And I heard the number of them which were sealed: [and there were] sealed a hundred [and] forty [and] four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.
The Sealing of the 144,000, Rev 7:4-8
4. an hundred and forty and four thousand ] As there are twelve tribes, so in each tribe there are to be twelve thousands: possibly with a reminiscence of the primitive political and military organisation, when a “thousand” was a recognised subdivision of a tribe. See Jdg 6:15; Mic 5:2. Any way, we are probably to understand that each portion of Israel is a miniature likeness of the whole.
of all the tribes of the children of Israel ] It is one of the most controverted of the minor questions of interpretation of this Book, whether Israel is here to be understood in the literal or the spiritual sense. This vision of a certain number of Israelites, and the next of an innumerable multitude of all nations, are certainly correlative to each other: and the most obvious way of understanding them is, that among God’s elect there will be many faithful Israelites, and yet few comparatively to the number of faithful Gentiles. Others however understand these 144,000, and the innumerable multitude of Rev 7:9, to represent the same persons regarded in two different aspects. To God they are all His own people, all duly numbered and organised and marshalled as His army, and everyone known to Him by name: on the other hand, from a human point of view they belong to all nations, and. are too many to be counted. Lastly, in Rev 14:1 we hear of a company of 144,000 whom (not from their number only) it is natural to identify with these: and it appears that these represent, not the whole multitude of the elect, but a group specially faithful and specially favoured, even among them. It seems worth asking, whether the true solution be not a combination of the first and last, whether we are to understand that Christ’s nearest and dearest ones still come from God’s old people, who are still “beloved for the fathers’ sake,” though they attain such nearness to Him, not by virtue of their descent, but by graces of the same kind as sanctify Gentile saints also.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And I heard the number of them which were sealed – He does not say where he heard that, or by whom it was communicated to him, or when it was done. The material point is, that he heard it; he did not see it done. Either by the angel, or by some direct communication from God, he was told of the number that would be sealed, and of the distribution of the whole number into twelve equal parts, represented by the tribes of the children of Israel.
And there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel – In regard to this number, the first and the main question is, whether it is meant that this was to be the literal number, or whether it was symbolical; and, if the latter, of what it is a symbol:
I. As to the first of these inquiries, there does not appear to be any good reason for doubt. The fair interpretation seems to require that it should be understood as symbolical, or as designed not to be literally taken; for:
(a)The whole scene is symbolical – the winds, the angels, the sealing.
- It cannot be supposed that this number will include all who will be sealed and saved. In whatever way this is interpreted, and whatever we may suppose it to refer to, we cannot but suppose that more than this number will be saved.
- The number is too exact and artificial to suppose that it is literal. It is inconceivable that exactly the same number – precisely twelve thousand – should be selected from each tribe of the children of Israel.
- If literal, it is necessary to suppose that this refers to the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. But on every supposition this is absurd. Ten of their tribes had been long before carried away, and the distinction of the tribes was lost, no more to be recovered, and the Hebrew people never have been, since the time of John, in circumstances to which the description here could be applicable. These considerations make it clear that the description here is symbolical. But,
II. Of what is it symbolical? Is it of a large number, or of a small number? Is it of those who would be saved from among the Jews, or of all who would be saved in the Christian church – represented as the tribes of the children of Israel? To these inquiries we may answer:
(1) That the representation seems to be rather that of a comparatively small number than a large one, for these reasons:
(a) The number of itself is not large.
(b) The number is not large as compared with those who must have constituted the tribes here referred to – the number twelve thousand, for example, as compared with the whole number of the tribe of Judah, of the tribe of Reuben, etc.
(c) It would seem from the language that there would be some selection from a much greater number. Thus, not all in the tribes were scaled, but those who were sealed were of all the tribes – ek pases phules; that is, out of these tribes. So in the specification in each tribe – , ek phules Iouda, Rouben, etc. Some out of the tribe, to wit, twelve thousand, were sealed, It is not said of the twelve thousand of the tribes of Judah, Reuben, etc., that they constituted the tribe, but that they were sealed out of the tribe, as a part of it preserved and saved. When the preposition ek, or out of, stands after any such verb as sealed, between a definite numeral and a noun of multitude in the genitive, sound criticism requires, doubtless, that the numeral should be thus construed as signifying, not the whole, but a part taken out (Elliott, i. 237). Compare Exo 32:28; Num 1:21; 1Sa 4:10. The phrase, then, would properly denote those taken out of some other and greater number – as a portion of a tribe, and not the whole tribe. If the reference here is to the church, it would seem to denote that a portion only of that church would be sealed.
(d) For the same reason the idea would seem to be, that comparatively a small portion is referred to – as twelve thousand would be comparatively a small part of one of the tribes of Israel; and if this refers to the church, we should expect to find its fulfillment in a state of things in which the largest proportion would not be scaled; that is, in a corrupt state of the church in which there would be many professors of religion, but comparatively few who had real piety.
(2) To the other inquiry – whether this refers to those who would be sealed and saved among the Jews, or to those in the Christian church – we may answer:
(a) that there are strong reasons for supposing the latter to be the correct opinion. Long before the time of John all these distinctions of tribe were abolished. The ten tribes had been carried away and scattered in distant lands, never more to be restored; and it cannot be supposed that there was any such literal selection from the twelve tribes as is here spoken of, or any such designation of twelve thousand from each. There was no occasion – either when Jerusalem was destroyed, or at any ether time – on which there were such transactions as are here referred to occurring in reference to the children of Israel.
(b) The language is such as a Christian, who had been by birth and education a Hebrew, would naturally use if he wished to designate the church. Compare the notes on Jam 1:1. Accustomed to speak of the people of God as the twelve tribes of Israel, nothing was more natural than to transfer this language to the church of the Redeemer, and to speak of it in that figurative manner. Accordingly, from the necessity of the case, the language is universally understood to have reference to the Christian church. Even Prof. Stuart, who supposes that the reference is to the siege and destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, interprets it of the preservation of Christians, and their flight to Pella, beyond Jordan. Thus interpreted, moreover, it accords with the entire symbolical character of the representation.
(c) The reference to the particular tribes may be a designed allusion to the Christian church as it would be divided into denominations, or known by different names; and the fact that a certain portion would be sealed from every tribe would not be an unfit representation of the fact that a portion of all the various churches or denominations would be sealed and saved. That is, salvation would be confined to no one church or denomination, but among them all there would be found true servants of God. It would be improper to suppose that the division into tribes among the children of Israel was designed to be a type of the sects and denominations in the Christian church, and yet the fact of such a division may not improperly be employed as an illustration of that; for the whole church is made up not of any one denomination alone, but of all who hold the truth combined, as the people of God in ancient times consisted not solely of any one tribe, however large and powerful, but of all combined. Thus understood, the symbol would point to a time when there would be various denominations in the church, and yet with the idea that true friends of God would be found among them all.
(d) Perhaps nothing can be argued from the fact that exactly twelve thousand were selected from each of the tribes. In language so figurative and symbolical as this, it could not be maintained that this proves that the santo definite number would be taken from each denomination of Christians. Perhaps all that can be fairly inferred is, that there would be no partiality or preference for one more than another; that there would be no favoritism on account of the tribe or denomination to which anyone belonged; but that the seal would be impressed on all, of any denomination, who had the true spirit of religion. No one would receive the token of the divine favor because he was of the tribe of Judah or Reuben; no one because he belonged to any particular denomination of Christians. Large numbers from every branch of the church would be sealed; none would be sealed because he belonged to one form of external organization rather than to another; none would be excluded because he belonged to any one tribe, if he had the spirit and held the sentiments which made it proper to recognize him as a servant of God. These views seem to me to express the true sense of this passage. No one can seriously maintain that the writer meant to refer literally to the Jewish people; and if he referred to the Christian church, it seems to be to some selection that would be made out of the whole church, in which there would be no favoritism or partiality, and to the fact that, in regard to them, there would be some something which, in the midst of abounding corruption or impending danger, would designate them as the chosen people of God, and would furnish evidence that they would be safe.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Rev 7:4-8
The number of them which were sealed.
The sealing
I. Who, then, are these 144,000 sealed ones?
II. The nature of the sealing of which these 144,000 are the subjects.
1. It is manifest that the transaction takes place on earth, and in the case of people contemporaneously living in the flesh.
2. This sealing involved the impartation of a conspicuous and observable mark.
3. It is something Divine. The seal with which the sealing is done is a seal of the living God. It so pledges Him, and to Him, that it must be regarded as His own act.
4. The office of this sealing is in the hands of an angel, who comes forth from the sun-rising. He is a high officer from God. He carries a seal of the miracle-working God, and he gives commands to the angels of judgment. Many take him to be the Lord Jesus Himself. There is much to sustain this view.
5. This sealing was, moreover, amoral, and not a mere arbitrary or external thing. Those who receive it are described as the servants of our God, as contradistinguished from other classes of men. And from what is said of them in the fourteenth chapter they are very eminently Gods servants. It is the common law of the Divine proceedings that His special honours are never otherwise conferred than in connection with special dutifulness and fidelity under very special trials and difficulties.
6. And from this we are enabled to get a still deeper glance into the nature of this peculiar sealing. The seal of God is the Spirit of God, particularly in His more unusual gifts.
7. Very various and diverse: hence would also be the outward manifestations of this mark. It would show itself in the doctrines professed by the sealed ones, in the power with which they announce and defend them, in a particularly holy, prayerful, and self-denying life, in a bravery and fearlessness before gainsayers which no earthly powers can daunt, and in a wisdom and heavenliness of demeanour.
III. The intent and effect of this marvellous sealing. It is agreed on all hands that it is a merciful and gracious act. Its first effect is to stay the blasts of judgment, and to produce a lull in the work of vengeance. So it is ever. Gods people are the salt of the earth. But for them, and Gods gracious purposes toward them, judgment and ruin would instantly break over the globe. Governments stand, society exists, the waters flow, the trees live, the sea retains its salubrity, the grasses grow upon the earth, and the death-blasts of the destroying angels are restrained, only because the Lord is engaged taking out from among the nations a people for His name, the number of which must first be made up. But this sealing was more particularly for the comfort, assurance, and security of the sealed ones themselves. As the gift of the Holy Ghost certified and assured the apostles of the Divinity of the cause they had espoused, of their acceptance as Gods acknowledged ambassadors; so this sealing with the seal of the living God certified and assured these 144,000 of the unmistakable character of their faith, of their election as a firstfruits of incoming new administrations, and guaranteed unto them not only security amid She blasts of heightening judgment upon earth, but also a peculiar and blessed portion with Jesus in His glory. (J. A. Seiss, D. D.)
All saints
I. The number of the blessed. The hundred and forty and four thousand am the twelve thousand from each of the twelve tribes; and these mystic figures, though they may mean much else, seem at least to represent a certain perfect number contemplated by God. Let it be a mystery, this apparent limitation of the number of the elect! let Gods foreknowledge and mans freewill defy our explanation, and be confused in our attempt to see the relation of number to Him who is infinite!–yet the believer feels a sensation of repose in the thought that the work answers to the design, and that the number of the redeemed is perfect according to the will of God. In all our anticipations of the result of labour for God, this faith must rule our hearts, viz., that the Divine love will not be disappointed. Care must be had for the few, that they may lack nothing which the Church can give.
II. There is a great multitude. There are few minds that are not swayed by a comparison of numbers. The multitude who agree to forget God charm us with the thought of impunity, if we be no worse than they; the difficulty of holy living is increased by its singularity. Is not one blessing, which we derive from a contemplation of the angels, the thought of support which the obedience of their innumerable company lends to cheer the hearts of those who on earth are fighting against numbers?
III. Their happiness.
IV. There is a reason why even Christians hesitate to call a man happy till he is dead, not because he may fall into misfortune, but into sin. As long as life lasts, so long lasts temptation. Exhaustion of body, or extremity of pain, or influence of opiates, or dreadful memory of early sins, exercises at times a desperate tyranny over the quiet of the closing day. Therefore with such dangers even to the last, well may we hold our breath and cal no man happy till he be dead.
V. There is in the religious life scarcely a sorer trial than doubt. And not only in matters of speculation and doubt, but in every common incident of daily life, let us force ourselves to imagine what our departed friends now feel, not what they once felt.
VI. A contemplation of the dead will relieve us of the painful thought that death cuts short the work of life. The life beyond the grave has been beautifully compared to the heavens at night. Think how, at the creation of day and night, Adam must have marvelled to see the sun withdraw; how dread and awful must have been the first darkness veiling from his eyes a world of perfect beauty; what a blank it must have appeared in his sight! But greater far was his amazement when stars broke out, and one by one lit up the hollow vaults of heaven, and the whole spaces of the air were jewelled with bright orbs, and countless worlds like unto his own were presented to his eyes! If the sun by day can so blind us, and the darkness of nightfall can reveal so many worlds, why may not death not only compensate a man for the loss of life, but open to his clearer vision regions of untraversed light which it had not entered into his heart to conceive?
VII. Remember above all things that the happiness of those we speak of depends not on themselves. God Himself is their light and life and their exceeding great reward; their eyes rest on Him; salvation is His free gift. (Canon Furse.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 4. I heard the number of them which were sealed] In the number of 144,000 are included all the Jews converted to Christianity; 12,000 out of each of the twelve tribes: but this must be only a certain for an uncertain number; for it is not to be supposed that just 12,000 were converted out of each of the twelve tribes.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Ver. 4-8. For the understanding of these five verses several things are to be noted.
1. That the whole number is one hundred and forty-four thousand, which is the product of twelve, as the original number, (setting aside the ciphers), for twelve times twelve make one hundred and forty-four. The number of one hundred and forty-four, Rev 21:17, was the measure of the wall of the new Jerusalem. Twelve, which is the root of this number one hundred and forty-four, seemeth to be Gods number, and used in Scripture about one hundred and forty-four times, and almost generally in things belonging to the church; which had twelve patriarchs, twelve tribes under the Old Testament, twelves apostles (as its head) under the New Testament: and the new Jerusalem from heaven, Rev 21:12, is said to have twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; Rev 7:14, the wall had twelve foundations; the length of it, Rev 7:16, twelve thousand furlongs.
2. That we must not by one hundred and forty-four thousand understand a certain, but an uncertain number, which yet was very great.
3. That by the tribes of Israel mentioned here, are to be understood the several gospel churches of the Gentiles, who are now Gods Israel ingrafted into the true olive.
4. That the tribe of Dan is here left out, and Ephraim is not named, though included in Joseph. Of the tribe of Dan there were none sealed. Dan was a great ringleader to idolatry, so was Ephraim; see Jdg 17:1-18:31; and at Dan it was that Jeroboam set up his calves. Levi is put in instead of Dan, and Joseph instead of Ephraim, by which means here are yet twelve tribes; which teacheth us this: That Christians, if idolaters, must not look for any special protection or favour from God in a day of evil.
5. These tribes are not set in order, according to their birthright.
Juda was Leahs fourth son, Gen 29:35, put first, because Christ descended from him.
Reuben, her eldest son, is put next, giving place only to the Messiahs tribe.
Gad, Jacobs son by Zilpah, Gen 30:11, is put next.
Aser, Jacobs son by Zilpah, in the fourth place, Gen 30:13.
Nepthalim is put next, who was Jacobs son by Bilhah, Rachels maid, Gen 30:8.
Manasses is put next, who was Josephs son.
Simeon, Jacobs second son by Leah, Gen 29:33, is put in the seventh place.
Levi, Leahs third son, Gen 29:34, in the eighth place.
Issachar, Leahs fifth son, Gen 30:18, is put in the ninth place.
Zabulon, Leahs sixth son, is put in the tenth place, Gen 30:20.
Joseph is put in the eleventh place, for Ephraim his son.
Benjamin, Rachels second son, is put in the last place.
