How God Uses the Jews

Before his death, Jacob called together all his sons to reveal to them what would happen to their descendants in our time. “And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days” (Genesis 49:1). We saw in Chapter 7 how God had revealed knowledge about Joseph’s future generations: They would become “a nation and a company of nations”—the United States and Britain (Genesis 35:11). Here we see that God also revealed what would happen to the descendants of all of Jacob’s sons “in the last days.”

Jacob’s fantastic prophecy revealed knowledge about his sons’ tribes, which have become nations in this end time. It is truly stirring once we let this fact take firm hold in our minds. Here in Genesis, the Bible’s first book, we have a prophecy about what would befall the nations of Israel in this end time!

All 12 tribes, or nations, are named. Who and where are these modern nations today? We are living in “the last days” and must know, or we will be blind to God’s end-time prophecies!

The last book of the Bible, Revelation, is also full of prophecies about Israel. So we have prophecies about Israel from the beginning to the end. The key of David vision has been spoken about for thousands of years. And we will be speaking about it forever.

In this chapter we will look at the specific prophecies about the tribe from which David emerged: Judah.

Prophecy About the Jews

“Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; thy father’s children shall bow down before thee. Judah is a lion’s whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up?” (Genesis 49:8‑9). These two verses give us great insight into the people of Judah, the Jews in the Middle East. In verse 9, God uses two phases of a lion’s life to describe them. God talks about a whelp, or cub, then a lion, which would be best understood as a violent young lion, and then an old lion.

Historically, and even in our time, the Jewish people have exhibited many lionlike qualities. God warns that all should be careful not to rouse the lion of Judah. In other words, leave him alone if he is at rest, or you will awaken his wrath.

Verse 8 states that Judah’s brethren would praise him, primarily because of the scepter promise (which we will explain in this chapter). But it is also referring to the many benefits that Judah’s warlike qualities have brought to the nation. This verse also prophesies that Judah will have its hands on the necks of its enemies. Historically, Judah has had a rousing, warlike quality that gave security to the nation. From Numbers 2:9 we learn that while in the wilderness, Judah was assigned to take the lead in all marches. This was an impressive position of honor. Judah received the first lot in the Promised Land. Caleb, a great-grandson of Judah and one of the original 12 spies, had skill and mighty strength as a warrior (Joshua 14:11). And of course, the greatest Jewish warrior of all time was King David. There is no doubt he fought like a lion.

In modern times, since the inception of the Jewish state in 1948, the Jews have exhibited that warrior spirit. They certainly did in the Six-Day War of 1967. It was also evident in the Yom Kippur War of 1973. The Jews were a terror in the Middle East. Then they went through a long stretch where they grew weaker as a nation and placed their faith in peace negotiations, with disastrous results. Sadly, that portends their future, according to prophecy (request a free copy of Jerusalem in Prophecy to learn why). Still, more recently—after the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023—they have again demonstrated remarkable courage and ferocity in defending themselves against their enemies.

This prophecy takes on added significance when you think on God considering true Christians as spiritual Jews. There are many spiritual lessons we can learn from the physical characteristics God created in the Jews. For example, we should be lionlike in our fight to preserve the truth. Studying the Jews’ lionlike qualities also helps us to better see the qualities of the real Lion of Judah—Jesus Christ. True spiritual Jews exhibit the Lion’s qualities.

God does use physical people to teach us lessons. And we must be humble enough to learn these lessons. It should make no difference from whom we learn these lessons. Of course, we must emphasize the spiritual not the physical. But God wants to use the Jewish people for a high purpose.

The Scepter Promise

Study this additional statement in Jacob’s Genesis 49 prophecy about the descendants of Judah: “The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be” (verse 10). Remember that this verse is prophecy for the end time.

What does it mean that the scepter shall not depart from Judah? It means that a royal lineage, Jesus Christ and salvation are to come through the Jews. It is a continuation and further clarification of the seed promise made to Abraham (Genesis 28:14). The word scepter refers to David’s throne and Jesus Christ’s rule in the World Tomorrow.

