Revelation 7:1 After this, I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, so that no wind would blow on the earth, or on the sea, or on any tree.
Revelation 7:2 I saw another angel ascend from the sunrise, having the seal of the living God. He cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was given to harm the earth and the sea,
Revelation 7:3 saying, "Don't harm the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, until we have sealed the bondservants of our God on their foreheads!"
Revelation 7:4 I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred forty-four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of the children of Israel:
Revelation 7:5 Of the tribe of Judah were sealed twelve thousand, Of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand, Of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand,
Revelatio 7:6 Of the tribe of Asher twelve thousand, Of the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand, Of the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand,
Revelation 7:7 Of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand, Of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand, Of the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand,
Revelation 7:8 Of the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand, Of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand, Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand. -- World English.
It is claimed by many that the twelve tribes of Revelation refer to the natural Jews, the children of Israel. These overlook the symbolism being employed in the verses, and look at the words "tribe" as speaking, not symbolically, but literally, reference to tribes of natural Israel, and thus they claim that the 144,000 are all natural Jews.
Some vaguely claim that the 12 tribes of Revelation 7 speaks of natural Israel and that those sealed out are presented by the reamnant of natural Israel that accepted Jesus as their Messiah. (Romans 11:5) According to this hypothesis, there were not enough natural Jews to complete the number of 144,000, so that so God sought to complete the 144,000 from Gentiles. We have difficulty with such an explanation, since it would mean that not all the 144,000 are sealed out of the twelve tribes, although presumably only a portion of the 144,000 were sealed out of the twelve physical tribes. This would leave the question as to how the Gentile believer could be depicted as being sealed out of the 12 natural tribes of Israel.
However, we need to remember that the visions that John saw are highly symbolic. The four corners of the earth are symbolic; the four winds are symbolic; the earth, sea and trees spoken of are all symbolic. The four angels are also probably symbolic of the influences of the destructive forces that are to come upon the symbolic earth, the sea and the trees. The lamb standing with 144,000 is a symbolic lamb, not a physical lamb. (Revelation 14:1) Likewise, Mt. Zion in Revelation 14:1 is referring, not the physical Mt. Zion on earth, but the heavenly Mt. Zion related to the heavenly Jerusalem.
Additionally, we should note that the twelves tribes that John saw are no where listed as such in the Old Testament. Each tribe listed in Revelation 7, we believe, has symbolic meaning. We conclude that Revelation 7 is not speaking of the twelve tribes after the flesh (1 Corinthians 10:18), but rather these tribes are symbolic of the various parts of the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:12-26), the Israel of faith. Those sealed out of the twelve tribes stand [rule as kings] on Mt. Zion in heaven with the Lamb. (Revelation 14:1) The 144,000 are depicted as being a subset of the larger group, the figurative twelve tribes of Israel.
We will note that there are some Bible Students who believe that the number 144,000 is not to be taken literally; that it is only symbolic. We cannot be dogmatic that there will be literally only 144,000 to be sealed out of the twelve tribes, but we believe that, since this is spoken of in relation to two other groups, the twelve tribes and the great multitude, that this number is indeed literal, and yet the number can also be seen having symbolic applications.
Some claim that the twelve tribes of Revelation 7 represent spiritual Israel, but then claim that spiritual Israel consists of only the 144,000. This conclusion would, in effect, mean that the 144,000 are sealed out of the 144,000 who are the twelve tribes of Israel. It would make the larger group consist of only 144,000 which would equal to subset group of 144,000. We, therefore, do not find this to be a very satisfactory application of what is actually stated..
We believe that the twelve tribes do represent spiritual Israel, but that spiritual Israel consists of more than 144,000, and the 144,000 are thus sealed out of the larger group which is spiritual Israel. This is based on comparing many scriptures with the way Revelation 7 presents the matter of the 144,000 being sealed out of the 12 tribes. Many Bible Students may not wish to accept this, since it would demand a major departure from what Brother Russell taught regarding the 144,000 as well the "great company" class.
