The Guarantee of a Saved Jewish Remnant

Transcript

GR 2010
07/09/2017
The Guarantee of a Saved Jewish Remnant
Revelation 7:1-8
Gil Rugh

We're studying the book of Revelation, the last book in your Bible, so if you would turn there, Revelation 7. I think one of the things we are reminded of as we go through the Word of God, we have a God who keeps His Word, a God who keeps His promises. And that's an encouragement to everyone of us. We stumble, we fail, we have inconsistencies, but that is never true with our God. He is always faithful, He is the God who cannot lie, He is the God who cannot fail and we find when we come to the book of Revelation, His last word, culmination of the revelation He has given to men, that He will keep His promises.

That is serious business. Because He will keep His promises to provide glory and blessing and joy for eternity to all who have entered into the salvation He provided in Christ. But be sure He will also keep His word in bringing judgment, condemnation and eternal suffering on every single person who does not place his faith in Jesus Christ. So for some the fact that God is a God who keeps His word, that is a promise of great blessing and assurance that we take comfort in. But for others it should be a cause for great fear and concern.

We are in that seven-year tribulation. Put our famous chart up, if you would, Steve. We'll probably be beginning every message with this chart. It's important you see where we are. The church age is the dark spot, this is the period of time in which we live; it's in the dark-shaded area. I don't mean it's the dark spot in God's plan, it is shaded darker. It began shortly after the ascension of Christ to heaven in Acts 1, it began in Acts 2. It will culminate with the calling of the church to meet Christ in the air, the event called in the Bible harpazo, which we have translated into English through the Latin, “rapture.” It is the removal, the catching away of the church to meet Christ in the air.

You'll note on this occasion Christ does not come to the earth. He calls the church, believers, both those who have died will have their bodies raised and those who are alive will be transformed to meet Christ in the air and be taken to heaven. Following that there will be an agreement signed by a leader of the western world. And very significant, it will mark a period of seven years that will begin with the signing of that agreement following this event. This is what the book of Revelation is basically about. Revelation 6-19 cover this seven-year period, called the 70th week of Daniel.

Come back to Daniel 9, because we will be referring to this but we won't come back to it again for our study today. Daniel 9:24, “Seventy weeks have been declared for your people.” Keep reminding you of this setting, but it is important because what is going on in this 70th week only has to do with Israel. Now it will have impact on many others but the focal point is, God is completing His promises to Israel and is bringing judgment on that nation, as well as the world, so they can be prepared to accept their Messiah so He can come and we have the kingdom. So that seventy weeks, or as you probably have in your margin seventy sevens, it is a week of years not days. So it is seven year-periods, not seven day-periods.

So “seven days,” we'll see more of this when we get further in Revelation, it makes clear as well, as the book of Daniel does, that we are talking about seven year-periods not seven day-periods. “have been decreed for your people and your holy city.” For Daniel's people, the Jews, and for Jerusalem, the holy city. So you'll note all seventy weeks. And you'll note that is 490 years, 70 x 7. Sixty-nine of those weeks, 483 years, concluded at the first coming of Christ. In fact they concluded just about a week before His crucifixion. Then if you will God's working with Israel as His focus in the world, focus of making Himself known, of providing His salvation, now is the church.

Israel is no longer the focus of God's work in the world. I'm not saying He is not dealing with Israel, but Israel, if you will, is on a sidetrack. He is dealing with the church. The church includes some Jews who have been saved, but contrary to the way it was before the church where the focus of what God was doing in the world was on the nation Israel, there were a few Gentiles that got thrown in. But by and large you read your Bible from Genesis 12 on, it's about Israel. And other nations come in only as they impact Israel. And salvation centers in Israel.

That's different now. Now He is dealing with primarily Gentiles. Some Jews are saved, Paul says, “I am an example of the Jew who has been saved, that God hasn't closed all Jews out.” But when the rapture occurs, now God's timetable again will resume in dealing with the nation Israel so He can bring the final seven-year period. Then He still won't be done with Israel but we will then move into the kingdom that was promised to Israel.

