Lessons #23 and 24
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+ 1. It is best to use this note after you have listened to the lessons because there are +
+ comments given in the actual delivery not in the note. +
+ 2. The Bible abbreviations are as follows: CEV =Contemporary English version, +
+ CEB = Common English Bible, ESV= English Standard Version, +
+ GW = God’s Word, ISV = International Standard Version, +
+ NAB=New American Bible, NASB= New American Standard Bible, +
+ NEB= New English Bible, NET = New English Translation, +
+ NLT = New Living Translations NJB = New Jerusalem Bible, +
+ NJV = New Jewish Bible, TEV = Today’s English Version. +
+AMP = Amplified Bible, UBS = United Bible Society +
+ HCSB = Holman Christian Standard Bible +
+ 3. Notes have not been edited for grammatical errors. +
+ 4. Text is based on 1984 edition of the NIV +
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Declaration of Paul’s desire to visit the Romans (Rom 1:11-13)
11 I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong— 12 that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith. 13 I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I planned many times to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now) in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles.
In our last study, we indicated that the passage we have read is the second paragraph of the second subsection of Apostle Paul’s introduction of his epistle to the Romans that covers Romans 1:8-15. Previously, we stated that this second paragraph begins with a statement of the apostle’s desire to visit believers in Rome. This is followed by the purpose and or expected result of his visit to them. We stated an application message we believe the Holy Spirit wants us to convey to you from this passage is that You can plan what you want to accomplish but you should be aware that God determines when and if such a plan will be fulfilled. We also stated that there are two aspects of this message. The first is that there is nothing wrong with making plans. This aspect is demonstrated in verses 11 and 12. The second is that you should not become discouraged if your plan does not immediately materialize. This second aspect is demonstrated in Romans 1:13 with which we begin our study this morning.
Apostle Paul having stated his desire to visit believers in Rome and having stated the purpose of his desired visit, continued with providing information to the Romans that in a sense indicates he was not discouraged simply because his plan did not immediately materialize. The apostle conveyed that he was continuing with his narrative of his desire or plan to visit Rome. This is because he used a Greek conjunction (de) that is routinely translated “but” in our English versions to reflect a contrast between clauses but when a simple connective is desired, without contrast being clearly implied, it may be translated “and” or “now” and in certain occurrences the particle may be left untranslated as is the case with our verse in the NIV and majority of our English versions. A handful our English versions, such as, the HCSB, translated the Greek conjunction with the word “now.” Anyway, the apostle used the conjunction to indicate he was continuing with the topic of his desire to visit Rome with information that is to help the recipients of his epistle to learn of his attitude towards his plan that has not yet materialized that they were ignorant.
It is important in human relationships not to keep in the dark a person with whom you deal with in matters that affect you and that individual. In other words, it is important to communicate your plans clearly to a person you deal with in certain adventures. Keeping people in the dark could create all kinds of problems, one of which is mistrust. Take for example, in marriage relationships, if spouses are secretive and not inform the other of what the person is doing or planning to do, it could create suspicions of different kinds from the other spouse. It is particularly important, when one of them makes a plan that no doubt will affect the other, to let the other spouse know about the plan so as to avoid any kind of surprise in case of failures in the plan. Thus, the Holy Spirit brought to the mind of Apostle Paul that it was necessary for him to provide further information or explanation to the Romans why he had not fulfilled his desire to visit them. It is for this reason the apostle indicated he did not want to keep them in the dark as in the first sentence of Romans 1:13 I do not want you to be unaware.
Apostle Paul had a strong desire to inform the Romans regarding what happened to him as it pertains to his plan. This he conveyed firstly, in his use of the word “not” which is translated from a Greek word (ou) that is an objective negative, denying the reality of alleged fact fully and absolutely in contrast to another Greek negative (mē) that is a subjective negative, implying a conditional and hypothetical negation. Thus, the apostle states strongly what he does not desire to be the state of the Romans about his plan. Secondly, the apostle used the word “want” that is translated from a Greek word (thelō) that may mean “to wish to have, desire, want,” that is, to have a desire for something as the apostle used it to describe what he wanted Roman believers to do about being wise regarding what is good, as stated in Romans 16:19:
Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I am full of joy over you; but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil.
