Broken Off Branches Romans 11:19

Paul the apostle asked the people in Rome, “ if some of the branches be broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them partake of the root and fatness of the olive tree;”, and he added, “Boast not against the branches. But if you boast, you bear not the root, but the root you.” In chapter eleven and verse nineteen of Romans, Paul referred to the people in Rome saying, “the branches were broken off, that I might be grafted in” where we read:

You will say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be grafted in.

The verse begins, “You will say then, The branches were broken off, ...” Paul began with the words, “you will say” which means “the believing people in Rome shall utter, declare and proclaim” “then” or “therefore, wherefore, accordingly, consequently and these things being so”, “the branches” which refers to “the young tender shoot which is broken off for grafting” “were broken off” or “cut off”. Paul referred to how the Gentiles in Rome “proclaimed” that the “tender shoots” which were “cut off” from the original tree.

The verse continues, “... that I might be grafted in.”. Paul added the words, “that I might” which means “so the believing people in Rome could” “be grafted in” or “be inserted, inoculated and ingrafted”. Paul continued his thought about the original branches being “cut off” so the believing people in Rome could be “inserted and ingrafted” within them.

When we think through these words of Paul, we see how he refers to unbelieving Israel as the original branches of the tree which were “broken off”. The Gentiles were “grafted in” to the original tree afterwards, however, they began to boast about it. The idea is that God shared His “gospel” through the Jewish people first, and then it was offered to the Gentiles. There should be no “boasting” on either side because it was God who initiated the whole plan of salvation. God desires for everyone to have a relationship with Him through His Son Jesus, and when a person “receives” Jesus as their personal “Savior and Lord”, they become a part of God's “tree” or “family”. Those who are wise shall “accept” Jesus and be “grafted in” to God's family where others through unbelief have been “broken off”.

Next time Paul tells his readers in Rome, “because of unbelief they were broken off”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.