The Simple Truth about the 144,000

Who are the 144,000 mentioned in the book of Revelation, and what are their purpose during the end times?  These questions have plagued many denominational circles throughout the church history, and as a result there are many different interruptions on the 144,000.  Let us take a closer look into scripture to help us clarify these two questions and to find out not only who they are, but who they are not.

  This group of men is introduced to us in Revelation 7:4; “Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel”.  One of the popular theories around the 144,000 is that they are not actually Jews.  I have heard of several denominations and other religions, which are seen as cultic to mainstream Christianity, believe that their group of believers is the 144,000.  I believe that our introductory verse to the 144,000 refutes these theories.  If you take the Bible literally then these men are Jews.

The next time that these Jews are mentioned is Revelation 14:1-5.  These verses alleviate any doubt that the people in this group are not only Christians, but are set apart.  Verses three and four of this chapter give us a few hints as to the purpose of these men during the end times.    “…No one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth.  These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they kept themselves pure. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were purchased from among men and offered as first fruits to God and the Lamb”.  Notice that they are redeemed from the earth, and that this happens just before the earth is harvested in verse 14 of the same chapter.  Also notice how verse four ends, “They were purchased as first fruits to God and the Lamb”.  I cannot prove this, but when we see that they are redeemed from the earth and offered as first fruits, I believe that these Christian Jews are either killed for their faith or race during the tribulation.

When we look closer into the original Greek words we find that the word for redeemed is agorazō which means “to go to market” and the word first fruits is aparchē which means “beginning of sacrifice”.  Now if my theory is true then Revelation 6:9-11 could be referring to the 144,000 mentioned in the above scriptures.  “Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed.”   Interesting how this verse mentions a specific number of fellow servants that were to  be killed.

One thing that is absent from all of the scriptures that pertain to the 144,000 is the most popular theory.  This theory states that this group is Jews that are to be converted after the rapture of the church.  Under this theory they are often referred to as evangelist, as the gospel will be spread to the whole world through this remnant of the Jewish nation.  Unfortunately I have found absolutely no scriptures at all to support this belief.  What we do find is actually quite the opposite; they are redeemed from the earth during the tribulation.

Lastly the question arises if the number 144,000 is literal or figurative.  Some believe that this is a representation of  the number of completion and is to be taken figuratively.  Others believe that it is literally referring to 12,000 members of each of the 12 tribes of Israel.  We will not know the answer to this absolutely until Jesus comes back.  One interesting thing about this number is that it seems to be a significant number in different religions.  In the Mayan Calendar a baktun  has 144,000 days, Skoptzists believe that the Messiah will return when they reach the 144,000 mark (similar to the original teaching of the Jehovah Witnesses), in Islam Mohamed supposedly had 144,000 disciples, and the list goes on.  The most interesting is perhaps a New Age belief of universalism.  Some believe that the scripture about the 144,000 has something to do with positive vibrations because this is the speed of light.  Actually the speed of light is non-linear when it travels through different mediums, and even in a complete vacuum this is not the speed of light.  Interesting theory, keep trying!

God Bless,

Jake <><

The End Time Church

Many Christians agree that we are living in the end times.  Although people have been claiming that His return was near since Christ’s resurrection, the signs today are overwhelming.   One of the signs that Paul gave us that Christ’s return would be near, was the change in the church before Christ’s return.

Paul tells us in 1 Timothy 6:3–10 that there will be people who teach false doctrines that do not align with the instructions of Jesus Christ.  He goes on to say that these men (and women) have been robbed of the truth and think of godliness as a means to financial gains.  In order to find the fulfillment of this prophesy all you have to do is turn on your television and flip through the Christian channels.  It will not take long for you to find a television evangelist who meets these criteria.  It saddens me that many evangelists and churches today, focus more on financial gain then building God’s Kingdom.  It seems that the modern church has become better at making money then winning souls! 

Paul goes into more detail about these people in his next letter to Timothy.  2 Timothy 3:1-9 warns us about godlessness in the last days.  “People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,  without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good,  treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—  having a form of godliness but denying its power”.  He goes on to say that these people are “always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth”.

