Church or Israel in the Great Tribulation?
Some teach that the Church has replaced Israel in God's plan. Scripture makes it clear, that is not true. The age of Grace began with the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It will end with the rapture of the Church.(I Thes. 4:14-17)
I Thes. 4:14-17
14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even
so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with
him.
15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that
we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the
Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a
shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the
trump of God: and
I Thes. 4:14-17
14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even
so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with
him.
15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that
we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the
Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a
shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the
trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up
together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in
the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
Prior to the New Covenant, God dealt specifically with Isreal under the Law of Moses. After the rapture he will refocus His attention on Isreal. (during the tribulation) In old testament times when men died the did not go to Heaven. They went to "Abraham's bosom". (Luke 16:22) Which was part of Hades but separate from the place that the wicked dead were. (Lk 16:26) They actually went to heaven when Jesus ascended into heaven and lead all the (saved) captives from hades to heaven (Eph 4:8)
Luke 16:22-26
22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was
carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich
man also died, and was buried;
23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments,
and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on
me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his
finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am
tormented in this flame.
25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy
lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise
Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou
art tormented.
26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a
great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from
hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that
would come from thence.
Ephesians 4:8
8 Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he
led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.
The point here is that there is no other name under heaven by which men must be saved.(Acts 4:12) In old testament times men could only get to heaven by Jesus Christ. In the age of grace, we can only get into heaven by Jesus Christ. During the tribulation, once again it will be Jesus Christ. The church is the Body of Christ. After Revelation 3:22 the church is not mentioned. Prior to the book of Mathew the church is not mentioned. It is a "mystery" hidden in ages past. God's plan has always been to deal with the "seed" of Abraham. As christians we are Abraham's spiritual seed. We are the "unnatural" branches.(Rom 11:17-26) During the tribulation he will refocus on the natural branches, the physical seed of Abraham.
Romans 11:17-26
17 And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou,
being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them,
and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the
olive tree;
18 Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast,
thou bearest not the root, but the root thee.
19 Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that
I might be graffed in.
20 Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and
thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear:
21 For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed
lest he also spare not thee.
22 Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on
them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness,
if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also
shalt be cut off.
23 And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief,
shall be graffed in: for God is able to graff them in
again.
24 For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is
wild by nature, and wert graffed contrary to nature
into a good olive tree: how much more shall these,
which be the natural branches, be graffed into their
own olive tree?
25 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.
26 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:
Notice Rom 11:25-26 make it clear that ALL Isreal will be saved. This will be accomplished when the "blindness" is removed during the tribulation. Right now God used the church to spread the gospel. During the tribulation He will use 144,000 Isreali's to spread the gospel. God want's to make it clear that it is Isreal that He is dealing with during the tribulation. He even goes to the length of stating how many from which tribes of Isreal he will seal.
Revelation 7:3- 17
3 Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the
trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in
their foreheads.
4 And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and
there were sealed an hundred and forty and four
thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.
5 Of the tribe of Juda were sealed twelve thousand. Of
the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand. Of
the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand.
6 Of the tribe of Aser were sealed twelve thousand. Of
the tribe of Nephthalim were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Manasses were sealed twelve thousand.
7 Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed twelve thousand. Of
the tribe of Levi were sealed twelve thousand. Of the
tribe of Issachar were sealed twelve thousand.
8 Of the tribe of Zabulon were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand. Of
the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand.
9 After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which
no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and
people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and
before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms
in their hands;
10 And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our
God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.
11 And all the angels stood round about the throne, and
about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before
the throne on their faces, and worshipped God,
12 Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and
thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be
unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.
13 And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What
are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence
came they?
14 And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to
me, These are they which came out of great
tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made
them white in the blood of the Lamb.
15 Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve
him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth
on the throne shall dwell among them.
16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more;
neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.
17 For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall
feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains
of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from
their eyes.
Revelation 7:9,14 make it clear that Gentiles can, and will, be saved during the tribulation, but it is the Jew's who God has focused his attention on. Also There will be two witnesses these will be Elijah and with him possibly Enoch.
Revelation 11:3-12
3 And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they
shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore
days, clothed in sackcloth.
4 These are the two olive trees, and the two
candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.
5 And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of
their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any
man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.
6 These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in
the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters
to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all
plagues, as often as they will.
7 And when they shall have finished their testimony, the
beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall
make war against them, and shall overcome them, and
kill them.
8 And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the
great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and
Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.
9 And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and
nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an
half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put
in graves.
10 And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over
them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to
another; because these two prophets tormented them
that dwelt on the earth.
11 And after three days and an half the Spirit of life
from God entered into them, and they stood upon their
feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.
12 And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto
them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven
in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.
Malachai Chapter 4 verses 5 and 6 make it clear that Elijah (a Jew) will be one of these two witnesses. It is assumed that Enoch will be the other one since he is the only other person up to this point who has not yet tasted death.
Malachai 4:5,6
5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the
coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord:
6 And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the
children, and the heart of the children to their
fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.
Another way God show's us he will be dealing with Isreal is the safe place in the wilderness that He provides for the "woman" who delivered up the man child in Revelation chapter 12. The way we know this is Isreal and not the church is that Isreal brought forth the Messiah in the flesh. The church did not. Christ brought forth the church. We know the man child is Jesus because of the "rod of iron rule" and He was "caught up to God, and His throne".
Revelation 12:1-6
1 And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman
clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and
upon her head a crown of twelve stars:
2 And she being with child cried, travailing in birth,
and pained to be delivered.
3 And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and
behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten
horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.
4 And his tail drew the third part of the stars of
heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon
stood before the woman which was ready to be
delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was
born.
5 And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all
nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught
up unto God, and to his throne.
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.
Revelation 12:13-17
13 And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the
earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the
man child.
14 And to the woman were given two wings of a great
eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into
her place, where she is nourished for a time, and
times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.
15 And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood
after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried
away of the flood.
16 And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened
her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon
cast out of his mouth.
17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to
make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the
commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus
Christ.
Rev 12:13-16 seems to be a series of Divine acts to protect the Jews during the tribulation. God prepared a place to be safe for the Jews during the last half of the tribulation. God caused the earthquake (v.16) that destroys the army that satan sends after them. (v.15) Revelation 12:17 makes it clear that the Jews will have the testimony of Jesus Christ. It does not say when the Jews become saved, whether it's when the 144,000 are sealed, or as a result of the preaching of the 144,000, or as a result of the Divine intervention in chapter 12. When it is, we do not know. What God wants us to know is that they all do become saved. The church has not and will not replace the apple of God's eye.
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