For this event, the angels had sealed away 144,000 men before the Earth was damaged (Revelation 7:1-4). Therefore, none may place them in Heaven, as they were not there; they were sealed away. Still, some teachers see them as being somewhere other than where the Apostle John sees them. They see them in Heaven, because they do not understand the symbolic meaning of their sealing. So now, the Lord returns with his 144,000 to explain more about them.
The reason these 144,000 were sealed away was to keep them safe for the Second Coming. I conclude this because they and Jesus are on the Earth -- Mount Zion. So, the seal of God on them identifies them as belonging to God, and under His care until this moment.
What is this seal on their foreheads? I derive its nature from their activities. Their activity is to "sing a new song before the throne." This is where the misunderstanding comes from, and some teachers add to this text that they stand at the Throne in Heaven. But does not the Bible teach us that the voices of God's servants in flesh, who had been redeemed from the Earth, are coming to the Throne in Heaven? Where were voices of the disciples heard on the Pentecost? So, let us look at consequence of baptism by Holy Spirit.
Baptism by Holy Spirit means that one receives a part of the second Being of the Trinity, and so a part of God the Holy Spirit. The place of God the Holy Spirit is on the Throne and around the Throne. Therefore, if person in flesh on the Earth prays and praises the Lord by the Holy Spirit, his voice is heard at the Throne in Heaven. If there are many who do this, then it sounds like "the roar of rushing waters and like a loud peal of thunder. The sound I heard was like that of harpists playing their harps."
The conclusion is that these believers are baptized by the Holy Spirit. This does not mean that they are newborn in Jesus Christ, because the seal is placed on their foreheads so that they could remember the words of their song. "No one was able to learn that song except the 144,000 people who had been redeemed out of the world." And if angels put the seal of the living God on them (Revelation 7:2), then they should use the angelic language.
Some religious groups as the Jehovah's Witnesses, Seventh-Day Adventists and others claim a sole relationship to the 144,000. However, I conclude that the 144,000 do not belong to any denominations or sects from these words: "These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they kept themselves pure." One problem observed with religious groups is essentially the same problem many men have with women. A husband should love his wife. However, a man can so love his wife that he neglects other women. Similarly, many religious groups are so strongly bound into the Earth's organization of their church that they cannot notice any of the Lord's movements outside their denomination. In response, they see them as ugly and call them the works of the Devil.
If you want to be among the 144,000, you need to "follow the Lamb wherever he goes." You need not follow your denomination's teachings, but you do need to follow Him; do so, and no lie is found in your mouth; you are blameless. If "they were purchased from among men and offered as first fruits to God and the Lamb," then their spiritual orientation is to Jesus Christ and to God. John speaks of 12,000 for each tribe in Israel. Society used to call these people "Messianic Jews." Still, they should not seal everyone within this faith, because many Messianic Jews follow the teachings of men, which disqualifies them. ("They follow the Lamb, not men's teaching").
Every army must know what it marches for; this is true even of God's armies.
According to the New Testament, the Church's crusade doctrine is to take power over the Earth. The first step to it is "that proclamation would be made, in His name, of repentance and forgiveness of sins to all the nations" (Luke 24:47). Those who do not accept this message will not be included among God's chosen. So, the goal of the first crusade is to emplace God's in every nation. Whoever accepts the Gospel will be saved; whoever does not will suffer and perish.
The first intention of angels is to be helpful everywhere, wherever men and women can preach the Gospel. The symbolic meaning of these words is that angels should care for The Woman and not allow her to be persecuted. We live in times when the Gospel is free in democratic states. No one may command anyone else to worship another god, as Jeroboam and some authors of the Dark Ages did. Still, this should continue only until the Rapture, and thus to the end of the Church, until the end of the Sixth Scroll.
The second angelic commission begins after the first is completed. "And
another, a second angel, followed, exclaiming, "Great Babylon has fallen, has fallen
-- she who made all the nations drink thhe wine of the anger provoked by her
fornication."
To proclaim the eternal Gospel to every nation, tribe, language, and people is possible
only if freedom is loose in the world. Democracy gives people freedom. As democracy
spread, so spreads the Gospel. Some power should lead the democratic world. If the
Gospel should be victorious, then so should democracy; and so the strongest country in
the democratic world should be the one superpower in the world. Also, there should be a
capital city for the world.
The Bible uses the word Babylon to represent the world's superpower. For
instance, Peter uses the word Babylon for the capital city of the Roman Empire (1 Peter
5:13). According to the language of Babylonian and Assyrians, Babylon means a gate of
God. Many people think this represents the United States; it is the leading world power
in democracy, and thus in our world. Also, all major Christian activities (printing Bibles,
sending missionaries, etc.) have originated from there.
Because we need freedom for the Gospel, the Devil might misuse this freedom.
Jesus foretold this occurrence in the parable of the weeds (Matthew 13:24-29 and 36-42).
However, we should not try to eliminate the Devil's plants, because this may keep
Christians from spreading the Gospel. For instance, Christians march for Jesus in many
cities. The Devil's children do the same, and lesbians and gays march publicly also. In
order to stop lesbian and gay marches, the leaders of some cities forbid all marches. Thus
in removing the weeds, they root up the wheat also.
With this parable, Jesus said that the evil practices of Babylon will be punished
when God harvests the good grain. This agrees with the teaching of the Gospel: "avenge
not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is
mine; I will repay, says the Lord" (Romans 12:19). So once the Gospel has reached all
corners of the world, the revenge of the Gospel will come. It is impossible that God's
Word would return unto Him void (Isaiah 55:6-11).
Therefore, where men preached the Gospel and it was not accepted, the angelic second commitment comes into play: the angels must punish the unbelievers there. They were already aware of this during the first task ("Fear God and give Him glory, because the time of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made sky and Earth, the sea and the water-springs"). Peter says that the judgment must begin first at the House of God (1 Peter 4:17).
The second angelic task is to punish Babylon. The superpower is the first on the list of those to be punished. While they received angelic support and God's blessing, they also carried sin into the world -- specifically by making Satanic films and Satanic music. The rest of the world will suffer consequently, as the first Five Trumpets sound the Lord's wrath.
"And a third angel came after them, saying with a loud voice: 'If any man gives worship to the beast and his image, and has his mark on his brow or on his hand. To him will be given of the wine of God's wrath which is ready unmixed in the cup of his wrath and he will have cruel pain, burning with fire....'"
This happened during the Seventh Scroll, when the Church disappeared. This begs the questions, who will preach these words? Are they angels, Christians or Jews? Some Christians (those who remain faithful to Jesus) will remain on the Earth, because their belief was external, only from teaching. Many Jews also will be faithful to God (i.e., they will obey God's commandments) and altogether, they will number at least 144,000. John shows two witnesses preaching. In any case, angels will be at their side, which will turn people to God.
The Harvest (The Angel with the Sickle)
We should include this task with the third task, because John did not give any number to the next angel with the sickle. From the words "Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on." "Yes," says the Spirit, "they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them" it could be derived that it is time for the harvest. The next task, then, is to separate the wheat from the tares, or to separate the just from the wicked (Matthew 13:49). The harvest should occur three times, as three commands were used in ancient Israel.
The last harvest also brings Jesus Christ to the Earth in the Second Coming. Angels will separate those harvested lastly (the just from the wicked), and 144,000 will welcome Jesus Christ upon His entry into Jerusalem.
Go to Climax of the Seventy for Israel