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The Book of Revelation
Many
Christians today refuse to accept the biblical teaching
that the Jews are STILL God’s beloved people and they
refuse to accept the fact that God has still promised to
save them (a remnant of the Jews). The Apostle Paul
tells us there will come a time in which “all Israel will
be saved”. Examine Romans 11:25-28. I understand
perfectly that all "are not Israel which are of Israel".
(Romans 9:6).
Romans 11:25-28 For I would not, brethren, that ye
should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be
wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is
happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles
be come in. 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: For this is my covenant unto
them, when I shall take away their sins. As
concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes:
but as touching the election, they are beloved for
the fathers' sakes.
What is
the mystery? Is it not (according to the written Word),
that the Jews are blinded in part “Until the fulness of
the Gentiles be come in”? That IS the mystery Paul wrote
about! When will the fulness of the Gentiles be? Examine
these passages. Many of these passages will also come
into play in later chapters of this book of Revelation.
Romans 11:1-5 “I say then, Hath God cast away his
people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite,
of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.
God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew.
Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias? how he
maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying,
Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down
thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my
life. But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have
reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not
bowed the knee to the image of Baal. Even so then at
this present time also there is a remnant according to
the election of grace.”
Paul is
writing concerning Jews (not “spiritual Jews” as some
supposed, but literal Jews). This is the reason for
Paul’s explanation of his status concerning the seed of
Abraham and being of the tribe of Benjamin. Paul then
goes on to say God HATH NOT cast away his people.
He ends that passage in Romans 11:5 by stating “…there is
a remnant…”.
What
does this mean to us? Will there be a time when God will
restore them? The plain answer to that question is yes,
there will come a time when God will graft them back into
the tree. (Read Romans 11:23-24). Examine also the
following verses speaking of the restoration and the
fulfillment of promises:
Acts
1:6-7 “When they therefore were come together, they
asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time
restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said
unto them, It is not for you to know the times or
the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own
power.”
The
Apostles were looking for a physical restoration of the
kingdom. Jesus didn’t rebuke them for this. Do you
know WHY they were looking for a physical restoration?
They were looking for it because it was promised to
them. Have you never read the last few chapters of
Ezekiel, Isaiah, or chapter 14 of Zechariah? Have you
read the last chapter of Daniel? We are so arrogant as
Christians today that we believe we’re the complete
fulfillment of all God’s promises. We believe that we
are Spiritual Jews and that the Jewish people have no
promises left to them. How blind we are to the
mysteries of God, even when the answers are right in
front of us! Peter, in speaking to the Jews at the
temple gave this message:
Acts
3:19-21 “Repent ye therefore, and be converted,
that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of
refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;
And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was
preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive until
the times of restitution of all things, which God
hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since
the world began.”
Acts
15:13-17 “And after they had held their peace, James
answered, saying, Men and brethren, hearken unto me:
Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit
the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name.
And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is
written, After this I will return, and will build
again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and
I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it
up: That the residue of men might seek after the Lord,
and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith
the Lord, who doeth all these things.”
Ask
yourself here concerning verse 16: “After WHAT?”. Is it
not AFTER the time of the Gentiles? Sure it is. That’s
the written word!
Luke
21:24 “…and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the
Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be
fulfilled.”
God has
promised through the prophets of old that Israel would be
restored in the latter days and that his glory will be
revealed in Israel. Allow me to give you but a few very
brief prophecies that have NEVER been fulfilled. Examine
these passages for yourselves and you will find there is
NO WAY to “spiritualize” them, nor is there any way to
attempt to place these events in the “new heaven and new
earth”. Look at these unfulfilled prophecies:
The
wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall
lie down with the kid. (Isaiah 11:6)
The
people shall beat their swords into ploughshares. (All
wars will cease) (Isaiah 2:4)
The
nations shall come up to Jerusalem to learn the ways of
the Lord. (Isaiah 2:3)
The
Lord will be King in Jerusalem and reign on His holy
hill. (Psalm 2:6)
Israel will be back in her land that God promised her as
an everlasting possession. (Isaiah 11:10-12)
Righteousness and peace will flow like a might river
from Jerusalem and cover the earth like the seas.
(Isaiah 11:9)
The
Lord will become the glory of His people Israel. (Luke
2:32)
And
the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and
the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice'
den. (Isaiah 11:8)
When
have these prophecies ever been fulfilled? The truth is:
They have not! These are prophecies that were not
fulfilled by the Messiah’s first coming! Now ask
yourself, “Are these promises of God”? If you wish to be
truthful, you must answer, “Yes, they are promises of
God”. Will they be fulfilled? Again, you must answer,
“Yes, they will be fulfilled”. Examine Jesus’ words:
Matthew 5:17-18 “Think not that I am come to destroy
the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but
to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and
earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass
from the law, till all be fulfilled.”
