Adults 4th Quarter of 2024
October 13, 2024
GOLDEN TEXT
“And I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” ( Gen 12:3 )
PRACTICAL TRUTH
Even though the spiritual fall occurred with Israel, there is a glorious promise to the faithful remnant.
DAILY READING
Wednesday - Gn 29.32-35 Jacob, the father of the 12 tribes of Israel that would give rise to the nation
Suggested Hymns: 38th, 3rd, 463 from the Christian Harp
CLASSROOM BIBLE READING
Genesis 12.1 -3; Romans 9.1-5
Genesis 12
1 – Now the Lord had said to Abram, “Get out of your country, from your kindred and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you.
2 – And I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great, and you will be a blessing.
3 – I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.
Romans 9
1 – I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, (my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit):
2 – I have great sorrow and continual pain in my heart.
3 For I could wish myself to be accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh;
4 Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises;
5 To whom are the fathers; and to whom is Christ as concerning the flesh, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.
LESSON PLAN
1- INTRODUCTION
Dear teacher, in this lesson, we will study God’s promises regarding the nation of Israel. The divine plan to make Abram’s descendants a great nation had the purpose of Israel fulfilling its role as a priestly nation, a chosen people set apart to witness the virtues of the Kingdom of God among the other nations. To better understand the development of this purpose, we need to analyze some aspects of the promise made to Abram; consider what other promises are included in the patriarch’s calling; and identify the biblical understanding of the promise of salvation for the nation of Israel today.
2- LESSON PRESENTATION
A) Lesson objectives:
I) To detail God’s promise to Abram about making his descendants a priestly nation that would witness God’s deeds among the nations;
II) To list God’s promises regarding Israel for its development as a nation;
III) Highlight Israel’s position regarding salvation and the promise regarding their spiritual future.
B) Motivation: The promises made to Abram were accompanied by specific divine purposes. Among these purposes is the implementation of the establishment of the Kingdom of God in a complete manner on Earth, something that will happen in the Millennial Kingdom, in which Our Lord Jesus will reign over all the Earth. Finally, the loyal and obedient servants of the Word of God will be kings and priests in this new time. Take the opportunity to talk to your students about Christian testimony in this present time. Ask the following question: How are we fulfilling God’s plans while the Church of Christ is in this world?
C) Suggested Method: The first topic of this lesson describes the promise made to Abram regarding his descendants becoming a great nation. In this commitment, God promised to bless those who blessed Israel and to curse those who cursed them. Based on this principle, ask your students to list the occasions recorded in the Bible in which this promise was fulfilled. Finally, ask the class: Can we say that God treats believers the same way today? Allow a moment for students to express their opinions.
3- LESSON CONCLUSION
A) Application: God’s promises to the nation of Israel reveal God’s purposes for His people in the past. Similarly, God’s promises to us indicate that He has special purposes for each stage of our lives. If we want to see God’s promises fulfilled, just as it was with God’s servants in ancient times, we need to take a position of constant faith and obedience and not lose sight of the divine calling (see Peter 13:11).
4- TEACHER’S SUPPORT
A) Christian Teacher Magazine. It is worth getting to know this magazine that brings reports, articles, interviews and support resources for Adult Bible lessons. In issue 99, p. 37, you will find a special resource for this lesson.
B) Special Resources: At the end of the topic, you will find resources that will support you in preparing your class:
1) The text “PROMISE”, located after the first topic, highlights the fulfillment of divine promises recorded in the Old Testament;
2) The text “THE CHILDREN OF GOD BY FAITH (Gal 3.24; 4.7)”, located after the second topic, addresses the issue of the spiritual decency of Christians in Abraham, the patriarch of the Jewish people.
INTRODUCTION
The divine promises to Israel were made more than 4,000 years before the advent of the Lord Jesus. It all began when God called Abram and made him promises regarding the divine purpose of forming a great nation. This call implicitly contains the promises to Israel as a unique nation among all the peoples of the earth, in order to fulfill, in a special way, the divine purposes for humanity. Therefore, in this lesson, we will see that many of God's promises to Israel are irrevocable. They were made by God to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and David and confirmed with the advent of the Lord Jesus Christ.
KEYWORD: Descendants
2- “I will bless you, and make your name great, and you will be a blessing” (v. 2). God wanted to promote Abram’s name to a dimension never imagined by the patriarch. However, the promise was not merely materialistic. The material blessing should carry a spiritual testimony: “And you will be a blessing” (Gen 12.2). No nation would have any doubt that it was God who would do this to Abram. It was a very significant promise, since Abram was the son of an idolatrous family (Gen. 12:1) and God chose him to be the father of a people who would still emerge: the people of Israel. Hebrew history proves that the patriarch Abraham was, in fact, a great blessing to the Israelites.
