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Link of article or video : http://www.answers2prayer.org/bible_questions/.../144000.html

Hello all,

Many if not most of the articles that speak of the 144,000 tell us that they are Jewish. This happens because the great majority of religious Christians believe what their churches tell them without finding out for themselves. The one major foundation stone needed to truly understand the Bible is never put in place, and the rest of the doctrine built on top of the misconception, that Israel is only Jewish, just compounds the issue.

I wish that everyone who is waiting for a rapture before the tribulation and believes that they are worthy to be taken off this earth, would please consider that they may instead be part of God's elect that will become His soldiers, and truly fight the good fight.

The following is excerpts from yet another study that speaks of what the Bible says about this army of 144,000 sealed of God. I pray that we can see clearly about who these elect are, and can count ourselves among them.


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What does the bible say about the 144,000?

The number 144,000 is symbolic of the elect of the whole of the church, which God will protect through the tribulation at the end of the age.

Rev 7:1-8

“After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree. Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea: "Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God." Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel. From the tribe of Judah 12,000 were sealed, from the tribe of Reuben 12,000, from the tribe of Gad 12,000, from the tribe of Asher 12,000, from the tribe of Naphtali 12,000, from the tribe of Manasseh 12,000, 7 from the tribe of Simeon 12,000, from the tribe of Levi 12,000, from the tribe of Issachar 12,000, from the tribe of Zebulun 12,000, from the tribe of Joseph 12,000, from the tribe of Benjamin 12,000.”

Facts:

1.The 144,00 are all sealed on their forehead and are servants of God.

2.They are sealed before any harm is done on earth.

3.They are from all the tribes of Israel.

Rev 14:1-5

“Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads. And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of rushing waters and like a loud peal of thunder. The sound I heard was like that of harpists playing their harps. And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they kept themselves pure. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were purchased from among men and offered as firstfruits to God and the Lamb. No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless.”

Facts:

4. That seal consists on Jesus’ name and His Father’s name. (This is confirmed by the apostle Paul, who wrote: 2 Cor 1:21-22. “He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.” confirming that the seal of God is His Holy Spirit)

5. The 144,000 are all redeemed (saved) and are singing a new song that no one else knew.

6. They didn’t defile themselves with women (in symbolic terms, women equals to churches, which would mean they did not follow what their church taught them, but based their beliefs solely on the Bible)

7. They are pure (doctrinally they don’t follow any of men’s doctrines, as they follow only what is directed in the Bible)
8. They follow only Jesus (not their pastors, priests, prophets and other important human people)

9. They are the firstfruits of God and Jesus.

10. No lies can be found in them (no wonder, they follow only the Bible., which according to David is right and true Ps 33:4 “For the word of the LORD is right and true; he is faithful in all he does.”)

John’s descriptions are based on the Old and New Testament imagery.

1. The imagery of Passover: Ex 12:12-13:

"On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn--both men and animals--and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD. The context here is of judgment. The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.”

Just like the blood on the doorframes would protect the Israelites from the calamity at hand, it seems that God’s seal, His Holy Spirit will be a protection of the calamities that will fall upon our earth.

2. The imagery of Ezekiel and the ink horn (see Ezek 9). Again the context here is of judgment and of divine protection around those who are faithful to God. A man who had a writing kit on his side, goes through the city and marks a Hebrew taw on the foreheads of all those who are faithful to God.

3. Third: Paul’s imagery of the seal being God’s Holy Spirit:

2 Cor 1:22: “Set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.”

Eph 1:13: “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit”

Eph 4:30-31: “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”

2 Tim 2:19: “Nevertheless, God's solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: ‘The Lord knows those who are his,’ and, ‘Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.’”

In these verses, those belonging to God are sealed with His Holy Spirit. The image is of security, not protection.

In Rev. 7 those who are faithful to God are sealed on the forehead, just as in Ezekiel, before calamities are lashed out on earth, indicating protection from God Himself.

This theme is picked up again in Rev 9:4: “They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads.”

In other words, the sealed ones are protected from any of the calamities fallen on earth.

Concerning Rev. 14: “. . .144,000 are ‘the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth.’ They are described as celibate virgins, which in Revelation means that they have not been seduced by the forces of evil nor made a compromise with idolatry. They are also totally truthful.” (from Hard Sayings of the Bible copyright (C) 1996 by Walter C. Kaiser Jr., Peter H. Davids, F.F. Bruce, Manfred T. Brauch, published by InterVarsity Press. All rights reserved.)

