6 Aug 2013

Revelation 7:4-5

Posted by joncooper

Revelation 7:4: “And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.”

At this point in history the Church is in Heaven, and therefore it is not preaching the gospel to the nations. In order to evangelize the world God appoints 144,000 Jews. He then seals them so that none of them can be killed until their job is complete. (After their job is completed, however, they are all killed – every last one of them.)

Note the timing of the passage. These Jews are deployed after the four horses of the Apocalypse take their turns ravaging the globe. It happens after half the world’s population is killed – and after a great many people are martyred for their faith. There were many people who were saved after the Rapture but prior to the ministry of these 144,000 Jews.

We also need to notice that the passage clearly identifies these people as Jews. These people are not Gentiles; they come from the tribes of Israel. The passage emphasizes this fact:

Revelation 7:5: “Of the tribe of Juda were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand.”

Twelve tribes are listed, but the tribe of Dan is left out. This is because Israel actually has 13 tribes, if you count the priestly tribe of Levi. The Bible often lists 12 tribes for symbolic reasons, and when you list 12 tribes instead of 13 you have to leave one out. There is no reason to believe that Dan was left out because of sinister reasons, or that the antichrist will come from Dan. I think it was done to preserve the symbolism of 12.

So, as we can see, the gospel will be preached during the Tribulation by 144,000 Jews. These Jews will be preserved from harm until they have finished their mission.

Tags:

Comments are closed.