Leviticus 26:40

"And they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, in their trespass which they trespassed against me, and also that, because they walked contrary unto me, I also walked contrary unto them, and brought them into the land of their enemies: if then their uncircumcised heart be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity; then will I remember my covenant with Jacob; and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land. The land also shall be left by them, and shall enjoy its sabbaths, while it layeth desolate without them: and they shall accept of the punishment of their iniquity; because, even because they rejected mine ordinances, and their soul abhorred my statutes. And yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break my covenant with them; for I am Jehovah their God; but I will for their sakes remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God: I am Jehovah."

Of all the inappropriate places for scholars to introduce speculations regarding a "millennium" in which the preference and precedence of the old Israel is a major factor, this must be the supreme example. Yes indeed, God here promised not to destroy the Jews "utterly," but the promise of His remembering the covenant of their ancestors was made to be contingent, absolutely, upon their confession and acknowledgement of God's severe punishment as justly required because of their transgressions, and upon their return in humility to the duties forsaken.

"Whether Jewish repentance has been or ever will be so full as to obtain this blessing cannot be decided now."[32] The Divine picture of the status of Jewry is found in both the O.T. and the N.T. In the O.T., it is that of Jonah, still pouting, still angry because God spared Gentiles, and still resisting the intention of God to spare Nineveh. In the N.T., the picture is the same - that of the older brother in the parable of the prodigal son, still angry, still refusing to go in unto the feast, still adamant before the loving father's pleading. The whole problem is still an issue that only time and the unfolding of God's will can reveal.

In this connection, there is also the very great possibility, even the utmost likelihood, that, "All of the blessings promised through Moses and the prophets to repentant and restored Israel find their full accomplishment in the Spiritual Israel,"[33] which is the Church of Jesus Christ, the only Israel that God now has.