A woman, clothed with the sun, and the moon beneath her feet.

(1) And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:² And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.³ And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.⁴ And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.⁵ And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.⁶ And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore (1260) days. Revelation 12:1-6

Jesus is identified as this coming ruler who is going to shepherd the nations with an iron rod. To put the identification of Jesus beyond doubt, it is added that He was ‘snatched’ up to the throne of God. Only one person in all of history qualifies for such a position, to appear in the presence of God in the Throne Room of God. No human can see God and live.  Jesus’ exalted position in the throne room is discussed in post 5.4.

Jesus, the Son of David, the Messiah, is destined to rule over the entire world as it’s only ruler. The bible describes that He will rule over every nation and that the duration of His rulership will be a millennium. The seventh millennium, or the Sabbath millennium, is the subject of the entire section 2 of this blog.

To the woman were given two wings of the great eagle.

Most interpreters conclude that the metaphorical ‘Woman’ of revelation 12:1-2 is identified as Israel. Refer to Appendix C for the revelation 12 study identifying the this woman. The reference to Jesus’s birth and ascension in verse 5 as highlighted above is clear. “... And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God,.”

Also described in the remainder of this passage (Rev 12:3,4,13) is the second ‘wonder’, a dragon wishing to devour the child. Satan, the devil, is identified as ‘the dragon’, who has been expelled from heaven. He is cast down to the earth as his only remaining sphere of operation. He makes it his first priority, through the person of the antichrist (the ‘beast’), to eliminate all of God’s people, starting in Israel.

God responds by working a supernatural deliverance for the children of Israel. But this deliverance requires their obedience and co-operation. His instruction to these believers in Israel is clear and urgent.(Matt 24:15-20) When they see ‘the abomination of desolation’ (verse 15), the Woman, the ‘remnant’ in Israel at the time, is to flee into the mountains immediately, without even stopping to grab a coat. This instruction is given by Jesus in the gospels, as discussed in blog post 3.3. The details of their supernatural deliverance are now described in Revelation 12:13-17:

 (13) And when the dragon (Satan) saw that he had been cast down to the earth, he gave chase to the woman who had born the male child.  (14) And to the woman were given two wings of the great eagle so that she might fly into the desert to a place prepared for her where she is going to be sustained there away from the presence of the serpent for a time and times and half a time.  (15) And the serpent spewed forth from his mouth after the woman water like a river in order to sweep her away.  (16) And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and drank up the river which the dragon had spewed forth from his mouth.  (17) And the dragon was enraged at the woman, and he went away to make war with the rest of her seed, even those who are keeping the commandments of God and maintaining their testimony to Jesus. Revelation 12:13-17

Remnant of Israel protected.

God’s miraculous deliverance of Israel from Pharaoh is a clear parallel in this instance. Just as:

• Pharaoh pursued Israel into the desert wilderness, so the Woman (remnant) will be pursued by the antichrist into the desert.
• God’s deliverance from Pharaoh was supernatural, so will the deliverance of the ‘Woman’ be supernatural.
• God miraculously fed Israel in the desert for many years, so will God miraculously feed the ‘Woman’ for many years.
• Israel was in the desert in a process of preparation for the promised land, so the Woman will be in preparation for entry into the Millennial kingdom of King Jesus.

This clear parallel  removes any doubt that ‘the Woman’ refers to “Israel’. Not every person in Israel. but those in Israel who flee from the antichrist after he reveals himself. The antichrist reveals his true intentions when erecting the ‘abomination’ (Matt 24:15), the ‘image of the beast’, and orders the world to worship him.

 You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Exodus 19:4

In the revelation 12 passage the Pharaoh is functioning as a ‘foreshadowing’ of the antichrist (Deut.32:11; cf. Is.40:31): Exactly as God has delivered Israel from Pharaoh in the past, sustaining them in the desert while awaiting their preparation for the promised land, so God delivers a remnant of Israel from the antichrist, sustaining them in the desert.

The wings of the eagle picture someone plucked from the trouble on earth below, swiftly departing from the danger below to safety.  The flight of the Woman, Israel, is deliberately compared to the dramatic and miraculous Exodus of  Israel out of Egypt and out of the hands of Pharaoh.  This metaphorical eagle described above does not, of course, exclude a literal interpretation. The deliverance may entail a miraculous supply of aircraft to facilitate the deliverance.

The above interpretation is from a post tribulation, pre-wrath rapture perspective. Referring to post 3.9, the discussion on the “the 7-7-7 timetable”, the rapture is still post-tribulation, but the tribulation ends at the sixth seal with the second coming of Jesus, at that very point. (Matt 24:29- After the tribulation…) This is because the ‘tribulation’ terminates when the objects trouble, all the saints, are removed. What now remains is God’s wrath, the 7 trumpets and 7 bowls. Once the saints are safe with Jesus, God’s wrath is poured out on unbelieving humanity.

