Day 264: 144,000 and Then Some

Revelation 7; Nehemiah 9:38-10:39; Psalm 102

There are some denominations that think only 144,000 will be saved because of this chapter in Revelation. It talks about marking the foreheads of the servants of God, and lists 144,000 who will receive this mark. However, immediately after this, John sees "a large crowd with more people than could be counted. They were from every race, tribe, nation, and language." These people were standing before the throne of God, wearing white robes and singing praises. Hm...so who are these people? According to the elder, "these are the ones who have gone through the great suffering. They have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb and have made them white." If that doesn't sound like salvation, I don't know what does. I'm probably wrong on this, but the way I see it, there will be 144,000 Jews who are marked and then a massive amount of the rest of us who will get to praise God in heaven.

The elder goes on to explain what this large crowd gets because of their salvation through the Lamb's blood: "They will never hunger or thirst again, and they won't be troubled by the sun or any scorching heat. The Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd. He will lead them to streams of life-giving water, and God will wipe all tears from their eyes." That is beautiful. Jesus Christ does so much for his people. Following him is worth everything with a promise like that.

The agreement that all the priests and Levites sign is all about practices that will help to keep the focus of their lives on The Lord. They will remain pure and holy, set apart because they won't let their sons and daughters marry foreigners. This isn't about racism or something, it is simply about protecting what is sacred. God didn't want them to marry foreigners because every time they did they turned from him and started worshiping other idols. The very next thing is about resting on the Sabbath and not overworking. The last part has to do with bringing offering to the temple. Are they to bring what is left over? Nope, they are instructed to bring the first and the best of what they have. Why is this important? Because when we depend on God to the point of giving the first and the best, we have to trust him to provide throughout and at the end. So often we give God what is leftover in our lives. The time we have left in the day, the money still left at the end of the month, and that doesn't require any faith and it certainly isn't worshipful if it isn't our best.

This psalm is primarily about how we as humans are weak, fading, temporarily here on this earth. We are at the mercy of God and of time. But God is so powerful, just, constant, eternal, deserving of praise, and merciful.