Boker Tov! Today, on Mishkan Katan, we begin a journey into the book of Romans, a trip I believe will take us several weeks, and will extend into the new year. Sources I will use for this study include commentators such as Matthew McGee, Warren Wiersbe, Andrew Gabriel Roth, and others. The translation I will be using will be the translation of Romans from The Apostolic Writings, a translation from the Aramaic by Andrew Gabriel Roth.
It is always beneficial to look at the biographical information associated with a study of a book of the Bible, asking questions such as: “Who wrote it?” “When was it written?” “Where was it written?” and finally, “To whom was it written?” So, let’s answer some of those.
According to the first word of the letter, the author was the apostle Paul. That much is indisputable. What is amazing to me is that he even became an apostle, or that he authored anything that would become Scripture. This was a man who had, not too long in his past, persecuted the followers of Yeshua to their deaths, and had done so gleefully. I ran across a statement recently from the Bible commentator, Benson, who said, “What God calls, he makes what he calls.” Who in Paul’s past, as Shaul, until Acts 13:9, would have dreamed he would have become one of the most important apostles, as far as written works are concerned? This reminds me of a conversation my husband and I had recently. As I was thinking about our recent wedding anniversary, I asked him, “Did you ever dream you would become a Bible teacher and that you would be married to a Bible teacher?” With his eyes wide, he shook his head emphatically, and forcefully said, “No, never.” But, you see, despite the fact that my husband did not even attend church regularly, God called him, and then equipped him with the spiritual gift of teaching. It wasn’t that my husband was equipped when he was called; the equipping came after the call.
According to the exhaustive work of Matthew McGee, taken from the website www.matthewmcgee.org, Paul wrote the book of Romans on his 3rd, long stay in Corinth, during the winter of 57-58 CE. While staying and ministering in Corinth, Paul was near the end of what is called his "third missionary journey". Roth points out that the letter was written by Paul to more or less “re-introduce” himself to the Romans, whom he had visited at the beginning of his missionary journeys. He appears to indicate the letter will precede his next, upcoming visit to the great Gentile city. However, that was not to be, on Paul’s timeline. After leaving Corinth he would go on (mostly by boat) to several cities (Acts 20-21), ending up in Jerusalem (spring of 50 A.D.), where he preached to the Jews, who imprisoned him for about 2 years. Best I can tell, this was before he actually went to Rome again around 60 A.D., this time as Rome’s prisoner. After he finished writing this letter to the Romans, he sent it by a courier named Phoebe. It is said that Phoebe was a deaconness in the ecclesia of Cenchrea, an eastern port of Corinth. (We know this also because of Romans 16:1. We will study her in more detail when we arrive at that chapter.)
Did Paul, then, establish the Roman church? No knows for sure who did, although the Catholics claim Peter had the honor. Roth emphatically denies this was so, claiming in the biographical overview to Romans, in his masterwork, TAW, that Peter never even went to Rome. However, in Romans 15:20, Paul appears to claim that he was the first to preach the gospel in that region.
Let’s look at it.
“While I was careful not to go where the name of Mashiach had already been preached, or else I should build upon another man’s foundation.”
Now, in an alternative opinion, some theologians claim Paul did not actually visit Rome in person until he went near the end of his life, as a prisoner in chains. You can weigh the options and decide.
Warren Wiersbe2 shares in his introduction to Romans that this Pauline letter was transformatively inspirational to both John Wesley (that great Methodist evangelist) and Martin Luther (the Father of Protestantism). They are not alone.
The letter was written in a more rigid, formal style than any of his other letters. His main concern in writing the epistle was to correct and protect the Roman believers, both Jew and Gentile, from heresies that would corrupt their pure faith in Mashiach.
Now we are led to the “to whom” question: To whom was the letter written? Let’s look at the first seven verses of Romans 1.
“PAUL, a servant of Yeshua the Mashiyach, a called one, and Apostle who is Set-apart for the Good News of Elohim.
