December 7, 2014
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Romans 10: 11
For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.”
In the New American Standard Bible, from which I quote verses, small caps, as you see in today’s verse, denote a quote taken from scripture. In this case Paul was quoting Isaiah. I would encourage you to follow these threads when you encounter them. Paul is pulling forth a quote from his education and cultural background. So even though today’s verse is found in the New Testament, its roots are in ancient Hebrew tradition and teaching. You will gain a fuller appreciation for what Paul is trying to relate in a specific instance if you can also see what he is drawing on. The specific quote Paul refers to is Isaiah 28: 16 which reads, “Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone, a costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed. He who believes in it will not be disturbed.”
Probably the first thing one notices is that God was speaking and secondly that He was talking about Jesus. Jesus is the cornerstone. We could spend all day in Isaiah 28: 16 but we won’t. The point Paul makes is that whoever believes in Jesus will not be disappointed or as Isaiah says, will not be disturbed. Won’t you agree with me that is good news? Just taken on its face that is really good news but some interesting things happen when you look at the words disappointed and disturbed. Paul used the word disappointed which is the Greek word kataischunō. This word is interesting. It literally means “put to shame.” Therefore, people who believe in Jesus will not be put to shame. If you look it up in Strong’s you will find that other words associated with it are disgraced and humiliated. All you have to do is to take each one of these words and replace them for the word disappointed. As you do so you will begin to get a full sense of what Paul is saying to you. One of those words will likely go off in you more than others. That is the word that God is speaking to you. Beyond what you personally hear in this passage, Paul is saying that those who believe, and here he would mean a belief which is acted upon, will not be humiliated, disgraced or put to shame for that belief. They will not be disappointed because living out of that belief will yield victory.
Okay, that takes care of the word “disappointed” in Romans 10 but you really need to see the word which was translated as disturbed in Isaiah. The Hebrew word is “chush.” This one threw me for a loop until I spent some time with it. The margin notes of my Bible say it means “in a hurry.” What? How does that make sense? That would make the verse say “Those who believe in Jesus will not be in a hurry.” But stick with me here. This is going to make sense and be a blessing to you. As I sat and thought about being in a hurry I tried to associate the kinds of feelings we have when we are rushed or hurried. The word that came to my mind was agitated. Well, when I looked up chush I found that agitation was one of the synonyms. The concordance entry reads: chush (301c); a prim. root; to hasten, make haste: – agitation (1), disturbed (1), hasten (8), hastened (2), hastening (1), hurried (1), make haste (2), quick (1), ready (1), speedy (1), swooping (1). Taken all together what I think this means is that when we operate in an active faith in Jesus we will not be hurried, harried or agitated. The real crux of it seems to be that we will be able to enter into God’s rest. The cornerstone, Jesus, has provided the way for us to live in divine ease. We can embrace the shalom peace to which we are entitled and in which we are meant to abide.
This is just another way the great prophet, Isaiah, and renowned apostle, Paul, relate an apex truth to us; that in Jesus is victory. Everything we need and everything we think we need are found in Jesus. The most important of these is the calm assurance that we have when we abide in the peace of our Lord Jesus, the Christ.
