Excellent points. They need to re-work the whole "holy ones" "chosen ones" explanation.Is it just those who have a heavenly calling. Or are all Christians "holy ones" destined for heaven.
The Bible's use of the term "chosen" and "holy ones" is very ambiguous.
The reference to the "holy ones" in direct relatoin to the great tribulation is not ambiguous when you specifically consider Daniel 12. In that the "holy ones" are spoken of being "dashed to pieces" during this great tribulation.
Now why would God cause most of his own "holy ones" to be dashed to pieces in this great tribulation, clearly the FOCUS of the great tribulatoin? No. Instead the "holy ones" in this case are the Jews, the natural Jews. They are the ones that are the target of this final "great tribulation" against them because God prophesied this would happen to him if he left his covenant, which is being scattered throughout the nations and a sword following after them.
So this is a final punishment of the Jews to fulfill this prophecy, which makes sense, even though "spiritual Israel" becomes symbolically part of this attack. That is, the Nazis who carry out this "desolatoin" of the holy ones, the Jews, also focuses on "spiritual Israel" who are Jehovah's witnesses. Note that the Nazis specifically singled out the witnesses. They were assigned the specific prison badge of the "purple triangle"; the Jews were assigned the well-known yellow star.
I know this is a bit complex, but the context of "unless the days were cut short no flesh would be saved" in and of itself suggests that the majority would be lost and only a remnant remain. This is precisely what happened to the Jews where two thirds of the Jews were exterminated.
Matthew distinguishes "spiritual Israel" and fleshly Israel by the designation of the "greater number" versus the "lesser number." Thus as part of the signs leading up to the Holocaust it mentions the "love of the greater number would cool off." What greater number? If there is a greater number then there must be a counterpart lesser number. The greater number are the natural Jews, the lesser number are spiritual Israel, a reference to anointed ones associated with Jehovah's witnesses. Thus the "love of the greater number cooling off" means the a cooling off of the affection for the Jewish people in the form of increased anti-Semitism for this period leading up to the Holocaust a very well-documented fact of fulfillment for this period.
But you know, I get the feeling that this is simply not thw "final solution" to this passage that the folks here are looking for, even though it's the correct explanation.
Don't forget, the "great tribulation" is completely over before the Messiah arrives...."immediately AFTER the tribulation of those days..." (Matthew 24). Hitler's success in WWII was cut short by two factors primarily, the US entering the war but also an extremely severe winter in Russia....hmmmmm.
JC