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This study may be freely posted on other bbs' and distributed to others provided this leader remains with the study text at all times. The Two 144,000's Tape 1927 A & B - 9/20/87 (Version 1.00 in ASCII format) Revelation 14:1-5. (1) "And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty [and] four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads. (2) And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps: (3) And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred [and] forty [and] four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth. (4) These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. Theses are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, [being] the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb. (5) And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God." The people in Revelation 14 are spoken of as being the firstfruits unto God and the Lamb. In order to identify what "firstfruit" means, we are going to look at different passages of scripture. We read in Romans 16:5, "Likewise greet the church that is in their house. Salute my wellbeloved Epaenetus, which is the firstfruits of Achaia unto Christ." Paul is saying that Epaenetus was the first convert in that region unto Jesus Christ. We find basically the same statement in I Corinthians 16:15, "I beseech you, brethren, (ye know the house of Stephanas, that it is the firstfruits of Achaia, and that they have addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints)." These were the first converts in that region. Paul says in I Corinthians 15:23, "But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterwards they that are Christ's at his coming." He is telling us that Christ is the firstfruits of the resurrection, because he arose first. James 1:18 says, "Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures." James is speaking to a particular group of people. Verse 1 tells us that he is speaking to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad. Was he writing to the literal twelve tribes of Israel, telling them that they were begotten by the word of truth and were firstfruits of God's creatures? Was James writing to what he termed the twelve tribes, with a reference to the spiritual Israel of God? He was writing to either literal or spiritual Israel. If it was literal Israel, he told them many things that are wrong. He spoke to them throughout the context as though they were all saved. Someone might say, "He called them adulterers and adulteresses in the fourth chapter." If you look at it closely, you will find that he is speaking to the same people whom he had described as being saved throughout the text. He is telling them that friendship with the world makes them adulterers and adulteresses, and it is the same today. If we allow the things of the world to hinder us spiritually, we are spiritual adulterers or adulteresses. James says that these people to whom he was writing (the morning- time church) were firstfruits of God's creatures. One of the theories of the pre-millennialist tells us that these are the first Jews saved after the rapture. Some of the others tell us that it is the first ones saved after other events. Everyone knows that they are firstfruits. They might be teaching lastfruits in a sense of the New Covenant church. They might be saying that they are the first ones saved way out here at the last. That is actually saying that they are the firstfruits of the last fruits. That is not what it says in Revelation 14, is it? It says that they were the "firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb". Let us go back to Revelation 14 and see if we can find more information to help us identify these particular people. One of the things that we will find emphasized is that they had the Father's name in their foreheads: "And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty [and] four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads" (verse 1). The Father's name is written in their foreheads in the same manner that the mark of the beast is written in other folks foreheads. If this is literal, it is surely future. There has never been a time yet when people have had any of the Father's names written in their foreheads. The reason I said "names" is because man has come up with many names for God. The "name" refers to the identity and not just the word. How would you like to have the Father's identity written on your forehead? You would have difficulties even if you used microfilm. Microfilm has not been developed enough to get it all on your forehead. What is he talking about? He is dealing with a condition within the forehead where the identity of God is placed there. I am not saying that they knew all truth, but what truth that God had allowed to be revealed and given to them is in their minds and becoming like a seal of God within their foreheads. It becomes a seal of God's approval. So far we have one characteristic which identifies these people as to time, and another characteristic which helps us to understand something about them. The characteristic of firstfruits points to the saints who were saved as a part of the man child. Why is it the man child and not the woman? It says that they were not defiled with women, so it sounds like a man. I realize that you could say that they were virgins and that sounds like a woman. However, that particular characteristic can apply to a man as well as a woman. When it says "These are they which were not defiled with women...", it is referring to