Something about Judah caused God to give him the scepter. He must have displayed exceptional leadership qualities. The physical blessings of greatness and wealth were bestowed on Joseph’s sons—but the throne belongs to Judah. The United States and Britain in Prophecy follows this royal line through the centuries and proves how that throne ended up in Britain. The British people are descendants of Ephraim—but the royal line traces back to King David and, ultimately, to Judah!

Notice that Genesis 49:10 also prophesies of a lawgiver who is a descendant of Judah. This is actually a prophecy that the scepter and lawgiver would be united in a single office in this end time. (This is explained in The New Throne of David.)

The verse concludes, “… until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.” This refers to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, the King of kings. He will inherit the throne of David and is the ultimate fulfillment of the scepter promise. All people will gather unto the scepter of Judah. The Hebrew word translated gathering is yiqqahah and means obedience, submission. What a wonderful picture! Why do God’s people submit to and obey the government of God now? So we can be right alongside Christ when He gathers all people unto Himself! This gathering is pictured by the Feast of Tabernacles. All people will be gathered to the scepter of Judah and to Christ the Lawgiver.

God is preparing His Church for that future. Matthew 17:10-11 state that an Elijah would come and restore all things. Mr. Armstrong fulfilled this role—but he restored all things only to the Church. Compared to the number of people in this world, very few listened to Mr. Armstrong. Jesus Christ will return soon and restore all things to the world. Christ’s return is described as the time of the “restitution of all things” (Acts 3:20-21). Jesus Christ is coming to restore the government of God over the whole Earth. In the near future, all the world will learn to submit to Christ as He sits on David’s throne. This will require humility, obedience and submission on everyone’s part. The change in this world will be wonderful and truly miraculous.

An Elijah came and restored God’s government to the Church because Jesus Christ wants His government already here when He returns, so we can help Him implement His law. Ruling under the Lion of Judah will be a whole administration bringing salvation to all of mankind! So think on that: This opportunity to rule with Christ is given only to spiritual Jews. It all comes through Judah.

Jesus Was a Jew

Consider again how remarkable it is that Jesus Christ was a son of David. He was the Word made flesh, born of a human woman, a descendant of David, of the tribe of Judah.

The prophecy of Genesis 49:10 says Jesus Christ would be born of the tribe of Judah, a Jew. This is profound to consider. It shows that here, all the way back in Genesis, God’s plan was to send the Word to Earth to become His Son; it foretells that God would turn His glorious, eternal spiritual companion into a single physical sperm cell and implant Him within the womb of a Jewish woman!

In his Gospel, Luke brings this out beautifully: “And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. … [T]hou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David” (Luke 1:26-32). This is at the heart of the key of David vision.

Joseph was not Christ’s father. Mary’s pregnancy was from God. This angel told Mary, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God” (verse 35; nkjv).

In the Plain Truth magazine, Dr. Herman Hoeh wrote about these verses: “In the case of Jesus, the Logos was transformed into a physical sperm from the Father in heaven and was united with the ovum in the womb of the Jewess Mary. Therefore Jesus partook of the human [characteristics] of the tribe of Judah—Jewish flesh and blood” (“Was Jesus a Jew?”, June 1956). That sperm cell meeting with the ovum produced the very Son of God in the flesh! That is such a wonderful truth.

In unparalleled humility, the great God Being called the Word was willing to give up His glory and be transformed into a human sperm cell—the tiniest of cells—that impregnated a Jewish woman.

“Jesus possessed characteristics both of Mary’s ancestry and the characteristics of the Father in heaven. Jesus looked like other Jews, yet He had the express facial resemblance of the Father Almighty—‘Who hath seen me,’ said Jesus, ‘hath seen the Father’ (John 14:9)” (ibid). Obviously that is true spiritually—but it appears Jesus also meant it physically.

Think for a moment about the spiritual parallels of the miracle that happened here!

