The One Hundred and Forty

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The One Hundred and

Forty-Four ThousandChapter 49 in "The Cross and It'sShadow"

by Stephen Haskell

GENESIS is the book of beginnings, Revelation the book ofendings. The most important lines of truth given by all the OldTestament writers meet in the Revelation. Genesis introduces usto the twelve tribes of Israel; Revelation shows us the lastrepresentatives of those tribes standing upon Mount Zion in theeternal kingdom of God. (Rev. 14:1)

Artist: Clyde ProvanshaThe redeemed of the

Lord are an innumerablecompany, which no mancan number; but among

that multitude is oneseparate company, who

are numbered and aredesignated by their

number,one hundredand forty-four thousand.

This company iscomposed of twelve

different divisions, each containing twelve thousand redeemedsouls; and each division bears the name of one of the twelve

tribes of Israel. (Rev. 7:4-8) The list given in Revelation variessomewhat from the list of the twelve sons of Jacob, (1 Chr. 2:1,2)

as Dan is omitted, and the extra division is given the name of

Manasseh, Joseph's eldest son.This company have special privileges. They stand upon MountZion with Christ, and "follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth."(Rev. 14:1,4) They have the exalted privilege of serving Christ inthe heavenly temple; (Rev. 7:15) and like all the redeemed host,

they are faultless before God, and in their mouths is no guile.(Rev. 14:5)


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The great reaper death has laid one generation after another ofthe saints of God in the silent tomb; and lest some might fear that

the grave would be the final end of the faithful, God gave thefollowing pledge through His prophet:"I will ransom them from the

power of the grave; I will redeem them from death." (Hosea 13:14)The one hundred and forty-four thousand are redeemed from the

earthfrom among men. (Rev. 14:3,4) They are alive upon theearth when the Saviour comes, and will be translated, togetherwith the innumerable host who will come from their dusty beds,clad in glorious immortality, when Christ comes in the clouds of

heaven. (1 Thess. 4:16,17)The one hundred and forty-four thousand are distinguished from

all others by their having the seal of the living God in theirforeheads. All who have this seal are included in this company.

(Rev. 7:2-4) This distinguishing mark is called the "Father'sname." (Rev. 14:3) Ezekiel was evidently shown the same work,

and speaks of it as a "mark" upon the forehead. (Eze.9:4)We are familiar with the term "seal" in connection with legal

documents. A seal contains the name of the person issuing thedocument, his office or authority, and the extent of his jurisdiction.The seal placed upon the foreheads of the one hundred and forty-four thousand, is the seal of the living God. Seals are attached to

laws and legal documents; therefore we should look for God'sseal to be attached to His law. The prophet Isaiah, looking down

through the ages, saw a people who were expecting Christ tocome from the heavenly sanctuary to the earth, and the messageof God to them was, "Seal the law among My disciples." (Isa.

8:16)The Bible was given through prophets, holy men whom God

used as mouthpieces, to make His will known to His people; (2Peter 1:20,21) but the law of Godthe ten commandmentswasnot given through any human agent. God the Father, Christ theSon, and myriads of heavenly beings

came down upon Mount Sinai, (Ps.

68:17) when the ten commandmentswere proclaimed to the vast multitude of

Israel over a million people. (Duet.4:10,13,32,33)

Artist: Robert BarrenThen, lest there might be some mistake

in writing out the law which He had


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given, God called Moses up into the mountain, and gave him twotables of stone, upon which He any had engraved with His ownfinger the same ten commandments that He had spoken in the

hearing of the multitude. (Duet. 10:1-5; Ex. 31:18; 32:15,19)This law will be the standard by which every son and daughter of

Adam will be judged. (James 2:10-12) Has God attached His sealto this law, whereby all may know its binding claims?

Remembering that the seal must contain, first, the tame of the oneissuing the law; second, the office or authority tested in the

lawgiver; and third, the territory over which he roles, let us look forthe seal in the law of God.

