Part 9 of 12 of the theme 'Lessons from Revelation ' by Gijs van den Brink
There is a fundamental distinction between believers from Israel and believers from the Gentiles, as clearly articulated in chapter 7 .
144,000 believers from Israel, that is, a fullness of a certain set number of believers, will be sealed. This seal imprint provides legal protection against breach. This is a remnant of messianic Jews who will receive divine protection in the last days. And there is in addition a second group, a crowd that no one can count from all peoples and tribes and nations and languages.
In Rev. 11:13, the expectation is expressed that the vast majority of the people of Israel will come to repentance. John also sees how that will happen.
We read in chapter 11 that two witnesses, two men of God, who are particularly courageous, will appear in Israel. But in the end they are killed by the "beast," the antichrist. But what happens? After three and a half days, God stands up for the murdered witnesses. He allows them to come back to life. Then the Lord takes them up into heaven while their enemies look on. He brings them to safety, because on earth they are no longer safe.
Mockery among the nations turns into fear. At the same time of the ascension, there is also a great earthquake (vs.13). The result is that 1/10 part of Jerusalem collapses and 7000 people die. This is in fact a small number, a tiny minority! Such is God's love for Israel. Not only a faithful remainder survives, but also an unbelieving majority. Only 10% perished, the "rest" survived.
Of them we read that they "fear and give glory to the God of heaven. That is, they repent and come to believe the message of the two witnesses who died. 90% of the inhabitants of Jerusalem then come to faith!!!
And if Jerusalem is to be seen here as the mother of Israel (as was common in Judaism), then we are talking about a conversion of the entire nation of Israel. And exactly this was also proclaimed by Jesus.
Mat.23:39
"For I say to you, from now on you shall not see Me, until the time when you say, Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.
And by Paul in Rom. 11:26
"And so finally all Israel will be saved, according to the words of Scripture, Out of Zion shall come the savior, and He shall remove wickedness from Jacob.
And so, finally, all Israel will be saved.
Both Jesus and also Paul and thus the apostle John tell us about a future conversion of Israel.
Also see: Part 8 of 12 of the theme 'Lessons from Revelation ': Vision of environment
Author: Gijs van den Brink
From: Study Bible Magazine
This is part 9 of 12 concise blog on the topic of "Lessons from Revelation" from Study Bible Magazine, Some of which we will be posting online in the near future. We hope this will help you understand the Bible better!
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