Those who endure to the end....

Matthew 24:13

But those who persevere to the consummation the same shall be saved

Comments: What is the consummation?

Jesus was speaking to his Jewish brethren here, but his words apply to all people who are alive during the final seven years preceding his physical and visible return to earth.

Calling on the name of the Lord to be saved and enduring to the end to be saved are two different things, and we can’t have it both ways. So, what did Jesus mean when he said a person must persist to the consummation to be saved? The consummation of what? The consummation of our natural lives? What is it, that during the time of the birth pangs, a person must endure to the end of to be saved?

We get some help from the prophet Joel concerning this seeming contradiction to the gift of salvation, which is based on faith and “not of works lest any should boast.” On the day of Pentecost, Peter cited Joel as predicting the era when God’s people could simply call on to the name of the Lord for the salvation of our souls.

What Jesus said in John 3:16, “whoever believes on him would be saved,” was a radical concept that was beyond the understanding of Jews who lived in both his and Joel’s day.

There was no way Joel could have understood what the Holy Spirit was saying to the Children of Israel. These were people born under the Law of Moses, whose laws and statutes governed every aspect of their lives. The concept of believing in one’s heart and confessing with one’s mouth for eternal salvation was incomprehensible to those who lived in Joel’s day, and under the Mosaic Law it was not even possible. The requirements of the Law—that Paul wrote were against us and that Jesus nailed to the cross—were a necessary part of their physical lives and of their eternal lives. Even so, THE JUST lived by faith in their day as well as ours, their faith being predicated on faith in the coming Messiah who they did not know was revealed through the types and shadows woven into the warp and woof of their Law ^{Psalms 40:7, Luke 24:44, John 5:46 Galatians 3:24, Hebrews 10:1,7}.

But after Jesus rose from the dead, a magnificent outpouring of God’s Spirit happened on the day of Shavuot/Pentecost; and Peter confirmed that the experience of the 120 in the upper room, which culminated in a huge street meeting, was a fulfillment of what Joel had predicted. The time had finally come when people could simply “call” upon the Lord and receive assurance of Eternal Life ^{1 John 5:11-13}. Three thousand plus people were saved on the Day of Pentecost by calling out in faith upon the name of the Lord.

So, if that is the case, and salvation is for the asking with assurance that we possess Eternal Life now ^{1 John 5:11-13} where do the words of Jesus about “enduring to the consummation” come into play? How do we rightly discern between Jesus, Joel, and Paul, who appear to contradict each other?

The conflict is resolved when we understand that there are two literal fulfilments of Joel’s prophecy. The first, as Jesus, Peter, and Paul confirmed, came on the day of Pentecost, when 3000 people were saved. Isaiah and Zechariah confirm that the second will come on the day Christ returns.

On that day, a great army representing every nation on earth, will advance on Jerusalem ^{Zechariah 12:3, 14:1-2, Joel 3:2, Revelation 16:16}.

The fighting will be fierce. It will be the bloodiest battle in recorded history. The Bible says the mountains around Jerusalem will be literally soaked in blood ^{Isaiah 34:3 [1-8], Revelation 14:20, Ezekiel 39:17-20}.

One half of the city of Jerusalem will be captured. Rape and pillage will take place. The Israelis will be losing the battle. Things will look utterly hopeless, when suddenly, at dusk Jerusalem time, an indescribable brilliance will fill the eastern sky as Jesus bursts on the scene followed by the armies of Heaven ^{Matthew 24:27, 2 Thessalonians 2:8, Isaiah 66: 8-9, 15-16, Zechariah 12:10, 14:2-7}.

It is then that Joel’s prophecy will find its final fulfillment, that all who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. Isaiah, Ezekiel, Joel, and Zechariah all saw the day when all the tribes of Israel would finally see Jesus for who he is and accept him as their long-awaited Messiah ^{Ezekiel 37:1-14}.

John wrote in The Revelation that every eye would see him. There will be many on that day—not just Jews—who will call upon the name of the Lord and be saved.

That is the day when Jesus will physically and visibly return to earth and establish his Everlasting Kingdom ^{Daniel 2:44}, and the secular nation of Israel will, as Joel predicted, call upon the name of the Lord and be saved from both physical and spiritual destruction.

The planet itself will be saved because Jesus comes to the rescue and breathes his Spirit into the Jewish survivors of the Time of Jacob’s Trouble.

Jocelyn Andersen is the author of several non-fiction books, including, Redemption: Bible Prophecy Simplified, a Study of HOPE.

Note from the editor: I read my Bible every day, always picking up today where I left off yesterday. I call this my “on-track” Bible reading. I have been doing this for over 44 years. It was the best advice I was ever given, and it changed my life. If you are not presently doing the same, I invite you to join me. How much you read on a daily basis isn’t important. It only matters that you read, feeding your spirit with a prayerful dose of the living and powerful Word of God.

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Read more about this commentary HERE.