with death in order to spare her life. G-d responds with a dissolving of Israel’s covenant with death and by withdrawing His hand to allow her to be disciplined so that He might save her from eternal death. Therefore the following verse has a certain ambiguity. On the one hand it disables the protection Israel thought she had arranged with demonic forces, but on the other hand HaShem has removed the power death from her because of the work of His D’var (Word, Yeshua).
“Your covenant with death will be cancelled,
And your pact with Sheol will not stand;”
The word play here is both clever and profound, a sobering reminder of the severity of G-d’s discipline and the absolute security of His love.
By familiarizing ourselves with Joel 2, we prepare ourselves to understand the subsequent verses of Romans 10. We are beginning to see that the perceived length of this chapter is somewhat smaller than the total volume of the conversation Shaul/Paul is having with the ancient Scriptures of the Tanakh. We see that like Doctor Who’s science fiction craft the TARDIS, Romans 10 opens a door to an immeasurable wealth of depth.
YOEL/JOEL 2
2:1 Sound a shofar (rams horn) in Zion,
And sound an alarm on My holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
For the day of HaShem is coming;
Surely it is near,
2 A day of darkness and gloom,
A day of clouds and thick darkness.
As the dawn is spread over the mountains,
So there is a great and mighty people;
There has never been anything like it,
Nor will there be again after it
To the years of many generations.
3 A fire consumes before them
And behind them a flame burns.
The land is like the garden of Eden before them
But a desolate wilderness behind them,
And nothing at all escapes them.
4 Their appearance is like the appearance of horses;
And like war horses, so they run.
5 With a noise as of chariots
They leap on the tops of the mountains,
Like the crackling of a flame of fire consuming the stubble,
Like a mighty people arranged for battle.
6 Before them the people are in anguish;
All faces turn pale.
7 They run like mighty men,
They climb the wall like soldiers;
And they each march in line,
Nor do they deviate from their paths.
8 They do not crowd each other,
They march everyone in his path;
When they burst through the defences,
They do not break ranks.
9 They rush on the city,
They run on the wall;
They climb into the houses,
They enter through the windows like a thief.
10 Before them the earth quakes,
The heavens tremble,
The sun and the moon grow dark
And the stars lose their brightness.
11 HaShem utters His kol (voice) before His army;
Surely His camp is very great,
For strong is he who carries out His word.
The day of HaShem is indeed great and very awesome,
And who can endure it?
12 “Yet even now,” declares HaShem,
“Return to Me with all your heart,
And with fasting, weeping and mourning;
13 And rend your heart and not your garments.”
Now return to HaShem your Elohim,
For He is gracious and compassionate,
Slow to anger, abounding in loving kindness
And relenting of evil.
14 Who knows whether He will not turn and relent
And leave a blessing behind Him,
Even a grain offering and a drink offering
For HaShem your Elohim?
15 Blow a shofar (rams horn) in Zion,
Consecrate a fast, proclaim a solemn assembly,
16 Gather the people, sanctify the congregation,
Assemble the elders,
Gather the children and the nursing infants.
Let the bridegroom come out of his room
And the bride out of her bridal chamber.
17 Let the priests, HaShem’s ministers,
Weep between the porch and the altar,
And let them say, “Spare Your people, O HaShem,
And do not make Your inheritance a reproach,
A byword among the nations.
Why should they among the peoples say,
‘Where is their G-d?’
18 Then HaShem will be zealous for His land
And will have pity on His people.
19 HaShem will answer and say to His people,
“Behold, I am going to send you grain, new wine and oil,
And you will be satisfied in full with them;
And I will never again make you a reproach among the nations.
20 “But I will remove the northern army far from you,
And I will drive it into a parched and desolate land,
And its vanguard into the eastern sea,
And its rear guard into the western sea.
And its stench will arise and its foul smell will come up,
For it has done great things.”
21 Do not fear, O land, rejoice and be glad,
For HaShem has done great things.
22 Do not fear, beasts of the field,
For the pastures of the wilderness have turned green,
For the tree has borne its fruit,
The fig tree and the vine have yielded in full.
23 So rejoice, O sons of Zion,
And be glad in HaShem your Elohim;
For He has given you the early rain for your vindication.
