Tag Archives: Romans 9:16-18

Who Am I? Part 15

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This is a continuation of my consideration of “5 Bible Passages That Caused Me to Lose My Faith” by Kristi Burke. Her first Bible passage was “Romans 9…the starting point of my deconstruction journey.”1 Though she began with verse 16, I started at the beginning of the chapter to gain some context.

What shall we say then? Paul continued. Is there injustice with God?2 He asked rhetorically in direct response to God’s preference for Jacob over Esau even before they were born or had done anything good or bad.3 But I think one could apply his rhetorical question to his contention that not all those who are descended from Israel are truly Israel4 as well (Romans 9:14b, 15 NET):

Is there injustice with God? Absolutely not! For he says to Moses: “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion” [Table].

According to a note (29) in the NET Paul quoted from Exodus 33:19. At the very moment when people may have thought that in the law they had the ultimate knowledge of good and evil, at the very moment some people were authorized to judge others by that law, God freed Himself from human judgments based on law (Exodus 33:19 NET [Table]).

And the Lord said, “I will make all my goodness pass before your face, and I will proclaim the Lord by name before you; I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious; I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy.”

Ms. Burke said:5

I was an evangelist. So, I believed in going out to my communities and spreading the word and trying to win as many souls as possible, because I looked around and there were people going to hell and I didn’t want that to happen.

And when I was seventeen-years-old I was introduced to the concept of Calvinism. And when I was introduced to this I said, “No way. There is no way that god created people just to go to hell.”

She was offended by a concept called “non-election,” to those who would be the “non-elect.” John Piper was quoted in an interview in “Do the Non-Elect Have a Chance to Repent?” on desiringGod online:

The first truth is, from all eternity God has chosen from among the entire fallen, sinful humanity a people for himself — but not everyone. Thus, this selection is owing to no merit at all in those chosen people. God pursues their salvation not only by effectively achieving the atonement for their sin through Christ, but also by sovereignly overcoming all their rebellion and bringing them to saving faith.

And Daniel R. Hyde wrote in “What Does Predestination Mean for the Non-Elect?”:

A simple reading of Scripture shows that not only are some chosen to salvation in God’s eternal purpose, but some are not. Those Scripture passages that teach God’s election of a particular people unto salvation also teach God’s non-election of others.

Ms. Burke continued:

And then I read Romans 9.

As confirmation that Paul wrote “that god created people just to go to hell,” she quoted Romans 9:16-24 (NIV):

It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy [Table]. For Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.

One of you will say to me: “Then why does God still blame us? For who is able to resist his will?” [Table] But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’” Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use?

What if God, although choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction? What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory—even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?

Ms. Burke presented a “Before” and “After” account of her encounter with Romans 9:

Before

After
Up until the point that I read and studied and chewed on the words in Romans 9, I believed in a god who created all people, gave them free will and that he wanted all people to be saved but he couldn’t violate their free will to save them. And that it was the most loving thing he could do to give people freedom. And within that freedom they could either choose him and go to heaven or they could reject him and go to hell. And that would be entirely their choice. It says starting in verse 16, “It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy,” meaning: there is nothing about you that can come to God and choose. God has to choose you.

She was correct that Romans 9:16 called her initial belief that people had the “freedom” to “either choose [Jesus] and go to heaven or they could reject him and go to hell” into serious question. But consider this:

Romans 9:16 (NET)

Romans 11:32 (NET)
So then, it does not depend on human desire or exertion, but on God who shows mercy. For God has consigned all people to disobedience so that he may show mercy to them all.

I consider this Paul’s couplet on God’s mercy in Romans 9-11. Granted, the Greek word translated shows mercy (NIV: mercy) was ἐλεῶντος, a participle of the verb ἐλεέω in the genitive case. And he may show mercy (NIV: he may have mercy) was the verb ἐλεήσῃ another form of the verb ἐλεέω. It was translated may show or may have mercy because it is in the subjunctive mood.6

The subjunctive mood indicates probability or objective possibility. The action of the verb will possibly happen, depending on certain objective factors or circumstances. It is oftentimes used in conditional statements (i.e. ‘If…then…’ clauses) or in purpose clauses.

