BRANCHES IN GOD'S OLIVE TREE
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INTRODUCTION. Every Jew and Christian should understand Paul's teaching about God's olive tree.
• If you are a Christian, you are now part of a branch on His olive tree. You have been grafted into that tree for one season (the Age of Grace) and for one main purpose (to bear fruit— saved souls— for God, the Husbandman of the tree of Israel).
• If you are a Jew, you will be re-grafted into God's tree to share the blessings and gifts of eternity in Heaven.
BACKGROUND. To better understand Paul's teaching, helpful background information includes:
• God has named two trees as representative of His people— the fig tree (example: Jesus' Parable of the Fig Tree) and the olive tree (example: Paul's teaching as the subject of this lesson).
• The olive tree was of great importance to the Jews. Olive oil was used to anoint kings and prophets and was burned for light in the Temple menorah. (Understand that two parts of the Holy Trinity are represented in the menorah— oil, used as menorah lamp fuel, always represents the Holy Spirit; and light, the light given by the menorah lamps, represents the Light of the world, Jesus.)
• Olive trees live for centuries. Jesus may have walked among some olive trees which are still living in the Garden of Gethsemane, and He may have prayed under one of them before His arrest. (Gethsemane, which translates to “oil press,” was located in a grove of olive trees at the foot of the Mount of Olives, just to the east of the Beautiful [Eastern] Gate and the Second Temple. How fitting a name is Gethsemane! Jesus was under great duress, and His spirit [His anointing from the Father] was greatly pressed during these final hours.)
• As it grows, an olive tree produces numerous off-shoots (called “suckers” in the South, where I live) from the roots at the base of the trunk. Even if cut to the ground, an olive tree will re-grow from its roots.
• Olive tree branches must be pruned to increase productivity. (That is, pruning branches increases the yield of fruit.)
• Speaking of Israel's end-time restoration, Israel's beauty was compared to an olive tree (Hosea 14:6a): His branches shall spread; his beauty shall be like an olive tree;....
• An important Messianic prophecy was given in Isaiah 11:1-5, of which verse 1 reads: There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots. (Jesse was the father of David.)
• Matthew described Jesus as a Nazarene (Matthew 2:23a): And [Jesus] came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth,.... To be a native of Nazareth was something of an insult in the eyes of most first century Jews (similar to our phrase, “ being from the wrong side of the tracks”). Linguists disagree about the origin of the name “Nazareth,&$148; but some believe it came from the Hebrew netser, which means “shoot” or “sprout.” Such a translation would fit well with Paul's teaching we are now studying and Isaiah's prophecy. That is, Jesus grew up in the village of “the shoot (branch)” [Nazareth] and through Him the “wild olive shoot (branch)” [the Christians] was used for His Church. Such symbolism would also be in keeping with the birthplace of both David and Jesus. Bethlehem comes from the Hebrew Beyth Lechem, translated “House of Bread,” and is symbolically significant because Jesus said (John 6:35): “I am the bread of life....”
PAUL'S PROPHETIC TEACHING. The key Scripture passage for this lesson is found in Romans 11:11-32.
(Romans 11:11-12): I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not! But through their fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation [has come] to the Gentiles. Now if their fall [is] riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness!
Paul argued that any stumbling and falling of the Jews had come/ has come for two reasons:
• To provoke the Jews to jealousy, that God needed to raise up Gentiles (Christians) to do the work He had intended for the Jews to accomplish; and
• To provide salvation for the Gentiles.
Jews entered the final phase of the Diaspora (worldwide dispersal) in AD 70, which lasted until 1948. As a people, the Jews had rejected the Messiah (Jesus), and their punishment was removal from their homeland for a season (the season of the Age of Grace). God's judgment follows a simple formula:
• He offers man a gift (for example, salvation through grace— faith in Jesus the Messiah) out of the richness of His love. ⇒
• If His gift is rejected, God will give the gift to someone else (for example, extending the Jews' gift of the Messiah to the Gentiles). ⇒
• If His gift is rejected, God's punishment may follow (for example, banishing the Jews from their homeland to worldwide dispresal).
