Study 7: 144000 | tm91 ~ studies

144,000

Summary: The "Great Multitude" found in Revelation 7:9 contains two groups of people that are sealed: the 144,000 who are sealed in their foreheads and those that died in the faith of the Third Angel's Message who are sealed in their hands.

The Sealing

And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. {Deuteronomy 6:8}

the 2 places to place the physical sign upon were the hand, and the forehead (Old Testament: Type, visible)
the 2 places to place the seal of God on are in the hand and in the forehead (New Testament: Anti-type, invisible)

Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. {Revelation 7:3}

Seal of the living God in the forehead

For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. {Ecclesiastes 9:5}

Seal of the living God NOT in the forehead

And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them. {Revelation 14:13}

Seal of God in the hand

144,000

Rev 7:1-8

Rev 14:1-5

● What is numbered cannot be not numbered.

Can 1 be numbered? Yes

Can 10 be numbered? Yes

Can 144,000 be numbered? Yes

Can a great multitude, which no man could number be numbered (Rev 7:9)? No

While the 144,000 and another group of people can comprise the great multitude which no man can number, the great multitude is not the 144,000.

For example: Do lions belong in the mammal category? Yes.

Are all mammals lions? No, some are, but not all.

Rev 14:3-5

● “No man could learn” - it means just that, no man could learn.

Can everyone of the unnumbered great multitude sing this new song? No.

Can 144,000 sing this new song? Yes.

● ‘Redeemed from the earth’ - it means just that, redeemed from the earth.

Does “redeemed from death” mean “redeemed from earth” (Hos 13:14)? No.

Does “redeemed from the earth” mean “redeemed from the earth”? Yes.

● ‘Redeemed from among men’ Job 3:13,18 “...I should have slept…they hear not the voice of the oppressor”

During the time of trouble, living in the time of the Sunday Law death decree, the living saints are oppressed everywhere and they will be redeemed from among men, who are their oppressors.

Some suppose that those that will partake in the “special resurrection” (Dan 12:2) are part of 144,000. But those that have gone to the grave are not subject to the men that are living upon the earth at this time.

● ‘firstfruits unto God’ - Firstfruit offerings to God are without blemish. Lev 23:10-14

Is holding erroneous doctrine considered without blemish? No

James 1:16,18 “Do not err…that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures”

144,000 Do no error in their character and in their doctrines. They live the life of Christ, the only perfect life that has ever lived, the only life that is free from error. That is the life they have! (Gal 2:20)

● ‘In their mouth wasfound no guile’, ‘without fault before the throne of God’

James 3:2 “For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, same is a perfect man…”

If you add to God’s word, will He find fault with you? Yes, Rev 22:18

If you take away from God’s word, will He find fault with you? Yes, Rev 22:19

If you just repeat God’s word, without adding to it and without taking away from it, can He find fault with you?

Can God find fault with His own words? No.

The 144,000 understand the concept of saying Amen to God’s words instead of twisting God’s words. They are indeed, without fault before the throne of God.

A great multitude

Rev 7:9,13-14

● ‘Clothed in white robes’ - their apparel of distinction

● ‘What are these which are arrayed in white robes?’

Is the elder asking John to identify the 144,000? No

Is the elder asking John to identify the great multitude arrayed in white robes? Yes

Is it possible that the 144,000 also wear white robes? Yes

● ‘great tribulation’ - great tribulation refers to the period of the Dark Ages. from A.D. 538. to A.D. 1798. Mat 24:21-22, Rev 2:22.

Is the period of the great tribulation the same period as the time of trouble (Dan 12:1)? No

Is the period of the great tribulation the same period as the great tribulation? Yes

● ‘came out of great tribulation’- There are 2 ways what “came out” means in the language: 1) First, the group that came out was in the great tribulation. Another way of saying is that the group that came out was part of the great tribulation. Luk 1:22. 2) Second, the group that came out appeared after the great tribulation. Rev 13:11 “And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.” The earth was in existence before the beast’s existence. Before this time, the beast did not exist yet, it came afterwards.

Another example would be NATO came out of WWII. NATO was not in existence during WWII, but nonetheless, it was the result of the war and came after the war.

Did the great multitude came out of the great tribulation? Yes

Did the 144,000 also came out of the great tribulation? Yes

Type and Anti-type

There are two groups in addition to the High Priest that wash their clothes during the Day of Atonement service: 1) The Fit Man 2) The priests

1) The Fit Man (Numbered), represents the 144,000 that are sealed in their foreheads. This group shows up towards the end of the Day of Atonement service.

And he that let go the goat for the scapegoat shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward come into the camp. {Leviticus 16:26}

2) The priests (Unnumbered), represent those that died in the faith of the third angel's message who are sealed in their hands. This group shows up at the beginning of the Day of Atonement service.

And he that burneth them shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp. {Leviticus 16:28}

CONCLUSION

The characteristics of the great multitude can be shared with the characteristics of the 144,000. Such as wearing white robes, holding palm branches and came out of the great tribulation. But there are exclusive characteristics that the 144,000 have that are not shared with the remainder of the great multitude. Such as singing a new song, without errors of doctrines and life, never tasted death and accepted God’s word as is.

Who then is the remainder comprising the great multitude? Rev 14:13 “And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.”

The remainder are the ones that have tasted death and died in the faith of the third angel who also came out of the great tribulation.

They “with” the 144,000 make up the great multitude. They are not “part of” the 144,000, but they are “with” the 144,000.

ELLEN WHITE QUOTATIONS:

Christian Experience and Teachings of Ellen G. White, 98.2

Then the angel said, “You must go back, and if you are faithful, you, with the 144,000, shall have the privilege of visiting all the worlds and viewing the handiwork of God.”

Ellen White is with the 144,000 does not contradict the fact that she is not part of the 144,000.

Selected Messages Book 2, 263.3

I saw that she was sealed and would come up at the voice of God and stand upon the earth, and would be with the 144,000. I saw we need not mourn for her; she would rest in the time of trouble, and all that we could mourn for was our loss in being deprived of her company. I saw her death would result in good.

The wife of the person addressed in this letter would be with the 144,000. It also does not contradict the fact that she is not part of the 144,000. This person is sealed in her hand, not in her forehead for her works do follow her.

Christian Experience and Teachings of Ellen G. White, 59.1

The 144,000 shouted “Alleluia!” as they recognized their friends who had been torn from them by death, and in the same moment we were changed and caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the air.

The friends of the 144,000 had been torn from them by death. The 144,000 never tasted death themselves. The friends are also sealed in their hands, but not in their forehead.

Early Writings 14.1

The living saints, 144,000 in number, knew and understood the voice, while the wicked thought it was thunder and an earthquake.

The 144,000 in number, not in symbols and metaphors.
The 144,000 are alive before the earthquake, whereas those that died in the faith of the third angels message are resurrected after the earthquake. See the following quote: "That voice shakes the heavens and the earth. There is a mighty earthquake, “such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.”...Graves are opened, and “many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth ... awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.” Daniel 12:2. All who have died in the faith of the third angel's message come forth from the tomb glorified, to hear God's covenant of peace with those who have kept His law. " {Great Controversy 637.1}. Sister White, and other friends of the 144,000 that are with them are resurrected after the earthquake.