Rev 7:4-8 – Part 2B, Who are the 144,000?
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Rev 7:4-8 – Part 2B, Who are the 144,000?
[Study Aired June 16, 2024]
The second list of the twelve tribes of Israel in this chapter is the names of the twelve tribes on the twelve gates of the New Jerusalem.
Eze 48:30 And these [are] the goings out of the city on the north side, four thousand and five hundred measures.
Eze 48:31 And the gates of the city [shall be] after the names of the tribes of Israel: three gates northward; one gate of Reuben, one gate of Judah, one gate of Levi.
Eze 48:32 And at the east side four thousand and five hundred: and three gates; and one gate of Joseph, one gate of Benjamin, one gate of Dan.
Eze 48:33 And at the south side four thousand and five hundred measures: and three gates; one gate of Simeon, one gate of Issachar, one gate of Zebulun.
Eze 48:34 At the west side four thousand and five hundred, [with] their three gates; one gate of Gad, one gate of Asher, one gate of Naphtali.
Eze 48:35 [It was] round about eighteen thousand [measures]: and the name of the city from [that] day [shall be], The LORD [is] there.
The order here is:
Ruben, Judah, Levi, Joseph, Benjamin, Dan, Simeon, Issachar, Zebulun, Gad, Asher, and Naphtali.
Now let’s put all the listings together, and we will notice that the order and the names of the twelve tribes varies greatly:
1) Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, Benjamin. (All 12 sons named in order of birth)
2) Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Zebulun, Issachar, Dan, Gad, Asher, Naphtali, Joseph, Benjamin. (All 12 sons named)
3) Rueben, Simeon, Judah, Issachar, Ephraim, Benjamin, Zebulun, Joseph of Manasseh, Dan, Asher, Naphtali, and Gad.
4) Reuben, Judah, Levi, Benjamin, Joseph, Ephraim , Manasseh, Zebulun, Issachar, Gad, Dan, Naphtali, Asher.
5) Judah, Simeon, Reuben, Gad, Manasseh, Levi, Issachar, Naphtali, Manasseh, Ephraim, Asher, Benjamin.
6) Dan, Asher, Naphtali, Manasseh. Ephraim, Reuben, Judah, Benjamin, Simeon, Issachar, Zebulon, Gad
7) Reuben, Judah, Levi, Joseph, Benjamin, Dan, Simeon, Issachar, Zebulun, Gad, Asher, and Naphtali.
8) Judah, Reuben, Gad, Asher Nepthalim, Manasses, Simeon, Levi, Issachar, Zebulon, Joseph, and Benjamin.
Not one single list is in the same order as any of the others, and the names of Levi, Simeon, Dan and Zebulun are missing from some of our lists. It has long been speculated that the tribe of Dan was omitted here in Revelation 7 because they were given to idolatry at an early stage. However, if idolatry at an early stage was any reason for having one’s name blotted out, then none of the tribes of Israel would be mentioned, because they were all idolaters from the day that Rachel stole her father’s gods before going into Canaan with Jacob until the golden calf at Sinai, to the setting up of the golden calf in Samaria in the days of Jeroboam. All Israel is equally guilty of early idolatry.
Jdg 18:30 And the children of Dan set up the graven image: and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land.
Exo 32:3 And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron.
Exo 32:4 And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
Exo 32:5 A nd when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To morrow is a feast to the LORD.Gen 31:17 Then Jacob rose up, and set his sons and his wives upon camels;
Gen 31:18 And he carried away all his cattle, and all his goods which he had gotten, the cattle of his getting, which he had gotten in Padanaram, for to go to Isaac his father in the land of Canaan.
Gen 31:19 And Laban went to shear his sheep: and Rachel had stolen the images that were her father’s.
The one thing we should see from all these lists of the twelve tribes is that there are many different reasons for leaving out a name. The symbolism of the names themselves is not always as important as the spiritual symbolism of the number twelve. Twelve is the number of spiritual foundation. It is the number twelve which represents “all the tribes of Israel.” This is the symbol of all of God’s elect whom He has called out of all the nations of the earth.
Deu 14:2 For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God, and the LORD hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth.
Rev 7:4 And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.
