THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY FOUR THOUSAND

The 144,000 of Revelation 7 and 14

The 144,000 are mentioned only in two chapters in the Bible, in

Revelation 7: 3-8 and in Revelation 14: 1-5.

"And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of

the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to

whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea,

3 Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we

have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.

4 And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were

sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of

the children of Israel."

Then Chapter 7 goes on to say that 12,000 were sealed out of 12

tribes of Israel, leaving Dan out.

Revelation 14: 1-5:

1. "And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with

him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name

written in their foreheads.

2 And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and

as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers

harping with their harps:

3 And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before

the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but

the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the

earth.

4 These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are

virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth.

These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God

and to the Lamb.

5 And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault

before the throne of God."

There are several questions about the 144,000 that need to be

answered to understand who and what they are:

1. Who Are the 144,000?

Many - if not most - Christians who deal with the 144,000 say they

must be Hebrews, or Jews, because Revelation 7 says they come from

the 12 tribes of Israel.

I know of a small number of Christian ministries who have articles on

the Internet about the 144,000 that say they are not Jews but are

Christians. However, I am going to focus mainly on two ministries in

answering these questions

The Threshing Floor is a radio show on Christian Media Network. They

are on the Internet and short wave. The link for

many of their broadcasts on the 144,000 is:

http://threshingfloor.onevoicemm.net/weblog/?page_id=18

You can download past shows here.

The Two Hosts of the Threshing Floor, Randy Maugans and Sue Patterson

believe that the 144,000 are Christians.

The other ministry is Cyberspace Ministry. They argue from Scripture

that the 144,000 are not Jews, but are Christians. Their 2002

article on the 144,000 is at:

http://www.tagnet.org/cyberspace/Lessons/Fut-060/fut2-060.html

Romans 9:6

For they are not all Israel who are of Israel.

"The prophecy of the 144,000 did not accurately reproduce the

original list of the 12 tribes of Israel, because, under the New

Covenant, the Israel of God is no longer made up of Jews according to

the flesh, but of Jews according to the heart, that is, the Church of

Christ.

The Church of Christ now makes up spiritual Israel:

«For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails

anything, but a new creation. And as many as walk according to this

rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.»

(GALATIANS 6:15,16)

«Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of

Abraham.» (GALATIANS 3:7)

«If you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs

according to the promise.» (GALATIANS 3:29)

«I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but

are a synagogue of Satan.» (REVELATION 2:9)

«For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is that circumcision

which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly,

and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, and not in the

letter (ROMANS 2:28,29)"

2. Are the 144,000 Sealed for Salvation Only or For Protection?

The Threshing Floor hosts would say that the 144,000 are sealed, as

Revelation 7: 1-4 implies, for their protection against the harm that

is to come upon the earth,, the sea and the trees. They tell us that

there is more to this sealing than the specific protection against

what is to be the Trumpets which do great harm to the earth.

Cyberspace Ministry also does not say or imply the 144,000 are sealed

only for their salvation. They are sealed for a ministry to the

Multitude in the Great Tribulation.

3. When Are the 144,000 Sealed?

The threshing Floor hosts - Randy Maugans and Sue Patterson - say

that because the sealing of the 144,000 is to protect them from the

harm coming upon the earth during the Tribulation, they are sealed

right before the First Trumpet of Revelation 8: 7 hits. They say

that the Seventh Seal in Revelation 8: 1 contains the six Trumpets

of the Tribulation, and the Seventh Trumpet is the return of Christ.

The Seventh Seal is not the same as he Seventh Trumpet. They believe

that we are now in the Sixth Seal

because of the statement in Revelation 6: 12 about the great

earthquake and say that the December 26, 2004 Sumatra earthquake was

this quake. While one could disagree here and say an even greater

earthquake is to come which will mark the Sixth Seal in timing, it is

true, I believe, that the sealing of the 144,000 occurs right before

the First Trumpet, and that the Seals and Trumpets do not match.

Cyberspace Ministry says the 144,000 are sealed "Right before the

seventh seal, that is, before the return of Jesus, an angel announces

that the 144,000 must now receive the seal of God on their foreheads,

before the destructive winds are released."

I think it would have been better to say the Sealing occurs right

before the First Trumpet, even though the Seventh Seal contains the

first six Trumpets. In addition, it is hard to tell exactly what

Cyberspace Ministry means by "before the return of Jesus." The First

Trumpet is before the return of Jesus, but five more Trumpets are to

hit before the return of Christ. What I am saying is that Christ is

not to appear at the First Trumpet but at the Seventh.

