outside of heaven with us heathens

Caveman73 said...

REVELATIONS 7:4 And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.
(144,00? Hmmm You might be on the outside of heaven with us heathens Amy)

@Caveman

Much of the language of Revelations is symbolic. That is, the symbols have a spiritual meaning, beyond the literal meaning (e.g. the lamb that was slain, the seven golden lampstands, the twenty four thrones).

John heard (we note that this was something he was told, not something that he saw) that the number is 144,000. And this of the tribe of Israel (the Jews, the descendants of Jacob.) We note that there were twelve tribes of Israel. The question we ask ourselves, is this a literal number, or is there a deeper meaning. The nation of Israel divided into twelve tribes, twelve apostles. Interestingly, we note the number 144 is divisible by 12, and the result is 12. The number is 12 * 12 * 1000. We ponder whether this is a literal number that John heard, or whether this was number was a sign or symbol.

We also note that John is told that this is the number sealed from the "among the tribes of the children of Israel", the Jews, the descendants of Jacob. So, this number does not appear to include Gentile believers.

Perhaps caveman73 understands the author's meaning sufficiently enough to explain it to the rest of us.

December 8, 2010 6:30 PM