“The Sealing of the 144,000”

“And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.” “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.” Rev. 7:2-4.

Is it important to study this controversial subject? The Spirit of Prophecy says to us:

“Strive with all the power God has given us to be among the 144,000” (The Review and Herald, March 9, 1905) “This sealing of the servants of God,” the Lord revealed, “is the same that was shown to Ezekiel in vision.” — Testimonies To Ministers, p. 445. (Read Ezekiel 9). And in amplification of the subject the messenger wrote: “Especially in the closing work for the church, in the sealing time of the one hundred and forty-four thousand who are to stand without fault before the throne of God, will they feel most deeply the wrongs of God’s professed people.” — Testimonies, Vol. 3, p. 266. Accordingly, the marking takes place in the church because of “the abominations” practiced in her midst. Hence, the removal of those who foster the abominations is her closing work, not the world’s. And how can one escape the slaughter unless one knows what the sealing, marking, is, when it is, and where it is to be? Since, as we have previously seen from the Spirit of Prophecy, the sealing and the slaughter take place in the church during the closing work for her, they could not antedate the present time. And the prophecy itself shows that the sealing must begin at a time when her spiritual life is at its lowest ebb, when she is polluted with sin — in “exceeding great…iniquity.” Ezek. 9:9. For it is her defiled condition that causes a Holy God to do in her midst the work of marking, sealing, the saints, and of doing away with the sinners among them.

How did she start to reach this condition? The servant of the Lord sadly answers:

“The church has turned back from following Christ her Leader, and is steadily retreating toward Egypt. Yet few are alarmed or astonished at their want of spiritual power. Doubt and even disbelief of the testimonies of the Spirit of God, is leavening our churches everywhere.” —Testimonies, Vol. 5, p. 217. “Men and women are in the last hours of probation, and yet are careless and stupid, and ministers have no power to arouse them; they are asleep themselves. Sleeping preachers preaching to a sleeping people!” — Testimonies, Vol. 2, p. 337. Indeed, “the conviction is gaining ground in the world that Seventh-day Adventists are giving the trumpet an uncertain sound, that they are following in the path of worldlings.” — Testimonies To Ministers, p. 86. For all these and for other reasons, some of which we know not, a pure and Holy God is “whetting his sword in Heaven to cut” down those who do not sigh and cry. “Oh that every lukewarm professor could realize the clean work that God is about to make among his professed people!” — Testimonies, Vol. 1, p. 190. “Mark this point with care: Those who receive the pure mark of truth, wrought in them by the power of the Holy Ghost, represented by a mark by the man in linen, are those ‘that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done’ in the church.” — Testimonies, Vol. 3, p. 267. Necessarily, “while the investigative judgment is going forward in heaven, while the sins of penitent believers are being removed from the sanctuary, there is to be a special work of purification, of putting away of sin, among God’s people upon earth.” — The Great Controversy, p. 425. “Then I saw another mighty angel,” she continues, “commissioned to descend to the earth, to unite his voice with the third angel, and give power and force to his message. Great power and glory were imparted to the angel, and as he descended, the earth was lightened with his glory…. This message seemed to be an addition to the third message….” — Early Writings, p. 277. And “only those,” avers the Spirit of Truth, “who have withstood temptation in the strength of the Mighty One will be permitted to act a part in proclaiming it [the Third Angel’s Message] when it shall have swelled into the loud cry.” — The Review and Herald, No. 19, 1908. Why are the sinners taken from among the righteous before the earth is lightened with the glory of the angel? — Because “one sinner may diffuse darkness that will exclude the light of God from the entire congregation.” — Testimonies, Vol. 3, p. 265. Obviously, then, the closing message for the world is proclaimed by the faithful only, and God’s people during the plagues are apart by themselves with no unfaithful among them.

Do The 144,000 Ever Die? See Early Writings p. 15 How did Ellen White see and describe them?

“The living saints, 144,000 in number.” If evidence can be brought to view that the 144,000 (in number) lived before the seventh plague, then we have positive proof that the 144,000 never died. Great Controversy, page 649: “And they sing ‘a new song’ before the throne, a song which no man can learn save the 144,000. It is the song of Moses and the Lamb,–a song of deliverance. None but the 144,000 can learn that song; for it is the song of their experience,–an experience such as no other company have ever had….They have seen the earth wasted with famine and pestilence, the sun having power to scorch men with great heat, and they themselves have endured suffering, hunger, and thirst.” Here is a positive statement that the 144,000 lived in the time of the fourth plague, the sun having power to scorch men with great heat. “And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.” Rev. 16:8. This is the fourth plague. How could they (144,000) go through the fourth plague if the special resurrection of the Sabbath keepers (those who died under the third angel’s message) did not take place until about the end of the seventh plague? If “they have seen the earth wasted with famine and pestilence and they themselves have suffered hunger and thirst”, they must have lived through all the plagues.

