#57. Romans 2:19-20 – The Haughty Implications, Part I

Part II: The Conduct of Humanity

Besides, you have confidence in yourself to be a guide of the blind, a light of those in darkness, a discipliner of the imprudent, a teacher of minors, having the form of knowledge and the truth in the law.

We have seen the particle “besides,” te, appear nine times, now. I have neglected to point it out in every case, but I wish to point out a few peculiar points concerning the term. It has been assigned a few different English words in the concordant, based on the necessary context for English idiom. We have seen it translated two ways thus far: as “both” and “besides.” It is, literally, “besides,” and sometimes “both” when two items/objects are in view. It is used in similar fashion as “and,” but varies ever-so-slightly in function. “And” adds an additional point externally – yet “besides” unites different points internally.

For example, in the case of Romans 1:12, two groups of faith are in view – “yours” and “mine.” Thus te is translated as “both.” The same is true in 1:14 – both “Greek” and “barbarian,” both “wise” and “foolish.” In 1:16 it refers both “to the Jew” and “to the Greek as well.” In all of these cases, two different groups are united internally with another object. In 1:12, the uniting factor is faith. In 1:14, Paul being a debtor is the uniting factor. In 1:16 and 2:9-10, the two groups are united through their reception of the evangel and judgment, respectively.

In 1:20, it is translated literally, as besides. The passage unifies God’s “imperceptible power and divinity” and His “invisible attributes” with “the apprehension by His achievements.” In 1:26, a female altering their natural use into that which is beside nature is unified to dishonorable passions. In 1:27, the men abandoning the natural use of the female is further unified to dishonorable passions.

Thus we have a solid guideline for the use of the term so far. We find te at the entrance to Romans 2:19, where it unifies the following sentence to the former. The four verses, then, are not to be separated. Verses 17-18 should not be quoted without the implicit acknowledgement that 19-20 follow. This is because if one only acknowledged verses 17-18, and had no prior knowledge of the Jewish scriptures, it would be difficult to ascertain Paul’s problem with the “Jew” class. It is with the following statement that the problem becomes clearer.

Confidence in Yourself

This sentence, like the prior verse, is “gift-wrapped,” figuratively speaking. Paul begins the sentence by telling the Jew that they have confidence in themselves. He concludes that they have the form of knowledge and truth in the law. Neither one of these is a positive indictment. Each point in between may sound good on paper – even as “boasting in God,” “knowing the will,” and “testing what things are of consequence” sound good. But “confidence in oneself” is no gateway to the following five points, which, on their surface, should be good things. These five points are:

1)    Being a guide to the blind

2)    Being a light to those in darkness

3)    Being a discipliner of the imprudent

4)    Being a teacher of minors

5)    Having the form of knowledge and truth in the law

The problem, of course, is that confidence in the self, under our sinful condition, could not possibly fulfill, to a righteous degree, any of the five aspects above. An unrighteous theater could never project a righteous play. With such a confidence in these dying frames, Israel is unable to be the channel that God promised they would be.

So what does God do?

He must, as previously stated, solve the problem. Paul will give this answer, but we cannot deal with the solution if the problem itself is not even acknowledged by the Jew.

Guide of the Blind

Israel was requested to be a “guide of the blind.” Note that this was a national entreaty – thus Israel, the nation as a whole, was a guide. The blind were the surrounding nations. This can be seen in the Torah, Deut. 4:5-8–

See! I have taught you statutes and ordinances just as Yahweh my Elohim had instructed me, for you to do thus within the land where you are entering to tenant it. And you must observe and do them, for that is your wisdom and your understanding in the eyes of all the peoples who shall hear of all these statutes and will say: Surely this great nation is a people wise and understanding. For what great nation is there which has elohim so near to it as Yahweh our Elohim is in all that we call to Him? And what great nation is there which has statutes and ordinances so righteous as all this law that I am putting before you today?

This, of course, gave Israel the swellest of heads. To this day, there is no nation who has ever come to think this much of itself – especially under the pretense that this is a God-given charge – and managed to come away without revealing themselves as ego-maniacs.

Of course, it was not solely national. One of the biggest and most unique aspects of Israel is its priesthood. I have already taken an article to briefly explain the priesthood, including its function and role. In short, the priests served as a channel between Israel and God (a type of the role Jesus plays for us today, which we will consider way later in this study.) It is no surprise, then, that the priesthood was charged with guiding the Israelites into a knowledge of God (Mal. 2:7.)

The problem, of course, is the irreverence and injustice that Paul began speaking about in Romans 1:18. Just because one is called by God – whether in His evangel or under law – does not mean that one will magically act perfectly. Such was the fallacy of the Israelites, who came to believe that their conduct was automatically correct – simply because God favored them – and therefore that their piety in self was excusable. They contributed their most vile acts – including passing their children through fire – to God. This led to its obvious conclusion – confusion and power trips. As Isaiah 9:16 says,

Those making this people happy become those leading astray, And its people being made happy are those being swallowed up.

And later, in 56:10,

His watchmen are blind, all of them; They do not know; All of them are mute curs that cannot bark, Dozing, lying down, loving to slumber.