A Miracle Birth

Herbert W. Armstrong explained how human conception and begettal is a type of God begetting us spiritually with the Holy Spirit. “Each adult human is, spiritually, an ‘egg’ or ‘ovum.’ This spiritual ‘ovum’ has a very limited life span of itself …. But spiritual, divine immortal life may be imparted to it by the entrance into it of the Holy Spirit, which comes from the very Person of God the Father,” he wrote. “… Now, as the physical male sperm finds its way to, and unites with the nucleus in the ovum, so God’s Spirit enters and combines with the human mind! … [W]e are, now, the children of God (Romans 8:16)” (The Missing Dimension in Sex; emphasis mine).

So Mr. Armstrong compared the male sperm cell to that first bit of the Holy Spirit that God imparts when we repent and are baptized with the laying on of hands from God’s true ministry. We are spiritually begotten by that Spirit and are on the way to being born sons of God!

Only once in history has God actually physically begotten a Son. However, Jesus’s extraordinary miracle pointed to the miracle taking place in the lives of every begotten son of God! When you are baptized, you receive “the power of the Highest”—God’s Holy Spirit. It truly is every bit as much a miracle for your mind to receive that Spirit as it was for Mary to become pregnant by the power of the Highest!

And though that spiritual seed from God starts very small, “This divine Spirit of God imparts to us also the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4),” Mr. Armstrong wrote (ibid). It gives us the spiritual characteristics of our Father! Much like an embryo has the physical dna of his physical father, we are actually formed in our heavenly Father’s image! He reproduces Himself in us!

“As the physical fetus must grow physically large enough to be born, so the begotten Christian must grow in grace, and in the knowledge of Christ … must overcome, must develop in spiritual character during this life, in order to be born into the Kingdom of God!” Mr. Armstrong explained. “And as the physical fetus gradually, one by one, develops the physical organs, features and characteristics, even so the begotten Christian must gradually, continually, develop the spiritual character—love, faith, patience, gentleness, temperance. … He must develop the divine character!” (ibid). The Holy Spirit, the power of the Highest, transforms us!

What a marvelous picture! This spiritual transformation of human beings into God’s character image is, in fact, at the heart of God’s plan for mankind—His master plan!

‘Salvation Is of the Jews’

Jesus Christ grew up as a Jewish lad. God gave the Jews a very prominent place in His plan. From these facts we must assume that God the Father and Jesus Christ have a close connection to the Jewish race—but only to further their spiritual plan.

Given all these facts, Dr. Hoeh made this interesting observation: “The Jews, then, more than any other race, must resemble the dominant personality of the heavenly Father. God is Supreme Ruler. … Judah must have had special physical qualities for rulership” (op cit). This is particularly fascinating when you consider what God is doing spiritually with His begotten saints.

Remember, the royal line of David continues all the way to the present day. If you want to face the truth, Jews sit on the throne in England. Physical Jews have always sat on that throne, and for a very symbolic reason. If we are to have a future position of rulership with Christ, then we must become spiritual Jews!

Christ affirmed that the Jews play a vital role in salvation. To a Samaritan woman He said bluntly, “Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews” (John 4:22). Christ told her that she did not know how to worship God. He told her directly that if she continued to worship in her way, she could not obtain salvation. He told her salvation was of the Jews, which would have been salt in the wound for any Samaritan.

Jesus Christ was not ashamed to say that Jews had a crucial role in God’s plan. That message upset a lot of people. In fact, Christ was killed for preaching the message God the Father sent! But that didn’t make Christ wrong. Do you understand the truth He was communicating?

God is concerned most of all with the spiritual. All truly converted Christians become spiritual Jews. Mr. Armstrong wrote, “Salvation is of the Jews (John 4:22). Salvation, however, is for everyone that believes (in living faith, not dead faith)—to the Jew first, and, through Christ, also to the Gentile (Romans 1:16)” (Which Day Is the Christian Sabbath?). Read that verse, which the Apostle Paul wrote to the congregation in Rome, which was made up primarily of Gentiles. The wonderful truth is that everyone on Earth will be offered salvation. Historically it was offered to the Jews first. Many of the original Christians were Jews who believed the gospel of Christ and were baptized.

Mr. Armstrong continued, “You can have no salvation unless you become, spiritually, a Jew! (Romans 2:28-29). Of course, through disobedience, all natural-born Israelites have been cut off from the promises and God’s salvation—but they may receive it, like all others, through Christ! (Romans 11:17-18, 23-26)” (ibid).

