Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways intraceable!
Truth to Learn
God has given us a gift of immeasurable worth.
Behind the Words
The word translated “depth” is the Greek word bathos. This word literally does mean “depth,” but by interpretation it refers to the profundity or the extent of something.
Anexeraunētos is the Greek word translated “unsearchable.” It is made up of the privative a, meaning “not” and the noun form of exereunaō, which means “to search out.” So this Greek word refers to something that no one can completely search out. The implication is that his judgments are unquestionable because no one could ever completely understand all that went into them.
“Riches” is translated from ploutos, which refers to “monetary wealth, richness, or abundance of possessions.” So what Paul is proclaiming in the opening part of this verse is how vast and extensive is the abundance of value of both God’s knowledge and of His wisdom.
The word translated “intraceable” is anexichniastos, which is made up of the privative a, meaning “not” and the noun form of exichniadzō, which means “to explore.”
Meaning Explained
Throughout this eleventh chapter of the book of Romans, Paul has been demonstrating why it was necessary for the Israelites to be rejected. But he also teaches that they will someday be brought back into the fold. In this and the following three verses he will now step back to acknowledge and admire the wisdom and sovereignty of God.
He proclaims that no one can completely search out or fully comprehend God’s judgments, nor can anyone discover the fullness of God’s way of doing things. This can surely be applied to God’s plan of election. We certainly can’t understand why He chose whom He did, especially since we know that none of us deserve it.
We who are in the Church age should consider ourselves quite fortunate that we have as much insight as we do into God’s redemptive plan, both for the Gentiles and for the Jews. Many of the truths that are contained in the New Testament were foretold by the Prophets of old, and yet they didn’t understand fully even that which they were prophesying about. Not only that, but we are privy to the truth of God’s grace in a way that even the angels of heaven can’t experience . However, they are desirous of looking into and learning about these things. Both these facts are pointed out by the Apostle Peter in 1 Peter 1:10-12 which says:
Of this salvation the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, have sought diligently and searched carefully, searching what person, or what time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things which angels long to look into.
At the risk of using a word which is heavily overused and barely understood, let me ask, “Isn’t our God awesome?!”
Application
Do you realize the extreme value of your salvation? Even the richest person who has ever lived could not purchase a “get out of Hell” pass. And yet, we who have believed God’s truth about our sinfulness and Christ’s sacrificial death will not have to pay the penalty for our sins. God has paid it for us. Our gift came in the form of a little baby, born in poverty, in a stable among farm animals. Let’s thank God for our free gift!
In God's service, for His glory,
Copyright © 2018 Will Krause. All rights reserved
