A Short & Concise Analysis of Rom. 11:26—All Israel Will Be Saved!

This will not be a verse by verse commentary on Romans 9-11. It will be a short and concise (or succinct) analysis of all the pertinent passages in these chapters that have to do with understanding what Paul is actually talking about in Rom. 11:26. It is a thorough biblical exegesis, not an eisegesis. You will find no a priori theological biases here. I wouldn’t want it any other way. And, hopefully, neither do you. Our goal is to please God, not man. And definitely not any naturally thinking and carnally minded reasoning Jews. And this goes for any Messianic Jews, Christians Zionists and dispensationalists who give more credit to natural Jews here in these chapters than what Paul is actually allowing for.

Nothing of what Paul is saying in these chapters is about natural Israel, per se, as it is more about those who have faith in God or in Christ and the reason why they do, and why the rest remain hardened. Some are said to be shown “mercy,” while the rest are left to themselves only to become “hardened.” And this is true of the Gentiles as well. This is Paul’s thesis throughout these chapters, and even throughout the entire Bible from Adam to the last man at the last trump of Christ. This is the crux of the whole matter that is set before us. And if it were all just that simple, which it is, we could stop right here. But it isn’t, so let’s probe a little deeper and see what all the fuss is about.

In Romans 9-11, Paul is talking about how God sovereignly in the Old Testament, as well as in the New Testament, selectively chooses (or elects) individuals from the Israelites and the Gentiles to be His “children of the promise.” (cp. Rom. 9:8, 24 w/Gal. 4:28). And if the Church (or all of these “called-out” ones) are all these “children of the promise,” then it stands to reason that there will be no opportunity for others to be designated as such in the future after the Church is raptured (which says something about those who believe there will be a future here on earth for the Jews after the rapture). That being said, there is no other time period (or dispensation) in which this occurs. From Adam, to Enoch, to Noah, to Abraham and even to us there has always been a “child of the promise”—with all others excluded! And this "exclusion" includes all natural unbelieving Jews as well whom God has destined to remain in unbelief (see 9:15, 22-24; 11:7f). It is the same tension and struggle (or the enmity) between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent described for us in Gen. 3:15. And if we don’t keep this overall idea of the sovereign election of God in mind when reading Romans 9-11, we will come up with another meaning or idea that is NOT in keeping with this context.

Now before embarking on a more comprehensive analysis of the overall context of Romans 9-11, and even as far back as beginning in Rom. 8:28-39, let’s just cut right to the chase and go right for the jugular vein of all the particulars in Rom. 11:25-26. These “particulars” are: (1) the word “until,” (2) the words “and so” (or “in this way”) and (3) “all Israel”—in that order.

First of all, the Greek word for “until” in the New Testament is achri or heos. To often the word “until” has been understood in Rom. 11:25 as marking the beginning of a new state of things that are to occur with regards to Israel after all Gentiles are saved. Yet the word in and of itself does not necessarily imply a new beginning of things to happen after a termination point, but can also denote a continuation of something alongside or right up until something else is completed or fulfilled. Such is the case with the Greek achri (“until”) used here in verse 25.

To be fair, when one studies the usage of the word “until” in the NT, they will come to find that its meaning is determined solely by each individual context in which it is found. It often denotes something going on until a termination point, with nothing occurring thereafter; or it can denote something happening that may actually continue thereafter. Again, only the context of what is being said determines for us that something can be different or change after the word “until,” or that something does not become different or change afterward at all; in the latter case, the word “until” thus becomes a terminus of an event described, with nothing further to happen thereafter.

To further illustrate these two examples noted above, in Php. 1:5 Paul talks of the Philippians partnership in the gospel “from the first day until (achri) now.” Did this mean that it would not continue thereafter? Of course not. On the other hand, in verse 6 Paul talks about God carrying on the good work began in us to completion “until (achri) the Day of Christ.” Here this seems to plainly denote a completion that isn’t to continue after the Day of Christ. Its terminus a quo is on the Day of Christ, assuming that this “Day of Christ” is the Second Coming of Christ and not some other day. Again, in Mat. 27:8 the potter’s field “is called the Field of Blood until (heos) this day.” Does this mean it wasn’t called this after that day in which Matthew wrote his gospel? Not at all. But in contradistinction to this inferred continuance in verse 8, in verse 64 we are told that guards were posted at Christ’s tomb “until (heos) the third day.” Clearly, no guards were posted after the third day. And, clearly in these immediate contexts “until” means one thing in one place, while meaning an entirely different thing in another place. That much is clear.

Now all the events described by Paul in Romans 9-11, particularly as it relates to the Church age (which they do), were to transpire right up until God is finished with choosing elect Gentiles and Jews as His “children of promise.” It is in this manner that all elect Israelites will be saved, as well as all elect Gentiles. Again, it’s the overall context that determines this for us. And if that is still not enough, then let’s move on to the second “particular” in Rom. 11:26.

Secondly, the Greek words for “and so” (in the KJV and many other translations) are kai houtos, and mean: “and in this manner.” Houtos does not mean “after this time” or after the event being described in verse 25. It is not “after that” event of the fullness of the Gentiles has come in, that all Israel will be saved. It is to be in the same manner as all Gentiles are saved, with a hardening in only “part” of the Jews to remain right up until the full number of the Gentiles are saved. “And so” (or "in this manner") a full number of elect Jews (or Israelites) will also be saved. We can see these Greek words used in this manner (pun intended) just earlier in verse 5, and translated as “even so” in the KJV, and again just a little bit later in verse 31, likewise translated as “even so” in the KJV. In verse 5 it says that just as God reserved for Himself a remnant in Elijah’s day, even so (or in this manner) is a remnant presently chosen by grace from the Jews. In verse 30, just as us Gentiles were once disobedient and have now received mercy as a result of the Jews disobedience, even so (or in this manner) the Jews are now disobedient in order that they too may also now receive mercy as a result of God’s mercy to us (v. 31). And verse 32 concludes that “all” of God’s elect have been bound over to disobedience, so that He might have mercy upon them “all.” And, clearly, these “all” in context are all those whom He calls and saves (otherwise, Paul would be teaching universalism here). But “all” of us had to be bound over to disobedience first, in order that we might “all” receive God’s grace and mercy. This is the “mystery” that Paul is referring to; he is revealing it to us now so that everyone can understand why things are happening the way they are, and so that no one can boast!

Additionally, if “all” Israel in verses 30-32 who are shown “mercy,” is the “all” Israel in verse 26, then the same would have to be said of all Gentiles as well (which is exactly how some interpret all of this in order to be consistent). But Paul has just said earlier in Rom. 9:15 that God’s “mercy” is selective and not shown to “all”; otherwise, “mercy” would not be “mercy” but something we deserve. So, understood this way, verses 30-32 really do help us to know that we are not talking about all Jews being saved in some future day as a whole, but only about a “remnant” who are being saved in the past, present and future. And this goes for Gentiles as well. Any other sense is just utter nonsense. Verses 30-32 really do guard us against the notion that “all” means every single Jew or every single Gentile. And the repeated “now’s” let us know that all of this is presently ongoing, and not just at some point and time in the future.

Now, Paul uses the Greek words kai houtos over and over again in Rom. 1:15; 4:18; 5:12, 15, 18, 19, 21; 6:4, 11, 19; 9:20; 10:6; 12:5 and 15:20. And in none of these instances does it denote “and after that time” or “and after this time.” In every instance it is understood of something or someone that does or says something similar to what has just been described previously. And in Rom. 5:12, the KJV even translates it “and so” as our text in question here in Rom. 11:26. In Rom. 5:12, the KJV reads: “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” Here Paul says that as death was the result of Adam’s sin, in like manner death occurs to all of us as well who have sinned (saying nothing of whether our sin and death is the result of Adam’s sin and death, but only that as Adam died as a result of his sin, we also die as a result of us being sinners). Clearly, even the KJV translator’s didn’t view “and so” in Rom. 5:12 to be interpreted as “and after that time” or “and after this time,” unlike many today who erroneously read into these words in Rom. 11:26 a meaning that even the KJV translators didn’t give to it. In fact, when one looks at the Strong’s Concordance that is geared to the KJV, they will notice that even there it does not note the KJV translation as meaning, “and after that time” or “and after this time.” In the Strong’s Concordance, “after that” is understood as “after that manner” and “after this” is understood as “after this manner,” not “after that time” or “after this time.” Here are the words below that the KJV uses for yourself to read, as noted in the Strong’s Concordance:

in this way (referring to what precedes or follows): — after that, after (in) this manner, as, even (so), for all that, like(-wise), no more, on this fashion(-wise), so (in like manner), thus, what.

The meanings “after that time” or “after this time” are absolutely foreign to King James usage here. And “after that” clearly means “after (in) this manner.” Still don’t believe me! Then look up all the occurrences of how the KJV uses the words “after that.” There is only one of them. It is in 1Cor. 7:7, where it reads: “For I would that all men were even as I myself. But every man hath his proper gift of God, one after this manner, and another after that [manner].”[1] This verse is self-explanatory. No time element here! There is one more occurrence where the KJV translates these words as, “for all that.” It is in 1Cor. 14:21, where it reads: “In the law it is written, ‘With men of other tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people; and yet for all that will they not hear me, saith the Lord.’” Once again, no time element here! And many translations translate kai houtos here in 1Cor. 14:21 with “even so,” “even thus,” “even in this way,” and “even in this manner.” So there you have it! The KJV translators did not understand “after that” to mean that after what had just been previously mentioned that something else was to occur thereafter. In the one place that they say “after that,” it means “after (in) this manner.”

Even everywhere else where the KJV translators use the English words “and so,” they meant it to be understood as: “in this way” or “after (in) this manner.” These verses are: Jhn. 8:59; Acts 14:1; 28:14; 1Cor. 15:45; Gal. 6:2; 1Ths. 4:17; Heb. 6:15 and 12:21. The only two verses among this latter group that are somewhat difficult to understand, as they relate to understanding the meaning of kai houtos, are Acts 28:14 and Heb. 6:15. In Acts 28:14, it says that Paul and his entourage were invited by some brethren to stay seven days at Puteoli, and that [from] thus, or in this way, they proceeded to Rome. All that can be gathered from this usage of kai houtos (translated “and so” in the KJV), is that it was in this way or in this manner (i.e., from Puteoli) that Paul and his group went on to Rome. To read the word “time” in here as, “after this time” or “after that time” is foreign to the usage of these words and, again, an interpolation rather than a proper translation. In Heb. 6:13-15, with special attention to be paid to verse 15, these verses talk about God making a promise to Abraham. And since God could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, “I will surely bless you and I will surely multiply you.” And then verse 15 states, “And so [or, after (in) this manner], having patiently waited, he [Abraham] obtained the promise.” It was after the manner of the promise given that Abraham waited patiently. Again, the words “after this time” are foreign to the usage of these words here. Abraham thus waited, based upon what was formerly promised to him. The emphasis isn’t on a “time” element here, as true as that may be, but upon Abraham following through on something based upon what was previously promised to him; it was in this manner that Abraham waited.

But what about the words “what” and “no more” noted above by Strong’s that are used in the KJV? There is one occurrence of each in the KJV. The former is found in Mat. 26:40, and is a strange translation indeed. But in keeping with the idea of “thus” or “so,” many translations actually just use the word “so.” One translation will suffice though. In the ESV this reads, “And he [Christ] came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour?” It was in the manner described beforehand that Jesus took notice why the disciples could not pray. The latter occurrence is found in Jhn. 15:4, and it too is a strange translation. But God’s Word Translation, I believe, brings out the correct nuance in keeping with the meaning of houtos. It reads, “Live in me, and I will live in you. A branch cannot produce any fruit by itself. It has to stay attached to the vine. In the same way, you cannot produce fruit unless you live in me."[1] Now all of this above makes all the more sense of how houtos is to be correctly understood.

And last, but not least, Dana and Mantey in their A Manual Grammar of the Greek NT note that the “os” (Gk. ws) ending on this demonstrative adverb houtos denotes “manner,” not time, and means “thus, so.”[3] A. T. Robertson agrees, “thus or so,” expressing “manner.”[4] And Thayer likewise adds that “by virtue of its demonstrative force it refers to what precedes; in the manner spoken of; in the way described; in the way it was done; in this manner; in such a manner; thus, so.”[5] And William Mounce,[6] Arndt and Gingrich,[7] E. W. Bullinger[8] and W. E. Vine[9] are all unanimous: “thus, so, in this manner.” So if we are not talking about a “time” after all Gentiles are saved, what then are we talking about here? By now it should be evident. Paul is discussing “a manner” in which all elect Jews are saved in the same way that all elect Gentiles are saved, from Christ’s first coming to His second coming, with a “part” of them to always to remain hardened as Paul said just earlier in 11:7. No more and no less is to be ascertained in the meaning of this Greek word houtos. To read any other meaning into it is simply just a display of one’s own ignorance of Greek grammar. And “ignorance” is not bliss here, which seems to be the case with a lot of Christians. And even with many Pastors and Teachers who are overseers of God’s flock. Instead of being able teachers, they are acting more like novices; instead of being “apt” to teach, they are displaying their absolute inaptitude. Now let’s move on to the third “particular” in Rom. 11:26 of who “all Israel” is.

Thirdly, as already alluded to above, “all Israel” in verse 26 is all elect Israelites,[10] also referred to as the “fullness” (or complete number) in verses 12, just as all elect Gentiles are the “fullness” (or complete number) in verse 25, with all of this said by Paul to be going on “now”[11] (or, lit., “from henceforth” in vv. 5, 30-31), not later. Some will also try to argue that the Greek word, pleroma, for the word “fullness” used of the Jews in verse 12, is to be understood differently than the same Greek word used of the Gentiles in verse 25. But this is mincing over words that are of no benefit to the hearers. Such arguments are fallacious and a futile attempt to overthrow the obvious. And the obvious import of Paul’s thesis is that a complete number (or “fullness”) of Jews will be saved at this present time, along with and next to a complete number (or “fullness”) of Gentiles. This is the doctrine of election beloved for all of God’s children of promise: “children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God” (Jhn. 1:13). I like how God’s Word Translation translates this verse: “These people didn’t become God’s children in a physical way—from a human impulse or from a husband’s desire [to have a child].” And this is Paul’s argument throughout Romans 9-11, and even as far back as Rom. 8:28-39. This is the clear, unadulterated teaching of the Scriptures. What we are talking about here is not “from a husband’s desire [to have a child],” as Abraham attempted to do with Ishmael, but about God’s sole desire to have children born entirely by Him according to His “promise.” We see this pointedly of Jeremiah in chapter one, verse 5, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart.” We see this pointedly in the announcement of John the Baptist before he was even born (Lke. 1:13ff); we see this in Paul’s own testimony in Gal. 1:15; and we even see this in these present passages before us concerning Isaac and Jacob in Rom. 9:6-16.

So, there you have it in a nutshell! “All Israel” in Rom. 11:26 are all elect Jews whom God NOW chooses to be His “children of promise,” just like Isaac and Jacob. They are NOW part of the “fullness” or complete number (or remnant) from among the Jews, just as there is also a “fullness” or complete number (or remnant) from among the Gentiles. This is the “mystery” that is still a “mystery” to some: A “part” of the Jews and a “part” of the Gentiles will always remain hardened, while all the elect who are sovereignly chosen by God will be separated unto Him to be His designated “children of promise,” as seen in Rom. 9:6 and Gal. 4:28. And it is “in this manner” that all Israel (or all elect Jews), in tandem with all elect Gentiles, will be saved. After this comes the end, which is the Second Coming of Christ.

Now all of the above will be the basis or springboard for even a more detailed and thorough analysis given next on Romans 9-11. But if all the above has satisfied your desire in a short and concise manner for correctly understanding what Paul is talking about in Rom.11:25-26, then you have no need to read any further. But if you still find yourself thirsting for more, then, by all means, read what follows. I promise that you will not be disappointed if you enjoyed what you just read above. Click here.


Footnotes:

[1] Words in brackets mine for clarification. The majority of translations follow the KJV. And none of them say, “after this time” or “after that time.”
[2] A lot of translations use “thus” or “so” in the sense of “in like manner.”
[3] pp. 237, 238.
[4] A New Short Grammar of the Greek NT, 10th ed., p. 246. Italics his.
[5] p. 468,
[6] Basics of Biblical Greek, pp. 118, 408.
[7] A Greek-English Lexicon of the NT, p. 597f.
[8] A Critical Lexicon and Concordance to the English and Greek NT, p. 257.
[9] Vine’s Expos. Dict. of Old and New Testament Words, vol. 2, p. 45.
[10] “Israel” here, as most agree, is not referring to spiritual Israel, as is the case with the first “Israel” mentioned in Rom. 9:6, and also in Gal. 6:16. “Israel” here in verse 26 is referring to natural Jews whom God elects to salvation, just like those mentioned in verse 5. In verse 25, a “part” of natural Israel is hardened, while in verse 26, a part (or a “remnant,” v. 5) of natural Israel is saved.
[11] The Greek adverb noon (vuv) is used in all three of these verses, often translated elsewhere as “from henceforth,” “hereafter” or “from this time forward”; which is very telling indeed.

A Short & Concise Analysis of Rom. 11:26—All Israel Will Be Saved! (2 of 4)

Romans 9

In Romans 9, Paul just got through using Isaac and Jacob as examples of God’s election (or choosing process), and then refers to them as “the children of the promise” (v. 8). They are what Paul also refers to as “vessels of mercy prepared in advance for glory” (v. 23), and then immediately states that all this is inclusive of “even us, whom He has called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles” (v. 24). No one would doubt that Paul is part of the spiritual Israel of God that he mentions in verse 6. For he says, “even us!” But just when you thought that Paul by saying “even us,” as meaning, “even us Jews today,” he immediately qualifies this statement by saying, “not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles!” And then right after this Paul quotes God in Hosea, who says, “I will call those who were not My people, ‘My people…’” (v. 25). Again, in context, who are “My people”? Israel! Israel according the Spirit, and not according to the flesh. And Paul also confirms this idea about the Gentiles in his epistle to the Ephesians. There he writes, “remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ….Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of His household” (2:12-13, 19). Citizenry in Israel is now inclusive of Gentiles, not exclusive. This Israel of God is not replaced, but enlarged upon, even as God foretold through His prophet Isaiah:

But in the future He will bring honor to the Way of the Sea, to the land east of the Jordan, and to Galilee of the nations (or the Gentiles). The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; a light has dawned on those living in the land of darkness. You have ENLARGED the nation and increased its joy. The people have rejoiced before You as they rejoice at harvest time and as they rejoice when dividing spoils (9:1-3).

This prophecy began to see its fulfillment in the days of Jesus, in Mat. 4:15-16.

Once again Isaiah says, “In the days to come Jacob will take root, Israel will bud and blossom and fill all the world with fruit” (27:6). Is all of this to be understood literally? Is natural Israel going to fill all the world with natural fruit trees? Not at all. Just as “root,” “bud” and “blossom” are not literal, neither is “fruit.” The “fruit” God is talking about is the “fruit” Paul said he wanted “among the Gentiles” (Rom. 1:13, KJV). “Fruit” in Christ’s kingdom, rule and reign is people all over the world. “The gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world—just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace” (Col. 1:6).

Again, Isaiah says, “You have enlarged the nation, O Lord; you have enlarged the nation. You have gained glory for yourself; you have extended all the borders of the land….Your [or, ‘our’] eyes will see the King in His beauty and view a land that stretches afar” (26:15; 33:17). All the meek, in Christ, are in one way or another inheriting the earth in their own special way. Indeed, God’s knowledge is now covering the earth as the waters cover the sea. And we are truly seeing the King in all His beauty, spiritually speaking, that is. And even the “land that stretches afar,” for all practical intents and purposes, by the very nature of the case, extends even to “a better country—a heavenly one!” (Heb. 11:16), wouldn’t you agree? The author of Hebrews somehow saw that the promises made to the Patriarchs encompassed much more than literal real estate. To be sure, they eventually acquired all the natural land that was promised to them.[1] But, truly, they envisioned a land whose borders extended way beyond Palestine and on into heaven; and even a kingdom that is “not of this world” (Jhn. 18:36).

Of note in all of this that is said above, is the fact that in Isaiah 54:1, as quoted by Paul in Gal. 4:27 with regards to children born of a barren woman not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit, God continues to say of her: “Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes. For you will spread out to the right and to the left; your descendants will dispossess nations and settle in their desolate cities.” (vv. 2-3). Of a truth, Christ’s twelve Jewish apostles most assuredly began to do this. And just earlier in Isaiah, God had also alluded to this same “barren woman” who could not physically bear children,

Then you will say in your heart, “Who bore me these? I was bereaved and barren; who brought these up? I was left alone, but these—where have they come from?” This is what the Sovereign Lord says: “See (or Look), I will beckon the Gentiles, I will lift up My banner to the peoples (or nations); I will bring your sons in their arms and carry your daughters on their shoulders” (Isa. 51:21-22).

These are all “sons” and “daughters” by faith. Abraham’s (or dare I say, “Israel’s”) children of faith! Born not of a husband, but born of the Spirit. These are all those promised to Christ, the Suffering Servant in Isaiah 53, whom just prior to Isaiah 54:1 which was quoted by Paul, was “cut off” (v. 8) with no children, but would nevertheless “see His seed” (v. 10). He who physically bore no children, would rejoice and sing over the fact that He would have more children than of those who could physically bear children on their own. Now all of this begins to make sense, when God additionally says though Isaiah,

Before she goes into labor, she gives birth; before the pains come upon her, she delivers a son. Who has ever heard of such a thing? Who has ever seen such things? Can a country be born in a day or a nation be brought forth in a moment? Yet no sooner is Zion in labor than she gives birth to her children. “Do I bring to the moment of birth and not give delivery?” says the LORD. “Do I close up the womb when I bring to delivery?” says your God. Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad for her, all you who love her; rejoice greatly with her, all you who mourn over her. For you will nurse and be satisfied at her comforting breasts; you will drink deeply and delight in her overflowing abundance. For this is what the LORD says: “I will extend peace to her like a river, and the wealth of nations like a flooding stream; you will nurse and be carried on her arm and dandled on her knees.” (66:7-11).

