Revelation 7:4-8

Who are the 144,000 of whom John writes here?

PROBLEM: In this passage, John mentions a specific group of 144,000 believers. Is this an exact number, and does it mean only this many will be saved? If not who are they?

SOLUTION: Spiritual Interpretation. Some take the “144,000 of all the tribes of Israel” to be a spiritual reference to Christians. However, this view is not supported by the facts. First, the word “tribes” is never used of anything but a literal ethnic group in Scripture.

In addition, even the physical dimensions of the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:16-17), to say nothing of the rest of God’s vast universe, could contain a much larger number than 144,000 people.

Revelation 7:9 declares that there were, in addition to the 144,000, “a great multitude … of all nations” who were also redeemed, which not only indicates that the saved are not limited to them but that the passage makes more sense if taken literally.

In further support of the literal interpretation is the fact that Jesus spoke of the 12 apostles (whom we know were literal persons) sitting on “twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel” in the last day (Matthew 19:28). There is no reason not to take this as a reference to 12 literal tribes of Israelites.

In addition, the last question Jesus answered before His ascension directly implied that He would return and “restore the kingdom to Israel” (Acts 1:6-8).

Indeed, the Apostle Paul spoke of the restoration of the nation of Israel to its former privileged position in Romans 11 (cf. vv. 11–26).

Many Bible scholars believe in a literal restoration of the nation of Israel, because God’s land promises to Abraham’s literal descendants (Genesis 12; Genesis 14; Genesis 15; Genesis 17; Genesis 26) have never been fulfilled “forever,” as they were promised (cf. Genesis 13:15), but at best only for a short period during the time of Joshua (Joshua 11:23).