Okay, but what does that mean for us on a national level? Surely not that Israel can, as a nation, expect to be exempt from repercussions for its actions. We can be allies with the nation of Israel, agree that the descendants of Abraham are still God's chosen people, and still recognise that they have done wrong and hold them as accountable as any other nation for their actions.
Rom. 11:26
says...........
“And so all Israel shall be saved.”
What is your understanding of that verse
Personally I take this to mean that someday the nation as a whole (not every individual); see
1 Kings 12:1;
2 Chronicles 12:1) will be converted to Christ and join the Christian church and be saved.
Context:
1 Kings 12:1.......
Rehoboam went to Shechem,
for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king."
2 Chronicles......
"When the rule of Rehoboam was established and he was strong, he abandoned the law of the Lord,
and all Israel with him.
This was J. C. Ryle’s view published in 1867:
[The Jews] are kept separate that they may finally be saved, converted and restored to their own land. They are reserved and preserved, in order that God may show in them as on a platform, to angels and men, how greatly he hates sin, and yet how greatly he can forgive, and how greatly he can convert. Never will that be realized as it will in that day when “all Israel shall be saved.” (
Are You Ready for the End of Time? [Ross-shire, Scotland: Christian Focus Publications, 2001], 137–138)
Some have asked and will continue to ask.........."Why is this important, who really cares?"
One reason this matters is that Paul made this claim in Rom. 11:25.......
“lest you [Gentiles] be wise in our own sight”.
Then rightly understanding the historical process of how God saves Gentiles and Jews undercuts Jewish and Gentile pride. How is this going to happen? IMO that is what makes the study of the "End Times" so compelling and interesting as it causes one to dig deep into His Word for answers and directions.
It seems to me that with the second coming of Christ there will be a great turning of Israel to Christ.
IMO that is what the Tribulation Period is all about.
Zechariah 12:10..........
“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.”
Isaiah 66:8.................. “Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall a land be born in one day? Shall a nation be brought forth in one moment? For as soon as Zion was in labor she brought forth her children.”
Matthew 23:39.............where Jesus says to the hardened nation:
“I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.'”