Luke 21:8

Christian, Be Not Deceived!

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9. THE 144,000 AND THE GREAT MULTITUDE

Surely the prophecy of Revelation 7:1-4 clearly informs us that only those sealed, the 144,000, will endure through the day of God’s wrath, the time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation. That is why that prophecy was given to warn that “we shall receive the seal of God, or be cut down by the destroying weapons” (5 Testimonies, page 212). Therefore, only those sealed are protected in the time of trouble; that is the reason for them being sealed, as we have previously proved. As this is so important Satan seeks to bring in confusion over the sealing, thus causing some to lose the sense of the- very high standard required of those who will be among the 144,000. “Let us strive with all the power that God has given us to be among the hundred and forty-four thousand” (Review and Herald, March 9, 1905).

“The Shepherd’s Rod” literature confuses this solemn sealing work by teaching that there will be two companies-one sealed, the other-not sealed-to go through the time of trouble: “The, harvest of Matthew 13 precedes the close of probation, and is the time of the ingathering of the first and second fruits-the 144,000 and the ‘great multitude’-all the saints who are to be translated” (The Judgment and the Harvest, page 82).

If there are two ways to a destination it is human to choose to go the easier way. And when people are deceived into thinking that the Bible teaches that there are two classes of people to go through the time of trouble - the 144,000 sealed ones, and “the great multitude” it is human to think, when the effort is hard and difficult, “Well if I do not attain unto the very high standard required of the 144,006 then I will qualify at least to be among the great multitude”.

This deceptive reasoning would thus be derived from a confused idea concerning the sealing. This shows how care needs to be exercised that there be no confused ideas on the sealing work depicted in Revelation 7:1-4. “The Shepherd’s Rod” literature, and some other literature which we are at present examining, have common ground in matters relating to the sealing - that the latter rain follows the sealing. “The Shepherd’s Rod” says: “After the first fruits are sealed and the tares are removed from among them, they, then being separate from the influence of the world, as were the 120 on the day of Pentecost, will receive the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in as much greater measure, as the increase of wickedness demands a more decided call to repentance’ (7 Testimonies, page 33)” (“The Judgment and the Harvest,” page 86).

“The Davidian Association [The Shepherd’s Rod] holds . . . (3) That it [the prophetic gift] was manifested anew in the closing work for the church to effect the sealing of the 144,000 servants of God (3 Testimonies, page 266), and to give power and force (Early Writings, page 277) to the third angel’s Message (Revelation 14:6-11) so that the 144,000 might be empowered to accomplish the closing work for the world, and to gather all their brethren out of all nations (Isaiah 66:19; Revelation 18:4)” (Timely Greetings, Volume 2, Nos 9, 10, page 29).

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The other literature says: “Those who receive the latter rain have previously passed through the judgment, their sins have been blotted out, and the seal impressed, the imparting of the seal takes place before Revelation 18. But no one receives the refreshing unless they have first experienced the blotting out of sins, and have been sealed” (The Judgment of the Living - Revelation 18, pages 3-5). “Only those who have the seal of God can have a part in giving the Loud Cry”’. “The Shepherd’s Rod” also teaches that those sealed go out to give the Loud Cry: “The first fruits, the 144,000, who, free from the wicked (the tares), shall then, as ‘the servants of our God’, bring in the second fruits, the great multitude which no man can number, out of all nations” (The Judgment and the Harvest, page 70). “The Davidian Association holds [after the sealing of the 144,000]. That with this sequence of events will ensue the Loud Cry of the angel that lightens the earth with his glory (Revelation 18:1)” (Timely Greetings, Volume 2, Nos 9, 10, page 30).

The “Rod’s” belief that the 144,000 - the sealed ones - go out to proclaim the Loud Cry and gather in the “great multitude (who are not said in Revelation 7 to be sealed), ignores the reason why God gives the seal, namely, for the protection of those who pass through the time of trouble. Only those sealed could possibly be preserved through that terrible time.

The Spirit of Prophecy applies the “great multitude” of Revelation 7:9 to the redeemed of all ages: “Nearest the throne are those who were once zealous in the cause of Satan. Next are those who perfected Christian characters in the midst of falsehood and infidelity, those who honored the law of God when the Christian world declared it void, and the millions, of all ages, who were martyred for their faith. And beyond is the ‘great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kingdoms and people, and tongues, before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands’ (Revelation 7:9) (Great Controversy, Page 665). This verse is again quoted in Great Controversy, Page 646 concerning all the saved: “Throughout the unnumbered host of the redeemed every glance is fixed upon Him in every hand are placed the victor’s palm and the shining harp” Again in 1 Testimonies, page 79, we read:

Suffering has been the portion of the people of God from the days of the martyr Abel. None will be there who have Pot, like Moses, chosen to suffer affliction with the people of God. The prophet John saw the multitude of the redeemed, and inquired who they were. The prompt answer came: “These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (see Revelation 7:14). 1 Testimonies, page 155 again applies Revelation 7:9 to all the redeemed. “The Spirit of Prophecy”, p. 253, says:

“The Savior presents the captives He has rescued from the bonds of death. His hands place immortal crowns upon their brows, for, they are the representatives, and sample, of those who shall be redeemed, by the blood of Christ, from all nations, tongues, and people (Revelation 7:9), and come forth from the dead when He shall call the just from their graves at His second coming.”

There should be no question in the minds of those who accept the Spirit of Prophecy that in Revelation 7:9 and v. 14 John saw the unnumbered host of the redeemed of all ages, that they are those Who are to be resurrected at the second advent, and do not pass through the time of trouble in the last days.

Abraham was promised an innumerable seed (Genesis 15:5; 17:4-8), so when John was shown those who would be the last company saved in the work of salvation, those sealed to go through the final scenes of earth, it was natural that at that time he would also be shown all the seed promised to Abraham - the unnumbered host of the redeemed from all ages. Especially when the emphasis is placed upon the sealing of the tribes of Israel, the descendants of Abraham.

In the presentation of Revelation 7 only the 144,000 are said to be sealed, followed by the blowing of the winds of trouble and destruction. This suggests that the others brought into this prophetic picture do not pass through this coming day of wrath, and this automatically rules out the idea that the 144,000 sealed ones go out as preachers to win the “great multitude”. As the Spirit of Prophecy applies the “great multitude” to the saved of all ages they do not live through the day of God’s wrath and do not receive the special seal of God which is given for the protection of those who live through the unprecedented time of trouble. All who enter into the eternal life suffer buffeting from Satan’s machinations and efforts to turn them away from Christ and His salvation. “We must, through much tribulation, enter into the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22; see also Matthew 10:38; Luke 22:28, 29; Romans 8:17; 2 Timothy 2:11; 3:12). But this “great multitude”, though “sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise”, “sealed unto the day of redemption” (Ephesians 1:13; 4:30), are not sealed with the special seal because they do not live through the terrible crisis over the mark of the beast, nor do they live through the time of trouble without a Mediator. The “great multitude” are not those won to Christ by the 144,000 sealed saints -that idea is opposed to the truth.

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The 144,000 are not sealed so they may go out preaching the Loud Cry; they are sealed after the Loud Cry has been sounded and just before probation closes.