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

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.

Acts 1:7

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

http://www.truthinlove.com/analogies/seven_seals.htm

http://www.truthinlove.com/References/last_trumpet.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

http://www.truthinlove.com/analogies/seven_seals.htm

http://www.truthinlove.com/References/last_trumpet.htm

As with any harvest, there will always be a few flowers or fruit that mature a bit before the majority. These are the First Fruit of the Harvest. In the Harvest at the End of the Age, there will be 144000 First Fruit Christians who are already mature before the Great Tribulation starts.

As with any harvest, there will always be a few flowers or fruit that mature a bit before the majority. These are the First fruit of the Harvest. In the Harvest at the End of the Age, there will be 144000 first fruit Christians who are already mature before the Great Tribulation starts. They will be raptured to be with the Lord at the beginning of the Great Tribulation. The majority of the believers will be raptured at the end of the Great Tribulation to meet Christ in the Clouds when He comes at the Last Trumpet (Seventh Trumpet). The First resurrection and the rapture take place at the same time.

As with any harvest, there will always be a few flowers or fruit that mature a bit before the majority. These are the First fruit of the Harvest. In the Harvest at the End of the Age, there will be 144000 first fruit Christians who are already mature before the Great Tribulation starts. They will be raptured to be with the Lord at the beginning of the Great Tribulation. The majority of the believers will be raptured at the end of the Great Tribulation to meet Christ in the Clouds when He comes at the Last Trumpet (Seventh Trumpet). The First resurrection and the rapture take place at the same time as the coming of the Lord (Seventh Seal/Trumpet).

<< Revelation 14 >> New International Version 1984

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The Lamb and the 144,000

1Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. 2And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of rushing waters and like a loud peal of thunder. The sound I heard was like that of harpists playing their harps. 3And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. 4These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they kept themselves pure. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were purchased from among men and offered as firstfruits to God and the Lamb. 5No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless.

The Three Angels

6Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth—to every nation, tribe, language and people. 7He said in a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water.”

8A second angel followed and said, “Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great, which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries.”

9A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand, 10he, too, will drink of the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. 11And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone who receives the mark of his name.” 12This calls for patient endurance on the part of the saints who obey God’s commandments and remain faithful to Jesus.

13Then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.”

“Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.”

The Harvest of the Earth

14I looked, and there before me was a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one “like a son of man”^a with a crown of gold on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. 15Then another angel came out of the temple and called in a loud voice to him who was sitting on the cloud, “Take your sickle and reap, because the time to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.” 16So he who was seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested.

17Another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. 18Still another angel, who had charge of the fire, came from the altar and called in a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, “Take your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes from the earth’s vine, because its grapes are ripe.” 19The angel swung his sickle on the earth, gathered its grapes and threw them into the great winepress of God’s wrath. 20They were trampled in the winepress outside the city, and blood flowed out of the press, rising as high as the horses’ bridles for a distance of 1,600 stadia.

The pagans (nations / gentiles) who are alive when Christ returns will be separated into the Sheep and the Goats after the Church has been raptured. These Sheep are not Christians.

The pagans (nations / gentiles) who are alive when Christ returns will be separated into the Sheep and the Goats after the Church has been raptured. These Sheep are not Christians. These Sheep go on into the Millennium as the Nations with the 144000 Jews and repopulate the Earth. The Nations will outnumber the Jews 10:1. The Sheep Nations will never become part of the New Jerusalem but they may be allowed to enter it once a year for the Feast of the Tabernacles. The Leaves of the Tree of Life are for the Healing of the Nations.

The pagans (nations / gentiles) who are alive when Christ returns will be separated into the Sheep and the Goats after the Church has been raptured. These Sheep are not Christians. These Sheep go on into the Millennium as the Nations with the 144000 Jews and repopulate the Earth. The Nations will outnumber the Jews 10:1. The Sheep Nations will never become part of the New Jerusalem but they may be allowed to enter it once a year for the Feast of the Tabernacles. The Leaves of the Tree of Life are for the Healing of the Nations

The 144000 First Fruit Christians redeemed before the Great Tribulation are a different group to the 144000 Jews that are sealed when Christ Comes

The 144000 First Fruit Christians redeemed before the Great Tribulation are a different group to the 144000 Jews that are sealed when Christ Comes

The Church gets raptured after the Tribulation but before God pours out the Bowls of his Wrath on the Nations.

The Second Coming of Christ is at the End of the Great Tribulation, before the Millennium starts. When Christ comes at the Last Trumpet, He will raise the dead believers and rapture the Church. He will then pour out his Wrath upon the Nations of the Earth who have been left behind. He will bring an Army of believers to Strike down the Beast and the False Prophet and the Kings of the Earth. The Day of the Lord is when God Judges the Pagans who are alive when He returns. He will separate the Nations into the Sheep (who were kind to God’s people) and the Goats (who persecuted God’s people). The sheep will receive an inheritance which was prepared for them from the Beginning; namely to be the nations during the Millennium and in Eternity. The Goats will be those who accepted the Mark of the Beast and persecuted the Church. They will be thrown into the Lake of Fire. The dead outside of Christ will not be judged until the end of the Millennium when they will be raised for Judgment at the Great White Thone (A Second Resurrection – for Pagans). Those whose names are not in the Lambs book of Life will be thrown into the Lake of Fire where the beast and the false prophet were thrown. Satan will also be thrown into the Lake of Fire at this point. Born Again believers from the Old and New Covenant will then dwell together with God in a New Jerusalem. The Throne of God will be on Earth and God will live with His people.

The Big Picture of Revelation in the Bible

Revelations is Largely Chronological although the Rapture of the Church (the Great Multitude from every Tribe and Nation) is mentioned in several places.

God fulfills some of his promises during the Millennium

When Christ comes unexpectedly at the end of this Age, He will redeem his people from the Earth.
The dead in Christ will rise first followed by those who are alive in Christ. This is the first ressurrection and the rapture (or the Harvest) at the End of the Age.
Hence, all believers will be called up to be with Christ when he returns and they will remain with Him forever. (1Thess 4:17)
Believers will all stand before The Judgment Seat of Christ and will reign with him for 1000 years in Heaven over the Nations on Earth and will be rewarded for the things that they have done in the Body.
When Christ returns with his army of Believers, he will defeat the Beast and the False Prophet and the Kings of the Earth. He will separate the nations into the Sheep and the Goats.
The Dead outside of Christ will not be raised until after the Millennium.
Satan is bound for the duration of the Millennium and then is released for a brief time before being thrown into to the Lake of Fire where the Beast and the Antichrist were thrown at the Battle of Armageddon before the Millennium started.
At the End of the Millennium, the Dead in Hades and the Sea will be raised for Judgment at the Great White Throne. Those whose names are not in the Lamb’s Book of Life will be thrown into the Lake of Fire which is the second death.
Death itself is thrown into the Lake of Fire.
Finaly, when all things have been put under Christ’s feet, the Son hands the Kingdom back to the Father.
God then makes all things New.
The New Jerusalem descends from heaven as a Bride beautifully adorned for her husband.
God lives with Man on Earth in the New Jerusalem which is composed of New and Old Testament believers.
The Nations are outside but are allowed to bring their glory into the New Jerusalem once a year and are given the Leaves of the Tree of Life for healing.

The Millennium is mentioned six times in the third last chapter of the Bible.
Peter also makes reference to a day being like a thousand years.
God created the world in six days and we are about six thousand years from Adam!
Is Christ about to return? Is the final millennium about to start?

The Bible begins and ends with God creating (or recreating) the heavens and the earth the way He intended it to be.
In the third chapter of the Bible (Gen 3), Satan enters to corrupt mankind and lead man away from God’s purposes.
Not surprizingly, it is in the third last chapter of the Bible (Rev 20) that Satan exits (he is thrown into the Lake of Fire along with Hades and death and all those whose names are not in the Book of Life).
In between the first three chapters and the last three chapters of the Bible, God sets about redeeming man and restoring man to his purposes and in so doing, brings Glory to Himself.

If Satan would like to remove one chapter from the Bible, it would be the third last one; the one in which he is judged and thrown into the Lake of Fire.
This is also the Chapter that deals with the Millennium. The Millennium reveals how God deals with His people and the People of the World (ie the Nations).
If Christians are to go to heaven after Christ returns, it will be during the Millennium.
It is during the Millennium that Christians are rewarded for the things that they have done in the body.
When Christ returns at the beginning of the Millennium, the Nations will be sorted into the Sheep (who were kind to God’s people) and the Goats (who persecuted God’s people).
At the End of the Millennium, all enemies are put under Christ’s feet and Jesus hands the Kingdom back to the Father.
God then lives with man in the New Jerusalem on a New Earth surrounded buy the Nations who refused the Mark of the Beast and were kind to God’s people during the Great Tribulation.

http://www.truthinlove.com
http://www.truthinlove.com/References…

What will happen in the End Times when Jesus Comes Again?

This video describes what will happen to the Church in the End Times.The Church will be persecuted by the Beast for times time and time and a half but will be saved by the return of Christ when he comes unexpectedly at the end of the Great Tribulation.A small number of Christians who have kept themselves pure will be spared from the hour of trial – they are said to number 144000.The rest of the Church will be persecuted by the Beast for 1260 days.After this the Church will be harvested by angel like the son of man and by another angel who is in charge of the fire. The true believers will meet with Christ in the clouds along with the ‘sleeping’ believers who will be raised from the dead. (This is the First Resurrection) False Christians will go to hades to wait for judgement at the Great White Throne. All believers will reign with Christ during the Millennium in Heaven where they will be rewarded for the things that they have done in the Body.After the Millennium is over, those who took part in the first resurrection will decend from Heaven as a bride beautifully adorned for her husband to become the New Jerusalem where God will dwell with Man for all eternity.
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