180
is no room in their minds for the truth.
With the education given, teachers min-
gle the sentiments of infidel authors.
Thus they have sown tares in the minds
of the youth. They give utterance to
sentiments that should not be presented
to young or old, never thinking of what
kind of seed they are sowing, or of the
harvest they will have to garner as the
result.
How few realize that the Bible is the
great instrument of God’s government
through probationary time! This word
is the direct unveiling of truth, and we
need a far greater knowledge of its teach-
ings than we now have.
Christ came to our world to reveal
God. The gospel is his instrument of
redemption. John testifies of Christ,
“In the beginning was the Word, and
the Word was with God, and the Word
was God. . . . All things were made by
THE WATCHMAN
him; and without him was not anything
made that was made. In him was life;
and the life was the light of men. . . .
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt
among us, . . full of grace and truth.”
Christ sought to win the minds of those
who were absorbed in earthly things, and
teach them of heavenly things. Had the
teachers of his day been willing to be in-
structed by the Great Teacher, had they
co-operated with Christ in sowing the
world with the pure seeds of truth, the
world would have been converted, and
prepared for the society of the royal fam-
ily in the heavenly courts. Had the
scribes and Pharisees united their forces
with the Saviour, the knowledge of Christ
would have restored the moral image of
God in man. The Old and New Testa-
ments would have been the lesson book
of every school ; for men would have real-
ized that therein is found true science.
gE
Israel: The Return of the Jews. No. 12
J. S. WASHBURN
The One Hundred and Forty-four
Thousand
HE numbers three, seven,
ten, and twelve are often
used in the word of God,
and seem to have a special
significance. The one hun-
dred and forty-four thou-
sand of the twelve tribes of
Israel are mentioned in the
book of Revelation as a special class who
shall have experiences in God’s closing
work, and finally as the great bodyguard
of the Lord Jesus Christ through eternal
ages, and these things ought to be of
special interest to every one who is living
in these last days. May we not be of
the one hundred and forty-four thou-
sand? Read the following words found
in Rev. 7:1-4:—
“ After these things I saw four an-
gels standing on the four corners of the
earth, holding the four winds of the
earth, that the wind should not blow on
the earth, nor the sea, nor on any tree.
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
se AR
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.”
Note from the verses that follow,
verses 5-8, that twelve tribes are men-
tioned, and that twelve thousand of each
tribe make up the one hundred and forty-
four thousand. Note that this class have
in their foreheads the seal of the living
God. Verses 2, 3. Note also Rev. 14:
I-5:—
“ And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood
on the Mount Zion, and with him an hun-
dred and forty four thousand, having his
Father’s name written in their foreheads.
And I heard a voice from heaven as the
voice of many waters, and as the voice
of a great thunder; and I heard the voice
of harpers harping with their harps.
And they sung as it were a new song
before the throne, and before the four
beasts, and the elders; and no man could
learn that song but the hundred and forty
and four thousand, which were redeemed
from the earth. These are they which
were not defiled with- women; for they
are virgins. These are they which fol-
low the Lamb whithersoever he goeth.
‘These were redeemed from among men,
being the first fruits unto God and to the
Lamb. And in their mouth was found
no guile; for they are without fault be-
fore the throne of God.”
Here the one hundred and forty-four
thousand have the Father’s name written
in their foreheads. The seal of the liv-
ing God is his Sabbath, implanted in the
minds of his people and in their hearts
by his Holy Spirit. Compare Eze. 20:
12, 20; Rom. 4:11. God will have one
hundred and forty-four thousand com-
mandment-keepers, Sabbath-keepers,
those who obey him, who follow the
Lamb even here in this life, walking in
his footsteps, keeping all his command-
ments and ordinances blameless, and shall
at last follow the Lamb through the glo-
rious universe, to the stars and to the
worlds unfallen, as his bodyguard. What
a glorious company! What an infinitely
blessed, joyous, and triumphant expe-
rience!
The one hundred and forty-four thou-
sand were redeemed from among men,
from the living, not from the dead.
They live through the fiery trials of the
last days, through Satan’s terrific temp-
tations, through the death-grapple with
sin in its final fearful struggle to de-
stroy those who are loyal to God in this
rebel world. They see the death-throes
of sin, its expiring agonies. They see
the earthquake, the hail, the tempest, the
world-conflict with demons and men from
whom the Spirit of God has been with-
drawn forever. What a conflict! What
a victory!
These people are all Israelites indeed,
in whom there is no guile. Notice verse
5. Compare with John 1:47.
To be direct and brief, the one hundred
and forty-four thousand are those who
will be living Christians when Jesus
comes; and beside these there will be a
great multitude which no man can num-
ber, of all nations, and kindreds, and
tongues, and peoples, who are raised
from the dead in the first resurrection
and caught up with the one hundred and
forty-four thousand Christians to meet
the Lord in the air, and be taken to the
mansions he has gone to prepare.
But, one may say, are not these all of
the tribes of Israel? — Yes; and who are
Israel? — They are those of every na-
tion, kindred, tongue, and people, to
whom the last great message of salvation
will be sent. See Rev. 14:6-12. They
are Israelites, not according to the flesh,
but, being Christ’s, they are Abraham’s