This is the heavenly “Jerusalem” from above beloved, that Paul expounds upon in Gal. 4:26ff as the “mother of us all.” They are all those whom Paul, also as a mother, “labored and travailed in birth again,” till Christ be formed in them (Gal. 4:19); with them, in turn, no sooner giving birth to children born not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. She is “the bride, the wife of the Lamb,” typified by this great city called “Jerusalem” (the true “city of peace”) with all of its marvelous stones that are, in this case, cut without men’s hands (Rev. 21:2, 9-10; Isa. 51:1; 1Pet. 2:5), with Jesus Christ being the Chief Cornerstone. They are the spiritual Mt. Zion whom the Psalmist says of those of Babylon, Philistia, Tyre and Cush who are all “born in her”; with even God resounding with joy, “All My fountains are in you!” (87:4-7). In US! His ekklesia or “called-out” ones.

Is your heart not beginning to burn within you as these Scriptures are being read unto you? Are you beginning to think that “never a man spake like this before”? It is throughout all of holy writ for those with the eyes to see it, and the ears to hear it. For this is what we should be speaking, says Paul, “not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are FOOLISHNESS to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.” (1Cor. 2:13-14). Any other sense of a “literal” sense that understands all of this to literally happen in the future, is just utter nonsense. Even Christ would be the first to tell you that—and He has!

By now, it should come as no surprise to us that Jesus would say unto His Jewish disciples: “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” Or even, who are My children? “It is all those who do the will of My father in heaven.” (cp. Mat. 12:48, 49; Heb. 2:13). These are “the children of the promise”—all of our brothers and sisters in Christ! Hidden in the words of the prophets in ages past, but now revealed unto us by God’s Spirit. Don’t tell me God’s Ekklesia (or “called-out” ones) are not mentioned in the Old Testament. They are everywhere to be seen, for the eyes that can see. Many dispensationalists have made the word “Church” to mean more than it was really meant to mean, as if it were a “new thing” in New Testament times. But it is just a Greek word that describes all who are: “called-out.” And these “called-out” ones are everywhere in holy writ, both in the Old and the New Testaments. In fact, Stephen even refers to them in Acts 7:38 as “the church in the wilderness” (KJV). So let all gainsayers and naysayers to the contrary be silenced. It may still be a “mystery” to them. But, by now, it should no longer be a mystery to us. If by now you should be teachers, is it really that someone else needs to teach YOU about the elementary principles and doctrines about Christ? Are your “senses” truly exercised to discern between good and evil; between what is natural verses what is spiritual? This is the stone of stumbling for some; the rock that brings offense. This is the sword that both cuts and divides us.

Now we know we are talking about spiritual Israel mentioned above in Ephesians chapter 2, and not natural Israel, because God’s “people” in verse 19, which is synonymous with “Israel” in verse 12, literally translated reads: “saints” (KJV, ESV, NASB, etc.). Do you see that? Natural Israel is never referred to as God’s “saints;” only the true spiritual people of God are called “saints.” Christ, our Kinsman-Redeemer, has placed His garment over us and has adopted us to become the very sons of Israel. And this is even born out in a good translation of Isaiah 44:5, where future “descendents” of Jacob (or Israel) would also “surname” themselves with the name “Israel.”[2] No natural born Jew would need to do this. Therefore, all Gentiles who join themselves to God’s people are given a “new name,” something that was commonly practiced by God and by Christ with those who belonged to Them, even as Jacob’s name was replaced by God with the name, “Israel.” And just as Jacob was surnamed by God as “Israel,” so too have we been given the right to surname ourselves with this same name. In our case, we are assimilated into the one olive tree, called “Israel,” in Rom. 11:16ff, where no one can tell the difference between any of us. It is not about the color of our skin or our natural ethnicity. And this is why Paul could say just earlier in Rom. 10:12, “there is no difference.” In Christ, there really is “no difference.” In Christ, we “partake of the root and the fatness” of the one olive tree, Israel; no longer considered as “foreigners to the covenants of promise,” as Paul said above in Ephesians. Actually, the word “gentile” and “foreigner” is now foreign to us. Like Jacob, we too have been given a new name—“Israel.”

Additionally, when Paul says in Gal. 6:16, “those who will walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God” (NASB),” he was using a statement that was common back then to all natural Jews who included this in their prayer after giving The Eighteen Benedictions (or The Amidah), by saying, “Grant peace, goodness, blessing, grace, lovingkindness and mercy unto us and unto all Israel, Your people.”

Now, may I ask, are all natural Jews distinguishing between “us” and “unto all Israel, Your people” in their prayer as referring to two different groups or classes of people by using the conjunction "and," as all dispensationalists would have us believe of Gal. 6:16? Not at all! So then why should it be reasoned as such by these non-enlightened brethren among us with regards to this benediction that Paul is reciting to us here in Galatians? Paul, who was well acquainted with this prayer, knew exactly what he was saying when repeating this same blessing from God over His true people, now made up of both Jews and Gentiles. It was to “them” (or “us,” in natural Israel’s case with regards to their own prayer) “and upon the Israel of God,” who are the one and the selfsame people of God in Christ. The reason why Paul used the personal pronoun “them” instead of “us” was, I believe, to differentiate between one who is just a natural born Jew as opposed to “them” who in context are a new creation, whether they be physically circumcised or not. So Paul says, peace be upon all of “them,” and upon “them” alone. To all unbelieving Jews (and even Gentiles) only the wrath of God (and not peace) abides upon them.

It also should not go without saying here, that some dispensationalists argue that if it were really Paul’s intention to identify “them” of Gal. 6:16 as “the Israel of God,” then why didn’t Paul just “simply eliminate” the Greek kai (or “and”) after the word “mercy?” In their minds, omitting “and” would be “far more clear and to the point” if Paul were actually identifying the word “them,” with “Israel.” And if that were so, the verse would thus read: “And as many as shall walk by this rule, peace be upon them and mercy, upon the Israel of God.” Worded as such, according to dispensationalists an argument could then be made for the apposition of “the Israel of God” with “them,” and the translation of the NIV of kai as “even” could stand (as it is, they detest this translation). But their argument is more than offset by the fact that the Jews, who also used the conjunction “and,” had no problem in identifying the “us” in their benediction as also “all Israel, Your people.” So why didn’t they just “simply eliminate” the “and” after “us”? Wouldn’t the result have likewise been “far more clear and to the point” that “us” and “all Israel” are one and the selfsame people?

As is the case with this Jewish benediction above, Paul likewise didn’t think it necessary to eliminate “and” in his statement, for it perfectly agreed with how he and all Jews fully understood its usage in their own benediction. Clearly, kai, translated as “and,” was used by Paul in Gal. 6:16 after “them” to join and continue the idea that “the Israel of God” and “them” are both one and the same, just as “and” is used after “us” by the Jews in their benediction to also include the idea that “us” are those who are designated as “all Israel, Your people.” Clearly, with both, there is no discontinuity of thought, but only continuity. In either case, it would be a forced eisegesis to read into these statements anything other than what is simply and plainly being delineated to us in both of these instances. So, with that said, any translation of the Greek kai as “and,” “even,” “also,” or “namely” could very well fit the bill here. So, to mince over words and say that “and” distinguishes between two different groups or classes of people is clearly a case for mistaken identity. Such arguing over “words” is of no value to the hearers, but only ruins those who listen (cf. 1Tim. 6:4; 2Tim. 2:14); even overthrowing the faith of some.

So, have no doubt, spiritual Israel in Romans 9:6, in context, is in fact inclusive of all elect Gentiles as well in verse 24. This is extremely important for us to keep in mind as we study this idea presented to us in this chapter of who all “the children of the promise” are that are designated as this spiritual Israel of God. Does Romans chapter nine specifically refer to Jews? You bet it does: “they are not all Israel WHICH ARE OF ISRAEL.” But no sooner do we realize this, that we also realize that Paul includes all elect Gentiles as well in verse 24 and in Gal. 4:28. What is promised to all elect Jews on a spiritual level, is also inclusive of all elect Gentiles as well. Thus, this spiritual Israel of God is not “replaced” by the Church. They are the Church (which, again, just means “called-out” ones) who have EXPANDED and have become ENLARGED, in Christ, to include the Gentiles as well.

A lot of theology taught today in churches that God has a special place here on earth for all natural Jews, apart from the spiritual Israel of God, is in fact a “replacement theology.” All Jews who are not “the children of the promise” are only to be “cast out” like Ishmael, as Paul says of them in Gal. 4:29ff (read also the verses before this as well). And ironically, what all natural Jews undoubtedly interpret of Ishmael being “cast out” in Gen. 21:10 as akin to God’s rejection of Gentiles, Paul now boldly turns it all around and applies it to all unbelieving Jews as well. Paul’s verdict stands against all those who have no higher birth than that of Ishmael’s. And like Isaac’s half-brother Ishmael who “mocked” at such a notion, Jews in Paul’s day, in our day and, sadly, even those among us who are our so-called “brethren,” likewise laugh and ridicule those of us who would say or teach such a thing. Additionally, all those whom the Jews denoted as “dogs,” are in fact themselves now called “dogs” by God or Christ (cf. Isa. 56:10-11; Rev. 22:15). And what is also ironic is the fact that the Church (made up of all believing Jews and Gentiles) is now the true “Israel of God,” while all those outside of the Church (all unbelieving Jews and Gentiles) are now the “dogs.” What was true on a natural level, has been elevated to a spiritual level; the natural similitude and type has in fact been replaced, giving way to the spiritual antitype. By the very nature of the case, all the natural “types” have not, will not, nor ever will be the reality; the reality is in the spiritual antitype of Christ and His people who are chosen by God according to the Spirit of promise.

So what Paul says of all unbelieving Jews, John the Baptist and Jesus said the very same things. For John said, “do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God can make children for Abraham out of these stones” (Mat. 3:9, NKJV). And Christ likewise says, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham. But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this. You do the deeds of your father…. You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do” (Jhn. 8:39ff, NKJV).

Clearly in tandem with John the Baptist, Christ, and all the apostles, Paul says in Romans 9 that all such “children of the promise” are “not natural children who are God’s children” (v. 8a). And just when you might think that this is reasonable to speak this way of Ishmael, since his mother was not Sarah, Paul speaks of the twins of Jacob and Esau who actually did have parents of a so-called “correct” or “pure” lineage or pedigree. Yet even at that, God chose Jacob over Esau to be His designated “child of promise.” And even when Isaac from a fleshly carnal perspective preferred Esau over Jacob as his firstborn son with firstborn rights, God overrode that decision as well by allowing the firstborn rights to be handed over to Jacob. Nothing whatsoever was foreseen in these individuals that made God decide for or against them one way or the other. But “in order that God’s purpose in election might stand: not by works but by Him who calls—she [Rebekah] was told, ‘the older will serve the younger’” (vv. 11, 12). “What then shall we say?” says Paul, “Is God unjust? Not at all! For God says, ‘I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.’ It does not, therefore, depend on man’s desire (will) or effort, but on God’s mercy” (vv. 14-16). This is the blessed doctrine of unconditional election brethren.