We do realize, however, Romans 11:25 speaks of the blindness to Israel continuing until the "fullness [Greek, pleroma, plenitude] of the Gentiles has come in." "Fullness" does not mean that absolutely all Gentiles must be converted before the blindness is removed from Israel, as some appear to have read into what Paul wrote. "Fullness" means the full amount related to filling up what is being spoken of; it refers to all that is needed for the purpose being spoken of. In this connection, it is speaking of filling "the election" (Romans 11:7), the symbolic grafting of Gentiles (symbolic wild olive branches) into the symbolic olive tree of God. (Romans 11:17) The olive tree of God does not mean the Law Covenant, as some have assumed. If it were the Law Covenant that the Gentiles were being drafted into, then this would mean that the Gentiles would become cursed with the Jew under the Law. "For as many as are of the works of the law are under a curse. For it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who doesn't continue in all things that are written in the book of the law, to do them.'" (Galatians 3:10) Rather, Paul speaks in Galatians 3:16 of the promises spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The covenant made with Abraham is often referred to as the Abrahamic Covenant. The Law Covenant came 430 years later (Galatians 3:17), but does not annul the earlier covenant with Abraham. Jesus claimed this covenant for himself, as he spoke to his disciples: " I, covenant unto you - as my Father hath covenanted unto me - a kingdom." (Luke 22:29) From Galatians 3:16, we can see that the covenant that Jesus refers to, and which he extends to his followers, is the covenant as the seed of Abraham. This agrees with what Paul wrote in Galatians 3:29: "If you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to promise."
All who belong to Christ are God's sons, and are thus heirs. (Galatians 3:26) However, not all the heirs as the seed of Abraham become joint-heirs with Christ. It is out of this antitypical twelve tribes that the joint-heirs are sealed. If Romans 11:25 is speaking a limited number, it would have be related, not to the antitypical twelve tribes as a whole, but rather to the sealing of the 144,000 out those twelve tribes. In other words, the purpose of the "election" is to obtain the joint-heirs with Christ; when that purpose is fulfilled, once the 144,000 are sealed, then some time after that the blindness of Israel would be lifted. This would take us into the age to come, after Satan is abyssed so that he will not be able to deceive the heathen. (Revelation 20:1-3) We do not believe that Israel will be enlightened until after Satan -- the god of this age -- is will no longer be around bring blindness. (2 Corinthians 4:4) Jehovah says concerning Israel in that age to come: "I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish to you an everlasting covenant. Then shall you remember your ways, and be ashamed, when you shall receive your sisters, your elder [sisters] and your younger; and I will give them to you for daughters, but not by your [Law] covenant. I will establish my [new] covenant with you; and you shall know that I am Jehovah; that you may remember, and be confounded, and never open your mouth any more, because of your shame, when I have forgiven you all that you have done, says the Lord Jehovah." -- Ezekiel 16:60-63.
The sealing out of 144,000 from the twelve symbolic tribes is not the same sealing that is spoken of in 2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13; 4:30. All of the sons of God receive the sealing of the holy spirit, the promise related to the day of redemption that is yet to come. All the sons of God are thus heirs of God, and, except for those of the great multitude*, all are of the antitypical twelve tribes of Israel, but not all who make up the twelve tribes become joint-heirs with Christ. One can be a joint-heir with Christ, only "if" indeed one "suffers with him." (Romans 8:17) The word "suffer" in Romans 8:17 is rendered from the Greek, "Sumpascho," Strong's #4841. Three words in Romans 8:17 all begin with forms of the the Greek prefix "Sun," meaning "jointly with." The first is usually translated as "joint-heirs," the second is rendered "suffer with," and the third is rendered "glorified with." Nevertheless, in the Greek, Paul lines the three words, using the same prefix for all, evidently to show a parallel in their meanings. All who are led by God's spirit are sons and heirs of God. However, to become heirs jointly with Christ, one must jointly suffer, in order to be jointly glorified. And thus, the 144,000 sealed out the twelve tribes are said to stand with Jesus on Mt. Zion. (Revelation 14:1) The typical Mt. Zion came to used to represent of the holy city Jerusalem, the capital of the whole of Israel, especially Moriah and the temple. -- Psalm 2:6; 9:11; 74:2; Isaiah 1:8; Joel 2:23.
