Gentiles and the Olive Tree By Kathleen Marion Paul speaks of being grafted into Israel's Olive tree.

But what exactly are the roots of this Olive Tree? Does the Olive Tree represent everything Jewish, including culture, traditions, and theological issues? To answer this question properly, we must see what the Bible says concerning what G-d actually gave the Jews. It is these same privileges that we are grafted into. Romans 9:3-5 says concerning the Jewish people: 1. Theirs is the adoption as sons: Through Yeshua Gentiles receive the privilege of being called sons and daughters of G-d. "To all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of G-d." John 1:12 2. Theirs the divine glory: Gentiles can become partakers of the Spirit of G-d and be filled with His divine glory: "Don't you know that your body is a temple for the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) who lives inside you, whom you received from G-d?" 1 Corinthians 6:19 (JNT) 3. The covenants a) The Abrahamic covenant: G-d promised the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob an everlasting home in the land of Israel. The day will come when those righteous Gentiles who truly love Zion and her people, will be given a share in the land. "You are to consider the (the foreigner) as native born Israelites; along with you they are to be allotted an inheritance among the tribes of Israel." Ezekiel 47:22,23 "Let no foreigner who has bound himself to the L-rd say, The L-rd will surely exclude me from his people.' "And foreigners who bind themselves to the L-rd to serve him, to love the name of the L-rd, and to worship him, all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it and who hold fast to my covenant - these I will bring to my holy mountain...." Isaiah 56:3; 6-8 b) The Mosaic covenant: G-d gave Israel His laws, the Torah (instruction) to set them apart and above the ways of other nations. The Torah is G-d's blueprint for holy (set apart) living. G-d said to the children of Israel that if they kept His instructions, the nation would be blessed and free from curse and disease. Failure to keep them, however, would result in curse: "If you fully obey the L-rd your G-d and carefully follow all his commands that I give you today, the L-rd your G-d will set you high above all the nations on the earth." "However, if you do not obey the L-rd your G-d and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you..." Deuteronomy 28: 1,2 & 15 c) The Davidic covenant: G-d promised David that through him the Eternal Throne of Messiah would be established and that this throne would never come to an end. Gentiles also can become partakers of the Messianic Kingdom and reign with Yeshua for ever and ever. "Your house and your kingdom shall endure forever before me; your throne shall be established forever." 1 Chronicles 17:14 "Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing it and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever." Isaiah 9:7 "I will maintain my love to him forever, and my covenant with him will never fail. I will establish his line forever, his throne as long as the heavens endure... Once for all, I have sworn by my holiness - and I will not lie to David - that his line will continue for ever and his throne endures before like the sun." Psalm 89: 28,29; 35,36

"Blessed and holy is anyone who has part in the first resurrection; over him the second death has no power. On the contrary, they will be cohanim (priests) of G-d and of the Messiah, and they will rule with him for the thousand years." Revelation 20:6 d) The New Covenant/ the B'rit Chadasha: Through Yeshua, the Messiah of Israel, Gentiles can come into personal relationship with G-d and find refuge under his wings. By the Spirit of G-d, the Torah is written on all our hearts. This New Covenant was firstly prophesied by Jeremiah and primarily concerned the Jewish people. When the Spirit of Gd was given at Pentecost 2000 years ago, the Jewish believers preached the good news of the New Covenant to the Gentiles also and they too came to believe in Yeshua the Messiah. "The time is coming," declares the L-rd, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah."; "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts." Jeremiah 31:31-34. "'I have made you a light to the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.' When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honoured the word of the L-rd; and all who were appointed for eternal life believed." Acts 13:47,48 "When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised G-d, saying, So then, G-d has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life." Acts 11:18 "Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words." Exodus 24:8 "He (Yeshua) did the same with the cup after the meal, saying, "This cup is the New Covenant, ratified by my blood, which is being poured out for you." Luke 22:20. The blood which Moses sprinkled signified the forgiveness of sin and the giving of the Torah at Sinai on tablets of stone. The blood which Yeshua shed atoned for sin once and for all and enabled us to receive the Torah in our hearts. 4. The receiving of the law: It was to Israel that G-d gave His Torah. Through the Jews' preservation of it, the entire world has benefited from G-d's standard of living. The Torah, correctly translated as instruction', is given for our protection and preservation. It is our instruction for righteous living and our protection from spiritual, mental and bodily harm. G-d's Torah is everlasting. To say that the law is done away with, is a false testimony (see Acts 6:13,14). "But his delight is in the law of the L-rd, and on his law he meditates day and night." Psalm 1:2 "I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished." Matthew 5:18 "If anyone turns a deaf ear to the law, even his prayers are detestable." Proverbs 28:9 "The community is to have the same rules for you and for the alien (Gentile) living among you; this is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. You and the alien shall be the same before the L-RD: the same laws and regulation will apply both to you ant to the alien living among you." Numbers 15:15,16 "These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the door-frames of your houses and on your gates." Deuteronomy 6:6 "...because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth." Romans 2:20b

