hello and welcome to another teaching by 119 ministries our ministry teaches that the whole Bible is true and applicable for our lives today if you would like to know more about what we believe in teach please visit us at test everything net we hope that you enjoy studying and testing the following teaching the nature of the 144,000 mentioned revelations is a topic of debate for many the core debate is between whether there is literally a 144,000 people or if the 144,000 are symbolic in some way those are really our only two options random chance means that selecting either would give us a 50% chance of getting it right but we hope to do better than that this is not a subject matter that can be proved so to speak until the event actually occurs we are examining matters of prophecy which is always an interpretive challenge the idea here is to suggest what might present itself as the most likely interpretation letting the Bible interpret the Bible we first see the hundred forty-four thousand mentioned in revelation 7 here we will see the following elements these 144,000 are sealed prior to the resurrection they are servants of God the twelve tribes of Israel are specifically mentioned Revelation chapter 7 after this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth holding back the four winds of the earth that no wind might blow on earth or sea or against any tree then I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the Sun with the seal of the Living God and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm earth and sea saying do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads I heard the number of the sealed 144,000 sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel 12,000 from the tribe of juda were sealed 12,000 from the tribe of Reuben 12,000 from the tribe of GAD 12,000 from the tribe of Asher 12,000 from the tribe of Naphtali 12,000 from the tribe of Manasseh 12,000 from the tribe of Simeon 12,000 from the tribe of Levi 12,000 from the tribe of Issachar 12,000 from the tribe of Zebulun 12,000 from the tribe of Joseph 12,000 from the tribe of Benjamin we're sealed because the 12 tribes of Israel are mentioned some assumptions have been made that this cannot represent the foreigner or Gentile that comes into the faith we would disagree with that position as we believe that those in the faith become part of the one true nation of Yahweh rather than reteach that subject here we would recommend the following teachings what was the mixed multitude ecclesia and the air of dispensationalism why the tribe of Dan is not mentioned we do not fully know for certain some have theorized that it is because of Dan's guilt and severe idolatry when we go into the land at the return of our Messiah we see that the tribe of Dan does indeed receive land in Ezekiel chapter 48 first one the opinion is not ours but that of Clarence Larkin it does appear to be noteworthy he writes there is a remarkable difference in the names of the tribes as here recorded and the names of the original twelve tribes here the names of Dan and Ephraim are omitted and the names of Joseph and Levi are substituted why is this the reason is plain and Deuteronomy chapter 29 verses 18 through 21 we read that the man or woman or family or tribe that should introduce idolatry into Israel should have their or its name blotted out from under heaven and be separated out of the tribes of Israel this is just what the tribes of Dan and Ephraim were guilty of when they permitted Jeroboam to set up golden calves to be worshipped one at Dan in the tribe of Dan and the other at Bethel and the tribe of Ephraim this is the reason why the tribes with Dan and Ephraim are admitted from the list in this chapter and the names of Joseph and Levi substituted but as the tribes at Dan and Ephraim are in the list of twelve tribes that shall occupy the holy land during the Millennium it is evident that this sealing of the tribes in this chapter is more for heavenly preservation than to keep them for an earthly inheritance and this view is confirmed by the fact that they are later seen with the lamb on the heavenly Mount Zion in Revelation 14 verses one through five the omission of their names in this list of the sealed ones is this show that the tribes of Dan and Ephraim must pass through the Great Tribulation unprotected by sealing the next occurrence of 144,000 and revelation is in chapter 14 here we will see the following elements they the 144,000 have the same name of the father and son written on their forehead they are with the Messiah on Mount Zion these 144,000 are singing a new song that only they could learn they are redeemed from the earth they are blameless virgins and not defiled by women they follow our Messiah revelation 14 then I looked and behold on mountains I own stood the Lamb and with him 144,000 who had his name and his father's name written on their foreheads and I heard a voice from heaven like a roar of many waters like the sound of loud thunder the voice I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps and they were singing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders no one could learn that song except 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth it is those who had not defiled themselves with women for they are virgins it is these who followed the lamb wherever he goes these have been redeemed from mankind as firstfruits for God and the lamb and in their mouths no lie was found for they are blameless they have the name of the father and son written on their forehead a name or Shem in Hebrew denotes character and authority the forehead represents the mind writing his authority on our mind and heart determines what we think and desire right in his authority on our hands represents what we do this is the core of the Hebraic concept of to hear and obey known as the Shema which is also the core of Deuteronomy chapter