Jesus told His disciples that the days of the great tribulation would be cut short for the sake of the elect.  Matthew 24:20-22 says, “Pray that your flight will not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath. For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.”

Who are these “elect,” and why would the Lord give them special consideration so as to even cut short the days of the great tribulation? Does the term “the elect” refer to Israel? Does it refer to the church? Is there any passage in Scripture that can give us any insight into the meaning of this term?

Romans 11:7 says, “What then? Israel did not find what it was looking for, but the elect did find it. The rest were hardened” (HCSB). Israel did not find what it was looking for, but the elect did. Obviously, Israel and the elect refer to two different things.

But how different are they? Another translation renders this verse saying, “What then? What the people of Israel sought so earnestly they did not obtain. The elect among them did, but the others were hardened” (NIV). It seems to imply that the elect, at least some of them, were a part of Israel. The elect obtained, but the rest of Israel did not obtain and were hardened. Apparently, according to this passage, the elect, at least in part, are the believing portion of the people of Israel. The rest of the people of Israel, the unbelieving portion, were hardened.

Hebrews 3:12-19 warns believers by referring to Israel and their hardening of their hearts in unbelief in the rebellion as Moses led them out of Egypt and through the wilderness. “See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called ‘Today,’ so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end. As has just been said: ‘Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.’

“Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies perished in the wilderness? And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.”

It seems clear that the elect among the children of Israel were those that believed. The rest of Israel were those whose hearts were hardened by unbelief. These unbelieving ones were the ones that rebelled, turning away from God. The question that remains is whether the elect are only the believing portion of Israel, or if the elect includes others. Is there another passage of Scripture that can more precisely identify who the elect are?

Romans 9:6-8 reminds us, “But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel; nor are they all children because they are Abraham’s descendants, but: ‘through Isaac your descendants will be named.’ That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants.” The term “the elect” and the term “the children of promise” seem to refer to the same group of people.

Paul writes to the Gentile believers in Galatians 4:28, “And you brethren, like Isaac, are children of promise.” He then writes to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:8-13, “Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel, for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God’s word is not chained. Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory. Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself.”

Again, Paul writes in Titus 1:1-3, “Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ to further the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness—in the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time, and which now at his appointed season he has brought to light through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior.” Paul states here that he endures “everything for the sake of the elect” and that the purpose of his apostleship was to “further the faith of God’s elect.”

I believe most people are familiar with the fact that Paul was appointed by God to be an apostle to the Gentiles. Yet here, Paul refers to those for whom he endures all things and strives to further their faith as God’s elect and as the children of promise. Clearly, at least according to Paul’s understanding, the Gentile believers were also the elect, the children of promise.

Peter, on the other hand was an apostle to the Jews, the circumcision. He writes in I Peter 1:1-9, “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To God’s elect, exiles scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance.” 

Here Peter refers to these Jewish believers that he ministers to as an apostle as “God’s elect.” Both the Gentile believers and the Jewish believers are referred to as God’s elect by the apostles of Christ. The believers, whether Jew or Gentile, are God’s elect.

The elect, the children of promise, are those that live by faith. They are the spiritual descendants of Abraham who believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. “What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.’ Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due. But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness” (Romans 4:1-5).

The elect, the children of promise, are those that do not seek a righteousness of their own that comes through the law, but the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ. Romans 3:21-22 says, “But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe.”

From these passages we see that the days of the tribulation were cut short, not for the descendants of Israel according to the flesh, but for the spiritual descendants of Israel, the children of promise. The time was cut short for the people of faith. It was cut short for those whose faith was credited to them as righteousness, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ. The time of the great tribulation will be cut short for the sake of the elect, the believers, both Jew and Gentile, the church.

The great tribulation will be cut short for their sake because the church will be here on the earth throughout the great tribulation. As we saw in the previous chapter, immediately after the great tribulation, the Lord will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. The Lord will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.

The fact that the days of the great tribulation will be cut short for the sake of the elect demonstrates God’s unceasing care for His people. This is consistent with the promise made in Revelation 3:10 where Jesus says, “Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also guard you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth” (HCSB).

The great and terrible day of the Lord will be a horrifying day of judgment on the world and upon those that hate God and have rebelled against Him and have steadfastly refused to repent that they might not perish. However, for the elect the day of the Lord will be a time of joyful anticipation of the fulfillment of all the promises of God handed down through the apostles and prophets.  Paul writes in 2 Timothy 4:8, “In the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.” It will be a time of God’s judgment on His enemies and of rewards for His faithful servants.

The days of the great tribulation will be cut short for the sake of the elect. The day of the Lord will be for the fulfillment of all of God’s promises to His people, the children of promise, the elect, and for the judgment of the rebellious and the disobedient. It will be the time of His wrath and His reward.

Writings By Jon von Ernst

The Lord of All Things Series - A Trilogy of Truth 
Books in this series:
Book 1 - The Gospel of the Kingdom
Book 2- The Victorious Christian
Book 3 - Walking in the Light  -  Following in His Steps

*- Audio of these books are available free of charge at thepureword.net.