"For if the first fruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches. And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert grafted in among them,, and with them partakes of the root and fatness of the olive tree; boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou barest not the root but the root thee." Romans 11v16-18
There have been some fanciful interpretations of this , but if we take the simple progression of thought, it becomes easier to understand what Paul is saying. He has made three deductions from the basic subject of the chapter (which is the defection of Israel, and the diminishing of Israel by Divine decree). These deductions all begin with the word "for"; so what is Paul saying here? He is comparing the relative positions, presently, of both Israel and the Gentile nations in relation to God. So the firstfruit refers to the first Gentile Christians. The lump refers to Israel from whom they came spiritually. The root is remnant Israel (true Israel), in particular the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob with whom the worship of the true God began; the branches are the succeeding generations of believers amongst the Jews, and the wild branches are the Gentile believers who were brought in. The understanding of the metaphors that Paul is using here, is the true worship of God. He uses the word "holy". In its Old Testament usage, we should understand this word as meaning "that which was set apart for God's exclusive use." Just as a housewife might purchase a vessel for use in her kitchen, that vessel becomes used for a specific purpose. The imagery is very interesting, because it reminds us why all of us are here on this earth in the first place. Primarily, we are on this earth for God's use, and not simply our own pleasure. Because of the entrance of sin this primary use of our existence was given over to selfish indulgence rather than the worship of the God who made us. The first metaphor has to do with the grain offering of Leviticus chapter 2 in which the worshippers would offer of the fruits of the field to God. God would get His portion first, which is the meaning of the firstfruit, and this would signal the greater harvest to follow. Paul in his thinking of the grain offering also introduces the idea of the olive tree from which is produced olive oil. The grain offering of worship to God, which could be offered in many different ways, was never to be offered without the presence of olive oil. So the apostle Paul is merging these two things together to describe, down through the ages, from the very beginning, the true worship of God.
His whole point is this; the first true worshippers of God were from the nation of Israel. Thus in speaking to Gentile worshippers today. he enjoins them to remember the fact that Israel worshipped God first, that Israel brought Christ to the world, that Israel were the first Christian believers, that Israel initially evangelized the world; he is saying to Gentile believers that we must not forget that fact; that Israel (believing Israel), is the root from which we come, that we as the firstfruits of the harvest have come from what he describes as the lump of dough from which comes the bread. Essentially, they were there before us, without them we would not exist spiritually, and because of them we are now, as he says, "partakers with them of the root and the fatness of the olive tree." There is therefore no reason for we Gentile believers to boast, but to be thankful that we have been brought into such a wonderful society as the olive tree would represent. The law of first mention in scripture, (which is the law that the first mentioned of anything is usually a good pointer to its later meaning) is helpful here. The first mention of the olive tree is in Genesis 8v11, when the dove (symbol of the Holy Spirit) returned with an olive leaf plucked from a tree in the context of a world that had perished in the flood under the curse of God. The olive tree thus represents that which speaks of Divine blessing despite the curse of sin upon humanity. The comparison with the wild olive tree, further indicates that this represents the true worship of God as the way to blessing as opposed to the false way to blessing that man has chosen for himself; says Paul, you Gentiles have been brought into this blessing through the agency of the believing remnant of Israel.
This is a position of great privilege, and we should value it, that those of us who had no claim on God, who were at a distance from God, have been truly reconciled to God, brought into fellowship with the vast heritage of historical and believing Israel. God's intention is to use us to restore Israel in great numbers in a day to come and we should remain humble, and humbled, by the grace of God. Statements like "the natural branches;" "thou being a wild olive tree;" "wild by nature;" "grafted contrary to nature;" all tell the story that the Gentile nations at large were outside of the blessings of God and today have been brought in by the grace of God. This is true reconciliation and these verses 16-24 are a description of it.
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