Jehovah’s Witnesses:

Again, the position of the Jehovah’s Witnesses is that only Jews will be in heaven. Those 144,000 that are identified here in this text [Revelation 7:4-8], in the view of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, are Jews—no Gentiles. If this is true that this 144,000 represents only Jews who will be in heaven, there are some others who will not make it as well, who are Jews. For example, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob won’t be in heaven because they were prior to the twelve tribes of Israel. Yes, Jacob is as close as you can get, because the twelve tribes came from Jacob—his twelve sons—but, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob lived prior to these twelve. The Jehovah’s Witnesses’ desire is to identify those in this list, the twelve thousand from each of the twelve tribes listed here in Revelation 7, as those who are going to be in heaven. Sorry, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

But wait! Jesus speaks of the kingdom of heaven, in Matthew 8 and verse 11, and there He says that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob WILL BE THERE. Well, who’s right—those who have this belief—or Jesus? [Matthew 8:11: “And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.”]

Now, we notice that list of the twelve tribes (verses 5-8). First, we might point out that there are listed, in both the Old Testament and New Testament, some nineteen different combinations, or different listings, of these twelve tribes. In other words, there is not a standard list that goes from Reuben through Benjamin in that order each and every time the list appears. No, there are some nineteen different ways in the Scriptures that Jacob’s sons—the twelve tribes—are listed.

In THIS listing [Revelation 7:5-8], if we take a close look at this list again, there are a couple of things that kind of “jump off the page” at you. First of all, there are a couple of tribes missing from the list. Did you notice that? The tribes of Ephraim and Dan are not there. They’re missing from the list. Why would that be? Well, we don’t know for sure, but we might recall the fact that these two tribes were associated with idolatry. Now, ALL of the tribes were, at one time or another, associated with idolatry. But if we go back and look at the Old Testament, these two tribes specifically were identified with bad associations, with idolatry, and so on. Could that have had something to do with it? Well, I don’t know. But, nevertheless, there are two tribes that are missing from this list, and in their place are listed Levi and Joseph. These two names have, perhaps, a more positive connotation.

But, now, watch this: If we take this literally, and that 144,000 come from these twelve tribes which are listed, guess who else is going to be missing from heaven? Some from these two tribes, Ephraim and Dan, who are prominently known, will be missing from heaven. I’m thinking about Joshua. Joshua was a member of the tribe of Ephraim. I’m thinking, also, about Samson. Samson was a member of the tribe of Dan. Well, in Hebrews 11, the chapter in the New Testament that we often refer to as “Faith’s Hall of Fame,” Joshua is not specifically mentioned there, but by inference, I think we can see him there in that listing. Samson, on the other hand, is specifically listed in Hebrews 11.

Well, what about that? I think that we can see that the understanding, the taking this literally as representing specifically and absolutely the twelve tribes of Israel, and that those 144,000 are the ones who are in view here, is just not right. It’s wrong. It doesn’t match up. That belief, that understanding, does not match up with the rest of Scripture.

Here’s another point that we might consider in this regard. Look over in Revelation, chapter 14—look there at verse 1. We see there that John continues telling us what has been revealed. He says, “Then I looked, and behold, a Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His Father's Name written on their foreheads.” Who’s he talking about here? Well, let’s address the latter part of that verse first, the 144,000 with His Father’s Name on their forehead. Are those the same ones we see back in Revelation 7? Oh, I think so. That’s the implication.

Now, we also see someone else identified here. And who is that? It is “the Lamb.”Well, who does that refer to? Is it a literal, actual lamb that is there on Zion? Well, no, of course not! Even the Jehovah’s Witnesses don’t believe that! They know that, that is a figure—that, that is symbolic of Jesus Christ.

So, why is it, then, that we accept the Lamb as being figurative here, but we don’t accept the 144,000 as figurative—we interpret THAT as being literal? Well, you see the problem. We can’t pick and choose about what will be literal, particularly in the same verse. The context dictates how we understand that.

Now, there’s something else that we ought to notice as well. On down in Revelation, chapter 14, verses 3 and 4, John goes on and says, “They sang as it were a new song before the throne, before the four living creatures, and the elders; and no one could learn that song except the hundred and forty-four thousand…” (there they are again) “…who were redeemed from the earth.” Now listen to this: “These are the ones who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These were redeemed from among men, being firstfruits to God and to the Lamb.” Well, again, if we take this literally, then we see that there are many, many others who are excluded from the list, as well. It is reasonable to believe that only 144,000 Jewish men, who are virgins, excluding Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joshua and Samson, is what is in view here? I’d think you’d agree with me that, No, that is not what is in view here. As we pare down the list here and this group gets smaller and smaller, at least from whom they can choose, that’s not what Jesus meant when He said, concerning heaven, that there will only be a few who will find it [Matthew 7:13-14: “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”].