What in the world is going on and where might it all lead?

What in the world is going on and where might it all lead? A hypothetical analysis of current world events and a scenario of what the future might hold.

     Around the world these days we are seeing and experiencing unprecedented exposure of corruption, lawlessness, moral depravity, deception, wars and rumors of wars, abuse of power and wealth, manipulation and control, idolatry and in general great unrighteousness and just plain evil. These are being exposed at the highest levels of politics, commerce and banking, and religion. All of this has been going on for a very long time. But it does seem that there is a level of exposure in our day that we have not seen before. The Bible has a name for this evil in the world. It is called a mystery, Babylon the Great.

     Babylon the Great is described as a harlot arrayed in purple and scarlet, and a “great city that reigns over the kings of the earth”. A name is written on her forehead, a mystery, “Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots and of the abominations of the earth”. "And in her was found the blood of prophets and saints, and of all who were slain on the earth."

     In the Bible this evil and corrupt system of government, commerce, and religion comes to a peak in the days just before the Lord Jesus returns to earth. In the end it is destroyed by “fire” as Satan as tries to control all commerce, requires worship of him alone, and declares himself as the King of the earth. It is possible that this Babylon the Great has been a work of the devil since Adam and Eve. It is probably overseen by fallen angles, like the Prince of Persia and the Prince of Greece. It probably has a demonic leader, possibly even a fallen cherub (the scarlet harlot) of the order of Satan himself.  In the end Satan demands control of all commerce. He requires all to worship only him, and declares himself to be the only political leader. This harlot, Babylon the Great then becomes a hindrance and even a threat to Satan’s sole authority and Satan and the kings under his control destroy it. God puts this into their hearts to do this to fulfill His purpose.

     These days we are seeing an exposure of some of the works of this “Babylon the Great”.  Perhaps this is God saying, “Choose for yourselves this day who you will serve”, the choice has been made clear.  And we hear a cry from heaven saying, “come out of her my people”. It is a time of decision, “Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision, for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision”. Perhaps we are seeing the beginning of an in-gathering of souls into God’s Kingdom and family; an in-gathering that will end when “the fullness of the gentiles has come in”.

What hypothetical scenario of the future could follow these current days of trouble?  The hypothesis that the following scenario is based upon is: this future is foretold in the Bible.

     As this great evil rises, it leads to war. Note all the current talk about the possibility of WW III. As this war escalates there is a great loss of life, famine, other pestilences, and all the tragedy that comes with war. There also comes with this war, or wars around the world, a great persecution and even martyrdom of Jews and Christians.  The world, motivated by Satan, blames them for the wars, destruction, and deaths.

     After what could be as much as 3 years after the wars begin, they are at a fevered pitch and in the fall of the year, at the Jewish Festival of the Feast of Trumpets, there is a very great earthquake. At this earthquake God supernaturally removes from the earth all the people who have accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior. God does not leave Himself without any human representatives or witnesses on the earth however. He will raise up a group of Jewish believers in Jesus who will represent Him on earth in Israel for the next 3 ½ years.

     During the early part of these days of war a very charismatic man comes on the scene. This man is respected and has much influence, especially in the Middle East where many these wars are being fought.  At the turmoil of the wars, the earthquake, and the disappearance of many people from the earth, this man is able to negotiate a temporary 7 year cease fire.  This “peace treaty” is finalized and signed 10 days after the earthquake on the Jewish Day of Atonement. He has at his side another man, a very influential religious figure who is instrumental in helping him negotiate this peace treaty. He also puts together a coalition of 10 nations that become the core of his support and his “new kingdom”.

     This charismatic man, we will call him the Antichrist, sets up his headquarters in Jerusalem and allows the religious Jews to begin building a new Temple. Many think of this man as their messiah, their savior. The second man, the religious figure becomes the second in command.  We will call him the False Prophet. After about 295 days the religious Jews restart their sacrificial system as they complete the Altar of Sacrifice of the new Temple.

     For the next 3 ½ years the peace treaty holds, but it is a time of terrible natural disasters around the world including earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and devastating meteor strikes.  After about 3 ½ years the new Temple is complete.  Then at the Jewish festival of Purim, this new world leader, the one we call the Antichrist, shows his true colors and stands in the Holy of Holies in the new Temple, causes the sacrificial system to stop, and declares that he is God. As he reveals his true intentions a revolt ensues. Then during the Jewish Passover, someone strikes the Antichrist in the head with a dagger killing him. But after 3 days on the Jewish festival of First Fruits, this man apparently comes back to life but is blind in his right eye and has a withered arm. It is at this time that Satan is thrown out of heaven and down to the earth. He comes in great furry and wrath knowing that his time is now very short. As he comes down to the earth, he inhabits the body of the dead Antichrist in an apparent resurrection. Satan has now become incarnate in the body of a human being.

     As the world wonders at this event, the False Prophet places a statue of the Antichrist in the Holy of Holies and requires all to worship this “beast” who is now Satan incarnate. This False Prophet also requires all to take the “mark” of the beast on their forehead or right hand in order to buy or sell. In other words, Satan is now replacing all religions and forms of worship with a demand to worship him alone. He is also trying to control all commerce by requiring people to take his mark on their body. By declaring himself to be God, the King of kings and Lord of lords, he is also trying to subjugate or replace all the governments of the world with him alone.

     Now Satan has a problem. He created evil systems of government, commerce, and religion to thwart God’s intent to establish His Kingdom on earth, and to lead the people of the earth into all kinds of idol worship, depravity, and abominations. This “Babylon the Great” was to set the stage for him to establish his demonic kingdom on earth. Now however, there are some who are resisting his takeover of their political, economic and religious positions and systems.  Eventually they will militarily attack him. We know the key players in this revolt as the King of the North, the Kings of the East, and the King of the South. During the next 3 ½ years, Satan, the beast in the body of the Antichrist, raises up a very large and powerful army. They are very powerful because the men and women of the army are led by demons and are themselves demon possessed. They are extremely brutal, evil, and have supernatural demonic power. We see forerunners of this army in the ISS and the terrorists in the world today.

     During these days there are also a great number of people who have accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior and who refuse to take the mark of the beast. They are the fruit of the Jewish witnesses of the first 3 ½ years and of two special men who become God’s witnesses during the second 3 ½ years. Satan goes after these new believers in Jesus with great wrath, beheading all he can apprehend. The days are so terrible, especially for the Jews and Christians living in these days that they are called “the time of Jacob’s (Israel’s) trouble”.

     As Satan tries to deal with these problems, the 7 year peace treaty breaks down and the wars of the earlier years resume. These will be terrible days for the people of the world. For the next 3 ½ years there will be pure demon attacks upon people resulting in painful torments.  Then a huge demonic lead army will cause the death of a third of mankind.  Near the end of these 3 ½ years the True God moves to bring an end to all of this. He commands angels to pour out 7 cups of His wrath upon the earth. The 6^th cup prepares the way for the Kings of the East to attack the beast and his army by drying up the river Euphrates. This might occur at the Feast of Trumpets at the beginning of the 7^th year of all this trouble, or even at the Feast of Trumpets that begins the 8^th year, just ten days before the Lord Jesus returns to the earth to stop all of the madness. It is during this time that all the people that have made Jesus their Lord and Savior during the past 7 years and have survived are supernaturally removed from the earth.

     The beast, with part of his army in Northern Africa to quell the rebellion there, hears that the King of the North and the Kings of the East are coming to attack him. He retreats from Egypt to battles going on from the Sinai to Syria and to a final battle in the Jezreel Valley.  Here he meets his end at the hands of the true King of kings and Lord of lord, the returning Lord Jesus. This great day is known as the Final and Great Day of Atonement.

     The Lord defeats the warring armies with the “Sword of His Mouth”, His spoken words. He speaks, and the wars crease. The slain are many.  The spirits of the slain along with the False Prophet, the spirit of the Antichrist (the human man), all demons, and fallen angels are thrown in the “Lake of Fire” which is called the second death. Satan himself is bound and thrown into the Abyss where he is imprisoned for 1000 years.

     For 1000 years, the Lord Jesus reigns as King of kings and Lord of lord upon the earth. His Throne is in Jerusalem and His Bride, the true Church sits beside Him and reigns and rules with Him. There are some people that survive these 7 years of great trouble. These become the nations of the earth during the 1000 year reign of Jesus on earth. With the Lord’s coming He restores the earth to conditions as they were in the Garden of Eden. People live to a very old age. But, there are seeds of rebellion in the people, even without Satan tempting, deceiving, and motivating them.  Near the end of the 1000 years Satan is released from the Abyss and he gathers up a great multitude of these rebellious ones and attempts to attack the Lord Jesus and His people. They surround the camp of the saints and the beloved city, Jerusalem. But the rebellion is short lived. God rains down fire from heaven and destroys them all. Satan is then thrown into the Lake of Fire. All of the dead are raised to stand before the Great White Throne of God to be judged. They are judged by their works and if their name is not written in God’s Book of Life, they are also thrown into the Lake of Fire.

     At this point in the story, God makes all things new. He makes a new heaven and a new earth “for the first heaven and earth passed away and there was no more sea”. Our current earth and its heaven are replaced by a new universe and a new, yet unwritten story begins. How glorious it will be! 