The apostle used the word with the meaning of “to choose” to state that he could boast but because of the reason given, he refrained from it in his epistle to the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 12:6:
Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say.
The apostle used the word with meaning “to wish” to state a desire for something that cannot or probably will not happen with the Galatians who were abandoning the doctrine of justification by faith as in his question to them of desiring to be enslaved back to what they had been freed from in Galatians 4:9:
But now that you know God—or rather are known by God—how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable principles? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again?
In our passage of Romans 1:13, the Greek word means “to desire” or “to want strongly.”
The thing the apostle wanted strongly as it pertains to the Romans is for them not to be ignorant of what has happened regarding his plan as he stated in Romans 1:13 I do not want you to be unaware. The idea of ignorance is conveyed in the expression “to be unaware.” The expression “to be unaware” is translated from a Greek word (agnoeō) that may mean “to fail to understand” that is, “not to understand” as it is used to describe the inability of the disciples to comprehend what the Lord Jesus said about His betrayal into the hands of men as, we read in Luke 9:45:
But they did not understand what this meant. It was hidden from them, so that they did not grasp it, and they were afraid to ask him about it.
It is a word Apostle Paul used several times to communicate information or doctrine that believers should be aware of. He used it to convey to the Corinthians of his desire to dispel any ignorance regarding spiritual gifts as we read in 1 Corinthians 12:1:
Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant.
He used the word with the meaning “to be uninformed” to convey to the Corinthians that he did not want them to be ignorant of his and his team’s suffering in the province of Asia as he asserted in 2 Corinthians 1:8:
We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life.
The apostle used the word with the meaning “to be unaware” to assert that he and others were not ignorant of the designs or schemes of Satan in 2 Corinthians 2:11:
in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.
He used the word to communicate to the Thessalonians about the fate of believers who died so that they should not grieve like others that have no hope as stated in 1 Thessalonians 4:13:
Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope.
In our passage of Romans 1:13, the word has the sense of “to not know,” that is, “to be lacking in knowledge or information.” So, we are correct in stating that the apostle does not want the Romans to be ignorant of the situation pertaining to his desire or plan to visit them.
The apostle continued to indicate that the information he desired to communicate is for believers in Christ who reside in Rome because he stated in Romans 1:13 I do not want you to be unaware, brothers.
The apostle addressed his desire to both male and female believers in Rome so that the word “brothers” could be replaced with the phrase “brothers and sisters” as done in some English versions such as the NET and the 2011 edition of the NIV. The phrase “brothers and sisters” is justified because the word “brothers” in the passage we are considering is translated from a Greek word (adelphos) that could mean “brother” in the sense of a male person from the same mother as the referenced person. It is in this sense that the word is used by Apostle Paul to reference those who are from the same mother as Jesus in His humanity as he defended his right to marry as stated in 1 Corinthians 9:5:
Don’t we have the right to take a believing wife along with us, as do the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers and Cephas?
Apostle Paul used the word in the sense of “a believer” although the word is translated “brothers” in his instruction to slaves regarding how to treat their masters who are believers in Christ as we read in 1 Timothy 6:2:
Those who have believing masters are not to show less respect for them because they are brothers. Instead, they are to serve them even better, because those who benefit from their service are believers, and dear to them. These are the things you are to teach and urge on them.
It is clear “brothers” is used here for believers because of the clause because those who benefit from their service are believers. Hence, the word “brother” is the same as “believer.” Thus, it is not surprising that the translators of the NIV translated the Greek word as “believers” when used by a believer in Christ to address another believer as in the letter of the first church council that was sent to Gentile believers as we read in Acts 15:23:
With them they sent the following letter: The apostles and elders, your brothers, To the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia: Greetings.
The phrase the Gentile believers in Antioch is literally the brothers from among the Gentiles in Antioch. In some contexts, our word is used to address both male and female believers so that the word “brothers” can be replaced with the phrase “brothers and sisters” as in the ending portion of Apostle Paul’s epistle to the Ephesians where the word “brothers” is used in his final greetings to the Ephesian church in Ephesians 6:23:
Peace to the brothers, and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
The peace the apostle wished on “the brothers” could not possibly apply only to male members of the church in Ephesus. Consequently, the word “brothers” has the sense of “brothers and sisters in Christ” here in Ephesians 6:23. It is in this same sense of “brothers and sisters in Christ” that the word is used in Romans 1:13 although the Greek word means “brothers”.
