The other day I was talking to someone and he pointed out these verses to me from Romans 11:25-26. “For I don’t desire you to be ignorant, brothers, of this mystery, so that you won’t be wise in your own conceits, that a partial hardening has happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in, and so all Israel will be saved. Even as it is written, “There will come out of Zion the Deliverer, and he will turn away ungodliness from Jacob.
In these verses I was interested to see that it appears that we are waiting for that last Gentile to come in to the Kingdom for the rapture to happen. But Paul also stated that all of Israel will be saved. Does that mean all of Israel that is alive at the beginning of the tribulation or the ones who make it through the tribulation or something else? I have Jewish friends who are so anti-Jesus it would give me comfort to know that they will be saved.
The Greek words Paul used in Romans 11:25 indicate that there is a specified number for the Church and when that number is complete the Rapture will take place.
One of the two stated purposes of the Great Tribulation is the purification of Israel in preparation for God’s return to dwell among them. (Jeremiah 30:11) This process begins with the national awakening at the end of Ezekiel’s battle (Ezek. 39:22) restoring Israel’s Old Covenant relationship with God. Toward the end of the Great Tribulation, God will open their eyes to the fact that Jesus is their Messiah (Zech.12:10) completing the purification process.
Most scholars interpret the phrase “all Israel” in verse 26 to mean that all the tribes of Israel will be represented among those who are saved. This is confirmed in Ezekiel 48 where we see that each of the twelve tribes will receive a portion of the Promised Land in the Millennial Kingdom.