ΡΩΜΑΙΟΥΣΡΩΜΑΙΟΥΣ

1. Moyo wa Paulo kwa Israeli (9:1-5)1. Paul's Heart for Israel (9:1-5)

Baada ya kilele kinachopaa cha sura ya 8 — hakuna kitu kinachoweza kututenga na upendo wa Mungu ulio katika Kristo Yesu Bwana wetu — msomaji anatarajia Paulo aanze wimbo wa kumsifu Mungu. Badala yake sura ya 9 inaanza kwa machozi. Paulo amemaliza kuimba kuhusu upendo wa Mungu usiovunjika na mara moja anageuka kuandika kuhusu jeraha lililo kuu kuliko yote katika huduma yake. Watu wake mwenyewe, jamaa zake kwa jinsi ya mwili, kwa sehemu kubwa wamemkataa Masihi ambaye kila ukurasa wa Agano la Kale ulikuwa umewaandaa kumpokea.After the soaring climax of chapter 8 — nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord — the reader expects Paul to break into a doxology. Instead chapter 9 opens in tears. Paul has finished singing about the unbreakable love of God and immediately turns to write about the deepest wound in his ministry. His own people, his kinsmen according to the flesh, have largely rejected the Messiah for whom every Old Testament page had prepared them.

Paulo anasema angekubali kwa hiari kutengwa na Kristo ikiwa jambo hilo lingeleta wokovu wa Wayahudi wenzake. Kina cha tamaa hiyo ni cha kushangaza — na Paulo anajua haiwezi kutimizwa. Lakini inatuonyesha jinsi anavyowabeba watu wake moyoni. Anaorodhesha mapendeleo ambayo Mungu aliwapa Israeli: kufanywa wana, na ule utukufu, na maagano, na kupewa torati, na ibada ya Mungu, na ahadi zake, na mababa; na katika hao, kwa jinsi ya mwili, alitoka Kristo. Hakuna taifa katika historia lililopendelewa namna hiyo. Na bado sehemu kubwa ya taifa ilimkosa Masihi yule yule waliyekuwa wakiandaliwa kumpokea.Paul says he would willingly be cut off from Christ if it would mean the salvation of his fellow Jews. The depth of that wish is staggering — and Paul knows it cannot be granted. But it tells us how he carries his people. He lists the privileges God gave to Israel: the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, the promises, the patriarchs, and from them, according to the flesh, Christ came. No nation in history was so favored. And yet the bulk of the nation missed the very Messiah they had been preparing to receive.

Sura ya 9 hadi ya 11 ni jibu la Paulo kwa swali zito zaidi lililoibuka moja kwa moja kutoka sura ya 8. Ikiwa hakuna kitu kinachoweza kuwatenga wateule na upendo wa Mungu, je, neno la Mungu kwa Israeli limeshindwa? Je, Mungu amekuwa mwaminifu kwa ahadi zake za agano? Paulo anatumia sura tatu nzima kulijibu. Jibu kwa ufupi ni hili: Mungu hajashindwa. Ahadi zinasimama. Lakini ni lazima uzielewe ipasavyo.Chapters 9 through 11 are Paul's answer to the most pressing question that climbed straight out of chapter 8. If nothing can separate the elect from the love of God, has God's word to Israel failed? Has God been faithful to His covenant promises? Paul devotes three full chapters to the answer. The short version is: God has not failed. The promises stand. But you must understand them rightly.

2. Si Wote Walio wa Israeli Ndio Israeli (9:6-13)2. Not All Israel Is Israel (9:6-13)

Paulo anaanza jibu lake kwa mojawapo ya sentensi muhimu zaidi katika Agano Jipya kwa kuielewa historia yote ya ukombozi.Paul opens the answer with one of the most important sentences in the New Testament for understanding the whole sweep of redemption history.

Sentensi hiyo inaleta tofauti ya msingi inayopita katika sura hizi tatu. Daima kumekuwepo Israeli wa kikabila — wazao wa kimwili wa Ibrahimu — na daima kumekuwepo Israeli wa kweli ndani ya kundi hilo la kikabila: wale wanaoshiriki imani ya Ibrahimu pamoja na damu yake. Ahadi hazikuwahi kutolewa ovyo kwa kila mtu mwenye ukoo sahihi. Zilitolewa kwa wale ambao Mungu aliwachagua kuwa warithi wa ahadi.That sentence introduces the foundational distinction that runs through these three chapters. There has always been an ethnic Israel — Abraham's physical descendants — and there has always been a true Israel within that ethnic group: those who share Abraham's faith in addition to his bloodline. The promises were never made indiscriminately to everyone with the right ancestry. They were made to those God chose to be heirs of the promise.

