In the general papers published by the Seventh-day Adventist
church, the notion is usually advanced that the number 144,000 is symbolic
and that it includes all who are saved as members of the SDA church.
http://www.adventistreview.org/issue.php?issue=2009-1530&page=18
Such a teaching poses a very great problem. Ellen White said
that the 144,000 are the final generation that is translated without seeing
death. Then she says that there will be many faithful martyrs at the end-time.
Thus, obviously, all saved out of the SDA church cannot be the 144,000.
“The
nations are now getting angry, but when our High Priest has finished his work
in the Sanctuary, he will stand up, put on the garments of vengeance, and
then the seven last plagues will be poured out. I saw that the four angels
would hold the four winds until Jesus' work was done in the Sanctuary, and
then will come the seven last plagues. These plagues enraged the wicked
against the righteous, and they thought that we had brought them down upon
them, and if they could rid the earth of us, then the plagues would be
stayed. A decree went forth to slay the saints, which caused them to cry day
and night for deliverance. This was the time of Jacob's trouble. Then all the
saints cried out with anguish of spirit, and were delivered by the Voice of
God. Then the 144,000 triumphed.
Their faces were lighted up with the glory of God. Then I was shown a company
who were howling in agony. On their garments was written in large characters,
"thou art weighed in the balance, and found wanting." I asked who
this company were. The angel said, "these are they who have once kept
the Sabbath and have given it up." I heard them cry with a loud
voice--"we have believed in thy coming, and taught it with energy."
And while they were speaking, their eyes would fall upon their garments and
see the writing, and then they would wail aloud. I saw they had drunk of the
deep waters, and fouled the residue with their feet--trodden the Sabbath
underfoot, and that is why they were weighed in the balance and found
wanting. Then my attending angel directed me to the City again, where I saw
four angels winging their way to the gate of the City, and were just
presenting the golden card to the angel at the gate. Then I saw another angel
swiftly flying from the direction of the most excellent glory, and crying
with a loud voice to the other angels, and waving something up and down in
his hand. I asked my attending angel for an explanation of what I saw. He
told me that I could see no more then, but he would shortly show me what
those things that I then saw meant.” {RH, August 1, 1849 par. 14}
"Then
Jesus' silver trumpet sounded, as He descended on the cloud, wrapped in
flames of fire. He gazed on the graves of the sleeping saints, then raised
His eyes and hands to heaven, and cried, "Awake! awake! awake! ye that
sleep in the dust, and arise." Then there was a mighty earthquake. The
graves opened, and the dead came up clothed with immortality. The 144,000
shouted "Alleluia!" as they recognized their friends who had been
torn from them by death, and in the same moment we were changed and caught up
together with them to meet the Lord in the air.” {CET 59.1}
"The
news of your wife's death was to me overwhelming. I could hardly believe it
and can hardly believe it now. God gave me a view last Sabbath night which I
will write. . . . {FLB 173.2}
I saw
that she was sealed and would come up at the voice of God and stand upon the
earth, and would be with the 144,000. I saw we need not mourn for her she
would rest in the time of trouble, and all that we could mourn for was our
loss in being..."