And He has poured down for you the rain,
The early and latter rain as before.
24 The threshing floors will be full of grain,
And the vats will overflow with the new wine and oil.
25 “Then I will make up to you for the years
That the swarming locust has eaten,
The creeping locust, the stripping locust and the gnawing locust,
My great army which I sent among you.
26 “You will have plenty to eat and be satisfied
And praise the name of HaShem your Elohim,
Who has dealt wondrously with you;
Then My people will never be put to shame.
27 “Thus you will know that I am in the midst of Israel,
And that I am HaShem your Elohim,
And there is no other;
And My people will never be put to shame.
28 “It will come about after this
That I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind;
And your sons and daughters will prophesy,
Your old men will dream dreams,
Your young men will see visions.
29 “Even on the male and female servants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days
30 “I will display wonders in the sky and on the earth,
Blood, fire and columns of smoke.
31 “The sun will be turned into darkness
And the moon into blood
Before the great and awesome day of HaShem comes.
32 “And it will come about that whoever calls on the name of the Lord
Will be delivered;
For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem
There will be those who escape,
As HaShem has said,
Even among the survivors whom the Lord calls.
12 That means that there is no difference between Jew and Gentile (with regard to salvation) — Adonai is the same for everyone, rich toward everyone who calls on Him, 13 since everyone who calls on the name of Adonai (YHVH) will be delivered. (Joel 2:32)
Shaul/Paul by G-d’s chesed (grace) offers a drash (illumination, non-literal meaning) on Joel 2 in order to apply its eternal effect to all who trust in HaShem. He presumes that his hearers, especially his Jewish hearers, will understand the context of Joel 2 regarding Israel.
It is interesting to note that it was most likely Jews returning from Shavuot/Pentecost to Rome having received salvation at the pouring out of the Ruach ha-Kodesh in Acts chapter 2, who were the founders of the Roman ecclesia. Therefore the quote from Joel 2 bears even greater significance here, because it alludes to that very event, the result of which has been the salvation of every member of the Roman ecclesia and thus validates Shaul/Pauls allusion to its application to all believers, both Jew and Gentile.
Our reading of Tanakh passages continues as we move on to Shaul’s quote from Isaiah 52.
YESHAIYAHU/ISAIAH 52
52:1 Awake, awake,
Clothe yourself in your strength, O Zion;
Clothe yourself in your beautiful garments,
O Jerusalem, the holy city;
For the uncircumcised and the unclean
Will no longer come into you.
2 Shake yourself from the dust, rise up,
O captive Jerusalem;
Loose yourself from the chains around your neck,
O captive daughter of Zion.
3 For thus says HaShem, “You were sold for nothing and you will be redeemed without money.”
4 For thus says HaShem Elohim, “My people went down at the first into Egypt to reside there; then the Assyrian oppressed them without cause.
5 Now therefore, what do I have here,” declares HaShem, “seeing that My people have been taken away without cause?” Again HaShem declares, “Those who rule over them howl, and My name is continually blasphemed all day long.
6 Therefore My people shall know My name; therefore in that day I am the one who is speaking, ‘Here I am.’”
7 How lovely on the mountains
Are the feet of him who brings good news,
Who announces peace
And brings good news of happiness,
Who announces salvation,
And says to Zion, “Your G-d reigns!”
8 Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices,
They shout joyfully together;
For they will see with their own eyes
When HaShem restores Zion.
9 Break forth, shout joyfully together,
You waste places of Jerusalem;
For HaShem has comforted His people,
He has redeemed Jerusalem.
10 HaShem has bared His holy arm
In the sight of all the nations,
That all the ends of the earth may see
The Yeshua (salvation) of our G-d.
11 Depart, depart, go out from there,
Touch nothing unclean;
Go out of the midst of her, purify yourselves,
You who carry the vessels of HaShem.
12 But you will not go out in haste,
Nor will you go as fugitives;
For HaShem will go before you,
And the G-d of Israel will be your rear guard.
13 Behold, My servant will prosper,
He will be high and lifted up and greatly exalted.
14 Just as many were astonished at you, My people,
So His appearance was marred more than any man
And His form more than the sons of men.
