By Grace Kemp
gracekemp@aol.com
Question: Please help me understand the role of the 144,000 in the book of Revelation.
I've been told that their mission is to evangelize the post-Rapture world and proclaim the gospel during the Tribulation period. As a result of their ministry, "a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language” will come to faith in Christ, according to Revelation 7:9.
Does Scripture state that the 144,000 will evangelize the post-rapture world? I don't see it. Please tell me the Scripture, that states as a result of the 144,000's ministry, the great multitude will come to Christ?
I see that the great multitude are before the throne of God and serve him day and night, but I don't see where it says they are doing so as a result of the evangelizing work of the 144,000. Are these two things expressly stated in Scripture, or implied from Scripture? I appreciate your help.
Answer: Congratulations on being such a careful student of Scripture. Details of the ministry of the 144,000 are sparse and most of our conclusions are inferred rather than taught. Following are my thoughts.
What is the Rapture?
1) Although the word Rapture is not mentioned in the Bible, it is the private removal of all born again believers before the Tribulations.
Thessalonians 4:16-18 says,
“For the Lord himself will come down from Heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
"After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words.”
2) The Two Witnesses They are prophets who arrive from Heaven on the day of the Rapture. We know this because they are martyred at the midpoint, 1,260 days after they arrive, and a conclusion inferred by the overall timeline of Tribulation events.
They prophesy to the Jewish worshipers in the newly built Temple in Jerusalem, according to Revelation 11:1,2. Their first converts are the 144,000, the "first fruits" of the two witnesses, says Revelation 14:4. We know this because immediately after the Rapture, the two witnesses are the ONLY witnesses for God on earth.
While the 144,000 are miraculously preserved during the first half of the Tribulation, countless Jewish converts are martyred, says Matthew 24:9. Their souls are protected under Heaven's altar as they await the arrival of "their fellow servants", according to Revelation 6:9-11.
3) The 144,000, I conclude, preach during the second half or Great Tribulation after the surviving Jewish converts have successfully escaped, "into the wilderness where she hath a place prepared of God...for 1,260 days," says Rev.12: 6.
Since Zechariah 13:8 implies that the converted Jews hiding in the wilderness represent one-third of their total number and that the remaining two-thirds have been killed, the 144,000 Jewish men will preach the "Gospel of the Kingdom" to the Gentiles who have never previously heard the Gospel.
See Matthew 24:14-11 and Thessalonians 2:10-12. They are the only preachers on earth at the time, surviving because they have been "sealed" in their forehead. Therefore, the "great multitude" of Gentiles described in Revelation 7:9-17 are their converts.
This forehead seal is not to be confused with the evil Mark of the Beast that Christ rejecters will accept during the same seven-year Tribulation period. This is not the last word on the topic but these are my conclusions to date. Thank you for such a great question. There are thrilling days ahead for all believers in Christ.
