Prophecy
7
The
144,000 – Revelation 7:1-8:1
_________________________________________________________
Revelation
7:5-8
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.
Of the tribe of Aser were sealed
twelve thousand. Of the tribe of
Nephthalim were sealed twelve
thousand. Of the tribe of Manasses
were sealed twelve thousand. 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. 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.{5} Jesus
selected and sealed 12,000 from the
tribe of Judah, Reuben 12,000, Gad
12,000,
{6} Asher
12,000, Naphtali 12,000, Manasseh
12,000,
{7} Simeon
12,000, Levi 12,000, Issachar 12,000,
{8} Zebulun
12,000, Joseph 12,000, and from the
tribe of Benjamin 12,000.
The 144,000
will be people who have shown
exemplary love, loyalty, and
determination to serve God,
regardless of personal circumstances
or distress. Jesus will appear to
each of the 144,000 as He did to the
Apostle Paul on the road to Damascus.
When Jesus appears to them, they will
be astonished. Jesus will inform each
person that he or she has been
selected to serve as His mouthpiece.
Jesus, through the ministry of the
Holy Spirit, will give each person
the words that Jesus will speak
through them.[13] The
144,000 will not speak on their own.
To keep His servants from failure,
Jesus will remove their carnal nature
in a single day.[14] They
will be the first people
(firstfruits) set free from
sin’s power and temptation since
the fall of Adam and Eve. They will
be examples to everyone that any
sinner can be set free of sin’s
power through faith in Christ. A seal
will be placed in their foreheads.
This seal will not be a visible mark
like the mark of the beast (which
will be a tattoo), but a seal of
ownership which God alone can see.[15]
For 1,260
days the 144,000 will prophesy in
sackcloth (fierce persecution and
anguish). Their words will oppose the
religious paradigms of the world.
Their words will inflame the
religious and political leaders of
Earth. The 144,000 will experience
the same suffering that Jesus had to
endure when He was upon Earth –
threats, hate, rejection, ridicule,
bodily injury, and death. Eventually,
most, if not all, of the 144,000 will
be killed in the line of duty for the
sake of God’s truth.
Note: Most
likely, the tribe of Dan is not
mentioned as one of the twelve tribes
because this tribe was destroyed
during the rebellion of the ten
tribes.[16] If this
conclusion is true, it explains how
the tribe of Levi, which was not
originally counted as one of the
twelve tribes, takes the place of
Dan. It is also interesting to note
that the tribe of Levi is not
identified as “the priests of
Israel” or elevated above the
other tribes in this list. Remember,
after Jesus died on the cross, God
redefined Israel. The priesthood of
the Levites was eliminated and
transferred to all believers.[17] There
is no spiritual distinction between
Levites or Benjamites under the New
Covenant. Also notice that the tribe
of Joseph is used as another name for
the tribe of Ephraim. For further
discussion on the “Israel of
God,” please see Appendix B.
Revelation
7:9-10
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; And cried with a loud voice,
saying, Salvation to our God which
sitteth upon the throne, and unto the
Lamb.{9} I
looked again toward Heaven and saw a
numberless multitude standing around
God’s throne. This multitude
included people from every nation,
tribe, and language. They stood in
front of the Lamb, wearing white
robes and holding palm branches in
their hands.
{10} They cried
out in a loud voice: “Salvation
belongs to our God, who sits on the
throne, and to the Lamb.”
This
multitude consists of people who have
embraced the gospel of Jesus during
the Great Tribulation. Consequently,
they have received God’s gift of
righteousness during the last hours
of Earth’s history.
Christ’s righteousness and
eternal life are theirs because they
surrendered to Christ’s
authority and His gospel. No wonder
they sing, “Salvation belongs to
our God who sits on the throne and to
the Lamb!” Their experience
mirrors that of the thief on the
cross. They are absolutely astonished
at God’s incredible mercy and
His gift of salvation because they
chose to place their faith in Him!
Revelation
7:11-12
And
all the angels stood round about the
throne, and about the elders and the
four beasts, and fell before the
throne on their faces, and worshipped
God, Saying, Amen: Blessing, and
glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving,
and honour, and power, and might, be
unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.{11} Millions
of angels gathered around the
numberless multitude and around the
twenty-four elders and the four
living creatures. Altogether, the
vast throng fell down on their faces
and worshiped God
{12} saying:
“Amen! Praise and glory and
wisdom and thanks and honor and power
and strength be to our God forever
and ever. Amen!”
This scene is
emotionally overwhelming because the
angels, the twenty-four elders, and
the four living creatures know and
understand the incredible value of
eternal life. The song of the
redeemed will be one of the most
touching songs ever sung in the
universe. A numberless multitude will
stand before the Father and the Lamb.