15 Thus He will sprinkle many nations,
Kings will shut their mouths on account of Him;
For what had not been told them they will see,
And what they had not heard they will understand.
14 But how can they call on someone if they haven’t trusted in Him? And how can they trust in someone if they haven’t heard about Him? And how can they hear about someone if no one is proclaiming Him? 15 And how can people proclaim Him unless G-d sends them? — as the Tanakh puts it, “How beautiful are the feet of those announcing good news about good things!” (Isaiah 52:7)
Shaul/Paul is not giving a method for evangelism here, on the contrary, he is carrying on an imagined diatribe with a non-Messianic Jew who is seeking an excuse for not accepting the gift of G-d in Messiah. The non-Messianic Jew is saying, “But we didn’t know He was the Messiah, we didn’t understand that this is how He would manifest Himself to us?” To which Shaul/Paul responds, “But the Scriptures told you clearly, the very Torah you examine daily explains Yeshua in detail and reports the events that have now come about. The rumours of these events have spread throughout the known world so that you are without excuse, and Isaiah 52:7 affirms what the whole of Isaiah 52 is expounding. That Yeshua has brought Good news to you, even as you hear my gospel, for my feet also perpetuate that news.
Shaul/Paul doesn’t stop there, he continues with the next chapter of Isaiah, solidifying his argument with undeniable Scriptural proof:
YESHAIYAHU/ISAIAH 53
53:1 Who has believed our message?
And to whom has the arm of HaShem been revealed?
2 For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot,
And like a root out of parched ground;
He has no stately form or majesty
That we should look upon Him,
Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.
3 He was despised and forsaken of men,
A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
And like one from whom men hide their face
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
4 Surely our grief He Himself bore,
And our sorrows He carried;
Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten of G-d, and afflicted.
5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,
And by His scourging we are healed.
6 All of us like sheep have gone astray,
Each of us has turned to his own way;
But HaShem has caused the iniquity of us all
To fall on Him.
7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
Yet He did not open His mouth;
Like a lamb that is led to slaughter,
And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers,
So He did not open His mouth.
8 By oppression and judgment He was taken away;
And as for His generation, who considered
That He was cut off out of the land of the living
For the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due?
9 His grave was assigned with wicked men,
Yet He was with a rich man in His death,
Because He had done no violence,
Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.
10 But HaShem was pleased
To crush Him, putting Him to grief;
If He would render Himself as a guilt offering,
He will see His offspring,
He will prolong His days,
And the good pleasure of HaShem will prosper in His hand.
11 As a result of the anguish of His soul,
He will see it and be satisfied;
By His knowledge the Righteous One,
My Servant, will justify the many,
As He will bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great,
And He will divide the booty with the strong;
Because He poured out Himself to death,
And was numbered with the transgressors;
Yet He Himself bore the sin of many,
And interceded for the transgressors.
6 The problem is that they haven’t all paid attention to the Good News and obeyed it. For Yesha‘yahu says,
“Adonai, who has trusted what he has heard from us?” (Isaiah 53:1)
The reason Shaul has quoted the first verse of Isaiah 53 is because he intends his non-Messianic Jewish opponent to recall the entire passage and be brought to repentance as a result of seeing it illuminated by the Ruach ha-Kodesh. Messiah is clearly seen in every word.
Again using a quote from the following Psalm, Shaul rebuts his opponent, saying, “They did hear!”
TEHILLIM/PSALM 19
19:1 The heavens are telling of the glory of God;
And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.
2 Day to day pours forth speech,
And night to night reveals knowledge.
3 There is no speech, nor are there words;
Their voice is not heard.
4 Their line has gone out through all the earth,
And their utterances to the end of the world.
In them He has placed a tent for the sun,
5 Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber;
It rejoices as a strong man to run his course.
6 Its rising is from one end of the heavens,
And its circuit to the other end of them;
And there is nothing hidden from its heat.
7 The Instruction of HaShem is perfect, restoring the soul;
The testimony of HaShem is sure, making wise the simple.
8 The precepts of HaShem are right, rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of HaShem is pure, enlightening the eyes.
