Discussions regarding Biblical eschatology can often be contentious. The unique nature of prophetic and apocalyptic literature along with an often deep connection or identification with the underlying theology of end-times positions make for quite the emotionally invested topic. And this is certainly the case when also considering the question of whether and how the modern state of Israel factors into that eschatology. As we have seen many times thus far, some eschatological camps, especially Dispensational ones, hold that modern Israel has a rather large role left to play in the unfolding of the Last Days.
But, though we often consider books like Ezekiel, Daniel, and Revelation as the primary books regarding end-times theology and predictions, there is quite a bit of eschatological content interspersed throughout the other books of the Old and New Testaments. And one of the primary references given by those espousing an important, God-ordained role for modern Israel in the future is that of Romans 11. This chapter has quite a bit to say about the relationship between Israel to the Gentiles. But is its message one that we can or should point to as evidence of a future plan for the state of Israel post-1948? That’s what we are here to find out.
Signs of the Times
In Matthew 24, often referred to as the Olivet Discourse, the disciples ask Jesus to, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” One of the primary goals of eschatology as a subset of Christian theology is to understand the proper role and scope of what are often referred to as the “Signs of the Times.” There are a number of signs that are identified throughout Scripture, one important one being the preaching and spread of the Gospel. As Hoekema considers, “The missionary preaching of the gospel to all the nations is, in fact, the outstanding and most characteristic sign of the times. It gives to the present age its primary meaning and purpose.”
This primary Sign of the Times is also intertwined with that of Romans 11. Another sign is said to be that of “the salvation of the fulness of Israel.” This sign is usually represented by way of a particular reference to Romans 11, verses 25 and 26, which reads:
“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. And in this way all Israel will be saved…”
In some ways, this sign overlaps with the preaching of the Gospel itself but Paul seems to spend quite a bit of time and attention in the book of Romans on this topic in particular. As is always proper, we cannot and should not consider this verse in isolation with its context.
Paul’s Anguish Over Israel
The relevant context for Romans 11 actually seems to stretch back to chapter 9. Beginning here, Paul begins to elaborate on what he calls a, “great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart” for his brothers. “They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises.” He even goes so far as to bargain that, “I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh.” And in chapter 10, he simply states that his “heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved.”
The prior two chapters set up, in quite a bit of detail, Paul’s thoughts on the future of Israel, a people that seem to have rejected the very Gospel message in Christ that they were part of foreshadowing. He does this in a number of important ways. One rather important one is that of the notion of a faithful remnant of believers. He begins that task in chapter 9, verse 6, where he emphasizes that “not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring.” Even more explicitly, he quotes Isaiah 10:22, applying this verse to Israel for the future, that “though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved.”
He also recalls the example in Elijah in chapter 11, verses 3-5 where, in response to Elijah’s appeal against a disobedient and unholy people, God replies that “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal,” and concludes that, “so too at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace.” This establishment of scope regarding a remnant of Israel as part of the elect is an important factor in understanding the subsequent scope and purpose of the latter portions of Romans 11. As Brian Godawa states, “Paul differentiated between ethnic Israel and true Israel of faith by the concept of the remnant…The root of ‘Israel’ in Romans 11 is that remnant of the spiritually faithful, it is not the physical or earthly nation called Israel.” With this idea in mind, let us see how this conclusions meshes with the rest of Romans 11.
What Mystery Is Paul Referring To?
We come, then, to dealing with some important concepts contained within the oft-cited verse itself, first, the “mystery” referred to in Romans 11:25. That mystery does appear to at least be summarized alongside the verse itself: “a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And in this way all Israel will be saved…” However, a lot can be read into and overlaid onto this passage in order to arrive at a very particular understanding so careful exegesis of some of the terminology and context of the passage is important.
Regarding the mystery itself, we must first recall that the full extent of Paul’s treatment in the book of Romans actually occurs within the entire block of the letter from chapters 9 through 11. Recall that Paul develops in previous chapters the examples of God choosing some over others, using the examples of Isaac and Ishmael, Jacob and Esau, and even Pharaoh from the story of the Exodus whose heart we know God hardened. He speaks of “vessel(s) for honorable use” and “vessels of wrath prepared for destruction.” This narrative is brought to a conclusion earlier in chapter 9 verse 7, where “the elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened, as it is written, ‘God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear, down to this very day.”
And beginning in verse 11, we see the crux of this mystery unfold:
“Did they stumble in order that they might fall? By no means! Rather, through their trespass salvation has come to the gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous…as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them.”
It is this mystery that Paul refers to. The initial extension of the Kingdom of God to the Gentiles caught Paul and the early church fathers somewhat by surprise. Elsewhere in chapter 11, Paul speaks about the olive tree onto which Israel and the Gentiles are grafted in or cut off and the ingrafting of the Gentiles has made Israel jealous. Paul’s will, which surely reflects God’s will in this instance, desires that as many as possible, Israelite and Gentile, come to salvation as possible and God is seemingly not above using human jealousy as a motivating means to do so.
As Hoekema summarizes, “the failure of the majority of the Israelites to accept Christ has been used by God to bring salvation to the Gentiles. But the salvation of the Gentiles, in turn, is now being used by God to make the Jews jealous and thus to turn them back to him.”
