BIBLE READING

Revelation 7: 4; 7-19

Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel.

After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice:

‘Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb.’

All the angels were standing round the throne and round the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshipped God, saying:

‘Amen!
Praise and glory
and wisdom and thanks and honour
and power and strength
be to our God for ever and ever.
Amen!’

Then one of the elders asked me, ‘These in white robes – who are they, and where did they come from?’

I answered, ‘Sir, you know.’

And he said, ‘These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 Therefore,

‘they are before the throne of God
and serve him day and night in his temple;
and he who sits on the throne
will shelter them with his presence.
“Never again will they hunger;
never again will they thirst.
The sun will not beat down on them,”
nor any scorching heat.
For the Lamb at the centre of the throne
will be their shepherd;
“he will lead them to springs of living water.”
“And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

REFLECTION

OK, what about this number 144,000? More ink has been spilled over this number and more dodgy teaching has been taught in relation to this than is really needed. Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that only 144,000 faithful Christians will have the fullness of eternal life – all of them Jehovah’s Witnesses by the way.

Remember what we said before – numbers aren’t literal, they are symbolic. 144,000 is not a statistic – it is a symbol saying something deeper.

Earlier in our study we saw that there were 24 elders around the throne and we said that they represent all of God’s people from both the Old Testament Israel and from the New Testament Church i.e. You and me. How did we come up with this?

How many tribes of Israel were there? 12.

How many Apostles were there? 12.

12 plus 12 equals 24 – this 24 elders ruling with Christ.

So let’s think about this number 144,000.

Those of you who are maths geniuses – what do you multiply together to get 144?

12 x 12.

Again we have 2 twelves. God’s faithful people throughout history.

Multiply that by 1000 – 144,000.

What is the symbolism of 1000? It implies completeness and perfection. Totality.

The psalmist writes that "the cattle on a thousand hills" belong to God (Ps. 50: 10). That isn’t a literal 1000 hills. It means every animal in creation belongs to God. It says in Deuteronomy that God is faithful to a thousand generations (Deut 7:9). That means He is completely and perfectly faithful.

So 144,000 is the completeness and fullness of God’s people – every child of God is marked, sealed with God’s Spirit.

In verse 4, John hears this number 144,000. He then sees them. He gets a new picture, a new vision, bringing more clarity about exactly who they are.

“After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice:

‘Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb.’”

Then one of the elders asked me, ‘These in white robes – who are they, and where did they come from?’

I answered, ‘Sir, you know.’

And he said, ‘These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” (7: 9-14)

The 144,000 are a great multitude that you actually can’t count there’s so many of them. It’s all of God’s people from every nation, tribe and tongue. They are washed in the blood of Jesus, they are those who come through the tribulations of life, the pressure, the pain, hardship, suffering, and persecution – and they have remained faithful to Jesus.

They have made it through. Through the worst tribulation, through the pain, suffering, heartache, rejection. They have made it through.

Some of you need to know that this morning – you’ll make it through.

The cry of those who rejected Jesus at the end of chapter 6 was:

“Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” (v 17)

Look at the answer:

“After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb.” (7: 9)

Who can stand? Those who “…have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”