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Revelation Study Series 12 - God's Mysterious Plan Fulfilled (Chapter 7) Series
Contributed by Clayton Beck on Feb 26, 2023 (message contributor)
Summary: Jesus came! Jesus died! Jesus resurrected! Jesus is coming back!
Revelation Study Series 12 - God’s Mysterious Plan Fulfilled (Chapter 7)
01.16.22
Message…
1 Then I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds so they did not blow on the earth or the sea, or even on any tree.
2 And I saw another angel coming up from the east, carrying the seal of the living God. And he shouted to those four angels, who had been given power to harm land and sea,
3 “Wait! Don’t harm the land or the sea or the trees until we have placed the seal of God on the foreheads of His servants.”
4 And I heard how many were marked with the seal of God—144,000 were sealed from all the tribes of Israel:
5 from Judah 12,000
from Reuben 12,000
from Gad 12,000
6 from Asher 12,000
from Naphtali 12,000
from Manasseh 12,000
7 from Simeon 12,000
from Levi 12,000
from Issachar 12,000
8 from Zebulun 12,000
from Joseph 12,000
from Benjamin 12,000
We are going to talk today about this 144,000.
There are some who believe that they will be one of the 144,000. There are some who teach that you can be, or need to be one of the 144,000.
Before we get there and answer this, understand…
The Great Tribulation is the seven year period of time like there has never been, nor ever will be again. God will pour out His wrath upon the earth before His Second Coming.
Matt. 24:22 “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened.
John sees four angels at the four corners (North, South, East, West) holding back the wind of God’s righteous judgment, wrath, and destruction.
It appears from vs. 3 that this event takes place before the seventh seal is broken which begins in chapter 8…
“Wait! Don’t harm the land or the sea or the trees until we have placed the seal of God on the foreheads of His servants.”
At some point during the Tribulation period these elect of God are saved/sealed. Notice the seal is on their foreheads. ?(We will talk more about this in ch. 14.)
It is clearly spelled out who the 144,000 are…
4 And I heard how many were marked with the seal of God—144,000 were sealed from all the tribes of Israel:
5 from Judah 12,000
from Reuben 12,000
from Gad 12,000
6 from Asher 12,000
from Naphtali 12,000
from Manasseh 12,000
7 from Simeon 12,000
from Levi 12,000
from Issachar 12,000
8 from Zebulun 12,000
from Joseph 12,000
from Benjamin 12,000
So, who are the 144,000?
There are some interesting observations about this list.
The order of the tribes here in Revelation is not by birth. Judah is listed first, but was not the firstborn. (Reuban was.) Obviously, Jesus was from the tribe of Judah.
The tribe of Dan is not listed.
Ephraim and Manasseh were Joseph’s sons. They were promised by Jacob a double portion of the promised land. Manasseh is listed while Ephraim is not listed.
There are many theories as to why Dan and Ephraim are not on the list. Both of them committed sin with idolatry worship, which could be why they are not listed.
(However, even with that being said Ezek. 38 list’s the Tribe of Dan with the Millennial Kingdom.)
There is no specific or further explanation from scripture, so we cannot be definitive or dogmatic with an answer as to why they are not in this list.
“The LORD our God has secrets known to no one. We are not accountable for them, but we and our children are accountable forever for all that He has revealed to us, so that we may obey all the terms of these instructions.
What is definitive is that to be part of the 144,000 …
You must be a Jew.
You must be of one of these tribes listed here.
And, you must be living during the Tribulation.
All of those things must be true…as well as, You must accept Jesus Christ for salvation!
And, on top of those things…
Rev 14:1-5
1 Then I looked, and behold, a Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His Father's name written on their foreheads.
2 And I heard a voice from heaven, like the voice of many waters, and like the voice of loud thunder. And I heard the sound of harpists playing their harps.
3 They sang as it were a new song before the throne, before the four living creatures, and the elders; and no one could learn that song except the hundred and forty-four thousand who were redeemed from the earth.
