The Mystery of the 144000

Revelation 7:1-8

This is message number ten in a Spiritual Exposition of the Book of Revelation.

By spiritual we mean that this is a book of symbols that was not intended to be interpreted literally. With very few exceptions this book is written in symbolic language where the readers and hearers who are the intended recipients will understand the meaning and the enemies of Christ and His Church will be confounded.

This message deals with Chapter Seven, verses 1-8, and is the end of the second of seven dramas [chapters 4-7] or sweeps through time from the birth of Jesus until the end of this present age.

The first of the seven dramas [chapters 1-3] opens with a vision of the Lord Jesus Christ who has arisen from the dead over sixty years before and who now appears to John the apostle. John is the last of the apostles to be alive. John is suffering tribulation with the other saints of God and John is in exile on the Isle of Patmos.

Jesus gives to John an unveiling [revelation] of Himself and tells John to write a book to inform the Church that although they may suffer great tribulation as witnesses for Christ, that He, Jesus, is victorious over all kingdoms and powers and that those who overcome will reign with Him.

Before Jesus went to the cross to die for sinners He told his disciples:

John 15:20

20 Remember the word that I said to you, 'A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you.

In chapters 2 and 3 Jesus gives John letters to send to the “seven churches in Asia”. These are actual local churches but they symbolize the Church in all time.

In chapters 4, 5, and 6 John sees a vision of the throne of God in heaven. It is very important to see that true worship is based on God as the Creator. [4:11]

In this vision of the throne John sees a scroll in the right hand of the One who sat on the throne. The scroll is completely covered with writing on both sides and the scroll is sealed with seven seals. The number seven in the Bible stands for perfection. The contents of the scroll are perfectly hidden from all who are not worthy. “Worthy” is a singularly important word. [5:2, 4, 9, 12]

No one is found in heaven, on earth, or under the earth, who is worthy or able to open the seals. The scroll contains all the information John has been told to write about in a book [1:11] and when the scroll cannot be opened John wept much.

But wait, one of the elders says there is One who is worthy! He is the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David and He has prevailed [overcome] to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.

But when John looks to see the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the One who is worthy to open the seals, he sees not a Lion but a Lamb as though it had been slain.

Only Jesus Christ who is the Lamb of God is worthy!

Chapter six gives the opening of the first six of the seven seals.

Bear with me while we review the opening of the seals. It has been several weeks since the last message and we need this bridge to chapter 7.

Let me make my standard disclaimer that much of this spiritual interpretation of Revelation is taken from Charles D. Alexander’s commentary, “Revelation Spiritually Understood”. I also have used James Ramsey’s commentary, et al.

That said; I can find no better summary of the meaning of the seals than that of

Mr. Alexander:

THE OPENING OF THE SEALS - chapter 6

“The opening or breaking of the seals signifies the disclosure of the contents of the parchment scroll now in the hand of Christ. Instead of words John sees symbolic pictures which remain for the Church to interpret. The general meaning should not present great difficulty so long as we rely on the Word of God in all its parts to be its own interpreter.

“The first four seals introduce FOUR HORSEMEN, one of whom is the captain and the other three are those who wait upon His commands. The first, or captain of the cohort, is Christ. The other three are the ministers of the divine vengeance directed by Him in the course of history.

“The fifth seal introduces the faithful martyrs who have died for the cause of Christ. They are introduced to symbolise the witness of the Church down the ages - a witness even unto blood. The sufferings of Christ’s witnesses, and the delay of the day of vengeance, shows the righteousness of God in the calamities which are to be directed upon the enemies of the Kingdom of God.

“The sixth seal illustrates the successive judgments which in age after age break the pride of the wicked and frustrate their evil designs.

“The seventh seal (which is not broken until the beginning of chapter 8) finally releases the judgments as a whole, and contains the record of those judgments until the end of time. Hence we have the following scheme:

“SIX SEALS which disclose the agents of the divine justice, or the resources at God’s disposal for the deliverance of His people.

“The SEVENTH SEAL which introduces and contains within itself the movements of divine providence conducting the Church through a hostile world until the moment of final deliverance and triumph in heaven.

