ROMANS UNWRAPPED 157

"Who are Israelites; to whom pertains the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of law, and the service of God, and the promises; whose are the fathers, and of whom, as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all God blessed forever.  Amen"    Romans 9v4&5

Paul now reminds his readers of the privileges given to the nation of Israel; as much as he regrets their present position he reminds of their responsibilities to the God who chose them out of the nations.   That God chose Israel from all the nations of the earth is not in question; what we need to understand is what God is doing here.   He is acting like an analyst in a laboratory, who in order to establish the nature of any material, he will take a small sample and put it through a series of tests.   This is what God is doing with the nation of Israel.   He separated them from the nations, gave them enormous privileges, put them through various tests in order to establish the nature of the entire human race.   God Himself always knew the nature of mankind, but in doing it this way He demonstrates to us just what we are.   Given all the privileges and divine resources made available to them Israel miserably failed to live up to the standard of God, and so become a revelation of the human condition.

There are nine privileges listed:

• ISRAELITES   -   The title given to Jacob the supplanter, the identity thief, the deceiver who became a prince with God.   Israel occurs 2,576 times in all the bible and means literally a prince with God - God's aristocracy.
• THE ADOPTION   -   Refer to Exodus 4v22-23  -  "Israel is my son, my firstborn."   Just as a firstborn enjoyed all the privilege and rank above all others in the family so Israel were placed in a privileged position above all the nations of the earth; this is not apparent even now but it will be in the future.   Deuteronomy 4v7   "For what nation is there so great whom hath God so nigh unto them."   2nd Samuel 7v23  "And what one nation in the earth is like unto Thy people like Israel?"   This of course refers to national adoption as opposed to individual adoption for the furtherance of the purposes of God.  
• THE GLORY   -   The shekinah cloud, the external symbol of the divine presence amongst His people; elsewhere referred to as "the glory of the Lord."   This presence was a great privilege but it was conditional and sometimes because of ungodly behavior it was withdrawn.  
• THE COVENANTS   -   No time here to go into the details but they are as follows:  Abrahamic covenant (Genesis 15 v7 - 21; Genesis 17v1-14).   Palestinian covenant  (to do with the land) (Deuteronomy chapter 29 - chapter 30).  Mosaic covenant (Exodus 19 v5-8).   Davidic covenant  (to do with the throne)  (2nd Samuel 7 v5-19 & Psalm 89).   The new covenant  (Jeremiah 31 v 31-36).   It is a fruitful study to familiarize ourselves with all these covenants knowing that they were an agreement between God and Israel. 
• THE LAW   -   Israel were guardians,  custodians of the divine moral law.   No other religion could claim their law came directly from God.   Refer to Deuteronomy 4 v 6; Psalm 147v19; Romans 2 v 12.  
• THE RELIGIOUS SERVICE   -   The tabernacle, the temple the priesthood, the daily worship, all maintaining closeness to God.   According to the Lord Jesus in John chapter 4v22-23 only they worshipped knowingly, all other nations worshipped ignorantly.   Only to Israel was given the true worship of God.  
• THE PROMISES   -   These are contained in the great  "I will" statements of holy scripture.   Genesis chapter 12  "I will make of thee a great nation"; "I will bless thee"; "I will make thy name great"; "I will bless them that bless thee"; "I will curse him that curseth thee"; "In thy name shall all families of the earth be blessed."   Readers are also advised to consult Isaiah 41 v 10-11.
• THE FATHERS   -   The patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.   The progenitors of the greatest nation on earth (yet to be fulfilled).   God  often identified Himself with the three patriarchs.    No less than 20 times in the bible from Exodus 3v6 to Acts 7v32.  
• OUT OF WHOM CHRIST THE MESSIAH   -   The anointed One, the One who would fulfill all God's purposes and promises and through whom He would bless the entire world.   Son of David, Son of Abraham, wholly God yet truly human, born in Israel and to Israel for the blessing of the world at large.

At this crucial and defining point, the nation stumbled and rejected the Messiah to which all their history had pointed and from whom all blessings would flow.   The salutary lesson for all of us here is that with privilege comes responsibility.   We live in a day when human rights are very much to the fore, and what we need to be hearing is more about human responsibilities.   Israel were given great privilege, but did not live up to it.   We all need to take heed.