Shabbat shalom kol beit Yisra'el and Mishpachah and welcome back to our ongoing study of the Book of Revelation and to Part 29 of the series. Today, as we work our way through the Seven Seals, we look at the first of what I call the parenthetical 'Interludes' in the Seals-Trumpets-Bows/Vials series which is located between chapters 6 and 8.

But before we do that, let me refresh your memories with a quick review of that we talked about last week. First of all, we encountered a passage which is the only place in the entire Messianic Scriptures (New Testament) where anything definite is said about the location and state of the departed in the spirit world, at least of the righteous saved and obedient in Messiah. First - and this is something that a good many Messianics, Seventh-Day Adventists, Jehovah's Witnesses, Armstrongites (Worldwide Church of God), Christadeliphians and others who believe in the false doctrine of soul-sleeping need to be attentive to: the dead are very much awake and conscious as they cry out to Yahweh for their vindication...they are neither literally 'sleeping' (which is a poetic metaphor used throughout the Bible) nor have they ceased to exist as nerely a 'memory' in Elohim's (God's) 'brain' waiting to be 'recreated' at the start of the Millennium as many soul-sleepers teach.

Like the navi (prophet) Jeremiah who was in a pre-mortal conscious pre-existent relationship with Yahweh before he was born (Jer.1:5), so are the righteous martyrs who are begging for justice to be done. They are symbolically located under Yahweh's Altar in the Throne Room which is itself a picture of a very real conscious spiritual existence that can only be explained to finite mortals in such symbolic language. The qodeshim (saints, set-apart ones) are alive, albeit it in a disembodied state, and are not mere impersonal animating 'breath' that has returned to the Creator as Jehovah's Witnesses and other 'soul-sleepers' falsely interpret. At the same time they are not 'immortal souls' either as most of orthodox Christendom teaches - they are not 'souls' (a soul is spirit + body), but non-corporeal spirits, and they are not unconditionally immortal - their ongoing life very much depends on the Life of the Creator sustaining them. They cannot act 100 per cent independently of their Creator and Sustainer.

This makes Revelation chapter 6, verses 9 to 11, very important in resolving yet another doctrinal controversy in the Body of Christ, namely, where the dead are (in this case, in the Heavenly Temple) and what the dead are, or aren't, doing. The martyrs are told to wait patiently because the world must be given more time to ripen in iniquity which in turn means that wickedness must be allowed to have its way for a time yet. Evil must do its worst before it is finally extinguished just we we, as Yah's people, must strive to do our best! This is not at all what we would like, especially those (which is almost everyone) who have been wronged or hurt who want to see the world put to rights and the guilty removed and punished for their murders and other crimes. Justice will be done but in Yahweh's own time.

We also understood last time that the white robe these martyrs were given was a symbol of both the vindication of their righteousness and the promise they would be in the Victory Parade when Yah'shua (Jesus) returns to earth with the heavenly hosts to establish the thousand year-long kingdom of righteousness. And yet again the Book of Revelation corrects another false doctrine about the 'rapture' which is not about being whisked away to avoid persecution and martyrdom but about joining the Victory Parade with King Yah'shua (Jesus) returning home triumphant!

Finally, we took a close look at the 6th Seal where familiar Tanakh (Old Testament) prophetic language speaks of the sun being darkened, the moon turning red, and the 'stars' falling out of heaven and striking the earth. Though there are those who try to downplay the obvious physical reality of the sun and moon being hidden and the earth being bombarded by meteorites by saying this is just poetic language describing a time of tumultuous events, and though equally this isn't the 'end of the world' as the popular imagination would call it, it will mark a time of much death and destruction but even more importantly the end of an Æon.

One thing is very clear from the 6th seal. The thing the wicked are most afraid of, be they the powerful or the weak, is that of is the Creator's gaze and the Lamb's anger. You think you know what the angriest person you can imagine looks like, but you 'ain't seen nothin' yet' until you see the wrath of Yahweh directed against the wicked. And for those who do not understand, herein lies a deep mystery, because the phrase "the anger of the Lamb" almost sounds like a contradiction in terms, doesn't it? Just as John had to learn to see the Lion in terms of the Lamb (and, as N.T.Wright points out, the two talmidim (disciples) on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24 had to learn to see their hopes for the Messiah redefined around the scriptural story of the suffering and vindication which Yah'shua/Jesus told them), so the very notion of 'anger' is radically redefined by the fact that it is the Lamb's anger. It is the anger of the one who has embodied, in His own death, Elohim's (God's) own self-giving, self-sacrificial ahavah (love).