3- “I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse those who curse you” (v. 3). This was a double promise: of blessing and of curse. In fact, Abraham would be a great influence on those who had a relationship with him. So God would bless those who helped Abraham and punish those who cursed him. This event would make Abram a worldwide influence that would last through his posterity. Furthermore, this promise is confirmed in Numbers: “Blessed are those who bless you, and cursed are those who curse you” (24:9).
4- “And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed” (v. 3). This promise is considered a second prophecy of Scripture concerning the Lord Jesus (the first is recorded in Genesis 3.15 ). We can have this confirmation through Paul’s Letter to the Galatians, in which a spiritual blessing would come through a descendant of Abraham, the father of the Israelites. This blessing concerns the advent of the Lord Jesus Christ, His good news offered to all nations ( Gal 3.8,16 ; cf. John 3.16 ).
SYNOPSIS I
The descendants of Abraham would be a great nation, accompanied by an important spiritual testimony.
THEOLOGICAL AID
PROMISE
“[…] The central message of the New Testament is that God’s promises in the Old Testament were fulfilled with the coming of Jesus Christ. Matthew’s numerous citation formulas are evidence of this theme. In Luke 4:16-21, Jesus pronounces the fulfillment of Isaiah’s promise (about the ministry of the Messiah, Isaiah 61:1-3) in his own life. The book of Acts specifically states that the suffering and resurrection of Jesus and the coming of the Holy Spirit are the fulfillment of the promises of the Old Testament (Acts 2:29-31; 13:32-34). Jesus’ identity as a descendant of David (Acts 13:23) and as a prophet like Moses (Acts 3:21-26; cf. Deuteronomy 18:15-18) is also considered the fulfillment of the Old Testament. Paul’s view of God’s promises is summed up in this statement: “For in him all the promises of God are ‘Yes’ and through him ‘Amen’, to the glory of God on our behalf” (2 Cor. 1:20). According to Romans 1:2,3, Paul views the gospel as the message that God had previously promised through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures about his Son. Romans 4 describes Abraham’s faith in terms of his trust in God’s promises, which leads to his righteousness. It also presents him as our model for faith in God’s promises. The famous expression according to Scripture in 1 Corinthians 15:3,4 is, in a sense, understood by Paul as the fulfillment of God’s promises regarding the death and resurrection of Christ” (LONGMAN III, Tremper. Baker Bible Dictionary. Rio de Janeiro: CPAD, 2023, p. 407).
2- The promise of a son to Isaac. God does not forget his promises. After Sarah's death, Abraham married Keturah. He was over 100 years old and had six sons with her ( Genesis 25:1-5 ). Before he died, Abraham provided a wife for Isaac through Eliezer, his servant. He went to Mesopotamia, and there, by God's direction, he found a wife, Rebekah, for his master's son, and took her to Isaac, who married her. In due time, she gave birth to twin sons: Esau and Jacob (Gen 25:24-26).
3- The renewed promise. The Lord spoke to Jacob and reiterated the promise made to Abraham, that He would give him those lands ( Gen 26:3,4 ). Isaac was considered the heir of the promise ( Heb 11:17-19 ) and, therefore, before he died he would grant blessings to his children. Esau lost his birthright because he exchanged it for a plate of food ( Gen 27:30-34 ). At the direction of his father, Jacob went to Laban’s house, where he married Rachel, who was barren (Gen 28:1,2; 29:28). By Laban’s strategy, Jacob got together with Leah and had six sons with her (Gen 29:21-27). Later, God opened Rachel’s womb and she conceived two sons. Jacob had two sons with her servant Bilhah; and two more sons with Zilpah, Leah’s servant; making up the 12 tribes of Israel ( Gen 29:32-35 ; 30:1-26); and he had another daughter, Dinah, with Leah ( Gen 30:20-21 ).
4- Promise of the Kingdom of the Messiah. Through the prophet Isaiah, God said that the Messiah would be born from the descendants of Jesse, David’s father, to redeem Israel and humanity. Therefore, the Lord Jesus is called “The Son of David” ( Luke 18:37-40 ), the “Emmanuel”: “Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which being interpreted is, God with us) ( Matthew 1:23 ; cf. Isaiah 7:14 ).