"The
living saints, 144,000, in number, know and understand the voice, while the
wicked thought it was thunder & an earthquake. When God spake the
time, he poured on us the Holy Ghost, and our faces began to light up and
shine with the glory of God as Moses did when he came down from Mount Sinai,
(Ex. 34:30-34.) By this time the 144,000 were all sealed and perfectly
united. On their foreheads was written, God, New Jerusalem, and a glorious
Star containing Jesus' new name. At our happy, holy state the wicked were
enraged, and would rush violently up to lay hands on us to thrust us in
prison, when we would stretch forth the hand in the name of the Lord, and the
wicked would fall helpless to the ground." DS, January 24, 1846 par. 1
"And
I saw the time of trouble, such as never was,--Jesus told me it was the time
of Jacob's trouble, and that we should be delivered out of it by the voice of
God. Just before we entered it, we all
received the seal of the living God. Then I saw the four Angels cease to
hold the four winds. And I saw famine, pestilence and sword, nation rose
against nation, and the whole world was in confusion. Then we cried to God
for deliverance day and night till we began to hear the bells on Jesus'
garment. And I saw Jesus rise up in the Holiest, and as he came out we heard
the tinkling of bells, and knew our High Priest was coming out. Then we heard
the voice of God which shook the heavens and earth, and gave the 144,000 the
day and hour of Jesus' coming. Then the saints were free, united and full of
the glory of God, for he had turned their captivity." DS, March 14, 1846
par. 2
“Upon the crystal sea before the
throne, that sea of glass as it were mingled with fire,--so resplendent is it
with the glory of God,--are gathered the
company that have "gotten the victory over the beast, and over his
image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name." With the
Lamb upon Mount Zion, "having the harps of God," they stand, the hundred and forty and four thousand that
were redeemed from among men; and there is heard, as the sound of many
waters, and as the sound of a great thunder, "the voice of harpers
harping with their harps." And they sing "a new
649
song" before the throne, a song
which no man can learn save the hundred and forty and four thousand. It is
the song of Moses and the Lamb--a song of deliverance. None but the hundred and forty-four thousand can learn that song;
for it is the song of their experience--an experience such as no other
company have ever had. "These are they which follow the Lamb
whithersoever He goeth." These, having been translated from the
earth, from among the living, are
counted as "the first fruits unto God and to the Lamb." Revelation
15:2, 3; 14:1-5. "These are they which came out of great
tribulation;" they have passed
through the time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation;
they have endured the anguish of the time of Jacob's trouble; they have stood
without an intercessor through the final outpouring of God's judgments. But
they have been delivered, for they have "washed their robes, and made
them white in the blood of the Lamb." "In their mouth was found no
guile: for they are without fault" before God. "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 have seen the earth wasted with famine and pestilence, the sun having
power to scorch men with great heat, and they themselves have endured
suffering, hunger, and thirst. But "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 waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their
eyes." Revelation 7:14-17.
In all ages the Saviour's chosen
have been educated and disciplined in the school of trial. They walked in narrow paths on earth; they were
purified in the furnace of affliction. For Jesus' sake they endured
opposition, hatred, calumny. They followed Him through conflicts sore;
they endured self-denial and experienced bitter disappointments. By their
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own painful experience they learned
the evil of sin, its power, its guilt, its woe; and they look upon it with
abhorrence. A sense of the infinite
sacrifice made for its cure humbles them in their own sight and fills their
hearts with gratitude and praise which those who have never fallen cannot
appreciate. They love much because they have been forgiven much.
Having been partakers of Christ's sufferings, they are fitted to be partakers
with Him of His glory.” The Great
Controversy, pp. 648-650.
"Now some of us may be
brought to just as severe a test--will we obey the commandments of men or
will we obey the commandments of God? This is the question that will be asked
of many. The best thing for us is to come into close connection with God,
and, if He would have us be martyrs
for the truth's sake, it may be the means of bringing many more into the
truth."-- Manuscript 83, 1886. {3SM 420.3}
Chap. 191 - Martyrs in the Last Days
They shall put you out of
the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think
that he doeth God service. John 16:2.
“The two armies will stand distinct and
separate, and this distinction will be so marked that many who shall be
convinced of truth will come on the side of God's commandment-keeping people.
When this grand work is to take place in the battle, prior to the last
closing conflict, many will be imprisoned, many will flee for their lives
from cities and towns, and many
will be martyrs for Christ's sake in standing in defense of the truth. {Mar
199.2}
"The
living saints, 144,000, in number, know and understand the
voice, while the wicked thought it was thunder and an earthquake. When God
spake the time, he poured on us the Holy Ghost, and our faces began to light
up and shine with the glory of God as Moses did when he came down from Mount
Sinai, (Ex. 34:30-34.) By this time the 144,000 were all sealed and perfectly
united. On their foreheads was
written, God, New Jerusalem, and a glorious Star containing Jesus' new name. [Rev.
