THE 144,000 ARE ISRAEL

THE 144,000 ARE ISRAEL There are all kinds of theories about the 144,000 in Revelation, which is pretty incredible considering God tells us exactly who they are. “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.” Revelation 7:4 KJV Then John gives us the names. Judah, Reuben, Gad, Asher, Naphtali, Manasseh, Simeon, Levi, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin. Twelve thousand from each tribe. Those names take us all the way back to Genesis. Jacob was the son of Isaac and grandson of Abraham. God changed his name to Israel, and his sons through Leah, Rachel, Bilhah, and Zilpah became the foundation of the tribes of Israel. That matters because the Tribulation itself is connected directly to Jacob. “Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of JACOB'S TROUBLE; but he shall be saved out of it.” Jeremiah 30:7 KJV Jacob IS Israel. So when Revelation shows us 144,000 servants of God sealed during this period, we're not handed some mystery that needs to be decoded. We're told they're from the tribes of Israel, given the tribal names, and even told exactly how many are sealed from each one. You really have to work pretty hard to make the 144,000 somebody other than who the Bible says they are. Follow the family from Genesis to Revelation and the picture is pretty clear. Abraham had Isaac. Isaac had Jacob. Jacob became Israel. His sons became the tribes, Jeremiah calls the coming Tribulation “Jacob's trouble,” and Revelation puts those tribes right back in front of us. Thousands of years separate Genesis from Revelation, but God's covenant promises didn't expire somewhere between the two. #MoreJoyMinistries