JOHN THE REVELATOR SAW 144,000 JEWS CONVERTED TO CHRIST AFTER THE RAPTURE
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SUDDENLY, THE GREAT TRIBULATION STOPPED, ALL JUDGMENTS CEASED, THE INSANE WEATHER PATTERNS BECAME PERFECTLY CALM, AND THE CHOSEN NATION OF THE LORD CAME INTO VIEW. Before the Anti-Christ could release his vicious anger against Israel, an elected number must be redeemed and sealed. This beautiful company were not converted to Jesus Christ before the Rapture but were deeply pious and anxious for the messiah to come. When Jesus raptures His bride, no place on earth will be as stirred and shaken as Jerusalem.
This pause in the proceeding of judgments is remarkable. The world is under great wrath from the Father and the Lamb. They are also under an assault from Satan and his horde at the same time. It’s like everything comes to a standstill as the angels of God manifest their incredible powers. Even Satan’s activities must be stayed. All the elements of nature will suddenly be calmed and the earth’s population will be filled with a sense of a divine encounter. His angels, probably Cherubims in this case, are awesome creatures. When they manifest powers as great as suggested in this text, a foreboding of their great emotions will touch all creation. “Holding the four winds of the earth” will create a hush or calm that strikes incredible fear.
These angels were already on a mission to disrupt the processes of nature. Their activities were in motion so that the sudden calm was like the eye of a hurricane with a storm raging on both sides. It is apparent that this action to seal the servants of God from the nation of Israel suggests that the effort by the Antichrist to massacre the Jewish race is well underway and the Lord is acting to preserve the remnant. This also suggests that the abomination of desolation may has been erected in the temple and Israel has learned of their mistake when they made a covenant with the Antichrist. One third of Israel will eventually be preserved and saved. This action by the Lamb guarantees their future in His plans. The sealed saints will be His witnesses among the remnant.
This great action by the Lamb to set aside a fixed number of His kin for witnesses to Himself is quite amazing. They have already been thoroughly converted after the Rapture. They are called “servants of our God” and were probably faithful orthodox Jews that were busy preparing for the Messiah before they learned of the Rapture and realized they had missed this grand event. No one can be saved apart from the Lamb’s blood and this seal confirms his or her faith in Christ. Please note that this seal is called “the seal of the Living God” to distinguish it from the seal of the Antichrist.
Here is the vision that John the Revelator saw. “And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. (Revelation 7:1-3)
It is not likely that any geographical place on this earth has as many saints buried in the soil as the Holy City. The early church saw hundreds of thousands converted and filled with the Holy Ghost. The book of Acts was the greatest revival in human history. They believed that they would be raptured in their life-time but when saints began to die, Apostle Paul had to settle the question. Before Titus destroyed the city and either sold the Jews as slaves or drove them to other nations, a multitude of believers had died in the Lord. Jerusalem will be a city of open graves after the rapture.
This golden city was similarly shaken when Jesus Christ was resurrected, and that was only a shadow of what is to come. I love this great passage. “And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.” (Matthew 27: 52-53) This kind of activity after the Rapture is not what you usually hear. Maybe I am taking this too far but I think not. The one criteria for teaching all truth is the Bible and this pattern was set when Jesus Christ was Resurrected.
That is the single pattern of saints being resurrected in all of scripture. It is foolish for us to ignore this as what our Lord is about to do again. Imagine the effect of Apostle Peter, Apostle James, and Apostle Paul appearing and preaching the resurrection on the streets of Jerusalem. Consider hundreds of glorified saints in shining bodies praying at the Wailing Wall or triumphantly singing in the public square of their beloved city. Never in history have so many blessed saints of our Lord been seen in triumphant glory and loudly declaring, “The Lord has come and the end of all things is at hand.”