“This Seal introduces SEVEN TRUMPET JUDGMENTS, which may be said to be contained in the LAST SEAL and which pictorialise those acts by which, throughout the ages, God has brought down the power of the enemy and opened up a pathway for the deliverance of His people.

“The SEVENTH TRUMPET, like the SEVENTH SEAL, is comprehensive. Though in fact it is the LAST TRUMP described by Paul as signalising the coming of the Lord and the great Resurrection Day.

[1 Corinthians 15:50-53; 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18]

“In John’s vision it comprehends a rapid sequence of terrible judgments known as the SEVEN VIALS [BOWLS] (Rev. Chaps. 15 and 16) which mark the last chapter of human history in this world.

“Interspersed between these sequences of TRUMPETS AND VIALS [BOWLS] are more detailed descriptions of the judgments referred to, in addition to vivid symbolic pictures of the Church’s sufferings and testimony during the entire course of time.

“The Apocalypse thereupon closes with the final scene of the blessedness and joy which await the righteous (the Church) who throughout the long ages have kept the faith and now receive their full reward in union with God in the heavenly paradise, the UPPER EDEN, the Garden of the soul.

“The Book [of Revelation] is therefore a unity, forming a key to the understanding of the mystery of the journey of the redeemed through a hostile wilderness of a world, and their unscathed arrival at last at the destiny decreed for them from the foundation of creation.” CDA

So we come to Revelation 7 which is an interruption of sorts between the opening of the first six seals and the seventh seal which is in chapter 8. The seventh seal will include seven trumpets and seven bowls [vials].

Revelation 7 answers the question: With all of these awful judgments to come what happens to Christ’s saints while the wicked are being destroyed?

The answer is that they are sealed with the name of God on their foreheads.

That is the revelation that John hears and sees in chapter 7:

Revelation 7:1-8

1 After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree.

2 Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea,

3 saying, "Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads."

4 And I heard the number of those who were sealed. One hundred and forty-four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed:

5 of the tribe of Judah twelve thousand were sealed;

of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand were sealed;

of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand were sealed;

6 of the tribe of Asher twelve thousand were sealed;

of the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand were sealed;

of the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand were sealed;

7 of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand were sealed;

of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand were sealed;

of the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand were sealed;

8 of the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand were sealed;

of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand were sealed;

of the tribe of Benjamin twelve thousand were sealed.

Sister Jewell called and asked me “What is the 144,000?” Some lady in the nursing home where Sister Jewell lives had been talking about the “144,000” and Jewell wanted to know what it really meant. Sister Jewell trusts her pastors to tell her the truth so I told her to be patient and when she got the DVD of this message she would have my understanding of the meaning of the “Mystery of the 144,000”.

Perhaps no other part of the Book of Revelation is more basic to a correct understanding of this wonderful book. If we are able to grasp how the apostle, through the Holy Spirit, calls on the OT and uses what would be known about the history of the tribes of Israel and how he alters the order of the names and the terms that he employs to produce this prophecy in symbolic language we will be able to read, hear, and keep the words of this prophecy [Cf. 1:3].

Not to insult your intelligence but what do we mean by symbolic language? We simply mean that most of the things in this Book, such as the names of the “tribes of the children of Israel”, are not meant to be taken as the names of the literal twelve tribes but that they stand for something else.

Likewise, we mean that a number like “144,000” is not to be taken absolutely as 144,000, but it is a symbolic number of 12 times 1000 times 12 which stands for all of the redeemed of all time.

Twelve is the number of the Church in the OT and the NT. The twelve and the twelve: the twelve tribes in the OT and the twelve apostles in the NT. Thus we have 24 elders – the twelve and the twelve.

Those who interpret the 144,000 literally have this number as an absolute number of those who are saved, either Jews or Jehovah’s Witnesses or some other group claiming exclusive merit by God. Further they interpret the “great multitude which no one could number” [verse 9 ff] to be a different set of people from the 144,000.