six verses four through eight we discussed this Hebraic idiom in greater depth in the teaching welcome to the whole word interestingly enough it is the frontal lobe of the brain that controls inhibitions or recognizing wrong from right and the applications of the consequences and the decision-making process as a sidenote when one drinks alcohol the frontal lobe is one of the primary parts of the brain that is immediately affected which leads to the common occurrences of poor decision-making and the lack of inhibitions so what this means is that the authority of the word of God which came from the father and was exemplified and taught by our Messiah became the authority of their mind it becomes what they desire think and do Romans chapter seven thanks be to God through Messiah Yeshua our Lord so then I myself serve the law of God with my mind this is a prophecy of the New Covenant Hebrews chapter 8 for this is the Covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days declares the Lord I will put my laws Torah into their minds and write them on their hearts and I will be their God and they shall be my people this is a new covenant but of the same law or Torah as stated by Jeremiah Jeremiah 31 for this is the Covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days declares Yahweh I'll put my law Torah and Hebrew within them and I will write it on their hearts and I will be their God and they shall be my people so this is a new covenant with the same law or Torah written on our hearts and minds they are blameless virgins and not defiled by women the 144,000 are called virgins revelation 14 verse 4 some have interpreted this to literally mean that such implies a lack of sexual intercourse however conceptually apply in 2nd Corinthians chapter 11 verse 2 affords a more logical interpretation the Corinthians had come out of a sexually active and perverted culture as any in history but Paul says that his goal was to present them as a pure virgin to Christ 2nd Corinthians chapter 11 for I feel a divine jealousy for you since I beat roused you to one husband to present you as a pure virgin to Christ our Creator is not interested in whether we are literal virgins and coming to him he is interested in our spiritual state Ephesians chapter 5 verses 25 through 26 show the people of the church defiled by sin becoming unspotted unwrinkled holy and without blemish Ephesians five husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her that he might sanctify her having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word this is similar to zekiel chapter 16 verse 9 referring to Israel then I bathed you with water and washed your blood from you and anointed you with oil the 144,000 are cleansed by the water of the word and presented as a pure virgin to our bridegroom not being defiled with women cannot mean that the 144,000 are only men the Bible often refers to false ways and doctrines as women this as a figure of speech means 144,000 are not spiritually defiled with false doctrine we see this elsewhere as a concept introduced early in Revelation revelation chapter 2 behold I will throw her onto a sick bed and those who commit adultery with her I will throw into Great Tribulation unless they repent of her works is the 144,000 literal or symbolic this brings us to the next matter of importance worth noting the number for the hundred forty-four thousand is only given in Revelation we do not see that number in the Tanakh the Old Testament so interpretive methodology to understand that number likely stems from something in Revelation the New Jerusalem may unlock the meaning of the hundred forty-four thousand after heaven and earth pass away and are made new the new jerusalem descends the new jerusalem is declared to be the bride revelation 21 then i saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away and the sea was no more and i saw the holy city New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God prepared as a bride adorned from her husband and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying behold the dwelling place of God is with man he will dwell with them and they will be his people and God Himself will be with them as their God he will wipe away every tear from their eyes and death shall be no more neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore for the former things have passed away revelation 21 and I saw no temple in the city for its temple as a Lord God the Almighty and the lamb and the city has no need of Sun or moon to shine on it for the glory of God gives its light and its lamp is the lamb by its light will the nations walk and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it and its gates will never be shut by day and there will be no night there they will bring it into the glory and the honor of the nations but nothing unclean will ever enter it nor anyone who does what is detestable or false but only those who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life interestingly enough there will be no more Sun or moon one of the main functions of the Sun and the moon was to be our creator's calendar because light will exist eternally going forward coming from the New Jerusalem this represents an eternal uninterrupted day our mourning and sadness is also taken away this is all similar to Isaiah chapter 60 the Sun shall be no more your light by day nor for brightness shall the moon give you light but Yahweh will be your everlasting light and your God will be your glory your Sun shall no more go down nor your moon withdraw itself for Yahweh will be your everlasting light and your days of mourning shall be ended so with that aside what we want to focus on at the moment is that the New Jerusalem is defined as the bride now is Yahweh married to a building no of course not the building is the wedding dress of the bride us being the bride the building itself is a structure that