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The Startling Identity of the 144,000 of Revelation
By David Lowe
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An angel declares that, prior to the trumpet judgments falling on the earth, the 144,000 must be sealed with the "seal of the living God". This seal is extremely important, because, during the fifth trumpet judgment, the 144,000 are protected from the demonic creatures who ascend from the abyss and torment humanity for five months:
Rev 9:4 They were told not to damage the grass of the earth, or any green plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their forehead.
In Revelation chapter 7, the genealogical descent of the 144,000 is revealed: 12,000 of them are chosen from each of 12 different sons of Jacob. The author goes to great pains to list every son of Jacob from which 12,000 different men descend until 144,000 are accounted for.
The traditional literal interpretation of the 144,000 is that they will be a group of Jewish men whom God will call out of Israel, or perhaps all nations, just after the beginning of Daniel´s 70th week. They will be a special group of Jews who will have lived a pious life of celibacy and dedication to God, but they will not be a part of the caught-up believers. Instead, they will remain on earth, be sealed by God for protection during the trumpet judgments, and evangelize the rest of the world. As for the tribe of Israel from whom they are said to descend, some reason that the two witnesses will be able to tell them from which tribe they trace their descent.
Their Traits
This traditional interpretation leaves much to be desired when all of the traits of the 144,000 are considered. In Revelation chapters 7 and 14, the following traits of this group of people are provided:
1. They must all be Jewish, for they descend from 12 different sons of Israel. (Revelation 7:4-8)
2. They must all be men, because they did not defile themselves with women. (Revelation 14:4)
3. They are all male parthenoi in Greek, or sexually pure. This could mean these men had never had sexual relations, had never been sexually immoral, or that in their current state, they were unable to have those type of relations. (Revelation 14:4)
4. They were "redeemed from among humanity", which means they must be human beings. (Revelation 14:3,4)
5. They had never told a lie, and they were "blameless". The Greek word for "blameless" is amomoi, which Peter used to describe Jesus when he was presented as a lamb "without blemish":
I Pet 1:19 but by precious blood like that of an unblemished [amomou] and spotless lamb, namely Christ.
The 144,000 are in a state of holiness and purity as Jesus Christ was his entire life, which could only be possible if they had been in an immortal state. This is because, in a mortal state, all are born into sin, and no one is righteous. (Revelation 14:5)
6. They follow the Lamb wherever he went, which is a trait shared by those who are part of the resurrected and caught-up believers. (Revelation 14:4):
I The 4:17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be suddenly caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord.
7. They are "redeemed from humanity as firstfruits to God and to the Lamb". Firstfruits means that they are part of a larger whole, in this case humanity, that is taken out of, or redeemed from, the larger whole. (Revelation 14:4)
8. They seem to possess supernatural qualities, such as:
***They are protected from the fifth trumpet judgment creatures that appear and torture humanity for five months with the seal of God. (Revelation 9:4)
***After being on the earth during Daniel’s 70th week, they mysteriously appear on heaven’s Mount Zion in Revelation chapter 14 without explanation. (Revelation 14:1-5)
A Possible Indentity
There is one group of individuals described briefly in the New Testament that appear to possess all the traits above. That group is the "many saints" of Matthew chapter 27 that were resurrected to immortality just after Christ’s resurrection:
Mat 27:52 And tombs were opened, and the bodies of many saints who had died were raised.
Mat 27:53 (They came out of the tombs after his resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people.)
The following is a list of reasons why the "many saints who had died" and were resurrected is a possible explanation for the elusive identity of the 144,000:
1. The "many saints" were raised from the dead in and around Jerusalem at the least, so they would be in a Jewish territory. Their description as "saints" couldn’t mean saints of Christ, because he had just died and been raised. Therefore, these saints must have been righteous Jewish individuals who died prior to Christ’s death.
2. There is no restriction in Matthew chapter 27 to the gender of the "many saints", so it is possible that the Lord chose only males to be raised.
3. In a resurrected state, these men would not have sexual relations. As Jesus stated, in a resurrected state, people will be like the angels in that they do not marry nor are given in marriage:
Mat 22:30 For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.
4. The "many saints" were redeemed from humanity, just as the 144,000 are described.
5. The "many saints", in their resurrected state, would be "blameless", or in a state of holiness and purity. The Greek word amomoi, in addition to being a word used to describe Christ as a lamb without blemish, is also used several times to describe the people of God when they will be presented to him:
Eph 5:27 so that he may present the church to himself as glorious—not having a stain or wrinkle, or any such blemish, but holy and blameless [amomos].