A correct understanding of this Book is further complicated by those who interpret it literally by either putting the events of this Book far back in time, having all been completed in the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, or by putting the events after chapter three far out in the future in a “millennium.” Either way, the result is that they render this Book as having no practical meaning for you as you sit here and ponder what is happening in a world gone mad threatened by terrorists and pandemic disease and category five hurricanes and all manner of uncomfortable things you may be called on to endure. As a believer in Jesus Christ please do not allow the comfort intended for you in the spiritual meaning of the 144,000 to be taken from you.

Every now and then someone will say something to a preacher that just thrills his soul because now you know that that person is getting the message. Sister Robyn said to me: “You know I have always been taught that all of this is in the future but I see now that it is happening right now!” Do you see the impact of what she said? That is exactly what I am trying to get across to you.

This is happening right now! As Christ makes intercession for His elect this is what is happening right now!

This Book was written for your comfort and assurance that Jesus Christ is victorious over all of the enemies of the Church and that if you are a child of God you are among the 144,000!

The 144,000 is the perfect number known only to God and it is the number of the redeemed of God in all the ages from Adam to the last one of God’s elect is saved by grace immediately before the end of this present age.

That is the theme of chapter seven: The sealing [preservation] of the elect Church of our Lord Jesus Christ throughout the ages as God pours out judgments on this evil world.

The key principle of interpretation of the Book of Revelation is given at 1:3:

Revelation 1:3

3 Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy,

and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.

What meaning could this word of encouragement have for John’s readers if all of what John saw after chapter 3 was some 2000 years and more off in the future, and was not intended for them anyway?

In the Revelation John calls on the OT.

Brother Walter exhorted us to read our bibles in this New Year. When you read your Bible please do not neglect the OT. Far too many Christians have been taught that the OT has little or no use for a NT believer. That is bad counsel and very harmful instruction.

About two-thirds of the NT is commentary on the OT. If you read a little in both the OT and the NT on the same day you will be surprised at how often what you read in the NT will be about something that you have just read about in the OT. That will happen without a reading schedule that deliberately associates the OT and the NT.

A foundation in the OT is very important as we interpret the Book of Revelation because the meaning of much of the symbolism employed may be discovered in Ezekiel, Isaiah, Joel, Zachariah, et al. In chapter seven John calls on Genesis chapter 49 where the names of the tribes of Israel are listed.

Now to chapter seven:

In verse 1, “Four angels” are seen “standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth.” Is this literal or symbolic language? No reasonable person could take this language literally.

Now listen carefully. If chapter seven employs symbolic language in verses 1-3, by what rule of interpretation would you take verses 5-8 to be literal?

The “four angels” are the agents of the holy judgments of God about to be released against the wicked people who oppose God and His people.

Four is the number of universality as used elsewhere in Scripture.

Daniel 7:2

Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea.

Daniel sees the ‘four winds of heaven striving upon the great sea’ and raising the four great beasts which represent the Four Monarchies which fills the span of time from the Babylonian captivity until the birth of Jesus who is the Christ.

Wind is used to denote the mighty power of God as in Rev 6:13:

This destructive wind is under the control of Almighty God, not “Mother Nature”!

The sixth seal:

And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. [6:13]

Take an important OT passage:

Jeremiah 49:36

Against Elam I will bring the four winds

From the four quarters of heaven,

And scatter them toward all those winds;

There shall be no nations where the outcasts of Elam will not go.

Elam first appears as an enemy of Abraham [Genesis 14] and by divine providence Abraham overpowers a greater force with a small band of warriors. This victory in itself was prophetic of future deliverances by God’s power.

Take a personal experience: On Saturday morning as I was reading in Genesis I read the account of Elam and Abraham.

We won’t go into any details about Elam; just see the symbolism that John uses by going to Jeremiah in the OT.

The “four winds”, then, are the judgments which God has determined to put upon and to break the power of evil.

The angelic powers are commanded to restrain the four winds from blowing on the earth, the sea, or any tree until the sealing of the elect is complete.

The earth, the sea and the trees are all symbols.

This is how you “read” and “hear” the words of this prophecy.

The EARTH is a symbol of mankind as a whole.

The name ADAM in Hebrew means “Red Earth”.

John 3:31

He who comes from above is above all; he who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all.

Jeremiah 22:29

O earth, earth, earth,

Hear the word of the LORD!

Jeremiah calls for “earth” or mankind to Hear the word of the LORD!

