Will Ethnic Israel Be Saved?
Question 10016
This question strikes at the heart of God’s faithfulness. Has God abandoned the Jewish people? Has the Church replaced Israel in God’s purposes? These are not abstract theological debates but questions that touch on the very character of God Himself. If God has cast away His chosen people after making eternal promises to them, what confidence can any of us have in His promises to us?
The answer from Scripture is unmistakably clear: ethnic Israel will indeed be saved in the future. God has not finished with the Jewish nation, and His covenant promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob remain in full effect.
The Foundation: God’s Unconditional Covenant with Abraham
The entire discussion must begin with Genesis 12, 15, and 17, where God established His covenant with Abraham. In Genesis 15:18, we read: “On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, ‘To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates.'” What makes this covenant extraordinary is its unconditional nature. In Genesis 15:9-17, God alone passed between the divided animals in the form of a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch. In ancient Near Eastern covenant ceremonies, both parties would walk between the pieces, signifying that if either broke the covenant, they would suffer the fate of those animals. But here, only God passed through. Abraham was in a deep sleep. The message is unmistakable: this covenant depends entirely on God’s faithfulness, not Israel’s obedience.
The Hebrew term for covenant, בְּרִית (berith), carries the weight of a solemn, binding agreement. When God declares in Genesis 17:7, “And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you,” He uses the word עוֹלָם (olam) meaning perpetual, everlasting, or forever. This is not temporary. This is not conditional on Israel’s behaviour. This is God staking His own character on His promise.
Romans 11: The Definitive Answer
Paul addresses this question head-on in Romans 11. He asks in verse 1: “I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means!” The Greek here is emphatic: μὴ γένοιτο (mē genoito), which is the strongest form of negation Paul could use. It means “May it never be!” or “Absolutely not!” or even “God forbid!” Paul is horrified at the very suggestion that God has cast off Israel.
Paul offers himself as evidence: “For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin” (Romans 11:1b). Then he reminds his readers of Elijah, who thought he was the only faithful one left in Israel. God’s response in 1 Kings 19:18 was that He had preserved 7,000 who had not bowed to Baal. Paul applies this principle in Romans 11:5: “So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace.”
But Paul goes further than affirming a present remnant. He speaks of a future national restoration. In Romans 11:25-27, he reveals what he calls a μυστήριον (mystērion), a mystery or previously hidden truth now revealed: “Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, ‘The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob; and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins.'”
Notice the sequence Paul describes. There is presently a “partial hardening” (πώρωσις ἀπὸ μέρους, pōrōsis apo merous) upon Israel. This hardening is not total, as the existence of Jewish believers demonstrates. And this hardening is not permanent—it continues only “until” (ἄχρι, achri) the fullness of the Gentiles comes in. Then “all Israel will be saved.” The Greek πᾶς Ἰσραήλ (pas Israēl) refers to Israel as a whole, the nation in its entirety, not necessarily every individual Jew without exception, but Israel as a corporate entity.
The Old Testament Prophets
The prophets consistently foretold a future restoration and salvation for Israel. Jeremiah 31:31-34 promises a new covenant with “the house of Israel and the house of Judah”—not with the Church, but with ethnic Israel. God declares: “I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people… For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” While the Church participates in the spiritual blessings of this new covenant through Jesus, the ultimate fulfilment with national Israel remains future.
Ezekiel 36-37 provides perhaps the most vivid picture. The valley of dry bones in chapter 37 explicitly represents “the whole house of Israel” (v. 11). God promises: “Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel” (v. 12). This is not figurative language about the Church. The text specifically identifies these as Israelites being restored to their own land.
Zechariah 12-14 describes the events surrounding Israel’s future salvation in detail. In 12:10, God declares: “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn.” This is a national repentance, a recognition of Jesus as the Messiah they rejected. The mourning is intense, personal, tribal—”the land shall mourn, each family by itself” (v. 12). This prophecy awaits its fulfilment when Israel as a nation turns to their Messiah.
The Dispensational Understanding
From a dispensational premillennial perspective, these promises find their fulfilment in connection with the Second Coming of Jesus. During the seven-year Tribulation period described in Daniel 9:27 and Revelation 6-19, Israel will experience unprecedented distress—what Jeremiah 30:7 calls “the time of Jacob’s trouble.” Yet through this refining process, a remnant will turn to their Messiah.
