THE
144,000
by H. R. Johnson
[Published in two parts
in the
Review and Herald, July 27 and August 3, 1905].
[The
references between brackets indicate the pages of the present
edition
of Early Writings.]
1. Where are the 144,000 first spoken
of? Rev. 7:1-4.
2. How are they designated? As “the
servants of our
God.” Verse 3.
3. What is said of them? — They were
sealed. Verses
3, 4.
4. With what were they sealed? — With
the “seal of the
living God.” Verse 2.
5. What is the seal, or sign (see Rom.
4:11), of God? —
“The Sabbath of the fourth commandment
is the seal of the
living God.” — “Great Controversy,”
page 640. Ex. 31:13, 17.
6. What is inseparably connected with
the seal? — The
Father’s name. See Rev. 14:1.
7. When did this sealing work begin? —
When the angel
came with the seal of God. Chapter 7:2.
8. When did the angel come with the
Sabbath seal? —
At the time “the
there was seen in his temple the ark of
his testament”
(chapter 11:19), and the Sabbath reform
began. After Oct.
22, 1844.
9. What other angels did John see at
this same sealing
time? Chapter 7:1.
10. What did the angel with the seal
command the four
angels to do? Verses 2, 3.
11. When did this special command go
forth? — As the
nations became more angry, which is true
since 1844.
Chapter 11:18, 19. See “Early
Writings,” pages 29-31 [EW 36-
38].
12. Is the sealing work going on at the
present time? —
Yes. Chapter 7:2, 3. “Satan is now using
every device in this
sealing time to keep the minds of God’s
people from present
truth, and to cause them to waver.” “The
sealing time
is very short, and soon will be over.” —
“Early Writings”,
pages 35, 49. [EW 43, 58].
13. What does the prophet Isaiah say
about this work?
Isa. 8:16.
14. Where is the sealed law to be put?
Heb. 8:10.
15. As long as impurity is cherished in
the heart can the
spiritual law of God be written there? —
No! “If the mind is
filled with other things, present truth
is shut out, and there
is no place in our foreheads for the
seal of the living God.”
“Now is the time for the law of God to
be written in our
minds, foreheads, and written in our
hearts.” — “Early
Writings,” pages 48, 49 [EW 58]. Isa. 51:7.
16. What is a reliable testimony of true
sanctification?
— Holy Sabbath keeping. Ex. 31:13.
17. Are not they who are walking by the
power of the
Holy Spirit in all of God’s commands,
being sealed with the
seal of the living God? — Yes. “They had
upon their foreheads
the seal of the living God, and he said:
‘Here is the
patience of the saints; here are they
that keep the commandments
of God, and the faith of Jesus.’ “ — “Testimonies,”
vol. VI, page 15. “Now is the time for
the law of God to be in
our minds, foreheads, and written in our
hearts.” “Satan is
now using every device in this sealing
time to keep the
minds of God’s people from the present
truth.” — “Early
Writings,” page 48, 35 [EW 58, 43].
18. How many will be sealed? Rev. 7:4.
“The 144,000 were
all sealed and perfectly united.” — Ibid.,
page 11. [EW 15].
19. To what are we called? — To be
sealed with the seal
of the living God, and be numbered with
the 144,000.
20. In view of this fact what ought we
to do? 2 Peter
1:10. “Let us strive with all the power
God has given us to be
among the hundred and forty-four
thousand.” — Mrs. E. G.
White, in Review and Herald, March
9, 1905. “We may learn
the song of victory that is to be sung
on
saw a Lamb on
his Father’s name written in their
foreheads. They bore the
signet of heaven. They reflected the
image of God. They
were full of the light and the glory of
the Holy One. If we
would have the image and superscription
of God upon us,
we must separate ourselves from all
iniquity. We must forsake
every evil way, and then we must trust
our cases in the
hands of Christ.” — Ibid., March
9, 1889. “In a little while
every one who is a child of God will
have his seal placed
upon him. O that it may be placed upon
our foreheads!
Who can endure the thought of being
passed by when the
angel goes forth to seal the servants of
God in their foreheads?”
— Ibid., May 28, 1889.
21. Will all who have the sealed law,
containing the
Father’s name, ‘in our minds, foreheads,
and written in our
hearts,” live till Jesus comes? Rev.
14:12, 13.
22. When and by whom will they be
raised? Dan. 12:1,
2. “But there was one clear place of
settled glory, whence
came the voice of God like many waters,
shaking the heavens
and the earth. There was a mighty
earthquake. The
graves were opened, and those who had
died in faith under
the third angel’s message, keeping the
Sabbath, came forth
from their dusty beds, glorified, to
hear the covenant of
peace that God was to make with those
who had kept His
law. . . . And as God spoke the day and
the hour of Jesus’
coming, and delivered the everlasting
covenant to His people,
he spoke one sentence, and then paused,
while the
words were rolling through the earth.’ —
“Early Writings,”
pages 145, 146 [EW 285].
23. Who understood the words of the
voice of God?
“The wicked could not understand the
words of the
voice of God.” — Ibid., page 146.
“Soon we heard the
voice of God like many waters, which
gave us the day and
hour of Jesus’ coming. The living
saints, 144,000 in number,
knew and understood the voice, while the
wicked
thought it was thunder, and an
earthquake.” — Ibid.,
page 11 [EW 15].
(Bear in mind that the time of these
words of the voice
of God is after the special
resurrection. All this special company
of Sabbath-keepers are now “living”).
24. When the never-ending blessing was
pronounced
on the “Israel of God” (Ibid. page
146) [EW 286], what did
they shout? — “And when the never-ending
blessing was
pronounced on those who had honored God,
in keeping
the Sabbath holy, there was a mighty
shout of victory over
the beast and over his image.” — Ibid.,
page 146 [EW 286].