SYNOPSIS II
The promises made to Abraham culminate in the promise that the Messiah would come to redeem Israel and humanity from their sins.
THEOLOGICAL HELP
THE CHILDREN OF GOD BY FAITH (Gal. 3:24-4:7).
“[…] If all believers are becoming like Christ, if all believers have professed faith and joined the body of Christ, then this union sets aside all other superficial differences. While it is true that in the body of Christ, Jews, Gentiles, slaves, free men, men and women still retain their individual identities, Paul extols their unity—you are all one in Christ Jesus. All labels become secondary among those who have Jesus in common. […] To become children of God (Gal. 3:26) and to become one in Christ (3:28) means that those who are Christ’s are Abraham’s seed. The Jews believed that they were automatically God’s people because they were Abraham’s seed. Paul concluded that the spiritual children of Abraham were not the Jews, nor those who had been circumcised. The children of Abraham are those who respond to God in faith, as Abraham had done. The only difference is that our response must be to Christ as Savior. As we respond positively, we are heirs. In other words, all the promises God made to Abraham belong to us. By responding to Christ in faith, we follow the ancient path of Abraham, one of the first to be justified by faith. He trusted God, and so do we. But we have been given the added opportunity to appreciate the price Christ had to pay to secure our participation in the promise” (Commentary on the New Testament Personal Application. Vol. 2. Rio de Janeiro: CPAD, 2009, pp. 282, 283).
2- Paul's sadness for Israel. Chapter 9 of Romans reveals the apostle's great sadness for the Jews who do not know Christ ( 2 Cor 9:22 ). Yes, the Jews who do not know Christ are in a very difficult situation, because the Lord Jesus descends directly from them, according to the flesh ( Rom 9:5 ). This feeling of sadness and, at the same time, a pious attitude of suffering for the salvation of the Jews, must be a permanent commitment of every Christian for the evangelization of the Jews ( Mt 23.32 ).
3- Promise of salvation to Israel. “When he prayed for Israel, the apostle expressed the following: “To whom belong the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the worship, and the promises; to whom are the fathers, and to whom is Christ as concerning the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen!” (Rm 9.3-5). These qualifications show that God fulfills His word, promised to those who seek Him in sincerity. Therefore, the Bible assures that Israel will be saved, although not completely. The Bible says that these people will be called “children of the living God” (Romans 9:26); that “the faithful remnant of Israel” will be saved (Romans 9:27). The Deliverer who will come out of Zion will do this ( Romans 11:26 ).
SYNOPSIS III
The Bible assures that the faithful remnant of Israel will be saved by the deliverer who will come from Zion.
CONCLUSION
God’s promises to Israel cannot fail. What God promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was fulfilled in part; and will have its full fulfillment in future times, when the Lord Jesus returns in Glory and establishes His glorious Millennium Kingdom. Let us remember the Lord’s Word of commitment: “Before there was a day, I am; and there is no one who can deliver out of My hand. When I work, who can stop it?” ( Isaiah 43:13 ).
REVIEWING THE CONTENT
1- How old was Abram when God said he would be a great nation?
When God told Abraham that he would be the father of a great nation, the patriarch was 75 years old.
2- What promises did God make to Abraham concerning other peoples?
The material blessing should carry a spiritual testimony: “And you will be a blessing” (Gen. 12:2). No nation would have any doubt that it was God who would do this to Abram.
“And I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” ( Gen 12:3 )
PRACTICAL TRUTH
Even though the spiritual fall occurred with Israel, there is a glorious promise to the faithful remnant.
DAILY READING
Wednesday - Gn 29.32-35 Jacob, the father of the 12 tribes of Israel that would give rise to the nation
Suggested Hymns: 38th, 3rd, 463 from the Christian Harp
CLASSROOM BIBLE READING
Genesis 12.1 -3; Romans 9.1-5
Genesis 12
1 – Now the Lord had said to Abram, “Get out of your country, from your kindred and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you.
2 – And I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great, and you will be a blessing.
3 – I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.
Romans 9
1 – I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, (my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit):
2 – I have great sorrow and continual pain in my heart.
3 For I could wish myself to be accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh;
4 Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises;
5 To whom are the fathers; and to whom is Christ as concerning the flesh, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.
LESSON PLAN
1- INTRODUCTION
Dear teacher, in this lesson, we will study God’s promises regarding the nation of Israel. The divine plan to make Abram’s descendants a great nation had the purpose of Israel fulfilling its role as a priestly nation, a chosen people set apart to witness the virtues of the Kingdom of God among the other nations. To better understand the development of this purpose, we need to analyze some aspects of the promise made to Abram; consider what other promises are included in the patriarch’s calling; and identify the biblical understanding of the promise of salvation for the nation of Israel today.
