The identity of this glorious order of beings is not difficult to discover. Their association with Christ reveals their character and mission. They are represented as standing with the Lamb on Mount Zion. (Rev. 14:1).
This reveals their Israelitish character and future operations. Christ’s redemptive work is associated with Mount Zion, for He is to establish the Kingdom of Israel, and sit upon the throne of David, seeking judgment and hasting righteousness. “For the Lord hath chosen Zion : he hath desired it for his habitation.” It is His rest forever, for He hath desired it. (Psalms 132 :13,14) .
In this glorious and royal city the 144,000 will be with Christ as associate kings and priests. He will give them power over the nations, and in His name they will rule them with a rod of iron. Such immortal and infallible rulers shall abolish crime and wickedness, and fill the earth with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the seas.
In this capacity they will be both representatives and manifestations of God as representatives of the Most High, they will be immortal and incorruptible, fashioned after the power of an endless life, and equal unto the angels of God. As such their throne will never be vacant by the hand of death.
“Their name and power shall endure forever, yea, they will be continued as long as the sun, and men shall be blessed in them ; all nations shall call them blessed.”
In this immortal and priestly character they are represented as spotless and immaculate, as “undefiled with women, for they are virgins.” This is not to be understood literally, for many of Christ’s followers were married men. In what then did their virginity consist? Freedom from the communion of the apostasy. This apostasy is represented as the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth. For it is founded upon dogmas, subversive of the truth of God. But the 144,000 are undefiled in Jehovah’s way, and as such are found without fault before His throne, and serve Him day and night in His temple.
Consequently, they follow the Lamb withersoever He goeth. This following distinguishes their behaviour both in the present and future. Presently they bear His cross and fellowship His sufferings; being like their great head and Lord, faithful unto death. But they are the future monarchs of the globe: for they are to be Kings and Priests, and with their divine head, reign for ever and ever.
As the 149th Psalm says, they are to be joyful in glory, and the high praises of God shall be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand, to execute judgement upon the nations and punishments upon the people to bind their kings with chains and their nobles with fetters of iron. (Psalms 149:5,9). This shall be the special honour of the 144,000. the bride and companion of Christ in His millennial kingdom. For this reason they shall follow the Lamb whither soever He goeth. With Him they shall break the nations as with a rod of iron, and dash them in pieces as a potter’s vessel. For the time shall come when the saints shall possess the kingdom and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven. (Daniel 7 :27) .
In this royal inheritance they will be the first fruits unto God and the Lamb, even the beginning of the triumph of God’s glorious redemptive work on earth. After the first fruits comes the harvest. And there will be a great harvest at the end of the millennial age. This will be the result of Christ’s righteous and omnipotent government, by which sin will be abolished and righteousness made ascendant in all the earth, and finally, God made all in all. Thus the 144,000 will make the light and life of God triumphant, delivering the whole creation from the bondage of corruption, into the light and liberty of the glory of God. Moreover, “in their mouth was found no guile ; for they were found without fault before the throne of God.”
This moral perfection is the secret of their enduring administration. It explains why they are universally victorious, and all enemies are placed under their feet. In celebration of this supreme and eternal victory they sing the song of Moses and the Lamb, “Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty, just and true are thy ways thou King of saints. Who shall not fear thee, and glorify thy name, thou King of saints, for Thou alone art holy, for all nations whom Thou hast made shall worship before thee, for thy judgements are made manifest.” Rev 15:1-4.
Such will be the song of the Lamb and the 144,000 in the Zenith of their power, when the whole world lies prostrate at their feet. Such will be the creation’s jubilee. “The heavens shall be glad, the earth shall rejoice, the sea shall roar and the fullness thereof, the field shall be joyful and all that is therein. Then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice, for the Lord cometh to judge the earth. He shall judge the world with righteousness and His people with His truth.” (Psalms 98:4-9). Such then is the consummation ordained for this earth. It will be realised in its surpassing glory by the 144,000, the bride, the Lamb’s wife. Jehovah’s glorified Kings and Priests. How wonderful will that glory be ! Life without death, joy without sorrow, pleasure without pain ; for this world will then be Edenic in its loveliness, and all its inhabitants equal unto the angels. For God’s tabernacle will be with men, and He shall dwell with them and be their God.
And this great, wondrous and universal achievement will be realised by the glorified and immortal 144,000 with the Lord Jesus Christ at their head. And it shall obtain on this planet for a thousand years, when sin and death being abolished, God will be all and in all
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One