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Returning to our passage in Rom. 9:, it should be noted that the pronoun in the
phrase "Who are Israelites" is of a rather special character:
"It is a peculiar compound pronoun (hoitines) that has no parallel in English. The
force of the apostle's expression might be represented thus: Who belong to the category
of Israelites, who, whatever else they may or may not be, are Israelites" (Morison).
At the conclusion of this list of privileges, the apostle places the coming of Christ
Himself. One of the chief glories of the people of Israel was that, of all nations on earth,
God had chosen this nation to be the one through whom in the fullness of time Christ
should be born. And yet--and the tragedy of this struck Paul like a blow--when at last
He had indeed come as the prophets had long predicted, born of the line of David, and in
the City of David, Israel had not known the day of their visitation.
If the people of Israel were Paul's "kinsmen" according to the flesh, Christ was their
glorious "Kinsman-Redeemer".
"Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself
likewise took part of the same; that through death He might destroy . . . and deliver . . ."
(Heb. 2: 14, 15).
Intimately connected with this glorious privilege of being so closely associated with
the Messiah "according to the flesh", are all the other advantages enumerated in
Rom. 9: 3-5. We must now consider these advantages in more detail.
In correspondence with the title "Israelites" we find "the fathers". In this context the
word must be limited to the three patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, as in Acts 3::
"The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers" (13).
"Ye are the children of the . . . . . covenant which God made with our fathers, saying
unto Abraham" (25).
The word is sometimes used in a wider sense, as for example in Acts 7::
"Our fathers found no sustenance" (11).
"He sent out our fathers first" (12).
"Our fathers had the tabernacle" (44).
In these references, however, the additional word hemon ("our") is used, whereas in
Rom. 9: 5 the word is used in the absolute sense, and must therefore be limited.
In the next corresponding pair we have "the adoption" and "the promises". "The
adoption" is rightly related to "the promises" and not to "the fathers", for it is closely
linked up with the thought of inheritance.
"And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord, Israel is My son, even My
firstborn" (Exod. 4: 22).