What happens to the Ethnos?
Have you ever wondered what happens to those that reject the Gospel?
The Bible refers to the unconverted as “pagans” “gentiles” or the “nations”. These are all the same word in Greek “ethnos”.
The “ethnos”, namely the ‘Nations’ ‘pagans’ and ‘gentiles’ generally refer to people who are not God’s people.
The Nations are here now, they will be gathered before Christ at his Second Coming, they will be on Earth during the Millennium and they will surround the New Jerusalem in Eternity.
Matt 28:19 says: ‘Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations’
Luke 24:47 says: ‘Repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached to all nations.’
The nations then are the unconverted. They are those that we need to preach to.
Col 1:13 For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son,
When people in the nations are converted, they become part of God’s kingdom
Matt 24:9 “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me.
In the end times, it is the nations who persecute God’s people.
Rev 2:26 says ‘to him who is victorious and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the Nations.
This shows that God’s people (those who are victorious and do God’s will) are different to the Nations. God’s people will be given authority over the nations during the millennium and in eternity.
In Rev 20:7-9 Satan deceives the nations at the end of the millennium. The Nations number like the sand of the sea and march across the breadth of the Earth to surround the camp of God’s people.
This shows that the Nations will be present during the Millennium and they are separate from God’s people.
Rev 21:24 says that in Eternity, the Nations will walk by the light of the New Jerusalem and the Kings of the Earth will bring their splendor into it
God’s people will be with God in the New Jerusalem.
Who then are these nations who are outside the New Jerusalem?
Rev 22:2 says that the Leaves of the tree are for the healing of the Nations.
The nations in Eternity still need healing. Just who are they?
When Jesus comes again, he will lead an army of redeemed believers to strike down the nations
Rev 19:15 Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.”
Matthew 24 says that when the son of man comes, his angels with gather his elect from the four winds of heaven.
And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.
Chapter 25 says that when the son of man comes with all the angels, all the nations will be gathered before him and he will separate them one from another like a shepherd separates the sheep and the goats
It says that when the Son of Man comes in all his glory and all the angels with Him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the Sheep and the Goats. He will put the Sheep on his right and the Goats on his left.
In Matt 24 the son of man comes in his glory and his Angels gather his elect.
In Matt 25 the son of man comes in his glory with his angels and all the Nations are gathered before him
God raptures the church and then he judges the nations.
God tells them, whatever you did for the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me. In other words, God will judge the Nations according to how they treated God’s people. This seems like a judgment according to works but actually it smacks of grace.
The Sheep Nations who were kind to God’s people – (these brothers and sisters of mine) are rewarded and do not go to hell
Those who failed to show kindness to God’s people – The Goat Nations, are sent to hell
This explains where the nations in Eternity and in the Millennium come from.
The New Jerusalem is composed of believers from old and new testament times. The old testament believers symbolized by the 12 gates and the new testament believers by the 12 foundations.
Rev 3:12 says The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will they leave it. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name.
Outside are the Nations who were not thrown into the lake of fire. These nations must therefore be in the Lamb’s book of life. Yet they are not God’s people
The Nations are here now, they will be standing before Christ when he returns and they will be on Earth during the Millennium and in Eternity.
Those who are converted become God’s people and are no longer the nations.
Those who are kind to God’s people escape the lake of fire and are allowed to live outside the New Jerusalem in eternity
Who are the Nations?
Who the Nations are is an important question for the times we are living in.
The Nations will be gathered before Christ at his Second Coming, they will be on Earth during the Millennium and they will surround the New Jerusalem in Eternity.
The Greek word for the Nations in the Bible is ‘ethnos’. Ethnos is also translated as ‘pagan’ and ‘gentile’ in the New testament. All these words ‘Nations’ ‘pagans’ and ‘gentiles’ refer to people who are not God’s people.
Matt 28:19 says: ‘Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations’
Luke 24:47 says: ‘Repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached to all nations.’
The nations then are the unconverted. They are those that we need to preach to.
Col 1:13 For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son,
When people in the nations are converted, they become part of God’s kingdom
Rev 2:26 says ‘to him who is victorious and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the Nations.
Those who are victorious are God’s people and they are different to the Nations.
God’s people will not be the nations in the Millennium or Eternity. God’s people will be given authority over them.
In Rev 20:7-9 Satan deceives the nations at the end of the millennium. The Nations number like the sand of the sea and march across the breadth of the Earth to surround the camp of God’s people.
This shows that the Nations will be present during the Millennium and they are separate from God’s people.
Rev 21:4 says that in Eternity, the Nations will walk by the light of the New Jerusalem
God’s people will be with God in the New Jerusalem.
Who then are these nations who are outside the New Jerusalem?
Rev 22:2 says that the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the Nations.
The nations in Eternity still need healing. Just who are they?
The Nations are here now, they will be standing before Christ when he returns and they will be on Earth during the Millennium and in Eternity.
Matthew 24 is all about the signs that will precede the second coming of Christ.
Christ will appear in the clouds and His angels will gather God’s elect from the four ends of the Earth.
Chapter 25 follows on from this and begins with the Parable of the 10 Virgins which tells us how God will deal with the Church. The foolish virgins miss out on the wedding feast because they forgot to take enough oil with them and their lamps went out.
The parable of the Sheep and the Goats is also in this chapter but this parable is concerned with how God will judge the Nations.
It says that when the Son of Man comes in all his glory and all the angels with Him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the Sheep and the Goats. He will put the Sheep on his right and the Goats on his left.
God tells them, whatever you did for the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me. In other words, God will judge the Nations according to how they treated God’s people. This is a judgment according to works.
God’s people in contrast are judged according to faith which is by grace.
The Sheep Nations who were kind to God’s people – (these brothers and sisters of mine) are rewarded and do not go to hell where one might expect a non Christian to go
Those who failed to show kindness to God’s people – The Goat Nations, are sent to hell
Thus we see that in the parable of the 10 virgins, not all those who are waiting for the Bridegroom go to heaven
And in the parable of the Sheep and the Goats, not all who are in the Nations go to hell
This explains where the nations in Eternity and in the Millennium come from.
The New Jerusalem is composed of believers from old and new testament times. The old testament believers symbolized by the 12 gates and the new testament believers by the 12 foundations.
Rev 3:12 says The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will they leave it. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name.
Outside are the Nations who were not thrown into the lake of fire. These nations must therefore be in the Lamb’s book of life. Yet they are not God’s people
The Day of the Lord : The Wise and Foolish Virgins and the Sheep and the Goats. (Matthew 25)
When Christ comes on the clouds, His angels will gather up the elect from the four winds of Heaven. (Matt 24)
The Church is represented by the wise and foolish virgins (Matt 25)
When Christ comes with His angels, the nations will stand before Him and he will separate them into the Sheep and the Goats according to how they treated “the least of these brothers and sisters of mine”.
Could Jesus come back tomorrow? Is the Lord’s Return Imminent?
Matthew 24:36
No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
Matthew 24:42
Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day on which your Lord will come.
Matthew 24:43
But understand this: If the owner of the house had known in which watch of the night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into.
Matthew 24:44
For this reason, you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him.
Matthew 25:13
Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.
Mark 13:35
Therefore keep watch, because you do not know when the master of the house will return–whether in the evening, at midnight, when the rooster crows, or in the morning.
Jesus replied, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by His own authority.
1 Corinthians 1:8
He will sustain you to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Thessalonians 5:4
But you, brothers, are not in the darkness so that this day should overtake you like a thief.
2 Peter 3:10
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar, the elements will be dissolved in the fire, and the earth and its works will not be found.
Could Jesus come back tomorrow? Is the Lord’s return imminent?
The Bible says we need to be ready at all times because we do not know the day or the hour that Christ will return.
Pretribulationists argue that if Christ returns at the end of the Great Tribulation then his return will not be imminent or like a thief.
The reference point for God is Jerusalem. With all that is going on in the Middle East it is quite possible that the Great Tribulation has started and we have missed the signs that Jesus talked about on the Mt of Olives (Matthew 24).
The Western Church is relatively spared from overt hostile persecution. It tends to be persecuted more by atheists, evolutionists, moral decay and the general Godlessness of society. The Western Church is more likely to be the Woman who sits on the beast in Revelation Chapter 17 than the persecuted Church of Revelation Chapter 13.
The Bible says that Jesus will not come back until the man of lawlessness has been revealed. (2 Thess 2:3) But can we be sure that we have not missed the antichrist’s coming?
We are called to be watchful so that the day of the Lord will not surprise us.
The fact that God does have a schedule for the second coming of Christ does not mean that Christ could not come back tomorrow. We cannot know for sure where God is up to in his schedule. He may not have even started to open the seals but maybe he has and is close to the end.
