Why would God send 144,000 to preach the goods news, and even the two witness late after 2000 years? Doesn't make sense, we have the bible that have the good news unless the christians got it backward and God send 144,000 to preach THE TRUTH, the REAL gospel, think about this for a second
Why God send a gospel again? we have the gospel in our bible but it's not enough?
The number 144,000 is the size of a fairly large city. The church is pictured by the city of Jerusalem, as the throne of David was there, and Jesus has inherited the throne of David. [Luke 1:32] Jesus called Jerusalem "the city of the great King." [Mat. 5:35]
The city of Jerusalem has endured for thousands of years, like the church. It varies in size and fortunes in different generations. Jesus said, "Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid." [Mat. 5:14]
The church is the light of the world, and the number mentioned by John is symbolic, as it is 12*12*1,000. The number 12 pertains to the 12 tribes of Israel. The number 1,000 is used as an indefinite, large number in several scriptures.
Psalm 50:10
For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.
Psalm 105:8
He hath remembered his covenant for ever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations.Does God's word fail after 1,000 generations? Hardly. A thousand generations is equivalent to "forever." So, the 144,000 represents the church, the true Israel.
Jesus identified two things that would
testify of him, in John 5:39 and John 15:26.
Since one who testifies is a "witness," these two scriptures identify the two witnesses in Rev. 11. They have been on the earth since the time of the apostles.
The 1,260 days is a symbol of the entire time of the church, and not a literal three and a half years. No literal three and a half years has that many days. In a lunar calendar, it would be about 1,240 days, or 1,269 days if an embolismic month was included. In the Gregorian calendar, it would be 1,278 days, or 1,279 days if a leap year was included. The 1,260 days is thus a
symbol. It refers to the "time, times and a half" of Daniel 7:25 and 12:7, which is half of "seven times." Together with the ministry of Jesus on earth, the age of the church is "seven times." I suggest it corresponds to the last "seven times" of Lev. 26, when God remembers his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and is reconciled to Israel. And to the 7 years of Jacob's labor, for his bride. The bride of Christ is the church.
Doug
