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The 144,000
They are of Israel
Key Four
He made known unto me the mystery which in other
ages
was not known unto the sons of men. That the gentiles should
be fellowheirs and of the same body.
Ephesians 3:3-6
Throughout the pages of the Bible, the
nation of Israel plays a prominent role in God’s plan. It has even been said
that the Bible is primarily the story of Israel. In the Old Testament, the
Scriptures chronicle the path of the physical descendants of Jacob. In the New
Testament, God introduces Israel’s spiritual counterpart. Clearly the children
of Israel are a people of destiny! It is their history alone that is
inextricably woven throughout Scripture. Bible prophecy is primarily directed
toward them.
When God’s Word speaks of other nations, it does so only as
those people come in contact with the nation of Israel. Even the poetic books
such as Psalms, Proverbs and Ecclesiastes were originally written exclusively
for Israel. The preeminence of this nation in the plan of God is
unmistakable—but why?
Why is the nation of Israel so important to God, and what can
be learned from the relationship He has had with these people? Understanding
God’s purpose for Israel is paramount to understanding His plan for all mankind.
It is also essential to understanding the identity and destiny of the 144,000!
Against this backdrop, the book of Revelation reveals a
fourth key of enormous significance. Speaking to the Apostle John, an angel
states that the 144,000 are comprised of Israel:
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 (Revelation 7:4).
Notice that the 144,000 are “of the children of Israel.” The
story of the children of Israel is one of the most fascinating ever told. The
blueprint for their part in God’s plan of salvation was envisioned before the
foundation of the world, and the God who directs all history reveals His purpose
for them within the pages of the Bible (Hebrews 4:3; I Peter 1:20).
God began to fulfill His plan for Israel with the patriarch
Abraham. He will consummate it with the establishment of spiritual Israel, who
will one day be crowned as ruling kings— a royal priesthood in the New
Jerusalem.
The Birth of a Nation
The story of Israel begins in the book of Genesis
when God first called Abraham. At this time in Abraham’s life, he was in
Mesopotamia in a place called Ur of the Chaldees. In the twelfth chapter of the
book of Genesis, the Creator and Sustainer of the universe invites Abraham to
become part of an extraordinary plan. In order to participate, Abraham is
required to forsake the life and family he has always known, and move to a place
that is totally unfamiliar.
What God was asking Abraham to do was to enter an unknown
world. Such a step would take a great deal of faith. Essentially, God was
telling Abraham, “Trust Me!” God then explained what He was prepared to give to
this Old Testament patriarch in consideration of that trust. Notice God’s seven
conditional promises to the father of the faithful.
The LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country,
and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew
thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make
thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless
thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the
earth be blessed (Genesis 12:1-3).
The Scriptures reveal that Abraham accepted God’s invitation
and, acting in faith, he did as he was directed. This was not the only time God
would test Abraham’s faith, however. Perhaps the greatest test of a man’s trust
in his God was presented to Abraham when God instructed him to sacrifice his son
Isaac (Genesis 22:2-10).
After Abraham offered up his only begotten son, God made His
promise unconditional. It was now a guaranteed reality. The children of Abraham
would inherit the birthright blessings of national prosperity. And more
important, the Messianic seed would come from his heritage.
After this, Isaac married Rebecca. She bore him two sons,
Esau and Jacob. Esau was the first born. Disrespecting his birthright, Esau sold
it to Jacob for a mere bowl of soup. At the instigation of his mother, Jacob
then deceived his father into officially giving him Esau’s birthright blessing.
Consequently, Jacob became the father of the twelve tribes of Israel and Esau
became the progenitor of the Edomites, most of which now reside in Central Asia
and Turkey. Since Esau took wives of the line of Ishmael, many consider them to
be among the Arab peoples today (Genesis 36:9; Genesis 28:9; Psalm 83:7).
After this deception, Jacob feared for his life. Thus he fled
to his mother’s homeland. On the way, he was met by God in a dream in which the
Eternal reaffirmed Jacob’s birthright promise. Jacob then went on to work for
Rebecca’s brother Laban, who tricked him, much as Jacob had deceived his father
Isaac. Learning from this lesson, Jacob continued to work hard. He continued to
live God’s way. As a result, he was blessed with considerable wealth, before
returning to his home.
As Jacob made his way back to the land of Canaan, a being
appeared to him. The two wrestled until the break of day. Refusing to give up,
Jacob prevailed in this contest of will. He was renamed Israel, which means
“prince of God.” Jacob later realized that, incredibly, he had wrestled with God
and lived to tell about it (Genesis 32:24-32).
Jacob and his sons would now forever carry the new name,
Israel. Each of his twelve sons married and multiplied to form separate tribes
of Israel. Reuben, who was Jacob’s firstborn, seduced his father’s concubine,
thereby disqualifying himself from the birthright promise. As a result, the
blessing went to Joseph, the firstborn of Jacob’s favorite wife, Rachel. Joseph
was later sold into slavery by his jealous brothers. He was carried away captive
to Egypt.
God blessed Joseph tremendously in Egypt, and he became
co-ruler with Pharaoh, marrying the king’s daughter and fathering two children.
Each of Joseph’s two sons became separate peoples, carrying the name Israel and
receiving the birthright promise given to Jacob. The younger son, Ephraim, was
promised that his progeny would become a company of nations, while the elder,
Manasseh, was to become the single greatest nation on earth (Genesis 48:10-20).
Joseph’s offspring were prophesied to become a colonizing
people. They were promised the material blessings of heaven and earth. They
would be protected in war. They would be blessed with a vast population. Judah,
father of the Jewish people, was given the scepter promise that the Messiah
would come through his line (Genesis 49:10, 22-24).
Until Joseph’s death, Israel’s entire family prospered in
Egypt. However, there arose a Pharaoh that viewed Israel as a threat and made
them slaves. The children of Israel spent four hundred years in bondage until
God sent the prophet Moses to miraculously lead them to freedom (Acts 7:6). The
Israelites were then given the law of God, but they disobeyed Him and wandered
in the wilderness for forty years.
When the children of Israel finally entered the promised
land, they called the area after their father’s name—Israel. Many Students of
the Bible today, although familiar with the history of Israel, still
misunderstand the modern identity of these ancient, chosen people of God.
Not all Israelites are Jews
Since its formation in 1948, the Jewish homeland in
Palestine has been called “Israel.” But the Jewish people are NOT called Israel
in the Bible. They are only a single tribe—one of twelve tribes comprising the
whole nation of Israel. The Jews are the descendants of Jacob’s son—Judah. This
means that all the Jews are Israelites, but NOT all Israelites are Jews.
This fact is of extreme importance when examining prophecy,
because the Jews are identified as a distinct people in the Bible. They, with
most of the tribe of Levi and some of Benjamin, separated from the rest of the
tribes of Israel after the death of Solomon. The house of Judah actually went to
war with the house of Israel. Notice the record of the kings:
When Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah, with the tribe of Benjamin, a hundred and fourscore thousand chosen men, which were warriors, to fight against the house of Israel (I Kings 12:21).
Judah and Benjamin made war on Israel. Israel’s king, Jeroboam, fearing that any tie with Judah would result in a lack of loyalty to him, ordered the place of worship changed from Jerusalem to Bethel and Dan in the north. Presumptuously, Jeroboam placed pagan idols in these two locations and changed the days of worship that God had ordained. This is recorded in 1 Kings 12: 25-33.
Israel Lost to History
This political move by the king sent the northern
tribes of Israel spiraling downward into a terrible religious apostasy that
ended in severe punishment from God. Israel was taken captive by Assyria, and
relocated to Persia. The Persians were then placed in the land of Israel where
they came to be known as Samaritans. The dispossessed Israelites eventually
migrated to the north and west, but as a result of abandoning the Sabbath which
was God’s identifying sign, they became lost to secular history (Exodus 31:13).
About one hundred years later, Judah also slid into a similar
apostasy and they experienced a similar fate. The Jewish people were taken
captive by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. Finally, after seventy years the
captive Jews were allowed to return to their land in order to fulfill the
prophesy that the Messiah would be born of them. After 70 A.D., Judah was again
scattered among the nations, like her counterpart Israel. Many Jewish people
continued to observe God’s Sabbath, however. Consequently, they did not lose
their identity, as did their sister Israel.
