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Who are the 144,000? The elect? The “male child”? May 23, 2011

Posted by Henry in Eschatology & End Times.
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17 comments

Whilst I venture from time to time into eschatology my main focus is not so much about unravelling end times prophecies but rather to emphasize the need for Christians to apply discernment especially in this area by demonstrating some of the erroneous teachings that have emerged contrary to scriptures.

One of the many “theories” that abound concerning the end times is the identity of a group of 144,000 people spoken of in Revelations. Some say the 144,000 are the church, others say these are the elect and an even more preposterous view is that these together are the “male child” spoken of in Revelations 12. The theory I want to focus on here is whether this group could indeed constitute the “male child” of Rev 12:5. Here are the relevant verses:

1

And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:

2

And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.

5

And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.

6

And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.

13

And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.

14

And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.
     

We understand from reading other prophecies that the woman here spoken of in verse 1 isIsrael, which shall bring forth a “male child”.  According to the theorists therefore this “male child” are the 144,000 men that would be saved from the 12 tribes of Israel before the Lord’s return. Scripture tells us in Rev 14 that these are 12000 men of each of the twelve tribes of Israel (See also Rev 7).

Could these 144,000 be the “male child” referenced in Rev 12? The first thing we need to note here is that in verse 5 of Rev 12 the man child was caught up to God and to His throne. Following this event the woman (Israel) fled into the dessert for 1260 days (we could apply the principle of 1 day for a year here to mean 1260 years but the theorists say this is 3.5 years). If the 144,000 are indeed the “male child” at what point in history were they caught up to God’s throne? The short answer is they would have been “caught up” during the opening of the 6th Seal in Revelations 6:12-17, 7:1-8. It was during the 6th Seal that the heavens were opened, when the day of God’s wrath had come. Reading from verse 1 of Revelations 7 therefore we learn that 4 angels stood at the ready at the four corners of the earth to pour out God’s wrath but they were told by another angel not to hurt the earth till the servants of God (the 144,000) were sealed in their foreheads. So we know therefore that up to this point in history the 144,000 were still on the earth and could not have been caught up at any time previously since it is only at this point that they were to be sealed with the seal of God. If indeed this group were caught up then they could only have been caught up after they were sealed. So what does all this mean?

Going back to Revelations 12 we learn that after the man child was “caught up”, Israel fled into the wilderness where she had a place prepared by God for her to be nourished for 1260 days. If the theorists are to be believe then what this means is that after the 144,000 (the supposed “man child”) are “caught up” at the 6th Seal, Israel flees into the dessert on “judgement day” for 3.5 years. We do not know the gap of time between the 6th and 7th Seals but it makes no sense to say that Israel is fleeing to the wilderness at a time when everyone else has “gone to heaven” including the great multitude that were seen after the 144,000 were sealed, and the wrath of God was about to be poured out on the earth. I do not need to make any suppositions here though as Revelations 12 makes clear that the time period when the “man child” is caught up and the woman fleeing into the wilderness is a distinctly different time period from the 6th Seal events. Reading to the end of Rev 12 we learn that after the woman flees into the wilderness the serpent cast a flood out of it’s mouth after the woman but the earth helped the woman by swallowing up the flood. What happened next is that the dragon tried to make war with the remnant of the woman’s seed:

17

And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

 

Note therefore that the remnant were those that had the testimony of Jesus Christ. The serpent could only have made war with this remnant of the woman’s seed prior to the 6th Seal because at the 6th Seal all those that had the testimony of Christ were joined with Him and were gathered around His throne. The evidence is therefore clear that the 144,000 could not be the man child because the events that occur after the man child is caught up and that of the 6th Seal are in two separate time-frames. The man child is therefore none other than Jesus Christ as it is only He that has the distinction whereby He will rule all nations with a rod of iron (Rev 19:15). The 144,000 are 12,000 men from each of the 12 tribes who have not defiled themselves with women, and who are considered the first fruits unto God (Rev 14).

What I have presented here is an example of how false teachers read scriptures and interpret them in isolation, ignoring the glaring inconsistencies in their arguments, which goes against the grain of scripture. This is one of the reasons we need to apply proper discernment instead of being carried away with every wind of doctrine.

The “Mystery” of the Four Horsemen March 2, 2010

Posted by Henry in Eschatology & End Times.
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10 comments

In my previous post on “The Pre-tribulation Rapture Revisited: The Seven Seals” I deliberately neglected to address the four horsemen which begins from the opening of the first seal in Rev 6:1 so as not to overcomplicate the issue. In this rather brief outline therefore I will attempt to present the scriptures so that they speak for themselves in unraveling the mystery of these four horsemen which no doubt strikes many people with fear and dread. This is particularly so because these horsemen are not understood. I believe the key to unlocking the whole mystery however resides in Matthew 24 where Jesus outlined the signs which precedes His coming. I also believe that this discussion also lends itself to the pre-tribulation rapture debate as well and for all intents and purposes we are possibly already witnessing the rise of the four horsemen. But would this not mean that the pre-tribulation believers as well as the rest of “missed the boat” since they claim that the rapture had to occur before the opening of the first seal? Nevertheless these issues will be explored in the following outline.

Firstly, we should recall that the Disciples asked Jesus in Matt 24:3, “when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?

Jesus then began to outline the signs that preceded His coming in the verses following, which some refers to as the so-called Olivet Discourse. This should be borne in mind then as we examine the mystery of the four horsemen and note also that it is Jesus Himself who opens the seals.

To begin with we look at the characteristics of the four horsemen in turn which proceeded from the opening of the first four seals:

First Horseman

2 And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.

Second Horseman

4 And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.

Third Horseman

And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. 6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.

Fourth Horseman

8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.

I have highlighted the main characteristics of these horsemen but to summarize we see the first going out to conquering and to conquer; the second was given a sword and he takes peace from the earth, causing people to kill one another; the third had a pair of balances in his hand and this signifies judgment (not to be confused with the final judgement); and the last horseman was given power over the fourth part of the earth (the earth is described in scripture as having four corners), to kill with sword, hunger, death and with the beasts of the earth.

Thus these four horsemen precedes the return of Jesus Christ, which occurs at the opening of the 6th seal. So how does these four horsemen relate to the Olivet Discourse of Matthew 24? We read from verse 6:

6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars (horseman 1): see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom (horseman 1): and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places (horseman 4). 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows. 9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake (relates to horseman 3 – judging the saints and horseman 4). 10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another (horseman 2). 11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. 12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. 13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

Looking at the underlined portions here in Matt 24 and conflating them with the characteristics of the four horsemen of Rev 6, we can ascertain that these events are the same, which precedes Jesus’ coming. This is the mystery of the four horsemen. But aren’t some of these things already happening even in our day or perhaps we are not able to discern the signs of the times? What then, has the pre-tribulation rapture taken place already? Noting that the scripture left us in no doubt that these were the signs that the disciples and consequently the church should look for in order to know that Christ’s return was near.

“But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved”! Amen