Chapter 7 is an interlude between the seals of chapter 6 and the trumpets of chapter 8 that tells of the fulfillment of an event prophesied in scripture, the uniting of God’s saints, both the descendants of Jacob and the Gentiles.
John sees four angles restraining four winds ready to strike the earth (Rev. 7:1). He also sees another angle with the seal of the living God (Rev. 7:2). The winds are not to strike the earth until all who belong to God are sealed (Rev. 7:3). John hears the number of the sealed, 144,000, 12,000 from “every tribe” of the descendants of Jacob (Rev. 7:4-8). John then sees an untold number of martyrs who come out of the “great tribulation” from every tribe and nation on the earth clothed in white standing before the throne (Rev. 7:9-17).
There is substantial controversy, in Christian doctrine, over the identity of the 144,000 sealed. There is no consensus whether the number is symbolic or literal or whether it applies to ethnic Jews or to the Christian church.
The grammar and the text describing the people that compose the 144,000 are specific to the descendants of Jacob. John does not see 144,000 people sealed, he only hears the number and what the number represents. What John sees is an innumerable number of saints around the throne all of which came out of the great tribulation. The location of the text between chapters 6 and 8 suggests this sealing must occur during the opening of the seals but before the first trumpet.
It can also be assumed that the seven churches would understand the symbolism in the numbers being used. The number 144,000 does not appear in any other book of the Bible; therefore, its meaning must be derived first from the contents of the revelation and then any extrapolation of its meaning must harmonize with the text. It cannot be supposed that the number represents Jews in one verse and Gentiles in another without a clear reference to the composition of the number given by what John heard.
The number 144,000 in Revelation is the product of the numbers 12 and 1000. The number 12 when used in reference to Israel represents all Jacob’s sons, the 12s in Rev. 7, the 12 stars in Rev. 12:1, and the 12 gates of the new Jerusalem in Rev. 21:12. Twelve multiplied by 1000 represents the entirety of the noun it modifies. The symbolism of 12,000 is found throughout the Old Testament and is most pointedly seen in the book of Joshua to describe that the entire population of Ai was killed at its destruction.
25 So it was that all who fell that day, both men and women, were twelve thousand—all the people of Ai.
(Joshua 8:25 NKJV)
In Revelation 7 the number 12,000 is a metaphor for all the descendants of each son of Israel at the time of the fulfillment, not literally 12,000.
At the time of the writing of Revelation the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus would be historical fact. Yet, at that time, the genealogy of Jewish ancestry was still intact. The loss of Jewish genealogy would not occur until c. 138 CE when Roman Emperor Hadrian had all Jewish historical records destroyed, barred Jews from entering Jerusalem, rename Jerusalem to Aelia Capitolina, and replace the second Temple with a temple to the Roman god Jupiter. The seven churches would understand that the genealogy listed in Rev. 7:5-8 referred specifically to the descendants of Jacob.
The reference to “all the tribes” in the text also infers that only the descendants of Jacob are being sealed. Two possible reasons come to mind. Either the 144,000 are a select group to be distinguished by the seal or the descendants of Jacob need sealing while the Gentiles have already been sealed by the Holy Spirit.
The last portion of chapter 7 enjoys universal Christian consensus. The saints around the throne are not just the descendants of Jacob but are all the servants of the living God from every nation and peoples. The seven churches would interpret the symbolism of chapter 7 as the coming together of Jews and non-Jews into one people, one new nation (Eph. 2:11-18). To accomplish this one new nation the descendants of Jacob would need to be sealed with the same seal as the Church, the seal of the Holy Spirit.
13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,
14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.
(Ephesians 1:13-14 NKJV bold added)
30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
(Ephesians 4:30 NKJV bold added)
10 “And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.
(Zechariah 12:10 NKJV bold added)
The idea of Gentiles and Jews coming together as one body to worship the living God is not a New Testament doctrine. Isaiah foretells of the coming Messiah and His uniting Gentile and Jew into a nation of saints.
1 “I was sought by those who did not ask for Me;
I was found by those who did not seek Me.
I said, ‘Here I am, here I am,’
To a nation[people] that was not called by My name.
2 I have stretched out My hands all day long to a rebellious people[Israel],
Who walk in a way that is not good,
According to their own thoughts;
(Isaiah 65:1-2 NKJV bold and brackets added)
Isaiah prophesied that the living God would be found by the Gentiles, a people not called by His name. But, He further prophesied in the same chapter that He will also be found by descendants of Jacob who also love the living God.
8 Thus says the Lord:
“As the new wine is found in the cluster,
And one says, ‘Do not destroy it,
For a blessing is in it,’
So will I do for My servants’ sake,
That I may not destroy them all.
9 I will bring forth descendants from Jacob,
And from Judah an heir of My mountains;
My elect shall inherit it,
And My servants shall dwell there.
(Isaiah 65:8-9 NKJV bold added)
When this prophecy is fulfilled all the people of the earth will bless themselves in the living God.
16 So that he who blesses himself in the earth
Shall bless himself in the God of truth;
And he who swears in the earth
Shall swear by the God of truth;
Because the former troubles are forgotten,
And because they are hidden from My eyes.