(Romans 11:13-15): For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, if by any means I may provoke to jealousy [those who are] my flesh and save some of them. For if their being cast away [is] the reconciling of the world, what [will] their acceptance [be] but life from the dead?
Paul, the Gentiles' apostle, spoke to Gentiles (Christians) in this passage. Paul wished to stir jealousy (to provoke love for Jesus), by telling the Gentiles of the Jews's Messiah.
(Romans 11:16): For if the firstfruit [is] holy, the lump [is] also [holy]; and if the root [is] holy, so [are] the branches.
Jesus is the First Fruit— the first Man (Man, as Son of Man through Mary) to be resurrected to eternal life under God's New Covenant relationship with man. If Jesus was raised from the dead, we who follow Him can likewise share the Blessed Hope and expect to be raised from death to eternal life.
(Romans 11:17-18): And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree, do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, [remember that] you do not support the root, but the root [supports] you.
God is the Husbandman of His olive tree, Israel. When the natural branches— the Jews— became unproductive, He broke off these natural branches, as would any earthly caretaker prune an unproductive olive tree. This "pruning" occurred in AD 70, when the natural branches (Jews) were broken out of the tree of Israel and carried into worldwide slavery (the Diaspora). But, there arose a wild olive tree from the roots of the tree of Israel— the Christians. This occurred on the Day of Pentecost, ca AD 33. (See Acts, chapter 2.) God took branches from this wild shoot and grafted them into His olive tree, that His tree might again be fruitful. See the prophecy above from Isaiah 11:1, that a Branch would arise from the stump of Jesse. Jesse was David's father. David was considered the Jews' ideal king. Jesus will return as King of kings and Lord of lords (Revelation 19:16). One of Jesus' titles is “Son of David” (nineteen New Testament verses). At all times, whether the branches have been natural (Jews) or wild (Christians), the tree's root (God) has anchored the tree and supplied nourishment. This nourishment flows through the trunk (Jesus) to the branches. The early Christian church was Jewish in character, but soon Gentiles were welcomed. (See Acts, chapter 10.) The Christian Church has often sinned against God by being anti-Semitic. Paul clearly warned the grafted wild branches (Christians) against this sin (verse 18): ...do not boast against the [natural] branches.
(Romans 11:19-24): You will say then, “Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.” Well [said]. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either. Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in [His] goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off. And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who [are] natural [branches], be grafted into their own olive tree?
Paul acknowledged that Christians might boast, by having replaced the Jews and that such action was taken because of the Jews' disbelief, but he warned (verses 20b-21): Do not be haughty, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either. This “boasting” is the proud, boastful, claim of foolish pastors who preach the heresy of replacement theology.
God's intention for the natural branches (Jews), which have been pruned from His tree, is shown in verses 22b-24: ... you [the wild branches, or Christians] also will be cut off. And they [the natural branches, or Jews] ... will be grafted in [His tree], for God is able to graft them in again. For if you [wild branches] were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who are natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?
(Romans 11:25): For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.
Paul told us a mystery (a truth known to God, but not yet revealed to man). God caused “blindness” to come upon Jews until “the fullness of Gentiles has come in.” I interpret “fullness of Gentiles” to represent the number of Christians that will be saved under the New Covenant, before the Rapture/ Resurrection occurs. “Fullness” translates the Greek word pleroma (pronunced: PLAY-row-mah), and means the filling of a required quota (for example, the filling of the number of crewmen before a ship sails).
(Romans 11:26-27): And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The Deliverer will come out of Zion, and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; for this [is] My covenant with them, when I take away their sins.”
Paul told us the reason for the manipulation of these “olive branches” (verse 11:26a): And so all Israel will be saved.... Salvation is God's ultimate plan for Jews. If Christians, even those who teach replacement theology, are admitted to Heaven, their neighbors will include Jews. Get over anti-Semitic bigotry now! If you love God, you must also love those loved by God!
SYNOPSIS. Paul's writings are sometimes difficult to follow, without careful reading and thought. I will summarize this teaching by again explaining the parts:
• God's olive tree: Israel.