Just as the wicked, described in Revelation 6, don't see this, so, as today, neither do those atheists and others who reject Elohim (God) and vilify Him, charging Him with all sorts of wickedness. And herein lies the great contradiction and illogic of angry atheists. When the noveslist Kingsley Amis was asked if he believed in Elohim (God), his reply was, 'No', to which he added, 'and I hate Him'. That is the same tone of voice of the people who wanted to hide in the mountains. They are right that Yahweh - the Creator-Elohim (God) we know in, and through, Yah'shua (Jesus) - is calling the world to account. But they are wrong to imagine Him as a capricious or vengeful tyrant. Yahweh-Elohim is indeed angry at everything that has so horribly spoiled His wonderful planet. His gaze from the Throne is a deep, inexpressible mixture of sorrow and fury. But the Lamb's anger is the utter rejection, by Love Incarnate, of all that is unloving. The only people who should be afraid of it are those who are determined to resist the call of ahavah (love).

Which brings us to the parenthetical insertion between the 6th and 7th seals, half of which we shall look at now:

"1 After these things I saw four malakim (angels) standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree. 2 Then I saw another malak (angel) ascending from the east, having the seal of the living Elohim (God). And he cried with a loud voice to the four malakim (angels) to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, 3 saying, 'Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our Elohim (God) on their foreheads.' 4 And I heard the number of those who were sealed. One hundred and forty-four thousand (144,000) of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed:

5 of the tribe of Judah twelve thousand (12,000) were sealed;
of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand (12,000) were sealed;
of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand (12,000) were sealed;
6 of the tribe of Asher twelve thousand (12,000) were sealed;
of the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand (12,000) were sealed;
of the tribe of Manasseh (Dan?) twelve thousand (12,000) were sealed;
7 of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand (12,000) were sealed;
of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand (12,000) were sealed;
of the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand (12,000) were sealed;
8 of the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand (12,000) were sealed;
of the tribe of Joseph (Ephraim? + Manasseh?) twelve thousand (12,000) were sealed;
of the tribe of Benjamin twelve thousand (12,000) were sealed"


(Rev 7:1-8, NKJV)

This is one of the most contentious, hotly debated passages in the Book of Revelation and perhaps, indeed, in the whole Bible, so we must tread with great care and not let our imaginations run wild or uncritically regurgitate the many varied teachings of ministers and theologians. Since the subject of the 144,000 is raised again in chapter 14, we are going to necessarily divide this topic into two parts and treat the second part when we come to Revelation 14:1-5, as follows:

• 1. Chapter 7: Where the 144,000 come from; and
• 2. Chapter 14: What the 144,000 do and who they really are.

The sealing of the 144,000 is inserted here between the 6th and 7th seals for one reason, and liewise the same souls are inserted after the activities of the Second Beast for another reason. Tempting though it is to do a complete study of the 144,00 all at once (because it's admittedly a fascinating subject), for the sake of contextual and historical accuracy, we must exhibit some self-retraint and see Revelation 7:1-8 in its proper place...between two seals - those sealed are between two prophetic Seals. Though this is, as I said last time, a parenthetical insertion taking us apparently 'off-topic', as it were, in reality nothing in Scripture is placed accidentally. This passage wasn't Yahweh having an afterthought, as if saying, 'Oh, while I remember, let me insert a word about the 144,000...'. Not a bit of it.

The 144,000 here, and the great rescue in the second half of this chapter, have been inserted here for a reason. And what is that reason? It's an event, like the six seals before it, and the 7th seal after it, that is running chronologically with global events but this time we're zooming in on Yahweh's Elect rather than the world and its fallen system coming under judgment. And in a way, you might even argue, that since Yah'shua the Messiah (Jesus Christ) and His Israelite Bride are the central figures in the whole of the biblical narrative, it's these so-called 'parenthetical' texts which perhaps ought to be viewed as the main text with the rest being supporting background information. We shall see. I'll let you come to your own conclusions about this suggestion as we work through the rest of the Apocalypse. In any case, as we shall shortly see, the 144,000 aren't the only qodeshim (saints, set-apart ones) of Elohim (God): there are others, and in far greater numbers. Yet the 144,000 are singled out because they are an élite, the crême de la crême, as it were, not because they are the predestined pets of heaven in some calvinistic sense, but because of their characters and what they have done. But more of who they are and what they have done in chapter 14.

What we're told here is that:

• 1. The 144,000 are to be "sealed...on their foreheads", separated out or specially protected before the earth, sea and trees are subject to harming; and

• 2. There are to be 144,000 of them, 12,000 each of all the [twelve] tribes of Israel.

