ISB ~ Romans 9 v1 - 11

The middle section of Romans turns from the salvation of the world in general (chaps. 1-8) to the salvation of Israel in particular (chaps. 9-11). Faced with a theological and pastoral conundrum, Paul takes the opportunity to explain how God’s election of Israel in the past is perfectly consistent with Israel’s widespread rejection of the gospel in the present. His discussion is difficult to follow because the argument winds through a dense forest of echoes, allusions, and citations from the OT. In general, Paul follows the story line of Israel’s history set forth in the Bible:he starts with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (9:6-13), moves through the Exodus (9:14-18), looks at the Exile (9:25-29), draws on passages about the time of restoration (10:1-21), and ends with a vision of Jacob-Israel saved in the New Covenant (11:26-27). Nearly a third of all Paul’s references to the Hebrew Scriptures in the entire collection of his writings are packed into these three chapters.