Morning Message: Pruning The Olive Tree - Part 2

Bobservations' Column

Titled - "Pruning the Olive Tree" - Part 2

Written by:  Pastor Bob Lawrenz

Last week’s message from Paul’s letter to the Romans continues, with a warning to Gentiles who might be tempted to gloat that some Jews have been removed from their “Chosen” position with God to make room for new Gentile Believers. No one is being “made room for.” It’s not like God’s heavenly Kingdom has a maximum number that can fit! Can you imagine!? God does not operate on a quota system for heaven! God forbid! The Lord is waiting for the “called” to respond to His grace and mercy. He simply asks us to believe in His only begotten Son.

Those who believe have already responded to His invitation; and those who are the called cannot resist His invitation: He stands at the door and knocks, but He will not force His way in. “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me” (Revelation 3:20).

And for those searching?

“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:” (Matthew 7:7).

“And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. And I will be found of you, saith the LORD: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the LORD; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive.” (Jeremiah 29:13, 14).

God awaits the people of His “called.” He is not hiding; He is near to every one of us. As near as the door to our hearts.

From Isaiah 55:6 -

“Seek ye the LORD while He may be found, call ye upon Him while He is near:”

Bobservations' Column:  Audio Version

Sunday Morning Message:

Romans 11:17-36 - "Pruning The Olive Tree" - Part 2

Summary/Additional Commentary & Definitions:

Last week we learned that Israel's rejection of the Messiah, filled the Old Testament prophecies concerning the blessing of the Gentiles. These Gentiles who are coming to God through faith in Christ are like the branches of a wild olive tree that have been grafted onto the trunk of a cultivated plant. The old branches, unbelieving Jews, have been broken off for a time to make this possible (Romans 11:11–16).

In this week's study, Paul warns the Gentile Christians not to be arrogant toward unbelieving Jews, however. The time is coming, after the right amount of the Gentiles have believed in Christ, when God will remove the hardening from the unbelieving Jews. They will turn to faith in Christ and, as a people, be grafted back onto God's symbolic olive tree, from which they had previously been pruned. God is not done with Israel (Romans 11:17–24).

In spiritual terms, the Israelites may be enemies of the gospel of faith in Jesus Christ, for now. They were certainly the spiritual enemies of Paul during his lifetime. And yet, the Jewish people of Israel remain deeply loved by God because of the promises He made to the patriarchs. God never breaks His promises. His gifts and His calling on Israel can't be taken back. God will use His grace and mercy toward the Gentile Christians to make Israel jealous. He will use these events to bring her back to Himself as a nation, in the form of those individual Jews who eventually trust in Christ at some future time (Romans 11:25–32).

Paul concludes this section with what has become a beloved poem, like a hymn, about the vast un-knowable-ness and independence of our merciful God (Romans 11:33–36).

Sunday Morning Audio Message:

Key Words and Definitions with Reference: 

Boast Not (11:18) - There is no place in the church for spiritual pride, still less for anti-Semitism - we are the spiritual offspring of Abraham (4:11, 16; Galatians 3:29).  The native branches are the Jews. Gentiles have nothing to brag about, nor are they superior to Israel. God redeems Gentiles through His grace, and He also has plans for Israel's restoration through His grace.

Branches (11:18) - The unbelieving Jews who had been broken off.

But The Root Thee (11:18) - It is the Root that supports you. Gentiles are not the source of blessing but have been grafted into the covenant of salvation that God made with Abraham (cf. Galatians 3:6-9, 13, 14).

Unbelief . . . Faith (11:20) - That fact, Paul now writes, should cause a Gentile Christian to be even more humble about their place on that symbolic tree. The only difference between the broken off branches and the newly added branches is faith in Christ. Paul warns the Gentile Christians to hold tight to the branch by continuing in their faith in Christ. Branches were broken off and others grafted in based solely on the issue of faith, not race, ethnicity, social or intellectual background, or external morality.  Salvation is ever and always by faith alone (cf. 1:16, 17; Ephesians 2:8, 9).

Fear (11:20) - God will judge the apostate church (cf. Revelation 2:15, 16; 3:16) just as surely as He judged apostate Israel.

Spared Not (11:21) - Note that God "spared not the angels that sinned" (2 Peter 2:4, He "spared not the old world" before the flood (2 Peter 2:5), and If Israel (the "natural branches") was not spared despite being God's covenant nation, why should Gentiles, strangers to God's covenants (Ephesians 2:11, 12; expect to be spared if they sin against the truth of the gospel?

Behold the Goodness and Severity (11:22) - All of God's attributes work in harmony; there is no conflict between His goodness and love, and His justice and wrath.  Those who accept His gracious offer of salvation experience His goodness (2:4); those who reject it experience His severity (2:5).  Jesus said that only a few are on the road that "leadeth unto life," while many are on the broad "way, that leadeth to destruction" (Matthew 7:13, 14).  All those that "know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ...shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord" (2 Thessalonians 1:8, 9).  

Them Which Fell (11:22) - The unbelieving Jews described in verses 12:21. "Fell" translates a Greek word meaning "to fall so as to be completely ruined."  Those who reject God's offer of salvation bring upon themselves utter spiritual ruin.

Abide Not Still (11:23, 24) - In the future, Israel will repent of unbelief and embrace the Messiah according to Zechariah 12:10.  In the terms of Paul's analogy, God will at that time gladly graft the (believing) Jewish people back into the olive tree of His covenant blessings because it was theirs originally (9:4) - unlike the wild branches, the Gentiles.

Mystery (11:25) - This word doesn't mean something that cannot be known.  It is used in the New Testament as something that was not previously revealed but is known now.  This mystery has two components: (1) Israel has experienced a partial spiritual hardening, and (2) that hardening will last only for a divinely specified period of time.

