Verse 5
The patriarchs were the fathers to whom God gave the promises before Israel was a nation. In this respect they correspond to the apostles in the church.
"The meaning and extent of these promises are the linchpin in Paul’s interpretation of salvation history; see Romans 9:6-13; Romans 11:15; and especially Romans 11:28, which forms with this verse an ’inclusio’ surrounding Paul’s discussion in these chapters." [Note: Moo, pp. 564-65.]
The Messiah came from Israel, though He was not exclusively theirs since He is the sovereign eternally blessed God (John 1:1). Here Paul called Jesus "God" (cf. Philippians 2:10-11; Titus 2:13; 2 Peter 1:2). [Note: See Bruce, p. 176; and Robertson, 4:381.]
Paul did not explicitly compare Israel’s blessings and ours, which comparisons I have pointed out above. His point was simply that God had blessed Israel greatly. Obviously even though God had blessed the Israelites greatly their blessings did not exceed those of Christians today. The writer of the Book of Hebrews argued that God’s blessings of Christians under the New Covenant surpass His blessings of Israelites under the Old (Mosaic) Covenant.
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