For further details, see The Holy Bible, especially the books of Daniel, Joel, Zechariah, and Revelation!

Quotes are from the NKJV Bible.

A Word for the Church - 10 days of tribulation

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1u5H-0WnUoL2KsoBzC5N2yC77_ns-6vGo/view?usp=sharing

The Queen of Heaven - What and Who is She?

For the article with scriptures go to:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/11Yf-DtEXB1YYUoZJhkBju9r-8FKqeLbV/view?usp=sharing

The Queen of Heaven, what and who is she?

January 1, 2018

I.    Introduction: The First Wedding

The Queen of Heaven is the wife of the King of Heaven. The King of Heaven is the creator and ruler of all things in heaven and of the entire created universe. This King is the fullness of the Godhead; God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. We know from scripture that God is seeking and does become engaged to a wife. This occurred at Mount Sinai at the first Pentecost when God gave the Law (Torah) to those that had been delivered out of Egypt. We also know the God the Son, Jesus, has a Bride. But we are still left with the question, just what and who is this wife, this bride of God. We begin our quest In Genesis – “in the beginning” (Gen 1:1, 26, 27; 2:7-24).

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth and He created a man called Adam to be His companion and the ruler over the earth that He had created. This man was created in God’s own image to be His intimate companion and to rule over the creation He had just made. God’s desire to have an intimate companion of His own order, a wife if you will, is becoming evident. This companion (wife) was to love God with all her heart, soul, and mind; to be obedient, adoring, totally loyal, and to worship Him and no other. God knew that it was not good to be alone so he put Adam to sleep, cut him open, took a part of him, and made a woman to be Adam’s companion. Then comes the first wedding when God gives Eve to Adam and they become one flesh in the bonds of the first marriage.

Jesus is called the second Adam (1Co 15:45 NKJV) - And so it is written, "The first man Adam became a living being." The last Adam [became] a life-giving spirit (1 Co 15:46-47).

In the creation of Eve, we can see a picture (a prophecy if you will) of Jesus dying (being put to sleep), being cut open, and from Him coming forth His eternal companion, His bride.

II.           The Engagement of Israel to God

Another important marriage that will help us define the Queen of Heaven, God’s wife, is the marriage between Jacob and Leah and Rachel. In Gen 29 we have the story of Jacob being first married to Leah, then 7 days later given Rachel as his wife. There is a picture here of two marriages, one 7 days (or 7 perhaps years as a prophecy of a future very important wedding) after the other. This will be relevant when we consider the fate of the two houses of Israel and of the Gentiles of the nations.

Now let’s move ahead to Moses and the giving of the Law or Torah at Mount Sinai. This event occurred at the first Feast of Pentecost. It was here that the Law was presented to the people who had just been delivered from the bondage of Egypt. This is called the Mosaic Covenant and is the one conditional covenant.  Basically it is the Law or Torah.  If the house of Jacob and the sons of Israel would obey God's voice and keep the Law God gave to them through Moses, then God promises that Israel would be His special possession or treasure, a kingdom whose citizens were all priests with access to God, and a holy nation, separated from all other nations and devoted only to God (Exodus 19:5-6). The basic commandments are given in Exodus 20.

These people we are mixed group of the natural or ethnic sons of Abraham called the House of Jacob, and gentile believers in the God of Israel following the plagues in the land of Egypt (Mitzrayim)( Exodus 12:29-31, 37-38)  

It was this mixed multitude that built and worshipped the golden calf incurring God’s wrath. Moses then called those still faithful to God to kill the unfaithful and about 3000 people were killed that day. (Exo 32:26-28)

In Jewish tradition it is said that a flame appeared and went to each individual in the camp asking if they would obey the commandments of God that Moses brought down from the mountain. Those that said they would obey were spared, the others killed. These commandments were the Law, the Torah and represented a marriage contract. Those that accepted it were considered to be “betrothed” (kiddushin –samctified or set apart) to God. In Jewish tradition, to be betrothed was considered to be married but the marriage not yet full or consummated. She was considered to be a virgin bride. So this day, the first Pentecost is called the betrothal of Israel to God. It is called the blast of the first trump. The marriage itself would not occur until later at the Feast of Trumpets, called the blast of the last trump, which is a prophecy of the wedding of Jesus.

Here we have the first picture of God’s wife. This group of the house of Jacob, natural or genetic sons of Abraham, and the gentiles of the mixed multitude who had accepted an agreed to live by the laws of the Torah were called the Assembly or kahal of God or the family of God. It is interesting and important to note that the Greek equivalent of kahal or assemble is ekklesia, translated in English as church.

