Luke 12: 32 says "Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom."
By "little flock" Christ is talking about are those who will be given the kingdom. "Enter ye in at the straight gate: for wide is the gate and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat" (Matthew 7: 13). God always has a small group, a remnant, or little flock, who he regards as "Israel mine inheritance" (Isaiah 19: 25).
In Romans 11: 5 Paul says "Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace." He is talking about the small number of ethnic Israelites who did accept Christ and were born again in him, and the small number of Gentiles who also accepted Jesus and became part of Israel born again in Christ. I don't know how many Jews there were during the first century in the Middle East and in southern Europe, or exactly how many of them accepted Christ. But the vast majority of Jews rejected Christ and were the broad way, the big group.
Broad way theology would be the big flock (Matthew 7: 13). Many believe the majority cannot be wrong in their interpretation of the Gospel.
Zechariah 13: 8-9 has been used by those of the present day Remnant of Israel associated with James Lloyd and Sue Patterson to teach that during the tribulation some will come out of the church and out of the false doctrines the church is now teaching. This text says "And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein.
9. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God."
Ezekiel 5: 1-5 and 5: 12 also describes three larger groups of those who claim to be the people of God. Verse 5 says "This is Jerusalem." There is also a fourth smaller group in verse 3. Ezekiel 5: 12 says "A third part of thee shall die with the pestilence, and with famine shall they be consumed in the midst of thee: and a third part shall fall by the sword round about thee; and I will scatter a third part into all the winds, and I will draw out a sword after them." Again, like Zechariah 13: 8-9, Ezekiel 5 does not say the three parts are exactly one third each, or thirty three percent.
Note that Zechariah 13: 8-9 says two parts will be cut off and the third part will go through the fire, be refined and will call on the Lord. It does not say that two thirds of those who claim to be the people of God will be cut off and one third will be accepted by God. In line with Luke 12: 32 - the little flock - Matthew 7: 13, the narrow way, and Romans 11: 5, the remnant as those who became born again Israel, we might expect only a remnant to come out of the churches during the tribulation.
The remnant who come out of the churches might be about ten percent, it might be five percent or even two percent. Since the American dispensationalist church theology of dispensationalism and a few other false doctrines have been exported to a number of nations of the world, this church system must number in many millions of people. Even if just two percent come out of the church system, that would still be a large number of people, a multitude, as seen in Revelation 7: 9-17.
WILL ALL ISRAEL BE SAVED BY THE END OF THE GREAT TRIBULATION??
Luke 21:24: Jesus says, �Jerusalem shall be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are complete.� The Times of the Gentiles was from AD 70 to June 7th, 1967 when the Jews again gained complete control of Jerusalem after 1897 years. In 1948 the Jordanian Gentiles destroyed 34 of the 35 Jewish Synagogues in Jerusalem and kicked out almost all the Jews. Obama would like Israel to return to its 1948 borders.
During the Great Tribulation Moses and Elijah will most likely witness miraculously to people in the uttermost parts of the earth in all 6,000 languages. Presently the Bible has been translated into about 2,000 languages from the inspired Greek and Hebrew manuscripts and faith comes from hearing or reading the sword of the spirit which is the Word of God.
The Bible still has not been translated into about 4,000 languages and Rev 5:9b and Rev 7:9,13,14 must be completely fulfilled. Surely the courageous tribulation saints will help Moses and Elijah spread God's Word. They will do a fantastic job since according to Rev 7:9,14 there will be a great multitude from EVERY TRIBE AND LANGUAGE who will be �washed in the Blood of the Lamb� during the Great Tribulation.
Rev 6:9-11: When He {Jesus} opened the 5th seal, I saw the souls of those who had been slain {Just like Jesus} because of the testimony they had maintained. They called out in a loud voice, �How long until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?� The each of them was given a *WHITE ROBE*, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the number of their brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed.
Rev 7:9,13,14,15a,17a: �After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from *EVERY* NATION, TRIBE, PEOPLE AND LANGUAGE, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb {Jesus}. They were wearing *WHITE ROBES*
�Then one of the {24} elders {Rev 4:4} asked me, �These in *WHITE ROBES*�who are they and where did they come from?�� And he said, �These are they who have come out of the Great Tribulation; {Martyrs just like Jesus} they have washed their robes and made them WHITE in the *BLOOD OF THE LAMB* {Jesus}. They are before the throne of God and serve him day and night... The Lamb {Jesus} at the center of the throne will be their Shepherd.� {See Rev 12:11 & Rev 13:8-10}
This passage in Rev 7:9 above shows that the Great Tribulation will be mainly for Christians in *EVERY Gentile nation and not just Jacob�s Jewish trouble which absolutely contradicts the main thesis of the pre-trib fairy tale. Revelation 14:13: Then I heard a voice from heaven say {During the Great Trib}, "Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on." "Yes," says the Spirit, "they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them." Rev 12:11: �They {THE TRIBULATION MARTYRS} overcame him {Satan} by the *BLOOD OF THE LAMB* and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.�
Revelation 7:3,4: The angel said, �Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God,� Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the {12} tribes of Israel.
