Prophecy
7
The
144,000 – Revelation 7:1-8:1
_________________________________________________________
Beginning
Point in Time: 1994
(See Appendix A for a discussion on
1994
Ending Point in Time: End
of the 1,000 years
Summary:
This prophecy introduces the
selection and empowerment of 144,000
prophets. Jesus will speak to the
world through the lips of His
servants during the Great
Tribulation. Empowered by the Holy
Spirit and validated with Bible
truth, the 144,000 will proclaim four
profound messages that will separate
sheep from goats. A numberless
multitude, coming from every nation,
kindred, tongue, and people, will
embrace the gospel proclaimed by the
144,000 and gather around God’s
throne after the Second Coming. A
thousand years later, Jesus will
break the seventh seal on the Book of
Life and the revelation of Jesus will
be complete. At that time, the
contents of The Book of Life will
also be exposed.
Introduction:
This prophecy consists of three
chronological events even though
there are gaps of time between the
three events. The first event occurs
just before the Great Tribulation
begins.[1] The
second event occurs after the Second
Coming,[2] and the
third event occurs at the end of the
1,000 years.[3] These
events may appear to be disconnected,
but they are intimately related.
The selection
and ministry of the 144,000 (12,000
from each of the tribes) produces the
numberless multitude (who come from
every nation, tribe, language, and
people) that are gathered around
God’s throne. Notice that the
numberless multitude described in
Revelation 7 is limited to those
who “came out of” the Great
Tribulation.[4] Going
forward, the numberless multitude who
gather around God’s throne
contributes to our understanding of
the seventh seal in an interesting
way. Rule One forces the seventh seal
to be broken after the sixth seal
(the Second Coming). So, the seventh
seal must be broken after the
numberless multitude are taken to
Heaven. This fact is affirmed
in Revelation
20:12 because
according to Scripture, The Book of
Life is opened after the one thousand
years have ended.
This prophecy
begins with four angels standing at
the four corners of Earth (east,
west, north, and south). These angels
had been given power to hurt the
Earth. Before the angels can begin
their destruction another angel comes
from the east. He tells the four
angels to wait until the 144,000 are
selected and sealed. After the
144,000 are selected and sealed, the
four angels then proceed to hurt the
Earth. This destruction (the first
four trumpets described in the next
prophecy) will initiate the Great
Tribulation. More than 1.75 billion
people will perish. The breaking of
the fourth seal on The Book of Life
aligns with the release of these four
angels. Needless to say, apocalyptic
upheaval is approaching and
God’s coming judgments will
overwhelm and subdue the whole world.
God’s
wrath will change life on Earth for
everyone in a single day. Shock and
awe will subdue the arrogance of
mankind and enable the 144,000 to
proclaim a gospel that would be
declared outrageous today. Jesus has
a gospel which the world will hear
and currently, religious diversity
prevents His gospel from being heard.
For example, if God chooses a Muslim
to speak for Him, what Christian
would listen? Conversely, if God
chooses a Christian to speak for Him,
what Muslim would listen? Religious
paradigms are deeply intertwined with
some of the most powerful emotions
known to man. (A paradigm is a series
of intricate concepts that seem to be
right and true to the owner of the
paradigm. A religious paradigm is a
particular view of God and His will.)
Religious paradigms are so powerful
that one religious body cannot
convince another religious body that
it has superior knowledge about God
and His will. God understands the
gridlock and He has a solution. Jesus
will humble the world with shock and
awe so the world will listen to His
servants and the Bible declares that
a numberless multitude will embrace
the gospel presented by the 144,000.
Honest-hearted people in every
religious body will abandon their
religious paradigms when the time
comes because honest-hearted people
love truth, no matter what truth may
be.
God has
linked certain events in Heaven with
identifiable events on Earth. I like
to call this linkage the
“Heaven-Earth-Linkage-Law.”
This law is very useful. For example,
when the fourth seal is broken in
Heaven, great harm will occur on
Earth. When twenty-five percent of
Earth’s population is suddenly
destroyed, people can know by events
on Earth that the fourth seal has
been broken on The Book of Life in
Heaven.
To make sense
of Revelation 7, a little background
information may be helpful. For now,
please consider the following
explanation which will be presented
in much more detail in Prophecy 8.
The Bible tells us that seven high
ranking angels stand before God.
These mighty angels are His servants,
sent on errands and missions as He
directs. In 1994 (see Appendix A),
each of these angels was given a
trumpet and four of them were told to
wait for the appointed time. Prophecy
8 is an excellent example of the
Heaven-Earth-Linkage-Law. When each
of the seven trumpets sound, a divine
judgment will occur on Earth. The
seven trumpets will produce an
unbelievable amount of death and
destruction. The seven trumpets will
begin when the fourth seal is broken.
