In the prophetic parable we are studying it was anticipated that this would happen. The master of the vineyard, our Heavenly Father, therefore said to his servant, who would appear to be the Savior, that it grieved him to lose this tree, which was what was left of Israel. He therefore instructed the servant, or the Savior, to get some branches from a wild olive tree and bring them to him. He said their next step would be to cut out the main branches of the mother tree which were beginning to wither and cast them into the fire.
It will be recalled that the few Jews who did accept the gospel in Christ's day, carried it to the Gentile nations and thereby brought new life to the decaying vitality of Israel. This work was done primarily by Paul the Apostle. The Gentile Christians were the "wild" olive branches which were grafted into the tame olive tree of Israel. The dead branches which were plucked off and burned were the Jews who were destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D.when Jerusalem was sacked and burned.
Meanwhile the master of the vineyard had instructed the servant to take away many of the young and tender branches so the master could plant them elsewhere. He said that in case the root of the mother tree should perish, he would still be able to preserve the strain of fruit represented by the tame olive tree because the branches of Israel that would be planted in other parts of the world would survive. These young and tender branches which were transplanted in various parts of the earth represent colonies of Israelites, such as the colony of Lehi and the colony of the Mulekites, which were taken by the Lord to various corners of the world.