The Olive Tree

THE OLIVE TREE

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If we would understand the one Israel of God, the one Kingdom of God, the one Christ, the one hope of redemption, we must have a clear understanding of the one Olive Tree. The Olive Tree is neither of the Jews by race nor of the Gentiles by race even though it is in a Jewish context. The Olive Tree is the Spirit of Christ.

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For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who are natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree? (Romans 11:24)

If we wish to understand the one Israel of God, the one Kingdom of God, the one Christ, the one hope of redemption, we must have a clear understanding of the one Olive Tree. The Olive Tree is the Spirit of Christ. It was the Spirit of Christ who spoke through the Hebrew Prophets.

searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. (I Peter 1:11)

The Olive Tree spoke to Abraham. The Spirit of Christ called Abraham from the city in which he was dwelling, leading him forth to the land of Canaan. The Divine inheritance was given to Abraham and to Abraham’s Seed. Abraham’s Seed includes the Lord Jesus Christ and those who by faith have received Christ and become part of Him.

We know that Christ was before Abraham and is greater than Abraham. Yet God’s Word refers to Christ as the Seed of Abraham. This is because Christ came from the physical lineage of Abraham.

The branches of the Olive Tree are always in accordance with the promise of God. The branches were chosen of God before the creation of the world. No man at any time has gained a place in the Olive Tree by his own righteousness or striving. The inheritance is by faith in the promise of God.

The calling out of Abraham from Ur marked the beginning of the material expression of the Olive Tree, of Israel, of the Church, of the Kingdom of God. It was a beginning in type, in vision. The reality of the Kingdom came into being when the Lord Jesus rose from the dead.

Each branch of the Olive Tree is not of the world but has been called out of the world to be a representative of God, to be part of the holy nation, the royal priesthood.

The Olive Tree, the mantle of the Spirit of prophecy, passed to Isaac, not through his blood relationship to Abraham but through the promise of God to him.

“Dwell in this land, and I will be with you and bless you; for to you and your descendants I give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father. (Genesis 26:3)

It was the prophecy, the promise, not the fact of physical birth, that made Isaac part of the Olive Tree.

nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, “In Isaac your seed shall be called.”
That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed.
For this is the word of promise: “At this time I will come and Sarah shall have a son.”
And not only this, but when Rebecca also had conceived by one man, even by our father Isaac
(for the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls),
it was said to her, “The older shall serve the younger.” (Romans 9:7-12)

Ishmael was of the blood line of Abraham, but the Divine inheritance, the Spirit of Christ, the Olive Tree, did not continue with him. Ishmael was not part of the Divine promise. Ishmael was a child of the present world.

The Olive Tree passed to Jacob, not through his blood relationship to Isaac but through the fact that the Spirit of Christ prophesied to him. The Messianic blessing given to Abraham was pronounced on Jacob but not on Esau:

Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be master over your brethren, and let your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you, and blessed be those who bless you!” (Genesis 27:29)

Again:

“Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. (Genesis 28:14)

Esau was of the blood line of Abraham through Isaac but he did not become a branch of the Olive Tree, a member of the Body of Christ, part of the eternal Church, the new Jerusalem.

Isaac was unable to make Esau part of the Olive Tree. God had spoken concerning Jacob and Esau prior to their birth:

And the LORD said to her: “Two nations are in your womb, Two peoples shall be separated from your body; One people shall be stronger than the other, and the older shall serve the younger.” (Genesis 25:23)

The Olive Tree, the Spirit of Christ, continued among the sons and grandsons of Jacob. The prophecies of Jacob to Ephraim and Judah are of special significance.

To Ephraim:

But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. He also shall become a people, and he also shall be great; but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations.” (Genesis 48:19)

And to Judah:

The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh comes; and to Him shall be the obedience of the people. (Genesis 49:10)

Ephraim’s seed is “a multitude of nations.”

Ephraim represents the elect Gentiles—the branches cut out of the wild olive tree and grafted on the good Olive Tree.

Judah represents the elect Jews—the natural branches of the good Olive Tree.

In the last days the Lord God will bring the Jews back to the physical land of Israel, and the Gentile branches of the Olive Tree will become one with the natural branches. All Israel will be saved and the Lord Jesus Christ will be King over all.

“say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Surely I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, his companions; and I will join them with it, with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they will be one in My hand.”’
“And the sticks on which you write will be in your hand before their eyes.
“Then say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Surely I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, wherever they have gone, and will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land;
“and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king over them all; they shall no longer be two nations, nor shall they ever be divided into two kingdoms again. (Ezekiel 37:19-22)

The remnant of the Lord’s people of today, those who are seeking God with all their heart, are being drawn to the Jews and to the land of Israel. This is because the prophecy of Ezekiel is beginning to be fulfilled. The true members of the Body of Christ who are Gentiles by race are being made one with the elect Jews in our day. We are becoming one stick in the hand of King Jesus.

The return of the elect Gentiles to the elect Jews was prophesied by Micah:

Therefore He shall give them [Jews] up, until the time that she who is in labor [Church] has given birth [to Christ in them]; then the remnant of His brethren [sons of God] shall return to the children of Israel. (Micah 5:3)

The Olive Tree remained in the midst of the sons of Jacob, as evidenced by the calling of Moses and Aaron and the plagues on Egypt, the cloud and the fire, the giving of the Law, the priesthood, the Tabernacle of the Congregation, and the victories in Canaan.

