Chapter seven in the book of Revelation is an interlude between the 6^th and 7^th seals. God pauses between these two seals to reveal two great and glorious things. First a look at the 144,000 which is a special group of Jews and secondly a look at the great multitude that is going to be saved during the last half of Daniel’s Seventieth Week (or last 3 ½ years of the tribulation period). The 144,000 who are sealed in these scriptures are the topic of this teaching.

This event is so important to God that he will cause the wind to cease to blow upon the face of the earth, as He seal’s the 144,000 who are called for a special purpose. These men will be selected by the Holy Spirit from 12 tribes of the nation of Israel, 12 thousand men from each of the 12 tribes of Israel, which will add up to 144,000. According to the 2^nd and 3^rd verses of these scriptures God is holding back his wrath on the earth until these men are sealed in their foreheads.

The seal that is placed in their foreheads is no different than the seal we receive when we are saved ourselves. It is simply the seal of salvation, being sealed by the Holy Ghost. What makes this so important is that this group of people will be the first fruits of the nation of Israel to be saved, or born again. This will mark the final effort to save the rest of Israel and to evangelize the world of the Anti-Christ. He did not seal them from harm or hardship, but has separated them for a special call to the lost. The results of their ministry is seen in the later part of chapter seven when we see a number so great that no man can count who came through great tribulation and are saved.

There are some church groups who try to place themselves as being part of the 144,000. To do this would be to steal the identity of the Jewish people. It could only be motivated by pride in our denomination or race. What ever the motive is, it is a sin to do this. The scriptures say that these men are undefiled with women.

I am going to try and explain what I believe this undefiled with women is talking about. First let’s think about what it could not be. To go to bed with a wife is undefiled. To place these men in the unmarried status simply because they are virgins would violate the purity of marriage itself. The word says that the marriage bed is undefiled. In my opinion I believe that the virgin status of these men may be that they have not defiled themselves with the world, they have kept themselves pure for God’s purpose in their lives. I find it hard to believe that these men were anymore pure than Peter or any of the other disciples who were married simply because they were virgins in the natural since. How could marriage to a woman defile a man? To believe this in this light would be to say that a woman is naturally unclean. Surely God is saying something else.

Maybe he is saying that they are unmarried and have never touched a woman as a single person. This is a possibility. But, I don’t think that this is the meaning. I believe that these men are given totally to God in heart and deed. They are chaste in the Spiritual sense. In verse 5 of the 14^th chapter God says this:

 What is it that would make us think that they are going to die preaching the Gospel? In Revelation 14:4: it says that they will follow the lamb whithersoever he goeth. The meaning of this is found in what the Lord Jesus said to Peter.

The Disciples had followed Jesus every place that he gone but, Jesus was getting ready to go some place they had never been. That was to face death itself. Peter really believed that he was able to lay down his life for the Lord, but he was still too weak to do so. Jesus knew that there would come a time that Peter would be able to follow him by laying down his life in the same way Jesus did. This is what the 144,000 are going to eventually do. They are going follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth by laying down their lives like Jesus. They will be a part of the martyred dead who in the fifth Seal are killed as they should be. It is God’s plan that these men will give their lives for him as a testimony against the wicked in the realm of the anti-Christ.

The 15^th chapter tells about their martyred deaths and the glorious price that they paid for Jesus.

The first thing I would like to point out is that according to verse 3 they sing the song of Moses, which means they are Jews. Secondly they sing the song of the Lamb which points out that they are born again by the Spirit. They are Christian Jews. They love Jesus.

According to verse 1 they have overcome the beast, his image, and his mark, which means they refused to worship him or take the mark. They have been persecuted and killed for this. This is why we see them standing on the sea of glass that is mingled with fire. They sea of glass that stands before the throne of God is an allegory, the same as the brazen sea that was in Solomon’s Temple.

The brazen sea held ten thousand gallons of water and was used daily by the priest to wash their hands and feet before they entered the temple to do service. The sea of glass represents the washing of the waters of his word in order to cleanse us from our sins to do our priestly service in God’s temple. The word says that we are clean by the blood of Jesus and that makes it so. This is showing us that they are pure before God. But, the scripture says that the sea of glass was mingled with fire. This is significant to the fiery test that they have just experienced. This test has cost them their lives and God is getting ready to pour out his wrath upon the Anti-Christ nations because of it. These Jews have been made pure by the blood of the Lamb and have also been purified by the fire.

Many believe that this man-child is Jesus because it says that he shall rule all nations with a rod of iron. It also says that the child is caught up to God and his throne. It is understandable that we would think this because Jesus is to rule with a rod of iron after his return and the simple fact that Jesus was caught up to heaven after his resurrection and final days with his disciples. But in Isaiah 66 we find that this is not true.

In the above verses notice in the 7^th verse that it says before she travailed, before her pain came, that she gave birth to a man child. This child is Jesus. He was born at a time when Israel was not ready to give birth. A time that people would not receive him to be born again.