So the tribe of Judah is placed first for the first time in any listing of the twelve tribes. Levi, which had no inheritance with the tribes of Israel, is included in this list here in Revelation 7, the tribe of Dan is not even mentioned, while the tribe of Ephraim is called the tribe of Joseph. Scripture has a reason that goes beyond having no set order for listing the tribes of Israel. The one thing we have established is that physical words, including these physical names of the twelve tribes of Israel, are spiritual symbols signifying those who with Christ will be the foundation of the government of the kingdom of God upon this earth. The symbol which signifies spiritual foundations is the number twelve. That is far more important than the inclusion of the name of the tribe of Dan in the listing of those who will be the kings and priests unto God and who are promised to “rule the nations with a rod of iron.” Ephesians 2 makes clear that the commonwealth of the twelve tribes of Israel, is no longer a physical commonwealth of physical Israelites, but a “one body” and a “one new man” of those who are “in Christ.”
Getting back to Ephesians 2, it is here that Paul explains why he appropriates ALL THESE PROMISES MADE TO ISRAEL TO HIS GENTILE CONVERTS:
Eph 2:11 Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;
Eph 2:12 That at that time ye were without Christ [and what does being ‘without Christ’ mean?] BEING ALIENS FROM THE COMMONWEALTH OF ISRAEL, and strangers from the covenants of promise [not capable of being one of the 144,000] having no hope, and without God in the world:
Eph 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus, ye who we at one time afar off [at one time in the past] are [NOW] made nigh by the blood of Christ.
Just what does “the blood of Christ” accomplish? It made Israelites in Christ and the Gentiles in Christ “BOTH ONE”. One “inward Jew,” one “circumcision… of the heart, in the spirit,” and one “Israel of God” for to make IN HIMSELF OF TWAIN [Israel and Gentiles] ONE NEW MAN… AND THAT HE MIGHT RECONCILE BOTH [ISRAEL AND GENTILES] unto God IN ONE BODY…” (vs 12-16). What room is there in this statement for two Jews, two circumcisions or two Israels? Paul makes it very clear that there is no room for outward Jews in the body of Christ. “He is NOT A JEW WHICH IS ONE OUTWARDLY…” (Rom 2:28). “They which are the children of the flesh, THESE ARE NOT THE CHILDREN OF GOD: BUT THE CHILDREN OF PROMISE ARE COUNTED FOR THE SEED” (Rom 9:8). “We [Gentile Galatians] brethren, as Isaac ARE CHILDREN OF PROMISE” (Gal 4:28). “The son of the bondwoman… Jerusalem which now is and is in bondage with her children… shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman” (Gal 4:25-31). It is ONLY “the children of promise” who receive the promises. Will the physical twelve tribes be ruling with those who “as Isaac was, are the children of promise?” What says the scripture? “Cast out the bondwoman and her son [“Jerusalem which now is and is in bondage with her children” (vs 25)] FOR THE SON OF THE BONDWOMAN SHALL NOT BE HEIR WITH THE SON OF THE FREE WOMAN” (Gal 4:30). So who will be “heirs according to the promise” (Gal 3:29)? “Now WE, BRETHREN, as Isaac was, ARE THE CHILDREN OF PROMISE” (Gal 4:28); “So then, brethren we are not the children of the bondwoman but of the free” [and “heirs according to the promise”] (Gal 4:31). As far as God is concerned, “THE FLESH PROFITETH NOTHING” (Joh 6:63).
We are told that Christ made one statement that caused “many of his disciples [to go] back and walk no more with him” (Joh 6:66). What was it that caused this? It was the statement we have just quoted – “the flesh profiteth NOTHING” (Joh 6:63). This statement is still causing “many of His disciples to [go] back [to the flesh] and walk no more with Him.” It is the “inward [spiritual] Jew”; it is “circumcision… that is of the heart IN THE SPIRIT” (Rom 2:29); and it is the spiritual “Israel of God” (Gal 6:15-16)] who “are counted for the seed” (Rom 9:8). Hence the symbol of “144,000… 12,000 from all the tribes of Israel” is the symbol of the true “Israel of God” (Gal 6:15-16).
The Singleness that is in Christ
Here is Paul’s concern for all his converts.
2Co 11:3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity [Greek: singleness] that is in Christ.”
Are you beginning to see the singleness of our calling? We Gentiles ‘were’ in the past ‘aliens from the commonwealth of the twelve tribes, of Israel’, but now we are ‘made nigh by the blood of Christ.’ Just how close to the twelve tribe commonwealth are we now? “NOW THEREFORE YE [GENTILE EPHESIANS] ARE NO MORE STRANGERS AND FOREIGNERS, BUT FELLOW CITIZENS WITH THE [12,000 FROM EACH TRIBE] SAINTS. In other ages [this] was not made known… as it is now revealed… THAT THE GENTILES SHOULD BE FELLOW HEIRS [with the 144,000 of the ‘commonwealth of Israel’], and of the one man and of the same body, AND PARTAKERS OF HIS PROMISE in Christ by THE [ONE SINGULAR] gospel” (Eph 2:19, 3:6).