Clearly, in this context, Paul says that all such “children of the promise” have nothing whatsoever to do with natural descent, though many among us in the Church still claim that Paul is talking about natural descent in order to qualify all as such. I hear it all the time. They say one has to be a bona-fide natural Jew in order to be a spiritual Israelite that Paul is talking about here in Rom. 9:6. I kid you not. This is the doctrine of Messianic Jews, Christian Zionists, and all dispensational premillennialists who, by a sleight-of-hand, pass off as truth. They say this chapter isn’t about Gentiles at all, but only about Jews. And some even go so far as to say Paul isn’t necessarily talking about individual and personal election, but about natural Israel as a whole, or as a nation. In this view, Isaac and Jacob are representatives of all pure-blood Jews, while Ishmael is a representative of all non pure-blood Jews, or Gentiles. But what about Esau? He was of pure Jewish or Israeli blood, regardless of whether or not they were called Jews or Israelis at that time. Now while it may be true that nations according to the flesh came from both Jacob and Ishmael, this is not what God is talking about in Romans 9-11. Far be that idea from God’s mind here. Such a notion is false and in denial of God's sovereign, personal, individual and unconditional election. Physical nations take a back seat here to personal election. They are only secondary, not primary; inconsequential to that which is consequential. All of this that Paul describes for us is in fact very personal and on an individual basis—with Isaac, Jacob, the remnant in Elijah’s day, Paul, and even all of us Gentiles who are called by His name. In all honesty, all such Friends of Israel are not the friends of Christ. When they think they are really for Him, they are actually against Him. They are "anti" Christ. They have not spoken of God correctly, as His true servants have.

One dispensationalist is noted as saying with regards to only natural Jews being the children of promise here in Rom. 9:6, “Only [such] children of promise are Abraham’s spiritual children: ‘those who are the children of the flesh [i.e., Jews who don’t believe], these are not the children of God; but the children of promise are counted for the seed’ (v. 8). Then he [Paul] added that not even every child of the promise is a child of God; only those who are chosen by God are counted as His children.”[3] Clearly, this individual is absolutely confused. Not only are those who are “children of the promise” not just believing Jews, but all “children of the promise” are in fact “a child of God.” That is Paul’s point, in contradistinction to anyone else who would think that they were a child of God based solely upon natural Jewish ethnicity. What qualifies those as God’s children, is the fact that God has sovereignly chosen them to be His children, as even verse 8 and verses 25-27 in no uncertain terms claim. And like I said, this includes Gentiles as well whom Paul likewise says, “like Isaac, are children of promise” (Gal 4:28). How anyone can miss this, is beyond me. But I guess deception just has no bounds. The Deceiver is doing his job, and he is doing it well. And as Christ said, “if it were possible, even the elect will be deceived.” But this is not possible. For all those born of God, “although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it.’ Then you will desecrate your idols overlaid with silver and your images covered with gold; you will throw them away like a menstrual cloth and say to them, ‘Away with you!’” (Isa. 30:20-22). And I trust that once you see this insidious and false doctrine that is being denounced in this article, for all that it really is, then you too will eventually come to say, “Away with you!”

In conclusion of this chapter, Romans chapter 9 is all about God being merciful to some of us, while hardening all the rest regardless of whether we are Jews or Gentiles; regardless of natural ethnicity. Romans 9 is not, I repeat, not just about the Jews which many mistakenly assert and read into this chapter! And it’s definitely not just about “nations.” And I think I have done a pretty good job in dashing to pieces that idea. And it will be this same theme that is carried forward into chapters 10 and 11. Click here.


Footnotes:

[1] See Deut. 1:7-8; Josh. 1:3-6; 11:23; 21:43-45; 23:14; 1Kin. 4:20-21, 24-25; Psm. 80:11; Neh. 9:7-8, 23-25. Additionally, God told Moses that once they took all the land promised to them, that they were to place six cities of refuge throughout the land, as a witness that all the land promised was all the land claimed. Upon entering the land, three cities were designated; then once all the land was subdued, three more were set up (cp. Num. 35:10-15; Deut. 4:41-43; 19:8-9 and Josh. 20:7-8. These latter verses show that Joshua had established all six cities)
[2] This Hebrew word is used one more time by God in the Old Testament, just in the next chapter of Isaiah 45:4, when God says he “surnamed” the Persian king that was to come a few hundred years later, naming him, “Cyrus” (v. 1).
[3] Richard D. Emmons, Vessels of Clay. An article published in the dispensational premillennialist magazine, Israel My Glory, vol. 74, Num. 1, Jan/Feb 2016; p. 20.

A Short & Concise Analysis of Rom. 11:26—All Israel Will Be Saved! (3 of 4)

Romans 10

With tongue in cheek, Romans 10 is pretty simple and straightforward. This chapter shows how becoming righteous before God is not by works, but by God’s grace through faith—a faith in which the Scriptures also say God gives to us in order to enable us to come to Him (see also John 6:44, 65; Eph. 2:8; 6:33; Php. 1:29; 2Pet. 1:1, lit., “allotted faith”). We see this in the book of Acts where God opens Lydia’s heart to receive what Paul was saying. And we also see this in Acts 13:48, where it says, “all who were ordained to eternal life, believed.” We cannot, and do not “believe” if we are not God’s chosen people who are “ordained” to eternal life, as Jesus also said to some Jews in John 8:47 and John 10:26. Such “faith” as God’s gift to us is also seen in the administering of our gifts and talents in Rom. 12:3-9 and 1Cor. 12:7-11. We have nothing that we have not received from God. To Him alone is the glory, honor, power and praise. We have no cause for boasting, as indicated earlier in the election of Isaac and Jacob before either were even born.

Like Romans chapter 9, Romans 10 again affirms to us that there is “no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all” (v. 12). Who are the “all” here? In context, all elect Jews and Gentiles whom God sovereignly chooses to have mercy upon and save. Again, Paul says “everyone” (i.e., not just Jews) who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. But, again, God sovereignly gives us the ability to call on Him; otherwise, verse 20 (and even Rom. 9:29 and 11:7f) would be superfluous. Elsewhere Paul likewise says that when we were “dead” in sins and trespasses, Christ “made us alive” together with Him (cf. Eph. 2:1, 5). Dead men do not raise themselves from their dead state. This is why salvation is ALL of God. We are HIS workmanship, CREATED in Christ Jesus. By grace we have been saved, through faith—and THIS not of ourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, lest any man should boast. If you believe your own “work” of faith has in fact saved you, then you have cause or reason to boast in yourself. So it stands to reason that even our “faith” (the ability to believe) has been “allotted” or portioned out to us by God, as Peter is noted above as saying in 2Pet. 1:1 (see Weymouth’s translation).

As I stated before, in Romans 10 a “righteousness” from God which is not based upon keeping the law is put before us. And it is a righteousness by faith in which many Jews and Gentiles will never be partakers of. They are “vessels of wrath, prepared in advance unto destruction” (Rom. 9:22), and even “hardened” by God no less in Rom. 11:7 which Paul denotes in the Greek by using the passive voice.[1] Paul again makes it very clear to us that this righteousness by faith is to be for all those whom God has chosen to be partakers of in verse 20, as quoted from Isaiah 65:1: “I was found by those who did not seek Me; I revealed Myself to those who did not ask for Me,” with Isaiah also adding, “To a nation that did not call on My name.” No one of their own volition “seeks” God (Rom. 3:3); and no one of their own volition “asks” for Him or “calls” upon His name (cp. Jhn. 6:65; 15:16). Again, dead men do not and cannot “call” upon God. Yet even for all this, God continues to tell us through His prophet Isaiah in this same chapter described above,

Thus says the LORD, “As the new wine is found in the cluster, and one says, ‘Do not destroy it, for there is benefit in it,’ so I will act on behalf of My servants in order not to destroy all of them. And I will bring forth offspring from Jacob, and an heir of My mountains from Judah; even My chosen ones shall inherit it, and My servants shall dwell there. And Sharon shall be a pasture land for flocks, and the valley of Achor a resting place for herds, for My people who seek Me. But you who forsake the LORD, who forget My holy mountain, who set a table for Fortune, and who fill cups with mixed wine for Destiny, I will destine you for the sword, and all of you shall bow down to the slaughter. Because I called, but you did not answer; I spoke, but you did not hear. And you did evil in My sight, and chose that in which I did not delight.” Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, My servants shall eat, but you shall be hungry. Behold, My servants shall drink, but you shall be thirsty. Behold, My servants shall rejoice, but you shall be put to shame. Behold, My servants shall shout joyfully with a glad heart, but you shall cry out with a heavy heart, and you shall wail with a broken spirit. And you will leave your name for a curse to My chosen ones, and the Lord GOD will slay you. But My servants will be called by another name. Because he who is blessed in the earth shall be blessed by the God of truth; and he who swears in the earth shall swear by the God of truth (vv. 8-16, ‘77 NASB).

Notice that God is talking to the Jews here. Some He sovereignly will “bring forth,” giving them hearts that actually seek after Him (like Lydia’s for example), while others He leaves to themselves, judging them for the sinners that they are. And it is of these latter wicked Jews that God says, “you will leave your name for a curse to My chosen ones.” Truly, “The memory of the righteous will be a blessing, but the name of the wicked will rot” (Pro. 10:7). The old name, “Israel,” is now considered by God as nothing more than that which evokes a “curse.” And we see this being fleshed out in history, even to this day; and as with natural Israel in the past, it is all God’s doing, not man’s.[2] Yet God’s “chosen ones” who are God’s “servants” here, are the spiritual “Israel of God” that are hidden among the sheaves and who are blessed, not cursed; filling all the world and not just the small pittance of the land of Palestine. They are the “servants” whom Christ had sent out in Mat. 22:1-14, only to be ignored, mistreated and even killed by the Jews (v. 6). And when these Jews did not have the proper clothing for Christ’s wedding banquet, He commanded that they be “tied hand and foot, and thrown outside into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (v. 13). These were the same ones that He just earlier spoke to, and for which Matthew writes, “When the chief priests and Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew He was talking about them. So they looked for a way to arrest Him…” (21:45). And it was immediately after knowing this, that Christ gives them the parable of The Wedding Banquet in the chapter to follow.