All that to say here is where we are in this seven-year period. There are a series of judgments. We have looked at six seals in Revelation 6, come back to Revelation from Daniel. This is a scroll and when every seal was opened a judgment came out. We had the sixth seal at the end of Revelation 6. Now we have a break. Some of your Bibles may be titled like my chapter 7 is, An Interlude. That's because we have a break in the flow. We had the sixth seal, Revelation 6:12, “I looked when he broke the sixth seal.” Now chapter 7 opens up, “After this I saw four angels.” It won't be until Revelation 8:1, “And when the Lamb broke the seventh seal,” we will move the judgments along again. So there is a hold on additional judgments for a specific purpose. So that's what we get in chapter 7. Then when we get to the opening of the seventh seal you will move into the next series of judgments, which is a series of seven trumpets. That's how we are going to flow through this seven-year period. We start with the series, starting with the first seal we will go through seven seals, then seven trumpets, then seven bowls. With the seventh bowl we will come to the conclusion. That's the unfolding of the flow of the book.

Revelation 7, why the break here? And let's look at the break first, then we'll look at some of the reasons for this break. The chapter opens up, “After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth.” Again this is not archaic, we talk about this today. We have north, south, east, west; when we speak of the four corners of the earth, we're talking about encompassing all directions. So here you have four angels standing at the four corners of the earth from all directions. “Holding back the four winds of the earth.” The winds that would blow from all directions. It is significant because with these winds when they blow they will bring with them judgments on the world. So they are holding back the four winds of the earth “so that no wind would blow on the earth or the sea or on any tree.”

And we're not doing a study on the doctrine of the angels, but you see something here of the power of angels. There is no such thing as “Mother Nature,” it's the pagan view. There is the sovereign God, the Father, and he has delegated authority and power to angelic beings. Angels are spirit beings created by God. You see the power they have to control the weather, to control events. They hold them back because this is God's plan at this time, to restrain judgment until certain things take place. But the awesome power of angels. We sometimes fail to appreciate that and try to reduce them to just like us, only they don't have a physical body. They are beings that God created to have awesome power and authority.

So these four angels are holding back the winds that will bring judgment on the earth. There would be no wind to blow on the earth, on the sea or any tree because that is going to be the focus of the judgments that are going to start. We'll see in a moment.

“Then I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun,” he's going up from the east where the sun rises, “having the seal of the living God.” We'll say more about that in a moment. “He cried out with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea saying, do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we have sealed the bondservants of God on their forehead.”

And here you see another fact about angels. There is something of an authority structure in the angelic world. We see that laid out in some books like Ephesians, there is order there. It seems that God has done His creation somewhat consistent with His own character and makeup. There is one God eternally existing in three persons—Father, Son and Holy Spirit. But there is an order within the Godhead. The Father, for example, sends the Son and the Son and the Father send the Holy Spirit. Doesn't mean they are inferior but there is an order even within the Godhead.

It seems He has reflected that in His creation, whether it is the angelic creation, the human creation, the animal creation. For example God says in Romans 14 “He has appointed all authorities” whatever level in human government, and so on. He established authority. We saw in the Garden, Scripture develops it, He has created authority. The man, and the woman is created under the authority of the man. Not unusual in all these areas. We see riots going on, we saw them this past week against the political system, against the leaders there, which is an action against the authority that God has established. We have an ongoing, we talk about the battle of the sexes, men against women and women against men. It's all a battle against the authority God has established.

In the angelic world you have fallen angels battling against God and good angels, unfallen angels. In the book of Daniel we saw an angel sent from God, but a fallen angel, a demonic angel opposed him and prevented him from proceeding for some time until a stronger angel with greater authority came. So the manifestation.

Here you have an angel now rising up and has authority to tell the four angels, “it is not yet time.” You are ready but you cannot unleash the wind and the judgment it brings until…. And the until is “until we have sealed the bondservants,” the slaves, “of our God on their foreheads.” God is going to provide His seal. A seal indicates ownership. He is going to mark out these particular individuals as those who belong to Him. And with that comes His protection. They are going to be specially, supernaturally protected from the judgments that are about to come upon the earth.

