We consider the identity of the 144,000. A group of anointed Christians that appear during the time of the end and we find them in the 7th chapter of the book of Revelation. This is a very much talked about subject and in fact, you will find hundreds of video online discussing the identity of this group. Now the most videos are preoccupied on whether the number 144,000 is symbolic or literal OR whether the 144,000 are physical or spiritual Israelites. So, I will follow a completely different line of reasoning to approach the subject and in doing so we will learn so much more about this group of people and their identity. Now for anyone who ever studies the book of Revelation in depth you know that in order to undd Revelation you need to have first study the Old Testament because many events you see in the book of Revelation are mirroring events or characters of the Old Testament. So this is the first line of reasoning, we will go to the Old Testament and look for the 144,000 in similar accounts. The second line of reasoning we will consider the immediate context of chapter 7 of the book of Revelation was the 144,000 appear and more specifically the 6th chapter. Before we do that let’s first consider the verses in question. In the 7th chapter of the book of Revelation, we have the appearance of 2 groups of people. The first one is found in Revelation 7:4 where we read: “And I heard the number of those who were sealed. One hundred and forty-four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed” and then it goes on to explain that they are 12,000 from each tribe, so the first group is the 144000 anointed Israelites. But later on, we see another group, the “great multitude (or great crowd, depending on which translation you read)”, we read in 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, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” “Later on the angel explains who is this great multitude in 7:14: “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” This is not the first time we see in the Bible these 2 groups of people, a special group of Israelites and a great multitude. All you have to do is to go back in the 12th chapter of the book of Exodus and you will see the exact same setting. Before we read the verses where we need to talk about the background of these verses. At the end of the 10 plagues of Egypt, the Egyptians had suffered terrible loses not only their land had suffered terrible calamity in the hands of God, but they had also lost their livestock and finally, they had lost their firstborns. These plagues had demonstrated beyond any shred of doubt that the gods of Egypt were no match to Yahweh the God of the Israelites, the God of the slaves. A choice was presented to the nation of Egypt. Follow the true God Yahweh or ignore what just happened and stay behind carry on living life as you did before. In the future, the same choice will be presented to the disobedient mankind when they will experience calamities in the hands of God that ignore and disrespect. We read then what happened in the aftermath of the 10th plague that the majority of Egyptians in Exodus 12:33-36: “And the Egyptians urged the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste. For they said, “We shall all be dead.” 34 So the people took their dough before it was leavened, having their kneading bowls bound up in their clothes on their shoulders. 35 Now the children of Israel had done according to the word of Moses, and they had asked from the Egyptians articles of silver, articles of gold, and clothing. 36 And the Lord had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians so that they granted them what they requested. Thus they plundered the Egyptians. “So the majority of the Egyptians just wanted the Israelites to go away but some Egyptians along with other slaves or people of other nationalities residing in Egypt at the time went along with the Israelites. We read in Exodus 12:37,38: “Then the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides children. 38 A mixed multitude went up with them also, and flocks and herds—a great deal of livestock.” So, on one hand, you had 600,000 physical Israelites with their families and on the other hand, you had a great multitude exiting Egypt. Now, in the future, in the same way, 144,000 spiritual Israelites will escape the cities of this world along with a great multitude of people who will follow them in the “greater Exodus”. And anyone who is trying to make a case that the 144,000 is a symbolic number they do not present any verse as a basis for their argument but here we do have an account that does just that. All you have to do is to consider the parallel account of Exodus where 600,000 literal Israelites made their way out of Egypt. You see there are people who will see a miracle and will dismiss it but for others will be a life-changing experience. In Jesus, days Pharisees saw him performing miracles and instead of praising God they were saying he was performing miracles with the power of Satan. This is the unforgivable sin, you can blaspheme God and His Son but when see the operation of the holy spirit in action and still don’t believe there is no coming back for you. You are a lost soul! Jesus told those Pharisees in Mark 3:28-30: “Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter; 29 but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation”— 30 because they said, “He has an unclean spirit.”” The same thing happened with the Egyptians, most ignored the plagues but for a “great multitude,” it was a life-changing experience. If you go back a few chapters you can see that many Egyptians started putting faith in the God of the Israelites. We read in chapter 9 after Moses had pronounced the 7th plague to Pharaoh, many of his officials started putting faith in God, we read in Exodus 9:20: “He who feared the word of the Lord among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his livestock flee to the houses. 