The mystery concerning the sealing of the 144,000 is probably peer to any vexed Bible subject. Theory has crowded theory, only the more to mystify and confuse the truth of it. No Christian denomination seems to have escaped the controversy which, in giving rise to many divergent views, has only increased the rift in the Protestant lute.
This has been exceedingly regrettable, and very much the more so among us as Seventh-day Adventists, for long ago the messenger of the Lord admonished us to
“…strive with all the power God has given us to be among the 144,000” – The Review and Herald, March 9, 1905,
And then graciously placed in our hands the necessary knowledge for the time then present as to when, where, and what the sealing is.
What is the sealing?
Rev. 7:2 –“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,”
Rev. 7:3 –“Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.”
Rev. 7:4 –“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.”
Since “in the Revelation all the books of the Bible meet and end” (The Acts of the Apostles, p. 585), this sealing of the servants of God must necessarily be found also in the prophecies:
“This sealing of the servants of God is the same that was shown to Ezekiel in vision. John also had been a witness of this most startling revelation.” — Testimonies to Ministers, p. 445.
Ezekiel 9 envisions the marking of those who sigh and cry for all the abominations that be done in the church (Judah and Israel), and the slaughter of those who do not thus sigh and cry.
“Mark this point with care: Those who receive the pure mark of truth, wrought in them by the power of the Holy Ghost, represented by a mark by the man in linen, are those ‘that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done’ in the church.” — Testimonies, Vol. 3, p. 267.
Therefore the marking in Revelation 7 is the same as the sealing in Ezekiel 9, and the angels’ slaying is the same as the angels’ hurting.
“The seal of God will be placed upon the foreheads of those only who sigh and cry for the abominations done in the land.” — Testimonies, Vol. 5, p. 212.
Where is the sealing to be?
The 144,000 are made up of 12,000 out of all the 12 tribes or out of both kingdoms – Judah and Israel (Rev. 7:1-8) – the church.
The marking and the slaughter (Ezek. 9), which is the same event, takes place in Judah and Israel (Ezek. 9:9) – the church.
In amplification of the subject, the messenger wrote:
“Especially in the closing work for the church, in the sealing time of the one hundred and forty-four thousand who are to stand without fault before the throne of God, will they feel most deeply the wrongs of God’s professed people.” — Testimonies, Vol. 3, p. 266.
Accordingly, the marking takes place in the SDA church because of “the abominations” practiced in her midst. Hence, the removal of those who foster the abominations is the SDA church’s closing work.
What is the purpose of the Sealing?
Revelation 7:1–3 brings to view a two-fold conflict:
- Wicked men against God (the blowing of the winds), and
- God against them (the angels hurting them).
Correspondingly, there are two hurtings about to take place:
- One by the winds,
- The other by the angels; and
Two commands to the angels:
- One that they restrain the winds, that the winds blow not “on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree”;
- The other that the angels restrain themselves from hurting “the earth… sea,” and “the trees,” till the servants of God are sealed.
Since, therefore, as soon as the 144,000 are sealed both the winds and the angels will begin to hurt, it is clear that:
- God’s restraining of the four winds is His holding back the image of the beast’s activity (Rev. 13:15–17) against the saints, in order to safeguard the sealing of the 144,000 servants, lest they, “the very elect,” be brought down to worship the image of the beast, or be killed for refusing;
- While His restraining the four angels that they hurt not is His holding back the executing of His vengeance (Isa. 63:1–4; Jer. 51:18) upon the sinners who trouble the church, until after the sealing of the 144,000 is completed.
12. A World Government, And The Only People Who Will Not Bow Down To It - This symbolic forecast of the world government to be set up, plainly points out that the coming world government is to be neither the U.N., nor Communism, but an ecclesiastical power. We know that it is not Communism, because Communism is against religion, and the beast is for it. Being coupled, these two hurtings bring the “time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation.” Dan. 12:1.
In the light of the clear-cut facts before us, we see that the main object of the sealing or marking of the servants of God is to cleanse the church from sin and sinners, so that she may be able to stand strong against the image-beast in the time of trouble.
When this “special work of purification, of putting away of sin among God’s people,” (The Great Controversy, p. 425) is accomplished —
Isa. 4:3, 4 — “it shall come to pass that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem: when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning.”
Then —
“the church is to enter upon her final conflict. ‘Fair as the moon, clear as the sun and terrible as an army with banners,’ she is to go forth into all the world, conquering and to conquer.” — Prophets and Kings, p. 725.
The Church must be Purified
Every true Bible student knows that the church must reach this purity of heart and character and position before Christ’s mediatorial work is finished.
All such students know also that God can neither manifest His great power to defend them in the time in which “all the people of the earth gather together against” them, nor bestow His Spirit upon them as He did upon the early Christians on the day of Pentecost, if there are sinners among His people, and if the entire church be not “with one accord” (Acts 2:1).
“The time has come for earnest and powerful efforts to rid the church of the slime and filth which is tarnishing her purity.” — Testimonies To Ministers, p. 450.
And it is a mournfully admitted fact among all the informed and honest throughout the Denomination, that though she has for years been steadily declining spiritually, she has never hitherto reached her present low level where she retains scarcely any of her former distinction from the world.
“Men and women are in the last hours of probation, and yet are careless and stupid, and ministers have no power to arouse them; they are asleep themselves. Sleeping preachers preaching to a sleeping people!” — Testimonies, Vol. 2, p. 337.
Indeed —
“the conviction is gaining ground in the world that Seventh-day Adventists are giving the trumpet an uncertain sound, that they are following in the path of worldlings.” — Testimonies to Ministers, p. 86.
“Who can truthfully say, ‘Our gold is tried in the fire; our garments are unspotted by the world’? I saw our Instructor pointing to the garments of so-called righteousness. Stripping them off, He laid bare the defilement beneath. Then He said to me: ‘Can you not see how they have pretentiously covered up their defilement and rottenness of character? “How is the faithful city become an harlot?” My Father’s house is made a house of merchandise, a place whence the divine presence and glory have departed! For this cause there is weakness, and strength is lacking.’” — Testimonies, Vol. 8, p. 250.
Laments the Voice of Inspiration:
“Spiritual death, has come upon the people that should be manifesting life and zeal, purity and consecration, by the most earnest devotion to the cause of truth. The facts concerning the real condition of the professed people of God, speak more loudly than their profession, and make it evident that some power has cut the cable that anchored them to the Eternal Rock, and that they are drifting away to sea, without chart or compass.” — Christ Our Righteousness, p. 36 (The Review and Herald, July 24, 1888, par. 1).
For all these and for other reasons, some of which we know not, a pure and Holy God is “whetting his sword in Heaven to cut” down those who do not sigh and cry:
“Oh that every lukewarm professor could realize the clean work that God is about to make among his professed people!” — Testimonies, Vol. 1, p. 190.
There is doubt no longer that —
“the days of purification of the church are hastening on apace. God will have a people pure and true. In the mighty sifting soon to take place, we shall be better able to measure the strength of Israel. The signs reveal that the time is near when the Lord will manifest that his fan is in his hand, and He will thoroughly purge his floor.” — Testimonies, Vol. 5, p. 80.
Those who give implicit heed to the call, shall have an irresistible desire to come fully into line and to have the Lord separate them from sin and sinners. They alone shall receive the seal of God and as the first fruits of the kingdom, 144,000 strong, stand with the Lamb on “Mount Zion”!
9. The Premillennial Kingdom - The Jews had built up an erroneous conception of what the Kingdom was to be, and how and when it was to come, and so when the Lord exposed their misconceptions, they became indignant. They were very angry, not because the Kingdom which the Saviour disclosed was not much more… The Loud Cry
In another memorable vision of this same crucial work, Sister White “saw angels hurrying to and fro in heaven, descending to the earth, and again ascending to heaven, preparing for the fulfillment of some important event.
“Then I saw another mighty angel commissioned to descend to the earth, to unite his voice with the third angel, and give power and force to his message. Great power and glory were imparted to the angel, and as he descended, the earth was lightened with his glory… This message seemed to be an addition to the third message….” — Early Writings, p. 277.
Avers the Spirit of Truth:
“only those who have withstood temptation in the strength of the Mighty One will be permitted to act a part in proclaiming it [the Third Angel’s Message] when it shall have swelled into the loud cry.” — The Review and Herald, №19, 1908.
“The great issue so near at hand will weed out those whom God has not appointed, and He will have a pure, true, sanctified ministry prepared for the latter rain.” — Lt-55–1886.
Why are the sinners taken from among the righteous before the earth is lightened with the glory of the angel? Because —
“one sinner may diffuse darkness that will exclude the light of God from the entire congregation.” — Testimonies, Vol. 3, p. 265.
The clear sequence of facts here brought to view conclusively points out that we are now in “the closing work for the church, in the sealing time of the one hundred and forty-four thousand”; that
Thus the subject of the 144,000, with its interrelated subjects coming into clear, harmonious focus, shows that the eleventh-hour call for laborers in the Lord’s vineyard is now in progress, and that now is the time to —
“strive with all the power God has given us to be among the 144,000.” — The Review and Herald, Mar. 9, 1905.
And now, this identification of the 144,000 has caused the identity of the great multitude (Rev. 7:9) to become almost as mooted a question. So the responsibility assumed in this series to identify the former, the firstfruits, imposes a commensurate responsibility to identify the latter — THE SECOND FRUITS — THE GREAT MULTITUDE.
11. The Second Fruits — The Great Multitude - The identification of the 144,000 in our previous study caused the identity of the great multitude (Rev. 7:9) to become almost as mooted a question. So the responsibility assumed in that series to identify the former, the firstfruits, imposes a commensurate responsibility to identify the latter — THE SECOND FRUITS… 
