The 144,000 and True Worship as it

Relates to God’s Creatorship

What do we believe about the 144,000?

How is true worship connected to God as

Creator?
•As the wicked face judgment,
Revelation 7 answers the question
about who will stand on the day of
Christ’s coming: those who have
been sealed, the 144,000.

•The characteristics of the 144,000.

 The 144,000

In Revelation 7. John “unveils” the 144,000

• as saints who will stand triumphant,

• undeterred,
• undefiled and
• victorious when Jesus returns to earth.
 The Sealed People of God – 144,000
John hears that Twelve is a symbol The number The 12 tribes listed The 12 tribes in
their number is of God’s people: 144,000 stands for in Revelation 7 are, Revelation 7 stand
144,000 from the the tribes of Israel the totality of obviously, not for the entire
12 tribes of Israel. and the church God’s end-time literal, because the people of God who
The reference here built upon the people: “All Israel” 12 tribes of Israel, endure to the end,
is not to a literal foundation of the (Jews and Gentiles) encompassing both both Jews and
number but to Twelve apostles. who are ready for the Northern and Gentiles.
what it signifies. Christ’s return and Southern
who will be Kingdoms, are not
translated without in existence today.
seeing death The 10 tribes of the
Northern Kingdom
were taken into
captivity during the
Assyrian conquest ,
where they
became integrated
with other nations.
Thus, the 12 tribes
do not constitute
Judaism today.
 Who are Sealed?
1. Then I looked, 2. And I heard a 3. And they sung 4. These are they 5. And in their
and behold, voice from as it were a new which were not mouth was
a Lamb standing heaven, as the song before the defiled with found no guile:
on Mount Zion, voice of many throne, and before women; for they for they are
and with Him one waters, and as the the four beasts, are virgins. These without fault
hundred and forty- voice of a great and the elders: are they which before the
four thousand, thunder: and I and no man could follow the Lamb throne of God
having His Father’s heard the voice of learn that song but whithersoever he
name written on harpers harping the hundred and goeth. These
their foreheads with their harps: forty and four were redeemed
thousand, which from among
were redeemed men, being the
from the earth. firstfruits unto
God and to the
Lamb.

Revelation 14:1-5
 The Seal of God
At the end-time, the seal on the forehead is
given to God’s faithful people
Who are these people?

God’s sealed people has been tested in every

generation.
What is the test of faithfulness in the final crisis?
What will be the sign of loyalty to God in this final crisis?

The seal also functions as a sign of protection

from the destructive forces of the seven last
plagues (Rev 7:3)
 How?

How are you sealed?

• Forehead: Belief – Internal Acceptance

• Hand: Compliance – External Action
 What is the Seal?
8
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.

9
Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:

10
But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it
thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter,
thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy
stranger that is within thy gates:

11
For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and
all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore
the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

Exodus 20:8-11
 What is the Seal?
• 1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the
host of them.

• 2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had
made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work
which he had made.

• 3 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it:

because that in it he had rested from all his work which
God created and made.
Genesis
2:1-3
 The Sabbath Connection

1. God identifies his end-time people –

twice – as
• Keep the commandments of God and have the
testimony of Jesus Christ
• Keep the commandments of God and (keep) the faith
of Jesus

2. God calls the world to worship Him as

Creator
a. Sabbath is from creation
 More About The 144,000

The 144,000 is an all-inclusive group that:

• Conquers the image of the beast, endure persecution

• Stands victorious with Jesus Christ and sing the triumphant song of
their experience with God.
• Are God’s end-time universal church who make up spiritual Israel
• Are the remnants who survive the shifting in Laodicea

They include those who respond to the loud cry of the

third angel’s message when the image of the beast
becomes law
 More About The 144,000
• Individuals will be gathered before God from all nations of
the earth.
•
Those redeemed will be a large multitude of people no-
one can count.
•
They will celebrate before God and the throne day and
night

"THERE IS ROOM FOR EVERYONE WHO ACCEPTS JESUS

CHRIST TODAY AS LORD AND SAVIOUR."
 The Great Multitude

•What group does John see at this point?

•How are they described, and where do they

come from?

•What are they shouting before God’s throne?

What’s the connection between the 144,000
and God as Creator?

• What are the three chief characteristics of the 144,000

saints?

• How are these characteristics related to the description of

the end-time saints?

• What is the connection with commandment keeping and

acknowledging God as Creator?
 144,000 & God the Creator

The 144,000 and God’s Creatorship Revelation 14:7

• “Fear God and give
glory to Him, for the
hour of His judgment
has come; and worship
Him who made heaven
and earth, the sea and
springs of water.”
Revelation 14:7
 144,000 & God the Creator

Exodus 20:11 Revelation 14:7

• “For in six days the • “Fear God and give
Lord made the glory to Him, for the
hour of His judgment
heavens and the has come; and worship
earth, the sea, and Him who made
all that is in them, and heaven and earth,
rested the seventh day.
the sea and springs
Therefore the Lord
blessed the Sabbath of water.”
day and hallowed it.
 144,000 & God as the Creator

Exodus 20:11 Revelation 14:7

• “For in six days the • “Fear God and give
Lord made the heavens glory to Him, for the
and the earth, the sea, hour of His judgment
and all that is in them, has come; and worship
and rested the seventh Him who made heaven
day. Therefore the Lord and earth, the sea and
blessed the Sabbath day springs of water.”
and hallowed it.
 144,000 & God as the Creator

Exodus 20:11 Revelation 14:7

• “For in six days the • “Fear God and give
Lord made the heavens glory to Him, for the
and the earth, the sea, hour of His judgment
and all that is in them, has come; and worship
and rested the seventh Him who made heaven
day. Therefore the Lord and earth, the sea and
blessed the Sabbath day springs of water.”
and hallowed it.
 144,000 & God as the Creator

