The 144,000

WHO ARE THE 144,000 IN REVELATION?

Before we dig into the topic let’s go to a very important scripture to support our study in Revelation.

“The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and SIGNIFIED it by his angel unto his servant John.”

Revelation 1:1

SIGNIFIED: sēmainō meaning a sign or symbol, symbolism.

The book of Revelation is overflowing with signs, symbols, and apocalyptic imagery. Most of these writings are not meant to take literal. The wording in this book is taken from the Old Testament scriptures.

The 144,000 in Revelation have been interpreted many different ways. Some believe they are a literal group of 144,000 Jews who will appear during a future tribulation.

But look, when Revelation is read within its first-century covenant setting, a much clearer picture begins to take shape.

So let’s get to the point. The 144,000 represent the complete and faithful remnant of Israel who belonged to Christ during that first-century generation.

John writes:

“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.”

Revelation 7:4

Notice that John specifically connects them with the tribes of Israel.

But should we understand the number 144,000 as an exact headcount?

Probably not. Not just phrases, but Revelation is filled with symbolic numbers also. The number 144,000 is formed from: 12 × 12 × 1,000

Twelve is deeply connected with God’s Covenant people. There were 12 tribes of Israel and 12 apostles of Christ. The number therefore represents completeness and fullness.

The point is not necessarily that exactly 12,000 people from each biological tribe were counted. The number symbolically portrays the complete remnant of Israel known and sealed by God.

Paul spoke about this very remnant.

“Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.”

Romans 11:5

Notice Paul’s words:

“At this present time.” If we are not careful we will think that scripture is referring to our present time. This is so easy to do. We have to be retrained to read, study the word.

Much of Israel had rejected Christ, but God had preserved a believing remnant within Israel.

Peter was part of that remnant. Paul was part of that remnant. John was part of that remnant. Thousands of Jewish believers in the book of Acts were part of that remnant.

Before covenant judgment came upon Jerusalem, God had a people within Israel who belonged to Christ.

This also follows an important Old Testament pattern.

Before Jerusalem was judged in Ezekiel’s day, God marked His faithful people.

“And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.”

Ezekiel 9:4

Revelation uses remarkably similar imagery. Before judgment falls, God seals those who belong to Him. This seal should not be understood as a literal mark on someone’s forehead. It represents ownership, identification, covenant faithfulness, and belonging to God.

Revelation 14 gives us perhaps the strongest clue concerning the identity of the 144,000.

“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.”

Revelation 14:4

They are called FIRSTFRUITS. That is extremely important. Firstfruits are not the entire harvest. They are the beginning of the harvest.

That language fits perfectly with the first generation of believers who came to Christ.

James writes:

“James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.”

James 1:1

Then James tells them:

“Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.”

James 1:18

Look at that connection:

Twelve tribes. Believers in Christ. Firstfruits.

That is remarkably similar to Revelation’s description of the 144,000.

The 144,000 therefore fit naturally with the first-century Jewish believers who received Christ before the judgment of Jerusalem and the passing of the old covenant age.

But the story does not stop with Israel.

Immediately after John hears the number of those sealed from Israel, he sees something much larger.

“After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb…”

Revelation 7:9

Notice the progression.

First:

A numbered remnant from Israel.

Then:

An innumerable multitude from the nations. That fits the pattern of the gospel perfectly.

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”

Romans 1:16

The 144,000 were not the total number of people who would ever be saved.

They were the firstfruits. They represent the faithful remnant of Israel gathered to Christ during that first-century covenant transition. Those that were saved during the 40 year transition from the cross to the final and complete removal of the old covenant.

Then the gospel moved outward into the nations, producing a multitude that no man could number.

So the 144,000 are not a mysterious group waiting thousands of years to appear during a future seven-year tribulation. They belong naturally within the world of the apostles and the approaching judgment upon Jerusalem. God preserved His remnant. They followed the Lamb. They were sealed as belonging to Him. And they became the firstfruits of a much greater harvest.

The 144,000 were not the end of the harvest.

They were the beginning of it. Later, multitudes and all nations flowed into.

Isa 2:2 And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD'S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.