The Olive Tree of God: Why “Israel” Isn’t What You Think
Unraveling Romans 11 to Challenge Misguided Motivations for Supporting the State of Israel
The Olive Tree and the True Israel: Unpacking Romans 11
Few passages expose modern evangelical confusion about Israel like Romans 11. In a previous post, “Bursting Theological Bubbles,” I mentioned one of my favorite passages regarding the identity of “Israel” is Romans 11. In light of the increased attention and interest in the biblical and theological matters related to Israel due to the ongoing conflict with Iran, I thought it helpful to provide a further treatment of Romans 11, specifically Paul’s image of the olive tree, the natural and wild branches, and its significance for “Israel.”
Why Israel Matters to American Christians
There are many reasons why one may or may not politically support the nation of Israel. Matters of war and peace are riding, in part, upon the political influence of Christians in America. If the motivations for this support of or opposition to Israel are based upon biblical ideas, and for many American evangelicals, they are, then it’s important that these ideas be accurate.
The Olive Tree: Paul’s Vision of God’s People
Romans 11:11-24
11:11 I ask then, they did not stumble into an irrevocable fall, did they? Absolutely not! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make Israel jealous. 11:12 Now if their transgression means riches for the world and their defeat means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full restoration bring?
11:13 Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Seeing that I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, 11:14 if somehow I could provoke my people to jealousy and save some of them. 11:15 For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? 11:16 If the first portion of the dough offered is holy, then the whole batch is holy, and if the root is holy, so too are the branches.
11:17 Now if some of the branches were broken off, and you, a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among them and participated in the richness of the olive root, 11:18 do not boast over the branches. But if you boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you. 11:19 Then you will say, “The branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” 11:20 Granted! They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but fear! 11:21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, perhaps he will not spare you. 11:22 Notice therefore the kindness and harshness of God—harshness toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness toward you, provided you continue in his kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off. 11:23 And even they—if they do not continue in their unbelief—will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. 11:24 For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these natural branches be grafted back into their own olive tree?
Romans 9-11: The Heart of Paul’s Argument
Romans 11:17-24 is set within what has been considered a controversial passage of Scripture throughout the history of the Church, Romans chapter 9-11. Some commentators disagree over the relationship of these chapters to the rest of Paul’s letter. Scholars, such as Augustine, Dodd, and Sandlay and Headlam, see chapters 9-11 as a sort of excursus set apart from the primary arguments of the letter. Douglas Moo, on the other hand, sees these chapters as “an integral part of the working out of the theme of the epistle” (Moo, The Epistle to the Romans, 1996, pg. 547). CEB Cranfield considered the integral nature of the relationship of these chapters to the letter as “a matter of general scholarly consensus” (Cranfield, The Epistle to the Romans, vol. II, 1979, pg. 445).
God’s Faithfulness and the Unity of His People
Moo understands the purpose of chapters 9-11 as Paul’s attempt “to unite the squabbling Roman Christians behind his vision of the gospel and its implications for the relationship of Jew and Gentile” (Epistle to the Romans, 551). Another purpose of this section of the letter is to provide a defense of the character of God and His worthiness as the object of our trust.
Addressing the question of the apparent rejection of Israel, Paul says in Romans 9:6, “It is not as though the word of God has failed.” And in 11:1 he says, “So I ask, God has not rejected his people, has he? Absolutely not!” Paul addresses the condition of Israel in light of this question about God’s faithfulness. John Piper comments, “The reason it matters is because God’s faithfulness to Israel is God faithfulness to us. If he doesn’t keep his word to Israel, is there reason to think he will keep his work to us?”
Israel’s Rejection: Temporary, Not Final
Romans 11 is the third and final chapter of this integral section of Romans. In 9:30-33, Paul states that the Jews did not attain righteousness because they pursued a legal righteousness rather than righteousness by faith. Then in chapter 10 he adds they did not listen to the message of true righteousness. One might, therefore, conclude that God is completely through with the Israelites but in 11:1 Paul emphatically declares that God is not finished with the Jews.
He declares God will carry out His sovereign plan regarding both Jew and Gentile. Israel’s rejection was not a total rejection (11:1-10), the rejection is not final, the restoration of the Jews is presented as a possibility (vv. 11-23), their restoration is probable (v. 24), and then Paul implies in v. 25 that it is certain. Paul then follows this difficult but vital material with a great doxology (expression of praise to God).
The Root and the Branches: A Holy Heritage
Paul employs two metaphors in v. 16: “And if the first piece of dough be holy, the lump is also; and if the root be holy the branches are too.” Paul is drawing on the idea of Numbers 15:17-21 where “the first of the dough given unto the Lord meant the consecration of the whole lump.” While views vary, most scholars are convinced the first fruit and root refer to the patriarchs, particularly Abraham.
Moo points out that a growing number of scholars are embracing the view that the first fruits and root both refer to the Jewish people, but the evidence does not appear to support this conclusion. If the Jewish Christians are the root then unconverted Jews must be the branches but, as Martyn Lloyd-Jones points out, the argument of chapter 11 is that the majority of the nation of Israel is temporarily rejected outside the tree (Lloyd-Jones, Romans, an Exposition of Chapter 11 to God’s Glory, 1998, pg. 97). I understand “root” to be the patriarchs.
