Sunday, February 22, 2009

Beloved for the fathers' sakes.

Romans 11:25-29 KJV

25For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in.
26 And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:
27 For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.
28 As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers' sakes.
29 For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.


Taking this passage in the light of the forgoing parable, the mystery of the natural and of the wild olive trees, there is a gap between the cutting out of the natural olive branches and their regrafting in. This period begins with the grafting in of the wild branches and ending with their subsequent cutting out. Remember that the olive tree is the symbol of testimony and that was born primarily by Israel until Messiah and since by the Church. The wild olive branches were cut out for unbelief, and the wild branches are warned to stand by faith or they also would be cut off for unbelief. This intimates the collapse of the Christian era as per 2 Thessalonians 2:3:
Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first*, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
*apostasia

Now, if the Church is true Israel, and God has forever finsihed with National Israel, the lowest Christian is as beloved for the fathers' sakes as the most devout Jew. But who, then, is beloved for the fathers' sakes? none other than those who as concerning the Gospel, are enemies for your sakes. And it is for the fathers' sakes that the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.