I suppose my question is how do we view the olive tree? Is it the outward covenant community, or is it just the elect? Would you say that the unbelievers can really be a part of the tree at all? I am supposing that the broken off branches must be those of the external covenant who have never "known" Christ, but who are connected to His people.
I heard an interpretation of this passage about the olive tree. Israel the olive tree was cut down because of unbelief. A branch sprouted (which is Christ) from the Jewish root, and we gentile believers and Jewish believers are being grafted into Christ by faith.