• Husbandman (Caretaker) of this olive tree: God.
• Root of the tree: God, the source of anchoring and supporting the tree and nourishing its branches.
• Trunk of the tree: Jesus, through which God's nourishment (His Word— laws and covenants) flows from Him to the branches.
• Natural branches: Jews (Hebrews → who became Israelites → who became Jews).
• Time natural branches were/ will be in the tree of Israel: First time: From Abraham until AD 70 (when stripped from the olive tree by the Roman legions). Next
and last time: From the Rapture until the Second Coming of Jesus the Messiah.
• Wild branches: Christians (from Jesse, to David, to Jesus, through generations of Christians, to present Christians).
• Time wild branches were/ will be in the tree of Israel: From the Day of Pentecost, AD 33 (past), until the Rapture (future) — that is, present during the Age of Grace.
• Purpose of branches, whether natural or wild: To bear fruit (fruit = saved [redeemed] souls) for God's Kingdom).
ADDITIONAL TEACHINGS. God had/ has a special relationship with the Jews. Consider the following:
• Jesus, the One New Man: Jesus came as the One New Man to reconcile Jews and Gentiles (Ephesians 2:14-18): For He Himself [Jesus] is our peace, who has made both [Jew and Gentile] one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, [that is], the law of commandments [contained] in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man [from] the two, [thus] making peace, and that He might reconcile them both [Jew and Gentile] to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. For through Him we both [Jew and Gentile] have access by one Spirit to the Father. When we separate ourselves from Jews or from other Christians, we mock Jesus' ministry of uniting us as one people to serve God the Father.
• Warning against harming God's Covenant People: Of several Scriptures, the earliest pertinent Scripture comes from part of the Abrahamic Covenant (Genesis 12:2-3): [The LORD said to Abram] “I will make you [the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob] a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the all of the families of the earth shall be blessed.” The last phrase, which I have underlined, is regarded as a promise of the coming Messiah (through Abraham and David) and the advent of Christianity.
SHAMEFUL TREATMENT OF JEWS BY “CHRISTIANS.” The history of treatment of Jews by “Christians” has been shameful. A few of many examples include:
• During the Crusades (eleventh - thirteenth centuries), “Christian” crusaders pillaged the Holy Land, murdering in the name of the Christ all Jews who refused to convert to Christianity. In this regard, they were no better than ISIS terrorists who now demand forced conversions to Islam.
• During the Spanish Inquisition (1478-1834), the Catholic Church confiscated Jews' possessions. They forced Jews to be baptized “as Christians.” They burned alive marranos (“pigs” — Jews who were forced converted to “Christianity,” but still practiced their Jewish faith in secrecy).
• Adolf Hitler and his Nazi thugs in “Christian” Germany had as an all-consuming goal the annihilation of Jews. Hitler ordered Kristallnacht (“Night of Broken Glass”) in 1938 to destroy Jewish businesses, burn synagogues, and confiscate Jewish property. And, Hitler issued instructions not to buy from Jews. These measures accelerated in the next few years, becoming more desperate and barbaric. Inhumane torture and extermination of six-million Jews in concentration camps followed.
• Centuries of pogroms, expulsions, hatred, ethnic slurs, and other forms of lethal and non-lethal hatred have been heaped upon the Jews. There has never been a group of people so hated and mistreated as have been the Jews. Such hatred can come only from Satan, and he has had far too many willing accomplices.
• Now comes replacement theology in some self-identified Christian churches. Replacement theology is a doctrine of man (a heretical doctrine) — not a Biblical teaching— that the Christian Church has replaced Israel because of the Jews' rejection of Jesus as the Messiah in the first century. This teaching holds that God is finished with the Jews, and that He only loves and supports Christians. SEE a list of the twentty-five largest American denominations in which fourteen of them teach replacement theology. These denominations are: Roman Catholic Church; United Methodist Church; Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints; Evangelical Lutheran Church of America; Presbyterian Church (USA); Lutheran Church, Missoui Synod; African Methodist Episcopal Church; Episcopal Church; Churches of Christ, Corsicana, Texas; Greek Orthodox Archidiocese of America; African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church; United Churches of Christ; Christian Churches and Churches of Christ, Joplin, Missouri; and Jehovah's Witnesses. Shame!