You will recall that we have dealt with the marking of people's foreheads before in Ezekiel (9:4-6) and we know that was done so that the malakim (angels) of destruction would protect their lives in a time of judgment. The reason is no different here. These believers are to be spared the harm and destruction of the 7th seal, the 7 trumpets and the 7 bowls/vials. Why they will be spared we will discuss in chapter 14. So that's why they are 'marked' or 'sealed' - they are needed alive during the times of martyrdom and natural destruction.

The second point is that they are all men. Whether the 144,000 is a literal number, figurative number, or both we'll address in a minute. This fact upsets modernist (and postmodernist) feminists and liberals who are determined that men and women shall have identical, or near identical, rôles and who typically end up twisting either Bible translations, commentaries or both. The 144,000 are all male overcomers. They're men. What about the women? Aren't they part of the equation? Certainly, but perhaps not in the way the 21st century mindset works or expects them to be. Remember, this is the first century AD, nearly 2,000 years ago. To address this issue fully you must await chapter 14, I'm afraid, however offended some listening to me who may have feminist of liberal/egalitarian tendencies. Remember, modern political correctness plays no part in biblical exegesis (interpretation), only the truth of historical realism.

If we continue taking this passage literally (which we are obliged to do until, and if, it becomes plain that we cannot), we must address the fact that there are twelve entities or Israelite tribes each consisting of 12,000 men. And remember what verse 4 said: "One hundred and forty-four thousand (144,000) of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed" - not some, not 11, but ALL TWELVE. And yet, as you read through the listed tribes, it's immediately obvious that the Tribe of Dan is missing and that the Tribe of Manasseh is represented twice - once on its own (v.6) and again as one of the two Joseph tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh (v.8). This means, at face value, either Manasseh has a 12.5 percent share, with Ephraim getting a mere 4.2 percent, or 'Joseph' in fact stands for 'Ephraim' (since Ephraim is the head) in which case Manasseh gets an 8.3 percent share and Ephrainm also gets an 8.3 per cent share after all...but...that still leaves a missing tribe. We'll address that discrepancy in a moment.

I have prepared a table so that you can see the issue. I have arranged it in 5 columns. On the extreme left, I list the order of birth of the 12 sons (and one daughter) of Jacob and their four mothers - 'L' is for Leah (pale green), 'R' for Rachel (pale blue), 'Z' for Zilpah, Leah's servant, her sons being technically Leah's (darker green), and 'B' for Bilhah, Rachel's servant, her sons being technically Rachel's (darker blue). As you can see, Reuben was the eldest or firstborn and Benjamin the youngest. The second column shows the order in which Jacob-Israel blesses each of his children. First, he blesses all of Leah's biological children from Reuben to Issachar, then the four sons of the servants, and finally, Joseph and Benjamin. The last three columns are the listing we have just read out in Revelation 7:5-8, beginning with the traditional rendering we find in all our Bibles and followed by two other possible readings. Notice that Judah heads the list now, not Reuben, probably because the Messiah is of that Tribe. Yes, Reuben forfeited his firstborn rights because of his attrocious behaviour in the Shechem incident. What is odd is that Dan is completely absent from this list and Manasseh has a 1½ portion since he is present in Joseph along with his younger brother Ephraim who unexpectedly was given the birthright. Thus first Joseph, then Ephraim, replaced Reuben. So the chart in the Book of Revelation seems to follow no particular order.

• L= Leah (7) Z/L= Zilpah, Leah's maid (2) / R = Rachel (2) B/R = Bilhah, Rachel's maid (2) - the children of maids/servants counted as their mistress' children
• E.g. Asher Z2/L8 = Zilpah's 2nd child, counts as Leah's 8th

Let's untangle this puzzle. First, as I have said, the p'shat or plain sense of these verses is that these special 144,000 witnesses are taken out from each of the 12 Israelite tribes (before Joseph was divided into two for the land inheritance), They are not a single homogenous people like, say, today's Jews who, though they claim to represent all 12 tribes, at best can only represent Judah, Levi and maybe Benjamin, and at worst, only a portion of these tribes. This is in any case a New Covenant setting so Israelites, per pro Paul's definition, now include grafted-in gentiles (Rom.11:17-24) who are 'new creations' along with any born-again descendants of Jacob, and are therefore one Messianic Nation.