1 Timothy 4:1-7 tells us that “in the end times many will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons”.  Again in 2 Timothy 4:1-5 Paul tells us that “the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.  They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths”.  This has never been truer then it is today.  I realized this one day when I was looking for an apocrypha book in a “Books A Million” store.  An employee told me that the book was listed in the “New Age” section of the store.  The titles of the books found in the New Age section sounded like many of the sermon titles preached in several of the church pulpits today.  Examples of some of these titles were, “Power thinking for Personal Success”, “Learning to Attract Wealth, Health, and Happiness”,  and “Ask and it Shall Be Given, Learning to Manifest Your Desires”. 

An end time church will be influenced by the world instead of influencing the world.  This church will be under the same bondages as the people outside of the church.  It would be one that is more self seeking then outward seeking.  This church will bend its beliefs to match society, instead of being set apart from the world.  The teachings of this church will encourage its members to be complacent because, after all, God does not care what Christians do anyway.  The end time church would be one that is a lot like the churches that we see today.

The hard part is being set apart and holding onto sound doctrine.  Paul gives us the following command, “not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching” Hebrews 10:25.  He also tells us in 1 Timothy 3:6 that we are to warn the Brothers and Sisters in Christ about these things.  Even though it can be very frustrating, we are not to separate ourselves from the church, but be the church to a dying and perverse generation.  As a Christian we have to study the Word of God ourselves so that we will not be swayed here and there by every wind of teaching, Ephesians 4:14.

“But he who stands firm to the end will be saved”, Matthew 24:14

God Bless

Jake <><

Desperate for Christ

Just before Christmas I had a distant relative pass away from natural causes. She was in her nineties and had lived a long Christian life. My family went to pay our respects during visitation and saw many family members that we had not seen in quite some time. My parents were in attendance and agreed to watch our three children in the back of the funeral home while my wife and I went up front to comfort family and friends. My parents briefly explained to our children that their great, great, great Aunt had gone on to be with Jesus. As Andrea and I started to make our way forward, our daughter Emma began to get frantic wanting to go with us. This was unlike her, and I questioned why the sudden outrage. She anxiously told me that she wanted to go up front to see Jesus too. I soon realized that she had misunderstood my parents and thought that we were going up front to see Jesus.

This episode made me wonder if Jesus had been standing up front, how many people would have been frantic, like Emma, just to catch a glimpse of Him? I also wondered how many people, many claiming to be Christians, would have found their way to the back of the funeral in shame of their lives of complacency. It also made me question myself; what would I have done?

I also thought back 2000 years ago, when Jesus first came to dwell among us, the people who accepted Him, and those who turned Him away. Most of the “religious” people of that time missed their Messiah. It was the common and unlearned that accepted Jesus as the King of kings. As this blog focuses mostly on end time prophecies I want us all to keep in mind that it was the Bible scholars of that time that missed all of the signs that clearly pointed to Jesus’ first coming. It was the fishermen, tax collectors, and common people that did not have preconceived ideas and were willing to ignore the religious hype of that time that realized that Jesus had came as “God among us”.

One of my favorite statements that I have mentioned before is that “Most Bible scholars do not let the Bible get in the way of their theories”. This is very sad, but I believe many times is very true. The one thing that I want us to remember as we study God’s Word deeper is the fact that we could be wrong. We need to be careful not to simply follow our church or denomination over God’s Word. I believe that every denomination brings something different to the Christian table that everyone can learn from, but no one denomination has everything absolutely right.

Are you desperately seeking Christ as my daughter did during this recent funeral? Have you found your relationship with Christ stale and complacent? Do you have a knowledge of who Christ is, but do not have a relationship with Him? James 2:19 tells us that “You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that--and shudder”. Just because you have knowledge of Christ does not mean that you will make it to heaven. 2011 is the best time ever to make Christ the center of your life. It is the year that we can get down off of the throne of our life and let Christ take his place on our throne. Please in this upcoming year do not get lost in the religion of Christianity, but rather focus on the relationship of Christianity. Remember it was the “religious” that missed Christ the first time, and it will probably be the same at His second coming. Let us not forget that Christ gave us a Simple Truth about the End Times to know about His second coming. God Bless and Happy New Year.