Examine
the Apostle Paul’s statements concerning the receiving
again of the Jews:
Romans
11:11-15 I say then, Have they stumbled that they should
fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall
salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke
them to jealousy. Now if the fall of them be the riches of
the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the
Gentiles; how much more their fulness? For I speak
to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the
Gentiles, I magnify mine office: If by any means I may
provoke to emulation them which are my flesh, and might
save some of them. For if the casting away of them be the
reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of
them be, but life from the dead?
Let me
get back to the discussion of the 144,000.
Zechariah 13:8-9, tells us that 2/3 of Israel will be
killed during the coming reign of Antichrist and Isaiah
6:13 tells us that only 1/10 of the remaining 1/3 will
survive the Day of the Lord's wrath, along with a few
others, thus leaving a remnant that will be saved.
In
Revelation 12:6, we are introduced to "the woman" who
flees into the wilderness "prepared by God" and is
nourished by God for "a time, times and a half time (1260
days) from the presence of the serpent". We're told that
since the dragon couldn't get to the woman, he goes to
make war with the remnant of her seed (Revelation
12:17). Who then, is this woman? Revelation 12:11 and
12:13 gives us insight. First, Revelation 12:13
Revelation 12:13 "And when the dragon saw that he was
cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought
forth the man child.:.." Who is this? Is there any doubt
this is Israel? This IS Israel.
In
verse 11 of that 12th chapter, we read:
Revelation 12:11 And they overcame him by the blood of
the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they
loved not their lives unto the death.
Who
overcame him? Many today want to say "the church" but
that isn't what is written. Nowhere is there an element
in this passage that would indicate the church is
involved. In fact if you will read the passage again, you
will quickly discover that John is still speaking of this
"woman which brought forth the man child". The subject of
that woman continues into the 2 verses mentioned above.
This is the 144,000 spoken of in Revelation 7 and
Revelation 14. From all previous verses concerning God's
protection, we read of this "woman"
Revelation 12:6 And the woman fled into the wilderness,
where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should
feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore
days.
The
time frame of "a thousand two hundred and threescore
days." is significant and will be discussed a bit later in
the Revelation study but this is yet another clue to this
"woman" of Revelation chapter 12.
From
the above references, the identification of the 144,000,
the "first fruits" of Israel, appears to be "the woman"
who resists the covenant with Antichrist at the beginning
of the 70th Week and later flees Jerusalem when he reveals
himself for who he really is (midway through
tribulation). They are protected by God during the Day of
the Lord's wrath. They comprise the "remnant" often
spoken of in Scripture along with others that survive the
Day of the Lord's wrath. They are the "elect" of God and
the "firstfruits" of the Lamb!
Remember as we continue Revelation chapter 7 that all the
events of Revelation
are not necessarily in sequential order!
(Chapter
7 Still)
John saw these Saints in heaven. Since we
know the eternal dwelling place of the Saints (by the BIBLE ALONE),
since we know what God will do for them (again by the scriptures),
and since we know that as of the writing of Revelation 7, all things
have not passed away (we still have at the very LEAST...one seal
left to open AND there is still at least one trumpet), then the
elder is speaking to John of something that will happen "AFTER" all
other things have transpired. Perhaps this explanation was too
difficult.
Let me see if I can simplify it just a bit:
The fact is established that the
saints John sees are currently in heaven. It is also
established in verse 14 that they have been saved "OUT OF
GREAT TRIBULATION" (this literally means they went THROUGH great
tribulation).
We know in Revelation 20:4, the
"Tribulation Saints" are included in those who are resurrected when
Jesus returns (in the FIRST
resurrection). (Read Revelation 20:4-5, especially verse
5).
This indicates 2 things:
1.
The FIRST resurrection cannot happen BEFORE the FIRST
resurrection. First is exactly what it says. If the
dead are resurrected at any time prior to the FIRST
resurrection, then any resurrection after this would NOT be the
FIRST one.
2. John
Cannot be seeing a "resurrected, redeemed church" at any time
before the First resurrection. When will this happen
(According to man's theology, it will happen before the
tribulation even starts, but according to the WRITTEN WORD OF
GOD, the FIRST resurrection will not happen until the LAST
TRUMPET (When Jesus Comes Again).
There will be much more on the resurrection,
trumpets, return of Jesus, Tribulation Saints, etc. as we get to
those chapters.
I realize this is MEAT, but you must also realize
that not everything in the Word of God is milk and at some point,
Christians must be exposed to Adult food!
Let's continue to chapter 8.
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