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*We should note that in the type, the mixed multitude (Exodus 12:13) who came out of Egypt with Israel also blended in with and became counted as part of the twelve tribes; they did not continue to remain separate from the twelve tribes.
Much that we read in the Old Testament provides shadows, types, of that which was to come. (Romans 5:14; 1 Corinthians 10:6,11; Galatians 4:24; Colossians 2:17; Hebrews 8:5; Hebrews 9:24; Hebrews 10:1) In the New Testament, we come to the realities -- the antitypes -- represented by the typical of the Old Testament. Mt. Zion and the New Jerusalem represent the capital of God's kingdom, as though coming down out of heaven, cut out without hands, to extend its rule over the whole earth. -- Daniel 2:34,44,45; Revelation 21:1-5.
Thus seen, while many Bible Students only see two classes in Revelation 7, we see three classes: (1) The twelve tribes (2) those sealed out of the twelve tribes, and (3) the great multitude, or great company, as many may prefer.
We will also say that most often when Bible Students speak of the "seed of Abraham," they seem to limit that seed to the 144,000, as they usually do with the word "church." Many seem to fail to distinguish between the "heirs" and the "joint-heirs", thereby assuming that all the "heirs" are "joint-heirs". We might hear someone declare himself and others as "joint-heirs" with Christ, evidently without realizing that such a declaration would be the same as saying, "I/We have obtained the perfection -- the mark of the prize of the high calling," or "I have overcome, and can no longer be harmed by the second death." -- Philippians 2:12-14; Revelation 2:11.
Many Bible Students, by tradition, seem to take the view that one is first counted as being of the 144,000 and then, if they fail to retain (rather than obtain or attain) the prize, then they become of the "great company" class, and thus lose the prize they once had. (Philippians 3:11-14) This, we believe, is almost the opposite of what the scriptures actually say.
Our conclusion is that, in general, throughout the gospel age, those who believe are first placed in the general "Israel" class, as being of one of the symbolic twelve tribes, and then, if he "attains" the mark of the prize, he becomes of the 144,000 joint-heirs. The "great company" class, we believe, are those who consecrate as what Brother Russell called those who 'consecrate
between the ages'*, and thus they are pictured as coming "out of" the great tribulation, entering into the age to come when Satan will have been abyssed.
Brother Russell assumed that those consecrating between the ages would not be spirit-begotten, since he still retained the idea that spirit-begotten meant that one had sacrificed his humanity, and had become begotten to the spiritual body in the resurrection. We disagree with Russell's understanding of what it means to be spirit-begotten, since, among other things, the scriptures state that Jesus was begotten of the spirit when he became flesh, a human, not a spirit being. -- Matthew 1:20.
The claim of many is that when one is spirit-begotten, he is no longer on the earthly plane, but, as a new creation, he is a son of God on the heavenly plane of life. Actually, the expression "spirit-begotten" does not appear in the scriptures, but we do find the expression "born of spirit", which can also be rendered "begotten of the spirit". We also find the expressions "born of water" and "born again (anew)". (John 3:3-8; 1 Peter 1:3) Does being "born of the spirit" mean that one is born/begotten to the level of being a spirit being? If so, does being born of water mean that one is born/begotten to being a water being? When Jesus was begotten of spirit in the womb of Mary, was he begotten as a spirit being, or a human being? (Matthew 1:20) Why is there an emphasis in the scriptures on "again/anew"? Why does one have to be born "again/anew"?
