Luómǎshū 9:29

29 Yòu rú Yǐsaìyà xiānqián shuō guō , ruò bú shì wàn jūn zhī zhǔ gĕi wǒmen cún liú yú zhòng , wǒmen zǎo yǐ xiàng Suǒduōmǎ , Gémólā de yàngzi le .

Luómǎshū 9:29 Meaning and Commentary

Romans 9:29

And as Esaias said before
In the beginning of his prophecy, in ( Isaiah 1:9 ) .

Except the Lord of sabaoth had left us a seed;
the title and character the great God goes by here, is "Lord of sabaoth", that is, "of hosts", or "armies"; the Septuagint often leave the word untranslated, as here and elsewhere, as in ( 1 Samuel 1:11 ) ( 17:45 ) . He is Lord of the hosts of heaven, the sun, moon, and stars, whom he brings forth by number, calls by their names, and them to praise him; of the angels, the multitude of the heavenly host, that do his pleasure, fight under him, and for him; and of the hosts of nations, of the several kingdoms of the world, who are all under his government, and among whom he acts according to his sovereign will and pleasure. Kimchi on the place says, he is called so,

``because of "the hosts above", and because of "the hosts below", who are the Israelites, that are called "hosts"; wherefore he would not consume us all, as we deserved:''

no, according to the council of his own will, he left them "a seed"; or as it is in Isaiah, a very small remnant": and so the Syriac here, (adyro) , a remnant"; both signify one and the same, namely, a few persons only: "a remnant" signifies a few, which remain out of a large number; and so does "seed", which is reserved for sowing again, after the whole stock is sold off, or consumed: and the leaving of this small number designs God's gracious acts of reserving in the election of a people for himself; the calling them by his grace in time, and preserving them from general corruption; which if he had not done among the Jews, as Jarchi on the text says,

``of himself, and by his mercies, and not for our righteousnesses,''

we had been as Sodoma, and been made like unto Gomorrha;
the cities which God destroyed with fire and brimstone from heaven, for their iniquities: had it not been for electing grace, they would have been like the inhabitants of these cities for wickedness; and the case would have been the same with us and with the whole world, had it not been for God's act of election, choosing some to holiness here, and happiness hereafter. The decree of election is so far from being a door to licentiousness, that it is the true spring and source of all real holiness, that has been, or is in the world; and had it not been for this, there would have been no such thing as holiness in the world; and consequently not only Judea, but thee whole world, were it not for this, must have been long before now, like Sodom and Gomorrah, in their punishment.

Luómǎshū 9:29 In-Context

27 Yǐsaìyà zhǐ zhe Yǐsèliè rén hǎn zhe shuō , Yǐsèliè rén suī duō rú hǎi shà , déjiù de bú guō shì shèngxia de yú shǔ .

28 Yīnwei zhǔ yào zaì shìshang shīxíng tāde huà , jiào tāde huà dōu chéngquán , sù sù de wán jié .

29 Yòu rú Yǐsaìyà xiānqián shuō guō , ruò bú shì wàn jūn zhī zhǔ gĕi wǒmen cún liú yú zhòng , wǒmen zǎo yǐ xiàng Suǒduōmǎ , Gémólā de yàngzi le .

30 Zhèyàng , wǒmen kè shuō shénme ne . nà bĕnlái bú zhuīqiú yì de waìbāngrén , fǎn dé le yì , jiù shì yīn xìn ér dé de yì .

31 Dàn Yǐsèliè rén zhuīqiú lǜfǎ de yì , fǎn dé bú zhe lǜfǎ de yì .