It was not by accident, Tom, that the land of Israel was situated at a strategic location--at a crossroads--where all the nations of the then world traveled through to access the other nations for purposes of commerce. God's purpose was that through Israel, the whole world would know Him and be prepared for the coming of the Messiah.

Before I go further on God's purpose concerning Israel, I would like to zoom in on a bigger picture that precedes everything that I have written thus far. In the Garden of Eden right after Adam and Eve sinned, God told Satan in Genesis 3:15: "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel."

This one verse, Tom, sums up the whole entire Bible for it is the Gospel of Jesus Christ first expounded to the fallen pair as they turned their sorrowing steps from Eden. All the sacrificial services pointed to the Lamb of God that through faith should take away the sin of the world. Sin is the transgression of God's law (1 John 3:4). In eating the forbidden fruit, Adam and Eve violated every precept of God's moral law. Perish the thought that one was saved by law in the Old Testament and saved by grace in the New Testament. Salvation from sin in any dispensation is only by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord (Gen 6:8).

Satan knew his ultimate fate, that he would be bruised in the head (killed) by the Seed of the woman (Christ), and he endeavored from the beginning to exterminate the lineage of the Seed. He succeeded with Cain slaying his brother Abel. What was his brother's crime? Abel's worship to God was acceptable. His wasn't. This is the first recorded event of Satan-instigated "death decree" involving worship. More will be discussed on this subject for this is the issue in end-time prophecies (Rev 13:15).

Abel was dead, but Seth was born and the line of the Seed continued. From Seth came Abram. God called Abram out of the land of the Chaldeans and told him that through him the promised Seed would come. But Satan thwarted God's plan by causing Abraham and Sarah to distrust God's promises and take matters into their own hands. This resulted in the birth of Ishmael. It was through Isaac, not Ishmael, that the promised Seed was to come.

In Gen 25 we read the story of Jacob and Esau and the birthright. Tom, if you read carefully you'd find that Esau, the older twin son, didn't place much value on his birthright and was ready and willing to sell it to Jacob for bread and a pottage of lentils. Jacob, on the other hand, loved God, and he prized the spiritual blessing of that birthright. He did all that he could, however unscrupulous, to obtain it. Of course, he was helped by his mother Rebekah who was told by God while the twins were yet in her womb that the older son would serve the younger son; one would be stronger than the other (Gen 25:21-23).

Later, Esau, after realizing what he had done and especially after finding out that Jacob had tricked their father Isaac into giving him the blessing, he hated Jacob and planned to kill him. You find the story in Gen 27. The promised Seed was to come through Jacob, not Esau.

Satan hadn't forgotten his ultimate fate, however, for he continued to try to exterminate the line from which the Messiah would come. In the time of David, he instigated King Saul's relentless pursuit to kill David. In the story of Esther a whole nation faced the ire of the Devil. In the New Testament, King Herod (remote descendant of Esau) had male children two years and under killed thinking that he would exterminate his rival King.

When it finally dawned on Satan that he couldn't exterminate the line of the Seed, he tried a different strategy. He would get God's people to sin against God. And sure enough the experience of God's people from the beginning was that of rebellion and apostasy.

Now that I've zoomed in on that, let's get back to the Jews. They failed miserably in fulfilling their Gospel commission. Biblical history tells us that they set up walls of separation from the heathen nations lest they be contaminated by them (Acts 10:34,35). They hid their light under a bushel, and God could not use them. Therefore, all the prophecies of blessings, peace, and longevity concerning Israel now would not be fulfilled through them but through spiritual Israel (His Church) in both a literal and spiritual setting--Heaven and the New Earth.

Acts 13:46 reads: "...It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you; but seeing you put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles." Upon rejection of the Gospel message by the Jews, the Apostle Paul said in Acts 18:6 "...Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean: from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles." See also Matt 21:43. God has His holy nation today--the Christian Church. "But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light" (1 Pet 2:9, 10). God's people are laborers together with God. They are in the world but not of the world.

The prophecies concerning literal Israel have dual applications and are conditional in nature. Had the Jews accomplished the Gospel commission, evangelizing the world, they would have been the Queen of all kingdoms and all the prophecies concerning them would have been fulfilled literally and spiritually. They would have been the most industrious, intelligent, wealthiest, and the healthiest people in the earth, and the heathens around would want to know their secret. They would then be directed to the God of Israel (Deut 4:5-9; 26:18-19; 28:1).