They will wear white robes and hold
palm branches in their hands. They
had been sinners in a degenerate
world, without hope or purpose, but
they heard the gospel and put their
faith in Christ during those last,
horrible, dark days of the Great
Tribulation. As a result, their
fortunes changed! When the redeemed
grasp the magnitude of God’s
love and generosity, when they see
the golden streets of the Holy City
for themselves, and when they grasp
the value of eternal life with Jesus,
certainly they will fall on their
faces and say, “God is love
– God is love! Having hearts
filled with gratitude, they will
sing, “Redeemed! How I love to
proclaim it. Redeemed by the blood of
the Lamb!”
Revelation
7:13-14
And
one of the elders answered, saying
unto me, What are these which are
arrayed in white robes? and whence
came they? And I said unto him, Sir,
thou knowest. And he said to me,
These are they which came out of
great tribulation, and have washed
their robes, and made them white in
the blood of the Lamb.{13} As
I watched, one of the twenty-four
elders approached me and asked,
“These people in the white
robes; who are they, and where did
they come from?”
{14} I
answered, “Sir, you know.”
And he said, “Yes, I know who
they are and I want you to tell
everyone that the numberless
multitude will be made up of people
who come out of the Great
Tribulation. They are the harvest
which were gathered by the 144,000.
These are the people who abandoned
their families and religious
heritage. They placed their faith in
Jesus by obeying His Word. They
washed their robes in His blood by
patiently enduring persecution and
their faith in Christ has been
purified and refined through intense
suffering for the sake of truth.
Revelation
7:15-17
Therefore
are they before the throne of God,
and serve him day and night in his
temple: and he that sitteth on the
throne shall dwell among them. They
shall hunger no more, neither thirst
any more; neither shall the sun light
on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb
which is in the midst of the throne
shall feed them, and shall lead them
unto living fountains of waters: and
God shall wipe away all tears from
their eyes.{15} “Because
their faith in God was thoroughly
tested, they will be given high
positions in His government. They
will serve God as priests and kings,
day and night in His temple; and God
will provide everything they need.
{16} Never
again will they hunger as they did
during the Great Tribulation; they
will never thirst as they did during
the days of God’s wrath. The
Sun’s scorching heat will not
beat down on them again.
{17} For the
Lamb will be their Shepherd; He will
lead them to springs of living water.
God will wipe away every tear from
their eyes. He will grant them joy
and happiness beyond understanding
– forever and ever and
ever.”
One
Thousand Years Later
One thousand
years after the Second Coming, the
holy city, New Jerusalem, will
descend from Heaven to Earth. The
wicked (who are resurrected at the
end of the 1,000 years) will meet
Jesus face to face. Everyone who has
ever lived on Earth will be alive and
present for this occasion. The saints
will be safe within the Holy City and
the wicked of all ages will stand
outside the city. Everyone will see
each other and Jesus as well. The
physical contrast between the wicked
and the saints will be stunning. The
saints, possessing glorious bodies
and radiant countenances, will stand
along the walls of the New Jerusalem.
The wicked will stand before God in
the same degenerate bodies that they
had during their life on Earth. The
physical, mental, and spiritual toll
that sin imposed on mankind will be
shocking and obvious.
Perhaps the
scenario continues like this: Jesus
will raise His arms and silence will
settle over the vast crowd. He will
point upward and everyone will look
into the sky and watch a compelling
scene. The clouds will be pulled back
like a giant curtain to form a huge
screen. Each person will then watch a
flawless replay of his own life. The
details will be clear and truthful.
Faithful angels recorded every word
and action in real time and now, each
person will be permitted to see his
life as God saw it.[18] In
addition to his own life, each person
will be shown scenes of Christ’s
life. Everyone will watch His birth,
suffering, and death at Calvary. In
fact, everyone will see the Plan of
Redemption and the enormity of
God’s grace and love as the
movie unfolds. At the end, Jesus will
speak to each wicked person,
explaining why He could not save
them. On that day, every person will
see that his choices during this life
determined his eternal fate. When
this phase of the Great White Throne
Judgment ends, every knee will bow.[19]The wicked
will admit that Jesus is a righteous
judge, He has carefully taken
everything into consideration, and
His decision is just and fair.
Meanwhile, the saints inside the city
will say that the Lord’s
forgiveness, mercy, and grace are
undeserved. After the wicked and
saints acknowledge the righteousness
of Christ as the judge of mankind,
Jesus will draw everyone’s
attention to The Book of Life. There
is one remaining seal left to be
broken. Jesus will break open the
seventh seal and the contents of The
Book of Life will be exposed!
