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Segment
XI
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Segment
XI
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Specification
#7
The Bible says the
144,000 will visibly wear the names of the Father
and Son on their foreheads after they are taken
to Heaven. (Revelation 14:1; Revelation 22:3,4)
John does not indicate the names of the Father
and Son are written on crowns that are worn on
their foreheads, although that might be possible.
I prefer to view John’s comments as though
the 144,000 will have the signatures of the
Father and the Lamb, as medals of honor,
literally written on their foreheads. The names
of the Father and Son will indicate their high
rank in God’s government throughout
eternity. Notice these two texts:
- “Then
I looked, and there before me was the
Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with
him 144,000 who had his name and his
Father’s name written on their
foreheads.” (Revelation 14:1)
- “No
longer will there be any curse. The
throne of God and of the Lamb will be in
the city, and his servants will serve
him. They will see his face, and his name
will be on their foreheads.” (Revelation
22:3,4)
There are levels of
authority in Heaven. For example, there are seven
powerful angels that stand before God.
(Revelation 8:2) We know that Gabriel is a highly
exalted angel and he stands in God’s
presence. (Luke 1:19) We know that Lucifer was
anointed as a guardian cherub and he wore
beautiful stones signifying his high rank.
(Ezekiel 28:13,14) The 144,000 will also be
highly exalted after they are taken to Heaven.
Their exalted position will be noticed every time
we look on their faces.
We have a similar way of
exalting authority on Earth. Military officers
have worn their rank on their foreheads (hats and
helmets) for centuries. Field grade officers in
the United States military are distinguished
above lower grades by the gold webbing that is
located on the brims of their hats. This gold
webbing is designed to be visible at a distance
because a field grade officer merits a higher
level of attention and respect from his
subordinates.
Many Christians tend to
overlook the importance of the names of the
Father and Son written on their foreheads of the
144,000. This specification is highly important
because there is an evil parallel. The Bible
indicates the devil will establish his kingdom on
Earth during the sixth trumpet. After killing
one-third of mankind, he will require his loyal
survivors to wear a mark. Ordinary people will
wear a tattoo showing “666” on their
right hand, but the “exalted” leaders
of Lucifer’s government will wear the
devil’s name tattooed on their foreheads!
Notice this text: “He also forced
everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free
and slave, to receive a mark on his
right hand or on his forehead, so that
no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark,
which is the name of the beast or the number of
his name. This calls for wisdom. If anyone has
insight, let him calculate the number of the
beast, for it is a man’s number. His number
is 666.”(Revelation 13:16-18), italics
mine) The mark of the beast is both a number or a
name. The mark of the beast is worn on the right
hand or on the forehead. The parallel is obvious.
Satan will counterfeit the 144,000 with 144,000
of his own servants. The counterfeits will wear
the devil’s name tattooed on their
foreheads. Of course, the 144,000 will not wear
the signatures of the Father and Son on their
foreheads before they go to Heaven, but they will
be highly exalted after they get to Heaven for
declaring the truth about the devil and his
deceptions under the most distressing
circumstances. Throughout eternity, the saints
will see the 144,000 and each time we see them,
we will remember their total devotion and
sacrifices for the calling of Jesus.
Specification
#8
Note: If, out of
curiosity, you have jumped over the other
specifications to read this one first, I hope you
will be sure to read the other seven
specifications in their order because there is a
progressive order to this presentation on the
144,000.
The Bible clearly
indicates that the 144,000 will be Jews, coming
from the twelve tribes of Israel. Revelation
7:5-8 says, “From the tribe of Judah
12,000 were sealed, from the tribe of Rueben
12,000, from the tribe of Gad 12,000, from the
tribe of Asher 12,000, from the tribe of Naphtali
12,000, from the tribe of Manasseh 12,000, from
the tribe of Simeon 12,000, from the tribe of
Levi 12,000, from the tribe of Issachar 12,000,
from the tribe of Zebulon 12,000, from the tribe
of Joseph 12,000, from the tribe of Benjamin
12,000.” Understandably, these
verses give some people the idea that the 144,000
will come out of the “Jewish race.”
There is an important difference between being a
member of the Jewish race and being a Jew.