The location of the ten tribes of Israel was lost to secular
history, but not to God. The Eternal knows exactly who and where these people
are. He prophesied what would occur to each of the tribes in the last days
(Genesis 49). Furthermore, during the time of the first century Church, God
directed letters to be sent to these scattered peoples (James 1:1).
God knows where the people of Israel migrated. He promises to
bring them back to Jerusalem when He returns to rule the earth (Isaiah 27;
Jeremiah 30-31; Ezekiel 20). He will reunite the ten lost tribes with Judah, and
they will once again be called Israel (Hosea 1:11). God will bless them, and
they shall become a great people. They are, however, not the Israel the apostle
refers to as the 144,000.
The 144,000 are Not Physical Israel
Understanding the identity of Israel today has
enabled many to grasp the meaning of many end time prophecies. Unfortunately,
knowing this truth has also led some to incorrectly conclude that the 144,000
are physical Israelites living at the end of the age.
Their belief is that God must protect 144,000 Israelites from His wrath in order
to fulfill His promise to reunite Israel and Judah once again in Palestine in
the Kingdom. Although God did foretell that He would bring Israel back to her
original land after the Great Tribulation, there are two reasons why the 144,000
can not be physical Israel.
First, the Scriptures reveal that the millennial return of
Israel to the promised land is far greater than the Egyptian Exodus.
Consequently, those brought back during the Kingdom will undoubtedly number far
more than 144,000.
God specifically foretells this future gathering of physical
Israel. He also depicts their transportation back to the promised land. The
prophet Jeremiah writes:
The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, Thus speaketh the LORD God of Israel, saying, Write thee all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book. For, lo, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the LORD: and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it (Jeremiah 30:1-2).
When God brings the peoples of Israel and Judah back from their bondage after the Great Tribulation, it will be an awe inspiring miracle. He likens it to the great Exodus under the leadership of Moses. Jeremiah explains this latter re-gathering of the tribes in the following way:
Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that it shall no more be said, The LORD liveth, that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; But, the LORD liveth, that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither He had driven them: and I will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers. Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the LORD, and they shall fish them; and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks (Jeremiah 16:14-16).
After Jesus assembles the captive Israelites back to the
promised land, men will no longer refer to the ancient Exodus as a great and
memorable event. Instead, they will recognize as paramount the miraculous
millennial deliverance in which Jesus Christ brings the scattered Israelites
back to the Holy Land. This latter return will be a much greater event than the
massive Egyptian Exodus.
Scripture tell us that during the first Exodus six hundred
thousand men came out of Egypt (Exodus 12:37). If women and children were
included in this count, the estimated number would be more than two million!
If the return of scattered Israelites from all over the world
is more memorable than the original Exodus, their number will likely exceed two
million. Therefore the 144,000 cannot be those physical Israelites that God
brings back to Jerusalem after the tribulation.
The second evidence that the 144,000 are not physical Israel
is the fact that the tribes of Dan and Ephraim are excluded from the list of
tribes that make up the 144,000 (Revelation 7:5-8). When Christ returns and
restores all Israel as a nation, Ephraim and Dan are included in the allotment
of the land. Ezekiel records this allotment, saying:
Divide this land unto you according to the tribes of Israel . . . From the north end to the coast of the way of Hethlon, as one goeth to Hamath, Hazar-enan, the border of Damascus northward, to the coast of Hamath; for these are his sides east and west; a portion for Dan. And by the border of Dan, from the east side unto the west side, a portion for Asher, and by the border of Manasseh, from the east side unto the west side, a portion for Ephraim (Ezekiel 47:21-48:5).
When Christ restores physical Israel to their land, the
tribes of Dan and Ephraim are among the returnees. They receive their portion of
the land. But these two tribes are omitted in the list of the 144,000! This
indicates that those revealed in Revelation seven are NOT physical Israelites
returning to Palestine. But then, who are they?
