We begin this week by reading Romans 9:1-5

Israel, both the land and the people, are vital, foundational, in regard to the will and purposes of G-d. Israel is connected to the establishment of the Kingdom of G-d. It is only when Israel (the Jewish nation) is right with G-d that the establishment of G-d’s Kingdom is going to take place – see Matt 23:37-39.

v1: Truth: Biblical truth is always related to the will of G-d. What Paul speaks about in this section involves the will of G-d. 

• I am not lying: Paul is very serious about what he’s going to say.
• Holy Spirit: It’s of the utmost significance that Paul mentions the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit that brings order into situations (Gen 1). Through the Spirit of G-d and through the Word of G-d a G-d-pleasing change happened in creation. Creation became ordered so that it could reflect the purpose and will of G-d in this world. This is a picture of the change that the Holy Spirit brings about in our lives once we have believed. 

v2: Great sorrow…continual grief: Paul was in anguish. He had grief and was full of sorrow. This sorrow (which is a negative feeling) was unrelenting. It continued on and on. His heart was overwhelmed by it. Something caused him to feel this way. 

v3: Accursed: Cut off. Separated from.

• (Cut off) from Messiah: This was SO important to Paul that he would have been willing to forgo salvation and spend eternity in the pit of hell, with ongoing torment forever and forever, if the situation that caused him grief would change. 
• My kinsman (relatives) according to the flesh: Paul is talking about his natural family – those who are literally and biologically related to him. Paul was greatly concerned and full of sorrow because of his relatives (his fellow Jews). 

v4: Israelites: The Jewish people. Paul was miserable and in anguish (both physically and spiritually) about the spiritual condition of Israel.

• Adoption: They have been adopted as sons of G-d. They are heirs and have an inheritance. 
• Covenants: Referring to the various covenants that G-d made with Israel in the Old Testament.
• The giving of the law: In this verse Paul mentions the benefits or advantages that G-d gave to Israel. The law is mentioned as one of these benefits. Paul is exalting in the fact that Israel was given the law first. 
• Service: Work
• Promises: There is an inherent connection between the covenants and the promise.

v5: The fathers: The patriarchs – Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

• From whom…Messiah came: Yeshua (when He took on flesh) came as a descendant of the Jewish people. Yeshua is eternal. There was never a time when He did not exist. He was there long before Abraham, long before there was even a Jewish nation. But, in a planned way, according to prophecy, it was the will of the Sovereign G-d that when Messiah took on flesh, He would enter this world as a Jew. 
• Over all, the eternally blessed G-d: This is who the Son of G-d – Messiah Yeshua – is: He is above all and He is eternally G-d. He is divine.