Of course that didn't happen, and it was apparent from the start that all the opportunities to present the true God to the heathens slipped through Israel's fingers. In fact, they followed their idolatrous practices and were ensnared. The Bible says that had they were obedient and faithful to God in their Sabbath-keeping, Jerusalem would remain forever. You can read about this in Jer 17:19-27. This should tell us how important to God that we keep His Sabbath holy. God's attitude concerning His Law has not changed. He has not altered His Law one iota (Ps 89:34/Mal 3:6). God is the same yesterday, today, and forever!

Tom, please take a look at this text in Exodus 15:13,17 taken from the New Century version: "You keep your loving promise and lead the people you have saved. With your strength you will guide them to your holy place...You will lead your people and place them on your very own mountain, the place that you, Lord, made for yourself to live, the temple, Lord, that your hands have made." Did you get that?

God was going to lead His ancient people, His peculiar treasure, a kingdom of priests, a holy nation (Exo 19:5,6) to His holy habitation, the temple that God Himself built. WOW! What an exalted place Israel would have had had they been uncompromisingly faithful to their God. Did you see the similarities (Exo 19:5,6 and 1 Pet 2:9,10) in the description of God's ancient people and His Church (spiritual Israel) today? If not, don't go further, but read those texts again. The prophecy above did not happen to ancient Israel because of disobedience, and the only temple they knew was one that was built by human hands.

Tom, when we have the correct understanding of prophecies concerning Israel, then ALL the other prophecies in the Bible will fall in their proper places, and we would be able to know and understand what's transpiring upon the earth and be prepared to meet the coming King. The Prophet Daniel wrote that the Jewish nation had 70 weeks to get ready for the coming of the Messiah. Using the day-year principle of Eze 4:6, this equates to 490 years.

Please read Dan 9:24-27 first before you continue. This 70-week prophecy is the first segment of the longest time prophecy given in the Bible--the 2300-day (year) prophecy found in Dan 8:14. "...Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed."

Determining the correct start date for the 2300-day prophecy is essential. If you have the correct start date, you would have all the prophesied events in Dan 9:24-27 fall in their correct dates as we know them from history and the Bible. What was the start date for the 2300-day prophecy? It began when the commandment of Artaxerxes (Ezra 7) for the restoration and building of Jerusalem went into effect, in the autumn of 457 b.c.

While there were other decrees issued by Cyrus and Darius to rebuild Jerusalem, the rebuildings were incomplete so they didn't count. Most Bible scholars agree with the 457 b.c. date as the start date for this 2300-day prophecy. And rightly so because when you calculate everything from that date, there was perfect harmony in the application of all the events foretold in the explanation of that period in Dan 9:25-27.

For example, sixty-nine weeks, the first 483 of the 2300 years (69 X 7 = 483), were to reach to the Messiah, the Anointed One, and Christ's baptism and anointing by the Holy Spirit in a.d. 27. Luke 3, the chapter which recorded Jesus' baptism started out with: "Now in the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius", this was a.d. 27, exactly fulfilled the specification. In the midst of the seventieth week, Messiah was to be cut off. Three and a half years after His baptism, Christ was crucified, in the spring of a.d. 31. Three and one half years later (a.d. 34) terminated the 490 years allotted to the Jews.

At the expiration of this period the nation sealed its rejection of Christ by the persecution of His disciples, and the apostles turned to the Gentiles. The first 490 years of the 2300 having thus ended, 1810 years would remain. From a.d. 34, 1810 years extended to 1844. "Then," said the angel, "shall the sanctuary be cleansed" (Dan 8:14). As all the preceding specifications of the 2300-day prophecy had been unquestionably fulfilled at the time appointed, 1844 has got to be part of God's prophetic time that we need to pay particular attention to. I will cover the 1844 date and what it means to cleanse the sanctuary later in this letter.

At the expiration of the 490 probationary years of the Jews (period of grace) in a.d. 34, Stephen was stoned and the Gospel went to the Gentiles starting in Samaria. The Apostle Paul witnessed and endorsed the stoning of Stephen.

