GRAFTED IN

GRAFTED IN

An interesting illustration is given to us in Romans 11, to help us know what God doing in the world today. Paul used the principle of tree grafting in the illustration. But Paul used it in a different sense than we are familiar with today. Our modern method is for the twigs to bear fruit after the variety from which they came.

In Paul’s discourse, the grafted twigs brought forth the same fruit as the stump.
· Rom 11:16 For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches.
· Rom 11:17 And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert grafted in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree;
· Rom 11:18 Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee.

Picture in your mind, if you can, a tree with a sturdy trunk growing out of the earth, and forking a foot or so above the ground, so that there are two main limbs or branchesof the tree. Beneath the fork, there are a few saplings sprouting from the trunk. All the other growth is above the fork.

One branch indicates the Nation of Judah (Judah and Benjamin), and the other branch indicates the Nation of Israel (the other ten tribes). The division became official during the reign of Rehoboam, son of Solomon, prompted by God’s displeasure with Solomon. The Lord would not take the Kingdom from Solomon in his lifetime, because of His Respect for Solomon’s father, David, the beloved of the Lord.

The Lord had given Solomon exceedingly great wisdom when the young man had been asked, in a dream, to make a request of what God should do for him. The young man chose Wisdom to Rule, and it pleased the Lord greatly. He gave him exceedingly great Wisdom, and resulted in a reign of prosperity and fame.

But it was too good to last. Solomon eventually lost the keen edge of his love for the Lord. As he did so, he also gained a corresponding love for the world around him. Pride of Accomplishment began to replace Wisdom and Prudence. He became one of the world’s biggest fools, and in the end greatly displeased the Lord by his actions.

· 1Ki 11:11 Wherefore the LORD said unto Solomon, Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant.

The Lord was not ready, yet, to destroy any of the Children of Israel (though He would be ready to do it at a later time). Instead, He arranged a division, and left only the tribe of Benjamin to stay with Judah (so that David would have light in his house). He refused to let the armies of Judah attempt to reunite the tribes, saying, “This thing is of Me.”

· 2Ki 8:19 Yet the LORD would not destroy Judah for David his servant's sake, as he promised him to give him always a light, and to his children.

Thus, the fork in the tree above the primary stump. That stump, by the way, can be called “The Faith of Abraham”. For ALL THAT GOD DID for the Children of Israel was anchored in the faithfulness of Abraham. Practically everything that God has done since Genesis 15 has been the result of the UNILATERAL COVENANT (PROMISE) made to Abraham after His obedience on Mount Moriah in “sacrificing” Isaac.

We are still reaping the benefits of the obedience of Abraham. The OBEDIENCE OF FAITH, that is.

The “Straw” that precipitated the division of the ten tribes from the House (Dynasty) of David was excessive taxes. When they rebelled, they perhaps thought they were rebelling only against the House of David, but in reality, they were beginning a time of “walking among the primroses”, and eventually becoming completely apostate. Worse, they were to lose all sense of who they were, and where they came from. They would even lose the name of Israel, and come to be known by other names.

· Isa 65:15 And ye shall leave your name for a curse unto my chosen: for the Lord GOD shall slay thee, and call his servants by another name:
· Hos 3:4 For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim: Hos 3:5 Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days

Now imagine, if you can, the tree with the fork in the trunk being suddenly cut off just below the fork, leaving only the saplings growing from the stump of the Faith of Abraham. (There were individuals who had come to know God in a manner similar to the experience of Abraham. David was in the group, as were others outside the scope of this study today).

Ten-tribed Israel went into Assyrian captivity in 721 BC. Because of the horrible sinfulness of their lives. Several nations were brought into their land to replace them as they were being taken out, and Israel was scattered among those countries. Thus, Israel had no country to return to if they had wanted to return at a future date.

Then Judah “played the harlot” and did worse than Israel had been doing when their captivity came.

