Rev 7:1-9(NKJV)
7
After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners
of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not
blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree. 2 Then
I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God.
And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to
harm the earth and the sea, 3 saying,"Do not harm
the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on
their foreheads." 4 And I heard the number of
those who were sealed. One hundred and forty-four
thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel were
sealed:
5 of
the tribe of Judah twelve thousand were sealed;*
of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand
were sealed;
of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand were
sealed;
6 of the tribe of Asher
twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Naphtali twelve
thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Manasseh twelve
thousand were sealed;
7 of the tribe of Simeon
twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand were
sealed;
of the tribe of Issachar twelve
thousand were sealed;
8 of the tribe of Zebulun
twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand
were sealed;
of the tribe of Benjamin twelve
thousand were sealed.
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 and
before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands,
The sealed are from the twelve (12) tribes of Israel; 12 thousand
from each tribe totaling 144,000 but Bible records that there was a great
multitude of Gentiles in the verse 9. These multitude had suffered greatly from
the tribulation and had washed their clothes in the lamb’s *(Jesus) blood
meaning they have accepted Christ and are now saved (verse 14).
This is what we mean by Grace. The Gentiles were not part of the
picture from the beginning but in the end a multitude of them will be saved. If
you are not from any of the 12 tribes of Israel, then you are a Gentile.
Matt 15:22-28(NKJV)
22
And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out
to Him, saying, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is
severely demon-possessed."
23 But
He answered her not a word.
And His disciples came and
urged Him, saying, "Send her away, for she cries out after us."
24 But
He answered and said, "I was not sent except to the
lost sheep of the house of Israel."
25 Then
she came and worshiped Him, saying, "Lord, help me!"
26 But
He answered and said, "It is not good to take the
children's bread and throw it to
the little dogs."
27 And
she said, "Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall
from their masters' table."
28 Then
Jesus answered and said to her, "O woman, great is
your faith! Let it be to you as you desire." And
her daughter was healed from that very hour.
This scripture makes it
clear that the main reason why Jesus came to earth was for the ‘’lost sheep of
the house of Israel’’; the Israelites who were living in unbelief. The Gentiles
were not part of the picture and the Canaanite woman was an example. She wanted
healing for her daughter but Jesus was not willing. It took the faith of the
woman to get healing for her daughter.
The great news is that she got healing for her daughter out of
faith. The Gentiles are not totally lost. We also have hope of getting
salvation and from the Word of God in Revelation 7:9; the great multitude of
Gentiles. In fact many Gentiles are saved today because of the unbelief of the
Israelites. Just like the story of the Canaanite woman, the Gentiles require
faith to obtain salvation. Without faith in the finished works of Jesus, it is
impossible to get salvation. To the Gentiles, it is not about works or self-efforts
or self-righteousness. It is all about our faith in Christ’s work.
In Matthew 22:1-14, the king got angry when all his invited
guests gave excuses and didn’t come to his party. He therefore sent his
servants to the streets to invite anyone they see, Hallelujah, these people
were the Gentiles.
The reason for the parable above is this; in Matthew 11:20-24,
Jesus rejected some of the cities in Israel because these people rejected Him
and did not believe in Him as the Son of God and the way to salvation even upon
all the miracles He did. The comparison He made in the verse 21-23 made it
clear that the Gentiles can also receive salvation as soon as we believe in
Jesus and accept Him into our lives, ‘’washing our clothes in His blood’’. So here
the scriptures in Matthew 22 means that the unbelief of the Jews made grace
abound to the Gentiles.
Though Jesus came to the earth to save the Israelites, He couldn’t
have done that without dying on the cross. That work has been done but real
salvation is to believe in Christ as the Son of God and only way into salvation
is to confess Him into your life. This is what the Jews did not do.
After His resurrection, He left His work in the hands of His
disciples (Mark 16:15) to continue to preach to them till they believe. The good
news is, when Jesus died on the cross, the Gentiles were also made partakers of
the glory of God. So whenever the good news is preached and they believe, they
are saved. Therefore, God chose Paul (who was called Saul) as an apostle to the
Gentiles because the Gentiles were willing and eager to hear to hear the good
news and to believe. All that it takes is faith in Jesus Christ and His finished
works.
GREATER GRACE!!! SHALOM!!!
