Romans 10:12 ¶ For there is
no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich
unto all that call upon him. 13 For
whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. 14 How then shall they call on him in whom they
have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not
heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? 15 And how shall they preach, except they be
sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the
gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For
Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? 17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the word of God. 18 But I
say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and
their words unto the ends of the world. 19
But I say, Did not Israel know? First Moses saith, I will provoke you to
jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I
will anger you. 20 But Esaias is very
bold, and saith, I was found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest
unto them that asked not after me. 21
But to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands
unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.
Here, Greek is used to signify Gentiles or non-Jews in general as
it is used elsewhere by Paul; in chapter one, verse 16, in Galatians 3:28, and
in Colossians 3:11.
Romans 1:16 For I am not
ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to
every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
Galatians 3:28 There is
neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male
nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
Colossians 3:11 Where there
is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian,
bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.
Greek culture was the dominant culture and even Romans could speak
Greek. Greek gods, Greek language, and Greek cultural practices permeated the
Roman world. The new capital of the Roman Empire, Constantinople, built by the
first so-called Christian emperor, Constantine, in the fourth century, was a
Greek speaking city and culture even though up until it finally fell to the
Ottoman Turks in 1453 it’s people were still called Romans by themselves and
their enemies. The lesson you were taught in school that the Roman Empire fell
in 476AD was a lie. The western half of it collapsed and was divided into more
petty kingdoms and consumed by weaker empires but Rome continued as an empire
until 1453AD with its headquarters at what is today called Istanbul, Turkey. It
was a Greek speaking, Greek cultural empire. Hence, Paul could refer to all
non-Jews as Greeks.
Whoever calls on the name of the Lord can be saved. That is a
fundamental fact of Christianity. It is very inclusive as a religion and, as
the evangelists insist, is about a relationship with your Creator rather than a
religion. The Lord’s name in His flesh was and is Jesus Christ.
John 14:6 Jesus saith unto
him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but
by me.
Acts 4:12 Neither is there
salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among
men, whereby we must be saved.
The importance of telling others about Christ is then underscored.
The Apostles were sent to spread the gospel. Apostle means a sent one, he that
is sent, according to Strong’s dictionary.
Isaiah 52:7 ¶ How beautiful
upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that
publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation;
that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!
Verse 16 refers back to;
Isaiah 53:1 ¶ Who hath
believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?
Verse 17 reinforces the importance of God’s word in salvation.
Hebrews 4:12 For the word
of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing
even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow,
and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 13 Neither is there any creature that is not
manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him
with whom we have to do.
Paul then goes on to show that neither Jew nor Greek has any
excuse not to know of God or of His words as expressed in the Old Testament.
I’ve pointed out before how the Greeks probably came into contact with the Old
Testament centuries prior to this.
In my comments on Genesis 25 I talked about the understanding of
the Greek word Hades for a place that contained not only a place of punishment
but a paradise, as existed Biblically before the resurrection of Christ.
“The
Greeks, flowering as an intellectual culture much later around the 5th
century BC, had great contact with the Ancient Near East as mercenaries,
traders, and settlers before that and derived their concept of Hades from the
Hebrews. Greek philosophers stated that they did not know the origin of their
mythology but the first mention of Hades is in Homer, writing perhaps in the 9th
century BC, nearly a thousand years after Abraham’s life and three hundred to
four hundred after Moses’ put the account in writing. The 9th
century BC is also the time when most scholars believe that the Greeks derived
their alphabet from the Phoenicians who we will see derived it from the Hebrews
who got it from God at Mount Sinai. Before then, picture writing was used by
the cultures of the world, from the Sumerians on the plain of Shinar, called Cuneiform,
to the Egyptians, called Hieroglyphics, to China, and even down to the
civilizations of South and Central America over two thousand years later.
As
an example of Greek involvement in the Near East, when Nebuchadnezzar and
Pharaoh Necho’s armies fought at Carchemish (Jeremiah 46) both sides used Greek
mercenaries extensively. In addition, a prophet lamented how Hebrew
children had been taken as slaves to Greece. (Joel 3:6). There were Greek
cultural influences in the Near East and Greek language influences as well.
However, the Greeks who wrote about Hades wrote after this period of time and
were influenced by what they learned from the Hebrews as they were by what they
learned about other cultures’ practices and beliefs. The Greeks themselves even
admitted they learned a great deal in Egypt and the Near East. In the later
Greek myth, Hades was a place for not only the wicked but the good persons’
souls to abide after death while Tartarus was where their supreme god, Zeus,
cast the Titans, giants, and there were different places for enjoyment and
punishment based on a person’s behavior in life as well as their relationship
to the gods. In the Ancient world, then, it was understood that the abode of
the dead, good or bad, was in one location.”
Then,
in comments on Numbers 19, discussing the red heifer.
“Greeks were prominent in
the ancient Near East as colonists and mercenaries. Their religious myths were
formed in the first millennium BC. They had a lot of contact with Hebrews as
merchants and with Hebrews as captured slaves.
Joel 3:6 The children also
of Judah and the children of Jerusalem have ye sold unto the Grecians, that ye
might remove them far from their border.
They probably
developed their mythologies of the red heifer from their contact with the
Hebrews. The red heifer was sacred to the Greek god Apollo. The god Hermes
stole Apollo’s red heifers and to placate his anger Hermes created the lyre, a
musical instrument. This was developed much later than our narrative here.”
The
point is that neither Jew nor Greek can rightfully proclaim ignorance of God’s
words.
Verse
19 relates to a warning, a threat, made by Moses, a prophecy in a song. Read
Deuteronomy 31:29 through chapter 32 and context around Deuteronomy 32:21. The
Gentiles are the people, the accursed, despised non-Jews whom Paul is talking
about in this verse.
Isaiah
40:17 All nations before him are as
nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.
As
Jesus Himself warned;
Luke 13:28 There shall be
weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob,
and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out.
29 And they shall come from
the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall
sit down in the kingdom of God. 30 And,
behold, there are last which shall be first, and there are first which shall be
last.
John 10:16 And other sheep
I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear
my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.
For verses 20 and 21 Isaiah wrote;
Isaiah 65:1 ¶ I am sought
of them that asked not for me; I am found of them that sought me not: I said,
Behold me, behold me, unto a nation that was not called by my name. 2 I have spread out my hands all the day unto a
rebellious people, which walketh in a way that was not good, after their own
thoughts;
No comments:
Post a Comment