My Dear Linda,
PlainWord...
Your statement about the church being "established in part to make the Jews jealous and because the Jews failed to recognize their Messiah" is incorrect and not biblical.
How could the establishing of the Church make the Jews jealous when the majority of the first century church was composed of born again JEWS? In Romans 11:11, we have the answer of why the Jews were "provoked to jealousy":
Romans 11:11 I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy.
The "them" are the Jews. It was the salvation of the Gentiles which "provoked" the Jews to jealousy, not the establishment of the Church.
You love to mince words, don't you. Just who did Paul write Romans too, the Gentiles or the Gentile Church in Rome?
Here is a snippet from Biblestudyguide.com.
Recipients
The original recipients of the letter were the people of the church at Rome (1:7), who were predominantly Gentile.
I rest my case.
One thing I missed in my previous post....why a post tribulation rapture would be a non-event.
First of all, in Revelation 13:7-8, the antichrist will "wage war with the saints and overcome them". Therefore, who will be left to Rapture after the Great Tribulation if those "saints" are the Church?
Secondly, in Matthew 16:18 it says "the gates of hell will not prevail against the Church"
Matthew 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Let me try to again help you Linda. You are correct, the Beast will wage war against the Saints and overcome them. Who are the Saints Linda? The church, correct??? This is what I have been trying to warn you about. The Gates of Hell WILL NOT PREVAIL against the End Times Church. Of course we have 2,000 years of church history just as the Jews had 2,000 years of being God's Chosen before the Gentiles began to be grafted in. Most of the Church goes to heaven but not by rapture I'm afraid...
Those who fall for the deception of Satan where he convinces you that Christ comes first will most likely be spiritually defeated. This is where the Great Multitude comes from (Rev 7). The GM are hungry and thirsty - meaning they didn't have the knowledge and truth to avoid Satan's deceptions and thus they were deceived into worshiping Satan thinking he was Jesus come to rapture them away. The vast majority of those who believe Christ comes first will be deceived and killed. But, they do not go to hell Linda. I have NEVER taught that. Clearly they are in heaven. The GM are ashamed having been deceived. They need to wash their robes in the Blood of the Lamb to make them clean. Lastly, the GM are crying because of their shame.
You need to understand that the ELECT are the 144,000. They are sealed on the forehead with the truth and knowledge of God. They don't get some stupid tattoo. The 144K are contrasted with the GM. You have a group who know the truth and are not deceived then you have a group who have allowed the Traditions of Men to creep in and make the Word bitter (WORMWOOD).
I need to highlight certain words in blue so you can see clearly that Isaiah and John are both comparing and contrasting the same two groups of Christians on earth
DURING the Great Tribulation. But fear not, you will not lose your salvation as God will forgive those Christians who are deceived into worshiping Satan. He will restore them and wipe the tears from their eyes - However it will cost the life of those deceived.
Isa 65:
12 Therefore I will number you for the sword, And you shall all bow down to the slaughter; Because, when I called, you did not answer; When I spoke, you did not hear, But did evil before My eyes, And chose that in which I do not delight." 13 Therefore thus says the Lord God: "Behold, My servants shall eat, But you shall be
hungry; Behold, My servants shall drink, But you shall be
thirsty; Behold, My servants shall rejoice, But you shall be
ashamed; 14 Behold, My servants shall sing for joy of heart, But you shall
cry for sorrow of heart, And wail for grief of spirit. 17 "For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former shall not be remembered or come to mind. 18 But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; For behold, I create Jerusalem as a rejoicing, And her people a joy. 19 I will rejoice in Jerusalem, And joy in My people; The voice of weeping shall no longer be heard in her, Nor the voice of crying.
John knew OT scripture, thus he knew who the Great Multitude the elder was talking about and he sees exactly what Isaiah saw.
The below are the defeated Saints. They are the ones killed in one massive event - The Hour of Trial (Rev 3:10), the Evil Day (Eph 6:13), the Great Deception Jesus discusses (Mat 24:23-26).
Rev 7:
9 After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne 13 Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, "Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?" 14 And I said to him, "Sir, you know." So he said to me, "These are the ones who
come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 16 They shall neither
hunger anymore nor
thirst anymore;
the sun (SON) shall not strike them, nor any heat (SHAME); 17 for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every
tear (THEY WERE CRYING) from their eyes."
So to summarize, Satan planted the Pre-Trib doctrine in the church starting back in 1830 and the cancer has been growing ever since. There is no way Satan can deceive believers if they stay true to the Word and understand that Satan comes first as Jesus, Paul and John have clearly taught. Satan comes with his multitude of demons which the Saints mistakenly think are Angels from God come to Rapture them when really they come to deceive and to slaughter those who believed the lie.
After most Christians are killed very early on into the Great Tribulation (Right after the Abomination of Desolation appears), then the world having seen the "Rapture" will come to worship the Beast and take his mark thinking that is the way to salvation. There are two harvests Linda - the first is the remnant who remain Rev 14:15 and the second are the wicked who are slain at Christ's coming, Rev 14:19.
There will only be a remnant of believers left, the 144K who cannot be touched by Satan and the remnant of Saints who were not deceived. It is this remnant of Saints not deceived who are persecuted, tracked down with many killed. Thus they are greatly looking forward to Christ's return and a stop to the tribulation.