The 144,001

Not long ago, I received a couple of emails from a young gentleman whom I will refer to as C, and his emails were filled with what appeared to be copied or slightly reworked material taken from unidentified sources. I later determined that some the material closely resembled the writings of H.A. Ironside; but regardless of the source, it was great stuff. It dealt primarily with the book of Revelation, including the 24 elders, the 144,000, and so on.

I was delighted to see that the material supported the idea that the 24 elders represent the raptured Church, in heaven before the Tribulation begins. This is one of my personal hobby horses (see this and this), and I seldom miss an opportunity to enlighten other believers in this regard—if for no other reason than it puts a stone-cold stranglehold on the doctrine of the pre-tribulation Rapture like few other things I can think of.

As I said, some of the material also touched on the subject of the 144,000 Jewish evangelists that God seals in Revelation 7 who preach the gospel throughout the post-Rapture world. As far as the 144,000 are concerned, however, one thing in C's emails that got my attention was the fact that he was convinced that the 144,000 survive the entire Tribulation as a result of being sealed by God.

I've written about this before, but I see the 144,000 being martyred at some point after fulfilling their divinely appointed evangelistic mission (which I believe is complete by the time the seventh seal is opened).

Of course, it honestly doesn't bother me when someone disagrees with my opinion on a minor point like that. After all, C's opinion does make sense—it's not that difficult to believe that being sealed by God would ensure the 144,000 survive all the way to the end of the Tribulation, right? I suppose I could be wrong, couldn't I?

It is true, however, that whenever someone hits me with a differing opinion on a point that I have taken the time to write about (and their opinion does kinda sorta make sense), it motivates me to go back to the Word and review in detail exactly why I hold to the opinion to which I hold. After all, maybe I missed something. Maybe there's some little detail somewhere else in Scripture I failed to consider, or a different interpretation of something I overlooked.

Maybe I really am wrong!

It's happened to me before, and it will no doubt happen again. I've said it before, and I'll say it one more time:

The only people who have never been wrong about
anything in Scripture are those who don't study it.

And that means if you haven't, you don't.

So it was back to the drawing board in Revelation 7 and 14, carefully reviewing the pertinent verses concerning the 144,000 and searching for any detail I might have overlooked that would put a hairline crack in my opinion.

Or dash it to smithereens.

As I often do, I also took the time to see what other Bible teachers I respect have to say about a particular topic. One of my go-to guys in this regard is Rev. John MacArthur, and I searched his website to see if I could find out what his considered opinion is concerning the fate of the 144,000. Although I did find a sermon of his in which he teaches about the 144,000, it turns out he agrees with C. John MacArthur also sees the 144,000 surviving the entire seven-year Tribulation thanks to the fact that they are sealed by God.

This makes two: I am hard-pressed to think of a single Bible teacher with whom I am in absolute agreement on every last little detail. That's just me...I certainly have my share of flaws, but at least I strive to do my own thinking, be it right or wrong. It doesn't matter how much I may love and respect any Bible teacher—there is invariably at least one little picky thing we don't see eye to eye on. And that's fine. I am convinced that's precisely the way God intended it to be, because that helps motivate us to keep our noses to the scriptural grindstone. Prior to this, the only thing I was aware of that John MacArthur and I disagreed on was unconditional election. John is of the Calvinist persuasion, and it just so happens that I strongly disagree with the Calvinist notion that God arbitrarily chose whom He was going to save before the foundation of the world and it never had anything whatsoever to do with His foreknowledge of our free-will decision. I sincerely believe that Calvinism's doctrine of unconditional election makes a holy, just, loving God out to be none of the above. So...this makes two things.

I noticed, however, that those who believe the 144,000 survive the Tribulation seem to be making an assumption. Now, it's an easy, natural assumption to make, but it's an assumption nonetheless:

They assume that when God seals the 144,000 in Revelation 7:2–8, that seal grants them divine protection that enables them to survive the entire seven years of the Tribulation.

And it could, I agree. But the Bible doesn't actually say that—they are reading that into Scripture. No matter how much sense it may make or how right or reasonable it may seem at first blush, the simple fact remains:

Scripture. Doesn't. Say. That.

It must be assumed, which is what many people do—including the venerable John MacArthur and others.

On the other hand, the Bible doesn't come right out and specifically say that the 144,000 are martyred, either. We frequently have to study various scriptural hints and clues scattered throughout the Bible to inform our opinion on an issue...which I think most would agree is a superior option to making assumptions and reading things into Scripture.

So once again, I carefully looked over the verses in Revelation 7 and 14, and I also considered the arguments of others who see the 144,000 as surviving all the way to the end of the Tribulation. Revelation 7 and 14 notwithstanding, however, one of the reasons I am convinced the 144,000 are martyred during the Tribulation is the fact that I believe that the apostle Paul was clearly a prototype for these Jewish evangelists, and he was martyred.

In other words, the 144,000 plus Paul their prototype makes 144,001.

I wrote about this idea briefly in an article about six years ago; and as I spent some time re-reading and musing over what I had written, it still seemed just as compelling and spot on to me as it did when I wrote it. But as I pondered those few paragraphs in relation to Paul and the 144,000, the Holy Spirit began to whisper two simple words into my spirit:

Keep digging.

As He did so, it occurred to me that if I was right, there had to be something to this notion beyond the few paragraphs I devoted to it six years ago. If I was right, there just had to be more to it waiting to be unearthed.

So I broke out my shovel and got to work.

Meanwhile, back at Mount Zion...

Before I dig deeper into the idea of Paul being the prototype for the 144,000, I want to take a closer look at some of what the book of Revelation tells us about the 144,000 to see what clues we can garner as to their fate.

In chapter 7, we are introduced to the 144,000, and we learn where they come from and that they are sealed by God:

All we really learn here is that the 144,000 are given the seal of God on their foreheads, and that there are 12,000 from 12 tribes of Israel—that's about it. We don't get any obvious clues about their fate during the Tribulation.

Hold up, boys: Some people make much of the fact that in verse 3 the angels are told not to harm the wind, sea, or trees until the 144,000 are sealed, and see this as a clue that the 144,000 are destined to survive all the judgments of the Great Tribulation. Not necessarily, at least in my view. I believe the seal gives them divine protection in order to complete their mission, but that they are still destined to be martyred—as was Paul. I believe God does protect them from His own judgments on the earth, but I don't necessarily see that as exempting them from their ultimate martyrdom at the hands of the Antichrist after the completion of their mission.

Like I said, however, some people make the assumption that this seal is for the purpose of protecting the 144,000 from harm for the entire duration of the Tribulation, and their lives are preserved until the Second Coming. But again, this is stated nowhere in Scripture.

OK, now let's take a look at chapter 14, which is where things admittedly get a bit more interesting:

Some people argue that this takes place on earth, on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. That's yer Mount Zion, by golly. And since Jesus is present, it must be following the Second Coming. So, apparently we have Jesus with the 144,000 on the Temple Mount, and (somehow) they sing a new song before the four living creatures and the 24 elders, who are...uhm, in heaven. Not only that, but for reasons that are unclear, this event is described in the context of events that clearly occur in the middle of the Tribulation.

Well, with all due respect to a few of the greatest expositors of Scripture I can name, I don't buy it.

There are actually several points in this passage that people argue about, but the two primary items are "WHEN" and "WHERE." As it turns out, if we can ascertain with reasonable certainty that this event occurs (a) in heaven or (b) during the Tribulation, then we can state with equal certainty that the 144,000 are martyred during Daniel's 70th Week.

"I'll take 'WHEN' for $200, Alex!"

OK, "WHEN" it is. First of all, notice that this passage is placed at the beginning of chapter 14, and every single molecule of the surrounding context places this somewhere in the vicinity of the midpoint of the Tribulation.

To wit: We're at the start of chapter 14. What did we just see in chapter 13? The entire chapter is all about the two beasts—the Antichrist and the False Prophet, coming forth and doing their thing, with chapter 13 ending with the mark of the beast, the persecution of those who refuse it, and all that.

This is during the Tribulation.

< Insert Revelation 14:1–5 >

Now, what about what follows this passage in Revelation 14:1–5? Without missing a beat, John continues right on in verses 6–7 by describing an angel that flies around the world proclaiming the eternal gospel and warning of coming judgment.

This is during the Tribulation.

In verse 8, a second angel warns that Babylon the Great has fallen.

This is during the Tribulation.

In verses 9–12, a third angel warns the world of the horrifying fate that awaits those who take the mark of the beast.

This is during the Tribulation.

In verse 13, a voice from heaven warns that those who die from that point on are blessed, presumably because of the horrors of the bowl judgments that about to kick off.

This is during the Tribulation.

In the remainder of chapter 14, we see the grape harvest, or the destruction of those who dwell upon the earth.

This is during the Tribulation.

I'm really not trying to sound facetious, but tell me again how and why verses 1–5 got snipped out of their post-tribulational context and deposited into the context I have just described, which is obviously mid-tribulational. Explain to me once again why this passage isn't located somewhere in the general vicinity of chapters 19–21, following the Second Coming. It requires nothing less than a burst of Scripture-contorting creativity to assume verses 1–5 describe a scene that takes place after the Second Coming, and then explain why it's dropped squarely into the context of events that obviously occur during the Tribulation. And trust me, I've heard some fancy theories to that end, but none that so much as raised an eyebrow. Including John MacArthur's.

In reality, we can stop right there. That settles it. If the scene in Revelation 14:1–5 occurs during the Tribulation, which the surrounding context all but demands, then let's follow the logic:

If this scene occurs during the Tribulation, it occurs before the Second Coming. If this occurs before the Second Coming, that means the Lamb (Christ) is still in heaven. If Christ is still in heaven, that means the 144,000 are in heaven with Him. And if the 144,000 are in heaven prior to the Second Coming, that means the 144,000 have been martyred.

I don't care who sings what (which is another issue people argue about)—this hootenanny in verses 1–5 clearly occurs during the Tribulation. Did I miss anything? The conclusion is all but trivial. But there's more.

Although that alone is sufficient, it is still instructive to consider the "WHERE" question, which is also the source of a considerable number of arguments.

Although many people insist that Mount Zion only refers to the literal Temple Mount in Jerusalem, note that in the Bible it can also be a reference to God's kingdom—and that can either be...

(a) His kingdom in heaven (before the Second Coming), or
(b) His kingdom on earth (after the Second Coming).

In other words, there is also a heavenly Mount Zion. For example, in regard to (a), we have this from the writer of Hebrews:

Sorry, but that's not the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. When we are born again, we become part of God's kingdom and we "come to Mount Zion" in the spiritual sense. This is how Mount Zion is often thought of during the Church Age before the Second Coming, while believers are still stuck on earth in a body of flesh with a sin nature. But after Christ returns to earth after the Tribulation, He will rule the kingdom from Mount Zion on earth (with the assistance of legions of now perfected believers).

In regard to (b), we see references to Mount Zion on earth after the Second Coming in a couple of Old Testament prophecies concerning the Millennial Kingdom and what follows. For example, Isaiah gives us this:

The prophet Micah also speaks of the restoration of Israel in the Millennial Kingdom following the Second Coming:

These and other references look forward to Mount Zion as being the place from which the Messiah will rule during the Millennial Kingdom and beyond.

Rain check: This might be a topic for another day, but it's difficult for me to be dogmatic about whether Christ will actually rule the world during the Millennial Kingdom from the literal temple on the literal Temple Mount in the literal city of Jerusalem, or from the heavenly Mount Zion in the New Jerusalem that I believe will descend to low Earth orbit after the Second Coming. I am somewhat inclined to go with the latter simply because that's where we will be, and so it makes sense that Christ will be there also (John 14:3). In spite of that, I still think a reasonable argument can be made for both. Either way, however, I'm content to take a rain check on that one.

As I prepared to write this article, I noticed that many who insist on placing Revelation 14:1–5 after the Second Coming and see it as occurring on the literal Temple Mount in the literal city of Jerusalem do so because they seem to think this is the only possible way to interpret the words "Mount Zion," or that it must be interpreted as a reference to the literal Temple Mount in Jerusalem for some reason.

But that's the entire point: It's not and it doesn't.

The bottom line is that we are not forced to always interpret the words "Mount Zion" as the literal Temple Mount in the earthly Jerusalem. So, it is entirely reasonable to ask one simple but pivotal question in regard to Revelation 14:1–5, and it is this:

Which one seems to be in view here, heaven or earth?

Well, let's see:

The apostle John hears sounds, including the sound of harps, which seem to emanate from heaven. A song is sung before the throne (which is in heaven), and before the four living creatures (who are in heaven) and the 24 elders (who are also in heaven). They have been "redeemed out of the earth," and due to the presence of the Greek preposition apo (from, away from), some go so far as to interpret this as suggesting they are no longer on earth and are in fact in heaven.

I don't know about you, but I'm gettin' some serious heavenly vibes here. So...not to belabor the point, but it strikes me that you gotta want this to not be heaven pretty badly to place it anywhere else.

The 21,496: OK, maybe it's nothing, but this strikes me as interesting simply because the Holy Spirit is a very careful writer. Note that at least some of the 144,000 live to see the fifth trumpet judgment because they are indirectly mentioned in Revelation 9:4 when that judgment falls. Notice that the Holy Spirit says the angels are instructed to harm only "those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads." In other words, "don't let this judgment that's about to be released harm any of those Jewish evangelists." (Note that being martyred by the forces of the Antichrist for preaching the gospel is not the same as falling victim to God's cataclysmic judgments on the earth). But anyway, for some reason He doesn't refer to them as "the 144,000" here. In other words, the Holy Spirit doesn't say "harm all men except the 144,000." Hmm...could it be that by the time the fifth trumpet judgment is released, many of the 144,000 have already been martyred? Maybe at that point they are no longer the 144,000—maybe they're the 73,832 or the 21,496, or whatever. Always remember: Every word in Scripture is there for a reason and not there for a reason.

Now, as I said, I believe that the New Jerusalem will descend to low Earth orbit following the Second Coming, and Christ will rule the world in His kingdom...and you and I will play our individual roles in this.

Of course, I understand that many don't see the New Jerusalem descending to earth (Rev. 21) until after the Millennial Kingdom, primarily because John just got done describing Satan being dispatched to the lake of fire after his failed rebellion at the end of the 1,000 years and the Great White Throne Judgment in Revelation 20.

However, I am inclined to disagree because I think it is clear in chapter 20 that John is skipping ahead in time to cap off the subplot concerning the fate of Satan and all the unrighteous, and then returning to the point where he branched off the main narrative, which is a point shortly after the Second Coming. (Incidentally, this "skipping ahead in time to cap off a subplot" technique is conspicuously absent in regard to Revelation 14:1–5, so don't even waste your time with that argument.)

Incidentally, a surprising number of people are convinced that the 144,000 mentioned in Revelation 14 are a completely different group from the 144,000 mentioned in chapter 7, with most such people seeing the group in chapter 14 as the raptured Church. I've read all the arguments, and they honestly strike me as weak and unconvincing.

One example: They argue that when this group of 144,000 are referred to as virgins in Revelation 14:4, this proves they must be the Church. They point to the following verse to back up their claim:

"Only the Church is described as a virgin!" they cry. But notice that Paul refers to the Church as a virgin (singular), and doesn't include a graphic description of their behavior. Why? He doesn't need to, since it is obvious he is using the word "virgin" in a figurative sense.

But in Revelation 14:4, things are quantifiably different. Unlike the Church, this group is described as 144,000 male virgins (plural), and a graphic description of their virgin-like behavior is included. Why? Does the Holy Spirit think we're stupid—that we've forgotten what the word "virgin" means? I doubt it. I believe the Holy Spirit simply wants to make it crystal clear that He is using the word "virgins" in its literal, physical sense, and not in a figurative manner as He did in regard to the Church. Fail.

So, as you can see, even without making any comparisons to a martyred apostle Paul as the prototype of the 144,000, we can make an exceedingly strong case that they are martyred during the Tribulation.

But what about this idea of Paul being the prototype of the 144,000?

Does the apostle Paul really make it 144,001?

Parallels of the prototype

If you have read many of Paul's epistles, you know that he was a very humble man, and talked about himself in the most self-deprecating manner—especially in regard to his position as an apostle. He invariably lowered himself and placed others before him, and described himself as the least of all the apostles (but a genuine apostle nonetheless).

Near the end of his first letter to the Corinthians, he is doing precisely that:

In regard to his apostleship, notice the unusual way he refers to himself:

"The child born at the wrong time."

Paul uses the Greek word ektroma (an untimely birth; one born too soon), a word often used in reference to a miscarriage or an abortion. And many commentators have done a decent job with that. OK, so he came last; he greatly persecuted believers and met Jesus in a vision rather than in the flesh as did the other apostles. But perhaps the Holy Spirit is giving us a subtle hint about the apostle Paul. "One born too soon"?

Perhaps Paul was born 2,000 years too soon.

Note that it is Paul's patient endurance of relentless persecution and suffering for the sake of advancing the gospel that places the ultimate stamp of authenticity on his apostleship.

Paul the heretic: It is deeply grieving and utterly astonishing to me that there are actually professing believers today who regard Paul as some species of heretic and disregard his New Testament teaching as being contrary to the teachings of Christ (in ways that have yet to be made at all clear to me). So, don't hold your breath waiting for me to take back the word "professing." Listen up: To anyone who doesn't believe Paul, I say "Hey, be honest—just say 'I don't believe the Bible' and go your merry apostate way."

In the article I linked to earlier, entitled "Hidden in Plain Sight," I discuss how I am inclined to believe the 144,000 will likely be taken from the ultra-Orthodox Jews, aka the Haredim (the guys with black hats, black coats, and long, curly sideburns), possibly along with some Orthodox Jews.

I believe God is going to choose 144,000 single, male Haredim and send them out into the post-Rapture world to preach the gospel.

"Yeah, right. Hey, Bible Dude, do you have any idea how much those guys hate Jesus and those who believe He's the Messiah?! No? Well, grab a New Testament sometime and go to any street corner in Israel—when these guys show up, they will stone your Christ-loving guts out!"

Exactly! There is no group of people on earth more knowledgeable of and passionate about the Tanach (Old Testament) than the Haredim. They are exempt from military service, eschew secular activities, receive a monthly stipend from the Israeli government, and do almost nothing but attend Jewish seminaries where they study the writings of Hebrew sages and Old Testament Scripture in the original Hebrew.

Oh, and they are unmatched in their passionate, aggressive, in-your-face promulgation and defense thereof.

So, how is God going to turn these virulently
Christ-hating Jewish men into the most zealous
preachers of the gospel the world has ever seen?

Piece of cake—the same way He did Paul.

In Acts 22, we read about Saul of Tarsus, a Pharisee, on his way to Damascus with orders from the Chief Priest to arrest followers of the Way and drag them back to Jerusalem to stand trial before the Jewish religious leadership and be imprisoned or excecuted. But while on the road, he meets the risen Christ in a vision—and the next minute he falls on his face and says:

"What shall I do, Lord?"

Paul is transformed in a moment, and as soon as he recovers from his blinding vision, he marches straight into the nearest synagogue and boldly begins to preach Christ and Him crucified for the remission of sin in the face of Jews who want to kill him, and he never stopped preaching the gospel to both Jews and Gentiles until the day he was martyred for doing so.

I believe Paul's vision foreshadows what God is going to do for the 144,000. I believe Christ will appear to each and every one of them in a vision, and just like Paul, they will be radically transformed in a moment and become the boldest preachers of the gospel the world has ever seen literally overnight. And like Paul, I believe they will continue taking the gospel to the world until they are martyred for doing so.

Here are a few more parallels between the apostle Paul and the 144,000, which I believe will be taken from the ultra-Orthodox Haredim:

• Revelation 14:4 tells us the 144,000 will be unmarried, sexually pure Jewish men. So was Paul:

• If the 144,000 are in fact taken from the Haredim, they will be extremely well-versed in the Torah and zealous for God in a strict, legalistic manner. Paul was a Pharisee, and Pharisees literally had to memorize the entire Torah (the first five books of the Old Testament). The Pharisees were more or less the first-century equivalent of the Haredim in this regard:

• If the 144,000 are indeed Haredim, they will viciously hate Jesus and all the deluded heretics who deign to call Him the Messiah. Ditto for Paul:

• The 144,000 will be sealed to take the gospel all over the world and lead to a saving faith in Christ "a great multitude, which no man could number, out of every nation and of all tribes, peoples, and languages."

Acts 13–28 tell us the same thing about Paul:

This is the beginning of Paul's first missionary journey, and it certainly wouldn't be his last.

• The 144,000 will have divine protection for the duration of their ministry, and so did Paul. Here is one example taken from many:

• I am convinced the 144,000 will be martyred after the completion of their ministry, and I believe they will be beheaded, which the book of Revelation indicates will be the method of choice for executing believers during the Tribulation (Rev. 20:4).

According to early Church historians, the apostle Paul was executed by being beheaded as well. Although Scripture doesn't spell out the details for us, what we do know is that Paul was being held prisoner in Rome in about AD 64–67, and the following passage is taken from what many believe was his last letter, written to Timothy. And as you read Paul's words, it is pretty obvious that he is awaiting execution:

According to these early writings, Paul was indeed beheaded. As you may recall, the apostle Peter had earlier been crucified in Rome (upside down at his own request, since he insisted he was unworthy to be executed in the same manner as Christ), and you may be wondering why Paul was beheaded rather than crucified. According to Roman law at the time, Roman citizens were normally exempt from crucifixion. The alternative? Beheading. And it just so happens that Paul was a Roman citizen.

Huh...what a coincidence.

A note about the numbers: In my article "Hidden in Plain Sight," you will notice that I went to the effort to crunch the demographic numbers regarding the Haredim. Based on the best information I could find, I calculated that there won't be enough single, male Haredim between the ages of 18 to 60 available until the beginning of 2029. There simply aren't enough of them yet. However, if you include Orthodox Jews, many of whom are every bit as zealous for the Torah and devoted to God as the Haredim (but just don't sport the black hats, black coats, and long, curly sideburns), it means the number available had literally just passed the 144,000 mark right about the same time I wrote that article in April 2016.

Huh...what a coincidence.

As I said, however, the Holy Spirit prodded me to keep digging. He gave me the distinct sense that there was more waiting to be unearthed in regard to the parallels between Paul's circumstances and those of the 144,000, and so out came the shovel.

And of course the Holy Spirit was right: There is more.

Before we get to the final parallel, however, there's one little mix-up that needs to be dealt with.

Mistaken identity

As I mentioned at the outset, C was convinced the 144,000 survive the entire Tribulation and are ushered alive into the kingdom following the Second Coming. Although at no point did he state it in so many words, I finally figured out what the root of the problem was:

He was equating the 144,000 with the Jewish remnant.

In his mind, these two groups are one and the same. Now, I can state with certainty that anyone who conflates the 144,000 with the Jewish remnant (the harvest of the 144,000) is going to have problems making sense of certain parts of the book of Revelation, and so I feel compelled to address this.

I can think of at least three or four avenues one can take to come at this, but I decided to narrow it down to the following two points:

1. The first fruits aren't the whole crop.

Let's take a closer look at a verse we looked at earlier:

The 144,000 are called "first fruits." The phrase "first fruits" is used in Scripture a number of times in reference to several different things or groups of people. For a general definition, the following will suffice:

first fruits (pl. n.) An initial sampling of a larger group, the remainder of which is brought in or appears at a later time.

Of course, "first fruits" has an agricultural meaning, and refers to an initial sampling taken from a crop and offered to the LORD as acknowledgment of the fact that the entire crop belongs to Him. Paul refers to Christ as the "first fruits" of those who are resurrected (1 Cor. 15:23). The first believers in a certain area are referred to as "first fruits" in the sense of being the first converts in that area (1 Cor. 15:16; Rom. 16:5). And members of the Church are referred to as "first fruits" in the sense that they are the first of those who will be saved by faith in the gospel (James 1:18), since legions more will ultimately be saved after the Church is removed at the Rapture.

But when the 144,000 are referred as "first fruits," it begs the question:

The first fruits of what?

Since the 144,000 are Jewish men chosen from the 12 tribes of Israel during the Tribulation, the only answer to this question that makes a lick of sense is that they are the first fruits of all the Jews who will come to faith in their true Messiah during Daniel's 70th Week. That said, it's time for a pop quiz:

Q. What do we call the Jews who hear the message of the gospel and trust Christ for their salvation during the Tribulation?

A. The Jewish remnant.

Follow along carefully: If the 144,000 are the first fruits of all Jews who are saved during the Tribulation, then they cannot BE the entire group of Jews who are saved during the Tribulation. In other words:

The first fruits of any group
cannot be that entire group.

That's true by the definition of "first fruits." So, when someone says the 144,000 are the same as the Jewish remnant, it suggests they either (a) don't understand the meaning of "first fruits," or, what is more likely, (b) they've read Revelation 14:4 about 900 times without ever consciously considering the significance of its use of the phrase "first fruits." Or just maybe...

We need to get our terms straight: I hope I can clarify how a common term is being used here in order to clear up any potential confusion (and do it without creating more confusion). When most people (this writer included) use the term "Jewish remnant," we normally follow a common convention and use this term to refer to those Jewish people who hear the message of the gospel (presumably preached by the 144,000) and who trust Christ for their salvation during the Tribulation. Although they are subsequently pursued by the Antichrist, they are protected by God in the wilderness throughout the Great Tribulation and are ushered alive into the kingdom.

As a result, when we use the term "Jewish remnant," we're not including the 144,000. We think of the Jewish remnant as the harvest of the 144,000, and we think of the 144,000 as a separate group of Jewish men who are sealed by God for the very purpose of winning the Jewish remnant (as well as others) to Christ during the Tribulation.

So, according to this convention, the Jewish remnant and the 144,000 are two different groups with two different destinies: The 144,000 are martyred and the Jewish remnant is protected by God in the wilderness to be ushered alive into the kingdom. So, by this convention, the 144,000 are not part of the Jewish remnant, neither are they the same as the Jewish remnant.

