make a fresh proclamation, as in Acts 1.  The quotation of Isaiah 6:9 is

followed by the dispensation of the Mystery, in which the olive tree and its

branches, as such, have no place.

Between Matthew 13 and Acts 28 there were several excisions of the

branches because of unbelief, of which two may be noted, at Antioch and

Corinth.  That neither of these was final, or intended to set aside the

nation, Paul's own action towards Israel makes clear.  After Antioch he still

preached in the synagogues; and after Corinth, he still gave Israel and

Israel's hope first place (Acts 28:17,20).

It is a difficulty with some students that the apostle does not

actually speak of the cutting down of the olive tree in Romans 11, but only

of `some of the branches' having been broken off.  The answer is that the

epistle to the Romans was written before Acts 28, and still expressed the

hope that, even at the eleventh hour, Israel would be provoked unto

emulation, and be saved.  No indication is given that the `fulness of the

Gentiles' would not be attained until nearly two thousand years had elapsed.

We have only to turn to Romans 15:12,13, to see that Paul and the Church were

still expecting the fulfilment of Isaiah 11 as well as Jeremiah 31.  The

`hope of Israel' was still the one hope before them all.  It suffices for the

apostle in Romans 11 that `some of the branches' had been broken off, and, to

provoke the olive tree to emulation, some wild branches had been grafted in.

What would happen to the olive tree if that effort failed is not revealed in

Romans 11, and in the nature of things could not be.  Now that we have the

light of all Scripture, we know that Israel were to be `plucked up' and

`scattered', and to enter into a `Lo-ammi' condition, while a new

dispensation was introduced.  But though all this is true, it was not

revealed in Romans.

If the olive tree survived the crisis of Acts 28, where is it?  It

cannot be the scattered nation of Israel, for they are manifestly lo-ammi.

It cannot be any of the denominations of Christendom, for if this were true

it would follow that the denomination concerned would eventually receive back

the broken-off branches of Israel, and resolve itself into the restored

nation of Israel -- which is quite impossible, for the restored Israel will

be made up of the very nation that is now scattered.  If we will but

distinguish between the doctrinal position of Romans 1 to 8 that has no

reference to the olive tree, and the dispensational position of Romans 9 to

11, we shall see that it is quite in harmony with the teaching of Scripture

for justification by faith to be enjoyed, whether Israel remained as a nation

or not.  The fact that the `believing' branches are called `firstfruits', no

more argues for the unbroken perpetuation of the olive tree up to the present

time, than the fact that Christ is said to be the `firstfruits of them that

slept' proves that, ever since, in unbroken sequence, they that have fallen

asleep in Christ have passed straight into glory.  The firstfruits were the

pledge of a future harvest, and in the type, the harvest naturally followed

without a long break.  In the antitype, however, the harvest is the end of

the age, and the interval between the first Pentecost and the present moment

is some nineteen hundred years.

A very real difficulty that some feel in connection with this passage

is the fate of the believing section.  If the whole tree is cut down by the