The SEA, as we have already seen in Daniel 7:2, represents the nations of the world, usually wicked ones. See also Isaiah 57:20-21

20 But the wicked are like the troubled sea,

When it cannot rest,

Whose waters cast up mire and dirt.

21 "There is no peace,"

Says my God, "for the wicked."

This troubled sea of the wicked is in contrast in Revelation 4:6 with the SEA OF GLASS before the Throne of God, at rest.

TREES in the symbolism of prophecy represent kings, rulers, emperors, and tyrants. David’s first psalm likens the righteous as trees planted by rivers of water.

Psalm 1:1-3

Blessed is the man

1 Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,

Nor stands in the path of sinners,

Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;

2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD,

And in His law he meditates day and night.

3 He shall be like a tree

Planted by the rivers of water,

That brings forth its fruit in its season,

Whose leaf also shall not wither;

And whatever he does shall prosper.

Jesus uses the fig tree as the symbol of national Israel which is cursed because she is unfruitful. Paul, in Romans 11, uses the single olive tree as a symbol of the makeup of the Church with Gentiles and Jews in one body of Christ. The Messiah [Christ] is a great cedar in Ezekiel 17:24.

The tree is a symbol of the power of this world: take the case of Nebuchadnezzar’s terrifying dream:

Daniel 4:10-11

10 "These were the visions of my head while on my bed:

I was looking, and behold,

A tree in the midst of the earth,

And its height was great.

11 The tree grew and became strong;

Its height reached to the heavens,

And it could be seen to the ends of all the earth. …

Daniel 4:18-22

18 "This dream I, King Nebuchadnezzar, have seen. Now you, Belteshazzar, declare its interpretation, since all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to make known to me the interpretation; but you are able, for the Spirit of the Holy God is in you."

19 Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was astonished for a time, and his thoughts troubled him. So the king spoke, and said, "Belteshazzar, do not let the dream or its interpretation trouble you." Belteshazzar answered and said, "My lord, may the dream concern those who hate you, and its interpretation concern your enemies!

20 "The tree that you saw, which grew and became strong, whose height reached to the heavens and which could be seen by all the earth,

21 whose leaves were lovely and its fruit abundant, in which was food for all, under which the beasts of the field dwelt, and in whose branches the birds of the heaven had their home —

22 it is you, O king, who have grown and become strong; for your greatness has grown and reaches to the heavens, and your dominion to the end of the earth.

The humbling of this great man’s pride, told in his own words, is one of the most dramatic scenes in Holy Scripture, and sets the pattern of the divine rule, in absolute sovereignty, over the kings and potentates of the world. That is what Jesus Christ is showing to John for the comfort of the Church.

THE SEALING

Before the four winds of the earth can be loosed the elect of God must be sealed.

Revelation 7:2-3

2 Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea,

3 saying, "Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads."

My Sunday School class is currently studying Ezekiel and they should immediately associate the symbolism of the sealing in Revelation 7 with the mark on the foreheads from Ezekiel 9.

Six ‘men’, agents of God’s judgment against the rebellious city of Jerusalem are seen with slaughter weapons in their hands, but among them is a seventh ‘man’ clothed with linen, having a writer’s inkhorn at his side. This man is ordered to go through the doomed city before the judgment is released and put a mark on the foreheads of all who sigh and cry for the abominations done in Jerusalem.

Just as the Man with the Inkhorn symbolized the care of God for His elect, and has made a mark on the foreheads of God’s faithful, so is the inkhorn symbolic, and so is the sealing of the elect in Revelation 7 symbolic.

It is convenient at this point to say that the “Mark of the Beast” stamped on the foreheads or hands of the wicked in Revelation 13:16-17 is likewise symbolic and not actual.

The sensationalists have had a ‘field day’ with their literal ‘Antichrist’ and computer chips implanted under the skin and they sell millions of books to the simple and the gullible.

The ‘Mark of the Beast’ can only refer to the rebellious state of mind of those who reject the rule of Christ. The mark of sin, which is the Mark of the Beast, is as invisible as the mark of God on the foreheads of the 144,000, the mystic number of the redeemed.