History of the Rapture – Part 3

The Oldest Recorded Christian End Time Belief

So far we have looked at the effects that society has played on Christian eschatology throughout history. We have seen the effects that media, scholastics, and the threat of heresy has had on the end time belief system of mainstream Christianity. But amidst all of the different beliefs, there is one theory that is older than any other form of recorded Christian eschatology. This theory is termed Historic Premillennialism by Bible scholars because of the strength of its historic authenticity.

Many of the disciples had disciples of their own. Actually, this was a common practice in the early church that the modern church has forgotten, but that is another blog altogether. The Apostle John had several men he had discipled that had written records of John’s beliefs. One of these men was named Polycarp. Jerome records the following concerning Polycarp, “Polycarp disciple of the apostle John and by him ordained bishop of Smyrna was chief of all Asia, where he saw and had as teachers some of the apostles and of those who had seen the Lord”. It is believed that John was writing to Polycarp when he wrote to the church in Smyrna, Revelation 2: 8-10.

Polycarp did not have written accounts of his end time beliefs, but several of his pupils had many written records leaving no doubt of their end time beliefs. Because so many of Polycarp’s students were unanimous on their views, it is extremely probable that they were taught this view from Polycarp who was directly discipled by John, the author of Revelation, the Book of John, I John, II John, and III John. Here are a few examples of Polycarp’s pupils’ writings and other church fathers:

And therefore, when in the end the Church shall be suddenly caught up from this, it is said, "There shall be tribulation such as has not been since the beginning, neither shall be." (Matt.24:21) For this is the last contest of the righteous, in which, when they overcome, they are crowned with incorruption. Irenaeus, Against Heresies, 5:29:1 (A.D. 180)

“O unreasoning men! understanding not what has been proved by all these passages,
that two advents of Christ have been announced: the one, in which He is set forth as
suffering, inglorious, dishonoured, and crucified; but the other, in which He shall come
from heaven with glory, when the man of apostasy, who speaks strange things against
the Most High, shall venture to do unlawful deeds on the earth against us the
Christians, who, having learned the true worship of God from the law, and the word
which went forth from Jerusalem by means of the apostles of Jesus, have fled for safety
to the God of Jacob and God of Israel.” Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho, 110 (A.D. 155)

“But he indicates the number of the name now, that when this man comes we may
avoid him, being aware who he is: the name, however, is suppressed, because it is not
worthy of being proclaimed by the Holy Spirit. For if it had been declared by Him, he
[Antichrist] might perhaps continue for a long period.” Irenaeus, Against Heresies, 5:30:4 (A.D. 180)

“[Taught, I say, to wait], in order that the world may first drink to the dregs the plagues
that await it out of the vials of the angels, and that the city of fornication may receive from
the ten kings its deserved doom, and that the beast Antichrist with his false prophet
may wage war on the Church of God; and that, after the casting of the devil into the
bottomless pit for a while, the blessed prerogative of the first resurrection may be
ordained from the thrones; and then again, after the consignment of him to the fire, that
the judgment of the final and universal resurrection may be determined out of the
books.” Tertullian, On the Resurrection of the Flesh, 26 (A.D. 220)

“’And the dragon,’ he says, ‘saw and persecuted the woman which brought forth the
man- child. And to the woman were given two wings of the great eagle, that she might
fly into the wilderness, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time,
from the face of the serpent.’ That refers to the one thousand two hundred and
threescore days (the half of the week) during which the tyrant is to reign and persecute
the Church,” Hippolytus, On Christ and Antichrist, 61 (ante A.D. 235)

“The little season signifies three years and six months, in which with all his power the
devil will avenge himself under Antichrist against the Church. Finally, he says, after that
the devil shall be loosed, and will seduce the nations in the whole world, and will entice
war against the Church, the number of whose foes shall be as the sand of the sea.”