Paul also wrote, “Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands” (Ephesians 2:11). Prior to our conversion, we were spiritual Gentiles. We were outside of God’s promises. But now, as Paul stated, “… ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God” (verse 19). Because of Christ, we now have a future.

If you are converted, then as far as God is concerned, you are a Jew! If you are in God’s Church, you are a Jew! Even our young people are Jews inwardly because God’s Spirit is working with them. God says that a true Jew is one inwardly. Circumcision is of the heart.

Jesus Christ is predominantly concerned with the creation and development of spiritual Jews, not physical Jews. He wants to focus our attention on the spiritual Jew, Jesus Christ the Lion of Judah, who will bring us into the Kingdom, or Family, of God. God’s Family will be a Family of spiritual Jews.

The Oracles of God

In his epistle to the Romans, Paul wrote: “What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision? Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God” (Romans 3:1-2). One of the greatest gifts committed to the physical Jews has been the preservation of the Old Testament Scriptures. God also committed to the Jews the preservation of the sacred calendar, the knowledge of the Sabbath covenant and holy days, and the law of tithing. These are the “oracles of God,” which could be translated divine utterances. Many faithful physical Jews kept these on the letter-of-the-law level—a physical level.

God always intended that the oracles entrusted to the Jews be understood by the Church. Acts 7:38 says of Moses: “This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us.”

Today, God does not give new revelation about the oracles to physical Jews but to His spiritual Jews—the Philadelphians.

The name Philadelphian is synonymous with spiritual Jew. Our name, Philadelphia Church of God, is not a coincidence. God gave it to us because we value His revelation. The Philadelphians have the key of David. They are not embarrassed by it or ashamed of it. They proclaim it to the world. They do not look to men—they look to the God who possesses the key of David vision (Revelation 3:7).

True spiritual Jews understand the vital importance of God’s revelation.

We know that God revealed His key of David vision to the spiritual Jews. The oracles of God are included in the context of that vision. What God revealed to Herbert Armstrong, He has given to His spiritual Jews to preserve. God has “committed” to the pcg what He gave Mr. Armstrong. This verse applies to us today in that way. (Edmond, the city where the pcg is headquartered, means “preserver of wealth.”)

This is why we fought a battle in court for the right to print and distribute Herbert W. Armstrong’s books and booklets. We really had no choice. This literature was given to the Philadelphians, whether we are in the Philadelphian or the Laodicean era. So where you find all of God’s truth that was revealed to Herbert Armstrong, you will find the spiritual Jews!

We continue the Elijah work. God’s Church cannot die (Matthew 16:18). Each one of us has the responsibility to know where that Church is.

Faith of God

As Paul states in Romans 3:3, we must understand what God has revealed and then use the faith of God to preserve that truth. Think about this. What is the faith of God? It is believing what God says. What brought people into God’s Church under Mr. Armstrong? The faith of God. We believed that Mr. Armstrong taught what God revealed. What gave us the courage to move to the pcg? The faith of God. What keeps us in God’s Church? The faith of God.

We must use that same faith to preserve God’s oracles, never to reject or diminish them. We can be in God’s true Church physically and still not be a spiritual part of Christ’s Body. God lives in His oracles. Luke (who wrote Acts) referred to God’s oracles as the lively oracles.

The pcg fought in court for God’s truth in faith. We cannot preserve the key of David vision without faith! That is what Romans 3:3 explains. Through faith, the spiritual Jews knew precisely why they were in a court battle, fighting for God’s truth. The Laodiceans did not fight for God’s truth because they do not have Christ’s faith! That is why He is on the outside knocking on their door (Revelation 3:20).

Preserving God’s oracles requires great spiritual depth. It requires a spiritual Jew. Only the spiritual Jews have the faith of God.