The “sealing” in Revelation 7 is the same as the sealing of the Holy Spirit.

Ephesians 1:13-14

13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,

14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

Ephesians 4:30

30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

2 Corinthians 1:20-22

20 For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.

21 Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God,

22 who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.

So the saints of God are sealed and kept for the day of Redemption even though they may die as witnesses [martyrs]. Their symbolic number is 144,000 and they are known only to God and they are sealed by the Holy Spirit until they are safe in the arms of Jesus in glory.

John records in verse 4 that he “heard” the number of those who were sealed and it was 144,000. He then takes 12,000 from each of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel.

Afterward, in vs. 9, John “sees” a great multitude which no one could number from all of nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

Futurism claims that John is describing two distinct classes of people, the “144,000” are entirely members of the Jewish tribes, and the “great multitude” is Gentile believers.

To be fair, not all futurists take the 144,000 to be a literal number.

It somewhat amuses me when I read how arbitrarily they decide what is to be interpreted as literal and what is symbolic. We have already remarked that no one could take verses 1 and 2 as being literal and yet they have no problem insisting that the 144,000 is an actual number?

Listen to me, please. We all decide what is literal and what is symbolic to suit our preconceived ideas. This is especially the case of those who claim to be the “most literal” in their interpretation of the Revelation. They must accept verses 1 and 2 as being symbolic and then by no rule of interpretation except their preconceived system they insist that the 144,000 is a literal number?

This is clearly the language of symbolism that we find when we come to the “One hundred and forty-four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed.” [7:4]

There is no distinction between the 144,000 of verse 4 and the great multitude of verse 9. The 144,000 is a symbolic or prophetic number known only to God, and the twelve tribes are the spiritual ‘tribes’ of the Israel of God, the Church, which has suffered the ‘great tribulation’ and has witnessed for Christ now these 2000 years and will continue to do so until the return of the Lord at the end of this present age.

Nowhere in the OT or in the NT do you find a distinction being made between Jewish and Gentile believers [justified] based on their race or status. There is neither Jew nor Greek, bond nor free. There is not a single suggestion anywhere in the Bible of a distinction to be made by God between those whom He Justified!

Here is a profound truth that will guide your understanding of the entire Bible.

God has never made a distinction among men and women based on their birth certificate as far as justification is concerned. The chief error of the Jews was to believe that because God had chosen them as a people to receive His written word and His rite of circumcision that they were not under the condemnation of God.

But that is exactly what Paul teaches in Romans 3. Jews are condemned by God’s holy law in the same way that the Gentiles are condemned. God surely blessed the Jews but they abused the blessing and assumed that they had an advantage over non-Jews. And that is where most people go wrong in our day by thinking the modern Jews or some future generation of Jews are “God’s chosen people”.

Another observation that shows that there is no distinction between the 144,000 and the great multitude is there is no mention that the great multitude was sealed in their foreheads. If 144,000 are sealed and they are Jews, and the great multitude is Gentiles why are they not sealed?

We have previously explained the nature of the twelve and the twelve as representing the Church in the OT and the NT. Exact multiples of 12,000 from each tribe multiplied by 12 is clearly symbolic language. The absurdity of an exact number from each tribe, two of which are missing, should be obvious.

The Names of the Twelve Tribes

Most if not all of the futurist writers conveniently ignore the fact that all twelve of the tribes in Genesis are not named here: two are missing, one absolutely and the other by implication.

Not only are the names of two of the tribes listed in Genesis missing but the order of the names of the tribes is deliberately changed by John to draw attention to the symbolic nature of the vision. Does anyone really believe that John did not know his OT? This should be a clue to the literalists that we are dealing with symbolism.

But, alas, they go headlong with their preconceived ideas and generally ignore such strong signals.

And I cannot resist quoting again from Charles Alexander:

“Never underestimate the power of a preconceived notion.”

We will not read Genesis 49 but the text of Genesis 49:1-28 is included here for the convenience of readers.

Genesis 49:1-28

1 And Jacob called his sons and said, "Gather together, that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last days:

2 "Gather together and hear, you sons of Jacob, And listen to Israel your father.

3 "Reuben, you are my firstborn, My might and the beginning of my strength, The excellency of dignity and the excellency of power.

