Revelation 14:1..........
"Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. "
I would say that everyone here has heard or had a Jehovah Witness come to their door. However, are we all aware of their Doctrinal position on the 144 thousand???
The Witnesses say these people represent the Church of Christ, the Israel of God, and this is a common view among Bible scholars, one that has had a long history in the interpretation of Revelation. That is called "REPLACEMENT THEOLOGY" and simply said, it is the idea that the church has replaced Israel.
The 144,000 are taken as a symbol of the Christian faithful. It is what Witnesses say next that is bizarre.
Supposedly God began collecting the 144,000 at Pentecost in A.D. 33 but stopped collecting them in 1935, when the full number was reached. Some of the 144,000 are still living, and they are all Jehovah’s Witnesses. As of 1986 there were only about 9,000 of the 144,000 left alive. Since the Jehovah’s Witnesses are a larger group, possessing several million members, how are the rest of the Witnesses regarded? As non-members of the body of Christ. They will still be saved in the end, but they will not be part of the body and will not go to heaven. They are considered part of the “great crowd” mentioned in Revelation 7:9-10.
Now, If they actually read the Bible and were consistent, they would have to conclude that the 144,000 are all Jews, drawn equally from the twelve tribes of Israel (most of which are now unrecognizably lost), that they are all male virgins who do not lie and who have two names literally written on their foreheads. The problem is that none of the 9,000 Witnesses supposed to be members of this group fit this description. Most all of them are married to Gentile women with children, and they presumably have bent the truth more than a few times in their lives.
"Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. "
I would say that everyone here has heard or had a Jehovah Witness come to their door. However, are we all aware of their Doctrinal position on the 144 thousand???
The Witnesses say these people represent the Church of Christ, the Israel of God, and this is a common view among Bible scholars, one that has had a long history in the interpretation of Revelation. That is called "REPLACEMENT THEOLOGY" and simply said, it is the idea that the church has replaced Israel.
The 144,000 are taken as a symbol of the Christian faithful. It is what Witnesses say next that is bizarre.
Supposedly God began collecting the 144,000 at Pentecost in A.D. 33 but stopped collecting them in 1935, when the full number was reached. Some of the 144,000 are still living, and they are all Jehovah’s Witnesses. As of 1986 there were only about 9,000 of the 144,000 left alive. Since the Jehovah’s Witnesses are a larger group, possessing several million members, how are the rest of the Witnesses regarded? As non-members of the body of Christ. They will still be saved in the end, but they will not be part of the body and will not go to heaven. They are considered part of the “great crowd” mentioned in Revelation 7:9-10.
Now, If they actually read the Bible and were consistent, they would have to conclude that the 144,000 are all Jews, drawn equally from the twelve tribes of Israel (most of which are now unrecognizably lost), that they are all male virgins who do not lie and who have two names literally written on their foreheads. The problem is that none of the 9,000 Witnesses supposed to be members of this group fit this description. Most all of them are married to Gentile women with children, and they presumably have bent the truth more than a few times in their lives.
