After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree. 2 Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea: 3 “Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.” 4 Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel. Revelation 7:1-4
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Short answer? It is us now spiritually, and our brethren in future physically (Revelation 6:9-11).
Long Explanation: We are the Jews of God today, which are Jews and Circumcision inwardly of the heart and not of the flesh (Romans 2: 28-29). The Jews of Paul’s kinsmen (Rom 9:3) and Israel after the flesh (1 Cor 10:18), I.e. The outward Jews of today and in future, who try to lay claim to being the Jews of God, have been declared by Jesus to be liars (Revelation 2:9,3:9). The Israel of God and the seed of promise, the tribes and commonwealth of Israel (Ephesians 2:12) are now only believers in Jesus as the Christ, no matter what physical nationality they come from, I.e. Jew or Greek, male or female (Galatians 3: 28). The 144,000 in Revelation will no doubt include physical Jews who believe (Romans 11:23-24), but Scripturally they are not at all exclusively so. Physical Jews today who abide still in unbelief are as much aliens from the promises of God as any other human being on earth. They are ALL gentiles from God. We no longer know Jesus after the flesh, and God no longer knows nor has any promise for any people who walk after the flesh, except the promise of Life, if they repent and believe, or the promise of death and judgment if not.
The most common error of interpretation of prophecy is made by them that still consider the promise of the Lord to Abraham as pertaining to the flesh is still in effect and yet to be fulfilled. That promise was to be fulfilled in the last days by Jesus as a man and the Messiah, when He came into the world to His own, being made the seed of David (and Abraham) after the flesh (Acts 2:30) (Romans 1: 3). But when his own received him not (John 1) and indeed had Him crucified, then the promise to Abraham’s carnal seed was annulled, along with the Old Covenant, upon the death of the testator (Hebrews 9:16-17), or of the ‘Promisor’. The outward Jews born of the flesh of that day to make themselves one nation among many nations of the earth, rather than be in deed and in truth the promised nation of God through the coming of His Messiah, Jesus. (John 11:48-50). I.e. the Jews after the flesh made themselves among the nation of Gentiles once and for all, as they so remain today. Jesus’ believers and followers are now the holy nation of Israel and of God, whom He shall come for to meet with in the air. (John 14: 3) (1 Thess 4: 17)
Therefore, all believers in Christ Jesus are the promised seed of Abraham and the children of Abraham, Isaac, and of Jacob by faith, to inherit those ‘last days’ promises made by the Lord through prophets of old (Hebrews 1:1) (2 Peter 1:21), which are all Spiritually fulfilled in them that believe, whether Jew or Greek. And those prophesied last days have been here since the days of the apostles (Hebrews 1:2) (1 John 2:18). Many antichrists have come and gone and one more comes before the Lord’s return, the 8th that ascends out of the bottomless pit (Rev 17:8,11 ) and the sea (Rev 13:1).
And so in Revelation 7, concerning the 144,000 sealed saints of the tribes of Israel, present day or future, it scripturally and doctrinally MUST be the children of promise, the faithful in Christ Jesus (whether a natural Jew that is grafted in again or a ‘Greek’ that is grafted in from the wild tree) from among those redeemed by God upon the earth through the blood of the Lamb. Whether they are a physically numbered144,000 sealed remnant Christians during a specific time ahead, or they are a whole number of God representing all believers (as 7:9 possibly confirms), is not as relevant as the teaching that Revelation 7 imparts to all believers today.
We are all sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise to be witnesses of God the Father and Jesus His only begotten Son (Acts 1:8) (2 Cor 1:22) (Ephesians 1:13). We can therefore take from Revelation 7 a very real and spiritual doctrine from 7:1-3, that it is when the angels are commanded to ‘hold’ the 4 winds of the earth, that the servants of God are sealed in their forehands. We ought therefore be seeking times of ‘stillness’, when the winds do not blow nor hurt, to acknowledge and confirm the seal we each have from God by His Spirit. Visit and revisit time and again our rightful place beside the still waters and the refreshing of the Lord (Acts 3:19). We must learn to be still and know that the Lord is God (Psalm 46:10), and that we are sealed at such times when the winds themselves are held still, and the hurt of this life, as great as it may be, is as nothing compared to our sealed inheritance with Jesus (Romans 8:18) as the last days children of the faithful tribes of Israel. And even as our bodies are offered up a sacrifice to God, so our souls shall be saved from death.
Once again: Scripturally and doctrinally we are all the children of Promise of the last days in Christ Jesus, whether Jew or Greek, male or female. And at this time spiritually numbered among the 144,000
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Hey, great question!! Here are some very well done videos with scripture, + explanations by an awesome pastor! Isaiah Saldivar …
I’m sure this could have duel meanings, however, I do believe that there will be an actual group of people who number 144,000 with a specific purpose during this end time event.
I had a struggle to come to grips with faith, and it didn’t happen until I was in mid 60s. One of the things I needed to do was sort out what is critical to my salvation and what is just interesting to think about. The 144,000 is interesting to think about, but regardless what I conclude, it doesn’t affect me. The Bible speaks messages through numbers in many places, and the numbers may not be literal. For example, 7 is used quite often, as is 40, and I don’t get worked up trying to make them literal. Many Christians believe God created the world in 6 24 hour days. I think we (humans) were specifically created with the power of reason to understand God’s creation, and the evidence shows that the universe and indeed this planet are much, much older than that. But again, believing creation happened in six 24 hour days or over billions of years takes nothing away from God. He created everything, and how and when He did it doesn’t matter. So, try to look behind the 144,000 number and see the crux of the statement.
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According to Dr. Ray Summers, “The number '12,” a sacred number of religious significance, is first multiplied by itself and then by a thousand, the number used to signify completeness. The resultant 144,000 is used to represent absolute completeness; not one member of the true body of believers is lost.
I believe 12,000 people will be chosen to represent the 12 tribe’s of Judah. Thus equaling 144,000.
It’s in Rev. 14:
The Lamb and the 144,000 (Revelation 14:1-5)
"Then I looked, and behold, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. And I heard a voice from heaven like the roar of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder. The voice I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps, and they were singing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. No one could learn that song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins. It is these who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These have been redeemed from mankind as firstfruits for God and the Lamb, and in their mouth no lie was found, for they are blameless.
12,000 from each of the 12 tribes of Israel, noted in Rev. 7.
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Revelation is an allegorical, mystical slam at the Romans and a warning to specific churches in Asia Minor in the first century. Attempting to figure out who they are literally is not possible, although scholars have several theories.
a good educated guess would be the martyrs up to John’s time.