Does 'all Israel shall be saved' in Romans 11 mean every Jew will be saved?
No. Paul writes that all Israel shall be saved, but the context qualifies it with Zechariah 13: two parts of Israel will be cut off and die, while the third part is left and brought through the fire. Therefore, the phrase does not mean every individual Jew will be saved.
Les explains that some maintain that as a result of the coming of Christ and the work of the tribulation, every Jew will be saved, and they use Romans 11 where Paul writes that all Israel shall be saved. But Les qualifies that, because Zechariah chapter 13 uses different language. Zechariah 13:8 says that in all the land of Israel, two parts shall be cut off and die, which is two thirds, but the third part shall be left and survive. Then verse 9 says God will bring the third part through the fire. Les notes that in Scripture fire usually depicts testing, like purifying gold: heat melts it and impurities come to the top. So God will bring the third part of Israel through the testings of the tribulation, refining them as silver and trying them as gold.
And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:
And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein.
More Questions
Why does Paul say 'all Israel shall be saved' when only a remnant will be saved?
The biblical explanation for how Paul can say 'all Israel shall be saved' even though only a remnant is saved is Isaiah 9:8, where God sent his word to Jacob (the nation) but the word 'lighteth upon Israel'—only Israel heard it.