The 144,000 are faithful only to God! They are also offered as the firstfruits to God and Jesus. What does this mean? Let us look in the Bible for answers:

James 1:18: “He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.”

The firstfruits here are the Christians in relation to the world.

Rom 11:16: “If the part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches.”

The firstfuits here are the Gentile believers in relation to the full repentance of Israel.

Who are the 144,000 then?

“The theory that they are the martyrs of the last days is attractive, but in the end unconvincing because nothing is said in these passages of their being martyrs. Instead it appears that all of the "servants of God" are sealed. These "servants" are part of a larger group that is not serving God. That many of these folk might become martyrs is reasonable, given the persecution described in Rev 13, but John says nothing to make us think that they are exclusively martyrs.

“The theory that they are the Jewish believers of the end time is also attractive since the tribes of Israel are named. However, there are also problems here. Both the order of the tribal list and the names included are unusual. For example, both Manasseh and his father, Joseph, are included (Joseph apparently standing for Ephraim). Dan is missing, although he is present in Ezekiel's end-time list (Ezek 48). Thus John appears to indicate that the list stands for something other than any known form of Israel. Yet another problem is that most of "Israel" is not saved (that is, is not in the 144,000), while Paul's expectation (Rom 11:26) is that "all Israel will be saved."

If both John and Paul have versions of Christian expectation about the Jews, there must have been two competing expectations in the early church. Finally, in Rev 7 these folk are called simply the "servants of God," which is not a term unique to Jewish believers.

Likewise the description of them in Rev 14 could fit any believer who is faithful to God and does not compromise with the "beast" and the "false prophet."

In Rev 9 all who are not sealed are tormented. Does this mean that Gentile believers are tormented while Jewish ones are not? And doesn't a Jew-Gentile distinction within the church run counter to all of Paul's arguments about God's breaking down the walls between the races? These reasons persuade me that this cannot be the correct explanation.” (from Hard Sayings of the Bible copyright (C) 1996 by Walter C. Kaiser Jr., Peter H. Davids, F.F. Bruce, Manfred T. Brauch, published by InterVarsity Press. All rights reserved.)

Who are the 144,000 then? I can’t say it better than this:

“The 144,000, then, stand for God's faithful people, Jew or Gentile. They are, just as the text says, ‘the servants of our God.’ The image of Israel is probably drawn from the picture in Ezek 9. Just as all of the tribes of Israel present in Jerusalem (the last stand of Judaism before the exile) were included then, so all of the tribes of humanity will be included in the end.

The 12 x 12 x 1000 stresses the completeness of this number; all of God's servants from all of humanity are sealed. The purpose of their sealing is to protect them not from temptation or martyrdom, but from the judgment of God.

This is God's church of the end times, when God's judgment is coming to a peak. Since they are faithful, there is no reason for judgment to fall upon them. In Rev 7 the image of the 144,000 protected on earth is coupled with a parallel image of the church in heaven, an encouragement to persevere. In Rev 14 the 144,000 are in heaven, for in the same chapter is the harvest of the earth. The final judgments, which will destroy everything and everyone in their path, are about to begin.” (from Hard Sayings of the Bible copyright (C) 1996 by Walter C. Kaiser Jr., Peter H. Davids, F.F. Bruce, Manfred T. Brauch, published by InterVarsity Press. All rights reserved.)

The 144,000 thus are a symbolic number of all those who at the end times will stand for Jesus and follow only His Word, the Bible. No compromises are made to satisfy the evil forces of this world. Only Jesus counts. He is our leader. One is counted in that number, if he or she does not compromise his or her faith. What does the Bible say? Is it according the Scriptures? No lies are accepted. Only the truth is important.

What is the truth? It is not a church, it is not a doctrine. The truth is a person.

John 14:6: “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’”

Will you follow only Jesus in your life? Or do you prefer to make compromises? The choice in yours. Don’t base your faith on a human person or on any institution. Base it on Jesus. Only him can set you free

John 8:32: “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

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The truth is a person!! When one knows Jesus Christ, one is set free! Soon all those who know Him will be like Him, and become one of the Sons of God, sealed and protected as they go forth as a soldier of God, in His end time army. No one is taken to heaven before the last 3 1/2 years of the Great Tribulation! They are changed in a twinkling of an eye and will go forth to fulfill the Great Commission. I pray that we begin to see this truth and know that we will be part of His army in the final battle against evil.

JESUS IS ALL AND EVERYTHING!!!

BEHOLD HE COMES QUICKLY!!

Patti C.