Fran,
You are really putting me on the spot with that question


. My answer is sure to draw the consternation of many. Context is everything, right? Let's look at a few passages before I answer.
Mat 3: [SUP]12 [/SUP]His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
Mat 13: [SUP]30 [/SUP]Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.”’” [SUP]38 [/SUP]The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. [SUP]39 [/SUP]The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels.
Mat 23: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!
Mat 24: [SUP]16 [/SUP]“then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.
Mat 24: [SUP]22 [/SUP]And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.
Mat 24: [SUP]24 [/SUP]For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.
Mat 24: [SUP]31 [/SUP]And He 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.
To me there is an obvious theme being repeated over and over again in relation to Christ's return. I see a "GATHERING" of certain people. I believe the
ELECT and the
WHEAT are the same people. We see the "
wheat" analogy used early in Matthew in Mat 3 and 13. "The Wheat is gathered into Christ's Barn" which is His Kingdom.
In Mat 23 we see that Jesus wanted to gather the Jews as a hen would gather her chicks, but they were unwilling. Later they will be willing

.
In Mat 24 we see the ELECT spoken of a few times. We see that the Days of the Tribulation (attack on Israel) are shortened specifically citing the ELECT as the reason. We then learn that the ELECT cannot be deceived into thinking Christ had returned. Then we see when Christ actually returns, the ELECT are gathered. Again,
GATHERED appears to be the operative word.
So Christ sends out His angels to gather His ELECT into His BARN or Kingdom. If I am correct in thinking that the ELECT and WHEAT are the same people, then the ELECT are growing up alongside the evil ones who look just like them (the TARES).
Mat 13: [SUP]29 [/SUP]But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. [SUP]30 [/SUP]Let both grow together until the harvest...
In Israel, where I have been twice and learned this story, wheat and tares look identical as they grow. Even experienced farmers have a very hard time telling them apart until the harvest when they ripen. I believe this is an analogy of the Sons of Ishmael and the Sons of Isaac. Both had the same father (Abraham) but different mothers, (Hagar the Egyptian and slave woman) and Sarah (Abraham's wife and a free woman). We are told this:
Gen 21:10 Therefore she said to Abraham, “Cast out this bondwoman and her son; for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, namely with Isaac.”
Gal 4: Nevertheless what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.”
So if we are talking about who the heirs are to the kingdom it is Isaac, not his brother. Therefore the Wheat are the ELECT Children of Israel while the Tares are the Muslims living around them.
If we look at Rev 14 we see 144,000 from the 12 Tribes standing with Jesus on the Mount of Olives. Are these the ELECT? It certainly makes sense if they are. They are with Christ and they follow Him wherever He goes just as little chicks would follow the Hen.
These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These were redeemed from among men, being firstfruits to God and to the Lamb.
These were the firstfruits, first to be redeemed from men. If they are the first, then others would follow, seems to me.