Those who were at mount Sinai when the "assembly or kahal"  (NT ekklesia) was first born consisted of the natural born descendents of Abraham (Avraham), Isaac (Yitzchak) and Jacob (Ya’acov) and a mixed multitude who believed in the G-d of Israel and who left Egypt (Mitzrayim) with the children of Israel. At Mount Sinai, they were called the house of Jacob. (Exo 12:37-38, 19:1-3)
We note that in the NT God’s spiritual family or assembly (the ekklesia or church) is a mixed multitude of people, both Jew and gentile who believe in the Jewish Messiah and who hold to His commandments. (Gal 3:26-28; Rom 10:9-13)
"The point of all of this is that the final wife of God, the Queen of Heaven, will be a mixture of the sons of Abraham, the house of Jacob, and gentiles who accept the laws of God (the commandments of Jesus who is the fulfillment of the Law – Matt 5:17-18) and who accept and have faith in the Jewish Messiah, Jesus. The wife of God is the family of God, the Assembly of God, the kahal or ekklesia.

III.          The Divorce

Our story continues as this house of Jacob or Assembly of God travels into the trials of their time in the wilderness. This becomes a time of testing to establish the true and faithful of those that make up this “wife” of God. As the Word tells us, only the children of those who started the journey make it into the Promised Land under the leadership of Joshua, the new leader of this house of Jacob. (Num 32:11-13)
As the house of Jacob, the Assembly or family of God moves into the Promised Land, it evolves into the 12 tribes of Jacob. In Gen 32:24-38, Jacob’s name is changed to Israel. (Gen 32:24-28)

Gen 32:28 NKJV - And He said, "Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed."

            Note the prophecy here (Gen 32:27) for national Israel has surely struggled with             God and with men over the ages. But also note that they have prevailed and will     prevail.
Now Jacob had twelve sons and they were called the children of Israel or the house of Jacob. These descendents of Jacob (Israel) had entered into a covenant with God at Mount Sinai (Exodus 19). This covenant is the Mosaic covenant; the one conditional covenant God made with Israel. Eventually these 12 sons became the 12 tribes of Jacob or Israel and were split in the 10 tribes that settled in the northern part of the land of Israel and called the house of Israel, and the 2 tribes that settled in the south called the house of Judah.
In Jeremiah 11:1, 6, 16-17 this house of Jacob consisting of the house of Israel and the house of Judah is likened to an olive tree. (Jer 11:1, 6, 16, 17)
These descendent of Jacob broke this covenant because of their idolatry and unfaithfulness and in doing so; the “branches” of the original olive tree were broken. The branches of the original natural olive tree (the house of Israel AND the house of Judah) were broken. Therefore, the broken branches needed to be redeemed, restored and grafted again back into the original natural olive tree. How did this happen?
The house of Jacob was divided into the Northern Kingdom, the house of Israel, and the Southern Kingdom, the house of Judah following the reign of Solomon. Solomon broke the covenant by marrying foreign wives who brought idolatry into the nation (1 Kings 11:1-5, 9-13; Deut 7:1-4).
The house of Israel (the Northern Kingdom) consisted of 10 tribes (1 Kings 11:26, 28-32). It was called: the house of Israel (1 Kings 12:21, Jer 31:31), the house of Joseph (1 Kings 11:28), Samaria (Hosea 7:1, 8:5-6, 13:16), and Ephraim (Hosea 4:17, 5:3, 7:1). The house of Judah (the Southern Kingdom) consisted of the other two tribes (Judah and Benjamin). Both of these Kingdoms broke the Mosaic covenant and both were dispersed into the nations of the world (Deut 28:15, 36-37, 64). The house of Israel was taken captive by Assyria (2 Kings 17:7-23). Eventually they lost their identity and were assimilated into all the nations of the world. There are some that believe that the house of Israel, sometimes called the house of Ephraim so thoroughly lost their identity that today they would be considered gentiles that have been grafted into the house of Jacob (i.e. Christians). However, God who knows the number if each hair on your head also knows all who are still ethnically linked to the house of Israel. (Hos 7:8, Gen 48:19)
The house of Judah was taken captive by the Babylonians for 70 years (Jer 25:1-11). After the 70 years, a remnant returned to the land of Israel during the days of Ezra and Nehemiah. This remnant was called Jews (Ezra 2:1, 5:1; Neh 1:1-2). After the destruction of the second Temple in 70 A.D. the Roman Empire caused the dispersion of these “Jews” into every nation of the world. However the house of Judah never lost their identity of being a nation of people called Jews from the house of Judah.
The 10 tribes of the house of Israel are not called Jews because they are not from the house of Judah. Instead they are called Israelites. By breaking the Mosaic/Torah covenant, they were cut off from the natural olive tree. The book of Hosea tells the story of Hosea’s marriage to Gomer (Hosea 1:2-3). The children of this marriage, were Jezreel (God will scatter), Lo-ruhamah (no mercy or no compassion), and Lo-ammi (not my people) (Hosea 1:4, 6, 9). These are a prophecy of the future judgment of house of Israel. In effect, God was divorcing the house of Israel (Jer 3:6, 8). Therefore they were cut off from the natural olive tree and lost their rightful inheritance as a part of the family or Assembly of God. (Jer 3:6-8)
As for the Southern Kingdom of Judah, they also broke the covenant but God said that they would be punished but that He would not remove His mercy from them or divorce them. This was because of His love for David and the city of Jerusalem (Ps 89:1-3, 28-37; 1 Kings 11:34-36).
God promised that He would always have mercy upon the seed of David (Ps 89:1-3, 28-37) and that the Jewish Messiah was to come through the seed of David (Isa 11:1-2). David was a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22-23).
We also note thatJesus is the root and offspring of David (Rev 22:16) and has the key of David (Rev 3:7).
Even though the house of Judah did play the harlot and were disloyal to God, because of God’s promises to David and his offspring, they would be punished but God’s mercy would never be taken away. Ultimately this mercy will be given in and through Jesus, the Jewish Messiah who is called a son of David. The implication is that the “sons of David” (the house of Judah or Jews) will receive the mercy of God (salvation and restoration) through Jesus the Messiah.
As for the Northern Kingdom (the house of Israel), they are promised mercy if they repent. God is slow to anger and quick to forgive (Ps 103:8-9, 17-18; Jer 3:5, 12-13). God promised the house of Israel that if they would repent they would again be called His people (Hosea 1:10).
How is this to come about? The apostle Paul in Rom 9:23-27 tells us. This mercy will come through the Jewish Messiah Jesus.
There is provision in the Torah that if a family member of God loses his inheritance (which the house of Israel did when God divorced them) one of his kin (someone from the house of Judah) could redeem them. This redeemer/kinsman was the Jewish Messiah Jesus (Lev 25:25). Jesus is the kinsman redeemer for the house of Israel; the ones cut off from the olive tree, the ones no longer God’s people. Jesus is the agent of God’s mercy upon His people (Lk 1:54-55, 72-73).
By repenting of their sins and putting their faith and trust in Jesus (their kinsman redeemer), the Northern Kingdom (the house of Israel) are grafted back into the natural olive tree and once again become member of the assembly of Israel (God’s family, God’s wife). This mercy and redemption given freely by and through Jesus is also available to the gentiles (all people who are not genetically linked to the house of Jacob (all the natural descendants of Abraham - Eph 2:11-15; Eph 2:19).