When Jesus returns to the Mount of Olives (Zechariah 14:4), Israel will recognise Him as the One they pierced. This moment of national salvation will occur at the end of the Tribulation, just before the establishment of the Millennial Kingdom. As Charles Ryrie explains in his Basic Theology, “Israel’s salvation will occur at the second advent of Christ when the believing remnant will be saved and brought into the blessings of the millennial kingdom” (p. 397). John Walvoord similarly affirms in The Millennial Kingdom that “the prophetic Scriptures are emphatic that Israel has a future as a nation and that her restoration will include spiritual conversion” (p. 198).
Answering Objections
Some argue that the Church has replaced Israel—a view known as supersessionism or replacement theology. They claim that God’s promises to Israel have been transferred to the Church. But this view cannot be reconciled with Paul’s argument in Romans 9-11. Paul specifically addresses whether God has rejected Israel and emphatically denies it. He speaks of Israel’s future salvation as something distinct from Gentile salvation, comparing the two to natural and wild olive branches on the same tree (Romans 11:17-24).
Others suggest that “all Israel” in Romans 11:26 refers to the Church or to the sum total of elect Jews throughout history. But the context makes this interpretation untenable. Throughout Romans 9-11, Paul consistently uses “Israel” to mean ethnic Israel in distinction from Gentiles. He speaks of “my kinsmen according to the flesh” (9:3), “Israelites” with their adoption, glory, covenants, law, worship, promises, and patriarchs (9:4-5). To suddenly shift the meaning of “Israel” in 11:26 to mean something other than ethnic Israel would be exegetically inconsistent and contextually confusing.
What This Means for Us Today
God’s faithfulness to Israel should encourage every believer. If God could abandon His promises to Israel after thousands of years, how could we trust His promises to us? But because God remains faithful to Israel despite their unfaithfulness, we can rest assured that He will remain faithful to us. As Paul declares in 2 Timothy 2:13: “If we are faithless, he remains faithful—for he cannot deny himself.”
This truth should also shape our attitude toward the Jewish people. Paul warns Gentile believers against arrogance in Romans 11:18: “Do not be arrogant toward the branches.” We are wild olive branches grafted into a Jewish tree. Our salvation comes through the Jewish Messiah, the Jewish Scriptures, and the Jewish apostles. We should have hearts of gratitude toward the Jewish people and a longing for their salvation.
Finally, this doctrine reminds us that God is a promise-keeping God. The same God who will fulfil His promises to Israel will fulfil His promises to you. Every promise of forgiveness, of eternal life, of resurrection, of glorification—these are not wishful thinking but divine guarantees from a God who cannot lie.
Conclusion
Yes, ethnic Israel will be saved in the future. The Abrahamic covenant guarantees it. The prophets proclaimed it. Paul explains it. And when Jesus returns, Israel will look upon Him whom they pierced and will mourn in repentance. The Deliverer will come from Zion and will banish ungodliness from Jacob. God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew. And what He has promised, He will surely accomplish.
“And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, ‘The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob; and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins.'” Romans 11:26-27
Bibliography
- Blaising, Craig A., and Darrell L. Bock. Progressive Dispensationalism. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 1993.
- Bruce, F.F. The Epistle to the Romans. Tyndale New Testament Commentaries. Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press, 1985.
- Cranfield, C.E.B. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans. Vol. 2. Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1979.
- Fruchtenbaum, Arnold G. Israelology: The Missing Link in Systematic Theology. Tustin, CA: Ariel Ministries, 1994.
- Moo, Douglas J. The Epistle to the Romans. New International Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1996.
- Morris, Leon. The Epistle to the Romans. Pillar New Testament Commentary. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1988.
- Pentecost, J. Dwight. Things to Come: A Study in Biblical Eschatology. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1958.
- Ryrie, Charles C. Basic Theology. Chicago: Moody Press, 1999.
- Saucy, Robert L. The Case for Progressive Dispensationalism. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1993.
- Walvoord, John F. The Millennial Kingdom. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1959.
