Religious but rejected – Israel’s urgent warning for today

1 I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience testifies to me through the Holy Spirit— 2 that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3 For I could wish I myself were cursed from Christ for the benefit of my brethren, my own flesh and blood.

4 They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the temple service, and the promises. 5 The ancestors are theirs, and from them, by physical descent, came the Christ, who is God over all, praised forever. Amen.

Romans 9:1-5

Behold a mountain swallowed in smoke. Thunder shakes the desert valley below. God’s rescued people from slavery in Egypt. Now they dance naked around a golden idol they have crafted. Moses descends the mountain, and stands amid the rebellion. He shatters the stone tablets inscribed by God’s own hand. Divine law lies broken by depraved sons. Then this man who once parted the Red Sea climbs back into the holy darkness. He dares the unthinkable, Blot me out of Your book… if You will not forgive them (Exodus 32:32). Moses would have God erase him. Curse him. Damn him, if only Israel may live.

Centuries later, another intercessor, Paul, a Jew of Jews, ascends a hill of anguish. His heart shatters like those sacred stones as he echoes Moses’ cry. I could wish myself cursed… for my kinsmen. Why would God refuse such costly offers? Why can no human mediator, however righteous, bear divine wrath for others?

The main idea this morning is, If God’s chosen people need Christ’s curse-bearing, you do too.

Just two points this morning. First, Paul’s persistent pain (Romans 9:1-3). The torment of love willing to pay a price it cannot afford. Second, Israel’s only hope (Romans 9:4-5). The tragedy of a nation holding God’s promises but rejecting His presence.

So step into Moses’ smoke. Feel Paul’s broken heart. For if God’s firstborn sons stand condemned without the curse-bearer, where does that leave you?

Paul’s persistent pain

Paul’s heart breaks for his people, constantly wishing he could be accursed even, if they could be saved.

1 I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience testifies to me through the Holy Spirit—2 that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.

Paul’s conscience is that active moral witness. That inner compass. Alert, unwavering, and aligned to divine revelation. The Holy Spirit is that infallible authority carrying him along. Both Paul’s conscience, and the Spirit of God are testifying within him, and through him, to the truth.

Paul is in anguish. His sorrow is great. His turmoil unceasing. These present-tense realities underscore a continuous burden within him. This is not a fleeting grief. Paul’s pain resides deep down in his heart. Paul’s pain is raw. Paul’s pain is unrelenting.

3 For I could wish I myself were cursed from Christ for the benefit of my brethren, my own flesh and blood.

Paul loves his people, the Israelites. Remember his pattern from the book of Acts which we studied together last year. Paul travelled city to city. And entered synagogue after synagogue. Always going first to the Jews (Acts 13:5, 14; 14:1; 17:1-2, 10; 18:4, 19; 19:8). Even when rejected. Stoned. Persecuted. He returned. Over and over again. Paul’s grief was forged in the furnace of missionary labor. He had seen Israel’s hardness of heart firsthand. Paul had watched them spurn their Messiah. He knew they stood under wrath. Paul’s present grief bears witness to their their state under God’s curse.

Paul loves his people, the Israelites. And so he voices the unthinkable. If this wasn’t in the Bible, I’d have thought it was sacrilegious. Paul wishes himself cursed. Cut off from Christ. For Israel’s sake. This is no casual offer. It is the cry of a heart ruptured by love. Paul’s words echo Moses’ intercession in Exodus 32:32. Blot me out of Your book. Yet Paul’s longing collides with divine reality. Last week we studied Romans 8. Verse 35-39 thunders, Nothing can separate us from Christ’s love. No power. No curse. No hell. He knows this. His anguish in Romans 9:3 presupposes Romans 8:39. He understands his wish is impossible. Paul knows, Paul cannot bear God’s curse. Yet he utters it anyway. Why? Because Paul knows, God can bear God’s curse.

3 For I could wish

The grammar in this sentence unveils helplessness. I could wish is an imperfect tense tense verb. Middle voice. An ongoing yet unattainable desire. Paul lacked power to execute this sacrifice. Apostle. Israelite. Pharisee. Yet utterly powerless. He could yearn. But he could not achieve. The middle voice confirms Paul’s personal involvement in the wish’s consequences. He would bear the curse himself if he could. Yet the imperfect tense screams frustration. Continuous desire. Perpetual inability. No human can atone for another’s sin.

This is no theoretical constraint. No human can atone for another’s sin. Only God qualifies to bear God’s curse. Paul knew this. His cry echoes Leviticus 17:11, it is the blood that makes atonement. Yet Paul’s blood could never suffice. His anguish proves Israel’s crisis exceeds human remedy. Paul, a Hebrew of Hebrews, could not transfer his covenant status to his kinsmen. Ethnic privilege cannot absorb divine wrath.

