Message 83：The 144,000 Chosen Witnesses of The Lord

— Mark Chen December 7, 2015

Dearest brothers and sisters,

The Lord is finally prompting me to post a teaching message which touches on the identity and role of the 144,000 chosen witnesses of Christ in the end times. Our King, Jesus Christ, wishes to clear up some misconceptions and misunderstandings of who this special group of saints are, because there are many believers out there who may have arrived at the wrong understanding of the 144,000.

Some believe that the 144,000 are all pure ethnic Jews, which cannot be possible because the 'missing' Ten Tribes of Israel have been scattered throughout many lands since the Assyrians invaded the northern kingdom of Israel and led the Israelites into exile thousands of years ago. Historically, they have intermarried with foreigners to such an extent that I believe one will be really hard-pressed to find several pure ethnic Israelites from one of the Ten Tribes who were captured and exiled, much less 12,000 from each of these Ten Tribes.

Others believe that there will be 2 groups of 144,000 saints (Revelation 7 - 1st group, Revelation 14 - 2nd group) and/or the 144,000 will definitely be a mix of men and women saints, but there is inadequate evidence in the Holy Scriptures to support the two views listed above with certainty.

Please understand that I am not going to present an exhaustive study of the 144,000 saints here, but I shall attempt to share what the Lord has revealed to me over 2014-2015 on this topic, by His grace and wisdom. As always, kindly take what I am sharing here to the Lord in prayer and seek His confirmation to you through a careful study of His Holy Scriptures, and by rightly dividing His Word of Truth (2 Timothy 2:15).

Shalom!

Revelation 7:1-8 (NKJV)

7 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.

Revelation 14:1-5 (NKJV)

1 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.

Teaching Message:

The 144,000 will discharge their duties before the Rapture of the Bride (Barley Harvest) by participating in the transformation, gathering and training of the larger group comprising the living members of Christ's Bride during the coming 3 Days of Darkness (Isaiah 60:1-3).They will then go forth to reap the harvest in the Great Soul Harvest following the great darkness to fulfil Isaiah 61:1-3. This will last a prophetic 40 days, leading to the First Rapture (Barley Harvest).

The Bride of Christ will remain in Heaven after the Rapture, except the 144,000 who will be further trained and sent back to help the left-behind saints during the first 3.5 years of the 7-year Great Tribulation. They will fulfil various important roles during this time, including battling demonic forces and alien invaders on earth. They will help the left behind saints until the Second Rapture (Wheat Harvest) takes place at the midpoint of the 7 years (Revelation 14:14-16). That is most likely when their duties will be completed as well.

From what The Lord has confirmed to me, the 144000 is a specially chosen group within the Bride of Christ. We need to understand that the Bride of Christ is a larger group comprising both living and deceased holy saints of God, and the 144,000 fall within the living group of chosen saints.

A literal interpretation of the Greek word, 'anthropos' (which is commonly used as a masculine noun) in Revelation 14:4 indicate to us that these 144,000 are probably all men (we know that the Bride of Christ comprises both males and females). We need to understand that this Greek word is used to refer to men specifically, or mankind in general, but it is not typically used to refer to women specifically. Hence, we can see that the 144,000 is only a small group within the larger group that is the Bride of Christ and they are very likely to be all men.

Further, the 144,000 are, first and foremost, spiritual Jews, before they are ethnic Jews. We can understand this truth in view of what the apostle Paul explains in the following New Testament (NT) Scriptures:

Romans 9:6-8 (ESV)

6 But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, 7 and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” 8 This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring

Romans 2:28-29 (NKJV)

28 For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; 29 but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God

Going by this Scriptural understanding, and from what the Lord has confirmed to me repeatedly, it seems that all 144,000 chosen saints are very likely to be brothers-in-Christ, with a mixture of ethnic Jews and Gentiles, but ALL must be faithful saints of Christ, the spiritual descendants of Abraham, who are spiritual Jews.