In Matthew 24, the Olivet discourse, Jesus lists the signs of his coming. These harmonize well with the signs associated with the seals of revelation.
As Jesus told us to watch for these signs, it is unlikely that the rapture would occur before these signs take place. Otherwise, the people who are told to watch out for the signs (the believers) would never get to see them if the rapture took place before the first seal.
In any case, we need to be awake and sober minded so that the Lord’s coming will not surprise us.
In times of such suffering and persecution we need something to encourage us to persevere. The degree of suffering and persecution itself will be a sign that the Lord’s coming is near.
The Western Church should not be complacent and think that the Lord’s coming is not near just because it is not being persecuted and put to death like the Church in the Middle East.
1Thess 5:4 says: ‘But you, brothers, are not in the darkness so that this day should overtake you like a thief’. So the Lord coming like a thief applies to those who are in darkness.
Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day on which your Lord will come. (Matt 24:42)
http://www.truthinlove.com/References/144000JewsSealed.html
http://www.truthinlove.com/References/seven_seals_trumpets_bowls.htm
The rapture of the church takes place just as the seventh trumpet sounds
Diagram showing the three groups of people who will be on earth during the great tribulation: The Saints (Born Again believers), The Gentiles (Pagans) and the Woman (Israel).
The 144000 taken from the 12 tribes of Israel are intimately related to the Woman in Revelation chapter 12.
The 1260 days that the Dragon pursues the Woman (time times and half a time) is the same 1260 days that the 2 witnesses prophesy. This also corresponds to the 42 months that the saints are persecuted and the 42 months that the Gentiles trample Jerusalem.
The Trumpets sound at the same time the seals are opened with the seventh seal being simultaneous with the seventh trumpet.
The Church is Raptured at the end of the 1260 day Great Tribulation
God then pours out his wrath on the Nations who are left behind. The seven bowls of God’s wrath are poured out in the next 75 days – this is the third woe which is part of the seventh trumpet.
The 144000 from the 12 tribes of Israel are also sealed and protected during this time.
Christ will lead an army of believers to strike down the Nations and defeat the Beast and the False Prophet. (Rev 19)
God will separate the sheep from the Goats during the 75 days that follow the rapture of the Church.
http://truthinlove.com/References/seven_seals_trumpets_bowls.htm
The 144000 Jews from the 12 tribes of Israel are sealed before the tribulation starts
Revelation 7:1-4
After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree. Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea: “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 tribes of Israel.
The sealing of the 144000 is mentioned in the interlude between the opening of the six and the seventh seal. The four angels are instructed not to harm the land or the sea or the trees until a seal was put on the servants of God.
The 144000 are most like the Woman in Revelation 12 that is pursued by the dragon for 1260 days or times time and half a time. The Woman is taken to a place in the wilderness where she is protected for the duration of the Great Tribulation. It, therefore, follows that the 144000 must have been sealed before the Great Tribulation starts.
As with the Gentiles who trampled the Holy City for 42 months and the two witnesses who prophesied for 1260 days, the 144000 are sealed and protected for 1260 days. The point at which these events are mentioned is at their conclusion after 1260 days corresponding to the interludes between the 6th and the 7th trumpet or the 6th and the 7th seals.
http://truthinlove.com/References/seven_seals_trumpets_bowls.htm
When the seventh seal is opened, the seventh trumpet sounds, the Church goes up in the twinkling of an eye and then God pours out his wrath.
Revelation 10:7
But in the days when the seventh angel is about to sound his trumpet, the mystery of God will be accomplished, just as he announced to his servants the prophets.” (NIV)
But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets. (KJV)
The mystery of God will be accomplished when the seventh angel begins to sound his trumpet. This mystery is also mentioned in connection to the last trumpet in 1Cor 15:51-52. This mystery is that we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed in the twinkling of an eye when the seventh angel begins to sound his trumpet.
1Cor 15:51-52
Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
When the Seventh angel sounds his trumpet, Christ has opened the last seal on the scroll which is part of the book of life containing the names of the Children of God. It is time for the Children of God to be revealed. When the trumpet sounds, poof, in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, the first resurrection and the rapture take place.
Rom 8:18-19
I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed.
Creation is waiting in eager expectation for the Children of God to be revealed. This will happen when the Lamb opens the last seal on the Scroll which is part of the Book of Life. At that moment, the Children of God will be redeemed from the Earth but not before those who are asleep in Christ are raised.