            The Commonwealth (politeia) of Israel is defined as a state or          commonwealth, citizenship, or the rights of a citizen.

            The “one new man” of Eph 2:15 will turn out to be the Queen of Heaven   where Gentile and Israelite are fellow citizens and members of the    household of   Gen 32:28 NKJV - And He said, "Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed."

od.

IV.         The Bride of Christ

This takes us to the next story about the wife of God (the Queen of Heaven), the Bride of Christ.  (2 Co 11:2, 21:9)
The NT paints a picture of Christ being the head of church (the ekklesia, the assembly) in a marriage relationship. (Eph 5:23-32)
All people who love Jesus, confess His name, and live as best they can by His commandments (the fulfillment of the Law or Torah) are redeemed, saved, and promised eternal life as the Bride of Christ (the wife of God and the Queen of Heaven). (Jhn 14:15, Mar 16:16, Rom 10:9)
When it is all said and done, God’s wife, the Queen of Heaven is all people who are saved by and through the one that bought them by paying a bride price. The bride price for the Queen of Heaven was the very life of God’s own son, Jesus, God the Son in whom the fullness of the God Head dwelt (Col 2:9-10).
Note that a bride price was not a part of the engagement of the house of Jacob with the Mosaic covenant. It was still a mystery in those days so there was incompleteness in this engagement of the “sons of Abraham (the house of Jacob - both the house of Israel and the house of Judah). It could only be made complete when they were offered the bride price and they agreed to accept it. Like the Jewish tradition of the first Pentecost where each person was asked if they would accept and follow the law, each person is offered the bride price and must accept it to become the betrothed of God.  This bride price was offered at Calvary with the death of Jesus, the Son of God when He paid the price for all of the sins, the rebellion, and faithfulness of the sons of Abraham (the Hebrews or Israelites). But this bride price was so valuable that it paid the price and took the punishment for the sins of all mankind, Israelite and Gentile alike.
At this present time we find the whole house of Jacob (the house of Israel and the house of Judah) and all gentiles who are saved by Jesus, now fully engaged or betrothed to Him but not yet officially married (the marriage not yet full or consummated). The Queen of Heaven has not yet appeared and has not been presented to all creation. How and when does this happen?
Paul tells us that in the end, the Queen is neither Jew nor gentile. (Rom 1:16, 2:9, 10, 17, 28, 29; 3:1, 10:12, Gal 3:28, Col 3:11)