These “servants” described above are also inclusive of all Gentiles, and who “surname” themselves with a new name: the name “Israel” in Isaiah 44:5 (KJV); for, like I said earlier, no natural born Jew would need to do this. Gentiles are included in the “all Israel” who are of Israel, while some (whether they be Jews or Gentiles) are not.[3]  And of those Jews who are not this “Israel” of God according to the Spirit, Christ says, “I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars—I will make them come and fall down at your feet (the Church) and acknowledge that I have loved you (the Church). Since you (the Church) have kept My command to endure patiently, I will also keep you (the Church) from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth” (Rev. 3:9-10). Be it far from Christ’s lips to speak or pray for “peace” for this bunch. You just don’t hear it from Him. He uses their name for a curse, not a blessing. And while their name is left for a curse, evoking God’s curses; we are given a new name, evoking God’s blessings. And it has always been this way for God’s “chosen ones,” His true people who are saved by grace. Even Paul said of the Judaizers in Galatia who were preaching a false gospel (or false good news): “let him be anathema”—accursed! (Gal. 1:8). The new 2011 NIV says, “Let them be under God’s curse.” And, clearly, this is what Paul is talking about here. Truly, their name has been left for "a curse" to God’s chosen ones. And Paul evokes a curse upon them for teaching and preaching things that they just should not teach or preach. And the same is no less true today.

God said the same thing in Jeremiah of all Jews who think they are God’s people. He likewise refers to all natural thinking and reasoning Jews who have not the Spirit,

They are well-fed, lusty stallions, each neighing for another man’s wife. Should I not punish them for this? declares the Lord. Should I not avenge myself on such a nation as this? Go through her vineyards and ravage them, but do not destroy them completely. Strip off her branches, for these people do not belong to the Lord”…. Among My people are wicked men.” (5:8-10).

Here God is referring to elect Jews (My people) among non-elect Jews—who are the “wicked men” here. Sound familiar? Christ and His apostles encountered the very same thing. Christ and His Jewish followers were the true believing Jews (or "servants") among the wicked unbelieving Jews. Jews who would rather kill them, even as they would of Jeremiah, rather than embrace them; who would rather spit on them, rather than give them a cup of cold water; who would rather see to it that they were thrown in a prison and forgotten about, rather than visit them; who would rather strip off all their garments, rather than clothe them; who would rather cast them out of their houses, rather than take them in and feed them. These are the ones that Christ has in mind in Mat. 10:40-42 and 25:31-46. All Christ’s “brethren,” in Matthew 25, are not all natural Jews in a future seven-year tribulation that all Christian Zionists and many dispensationalists would have us believe today. Christ’s “brethren” are US!. By now, this should have all become very clear to us. Those who receive us, receive Christ, and give evidence to the fact that they are indeed “sheep.” All “goats” (all unbelieving Jews and Gentiles) are, as Christ claims, “cursed” (Mat. 25:41), thrown into “the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (ibid).

Once gain, Jeremiah records for us,

This is what the Lord says about this people: “They greatly love to wander; they do not restrain their feet. So the Lord does not accept them; He will now remember their wickedness and punish them for their sins.” Then the Lord said to me, “Do not pray for the well-being of this people. Although they fast, I will not listen to their cry; though they offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Instead, I will destroy them with the sword, famine and plague.” But I said, “Alas, Sovereign Lord! The prophets keep telling them, ‘You will not see the sword or suffer famine. Indeed, I will give you lasting peace in this place.’” Then the Lord said to me, “The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I have not sent them or appointed them or spoken to them. They are prophesying to you false visions, divinations, idolatries and the delusions of their own minds. Therefore this is what the Lord says about the prophets who are prophesying in my name: “I did not send them, yet they are saying, ‘No sword or famine will touch this land.’ Those same prophets will perish by sword and famine. And the people they are prophesying to will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and sword. There will be no one to bury them, their wives, their sons and their daughters. I will pour out on them the calamity they deserve" (14:10-16).

History is repeating itself. False prophets and false teachers abound in the Church today who are proclaiming “peace” to all natural Jews, and even “praying” for their peace (and encouraging others to do likewise), quoting verses and texts out of context in order to make them a pretext for what they are falsely affirming. There is no future for Israel outside of Christ and all of His “called-out” ones (or the Church); whether in the past, present, or in the future. Christ appeared the first time to take away sin. But He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him (Heb. 9:26b-28). Then comes the end. All this talk about additional comings of Christ after this final second coming of Christ are “the delusions of their own minds.” Historically, the orthodox teaching of the Church has always believed in only one second coming of Christ in the future. And it wasn’t until the last couple of hundred years that a teaching started to filter into the Church (through Darby, Scofield, Lewis Sperry Chafer, John Walvoord, Hal Lindsey, J. Vernon McGee, Chuck Smith of Calvary Chapel, and the like),[4] that is predominantly now taught in most churches today, which is dispensational premillennialism (an extremely aberrant form of historic premillennialism[5]).

As noted above, God, nor Christ, have no kind words for those who are really not Their people. What is all this talk about the Jews being God’s “Chosen People,” when all who die not knowing Christ only go to hell in a hand basket? It makes no sense whatsoever; unless we understand that when God at times refers to them as “My people,” He was only referring to them as such when separated from the other nations and placed under the Mosaic covenant of works with Him, with most (except for His remnant) not being afforded the benefits of the Abrahamic covenant of grace by faith. And this is the only reason that makes sense of why Paul could now say, “they are not all Israel which are of Israel.” We see God alluding to this idea often in the Prophets, in the words of Christ, and even in the rebukes of the apostles to all unbelieving Jews in their letters. In Galatians, Paul even wished they would go all the way and emasculate themselves. He didn’t befriend them like so many of us do today in the Church. He harshly rebuked and criticized them for thinking they had one-up on everyone else because they were natural born Jews. Even Stephen had no kind words of “peace” for them. And they stoned him for those words. Jews are either for us, or against us. And if they are against us, which they are, then we have no business telling them that God has a wonderful plan and future for them; even a future time of “lasting peace in this place,” as those in Jeremiah's day had claimed.

As it was in Jeremiah’s day, so it is today: “they dress the wounds of My people as though it were not serious. Peace, peace, they say, when there is not peace” (6:14). Instead of overturning their tables, we want to help build their tables; instead of discouraging literal animal sacrifices, we are encouraging them to continue to do so now and in the future in the millennium; instead of speaking against rebuilding a literal temple, we are encouraging them to do so again, even by sending them money in order to do this; instead of speaking against a literal priesthood in the future, we are encouraging them to seek after it—and all based upon reading into God’s Word what He is NOT saying to them. Truly, they are “visions, divinations, idolatries and the delusions of their own minds.” Like the Jews, many in the Church today envision things spoken of in the prophets to come to pass in a natural, physical way; when it is all now to be understood in a spiritual way. Doesn’t Peter make this unequivocally clear in his first epistle? (cf. 1Pet. 2:4-10). Yet even for all that we still have those in our midst who say that even Peter isn't talking about both Jews and Gentiles collectively in the Church, but only about natural born Jews! According to these so-called “brethren,” only Jews are “the chosen nation”; only Jews are the “royal priesthood”; and only Jews are “the people for His own possession.” But how could Peter say in verse 10, “you were once NOT A PEOPLE, who have become the people of God; and have not received mercy, but have now received mercy,” if they were all by natural birth already the “people” of God? Peter’s words only make sense with regards to everyone who has no physical ties that bind them to be designated as such. They are the people or children of God who are the “children of promise” born of the Spirit. And, as noted earlier, Paul has said the same thing of all Gentiles as well in Rom. 9:24-26 and Gal. 4:28.

To read further with regards to Romans 11, click here.


Footnotes:


[1] How God “hardens” men’s hearts is seen in how He leaves them to themselves without any of His restraining influences or help. These restraining (or non-restraining) influences are often what theologians refer to as “secondary” causes, whether they be God’s Spirit, spirits, or the natural events that occur around us. All three are seen in the Bible as God’s directing influences upon the hearts of men for either good or evil. “Secondary causes” are to be fully recognized as not independent of God, but as having their proper place in His plan. God so presents outside inducements, that man acts in accordance with his own nature, yet does exactly what God has planned for him to do (cp. 1Kin. 22:19-23, concerning God enticing king Ahab with the advice from an evil spirit, that ended up in the king’s demise). Even in the case of a good person, such as Joseph, or even Job, Calvin has keenly articulated God’s involvement and providence over all that transpires in one’s life. He says of Job’s plight: “The Lord permits Satan to afflict his servant [Job]; and the Chaldeans, who had been chosen as the ministers to execute the deed, He hands over to the impulses of Satan, who, pricking on the already depraved Chaldeans with his poisoned darts, instigates them to commit the crime. They rush furiously on to the unrighteous deed, and become its guilty perpetrators. Here Satan is properly said to act in the reprobate, over whom he exercises his sway, which is that of wickedness. God also is said to act in His own way; because even Satan when he is the instrument of divine wrath, is completely under the command of God, who turns him as He will in the execution of His just judgments….We thus see that there is no inconsistency in attributing the same act to God, to Satan, and to man, while, from the difference in the end and mode of action, the spotless righteousness of God shines forth at the same time that the iniquity of Satan and of man is manifested in all its deformity” (Inst., II, IV, 2). And again, “Satan and all the wicked are so under the hand and authority of God, that He directs their malice to whatever end He pleases, and employs their iniquities to execute his Judgments” (Inst., I, VIII, 1). It is just as Solomon has said in Proverbs, “The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water, He turneth it withersoever He will” (21:1, KJV). And we definitely saw the Lord doing this with Pharaoh, while at the same time exonerating the Lord and holding Pharaoh entirely liable for his dastardly deeds. This is the biblical doctrine of divine sovereignty and human responsibility. Neither one cancels out the other.
[2] The Bible is replete with examples of this, too numerous to mention. But just a few will suffice. Just in Deuteronomy 28 alone, God tells the Jews what HE will do to them if they disobey His Mosaic covenant that He had previously set up with them. And this is even true of all Jews today and anyone else who are not in any covenantal relationship with the Lord, with their consciences either accusing them or excusing them. In verse 20, Moses says, “the LORD will send on you curses, confusion and rebuke”; v. 21, “the LORD will plague you”; v. 25, “the LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies”; v. 27, “the LORD will afflict you with boils”; vv. 28, 29, 33, “the LORD will afflict you with madness, blindness and confusion of mind…day after day you will be oppressed…you will have nothing but cruel oppression all you days”; v. 49, “the LORD will bring a nation against you”; v. 63, “just as it pleased the LORD to make you prosper and increase in numbers, so it will please Him to ruin and destroy you.” Israel of today is not the Israel of yesterday. They are a different “breed” of people altogether—even a mixed breed, with no genealogies anymore to prove who they are. “Genealogies” that even Paul said in his day were of no value in God’s plan of salvation (1Tim. 1:4;Tit. 3:9). The kingdom of God and of heaven has been taken from Israel of the past, and given to a nation who will produce its fruit (Mat. 21:43). We, the Church, made up of both Jews and Gentiles—are that “nation”! (cf. 1Pet. 2:9). And even anyone today who would call themselves a “Jew” are welcome to join us, should God so choose to add them to our number. Besides that, there is no other future for the Jew. They either join us, or are lost forever, cast into outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (cf. Mat. 8:10-12; Lke. 13:22-30).
[3] This is the “all Israel” who is the spiritual Israel in Rom. 9:6. In Rom. 11:26, “all Israel” there is referring to all elect Jews, as opposed to all elect Gentiles in verse 25. Nevertheless, they are all God’s “children of the free woman” (Jews and Gentiles born of the Spirit) and not “children of the slave woman” (particularly said of Jews who are born solely of the flesh)–cf. Gal. 4:24ff.
[4] Lewis Sperry Chafer founded what is today called, Dallas Theological Seminary. It has given birth to a long list of individuals who have taken predominant places and positions in the Church.

