Romans 9, Hosea, and the Restoration of Israel

The Text That Has Been Misused for Two Thousand Years

I would like to talk about a quotation that the Apostle Paul makes in Romans 9, and it has nothing to do with the census in the book of Numbers. But it has everything to do with the Haftarah reading for Parashat Bamidbar from the prophet Hosea 2:1-23. Paul is quoting directly from Hosea 1:10 which carries the same repeated theme that we find towards the end of Parashat Bamidbar's reading from the prophets:

This reference is of ultimate importance, and it has been misunderstood — in my opinion, on purpose — by traditional Christian commentators for nearly two thousand years.

Justin Martyr and the Man Who Divided the Bible

One of the earliest anti-Jewish church fathers, who later was counted among the so-called "fathers of the faith" in the Roman and Orthodox Churches and also adopted as authoritative in some Protestant churches, set the fatal pattern. Justin Martyr lived in Rome in the middle of the Second Century CE and was martyred in 165 CE. This Justin is the same person who divided the common Scriptures — the Tanach (Old Testament) and the New Testament — into "Jewish" and "Christian." This falsehood was the dividing line between what is Christian and what is Jewish. Justin Martyr is among the first so-called "Church Fathers" who set the fundamental patterns of what is considered "Orthodox Christian" theology and what the majority of Christianity treats as anti-Judaism, or anti-Semitism.

Justin Martyr and the subsequent church understood Paul's text in Romans 9 totally out of context and interpreted it this way:

This false teaching is so deeply engraved into the theology of the traditional churches — the Catholic and the Greek Orthodox, and all their Protestant daughters — that it is hard to uproot it without a deep cleaning of the very DNA of the anti-Jewish and anti-Torah churches.

The hate of Israel and the Jewish people led these church fathers to misinterpret the Word of God and twist it to the point that brought the horrible history of the Spanish and Portuguese Inquisition that lasted from 1472 to 1821, and burned tens of thousands of Jews and Jewish disciples of Yeshua who wanted to preserve their Jewish identity and customs and lifestyle. I have no doubt at all that some of those historical leaders, bishops, popes, and church fathers knew the truth, but their diabolical hate of Jews blinded their hearts first and their minds second and finally blinded their eyes too.

What Hosea, Ezekiel, and Isaiah Actually Meant

Here is what Hosea meant when he said in God's name, "Lo Ami" — not my people — in chapter 1:10. First of all, the prophet Hosea clarified the whole picture prophetically in the very same text:

The whole context of these words of Hosea is only Israel — not anyone else. God was angry with Israel and He did call Israel "Lo Ami" — not my people. But immediately Hosea reminds us of God's promise: "Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea." The context of Hosea is not rejection but restoration. And even though God had said in the past "not my people," in the future they shall be called "sons of the living God." Hosea is not talking about someone else. He is talking about the restoration of Israel, not the importation of other nations.

Isaiah says the same thing:

And Ezekiel says it in a way that cannot be misunderstood:

Just go on and read the rest of Romans 9–11, and you see that Paul's prediction based on the prophets and God's promises to Israel is that "All Israel shall be SAVED!"

The lesson is this: you must read the Bible every day, at least a little, and you must never take for granted what you hear in your churches and the theology of your denominations. You need to pray every time you open the Bible for the Holy Spirit to enlighten you personally and carry you unto all truth. Always remember the words of Jeremiah: