Are the 144,000 and Great Multitude Two Different Groups or Two Ways of Describing the Same End-Time People of God? (Interlude 5)

A surface reading of Revelation chapter seven suggests that the two groups are totally different. The 144,000 is a specific number of Jews made up of a specific number from each of the twelve tribes (7:4-8). The Great Multitude, on the other hand, is an innumerable collection of Gentiles from every nation, tribe, people and language (7:9). The 144,000 is also called “first fruits” in 14:4, implying that there is a second group like them in some way. But closer reading of these texts militates against those initial impressions.

First of all, the terms used for God’s end-time people are often interchangeable in Revelation. God’s people are not only called 144,000 and great multitude, they are also called remnant (12:17), saints (14:12), those who keep their garments (16:15) and the called, chosen and faithful followers of the Lamb (17:14). And several of these names are explicitly interchangeable. Two examples. 1) God’s people are called “remnant” in 12:17, then 144,000 in 14:1. But 14:1 alludes to Joel 2:32, where the same group is called “remnant.” The two groups have different names in Revelation but are the same end-time group. 2) The 144,000 of chapter 14 are then called “saints” in 14:12. So remnant, 144,000 and the saints are different ways of describing the same end-time group.

Second, John never sees the 144,000, he hears the number (7:4). But after hearing the description of the 144,000 (7:4-8) he looks and sees an extremely large group that no one can number (7:9). This hearing/seeing comparison is a literary pattern throughout the book of Revelation. John hears one thing (Lion) then sees its opposite (Lamb), but the two are different ways of describing one reality (Rev. 5:5-6). He hears a voice like a trumpet, but when he looks he sees the son of man speaking to him (Rev. 1:10-12). John hears that a prostitute is sitting on many waters, but when he looks he sees a woman sitting on a scarlet beast (17:1, 3). In each case, the two images are in strong contrast, even at opposite poles (like lion and lamb), yet they are different images that described the same thing.

Third, in Revelation 14 there are two harvests, the wheat and the grapes. So when the texts speaks about the 144,000 as first fruits (Rev., 14:4), the “second fruits” are explicitly mentioned later on in the chapter. The wheat grains, representing the righteous, are the first fruits of that harvest. The grapes, on the other hand, are the second fruits or the completion of the harvest image. The 144,000 in Revelation 14, then, are not a separate group or a portion of the whole, they themselves represent the entirety of God’s end-time people.

Is the number 144,000 Literal or Symbolic? (Interlude 4)

Is the 144,000 in Revelation 7 a literal number of saved individuals at the end of time, perhaps a subgroup of the great multitude in 7:9? To take the number literally requires several assumptions. It assumes that the twelve tribes of Israel still exist in a meaningful way. It assumes that most things in Revelation should be taken as literal unless proven otherwise. It often assumes that this is a reference to Jews who come to Jesus in the final crisis of the world’s history, although some people suggest that the numbers are literal but the tribes are symbolic in some way, a distinction the text itself does not make.

I believe that a symbolic reading of the number is to be preferred for a number of reasons. First of all, the list of twelve tribes is not found in this form anywhere else in the Bible or historical experience, it is not a literal or normal list. For example, Judah is listed first, instead of Reuben. Reuben was the actual first-born of Jacob, but Judah became the leader of the family later on. Joseph (father of Ephraim and Manasseh) is listed among the twelve, but so is Manasseh, his son. To make things stranger, Joseph’s other son, Ephraim, is missing from the list. The tribe of Dan is also missing from the list while Levi, the thirteenth tribe in the Israelite national census (compare Num. 1:5-15; 13:4-15) is included. They are also not listed in birth order (Gen. 49:3-28). So a symbolic reading of the tribes is clearly indicated, which would imply that the number is also symbolic.

