by Randy Fishell, editor
Recently a young person asked me about the number 144,000 in the book of Revelation. Maybe what I wrote to this person will help answer some of your questions about this number. Honestly, it's a little boring, but maybe it's worth reading. Anyway, see what you think:
"Hi ________.
You asked a good question about the number 144,000 that is mentioned in the book of Revelation! Let me share with you the way I understand it.
The book of Revelation is an “apocalyptic” book, which means it is jammed full of “word pictures” (symbolic beasts and things like that) and symbolic numbers. In Revelation, these numbers often represent something that's been made perfect. The number 144,000 is one of those symbolic numbers. It does NOT mean that there will be only 144,000 people taken to heaven, from any period of history—beginning, middle, or the end-times.
I believe the number 144,000 is connected to the idea that there were originally 12 tribes (Judah, Reuben, Simeon, Levi, etc.) in Israel.
Later in Bible history there were 12 disciples. They were chosen during Jesus’ time to represent the 12 original tribes from Israel. Jesus was saying in effect, “Because things haven’t quite worked out with the 12 tribes the way I had hoped, the playing field just got a lot bigger. Now these 12 men, my special disciples, will build a whole network of “chosen people” to share my love with the world. We’ll call that network the Christian Church.”
In Revelation, John (the author of Revelation) uses a similar kind of SYMBOLIC or FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE to portray God saying something like this: “Once again I’m going to use the number 12 in a special way. But this time it’s going to represent those end-times people who have been through so much spiritual trauma and yet stayed true to Me. Yes, those folks are special in My eyes, and there will be plenty of them.” To help build the case, God uses the number 12 (the number of tribes) and then MULTIPLIES IT BY ANOTHER FORM OF THE NUMBER 12: 12,000! This big number is an example of one of those important, “perfect” Bible-times numbers I mentioned earlier. (The numbers 3 and 7 are also important Bible numbers.)*
So here it is again: Instead of using the small number 12 to make His point, God uses the number 12,000 and then multiplies it by itself, a Bible way of saying “This is the perfect number to represent this throng of end-times people.” Again, this “perfect” number merely symbolizes the end-time folks who have been made “perfect” by believing in Jesus and as a result are going to heaven.
Now, if you have chosen to follow Jesus and have asked Him to cover your sins with His perfect life and love, you are going home someday to be with Him! Notice that I did not say “If you have become perfect” or “If you are trying hard to be perfect.” It is a deep desire to follow the One Who really is perfect—Jesus—and a trust in His power, love, and forgiveness that qualifies you for heaven.
It may sound complicated, but the bottom line is that 144,000 does NOT mean that that’s all who will be going to heaven from the last days of earth’s history. It's just a Bible-times way of saying there will be a plenty of people going there from the last days—everyone who chooses to let God lead in their lives.
Anyway, that's how I have come to understand it. Others have different viewpoints. Just remember that there will be tons of believers from EVERY period in history, not just the last days, going to heaven. But that is a blog entry for another day!
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* The numbers 12,000, 144, and 12 also play important figurative roles when John writes about the New Jerusalem (see Revelation 21:10-21).
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