The Doctrine of Divine Sovereignty

Having expressed his sorrow over Israel rejecting their Messiah, in spite of all the blessings and privileges they had received from God, Paul goes on to examine whether there is any injustice in God rejecting Israel as His people and adopting the Gentiles in that place. In Romans 9:14, he asks “Is God unjust?” and he vehemently refutes the idea saying, “Not at all!

God is sovereign in that He shows mercy on whom He wants to show mercy and compassion on whom He wants to show compassion. Paul quotes here Yahweh’s reply to Moses that his name may be struck off from God’s book, but Israel be shown mercy and pardoned. Exodus 33:19.

God has a purpose and plan for humanity, His creations. He entrusts the job to one person or a people to carry out that purpose; in case they fail to carry out that plan entrusted to them, God’s plan will still stand, but He will select someone else or some other people to carry on with His plan.

In His mercy, Yahweh gave many opportunities to Israel to be His witness to the world and to spread the message of Messiah to the world, so that the whole world could be blessed by the Messiah. But tragically Israel did not realize this plan of God and rejected the very Messiah God had sent.

In the free self-determination of his Sovereign Will, God extended His mercy to some other people, the Gentiles to carry out his plan. Jews were rejected and Gentiles selected. Jews lost the privilege of being God’s own people and God selected Gentile as His people in their place. The historic Israel has forfeited her inheritance of the blessing promised to Abraham.

The true Israel today would be the believers, those who have faith in the Messiah God had sent, Jesus Christ. Paul deals with this issue by extending two arguments. One was that children of Abraham did not mean those physically descended from him. God selected Isaac and rejected Ishmael; similarly, He selected Jacob, but rejected Esau. This nowhere means God was arbitrary, it was His divine will and selection for a purpose.

The second argument to show God, in His dealings, was not being unfair and unjust, is to show that justice of God would have meant severe punishment of Israel for having rejected His leadership in the desert, Exodus 32:10. But in His mercy, God forgave them, when Moses stood in the breach on behalf of Israel. Psalm 106:23.

We, human beings, have no claim for justice from God, for we have all fallen short of glory by committing sins. In His mercy God forgives us and has provided a way for our salvation. If we neglect so great a salvation, what can anybody do? How can we blame God for that?

Paul takes the example of Pharaoh here by quoting Exodus 9:16. God raised up Pharaoh to display His power and might so that the whole world will know the renown of Yahweh. Pharaoh’s heart was hardened; it looks like God created a bad disposition in him and then punished him on the top of it. Is that so?

Pharaoh was the Great Emperor of a most powerful Egyptian Empire in his day and he was considered a god himself by his people. He had scores of gods and goddesses, whom he thanked for giving him such power and glory. When Moses went to him and told him that God of Israel is telling him to let His people go, Pharaoh in his arrogance asked, “who is the Lord that I should obey him and let Israel go?” Exodus 5:2.

It is thereafter that God hardened his heart, not only to break down the pride of Pharaoh, but also every god that was worshiped in Egypt. When a heart is arrogant and rebellious against God, God permits that heart to go its own way to total destruction. Let us be careful not to reach that stage of rebellion against God in our lives.

The question Paul’s readers might ask is, if God were to harden the hearts of people in this manner, then why blame such people? But Paul retorts saying, who are you man, that you think you can talk back to God? Can the created being ask his Creator, why have you created me?

Can the pot talk back to the potter, who made it and ask him why he made one into an honorable vessel and another one for common use? Verse 21. There is no such right for the pot against the potter. In Jeremiah 18:1-6, Yahweh is demonstrating to Jeremiah, that as the potter has the right to do with the clay as he wants, and similarly He also has the right to do to Israel as He wants. God declares, “Like clay in the hands of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.”

God is righteous and man cannot sit in judgement on God. We cannot fathom the mind of God nor understand his ways and reasons why He does things the way He does. Only an arrogant and unbelieving heart will question like that and put the blame on God.

A believing heart will simply trust the supreme wisdom of God and stay surrendered to His will, knowing fully well that God is righteous and merciful. God will never do anything that will contradict his own nature. He is a just and righteous God. Even if in the heat of the moment we question God and blame Him, once that moment is passed, we need to come to our senses and trust God and His ways.

Some are more privileged, but such people have been entrusted with more responsibilities. Each one of us has a different place of usefulness in the total purpose of God.  

Election and selection are God’s business. As He designs it will happen. Isaiah 14:24. “As I have planned, so it will be, and as I have purposed, so it will stand.” And God reigns over the realm of mankind. Daniel 4:34-35. Nebuchadnezzar, on being restored to sanity and the kingdom declares, “He does as he pleases with …the people of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: ‘What have you done?’”

God is definitely not a tyrant, but He has a plan and purpose and it will be done. When we trust the Lord as a loving Father, who will not do us harm or hand us over snake when we ask for fish, Luke 11:11, we learn to sit quietly at His feet, with full surrender and expectation of His working out our life according to His plan.

God be with you and give you peace and a purpose in life.

Amen.