Even though the door of salvation is open to Jews as well as to Gentiles (vv. 8-15), the majority within Israel still refuse to believe in Jesus Christ.
10:16 In spite of the good news of Israel's restoration and the promises of Messiah's coming and deliverance, most of the Jews did not believe (cf. Isa. 53:1).
10:17 This verse summarizes the thought of verses 14-16. The word "of"Christ could mean the word from Him, namely the message that He has sent us to proclaim (v. 15).322It could also refer to the message concerning Christ (v. 9). Both meanings could have been in Paul's mind. In either case the gospel is in view.
"What faith really is, in biblical language, is receiving the testimony of God. It is the inward conviction that what God says to us in the gospel is true. That--and that alone--is saving faith."323
10:18 This rhetorical question suggests the possibility that Israel's rejection of her Messiah may have been due to a failure to get the message to the Jews (v. 14). However, Paul's quotation of Psalm 19:4 clarifies that they had heard. Every human being hears the testimony of nature, and all Israel had heard the special revelation of God concerning His Son from the prophets. They could not plead ignorance as a nation.
"But perhaps it would be simpler to think that Paul engages in hyperbole, using the language of the Psalm to assert that very many people by the time Paul writes Romans have had opportunity to hear. It cannot be lack of opportunity, then, that explains why so few Jews have come to experience the salvation God offers in Christ."324
10:19 Might there be a second possible reason for Israel's rejection of the gospel? Even though the Jews heard the message perhaps they did not understand it.
The quotation from Deuteronomy 32:21 comes from Moses' criticism of Israel for forsaking the Lord. God said that He would give Israel a desire to return to Himself (provoke her to jealousy) by blessing another people. This is what had happened since Jesus Christ had died. God had opened the door of the church to the Gentiles. This should have made Israel more desirous of returning to God, accepting His Messiah, and experiencing God's blessing. However this had not happened, as the record of the church's growth in Acts proves. As time went by, fewer and fewer Jews responded to the gospel whereas ever more Gentiles accepted it. This response was not due to ignorance but to deliberate rejection.
10:20 Isaiah 65:1-2 supports Deuteronomy 32:21 with emphasis on the fact that the Gentiles came to God.
10:21 The Jews on the other hand refused to come to Him even when He reached out to draw them to Himself. The reason God has temporarily set them aside is their stubborn rebelliousness. Moses and the prophets warned Israel of this attitude repeatedly, but the Chosen People persisted in it even after God had provided their Messiah.
Chapter 10 deals with Israel's present rejection of Jesus Christ that has resulted in God's temporary rejection of her. Both rejections will change in the future as the next chapter explains.