Jud 1:24 Now to the one who is able to keep you from falling, and to cause you to stand, rejoicing, without blemish [amomous] before his glorious presence,
6. The "many saints", in their resurrected and glorified bodies, would be able to be with the Lord wherever he went. The supernatural seal of God and the Lamb that is on their forehead during the time they are on the earth in the first part of Daniel’s 70th week may be how they stay supernaturally united with the Lamb while he is in heaven and they are on the earth.
7. The "many saints" would be considered "firstfruits" to both God and the Lamb, just as the 144,000 are described, since they were the first human beings resurrected to immortality after Jesus Christ. They were part of a larger whole that was taken out of the larger whole as a firstfruits offering to God and the Lamb.
8. The "many saints" would, in their immortal state, possess the supernatural qualities that the 144,000 seemed to possess. These are the same qualities Jesus displayed after his resurrection and described in an earlier chapter.
This is presented only as a possible explanation of the identity of the 144,000. Many prophecy scholars have tried, ever since Revelation was penned, to explain their identity. Many of the problems of interpretation that they noted are alleviated if the 144,000 are a group of individuals who lived in the distant past and are currently in a resurrected and immortal state, including:
The tendency to symbolize the 144,000 number as well as many of the qualities they are described as having, which could only be possessed by individuals who were in a resurrected and glorified state.
The problem of how they will know of which tribe they are a part, since after 70 AD, the twelve tribes were scattered and many believe they disappeared. The resurrection of the "many saints" occurred before 70 AD.
Whether they are really symbolic of individuals, both Jews and Gentiles, who will turn back to the Lord during Daniel’s 70th week.
The tendency to symbolize their description of being virgins and being without any blame.
More Evidence Outside of Scripture
An early extra-biblical reference may also provide an interesting circumstantial corroboration to the idea that the 144,000 were made up of the "many saints" who rose just after Jesus´ resurrection. In the ancient writing called "The Gospel of Nicodemus", there is a detailed account of the resurrection of the "many saints" of Matthew chapter 27. In this account, two men named Karinus and Leucius were among those who were seen alive who had previously died. Below is an excerpt of how these two men responded when asked how the breath of life had returned to them:
We have risen again along with Christ from the lower world, and He has raised us up again from the dead . . . And indeed to us it has been commanded by the Lord Himself, that for an appointed time we should walk over the banks of Jordan and the mountains; not, however, appearing to every one, nor speaking to every one, except to those to whom He has permitted us. And just now we could neither have spoken nor appeared to you, unless it had been allowed to us by the Holy Spirit.
Two things to note from this passage are:
1. These who were risen from the dead did not appear to everyone in and around Israel, but only to a specific number of persons to whom they were allowed to appear. This agrees with the Matthew chapter 27 account that the "many saints" appeared to many people.
2. They were only to appear for an "appointed time". They were not just raised from the dead only to then live out their lives again and die a mortal death. Instead, they seem to be raised for specific purpose.
Karinus and Leucius continued and later revealed a very important point. When they were in Abraham´s bosom after Christ´s resurrection, they said:
And to us and many others it was commanded that we should rise in the body, giving in the world a testimony of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, and of those things which had been done in the lower world.
Take special note that they said "many" of the dead under the Old Covenant were commanded to rise and give a bodily testimony on the earth. Some believe and teach that "all" of the Old Covenant saints were raised in the Matthew chapter 27 account and later taken to heaven, but according to this account, only "many" of the saints were raised.
Finally, the Gospel of Nicodemus reveals in interesting number of people who were seen risen from the dead in the city of Jerusalem:
And, behold, suddenly there appeared coming down from Mount Amalech a very great number, as it were, twelve thousand men, who had risen with the Lord. And though they recognised very many there, they were not able to say anything to them for fear and the angelic vision . . .
Returning the study of the identity of the 144,000, there are two interesting points in this passage:
1. There were 12,000 men raised from the dead, which could be one group of 12,000 of the 144,000. Perhaps the other eleven groups of 12,000 were raised in other parts of Israel, specific to their tribal boundaries? There is no mention of other groups, but the number is intriguing.
2. The 12,000 individuals were described as "men", not women, persons, or people. This is in agreement with their description in Revelation chapter 14 as being virgins who were not defiled with women, meaning that they could only be men.
The identity of the 144,000 has long been a mystery. My prayer is that this study has shed new light on this mystery for the reader, and caused a greater hunger for the Word of God and its mysteries.
David Lowe
The above study is an excerpt taken from the manuscript "Earthquake Resurrection: Unlocking the Mystery of the Rapture" by David Lowe. Soon, this manuscript will be made available to the public. To be notified of this, send an email to the author by clicking here , and you will receive updates as to the progress of the publication.
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