Who chooses who gets left behind?
1Corinthians 10:1 Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; 2 And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea;
To be under the cloud is to be under God's protection. They were baptized, this means they put the blood on the door post, ate the passover lamb, followed Moses out of Egypt to forsake the world, sat under the teaching, they were "in Christ" and they were resurrected in a figure when they followed Moses through the Sea.
3 And did all eat the same spiritual meat; 4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.
They all ate the word, they all drank the Spirit. They were by all definitions "saved". Paul never says they weren't saved, never says they were not Israel, never says they were not the children of Abraham, the children of faith.
5 But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness.
However, what Paul does say is that with many of them God was not well pleased. You can be a Christian, washed in the blood, nourished by the word, and obedient to be baptized and yet God is not well pleased with you.
Do not conflate the two. Not getting raptured before the tribulation does not mean that you are not "saved". Such a thought is absurd, we know that an innumerable group comes out of the tribulation and have washed their robes and they stand on the sea before God.
Matthew 20:16 So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.
If you are not saved then you have not been called. But being called is not a golden ticket that you will be chosen. Consider this, "the last shall be first". I shared about Tom Brady, he was last, Joe Montana, he was last, Michael Jordan, he was cut from the high school team. Think about Seabiscuit. You need that experience of being last to drive you to being first. Tom Brady said he practiced every day as though if he didn't prove he was the leader on Wednesday he wouldn't play on Sunday. Joe Montana had the same fear. MJ had a chip on his shoulder, even the smallest perceived slight was all it took for him to get motivated. "And the First last", how many times have we seen this. The guy everyone thought was so great. Wilt Chamberlain is a good example of this, every year he was the most dominant player in the NBA without any question and yet it seemed every year they lost in the playoffs. King Saul is a good example from the Bible. Many are called but few are chosen, I am reminded of the Gideon's. God kept whittling it down saying there are too many because He knew if there were too many they would think that they did this on their own.
Now Jesus concludes a story about a wedding feast with these same words:
Matthew 22:14 For many are called, but few are chosen.
God wants the banquet hall filled. They invite many nobles and rich and they all give excuses why they are too busy. Some mocked, some made light of it, and some treated the servants spitefully and slew them. God destroys the murderers and burns their city. That does not refer to those who made excuses but only to those who slew the servants. So then the servants go into the highways to compel all to enter in. This is the gospel going out to all. But there is one in the banquet who wasn't wearing a wedding garment so he is cast out into outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
In this story the murderers are not saved. But you don't know what happens with all the rest who are not in the banquet. But here is the thing, who did the choosing? What is in your heart? Are you looking for the Lord's return? Are you thrilled to be invited to the Banquet? Or are you more interested in your business, your friends, your country club, your position and wealth?
But what about the first instance in Matthew? This man goes out to get day laborers and some work the entire day and others only work for one hour, he pays them all the same. How does this indicate "many are called but few are chosen"? I looked at a number of theories on this and everyone is all over the board, so it is clear that no one has a clear understanding of this.
So let's first eliminate the clearly erroneous teachings. Some think that this man is "eccentric" and not practical. On the contrary he is very wise and very practical. Everyone that is hired was there all day, some were taken immediately, while others waited around hoping someone would hire them for the entire day. When the man asks them why they have been here all day it is because no one hired them. This is not because they were at home asleep. These are the ones who are "last to be picked for the kickball team". Now suppose this was you, you went to the corner where day laborers are hired at 6am and you didn't get hired until 5pm. You stood there for 11 hours. Now you work for one hour. Let's say it is $10 an hour, so they pay you $10. That is how the world works. You paid more for breakfast and lunch than $10 and that doesn't even count bus fare to get there. What is the point? Are you going to go tomorrow to work? What the world thinks is "wise" is foolishness, you are creating a welfare society. We are talking about minimum wage, do people live by the hour or by the day? Look at how businesses take advantage, making people work less than full time to avoid benefits, etc. We have a minimum "hourly" wage but it should be a minimum daily wage. You have a choice, you can pay them to sit at home and do nothing or you can pay them to come to your business and work for a full day. But either way you pay them the same. This is a world where everyone is valued. That is what "the last shall be first and the first last" means. In some respects everyone is the last, the only way you can ever be first is to have the experience of being last and let that motivate you.
Now consider something else, which is harder, to get hired at 6am knowing you will go home at the end of the day with a day's wage happy to see your family? Or would you rather stand there for 11 hours in shame because no one would pick you all the time thinking you will go home today in shame with nothing in your pocket? I used to be a caddy at a golf course and that was my experience. It is horrible sitting there all day long. Yes, carrying the bags is hard work, but the whole time you do that you know you will go home with money in your pocket.
But again, who does the choosing? Jesus pays everyone the same, but for some they think they are better than others and deserve more than others and it becomes a rock of offense and a stone of stumbling. Why do you think there are stock brokers who make $2 million a year, or traders who make $20 million, etc. How do they justify that? I can understand that one hourly employee may be more productive than another. I can understand that they might even be twice as productive. Fine, the householder will see this and if this guy is real good with the others he may think to hire him full time with a nice raise, perhaps pay him double what he is earning with a raise in six months if it works out. But if you have the attitude that the householder is unrighteous because "he has made the rejected workers "equal to us" then you certainly don't want them as a foreman. What is the real problem there, they expected to get a day's wage and they got a day's wage. What really irks them is that Jesus has made these "inferior" workers equal to them. This is an ego thing. Why would the rich and successful turn down an invitation to the King's banquet for his son's wedding? Could it be they don't like to be seen with the "deplorables"? Could it be that this is why there are few rich and famous in the church?
I used to think the rich are too busy to go to church and then I learned that they are all members of secret societies. These are exclusive clubs, you have to be invited to join. Again, who did the choosing? Of course the Lord does, but it is based on what is in your heart and He is skillful at exposing what is in your heart.