The Roots of the Olive Tree

Olive trees. They are everywhere in Israel, and they are very fruitful. The olive tree has always symbolized the glory, splendor, and roots of Judaism and Christianity.

While touring old Jerusalem one day, we stopped into a shop owned by Jewish author and scholar, Moshe Avraham Kempinksi, and I asked him about the olive tree. He said the olive tree’s leaves never die, so they represent the covering of God over our lives. Yet, to get the fruit off the tree, the trees have to be beaten or threshed, signifying the trials we have to go through to grow in our faith. When the olive oil is pressed out of the olives, the purest olive oil always rises to the top. That means even though we go through hardships during our journey, the trials will result in a more sacred, pure life.

Because the roots of olive trees never die, when we attach ourselves to the roots (God), there is strength, and perseverance. Proverbs 12:3 says, “But the righteous cannot be uprooted.” Proverbs 12:12 adds something similar, “But the root of the righteous endures.”

Olive trees live around 800 years, but there is an old tree in the Garden of Gethsemane that is believed to be 1200 years old. The Garden of Gethsemane, is the holy place where Jesus prayed with the disciples prior to his arrest. It is appropriate this tree still has life, because it is through the root of Jesse we have eternal life. Isaiah 53:2 prophesies about Yeshua, “He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground.”

The question we have to ask ourselves is “Are we deeply rooted in Christ?”

In Romans, the Apostle Paul explains that Gentiles are grafted into God’s family because of the Jews rejection of Christ. He says like a “wild olive shoot” we “now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root.”

When we thirst for spiritual nourishment, it’s important we tap into the roots.

While I have a Jewish father, I am technically not Jewish because the blood-line of the Jews flows through the mother. Therefore, I am grafted into God’s tree with the Gentiles. But as people grafted in, we must remember this is an amazing gift from God, and should never be taken for granted. God can cut off the branch as easily as it is grafted in. Paul reminds us that “You do not support the root, but the root supports you.” We are highly dependent on God for sustenance in this world of pain and trouble. Without God, we die physically, and spiritually.

To have a fruitful life as Christians, we are to be “rooted and established in love” (Ephesians 3:17), and should continue to live our lives in Christ, “rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness” (Colossians 2:6-7). We should also have a healthy fear of the Lord for we will be blessed. “Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table. Yes, this will be the blessing for the man who fears the LORD” (Psalm 128: 3-4).

In our tour of the Holy Land, we traveled up to the Mount of Olives, and saw a magnificent view of the city of Jerusalem. It is where Jesus spent each night when in the holy city (Luke 21:37). The Mount of Olives is where the Son of God ascended into heaven after his resurrection, and 40 additional days ministering on earth. It is the site he is supposed to return to when he comes again. It is an appropriate place for the root of Jesse to ascend and descend, for just like the ever-living olive roots, belief in Jesus results in a root that never dies.

At the end of time, it will only be the Root of David, God’s son, who is able to open the scrolls that determine the fate of earth and mankind. It is Jesus who will identify himself in this way, “I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.”

When he returns, will he find you grafted into the root, or will you be thirsting, disconnected from the tree that gives life? Jesus issues an invitation, “Come! Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life” (Revelation 22:17). It is only through Christ’s living water that we as tender shoots can survive. (LBW)