Romans 11:25-26

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…

This is a good example where right division is important.

First, we know that Paul’s epistle to the Romans was written before his arrest in Jerusalem and his five years of imprisonment before the end of The Acts. Yet unknown is all that happened at the end of The Acts and all that was revealed to Paul after the end of The Acts. Romans is one of Paul’s seven Acts epistles when Israel was still God’s people, and the doors of the kingdom were still open. There was no religion of Christianity or Body of Christ at this time.

This is an Acts period epistle written by the Apostle Paul. The first chapter of Acts sets the stage for the book. Christ was risen to the Father and returned to teach His disciples. That’s right, Christ has returned before the book of Acts was written. Having taught them for forty days, His Jewish disciples were looking forward to one thing as stated in Acts 1:6-7.

“Lord, will thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And He said unto them, “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father hath put in His own power.”

The disciples of Jesus were expecting Christ to return as King and restore Israel’s kingdom. After they saw Christ ascend in a cloud, they expected Him to return in their lifetime to restore the kingdom. This hope was still evident in the last chapter of Acts when Paul exclaimed to the Jews at Rome, “because that for the hope of Israel am I bound with this chain”.

Before Christ would return, Israel as a nation must acknowledge the Jesus Christ is their promised Messiah, who would redeem and restore Israel which would fulfill the new covenant. Thus, the great commission would be completed, and all Israel would be saved.

This verse 11:25 must be understood in the context of the whole of Chapter 11 and the context of the dispensation it pertains to.

The word “mystery” in verse 25 has no connection with “the mystery” in the Prison Epistles after Acts. The mystery here refers to the grafting in of Gentiles (wild olive tree) into the Israel (good olive tree) to “provoke them to jealousy” (v.11). Paul, by speaking to the Gentiles, was hoping to “provoke to emulation” his Israel brethren (v. 13).

This dispensational change began when Saul was being converted to be a witness to the Gentiles at the same time Peter was being called to Caesarea to open the kingdom to a Gentile, Cornellius. Only Peter had the standing to pull this off among the apostles and elders, but Paul was called to carry on that ministry because of his tough character and boldness. The Jews hated even the word “Gentile”.

Israel was divided into two groups in Ro 11:7: the “election” and the “rest were blinded”. (Often Paul used the term “rest” when referring to the unsaved). “Blindness (hardness) in part” is the condition of Israel during the Acts because some (the election) were able to see.

In Acts 15:17 the “election” are the “residue of men” (of Israel) who are first. “And, secondly, all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called” are the grafted-in Gentile (wild olive) branches.

Again this is all in the context of the kingdom calling which was in play all through the Acts period.

Luke 21:24 is a prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple which killed one million Jews and some 600,000 taken captive as slaves by the Romans and other nations. To this day Jerusalem is still under control of non-Jews or false Jews and will be under non-Jew control until Christ returns. But these facts were not seen at the time Romans was written.

Isaiah 59:20 And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the LORD.

“Until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.”

This phrase has nothing to do with the “Church, which is His body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all” (Eph 1:23) because this was not yet revealed or even known.

Christians are not the “new Israel” as many have been taught during the past 2,000 years.

This is not “until the fullness of the present Christians come into the Kingdom”.

Isaiah, Luke, or Paul had no clue about future years and that 2,000 years may pass before Christ returns to redeem Israel and restore their kingdom on earth. During the Acts, the return of Christ could have happened 7 years or 56 years after His Ascension. They did not know that Israel would be LoAmmi and set aside for two days (2,000 years), even though Hosea prophesied it. This is their present state of total blindness. They did not know that the salvation of God would be offered to all nations apart from any ties to Israel and their kingdom. They could not have conceived the idea of an election called the Body of Christ.

This verse must be studied within the confines of the kingdom dispensation wherein under the fulfillment of the new covenant, the rest of Israel will be saved by the grace of God in the yet future. As Revelation points out, there will be the overcomers during the tribulation period. The tribulation period would have been the three and a half years before the return of Christ in A.D. 85. The Jewish Revolt that began in A.D. 66 was said to be apocalyptic reaction to an image set up in the Temple by the Roman Emperor.

The fulness of the Gentiles would have been the full number of Gentiles that would be allowed to share in Israel’s blessings and promises before the rest of Israel would have had their eyes opened to the Messiah. This latter part is yet to happen.

Some might believe that Romans 11:25 is a prophecy that began to be or continued to be fulfilled at Acts 28:28.

Be it known therefore unto you that the salvation of God is sent to the Gentiles and that they will hear it.

Just like Hosea prophesied that Israel would be Lo Ammi for two thousand years after the end of Acts. There are several prophesies that speak of a future blessing of the Gentiles. The present time is the time of the Gentiles (nations) where even Israel is considered the same as any other nation. The salvation of God being sent to the Gentiles was not a mystery because it was well prophesied. It is simply another unfolding aspect of the mystery of Christ. But the dispensation of the mystery of the calling out of the Body of Christ was never prophesied. It was revealed to Paul likely after Israel was set aside in total blindness.

However, this present blessing of the Gentiles is salvation to life according to many verses in John’s Gospel to the world. And this salvation has nothing to do with the redemption and restoration of Israel and the fulfillment of their covenants. The blessing promised to the Gentiles was not a takeover of Israel’s promises, blessings, covenants and inheritances, but a separate calling of its own.