Obstacles to the Kingdom (5) - Calling of Jews

The calling of the Jews will be a major turning point in history. Christians should be working and praying for the Jews to be restored to a place of blessing. This will happen when they acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah they have been seeking. When they come to faith in Christ, blessing will return to the entire world (Rom 11:12). (The state of Israel does not fulfil this promise.)

The Jewish problem is "seeing". Their eyes have been blinded, so they cannot see the truth (Rom 11:8,10) and their hearts have been hardened (Rom 11:25). To come to salvation their spiritual eyes will have to be opened and their hearts cracked. This is the only way they can come to salvation (this is the only way anyone can come to salvation).

Zechariah promised that God would pour out his Spirit on Israel.

And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son (Zech 12:10).

This is the moment of Israel’s conversion. At the end of Times of the Gentiles, the Spirit of the Lord will be poured out on the hearts of all Israel. They will receive a Spirit of Supplication that causes them to cry out to Jesus for salvation. The Spirit of grace will give them faith to receive the salvation that comes through grace.

The Holy Spirit will open the eyes of the hearts of all Israel, so they can see Jesus. They will stop looking for a warlike Messiah and realise that Jesus who died on the cross and "who was pieced" by a spear is their Messiah. This realisation will produce a great flood of repentance. When Israel realises that Jesus reigns at the right hand of God and that they have been saved by the prayers in his name, the whole land will be filled with tears. As they come to realise what Jesus has done, they will all weep with sadness and joy (Zech 12:11-14).