Family Home Fellowship www.go2fhf.org THOSE 144,000 Rev 7:2-4 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: NKJV Rev 14:1-5 Then I looked, and behold, a * Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having * His Father's name written on their foreheads. 2 And I heard a voice from heaven, like the voice of many waters, and like the voice of loud thunder. And I heard the sound of harpists playing their harps. 3 They sang as it were a new song before the throne, before the four living creatures, and the elders; and no one could learn that song except the hundred and forty-four thousand who were redeemed from the earth. 4 These are the ones who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These were redeemed * from among men, being firstfruits to God and to the Lamb. 5 And in their mouth was found no deceit, * for they are without fault before the throne of God. * NKJV Hello to all my Brothers and Sisters in Christ. As I said in my last letter I was going to talk about the 144,000. Who are those guys? They have caused some contention within the Church and there are even cults that revolve around them. This astounds me since they are only mentioned, by name, two places in the Bible, both in the book of Revelations. Now, as far as the Church is concerned what I have heard is that they are a group of Israelites that evangelize the whole world, especially the Jews, after the rapture takes place. They teach that this occurs before the Great tribulation takes place; consequently there are no Christians left in the world. And as far as what the cult teaches I really can t say, as I am only concerned with the Church. Now I have to disagree. 1
So allow me to throw my hat into the arena of teachers as I also am a man full of the Holy Spirit. I have no other bragging rights as to qualifications. I contend that the selection has already been made. They will be the first ones resurrected when Jesus returns, in the clouds, for us. For the time being they are asleep waiting with the rest of the Saints who have passed. They were raised once to a natural life, like Lazarus but they died again. This happened right after Jesus was raised from the dead. They were His wave offering. Why am I concerned about correct teaching on things like the Temple, the 144,000 and when Jesus returns for the Saints? Does He return before or after the great tribulation? I m concerned because if a soldier doesn t know the plan of battle he will be looking in the wrong places, unprepared for the attack of the enemy. I don t want you to be blind-sided and removed from the war. Rather, I want you to endure until the end, reaching your full potential, mature in Christ. Now we see the 144,000 in Revelation 7 and they follow a then so you have to read what precedes it. And what precede it are seven seals that bring great destruction and there are four angels having the four winds. He then has the four winds halted until those 144,000 are sealed. This is all followed by a listing of who the 144,000 are; 12,000 from each tribe of Israel. Daniel in chapter 7 has a dream; I think that dream is describing events during this period of time. Likewise Ezekiel has a vision, the dry bones, in chapter 37. I believe this is another event during this time period and all of Israel is saved for their faith in Christ. This period is also mentioned by Jeremiah and I am sure by other prophets. What is it to be sealed? Eph 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. NKJV // This verse from Ephesians says basically, for our faith, we receive the Holy Spirit and that is the seal of our salvation. We are not marked physically but spiritually as those 144,000 were. Their being sealed is no different than the way we are sealed. So who are they? Be patient, let s examine Revelation chapter 14. They are with Jesus when He returns to the earth, Mt. Zion. Then John jumps to a time before the return, a time in Heaven, and then follows a description of those 144,000. They were redeemed from the earth, they didn t know women (sexually), and they were redeemed from men being firstfruits to God and Jesus. Now of course they were pure and without fault. Being firstfruits! That is where we are going now. Firstfruits are a big clue to the timing of their selection. To properly explain these things we must have an understanding of the Seven Feasts of Israel found in Leviticus chapter 23. I look at these feasts as a sort of a parable, a physical representation of spiritual events. 2
They are a ritual, performed by Jews every year, a story they do not understand. We, however, have the Spirit of understanding. The feasts represent a timeline of things that have passed or are yet to come. The Seven Feasts in order are: 1. Sabbath 2. Passover and Unleavened Bread 3. Firstfruits 4. Pentecost 5. Feast of Trumpets 6. Day of Atonement 7. Tabernacles First is the Sabbath which Jesus fulfilled and is being fulfilled by us then Passover with Unleavened Bread? Those Jesus also fulfilled with His death and resurrection and we likewise are fulfilling. Next is Firstfruits and then Pentecost. Now we all know Pentecost is when the Church received the Holy Spirit for the first time, but what about the Firstfruits? If these feast days are being fulfilled in order, as it would appear; what happened on Firstfruits? Lev 23:9-14 9 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 10 "Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: 'When you come into the land which I give to you, and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest. 11 He shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted on your behalf; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. 