contains us and metaphorically described as a wedding dress so all this people can be described as clothed and the New Jerusalem as it descends and thus the New Jerusalem is referred to as his bride the New Jerusalem consists of twelve gates each gate being labeled as a tribe of Israel you enter the New Jerusalem by being one of the twelve tribes if that does not register with you again we recommend the teaching what was the mixed multitude we see that when the 144,000 are specifically mentioned revelation 7 then it refers back to the 12 tribes of Israel with 12,000 in each tribe 12 tribes of Israel times 12,000 being equal to 144,000 where else do we see this in Scripture if we are to use the Bible to interpret the Bible the New Jerusalem also consists of 12 gates as the tribes of Israel and 12 foundations representing the 12 apostles who taught and practiced what our Messiah taught and practiced the word as the New Covenant began to be actualized with those in the faith revelation 21 then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me saying come I will show you the bride the wife of the Lamb and he carried me away in the spirit to a great high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God having the glory of God it's radiance like a most rare jewel like a Jasper clear as crystal it had a great high wall with twelve gates and at the gates twelve angels and on the gates the name of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed on the east three gates on the North three gates on the South three gates and on the west three gates and the wall of the city had twelve foundations and on them were the twelve names of the Twelve Apostles of the Lamb this numerical symbolism revealed in the design and description of the New Jerusalem reflects Israel in the Word of God also twelve times twelve equals 144 this still leaves us with a numerical 1,000 missing from the equation 144,000 divided by 144 equals 1,000 so what does the 1,000 symbolically represent 1,000 is often numerically and symbolically used in Scripture to denote his covenant with us due to Romney chapter 7 know therefore that Yahweh your God is God the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who of him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations first chronicles 16 remember his covenant forever the word that he commanded for a thousand generations Psalm 105 he remembers his covenant forever the word that he commanded for a thousand generations to simplify this the following points can be made the 144,000 consist of twelve times twelve thousand of Israel this brings us to the description of the New Jerusalem which is a twelve of Israel as gates and twelve of apostles as a foundation this also equals to a twelve times 12 which is 144 this symbolically represents Israel and the foundation of the Word of God as those who have a right to enter into new Jerusalem this is the essence of the New Covenant the New Covenant is numerically connected to 1,000 and scripture 144 equating to New Jerusalem 1,000 acquitting to the New Covenant equals 144,000 thus in the end all of those who are in New Covenant represent the 144,000 and have a right to enter into the New Jerusalem though some of the New Covenant promises are in effect now and even more so at the return of our Messiah all of the promises of the New Covenant will be fully manifested and delivered at the time of the New Jerusalem thus the 144,000 likely symbolically represents the full actualization of the New Covenant with all of those in the faith when things are made new meaning it's not a literal hundred forty-four thousand but represents everybody in the faith this interpretation uses the Bible to interpret the Bible those who interpret 144,000 to be literal usually have this particular problem a literal 144,000 often uses unsupported speculation to force assumptions as to the actual purpose of a literal hundred forty-four thousand so there are two choices from what we can see number one a literal hundred forty-four thousand that is stated to have no real purpose other than they know that they are sealed read and resurrected according revelation 7 and revelation 14 this is really nothing different than what we already know about all those in the faith so a literal application provides no additional meaning or value and is actually kind of confusing number two or the 144,000 symbolically represents all of those who are redeemed and resurrected through the Covenant promises of Yahweh and interpreted and discern by what is revealed later in Revelation 21 pay particularly close attention to the sequence of the twelve tribes in Revelation 7 this is the only place in the Bible that the list appears in this order Hebrews often named their newborn child a word that had a phrase or meaning to the name given for example when Leah gave birth to Judah she said I will praise the Lord when Reuben was born she said he has looked upon my affliction normally the firstborn is listed first but in the list of Revelation 7 Judah is listed first not Reuben Dan and Ephraim are completely left out likely because of this belief in idolatry so it's a very interesting sequence to put together for us here is the list and order they appear in Revelation Judah Reuben GAD Asher Naphtali Manasseh Simeon Levi Issachar Zebulun Joseph and Benjamin when we take the tribes as listed in the order given and then take the time to discover the meaning of and/or why those names were given we get something very interesting after constructing it in the listed order here are all the verses with the names Judah Genesis 29 35 and she conceived again and bare his son and she said now I'll praise Yahweh therefore she called his name Judah and left bearing Reuben Genesis 29 32 and Leah conceived and bare his son and she called his name Reuben where she said surely Yahweh has looked upon my affliction now therefore my husband