CHAPTER 1
For nearly 6,000 years God has been setting a stage. Since the Garden, God has inexorably worked toward the day He would restore His kingdom on earth. For the most part though, His actions have been well concealed. So deftly has He operated, moving men and nations toward this time, that even the fulfilling of hundreds of prophecies has not alerted faithless men.
At the first seal, Antichrist was allowed to conquer the world. The next three seals saw a series of divine attacks on Antichrist's new kingdom. By the fifth seal, the conflict became vicious as Antichrist retaliated, causing some of the saints to be martyred. At that time, with much of the world plagued by wars and famine, men wonder how Antichrist will overcome these crises. In truth, he can do nothing. That is because approximately three years into Antichrist's forty-two month reign, God intervenes directly and decisively in the battle. From then on, it is no contest.
For openers, there is a mighty earthquake. With the breaking of the sixth seal this earthquake shakes the entire world. It is as though every mountain and island is moved out of its place. Because of its scope and severity, this quake has a profound effect on men. They realize it is not just "mother nature" they are dealing with. The Bible says men will understand the wrath of God is on the horizon.
And they said to the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of their wrath has come; and who is able to stand?" (Revelation 6:16-17).
By now you should recognize this earthquake as the sign of the end of the age. As mentioned, it causes ecological disturbances never before seen. So much dust and debris is hurled into the atmosphere that the sun appears darkened, and the moon resembles the color of blood.
And I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood (Revelation 6:12)
At this seal, God declares open warfare on the kingdom of Antichrist. From this time on, God no longer operates behind the scenes. The beast has had his day; now God moves to center stage. The time of judgment known as the day of the Lord is looming on the horizon.
After the sixth seal was broken, John witnessed a curious event. The four angels who were directed to bring destruction on the earth were told to wait. Another angel said to them,
Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the bond-servants of God on their foreheads. And I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred and forty-four thousand(s) sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel (Revelation 7:3-4).
John goes on to say that twelve thousand(s) were sealed from each of the twelve tribes of Israel. From the Old Testament you recall that Jacob, later called Israel, had twelve sons, and from them came the twelve tribes. Here John listed all of them except the tribe of Dan. It was replaced by Manasseh, the oldest son of Joseph.
Prophecy teachers disagree as to the identity of the 144,000. Many, it seems, have settled on the "144,000 Jewish evangelists" interpretation. They reason that if the church is raptured early, God would be without a witness for the whole tribulation period. Since many will become believers during that time, there must be evangelists to show the way. So, 144,000 Jews (12,000 from each tribe) are supposedly "set apart" for this purpose. By their way of thinking, the 144,000 cannot be current believers, or they too would have been raptured. But somehow they are converted, and then they become like Paul—powerful evangelists to both the Jews and the Gentiles. There are, however, serious problems with that interpretation.
Problem 1. What does it mean to be sealed on the forehead?
One possibility is that it refers to conversion. The Bible says when someone believes in Messiah, he is sealed with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13). But that sealing is not confined to the forehead. So it probably involves something other than conversion. But what? For our answer we look to a similar account in the Ninth Chapter of Ezekiel. The context is the slaying of Jerusalem's inhabitants by the Babylonians. Recorded in that passage is a commandment God gave regarding those inhabitants:
"Go through the midst of the city, even through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations which are committed in its midst." But to the others [those not marked] He said, "Go through the city after him and strike; do not let your eye have pity, and do not spare. Utterly slay old men, young men, maidens, little children, and women, BUT DO NOT TOUCH ANY MAN ON WHOM IS THE MARK..." (Ezekiel 9:4-6).
As good teachers like to say, the Bible explains the Bible. In both accounts God instructed that a mark (seal) be placed on the foreheads of His people. Apparently, that mark is a sign of ownership and protection. When God puts His seal on the foreheads of the 144,000, He is showing the destroying angels who they are not to touch. Just as the "sealing" was necessary during the destruction of Jerusalem, it will also be necessary as End Time judgment commences.
This interpretation is confirmed in the Ninth Chapter of the Revelation. There, myriads of demonic locusts are turned loose on the earth. They are commanded not to hurt trees or vegetation—only "men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads." (Revelation 9:4).
Problem 2. Why are the "lost tribes" of Israel included in the vision?
Those who hold this interpretation have an interesting answer. First, they mistakenly assume that today's Jews are a mixture of descendants from all twelve tribes. They also maintain that, although today's Jews may not know their ancestral tribe, God does. As we developed in Chapter Eleven, today's Jews are descendants of only four tribes (Judah, Simeon, Benjamin, and Levi). This goes right to the jugular of the 144,000 Jewish evangelists theory. At the time God seals the descendants of the Northern Tribes, He will not find them among the Jews. That is because God hid them among the nations (Gentiles). With that in mind, we are better positioned to understand just WHO will be sealed.
John listed the twelve tribes, and said 12 thousand(s) from each tribe are sealed on the forehead. The number "12" is symbolic. It stands for the complete number redeemed from each tribe. But how can God seal a people who have been lost for 2,700 years? Examining the Scriptures, we see that God planned every part of Ephriam's experience. For the last 27 centuries, God has carefully watched over the sons of Israel in all the places where they were "sown." Out of those descendants, He has caused a remnant from each and every tribe to accept Messiah.