Eph 2:19 Now therefore ye [Gentile Ephesians] are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;
When was this finally revealed to mankind?
Eph 3:5 Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;
Eph 3:6 That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:
“We [Gentile Galatians] AS ISAAC was are the children of promise” (Gal 4:28). “Jerusalem which now is… answers to Agar [Not Sarah, as the whole Christian world believes] and is IN BONDAGE WITH HER CHILDREN” (Gal 4:25).
Here is what the scriptures say about who the 144,000 are and who they are not. Some Christians actually acknowledge that we Gentiles Christians are “the son of the freewoman.”
Gal 4:30 Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.
Gal 4:31 So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.
There is not one Christian in 1,000 who will acknowledge that Jerusalem that now is, is “the son of the bondwoman” and is likened to Hagar. “Cast out the bondwoman and her son.” When Paul quotes that verse out of the Old Testament, he is equating “Jerusalem that now is and is in bondage with her children” with Hagar, the bondwoman. Paul deliberately explains himself by continuing to quote: “For the son of the bondwoman [outward Israel] shall not be heir with the son of the free woman [Sarah, Gentiles who are “Jews inwardly”].
Here now is the truth. Can we accept the Truth?
WE [Gentile Galatians] ARE NOT THE CHILDREN OF THE BONDWOMAN, BUT OF THE FREE [The “bondwoman,” Paul says is those who “are Jews outwardly” (Rom 2:28); “Agar… [is] Jerusalem which now is and is in bondage with her children” (Gal 4:25); Physical Jerusalem and her children are “called the circumcision” (Eph 2:11)],
The Gentile converts in Christ are now the true ‘circumcision’ (Rom 2:29 and Php 3:3), the true ‘Jew’ (Rom 2:28-29), and the true ‘Israel of God’ (Gal 6:15-16)].”
Paul’s statement that there is neither Jew nor Gentile in Christ is not to be understood to mean that there is no Jew, but rather, “HE IS A JEW WHICH IS ONE INWARDLY” (Rom 2:29). “Circumcision availeth nothing” is not to be understood as there is no circumcision because we are told… “WE ARE THE CIRCUMCISION” (Php 3:3). What Paul is saying is what Christ said: “THE FLESH PROFITETH NOTHING… [and] is but dung” (Joh 6:63, Php 3:7). 12,000 from each tribe is not to be understood as ‘outward’…’children of the flesh’ because we are plainly told “these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the [144,000 – 12,000 from each tribe of Israel] seed.” That is those who are “counted” as opposed to “a great innumerable multitude.”
Rom 9:8 That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these [are] not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted [144,000] for the seed.
“These are they which… are virgins” (Rev 14:4). Whom do the scriptures reveal these ‘virgins’ signify?
2Co 11:2 I have espoused YOU [Gentile CORINTHIANS] to one husband that I might PRESENT YOU AS A CHASTE VIRGIN UNTO CHRIST.
What Does 144,000 Symbolize?
To answer this question, we need to notice that the scripture declares that ‘God owns the cattle on 1,000 hills’.
Psa 50:10 For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.
Does this verse mean that He therefore does not own the cattle on hill 1001? Is that what the scripture is saying? Of course not. Neither are the “virgin…first fruits” limited to exactly a physical count of 144,000. No, the explanation of these symbolic “… An hundred and forty and four thousand… [is simply] that these were REDEEMED FROM THE EARTH… REDEEMED FROM AMONG MEN, BEING THE FIRSTFRUITS UNTO GOD AND TO THE LAMB.”
Rev 14:3 And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred [and] forty [and] four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.
Rev 14:4 These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.
The 144,000 “were redeemed from the earth… These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.” It is clear from the revelations of Paul that those “IN CHRIST” are the “ONE SEED” to whom “ALL THE PROMISES” apply. So it is apparent that the 144,000 of Revelation 7 and 14 and the “one seed” of Galatians 3:16 are, in reality, one and the same. They are the “firstfruits.” They are those to whom “ALL THE PROMISES OF GOD IN HIM ARE YEA, AND IN HIM AMEN’, UNTO THE GLORY OF GOD.”