If there be any mystery in this order, differing from all other scriptures where there is a mention made of the twelve patriarchs, it is probable that Mr. Mede hath hit upon it, in regard of the, good or ill deserts of these tribes, some of which are mentioned by him; all may be learned from the history of the Jews recorded in holy writ. Hence we may learn, that the summary sense of all these verses is this: That although within that period of time which is signified under the seventh seal, there should be great persecutions of the church, yet God would preserve unto himself a great number in all his churches, which should not apostatize, and who in the persecutions should not be hurt; so as his church should not fail, though the archers should shoot sore at it; for though men raged, yet it was by Gods permission; and his angels overruled it, who should take notice of those numbers that he had sealed, and marked in their foreheads.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
4. Twelve is the numberof the tribes, and appropriate to the Church: three by four:three, the divine number, multiplied by four, the number forworld-wide extension. Twelve by twelve implies fixity andcompleteness, which is taken a thousandfold in 144,000. Athousand implies the world perfectly pervaded by thedivine; for it is ten, the world number, raised to thepower of three, the number of God.
of all the tribesliterally,”out of every tribe”; not 144,000 of each tribe, but theaggregate of the twelve thousand from every tribe.
childrenGreek,“sons of Israel.” Rev 3:12;Rev 21:12, are no objection, asALFORD thinks, to theliteral Israel being meant; for, in consummated glory, still theChurch will be that “built on the foundation of the (Twelve)apostles (Israelites), Jesus Christ (an Israelite) being the chiefcorner-stone.” Gentile believers shall have the name ofJerusalem written on them, in that they shall share thecitizenship antitypical to that of the literal Jerusalem.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And I heard the number of them which were sealed,…. And therefore could be sure of the exact number, which did not depend upon his sight, and telling them, in which some mistake might have been made, but he heard the number expressed:
[and there were] sealed an hundred [and] forty, [and] four thousand: which is a square number arising from twelve, the square root of it, being just twelve times twelve thousand; and may denote their being the true and genuine offspring of the twelve apostles of the Lamb, holding their doctrine, and being built on their foundation; see
Re 21:14; and these were
of all the tribes of the children of Israel; not that these were all Jews in a literal sense, for the time of their conversion in great numbers is not yet come. Dr. Goodwin thinks these sealed ones design the believers of the Greek and Armenian churches, and his reasons are not despicable; but this is to limit and restrain them to a particular part of the church of Christ; whereas they take in all the saints within this long tract of time, even all that are the true Israel of God, who are Jews inwardly, of what nation, kindred, tongue, and people soever; and is a certain and determinate number for an uncertain and indeterminate one; and only intends a large number of persons known to God and Christ; see the Apocrypha:
“Arise up and stand, behold the number of those that be sealed in the feast of the Lord;” (2 Esdras 2:38)
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The number of the sealed ( ). Accusative case object of and genitive of the perfect passive articular participle of . He did not see the sealing or count them himself, but only heard.
A hundred and forty and four thousand ( ). Symbolical, of course, and not meant to be a complete number of the sealed (or saved) even in that generation, let alone for all time. The number connotes perfection (Alford), 12x12x1000 = a hundred and forty-four thousands (, 5:11). Nominative absolute, not agreeing in case either with (accusative) or (genitive). So as to the case of .
Out of every tribe of the children of Israel ( ). There are two opposite views here, one taking the sealed as referring only to Jews (either actual Jews as a remnant or just Jewish Christians), the other including Gentiles as well as Jewish Christians, that is the true Israel as in Rev 2:9; Rev 3:9 and like Paul in Galatians and Romans. This is the more probable view and it takes the twelve tribes in a spiritual sense. But in either view there remains the difficulty about names of the tribes. The list is not geographical, since Levi is included, but Dan is omitted and Manasseh put in his place, though he as the son of Joseph is included in Joseph. Irenaeus suggested that Antichrist was expected to come from the tribe of Dan and hence the omission here. There are various lists of the tribes in the O.T. (Gen 35:22; Gen 46:8; Gen 46:49; Exod 1:1; Num 1:2; Num 13:4; Num 26:34; Deut 27:11; Deut 33:6; Deut 33:13-22; Deut 33:5; Deut 33:1; Deut 12:24; Deut 27:16; Deut 27:48) and given in various orders. In 1Ch 7:12 both Dan and Zebulon are omitted. Joseph is given here in place of Ephraim. The distribution is equal (12,000) to each tribe.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
An hundred and forty and four thousand. Not literally, but the number symbolical of fixedness and full completion (12 x 12). The interpretations, as usual, vary greatly, dividing generally into two great classes : one holding that only Jews are meant, the other including the whole number of the elect both Jew and Gentile. Of the former class some regard the sealed as representing Jewish believers chosen out of the literal Israel. Others add to this the idea of these as forming the nucleus of glorified humanity to which the Gentiles are joined. Others again regard them as Jews reserved by God until Antichrist comes, to maintain in the bosom of their nation a true belief in Jehovah and His law, like the seven thousand in the days of Elijah.
The interpretation of the latter class seems entitled to the greater weight. According to the Apocalyptic usage, Jewish terms are “christianized and heightened in their meaning, and the word” Israel “is to be understood of all Christians, the blessed company of all faithful people, the true Israel of God.” See Rom 2:28, 29; Rom 9:6, 7; Gal 6:16; Phi 3:3. The city of God, which includes all believers, is designated by the Jewish name, New Jerusalem. In verse 3, the sealed are designated generally as the servants of God. In chapter 14 the one hundred and forty – four thousand sealed are mentioned after the description of the enemies of Christ, who have reference to the whole Church of Christ; and the mention of the sealed is followed by the world – wide harvest and vintage of the earth. The one hundred and forty – four thousand in chapter 14., have the Father ‘s name written in their foreheads; and in chapter Rev 22:4, all the inhabitants of the New Jerusalem are so marked. In chapter Rev 21:12, the twelve tribes include all believers. The mark of Satan which is in the forehead, is set upon all his servants without distinction of race. See chapter Rev 13:16, 17; Rev 14:9; Rev 16:2; Rev 19:20; Rev 20:4. The plagues threaten both Jews and Gentiles, as the sealing protects all.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
(Sealing of 144,000 of Israel, v. 4-8) SEALED AGAINST DEATH IN TRIBULATION THE GREAT REMNANT FROM 12 TRIBES, 12,000 EACH
1) “And I heard the number of them which were sealed,” (kai ekousa ton arithmon ton esphragismenon) “And I heard the cardinal number of those who had been sealed; after John heard, (1 ) First the wail of fear of the mighty of the earth who were to face the wrath of the Lamb, Rev 6:12-17, and (2) second, after John saw five angels with messages, and the latter restraining the first four from harming the earth, sea, or trees, till the servants of God remaining on earth were sealed, 2Ti 2:19.
2) “And there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand,” (hekaton tesserakonta tessares chiliades) – (And it was) an hundred and forty and four thousands that was having been sealed; the same are later referred to as redeemed; These shall stand at the Messiah’s coming to earth, on Mt Zion, Rev 14:3.
3) Of all the tribes of the children of Israel,” (ek pases phules huion Israel) “Originating out of every tribe of Israel,” documented and enumerated, tribe by tribe, as follows: This is the preserved remnant of believers of natural Israel, of Abraham’s and David’s natural and spiritual seed, Rom 9:27-28; Isa 1:9; These shall enter the Millennium as God fulfills his promises to reign over them and their land in peace, which he shall extend to all the earth, Luk 1:31-33; Act 15:13-17; 1Co 15:24-28; Rev 5:9-10.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(4) And I heard the number of them . . . Translate, And I heard the number of the sealed: there were a hundred and forty and four thousand sealed out of every tribe of the sons of Israel. There are two or three questions which these verses suggest. What are we to understand by the number twelve thousand from each tribe? Who are these who are drawn from the tribes of Israel? Why is there a change of the order and name of the tribes? It may help us to clearer thoughts to take the second of these questions first. (1) Who are these one hundred and forty-four thousand? An answer to this has been partly anticipated in our previous comments; but perhaps a fuller consideration is needed. Some have thought that the sealed ones must be Jewish Christians: i.e., they are disposed to take the twelve tribes literally. The scope of the previous verses seems decisive against this view. The time of judgment and trial is drawing near; we have seen the tokens of the coming storm in the opening of the sixth seal; our wish is to know the lot of the saints of God; this chapter answers this wish: they are safe, having the seal of God. Now, to limit the answer to the Israelitish Christians is to break in abruptly upon the general flow of thought with a bold literalism. The sealed ones are explained to be the servants of God; the description which follows proclaims them to be the Israel of God. It would be a strange leap away from the subject to introduce a sudden limitation of thought. Nor is there any necessity for doing so. Israelitish and Jewish names are freely adopted by the sacred writers, and used in a spiritual sense without any explanation of such usage; and the Apostle most emphatically laid down the principle that he is not a Jew which is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh, but he is a Jew which is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit and not in the letter (Rom. 2:28-29); and the principle he applies by affirming that in Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek (Gal. 3:28). The Christian Church absorbs the Jewish, inherits her privileges, and adopts, with wider and nobler meaning, her phraseology. She has her Jerusalem, but it is a heavenly Jerusalem (Heb. 12:22): a Jerusalem from above (Gal. 4:26): a new Jerusalem (Rev. 21:2; see Rev. 3:12); and to that Jerusalem of God the true Israel of God, the chosen generation and royal priesthood of every age, turn the eye of faith. It is needless to say that this view does not rob, as it has been said, the Jew of Gods promises; it only intensifies those promises by showing the growth of that Church in which the Jew may yet find the truest consummation of his holiest and highest hopes, and into which God is yet able to graft them in again (Rom. 11:23; Rom. 11:25-26), and in which he may yet play a part loftier than men dream of. (2) How are we to understand the numbers? As we cannot adopt the literal interpretation of the tribes of Israel, still less can we admit a literal interpretation of the numbers here mentioned; but they are not on this ground to be looked upon as meaningless numbers: there is an appropriate symbolism in the numbers of the Apocalypse. Twelve is used as the number of those who in every age have been called out to witness for some truth which the world needed. Thus the twelve tribes of Israel were the appointed witnesses of a pure theology and a pure morality in the days of idolatry and license; and later, the twelve Apostles became the inheritors of a similar, though higher, spiritual work in the world. The number twelve, then, stands for a world-witness of divine truth; and the fruits of this world-witness is a wide and sustained success: the twelve multiplied by the twelve a thousand-foldthe native and not degenerate progeny of the Apostles apostolically multiplied (Mede, quoted by Dr. Currey). The skeleton organisation is twelve, the college of the Apostles; the one hundred and forty-four thousand represent the growth into full numbers of the choice ones of God. (3) Does the change in the order and names of the tribes symbolise anything? The alterations are not without significance. They are briefly these: The tribe of Dan is omitted, and the name of Ephraim does not appear, but the number is made up to twelve by two representatives of Joseph: Manasseh, who stands sixth in order, and Joseph (superseding the name, but representing the tribe of Ephraim), who is placed eleventh on the list. The number twelve is maintained to show that in all changes Gods purposes stand. The omission of one tribe and the changed name of another are designed to show that in the Church, as in Israel, the most splendid opportunities may be lost. Dan, once a tribe, and not an insignificant tribe, which had reared its heroes, gradually lapsed into idolatry and immorality, dwindled in numbers and importance, and at length disappeared, and as a tribe became extinct. Its omission in this list is a silent but emphatic comment on the sacred warnings: Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. Begin not to say we have Abraham to our father: God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. Similarly, Ephraim, as has been suggested by a thoughtful writer, who exalted himself in Israel, is now lost in the greater name of Joseph. (Comp. Hos. 13:1; Hos. 10:11; Luk. 18:14.) The order of the names is altered. Reuben no longer stands first: Judah has taken the firstborns place; and Levi, though named, does not occupy the third, the place of his birthright, but the eighth place. Here, again, the changes have their teachings. The unstable Reuben, with all his splendid advantagesthe firstborn, the excellency of dignity and the excellency of powerfailed to hold his own among his brethren; the fatal instability of his character accompanied his history, and weakened his otherwise pre-eminent powers; yet weak and erring, the type of the brilliant and vacillating, he is not an outcast altogether, but finds place, and high place, among the servants of God. Judah, lion-like, resolute, and strong, wins the foremost place; from him springs the true Ruler, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, to unfold the counsels of God, and to rule the world with a righteous sceptre. Levis subordinate position is thought to be due to the fact that the Mosaic ritual and Levitical priesthood are at an end. This may be so; the changes are the result of the actual history of the tribes, and illustrate how in the Christian Church, as in the Jewish, privileges may be lost, opportunities seized or cast away, offices and functions used for a time, and then laid aside when their work is accomplished; but in all and through all changes, Gods unchanging purpose runs onward to its certain close. The grouping of the tribes is, as has been pointed out, in the order of closest kinship: We find not one violent separation of those who are naturally united, where both are truly members of the Israel of God (Rev. C. H. Waller, Names on Gates of Pearl).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
4. And I heard the number Omitting the element of time, the present verse assumes the sealing as all done and the number reported. The whole number, not including the great multitude of Rev 7:9; but the number of the sealed of all the tribes of Israel is alone given.
A hundred and forty and four thousand A decisive instance of an exact for an inexact number, and decisive proof that there are symbol-numbers as well as symbol-objects. The basis is the symbol tribal-number, twelve; it is squared and multiplied by the cube of the number of universality, ten. It is, therefore, the churchly number, raised by multiplication of itself to a seemly magnitude, with the decimal symbolizing the inclusion of an immense whole. See notes on Rev 9:16; Rev 11:13; Rev 20:4.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And I heard the number of those who were sealed, a hundred and forty four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of the people of Israel.’
That this is made up of twelve times twelve thousand comes out in that there are twelve thousand of each tribe. The number twelve in Revelation is used of the twelve stars on the crown of the woman waiting to bear her man child (Rev 12:1), who, as we shall see, represents the true Israel, the twelve stars representing the patriarchs of the twelve tribes.
The only other use in Revelation is of the new Jerusalem where the number twelve abounds (chapter 21). The twelve gates bear the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel (Rev 21:12), the twelve foundations bear the names of the twelve apostles (Rev 21:14), the city is 12,000 x 12,000 x 12,000 furlongs (Rev 21:16), the walls are one hundred and forty four cubits (12 x 12), there are twelve jewels (representing the twelve stones in the High Priest’s breastplate), which make up the foundations and thus represent the twelve apostles, and the gates are twelve pearls. (There are twelve fruits on the tree of life for the healing of the nations (Rev 22:2) but these represent the twelve months of the year). Twelve is therefore the number connected with the redeemed church of Christ, for it is they who are built on the foundations of the apostles (Eph 2:20), including both Old and New Testament saints. The added ‘thousand’ indicates a large and complete number.
There is divided opinion on whether the one hundred and forty four thousand represent the whole church of God or the faithful remnant of Israel. However, the omission of the tribe of Dan makes too literal an interpretation impossible, in view of the fact that numbers are given. It is hardly conceivable that God would exclude all Danites if He was referring to a literal Israel. If they are included while not mentioned then the number 144,000 would clearly not be correct. So whatever view we take the interpretation cannot be literal.
Furthermore the Apostles clearly saw the church as the true continuation of Israel. In Ephesians 2 Paul tells the Gentile Christians that they were previously ‘alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of the promise’ (Rev 2:12). Thus in the past they had not belonged to the twelve tribes. But then he tells them that they are now ‘made nigh by the blood of Christ’ (Rev 2:13), Who has ‘made both one and broken down the wall of partition — creating in Himself of two one new man’ Rev 2:14-15). Now therefore, through Christ, they have been made members of the commonwealth of Israel, and inherit the promises. So they are ‘no longer strangers and sojourners, but fellow-citizens with the saints and of the household of God, being built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets’ (Rev 2:19-20). Thus they have entered the ‘new’ renewed Israel. They are part of the ‘new nation’ (Mat 21:43).
So as with people in the Old Testament who were regularly adopted into the twelve tribes of Israel (e.g. the mixed multitude – Exo 12:38, compare Exo 12:48), Gentile Christians too are seen as so incorporated. That is why he can call the church ‘the Israel of God’, made up of Jews and ex-Gentiles, having declared circumcision and uncircumcision as unimportant because there is a new creation (Gal 6:15-16). In context ‘The Israel of God’ can only mean that new creation, the church of Christ, otherwise he is being inconsistent.
