Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the
covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises;
Whose are the fathers,and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came,who is over
all, God blessed for ever. Amen. Not as though the word of God hath taken none
effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: Neither, because they are the
seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called.
That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the
children of the promise are counted for the seed. For this is the word of promise, At this time will I come, and Sarah shall have a son.
And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac; (For the children being not yet
born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to
election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;) It was said unto her, the elder shall serve the younger. Romans 9: 4-12

Introduction

Paul at this juncture had expected that the Israelites would have given their lives to Christ
especially after seeing the gentiles become beneficiaries of the grace of God.
This was why he stated that it wasn't the word of God that was the problem, as he began to analyse the issue.
Whilst analysing the anomaly, he listed the reasons why the Israelites should have
been the natural beneficiary of the saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Some of the
reasons as listed in verse 4 includes the fact that they were the adopted children of God,
they had the law, the fathers came from them, and even Jesus Christ also came from them.
But verse 6 & 7 of The Message translation of the Bible states: “from the outset, not all
Israelites of the flesh were Israelites of the spirit. It wasn't Abraham's sperm that gave
identity here, but God's promise. Remember how it was put:“Your family will be defined by
Isaac”? That means that Israelite identity was never racially determined by sexual
transmission, but it was God-determined by promise.” Therefore this means that what
initially qualified the Israelites to have the advantage as earlier listed had become outdated.
Our text further states that the Israelites' identity wasn't racially determined by sexual
transmission but it was God-determined by promise.
I believe that the promise Paul referred to here is Christ Jesus. This is because verse 10 -11 recounts the event that took place
when Rebecca was pregnant with twins and the Lord told her the older will serve the
younger.
Why would a child of promise (Isaac) give birth to a set of twins with one having the
advantage over the other? I believe the reason why Jacob had the advantage was because he was carrying the seed of Christ in Judah his son.This therefore confirms that CHRIST is
the promise. This also means that as Christians we have been given a predetermined
advantage because we are in Christ. Is there a pattern in your life where things tend to elude
you? I declare that the predetermined advantage you have in Christ will come to the fore in
your life today in Jesus Name. Are you working for an organization and anytime there are
considerations for promotion or special training they exclude you? You need to stand up in
your rights in Christ and enforce your predetermined advantage in Christ. If the advantage
could be handed to Jacob without doing anything but by the act of God who decided to
choose him to be the progenitor of Christ, how much more we who are in Christ.We need to
stand on this advantage handed over to us in Christ and speak to any stubborn situation that
has refused to change; it must budge in Jesus Name.You also need to speak to every aspect
of your life; your children, business, job, and your destiny and enforce every advantage that
has been given to you in Christ Jesus to manifest in Jesus Name.

Prayer

I stand on the predetermined advantage given to me in Christ and I command every stubborn
situation in my life that is keeping me in a place of disadvantage to give way for my advantage in
Christ to manifest in Jesus Name. I command every advantage given to me in Christ to manifest
in my business in Jesus Name. I command every advantage I have in Christ to manifest in my
children in Jesus Name