January 27 Click on verses for Full Scripture

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Today's Pathway: Romans 3:1-4 What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision? Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God. For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect? God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.

Yesterday we saw a summary of Paul's "diatribe" concerning the Jews. Today let's look at it in a little more depth.

Was there a profit in being a Hebrew? Of course there was! In Romans 9:4-5 Paul lists out numerous advantages that Israel had:

"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; Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen."

Baptist Pastor Ray Steadman illustrated their advantage this way:

"Just imagine, for instance, an island in darkness, populated with people. There is only one way to escape the island, a narrow bridge over a deep chasm, but the darkness is so great that only a few find their way over that bridge. Everybody on that island has been provided with a little penlight that enables them to dimly illuminate a small space around them, barely enough to avoid the more obvious obstacles in their path. But a certain group of people is given a powerful searchlight that can shine thousands of yards into the darkness. It is given to them not only so that they can find the bridge, but also so they can show others the way out. Yet these people, who have so much more light than the others, spend their time utilizing this powerful searchlight to look for needles in a haystack.That, in essence, was what the Jews were doing. The rabbis were arguing constantly over infinitesimal theological differences. Jesus called this 'straining at a gnat, but swallowing a camel,'"

In verses 3-4 Paul writes that the fact that some of the Jews refused to be faithful to their covenant with God does not mean that God became unfaithful to the covenant. In Deuteronomy 28 God spelled out blessings for those who kept the covenant

(Deut. 28:1 "And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth...")

(Deut. 28:15 "But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee...").