Then I
looked, and behold, a[a] Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one
hundred and forty-four thousand, having[b] His Father’s name written on their foreheads. 2 And I heard a voice from heaven, like the voice
of many waters, and like the voice of loud thunder. And I heard the sound of
harpists playing their harps. 3 They sang as it were a new song before the
throne, before the four living creatures, and the elders; and no one could
learn that song except the hundred and forty-four thousand who were redeemed from the
earth. 4 These are the ones who were not defiled with
women, for they are virgins. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He
goes. These were redeemed[c] from among men, being first fruits to God and to the Lamb. 5 And in their mouth was found no deceit,[d] for they are without fault before the throne of
God.
Picture in this prophetic verse is a future Jesus,
surrounded by 144,000 Jewish male virgins, 12,000 from each tribe, singing a
song unique to them. They worship in front of the throne of God at Mount Zion, in
the city of Jerusalem, in the nation of Israel. They are an entourage to the
Savior and King of all humanity. Their
value before God has become increasingly foreign to a biblically illiterate society. They never had sex, as Jesus never had
sex. They are virgins dedicated to the
Lord’s service.
Virgins dedicated to the Lord’s service were part of
many lives less than 50 years ago. They were
teachers, nurses, researchers, theologians, scientist and doctors and
priest. They were also major part of my
childhood. Their Habits and Priestly
collars could be seen everywhere in my neighborhood in New Bedford, Massachusetts. What was foreign to my French Roman Catholic
neighborhood were Jews.
Jews are not foreign to Jesus. They are family.
The Apostle Paul, a Jewish Rabbi, writes Romans 1:16
“I am not ashamed of the gospel of
Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone
who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.” The controversy of the New Testament was not “what
do we do about Jewish believers in Jesus Christ?” Until Acts 10 every believer
was a Jewish believer. The question was;
what do we do with Gentile or Non-Jewish believers? See Acts 15
The Lord’s promises to
Abraham, to King David, and many of the prophets was a promise to an
everlasting kingdom for the Jewish people. Anti-Semitism and a Biblical world view are
mutually exclusive! Sexual promiscuity
and holiness are mutually exclusive.
Sexual purity and holiness are intimately linked to God’s view of
humanity. In case of these 144,000 male
Jewish virgins, it provides a permanent dwelling before the throne of God.
There is another
attribute to these holy men I should highlight.
They are found without deceit.
Our social, political, and home environments have become saturated with
deceit. Halve truths in political and
religious rhetoric has become so much a part of lives that we are comfortable
with deceit. In fact we anticipate it.
Truth always
liberates. That is why totalitarian regimes
have always suppressed the Bible. In
many countries owning a Bible is a capital offense. To
make reference to the Bible in our modern society is to be numbered among the
ignorant and uneducated. Worse it is to
be identified with those who are hateful and cruel.
Jesus, at the beginning
of this verse is described as a lamb. He is the ultimate sacrifice for sin, for
deceit, and for our misuse of the gift of sexuality. The
study of the Book of Revelations is awe inspiring, frightening. When
assessing God of the Bible, begin with how the God of the Bible describes Himself. God is Love! He is always good and always
just, while always being merciful. When
King David sinned, he said he was in great distress, but that it was better to
fall into the hand of God, for his mercy is great! The virgin nuns and priest of my childhood
do not always understand mercy, but they modeled worship, as do the Jewish men
spoken about in Revelations 14. True
worship leads to mercy because those that worship him must worship him in
Spirit and in Truth.
The truth is God Loves Us All, and His Mercy
is new Every Morning!