There is no scripture that presents Jesus as dying so that he could take people to heaven. His ransom only paid for what Adam lost, human, earthly life, not heavenly, spiritual life. (Romans 5:12-19; 1 Corinthians 15:21,22) We believe that being begotten of the spirit simply means that one is begotten as a new creature, a seed, a grain, firstly reckoned on the earthly plane, being a new creation equal to what Adam was before Adam sinned. Adam was incorrupt morally, but he was corruptible. So with the new creation; the seed, the grain planted is sown incorrupt, but corruptible, morally speaking. Adam could have progressed from being corruptible to being incorruptible, morally speaking, had he developed a character that could not have been corrupted. Likewise, each new creature in Christ is incorrupt, yet corruptible, until he has developed an incorruptible character.
For the new creature there are two types of sin: sin that is attributable to the fallen condition of the mind and flesh, and the sin of the new creature, the regenerates son of God, himself. There is no ransom sacrifice to be offered if the new creature sins. If the new creature himself sins, then all that would be left would be second death for the new creature. Once the new creature has fully developed a crystalized will against sin, then he has fully overcome, he has proven himself incorruptible, and the second death can no longer harm that person. (Revelation 2:11) Such will have attained the goal of the prize of the high calling. And yet, it should be obvious that very few Christians ever obtain the level of perfection that is expressed in that goal while living in this present age.
See our studies:
We therefore conclude that being a participant in the high calling does not mean that one has already received a crown of joint-heirship; being a participant in the high calling does not mean, that having been given joint-heirship, if he fails, he looses that crown of joint-heirship. We believe that the scriptures, taken together, tell us that one is counted first as a son, as was Adam (Luke 3:38), on the human level, and as a son, also as an heir of God, on the human level. The one consecrated is not first counted as a joint-heir. Such would mean that having already obtained the prize of the high calling, he would then stand the possibility of losing that prize. The scriptures do not present the matter in such a manner.
Our conclusion is that all who come to Christ are first made sons, as Adam was a son. (Luke 3:38) The ransom sacrifice does not bring us to life in heaven, but rather it places us as Adam was before Adam sinned, with life on earth. Being made alive, they are regenerated sons, and if sons, they are also heirs, for "if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." The condition for heirship is to belong to Christ. (Galatians 3:29) "The spirit itself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ if it so be that we joint-suffer [Strong's 4841, sumpascho, "to experience pain jointly or of the same kind (spec. persecution; to 'sympathize')"] with him, that we may be also joint-glorified [Strong's 4888, sunarmologeo, "to exalt to dignity in company with"] together." Thus, we believe that the "joint-heirs" are first "heirs" before they become "joint-heirs." The condition for "joint-heirship" is (different than the condition for heirship) to be joint-sufferers with Christ: "if so be that we joint-suffer with him." (Romans 8:16,17) The heirs in general are reckoned alive, "new creatures" in Christ Jesus, but only on the human plane. This is the first plane of life for all the Israel after the spirit, the twelve tribes spoken of in Revelation 7. -- 1 Corinthians 10:18 ("Israel after the flesh" implies the existence of an Israel after the spirit); Galatians 6:15,16.
The scriptures nowhere speaking of being begotten to a spirit nature, using the word "nature" to refer to a spiritual plane of existence. Jesus, when he was begotten of the spirit in Mary's womb, was not begotten to spirit form of being, but rather he was begotten to level of a human, with a crown of glory that is a little lower than the angels. (Matthew 1:20; Hebrews 2:9) Thus, we believe that being begotten of the spirit first places one -- as a new creature -- on the plane of Adam, who was a son of God before Adam sinned -- and with the earthly heirship as a son as Adam would have had it had he remained faithful (Luke 3:38; Romans 8:17; Galatians 3:29), and after that, if one completes the sacrifice by attaining the mark of the prize, then he becomes placed on the level of joint-heirship with Christ. As a result, that which is first accounted to the seed -- the grain -- (1 Corinthians 15:36-38) begotten of the spirit is the earthy, the physical body, the glory of the sinless terrestrial body (1 Corinthians 15:40; Psalm 8:5; Romans 3:23; Hebrews 2:7), not the heavenly, the spiritual body, the glory of the celestial body. (1 Corinthians 15:45) If and when the new creature is brought to perfection, incorruptibility, as a human, then that humanity is at the point that it can be sacrificed, (just as Jesus sacrificed his incorruptible humanity*), and thus one is sealed out of the twelve tribes at large and counted as one of the 144,000.