This is significant because when the Jews rejected the Messiah even after witnessing all the signs and wonders and miracles wrought by Christ, they in essence sealed their doom. The rejected God's gift of salvation. There would be no second chance for them. Now is the day of salvation (2 Cor 6:2). The veil in the temple was torn in half from top to bottom exposing the Most Holy Place. With this ominous gesture, God left this place forever. The rounds of ceremonies the Jews continue to do no longer have spiritual significance for the shadow met the Substance.

Here's more scripture references describing who the true Israel of God today: Gal 3:16, 4:26, Rom 2:28, 29, Matt 21:43, Rom 9:6-8, and Rev 3:9. Does this mean the Jews cannot come to Christ and be saved? Absolutely not! Individually, they (the severed natural branches) can be grafted back in to the olive tree if they believe and have faith in the crucified and risen Saviour (Rom 11:19-24).

This is background information to help you understand what it means for the sanctuary to be cleansed after the 2300-day prophecy expired in 1844, and a new prophetic era began. In Ezekiel 9, the man clothed in linen with the inkhorn in his hand is commissioned to go throughout Jerusalem (spiritual/God's Church - 1 Pet 4:17) and put a mark on the forehead of the people who sigh and cry over the abominations in the church and in the land.

The word "abomination" can be equated as meaning "sin". Sin is the transgression of the law per 1 John 3:4. God's end-time people, those who are grieved and cry over the blatant violation of God's commandments especially the seventh-day Sabbath by almost the whole Christian world, would be sealed. Note what Ps 119:136 says: "Rivers of waters run down mine eyes, because they keep not thy law." Note also Ps 119:126: "It is time for thee, Lord, to work: for they have made void thy law."

This is what Ezekiel 9 is all about--God sealing His people so they would be protected in the day of slaughter. Chapter 7 of Revelation also tells of the sealing of God's people. These two events are one and the same. Chapter 14 of Revelation also talks about the sealed 144,000 and is the chapter where the three angels' messages are contained that warn against receiving the mark of the Beast. The last warning message from God (Rev 14:6-12) is a sealing message. The Seal of God is the opposite of the mark of the Beast.

There would be only two groups of people on the earth before the return of Jesus Christ--those sealed with God's Seal and those marked with the mark of the Beast. How vitally important, then, to know for sure what God's Seal is and have it and to not have anything to do with the mark of the beast.

Additionally, we know from Rev 14, that the 144,000 were the ones redeemed from the earth at Jesus' second coming. The fact that they were redeemed from the earth means that they were alive and that they went through the great tribulation. In this chapter, they sang a song that no man could know but them. This is a song of their deliverance. It's a song of their unique tribulation experience. See also Rev 7:14. That's why not all could sing the song. As the three Hebrew worthies in the fiery furnace, Daniel in the lions' den, and the Jews in the time of Esther were not "raptured" out of their troubles but went through them with God's protection, so would God's people in the end, and they would sing about their tumultuous yet victorious experience.

Notice in Rev 7:9 that John saw a great multitude which no man could number from all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people. When he was asked who these people were, he said: thou knowest, and he was told in verse 14 that they were the ones that went through the great tribulation and had their robes washed in the blood of the Lamb.

We already saw that those who went through the great tribulation were the sealed 144,000. Evidently, according to this text the great multitude also went through the great tribulation. For them to survive the seven last plagues, they would have had to be sealed with the Seal of God (Ezekiel 9). They would have had to gain the victory over the Beast, his image and his mark. So are these groups one and the same? Let's continue with the comparison.

Rev 14:1 says that on Mount Zion stood the Lamb and with Him were the 144,000. On Mount Zion was a temple, and only the 144,000 were allowed to go inside the temple (EW19).  Rev 7:15 says that the great multitude which no man could number were seen inside the temple serving God day and night. If the great multitude were seen in the temple serving God day and night, isn't it logical to think that "they follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth"--a unique attribute of the 144,000 (Rev 14:4)?

Was John looking at the 144,000 from another angle and he just wrote that he saw a great multitude? There are many interpretations out there concerning the 144,000 and the great multitude. But one thing is clear, before Jesus returns to this earth, there will be only two classes of people--those who received the Seal of God (the righteous) from all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people and are protected in the great tribulation and those who received the mark of the Beast (the wicked) who are without a shelter.

