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EVANGELISM DURING THE TRIBULATION
1. Before the crucifixion of Jesus, Israel was the
evangelistic agent to represent the character and plan of God to the world.
Because Israel rejected Jesus as the Messiah/Savior, the nation was
temporarily removed from this status and function. Mat. 21:42-43; 23:37-38
2. The church was then established as the evangelistic agent. Luke 21:43
Acts 1:8; 1 Peter 2:9, so that you may proclaim His excellencies.
3. This includes a specific ministry to the people of Israel that will last
until the return of Jesus.
Mat. 10:16-23, "you will not finish with the cities of Israel until the Son
of man comes."
4. During the first half of the 70th week of Daniel, when Israel will be
seduced by the covenant event of Daniel 9:27, the church will be on the
earth proclaiming the gospel "in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria,
and even to the ends of the earth." Acts 1:8; Mat. 10:23
5. At the midpoint of the week, after the covenant is broken by the beast,
the tribulation will begin, during which time the beast will persecute the
church and the Jews. Rev. 13:7; 12:13-17.
6. During this time the church will be joined by the two witnesses of Rev.
11:3-13.
One of these two witnesses will be Elijah as prophesied by Mal. 4:5-6 and by
Jesus at Mat.17:11, "Elijah is coming and will restore all things."
7. The purpose of Elijah is specifically to exhort the Jewish people to
return to the divine value system as it revolves around the hope of the
Messianic promise. Mal. 4:6, "and he will turn the hearts of the fathers to
the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers."
The ministry of Elijah, which will begin the process of restoration, is to
bring about a change of attitude.
It is a change of attitude back to looking for fulfillment of the Messianic
promise; the true heritage of the Jewish people; and to the true character
of the Mosaic law; mercy, faithfulness, justice and the love of God. Mat.
23:23 and Luke 11:42 and Micah 6:8.
He will prepare the people of Israel for the second coming of the Messiah.
Mal. 3:1.
This will result in convicting a large number of the Jews who start seeking
"the messenger of the covenant."
The messenger is the Messiah and the covenant is the everlasting covenant of
salvation and forgiveness of sins.
8. It is the message of the church and the two witnesses that convict many
of the Jews that Jesus is their promised Messiah. They will thus begin to
seek for Him and desire Him as Messiah, but NOT as SAVIOR.
Hosea 5:14-15(via Mal. 3). "In their tribulation
they will earnestly seek Me."
Their ministry will be successful for a large group of Jews who will become
convicted of the nation's past failure. They will recognize that Jesus
was/is indeed the promised Messiah and will begin to seek the Lord according
to their national heritage; the Messianic promise.
9. Hosea tells us that the Messiah "will go away and return to My place
until they acknowledge their guilt and seek My face." Hosea 5:15
Jesus said that He would not return until they say, "praised is He who comes
in the name of the LORD." Mat. 23:39.
This is the acknowledgment of their national sin of rejecting Him as the
Messiah.
They will come to this realization throughout the time of the tribulation -
"in their tribulation they will earnestly seek Me." Hos. 5:15
10. Then Jesus will arrive in the clouds of the sky in power and great
glory, and a large group of "seeking" Jews will then accept Him as SAVIOR.
This group is the 144k bond servants of Rev. 7:1-8.
Those 144k will be sealed as believers in Jesus and servants of God.
SEALING: At Rev 7:2-3, John is shown another angel who is given
administrative control over the actions of the four judgment angels. This
angel HAS the seal of God to place on the forehead of those who will trust
in Christ as Savior. Again, this is symbolism. The angels do not stamp a
literal seal on the foreheads of the ones who believe.
Whether this conversion/sealing of the 144,000 Jews will take a few hours or
a few days, we do not know, but judgment is held back until all are saved
AND SEALED with the mark of divine ownership. At 2 Timothy 2:19, we read,
“the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, The Lord knows those
who are His.”
This is not something that is VISIBLE, but something that is an
acknowledgment and CLAIM by God upon those who have trusted in Christ.
Since 30 AD, when God sent the Holy Spirit to the church, the SEAL of
salvation and divine ownership has been the indwelling presence of the
Spirit (Eph. 1:13-14; 1 Cor. 6:19-20; 2 Cor. 1:22; 5:5). There is no reason
for that to change with converts after the rapture for the Holy Spirit is
still involved with the whole salvation process. Some believe that the Holy
Spirit LEAVES the earth at the rapture but there is no scriptural basis for
this speculation.
At Revelation 14:1, we learn that the 144 thousand
have the name of the Lamb and the name of the Father written on their
foreheads. At Revelation 9:4, we see that there are those who do NOT have
the SEAL of God on their foreheads. This indicates that the SEAL is a claim
of ownership that is represented in John’s vision by the NAME of God on the
forehead. Again, this is not a VISIBLE seal, but a spiritual FACT that is
known only in a “spiritual” context and not known or seen by humans on the
earth.
God knows and the angels involved know and divine protection will not let
the demon oppressors of the 5th trumpet judgment hurt anyone who has that
divine seal.
To repeat, the seal is said to be THE NAME OF GOD ON THE FOREHEAD (Rev.
14:1). This is a symbol of divine possession (2 Tim. 2:19) which is actually
the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit (2 Cor. 1:22;
1 Cor. 6:19-20). It is not something that is given to them by an angel. John
is seeing a vision of symbols that portray events. The symbol, an angel
sealing the believers, will not occur, but the EVENT ITSELF - THE SEALING -
which is the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, will occur.
11. God does not leave Himself without a witness, and these 144k SERVANTS
will then serve as ministers of "the everlasting gospel" (Rev. 14:6-7).
Thus God will once again use Israel as His chosen vessel to be "a kingdom of
priests and a holy nation," (Ex. 19:6) as at Psalm 67; Isaiah 43:10; 44:8
and 49:3.
That is why the 144k are called SERVANTS.
SERVANTS: After the rapture, God will once again use Israel as the
evangelistic agent to carry the gospel throughout the world. Thus, God does
not leave Himself without a SPECIFIC witness to His character and plan.
There needs to be a FORMAL evangelistic agent on the earth after the church
is removed.
THAT IS WHY Rev. 7:1-8 describes a SPECIFIC group of Jews who are called
SERVANTS.
There is really no other reason to signal out these 144k as SERVANTS except
that they are the ones who will TAKE OVER from the church as God's
representatives on the earth. As God's representatives on the earth, they
will be PROCLAIMERS OF GOD'S GOOD NEWS. That is what the word evangelist
means; thus, 144k evangelists. They are seen again at Rev. 14 as those "who
follow the Lamb wherever He goes." This indicates the dedication of their
service activity.
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