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Today I want to talk about the 144,000 mentioned in the book of Revelation, often misquoted as being 144,000 Jews. That is not what the Bible says. The Bible actually says that there are 144,000 of all the tribes of the children of Israel, and then it even goes so far as to list 12 of those tribes and to say that there are 12,000 from each tribe. Now I take that literally. Those who believe in the pre-tribulation rapture, on the other hand, do not. They generalize that as just being 144,000 Jews. Now let me explain to you why this is so important. Let's go to the two passages where the 144,000 are found. They're found in Revelation 7 and in Revelation 14. They're also alluded to in chapter 9. Let's look at the evidence. It says in Revelation chapter 7 verse 3, I'm sorry, verse 2, So, the Bible talks about the 144,000 being sealed in their foreheads and they're sealed before God pours out his wrath. Before he hurts any trees or hurts any of the sea or anything like that, he's going to seal his servants. That seal is important in chapter 9 because when the locusts from hell are released from the bottomless pit, they're commanded to torment all the men on the earth except those that have the seal of God in their foreheads. So, so far what we've learned about the 144,000 is that they're of the tribes of Israel and it lists specific tribes that they're from, the tribe of Judah, the tribe of Reuben, the tribe of Gad, so on and so forth. We also learned that they're going to be on this earth while God pours out his wrath but that the 144,000 will be immune from God's wrath because they will have the seal of God in their foreheads. Let's go to chapter 14 and read more. It says in verse 1 of chapter 14, And I looked, and lo, a lamb stood on the mount Zion, and with them a hundred forty and four thousand, having his father's name written in their foreheads. And I heard a voice from heaven as the voice of many waters and as the voice of a great thunder, and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps, and they sung as it were a new song before the throne and before the four beasts and the elders, and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand which were redeemed from the earth. These are they which were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are they which follow the lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the lamb. And in their mouth was found no guile, for they are without fault before the throne of God. So there we see in chapter 14 that the 144,000 are very clearly located in heaven. First of all, he talked about in verse 1 the lamb standing on the mount Zion and with them 144,000. We know that's located in heaven because number one, at this point the lamb is in heaven. Number two, the Bible says in Hebrews chapter 12, ye are coming to the mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem. Then he talks about how they're singing and harping a song that only they can learn. No one else can learn the song. And the sound of this song, John is hearing this sound, come from heaven the Bible says. And it says that they're singing the song before the throne of God and before the four beasts and before the four and twenty elders. So there's about five different ways to prove in Revelation 14 here that the 144,000 are sealed and in heaven at the beginning of chapter 14. They're all males. They're all virgins, okay? So what do we get from this? Well first of all, the Bible says they're from specific tribes. Let me tell you something. Those tribes that are listed in Revelation 7 do not exist any longer today. You have a group of people that are called the Jews, quote unquote. But those people do not belong to specific tribes. And maybe you could find some that were part of tribes like Levi or Benjamin or Judah of the southern kingdom. But if you remember in the Old Testament, the northern kingdom of Israel which consisted of ten tribes was taken captive by the Assyrians. They were dispersed into all lands. And then the Assyrians left the poor of the land in Israel and then they brought in their own Assyrians to intermix with the children of Israel. Those people became known as the Samaritans. That northern kingdom of Israel, the ten tribes, that area was called Samaria because Omri, he bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer and he named it Samaria. And that became the capital city of the northern kingdom. So when that northern kingdom of the ten tribes became totally intermingled with the heathen, that group became completely mixed together and just known as the Samaritans in the New Testament. So when the Bible talks about Samaria in the New Testament and when it talks about Samaritans, it's talking about that northern area of Israel where the ten tribes completely intermingled with the heathen. Those people lost their tribal identity. And in the whole New Testament, you only find one person, the prophetess, that was there when Jesus was brought in Luke Chapter 2. It says that she's of the tribe of Asher. But other than that, you'll never find any reference to people being of those tribes because over time those tribes have become mixed in and mixed up and the genealogies just aren't there to even tell these people which tribe they're from. That's why they're just collectively known as the Jews. There are exceptions, of course, of somebody who could maybe say that they're a Levite or a Benjamite or of the tribe of Judah and so forth. But you're not going to find 12,000 people of the tribe of Zebulun, let alone males, let alone virgins, let alone that would fit the criteria of being the servants of God. These tribes simply do not exist as tribes today. You go to the nation of Israel today, so-called, they're not broken up into tribes at all. Those groups or tribes no longer exist and even in Jesus' day, many