The Greek word translated so that was ἵνα, making he may show mercy to them all (NIV: he may have mercy on them all) “a purpose or result clause.” The definition of the subjunctive mood continued:7

However if the subjunctive mood is used in a purpose or result clause, then the action should not be thought of as a possible result, but should be viewed as a definite outcome that will happen as a result of another stated action.

In other words, he shows mercy to them all (NIV: he has mercy on them all). The most common limit placed on all here is to assume that Paul meant only those who believe:

For God has consigned all people to disobedience so that he may show mercy to…all who believe.

Before her encounter with Romans 9 Ms. Burke might have limited all further still, to all who believe of their own free will:

For God has consigned all people to disobedience so that he may show mercy to…all who believe of their own free will.

Part of the beauty of this verse is that the Greek words translated all are τοὺς πάντας in the first clause as well as in the second. So, if we limit all in the second clause, we should place the same limit on the first clause:

For God has consigned all people who believe of their own free will to disobedience so that he may show mercy to…all who believe of their own free will.

That sounds odd, but it points to what Ms. Burke might have wanted it to say. And please don’t think I’m picking on her. Before my encounter with Romans 9 (among other passages) I wanted, even expected, this verse to say:

For God has consigned all people who do not believe of their own free will to disobedience so that he may show mercy to…all who believe of their own free will.

And this is precisely what this verse does not say. So, I want to repeat some of the previous verses while bearing in mind that God shows mercy to all (Romans 9:16-18 NIV).

It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy [Table]. For Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.

Ms. Burke responded:8

It says in verse 18: “Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.” When Christians talk about, you have a hardened heart against God, the Bible says that God’s the one that hardened it.

Actually, Paul wrote that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart for a very specific purpose at a specific time: that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. Nothing about that statement implies that God is responsible for every hardened heart. People are quite capable of hardening their hearts all on their own.

Jesus described God’s understanding of marriage to some Pharisees who questioned Him about divorce (Matthew 19:6-8 NET):

“So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” They said to him, “Why then did Moses command us to give a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her?” Jesus said to them, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because of your hard hearts, but from the beginning it was not this way” [Table].

Though God hardened Pharaoh’s heart for a specific purpose at a specific time, it’s always important to remember that God shows mercy to all as well. Paul continued (Romans 9:19-22 NIV):

One of you will say to me: “Then why does God still blame us? For who is able to resist his will?” [Table] But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’” Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use?

What if God, although choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction?

The Greek word translated prepared here was κατηρτισμένα, a plural participle of the verb καταρτίζω in the middle voice. The definition of the middle voice in Greek Verbs (Shorter Definitions) on ntgreek.org online reads:

The Greek middle voice shows the subject acting in his own interest or on his own behalf, or participating in the results of the verbal action. In overly simplistic terms, sometimes the middle form of the verb could be translated as “the performer of the action actually acting upon himself” (reflexive action).

For example: “I am washing myself.” “I” is the subject of the sentence (performing the action of the verb) and yet “I” am also receiving the action of the verb. This is said to be in the “Middle Voice”. Many instances in the Greek are not this obvious and cannot be translated this literally.

In other words, people prepare themselves for destruction (ἀπώλειαν, a form of ἀπώλεια). But Jesus came to seek and to save the lost9 (τὸ ἀπολωλός) as a singular collective. Ms. Burke responded:10

If He has decided He wants to create you just to destroy you, then He’s going to do that. That’s his right you don’t get to question that. And realizing this changed everything about my perspective of God. Realizing this made me see a god who did not desire people to be saved but instead creates people as puppets, does what he wants with them and then tells them, you’re not allowed to question it. That is just in direct contradiction to any kind of a loving, kind, father god that I was taught growing up in the church. I was fed one version of god who was a loving father but I’m learning about this completely different god who intentionally creates people to go to hell.