The identifying of being a Jew by circumcision was for all the house of Jacob so Paul’s use of the term Jew in these scriptures is a reference to all of the sons of Abraham, the house of Jacob. The term Greek was a reference to all gentiles.

As to how and when the house of Israel, the house of Judah, and the gentiles are gathered for the great wedding of King Jesus, Paul gives us some insight in Rom 11:1-36).

Rom 11:1 NKJV - Paul tells us that he is an Israelite, and of the tribe of Benjamin, part of the house of Judah. All of the house of Judah are called Jews and they are Israelites. The house of Israel are not Jews but are also called Israelites.

Rom 11:5 NKJV - The remnant here is of Israelites, both the house of Israel and the house of Judah.

Rom 11:6 NKJV - This remnant is preserved or saved by grace, God’s mercy through the Jewish Messiah.

Rom 11:7 NKJV – Again the reference to Israel is a reference to Israelites, the whole house of Jacob.

Rom 11:11 NKJV - Paul is concerned for his fellow Israelites. He tells us here that salvation has come to the Gentiles to provoke them (the Israelites) to jealousy so that they might receive Jesus as their Messiah and be saved.

Rom 11:12 NKJV – When the Israelites come into their fullness and God’s unconditional promises made to them in the Abrahamic covenant are fulfilled, the saved gentiles will       participate in these promises.

Rom 11:14 NKJV - Here Paul is speaking about ethnic Israelites.

Rom 11:15 NKJV – Life from the dead is eternal life.

Rom 11:16 NKJV – This is a reference to the holy olive tree that represents the original family of God, the house of Jacob. The root is Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the fathers of Judaism.

Rom 11:17 NKJV - The branches of the house of Israel were broken off are all from the house of Jacob except the remnant that God preserves ( Rom 11:5, and mentioned throughout the OT prophecies). The wild olive tree is a reference to the Gentiles. Gentiles are grafted in by being found in Christ Jesus. The grafted in Gentiles become Israelites by adoption into God’s family and are considered to be sons and daughters of God (2 Cor 6:18; Rom 8:15, 23; Gal 4:5-6; Eph 1:5; 2 Co 6:18).

            Note the adoption is fully effected at the redemption of our body which      occurs when the Lord catches us up to meet Him in the air (1 Thes        4:13-   18; 1 Cor 15:50-54)

Rom 11:23 NKJV – Here is the promise to graft the natural branches back into the family of God.

Rom 11:25 NKJV - The blindness in part is on all Israelites and will last until the number of Gentiles who are to be filled with the presence, power, agency, and riches of God and of Christ           is complete.

In part has the idea of “temporary”; Israel’s blindness is temporary. “One day the Jews will realize their blindness and folly. They’ll accept Jesus Christ, and the glorious national restoration of these people will bring in the Kingdom Age.” (Smith)

Rom 11:26 NKJV - The house of Jacob, all Israelites, will be saved, saved by accepting the mercy offered in and through the Messiah, Jesus. It is interesting to question just what “and so all Israel will be saved” means. Since no one is saved except by accepting Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of God who died for all sin, and was resurrected and now sits on a Throne in Heaven, does this mean that in the end, literally all Israelites will receive Jesus as their savior, the Messiah?

It does not mean that every last person of Jewish descent will be saved. Instead it is a time when Israel as a whole will be a saved people and the nation as a whole embraces Jesus as Messiah. The choice to accept Jesus is always a personal one.  (Isa 27:12-13)

Isa 27:13 NKJV –Note that those gathered one by one will come from the lands of Gentiles at the sound of the blast of the great trumpet, the Shofar Ha-gadol.

