Through unbelief and the rejection of Heaven's purpose for her, Israel as a nation had lost her connection with God. But the branches that had been separated from the parent 378 stock God was able to reunite with the true stock of Israel --the remnant who had remained true to the God of their fathers. "They also," the apostle declares of these broken branches, "if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be grafted in: for God is able to graft them in again." "If thou," he writes to the Gentiles, "wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree? For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in.

På grund af vantro og forkastelse af Himmelens formål havde Israel som folk mistet sin forbindelse med Gud. Men de grene, der var blevet adskilt fra moderstammen, kunne ved Guds hjælp atter forenes med Israels sande træ, den rest, der var forblevet tro mod deres fædres Gud. "Men også de andre skal blive indpodet," siger apostlen om disse afhuggede grene, "hvis de ikke bliver i deres vantro; Gud har jo magt til at indpode dem igen. Thi når du blev hugget af det vilde oliventræ," skriver han til hedningerne, "som du af naturen hører til, og imod naturens orden blev indpodet i et ædelt oliventræ, hvor meget snarere skal da ikke de andre indpodes i deres eget oliventræ, som de af naturen hører til."