Friday
Friday
The Two Redeemed Communities
Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel.
Revelation 7:4
We now have to wait until Revelation 8 for the seventh seal to be broken. Meanwhile, John treats us to an interlude that stresses the security of the people of God. Revelation 7 describes two human communities. The first (vv. 1–8) numbers 144,000 and is drawn from the twelve tribes of Israel; the second (vv. 9–17) is a huge unnumbered multitude drawn from all nations, languages, and tribes.
At first sight they seem to be two distinct groups (numbered and unnumbered, Israel and the Gentiles), and several ingenious attempts have been made to distinguish between them. But on closer inspection it becomes clear that both are pictures of the same redeemed community of God, although viewed from different perspectives. In the first, the people are assembled like soldiers in battle array—the church militant on earth; in the second, they are assembled before God, their conflicts passed—the church triumphant in heaven.
Take the first community today. They are called “the servants of our God” (v. 3) and are sealed or stamped on the forehead to indicate that they belong to him. The number 144,000 is an obvious symbol for the complete church (12 x 12 x 1,000); they are later identified in Revelation 14:3 as those “who had been redeemed from the earth.” And the only reason why they are represented as the twelve tribes of Israel is that throughout the New Testament the church is seen as “the Israel of God” (Gal. 6:16), “the circumcision” (Phil. 3:3 NRSV), and “a chosen people … a holy nation, a people belonging to God” (1 Pet. 2:9), in whom God’s covenant promises are being fulfilled.
We will postpone until tomorrow a consideration of the second community, which is described as “a great multitude that no one could count” (Rev. 7:9).
For further reading: Revelation 7:1–8