Even as the apostasy of Israel did not extend to every last Jew, so the salvation of Israel will not extend to every last Jew; Paul is speaking of the “mass” of Jews when he says “all Israel”. “All Israel is a recurring expression in Jewish literature, where it need not mean ‘every Jew without a single exception’, but ‘Israel as a whole.’ ” (Bruce)

n summary, Paul makes a clear distinction between saved Gentiles and the “Israel” that is to be saved after the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. There is an “Israel” that is the holy olive tree. The roots are the fathers or foundations of this “Israel”; Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This Israel is the house of Jacob, Israel as a whole, Israelites.           There are natural branches (ethnic branches) of this Israel that are cut off. We have discovered that the 10 Northern Kingdoms, the house of Israel, was divorced or cut off of this cultivated tree that represents Israel as a whole. The Southern Kingdom of Judah was not entirely cut off but was punished for their rebellion and both Kingdoms eventually scatted throughout the nations of the world. The Northern Kingdom eventually lost their identity but the people of the Southern Kingdom of Judah never completely lost their identity and are known today as Jews. The promise of Roman 11 is that these cut off natural branches of the olive tree be grafted back after branches from a wild olive tree are grafted in. Paul says these branches from a wild olive tree are Gentiles.
At some point this olive tree that symbolizes the faithful Israelites becomes a holy tree that fills the whole earth (Matt 13:31-32).  It is neither Jew nor gentile (Gal 3:28, Col 3:11). It consists of branches made holy by the gift of mercy given in and through the Jewish Messiah Jesus. This tree is the wife of God, the Bride of Christ, and the Queen of Heaven.

V.          The “Birth” of the Queen

How does this happen? First the dispersed ethnic Israelites are gathered from the nations of the earth and brought back to the land of Israel (Ezek 38:8, 12; 39:27; Ps 107:3; Isa 43:5; Zec 8:7). According to Ezekiel 37 they are brought back in unbelief. This ingathering in unbelief actually began in the early 1900s with the Belfour Agreement and continues to this day. In 1948 the nation of Israel was officially reborn, a great fulfillment of an old prophecy. (Isa 66:8)
As the Gospel of Jesus is spread throughout the earth, many gentiles are saved through faith in Jesus and are adopted into the original family of God. This period of time is generally called the time of the gentiles or the church age. There are also some ethnic Israelites that accept Jesus as their savior and are saved. These are called Messianic Jews or Israelites. The blinding of Israel in Rom 11 is only a partial blinding.
When God sees that “the fullness of the gentiles has come in”, this group of saved Gentiles is taken up to meet the Lord in the air (1 Thes 4:13-18; 1 Cor 15:50-54). Note that in 1 Cor 15:52 this putting on of an incorruptible, immortal body occurs at the sounding of the “last trump”. The Feast of Trumpets is known as the Feast of the Last Trump.
God then turns His attention back to what Paul calls Israel, the whole nation or people of Israel (Israelites), to draw them back into His family by their finally accepting not only the marriage contract (the Torah) but also the bride price that is the life of Jesus the Messiah. The process by which God does this involves sending out a called out group of 144 thousand Jewish believers (12 thousand from each of the 12 tribes of Israel) into the land of Israel where the Israelites have been re-gathered and many Israelites are saved (Rev 7:3-8).

Rev 7:4 NKJV –Note that this group includes Israelites from both the house of Israel and the house of Judah.

After a period of 3 ½ years, God also sends out two special witnesses for another 3 ½ years and more Israelites are saved but in a time of great trouble called the time of Jacob’s trouble (Jer 30:7, Rev 11:3-4).

Zec 4:14 tells us: - “So he said, "These [are] the two anointed ones, who stand beside the Lord of the whole earth."

Some believe that these two witnesses are men who come in the spirit of Moses and Elijah; Moses representing the Law or Torah, and Elijah representing the prophets (the Word and the spirit). This would be consistent with the prophecy that Elijah will come before the great and terrible day of the Lord, and that John the baptizer came in the spirit of Elijah (Mal 4:5, Mat 11:13-14).

                        Also, it was Moses and Elijah who appeared with Jesus on the Mount of                           Transfiguration (Mat 17:1-3).
These ethnic Jews or Israelites are saved during the 3 ½ years of the 144 thousand Jewish witnesses and the 3 ½ years of the two witnesses by “the Blood of the Lamb, the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives even unto death” (Rev 12:10-11).
Very near or at the end of these 7 years, God removes these saved Israelites from the earth to join the saved gentiles in Heaven where a great wedding and wedding supper take place (Rev 14:12-16).
This two stage wedding process (Gentiles then Israelites) was probably prophesied in the weddings of Jacob to Leah and Rachel.

