Revelation 4:1-2, Revelation 7:1-8

“After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, ‘Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this.’ Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne.”

I hope that you have enjoyed and maybe learned something through our walk as we learn more and more about God’s relationship with and to Israel from the very first covenant with Abraham until after the church age is over.

The Bible is full of God’s promises to Israel, and we have explored these over the past few weeks. If you are a student of the book of Revelation, sadly, many people are not, and many churches refuse to teach from the book; yet, in this book, there are clearly defined lines that show who God is predominantly working with at the time.

In the Old Testament, we see some Gentile persons like Rahab, Ruth, and Naaman, to mention a few. The focus, however, from the end of Genesis 11 to the end of the Gospels, is the nation and people of Israel. For a brief period in the book of Daniel, God, through a Jewish prophet, tells us about the Gentile kingdoms that He will raise up on the earth. But even then, they are recorded in relation to Israel. The Medes would begin freeing Israel from Babylon, the Persians would fund the rebuilding of the city, the Greeks would provide a language for the New Testament, and the Romans would build roads to transport the Gospel all over Africa, Europe, and parts of Asia Minor. But the revelation of the kingdoms all centered around Israel.

In Revelation 1-3, we have letters from Jesus to seven churches, all of whom were around at the time that John was writing the book of Revelation. These churches basically demonstrate 7 eras of the church age. There are churches from each era in all of the eras, but there is a predominant church type for each era.

At the end of the church era, we then jump into chapter 4, and John, the last of the Apostles who is still alive and a part of the very first church established by Jesus, is called up into Heaven. The phrase ‘come up here,’ which he is instructed to do after he hears a ‘voice like a trumpet speaking’ is the very word that is translated as rapture. It means to be caught up; thus, John is caught up and is in Heaven. After this event, the church is not mentioned again in Revelation. The writer, led by the Holy Spirit, never mentions the local churches ever again in Revelation.

In the next few chapters, we see scenes that are happening in Heaven, and in chapter 7, we are introduced to the nation of Israel and specifically the twelve tribes. The tribes are named; there are 12,000 men chosen and marked from each one. If you keep reading the chapter, it jumps back to Heaven, and there in Heaven is a multitude from all nations.

Revelation 7:9-10, “After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!'”

In the next few chapters, there is chaos rained on the earth by God, and then we meet two witnesses on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, and the whole world is watching them. Even right now in our time, the world is beginning to focus again on Israel. She is in the news and in the headlines once again, and she will continue to be as we get closer and closer to the transition from the church age and back to God dealing with Israel as He prepares her to receive her Messiah.

In Revelation 13, the Man of Sin defiles the Temple in Jerusalem with an idol called an image. There is a rebellion; the Jews realize that they have been duped, and they recall Antiochus Epiphanes and his defilement of the Temple, and they cry out. In Revelation 19, Jerusalem is surrounded by the armies of the Man of Sin, and Jesus shows up in the clouds to defend Jerusalem, Israel, and the Jews who are still living. This is all about Israel, all about that sacred land that was promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This is about the throne of David, which is the throne that is promised to Jesus as His own on earth one day. Here are a few of the prophecies:

2 Samuel 7: 12-13, “When your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.”

Luke 1: 32-33, “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.”

Isaiah 16:5, “A throne will even be established in lovingkindness, and a judge will sit on it in faithfulness in the tent of David; moreover, he will seek justice and be prompt in righteousness.”

These are just a few examples of the promises that God gave to David, that there would be one to sit on his throne forever. Luke clearly tells us that Jesus is the one who will sit on David’s throne. God is not done with Israel.

Pray for the peace of Israel, and one day soon, my brothers and sisters, we will walk in Jerusalem and see Jesus, David, Abraham, Isaac, Elijah, and the multitude of people who have worshipped God as their One and only. We will see true justice offered to the whole world from Jerusalem, and Jesus will be the face of that justice. No, God is not done with the Jews; if anything, we are seeing the beginning of what He is about to do.

God bless you,

Dr. Sean Gooding
Pastor of Mississauga Missionary Baptist Church

How to Connect with Us

On Facebook (live broadcast of Sunday’s Message at 11 am): https://www.facebook.com/MississaugaMissionaryBaptistChurch

Join us on Zoom every Sunday (10:30 am) for Sunday Service AND every Tuesday at 8:00 pm for Bible Study: Meeting ID: 700 794 460 Passcode: 032661; https://us02web.zoom.us/j/700794460?pwd=M3NFRG91ZW5Sa2Z3amVyWkFnYXd6QT09

Online: https://www.mmbchurch.ca

Email: support@mmbchurch.ca

Romans 11

Normally, I put the verses in the text, but chapter 11 is quite long, so in the body of the lesson I will simply place the texts we are looking at. But I encourage you to please take the time to read Romans 9 – 11.

