Posted by Author Unknown on 12/28/2001, 8:54 pm 144,000 OF THE TRIBES OF ISRAEL In the last chapter of this book, we established one important chronological factor that indicates the church's role in end-time prophecy: Christians will not ascend until the seventh angel voices the command to “Come up here.” We have also established that a body of Christians the Bible calls the “male child” and in another place, the “two witnesses/prophets” would deliver a testimony during the days of Antichrist. The ministry of this Christian assembly that is depicted as witnesses and prophets fatally wounds Antichrist’s government in its initial stages. In this chapter we will be looking at Revelation's mysterious 144,000 company. God seals this assembly of 144,000 men, women, and children on earth before any of Revelation’s trumpets sound so the plagues will not hurt them, then later this same group is observed standing with Jesus on the heavenly mount Zion. They are seen in heaven before the bowls of God’s wrath are poured out, yet they are also observed on earth during the fifth trumpet plague, so they fit into the same time frame as the group of Christians who follow the seventh angel’s command to “Come up here.” Because this group is taken up in the Rapture at the same time as the two witnesses/prophets, the 144,000 may simply be one more facet of the Christian church? The Most Common View Most ministers and Bible instructors presently label this 144,000 company as literal descendants of National Israel. One reason they do this is because in the Book of Revelation, they are clearly labeled, “the children of Israel,” even the names of the tribes are mentioned! If that weren’t enough, it is widely accepted that all of the Christians will have been taken from the face of the planet in the Rapture long before Revelation’s trumpets sound. So the general thinking is that only Jewish descendents who accept Jesus as Savior becoming Christians after the Rapture would be left to make up the 144,000. It is supposed that these Jewish descendants, after witnessing the Rapture will realize the gospel message was true and accept Christianity. However, there is strong evidence to demonstrate that both the number “144,000” and the classification “Israel” are symbolic of God’s children regardless of their ancestral lineage. In this chapter I will present evidence that this group Israel is indeed another facet of the Christian assembly that ascends upward during the first resurrection and Rapture. What Does It Take To Be “Of Israel” In This Dispensation We know from Scripture that God is no respecter of persons, but will allow all nationalities into heaven. Our Father determines how to deal with his children not by the color of our skin or because of who our great ancestors are, but by the decisions we make in our hearts and the faith we have in Christ. While it wouldn’t necessarily violate the general tenor of Scripture for a specific ethnic group to be singled out in such a highly symbolic book as Revelation, it would certainly open the door to a few legitimate questions. In a thoughtful attempt to solve this mystery, we should at least consider the possibility that the 144,000 are a multinational group of men, women, and children who are illustrated in Revelation as the tribes of Israel. Let’s examine the Scriptures and see what it takes to be labeled “Israel” in this dispensation: 1. The gentile Christian nations were grafted into the tree of natural Israel in a symbolic sense, as we observe in Romans 11. This might indicate that Christians are now considered “Israel” symbolically? 2. “A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly” (Romans 2:28-29, NIV). This Roman Epistle was written to Christians of all nationalities, ethnic origins and skin color. From this last Scripture we may understand that in Christ, “inwardly” people become Jews, for even a natural Jew is not a true Jew if he/she is not one inwardly. Apparently in this dispensation, being “Jewish in a symbolic sense” is a condition of the heart! 3. “ There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28, NIV). From this Scripture we may understand that there is no longer such a thing as different ethnic groups “in Christ.” We are now all one. The verse goes on to read “If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:29, NIV). This last verse clearly calls Christians—Abraham’s seed. 4. “Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation” (Galatians 6:16, NIV). It is commonly accepted that Paul was speaking of being born again when he penned the words new creation. 5. “I know the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan” (Revelation 2:9, NIV). This verse continues to demonstrate that ancestry alone is not what constitutes being a Jew in the New Covenant. Seeing that this letter was written to an assembly with diverse ethnic backgrounds and given the figurative word usage in our text, it is very possible John was not speaking of the ethnic origins of the people in the first place, but rather their faith and walk in Christ. 6. In the Book of Revelation the word Lamb is used twenty-seven times in reference to Jesus Christ. The lamb is an Old Testament illustration of Christ in his role as Savior. “Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads… They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were purchased from among men and offered as firstfruits to God and the Lamb” (Revelation 14:1 and 4, NIV). When the Lamb and the 144,000 of the tribes of Israel are observed in the same verse, wouldn’t this demonstrate that both the Lamb and the 144,000 are Old Testament representations of a New Testament design? If the teachers of Bible prophecy would be consistent in their studies and use this text as a model to build upon, they would understand that the Lamb Jesus Christ is illustrated in Revelation with Old Testament symbolism and so is the end-time church. Don’t let the symbolism confuse you. 7. “For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel” (Romans 9:6, NIV). That verse in Romans just demonstrated the blood lineage from Jacob is not what constitutes being “of Israel” in this New Testament dispensation! So then being a child of Israel must be a birthright accomplished through the new birth. If a natural-born Israeli is not “of Israel” without accepting Christ as Savior, how can any natural descendent from any of the original tribes possibly be “of Israel” without Christ in this dispensation? And if he or she has accepted Christ, the Bible says it makes no difference what ethnic heritage they are from, or whether or not any are circumcised.
Posted by Author Unknown on 10/29/2001, 10:19 pm
Message Thread:
« Back to thread
