Mark 13:9-13 comments: hated for his name's sake

9  But take heed to yourselves: for they shall deliver you up to councils; and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten: and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them. 10  And the gospel must first be published among all nations. 11  But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost. 12  Now the brother shall betray the brother to death, and the father the son; and children shall rise up against their parents, and shall cause them to be put to death. 13  And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

 

Read Matthew 24:9-14. Jesus warns his Jewish disciples of what they are going to come up against both in the immediate time to come and in the future. They will be hauled before religious councils, beaten in the synagogues, and brought forcibly before national leaders and kings for His sake.

 

As the context is clearly the Tribulation to come based on previous statements we can surmise that these warnings would extend to the 144,000 Jews in the Tribulation, “the servants of our God.”(Revelation 7:3). Clearly, many Christians have suffered under these conditions, first under the hand of the Jews, then the Romans, then the Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox state-churches at Rome and Constantinople, under the Protestant state-churches of Europe, and even now in parts of the world under Islam.

 

 

 

Peter later relays this message;

 

1 Peter 4:12 ¶  Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: 13  But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. 14  If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. 15  But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men’s matters. 16  Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf. 17  For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? 18  And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? 19  Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.

 

Jesus says that the gospel will be preached to every nation. Could it be that the 144,000 Jewish servants of God are evangelists in the Tribulation? Remember how Jesus sent out His disciples to the Jews? Read Matthew 10:1-42.  In the verses in Matthew Jesus also tells them not to think about what to say but that the Holy Spirit will give them what they should speak. The direction taken here is that these Tribulation verses in Mark and Matthew can be linked to the Jewish servants of God in Revelation.

 

Family members will betray them and they will be roundly hated by all men because of Jesus Christ’s name. Then comes that curious verse that says that he that endures to the end shall be saved. Revelation repeats in 2:11, 26; 3:5; and 21:7 “he that overcometh” which is defined in

1 John 5:5. These are not church age doctrines. Christians, whether they be of Jew or Gentile extraction, are saved by grace through faith and sealed by God, unable to lose their salvation. It is a doctrine of grace not of works but in the Tribulation works again come to the forefront. The Jews must “endure” and “overcome”.  Their individual salvation is not assured. Hebrews is a good transitional book on this subject where Hebrews 6:1-6 shows they can’t get saved again if they lose their salvation. See also Revelation 14:9-12. The Gentile and Jewish church of this age has been translated previous to this time, or raptured if you will. Once again God is dealing with His chosen people, the Jews.