(Isaiah 65:16 NKJV bold added)
God finishes this prophecy by telling Isaiah that this uniting of Gentile and Jews will happen in the same timeframe that the book of Revelation is speaking to.
17 “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth;
And the former shall not be remembered or come to mind.
18 But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create;
For behold, I create Jerusalem as a rejoicing,
And her people a joy.
19 I will rejoice in Jerusalem,
And joy in My people;
The voice of weeping shall no longer be heard in her,
Nor the voice of crying.
(Isaiah 65:17-19 NKJV bold added)
1 Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea.
(Revelation 21:1 NKJV bold added)
There is another hint in Revelation 7 that speaks to the time of Isaiah’s prophecy.
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:
(Revelation 7:4 NKJV bold added)
The list of the tribes sealed does not contain all the sons of Jacob as verse 4 states. Jacob’s son Dan is replaced by Joseph’s son Manasseh. The prominent explanation is that the tribe of Dan fell into unforgivable idolatry and Joseph is given a double portion. The prophet Ezekiel records far more heinous idolatry by the other tribes of Israel in and around the Temple, yet they are not excluded from the list (Eze. 8:1-18). Commentary on the replacement of Dan by Manasseh has not explored the significance of the replacement.
Jacob, Dan’s father, prophesied that Dan, the first of Jacob’s sons to be born from one of his concubines, was to be treated as equal to his sons from his wives (Gen. 49:16-18). From Dan would come one of the most renown judges of Israel, Samson, who destroyed thousands of unsuspecting Baal worshipers in a manor symbolized by the hidden snake of Genesis 49:17.
Dan was given his name by his foster mother Rachel when she proclaimed that God had heard her voice and judged her case by giving her a son through Bilhah, her maidservant. The name Dan means judged or judgment and has the connotation, in Biblical use, that the judgment is found in favor of the one pleading their case.
Joseph’s first son came after many years of hardship. He named him Manasseh meaning “caused me to forget”. Joseph proclaimed that with the birth of Manasseh God had caused him to forget all the trouble his brothers had brought on him (Gen. 41:51).
The sealing of the 144,000 along with switching the name of Dan with Manasseh symbolizes the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy in the latter-days when the faithful of Jacob’s descendants accept Jesus as the Messiah. God will judge in their favor and forget the troubles they have caused Him when they realize Jesus, the only begotten son of God Almighty, is the Messiah.
Because the former troubles are forgotten,
And because they[the troubles] are hidden from My eyes.
(Isaiah 65:16 NKJV brackets added)
The symbolism of Israel accepting Jesus as the Messiah is repeated in Revelation 12 where the nation of Israel is represented by a woman with a garland of 12 stars on her head and the sun and the moon at her feet. The sun and moon represent Jacob and Rachel and the stars represent Jacob’s sons (Gen. 37:9-10). The woman, representing Israel, gives birth to the One who will rule all nations with a rod of iron, Jesus the Messiah. The newborn is caught up to heaven immediately and thus preventing the dragon from taking the child. These events take place not at the first advent of Jesus but at the time Satan, the dragon, is cast out of heaven (Rev. 12:3-9). A miraculous acceptance of Jesus as the Messiah by the Jews will occur in the latter-days with an outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the descendants of Jacob as symbolized by the sealing of the 144,000 (Zech. 12:10).
The hypothesis that the number 144,000 is symbolic may seem a stretch until the number of the beast is considered. All commenters on Christian eschatology accept that the number of the beast, 666, represents his dominion and not that there are just 666 followers sealed with his mark (Rev. 13:16-18). Satan, the great imitator, has his seal that represents the unholy trinity, the number 6, the number of man, three times, and the living God has His holy seal, a greater seal, that represent the fulness of God’s chosen, the number 12 twelve thousand times.
The last scripture concerned with 144,000 appears to describe a specific number of men having God’s name on their foreheads and standing on Mount Zion with Jesus. These men are virgins who have never been corrupted by women and are redeemed from the earth. They learn a song only they can know (Rev. 14:1-5). What is notably missing is a reference to the descendants of Jacob. The discussion on the symbolism of the 144,000 standing on Mount Zion with Jesus as representing descendants of Jacob who are to inherit the promised land is lengthy and better suited to the article on Revelation 14.
9 I will bring forth descendants from Jacob,
And from Judah an heir of My mountains;
My elect shall inherit it,
And My servants shall dwell there.
(Isaiah 65:9 NKJV)
The number 144,000 represents the descendants of Jacob at the time of the fulfillment of the revelation in both chapters.
The beauty of Revelation 7 is the assurance that all God’s saints will be united under the Messiah prior to the blowing of the first trumpet. Someday the Jews will realize that they have access to the Holy of Holies through Jesus (Heb. 10:19-25), the Messiah, and it will unite all God’s saints in peace through the seal of the Holy Spirit.
14 For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation,
15 having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace,
16 and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.
17 And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near.
18 For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.
(Ephesians 2:14-18 NKJV bold added)
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