The point behind both of these passages is that all Christians become, by adoption, members of the twelve tribes. There would be no point in mentioning circumcision if he was not thinking of incorporation into the twelve tribes. The importance of circumcision was that to the Jews it made the difference between those who became genuine proselytes, and thus members of the twelve tribes, and those who remained as ‘God-fearers’, loosely attached but not accepted as full Jews. That is why Paul argues that Christians have been circumcised in heart (Rom 2:26; Rom 2:29; Rom 4:12; Php 3:3; Col 2:11).
Again in Romans he points out to the Gentiles that there is a remnant of Israel which is faithful to God and they are the true Israel (Rom 11:5). The remainder have been cast off (Romans 10:27, 29; Rom 11:15; Rom 11:17; Rom 11:20). Then he describes the Christian Gentiles as ‘grafted in among them’ becoming ‘partakers with them of the root of the fatness of the olive tree’ (Rom 11:17). They are thus now part of the same tree so it is clear that he regards them as now being part of the faithful remnant of Israel. This is again declared quite clearly in Galatians. For ‘those who are of faith, the same are the sons of Abraham’ (Gal 3:7).
The privilege of being a ‘son of Abraham’ is that one is adopted into the twelve tribes of Israel. It is they who proudly called themselves ‘the sons of Abraham’ (Joh 8:39; Joh 8:53). That is why in the one man in Christ Jesus there can be neither Jew nor Gentile (Gal 3:28). For ‘if you are Abraham’s seed, you are heirs according to the promise’ (Gal 3:29). To be Abraham’s ‘seed’ within the promise is to be a member of the twelve tribes. The reference to ‘seed’ is decisive.
That is why Paul can say, ‘he is not a Jew who is one outwardly — he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and the circumcision is that of the heart’ (Rom 2:28-29 compare Rom 2:26). In the light of these passages it cannot really be doubted that the early church saw the converted Gentile as becoming members of the twelve tribes of Israel. They are ‘the seed of Abraham’, ‘sons of Abraham’, spiritually circumcised, grafted in to the true Israel, fellow-citizens with the saints in the commonwealth of Israel, the Israel of God. What further evidence do we need?
When James writes to ‘the twelve tribes which are of the dispersion’ (Jas 1:1) (Jews living away from Palestine were seen as dispersed around the world and were therefore thought of as ‘the dispersion’) there is not a single hint that he is writing other than to all in the churches. He sees the whole church as having become members of the twelve tribes, as the true dispersion, and indeed refers to their ‘assembly’ with the same word used for synagogue (Jas 2:2). But he can also call them ‘the church’ (Jas 5:14).
There is not even the slightest hint in the remainder of the epistle that he has just one section of the church in mind. In view of the importance of the subject, had he not been speaking of the whole church he must surely have commented on the attitude of Jewish Christians to Christian Gentiles, especially in the light of the ethical content of his letter, but there is not even a whisper of it. He speaks as though to the whole church.
Peter also writes to ‘the elect’ and calls them ‘sojourners of the dispersion’ and when he speaks of ‘Gentiles’ is clearly assuming that those under that heading are not Christians (1Pe 2:12; 1Pe 4:3). So it is apparent he too sees all Christians as members of the twelve tribes (as above ‘the dispersion’ means the twelve tribes scattered around the world). Good numbers of Gentiles were becoming members of the Jewish faith at that time, and on being circumcised were accepted by the Jews as members of the twelve tribes (as proselytes). In the same way the apostles, who were all Jews and also saw the pure in Israel as God’s chosen people, saw the converted Gentiles as being incorporated into the new Israel.
Today we may not think in these terms but it is apparent that to the early church to become a Christian was to become a member of the twelve tribes of Israel. That is why there was such a furore over whether circumcision, the covenant sign of the Jew, was necessary for Christians. It was precisely because they were seen as entering the twelve tribes that many saw it as required. Paul’s argument against it is never that Christians do not become members of the twelve tribes (as we have seen he argues that they do) but that what matters is spiritual circumcision, ‘the circumcision of Christ’, not physical circumcision. Thus early on Christians unquestionably saw themselves as the true twelve tribes of Israel.
This receives confirmation from the fact that the seven churches (the universal church) is seen in terms of the seven lampstands in chapter 1. The sevenfold lampstand in the Tabernacle and Temple represented Israel. In the seven lampstands the churches are seen as the true Israel.
Given that fact it is clear that reference here to the hundred and forty four thousand is to Christians. But it is equally clear that the numbers are not to be taken literally. There is no example anywhere else in Scripture where God selects people on such an exact basis (the seven thousand who had not bowed the knee to Baal (1Ki 19:18) were also a round number based on seven as the number of divine perfection and completeness). The reason for the seemingly exact figures is in order to demonstrate that God has His people numbered and that not one is missing (compare Num 31:48-49). The message of these verses is that in the face of persecution to come, and of God’s judgments against men, God knows and remembers His own.
It is noticeable that this description of the twelve tribes is a little artificial in another respect. While Judah is placed first as the tribe from which Christ came, Dan is omitted, and Manasseh is included as well as Joseph, although Manasseh was the son of Joseph. Thus the omission of Dan is deliberate, and Ephraim, Joseph’s other son, is included under Joseph’s name. (This artificiality confirms that the tribes are not to be taken literally). The exclusion of Dan is presumably because he is a tool of the Serpent (Gen 49:17), and the exclusion of the two names is because of their specific connection with idolatry.
In Deu 29:17-20 the warning was given that God would ‘blot out his name from under heaven’, when speaking of those who gave themselves up to idolatrous worship and belief, and as we have seen idolatry and uncleanness were central in the warnings to the seven churches. Thus the exclusion of the names of Ephraim and Dan are a further warning against such things.
The names of both Ephraim and Dan are specifically connected with idolatry in such a way as to make them distinctive. Hosea declared, ‘Ephraim is joined to idols, let him alone, their drink is become sour, they commit whoredom continually’ (Hos 4:17-18). This is distinctly reminiscent of the sins condemned in the seven churches. It is true that Ephraim here means the whole of Israel, as often, but John saw the connection with idolatry and whoredom as besmirching the name of Ephraim (Ephraimites are included under Joseph, it is the name that is excluded).
As for Dan, it was a man of the tribe of Dan who ‘blasphemed the Name’ (Lev 24:11), it was Dan that was first to set up a graven image (Jdg 18:30) and Dan was the only tribe mentioned as being the site of one of the calves of gold set up by Jeroboam, as Amos stresses (Amo 8:14; 1Ki 12:29-30; 2Ki 10:29). Amos directly connects the name of Dan with ‘the sin of Samaria’. Thus Dan is closely connected with blasphemy and idolatry. And to cap it all ‘Dan will be a serpent in the way, and adder in the path’ (Gen 49:17). He is the tool of the Serpent. Typologically he is the Judas of the twelve. How could he not be excluded? It is also voices in Dan and Ephraim which declare the evil coming on Jerusalem (Jer 4:15), closely connecting the two.
That what is excluded is the name of Ephraim and not its people (they are included in Joseph) is significant. Thus the message of these omissions is that those who partake in idolatry and sexual misbehaviour will be excluded from the new Israel (compare the warnings to the churches, especially Thyatira). The exclusion of Dan is to warn us that those who are not genuine will be excluded.
So in the face of the future activity of God against the world He provides His people with protection, and marks them off as distinctive from those who bear the mark of the Beast. God protects His true people. There is no reason for seeing these people as representing other than the church of the current age. The fact is that we are continually liable to persecution, and while not all God’s judgments have yet been visited on the world, we have experienced sufficient to know that we are not excluded. In John’s day it was telling the church that God had sealed them, so that while they must be ready for the persecution to come, they need not fear the coming judgments of God that he will now reveal, for they are under His protection.
The New Testament tells us that all God’s true people are sealed by God. Abraham received circumcision as a seal of ‘the righteousness of (springing from) faith’ (Rom 4:11), but circumcision is replaced in the New Testament by the ‘seal of the Spirit’ (2Co 1:22; Eph 1:13; Eph 4:30). It is clear that Paul therefore sees all God’s people as being ‘sealed’ by God in their enjoyment of the indwelling Holy Spirit and this would suggest that John’s description here is a dramatic representation of that fact. His people have been open to spiritual attack from earliest New Testament days (and before) and it is not conceivable that they have not enjoyed God’s seal of protection on them. Thus the seal here in Revelation may refer to the sealing (or if someone considers it future, a re-sealing) with the Holy Spirit of promise. The whole idea behind the scene is in order to stress that all God’s people have been specially sealed.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The total number of the sealed:
v. 4. And I heard the number of them which were sealed; and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.
v. 5. Of the tribe of Juda were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand.
v. 6. Of the tribe of Aser were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Nephthalim were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Manasses were sealed twelve thousand.
v. 7. Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Lev. were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Issachar were sealed twelve thousand.
v. 8. Of the tribe of Zebulon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand. Note that the tribe of Judah is mentioned first, since the fourth son of Jacob became the bearer of the Messianic promise and the forefather of the Messiah. After an interval, during which the sealing is supposed to have taken place, the total number of those that were sealed with the protective mark of God is announced. John did not do the counting himself, but only heard the number, for only the Lord knows them that are His. It is evidently a collective, stereotyped number, intended to include all those that belong to the true Israel, to the congregation of the believers, of all tongues and nations. The enumeration of the tribes is also made simply to get the number twelve, in accordance with the ancient way of figuring. It is for this reason that Joseph is substituted for Ephraim, and that Dan is omitted; Lev. is mentioned with the rest, because in the Church of Christ there is no distinctive priesthood, but all belong to the royal priesthood. The seal of the Lord was placed upon the definite number of those whom He had chosen unto eternal life.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Rev 7:4. And I heard the number of them which were sealed: “And hereupon, I heard a declaration of the number of those who were thus sealed by the Holy Ghost: and they who were thus perfectly known to Christ, and sealed by his Spirit, were figuratively expressed by one hundred and forty-four thousand, a large determinate being put for an indeterminate number, as multiplied by twelve, a square root, and then by a thousand, to be an emblem of all the Jews of that age, who were converted to Christianity in its life and power, and built upon Christ, the foundation which was laid in the doctrine of the twelve apostles, and who would make a brave and bold profession of the pure gospel in the Christian church, and who now formed the truly spiritual Israel sprung from Jacob, who, on his having power with God, was called Israel (Gen 32:28.). From him sprung the heads of the twelve tribes, whose posterity formed the visible churchaccording to God’s covenant with Abraham (Gen 17:7-9.) till the commencement of the Christian dispensation.” Perhaps this may also represent the beauty and stability of the Christian church keeping to the apostolical purity of faith and worship.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Rev 7:4-8 . . The act of sealing is, therefore, to be considered as occurring between Rev 7:3 and Rev 7:4 . That John does not behold this act itself, but only hears the number of the sealed, probably from the other angel, Rev 7:2-3 , [2295] corresponds with the holy moderation which is peculiar to true prophecy; for as in the innumerable company, Rev 7:9 sqq., the sealing, in general, is such as cannot be represented, [2296] so in reference to the one hundred and forty-four thousand out of Israel, it would be in a high degree unnatural if their sealing had occurred before the eyes of the prophet. In Eze 9 it is, likewise, not described how the mark was made upon the foreheads of the godly; but after the command for this is communicated (Rev 7:4 ), in Rev 7:11 it is said that it is accomplished. Yet it is not a happy fiction of John, [2297] that he says that he has only heard the number of the sealed; but the apparently insignificant circumstance testifies to the truth of the vision, and the entirely ethical nature of divine revelation in general. Nor is it possible for that to be revealed by vision to the prophet which must conflict with his proper subjectivity.
The schematic number one hundred and forty-four thousand applies, as a product of the radical number twelve, especially to believers from the twelve tribes of Israel.
. “Out of every tribe.” Cf. Winer, p. 105. The pregnant mode of expression shows that one hundred and forty-four thousand in all were sealed, and that the sealed were from every tribe. What follows (Rev 7:5-8 ) makes the declaration more specific, upon which it is to be noted: 1. That the number of twelve thousand, fixed for each of the twelve tribes, from the very fact that it is every time the same shows that it is schematic by expressing the idea that in the divine gifts of grace all have like share, but no one from any one right. It is just as when in Eze 47:14 , the Holy Land appears equally divided among all the tribes. 2. As to the representation of the tribes, neither the tribe of Levi dare be missing, [2298] nor is the fixed number, twelve, exceeded. Yet it was impracticable to include Manasseh and Ephraim under the name of Joseph, because each of those two branches of the original tribe of Joseph stands by the side of the other tribes with significative independence of age. [2299] If, also, John wanted, in general, to avoid the name of Ephraim, because of the untheocratic reminiscence connected therewith, he put instead thereof the accurately taken paternal name of Joseph, including also the fraternal tribe of Manasseh. [2300] Yet the appearance of not thirteen, but only twelve tribes, is accomplished by the omission of the tribe of Dan. [2301] Gomarus, [2302] Hartwig, and Zll. have indeed put instead of , an arbitrary decision, in no way justified by unimportant codd. (Rev 9:13 ), because they offer instead of , [2303] and this contradicts the express testimonies of Iren., Orig., Andr., etc. Of just as little force is the play upon the name Manasseh, according to which the root of the word ( , “he forgot”) is regarded as indicating that here another name, viz., Dan, is regarded as forgotten, or properly not forgotten, but “embraced or incorporated in a secret way.” [2304] The intentional omission of the tribe of Dan is explained, especially by the Church Fathers, by the fact that from this tribe the Antichrist was to come, [2305] which, however, John nowhere intimates. Others have recalled the idolatry of the Danites; [2306] but the old sin of the tribe can be no foundation for excluding all its members from eternal life. The avoidance of the name of Ephraim, that had become “offensive,” [2307] in no way favors this view, because the tribe named, of course, intentionally not as Ephraim, but Joseph, presents its twelve thousand like the rest. The simplest reason for not naming Dan lies rather in the fact that it had died out long already before the time of John; [2308] even though the more definite declaration of Jewish tradition that only the family of Husim survived from the tribe of Dan, [2309] may be nothing but a reminiscence of Gen 46:23 . Already in 1Ch 4 sqq., the tribe of Dan is omitted, although it is not passed over in 1Ch 2:1 sqq. Cf. also Deu 33 , where the small tribes of Simeon and Issachar are lacking.
In the succession it is only by an artificial subtilty which often passes over into pure trifling, that a consequent intention and a mystical meaning can be found. Beda, e.g., explains, because of the secret meaning of the name: “After Judah, therefore, Reuben; i.e., after the beginnings of divine confession and praise, the performance of an action follows.” [2310] Besides, the opinion of Hengstenb. [2311] is possible, that the sons of the wives and those of the bondwomen are intentionally commingled in order to indicate that in Christ no earthly distinction is valid. But Grot. also can say, from his standpoint, “No order is observed, because in Christ all are equal.” [2312] It is natural for Judah to have the precedence, because from that tribe the Lord comes.” [2313] Reuben follows afterwards, who as the firstborn could have stood before. [2314] The succeeding names are introduced without further intention; only at the close stands Benjamin as the youngest, and finally, from an allusion to the O. T., [2315] in connection with Joseph. [2316]
[2295] De Wette, Ebrard.
[2296] See the general note on ch. 7.
[2297] Zll.
[2298] Beng., correctly: “Since the Levitical ceremonies have been abandoned, Levi again is found on an equal footing with his brethren. All are priests; all have access, not one through the other, but one with the other.”
[2299] Ewald, etc.
[2300] Cf. Num 13:11 .
[2301] Cf. especially Heinrichs, Excursus iii.: “Cur in recensu tribuum Israel, c. vii. 5 8, nulla tribus Danitic mentio fiat” (ii. 228 sqq.).
[2302] In Wetst.
[2303] Cf. also Matth.
[2304] Beng., Eichh.
[2305] Cf. Gen 49:17 . Beda, Andr., C. a Lap., Stern.
[2306] Jdg 18 . Wetst., Vitr., Hengstenb.
[2307] Hengstenb.
[2308] Grot., Ew., De Wette, Ebrard, etc.
[2309] Cf. Grot.
[2310] “Reuben = videns filium; filii = opera.”
[2311] Cf. Vitr., etc.
[2312] Cf. also C. a Lap., Calov., De Wette, etc.
[2313] Rev 5:5 ; Heb 7:14 . Beda, Beng., Rinck, Ebrard, etc.
[2314] Cf. also 1Ch 5:1 .
[2315] Gen 35:24 ; Gen 46:20-21 ; Deu 27:21 ; Num 1:10-11 ; 1Ch 2:2 .
[2316] It is strange that in , not only Gad and Simeon are forgotten, but also Joseph and Benjamin are transposed.
NOTES BY THE AMERICAN EDITOR
LIII. Rev 7:4 .
Gebhardt emphatically dissents from the limitation of the one hundred and forty-four thousand to converted Israelites: “Neither the Jews in contrast with the Gentiles, nor the Christian Jews in distinction from the Christian Gentiles, but Christians, the true Israelites, whether Jews or Gentiles. The twelve tribes of the children of Israel are therefore identical with the people of God; only the latter are described in O. T. style, or typically, and as a living great organism.” “Where the purpose is to confirm Christians in their confidence in God, or to impress on their mind their high dignity, they are represented as the true Israel, as the numbered or chosen one hundred and forty-four thousand.” So Philippi ( Kirch. Glaubenslehre , iv. iii. 251): “The one hundred and forty-four thousand sealed out of all the tribes of the children of Israel are not only Christians among the Jews, upon which see Calov., Ewald, De Wette, Hengstenb., Klief., etc.; but rather the entire congregation of believers is meant, the true spiritual Israel, who have been preserved from all the plagues to be inflicted on the world.” Beck also argues against the view advocated by our author, but regards those sealed as elect persons among believers: “The here mentioned are ancient Israel as little as Jerusalem in the Apocalypse is ancient Jerusalem, or as little as, in general, the temple, altar, candlesticks, Balaam, Jezebel, Jews, etc., above, designate the ancient historical objects and persons; but the latter are only the types of that which corresponds in the Christian congregation. So the name Israelites here is likewise typical. The twelve tribes of the children of Israel, from whom the choice is made, have, in the Apocalypse, their metropolis in the New Jerusalem, which, according to Rev 21:12 ; Rev 21:14 , has the names of the twelve tribes of Israel on its doors, and is built upon the foundation of the twelve apostles. The name of this new Jerusalem, as the N. T. city of God, is, according to Rev 3:12 , stamped, together with the name of the N. T. God (my God, i.e., Jesus Christ), and, therefore, with the seal of God here mentioned with respect to the children of Israel, upon those who, by fidelity to the word of Jesus Christ, have proved conquerors in the time of trial. Thus it is also expressly said of the one hundred and forty-four thousand designated in Rev 14:3 , that they were ‘purchased from the earth ,’ or (Rev 7:4 ) ‘from among men,’ from humanity, and, therefore, not merely from the Jewish nation; cf. Rev 5:9 . In the Apocalypse, the entire development of the kingdom is stated universally. It has thus, also, nothing whatever to do with a particularistic national sphere, or with the history of a particular people, but with the universal national sphere, with the universal judgment and universal salvation, and, therefore, with a universal and not a partial, holy nation; cf. Rev 10:11 . But this conception is conformable also to the N. T. fundamental view. According to this, there is awarded to ancient Israel, indeed, the first participation in universal grace (Rom 1:16 ; Rom 11:25-32 ), but no such particular preference as the sealing before the plagues, so that, therefore, all Gentile Christians must be subject thereto. The national distinction between Jew and Gentile, the distinction of the flesh, is removed in the fellowship of the new covenant (Joh 10:16 ; Joh 11:52 ). What unites them as one new people of God is the unity of faith and life on the basis of the new, spiritual type of humanity formed in Jesus Christ. Cf. Act 15:7-9 ; Rom 2:28 . Cf. Rom 7:29 with Rom 7:26; Eph 2:13-15 ; Eph 2:18 ; Eph 3:3-6 ; 1Co 12:13 ; Gal 3:26-28 ; Col 3:11 . Since the Christian community, formed of both nationalities, is the true bearer of the Divine covenant, the name of Israel and its twelve tribes is, accordingly, transferred to the Christian Church. Only in its unity and organization of spirit, the typical Israel finds its full expression, its fulfilment, as it formerly presented only a union and organization of people of God which was of the flesh (Rom 9:6-8 ). Cf. Gal 4:28 ; Rom 9:24 sqq., Rev 10:11 : Gal 3:7 ; Gal 4:26 ; Gal 6:15 sq. Cf. Phi 3:3 ; 1Pe 1:1 , with Rev 2:9 ; Mat 19:28 with Mat 8:11 sq. and Mat 28:19 ; Rev 18:4 ; and, finally, Rev 21:12 ; Rev 21:14 , the climax of the entire view. The number of the sealed in the Apoc. comprises, therefore, neither merely converted Jews (whether of the first or the last times), nor all Christendom, or the entire number of believers, but ( ) a selection from all tribes or sections of believers without distinction of Jewish or heathen origin. They are the approved spiritual Christians, the (Phi 3:13 sqq.); and their sealing occurs by their receiving the new seal of the covenant, the Holy Spirit of the Father and the Son in special power and fulness, so that he appears in a visible mark, characterizing their entire conduct, and secures them against the trials pertaining to the empire of the world, especially on the part of a spurious Christianity (cf. Mat 24:21-25 ; 1Jn 2:18 ; 1Jn 2:20 ; 1Jn 2:27 ), and against the judgments of God proceeding through the world.”
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
(4) And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel. (5) Of the tribe of Juda were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand. (6) Of the tribe of Aser were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Nepthalim were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Manasses were sealed twelve thousand. (7) Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Levi were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Issachar were sealed twelve thousand. (8) Of the tribe of Zabulon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand.
I do not presume to speak decidedly on the subject, when I say, in relation to the number John saw sealed, that by the hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of Israel, is not meant exactly twelve thousand of a tribe, and no more, and all the tribes the same, but the sense is, that as twelve is what is called a square number, and the square root of it, when multiplied by itself, must forever produce the same; so the whole is put here in one determinate number, to intimate the Lord’s knowing, numbering, and sealing everyone The Holy Ghost, by his servant the Prophet, had said ages before the coming of Christ, that though the people of Israel be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them shall return; the consumption decreed shall overflow with righteousness, Isa 10:22 . And the Lord the Spirit, by his servant the Apostle, was graciously pleased to remind the Church of this declaration of his and thereby to keep the expectation of its accomplishment alive in the hearts of his people. See Rom 9:27-28 . Here, then, once more, John, is brought to see the servants of the Lord, in the tribes of Israel, sealed, as if to confirm the blessed assurance, that, as the Holy Ghost was now about to close the sacred volume of scripture, the Church of God might have these things in remembrance, looking forward to the last days events in the earth, when the whole should be accomplished.
Reader ponder well the thought, for it is blessed. We live in a day approaching to the accomplishment of all the great events prophesied concerning the Church. Sweet is that promise, He that scattered Israel, will gather him, and keep him as a shepherd doth his flock, Jer 31:10 . There shall be a day, it is said when the Deliverer shall come out of Zion, and turn away ungodliness from Jacob, Rom 11:26 . And who shall say where, and in what countries is Israel scattered? Who shall say their number, or count them up by their tribes? By whom shall Jacob arise, for he is small? Jesus hath blessedly said and that’s enough to comfort the whole Church of God concerning it, that he will gather his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven, Mar 13:27 if the Reader wishes to have his soul refreshed with a view of some of the sweet promises concerning this glorious event, he will find a multitude of them in the Bible, Isa 54:7Isa 54:7 ; Jer 31:8 ; Eze 11:17 ; Mic 4 ; Zep 3 ; Zec 10:1-12 etc.
In going over the names of the several tribes of Israel here mentioned, I beg the Reader to notice with particular attention, that Judah, though not the eldest of Jacob s sons, is first mentioned. I do not here again speak decidedly, but I am inclined to think, that precedency was given to this tribe, because our Lord sprang out of Judah, Heb 7:14 . And very blessed was the dying Patriarch’s prophecy to this amount. Judah! thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise; thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; thy father’s children shall bow down before thee, Gen 49:8 . It is blessed to eye Christ in everything, and honor given for Christ in all things.
And I would make one observation more respecting those tribes of Israel. If the Reader will consult the Old Testament, concerning the twelve tribes of Israel, and compare it with the number here, he will find, that though here are indeed twelve tribes enumerated, in correspondence to the number of the sons of Jacob, yet one of Jacob’s sons is not mentioned, even Dan; whose place is supplied with Manasses, one of the sons of Joseph, though Joseph himself, as a tribe, is also in the number. Various have been the opinions of men concerning it, though the Holy Ghost is silent upon it. Some have thought it was because the tribe of Dan apostatized, in the instance of the idols of Jeroboam, 1Ki 12:26-30 . But, I confess that this opinion doth not satisfy me. We find the Danites, in the days of the Judges, setting up a graven image; and at that time the sons of Manasseh, even Jonathan, the son of Gershom, and his sons, became the priests of this idol. And yet the tribe of Manasseh is among the sealed, though Dan is not. This, I think, therefore, cannot be the reason, Jdg 18:30 . Ephraim, also, is omitted in this sealing. And the same reason is assigned. By the Prophet Hosea, the Lord indeed said, Ephraim is joined to idols; let him alone, Hos 4:17 . But, we find, fourscore years after this, (for so much time had run out between the ministry of Hosea, and that of Jeremiah,) the Lord, by the latter Prophet, said of Ephraim, Is Ephraim my dear Son? is he a pleasant child? for since I spake against him, I do earnestly remember him still; therefore my bowels are troubled for him; I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the Lord, Jer 31:20 . I cannot venture, therefore, to conclude, that those are the reasons. But, if the Reader wishes me to go further, and assign a cause. This I dare not. The Holy Ghost is silent upon it. I presume, therefore, not to speak upon it. Dan is omitted. And we learn from it a solemn truth. And it is our duty to have it in remembrance. What the Holy Ghost hath said, upon another occasion, meets us here, If God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee, Rom 11:21 . If the tribe of Dan had then none to seal, what a breaking off was here! And if on the great day of God, when the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, and a remnant shall be brought forth, both sons and daughters; and that great purpose of God is seen, he hath declared what a manifestation will then be made of the remnant, according to the election of grace? Very blessed to this point, is that most gracious scripture, Yet, behold, saith the Lord, therein shall be left a remnant, that shall be brought forth, both sons and daughters; behold, they shall come forth unto you, and ye shall see their way, and their doings; and ye shall be comforted, concerning the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, even concerning all that I have brought upon it. And they shall comfort you, when ye see their ways, and their doings; and ye shall know that I have not clone without cause all that I have done, saith the Lord God, Eze 14:22-23 .
When the Reader hath made his full observations on this part of the sealing of the tribes of Israel, I beg to propose another consideration to him, of a very sweet and refreshing kind, as it strikes my view on the subject, namely, hew very gracious and timely it was, thus to seal the Church, before those awful days came on, which we know followed in the persecutions of the people; I mean, not only generally so to the Church at large, but specially with an eye to the Lord’s people, the Jews.
In order for the better apprehension of the subject, I would have the Reader connect with it what we now know. Many hundred years have run out since that period. The children of God were then beginning, but as it were, to be scattered, to what they have been since. The Lord’s ancient people, the Jews, had not been driven, from their beloved Jerusalem, comparatively speaking, but a short space, to what was to run out, before they were to be again called home. The great power that was now arising in the East, under, the false Prophet, was to take into the different branches of that vast empire, multitudes of the dispersed of Israel. And as that power still remains, and so many ages and generations were to expire, during Israel’s subjugation, what a mercy was it to the Church thus to be taught, in this vision shown John; that notwithstanding all outward appearances, the Lord had marked, and knoweth them that are his. Let the Reader duly observe this, and notice God’s love to his Church, in the appointment. And then let him go on to another observation.
Christ, the angel John saw, coming to seal his people, was beheld by him ascending from the East. Surely, this ascension from the East, plainly pointed, as with a finger, that the great cause for which the Church, in the tribes of Israel, was now sealed, was an allusion to the affairs of the Church in the East. And, as much about this time, under the sixth seal, and before the seventh should be opened, the false prophet would arise, and extend his vast empire over the East; here the Jews would be scattered in abundance, and therefore the Lord’s mark should be upon them. Who shall calculate the number of Israel to this hour, which have been, and yet remain, from the time of John’s vision, through a period of seventeen centuries? We are not come down yet, in our progress through this book of prophecy, to the season of the Trumpets; but we may in this place observe, for the better apprehension of the whole, (which, the distant age we live in to that of John’s, gives us the advantage to form our conclusions upon) that, as we are now, in point of time, under the influence of the sixth trumpet, we can discover much of what was prophesied under the sixth seal. Who shall say, therefore, how many of his sealed ones, from those regions in the vast empire under the false prophet, the Lord hath been gathering home, from age to age, even to the present hour? When we consider that the awful delusion of Mahometan imposture extends its baleful influence over the vast empire, in the East, of lndostan, Persia, Turkey, Morocco, we may reasonably conclude, that this sealing, which John saw in a vision, was meant to comfort the Church with those views. And, Reader, what an amazing bringing back to the Church, from those regions, will it be when the Lord shall cause the seventh Trumpet to be sounded, and when those voices will be heard in the Church, saying, the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever? Rev 11:15 .
But, though I have just glanced at these things, we must not altogether anticipate the history in bringing them forward here. They will meet us in their proper place. In the mean time it is sufficient for the present to observe, that the Lord was pleased to show his servant John, by vision, in the interval between the sixth and seventh seal, how safe and secure his redeemed of Israel are The Lord hath sealed them, and owned them as his And thus John’s mind must have been very graciously relieved from the awful persecutions he was called upon to notice, when the seventh seal came to be opened.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
4 And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.
Ver. 4. A hundred forty and four thousand ] A competent company. Not so many as the locusts, Rev 9:3 , and yet more than most thought they had been.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
4 .] And I heard the number of the sealed, an hundred and forty-four thousand sealed (the number is symbolical of fixedness and full completion, 12 12, taken a thousand fold. No one that I am aware of has taken it literally, and supposed that just this particular number and no more is imported. The import for us is that the Lord knoweth and sealeth His own: that the fulness of their number shall be accomplished and not one shall fail: and, from what follows, that the least as well as the greatest of the portions of his Church, shall furnish its quota to this blessed company: see more below) from every tribe (i. e. from the sum of the tribes; from every tribe, all being taken together. This is evident from what follows. For this accumulative sense of with an anarthrous substantive, see reff. and Winer, edn. 6, 18. 4) of the sons of Israel (this has been variously understood. By many, and even by the most recent Commentator, Dsterdieck, these sealed ones are taken to represent Jewish believers: the chosen out of the actual children of Israel. I need hardly say that such an interpretation seems to me to be quite inconsistent with the usage of this book. Our rule in such cases must be, to interpret a term, where it may possibly be ambiguous, by the use of the same term, if we can discover any, in a place or places where it is clear and unmistakeable. Now in the description of the heavenly Jerusalem, ch. Rev 21:9 ff., we have the names inscribed on its 12 gates. Can there be any doubt as to the import of those names in that place? Is it not that the city thus inscribed is the dwelling-place of the Israel of God? Or are the upholders of the literal sense here prepared to carry it out there, and to regard these inscribed names as importing that none but the literal descendants of Israel dwelt within? (For observe that such an inference could not be escaped by the fact of the names of the 12 Apostles being inscribed on its foundations: those being individual names, the others collective.) It seems certain, by this expression being again used there “totidem verbis,” that the Apostle must here, as there, have intended Israel to be taken not as the Jewish nation, but as the Israel of God. Again, we have a striking indication furnished in ch. Rev 3:12 , who these children of Israel are, and to what city they belong: , , . These words serve to bind together the sealing here, and the vision of the new Jerusalem in ch. 21. Nor is it any valid objection to this view that the persons calling themselves Jews in ch. Rev 2:9 , Rev 3:9 , have been taken to be actual Jews. There is a wide difference in the circumstances there, as there is also in the appellation itself): out of the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand sealed, &c. &c . The points to be noticed in this enumeration are, 1) that with the exception of Judah being placed first, the order of the tribes does not seem to follow any assignable principle. It may indeed be not without reason, that Reuben, the eldest, next follows Judah, and Benjamin the youngest is placed last, with Joseph his own brother: but beyond this all is uncertainty: as any one will find, who attempts to apply to the order any imaginable rule of arrangement. So far has been generally confessed. “Nullus servatur ordo, quia omnes in Christo pares,” says Grotius. 2) That the tribe of Dan is omitted. This is accounted for by the fathers and ancient interpreters, from the idea (founded on Gen 49:17 ) that antichrist was to arise from this tribe. So Areth [99] in Catena, , , , , : by most Commentators, from the fact, that this tribe was the first to fall into idolatry, see Jdg 18 ; by others (Grot., Ewald, De W., Ebrard, Dsterd., al.), from the fact that this tribe had been long ago as good as extinct. Grot. quotes for this a Jewish tradition, “jam olim ea tribus ad unam familiam Hussim reciderat, ut aiunt Hebri, qu ipsa familia bellis interiisse videtur ante Esdr tempora.” Accordingly we find in 1 Chronicles 4 ff. where all Israel are reckoned by genealogies, that this tribe is omitted altogether. This latter seems the more probable account here, seeing that in order to the number 12 being kept, some one of the smaller tribes must be omitted. In Deu 33 , Simeon is omitted. 3) That instead of Ephraim, Joseph is mentioned. We have a somewhat similar instance in Num 13:11 , with this difference, that there it is “of the tribe of Joseph, namely of the tribe of Manasseh.” The substitution here has been accounted for by the “untheocratic” recollections connected with the name Ephraim (so e. g. Dsterd.). But this may well be questioned. In the prophecy of Hosea, where the name so frequently occurs, it designates Israel repentant, as well as Israel backsliding; cf. especially Hos 14:4-8 , the recollection of which would admirably fit the spirit of this present passage. I should rather suppose that some practice had arisen which the Apostle adopts, of calling the tribe of Ephraim by this name. 4) That the tribe of Levi is included among the rest, hardly appears to depend on the reason assigned by Bengel, al., that the Levitical ceremonies being now at an end, all are alike priests and have access to God: for in some O. T. catalogues, even where territorial division is in question, Levi is not omitted: the cities of the priests being mentioned under the head of this tribe. Cf. 1Ch 6 .
