Hearing and then seeing is a theme in Revelation.
Earlier in the same book, John records this passage:
“Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?”
But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it.
I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside. 5 Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.”
While John is weeping, the elder says to him "See, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah..."
John hears "Look, the Lion!" One would expect to see some type of a lion.
But then John turns to look and he sees this:
"Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain..."
Hears "Look a lion!" -> Sees a lamb that looked like it had been slain.
Now, we know that the lion and the lamb refer to neither animal but to a specific person: Christ Jesus.
This pattern is also relevant to the passage in Revelation 7.
John hears the number of those who were sealed;
Revelation 7 "Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel."
And then the number from each tribe is enumerated:
"From the tribe of Judah 12,000 were sealed,
from the tribe of Reuben 12,000,
from the tribe of Gad... etc."
Notice, this was to be a list from "all the tribes of Israel" yet it is not: Dan is missing and Mannasseh, one of Joseph's sons, is added.
So, just from the text (and excluding any religious gymnastics) we should know that this is NOT a list of the physical tribes of Israel.
This is something else.
But let's continue...
So John hears "144,000 from the tribes of Israel!" (a specific number and specific types of people) and then he looks and sees...
"After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb."
...he sees a great multitude no one could count.
I could write nearly a page for every sentence above but let me conclude this:
Revelation 7 requires wisdom to understand, like the rest of the book. This is not a count of 144,000 Jews. It is something else.
Yes. I agree. So much of Revelation is figurative. You simply cannot take everything literally. That is a mistake. Also, I would like to point out that the 144,000 were ALL men, no women, and ALL VIRGINS—never had sexual relations with women, according to Revelation 14. Verse 1 says they were the ones “sealed” on their foreheads as mentioned in chapter 7, and verse 4 says “These are the ones who were not defiled with women for they are virgins.” Do you see how absurd this misinterpretation becomes when you put all the facts together?
Also, the New Testament makes it very plain that God calls ALL of His saved people, “Israel.”. This is what people don’t understand: In the New Testament, God talks about a “Israel” of the FLESH—that’s the physical Jews (Roman’s 9:8) and then He talks about the “ISRAEL OF GOD.” Galatians 6;16. These are the spiritual Jews which include both Jews and gentiles who have been converted to Christ. They are the “saved people of God, the “elect.”
This is further seen in these passages: “He is NOT a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart…” Romans 8:28.. So let’s stop right here and make a point. There are several words like this in the New Testament that can have TWO MEANINGS or the same word but talking about two different things.
1) is the word “dead”. Matthew 8:22, Luke 9:60. Jesus said, “Let the DEAD bury the DEAD. That word “dead” has a physical meaning and it also has a SPIRITUAL meaning. The words are the same, but the meanings are different. The first “dead” are the ones who are SPIRITUALLY “dead”. The second “dead” are the ones who are Physically “dead.”So what Jesus is saying in that verse is “ you let the ones who are spiritually dead bury the ones who are physically dead.
2) The same thing with the word “circumcision.” Two meanings—one physical and one spiritual, as seen in Romans 2:28. Circumcision of the flesh—physical; circumcision of the heart—spiritual.
3) This is true for the word “Israel”, also. Galatians 3:29- Paul said, “ If you are Christ’s, meaning if you are a Christian, then you are ABRAHAM’S SEED AND HEIRS TO THE PROMISE.” Well, we are NOT Abraham’s seed physically. But we ARE Abraham’s seed SPIRITUALLY. So we are HEIRS SPIRITUALLY to the promise of God.
Galatians 6:16- As many as walk according to this rule—what rule? (See verse 15–those who WALK IN CHRIST JESUS). peace be upon the ISRAEL OF GOD.”. Christians are called the ISRAEL of God.
This background and understanding is very important to understanding such passages as Romans 9.and Roman’s 11. In chapter 9,9, Paul says, “ They are not all “Israel” who are of Israel.” That sounds a little like Matt. 8:22. Two words alike but with different meanings. He is saying not every one who is a Jew in the flesh is a Jew spiritually. See that? Not all physical Jews are the “Israel of God.
One last passage. Go to Romans 11. This is often used to teach the false doctrine that at the end of the world all Jews will be saved. Nothing could be farther from the truth. In verse 26, when he says “all ISRAEL shall be saved,” is He talking about physical Jews or The spiritual Israel of God? We must get the answer from the context and the next few verses. He says a Deliverer will come out of Zion. This obviously is Christ and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob—fleshly Jacob or Spiritual Jacob? For this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins. How does Christ take away ANYONe’s sins? By His Blood. This “COVENANT”. That He will make with them to take away their sins is His New covenant, the New Testament. In it, you will find out How Jesus takes away sins and what anyone must do to have their sins removed. In His “covenant” He has never promised to take away sins of people who do not believe in Him. If you go back up to verse 20, you see that the fleshly Jews were broken off because of “unbelief”. Verse 23 He says “IF” they do not continue in unbelief, they will be grafted back in. But it is conditional upon their faith. Obviously, Paul is talking about physical Jews who will become SPIRITUAL Jews in verse 26 & 27. In verse 28, he says the physical Jews are “enemies to the gospel”, but the “elect”, the SPIRITUAL Jews are BELoved.
Finally, we must apply what we know about the word “Israel” to Revelation 7 and 14. It must not be taken literally, to mean literal Jews. That makes no sense and is not consistent with the rest of the Bible. This is figurative for the SPIRITUAL Israel of God. Whoever the 144,000 are, they were a special group of unique saints. That is all I can safely say.
