Romans 9:4~"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;; 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;"
Who are Israelites~
They were Paul's kinsmen according to the flesh. Paul here recognizes and enumerates the great external privileges belonging to the Jews, which aggravated his profound sorrow, on account of their rejection of the Messiah, and their consequent
deplorable condition.
“Who are Israelites” — That is, the most honorable people on earth; the descendants of him who, as a prince, had power with God. They had the name, because that of Israel was given to Jacob their father by God, when vouchsafing so striking a pre-intimation of His future manifestation in the flesh.
“Adoption” ~ That is, the nation of Israel was a nation adopted by God
as a type of the adoption of His children in Christ Jesus; and
in that typical sense, in which they were the children of God as no other nation ever was, they are frequently spoken of in Scripture, Exodus 4:22
“Glory” ~ This most probably refers to the manifestation of the glory of God over the mercy-seat in the sanctuary. God, too, set His tabernacle among the Israelites, and walked among them, which was their peculiar glory, by which they were distinguished from all other nations,
“Covenants” ~ The covenant with Abraham, and the covenant at Sinai, in both of which they were interested, and all the solemn engagements which God had entered into with mankind, were lodged in
their hands and committed to
their custody
“Giving of the law” ~ To them the law was given at Mount Sinai; and they were the only people on earth so distinguished by God.
“The service of God” ~ This refers to the tabernacle and temple service, or Mosaic institutions of worship.
All other nations were left to their own superstitious inventions; the Jews
alone had ordinances of worship from God.
“Promises” ~ The Jews had received the promises, both temporal and spiritual, especially those that related to the Messiah. These all were pure acts of
God's sovereignty toward them as a nation. The next verse is very self explanatory, so I'll move on to verse 6.
Romans 9"6~"Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel:"
“
Not as though” ~ That is, my grief for the state of the Jewish nation, and their rejection by God, does not imply that with regard to them anything said in the word of God has failed. Actually, God's will is right on course,
not that He purposed their fall, but God
knew what the Jews would do
if grace was withheld as it was with all other nations!
“For they are not all Israel which are of Israel” ~ Here is
the explanation of the mystery that the Jews, as a nation, had rejected the Messiah: they are not all
true Israelites in the spiritual sense of
God's promises and oath, as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were, and millions more.
The Jews might object, and say that if they were cast off and rejected, then God is unfaithful, and His promises are ineffectual. To this Paul answers by making a distinction
among Israelites. Some are Israelites only in respect of their carnal descent, and
others are children of the promise.
"The proposition of the Apostle, says Calvin, is that the promise was given in such a manner to Abraham and his seed, that the inheritance has no particular regard to every one of his descendants; and it hence follows, as a consequence, that the revolt of certain individuals from the Lord, who derive their birth from the father of the faithful,
has no effect in preventing the stability, permanence, and steadfastness of the Divine covenant.
The common election of the Israelitish nation does not prevent the Sovereign of infinite holiness from choosing for Himself, according to His secret counsel, whatever portion of that people He has determined to save."When Paul says they are not all Israel which are of Israel, and afterwards, neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children, he includes all the descendants of the father of believers under one member of the sentence, and points out by the other those only who are true and genuine sons of the friend of God, and not a degenerate race.’
Through the remaining part of this chapter, the Apostle shows that the rejection of the Messiah by the great body of the Jewish nation was neither contrary to the promises nor the purpose of God, but had been predetermined and also typified in His dealings towards individuals among their progenitors, as recorded in the Scriptures, and also there predicted.
This furnishes an opportunity of more fully illustrating the doctrine of God’s sovereignty in choosing some to everlasting life, which had been spoken of in Romans 8:29-30. This is without question speaking of salvation to eternal life, and has no one thing to do with service as some labor in vain to prove.
I'll come back and finish this thought looking at verses that follow up to verse 11.
