kingdom is established and that King is reigning, then world-wide blessing will result. So it was that the Saviour,

Who so often was moved with compassion as He contemplated fallen and suffering man, `answered her not a word'.

His reply to the disciples' request reveals the reason of this strange silence, `I am not sent but unto the lost sheep

of the house of Israel'. These words, to weak faith, would have sounded as the death-knell of hope. The woman

however penetrated the reply, and learned its lesson. As Son of David He could do nothing for her; she must

therefore drop that title and approach Him simply as Lord; she had no right in Him as Son of David such as Israel

had. `Then came she and worshipped Him, saying, Lord help me'. This request draws from the Lord a personal

answer, but what will He say? Will he grant her request? `He answered and said, It is not meet to take the

children's bread, and to cast it to kunaria` (little dogs). At first sight this answer seems as forbidding as the former

one. Israel were the lost sheep, what had He, their shepherd, to do with dogs? Israel were the children of the house;

surely it was not right to take the children's bread and cast it to the dogs?

The faith of this woman enabled her to believe that what He spoke to her was absolute truth, and she seized upon

the word He had used for dogs. As the reader will know, the dog is a term of reproach throughout the east, and is a

symbol of all that is depraved, forsaken, and cast out, e.g., `without are dogs'. The Lord in His reply said `little

dogs', or, as we say, puppies. The rule regarding the dog has an exception in the case of the little puppy; children in

the east, like children in the west, like to pet and fondle the little puppies, and for a short time they are allowed

inside the house. `Truth, Lord', replies the woman, `yet the puppies eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters'

table'. She knew that the exclusiveness of the Lord's ministry to Israel was not for any mean or narrow reason; a

saved Israel will be saved not for their own sake, but that all the families of the earth may be blessed in them.

The twofold aspect of this phase of God's dealings is emphasized in Romans 15:8,9, `Now I say that Jesus Christ

was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers' - this is an

exclusive ministry to Israel with reference to promises made in the past -'and that the Gentiles might glorify God

for His mercy' - this follows as the designed sequence. So it was that the woman sought the crumbs. She gave

Israel their rightful place; they were the Masters (the very same word twice rendered `Lord'). She was but a little

dog; they sat at the table and she could only expect the crumbs. As soon as this was recognized, blessing came.

How vital to this woman's case was a correct appreciation of dispensational truth! How many today are

perplexed because the Lord answers not a word, simply because they are asking amiss! The miracle clearly shows

us what was the relationship between Israel and the nations at the time of the Lord's earthly ministry. In Romans 11

the figure changes to that of wild olive branches grafted into the true olive. In Ephesians 2 it further changes to the

creation of one new man. Which shall we believe, the Scriptures, or those who speak against `dispensational' truth?

The second miracle has also a dispensational character. Here is a symbol of Israel as a nation, the fig tree. The

fig, the vine, and the olive represent Israel in various capacities:

`And when He saw one single fig tree by the way, He came to it, and found nothing thereon, but LEAVES ONLY,

and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforth for ever, and immediately the fig tree was withered'

(Author's translation).

In the prophecy of Luke the Lord separates the fig tree from all others -'Behold the fig tree, and all the trees'

(Luke 21:29-31). The sign of the Lord's return is found in the budding of the nation, and all the nations; a day is

coming when `Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the earth with fruit' (Isa. 27:6). At the time, however, when the

miracle was performed, the Lord found `leaves only'. The crowd had spread their garments in the road, had cut

down branches from the trees and scattered them on the road; they had shouted saying, `Hosanna to the Son of

David'; but it was `leaves only' . The same crowd within a few days were prevailed upon to cry, `Away with Him,

crucify Him'. The Lord had foretold this in Matthew 13:5,6 :

`Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no

deepness of earth: and when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered

away'.

The Hosannas were leaves only; fruit depends upon root. The scorching sun indicates persecution: