Question: The elect He spoke about in Matthew 24 is Israel in the Tribulation, after they realize Jesus is their Messiah, and call out to Him as Romans 10:9 says they will. Romans 9, 10, 11 specifically speaking to Israel. In other words, Did Paul speak about Israel in the book of Romans returning to their Messiah in Chapter 9, 10 and 11 before the Great Tribulation or after it is all over? What is your take on it?
Answer: Greetings in Jesus mighty and wonderful name!
Peace and safety is test for the Church and the reward for it is Rapture (Rev 3:10; 1 Thess 5:1-3, 4-6). Peace and safety of the Antichrist covenant with death will be accepted by both Israel and the world, therefore the wages for it is the Great Tribulation (Rom 6:23).
The elect He spoke about in Matthew 24 is not Israel in the Tribulation, because resurrection cannot happen at the end of it as they will be present for the Millennial rule of Jesus Christ. Then who else it can be? Because these believers who were left behind are called as the offspring of the Church, they will be called as Tribulation saints who will die as Martyrs during the Great Tribulation (Rev 3:19-21; 14:12-13; 14:14-16; 7:9-17). Hallelujah!
The remnant Israelites of 144000 from the 12 tribes who believe God and are already saved through their Messianic belief of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and are working as His servants will be saved (Rom 10:6-13; Acts 4:12), and taken through the Great Tribulation in to the Millennial Kingdom to live in Israel, and be multiplied to fill the nation of Israel in their natural bodies (Rev 7:1-8; Zec 12:10-11).
Thus, the Elect in Matthew 24 Which Jesus spoke about is not Israel in the Tribulation, but rather the Great Tribulation saints who are the offspring of the left behind of the Church, who will become as martyrs for their faith after the Rapture at that time to be resurrected again in the first resurrection to live in their physical bodies with Jesus for a thousand years (Rev 12:7; 14:12-13; 20:4-6).
Yes you are right, Paul the apostle to the Gentiles (Gal 2:8), was very much concerned for the unbelieving nation of Israel as he was of the prime stock of the Jews who as a Pharisee went to the extent of persecuting the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, who met him in an encounter on the way to Damascus and changed his life upside down for the sake of the gospel of Jesus Christ (1 Tim 1:12-13, 14-15, 16-17).
For this reason Paul addressed Israel's past (9), present (10), and future (11) in Romans 9-11th Chapters due to the Jewish rejection of Jesus as their Messiah and King. Paul is directly warning the Gentile Christians against two things: ignorance and arrogance. One is a head issue, the other is a heart issue. The first thing Paul expected the Church to know was, Israel as a nation which will be scattered in all the world in the first century and also those scattered before that, will one day soon return to the land of Israel and will again become a physical carrier of God's blessing to the world around. Again he expected the Church not to become religiously arrogant and prideful as Christians to reject and hate Israel, and he warned the Church that if that happens, what happened to Israel as a nation before will happen to the Church too. All those who are humble and saved will only be taken at the time of Rapture, and all others left behind to face Great Tribulation.
As for Paul, the division in his mind which was two when he was a Jew, that is, one the Jew and the rest of the world as Gentile before His conversion to be a Christian, suddenly it became as three divisions in the whole world, that is, the Jew, the Gentile and the people of God the Church (1 Cor 10:32).
So Paul wanted the Jews to be saved. Ofcourse many were, praise the Lord! The majority, however, were not, and that troubled Paul, causing him sorrow and grief (Rom 9:2). So to bring clarity to the future of the unsaved Jews and the nation of Israel, Paul clearly conveyed that when God is done calling Gentiles to Himself until his Second Coming to the earth to rule for a thousand years, He will at that time redeem the nation of Israel (and Judah) through the New Covenant to Himself. In one day, the whole nation of Israel will become saved at His Second Coming (Rom 11:25, 26-27, 29, 31), this is the spiritual restoration of the nation of Israel, just like the physical restoration of the nation of Israel happened in just one day when the United Nations declared it in May 14, 1948 to make it become the nation which it is today by the mercies of God (Ezek 37:19; Isa 66:8).
As I have already told you, you can never compare the elect of Matt 24:21-22, 31, to the Israel spoken about by Paul in Romans Chapter 9-11, which is about the unsaved nation of Israel, because the elect in Matt 24:21-22, 31, "21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22 And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened. 31 And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other," which is about the Great Tribulation saints who are actually the offspring of the left behind of the Church that has already been Raptured, these will face death in faith during the Great Tribulation time and will be resurrected at His Second Coming to live with Christ as priest to reign for a thousand years on earth, through being part of the holy and blessed first resurrection, these will not face second death which is the White Throne Judgment of the end of all things (Rev 12:17; 14:12-13; 20:4-6).
So let us not confuse either Israel, the Church or the unsaved world of all nations, and at the same time identify the Great Tribulation of those times as unique and unprecedented since the creation of all things in this earth by God (Matt 24:21). By doing it, contextually, our end times theology will be Scripturally strong, and we will become like the Berean believers who will be commended by God, as these are the times of Great Deception and testing in which falling away is happening in throngs (Acts 17:10-11; Rev 2:2; Matt 24:23-28; 2 Thess 2:3, 9-10, 11-12). Israel as a nation, will only be saved after the Great Tribulation, and that too in a day when Jesus comes to rescue them from annihilation out of the hands of Antichrist. Glory to God!
Much Blessings.....
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