Sixth seal rapture for Israel too?

Accepting to the post tribulation,-pre-wrath rapture, we must now explain whether the remnant of Israel, clearly in the wilderness by the time of the sixth seal, are  also now raptured. It is very possible that there will be some genuine believers amongst the ‘woman’, who believe and trust Jesus’ work on the cross for their salvation, who will be raptured. However, many Israelites, as we know, as explained in the text, will remain physically in the wilderness for three and a half years. (a time and times and half a time) and thus not be raptured.

Only one interpretation for the reason for their physical protection in the wilderness  seems valid. This is that it is God’s will that a Jewish remnant will populate Israel during the millennium.

Hence the next question is whether these Jews will enter the millennium in a saved or unsaved condition.

1) The saved: It is extremely likely that some saved Jews will be amongst the Woman and be raptured at the same time as all other believers. However, we know that, like with any group of Christians,  there will be those their midst who are ‘unsaved’, who still trust in their own works and not on Jesus’ work on the cross. Those ‘believers’ are not saved according to John 6. So too, amongst the Jews in the wilderness, there will be those people who are not saved and hence will not be raptured. However, as they will have seen Jesus, perhaps be familiar with some scripture, and in a preparation process in the wilderness, many eyes will be opened. But like the Israelites in the desert, the unbelievers will most likely perish.

2) The unsaved: Those Jews persuaded by their saved brothers and sisters to flee from Jerusalem and Judea may not have had the opportunity to hear and understand the gospel. These are those who will see God’s miraculous work of protection and see their saved companions raptured. They may decide immediately afterwards to believe on Christ, and thus become the first saved believers to enter the millennium in the flesh.

The remnant of her seed.

“And the dragon was enraged at the woman, and he went away to make war with the rest of her seed, even those who are keeping the commandments of God and maintaining their testimony to Jesus. Revelation 12:13-17

The above verse describes the commencement of the ‘Great tribulation’. Satan will now vent his wrath by persecuting all believers and the remnant of the woman’s seed, the Jews. Believers are those described as ‘keeping the commandments of God -(i.e. refuse to worship a false god)’, and also  that ‘maintain the testimony of Jesus’.

Jesus says this time will be ‘such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be”. This will be the most horrific persecution of all time, exceeding even the horrors perpetrated by Nero, the Catholic Church, Stalin and Mao Tse Tung.

The millennium, the promise of Israel as a ‘blessing to all nations’ fulfilled:

Micah 5:7} And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people as a dew from the LORD, as the showers upon the grass, that tarries not for man, nor waits for the sons of men.

{5:8} And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles in the midst of many people as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep: who, if he go through, both treads down, and tears in pieces, and none can deliver. {5:9} Thine hand shall be lifted up upon thine adversaries, and all thine enemies shall be cut off…

Micah 7:16} The nations shall see and be confounded at all their might: they shall lay their hand upon their mouth, their ears shall be deaf. {7:17} They shall lick the dust like a serpent, they shall move out of their holes like worms of the earth: they shall be afraid of the LORD our God, and shall fear because of thee.

Finally, in the millennium, the remnant of Israel shall fulfill the prophetic promises made about Israel. They will be a blessing to all nations, providing and protecting, driving off enemies.

The prophetic book of Micah probably has, percentage wise, the most references to the ‘remnant’, the future believing Jews, who will populate and administer the earth under Jesus, their King, during the Millennium. The ‘remnant’ are those Jews who repent, call on the name of the Lord, and are purified during the last 3.5 years before the Millennium.

The ‘remnant of Jacob’ (righteous Jews rejecting the Antichrist and the ‘woman’ in Rev 12, gathered together in the wilderness) will undergo and pass a purification process by ‘the breaker’, thereafter they follow Jesus as their King, going ahead of them.

Micah 2:12 I will surely assemble, O Jacob, all of thee; I will surely gather the remnant of Israel; I will put them together  as the sheep of Bozrah, as the flock in the midst of their fold: they shall make great noise by reason of the multitude of men. {2:13} The breaker is come up before them: they have broken up, and have passed through the gate, and are gone out by it: and their king shall pass before them, and the LORD on the head of them.

Restored magnificently and established as the capital of the entire world, Jerusalem, the city of the great king Jesus, becomes the focus of all earthly governance, justice, teaching and activity. Peace reigns and people flourish:

Micah 4:1} But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it. {4:2} And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. 