them as though they were of the masculine gender, spiritually speaking. It speaks that way because this is a picture of the body of Christ in the morning time, which is a man child. Would the body of Christ in the morning time have the Father's name, identity, and truth and light for that day within their minds? Sure! We have already mentioned that they were virgins and not defiled with women. In order to determine what women that it is referring to, we must stay with our text in Revelation. Any woman that they might be defiled with will be mentioned in the book of Revelation in some manner. The only women that they could possibly be defiled with are harlot Babylon and her harlot daughters. Certainly this man child would not marry his mother; therefore, this is not a reference to the woman in chapters twelve or twenty. This is a picture of the morning-time church, the body of Christ in the morning time, and the fact that it was not defiled with women. This helps us to have one more point to identify and prove when these people actually lived. Keep in mind that this picture is not dealing with them while they are here or after they have been martyred. This is describing them as a people, and that is all. To not be defiled with women means that they had no contact whatsoever. That means that these people lived before Babylon and her harlot daughters were brought into existence spiritually speaking. You and I today have not truly taken the mark of the beast. To take the mark of the beast means to have spots in certain shapes and sizes in certain places. In other words, to have the mark of the beast, you must have certain doctrinal areas all fitted together. The people who take his mark worship the beast. If they worship the beast, they cannot truly worship God. Honest hearts might be defiled (we have all been defiled by Babylon), but they have not taken the mark and worshipped the system. Honest hearts do not do that. Honest hearts have a built-in realization that you do not worship a system. We have all been defiled to one degree or another. These folks in chapter 14 were never defiled. If we have understanding of Revelation and of the events of the time, we know then that that puts them in a period before the existance of Babylon and her harlot daughters. Anyone who has lived since then has been defiled. The kings of the earth have actually been brought to the point of being polluted with spiritual fornication because of harlot Babylon and her harlot daughters. Two points in this text let us know that this is the morning-time church: (1) they are firstfruits; and (2) they are not defiled by women. Verse 5 says, "And in their mouth was found no guile...." The word "guile" means "deceptive speech." It is primarily speaking of spiritual deception. It is saying that they did not speak any spiritual deception. I am not saying that they had something more than what we are capable of having today. In the fullest sense, if you think of it in the terms of imputation, nobody has guile found in their mouth as long as they stand for all the truth that God has given them opportunity to stand for. That group of people were living in the time when Jesus had recently walked the face of the earth and spoke to certain men who were recognized by all the Christian people as being spiritual leaders because they did walk and talk personally with Jesus Christ. They knew who were preaching the truth. A time came in the morning-time church when a general set of doctrines were accepted by all Christian people. The man child was spoken of as having no guile or deception in its mouth, because as a whole, all the saved people were standing for a fixed plan of truth. Even though this is not as direct a characteristic as the firstfruits and not being defiled with women, this helps us determine the identity of these people. Today we know that there are saved people scattered through all the realms of Babylon. Even among our own congregation, there are variations of understanding and differences of opinions. Therefore we are not like a collective group or a man child that could be described as having no guile found in his mouth. We could be described as a man child spiritually and the body of Christ spiritually, but we could not be described in the same manner as the morning-time church because we have many different areas to get straightened out. There is something else that I want to stress about these people. How many people are mentioned in Revelation 14:1? It says "an hundred forty and four thousand." That is the correct answer based on the symbol. Can we believe then that there were precisely 144,000 saved people? When we think of the vast multitudes who were saved during the morning-time church, we think that the number should be much larger. However the Bible and history both show us that there was a great falling away, a great apostasy. During the transition period, Paul said that it was hard to find people who had a desire and burden to serve God in the ministry. Timothy was the only one that he could find. When we think of this, we begin to wonder about those vast multitudes. If there had been millions of saved people, do you think that the church would have become so small that it was difficult to find true congregations by the end of the first century (history tells us that)? There were different religious groups, but if you study what they believed and taught, you can see that they had totally gone their own ways. Could 144,000 be a symbolic number? The chances of there being exactly 12 X 12000 honest-hearted, saved people in