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Romans 9:9 – The Promise Keeper

Posted on August 2, 2010 by Will

Romans 9:9 – The Promise Keeper

For this is the word of promise: “At this time I will come and Sarah shall have a son.”

Truth to Learn

God always keeps His promises to us.

Behind the Words

“At this time” is translated from kata ton kairon touton. The word kata means “down” but metaphorically it is used to express the relationship one thing has toward another. In this use it is often translated “according to.” The word kairon expresses “a period of opportunity.” It really has no English equivalent but can loosely be translated here as “an opportune time” or “a season.” Hence, a literal translation of this phrase could be, “according to this opportune time” or “according to this season.” We can interpret this to mean “at about this time next year.”

Meaning Explained

Paul is explaining that even though the Jews had all the special privileges as the children of Israel (Jacob), they were not all righteous. This is because that righteousness does not come from lineage but from the imputation of righteousness by God’s own choosing. The children of the flesh are not the children of God, the children of the promise are.

Paul now reminds his countrymen of the promise that was made to Abraham. A more literal translation of the open phrase of this verse is “this word is one of promise.” In other words, this is not THE promise made to Abraham, but it is one example of a promise that God made to him and it certainly ties into the earlier promise:

Now the LORD had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing.” (Genesis 12:1-2)

In keeping with the promise to make the name of Abraham great and to make him a blessing, God later promised Abraham a son. That son, however, was not to come for nearly twenty-five years. After twenty-four years, God again told Abraham that he would have a son (in addition to Ishmael) and Paul quotes this promise from Genesis 18:10 which says;

And He said, “I will certainly return to you according to the time of life, and behold, Sarah your wife shall have a son.”

It was about a year later that Sarah gave birth to Isaac. A living son brought forth from a dead womb. As a result we see that the child of Sarah (conceived through faith), not the child of Hagar (conceived through works), was the one God promised Abraham he would have. Abraham was about one hundred years old when this promise was made and Sarah about ninety. She was past the age of childbearing and he was too old to produce offspring himself. God is able to fulfill his promises to us even when it seems physically impossible. He can do the impossible, like saving condemned sinners like you and me.

Application

God has made many promises to us in the New Testament such as: “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved”(Romans 10:9) and “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5b). Like Abraham, we can trust His word because God keeps His promises. Always!

In God’s service, for His glory,

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Romans 4:19 – Faith, Long and Strong

Posted on January 18, 2010 by Will

Romans 4:19

And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb.

Truth to Learn

Abraham’s faith was strong, even after having waited 20 years.

Behind the Words

The Greek word translated “weak” is astheneō, which is a compound word made up of the privative a, meaning “not” or “without” and sthenos, which refers to “bodily vigor or bodily strength.” Hence, this word means “without bodily strength.”

“Consider” is translated from the verb katanoeō. This is also a compound word which is made up of kata, used as an intensifier, and noeō, meaning “to think.” This word refers to more than just a passing thought. It means “to observe, to contemplate, or to have regard to.” We could paraphrase this part of the verse as “he didn’t give much thought to the fact that he was no longer able to father children.”

Meaning Explained

There is a subtlety in this verse that you may not have seen before. In the previous verse we talked about Abraham’s absolute certainty that God would fulfill His promise to him. He was about 80 years old when God promised him that he would have descendents as the stars in the sky. This is talked about in Genesis 15:5,6.

The current verse says that Abraham was not weak in his faith, which was proved by the fact that Abraham didn’t even consider the fact that his own body was already dead. Now, this doesn’t mean that Abraham was dead; it means that his body was past the point of fathering children. This verse (along with Genesis 21:5) says that he was about 100 years old.

But wait a minute! Didn’t we just say that Abraham was about 80 when the promise was made? That means Abraham’s faith was strong even after having waited for about 20 years. Think about it! Abraham was 80 when the promise was made, and he was probably already past child producing years, yet 20 years later he still believed that God would give him a son. That’s faith that doesn’t give up!

Paul uses a bit of a play on words in this verse as well. He could have said, “And having a strong faith …” Instead, he says that Abraham was not “weak in faith.” The word translated “weak” is normally used to describe a physical condition, but Paul applies it to Abraham’s faith. In other words, he is saying, “Abraham may have had a body that was weak with regard to fathering children, but his faith was not weak like his body.”

What is even more amazing is what was pointed out in yesterday’s verse. Abraham was about 100 when Isaac was born (Sarah was about 90). Sarah died when she was 127 years old, which would make Abraham about 137 years old (Genesis 23:1,2). After Sarah died, Abraham married a woman named Keturah (Genesis 25:1,2), and he fathered at least six more children with her! Abraham didn’t consider the fact that he was too old to father children; neither did God!

Application

Have you been waiting for God to fulfill a promise to you? Are you willing to wait for 20 years? Are you willing to wait for the rest of your life?

In God’s service, for His glory,

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1 Peter 3:6 – Sarah’s Example

Posted on January 12, 2009 by admin

1 Peter 3:6

as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, whose daughters you are if you do good and are not afraid with any terror.

Truth to Learn

Sarah is Peter’s example of a wife who is submissive to her husband.

Behind the Words

The word translated “obeyed” is the Greek word, hupakouō, which literally translates to “hear under.” It is the picture of a student attentively learning from a teacher.

The word “lord” is from kurios which means, “lord, master, or sir.” It does not show Sarah as an abject slave of Abraham, calling him “master,” so much as it shows her as giving respect to him as the family spiritual head, calling him “sir.”

“Afraid” is from the Greek word, phobeō, from which we get the English word “phobia,” which means “to fear.” This is the word used when we are commanded to “fear God.” It carries with it the sense of “to be in awe of” or “to revere.”

Meaning Explained

In the previous verses Peter has been talking about wives voluntarily ranking themselves under their husbands, specifically unsaved husbands, with the view in mind of being a witness that may result in the salvation of their husbands. The whole purpose is to minister for the glory of God.

Peter then gets very specific about the type of outward adornment that is appropriate for the wife, which is itself less important than the inner adornment of a humble and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God.

He then uses the women of ancient time as an example of this inner adornment and now cites Sarah as the supreme example of this type of spirit in her adornment and submission to God through her submission to Abraham.

Remember that Peter started this particular treatise in chapter 2 with instruction on how to be built up as a spiritual house. How we behave with respect to government, our own bosses, and even how we conduct ourselves within our own family are an indication of how we are allowing ourselves to be used in the construction of this spiritual building.

He finishes this section on the behavior of wives with a word of encouragement that by behaving in this manner you wives are demonstrating that you are the spiritual daughters of Sarah. He caps it off by saying that wives who behave in this manner are doing well if it is done in fear without alarm.

But ladies, if your husband is treating you in such a way as to cause you to fear him, whether he claims to be saved or not, then this verse is not addressed to you. You are not commanded to be his doormat and certainly not expected to take abuse from your husband, either physical or mental.

Application

Western society today does not like this message. The message of the world is to stand up for yourself and do your own thing. If your “thing” is to be faithful to God and to be obedient to Him, then you women are to place yourselves under your husband’s authority. But, if you’re more focused on yourself than on God, you can ignore Peter’s message. It’s up to you.

In God’s service, for His glory,

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