The ethnic nation of Israel plays a major role in the dispensational futurist (i.e. Left Behind Rapture) view. Many are waiting for a third Temple to be built in Jerusalem, for the Church to ‘disappear’, and for a tiny remnant of saved Jews (144,000) to be the only believers left on Earth when Antichrist runs amok.
Historicists have largely held a much more optimistic view of the fate of ethnic Israel. Many saw an impending total revival among Jews, when the nation as a whole (not just a tiny remnant) turns to Christ. This view came from their interpretation of Romans 11:26, where it says that “all Israel will be saved.” They also saw it insinuated in Luke 21:20-24 and Revelation 11:1-3, after the “times of the Gentiles” are fulfilled. Some also saw a ‘land promise’ aspect to it, with the “kings of the East” in Revelation 16:12. Below is a collection from commentators who wrote about this belief.
Today there is a greater variety of beliefs about what Romans 11:26 is speaking about when it says that “all Israel will be saved.” There are three main views:
• View 1: “All Israel” Is the Church – The first view is that the “all Israel” of Rom 11:26 consists of both Jews and Gentiles who together constitute the church of Jesus of Christ. In other words, “all Israel” equals the church, which is the Israel of God. According to this interpretation, even though a partial hardening has come upon ethnic Israel, a remnant of believing Jews is still being saved throughout the present age.
• View 2: “All Israel” Is the Remnant – The second view is that “all Israel” in Rom 11:26 refers to all the elect Jews within the ethnic nation of Israel. In other words, “all Israel” is the believing remnant which is saved throughout the present age. According to this position, the hardening of the nation Israel is only partial, and God will continue to save a remnant from among the Jews until the end of the present age.
• View 3: “All Israel” Is the Nation – The third view is that “all Israel” in Rom 11:26 refers to the entire ethnic nation of Israel.11 According to this interpretation, the current partial hardening of Israel will persist until the end of the present age, when the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.
| View | Identity of “All Israel” | Timing of the Salvation |
| 1 | The Church | Throughout Present Age |
| 2 | The Remnant | Throughout Present Age |
| 3 | The Nation | At End of Present Age |
This site focuses on the classical historicist view, called the ‘Puritan hope for Israel’. “Historically, Reformational theology has had an embracement of Jewish mission, and Reformed churches (and countries) have always prayed for and sought Jewish redemption through their Messiah. The Puritan Hope was Reformational re-embracement. May we go and do likewise” (Atkinson, Reformation and Re-Embracement: A Brief History of the Puritan Hope for Israel).
Albert Barnes:
And so – That is, in this manner; or when the great abundance of the Gentiles shall be converted, then all Israel shall be saved.
All Israel – All the Jews. It was a maxim among the Jews that “every Israelite should have part in the future age.” (Grotius.) The apostle applies that maxim to his own purpose; and declares the sense in which it would be true. He does not mean to say that every Jew of every age would be saved; for he had proved that a large portion of them would be, in his time, rejected and lost. But the time would come when, as a people, they would be recovered; when the nation would turn to God; and when it could be said of them that, as a nation, they were restored to the divine favor. It is not clear that he means that even then every individual of them would be saved, but the body of them; the great mass of the nation would be. Nor is it said when this would be. This is one of the things which “the Father hath put in his own power;” Acts 1:7. He has given us the assurance that it shall be done to encourage us in our efforts to save them; and he has concealed the time when it shall be, lest we should relax our efforts, or feel that no exertions were needed to accomplish what must take place at a fixed time.
Shall be saved – Shall be recovered from their rejection; be restored to the divine favor; become followers of the Messiah, and thus be saved as all other Christians are.
(Notes on Romans 11:26)
The meaning of the passage clearly is,
- That Jerusalem would be completely destroyed.
- That this would be done by Gentiles – that is, by the Roman armies.
- That this desolation would continue as long as God should judge it proper in a fit manner to express his abhorrence of the crimes of the nation – that is, until the times allotted to “them” by God for this desolation should be accomplished, without specifying how long that would be, or what would occur to the city after that.