In the past few lessons on God and His relationship to Israel, I have focused on the Old Testament. Today, we will look at a New Testament passage. The Apostle Paul is writing here. He, a Jew whose main mission field is the Gentiles, asks a simple but very pertinent question “… has God cast away His people?” Remember, he was a part of the Pharisees who had led Israel to reject Jesus; he had overseen the murder of Stephen in Acts 7 and, for a time, persecuted the newly born church in Jerusalem before he met Jesus and was converted.

In Romans 11:1-6, we find this promise from God to Israel; the actual story of this is found in 1 Kings 19:18, but here are the verses in Romans:

“I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel, saying, ‘Lord, they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life’? But what does the divine response say to him? ‘I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.’ Even so then, at this present time, there is a remnant according to the election of grace. And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise, grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise, work is no longer work.”

God promises that even though it seems that there is a total rejection of God from Israel, He has a remnant that truly believes. One of them was Paul the Apostle. The early church folks were all Jews, and Jesus is a Jew of the tribe of Judah. Even now, there are true Jewish believers, and as we get closer and closer to the return of Jesus, that will intensify even more. Once we are fully into the Tribulation period, the primary focus will be on evangelizing the Jews from all over the planet. They will be saved by grace, just like you and I, according to Romans 11:5-6.

In the next text, we will see that the Jews are currently blind for the sake of the Gentiles, you and I. Their temporary blindness has given us Gentiles the opportunity to be saved and added to the Family of God as children of Abraham. According to Romans 4, Abraham is the ‘father of all who believe.’ Here in Romans 11:11-12, we see this temporary blindness is for our sake, but one day, it will be a blessing for the Jews:

“I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not! But through their fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles. Now if their fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness!”

One day, all Israel will be saved; Romans 11:25-27 tells us this. Not all of Israel that has ever existed from Abraham, but all of Israel who is alive at the time of the return of Jesus in Revelation 19. Here is what it says in Romans:

“For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: ‘The Deliverer will come out of Zion, and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; For this is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins.”

One day, the Jews will see Jesus and accept Him as their Messiah and Lord. They will believe, and Jesus will heal their hearts, open their minds, unstop their ears, and be worshipped by them. That day is not that far off. The players involved in the end are in place. Nothing needs to happen as far as the Rapture is concerned that is an imminent event, but the Tribulation has very clear events that require certain things to be in place, and those pieces are coming together like a puzzle.

God promises Israel that He will take away their sins, and He says that as a covenant. God, as we learned last week, makes covenants that He has to uphold since man cannot in his own power ever uphold a covenant with God. Time and time again, we can see that God is not done with Israel. He has preserved them in and amongst the nations of the world. He is bringing them back; right now, because of the attack by Hamas, there is a return of military-aged young men who are prepared to defend Israel to the death. Israel will be, according to Daniel, the central focus of the end. There will be treaties or at least one treaty signed with Israel at the beginning of the end to bring about ‘peace and safety,’ Daniel 9:27:

“Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; But in the middle of the week, He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, even until the consummation, which is determined, is poured out on the desolate.”

This is Daniel telling us about the end and how Israel is involved. The ‘many’ is Israel, the one week refers to 7 years, and this alludes to the rebuilding of the Temple and the restarting of the sacrifices. But there is trouble in this treaty and a harsh reality that forces Israel to look for the real Messiah. They will, He will come, and they will believe.

Be wary of those who say God is done with Israel. No way!! He cannot and will not break the covenant He has made with her. He cannot and will not break the covenant He has made with you and me in Jesus.

God bless you,

Dr. Sean Gooding
Pastor of Mississauga Missionary Baptist Church

How to Connect with Us

On Facebook (live broadcast of Sunday’s Message at 11 am): https://www.facebook.com/MississaugaMissionaryBaptistChurch

Join us on Zoom every Sunday (10:30 am) for Sunday Service AND every Tuesday at 8:00 pm for Bible Study: Meeting ID: 700 794 460 Passcode: 032661; https://us02web.zoom.us/j/700794460?pwd=M3NFRG91ZW5Sa2Z3amVyWkFnYXd6QT09

Online: https://www.mmbchurch.ca

Email: support@mmbchurch.ca