In addition, the Lord has made me to understand that the 144,00 are characterised by particular spiritual traits which will mark them in the corresponding 12 spiritual Tribes of Israel. For instance, those in the Tribe of Judah are characterised by courage, those in the Tribe of Issachar are marked by their spiritual awareness, while those in the Tribe of Joseph are distinguished by wisdom.

It does not mean, however, that a saint who is sealed in the Tribe of Judah possesses courage but lacks awareness and wisdom, Instead, the appointment of these 144,000 saints are based on their primary spiritual traits, such as courage, wisdom or spiritual awareness of the times we live in, and they do possess and share other spiritual traits among themselves as well.

From what the Lord has also confirmed to me, the 144,000 are singled out for mention because they are the leaders among His entire Bride in this end-time generation. The apostle John describes them as men who have not been defiled by women, as is recorded in Revelation 14:4.

This cannot refer to men who are physical virgins, ie never had sexual union with a woman, because the Holy Bible tells us that God made everything good in the beginning, which includes His design of marriage between a man and a woman (Genesis 2:3-4). If God has declared marriage to be His intended design at the time of Creation, why would it be defiling for a man of God to marry and have relations with his beloved wife? Even the Levitical priests were permitted to marry within certain guidelines according to the law of God given through Moses.

Therefore, we need to adopt a figurative interpretation of what John means when he describes the 144,000 as men who were not defiled by women. The symbolism used here is that of spiritual purity, ie. these 144,000 have never willingly pursued or worshipped idols and false gods.

These men have remained faithful to God in their lives, generally speaking. In the Old Testament (OT), women of pagan nations often ensnared the men of Israel to go astray from their devotion to YAHWEH, and to lead them onto the path of spiritual apostasy by introducing them to their false gods and idols. King Solomon is a prime example of this (1 Kings 11). This is how we need to understand the symbolism of men being defiled by women in Revelation 14:4.

Therefore, I understand that the first part of Revelation 7 deals with the sealing and protection of the chosen leaders among Christ's Bride, the 144,000, and this corresponds to the time of the baptism of the Holy Spirit's latter rains in the coming time of great darkness. This means that the 144,000 will still be in their mortal bodies, but supernaturally transfigured and protected by the power of the Holy Spirit, in order for them to go forth after the 3 Days of Darkness to do God's work in the Great Soul Harvest.

They will lead the rest of Christ's Bride as chosen leaders, just as the Lord's chosen apostles led the early church, and ALL are members of Christ's body. Hence, the 144, 000 are part of the believers who make up Christ's Bride, but they are ordained by God to lead the Bride of Christ.

These 144,000 are further described in the first portion of Revelation 14, which gives us specific details about their spiritual traits and their role during the Great Tribulation. They will follow the Lamb of God wherever He goes (14:4), which means that they will be under the immediate direction of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, just as the Lord's apostles followed Him wherever He went during the most part of His earthly ministry, and they also came under His direct supervision in their appointed roles.

Not only so, these saints shun falsehood and speak only truth in their lives (14:5), and their detesting of lies in favour of truth is an inherent trait in them, even before they are sealed in the Lord. Simply put, their character is such that they will refrain from falsehood in preference for truth, and it is one of the distinctive traits of the 144,000 saints of Christ.

If any man be one of them, they should have received dreams, visions or words from God about their role by now, even if they may not fully understand these divine revelations just yet, which points them to their special calling among the 144, 000 chosen saints of Christ.

I do note what others have mentioned about the 144, 000 not necessarily being all men, and that they may include women as well, or children above the age of accountability for that matter. While it may not be totally impossible, we see that the Holy Scriptures are filled with examples of how God has an established practice of appointing grown men as leaders among His chosen people, both in the OT and the NT, much more often than He appoints women or children below the military age of 20 years to lead the people of Israel.