this picture is stretching it a bit. However, if he had symbolism in mind, it would not be any problem at all. What do we know about these people? We know that they could not exist today and be virgins. Someone might say, "They could be through imputation." We do have to keep imputation in mind because that is what our experience is based upon, but if this was only through imputation, there is no way that we could determine who these people were, because every child of God is a spiritual virgin through imputation. When God saves you and redeems you, he cancels it out as though it had never happened through imputation. Look what happened to Abraham. Through imputation, God told him to take his only son Isaac and sacrifice him. God is saying that Abraham only had one son. Through imputation, God cancels everything, and if this is talking about imputation, we have no way of knowing who is who. So he is speaking of some definite things that happened. Nothing in the context says that these people were martyred. It is not dealing with whether they were killed or not killed. It is just describing some characteristics of the morning-time church, and the number is symbolic. I believe by the time this group was gathered that this number was far less than 144,000. Revelation 7:1-4 (1) "And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. (2) And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, (3) Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. (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." There are two characteristics here that are the same as the ones we studied in Revelation chapter 14. (1) The one which is very obvious is the number 144,000. (2) In this text they are sealed in their foreheads. In Revelation 14, they had the Father's name or his identity, in their foreheads. The sealing is accomplished by the word of God (the Father's identity which is his word) being placed within the forehead. The light for that day provided the seal for that day. God requires out of us precisely the light that he reveals for any period of time. He requires more light out of us then what he required out of the morning-time church. So far we have two characteristics that are the same between these two texts of scripture. The 144,000 people are the same, and both of them are sealed by the word of God. It would be easy for us to jump to the conclusion that these two groups of people are the same group of people. Is it possible to have some characteristics the same and have others that are different? For example, the people in Revelation 14 were firstfruits. The only way we can find out if these people in chapter 7 are firstfruits is to study this context. Let us notice something in verses 1-3. The other angel ascended from the east. That represents early light. He makes the statement, "...hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads." We know that this text is not literal. It has nothing to do with hurting the literal trees, earth, or sea. We also know that when this text speaks of the four winds, it is referring to something else. According to Paul in Ephesians 4:14, there are many winds of doctrine. Even though we know that there is a true doctrine, there are also many false winds blowing from many different directions that completely engulf people with their ideas. These many winds are sent forth by false religion. If the group of people in chapter 14 lived before these false systems of christianity come into existance, is it possible that since the four winds of the earth are being held back, they do not bring about their total destruction upon saved people until after certain ones are sealed? Verse 1 says that he saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth holding back the four winds. It would appear that this is after there are false systems. Moreover, when he says for them not to hurt the earth, sea, or trees, we have to look to Revelation again and find out when the sea, trees, and earth are hurt. When the first trumpet sounds, the earth and trees are affected. When the first vial angel pours out his vial, it affects the earth. When the second trumpet sounds, it affects the sea. When the second vial angel pours out his vial, it affects the sea. That makes four angels. Remember, no individual is a trumpet angel, and no individual is a vial angel. These angels are representative of a ministry sounding forth the trumpets and pouring out God's wrath. Anyone who participates in this is a part of these angel systems. You will not find any other possible fulfillment of this thought of not allowing the four winds to go forth to damage the earth, trees, or sea. Someone might ask, "How do the four winds fit into it?" When a trumpet sounds and people reject the truth of the trumpet, they suffer damage. They reject the truth of the trumpet because of the four winds. I realize that many people may think that these four winds (false doctrines) are not preaching (blowing) at all. The only way you could look at it in that sense is if you made the four winds represent only the false doctrines themselves and do not have any connection with the going forth of truth at all. The word "winds" is the same basic Greek word as "spirits". So, whether you want to think of it in the terms of four spirits or four winds does not make much difference. However, when we think in terms of false doctrines, there are literally thousands of them. Drawn on a chart, we would have to show them coming in from every degree of direction. We could not say that one false doctrine comes from this direction and