Prophecy
7
The
144,000 – Revelation 7:1-8:1
_________________________________________________________
The
Sequence Continues
Revelation
8:1
And
when he had opened the seventh seal,
there was silence in heaven about the
space of half an hour.{8:1} When
the Lamb broke the seventh seal, He
opened The Book of Life and everyone
saw a second “movie” in the
sky. The wicked and the saints stood
in silence for about a half-hour as
they watched a phenomenal story.
When Jesus
breaks the final seal on The Book of
Life, everyone will see what the
Father foreknew before any life was
created. Everyone will see that the
Father knew who would choose
salvation and who would not; even
before any life was created. Everyone
will realize that the contents of The
Book of Life are identical to the
Books of Record which the angels
recorded in real time.[20] The
Father’s foreknowledge
concerning the life and details of
each person will be stunning!
The contents
of The Book of Life will prove to the
universe that the Father did not use
His foreknowledge to manipulate the
behavior or destiny of anyone. God
did not prevent anyone from choosing
to sin. He did not prevent Lucifer,
the angels, or Adam and Eve from
rebelling against His authority. The
Books of Record (recorded in real
time) and The Book of Life (written
before any life was created) are
identical in every way, which proves
that every being had been given the
privilege of choice, and that every
creature had been given the power
that comes with choice. The
difference between privilege and
power is important. The
“privilege” of choice means
that we are free to choose. The
“power” of choice means
that we are free to act on our
choices and direct ourselves.
Consequently, each person is
responsible and accountable to God
for his or her actions.
The discovery
of the power and privilege of choice
reveals a new aspect of God’s
love for everyone. God permits His
children to love Him or hate Him. God
permits His children to surrender to
His authority or rebel against it.
God allows this because He has given
us the privilege and power of choice!
Suddenly, the controversy over
God’s sudden death law will make
sense. Even though He created that
law before life began, God does not
implement this law until everyone has
a complete knowledge of good and
evil. God has wisely permitted a few
thousand years of sorrow, suffering,
and death to transpire so that sin
would not have to be tolerated again;
not even for one single day. I cannot
think of anything more wonderful than
this!
The Books of
Record will be identical with The
Book of Life with one exception
– the names of those individuals
who rejected the Holy Spirit were
blotted out when the Father
originally wrote The Book of Life and
sealed it. In other words, the Father
foreknew, before each person was
created, who would commit the
unpardonable sin, but His
foreknowledge did not stop Him from
giving that person the privilege and
power of choice! Remember, The Book
of Life is not used when Christ
judges mankind. The Book of Life is
opened only at the end of the 1,000
years. Only the Books of Record,
recorded in real time by the angels,
are used when Jesus judges the dead.
The wicked must die because they were
defiant – they blasphemed the
Holy Spirit. The remaining names in
The Book of Life will go on living;
they will never cease to enjoy
eternal life because they chose
submission!
The
Rules of Interpretation
Consider how
the Rules of Interpretation are
observed in this prophecy:
Rule
One says an apocalyptic
prophecy has a beginning point and
ending point in time and the events
within the prophecy occur in the
order given. This prophecy conforms
to Rule One because chronological
order is self evident in this
prophecy. The sealing of the 144,000
is followed by the numberless
multitude gathered around God’s
throne which is followed by the
breaking of the seventh seal.
Rule
Two says a fulfillment
only occurs when all of the
specifications are met, and this
includes the order stated in the
prophecy. Currently, I do not see any
evidence that the 144,000 have been
selected and sealed. However, I do
believe this could happen at any
time.
We noticed
earlier that the four angels were
told to wait until 144,000 people
were selected and sealed. Why does
God tell us about this delay? Why do
we need to know that four angels were
sent to harm the Earth in 1994? (See
Appendix A.) What role does this
delay play in Revelation’s
story?
- This
delay indicates that God is
waiting for an appointed time
to arrive.[21] In
other words, the selection
and empowerment of the
144,000 is based on the
arrival of an appointed time
that the Father has
predetermined. I believe that
since 1994, God has been
waiting to synchronize the
end of sin with the arrival
of the 6,000th year. If so,
this in part, explains the
delay.
- This
delay is included in
Revelation’s story
because God wants us to
understand that His wrath is
overdue. When His wrath does
begin, He wants us to
understand that His wrath is
not arbitrary or an emotional
outburst.
- This
delay reveals that God is
longsuffering, not willing
that any should perish,[22] but,
as in the days of Noah,
divine patience has a limit.[23]
Rule
Three says that
apocalyptic language can be literal,
analogous, or symbolic. To reach the
intended meaning of a prophecy, the
reader must consider (a) the context,
(b) the use of parallel language in
the Bible, and (c) if an element is
thought to be symbolic, the Bible
must interpret the symbol with a
relevant text.
The language
used in this prophecy is not symbolic
because there are no relevant texts
defining a symbol. On the other hand,
we do find an extensive use of
analogous, parallel, and literal
language. For example, the four
angels are four angels. The four
winds describe God’s four deadly
judgments: Sword, famine, plague, and
wild beast.
Rule
Four is not used in
this prophecy.
References:
- Revelation 8:2 Return
- Revelation 7:9 Return
- Revelation
20:3,12 Return
- Revelation
7:14 Return
- Ezekiel
14:12-23 Return
- Colossians 3:5,6; Revelation 6:7,8 Return
- Matthew
22:37-40 Return
- James 1:1; 2:1 Return
- Romans 2:28,29; Ephesians
2:18-21;
Galatians 3:28,29; 5:6 (See
also Appendix B.) Return
- Revelation
7:5-8 Return
- Compare
Ezekiel’s appointment as
a prophet in Ezekiel
2:8-3:4 with
John’s appointment
in Revelation
10:8-11. I
see John’s experience as
representing the selection
and sealing of the 144,000.
See Joel 2:28-31. Return
- Revelation
14:4; compare
with 1 Corinthians
15:20. Return
- Compare Ezekiel
2:8-3:4; Luke 12:11,12 Return
- Hebrews 8:8-13 Return
- 2 Corinthians
1:21,22 See
also Ezekiel 9 for
parallel language. Keep in
mind that the vision given to
Ezekiel was figurative. No
one at any time actually went
through the city of Jerusalem
with a marker to indicate who
would be killed or saved.
Ezekiel was in Babylon and
the Lord gave this vision to
the prophet so that he could
inform the elders of Israel
that God clearly saw
Israel’s evil ways, even
the behavior of each
individual. Return
- Deuteronomy
4:26,27; 2
Kings 17. Return
- Hebrews 7:12 Return
- Ecclesiastes
12:13,14; 2 Corinthians
5:10 Return
- Isaiah 45:23,24 Return
- Daniel 7:9,10; Revelation
20:12; Malachi 3:16 Return
- Daniel 8:19; Daniel 11:35 Return
- 2 Peter 3:9 Return
- Genesis 6:3;
Ezekiel 23 Return