Not Two Groups of 144,000
The 144,000, revealed in Revelation, chapter seven,
are not a different people than the resurrected saints in chapter fourteen. As
demonstrated earlier, chapter seven calls the 144,000 “servants of God.” Then,
later in this book, Moses is mentioned as being God’s servant (Revelation 15:3).
Further, the Apostle John actually states that his vision is written to the
“servants of God.” After this, the messages are given to the churches, which are
comprised of Christians (Revelation 1:1-3:22). Therefore, the servants of God
are converted persons.
Chapter seven also describes the 144,000 as sealed in their
foreheads, and they are identified with the number twelve. Elsewhere, the
Scriptures state that it is Christians who are sealed with the Holy Spirit (II
Corinthians 1:22). Further, the number twelve is a multiple of the measurements
of New Jerusalem— God’s future governmental headquarters. Therefore, the 144,000
described in chapter seven have God’s Spirit. They are His servants. Their
destiny is the first resurrection. They will rule with Christ.
The fact that the
144,000 are called servants of God, are sealed with the Holy Spirit, and are
identified by the number twelve leaves little doubt! They cannot be a separate
group of physical people who are different from the 144,000 shown in chapter
fourteen. They are the same exact people, but they are described at different
times. In chapter seven, they are shown before the resurrection, while
Revelation, chapter fourteen, describes them after they have been changed by the
resurrection.
Understanding God’s Purpose for Israel
It is clear that the 144,000 are not comprised of
physical Israel. Could it be then that there is another Israel that the angel
refers to when addressing the 144,000? God did design a duality within His plan
of salvation. There is first a physical representation of a spiritual
fulfillment to come. God made man a physical creature, but will later recreate
man of spirit. There was first a physical Adam, and then a second, spiritual
Adam (I Corinthians 15:45). God created a physical temple on earth to reflect
the spiritual temple in heaven (Galatians 4:26). There is also a physical heaven
and earth, which will one day yield to the new heaven and earth.
In like manner, God’s great plan of salvation called for
there to be a physical Israel that would precede the spiritual Israel. Long
before there ever was a physical universe, the great Almighty God envisioned a
magnificent, fabulously beautiful headquarters city populated with beings like
Himself. These great spirit beings would administer His love, and His law
throughout the creation. He would call them “Israel.” They would be princes of
God, having prevailed with Him. God would ultimately redeem them from the
corruption of this physical earth.
To fulfill His vision, the Eternal created the vast physical
universe. He singled out the tiny planet earth, where He created the various
plants and animal life. Then, God created the first man, Adam, and the woman,
Eve, to inhabit His wondrous creation.
Later, He called Abraham from the children of Seth to be the
father of His faithful overcomers. From Abraham’s seed, God chose Jacob, and
through him the twelve tribes of Israel. God then took Israel into Egypt for
four hundred years before delivering them from their bondage. Israel wandered
forty years in the Wilderness of Sin before God brought an entirely different
generation into the promised land. God performed all of this with the physical
people of Israel as a living illustration for spiritual Israel (I Corinthians
10:6,11).
Physical Israel Pictures God’s Church
God did not call the Israelites out of Egypt for the
sole purpose of bestowing upon them the benefits of being His chosen people.
They were called by God for a specific mission. The Israelites were to fulfill a
part of God’s plan that is more transcendent than they, or us, could ever have
imagined. He called physical Israel to picture another people who would later be
called the true “chosen people” of God. The twelve tribes were a living,
historical, and symbolic type of God’s Church, from which the Eternal would
redeem the 144,000—spiritual Israelites who are destined to be an example for
all mankind.
For this reason, ancient Israel was allowed to be taken
captive in the perverse, pagan nation of Egypt. They were redeemed from their
bondage by the Passover lamb, picturing Christ’s saving sacrifice. They left
Egypt, and wandered through the Wilderness of Sin on their way to finally
possessing the promised land.
Physical Israel pictured a people Christ would later call out
of this corrupt world. They are a people who spend their lives wandering in a
Wilderness of Sin. Instead of eating manna, which pictured Jesus Christ,
spiritual Israelites literally partake of Jesus daily in their prayer, worship,
and study of His Word as they struggle to overcome sin. Finally, they would be
delivered from the bondage of this world and enter the promised Kingdom of God.