Paulo analithibitisha hili kutoka kwa mababa wenyewe. Ibrahimu alikuwa na wana wawili — Ishmaeli na Isaka — na ahadi ilipita kwa Isaka, si kwa Ishmaeli, ingawa wote wawili walikuwa watoto wa kuzaa wa Ibrahimu. Isaka alikuwa na wana wawili — Esau na Yakobo — na kabla hawajazaliwa, kabla yeyote kati yao hajatenda jema wala baya, Mungu alisema mkubwa atamtumikia mdogo. Mungu alimchagua Yakobo. Hata ndani ya familia teule, ahadi ilisonga mbele kwa uteule wa enzi ya Mungu, si kwa mpangilio wa kuzaliwa wala kwa stahili.Paul proves this from the patriarchs themselves. Abraham had two sons — Ishmael and Isaac — and the promise went through Isaac, not Ishmael, even though both were Abraham's biological children. Isaac had two sons — Esau and Jacob — and before they were born, before either had done anything good or bad, God said the older shall serve the younger. God chose Jacob. Even within the elect family, the promise advanced by sovereign election, not by birth order or merit.

Jambo hili linaweka huru. Neno la Mungu halijashindwa katika kukataliwa kwa Masihi na Israeli wa kikabila. Kwa sababu ahadi hazikuwahi kuwa deni kwa ukabila peke yake. Zilikuwa kwa wale ambao Mungu alikuwa amewachagua kwa enzi yake — kwa Israeli wa kweli ndani ya Israeli. Na Waisraeli hao wa kweli, katika Agano Jipya lote, wanatambulishwa kuwa wale wanaoshiriki imani ya Ibrahimu katika Kristo.The point is liberating. God's word has not failed in the rejection of the Messiah by ethnic Israel. Because the promises were never owed to ethnicity alone. They were owed to those God had sovereignly chosen — to the true Israel within Israel. And those true Israelites are, throughout the New Testament, identified as those who share Abraham's faith in Christ.

3. Enzi na Rehema ya Mungu (9:14-29)3. The Sovereignty and Mercy of God (9:14-29)

Pingamizi linalofuata la msomaji linatabirika. Je, Mungu si mwenye haki kwa kuwachagua baadhi na si wengine? Paulo anajibu kwa mē genoito nyingine. Hasha! Mungu ana haki ya kumrehemu yeye amtakaye. Alimwambia Musa, Nitamrehemu yeye nimrehemuye. Alimwambia Farao, kwa kusudi hili hili nalikuinua, nipate kuonyesha uweza wangu katika wewe. Rehema ni haki ya Mungu peke yake; kufanya mgumu ni haki yake; wokovu si deni analodaiwa.The reader's next objection is predictable. Is God unjust in choosing some and not others? Paul answers with another mē genoito. Certainly not. God has the right to bestow mercy on whom He wills. He told Moses, I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy. He told Pharaoh, for this purpose I have raised you up, that I might show My power in you. Mercy is God's prerogative; hardening is His prerogative; salvation is not owed.

Picha ya mfinyanzi ni jibu thabiti la Paulo kwa pingamizi la kutokuwa na haki. Makusudi ya Mungu ni juu kuliko yetu, na rehema yake haijadiliwi na udongo. Alichofanya ni kuwaita watu kutoka kwa Wayahudi na kwa Mataifa pia — vyombo vya rehema alivyovitengeneza tangu zamani vipate utukufu. Mistari ya mwisho ya sura ya 9 inamnukuu Hosea na Isaya: Mungu amewaita watu ambao hawakuwa watu wake; waliookolewa ni mabaki kutoka kwa taifa kubwa zaidi sana.The potter image is Paul's settled response to the objection of unfairness. God's purposes are higher than ours, and His mercy is not negotiated with the clay. What He has done is to call out a people from both Jews and Gentiles — vessels of mercy prepared beforehand for glory. The closing verses of chapter 9 cite Hosea and Isaiah: God has called a people who were not His people; the saved are a remnant from a much larger nation.

4. Kujikwaa kwa Israeli — Haki kwa Imani, Si kwa Matendo (9:30-10:21)4. Israel's Stumbling — Righteousness by Faith, Not Works (9:30-10:21)

Sasa Paulo anageukia upande wa kibinadamu wa swali hili. Ikiwa Mungu amekuwa mwenye enzi, Israeli pia wamekuwa na wajibu. Israeli waliitafuta haki — lakini waliitafuta kana kwamba ingeweza kupatikana kwa matendo ya sheria. Walijikwaa juu ya jiwe la kujikwaza, ambalo ni Kristo. Mataifa ambao hawakuwa wakiitafuta haki kabisa waliipata — kwa imani.Paul now turns to the human side of the question. If God has been sovereign, Israel has also been responsible. Israel pursued righteousness — but pursued it as though it could be obtained by works of the law. They stumbled over the stumbling stone, which is Christ. Gentiles who were not seeking righteousness at all attained it — by faith.