another from that direction. He said, "I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth...." Why does he mention four angels? These four angels are light bearers, aren't they? The angels themselves contain light. If they are holding back the four winds, the four aspects of spiritual truth to go forth, what would it symbolize? Does God ever tell a preacher to hold back something? Many times God gives something to the preacher to study, but he does not allow him to preach it. Would you say that he is holding back that wind, that spiritual portion? Doen't that seem more likely to be what he is representing here than just a general picture of false doctrine? Someone might say, "I thought winds were a picture of false doctrines." No, winds are just like anything else. There are good winds and bad winds. Good winds always blows straight from one direction, but it can vary based upon what God is symbolizing. The wind will blow from the north when God wants to freeze out people who are not honest hearted. The south wind will blow warm air because many times there are honest hearts who need to be heated. There are many different types of literal winds affecting different weather conditions. So couldn't God use a wind from any direction to represent bringing about certain changes? We could take this and go to Ephesians 4; Paul said they were carried away by every wind of doctrine. We could say that these four winds must be false doctrines blowing, and the angels are holding them back. That might not lead us wrong, but it would not give us the whole picture. The best way is to recognize that these four angels are light bearers, and they are holding back the four spirits, not allowing them to blow and bring harm to the earth, sea, and trees. These four winds within the context of Revelation have to be held back by the two trumpet angels and the first two vial angels. Those are the only angels that you will find that when they turn loose of something, it does damage to the earth, sea, and trees (study Revelation 8 and 15). That tells us that this group of 144,000 people are sealed in order to prepare for the sounding of the trumpets and the pouring out of the vials. This sealing process cannot mean that they must understand all light and truth, because the first century 144,000 did not. It has to tie in with something else. There have to be some fundamentals which become a sealing work. God seals his people through his foreknowledge. Can we see that this context points to this group of people as not being firstfruits? The context points to this group of 144,000 people as living after the appearence of false religion. In fact, it brings it right down to the very day and time in which we are living. This process being described in Revelation 7 would have had to happen within the last few years. It is a preparatory work before God begins to loose the trumpets and vials. It could be going on until the second vial begins to be poured out. All it is supposed to do is to protect God's true people. Why would that be necessary? It should be easy for us to understand when we realize that many who have been saved are going to be slain. They will be slain because they were not sealed. He is trying to protect the earth and the trees. Under the first trumpet, a third part of the trees are burnt up. He is trying to protect the seas. There are saved people in the sea. God is trying to bring them out, but he has to seal them, provide a means of protection for them where they are not destroyed. If the 144,000 people in chapter 14 represent the overall body of Christ in the morning time, who would this 144,000 represent if it pictures today? Wouldn't it represent the body of Christ today collectively? Someone might say, "This is 12,000 people out of each tribe." You are going to have a problem with that. There are several different groups of tribes. First of all, there are the basic twelve tribes named after the twelve patriarchs which we see in Genesis 49. These twelve picture the twelve stages of spiritual growth. Later on God changed things around. He allowed them to remove the tribes of Joseph and Levi. The tribe of Levi didn't receive an inheritance in the land; therefore Levi was no longer considered to be a tribe. He replaced Levi and Joseph with Ephraim and Manasseh, which were Joseph's two sons. This list in Revelation 7 is different from the other lists. Both methods that God used in the Old Covenant to name the twelve tribe are bypassed. This is a whole new system. When it says 12,000 were sealed from each tribe, it is speaking spiritually. There are 12 groups of 12,000 to point to something other than numbers or how many people. Revelation 21 shows us a picture of the heavenly Jerusalem. It is 12,000 furlongs by 12,000 furlongs by 12,000 furlongs. It is four square - the height, length, and breadth of it are equal. It says that its walls measured 144 cubits (verses 16-17). It is not by coincidence that we end up with the 12,000 and 144 in the picture of the heavenly Jerusalem. Do you realize who the ones who are sealed as the servants of God become? There are two groups of people in Revelation chapter 7. There are basically the ark and the animals. In verse 9 it says, "After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number...." Consider what this is symbolically. This event takes place in this modern day. Do you think that there could be enough people to come in as animals within the ark to where it would be impossible for man to count them in this modern age of computers? Man can number every human being