And in this way all Israel will be saved…
5 Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written,
“The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”; 27 “and this will be my covenant with them. when I take away their sins.”
Zechariah., the prophet, speaks of a time when Israel is in dire straits as she is attacked by the nations of the world. She is about to be completely overrun and Jesus returns to the Mt. of Olives (Ch 14). In Ch 12 we read that Israel will look on him whom they pierced and shall mourn in repentance; the deliverer has come to Zion and taken away her sins as the new covenant promised (Isa 50:20) As we read 12-14 we see that much of Israel has been decimated. Only a fraction of the nation remains. However, that fraction embraces Messiah and the kingdom of God in its fullness is realised. At that point ‘all Israel’ is saved an expression that seems to imply the ‘full number of Israel’ over many centuries like the ‘full number of gentiles’ includes all gentiles over history (Roms 11v25).
Arguments that support the view that it is ethnic Israel that is saved in the text include:
• Ethnic Israel and her salvation has been the topic since the beginning (9:1-3)
• In Ch 10, ethnic Israel was unsaved because she rejected God’s righteousness in Christ,
• Paul has spoken of Israel’s present rejection and compared this to a future acceptance. This tells us the nation is in view; it is Israel not gentiles that has been temporarily rejected (v11,).
• Paul says if Israel’s rejection meant riches for the gentiles how much more will her full inclusion mean (11:13). Note the Israel/gentile contrast.
• If wild branches can be drafted in (gentiles) then the natural branches (Jews) can surely be re-grafted into their own olive tree (tree of patriarchal promise).
• The Israel of v 25 is the same Israel in v26. A very strong signal would need to be given by Paul to surmise otherwise.
• Ungodliness banished from Jacob. Jacob is a title for Israel that sometimes stresses her waywardness. Normally it is Israel who is banished, now it is her sins.
• The ‘deliverer coming from/to Zion’ is describe in Zech 12-14 as the Second Coming of Christ to effect both a geopolitical and spiritual deliverance for Israel.
• Beloved for the sake of their forefathers (the patriarchs). Often in the OT when Israel fails it is God’s love and his promise to the patriarchs that causes him to act in grace (Deut 7:8; 10:15).
Israel is not the church
It is true that Christ’s ‘holy nation’ is his church, composed of Jews and gentiles. It is true that the church is Israel expanded and made international as gentiles are brought into her commonwealth, covenants and promises (Eph 2). The church is the true circumcision. However, it is a mistake to fudge Jew and gentile in Romans 9-11. In these chapters both are kept distinct. ‘All Israel saved’ is not ‘all the church saved’. It is the salvation of ethnic Israel that is in view. What a joy it will be to see a nation stubbornly blind to where her peace lay and who suffered so much as a result have their eyes opened to embrace their Messiah when he appears to save them from geopolitical conflict and from spiritual blindness. It will mean mean life from the dead not only for them but for all creation – what Jesus calls, the regeneration of all things (Matt 19:28).
In this way all Israel will be saved
‘In this way’ seems to mean, God has brought a partial hardening upon Israel until the full number of gentiles are converted and then he will turn to Israel to save her. Ultimately Jew and gentile will be mutually dependent.
Cave Adullam 