Look over in Revelation 9, and we have moved into the next series of judgments here in chapter 9 with the fifth trumpet judgment. But look at verse 4, “They were told not to hurt the grass of the earth nor any green thing nor any tree, but only the men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.” So we're going to get specific, some judgments will be poured out on portions of the earth.

Back up to Revelation 8:7, when the first angel sounds, remember that judgment is going to come on the grass, the trees and so on. “The first angel sounded, there came hail and fire mixed with blood. They were thrown to the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, all the green grass was burned up.” And that's why we were told, “hold back the wind,” because it is going to start there with the first trumpet which comes as a result of the opening of the seventh seal. It would blow on the sea and the trees and the grass. Then you get down to Revelation 9:4 as you move along, judgment comes on those who don't have the seal of God on them. But through all these judgments those who were sealed are going to be preserved and protected by God. I take it the indication here is that will go on to the end of this seven-year period. So we see the work of God in His total control of it all. He is sealing the bondservants, the slaves of God on their forehead.

Come back to Ezekiel 9, and you see here, which would be in the background of what Revelation is saying even though it is not a direct prophecy of that, it shows how God seals those who belong to Him to protect them from coming judgment. Ezekiel 9:1, “Then he cried out in my hearing with a loud voice saying, draw near, O executioners of the city, each with his destroying weapon in his hand. Behold six men came from the direction of the upper gate which faces north,” and here we are at Jerusalem, “with his shattering weapon in his hand. Among them was a certain man clothed in linen with a writing case at his loins. They went in and stood beside the bronze altar. Then the glory of the God of Israel went up from the cherub on which it had been to the threshold of the temple.”

And you remember what we have in Ezekiel is a progression of the departure of God's presence, His glory in the temple in Jerusalem. Preparation for judgment coming on the nation. “He called to the man clothed in linen, at his loins was the writing case.” Note verse 4, “The Lord said to him, go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations which are being committed in its midst.” That's the picture here, those who are groaning, they are grieved over the sin that is being committed by God's people. There are some faithful ones. They are getting a mark on their foreheads, they are being sealed. Verse 5, “But to the others he said in my hearing, go through the city after him and strike. Do not let your eye have pity, do not spare. Utterly slay old men, young men, maidens, little children, women. Do not touch any man on whom is the mark.”

So you see those marked have God's protection. Now it is that kind of situation, again relating to Israel, that we have in Revelation 6. God is specially going to seal a number of His people, the Jews for protection from coming judgment, even as He did back in the days of Ezekiel from that judgment. Only this time of judgment is the ultimate and final judgment that He is bringing that will bring great destruction, not only on the earth, but on the nation Israel.

So come back to Revelation 7. And this is a section we come into which there is quite a bit of confusion, but there is no reason to be confused. Look at verse 4, “And I heard the number of those who were sealed, 144,000 sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel.” And if you have forgotten who the tribes of Israel are, and I believe from what I read there, like eighteen lists of the twelve tribes in the Old and New Testament, they are listed for you. And he is very specific, he doesn't even put it in a way that could be taken generally. “Out of the tribe of Judah, 12,000; Reuben . . ..“ You know he could just have put it generally to start—12,000 from each of the tribes and mentioned them one after another. Judah, Reuben, Gad, Asher . . . No, he picks out each one and gives them emphasis. “Out of the tribe of Judah, 12,000 were sealed. Out of the tribe of Reuben, 12,000. From or out of the tribe of Gad. . .” We go through the twelve tribes of Israel. In spite of that, there are many who think that this is really not 12,000 from every tribe.

Let me read you a couple of commentaries on Revelation. Here is what one says. A few commentators interpret the 144,000 as a literal reference to the nation Israel. That shows you how it is. A few interpret the 144,000 as a literal reference to the nation Israel. Now what would you take it as just reading your Bible? “I heard the number of those that were sealed, 144,000 sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel.” And in case you don't know what makes up the nation Israel, from the tribe of Judah 12,000, all through the twelve tribes. Yet he says a few commentators interpret the 144,000 as a literal reference to the nation Israel. This interpretation seriously complicates the book of Revelation by bringing in racial distinctions which no longer exist in the New Testament purview. In other words God doesn't recognize the distinction between nations.

