A People, Un-walled (Poem, Part 3)

See the series here

Walls, walls…

In days past, walls were cities’ main defense.

Today, for nations, walls make little sense.

What do nations today lean on a for their defenses?

Their governments, militaries and alliances.

Though with this defense trifecta she’s now well defended,

God says, one day Israel will be ‘un-walled’, up-ended,

Open to attack by a 5-nation coalition.

How in the world could Israel be in such condition?! ¹

One day soon, upon this old God-rejecting world,

Harsh tribulation judgments from Heaven, He will hurl.

That’s after, by intrigue, a strongman will arise,

Whom people will embrace, because …he is so wise. ²

First…

Under duress, nations’ alliances then might vanish,

As people everywhere become incredibly selfish.

But as God’s harsh, punishing blows intensify,

They will agree, this man’s powers to magnify.

Second…

By deceit he will push, his powers to aggrandize.

In time, national governments he will minimize.

Into one entity, governance will coalesce, ³

In response to God’s blows, His own Earth to repossess!

Third…

With alliances things of the past,

And national governments downcast,

Now comes the biggest leg of nation’s defense trifecta:

Military control is next on this man’s agenda!!

While any power can corrupt eventually,

It’s absolute power that corrupts absolutely!

Possessed by satan, who himself is corrupt,

This man will not know, by God, he’s been one-upped!

Before this fellow meets his sudden end,

He will insist that to him all knees bend.

When to build the 3rd temple, he’ll find the key,

all will be awed,

‘Til into it he goes and says, ‘Worship me,

for I am God!’  ⁴

As all life is threatened beyond imagination,

Israel will experience Heaven’s segregation,

With gold, silver, livestock, and water in abundance!

To this man, Israel will be an abhorrence! ⁵

He’ll launch an attack, led by Iran,

To attack Jews in their ‘un-walled’ land.

Then, at first, to him it will appear,

That his success will be quick and clear. ⁶

ALAS…

To the stunning aid of His Jewish relatives,

Jesus will send help, says The Bible narratives.

Later, flanked by angels, and saints from sin absolved,

He'll kill Armageddon soldiers, their flesh dissolved!!! ⁷

Ezekiel 38 describes how this war starts and end.

Zechariah 14 shows another that’s ‘around the bend’!

When it's over, folks won't believe they've been invaded by God.

They'll have launch a global atrack against Him…

Whom they don't laud!

Christ’s victory will usher in His Millennial Reign,

A glorious time for Earth and man, all evil arraigned.

For a thousand years, no devils with whom to contend,

And for Israel, He will be their wall, without end.

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¹ See: Ezekiel 38. Why would it take five armies from large nations to invade Israel unless (a) the population of Israel then will have swollen beyond unimaginable limits, and/or (b) tribulation plagues will have seriously diminished the capacity and capabilities of those attacking nations, requiring a coalition of their meager remaining armies and/or (c) if by then, the nation organizing the invasion (in the far north, presumably of Israel) might be militarily weak from the tribulation plagues …or otherwise? Zechariah 10:10 affirms Israel's tribulation population will swell so large, that it will spillover into Lebanon and Jordan. Such MASSIVE, SUDDEN immigration will obviously out-strip available housing, ergo, immigrants will likely be 'un-walled!' To understand how this might develop, see: The Coming Lame Blame (Poem). See also: In the Days of These Kings (Part 3), as you ponder NATO’s declared strategy in the Russia-Ukraine war.

Strangely, this chapter follows Ezekiel 37, the chapter that predicted the re-establishment of the nation of Israel, which happened in May 1948! For more on this, see: Tribulation Age Precursors: Degrading Militaries (Poem).

² See: Daniel 7, 11:32, and Revelation 13. A final world ruler, the last anti-Christ, shall come to power via the use of intrigue, deceit and flattery. He will be fully empowered by satan, and shall perform miracles, awing all on-lookers except those who are wise.

³ ‘And in his place shall arise a vile person, to whom they will not give the honor of royalty; but he shall come in peaceably, and seize the kingdom by intrigue.’ (Daniel 7:21) In recent years, Israel had 4 national elections in 5 years.