The signs of the Divine election continued with the judges, and then with Saul, David, Solomon, and the other kings of Israel. The Spirit of Christ was in evidence in the proclamations and writings of the Hebrew Prophets.

The Hebrew Scriptures have been fulfilled in part, but the Kingdom they announce has not as yet been established in the earth in the fullness of Divine Glory. To the present hour, history is being governed by the Word given through the Prophets, and not one syllable shall be changed in any manner whatever until all has taken place.

The Olive Tree remained in Israel during the days of the kings; but this does not mean every Israelite of that time was of God’s elect. Some of the Jews were doing the works of their father the devil, as the Lord Jesus pointed out. Isaiah indicates that God has chosen a remnant of the people:

The remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the Mighty God. (Isaiah 10:21)

After the proclamation of Malachi a period of several hundred years ensued. Then the Olive Tree came to Mary and Joseph, and to Elizabeth and Zacharias. John the Baptist announced the Presence of the Lord Jesus—the very Fullness of the Olive Tree.

Following the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus, the Olive Tree continued in the Jewish Apostles and members of the first church in Jerusalem. The Divine inheritance, the same Spirit of Christ that spoke through David and Elijah, was present in the early Jewish Christians.

Soon the Lord made it known, through Peter and Paul, that the Olive Tree was to include Gentiles whom God had chosen. Now the Olive Tree consisted of elect Jews and elect Gentiles.

even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? (Romans 9:24)

From that time the work of the Lord Jesus among the nations has increased very greatly, in keeping with the prophecy made to Ephraim by his grandfather, Jacob. According to the word of Christ through the Apostle Paul, the Olive Tree will continue with the elect Jews and elect Gentiles until the full number of Gentiles has been grafted on the Olive Tree. Then the Olive Tree will leave the nations and return once again to the physical people and land of Israel.

For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.
And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The Deliverer will come out of Zion, and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; (Romans 11:25,26)

After God has finished His work among the Gentile nations He will turn once again to the physical descendants of Jacob. He will pour out His Spirit on them, taking away their sins. They will be born again of Christ by a sovereign act of God, just as Saul of Tarsus was born again and commissioned as an apostle before he had a chance to repent and “accept Christ.” So will the Jewish people be brought into the Kingdom of God without coming under the power of any ecclesiastical organization of Christians.

Western “Christian” traditions have no place as the Lamb returns to His beloved Israel to receive His Wife.

“For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land.
“Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols.
“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
“I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. (Ezekiel 36:24-27)

God is turning once again to His ancient people, and the elect Gentiles will be one with them just as Ephraim, who was half-Jewish and half-Egyptian, was absorbed fully into the commonwealth of Israel, his Egyptian blood being ignored.

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. (Galatians 3:28,29)

The Olive Tree, Christ, the Kingdom of God, the new Jerusalem, the Wife of the Lamb, the Body of Christ, Israel, the Church, are all one new Man. There is one body, one Spirit, one hope of our calling, one Lord Jesus, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all who is in us all. There is one royal priesthood, one eternal Temple of God.

The names of the Apostles of the Lamb are in the foundations of the wall of the new Jerusalem and the names of the twelve tribes of Israel are inscribed eternally on the gates of the wall. The Apostles and the tribes are all of the Jews; but we Gentiles have a portion through Ephraim prophetically and through the Lord Jesus by marriage. All is in a Jewish environment and all is of Jesus.

Here is the part that confuses so many Christians. If true Israel is of Jesus, how can we say that the nation of physical Jews still has a portion in God’s plan of redemption?

It is as we have stated. The Olive Tree is neither of the Jews by race nor of the Gentiles by race, even though it is in a Jewish context. The Olive Tree is the Spirit of Christ.

The Spirit of Christ originally was with the nation of Israel and then expanded to include the elect Gentiles.

In the last days the Olive Tree will return in tremendous authority and power to the physical land and people of Israel. The process has begun already and Satan and his forces are setting themselves in battle array.

Many Christian people are being led astray by their leaders and are in confusion and spiritual bondage. But the true remnant, the people who know the Lord, who pray, who walk in humility before Him, will find their place in the one stick, Joseph-Judah.

The Kingdom of God is at hand. The glory of the latter rain revival will fall on the nations and multitudes will be swept into the Kingdom of God. At the same time the Jews will be brought back to their own land in preparation for the closing acts of the present age.

Evil will increase in the world until the remnant of elect Jews and Gentiles will be forced into hiding. The nation of Gog will attack Israel and be destroyed by the Lord.

Finally, Antichrist will make war against Israel and invade the Holy Land. Then the Redeemer will come. Antichrist will be overcome and the glory of the Kingdom of God will come to the people and land of Israel. All Israel, the one true Olive Tree, the one Seed, will be delivered from sin, and the Glory of God will become available through Israel to the saved Gentile nations.

Let each of us now turn to the Lord in sincerity and seek His face day and night, for the spirit of deception already has gone forth. The False Prophet is wearing the horns (power) of the Lamb but is speaking with the voice of the dragon. Most Christian believers will embrace the religious Babylon (man-directed Christianity) which soon will be more powerful than ever.

In all of this, God’s little flock, His olive tree, is not to fear. It is the Father’s good pleasure to give us the Kingdom, and no man can remove us from His hand.

(“The Olive Tree”, 3755-1)