This event occurred just before the land and sea were harmed by the first 6 trumpet plagues in Rev chapters 8 & 9. Also occurring just before the first 6 trumpet plagues will be the scene in heaven above of martyrs from every nation in Rev 7:9-18. So it is completely obvious that the 144,000 Jews did NOT participate in the evangelizing of the Gentiles from every nation in the world.
There are many who believe that the 144,000 Jews will then evangelize Jews through out the world and possibly only Jews will be saved during the rest of the Great Tribulation since Gentiles from every nation of the world will already be saved. According to Zechariah 12;10; 13:8,9: Two-thirds of the Jews will be struck down and perish but one-third will call on my name and will say, �The Lord is our God.�
Presently there are approximately 15 million Jews and about 2 % or 30,000 are Christians. During the Great Tribulation 10 million Jews will die and 5 million will be saved which is and additional 4 million 970 thousand if 30 thousand are now Christians.
Romans 11:25-29: I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part **until the full number of Gentiles has come in **{As per Rev 7:9,14 above}. ***AND SO ALL ISRAEL WILL BE SAVED***, as it is written: {In Jeremiah 31:33,34} �The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob {Israel}. And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins.� As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies on your account; but as far as election is concerned they are loved on account of the patriarchs {Moses, Abraham, David ,Joseph, Isaiah, Elijah etc etc etc}, for God's gifts and His call are irrevocable. {Read Romans 11:11-32 and Hebrews 11:39-40}
Acts 1:6-8: The Jewish disciples asked Jesus, �Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel??� Jesus said to them: �It is not for you to know the times and dates the Father has set by His own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and to the ends of the earth.!!� Matthew 24:14: Jesus says {During the Great Tribulation} �This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to **ALL NATIONS** and **THEN** the **END** will come!�
God also inspired 40 Jewish men to write every Word in God's Word in both the OT and NT. Jesus was 50 % Jewish and is called the King of the Jews 12 times in the NT and the 12 Apostles including Paul were all Jewish who brought the Gospel to the Gentiles in the 1st Century. The Israelites are called Jews 80 times in the OT beginning with the book of Esther about 600 BC and the Israelites are called Jews over 200 times in the NT.
Acts 2:5: �Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven.� And on the day of Pentecost 3,000 Jews were saved as per Acts 2:5,14,41. John 4:22b: Jesus says, "Salvation is from the Jews.!" Matthew 2:1,2: Wise men from the East asked, �Where is the One who has been born King of the Jews?� Matthew 27:11: Pilate asked Jesus, �Are you the King of the Jews?� �Yes it is as you say,� Jesus replied!
God said to Abraham, in Genesis 17:8: �The whole land of Canaan I will be give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you.�
Quotes from Obama:devil: on May 20th, 2011: �Israel must learn do defend itself **BY ITSELF**!!� �Israel must return to **PRE-1967 BORDERS**!!� Nations from all over the world have heartily agreed with King Obama's 2 statements including the European Union, Russia and the United nations. Obama has also stated that he does not have to abide by the War Powers Act or the Constitution in declaring war thus making Obama a King with the power to make war against anyone he desires as long as he desires!
Postponement theology does not accept Paul's separation of Israel into
two Israels in Romans 2: 28-29, Romans 9: 6-8 and in Galatians 4:
25-26. The distinction he makes between Israel of the flesh which is
not born again in Christ and that Israel which is born again is
supported by some other of his texts, such as I Corinthians 10: 18
("behold, Israel after the flesh"), and Philippians 3: 2-9, especially
verse 3 which says "..we are the circumcision, which worship God in
the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the
flesh." By saying "we are the circumcision" he means descendants of
Abraham who believed on Christ, that Remnant he talks about in Romans
9: 27 and Romans 11: 5 who were born again in Christ.
Honoring all of Old Covenant physical Israel is very important in
postponement theology. And this postulate leads to the fundamental
teaching of this theology that all of physical Israel shall be
saved.distinction he makes between Israel of the flesh which is
not born again in Christ and that Israel which is born again is
supported by some other of his texts, such as I Corinthians 10: 18
("behold, Israel after the flesh"), and Philippians 3: 2-9, especially
verse 3 which says "..we are the circumcision, which worship God in
the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the
flesh." By saying "we are the circumcision" he means descendants of
Abraham who believed on Christ, that Remnant he talks about in Romans
9: 27 and Romans 11: 5 who were born again in Christ.
