It is the consistent testimony of the N.T. that all things were created "by Him and

for Him--i.e. Christ" (Col. 1: 16), and the ascriptions of praise in Rom. 9: 5, and in

Rom. 11: 36 are both offered to the same God. In Rom. 9: 5 He is over "all things"

(panton) without reservation, evil as well as good. In Rom. 11: 36 out of Him, and

through Him, and unto Him are "the all things" (ta panta), certain specific "all things",

which do not include that which is evil. This important distinction we must discuss when

we reach Rom. 11: 36 in the course of our exposition.

Our space is already filled, but the theme is so wonderful and so vital that we trust

none of our readers will consider the time spent too long. We joyfully acknowledge that

which Israel in their blindness failed to see, that the Messiah Who came from themselves,

so far as the flesh was concerned, and Who, according to the Spirit, was declared to be

the Son of God with power (Rom. 1: 3, 4) was at the same time: "Over all, God blessed

for ever." To this the apostle adds his solemn "Amen". May all who read and believe

echo that "Amen", and rejoice to know that one day Israel shall look on Him Whom they

pierced, the One Who, even in the days of Isaiah, was named "The mighty God", and

shall at last say of Him:

If the contemplation of the high glory of Israel's privileges has led the apostle for the

moment away from himself and the failure of his kinsmen, his next word is an indication

that he has returned once more to the theme of Israel's failure in order to meet the

objections raised by their defection and fall. The word "but" does not appear in the A.V.

of verse 6, but is there in the original. After referring to his intense grief, the apostle is

careful to correct any false impression by saying: "But it is not such as that the word of

God has failed." Commentators draw attention to this opening phrase as an instance of

what is called a "Solecism", because it appears to be a mixture of two different modes of

expression neither of which is fully stated. The word comes from soloikos, "to speaks

like an inhabitant of Soloi in Cilicia", where Attic Greek had been corrupted by the Greek

The word of God would have failed if it had declared that any specific number of

Israelites would believe in the Lord Jesus at His first coming. No such statement,

however, had been made; rather the reverse, for from prophecy it was quite plain that at

the first Israel would reject their Messiah, and be in turn rejected--only a remnant, and

that according to the election of grace, preserving the seed and the line unbroken. In

order to enforce this fact concerning the remnant according to the election of grace, the

apostle commences a somewhat complicated argument, establishing from the history of

Israel the principle of God's sovereign choice in connection with the true seed.