In the previous blog we looked in particular at the moment when the 144,000 will be introduced. That is after the great tribulation. But who are they? We don’t have to guess about their identity. They are taken from the twelve tribes of Israel: twelve times twelve thousand sealed ones. The number twelve, which of course has everything to do with Isra el, stands out.
Revelation 7
4 And I heard the number of those who were sealed, an hundred and forty-four thousand who were sealed, out of every tribe of the sons of Israel.
5 Of the tribe of Judah twelve thousand, which were sealed; of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand; of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand;
6 of the tribe of Asher twelve thousand; of the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand; of the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand;
7 of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand; of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand; of the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand;8 of the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand; of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand; of the tribe of Benjamin twelve thousand, which were sealed.
a faithful Israel
In the great tribulation, most of the people of Israel in the land will perish (Zech.13:8). The portion that remains will call on the name of YAHWEH (Zech.13:9). The prophet Joel also speaks about this. The same signs in heaven are mentioned as we read about in Rev.6:12 and Matt.24:29.
Joel 2
31 The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and dreadful day of YAHWEH comes.
32 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall there be deliverance, as the LORD saith, and among the survivors that call upon the LORD.
call on the name of YAHWEH
First we read about the signs in heaven that we also saw in the sixth seal in Rev.6:12 and which the Lord said will be immediately after the tribulation of those days (Matt.24:29). Then we read next that the remnant will call on the name of YAHWEH and will escape.
His second coming for Israel
How this happens, and from what they will escape, we read in Zechariah 14. This describes the time when all the nations will be gathered together for battle against Jerusalem and the city will be conquered and plundered (Zech.14:1). But God himself will turn against the nations (Zech.14:3), because the people in their extremity call on the name of YAHWEH. Then the One who is the image of the unseen God will appear.
Zechariah 14
4 And his feet shall stand in that day on the mount of Olives, which is on the face of Jerusalem on the east side. And the Mount of Olives shall be divided in the middle eastward and westward, into a very great valley. And one half of the mount shall depart toward the northward, and the other half toward the southward.
5 And you will flee into the valley of my mountains. (…) And you will flee, as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah (…)
the Mount of Olives split
At this event the Mount of Olives will split so that the remnant who call on the name of YAHWEH can escape. A true earthquake, which is also referred to in verse 5. Note that also in Rev.6:12, at the sixth seal, a great earthquake is mentioned.
a faithful Israel
The final remnant of the people, a third (Zech.13:8), will be a believing Israel. God will say: They are My people and the people will say: YAHWEH is my God (Zech.13:9). After all, Israel was Lo-Ammi (=not My people) for a time and God would again say to her: Ammi (=My people), as foretold by the prophet Hosea (2:22).
why sealed?
From this faithful Israel the 144,000 are selected, twelve thousand from each tribe (Rev.7:5-8). But why are they sealed? We read this in the first verses of Revelation 7, where the 144,000 are introduced
Revelation 7
1 And after this I saw four messengers, standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that no wind should blow on the earth, or on the sea, or on any tree.
2 And I saw another messenger, who ascends from the rising of the sun, who has the seal of the living God; and he calls with a loud voice to the four messengers, to whom it was given to hurt the land and the sea,
3 And he saith, Hurt not the land, nor the sea, nor the trees, until we seal the bondmen of our God in their foreheads.
4 And I hear the number of those who are sealed, an hundred and forty-four thousand who are sealed…
protection
There are four messengers (Greek: aggelos, > angels) who hold the four winds of the earth, so that no wind may blow on the earth, or on the sea, or on any tree (:1). And then that no harm will be done to the land, to the sea, or to the trees, until the 144,000 are sealed (:3-4). The sealing gives the 144,000 protection from the judgments that will still come upon this earth.
the great day of their wrath
After the sixth seal (7:1), the great tribulation for Israel is over, the 144,000 are sealed and the seventh seal follows, which includes an intermezzo, a silence (8:1). Soon to follow are the seven trumpets with judgments that will come upon the nations. The period of judgments that will come upon the rest of the earth will then erupt, as described below. After the sixth seal it was said: …for the great day of their wrath has come (Rev.6:17).
But what is the job of the 144,000? More about that in a next blog.
Deze blog in het Nederlands lezen (read this blog in Dutch).