The Mystery of the Olive Tree
THE epistle to the Romans divides naturally into three parts. chapters 1 to 8 are doctrinal, setting forth the gospel of the grace of God in its Fullness. chapters 9 to 11 are dispensational, having to do with Israel’s past, present, and future. chapters 12 to 16 are practical, giving the results that should flow from the knowledge of the other two portions.
To the second part we turn. And first, what is a dispensation? Even so great a preacher as the late esteemed C. H. Spurgeon said, when criticizing the writings of another, “Sufficiently taken up with... dispensational truth, whatever that may mean.” Many another would be as confused as he, though perhaps not all so ready to own it, when the term is used. And yet it is eminently scriptural. The word “dispensation” occurs four times in our English version of the epistles of Paul, and a careful consideration of the instances in which it is found will make dear its meaning.
Three times he speaks of the dispensation committed to him (1 Cor. 9:1717For if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward: but if against my will, a dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me. (1 Corinthians 9:17); Eph. 3:22If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: (Ephesians 3:2); Col. 1:2525Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God; (Colossians 1:25)). As the servant of God he had received instruction concerning the message for the present age, which he shows us clearly was a double one, embracing the truth of the gospel and the Church, or Assembly. Once he uses the word in reference to the age to come, when he states that in “the dispensation of the fulness of times” all things in heaven and on earth are to be headed up in Christ (Eph. 1:1010That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: (Ephesians 1:10)). Manifestly, as Hebrews 2 declares, such is not yet the case. Hence we have here at least two dispensations clearly marked off; and from these we may get a clue to the understanding of the term so objectionable to the great evangelist referred to. Dispensational truth is distinguishing the teaching of Scripture as to the various dispensations, stewardships, or administrations, in which man has been or shall be placed. For this is what is meant by a dispensation. It is a particular order, or administration, for a particular time.
Augustine wrote, “Distinguish the ages, and the Scriptures are plain.” For lack of this, they are to many a mass of confusion, which exists, not in them, but only in the mind of the reader.
It should be evident to the most cursory student that God’s administration and man’s stewardship have not always been of the same nature. The order prevailing in the garden of Eden was as different from that outside, prior to the flood, as that of the postdiluvian from the antediluvian period. Here, then, are three dispensations. The first is that of innocence. Man, without the knowledge of evil, was placed in an abode of delight. His dispensation was a most happy one till he ended it by his own sin.
From the Edenic exile to the flood was a long stretch of nearly sixteen centuries, if we follow the received chronology. It was a period when man had no Bible, neither the restraint of organized government. He had as a guide what men call the light of nature, coupled with the light of conscience. But it ended in corruption and violence so prevailing that God swept away the iniquitous mass with the deluge. It was preeminently a stewardship of conscience; but the steward failed most miserably.
A new administration began when human government was established by God, and magisterial power and authority committed to Noah. Here a striking instance of the importance of dispensational truth comes out. In the stewardship before the flood Cain slew his brother: and, as government was not yet entrusted to man, God set a mark upon the murderer, lest any finding him should kill him. After the flood the decree was given, “Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed.” Dispensationally, both were in their place.
For the heathen world there has been no advance in the dispensations since the days of Noah, as is clear from Romans 2:1212For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law; (Romans 2:12). But upon the decline into universal idolatry that soon followed the reestablishment of man on the earth, God called out one man, Abram, from beyond the Euphrates, where his fathers served other gods, and committed to him a new and glorious dispensation—that of the promise of the Seed. In the light of this the patriarchs walked, according to their measure, until declension caused the bondage in Egypt.
Through Moses, then, another dispensation was introduced—that of the law; which lasted from the covenant ratified at Sinai to the rejection of the Son of God—the Seed, whose coming had been long foretold.
This opened the way for the present stewardship of the gospel and the assembly, given more fully to Paul than to any other; which at once raises the question, What of Israel’s hope?
The dispensational portion of the epistle to the Romans is the succinct and perspicuous answer to the query.
In chapter 9 it is shown that to Israel were the promises made. Messiah was to come through them, and He was to be their Deliverer and their King. But having rejected Him, are the people of the chosen nation all to be cut off? chapter 10 supplies the answer. At this present time there remains an election of grace. All who trust in the One whom the nation abhors find in Him a Saviour even now. But this involves breaking their link with the nation as such, and becoming a part of the Church, the body of Christ, of which a later chapter will treat.
What, then, becomes of the promises as to Israel’s earthly power and dominion? Are they ever to be fulfilled? and if so, how is the present anomalous condition of the chosen people during the stewardship of grace to be accounted for? This is taken up fully, yet simply, in the instruction as to the mystery of the olive tree in chapter 11.
The olive is the tree of privilege. Abraham is the root, for the word ran, “I will bless thee, and... thou shalt be a blessing... and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed” (Gen. 12:1-31Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee: 2And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 3And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. (Genesis 12:1‑3)). The people of Israel therefore are the natural branches. The Gentiles are, as branches of a wild olive tree, grafted contrary to nature into the good olive tree. To them the apostle addresses a solemn admonition and warning: “For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office: if by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh, and might save some of them” (vers. 13:14). That is, he delighted to see grace going out to the nations, and hoped that thereby his own kindred might be stirred up to a holy jealousy and determination to enjoy for themselves the precious grace of God, offered first to them, but so wantonly rejected.
“For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?” (ver. 15.) According to the prophets, the whole world is to be brought into blessing through the blessing of Israel, in the latter day, under Messiah’s rule. If even now, ere the prophetic word is fulfilled, grace has gone out to the nations while the people of the promise are outcast because of their sin, who can estimate the abundant favor that shall come upon all the world when the long-promised restoration has at last become a fact?
The rejection of Messiah has caused God—not to cancel His promises made to the fathers of the Hebrews, but—to bring to light hidden purposes, hitherto unrevealed, of grace for the Gentiles during a period of undefined duration, while the covenant-people are in part blinded. This the apostle goes on to unfold, declaring that God has not forgotten His pledge to Israel, but that their present fall is the means of bringing hitherto undreamed-of blessing to the nations; while His ancient people are still dear to His heart, though disowned for the time being. The Gentiles are like wild olive branches grafted into a good tree, in place of the natural branches, who, because of unbelief, have been lopped off (vers. 16, 17). This is clearly contrary to nature.
One hardly knows whether to pity the ignorance or be indignant at the presumption of a recent critic who coolly states that Paul evidently knew very little about grafting, to write of the introduction of wild branches into a good tree. The self-confident judge of divine things had not noticed that the learned and observant apostle distinctly states that such a course of procedure was “contrary to-nature”; and on this very expression he builds an argument, and by it strengthens an appeal.
I quote from verse 18. To the Gentiles thus brought into such signal favor he writes: “Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in. Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not high-minded, but fear: for if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest He also spare not thee. Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in His goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off. And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graffed in: for God is able to graff them in again. For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert graffed contrary to nature into a good olive tree; how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be graffed into their own olive tree?” (vers. 18-24).
The argument is clear and consistent throughout. Israel are now rejected because of unbelief. Meantime, super-abounding mercy flows out to the Gentiles. God is taking out from them a people for His name (Acts 15:1414Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name. (Acts 15:14)). But if the Gentiles abuse His grace, as Israel did before them, they shall be, in their turn, rejected; whereas, if the children of the promise be brought to repentance, they shall once more be taken up and blessed according to the promises made throughout the writings of the prophets. Therefore he solemnly avers, “For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye be wise in your own conceits, that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the Fullness of the Gentiles be come in” (vs. 25). There is a limit to the present dispensation of grace. When that is reached, the Fullness of the nations will have arrived, and God will again turn His hand upon His ancient people. “And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: for this is My covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins” (vers. 26, 27).
Note carefully: it is not the Redeemer acting from heaven, as now: it is the Deliverer coming out of Sion; that is, appearing the second time at Jerusalem as the Messiah of Israel, when “they shall look upon Me whom they have pierced, and shall mourn for Him as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for Him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn” (Zech. 12:1010And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. (Zechariah 12:10)).
This leads to an outburst of praise on the part of the apostle that must stir every heart in touch with the mind of God. With this the chapter ends. It is a wonderful unfolding of God’s ways, of which, alas, but few seem to catch the drift. Not heeding the warning, the Gentiles, as a result, are lifted up with pride; and, in place of humility and the fear of the Lord, are indulging in Laodicean boasting, as though the end of the dispensation were afar off, instead of being well-nigh upon us.
Failing to distinguish between the earthly and the heavenly callings, present-day Christianity has become a sad and wonderful mixture of Judaism, heathenism, and Christianity. The Church’s portion and hope are both lost sight of, and Jewish expectations cherished in their stead.
The mystery of the olive tree, if understood and taken to heart, would be a great corrective to all this, and would be the means of leading the people of God to distinguish clearly between the two callings. Surely it behooves every true believer to turn away from the vain speculations of unspiritual or blind guides, and to search the Scriptures to see whether these things are so. We are exhorted to walk worthy of our calling, and we can only do so as we understand what that calling is.