Unfortunately, there are Messianic Jews and some Zionist Christians who claim the 144,000 are all Jews and the 'great multitude ('huge crowd' - JNT/CJB)', whom we briefly just met in Revelation 7:9 and whom we shall meet again in Revelation 19:1 & 6, are Gentiles, making Jewish believers an élite by virtue of their 'race' or DNA. I don't want to get into all that today as its involved and complicated so if you're new to this ministry, please take a close look at our Israel website and in particular read, What is a Jew? because there is so much confusion surrounding the use of words here. So whilst the 144,000 aren't Messianic Jews as a single body, neither are they the 'Church'. Neither of these two bodies are, in any case, subdivided into 12 tribes right now, nor indeed will the Remnant be until the Final Gathering is ready to start by which time man-made organisations, churches, groups and ministries will have been absorbed into the emerging globalist 'One World Religion' leaving behind an authentic Remnant which by our estimation will number about 900,000 of which a some will be the remnant of the 144,000 who are still mortals on the earth with the rest in heaven but who will return as resurrected beings when Messiah comes back. Again, more on this subject when we come to chapter 14.

Even E.W.Bullinger, a distinguished Anglican theologian and 'Churchman' in his day, knew that that the 144,000 had nothing to do with the Church system, of which he was a part, said:

"Few Scriptures have suffered more at the hands of Gentile Christians as this (Revelation 7:1-8). Not withstanding the fact that it concerns "all the tribes of the children of Israel", and that the twelve tribes are named separately, popular interpretation insists on taking them as meaning the Church of God. Any system of interpretation which has this for its foundation may be judged and condemned at the outset as not only useless, but mischievous. Such a system has been well described by Hooker as one 'which changes the meaning of words as alchemy does, or would do, the substance of metals, making anything of what it lists; and bringing, in the end, all truth to nothing'" [1]

To which I would reply, 'Amen!' and 'if only all Christians and Messianics would read their Scriptures this way! Then we would be saved from so many false theological systems. But this is the problem: one serious theological error soon snowballs into a host of other ones and leads to the denominational confusion that still prevails and is getting worse. The good news is that as core doctrines are righted it is possible to gradually come out of the morass of confusion and into pure truth. Sorting out the identity of Israel, straightening out the rapture myth and sticking rigorously to divine tavnith (pattern) have been just three of the instruments in taking Evangelical Christians to where we now stand, for which traditionalists have yelled 'heresy' and cried 'cult' time and again.

So how are the two groups - the 144,000 and the 'great multitude' to be distinguished? By the only means that the Besorah (Gospel, Good News) allows any distinction to be made between people, namely, whether they are trusting in Yah'shua (Jesus) or not and, once they are trusting (exercising faith) and are saved, whether they are living the Torah lifestyle obediently or not... as evidence of their faith and not as a means to be saved. The two groups - the 144,000 and the 'great multitude, then, are to be distinguished on the basis of individual and group character and not on race. Nor are the 144,000 a 'denomination' like the Jehovah's Witnesses who claim all 144,000 are faithful Jehovah's Witnesses. What the 144,000 are, and how they will form into 12 distinct tribal groups, we must leave until chapter 14, though.

You will notice, in addition to the absence of Dan, the presence of Levi in today's list. Under the Old Covenant Levi did not possess a territorial land inheritance in Israel like the other 11 tribes because it was the priestly tribe. Instead Levites possessed towns and villages spread out throughout all the other tribal territories. Because of that, and to make for 12 parcels of tribal land, Joseph was split into Ephraim and Manasseh. But this is not a territorial list even if there will be tribal territories again in the Millennium. Whether those territorial divisions will resemble those described in Ezekiel 48 is unknown as the context here was a promise made to the Exiles, both the Judeans in Babylon and the 10 tribes of Israel in Assyria, of a restored Land and Temple if they would repent, which they did not; and as this was a conditional prophecy, it is now rendered null and void. The 10-tribed Israel exiles remained in exile and the Judean exiles remained in Babylon with only a remnant returning to the Promised Land in order to fulfil the prophecies concerning the first coming of Messiah. Soon after they were scattered across the face of the globe like the 10 tribes before them.

Why do I believe Dan was originally present in the Book of Revelation list and that a scribal error led to his name being misread as 'Man' which a later scribe presumably concluded was an abbreviation for 'Manasseh'? Because, aside from Revelation 7:4 telling us that all the Tribes are represented by the 144,000, Genesis 19:16 prophesies that Dan will judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel and Ezekiel 48:32 attributes one gate of a restored Jerusalem to Dan, one to Joseph (and not two separate gates - one for Ephraim and one for Manasseh), and one to Levi. As I keep telling Calvinists who don't believe Christ died for all people but only for those predestined to salvation, 'all means all'. That's what is meant by the p'shat or 'plain sense' of Scripture to which we must defer. Christ died for 'all' in the same way that 'all' (Gk, pas) the 12 tribes were represented in the 144,000. Somewhere along the line there's been a scribal error. To pretend otherwise is to lead to numerous doctrinal errors. Given the only two choices where a copying error could have been made, is it likely to have been over the word 'all' or on the disjunctive presence of 'Manasseh'? Look at the table - it should be glaringly obvious to anyone sensitive to patterns that Manasseh is a misfit in the text. And remember, it's not any Greek translation of the Hebrew or Aramaic that's infallible, or any English translation of either, or even just one English translation like the King James Version, but the original autographs that are infallible. The only weakness of the 'Scribal Error' hypothesis is that no New Testament manuscript (copy of the original) has turned up which reads 'Dan' rather than 'Manasseh'. Ordinarily I would never stick my neck so far out because I am quite aware of how dangerous it is to change any word of Scripture, especially in the Book of Revelation with its penalties for either adding to or subtracting from it (Rev.22:18-19). However, clearly something is wrong with our translations of Revelation 7:6 and we are not wrong in pointing it out, any more than Yechiel Lichtenstein was in first giving the idea wide circulation in his Commentary on the New Testament.

Yes, Dan was an idol-worshipper but then so were all the tribes at various times. And then there's the rumour which is in circulation, which you will find no reference to in the Scriptures whatsoever, and which over time has become larger than life, that the Antichrist/Anti-Messiah will be of the Tribe of Dan. However, even if that were true, you don't condemn a whole tribe to oblivion because it produces one or two very evil sons. What, then, of Judas? Or of Ahab? Their tribes are still on the list. The descendants of Bilhah's son may have been roguish but let's not forget that during the wilderness journey the tribe of Dan marched in the highly important position as rear guard, a compliment to their courage, loyalty and dependability (Num.2:25-31; 10:25). The failure to properly drive out the Canaanites during the conquest of the Holy Land meant that Dan, which was originally located on the Philistine frontier, serving as a buffer for the Ephraimite tribal territory, suffered severely (Num.26:43; 34:22; Josh.19:40-46; Judg.1:34).

Yes, later on in history the tribe of Dan disgraced itself in numerous ways, and yes, members of this tribe had been chosen to stand for the maledictions (curses) from Mount Ebal (someone had to do it), but no one is beyond saving if they truly repent provided they have not crossed that 'final line'. Indeed, the Danites were so hard pressed on their western frontier with Philistia that they later packed up and moved to the north of the country and took over Laish, renaming it 'Dan' (Josh.19:47-48; Judg.18:11-31) which brought them into contact with the Phoenicians and the Ba'al cult of the future Queen Jezebel. And though it sank deep into apostacy, it was never disowned by Israel or ceeded to Phoenicia when to all intents and purposes it became culturally assimilated with that nation. We should remember all the distinguished Danites in Israelite history - Oholiab, who was given divine wisdom by Yahweh to assist Bezael, a man highly skilled in embroidering and weaving costly materials for the tabernacle furnishings (Ex.31:1-6; 35:3-35; 38:22-23). Does it not say that he was 'Spirit-filled'? Though Samson was a 'mixed bag' to be sure with some major issues and faults, nevertheless Samson the Danite is recorded in Scripture as a faithful servant of Yahweh as judge of Israel for 20 years, proving Moses' prophecy: "Dan is a lion's cub" (Dt.33:22; Judg.13:2,24-25; 15:20). When David became king, 28,600 Danites were numbered among his loyal troops. The mother of the "skillful man" that the king of Tyre sent to assist Solomon in building the temple was of the tribe of Dan (2 Chr.2:13-14).

So let's not go searching for a scapegoat to justify Dan's apparent exclusion from the list in Revelation 7! There is good to be found in every tribe historically and there is no evidence that Dan apostacised so completely down to the last man and woman that he can be equated on the same level as the Canaanites who were ripe for judgment and destruction when Joshua reached their borders. The truth remains, and cannot be abrogated because it isn't a conditional prophecy: "Dan will provide justice for his people as one of the tribes of Israel" (Gen.49:16, NIV), proclaimed Jacob, and, yes, the patriarch also said that "Dan will be a serpent by the roadside, a viper along the path, that bites the horse's heels so that its rider tumbles backward" (Gen.49:17, NIV) and whilst that can certainly be read negatively, which would match with some of that tribe's later sins, this could equally well be a blessing for the tribe's success in war, as indeed proved necessary because of its frontier location, first with Philistia, and later with Phoenicia.

Yes, there is certainly a negative, even devilish, suggestion in being likened to a viper, and the tribe did deal treacherously in the conquest of the vulnerable and isolated mountain settlement of Laish (Judg.18:27-28) but equally this could be a description of how Dan would need to conduct his warfare as one of the weaker and most vulnerable tribes. This is clearly a reference to warfare, witness the horses' heels and the rider being thrown off. Indeed, does this not fit the description of Samson fighting the Philistines single-handedly at one point? So, you see, Dan really is a 'mixed bag'. Would the tribe's record justify its removal from the 144,000 even though Jacob prophesied the tribe would be among the judges of Israel? [2] Does the name 'Dan' not, in fact, mean 'judge'? Like us all, Dan is a 'mixed bag', both a judge and one to be judged. It's a hard one, isn't it? As Paul said, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of Elohim (God), and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Messiah Yah'shua (Christ Jesus)" (Rom.3:23-24, NIV). Provided we as individuals, tribes and nations are willing to repent of our sins, surrender to Yah'shua (Jesus) and then obey the mitzvot (commandments), we can all be saved at the last day.

So what should we make of the claim that the 144,000 is just a symbolic number? And if it is literal, then why this number in particular? Why exactly 144,000? Are there literally 144,000 men, and exactly 12,000 from each tribe, and not one more or one less? The answer those who subscribe to the purely symbolic view advance is that there are 12 tribes of Israel and twelve apostles; there are 10 Commandments. Squaring the former (12² = 144) and cubing the latter (10³ = 1,000) bespeaks governmental perfection - the 144,000 are the elohim (with a small 'e') or rulers under King Yah'shua (Jesus) during the Millennial reign. I have absolutely no quarrel with that. Indeed, I have absolutely no problem with the 144,000 being both literal and symbolic.

Yechiel Lichtenstein, whom I mentioned earlier, has an intriguing explanation. Listen to what he says:

"Israel numbered 7,200,000 at the time of the destruction of the Second Temple. The t'rumah (the offering to the cohanim or priests from the bikkurim or firstfruits) is normally one fiftieth (Mishna, T'rumot 4:3), which here comes to 144,000. At Romans 11:16 Paul remarked that 'if the challah ('lump', dough) is holy, so is the whole loaf.' Thus the meaning is that if the firstfruits of Israel, the 144,000...who put their trust in Yeshua, is holy, then the whole loaf, all of Israel, is holy. Therefore Paul continues, 'In this way all Israel will be saved. As the Tanakh (Old Testament) says, 'Out of Zion will come the Redeemer; he will turn away ungodliness from Jacob' (Rom.11:26)..." [3]

Now Lichtenstein is a Messianic Jew and, like Zionist Christians, he believes the 144,000 are all Jews and the 'great multitude' are all Gentiles, which we discussed earlier, and with which I disagree because the vast majority of Jews aren't descendants of Judah or Israel. Furthermore, this teaching reduces the salvation of an elect to those of a particular race. Remember, the 12 tribes are genetically mixed in with most of the races of the world now, so there is no way of gathering the 12 tribes on the basis of DNA alone. A lot has happened in 3,000+ years. Races intermarry.

May I suggest to you that "all Israel" is another way of saying 'all the saved'? So if the two groups aren't the ruling class of Messianic Jews who save the allegedly 'servant class' of Messianic Gentiles, who are the two groups? And how do the 144,000 sanctify, through Messiah, the 'great multitude' (because this is undoubtedly what Paul teaches)? What could possible be the spiritual cause of this division into two groups of believers? Consider the options. There are only two conditions for being a Messianic Israelite:

• 1. Trusting in the Messiah of Israel for salvation; and
• 2. Obeying the mitzvot (commandments) of Messianic Israel which is the New Covenant Torah.

If these are the only two identifying marks of true believers - they are described elsewhere in the Book of Revelation as being, respectively, those who "sing the song of the Lamb" and those who "sing the song of Moses the servant of Elohim (God)" (Rev.15:3), then logically there are only two possible groups of people:

• 1. Those who trust in Christ and are saved, born again, or spiritually regenerated as new creations through faith;
• 2. Those who, thus saved, go on to obey the mitzvot (commandments of Torah).

You can't have a third category, 'Those who only obey the Torah' since such are not saved, which would automatically exclude non-messianic Jews and indeed legalists of every stripe. Therefore the '144,000' has to be one of these two and the 'great multitude' has to be the other, with the 144,000 sanctifying the 'great multitude' whose disobedience threatens their salvation. In a sense, then, they become "saviours on Mount Zion" to them because by their example and vindication they will eventually convert them to Torah-worship and so all of Israel - and by Israel we mean Messianic Israel, not unsaved Jews - will be properly saved, i.e. all spiritually regenerated Christians who will turn away from their false lawless 'christ' and turn to embrace the Messiah who saved them in the beginning but who, as King of Israel, expects them to obey His Father's mitzvot (commandments), the Torah, just as He did, doing so (in His case) perfectly so that He could make an atonement for our sins. This is why I frequently rebuke those ultra-messianics who claim that lawless Christians are unsaved. Because they are saved, they will see the truth of Torah and respond by obeying it given the right circumstances because it is their passionate love for Yah'shua (Jesus) that keeps them saved. And so they will be included in Messianic Israel at last though not as the 144,000, no matter what their former denominational allegiance was to, for they will cast off their denominational badges and call themselves 'Messianic Israelites', just as the 144,000 are. And presumably, like the 144,000, they will be assigned to each of the 12 Tribes depending on their spiritual character.

Today's passage, then, tells us that the 144,000 will be sealed or preserved from the destructions and plagues because of their mission. They are the human rulers under Christ and are called to be so because they were obedient overcomers. They were not lawless or Torahless. It is no accident, therefore that the New Jerusalem is described as being 12,000 furlongs square, while the wall will be 144 (or 12x12) cubits (Rev.21:16-17). They are associated with the number 12 and its multiples. 12 is the product of 3 (the perfectly Divine and heavenly number) and 4 (the earthly, the number of what is material and organic), remembering we are both spiritual and physical beings and our future as resurrected beings is here on earth, not as disembodied spirits as the dead are currently. The presently fallen physical earth will become a 'spiritual' physical earth (cp. 1 Cor.15:34 where Paul speaks of spiritual physical bodies) when it is restored to its former glory. We are not gnostics who despised (and still despise) the physical world (not to be confused with the fallen fleshy nature). One of the reasons we cling so fervently onto life here is because we know this is home, albeit currently corrupted and fallen, and we don't want to leave it save to be where Christ currently is. Where will He be eventually? Right here! He is, after all, coming back to stay...which is where we will want to be too.

While the number 7 (another important divine number signifying completion) is composed of 3 added to 14, 12 is 3 multiplied by 4, and thus denotes that which can scarcely be explained in words, but which the spiritual perception can at once appreciate, namely, organisation, because the products denote production and multiplication and increase of all that is contained in the two numbers separately. This is a big subject but I want to prime you whenever I can so that at the end of this course we can bring everything together in a magnificent whole! If you have ever wondered why NCAY congregations are limited to a maximum of 144 members, hopefully now you will begin to understand why because one of the hallmarks of the 144,000 is spiritual intimacy and excessively large congregations (megachurches) at once lose that intimacy because of their size. And yet the 144,000 love multipliction and organisation, a reason they like big families like Jacob's!

So what we have here in Revelation 7:1-8 is the divine plan and action for securing the Remnant of Messianic Israel through all the mishpatim (judgments) and persecutions which will characterise the Great Tribulation. It's at this time that you might say the 144,000 are 'made'. It's a refining and purifying process. Yahweh's declared counsels concerning this 144,000 Remnant must stand and those who are out of spiritual alignment with it are out of alignment with the Divine Plan and are assigning themselves, in effect, to the 'great multitude' many of whom vainly suppose they can be raptured or whisked away out of all this.

So important is this Final Gathering that in these first verse we see that Yahweh is willing to "hold [back] the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree" (v.1). This is solely for the benfit of the 144,000, not for the great multitude who are suffering because of their Torahlessness and disobedience. This sealing will take place during a time of stillness when not a metaphorical leaf moves. Now whether this sealing is invisible or visible is hard to tell - my instict is to go with the invisible explanation. The only reason I hestiate a little is because later, in charpter 9, verse 4, the locusts are directed to injure only those who don't have the seal on their foreheads. But that will depend on whether you view the locusts as spiritual or purely material beings, which we'll discuss when we come to chapter 9. Note also that the Beast has his seal too, about which there is trmendous, and sometimes wild, speculation currently, the latest fad being that it has something to do with vaccines and gene modification.

Incidentally, the 144,000 are a perfect example of the much misquoted passage in Psalm 105 by charismatic preachers trying to deflect criticism away from their materialistic greed and false teachings:

"Do not touch my anointed ones (mashiach = messiahs, christs [4]);
do my nevi'im (prophets) no harm" (Ps.105:15, NIV).