It “may” be rebuilt, and inhabited by converted Jews. Such a thing is “possible,” and the Jews naturally seek that as their home; but whether this be so or not, the time when the “Gentiles,” as such, shall have dominion over the city is limited. Like all other cities on the earth, it will yet be brought under the influence of the gospel, and will be inhabited by the true friends of God. Pagan, infidel, anti-Christian dominion shall cease there, and it will be again a place where God will be worshipped in sincerity – a place “even then” of special interest from the recollection of the events which have occurred there. “How long” it is to be before this occurs is known only to Him “who hath put the times and seasons in his own power,” Acts 1:7.
(Notes on Luke 21:24)
Wilhelmus à Brakel
X. The sixth vial is described in verse 12: And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.
The sixth trumpet brought on the Turk, when he gained power and took over a large part of Christendom or destroyed it. The sixth vial brings him down again, which can be seen by the drying out of the EuphratesRiver, which is his region. The strength of the city can be seen by the conquering of Babylon through drying up of the river. The end to which the Turk will be broken, is the conversion of the Jews, which was prevented so far by the idolatry of the Papacy and the violence of the Turk. The Jews are mentioned here as kings.
Exodus 19:6: A kingdom of priests.
Isaiah 24:21‑23: The kings of the earth.
Matthew 8:12: The children of the kingdom.
The Jews cover the entire earth, but are especially present in the Eastern countries. The Jews will be converted, as was shown earlier and also shown through their return to their land. It is also hard to believe that this important matter would not be discussed in Revelation. This is shown here and in chapter 19, where this matter is briefly described in the vial. Also mentioned is their conversion, according to the feelings of many of the most prominent commentators on Revelation. It is easy to understand that the destruction of the Antichrist and the Turk, in whose area they are mostly living, would provide a good opportunity. Therefore we think that the Jews are the kings of the East and that their recovery can be expected after that time. And they, when they are converted, will cause the conversion of the surrounding kings and nations.
(Commentary on Revelation, Rev 16:12)
The Return of the Jews to Canaan Proven from Various Old Testament Passages: One more question remains to be answered: Will the Jewish nation be gathered together again from all the regions of the world and from all the nations of the earth among which they have been dispersed? Will they come to and dwell in Canaan and all the lands promised to Abraham, and will Jerusalem be rebuilt?
We believe that these events will transpire. We deny, however, that the temple will be rebuilt, and that therein the previous mode of worship will be observed, which prior to Christ’s coming was of a typifying nature and would then be of a reflective nature. We also deny that Israel will then have dominion over the entire world—and other such things which the Jews imagine and some Christians dream about. Rather, they will be an independent republic, governed by a very wise, good-natured, and superb government. Furthermore, Canaan will be extraordinarily fruitful, the inhabitants will be eminently godly, and they will constitute a segment of the glorious state of the church during the thousand years prophesied in Revelation 20. We shall not enlarge here by vindicating every text over against evasive arguments one could construe—as if those texts referred to the deliverance from Babylon. They could easily be refuted from the answers already given to evasive arguments, and by the attentive examination of texts, comparing them with the actual state of Israel’s restoration from Babylon.
Take all this into account and you will come to the following conclusion: the Antichrist and the Turk, the two main enemies, will be destroyed, and the devil will be bound, for the time of a thousand years. During the time of his binding, the Jews will be converted and there will be a large increase in the church amongst heathens. The church will excel in peacefulness, knowledge of God, and holiness. God will show His presence in the church in a special way. Jesus alone will be King, and nobody else will rule over His church. But the church will be allowed its own church state. There will be an exceptional fertility. These all lead to the same conclusion: a glorious state of the church.
(Commentary on Revelation, Rev 20)
More from Wilhelmus à Brakel here.
Robert Fleming the younger
…Being satisfied that the Jews were to be converted, and that this great event could not be wholly left out in the Revelation, I did at last conclude that this must not be, whatever particular conversions of some part of them might happen, until the final destruction of the Popish party; whose idolatry, villainies, lies and legends, and bloody temper, is the chief thing that prejudices them against Christianity. So that I did at length conclude, that the resurrection or revival of the ancient Jewish church is understood by the resurrection of the martyrs, [Revelation 20:4], who, being thus added to the true reformed Christian church, and making up one body together with those gentile believers, in the fullness or ripened state of the gentile church, shall be to them as life from the dead. See Rom. 11:15-25.
