The Salvation of Israel
Jeremiah 30:7 – “Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.”
Here are two great promises of God to the Jewish people; first, that Israel has a time of trouble through which to go; and second, that at the conclusion of that time of trouble, Israel will be saved! Israel will be saved with the same salvation with which every Christian is saved! This salvation is a salvation from sin:
Daniel 9:24 – “Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and TO MAKE AN END OF SINS, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.”
Romans 11:25-27 – “For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so ALL ISRAEL SHALL BE SAVED: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall TURN AWAY UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS.”
The salvation of the nation of Israel is a major Bible doctrine. When post-tribulationists omit it from their teaching, they usually spiritualize it to mean that the church will be saved. NONSENSE! There are too many scriptures that refer to the salvation and complete restoration of the nation of Israel to omit it or spiritualize it:
When I speak of the salvation of Israel, I am referring to the act of God Almighty cleansing Israel from her sin at the close of the Great Tribulation:
Micah 7:18-20 – “Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy. He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.”
Zephaniah 3:19, 20 – “Behold, at that time I will undo all that afflict thee: and I will save her that halteth, and gather her that was driven out; and I will get them praise and fame in every land where they have been put to shame. At that time will I bring you again, even in the time that I gather you: for I will make you a name and a praise among all people of the earth, when I turn back your captivity before your eyes, saith the LORD.”
Zechariah 10:6-10 – “And I will strengthen the house of Judah, and I will save the house of Joseph, and I will bring them again to place them; for I have mercy upon them: and they shall be as though I had not cast them off: for I am the LORD their God, and will hear them. And they of Ephraim shall be like a mighty man, and their heart shall rejoice as through wine: yea, their children shall see it, and be glad; their heart shall rejoice in the LORD. I will hiss for them, and gather them; for I have redeemed them: and they shall increase as they have increased. And I will sow them among the people: and they shall remember me in far countries; and they shall live with their children, and turn again. I will bring them again also out of the land of Egypt, and gather them out of Assyria; and I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon; and place shall not be found for them.”
These are only a few of many more passages that promise the salvation of Israel from sin, and the restoration of Israel from the lands to which they had been scattered. Just as sure as Israel will be scattered during the Great Tribulation, Israel will be gathered, restored, and saved at the close of the Great Tribulation.
The Great Tribulation – A Refiner’s Fire
It is clear that the nation of Israel will be saved from her sin at the close of the Great Tribulation. Does this mean that today’s Jew is guaranteed salvation and need not worry about whether or not he is saved? Not at all. Does Israel’s national salvation mean that no Jew can go to hell? Certainly not. Opponents of the clear, Bible teaching that Israel will be saved raise these questions. While they are legitimate questions that deserve a clear, concise answer, the Bible is not slack to provide those answers.
TODAY’S JEW IS NOT GUARANTEED SALVATION
In the age in which we are currently living, the church age, God’s dealings are with Jew and Gentile alike. There is no distinction between God’s dealings with the Jews and His dealings with the Gentiles.
Romans 10:12 – “For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.”
Galatians 3:28 – “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.”
Colossians 3:11 – “Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.”
As a matter of fact, when Christ prepared to ascend, He gave the Great Commission to His disciples. In this commission, He commanded them to give the gospel to the Jews first. We are reminded in the New Testament that the gospel is to “the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” This shows that the today’s Jew needs the gospel! He’ll go to hell without the gospel!
Acts 1:8 – “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”
Romans 1:16 – “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”
The Jew received the gospel before it was given to the Gentile. Without the gospel, Jews are lost. In the first three chapters of the book of Romans, Paul goes through great trouble to show all mankind is in sin, and in need of a Saviour. In Romans 1, Paul shows that the heathen need to be saved. In Romans 2, Paul’s message is that the hypocrites need a Saviour. In Romans 3, the message is that the Hebrew, or the Jew, is under condemnation. At the end of these three chapters, Paul states his conclusion – “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” In Romans 10:1, Paul states that his prayer for the nation of Israel is that they might be saved. Such a request is unnecessary if today’s Jew is guaranteed salvation. In this age, Jews are blinded by the god of this world, and they are as lost and hell-bound as can be without Christ! They need a Saviour! If they die without Jesus Christ, they will wake up in hell!
JEWS IN HELL WILL NEVER GET OUT
When I teach that “all Israel shall be saved,” I am not teaching that no Jew will be in hell. Neither am I teaching that Jews who are in hell will someday get out of hell on the basis of Israel’s national salvation.
Jesus related to us a true story regarding a Jew who went to hell. In Luke 19, Christ tells about a rich man who died, was buried, and lifted up his eyes in a fiery, flaming hell. There was a conversation between this rich man and Abraham, the father of the Jews. The man in hell cried out to Abraham, referring to him as “Father Abraham.” Someone may say that Abraham is also the father of the faithful. This is true, but if the rich man were faithful to God, he would not have been in hell. Abraham was the rich man’s father because the rich man in hell was a Jew. He went to hell, and he will stay there forever. And yet, “All Israel shall be saved!”
The Salvation of Israel – How Will It Come About?
The salvation of the nation of Israel will occur after the Great Tribulation, and the Great Tribulation will be an agent to assist in bringing it about. In this present age, there are unbelieving Jews. In the Great Tribulation, there will also be unbelieving Jews. However, at the end of the Great Tribulation, every living Jew will at that time be saved! Throughout the Great Tribulation, Israel’s blinded eyes will gradually be opened, as more and more Jews will believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. There will 144,000 Jews sealed during that time. There will be other Jews who will believe in their Messiah. At the close of the Great Tribulation, when Jesus Christ comes with the saints, every Jew living at that time will look upon Jesus Christ, and the Deliverer will save Jacob from his transgressions:
Zechariah 12:10 – “And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.”
This verse is clear that the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will look upon the One that they crucified, and will weep when they learn that it was their Messiah that they killed. The Jews looked upon whom they pierced when Jesus died on the cross (John 19:37); but there no weeping by the nation of Israel for Jesus when He died. John says that the Jews will look upon Jesus again at His second coming, and will wail because of Him.
Revelation 1:7 – “Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.”
Yes, Israel will behold their Messiah coming down from heaven after the Great Tribulation, and will weep because of Him. And yes, grace will be poured out to the entire nation, and all Israel shall be saved.
Zechariah 13:1 – “In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness.”
The fact that every living Jew will be saved at the second coming of Christ is soundly substantiated. Now, briefly, I will discuss the role of the Great Tribulation in bringing this about.
During the Great Tribulation, there will be unbelieving Jews, as there is now. Those Jews who absolutely refuse Christ in the Great Tribulation will suffer the wrath of God during that time, and will die lost under the wrath of God. Obviously, those Jews who die under the wrath of God will not be numbered with “all Israel” at the close of the tribulation. This is why, if you are a Jew, that the doctrine of the salvation of Israel is no guarantee that you will be saved. The Great Tribulation is a refiner’s fire. It will sever those Jews who will never be saved from those Jews who, at the close of the Great Tribulation, will be saved. After the Great Tribulation cuts off those Jews who would never be saved, the Jews who are left – every living Jew at the end of the Great Tribulation – will call upon the name of the Lord and be saved! Don’t take my word for it; take Zechariah’s word for it:
Zechariah 13:8, 9 – “And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.”