4 Unstable as water, you shall not excel, Because you went up to your father's bed; Then you defiled it — He went up to my couch.

5 "Simeon and Levi are brothers; Instruments of cruelty are in their dwelling place.

6 Let not my soul enter their council; Let not my honor be united to their assembly; For in their anger they slew a man, And in their self-will they hamstrung an ox.

7 Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce; And their wrath, for it is cruel! I will divide them in Jacob And scatter them in Israel.

8 "Judah, you are he whom your brothers shall praise; Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; Your father's children shall bow down before you.

9 Judah is a lion's whelp; From the prey, my son, you have gone up. He bows down, he lies down as a lion; And as a lion, who shall rouse him?

10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor a lawgiver from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes; And to Him shall be the obedience of the people.

11 Binding his donkey to the vine, And his donkey's colt to the choice vine, He washed his garments in wine, And his clothes in the blood of grapes.

12 His eyes are darker than wine, And his teeth whiter than milk.

13 "Zebulun shall dwell by the haven of the sea; He shall become a haven for ships, And his border shall adjoin Sidon.

14 "Issachar is a strong donkey, Lying down between two burdens;

15 He saw that rest was good, And that the land was pleasant; He bowed his shoulder to bear a burden, And became a band of slaves.

16 "Dan shall judge his people As one of the tribes of Israel.

17 Dan shall be a serpent by the way, A viper by the path, That bites the horse's heels So that its rider shall fall backward.

18 I have waited for your salvation, O LORD!

19 "Gad, a troop shall tramp upon him, But he shall triumph at last.

20 "Bread from Asher shall be rich, And he shall yield royal dainties.

21 "Naphtali is a deer let loose; He uses beautiful words.

22 "Joseph is a fruitful bough, A fruitful bough by a well; His branches run over the wall.

23 The archers have bitterly grieved him, Shot at him and hated him.

24 But his bow remained in strength, And the arms of his hands were made strong By the hands of the Mighty God of Jacob (From there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel), 25 By the God of your father who will help you, And by the Almighty who will bless you With blessings of heaven above, Blessings of the deep that lies beneath, Blessings of the breasts and of the womb.

26 The blessings of your father Have excelled the blessings of my ancestors, Up to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills. They shall be on the head of Joseph, And on the crown of the head of him who was separate from his brothers.

27 "Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; In the morning he shall devour the prey, And at night he shall divide the spoil."

28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father spoke to them. And he blessed them; he blessed each one according to his own blessing.

Please refer to the lists of the tribes below.

Genesis 49

Revelation 7

Reuben

Judah

Simeon

Reuben

Levi

Gad

Judah

Asher

Zebulun

Naphtali

Issachar

Manasseh

Dan

Simeon

Gad

Levi

Asher

Issachar

Naphtali

Zebulun

Joseph

Benjamin

Two of the tribes in Genesis are omitted in Revelation. One by implication and the other specifically omitted.

Dan is not in John’s list at all.

In Genesis - Joseph stands for Ephraim and Manasseh, his two sons.

In Revelation - John names Joseph and Manasseh but omits Ephraim

Ephraim and Manasseh are included under Joseph in Genesis. But John lists Joseph and Manasseh, thus excluding Ephraim by implication.

The order of the tribes in Revelation is different.

Dan and Ephraim

The tribe of Dan is missing absolutely. Those who hold to a literal interpretation that the 144,000 are Jews from the twelve tribes have no answer for the exclusion of Dan. Jesus’ warning about idolatry to the seven churches in Asia should give us a hint as to why the tribe of Dan is missing from the list. Dan is omitted from the list because Dan was the first tribe to set up idolatrous worship in Israel.

Judges 18 describes the apostasy of the Danites who set up idolatrous worship that persisted until the captivity. The exclusion of the tribe of Dan from the list in Revelation is a memorial by John to this apostasy and ought to be a signal to all interpreters that John’s list is not to be taken literally.

The exclusion of Ephraim is not as straight-forward as Dan but it does have an explanation. In the Genesis 49 list the name of Joseph covers the names of his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. In John’s list we find Joseph and Manasseh named. Now notice that by naming Manasseh and omitting Ephraim, that Ephraim is thus omitted by implication.