"Do we then nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law." Romans 3:31 "...for sin is the transgression of the law." 1John 3:4 (KJV) All Psalm 119 5. The temple worship: G-d taught Israel how to worship. He didn't want his people to worship as other nations worshipped their gods and so he established a dwelling place for his glory - the Temple. Temple worship has not ended. Although the Temple of stone was destroyed by the Romans, those who love the L-rd are the temple' of His Spirit, the dwelling place of His Shechinah glory. We cannot worship G-d in any way we like, or in a way designed to stimulate our own feelings. We are to worship G-d in Spirit and in Truth; as a holy, set-apart people. "So then, you are no longer foreigners and strangers. On the contrary, you are fellowcitizens with G-d's people and members of G-d's family. You have built on the foundation of the emissaries and the prophets, with the cornerstone being Yeshua the Messiah himself. In union with him the whole building is held together, and it is growing into a holy temple in union with the L-rd. Yes, in union with him, you yourselves are being built together into a spiritual dwelling-place for G-d." Ephesians 2:19-22 (JNT) "Do you not know that you yourselves are G-d's temple and that G-d's Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys G-d's temple, G-d will destroy him; for G-d's temple is sacred, and you are that temple." 1Corinthians 3:16,17 "For we are the temple of the living G-d. As G-d has said, I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their G-d and they will be my people. Therefore, come out from them and be separate,' says the L-rd. Touch no unclean thing and I will receive you..." 2 Corinthians 6:16,17 "You must not worship the L-rd your G-d in their way. But you are to seek the place the L-rd your G-d will choose from among all you tribes to put his Name there for his dwelling." Deuteronomy 12:4 "Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth..." John 4:24 "Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of G-d's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to G-d - this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." Romans 12:2 "Ascribe to the L-RD, O families of nations, ascribe to the L-RD glory and strength, ascribe to the L-RD the glory to his name. Bring an offering and come before him; worship the L-RD in the splendour of his holiness." 1 Chronicles 16:29 (Psalm 96:9) "Worship the L-RD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs." Psalm 100:2 6. The promises: The Bible is full of promises which G-d gave Israel. Promises of healing and restoration; promises of faithfulness and mercy and everlasting kindness; promises of guidance and shalom. Gentile believers in the G-d of Israel and in Messiah Yeshua are grafted into all of these things . "My comfort in my suffering is this: Your promise preserves my life." Psalm 119:50 "Remember that at that time you were separate from Messiah, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without G-d in the world." Ephesians 2:12 7. His Appointed Times: G-d especially gave His people Festivals, His appointed Sabbaths, to keep as everlasting ordinances. These Feasts are Passover, Pentecost, the

Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement and Tabernacles. In particular, G-d gave the Sabbath day as a sign of betrothal for those who desire to be called by His Name. "These are my appointed feasts, the appointed feasts of the L-rd, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies..." Leviticus chapter 23. "Say to the Israelites, You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so that you may know that I am the L-RD who makes you holy." Exodus 31:13 "Therefore, let us keep the Festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth." 1 Corinthians 5:8 Yeshua fulfilled every one of these Feasts and we continue to observe them as everlasting covenants given by G-d and as memorials of what Yeshua accomplished. a) Passover/Pesach: He was the Passover Lamb sacrificed for our sin. 1 Corinthians 5:7b, 8 b) Pentecost/Shavuot: At the first Pentecost, G-d gave the Israelites the Torah at Sinai. Yeshua came as the living Torah. On the cross, Yeshua the embodiment of the Law, bore our sin. Sin was crucified to him. By the Spirit of G-d, the Torah is now written on our hearts. Jeremiah 31:33 c) The Feast of Trumpets/Rosh haShanah: On the Feast of Trumpets, the children of Israel were called to repentance when the shofar was blown. The prophet Joel said to "blow the trumpet in Zion...let the bridegroom leave his room and the bride her chamber..." Joel 2:15,16. The Feast of Trumpets speaks of the day when the Bridegroom will come for the Bride. d) The Day of Atonement/Yom Kippur: Yeshua ha Cohen Gadol (the High Priest) made atonement for us by the shedding of his own blood and by taking sin upon himself. All who acknowledge this atonement and believe in him are declared not guilty. Hebrews 9:11,12 e) The Feast of Tabernacles/Sukkot: At Yeshua's birth, at the time of this Feast (September/October), the Tabernacle of G-d came and dwelt among us. Immanuel: G-d with us. At the sound of the last shofar, he will return to establish his Kingdom and dwell among his people forever. Isaiah 7:14; Zechariah 14:16; Revelation 21:3 8. The patriarchs and the human ancestry of Messiah: Like biblical Ruth, we too can say, Your people are my people'. We are grafted into a rich heritage, an ancestry of men and women who walked with G-d. As Gentile Ruth became part of the human ancestry of Messiah because of her commitment to Naomi, we too can become part of Yeshua's family tree, by taking hold' of the Torah, the promises and covenants G-d gave Israel. "This is what the L-RD Almighty says: In those days ten men from all languages and nations will take firm hold of one Jew by the hem of his robe and say, Let us go with you, because we have heard that G-d is with you." Zechariah 8:23 We must never forget that we are not partakers of all of the above instead of Israel, but with Israel. Being grafted into the Olive Tree enables us to partake in the Commonwealth of Israel. This "Commonwealth" is G-d's framework, His plan of redemption and salvation. There is no other framework in which G-d works but this one. There are no other Feasts, no other Sabbath, no other Covenants, no other Laws which belong to G-d. Through the Jewish people, we have received all of these things. For thousands of years they have preserved what G-d has given them. Through the seed of Abraham, the whole world has

truly been blessed. "I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you." Genesis 12:3 It is very important that we are grafted into the true "Olive Tree" and are nourished by the correct root, otherwise, our lives are open to deception. The word apostacy means to withdraw, or rebel against the root'. Romans 9:3-5 speaks of the root. This is the foundation which G-d laid from the beginning. Anything outside this framework is a man made invention. To remain holy, or set apart, is to remain within G-d's framework and not mix. G-d is not a mixture: this is the foundation of the Torah and entire Bible. "What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision? Much in every way! First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of G-d." Romans 3:1,2 Adat HaTikvat Tzion http://www.adat.org/ad05003.htm