The Faithfulness of God

17 But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree, 18 do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you. 19 Then you will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” 20 That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear. 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. 22 Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off. 23 And even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again. 24 For if you were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree. – Romans 11:17-24 ESV

Paul has been discussing dough, firstfruits, olive trees, roots, and broken branches. But what’s his point? What is he trying to tell us? We must remember that he has been addressing Israel's current and future fate. God had chosen them as His special possession, but they had rejected Jesus as their Messiah. As a result, they were passed over by God, and His message of salvation was taken to the Gentiles. Yet, God had ordained for some Jews to believe in Jesus as their Messiah and form a remnant, a sort of firstfruits or offering that would consecrate the rest of the nation.

Paul referenced the command God had given to the Israelites as they prepared to enter the land of promise.

“When you arrive in the land where I am taking you, and you eat the crops that grow there, you must set some aside as a sacred offering to the Lord. Present a cake from the first of the flour you grind, and set it aside as a sacred offering, as you do with the first grain from the threshing floor. Throughout the generations to come, you are to present a sacred offering to the Lord each year from the first of your ground flour.” – Numbers 15:18-21 NLT

In his commentary on Romans, Donald Grey Barnhouse explains:

“In order to understand this we must first realize that throughout the Old Testament the word ‘holy’ has a special meaning. In the Old Testament ‘holy’ means ‘separated from profane uses, consecrated to God.’ In the use of the allusion as found in our text, Paul is saying that if the whole nation of Israel was originally set apart for God by the call of Abraham and the giving of the covenant promises to him, then the individuals of the race of Abraham also have a special relationship to God. This does not mean that they are personally holy, for some of them are even accursed; but it does mean that the members of the ancient race have been chosen by God and they will be brought to fulfill His purposes.” – Donald Grey Barnhouse, Romans

The nation of Israel was holy to God. He had set them apart, not because of anything they had done, but simply out of His sovereign will. Moses made this perfectly clear to them.

“For you are a holy people, who belong to the Lord your God. Of all the people on earth, the Lord your God has chosen you to be his own special treasure. The Lord did not set his heart on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other nations, for you were the smallest of all nations! Rather, it was simply that the Lord loves you, and he was keeping the oath he had sworn to your ancestors.” – Deuteronomy 7:6-8 NLT

In Paul’s day, God was bringing some Jews to faith, and they served as evidence of God’s continuing favor upon the nation of Israel. He had not completely abandoned them. In fact, Paul goes on to stress the non-debatable necessity of the nation of Israel in the grand scheme of God.

He switches analogies and begins to talk about trees, roots, and branches. He specifically refers to the olive tree, which, in the Old Testament, represented the nation of Israel.

The Lord says,
“Then I will heal you of your faithlessness;
    my love will know no bounds,
    for my anger will be gone forever.
I will be to Israel
    like a refreshing dew from heaven.
Israel will blossom like the lily;
    it will send roots deep into the soil
    like the cedars in Lebanon.
Its branches will spread out like beautiful olive trees,
    as fragrant as the cedars of Lebanon.” – Hosea 14:4-6 NLT

“I, the Lord, once called them a thriving olive tree,
    beautiful to see and full of good fruit.
But now I have sent the fury of their enemies
    to burn them with fire,
    leaving them charred and broken.

“I, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, who planted this olive tree, have ordered it destroyed. For the people of Israel and Judah have done evil, arousing my anger by burning incense to Baal.” – Jeremiah 11:16-17 NLT

The root to which Paul refers most likely represents Abraham, the father of the nation of Israel. He had been hand-picked by God and ordained to be the father of the nation of Israel and the means by which God would bless the nations of the world. From Abraham, the root, came the trunk and the branches of Israel. And because Abraham was holy and set apart for God, so was the rest of the tree. But some of the branches of that tree had been broken off by God, and the branches from “wild” or uncultivated olive trees were grafted in.

Gentiles were made a part of God’s family, not because they deserved it, but out of His mercy and kindness. And Paul reminds the Gentiles, “remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you” (Romans 11:18 ESV). Our faith as believing Gentiles depends on the promises of God made to Abraham. We are not better than or superior to the Jews, and we are not to look down our noses in pride at those Jews who remain in unbelief. In fact, Paul would have us see ourselves as unified with God’s chosen people.

So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family. – Ephesians 2:19 NLT

God is not done with Israel; He has not abandoned them. If He can graft into the root of Abraham branches from “wild” olive trees, He can certainly graft back in those branches that were broken off. In fact, Paul states, “And even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again” (Romans 11:23 ESV).

God’s promises to Israel still stand, and He will fulfill them all, in His time and according to His perfect will. God’s unwavering faithfulness to Israel is meant to encourage us, reminding us of His love, faithfulness, and trustworthiness.  What He says, He will do. His promises will be fulfilled.

