The
144,000
Who are They?
By Dr. Ken
Matto
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. (Revelation 7:4)
Another failure of the Dispensationalists is obvious in
the way they handle the 144,000 in Revelation 7 and 14:1.
You can look at any prophecy book and you will find them teaching that
the 144,000 are Jewish evangelists.
Let’s look at the Scriptures and see they say.
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. 5 Of the tribe
of Juda were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Reuben were
sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand.
6 Of the tribe of Aser were sealed twelve thousand. Of the
tribe of Nepthalim were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Manasses
were sealed twelve thousand. 7 Of the tribe of Simeon were
sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Levi were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Issachar were sealed twelve thousand. 8 Of the
tribe of Zabulon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Joseph
were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed
twelve thousand. (Revelation 7:4-8)
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. (Revelation 14:1-4)
When we look at Revelation 7:4-8 and 14:1-4, on the
surface it looks like the nation of Israel is in view.
Revelation was written in 95 A.D. which means the ancient nation of
Israel had already been destroyed for 25 years which means that something else
other than ancient Israel is in view.
It is definitely not modern Israel because they have no connection to
ancient Israel as all of them are followers of the false cult of Judaism which
is Talmudic in nature especially in their hatred of the Lord Jesus Christ.
So then let us look at the 144,000 from a biblical point of view and not
from a heretical prophecy book view.
The first thing we notice is that these 144,000 were
sealed. The word “sealed” is used
14 times in these 5 verses. Nowhere
in Scripture is the ancient nation of Israel spoken of as being sealed.
There is only one group of people in the Scriptures recorded as being
sealed and that is the body of believers.
Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of
the Spirit in our hearts. (2 Corinthians 1:22)
In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the
word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye
believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, (Ephesians
1:13)
And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are
sealed unto the day of redemption. (Ephesians 4:30)
So our understanding is beginning to open up a little as
to who the 144,000 are and they are not the Jehovah’s Witnesses as they claim.
The next thing we notice about Revelation 7:4-8 is the names of the 12
tribes.
Judah
Reuben
Gad
Asher
Naphtali
Manasseh
Simeon
Levi
Issachar
Zebulun
Joseph
Benjamin
Let’s go back to Revelation 7:4 and see something which
is very important.
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. (Revelation 7:4)
The verse states that 144,000 was sealed from “all the
tribes of Israel.” Wait a minute,
all the tribes?
Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path,
that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward. (Genesis
49:17)
Those that were numbered of them, even of the
tribe of Ephraim, were forty thousand and five hundred. (Numbers 1:33)
Dan and Ephraim
were both genuine tribes within the nation of Israel, yet they are excluded from
the list in Revelation 7:4-8 while verse 4 states “all the tribes.”
If every tribe had 12,000 sealed from them then we should have the number
168,000. Unless, we are dealing
with a symbolic representative number instead of an actual, literal number.
144,000 when
broken down is 12 X 12 X 1000. In
the Bible, the number 12 represents completeness.
We find 12 disciples, 12 original tribes of Israel, 12 gates in the
heavenly city, Jesus was in the temple at the age of 12, 12 cakes were placed in
the tabernacle, Jacob had 12 sons, 12 spies scouted the land of Canaan, after
Jesus fed the 5,000, there were 12 baskets of fragments left over, the tree in
Revelation 22 bears 12 fruits, etc.
There are many other uses of the number 12 but I think you get the message about
how important it is. It is used 189
times in 165 verses.
So armed with
the understanding that 12 is a multiplier of the number 144,000 we will now be
able to establish who the 144,000 are specifically pointing to.
9 After this I beheld, and, lo, a great
multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people,
and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white
robes, and palms in their hands; 10 And cried with a loud voice,
saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.
(Revelation 7:9-10)
Let us continue
on in Revelation 7. After the
sealing of the 144,000, we come to verses 9-10 which gives us insight as to what
takes place after the sealing. Then
John sees a great multitude which is comprised of all nations, kindreds which is
tribes and races, people and tongues which represent all the different languages
spoken on the earth. Now where is
John seeing this great multitude?
Is it on earth or is it in Heaven?
John now sees the entire redeemed church in Heaven. It was a great number which
were redeemed from the earth. John sees the culmination of thousands of years of
evangelism and missionary work and preaching as every one of God’s Elect is now
in glory. We see that there are people from every nation under heaven. The Great
Commission is now completed and all the true believers are now safe in Heaven.
All the believers are dressed in white robes which means they are now totally
pure and never again have to worry about the physical body causing a war between
the flesh and the spirit. They also have palms in their hands. When the Lord
Jesus Christ rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday the crowds had strewn the road
with palm branches. Here we have a figure of the rejoicing that crowd in
Jerusalem had but that rejoicing was very limited as the same crowd called for
the crucifixion of Jesus the next week. The crowd in Heaven which is said to
have palms in their hands are rejoicing with an unfettered joy, one which will
never end.
When the Lord Jesus rode into Jerusalem, the crowd had yelled “Hosanna.” Hosanna
means “save now or succour now.” The crowd in glory is now saying the truth that
Salvation is of God and the Lamb. God orchestrated His salvation plan and the
Lord Jesus Christ completed it on Calvary. Man never initiates salvation by
mythical free will or else why would the crowd be saying that salvation belongs
to God. They would be saying that salvation belongs to them since they made the
decision. All the focus for salvation is on God the Father and the Lord Jesus
Christ. Notice that the crowd is now yelling in a loud voice and not just a
moderate tone. The word “loud” carries with it the meaning of “great.”
