144K

Revelation 14
The Lamb and the 144,000
1Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads.
2And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of rushing waters and like a loud peal of thunder. The sound I heard was like that of harpists playing their harps.
3And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth.
4These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they kept themselves pure. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were purchased from among men and offered as firstfruits to God and the Lamb.
5No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless.

Dissecting the book of Revelation ~ peering into the guts of it ~ can be like a sport. It can be very rewarding and equally frustrating. I have been processing this book for almost 40 years. It may be one of the single most influential writings of all time. And it wasn't unanimously accepted into the Bible canon.

I believe it definitely belongs there: but it is like a delicacy, it should be savoured with respect and even awe. Crackpots and psychos have run off with it and created misery and mayhem. It is a book that strangely invites the weird and wacky to exploit its fearsome images.

Above is an enigmatic passage that has invited many varied interpretations. At the core of the vision is this very precise number, 144K. It is a number that immediately divulges the obvious multiplication of 12, a number that symbolizes congregation in the Bible. There were 12 patriarchs over the tribes of Israel and there were 12 apostles chosen to birth the seminal church. Why twelve in both cases?

The most literal, futuristic interpreters of this passage say that there will be precisely 144,000 Jewish evangelists declaring the gospel to the world just before Jesus returns.
According to Revelation 7, it sounds like these are "sealed" Jews: 12,000 from each tribe. The rest of the chapter describes a "multitude no man can number" of worshippers of the Lamb of God (Jesus).

Much of the Apocalypse of John is, however, symbolic and metaphor-drenched. It is a vision that actually resists literalism as the correct approach to plumbing its depths. And its symbolism relates well to the time it was written (varied estimates say it was penned between 60AD and 95AD). However it is to be understood, it is a book of drama and pageant that is highly controversial, and it is about revealing the end of the story of human (some say only Jewish) history that culminates in the complete revelation of the Messiah.

To me, there are clues within the immediate text that identify this congregation:
1. They have the Father's name written on their foreheads.
2. They know a new song that only they have learned.
3. They were not defiled with women.
4. They follow the Lamb only.
5. They were purchased.
6. They do not lie and are blameless.

No literal or representational group of humans in history has such a pedigree. There is no order or denomination or group of saints that could claim to fit these impossible standards ~ especially number 6. There are no blameless and utterly true human beings. The best of us have sinned. Even the apostle Paul confessed to the evil that was resident with him and that he was "chiefest of sinners."

The only way we can fit any group of people into these criteria is through faith. That is, this is a symbolic representation of the historical assembly of believers through history, from Adam through Abraham to the last Christian standing when the dust settles. Who is sealed? Who sings a unique song of worship? Who is considered virginal by God? What group follows only the Lamb? What people can be considered guileless and blameless in the court of history? The obvious answer: no one.

The key is that these were "purchased." They didn't earn this status. These are the multitudes who through history cleaved to faith in the one who died for them. Some saw him by revelation as yet to be introduced ~ they preceded Jesus in history ~ like David, Elijah, the prophets. And the rest of us know who He was by revelation, when our eyes are opened to the meaning of the cross. From that day in our lives forward, we follow Him everywhere.

There may be more to this: I don't know. But that is the bottom line here. That is what is readily visible in scanning this passage. And that is enough. And how beautiful it is.