[99] Arethas, Bp. of Csarea in Cappadocia, Cent y . X. 2
It yet remains to enquire, before passing on to the second vision in this episode, what is the import and intent of the sealing here mentioned. It has been the general view, that it was to exempt those sealed from the judgments which were to come on the unbelieving. And it can hardly be denied, that this view receives strong support from Scripture analogy, e. g. that of Exo 12 and Eze 9 , especially the latter, where the exempted ones are marked, as here, on their foreheads. It is also borne out by our ch. Rev 9:4 , where these sealed ones are by implication exempted from the plague of the locusts from the pit. It is again hardly possible to weigh fairly the language used in this place itself, without coming to the same conclusion. The four angels are commanded not to begin their work of destruction, until the sealing has taken place. For what imaginable reason could such a prohibition be uttered, unless those who were to be sealed were to be marked out for some purpose connected with that work? And for what purpose could they be thus marked out, if not for exemption? The objection brought against this view by Dsterd., that so far from being exempt from trials, the saints in glory have come out of great tribulation, is grounded on the mistake of not distinguishing between the trials of the people of God and the judgments on the unbelieving world. In the latter, the saints have no part, as neither had the children of Israel in the plagues of Egypt. And indeed the very symbolism here used, in which the elect are pointed out under the names of the 12 tribes, serves to remind us of this ancient exemption. At the same time, exemption from the coming plagues is not the only object of the sealing. It serves a positive as well as a negative purpose. It appropriates to God those upon whom it has passed. For the seal contains His own Name, cf. ch. Rev 3:12 , Rev 14:1 . And thus they are not only gathered out of the world, but declared to be ready to be gathered into the city of God. And thus the way is prepared for the next vision in the episode.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Rev 7:4 . After a pause, in which the sealing is supposed to have taken place, the writer hears that the number of the sealed is the stereotyped 144,000, twelve thousand from each of the twelve tribes of Israel (a “thousand” being the primitive subdivision of a clan or tribe, like the English shire into “hundreds”). The enumeration of these tribes (Rev 7:5-8 ) contains two peculiarities, ( a ) the substitution of Joseph for Ephraim, a variation to which we have no clue, and ( b ) the omission of Dan. The latter reflects the growing disrepute into which Dan fell; it either stands last ( e.g. in [912] .; Jos 19:40 f.; Jdg 1:34 ) or drops out entirely, while it is curiously connected in the Talmud as already in Test. XII. Patr. (Dan 5 )’ with Beliar, and in Irenus (5:30, 32) as in Hippolytus ( de Antichr . 5, 6) with the origin of Antichrist. This sinister reputation ( cf. A.C. 171 174, Selwyn 200 204, Erbes 77 f.), current long before Irenus’ day, rested on the haggadic interpretation of passages like Gen 49:17 ; Deu 33:22 ; and Jer 8:16 . Andreas, commenting on Rev 16:12 , thinks that Antichrist will probably come from Persia, .
[912] Codex Porphyrianus (sc. ix.), at St. Petersburg, collated by Tischendorf. Its text is deficient for chap. Rev 2:13-16 .
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Rev 7:4
4And I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred and forty-four thousand sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:
Rev 7:4 “one hundred and forty-four thousand” This same mysterious group is mentioned in Rev 14:1; Rev 14:3. There has been much discussion about this number and who it represents. This number is symbolic, not literal, for the following reasons.
1. the number itself is a round number and all the tribes have an equal number (which they never did in the OT)
2. the number is a multiple of twelve which is the biblical number of organization (or possible the people of God) and ten, which is the biblical number of completion (see Special Topic at Rev 1:4)
3. chapter 7 is in apocalyptic language
4. the list of the tribes of Israel is slightly altered (Dan is omitted, and Ephraim is replaced by Joseph). A Jew would know that it was not meant to be taken literally.
Some of the possible interpretations of this group have been:
1. that it is literally end-time believing Israel (cf. Zec 12:10)
2. that it is those newly-converted believers present after the secret rapture of the Church
3. that it is the believing Jewish remnant (cf. Romans 11)
4. that it is a title for the NT Church (cf. Rev 1:6)
The sealing is not limited in Revelation to one group, but represents God’s ownership and protection of His people (cf. Rev 2:20; Rev 11:18; Rev 19:2; Rev 19:5). Satan seals all of his followers (cf. Rev 13:16-17; Rev 14:9; Rev 14:11; Rev 16:2; Rev 19:20; Rev 20:4), mimicking God (cf. Rev 3:12; Rev 7:3; Rev 14:1; Rev 22:4).
The NT often describes the Church in terms which were used of Israel (cf. Rom 2:28-29; Rom 4:11; Rom 9:6; Rom 9:8; Gal 3:29; Gal 6:16; Php 3:3) and particularly in the book of the Revelation where in Rev 1:6 the Church is addressed by a title used of Israel in Exo 19:4-6 (cf. 1Pe 2:5; 1Pe 2:9). In the books of James (cf. Rev 1:1) and 1 Peter (cf. Rev 1:1) the Church is also described as the “Diaspora,” the name for scattered Jews who were not living in Palestine.
It seems best to me at this point in my study of this book to identify the 144,000 in Rev 7:4 and “the great multitude” of Rev 7:9 as the NT people of Godthose who trust Christ, but viewed in two different senses (believing Jews and believing Gentiles).
SPECIAL TOPIC: THE NUMBER TWELVE
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
them which were = the.
an hundred, &c. See App-197.
children. App-108.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
4.] And I heard the number of the sealed, an hundred and forty-four thousand sealed (the number is symbolical of fixedness and full completion, 12 12, taken a thousand fold. No one that I am aware of has taken it literally, and supposed that just this particular number and no more is imported. The import for us is that the Lord knoweth and sealeth His own: that the fulness of their number shall be accomplished and not one shall fail: and, from what follows, that the least as well as the greatest of the portions of his Church, shall furnish its quota to this blessed company: see more below) from every tribe (i. e. from the sum of the tribes; from every tribe, all being taken together. This is evident from what follows. For this accumulative sense of with an anarthrous substantive, see reff. and Winer, edn. 6, 18. 4) of the sons of Israel (this has been variously understood. By many, and even by the most recent Commentator, Dsterdieck, these sealed ones are taken to represent Jewish believers: the chosen out of the actual children of Israel. I need hardly say that such an interpretation seems to me to be quite inconsistent with the usage of this book. Our rule in such cases must be, to interpret a term, where it may possibly be ambiguous, by the use of the same term, if we can discover any, in a place or places where it is clear and unmistakeable. Now in the description of the heavenly Jerusalem, ch. Rev 21:9 ff., we have the names inscribed on its 12 gates. Can there be any doubt as to the import of those names in that place? Is it not that the city thus inscribed is the dwelling-place of the Israel of God? Or are the upholders of the literal sense here prepared to carry it out there, and to regard these inscribed names as importing that none but the literal descendants of Israel dwelt within? (For observe that such an inference could not be escaped by the fact of the names of the 12 Apostles being inscribed on its foundations: those being individual names, the others collective.) It seems certain, by this expression being again used there totidem verbis, that the Apostle must here, as there, have intended Israel to be taken not as the Jewish nation, but as the Israel of God. Again, we have a striking indication furnished in ch. Rev 3:12, who these children of Israel are, and to what city they belong:- , , . These words serve to bind together the sealing here, and the vision of the new Jerusalem in ch. 21. Nor is it any valid objection to this view that the persons calling themselves Jews in ch. Rev 2:9, Rev 3:9, have been taken to be actual Jews. There is a wide difference in the circumstances there, as there is also in the appellation itself): out of the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand sealed, &c. &c. The points to be noticed in this enumeration are, 1) that with the exception of Judah being placed first, the order of the tribes does not seem to follow any assignable principle. It may indeed be not without reason, that Reuben, the eldest, next follows Judah, and Benjamin the youngest is placed last, with Joseph his own brother: but beyond this all is uncertainty: as any one will find, who attempts to apply to the order any imaginable rule of arrangement. So far has been generally confessed. Nullus servatur ordo, quia omnes in Christo pares, says Grotius. 2) That the tribe of Dan is omitted. This is accounted for by the fathers and ancient interpreters, from the idea (founded on Gen 49:17) that antichrist was to arise from this tribe. So Areth[99] in Catena,- , , , , : by most Commentators, from the fact, that this tribe was the first to fall into idolatry, see Judges 18; by others (Grot., Ewald, De W., Ebrard, Dsterd., al.), from the fact that this tribe had been long ago as good as extinct. Grot. quotes for this a Jewish tradition,-jam olim ea tribus ad unam familiam Hussim reciderat, ut aiunt Hebri, qu ipsa familia bellis interiisse videtur ante Esdr tempora. Accordingly we find in 1 Chronicles 4 ff. where all Israel are reckoned by genealogies, that this tribe is omitted altogether. This latter seems the more probable account here, seeing that in order to the number 12 being kept, some one of the smaller tribes must be omitted. In Deuteronomy 33, Simeon is omitted. 3) That instead of Ephraim, Joseph is mentioned. We have a somewhat similar instance in Num 13:11, with this difference, that there it is of the tribe of Joseph, namely of the tribe of Manasseh. The substitution here has been accounted for by the untheocratic recollections connected with the name Ephraim (so e. g. Dsterd.). But this may well be questioned. In the prophecy of Hosea, where the name so frequently occurs, it designates Israel repentant, as well as Israel backsliding; cf. especially Hos 14:4-8, the recollection of which would admirably fit the spirit of this present passage. I should rather suppose that some practice had arisen which the Apostle adopts, of calling the tribe of Ephraim by this name. 4) That the tribe of Levi is included among the rest, hardly appears to depend on the reason assigned by Bengel, al., that the Levitical ceremonies being now at an end, all are alike priests and have access to God: for in some O. T. catalogues, even where territorial division is in question, Levi is not omitted: the cities of the priests being mentioned under the head of this tribe. Cf. 1 Chronicles 6.
[99] Arethas, Bp. of Csarea in Cappadocia, Centy. X.2
It yet remains to enquire, before passing on to the second vision in this episode, what is the import and intent of the sealing here mentioned. It has been the general view, that it was to exempt those sealed from the judgments which were to come on the unbelieving. And it can hardly be denied, that this view receives strong support from Scripture analogy, e. g. that of Exodus 12 and Ezekiel 9, especially the latter, where the exempted ones are marked, as here, on their foreheads. It is also borne out by our ch. Rev 9:4, where these sealed ones are by implication exempted from the plague of the locusts from the pit. It is again hardly possible to weigh fairly the language used in this place itself, without coming to the same conclusion. The four angels are commanded not to begin their work of destruction, until the sealing has taken place. For what imaginable reason could such a prohibition be uttered, unless those who were to be sealed were to be marked out for some purpose connected with that work? And for what purpose could they be thus marked out, if not for exemption? The objection brought against this view by Dsterd., that so far from being exempt from trials, the saints in glory have come out of great tribulation, is grounded on the mistake of not distinguishing between the trials of the people of God and the judgments on the unbelieving world. In the latter, the saints have no part, as neither had the children of Israel in the plagues of Egypt. And indeed the very symbolism here used, in which the elect are pointed out under the names of the 12 tribes, serves to remind us of this ancient exemption. At the same time, exemption from the coming plagues is not the only object of the sealing. It serves a positive as well as a negative purpose. It appropriates to God those upon whom it has passed. For the seal contains His own Name, cf. ch. Rev 3:12, Rev 14:1. And thus they are not only gathered out of the world, but declared to be ready to be gathered into the city of God. And thus the way is prepared for the next vision in the episode.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Rev 7:4. ) Israel in the strict sense is denoted. For this book pronounces literally respecting Israel many things, which some take in a figurative sense. Israelism, as H. More terms it, Book i., Synops. proph., cap. 4, ought not to be too much extended. Lampe rightly says, that the Jews ought to be sought for in the Apocalypse, more than most interpreters have found them. Medit. anecd. in Apoc., p. 261.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Rev 7:4-8
2. NUMBER SEALED FROM
THE TRIBES OF ISRAEL
Rev 7:4-8
4 And I heard the number of them that were sealed, a hundred and forty and four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of the children of Israel:–John heard the number sealed, but it is not stated who did the speaking. The word “every” is used in the sense of “all”–the 144,000 being the sum total sealed from the twelve tribes. Israel and Jew are both used spiritually to mean Christians. (Rom 2:28-29; Gal 6:16.) But here the term evidently refers to those who were to be sealed (saved) from fleshly Israel. Mention is made of the tribes and the number given and named. Besides, they are put in contrast with a great unnumbered multitude from “every nation,” who must be the Gentiles. Evidently the 144,000 is a definite for an indefinite number, for it is not a reasonable supposition that there would be exactly 12,000 from each tribe, or that amount would be all that would be saved. It means that a large number of Abraham’s descendants would be saved in the period of prosperity for the church that followed the sixth seal, but not all that would be saved from the Jews throughout the Christian dispensation.
5-8 Of the tribe of Judah were sealed twelve thousand;–See the text above for the other tribes. Judah was not the first-born son of Jacob, but may be mentioned here first because of his being the ancestor of Christ. The tribes are not always mentioned in the same order in the Old Testament. Joseph’s descendants were divided into two tribes–Ephraim and Manasseh; hence, with Levi, the priestly tribe, there were thirteen in all. Dan is omitted from this list, supposedly because the tribe became idolatrous. Joseph is given in place of Ephraim. But since there is no regularity in the order in which the tribes are mentioned, it was only necessary to mention twelve, the original number of Jacob’s sons, to indicate the whole nation of Israel.
Commentary on Rev 7:4-8 by Foy E. Wallace
The number of the sealed was computed with the tabulation of twelve times twelve, on the basis of the twelve tribes instead of the twelve apostles, as in chapter 4; but here it is expanded to the basic number of thousand for each tribe, as a full and complete company rather than persons equal in number to the patriarchs and apostles, as in case of the twenty-four elders. In the first the symbol was added; in the second it was multiplied. It signified the whole faithful church, the total number of the redeemed, the holy seed, preserved from the pronouncements of judgment. This multiplied number was mentioned again in chapter 14, discussion of which is reserved for that exposition.
