| 425 pleasure. And it came to pass that a long time passed away, and the Lord of the vineyard said unto his servant, come let us go down into the vineyard that we may labor, in the vineyard.
And it came to pass that the Lord of the vineyard, and also the servant, went down into the vineyard to labor. And it came to pass that the servant said unto his master, behold, look here; behold the tree. And it it came to pass that the Lord of the vineyard looked and beheld the tree, in which the wild branches had been grafted; and it had sprung forth and began to bear fruit. And he beheld that it was good: and the fruit thereof was like unto the natural fruit. And he said unto the servant, behold, the branches of the wild tree hath taken hold of the moisture of the root thereof, that the root thereof hath brought forth much strength; and because of the much strength of the root thereof, the wild branches have brought forth tame fruit: now, if we had not grafted in these branches, the tree thereof would have perished. And now, behold, I shall lay up much fruit, which the tree thereof hath brought forth: and the fruit thereof I shall lay up, against the season, unto mine own self.
And it came to pass that the Lord of the vineyard said unto the servant, come, let us go to the nethermost part of the vineyard, and behold if the natural branches of the tree hath not brought forth much fruit also, that I may lay up the fruit thereof, against the season, unto mine own self. And it came to pass that they went forth whither the master had hid the natural branches of the tree, and said unto the servant, behold these; and he beheld the first, that it had brought forth much fruit; and he beheld also, that it was good. And he said unto the servant, take off the fruit thereof, and lay it up, against the season, that I may preserve it unto mine own self: for behold, said he, this long time have I nourished it, and it hath brought forth much fruit.
And it came to pass that the servant said unto his master, how comest thou hither to plant this tree, or this branch of the tree? for behold, it was the poorest spot in all the land of the vineyard. And the Lord of the vineyard said unto him, counsel me not; I knew that it was a poor spot of ground; wherefore, I said unto thee, I have nourished it this long time; and thou beholdest that it hath brought forth much fruit.
And it came to pass that the Lord of the vineyard said unto his servant, look hither: behold, I have planted another branch of the tree also; and thou knowest that this spot of ground was poorer than the first. But, behold the tree: I have nourished it this long time, and it hath brought forth much fruit; therefore, gather it, and lay it up against the season, that I may preserve it unto mine own self.
And it came to pass that the Lord of the vineyard said again unto his servant, look hither, and behold another branch also, which I have planted: behold that I have nourished it also, and it hath brought forth fruit. And he said unto the servant look hither, and behold the last: behold this I have planted in a good spot of ground; and I have nourished it this long time, and only part of the tree hath brought forth tame fruit; and the other part of the tree hath brought forth wild fruit: behold, I have nourished this tree like unto the others."
From the above, it is very evident that there did exist other branches of the house of Israel, that were under the special guidance of the Lord, and to whom he paid peculiar attention, and that in order that he might preserve a pure seed unto himself; he took those "young and tender branches from the main tree, before it had become corrupt, and planted them in different parts of his vineyard, and dressed and nourished them, that they might bring forth good fruit unto himself." There is one peculiar trait in this dispensation of providence, which is, that these branches were hid, in the vineyard and consequently not generally known by the generality of mankind.
This may account for the generally received opinion, that the house of Judah were the only representatives of the kingdom of God upon the earth, and that consequently, when the kingdom of God was taken from them and given to the Gentiles, that the Gentiles were the sole possessors of it, and that the house of Israel had lost the blessings of God forever, and would only obtain mercy through the Gentiles. This opinion was obtaining among the Romans in Paul's day, hence his reasoning with them on this subject, shewing [showing] that they had received all their blessings through the Jews, and that if the Jews were broken off and the Gentiles graffed [grafted] in, they bore not the root, but the root them; and that instead of either being the root, or the main branches, they were merely a scion taken from the wild olive tree and grafted into the old stock, dependant [dependent] upon it; that they were neither the root nor the main branches, but "graffed [grafted] in among the branches, and with them partaking of the root and fatness of the olive tree."
Those branches taken from the main stock were hid in different parts of the vineyard, some in one part and some in another. The
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