144,000 Sealed

Once again, scholars see the identity and significance of this “144,000” differently. It is probably best not to read this number too literally, but rather to see it as representative of a large group (144 is the product of 12 x 12 – another significant Old Testament symbol). As you read, look for what this passage tells you about how God will treat His people. What does this mean for you?

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REFLECTION

144,000 Sealed

by Kelsey Bacon

As we move our way through the seven seals in Revelation, I find myself wondering what exactly a "seal" means, particularly with this passage, because it seems to be used in a different way with those from the tribes of Israel than it is with the first six seals, which released the destructive horsemen.

In previous passages, the image that jumped to my mind was a wax seal, holding the scroll closed, only to be broken by the worthy one--much like a seal on a letter you might see in a period film. But in chapter 7, the meaning of the word seal seems to have changed. In verse 3 the angel says, "Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God." By putting the seals on the foreheads of the 144,000, it suggests that they belong to God (if you see Revelation 14:1, John says that the 144,000 have God's name written on their foreheads).

This sense of belonging also resembles those words we say in baptism, that we are sealed with the Holy Spirit and marked with the cross of Christ. Baptism is also the welcoming of a new member into the family of God, providing them a place to belong.

As I mull over this passage, I think about belonging. We are advised not to read this number too literally, knowing that 12 (12 x 12 being 144) is a symbol of perfection in the Old Testament. But rather than trying to figure out exactly what God means by choosing 144,000 people to be sealed, I think more about what it means to be sealed. I know that in being saved by the grace of Jesus Christ, the Lamb who was slain, I am washed clean by his blood and I belong to him and his family. I am sealed with his belonging and marked by his cross. I am his.

Belonging to someone like Jesus is like nothing else in this life. Throughout much of the first chapters of Revelation, God shows us the pitfalls of putting our trust in the world. And the sealing of God's name on the foreheads of the 144,000 is a testament to the rewards of a life with God and to the belonging as a part of God's family.

How beautiful it is to belong to Christ, and to know that we don't need to cling to anything in this world that we know will fail us. And how beautiful it is that we have a community of believers to belong with, far more even than 144,000!

UALC’S CAMPAIGN OF PRAYER

THURSDAY: TRIUMPH
Pray for scientists all over the world seeking antidotes to heal the world of this virus. Pray they would be triumphant quickly.