Honoring all of Old Covenant physical Israel is very important in
postponement theology. And this postulate leads to the fundamental
teaching of this theology that all of physical Israel shall be
saved.
Protestants before postponement theology took over most of the
evangelical denominions taught that scripture must interpret scripture.
This means that Romans 11: 26 is to be interpreted to be consistent
with what Paul said in the scriptues I listed above. To say that all physical
Israel will be saved contradicts his distinction between the two Israels he
consistently distinguishes between. The postponement people try to wiggle
out of this by using the argument from contexts, or they simply try to ignore what Paul said
in those texts, Romans 2: 28-29, Romans 9: 6-8 and in Galatians 4:
25-26.
So postponement theology argues from its theology, in effect, because it interprets Romans 11: 26 to be consistent with its theology rather than New Testament scripture.
Its another Gospel.
Postponement theology people do not like those who are not part of their theology
to use New Testament texts to interpret Old Testament scripture. They will
insist that the Old Testament prophecies on the restoration of physical Israel must
have their fulfillment during the tribulation when God, they say, will
save "all Israel."
Amos 9: 11, for example, as one of the restoration of Israel prophecies, says
"In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old:"
Postponement people will say this, among other Old Testament prophecies, predicts
that "all Israel" shall be saved during the tribulation. But James in Acts 15: 7-9 and 13-17 quotes and
interprets Amos 9: 11, as an example of the Old Testament restoration of Israel prophecies.
"Peter rose up, and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe.
8. And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us;
9. And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith....And after they had held their peace, James answered, saying, Men and brethren, hearken unto me:
14. Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name.
15. And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written,
16. After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up:
17. That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things."
James says "to this agree the words of the prophets." Meaning all the prophets who wrote about the restoration of physical Israel, including Hosea 3: 5, Amos 9: 11, Micah 5: 3, and Zechariah 12: 10, and other prophecies that talk about some restoraton of Israel.
The postponement follower might deal with Acts 15 by giving a literal interpretation
of Amos 9: 11, and perhaps bringing in other Old Testament prophecies on the
restoration and imply that this rules over what is said in Acts 15. He may try
also to limit Acts 15 somehow to the context of the crisis of the conflict between the
Pharisees
who believed saying all Christians must be circumcised to be saved,
and Paul's teaching among the Gentiles that circumcision was done away with.
The literal postulate of postponement theology and its other postulate that "all Israel" must be honored leads the followers of this theology to refuse to see the meaning of what James says in Acts 15: 15, that the prophets, not just Amos in 9: 11, all agree with what Peter said, that God has taken out some from the Gentiles to make them his people and puts no difference in the New Covenant between them and the Christians who were formerly Jews or Israelites. There is no more chosen people by race under the New Covenant. Find a New Testament text which says God still chooses his people based upon race.
The literal bent of the postponement crowd causes them to try to limit what James said to Amos 9: 11, and in addition, to just the literal sentence James is said to have spoken, "Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name. And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written..." In other words, their wiggling out of Acts 15 is to say that James was only talking about Amos 9: 11, and that there are other Old Testament prophecies like it on the restoration of physical Israel, and these still apply, and in addition James was only talking about bringing in the Gentiles, while the people who are Israelites by race remain God's people. The New Testament does not say this anywhere. You have to deal with John 1: 11, " He came unto his own, and his own received him not," and Matthew 8: 11-12, "And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
In effect, postponement theology raises up the Old Testament prophecies as having authority over the New Testament scriptures and this is a subtle and deceptive way of mixing the Old with the New Covenant, which is false doctrine. Since the majority of physical Israelites rejected Christ and were cut off because of this unbelief (Romans 11: 20), to honor them as "all Israel " is to bring in the spirit of anti-Christ. To say this is not indicating hatred for the physical Israelites who rejected Christ, but it is to protect and support the New Covenant, into which they could have joined. Read Paul in I Thessalonians 2: 14-16, and in Philippians 3: 2-9.
Christians who believe that New Testament texts have interpretative
authority over Old Testament texts would say, no, since James
writes that the prophets all agree with the New Covenant, that
the New Testament interpretation of James has authority over these Old Testament
prophecies on the restoration of Israel, and these prophecies do not apply
to the tribulation period. The prophecies of the restoration of physical Israel
were fulfilled in the First Century.
And as before, until the follower of postponement theology changes his
interpretative authority, he is not going to be convinced by New Testament
scripture, even if it were spelled out in a more specific way
than in Acts 15, that this very important part of postponement theology is wrong.