VI.         The Revealing of the Queen

It is at this great wedding and wedding supper that the new wife of God, the Bride of Christ, and the Queen of Heaven is introduced to the entire universe. She is a composite of people both Israelites and Gentiles who have accepted the terms of a wedding proposal or covenant (originally the Mosaic covenant but replace by the New Covenant and Jesus’ commandments (which fulfill the ordinances of the Law). They have accepted the bride price (the life of Jesus, the Son of God), and have sealed the arrangement and by sharing a cup of wine with the bridegroom. For the Gentiles this is cup of wine of the sacrament of communion (Matt 26:28-29; Mark 14:25, Lk 22:18).
For the Israelite it is the 3^rd cup of wine of the holy Seder the cup of redemption. There are four cups of wine involved in the Jewish Seder; the cup of Sanctification, the cup of wrath, the cup of deliverance, and the cup of restoration (the cup of the Kingdom). During the last supper, Jesus probably shared the first two cups with His disciples during the Seder meal. It was probably during this part of the Seder that Jesus told Judas Iscariot to go and do quickly what he was going to do. It was after the supper that Jesus took the 3^rd cup saying; “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me (1 Cor 11:25).
The 1^st cup is the cup of sanctification (set apart). This cup celebrated Israel’s deliverance for Egypt. It is a picture of the cup of betrothal. For the Israelite is occurred at Mount Sinai. For the gentile it occurs when you become a disciple of Jesus. As we share the cup of wine during communion, we are sharing the cup of betrothal to Jesus. We are committing to be His bride. We are betrothed, considered married as in Jewish custom, but not fully married. That great day when the marriage is complete awaits us as we look forward to the great wedding of Jesus in His Father’s Kingdom.  
The 2^nd cup they did not drink. It was poured out on the table. This cup of wrath was a prophecy of the wrath of God that was poured out on Jesus as He died on the cross. (Lk 22:42)
            The 3^rd cup  is the cup of blessing or the Ha-Geulah , the cup of Redemption. It is a celebration of God’s promise that He will redeem us. The Jews used this cup to symbolize the blood of the Passover Lamb. Jesus said “This cup is the new covenant in My blood”. This is where Jesus announced the New Covenant for the forgiveness of Sins (Lk 22:20, Mat 26:27-28). In a few hours Jesus would be the Lamb, shed His blood, then is 3 days, walk out of the tomb, bringing redemption to all mankind for those that would accept it. (1 co 11:25, 26; Mat 26:27-29, Lk 22:18, Mar 14:25)
Jesus did not drink of the 4^th cup, the cup of the Kingdom; the cup of restoration. This cup is a proclamation; “I will take you as My people”. It is the coming Messianic Era, the Kingdom of Heaven. It is the restoration of the world, in which there is only one nation – the Kingdom of God with one king, the Messiah Jesus. This is the marriage cup.
Jesus spoke of eating and drinking this fourth cup in the Messianic Kingdom with his disciples because this is the final cup that the bride and the groom drink on their wedding day. This is the only cup that he did not drink of because it is reserved for the wedding day.
In Jewish tradition, this cup is the Cup of Praise or Restoration. It takes place during the Hallel. It is a time of giving joyous and exuberant praise to God. Psalm 136 is often recited at this time in the traditional Seder. This 4^th cup of praise is also associated with the traditional Jewish wedding. The bride and groom stand beneath the chuppah, a canopy held up by four poles, symbolic of their dwelling together and the husband bringing the wife into his home. They then recite seven blessings (sheva brakhos) in the presence of 10 Jewish men. Then, the marriage is sealed as the couple drinks a cup of wine. All of this is but a prophecy of the marriage ceremony of Jesus to His bride. Jesus and His bride, the one new man (Eph 2:15), share the 4^th cup of wine to seal their marriage.
The marriage supper of the Lamb takes place during the Feast of Tabernacles 5 days after the Lord returns to earth on that final Day of Atonement. Traditionally the marriage ceremony takes place several days before the wedding feast or supper. This was a 7 day “time of the chuppah”. It was a time of intimacy, giving of gifts, and consummation of the marriage, a honey moon if you will. The revealing of the bride, the Queen of Heaven, takes place as the wedding supper begins. Traditionally it is a 7 day party.
When Jesus returns to the earth, He comes to take His rightful place as King of kings and Lord of Lords on the Throne of David in Jerusalem with His Bride, the Queen of Heaven sitting beside Him (Lk 1:32-33, Rev 3:21).

After King Jesus and His Bride the Queen reign and rule over the earth for 1000 years God creates a new heaven and a new earth. At this time the Bride of Christ, the Queen of Heaven is presented as the New Jerusalem. The gates of this “city” (the Bride) is presented as the 12 tribes of the children of Israel (Judaism), the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb (Christianity). (Rev 21:1-23)

These scriptures reveal the beauty of the Bride, the Queen of Heaven forever.

 We close this study with the Words of the Lord Jesus:

Rev 22:7 NKJV - "Behold, I am coming quickly! Blessed [is] he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book."

Rev 22:17 NKJV - And the Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires let him take the water of life freely.

Rev 22:21 NKJV - The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ [be] with you all. Amen.