| (Copyright 2024) by Gregory Diaz (Wayne, New Jersey) |
|---|
| Many Christians and Bible students have wondered who the 144,000 will be. They are mentioned in both the seventh and fourteenth chapters of the book of Revelation. Let us explore what we may find out about them from these chapters and other places in the Bible. (The KJV will be quoted unless noted otherwise.) Let us consider what seems to be the key and most important fact concerning them. Revelation 14:4 tells us, “These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins.” Therefore, in order to answer just who the 144,000 virgins are, we must understand what it means to be a virgin in this context. Let us consider this concept from a biblical perspective. First notice that the apostle Paul refers to the Corinthians in 2 Cor 11:2 (NKJV) as a virgin betrothed to Jesus. “For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.” He goes on to say in verse 3 (KJV), “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” Now, let us carefully consider verse 4. “For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.” Here, let us notice the significance of this verse. The idea, in other words, is that if we bear with those preaching another Jesus, if we receive another spirit, or if we accept another gospel, we are no longer virgins. From the biblical point of view, if we are not virgins, we are fornicators. Remember Jesus said in Matt 24:4-5 “Take heed that no man deceive you. For MANY shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.” Jesus also tells us in Matt 16:6, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.” He defines this leaven as their doctrine (in Matt 16:12) and their hypocrisy (in Luke 12:1). How are we then to understand the real Jesus? Notice that Jesus said in John 6:37, “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I WILL IN NO WISE CAST OUT.” He seeks out the lost sheep (Matt 18:12-14). Matt 11:19 tells us the people at that time described Jesus as a “friend of publicans and sinners.” On the other hand, the pharisees did practice the doctrine of separating from sinners. They asked Jesus (in Luke 5:30), “Why do ye eat and drink with publicans and sinners?” In verses 31-32, Jesus replied, “They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” The pharisees went as far as to cast out of fellowship a man whose eyes Jesus had miraculously opened (John 9:34). Jesus called the Pharisees blind leaders of the blind (Matt 15:14). Jesus tells the Laodicean church to “anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see” (Rev 3:18). In 2 Pet 3:15-16, Peter tells us that some things in Paul’s epistles are “hard to be understood.” Consider what he meant. On the one hand, Paul tells the church not to bear with those who preach another Jesus. As our physician, Jesus does not cast out sinners. Yet in 1 Cor 5:13, we see Paul seeming to do just that! Referring to a fornicator, he seems to preach another Jesus by commanding the church to “put away from among yourselves that wicked person.” Did Paul actually command the church to physically remove a sinner from its presence? If so, Paul would have been contradicting himself. This would not make sense. However, if Paul was telling the church NOT to bear with someone preaching another Jesus, it would make sense. Now think about this. If the church was JOINED to a man in judgment, a man preaching another Jesus, a Jesus that DID remove sinners, the church would be fornicating with that man. Keep in mind that in the beginning of Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, he admonishes them against divisions (1 Cor 1:10). At that time, the church was divided, just as Christianity continues to be divided today. Corinthian believers each followed a particular person or group. It went beyond enjoying the preaching of a particular person. The problem was that they had become “joined” to the JUDGMENT of each man or organization. However, Paul desired them to be “perfectly JOINED together in the same mind and in the same judgment.” To accomplish this, he insisted they be joined to the supernatural judgment of Jesus. We see this explained throughout the first six chapters of his letter. In them, Paul contrasts the power of Jesus and the gospel with the power and wisdom of the world. We can better understand this fornication by considering the behavior of the great whore of Revelation 17 and 18. The kings of the earth, wielding their power to enforce her will, have committed fornication with her. In other words, they have “joined” themselves to her judgment. This relationship of unity is illustrated by sexual fornication. Jesus warns us to beware of the leaven of the pharisees (Luke 12:1). As we read through Paul’s first letter to Corinth, let us consider that he clearly warns us against the same leaven. He shows us that when we unite to the judgment of men, we become “puffed up” as well as becoming fornicators. 1 Cor 4:6 tells us we should not be “puffed up for one AGAINST another.” In verse 7, Paul says, “For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive?” In other words, we should acknowledge that the righteousness we have is a gift from God and not something to boast about. The Bible also tells us our righteousness is as filthy rags (Isa 64:6). It is vital to realize that Paul did not command the Corinthian church to remove the fornicator by the power of man. He instead tells them they are “puffed up” (for one against another, as chapter 4:6 tells us), “and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed MIGHT be taken away from among you.” Here, let us understand that mourning and fasting may be considered the same thing (Joel 2:12). This is clearly not something to be done with earthly power. 1 Cor 5:4 specifically tells us to use “the power of our Lord Jesus Christ” to deliver the fornicator unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh. Let us also consider that Young’s Literal Translation renders the end of verse 13 “put ye away the evil from among yourselves.” Notice it does not add in the word “person” after evil, as in most other versions. The “evil” here is the leaven present in the entire church, as it was “puffed up for one against another.” In the very next chapter, Paul clearly warns the church against using the power of the world’s justice system (1 Cor 6:1-8). Just as Jesus taught that it is the meek that shall inherit the earth (Matt 5:5), Paul asked the Corinthians (1 Cor 6:7), “Why do ye not rather take wrong? why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded?” These verses must guide us to the correct understanding of church organization. We must understand that changes in church organization are necessary. Jesus tells us that He chastens those whom He loves (Rev 3:19). Paul desires that the church (1 Cor 1:7) “come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Yet, it is because of the divisions produced by the unions with governments of men that we have come behind in gifts and blessings from God. The church must “earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints” (Jude 3). Christians, with God’s help, must and will return the church to the way it was organized in its beginning. It must come out of Babylon and the world. Christians must become pure from any union with man’s authority and controlling judgment. In doing so, Christians may depend on the protection of God’s government since Jesus prayed that His church would be kept from the evil of the world (John 17:15). The 144,000 are those Christians able to learn this new understanding or new “song,” as Revelation 14:3 puts it. As Jesus tells us in Revelation 3:22, “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.” —————————————————————————————————— See Gregory Diaz’s other articles at: Diaz, Gregory – Church of God, Bismarck (church-of-god-bismarck.org) —————————————————————————————————— |
Views: 34
Sign up to Receive [The "New" Church of God Messenger] weekly newsletter: