All Israel Shall Be Saved: Installment Ii of Chasing Truth, a Detailed Discussion of Romans 9-11

By JOEL ZAO

Paul’s foundational letter to the Romans is placed within the commonly accepted scripture structure as the initial letter from one of the apostles to the churches in the first century, BC. Paul, formerly known as Saul of Tarsus, was by his own account one of the most prominent Jewish scholars, thoroughly versed in the history of his nation, as well as the particulars of the Law of Moses.

In the early days of church history, immediately following the crucifixion and ascension of Jesus Christ, Saul of Tarsus was one of the fiercest opponents of the sect known as Christians, initially known by that name in the ancient city of Antioch.

The Lord dramatically saved Saul as he approached Damascus in Syria with orders from the Jewish Sanhedrin to capture and return Christians for trial in Jerusalem. Knocked to the ground, and blinded, Jesus instructed him to continue on to Damascus to be prayed for by a Christian, Ananias, at which time he would recover his sight, receive his new name, and begin his new career as the apostle to the nations.

Paul was perfectly suited to fulfill his new role. His letter to the Romans laid out the basic doctrines of faith for all believers. In Chapters 9-11, of which this manuscript describes, Paul provides a detailed status report on Israel, including their temporary fall from grace, followed by the wondrous time when they will return to God when All Israel Shall be Saved.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Nov 13, 2019
• ISBN: 9781796071160

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Copyright © 2019 by Joel Zao.

Library of Congress Control Number:   2018901365

ISBN:                Hardcover                978-1-7960-7118-4

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Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the Holy Bible, King James Version (Authorized Version). First published in 1611. Quoted from the KJV Classic Reference Bible, Copyright © 1983 by The Zondervan Corporation.

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Rev. date: 11/11/2019

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CONTENTS

Foreword

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Epilogue

Foreword

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In the earlier discussion of Chasing Truth, published in 2009, I shared my thoughts and conclusions on the first eight chapters of Paul’s letter to the Romans. God’s words given to Paul for the Roman believers set out clearly the plan of salvation for all individuals who are called to believe in the sacrificial life and death of Jesus, the Son of God. The Son of Man was the title that the Lord often referred to himself in the four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

God calls each person separately through the first part of Paul’s evangel, the good news from God for all to believe. As the salvation for individual believers, the section of Romans 1–8 contains the precise presentation of God’s saving truth, revealed to Paul as the apostle to the nations. A summary of the good news message will follow this brief prologue or introduction.

The commencement of God’s salvation plan announced by Paul in the first unit of his Romans letter is followed by the message of the salvation of Israel as the inaugural salvation of all nations that are called by God. Israel’s unique role in this phase of God’s redemption is expressed in the revelation that all Israel shall be saved (Romans 11:26).

Israel is the epicenter of world politics—the beliefs, the policies, and the opinions of world governments. How the nations treat Israel is a matter of consequence, whether good or bad, which means that Israel’s fate should be an issue of extreme interest to the nations.

This critical subject will determine each nation’s future status on the world stage, according to the words of Jesus in Matthew 25, where he spoke of his return to the earth:

When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory; And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: and he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? Or thirsty, gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or, when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? (Matthew 25:31–39)

At present, we do not see the Son of Man sitting upon his throne of glory. Nevertheless, these prophetic words will be fulfilled at a point in the future, when the nations are gathered before the King as representing the sheep and the goats of Jesus’s vision.

Throughout the Gospels, Jesus referred to himself as the Son of Man. He is the only one who could fulfill this prophecy as the King.

Jesus continued the prophetic revelation by replying to the incredulous responses of those who will actually witness his kingly division of the nations. They will not recall their merciful treatment toward him, being unaware that their mercy toward his brothers is viewed from heaven as mercy expressed in his behalf. The King’s reward for their benevolence will then be disbursed as he explained, And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me (Matthew 25:40).

The King views his brethren as himself. However, the righteous sheep do not recognize their kindness and mercy to the King when they show kindness to his brethren. They do not see themselves as righteous, nor will they see those whom they helped as brothers of the King, especially as to the King himself until he shows them. The nations do not currently view Israel as the brother(s) of Christ, the King.

Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an hungered, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal. (Matthew 25:41–46)

The King will dispense his judgment to those on his left under the same conditions as those on his right. They also will be ignorant of the reason for his severity toward them until he makes it plain that to Israel, his brethren, they withheld their kindness and mercy, which, consequently, was an offense to him. They blindly denied Christ when they rejected his brethren.

These scriptures in the final portion of Matthew’s Gospel are commonly viewed as addressed to individual believers of this age. But as viewed from a different perspective, as that which applies to the nations, the goats and the sheep represent groups of people whose fate is based upon how they, as nations, treated the Jewish brothers of Jesus, the nation of Israel.

This national view illustrates that salvation is not restricted solely to individual believers. Nations will be saved as well.

And the first nation to be saved is Israel.

Paul proves this national salvation when he states, All Israel shall be saved (Romans 11:26). He is not speaking of individual Jews. Nor can his statement be spiritualized to refer to the church, which is the body of Christ. Israel is distinctly defined as the only nation that is comprised of the lineal descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. As Jacob’s children, they are a people of twelve tribes who are allotted the land originally promised to Abraham and to his seed.

Peter, in his second letter, states, But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9).

Peter quoted Moses, who long before cited this promise of God made to the children of Israel as they were saved from the despotic rule of Egypt: "And