Indeed, we see God's pattern of divine appointment in the Patriarchs, the 12 sons of Jacob, the mostly male judges (Deborah being an exception) recorded in the book of Judges, the Levitical priesthood, the kings of Israel and Judah, the mostly male prophets of God, the 12 male apostles of Christ, and most notably, the Son of God Himself, assuming the form of a man in His incarnation on earth.

As such, I don't think it is an unbiblical or unlikely interpretation to say that the 144,000 are possibly all men. Indeed, the apostle Paul also affirmed God's order in creation as an indication that God has intended from the beginning to appoint men to primary positions of authority among His chosen people, both in the OT and the NT.

1 Timothy 2:12-14 (NKJV)

And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.

Dear brothers and sisters, please understand that I am not trying to paint myself as a male chauvinist here, as I simply wish to point out what the Holy Scriptures reveal to us regarding the spiritual authority that God has given to men over their wives at home (Genesis 3:16), and in the manner that men and women relate to one another in the body of Christ.

To be clear, I am not a member of the Brethren denomination, which applies these Scriptural teachings literally, nor do I believe that a sister-in-Christ can never be given a teaching position at all in church. It depends on the ministry she feels led by the Holy Spirit to serve in.

For instance, a sister-in-Christ serving in Children Sunday School as a teacher is a distinctly different context from serving as a minister in church. Again, I do not mean to offend anyone with my understanding of God's Word and how it should be applied in the Body of Christ today, but we have to see things in the overall design and order of God's creation.

Yes, the apostle Paul affirms that in Christ, there is no need for (man-made) differentiation regarding one's ethnicity, gender or social status:

Galatians 3:28 (NKJV)

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

I say 'man-made differentiation' because God does differentiate between a man and a woman Himself, and we fall back once again on the whole revelation of God's ways in the Holy Scriptures concerning the different positions and roles He has appointed to men and women, which indicate different levels of authority within the body of Christ. Indeed, we read what Paul writes elsewhere in the Scriptures:

Ephesians 5:22-24 (NKJV)

Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.

The biblical truth that God has appointed men over their wives in terms of being the head of the household under the ultimate headship of Christ Jesus, is the best irrefutable Scriptural evidence that God does indeed ordain different roles for men and women within the Church of Christ, according to His order and design of creating Adam first, and Eve second. This form of differentiation by God in His creation is not the prejudicial or biased form of discrimination often practised by sinful humans.

Again, we can look to another Scripture to further clarify our understanding on this matter: the relationship between God the Father and God the Son.

Philippians 2:5-7 (NKJV)

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.

Christ Jesus is God, just as the Father is God, and there is essentially no difference between the two Persons of the Holy Trinity where it comes to their divinity. The Father is not a superior version of God, nor is the Son an inferior version of God. They share the same essential Godhood, because Jesus declares that He and the Father are one (John 10:30).

Similarly, a man and his wife are one, and in Christ Jesus, God does not see the man as essentially superior to the woman, his wife. However, just as the passage in Philippians 2 explains how Christ willingly submitted to the authority of the Father and humbled Himself by taking on the likeness of man, a woman should also follow the same example to willingly submit to the spiritual authority of her husband, the man, though both are one in Christ.

This then, is the whole counsel of God with regards to the biblical truth that God does indeed differentiate between men and women within the Church of Christ, and He has appointed different positions and corresponding levels of authority in this present age of the Church. We may not be able to fully understand God's ways and thoughts before our time of perfection in Christ comes (Philippians 1:6), but we have to remember God's admonition to us in His Word:

Isaiah 55:8-9 (NASB)

"For My thoughts are not your thoughts, 

Nor are your ways My ways," declares the LORD. 

"For as the heavens are higher than the earth, 

So are My ways higher than your ways 

And My thoughts than your thoughts."

May this teaching message help a number of you to gain a better and clearer understanding of the identity and role of the 144,000 chosen witnesses of the LORD in these end times. All glory and praise be to the LORD our God!

MARANATHA, ADONAI YESHUA!

In God's Truth,

Mark Chen