2 That He had previously promised, by way of His prophets in the Set-apart Scriptures,
3 concerning His Son who was born in the flesh, of the seed of the house of David,
4 And was made known as the Son of Elohim by power, and by the Holy Spirit (Ruach HaKodesh), who raised him from the dead, Yeshua the Mashiyach, our Master,
5 By whom we have received grace and apostleship among all the Gentiles so that they may obey the faith in His name,
6 Among whom, you also are called by Yeshua the Mashiyach;
7 To all those who are at Rome, beloved of Elohim, called and sanctified: Peace and grace be with you, from Elohim our Father, and from our Master Yeshua the Mashiyach.
Verses 1-7 are one long, continuous sentence, in the original Aramaic and also in the Greek. What an introduction!
Although it is customary for Paul to begin all of his NT letters with an introduction and salutation, let's look at this one more closely.
1. Servant/Slave of Jesus Christ
The Aramaic uses “servant”, but other translations use “slave”. Why did Paul choose this word? There were approximately 60 million slaves in the Roman Empire in the first century CE. Slaves were looked upon as pieces of property. This is a step below servanthood, a more serious bonding of one human to another. Paul chooses to express his relationship to Jesus Christ as that of a slave to his Master, rather than using the term "servant".
2. Sanctified Apostle
The word "sanctified" means "set apart" (for a specific use). If I go to the grocery store and purchase food for a particular event, I must be sure to tell my family that it must not be used for any other purpose. It has been "set apart". Otherwise, they may eat it, and I will be in a bind when the special event comes. The other aspect of sanctification involves daily, ongoing training by the Holy Spirit, being shaped increasingly to fulfill a purpose. And, what was Paul's purpose? It was to share the gospel of Jesus Christ, Son of God, with the Gentile world. The word "nations" in Scripture refers to non-Jewish people groups; and, it was especially to the unreached Gentiles of the world that Paul was appointed messenger of the gospel. The Good News of Elohim, as the Aramaic puts it, is all about Father Yahweh, Elohim, sending His Son, Yeshua HaMashiach.
In verse two, the word “promised” is the Aramaic word “molkana”. There are other Aramaic word that can be translated “promise”. But, this one, “molkana”, is most-often tied to the promises of God in the Tanakh, the Old Testament, whether they be promises given to the patriarchs or prophetic promises in regards to His Son, Yeshua, who is of course, the fulfillment of the Torah’s promises to mankind. AGR points out that Paul quotes from the Tanakh more than 80 times in this letter. This is because Paul realized that it is impossible to divorce Messiah from the original covenant, nor can that original covenant be deemed obsolete, because it was through that covenant that Messiah came!
Also in verse two, the phrase, “seed of the House of David” sounds very much like Luke 1:27, although Paul may have been aware of the three Synoptic Gospel accounts, Matthew, Mark and Luke, when he was writing this letter to the Romans, although only Matthew would likely be the only one “circulating”. Recall that Paul journeyed with Luke for a time, and they likely had conversations, “comparing notes”, to say the least.
On verses 4 and 5.
1. The Gospel originated with God and was prophesied in the Old Testament.
This saving gospel was no concoction of any human being. God began to unveil his eternal plan to save mankind in Genesis 3:15, immediately after Adam's and Eve's choices that engineered the "fall of man" (from God's grace, into sin). If you go to your Google browser and search the topic "Old Testament Messianic Prophecies", your screen will fill with references to God's promised Messiah, and you will see that most of those were fulfilled by Jesus Christ, with His first coming (His first advent) here on Earth. The remainder will be fulfilled when He returns, as conquering King.
2. In verse 5 Paul names Jesus Christ, (Man, Jew, son of David, and resurrected Son of God) as the giver of all grace, the heart of the gospel. It is through Him that Paul received saving grace and his commission to be an apostle. The name of Yahweh is referenced at the end of verse 5. There is a connection being drawn between The Name, the Tetragrammaton, the 4-letter ineffable, most personal name for Father God, and the name of His Son, which is Yeshua, meaning “YHWH is salvation”. Not just any Yeshua, but the one who stated that He came in His Father’s Name, that is, the name Yahweh, for the purpose of bringing salvation. To believe in Yeshua is to believe in His Father, who sent Him.
