I’d like to see an article about the 144,000. These questions and answers have been so rewarding to me and I was hoping if one was written about this matter I’d understand better. I’m so afraid I’m won’t be counted. That seems like such a low number and I don’t know how to word this so I’ll just say what’s on my heart.
I’m trying every day to be a better daughter to our Father. I’m reading and seeking knowledge to walk in The Way. But I see others that are so much better than I am. It scares me to think that I won’t be counted in this number
Shalom sibling,
This is such a great question. Your fear is understandable and the fact that you are concerned about this means you have a heart for the Father and his ways. However, I do feel digging deeper together will alleviate your concern.
Let’s start by looking at the description of the 144,000.
Then I looked, and behold, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. And I heard a voice from heaven like the roar of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder. The voice I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps, and they were singing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures, and before the elders. No one could learn that song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins. It is these who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These have been redeemed from mankind as first fruits for God and the Lamb, and in their mouth no lie was found, for they are blameless. (Revelation 14:1-5)
So the 144,000
- Have the name of the Father and Son written on their forehead.
- Are with the Messiah on Mount Zion.
- Are singing a new song that only they could learn.
- Are redeemed from the Earth.
- Are blameless, male virgins and not defiled by women
- Follow our Messiah
One thing I would like to point out here is that if we read this literally, the 144,000 are all male virgins. This alone would eliminate Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Noah, Joseph, Mary (because she is a woman) and most of everyone else in the Bible. If it were a requirement to be a virgin in order to be in the kingdom then why would the Father bless Abraham and Sarah with Isaac?
What does the Father do when something is vital for us to understand? He repeats Himself. The 144,000 are only mentioned in Revelation.
The entire book of Revelation is unlike most of the Bible. It is a vision – filled with symbolism. Because of this, most scholars believe that interpreting this number as symbolic is more consistent with how we read the book of Revelation as a whole.
So if 144,000 is just symbolic, what is it symbolic of?
Scholars believe that this number is symbolic of the Father’s people as a whole. Interestingly, it is also thought that it is possible that the 12,000 from each tribe, the 12 gates and the 144,000 are actually symbolic for the New Jerusalem but that is a whole different rabbit trail.
I think the important takeaway here is that there is no limit on how many of the Father’s people get into the kingdom because there is space for every single one of us.
With regards to you knowing so many people that you consider to be better than yourself, I want to caution about that. Although we can have a natural tendency to do so, comparing yourself to others will steal your joy and hinder your relationship with the Father. When we compare ourselves to others, we always think that we come up short. We need to remember that we can only judge someone by their words and their actions, but the Father – He judges us by our heart.
Some things we can do to help this:
- We practice taking our thoughts captive. The Father offers us His shalom and these types of fearful thoughts are not from Him.
- We stop comparing our walk to others
- We ask the Father to show us what we need to work on
- We ask the Father to give us His heart
I do have another article that you might find useful titled “Not Enough”. You can find here: https://seekingscripture.com/not-enough/
Remember, when we seek the Father with our whole hearts, He meets us there and counts us as His.
I hope this helps.