The Mount of Olives in Israel is the most famous place of the all world; it's the Mount of Jesus, where He used to go with His Apostles, from where He use to look at the beauty of Jerusalem, and also the place where he prayed on the day of His betrayal. Jesus use to love walking from the Mount of olives to Mount Zion, and for this reason, the Mount of olives has a special meaning for Jews and Christians alike.
The olive tree has always been the symbol of Israel, and King David was anointed, long time before Jesus, as the King of the Jews. The olive was important for the Jewish meal and of the jewish culture, where the olive oil is one of the best oils of the world.
The menorah is the symbol of the Nation of Israel, and in fact the menorah is nothing less than a tree, the Tree of Life; for this reason the olive tree is the symbol of Israel. But the Olive is also the symbol of Peace and we can recall the olive branch, since Noa's times, when after 40 days of rain, the dove of God, finally came back to Noa's boat, with an olive branch, sign of peace and of friendship between God and man, and between the creation and mankind.
The olive oil was used for the lampstand that kept the Light in the Holy Temple of Jerusalem, and the Prophets of Israel also mentioned the olive tree, as a symbol of anointment for the people chosen by God with a special mission. Also the Gospel of Jesus speaks of the olive tree, where Israel is described as the olive tree that gives life to the world.
The Christians know very well the meaning of Salvation, and the legacy that they have with the olive tree; the Book of the Romans explains the deep connection and significance, the notable worth of the olive tree for Judaism and Christianity- where Israel is the olive tree - and Christianity is described, as a wild branch grafted into the olive tree, that is the State of Israel.
Ingrafted Branches
Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all!Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious. But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their full inclusion bring!
I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles,I take pride in my ministry in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them. For if their rejection brought reconciliation to the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? If the part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches.
If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, do not consider yourself to be superior to those other branches. If you do, consider 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.” Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but tremble. For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either.
Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that 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. After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree! Romans 11,11
The olive tree has become therefore the symbol of the Tree of Life that God planted on Earth, a tree that will give to mankind full life and happiness, joy and health, and goodness for the body; but in a higher sphere, the olive tree is a symbol of full life with God.
The Gospel explains quiet clearly that the olive tree is directely connected to Israel and to the Jewish people, but also to Christianity, as the roots of Christians is found in Judaism and in Israel. Jesus is an Israelite Jew and the oil tree is everywhere mentioned in the Gospel of Jesus of Nazareth.
Before Jesus times, in the Ancient Testament there is an emblematic story about the olive oil that shows how precious was for Israeli families; God send the Prophet Elija to a widow, to let her know that the olive oil will not finish in her home, and even if she had a little, her jars will be filled up endlessly, by God intervention.
Elijah and the Widow at Zarephath
Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. Then the word of the Lord came to him: “Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widow there to supply you with food.” So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, “Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?” As she was going to get it, he called, “And bring me, please, a piece of bread.”
“As surely as the Lord your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die.”
Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.’” 1 Book of Kings 17,9
For a Israelite woman, a widow that looked at her life without hope, God send a prophet to let her know that the oil, the symbol of life and strength, not only will not finish, but God will make sure she had plenty of it, in her house. This is very important, because with this Divine and Prophetic intervention, God wanted to send a clear messegge to the Israeli people. I am God, i will take care of your life and the oil, that was also used for the Light of the Temple of God in Jerusalem, will always be in our home. And with the oil, the life that the oil symbolizes, would come the fullness of God's care, into the life of the people of Israel.
Christians are also attached to the legacy of Israel and the olive trees, becouse the Christians are grafted into Israel, and there is no Christianity, without the Jewish people of Israel. From Israel and the Jews we receive life, and life in abundance, Divine life and the fullness of the life of God.
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