Salvation Belongs to Our God-Lent 5, 2022

Revelation 7:1 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree. 2 Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea: 3 “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.” 4 Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel.

Who are the 144,000? Well, a sure sign of a cult is to claim, not only that you know exactly who they are, but that you’re among them. Is it figurative? I don’t know, but that’s the kind of detail that bogs down in a pixelated reading of Revelation. The big picture is that salvation belongs to our God.

What do I know? First, God knows if it is figurative language of completion or if there will be 144,000 Messianic Jews who are sealed and it’s before everything hits the fan. Second, He knows who the 144,000 individuals are, even their Jewish lineage though it may have disappeared from human record-keeping. Third, the point is they are sealed as servants of God and the harm will not befall them. And fourth, John was Jewish, and it was his worldview through which he viewed everything. Therefore, he may have had the same thing in mind as the Apostle Paul who was also Jewish.

“If the part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches.” (Romans 11:16)

A portion, a remnant, representation has always been God’s way. Adam sinned. He represented all men into sin. Jesus came to save sinners. He represented all humanity into forgiveness by faith in His salvation. Only a subset of world inhabitants survived the flood: Noah and his family. Only a subset of residents of Egypt survived the Passover: the Jewish ones who obeyed God. Only a subset of the Hebrew people entered the Promised Land: those who took God at His word. Only a subset of humanity will ever be saved…not because that’s what God wants, but because that’s how people are.

What does Scripture say? “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead, he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)

This 144,000 is divided out among the tribes of Israel into groups of 12,000, a number of completion and the elder specifically outlines 12 tribes of Israel. I’m inclined to think he meant 12 tribes and specifically among Jews who are sealed. God knows. But after John sees that, what does he notice? Not 144,000, but “a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” (Revelation 7:9-10)

Thoughts for today:

Is salvation limited to Gentiles? Let me answer that. NO. Jewish people will be grafted back in. That’s what the Apostle Paul says in Romans 11 (specifically verses 5 and 25). Salvation belongs to our God.

In what way does this 144,000 represent firstfruits of a multitude?

If the 144,000 are specifically Jews who were sealed before the Great Tribulation and the zoom forward in time shows more than 144,000 wearing white robes, how might that fulfill Isaiah 51 which speaks of a light to the nations or the light to the Gentiles as fruit of the ministry of the Servant and a restored remnant of Israel?

Or the prophecy of Simeon “My eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all nations: a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.” (Luke 2:30-32)

What do all the white robes tell you about the number of people who will be persecuted in the end times?

Knowing what you know about doing laundry, is it possible by human effort alone to wash something white by washing it in blood? What does that tell you about the picture of holiness and forgiveness by washing clean in the blood of the Lamb?

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If you’re already signed up on my Home Page sidebar to receive posts, you’ll get the 2022 Lent Devotionals automatically. Or you can “Like” Seminary Gal on Facebook and they’ll be delivered to your Facebook news feed. If you haven’t signed up, today is a great day to do so. Advent and Lenten devotionals remain among my most popular offerings. You don’t want to miss this encounter with God to prepare your heart for Easter! Understanding that prior years’ devotionals continue to minister, you may want to have access to a full series ahead of time:

Lent 2013 looked at The Letter to the Romans: Paul’s Masterpiece to reclaim foundations of our Christian heritage and began February 13, 2013.
A very special and ever popular offering was Lent 2014’s Be Still and Know that I AM God which can be obtained through the archives beginning in March 2014.
Lent 2015 began on February 18, 2015 with a series entitled With Christ in the Upper Room: Final Preparations. We explored what is often called “The Upper Room Discourse” found in John chapters 13-17.
ReKindle, the Lent 2016 series, began on February 10, 2016 and encouraged us to rekindle our spiritual lives.
Light: There’s Nothing Like It was the 2017 Lent series and explored this metaphor often used to portray Christ. It is archived beginning March 1, 2017.
Lent 2018, we explored the questions of Pi and Chi (the Greek letter beginning the word Christos, which means Christ, Messiah, the Anointed One). We asked and answered the questions “Why?” from the movie Life of Pi as we discovered the uniqueness of Jesus Christ in a world of many faiths.
Lent 2019 gave us a deeper window into Easter “More to the Easter Story” since we miss so much when we rely only on a superficial understanding of the work of Christ. These devotionals are archived beginning March 6, 2019.
Our Lent 2020 devotional series offered prayer points surrounding “Be Thou My Vision” and were aimed at helping us to see God for who He is. The full set of devotionals are archived beginning February 26, 2020.
The theme for 2021 Lent Devotionals was how to live between two worlds while waiting for Christ’s return. Into the gap between the City of Man and its fixation upon sin and the City of God with its demand for holiness, two words minister peace: But God. Praise God for His intervention! They are archived beginning February 17, 2021.