Now it is true in the church and during the church age He is not dealing with Israel as a nation as His focal point. He is dealing with all nations, peoples from all languages and nations. But why would you say He is not here? Because they view God is done with Israel and the church has replaced Israel.

And he has a good reason. It disregards the historical fact that ten of the twelve tribes disappeared in Assyria. I don't even know what to say about this. I got a more recent commentary, it is 1200 pages so it is thorough; it is a commentary on the Greek text. It's the New International Greek Commentary on the New Testament. He says the same thing.

Another reason militating against a literal interpretation of the tribes is that ten of the tribes have lost their national identity in the Assyrian exile. In 722 B.C. the Assyrians conquered the northern ten tribes of Israel, and as the policy was, they deport all but the poorest people off their homeland and scatter them in other places in their empire. Cuts down on any possibility of rebellion because now you are living in a foreign country spread out. So how could the Jews know their identity? Well one thing ought to make you perk you up. Are the Jews identifiable as a distinct national entity today? As an ethnic group, language group, however you want to talk?

Did Hitler in World War II have any problem saying, “do the Jews exist?” Oh they don't exist, remember they got scattered and absorbed everywhere. Nobody thinks that.

But there is a problem. Jews today can't tell you what tribe they belong to. So how is God going to seal 12,000 from each tribe? The Jews exist but nobody knows, the records aren't kept. I've read this, even got out other commentaries to see if anybody remarked about the foolishness. Do you think God doesn't know? He has preserved the nation with all that it has gone through, the attempts to annihilate them and here they are. Turn on the news and see if they are talking about Israel. They have identity. Yes, but nobody knows what their national . . . I don't know my ancestry except back to my grandparents. I never got on, never had an interest. Maybe I am afraid to go beyond that. But I am convinced in my mind if God wanted to, He could lay out my ancestry all the way back to Noah, since we all go back to Noah. Could go back to Adam but it was Noah who got off the ark and we are all descended from. I think He could probably bring it up, I couldn't. They probably can't even do it on computers. I don't even know what to say. God knows, He has preserved Israel. Furthermore He has preserved the tribes. In fact all you have to do is read a little bit.

Luke 2, remember Anna was in the temple when they brought Jesus to present Him at the temple and that aged Anna who had lived most of her life as a widow, do you know what it says about Anna? She was from the tribe of Asher. How did she know that? How did Luke know that if the identities of those ten tribes were lost? Paul knew he was from the tribe of Benjamin, we have that in his letters.

Come back to Acts 26, Paul is giving a defense before Agrippa after his arrest by the Romans. So verse 4 he says, “so that all Jews know my manner of life from my youth up, which from the beginning was spent among my own nation at Jerusalem. They have known about me for a long time and they are willing to testify that I lived as a Pharisee according to the strictest sect of our religion.” Now note this, “Now I am standing trial for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers.” Paul said I have been arrested because I stand believing what God had promised He would do for our nation Israel, “the promise to which our twelve tribes hope to attain.” Paul hadn't given up on the twelve tribes. He didn't say which our twelve tribes won't be able to experience because ten of them for sure are lost and the other two are confused. We don't have an identity as tribes anymore. He says the twelve tribes hope to attain to that.

One commentator here who says they are lost says in parenthesis, well maybe some had some idea of their tribal connection. Paul says this is what we are looking for night and day. This is what we have come to in the book of Revelation, the final phase of God's program with the nation so they can finally realize as a nation the hope that God gave.

We're going to do a little review. Come back to Genesis. We have to know who the Jews are. We hear a discussion about the Abrahamic family today because people in the Middle East all claim Abraham as their father. There is an element of truth in that, but what you have to be careful of, not every descendant of Abraham is in line to receive the promise that God gave to Abraham, the covenant He established with Abraham. It is not enough to be a physical descendant of Abraham, you have to be a physical descendant along a certain line and then along that certain line you must also have the faith of Abraham.