In the names that head the twelve tribes, Judah stands first, significant of relation sustained to the Lion of the tribe of Judah from which the Lord sprang. (Heb 7:14) The spiritual, figurative, use of the twelve tribes elsewhere in the New Testament designated the whole church, the spiritual Israel, as in the Old Testament they represented the whole of fleshly Israel. (Mat 18:28; Act 26:7; Jas 1:1)
This 144,000 of all the tribes of the children of Israel was an apocalypse of the holy seed of Isa 6:13; and the remnant of Jacob of Isa 10:21-23; and the remnant according to election of Rom 9:27-28; Rom 11:5; and the innumerable company (the church) of Heb 12:22. They stood for the new Israel. The proclamation of the angel of the east to the four angels standing on the four corners of the earth to hurt not the earth till we have sealed the servants of our God, signified that God would not permit them to destroy Old Jerusalem until he had sealed a representative number for the New Jerusalem, the church, which was figuratively said to be the twelve tribes of the dispersion. (Jas 1:1)
The loud voice of this angel commanded that the wind blow, that the gospel should be preached to the four corners by the sealed servants. It was parallel to the Lords declaration that after the destruction of Jerusalem his angels (emissaries) would carry the gospel to the four winds. (Mat 24:31)
Following thevisions of the sealed number there was the heavenly scene of the great multitude robed in white, coming out of tribulation, composed of the angels, the elders, and the beings, who were before the throne; who were washed in blood; who served in his temple; who hungered and thirsted no more; who should suffer no heat of the sun; whom the Lamb should feed and lead; and whose tears God would wipe away.
The full or unlimited understanding of all the signs with a precise explanation of all the symbols of these visions is not required in order to know the general import, and application to the period of these persecutions. Furthermore, it should be remembered that the objects of these visions were immediate and present with them while they are separated and remote from us. It should further be observed that there were spiritually gifted teachers in each church to impart the meanings to the members, whereas we have the teaching of the text itself, with the current history of the context, to follow. The course of history did not run contrary to the context nor does the language of the text contradict the events of history. The misinterpretations of false teachers and the misapplications of others arise from the anachronisms of assigning these events to the wrong periods of time, by referring them to future centuries, rather than applying the signs to the impending events of the time.
The correlation in the symbolic arrangement of the contents, without the historical gaps and the fragmentary dislocations of the future theories identify them with the current history then transpiring. The entire genius of the book justifies the conviction that it was designed for the comfort and encouragement of the early apostolic churches.
Commentary on Rev 7:4-8 by Walter Scott
THE NUMBER OF THE SEALED.
The Gentile company (Rev 7:9) is not numbered. The Israelitish company, on the contrary, is carefully reckoned, and the result stated, not in round numbers, but in precise terms as a hundred and forty and four thousand. Twelve thousand out of each of the twelve tribes of Israel. The numbers, whether singly (12) or multiplied (144) denote a complete and definite number. Twelve is the signature of Israel, and is largely employed in Jewish connection. Earthly administration, rule, government, seem to be the moral value of this numeral. (The twelve hours of the day, twelve hours of the night, direct us to the sun and moon as the ruling and governing powers of day and night. There were twelve tribes of Israel and twelve apostles in relation to the future government of Israel (Mat 19:28). Twelve gates in the holy Jerusalem (Rev 21:12). Israel was represented in the twelve precious stones on the breastplate of the high priest and in the twelve loaves of show bread on the holy table (Exo 28:1-43; Lev 24:1-23). Rule on the earth is the predominant factor in the use and value of this numeral.) The number of the sealed is of course symbolic, and simply denotes that God has appropriated a certain, complete, yet limited number of Israel for Himself.
PECULIARITIES
In the enumeration of the tribes throughout Scripture, of which there are about eighteen, the full representative number twelve is always given; but as Jacob had thirteen sons, (Counting the two sons of Joseph instead of the father as Jacobs.) one or other is always omitted. Levi is more generally omitted than any other. In the apocalyptic enumeration Dan and Ephraim are omitted. Both these tribes were remarkable as being connected with idolatry in Israel, the probable reason for the blotting out of their names here (Deu 29:18-21). But in the end grace triumphs, and Dan is named first in the future distribution of the land amongst the tribes (Eze 48:2), but, while first named, it is the farthest removed from the temple, being situated in the extreme north. In our English version there are three tribes named in each verse, but in reality the arrangement of the tribes, as of the apostles, (Mat 10:2-4) is in pairs. First, Judah and Reuben, the fourth and first sons of Leah, the former the royal tribe, the latter the representative of the nation (Gen 49:3). Second, Gad and Asher, the two sons of Zilpah, associated in the prophetic blessings of the last days (Gen 49:19-20). Third, Naphtali and Manasseh, linked in the enumeration of Eze 48:4. Fourth, Simeon and Levi, the second and third sons of Leah, associated in the prophetic enumeration (Gen 49:5-7), also in the Lords revelation of Himself to saved Israel (Zec 12:13). Fifth, Issachar and Zebulun, the fifth and sixth sons of Leah, both are associated in the prophetic (Gen 49:1-33) and in the territorial (Eze 48:1-35) enumerations of the tribes. Sixth, (We have Joseph, not Ephraim; the father instead of the son. But Ephraim in blessing takes precedence of his elder brother Manasseh, and again grace shines (Gen 48:8-20).) Joseph and Benjamin, the two sons of Rachel, the beloved wife of the patriarch.
It is to be noted that in the Revised Version and other critical helps the word sealed is omitted in naming each of the tribes save the first and last. Thus, out of (the) tribe of Judah twelve thousand sealed (v. 8), and out of (the) tribe of Benjamin twelve thousand sealed (v. 8). The tribes of Judah and Benjamin respectively open and close the enumeration. The characteristics of these tribes (Gen 49:8-12; Gen 49:27) both center in Christ.
THREE COMPANIES OF MILLENNIAL SAINTS.
The two companies of Israel and the Gentiles were beheld by the Seer in separate visions. The elect company from the twelve tribes (Rev 7:4-8) is not only distinct from their Gentile associates (Rev 7:9-17), but is equally distinct from the 144,000 from amongst Judah who emerge out of the horrors of the coming hour of trial standing on Mount Zion (Rev 14:1-20). There are two Jewish companies of equal number – the hundred and forty-four thousand of all Israel (Rev 7:1-17), and the hundred and forty-four thousand of Judah only (Rev 14:1-20). The palm-bearing Gentile multitude must not be confounded either with the Church or with Israel. The innumerable multitude here beheld in vision is the fruit of an extensive work of grace begun immediately or soon after the translation of the heavenly saints (1Th 4:1-18). and continued during the future prophetic week of seven years (Mat 24:14). This world-wide testimony actively carried on between the Translation and the Appearing will be signally owned of God. Thus ample time under the good and controlling hand of God is afforded for the mighty work of grace, which in extensive results remind us of the palmy days of Pentecost.
We may also note another interesting distinction between the two companies of millennial saints in our chapter. The elect of Israel are beheld before they enter into the time of Jacobs trouble, whereas the Gentile saved multitude are here witnessed after having come out of the great tribulation.
SAVED GENTILE MULTITUDE AND THEIR CRY.
We have already remarked that the white-robed, palm-bearing multitude come out of the great tribulation, and while their blessing is strictly millennial in character and time, they must not be confounded with another class of Gentiles who will be saved at the commencement of the millennial era after the close of the tribulation; hence the special position and characteristic blessings of the innumerable multitude here referred to. Both the position and blessing are in beautiful keeping with the previous trial, out of which they have emerged, and in which many of their brethren, Jewish and Gentile, were slain. Out of every nation, and tribes, and peoples, and tongues. We have already met with this fourfold distribution of the race (Rev 5:9). It is a technical formula expressing universality (see also Rev 11:9).
This vast multitude beyond all counting, and in this respect in marked contrast to the more limited and exactly defined number of Israel, is witnessed by the Seer standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palm branches in their hands. These saints are on earth. Standing before the throne and before the Lamb is, of course, a position of exalted dignity, but the thrones of the heavenly saints are around the throne of God (Rev 4:4) and of the Lamb (Rev 5:6). Moreover, they are seated on them (see also Rev 20:4). It is not said that these earthly saints have thrones and crowns; the heavenly ones have both. In these and other respects the heavenly company of the redeemed occupy a higher and more exalted position of dignity than the innumerable multitude who on earth stand before the throne – a designation of moral force.
Commentary on Rev 7:4-8 by E.M. Zerr
Rev 7:4. The number of those who were sealed is given in exact and equal figures, which makes us know that it is all another expression of figurative speech and that the meaning is that great numbers of true Christians had won the stamp of approval from the Lord. Tribes of the Children of Israel. it is known that after the conversion of Cornelius in the first four years of the Gospel, the Gentiles furnished many converts to Christ. Hence there were many of those who were persecuted as well as of the Jews. The reference to the twelve tribes is therefore accommodative, similar to the instance in Jas 1:1.
Rev 7:5-8. Having explained the significance of the tribal classification. and since the same thing is said of each tribe. I am combining these verses into one paragraph to conserve time and space.
Commentary on Rev 7:4-8 by Burton Coffman
Rev 7:4
And I heard the number of them that were sealed, a hundred and forty and four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of the children of Israel:
Of the tribe of Judah were sealed twelve thousand;
Of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand;
Of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand;
Of the tribe of Asher twelve thousand;
Of the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand;
Of the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand;
Of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand;
Of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand;
Of the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand;
Of the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand;
Of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand;
Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand.
Who are these 144,000? They are the saved of earth, servants of God just mentioned by the angel, particularly the Christians of all ages until the end of time. This meaning alone could have had any comfort at all for the suffering saints who first received this prophecy. The idea that John here comforted the Christians who were in the throes of a great tribulation brought upon them by the fleshly Jews who had murdered the Messiah and hindered the truth all over the world, with a vision of such a vast company of saved and redeemed Jews (literally) is absolutely preposterous. See chapter introduction, above, under (1).
Theories which would read these 144,000 as, “the total number of the martyrs that must be completed before the prayers of those in heaven (Rev 6:11) could be answered,”[30] are equally preposterous and are founded upon an inadequate conception of God who simply cannot be properly viewed as approving any specified number of martyrs. It is not martyrs that God desires, but Christians. Furthermore, the sealed here are not called martyrs.
The theory that these 144,000 are literal Jews from racial Israel is attractive to some, and was ably advocated by Seiss:
When God says “children of Israel,” I do not understand him to mean any but people of Jewish blood, be they Christians or not. And when he speaks of the twelve sons of Jacob, and gives the names of the tribes, it is impossible for me to believe that he means Gentiles in any sense or degree, whether they be believers or not.[31]
The blindness of this view is identical with that of the Pharisees who claimed to be sons of Abraham (and, literally, they were); but Jesus said, “If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham” (Joh 8:39). John’s .calling the church the twelve tribes of Israel came directly from the lips of Jesus (Mat 19:28); and therefore “fleshly Israel,” called by Jesus himself “the children of the devil” (Joh 8:44), simply cannot fit into this passage in any way. That our interpretation entails come difficulty is freely admitted. Smith called this, “a passage of unusual difficulty”;[32] but the difficulty of trying to make the tribes of literal Israel fit the meaning here is far more difficult.
The 144,000 … This is a number made up of 12 10:12 10:1,000. Earlier in Revelation we had a number made up of 12 + 12, that of the “four and twenty elders” (Rev 4:4); but here the “twelve” is multiplied by itself, and then again by a thousand, indicating completeness and perfection in the ultimate degree. What is meant? “That not one of those who are worthy shall be overlooked or forgotten.”[33] It also carries the thought that the natural universe, the powers of evil, and the ravages of time shall not interfere with God’s plans until all are accomplished. Therefore, the 144,000 are a symbol of the total number of the redeemed, a definite number, unknown to us, but surely known by God. It is the same as “the innumerable company” of Rev 7:9.
Twelve tribes … Why are they listed? First, the number “twelve” is a sacred number. There were twelve tribes of Israel, twelve apostles, twelve foundations of the eternal city, twelve gates, twelve angels at the gates, twelve manner of fruits on the tree of life, twelve seasons in the year when the fruits were yielded, and twelve stars in the crown of the glorious woman arrayed with the sun! Are these literally the twelve sons of Jacob? How could they be? The ten northern tribes had already been lost for centuries when John wrote. Dan is not mentioned here, nor is Ephraim; but Joseph which includes both Ephraim and Manasseh is listed. As Beckwith said, “Nineteen different arrangements of these names are found in the Old Testament, with none of which does this list agree.”[34] If these are understood as literal tribes, it would mean that exactly the same number would be saved from each one; and what kind of a straitjacket is that? It would also have to mean that none will be saved from the tribe of Dan. Thus we are driven to the conclusion reached by Roberts: “The 144,000 must represent the whole church of the New Testament as spiritual Israel.”[35] No satisfactory explanation of this irregular list has ever been offered, unless it is this, “John intends to say that the twelve tribes of Israel are not literal Israel, but the true spiritual Israel, which is the church.”[36] Foy E. Wallace, Jr., also agreed that, “They signify the whole faithful church, the total number of the redeemed.”[37] Regarding the question of why, then, should John have broken the 144,000 into twelve tribes, Bruce thought he did so in order, “to emphasize that the church is the true Israel of God, and that the number represents the sum total of the faithful.”[38] “The reference to the twelve tribes is therefore accommodative, as in Jas 1:1.”[39] Besides all this, to bring racial considerations into the interpretation of this prophecy “seriously complicates the book of Revelation by bringing in racial considerations that no longer exist.”[40]
Bruce, Caird, and others apply the sealing of the 144,000 to martyrs only, but there is no way we could agree with this. (See discussion in the chapter introduction.) The placement of Judah at the head of the list of twelve tribes was thought by McDowell to be due to the fact that Christ was of the tribe of Judah;[41] but since all Christians, being “in Christ” would thus belong to that tribe, it would have to imply that only twelve thousand could be saved from the tribe of Judah, including all the Christians who ever lived! These, and many other considerations, demand a spiritual interpretation of these twelve tribes.
Still another question regards the purpose of the sealing, whether it was to exempt the sealed from tribulation, or to preserve the saved safely through tribulation. Since there is not a line in the New Testament, nor in the experience of any Christian through out history, of any exemption of the Lord’s people from tribulation, the conclusion is mandatory that the safety of the soul through tribulation is meant. See more on this in the chapter introduction under (3). As McGuiggan said:
Does this sealing assure saints of physical preservation? No! In the Old Testament vision of Ezekiel 9, we read of others who were sealed, but many of them died. Both Lindsay and Walvoord say that this means the 144,000 are physically preserved; but it did not mean that in Ezekiel; then why should it mean that here? Where is the proof?[42]
[30] Martin Rist, op. cit., p. 419.
[31] J. A. Seiss, The Apocalypse Lectures on the Book of Revelation (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1900), pp. 405,406.
[32] Wilbur M. Smith, Wycliffe Bible Commentary, New Testament (Chicago: Moody Press, 1971), p. 1070.
[33] A. Plummer, op. cit., p. 207.
[34] Isbon T. Beckwith, op. cit., p. 542.
[35] J. W. Roberts, op. cit., p. 71.
[36] George Eldon Ladd, op. cit., p. 114.
[37] Foy E. Wallace, Jr. The Book of Revelation (Nashville: Foy E. Wallace, Jr., Publications, 1966), p. 100.
[38] F. F. Bruce, A New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1969), p. 645.
[39] E. M. Zerr, Bible Commentary, Vol. 6 (Marion, Indiana: Cogdill Foundation, 1954), p. 311.
[40] Robert H. Mounce, The Book of Revelation (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1977), p. 168.
[41] Edward A. McDowell, The Meaning and Message of the Book of Revelation (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1951), p. 97.
[42] Jim McGuiggan, op. cit., p. 112.
Commentary on Rev 7:4-8 by Manly Luscombe
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: The number of people who are sealed Isaiah 144,000. They are out of all the tribes of Israel. 12 tribes times 12,000 = 144,000. Also see this number used in 14:1.
12 tribes = all the people faithful to God. Multiply times 12,000 from each tribe. Ths number represents the complete, sum total of all the obedient to God. NOTE: The 144,000 are given the holy city, which has a wall of 144 cubits. (Rev 21:17). This wall represents the law of God which man must obey. The wall measures 144 cubits, and all the people who are inside this wall, the 144,000, are the saved of all ages. Those who obey must pass through the 144-cubit wall and become part of the 144,000. Some believe this number accounts for the saved in Israel ONLY, not including any Gentiles.
