Kingdom Come: The Amillennial Alternative by Storms Sam

Author:Storms, Sam [Storms, Sam]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Christianity
Publisher: Christian Focus Publications
Published: 2013-04-30T00:00:00+00:00

View (1) is a form of ethnic universalism. But since Scripture nowhere endorses the notion of a “second chance” to be saved after death, and since Paul has already denied in Romans 9:6ff. that all ethnic Israelites will be saved, this interpretation must be rejected.

View (2), argues Murray, is contrary to the analogy drawn in Romans 11 between Israel’s national apostasy and her national restoration. “The apostasy of Israel, their trespass, loss, casting away, and hardening were not universal. There was always a remnant, not all branches were broken off, their hardening was in part. Likewise restoration and salvation need not include every Israelite. ‘All Israel’ can refer to the mass, the people as a whole in accord with the pattern followed in the chapter throughout.” 25

View (3) is widely held today. The belief is that Paul is describing an end-of-the-age salvation of the nation as a whole, though not necessarily including every single member of that nation or every single ethnic Jew. 26 There are numerous objections to this view, most of which will be mentioned later on. Here I direct your attention to only one problem with this view. Robertson puts it best:

The problem in this viewpoint arises from the contradiction created by the proposal that a mass or majority, though not all, of Israel shall be saved when the “hardening” is lifted. For the “hardening” in this context refers to the historical outworking of the principle of reprobation, as indicated earlier… . If a day is coming in which the principle of reprobation is to be inactive among Israel, then it must be assumed that every single Israelite living at that time will be saved. If even one Israelite of that period is to be lost, then the principle of “hardening” or “reprobation” still would be active. 27

Robertson’s point is that if one takes “all Israel” to be ethnic Jews living at the time of Christ’s return, view (2) is preferable to view (3). Every ethnic Jew must be included.

View (4) suggests that a way to avoid all such problems is to take “all Israel” as a reference to the Church, elect Jews and Gentiles who are together the Israel of God (cf. Galatians 6:16). This is Calvin’s interpretation:

Many understand this of the Jewish people, as of Paul were saying that religion was to be restored to them again as before. But I extend the word Israel to include all the people of God, in this sense, “When the Gentiles have come in, the Jews will at the same time return from their defection to the obedience of faith. The salvation of the whole Israel of God, which must be drawn from both, will thus be completed, and yet in such a way that the Jews, as the first born in the family of God, may obtain the first place.”… [Thus] in Gal. 6:16, he calls the Church, which was composed equally of Jews and Gentiles, the Israel of God, setting the people, thus collected from their dispersion, in opposition to the carnal children of Abraham who had fallen away from faith.

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