21 But he who did not regard the word of the Lord left his servants and his livestock in the field.” And I believe many of them became part of the “great multitude” during the Exodus. Now, this is not the only place that we see the 144,000 being mirrored in the Old Testament. When the 40 years of the wandering in the wilderness were coming to an end the Israelites were called to arms to fight one final battle before entering the Promised Land, this battle was a forerunner of the last battle of the End Times before the followers of Christ will enter their “Promised Land”. Right before entering the Promised Land the Israelites fell prey to Balaam the false prophet of God that along with Balaak the Midianite king coerced the Israelites to commit fornication and offer sacrifices to idols. For that reason, 24,000 Israelites were put to death but God didn’t forgive the Midianites. He ordered Moses revenge Israel but doing that in a way that is reminiscent of the book of Revelation chapter 7 and the gathering of 12,000 of each tribe at the time of the End. Numbers 31:1-6: “And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 2 “Take vengeance on the Midianites for the children of Israel. Afterward, you shall be gathered to your people.”3 So Moses spoke to the people, saying, “Arm some of the yourselves for war, and let them go against the Midianites to take vengeance for the Lord on Midian. 4 A thousand from each tribe of all the tribes of Israel you shall send to the war.”5 So there were recruited from the divisions of Israel one thousand from each tribe, twelve thousand armed for war. 6 Then Moses sent them to the war, one thousand from each tribe; he sent them to the war with Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, with the holy articles and the signal trumpets in his hand.”(So what we have here is a similar structure, Moses was told to send into battle 1000 from each tribe against the Midianites, God himself in sending into battle 12,000 from each tribe at the time of the end)What interesting is that not one of these 12,000 died in battle they all returned alive! Numbers 31:48,49: “Then the officers who were over thousands of the army, the captains of thousands and captains of hundreds, came near to Moses; 49 and they said to Moses, “Your servants have taken a count of the men of war who are under our command, and not a man of us is missing.” WHEN WILL THE 144,000 APPEAR? One way to understand the identity of the 144000 is to understand when and why they will appear. You have to understand that these saints are not here now as Jehovah’s Witnesses claim and they will not appear until God puts his seal on them in the future. We know when exactly these saints will appear in the future because the book of Revelation is telling us so. The last days as described in the book of Revelation are divided into 2 main time periods, First the six seals period and then the 7 trumpets. The six seals and the seven trumpets are nothing more than a number of plagues that will befall mankind during the time of the end. Most of the seals are the product of human government and the rest is a product of God’s wrath poured upon disobedient mankind. These plagues are fashioned after the 10 plagues of Egypt. What is remarkable about the 10 plagues of Egypt is the fact that only the first 3(the Nile turning into blood, the plague of frogs and the plague of gnats) affected both Egyptians and Israelites but when we reach the 4th plague here is what happened. We read in Exodus 8:20-23:” And the Lord said to Moses, “Rise early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh as he comes out to the water. Then say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Let My people go, that they may serve Me. 21 Or else, if you will not let My people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies on you and your servants, on your people and into your houses. The houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground on which they stand. 22 And in that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, in which My people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there, in order that you may know that I am the Lord in the midst of the land. 23 I will [f]make a difference between My people and your people. Tomorrow this sign shall be.” ’” So you see God set apart the Israelites from that point onward, He protected them and safeguarded them and no other plague affected them from that point on. This is a type of things to come. God will not allow His people to go through most of the plagues of the last days. We read in 1 Thess.5:9: “For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,” The Church at the time of the end will be protected from the wrath of God, the wrath of God is only for the unbelievers. Paul explained that in Romans 1:18: “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who [d]suppress the truth in unrighteousness” So God’s people will be protected from his wrath because God will make a special provision to hide the Church to a special place where no evil men or Satan can reach it. We read in Revelation 12:6: “Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days.” So, for the entirety of the last 3 ½ of the Great Tribulation, God will hide the Church to an undisclosed location here on Earth. Now how is that relevant to the 144,000 saints? You see these 144,000 are part of the Church but they are not going to the wilderness. They will not follow the rest of their Christian counterparts in that special place reserved from God for their safety. They will have to stay behind. They have a very special work to do but for that, they will need special protection. So, we read in the last two verses of chapter of 6 of the book of Revelation: “And the kings of the earth, the great men, [j]the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, 16 and said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! 