Wise In Your Own Opinion (11:25) - A warning to the Gentiles against spiritual pride and arrogance.

Blindness In Part (11:25) - Israel has been judicially blinded (11:7-8) but only "in part."  Only some of the branches are broken off (11:17).  The nation's blindness does not extend to every individual Jew.  through all of history God has always preserved a believing remnant.

Fullness of the Gentiles Has Come In (11:25) - "Until" refers to a specific point in time; "fullness" refers to completion; "has come in" translates a Greek verb often used to speak of coming to salvation (cf. Matthew 5:20; Mark 9:43, 45, 47; John 3:5; Acts 14:22).  Israel's spiritual hardening will last until the complete number of Gentiles has come to salvation. God is now visiting the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name (Acts 15:14).  When the full number (known only to God) has been reached, then "the times of the Gentiles" will end (Luke 21:24), and God will begin again to deal with Israel as His elect nation.

All Israel (11:26) - The complete restoration of Israel will climax the  purging trials of the "time of Jacob's trouble (Jeremiah 30:7). Paul refers here to Isaiah 59:20.  This will take place when Christ returns to earth to establish His millennial kingdom centered in Jerusalem (Zechariah 12:8-10; 13:1; 14:9). Believing Jewish people alive at the end of the Tribulation, not the believing remnant of Jews within the church during the church age.  Since the remnant has already embraced the truth of the gospel, it could not be in view here, since it no longer needs the salvation, this verse promises. 

The Deliverer Will Come Out of Zion (11:26) - See Psalms 14:7; 53:6; Isaiah 46:13.  The Lord Jesus Christ's millennial rule will be associated with Mt. Zion (Psalm 110:2).

Covenant (11:27) - For this is my covenant unto them... This is what God has promised to them in covenant, and he will be as good as his word; his covenant will never be broken, it will always remain sure and inviolable; so that there is not only a possibility, and a probability, but even a certainty, of the call and conversion of the Jews; which promise and covenant will have their accomplishment, when I, saith the Lord, shall take away their sins.

Gospel...Enemies (11:28) - The word "enemies" here stands opposed to "beloved;" and as in one respect, to wit, on account of "election," they were still beloved, that is, beloved by God, so in another respect they were his enemies, i. e., opposed to him, or cast off from him. The enemies of God denote all who are not his true friends; Colossians 1:21; Romans 5:10; compare Romans 11:8. The word here is applied to the Jews because they had rejected the Messiah; had become opposed to God; and were therefore rejected by him. Israel's temporary situation during her time of spiritual hardening.

Concerning the Election (11:28) - From the perspective of God's eternal choice, Israel will always be His covenant people. 

The Sake of the Fathers (11:28) - The patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob), recipients of the Abrahamic covenant (Exodus 2:24; Leviticus 26:42; 2 Kings 13:23).

The Gifts...are Without Repentance (11:29) - Not to be revoked or withdrawn, not even to he regretted. God's sovereign election of Israel, like that of individual believers, is unconditional and unchangeable because it is rooted in His immutable nature and expressed in the unilateral, eternal Abrahamic covenant.

Your Mercy (11:30, 31) - God's mercy is the ultimate driving force, and it is through this mercy that both Gentiles and Israelites can receive forgiveness and salvation. God will extend His grace to unbelieving Israel, just as He did to unbelieving Gentiles (cf. Romans 5:8).  Salvation, whether of Jews or Gentiles, flows from Gods mercy (cf. 1 Timothy 1:12-14).

The Wisdom...Knowledge of God (11:33-36) - The majesty, grandeur, and wisdom of God's plan revealed in verses 1-32 caused Paul to burst out in praise.  This doxology is a fitting response not only to God's future plans for Israel but to Paul's entire discussion of justification by faith.

Wisdom and Knowledge (11:33) - All the treasures of both wisdom and knowledge are found in Christ (Colossians 2:3), for He is the Creator and Sustainer of all things (Colossians 1:16-17; Hebrews 1:3).  In fat, "the fear of the Lord is the beginning..." (Proverbs 1:7; 9:10) of both knowledge (awareness and comprehension of truth) and wisdom (application or knowing what to do with that knowledge).

Past Finding Out (11:34) - really unsearchable: it is a metaphor from hounds, that have no footstep or scent of the game which they pursue: nor can men trace the Lord or find out the reason of his doings; as none can line out the way of a ship in the sea, or an eagle in the air.  God cannot be accessed through scientific research.  "Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection?" (Job 11:7).  His ways and thoughts are higher than ours.  "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts" (Isaiah 55:8, 9).

Who Hath Known (11:34) - We cannot know the mind of the Lord by human understanding.   He reveals His mind to us through His Spirit. This phrase is taken out of Isaiah 40:13, and was quoted by our apostle before, Romans 11:34: the sense of it, as here used, is: For what natural man, that never was taught and enlightened by the Spirit of God, could ever know the secret counsels of God, and the Divine mysteries of man’s salvation? Nor can any instruct him what to do. But (saith the apostle) we, who have the Spirit of God given to us, dwelling and working in us, and instructing us, we have the mind of Christ; for the Spirit of Christ, which is our teacher, knoweth his mind, and hath revealed it unto us.

Recompensed (11:35) - All of God's gifts are by grace, not recompense.  He needs nothing from us, but gives us all things in Christ (8:32).

All Things (11:36) - Compare Colossians 1:16-20.  Christ created all things, sustains all things, and reconciles all things.  Se also Hebrews 1:2-3; Revelation 1:8, 22:13.