And, of course, the most prominent example of this crooked nature is among the priesthood, where instead of commending the nation to the Image of God, they turned the nation against Him, and offered Him to the nations they perceived as the “blind” in a murderous rage. Thrice Jesus calls this out, calling them blind guides (Matt. 15:14, 23:16, 24.)

The fault here, then, is perfectly conveyed by Paul: confidence in self. They should have had confidence in God. Had they truly meant their “boast in God,” they would not, in good conscience, have been able to consider themselves the guide, but Yahweh. David sings, in Ps. 48:14,

For this is Elohim, our Elohim, for the eon and further; He Himself shall lead us for the eons.

And later, in 73:24–

By Your counsel are You guiding me, And afterward You shall take me into glory.

Yahweh Himself explicitly claims, in Is. 42:16, that

I will conduct the blind in a way they do not know, And in tracks they do not know I shall cause them to tread; I shall convert darkness before them to light, And rough places to level ground; These are the things that I do, And I do not forsake them.

Undeniably, then, the Jews would have been better off recognizing that God alone is the true Guide of the blind – and the blind, in truth, is them.

A Light to those in Darkness

The Jews were also considered a light to the nations. This is another explicit claim from the Hebrew scriptures (Is. 42:6, 49:6.) This is because they, apart from every other nation, were given the righteous law. Observe Prov. 6:23–

For instruction is a lamp, and law is a light…

The Jews believed, on a moral level, that they were arbiters of righteousness. According to them, they were able to illuminate their path with righteous traversal. They evidently believed (and, given current events, still believe,) that if they have the law, they are automatically considered righteous on principle.

While their history proves otherwise, let there be no doubt in my reader’s minds: the Jews will soon be a light to the nations (Is. 60:1-3.) They will, one day, shine a path for the rest of the world to follow and appreciate. Nations shall walk in their light.

But this is future, not present. Presently, the Jew confuses evil with good, and good with evil (Is. 5:20.) Speaking of this era, Yahweh says in Micah 3:6–

Thus says Yahweh concerning the prophets who are leading My people astray, Who are biting with their teeth, yet they call, Peace, And whoever is giving nothing into their mouths, then they hallow a war against him: Wherefore night shall be for you, without a vision, And it will be dark for you, without divination; The sun will set on the prophets, And the day will be somber over them.

The greatest example of this, yet again, was by murdering Jesus in a manner more shameful and provocatory than the penalty of the law demanded. He received the most shameful death, indicating that the Jews themselves did not understand the “light” that they were charged to emit (John 1:1, 4, 9, 8:12.) They believed that being a light meant taking no instruction from others.

This is a great fault on their end, for Jesus, their own Messiah, is the Light of the world (John 8:12.) Without Him, there is no light for the Jews to shine! David rejoices, in Ps. 27:1–

Yahweh is my Light and my Salvation; Whom should I fear?

The Jews presumed that they embodied this, without applying any of the principles by which Yahweh Himself lived – being, first and foremost, love. Thus they themselves are the ones, in truth, roving about in darkness.

A Discipliner of the Imprudent

It is common knowledge that one of the most frustrating experiences one with power can have is insubordination to their cause. For the Jew, insubordination is unacceptable under a righteous set of rules. To buck authority would be to buck tradition, to invite a curse, and, in most cases, to invoke the death penalty.

The Jews believed themselves to be the discipliners of the imprudent. Any who believed themselves to be above consequence, immature, and rash, were in dire need of discipline. The Greek word for discipline is paideuo. Its English element is “HIT.” This is the same element used for “boy,” indicating that a young one is in great need of repetitious (and severe, yet controlled) correction.

Jewish culture is rife with disciplinary works. We will avoid the Talmud, for it is unscriptural and often attempts to make concessions for the law. The book of Proverbs, however, is a clear scriptural example of one great Jewish king who sought to teach his son wisdom and discipline (Prov. 1:2-4.)

Alas, it is impossible to discipline if you cannot be disciplined – especially on a topic like righteousness. Such is clearly the case with Israel on a national level, as we read in Zeph. 3:1-2–

Woe to her that is rebellious and sullied, the tyrannizing city [Jerusalem!] She hearkens not to a voice; She takes no discipline; In Yahweh she does not trust; To her Elohim she does not draw near.

And, in a political sense, Israel had terrible taste in chiefs (Is. 1:23) –

Your chiefs are stubborn and partners of thieves; Everyone is loving a bribe and is pursuing payments; They are not seeking right judgment for the orphan, And the cause of the widow is not coming before them.

Is it any surprise to you by now that Israel’s inability to heed reproach reinforces the fact that they themselves are the very imprudent type which they believe they can discipline??

As before, let it further be emphasized that the Hebrew scriptures stress that God is the only true Discipliner of the imprudent. This is expressed in an emotional, intimate sense in Prov. 3:11-12–

The admonition of Yahweh, my son, do not reject, And do not be irritated by His reproof, For whom Yahweh loves He corrects, And He gives pain to the son He holds dear.

He expresses this again to the Jewish reader through David, in Ps. 94:12–

Happy is the master whom You are disciplining, O Yah; From Your law are You teaching him…

- GerudoKing