Exodus 20:11 Revelation 14:7

• “For in six days the • “Fear God and give
Lord made the heavens glory to Him, for the
and the earth, the sea, hour of His judgment
and all that is in them, has come; and worship
and rested the seventh Him who made heaven
day. Therefore the Lord and earth, the sea and
blessed the Sabbath day springs of water.”
and hallowed it.
 144,000 & God as the Creator

Exodus 20:11 Revelation 14:7

• “For in six days the • “Fear God and give
Lord made the heavens glory to Him, for the
and the earth, the sea, hour of His judgment
and all that is in them, has come; and worship
and rested the seventh Him who made heaven
day. Therefore the Lord and earth, the sea and
blessed the Sabbath day springs of water.”
and hallowed it. Revelation 14:7
Exodus 20:11
Definite Allusion

Exodus 20:11 Revelation 14:7

• Fourth Commandment • First Angel’s Message
 Exodus 20:11 -> Rev 14:7

Whole Old New Testament

Testament context passage

Bible writers intended for allusions to send

their first-century hearers back to the original
Old Testament context.
 Divine Confirmation

• Applied to Revelation 14:7, this means that

this allusion seeks to direct the reader to a
whole textual context

• The fourth commandment AND the concept

of creation in six days

• Divinely intended first-century confirmation

of the six-day creation worldview
 Implications

• Exodus 20:11 • Revelation 14:7

• For in six days the Lord • Worship him who

made the heavens and the made the heavens and

earth, the seas and all that earth and sea and springs
is in them of waters
 Implications
• Exodus 20:11 • Revelation 14:7

• For in six days the • Worship him who [in

Lord six days]

made the heavens and

made the heavens and earth and sea and springs
the earth, the seas and of waters
all that is in them
 Implications
Postmodernism
Postmodernism—objective, unchanging truth
might not exist.

The specific creation worldview being valid

until the coming of Christ affirms that
overarching truth is indeed possible.
 SUMMARY
• Who are the 144.000?
They are sealed by God and will be with him in heaven

• Is this a literal or symbolic number?

What’s the importance of being sealed and included in this number (symbolic)
The sealed of God/the 144,000 as described in Revelation are those who keep the
commandments of God.

• How will you be sealed?

Sabbath as a sign.

• What does this have to do with God as Creator?

God as creator – did so in 6 literal days!!! Not weeks or over millions of years. The
concept of evolution is flawed and without merit.
 “Nearest the throne are those who were once zealous in the cause of
Satan, but who, plucked as brands from the burning, have followed their
Saviour with deep, intense devotion. Next are those who perfected
Christian characters in the midst of falsehood and infidelity, those who
honored the law of God when the Christian world declared it void, and
the millions, of all ages, who were martyred for their faith. And beyond is
the ‘great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and
kindreds, and people, and tongues, … before the throne, and before the
Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands’. Revelation 7:9
.
Their warfare is ended, their victory won. They have run the race and
reached the prize. The palm branch in their hands is a symbol of their
triumph, the white robe an emblem of the spotless righteousness of Christ
which now is theirs”. - Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, p. 665.
DISCUSSION
 Implication
Epistemology
Referential Expressivist
Religious language refers Religious language may
to natural world not refer to the natural
world.
Conflict is possible
Removes the possibility
of conflict
 Possible Objection
Does the absence of the words “in
six days” in Revelation 14:7
suggest that God is in some way
implying that we should, in fact, no
longer regard a six-day creation as
historically true?
Otherwise, would God not have
explicitly said “in six days” in the
first angel’s message?
Objection Answered
1. It would make Jesus
contradict what He spoke
from Sinai
2. Rev. 14:7 approvingly
alludes to Ex. 20:11
endorsing the seventh-day
Sabbath and by implication
the reason for it
3. An allusion is a shorthand
way of endorsing an entire
passage
4. Would force a later portion
of Scripture to directly
contradict an earlier one
 Implications
Speaks to macroevolution
In 1844:

• Darwin’s 1844 Sketch completed

• God sent a special message to the world saying

that He created the basic life-forms in six days,
not millions of years
 Implications
A Global Flood

If a six-day creation is historically true, a

corresponding historical global flood is necessary to
explain the presence of the geologic column.
Global Flood - Geologic Column
 Implications
A Global Flood
• For in six days the Lord • Worship him who

• Made the • Made the

• Heavens and the • Heavens and
• Earth, the • Earth and
• Seas and • Sea and
• all that is in them • Springs of waters
 Implications
Character of God
A rapid creation and a global flood directly
safeguard God’s goodness by removing from
Him any responsibility for producing life-
forms through an evolutionary process.
 Implications
Hermeneutics
None other than the resurrected Lord, Himself,
interprets Genesis 1 literally.

This reminds us of the important hermeneutical

principle—interpret the Bible literally and
historically when called for by the text.
 Epilogue
• End-time believers may have to rely wholly upon
the Word of God not only regarding matters such as
the state of the dead, but also a wider circle of issues
such as the method of creation and the historicity of
the biblical floodflood.
 Implications
• The implications show how Rev 14:7 provides a powerful
basis for a new, unparalleled Christian unity of several
dimensions.

• The acceptance and implementation of these implications can

unify Christian theology and scientific research in profound
and healing ways.

• Revelation 14:7 can serve as the cosmological North Star for

Christian theological, scientific, and spiritual unity in a
postmodern era. The passage enables us to know, trust, and
worship the immeasurably loving God who in six days created
the “heaven, and earth, the sea, and the fountains of water.”