God is Gathering the Natural Branches

A prophetic vision based upon the widow of Zarephath in 1 Kings 17:1-16 and Romans 11

[Illustration courtesy of Susan Bowles]

In 1 Kings 17 Yehovah said to the prophet Elijah:

Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and stay there; behold, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.” So he arose and went to Zarephath, and when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks; and he called to her and said, “Please get me a little water in a jar, that I may drink.” As she was going to get it, he called to her, “Please bring me a piece of bread in your hand.” But she said, “As the LORD your God lives, I have no bread, only a handful of flour in the bowl and a little oil in the jar; and behold, I am gathering a few sticks that I may go in and prepare for me and my son, that we may eat it and die.” Then Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go, do as you have said, but make me a little bread cake from it first and bring it out to me, and afterward you may make one for yourself and for your son. “For thus says the LORD God of Israel, ‘The bowl of flour shall not be exhausted, nor shall the jar of oil be empty, until the day that the LORD sends rain on the face of the earth.’” So she went and did according to the word of Elijah, and she and he and her household ate for many days. The bowl of flour was not exhausted nor did the jar of oil become empty, according to the word of the LORD . . . .

Romans 11: 17-29 “Now if some branches [of God’s olive tree] have been broken off, and you [Gentiles], a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others to share in the nourishment of the olive root, do not boast over those branches [the Jews/natural Israel]. If you do, remember this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you. You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” That is correct: They were broken off because of unbelief, but you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid. For if God did not spare the natural branches, He will certainly not spare you either. Take notice, therefore, of the kindness and severity of God: severity to those who fell, but kindness to you, if you continue in His kindness. Otherwise you also will be cut off. And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. For if you were cut from a wild olive tree, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated tree, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree! I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you will not be conceited: A hardening in part has come to Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written:

“The Deliverer will come from Zion; He will remove godlessness from Jacob.

And this is My covenant with them when I take away their sins.”

“Regarding the gospel, they are enemies on your account; but regarding election, they are loved on account of the patriarchs. For God’s gifts and His call are irrevocable.”

* * * * * * * * * * * *

At this moment in time the Holy Spirit is moving mightily as God, the good horticulturalist and husbandman, begins to graft back the natural branches, the Jewish people, into the salvific olive tree of God.

The Hebrew patriarchs are the roots of the tree. Israel and the Jewish people are the natural branches.

Grafting combines the qualities of one tree with the resilience and vigor of another tree's roots. 

Contrary to nature, wild olive shoots— representing individual believing Gentiles— have been grafted by God in into his family tree.

Thus former Gentile believers in Jesus are privileged to partake of the manifold blessings of Abraham that were promised by God to the Jewish people.

We do not replace the Jewish people! We come along side of them by faith into God’s family tree.

The apostle Paul in Romans 11 described this holy process. At the end of the Church Age, he prophesied that the full number of the Gentiles will be finally completed within the Church, the Body of Messiah.

The broken off olive branches are likened to dry sticks, and also likened to the dry bones of the house of Israel in Ezekiel 37, which are being resurrected by the power of the Holy Spirit.

During a severe drought, the widow of Zarephath was a Bible woman who personified obedience and faith. 

Her story is told in the above passage in 1 Kings 17 when the prophet Elijah was instructed by God to go to Zarephath where a widow was appointed to take care of him.

Elijah found the widow gathering sticks to cook a last supper.  

As commanded, she baked for Elijah, and he blessed her and her son, promising that their supplies would be supernaturally preserved throughout the drought.

Now fast forward to modern times; we are witnessing the God of Israel doing many miracles of preservation.

When asking God what was on His heart prior to a prayer meeting, an intercessory friend received a flash vision. She saw an old woman clutching tree sticks to her bosom. Immediately came to mind the widow of Zarephath who was gathering sticks in 1 Kings 17: 10. 

My friend imagined these ordinary sticks as a type of the broken off natural branches of Israel!  

What is the Lord saying?

He is calling his church to gather the natural branches to Him because He intends to regraft them.

This process is ongoing.

In fact, years ago I spoke at a conference in Nashville, Tennessee, sponsored by the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, and another speaker on the program was the late Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, of blessed memory. In those days fellowship between Jews and Christians was rarer than it is today. During the time of worship, a spontaneous spirit of joy descended in the room, and believers began to dance in the spirit along with the rabbi. While all of this was happening, prophetically, my spiritual ears heard a loud splintering and splicing of wood. I was “hearing” the grafting in by God of the natural branches. It was marvelous to hear!

Because the axis of evil is screaming against Israel, we intercessors know it’s time to gather the natural branches and to bring them to the Almighty, asking him to regraft the Jewish branches and to restore them to their rightful place of honor in his olive tree.

We need the natural branches, the Jewish people! 

My intercessory friend prayed, “LORD, let us be echad [one] with you and your people Israel!”

THE TIME IS NOW.

HalleluYah!

As the apostle Paul wrote in Romans 11: 29, “For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.”

We Christians usually apply that verse to the gifts of the Spirit within the Body of Messiah. But the verse’s context is a reference to the nation of Israel.

Indeed, Israel’s call to be a light to the nations has never been revoked by God. He has not forgotten his irrevocable covenants with Israel. God is bringing Bible prophecy to pass in our day!

To contact Christine Darg or to support her ministry, please visit www.JerusalemChannel.TV