ROMANS 11:19

“You will say then, ‘Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.’”

Isn’t it amazing that one event can be interpreted so differently by people? They each see it from their own perspective and make their own assumptions. If you came upon a car crash, you might assume certain things about the drivers. Was one under the influence? Was one on their phone? Unless you know all the facts, your opinion of any incident is just that – your opinion. Misunderstandings happen due to lack of knowledge.

Paul brings up a misunderstanding that may have existed among the Gentile believers. We’ll see this discussed over the next few verses. As I mentioned yesterday, some Gentiles were claiming superiority over the Jews since God had given them this message of salvation after His rejection of the Jews who had refused His Son. Remember, these Gentiles didn’t have the knowledge of the Scriptures that showed God’s plan was to use the Jewish nation to reach the world. They were only seeing the current situation. Context is always important.

APPLICATION

The Topical Lexicon says, “Paul addresses Gentile believers tempted to view Jewish unbelief as proof that God had shifted His favor permanently. To correct this arrogance, he recalls that unfaithful Israelite branches ‘were broken off’ (Romans 11:17, 19, 20) so that Gentiles might be grafted in by faith. The verb occurs only in this paragraph, underscoring the deliberate and solemn nature of the divine action.” The practice of breaking off unproductive branches of an olive tree to make room for more productive ones was one the people could understand. They may have even done this to their own olive trees. The tree was still there along with the other branches.

The breaking off of these branches Paul is referring to has a specific purpose. You really need to see this. Pruning or breaking off these branches had a missionary purpose. Remember back in Romans 11:11 Paul said it was to make Israel jealous and desire to return to the Lord. That is still true today. Israel still has a role to play in our eschatological future.

Let me ask you something about your spiritual life. Do you have unproductive branches that are sucking life from you? We engage in so many things that really have no spiritual purpose. Those can literally cause your more productive branches to wither. You may need to prune back your rec time for more prayer time. You might need to give up something else to spend more time in the Word. Prune your own life to make room for more production spiritually.

Father, give me wisdom to know what to prune in order to produce more for You.

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