Neno linalotafsiriwa "mwisho" linaweza kumaanisha ama kikomo (sheria imekamilika) ama lengo (sheria ilikuwa ikimwelekea Yeye tangu mwanzo). Maana zote mbili ni kweli. Kristo ndiye kusudi la sheria. Yeye ndiye haki ambayo sheria ilidai, iliyoletwa karibu na kila aaminiye.The word translated "end" can mean either terminus (the law has been completed) or goal (the law was pointing toward Him all along). Both senses are true. Christ is what the law was for. He is the righteousness the law demanded, brought near to anyone who believes.

Paulo anasisitiza njia hii ya kuifikia haki kwa mojawapo ya sentensi zake nzuri kuliko zote. Ananukuu Kumbukumbu la Torati 30 na kuitumia kwa Injili: lile neno li karibu nawe, kinywani mwako na moyoni mwako. Kwa sababu, ukimkiri Yesu kwa kinywa chako ya kuwa ni Bwana, na kuamini moyoni mwako ya kuwa Mungu alimfufua katika wafu, utaokoka. Haki ambayo Israeli waliitafuta kwa matendo ya sheria ndiyo haki ile ile ambayo sasa inatolewa kwa yeyote atakayeamini tu. Kila atakayeliitia jina la Bwana — Myahudi au Mmataifa — ataokoka.Paul presses this access with one of his most beautiful sentences. He quotes Deuteronomy 30 and applies it to the gospel: the word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart. 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. The righteousness Israel sought by works of the law is the very righteousness now offered to anyone who will simply believe. Whoever calls on the name of the Lord — Jew or Gentile — will be saved.

Lakini watamwitaje yeye wasiyemwamini? Na watamwaminije yeye wasiyemsikia? Na watasikiaje pasipo mhubiri? Tena wahubirije wasipopelekwa? Jinsi ilivyo mizuri miguu yao wahubirio Injili ya amani. Huu ndio Agizo Kuu lililowekwa ndani ya barua hii ya mafundisho — agizo la umisheni linalotiririka kutoka katika rehema ya enzi ya Mungu. Paulo anamaliza sura ya 10 akikiri msiba huu: Israeli walisikia, Israeli walijua, na bado Israeli kama taifa walikataa, na mkono wa Mungu umebaki umenyooshwa kwa watu wasiotii na wakaidi.But how shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? How shall they hear without a preacher? How shall they preach unless they are sent? How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace. This is the Great Commission tucked inside the doctrinal letter — the missionary mandate that flows out of the sovereign mercy of God. Paul ends chapter 10 acknowledging the tragedy: Israel heard, Israel knew, and yet Israel as a nation refused, and God's hand has remained stretched out to a disobedient and contrary people.

5. Mabaki na Mzeituni Mmoja (11:1-24)5. The Remnant and the One Olive Tree (11:1-24)

Kisha Paulo anauliza swali ambalo limekuwa likining'inia hewani tangu sura ya 9. Je! Mungu amewasukumia mbali watu wake? Naye anajibu kwa kukana kwa nguvu kuliko kote: Hasha! Paulo mwenyewe ni Mwisraeli, wa uzao wa Ibrahimu, wa kabila la Benyamini. Ukweli kwamba Myahudi yeyote anaamini — Paulo akiwa mmoja wao — unathibitisha kwamba Mungu hajawasukumia mbali watu wake.Then Paul asks the question that has been hanging in the air since chapter 9. Has God cast away His people? And he answers with the strongest negation: Certainly not! Paul himself is an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. The fact that any Jew at all believes — Paul among them — proves God has not cast off His people.

Anarudi kwa Eliya kupata kanuni hii. Eliya alidhani yeye peke yake ndiye aliyebaki. Mungu alimwambia Nimejisazia watu elfu saba wasiopiga goti mbele ya Baali. Daima kumekuwepo mabaki yanayoamini ndani ya Israeli wasioamini. Ndivyo ilivyo sasa. Kuna mabaki kwa uteule wa neema — Wayahudi wanaomwamini Kristo — nao ni ushahidi kwamba Mungu hajayaacha matawi ya asili.He goes back to Elijah for the principle. Elijah thought he was the only one left. God told him I have reserved for Myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal. There has always been a believing remnant within unbelieving Israel. So it is now. There is a remnant according to the election of grace — Jewish believers in Christ — and they are evidence that God has not abandoned the natural branches.