2- LESSON PRESENTATION
A) Lesson objectives:
I) To detail God’s promise to Abram about making his descendants a priestly nation that would witness God’s deeds among the nations;
II) To list God’s promises regarding Israel for its development as a nation;
III) Highlight Israel’s position regarding salvation and the promise regarding their spiritual future.
B) Motivation: The promises made to Abram were accompanied by specific divine purposes. Among these purposes is the implementation of the establishment of the Kingdom of God in a complete manner on Earth, something that will happen in the Millennial Kingdom, in which Our Lord Jesus will reign over all the Earth. Finally, the loyal and obedient servants of the Word of God will be kings and priests in this new time. Take the opportunity to talk to your students about Christian testimony in this present time. Ask the following question: How are we fulfilling God’s plans while the Church of Christ is in this world?
C) Suggested Method: The first topic of this lesson describes the promise made to Abram regarding his descendants becoming a great nation. In this commitment, God promised to bless those who blessed Israel and to curse those who cursed them. Based on this principle, ask your students to list the occasions recorded in the Bible in which this promise was fulfilled. Finally, ask the class: Can we say that God treats believers the same way today? Allow a moment for students to express their opinions.
3- LESSON CONCLUSION
A) Application: God’s promises to the nation of Israel reveal God’s purposes for His people in the past. Similarly, God’s promises to us indicate that He has special purposes for each stage of our lives. If we want to see God’s promises fulfilled, just as it was with God’s servants in ancient times, we need to take a position of constant faith and obedience and not lose sight of the divine calling (see Peter 13:11).
4- TEACHER’S SUPPORT
A) Christian Teacher Magazine. It is worth getting to know this magazine that brings reports, articles, interviews and support resources for Adult Bible lessons. In issue 99, p. 37, you will find a special resource for this lesson.
B) Special Resources: At the end of the topic, you will find resources that will support you in preparing your class:
1) The text “PROMISE”, located after the first topic, highlights the fulfillment of divine promises recorded in the Old Testament;
2) The text “THE CHILDREN OF GOD BY FAITH (Gal 3.24; 4.7)”, located after the second topic, addresses the issue of the spiritual decency of Christians in Abraham, the patriarch of the Jewish people.
INTRODUCTION
The divine promises to Israel were made more than 4,000 years before the advent of the Lord Jesus. It all began when God called Abram and made him promises regarding the divine purpose of forming a great nation. This call implicitly contains the promises to Israel as a unique nation among all the peoples of the earth, in order to fulfill, in a special way, the divine purposes for humanity. Therefore, in this lesson, we will see that many of God's promises to Israel are irrevocable. They were made by God to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and David and confirmed with the advent of the Lord Jesus Christ.
KEYWORD: Descendants
I – ISRAEL: THE PROMISE OF CREATING A GREAT NATION
1- “I will make you a great nation” (v. 2). This promise was intended to show Abram God’s purpose in forming from him a great nation, different from all others, the nation of Israel ( Gen 12.2 ). Throughout history, this purpose has been fulfilled in an evident and powerful way. When God told Abraham that he would be the father of a great nation, the patriarch was 75 years old, and his wife, Sarah, was barren. Years later, God renewed his promise to create a great nation from Abraham ( Gen 15.4,5 ).2- “I will bless you, and make your name great, and you will be a blessing” (v. 2). God wanted to promote Abram’s name to a dimension never imagined by the patriarch. However, the promise was not merely materialistic. The material blessing should carry a spiritual testimony: “And you will be a blessing” (Gen 12.2). No nation would have any doubt that it was God who would do this to Abram. It was a very significant promise, since Abram was the son of an idolatrous family (Gen. 12:1) and God chose him to be the father of a people who would still emerge: the people of Israel. Hebrew history proves that the patriarch Abraham was, in fact, a great blessing to the Israelites.
3- “I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse those who curse you” (v. 3). This was a double promise: of blessing and of curse. In fact, Abraham would be a great influence on those who had a relationship with him. So God would bless those who helped Abraham and punish those who cursed him. This event would make Abram a worldwide influence that would last through his posterity. Furthermore, this promise is confirmed in Numbers: “Blessed are those who bless you, and cursed are those who curse you” (24:9).
