The vision of the 144,000 is meant to distinguish the true and spiritual Jew from the world of unbelievers: “And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel. Of the tribe of Juda were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Aser were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Nephthalim were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Manasses were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Levi were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Issachar were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Zabulon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand.”
As the whole, the vision is symbolic in nature. To limit the 144,000 as pertaining to Israelites according to the flesh is to break the general hermeneutic flow of symbolism into a bold, uncharacteristic literalism. To use the chosen people of the old covenant to represent the chosen people of the new covenant is both scripturally and spiritually consistent (Rom. 2:28-29; Gal. 6:16). Moreover, the roster represented here does not match the original twelve tribes of Israel. Dan is not mentioned at all. Reuben does not lead the list. Ephraim does not appear at all. We see Joseph and his brother Benjamin representing two groups of twelve thousand. Furthermore, at the time of this writing, most of the tribes of Israel had become extinct. The kingdom of Israel was divided after the reign of Solomon into eight northern tribes and the two southern tribes, Benjamin and Judah.
However, the identity and distinctiveness of the northern ten tribes was generally lost in the Assyrian captivity. By the time of Christ, it was almost exclusively the tribe of Judah that could trace its lineage, which was important for establishing the genealogy of Christ. Why such contradiction if this list was meant to be taken literally? Rather, this list is a spiritual characterization of the kingdom of God, comprised of God’s elect (who have been sealed by the Holy Spirit) from every tribe and nation of the world. These are those who are the true children of Abraham by faith. The servants of God enjoying the work of the Spirit no longer include Jews only but also the Gentiles. Paul designates the church as the Israel of God (Gal. 6:16), and earlier John labeled the unbelieving Jews as belonging to the synagogue of Satan (Rev. 2:9; 3:9). The church, and not national Israel, is God’s multinational and universal kingdom that makes up the chosen people of God.
The church is one body that is the spiritual heir to all the promises and legacy of Old Testament Israel: “I will call them My people, which were not My people; and her beloved, which was not beloved. And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God” (Rom. 9:24–26).
Why 144,000? Why not 132,000? The number 144,000 is representative of God’s entire elect people. It is a whole, precise, and complete number. This number embodies multiples of twelve, perfectly cubed and then enlarged by a thousand. It represents twelve tribes and the twelve apostles and then multiplied a thousand times. This number represents God’s called-out witnesses to the world. It tells us that the Spirit will effectually seal all that the Father has given to Christ. Not one of God’s elect children will be left out. In short, we learn that the approaching day of wrath and the universal judgment of the world will not occur until all God’s elect people are sealed with the Spirit. The definite number of God’s elect must be completed.
Adapted from Victory in Jesus: A Devotional Commentary on the Book of Revelation
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