4. Are the 144,000 To Live On Earth At One Time?

Some Christians who say that the 144,000 are Christians and not Jews,

tell us that the 144,000 is symbolic of all or some Christians who

lived during all the centuries from the time of the apostles until

the Tribulation. For example, John Gill, writing in the 18th

century, says in his commentary on Revelation 7: 4 that "of all the

tribes of the children of Israel;

not that these were all Jews in a literal sense, for the time of

their conversion in great numbers is not yet come. Dr. Goodwin thinks

these sealed ones design the believers of the Greek and Armenian

churches, and his reasons are not despicable; but this is to limit

and restrain them to a particular part of the church of Christ;

whereas they take in all the saints within this long tract of time,

even all that are the true Israel of God, who are Jews inwardly, of

what nation, kindred, tongue, and people soever; and is a certain and

determinate number for an uncertain and indeterminate one; and only

intends a large number of persons known to God and Christ; see the

Apocrypha."

John Gill also thought that the Trumpets, against which the 144,000

are sealed for their protection, were metaphoric and not literal. He

said on Revelation 7: 3 that "

Saying, hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees,

&c.] That is, as yet, for their commission was not contradicted, nor

taken away by Christ; and at the time appointed, at the blowing of

the several trumpets, they let loose the winds, and let in the Goths,

Hans, and Vandals, the Saracens and Turks into the empire, and after

that poured out the vials of God's wrath upon the Romish antichrist."

But for both The Threshing Floor hosts and Cyberspace Ministries the

144,000 are to live at one point in time, and all of them will be on

the earth in the flesh at that time during the Tribulation.

5. What Work Will the 144,000 Do?

In Revelation 7: 3 it says not to "hurt the earth, neither the sea,

nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their

foreheads. Servants is from doulos, slaves or servants. If they are

Christ's slaves or servants, then they are to do some kind of work

for him. Both the Threshing Floor and Cyberspace Ministry teach that

the work of the 144,000 is way and beyond the serving of the Lord

done by most Christians.

Daniel 11: 33 says "And they that understand among the people shall

instruct many:..." This is three verses before Daniel 11: 36-38

saying the "king" will magnify himself above every god..." But he

will honor "...the god of forces..." This "king" is thought by many

to be the antichrist, and so this section of Daniel 11 must be dealing

with the very end times and the Tribulation period. They who

understand and instruct many then apparently live during the reign of

the antichrist. That is during the Tribulation period. Sue

Patterson of the Threshing Floor does cite Daniel 11: 33 in

saying the 144,000 will teach the Multitude.

Cyberspace Ministry says "The 144,000 are designated as «firstfruits

to God».This confirms that they are really a part of the Israel of

God, that is, the pure and faithful Church.

They are «holiness to the Lord», being set apart by God to fulfill a

very special work."

"Revelation 7:9

After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no

one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues,

standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white

robes, with palm branches in their hands.

As the 144,000 proclaim the three angels' message «to those who dwell

on the earth - to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people»

(Revelation 14:6), a great multitude will favorably respond to this

message, as we can see in this verse."

"First, let's not mix up the 144,000 and the great multitude:

- the 144,000 are a group which can be numbered (John said: «I

heard the number»);

- the great multitude is a group which «no one could number».

So, the 144,000 and the great multitude are two distinct groups."

So, the 144,000, that is, the Israel of God in the last days, will

teach the great multitude, that is, all those who, shortly before

Jesus' return, will respond to God's call, after hearing the

proclamation of the 144,000."

6. Do the 144,000 Receive A Great Outpouring of the Holy Spirit?

Sue Patterson of the Threshing Floor cites Revelation 14: 4-5 that

the 144,000 are not defiled with women, which she interprets to mean

they are not corrupted with false teachings, that they have no guile

or deceptiveness and are without fault before the throne of God. She

brings up Joel 2: 28, promising to pour out the Holy Spirit upon

all flesh, so that sons and daughters will prophesy and old men will

dream dreams. Apparently she saw no need to deal with the first

fulfillment of Joel 2: 28 in Acts 2: 17- 20 where Peter quotes that

text.

Cyberspace Ministry says that "The experience of the 144,000 calls

to mind the apostles' at Pentecost:

«"Now when the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with

one accord in one place. And they were all filled with the Holy

Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them

utterance.

Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every

nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the multitude came

together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his

own language.

