The beginning of this key New Testament chapter in God's word is about God's physical or earthly people the Jews or nation of Israel in general or a whole and the part of them that have true heart or saving faith in God in particular. The apostle Paul, who is the writer of this epistle and a leader of the early Church, was himself an Israelite or physical descendent of Abraham the first father of the Israelites including the Jewish people God's chosen earthly or physical people. The apostle Paul starts this chapter by affirming God has not permanently cast off the Israelites as His chosen earthly people but uses himself and Elijah as examples of members of God's physical chosen people the Israelites that had or have heart faith in God and now in His Messiah or Annointed One Jesus of Nazareth are part of the believing remnant or elect remnant of Israel. The apostle Paul also mentions the 7000 other Israelites in Elijah's time in part of the Old Testament time who hadn't bowed the knee or submitted to the false god Baal and departed from the LORD or Yahweh or Jehovah (God the Father) as part of the elect remnant of Israel. These are part of Israel that are also part of the spiritual seed of Abraham and obtain eternal life in heaven. The apostle Paul then next says at the present time, meaning at his time in the beginning of the Church Age or Age of Grace that started with the sending of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and is still the case currently but that will soon end with the rapture or catching up to heaven of the true Church, there is an elect remnant of Israel by God's grace. These are the part of the Church who now trust in God's grace through His Son and Messiah the Lord Jesus of Nazareth but who are physically of the seed of Abraham and part of God's chosen earthly nation Israel.
Paul then says the Israelite or Jewish remnant of God in the Church are, like Gentile members of the true Church, not trusting in good words by trying to keep the law of Moses including the Ten Commandments or otherwise, to obtain salvation or justification with God but by His grace through faith in God's annointed one the Lord Jesus Christ and His death on the cross for our sins and resurrection from the dead to give us new and eternal life and a relationship with God (the Father) and with His Son (God the Son) the Lord Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul then says that the nation of Israel as a whole, meaning all the physical descendents of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob including what we call the Jewish people have not obtained salvation (yet) but the elect remnant of Israel (the ethnic or genetic Israelite part of the Church) that has trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Saviour or Messiah has obtained election unto eternal life and an eternal relationship with God but that the nation of Israel as a whole was and is still is spiritually blinded. This means they are often quite opposed or resistant to the idea they that the Lord Jesus Christ is the true Christ or Messiah and Redeemer of Israel and that they need to trust in Him for salvation or justification before God the Father or the LORD. (However there are recently and currently more and more Israelite or physical seed of Abraham people who are being delivered from this spiritual blindness and trusting in the Lord Jesus and being saved by God's grace through Him and becoming part of the Israelite part of the election of grace that is currently through the Church.) However this current Church Age will soon be over with the true Church being raptured or caught up to heaven and then God will more fully focus on restoring physically and spiritually His chosen earthly people the Israelites to Himself nationally or a whole in the tribulation or 70th week of Daniel and the Lord Jesus Christ (Messiah's) Second Coming to judge the world and set up God's Kingdom visibly on Earth for 1000 years and then on the new earth and new heavens with the new Jerusalem on that new earth for eternity. In the tribulation there will also be a mulititude of Gentiles or ethnic non-Jews saved as well and they will also be a part of God's elect and have eternal life but they will also not be part of God's Church either but will with people come to heart faith in God and His Son Jesus Christ in the tribulation and Messianic or Millennial Kingdom be part of those joined to the God of Israel and His earthly nation of Israel. God is also saying all these things also to refute the still popular teachings among Christians or so-called Christians of what is often called replacement theology that the mostly Gentile Church has permanently replaced or excluded Israel as God's chosen or elect people. The scripture passage from Romans 11 of Israelites or Jews, such as the apostle Paul and before Elijah, that trust in God or since His revelation the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Saviour in their heart and not rely on their own good works such as through seeking to keep the Law of Moses as part of the elect (saved) remnant of God's chosen earthly people Israel even in this current Church Age when the nation of Israel is spiritually blinded and not part of God's eternal elect because they are seeking to rely on their own good works to be justified in God's sight is as follows:
I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias (Elijah)? how he maketh intercession to God against (for) Israel, saying, Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life. But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. And if by grace, then it is no more of works: otherwise grace is not more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more of grace: otherwise work is no more work. What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the electino hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded Romans 11:1-7