· Jer 3:7 And I said after she had done all these things, Turn thou unto me. But she returned not. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it.
· Jer 3:8 And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also.
· Jer 3:9 And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks.
· Jer 3:10 And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the LORD.
· Jer 3:11 And the LORD said unto me, THE BACKSLIDING ISRAEL HATH JUSTIFIED HERSELF MORE THAN TREACHEROUS JUDAH.

Judah was taken into Babylonian captivity 115 years after Israel went into Assyrian captivity. Judah did return (42000 of them) after 70 years.

Before Judah went into captivity, there was a Prophet named Jeremiah who issued a “Call of The Spirit” to the people of Israel scattered among the Assyrian nations. They could not answer in the natural, for they probably did not even hear the call. It was given in the Spirit.

· JER 3:12 GO AND PROCLAIM THESE WORDS TOWARD THE NORTH, AND SAY, RETURN, THOU BACKSLIDING ISRAEL, SAITH THE LORD; AND I WILL NOT CAUSE MINE ANGER TO FALL UPON YOU: FOR I AM MERCIFUL, SAITH THE LORD, AND I WILL NOT KEEP ANGER FOREVER.

They had nothing to return to. Someone else now inhabited the land they had lived in, and they were settled in their new places of abode. They had been gone from their homeland for over a hundred years

However, a Call of The Spirit CANNOT BE IGNORED. When God makes a claim on a life, THAT LIFE WILL BE ALTERED by the Spirit of God. (Many of us can testify that the Hand of God was on us long before we yielded to His Spirit)

· Act 2:39 For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even AS MANY AS THE LORD OUR GOD SHALL CALL.

Thus, for about 600 years after Jeremiah had given the call, there were a vast number (from Josephus) of folks who had forgotten their family name, their ancestry and purpose in life. They moved from place to place, usually going in a Northerly direction (from grave markers), and thence Westerly into Northwest Europe. They became a dominant people wherever they went because the God of Abraham was causing His Spirit and Blessing to be on them.

Their “wanderings” continued until the time of Jesus Christ, and Calvary, and Pentecost. We deal with those aspects in our studies in the last chapters of Isaiah, so will only mention them here in passing. We will labor that in our file on Isaiah 54.

According to the account of the “grafting” (Rom 11), anyone who would become obedient to the Gospel of Jesus Christ would be grafted into the Stump of the Faith of Abraham and become a member of the Household of Faith (THE ISRAEL OF GOD), REGARDLESS OF THEIR ETHNIC BACKGROUND.

Each grafted twig or branch becomes a “Child of Abraham” and an heir of all the Promises made to him by the God of the Universe.

· Gal 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
· Gal 3:29 And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

This “new tree”, made up of branches grafted from all the families (Nations) of the earth is known as the “Household of Faith”, the “New Creature”, the “Israel of God”, as well as other titles such as THE CHURCH, THE KINGDOM OF GOD, THE NEW JERUSALEM, THE HOLY CITY.

Most Christians today are anxiously waiting for the Holy City, the New Jerusalem to descend from Heaven to the earth with an Aura of Glory. Fact is, it is ALREADY HERE in a form we fail to recognize. We look on the present condition of the Church, and conclude that it cannot be the Holy City because it is so contaminated by the flesh of mankind. We cannot, however, see it as God sees it. It is A WORK IN PROGRESS.

Like most building sites, it seems an unorganized mess, something that could never be straightened out. How will the Lord ever bring order out of the present chaos?

Not to worry, for our God is fully capable to do what, in His eyes, needs to be done. And HE INTENDS TO DO IT, in His Way and in His Time.

· Rev 21:25 And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.
· Rev 21:26 And they shall bring the glory and honor of the nations into it.
· Rev 21:27 And there SHALL IN NO WISE enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.

Our Churches today are “riddled” with carnality, deceit and fraud. So much so, that many folks are thoroughly discouraged and drop out of attendance and support. This is not a good course of action, for we need each other in our “good fight of faith”.

God is not finished with His Building yet.

· Heb 10:35 Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward.
· Heb 10:36 For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.
· Heb 10:37 For yet, a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.