Read all of Romans 9 and do the Know, Be, Do method of study through the chapter.

KNOW – What does the text say about God?

BE – What does the text say about us?

DO – What is the text calling me to do?

• Write out the whole verse that you want to stick with you throughout the day today.

WEEK 2: MEMORY VERSE
ROMANS 10:9-10
9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.

Read Romans 9:30-33 and Matthew 11:1-6

Paul started this chapter out deeply sad that his Israelite brothers had rejected Jesus, and thus been rejected by Him.

• From verse 32, what was their real issue?

• Why do you think faith is so important to God?

• How does Jesus respond to the honest questions from John the Baptist’s disciples? John was surely struggling to believe that Jesus was indeed the Messiah as he (John) sat in prison.

• What do you think that it means when Paul says “the one who trusts in Him will not be put to shame?”

WEEK 2: MEMORY VERSE
ROMANS 10:9-10
9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.

We made it!

The day to relax in God’s presence or catch up on videos or reading that has been hard during the week.

Spend some time enjoying just being with the Father, knowing that He delights in spending time with you.

THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL AND THEIR PROMISES
**Each day we are going to read through some of the passages and verses Paul may be thinking of. As he lists these descriptors you will see them on the bottom of each day’s devotional.

Genesis 13: 14-17 14 The Lord said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, “Look around from where you are, to the north and south, to the east and west. 15 All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever. 16 I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted. 17 Go, walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you.”

Isaiah 9: 6-7 6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.

Jeremiah 31:33-36 33“This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34 No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” 35 This is what the Lord says, he who appoints the sun to shine by day, who decrees the moon and stars to shine by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar— the Lord Almighty is his name: 36 “Only if these decrees vanish from my sight,” declares the Lord, “will Israel ever cease being a nation before me.”

Read Romans 9:22-29

We see in all three of these Old Testament quotes, the idea that God is wanting a family of faith that includes all the peoples- not just the Israelites. His heart was for the Israelites to witness to His saving power. Instead they rebelled, disobeyed, and flagrantly disrespected God.

And yet the scriptures tell us that he has great patience – which, if you read through the Old Testament (we won’t do that today!), we see how He is constantly pursuing His people.

Even as we listen to Keith’s sermons in Revelation, we will see how God demonstrates His glory and the people refuse to bow in worship.

• Why do you think God is patient with us?

• How do Hosea and Isaiah explain God’s patience and love for us?

• How have you seen God’s patience in your life and the lives of those that you love?

• Spend some time writing out ways that you’ve seen God’s patience in your own life.

THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL: THE TEMPLE WORSHIP
**Each day we are going to read through some of the passages and verses Paul may be thinking of. As he lists these descriptors you will see them on the bottom of each day’s devotional.

1 Kings 8:22-30 22Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the whole assembly of Israel, spread out his hands toward heaven 23 and said: “Lord, the God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth below—you who keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way. 24 You have kept your promise to your servant David my father; with your mouth you have promised and with your hand you have fulfilled it—as it is today. 25 “Now Lord, the God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father the promises you made to him when you said, ‘You shall never fail to have a successor to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your descendants are careful in all they do to walk before me faithfully as you have done.’ 26 And now, God of Israel, let your word that you promised your servant David my father come true. 27 “But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built! 28 Yet give attention to your servant’s prayer and his plea for mercy, Lord my God. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in your presence this day. 29 May your eyes be open toward this temple night and day, this place of which you said, ‘My Name shall be there,’ so that you will hear the prayer your servant prays toward this place. 30 Hear the supplication of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place. Hear from heaven, your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive.

Read Romans 9:17-21

For background related to Pharaoh, Israel, and Moses, you can read the beginning of Exodus. You can also watch our friends at the Bible Project:

We’ve had a ton of history this week! This background of how Israel came to be will help us understand not only this chapter, but the next two chapters.

• Define the word mercy.

• What gives God the right to choose who receives mercy?

• Do any of us deserve His mercy? Why or why not?

Spend some time praying and sharing with God any questions that have come up for you as you’ve read this chapter.

THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL: THE RECEIVING OF THE LAW
**Each day we are going to read through some of the passages and verses Paul may be thinking of. As he lists these descriptors you will see them on the bottom of each day’s devotional.