God’s primary focus is always spiritual. The physical Jews fulfilled a critical role for God in preserving the oracles. But the role God has given spiritual Jews is far greater. All of God’s people who remain close to the divine utterances cannot be hurt by Satan the devil. Spiritual Jews have their heart, or their inner man, circumcised (Romans 2:29). They have been deeply converted to value what God values. They seek God’s praise, not the praise of men. They can detect Satan’s deceit and reject it. They are inspired by the key of David vision.

Why Anti-Semitism

Understanding the importance of physical and spiritual Jews in God’s plan, you can know absolutely that Satan will do everything he can to attack the Jews. And history and current events demonstrate just how fierce that attack can be.

Look at the Middle East today. The Jews of the tiny nation called Israel are despised by their neighbors. Many Arabs want to see the Jewish nation destroyed. The Jews are hated in Russia. Anti-Semitism has risen to shocking levels in many European nations—the very place where the unthinkable evils of the Holocaust were perpetrated against the Jews just last century. Even in the United States and other nations of Israel, you see appalling hatred of the Jews displayed publicly. Where is all this hatred coming from? A thinking person has to wonder!

We know the Jews, like all humans, have helped create some of their own problems. But we must see that there is something deeper behind anti-Semitism.

Satan the devil has a great hatred for God, and he understands the plan of God. Because of that plan, the word Jew can really stir up Satan’s wrath. The Jews are a type of what all men are to become spiritually. God’s association with the Jews has turned Satan even more violently against them! Hatred for the Jews has been inspired by Satan. He knows he was never offered what God has offered mankind. He wants nothing more than to destroy God’s plan.

Satan can stir up vicious hatred. He loves to use out-of-control emotions. A religion taken to the extreme—such as radical Islam—gives him a great field to work in. Nazi Germany exhibited fanatical hatred for the Jews. The Nazis also used emotion to stir up a repugnant hatred. The coming beast power will exhibit the same hatred for the Jews as well.

Most people who hate the Jews don’t even know why they do. Can we see Satan behind such lies and hatred?

Satan deeply hates physical Jews. But we must recognize the chilling reality that Satan hates spiritual Jews most of all.

Satan in a Rage

Revelation 12 prophesies of a war in heaven in which Satan and his demons were cast down to this Earth (verses 7-9). Verse 12 delivers this hair-raising warning: “Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.” Yes, the devil is about to be kicked off his throne—and he is frothing mad about it!

Satan was cast down at the time of Mr. Armstrong’s death in 1986. Notice the first target of Satan’s wrath once he was confined to Earth: “And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman [a symbol of God’s true Church] which brought forth the man child” (verse 13). Satan went after God’s Church—the true spiritual Jews!

Never forget that Satan’s primary goal is to destroy God’s Work and Church. Within four years of Mr. Armstrong’s death, the Church suffered a serious split! This came as a devastating shock to many of God’s people. The destruction of the Worldwide Church of God happened with alarming speed, especially after the pcg started in December 1989. Today it is completely bereft of its former glory.

During the decades since, Satan has also stirred up terrible trouble for the nations of Israel. America has experienced terrible leadership, especially the destructive rule of Barack Obama and his vice president. (I explain this, and Satan’s part in it, extensively in my book America Under Attack.) The Jewish state of Israel, in addition to being targeted by its Islamic neighbors, has also been attacked from within by leftist forces. Britain and its Commonwealth partners like Australia and Canada have been subjected to corrupt authoritarian rule that has deeply oppressed these peoples.

The British royal family, which has the royal Jewish heritage of King David himself, has been so battered, bruised and beaten, it will never recover the dignity it once had. The walls of the palace have been riddled with scandal. Who has been the driving force behind the defamation of the royal family? Satan the devil. He desires to subject that throne to as much indignity as he can. Do we realize that the British royalty could stop all of the gross degeneration and its painful consequences? All they would have to do is be guided by God’s spiritual Jews.

Synagogue of Satan

To better understand the connection between Philadelphians and spiritual Jews, read these important words again: “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth; I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name [government]. Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee” (Revelation 3:7-9).

Here, spiritual Jews are mentioned in the same context as the key of David vision. It is their understanding of this vision that makes them spiritual Jews! This separates the Philadelphians from the Laodiceans, a group that sprang from the “synagogue of Satan.”