But as I said, using the term "Jewish remnant" this way is just a common convention. According to Scripture, the 144,000 are the first fruits of all Jews saved during the Tribulation. That means, scripturally speaking, that we should indeed think of the 144,000 as part of the entire group of Jewish believers saved during that period. But according to this convention (which is used simply for clarity and convenience), we don't use or think of the term "Jewish remnant" exactly that way—we use it to mean all the Jews saved during the Tribulation minus the 144,000, who are those responsible for preaching the gospel to them after being transformed and sealed by God.

(The good news? If you're not confused by now, you never will be.)

2. The numbers don't add up.

The prophet Zechariah gives us a prophecy concerning the Jews that had a partial fulfillment in ancient times, but that many commentators believe has a yet future eschatological fulfillment in the end times—which tends to be the case for many Old Testament prophecies:

Many commentators believe the final eschatological fulfillment of this prophecy occurs during the Tribulation, when about two-thirds of the Jewish people will be slain by the Antichrist, while about one-third (who come to faith in their true Messiah) will be protected by God in the wilderness to be ushered alive into the kingdom after the Second Coming (i.e. the "Jewish remnant").

But...my inner number-cruncher. If the Jewish remnant is about one-third of the Jewish population, then how many people are we talking about?

Well, let's see. Today, there are a little over 15 million Jews in the world. That means if the Jewish remnant is going to be roughly one-third of that, then the Jewish remnant will be...oh, where is that darn calculator when I need it...

OK, that would be about 5 million. Let's plug that in and see what we've got:

144,000 ≠ 5,000,000

Houston, we have a problem.

It appears the numbers don't jive. Clearly, no matter how you jiggle it, the number of Jews who will be saved during the Tribulation and ushered into the kingdom is w-a-y more than the 144,000 who are sealed by God to take the gospel to the post-Rapture world. So the proof that these two groups are not the same is in the arithmetic.

But the number 144,000 isn't literal...it's allegorical!

When people claim a number in Scripture is only meant in an allegorical manner, the first thing to do is look at what Scripture does with it. Does it mention the number and basically leave it alone, as we might expect for a purely symbolic number, or does Scripture slice and dice it in more detail, as might be the case for a literal number?

For example, someone might presume that the seven years of the Tribulation is just an allegorical number. OK, but the Tribulation is also spoken of as being two periods 3.5 years, two periods of 42 months, two periods of 1,260 days, and one period of 2,520 days. The Holy Spirit is slapping us in the face:

"I mean seven years, you schmucks!"

So what about the 144,000? Well, what's the first thing the Holy Spirit does? He breaks that number down into 12 groups of 12,000 from 12 different, specific tribes of Israel, mentioned one by one by name. Not sounding quite so allegorical now, is it?

Yes, the book of Revelation is filled with symbology—but the Holy Spirit has ways of tipping us off when He means things in a literal manner.

But the number 12,000 isn't literal...it's allegorical!

Sigh. Yeah, and maybe when the Gospels say Jesus rose from the grave, it really means the price of matzah had gone up in the Jerusalem area.

The final parallel

I'm literally grinning as I write this, because to be honest I didn't have to dig very deep at all to unearth this last parallel between Paul and the 144,000—the Holy Spirit was kind enough to toss it to me like a can of corn. As soon as I began to read about Paul's death, a couple of things jumped out at me that I either hadn't been aware of or that had simply never occurred to me.

For example, I knew that Paul was martyred in Rome, and I knew it was in the AD 60s. I also knew that Nero was one of the Roman emperors in the AD 60s.

But I had never put two and two together.

My entire adult life, I had always blithely assumed that the Roman persecution of Christians began shortly after Christ's life and ministry. You know...the Colosseum, lions, and all that.

But that's not true.

After officially making that region of the Middle East part of the Roman Empire in AD 6–7, the Romans afforded the Jewish population a certain degree of religious autonomy, allowing them to conduct their religious affairs with minimal interference. After the conception of the Church in AD 32–33, the Romans considered Christianity to be a novel sect of Judaism and as a result afforded born-again believers basically the same religious liberty they afforded the Jews, at least as far as official policy is concerned.

In other words, when numbers of people in the region began to worship Jesus as the Son of God (and declined to worship the emperor as a deity), the Romans didn't immediately start roundin' 'em up, draggin' 'em off, and throwin' 'em to the lions as a public spectacle.

Although there was certainly no love loss between Rome and this new cult that followed some Nazarene trickster known as Christus, for the first three decades of the Church's existence Rome maintained its usual "live and let live" policy of religious tolerance.