3:10-12]At our happy, holy state the wicked were enraged, and would rush
violently up to lay hands on us to thrust us in prison, when we would stretch
forth the hand in the name of the Lord, and the wicked would fall helpless to
the ground." DS, January 24, 1846 par. 1
The 144,000 are
Philadelphians
"The
history and description of the 144,000 apply to those who are to be changed
at the coming of the Lord, and to no other class. First, 'having his Father's name written in their foreheads.' Said the true
Witness to the Philadelphia church, 'Him that overcometh, will I make a
pillar in the temple of my God. And he shall go no more out, and I will write
upon him the name of my God.' [Rev. 3:10-12] Where? 'In their foreheads,'
just where John saw the Father's name.' Now
just as sure as the Philadelphia church is the true church of the last days,
just so sure the 144,000 are sealed, just before the coming of the
Lord." The Advent Review, pg. 56.
The
144,000, are Zion, the bride of Christ, who is married, Isa. 62:1-5. She has
sons and daughters. They are guests at the wedding, GC, 426-7. If guests they
cannot be the bride and vice versa. So all who are saved out of the SDA
church are not the bride.
"The
woman is a symbol of the church, and the remnant of the church
represents the Christians of the last generation of men, living just prior to
the second advent. The dragon makes war on these for keeping the
commandments of God, Sabbath and all, and having the testimony of Jesus
Christ, which, according to the inspired definition of chap. xix, 10, 'is the
spirit of prophecy.' Here, then, are the causes of the dragon's warfare
upon the remnant. They teach the observance of the ten commandments, and the
revival of the gifts, and acknowledge the gift of prophecy among them. When
the Devil got one foot upon the fourth commandment, and the other upon the gifts
planted in the Christian church by Jesus Christ, then his satanic majesty was
filled with revengeful delight. But when the remnant, whom God
designs to fit for translation to Heaven without seeing death, 'ask
for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein,' then the dragon
is wroth, and makes war on them.
The
true spirit of the dragonic host, which is already being somewhat developed,
is vividly described in Isa. xxx, 8-13, as being manifested just prior to the
sudden destruction of those who hate the pure testimony, and love smooth and
deceitful things." E. G. White, Spiritual Gifts, Vol. III, 26,
27.
The
144,000 are not just from the Jews because Judah was the main tribe of the
Jews along with Benjamin and Levi. Some sources reckon only the tribe of
Judah as being the Jews. However, even if all three of these tribes are
reckoned as Jews, which some conclude, that would leave nine tribes of
Gentiles who will constitute the 144,000. Ellen White would not instruct all,
including Gentiles, to strive to be one of the 144,000 if that were impossible
for Gentiles to aspire to.
In Christ’s
Object Lessons, pp. 405-6, the voice of God and the voice of the bride
(the 144,000) awaken all ten virgins. So the ten virgins are a different
entity from the voice of God and the bride that awakens them. Matthew 25:1-5
says all ten virgins slept.
God calls the True Reformer
Bride
As
Jesus called His disciples personally, so God calls the true reformer bride,
Zion:
"Characteristics of True
Reformers.--Here are
given the characteristics of those who shall be reformers, who will bear
the banner of the third angel's message, those who avow themselves God's
commandment-keeping people, and who honor God, and are earnestly engaged,
in the sight of all the universe, in building up the old waste places. Who is it that calls them, The
repairers of the breach, The restorers of paths to dwell in? It is God. Their names are
registered [written--Heb. 12:22, 23] in heaven as reformers, restorers, as
raising the foundations of many generations." E. G. White, SDA Bible Commentary, Vol. 4, 1151.
—rb
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