by Samual Yoder
(Greenville, SC)
It is true that Messiah is coming for his bride, yet his bride is NOT everyone who confesses Yahushua as Messiah! Only those found worthy to be in the 1st resurrection will be resurrected and the living changed in the twinkling of an eye. Worthy is the key word. Without spot or blemish, overcomers, those who have successfully overcome the world the flesh and the devil. All others will be left behind.
He is calling out the elect, those who will rule and reign with him during the millennial Kingdom.
There are 2 groups of people during the millennial reign: 1) those who are immortal, incorruptible from the 1st resurrection, over which the 2nd death has no power - those that will rule and reign with Messiah, and 2) the rest of the people who survive the tribulation from all the nations - those who are mortal, are the subjects of the Kingdom over which the Messiah and his bride will rule.
How can Yahushua choose one to rule and reign with him when that individual NOW, TODAY refuses to obey him or his commands, refuses to learn and obey Torah, the constitution of YHWH's government, believes all one has to do is just "accept Jesus into their heart" and they are heaven bound with their "golden salvation ticket". Refuses to walk as he walked but instead walk in the way of Babylon, believes as Babylon believes, practices Babylonian "religious" practices, believes and acts on the premise that the "Old Testament", the Tanakh, especially the Torah is done away with and is no longer applicable in their lives. refuses to believe that our salvation depends not only on just a belief in or faith in Messiah BUT also a corresponding change in our actions and behavior, i.e. bearing fruit, refuses to accept and act on the admonition of being transformed by the renewing of their mind, refuses to walk in the spirit so as not to fulfill the lust of the flesh .... On and on I could go, but you get the gist.
Sheep, goats, tares.... One has to be sure or make sure one is in the right category.
Reply from Watchman Bob: There is a flaw in your thinking. There is a third group who will inhabit the Millenium: those who have not rejected Yahushua ("Jesus") as the Messiah and who have not taken the mark of the beast, but who have been temporarily blinded to who he is (Romans 11:25-26; Revelation 14:9-12).
Those who say they know Him but do not keep His commands are liars (1 John 2:4), on the judgment day the Lord will say to them, "I never knew you," and they will not enter the kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 7:21-23), nor will they enter the Millennial kingdom of the Messiah (Revelation 19:18, 21).
You see, it's not our worthiness that will get us into the Kingdom of Yahuah, for our worthiness (righteousness) is nothing more than His gracious worthiness in us, enabling us to keep the Torah (2 Corinthians 5:21; Philippians 3:9).
It is His grace that saves us, not our "righteousness" (good works, keeping the Torah, worthiness) (Isaiah 64:6; Ephesians 2:8-10). Apart from Him, we can do nothing (John 15:5).
So, those who enter the Millennium, whether in their natural or glorified bodies, will be there purely by His grace, not because of their worthiness.
Common English translations of Hebrew and Messianic terms used in this commentary:
Yehovah - the LORD or GOD
Yah - I Am (the short form of Yehovah)
Elohim - God
El - God (the short form of Elohim)
Adonai - my Lord or Master
Yeshua - Jesus
Followers of Yeshua -
Christians
Messiah - Christ
Assembly of Followers of
Yeshua - the Church
Antimessiah - Antichrist
BBM - Before the Birth of
the Messiah (rather than
BC or BCE)
ABM - After the Birth of the Messiah (rather than AD
or CE)
For a complete explanation of Hebrew terms used, go to Important Terms and Concepts.