His decision to take the gospel to the Gentiles was not Plan B. It was not done because the Jews rejected Jesus as their Messiah; it was all part of God’s sovereign will from the very beginning. Everything is taking place according to His divine plan. He is blessing all the nations of the earth through the offspring of Abraham, and one day He is going to bless the nation of Israel by sending His Son again and setting up His Kingdom on earth in Jerusalem and restoring His chosen people to their rightful place.

Father, Your plan is perfect and undeterable. Nothing can prevent Your will from taking place just as You have ordained it. You are never surprised or caught off guard. At no point, do You have to change plans or knee-jerk react to what You see happening in the world. You are all-knowing and all-powerful, and You are in control at all times. Your plan for Your chosen people is unfolding just as You set it out before You laid the foundations of the earth. You have a timeline and it is unfolding precisely as You have planned, and it includes the restoration of a remnant of the people of Israel. You will keep Your covenant promises. and fulfill every commitment Your have made to them. And we, the wild olive branches ,get to enjoy the benefiits of having been grafted into the tree that You planted and that will one day produce fruit for eternity in Your Kingdom. Amen

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.22

That Day.

1 In that day the Lord with his hard and great and strong sword will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan the twisting serpent, and he will slay the dragon that is in the sea.

2 In that day,
“A pleasant vineyard, sing of it!
3     I, the Lord, am its keeper;
    every moment I water it.
    Lest anyone punish it,
I keep it night and day;
4     I have no wrath.
Would that I had thorns and briers to battle!
    I would march against them,
    I would burn them up together.
5 Or let them lay hold of my protection,
    let them make peace with me,
    let them make peace with me.”

6 In days to come Jacob shall take root,
    Israel shall blossom and put forth shoots
    and fill the whole world with fruit.

7 Has he struck them as he struck those who struck them?
    Or have they been slain as their slayers were slain?
8 Measure by measure, by exile you contended with them;
    he removed them with his fierce breath in the day of the east wind.
9 Therefore by this the guilt of Jacob will be atoned for,
    and this will be the full fruit of the removal of his sin:
when he makes all the stones of the altars
    like chalkstones crushed to pieces,
    no Asherim or incense altars will remain standing.
10 For the fortified city is solitary,
    a habitation deserted and forsaken, like the wilderness;
there the calf grazes;
    there it lies down and strips its branches.
11 When its boughs are dry, they are broken;
    women come and make a fire of them.
For this is a people without discernment;
    therefore he who made them will not have compassion on them;
    he who formed them will show them no favor.

12 In that day from the river Euphrates to the Brook of Egypt the Lord will thresh out the grain, and you will be gleaned one by one, O people of Israel. 13 And in that day a great trumpet will be blown, and those who were lost in the land of Assyria and those who were driven out to the land of Egypt will come and worship the Lord on the holy mountain at Jerusalem. – Isaiah 27:1-13 ESV

Four times in this chapter, Isaiah uses the term, “in that day,” clearly referring to a future period of time when God will bring His eschatological calendar to a close. Isaiah is informing the people of Judah that there is a day coming when God will bring about a series of unprecedented events that will coincide with the parousia or Second Coming of Christ.

First, Isaiah describes the destruction of Leviathan. There has been much debate over the centuries as to the identity of Leviathan. Described as a swift-moving coiling serpent and a dragon, this creature figured prominently in Canaanite mythology. References to Leviathan are found in the book of Job and in several of the Psalms. In this context, Isaiah seems to be using this mythological sea creature to describe the enemies of Israel and Judah. It is interesting to note that Satan took the form of a serpent in the Garden of Eden to tempt Eve. In the book of Revelation, the terms, serpent, and dragon, are used to describe Satan.

This great dragon – the ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, the one deceiving the whole world – was thrown down to the earth with all his angels. – Revelation 12:9 NLT

Later on, John describes that defeat of Satan by Jesus Christ at His Second Coming.

He seized the dragon--that old serpent, who is the devil, Satan--and bound him in chains for a thousand years. – Revelation 20:2 NLT

But in the context of Isaiah 28, the use of the term, “Leviathan” seems to be intended to refer to all those earthly powers that stand opposed to God and His people. During the end times, these nations will be under the direct influence of Satan himself, worshiping his human representative, Antichrist, and waging war against the people of God. During the days of the Tribulation, tens of thousands of Jews and Gentiles will be persecuted and martyred because of their faith in Christ. But Isaiah assures his readers that the day is coming when God will destroy the enemies of God and the very one who motivates their actions: Satan himself.

And Isaiah pictures Israel and Judah as a vineyard with God as its caretaker and keeper. This was a common Old Testament image for Israel. In fact, Isaiah used it back in chapter five.

The nation of Israel is the vineyard of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
    The people of Judah are his pleasant garden.
He expected a crop of justice,
    but instead he found oppression.
He expected to find righteousness,
    but instead he heard cries of violence. – Isaiah 5:7 NLT

But while Israel and Judah had failed to live up to God’s expectations, Isaiah describes a day when God will restore His vineyard to full fruitfulness. In spite of all the judgments brought against Israel and Judah, God has continued to protect and care for His people. And, one day, He will restore His people. They will become fruitful again, both physically and spiritually. With the return of Christ and the establishment of His Kingdom on earth in the city of Jerusalem, the redeemed remnant of God’s people will once again enjoy unbroken fellowship with their God.

