144,000 - JEWS IN THE KINGDOM?
Graham Bacon

Revelation 7:4-8, “And I heard the number of those who were sealed. One hundred and forty-four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed:
of the tribe of Judah twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Asher twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand were sealed”
of the tribe of Benjamin twelve thousand were sealed.”

These numbers are one of a series of numbers occurring in the last book of the Bible, the Revelation of Jesus Christ to the apostle John on the island of Patmos, south of Turkey, near the end of the first century. The Revelation of Jesus to John is in the form of a series of visions which John is instructed to describe in words. From chapter four onward, these visions were prophetic pictures of the world associated with the growth of the Christian church over the next two thousand years interspersed with glimpses of the glories of the kingdom age to come afterwards.

These pictures that John was putting into words foretold, for example, the cruelties of the church inflicted on true believers, represented by saints squashed under an altar (Revelation 6:9), the wrathful judgments of God, such as wars, plagues and famines, poured out on a wicked world (seven bowls of Rev 16), and sparkling, clean and shiny visions of the glories of the kingdom, described by John in terms like crystal and glass. Evil forces such as cruel dictatorships of medieval times are depicted as beasts and wild animals. Clearly the medium of description is words of symbolic nature.

This symbolism is extended to numbers. They are not meant to be taken literally but to convey impressions - to give an idea of relative size. For example, in Rev 5:11 worshipping angels and elders are numbered as ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands. John is conveying an impression of a very large gathering. In Rev 7:4 on, the number of Jews “sealed” by God is 144,000 shown to be split into 12,000 from every tribe. This illustrates to Jews that every tribe of Jewry will be present in the kingdom, not just the favoured Judah. Verse 9 reveals that the total of all people in the kingdom is “a great multitude that no man can number”, driving home the point that Jews will form only a small proportion of the kingdom population. Impressions of relative size are the importance of numbers.

The small number 144,000 occurs again in Rev 14. Here it demonstrates that, of the “great multitude” in the kingdom, only a small proportion of them gained entry during the Christian age, when “few” find the “narrow way”. The vast majority of the “great multitude” find entry to the kingdom during the preaching of the “everlasting gospel” (Rev 14:6). The numbers are there to provide a conception of relative sizes. This is the symbolic method by which the readers and the unbelieving and arrogant Jews, in particular, are meant to understand that, although Jews have a kingdom future, many more non-Jews, whom they despise, will be there as well.

The Revelation is a book of grand concepts conveyed in startling imagery. To try to take beasts and crystal and glass and numbers literally is to get into an awful tangle.

However, not everything in The Revelation is symbol. For example the thousand years of the reign of Jesus Christ [Rev 20:2-7] can be taken literally, on the basis of 6,000 years from Adam to the return of Jesus [nicely divided into three 2,000 year periods - Adam to Abraham, Abraham to the birth of Jesus and from there to his second coming] and 1,000 years for his reign on earth.

There is no imperative for adopting this concept - it just seems to fit nicely.

2006 REVIEW - 2007 PREVIEW

To the average man or woman across the world, the events of 2006 had little meaning to them other than to add to their fears of their own society descending further into the abyss of man-made confusion and potential destruction.

Hardly a day passed with out news of increasing unrest, murder and bloodshed in the Middle East. Two events in particular, which were of little interest to millions, were to leave their stamp on both 2006 and 2007.

The first was the removal from power of PM Sharon, who gloried in the strong right arm of the Israeli army, and who was prepared to go against the will and purpose of the God of Israel, and share the promised Land with the Palestinians. His removal brought two weak leaders to power, one as PM ( Mr Olmert) and the other as Defence Minister (Mr Peretz) Their lack of ability and their extremely badly managed recent south Lebanon campaign, has encouraged Islam to believe they can now ‘win’ against Israel, and thus the stage is set for increased Arab attacks on Israel in the year ahead. Both Mr Olmert and Mr Peretz are following Mr Sharon’s ill-fated plans for the West Bank and no doubt they too will be removed from power..

