How Were Gentiles Included?
by Terry Wane Benton
How were the Gentiles included in the covenant promises to Israel?
Jeremiah said that the new covenant would be made with “Israel and Judah” (Jeremiah 31:31f). So the question is: “How did Gentiles get to be included in the covenant promises to Israel and Judah?” We are not of Israel or Judah in any immediate sense, and yet we Christians of Gentile lineage see ourselves as part of this new covenant and its blessings.
Here are some things to consider:
The Gentiles are Grafted in by Faith
How did the covenants and promises to Israel become promises that believing Gentiles can also enjoy? Paul affirmed that we get “grafted into” the faith tree (Romans 11:11-22). He said that faithless Israelites get “cut off” from that blessed “olive tree” of God’s favor, missing out on the blessings as long as they retain their unbelief, and Gentiles of faith get grafted in. Israelites were natural branches by covenant relationship, and Gentiles were like “wild olive branches” that get cut from the wild tree and “grafted” into the natural covenant olive tree.
The Gentiles Are Grafted into the Same Tree as the Israelites
Thus, if the foreigner is now in the same group as the faithful Israelites, the same olive tree that had God’s covenant promises, how do we Gentiles of common faith not become fellow beneficiaries? The promises made to Israel become descriptions of the “blessings” to “all families of the earth” (Genesis 12:1-3). We get to watch the promised “blessings” become further defined as we read Israel’s mail. Thus, if it was promised and received only by believing or faithful Israelites, and we Gentiles can be grafted into that olive tree of blessing, then we become part of the same olive tree of blessing. The same blessings become ours.
I am in the same olive tree where the promised blessings are fulfilled in Christ. Even though I was growing in the wild, I was grafted from a wild olive tree to the promised blessings to Israel. I am fortunate to be allowed in, but God’s plan has always been to include these blessings in the coming “Seed” (Jesus) and, through Him, to “bless all families of the earth” who come in obedient faith to Him.
The Gentiles Receive the Same Blessings that Come from the Tree
Where did God say you, non-Israelites, can be grafted into the same blessed olive tree but can’t get the blessings promised to the faithful Israelites? Are we grafted into a separate olive tree? No! We are grafted into the same olive tree that soaks up the promised blessings.
The Holy Spirit guided Paul to write in Romans 11 the answer to the question: How did Gentiles get included in the covenant promises to Israel? By the promise of Genesis 10:1-12:3, that “all families of the earth will be blessed”. He didn’t have to say openly how all families would be blessed, but He waited to clear up the mystery, and that answer is now delivered. He planned all along to graft believing Gentiles into the same olive tree with the believing Israelites.
God held off telling this as He spoke to Israel, but it was in His plan all along when He promised the Seed (Jesus) would bless “all families of the earth”. He explains this in Romans 11 and expands on it in Ephesians 2:11-3:7. It had been a “mystery,” something He held off revealing in full measure, but the Spirit now reveals it: “that Gentiles should be fellow heirs…and partakers of the promise in Christ.” Mystery no more! How did Gentiles become fellow heirs? They were planned all along to be “grafted into the same olive tree” that held blessings for Israel.
So now I know that whatever God promised the Israelites in their coming Messiah, I get to partake of it when, by faith, I am baptized into Christ (Galatians 3:23-29). The “blessing” to “all families of the earth” is no longer a mystery!
The Faithful Gentiles Are Now a Part of the True Israel
A natural Israelite can read the promises and not receive them because unbelief will always cut him off. I can read their mail and get grafted in to receive the promises. Through faith in the Promised Seed, I become part of true Israel and receive the blessings more clearly defined in their covenant scriptures, and I get to share those as the more defined blessings promised to “all families of the earth”.
Praise the Lord for His great promises to Israel that I get to share by common faith in Jesus! By God’s grace, through common faith in Jesus, we all get to share in the blessings more specifically defined for the Israelites in their covenant writings. I am included in the promises to Israel! Praise His glorious name!
