JBO
Well-Known Member
In the Hebrew, to know was sometimes a euphemism not for just some relationship, but rather for the explicit act of sexual intercourse. To think that a euphemism for sexual intercourse carries any meaning whatsoever for God's foreknowledge is not simply crude, it borders on heresy. God's foreknowledge is nothing more than God's omniscience as it applies to the future. God declares in Isaiah 46:9-10, "For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me, declaring the end from the beginning," Declaring the end from the beginning is God's foreknowledge; it has absolutely nothing to do with sexual intercourse between a man and a woman.In the Hebrew mind, to know has a couple meanings. It is not the same "know" that we English speakers are usually familiar with. I think that we should see that "to foreknow" is the same as "to have a relationship with." God makes plans for us based on what He knows about us. Also, knowing us from the beginning, he also plans for our future condition - which already exists for Him.
The Calvinist interpretation of the whole of Romans 9 is simply wrong. It is not a declaration of support of the Calvinist doctrine of election. Rather, it is a statement and defense of God's absolute right to use anyone as he chooses to bring about His plans without having to save them. It is a declaration of God's selection (election) for service without having to save them. He chose Pharaoh to do his bidding. There was/is no requirement for God to save Pharaoh. He chose (elected) both Jacob and Esau for service. There was/is no requirement to save them. Paul introduced chapter nine speaking of God's choosing (electing) Israel for His purpose of bringing His plan of salvation to mankind. But being a member, according to the flesh, of the nation Israe, did not mean that God would save them. Paul said in verse 6, "But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel..." The reason for chapter 9 in Romans was to refute the Judaizers claim that being a Jew (an Israelite) was sufficient to guarantee salvation.I rest my mind on something else Paul said:
Rom 9:14–18 What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.
Romans 9:14-19 is not a declaration of election for salvation. In fact quite the opposite. Verse 17 is a quote from Exodus 9:16, "But, indeed, for this reason I have allowed you to remain, in order to show you My power and in order to proclaim My name through all the earth." It is a declaration of election for service. God chose Pharaoh to accomplish his purpose; nothing there says anything about choosing Pharaoh or anyone else for salvation. In fact, the hardening spoken of in verse 18 has nothing whatsoever to do with where Pharaoh would end up in the next life.
Paul says, in verse 21, "Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use?" Here again, there is nothing at all about saving anyone. This is strictly the potter using the clay for whatever purpose God had for it. It is about using the clay here on earth, not how it would end up in the next life.
Rom 9:22 What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction?
Rom 9:23 And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory,
It is only in God's selection for service that His wrath is demonstrated and His power is made known. That cannot be about salvation, because God's selection for salvation cannot be observed by anyone else. His selection for salvation doesn't demonstrate anything to anyone nor does it make His power known to anyone, since election for salvation is not a physically observable act of God.