The magnificent drama of the Exodus, with its corresponding
holy days of Passover and Unleavened Bread, was played out by a cast of
millions. It was a drama played out on a massive scale to picture something of
supreme importance to a people who would come later, and who would understand.
Paul stressed this vital truth to the Corinthian Church, stating:
Now all these things happened unto them (Israel) for examples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come (I Corinthians 10:11).
The experiences of ancient Israel were an example for God’s Church at the end of the age. The Church is true Israel—a spiritual nation. This new spiritual nation is not restricted to the descendants of physical Israel, however. With the resurrection of Christ, believing gentiles were accepted into the household of faith. This was shocking to the early church, but eventually it was understood and accepted. The apostle appointed to the gentiles writes:
For through Him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Now therefore ye (gentiles) are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone (Ephesians 2:18-20).
The Apostle Paul suffered great persecution from the Jews, who resisted the concept that gentiles could be included as a part of God’s people. Even the early Christians did not understand what God was now doing with those who were not of the Jewish races. Paul explains that this knowledge had previously been a mystery, but is now revealed:
That the gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ by the gospel (Ephesians 3:6).
Now Gentiles can be made a part of Christ’s body. In his letter to the Romans, the Apostle Paul explains to the gentiles in the Church that they are grafted into spiritual Israel. He uses the analogy of an olive tree to make this clear:
Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded . . . And if some of the branches (Israel) be broken off, and thou (gentiles) being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them . . . Boast not against the branches . . . For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be graffed into their own olive tree? For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the gentiles be come in (Romans 11:7-25).
Gentiles are no longer a separate tree. They are not cut off from Israel, and given a different set of rules to live by. They have actually been grafted into Israel, but not physical Israel. They have become a part of spiritual Israel—the Church of God! The Apostle Paul explains:
For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children (Romans 9:6-7).
True Israelites are not those who are physical descendants of Abraham. The true Israelites are those who belong to Christ. Paul writes:
If you be Christ’s then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise (Galatians 3:29).
Abraham had many physical descendants, but from God’s
perspective he is actually the father of all those who are faithful. Regardless
of race, individuals who choose to follow the same path of faithful living are
now considered the ancient patriarch’s family.
Jesus made a similar comment about His family. While
surrounded by people inside a house where He was teaching, one in the crowd said
to Him that His mother and family stood outside and they desired to have His
ear. At this, Jesus said:
Who is my mother? and who are my brethren? And He stretched forth His hand toward His disciples, and said, Behold My mother and My brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of My Father which is in heaven, the same is My brother, and sister, and mother (Matthew 12:48-50).
Christ made it abundantly clear that His family are those who
seek to do God’s will. They are the Israel God envisioned before there was a
universe. This Israel is not limited to the physical descendants of Abraham, nor
to those who perform the rite of circumcision.
During the first century, the Apostle Paul repeatedly had to
deal with this issue. Teaching that, in order to become a Christian, new
converts had to first become a Jew through the process of circumcision, false
teachers had polluted the gospel. This controversy raged in the Church until it
was finally settled by a special conference for this purpose (Acts 15).
Prior to this special conference, Paul labored tirelessly to
help Christians understand the fact that God is now working with an Israel that
is not physical—not from a specific blood line. The new Israel is composed of
persons individually called of God and given His Holy Spirit—converting their
mind. Paul explains that circumcision is a matter of the heart and mind, not of
the flesh:
For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; either is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God (Romans 2:28-29).
Circumcision, performed on the physical descendants of Abraham, only pictured that which was to come spiritually. It foreshadowed a people whose heart was spiritually open to God. Paul explains this principle:
We are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh (Philippians 3:3).
The Israel of God is not merely the physical lineage of Jacob. True Israelites are specific individuals, Jewish or gentile, who live by God’s teachings. Paul explains:
As many as walk according to this rule, peace be on to them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God (Galatians 6:16).
More Proof from the Apostles
When God first reveals the number of the 144,000, He states
that they are of the “children of Israel.” God then breaks this number into a
hierarchy of 12,000 in each tribe. He also reveals who will lead each of these
twelve tribes.
