Let's be honest -interpreting Revelations is difficult! We routinely meet an array of images and sounds that stretch our minds to their furthest limits. In Revelations Chapter 7 and verse 4 we meet the 144,000. Who are these people and what does it mean to us today?There are two main views regarding the identity of the 144,000.
The first view is that the 144,000 represent Jewish people who follow Christ. Within this view there are some take the 144,000 as symbolically representing the entirety of the Nation of Israel. Others claim that this number literally refers to the specific amount of Israelites who will follow Christ: 144,000.
Biblical evidence for this view is that in the Bible the term 'Israel' always refers to the Jewish Nation, and the phrase 'every tribe' is very specific language -pointing towards real Jewish People.
The second view is that the 144,000 represents The Church. Proponents of this view show how the numbers given in this section (7.4-8) '12x12x1000' are symbolic -representing 'completeness.' They also show how the list of 12 Tribes found in Chapter 7 are unlike any list of the 12 Tribes found in the Bible. Historically they note how 10 Tribes were lost in the Assyrian invasion of 732BC and the remaining Tribes were dispersed with the fall of Jerusalem in 70A.D.
What does it matter to us?
Jehovah's Witnesses view Revelation Chapter 7 as stating that there will only be 144,000 people who are saved for heaven. This provides the impetus for their door to door evangelism. They need to do a lot of good actions to be claimed in the relatively small group of 144,000!
My opinion is that the 144,000 refer to believers of every stripe and not just Jewish believers. The thrust of the New Testament is that God is pulling together a new people not bound by ethnic or geographic identity, but by our common allegiance to Jesus the Christ. In Paul's letter to the Galatians, he states, 'There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male or female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.' The list of the 12 Tribes found in Revelation 7 is constructed to show their symbolic importance much like the reasoning behind Jesus choosing 12 disciples. For those who love to dig into the details, Chapter 7's list omits the Tribe of Dan and includes the Tribe of Levi. Also 10 of the Tribes disappeared with the Assyrian invasion of 732BC while the remaining two tribes were dispersed with the fall of Jerusalem in 70AD.
Certainly this is a contentious passage and one that has been debated for the past 2000 years. What is your opinion on this issue, and why do you hold your view?