Second, Revelation 1:1 indicates, right at the start of Revelation, that the whole book of Revelation was “signified” (KJV, Greek: esêmanen, often translated “made known”). The Greek word for “signified” represents symbolic language that refers to the future. See the comments on Revelation 1:1 in my Facebook commentary on Revelation. So Revelation is different from the rest of the Bible. Generally, you take the Bible at face value unless it is obvious that a symbol is intended. In Revelation you are expected to do the opposite. The best way to approach the text of Revelation is to treat everything as a symbol, unless it is obvious that a literal meaning is intended. This applies also to the number in Revelation 7:4-8. A parallel to the 144,000 is the 200,000,000 of Revelation 9:16. A literal army that size is hard to imagine, even in today’s world.

Third, reading the tribes as literal descendants of Jacob flies in the face of the fact that at least ten of those tribes are essentially lost to history. The so-called “ten lost tribes” were taken captive by the Assyrians around 722 B.C. and scattered throughout the Assyrian Empire, being replaced by people from at least five other nations (1 Kings 17). By the time of the return from Babylon (539 B.C.) the identities of the ten tribes was already largely lost. While some Jews today can still trace their lineage back to Judah, Benjamin or Levi, most western Jews today trace their lineage back to European converts in the Middle Ages. The twelve tribes of Israel are largely lost to history today. For these reasons a symbolic reading or Revelation is to be preferred.

The End-Time Seal and Ephesians (Interlude 3)

When Seventh-day Adventists talk about the sealing in Revelation 7 they often refer to Ephesians 4:30, which speaks about grieving the Holy Spirit who had sealed us for the day of redemption. The sealing of Ephesians 4:30 is in the past, but it has implications for the day of redemption. Does that have a connection to Revelation 7’s seal of protection?

The context of Ephesians 4:30 is a list of moral behaviors that grieve the Spirit (Eph. 4:25 – 5:2). But there is an apocalyptic element to this list of behaviors that becomes evident upon a second or third reading. Believers are to give “no opportunity to the devil” (4:27, RSV, ESV). Instead, they are to be imitators of God (5:1). This dual reference has to do with character: the characters of God and Satan and also the characters of those who are being offered the presence of the Spirit. The references to God and Satan point to a much larger perspective than simply individual life here on this earth.

So grieving the Spirit in Ephesians is in the context of the cosmic conflict between God and Satan. The believer is invited to imitate the character of God (truth, honesty, graceful and encouraging speech, kindness, tender-heartedness, forgiveness, love, self-sacrifice) rather than the character of Satan (lying, anger, stealing, abusive speech, bitterness, hard-heartedness, slander, hatred). As is the case in the Book of Revelation, the little battles of daily character work are tied to the much bigger conflict in the universe.

Ellen White speaks of the end-time sealing as “a settling into the truth, both intellectually and spiritually, so that they cannot be moved.” Last-day Events, page 219. This statement ties the exegesis of Ephesians 4 together with that of Revelation 7. For her the end-time protection for the people of God is more spiritual than physical. The sealing represents a solidification of one’s commitment to God to the point where they would rather die than choose to sin (Rev. 12:11). This is the faith of the martyrs. This is the faith that will secure one’s standing with God in the final crisis. Those who are sealed will be safe to save, safe to receive eternal life in a cleansed and secure universe. They will also be protected against Satan’s spiritual assaults at the end of time.

The Meaning of Seals and Sealing in Rev 7 (Interlude 2)

Chapter seven is inserted parenthetically between the sixth (Rev. 6:12-17) and seventh (8:1) seals. Chapter six climaxes with the opponents of God calling on the rocks and mountains to hide them from the face of God and the wrath of the Lamb (6:15-16). These opponents then close with the poignant statement, “For the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” Rev. 6:17, NRSV. That question is answered in chapter seven with the appearance of two groups, the 144,000 (Rev. 7:4-8) and the Great Multitude (7:9-14). The keys to surviving the calamities that accompany the Second Coming, are being sealed (7:1-3), saved by God (7:10) and having one’s robes washed in the blood of the Lamb (7:14). The end result of the final events is a people who are continually before the throne of God, serving Him in His temple (7:15). The purpose of Revelation 7 within its larger context is to identify what God’s people will be like just before the Second Coming.