The Apostle Paul gave instruction to one of his key disciples (or sons in the faith) Timothy in the book of 1 Timothy (and 2 Timothy) how he Timothy and other leaders of the church such as elders (or pastors) and deacons should lead the church and how the other Christians should conduct ourselves and generally about order in the local churches. 1st and 2nd Timothy and Titus are for this reason sometimes called the Pastoral Epistles. However want I want to emphasize in particular in this paragraph is that Paul emphasizes the importance of impartiality or not having bias (especially towards people in the church who have more power, riches or popularity compared to others that don't have so much of these things). Paul says these instructions are to be kept keeping in mind Christians are witnessed by the elect (or holy) angels as well as with God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ in heaven. This use of the term elect for some of the angels, in this case the ones who didn't sin by joining Satan or Lucifer and his rebellion against God, shows that the term elect is not just used of true Christians or even true believers then including true believers in God from Israel or the nations in the tribulation, the Old Testament times or the Millennium but also of true, holy or dedicated to God and kept for Himself angels. The scripture reference from 1 Timothy 5 of the apostle Paul instructing Timothy and other church leaders and other Christians to not show partiality especially in local churches because elect angels as well as God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ are witnesses or our actions or words etc. and he will have to give account to them at the judgment seat of Christ after we leave this world is as follows:
I charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels, that thou observe these things without preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality. 1 Timothy 5:21
In Colossians 3 God through the apostle Paul talks about Christians as being from all nations and without national distinction. He also says the Lord Jesus Christ spiritually is indwelling all true Christians. Then he says we as Christians are the elect of God. This is as part of the church God's heavenly or spiritual people through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ in contrast with the nation or people of Israel that are God's chosen or elect physical or earthly people through God's servants Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God through the apostle Paul encourages Christians to forgive one another as we have also received God's forgiveness through His Son Jesus Christ which helps us to become God's holy and elect people set apart to God through the death on the cross of God's Son the Lord Jesus Christ and His resurrection from the dead. Although the Jews or Israelites are by being descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob God's elect earthly people individuals among them still had or have to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as their Lord and Messiah in Old Testament days through the light they had of him through prophecy and the sacrifices and now also through the Lord Jesus' first earthly ministry to be part of God's eternal people and in the old testament the believing remnant of Israel or in this age as part of the church and in the tribulation or the millennial kingdom part of the believing remnant of Israel. The scripture reference from Colossians 3 of Christians in the Church as God's spiritual and heavenly elect is as follows:
Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all. Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. Colossians 3:11-13
In Romans 8 God through the apostle Paul emphasizes the position of Christians or the true Church as having our position as people of God due to God sending His Son Jesus Christ to die for our sins and rise again and providing us eternal life and salvation if we trust in Him. Delivering up Jesus means that the Father allowed the Lord Jesus to die on the cross for our sins. This scripture mentions that if God provided this salvation through His Son Jesus Christ for us all that he is willing to provide our other needs too. Other New Testament scriptures make clear that God provides the needs and spiritual riches for Christians in this life although with trials but that His greatest blessings for Christians or the Church will be in the life to come. The next verse is what I want to emphasize. Because God justifies the Christian both Jewish and Gentile through faith in Jesus which was a past perfect work there is no legitimate charge at least of an eternal nature anyone can bring before Christians in this case called God's elect. Although people that become true Christians with our free will trust in Jesus as our personal Lord and Saviour. We are the same people that God has elected to a relationship with Him through Jesus. I believe that God doesn't overide human beings' free will but he can make circumstances more likely to lead to someone becoming a true Christian especially if true Christians are praying for that person's salvation and for that person to become one of God's elect of the Church and in this present Church age. This is in contrast to God's elect or chosen people of Israel that are the physical descendents of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob sometimes especially the believing remnant but except in this church age between Pentecost and the Rapture of the Church the believing remnant of Israel is not part of the Church but part of God's chosen earthly people the Jews and those that will have eternal life with God and Messiah Jesus. The scripture reference from Romans 8 of the elect of the church as justified by and a people of God by the sacrifice of God's Son the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross and his resurrection is as follows:
He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Romans 8:32-33