This future period of time, called the Millennial Kingdom, will last for 1,000 years and be marked by righteousness and peace. And the nations will be encouraged to make peace with God. The prophet, Zechariah, describes this future golden era on earth.

“This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: People from nations and cities around the world will travel to Jerusalem. The people of one city will say to the people of another, ‘Come with us to Jerusalem to ask the Lord to bless us. Let’s worship the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. I’m determined to go.’ Many peoples and powerful nations will come to Jerusalem to seek the Lord of Heaven’s Armies and to ask for his blessing.

“This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: In those days ten men from different nations and languages of the world will clutch at the sleeve of one Jew. And they will say, ‘Please let us walk with you, for we have heard that God is with you.’” – Zechariah 8:20-23 NLT

The prophet, Jeremiah, describes it this way:

“In that day Jerusalem will be known as 'The Throne of the LORD.' All nations will come there to honor the LORD. They will no longer stubbornly follow their own evil desires.” – Jeremiah 3:17 NLT

And, not to be left out, the prophet Micah adds his own take on that future time.

People from many nations will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of Jacob's God. There he will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths.” For the LORD’s teaching will go out from Zion; his word will go out from Jerusalem. – Micah 4:2 NLT

Isaiah makes it clear that this future day will be one in which Israel and Judah will be reunited and restored, and they will enjoy unprecedented blessings at the hand of God.

The time is coming when Jacob’s descendants will take root.
    Israel will bud and blossom
    and fill the whole earth with fruit!  – Isaiah 27:6 NLT

While there is little doubt that the church, the body of Christ, is the spiritual fulfillment of this prophecy, there is a literal aspect of this vision that must be fulfilled. Every believer in Christ has been grafted into the olive tree of Israel. Paul made this point clear to the Gentile believers living in Rome.

But some of these branches from Abraham’s tree—some of the people of Israel—have been broken off. And you Gentiles, who were branches from a wild olive tree, have been grafted in. So now you also receive the blessing God has promised Abraham and his children, sharing in the rich nourishment from the root of God’s special olive tree. But you must not brag about being grafted in to replace the branches that were broken off. You are just a branch, not the root.

“Well,” you may say, “those branches were broken off to make room for me.” Yes, but remember—those branches were broken off because they didn’t believe in Christ, and you are there because you do believe. So don’t think highly of yourself, but fear what could happen. For if God did not spare the original branches, he won’t spare you either.

Notice how God is both kind and severe. He is severe toward those who disobeyed, but kind to you if you continue to trust in his kindness. But if you stop trusting, you also will be cut off. And if the people of Israel turn from their unbelief, they will be grafted in again, for God has the power to graft them back into the tree. You, by nature, were a branch cut from a wild olive tree. So if God was willing to do something contrary to nature by grafting you into his cultivated tree, he will be far more eager to graft the original branches back into the tree where they belong. – Romans 11:17-24 NLT

Don’t miss what Paul is saying here. While Gentiles have been grafted into Abraham’s tree, the root of the tree remains. And God reserves the right to graft back in any of those branches He has removed. If a wild olive branch (Gentiles) can be successfully grafted into the tree, how much more so the original, natural branches.

During the period in which we live, which is commonly referred to as the church age, we are witnessing what Paul referred to as “the mystery.” God had a plan, hidden in times past, that He revealed with the death and resurrection of Jesus and the coming of the Holy Spirit.

And this is God’s plan: Both Gentiles and Jews who believe the Good News share equally in the riches inherited by God’s children. Both are part of the same body, and both enjoy the promise of blessings because they belong to Christ Jesus. – Ephesians 3:6 NLT

And while Jews and Gentiles enjoy the same blessings of God, this does not nullify or negate the many promises of God that speak of a future restoration of His people, Israel. While God had been forced to punish His chosen people for their sin and rebellion, He never turned His back on them. In fact, Isaiah describes God’s wrath against the nations that persecuted and attempted to destroy Israel. They will be destroyed, but Israel will be restored.

Yet the time will come when the Lord will gather them together like handpicked grain. One by one he will gather them—from the Euphrates River in the east to the Brook of Egypt in the west. In that day the great trumpet will sound. Many who were dying in exile in Assyria and Egypt will return to Jerusalem to worship the Lord on his holy mountain. – Isaiah 27:12-13 NLT

In that day, God will do great and mighty things. He will show favor on His people once again. He will redeem and restore them. He will pour out His blessings on them. And while Gentile believers will enjoy the marvelous benefits of being grafted into the tree of Abraham, God will graciously and mercifully restore a remnant of His chosen people to the tree as well. And they will experience the long-awaited fulfillment of the promise to restore to the throne of David, a descendant who will rule in righteousness.

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson