The Olive Tree

IIT UBF - University Bible Fellowship at IIT

The Olive Tree

Date: Jun. 19, 2023

Passage

Romans 11:13-24 (ESV)

13 Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry 14 in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them. 15 For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead? 16 If the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, so is the whole lump, and if the root is holy, so are the branches.

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.

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Daily Bread

Key Verse: 11:20

That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear.

Paul, a Jew, was an apostle to the Gentiles, but he loved his Jewish people. He prayed that his Gentile ministry might make the Jews jealous enough to repent and return to God, like a dead branch coming to life after getting grafted to an olive shoot. The root of Israel is the Messiah (Isa 11:1). The olive tree is the people of God. When branches are connected to God and the Messiah, they are alive. When they are cut off from God, they are dead. Paul prayed for Israel to recover her life and mission.

Paul is writing to Gentile believers. He wants them to have a sense of history. They should not be arrogant; they should fear God. Israel was cut off because of pride and unbelief. Gentiles are included by God's grace because of their faith alone. They derive their nourishment from being attached to the root, by being a part of God's people and his history. If Israel repents and believes, she can again be grafted into God's history.

Prayer: Prayer: Lord, by grace you grafted me into Jesus and into your redemptive history. Help me to stand.

One Word: One Word: Stand by faith, connected to the root

The End of Northern Israel

2 Kings 17:1-23

Key Verse: 17:15

Today's Question

What does the tenth commandment require?

See answer and references