the 144,000: Christians zealous for God; pray hard to be one of them
the 144,000 who are sealed in Revelation 7 are "spiritual Israel," not ethnic Jews, who are said by Jesus to be of the "synagogue of Satan" (Rev. 2,3):
-"The real Jew" is the person who is "circumcized in the heart" (Romans 2:28)
-Christians are children of "the heavenly Jerusalem" (Galatians 4), which represents the "city" (association) of true Christians.
Israel means "has prevailed with God" [in gaining the "blessing" of eternal life which Jacob/Israel strove with Jesus "the angel of the LORD" for in Genesis 32]
The 144,000 correspond to members of the Church of Philadelphia & Smyrna, the only two of the seven churches (which represents all people professing to be Christians today, throughout history, and in John's day) not rebuked by Jesus in Revelation 2-3 and threatened to be "cast" into terrible "Tribulation".
If you are not one of these 144,000 people because you are "lukewarm" for God & fellow humans (Rev. 3:15), you will have to suffer the immense pains described in Revelation & the rest of the Bible (ex. the plagues of Exodus) as a taste of Hell, so that you will depart from sin since "the fear of the LORD causes a man to depart from evil." God says "those whom I love, I discipline." (Rev. 3, Hebrews 12)
"Pray at all times that you will be worthy to escape these things" (Luke 21) which "are about to come upon the whole habitable Earth" (Rev. 3:10) during the Great Tribulation.
"The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life." (2 Cor. 3:6) We often have to interpret the Bible metaphorically (not by "the letter"), and can only do so correctly by praying for the Holy Spirit's enlightenment.
Debate Question: Who are the 144,000?
144,000= Christians zealous for God; others will be tortured
Moderator: Moderators
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holyisthelord
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144,000= Christians zealous for God; others will be tortured
Post #1Please see www.primaryproofsofchristianity.com for more, which I have worked on daily for months & which shows how the Bible reveals the meaning of everything in nature & history
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The_Student
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Post #21
Not infinite John said "a great multitute, no man can count" not infinite.Ooberman wrote:It seems as if there are the 144,000 Preferred Members, and then a countless number of "others".
What does countless mean? Many or literally countless (infinite)?
Post #22
No man can count to infinity...The_Student wrote:Not infinite John said "a great multitute, no man can count" not infinite.Ooberman wrote:It seems as if there are the 144,000 Preferred Members, and then a countless number of "others".
What does countless mean? Many or literally countless (infinite)?
