Who Are The 144,000? Series

in Rev. 1:19, Jesus told John to write, what was, What is now, and what will happen later, chapters 4-22 are about what will happen later. Greek word for Revelation is Apokalypses, which means uncovering or revealing of events which will happen in the last days, and end times. I believe the Eschaton is imminent, looming. We don’t know the day or the hour, but Bible tells us we may look for these evidences or signs which will precede the eschaton, I sense an urgency in these days, multiple signs converging.

Who is who in Revelation, is message designed for inspecting much like using a magnifying glass to look more closely at the details of what John writes in his apokalyptos, there is a 7 year period of tribulation, all kinds of suffering on the earth and its inhabitants. John had asked a question Rev. 6:13, Who can survive the trib?

Last week we took the magnifying glass to Rev. 13, a blasphemous counterfeit has imposed itself, its an unholy trinity, Satan, antichrist and false prophet, they begin one world religion, must worship the beast and must receive the mark of the beast, they have enforced it by one world economic system! Now for Christians, this will have results in great persecution, for we worship God alone, no other gods. John gets it, he asks who is able to stand, how can Christians survive, not compromise? In Rev. 14, we hear good news, in the midst of darkness an incredible word about some who will not receive the mark of the beast, instead they are sealed with the mark of God, "who are the 144,000?" Read Rev. 14:1-13

Play video WHEN THE SAINTS COME MARCHING IN. invite people to sing along.

That is one of my favorites with one of the best messages, before it was a jazz hit, it was a black spiritual and gospel favorite, i love the lyrics, they describe many apocalyptic images, they refer to last days events, solar and lunar eclipses, and trumpets on Judgement Day. The lyrics “I want to be in that number” I read the original meaning of that number, refers to details of the prophecy in the Bible’s Book of Revelation, in which 144,000 people will be redeemed from the Wrath of the Beast and the judgment of God; Yeah! I want to be in that number! gets me Passionate, I don’t want to do anything that would cause me to be disqualified, don’t want there to be 143,999,

I dug a bit deeper, here is what I discover about the 144,000; its not simple in fact rather troubling, From Rev. 7, I discovered some distressing and probably some facts that suggest I am disqualified,

1. These 144K are Jews, all can trace their lineage to the tribes of Israel, 12k from each of 12 tribes of Israel, that is not too hopeful for me?

2. they are all described as men. What about women, won’t they be able to survive triB?

3. And then he said they are all virgins, what about married men?

4. And then he also describes them no lie was found in their mouth, they are blameless, I am disqualified.

5. Survey of world’s population, about 8 billion people, planet earth. 144,000/8 billion is a ratio of 1 in 5000! small percent of world's population included in that number. frankly those are not good odds!

But Rev. 7:9; after this I looked and saw a great uncountable multitude in heaven. who are they? In rev. 7, they are described as the remnant of Israel, I believe they may be the answer to John question in Rev. 6, “Who is able to stand? Who will be delivered from the judgment of God, and the tribulation of the beast?"

An answer comes in chap 7 prerequisite before the trumpet judgments, angel puts a seal on the forehead of these 144,000 they are sealed with the mark of God. Who are these 144 k? where do they come from and what is their purpose and why are they necessary? are you curious? let's dig deeper, to understand what John is trying to describe in Revelation, its important to interpret prophecy from the roots found in the Old Testament. what we hear from this Rev. points back to a series of other prophecies in o.t. which shed light on these events,

So if you take your Bible and turn to Micah 2:12-13, here we discover a parallel prophesy of events at the end time. “I will surely bring together the remnant of Israel, … one who breaks open the way will go up before them, their king will pass through before them, the LORD at their head.” Micah 5:8 adds a bit more information, “the remnant of Jacob will be among the nations in the midst of many peoples, like a lion among the beasts of the forest, like a young lion among flocks of sheep, which mauls and mangles as it goes.”