Apostle Paul’s use of the word “brothers” in the sentence of Romans 1:13 I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, is significant. First, the apostle used the word to convey that he considered the Romans as dear to him as any brother in the flesh would be to another sibling. By the way, this is the first time he used the word in this epistle where he used the word nineteen times, ten of which he used in address to the Romans to get their attention before he made an important point or issued a command. Second, the apostle communicated to the Romans that in Christ there is no distinction in standing before God. In effect, by using the word “brothers” he has conveyed to the Romans that they should see each other as fellow believers as he did. We should remember that the church in Rome consists of Gentiles and Jews, but the apostle lumped them together and described them using the word “brothers” implying that as far as he was concerned, in Christ, he saw no distinction between them and him. All of them have the same relationship with Christ that he sees each of them as his sibling in Christ. The apostle was not pretending that there were no ethnic differences between them, but his use of the word “brothers” is to say to them that they should relate to each other as brothers in Christ disregarding any human distinctions that may exist among them. He was certainly aware that there were ethnic differences between members of the church of Christ in Rome. For after all, he recognized that he was more related genetically to the Jews since he later in this epistle referred to them as his people according to genetical make up as implied in Romans 9:3–4:
3 For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, 4 the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises.
The word “race” as we have indicated in past studies of our Scripture is not really a biblical term and so the phrase of verse 3 those of my own race is more literally my fellow countrymen according to the flesh. Anyway, the apostle in his first use of the word “brothers” in this epistle to the Romans intended to convey to them from the start that in Christ there is no such thing as ethnicity. This does not mean that believers would not recognize differences with themselves but that when they function, they must not be concerned with differences. Instead, they are to function by recognizing each other as members of the same family in Christ.
In any case, Apostle Paul then communicated the information he desired strongly for the Romans to be aware of concerning his desire to visit them. He informed them that he had made repeated plans to visit them evidently because he thought of how important it would be for him to visit such believers that reside in Rome. This the apostle conveyed in the clause of Romans 1:13 that I planned many times to come to you. The Greek tense (aorist) of the Greek word (protithēmi) translated “planned” the apostle used in this sentence and in this context reveals that he repeatedly planned to visit them. The fact that he planned repeatedly to visit the Romans is made clearer in the phrase many times that is translated from a Greek adverb (pollakis) that Apostle Paul used to describe the repeated or frequency of facing danger during his ministry although our word is translated “again and again” in 2 Corinthians 11:23:
Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again.
That aside, the Greek word the apostle used could be translated “often,” that is, “happening frequently or on many occasions.” The point being that the apostle made plans again and again or regularly to visit believers in Rome.
I use the word “visit” although the clause of Romans 1:13 that I planned many times to come to you used the word “come.” This is because the word “visit” is more communicative in our context than the word “come.” You see, the word “come” although a proper meaning of the Greek word (erchomai) the apostle used conveys the idea of movement or travel towards or into a place near or familiar to the speaker and sometimes with a specified purpose but the word “visit” has the sense of “go to see and spend some time with (someone) socially or as a guest” that is more applicable to what the apostle stated in the passage we are studying. Besides, the meaning “to visit” is used by the translators of the NIV to translate the Greek word in verse 13 in the planned visit of the apostle to the Corinthains as reported in 2 Corinthians 1:15:
Because I was confident of this, I planned to visit you first so that you might benefit twice.
The sentence, I planned to visit is literally I was purposing to come. Hence, it is proper for us to state that the apostle made plans again and again or regularly to visit believers in Rome probably because he felt it was important to visit believers who live in Rome.
Recall we indicated that the message of this section is that You can plan what you want to accomplish but you should be aware that God determines when and if such a plan will be fulfilled. We also asserted that there are two aspects of this message. The first is that there is nothing wrong with making plans. The second is that you should not become discouraged if your plan does not immediately materialize. This second aspect is demonstrated in another piece of information the apostle provided to the Romans in Romans 1:13 but have been prevented from doing so until now. This clause in a sense conveys the fact that the apostle was aware that we are not in control of the events of our lives. He recognized the point we made in the introduction of this section that it is up to us to plan our activities, but the outcome of these activities belongs to God alone as stated in Proverbs 16:9:
In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.
