WILD BY NATURE

" . . . thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree . . . " (Romans 11:24)

THE ACCEPTANCE OF THE GENTILES is one of the great accomplishments of the salvation of God. As Peter said, "Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy" (1 Pet 2:10). Paul says of the former state we believing Gentiles, "That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world" (Eph 2:12).

IT WAS SOME TIME before the early church was able to receive the inclusion of the Gentiles in God's "great salvation." For over a decade, or until the conversion of the household of Cornelius, there was no initiative within the body of Christ to carry the Gospel to the Gentiles. Even when Peter was sent to Cornelius' house, it took a special revelation to convince him it was the proper thing to do (Acts 10:10-17).

WHEN THE CONVERSION of the Gentiles was reported to the early church, it spawned great joy among them, as well as several astute observations. Word got to the Apostles and brethren "that the Gentiles had also received the Word of God" (Acts 11:1). When the brethren heard it, they "held their peace, and glorified God." Rather than questioning God, they refused to question what had been done, glorifying the Lord instead. They concluded, "Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life" (Acts 11:18). Others concluded the Lord had "opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles" (Acts 14:27).

ALL OF THIS MADE even more remarkable when the condition of the Gentiles is further described. Our text says that in their entirety, the Gentiles were like "an olive tree that is wild by nature" (NIV). Some branches, or individuals, have been taken from this "wild" tree, and grafted into the Jewish olive tree. The Jewish tree was noted for its "root and fatness," or its "rich" and nourishing "root." This "fatness" consisted of the glorious promises that were given in summary form to Abraham, and fully opened up in Christ Jesus. On the other hand, the Gentile tree was noted for being "wild by nature."

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN these two trees was this: one had been cultivated by the Lord, and one had been neglected, growing like an unattended and uncultivated tree in the desert. The latter tree – the Gentile tree – was "wild by nature." No Divine attention was given to this tree – it was "wild," growing without any special attention. It was uncultivated and unfruitful. It had not been watered, pruned, or fertilized. No one – not even God Himself – had made an attempt to develop the tree, protect it from blight and disease, or care for and reap its fruit.

BY SAYING THE TREE was "wild by nature," the Spirit means it had been left to itself. Elsewhere the condition is described as being "given over to a reprobate mind," to do things that were not fitting or proper (Rom 1:28).

IT IS NOT POSSIBLE for good fruit to grow on such a tree! A "wild tree" is a "corrupt tree" that consequently produces "evil," or "bad fruit"(Matt 7:17-18). The appointed destiny of such a tree is to be "hewn down and cast into the fire" (Matt 7:18). It is a tree that the Father has neither planted nor tended, and thus it will be "rooted up" (Matt 15:13).

NOTE, THE LORD DID NOT the entire "wild" olive tree and graft it into the good one. Rather, some branches were "cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature," and grafted into the natural olive tree – the one that had been cultivated by the Lord. Nor, indeed, did he hew down the good olive tree, determining to plant a new one. "Some" withered and unproductive branches from the good olive tree were "broken off," even though they were "natural olive branches" (Rom 11:17).

AT NO POINT is it remotely suggested that the natural tree and the wild tree have been merged. Rather, the natural tree is retained, with the unacceptable branches being removed, and some branches from the wild tree being grafted into it.

WHAT IS WILD and what is cultivated cannot be merged together! Further, there is no hope of surviving if ones primary association is with the "wild tree," or the people who have not been cultivated by the Lord. At some point, the individual has to be joined to the tree God is tending, caring for, and nourishing. That point takes place when a person is "joined to the Lord," or made "partakers of Christ" (1 Cor 6:17; Heb 3:14).

BLESSED DAY, indeed, when we are cut out of the unproductive and wild olive tree!

– Given O. Blakely