17 For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” (Rev.6:15-17) You see the wrath of God is reserved for the unbelievers and those without special protection. You can not withstand the wrath of God without his special protection. So the answer to the question “the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” is not a RHETORICAL question it has a real answer and the answer is given in the following 3 verses: “After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree. 2 Then 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 granted to harm the earth and the sea, 3 saying, “Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.” 4 And I heard the number of those who were sealed. One hundred and forty-four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed:”(Rev.7:1-4) So “who can stand during those days”? The answer is the 144,000! And it makes me laugh when I read different commentaries explaining these verses in Revelation 7:1-4 as symbolic. The angels are specifically instructed not to harm “the earth or the sea or the trees”. These are not symbolic. How can anyone stand next to symbolic trees, or symbolic earth or a symbolic sea? These are not symbolic! The 144,000 will have to walk the earth when the winds of divine destruction are unleashed upon the earth. No human being can withstand that without God’s supernatural protection. We know from other parts of the Bible that God will literally burn the earth. We read in 2 Peter 3:10:” But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and [b]perdition of ungodly men.” Now let’s go back to that concept we mentioned earlier. The fact that the 144,000 unlike the rest of the Church that has a place reserved in the wilderness by God, they will stay behind to deliver the last message of judgment. And we read more about this Revelation 12:14-17: “But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent. 15 So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood. 16 But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. 17 And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus [c]Christ.” So, you see the first thing that Satan does when he is thrown out of heaven is to persecute the Church “the woman” and while the Church is given a miraculous escape to its place in the “wilderness” Satan is giving up chasing after her. That is reminiscent of the Israelites in the book of Exodus. The Egyptian army could never reach the Israelite camp because of the cloud that stood between the 2 armies. We read in Exodus 14:19,20: “And the Angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud went from before them and stood behind them. 20 So it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel. Thus it was a cloud and darkness to the one, and it gave light by night to the other, so that the one did not come near the other all that night.” So, Satan is giving up chasing the Church for 2 reasons, first, he realizes it is impossible to reach and destroy the Church because of God intervening to save her and secondly which is relevant to our topic he finally gets to find out who are the 144,000 and he has to go back to the cities of the unbelieving humanity to find them and destroy them. We read in Revelation 12:17: “And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. “So you see Satan is enraged at the Church and chasing after her without any success so he turns back and goes off to wage war with the 144,000 whose identity has just been revealed. So, you see this verse shows conclusively that these two bodies of Christians will separate during the time of the end. It makes me laugh when people say, “I’m one of the 144,000”, no you’re not because if you were you would be waging war with Satan right now. That reminds us of the account of Herod and the killing of the male infant in Bethlehem. You see Jesus was God’s “elect” and he had to be protected until he was of age to take upon his election but God all the time before that He safeguarded his identity. Any small piece of information Satan could get hold of he used it to “wage war” and exterminate God’s “elect”. And we read in Matthew 2:16: “Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men.” So you see the moment Herod, an instrument of Satan, found out that a king is born in Bethlehem he used this information immediately to engage in an indiscriminate massacre of all boy infants in Bethlehem and surrounding areas over the age of 2. Interestingly tradition has it that 14,000 boys were massacred during that time. That is why God has to keep the identity of the 144,000 hidden up to the last minute because these are Satan’s nemesis, they will give him a run for his money at the time of the end. Many Christians don’t realize that 2 wars will be waged during the time of the end between Satan and his forces and the anointed. The one is waged when Satan is thrown down to earth between him and the 144,000. The outcome of this war is described in Revelation 6:9-11 in the opening of the 5th seal: “9 When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. 10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” 11 Then a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed.” There are 2 waves of persecution during the time of the end. One instigated by the Antichrist and one instigated by Satan and in the same way that God protected his “elect” Jesus first time around for 3 ½ years but “seemingly” abandoned him on the cross, in the same way, he will protect his elect throughout their war with Satan for a period of time ultimately they will be defeated and killed and that is because they will return for round 2 with their glorified bodies along Jesus to wage war and destroy Satan at the battle of Armageddon.
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