Kisha Paulo anatoa picha kuu ya sura hizi. Anawaonyesha watu wa Mungu kama mzeituni mmoja. Si mizeituni miwili — mmoja kwa ajili ya Israeli na mwingine kwa ajili ya kanisa — bali mti mmoja, watu mmoja wa Mungu waliopandwa na kutunzwa, wenye mizizi katika ahadi ya Ibrahimu. Baadhi ya matawi ya asili yalikatwa kwa sababu ya kutoamini. Matawi ya mwitu kutoka miongoni mwa Mataifa yalipandikizwa. Na matawi ya asili yanayokuja kwenye imani yanaweza kupandikizwa tena. Kuna mti mmoja tu. Wayahudi wanaoamini na Mataifa wanaoamini kwa pamoja wanashiriki shina lile lile, utomvu ule ule, lishe ile ile, uzaaji ule ule.Then Paul gives the great image of these chapters. He pictures God's people as one olive tree. This is not two olive trees — one for Israel and one for the church — but one tree, one cultivated people of God rooted in the Abrahamic promise. Some of the natural branches were broken off because of unbelief. Wild branches from among the Gentiles were grafted in. And the natural branches that come to faith can be grafted back in. There is only one tree. Believing Jews and believing Gentiles together share the same root, the same sap, the same nourishment, the same fruitfulness.

Mwamini wa Mataifa anaonywa dhidi ya kiburi chochote juu ya matawi ya asili yaliyokatwa. Neema ile ile iliyompandikiza Mmataifa ingeweza kumwondoa kama angeiacha imani. Na neema ile ile iliyoyakata matawi ya asili kwa kutoamini iko tayari kuyapandikiza tena yanapokuja kwenye imani. Picha nzima ni ya mti mmoja chini ya Mkulima mmoja, wenye matawi yanayoondolewa na kuongezwa kulingana na imani — si kulingana na ukabila. Shina linayachukua matawi; matawi hayalichukui shina. Lolote alilonalo mwamini wa Mataifa, analo kwa kupandikizwa; yeye ni mgeni katika mti uliopandwa muda mrefu kabla yeye hajafika.The Gentile believer is warned against any arrogance toward the natural branches that have been broken off. The same grace that grafted the Gentile in could remove him if he turned from faith. And the same grace that broke off the natural branches in unbelief stands ready to graft them back when they come to faith. The whole picture is of one tree under one Husbandman, with branches removed and added according to faith — not according to ethnicity. The root supports the branches; the branches do not support the root. Whatever the Gentile believer has, he has by grafting; he is a guest in a tree planted long before he arrived.

6. Siri: Israeli Wote Wataokoka (11:25-36)6. The Mystery: All Israel Will Be Saved (11:25-36)

Paulo anakiita kile anachosema baadaye siri — kweli iliyokuwa imefichwa hapo awali lakini sasa imefunuliwa. Ugumu (upofu) kwa sehemu umewapata Israeli mpaka utimilifu wa Mataifa uwasili. Hivyo Israeli wote wataokoka.Paul calls what he says next a mystery — a truth previously hidden but now revealed. Blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved.

Mstari huu umesomwa kwa njia tofauti katika historia ya kanisa. Usomaji wa kawaida zaidi ndani ya picha ya mzeituni ambayo Paulo ameijenga punde hivi ni kwamba Israeli wote inamaanisha jumla kamili ya watu wa Mungu — Wayahudi wanaoamini na Mataifa wanaoamini kwa pamoja, mzeituni mmoja — waliokusanywa katika historia yote ya ukombozi. Wafasiri wengi waaminifu pia wameshikilia kwamba kutakuwa na mkusanyiko mkubwa wa wakati ujao wa Wayahudi wa kikabila watakaoamini — si kama mpango tofauti, bali kama matawi ya asili yanayopandikizwa tena katika mti mmoja ambamo waamini wa Mataifa tayari wamepandwa. Kwa usomaji wowote kati ya hiyo miwili, Israeli wote wanaokolewa katika Kristo, kwa imani, wakiunganishwa na watu mmoja wa Mungu. Hakuna agano la pili kando ya agano jipya katika damu ya Kristo. Hakuna hatima tofauti kwa Israeli wa kikabila mbali na kanisa. Mwokozi atakayetoka Sayuni ni Bwana Yesu, na Yeye anawakusanya watu wake mmoja waliokombolewa kutoka kila kabila.The verse has been read in different ways across church history. The most natural reading within the olive-tree image Paul has just built is that all Israel refers to the full company of the people of God — Jewish believers and Gentile believers together, the one olive tree — gathered in across the whole sweep of redemptive history. Many faithful interpreters have also held that there will be a substantial future ingathering of ethnic Jewish believers — not as a separate program, but as natural branches grafted back into the one tree where Gentile believers have already been planted. On either reading, all Israel is saved in Christ, by faith, joined to the one people of God. There is no second covenant alongside the new covenant in Christ's blood. There is no separate destiny for ethnic Israel apart from the church. The deliverer who comes from Zion is the Lord Jesus, and He is gathering His one redeemed people from every tribe.

