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"For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the
purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of Him that calleth, it
was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger" (Rom. 9: 11, 12).
This is not the only place where a distinction is made between the true seed and the
merely natural seed. For example, when the Lord looked upon Nathaniel, he said:
"Behold an Israelite indeed" (John 1: 47). And again, in John 8:, we read:
"They answered and said unto Him, Abraham is our father. Jesus said unto them, If
ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham . . . . . Ye do the deeds
of your father . . . . . Ye are of your father the devil" (John 8: 39-44).
In the epistle to the Romans itself, we have already had the distinction between the
natural and the spiritual seed brought forward:
"For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is
outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly: and circumcision is that of
the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God"
(Rom. 2: 28, 29).
These words are immediately followed by the question:
"What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision?" (Rom. 3: 1).
In Gal. 4: Ishmael is likened to the unbelieving Jews `born after the flesh', while the
true believing Jews are likened to Isaac, and his mother, the freewoman, to Jerusalem that
is above and free. These constitute the "Israel of God" (Gal. 4: 21-31; 6: 16). As we
study the argument put forward by the Apostle in Rom. 9: an important principle
emerges that extends beyond the limits of the people of Israel.
"In Isaac shall thy seed be called (Rom. 9: 7).
"The children of the promise are counted for the seed" (Rom. 9: 8).
The following extract from Nedarim f. 31.1 is suggestive:
"Is not Ishmael an alien, and yet of the seed of Abraham? It is written, In Isaac shall
thy seed be called. But is not Esau an alien, and yet of the seed of Isaac? No. In Isaac,
but not all Isaac."
This brief quotation which we leave without comment is sufficient to show that Paul's
method of argument was familiar to the Jews and would be easily followed.
When dealing with Rom. 4: we find that the words `counted for' or `imputed for'
indicate that one thing, namely "faith", was reckoned for another, namely
"righteousness", and both on account of the finished Work of Christ. In that chapter
the fact is stressed that Isaac was not begotten merely by the flesh, but that his birth was a
foreshadowing of the resurrection of Christ. The fact that Isaac is again brought into
prominence in Rom. 9:, and that mere physical descent is set aside, only the children of
promise being `counted for the seed', provides conclusive proof that the fulfillment of the
purposes of God does not necessitate that every individual Jew and every physical