• Anti-Semitism is rampant and growing throughout many “Christian” nations. Hatred of Jews is worse in Europe now, than it was in Nazi Germany before World War II.
• Any Christian who believes God will exclude a Jew from Heaven because that person worships the God of Abraham, Isaac,and Jacob in a different manner is, in effect, telling the Jew: “Go to Hell.”
GOD LOVES BOTH JEWS AND CHRISTIANS. God‹s eternal love for Jews is shown by His inclusion of them in New Jerusalem (Heaven). If God wants Jews to have eternal life in Heaven, HOW DARE any person, regardless of his/ her title, style of wearing a collar or robes, or seminary degrees, teach against God's Word and declare Jews unfit for God's love? Jesus and the apostles warned against last-day false teachers. Replacement theology is a false teaching. Avoid false teachers! If your church teaches replacement theology, you can walk out the same door through which you walked in, so that you can find another church.
A few examples that Heaven is not exclusively for Christians include:
• Old Testament writings clearly show that the Jews believed in resurrection and an afterlife.
• Jesus told a distinctly Jewish parable of a rich man and a poor beggar, Lazarus, both of whom were Jews. Both men died. The beggar went to Abraham's bosom (Paradise), but the rich man went to Hades (Luke 16:19-31).
• The names of the twelve tribes of Israel will be written on the twelve gates of New Jerusalem, or Heaven (Revelation 20:12b).
• And so forth.
UNRESOLVABLE DILEMMA. It is confusing to reconcile non-Christians being in Heaven, when we read (John 14:6): Jesus said..., “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” I cannot offer a good answer for this apparent contradiction, nor do I suppose anyone can. We sometimes too often ask, “Why?” instead of “What?” (Or, we should even stop questioning God and merely say, “Thank you for all you have done for me, Lord. I love you.”) Let God be God. God is fully capable of controlling the Universe, without our meddling. If He wants Christians and Jews in Heaven, just try to be in one of these blessed groups.
When my four children were young, they all went through a brief (mercifully, brief) phase in which everything their mother or I told them was followed by, “Why?” Even if given an explanation, they would counter the explanation with, “Why?” Inevitably, my final, firm explanation to their “Why?” questions was, “Because I‹m your daddy— that's why.” It had to be enough that I told them to do or not to do something, without endless explanations that they might not even be able to understand.
Some of our questions cannot be answered. Paul learned this, and he called certain unanswerable questions “mysteries.” He explained (1 Corinthians 13:12) that he could only see God dimly as through a mirror, and he knew only in part; but some day in eternity, he will see God clearly and know Him fully. Without trying to understand God's mystery of Jewish afterlife, be thankful of your own eternal rewards and share your good fortune with as many persons as possible. Every Christian should desire that as many persons as possible— whether Gentile Christians or Jews— will share eternal glory and happiness. God— and neither you nor I— decides who will be eligible to inherit the beauty and peace of Heaven. A Jew's presence in Heaven will not diminish my happiness one bit. If you are jealous of any person being in Heaven, you do not deserve Heaven for yourself.
CONCLUSION. God loves all of His children. He has had a special relationship with the Jews or their forerunners since the days of Abraham. Through His grace— the New Covenant purchased by Jesus' blood sacrifice (Hebrews 8:8-12) — God's love and glory have been extended to any Gentile who will accept His grace. When we fail to support, love, and defend the Jews, we dishonor the King of the Jews and the One New Man, Jesus.
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I Pray Your Heritage Is the Same As Mine • Through no choice of mine, I was born a GENTILE. • By my choice, I was reborn a CHRISTIAN. • By my choice, I was grafted into God's tree of Israel as a JEW. • By my choices, I am now and forevermore a BLESSED CHILD OF GOD. • By my choice and love, I desire that ALL PERSONS— Jews and Gentiles— may share my joy in Heaven! |