Victorinus, On the Apocalypse of John, 20:1-3 (A.D. 270)

“But he who reads this passage [Daniel 7:15-28], even half asleep, cannot fail to see
that the kingdom of Antichrist shall fiercely, though for a short time, assail the Church
before the last judgment of God shall introduce the eternal reign of the saints.”

Augustine, City of God, 20:23 (A.D. 419)

Believe it or not, this is only a few exerts from many documents that our church fathers left concerning an overwhelming harmonious view of their post-tribulation belief. Many proponents of a pre-tribulation rapture (dispensational pre-millennialism – see History of Rapture part 1) will claim that they adhere to the oldest form of eschatology, while in fact it is the youngest. Both pre and post tribulationist believe in a literal 1000 year reign of Christ, but before the early 1800s, there are no historical records of a belief in a pre-tribulation rapture. There are some speculations of isolated occurrences, but it is just that; speculations.

What I have written over the past few weeks is very rare information within the pulpits. Most teachers who focus on end time beliefs do not want to bring in the historical evidence, because it is strongly against modern eschatology. I will admit that the historical evidence does not prove one theory over another, but most theologians agree that the views of these men that I introduced you to today probably were passed down to them from the original apostles. But I encourage you to study this out for yourself. Please do not take my word for it.

History of the Rapture - Part 2

History of Amillennialism

In the previous thread we looked at the history of the Pre-tribulation rapture in church history. When I first heard the history behind this theory, I was truly amazed at just how young the theory is. Now we will look into the next division of eschatology which has been the overwhelming viewpoint for the longest period of time. The biggest reason for the longstanding of this theory is because this is the accepted view of the Roman Catholic Church. No matter the church that you attended, more than not, your roots began in the Roman Catholic Church. Before the protestant reformation there was one universal church, and that was the Roman Catholic Church. It always amazes me to hear some denominations state that they can trace their denomination back to the church in Acts. To make it clear once more, if you are a protestant believer in America, your church came out of the Roman Catholic Church at some point throughout history.

I must establish this point for you to fully understand the basis for the Amillennial theory. Today many protestant denominations along with the Catholic Church hold to this belief. One denomination that focuses strongly on eschatology claims this to be the oldest form of end time beliefs. They claim to be Amillennial yet they continually devalue the Catholic Church. Almost all of the fathers of the Protestant Reformation were Amillennialist, because they came out of the Catholic Church. In history, up to that point, any other form of eschatology was considered heresy.

The view is a simple one that fits the beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church perfectly. The Amillennial view states that Christ is reigning through his church here on the earth, and that Satan is actually bound up because the gospel has spread throughout the world. They believe that we are living in the millennium right now, and have been doing so since 70AD. Of course Catholicism generally teaches that Christ is reining through the Catholic Church, and that He speaks directly through the Pope. The Catholic Church teaches that Christ has transmitted His power directly to the Pope, and this is the reason the Pope’s words are to be treated equal to Christ’s. Now you can see how this theory fits perfectly with the teachings of Catholicism.

The Amillennial belief dates back to approximately 380, with the Edict of Thessalonica, in which Christianity became the state religion of Rome. From that time to recent history, any other form of eschatology was barred from the Catholic Church. The whole premise for this belief is that some prophetic scriptures are not to be taken literally, but to be seen as poetry. The thousand year reign of Christ in Revelation 20 is not a literal 1000 years, but a long period of time in which the church is reigning on the earth.

The people that hold to this theory are waiting for the end of the Church age when Jesus comes back to the earth for his Second Coming, the rapture. They also believe that the tribulation has already occurred, in 70 AD to be exact, and that there will not be a physical anti-christ during the last days.

Although this theory has dominated the church more so then any other eschatological belief, it is not the oldest form of end time theories. We will look next time at the oldest recorded end time beliefs in church history.