Feel the tension in the text. Paul is not unwilling. He would suffer hell for the Israelites. Paul is not insincere. He swore his oath before Christ. Paul is wholly unable. His finite flesh cannot absorb infinite wrath. There is a vacuum in the text. A theological vacuum that can only be fulfilled by another. This text points us beyond Paul and asks the question, Who can become a curse and redeem this people? Desperate hearts need divine intervention.

Paul’s heart breaks with verified anguish. His conscience and the Holy Spirit testify to his truthfulness. Great sorrow and unceasing anguish grip Paul. This pain is no abstraction. It is the ruptured cry of love for his kinsmen. Israel is under God’s curse. Paul voices the unthinkable. I could wish myself accursed, cut off from Christ, for their sake. This sacrificial yearning collides with divine reality. Nothing can separate believers from Christ’s love. Paul knows his wish is impossible. Yet he utters it anyway. Why? To magnify human inability. The grammar screams frustration. I could wish, imperfect tense, middle voice. An ongoing, unattainable desire. If he could, Paul would bear their curse himself. But he can’t. Finite flesh cannot absorb infinite wrath. Paul’s anguish proves Israel’s crisis demands divine intervention. Who can ransom Israel? The stage is set. Human desperation meets divine resolution.

Thus Paul’s anguish stands—a monument to human inability. Yet Israel’s tragedy deepens. Behold her covenant riches.

Israel’s only hope

Israel has received many covenant benefits, chief is that the Christ, who is God, came from them.

4 They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the temple service, and the promises. 5 The ancestors are theirs,

Israel’s identity is undeniable. They are the people of God. Present tense verb. Current, ongoing reality. Yet Israel’s identity can’t save them. Consider their divine inheritance. Adoption as God’s firstborn son. Can’t save them. Marked by the cloud of glory in the wilderness. Can’t save them. Covenants etched in stone at Sinai. Can’t save them. The law delivered by angels. Can’t save them. Worship ignited by holy fire on the altar. Can’t save them. Promises sworn to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Can’t save them. All divine gifts from God to His people. Adoption from Exodus 4:22. Glory from Exodus 40:34. Covenants from Genesis 17:7. The law from Exodus 20. Temple service from Leviticus 9:23. Promises from Jeremiah 33:14. The ancestors from Deuteronomy 10:15. Each benefit a sacred trust.

Yet these blessings bred a deadly presumption. Israel clutched the rituals and ended up rejecting the Redeemer. They trusted their ethnic pedigree as automatic salvation. Jesus shattered this delusion. If you were Abraham’s children, He declared, you would do Abraham’s works (John 8:39). Israel claimed the temple, but He warned them that Gentiles would inherit the feast (Matthew 8:11-12). Their covenant treasures became their idols. Their gifts eclipsed their Giver. Their rituals replaced their relationship.

Divine gifts. Divine origin. Yet utterly insufficient… Not enough to atone. Not enough to justify. Not enough to save. Despite holding the title deeds to every spiritual privilege, Israel stood bankrupt before holiness.

and from them, by physical descent, came the Christ

Behold the divine climax. Israel’s supreme privilege. The Christ. The Messiah. The anointed One. Came from them. By physical descent. God’s eternal plan entered human history. Through Israel’s lineage. The seed of Abraham. The son of David. The fulfilment of ancient promises.

This was Israel’s crowning glory. The prophets foretold it. The patriarchs yearned for it. The people awaited it. The Messiah came. From Israel.

Consider the weight of this gift. Israel carried the bloodline of redemption. The channel of God’s grace to the world. Their unique inheritance. No other nation bore this honour. No other people held this trust. Israel birthed the world’s Savior.

God’s covenant promises converged here. To Eve. A serpent-crushing seed. To Abraham. A nation-blessing offspring. To David. An eternal throne. Through Isaiah. A virgin-born deliverer. All fulfilled in Christ. He came. From Israel. Flesh of their flesh. Bone of their bone. Their Messiah. Their kinsman. Their covenant right. Their divine appointment. This was their supreme advantage. Their highest honour. The apex of God’s gifts. Rituals could not rival it. Temples could not contain it. Laws could not achieve it.
who is God over all, praised forever. Amen.

Here is the crisis. Israel rejected their Messiah. Israel rejected their God. This is grammatically unambiguous. There is no punctuation in the Greek separating the Christ from God over all. Christ is God. Eternal. And worthy of all praise.

Israel beheld God incarnate. Yet they spurned Him. They clutched rituals but rejected the Redeemer. Their unbelief invoked the curse. They stand condemned. No ethnic shield. No ritual refuge. Only divine intervention can save them.

This text demands we answer the question, is Jesus God? Jesus made this claim of Himself. Before Abraham was, I AM (John 8:58). The Jews heard His claim. Stones filled their hands, as they came to the conclusion of blasphemy (John 10:33). Why does it matter that Jesus is God? If Christ were not God, His death would be meaningless for the redemption of humanity. Finite blood cannot atone for humanity’ sin against an infinitely holy God. Only God can bear God’s curse. Only God can absorb eternal wrath. Jesus is God. The blood of Jesus can wash away my sin.