Once the Rapture is complete and the resurrected saints have disappeared, tens of thousands of Israel’s population with turn to Jesus Christ. I believe a great number of the devoted Jews that were looking for the Messiah will be quick to repent of their unbelief. Out of this great multitude, God will choose His elected 144,000, 12,000 from each of the twelve tribes.
The tasks of these faithful believers from among the Jews and their protection while they are His witnesses would suggest several things. They will become powerful witnesses to Jesus Christ’s messiahship to the entire Jewish world. They will certainly prepare all of Israel to be converted in one single day when the Son of Man arrives in Jerusalem after He wins the Battle of Armageddon. His one hundred and forty-four thousand will be caught up to the Lamb before the seven years of tribulation is over and will likely be guests at the wedding event and supper already underway in Heavenly Jerusalem. They also may help prepare Israel for the coming kingdom of Israel during the Millennium. This large number of protected Jews will certainly have a wonderful part in Israel’s future, both before they are caught up, and when they return with Christ to reign on earth a thousand years. The One Thousand Year Reign is only the beginning.
jaimie
Dear Pastor,
You are correct in your affection for the passage where Saints that were called from the grave and rose in Jerusalem,
Our Lord is the Lord of the living, of Abraham, of Jacob and of us too!
God Bless
jaimie
Mike
How do they that arise from the grave……not already be in heaven? this is confusing to me….do they not die and go straight heaven?
GREAT QUESTION!!
The spirit and soul of a saint goes to Heaven when they die.
At the resurrection that soul and spirit is united with the
body and the glorified body is raised and ascends with Him (Jesus)
to heaven. Read I Thess. 4:14
Joseph
melvin
You didn’t read the verse 9 after the 144,000. That their a Great Multitude of all nation that can’t be counted and were cloth in white robes. So everyone rapture at the end of the Great Tribulation. Right now their thousands of Jews in the Messianic movement that excepted the true Yahushua with ex gentiles. To call yourself a gentile is calling yourself a pagan. Your grafted into Israel by Messiah making up the lost tribe of Israel.
Ed Wood
Brother Ed,
Sorry that you thought I was speaking of Matthew 27: 50-53 occuring in the Tribulation. No! No, I was talking about the Pre Tribulation Rapture only. I believe that the Rapture will be patterned just like the resurrection of those saints that arose when Christ arose. Anyone that disagrees does not change a thing.
You a blessing to this site.
Joseph
Pastor Joseph, when I read Matthew 27:50-54, I took this resurrection of saints to be happening contemporaneously with Jesus’ own resurrection. Your premise that it happens during the Tribulation is a new concept for me. But as I think about it, why the appearance of the Old Testament saints 2000 years ago have been a prefigurement of another similar event in the future, as you suggested?
For example, we see the taking away of Enoch and Elijah so that these men never experienced death, very similar to what will happen to believers at the Rapture.
Antiochus Epiphanes’ desecration of the temple in many ways prefigures that of the Antichrist.
Adolf Hitler’s murderous anti-Semitism, his complete ruthless authority in Germany, and tie-ins with the occult are likewise previews of what the Antichrist’s future activities will be as well.
Melchizadek was both priest and king, just as Jesus is.
So, as we can see, there are many times historical events foreshadow future ones.
Great article, Pastor Joseph, and much appreciated.
Bill Andrews
Someone help Melvin, He’s so confused.
Great article Pastor Chambers !Makes me excited to say the least !