12 And you shall offer on that day, when you wave the sheaf, a male lamb of the first year, without blemish, as a burnt offering to the LORD. 13 Its grain offering shall be two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering made by fire to the LORD, for a sweet aroma; and its drink offering shall be of wine, one-fourth of a hin. 14 You shall eat neither bread nor parched grain nor fresh grain until the same day that you have brought an offering to your God; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. NKJV First the date was set only by when they entered the Promised Land, not by a specific month or date. When the crops were ready a portion was brought to the priest as a wave offering. This is the Hebrew word and Strong s definition used for Firstfruits. OT:7225 tyv!ar@ re'shiyth (ray-sheeth'); from the same as OT:7218; the first, in place, time, order or rank (specifically, a firstfruit):kjv - beginning, chief (- est), first (-fruits, part, time), principal thing. By its definition it makes it unique, take note because there is another word used for Firstfruits and by its usage I will prove an important point. Then a male lamb without blemish was offered, a representation of Jesus. 3
Then the fine flour cake mixed with oil. This is very important because the flour and oil has no leaven, so it represents being sinless or a righteous people. It is not matzo, the unleavened bread used in Passover to represent Jesus. I feel the flour and oil mix of Firstfruits represents those guiltless and undefiled 144,000. Now I think it s important to further Identify Firstfruits. In this passage from the book of James, Believers are identified as a kind of firstfruits. James 1:16-19 16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. 18 Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures. NKJV// The Greek word and Strong s definition is:// NT:536 a)parxh/ aparche (ap-ar-khay'); from a compound of NT:575 and NT:756; a beginning of sacrifice, i.e. the (Jewish) first-fruit (figuratively): KJV - first-fruits. This, in Greek is the same word that is used in firstfruits to describe the 144,000 in the book of Revelations. Two words aren t used in Greek, as they do use in Hebrew. Therefore no differences can be understood for Firstfruits in the New Testament. The Hebrew text must be used to differentiate the Firstfruits offering of the 144,000 or the Believers who came at and after the Pentecost. Now very quickly let s jump ahead to Pentecost, The Feast of Weeks in Leviticus 23. Lev 23:15-21 15 'And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed. 16 Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer a new grain offering to the LORD. 17 You shall bring from your dwellings two wave loaves of two-tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven. They are the firstfruits to the LORD. 18 And you shall offer with the bread seven lambs of the first year, without blemish, one young bull, and two rams. They shall be as a burnt offering to the LORD, with their grain offering and their drink offerings, an offering made by fire for a sweet aroma to the LORD. 19 Then you shall sacrifice one kid of the goats as a sin offering, and two male lambs of the first year as a sacrifice of a peace offering. 20 The priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits as a wave offering before the LORD, with the two lambs. They shall be holy to the LORD FOR the priest. 21 And you shall proclaim on the same day that it is a holy convocation to you. You shall do no customary work on it. It shall be a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations. NKJV// I don t want to discuss at this time all the symbolism of every thing in this passage but only, for now, verse 17-17 You shall bring from your dwellings two wave loaves of two-tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven. They are the firstfruits to the LORD. //Nobody argues that they were celebrating the Pentecost 4
when the Holy Spirit fell on the Apostles and became available to all Believers. Look at the two loaves offering. It was fine flour and leaven. What does leaven represent? It represents sin. The Hebrew word and Strong s definition for firstfruits as used in this passage is: OT:1061 rwkb! bikkuwr (bik-koor'); from OT:1069; the first-fruits of the crop: KJV - first fruit (-ripe [figuratively]), hasty fruit. Different firstfruits from that used in Leviticus 23:10. They are the 144,000 firstfruits undefiled. Those firstfruits from Pentecost were ordinary men. So where do those 144,000 appear in the New Testament, besides Revelations? They appear right where they belong; after Passover and before Pentecost. The graves were opened at His death but they didn t rise until after His resurrection. Matt 27:50-53 50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. 51 Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, 52 and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; 53 and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many. NKJV Jesus gave up the Spirit and what? Verse 52 says graves were opened. Then Jesus rose from the dead and what? Many bodies of the Saints who were dead were raised. How many? I think 144,000; twelve thousand from each tribe in Israel. Jesus died and rose then gave His wave offering to the Father. They were raised in a natural body and died again just like Lazarus. They will rise again in the resurrection of the dead, never to die again. Brothers and Sisters don t be children any longer but mature. Don t be shaken by every breeze that passes by. Don t seek political answers for spiritual problems. What is to pass will pass. We are those that come after those 144,000. We are the ones who are given the white robes who go through great tribulation. Fear not the more we appear as Jesus the greater will be our persecutions. Endure to the end. Blessings from Brother Mike your servant. 5