Sanctified and Separated Unto God
Paul goes on to explain in v. 16 that since the root is holy, the branches are holy. It is not likely that Paul is speaking of holiness in a moral sense. “Not holy, to be sure, in the sense that all her members are righteous and holy in manner of life; but holy in the sense that this people has, in a special way, been sanctified and separated unto God” (A. Nygren, Commentary on Romans, 1949, pg. 397). If Paul were speaking of holiness as “righteous and holy in manner of life,” it would not make sense that such righteous branches would therefore need to be broken off from the tree.
No Room for Boasting: The Grafted Branches
If the natural branches have been broken off (and they have) and if the wild branches are not natural but have merely been grafted in (also true), then those who have been grafted in have no reason to boast in their status.
Defining the Olive Tree: The True People of God
What is the olive tree? The olive tree is the people of God. Paul’s teaching in 9:6 is a key verse for understanding the olive tree: all Israel is not the true Israel. Romans 4:13-14 says, “For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would inherit the world was not fulfilled through the law, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. For if they become heirs by the law, faith is empty and the promise if nullified.” Those who partake of the righteousness that comes by faith are the people of God, Abraham’s heirs by faith.
Natural and Spiritual Descendants: A Sovereign Choice
Isaac and Ishmael, Jacob and Esau are all natural children of Abraham but only Isaac and Jacob are also his spiritual descendants according to the sovereign will of God. With the patriarchs as the root of the tree, all of Abraham’s descendants are of the tree for a time until the merely natural descendants were broken off while the true Israel remained. The Gentiles are not of the natural line, but God has sovereignly chosen some wild branches to join the people of God by being grafted into the tree.
The Apostle’s Teaching: Grafted into God’s People
“Now then what is the Apostle’s teaching? Well, we can put it like this. The unbelieving Jews, though they are Abraham’s seed, and though in a sense they are the natural branches upon this olive tree, are cut off because of their unbelief and do not really belong to the olive tree. But on the other hand, he says, the believing Gentiles are grafted in. They have come from the outside, they did not belong to the nation of Israel, and therefore in a sense you can call them a wild olive tree. But the only point of importance is that they do not belong to the visible nation of Israel. But, says the Apostle, because they have believed they have been brought in and grafted in. They have not been grafted into the Jewish nation but into the people of God. Now this is the point. And that is why, I say, you must insist upon saying that the olive tree is the people of God” (Lloyd-Jones, Romans, an Exposition of Chapter 11 to God’s Glory, pg. 105).
Who Are the Branches? Jew and Gentile in God’s Plan
Both Jews and Gentiles are referred to in v. 17 as branches. The identity of the broken off κλαδών, “branches,” must be disobedient national Israel. In Romans 9:6-7, Paul explained that not all who are descended from Israel are truly Israel, and not all the children are Abraham’s true descendants. In light of 9:8, it must be those Jews who are children of the flesh only and not the children according to promise who are the cut-off branches. The immediate context also requires this meaning since the entire point of chapter 11 is to address the rejection of Israel. The wild olive branches refer to the Gentiles as Paul makes clear in v.13.
God’s Sovereign Hand: Breaking Off and Grafting In
Moo identifies the verb ἐξεκλάσθησαν as a divine passive. The significance is that it suggests that it is God Himself who is breaking the natural branches off the tree. This fits well with the overarching theme of God’s sovereign will in Romans 9-11. Some natural branches were broken off and wild branches were grafted in among them (The root is what is shared by both Jew and Gentile therefore ἐν αὐτοῖς is understood as “among them” rather than “in place of them”). V. 17 speaks of the richness or fatness of the olive root. If branches are broken off due to their unbelief then it would follow that the richness of the root speaks of salvation rather than temporal blessings. “If the root signifies the patriarchs, then we may understand its fatness to signify the divine election in which alone their special worth consists” (Cranfield, The Epistle to the Romans, pg. 567).
God’s Grace: The Hope of Restoration
Cranfield goes on to write (pg. 572), “If the Gentile Christian can believe that God has actually grafted him into that holy stem to which he does not naturally belong, how much more readily ought he to believe that God is able and willing to do what is less wonderful – to restore to their own native stock the unbelieving Jews, when they repent and believe!” All of Paul’s teaching in this section highlights God’s grace and sovereign mercy in the salvation of humankind. No believer is a part of the people of God due to their status as a Jew or as a Gentile.
A Call to Humility: No Place for Pride
No person has any room for arrogance toward an unbeliever or personal pride in their standing before God. This passage alone should cause all Christians to seek a spirit of humility regarding the privilege we have as people of God. Those us who are Abraham’s children by faith have no right to view ourselves as superior to Abraham’s physical seed. We know through Paul’s teaching that God is not done with the Jews.
All Israel is not Israel, but we know there are still many Jews, now and in the future, who are Israelites both naturally and spiritually. It is our privilege to stand in continuity with the root of our heritage of faith, Abraham and the patriarchs. God has thankfully enlarged His people to include Jews and Gentiles side by side as one people of God.
Israel Today: A Word of Caution for Christians
Regarding the current political situation, Christians may have good reasons for supporting the nation of Israel, desiring an end to Iran’s nuclear program, considering the state of Israel to be “America’s greatest ally,” and so on.
Equating the present-day state of Israel with the Israel of Scripture should not be one of them.
Senator Ted Cruz says he was taught in Sunday School that God will bless those bless Israel and curse those who curse them. He wants to be on the side of the blessings. So do we all but we must strive to grow beyond our childhood levels of understanding of the Word, especially when misguided notions of “Israel” could influence decisions leading to World War 3.