of them had already ceased to exist. Therefore, we can only conclude that if they are 12,000 of the 12 tribes, these are Old Testament saints that literally were of those tribes. If we're going to take the Bible literally, we have to believe that those people really were of the tribe of Gad. They really were of the tribe of Naphtali in Revelation 7. They're not just Jews in general that can be just assigned to one of these tribes. No, those tribes don't exist anymore. They've been intermingled with the heathen and completely lost their tribal identity. Now the proof that what I'm saying right now is right is that they're in heaven in Revelation chapter 14 already sealed. Now, the reason why that's significant is that in both Revelation 7 and Revelation 14, you see the same events. First, you have the sealing of the 144,000 and then you have the rapture. In chapter 7, after the 144,000 are sealed, then after this he said, I looked and behold, a great multitude appeared and was in heaven. And so, notice the order. First, the 144,000 are sealed, then the rapture in chapter 7. A lot of people get that order wrong. Well, in Revelation 14, it's the same thing. In verses 1 through 5, the 144,000 are already in heaven at the beginning of the chapter, even though the rapture does not take place until verse 16. You see, the Bible says in Revelation 14, verses 14 through 16, and I looked and behold a white cloud. And upon the cloud, one sat like unto the Son of Man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, thrust in thy sickle and reap, for the time has come for thee to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe. And he that sat on the cloud, thrust in his sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped. So we have a reference to the rapture in Revelation 14, verses 14 through 16, when Jesus comes in the cloud and reaps the harvest of the earth. He reaps in the wheat into his barn. That's the exact thing that we saw in chapter 7. Right after the tribulation, sun and moon are darkened, 144,000 are sealed. Then the rapture in chapter 7, where the great multitude appears in heaven of all nations. And then the wrath is poured out in chapter 8 and onward. Well, same thing in the latter half of Revelation. You got the tribulation in chapter 13, you got the 144,000 sealed first in chapter 14, and then you've got the rapture later in chapter 14. Then you've got the wrath being poured out with the seven vials. So the timeline's always consistent. Tribulation, then rapture, then wrath. But notice, the 144,000 are always sealed before the rapture. And in chapter 14, it's clear that they're already sealed in heaven. Question, how do you get to heaven before the rapture? How does a saved person go to heaven before the rapture? Well, that's easy, by dying. And so in order for these 144,000 to have already been in heaven at the beginning of chapter 14 before the rapture even takes place, that proves right there that they were dead in the past because they already lived and died in the Old Testament nation of Israel, which is why they were from specific tribes. You're not going to find, I don't even think you could find 144,000 saved Jews today. But you dead sure aren't going to find 144,000 saved Jewish males that are virgins that are servants of God. And you dead sure aren't going to find 12,000 of each tribe because those tribes, many of them don't even exist anymore. And so it makes way more sense that these are Old Testament saints. God chose them from the Old Testament nation of Israel that spanned thousands of years so he could collect 12,000 from each tribe that were males, that were virgins. Now you say, wait a minute, Pastor Anderson, you're telling me that these Old Testament saints are coming back to this earth? Well, we're all coming back at the beginning of the millennium. Old and New Testament saints are all going to come back and rule and reign with Christ at the beginning of the millennium. So why is it hard for you to believe that the 144,000 just come back a few years early? You know, they're sealed while they're up in heaven. They get their glorified new body at the rapture and then they're placed on this earth to be here during the time that God pours out his wrath in order to replace the saints to preach his word. While we're gone up in heaven, while he's pouring out his wrath, they will be on this earth to preach the word of God and he's not going to leave this world without a witness. Not only that, the two witnesses will be here. Well, who are the two witnesses? Well, I believe that the two witnesses are Moses and Elijah. There are a lot of reasons why I believe that, part of which is because in Matthew 17, when Jesus is seen coming in his kingdom at the Mount of Transfiguration, he has Moses and Elijah with him. Well, if Moses and Elijah are Old Testament saints coming back to be on this earth while God's wrath is being poured out, why is it difficult to believe that the 144,000 are the exact same thing? That is the only way to take it literally when he says the 12 tribes because the tribe of Issachar, the tribe of Naphtali, those tribes don't exist today. You cannot find them and you dead sure can't find 12,000 saved children of God, but you can't even find the tribe to start with. So it's pretty clear that these are Old Testament saints. So using this as an argument to prove, God's not through with the nation of Israel, God's still dealing with the nation of Israel as a separate nation. No, the Bible says that in Christ there's neither Jew nor Gentile. He said avoid genealogies. He said it makes no difference whether you're Jew or Greek. He said there's one fold, there's one shepherd. We have been graphed in. Ephesians 2 flat out says that we are citizens of the nation of Israel. And so the 144,000 are Old Testament saints from the 12 literal tribes that are listed there.