Elsewhere, the word that is translated “Gentiles” in verse 5, is taken from the Aramaic word “Armaya”, which refers to the Aramean people, i.e. those in the area of Syria. This is the area from which Abraham came. The Jews are fond of saying, “My father was a wandering Aramean.”, in reference to Abraham. But, Jacob, his grandson, in Deuteronomy 26:5, also referred to himself as a wandering Aramean. Essentially, the Hebrew people and the Aramean people are closely related, with only a river separating them. And, the word Hebrew...IN Hebrew ... is “ivrit”, which means, “one who has crossed over”, i.e. crossed over the river, crossed over from paganism/polytheism to monotheism, etc.
In verse 6 Paul calls the Roman believers "saints". Many in the Messianic world disparage the use of this term, because of the connotations the Catholic Church places upon it. However, I’ve always believed we should not let those who believe differently than we do hijack our language and our symbols. An example of that is the use of the rainbow in the LGBTQIA+ movement.
Warren Wiersbe explains the legitimate meaning of the term “saints” so well, (in his Wiersbe Bible Commentary on the NT, pp. 410-411)!
"The believers were called of Jesus Christ, and they were also called saints. (Not 'to be' saints...they already WERE saints! A 'saint' is a set-apart one, and the person who trusts Jesus Christ is set apart and IS a saint.) Salvation is not something that we do FOR God; it is God who calls us in His grace {2 Thessalonians 2:13-14}. When you trust Christ, you are saved by His grace and you experience His peace."
{The emphasized words were capitalized by me...}
Verse 7 is both a "hello" and a blessing, to wind up the introductory “sentence”. It highlights the unrestrained, undeserved love of God and His grace (that is, His favor which cannot be earned) to all believers in Jesus Christ.
We see here that the Roman church was comprised of both Jewish and Gentile believers. It appears that some were meeting secretly in the home of Aquila and Priscilla, a husband and wife we will meet later. Others were scattered throughout that large city, meeting in each other’s homes.
I want to go off on a tangent here for a moment and give a personal testimony about gatherings of believers in homes. My husband has led a weekly, in-home Bible study in our home for over 7 years. There are approximately 20 members, with most attending every week, unless they are sick or out-of-town. Most of us attend the same larger congregation. But, these are our “framily”. These are the folks we chat with nearly every day and “do life with”. We have a collaborative dinner in the host home, and then we study the Scriptures together, and then we close with a time of prayer. I can’t recommend highly enough this model, as it is so very 1st century CE, the way the early ecclesia met and nurtured each other. Yes, you can have a “class before the large worship services once a week, but those last at most for 45 minutes to an hour, and there is not enough time to share our lives, in that context.
Ok, moving on to verses 8 and 9.
8 In the first place, I give thanks to Elohim by Yeshua the Mashiyach on account of all of you, because your faith is heard throughout the world.
9 And Elohim, whom in spirit I serve in the Good News of His Son, is my witness that I continually make mention of you at all times in my prayers.
I just love verse 8, because if our ecclesia got a letter from Paul, that’s what I’d want to hear - - that he thanks God for us because our faith is “famous”. I will tell you straight-up that my faith is not “famous” - - far from it. But, what a wonderful spiritual compliment Paul paid to this group of believers! Right now, my husband’s couples home group has begun a study of the book of Revelation. We just finished studying the letters to the 7 churches of the 1st century CE, and we talked about what the Master might say about our group, were he to send us a personalized letter.
Notice this phrase in verse 9, “the Good News of His Son”. It is important to note, per AGR, that the Aramaic language has two words that can be translated “good news” or “gospel”, whereas Greek only has one. One of these two words, “sevartha” meant “oral Gospel preaching”, whereas “evangelion” meant written Gospel preaching. Because of the prevalence in the Aramaic of the word “sevartha”, we can understand that in the first century, the primary mode used to communicate to people about the Gospel was oral. In fact, Mark was the only gospel writer to use “evangelion”, and the term did not appear after Mark until the book of Galatians.