Ephraim was the rival tribe to that of Judah and took the lead in the revolt against the House of David after the death of Solomon. The first king of that revolt was Jeroboam, an Ephraimite. Throughout the history of Israel, Ephraim was the rival to the tribe from which the Lord, the true King was to emerge.

It is significant that the two tribes of Dan and Ephraim are associated together from the day of the Judges with idolatrous worship. It is not that idolatry was found only in these two tribes but they were the worst offenders and John makes them to be symbolic of this apostasy.

A study of Judges 17-18 should help you see the way that John calls on the OT to bring out the symbolic language of the Revelation. Chapter 7 describes the true worshipers of God, first as a symbolic number of 144,000 that is known only to God by the seal on their foreheads, and in the second place by a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues. These saints are contrasted with the idolaters who carry the mark of the beast.

The New Order of the Tribes

The prominence given to Ephraim in Jacob’s blessing disappears with his name in the new listing of the tribes of the children of Israel. In Genesis 48 Jacob blesses the two sons of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim. But Jacob blesses the younger son Ephraim over the elder son Manasseh. The exclusion of Ephraim from John’s list must mean that all distinction of privilege based on tribal relationships are done away with in the Kingdom of God. Is that not what Revelation 7:9 says?

After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb,

Judah is named before Reuben in John’s list because of the prophecy of

Genesis 49:8-10

8 "Judah, you are he whom your brothers shall praise; Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; Your father's children shall bow down before you.

9 Judah is a lion's whelp; From the prey, my son, you have gone up. He bows down, he lies down as a lion; And as a lion, who shall rouse him?

10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor a lawgiver from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes; And to Him shall be the obedience of the people.

Messiah comes from the tribe of Judah and is named first in John’s list.

The alteration of the other names also has significance but I will not labor on with that at this time. The point must be seen that John’s list cannot be taken literally and the symbolism is explained by the history of the original twelve tribes.

“The 144,000 therefore is the total number of the redeemed, in prophetic language. The great multitude which no man can number is the same as the 144,000 as it appears to the human eye. That which John “heard” was the divine numbering of the redeemed; that which he “beheld” was the vast multitude beyond the ability of man to count.” CDA

The idea so popular today that the Church is not to be found in the OT and that the Church will be “raptured” out before the “great tribulation” is purely arbitrary and goes against rational rules of interpretation. If you can ever see that the NT interprets the OT the blinders will fall off and the OT prophecies will come alive in Christ and in His Church of the redeemed of the Lord.

Because a spiritual understanding of Revelation 7 is so basic to the principle of symbolic language I want to very briefly review this principle that many OT prophecies are clearly interpreted by inspired writers in the NT.

The Apostle Peter on the Day of Pentecost preached that the prophecy of Joel was being fulfilled by the pouring out of the Holy Spirit and Gentiles being brought into the Church. [Acts 2]

At the council in Jerusalem, called for the very purpose of answering the question about Gentile believers, James argued the very same thing when he preached that Amos prophesied that the Church would be made up of Gentiles and Jews. It is extremely important that you see that Amos and most likely James did not understand the OT prophecy until the Holy Spirit spoke through James.

[Acts 15:13-18]

An important principle of interpretation is that the NT interprets the OT and not the other way around.

When James or Peter or Paul makes a NT application of an OT prophecy that should satisfy us. But the futurists deny this principle and insist that most of the OT prophecies about national Israel are yet to be fulfilled and that they must be fulfilled literally and not in any spiritual application to Christ or the Church.

Take Acts 15:13-18 where James quotes Amos 9:11-12.

The context is the Jerusalem Council where the issue of whether or not a Gentile man had to become a Jew before he could become a Christian. The Judaizers insisted that a man must be circumcised in order to become a Christian.

The marvelous statement made by Peter in Acts 15:11, makes it clear. Look at the order of Peter’s words. “But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we [we Jews] shall be saved in the same manner as they [the Gentiles].”

There is only one Savior and everyone who is saved has been saved the same way, by grace through faith.