Anyway, the apostle’s information to the Romans is given in the clause of Romans 1:13 but have been prevented from doing so until now. There is the question as to whether this clause is to be considered parenthetical or not. Our English versions are evenly divided in their approach to this clause. Some enclose the clause in a parenthesis, but others did not. The reason for this approach is the conjunction but that begins the clause. It is translated from a Greek conjunction (kai) that is often translated “and” in our English versions as a marker of connection between single words or clauses, but the conjunction has several usages. It may be used as a marker of introduction of a result that comes from what precedes and so may be translated “and then, and so.” It may be used to emphasize a fact as surprising or unexpected or noteworthy leading to the translation “and yet, and in spite of that, nevertheless.” It may be used as a marker of emphasis where there is a stress on what is said and hence means “indeed, certainly.” It may be used as a marker to indicate an additive relation that is not of equal rank and significance to another clause, in which case, means “also, likewise.” Still the word may be used as a marker of contrast so that it means “but.” In our passage, it is used as a marker of contrast or a marker of additional clause or a marker of parenthesis. It seems that the apostle probably meant for the clause to be understood as parenthetical as well as providing contrasting information in a somewhat surprising manner. This being the case, it could be enclosed in parenthesis while beginning the clause with the word “but” or as the standard Greek English Lexicon (BDAG) suggests with the phrase “but so far.” The English versions that enclosed the clause within a parenthesis as well as use the word “but” or “but so far” are probably more in keeping with the apostle’s thought. This is because the clause we are considering although it contains an important information, it is one that interrupts the stated purpose of the apostle’s proposed visit to Rome. Verse 13 would read smoothly without the clause we are considering. Thus, it is appropriate to consider it to be parenthetical although it provides important information the apostle wanted the Romans to know regarding what happened to his desire to visit them.
Be that as it may, a more important concern is to understand what the apostle meant in the clause of Romans 1:13 but have been prevented from doing so until now. The word “prevented” of the NIV is translated from a Greek word (kōluō) that may mean “to keep something back” and so may mean “to withhold, keep back” as it is used to report the question of Apostle Peter, if anyone would deny the Gentiles who have received the Holy Spirit from being baptized, as we read in Acts 10:47:
“Can anyone keep these people from being baptized with water? They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.”
The word may mean to keep something from happening, hence “to hinder, prevent, forbid” as it is used to describe what false teachers do as it pertains to marriage as recorded in 1 Timothy 4:3:
They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth.
In our passage of Romans 1:13, the word means “to prevent,” that is, to stop someone from doing something. This meaning raises the question of how to understand the clause because of the Greek form the Greek verb is used.
The Greek literally reads I was prevented until now and this causes a problem because the apostle did not give any indication of what or who prevented him from visiting Rome. A handful of our English versions probably attempted to avoid this problem by the way they translated the Greek sentence. For example, the NCV instead of the literal translation I was prevented until now rendered the sentence as this has not been possible and likewise the TEV translated the Greek sentence as something has always kept me from doing so. The rendering of the TEV still leaves the question of what is the “something” that kept the apostle from visiting Rome. These translations notwithstanding, there is still the issue of what or who prevented the apostle from visiting Rome. There are several possibilities. Events driven, on the surface, by humans could have prevented the apostle from going to Rome. In effect, human opposition could have prevented the apostle from visiting Rome. This is not far-fetched reason when we recognize that there were those in the time of the early church that opposed the preaching of the gospel. The Jewish religious authorities were certainly involved in opposition of the gospel and so they did everything they could to stop the preaching of the gospel as recorded, for example, in Acts 5:39:
But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.”
This verse is a part of the speech of Gamaliel to the Jewish authorities to stop persecuting believers in Christ in the sense of trying to prevent them from preaching the gospel. We know that the religious authorities plainly commanded the apostles not to preach the gospel as we have narrated, for example, of such prohibition by Jewish authorities concerning the gospel in Acts 5:28:
“We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,” he said. “Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.”
Apostle Paul also indicated that the Jews have tried to keep him from preaching the gospel to the Gentiles as he informed the Thessalonians in 1 Thessalonians 2:16:
in their effort to keep us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. In this way they always heap up their sins to the limit. The wrath of God has come upon them at last.
