In these four verses, Paul references the Old Testament several more times as he brings finishes his barrage of evidence that man is completely, utterly, hopelessly foolish, evil, and lost without the grace and mercy of God.
These four verses are pulled from three different places in the Old Testament. Proverbs 1:16, Isaiah 59:7,8 and Psalm 36:1. Again, we will briefly look at each of the Old Testament references to understand the context, and then look at how God led Paul in using these verses in Romans.
Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known.
Proverbs 1:16-18
for their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed blood. For in vain is a net spread in the sight of any bird, but these men lie in wait for their own blood; they set an ambush for their own lives.
In this section of Proverbs, Solomon is describing the lost sinner. He explains how, in their wickedness, they will even try to entice God's children to follow their evil ways. When we read this in Proverbs, we see the same picture that David painted of the enemies of Israel in Psalms. We see dark, mean, ill-intentioned people with deceit and murder driving them. As we read through these Old Testament accounts it's easy to think that these people do not relate to us at all...then Paul shows us that we are these people before God changes us!
Isaiah 59:7,8
Their feet run to evil, and they are swift to shed innocent blood; their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; desolation and destruction are in their highways. The way of peace they do not know, and there is no justice in their paths; they have made their roads crooked; no one who treads on them knows peace.
The first 15 verses of Chapter 59 in Isaiah describe the sinfulness of Israel, and the way their relationship with God was affected as a result. Throughout the Old Testament, Israel is a prototype of God's true children - going from completely lost to redeemed. We see here the sinfulness of Israel, how evil they actually were, and we can apply this to ourselves in our lost state. We have no desire for anything good before God changes our heart. As we read further in Isaiah 59, we see how God reacts to this evil people - He offers redemption!
There is no fear of God before their eyes.
Psalm 36:1-4
Transgression speaks to the wicked deep in his heart; there is no fear of God before his eyes. For he flatters himself in his own eyes that his iniquity cannot be found out and hated. The words of his mouth are trouble and deceit; he has ceased to act wisely and do good. He plots trouble while on his bed; he sets himself in a way that is not good; he does not reject evil.
David once again goes into great detail, describing the character of a wicked nation (also describing us as a lost people). I think these verses in Psalm 36 address the most deadly, sinful part of our human nature: pride. As humans we are so proud, we love to lift ourselves up. We crave praise and honor, and do not like to be embarrassed, put down, or humbled. Thankfully, as Christians, the Holy Spirit will continually convict us of our pride issues, but left unchecked this completely hinder our relationship with God. In our lost state, this pride is one of the main reasons we will never seek God - we don't want to submit to an Ultimate Authority, and we definitely aren't looking to be broken and humbled.
As we look now at how God instructed Paul to apply these verses in Romans, we should be driven to our knees. We were the wicked nations, the deceitful people, the proud that did not fear or seek God. We chose evil, and ran from God - refusing to be humbled before Him. Yet, He offered redemption, and even pulled us from the wreckage that we created and loved. He opened our eyes, allowing us to see Him in all His glory! Thank You Father!
Paul has gone to great lengths in these first 3 chapters of Romans to reveal to us how sinful we really are - driving the point home with examples and Old Testament references that cannot be argued and leave no room for excuses. We must realize that, as lost people, we are completely sinful, and in that sinfulness we refuse to seek God. When we begin to grasp this, we can begin to see our need for God to work a miracle in our heart.
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When studying the first 3 chapters of Romans you almost get depressed . I am glad for the rest of the book I don't like seeing myself as clearly as Paul description.
ReplyDeleteAmen to that!
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