“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.” Romans 11:18
August 11, 2025
Not many have seen an olive tree. But travel to Israel and you will be introduced to them on the Mount of Olives. The apostle Paul knew his Old Testament and understood the emblematic value of Israel as an olive tree (Jer. 11:16; Hos. 14:6). Six vital truths are taken from the olive tree as representing the Abrahamic Covenant (see the August 6 posting of the MM). (3) The olive tree exhorts the church to refrain from a boastful attitude toward Israel. The natural branches broken off (unbelieving Israel) are not to be the occasion for prejudice against the Jews. Sadly, church history does not leave a good record in this regard. (4) The olive tree warns the professing Gentile Christian world that it can be removed from the place of blessing (11:18,19; 1 Tim. 4:1-3; 2 Pet. 2:1-22; Rev. 17:3-18). The warnings to the seven churches in Revelation 2-3 are sobering. The church in North Africa suffered loss under the sword of Islam. Consider the church in Italy (not a pretty story), even the church of the Reformation in Europe, a graveyard of what-might-have-been churches. That Gentile believers have been grafted into the place of blessing alongside of believing Jews is a picture of God’s grace.
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“O God of grace and mercy, keep me from pride and self-sufficiency lest the sin of unbelieving Israel.”