Some teach that only Israel will be in heaven. The saved among the Gentiles will be in a Paradise on Earth (a newly refurbished earth).I reject this idea because the list is NOT the list of the 12 tribes that became the nation of Israel. The tribes of Dan and Ephraim are omitted and the tribes of Joseph and Levi are added. This is done to show, we are not dealing with the literal 12 tribes. They represent all of Gods chosen people. Also, Judah is listed first. In most Old Testament listings, Ruben is first, because he is the firstborn. All of these things point to the spiritual rather than a literal Israel. The 144,000 represents the sum total of all people of all ages, who have obeyed God in faith and are part of the redeemed.
Rev 7:5-8 — 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. This listing of the 12 tribes is different from any list in the Old Testament. See the notes on Rev 7:4.
Sermon on Rev 7:1-8
Sealing the 144,000
Brent Kercheville
Chapter 6 has revealed that judgments are about to be unleashed. The four horsemen revealed war, famine, and death. The souls of the slain believers are crying out how long until God brings justice and righteousness. They are told to rest a little while longer and that more are going to die before judgment is unleashed. Rev 6:12-17 showed us that a nation is about to fall. We have not been told specifically what nation is the object of Gods wrath at this point. There have been many clues, but nothing definitive yet. The point thus far is that it will be lights out for this nation and the rest of the earth is to see Gods wrath and learn from it. Before these judgments begin there is something that must happen first. This brings our study into Revelation 7.
Restraining The Winds (Rev 7:1-3)
Verse 1 reveals four angels restraining the four winds so that no wind might blow on the earth. The imagery is that these judgments we have read about in chapter 6 are being restrained temporarily. The earth, the sea, or any tree is not allowed to be affected yet. The angels are restraining sweeping judgment. The reason the winds are restrained is explained in Rev 7:2-3.
The servants of God must be sealed before these judgments are unleashed. An angel is pictured with the seal of the living God declaring that the earth must not be harmed until the servants of God are sealed on their foreheads. Before we can continue we must examine what it means for the servants of God to be sealed.
Ezekiel 9 reveals similar imagery. Eze 9:1 records that judgment is coming against the city of Jerusalem. Bring near the executioners of the city, each with his destroying weapon in his hand (Eze 9:1). Before this judgment is brought against the city, the people of God are to be sealed first.
And the LORD said to him, Pass through the city, through Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations that are committed in it. 5 And to the others he said in my hearing, Pass through the city after him, and strike. Your eye shall not spare, and you shall show no pity. 6 Kill old men outright, young men and maidens, little children and women, but touch no one on whom is the mark. And begin at my sanctuary. So they began with the elders who were before the house. (Eze 9:4-6 ESV)
The sealing has many meanings. God sealing his people pictures protection, security, ownership, and preservation. As we return to Revelation 7 we must consider which aspect of Gods sealing is being emphasized. Could the sealing mean that the people of God would not suffer physical harm or death during these judgments? The reason is because of what we learned in Rev 6:11. The lain saints were told that there were more servants of God that were going to be killed as they had been killed. Also, the letters to the seven churches of Asia in Revelation 2-3 also predicted suffering and death for those Christians (Rev 2:10; Rev 2:13; Rev 3:10). The sealing is not physical protection. However, Rev 9:4 shows that the sealing is for protection. Those who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads are going to be harmed along with earth. Therefore, the nature of Gods protection must be spiritual. This spiritual protection will be further illustrated in Rev 7:9-17 and will be explored further in that upcoming study.
There is one other aspect of the sealing of Gods people that cannot be overlooked. The other important function of the sealing in Revelation is to identify those who are Gods. The sealing represents authentication and ownership. The sealed are those who are truly the people of God. This will be contrasted later in Revelation 13 where we will read about those who have the mark of the beast (13:16-17). That marking shows that those people belong to the beast. Those who have the seal of the living God are belong to God.
The 144,000 (Rev 7:4-8)
Rev 7:4 declares the number of those who are sealed as 144,000. The 144,000 are sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel. The great question is: who are the 144,000? We have noted throughout our study that we are to take everything as a symbol unless the text demands otherwise. All the numbers throughout Revelation are symbols. The 144,000 is no different. The number 12,000 symbolizes completeness in Rev 21:16. The new Jerusalem is pictured with a length, width, and height of 12,000 stadia. The city is seen as full and complete. The meaning is the same concerning the 144,000. Notice that 12,000 are taken from each tribe. The complete number from each tribe are sealed. Now we are told who are being sealed. Lets not forget what we were told in the first three verses of chapter 7 (Rev 7:1-3). The servants of God are being sealed. Therefore, the complete sealing of Gods people is being pictured in Rev 7:4-8. Please notice that the whole tribe is not sealed. Notice that it is 12,000 from each tribe that is sealed. The complete number of Gods servants are sealed.
Some have suggested that this is picturing the Jewish Christians being sealed since the twelve tribes are named. There are a number of reasons to reject this interpretation. First, no where in the book of Revelation is there a distinction made between the Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians. How often the scriptures preach that there is no distinction between Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians! Pauls apostolic work included the important mission of teaching that there is no difference between Jews and Gentiles in Christ. The book of Revelation never makes this distinction and it would be completely out of place to distinguish between them now. Second, if the Jewish Christians are being sealed, then Gentile Christians are not sealed. Since the sealing is to identify the servants of God and pictures their spiritual protection, the message of Revelation 7 would be that the Jewish Christians are the true servants of God but the Gentile Christians are not. This is an unacceptable result of such an interpretation. When we get to Rev 14:1 we will see the 144,000 pictured in victory. Why would Jewish Christians have the victory but not the Gentile Christians? This would be to make a distinction where God said there was no distinction.
There are a number of reasons to understand the twelve tribes as a figure and not as the literal tribes. One point that jumps off the page is the naming of the tribes. Notice that the tribe of Dan is missing. Also notice that there was not such a thing as a tribe of Joseph. Ladd says of this unusual naming of the tribes, John intends to say [by the irregular list] that the twelve tribes of Israel are not really literal Israel, but the true, spiritual Israel – the church. I think he is exactly right. Another reason that this listing cannot refer to the literal tribes of Israel is because ten of the tribes identities were lost when Assyria scattered them in 722 BC. To the further the point, once Rome destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD, the Jews lost all of their tribal identities. None of the Jews can know which tribe they are from. This cannot be a literal listing of the tribes.
It would be best to see Rev 7:4-8 as a picture of Pauls teaching the book of Romans.
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. (Rom 9:6-8 ESV)
I hope we see that picture. Not all Israel is true Israel. The 12,000 are taken from each tribe. To use another word found in the scriptures, this is the picture of the remnant. So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace (Rom 11:5). And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: Though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved, for the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth fully and without delay’ (Rom 9:27-28). The book of Revelation is showing the fulfillment of these teachings and prophecies. We are seeing the total number of Gods servants being sealed. None of Gods servants are left out. The picture is the fullness of the church composed of Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians. All of them are marked for ownership and spiritual protection as the judgments of God are about to be unleashed on the earth. These are the new Israel of God.
Conclusion:
We are in this privileged position by grace (Rom 11:5). We are not deserving of being sealed by God. We have not merited this fantastic status of being his children. By being in Christ we are spiritually protected and no one can harm or destroy our salvation.
You can also be part of the remnant. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter.His praise is not from man but from God (Rom 2:29). Being part of the remnant is about changing the heart to follow Jesus, seeking the praise of God and not the world.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
I heard: Rev 9:16
an: Rev 14:1, Rev 14:3, Gen 15:5, Rom 9:27, Rom 11:5, Rom 11:6
all: Eze 47:13, Eze 48:19, Eze 48:31, Zec 9:1, Mat 19:28, Luk 22:30, Act 26:7, Jam 1:1
Reciprocal: Gen 28:14 – thy seed Gen 35:22 – Now the sons Gen 49:28 – every one Exo 1:1 – General Exo 28:21 – according to the twelve Num 1:5 – Elizur Num 1:17 – General Num 1:46 – General Num 26:55 – by lot 1Ki 18:31 – twelve stones 2Ch 11:3 – to all Israel Ezr 6:17 – according to Psa 115:14 – Lord Eze 36:38 – the waste Luk 14:22 – and yet Act 3:26 – first Eph 1:10 – he Eph 3:15 – the whole Rev 9:4 – which Rev 21:12 – and names Rev 21:17 – an
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Rev 7:4. The number of those who were sealed is given in exact and equal figures, which makes us know that it is all another expression of figurative speech and that the meaning is that great numbers of true Christians had won the stamp of approval from the Lord. Tribes of the Children of Israel. it is known that after the conversion of Cornelius in the first four years of the Gospel, the Gentiles furnished many converts to Christ. Hence there were many of those who were persecuted as well as of the Jews. The reference to the twelve tribes is therefore accommodative, similar to the instance in Jas 1:1.
Rev 7:5-8. Having explained the significance of the tribal classification. and since the same thing is said of each tribe. I am combining these verses into one paragraph to conserve time and space.
Comments by Foy E. Wallace
Verses 4-8.
The number of the sealed was computed with the tabulation of twelve times twelve, on the basis of the twelve tribes instead of the twelve apostles, as in chapter 4; but here it is expanded to the basic number of thousand for each tribe, as a full and complete company rather than persons equal in number to the patriarchs and apostles, as in case of the twenty-four elders. In the first the symbol was added; in the second it was multiplied. It signified the whole faithful church, the total number of the redeemed, “the holy seed,” preserved from the pronouncements of judgment. This multiplied number was mentioned again in chapter 14, discussion of which is reserved for that exposition.
In the names that head the twelve tribes, Judah stands first, significant of relation sustained to “the Lion of the tribe of Judah” from which the Lord sprang. (Heb 7:14) The spiritual, figurative, use of the twelve tribes elsewhere in the New Testament designated the whole church, the spiritual Israel, as in the Old Testament they represented the whole of fleshly Israel. (Mat 18:28; Act 26:7; Jas 1:1)
This 144,000 of all the tribes of the children of Israel was an apocalypse of the holy seed of Isa 6:13; and the remnant of Jacob of Isa 10:21-23; and the remnant according to election of Rom 9:27-28; Rom 11:5; and the innumerable company (the church) of Heb 12:22. They stood for the new Israel. The proclamation of “the angel of the east” to the four angels standing on the four corners of the “earth” to “hurt not the earth till we have sealed the servants of our God,” signified that God would not permit them to destroy Old Jerusalem until he had sealed a representative number for the New Jerusalem, the church, which was figuratively said to be “the twelve tribes” of the dispersion. (Jas 1:1)
The “loud voice” of this angel commanded that the “wind blow,” that the gospel should be preached to the four corners by the sealed servants. It was parallel to the Lord’s declaration that after the destruction of Jerusalem his angels (emissaries) would carry the gospel to the four winds. (Mat 24:31)
Following the visions of the sealed number there was the heavenly scene of the great multitude robed in white, coming out of tribulation, composed of the angels, the elders, and the beings, who were before the throne; who were washed in blood; who served in his temple; who hungered and thirsted no more; who should suffer no heat of the sun; whom the Lamb should feed and lead; and whose tears God would wipe away.
The full or unlimited understanding of all the signs with a precise explanation of all the symbols of these visions is not required in order to know the general import, and application to the period of these persecutions. Furthermore, it should be remembered that the objects of these visions were immediate and present with them while they are separated and remote from us. It should further be observed that there were spiritually gifted teachers in each church to impart the meanings to the members, whereas we have the teaching of the text itself, with the current history of the context, to follow. The course of history did not run contrary to the context nor does the language of the text contradict the events of history. The misinterpretations of false teachers and the misapplications of others arise from the anachronisms of assigning these events to the wrong periods of time, by referring them to future centuries, rather than applying the signs to the impending events of the time.
The correlation in the symbolic arrangement of the contents, without the historical gaps and the fragmentary dislocations of the future theories identify them with the current history then transpiring. The entire genius of the book justifies the conviction that it was designed for the comfort and encouragement of the early apostolic churches.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Rev 7:4-8. One or two subordinate points may be noticed before we ask who these sealed ones are. (1) There is no difficulty in determining the manner in which the number 144,000 is obtained. First we have the number 12, that of the witnessing Church, taken from the 12 tribes of Israel; and, multiplying by 1000, we have the number taken from each tribe. This number is then multiplied by 12 for the twelve tribes, and yields 144,000. (2) In looking at the names of the tribes several remarkable circumstances at once strike the eye. (a) Dan is omitted. The reasons generally assigned for this are either that Dan had been peculiarly given to idolatry (Jdg 18:1-31), or that it had disappeared as a tribe in the days of St. John. Both reasons are unsatisfactory; the first, because the idolatry of Dan does not appear to have been so excessive as to warrant its extinction; the second, because the fact has not been ascertained, and because, even though ascertained, it would be little to the purpose; for, as in the case of the Tabernacle, the Apostle takes the ancient condition of things for his guide. A more probable explanation is to be found in the words of Gen 49:17, Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, a prophecy which, interpreted in a good sense denoting subtlety and skill in dealing with enemies, may have been the occasion of the tribes choosing a serpent for its emblem. When we remember St. Johns allusion to the old serpent in chap. Rev 12:9, and the possibility that in Rev 2:24 he has the early heretical sect of the Ophites in his eye, the supposition seems not improbable that this connection of Dan with the serpent may have been enough to make the Seer leave out that tribe from his enumeration of the twelve which constitute the Christian Church. It may be worth while also to recall to mind that, when the twelve apostles received Gods seal of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, one who had originally belonged to their number was no longer there. He had been cast out because he was a devil, and his place had been supplied in order to make up the sacred twelve. St. John may have seen in this a sufficient indication that, when the twelve tribes making up the Church were to be sealed, it was proper that one of the original number, because found unworthy, should be absent, and its place be taken by another. (b) Levi is included, and this, owing to the peculiar inheritance of Levi, was not usual in the catalogues of the tribes given us in the later books of the Old Testament. The explanation usually offered seems correct. In the Old Testament Levi was the priestly tribe, and stood apart; in the New Testament such distinctions have passed away. All Christians are priests. The distinction between ministers and people are distinctions of function only, and do not touch the personal relations of each man to God. (c) Instead of Ephraim Joseph is substituted. This seems to be due to the fact that throughout the Old Testament history Ephraim was peculiarly untheocratic, so that it became the symbol of opposition to faithful Judah (Psa 80:2; Isa 7:17; Jer 7:15). (3) The order in which the tribes are named is worthy of notice. It is possible, indeed, that because of chap. Rev 5:5 Judah may come first, and that Benjamin, as the youngest, may with propriety be last. Beyond this it seems as if nothing can be said. The tribes are not mentioned either in the order of the birth of the sons of Jacob, or of any pre-eminence we may suppose to belong to the children of his wives over those of his maidservants; nor is their order that of the lists presented to us in Eze 48:1-27; Eze 48:31-34.