9 The fear of HaShem is clean, enduring forever;
The judgments of HaShem are true; they are righteous altogether.
10 They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold;
Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.
11 Moreover, by them Your servant is warned;
In keeping them there is great reward.
12 Who can discern his errors? Acquit me of hidden faults.
13 Also keep back Your servant from presumptuous sins;
Let them not rule over me;
Then I will be blameless,
And I shall be acquitted of great transgression.
14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Your sight,
O HaShem, my rock and my Redeemer.
17 So trust comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through a word proclaimed about the Messiah.
18 “But, I say, isn’t it rather that they didn’t hear?” No, they did hear --
“Their voice has gone out throughout the whole world
and their words to the ends of the earth.” (Psalm 19:4)
Shaul builds on the argument of Romans 1:20-21, showing through the psalmist that creation itself declares this truth to the ends of the earth. He secures this line of thought with the statement, “Their voice has gone out throughout the whole world and their words to the ends of the earth.”
“You have heard.” Says Shaul/Paul, you know this, that:
“The Instruction of HaShem is perfect, restoring the soul;
The testimony of HaShem is sure, making wise the simple.
8 The precepts of HaShem are right, rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of HaShem is pure, enlightening the eyes.
9 The fear of HaShem is clean, enduring forever;
The judgments of HaShem are true; they are righteous altogether.
10 They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold;
Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.
11 Moreover, by them Your servant is warned;
In keeping them there is great reward.
And again we read of the need for trust of the heart and confession of the mouth, hence:
“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Your sight,
O HaShem, my rock and my Redeemer.”
However, Shaul is loathed to stop here, he continues with a quotation from Deuteronomy 32:
D’VARIM/DEUTERONOMY 32
32:1 “Give ear, O heavens, and let me emra (speak);
And let the earth hear the words of my mouth.
2 “Let my teaching drop as the rain,
My emra (speech) distil as the dew,
As the droplets on the fresh grass
And as the showers on the herb.
3 “For I proclaim the name of HaShem;
Ascribe greatness to our G-d!
4 “The Rock! His work is perfect,
For all His ways are just;
A G-d of faithfulness and without injustice,
Righteous and upright is He.
5 “They have acted corruptly toward Him,
They are not His children, because of their defect;
But are a perverse and crooked generation.
6 “Do you thus repay HaShem,
O foolish and unwise people?
Is not He your Father who has bought you?
He has made you and established you.
7 “Remember the days of old,
Consider the years of all generations.
Ask your father, and he will inform you,
Your elders, and they will tell you.
8 “When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance,
When He separated the sons of man,
He set the boundaries of the peoples
According to the number of the sons of Israel.
9 “For HaShem’s portion is His people;
Jacob is the allotment of His inheritance.
10 “He found him in a desert land,
And in the howling waste of a wilderness;
He encircled him, He cared for him,
He guarded him as the pupil of His eye.
11 “Like an eagle that stirs up its nest,
That hovers over its young,
He spread His wings and caught them,
He carried them on His pinions.
12 “HaShem alone guided him,
And there was no foreign god with him.
13 “He made him ride on the high places of the earth,
And he ate the produce of the field;
And He made him suck honey from the rock,
And oil from the flinty rock,
14 Curds of cows, and milk of the flock,
With fat of lambs,
And rams, the breed of Bashan, and goats,
With the finest of the wheat--
And of the blood of grapes you drank wine.
15 “But Yeshurun grew fat and kicked--
You are grown fat, thick, and sleek--
Then he forsook G-d who made him,
And scorned the Rock of his Yeshua (salvation).
16 “They made Him jealous with strange gods;
With abominations they provoked Him to anger.
17 “They sacrificed to demons who were not G-d,
To gods whom they have not known,
New gods who came lately,
Whom your fathers did not dread.
18 “You neglected the Rock who begot you,
And forgot the G-d who gave you birth.
19 “HaShem saw this, and spurned them
Because of the provocation of His sons and daughters.
20 “Then He said, ‘I will hide My face from them,
I will see what their end shall be;
For they are a perverse generation,
Sons in whom is no faithfulness.
21 ‘They have made Me jealous with what is not G-d;
They have provoked Me to anger with their idols.