Now read Amos 9:11-15

11 "On that day I will raise up

The tabernacle of David, which has fallen down,

And repair its damages;

I will raise up its ruins,

And rebuild it as in the days of old;

12 That they may possess the remnant of Edom,

And all the Gentiles who are called by My name,"

Says the LORD who does this thing.

13 "Behold, the days are coming," says the LORD,

"When the plowman shall overtake the reaper,

And the treader of grapes him who sows seed;

The mountains shall drip with sweet wine,

And all the hills shall flow with it.

14 I will bring back the captives of My people Israel;

They shall build the waste cities and inhabit them;

They shall plant vineyards and drink wine from them;

They shall also make gardens and eat fruit from them.

15 I will plant them in their land,

And no longer shall they be pulled up

From the land I have given them,"

Says the LORD your God.

NKJV

Now listen carefully. If you did not have James in the NT to interpret Amos you could only conclude that Amos is prophesying about the restoration of national Israel. And that may well be what Amos thought it meant.

But when James under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit interprets Amos as referring to the Gentiles being in the Church along with the Jews then that is what it means. It does not matter what you think it means; if you disagree with the inspired apostle you are wrong! It is likely that James understood Amos to mean the restoration of national Israel UNTIL the Holy Spirit spoke through him. It is also important to see that James does not try to explain what Amos thought it meant because now that does not matter at all.

Listen to James:

Acts 15:12-18

12 Then all the multitude kept silent and listened to Barnabas and Paul declaring how many miracles and wonders God had worked through them among the Gentiles.

13 And after they had become silent, James answered, saying, "Men and brethren, listen to me:

14 Simon has declared how God at the first visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His name.

15 And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written:

16'After! this I will return

And will rebuild the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down;

I will rebuild its ruins,

And I will set it up;

17 So that the rest of mankind may seek the LORD,

Even all the Gentiles who are called by My name,

Says the LORD who does all these things.'

18 "Known to God from eternity are all His works. NKJV

Here is the Church in the OT and yet the futurists say that the Church is not found in the OT.

Again, when John, or Paul, or Peter, or James bring in Zechariah, or Joel, or Isaiah, or Amos and then they interpret what the OT prophets meant we have no license to say they [the apostles] are in error. Many times even the prophet himself did not understand the meaning or application of what he spoke.

This past week I read again a book by John L. Bray, “Israel in Prophecy” and even though I had read the book I missed this extremely important fact about OT prophecies and the restoration of Israel to the Land.

“As to the Old Testament, I have already pointed out how that any promises made as to a restoration to the Land, were fulfilled when they returned from Babylon, etc., as recorded in the Bible, and that after that no more such promises were ever made. All the prophecies used by the Bible teachers today to try to prove a future or present restoration of Israel to Palestine, are prophecies made prior to their restoration as God promised in the past. And many of the prophecies included future fulfillment in the sense of spiritual blessing found in Christianity, couched in highly symbolical language that are best understood as God intended them to be.” [Page 54]

The Apostle Paul in Galatians, Ephesians, and Romans could not make it plainer that the “mystery” regarding the Church was not that there would be the Church but that the make-up of the Church would include Gentiles and Jews without regard to their racial origin.

There is one God and one Gospel and saints in the OT and in the NT are saved by grace through faith. The only difference between OT believers and NT believers is the amount of revealed knowledge they have about Jesus who is the Christ.

I have already made this point but you must get rid of any notion that the setting apart of the nation of Israel had anything to do with individual justification.

Romans 9:6-9

6 But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For they are not all Israel who are of Israel,

7 nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, "In Isaac your seed shall be called."

8 That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed.

Abraham’s seed was Christ.

Galatians 3:16

16 Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say,

"And to seeds," as of many, but as of one, "And to your Seed," who is Christ.

The natural seed of Abraham was never the subject to the promise – only that spiritual seed which by faith and the new birth partake of the new life in Christ. This is the only Israel which inherits the promises, and it is an Israel of Gentile and Jew, with absolutely no distinction as to race or ancestry.

Galatians 6:15-16

15 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation.

16 And as many as walk according to this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.

The only ‘nation’ to which the kingdom of God is given is one which brings forth the fruits thereof.

Matthew 21:43

"Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it.