Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made, Galatians 3:19.
It is foundational within Christianity that Jesus Christ is the seed that God promised to Abraham when he said; And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice, Genesis 22:18. When the Apostle Paul explained that not everyone who came from the loins of Abraham was to be accounted as the true Israel, he was not revealing a new doctrine.
Romans 9:7 Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called.
Romans 9:8 That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.
The Holy Ghost made it plain in the writing of the Old Testament that not everyone who was physically descended from Abraham was counted as the true Israel. Take the example of Ahab and his battle against Benhadad (1st Kings 20). We are told that 7000 go out to fight against Benhadad, and we are told that they are all the children of Israel 1st (Kings 20:15). Could it really be that the entire population of Samaria has dwindled down to 7000 people?
Of course not, these are the 7000 who the Lord tells us that have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him, 1st Kings 19:18. In the very next chapter we see these same 7000 constitute the army with which God smites Benhadad. The next year when Benhadad tried it again, the same 7000 are still alive and they defeat him again, (1st Kings 20:27). Paul did not pop a new doctrine on the church when he wrote Romans 9:7,8. He explained a settled Old Testament truth.
There is a great blessing in the Book of Esther for the person who understands that truth and has a King James Bible. Consider what Haman knew about Mordecai. He knew that he was a Jew. Yet all this availeth me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king's gate, Esther 5:13. Haman was fully aware that Mordecai was a Jew and he laid plans to destroy all Jews. And the letters were sent by posts into all the king's provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, even upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to take the spoil of them for a prey, Esther 3:13.
Keeping in mind that Haman, his wife and his friends fully understand that Mordecai is a Jew, consider what is said when he consults his wise men. Unfortunately, he never includes the wise men in his conversations until his world begins to implode. In Esther 6:13 we hear from them the first time; And Haman told Zeresh his wife and all his friends every thing that had befallen him. Then said his wise men and Zeresh his wife unto him, If Mordecai be of the seed of the Jews, before whom thou hast begun to fall, thou shalt not prevail against him, but shalt surely fall before him.
They didn't wonder whether or not he was a Jew, that was already settled. What they told Haman was that if Mordecai was of the seed of the Jews (the promised Messiah), then Haman was a dead man. The Babylonians, Medes, Persians and their heirs had been freely killing Jews for 70 years. To simply be a Jew gave no protection from God, but to be of the seed of the Jews, the true Israel, was to be protected by God.
Look at the construction of the sentence in your English Bible. If Mordecai be of the seed of the Jews, before whom thou hast begun to fall. The whom in that verse refers to the seed of the Jews. That seed is a person. It is the promised seed to Abraham. Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ, Galatians 3:16. Jesus Christ is the seed of the Jews. It is he who caused Haman to fall.
Now, let's look at this great truth through the eyes of the NIV and then the ESV.
NIV: “Since Mordecai, before whom your downfall has started, is of Jewish origin, you cannot stand against him—you will surely come to ruin!”
ESV: “If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of the Jewish people, you will not overcome him but will surely fall before him.”
Neither version makes any sense in context. It should be obvious to anyone who has read the Book of Lamentations and who knows the prophecies of God concerning Israel and their disobedience, that simply being of Jewish origin was no protection at all. The blessing was upon the Jew who followed that faith once delivered to the saints. The blessing was upon the Jew who trusted in the promised seed of the Jews. Mordecai was one of those and hence, Haman fell. Once again, in an effort to simplify the word of God, the new versions obscure the truth.