In the ancient world, sealing a book had two main purposes. One sealed a book to conceal its contents from view (Isa. 29:11; Rev. 10:4) or to validate the contents as being authentic or official (1 Kgs. 21:8; Esth. 8:8; Jer. 32:44). Concealment seems to be the basic purpose of sealing the book in Revelation 5. The book doesn’t need a seal of validation, it was already validated by being in God’s possession. The purpose of breaking the seals and opening the book would be to bring its contents into view.

A more symbolic use of the word sealing can be found when you are talking about people. Sealing a person could be a sign of ownership (Exod. 21:2-6; Eph. 1:13; 4:30; 2 Tim. 2:19; Rev. 14:1) or a sign of protection (Ezek. 9:4-6). In early Judaism sealing was associated with circumcision. In Second-Century Christianity, sealing was associated with baptism. So the sealing of people by God would be a sign that they belong to God (Eph. 1:13; 4:30; 2 Tim. 2:19; Rev. 9:4), and that God knows the ones who belong to Him. In a spiritual sense, sealing validates where a person stands with God.

But the sealing of Revelation 7 is different from that of Ephesians, Second Timothy, or even Revelation 9. The sealing of Revelation 7 is not primarily about evangelism, the people being sealed are already “servants of God” (Rev. 7:3). That means that they are already sealed in the sense of being owned and validated by God. In Revelation 7 the people of God (sealed in the first sense) are sealed again as a protection against the calamities that accompany the End-Time (Rev. 6:15 – 7:3). So the usage of sealing in Revelation 7 seems to be different from the meaning in the rest of the New Testament. As such, it is a play on words here, used in relation to a book in chapters five and six and used in relation to people in chapter seven. Sealing conceals in chapter five and protects in chapter seven.

The 144,000 and the Great Multitude (Interlude 1)

Back to our series on the theology of Revelation. This blog begins a series on the interlude between the sixth and seventh seals, chapter seven.

Chapter seven functions as an interlude between the sixth and seventh seal. The chapter and verse designations in our English Bibles were not original, but were added many centuries after the Bible was written. So the division between chapters six and seven may mask the fact that chapter seven is part of the sixth seal. In the context of the very final events of earth’s history (Rev. 6:15-17) a crucial question is asked and is left dangling at the “end” of the chapter. The question of Revelation 6:17 is: “Who will be able to stand at the second coming of Jesus?” Chapter seven offers a two-part answer to that question. The ones who will be able to stand when Jesus returns are the 144,000 sealed ones (Rev. 7:1-8) and the Great Multitude in white robes (Rev. 7:9-14). Both groups represent the end-time people of God who will make it through the challenging events of the End-time.

Careful examination of chapter seven will lead us to address a number of themes:

1. The Meaning of Seals and Sealing. Documents are sealed to conceal or validate their contents. People are sealed as a sign of ownership or for protection.
2. Eph. 4:30 and the Cosmic Conflict. In context, the grieving of the Spirit in one’s own life is a localized version of the cosmic conflict.
3. Is the number 144,000 Literal or Symbolic? This is a controverted question, but evidence in the text leads me to believe that the number should be taken symbolically, and this will be detailed in a later blog.
4. Are the 144,000 and Great Multitude Two Different Groups or Two Ways of Describing the Same End-Time People of God? This question is also controverted and will be addressed in a later blog.
5. Rom. 3:19-23 and the Meaning of “Without Fault” (Rev. 14:5). The 144,000 are described in Revelation 14 as “without fault.” What exactly is that supposed to mean? I will make reference to Romans 3 to argue against an absolute perfection interpretation of “without fault.” Stay tune for blogs that follow this one.
6. Other Issues Concerning the 144,000. The picture of the 144,000 raises many practical questions. To what degree is God responsible for the suffering and violence in today’s world? What are we supposed to make of the military imagery in Revelation 7:1-8? What is the new song that only the 144,000 can sing (Rev. 14:3)? Stay tuned.

