For the Scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor? What if God, willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much long suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory. Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? Romans 9: 17-24. These verses are commonly used to teach the idea that God creates some people destined to destruction but others destined to grace and mercy. On its own, these verses do seem to be teaching this view. But is this what Paul was really saying? To start off, consider the reference to Pharaoh. Verse 17 refers to Exodus 9: 16 which says... And in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up, for to show in thee my power; and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth. The clear point of this verse is that Pharaohs sitting on the throne of Egypt was entirely Gods doing in order to show judgment on Egypt for the enslavement of the Hebrews. Does this mean that Pharaoh was some kind of a robot, programmed only to refuse God and disobey his commands? No. For as much as the Bible says that God hardened Pharaohs heart,(see Exodus 4: 21; 7: 13 for a few verses) it also says several times that Pharaoh hardened his own heart. So, it seems that Pharaoh hardened his own heart (Exodus 8: 15; 8: 32 for a few verses)and refused God and then in judgment, God hardened his heart. God brought the wicked Pharaoh (who we know based on the most probable time of the Exodus to be Pharaoh Amenhotep II, with the year of the Exodus likely 1447 BC) to the throne and used Pharaohs refusal to heed God to bring judgment both on him and on an unrepentant nation. Thus God is arranging things to accomplish his own plan but at the same time, man is able to make his own choices, which choices God is perfectly able to use to bring about his own working for his glory. So, Pharaoh, it seems was refusing God and God was using that to bring judgment on Egypt to show his glory. Thus, Pharaoh himself was refusing and God used his stubbornness to accomplish his own ends and proclaim his own glory. It is the same in Deuteronomy 2: 30 when Sihons heart is hardened and he refuses to let Israel through and Joshua 11: 20 when it says For it was of the Lord to harden their hearts that they should come against Israel in battle, that he might destroy them utterly and that they might have no favor, but that he might destroy them as the Lord commanded Moses. -These people were unrepentant Canaanites and thus God was hardening their hearts in judgment for their wickedness. So it is obvious that men and women can make their own choices, but it is also true that God sets them in certain places at certain times because of this, using their refusal to fear the Lord for his righteous ends and brings judgment upon them when they do not repent of their evil deeds. We see this in 2nd Chronicles 20: 6 when it says And said, O Lord God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? and rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee? The point is that men can make their own choices but God is in control over all things and no man, woman or angel can challenge his authority. For verse 20, which says Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?, we need to look at the sixteenth verse of Isaiah 29, which is what this verse is referencing.... Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potters clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding? Isaiah 29: 16 Isaiah here was speaking to the unbelievers in Israel (which was at the time divided into two, Israel and Judah, Israel falling to Assyria in the middle of Isaiahs prophetic career) and he is addressing their refusal to honor or acknowledge the Lord. He is rebuking their attempts to hide from God and deny him and compares them to the works of the potter denying that there is a potter who made them in existence. This verse is simply referring to unbelievers denying God and accusing him of doing things wrong. No human being has the right to accuse God of wrong doing. Verse 21 says Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor? To understand this verse, one must look at the section of Scripture that Paul referred to here. That section is Jeremiah 18: 1-17, which says.... The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, Arise and go down to the potters house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words. Then I went down to the potters house, and, behold, he wrought a work upon the wheels. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the Lord. Behold, as the clay is in the potters hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel. At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it; If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; if it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them. Now therefore, go to, speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you: return ye now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good. And they said, There is no hope: but we will walk after our own devices, and will every one do the imagination of his evil heart. Therefore thus saith the Lord; Ask ye now among the heathen, who hath heard such things: the virgin of Israel hath done a very horrible thing. Will a man leave the snow of Lebanon which cometh from the rock of the field? or shall the cold flowing waters that come from another place be forsaken? Because my people hath forgotten me, they have burned incense to vanity, and they have caused them to stumble in their ways from the ancient paths, to walk in paths, in a way not cast up; to make their land desolate, and a perpetual hissing: everyone that passeth thereby shall be astonished, and shake his head. I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy; I will show them the back, and not the face, in the day of their calamity. Jeremiah 18: 1-17 Here, Jeremiah had been told by God to go to the Potters House. He went and observed the potter making a vessel of clay. Part of the clay was ruined and so the Potter remade the vessel into something as he deemed appropriate. God says to Israel that they were in his hand as the clay was in the potters. God then says that if he has pronounced judgment on a nation, but that nation repents, God will not do what he had planned to do but rather the wicked shall be made righteous. He made a vessel of dishonor as a vessel of honor. See the example of the Assyrian capitol of Ninevah and how they reacted to Jonahs message... So Jonah arose, and went unto Ninevah, according to the word of