4- “And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed” (v. 3). This promise is considered a second prophecy of Scripture concerning the Lord Jesus (the first is recorded in Genesis 3.15 ). We can have this confirmation through Paul’s Letter to the Galatians, in which a spiritual blessing would come through a descendant of Abraham, the father of the Israelites. This blessing concerns the advent of the Lord Jesus Christ, His good news offered to all nations ( Gal 3.8,16 ; cf. John 3.16 ).
SYNOPSIS I
The descendants of Abraham would be a great nation, accompanied by an important spiritual testimony.
THEOLOGICAL AID
PROMISE
“[…] The central message of the New Testament is that God’s promises in the Old Testament were fulfilled with the coming of Jesus Christ. Matthew’s numerous citation formulas are evidence of this theme. In Luke 4:16-21, Jesus pronounces the fulfillment of Isaiah’s promise (about the ministry of the Messiah, Isaiah 61:1-3) in his own life. The book of Acts specifically states that the suffering and resurrection of Jesus and the coming of the Holy Spirit are the fulfillment of the promises of the Old Testament (Acts 2:29-31; 13:32-34). Jesus’ identity as a descendant of David (Acts 13:23) and as a prophet like Moses (Acts 3:21-26; cf. Deuteronomy 18:15-18) is also considered the fulfillment of the Old Testament. Paul’s view of God’s promises is summed up in this statement: “For in him all the promises of God are ‘Yes’ and through him ‘Amen’, to the glory of God on our behalf” (2 Cor. 1:20). According to Romans 1:2,3, Paul views the gospel as the message that God had previously promised through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures about his Son. Romans 4 describes Abraham’s faith in terms of his trust in God’s promises, which leads to his righteousness. It also presents him as our model for faith in God’s promises. The famous expression according to Scripture in 1 Corinthians 15:3,4 is, in a sense, understood by Paul as the fulfillment of God’s promises regarding the death and resurrection of Christ” (LONGMAN III, Tremper. Baker Bible Dictionary. Rio de Janeiro: CPAD, 2023, p. 407).
II – OTHER PROMISES TO ISRAEL
1- The promise of a son to Abraham. In addition to God's solemn promises to Abraham, the Lord promised him a son. The promise seemed strange to the patriarch, because as we saw earlier, he was old, his wife was also old, and she was barren. The father of faith argued with God that his servant, Eliezer, would probably be his heir. However, the Lord assured him that this was not the case. God would fulfill his great promise in Abraham's life ( Genesis 15:4-6 ). The son of the promise, therefore, would be Isaac ( Genesis 21:1-7 ).2- The promise of a son to Isaac. God does not forget his promises. After Sarah's death, Abraham married Keturah. He was over 100 years old and had six sons with her ( Genesis 25:1-5 ). Before he died, Abraham provided a wife for Isaac through Eliezer, his servant. He went to Mesopotamia, and there, by God's direction, he found a wife, Rebekah, for his master's son, and took her to Isaac, who married her. In due time, she gave birth to twin sons: Esau and Jacob (Gen 25:24-26).
3- The renewed promise. The Lord spoke to Jacob and reiterated the promise made to Abraham, that He would give him those lands ( Gen 26:3,4 ). Isaac was considered the heir of the promise ( Heb 11:17-19 ) and, therefore, before he died he would grant blessings to his children. Esau lost his birthright because he exchanged it for a plate of food ( Gen 27:30-34 ). At the direction of his father, Jacob went to Laban’s house, where he married Rachel, who was barren (Gen 28:1,2; 29:28). By Laban’s strategy, Jacob got together with Leah and had six sons with her (Gen 29:21-27). Later, God opened Rachel’s womb and she conceived two sons. Jacob had two sons with her servant Bilhah; and two more sons with Zilpah, Leah’s servant; making up the 12 tribes of Israel ( Gen 29:32-35 ; 30:1-26); and he had another daughter, Dinah, with Leah ( Gen 30:20-21 ).
4- Promise of the Kingdom of the Messiah. Through the prophet Isaiah, God said that the Messiah would be born from the descendants of Jesse, David’s father, to redeem Israel and humanity. Therefore, the Lord Jesus is called “The Son of David” ( Luke 18:37-40 ), the “Emmanuel”: “Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which being interpreted is, God with us) ( Matthew 1:23 ; cf. Isaiah 7:14 ).
SYNOPSIS II
The promises made to Abraham culminate in the promise that the Messiah would come to redeem Israel and humanity from their sins.