Micah 4:3} And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. {4:4} But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the LORD of hosts hath spoken it.

Then follows a reminder that the Millennial promise is for the righteous remnant. They that were “cast far off “ become “a strong nation.”

Micah 4:5} For all people will walk every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of the LORD our God for ever and ever. {4:6} In that day, saith the LORD, will I assemble her that halteth, and I will gather her that is driven out, and her that I have afflicted; {4:7} And I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was cast far off a strong nation: and the LORD shall reign over them in mount Zion from henceforth, even for ever. {4:8} And thou, O tower of the flock, the strong hold of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion; the kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem.

Micah 4:13} Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion: for I will make thine horn iron, and I will make thy hoofs brass: and thou shalt beat in pieces many people: and I will consecrate their gain unto the LORD, and their substance unto the Lord of the whole earth.  {5:1} Now gather thyself in troops, O daughter of troops: he hath laid siege against us: they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek.

But, until the time comes that Israel has produced ‘the remnant’ she will be ‘given up’ and in travail. Then the everlasting Messiah (Christ from Bethlehem) will rule in Israel, and the remnant will feed from his strength and abide with Him.

Micah 5:2} But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. {5:3} Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travails hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel. {5:4} And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God; and they shall abide: for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth.

The repentance of the Israel.

“And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. (Zech 12:10)”.

The verse above leaves no doubt that Israel, unwilling up to this point to acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah, will have their ‘blindness’ removed when they see Jesus.  This is when their eyes are opened. The veil is lifted, they see Jesus and they mourn for Him, mourning bitterly for their centuries-long rejection our Savior. Paul, in Romans 9-11, explains:

“7 What then? Israel has not obtained that which he seeks for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded 8 (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear; ) unto this day. ….. 25 For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.”

It is clear that the repentance of the Jews coincides with the appearance of Jesus. The only question remaining is the timing: Does this repentance occur when Jesus comes on the clouds (the rapture of saints and resurrection of believers – 2 Thess 4:13-18), or when He comes in Power on the White Horse, at Armageddon (Rev 19)?

When Jesus appears on the clouds, every eye will see Him:

7 Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen (Rev 1:7)

27 For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shines even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.– Jesus’s teaching in Matt 24:27.

Every eye will see Jesus at his second coming, when the elect are gathered. Jesus leaves no doubt that we all will visibly see Him at His coming.(Matt 24:27-31). Will the unbelieving Jews repent at this point, or hide in fear? Will they mourn and repent at His coming on the clouds? Or will they just mourn out of fear, like the ‘tribes of the earth’?

“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 Matt 24:30

Or will the real repentance be at the end, when the unbelieving Jews see Jesus at his coming on the white horse, at Armageddon, when all the nations are gathered around Jerusalem? “11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.”

Will the repentances of the Jews be at this second opportunity?

The case for Armageddon: Ezekiel 39:17-20 is a clear parallel to Revelation 19:17-22, the Armageddon chapter.

Ez 39: 17 “And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord God; Speak unto every feathered fowl, and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood….18 Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan.19 And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you.20 Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord God. 21 And I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them.

22 So the house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God from that day and forward.

Is Armageddon the timing of repentance of the Remnant?

Rev 19:17-22: and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; 18 That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses…….which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.

Jesus provides the answer in the gospels:

What did Jesus say?

The prophets, apostles and Jesus have given us an abundance of material and plentiful information on the end-time Jews. When we collate all this information, and give pre-eminence to the words of Jesus, the picture surrounding the end-time/millennial Jews becomes remarkably clear. Once we are clear on Jesus’ teachings, can we address questions like:

1. What will happen to the Jews in the end times?
2. When will they convert and be saved?
3. How many convert and be saved?

But before we even start building up a scriptural picture of the Jews in the last days, a clear end-time picture and timeline needs to be built. Refer to  Appendix B,C, G and J – http://www.hopefulmartyr.com/app-j-end-times-powerpoint-presentation/ ) for the scriptures providing this end-time foundation.

This foundational teaching will assist us in interpreting the Old Testament prophets, where the largest volume of material about the end-time Jews is found. Jesus’ specific teaching on the sequence of end times events is described in Matt 24, Mark 13 and Luke 17,21.  Once we are clear on our Savior’s teaching about His own return, can we start looking at the more detailed questions on the timing of the repentance and conversion of the Jews. The great majority of Jews today reject Jesus as the Messiah, and clearly will not currently listen to the gospel of Christ, or consider Jesus as their Savior.