God's truths do not change, but our understanding of them is progressive. God will reveal to us all the truths that are essential for our salvation, and He will give us insights and depth in our understanding of the rest of the Scripture as we study and meditate upon it. Many of God's truths and mysteries not now revealed will be revealed to us when we're sitting at Jesus' feet in the Kingdom.

Again, the 144,000 is seen in Rev 15:2 as gaining the victory over the Beast and his image and over his mark. How do I know that these are the 144,000? Because only the sealed ones survived the great tribulation which consisted of the seven last plagues. They were persecuted by the Beast who had Sunday-sacredness legislated that if not obeyed, torture/death was the penalty. It was the Seal of God that protected them through the great tribulaton. They sang the song of Moses and of the Lamb--a song of deliverance!

The 144,000 consisted of 12,000 from the 12 tribes of spiritual Israel. Why were the NAMES of the 12 literal sons (11 sons, one grandson) of Israel even mentioned and especially inscribed on the twelve gates of the New Jerusalem? Because they overcame their sins and varied flawed character traits. You know their story. Before they were transformed in heart and character, these men were terribly wicked.

They were envious of their brother Joseph. They coveted not only his coat of many colors but the attention given to him by their father. Heartless, without compassion, they sold their brother and lied to their father concerning him. They lived with that lie for years. Levi and Simeon slaughtered all the males in Shechem and plundered their goods. Judah laid with his daughter in law Tamar who pretended to be a harlot. When Judah was told that Tamar was pregnant by whoredom, he was ready to have her burnt to death. Reuben committed adultery with his father's concubine, and the list goes on. Talk about a dysfunctional family!

These men violated every principle of God's moral law. BUT, they overcame their sins and were transformed and purified by the blood of the Lamb. In faith, as their forebears Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob did, they looked to Christ for cleansing. These are the characters God's end-time people are to have--a character that reflects fully the character of their Lord.

The 144,000 are spiritual Israel--those who have accepted Christ as their personal Lord and Saviour and come from all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people, and they have gained the victory over the Beast, his mark and his image, and received the Seal of God. They are a special group of people because they comprised the last generation of human beings who have suffered the effects of sin and degradation upon the race, yet were victorious over the Beast through faith in their Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Many believe that the 144,000 are literal. If that's the case, then these would be all Jews which couldn't possibly be true as we've already found out. They would be all men which couldn't possibly be true. They would be all celibates (virgins), which again couldn't possibly be true, and they would not be from all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people.

As you have seen in this letter, Tom, the 144,000 are spiritual Jews (Christians) that come from all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people. The probation of literal Jews had closed, their day of grace was gone, and as a nation they are no longer God's people.

Another reason the 144,000 couldn't be literal Jews is that there is no record in scripture that the ten northern tribes of Israel ever migrated back to their land after their captivity to Assyria. The king of Assyria repopulated Samaria with pagans (2 Kings 17:24). These were the Samaritans that were hated and despised by the Jews back in Jesus' day.

As for ten northern tribes, they got assimilated into the life and culture of Assyria and the other nations around them and lost their identity. The southern tribes of Judah and Benjamin (some of them) did migrate back to the land of Israel after their 70-year captivity in Babylon.

The end-time Papal persecution would be worse than Hitler's holocaust (Dan 12:1). No wonder the 144,000 sang the song of Moses and of the Lamb when they gained the victory over the Beast. Their song was a song of deliverance just as Moses, Aaron, Miriam and the Israelites sang a song of their deliverance from Egypt.

The deliverance of ancient Israel from Egypt typifies the final deliverance of spiritual Israel from the slavery of sin. This is a miniature prophecy of what's going to happen in the end. As God was to lead ancient Israel to His holy habitation, to a temple that He built Himself (Exo 15:13,17) [didn't happen because of disobedience], God will lead spiritual Israel, those who had spiritual connection with Jesus Christ, to His holy habitation, to the heavenly Sanctuary, to Heaven itself.

While there were other groups who had gone through tribulation experiences in the past, i.e. the Dark Ages, only this special group, the 144,000, had gained the victory over the Beast and His mark. The question for us to ponder is this: If we do not know exactly what the mark of the Beast is, how could we gain victory over it?  CLICK on the NEXT Button to continue.

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