It is possible that in some way that some Jews who had an inclination that Paul would go to Rome to preach could do things that would make it difficult for the apostle to visit Rome. Of course, we are not certain how the Jews would work against Paul traveling to Rome but that is a possibility. Take the fact that the apostle had clearly stated he wanted to visit Rome while he was in Ephesus as recorded in Acts 19:21:
After all this had happened, Paul decided to go to Jerusalem, passing through Macedonia and Achaia. “After I have been there,” he said, “I must visit Rome also.”
After this declaration, the apostle eventually made his way to Jerusalem. However, while in Jerusalem the Jews were hostile to him and so he defended what he preached. When they heard him mention that the Lord sent him to preach to the Gentiles, they rioted as Luke narrated in Acts 22:21–22:
21 “Then the Lord said to me, ‘Go; I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’” 22 The crowd listened to Paul until he said this. Then they raised their voices and shouted, “Rid the earth of him! He’s not fit to live!”
As a result of the riot, the apostle was arrested and eventually transported to Caesarea according to Acts 23:23–24:
23 Then he called two of his centurions and ordered them, “Get ready a detachment of two hundred soldiers, seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen to go to Caesarea at nine tonight. 24 Provide mounts for Paul so that he may be taken safely to Governor Felix.”
After the apostle appeared before Governor Felix to defend the charge the Jews brought against him, his case was not decided so that he remained in prison for two years as stated in Acts 24:27:
When two years had passed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus, but because Felix wanted to grant a favor to the Jews, he left Paul in prison.
It is possible that the apostle thought that he would get to Rome quicker since the Lord had assured him that he would go to Rome as recorded in Acts 23:11:
The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, “Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.”
The delay in getting to Rome could have been part of what the apostle had in his mind as an event that kept him from getting to Rome although as a prisoner but when he had planned to go there it was not as a prisoner. Nonetheless, the apostle could have considered the whole experience of being in prison in Caesarea as part of the event that kept him from visiting Roman believers as he planned. Another human related event that could have kept the apostle from going to Rome is the expulsion of Jews from Rome in A.D. 49 by edict of Emperor Claudius. Still, is the apostle’s ministry in the Roman province of Asia. Here, however, Paul seems to have had in mind his missionary activities in the eastern part of the Roman Empire could have kept him from going to Rome when he desired.
Supernatural beings would have prevented Paul from visiting Rome. A lesser supernatural being that could have prevented Apostle Paul from going to Rome is Satan. This is possible because the apostle stated to the Thessalonians that Satan stopped him from visiting them as recorded in 1 Thessalonians 2:18:
For we wanted to come to you—certainly I, Paul, did, again and again—but Satan stopped us.
Paul stated that Satan temporarily hindered him from accomplishing his goal of visiting the Thessalonians when he had the desire to do so. He, however, did not tell us how Satan did this. It is possible that he could have viewed the interruption of the Jews in that city as part of satanic attack on him to keep him from carrying out his plans. Or there could have been other personal problems such as health difficulties the apostle attributes to satanic attack that kept him from going to Thessalonica such as he mentioned in 2 Corinthians 12:7:
To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.
The point is that we really do not know how Satan kept the apostle from going to Thessalonica, but the apostle was certain that whatever it was that kept him from going to Thessalonica was from Satan as he stated. It should not surprise you that Satan would attempt to prevent the apostle from visiting Rome for the purpose of advancing God’s word. We should recognize that Satan is always seeking to thwart the plan of God for the believer. When we are following the instructions of the word of God and our purpose is pure, but we are unable to achieve our goal, we should be aware that it could be that Satan is trying to hinder us. The fact that we are in God’s plan does not mean that Satan would not attack us and attempt to delay or hinder God’s plan. If he could slow down an angel sent to answer the prayers of Daniel, it stands to reason that he could also try to hinder us from carrying out God’s purpose. Someone may say how do you know he delayed an angel? It is because of the incident recorded in Daniel 10:12-14:
12 Then he continued, "Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. 13 But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia. 14 Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future, for the vision concerns a time yet to come."
Note that the phrase prince of the Persian kingdom is an idiomatic expression for Satan since the Persian king at that time being human could not prevent an angel. So, it is used to describe Satan or satanic agent. Anyhow, it is possible that Satan in some undisclosed manner prevented Apostle Paul from going to Rome as he planned.
