Romans 10:21 – Patient and Merciful God

But to Israel he says: “All day long I have stretched out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people.”

Truth to Learn

God continues to reach out to even the most stubborn and rebellious sinner.

Behind the Words

The words “stretched out” are translated from ekpetannumi, which is made up of ek, meaning “from” or “out” and a form of petomai, meaning “to fly.” So literally it means “to fly out from.” By analogy it means “to stretch out” or “to stretch forth.”

“Disobedient” is from the Greek word apeithēs, which is made up of a, a negative particle and a form of peithō, meaning “to persuade, to convince, or to make someone believe.” Thus we see that apeithēs means “unwilling to be persuaded, unbelieving, or disobedient.”

The word “contrary” is translated from antilegō, which is composed of anti, meaning “against” and legō, meaning “to speak.” Hence, antilegō means “to speak against” or “to be argumentative.”

Meaning Explained

In the previous verse Paul quoted Isaiah 65:1 to establish the doctrine that God would, in fact, call the Gentiles to salvation. In the current verse Paul now quotes from Isaiah 65:2 in order to establish clearly that not only is God going to call the Gentiles, He is also going to reject the Jews, but only after extreme patience with them.

The most important things that we can learn from this verse, however, are not just that He rejected the Jews and received the Gentiles; rather, they are a couple of things for us to know about our God. In Paul’s quotation Isaiah is speaking for God when he says, “I have stretched out My hands all day long to a rebellious people, Who walk in a way that is not good, According to their own thoughts.”

The first thing we can learn about God from this is that He is long suffering. In this verse he says “all day long” which implies that not just for a single day but for an extended length of time God was, and is, willing to put up with our sinfulness and lack of interest in Him. The second thing we can learn about God is that He has an attitude of entreaty and a willingness and desire to receive rebellious sinners into His favor. This is indicated by the notion of His stretching forth His hands.

This does not mean that God doesn’t care about our attitude toward Him. Clearly, He wants us to submit ourselves to His authority and rule, and He wants us to commit to a way of life that pleases Him. But it does mean that when we fail in our attempts to be who and what He wants us to be, He is patient and understanding of us, waiting for us to confess our sinfulness so as to restore our fellowship with Him. This is all the more reason why we should be grateful to Him for his grace and His mercy.

Application

Just remember what our ultimate destination would be if He wasn’t patient and merciful and He gave us what we truly deserve! Thank you, God, for Your patience, Your mercy, and Your grace!

In God’s service, for His glory,

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