There is much contention about the term the elect in Christian circles these days, especially in Bible prophecy circles. One of the most contentious use of this term is in the Olivet Discourse that the Lord Jesus used just before he went to the cross and was asked for a sign about the end of the world or age. I believe in this case this age is used in the sense of the complete time between Jesus' death on the cross and resurrection and His second coming. However other scriptures make clear that this period can be divided between the great bulk of the church age part of this age and the still future period between the rapture of the church and Jesus' second coming that will include the entire 7 year 70th week of Daniel. Evidence that from verse 15 on Jesus is talking about the time between the rapture actually between the antichrist taking over the tribulation temple half way through the tribulation and the end of the tribulation is that there are several mentions about things related to the Jews and nothing about the Church. These things that relate to the Jews and the nation of Israel include the abomination of desolation, one's flight on the sabbath day, them on Judaea to flee to the mountains and false prophets or false Christs(Messiahs) being in the secret chambers (of the temple as this sense is used of the Millennial Kingdom Temple in Ezekiel 40-48). It is true that the tribes of the earth are mentioned but nothing of the church that is one people of Jews and Gentiles through faith in God's Son Jesus Christ who died on the cross for our sins and rose again. Interspersed with these references to Israel from verse 15 on are references to the tribulation which indicates that God will be dealing with and through Israel or the Jews in the tribulation and that the Church is removed by that time in the pre-tribulation rapture of the church. This is clearly a time of God's wrath on the world and is a good instance in the Bible that there is a relation of the tribulation to the time of God's wrath and that the church will not be on earth then. In this scripture passage in Matthew 24 and in parallel ones in Mark and Luke the term the elect is used a couple times that except those days should be shortened no flesh should be saved but for the elect's sake those days will be shortened and that there will be a lot of deception and that if it was possible even the elect would be deceived and that at the end of that time of tribulation the holy angels will gather his elect from the four winds which means all over the earth and from one end of heaven to the other. If the part from one end of heaven to the other means believers who are already in the third heaven this would be a reference to primarily to tribulation martyrs or raised Old Testament saints both especially Jewish believers in Jesus and also Gentile believers in Jesus when they come with Jesus from heaven as in REvelation 19. In the first two instances of the term the elect in this chapter the elect means people who become believers in Jesus as their personal Lord and Saviour during the tribulation when God deals with Israel and witnesses to them through the 2 witnesses of Revelation 11 and the 144,000 witnesses also Jewish believers in Jesus in Revelation 7. These elect will be believers in Jesus won to Him after the rapture in the tribulation from both Jewish and Gentile background. They will not be part of the church as God will be dealing with Israel then such as using the sabbath and the physical temple which are not part of God's plan in the current church age. The last reference in this chapter to the elect is similiar to the above for the ones gathered from the four winds but could refer to gathering the church from heaven on the part from one end of heaven to the other if this means gathering God's elect from the church age that are already in the third heaven by that time is meant. The scripture reference from Matthew 24 of the use of term the elect to refer to mostly to people that become believers on earth during the tribulation and time of God's wrath from Jews and Gentiles that are not part of the church and in the third reference of the term elect as possibly including the church that is already in heaven is as follows:
When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) Then let them which be in Judaea fell into the mountains: Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: For then shall be great tribulation such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs (Messiahs), and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders, insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall the coming of the Son of man be. For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together. 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. Matthew 24:15-31
Sometimes God uses analogies even to Himself of types of people that are not generally good in themselves such as comparing His coming as a thief in other parts especially of the New Testament scriptures. One other analogy to Jesus and therefore of God who became flesh to a generally bad type of person in a self serving judge is in Luke 18. This self-serving judge in this analogy or parable is pictured as being beseeched by a widow to help her carry out justice against her enemies. Jesus in this parable makes clear the judge just saw the widow as a nuisance and wasn't interested in helping her but because of her persistance eventually did agree to help her avenge herself against her enemies or bring legal charges against them under his oversight. Jesus gives this as a picture of Him as the judge of the world in the tribulation or particularly at the end of it with His second coming to establish His kingdom on earth. This is what is meant by the coming of the Son of man that has a reference partly to Daniel 7:13-14 where God speaks prophetically about Jesus in His Second coming through the prophet Daniel with that title of Jesus. Jesus is seen as seeming to the believers or the elect in the tribulation among the Jews and Gentiles that trust in Him after the rapture as long crying out to Him and God the Father for justice and judgment against their persecutors that will then be led by the beast out of the sea or Antichrist and his worldwide government. These elect are not the Church who will all be in heaven through the rapture before the tribulation starts. The persistent cries of justice will be like beseeching for justice which might be seen to slow in coming by those elect on earth in the tribulation because of their severe judgment by the Antichrist and his armies or military. The scripture reference from Luke 18 of the reference of believers Israelite and Gentile calling on God to avenge them of their persecutors under the Antichrist in the tribulation is as follows:
And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint; Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man: And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man; Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith. And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? Gospel of Luke 18:1-8
In Isaiah 45 God gives a prophecy through his prophet Isaiah that he will raise up a Gentile ruler, who later proved to be a king of Persia, named Cyrus to deliver Israel from captivity and also to enable them to again build their temple in Jerusalem. In verse 4 of this chapter God calls Israel his elect nation although it would also be correct to say this was the nation through whom his elect people were chosen at that time but only the ones that truly believed in and lived for God and probably that might have longed for His Messiah as mentioned in prophecy and the sacrificial system. This is an indication that the term the elect is not just used in the New Testament of believers in the Lord Jesus Christ but was a concept and term used in Old Testament times as well to refer to Jews or Israelites and their nation. The scripture reference from Isaiah 45 of the term elect as used of the nation Israel is as follows:
For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by my name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me. Isaiah 45:4
In verse 9 God God says through the prophet Isaiah that he will establish His chosen people Israel, the descendents of Jacob or Israel, in their promised land the land of Israel. This uses the term mine elect in this case more likely the individuals of the nation of Israel than the whole nation. This verse likely refers to God's full blessing of the Jews or nation of Israel after Jesus' second coming in the Messianic Kingdom or Millennial Kingdom. This is another example that God in the Bible sometimes uses the term mine elect or the elect for a group of His people other than the church which is his chosen spiritual or heavenly people through the Lord Jesus Christ. The scripture reference from Isaiah 65 of the Jews the physical descendents of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as God's elect is as follows:
And I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor of my mountains: and mine elect shall inherit it, and my servants shall dwell there. Isaiah 65:9
Although it is true that the term the New Heavens and New Earth in the New Testament, especially in Revelation, refer to eternity especially with regard to God's blessing on the true Church, when it is mentioned here in Isaiah 65 it is referring to the Millennial or Messianic Kingdom before eternity especially with God's blessings on His physical or earthly people Israel. One reason this passage is not about eternity is because death of some people is mentioned (in verse 20) which will definetedly not happen in eternity. This passage is focused on Israel, especially the Israelites or Jews around Jerusalem which means earthly Jerusalem not a metaphor for the Church or heavenly Jerusalem etc. There are different blessings mentioned for the children of Israel on Earth during the Millennial Kingdom although some other Old Testament scriptures would imply that some of these blessings such as very long life and general joy and peace and prosperity will also apply to the saved of the nations that trust in Jesus during the tribulation and survive the tribulation or that are born in the Millennium and trust in Jesus as their personal Lord and Saviour. However the reference to God's elect together with the reference to Jerusalem indicate clearly that the elect talked about particularly in this passage are the Jews or children of Israel that trust in Jesus (Y'Shua) as their Lord and Messiah in the tribulation and survive the tribulation and are part of God's elect earthly people including I think as part of the believing in Jesus (Y'Shua) remnant of Israel or the Jews. Although there will be joy and peace and proserity all over the Earth in the Millennial or Messianic Kingdom. The picture in this passage is particularly of life during the Millennial Kingdom of God's elect or the physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Israel) that trust in Jesus (Y'Shua) as their Lord and Saviour during the tribulation and survive it or during the Millennial Kingdom. The scripture reference from Isaiah 65 of God's elect of the believing in Jesus (Y'Shua) remnant of Israel or the Jews that is blessed by God during the Millennial or Messianic Kingdom in the land of Israel is as follows:
For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying. There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed. And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not planet, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the LORD, and their offspring with them. Isaiah 65:17-23
On the day King David led the ceremony to bring the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem on the Temple Mount he composed a psalm to God. In that psalm he called the descendants of Israel his servant and that the children of Jacob were his chosen ones. This term chosen is the same Hebrew word as used in the above verses translated elect. There are other instances of the word chosen from this Hebrew word in the Old Testament. This is another example that the children of Israel, the physical descendents of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are also God's elect or chosen as well as the Church or Christians. The scripture reference from 1 Chronicles 16 of this use of the term chosen for the children of Israel is as follows:
O ye seed of Israel his servant, ye children of Jacob, his chosen ones. 1 Chronicles 16:13
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