- “A
man is not a Jew if he is only one
outwardly, nor is circumcision merely
outward and physical. No, a man is a Jew
if he is one inwardly; and circumcision
is circumcision of the heart, by the
Spirit, not by written code. Such a
man’s praise is not from men, but
from God.” (Romans 2:28,29)
- “In
reading this, then you will be able to
understand my insight into the mystery of
Christ, which was not made known to men
in other generations as it has now been
revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy
apostles and prophets. This mystery is
that through the gospel the Gentiles are
heirs together with Israel, members of
one body, and sharers together
in the promise in Jesus Christ.” (Ephesians
3:4-6, italics mine)
- “If
you belong to Christ, then you are
Abraham’s seed [Greek: sperma], and
heirs according to the promise.” (Galatians
3:29, insertion mine)
With these texts in mind,
please consider the following ten paragraphs:
- God
called Abraham to leave his home in Ur of
the Chaldees and travel to a land that He
would give to Abraham and his
descendants. (Genesis 12) When Abraham
arrived in the land, God made an
unconditional promise to Abraham that his
descendants would inherit the land for
generations to come. (Genesis 13:15;
15:18-21) Centuries later, God honored
His promise and gave the land of Canaan
to the twelve tribes of Israel at the
time of the Exodus. (Exodus 12)
- While
in the wilderness, God informed Israel
that even though they would possess the
land of Canaan, it would not belong to
them. (Leviticus 25:23) They were granted
the privilege of living in the land for
as long as they obeyed the Lord. If they
choose to rebel against the Lord, He
promised to evict them from the land.
(Leviticus 18:28; 26:33,34) Knowing they
would eventually be evicted from the
land, God also promised to restore them
to the land of Canaan if they would
repent of their sins while in exile.
(Leviticus 26:40-42)
- Over
the course of centuries, Israel
repeatedly rebelled against God. (Ezekiel
23) In fact, Israel defiantly refused to
fulfill the purpose for which God had
separated them from all other nations!
(Exodus 19) Therefore, God had the ten
tribes in the northern part of the
country evicted by Shalmanesser V in 722
B.C. (2 Kings 17) and Nebuchadnezzar
evicted the two tribes in the southern
part of the country in 605 B.C. (2 Kings
24)
- Near
the end of the seventy years in
Babylonian captivity, the prophet Daniel
confessed the sins of his people and he
asked God to fulfill the words of
Jeremiah (Jeremiah 25:11,12) by restoring
the nation of Israel to its homeland.
(Daniel 9:1-23) God heard Daniel’s
prayer and responded according to the
provisions stated in His covenant.
(Leviticus 26:40-42) God granted Israel a
measure of time, seventy weeks, to
“straighten up” and prepare for
the appearing of Messiah. (Daniel 9:24)
The decree that marked the beginning of
the Seventy Weeks, issued by the Persian
King, Artaxerses, was in the Jubilee year
of 457 B.C. (Ezra 7)
- According
to the prophecy in Daniel 9, Jesus
arrived on time. He was baptized at the
beginning of the seventieth week, the
Wednesday year of A.D. 30. Because Israel
had fallen into defiant apostasy again,
they rejected and crucified the Messiah.
(Luke 23, Acts 3)
- Because
Israel rejected Messiah, God put a new
plan in place. I call this new covenant,
“Plan B.” “Plan B”
was made better than “Plan A”
for several reasons. (Hebrews 8:6) For
one, God redefined Israel under
“Plan B” to consist of everyone
who received Jesus as Lord and Master.
(John 1:12; 3:16, 13:13 KJV)
- The
disciples heard Jesus annul God’s
covenant with biological Israel (Matthew
23:37-39) and they heard Jesus implement
a new covenant that was based on
submission to the authority of Jesus
– as opposed to the authority of
Moses. (Luke 22:20) In essence, the
followers of Jesus received “the
trusteeship of preaching the gospel”
that once belonged to the Jews. (Acts 13)
- After
the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at the
Feast of Pentecost (Acts 2), early
Christians came to understand that a
“new Israel” had been raised to
replace “old Israel.” The new
Israel consisted of believers in Christ.