in this world. Could it be saying that no man could number them because no man knows the number? I can take you back to the New Covenant when five hundred men were called a multitude. I know that it is more than five hundred people, but there were many times when a thousand, two thousand, four thousand, and five thousand were called a multitude in the New Covenant writings. I am not saying that is all there is, but I am saying that you cannot determine how many people are involved in this by the fact that the word "multitude" is used or by the fact that it says, "which no man could number." It is just that nobody knows the number. Right down to the last moment of this time world, we will not know the exact number of everyone who is saved. We will be able to know approximately how many are in our congregation and how many are in some other places, but we will never know the precise number which are not a part of the initial sealing, but come in and become a part. The last few verses of chapter 7 describe the same event that is described in Revelation 21. Verses 15-17 say: "Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of water: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." That is not a picture of over in glory. It is the same kind of picture that is in the first few verses of Revelation 21. It is describing the experience we can have right here in the victorious stages that we go into after the closing of the door of the ark, within the heavenly Jerusalem spiritually. This is not the morning-time church; it is the evening-time church. The whole chapter is talking about the evening-time church. Chapter 7 tells us that there are 12,000 people from each of these 12 tribes, or 12 x 1000 x 12. It just ties too closely with the 144 and 12,000 going in each direction in heavenly Jerusalem. These who are sealed are servants of God before the destruction takes place during the sounding of the seven trumpets. The sealing is still going on right now. Those who are to be destroyed by the second vial angel do not have to be sealed yet. They still have some time to be sealed. There may be things that you and I are not totally sealed with yet as far as the coming second vial. Someone might say, "I think God sealed everybody before the trumpets and vials began." In God's sight, it is only necessary to be sealed before there is any danger. Much of this sealing has taken place over the last few years, but there are some areas where we could still be receiving some basic fundamental understandings that will seal us. The sealing continues under the trumpets. God does not prepare us for what we do not need for ten or fifteen years. He prepares us for that which is about to come against us so we will be ready for it. Revelation 9:4 says, "And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads." When the fifth trumpet sounds, the only people who will not be hurt are those who have the seal of God in their foreheads. However, in Revelation 7 it does not mention a sealing in behalf of the fifth trumpet. We were stressing that the seal is a protection. God is putting a stamp of approval on us which says "don't hurt this person." God does the sealing as it is necessary. He is not going to seal us right now against the fifth trumpet, because the fifth trumpet is quite a ways out in the future. Right now he has given us enough truth to seal us for the first trumpet. Now that we are going through the first trumpet, honest hearts will be those who are not destroyed under the first trumpet. During the sounding of the first trumpet, we are also being sealed by the word of God to protect us under the second trumpet and second vial. The sealing process continues under each trumpet. The group in Revelation 14 had the Father's name in their forehead, and that is the seal. The Father's name is the father's identity. He is the word of God manifest, and Jesus is also the word of God manifest. Therefore, the seal would be the word of God, which we do not receive all at once. The only seal we need is the seal which will protect us for each advancing stage of light. Four angels are mentioned in Revelation 7:1 to emphasize that they are light bearers and to help us see that they are not the bad winds of false doctrines. The angels who are holding back the winds are the body of Christ holding back the truth going forth until the saints have sufficient preparation. When they have sufficient preparation, God says the trumpet can be sounded. Just because we gain understanding in some areas does not mean that we will blanket the world with it. There are some things that as a congregation, we will have to hold back to give other saints time to get enough understanding to seal them before they receive it. Can we see that Revelation chapters 14 and 7 do not fall into the same time period? Let us look at Revelation 7:9-10: "After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb." Many people think that to have a palm in your hand means to raise your hand when you are singing. That is fine; that can be a testimony. However, you must go back to the palm tree type to understand what he means by having "palms in their hands". If they have a palm in their hands, they have something to subdue the sun. Why? Because the sun is seven times as bright, and it would cook them instantly. Every individual who survives in verse 9 has a palm to shade them. It is in their hand, and they make use of it constantly. Although each one has his individual one, symbolically speaking, it is not to say that the palm trees are all whole trees. What was common