the Lord. Now Ninevah was an exceeding great city of three days journey. And Jonah began to enter into the city a days journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days and Ninevah shall be overthrown. So the people of Ninevah believed God, and proclaimed a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. For word came unto the king of Ninevah, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Ninevah by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water: but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not? And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not. Jonah 3: 3-10 It must be stressed here that when the word evil is mentioned in relation to God performing it, it always refers to calamity and judgment. A righteous God devises calamity upon an unrepentant people and on unrepentant individuals but if they repent, he does not do what he intended to do but rather by his grace, they are made righteous in his sight. The vessel of dishonor is remade by the potter as a vessel of honor. Conversely, God takes those he has promised good to and turns away from the blessings he pronounced upon them if they do not honor his ways. Even the believer who has been saved through the grace of Christ can be disobedient, sometimes to the point that God has to remove them from this world. (2 Corinthians 12: 30). Believers are not exempt from judgment. Even true believers, while not in danger of losing salvation, will have to give an account before the Lord of all their actions (2 Corinthians 5: 10). Take into account the differences between Ninevah of the Assyrian Empire in around 750 BC and Judah of 620 BC. The Ninevites heard the message and responded to the Lords conviction in repentance and God spared them from the judgment promised. Judah, on the other hand, did not respond to Gods conviction in repentance, but rather continued to shake their fists in his face and not heed his warning and thus God brought the judgment as promised and they were conquered by Babylon and sent into exile. Thus, we can see with the cross reference between Romans 9: 21 and Jeremiah 18 that the vessels of honor and dishonor are not referring to God predestining most to damnation and a few to salvation- rather, it is referring to the fact that when a person is unrepentant, that person is in Gods hands being made as a vessel of dishonor, but if they would repent of their way, God would remake them as a vessel of honor. Thus the meaning of the potter making a vessel, the clay becoming marred and the potter then making it into another vessel as he saw fit. A person who does not repent is as a vessel of dishonor but if they repent then they are remade into a vessel of honor. In all of this, man has the choice to repent or not repent when the Lord convicts but all the same man is still in the hands of God and God works both scenarios for his glory. He shows his glory in his righteous judgment on the unrepentant and in his undeserved mercy on those who do respond to his call in repentance. What then, do we make of the following verse...What if God, willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much long suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:? We can conclude that this passage speaks to Gods desire that all men repent and be saved.... For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth on him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3: 16 I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior; who desires to have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. 1 Timothy 2: 1-4 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. 2 Peter 3: 9 My little children, these things write I unto you that ye may not sin. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. 1 John 2: 9. This verse showing that all who are saved have an intercessor with God the Father who is God the Son, Jesus himself who shed his blood to cover sins. The verse then says that this propitiation was offered for the whole world. The blood of Christ is shed for the remission of sins and thus pertains only to the Church, to those who are in Christ but everyone is being given an invitation to come to Christ and thus given the opportunity to respond to God in repentance or unrepentance. So then, it can be concluded that when God bears the vessels of wrath with longsuffering, it is because he desires that those unrepentant would repent of their ways and turn to him that he may show his mercy upon them. But if they will not repent when he pleads with them, God must then bring the judgment which he had planned upon them. And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? Romans 9: 23-24. Gods glory is made known when the vessels of mercy, those who repented when the Lord called them to repent are made recipients of his mercy. Just as his glory is shown when the unrepentant, who are the vessels of wrath, who refuse to honor the Lord are judged for their wickedness, so too is his glory shown when those who respond to him in repentance are given his undeserved mercy. It is his longing and desire that those who are refusing Christ would not refuse him but come to him in repentance over their sin that he might save them and show his mercy unto them! So what, then, do we make of Pauls words in Romans 9 (other than the fact that theyre inspired by the Holy Spirit)? It is that all men and women are in the hand of God and responsible to him. It is that he brings about all things for his glory while very much using the decisions and actions of sinful man to bring all things about for his glory. He has made those who refuse God as vessels of dishonor and wrath and those who respond to him in repentance as vessels of honor and mercy. His glory is made known by the undeserved mercy on the vessels of mercy who turn to him in repentance and in the judgment of the vessels of wrath who refuse his call to repentance. It is that he is not willing that even the vessels of wrath should perish but is longsuffering, desiring their salvation but bringing the judgment when his patience is exhausted. That then, is the meaning of these verses in Romans 9 and also the reason for which the Lord commanded that the Gospel message be preached to all the world. The Lord is calling everyone to repentance, but only a very few will hear and respond in repentance. Christ is being offered to everyone, but most will sadly not respond to him in repentance that they might be saved.
Posted on: Sun, 24 Nov 2013 02:53:22 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015