However in the 8^th verse it says that as soon as she travails that she will bring forth her children. This is part of the mystery of the woman in Rev. 12:1. The woman in Rev. 12:1 is in travail and pain to be delivered. This is talking about at the time that God has appointed her to have children, A time that the children of Israel will return to God by accepting Jesus as their savior. They will be born again by the Spirit the same as us. The man-child in Rev. 12 is the first fruits of this event, the 144,000 men that God has saved for the purpose of taking the Gospel to the Anti-Christ nations.

They will be the first fruits of the country of Israel itself; not all of Israel as a whole, but the nation of Israel that is in the Middle East. This is not to say that they will be the first fruits of the Rapture itself but rather the first fruits of the nation of Israel that will be saved. The 144,000 will be saved some time during the first 3 and ½ years of the 7 years and will minister to the lost in the nations of the Anti-Christ during the last 3 and ½ years of Daniel’s Seventieth Week. As the end draws closer these men will lose their lives preaching the Gospel in these countries.

Just as the woman in Rev. 12:1 represents the nation of Israel in the Middle East, the man-child represents the first fruits of her children. Both are to represent a group of people.

What about ruling all nations with a rod of Iron? No one is going to do this but Jesus, right? In Revelation 2:25 it says this.

This is a promise to every born again believer who is an overcomer. We will all reign and rule with Jesus. This is a promise to us as well as the 144,000.

The next point is in those moments before the invasion of the Anti-Christ in Israel; the man-child will be caught up to God and his throne. Many mistake this to be the Rapture of the Church itself while others believe that the 144,000 are the first fruits of the Rapture. The are all logical conclusions but, I don’t believe that this is the case.

Let’s look at the possibilities:

It is impossible for the 144,000 to be the first fruits of the Rapture simply because Jesus himself was the first fruits of the Rapture of the Church. Many people believe that there will be several Raptures during the Tribulation period but this can not be true either. Let’s look at Paul’s writings in the scriptures.

Jesus shows the Rapture occurring in two phases, first Jesus himself and then the Church at his return. So we see that Jesus is the first fruits not the 144,000 and that there is only going to be one Rapture of the Church, which will happen at his coming.

Both Paul and John spoke of a catching up that is not talking about a literal rapture but, being caught up in the Spirit rather than going there in the flesh. Many people believe that John was actually taken to heaven in the 4^th chapter of Revelation when God spoke to him and told him to come up hither. But, John himself told us that he was caught up in the Spirit rather than the flesh when he said that immediately he was in the Spirit. This is found in Revelation 4:2.

Paul believed that a person could be caught up to Heaven in the flesh and return to Earth again without being harmed. But, he also believed that a person could be caught up to God in the Spirit.

Paul believed that a person could be caught up in the flesh but he also believed that we could be caught up in the Spirit. So which one is it when it comes to the 144,000? To be honest I don’t really know. But I do believe that being caught up in the Spirit is the most likely. Moses was granted special permission to come upon the mountain to be in the presence of God, this is a similar thing.

Revelation the 7^th, 12^th and 14^th chapters are talking about their being in caught up to Heaven. Mount Zion in the 14^th chapter is talking about the Heavenly Zion that Paul spoke of in Galatians.

Chapter 14 gives more information about them.

I believe that their standing on mount Zion with Jesus is the same time frame as in chapter seven when God places his seal in them. There are several ways we can view this. One is that God assembles them in Jerusalem in the nation of Israel all together. At the same time, the same moment they are all caught up to God in the Spirit to be sealed and commissioned by God in a vision. Or they will be caught up to God in the flesh to be sealed and then return to earth to finish their commission. According to the Apostle Paul this would be possible. At any rate it will happen only moments before the Anti-Christ invades Israel and God will protect these men while this invasion takes place.

They will sing a new song that no other man can sing. It is because God has given them the job of taking the gospel to the nations of the Anti-Christ and they will perish because of it. They will be an elect group of Christians with great responsibility. I can’t help but be a little envious of the great thing these men will do during the tribulation period.

The greatness of their work is shown in Revelation 7 when we see a number so great that no man can count that has been saved during their ministry. This is why in Revelation 14 we see an angel go forth with the everlasting gospel of peace. Angels don’t preach the Gospel, men do, and the 144,000 are just a few great men with the responsibility to do what God has called us to do. The only thing different will be the dangers they will face in performance of it.

There is a lot of short sightings when it comes to how many of the Jewish people are going to be saved in these last days. Think on this a moment. Some believe and teach that only a 144,000 Jews are going to be saved. This thinking is absurd when we realize that at least a third of Israel is to be saved. There are approximately 13 million Jews in the world. If only a third of all the Jews in the world were to be saved, then there would be at least 4.3 million saved. Many people stick to their guns that only the 144,000 will be saved out of Israel. Let me ask you this. Do you believe that God only loves the men in Israel? What will happen to the women and children? But, the Bible tells us in the 8th chapter of Hebrews that all of Israel will be saved not just a third. The 11th chapter of Romans also agrees with this. So according to scripture and reasonable logic the 144,000 are only a part of the great salvation that God is bringing to Israel.

Thank you for reading this article. I hope that it will enrich your knowledge of the events that will forever change the world that we know.