Question description

I was reading Romans 11 vs 22 - 24 and couldn't grasp Paul's illustration about the "Ingrafted Branches". This he used to describe the Israelites - supposedly the Jews - who did not believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of the Living God. I was lost in verse 24 where he described the separation of a natural branch from an olive tree and the integration of the separated natural branches into the olive tree. Could someone please explain this better with a simple example?

Thank you for your time and pardon my ignorance. 

Answer description

First of all, there are no bad questions. And ignorance is nothing more than an opportunity to learn. So no worries and no apologies needed. The answer to your question lies in the verses preceding the passage you speak of. So starting in verse 11 of Romans chapter 11 we read Paul describing the nation of Isreal as a tree and God (Jesus) being the life (root) of the tree. In verse 16 Paul says that if the root is holy then the branches will be holy also. Then Paul describes himself as the apostle to the Gentiles (non-Jews). He says in verse 14 that he hopes to make some Jews jealous of this so that they will turn to Christ as the Gentiles have been doing, But then he goes on to describe how branches will be broken off from the tree. These would be unbelieving Jews, who do not accept the life (salvation) the root offers them. At that point, God can then graft onto the tree new branches.

To graft means to attach a foreign branch to an already living tree, so that it can begin receiving the life that comes from the roots. In this case, the "ingrafted branches" would be Gentile believers who take the place of the tree of unbelieving Jews, branches that have been broken off. God prophesied this action in (Jeremiah 5:10) & (Jeremiah 11:16-17). Then in the verse immediately following the passage you refer to (verse 24), Paul makes a tender plea to Jews to become natural branches that can be grafted into their tree.

So the entire passage is a plea to Jews to come to Christ as the Gentiles have been doing. For the Jews are God's people and He longs for them to be saved. I, as a Gentile, am honored to be one of the branches that has been grafted into the Tree of Life. But we all should be praying, along with Paul, that many natural branches (Jews) will come to salvation in Christ so they may be grafted in beside us.

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