The second important event was the successful end of Mr Sharon’s campaign to withdraw all Jews from their enclaves in the Gaza Strip. The enormous opposition to this move did not prevail and there is now not one Jew remaining in this hot-bed of Palestinian terror. This means that when Israel flies “upon the shoulders of the Philistines to the west” (ISAIAH 11-14) there will not be one Jew in the road of the campaign and many Israeli lives will be saved by Mr Sharon’s foresight!

Already Israel has carefully laid plans to retake the northern end of the Gaza Strip, and such is the power of terrorism in the Strip that there can be no doubt that Israel will finally move into the Strip permanently and rid the Land of those who oppose God’s will with Israel and the whole of the Promised Land.

2007: Several international journalists have expressed the opinion that 2007 will be a year of war between Israel and Syria and Israel and Hizb’Állah, with the Palestinians mounting ever increasing attacks against Israel, with little success and indeed leading to their own eventual destruction. We agree.

We remind our readers that for Israel, 2007 is the last year in the 40 years of probation since 1967. Is this important? We wait to see!

C.F. 2-2007

 

WE WELCOME NEW READERS FROM THE FOLLOWING PARTS OF THE WORLD:

TOOWOOMBA & KIRRA, QUEENSLAND - CARRUM DOWNS, VICTORIA - NAKUBU, KENYA - PORT HARCOURT, NIGERIA - TAUHAU, NEW ZEALAND

WE REMIND ALL READERS THAT, TO ENSURE YOUR NAME REMAINS ON THE GPL MAILING LIST, YOU MUST CONTACT US AT LEAST ONCE EVERY YEAR.

ITEM 1. OUR BOOKLET, THE CURRENT BATTLE FOR THE HOLY LAND
We remind our readers of the availability of the new booklet. We are doing a reprint so there will be plenty of copies available. It deals with important events which have occurred in Israel and what they mean. It relates the scourge of rockets on Israel……why Israel must expand its borders and we show, with maps, how the Prophet Obadiah spoke of these matters. How Edom Moab and Ammon have fulfilled Bible prophecy. The book speaks of the future judgement and restoration of Egypt……the soon return of the Lord Jesus and how and why other events may take a lot longer. We show the two lines of descent of the Arabs. Single copies are free….10 copies for $5-00 (Aust) inc. postage

ITEM 2. ANOTHER EXCITING BOOKLET. ARMAGEDDON…3 PHASES WITH 3 SEPARATE BEGINNINGS AND ENDINGS:
There are so many varying ideas on the subject of Armageddon, that we thought it necessary to show the clear Scriptural pointers which identify Armageddon as 3 phases (3 battles) in the latter day purpose of the Father. We show the reasons why three major battles are separate events in the ‘War of Armageddon’. We show that there are three different enemies and opponents of God’s latter day purpose, the Arabs, Gog, and the Beast of Europe. There are three different objectives, the dispute about the Holy Land, the plunder of a ’safe’ Israel and a war against the Lord Jesus. There are three different areas of action, 5 locations in the Holy Land, East of Galilee, and Europe/ Rome
This is your opportunity to obtain a sensible booklet drawing all the facts together. Apply now for April/May delivery.. Single copies free….10 copies for $5-00 (Aust) inc postage.

ITEM 3. DATA CDs AVAILABLE : READABLE ON A COMPUTER:
CD-1 Books articles by Graham Bacon - CD-2 70 ‘ Truth about’ Articles
CD-3 Twilight of the Prophets by H Lafferty. CD-4 The Devil- an expose
CD-7 Trinitarian texts examined CD-16 Demon Possession!
CD-15 2600 Years of Daniel & the Revelation CD-19 Books by J Thomas etc.

CONCLUSION: From all the news available, it seems certain that this year of 2007 is going to be one of turmoil and war. The Scriptures speak of ‘the sea and the waves roaring’ an apt description of our days as we await Jesus’ return.

C.F. 3-2007