"But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: And it shall come

to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out of My Spirit

on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young

men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams. Then those

who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three

thousand souls were added to them.» (ACTS 2:1,4-6,16,17,41)"

8. Is There a Strand in the Old Testament On the 144,000?

We don't find the number "144,000" applied to a group of people

living in the Tribulation in the Old Testament. But Sue Patterson

teaches a good deal on this strand. I do not find this teaching in

the Cyberspace Ministry article.

There are the three interesting prophecies about how the Lord will

deal with different groups of people.

Zechariah 13: 8-9 predicts that two-thirds will be cut off and die.

One

third will be brought through the fire and refined. John Gill of the

18th century in his

commentary on these verses says that the one third who will be refined

by being brought through the fire are the 144,000 and perhaps the few

at Sardis (Revelation 3: 4) who have not defiled their garments. But

these do not seem to make up as many as a third of the organized

church. Taking them through the fire could also mean they are killed

as

Revelation 20:4 says, but they are written in the Lamb's Book of

Life. They

are beheaded for their testimony of Jesus. There are some ambiguities

here, but then metaphors do not have to fit absolutely perfect at

all points. The

picture in general has to fit though.

I like most of John Gill's commentary on the Scriptures. He, like,

Matthew Henry some years earlier, was influenced by Reformed thinking.

But neither Gill nor Henry can fully open to us the texts on what is

to happen in the Tribulation period.

If we apply Zechariah 13: 8-9 to the First century Christian church,

again if the entire body of the church here are the Jews, then

certainly

not a full one third of the Jews become Christians, though this

prophecy

could very well apply to that period also. In the end time, the entire

church body are those in organized Christianity, in the churches.

Most

are apostate, but a third come through some kind of trial, or fire,

and

are purified. Now, that makes some sense to me.

In Ezekiel 5: 1-4 Ezekiel is told to shave off all his hair, to divide

it and to burn a third part "in the midst of the city, when the days

of

the siege are fulfilled." He is to take another third part and to

smite

it about with a knife, and another third will be scattered to the

wind.

"I will draw out a sword after them." Finally, Ezekiel is to take a

few

and bind them in his skirts. But it says in verse 4

these too will be cast into the fire "and burn them in the fire. Since

these few could be the 144,000 in the end times during the

Tribulation,

are they also to be killed? The one-

third who are scattered may be the Multitude referred to In

Revelation 7:9,

who are those who were within the apostate churches but come out and

are

purified.

The third text is Isaiah 28: 24-25 which is a kind of parable of

planting, like that in Matthew 13:

18-29 on the parable of the sower.

In Isaiah 28: 25 the first group of seeds are the fitches and cummin,

which are not really grain but some kind of poppe seeds or something =

like that. Then he casts in "...the principal wheat and the

appointed

barley and the rye in their place." The wheat here seems to represent

the Multitude, saved out of the apostate churches during the

Tribulation. The "Multitude" appear in Revelation 7:9, although there

it does not say they are only those who die during the Tribulation

and stand

before the

throne of God clothed in white robes. Other texts might be used to

show that a

Multitude are purified, such as Zechariah 13: 9.

In Leviticus 23: 10 the children of Israel were to bring a sheaf of

the firstfruits to the priest. Then according to Leviticus 23: 15-16

they are to count, from the day after the offering of the

firstfruits, seven sabbaths. From the time the sheaf of the

firstfruits is waved to the Lord by the priest, which is Passover

(Leviticus 23: 12), they are to number fifty days to Pentecost, with

the Feast of Weeks in between during which they harvest the barley.

But Leviticus 23 does not say its the barley harvest that comes before

the wheat harvest, nor that the

firstfruits the priest is to wave to the Lord around the time of

Passover is the first harvesting of barley We have to figure that out.

Jeremiah 5: 24 comments on the "appointed weeks of the harvest," and I

think on the use of the barley harvest as a metaphor for the pouring

out of the Holy Spirit upon the Remnant of Israel, the 144,000.

"Israel" is made up of all who are saved in Christ, as Paul implies

in Romans 11: 26, and out of this large group during the Tribulation

God is to make a remnant his servants and prophets to deliver his

word to many within the apostate majority, who have not fully come out

of Babylon, the apostate churches. The 144,000, I think, will be the

inspired speakers, the bearers of the Holy Spirit, to the Multitude.

"Let us now fear the Lord our God, that giveth the rain, both the

former and the latter, in his season: he reserveth unto us the

appointed weeks of the harvest (Jeremiah 5: 24)."