Keith Black
ISRAEL THE MISSIONARY NATION
Dear Joe Chambers,
God intended of Israel to be a NATION OF MISSIONARIES right from the very beginning. Abraham was the very first FOREIGN MISSIONARY. He left his country of Babylon to preach the Gospel of God to the people in Canaan. When he and other people arrived there from the country of Babylon, especially those on the east side of the Euphrates River (mid-east version of Mississippi River), the people in Canaan called the Eastern Babylonians HEBREWS (which means OTHER SIDE OF EUPHRATES RIVER). When the people of Israel headed back to Canaan from the Egyptian Captivity, Moses informed the Israelites that they were to be a NATION OF PRIESTS unto the world. They were to be the MISSIONARY NATION. God placed Israel in the area between two continents along the major trading routes so THEY COULD WITNESS TO ALL THOSE WHO PASS THROUGH (America played a similar role in recent years where Christians witnessed to people whether visiting or coming as IMMIGRANTS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD. Maybe God placed all those immigrants here including the illegal ones because he wants us to tell them about Jesus). Over the years Israel failed its job to be the MISSIONARY NATION, so they got put out of the land for many centuries, and God shifted his activity to the Gentile Christians, to carry out his message. So America played a role similar to what Israel did when it witnessed to those that passed through during Old Testament and during early Church age until the Temple was demolished in Jerusalem. Then God shifted his focus to the Gentiles. NOW AMERICA IS FAILING THE SAME WAY ISRAEL DID EARLIER. Even the “CHURCH” (THE RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY) is FAILING ITS JOB AS ISRAEL DID EARLIER. So like Israel did earlier, America and the “Church” (Religious community) is failing. So God will have to get his REMNANT out of the “CHURCH” (religious community) at the rapture. HE WILL THEN JUDGE THE RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY AND AMERICA DURING THE TRIBULATION. God will judge America like he did Israel earlier. GOD WILL ONCE AGAIN MOVE HIS OPERATING MISSIONARY BASE RIGHT BACK TO JERUSALEM AND ISRAEL. ISRAEL WILL ONCE AGAIN BE THE MISSIONARY NATION DURING THE TRIBULATION, AND DURING THE MILLINIUM. So the Missionary Base is moving right back to Israel.
About the Resurrection and Rapture, the Apostle Paul said that this would all HAPPEN IN A TWINKLING OF AN EYE. So all that will happen in a split second. I am not sure that resurrected saints will hag around for a while at the time of the rapture.
I think the reason why SOME SAINTS AT JERUSALEM WERE RAISED FROM THE DEAD AT THE TIME JESUS WAS RAISED FROM THE DEAD WAS TO PROVIDE PROOF OF WHO JESUS WAS. This was only to provide a SAMPLING of what there BIG RESURRECTION WILL BE LIKE LATER. I think that these were people that LIVED AND DIED DURING THE LIFE TIME OF JESUS. They simply went back into Jerusalem to visit their own family and friends. Not all saints were raised at that time, just a small sampling.
WHEN THE RAPTURE COMES, I DO NOT THINK THAT THE SAINTS ARE GOING TO HANG AROUND FOR A WHILE AFTER BEING RAISED FORM THE DEAD. They will not have a chance to say goodbye to family and friends. JESUS SAID THAT HIS COMING WILL BE LIKE A THIEF IN THE NIGHT. Paul said that it would all happen in A TWINKLING OF AN EYE. FASTER THAN THE SPEED OF LIGHT.
So the resurrection of the dead in Christ and the rapture of living saints will will all take place fast. All the living and the resurrected saints meet together in the clouds at lightning speed. The only evidence for those left behind is vanished people and BUSTED GRAVES.
Sincerely,
Keith Black
Sandra
I am glad you mention the verse about people being raised from the dead after Jesus was, and going into the city. This is rarely mentioned in churchs when preaching Jesus’s resurrection, but I think it is VERY important. It shows a sample of what God can and will do for his followers once JEsus returns for his bride. The living and the dead.
Roger Ball
Bill Andrews
There is no hope for Melvin. All we can do is pray for him.
Ed Wood
Thanks Pastor Joseph for your response – and your very kind words as well. I misunderstood! Seems we agree that the Matthew 27 passage did indeed occur back when Jesus was resurrected and that it indeed prefigures what will happen to “those who sleep in Christ” the Rapture. those who are living will then follow them to meet Jesus in the air.
That’s exactly my view as well.
Thanks again for your excellent series of on-going articles. You are doing the job that “organized religion” is failing to do.
God bless!