In fact, the apostle James called early
Christians, “the twelve tribes of
Israel.” “James, a servant
of God and of our Lord Jesus Christ, To
the twelve tribes scattered among the
nations: Greetings … My brothers, as
believers in our glorious Lord Jesus
Christ, do not show favoritism.” (James
1:1, 2:1)
- God
revealed to Peter and the apostle Paul
that in His sight there is neither Jew
nor Gentile anymore. However, His
unconditional covenant to Abraham still
remains, and everyone who receives
Christ, as his or her Savior will be
counted as the offspring of Abraham.
(Galatians 3 and 4; Ephesians 2 and 3)
God also made it clear that in His sight,
a Jew (a chosen person) is not determined
by biological birth or physical
circumcision. (Romans 2:28,29; Romans
9:6) Instead, the twelve tribes consist
of people who have faith in God and a
circumcised heart (Jeremiah 4:4; Romans
2:29), as did Abraham their father. (John
8:39) The bottom line is that the only
people going to Heaven are those who
lived as Abraham did – by faith!
Thus, all Israel will be saved in the end
because Israel consists of believers!
(Romans 11:26) Because believers in
Christ have been “grafted in”
to the promises made to Abraham,
God’s promise will be fulfilled. (Romans
10 and 11)
- After
Earth is purified by fire at the end of
the thousand years (Revelation 20), the
Holy City will descend to Earth.
(Revelation 21) It is so large that it
will encompass the whole land of Canaan!
(Revelation 21:16) The Promised Land will
be located inside the Holy City! When the
Holy City descends, two wonderful
promised will be fulfilled. The heirs of
Abraham will inherit the undefiled land
of Canaan forever (“Blessed are
the meek, for they shall inherit the
Earth” Matthew 5:5) and Abraham
will actually live within the city that
he longed to see: “For he [Abraham]
was looking forward to the city with
foundations, whose architect and builder
is God.” (Hebrews 11:10)
The bottom line is this:
The 144,000 will be descendants of Abraham!
Nevertheless, the 144,000 will not necessarily be
members of the Jewish race. The 144,000 will come
from every race of people! Furthermore, the Bible
says the numberless multitude that go through the
Great Tribulation will come form all nations,
kindred’s, tongues and people. God promised
Abraham that he would be the father of many
nations and Revelation 7 affirms this! Because of
the numberless multitude will be multinational,
the firstfruits of the same harvest (the 144,000)
will be multinational. Remember, the firstfruits
are a sample of the coming harvest!
Summary
There is no question that
the 144,000 will come from the twelve tribes of
Israel. The problem that many Christians do not
understand is the identity of Israel. The New
Testament teaches that God redefined Israel at
the end of the seventieth week when it became
evident that Israel would not accept His Son and
fulfill their calling as a holy nation of
priests. When the seventy weeks expired, the
apostle Paul was converted (A.D. 34). Through the
revelations God gave him, we have confirmation of
this truth. Many bible writers point to the
redefinition of Israel. God made several
unconditional covenants with Abraham, and He will
keep them. Israel’s rejection of Messiah has
not thwarted God; instead, it has made Him more
determined to gloriously fulfill everything He
promised. Therefore, everyone who puts faith in
Jesus is declared Abraham’s seed, and as
such, we become heirs to the promise!
Closing
Statements
We have examined eight
specifications about the 144,000. I have
presented the following conclusions:
- The
144,000 will be men and women. They will
be spokespersons for God during the Great
Tribulation.
- The
Great Tribulation will begin immediately
after they are selected and sealed.
- The
144,000 will be the first to have their
carnal natures mysteriously
removed. Family relations will not
compromise their devotion to Jesus.
- As
firstfruits, the 144,000 are numbered.
They are set apart from the numberless
multitude. In addition, the end time
harvest, which is the fruit of their
labor.
- The
144,000 will experience and endure the
sufferings of Christ. No one else will be
able to sing their song.
- The
144,000 will not compromise the words
that Jesus gives them to speak. They will
speak the truth without regard for the
consequences.
- The
144,000 will visibly wear the names of
the Father and Son on their foreheads
throughout eternity.
The
144,000 will be Jews, the seed of Abraham, heirs
of the promise through Christ.
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