Another supernatural being that could have prevented Paul from visiting Rome when he planned is the supreme God, the creator, specifically the Holy Spirit. The reason for stating the supreme God as the possible agent that prevented the apostle from visiting Rome as he had planned in the past is because we have a clear record of the Holy Spirit keeping the apostle and his team from going to a province in Asia as Luke narrated in Acts 16:6–7:
6 Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. 7 When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to.
This passage presents a difficult problem in that Luke merely reported that the Holy Spirit would not permit Paul and his team to preach in the province of Asia during his second missionary journey but later he was permitted to enter the province of Asia since he later preached the gospel in Ephesus that was in Asia. The problem is that we do not know whether the apostle received a direct revelation from the Holy Spirit forbidding him from entering the province of Asia during his second missionary journey or whether the Holy Spirit used events or circumstances to keep him from entering into Asia at that time. This problem notwithstanding, the apostle knew how the Holy Spirit kept him from entering the province of Asia during his second missionary journey. So, it is possible that God would have used circumstances or could have communicated to the apostle directly to keep him from going to Rome the several times he planned to do so.
All the same, the apostle knew how he was kept from visiting Rome on the several occasions he planned to go there. Although he did not specify how or who kept him from going to Rome, it is most likely the apostle believed that ultimately God kept him from going to Rome the many times he planned to go there. It is not that difficult to believe that what we stated was in the mind of the Apostle since OT believers generally did not assign any event, good or bad to Satan but to God. It is for this reason that, for example, we have the common belief among Hebrew people that if they were not able to have children, that it came from God. Sarah expressed this belief in her suggestion to Abraham to take her maid as a secondary wife, so to speak, to get a child by her as we read in Genesis 16:2:
so she said to Abram, “The LORD has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family through her.” Abram agreed to what Sarai said.
Similar belief was expressed by Jacob when Rachel confessed her frustration to him. He responded by indicating her infertility is from God according to Genesis 30:1–2:
1 When Rachel saw that she was not bearing Jacob any children, she became jealous of her sister. So she said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I’ll die!” 2 Jacob became angry with her and said, “Am I in the place of God, who has kept you from having children?”
The fact that OT believers rarely attributed anything to Satan can be noted in the ill-advised census David conducted. It is reported that Yahweh motivated him to do so because He was angry with Israel as stated in 2 Samuel 24:1:
Again the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, “Go and take a census of Israel and Judah.”
David was also said to be incited by Satan to carry out the census in 1 Chronicles 21:1:
Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel.
On the surface reading, there appears to be a conflict in the two narratives but without going into detail study of these two passages at this time since we had done so in our study of God’s plan (available on the website of Berean Bible Church, Bay Springs, Mississippi), there is a simple explanation for the conflicting narratives. In 2 Samuel 24:1 God is the ultimate cause of David conducting the census while 1 Chronicles 21:1 is an explanation of how this was done. In effect, since the OT believers do not attribute to Satan anything per say, he was described as the agent by whom God carried out His plan reported in 2 Samuel 24. Similar concept is reflected in Job’s temptation. Satan was the agent of Job’s suffering and losses since Yahweh authorized him to cause suffering and losses Job experienced, with the limitation he should not kill Job as implied in the record of Job 1:12:
The LORD said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.” Then Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.
Job lost his children and property, but he never attributed all he suffered to Satan that was the immediate agent of his suffering. Instead, in keeping with the OT believers’ belief that God is the ultimate cause of all things, he said God brought about his losses as we read in Job 1:20–22:
20 At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship 21 and said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised.” 22 In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.
I can cite further examples to substantiate my assertion that the OT believers had the belief that God is control of everything that happens so that they did not attribute any event to Satan as the ultimate cause, but these are sufficient. Anyway, the point is that although the apostle did not tell us how or who prevented him from going to Rome according to his previous plans but that it is most likely that he had in his mind that ultimately God prevented him from going to Rome in previous occasions he planned to do so. This may be his reason for not going into any detail as to how he was prevented from visiting the Romans as he had planned.