So I will make them jealous with those who are not a people;
I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation,
22 For a fire is kindled in My anger,
And burns to the lowest part of Sheol,
And consumes the earth with its yield,
And sets on fire the foundations of the mountains.
23 ‘I will heap misfortunes on them;
I will use My arrows on them.
24 ‘They will be wasted by famine, and consumed by plague
And bitter destruction;
And the teeth of beasts I will send upon them,
With the venom of crawling things of the dust.
25 ‘Outside the sword will bereave,
And inside terror--
Both young man and virgin,
The nursling with the man of grey hair.
26 ‘I would have said, “I will cut them to pieces,
I will remove the memory of them from men,”
27 Had I not feared the provocation by the enemy,
That their adversaries would misjudge,
That they would say, “Our hand is triumphant,
And HaShem has not done all this.”’
28 “For they are a nation lacking in counsel,
And there is no understanding in them.
29 “Would that they were wise, that they understood this,
That they would discern their future!
30 “How could one chase a thousand,
And two put ten thousand to flight,
Unless their Rock had sold them,
And HaShem had given them up?
31 “Indeed their rock is not like our Rock,
Even our enemies themselves judge this.
32 “For their vine is from the vine of Sodom,
And from the fields of Gomorrah;
Their grapes are grapes of poison,
Their clusters, bitter.
33 “Their wine is the venom of serpents,
And the deadly poison of cobras.
34 ‘Is it not laid up in store with Me,
Sealed up in My treasuries?
35 ‘Vengeance is Mine, and retribution,
In due time their foot will slip;
For the day of their calamity is near,
And the impending things are hastening upon them.’
36 “For HaShem will vindicate His people,
And will have compassion on His servants,
When He sees that their strength is gone,
And there is none remaining, bond or free.
37 “And He will say, ‘Where are their gods,
The rock in which they sought refuge?
38 ‘Who ate the fat of their sacrifices,
And drank the wine of their drink offering?
Let them rise up and help you,
Let them be your hiding place!
39 ‘See now that I, I am He,
And there is no god besides Me;
It is I who put to death and give life.
I have wounded and it is I who heal,
And there is no one who can deliver from My hand.
40 ‘Indeed, I lift up My hand to heaven,
And say, as I live forever,
41 If I sharpen My flashing sword,
And My hand takes hold on justice,
I will render vengeance on My adversaries,
And I will repay those who hate Me.
42 ‘I will make My arrows drunk with blood,
And My sword will devour flesh,
With the blood of the slain and the captives,
From the long-haired leaders of the enemy.’
43 “Rejoice, O nations, with His people;
For He will avenge the blood of His servants,
And will render vengeance on His adversaries,
And will atone for His land and His people.”
44 Then Moses came and spoke all the words of this song in the hearing of the people, he, with Joshua the son of Nun. 45 When Moses had finished speaking all these words to all Israel, 46 he said to them, “Take to your heart all the words with which I am warning you today, which you shall command your sons to observe carefully, even all the words of this law. 47 For it is not an idle word for you; indeed it is your life. And by this word you will prolong your days in the land, which you are about to cross the Jordan to possess.”
48 HaShem spoke to Moses that very same day, saying, 49 “Go up to this mountain of the Abarim, Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab opposite Jericho, and look at the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the sons of Israel for a possession. 50 Then die on the mountain where you ascend, and be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people, 51 because you broke faith with Me in the midst of the sons of Israel at the waters of Meribah-kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin, because you did not treat Me as holy in the midst of the sons of Israel. 52 For you shall see the land at a distance, but you shall not go there, into the land which I am giving the sons of Israel.”
19 “But, I say, isn’t it rather that Israel didn’t understand?”
“I will provoke you to jealousy over a non-nation,
over a nation void of understanding I will make you angry.” (Deuteronomy 32:21)
Shaul/Paul uses this verse from Deuteronomy to set up its conclusion in chapter 11, where he will show the Gentile believers their obligation to provoke Israel to jealousy. For G-ds purpose has always been for Israel’s reconciliation to Him through Messiah Yeshua.