Rev 11:15-18
The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign for ever and ever.” And the twenty-four elders, who were seated on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying: “We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and have begun to reign. The nations were angry, and your wrath has come. The time has come for judging the dead, and for rewarding your servants the prophets and your people who revere your name, both great and small—and for destroying those who destroy the earth.”
When the seventh angel sounds his trumpet, the kingdom of this world becomes the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah and he will reign for ever and ever. The mystery of God is accomplished (Rev 10:7) and the sons and daughters of God are revealed. The Book of Life, the little scroll has been opened and those who inherit eternal life as the Children of God are raptured or resurrected to be with Jesus and will remain with him forever.
But there is more to the seventh trumpet; the Nations were angry for the time of God’s wrath has come. The seventh trumpet is the third woe and it contains the seven bowls of God’s wrath which are for the whole Earth (not just a third of the Earth as was the case with the trumpets). The seventh trumpet is the time when God pours out his wrath on the nations who have been left behind after the Church has been removed and the 144000 Jews Sealed.
The dead outside of Christ are not resurrected for judgment until after the Millennium.
Rev 6:12-17
I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. The heavens receded like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.
Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and everyone else, both slave and free, hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can withstand it?” (NIV)
The sixth seal involves an earthquake, signs in the sky, stars falling to earth and the heavens receding like a scroll being rolled up. The kings of the Earth, princes, general, the rich and mighty and everybody tried to hide form what was about to happen in the next seal. For the time of God’s wrath has come. God’s wrath will not be poured out until the Church is removed and the 144000 are sealed. This is exactly what happens next and then the seventh seal is mentioned.
Rev 7:1-4 & 9-14
After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree. Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea: “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 tribes of Israel.
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 before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying: “Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!” Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?” I answered, “Sir, you know.” And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. (NIV)
After the sixth seal, but before the seventh seal is mentioned, the 144000 from all the tribes of Israel and the Great Multitude from every nation, tribe, people and language are described. Finally the seventh seal is mentioned, almost in passing. When it was opened, there was ‘silence in heaven for half an hour’.
The sealing of the 144000 and the rapture of the Great multitude could well be what the seventh seal is all about as the names on the little scroll are not known until the seventh seal is opened. When the scroll is opened the rapture an the first resurrection take place.
Rev 8:1
When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. (NIV)
This verse really belongs to chapter 7. It follows the discourse on the Great multitude and the 144000. As nothing else is said about the seventh seal, perhaps the sealing of the 144000 and the rapture of the great multitude are what the seventh seal is about. They are not just placed ‘in between’ the sixth and the seventh seal.
The seventh seal therefore is intimately liked to the rapture and the first resurrection as well as God’s wrath. This is also what the seventh trumpet is about. The seventh seal and the seventh trumpet are, therefore, coincident with one another.
This begs the question: “What about the other trumpets, are they coincident with the respective seal.
The seven bowls of God’s wrath are part of the seventh trumpet and are poured out after the Church has been raptured.
Where will you be spending the Millennium? What about Eternity?
People will be divided into at least 4 groups when Jesus returns.
The Harvest at the End of the Age. It coincides with the First Resurrection and the Second Coming of Christ at the seventh Trumpet.
The Harvest at the End of the Age. A Great Multitude of believers (Wheat) are raptured to be with Christ when he comes on the clouds at the Seventh Trumpet at the End of the Great Tribulation. This co-incides with the First Resurrection which is when dead believers (also wheat) are raised to be with Christ. False Christians (Weeds) are also harvested from the Earth at this time by an angle in charge of the fire and they are thrown in to Hell for eternal punishment. The Nations are left on Earth and are divided in to the Sheep and the Goats according to how they treated God’s people. Those that persecuted God’s people (the Goats) are thrown into the Lake of Fire. Those that were Kind to God’s people receive a reward. They will become the Nations on Earth during the Millennium and in Eternity if they do not rebel against God when Satan is released form his prison at the End of the Millennium.
About this site
Christ's return is premillennial
The Church is raptured prewrath - the Great Multitude of Believers will have to go thru the Great Tribulation and will be persecuted by the antichrist
Only the firstfruits escape the tribulation (there are two groups of 144000)
144000 Jews are sealed and protected from God's wrath
Christians will reign with Christ in Heaven during the Millennium
A remnant of Jews and Pagans survive God's wrath and repopulate Earth during the Millennium
At the end of the Millennium, the pagans are judged and God makes all things new
The Post Tribulation / Pre-Wrath Rapture of the Church 
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