Christ makes it clear that He plans to place His twelve
apostles into governmental positions in the Kingdom. He promises that they will
each sit on a throne ruling over a particular tribe of Israel:
Ye are they which have continued with Me in My temptations. And I appoint unto you a Kingdom, as My Father hath appointed unto Me; That ye may eat and drink at My table in My Kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel (Luke 22:28-29).
This is an absolutely wonderful reward for the apostles.
After the glorious return of Jesus Christ, He will search out and bring back the
various tribes from their captivity. As their King, He will resettle them in the
land surrounding Jerusalem, assigning each apostle a position to represent one
of the specific tribes in world government.
In this context, it is important to consider that the each of
the apostles were not from the specific tribe over which they will one day rule!
Within the twelve, there were some who were related by birth. For example, Peter
and Andrew, James and John, and James, the son of Alpheus and Thaddeus were
three sets of brothers. Therefore, in each of these three sets, the brothers
would share the same genealogical background. Both would be from the same tribe,
but which ones?
From the time of the war between Israel and Judah, most of
the priestly tribe of Levi, and some of the tribe of Benjamin allied with the
Jewish people. Having set up residence within certain areas of the land of
Judea, they were often considered Jews by those around them. However, while
Matthew, who is called Levi, may have been from a Levitical background, it is
likely that since the others resided in the same general location where Benjamin
settled that most of the apostles were of the tribe of Benjamin.
J.H. Allen makes an interesting observation about the lineage
of the apostles. It is his contention that all but one were from the tribe of
Benjamin. He writes in his book, Judah’s Sceptre and Joseph’s Birthright:
Although Benjamin was with the kingdom of Judah, they were the children of Rachel, and differed much from the characteristic Jew, both in looks and in speech. The Galileans were Benjaminites: hence all the apostles of Christ except Judas, were Benjaminites for they were Galileans; and while Christ was in the Judgement Hall, some of those who stood by said to Peter, surely thou art one of them, for thy speech betrayeth thee (P. 288).
This evidence indicates that the lineage of the twelve
apostles do not physically represent each of the tribes of Israel. In almost
every case, an apostle will be made ruler over a tribe to which he was in no way
physically connected. The lineage of the apostles reveals another proof that the
144,000 are spiritual and not physical Israel.
The inescapable conclusion is that the 144,000 are the “true
Israel”—the Israel of God, His Church. They are not all physical Israelites.
Instead, they are individuals from all around the world—Israelites and gentiles.
All these people are then grafted into the spiritual tribes of Israel. They are
specifically assigned to them by Jesus Christ.
Spiritual Israel is the nation, assembly, and Church
comprised of those who live the way of the Eternal. As the Apostle Peter
explained:
Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvelous light: which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy (I Peter 2:9-10).
Physical Israel can no longer claim the title of God’s chosen
people. Instead, God’s chosen people are now individuals, from every walk of
life, whom the Father has drawn to Christ (John 6:44). They are His Church. They
have been drafted from every corner of the world and from every age. It is these
who comprise the 144,000.
God loves physical Israel just as He does all of mankind. The
Eternal God does not put great value on material things, except as they can be
used for His great spiritual purpose. All that is corporeal, even including a
specific race of people, is only temporary.
The physical world was created to be a training ground for mankind—a place to
develop the spiritual qualities of God. The Eternal’s ultimate desire is that
all mankind develop righteous, holy character and godly love as a part of their
being.
For this reason, God’s calling of physical Israel was not an
end in itself. Those ancient people were chosen to perform an incredible service
to all mankind. They would first serve as an example for spiritual Israel, the
Church that He would build.
This is not be the end of God’s plan for Israel, however.
They will once again be chosen fulfill the Eternal’s purpose. Jesus will come
back to this earth with His saints. He will gather the remaining Israelites from
around the world and return them to the promised land. Then, Christ and the
144,000 will teach them God’s way. Ultimately, Israel will become a nation of
great light to the entire world (Zechariah 8:23, 14:16-21).
The 144,000 are true Israel—the Israel of God! They are the
Church that Christ promised to build and which ancient physical Israel only
foreshadowed. Therefore, their example is meant for us today. But what exactly
are we to learn from their example?