Enosh, the son of Seth— the firstborn in place of Abel— began to call on the name of the LORD. And the righteous began to build altars everywhere to make burnt offering, but with the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt, they went to a corporate worship and the sons of Aaron replaced the eldest son as the priests. In Romans 9:1-33, Paul announced the time of the Gentiles.
Paul taught: “Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God.” (Rom 10:1-3) “What made the rejection of Israel so peculiarly pathetic was that they were not a mere godless and irreligious people. On the contrary, they had a sincere zeal for religion, but it was a misdirected and ill-judged zeal.” (C. J. Ellicott) “How many ways seem right to men, though the end is the way of death!... Zeal for God is of greatest danger, when not stemming from the knowledge of God.” (L. M. Grant) “Sincerity is not enough, for we may be sincerely mistaken. The proper word for zeal without knowledge, commitment without reflection, or enthusiasm without understanding is fanaticism. And fanaticism is a horrid and dangerous state to be in.” (John R. W. Stott)
“Contrary to popular thought, both then and now, it does matter what one believes and to what one commits oneself because fervency of belief and depth of commitment of oneself may lead to untold tragedy and unmitigated disaster.” (D. Stuart Briscoe)
“The Jews were about as religious as anyone could be. They were fastidious about keeping the Law of Moses. In fact, to interpret that Law correctly, so that nobody missed it, they devised hundreds of extra laws. Keeping the Sabbath holy wasn’t specific enough for them, so they had rules about how far you could walk and about what constituted work on the Sabbath…. [Yet many such persons die in their sins!] But many will sputter, ‘That’s not fair!’ So in chapter 10, Paul shifts the emphasis to man’s responsibility. He shows that the Jews who were lost had no basis to blame God. … Religious people miss salvation because they think that their good works will satisfy God’s demand for righteousness, so they don’t trust in Christ for righteousness.” (Steven J. Cole)—> “For Christ is the end of the Law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” (Rom 10:4)
“’End,’ in the proper sense of termination or conclusion. Christ is that which brings the functions of the Law to an end by superseding it. The Law pursues a man until he takes refuge in Christ; then it says, ‘Thou hast found thine asylum; I shall trouble thee no more, now thou art wise; now thou art safe.’” (Bengel).” (C. J. Ellicott) Now thou hast the Fount of righteousness.
“For Moses writes about the righteousness which is of the Law, ‘The man who does those things (keeps God's statutes and judgments) shall live (inherit eternal life) by them.’ (Lev 18:5)— Rom 10:5. “This appeal is made to Moses, both in regard to the righteousness of the Law and that of faith, in accordance with the usual manner of Paul to sustain all his positions by the OT and to show that he was introducing no new doctrine…. The man who shall perform or obey what was declared in the previous statutes… moral and ceremonial…. shall receive the reward which the Law promises… However, Moses did not affirm that in fact any one either had yielded or would yield perfect obedience to the Law of God. The Scriptures abundantly teach elsewhere that it never has been done.” (Albert Barnes)
Moses preached this message after receiving the law. “For this commandment which I command you today is not too mysterious for you, nor is it far off. It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend into heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it. “ (Deut 30:11-14)
And Paul preached it to the Jews of his day:“But the righteousness of faith speaks in this way, "Do not say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven?'" (that is, to bring Christ down from above) or, " 'Who will descend into the abyss?' " (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say?” (Rom 10:6-7) The Revelation “at Mount Sinai took place in connection with Moses ascending Mount Sinai, and then descending with a copy of the law in his hands. His ascending symbolized ascent to heaven and to the presence of God. His descent symbolized descent from heaven, bringing the word of God to man. In this way, Moses mediated between God and the sinfulness of the people. He foreshadowed and typified Christ’s mediation (1 Tim. 2:5-6)… Christ’s ascent and descent fulfill the picture… in Deut. 30. Ephesians 4 uses similar language with respect to Christ: Therefore it says, ‘When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.’(In saying, ‘He ascended,’ what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lowest parts of the earth(the grave)? He who descended in the one who also ascended far above all the heaven, that he might fill all things.) (Eph. 4:8-10).” (Nicholas T. Batzig)
“But what does it say? ‘The word [rhema] is near you, in your mouth and in your heart’ (Deut 30:14) (that is, the word [rhema] of faith which we preach): that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” (Rom 10:8-10)
Rhema is one of two Greek words in the New Testament which refer to the Word of God. Rhema is said to be the spoken [preached] Word of God, while logos is considered the "written Word of God.” The Rhema or Word of faith had left Paul's mouth and entered the mouths and hearts of the hearers. All that was necessary for them to do was to believe in their hearts and, like him, confess Jesus with their mouths.
Moses then gave a choice of life or death in Deuteronomy 30:15-20: "See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil; in that I command thee this day to love Jehovah thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his ordinances, that thou mayest live and multiply, and that Jehovah thy God may bless thee in the land whither thou goest in to possess it. But if thy heart turn away, and thou wilt not hear, but thou shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them; I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish; ye shall not prolong your days in the land, whither thou goest over the Jordan to possess it. I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before thee life and death, the blessing and the curse: therefore choose life, that thou mayest live, thou and thy seed; to love Jehovah thy God, to obey his voice, and to cleave unto him; for he is thy life, and the length of thy days; that thou mayest dwell in the land which Jehovah sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them."
“It would seem from the strong words of Moses, that he had very clear views of the final obduration of the Jews, and of the calamities which should overtake them in the latter day… His prospects towards heaven were luminous, and full of immortality; but when he turned his regards to earth, they were like the cloud in the desert, bright on one side, and dark on the other.” (Joseph Sutcliffe) God told Moses beforehand: “’I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are not a nation‘ (Deuteronomy 32:21)- as they followed gods that were not gods, so He accepted in their stead a nation that was not a nation…”(John Wesley), even the Gentiles, as it is written.
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