This sounds so ominous, but remember Ms. Burke’s original description of “a loving, kind, father god”:

…god…created all people, gave them free will and…he wanted all people to be saved but he couldn’t violate their free will to save them.

So, by definition her “loving, kind, father god” was powerless to accomplish his own will. She continued:

…the most loving thing he could do [is] to give people freedom. And within that freedom they could either choose him and go to heaven or they could reject him and go to hell. And that would be entirely their choice.

Now she has chosen to “reject him and go to hell.” So, again, by her own definition “a loving, kind, father god” must let her go her own way since he is powerless to do otherwise. Frankly, that is not my experience of God, who tracked me down and drew me, sometimes kicking and screaming, to Himself: For God has consigned all people to disobedience so that he may show mercy to them all.11

Though Mr. Piper denied (“but not everyone,” he wrote) that God shows mercy to all, he gave an admirable description of that mercy:

Thus, this selection is owing to no merit at all in those chosen people. God pursues their salvation not only by effectively achieving the atonement for their sin through Christ, but also by sovereignly overcoming all their rebellion and bringing them to saving faith.

It becomes clear as one proceeds in Romans 9-11 that the so-called “non-elect” here were Paul’s people, [his] fellow countrymen, who are Israelites12 those of whom he wrote: I am telling the truth in Christ (I am not lying!), for my conscience assures me in the Holy Spirit—I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed—cut off from Christ—for [their] sake13 [Table]. If he believed that they were “intentionally” created “just to go to hell,” he was in a predicament very similar to Ms. Burke’s when she became an “evangelist.”

I believed in going out to my communities and spreading the word and trying to win as many souls as possible, because I looked around and there were people going to hell and I didn’t want that to happen.

She did this (of her own free will?), despite believing in an impotent god: though “he wanted all people to be saved…he couldn’t violate their free will to save them.” I’ll pick this up in another essay.

According to a note (33) in the NET Paul quoted from Exodus 9:16 in Romans 9:17. A table comparing the Greek of Paul’s quotation to the Septuagint follows.

Romans 9:17b (NET Parallel Greek)

Exodus 9:16 (Septuagint BLB) Table

Exodus 9:16 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ὅτι εἰς αὐτὸ τοῦτο ἐξήγειρα σε ὅπως ἐνδείξωμαι ἐν σοὶ τὴν δύναμιν μου καὶ ὅπως διαγγελῇ τὸ ὄνομα μου ἐν πάσῃ τῇ γῇ καὶ ἕνεκεν τούτου διετηρήθης ἵνα ἐνδείξωμαι ἐν σοὶ τὴν ἰσχύν μου καὶ ὅπως διαγγελῇ τὸ ὄνομά μου ἐν πάσῃ τῇ γῇ καὶ ἕνεκεν τούτου διετηρήθης, ἵνα ἐνδείξωμαι ἐν σοὶ τὴν ἰσχύν μου, καὶ ὅπως διαγγελῇ τὸ ὄνομά μου ἐν πάσῃ τῇ γῇ

Romans 9:17b (NET)

Exodus 9:16 (NETS)

Exodus 9:16 (English Elpenor)
For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may demonstrate my power in you, and that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth. And for this reason you have been spared in order that I might display in you my power and in order that my name might be proclaimed in all the land. And for this purpose hast thou been preserved, that I might display in thee my strength, and that my name might be published in all the earth.

2 Romans 9:14a (NET)

3 Romans 9:11a (NET) Table

4 Romans 9:6b (NET)

7 Ibid.

9 Luke 19:10b (NET)

11 Romans 11:32 (NET)

12 Romans 9:3b, 4a (NET)

13 Romans 9:1-3a (NET)

Fear – Exodus Part 2

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“Why have you done this and let the boys live?”[1] the king of Egypt accused the midwives.  Hebrew women are vigorous, they answered, they give birth before the midwife gets to them![2]  Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, “All sons that are born you must throw into the river, but all daughters you may let live.”[3]  But Moses’ mother disobeyed the law.  She hid her baby for three months.  Then she set him adrift in a papyrus basket, where Pharaoh’s daughter found him and raised him as her own.

