Will All Israel Will Be Saved?
A major question in the minds of people today is whether all Israel will be saved? The name of Israel always suggests three things, community, confusion and conflict. By community, we mean who Israel is, biblically speaking. The attempt to answer that question creates confusion and often results in conflict.
Who is responsible for this confusion and conflict? Primarily, those who use the extend the future of Israel, i.e., all Israel will be saved beyond the historical context and setting of the Bible. We will briefly illustrate what we mean in the following words.
All Israel Will Be Saved
The above statement is true only after we define what is meant by the salvation of Israel. If by that phrase we mean (a) national Israel as recorded in the New Testament, the answer is no. If we mean Zionist Israel in Palestine today, again the answer is no. But, if we mean all Israel will be saved refers to the spiritual descendants of Abraham through Christ, then we have found the correct answer. See Romans 9:6-8; G al. 3:6-29.
God defines Israel not as the fleshly descendants of Abraham, but as the Seed of Isaac. Remember, the fleshly seed of Abraham included Ishmael the son of Hagar the Egyptian. To include the blood descendants of Abraham means the Arabs automatically are entitled to the inheritance.
However, by narrowing the promise through Isaac, God does two things. First, he eliminates the confusion which would be involved in Isaac and Ishmael as co-heirs. He also eliminates the fleshly seed of Isaac by putting him to death “in the flesh” and raising him from the dead “in the Spirit (Heb. 11:17-19).
All Israel Will Be Saved But Not in the Flesh
These verses show that the phrases all Israel will be saved cannot refer to the fleshly seed, i.e. the nation of Israel. God cut off the fleshly seed symbolically through the death of Isaac. He cut them off literally through the death of Christ in whom was Israel’s destiny. This is echoed in the words,“For out of Egypt I have called my Son.”
These words are prophetic in that they refer to Christ who died to the Old Covenant world of Israel, never to return to it again. He rose in the New Covenant world of the Spirit, to bless true Israel (1 Pet. 3:18). From this perspective, “all Israel will be saved”. For more information See Israel 1948, Countdown to Nowhere for the historical perspective of all Israel will be saved.