Will All Israel Be Saved?

by Stephen Otto

Many people interpret Romans 11:25 to mean that when Yeshua returns, there will be a mass salvation of Jewish people. In verse 25 Paul states, "For I do not desire you to be unaware, brothers, of this mystery, so that you will not be wise in your own conceits, that hardness, in part, has happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in." This is not in the text. Notice that in the next verse, verse 26, Paul didn't add that, after "the fullness of the Gentiles has come in" that Israel's eyes would be unblinded and that there would be a mass salvation. The fact is that Israel's eyes have been opened, in part, all along. The salvation of the Jewish people never stopped. Instead, in verse 26, Paul simply makes his concluding statement to his cultivated tree metaphor, "Thus, all Israel will be saved." Who is "all Israel"? The people who are on the cultivated olive tree after the conclusion of the metaphor: the Jews who accept Yeshua as their Messiah, and Gentile converts to the faith.