So we come back to Genesis 12, we'll just pick up, here is where we have the original record of the covenant God made with Abraham. It is repeated with Abraham but we don't have time to look at each of those repetitions. So in Genesis 12:1 God has told him to “leave his home country and travel to the land which I will show you.” Verse 2, “I will make you a great nation, I will bless you, make your name great. You will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” Now note there are promises here to Abraham, to his descendants and then also to all the nations that are not part of his physical descendants.

So at the very beginning there is a distinction between Abraham's physical descendants and then the non-physical descendants that will be other nations but will still experience blessing. It never was God's intention from the beginning of this covenant. The distinction is clear, never intended to blend them. Today in the church there is a blending as we become one body in Christ but that's not the finality of it. Those 70 weeks were for Israel, God's nation. Now He is doing something, we experience blessings in Abraham because the Savior that we have sung about so clearly earlier is a Jewish Messiah. His Jewish lineage is recorded in Matthew and Luke. We are blessed in Abraham, in the descendant of Abraham, Jesus the Messiah. He is the only Savior.

So that's the promise repeated in Genesis 13:15, “All the land which you see I will give it to you, to your seed forever. I make your seed as the dust of the earth. Walk through the land,” verse 17, “its length, breadth. I will give it to you.” Do you know what one of the writers says? Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the land promise, He is the One in which we receive our blessings. You are saying here Abraham is walking all over Christ? I mean, it's pathetic. What people will do to try to push Israel out of the way, even those who are believers in Jesus Christ and interpret the Bible literally regarding our sin, His death, burial and resurrection. And then they become unraveled. And sometime we are not going to interpret these parts that pertain to Israel literally. Why do we want to exclude the Jews if we are really believers in Jesus Christ and the promises of God? That's Abraham.

Come over to Genesis 26. Abraham had a couple of sons. He had Ishmael, Ishmael was the firstborn. Ishmael is not in line of the Abrahamic Covenant. I am not anti-Ishmael, it just is not in the line of the covenant. God says the covenant has to come from Abraham through Isaac. So to Isaac God appears. Genesis 26:2, “The Lord appeared to him,” to Isaac in the context, “and said, don't go to Egypt. Stay in the land of which I tell you, sojourn in this land. I will be with you, bless you. For to you and your seed,” your descendants, “I will give all these lands. I will establish the oath which I swore to your father Abraham. I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven, give your seed all these lands. By your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed.” You'll note there are two things, specific promises to the physical descendants who will inherit this land but the nations who are in other lands will also get blessings through you. And we are a fulfillment of that, we have all kinds of nations represented here who have entered into the salvation provided by the descendant of Abraham, the Jewish Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth. That's Isaac.

Come over to Jacob in Genesis 28. Isaac's son is Jacob. Isaac when he is preparing to die called Jacob and blessed him. Verse 3, “May God Almighty bless you, make you fruitful and multiply you that you may become a company of peoples, may give you the blessing of Abraham to you and your descendants with you, that you may possess the land of your sojourning which God gave to Abraham.” Then God appears to Jacob. Down in verse 13, he is on his way to his mother's family's house to hide from his brother, you remember. “Behold the Lord stood above the ladder,” this is Jacob's ladder, “and said, I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham, the God of Isaac.”

You see how the line is coming—Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. “The land on which you lie, I will give it to you and your seed.” I am offended, I think it is an attack on the clarity of Scripture to say there is no future land promise for Israel. How many times does God have to say something before we get it? Even we who claim to believe the Bible and what it says. “Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, they multiply,” they will spread out. And then at the end of verse 4, “And in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed.” No indication that your descendants will just become part of all the nations, but they are special. And the other nations are going to experience blessing through you and your descendants. “And behold I am with you and will keep you.”

