Revelation 7:2-4 “Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, (3) saying, "Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads." (4) 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.”
There is a special category of saints who will remain on the earth when the rest of the church is caught away to meet the Lord Jesus in the air. Nevertheless, even though these individuals will not be raised up together with the church to meet the Lord in the air, their bodies will still be changed into spiritual bodies at the same instant that the rest of the church receives their resurrected bodies. The category that I am referring to is the category that scripture reveals to us as the one hundred and forty-four thousand. But although these saints will be present on the earth during that time they will be untouched by the wrath of God that will be poured out on the earth, for as revealed in the above quoted passage of scripture, these individuals will have the seal of God placed upon them. That seal will have the effect of supernaturally protecting them from experiencing any of the plagues that the rest of mankind will endure at that time, for you will recall for example that we read earlier that the scorpion-like creatures that ascended out of the bottomless pit were not allowed to harm those who had the seal of God on their foreheads (Revelation 9:4).
Revelation 14:1-5 “Then I looked, and behold, a Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His Father's name written on their foreheads. (2) And I heard a voice from heaven, like the voice of many waters, and like the voice of loud thunder. And I heard the sound of harpists playing their harps. (3) They sang as it were a new song before the throne, before the four living creatures, and the elders; and no one could learn that song except the hundred and forty-four thousand who were redeemed from the earth. (4) These are the ones who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These were redeemed from among men, being firstfruits to God and to the Lamb. (5) And in their mouth, was found no deceit, for they are without fault before the throne of God.”
So just who are these individuals? Scripture reveals to us that twelve thousand from each tribe of Israel will make up their number (Revelation 7:4-8). We also see from scripture that these individuals are highly favoured in God’s kingdom, and the above quoted passage of scripture refers to them as being the first-fruits to God. In other words, they will be among the first Jews to be born again under the ministries of Moses and Elijah, when those two witnesses minister on the earth. And so these men will all be Jewish believers that have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of God, and the scripture describes them as being without fault before the throne of God. As we have already discussed, the wrath of God will be poured out in two stages, the first being the sounding of the seven trumpets and the second being the seven bowls of wrath poured out. The one hundred and forty-four thousand will remain on the earth for the first stage of the sounding of the seven trumpets. But before the seven bowls of wrath are poured out, they will be taken up from the earth and as revealed in the above passage, they will stand with the Lamb before the throne of God the Father to worship before the throne as a select group of individuals. They will sing a song before the Father that only they will be allowed to sing, and these individuals will also remain in the presence of the Lamb for all eternity. These are truly blessed saints of God.
Michael E.B. Maher
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