THE JEWS
Now let us consider how the Lord will deal with the Jews at His coming back. During the age of the church the Lord has temporarily given up the people of Israel and treats them like the Gentiles. They must receive the gospel to be saved and become members of the church. But at the end of this age, according to Zechariah 13 and Romans 11, the Jewish nation will be revived and will turn to the Lord. Because it will occur during the tribulation, many will suffer and die. Zechariah 13:8-9 says that at least two-thirds of the living Jews will be cut off. This does not include the millions killed by Hitler. When the Lord Jesus comes back, the remaining one-third will repent and believe in the Lord. The house of Israel will be saved at that time.
After they are regenerated and saved, they will be translated into the millennial kingdom on the earth to be the priests teaching the nations how to serve God (Zech. 8; Isa. 2). The overcomers among the Christians will be the kings, the ruling ones, during the millennial kingdom, and the saved ones of Israel will be the priests. Although the Jews will be regenerated and saved, they will not be transformed and their bodies will not at that time be transfigured. Later, just before the time of the New Jerusalem, they will be transformed and changed in body. In Romans 11:25-26, it says that all Israel will be saved. This is confirmed by Jeremiah 3:17: "At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart." After the destruction of the Gentile armies and the salvation of the Jewish people, the Gentiles who are left will call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord. All the nations will be gathered to the name of the Lord in Jerusalem. They will walk no more after the imagination of their evil heart. Today all the Gentiles are walking after the imagination of their evil hearts, but in that day they will go to Jerusalem to the name of the Lord.
Isaiah 11:10 also speaks concerning that time. "And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the peoples (lit.); to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious." Of course, Christ is the root of Jesse. Christ as the root of Jesse will stand as a sign for all the Gentile nations. The Gentile nations will all seek after Christ, and His resting place will be glorious.
Teaching the Gentiles to Worship God
Let us also read Isaiah 2:2-4a: "And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And He shall judge among the nations, and shall decide for many peoples" (lit.). That will be the time of real peace upon the earth. No matter how much people talk about peace today, there is no peace. Peace on the earth will not come until the Lord Jesus is the King. These few verses tell us that after the Lord Jesus destroys the Gentile armies, He will save the Jewish people and take Jerusalem as His capital on the earth. He will set up His throne there, and the Gentiles who are remaining on the earth will come to seek after Him. Jerusalem will become a center to teach the Gentiles how to serve the Lord.
Concerning that time, Zechariah 8:20-23 says, "Thus saith the Lord of hosts; It shall yet come to pass, that there shall come peoples (lit.), and the inhabitants of many cities: And the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, Let us go speedily to pray before the Lord, and to seek the Lord of hosts: I will go also. Yea, many peoples (lit.) and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the Lord. Thus saith the Lord of hosts; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you."
Among the ancient Jews, the priests were the minority among the people of God. The people received teaching and instruction concerning God from the priests. They taught the people how to worship and serve God. That was a picture of the future situation during the time of the millennium. During the millennium the Gentiles will take the converted Jews as priests. Ten Gentiles will come to one Jew, asking him to teach them how to serve the Lord. Because they will hear that the Lord is with the Jews, they will come to learn how to serve the Lord. This means that, during the millennium, the Gentiles will be the nations and the converted Jews will be the priests, teaching them to worship God.
(The Kingdom, Chapter 41, by Witness Lee)