Come over to Genesis 32. Where do we get the name Israel? We come to Genesis 32, and we don't have time for the context, but Jacob, verse 24, was alone and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. And that man ends up being the pre-incarnate Christ. And he wrestles with him and Jacob wouldn't let him go because he knows the person he is wrestling with is not just another man. He says, “I will not,” the end of verse 26, “let you go unless you bless me.” And you know in the Old Testament, the greater blesses the lesser. He acknowledges this man's greatness, importance, and he needs God's blessing through him. “He said, your name shall no longer be Jacob but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed. And Jacob said, I have seen God face to face.” The pre-incarnate Christ, God manifested. And he wants that blessing and it is passed on to him. And that's where the name Israel comes from because he held onto God, strove with God until God would give him the blessing. That's how important it was to him. He wasn't like his brother who sold that birthright for a bowl of soup. He was one who would hold on so he gets the name that means one who strives with God, in a good sense. The line—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Come to Genesis 49 as Jacob prepares for his departure. Verse 1, “Jacob summoned his sons and said, assemble yourselves that I may tell you what will befall you in the latter days. Gather together and hear, oh sons of Jacob.” And you know how many sons Jacob has—twelve. You know who they are. They become the heads of the twelve tribes of Israel, the descendants. So he starts out, Reuben you are my firstborn. He tells something about his character and speaks of that tribe. Simeon and Levi, two brothers, each will be a tribe. Levi you remember is the priestly tribe and they will have responsibility for the tabernacle and out of that line come the priests. And on it goes through twelve tribes. The line is clear. So the twelve sons of Jacob become the twelve tribes of Israel, they are the descendants. That is clear through the Old Testament, it is clear in the New Testament.

Come back to Revelation. I'm not saying there are no believers that hold this, as far as I know the men that I quoted you are believers. When I read what they write on the Gospel, they are clear. Somehow they have developed the idea that when Christ came He changed everything. Now we can go back and reinterpret all the Old Testament and all those promises that were given to the physical descendants of Abraham; now can be transferred over as spiritual promises to everybody, Gentiles. I don't think so. I don't think the Scripture says when Daniel 9 said “seventy weeks are determined upon your people, your holy city.” And do you know what will happen by the end of that time, which hasn't happened yet? The nation Israel will experience God's righteousness, the kingdom will be established. Hasn't happened yet. That's what is going with this last seven-year period. It is a period, God is sealing the nation Israel to preserve and guarantee its survival to the end.

Come back to Romans 9. In Romans 9-11, Paul is writing in the book of Roman about God's provision of salvation and the fact that Jews and Gentiles have been demonstrated under sin and the only Savior is Jesus Christ. But he doesn't want there to be any confusion. The fact that Gentiles are now experiencing salvation by faith in the Jewish Messiah does not mean that God is finished with the nation Israel. He doesn't cancel out His promises.

So Romans 9 says, “I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying. My conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit. I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart, for I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsman according to the flesh, who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption of sons, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the Law, temple service, the promises whose are the fathers from whom is the Christ, the anointed one, the Messiah.” Verse 6, “It is not as though the Word of God has failed.” God is still working and Israel as a nation is under God's judgment to this day and the greater judgment is yet to come. But it is not an annihilating judgment. It is a judgment that through this seven-year period we are talking about will get so severe that finally Israel will realize they have been fighting against God. We have been fighting against our Messiah and only He can rescue us and deliver us. And the nation will turn to Him.

Look at Romans 10. “Brethren, my heart's desire, my prayer to God for them,” referring to Israel, “is for their salvation. They have a zeal for God but not in accordance to knowledge.” You could say that about every religion in the world today and every variation. A lot of Roman Catholics and Protestants, they have a zeal for God but not according to knowledge. “Not knowing about God's righteousness, seeking to establish their own they didn't subject themselves to the righteousness of God.” This is Israel's problem, they persist in rejecting God's provision.

Come to Romans 11. Well, then God is done with them. Chapter 11 begins, “I say then, ‘God has not rejected His people, has He?’” Megenoito! “May it never be!” Such a thought is inconceivable, it cannot be. How could God reject His people? “For I, too, am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.” At least to this point Paul knew what tribe he belonged to. I am an indication God has not totally rejected Jews, I'm saved. “God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew.”

Now you get down to a slim number, that's where we are in Revelation. You go through the days of Elijah, verse 4, “in that period of time God says there were only 7,000 who had not bowed their knees, 7,000 men in Israel who had not become Baal worshipers.” Out of how many millions? It is astounding! But He hadn't cast away. He will bring judgment so severe you would think He is going to wipe the nation out. Paul says don't make any mistakes. “God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew,” whom He chose. That cannot happen.

