Q. How would you bring about a Great Worldwide Revival After the Rapture?
A:The second purpose of the Tribulation is to bring about a worldwide revival. In Matthew 24:14, Yeshua (Jesus) said that the gospel of the kingdomwill be proclaimed to all nations before the end comes. Some time before the Tribulation ends, some time before the Second Coming occurs, there must be the worldwide preaching of the gospel to that one generation.
Revelation 7 is an exposition of Matthew 24:14 and can be divided into two sections. Verses 1-8 describe the means of this revival, whereas verses 9-17 give us the results of this revival.
1. The Means of the Worldwide Revival:
Revelation 7:1-8 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that no wind should blow on the earth, or on the sea, or upon any tree. And I saw another angel ascend from the sunrising, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a great 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 shall have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads. And I heard the number of them that were sealed, a hundred and forty and four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of the children of Israel: Of the tribe of Judah were sealed twelve thousand; Of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand; Of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand; Of the tribe of Asher twelve thousand; Of the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand; Of the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand; Of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand; Of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand; Of the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand; Of the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand; Of the tribe ofJoseph twelve thousand; Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand.
The beginning words, After this, are not chronological in this case, but merely the next vision John sees. In verses 1-3, the four angels that are commissioned to bring judgment on the earth are commanded to hold off their destruction until a specific number of servants are sealed. Sealing is done for two reasons: service and protection. Both reasons apply here. These are the ones who will proclaim the message of the gospel in the Tribulation. The mention of the four winds shows that these 144,000 Jewish evangelists will come from all parts of the world, not only from Israel.
In verses 4 8, the identification of those who are sealed is clearly specified as 144,000 Jews. To make it even more clear, twelve tribes are listed with the statement that 12,000 are chosen from each tribe. By means of these 144,000 Jewish evangelists, God will bring about the worldwide revival and accomplish another goal of the Tribulation. Looking at all this purely from a human perspective, if one wanted to conduct a worldwide revival in a very short period of time, for this revival will occur during the first 3 1/2 years of the Tribulation, one could not think of a better group of people to use than the Jewish people. However, coming from a Jewish believer in Jesus, that may not sound very objective, so the following are some objective reasons why this would certainly be true.
If one looks at the world missionary situation today, one of the things he will discover is that the vast majority of missionaries are Americans. If one begins interviewing these missionaries to find out how much time was spent in training before they were comfortably proclaiming the Word ofGod in a land that is not their own, he would discover that they had to train for three or four years at a Bible institute or Bible college. If they became believers some time after college, they had to study three or four years at a seminary. While the Bible institute, college, or seminary graduate is trained to proclaim the Word in this nation or some other English speaking nation, he is not prepared to do so on a foreign field. The next two, three, maybe four years must be spent in language study. The average American missionary on the foreign field must spend approximately six years in training before he is proclaiming the Word in a language not his own. This worldwide revival by the preaching of the gospel will occur in only 31/2years and there is just not that much time for training. One distinct advantage of using Jewish people is that Jews are dispersed all over the world. Every one of the world’s major languages, and a great number of the world’s minor languages, are spoken by some Jews somewhere. Except for American Jewry, most Jews are at least bilingual. The author is bilingual, and the author’s parents are multilingual, speaking five languages each.
Another advantage of using Jewish evangelists is that, with a large segment of American Jewry being the exception, most Jews receive a good, basic understanding of the Old Testament text. They have a greater or lesser degree of knowledge of the Old Testament Scriptures, depending on their background.
Hence, at some time after God Raptures the Church, He will then save 144,000 Jews from the Twelve Tribes, from around the world. These Jews will already speak the languages needed. They will already have a basic knowledge of the Old Testament text. They will need only a short period of time to gain some New Testament knowledge. So, they could then begin proclaiming the gospel in a very short period of time.
During the first half of the Tribulation, God will evangelize the world by means of 144,000 Jews and thus fulfill the prophecy found in Matthew 24:14: And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a testimony unto all the nations; and then shall the end come.
2. The Results of the Worldwide Revival: Revelation 7:9-17
After these things I saw, and behold, a great multitude, which no man could number, out of every nation and of all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, arrayed in white robes, and palms in their hands; and they cry with a great voice, saying; Salvation unto our God who sits in the throne, and unto the Lamb. And all the angels were standing round about the throne, and about the elders and the four living creatures; and they fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God, saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen. And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, These that him, My lord, you know. And he said to me, These are they that come out of the great tribulation, and they washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne ofGod; and they serve him day and might in his temple: and he that sits on the throne shall spread his tabernacle over them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun strike upon them, not any heat: for the Lamb that is in the middle of the throne shall be their shepherd, and shall guide them unto fountains of waters of life: and God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes.
Following the vision of the 144,000 Jews, the next thing John saw was myriads and myriads of Gentiles, as well as other Jews, who have come to a saving knowledge of the Savior during the Tribulation. The connecting link is the phrase, After these things, and it is chronological and shows a cause and effect relationship between the first and second parts ofRevelation 7.
Source: MBS002 The Jews and the Tribulation Pg 4-7
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