These verses show that the Philadelphia era was truly a jewel in God’s sight. God gave it the key of David, the single greatest prophecy and vision in the Bible. Mr. Armstrong and true Philadelphians have always treasured this key. God provided Philadelphia an open door that no man could shut. And though small by this world’s standards, the Church kept God’s Word and government.

Verse 9 exposes the astonishing fact that while the Philadelphia era was doing its great work, the synagogue of Satan was growing within its ranks. God has revealed that this synagogue of Satan was the Laodicean era in embryo. He revealed this only after the Laodicean era was already born.

What a harsh name God gives the Laodicean fetus: the synagogue of Satan! This means that some within God’s own Church were falling prey to Satan, getting into devil worship even while Mr. Armstrong was alive! In verse 9, God calls them liars. He says they were acting like Jews but were not true spiritual Jews at all.

Only the pcg understands Revelation 3:9 today—this means that most of God’s own people don’t understand God or the devil! The Laodicean era is described as spiritually blind (verse 17). The overwhelmingly dominant trait of God’s people today is blindness!

Only those saints who have the key of David vision truly understand God and the devil!

One of the most important questions of our time is, Who are the true spiritual Jews? There are members of God’s Church who say they are Jews but whom God calls liars. And there is a group of God’s people who are true spiritual Jews—they do not lie! We must know the difference.

This knowledge also reveals Satan the devil. A full understanding of the key of David vision must include knowledge of Satan the devil and his attack on God’s Church in this end time!

To the Philadelphians, God promises that all those people pretending to be Jews, He will make “to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.” Christ uses the expression “I will make” twice in reference to the synagogue of Satan. God will force the lying, false Jews, today’s Laodiceans, to admit that Mr. Armstrong was right. He will make them admit that the Philadelphia Church is right. He will force them to know that He loved Mr. Armstrong and loves the pcg.

Do we doubt God will do this? Christ says, “I will make ….” This is a very personal statement. If they refuse to admit Mr. Armstrong was right—if they refuse to admit the pcg is right and that God loved Mr. Armstrong and loves us—then they won’t be in the Family of God. How will God force them to do this? Through the terrors of the Great Tribulation. It would be far better for them to repent and admit this today, which is why warning the Laodiceans is a large part of our work.

In these verses, Christ shows clearly that the true spiritual Jews are deeply loved by God. Why? Because they are loyal to His key of David vision. They keep God’s Word, which includes the astonishing knowledge about David’s throne. They maintain God’s government and walk through God’s open door. How do we determine who are the spiritual Jews? By seeing who holds fast to the key of David. That vision not only gives us incredible understanding, it also identifies true spiritual Jews.

Now look at what the Laodiceans are about to face—the Tribulation and the potential loss of eternal life.

War Against the Jews

Only true spiritual Jews will be protected from the Tribulation soon to come upon the whole world. This is a promise from God.

When Satan realizes that we are protected from him as we flee, he will direct all of his violent efforts against the Laodiceans—even as they are beginning to repent because of the Tribulation. “And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ” (Revelation 12:17). Satan’s anger is directed most of all at God’s Church. He detests our fantastic potential. In the Tribulation, the Laodiceans will recognize how wrong they were. Half of them will repent and return to God. They will return to the understanding they had rejected. They will reject Satan’s deceit.

Because of their repentance, they will feel the full force of Satan’s wrath. At that time, he will have gained full control of all the negative and destructive forces on this planet. All Laodiceans who repent and obey God during the Tribulation will be marked for destruction.

This is why it is so important to repent and obey God now.

Why does God offer His faithful spiritual Jews protection from the Tribulation? “Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth” (Revelation 3:10). The answer is simple. God always protects those who keep His Word. The Philadelphians are held in high esteem by God for their loyal obedience. God wants to protect such people.

Understanding the truth about the Jews—both physical and spiritual—helps you to better see the spiritual war between good and evil playing out in world events and in God’s Church. It is already intense, but it is going to grow far more so in the time ahead! We urgently need the protection that God promises to supply to His faithful people, true spiritual Jews.