Where we are going, verse 25, “I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery,” something that had not been revealed before, “so you are not wise in your own estimation.” Like men writing these commentaries. “A partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.” Do you know when the fullness of the Gentiles has come in? That chart, the church age, the rapture, that's the end of the fullness of the Gentiles. This is the time of Gentile salvation primarily, a few Jews, but it is Gentile salvation. What happens after the fullness of the Gentiles has come in? The rapture occurs. “So all Israel will be saved.”

So verse 28, “From the standpoint of the Gospel they are enemies for your sake,” you Gentiles, writing to the church at Rome. “From the standpoint of God's election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers.” I hope you have this underlined in your Bibles, “For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.” Irrevocable. You ought to be glad about that. If you are here as a believer in Jesus Christ, have placed your faith in Him, even when you stumble, even when you are stupid, even when you fail when nobody ought to fail, God just doesn't write you off.

Where does the arrogance come from among us Gentiles that we think Israel sinned seriously, God wrote them off? We're not sinners on that level, glad we are not like Israel, we will never be written off. But Israel was written off? What sustains Israel is the same thing that sustains you and me. The gifts and calling of God are irrevocable, He put His seal, and that's it. So “just as we were once disobedient to God,” verse 30, “now have been shown mercy because of their disobedience,” it is going to come when God is going to reassert His dealing with Israel.

So come back to Revelation 7. What is he doing? Number 1, this whole seven-year period has as its prime purpose, His focus on bringing Israel to the place He says is His intention when he called them—to the kingdom that the Messiah will establish on earth for them. That's number 1. So we have to preserve a remnant. You know we saw a little foretaste in World War II with the attempts of Nazi Germany to annihilate the Jews. They killed whatever, 6 million, but you can't annihilate the nation. The worst is yet to come. So we see 144,000, 12,000 from each tribe. So with all the judgments that are about to pour out on the earth and all the persecution that is going to break out that we'll get to in chapter 12 with Satan's final and most vigorous attempt to annihilate Israel, we can be sure when Christ returns at His Second Coming to earth there are going to be at least 144,000 Jews, 12,000 from each tribe.

That doesn't mean no other Jews will ever be saved, perhaps some Jews will be saved and die in the tribulation. There have to be physical survivors so that the nation then can be populated, the numbers grow, the kingdom is populated, repopulated. And the prime focus will be the Jews. It is also to bring judgment on an unbelieving world and for many of those it will culminate in hell along with unbelieving Jews. You are not going to be saved just because you are a Jew. I thought marrying Marilyn who is partial Jewish blood would double my security. But then I realized I didn't need it. I'm still glad I married her. The Jews are not saved because they are Jews but there are promises in the physical line. These 144,000 sealed by God will be brought to salvation in Christ. They may already be saved, we don't know. But there is a guarantee of a saved remnant. We'll see that in the context of the judgments that will happen at the end of the seven-year tribulation. Matthew 25, where how people treated this Jewish remnant of believers is a manifestation of whether these Gentiles were genuine believers or not.

God's grace is operative, we're not in that seven-year period yet. I don't know where we are in the church age or how close we are, but this is a day of salvation. It is not a time you want to miss. It's a day of Gentile salvation primarily, but if you are a Jew here you are welcome to believe. This is a day when your Messiah can become your Savior. We who are not Jews, we get in by the free grace of God.

Let's pray together. Thank You, Lord, for the riches of Your Word. Lord, we are in awe of Your care, Your sovereignty in a world that is going to go into chaos from the human perspective—people dying by the millions, catastrophes of all kinds, persecutions. And yet You guarantee security and protection of these special people. Lord, we are reminded nothing is ever out of Your control, nothing is ever thwarting Your purposes. Lord, our confidence is in the promises You have given to us that through simple faith in Your Son Jesus Christ we can experience cleansing from sin, forgiveness, new life. We belong to You for time and because of Your promises for eternity. We give You praise. In Christ's name, amen.