But in the summer of AD 64, all that suddenly changed.

On the night of July 18, AD 64, a fire broke out in the vicinity of Rome's Circus Maximus, a large chariot-racing stadium located in the central part of the city. The fire burned for nine days, and by the time the smoke cleared two-thirds of the city of Rome had been destroyed.

There are a number of theories about who or what started the fire, one of which is that Emperor Nero—who had a well-deserved reputation for being vain and impulsive—arranged for it to be started because he wanted to rebuild a particular section of the city more to his liking. Such rumors started circulating even before the fire was out; and to deflect blame from himself, Nero decided to blame the already unpopular Christians in the city for the blaze. Thus began Rome's first campaign of public torture and execution of believers.

Roman historian Tacitus writes:

So Nero, who had become emperor in AD 54 at the age of 16, initiated his savage crusade of cruelty against Christians in AD 64 after falsely pinning the blame for the fire of Rome on them to deflect accusations against himself.

Don't even go there: Nero was such an exquisite type of the Antichrist that many preterists have convinced themselves that he actually was the Antichrist. I'm not going to waste my time debunking this nonsense—just be aware that there are people who actually believe it. Oh, OK...here's one: Nero committed suicide in AD 68. The Antichrist, along with the False Prophet, will be thrown alive into the lake of fire after the Second Coming (Rev. 19:20). Oops.

According to early Church historians, the apostle Paul was martyred by being beheaded in Rome between AD 64–67, and Eusebius states that it was Nero who gave the orders to execute not only Paul, but Peter as well:

But even if that detail had never been recorded, since Nero became emperor in AD 54 and ruled until he committed suicide in AD 68, whenever Paul's execution took place between AD 64–67, it would have been under Nero.

The point is this:

The apostle Paul was beheaded by a maniacal
world leader who was driven to exterminate believers.

The 144,000 will also be beheaded by a maniacal
world leader who is driven to exterminate believers.

And that would be the Antichrist, who will seek to hunt down and behead the 144,000 as one of his first priorities, and then seek to wipe out all the remaining Tribulation saints and the Jewish remnant, especially after they balk at worshiping him as God around the midpoint of the Tribulation.

Note that the real reason the Antichrist will try so desperately to exterminate the Jewish remnant (who will be protected in the wilderness during the Great Tribulation) is not because they refuse to worship him as God—that's just his excuse. The real reason is that at that point, the Antichrist will be completely controlled by Satan. And know this: As far as the Jews are concerned...

Satan doesn't want their obeisance—he wants their blood.

Satan will have but a short time to wipe out the Jews so there will be none left to call upon the name of the LORD and exhort Him to save them at the climax of the Tribulation (Lev. 26:40–42; Jer. 3:11–18; Hos. 5:15; Zech. 12:10; Matt. 23:37–39; Acts 3:19–21), thus triggering Christ's physical return to Earth in order to do just that. If Satan can get them all, God's Word will fail (or so he hopes), and he will have won the right to keep this little corner of the universe where he can "be like the Most High" and cling to the dominion over it that he usurped from Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.

Dominion that Christ won back from him on a
blood-stained cross two thousand years ago.

I love to hear the story...

I've often thought about some of the things that occur during the Tribulation, and I almost wish I could be here to see some of them with my own eyes. Things like the image of the beast, the two witnesses calling down fire from heaven, and don't forget the really scary stuff like the asteroid strike(s) of the trumpet judgments.

And although we're going to have an aerial view of it in real time, I would love to see the Second Coming of Christ to the earth from a vantage point on the ground. Wow! If those things are half as wild as I think they're going to be, they are going to be beyond mind-blowing.

But on a more personal level, one of the things I would give anything to do is meet some of the 144,000. To have a chance to attend a few of their meetings. To get to hear them preach. To have the opportunity to meet and get to know a few of them. To have the honor of going on the road with them and pitching in and lending a hand in some small way. To get to listen to some of their stories of their experiences on the evangelistic trail.

And best of all, to get to hear their testimonies!

I'd be particularly interested in hearing about how they met Christ in a vision (assuming, of course, that I'm right about how they met the Lord and were called into this final end-time ministry).

Who knows...maybe their visions are all different, or maybe they're all the same. I don't care—I would want to hear that story from every one of them I had the chance to meet. Before God, I would never tire of it—I'd be thrilled out of my socks to listen to that story 144,000 times.

Er...make that 144,001 times.

Greg Lauer — JAN '22

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