THEOLOGICAL HELP
THE CHILDREN OF GOD BY FAITH (Gal. 3:24-4:7).
“[…] If all believers are becoming like Christ, if all believers have professed faith and joined the body of Christ, then this union sets aside all other superficial differences. While it is true that in the body of Christ, Jews, Gentiles, slaves, free men, men and women still retain their individual identities, Paul extols their unity—you are all one in Christ Jesus. All labels become secondary among those who have Jesus in common. […] To become children of God (Gal. 3:26) and to become one in Christ (3:28) means that those who are Christ’s are Abraham’s seed. The Jews believed that they were automatically God’s people because they were Abraham’s seed. Paul concluded that the spiritual children of Abraham were not the Jews, nor those who had been circumcised. The children of Abraham are those who respond to God in faith, as Abraham had done. The only difference is that our response must be to Christ as Savior. As we respond positively, we are heirs. In other words, all the promises God made to Abraham belong to us. By responding to Christ in faith, we follow the ancient path of Abraham, one of the first to be justified by faith. He trusted God, and so do we. But we have been given the added opportunity to appreciate the price Christ had to pay to secure our participation in the promise” (Commentary on the New Testament Personal Application. Vol. 2. Rio de Janeiro: CPAD, 2009, pp. 282, 283).
III- THE PROMISE OF SALVATION FOR ISRAEL
1- The fall of Israel. The New Testament clearly shows the fall of Israel. The nation failed to play the role of a priestly nation among other nations ( Luke 21:24 ). Therefore, chapters 9-11 of Paul's Epistle to the Romans deal with some questions that many Christians today ask themselves: How can God's promises to Israel remain valid today? Have they been revoked? In fact, Israel remains in rebellion against God because the nation did not recognize the Lord Jesus as its true Messiah ( Rom 9:30-31 ; 11:11-15 ).2- Paul's sadness for Israel. Chapter 9 of Romans reveals the apostle's great sadness for the Jews who do not know Christ ( 2 Cor 9:22 ). Yes, the Jews who do not know Christ are in a very difficult situation, because the Lord Jesus descends directly from them, according to the flesh ( Rom 9:5 ). This feeling of sadness and, at the same time, a pious attitude of suffering for the salvation of the Jews, must be a permanent commitment of every Christian for the evangelization of the Jews ( Mt 23.32 ).
3- Promise of salvation to Israel. “When he prayed for Israel, the apostle expressed the following: “To whom belong the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the worship, and the promises; to whom are the fathers, and to whom is Christ as concerning the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen!” (Rm 9.3-5). These qualifications show that God fulfills His word, promised to those who seek Him in sincerity. Therefore, the Bible assures that Israel will be saved, although not completely. The Bible says that these people will be called “children of the living God” (Romans 9:26); that “the faithful remnant of Israel” will be saved (Romans 9:27). The Deliverer who will come out of Zion will do this ( Romans 11:26 ).
SYNOPSIS III
The Bible assures that the faithful remnant of Israel will be saved by the deliverer who will come from Zion.
CONCLUSION
God’s promises to Israel cannot fail. What God promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was fulfilled in part; and will have its full fulfillment in future times, when the Lord Jesus returns in Glory and establishes His glorious Millennium Kingdom. Let us remember the Lord’s Word of commitment: “Before there was a day, I am; and there is no one who can deliver out of My hand. When I work, who can stop it?” ( Isaiah 43:13 ).
REVIEWING THE CONTENT
1- How old was Abram when God said he would be a great nation?
When God told Abraham that he would be the father of a great nation, the patriarch was 75 years old.
2- What promises did God make to Abraham concerning other peoples?
The material blessing should carry a spiritual testimony: “And you will be a blessing” (Gen. 12:2). No nation would have any doubt that it was God who would do this to Abram.
3- What was the promise that the Lord reiterated to Jacob?
Hebrew history proves that the patriarch Abraham was, in fact, a great blessing to the Israelites.
Hebrew history proves that the patriarch Abraham was, in fact, a great blessing to the Israelites.
4- Why did Esau lose his birthright?
Esau lost his birthright because he exchanged it for a plate of food (Gen 27:30-34)
Esau lost his birthright because he exchanged it for a plate of food (Gen 27:30-34)
5- What does Romans 9 demonstrate?
Chapter 9 of Romans reveals the apostle Paul’s great sadness for the Jews who do not know Christ (1 Cor 9.22).
Chapter 9 of Romans reveals the apostle Paul’s great sadness for the Jews who do not know Christ (1 Cor 9.22).