by prologos 2 Replies latest watchtower bible
after we establish what/who IS the ISRAEL OF GOD, here are the other questions:
in Rev.7, who are the 12 tribes? the Israel of God?
who are left of the 12 tribes once the 144 000 have been "--sealed"OUT OF--", "--axed--" and "--bought from among mankind--", "--gone where ever Christ went--"?
The best answers might come from the un-biased atheists.
In revelation, the 144,000 ARE from the 12 tribes of Israel, 12K from each tribe.
Where do the 12 tribes come from?
Basically, one or more persons who could prove lineage from one of the 12 tribes was chosen not to die but to live down to modern times and then start a new 12 tribes. Over the years the descendants from that one or more individuals would number into the millions and from among those, holy spirit would select 12K from each of those 12 tribes. Isa 6:13 and other scriptures indicate the "root" of the tree would be Jewish and that is likened to 1/10th of the entire tree. So the 144,000 are just 1/10th of the entire number of king-priests.
The miracle of allowing some from the 1st Century who had genealogy records to live down to our time kis the only way that 12K from each tribe could fulfill the Abrahamic covenant, that is, via a remnant of 10%, even though it was God's original intent that the elect, the 1,440,000 would be reflective of the entire human family.
For whatever else might be derived from Rev 7, the twelve tribes listed and the 12,000 "out of" each tribe represent a return to what initially would have been the case in ancient Israel.
By saving the firstborn of Israel during the first Passover, God "bought" or purchased them. It was these "bought" ones that would have formed the priesthood. In their stead, and for practical reasons, Jehovah took the tribe of Levi to become the priestly tribe.
What Rev 7 portrays is a return to that original arrangement of priestly representatives from each tribe.
Interestingly, the 144,000 are portrayed in Rev 14 as "firstfruits," an agricultural term. Then Rev 14 depicts two more harvests. In verses 14-16 "one like a son of man" harvests "the harvest of the earth" which is "thoroghly ripe." Then in verses 17-20 another angel with a sickle harvests "the vine of the earth" which is ripe with badness and gets crushed in the "great winepress of the anger of God."
Now here is where it gets interesting. As you might know, the Society maintains that the "wheat" of the parable of the wheat and weeds refers only to the 144,000. This is pointed out in chapter 30 of the Rev Climax book. (pages 208-209) Then on page 213 the Society has an illustration of the two harvests mentioned in Rev 14:14-20. Both the good harvest and the bad harvest are pictured as bunches of grapes.
The 'good' harvest of verses 14-16 is described as "thoroughly ripe" (literally "dried out," xeraino Strong's #3583). Whereas, the 'bad' harvest is described as "ripe" (akmazo, Strong's # 187, which means "to flourish, be ripe, be in one's prime")
The word "ripe" for the 'bad' harvest perfectly describes plump grapes that are ready for harvesting. But the word "thoroughly ripe" used for the 'good' harvest in verse 15, if applied to grapes, means that they were ruined. "Thoroughly ripe" in verse 15 only makes sense if the crop being harvested was a grain crop like wheat or barley.
In other words, some sneaky New Yorkers have gone out of their way to try to make you think that only the 144,000 are of the "wheat."
