Where Religion Went Wrong - 4 - Severed From Our Roots

 Scripture often uses agricultural examples to explain spiritual principles. In the days in which scripture was written, society itself was agricultural, making these explanations easily understood by everyone. Even today, though our society is decidedly less agricultural in its nature, we can easily relate to and understand what is being spoken.

“For...If the root be holy, so are the branches. And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert grafted in among them, and with them partakes of the root and fatness of the olive tree: boast not against the branches…Thou bearest not the root, but the root thee…Be not high minded, but fear: For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.”

 – Romans 11: 16-21 (shortened) 

I have condensed the above scriptures to make the point clearer. However, you should read Romans 11 in its entirety for complete context.

Scripture often speaks of Israel as an olive tree. Here, Paul is sticking with that same imagery. He is speaking to Gentiles, those who are out of covenant with and not worshipping the true God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He explains that some of Israel is (temporarily) cut off because of their unbelief in Messiah, and that those who are Gentiles can be grafted in precisely because of their belief in Messiah.

While this is a crucial point to understand and should be studied thoroughly, it is not my intention here to explore the how’s and why’s of this.

I simply want you to consider, if we are grafted into the olive tree of Israel, what root system are we drawing from? What are our roots? From where do we draw our nourishment and life?

It is clear that our roots are intended to be the same roots of Israel! Our sap should flow from the same source that has always fed Israel! We did not become an entirely new tree, but we were grafted in to an already existing and well-established one – Israel, the covenant people of YHWH!

Yeshua said the same…

 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring more fruit…Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me…for without me ye can do nothing…As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.”

 – John 15:1-10 (shortened)

 Again, this passage has been condensed.

 We are warned, here, that we are fruitless and powerless apart from our Messiah. But, notice – Yeshua is the VINE, not the root. Our life flows THROUGH Him but not FROM Him. The Vine carries the sap from the root to the branch, which produces fruit. If we are not producing fruit, the flow is blocked somewhere, and we are cut away.

If He is the Vine, what is the root? Yeshua tells us that the Father is the husbandman (or gardener in today’s language). The gardener plants the seed that grows the root and plant. So, the root would be that which the Father has already planted and produced in this world…. Sound familiar???

At the end of the parable, Yeshua even spells it out for us – twice! He tells us that the Father loved Him, and He passed that love on to us. Then, He says we get that love by keeping the commandments, the same way He got it from the Father!

Nowhere in scripture is there ever a “new root”. Those who worshipped other gods were “uprooted” or their roots were said to be rotten. The only proper, healthy root has always been the proper worship of YHWH, and he chose Israel to carry that worship to the world. Our Messiah Himself came from that root and drew life from it. He passes that life onto us, grafting us back in to a tree we had either abandoned out of disobedience or altogether rejected from the beginning.

What He does not do is plant a new seed, a new root. He restores; He doesn’t re-create.

Modern-day Christianity no longer draws from the proper root. We have many high-minded theological reasons why the root no longer feeds us, but scripture does not bear those out. We have, in essence, planted a whole new tree, while borrowing roots from trees other than Israel.

We claim to be connected to our Vine, the Messiah; but if we are not drawing from His root, we are fruitless!

It’s time we began to examine our roots. Many of our teachings, customs, practices, and even holidays do not flow from Israel’s root but from the roots of other, pagan religions and deities. Simple internet research will prove this is true.

If we are to bear fruit and not be cut away by the Husbandman, we need to search out the root of all we do and reject all roots but His. Only when we are fed by His roots, will we bear His fruit and remain attached to His Vine.