Chapter # 9 Paragraph # 4 Study # 3
March 4, 2018
Humble, Texas
(036)
1769 Translation:
22 [
What] if God, willing to shew [
his] wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:
23 And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,
24 Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?
25 As he saith also in Osee, I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved.
26 And it shall come to pass, [
that] in the place where it was said unto them, Ye [
are] not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God.
27 Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved:
28 For he will finish the work, and cut [
it] short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth.
29 And as Esaias said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodoma, and been made like unto Gomorrha.
1901 ASV Translation:
22 What if God, willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering vessels of wrath fitted unto destruction:
23 and that he might make known the riches of his glory upon vessels of mercy, which he afore prepared unto glory,
24 [
even] us, whom he also called, not from the Jews only, but also from the Gentiles?
25 As he saith also in Hosea, I will call that my people, which was not my people; And her beloved, that was not beloved.
26 And it shall be, [
that] in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, There shall they be called sons of the living God.
27 And Isaiah crieth concerning Israel, If the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, it is the remnant that shall be saved:
28 for the Lord will execute [
his] word upon the earth, finishing it and cutting it short.
29 And, as Isaiah hath said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, We had become as Sodom, and had been made like unto Gomorrah.
- I. The "Desire" of God.
- A. Paul sets forth the base-line rationale for God's "irresistible" determination to "show mercy" and to "harden".
- B. At issue is the relationship between the expressed "desire" within the context of turning that "desire" into "irresistible intention".
- 1. The nature of the "desire".
- a. On the surface: a "desire" to bring two hidden realities to light.
- 1) The specific terms involved in bringing things to the possibility of human understanding.
- a) The term "demonstrate" (NASB) is a word that means "to bring an unknown reality into focus by tangible means". It is much like both telescope and microscope; both bring unseen realities into the range of human eyes so that those eyes are no longer prevented from "seeing" by the pre-sets of size and distance restrictions.
- b) The term "known" is more widely used than "demonstrate", but it is also pretty much tied to one specific method: verbal declaration. "Demonstrate" is open to pretty much any means that has the capacity to create understanding, while "make known" is deliberately limited to speech (with maybe two exceptions).
- 2) The specific issues concerning which human beings need at least some level of understanding.
- a) The "wrath" of God. The issue of "wrath" is "Just Recompense" where each sinful attitude, choice, and action is met with what "Justice" requires in recompense.
- b) The "power" of God. The issue here is "more than" that of Romans 1:20 where man is rendered "without excuse". It is a deeper revelation that Paul takes up in 9:23 by clarifying what is "made known".
- b. On a deeper level: a "desire" to make human/angelic participation in "Life" greater.
- 1) Infinity will always make "exhaustive" participation impossible: there are pre-sets, dictated by creation itself and governed by the principles of "promise/faith" and the attendant "rewards" (i.e., the judgment seat of Christ as He sits to reward His servants). The text of 9:23 speaks of "the wealth of His glory" as it puts forth this scenario of making participation in "Life" a possibility.
- 2) But there is a significant difference between "exhaustive" and "impossible". There are to be no areas of the divine glory that remain out of reach even though none of those areas can be exhaustively plumbed.
- 2. The transition from "desire" to "intention".
- a. "Desire" might well be attached to the attitudes, choices, and actions of others so that it may, or may not, be fulfilled.
- b. "Intention" moves into the realm of God's own attitudes, choices, and actions so that His commitments rest solely upon Him alone.
- II. The Requirements of "Intention".
- A. He had to "endure" vessels of wrath.
- 1. The word translated "endure" is widely used and typically indicates "taking an action toward an end", with that action being sometimes a difficult burden and other times little more than mere speech.
- 2. For "wrath" to be revealed-unto-understanding, there had to be "objects of wrath". Nothing is said of Jesus being the primary "object of wrath" when "He was made to be sin for us", but His subjection to wrath was, beyond debate, the hardest thing God ever did.
- 3. This "endurance" was coupled to "much long-suffering" so that a sufficient amount of time could reveal the greatness of the evil and the long-suffering.
- 4. He had to "generate" "vessels of wrath" by "fitting" them unto destruction.
- a. This is where the "hardening" comes into play with men hardening themselves unto the fullness of their participation in the mystery of iniquity and with God sometimes speeding the process by His own "hardening" of them.
- b. The "fitting" is a perfect passive participle indicating a process that ultimately reaches its apex.
- B. He had to also enter into the process of "preparation unto glory" with some who were to be His "vessels of mercy".