Romans 11:25
For I would not,
brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise
in your own conceits; that blindness in part has happened to Israel, until the
fullness of the Gentiles has come in.
What is Paul
referring to when he says “the fullness of the Gentiles?” He is referring to an
end-time prophecy that Jacob proclaimed on Ephraim, the younger son of Joseph in
Genesis 48. Because Ephraim was the chief tribe of the northern kingdom, the
House of Israel is often referred to as “Ephraim” in prophesy.
Genesis 48:19b
His younger
brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of
nations.
In this verse the
words translated as “multitude of nations” are מלא הגוים
(melo ha-goyim). The most commonly translated English word for “melo” is
fullness. So, the words “multitude of nations” are more properly translated as
“fullness of gentiles.”
Paul is telling his
Gentile readers that Israel is blinded and shall remain so until the time of
this end-time prophecy made by Jacob. THEN their eyes will be opened and THEY
SHALL RETURN! They shall be grafted back into the commonwealth of Israel to live
a Torah lifestyle; and shall be reunited with their brothers from Judah.
This event will even
over-shadow the exodus from Egypt.
Jeremiah 23:7
7 Therefore,
behold the days come, says the LORD, that they shall no more say,
The LORD