The last time we saw the 144,000 was on Palm Sunday. We were looking at God’s promises to bring all the tribes of Israel back from all the lands to which they had been exiled, all but Dan, that is, who had chosen not to take God up on his promises and had instead struck out for easier pickings up north. Back in chapter 7 John reports that he heard the angel say that
"144,000 would be “sealed out of every tribe of the people of Israel: From the tribe of Judah ... from the tribe of Reuben ... from the tribe of Gad ... from the tribe of Asher ... from the tribe of Naphtali ... from the tribe of Manasseh ... from the tribe of Simeon ...from the tribe of Levi ... from the tribe of Issachar from the tribe of Zebulun..." [Rev 7:4-8]
Now, because of this parallelism, some people think that this 144,000 must all be Jewish Christians, that none of the Gentiles who responded to the Gospel message would belong to this elite army. Others believe that both the old and the new Israel - faithful Jews under the old covenant, joined by both Jewish and Gentile Christians - are included, especially since so much of the book of Revelation emphasizes that Gentile Christians are the spiritual inheritors of Gods original promises to Israel.
The Jehovah’s Witnesses have a different interpretation, adding a second baptism to consecrate an elite few who will actually make it into heaven. Since there are over 3 million Jehovah’s Witnesses by now, that leaves over 2,800,000 who are going to have to be content with a purified earth.
Most mainstream Christians believe that this 144,000 should not be taken literally, since in prophetic literature numbers are more often used symbolically. If that is true, it stands for 12, the number of God’s people, squared, times 10, cubed. It means absolutely everybody .... everybody who is in fact a true member of Israel, both the old and the new.
Whenever we have this many opposing interpretations of a passage, it’s a pretty reliable clue that we don’t really know exactly who those 144,000 people will be - that is, we don’t have a guest list that will make it possible for us to screen out potential crashers to God’s great gathering.
The deliberate ambiguity is also a clue that what God does want us to focus on is what is clear. And in this passage what is absolutely clear is what these 144,000 people are like.
A lot of things are said about these 144,000. First, they have “the name [of the Lamb] and his Father's name written on their foreheads.” [v. 1] As we saw a couple of weeks ago, the marks that the followers of the beast wear on their heads and hands stands for the fact that their thoughts and their actions both serve the enemy of God. In just the same way, those who belong to the Lamb serve him with their thoughts and their actions. These 144,000 belong to God. That point is emphasized twice more: “they have been redeemed from the earth”
[v. 3] and again in verse 4: “they have been redeemed from humankind as first fruits for God and the Lamb... [v. 4]
The fact that they are “first fruits” lends credence to the interpretation that they represent the whole of the gathered people of God, since the first fruits were an offering which acknowledged that God was the actual owner of the entire harvest. It also implies that more is - or should I say are? - more are yet to come. So even if you’re not one of the actual 144,000 present in this scene, it doesn’t mean you won’t be gathered in by the time the harvest is complete.
Another thing that we know about these people is that they are singing. They are singing a new song, one that can only be sung by the redeemed. What is this song? What is this mysterious new song that only the redeemed can sing? This theme of singing a new song is not new to Revelation. Listen to the Psalms: “He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God.” [Ps 40:3] And again, O sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth.“ [Ps 96:1] “O sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvelous things.” [Ps 98:1] “I will sing a new song to you, O God.” [Ps 144:9]
Only the redeemed can truly sing praises to God from their hearts, and God’s mercies are new every morning. Ancient Israel had been redeemed; does anyone doubt that the songs David sang were fully acceptable to God? Each time God reveals more of himself, each time we experience the grace of God, each time we are touched by the love of Christ, we are given a glimpse of the complete freedom and joy which will be ours one day the song which springs forth from our hearts is new. This song can only be sung by the redeemed, because only the redeemed know and love our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Praise is always new. Redemption is always new. You can be bored with church or tired of
religion, but you cannot be bored by God, and you cannot respond to Jesus Christ with a shrug and a “been there, done that.” His mercies are always as new as the dew on the morning grass. Boredom is blindness. The great Catholic essayist writer G. K. Chesterton wrote,
"Because children have abounding vitality, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged... They always say, “Do it again, and the grown-up does it again until he is nearly dead... But perhaps God says every morning, 'Do it again' to the sun; and every evening, 'do it again,' to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them.” [from Orthodoxy]
But it is not the status of the redeemed, or their activity, the great outpouring of song, that are the most important facts about the 144,000. It is their character. And this passage notes three traits that identify God’s people.