(Apocalyptical Key, 95-96)
John Calvin
“I extend the word Israel to all the people of God, according to this meaning, When the Gentiles shall come in, the Jews also shall return from their defection to the obedience of faith; and thus shall be completed the salvation of the whole Israel of God, which must be gathered from both; and yet in such a way that the Jews shall obtain the first place, being as it were the first born in God’s family.
…as Jews are the firstborn, what the Prophet declares must be fulfilled, especially in them: for that scripture calls all the people of God Israelites, it is to be ascribed to the pre-eminence of that nation, who God had preferred to all other nations…God distinctly claims for himself a certain seed, so that his redemption may be effectual in his elect and peculiar nation…God was not unmindful of the covenant which he had made with their fathers, and by which he testified that according to his eternal purpose he loved that nation: and this he confirms by this remarkable declaration, that the grace of the divine calling cannot be made void.”
(Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol. XIX, Epistle to the Romans, Baker Book House, 1981, p. 434-440.)
Charles Hodge
“The second great event, which, according to the common faith of the Church, is to precede the second advent of Christ, is the national conversion of the Jews….that there is to be such a national conversion may be argued…from the original call and destination of that people. God called Abraham and promised that through him, and in his seed, all the nations of the earth should be blessed…A presumptive argument is drawn from the strange preservation of the Jews through so many centuries as a distinct people.
As the rejection of the Jews was not total, so neither is it final. First, God did not design to cast away his people entirely, but by their rejection, in the first place, to facilitate the progress of the gospel among the Gentiles, and ultimately to make the conversion of the Gentiles the means of converting the Jews…Because if the rejection of the Jews has been a source of blessing, much more will their restoration be the means of good…The restoration of the Jews to the privileges of God’s people is included in the ancient predictions and promises made respecting them…The plan of God, therefore, contemplated the calling of the Gentiles, the temporary rejection and final restoration of the Jews…
The future restoration of the Jews is, in itself, a more probable event than the introduction of the Gentiles into the church of God. This, of course, supposes that God regarded the Jews, on account of their relation to him, with peculiar favor, and that there is still something in their relation to the ancient servants of God and his covenant with them, which causes them to be regarded with special interest. As men look upon the children of their early friends with kinder feelings than on the children of strangers, God refers to this fact to make us sensible that he still retains purposes of peculiar mercy towards his ancient people.
As the restoration of the Jews is not only a most desirable event, but one which God has determined to accomplish, Christians should keep it constantly in view even in their labors for the conversion of the Gentiles.”
(Systematic Theology V.3, James Clark & Co. 1960, p. 805. and A Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans, Presb. Board of Pub., 1836, pp. 270-285 passim. Now Published by Banner of Truth Trust)
John Murray
“To the Jew first, and also to the Greek…It does not appear sufficient to regard this priority as that merely of time. In this text there is no suggestion to the effect that the priority is merely that of time. The implication appears to be rather that the power of God unto salvation through faith has primary relevance to the Jew, and the analogy of Scripture would indicate that this peculiar relevance to the Jew arises from the fact that the Jew had been chosen by God to be the recipient of the promise of the gospel and that to him were committed the oracles of God…the gospel is pre-eminently the gospel for the Jew.
While it is true that in respect of the privileges accruing from Christ’s accomplishments there is now no longer Jew or Gentile and the Gentiles “are fellow-heirs, and fellow-members of the body, and fellow-partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel” (Eph. 3:6), yet it does not follow that Israel no longer fulfills any particular design in the realization of God’s worldwide saving purpose…Israel are both “enemies” and “beloved” at the same time, enemies as regards the gospel, beloved as regards the election…”Beloved” thus means that God has not suspended or rescinded his relation to Israel as his chosen people in terms of the covenants made with their fathers.
Unfaithful as Israel have been and broken off for that reason, yet God still sustains his peculiar relation of love to them, a relation that will be demonstrated and vindicated in the restoration.”
(The Epistle to the Romans, John Murray, Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 1984, Vol. I, p. 28 and Vol. II pp. xiv-xv and 76-101, passim.)