A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob [the twelve tribes], to the mighty God. For though your people, O ISRAEL, may be like the sand of the sea, only a remnant will return (Isaiah 10:22).
Problem 3. What is the significance of the number 144,000?
As mentioned, many think that God has reserved for Himself exactly 144,000 Jews who will become evangelists for Messiah shortly after the rapture. Let me suggest a better explanation. First, you have to know something about the Greek alphabet. Neither they or the Romans had Arabic numbers as we do, so they used letters to stand for numbers.
With that in mind, let's look closely at the Greek text. What you see are the letters which stood for 144, followed by the word "thousands." Throughout the Bible, there is a lot of symbolism involving numbers. It is likely that the use of "144 thousands" is also symbolic. The number 12 speaks of redemption: twelve tribes of Israel, twelve disciples, twelve baskets gathered after feeding 5,000. The number "144" is simply an extension of the number "12" (12 X 12 = 144). Therefore, 144 should not be thought of as an exact number. Rather, it represents the perfect and complete number of the THOUSANDS of redeemed ones who will be protected during the coming judgments on earth.
For a full treatment of the symbolism of the numbers, I highly recommend, Theomatics, by Jerry Lucas and Del Washburn. In their book, they explored the use of Greek letters and their numerical equivalents. Several Biblical themes were examined, and each was found to have distinct mathematical characteristics. By statistical methods, the authors used those characteristics to prove that only God could have written the Bible.
Here are some of the words and phrases relating to the theme of redemption. After adding the values for each Greek letter, they found the sums of redemptive words and phrases were always divisible by 144.
These examples (there are many more) are given so you will realize this is not an isolated phenomenon used to explain a pet theory. Clearly, God does more with numbers than any of us have imagined. In case you are wondering, a similar pattern exists for the number "666."
Putting it all together, just who are the 144,000 who are sealed on the forehead? The 144 thousand(s) is a symbolic number which stands for ALL the living believers in Messiah. Revelation Seven indicates that they also happen to be descendants of the twelve tribes (plus some who are perhaps grafted in). How many are there? Only God knows, but with the sixth seal, every one of them is protected from the coming judgments.
1. The Church and "Tribulation"
If this understanding is correct, it strikes a death blow to at least two widely held beliefs. The first to crumble is the idea that the church will be raptured before "the great tribulation." It is true that the Scriptures show believers will be delivered. All that is in question is the means. What is important to realize is that God doesn't have to remove His people to save them. For instance, was Noah taken out of the world to escape the flood? Were the Israelites taken out of Egypt to escape the death angel? In both cases, the means to endure the judgment was God's provision. What John revealed could not be more relevant to us. He has told the last generation exactly how they will be delivered! An angel will seal them. My friend, it may not be the rapture, but it's just as secure.
Perhaps this is the first time you have considered the possibility that you will still be on earth during the last seven years of the age. If so, understanding the sealing of the 144,000 should bring you great comfort. Those fortunate believers who are sealed will go securely into the most exciting time in history.
2. Believers to Stay at Their Posts
The second view to be disposed of is that 144,000 Jewish evangelists will complete the great commission. As you know, Messiah commanded His followers to go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Admittedly it was a difficult assignment, but Messiah offered a wonderful word of encouragement. He said, "And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Notice He did not say, "even to seven years before the end of the age." Messiah has no plans to revoke our commission in order to turn the work over to 144,000 unknown and (as yet) unconverted Jews.
The Bible indicates a great harvest of saints in the last days, and the 144,000 are called the first fruits of that harvest. Presumably they are the same 144,000 who are sealed on the forehead. With all your heart, you should desire to be one of them, so you can have a place in that historic harvest.
Notice that John's list did not mention Ephraim. That is surprising, since Ephraim grew to be the largest of the Northern Tribes. Adding to the puzzle is an Old Testament prophecy about Ephraim. Before Jacob died he prophesied that Ephraim would be greater than his brother, Manasseh, and his descendants would become a multitude of nations (see Genesis 48:19).
Perhaps, this indicated that all the tribes of the Northern Kingdom would assume other nationalities (as has been the case). Or it could mean that Ephraim is the tribe which will contain all those "grafted in" from the nations. Only time will tell. Whatever it means, from the Prophet Ezekiel we know that Ephraim will have one portion of the land in the Millennial kingdom.
The next sight John saw was a great multitude of people. They were from every nation and tribe in the world, but he had no idea who they were. The fact that they were standing before the throne and the Lamb should have been enough for John to identify them. They were the church! We should not be too hard on John though. In his day, the church was a small band of struggling and persecuted believers. He can be forgiven for not realizing how great the body would become.
Earlier, John had seen the 144 thousand(s) sealed. They were the first fruits of a great harvest. Now, John was seeing the completed harvest. In between the sealing of the 144 thousand(s) and that final harvest, much would transpire. In the next chapter we will begin to trace how that interim period unfolds.