144,000 Saved
"Then 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." (Revelation 14:1 - New International Version)
Most commentators believe that Mount Zion in this passage refers to heaven. However, there are several problems with this interpretation. First, of the twenty three times that Mount Zion is mentioned in the Bible, only one refers to heaven, all others refer to Jerusalem. Second, in verse two, John hears a voice from heaven. If Mount Zion is in heaven, then how could this voice come from heaven? Third, at the second coming of Christ to rule, there will be many saved Jews on earth and many others who will be ready to immediately accept him. It makes sense that these 144,000 Jewish believers will be witnessing to their fellow Jews and others, just before the return of Christ at the end of the Tribulation.
Taking this verse literally, it would teach that after the seventh trumpet and the rapture, before God's wrath is poured out, Jesus appears in Jerusalem to the 144,000 Jews who had been sealed by God against death. Like the Apostle Paul, they are converted when they see Jesus. He commissions them to preach the Gospel during the final weeks of the Tribulation.
Most commentators believe that Mount Zion in this passage refers to heaven. However, there are several problems with this interpretation. First, of the twenty three times that Mount Zion is mentioned in the Bible, only one refers to heaven, all others refer to Jerusalem. Second, in verse two, John hears a voice from heaven. If Mount Zion is in heaven, then how could this voice come from heaven? Third, at the second coming of Christ to rule, there will be many saved Jews on earth and many others who will be ready to immediately accept him. It makes sense that these 144,000 Jewish believers will be witnessing to their fellow Jews and others, just before the return of Christ at the end of the Tribulation.
Taking this verse literally, it would teach that after the seventh trumpet and the rapture, before God's wrath is poured out, Jesus appears in Jerusalem to the 144,000 Jews who had been sealed by God against death. Like the Apostle Paul, they are converted when they see Jesus. He commissions them to preach the Gospel during the final weeks of the Tribulation.
posted by David Frank Wilson | 6:44 AM
2 Comments:
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If one reads the entire dictation they will note that he is referring to all people - not just the Jews.
If one takes the time and 'courage' to read the thousands of pages associated with The Poem of the Man-God, Jesus regularly points out that man is way to obsessed with literal interpretation.
His 'Zion', his 'Jerusalem', 'Bablyon' etc are metaphors to describle the Earth in total, or the people of the Earth - no distinction between race or creed.
His reason - Wisdom is more important than science. And that would certainly include meaningless details.
Tony Vass>
If we do not start with literal interpretation then we have no basis to even discuss truth. If we reject literal interpretation, then we can say that when the Bible says that something is blue; it really means that it is red. We have to start with what words mean; their literal meaning. Then we can start to think about where there might be symbolic meaning or other types of literary devices.
If Jesus does not care about meaningless details, why in Revelation chapter 7, when the 144000 are first mentioned, do we have a list of 12 tribes with the detail that 12000 are from each tribe. This seems like meaningless detail if the 144000 represent the Earth in total. I would rather be wrong accepting the Bible for what it actually says; then be wrong by teaching that it means something that it does not say. "If the simple sense makes sense; seek no other sense."
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