Most notably, the late Chuck Smith, founder of the Calvary Chapel’s all over America, is a leading proponent of Dallas Theological Seminary’s dispensational premillennial teaching. Chuck Swindoll, Charles Ryrie, John Walvoord, Dwight Pentecost, and even John MacArthur, all vehemently and tenaciously teach and support dispensational premillennialism. I am saddened to hear this of Swindoll and MacArthur. But all I can say is: reader beware! Those who are first, will be last.
[5] Historic Premillennialism, as articulated in George Eldon Ladd’s book, The Blessed Hope, pretty much agrees with the orthodox teachings of the Church throughout history that views everything centered around the Church, and not just around Jews of natural ethnicity. And except for believing in a literal earthly reign of Christ in the future for a literal 1,000 years, historic premillenialists have more in common with Amillennialists when it comes to interpreting many Scriptures as either already fulfilled, or to be fulfilled in Christ and His Church. Historic Premillennialists do not place an importance on Jewish natural ethnicity as all dispensationalists do. And they surely do not envision natural Israel residing in Palestine, while the Church remains separate and distinct from them in heaven. They do not believe in an earthly people made up only of Jews, verses a spiritual people who are not a part of this group. In God’s plan, there is only one flock with One Shepherd residing over them, not two. Children born only according to the flesh, have no part or place with all children born according the Spirit and who are God’s “children of the promise.”

A Short & Concise Analysis of Rom. 11:26—All Israel Will Be Saved! (4 of 4)

Romans 11

Romans 11 is all about God setting apart for Himself a “fullness” (a remnant) from these same Jews and Gentiles that Paul just referred to previously in Romans 9 and 10. And Romans 11 decisively concludes for us that it is all presently happening right "NOW" (vv. 5, 13-14, 30-31), even as in the past (v. 4), from Christ’s first coming to His second coming throughout every generation. There are not to be any end-time, en-mass conversions of either Jews or Gentiles. Paul says it is all happening right "NOW" as we speak (again, see vv. 30-31).

Verse 5 and verses 30-31 are very crucial to our understanding the time frame in which “all Israel” is to be saved. There is no margin for error here. These verses are safeguards for understanding the timeframe in which we are to understand here. And they are “safeguards” for which many have abandoned and cast aside for their own a priori theological biases and beliefs. In verses 30-31, three times Paul repeats the word “now,” not later! It is not to be some end-time en-mass conversion. It is “at the present time” (v. 5) or “now” (vv. 30-31), with the same Greek present tense adverb νΰν, pronounced “noon,” being used in all of these verses. This present tense adverb is translated “now” in a great majority of New Testament verses in the Bible. And in a couple of places it is even translated: “henceforth,” “from now on,” or “from this time on.” So, clearly, all of this has to do with the entire Church age—not just back then in Paul’s day, not just in our day, nor just in the future. So, in all honesty, none of this should even be up for debate. It is a non-sequitur. The “now” in verse 5, and the “now” (mentioned also three times) in verses 30-31 are like bookends for all that is to be said and understood in between. In verse 5, this present day “remnant” from the Jews are: (1) NOW recipients of God’s grace; (2) part of the “fullness” or full number in verse 12; (3) “some” for whom Paul saves in verse 14; (4) the “all Israel” (or all elect Jews) in verse 26, and; (5) the “all” who were disobedient but who also have NOW received mercy in verses 30-31. And the same goes for Gentiles as well. They too are: (1) part of this “remnant” in verses 17-24; (2) part of a full number (or “fullness”) of all the elect Gentiles who will be saved in verse 25, and; (3) they are “all” who were disobedient but have NOW received mercy in verses 30-31. Paul says all of this is going on now, now, now! Not later! I mean, really, how often does one really need to say “now” before we finally get it? We’ve often heard the phrase, “Play it again, Sam!” Music repeated gets under our skin. And advertisements repeated, replay themselves when we see their product. As such, the repetition of such things has a distinct effect on us. And things often have to be repeated more than once for them to finally sink into our heads. Paul’s redundant use of the word “now” should, by now (pun intended), have had its stated affect.

The more acceptable Nestle’s Greek text that we have today, used by all modern translations, says the word “now” three times (once in verse 30 and twice in verse 31), while the older Textus Receptus, used by the KJV, says the word “now” only two times (once in verse 30 and once in verse 31). But it doesn’t matter. Either way Paul’s point is poignant and to the point: Just as we Gentiles who were disobedient to God have NOW received mercy as a result of the Jews disobedience, in this manner also the Jews have NOW become disobedient in order that they too might receive mercy. Notice that I worded this just how the Textus Receptus words it, leaving out the third “now.” And as one can readily see, “now” means “now” no matter how you slice it here. The Jews now receive God's grace and mercy at the same time and in the same way as the Gentiles now receive it. And the Greek word noon (or “now”), also used in verse 5, squarely places the time as NOW (or better, from “henceforth) being the period for a remnant from the Jews to be saved according to the election of grace. This “remnant” theme is seen in a Elijah’s day and throughout the Bible, correlating even with Christ’s own words that “many are called, but few chosen” (Mat. 22:14). So the view of some brethren in the Church today who say that a day is coming when this rule will no longer apply—or that the remnant mentioned throughout the prophets is to be understood of the entire nation of Israel as a whole or who in totality will be saved—seems rather strange. Again, it is a Jewish ideology that has crept its way into the Church; it is not the ideology of God, of Christ, or of His apostles. Christ and His apostles were never “for” Israel in the way that many are now “for” Israel today. They promised them no hopes of “peace” outside of faith in God and in Christ. And they surely didn’t hold out to them what many in the Church today are holding out to them, that the Jews will one day in the future return to rebuilt temples, the Levitical priesthood, atoning animal sacrifices, literal circumcision or the keeping of literal festivals, new moons and Sabbaths and the like with God’s blessing—and all based upon a literal fulfillment of Ezekiel’s visions in chapters 40-48.[1] Those natural “types” and “shadows” passed away, never to be seen again. They had their place back then as being typological of the spiritual things that have now come upon us. And since Christ is now the reality for which those “shadows” and visions were cast, then it stands to reason that all of Ezekiel’s "visions" in those last eight chapters—as they relate to temple worship with water flowing from that temple and giving life to fish for men to fish for—has all to do with what Christ said about how that out of our belly’s (now God’s temple) would flow rivers of living water, and that as “fishers of men” we would “fish” for “men” whom God has given “life” to, not literal fish. And Ezekiel adds that “wherever the river flows everything will live” (47:9), to living creatures and to fish and fruit trees[2] “of all kinds” (vv. 9, 10, 12). But notice what he also says: “But the swamps (or miry places)[3] and marshes will NOT become fresh (or healed); they will be left for salt” (v. 11). Without going into all the details of what all of this means, basically what we have here is the election of God’s people verses leaving all the rest of God’s creatures in these “swamps and marshes” who are not to be given these life-sustaining waters; they have been left for “salt,” a euphemism or metaphor for being laid waste or made desolate and barren (cf. Jer. 48:9). It speaks of judgment for sin (cf. Deut. 29:23), and things just go from bad to worse for all such people. And if that were not enough, God in Ezekiel even describes a “land” (dare I say, “a heavenly country”) where spiritual Israel is to “allot as an inheritance for yourselves and for the aliens who have settled among you, and who have children. You are to consider them as native-born Israelites…. In whatever tribe the alien settles, there you are to give him his inheritance, declares the Sovereign Lord” (47:22, 23). This is the “inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fades not away, reserved in heaven” for us, beloved. (1Pet. 1:4). All of this isn’t to happen “literally” some day in the future. It is God using natural words and ideas in vision form that all point to spiritual truths and ideas.

Even Peter’s "vision" of unclean animals in Acts chapter 10 that he was told by God to kill and eat, though seemingly “literal,” was referring to something far more ethereal—shall I again say, “spiritual”? Likewise, when God told Ezekiel (43:11) to tell the people to do all that was spoken about in the visions, the Lord no more meant (nor expected) Ezekiel and the people to literally do all that, than He meant or expected Peter to literally apply what God had literally revealed to him of killing and eating unclean animals. And this is especially to be noted under the New Covenant where building literal buildings, offering up literal animal sacrifices, being physically circumcised and being told to literally eat, or not to eat, unclean animals would only be true under the law of Moses which all pointed to the spiritual realities that were to come. And since we are not under that old covenant any longer, then by the very nature of the case all of this has to be understood spiritually. Of note here is also the fact that, again, if Ezekiel is telling the people to literally observe all of the laws and regulations in his visions, he would then be telling them to do many things contrary to the laws of Moses. For, as many already know, many things mentioned in Ezekiel’s visions are different from the laws of Moses, either adding to or subtracting from those laws (any good commentary should be able to help you with this). And in Deut. 12:32, God himself had specifically told Israel that they were not to add or subtract anything written in the law. So, was God really instructing Ezekiel to establish new laws, with entirely new regulations and ordinances for the people back then? Or, was he foretelling a change in a figure that would one day take place that was only to be realized in Christ? The latter is to be preferred. Otherwise, the dispensationalists, in agreement with all unregenerate Jews, would have to be right in saying that all of this will take place with the Jews here on the earth after the Church is removed. And furthermore, the Jews weren’t going to literally do what Ezekiel said should be done, for, like I said, they would have been breaking the laws of Moses. And they most likely thought Ezekiel was crazy, as the Jews thought of all of God’s prophets, and they even later questioned whether to allow the book of Ezekiel in their Jewish canon or not. So it stands to reason that the Lord knew they wouldn’t do what Ezekiel said they should do, but nevertheless instructed Ezekiel to tell them anyway because, in God’s mind, He knew what He meant when He said what He meant. And He meant it to be understood in the same way that He meant for Peter’s vision to be understood—not literally!

Once again, just as Peter’s vision of literal objects and ideas was not to be literally understood and applied, neither is Ezekiel’s visions. Either all of these Old Testament services are finally over with, or Christ and His apostles got it all wrong. When Christ said, “the hour comes when you shall neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father,” did He believe that all this would change or revert back to the way things were before for the Jews in the future someday, in either a seven-year tribulation or in an earthly rule and reign? The answer should be quite obvious to anyone who is a sincere Christian. And if it is so obvious, then all those who say Jerusalem will one day again be the center of all worship are not really seeing things in the Scriptures as they really should be seeing them. They are just as blind as the Jews when reading the prophets. It was one of the capital errors of all natural thinking and reasoning Jews (as it is with many Christians in the Church today) to give too much importance to the mere externals of the temple and its worship, not discerning the spiritual truths and principles that lay hidden underneath them all and never to be established again.