Why 12,000 from each tribe, you ask? Numbers are as symbolic as anything in scripture. The number twelve symbolizes foundational government, whether of Ishmael, who is the symbol of Abraham’s, after-the-flesh, firstborn (Gen 25:16, Gal 4:25), or physical Israel, whose twelve tribes symbolize the true “Israel of God” (Gal 5:15-16, Gal 4:25-30). In reality, of course, we are told of physical Israel “these are NOT the children of God: but the children of promise are counted for the seed” (Rom 9:8, Gal 3:16, 26-29). The apostle Paul is not mentioned among the twelve foundations of “the wall of the city” (Rev 21: 14) simply because, as he himself put it, he was “as one born out of due time” (1Co 15:8), not ‘out of place.’ The omission of the name of the apostle Paul in the names of the foundations of the New Jerusalem no more keeps the apostle Paul from being part of that foundation, than the omission of the name of the tribe of Dan keeps that tribe out of “all the tribes of Israel”. Twelve is symbolic of God’s foundational works, and the apostle Paul was certainly a part of that foundation, and the tribe of Dan is certainly one of “all the tribes of Israel.
Eph 2:20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;
Read The Spiritual Significance of the Number Twelve for more clarification on the meaning of this number in scripture.
When Physical Israel Will Be Saved
Someone is always going to point to Romans 11:29, “the gifts and calling of God are without repentance,” and ask, “How does that verse fit into your replacement theology?” So let’s look at Romans 11 and see what it really says.
Rom 11:24 For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert graffed contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be graffed into their own olive tree?
Rom 11:25 For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.
Rom 11:26 And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:
Rom 11:27 For this [is] my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.
Rom 11:28 As concerning the gospel, [they are] enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, [they are] beloved for the fathers’ sakes.
Rom 11:29 For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.
Don’t these verses prove God will save all Israel in spite of the fact they have rejected him? Indeed it does, but physical Jews, apart from Christ, are spiritual Gentiles, and physical Israel is simply typical of us before we came to know and be known of God:
1Co 10:6 Now these things [that happened to Israel] became types of us…” (CLV)
So when will physical Israel be saved? Will physical Israel rule the nations of the earth during the thousand years? Paul speaks of “their [physical Israel’s] fullness:”
Rom 11:12 Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness?”
Then in verse 25, he tells those with ‘eyes to see’ when ‘their fullness’ will be:
Rom 11:25 For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.
“All [physical] Israel shall be saved” AFTER the “fulness of the Gentiles be come in”. That is when all physical Israel will be saved.
Rom 11:26 And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:
When will all of this take place? Will it be during the millennium as the orthodox Christian world teaches? We are not left to speculate. We are given the day nor the hour of this all important event but we are given the exact timeline of these events. If only we would believe God’s plain spiritual words:
Eze 16:55 When thy sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their former estate, and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former estate, then thou and thy daughters shall return to your former estate.
When will physical Israel be saved?
Eze 16:53 When I shall bring again their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, then will I bring again the captivity of thy captives in the midst of them.
Why does God do this in this order?
Rom 11:32 For God hath concluded them all [mankind] in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all [mankind]”.
We come now to the function of the 144,000. Here is why they are called ” first fruits.” Here is the reason for their being chosen first.
Rom 11:30 For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief:
Rom 11:31 Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.
Rom 11:32 For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.
It is through the mercy of the “few chosen… firstfruits unto God and the Lamb”, that all men of all time will be shown mercy. That is why we are called “Saviors” in this verse of scripture:
Oba 1:21 And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD’S.
Summary
We have seen that “all the tribes of Israel” represent all the tribes of this world, and that those 144,000 out of all the tribes of Israel, are the spiritual symbol of the few chosen out of the many called. See our study on The Tabernacle, The Court, and The Camp of Israel.
We know that “all the promises in Christ are yea” including the promises of the land, which is our bodies. We have seen that names of the twelve tribes are not as spiritually significant as the number twelve is itself, because twelve signifies the foundations of “Israel” and the foundations of “the city of God… the New Jerusalem”. We have seen that there is “singleness that is in Christ” and in His Israel and in His seed and in His promises to His “one seed.” We have seen that the spiritual significance of 144,000 is the few who are numbered as opposed to the “great multitude which no man can number.” We have seen that these 144,000 out of all the tribes of Israel, are all those who are chosen out of all of the world to be Christ’s Christ, who will then be sent by Christ to be “saviors” upon mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau.”
Oba 1:21 And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD’S.
Finally, we actually saw the verses of scripture which reveal when all physical Israel will be saved, and we saw that it would happen “when Sodom and Samaria” are saved.
In our next study, Lord willing, we will take a much closer look at what separates these 144,000 from the “great multitude which no man could number.”
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