Exodus 24: 1-4 1Then the Lord said to Moses, “Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel. You are to worship at a distance, 2 but Moses alone is to approach the Lord; the others must not come near. And the people may not come up with him.” 3 When Moses went and told the people all the Lord’s words and laws, they responded with one voice, “Everything the Lord has said we will do.” 4 Moses then wrote down everything the Lord had said. He got up early the next morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain and set up twelve stone pillars representing the twelve tribes of Israel.

Read Romans 9:10-16

Remember to pray and ask the Holy Spirit to shed light as you read.

We continue on with the Patriarch’s to Isaac (Abraham’s son through whom the promise was carried on) and Jacob. Isaac has twin sons (Esau & Jacob), and God chooses the younger of the twins (Jacob) to carry the promise through. You can read this story in Genesis 25 and on.

• In your thinking, what is good about how God chose between the twins (verse 11)?

• What is hard about that?

• How does Paul answer the accusation that God is unjust? (v 14)

• What do you learn about God’s character from this passage?

THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL: THE COVENANTS
**Each day we are going to read through some of the passages and verses Paul may be thinking of. As he lists these descriptors you will see them on the bottom of each day’s devotional.

Abraham’s covenant:

Genesis 15:18-21: 18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the Wadi of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates— 19 the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 20 Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, 21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.”

Genesis 17: 4-8: 4 “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. 5 No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. 6 I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. 7 I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. 8 The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.”

Moses’ Covenant:

Exodus 19:5: 5 Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession.

Deuteronomy 29 1-15: 1 These are the terms of the covenant the Lord commanded Moses to make with the Israelites in Moab, in addition to the covenant he had made with them at Horeb. 2 Moses summoned all the Israelites and said to them: Your eyes have seen all that the Lord did in Egypt to Pharaoh, to all his officials and to all his land. 3 With your own eyes you saw those great trials, those signs and great wonders. 4 But to this day the Lord has not given you a mind that understands or eyes that see or ears that hear. 5 Yet the Lord says, “During the forty years that I led you through the wilderness, your clothes did not wear out, nor did the sandals on your feet. 6 You ate no bread and drank no wine or other fermented drink. I did this so that you might know that I am the Lord your God.”7 When you reached this place, Sihon king of Heshbon and Og king of Bashan came out to fight against us, but we defeated them. 8 We took their land and gave it as aninheritance to the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh. 9 Carefully follow the terms of this covenant, so that you may prosper in everything you do. 10 All of you are standing today in the presence of the Lord your God—your leaders and chief men, your elders and officials, and all the other men of Israel, 11 together with your children and your wives, and the foreigners living in your camps who chop your wood and carry your water. 12 You are standing here in order to enter into a covenant with the Lord your God, a covenant the Lord is making with you this day and sealing with an oath, 13 to confirm you this day as his people, that he may be your God as he promised you and as he swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 14 I am making this covenant, with its oath, not only with you 15 who are standing here with us today in the presence of the Lord our God but also with those who are not here today.

Read Romans 9:6-9

Verse 5 told us that Israel had the Patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob), and these verses begin with Abraham. You can find Abraham’s story in Genesis chapters 12-25.

If you want a video refresher of the Genesis story, check out the Bible Project below:

God promised Abraham a natural born son through Sarah. It was through this family that God intended to bless the whole world. We read in chapter 4 earlier this fall that Abraham was declared righteous because of his faith. But Abraham had a first, natural born son with his servant, Hagar. Impatient for the fulfillment of the promise, Abraham and Sarah took having a descendant into their own hands and Ishmael was born.

• When have you lacked faith to wait on the Lord to work, but devised your own plan? Get out a piece of paper and write down your story.

• How can you tell in your own life, when you are functioning with faith or functioning in your own efforts?

Spend some time praying and asking the Holy Spirit to show you areas of your life not built on faith.

THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL: THE GLORY OF THE LORD
**Each day we are going to read through some of the passages and verses Paul may be thinking of. As he lists these descriptors you will see them on the bottom of each day’s devotional.

Leviticus 9: 6, 23 Then Moses said, “This is what the Lord has commanded you to do, so that the glory of the Lord may appear to you.”; Moses and Aaron then went into the tent of meeting. When they came out, they blessed the people; and the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people.