Segment IX
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John Distinguishes between Prophets and Saints

If we compare these four passages to one another, we find that John consistently distinguishes between God’s servants and God’s saints. For example, in the first text, Revelation 6:11, John distinguishes between “servants” and “brothers.” Since the fifth seal occurs during the latter part of the great tribulation we have to ask, “What ‘servants’ of God will be slain during the Great Tribulation? Could the “servants” in Revelation 6:11 be the 144,000 “servants” mentioned in revelation 7:3? Yes! Here is why:

 

In the fourth text, Revelation 16:4-6, John distinguishes between “saints” and “prophets.” This particular text forces a distinctive wedge between a group called “saints” and a group called “prophets” because of timing. We know that the third bowl will be poured out in the final days of the Great tribulation (during the seven last plagues). The Bible says the third bowl will be specifically directed to those who shed the blood of “saints” and “prophets.” The book of Revelation identifies the prophets who are killed by the people who receive the third plague. The 144,000 “servants” on Revelation 7:3 are “prophets” slain in Revelation 16:4-6. Notice how this connection is made.

 

The third text says that just before the seventh trumpet sounds, “the mystery of God will be accomplished just as He announced to His servants the prophets.” What prophets will be informed about “the mystery of God” prior to the sounding of the seventh trumpet? Could the servants the prophets in Revelation 10:7 be the 144,000 servants mentioned in Revelation 7:3? The internal harmony within Revelation says, “Yes!” The 144,000 will be a distinct group of people who are separate and distinct from the numberless multitude who come out of the Great Tribulation. 

 

Look again at the third text. When the seventh trumpet sounds in Revelation 11:18, loud voices in Heaven will urgently proclaim that the time has arrived for Jesus to avenge the killing of His “prophets” and “saints.” Once again, John distinguishes between a group of people called prophets and a group of people called saints, and he indicates that people in both groups will suffer death during the Great Tribulation.

 

Therefore:

 

·        When we consider John’s repetitive distinction between saints and prophets…

 

·        When we consider the 144,000 will be called God’s “servants”…

 

·        When we consider that many (if not all) of God’s prophets will die because of the Word of God and the testimony they maintain (martyrdom during the fifth seal)…

 

·        When we consider that God’s mystery (announced to His servants the prophets) will be finished just before the seventh trumpet sounds…

 

·        When we consider that God will avenge the death of His saints and prophets by giving bloodthirsty murderers blood to drink during the time of the third bowl…

 

·        When we combine these points, our understanding of the 144,000 “servants” expands into 144,000 “servants the prophets.”

 

Before the Great Tribulation begins, God will select, empower, and seal 144,000 servants who will serve Him as prophets during the Great Tribulation. These people will speak for God. Because of religious arrogance and gross ignorance, most of these servants of God will suffer the fate of prophets in past ages. (Matthew 23:37)

 

A Job Title

 

Perhaps a larger selection of Bible texts will clarify why John differentiates between saints and prophets. The 144,000 are called “servants” in Revelation 7:3 because this word expresses their calling. The word “prophet” denotes their mission. When the two terms “servants” – the prophets” are brought together, the term becomes a job title. Please review the following texts (many more texts are in the Bible) and notice the title, “servants and servants the prophets” is applied (I have emphasized certain words by putting them in bold text):

 

2 Kings 17:22,23   “The Israelites persisted in all the sins of Jeroboam and did not turn away from them until the Lord removed them from his presence, as he had warned them through all his servants the prophets. So the people of Israel were taken away from their homeland into exile in Assyria, and they are still there.”

 

Jeremiah 7:25,26   “From the time your forefathers left Egypt until now, day after day, again and again I sent you my servants the prophets. But they did not listen to me or pay attention. They were stiff-necked and did more evil than their forefathers.”

 

Ezekiel 38: 16,17 “…. In days to come, O Gog, I will bring you against my land, so that the nations may know me when I show myself holy through you before their eyes. This is what the Sovereign Lord says: ‘Are you not the one I spoke of in former days by my servants the prophets of Israel?’”

 

Daniel 9:6, 10   “[Oh Lord], We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our fathers, and to all the people of the land… we have not obeyed the Lord our God or kept the laws he gave us through his servants the prophets.”

 

Joel 2:28,29  “And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy your old men will dream dreams; your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour my Spirit in those days.”

 

The Bible uses the title, “servants the prophets” nineteen times and in every case, this title identifies special individuals whom God selected to speak on His behalf. Of course, the word “servants” can be used in a broader sense to mean subjects, slaves, employees and believers. (Genesis 24:34; 1 Corinthians 4:1) But the context in revelation 7 indicates the 144,000 servants of God will not be ordinary servants. When we realize that God has delayed destroying the Earth until the 144,000 servants are sealed, we know they will not be ordinary people!

Notice how the word “servants” is used within the context of Joel 2:28-31. The Lord told Joel, “And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy your old men will dream dreams; your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days. I will show wonders in the Heavens and on the Earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The Sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.” (Joel 2:30,31, italics mine)

 

These verses pointed forward from Joel’s day to “the great and dreadful day of the Lord” that would have occurred after the expiration of the seventy weeks under “Plan A.” Because Israel rejected Christ, “Plan A” was abandoned and “Plan B” was implemented. Peter did not know that “Plan A” had been abandoned, so when the Holy spirit was manifested at the Feast of Pentecost, he naturally thought the “last days” predicted by Joel had arrived and this is why he quoted Joel 2. (See his remarks in Acts 2:15-21) Because Revelation 9 through 11 (Plan B) parallels Joel 2 (Plan A), we can be sure the Lord will pour out His Spirit on all people (all flesh, KJV) during the Great Tribulation. Furthermore, we can be sure that God will generously pour out His Spirit “even on my servants, both men and women.” Joel’s distinction between “all people” and God’s servants is important. In Revelation 7, John distinguished between a numbered group of servants and a numberless group of people. The phrase in Joel 2, “even on my servants,” emphasizes that God will not only pour His Spirit on all people during the last days, but He will also elevate His servants even higher by giving them a greater measure of Holy spirit power than His “servants” characteristically had in ages past.

 

Summary

 

We close the first specification on the 144,000 with a summary deducted from the evidence examined thus far: Even though there is no way to determine who the twelve tribes of Israel are, we know the twelve tribes of Israel exist because God will select and seal 12,000 from each tribe before the four angels hurt Earth.  As faithful servants of Jesus Christ, they will do everything their Master commands. As prophets of Jesus, they will deliver “the testimony of Jesus” during the Great Tribulation. (Revelation 1:9; 12:17; 19:10) The 144,000 will suffer enormously because of their words. Many, if not all, of the 144,000 will perish “because of the Word of God and the testimony they maintain.” (Revelation 6:9) John often distinguishes between God’s “servants the prophets” and ordinary saints because they are separate groups of people.

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