As promised by the Old Testament God–Who later came to earth as Jesus of Nazareth–He sent ministers to find the Lost Sheep of the House of Israel and tell them 1) that their Messiah had come, 2) He was calling them to reunite with their Israelite brethren (the Jews), and 3) to return to Him as one righteous body–His church (Jn. 11:50-52). Though the Israelites had been scattered throughout the world and were “lost” (pollumi–lost from sight) to themselves and to the rest of mankind, God knew where they were and had sent His apostles to “fish” (witness to) them (Jer. 16:15,16/Matt. 4:19), just as He Himself had been sent to do (Mat. 15:24;10:6,7). These Israelites–His remnant–along with the Gentiles who would embrace Him, would comprise His New Covenant Church in the last days.

In Romans 9:27 we read about scattered/lost Israel whose numbers were as the “sand of the sea.” Out of these masses–numbering in the multiplied hundreds of millions today–would arise a holy, sanctified remnant–the Lord’s “little flock” of obedient, overcoming saints whom He would allow to sit with Him on His throne in the Kingdom of God (Rev. 3:21). He warned in Matthew 7:13-15 that His church would be “few” in number while Satan’s religious system would be comprised of “many.” These would be the billions of church people whom false prophets had drawn into their Catholic/Protestant cults using winning personalities and perverted gospels.

The Scriptures tell us that the Lord’s remnant church is comprised of Israelites, along with those biological Gentiles who, as did a “mixed multitude” of Gentiles during the Exodus (Exo. 12:38), have embraced the Israelite’s God. The Apostle Paul made it clear that many of the “Gentiles” to whom he was sent were “my flesh”–Israelites (Rom. 10:1,2/Lk. 2:29-32). That Paul “fished” Israelites along with Gentiles is born out by noting the focus of his ministry as shown in Acts 9:20; 13:5,14; 17:1,2,10,17; 18:4,19; 19:8. In these passages we find him, with one exception, going directly to the Jewish synagogue in every city he entered. There he spoke only to Jews in that Gentiles were not allowed to enter Jewish synagogues unless they had embraced the God of the Jews, thereby becoming spiritual Jews. The lone exception to Paul’s preaching routine came when he went to a river where women routinely gathered to pray. What kind of women? To Whom did they pray? They were Jewish women who prayed to the Jew’s God (Acts 16:12-14). Note that he did not tell them about God the Father, whom they worshiped (vs 14), but about His Messiah, whom all Jews were looking for and continue to look for today.

In Luke 1:66-77 we learn that Jesus came to “redeem Israel” according to the promise He had made to “our (Israelite) fathers” that He would “give to His people (Israel) the knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins.” One cannot redeem what one has not formerly possessed. Jesus came to redeem the House of Israel and the House of Judah by bringing them back together and back to the Father. This is referred to as the “ministry of reconciliation.” This reunion would create “one new man” who, along with obedient Gentiles, would constitute His New Covenant Church whose members, rather than nailing His Law to the cross, have allowed Him to write it in their hearts (Jer. 31:31-33/Heb. 8:8-12). These are they who obey its commandments, including #4. See The Mark Of The Beast.