COMPASSION ON GENTILES

"And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil". (Matthew 15:22)

A woman stricken with devil approached Jesus for healing of her daughter, crying "O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil" but Jesus replied, " ... I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel." (Matthew 15:24)

Lord Jesus Christ's mnistry on this earth was restricted to the Jews.  His ministry was to establish the Kingdom of Heaven on this earth. Jesus said: "...Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matthew 3:2)
"And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel". (Mark 1:15)

Mark 7:26 says  "The woman was a Greek, a Syrophenician by nation; and she besought him that he would cast forth the devil out of her daughter".   Few references to show that she came from Gentile land are as follows:

"And the servant took ten camels of the camels of his master, and departed; for all the goods of his master were in his hand: and he arose, and went to Mesopotamia, unto the city of Naho". (Genesis 24:10)

"Because they met you not with bread and with water in the way, when ye came forth out of Egypt; and because they hired against thee Balaam the son of Beor of Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse thee". (Deuteronomy 23:4)

"And finding a ship sailing over unto Phenicia, we went aboard, and set forth". (Acts 21:2)

The woman was a Gentile. Because the mission of Jesus was only towards Jews, he said to the Gentile woman...
"...I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matthew 15:24)

However, because of her faith in acknowledging her lowliness, when she said to Jesus, " yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table", "Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour".  It was indeed a dog's portion to the Gentile! Yet, there was a provision made for Gentiles. Later after his resurrection and before his ascension Jesus said to his disciples to go the Jews first and then to the people who are a mix of Jews and Gentiles, and then to the Gentiles

"But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth". (Acts 1:8)

Apostle Paul was sent out to be the minster of Gospel to the Gentiles.

God blessed Abraham and said, whoever blesses Abraham will be blessed and whoever curses Abraham will be cursed, and likewise, God gave the privilege to Israel only to be called as Israel. Whoever calls himself/herself a 'Jew' or 'Israel', without really being a Jew, will face the anger of the Lord. "I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan". Revelation 2:9. It is very serious to identify oneself as "Jew" when one is not a Jew. Jacob and his descendants had all the priority in the presence of the Lord. "The portion of Jacob is not like them: for he is the former of all things; and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: The LORD of hosts is his name". Jeremiah 10:16 Yet, when it comes to the Church, the Church is His bride, heavenly possession. The Church stands over the Israel and the Jews. The promises made to the Israel are earthly and God fulfilled most of the covenants made to them. The restoration of the kingdom unto them is yet to come. Jesus will reign from the throne of David for one thousand years after restoration of the kingdom to them. Unto this end the 'great tribulation' lasts and unto this end the delay occurs in the coming of Jesus again.

The saved ones only will be caught up into the mid-air when Lord Jesus comes for the second time. This waiting for the Lord Jesus to come to the mid air, with the shout of Archangel, is the blessed hope of the Church, which is the bride, of the Lord. 1 Thessalonians 4:16 "For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first". All the saved ones are the members of this ''Ekklesia'', which is also called the 'Church' All those, who are not saved will be on the earth when the Church gets 'caught up', which in other words is also known as rapture. “Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” (1 Thess 4:17)

Antichrist

Jesus warns about Antichrist in Matthew 24:4-7 and instructs his disciples to be careful about the false prophets, false teachers, and also asks that they need to pray that their flight may not be in winter. He instructs that they would hear of wars, rumors of wars, but all those things must come to pass, but still the end is not yet.

Jesus tells them in John 16:33 that he spoke unto them these things, so that they may have peace, because in this world they would have tribulation. These tribulations are not similar to the great tribulation that the Jews and the left-behind will face during the Antichrist regime. These tribulations are the ones, which every Christian will face in his/her life, when he/she is in this world. Jesus asks all of us to comfortable because he has overcome the world and such tribulations he faced on this earth. The ‘great tribulation’ is different from the usual tribulations that we face in our lives. Great tribulation is universal, and it is not limited to a local place. It is as the world has never seen before. It would be more severe than the one that had passed by in AD 70, when many Jews were crucified upside down on the walls of Jerusalem.

Revelation 7:14 and 15 read, "...And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple...". These are those, who come out of the 'great tribulation' and are before the throne of God. The Church will be 'caught up' when Jesus comes in clouds. From among the left-behind 144,000 from the twelve tribes of Israel will be sealed during this time. 12,000 from each tribe except from the tribes of Dan and Ephraim. The tribes of Dan and Ephraim are guilty of idolatry.

Ephraim is joined to idols: let him alone. (Hosea 4:17)
The children of Ephraim, being armed, and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle. They kept not the covenant of God, and refused to walk in his law; (Psalms 78:9-10)
Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward. (Genesis 49:17)
And the LORD shall separate him unto evil out of all the tribes of Israel, (Deuteronomy 29:21)

Revelation Ch.7:4-8 give us the number that are sealed for redemption.

And I heard the number of them which were sealed:
and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.

Of the tribe of Juda were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Aser were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Nepthalim were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Manasses were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Levi were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Issachar were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Zabulon were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand.

We will have glorified bodies just as the body of resurrected body of Lord Jesus Christ and we will be with the Lord for ever and later will be in New Jerusalem that comes out of heaven. (Ref: Revelation Ch. 3:12 and Revelation Ch.21:2. But those who are saved during the Great Tribulation period will have earthly blessings rather than heavenly blessings on the New Earth.

According to the prophesy in Daniel 9:27 which reads as, "And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate", the Antichrist will promise peace for seven years but he will break in the mid-point after three and half years, and then will the great tribulation for three and half years will be upon the earth, globally, and not confined to local places. This Antichrist will cause, "both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name". (Revelation 13:16-17)

John bearing witness of the Son of God, Lord Jesus Christ said in John 1st Chapter, that Jesus, who was the true Light, came into this world, and He was in the world, the world was made by Him but the world did not know him nor did His own people received Him. In Him was life but His own received Him not, and did not recognize that He was the true Messiah. All along they waited for Him and are still waiting for a Messiah that they think would save them. How often God wanted to gather them as 'hen doth gather her brood under her wings' (Luke 13:34), but they killed prophets and stoned them that were sent to them. They received not their Messiah, and refused to come under the protective wings of God, who promised them shelter and would have accepted them and granted salvation. The children of Israel, who are still expecting a Messiah, would rest their false hopes on the one, who claims himself as their messiah, but he turns out to be the Antichrist. This is the time of Antichrist, under whom the children of Israel will suffer great tribulation, such as was never before in the world, surpassing the events of AD 70, when many Jews were crucified upside down on the walls of Jerusalem, and even mothers ate their children of starvation (the events of AD 70, as recorded in the history from Josephus). The children of Israel will then realize that they have rested their hopes on a false Christ, and after suffering under him, will call upon the true God for mercy. The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, who made covenant with them, will then receive them under His wings and give them shelter. They will realize that Lord Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the life. The Lord Jesus Christ will come down and stand upon the Mount of Olives as prophesied in Zechariah 14:4. The rapture of the Church takes place before the great tribulation. The fullness of the Gentiles would have come by then as written in Romans 11:25. This was the mystery, which was hidden in the Old Testament. The grace period which is given in favor of Gentiles to have salvation over Israel would have completed by that time (2 Cor. 6:2). The Church is the bride of Lord Jesus Christ, who protects His bride from the great tribulation.

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