remnant of the nation exercised faith and was brought into the new covenant. (Rom. 9:27) As this remnant gained God’s favor by exercising faith in him and his Son, so individual Jews today can gain it by the same means. They must acknowledge that God has replaced the old law covenant with a new and better covenant. They must recognize its better sacrifice, Christ’s humanity, and how inherited sin from Adam is permanently cleansed by means of his blood. They must recognize Christ as God’s appointed King, and they must recognize spiritual Israel as the true Israel of God. In other words, individual Jews can gain God’s favor in the same manner that non-Jews can.

34. What conclusion must we draw regarding fleshly Israel?

³⁴ In view of what we have considered it is evident that fleshly Israel does not have a favorable standing with God. Instead of being his holy nation it has been cast off, abandoned by him, because of its stubbornness, disobedience and rejection of his acts of loving-kindness. The Israel that does have a good standing with him is spiritual Israel. Because those chosen to make up spiritual Israel have shown the faith and obedience of Abraham, they are the true sons of Abraham. It is, therefore, not fleshly Israel but all spiritual Israel that will be saved. They are the ones who receive the blessing of being God’s special property, a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation.

Grafting from the Wild Olive Tree

“However, if some of the branches were broken off but you, although being a wild olive, were grafted in among them and became a partaker of the olive’s root of fatness, do not be exulting over the branches.”—Rom. 11:17, 18.

1, 2. Why are dead branches on a fruit tree undesirable, and how did John the Baptist use this in an illustration?

WHICH are more desirable, dead branches on a fruit tree or live ones? The answer is obvious. Fruit is not produced by what is dead. A fruitgrower will therefore trim off dead, unproductive branches, that a tree’s production will not be hindered. In ancient Palestine the fruitgrower was interested in productive trees not only because of the income they brought him but also because fruit trees were taxed. He could not afford to have unfruitful trees taking up valuable space or have a tree filled with unproductive branches. He quickly cut off that which was dead.

² This commonly known fact was used by John the Baptist as an illustration. He wanted to impress upon natural Israel the foolishness of trusting in their fleshly relationship with Abraham as grounds for expecting God’s favor and blessing. Here is what he said: “So then produce fruit that befits repentance; and do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘As a father we have Abraham.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. Already the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree, then, that does not produce fine fruit is to be cut down and thrown into the fire.” (Matt. 3:8-10) John thus forewarned the nation of the typical day of vengeance that came A.D. 70. It was a national judgment. Only a remnant of fleshly Israel bore good fruit like productive trees and received a favorable judgment from God.

3. To what did the apostle Paul liken the real seed of Abraham?

³ Another illustration showing the Israelites that they could not rely on fleshly ties with Abraham was given by the apostle Paul. In his illustration he used one of the principal fruit trees of Palestine, the olive. He likened the stock and branches of a cultivated olive tree to the real seed of Abraham, mentioned in God’s covenant with that patriarch. As was pointed out in the preceding article, the real seed of Abraham is spiritual, not fleshly. It consists first of Christ and then of 144,000 spiritual Israelites, who exercise the faith of Abraham.

4. Why is it unnecessary to be of fleshly descent from Abraham to be his seed?

⁴ It is not necessary to be of fleshly descent from Abraham to be of his seed. As John the Baptist pointed out, God is able to raise up children to Abraham from the very stones. He is therefore not obligated to use only fleshly descendants of Abraham to fulfill his promise to that faithful man. This is pointed out at Galatians 3:28, 29: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor freeman, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in union with Christ Jesus. Moreover, if you belong to Christ, you are really Abraham’s seed, heirs with reference to a promise.” Since this is the case, the branches of the symbolic olive tree in Paul’s illustration consist of more than members of the Jewish nation.

5. What does the trunk of the olive tree represent?

⁵ Christ is the chief Seed of Abraham, and those who are united with him as spiritual Israelites gain life through him. He is therefore represented by the trunk of the olive tree, which supports the branches. Jesus made this comparison himself under the illustration of a vine. “I am the vine, you are the branches. He that remains in union with me, and I in union with him, this one bears much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing at all.”—John 15:5.

6. How are Christ’s followers adopted by God, and what is their prospect?

⁶ The faithful footstep followers of Christ who form the branches in these two illustrations are adopted by Jehovah God as his royal sons. This was made possible by their being declared righteous by means of Christ’s sin-atoning sacrifice and by being begotten by God’s spirit as spiritual sons. “For all who are led by God’s spirit, these are God’s sons. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery causing fear again, but you received a spirit of adoption as sons, by which spirit we cry out, ‘Abba, Father!’ The spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are God’s children. If, then, we are children, we are also heirs: heirs indeed of God, but joint heirs with Christ, provided we suffer together that we may also be glorified together.” (Rom. 8:14-17) The 144,000 followers of Christ who experience this adopting are spiritual