(Please examine this alignment on
the chart at
pages 4 and 5.)
During the
past six thousand years, God has used
His four deadly judgments when
necessary. Sword, famine, plague, and
wild beasts are judgments which God
uses to punish evil doers.[5] When a
majority of people in any nation
becomes wicked and violent, God sends
warnings and redemptive judgments so
that if possible, people might repent
and future generations can flourish.
If a nation refuses to repent of
greed, idolatry, and sexual
immorality, God ultimately sends
total destruction.[6] God
uses sword, famine, plague, and wild
beasts in two different ways –
redemptive and destructive.
Soon, Jesus
will punish the world with His four
deadly judgments. The seven trumpets
will produce sword, famine, plague,
and wild beasts. These judgments will
be redemptive in the sense that the
doorway to redemption will remain
open. Everyone willing to put their
faith in Jesus will be saved. When
the seven trumpets are finished,
seven bowls will be poured out on the
wicked. These judgments will be
totally destructive. Jesus will deal
with the defiance of the wicked and
avenge the suffering which the wicked
unjustly imposed on His saints during
the Great Tribulation.
When the
fourth seal on The Book of Life is
broken, the seven trumpets will
begin. I believe God’s
forbearance with Earth (corporately
speaking) ended in 1994. (See
Appendix A.) At that time, the seven
angels who stand before God were
given seven trumpets. Four of the
seven angels were sent to Earth on a
mission to deliver God’s
devastating judgments. Before God
gave the signal for the four angels
to proceed with their assigned
judgments, He told them to wait until
the 144,000 were sealed.
The
Sequence:
Revelation
7:1
And
after these things I saw four angels
standing on the four corners of the
earth, holding the four winds of the
earth, that the wind should not blow
on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on
any tree.{1} I
saw Earth laid out like a giant map
and four angels, having four
trumpets, took their place at each
corner of the world. These angels had
been given power to hurt the land,
the sea, and the trees, but they were
commanded to wait for Jesus to break
the fourth seal on The Book of Life.
When the
fourth seal is broken, God’s
wrath begins. God’s wrath will
be horrible, but it will accomplish a
wonderful objective. God’s wrath
will shatter the religious paradigms
of seven billion people. The honest
in heart will thoughtfully and
intelligently consider the testimony
of Jesus which will come through the
mouths of the 144,000. Currently,
there are billions of honest-hearted
people who cannot hear the gospel of
Jesus because of their religious
paradigms and culture, but God’s
judgments will tear down these walls
and a numberless multitude will hear
and embrace the gospel of Jesus.
Revelation
7:2-3
And
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 given to hurt the earth and the
sea, Saying, Hurt not the earth,
neither the sea, nor the trees, till
we have sealed the servants of our
God in their foreheads.{2} I
saw a mighty angel approach from the
east. He was carrying the seal of the
living God. He shouted to the four
angels who had been given authority
and power to harm the land and the
sea saying:
{3} “Do
not harm the land or the sea or the
trees until I seal the servants of
our God.”
Shortly
before God’s wrath is released,
Jesus will select 12,000 people from
each of the twelve tribes of Israel.
The “Israel” of God today
is not a biological Israel. (See
Appendix B.) According to the New
Covenant, the Israel of God consists
of people who love Him with all their
heart, mind, soul, and their neighbor
as themselves.[7] God
redefined Abraham’s heirs,[8] a new
Israel of God, at the cross.[9] The
Bible indicates that God will select
12,000 from each tribe[10] to be
part of the 144,000. This means that
each tribe is larger than 12,000
people. In other words, God will only
use a portion of each tribe.
Revelation
7:4
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.{4} I
heard the number, 144,000 people were
selected, sealed, and empowered by
the Holy Spirit.[11]
There are no
symbolic numbers in apocalyptic
prophecy. According to Rule Three, a
symbol requires a relevant text to
define the symbol. The math in
Revelation 7 is literal and
straightforward – 12,000 people
are taken from twelve tribes and the
total equals 144,000 people. The
144,000 (a definite number of people)
are not to be confused with the
numberless multitude (an indefinite
number of people). The 144,000 are
called firstfruits[12] because
they will be sealed first. The
144,000 will have their carnal
natures removed and Christ will seal
them against the corruptive power of
sin. During the Great Tribulation,
everyone who embraces the gospel of
Jesus and passes the test of faith
will also be sealed. The 144,000 are
described as belonging to the twelve
tribes of Israel because believers in
Christ are counted as the heirs of
the promises given to Abraham. Like
Abraham, the 144,000 know how to live
by faith. The 144,000 will also
demonstrate the gift of
sanctification that comes through
faith (see Appendix B). Jesus wants
the world to see living examples of
what any sinner can become. So, the
gospel of Jesus will come with a
demonstration as well as a
proclamation of God’s truth and
love!
