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Today's Pathway: Romans 11:16-19 For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches. And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree; Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in.

In chapter 11 Paul has been giving evidence to prove that God is not done with Israel. He started with his own testimony of salvation, then quoted the Old Testament prophets, then discussed the conversion of the Gentiles. Now he uses the Patriarchs as proof. The principle here is this: if what came first is holy (the Patriarchs), then that which comes afterward (Israel) is also holy. John Walvoord did an excellent job of expounding on this verse, so I will give you his explanation.

"Paul was convinced that Israel’s stumbling is temporary rather than permanent and that the nation will be restored as God’s people. With two illustrations Paul showed why he believed this. His first illustration was taken from God’s instructions to Israel to take “a cake from the first of [their] ground meal and present it as an offering” (Num 15:20) after they entered the land of Canaan and reaped their first wheat harvest. This offering was to be repeated each year at their harvests. The cake made from the first ground meal of the wheat harvest was sanctified or made holy by being offered to God... Paul’s second illustration was that of a tree: If the root is holy, so are the branches. In both illustrations the principle is the same: what is considered first contributes its character to what is related to it. With a tree, the root obviously comes first and contributes the nature of that type of tree to the branches that come later. With the cake presented to the Lord, the flour for the cake is taken from the ground meal, but that cake is formed and baked first and presented as a firstfruit. Since it is set apart to the Lord first, it sanctifies the whole harvest. The firstfruits and the root represent the patriarchs of Israel or Abraham personally, and the lump and the branches represent the people of Israel. As a result Israel is set apart ("holy") to God, and her 'stumbling' (rejection of Christ) must therefore be temporary."

Verses 17-19 expand on the illustration of the tree. The "olive tree" is the special relationship with God that was first enjoyed by the Jews, who were the "natural branches". They were the natural branches because God's covenant was made with Abraham, the father of the Jewish nation. However, some of those branches were "broken off" because of their unbelief. Note that not all of the natural branches were broken off. As we have seen previously, even though Israel as a nation has rebelled against God, there has always been a remnant that chose to believe and obey. The wild branches are Gentiles who, because of the unbelief of Israel, now have been "grafted into" that special relationship. The root of the tree is the Abrahamic covenant that promised blessing to both Jew and Gentile through Christ. Jeremiah 11:16-17 uses the same picture:

"The LORD called thy name, A green olive tree, fair, and of goodly fruit: with the noise of a great tumult he hath kindled fire upon it, and the branches of it are broken. For the LORD of hosts, that planted thee, hath pronounced evil against thee, for the evil of the house of Israel"

In verse 18 Paul tells the engrafted Gentiles not to exalt themselves over the Jews. He reminds them that the root is Israel. The branches do not support the root, but the root supports the branches. Were it not for the promises made in the Abrahamic Covenant, there would be no blessings of salvation available to the Gentiles, so they should not look down on Israel. According to verse 19, rather than boast, the Gentiles ought to be thankful that they were able to be grafted in. God used Israel's unbelief to open the door so that the Gentile world could receive the blessings promised to Abraham, which come only through faith in Jesus Christ.