This is, indeed, quite the mystery.
What Is Meant by ‘All Israel’?
Another key phrase that is contentious within this passage is that of “all Israel” being saved. There are actually three major views of this clause and one’s chosen interpretation can have quite a bit of impact on one’s eschatological views.
The first possible view is that “all Israel” here refers to a physical nation of Israel that will be converted in the future. This view is especially prevalent in Dispensational circles due to the various motivations inherent in Dispensational theology. Dispensationalists largely believe that Israel and the Gentiles proper retain distinct eschatological destinies and view this verse as maintaining that distinction. Classically, the intermediate “church age” period is a “parenthetical” age in which the fullness of the Gentiles are brought to salvation. This is followed by the return of Christ and the ushering in of Christ’s Millennial Kingdom reign, the seat of which will be that redeemed Jewish nation. This is likely to be the primary premillennial view you will encounter, at least in American evangelical circles, though other variations on this view exist, the common thread being the expectation of a future conversion of the physical nation of Israel.
Another view advanced predominantly by John Calvin is that the “all Israel” clause actually shifts in its meaning here. Calvin views the phrase “all Israel,” as distinct from previous usages of the term in the preceding chapters, as invoking the “Israel of God” of Galatians 6 or the True Israel that is Christ. This view, then, is quite inclusive of many eschatological viewpoints as it would seem to hearken simply to the salvation of all God’s elect throughout all of history.
The third view is in some ways a mixture of the two with its own merits. It views the phrase “all Israel” as simply referring to the fullness of the elect among the Jews as distinct from the Gentiles. In this way, it is more restrictive than the second view in that it does not include all of the elect but is also more inclusive than the first in that it also considers Jewish salvation across all time and geography, not just a physical, temporal Jewish nation.
So Which View Is Correct?
In the estimation of many conservative amillennial and even postmillennial authors, the third view offers the best and most Biblical Scriptural case. For one, the New Testament goes to great lengths, here in Romans and elsewhere, to emphasize the lack of distinction between Jew and Gentile in the post-Christ age. For instance, Romans 10:12 offers, “For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and bestows his riches upon all who call upon him.” This is emphasized further in Romans 11 with the illustration of the single olive tree in which both Gentile and Jew are grafted into or cut off from. Given that there is one olive tree and, ultimately, one method of salvation through Christ, this view is the most consistent with an understanding of a continual bringing to salvation of Jews and Gentiles throughout history, not of separate and clearly defined periods.
Some translations emphasize the plausibility of the first view by using the particular phrasing “and so all Israel” and this leads some to assume that Paul intends to communicate a temporal meaning of the text, such as “then all Israel will be saved.” But the original Greek term used, “houtos”, lacks such temporal connotation to the exclusion of other Greek terms that would have been more fitting were that the intended meaning. As well, such a temporal understanding undercuts the very implication being made in the first view. If “all Israel” is only to experience national salvation after the fulness of the Gentiles is achieved, what of the Jewish people who lived and died during the time of the Gentiles, from the time of Paul to this future age? How, indeed, would this truly constitute “all [national] Israel” at all? We should, therefore, view the language here as describing more of a cyclical process than a linear one.
The difficulty with the second, Calvinic view is a more textual one. The prior references within the book of Romans seem to speak of Israel in distinctionfromGentile but the claim is that the last reference, to that of “all Israel,” should be understood as shifting in scope to the True Israel of God. While this is perhaps a possible reading of the text, it is not the most natural one and both Dispensational and non-Dispensational authors agree that it is difficult to support given the straightforward, literal reading of the text. However, given the acceptance of the third view of the phrase, the Calvinic understanding is rendered at best complementary or, at worst, unnecessary.
The third view is most consistent with the theme of Romans 9-11 that precedes the passage and also with the conclusion of chapter 11. Paul cites Isaiah 59:20, “The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob,” which more fittingly refers to Christ’s first coming than His second. As well, Paul continues in verse 30 that, “For just as you were at one time disobedient to God but now have receivedmercy because of their disobedience, 31 so they too have now beendisobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may now receivemercy (emphasis mine).” This language seems to imply a description of the present state, not a far-off period of time.
The Bottom Line
Taking these factors into account, that of the faithful remnant of Israel as distinct from ethnic Israel, the timing and nature of the working of the mystery of Romans 11, and a scripturally consistent reading of the “all Israel” passage, we can begin to see that Romans 11 does not require the common Dispensational conclusions that it is often used to support. While it may be possible to find other passages in Scripture that point to a role for the modern state of Israel, Romans 11 is not one of those passages. In fact, Romans 11 actually presents a much more hopeful message, that of a God using every means available to draw all of His covenant peoples to Himself.
However, it should be noted that most scholars do see Romans 11 as predicting the conversion of Jews to Christianity in great numbers during the present age. And, while the state of Israel may not play a prominent role as an entity in itself or represent a particular fulfillment of prophecy, there is nothing preventing God from using this great concentration of Jewish descendants to bring about a portion of these noble ends and to bring Himself glory in the process. Indeed, no matter what one’s view of the nature of the state of Israel, we should always desire that people from all nations will turn to Christ.