The 144,000

Preview: An explanation of the Biblical 144,000.


Scripture Reading: Revelation 7:1-17.

Memory Verse: Revelation 14:1.

1. What were the four angels doing that John saw standing on the earth? Revelation 7:1.
Note: The four corners of the earth are the four points of the compass: north, south, east, and west. The four winds symbolize political commotion, strife, war, and famine. See Daniel 7:2 & Jeremiah 25:32. These angels had power to hold back war and all other troubles.
2. What was the work of the angel ascending from the east? Revelation 7:2.
3. Where was the seal to be placed on God’s servants? Revelation 7:3.
4. How many were to be sealed? Revelation 7:4.
Note: Notice, it is the tribes of Israel and not the tribes of the Gentiles. We would do violence to the Scriptures to substitute the word Jew for the word Gentile. Let us take the Word of God as it reads.
5. How many of each tribe were sealed? Revelation 7:5-8.
Note: The greatest works ever accomplished among the Jews were in the days of the apostles and Jesus Christ.
6. Were the hundred and forty-four thousand the first converts or the last converts? Revelation 14:4.
Note: Redeemed means “bought”, see margin reading. First fruits are the first converts. They were not defiled with women. A woman in the Scriptures is a symbol of a church. It could be a true church or a corrupt church. The hundred and forty-four thousand were not defiled by joining a corrupt church; but they were literal Jews and partook of the Gospel message first. It is true; they were redeemed, sealed, and bought in the first Gospel dispensation.
7. Were they holy and without fault? Revelation 14:5.
Note: This without a doubt is referring to the Apostolic Church that Jesus purchased with His own blood. The first fruits included the disciples, converts in Jerusalem, and Judea.
8. What work needed to be done among the nations after the hundred and forty-four thousand were sealed? Revelation 7:9 & Luke 24:47.
Note: By this we should forever understand that the hundred forty-four thousand were the first fruits and cannot be the last at the same time. The Gentiles received the saving message last.
9. How did it affect the nations after receiving salvation of God? Revelation 7:10.
Note: The salvation of God will make us so happy that we must proclaim it; thereby helping others to get the joy we have received.
10. How did it affect those that received the blessing in the upper room? Acts 2:4.
Note: They spoke as the Spirit gave them utterance.
11. Where did the message come from, the east or from the west? Did it begin in the United States or in Palestine? Revelation 7:2.
Note: The angel is a messenger of God. This message began in the east in the direction of the rising sun; therefore, it could not arise and have its beginning in the United States as some people declare. It is true that Jesus was crucified in Palestine in the east, not in the United States, therefore, the sealing message should have begun in the Holy Land.
12. Where was the Book of Revelation given? In the eastern or western country? Revelation 1:9.
Note: John was on the Isle of Patmos; the sealing message began in the east, therefore, it can never begin in the west.
13. Where was the message of salvation to all nations to have its beginning? Luke 24:47.
Note: We learn the nations received salvation of Christ after the Jews rejected Jesus, consequently they are the last fruits. The first fruits of a tree are not its last fruits or gleanings; neither are they the remnants or remains of a thing. They are the beginning, the first parts.
14. Did God accept the last fruits, the gleanings, as an offering instead of the first fruits? Exodus 22:29 & Numbers 18:12-27.
Note: When God says last He does not mean first. Let us praise God for the joy we have of being the last fruits, living in the last days, and having a part in giving the last message to the world. Let us press forward with the message to all nations as there is salvation for all.
15. How do we know that the hundred forty-four thousand were persecuted and came out of great tribulation? Revelation 7:14.
Note: There never has been a Church more sorely persecuted than the early Apostolic Church.
16. How did they become members of the Church of God? By vote or a handshake? Acts 2:47.
17. How quickly were 3,000 souls voted into the church? Acts 2:41.
Note: The handshake and voting is a modern innovation and not God’s method. There has only been one way to become a member of the true Church of God, and that is by God adding one to the Church.
18. Whose doctrines did they continue to follow? Did they remain steadfast? Acts 2:42.
19. Were there any signs and wonders among them? Acts 2:43.
20. Was there pride amongst them? Acts 2:44.
21. What sacrifices were made to help those in need? Acts 2:45.
22. Was there any division or strife? Acts 4:32.
23. How were they cared for? Did they want or need for anything? Acts 4:34.
24. To whom did they give their support? Acts 4:35.
25. Has Christ changed His system? Does He ever change? Hebrews 13:8.