Feel the tragedy. Israel birthed the Messiah. Israel rejected the Messiah. Their supreme privilege became their supreme peril. Rituals cannot save. Temples cannot save. Laws cannot save. Only Jesus saves.

Consider Israel’s dignity. Their covenant inheritance stands undeniable. Adoption, glory, covenants, law, worship, promises, patriarchs. Divine gifts. Divine origin. Yet utterly insufficient. Rituals could not save. Temples could not save. Laws could not save. Their supreme privilege arrived. Messiah Himself, God incarnate, from their lineage. Flesh of their flesh. Bone of their bone. Yet they spurned Him. They clutched the tokens but rejected the Treasure. Their unbelief invoked the curse. They stand condemned. No heritage shields. No ritual rescues. Only divine intervention remains. Israel’s tragedy screams. If they, with God-in-their-midst, needed curse-bearing, how much more do you?

Israel’s spiritual bankruptcy screams: No heritage rescues. No ritual redeems. Only Christ qualifies to bear God’s curse.

Connect to the gospel

Here is the divine judgment. Israel’s supreme privilege birthed God the Messiah. Yet they rejected Him. Paul’s anguished wish to bear Israel’s curse proves human inability. Finite flesh cannot absorb infinite wrath. Rituals cannot save. Heritage cannot save. Only Christ qualifies.

He, who is God over all, became the curse for us. Christ absorbed the wrath we deserve, fulfilling what Paul could not. He hung on a tree, bearing Deuteronomy’s curse (Galatians 3:13). Divine blood atones. Jesus took the hell you earned to give the heaven you could not merit. Salvation flows not from covenant benefits but from the curse-bearer.

Application for believers

Recognise the danger. Israel clung to covenant blessings yet remained cursed. Their rituals became idols. Their heritage became a snare. Examine your own heart. Scrutinise every spiritual activity. Church attendance? Bible knowledge? Christian lineage? These cannot save. Israel had the temple. Still lost. They offered sacrifices. Still condemned. Your service, your theology, your history, all vain if Christ is not your boast.

Weep for the lost. Let Paul’s anguish pierce your complacency. His unceasing sorrow flowed from love for kinsmen under wrath. Do you ache for neighbours? Colleagues? Family? They are under God’s curse. Yet you hold the gospel. Pray with tears. Plead with urgency. Love demands no less.

Rest fiercely in God’s sovereignty. Salvation is His work. Not your eloquence. Not your strategy. Evangelize with holy violence. Herald Christ crucified. Yet entrust outcomes to Him. Sow seed in weakness. Rejoice when He gives growth. Your labor is not in vain. Your hope rests in Him.

Application for unbelievers

Tremble at your peril. You stand where Israel stood, bankrupt before holiness. Your morality? Filthy rags. Any heritage? A broken reed. You say, I am decent. Israel had the law. Still cursed. You claim, I am religious. Israel had the temple. Still condemned. No effort bridges hell’s chasm. Your estate is helpless. Divine wrath looms. Be terrified.

See Christ’s sufficiency. Finite blood cannot atone. The Son of God’s blood can. He bore the curse you earned. He absorbed the wrath you deserve. He endured the hell owed you. Why? To give adoption you could not merit. God’s own Son became sin’s ransom. His resurrection proves victory.

Cry to Him now. Delay is folly. What hope exists outside Christ? None. Your resume damns you. Your excuses condemn you. Cast all on Him. Pray with desperate faith: Jesus, I need You. Not tomorrow. Not later. Now. Divine wrath demands immediate refuge. The curse-bearer waits with open arms.

Conclusion

We began at Sinai’s smoke, Moses pleading to be blotted out for rebels. We stood with Paul in his anguish, willing to be cursed for his kinsmen. Two holy men. One impossible cry. The same divine refusal, No human can bear God’s curse for another.

But behold the resolution Moses never saw: God refused his sacrifice only to give His own. The knife did not fall on Moses. The curse did not consume Paul. Because it fell on the curse-bearer. The One who cried, My God, why have You forsaken Me? So His people never would.

So turn from Sinai’s smoke. Turn from your shattered righteousness. To the hill where God provided the Lamb. Only He saves.

The argument this morning stands, If God’s chosen people need Christ’s curse-bearing, you do too. We’ve considered two points. Paul’s persistent pain (Romans 9:1-3). The torment of love willing to pay a price it cannot afford. Israel’s only hope (Romans 9:4-5). The tragedy of a nation holding God’s promises but rejecting His presence.

Believers: Examine your heart. cling to Christ, not Christian routines. Weep for the lost. Pray with tears. Rest fiercely. Salvation is His work.

Unbelievers: Tremble. Your morality is filthy rags. See Christ. His blood alone atones. Cry now. Delay is folly.

Amen.