Romans 11.17-Gentile Christians Have Been United With Jewish Christians As Joint-Partakers Of The Blessings Of The Abrahamic Covenant
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Thursday July 16, 2009
Romans: Romans 11:17-Gentile Christians Have Been United With Jewish Christians As Joint-Partakers Of The Divine Blessings Of The Abrahamic Covenant
Lesson # 369
Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 11:16.
The last two evenings we studied Romans 11:16 and in this passage Paul uses two metaphors to illustrate his assertion in Romans 11:2-6 that God has by no means rejected Israel forever and his assertion in Romans 11:11-15 that there will be a future national regeneration of Israel.
In the first metaphor that appears in Romans 11:16, the first piece of dough is analogous to the patriarchs and in particular Abraham and the lump is analogous to the biological descendants of Abraham through Sarah who like them had faith in the Lord.
In the second metaphor, the root parallels the first piece of dough in the first metaphor and is thus analogous to the patriarchs and in particular Abraham and the branches parallel the lump in the first metaphor and is thus analogous to the biological descendants of Abraham through Sarah who like them had faith in the Lord.
This evening we will study Romans 11:17 and in this passage Paul teaches his Gentile Christians readers that they have been united with Jewish Christians as joint-partakers of the divine blessings and promises of the Abrahamic covenant.
Romans 11:16, “If the first piece of dough is holy, the lump is also; and if the root is holy, the branches are too.”
Romans 11:17, “But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them and became partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree.”
This passage presents a contrast between the saved biological descendants of Abraham (“the branches”) who are holy because they like Abraham had faith in the Lord and those biological descendants of his who rejected Christ as Savior.
“If” is the conditional particle ei (ei)) (i), which introduces a protasis of a first class condition that indicates the assumption of truth for the sake of argument.
Here the protasis is “if and let assume that it is true for the sake argument some branches were broken off (unsaved Israelites) and you (Gentile Christians), being a wild olive tree were grafted in among them (saved Jews) and became partaker with them (saved Israel) of the rich root (Abraham) of the olive tree (Israel).”
The responsive condition would say: “Of course we agree that this is an historical fact.”
Paul’s readers would agree that some branches were broken off because it was a historical fact the majority of Jews rejected Jesus Christ.
His readers would also agree that they have been grafted in among Jewish Christians and had become partakers with them of the promises to Abraham who is the progenitor of the nation of Israel because he taught in Romans 4:16 that Abraham is the spiritual father of their faith.
The apodasis appears in Romans 11:18, “(then) do not be arrogant towards the branches.”
“Some of the branches were broken off” refers to unregenerate Jews or in other words, those individuals who are biological descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and thus members of the nation of Israel who are unsaved.
This is indicated by Paul’s statement in Romans 11:20 in which he says that “they (branches) were broken off for the unbelief.”
“The branches” refers to the biological descendants of Abraham through Sarah who like these two had faith in the Lord since this word parallels “the lump,” which we have already established refers to saved Jews.
Paul’s statements in Romans 11:17-24 indicate that these “branches” are a figure for Jews who like Abraham had faith in the Lord.
Romans 11:17-24, “But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them and became partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree, do not be arrogant toward the branches; but if you are arrogant, remember that it is not you who supports the root, but the root supports you. You will say then, ‘Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.’ Quite right, they were broken off for their unbelief, but you stand by your faith. Do not be conceited, but fear; for if God did not spare the natural branches, He will not spare you, either. Behold then the kindness and severity of God; to those who fell, severity, but to you, God's kindness, if you continue in His kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off. And they also, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these who are the natural branches be grafted into their own olive tree?”
In this passage, “the branches” (klados) refer to the biological descendants of Abraham who like Abraham had faith in the Lord.
This is indicated in that they are on the olive tree in contrast to the “branches broken off” in Romans 11:17, which refers to the unsaved biological descendants of Abraham.
That the phrase “branches broken off” refers to unsaved Israel is indicated by the statement in Romans 11:20 “they were broken off for their unbelief.”