The first three commandments, and also the fifth, mention thename of God, (Ex. 20:3-7,12) but do not distinguish Him from

other gods. (1 Cor.8:5) the last five commandments show our dutyto our fellow men, but do not contain the name of God. (Ex. 20:13-

17)The fourth commandment contains,

first, the name, "the Lord thy God;" second, the statement that the Lord thy God is the

Creator of all things, and therefore has power to issue thislaw;

third, a record of His territory, which consists of"heaven and earth," which He created. (Ex. 20:8-11)

The fourth commandment requires all who dwell in the territory ofthe Lord God the Creator, to keep holy the seventh day of theweek, which He has sanctified and blessed, (Gen. 2:2-3) as a

memorial of His creative work.The Sabbath commandment contains the seal of the law. The

word sign is sometimes used as a synonym for "seal." (Romans4:11) Of the Sabbath God says:"It is a sign between Me and the

children of Israel forever." (Ex. 31:13,16,17) "Moreover also I gavethem My Sabbaths, to be a sign between Me and them, that they

might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them." Eze. 20:12)God blessed and sanctified the Sabbath; (Gen. 2:2) and to theone who will keep it holy, it is a sign, or seal, of God's power to

sanctify him. (Eze. 20:12, Isa. 58:13,14)) There is a knowledge ofGod in the proper observance of the Sabbath. "Hallow My

Sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between Me and you, that yemay know that I am the Lord your God." (Eze. 20:20)


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During the Dark Ages, when the word of God was hidden from thepeople, the seal was taken from God's law. Sunday, the first day

of the week, a day upon which God worked, (Gen. 1:1-5; Eze46:1) was substituted for the seventh-day Sabbath, upon which

He rested. (Gen. 2:3) The Lord revealed through Daniel theprophet that a power would arise which should "think to change"the law of God, (Dan. 7:25) and that the law would be given into

his hands during twelve hundred and sixty years, a period of timementioned by both Daniel and John. (Dan. 7:25;12:7 Rev. 11:2;

12:6; 13:5)After that period had passed and the Bible was again in the hands

of the people, the true Sabbath of the fourth commandment wasto be restored and observed. The breach in the law would be

repaired, (Isa. 58: 12) and the law sealed among the disciples ofthe Lord, who would be eagerly looking for His return. (Isa.

8:16,17)In Rev. 7:2, this sealing message is represented as coming from

the east, or sunrising. We should understand from this that itwould begin like the sunrising, first a faint light, steadily increasing

until it lightens the whole earth.Four angels were commissioned to hold the four winds until the

work was accomplished. Winds are a symbol of war. (Dan. 11:40)In fulfillment of this we should expect to find that during some

period of the world's history the winds of war were miraculously

held, while the work of restoring the seal to the law of God wasgoing forward in the earth.There have always been upon the earth some adherents of the

seventh-day Sabbath; but the work of restoring the breach whichhad been made in the law was begun about 1845, by those whowere then watching for the second coming of the Lord. After the

time set for Him to come had passed, in the autumn of 1844, theattention of those who had expected Christ to return to the earth

at that time was directed to the heavenly sanctuary, where by faiththey saw Christ officiating as their High Priest. As they followed

the Saviour in His work, "the temple of God was opened inheaven, and there was seen in His temple the ark of His

testament." (Rev. 11:19) Their attention was attracted to the lawcontained in that ark, (Ex. 25:16) and some of them recognizedthe binding claim of the Sabbath of the Lord, and accepted it as

the seal of the law. About 1847-48 the Sabbath began to bepreached as the seal of the law of the living God.


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In 1848 occurred one of the greatest upheavals in the nationalaffairs of Europe that had been for many centuries. Decided

changes were made in some of the leading nations. In a briefperiod of time, many of the crowned heads of Europe submitted

themselves to the people. It looked as if universal war wasinevitable. In the midst of the turmoil and strife, came a suddencalm. No man could assign any reason for it, but the student ofprophecy knew that the angels were holding the winds until the

servants of God could be sealed in their foreheads.The forehead is the seat of the intellect; and when the honest in

heart see and acknowledge the binding claims of God's law, theywill keep holy the Sabbath. The seal placed in the forehead by the

angel can not be read by man, for God alone can read the heart.Simply resting upon the seventh day from all physical work will not

place the seal upon the forehead of any one. The resting isnecessary, but with the rest must be also the holy and sanctified

life that is in harmony with the holy and sanctified day. (Isa. 58:13)Ezekiel saw an angel placing a "mark" upon the foreheads of

those who were distressed because of the abominations practisedby the professed people of God. (Eze. 9:1-4) Those who are at

ease in Zion drifting with the current, their hearts' affectionscentered on the world, will never receive the seal of the living

God.The Sabbath reformthe sealing work of Rev. 7:1-4arose as the

sun. For some years there were only a few that kept the Sabbathof the fourth commandment; but as individuals here and there, inall parts of the world, found that the entire Bible from Genesis to

Revelation teaches that the seventh day is the Sabbath, and thatChrist (Luke 4:16) and the apostles (Acts 17:2; 16:13; 18:4,11)

kept it, they accepted it; (Romans 3:19) and to-day in everydivision of the earth there are those who honor God as the

Creator, by keeping holy the day which He sanctified and blessedas a memorial of His creative work.