⁴ See: 2 Thessalonians 2:2-4 and Revelation 13

⁵ See: Booty, Pre/Post Millennial Reign (Series) and also The Goshen Effect (Series). Isaiah 26:20, Ezekiel 38:12-13 and Joel 3:16 seem to confirm, 'in the mouths of 3 witnesses', that, while the rest of the world is reeling under God’s harshest ever judgment blows, Israel will be relatively protected. This may be like how the Jewish slaves were relatively protected in Goshen during the last 7 of Egypt’s pre-exodus plagues. (See: Exodus 8:23, 9:4 and 11:7) Strategically fascinating! 

⁶ In Ezekiel 38:5, the reference to Persia is to modern day Iran.

⁷ See: Zechariah 14:12 and Revelation 1:16 and 19:15. See also: The Final Nuclear-type Effects. 'Saints' referred to in Zechariah 14 are those from the time of Adam-to-the tribulation, not to be confused with post-millennial 'saints' noted in Revelation 20:9, who will be in 'mixed' second resurrection that will include saints and sinners. Jesus will consult His Book of Life to sort this vast group. See: The Goshen Effect (Poem, Part 5). To understand why Jesus will delay His intervention, see: Shields Up! Then Down (Poem) and especially Zephaniah 3:8:13.

God 101 - Who Are the Elect (Part 2)?

(See Part 1 here)

As noted in Part 1, the answer to this question is simple, but also quite challenging. Quite simply, elect as a noun means chosen, selected, preferred or spared. The challenge is to perceive accurately how this term is applied, and is to be understood across the ages and pages of The Bible. This book was written over a span of several millennia, an untold number of cultures, and against the backdrop of God’s grand, eternal, redemption strategy for humanity. Across this span, there are several nuanced meanings of this very broad term, elect, not just one.

Perhaps the best meaning of elect may well be:

A person or people in a particular age of God’s plans whom He selected, or will select, who selected, or will select Him.

Across six of the seven ages during which God is dealing with humans, I believe some people will come to know Him by faith, and will, therefore, factor in His ‘elect group’ (saints)for that age. However, there is one unique group of people to which I perceive the term, ‘elect’ applies, but who will only believe after their stark encounter with The Lord while they are alive. This I believe is the group of sinful, mortal Jews who will survive the seven-year tribulation and the Armageddon War. (See Part 1)

Discussions of the term, elect, in Christian circles may ultimately settle on two key question, about which there are many opinions:

(1) Who are the people referred to as Earth’s harvest in Revelation 14:14-16, whom Jesus will ‘spiritually reap’ from Heaven?

(2) Who are the ‘elect’ in Matthew 24:31, whom angels will ‘physically gather from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other’?

In Revelation 14:14-16, Jesus, in Heaven, personally reaps Earth’s harvest prior to the final half of the tribulation period, known as the great tribulation:

Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and on the cloud sat One like the Son of Man [Jesus], having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, “Thrust in Your sickle and reap, for the time has come for You to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.” So He who sat on the cloud thrust in His sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped.

Scholarly Bible scholars are figuratively ‘all over the map’ about who constitutes this harvest! Theories include notions that this harvest refers to:

(a) The advance spiritual slaying of all Jesus-rejecting sinners who would later be physically slain in the 1st War of Gog and Magog sometime during the great tribulation or the Armageddon War at the end of the great tribulation. This notion is very similar to the very vivid depictions in Joel 3:12-13, and especially in Ezekiel 9. (See: Mind Blowing or Opening??) But it naturally raises the question why use the word, harvest, to refer to something undesirable, and not intended to be kept? Curious. Also, this Scripture makes NO reference to ‘the elect’, so it would be erroneous to just assume it refers to the elect, as many people do.

(b) Possibly a mid-or-post-tribulation rapture and resurrection of God’s Church Age elect. This notion is discredited in that it infers a distinct overlap of the last ‘week of seven years’ in God’s declared strategic calendar for Israel, with His apparent strategic calendar for Gentiles during the Church Age. (Daniel 9:24) To my knowledge, The Bible does not support any such overlap, but seems to segregates these two calendars. This notion is further discredited in that Paul predicts The Church will be caught up (raptured), not ‘harvested with a sickle’ (1 Thessalonians 4:17) BEFORE the anti-Christ is revealed! Carefully reading through The Bible reveals many rather unique word choices that make me slow down and think, rather than assume.

(c) Possibly the resurrection and rapture of all saints martyred in the tribulation. See the references to two groups in Revelation 7 and 14: 

  (1) the 144,000 Jewish witnesses who will testify of Jesus in the tribulation,   

  (2) people, Jews and Gentiles, who presumably will come to faith as a result of these testimonies.

I believe Revelation 14:14-16 refers to item (a) above, which is the advance (pre-enacted) spiritual slaying of all Jesus-rejecting sinners who will be subsequently physically slain during the great tribulation, when the last of God’s judgments will be poured out (i.e., the 7 bowl judgments in Revelation 16). It is also possible Revelation 14 refers to Jews referred to in Zephaniah 3:12, perhaps those who will be killed in the Armageddon War at the end of the great tribulation. This view is in sync with Joel 3:12-13 and also Jeremiah 51:33. It also strategically comports with The Lord’s modus operandi in Ezekiel 9. Selah!

In Matthew 24:31, Jesus dispatches angels from Heaven to gather a targeted elect at the end of the tribulation:

Immediately after the tribulation of those days …He [Jesus] 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.

Please note the strategic word choice here – gather together. I do not believe this infers ‘resurrection or rapture into Heaven’, yet many Christians the world over believe, in this verse, Jesus was referring to saints from The Church Age. They conveniently ignore that fact that Jesus had a ‘double barrel’ ministry during His life on Earth. First, He physically ministered to ancient Israel, who largely rejected Him. Second, He spiritually ministered to all who would come to faith in Him during The Church Age. He laid the foundations for our faith. Our failure to ‘rightly divide The Word of Truth’, as Paul admonishes us to do in 2 Timothy 2:15, results in erroneous interpretations of The Word, in general, and The Gospels, in particular. ¹

I believe this gathering action in the above verse may represent either (1) the advance, spiritual election of ALL sinful Jews who will have survived both the tribulation and the Armageddon War, (2) their physical gathering into the land of Israel, or (3) both. These people will have designated roles and functions in a blended nation of Israel during the Millennial Reign of Christ. This rather unique group of mortal Jews will embrace Jesus as the Messiah, not by faith, but only when they see Him. (Zechariah 12:10-14) Apart from this ‘elect group’, I understand all other references to the term, elect, clearly refer to people who embrace God, by faith.

I trust this is sufficiently clear, though somewhat challenging to understand. The backdrop of this review is my search for deeper insights into God’s strategic, multi-millennial plan for the redemption of humankind, promised in Genesis 3:15 and fulfilled in The Lord Jesus Christ.

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¹ There are several core aspects of ‘dividing The Word of Truth’, including but not limited to:
A. perceiving the shifting socio-cultural times across which The Bible was written;

B. perceiving B.C. versus A.D. perspective shifts;

C. understanding what aspects apply to Israel versus The Church versus the un-saved world; and

D. perceiving the seven different ages in which God is dealing with humanity: (1) pre-flood, (2) post-flood-pre-cross, (3) post-cross (Church Age), (4) tribulation period, (5) Millennial Reign, (6) post-Millennial Reign, and (7) eternity. From each of our first six ages, The Lord is harvesting ‘saints fruits’ for our seventh age. 

Fresh Troops, Incoming (Poem)

Imagine with me a global company,

With a talented and motivated sales force.

But there’s a problem headquarters cannot endorse,

Deep down within its huge sales force family!

There is a section of one team, l-o-n-g in the game,

That is increasingly missing quotas assigned.

Word is many members act like they have resigned,

Though still on the job, collecting checks. What a shame!

Despite many efforts this problem to address,

Little seems to help. Nothing’s effective.

Now that the whole team has been infected,

Headquarters is determined this team to redress!

For quite a long-time, recruitment has been underway,

For a fresh, new leader, with skills …that are nil!

Headquarters is taking its time to instill,

Skills now absent, this leader will someday display.

A bran new team will be selected,

To work with this new leader in training,

Together, one day, they’ll be regaining,

Lost ground the ole team had neglected.

Now friends, here’s a question for you to ponder:

When this new team is up and ready for field work,

What should happen to that old team that often shirked,

Headquarters’ assignment quotas they wouldn’t honor??

Would you keep all old team members on board,

In appreciation for their services rendered?

Or be grateful if into retirement they entered??

Into them, should more investments be poured???

How would keeping this old team possibly affect,

Productivity of the new, entering team?

What about overall team moral and esteem??

If keeping the old team, would the new one ...object?!

Enough now of my imagination game.

It’s time to unveil 'the morrow of my story'.

It is all about Heaven’s glorious army,

And the troops that now bring all Heaven to shame.

These troops, long in the battle to win souls for Christ,

Are now weary of battles and His two commissions. ¹

To the easy life, they now have some addictions.

By The Lord’s enemy, these troops have been enticed!

Soon, the intensity of the battle,

Will quickly reach its max!

With such troops that are lax,

Heaven’s pending losses would be brutal!

The lax troops demonstrate one trait of The Church,

One Jesus called a lukewarm enigma.

Voila! Heaven’s found …a panacea!

From The Church, all troops with that traits will be purged! ²

Purging will occur before the worst of the battle.

Paul once called this great purging ‘the falling away’,

Just before the enemy’s satanic foray.

At that time, all of Heaven’s troops need to be agile. ³

But Heaven’s about to turn the page to a new chapter!

In addition to troops who will be purged,

There’s relief ahead for ALL of The Church!

To us orders are issued, ‘Get ready for the rapture!’ ⁴

Get this…

In place of all The Church’s strengths and weaknesses,

According to a prophecy in The Bible,

The Lord will designate a team, small and agile:

144,000 Jewish witnesses!!! ⁵

Imagine that…

This freshly-anointed group of witnesses,

Will ‘rock the world’ for The Lord Jesus Christ!

Many souls will embrace eternal life,

Thus crushing like crazy satan’s defenses.

Though he will work to martyr them all, ⁶

It won’t be too long before they will return.

Resurrected...

With Jesus and The Church, it’ll be our turn,

To rule the world, and Earth overhaul!

Hallelujah!

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¹ See: Album 9: Occupy! (Lyrics & Video) to understand the two commissions, not just one, Jesus gave to The Church.

² Read the incredible account of this predicted event in Revelation 3:14-21. To you, does it read like this prediction is happening now across the world of folks called, The Church?! Have societies across the world, themselves, 'vomited out' Christians and their ineffectual, powerless beliefs? See: Laodician Lackadaisicalness (Series). Have so many so-called Christians today seemingly been 'domesticated' by the on-looking, un-believing world to go along with its watered-down definitions of 'Christian'?? See: Audacious Christians (Poem)

³ The worst of the coming battle between good and evil will be the 3 ½ year great tribulation. (See: Matthew 24:15) Paul predicted the falling away from faith in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4.

⁴ See: 1 Thessalonians 4:17

⁵ In Revelation 7, these witnesses, who are on Earth, are spiritually sealed or marked from Heaven, in advance of their assignments! This is similar to the incredible 'behind-the-scenes' event in Ezekiel 9. In Revelation 14, these witnesses and the people converted during the tribulation, based on their testimonies, have been resurrected from martyrdom, and raptured into Heaven, to join the resurrected and raptured Church. The Bible is a multi-millennial strategic plan, and the world is blind to the fact that it is at a pivotal turning point in this strategy. You can help to open eyes by sharing this poem and blog.

⁶ See: Revelation 13:11-18, to understand what will happen during the short, global reign of the dreaded son of satan, the anti-Christ.

Now It’s Our Turn

When Daniel, a very wise and highly placed Jewish captive in Babylon, finally came to understand why his nation of Judah had been severely punished by the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem, and Jewish captives were carried off to Babylon for 70 years (including him), he I prayed this unique prayer in earnest to The Lord, His God:

O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments, we have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments. Neither have we heeded Your servants, the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings and our princes, to our fathers and all the people of the land.

O Lord, righteousness belongs to You, but to us shame of face, as it is this day -- to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and all Israel, those near and those far off in all the countries to which You have driven them, because of the unfaithfulness which they have committed against You. O Lord, to us belongs shame of face, to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, because we have sinned against You. To The Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against Him. We have not obeyed the voice of The Lord our God, to walk in His laws, which He set before us by His servants, the prophets. Yes, all Israel has transgressed Your law, and has departed so as not to obey Your voice; therefore, the curse and the oath written in The Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against Him. And He has confirmed His words, which He spoke against us and against our judges who judged us, by bringing upon us a great disaster; for under the whole heaven such has never been done as what has been done to Jerusalem.

As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us; yet we have not made our prayer before the Lord our God, that we might turn from our iniquities and understand Your Truth. Therefore, The Lord has kept the disaster in mind, and brought it upon us; for The Lord our God is righteous in all the works which He does, though we have not obeyed His voice. And now, O Lord our God, who brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and made Yourself a Name, as it is this day -- we have sinned, we have done wickedly!

O Lord, according to all Your righteousness, I pray, let Your anger and Your fury be turned away from Your city, Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people are a reproach to all those around us. Now, therefore, our God, hear the prayer of Your servant, and his supplications, and for The Lord’s sake, cause Your face to shine on Your sanctuary, which is desolate. O my God, incline Your ear and hear; open Your eyes and see our desolations, and the city which is called by Your name; for we do not present our supplications before You because of our righteous deeds, but because of Your great mercies. 

O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and act! Do not delay for Your own sake, my God, for Your city and Your people are called by Your name. ¹

Friends, Daniel prayed as the entire city of Jerusalem, where he was born, laid in ruins for nearly 70 years - God’s predicted punishment for centuries of un-repented sinfulness. Today, economies of nations across our world are shuttered by a novel virus - pestilence, one of the four judgment henchmen God iteratively promised to use against un-repented, long-term sinfulness of nations. Correlations between God’s promises (good and otherwise) are undeniably revealed in world history.

So what will and should we do?

How does Daniel’s fervent prayer strike your heart?

What now will you do??

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¹ Daniel 9:2-19, NKJ Version

God 101 - Who Are the Elect (Part 1)?

(See Part 2 here)

The answer to this question is both simple, and also quite challenging. Quite simply, elect as a noun means chosen, selected, preferred or spared. The challenge is to perceive accurately how this term is applied, and is to be understood across the ages and pages of The Bible. This book was written over a span of several millennia, an untold number of cultures, and against the backdrop of God’s grand, eternal, redemption strategy for humanity. Across this span, there are several nuanced meanings of this very broad term, elect, not just one.

Perhaps the best meaning of elect may well be:

A people in a particular age of God’s plans whom He selected, or will select, who selected, or will select Him.

In His Sovereignty, God, in the person of Jesus, The Lord, foreknew (a) those who would and would not embrace Him by faith, and (b) those who would only believe or come to know Him, not by faith, but after their encounter with Him. The latter group includes those who meet Him at the point of their judgment, whether judgment destroys or spares them as part of His ‘judgment remnant’. For example, The Book of Ezekiel cites many nations and peoples who would be severely judged, some to the point of death, and others who would be spared in a remnant group. In these cases, God insists (48 times!) both groups will, ‘Know I Am The Lord.’ Indeed, in the end, all people will come to this knowledge, but for many, in death it will be too late.

In every age of humanity, I believe some people will come to know God by faith, and will, therefore, factor in His ‘elect group’ for that age. ¹ They will all ‘be saved’ from eternal damnation. However, there is one unique group of people to which I perceive the term, ‘elect’ applies, but who will only believe after their stark encounter with The Lord while they are alive. Please read that again and stay tuned~

A fuller understanding of this group requires a review of the likely composition of the nation, Israel, during the Millennial Reign. In Exodus 19:6, The Lord tells Moses Israel shall be ‘a kingdom of priests unto Me and a holy nation’. This vision will be fulfilled during the coming Millennial Reign of Christ, and possibly beyond. Here’s how I believe this may unfold.

Just prior to the start of the Millennial Reign, there will be many people the world over who will survive the great tribulation, including un-saved Jews, both those in Israel, and those strewn across the tribulation-torn world. Many newly converted Christians and Jews will have been killed during the global reign of the final anti-Christ, especially those who will have come to faith in Jesus as The Messiah based on the  ministry of a unique, specially-anointed, 144,000 Jewish witnesses. 

In fulfillment of Exodus 19:6, ALL unsaved, mortal, Jewish, tribulation survivors and their subsequent offspring (born during the Millennial Reign) will comprise two of four groups in the nation of Israel during the Millennial Reign. Tribulation survivors will likely be branded with the 'mark of the beast', and they will quickly die off, in accordance with our current-day life span. Their offspring, however, will enjoy much longer a life span, possibly a thousand years and more. (See the Salvation in the Millennium series.) This particular group will be the crowd spoken of in Zechariah 12:10:

And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they [tribulation Jewish survivors, the remnants or descendants of ancient Jews, including those who were alive when Jesus was crucified] will look on Me [Jesus, The Messiah] whom they pierced [crucified]. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.

...and as confirmed in John 19:37: They will look on Him Whom they have pierced. 

The nation will also comprise two groups of resurrected, immortal Jewish saints:

(1) those who will have been saved, by faith, and raptured prior to the tribulation (i.e., saints from Adam-to-just before the tribulation), and

(2) those who will be saved, by faith, during the tribulation by the testimonies of the 144,000 Jewish witnesses.

Together, all four groups will comprise the nation to which I believe Exodus 19:6 refers, serving Christ for 1,000 years as ‘a kingdom of priests and a holy nation’, with each group having designated roles and functions. Additionally, I understand some immortal Jewish saints will also be appointed as vassal kings/sub-kings in charge of cities across the greatly e-x-p-a-n-d-e-d nation of Israel, just as many Gentile immortal saints will be designated as vassal kings across the entire surviving gentile world. For example, David will likely be appointed as vassal king over Jerusalem, reporting to Jesus, global King. But since there will be many more immortal saints than there will be cities in Israel and the world, I believe the majority immortal saints may be, not vassal kings, per se, but fonctionnaires in the designated vassal king’s city governments. This is equivalent to my experience as a diplomat serving in U.S. embassies during my career. In the millennium, each designated vassal king will require a ‘court’ or ’house’ (e.g., like ‘The House of Saud’ in Saudi Arabia). I believe we will each receive our millennial assignments during our time in Heaven as the great tribulation unfolds on Earth.

The term, priestly nation, does not infer every inhabitant in Israel at that time will be a priest, as it may sound. For example, in ancient times, Levites and other Jews throughout the land carried-out unique functions in support of (fonctionnaires [French] to) the broader priesthood functions. They did this in both the temple and in the king’s nationwide court, but they were not priests. Also, the majority of the population in ancient Israel were neither priests, Levites or in the king’s expansive court! They were just regular citizens.

Neither does the term, holy nation, infer all Israel will be glorified saints in their immortal bodies, like Jesus. Again, at that time, Israel will obviously comprise both mortal Jewish tribulation survivors, and two groups of immortal Jewish saints who will have returned from Heaven-to-Earth with Christ, along with immortal Gentile saints, per Zechariah 14, 1 Thessalonians 3:13, 2 Thessalonians 4:14, and Revelation 19:11-14. ² Keep in mind a key meaning of the word, holy, is SEPARATED, not necessarily ‘altogether righteous before God’. I suspect this is a point many folks either may not know, or overlook it if they do know.

This scenario of a blended Israel is affirmed by the fact that, during the Millennial Reign, there will be sacrifices for sins of all mortals, worldwide, including for Jewish mortals living in Israel. Some Christians today misconstrue references to this to infer we resurrected saints will engage in such. This is the result of failing to perceive the various population groups in the Millennial Reign both in Israel and across the entire world! Similarly, their failure to perceive the 7 ages of humanity and the saints The Lord is harvesting at the end of each age leads them to misinterpret the word, saints, to mean we who comprise the Church age. This is why a strategic (rather than a religious) reading of The Bible is critical. 

Once again, I believe the nation of Israel during the Millennial Reign period will comprise:

A. Immortal, Jewish saints, from Adam-to-just before the tribulation, who embraced God, by faith

B. Immortal, tribulation, Jewish saints who embraced God, by faith (folks who will have been hunted and slain by the anti-Christ

C. Mortal (unsaved), Jewish survivors of the tribulation and the Armageddon War, Jews who will look upon, and mourn for Jesus whom they [their ancestors] crucified, plus their subsequent, long-living offspring born during the Millennial Reign

Finally, clarifying the meaning of elect in Christian circles may ultimately settle on two key questions, about which there are many opinions:

(1) Who are the people referred to as ‘Earth’s harvest’ in Revelation 14:14-16 whom Jesus will ‘spiritually reap’ from Heaven?

(2) Who are ‘the elect’ in Matthew 24:31 whom angels will ‘physically gather from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other’?

(See Part 2 here)

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¹ The Bible reveals seven ‘ages’ of and for humanity: (1) pre-flood, (2) post-flood/pre-cross, (3) post-cross (Church Age), (4) tribulation period, (5) Millennial Reign, (6) post-Millennial Reign, and (7) eternity. With such a GRAND, multi-millennial strategic plan, The Lord harvests ‘saints fruits’ from each of the first six ages for our seventh age. Ponder that…

² See: The 4th DoA (Poem, Part 6) and If You Were King (Poem) for my thoughts on potential roles and functions of Gentile immortal saints during the Millennial Reign. Exciting!

Building Back Better (Poem)

 

Let’s break the backbone

of poverty @home!

All across our world and especially my young nation,

Markets so-called ‘invisible hand’ has been uncloaked!

It’s connected to heads and hearts of discrimination.

By a simple virus, its cover has been revoked!

At free market alters, for centuries we worshiped,

Believing our biases those markets would address.

We invented, then applied all kinds of gamesmanship,

Trusting all of our efforts The Almighty would bless.

Thus on the global economic stage,

Ours became the biggest, some say the so-called best.

But at home, markets could never assuage,

The discrimination that from our birth coalesced.

In truth, any markets can but only reflect,

What lies hidden in the heads and hearts
of all those who trade.

Thus markets decide whom to bless …or to neglect,

Whether for things commercially or socially purveyed.

Over time, our growing economic prowess,

Tainted with biases that shifted since our youth,

Created poverty gaps that are humongous!

Now a new virus forces us to face the truth.

Poverty isn’t just all about money or income!

At its tap root are many strong forces, spiritual,

Forces both within and without, spreading their venom.

Thus, pressures are best relieved through means educational.

Consider this…

The types of seeds our nation is sowing today,

Will either feed or starve the deep roots of poverty.

Some tomorrow, their fruits may wipe millions away,

Or may diminish many tomorrows’ misery.

What if our poverty that God looks upon woefully,

Was seen as a key national security threat,

A nemesis we needed to confront relentlessly?

Mobilizing our attack, we would spare no debt!

Only with perceptive and capable leadership,

Could we resist urges to label and personify,

This nemesis as those who’re caught in poverty’s grip,

Those who, because of our past, we need to indemnify.

Can a simple poem like this help to save a nation?

With His poems and instrument, David blessed The Lord.

To this poem don’t be remiss, treat it like a beacon.

Loud resounding battle cries help to win a war!

Come on!

Let’s pray for leadership to show us all the way.

With continuing Grace from the Father of Life,

Let’s plant good seeds for our best tomorrows …today!

Let’s join hearts and hands, right and left,

to do what’s RIGHT.

All the past lies we believed made us

‘the biggest and best’.

But in lies we told ourselves, will we continue to trust?

Our economy was so skewed, it sowed seeds of unrest!

For ALL, good and quality education is a MUST.

In every crisis, there’s an opportunity and a test,

An opportunity to sift and sort, then build on the best,

And a test to see if we’ll just reshuffle things on the desk.

Come, let’s build a much better nation

...for The Almighty to bless.