We are now prepared for the further and more important inquiry, Whom do the 144,000 represent? Is it simply Jewish Christians? and, it not, Is it a select number out of the Christian community, or the whole of that community itself? These two inquiries may be taken together, and the following considerations will supply the answer:
1. According to the analogy of the Apocalypse, in which Jewish terms are christianised and heightened in their meaning, the word Israel must be understood not of Jewish only but of all Christians. Such is also the lesson taught by the strain of the New Testament generally (Rom 2:28-29; Rom 9:6-7; Gal 6:16; Php 3:3). 2. The number 144,000 is a complete numberthe number of the Church (not of Israel in its more limited sense) multiplied by twelve, and then taken a thousandfold. Christians so numbered can hardly be Jewish believers alone, but must be the Church of Christ in its widest extent and final comprehensiveness. 3. There is no limitation of the 144,000 in the description given of them in the third verse of the chapter, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we shall have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads. These words seem to imply that all the servants of God, and not merely a select portion, were to be sealed, just as the whole earth, and not a part of it only, was to be left unhurt 4. In the fourteenth chapter of this book we have again the 144,000 brought before us, and there the vision follows the description of the enemies of Christ, as these enemies have reference not to any one portion of the Church but to it all, while it precedes that harvest and vintage of the earth which are to be wide as the whole world in their effects. 5. In chap. Rev 14:1 the 144,000 standing with the Lamb upon Mount Zion are spoken of as having His Fathers name written on their foreheads; and in chap. Rev 22:4 this trait marks all the inhabitants of the New Jerusalemand they shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. 6. The changes made in the tribes as here given, although the grounds of them may not be very clear, indicate in part at least that we are not to think of the literal Israel, and thus strengthen the argument. 7. In chap. Rev 21:12 the twelve tribes evidently include all believers. 8. There is another marking spoken of in various passages of this book, that by Satan of his own (chaps, Rev 13:16-17, Rev 14:9, Rev 16:2, Rev 19:20, Rev 20:4), and no one acquainted with the style of St. John will doubt that this marking is the direct antithesis of the sealing by God. A comparison of the several passages referred to will also show that in both cases a sealing or marking on the forehead is spoken of. Now it will not be denied that the mark of the beast is imprinted upon all his servants, and the contrast requires that the seal of God should be equally imprinted upon all His people. 9. The plagues that are to come threaten all, Gentile as well as Jew: the sealing must in like manner protect all believers. 10. The next following vision has its scene laid in heaven, not on earth; so that, if Gentile Christians are not included among the tribes of Israel, they are nowhere spoken of as sealed. We conclude, therefore, that we have before us neither Jewish Christians in particular, nor a select portion out of the whole Christian Church. To the Church of God in every age and land the sealing is applied, and in it there is neither Jew nor Gentile; all its members are one in Christ Jesus.
A second important question meets us, At what time does the sealing take place? The answer is involved in what has been said of its comprehensiveness. If the 144,000 are the whole Church of God, then the sealing goes on during all the Churchs history. Through all the period of their earthly struggle God has been preserving and sealing His own. The vision has relation to no particular or limited period.
Another vision follows.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Observe here, 1. That the true church is represented in this book by the name of the Jews, and the false church by the Gentiles; so that the tribes of the children of Israel is to be understood the whole universal church of sincere and serious Christians, all that profess and practice the faith of Abraham, and so are his spiritual seed.
Note, 2. That these hundred forty and four thousand are particularly mentioned, Rev 14:1 as the pure virgin church, distinguished from the adulterers; this number then comprehends all such as during Antichrist’s tyranny should be kept from his delusions, of whatsoever nation they be; all that adhere to Christ against Antichrist are sealed, to preserve them from that defection wherein others would be involved.
Note, 3. The great care which Almighty God takes in a time of general apostasy, to preserve a number in all his churches from that fatal mischief, that the Catholic church may not fail: God has a number sealed: and such as are sealed shall by preserved.
Note, 4. That thought the number of God’s sealed ones be great in inself, one hundred and forty-four thousand, yet how small is it in comparison of the not sealed.
Note, 5. That as God had a number out of all nations, ranks, and conditions of men, in and throughout the whole world.
Note, 6. That the tribe of Dan is here left out; the reasons assigned for it are various; because, say some, Antichrist was to come of that tribe: but it doth not any where appear that ever Almighty God punished a people before they committed sin.
Others with more reason conceive it was the great idolatry which this tribe fell into, and continued in until the captivity, Jdg 18:30 Amo 8:14, yet we must not suppose that none of this tribe were saved, because here not mentioned; for we find Samson of this tribe, and reckoned among those worthies, whose names are recorded, By faith Samson, Heb 11:32-34.
Note, 7. That Levi, or the Levites, who had no inheritance in the earthly Canaan, but were dispersed and scattered throughout all the tribes, that they might teach the people the law of the Lord, and so could not be numbered there; yet, says the learned and pious Dr. Hammond, in Christ their portion was as good as the rest, and therefore were not omitted here. Behold here a consideration which administers much comfort to us the ministers of the gospel: though many of us have no earthly possessions, and some cut short of outward comforts, yet our title to the heavenly inheritance is good, and we shall not miss of it as the reward of our faithfulness.
Note lastly, That although Levi had the charge of all the tribes, and had the peculiar favour above all the rest to stand before God, and administer to him in holy things, yet no more are sealed of this than of the other tribes; all were teachers, but all were not sealed; all are not saved that are of the holy calling, and who may be instrumental to save others. It was a solemn speech of an ancient father, Non temere dico, sed ut affectus sum, ac ut animo sentio: Revere puto sacerdotes non multos esse qui salvi fient, et sacerdotes non multos esse qui salvi fient, et plures esse qui pereunt. With it agrees St. Paul, 1Co 9:27.
Fearing, lest having preached to others, he himself should become a cast-away.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
That the 144,000 cannot be literal, fleshly Israel becomes quite apparent when we note the tribes of Ephraim and Dan are omitted. The number is obtained by multiplying 12 x 12 x 1000. Shelly says, “Since twelve is the number for organized religion in apocalyptic literature and one thousand is the number for completeness and wholeness, this is simply a graphic way to refer to the totality of the faithful church on earth.” The church is God’s Israel today. ( Rom 2:28-29 ; Gal 6:15-16 ; Gal 3:27-29 ; Mat 19:28 ) We believe the 12,000 sealed out of every tribe is a symbol showing not one righteous one will be lost out of all God’s people. God knows all those who are his. ( 2Ti 2:19 ) There is no promise that these will not go through severe trials, but we can be sure that God will not allow those trials to reach unbearable proportions, and those who continue to love the Lord’s appearing will be crowned. ( 1Co 10:13 ; 2Ti 4:6-8 )
Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books
Rev 7:4-8. And I heard the number of them, a hundred and forty and four thousand This single passage, says the bishop of Meaux, may show the mistake of those who always expect the numbers in the Revelation to be precise and exact; for is it to be supposed, that there should be in each tribe twelve thousand believers, neither more nor fewer, to make up the total sum of one hundred and forty-four thousand? It is not by such trifles and low sense the divine oracles are to be explained. We are to observe, in the numbers of the Revelation, a certain figurative proportion which the Holy Ghost designs to point out to observation. As there were twelve patriarchs and twelve apostles, twelve became a sacred number in the synagogue and in the Christian Church. This number of twelve, first multiplied into itself, and then by one thousand, makes one hundred and forty-four thousand. The bishop sees, in the solid proportion of this square number, the unchangeableness of the truth of God and his promises. Perhaps it may mean the beauty and stability of the Christian Church, keeping to the apostolical purity of faith and worship. Of the tribe of Juda, &c. As the Church of Christ was first formed out of the Jewish Church and nation, so here the spiritual Israel is first mentioned. But the twelve tribes are not enumerated here in the same order as they are in other places of Holy Scripture. Judah hath the precedence, because from him descended the Messiah, and in this tribe the kingdom was established. Dan is entirely omitted, being the first tribe that fell into idolatry after the settlement of Israel in Canaan; and also being early reduced to a single family, which family itself seems to have been cut off in war before the time of Ezra. For in the Chronicles, where the posterity of the patriarchs is recited, Dan is wholly omitted. Ephraim also was a tribe that greatly promoted idolatry, and therefore is not mentioned by name, but the tribe is denominated that of Joseph. The Levitical ceremonies being abolished, Levi was again on a level with his brethren, and is here mentioned as a tribe instead of that of Dan. In this list the children of the bond-woman and of the free-woman are confounded together; for in Christ Jesus there is neither bond nor free.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
THE JEWS 4-8
Here we see twelve thousand of every tribe are sealed. These constitute the hundred and forty-four thousand repeatedly alluded to in these prophecies. They constitute the nucleus of the heavenly bridehood. The Jews are Gods earthly people, while the Christians are His heavenly people. Were not ten tribes lost after the deportation by Shalmanezer, as none but Judah and Benjamin returned in the Exodus of Nehemiah? There is a general misapprehension and delusion on that subject. As the ten tribes were carried into captivity a hundred and thirty-four years before Judah and Benjamin, they had been in the Chaldean Empire two hundred years at the time of the Exodus. As only fifty thousand returned to Jerusalem under Nehemiah, of course they were but a fraction of Judah and Benjamin; yet doubtless many of the ten tribes returned with them to Palestine. So the ten tribes were not lost, but they simply lost their tribehood, as they did not return in their organized tribes, but as individuals. Hence, all of this hue and cry about the lost tribes, ransacking all the world to find them, and writing vast volumes, is a piece of twaddle and nonsense. Thousands of people are now studying great books which claim to identify the lost tribes with the Anglo-Saxon race, denominating Great Britain Ephraim, and the United States Manasseh. It is all a stratagem and a hoax to flatter the English and Americans. It is an awful pity, as those nations have a great superfluity of egotism and pomposity, without these auxiliaries. Noah had three sons. Ham, in Hebrew, means black; Shem, red; and Japheth, white. The most ancient history says Noah divided his claim in the post-diluvian world among his sons, giving to Ham Africa, to Shem Asia, and Japheth Europe. The Greeks, in history, give Javan i.e., Japheth as their ancestor. Greece became the nucleus of European nations. Hence you see the Anglo-Saxons and all Europeans are Japhethites; whereas, the Jews are the descendants of Shem. Abraham is contemporary with Shem; therefore, the hypothesis which identifies the Israelites with the Anglo-Saxons is radically false.
Good Lord, deliver us from all subterranean devices, by which we would steal away the prophecies which legitimately belong to the Jews, and appropriate their promises to the Gentiles We have enough of our own. Great Mt. Olivet is literally covered from base to summit with Jewish tombs, though they have been driven from their country twelve hundred years. These bygone generations, sleeping in their graves, are the silent custodians of the Holy Land. When I walked up and down the rocky paths trodden by the Prince of Life, hither and thither over that mountain [from which we enjoy so conspicuous a view of the Holy City, I loved to stand on the spot whence He ascended up to heaven. In my visions of prophetic fulfillment, I saw Him descending in the clouds, and the sainted Jews all over Mt. Olivet and throughout Palestine leaping from their tombs with triumphant shouts to meet Him in the air. These constitute the nucleus of the glorified bridehood. Ten years ago there were only ten thousand Jews in Palestine; now there are one hundred thousand, and they are rapidly coming from all nations, through the influence of eleven distinct colonization societies, especially that of Baron Rothschild, who holds a mortgage on all Palestine, which the bankrupt Turkish Government will never be able to redeem. God expedite the day when he will close the mortgage, take possession of the country, proclaim himself king of the Jews, and call home the children of Abraham wandering in every land.
Since the conversion of Joseph Rabinowitz, a learned Jewish lawyer of Russia, and his organization of a Christian Church among the Jews, denominated Israelites of the New Covenant, they are rapidly being converted to Christianity. However, Ezekiel 37 teaches plainly, in the valley of dry bones, that they are to be gathered into Canaan in their unregenerated state. So we need not expect a general turning to God on the part of Abrahams children till after they are gathered into Palestine. The Mohammedans conquered Palestine and captured Jerusalem A.D. 637, driving the Christians out. Daniel says they will hold it twelve hundred and sixty years. 1896 minus 637 leaves 1259. Hence you see, according to the prophecies, the Mohammedan power in Palestine will fall in 1897. A thousand auspicious omens this day prognosticate the speedy fall of Turkdom in the Holy Land. When I was there last summer, all nationalities were on the constant lookout for the fall of the Turkish power. Moslem prophecies constantly proclaimed the near approach of that notable event. Since the world has three distinct systems of chronology, it is fanatical sticklerism to be contentious about the exactitude of these dates. Still, however, they serve all practical purposes, and reveal proximately the eventful epochs of prophetical fulfillment. When the Mohammedan power falls in Palestine, there is no alternative but for the Holy Land to pass into Christendom. Who shall get it? The French are there in great power, rapidly building magnificent edifices, and exceedingly anxious for that country. The Russians are there in still greater power, pouring out millions of money to build religious and philanthropic institutions throughout the Holy Land. They are determined to have it. Peter the Great prophesied that they were to possess Jerusalem and the Holy Land. The English are there in rapidly increasing power, especially since they took Egypt from the Turkish Pasha. As England is Protestant, France Catholic, and Russia Greek, I am exceedingly hopeful the Holy Land will pass into the British Empire. This becomes more than probable since Baron Rothschild, a son of Abraham, an officer in the British Government, the richest man in the world, holds a mortgage on all that country. What has he to do but to close his mortgage and take possession of the Holy Land in the name of the British Government? I am expecting every day to hear that the Turks are driven out of Palestine. Though the ruling class, they are only one sixteenth of the present population. The moment Turkdom falls, Jerusalem and the Holy Land pass into Christendom. Then that country will be turned over to the Jews, its rightful owners, all other claimants being usurpers and robbers. This notable event will be a sunburst on the Christian world. Especially after the Jews return will evangelistic agencies be utilized to their utmost vigor for their conversion to Christ. That country is still, though terribly abused, pauperized and beggarized by Mohammedan misrule, intrinsically the garden-spot of the globe. It consists of inexhaustible beds of calcium and aluminum, the great fertilizers of the earth. It is paradoxically destitute of the sterilizing elements. Hence, it is a land of incalculable and inexhaustible fertility; besides, it is everywhere prolific of the most valuable, delicious tropical fruits. Under Jewish industry and enterprise, it will again speedily flow with milk and honey, and abound in corn and wine.
The Jewish people are a constant miracle in the eyes of all nations. While all their ancient contemporaries have long ago sunk into oblivion, and even their memories perished, the Jews, exiled to the ends of the earth, persecuted and slaughtered indiscriminately by all the prominent nations of the globe, driven from their own country, have found not an inch of territory on which to rest their weary feet. Yet they have outstripped all nations in the accumulation of wealth, and this day stand at the head of the financial world. When I traveled in Europe, Asia, and Africa, I received my money from Jewish bankers. They also stand at the front of the learned world, excelling in the time-honored universities of the globe. In many nations they excel in law and journalism. In every land the hand of God is on them, preparing them for the metropolitanship of the world. In the good time coming, when the nations shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning-hooks, and learn war no more, how convenient it will be to carry all international controversies to Jerusalem and refer them to committees of sanctified Jews, who are perfectly posted in the languages, laws, and finances of the different nations! They will constitute the international court to which all important matters will be referred by the nations of the earth.
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
7:4 And I heard the number of them which were sealed: [and there were] sealed {5} an hundred [and] forty [and] four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.
(5) That is, of the Jews a number certain in itself before God, and such as may be numbered of us: for which cause also the same is here set down as certain. But of the elect who are Gentiles, the number indeed is in itself certain with God, but of us not possibly to be numbered, as God, Gen 15:5 . This is spoken with respect, when a certain number is put for one uncertain. Compare with Rev 7:9 .
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The specific references to Israel and the names of the 12 Israelite tribes strongly suggest that the nation of Israel is in view rather than the church. [Note: For a discussion of the accuracy of the number 144,000, see Christopher R. Smith, "The Tribes of Revelation 7 and the Literary Competence of John the Seer," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 38:2 (June 1995):213-18.] Most posttribulationists and amillennialists believe the 144,000 are members of "spiritual Israel," a title of theirs for the church. [Note: E.g., Mounce, p. 168; Morris, p. 175; Beasley-Murray, p. 140; Ladd, p. 114-16; Swete, p. 99; and Beale, p. 413.] Gundry called them "’orthodox’ [though unconverted] Jews who will resist the seduction of the Antichrist." [Note: Gundry, p. 82.] He believed God will supernaturally keep them from dying during the Tribulation. He also believed they will accept Jesus Christ when He returns at the Second Coming, and they will populate the millennial kingdom. The problem with this view is that these witnesses appear to be believers in Jesus Christ. Many interpreters take the number 144,000 as symbolic of all God’s servants in the Tribulation. [Note: E.g., Johnson, pp. 463 and 481; and Ladd, p. 117.]
"Though admittedly ingenious, the case for symbolism is exegetically weak. The principal reason for the view is a predisposition to make the 144,000 into a group representative of the church with which no possible numerical connection exists. No justification can be found for understanding the simple statement of fact in Rev 7:4 as a figure of speech. It is a definite number in contrast with the indefinite number of Rev 7:9. If it is taken symbolically, no number in the book can be taken literally." [Note: Thomas, Revelation 1-7, p. 474.]