In Hosea 6: 3 the Lord promises that he himself will "...come unto us

as the rain, as the latter and former rain upon the earth."

Then, Joel 2: 23 says "...for he hath given you the former rain

moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the

former rain, and the latter rain in the first month." First of all,

"month" is italicized, and not in the Hebrew. We might leave "month"

out here, so it would say "...and the latter rain in the first." The

first what?

If we interpret Joel 2: 23 as saying that the former rain came down

upon the Apostles and disciples at Pentecost and afterward in the

First century, then that outpouring of the Holy Spirit was not

moderate. Maybe what this is saying is that the former rain has

continued since Pentecost, but at a moderate level. We do not have the

powerful outpouring of the Spirit that the Apostles had, but we have

some of that former rain.

Now I want to show that the barley harvest comes earlier in the spring

than the wheat harvest.In Exodus 9: 31 the plagues brought on Egypt

hit the barley but not the wheat because the wheat at that time of the

year was not up enough to be smitten. So we know the barley harvest

comes first, then the wheat harvest. The firstfruits at about the

time of Passover are barley. Revelation 14: 4 says the 144,000 are

the firstfruits redeemed from among men. It looks like the 144,000

are the barley in Isaiah 28: 25. The wheat are the Multitude

(Revelation 7: 9, at least in the Tribulation. Who the rye are I do

not know for sure now, but they are also said to be appointed. Perhaps

they are not apostate enough to be in the Multitude but not purified

enough of their sin nature to be in the 144,000. The word appointed

though is the only indication we might be on the right track here.

Perhaps they are represented by the few at Sardis who had not defiled

their garments and will walk with Christ in white (Revelation 3: 4).

Remember that those in Sardis are told in Revelation 3: 2 to "Be

watchful, and strengthen the things which remain..."

Knowing that barley represents the 144,000, we might apply that to the

feeding of the Multitude in John 6: 9-13 by the multiplying of fish

and barley loaves. I know this is something that

actually happened and not just a parable. The Threshing Floor hosts say that in

John 6: 12-13, when Jesus told his disciples to gather up all the

fragments so nothing would be lost, this is a prophecy that none of

the 144,000 will be lost, that is, killed or put in prison by the

forces of the antichrist. Right now, I do not agree nor disagree with

this. I am not certain of it.

Another text they use to show that none of the 144,000 will become ill or die is

Isaiah 33: 24, "And the inhabitant shall not say I am sick: the

people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity."

The "inhabitant" may refer to the inhabitant of Zion or heavenly

Jerusalem, though not physical Jerusalem.

"Sick" is a key word in Isaiah 33: 24. Sick is Strong's number 2470.

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance says it means to be sick, pain, be

sorry, make prayer, or beseech. Plugging Strong's number 1470 into

the Hebrew slot of www.houlton.net/monk gives us a definition of

chalah, number 2470, as become sick, to become weak.

Strong's number 2470, or chalah, is used 75 times in the Old

Testament. Out of these 75 times, it is translated as sick 31 times.

it is also translated as disease, wounded, infirmity and pain seven

times.

In most of these texts, the context determines whether chalah is

translated as sick or by a word similar to sick, or as make suit,

beseech, pray, supplication or besought. It is also translated as

weak a few times, depending on the context of the verse.

Lets look at the use of chalah in Isaiah, where it occurs six times.

it is translated as sick four times out of six. In Isaiah 14: 10 it

is translated as weak, and the context seems to support that. In

Isaiah 17: 11 it is translated as grief, and the context may support

that also.

Chalah translated as "sick" in Isaiah 33: 24 very likely does mean

disease and not grief, supplication or prayer. Is the inhabitant sick

from sin? He could be but sickness from sin might still be being

physically sick. The time when the inhabitant will not be sick is then

the main issue here.

The 144,000 are said in Revelation 14: to be without fault before

the throne of God Is this a statement of their spiritual condition

while in the flesh during the Tribulation, or when they are in the

actual presence of the Lord after he appears? It could refer to both.

If Isaiah 33: 24 refers to the 144,000 not being sick, then they are not sick from their sin. If the time period referred to in Isaiah 33: 24 is that of the Tribulation, then it may be that the 144,000 will not become sick after they are sealed.

There is still more from the Old Testament for Sue on the 144,000. If

you are interested, download some of her broadcasts on her series

on the 144,000 and also on the Multitude. Go to:

http://threshingfloor.onevoicemm.net/weblog/?page_id=18

Bernard