Hi Barry

I agree there is a great multitude that will be saved during the tribulation. There is also a group that "LEFT" before the tribulation. The verses you quoted below in Revelation are the ones who are part of the tribulation saints who lived and died DURING the tribulation.

 

Revelation 7

¹³ Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” ¹⁴ I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

 

and the verse in Revelation chapter 20

⁴ Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. ⁵ The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. ⁶ Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.

As you can see in the verses above the Bible is clear on whose these people are. They are definitely the ones going through the tribulation. They will be priest and will reign with God and Christ.They have lost their lives because of their faith in Jesus and NOT taking the mark of the beast.Some will say that this includes the ones that died before this period. But God is VERY clear that the ones who are raised are the ones who went through the tribulation. Verse 5 says the rest of the dead did not rise until the end of the 1,000 years. So where are the ones who died BEFORE the tribulation? They were a part of the rapture!

 

As you can see in the above verses these people were all killed DURING the tribulation period. This period is the period where God picks up where he left off before calling the Apostle Paul to be our apostle.This is a period that was started a long time ago when God promised Israel that they would be priest in a Kingdom for Him. He was preparing them to be a priestly nation and to rule with him.look at Exodus 19 below.

 

Exodus 19

 ³ while Moses went up to God. The Lord called to him out of the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel: ⁴ You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. ⁵ Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; ⁶ and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”

 

 The verse you quoted in Matthew 7 is talking about the "FEW" Jews who would accept him while he was on earth and immediatley after He ascended to heaven. As we know in Acts God OFFERED the Kingdom to the Jews and they rejected it. Very few accepted Jesus as the Messiah. So God put a hold on this program and called out a different Apostle to present a different plan to the Gentiles. I first want to quote the verse you had in mind about the road being narrow.

 

Matthew 7

¹³ “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy^[a] that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. ¹⁴ For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

 

Now the OTHER group would be the Body of Christ. It is a heavenly place where the saved people during this dispensation (which ends with the rapture) will serve God and Jesus forever and ever. We will be "ambassadors" for Christ. The Jews will inherit the New Heavenly Earth that is brought down from Heaven at the end of the 1,000 year millennium. During the 1,000 years the ones who died during the tribulation will be priest and reign with Christ. As far as I can tell from the Bible is that the Jews and Gentiles who re-populate the Millennium will inherit the nations left in the world and live forever provided they do not join satan at the end of the 1,000 years when he is loosed.

 

Anyway a couple of verses below from the apostle Paul about the rapture. If you understand this: if it is talked about in the Gospels then they are talking about the "resurrection". The Old testament talked about the resurrection. The rapture was not known until God revealed it to Paul.If you notice that when Paul talks about the "rapture" he never mentions anyone that will go through the final seven years and when the resurrection is talked about in the Old testament and the Gospels and Revelations it never mention the people saved during this dispensation.

 

1 Thessalonians 4

¹³ But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. ¹⁴ For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁵ For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord,^[d] that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁶ For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷ Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. ¹⁸ Therefore encourage one another with these words.

 

in the above verses Paul is talking about the ones who died and the ones who are still alive. In the verses below he is talking about the Second Coming and the rapture. Please be aware that the First 5 English translated the verse 3 as departure not rebeliion. Either way the rebeliion or departure would fit. The rebellion would be the ones who have come into the churches today mixing law and grace. They have as Paul would say "perverted" the Gospel of grace for the Body of Christ. So whichever translation you use you will get the sane result. Especially when you read vers 5-8 which clearly states that the Body of Christ will be taken out of the way.

 

2 Thessalonians 2

1Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers,² not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.³ Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness^[b] is revealed, the son of destruction,^[c

 ⁵ Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? ⁶ And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. ⁷ For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. ⁸ And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming

 

So it looks like he is saying that until the church is removed the Second Coming will not take place.

 

Anyway in 1 Corinthians 15 Paul tells us the rapture was part of the mystery. It was revealed to Paul and this is where we as Christians need to know to separate the things which God tells us to. The Kingdom plan starts back AFTER the rapture and this is why the Body of Christ is not mentioned in the book of Revelations.

 

1 Corinthians 15

⁵¹ Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, ⁵² in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.

This mystery was not known in the Old Testament or the Gospels. It was not known to the Apostles. It was revealed to Paul for us. Anyway I think you may have it backwards. The Jews will inherit the Earth, They will serve Christ day and night and will be his priest. This was promised long ago. We will serve Christ from the heavens. No one knows exactly how but probably we will be like ambassodors going to different places representing Jesus. God promised the Israelites that they will be the priest and he will NOT break that promise.

 

I hope this helps.

 

Thanks

Mike W