The apostle indicated that his plan at the time of writing this epistle has come together to fulfill his desire since he wrote but have been prevented from doing so until now. The word “now” is translated from a Greek word (deuro) that in relation to a place may mean “come!” or “over here” as it is used in the command of the Lord Jesus to Lazarus to come out from the grave as we read in John 11:43:
When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”
In our passage of Romans 1:13, the word means “the present time, now.” Hence, the apostle used it to describe that at the time of this epistle he was certain he was about to go to Rome, likely from Corinth, the most likely place from which he wrote this epistle.
In any case, the apostle reiterated his purpose of planned visit of the Romans that he stated previously in Romans 1:11-12 that has to do with spiritual blessings as we have in the last clause of Romans 1:13 in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles.
The apostle anticipates receiving material and spiritual blessings as he visits the Romans. This we say because of the clause in order that I might have a harvest among you. The apostle is concerned with reaping some fruits from the Romans. This we say firstly, because the word “have” though translated from a Greek word (echō) that certainly means “to have” but the word can also mean “to reap” as the apostle used it in describing the result of life of sin in Romans 6:21:
What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death!
The question What benefit did you reap is more literally what sort of fruit did you have. Thus, the apostle used the word in the sense of “to reap” or “receive” something in Romans 1:13. Secondly, the word “harvest” of the NIV of Romans 1:13 is translated from a Greek word (karpos) that may mean “fruit,” that is, “product or outcome of something.” Thus, literally, it refers to the product of a tree or plant the Lord Jesus used it to describe that which uniquely belongs to a tree or plant as recorded in Luke 6:44:
Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers.
Figuratively, it is used to describe the product of the Holy Spirit in Galatians 5:22:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
The word may mean “benefit” as it is used by Apostle Paul to indicate the benefit of living by the Spirit or living righteously as stated in Romans 6:22:
But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.
The sentence the benefit you reap leads to holiness is literally you have your fruit leading to sanctification. In our passage of Romans 1:13, the word has the sense of “benefit or gain” only that the apostle is concerned with both physical and spiritual benefits. We know that the apostle used our word in a physical sense to refer to the material blessing of the Jews that is the result of the collection from Gentile churches as in Romans 15:28:
So after I have completed this task and have made sure that they have received this fruit, I will go to Spain and visit you on the way.
Thus, the apostle anticipates receiving physical and spiritual benefits from the Romans when he visits them. Of course, some interpreters consider only physical benefits as what the apostle would reap while others consider only spiritual benefits, but we contend that the apostle anticipated both physical and spiritual benefits.
Our interpretation that the apostle expects to receive or reap physical and spiritual benefits is supported by the comparison the apostle makes in the last clause of Romans 1:13 just as I have had among the other Gentiles. The thing the apostle had received among the other Gentile local churches consist of physical and spiritual benefits. We know that the apostle expects to receive material benefit from those he preached the word as implied in the question he posed to the Corinthians regarding material support in 1 Corinthians 9:11:
If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you?
Of course, the apostle acknowledged financial support from the Philippians in the early part of his ministry as we read in Philippians 4:14–17:
14 Yet it was good of you to share in my troubles. 15 Moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only; 16 for even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid again and again when I was in need. 17 Not that I am looking for a gift, but I am looking for what may be credited to your account.
Thus, the apostle could have anticipated that he would receive financial support from the Romans for his planned visit to Spain. Anyway, it is not only that the apostle received material blessings from Gentile churches, but he also received spiritual blessing in the sense that those he taught the word lived out their faith and that brought encouragement to the apostle, as for example, from the Thessalonians as we may gather from the record in 1 Thessalonians 3:7:
Therefore, brothers, in all our distress and persecution we were encouraged about you because of your faith.
The apostle’s spiritual blessing coming from those he taught was joy that is a result of knowing that such individuals are doing well as we read in Philippians 4:1:
Therefore, my brothers, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, that is how you should stand firm in the Lord, dear friends!
Hence, the apostle anticipates that he would teach those in Rome the word of God that would bring about spiritual growth that will encourage him since he had already referenced in Romans 1:12 the encouragement he would receive as a result of his visit. The point is that the apostle anticipated both physical and material blessings as a result of his visit to the Romans, but he was general in stating what he expected due to his visit. With this comment we end our consideration of this section of Romans 1:11-13, so let me close by reminding you of its message which is that You can plan what you want to accomplish but you should be aware that God determines when and if such a plan will be fulfilled.
06/21/24