back in the Old Covenant time as far as waving of palms or usage of palms? It was very common in Egypt to have a whole branch with very close knit leaves which could be held up to provide shade from any direction. One palm tree could produce many of those leaves. We realize that pastors are supposed to be palm trees. God wants the whole body of Christ to become as palm trees so each one of us can provide branches for the animals who come in. In other words, all of us are going to have some responsibilities to do some shading at that point. Revelation 7:10-14: (10) And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. (11) And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God, (12) Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, [be] unto our God for ever and ever. Amen. (13) And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? (14) And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. The tribulation on literal Israel was to be the greatest the world would ever see. It was prophesied to Daniel's literal people and was spoken of by Jesus (Matthew chapter 24) as something that would happen to the Jews in that generation. It took place in A.D. 70 and the surrounding years, but it is a type. Their great tribulation brought upon them a trememdous loss of life. According to history, hundreds of thousands of people lost their life either through starvation or being slain by the conquering army. Today there are people who are going to starve spiritually, and others will be slain by the sword spiritually. The conquering army is Jesus and his people. That is the destruction that we see under the sounding of the seven trumpets. It will be the greatest spiritual destruction that will ever take place. Approximately ninety percent of those who have been saved will be slain. The literal took place right down at the closing time for old Jerusalem, old Israel. We are living in the closing years of spiritual Jerusalem, spiritual Israel. Those who come out of the great tribulation are those who are honest hearted and are brought through with their lives. They are the animals. They are brought into the ark, and the door of the ark closes. They survive all seven trumpets and all that spiritual destruction around them. When they have come out of the great tribulation, this text from verse 15 on is fulfilled. It is the same thing that is described in Revelation 21. Chapter 21 is a picture of the heavenly Jerusalem after the door of the ark is closed. The morning-time church was symbolically 144,000 because of the 12's that are used there. Keep in mind that there are 12 stages of spiritual growth. Each stage has 12 steps. That gives you 144. 1000 years is a long period of time; 1000 people is a large amount of people. That 144,000 is a symbolic figure. The first 144,000 is the morning-time church, described as the firstfruits (Revelation 14). Then there is an apostasy and finally the 144,000 in the evening-light church. They are sealed before the trumpet sounds and are not destroyed. There are some who are sealed who are not gathered into this 144,000 group. They are not made a part of the body of Christ. They have not gained the stages of spiritual growth and are barely surviving. Down at the last, they come in as the animals into the ark. They come in rejoicing with palms because it is so bright. The palms sustain them so they do not burn up until they have opportunity within the closed door of the ark to mature. "Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple..." (Revelation 7:15a). After the door of the ark is closed, heavenly Jerusalem will be the greatest temple ever to be manifest upon the face of this earth. Verses 15b-16a say "...and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more..." They have almost starved to death during the destruction of Jerusalem, but they will be hungry no more. Why? The truth is seven times brighter than the sun and the moon is equal to the brightness of that sun. It goes on to say, "...neither thirst any more...." Why? Because the water of life if plentiful. "...neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat." The sun is not shining down to burn them up because they have palms in their hands to protect them. In other words, they are not persecuted because they are not ready for persecution; therefore God protects them within the closed door of the ark. "For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes" (verse 17). Revelation 21 shows the same events occuring. It is to happen in the bride, the Lamb's wife, just before the end of time. Today we have an opportunity to be part of the 144,000. Let us rejoice in that fact. We can be sealed by the word of God. We can be prepared in order to help bring forth that which someday will be a blessing and an encouragement to these dear people who come sweeping in as animals into the ark. ***************************************************************** 144,000 in Rev. 14 * 144,000 in Rev. 7 ***************************************************************** MORNING-TIME CHURCH * EVENING-TIME CHURCH Had Father's name in forehead * Sealed in forehead (same) Firstfruits * 4 angels hold 4 winds from Not defiled with women - before * hurting earth, trees, and harlot Babylon and daughters * sea - during 1st 2 trumpets exist * Angel from east (early light) Had no guile (desceptive speech) * No Dan or Ephraim in camp in mouth - before false * Multitude from tribulation religion exists * Vs 15-17 same as Heavenly * Jerusalem in Rev. 21 *****************************************************************