Jesus is the only Way, the only truth and the only giver of eternal life. “NO MAN comes to the Father except by me” (John 14:6). NO MAN can come to the Father by the law (Gal 2:7). There is no other name by which man (including the Jews) can be saved (Acts 4:12). The eyes of the Jews need to be opened, the veil needs to be lifted, and their blindness removed (Rom 11:25).

Once we are clear about the scriptures surrounding the end-time Jews, can we establish when their conversion will be.  Consider also how you would answer the various options that others may raise, whether any of these may be valid. Is the Jewish repentance going to be:

• When they are evangelized properly?
• When the temple gets rebuilt?
• When the Jews awake to the reality that the antichrist has deceived them?
• When the Antichrist orders them to worship him?
• When the Jews realize they have ‘missed’ the rapture?
• When a ‘full 2/3rds” (Zech 13) of Jews are killed?
• When the Jews see Jesus coming on the white horse? (Rev 19)

The most significant parables of Jesus clarifying this picture are those found in Luke 19, Luke 20 and Matthew 25. The first is Luke 19:

The return of the landowner: (Luke 19:8-28)

While at the house of Zaccheus, in Jericho and on His way to Jerusalem, Jesus teaches this parable about His second coming:

11 And as they heard these things, he added and spake a parable, because he was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear.

Note Jesus starts with the purpose of the parable, which is:

• “because he was nigh to Jerusalem,”- Jesus is about to be crucified, and return to the Father, and is teaching the listeners that He will return to this earth, for a second time.
• “because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear”: This parable teaches that Jesus’ physical kingdom on this earth would be set up only AFTER he would go away, to return later at an unannounced time.

The purpose of Jesus’ parable is to teach and correct the hearers about His kingdom, His imminent departure and, after a long delay, His return.

“12 He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into

• a far country
• to receive for himself a kingdom,
• and to return.”

Two groups of people are now brought into the parable:

1. 13 And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come.
2. 14 But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us.

Consider Group 1: The Servants: Jesus then continues with the parable on his servants:

15 And it came to pass, that when he was returned, having received the kingdom, then he commanded these servants to be called unto him, to whom he had given the money, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading. 16 Then came the first, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained ten pounds.17 And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities.18 And the second came, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained five pounds.19 And he said likewise to him, Be thou also over five cities. 20 And another came, saying, Lord, behold, here is thy pound, which I have kept laid up in a napkin:21 For I feared thee, because thou art an austere man: thou takest up that thou layedst not down, and reapest that thou didst not sow.22 And he saith unto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and reaping that I did not sow:23 Wherefore then gavest not thou my money into the bank, that at my coming I might have required mine own with usury?24 And he said unto them that stood by, Take from him the pound, and give it to him that hath ten pounds. 25 (And they said unto him, Lord, he hath ten pounds.) 26 For I say unto you, That unto every one which hath shall be given; and from him that hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away from him.

Now consider Group 2: His citizens: Jesus seals the fate of His citizens, those of His country, those who hated him. These are the people of the nobleman’s own country, these are citizens who hate him. This can only be referring to the unbelieving Jews:

27 But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me. 28 And when he had thus spoken, he went before, ascending up to Jerusalem.

Hence Jesus teaches the following about what happens to these two groups of people,

• His servants receive rewards aligning with their service.
• He orders that His ‘hateful citizens’ are killed in front of Him.

It does not take a great deal of insight to realize that Jesus is referring to the unbelieving Jews as the ‘citizens’, and ‘mine enemies’, which “would not that I should reign over them.”  The believing Jews, the servants, will pass into the millennium but the hateful, unbelieving Jews will not. They are physically executed, they die right there and will only be resurrected at the Final Judgement of all unbelievers, at the white throne judgement (Revelation 19:11-15).

Scripturally, this separation of the sheep and the goats occurs at the start of the millennium, at the Judgement seat of Christ (see details below). Of course, the believing and unbelieving Jews also serve as a picture of the world as a whole, where believers and unbelievers are also separated as the sheep and the goats.

Those, of all nations, who survived of the “wrath of God”, the seven trumpets and seven vials of disasters, who have not taken the Mark of the Beast, but have called on the name of the Lord, those who “…confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead”, those will be saved and be allowed to pass into the millennium (Rom 10:9-11). But those who refuse to “have this man to reign over us” will be unable, due to their hardness and wickedness, to call upon the Name of the Lord and be saved. Whether there will be unsaved people, or small children that are unsaved, who will be allowed into the millennium is not yet clear to me.

What we do know is that, at the end of the millennium, sinful hearts are still present and that wickedness will once again rise, and finally be completely destroyed. (rev 20:7-15)

The Judgement seat of Christ.