First, they “have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins.” [v. 4] My goodness. That certainly raises a couple of questions. First, does this mean that the 144,000 are all men? Second, does it mean that sex - even in marriage - is somehow defiling, and that you can’t make it up to the highest spiritual rank if you have been married? That’s what the Catholic church taught, that monks and priests and nuns - because they voluntarily gave up the pleasures of the flesh - were all holier than ordinary people who got married and had children.
In answer to the first question, maybe, but more probably not. It might be that men only are included, since this is God’s heavenly army, mustered to take the field against Satan’s forces. And of course we know that in Biblical days - in fact, in most cultures throughout history - women have not gone into battle with their menfolk. In favor of the other position, Judge Deborah led troops because Barak refused to go into battle without her, Jael the Kenite was the one who killed General Sisera, and later Judith killed the Assyrian General Holofernes. And since this is spiritual warfare, not physical, It is likely that Paul’s admonition to the Galatians applies. “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or
free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. [Gal 3:28 ]
The second question is - in my opinion - more important, because it involves choices that we make. We don’t choose whether we are both male or female, but we do choose whether or not to remain celibate. Well, some of us choose it. For others, God chooses for us. At any rate, it involves behavior that we have some control over. What does that phrase, to “defile themselves with women” really mean? One possible answer has an echo back to the ritual cleanliness
required of Israel’s armies when they went into battle; the men were supposed to stay away from their wives during the campaign. But it is far more likely that this is a symbolic prohibition, because nowhere in Hebraic thought is marriage regarded as anything but a blessing - even a commandment, to “be fruitful and multiply.” [Gen 1:22, 9:1] The Hebrews knew that God’s creation was good. It was the Greeks and other Mediterranean philosophies that regarded the soul as inherently pure and the body as inherently sinful, not the Jews. In fact, Paul and other New Testament writers spend a lot of time telling people that false asceticism was not a mark of extra spirituality.
“...Liars whose consciences are seared with a hot iron.... forbid marriage and demand abstinence from foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected, provided it is received with thanksgiving.” [1 Tim 4:2-4]
It is far more likely that this is an echo from the usual prophetic portrayal of Israel as either an unfaithful prostitute or as a pure virgin bride for God. “As a faithless wife leaves her husband, so you have been faithless to me, O house of Israel, says the LORD.” [Jer 3:20] The pure virgin has not followed after other gods. Revelation enlarges the metaphor to portray all of unrepentant humanity as a prostitute, and those who are faithful to Christ as his pure bride. These 144,000 have refused the invitation of the adulterer in Proverbs, who calls to the foolish,"You who are simple, turn in here!" And to those without sense she says, "Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is
pleasant." But they do not know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of Sheol. [Pro 9:16-18]
The second trait that identifies God’s people is that they “follow the Lamb wherever he goes.” [v. 4] This is easier said than done. Jesus warns his followers that there’s a cost, that they cannot have a divided allegiance. “A scribe... said, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go." And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." Another of his disciples said to him, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." But Jesus said to him, "Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead." [Mt 8:19-22] Later on, Jesus tells his disciples, “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me.” [Mt 10:37-38] Another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home." Jesus said to him, "No one who
puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God." [Lk 9:61-62]
But what does that mean??? Very simply, it means obeying Jesus’ voice instead of listening to all the noises of the world that try to drown him out. "Very truly, I tell you, the hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. [John 5:25]
And finally, those who are numbered among the 144,000 are people of truth. These are not only people who pride themselves on their honesty; they are people who recognize the truth of Jesus. Remember that Jesus says to those who keep demanding more proof, more evidence, more signs, “You are from your father the devil, and you choose to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” [Jn 8:44 ] And later on, in front of Pilate, he said “For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice." [John 18:37]
This picture also contrasts God’s faithful with the world’s liars, who slander believers, who praise the false ruler, who embrace the lies put forth by the Antichrist,. God’s saints speak the truth, and live according to it, regardless of the cost.
So the first angel’s announcement isn’t a new one. It isn’t the beginning of a new cycle of warning and reprieve. It’s the last repeat of the truth these 144,000 - and those they represent - already live by: "Fear God and give him glory, for the hour of his judgment has come; and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.”
God’s heavenly army - those who have gone before us and those who will come after us - consists of those who have heard his voice, who have recognized his truth in Jesus Christ, and who love it more than the easy lies the world offers. Are you a weekend warrior or a civilian? Or are you in it for life?