Paul was a praying man. Not only did he thank God for the Roman ecclesia, he also interceded for them to Father Yahweh. Do you have a “spiritual giant” who prays for you regularly? For me, it’s my mom. She is the one person who I KNOW prays for me every, single day. What a blessing! I try to do the same for our two sons, as well, and often more than once a day.
Let’s move on to verses 10 through 15.
10 And I am pleading that afterwards a way may be opened to me, by the will of Elohim, to come to you.
11 For I greatly yearn to see you; and to give to you the gift of the Spirit, through which you may be strengthened;
12 And together we may be comforted in the faith of both yours and mine.
13 And, I want you to know, my Brothers, that I have many times wanted to come to you, but was prevented up until now, that I might also bear some fruit among you; even as among other Gentiles.
14 Greeks and barbarians, the wise and the unwise: for to every man I am required to preach.
15 And also, I am eager to preach to you who are at Rome.
As previously mentioned, Paul had labored in prayer for the opportunity to either return to Rome, if you hold to that interpretation, or to visit it for the first time. Yet, the will of Elohim did not grant him this visit until several years after this letter was written, and when Paul did go, he was taken there as a prisoner. There are times when we earnestly pray for our Heavenly Father Yahweh to move in a certain way. Yet, it does not happen. This can be very discouraging, can’t it? Even when we know we are praying for holy things, such as for another person to be encouraged in their faith, or for another loved one to come into a personal, loving relationship with Father, through the one, unique Son, or for some other equally holy petition. It sort of soothes my soul and gives me hope that an apostle as beloved and used by God as Paul had similar struggles in his prayer life.
In verse 11, he pours his heart out to this ecclesia, concerning how he “greatly yearn”ed to see them. In other translations, the word “long” is used. The reason he was so longing to see them was so that he could share with them at least one of the gifts of the Spirit. This is a little bit unclear what he meant by these words. Was he talking about baptizing them with the Holy Spirit, as we see occurring in other New Testament contexts? He does not precisely say that. I tend to think he is referring to that beautiful interplay of spiritual gifts between those in the Bride, the Body of Messiah. In other words, my spiritual gifts will serve to build you up and draw you closer to our Mashiach. Your spiritual gifts will do the same for me. It essentially goes on to say that in verse 12. His gifts would strengthen them, and then both he and they would be comforted.
In verses 13-15 he agains returns to the theme of wanting to come to Rome and having been prevented from doing so. But, then, at the end of verse 14, he states that he feels called to preach to every man, whether Jew or Gentile or Greek or barbarian. How many of us feel this way? There is a woman I follow on Facebook, a YWAM missionary. This year she is on a quest to visit and minister in every single country that is on the Voice of the Martyrs hostile nations list. Currently, she is in Uganda, witnessing and seeing people come to know Yeshua. Listen to her words: “When I think about why I am here... I think it is only to know God and make Him known in evangelism and discipleship. Because He is all I'm waiting for and souls are all I can take with me. I can't take a husband with me, a house with me, a degree with me, this earth or a retirement plan. Jesus is the retirement plan. His ‘well done’ is all I'm living for. That is my inheritance.” Her words are so very convicting to me. She reminds me of the apostle Paul. Can you hear how she feels “required” to preach to those who have never heard? That was also the heart of Paul.
There have been times when I have been embarrassed by the gospel of Jesus Christ. Oh, if you asked me outright, I would have said the right things. But, in my actions and behaviors, I have veiled my beliefs in order to "be successful" and "get along" in this distinctly un-Christian world.
Case in point: Some of you who have known me for years probably have this response to my behavior now - - - "Did you hear about Gena? About 10 years ago she went off the religious deep-end. She started that blog, wrote in it most days, and now, she teaches Bible live, online on Wednesday mornings. This is not the woman I worked with for years. What has gotten into her, since retirement?"
