ROMANS 10:19

“But I say, surely Israel did not know, did they? First Moses says, ‘I WILL MAKE YOU JEALOUS WITH THOSE WHO ARE NOT A NATION, WITH A FOOLISH NATION I WILL ANGER YOU.’”

Isn’t it frustrating when you have to repeat yourself? Telling the same thing over and over gets tiring. When your children were little, you found yourself, I am sure, repeating things to them. But you kept telling them with the hopes that they would eventually get it. And for the most part they did, didn’t they? Repetition is necessary at times.

Paul quotes from Deuteronomy 32:21 which says, “‘They have made Me jealous with what is not God; They have provoked Me to anger with their idols. So I will make them jealous with those who are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation,’” God warned the Jewish nation hundreds of years ago through Moses that He would use the Gentiles to show them His salvation is for everyone. Wow! That had plenty of warning, but they never seemed to get it.

APPLICATION

I don’t normally use a long quote from a commentator, but Matthew Henry has some great words of wisdom on this passage and the ones that follow that bear repeating. Read it more than once. “Did not the Jews know that the Gentiles were to be called in? They might have known it from Moses and Isaiah. Isaiah speaks plainly of the grace and favour of God, as going before in the receiving of the Gentiles. Was not this our own case? Did not God begin in love, and make himself known to us when we did not ask after him? The patience of God towards provoking sinners is wonderful. The time of God’s patience is called a day, light as day, and fit for work and business; but limited as a day, and there is a night at the end of it. God’s patience makes man’s disobedience worse, and renders that the more sinful. We may wonder at the mercy of God, that his goodness is not overcome by man’s badness; we may wonder at the wickedness of man, that his badness is not overcome by God’s goodness. And it is a matter of joy to think that God has sent the message of grace to so many millions, by the wide spread of his gospel.”

I love how he applies this to Gentiles as well as the Jews. We all have been told the story in one way or another. We have all heard or seen the Gospel message. Therefore, we cannot give excuses for not believing. No Jew could and no Gentile could. That still applies today. Especially with the technology we have around the world, the Gospel is presented in thousands of dialects and in just about every spot on the globe.

But we still have work to do. God will judge mankind one day, and if someone has not believed in the name of the Son of God and turned to Him for salvation, they will face an eternal hell. Let’s get busy for the kingdom. Today could be our last day on earth. Jesus could return tomorrow to take His bride away. Be diligent.

Father, You have warned us time and time again. You will judge us all one day. I am thankful I know I am Yours.