In the Christian church there is neither Jew nor Gentile; all are

one in Christ Jesus.(Gal. 3:28) We are all grafted into the family ofAbraham. (Romans 11:17-21) The one hundred and forty-fourthousand are not necessarily literal descendants of the Jews,(Romans 11:21-23; 9:6-9,24-26) but they are those who have

received the seal of the living God in their foreheads, whose livesare in harmony with the holy precepts of Jehovah. (Rev. 7:3)

Artist: Frank Breadon


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In

Rev. 14:9-14 we are told of a power that is opposed to God's law,and that has a mark which it will try to enforce upon the people bymeans of the civil power. (Rev 13:13-18) Since the Sabbath of the

Lord is given by Jehovah as a sign of His power and His right torule, the counterfeit Sabbath, or Sunday, the first day of the week,

will be the mark of the opposing power. God's law commands allto keep holy the seventh day of the week, God's memorial of

creation; but the laws of the land will command all to rest uponSunday, the first day of the week. (Rev. 13:16,17; Rev. 14:7,9,12)

When this test comes, each person will have to decide for himself.Many, like Peter and John, when they faced the magistrates andimprisonment, will say, "We ought to obey God rather than men."

(Acts 5:29)This conflict will continue, says John, until the dragon, Satan, willbecome so angry with the church that he will "make war with the

remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, andhave the testimony of Jesus Christ." (Rev. 12:17)

Out of this conflict the one hundred and forty-four thousand will begathered. Their experience will be similar to that of the children of

Israel coming out of Egypt. Pharaoh would not allow them to reston the Sabbath. He called the instruction of Moses and Aaron

"vain words;" (Ex. 5:9) or as Dr. Adam Clarke expresses it,Pharaoh said, "Let religion alone, and mind your work." On "the

same day'' (Ex. 5:5,6) that Pharaoh complained because Mosesand Aaron were instructing the people to rest, the king gave the

command, "Ye shall no more give the people straw to make


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brick," and the burdens of the children of Israel were greatlyincreased. (Ex. 5:7,8)

Satan was determined that the Israelites should not honor theSabbath of the Lord; but God delivered His people and destroyed

Pharaoh and all his host. (Ex. 14:19-31)On earth the distinguishing mark of the one hundred and forty-fourthousand is the seal of God in their foreheads; in heaven it will be

the wonderful song which they will sing:"They sung as it were anew song before the throne:. . . and no man could learn that song

but the one hundred and forty and four thousand, which wereredeemed from the earth." (Rev. 14:3) "They sing the song of

Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the lamb." (Rev. 15:3)It is a song of experiencewonderful melody! Not even the angel

choir can join in those marvelous strains as they echo through thearches of heaven. Even Abraham, the friend of God, with all his

faith, cannot join in that song. What a chorus that will be! onehundred and forty- four thousand voices all in perfect accord,

singing the "song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song ofthe Lamb."

As the twelve tribes, after crossing the Red Sea, all united in thesong of triumph, so the last representatives of the twelve tribes of

Israel on earth, as they stand a mighty phalanx on the sea ofglass before the throne of God in heaven, will sing the song of

Moses and the Lamb.

SUMMARYThe one hundred and forty-four thousand receive the seal of theliving God in their foreheads. Rev. 7:2-4.

They obtain the victory over the beast and his image. Rev. 15:2.Are redeemed from among men. Rev. 14:3,4.

Stand upon Mount Zion. Rev. 14:I."Follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth." Rev. 14:4.

Sing a song that no one else can sing. Rev. 14:3.Serve Christ in the heavenly temple. Rev. 7:15.

A seal attached to a legal document must give the name, office, or

authority, of the one issuing the document, and the territory overwhich he rules. God has a seal; this seal is connected with His

law. Rev. 7:3,4; Isa. 8:16.The fourth commandment contains the seal of the law of God. Itgives His name, Lord God; His authority, the Creator; and His

territory,the heaven and earth which He has made. Ex. 20:8-11.


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Sign and seal are synonymous terms. Rom. 4:11.The Sabbath is the sign, or seal, of the law of God. Eze. 20:12,

20.A blessing is pronounced upon the one who will keep the

Sabbath. Isa. 56:1, 2.

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The One Hundred and Forty