Paulo anaitia nanga hakika ya uaminifu wa Mungu katika sentensi inayostahili kukaririwa. Karama za Mungu, na mwito wake, hazina majuto. Mungu haachi kile alichokianza. Aliwafunga wote — Wayahudi na Mataifa pia — katika kuasi ili awarehemu wote. Kufanywa wagumu kwa Israeli hakukuwa kamwe kukataliwa kwa kudumu; kulikuwa mlango uliofunguliwa kwa Mataifa, uliokusudiwa kuwatia Israeli wivu na kuwaleta kwenye imani. Wokovu wa Mataifa, nao, umekusudiwa kuivuta mioyo ya Wayahudi irudi kwa Masihi waliyemkataa zamani. Watu wote wawili wamefungwa pamoja katika mpango mmoja ambao mwisho wake ni rehema.Paul anchors the certainty of God's faithfulness in a sentence worth memorizing. The gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. God does not abandon what He has begun. He bound everyone — both Jew and Gentile — to disobedience that He might have mercy on all. The hardening of Israel was never permanent rejection; it was an opening for the Gentiles, designed to provoke Israel to envy and faith. The salvation of the Gentiles, in turn, is meant to draw Jewish hearts back to the Messiah they once refused. Both peoples are bound together in a single plan whose end is mercy.

Sura hizi hazimaliziki kwa mpangilio nadhifu wa kitheolojia bali kwa ibada. Paulo hawezi kuishika hekima ya Mungu ndani ya mfumo wowote nadhifu. Anaanza wimbo wa kumsifu Mungu.The chapters close not with theological tidiness but with worship. Paul cannot hold the wisdom of God in any neat system. He breaks into doxology.

Hilo ndilo jibu pekee la uaminifu mbele ya siri ya rehema ya Mungu. Hatuwezi kuichora kikamilifu hekima inayochukua kutoamini kwa Israeli na kukugeuza kuwa wokovu wa Mataifa — na kisha kuuchukua wokovu wa Mataifa na kuutumia kuwatia Israeli wivu ili waamini. Hatuwezi kuueleza upendo wa enzi unaomrehemu yeye umrehemuye na bado unamhesabu kila nafsi kuwa na wajibu. Lakini tunaweza kuabudu. Tunaweza kusimama mbele ya vina hivyo na kusema pamoja na Paulo: vitu vyote vimetoka kwake, viko kwake, na vinarudi kwake. Utukufu una yeye milele.That is the only honest response to the mystery of God's mercy. We cannot fully chart the wisdom that takes Israel's unbelief and turns it into the salvation of the Gentiles — and then takes the salvation of the Gentiles and uses it to provoke Israel to faith. We cannot explain the sovereign love that mercies whom it mercies and yet holds every soul responsible. But we can worship. We can stand before the depths and say with Paul: of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever.

Hadithi ambayo Mungu anaiandika ni kubwa kuliko hadithi ya taifa lolote moja lililo ndani yake. Hajawaacha Israeli. Hajampoteza bibi-arusi wake wa Mataifa. Amejenga watu mmoja wa Mungu kutokana na matawi yaliyokatwa na yale yaliyopandikizwa, wote wameunganishwa na shina lile lile, wote wanalishwa na Kristo yule yule. Mungu yule yule aliyesema katika sura ya 8 hakuna kitu kinachoweza kututenga na upendo wangu anasema katika sura ya 11 kwamba amewafunga wote katika kuasi ili kwa makusudi hayo awarehemu wote. Rehema ndilo neno lake la mwisho juu ya jamii yote ya wanadamu.The story God is writing is bigger than any one nation's story within it. He has not abandoned Israel. He has not lost His Gentile bride. He has built one people of God out of the broken branches and the grafted ones, all joined to the same root, all nourished by the same Christ. The same God who said nothing can separate us from My love in chapter 8 says in chapter 11 that He has bound everyone to disobedience precisely so that He might have mercy on all. Mercy is His final word over the whole human race.