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*One should note that Jesus did not just sacrifice his sinless flesh, he sacrificed what he attained, incorruption on the human level. Unlike Adam, Jesus, as a human, brought himself to perfection, to the point of proving himself loyal beyond any shadow of a doubt. Thus, it is due to his being faithful while in the days of his flesh, that he brought life and incorruption (incorruptibility) to light. (2 Timothy 1:10) This he did by his continued, unfailing, obedience. It was this human life, wherein he had to put on incorruption, that he offered as a sacrifice. The sacrifice of the 144,000 would have to be of the same sort, that is, not just sinless human life, but human life that had proven itself incorruptible (counted as such due to perfection of the new creature's faith, love and hope, proving oneself steadfast, incorruptible, unshakable, immovable, in these -- 1 Corinthians 3:13; Ephesians 3:17; Philippians 3:12; Colossians 1:28; 1 Thessalonians 3:10; 1 Timothy 1:5,6; Hebrews 6:1; James 1:3,4; 1 Peter 1:6,7; 5:9,10; 1 John 4:18).
Once one gets the proper setting of what being born of the spirit means, we can see that it is not related to being first assigned a joint-heirship and then the possibility of loosing that joint-heirship, then we can see that there could be tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, today who are begotten of the spirit, who will never receive a heavenly body in the resurrection.
We, indeed, do believe that we have today tens of thousands of brothers and sisters who are called under the general call of the high calling, but who will never attain the goal of the prize of joint-heirship, and that many of them will indeed prove to be of the great multitude who "come out of the great tribulation". We do not believe that it will become evident exactly who the "great multitude" are until after the great tribulation is over and they are recognized as such after Satan's sun will no longer hinder them from the true light. It is not important for us to know whether this or that brother/sister is of the great multitude or not.
Will the great multitude be physically separated into a group or movement before the great tribulation is over? Probably not, although we believe a small number who will prove to be of the great multitude are probably now associating with the Bible Students. The problem we see with the idea of getting people out their churches to join with the Bible Students is that this very teaching has led to a sectarian view amongst the Bible Students. Thus, the Bible Students movement itself has come to be viewed by many, even by many Bible Students as though it were a sectarian group or denomination (of a name, thus "nominal"). All sectarianism will eventually be done away with, whether it be among what many call the nominal church or among the Bible Students. On the other hand, with the destruction of the Babylonish systems, we believe that it is possible that those ones who are begotten of the spirit that were still be in those systems may become more manifest, and could possibly, in a loose association, seek each other out even before the end of the great tribulation. But we do not expect the manifestation of who will be be represented as of the 144,000, the twelve tribes, or the great multitude to take place until after Satan is abyssed.
One prophecy we referred to above says that "Then they cry to Jehovah in their trouble." (Psalm 107:28) This is during, not after, the great tribulation. The scriptures do not reveal the details of how these prophecies will be fulfilled, so much of what we or anyone else might say is speculative, to say the least. We do know that God can cause great changes rather rapidly, or that what He might consider to be a short time may seem to be a long time to us.
We should not, however, droop our hands with laxity so as to neglect preaching the Gospel (Good News) of the kingdom (Matthew 24:14), thinking that such work is over, etc., based on there being a limited number crowns for joint-heirship. There are, we believe, thousands of consecrated Christians in what many call the "nominal" churches who may yet wish to learn about the ransom for all, the coming blessings of the kingdom, etc. Such will not only need to be "witnessed" to, but their interest will have to be nurtured to produce growth, thus follow-up should be supplied. They will need to be taught -- step by step -- concerning who Jesus and his God are, the ransom, the resurrection hope for both the church and the world, the judgment day and God's kingdom, as well as nurturing in producing the fruit of the spirit.
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