Geerhardus Vos
“The elective principle, abolished as to nationality, continues in force as to individuals. And even with respect to national privilege, while temporarily abolished now that its purpose has been fulfilled, there still remains reserved for the future a certain fulfillment of the national elective promise. Israel in its racial capacity will again in the future be visited by the saving grace of God [Rom. 11.2, 12, 25]….
Nevertheless such (Jewish) conversions remain for the present but sporadic examples, though at bottom expressive of a divine principle intended to work itself out on the largest of scales at the predetermined point in the future….
To the events preceding the parousia belongs, according to the uniform teaching of Jesus, Peter, and Paul, the conversion of Israel (Matt. 23:39; Luke 13:35; Acts 1:6,7; 3:19, 21; where the arrival of “seasons of refreshing” and “times of restoration of all things” is made dependent on the [eschatological] sending of the Christ to Israel), and this again is said to depend upon the repentance and conversion and the blotting out of the sins of Israel; Romans 11, where the problem of unbelief of Israel is solved by the twofold proposition: (1) that there is even now among Israel an election according to grace; (2) that in the future there will be a comprehensive conversion of Israel (vss. 5, 25-32).”
(Biblical Theology, Old and New Testaments, (c)1948 Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., Tenth Printing, p. 79, The Pauline Eschatology, (c) 1979 Baker Book House, p. 88, and Redemptive History and Biblical Interpretation, The Shorter Writings of Geerhardus Vos, p. 35, edited by Richard B. Gaffin, Jr., (c) 1980, Presbyterian and Reformed Pub. Co.)
Jonathan Edwards
“Jewish infidelity shall be overthrown…the Jews in all their dispersions shall cast away their old infidelity, and shall have their hearts wonderfully changed, and abhor themselves for their past unbelief and obstinacy. They shall flow together to the blessed Jesus, penitently, humbly, and joyfully owning him as their glorious King and only Savior, and shall with all their hearts, as one heart and voice, declare his praises unto other nations…Nothing is more certainly foretold than this national conversion of the Jews in Rom. xi.
Besides the prophecies of the calling of the Jews, we have a remarkable providential seal of the fulfillment of this great event, by a kind of continual miracle, viz. their being preserved a distinct nation…the world affords nothing else like it. There is undoubtedly a remarkable hand of providence in it. When they shall be called, that ancient people, who alone were so long God’s people for so long a time, shall be his people again, never to be rejected more. They shall be gathered together into one fold, together with the Gentiles….”
(The Works of Jonathan Edwards, Volume 1, Banner of Truth Trust, 1976, page 607.)
Matthew Henry
“Now two things he exhorts the Gentiles to, with reference to the rejected Jews: To have a respect for the Jews, notwithstanding, and to desire their conversion. This is intimated in the prospect he gives them of the advantage that would accrue to the church by their conversion, Rom. 11:12, 15. It would be as life from the dead; and therefore they must not insult or triumph over those poor Jews, but rather pity them, and desire their welfare, and long for the receiving of them in again.
Another thing that qualifies this doctrine of the Jews’ rejection is that, though for the present they are cast off, yet the rejection is not final; but, when the fullness of time is come, they will be taken in again. They are not cast off for ever, but mercy is remembered in the midst of wrath.
The Jews are in a sense a holy nation (Exod. xix.6), being descended from holy parents. Now it cannot be imagined that such a holy nation should be totally and finally cast off. This proves that the seed of believers, as such, are within the pale of the visible church, and within the verge of the covenant, till they do, by their unbelief, throw themselves out; for, if the root be holy, so are the branches….Though grace does not run in the blood, yet external privileges do (till they are forfeited), even to a thousand generations…The Jewish branches are reckoned holy, because the root was so. This is expressed more plainly (Rom. 11:28).
Though particular persons and generations wear off in belief, yet there having been a national church-membership, though for the present suspended, we may expect that it will be revived…It is called a mystery (Rom. 11:25), that which was not obvious, and which one would not expect upon the view of the present state of that people, who appeared generally so obstinate against Christ and Christianity that it was a riddle to talk of their unanimous conversion. Alas! who shall live when God doeth this?”
(Matthew Henry’s Commentary, V.6, MacDonald Publishing Company, pp. 448-453.)