Waco and My Family

In spite of many differences, Koresh’s free-wheeling use of proof-texts from the Bible, interspersed with quotations from Ellen White, mean he was a bit more Adventist than most Adventists would like. The Branch Davidians kept the Sabbath, were vegetarians, abstained from tobacco, alcohol and most drugs, were constantly talking about Bible prophecy, and believed that the King James Bible was the only true and authoritative version. The Branch Davidians were culturally very similar to the most conservative of Adventists.

This came home powerfully to me when my family and I spent two weeks in New York City in 1999. As a family we stayed in a small apartment behind and above my childhood church, now called Church of the Advent Hope, in Manhattan. One evening the kids (12, 14 and 17 at the time) got a little bored, so I went down the street and rented the documentary “Waco: Rules of Engagement.” I had seen it at a scholarly conference (where I met James Tabor) some time before and thought they would find it interesting. The documentary includes footage of both federal attacks and also video from inside the compound between the two attacks (February 28 and April 19).

My children were not easily frightened by videos, but this documentary completely traumatized them. They couldn’t sleep the whole night afterward. When I questioned them about it later, they emphasized several things. The Davidians inside the compound talked and acted so “Adventist.” As children in Sabbath School they had been taught that the end-time persecution was coming, and it would affect them personally. To them the video was evidence that what they had been taught was beginning to happen. So when my children saw the charred bodies of Davidian children, they identified very strongly with them and feared that the end-time persecution was about to happen. Koresh in many ways deviated strongly from Adventism, but the similarities are troubling. While commitment and faithfulness are important things, in an end-time context they can be carried too far.

Eschatology and the Last Day Prophet

Eschatology and the Last Day Prophet

As time passed after Waco, I learned more about the theology of David Koresh. Koresh did not have much formal training in the Bible, but he had the ability to memorize large portions of the Bible and to explain in a convincing manner texts that puzzled most people, like the Seals and Trumpets of Revelation and chapter 11 of the book of Daniel. Koresh was particularly fascinated by the seven seals of Revelation. In many ways he was a man of contradictions. He could enforce strict dietary rules on his community, but break them on a whim. He could be lovable one moment and scary the next. He was funny sometimes and deadly serious at other times. He was very spiritual much of the time but could be quite carnal at other times. This led some to call him “the sinful Messiah.”

Koresh did not believe that he was Jesus Christ re-incarnated, as many have come to think, but he believed he was the end-time Cyrus (Koresh) who would come from the east (Isa 45:1-4; Dan 11:44-45; Rev 16:12) and be God’s final messenger on earth. He considered himself the last in a line of such messengers as Luther, John Knox, John Wesley, Ellen White and Victor Houteff, the founder of the breakaway Adventist movement (“Shepherd’s Rod”) that spawned the Branch Davidians (see accompanying photo). He reported that on a trip to Jerusalem in 1985, God gave him a vision of seven angels anointing him (the biblical Cyrus was God’s anointed messenger [Isa 45:1] as the last living prophet on earth. The Bible, in his view, was full of clues as to just when and how Jesus would return and how His people were to prepare. End-time salvation would come from believing Koresh’s message regarding the seven seals of Revelation (Rev 6:1 – 8:1), which he considered the last message to a lost world. The practical aspect of the message was to “endure to the end, no matter what the cost” (Matt 10:22), and so find end-time salvation. He was raising up an exclusive end-time people who would become God’s sole channel of salvation. They were the bearers of “present truth.”

