The Elect in the Tribulation


Previous Page: The “Few Chosen” Are Israelites

In Matthew 24 in which Jesus is telling the disciples of what the days of the tribulation would be like. Armed with the knowledge that the elect are the Jews, we can consistently interpret the passage; the elect in Matthew 24 are not Gentile believers in the tribulation but are God’s chosen, that is the Jews.

Matthew 22:22 &24, “And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened…
For false Christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.

Mark 13:20, And unless the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake, whom He chose, He shortened the days.
Emphasizing those whom God chose, the Jews.

If the elects are interpreted as those whom God has predestined to eternal life, then a challenge arises, in particular, for those of us of a pre-tribulation perspective.

Who exactly is being gathered at the end of the tribulation?
Matthew 24:31, “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.

There can be no question that this gathering happens after the events of the Great Tribulation and yet, if it is referring to the same catching up of believers in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, then the teaching of the pre-tribulation rapture would be nullified.

However, once we realize that the elects here are not believers in general but specifically the Israelites/Jews then the matter is resolved. Two-thirds of the (up to then non-believing) Jews will tragically perish and the one-third (Zechariah 13:8) remaining will be gathered at the end of the Great Tribulation. It also fits in with Revelation 19 where the believers return with Jesus to the earth because they have already been caught up to Him.

The Old Testament proves that the gathering of the elect in Matthew 24 must be speaking of the Jews. Jesus used the language of Isaiah 11 to describe the gathering of the elect, an obvious reference to the Jews.

Isaiah 11:12, “He will set up a banner for the nations, and will assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.

The gathering of the Jews is further predicted in Isaiah 43:5, 54:7, and Zechariah 2:6.

When we realize that the usage of “chosen” or “elect” has nothing to do with (predestined to) eternal life then many of the difficult Bible passages are easy to interpret.

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