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 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

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

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

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

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 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.

The seventh seal: The Church is raptured and 144000 Jews are sealed and then God pours out his wrath upon the Nations

The Church is raptured before God pours out his wrath at the opening of the Seventh Seal

The Seventh Trumpet announces the second coming of Christ to redeem his Church and the Day of the Lord

The Seventh Trumpet announces the second coming of Christ to redeem his Church and the Day of the Lord when God pours out his Wrath upon the pagans

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

The saints are ressurrected before the millennium and the pagans after

The Rapture is before the Millennium (1000 Years of Peace)

The Church is raptured before the millennium. The nations are left behind to suffer God’s wrath. Some will survive to be the nations on Earth during the Millennium. The dead outside of Christ are not raised until after the millennium. They will be Judged at the Great White Throne.