will love me GAD Genesis chapter 30 verse 11 then Leah said how fortunate so she named him GAD Asher Genesis 30 verse 13 and Leah said happy mi for the daughters will call me blessed and she called his name Asher Naphtali Genesis chapter 30 verse 8 and Rachel said with great wrestling's have I wrestled with my sister and I have prevailed and she called his name Neftali Manasseh Genesis 41 Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh for God hath made me forget all my toil and all my father's house Simeon Genesis 29 verse 33 and she conceived again and bare a son and said because the LORD hath heard that I was hated he is therefore given me the son also and she called his name Simeon Levi Genesis chapter 29 and she conceived again and bare a son and she said now this time will my husband be joined unto me because I have borne him three sons therefore was his name called Levi esseker Genesis chapter 30 verse 18 then Leah said God has given me my wages because I gave my maid to my husband so she named him Issachar Zebulun Genesis chapter 30 verse 20 then Leah said God has endowed me with a good gift now my husband will dwell with me because I have borne him six sons so she named him Zebulon Joseph Genesis chapter 30 verse 24 and she called his name Joseph and said Yahweh shall add to me another son Benjamin Genesis chapter 35 verses 17 through 18 and he came to pass when she was in hard labour that the midwife said unto her fear not thou shalt have this son also and it came to pass as her soul was in departing for she died and she called his name been no knee but his father called him Benjamin now when we take them all in order and put them in the order that they show up in Revelation we are shown the following now I will praise Yahweh surely Yahweh has looked upon my affliction how fortunate happy am i with great wrestling's I have wrestled and I have prevailed for God has made me forget all my toil because yahweh has heard that I was hated he has therefore given me this son now this time will my husband be joined unto me God has given me my wages God has endowed me with a good gift my husband will dwell with me Yahweh shall add to me thou shall have this son the name Benjamin literally means son of my right hand so another reading of the last portion could also be Yahweh shall add to me the son of his right hand let this sink in for a moment the way that the twelve tribes are listed in Revelation 7 describes the bride of the Christ and the complete story of our Messiah Yeshua marrying his bride after delivering her from her affliction this is fulfillment of the prophecy regarding Israel in hosea chapter 2 therefore I am now going to allure her Israel and that day declares Yahweh you will call me my husband and you will no longer call me my master I will be true of you to me forever this is one of the ways that points us to understanding that believing Israel is the Bride of Christ she always has been this is confirmed elsewhere revelation 21 then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me saying come I will show you the bride the wife of the Lamb and he carried me away in the spirit to a great high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God having the glory of God is radiance like a most rare jewel like a Jasper clear as crystal it had a great high wall with twelve gates and at the gates twelve angels and on the gates the names of the 12 tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed the last thing we would like to mention is a particularly ssin 14 these have been redeemed from mankind as firstfruits for God and the lamb and in their mouth no lie was found for they are blameless the mention of firstfruits is important here for those that have heard of the greater Exodus where the events of Exodus play out again as part of the Great Tribulation this could suggest that the 144,000 are called out into the wilderness starting during the feast unleavened bread which contains the day of firstfruits an alternate interpretation could be that we are simply referred to as firstfruits simply because our Messiah was also our first fruits and we are joined to him some verses that could be examined to show all of us as the firstfruits would be first Corinthians chapter 15 verse 23 and James chapter 1 verse 18 this would also be additional evidence at the hundred forty-four thousand as the firstfruits is certainly much more than a literal 144,000 regardless of however you choose to interpret the hundred forty-four thousand we pray that there was some insight presented in this teaching that assisted in sorting that out we hope that this teaching has blessed you and remember continue to test everything shalom or years we've been told that Sunday is now the accepted day of the Lord ministers pastors teachers all saying the same thing but what if they were wrong how can the fourth commandment be disregarded by millions every week what scriptures are used for their defenses if the Word of God truly stands forever how can man's word dictate otherwise what authorizes any man Church our denomination to alter the Word of God if the Sabbath was given to man why should one ever think that God would take it away are you ready to confront your faith are you willing to let traditions fall learn what has been covered by centuries of man-made doctrines discover the truth as revealed in the scriptures of how the Sabbath is the sign between the father and those who pursue after his ways the Sabbath day from 119 ministries it is because of you our generous supporters who make it possible to offer these high-quality teachings completely free of charge you if you feel led to support 119 ministries so that we can continue this effort please visit test everything dotnet and click on the support 119 tab learn how you can partner with us to take the whole Word of God to the 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