THE 144,000 SAINTS

PROCLAMATION

“Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel.”  Revelation 7:4 (NIV)

 

EXPLANATION

These are the words of prophecy which were revealed to, and written by, the Apostle John, under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  In this seventh chapter of Revelation, while he was still in the spirit (Revelation 4:2), John was shown a vision. (Revelation 5:1 and 6:1-17)  After this John saw four angels holding back the four winds to prevent them from harming the earth. (Revelation 7:1)  Then another angel appeared and told the four angels not to release the winds until seals had been placed on the foreheads of the servants of God. (Revelation 7:2-3)  These are the 144,000 Jewish male servants of God who were sealed and preserved during the Tribulation.  After this John saw a great multitude of believers, too many to count, from every nation and tribe and language wearing white robes standing before the throne.  These are the Gentile believers, the elect of God, the saints from the Great Tribulation. (Revelation 7:9-10)

 

APPLICATION

The 144,000 saints are virgin Jewish men (Revelation 14:4) who are the remnants of Israel who are sealed to preserve them as they witness for Christ during the Great Tribulation.  There are 12,000 from twelve of the thirteen tribes of Israel.  The tribes of Dan and Ephraim were omitted from the list.  These are not the only Jews in heaven.  The Old Testament saints will be there as well as the martyrs who died prior to the Tribulation, the souls that John saw under the alter. (Revelation 6:9-11)  The church will have been raptured before the wrath of God is unleased on the earth.  There are some Bible scholars who believe that these 144,000 saints will translated without dying because they were sealed and protected during the Great Tribulation.  While we may not be in that 144,000, we need to make sure that we are in the number with their name recorded in The Lamb’s Book of Life.