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Pathways Through Paul
Daily Devotional
March 19
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Today's Pathway:
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We mentioned yesterday that Paul's focus in chapter 9 is on God's dealings with Israel in the past. In verses 4-5 he begins by talking about how God had blessed Israel. He lists eight benefits that God had given them. First he mentions "the adoption". In Exodus 4:22 the Lord said,
"Israel is my son, even my firstborn".
In Deuteronomy 7:6 God said,
"For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth."
The Jews were God's chosen people, and as such they were considered to be His sons. Second, Paul speaks of "the glory". The word "glory" means to have a proper opinion of something, so the "glory of God" expresses all that He is in His Being and in His character, power and actions. Marvin Vincent described the glory this way:
"the visible, luminous appearance of the divine presence called by the Israelites the glory of Jehovah, or the Shekinah".
It was the cloud that led Israel out of Egypt (Ex. 13:21). It was also present in the Holy of Holies in both the tabernacle and the temple (Ex 40:34, I Kings 8:11).
The third benefit Israel had was "the covenants". God made no covenants with the Gentiles. The Gentiles are beneficiaries of some of them, but the covenants themselves were made with Israel. These would include God's covenants with Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3) and David (II Samuel 7:12-16), His covenant with Israel at Mt. Sinai (Exodus 19:5), and also the New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-34). The fourth benefit was that Israel received the Law. It was the Jews who had the Law which served as a schoolmaster to bring them to Christ (Galatians 3:24). Nehemiah 9:13 states,
"Thou camest down also upon mount Sinai, and spakest with them from heaven, and gavest them right judgments, and true laws, good statutes and commandments."
The fifth benefit was "the service of God" The word "service" used here is not the typical word for "serve". This word specifically deals with ministry unto God. This would involve the Levitical priesthood, and would include the ordinances, rites, ceremonies, and sacrifices of their religious worship. Exodus 29:43-44 sums up this activity:
"And there I will meet with the children of Israel, and the tabernacle shall be sanctified by my glory. And I will sanctify the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar: I will sanctify also both Aaron and his sons, to minister to me in the priest's office."
The sixth benefit was "the promises". The promises that God gave to the nation of Israel are numerous, and would include the land, the kingdom, and certainly the Messiah. In Luke 1:69-75 Zacharias mentions several of these. The seventh blessing is "the fathers". In Deuteronomy 10:15 Moses said,
"Only the LORD had a delight in thy fathers to love them, and he chose their seed after them".
Adam Clarke described them this way,
"Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, the twelve patriarchs, Moses, Joshua, Samuel, David, etc., without controversy, the greatest and most eminent men that ever flourished under Heaven. From these the Jewish people had descended; and it was no small glory to be able to reckon, in their genealogy, persons of such incomparable merit and excellency."
Finally, the eighth blessing is that the Jewish nation produced Jesus. The Messiah was born a Jew. What a blessing Israel had to have the first exposure to the King of kings! Paul concludes this section by reminding us Who Jesus is: He is the Messiah ("Christ"), He is Man ("concerning the flesh"), and He is God ("God blessed for ever").
Pastor Mark J Montgomery
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