Romans 10 and Real Peace

Romans 10 (New International Version)
New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society

Romans 10

1Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to G-d

for the Israelites is that they may be saved.

2For I can testify about them that they are

zealous for G-d, but their zeal is not based on

knowledge. 3Since they did not know the

righteousness that comes from G-d and sought to

establish their own, they did not submit to G-d's

righteousness. 4Christ is the end of the law so

that there may be righteousness for everyone who

believes.

5Moses describes in this way the righteousness

that is by the law: "The man who does these

things will live by them."[a] 6But the

righteousness that is by faith says: "Do not say

in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven?'[b]"

(that is, to bring Christ down) 7"or 'Who will

descend into the deep?'[c]" (that is, to bring

Christ up from the dead). 8But what does it say?

"The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in

your heart,"[d] that is, the word of faith we are

proclaiming: 9That if you confess with your

mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart

that G-d raised him from the dead, you will be

saved. 10For it is with your heart that you

believe and are justified, and it is with your

mouth that you confess and are saved. 11As the

Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will

never be put to shame."[e] 12For there is no

difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord

is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on

him, 13for, "Everyone who calls on the name of

the Lord will be saved."[f]

14How, then, can they call on the one they have

not believed in? And how can they believe in the

one of whom they have not heard? And how can they

hear without someone preaching to them? 15And how

can they preach unless they are sent? As it is

written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who

bring good news!"[g]

16But not all the Israelites accepted the good

news. For Isaiah says, "Lord, who has believed

our message?"[h] 17Consequently, faith comes from

hearing the message, and the message is heard

through the word of Christ. 18But I ask: Did they

not hear? Of course they did:
"Their voice has gone out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world."[i]

19Again I ask: Did Israel not understand? First,

Moses says,
"I will make you envious by those who are not

a nation;
I will make you angry by a nation that has

no understanding."[j] 20And Isaiah boldly says,
"I was found by those who did not seek me;
I revealed myself to those who did not ask

for me."[k] 21But concerning Israel he says,
"All day long I have held out my hands
to a disobedient and obstinate people."[l]

Footnotes:

Romans 10:5 Lev. 18:5
Romans 10:6 Deut. 30:12
Romans 10:7 Deut. 30:13
Romans 10:8 Deut. 30:14
Romans 10:11 Isaiah 28:16
Romans 10:13 Joel 2:32
Romans 10:15 Isaiah 52:7
Romans 10:16 Isaiah 53:1
Romans 10:18 Psalm 19:4
Romans 10:19 Deut. 32:21
Romans 10:20 Isaiah 65:1
Romans 10:21 Isaiah 65:2


The other day I was reading the wiki entry about

the seige of Tyre by Alexander the Great.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Tyre

I don't know if he was aware of it, but Alexander

played a part in fulfillment of prophetic

scripture.


Ezekiel 26:4 (New International Version)
New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society


4 They will destroy the walls of Tyre and pull

down her towers; I will scrape away her rubble

and make her a bare rock.


Ezekiel was one of the captives taken to Babylon

in 597 B.C. As it says in the Nelson's study

Bible, 'The prophet Ezekiel had the thankless job

of proclaiming G-d's message on the crowded and

hostile streets of Babylon.' The dates are

generally accepted for the Babylonian captivity

and the seige of Tyre by Alexander. From the

time that Ezekiel was shown the destruction of

Tyre until Alexander accomplished it was about

300 years. You can see that the description

given by Ezekiel of the destruction of Tyre was

exactly as Alexander carried it out. All of the

mainland city was torn down and swept up in order

to construct the causeway to the offshore

fortification.


It wasn't as if Alexander had anything better to

do. Being the largest city-state of Phoenicia it

was a significant strategic military objective.

He wasn't half-hearted about gaining military and

political command of the territory. If he were

more patient, he could have starved them into

surrender, but it seems that he was an impatient

type. I suppose, you would have to be a type A

personality to set out with a plan to conquer the

known world in the first place. In terms of

Providence, it was another step toward setting

the stage for the Roman Empire and the arrival of

Jesus. Alexander was there to fulfill destiny.


Whenever I read bits and pieces of current

commentary related to military activity in Iraq,

I am reminded of past military ventures in the

middle east. The territory has been fought over

for a long, long time. My awareness of the

military history of the region is far from

complete, but scriptural reference brings this

one episode to mind. What comes to mind is the

difference in mindset between past military

activity and modern warfare. In the past there

was no confusion about the extremity of military

conflict. Alexander recognized that there was no

alternative to military victory. That meant that

he had to kill as many of the enemy as needed to

take the fortress, and then to haul the rest off

as slaves in order to bring a lasting peace to

the region. He didn't have to labor under the

false premise that peace is without a price.


The only thing that bothers me about our military

being in Iraq is that there is no clear military

objective. In that way, it's not much different

than the past few conflicts. And like other

times past, this mess should have been avoided by

burning Baghdad to the ground after the Kuwait

invasion. That's the price of peace. And that's

why we will never have peace in the middle east

until the apocalypse, when the place will be

burned to the ground. Our political objectives

can't accomodate military victory. We are our

own worst enemies.


The model for military victory has already been

demonstrated in times past, over and over again.

It's not supposed to be photogenic. It's war.

The big difference is that there is a lack of

political vision. And people can't tell the

difference between slavery and peace. It's the

Exodus all over again. You can get the people

out of Egypt, but you can't get Egypt out of

them.


The way I see it, it's not so hard to see what

needs to be done in Iraq. The hard part is that

nobody wants to do it. There is no clear vision

of the true price of peace. If there was,

Baghdad would already be a smoldering heap of

rubble. The trouble makers would be identified

and imprisoned or dead. The population would be

working with our efforts. Alexander knew the

winning formula.


So, what does all that have to do with Romans 10?

I'd say that it gets at the contrast between

men's obstinance and G-d's established order.

This passage lays out the way of salvation in

clear and simple terms. Salvation is offered to

all -- peace with G-d. But we spend our time and

effort looking for another way of salvation. We

tell ourselves that we want to find peace with

G-d. We make an effort to seek peace. But we

fail to recognize the true cost. We want a cheap

peace with G-d. He provides a costly yet perfect

plan for peace. It is the blood of Jesus,

offered up for the sins of the world on a cross

at Calvary. That's the price of peace with G-d

in this world.


There's alot more here, but look at the time.

Tomorrow we can continue where we left off.