As God’s last-day prophet, he anticipated a violent, apocalyptic end to his life. Death was not something he feared, he believed it was part of the path God had laid out for him. His death would come at the hands of end-time “Babylon” (Rev 17:1-5). He saw that Babylon everywhere; in mainstream religion, the US government, and even in his former spiritual home, the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Apparently his view of God allowed him to believe that taking up arms to defend “the truth” was in harmony with God’s plan for the end of time. In this belief he deviated greatly from the end-time convictions of Seventh-day Adventists, who have been largely pacifist from the beginning. SDAs believe that deliverance in the end-time will not come from guns, but from direct deliverance by God.

25 Years After Waco: My Own Personal “Near-Miss”

About a year ago I got my first chance to actually visit the site of the Waco tragedy that occurred 25 years ago next month. I interrupt a series of blogs on the theology of Revelation to repost and rewrite (as needed) a series of blogs that I did for a different context (the war with ISIS) a few years ago. In this series I share my own recollections and regrets about what might or might not have happened if I had been more involved at the time.

On February 28, 1993, scores of federal agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms approached the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas. Their mission was to serve a search and arrest (to arrest Vernon Howell, aka David Koresh) warrant on weapons charges due to the large amount of weapons the Branch Davidians had accumulated. While the ATF would have preferred to arrest Koresh outside the compound, they were incorrectly told that he rarely left it. Surprise was lost when a mailman tipped off Koresh that the raid was coming. The Branch Davidians were armed and in defensive positions when the federal agents arrived around 9:45 AM. It isn’t clear whether the Branch Davidians or the federal agents fired first, it is likely an accidental discharge on one side or the other triggered the shooting on both sides. A cease-fire was arranged a couple of hours later (in part because the federal agents were running out of ammunition), but by that time five Branch Davidians were dead (another was shot and killed trying to enter the compound that evening) and the ATF had suffered four dead and sixteen wounded.

The incident brought the Branch Davidians and their Seventh-day Adventist “cousins” into the international spotlight. In the course of the siege and after its tragic conclusion on April 19, 1993, I was contacted by the BBC, CNN, ABC and NBC to answer questions about the situation. The roughest question came from a BBC reporter, “What is it about Seventh-day Adventists that breeds these kinds of people?” But the most disturbing phone call of all came in early March from a fellow Adventist, Dan Serns, at the Texas Conference. He told me that the FBI was looking for an Adventist scholar familiar with how Adventists think about the book of Revelation and the End-times to help in the negotiations with Koresh. To be honest, I wanted nothing to do with the situation at the time, yet I felt that it would be wrong for me to ignore the request. I took the FBI number I was given and gave my contact information to Serns for them to call if they wanted to.

I called the FBI number three times but no one picked up. In retrospect I think my lack of enthusiasm for the potential assignment caused me not to try too hard to reach the federal authorities. As far as I know, the FBI never attempted to call. I wonder what would have happened had I tried a little harder. The role that I might have played was offered to James D. Tabor, a religious scholar at the University of North Carolina (Charlotte) and J. Philip Arnold, a religion scholar from Houston, Texas. From what I have seen in the media and my one meeting with Tabor six years later, they seem to have been good choices. They warned the federal officials that the harsh siege tactics they were using would only encourage the Branch Davidians to think this was a truly apocalyptic event with cosmic implications. The Davidians’ beliefs were sincerely held and they were willing to die for them. I understand that these scholars’ interpretations were convincing enough that Koresh was willing to leave the compound. But in the end, the advice to federal officials appears to have been ignored (one possible reason is that no arrest could legally occur until the search verified illegal guns on the premises– so the compound had to be entered and searched first somehow). The final assault began before the date Koresh had agreed to leave. The siege ended tragically on April 19 with the death of some 75 Branch Davidians when a fire broke out during the final assault using Bradley fighting vehicles (essentially tanks). Among the victims were 21 children.

I still wonder if I could have made a difference. Given the fact that Tabor and Arnold gave sound advice which was ignored anyway suggests it wouldn’t have mattered, but. . .

