144,000

Jesus Messiah Fellowship

Light To The Nations

144,000

By Cohen G. Reckart, Pastor

The 144,000 are found in Revelation chapters 7 and 14. In chapter 7 we learn there are 12,000 from 12 tribes. Why Dan is missing and Manasses is in his place we do not know. It could have been a scribe error and just copied then afterward from manuscript to manuscript.
The 144,000 are Jews of course if they are of the 12 tribes. But they are also the Church, the Israel of God. Anything that has the 12 tribes is the Israel of God.
These 144,000 are sealed in their foreheads. This does not mean they have a stamp like the mark of the beast. "in their foreheads" is different than "on" their foreheads. I take this seal to be in their mind, a part of their faith, a vital part of why they are even chosen in the number of the 144,000. This seal activates the fact that they are then called servants. All servants in ancient days wore some seal of their master. Some servants who wanted to stay with their masters had their ears pierced with an awl and the sign of a hole in one's ear was a sign of a servant for life. This seal of God is not a hole in the ear because it is "in" their foreheads or in their mind.
After this 144,000 we get a picture then of the Gentiles who are added to this number of 144,000 and together, Jew and Gentile the Israel of God is identified. First there are the Jews who are saved and then come the Gentiles, Jews by Choice who join with the Jews in the Kingdom of God. This matches with the Scriptures where first Jews are saved and then Gentiles are added to this Israel of God in Acts 8 and Acts 10.
All of these in7:9-10 begin to sing a salvation song to God who sits upon the throne. Who is this God on the throne? It is Jesus the Lamb! 7:14 tells us these 144,000 and all the Gentiles come into the Israel of God and came out of great tribulation and WASHED their robes in the blood of the Lamb. There is no salvation for Jew or Gentile except through the Blood of the New Covenant.
This concludes this revelation here of the 144,000.
Now in chapter 14 we learn a little more: the 144,000 sing a new song. That new song we found in 7:10 "Salvation, to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb." In 14:3 no man could learn that song but the 144,000. In 7:12-13 we find them singing it there. These 144,000 were not defiled with spiritual whoredom and that is why the statement "not defiled with women." The text could say: "These are they which were not fornicators; for they are virgins (pure ones), These follow the Lamb.....etc. The contrast is that they who follow the Lamb are considered "pure ones" whereas they among the Jews who did not follow the Lamb were defiled by spiritual fornication, that is identified as Phariseeism, Sadduceeism etc, the daughters of the whore Israel.
These 144,000 are redeemed by the Lamb as we saw in 7:14. Now we learn they are the firstfruits. Now firstfruits are usually the tithe of a larger number. The word firstfruits means the first of the harvest, then follows the harvest, and at last the gleanings for the poor and the widows and the strangers. The number 144,000 may signify an actual number of saved first but does not mean this is all the Jews who will be saved. It also means the 144,000 can represent the word "remnant".
Paul said there was a remnant according to the election of grace that were saved in his day. If the number 144,000 is symbolic of the word remnant, then this means that at the time of the early Church a small portion of Jews would be saved and afterward the Gentiles would be brought in as converts to this Jewish Messianic Church and made joint heirs and fellowcitizens of the household of God. These Gentile converts are called Jews by Choice because they are joining a Jewish religion. The 144,000 represent Jews who are in the New Testament Church. They had to be in the Church to be redeemed by the blood of the Lamb in 7:14. Anyone who says this 144,000 are Jews in the tribulation period after the Church is secretly raptured is wrong. This would remove the 144,000 out of the Church. And since the salvation of Gentiles from all nations 7:9 and 14:6 is after the 144,000 are sealed, to make this 144,000 in the tribulation means the Gentiles cannot have salvation until after the tribulation. That is false!
The firstfruits of the Jews came first from the day of Pentecost. Then afterward came the Gentiles. Together, Jews and Gentiles in the Church have suffered great persecution and tribulations. Interesting that all through the ages there have been Jews and Gentiles who followed the Apostles. And in the last days, there will come out again Jews who will be saved the New Covenant way. These will join with Gentile converts and together we will close out the last days of the Church.
The 144,000 are a part of the New Covenant blood bought Church.
Pastor Reckart

Emailed objections:
Pastor, if only the 144,000 are sealed in their foreheads this proves the Church has to be in heaven and will not go through the tribulation, otherwise more than 144,000 would be sealed.
Response: This same question can be tossed back to the pre-tribs. If only 144,000 are sealed then there are no more Jews to be saved during the alleged pre-trib tribulation or otherwise more than 144,000 Jews would be sealed. Yet in the pre-trib rapture scheme they have all Israel being saved and not just 144,000. To resolve this contradiction the pre-tribs claim the 144,000 are Jewish evangelist who will preach the salvation of Jesus Messiah to the other Jews and save them from the horrors of the pope of Rome whom they claim will be the antichrist. If the 144,000 can be evangelist to save millions of Jews who were not sealed, why would there be a need of just 144,000 being sealed? Obviously in the pre-trib scheme the numerical number of 144,000 is not claimed to be the sum total of all who will be saved during the tribulation. Why then apply a rule to the post-tribs that is not applied to the pre-trib scheme?
The fact is, the 144,000 are "firstfruits" unto the lamb not "lastfruits" after the Church is quick-snatched out! 1Corinthians 15:23--"But every man in his order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they whtat are Christ's at his coming." The "firstfruits" are interjected between the resurrection of Messiah and the resurrection of those at his coming. If the firstfruits are resurrected prior to the first recurrection of the Saints, then it is impossible to make the 144,000 to be firstfruits and they come upon the scene AFTER the first resurrection of the Saints at the second coming of Jesus! It is only when we strip away the muddled mess of pre-trib dispensational raptureism that we can begin to see the symbolism of what the 144,000 represent.
Antother thuoght here which I have not explored completely is that as Jerusalem is often referred to as Zion and Mount Zion, so the heavenly city New Jerusalem is also called Zion or Mount Zion. Some are of the opinion that Revelation 14 is a heavenly scene and not earthly and the reference to Mount Sion (Zion) is not the earthly but the heavenly Jerusalem. The 144,00 are said to be singing in heaven on Mount Sion not upon earth. These are singning in 14:3 before the throne and before the four beast and Elders. The word "these" in 14:4 indicate the 144,000 are there in heaven doing the singing. And in 14:5 the text says they are before the throne in heaven. They therefore are NOT Jewish evangelist to save Israel by preaching. So, the sealing of the 144,000 is not upon the earth during the tribulation time and this resolves the objection that the Church will not go through the tribulaton because the great number were not sealed with the 144,000.