25. Where did John see this company?
Rev. 15:2, 3.
26. What does the testimony of Jesus say
on this point?
— “The 144,000 were all sealed and
perfectly united.”
“Here on the sea of glass the 144,000
stood in a perfect
square.” — “Early Writings,” pages
11, 12 [EW 15, 16].
(Among those who shouted victory over
the beast and
over his image were those who had come
forth from their
graves in the special resurrection, and
were seen on the sea
of glass. They were “the living saints,
144,000 in number.”
— Ibid., page 11) [EW 15].
27. “When God spoke the time,” what did
He pour
upon them? and how did it effect them? —
“When God
spoke the time, He poured upon us the
Holy Ghost, and
our faces began to light up and shine with
the glory of God,
as Moses’ did when he came down from
Ibid.
28. What did the synagogue of Satan now
know? —
“Then it was that the synagogue of Satan
knew that God
had loved us who could wash one
another’s feet, and salute
the brethren with a holy kiss, and they
worshiped at our
feet.” — Ibid.
29. What takes place soon after this? —
“Soon our eyes
were drawn to the east, for a small
black cloud had
appeared, about half as large as a man’s
hand, which we all
knew was the sign of the Son of man. We
all in solemn
silence gazed on the cloud as it drew
nearer, and became
lighter, glorious, and still more
glorious, till it was a great
white cloud. The bottom appeared like
fire; a rainbow was
over the cloud, while around it were ten
thousand angels,
singing a most lovely song; and upon it
sat the Son of
man.” — Ibid.
30. Who raises the righteous dead at the
first general
resurrection? — “The voice of the Son of
God called forth
the sleeping saints, clothed with a
glorious immortality.” —
“Early Writings,” page 28 [EW 35].
31. What change comes upon the 144,000,
which
includes those who are raised in the
special resurrection, at
this same time? — “The living saints
were changed in a
moment, and were caught up with them
into the cloudy
chariot.” Ibid. “The 144,000
shouted, Alleluia! as they recognized
their friends who had been torn from
them by
death, and in the same moment, we were
changed and
caught up together with them to meet the
Lord in the air.”
— Ibid., page 12 [EW 16]. “The
living righteous are
changed ‘in a moment, in the twinkling
of an eye.’ At the
voice of God they were glorified; now
they are made immortal,
and with the risen saints are caught up
to meet the Lord
in the air.” — “Great Controversy,” page
645.
32. Is this company of 144,000 different
from the rest
of the redeemed? Rev. 14:1-5. “And the
remnant are not
only pardoned and accepted, but honored.
A ‘fair mitre’
is set upon their heads. They are to be
as kings and priests
unto God. While Satan was urging his
accusations, and
seeking to destroy this company, holy
angels, unseen, were
passing to and fro, placing upon them
the seal of the living
God. These are they that stand upon
the Lamb, having the Father’s name
written in their foreheads.
They sing the new song before the
throne, that
song which no man can learn save the
hundred and forty
and four thousand, which were redeemed
from the earth.
‘These are they which follow the Lamb
whithersoever he
goeth. These were redeemed from among
men, being the
first-fruits unto God and to the Lamb.
And in their mouth
was found no guile; for they are without
fault before the
throne of God.’ “ — “Testimonies,” vol.
V, pages 475, 476.
33. Where were they finally seen? — In
the temple (Rev.
7:15); on
Chapter 15:2. “
mount was a glorious temple. . . . And
as we were about to
enter the holy temple, Jesus raised his
lovely voice and said,
Only the 144,000 enter this place.” — “Early
Writings,” page
14 [EW 19]. “On the sea of glass the
144,000 stood in a perfect
square.” — Ibid., page 12 [EW
16].
34. Being different from the rest of the
blood-washed,
what question did one of the elders,
whom John saw in
vision, ask? and what was the final answer?
Rev. 7:13-17.
(As at least some of the plagues will be
local, so the
experience of each in this company can
not be the same,
but these, as “the faithful, tried
company” — see “Early
Writings,” page 134 [EW 273] — will have the
experience
spoken of in Rev. 7:13-17, — “an
experience such as no
other company have ever had. . . . They
have stood without
an intercessor through the final
outpouring of God’s judgements.”
— “Great Controversy,” page 649. “Some
of them
had very bright crowns, others not so
bright. Some crowns
appeared heavy with stars, while others
had but a few.” —
“Early Writings,” page 12 [EW 16].
35. In emphasizing the question where
this wonderful
company had come from, what answer is
given? — They
“were redeemed from the earth’.
(In fact, all who will be saved will be
redeemed from this
earth, out “of all nations, and
kindreds, and people, and
tongues.” Rev. 7:9; Matthew 24:14; Luke
21:35. All will readily
see that there is something very
significant in the answer:
These “were redeemed from the earth.”)
36. Now allowing that they “were
redeemed from the
earth,” from what class of beings could
they have come? —
“These were redeemed from among men.”
Physically and
morally these have once been among the
weakest, for they
have come out of all the last nations
and tongues and peoples
living on the earth. They have also come
from all
kinds of organizations, and from all
classes of beliefs and
unbeliefs. They have cheerfully accepted
the whole truth,
and nothing but the truth; and through
obedience thereto
by the power of the Spirit of God, have
become so settled and grounded in the truth, that they are “of the same mind in
the Lord”. (Read with care on page 11 of “Early Writings,” and remember that
this is speaking of things after the special resurrection, and before Jesus
comes in glory.) Who has ever witnessed such a company? No wonder the question,
“Whence came they?”