The thing is - - sorry to tell you - - -I've always been that way, well, since a teenager, that is. Since my conversion to Christianity as a youth. But, when I made a career choice, to work in the public schools, I put a veil over my faith. In one-on-one situations, given an opening, I would express my faith by praying for/sharing with individuals - - staff members, children, parents of students. I wasn't ashamed of the gospel in the workplace; but, I was careful how I expressed my faith. I had to be, in order to keep my job. Or, so I thought at the time. (This was before I ever got a Facebook account or began tweeting. Even though I "semi-retired" only over 13 years ago, it seems like "the dark ages" now, as far as all these technology tools are concerned.)
Was this the right decision? I could have decided to go full-bore into full-time ministry in my 20s. But, I did not. It's easy to look back and flog oneself over past decisions. But, as I have often said, God can use our past, even our failures, no matter what they are - - - IF we will let Him. While we must learn lessons from our past, it is pointless to continually go back to stare at the carnage, bemoaning the fact incessantly that the carnage occurred. Does no good.
What we do have in our hands today - - - is TODAY! So, here's the question. When presented with opportunities to live out the gospel today, will we take them? Paul's example is both inspiring and daunting, at the same time. Look at verses 16 and 17.
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is God’s power for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For the righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel from faith to faith, just as it is written, “The righteous by faith will live.”
It's not "about us", you know. The driving force behind us shining our light (Daniel 12:3) is that people who die without Christ as their Savior will be forever in Hell. We tend to conveniently ignore that fact! It's too painful to contemplate; so, we shutter our eyes - - just pull the blinds down. It tends to be overwhelming - - - I get that.
Here's the deal, though. We can give money to missions and should. We should exercise our ministry gifts/talents. We should. But, beyond that, when God presents us with opportunities to share the gospel in more direct ways, we.must.not.be.ashamed.
Or fearful.
Sometimes, some of us are not "ashamed" exactly. We are fearful - - of rejection, repercussions, consequences, etc.
A few times over the past 10 years, I have been given an opportunity to expand Resplendent Daughter Ministries. I was somewhat intimidated and had to "pray through" the circumstances, consult trusted advisors, search the Scriptures. I sensed God's leading in the situations, though, and forged ahead. Was it scary? Yes. Was success guaranteed? No. Did God bless my efforts? Yes, He has, in spades!
As we get ready to close today, let’s look at the latter part of verse 17: “The righteous by faith will live.” The scripture Paul quotes here is (originally) from Habakkuk 2:4. Earlier than the ministry of Habakkuk, we find it emphasized in the life of Abraham, as recorded in Genesis 15:6, which says, “Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.” We will look at this in more detail, when we reach Romans chapter 4. But, in addition to the references in Romans, Habakkuk 2:4 is also quoted in Galatians 3:11 and in Hebrews 10:38.
Faith bookends the right relationship with God. Our relationship with our Creator and Messiah begins with faith. We “crossed over” by faith. We can come to Him no other legitimate, God-given way. And, our earth journey with Him ends with faith. Properly understood, righteousness is not earned; it is given. Despite our efforts to walk according to the examples given in Scripture, we in our own efforts still fall short of God’s perfect standard. Only by faith in the finished work of the Mashiach will we attain to eternal life.
Well, we are at an end of our study for today, as this seems like a good stopping point. Today is Hoshanna Rabba, and though I taught on this 7th day of Sukkot last week, I want to express my hope and prayer that your Sukkot has been a blessing in your life this year. I will share with you that, for the first time - - remember that I am rather new to the world of Hebrew roots - - I decorated my front porch, best I could do to have a sukkah, have entertained friends on it and have shaked the lulav each day. It has been a blessing. Tomorrow is Shemini Atzeret, the 8th day, the day I believe Yeshua was circumcised at the Temple, as recorded in Luke 2:21. Hebrew males were circumcised on the 8th day after their birth, and if Yeshua was born on the first night of Sukkot, then his circumcision would have been done on the 8th day of Sukkot, Shemini Atzeret.
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