People ask me, “Is God really going to send the Jews, his chosen people, to hell?” My answer is, “absolutely.” Let me be clear. Any person, Jew or Gentile, living after the death of Jesus Christ who does not believe that Jesus is the Son of God who came down from heaven to die on the cross for our sins will not see eternal life. Anyone who doesn’t accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior then their sins still abide on them. Their sins haven’t been forgiven. One of the spiritual laws of the kingdom of God is the wages of sin is death. Jesus paid our sin debt when he died in our place so we wouldn’t have to die.
Our God is holy and just. For anyone who dies in their sin a just God will condemn them to eternal spiritual death in hell and the lake of fire. There are believing Jews who have salvation but the majority of Jews from then until now view Jesus as nothing more than a Jewish prophet and not the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of God. For the last 2000 years all these Jews who have died without believing in Jesus Christ have gone to hell. I know that may sound harsh but when it comes to salvation God doesn’t mince his words. God doesn’t bend the rules or play favorites. The good news is a Jewish remnant will be saved on the last day and those Jews will enter heaven as God’s chosen people to join all the righteous Jews who lived before Christ.
Matthew 8:11 – (Jesus speaking) – And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 8:12 – (Jesus speaking) – But the sons of the kingdom will be cast into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
You can see from Matthew 8:11, that Jew and Gentile get to heaven the same way and are treated equally in heaven. God loves Jews and Gentiles the same. God made both. By the same token, Matthew 8:12, makes it clear nonbelieving Jews are sent to hell when they die. “Sons of the kingdom,” is an Old Testament reference to Jews to whom the kingdom of God was originally promised but who will be excluded because they reject Jesus. “Outer darkness” is a metaphor for damnation in ancient Jewish texts. All Jews know that means going to hell. If there was ever any doubt, “weeping and gnashing of teeth,” is Old Testament Jewish terminology that denotes the anguish expressed by those unfortunate souls who suffer eternal torment in hell. God’s original plan was salvation for the Jew first, then the Gentile. The Jews were jealous of their God and thought he was for them alone.
Matthew 10:40-42 – (Jesus speaking) – He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me. He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward. And he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward. And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward.
I’m always on the lookout for heavenly rewards I can earn while on this earth. There’s no shame in that. The Apostle Paul said we should all strive for heavenly rewards. We don’t know what those rewards will be but God doesn’t give junk. Doing good works and especially witnessing for Christ are the primary ways to receive rewards in heaven. Note in Matthew 10:40-42, Jesus is saying anyone who helps a fellow persecuted Christian it will be like helping Jesus himself. I include helping Jews in that category. Jesus says we will be rewarded for our compassion as if the person were a prophet of God. We should always act justly because it’s the right thing to do and if we’re also rewarded for it so much the better.
Did you know God gives his blessing to every believer who reads or hears the words contained in the book of Revelation? Every time you read Revelation you get a blessing from God. How great is that! No other book in the Bible can make that claim. I think it’s a good idea to read Revelation regularly to keep those blessings coming. God wants us to know what’s coming in the end times, which are almost upon us, so we’ll be prepared and watch for the coming of Jesus.
Revelation 1:3 – Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.