The “Souls Under the Altar” (Rev. 6:9-11) and the State of the Dead (Seals 5)

Some readers take this passage literally and assume it proves that the “souls under the altar” are conscious after death. But such a view is contrary to many other texts, such as Genesis 2:7, Ecclesiastes 9:5 and 12:7. Not only that, it is contrary to the whole biblical perspective on human nature. Human beings in the biblical concept are not dual beings, with a mortal, physical body and an immortal, immaterial soul. They are unified wholes. In the Hebrew understanding, there is no consciousness apart from a body and no afterlife without a bodily resurrection. In Hebrew thinking, the body is like the hardware of a computer and the “spirit” that returns to God (Eccl. 12:7) is like the software that God installed in the body at creation (Gen. 2:7). As with computers, the software is critical but does not “run” apart from the hardware. So the Hebrews saw human beings are unified wholes.

If Revelation 6:9-11 is taken literally, it contradicts the view of human nature taken up in the rest of the Bible. But this text is clearly symbolic, echoing the story of Cain and Abel (Gen. 4:10-11) and the Altar of Burnt Offering in the Hebrew sanctuary, which is the only object in the sanctuary where anything happens at the base (Lev. 5:9).

The souls under the altar have been martyred (“slain,” KJV, NIV) for their faithfulness to God’s Word. In Hebrew thinking, the blood represents the life of the one whose blood is shed (Lev 17:11-14). Referring to the martyrs, Revelation 16:6 tells us that their blood was “poured out” (an allusion to what happened at the base of the altar in the sanctuary) by “the inhabitants of the earth” (a phrase consistently applied to the wicked in Revelation). What is the relationship of martyrdom to the sanctuary service? Jesus predicted in John 16:2 that those persecute His followers would think that they are offering “sacrificial service” (Greek: latreian) to God.

So the souls under the altar are not in a disembodied state in heaven. The Altar of Burnt Offering represents the cross of Christ and the persecution of His believers on earth. The martyrs only come to life again at the beginning of the millennium (Rev. 20:4). As was the case with the blood of Abel, the martyrs are depicted as on earth, not in heaven. The crying out of the blood is a metaphorical way of saying that the things done to them are held in remembrance by God until their resurrection at the Second Coming of Jesus (1 Thess. 4:16).

The Seals and the People of God (Seals 4)

The judgments of the seven trumpets clearly fall on the wicked (Rev. 9:4, 20-21), those who have no interest in the gospel and live their lives in rebellion against God and hostility toward those who serve Him. The negative judgments of the seven seals, on the other hand, fall on those who have heard the gospel, may even profess is, but are ultimately found to be in opposition to true faith, and the teachings of the Bible. Their faith in the end is portrayed as sinking into a diseased and dying state. But God has not, at the point of the four horsemen, given up on them. There is still hope.

In the book of Revelation, Satan’s kingdom is described as having three parts (16:13, 19). In light of that, it makes sense that the judgments of the trumpets fall on thirds of the earth (Rev. 8:7-12). The trumpets affect portions of Satan’s kingdom throughout history since the time of Christ. In contrast with the trumpets, the seven seals concern “fourths” of the earth (Rev. 6:8). If three parts belong to the kingdom of Satan, the fourth part would be the people of God. Thus we see the white horse of the gospel in contrast with the red, black and pale horses of increasing opposition to God.

Just as the curses of the covenant in the Old Testament fell on the people of God (Lev. 26:21-26; Deut. 29:15-68), so do the curses of the New Testament covenant. The difference is that Israel in the New Testament is not determined in ethnic or geographical terms, it is determined in relation to Jesus Christ. Just as Jesus chose twelve disciples to follow Him, all who are in genuine relationship with Jesus belong to His New Israel (Matt. 19:28-30). The positive and negative judgments of the four horsemen, recall a passage in the message to Laodicea; those who follow Jesus in name only He rebukes and chastens (Rev. 3:20) for their sake.