False Security: Knowledge (Part 2)

Romans 2:19-24

¹⁹ and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, ²⁰ an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, having the form of knowledge and truth in the law.

What They Taught About The Law (19-20)

The Jews not only felt secure in what they knew but also in what they taught. Considering themselves to be the most religiously wise, they naturally thought themselves to be the most competent teachers of the spiritually unwise, namely the Gentiles, who did not have the benefit of God’s written revelation.

But Israel’s continued unfaithfulness to God and disobedience of His Word disqualified her as an example and teacher to the unenlightened Gentiles. And when Jews made an occasional convert to Judaism, they made him worse off than he was before. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites,” Jesus said, “because you travel about on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves” (Matt. 23:15). Instead of leading Gentiles to trust in the true God and become obedient to His will, the Jewish leaders engulfed converts in the vast rabbinical system of manmade, legalistic traditions.

In Romans 2:19-20, Paul mentions four specific areas in which many Jews considered themselves to be spiritually superior teachers.

First, Paul said, “You are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind.” This expression denotes the full assurance of the Jew that he was superior in knowledge to all other people. It is a remarkable fact that the Jews put the fullest confidence in their religion. Though proud, wicked, and hypocritical, yet they were not speculative infidels. It was one of their characteristics, evinced through all their history, that they had the fullest assurance that God was the author of their institutions, and that their religion was his appointment.  A guide of the blind - A guide of the blind is a figurative expression to denote an instructor of the ignorant. The blind here properly refers to the Gentiles, who were thus regarded by the Jews. The meaning is, that they esteemed themselves qualified to instruct the pagan world; Matt. 15:14; 23:15.  Jews in general, and the scribes and Pharisees in particular, considered themselves to be superior mentors of the community in spiritual and moral matters. They saw themselves as religious guides to their unlearned Jewish brethren and especially to the spiritually blind Gentile pagans. But because of their arrogant pride and blatant hypocrisy, Jesus charged them with being “blind guides” (see Matt. 23:24-28). Far from being qualified to guide others, they were themselves in desperate need of guidance.

Second, Paul notes that most Jews considered themselves to be a light to those who are in darkness. A light was another figurative expression to denote a teacher; compare Isa. 49:6; John 1:4-5, 8-9.  In darkness was a common expression used to denote the ignorance of the Gentile world; see the note at Matt. 4:16.  Actually that was precisely the role God had intended for Israel. He had called His people to be a spiritual light to the Gentiles (Isa. 42:6). As noted above, it was through them that “all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Gen. 12:3).

Jesus declares His disciples to be “the light of the world” and charges them to put their light on a lampstand, where it can be seen and will do some good. “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven,” He said (Matt. 5:14-16). That has always been God’s intention for His people. He gives them light not only for their own spiritual benefit but also for the spiritual benefit of the rest of the world, before whom they are His witnesses.

Third, the self-righteous Jew prided himself as being a corrector of the foolish. The word “foolish” is used in the Scriptures in two significations: to denote those who are void of understanding, and to denote the wicked. Here it is clearly used in the former sense, signifying that the Jew esteemed himself qualified to instruct those without knowledge.  Again the primary focus was on the Gentiles, even the wisest of whom most Jews considered to be foolish in the area of religion.

Fourth, the self-righteous Jew thought of himself as a teacher of the immature. Of babes - This is the literal meaning of the original word. The expression is figurative, and denotes those who were as ignorant as children—an expression which they would be likely to apply to all the Gentiles. It is evident that the character bare given by Paul to the Jews is one which they claimed, and of which they were proud. They are often mentioned as arrogating this prerogative to themselves, of being qualified to be guides and teachers of others; (Matt. 15:14; 23:2, 16, 24). It will be remembered, also, that the Jews considered themselves to be qualified to teach all the world, and hence evinced great zeal to make proselytes. And it is not improbable that their Rabbis were accustomed to give the names “foolish” and “babes” to the ignorant proselytes which they had made from the pagan.

The idea is that of teaching very small children, in this case, children in the Jewish faith. In light of the context, it is likely that the term immature here represents Gentile proselytes to Judaism, who needed special instruction. They not only needed to learn God’s law but also needed to rid themselves of the many pagan ideas and practices in which they had been brought up.

Through God’s unique revelation of Himself and of His will to Israel, Jews had in the Law the embodiment of knowledge and of the truth. The word for “Embodiment” has the basic meaning of an outline or sketch. It therefore seems better to translate the word here as “semblance” or “appearance,” because throughout this passage Paul emphasizes the religious superficiality of most of the Jews of his day. He uses the same word in 2 Timothy 3:5, where he warns of men in the last days who will hold “a form of godliness, although they [will] have denied its power.” In both passages the idea of counterfeit is implied.  It is commonly used to denote also the appearance of any object; what we see, without reference to its internal character; the external figure. It sometimes denotes the external appearance as distinguished from what is internal; or a hypocritical profession of religion without its reality. It is sometimes used in a good, and sometimes in a bad sense. Here it denotes that in their teaching they retained the semblance, sketch, or outline of the true doctrines of the Old Testament. They had in the Scriptures a correct delineation of the truth. Truth is the representation of things as they are; and the doctrines which the Jews had in the Old Testament were a correct representation or delineation of the objects of knowledge; (compare 2 Tim. 1:13).

The Jews did indeed through the Law have the revelation of divine knowledge and … truth, but their understanding, teaching, and exemplifying of it had become so encrusted with rabbinical tradition that God’s true Law was generally unknown and disregarded. They had the revelation of God in the Scriptures of the Old Testament. In these verses the apostle concedes to the Jews all that they would claim. Having made this concession of their superior knowledge, he is prepared with the more fidelity and force to convict them of their deep and dreadful depravity in sinning against the superior light and privileges which God had conferred on them.

I need to be sure that I am conducting myself consistently with what I preach!