Having studied the Millennial reign of Jesus in the preceding studies, we will recognize that the coming of Jesus with all his angels (Rev 19) will coincide with His coming to establish His Millennial kingdom. In Matt 25:31-41 this is described as follows: (my interpretations are in brackets below)

Matt 25:31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, (referring to Jesus coming to establish His millennial kingdom, in glory on the white horse – (Rev 19); and not to the final Judgment of Rev 20:7-15, at the end of the millennium) then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory. (Jesus sets up His Millennial kingdom- Rev 20:1-6) 32 And before him shall be gathered all nations (Survivors of the Revelation 8,9,16 “wrath of God trumpets and Vials)  and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats: 33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.

34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world, (we share in the Millennial kingdom on this restored earth)………….41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: (the exclusion of non-believers)

The survivors of the tribulation and the“wrath of God” stand before the judgment seat. Those surviving the seven trumpets judgments and the seven vials of disasters, overtaking mankind after the ‘Day of the Lord’ will be rewarded or slain. Those who have taken the ‘Mark of the Beast’, worshipped Satan, will not be allowed into the millennium. Their fate was sealed when they ignored God’s warnings and took the Mark.

The believers conversely, are rewarded, and will be assigned various roles in the new millennial kingdom, according to their service. Reading the rest of the passage in Matthew, there will be rewards to those believers who have demonstrated love and provided food, drink, warmth, clothing and shelter to the needy, and those helping strangers, the sick and the prisoners. The above matches the Luke 19 parable, where the ‘servants of the nobleman’ receive rewards and the wicked are not allowed into the kingdom.

Why is this an important starting point?

At the rapture all believers are gathered to meet the Lord in the air and evermore be with Him. This includes all believing Jews, all the dead believers are resurrected, and living believers are raptured. They all receive perfect resurrection bodies, free from sin.

That leaves no believers left on earth. However, the gospel continues to be proclaimed in the following ways:

• The two witnesses evangelize powerfully, in the face of the Antichrist, in Jerusalem/Israel,
• The 144 000 evangelize on a worldwide scale.
• ‘The Woman’ of revelation 12, is protected in a place prepared for her by God.
• An angel in Revelation 14:6 will proclaim the everlasting gospel “unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people.”
• After the rapture, many will reconsider their previous scepticism, after having seen Jesus in the clouds, and start searching for the truth about Him.

Luke 20:

9 Then began he to speak to the people this parable; A certain man planted a vineyard, and let it forth to husbandmen, and went into a far country for a long time. 10 And at the season he sent a servant to the husbandmen, that they should give him of the fruit of the vineyard: but the husbandmen beat him, and sent him away empty. 11 And again he sent another servant: and they beat him also, and entreated him shamefully, and sent him away empty.12 And again he sent a third: and they wounded him also, and cast him out.

13 Then said the lord of the vineyard, What shall I do? I will send my beloved son: it may be they will reverence him when they see him. 14 But when the husbandmen saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, This is the heir: come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours. 15 So they cast him out of the vineyard, and killed him. What therefore shall the lord of the vineyard do unto them?

16 He shall come and destroy these husbandmen, and shall give the vineyard to others. And when they heard it, they said, God forbid. 17 And he beheld them, and said, What is this then that is written, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner? 18 Whosoever shall fall upon that stone shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.

19 And the chief priests and the scribes the same hour sought to lay hands on him; and they feared the people: for they perceived that he had spoken this parable against them.

This parable repeats the lesson of Luke 19, but here is God the Father is the owner, the ‘Lord of the vineyard’, and the Jews are pictured as the tenants. They killed the ‘beloved son’, because they desired to take control of what didn’t belong to them. The chief priests and the scribes perceived that he had spoken this parable against them. They wanted their work to be about them, and not acknowledge the owner. They wanted their lives to be about them, not acknowledging their dependence on their maker. They, the builders, rejected the cornerstone, hence it shall fall on them, and grind them to powder. Jesus “shall come and destroy these husbandmen”, Is it possible that Zechariah 13 is speaking about this event in chapter 13v8-9, at the judgments seat of Christ, after Armageddon?

8 And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. 9 And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.

Ezekiel confirms this, after describing the slaughter at Armageddon : Ez 39:22 So the house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God from that day and forward”.

Conclusion:

“and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. (Zech 12:10)”. This is the key-verse from Zechariah, which allows us to build most of our ‘end-time prophecy’ interpretation about the repentance of Israel’s remnant. Similar to Matthew 24:29-31, this particular piece of the puzzle, if one places it right, will help us to place the remainder of puzzle-pieces smoothly. This verse places the repentance of Israel at Armageddon, when they see Jesus appear as King.