The Jewish people remain first and foremost God’s chosen people.
The Biblical precedent has always been to bless and discipline the Jew first and then the Gentile. Jesus was first sent to the lost house of Israel. During his earthly ministry, He told a gentile woman that it would not be right for him to toss the children’s bread to their dogs. After his ascension, He sent his disciples to share the good news with every nation of men. The same pattern will repeat itself when Christ returns. Revelation predicts that 144,000 male virgin Jews will be sealed and elected by God in the time of the end. 12,000 from each tribe of Israel are selected by God. These are not gentiles as some sects and denominations suppose; the Bible says they are sealed believers of Jewish descent. The Messiah will come to deliver Israel first. He will establish Zion as his throne and then the nations will stream to him for their deliverance. The gentiles who think they will be raptured off the earth while the Jewish people are left to endure the tribulation by themselves have it all backward. Life from the dead for the gentiles does not occur until after his chosen people are once again restored. The 144,000 will be a remnant that will be redeemed first in order to rebuild the kingdom that the Gentiles will flock to. The Jews may have been hardened in part until the fullness of the Gentiles become saved, but the Messiah will not return to earth until the Jewish people pray for him to do so. Jesus himself said they would not see him again until they would cry blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. The trumpet blasts will not commence until these 144,00 Jews are sealed with the name of their God on their foreheads. Many Jews may be at odds with their Messiah, but they are loved on account of the patriarchs. God’s calling and election of his chosen people is irrevocable. Should not the Gentiles praise God for his mercy to them?
Only a Remnant of the Jewish people will actually be saved.
What is alarming to me regarding the 144,000 figure of Jews sealed is not that they are Jews, but that this figure is so small in regard to the overall Jewish population. There are at least 8 million people living in the state of Israel today (75% of which are Jewish) and this does not include those of Jewish descent around the world. If you compare this 2015 census figure to the number Revelations says will be sealed and saved in the end, you will walk away with a sense that less than 2.5 percent of the Jewish population may actually be saved by God in the end. We are told in Scripture that though the number of Israel are like the sand of the sea only a remnant of them would be saved. A remnant saved according to the election of grace by their Messiah. When Christ returns and sits on David’s throne, He will purge out his kingdom of everything evil. He will refine the Levites as gold or silver in the fire. The Lord will wash away the filth of the daughters of Israel and purge the blood from their midst by a Spirit of judgment and burning. Many sons of the Kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. It is not as if God casts away his own people. He continually holds his hands out to an obstinate and stiff necked people. Many will persist in their sin and because of this many will find themselves shut out of the kingdom. Only a remnant is saved for they are not all Israel who are of Israel. To God, a man is not a Jew if He is only one outwardly; his circumcision must not just be of his flesh. To God, a man is a Jew if He is one inwardly; his circumcision must be that of his heart by God’s Spirit. As a man thinks in his heart so is the man. Simply being a descendent of Abraham did not afford special privilege to people in the eyes of God. Both Ishmael and Esau were descendants of Abraham and yet the blessings and promises did not pass to them through default. So a person should not say to himself ‘we have Abraham as our Father.’ To many Jews who rely on simply their ethnicity as the chosen people to save them, this will be a rude awakening.
The Jewish remnant will be delivered while the gentiles must endure the Great Tribulation.
The remnant of Jews that remains in the kingdom will be called holy- everyone recorded among the living in Jerusalem. The dragon will pursue the remnant when He is deposed from Heaven, but the Messiah will deliver them first. They will be given two wings of a great eagle that they may fly into the wilderness out of the reach of the serpent and the antichrist for a period of 1,260 days. The wilderness they will likely flee to will be regions of Edom, Moab, and the prominent areas of Ammon. With the 144,000 rallied behind him, the Messiah will eventually retake the land assume David’s throne in Zion. He will save the tents of Judah first and then Jerusalem. Once the remnant of Jews escape from the Serpent’s reach, He will turn his attention on persecuting the remnant of Gentiles that reside within the AntiChrist’s Kingdom.
Because of Persecution by the Anti-Christ, many gentile refugees will stream back to Israel.
Because of this, many gentiles will stream to Israel for refuge from the persecution. The Messiah will return and rebuild the tabernacle of David which has fallen down. The ruins will be rebuilt and set up so that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord- all the gentiles who are called by his name. Other sheep that are not of the Jewish fold the Messiah will bring to Israel. God will register these saved people as native born. Many will come from the east and the west and take their places in the kingdom of Heaven. They will all become united under the banner of one kingdom. Ten gentiles of every nation will grab a hold of the sleeve of one Jewish man, saying ‘let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.’ The fact that God saves individuals from every nation, tribe, people, and tongue shows how impartial He really is. Many Jews will come to realize how God does not show favoritism when He saves even the gentiles. Whoever calls upon the Lord will be saved. No one people group has a block on God over the other though his oracles came through the Jewish people. Let no one think they are separated from the promises of God based on their ethnicity. The foreigner who joins themselves to the Lord to serve and love his name will be a part of his flock. The Bible says they will be given a place and a name better than that of sons and daughters. Through the faith and seed of Abraham God has promised to bless all nations.
Only a remnant of Gentiles flocking to Israel will be accepted into the kingdom.
Of course, the road is equally narrow for those Gentile nations streaming to Israel in the end; only a few of them will find it. Jewish branches may have been broken off so that gentiles can be grafted in but do not be haughty by this. God applies the same standard to Gentiles as He does to Jews. If God would not spare the Jewish people who are first, He will not spare you either. Broad is the road that leads to destruction and there are many who go in by it. Many will say to the Messiah on that day ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, and done many wonders in your name? He will declare to the many ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you who practice lawlessness!” Many foolish virgins who were unprepared at his coming will rush to the doors of his kingdom pleading ‘Lord, Lord open to us’ and He will respond saying ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ It is important to know that everyone will be judged according to their ways and not according to their ethnicity. It is not profession of the mouth but confession of the heart that makes you a Christian or not. Repent and be baptized into the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins. Call on the Lord that you too may be saved and that He will accept you into his kingdom when the time comes.
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