Now let us continue on with the second set of verses to see if they harmonize
with what we have already discovered in Revelation 7.
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. (Revelation 14:1-4)
In verse 1 we
read that the Lamb, which is the Lord Jesus Christ was standing on Mount Zion
and it also mentions the seal of God upon the foreheads of the 144,000.
This harmonizes with Revelation 9:4 which speaks of the believers having
the seal of God in their foreheads in contrast to those who do not have the
seal.
And it was
commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any
green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God
in their foreheads. (Revelation 9:4)
Back to Revelation 14:1, throughout the Bible, especially in the Old Testament,
God will pronounce a judgment upon the nation of Israel or Judah, then we will
find in close proximity the great blessings which God promises to the Elect line
in those countries. We have the same situation here. Right on the heels of John
seeing the numbering of the followers of the beast in chapter 13, God intervenes
and shows John another great aspect of his vision. He sees the Lord Jesus
Christ, the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion. Mount Zion has always been associated
with salvation. And it shall come
to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered:
for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said,
and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call. (Joel 2:32) Here we have
this mount in Heaven. The mount in Scripture represents a kingdom and in this
case John is seeing the Kingdom of God with all the believers.
1 I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh
my help. 2 My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and
earth. (Psalm 121:1-2)
Psalm 121:1 tells us that the writer looks unto the hills for that is where his
help will come from and then goes on in verse 2 and plainly tells us who the
source of his help is, it is the LORD.
In 14:1, we know that heaven is in view because once again the 144,000 are
mentioned. This is important because in Revelation 7, where it is first
mentioned to this point the church had faced much persecution and the fact that
the same number is in view tells us that God had not lost one of His children.
He is the protector of His children and has promised that not one will ever be
lost, no matter how intense the persecution.
The Lord is not slack concerning his
promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not
willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. (2 Peter
3:9)
Then we are told that these 144,000 have their Father’s name written on their
forehead which is symbolic of having the seal of salvation on them. The fact
that they have the name of God on their foreheads is in contrast to chapter 13
where we see the number of the unsaved on their foreheads and in their right
hand, that number being 666 which is the number of the entire unsaved human
population. The name is not physically written on the foreheads but is symbolic
of all the redeemed of God.
Then in verses 3 and 4, this song is not being sung by angels because angels
were never redeemed from sin and Satan. The song which is being sung is by all
the redeemed from the earth. This new song they were singing was before the
throne. No doubt it was some type of song of redemption that only the Elect of
God can truly sing. I will sing a
new song unto thee, O God: upon a psaltery and an instrument of ten strings will
I sing praises unto thee. (Psalm 144:9)
David writes here that he has sung a new song plus he will be playing that new
song on a stringed instrument. That Psalm of David is now being played out to
the fullest in heaven by all the true believers. I would be surprised if David
was not of the harpists.
John is describing the redeemed body of believers in several ways here. The
first description is that of being virgins.
For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one
husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. (2 Corinthians
11:2)
The Apostle Paul had told the church at Corinth that he wanted to present the
church as a chaste virgin unto Christ. The description of the redeemed being
virgins is because they have been purified by the blood of Christ. The virgin is
one who has not had any sex with anyone until marriage and here they are spoken
of as being virgins even though they are married to Christ.
When it says that they were not defiled with women, this
is an allusion to the false religions of the world.
The children gather wood, and the
fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the
queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may
provoke me to anger. (Jeremiah 7:18) In Jeremiah 7, we read that it
was the women who baked cakes to offer to the queen of heaven. In ancient times
there were number of female deities. One was known as Ashtoreth.
For Solomon went after Ashtoreth
the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the
Ammonites. (1 Kings 11:5) Another one was named Asherah who was the female
companion of Baal. Then there was Ishtar of the Babylonians, Diana of the
Ephesians, and Mary of Roman Catholicism. Now 14:4 is not specifically speaking
of these pagan deities but I wanted to give an example that there were many
false female deities in ancient times and of course who can forget Jezebel.
What God is telling us here is that the redeemed body of believers are chaste
virgins who follow the Lamb and not any false religion. It is worthy to note
that these redeemed followed the Lord wherever He went. The Lord was willing to
give up His life for the Elect. Millions of His followers also gave up their
lives in following the Lamb and not compromising their testimony. Those that
gave their lives in following the Lamb may be referred to as the “firstfruits.”
The firstfruits were offered unto God as an offering in the Old Testament. It is
more likely that the entire body of believers are in view here as we read in
James 1:18.
Of his own will begat he us with the word
of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. (James 1:18) In
James it speaks of all the believers being the firstfruits which gives us an
indication that the true believers are the firstfruits of mankind who were
redeemed from all of mankind throughout history. As a farmer brings only part of
his crop at the beginning as an offering, so the believers, who were named from
the foundation of the world are the firstfruits of mankind. After the
firstfruits are brought as an offering, there is no secondary fruit offering.
This means that those who God named before the foundation of the world are the
only believers who are going to be saved and therefore are represented by the
firstfruits which is a small part of the crop or the human race.
Summary