The Seal of the 144,000 part 1

Revelation 7:4-8 “And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.

12,000 from the tribe of Judah were sealed,
12,000 from the tribe of Reuben,
12,000 from the tribe of Gad,
⁶ 12,000 from the tribe of Asher,
12,000 from the tribe of Naphtali,
12,000 from the tribe of Manasseh,
⁷ 12,000 from the tribe of Simeon,
12,000 from the tribe of Levi,
12,000 from the tribe of Issachar,
⁸ 12,000 from the tribe of Zebulun,
12,000 from the tribe of Joseph,
12,000 from the tribe of Benjamin were sealed.

So many people would suggest that these are a literal number of witnesses in the last days. They need this to justify the erroneous doctrine of pre-tribulation rapture and the absence of the Holy Spirit as ascribed by the preterist/futurist debates.

Let’s examine the truth of God’s word and not the Roman Influenced doctrine of today which mixes paganism with the scriptures. The names of Dan and Ephraim are not mentioned here. Clarence Larkin’s suggests they were omitted because of their guilt when they permitted the Tribes of Israel to worship golden calves which is paganism.

• 1 Kings 12:25-30 “Then Jeroboam built Shechem in mount Ephraim, and dwelt therein; and went out from thence, and built Penuel. And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David: If this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people turn again unto their lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah, and they shall kill me, and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah. Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And he set the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan. And this thing became a sin: for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan.”
• Deuteronomy 29:18-21 “Lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from the Lord our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations; lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood; And it come to pass, when he heareth the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart, to add drunkenness to thirst: The Lord will not spare him, but then the anger of the Lord and his jealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him, and the Lord shall blot out his name from under heaven. And the Lord shall separate him unto evil out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant that are written in this book of the law :”
• Hosea 5:9-11 “Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke: among the tribes of Israel have I made known that which shall surely be. The princes of Judah were like them that remove the bound: therefore I will pour out my wrath upon them like water. Ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgment, because he willingly walked after the commandment.

The omission of their names {Dan & Ephraim} as ‘sealed ones’ means they will pass through the tribulation without the protection of the sealing. They are later seen in Rev 14:1-5 on the Mount of Zion meaning some or all will make it to the heavenly realm.

Taking a closer look at the names of the tribes mentioned here we will need to see how those names came to be.

1. Genesis 29:35 “And she conceived again, and bare a son: and she said, Now will I praise the Lord: therefore she called his name Judah; and left bearing.”
2. Genesis 29:32 “And Leah conceived, and bare a son, and she called his name Reuben: for she said, Surely the Lord hath looked upon my affliction; now therefore my husband will love me.”
3. Genesis 30:11 “And Leah said, “Good fortune has come!” so she called his name Gad.”
4. Genesis 30:13 “And Leah said, “Happy am I! For women have called me happy.” So she called his name Asher.”
5. Genesis 30:8 “Then Rachel said, “With mighty wrestling I have wrestled with my sister and have prevailed.” So she called his name Naphtali”
6. Genesis 41:51 “Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh. “For,” he said, “God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father’s house.”
7. Genesis 29:33 “She conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Because the Lord has heard that I am hated, he has given me this son also.” And she called his name Simeon.”
8. Genesis 29:34 “Again she conceived and bore a son, and said, “Now this time my husband will be attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” Therefore his name was called Levi.”
9. Genesis 30:18 “Leah said, “God has given me my wages because I gave my servant to my husband.” So she called his name Issachar.”
10. Genesis 30:20 “Then Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good endowment; now my husband will honor me, because I have borne him six sons.” So she called his name Zebulun.”
11. Genesis 30:24 “And she called his name Joseph, saying, “May the Lord add to me another son!”
12. Genesis 35:17-18 “And it came to pass, when she was in hard labour, that the midwife said unto her, Fear not; thou shalt have this son also.And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she died) that she called his name Benoni: but his father called him Benjamin.”

Putting these together we see the following:

“Now will I praise the Lord the Lord hath looked upon my affliction, Good fortune has come, Happy am I!  With mighty wrestling I have wrestled God has made me forget all my hardship. Because the Lord has heard that I am hated, he has given me this son, Now this time my husband will be attached to me. God has given me my wages, God has endowed me with a good endowment; now my husband will honor me. May the Lord add to me, thou shalt have this son [of the Right Hand of YHWH].”

This affirms the prophets, in Hosea 2:14-16a The Lord’s Mercy on Israel

“Therefore, behold, I will allure her (Israel the bride), and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her. And there I will give her vineyards and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. And there she shall answer as in the days of her youth,    as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt. “And in that day, declares the Lord, you will call me ‘My Husband’”