In those days, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and observed their hard labor, and he saw an Egyptian man attacking a Hebrew man, one of his own people.  He looked this way and that and saw that no one was there, and then he attacked the Egyptian and concealed the body in the sand.[4]  Then he saw two Hebrew men fighting.  When he tried to break it up one of them said, “Who made you a ruler and a judge over us?  Are you planning to kill me like you killed that Egyptian?”  Then Moses was afraid (yârêʼ)[5], thinking, “Surely what I did has become known.”[6]

The rabbis who translated the Septuagint chose ἐφοβήθη (a form of φοβέω)[7] here.  There are no more occurrences of ἐφοβήθη in the New Testament.  By choosing this word however they have made Moses’ fear equivalent to Sarah’s fear when she lied to God about laughing at him.[8]  It was like Lot’s fear to live in Zoar after witnessing the destruction of the surrounding cities,[9] and Isaac’s fear to acknowledge Rebekah as his wife.[10]  It was like Jacob’s fear of Bethel the morning after his dream,[11] and when he heard that Esau was coming out to meet him on his return to Canaan.[12]

When Pharaoh heard [what Moses did to the Egyptian], he sought to kill Moses.  So Moses fled from Pharaoh and settled in the land of Midian…[13]  During that long period of time the king of Egypt died, and the Israelites groaned because of the slave labor.  They cried out, and their desperate cry because of their slave labor went up to God.[14]  And God responded (Exodus 3:1-5 NET).

Now Moses was shepherding the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to the mountain of God, to Horeb.  The angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from within a bush.  He looked – and the bush was ablaze with fire, but it was not being consumed!  So Moses thought, “I will turn aside to see this amazing sight.  Why does the bush not burn up?”  When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to look, God called to him from within the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!”  And Moses said, “Here I am.”  God said, “Do not approach any closer!  Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”

God added, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Then Moses hid his face, because he was afraid (yârêʼ) to look at God.[15]  In the Septuagint εὐλαβεῖτο (a form of εὐλαβέομαι) was used.  It does not occur in the New Testament but is close to εὐλαβηθεὶς, translated reverent regard in Hebrews: By faith Noah, when he was warned about things not yet seen, with reverent regard (εὐλαβηθεὶς, another form of εὐλαβέομαι) constructed an ark for the deliverance of his family.  Through faith he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.[17]

The Lord said [to Moses], “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt.  I have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows.  I have come down to deliver them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up from that land to a land that is both good and spacious, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the region of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.  And now indeed the cry of the Israelites has come to me, and I have also seen how severely the Egyptians oppress them.  So now go, and I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.”[18]

I think the rabbis who translated the Septuagint were wise to choose εὐλαβηθεὶς (a form of εὐλαβέομαι) here rather than φοβέω, a word that connotes flight.  The NET online definition of εὐλαβηθεὶς is a continuum from caution through wariness to reverence.  For Moses was not afraid to stand and argue with God:  “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, or that I should bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”[19] And his question prompted a couple of my own about the timing of God’s calling.  Wouldn’t it have been better to call a prince of Egypt for this diplomatic mission than a shepherd from Midian?   And certainly the moralist in me would prefer that God had called Moses before he became a murderer and a fugitive from justice.

To address my first question I turned to Paul:  For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will thwart the cleverness of the intelligent.”[20]  Paul quoted the prophetic word of God through Isaiah as a clear statement of God’s purpose and intent.  This is like an overarching theme with God.  Then Paul elaborated (1 Corinthians 1:26-31 NET Table):

Think about the circumstances of your call (κλῆσιν, a form of κλῆσις), brothers and sisters.  Not many were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were born to a privileged position.  But God chose what the world thinks foolish to shame the wise, and God chose what the world thinks weak to shame the strong.  God chose what is low and despised in the world, what is regarded as nothing, to set aside what is regarded as something, so that no one can boast in his presence.  He is the reason you have a relationship with Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

