Mysteries of the Last Days

“And I looked, and lo, the Lamb stood on Mount Zion. And with Him were a hundred and forty-four thousands, having His Father's name written in their foreheads.” (Revelation 14:1)

In this verse and the following four verses we learn the fate of the 144,000. We learn they are redeemed from the earth, but are not told exactly when. They are virgin men in whom there is no lie, are a first fruit to God and Jesus of the harvest of the Great Tribulation time. And they will be always with Jesus. They are Christian Jewish men who in eternity will be harpists. (Revelation 14:2-5) They are 12,000 from each of the twelve Jewish tribes who are protected from the misery on earth at the time of the Great Tribulation. “And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth so that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. 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, saying, Do not hurt the earth or the sea or the trees until we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. And I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred and forty-four thousands, having been sealed out of every tribe of the sons of Israel.” (Revelation 7:1-4) Yes, notice that the Scripture says "one hundred and forty-four thousands." This is something that has not ever been addressed except in the translations. The Greek word that in some translations was translated thousand actually means thousands. Since lots in Revelation is symbolic, even this number can be symbolic and not as finite as believed.

In our verse of study, they are on earth with Jesus. “...the Lamb stood on Mount Zion. And with Him were a hundred and forty-four thousands...” They are with Jesus and stand alongside of Him when He sets foot on Mount Zion. Although all the saints will come with Jesus at His Second Coming, they do not set foot (yet and as far as Scripture reveals) on Mount Zion with Jesus.

The work of the 144,000 is called by one source, “apocalyptic work.” Meaning they will work during the Great Tribulation in an evangelistic capacity. Many Scriptures have been attributed to their evangelistic work, but since the Scriptures are not specific about it, I will not list them. There is much believed about their work, but not much Scriptural description about them. Some of the Scriptures about the harvest from the Great Tribulation is attributed to the work of the 144,000 during this time. Needless to say, there is much we actually don’t know about this time. Not everything has been openly revealed.

But what is of great importance to us is that according to Scripture, true believers and children of God will be taken at the rapture before the Great Tribulation which is the judgement that will come upon earth of the wicked. “For the Lord Himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. And so, we shall ever be with the Lord.” (1Thessalonians 4:16-17) The righteous have always been removed before judgement came on the wicked. And we believe that true believers will be taken out before the judgement or what is called the Day of Wrath or Great Tribulation. But this is not confirmed by Scripture. The Word of God tells us that no one knows the day that Jesus will return. But the Scriptures are talking about the Second Coming of Christ, not the rapture.

The events in Matthew are confusing. They talk about the Tribulation. But the Scriptures that follow are not possibly about the rapture. “And immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun shall be darkened and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from the heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. And then the sign of the Son of Man shall appear in the heavens. And then all the tribes of the earth shall mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of the heaven with power and great glory.” (Matthew 24:29-30) These Scriptures point about the end of the Tribulation. But the Scripture that follows seems to be about the rapture or the great harvest of the Tribulation. “And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.” (Matthew 24:31) It cannot be the rapture because in the rapture, the saints meet Jesus in the air. In this Scripture the angels are gathering the elect. So it makes sense that these are those saved during the Tribulation.

In searching the Scriptures no other Scriptures tell about the rapture. There are some theologians who believe that Jesus could come for us at any time. The Scriptures tell us that the time is near. “Therefore be patient, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth and has long patience for it, until he receives the early and the latter rain. You also be patient, establish your hearts, for the coming of your Lord draws near.” (James 5:7-8) Since the early church, we have been waiting for the Lord to return for us, much like the Jews waited for the Messiah. We must be patient because God is not on our timeline. But His timing is perfect and brings glory to Him.  Paul in his second letter to the Thessalonians writes about the gathering of Christians to Jesus. “Now we beseech you, my brothers, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, that you should not be soon shaken in mind or troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word or letter, as through us, as if the Day of Christ is at hand. Let not anyone deceive you by any means. For that Day shall not come unless there first comes a falling away, and the man of sin shall be revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, setting himself forth, that he is God. Do you not remember that I told you these things when I was still with you? And now you know what holds back, for him to be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already working, only he is now holding back until it comes out of the midst. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the breath of His mouth and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming, whose coming is according to the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceit of unrighteousness in those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, so that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie, so that all those who do not believe the truth, but delight in unrighteousness, might be condemned.”  (2Thessalonians 2:1-12) This verse lets us know that the gathering of the saints won’t occur until the lawless one is revealed. And when he is revealed, we know that there will be great tribulation worldwide.

We can conclude that there are still lots of mysteries as to the timeline of the rapture and the Second Coming. They are certain events that will occur and even if we are told it’s near, we still don’t know when because God is not on our timeline. But we can be assured of His deliverance from the judgement to come on the wicked. Those who believe on Jesus during the Great Tribulation will be gathered by the angels during that time before the total destruction of the earth.