6 But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel;
7 nor are they all children because they are Abraham's descendants, but: "THROUGH ISAAC YOUR DESCENDANTS WILL BE NAMED."
8 That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants.
V. 6-7 - “But it is not as though the word of God has failed” - Given all the advantages the Jews had (see verses 3-5, above), why the failure of the Jews to thrive? Should not the Jews have been wildly successful? Of course they should. Just as with faith in Christ is voluntary - God does not force us to believe in Jesus - the Jews were not forced to follow His covenants.
IF they had followed: “Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, ‘I am the LORD your God, who teaches you to profit, Who leads you in the way you should go. If only you had paid attention to My commandments! Then your well-being would have been like a river, And your righteousness like the waves of the sea.’” (Isa. 48:17-18) One of the saddest statements in scripture is found in those verses: “If only you had paid attention...”
Jesus’ lament as He entered Jerusalem echoes this sentiment. (See: Matt. 23:23) The word of God did not fail. The people failed to follow. God does not ask us to be robots, programmed to respond. He asks us to be friends, or to be His children - responding with love to His love for us.
“For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel” - Just because your parents went to church does not mean you are a Christian. Each person is judged for his own response to the Lord. (See: Eze. 18:4, 19-23) A person descended from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is physically a Jew (or Israelite, or Hebrew).
“nor are they all children because they are Abraham's descendants” - Referring to “children of God”. They MAY be a spiritual descendant of Abraham, IF they respond to God in faith! Just because some people are descendants of Abraham does not mean they are ‘children of God’.
To wit: Abraham had two sons: Ishmael with Hagar and Isaac with Sarah. Ishmael grew up, moved away and became prominent, having twelve sons who formed tribes or clans and prospered. (See: Gen. 25:12-18). Isaac had two sons (fraternal twins) - Esau and Jacob. Esau and his descendants moved away from the Canaan area (See: Gen. 36:1-43). Note: the Edomites are (were) descendants of Esau. They have been a problem for the Israelites, even until now - then they refused passage through their land on the Jew’s journey from Egypt to Canaan. They plotted against and attacked Israel. David subdued them, but later they rebelled and freed themselves. Abraham also had sons by a second wife, Keturah. The promise was not fulfilled through any of these children, either.
Ishmael’s and Edom’s progeny definitely are NOT blessings for the world! Plus, the Messiah did not come from this line of Abraham but through Jacob’s family. Specifically through the family line of Judah. He, Judah, was not the first born, Reuben was. In that culture, most of the inheritance went to the first born son. (This is true in many countries that have ‘royalty’ - an example can be seen in the story line of “Downton Abbey”, where the son was died on the Titanic and the result was turmoil in the household.)
V. 8 - “the children of the promise are regarded as descendants.” - This a reiteration of the statement in verses 6 & 7, above. “Children of the promise” are those who believe the Lord as did Abraham. Abraham received the blessing, or promise, from the Lord because He believed and acted on the commands of a God. (See: Rom. 4:2, 3, 9; Gen. 15:6, 18-20; Gal. 4:22-31)
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