The following is a transcript of Professor Brandon Crowe for the video below:
In Revelation 14, we meet 144,000 people, who “had the name of Jesus and the Father on their foreheads.” And that is an interesting picture here. Who are these 144,000 people?
Well, one thing that is helpful to recollect in Revelation, is that numbers mean things, sometimes another way than they do in historical narratives because Revelation is an “apocalyptic work” that shows this thing by pictures. It seems to represent all of God’s people, from the Old Testament and the New Testament.
The 12 Tribes of Israel… times the 12 apostles and people who they represent… times a really great number: 1,000. And so 12 x 12 x 1,000 is 144,000. And these are marked with the Seal of God on their foreheads. This shows us that they bow to the Lamb and to His Father, and we will contrast this with the Mark of the Beast that appears on those that don’t belong to the Lamb.
And so as a substitute of being sealed, they merely have the Mark of the Beast, which indicates being owned not by the Lamb, but by the Beast. And that they follow his ways. And so there is a contrast between the 144,000 in Revelation 14 and people who are sealed with the Name of the Lamb and His Father and people who should not have that” seal” on them.
Revelation 14: Bible Text
The Lamb and the 144,000
Then I looked, and behold, on Mount Zion 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 just like the roar of many waters and just like the sound of loud thunder. The voice I heard was just like the sound of harpists playing on their harps, and so they were singing a latest song before the throne and before the 4 living creatures and before the elders. No one could learn that song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. It is these who haven’t defiled themselves with women, for they’re virgins. It is these who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These have been redeemed from mankind as firstfruits for God and the Lamb, and of their mouth no lie was found, for they’re blameless.
The Messages of the Three Angels
Then I saw one other angel flying directly overhead, with an everlasting gospel to proclaim to those that dwell on earth, to each nation and tribe and language and other people. And he said with a loud voice, “Fear God and provides him glory, since the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth, the ocean and the springs of water.” Another angel, a second, followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the nice, she who made all nations drink the wine of the eagerness of her sexual immorality.” And one other angel, a 3rd, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his brow or on his hand, he also will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will likely be tormented with fire and sulfur within the presence of the holy angels and within the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up perpetually and ever, and so they don’t have any rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.” Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those that keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus. And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die within the Lord any more.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they could rest from their labors, for his or her deeds follow them!”
The Harvest of the Earth
Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and seated on the cloud one like a son of man, with a golden crown on his head, and a pointy sickle in his hand. And one other angel got here out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, “Put in your sickle, and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.” So he who sat on the cloud swung his sickle across the earth, and the earth was reaped. Then one other angel got here out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a pointy sickle. And one other angel got here out from the altar, the angel who has authority over the hearth, and he called with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, “Put in your sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, for its grapes are ripe.” So the angel swung his sickle across the earth and gathered the grape harvest of the earth and threw it into the nice winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trodden outside the town, and blood flowed from the winepress, as high as a horse’s bridle, for 1,600 stadia.
Learn more about whether the 144,000 number is symbolic or literal within the Bible.
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