Rebuilt temples, with all their attending sacrifices and worship, would now be a glaring and outright denial of the once-and-for-all sufficiency of the sacrifice of Christ and of the efficacy of the blood of His atonement. He who sacrificed under the Old Covenant, confessed their Messiah to come who would actually take away sin and the need for any more sacrifices; whereas, he who would sacrifice now would most solemnly and sacrilegiously be DENYING Christ and His all-sufficient sacrifice. And is this not what the author of Hebrews tells us? It was one thing for Paul to observe Jewish ceremonies in order to save some Jews, but it is quite another thing to hold out in the future to them the reinstitution of all these ordinances as once again being mandatory, with dire consequences for non-compliance. And it is not enough for these individuals in the Church to say that all of these things will only be observed as a “memorial,” for God says the atoning sacrifices will actually be for the atoning of sin (43:18-27; 45:15, 17-20). Now even the literalists want to push aside being too literal here in order to make their “memorial” idea stick. But, again, God is only speaking in literal terms and ideas of what is to really and literally take place spiritually.

All that has been described above are spiritual truths expressed in spiritual words that Paul was referring to in 1Cor. 2:13. God means what He says, and says what He means. But not in the way that most of us would naturally think and reason. And even many things that Christ has already said to us should have made us all fully aware of this by now.

As with many today, Peter was dumfounded by the vision (vv. 17, 19). And it wasn’t until his encounter with Cornelius the Gentile, that he actually caught the vision: “God has shown me that I should not call any man impure or unclean” (v. 28). This wasn’t about eating literal animals, but about people; just as Ezekiel’s vision is not about literal “creatures,” “fish” or “fruit trees,” but people—and lots of them! In fact, he says, “many kinds.”

We have got to get ourselves from thinking “naturally” here like all natural reasoning and thinking Jews (and even many Christians), and start thinking “spiritually.” And the same goes for understanding who the “children of the promise” are. It is not just about natural Israel, as many misguided Christians would have us believe today. It is about “spiritual” children who are God’s (or even Abraham’s) children by faith, regardless of natural ethnicity. It is about all (Jews or Gentiles) who are chosen by God and born of the Spirit, not born of the flesh. In God’s mind, it has never been about the natural but about the spiritual; the natural has always prefigured the spiritual; the literal types were to give way to the spiritual antitypes.

Now, if Rom. 11:26 is teaching an end-time en-mass conversion of all natural Jews, would it not seem as if Paul is now saying, “Forget what I just told you about previously”? Are we to really understand what Paul is saying here about the Jews then and now being disobedient, that it was only so that they will all receive God’s mercy some 2,000 years later? How absurd is that! One would have to insert “later” for the mercy to be shown to these Jews, rather than “now.” But, au contraire! Paul’s use of these Greek present tense adverbs translated as, “at the present time” in verse 5 and “now” in verses 30-31, along with the fact that he says he hopes to save “some” of these Jews in his own lifetime in verse 14, leaves us with no doubt as to the timeframe in which Paul is referring to. This is a sincere biblical exegesis of these passages, not an eisegesis. One would have to remove all these adverbs in these verses to say that “all Israel” is an end-time latter day conversion; and even all the verses in the entire context of Romans 9-11 in order to say that “all Israel” is all Jews en-mass at any given point and time. Not only are these ideas not taught in these passage, but such an idea is not even taught in the entire Bible. It is unheard of and unprecedented in the Bible to think in such a manner as this. To do so would be to overlook the obvious for that which is oblivious and non-existent in these passages and in the entire testimony of the Scriptures. Like I said before, it is a Jewish ideology and philosophy that has subtly and deceitfully crept its way into the Church. But we shouldn’t be surprised, for “savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears” (Acts 20:29f); for, “In the last times some will turn away from the true faith; they will follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons” (1Tim. 4:1, NLT). And have no doubt about it, someone in the Church here is not speaking the truth. Someone is teaching “teachings that come from demons.” They are the commandments and teachings of carnal reasoning and thinking men, evoked by seducing spirits. I will let you decide who is on the side of truth here. It is either what I am teaching you here in this article, or it is what others are teaching you, which is absolutely and unequivocally “Jewish” in nature and carnal in spirit. The latter is not for Christ; it is antichrist.

Since we now know that Paul is talking about the time that we are living in right now, wherein all elect Israelites and all elect Gentiles will be saved, then Paul’s words in Rom. 11:26-27 of the Deliverer coming from Zion to turn godlessness away from Jacob, and making a covenant with them to take away their sins, can be none other than when Christ came to do what He did on the cross—first to the Jews, then to the Gentiles. Christ coming “out of” Zion (“to” in Hebrew, or “for” in LXX) can either be understood literally or spiritually, for the word "Zion" is used of both the literal mountain of Zion, or the people of God (for the people of God, see: Psm. 2:6; 50:1-6; 87:1-6; 102:12-18; Isa. 2:2-5; 4:2-6; 60:14; 66:7-8; Zech. 2:7-13; Heb. 12:22; 1Pet. 2:6).[4] To be sure, Christ did in fact physically come “to” the physical Mt. Zion, even working His way “out of” this Zion. But “for” (or “on behalf of”) the literal mountain called “Zion”? This latter Septuagint rendering leads us to believe that we are talking about people here, and not about literal Mount Zion at all. And if this be the case, then all three of these ideas could work with regards to the people of God as referring to "Zion" here. Christ was born via a “child of promise,” which was Mary, and therefore came “out of” Zion.” But it was also “to” this Zion and “for” this Zion that Christ came. Clearly, this is the idea presented to us in Hebrews 12:22 where “Zion” is definitely understood in a spiritual sense of God’s spiritual “mountain,” which is His Church. This is the “huge mountain” that Daniel spoke about that was to fill the whole earth (2:35). A literal mountain cannot fill “the whole earth.” And anyone doing a study of the word “mountain” in the Bible can readily see that it was often used as a metaphor for a king or kingdom of people, with some being razed, while others were exalted. The prophets are replete with such imagery.

Like Romans 9 and 10, chapter 11 is all about God saving His elect from both Jews and Gentiles. Many Jews remain “blind” by Divine design (cf. 11:7); and will continue to be so right up until God saves every last Gentile (v. 25). And in Romans 10, not a single Jew is saved by keeping the Law. None, zilch, zip! Wow! what Israel sought so earnestly and zealously for in their futile attempt to keep the Law, they have not obtained (cf. 11:7). So, naturally, many Jews want to know if God has entirely rejected them? And so in Rom. 11:1, Paul brings up that question: “Did God reject His people?” And right off the bat many of us just think of all natural Jews as being God’s people. But as we all know by now, Paul has something much deeper in mind. A “mystery” to some, especially to all natural reasoning and thinking Jews (as well as to some supposed Christians), but revealed to those of us who have been given the eyes to see it, and the ears to hear it. “God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew” (v. 2), says Paul. God might also just as well say here, “They are not My people which are of My people!” Or, as Paul says, “Nor because they are…descendants are they ALL Abraham’s children… In other words, it is NOT the natural children who are God’s children, but it is THE CHILDREN OF THE PROMISE” (Rom. 9:7, 8). And this is also why Paul says of us Gentiles in Gal. 3:29: “If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according TO THE PROMISE.” “He [Abraham] is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised…And he is also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had…. Therefore THE PROMISE comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to ALL Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law [or Jews] but also to those [Gentiles] who are of the faith of Abraham” (Rom. 4:11-12, 16). “All” Abraham’s offspring here are “all” these “children of promise” whom God “foreknew” before they were ever born, like Isaac, Jacob, and all who eventually exercise the same faith as their father Abraham. This group is exclusive of all others, whether they are pure-blooded Jews or not. And this is EXACTLY Paul’s point.

Again, all natural Jews in retaliation, might claim: What? And Paul’s answer again is: “What Israel is seeking, this it has not obtained, BUT THE ELECT OBTAINED IT. And the rest were hardened” (Rom. 11:7, Berean Literal Bible). And this hardening will always remain in part, while the rest are sovereignly chosen by God. And Paul says he is an example of this. God has not rejected all of His beloved elect ones whom He foreknew! This the “mystery.” For many of us who are saved, we completely understand this now. But for those who are not saved or who are blind to this truth, it still remains a “mystery” to them. Why is it that some of us in the Church “get it,” while many don’t? Your guess is as good as mine. It is either (1), they are not true believers, or (2) they have just been taught incorrectly since the time they were born again and don’t really know any better. But if you are a true believer, I believe you will truly “get it.” I believe that with all of my heart. In the words of Christ, some (i.e., believers) are meant to understand and know the “mysteries” of the kingdom, while others (unbelievers) are not (cf. Mk. 4:11f). Remember God’s words through Isaiah earlier? “Your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it.’”

This is the “mystery” that Paul everywhere talks about in his epistles as “the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets. This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together IN THE PROMISE in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 3:4-6). Again, it is “to enlighten ALL[5] (both Jews and Gentiles) what is the administration of the mystery having been hidden from the ages in God, the One having created all things” (v. 9, Berean Literal Bible). I like how the ISV translates this: Paul’s ministry was to “help everyone see how this secret that has been at work was hidden for ages by God, who created all things.” The NET Bible says, “God’s secret plan—a secret that has been hidden for ages in God who has created all things.” I mean, really, how clear was it in the Old Testament of God sovereignly electing individuals by grace (whether they be Jews or Gentiles) until now? It took the revelation of God to Paul (and to all the apostles) to unpack it all. And, with the help of the Holy Spirit, Paul skillfully articulates all of this for us in his epistles. For example, who would have known that “seed” meant “Christ,” and not many seeds (plural), if not but for a revelation from God to Paul? Or, even seeing a heavenly “Jerusalem from above” as opposed to the earthly Jerusalem from below? It’s there in the prophets, for all to see! But to this day a veil remains over the eyes of many individuals who are more carnally minded than spiritually minded—and who have not the Spirit of Christ! Many more examples of this kind of understanding from God to His holy apostles and prophets could be cited, too many to be cited here. Indeed, God’s “secret” sovereign election of certain individuals as His “children of promise” HAS BEEN AT WORK all along in ages past in the Old Testament, and Paul makes us acutely aware of this in Romans 9-11. And yet even for all that, we still have those in the Church today who as pastors and teachers over God’s flock adamantly deny all of this, reasoning more like a carnally minded and unsaved Jew, rather than as a true born-again Christian that they claim to be. It kind of makes you wonder who these so-called “brethren” really are, doesn’t it? They don’t see anymore in all of this than what an unsaved Jew actually sees in it! Could there really be a bunch of individuals like Judas in our midst, and we too don't even know it? God will be the Judge; He will divide the sheep from the goats, the saints from the aint’s.

Now this word “foreknew” that Paul uses in Rom. 11:2 takes us back to what he has earlier said in chapter 8, verse 29. Paul had just said that all things work together for the good to those of us who love God and have been called according to His purpose. And in verses 29-30, in the Greek, we have been in the past (aorist active indicative), before any of us were ever born—foreknown, predestined to be conformed to Christ’s image, called, justified and even glorified. What Paul has said is a done deal with God in the past, is actually worked out over time in the lives of all of us whom God has called to be His "children of promise," before any of us were ever born—just like Isaac! (cp. Gal. 28). The Bible goes on to say that we are all chosen, in Christ, before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4; Rev. 17:8). And the same is also said of Jeremiah: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart” (1:5). And the same is true of everyone of us whom God has chosen. We were “predestined” to be so.

