Paul considered the receivers of his epistle as his brothers in blood, and through this statement he confessed that God is his Father as well as their Father. All the thoughts, research, and reports about predestination cannot be fulfilled theoretically through the conception that “God is greater”, but before a known God, the Father of our living Lord Jesus Christ, our holy Father who is filled with love and mercy.
After this opening, Paul speaks about a secret which he had not understood until the heavenly Father had revealed it to him clearly. Therefore Paul asks all commentators, preachers, and theologians not to bring their own philosophies about the children of Jacob, but to listen carefully to and keep the word of God. He who preaches his own thoughts takes a risk, because he thinks himself smart and prudent, but soon goes astray; while he who holds fast to the word of God prayerfully, and listens to the word of the Holy Spirit, gradually grows in the knowledge of the secrets of the love of God, our heavenly Father.
The secret, which Paul speaks about with respect to the last days, includes many parts:
The hardening of Israel was like a tent of thick cloth, which protects those who sit under it from the rays of the sun, but hides the sight from their eyes, and the hearing from their ears. They neither see, nor read, nor hear in spite of their ability to do so (Jer 16:9-10).
Not all, but most of, the children of Jacob are hard. The disciples and apostles of Jesus and the early church repented sincerely under John the Baptist. He prepared them for the coming and the salvation of Christ, and they lived within his community and experienced his light of divine glory.
According to the book of Isaiah, the hardening began 700 years before the coming of Christ (6:5-13), which Jesus clearly confirmed (Matthew 13:11-15), and Paul sorrowfully detailed (Acts 28:26-28). This hardening turned into common terror when the Jews delivered their King to be crucified, and rejected the dwelling of the Holy Sprit. The Romans then sold them as slaves to all parts of the world.
The hardening of the Jews will not continue forever. It continues until the number of the believers of other peoples is completed. When the calling of the sinners of other peoples is completed, the Lord will give the Jews a final chance for repentance and regeneration.
But who is all Israel who will be saved in the last days, about whom Paul speaks as a stirring subject in the history of church and peoples? (Note: The present research has nothing to do with politics. It is a mere spiritual research.)
a) Today, a quarter of the Jews live in the state of Israel, while three quarters of them are dispersed in 52 countries.
b) Does the statement “all Israel” indicate the religious orthodox Jews, or the liberal Jews who do not care for religion?
c) There are Druze, Christians and Muslims who live in the state of Israel, and hold an Israeli passport. Does the statement “all Israel,” then, also include those people? No, they are certainly not included.
d) The Lord had foretold Isaiah that none would be saved from Israel except the holy remnant, saying: “As a terebinth tree or as an oak, whose stump remains when it is cut down. So the holy seed shall be its stump” (Isaiah 6:11-13); i.e. that remnant of the people will be a holy seed, a living church of God on earth. This shows their belief in Christ, and their salvation.
e) The Lord declared to his servant John in his revelation that his angels would seal twelve thousand individuals of each one of the twelve tribes of Israel. Therefore not all the tribes, but only the complete choice, would be sealed. The tribe of Dan is not mentioned in the list of the twelve tribes, because he willfully fell away from the covenant of God with Moses and his people. Only the one hundred forty-four are the sealed people, while the rest of the people are not saved.
f) The apostle Paul writes in his Epistle to the Romans (2:28-29) that not all Jews are Jews indeed, but a Jew is he who is one inwardly, circumcised by the circumcision of the heart, and born again. However, those who were born of a Jewish mother are Jews according to the human right, but are not Jews according to the spiritual truth, unless they have been born again of the blood of Christ and his Holy Spirit. Jesus had declared twice to John in his revelation (Revelation 2:9; 3:9) that some Jews are not Jews at all.
g) In the gospel and the revelation of John, we read that the Jews “shall look on him whom they pierced”. This prophecy indicates the conversion of the remaining remnant at the last moment at the second coming of Christ.
h) The prophet Zechariah testified that the Lord would pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they would look on him whom they had pierced (Zechariah 12:10-14). This prophecy indicates the repentance of the Jews, and their brokenness in the last day (Matthew 23:37-39).
Summary: We must not be hasty to claim who the true Israel is in the eyes of Christ. The Holy Bible teaches us that this name does not indicate a political body, or certain race, but primarily a spiritual truth. Nowadays, we find that thousands of regenerated people of the children of Jacob in the Middle East, Europe, and the U.S.A. are the true chosen people and the spiritual body of Christ. We do not know how much this number will be increased, but we know that they suffer bloody persecution at the hand of the antichrist in their own homes. However, Christ will himself gather the souls of the martyrs, and catch them up to his holy throne (Revelation 13:7-10; 14:1-5).
Whoever penetrates deeply into the Epistle of Paul to the Romans (11:26-27) notices that these prophecies concerning the salvation of the children of Jacob show certain details:
a) The Redeemer drives away disbelief and dissoluteness from the children of Jacob.
b) All receive forgiveness of sins according to the new covenant, as revealed in the Book of Jeremiah (31:31-34). This is an indication of the new covenant, which Jesus made with his disciples (Matthew 26:26-28), and this promise was fulfilled.
Paul testified that the religious Jewish nation became an enemy of the gospel because of this new covenant. This difficulty, however, caused a great gain for the despised peoples because they recognized the salvation through Christ, and took hold of the grace of God by faith.
At the same time, the apostle of the Gentiles confirmed to the Jews, who were enemies to the church of Rome, that they were still beloved by God because of the faith of their fathers, and their choice in their faithfulness. Thus, he who is chosen by God remains chosen without interruption, even if he has sinned or rejected his selection. All the spiritual gifts and privileges of faith which God has given to the believing individuals belong to his irrevocable faithfulness (Romans 11:29). Therefore, we must never doubt our selection and the sanctification of our life, but trust the word of God, as a child trusts the words of his father.
In Romans 11:30-31, Paul repeats the objective and aim of the second part of his epistle with respect to the redemption of the children of Jacob. He endeavors to force these principles into the minds of the enemies of the church in Rome:
a) You new believers were in the past disbelievers, disobedient to God, and sinners.
b) Now, you have received the grace and mercy of God through Jesus Christ and your faith in him.
c) The obtaining of this salvation became possible because of the disobedience of the Jews, and their rejection of the Son of God.
d) Therefore, the Jews became disobedient and sinful because of the mercy given to you, which you accepted with saving faith.
e) That they might also receive the limitless mercy.
Consequently, he who wishes to understand the second part of the Epistle of Paul to the Romans must penetrate deeply into these principles, and turn them into prayers and supplications for this lost people that they may be saved.
Paul ingeniously observed these principles, and laid them as a foundation for his adoration and his worship to God. He magnified the Holy One because he allowed the falling of the Jews into disobedience and rebellion, that he might have mercy on them all again, if they had accepted the redemption prepared for them by faith (Romans 11:32).
Paul does not preach absolute reconciliation for every man, saying that God would save all the sinners in the last days because of his love, and would empty hell from the blasphemers who want or do not want to be saved. This is the belief of those who want God to save Satan, and therefore they worship Satan that they might enter paradise with him. This is but delusion and conceit, for God is love and truth, and his justice is indivisible.
Paul hoped that all the Jews would repent and be saved through faith in the Savior, while Jesus was more sober about this question. On the day of judgment he will say to those who do not love the poor, according to his revelation: “Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41). The Revelation of John also confirms this fearful truth (Revelation 14:9-14; 20:10.15; 21:8).