Whose Glory Do They Exchange?
The theme of “exchanging” God’s
glory echoes multiple Old Testament passages. Verse 23 particularly draws from
Psalm 106:20 and perhaps Jeremiah 2:11 (compare Deuteronomy 4:16-18). The
psalmist recalls the Israelites’ idolatry at Horeb, saying, “They exchanged the
glory of God for the image of an ox that eats grass.” However, modern
translations of Psalm 106:20 obscure an important insight. Neither the Hebrew
text nor the Greek Septuagint (LXX) has the phrase “of God.” They simply say
the Israelite’s “exchanged their glory.” Paul in effect interprets the Old
Testament’s meaning. The Israelites exchanged God’s glory.
The contrast between the Old
Testament and Paul’s wording adds a dimension to Paul’s message that could
otherwise go unnoticed. The “glory of God” in Romans 1:23 has a dual reference.
Paul does not primarily speak of God’s inherent glory. Not does he simply say
people do not enjoy God’s glory via worship. In light of Psalm 106:20, we see
that God’s glory is also their glory.
If ever people had reason to rejoice (or “boast”; compare 5:2-3), it was the
Jewish people, whom God chose to be his means of blessing the world. However,
they lost sight of the reason for rejoicing and boasting (both words translate
the same Greek term. Compare Romans 2:17; 3:27; 5:2-3, 11).
For example, consider Jeremiah
2:11 in context:
Has a nation changed its gods, even though they are no gods? But my people have changed their glory for that which does
not profit. Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked, be utterly desolate,
declares the Lord, for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken
me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves,
broken cisterns that can hold no water. (Jeremiah 2:11-13)
The phrase “changed their glory”
is equivalent to “changed their gods.” The language of worth is evident by both
the mention of “profit” (2:11) and the imagery of 2:13. The Lord asks, “What
wrong did your fathers find in me that they went far from me, and went after worthlessness, and became worthless?” (Jeremiah 2:5). God is
Israel’s true claim to honor. By forsaking God’s glory, they in fact forfeit
their own glory.
The Glory of Humanity and Israel
What is the specific nature of
this glory? The answer lies in understanding Paul’s allusions to Israel and
Adam. Donald Berry summarizes the relationship between the two: “Israel was to
be a corporate Adam, a people who knew God, to whom he would reveal his glory,
and through whom he would display his glory to the world. The entire world was
to be blessed through Israel, as God had promised Abraham. But Israel found out
that it too was in Adam” (Donald Berry, Glory
in Romans and the Unified Purpose of God [Eugene, OR: Pickwick, 2016], 65).
In what specific way is
Adam/humanity to glorify God? Haley Goranson Jacob demonstrates a correlation
between image and glory in Genesis 1:26--28 and Psalm 8:5-8 (Haley Goranson
Jacob, Conformed to the Image of His Son:
Reconsidering Paul’s Theology of Glory in Romans [Downers Grove, IL: IVP
Academic, 2018], 95. Compare 75-98). The psalmist writes about humanity:
Yet you have made him a little
lower than the heavenly beings
and crowned him with glory and honor.
You have given him dominion over the works of your hands;
you have put all things under his feet,
all sheep and oxen,
and also the beasts of the field,
the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea,
whatever passes along the paths of the seas.
In Romans 1, humanity forsakes its
vocation to rule over creation, as God’s image bearers. Instead, they serve the
creature rather than the Creator (1:25). Brendan Byrne notes, “Idolatry represents
the summit of ‘futility’ (v. 21) in that it has human beings submitting
themselves in worship to the creatures over which they were meant to rule”
(Brendan Byrne, Romans, 2nd ed.
[Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2007], 68).
Paul interweaves Adam and Israel’s
story in Romans 1. Jacob observes that
Israel is described as becoming
subject to the nations (Jer 2:14-16; Ps 105:41-41, 46 LXX) because of their “exchange
of glory” (i.e., worship of idols) . . . Israel’s glory was their honorable
position as rulers over the land they were to possess (Lev 20:24; Num 33:53;
Deut 5:31-33; see esp. Deut 28:63-64; 30:5, 16-18; Josh 23:5). Israel forsook
that created purpose by submitting themselves to idols and thus to other nations
(see Sir 49:5). As with that of all humanity in Adam in Romans 1:23, the nature
of Israel’s glory was their honorable status associated with dominion and authority.
(Jacob, Formed to the Image, 106).
What was true of ancient Israel
is true for the rest of humanity. Although God originally vested the human
family with honor, all lack the glory of God. Paul forces readers to ask the
question, “In what or whom do we seek our honor?” God confers humanity with the
glory of servant-kings, yet all who forsake that call bear the shame of slaves.
(Jackson Wu, Reading Romans with Eastern
Eyes: Honor and Shame in Paul’s Message and Mission [Downers Grove, Ill.:
IVP Academic, 2019], 42-44)