Will Sister White Be With The 144,000?

  Sister White was taken in vision to one of the planets which had seven moons, where she met good old Enoch. This place was so beautiful and her desire for it so keen, she begged the angel to let her stay. “Then the angel said, ‘You must go back, and if you are faithful, you, with the 144,000 shall have the privilege of visiting all the worlds and viewing the handiwork of God’.” See Early Writings, page 40. There is no contradiction in this statement, for the angel told her that she, with the 144,000, meaning she is one with them but not one of them. She will doubtless be with them for she may be termed as the mother of them (being the messenger and founder of this movement), nor can we suppose they will sing the song of Moses and he (Moses) not be there. Because they are the 144,000, a special company with a special experience, is no reason why others could not travel with them, for undoubtedly Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob will be with them, being the fathers in type. What objection could be made if others would journey with them? We may suppose that Jesus would give to all the redeemed at least one trip to the other worlds.

What Kind Of Seal Is It?

Reference is made in Testimonies to Ministers, page 445. The subject is about the sealing of Revelation 7, the 144,000. We quote: “This sealing of the servants of God is the same that was shown to Ezekiel in vision.” Now if the sealing of the 144,000 of Revelation 7, is the same as Ezekiel 9, in order to find the kind of sealing it is, and the time of its beginning, we must study Ezekiel 9:1-9. “He cried also in mine ears with a loud voice, saying, Cause them that have charge over the city to draw near, even every man with his destroying weapon in his hand. And, behold, six men came from the way of the higher gate, which lieth toward the north, and every man a slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man among them was clothed with linen, with a writer’s inkhorn by his side: and they went in, and stood beside the brazen altar. And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon He was, to the threshold of the house. And He called to the man clothed with linen which had the writer’s inkhorn by his side; And the Lord said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof. And to the others He said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity: Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house. And He said unto them, Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain: go ye forth. And they went forth, and slew in the city. And it came to pass, while they were slaying them, and I was left, that I fell upon my face, and cried, and said, Ah Lord God! wilt thou destroy all the residue of Israel in thy pouring out of thy fury upon Jerusalem? Then said He unto me, The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceeding great.” It is positive that the sealing of the 144,000 is Ezekiel 9,–the separation (sifting in the church–the godly from the ungodly). Volume 1, page 181: “I asked the meaning of the shaking I had seen, and was shown that it would be caused by the straight testimony called forth by the counsel of the True Witness to the Laodiceans.” Read the entire page. Note the shaking begins after the straight testimony of the “True Witness” is come.

The Two Seals

Is the Sabbath the seal of the 144,000? …Those who died under the third angel’s message, keeping the Sabbath, are sealed with the Sabbath truth, but the 144,000 never die. While they must keep Sabbath and have that seal, they must sigh and cry for the abominations that are in the church, for otherwise they can not receive the mark by the angel with the writer’s inkhorn of Ezekiel 9, which is the seal according to Testimonies to Ministers, page 445; Volume 5, pages 210-16; Volume 3, pages 266-7. The 144,000 having this seal are also marked (sealed) by the angel of Revelation 7, which is the same as the one of Ezekiel 9. In other words, it may be termed a double seal.

Ezekiel 9 Is Not A Sabbath Seal

This sealing of the 144,000 is not a Sabbath seal. However, those who are sealed must be Sabbath keepers. It is a seal, or mark, that separates the two classes in the church, and those who are sealed, or marked are not marked because they keep Sabbath only, but because they sigh and cry for all the abominations that are done in the church. So both the sealing and the slaughter are in God’s church, and not in Babylon, or in the world. It is only in Jerusalem, and Judah, the house of Israel (the church). “Judah” in Ezek. 9:9 refers to those in office, for Judah occupied the office of the Levites after the tribe of Levi was carried away. There is not a thought about the world or the ungodly. When the marking (sealing) is finished, the five men with the slaughter weapons begin with the ancient men which were before the house, meaning the guardians of the spiritual interest of the people. See Volume 3, pages 266, 267, and Volume 5, pages 210-212. We quote Volume 5, page 211: “The ancient men, those to whom God had given great light, and who had stood as guardians of the spiritual interests of the people, had betrayed their trust. They had taken the position that we need not look for miracles and the marked manifestation of God’s power as in former days. Times have changed. These words strengthen their unbelief, and they say The Lord will not do good, neither will He do evil. He is too merciful to visit His people in judgment.” Volume 3, page 265: “But if the sins of the people are passed over by those in responsible positions, His frown will be upon them, and the people of God, as a body, will be held responsible for those sins.’ So the subject of the 144,000, with its interrelated subjects coming into clear, harmonious focus, shows that the eleventh-hour call for laborers in the Lord’s vineyard is now in progress, and that now is the time to “strive with all the power God has given us to be among the 144,000.” — The Review and Herald, Mar. 9, 1905.