1Brothers, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God is for Israel, that they may be saved. 2For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. 3For being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, they didn’t subject themselves to the righteousness of God. 4For Christ is the fulfillment of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
5For Moses writes about the righteousness of the law, “The one who does them will live by them.” 6But the righteousness which is of faith says this, “Don’t say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ (that is, to bring Christ down); 7or, ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead.)” 8But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart;” that is, the word of faith which we preach: 9that if you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For with the heart one believes resulting in righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made resulting in salvation. 11For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in him will not be disappointed.”
12For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, and is rich to all who call on him. 13For, “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 14How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in him whom they have not heard? How will they hear without a preacher? 15And how will they preach unless they are sent? As it is written:
“How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the Good News of peace,
who bring glad tidings of good things!”
16But they didn’t all listen to the glad news. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?” 17So faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. 18But I say, didn’t they hear? Yes, most certainly,
“Their sound went out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.”
19But I ask, didn’t Israel know? First Moses says,
“I will provoke you to jealousy with that which is no nation.
I will make you angry with a nation void of understanding.”
20Isaiah is very bold and says,
“I was found by those who didn’t seek me.
I was revealed to those who didn’t ask for me.”
21But about Israel he says, “All day long I stretched out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people.”
Having Beautiful Feet
Philip Riding With the Ethiopian's Chariot
The stoning of Stephen resulted in the church being scattered throughout the land. God was using these events to spread the gospel. This chapter demonstrates that as persecution intensified, the spread of the gospel expanded. Although Saul was the chief persecutor at this time, he would soon have his encounter with Jesus, and he would write the church in Rome, assuring them, “28 We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, for those who are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28 WEB)
We must remember that it is during challenging and difficult times that we, too, grow in the Lord and learn to trust Him. As the chapter progresses, we find the account of some high-level Ethiopian government official leaving Jerusalem, where he had gone to worship. Many scholars surmise that there were faithful followers of Yahweh in Ethiopia from the time of Solomon. As he rode along, he was reading Isaiah 53:7, a key messianic passage in the Bible. He didn’t know to whom the scripture referred. God impressed on Philip to approach the chariot and explain what these scriptures meant. The text tells us, “35 Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture, preached to him about Jesus” (v.35)
Are we willing to “open our mouths and preach to others about Jesus”? In the tenth chapter of Romans, Paul raises the question of how anyone will hear the good news without a preacher. Like Philip, God sometimes puts each of us in the presence of others, and we are the means by which the gospel is to be shared. Often, our timidity and fear get in the way. We think, “Surely there is someone more qualified than me who needs to share the gospel with this person”. We must all reflect on what God has done for us and be prepared to share that with others. We must prepare ourselves to walk others through the Bible. Not to do so is to hide our light under a bushel. Pray today for the courage to be able to open your mouth and to tell others about the wonderful things that God has done in your life. In that same chapter, Paul says, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the Good News of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!” (Romans 10:15b WEB)