YESHAIYAHU/ISAIAH 65
65:1 “I permitted Myself to be sought by those who did not ask for Me;
I permitted Myself to be found by those who did not seek Me.
I said, ‘Here am I, here am I,’
To a nation which did not call on My name.
2 “I have spread out My hands all day long to a rebellious people,
Who walk in the way which is not good, following their own thoughts,
3 A people who continually provoke Me to My face,
Offering sacrifices in gardens and burning incense on bricks;
4 Who sit among graves and spend the night in secret places;
Who eat swine’s flesh,
And the broth of unclean meat is in their pots.
5 “Who say, ‘Keep to yourself, do not come near me,
For I am holier than you!’
These are smoke in My nostrils,
A fire that burns all the day.
6 “Behold, it is written before Me,
I will not keep silent, but I will repay;
I will even repay into their bosom,
7 Both their own iniquities and the iniquities of their fathers together,” says HaShem.
“Because they have burned incense on the mountains
And scorned Me on the hills,
Therefore I will measure their former work into their bosom.”
8 Thus says HaShem,
“As the new wine is found in the cluster,
And one says, ‘Do not destroy it, for there is benefit in it,’
So I will act on behalf of My servants
In order not to destroy all of them.
9 “I will bring forth offspring from Jacob,
And an heir of My mountains from Judah;
Even My chosen ones shall inherit it,
And My servants will dwell there.
10 “Sharon will be a pasture land for flocks,
And the valley of Achor a resting place for herds,
For My people who seek Me.
11 “But you who forsake the Lord,
Who forget My holy mountain,
Who set a table for Fortune,
And who fill cups with mixed wine for Destiny,
12 I will destine you for the sword,
And all of you will bow down to the slaughter.
Because I called, but you did not answer;
I spoke, but you did not hear.
And you did evil in My sight
And chose that in which I did not delight.”
13 Therefore, thus says HaShem G-d,
“Behold, My servants will eat, but you will be hungry.
Behold, My servants will drink, but you will be thirsty.
Behold, My servants will rejoice, but you will be put to shame.
14 “Behold, My servants will shout joyfully with a glad heart,
But you will cry out with a heavy heart,
And you will wail with a broken spirit.
15 “You will leave your name for a curse to My chosen ones,
And HaShem G-d will slay you.
But My servants will be called by another name.
16 “Because he who is blessed in the earth
Will be blessed by the G-d of truth;
And he who swears in the earth
Will swear by the G-d of truth;
Because the former troubles are forgotten,
And because they are hidden from My sight!
17 “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth;
And the former things will not be remembered or come to mind.
18 “But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create;
For behold, I create Jerusalem for rejoicing
And her people for gladness.
19 “I will also rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in My people;
And there will no longer be heard in her
The voice of weeping and the sound of crying.
20 “No longer will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days,
Or an old man who does not live out his days;
For the youth will die at the age of one hundred
And the one who does not reach the age of one hundred
Will be thought accursed.
21 “They will build houses and inhabit them;
They will also plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22 “They will not build and another inhabit,
They will not plant and another eat;
For as the lifetime of a tree, so will be the days of My people,
And My chosen ones will wear out the work of their hands.
23 “They will not labour in vain,
Or bear children for calamity;
For they are the offspring of those blessed by the Lord,
And their descendants with them.
24 It will also come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear. 25 The wolf and the lamb will graze together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox; and dust will be the serpent’s food. They will do no evil or harm in all My holy mountain,” says HaShem.
20 Moreover, Yesha‘yahu boldly says,
“I was found by those who were not looking for me,
I became known to those who did not ask for me”; (Isaiah 65:1)
Again Shaul/Paul forces home the point that the Gentiles are being reconciled to G-d through trust in His Son, while Israel remains numb to His gospel.
21 but to Isra’el he says,
“All day long I held out my hands
to a people who kept disobeying and contradicting.” (Isaiah 65:2)
Shaul/Paul desperately relays the ache of HaShem’s heart as He cries out to His people. This anguish call and the desperate open arms of a pleading Father are the premise for all of Romans 11. Hence, all of Romans 9 through 10 has been leading us to the pre-conclusion of Romans 11 and the consolidation of Israel.
© Alastair Jacob Brown 2014
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