Revelation 7:4-8

4 And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.

5 Of the tribe of Juda were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand.

6 Of the tribe of Aser were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Nepthalim were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Manasses were sealed twelve thousand.

7 Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Levi were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Issachar were sealed twelve thousand.

8 Of the tribe of Zabulon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand.

The angel seals 144,000 Israelites from 12 tribes. Some want to make these 144,000 elect Christians but Paul tells us there is no Jew or Gentile in the Body of Christ, so there would be no reason for John to hear that these men were from certain tribes of Israel if the intent was only to describe those elected within Christianity. Others want to make them members of their own cult but scripture could not be clearer. These people are descendants of Jacob and are natural Israelites. To make it clear that these are Israelites the passage is explicit about the tribes from which they descend.

Manasses, a half tribe, is mentioned but Dan, a full tribe, is not. Some scholars think Dan does not have a role in what is about to take place because of the idolatry and apostasy of this tribe in the past and during the tribulation.  Jacob's prophecy over Dan said, Dan would be a serpent in the path  ( Genesis 49:17).  Some think Judas and the Jewish Antichrist (the False Prophet) may come from Dan's seed.  Ezekiel's prophecy tells us that Dan does inherit his share of the land in the millennium, so the lack of representatives for this honored group or the performance of a tribe never nullifies kingdom promises given by God.

The passage says these are being sealed so that the angels that have been given power to hurt the land and the sea will not hurt these sealed in the trumpet judgments. These are Jewish men that will be sealed with the Holy Spirit; God will always have a witness on the earth and God does not judge before He gives grace and first warns people about what is to come. These 144,000 will give that message. Their mission will be to turn the Jews to repentance but all nations will be told their message when they witness to kings and all people on the earth about the coming Jewish kingdom of God on earth.  They will have a divine revelation from God as did Paul. Signs and wonders will follow these people wherever they go and like the apostles, they will have the power to heal, raise the dead and cast out demons as a witness to the world. They will tell the world the truth that the kingdom of heaven ruled by Jesus is about to come to earth. They will also tell those who dwell on the earth that the wrath of God will fall on all those who oppose the coming of Jesus. After their ministry, the following prophecy will be fulfilled.

Matthew 24:14 And this  gospel of the kingdom  shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations;  and then shall the end come.

The grafted in Church has the directive to preach the good news of salvation that comes from believing and trusting in the Savior God provided. However, these Jews (like John the Baptist) will preach that the kingdom of God is at hand and that Jesus is about to come to earth and rule the earth as the Messiah from Jerusalem.

They will be in direct opposition to the forces of the harlot World Church that has within it the replacement theology that God has rejected the Jews and there is therefore no longer any earthly provision for a Jewish Kingdom. Many in the harlot will be expecting an all-inclusive Christ, not a Jewish one. The Christ many will accept will be the counterfeit Christ (Antichrist).

The world can either accept the truth that these 144,000 Jews preach or they will be deceived by the great deception that God will send afterward because they loved to believe a lie (2 Thessalonians 2:11).

Those that reject their message will eventually believe that Satan is God and that the Babylonian Kingdom he rules fulfills the promise of a kingdom of God. They will take the mark of the Beast and by doing so will receive the same fate as the Beast, his false prophet and Satan at the judgment. They will be cast into the Lake of Fire.

These Jews, in the days of their testimony, will most likely win over a billion converts during a time when accepting Jesus as Lord will cost most of them their natural lives (Revelation 13:15).