In Romans 11:17-24, “the branches” are connected to an “olive tree,” which in the Old Testament was a figure for the nation of Israel (See Jeremiah 11:16-17; Hosea 14:4-6).
Thus, “the branches” of the “olive tree” is a reference to born-again Jews since the latter is used in Jeremiah 11:16-17 and Hosea 14:4-6 as a figure for Israel and unbelieving Jews are broken off the olive tree and those branches on the olive tree are there by faith in the Lord.
Now we know that the Jews originated from Abraham and that branches originate from the root of a tree.
Therefore, “the branches” are analogous to born-again Jews since they come from “the root,” which refers to Abraham and a branch originates from a root and the Jews originate from Abraham and by their faith they are on the olive tree .
Romans 11:17, “But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them and became partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree.”
“A wild olive” is the noun agrielaios (a)grievlaio$) (ag-ree-el-ah-yos), which is used in a metaphorical sense for the Gentiles in contrast to the “olive tree,” which in the Old Testament was used metaphorically of Israel (Jeremiah 11:16-17; Hosea 14:4-6).
“Were grafted in” is the verb enkentrizo (e)gkentrivzw) (eng-ken-trid-zo), which is used in a metaphorical sense of Paul’s Gentile Christian readers being united with Jewish Christians.
Now the usual procedure was to insert a shoot or slip of a cultivated tree into a wild one.
However, in Romans 11:24 Paul makes clear that the metaphor he is using is “contrary to nature” of grafting a wild olive branch (a Gentile) into a cultivated olive tree.
Such a procedure was unnatural and would be unfruitful, which is precisely Paul’s point with his Gentile Christian readers.
He wishes to underscore the miraculous nature of their new relationship with God and other Jewish Christians.
So a procedure of grafting a wild olive onto a good olive was not the normal process, which is why Paul reverses the normal procedure in order to humble those Gentile Christians who might become arrogant towards Jewish Christians and unsaved Jews.
“Among them” refers to Jewish Christians since Paul is reminding his Gentile Christian readers that they were grafted onto the olive tree with the other branches, who are Jewish Christians since they are in contrast to those branches, which were broken off because of their unbelief.
Now, Paul is not saying in Romans 11:17-24 that saved Gentiles are members of the nation of Israel.
Rather, he is attempting to illustrate how Gentile Christians are related to Jewish Christians through Abraham, the progenitor of the Jews and all believers so as to produce unity in the churches between both groups and to prevent anti-Jewish sentiment creeping in among the Gentile believers.
“Partaker” is the noun sunkoinonos (sugkoinwnov$) (soong-koy-no-nos), which denotes that the Gentile Christians are “joint-partakers” with Jewish Christians of the divine blessings that God promised Abraham and his spiritual descendants (See Ephesians 3:1-7; Galatians 3).
“The rich root” is the articular genitive feminine singular form of the noun rhiza (r(ivza) (hrid-zah), “the root” and the articular genitive feminine singular form of the noun piotes (piovth$) (pee-ot-ace), “rich.”
The noun rhiza as we noted in our study of Romans 11:16 refers to Abraham and the noun piotes refers to the state of oiliness and denotes the oil produced by the root and functions as a genitive of product meaning that the root produces the olive tree’s abundant sap that extends to the branches of the tree and their leaves.
Paul is saying then that the Gentile Christians are joint-participants of the root, i.e. Abraham, which produces the olive tree’s abundant oil, which is analogous to the abundant blessings of the Abrahamic covenant.
“The olive tree” is used in a figurative sense for the nation of Israel since it was used this way in the Old Testament (See Jeremiah 11:16-17; Hosea 14:4-6).
Therefore, Romans 11:17 is a protasis of a first class condition indicating the assumption of truth for the sake of argument and contains an olive tree metaphor to remind Gentile Christians that they have been united to Jewish Christians as joint-partakers of the divine blessings given to Abraham and his spiritual descendants.