With that said, the foreknowledge of God is not foreseeing what will be and then responding to it, which is sadly what is taught in many churches around the world today. God is not a prognosticator or fortune teller. What He foretells, He puts into action. He doesn’t respond to events, He is personally involved to see to it that all events go exactly as He wants them to go. For example, the Bible says that Christ was foreordained to do what He did in space and time, before the foundation of the world (Rev. 13:8). God didn’t foresee this occuring, He did it based upon all of His forethoughts about what He planned beforehand to do; it was not an afterthought. None of this was God responding to what He foresaw in the future would happen; it was not reactionary, but visionary. What He did was by a determinate set counsel and purpose. This is plainly seen in Acts 2:23, which says, “This man [Christ] was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross.” And again, “Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen.” And just in case anyone would venture to read into this last statement that God was just a good fortune teller or prognosticator, the former statement in Acts 2:23 says it was all done “by God’s set purpose,” not by man’s set purpose. This is why Proverbs says, “Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose (or plan) that prevails” (19:21). And we see this over and over again, especially in the Old Testament.

Foreknowledge is God’s prior knowledge (or plan) that is eventually in time put into action. What God plans, He does! The foreknowledge of God plans things to be certain, and His predestination destines or puts into action those plans, rendering them certain. Foreknowledge speaks of a destiny for all things; predestination of attaining that destiny, similar to an architect who plans things and then puts them into action. There are countless numbers of passages in the Bible that talk about this idea. And I don’t have the space and time to go over all of them. But I will give you a few of them. They are all self-explanatory.

In Dan. 4:35, it says, “All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as He pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back His hand or say to Him: ‘What have you done?’”

Isaiah 14:24 says: “The LORD Almighty has sworn, ‘Surely, as I have planned, so it will be, and as I have purposed, so it will stand.’”

Isaiah 46:10-11 says: “I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.’ From the east I summon a bird of prey; from a far-off land, a man to fulfill My purpose. What I have said, that will I bring about; what I have planned, that will I do.”

Isaiah 48:3 says: “I foretold the former things long ago, My mouth announced them and I made them known; then suddenly I acted, and they came to pass.”

Ezk.12:25 says: “…I will fulfill whatever I say, declares the Sovereign LORD.” This one little sentence really does says it all.

Rev. 17:16-17 says: “...and the ten horns you saw will hate the prostitute. They will bring her to ruin and leave her naked; they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire. For God has put it into their hearts to accomplish His purpose by agreeing to give the beast their power to rule, until God’s words are fulfilled.”

See also: Gen. 45:5-8; 1Ki. 22:19-23; 2Sam. 17:14; 2Chr. 10:15; Pro. 16:1, 9; 21:1; Psm. 33:10-11. There are countless more verses like these.

To read more on the foreknowledge and predestination of God, I would highly recommend reading Lorraine Boettner’s book, The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination. It is almost second-to-none. Arthur Pink’s book, The Sovereignty of God, is also excellent in this regards. Additionally, some good books and commentaries on Romans 9-11 are: William Hendriksen’s excellent New Testament commentary on Romans; Herman Hoeksema’s, God’s Eternal Good Pleasure; Herman Bavinck’s, Reformed Dogmatics, vol. 4, p. 744; and Lewis Berkhof’s Systematic Theology, pp. 699-670. Also Lenski and Herman Ridderbos in their commentaries on Romans are helpful. And O. Palmer Robertson’s book, The Israel of God, is a good place to start on all of this.

Thank you for spending the time to read about this wonderful subject on who “all Israel” is. By now, it should come as no surprise that they are all God’s elect “children of the promise” who are born of Him in Rom. 9:6ff, and being no less true of us Gentiles as well according to Gal. 4:28: “And you, brethren, like Isaac, are children of promise.” And all this is happening with both Jews and Gentiles right NOW as we speak, not later. It is not some end-time en-mass conversion of all Jews in the future, nor of the Gentiles. It is a remnant or portion who are chosen by God’s grace to be His allotment and inheritance out of all of the harvest of the world throughout history; His designated sheave-offering from among the sheaves of the world. They are His holy tithe, firstfruits and firstborn-ones that all of those literal types and shadows pointed to.

Oh, how marvelous! Oh, how wonderful, is my Savior’s love for me.

For you, brethren,

are become followers of the churches of God which are in Judea, in Christ Jesus:

for you also have suffered the same things from your own countrymen,

even as they [the believing Jews] have from the Jews,

who both killed the Lord Jesus, and the prophets, and have persecuted us,

and please not God, and are adversaries to all men;

prohibiting us to speak to the Gentiles, that they may be saved,

to fill up their sins always:

for the wrath of God is come upon them to the end”

(1Ths. 1:14-16, DRB).

Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many;

and He will appear a second time,

not to bear sin,

but to bring salvation

to those who are waiting for Him

(Heb. 9:28, NIV).

Alleluia!

Footnotes:

[1] They even base this on misguided and overly-literal interpretations of many words of the other prophets, and more particularly of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos, Joel and Zechariah. But like Ezekiel, what these prophets predicted with literal words and ideas were to be understood in a non-literal manner in the times of the Church. And a lot of the older commentators such as Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole, Albert Barnes and Jamieson, Fausset and Brown understood it this way. Were these men able to perfectly describe all of the details? Not at all. But who can perfectly describe all the details of the tabernacle of Moses or the temple of Solomon? Are we to discount what they said as being of a symbolical manner, even though we cannot put a handle on all that is being said to us spiritually in those types? Of course not. Are not the same purposes served by the simple delineations of the prophets with literal words and ideas, as with the actual literal construction by Moses or Solomon? Whether literally built, or spoken of with seemingly literal words that are not to be taken literally, they all had the same ends in mind—what God was going to eventually do through Christ and His people. If the prophets were predicting the return of Judaism again after the Church is raptured, this would place them in a direct contradiction of Christ and His apostles. No other sense makes sense in our future, except for the spiritual sense.
[2] By now, it should come as no surprise to us what these fruit bearing trees of all kinds are. Scriptures are replete with this type of symbol or metaphor being used to refer to God’s righteous saints. For example, see: Psm. 1:3; 52:8; 92:12; Jer. 11:16; 17:8.
[3] One need not go too far in Scripture to understand the analogy here. In Psm. 40:2, David wrote this Psalm about Christ, who cried: “He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock and established my goings” (KJV). We sing a song about this to this day. Clearly, none of this is to be taken literally, just as in the verse we are talking about in Ezk. 47:11. In Psm. 40, verse 2, the words “horrible pit” are a bit of an understatement. The word “horrible” is the Hebrew, shaon, and means: “uproar,” as in “a roar (of waters, etc.), din, crash, uproar.” And God often refers to the raging or uproar of the waters of the sea, as the “raging” and “uproar” of the heathen coming against us and overwhelming us (cp. Isa. 8:7-8; 17:12-13; Jer. 46:7-8; 47:2; 51:55; Jude 1:13; Rev. 17:15). This Hebrew word is translated, the “roaring” pit in the Lexham Eng. Bible translation. The Hebrew word for “pit,” bore, literally means “cistern” or “well.” So the New English Translation is not far off when it translates these two words as: “the water pit.” And all of this could really be paraphrased as, “He brought me out of the uproar of the waters and miry clay.” I kind of like how The Wycliffe Bible translates Psm. 40:2: “he led me out of the pit of wretchedness, and out of the filth of dregs. And he ordained my feet upon a stone; and he directed my goings.” And The Expanded Bible is not bad either, “He lifted [drew] me out of the pit of destruction [or desolation], out of the sticky mud [miry/muddy pit/bog/swamp]. He stood me [placed my feet] on a rock and made my feet [step] steady.” (words in brackets theirs).

Now it all begins to make sense. in Psalm 40 Christ was being overwhelmed by the enemy, even Satan himself, who are the very dregs of the physical world and underworld. But God lifted Christ out of that miry, watery, clay cistern and set His feet in a firm, solid place. In Psm. 69:14-15, another Psalm about Christ, David likewise says: “Rescue me from the mire, do not let me sink; deliver me from those who hate me, from the deep waters. Do not let the floodwaters engulf me or the depths swallow me up or the pit close its mouth over me” (see also vv. 1-3). The “mire” spoken of here is synonymous with “those who hate me” and “the deep waters”; with the “floodwaters,” “the depths,” and “the pit” also denoting the same. David is just piling up metaphors. Again, the Psalmist cries: “Reach down Your hand from on high; deliver me and rescue me from the mighty waters, from the hands of foreigners” (Psm. 144:7). Here “the mighty waters” are “the hands of foreigners.” Clearly, “mire,” “waters,” “deep waters,” “the pit,” “mighty waters,” “raging waters” and “floodwaters” are all used as symbols or metaphors for ungodly people who are a cistern of quagmire and ill-repute; a well from which springs nothing drinkable. And this is no different in Ezekiel 47:11.

Additionally, in Isaiah 57:20, the Lord again says, “But the wicked are like the tossing sea, which cannot rest, whose waves cast up mire and mud.” And lastly, in Isa. 14:23 the Lord says of Babylon, “I will turn her into a place of owls and into a swampland; I will sweep her with the broom of destruction.” “Owls” are another symbol or metaphor for the heathen who are unclean, something that is more common in Isaiah, especially as noted in the NIV translation. And it is these unclean birds (think of the Medes and Persians) that will settle in Babylon and turn it into a “swampland,” a place that is absolutely detestable. From oceans (or seas), to lakes, to rivers, to streams, to swamplands, to salt; that is the order of devastation that the Lord brings upon the ungodly. It is just like that of the old man in Eph. 4:22, whom Paul says, “waxeth corrupt” (ASV), or “grows corrupt” (NKJV). He just gets more worse by the minute, filling up the cup of God’s wrath (which tells us here that we are not talking about who we are now as the new man, but who we use to be as the old man; see my article Created In God’s Image, Not Adam’s! and esp. part 4 which deals with this verse). Additionally, for a good commentary on Ezekiel, I would suggest trying to get a copy of Patrick Fairbairn’s, An Exposition of Ezekiel; or even William Greenhill's, Ezekiel.
[4] Many Christian Zionists, Messianic Jews and dispensationalists (and not to mention all carnal thinking and reasoning Jews) see some of these verses I am referring to as a time in the future here on earth with the Jews. But they are reading more into these verses that the “natural” eye cannot see. God’s mountain, city, temple and Zion are now His people, the Church, made up of both Jews and Gentiles. The natural is behind us, the spiritual is before us. Those shadows are past, the reality in Christ is now upon us (read Col. 2:17 in the NET Bible).
[5] Some manuscripts omit the Greek word pantas for “all.” But it doesn’t matter. What Paul says about this “mystery” is indeed for all, i.e., not just for the Jew. And all the verses that I cite from Paul make this ever so clear.