The Israel Within Israel
Romans 9:6-29
6 But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, 7 and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” 8 This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. 9 For this is what the promise said: “About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.” 10 And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, 11 though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls— 12 she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” 13 As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”
Previously we read about the grief and sorrow Paul has experienced because so few of the Jews—his own flesh and blood!—have accepted Jesus as Messiah, despite the fact that they have the amazing privilege of being God’s chosen people.
Does this mean that God’s promises to Israel have failed? Paul’s answer? NO.
Why?
Paul points out that there were always two “Israels” within Abraham's family—the people literally (biologically) descended from Abraham, and then the ones God chose to use in a certain way for His salvation purposes. There is an Israel within Israel, so to speak:
6b For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, 7 and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” 8 This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring [Romans 9:6b–8].
There is an Israel within Israel, and so God is not unfaithful to His promises when He chooses this or that person to play an important role in salvation history. Yes, Ishmael is descended from Abraham as well as Isaac, but God chose Isaac—the child of promise, of faith—to be the one He would work through; Esau is descended from Abraham just like Jacob is descended from Abraham, but God chose Jacob to be the one He would work through, this despite the fact that the boys were twins and unlike Isaac and Ishmael, came from the same mother. Moreover, Jacob was the younger brother. And on top of that, God chose to work through Jacob even before he was born—when she was pregnant, Rebekah their mother was told:
12 The older will serve the younger [Romans 9:12].
In other words, the fact that God chose to work through Jacob’s line had nothing to do with Jacob deserving to be chosen—rather, God just chose Jacob according to God’s own mysterious (mysterious from a human point of view, that is) purposes.
This is why the above matters:
Paul’s argument should matter to us is because he is making a very simple but profound point: God can choose how He will work through human history. When He picks Isaac and not Ishmael, Jacob and not Esau, He is working according to his deep purposes. In the Bible, this concept is called election.
Election is the idea that God chooses to work in particular and specific ways, and through particular and specific groups of people. The Lord did not choose Israel to be the chosen people because they were somehow better than the other nations; He chose them as an act of grace. Israel didn’t choose God, God chose Israel. The elect are those who find themselves chosen by God to play an important role in God’s plan—in the Old Testament, Israel is the chosen nation, the elect. When God singled out Abraham to play an important part in salvation history, that was always God’s prerogative. To be singled out to play an important part does not mean you are any better than anyone else.
As we shall see, Paul is not saying that people have no choice in the matter—people can and do choose how they will respond to God’s choosing of them. Will they respond to His gracious invitation with faith, or with hard hearts? And, the ones chosen by God to play a part in salvation history—“the elect”—is a group that is continually being added to. In fact (and Paul will explain this in Romans 11), Paul believes that it’s not too late for the unbelieving Jews, and that some of them will come to put their faith in Jesus before the end.
But, in this section, Paul’s overall point is simple:
Just because right now the majority of the descendants of Abraham have failed to believe in the Messiah is not something new that God is doing; God is not a liar—it has always been the case that God was working through only one part of the descendants of Abraham.
In the same way, none of us chose the circumstances or timing of our birth. Why were we born when or where we were born, to those particular parents? The answer is known only to God. What Paul is reminding the Romans here is that God doesn’t work in ways that immediately make sense to the world.
Is this unfair? That’s the question Paul will tackle next.