144,000 singers of Revelation chapter 14

Two different groups??

In a recent article, I wrote how there is an amazing secret message contained in the order of the name of the twelve tribes of Israel who are sealed at the beginning of the 70th week or the seven years of the tribulation period.  I also mentioned how I believed that the 144,000 of chapter 7 are the same 144,000 in chapter 14.  Even though there are quite a few differences, the number is exactly the same.  A major difference is that they are placed at opposite ends of the 70th week.  The sealing of the 144,000 in chapter 7 takes place at the beginning whereas the 144,000 who learn the new song in chapter 14 takes place at the beginning of the new Messianic kingdom after the seven years.  Mounce in his Revelation commentary says, “In chapter 7, 144,000 were sealed against the woes that lay ahead (Rev. 7:4-8).  Now the same number stands secure beyond that final ordeal.”¹ (emphasis mine).

The conclusion reached in my previous article on the Secret Message of the 144,000 Israelites was that the 144,000 in chapter 7 are the offspring of the Woman, the bride waiting for her future husband.  They are “the rest of her offspring”²  except that they do not go to the safe place in the wilderness–they have a special role of evangelism throughout the world as servants of God during the Great Tribulation.  In Rev. 14:1, the 144,000 are also a redeemed people but they are represented as singers who are labelled as first-fruits and also those who have not defiled themselves with women but kept themselves sexually pure.

Bible scholars debate whether the number 144,000 is a literal number or a symbolic number representing a complete number.  It is impossible to tell but nonetheless the number is an important link between chapters 7 and 14 and but it would appear that these are the same group of men.  So, let’s take a look in more detail to find out about the different singing role that the 144,000 have after seven years of evangelism and warning.

Precedence of Scripture

In 1 Chron. 15:16 we see that King David told the leaders of the Levites to appoint singers and musicians as the ark of the covenant was being carried up to Jerusalem to the place that he had prepared for it.  The ark had been captured and held by the Philistines for seven months and it was being held ten miles from Jerusalem at Kiriath Jearim and there was great celebration as it was being returned.³  So, it would seem reasonable at the start of the new Messianic kingdom that a choir of singers would be appointed as in the days of old as the Son of David, Jesus Christ the Lamb, begins His reign.

Nehemiah also at the dedication of the new wall that he had built around Jerusalem after the return of the exiles appointed singers and musicians.⁴  Two choirs were appointed to proceed in opposite directions around the gates and the walls to give thanks to God for the great work done.⁵  The thing is I think we underestimate the importance of praise and worship in the completion of great works.  Singers and choirs will have their place at the dedication of the New Jerusalem and the millennial temple.⁶  Perhaps these are the 144,000 mentioned in Rev. 14.

The 144,000 singers are the first-fruits

There are a few things that help us describe and identify who exactly these singers are and where they originate.  The first thing is that John says that they are purchased from among men and are offered as first-fruits to God and the Lamb.  Jesus was also identified as the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep.⁷  In other words, Jesus was the prototype–the first man to be raised from the dead with a new body.  We will all be like him.  And as such, the 144,000 singers are from the first bunch of people who obey and follow God.  Also, John says that they are sexually pure and do not defile themselves with women.  This is an unusual statement but it could refer to two different things.

If we take the sexual purity thing literally then a  possible interpretation is to consider the Sethites in Gen. 4:26.  They were a godly line of people pre-flood who began to call upon the name of the Lord.  They were sexually pure in that they kept themselves separate from the line of Cain.  This continued for seven generations until Enoch.  After that in the process of time, Josephus writes, men became perverted and they forsook the practices of their fathers.  That is, everyone except Noah, his father Lamech and his grandfather Methuselah.  Interestingly, Noah did not become a father until he was 500 years old.  Why did it take Noah so long to find a wife and have children when all of his Sethite ancestors became fathers at a much earlier age?  The reason could be that the available pool of spouses would have gotten smaller and smaller until Noah had to settle for one of Cain’s descendants.  In fact, The Jewish writing known as Genesis Rabba (c. 5th century AD) states, “Naamah, daughter of Lemech and sister to Tubalcain, was Noah’s wife.”  Naamah is mentioned in Gen. 4:22 as being Tubal-Cain’s sister.  So from Seth to Enoch, there may have been a number (144,000?) of men who did not “defile” themselves by marrying women from the line of Cain thereby being classified as pure.  Anyone after Enoch and especially those born from Noah onwards, after the flood up to the present modern-day time, would be a mixed line because they would have a mixed progeny from both Seth and Cain.  That would disqualify virtually everyone from being part of the group of 144,000 singers.

Also further supporting this theory is that they were first-fruits in the sense that they were the first group to call upon the name of the Lord.

However the preferred interpretation by most commentators is that sexual purity means that they keep themselves ‘spiritually pure and undefiled’ by their complete devotion to God and their refusal to worship idols.  Often in the Old Testament idolatry is compared to sexual immorality. 

Conclusion

I think the 144,000 have a special role after their mission is complete.  At the end they become singers and musicians who have the important role of praise and worship as the Messianic kingdom is ushered in.  Even though their role is clearly not the same as in chapter 7, I believe they are the same group otherwise where do the first 144,000 Israelites disappear to?  The actual number could be a literal number or a symbol of a complete number.  The possibility is that the number 144,000 is a symbol of completeness as it is a multiple of the number 12 (12 x 12 x 1000).  The number “12” in the Bible occurs 187 times and symbolises God’s power and authority, as well as serving as a perfect governmental foundation.  However at this stage, I lean to the number being a literal number.

This group in my opinion is not drawn from the pre-flood Sethites who kept themselves sexually pure, rather it is the same group first mentioned in chapter 7.  We see the 144,000 at the beginning of the 70th week with a ministry that continues through the entire first and second half culminating with meeting the Lamb in Jerusalem at Mt. Zion at the end as they usher in the new Messianic kingdom.  They form a continuous and important witness during the entire seven year tribulation period.