Is Paul’s prediction that all of Israel would be saved on the verge of happening?

Orthodox Jews Photo: Arnoffoto/Foter.com/ CC BY

Sid Roth is an American Messianic Jew. He started a ministry focused on the super natural working of the Holy Spirit. Though he ministers to all ethnic groups, his focus has been to the Jews first (Romans 1:16).

He recently reported on a major move of God among the Jewish community in Odessa, Ukraine.

With a population of one million, Odessa is the Ukraine’s fourth largest city. Located on the Baltic Sea it is the provincial capital of Odessa Oblast.

There are about 12,400 Jews living there today. But historically, Odessa was home to a large Jewish population. Prior to the start of World War II, the city had 201,000 Jews — then about 30% of the population. Thousands died in Nazi concentration camps during the war and after it ended most remaining Odessa Jews immigrated to Israel.

According to his website, Roth described the recent one-day event as the most successful outreach he has ever experienced in evangelistic meetings geared towards a Jewish audience. He reported that nearly 1,000 Jews accepted Jesus as their Messiah — a 99% response rate.

He also said there were a number of miracles with nearly half of the people raising their hands stating they had received healing.

Roth described the evening as an “open heaven.”

Speaking of the Jewish response, Roth said, “I’ve never heard of this outside of the days when Jesus walked in the flesh.”

According to the Apostle Paul, in the end times God was going to move on the Jews and there would be a massive acceptance of Jesus as their Messiah.

Paul writes:

And so all Israel will be saved. (Romans 11:26a NASV).

In this verse, Paul was duplicating a common Jewish idiom at the time that said “every Israelite should have part in the future age.”

He uses this phrase to say every Israelite would eventually accept Christ as their Messiah. It does not mean that every Jew of every age would be saved, but it does imply at some future time there would be an unprecedented acknowledgement that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah.

It would exceed the thousands of Jews who turned to Christ in the early church starting with the 3,000 saved on the Day of Pentecost.

Paul says this second outpouring would take place after the fullness of Gentiles had come into the Kingdom of God. He writes that once that has happened, God would remove the “partial hardening” on Israel (other translations refer to it as a partial blindness).

^“For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery—so that you will not be wise in your own estimation—that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in;” (Romans 9:25 NASV)

Over the years, the Messianic Jewish population has seen steady, but unspectacular, growth, particularly in Israel. But there has never been a massive turning as Paul predicted. That would only happen, once God removes this “partial hardening.”

With 1,000 Jews accepting Jesus (nearly 10% of Odessa’s Jewish population), Roth does not believe this is the massive turning predicted by Paul, but he does wonder if it is a sign post indicating that the time is close.

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