"Lo-ammi" condition, while a new dispensation was introduced. But though all this is

true, it was not revealed in Rom. 11:

When the Apostle in Rom. 11: speaks of the regrafting of the natural branches he is

referring to the restoration of Israel as a nation (see Jer. 31: 36), and it is not possible

that the olive tree should represent any other nation, or any church to-day.

If the olive tree survived the crisis of Acts 28:, where is it? It cannot be the

scattered nation of Israel, for they are manifestly Lo-ammi. It cannot be any of the

denominations of Christendom, for if this were true it would follow that the denomination

concerned would eventually receive back the broken-off branches of Israel, and resolve

itself into the restored nation of Israel--which is manifestly impossible, for the restored

nation of Israel will be made up of the very nation that is now scattered. If we will but

distinguish between the doctrinal position of Rom. 1:-8:, that has no reference to the

olive tree, and the dispensational position of Rom. 9:-11:, we shall see that it is quite in

harmony with the teaching of Scripture, for justification by faith to be enjoyed,

independently of the position of Israel as a nation. The fact that the "believing" branches

are called "firstfruits" no more argues for the unbroken perpetuation of the olive tree up

to the present time, than the fact that Christ is said to be the "firstfruits of them that slept"

proves that, ever since, in unbroken sequence, they that have fallen asleep in Christ have

passed straight into glory. The firstfruits were the pledge of a future harvest, and in the

type, the harvest naturally followed without a break. In the antitype, however, the harvest

is the end of the age, and the interval between the first Pentecost and the present moment

is nineteen hundred years.

A very real difficulty that some feel in connection with this passage is the fate of the

believing section. If the whole tree is cut down by the roots at the end of the Acts, then

believer and unbeliever are treated alike. Yet the believing remnant constitute a firstfruit,

and are holy. We must be very certain of all our terms here. If the olive tree represents

the nation and its national standing, then whatever the problem may be, it is clear that, as

Israel as a nation before God does not exist, the olive tree has been cut down. The

believing branches, therefore, must have some other ground of blessing. If we change the

figure from the olive tree to that of a divorced wife, as in Jeremiah (Jer. 3: 1 & 11: 16),

we may perhaps see more clearly that the believing remnant lost nothing when the

national position of Israel was altered at Acts 28:  Israel as a restored nation is

represented as a divorced wife received back by the Lord (Jer. 3: 1), but the believing

remnant is spoken of as the "Bride of the Lamb". The "divorced wife" is restored to the

land, but the "bride" is associated with the heavenly Jerusalem. There is, therefore, a

great difference between the destinies of the believing and the unbelieving branches. In

some cases the change was even greater. Paul himself lost his national association with

Israel when the nation was set aside, but he entered into a sphere of blessing so great as to

enable him to count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ.

Others would find their sphere of blessing set forth in John 14:-17:, and learn that

though they were no longer branches in the olive tree of Israel, they were branches in

Christ as the True Vine, and so had lost nothing. If we recognize the dispensational

standing may change to our advantage, as it manifestly did in the case of Timothy, Luke