Understanding Biblical Symbolism—The Book of Revelation
Rick Joyner
As we seek to understand the possible symbolism of the 144,000, we need to
first review the principles of biblical symbolism so that we do not drift into
“free association”—the claim that something is representative without fully
establishing the biblical connections that lead to this belief. Without doing
this, almost anyone can claim that just about anything means just about
anything. This is a recipe for delusion.
Let us also consider that biblical symbolism is rarely so ironclad that it
leaves us able to be dogmatic about our conclusions. Rather, it opens us to
further understanding. By its nature, biblical symbolism helps us understand
more than just what God is doing—it helps us understand why. This is important
to Him who is seeking His followers to be friends, and even family.
So we will briefly consider a couple of the basics of biblical symbolism with
the intent of seeing how it can help us identify the 144,000.
In I Corinthians 10, after reciting the events of Israel’s deliverance from
Egypt and their journey through the wilderness, the Apostle Paul asserts in
verse 11: “Now these things happened to them as an example, and they
were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.” Understanding
this is crucial to understanding some of the most important events unfolding in
these times.
The Apostle Paul was asserting that everything Israel went through was a
prophetic metaphor, a map for those who live at the end of the age. He was not
saying that these events did not literally happen. The two trees in the garden
were prophetic metaphors, but that does not mean that the account in Genesis
was not literal. They were prophetic events that foreshadowed a coming event or
reality. Galatians 4:22-26 gives us great example of this principle:
For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the bondwoman and one by
the free woman.
But the son by the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and the son by
the free woman through the promise.
This is allegorically speaking, for these women are two covenants: one
proceeding from Mount Sinai bearing children who are to be slaves; she is
Hagar.
Now this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present
Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children.
But the Jerusalem above is free; she is our mother.
That this account of Sarah and Hagar represent something as major as the two
covenants reveals how expansive prophetic metaphors can be. Unfortunately, as
Peter wrote, the “unstable and untaught” (see II Peter 3:16) will distort even
the Scriptures. Some will always carry such teachings to extremes, using them
randomly and with “free association,” or not connecting them properly to the
biblical narrative. However, the wrong use of them does not negate their proper
use, which is essential to understanding the Books of Daniel, Revelation, and
other biblical prophecies.
The subject of prophetic metaphors is worthy of a book, and some have been
written, but we do not have the time to cover this subject as it deserves in
this study. Even so, it is necessary to understand that many of the prophecies
of Scripture, especially in Revelation, are metaphors. The twelve tribes of
Israel are such a prophetic metaphor.
In the patriarchs birth sequence, the meaning of their names, how they were
named, who their mother was, the prophecies spoken over them, and their
histories, all make them a remarkable parallel to the unfolding of church
history. For this reason, these 144,000 could be from the twelve spiritual
tribes of Israel that unfolded through the church age. The more you dig down
into the details, the more sense this makes.
As Paul wrote in Romans 2:28-29, “For he is not a Jew who is one
outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. But he is a
Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the
Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God.”
The Apostle Paul boldly wrote that the Lord will not forget or cancel His
promises to the Jewish people, which he elaborates on in great depth in
chapters 9-11. He also reiterated that the Jew is not just according to the
flesh, but according to the Spirit, as he explains in Romans 9:6-8:
But
it is not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who
are descended from Israel;
nor are they all children because they are Abraham’s descendants, but: “THROUGH
ISAAC YOUR DESCENDANTS WILL BE NAMED.”
That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the
children of the promise are regarded as descendants.
In Christ there is neither Jew nor Gentile (see Galatians 3:28; Colossians
3:11). There are other factors that point to the 144,000 being the “true Jews.”
These are those who are Jews according to the Spirit, and this company is
composed of both Jews in the natural and Gentiles, who are one in Christ.