Where do we learn they are marked? In their foreheads and right hands. You already understand that these represent thinking and action, respectively, but did you also know that the Romans, whose world this Book of Revelation was given to, marked their soldiers in the hand and their slaves in the forehead? Indeed, Herodotus writes of the worshippers of a certain god as having his name branded on them [5]. Are the 144,000 not soldiers of Messiah? Are they not His willing slaves or servants? And Satan, being the big copy-cat with not an original thought in his brain, marks his servants in the same way! Thus worshippers of the end-time Beast will be similarly branded (Rev.13:16-18; 14:9,11; 16:2; 19:20; 20:4).

Likewise, I believe the 144,000 to be a literal number. Why not? Did not Yahweh preserve a remnant of 7,000 true nevi'im (prophets) and worshippers in the days of Ahab who had now bowed the knee to Ba'al? (1 Ki.19:18; Rom.11:4)? And are these not similar situations? In effect, the 144,000 are the nucleus of the new nation of the millennial Messianic Israel, something we have been teaching now for nearly 40 years (cp. Mt.21:43). And will this not be the fulfilment of Daniel 22:1-4 which says:

"At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time your people - everyone whose name is found written in the book - will be delivered. Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever. But you, Daniel, close up and seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end. Many will go here and there to increase knowledge" (Dan.12:1-4, NIV).

Next week will look at the second half of the parenthetical insertion between the 6th and 7th seals which is all about the 'Great Rescue'! May Yahweh bless you over the coming week, to ponder what's been said today and to do your own research. As always, you will find the website article contains numerous links, explanatory footnotes and scriptures for you to look at. Until then, grace and peace be upon you all in Messiah Yah'shua (Jesus). Amen!

Endnotes

[1] E.W.Bullinger, Commentary on Revelation (Kregel Classics, Grand Rapids, Michihan: 1984), pp.278-279
[2] For an account of Dan in the modern world, see The Tribe of Dan: Denmark's Legacy & End-Time Rôle
[3] Yechiel Lichtenstein, Commentary on the New Testament, on Rev.7:9). Although there is no way of knowing exactly how many Judeans there were in 70 AD, scholars agree that it was between 5 and 10 million, So the actual number is shere speculation by Lichtenstein
[4] See The Elect of Yahweh: Messiahs and Set-Apart Women
[5] Herodotus iii.15

Acknowledgements

[1] David Pawson, Unlocking the Bible: A Unique Overview of the Whole Bible (Collins, London: 2007)
[2] Tom Wright, Revelation for Everyone - The New Testament for Everyone Commentary Series, Vol.19 (SPCK, London: 2011)
[3] E.W.Bullinger*, Number in Scripture (Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids, Michigan: 1967)
[4] E.W.Bullinger*, Commentary on Revelation (Kregel Classics, Grand Rapids, Michihan: 1984)
[5] E.W.Bullinger*, The Companion Bible being the Authorized Verion of 1611 with Structures & Critical Explanatory Notes (Samuel Bagster & Sons Ltd., London: 1974), pp.1883-1914
[6] David H. Stern, Jewish New Testament Commentary (JNT Publications, Clarksville, Maryland: 1992)

*E.W.Bullinger was a brilliant Anglican clergyman and scholar whose works merit careful study by serious students of the Bible. He was, however, seriously in error in at least three main areas, namely, (1) he believed the 'Church' has been raptured before the Book of Revelation opens, (2) he believed that the 7 churches in Revelation 2-3 are 7, literal Jewish churches or assemblies yet to come, and (3) he believed in a pre-tribulation, pre-millennial rapture.

• 1. White horse - military aggression
• 2. Red horse - bloodshed
• 3. Black horse - famine
• 4. Pale Green/Blanched/Pallid/Sickly-looking horse - disease, epidemics

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• 5. Persecution & prayer
• 6. Tremour & terror

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  (The 144,000 Redeemed)

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• 7. Silence in heaven, listening to prayers which are then answered in a final catastrophe: a severe earthquake

• 1. Scorched earth
• 2. Polluted sea
• 3. Contaminated water
• 4. Reduced sunlight

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• 5. Insects and plague (for five months)
• 6. Oriental invasion (200 million army)

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• 7. The Kingdom comes, the world is taken over by Yahweh & Yah'shua (Jesus) after a severe earthquake

• 1. Boils on the skin
• 2. Blood in the sea
• 3. Blood from the springs
• 4. Burning by the sun

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• 5. Darkness
• 6. Armageddon

  ---

• 7. Hailstorm (OB 368:11-12) and severe earthquake, leading to international collapse