Given my upbringing and temperament it probably bears saying that Paul did not invent rules for God to obey.  He revealed what he heard from Christ or observed of God’s behavior in Scripture.  David was the youngest of Jesse’s sons (and a shepherd, by the way), not the eldest.  Jephthah was the illegitimate son of Gilead and a prostitute.  Solomon was apparently not the eldest of David’s sons with Bathsheba,[22] and David’s and Bathsheba’s relationship began as an adulterous affair, yet God called Solomon Jedidiah, beloved of the Lord.

As for Moses being a murderer and a fugitive from justice it is clear that God was working at (what I would call) cross-purposes.  If God sent me to gain the Israelites release from Pharaoh I would hope, and even prayer, that He would grant me favor with Pharaoh.  He told Moses, So now go, and I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.[23]  But I will harden his heart and he will not let the people go.[24]

It occurred to me years ago that one way God might have hardened Pharaoh’s heart was to grant him wealth, position, power and prestige without first humbling him to serve God.  As I imagine the scene now I see Moses, a murderer and fugitive from Egyptian justice, standing before the king of Egypt, saying, The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us.  So now, let us go three days’ journey into the wilderness, so that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.[25]  It was almost guaranteed that his heart would be hardened against such a request from such a man.  And if Egyptian justice had become forgetful of Moses’ crime as a prince in Egypt, Moses had become a Midianite shepherd.  Again Pharaoh’s heart was likely to be hardened, for everyone who takes care of sheep is disgusting (KJV, an abomination) to the Egyptians.[26]

I am in the heart now of the issues that Paul considered important when discussing election:  So then, it does not depend on human desire or exertion, but on God who shows mercy [Table].  For the scripture says to Pharaoh: “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may demonstrate my power in you, and that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.”  So then, God has mercy on whom he chooses to have mercy, and he hardens whom he chooses to harden.[27]

What was God’s response to Moses’ objection?  Surely I will be with you [literally, I AM with you], and this will be the sign to you that I have sent you: When you bring the people out of Egypt, you and they will serve God on this mountain.[28]  God opposes the proud, but he gives grace to the humble,[29] both James and Peter quoted from the Proverbs of Solomon.

Anyone called to the salvation of righteousness in Jesus Christ might feel just like Moses.  Who am I to love [my] enemy and pray for those who persecute [me], so that [I] may be like [my] Father in heaven?[30]  Who am I to Rejoice and be glad[31] when people insult [me] and persecute [me] and say all kinds of evil things about [me] falsely on account of [You]?[32]  I’m not one of the prophets.  Like Peter I might say, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!”[33]  But as He promised Moses, I AM with you, so He does not intend that I do righteousness on my own, but tapped into that infinite daily living stream of his Holy Spirit, relying on his love, his joy, his peace, his patience, his kindness, his goodness, his faithfulness, his  gentleness, and his self-control.  Against such things there is no law.[34]

Fear – Exodus, Part 3

[1] Exodus 1:18 (NET)

[2] Exodus 1:19 (NET)

[3] Exodus 1:22 (NET)

[4] Exodus 2:11, 12 (NET)

[6] Exodus 2:14 (NET)

[13] Exodus 2:15 (NET)

[14] Exodus 2:23 (NET)

[15] Exodus 3:6 (NET) Table

[17] Hebrews 11:7 (NET)

[18] Exodus 3:7-10 (NET)

[19] Exodus 3:11 (NET)

[20] 1 Corinthians 1:19 (NET)

[23] Exodus 3:10 (NET)

[24] Exodus 4:21b (NET)

[25] Exodus 3:18b (NET)

[26] Genesis 46:34b (NET)

[27] Romans 9:16-18 (NET)

[28] Exodus 3:12 (NET)

[30] Matthew 5:44b-45a (NET)

[31] Matthew 5:12a (NET)

[32] Matthew 5:11 (NET)

[33] Luke 5:8 (NET)