Romans 9:10 – Sovereign Above All
And not only this, but when Rebecca also had conceived by one man, even by our father Isaac
Truth to Learn
God is absolutely sovereign. His choices are His alone.
Behind the Words
The expression “by one man” is translated from ek enos koitēn. Ek means “out of,” and enos is the number “one.” The word koitēn is derived from the verb keimai, meaning “to lie down.” Koitēn refers to “a bed” and metaphorically refers to “the marriage bed.” By extension, it refers to “the man or his seed responsible for conception of a child.”
“Conceived” is translated from the Greek word echō, meaning “to have or to hold,” implying possession. Hence, a literal translation of the phrase “Rebecca also had conceived by one man” would be, “Rebecca also took possession from one bed.” However, in English this does carry the meaning intended. This is an example where a literal word-for-word translation is less appropriate than a paraphrase which carries a more accurate expression of the idea in English.
Meaning Explained
Paul has just told us that Isaac was the son of the promise whereas Ishmael was not. Ishmael, the first born of Abraham, should have received the blessing and should have been the inheritor of Abram’s lineage, but he was not because God does not honor the fleshly lineage but the spiritual lineage which only He can determine. God chose Isaac; He did not choose Ishmael.
It could be argued, however, that Ishmael was not the son of Abram’s wife but of her maid servant. Since he wasn’t the first son by Abraham’s wife, God choose to reject him. That is, his rejection was based on lineage after all. It could also be argued that perhaps God chose Isaac because Ishmael displayed jealousy and mocked Isaac when he was circumcised. We read about this in Genesis chapter twenty-one:
And the child grew, and was weaned: and Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned. And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had born unto Abraham, mocking. (Genesis 21:8, 9)
So we see that some could argue that God saw what kind of a person Ishmael was going to be and therefore did not choose him.
To counter these two potential arguments, Paul now highlights another situation among the patriarchs in which not only did God choose contrary to natural lineage, but He chose while the two were still unborn and had not demonstrated their character yet. This example will be of Jacob and Esau who were twins. Esau was the firstborn and, therefore, the rightful inheritor of the line of Isaac, but, as we will see in the next two verses, God chose Jacob.
Application
God is sovereign and He answers to no one; that is, He has supreme power and authority. He doesn’t have to answer to us and He doesn’t have to play by our rules because He makes all the rules. He always does that which is right and which will bring praise and glory to Himself no matter what we think is right. If He chooses to bless one person over another, there’s nothing we can say or do about it. God is sovereign above all!
In God’s service, for His glory,
Copyright © 2010 Will Krause. All rights reserved.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
If this message or this link was forwarded to you by a friend and you wish to receive future verses directly to your inbox, send an e-mail to: