The Gathering of Israel
The Great Tribulation, as we saw in the previous post, is a time when Israel will be refined. The Jews who adamantly reject Jesus Christ during the Great Tribulation will die under the wrath of God. At the second coming of Christ, at the consummation of the Great Tribulation, every living Jew will look upon the Son of God, whom they crucified, and will believe on their Messiah for salvation. All Israel will be saved.
At the conclusion of the Great Tribulation, not only will Israel be saved, but Israel will also be gathered to her own land to inhabit it during the Millennium. Many scriptures teach that Israel, both kingdoms, will be gathered together to live in the land that God gave to her.
Deuteronomy 30:3 – “That then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee.”
Amos 9:14, 15 – “And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the LORD thy God.”
Jeremiah 16:14, 15 – “Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that it shall no more be said, The LORD liveth, that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; But, The LORD liveth, that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither he had driven them: and I will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers.”
Ezekiel 20:40 – “For in mine holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, there shall all the house of Israel, all of them in the land, serve me: there will I accept them, and there will I require your offerings, and the firstfruits of your oblations, with all your holy things.”
Zephaniah 3:19, 20 – “Behold, at that time I will undo all that afflict thee: and I will save her that halteth, and gather her that was driven out; and I will get them praise and fame in every land where they have been put to shame. At that time will I bring you again, even in the time that I gather you: for I will make you a name and a praise among all people of the earth, when I turn back your captivity before your eyes, saith the LORD.”
Just as sure as the Bible teaches that all Israel will be saved from sin, the Bible makes it equally as clear that Israel will be gathered again to live in the land that God gave to her.
Rapture of the Church or Gathering of Israel?
The prophets undoubtedly prophesied that Israel will be gathered in the latter times to dwell in her own land. But it is noteworthy that Christ taught this doctrine. Notice the following passage, and notice the words and phrases emphasized:
Matthew 24:29-31 – “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear THE SIGN of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall GATHER TOGETHER his elect from THE FOUR WINDS, from one end of heaven to the other.”
In the above passage, Christ tells his disciples that, after the Great Tribulation, when the Son of man will gather together the elect at the sound of a trumpet. In times past, I previously had believed that the above passage made reference to the rapture of the church. Now, it is obvious to me that there is no way that this passage speaks of the rapture of the church.
Notice the phrases in the above passage that I emphasized: “the sign,” “gather together,” and “four winds.” These phrases are found in an almost-identical Old Testament prophecy:
Isaiah 11:10-12 – “And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for AN ENSIGN of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And he shall set up AN ENSIGN for the nations, and shall ASSEMBLE the outcasts of Israel, and GATHER TOGETHER the dispersed of Judah from THE FOUR CORNERS of the earth.”
In our passage above, Matthew 24:29-31, Jesus speaks of a sign. In Isaiah’s prophecy in Isaiah 11, Isaiah speaks of an ensign. In Matthew 24, Jesus said that the elect would be gathered together; Isaiah said that the remnant of His people would be assembled and gathered together. Jesus said that the elect would be gathered from the four winds; Isaiah said that the remnant of His people would be assembled form the four corners of the earth. In Matthew 24:29-31, Jesus is speaking of the same event of which Isaiah prophesies in Isaiah 11. There is one difference of wording between the two passages that will help us identify who Jesus refers to as “the elect.” In Matthew 24:29-31, Jesus refers to a gathering together of the elect. In Isaiah 11, Isaiah speaks of a gathering together of the remnant, but Isaiah does not refer to this remnant as “the elect.” Isaiah refers to this remnant as “the outcasts of Israel” and “the dispersed of Judah.” Whom Jesus calls “the elect,” is not the church, but rather “the outcasts of Israel,” and “the dispersed of Judah.” When Jesus speaks of the Son of man coming after the tribulation to gather together His elect, He is speaking of the Son of man coming to gather the Jews who had been scattered in the tribulation.
In Matthew 24:29-31, Jesus said that this gathering of the elect would take place at the sound of a trumpet. Isaiah does not say it in Isaiah 11, but Isaiah does confirm that the gathering of the Jews would take place at the sound of a trumpet:
Isaiah 27:12, 13 – “And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall beat off from the channel of the river unto the stream of Egypt, and YE SHALL BE GATHERED one by one, O ye children of Israel. And it shall come to pass in that day, that THE GREAT TRUMPET SHALL BE BLOWN, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the LORD in the holy mount at Jerusalem.”
In Matthew 24:29-31, to say that Jesus is referring to gathering the church together is inconsistent with the context of the passage. In the verses immediately prior to this passage, Jesus makes it clear that in the Great Tribulation, Israel will be scattered. He states that those who are in Judaea should flee. He speaks to the Jews, telling them to pray that when they are on the run, they should pray that their flight be not on the Sabbath day. Clearly, Christ is teaching that the Jews will be scattered during the Great Tribulation. It only makes sense that, if the Jews are scattered DURING the tribulation, then it would logically be the Jews who are gathered together AFTER the tribulation. This makes the most sense in context of the whole passage, and a gathering together of the Jews fulfils many Old Testament prophecies regarding the gathering of the Jewish people in the latter times, never to be plucked up again.
