How long will this blindness continue?...

The whole nation of Israel will turn to the Lord and be saved.

By the expression "all Israel," Paul is referring to those who, to this point, have been blinded. Beginning in Chapter Nine of Romans, Paul expresses his concern for his own people, physical Israel. He teaches that God has chosen a remnant of the entire nation, and has sent blindness upon the majority of the Jews . Because of the stumbling of the Jews due to their blindness, the Divine redemption, which once was the exclusive property of the Jewish people, has come to a remnant of Gentiles. The elect Gentiles have been grafted on the root of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

But, Paul claims, if the remnant, the firstfruits, is holy, then the lump of dough from which it was taken also is holy. God has not changed His mind concerning His chosen people, the Jews, but has turned His attention for a specific period of time to Gentiles whom He has chosen.

"All Israel," then, is speaking first of the previously blinded majority whom God will graft on the root of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This is the primary meaning of the term, as we understand it.

Because wild branches have meanwhile been grafted on the root of Abraham, the declaration "all Israel shall be saved" is extended to mean the entire olive tree, including the elect Gentiles, will be delivered totally from slavery to Satan during the closing of the present age and the opening of the Kingdom era.