The Number
Back to 1The Bible’s Greatest Prophecies Unlocked!
Returning to Revelation 6:1-17 “And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellow servants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled” (Rev 6:11).
The King James translation leaves out a crucial word that makes the meaning here most clear. Let’s look at a series of additional translations.
New King James Version: “…until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed.”
Moffatt: “…until their number was completed by their fellow servants and their brothers who were to be killed as they themselves had been.”
Phillips: “…until the number of their fellow-servants…”
Revised Standard: “…until the number of their fellow servants…”
New English Bible: “…until the tally should be complete…”
Amplified: “…until the number should be complete…”
20th Century New Testament: “…till the number of their fellow-servants…”
So this verse references a specific number. “Fulfilled” comes from the Greek pleroo—“to satisfy, finish, accomplish, complete, fill up, make full.” There is so obviously a number that must be completed!
The dead “souls,” God’s people who died in the faith over the last 6,000 years, are part of this number, with a final martyrdom to add to and complete the tally—144,000.
Let’s now return to Revelation 15:1-8 “I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God. And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God. And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous are Your works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are Your ways, You King of saints” (Rev 15:1-3).
This closely parallels the scene in Revelation 6:9: “And when He had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held.”
This is the group that we saw was required to face the woman of Revelation 17:1-18 in previous ages, and who endured martyrdom, thus gaining eternal victory over this ancient, false system.
No Difference in the Church
In this light, consider more passages explaining there is no difference, after conversion, between Gentile and Israelite Christians:
First, “And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created him: where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all” (Col. 3:10-11).
Next, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you be Christ’s, then are you Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Gal. 3:28-29).
And, “Remember, that you being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world” (Eph. 2:11-12).
At one time these Ephesians were considered Gentiles, but then became part of the “commonwealth of Israel”! Paul continues, “Now therefore you are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God” (Eph 2:19).
The same holds true of the term “Jew.” Paul again: “And shall not uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfill the law, judge you, who by the letter and circumcision do transgress the law? For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: but he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God” (Rom. 2:27-29).
In this age, true Christians are the true Jews. The sign of this is a circumcised heart, regardless of ethnic background.
“The Fullness of the Gentiles”
Another scripture makes clear that a set number of Gentiles must be added to the Church to complete the 144,000. We remain in Romans: “For I would not, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in” (Rom 11:25).
Turning to other translations again strengthens and clarifies the meaning of “fullness” assigned to the Gentiles.
New King James Version: “…until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.”
Moffatt: “…until the full number of the Gentiles come in.”
Phillips: “…until the full number of the Gentiles has been called in.”
Revised Standard: “…until the full number of the Gentiles come in.”
“Fullness” is translated from pleroma, meaning “repletion or completion,” “that which fills or with which a thing is filled…fulfilling.” This indicates a certain quota, proportional share or allotment of Gentiles is to be fulfilled, instead of (or in place of) an equivalent number of Israelites.
But there has been an order to the process. Remember this, still in Romans: “Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that does evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; but glory, honor, and peace, to every man that works good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: for there is no respect of persons with God” (Rom 2:9-11).
Remember, the New Testament Church was initially comprised solely of Jews—until God made clear that salvation was also being offered to the Gentiles (Acts 10:1-48).
“Ten Thousands of His Saints”
An unusual passage in the New Testament confirms the relatively small number of those who will be resurrected to eternal life at the Return of Jesus Christ, while also providing a glimpse of one of the earliest examples of the true gospel being preached.
Notice this again in Jude, here quoted in a different context for a different purpose from before: “And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him” (Jude 1:14-15).
“Ten thousands” in Greek is murias. The word’s primary and secondary meanings are this: “ten thousand, also by extension (more unlikely, but a possible translation) a myriad or indefinite number.”
“Ten thousands” means the number is at least 20,000, but determining the upper limit requires only a little more thought. Here are a series of passages from the Old and New Testaments that paint the full picture of one of the Bible’s very greatest truths.
First is a passage from Daniel: “A fiery stream issued and came forth from before Him: thousand thousands ministered unto Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened” (Dan 7:10). The Hebrew for “ten thousand” here is alaph, which is either “thousand” or “thousands” depending on the context.
Now another, this time back in Revelation, “And...I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand [murias] times ten thousand [murias], and thousands of thousands” (Rev 5:11). Here, “thousands” at the end of the verse is chilias, which means either thousand or thousands.
If Jude 14 were referencing a number greatly exceeding “ten thousands” (in the range of millions for instance, as most would suppose the number of true Christians through the ages would be at a veryminimum), we might expect to see the expression “ten thousand times ten thousand,” as used in Daniel 7:10 and Revelation 5:11.
While these verses are not conclusive of themselves, they give further evidence that the total number of saints is in the range of “ten thousands” rather than “ten thousand times ten thousand”—in the range of 100 million or so.
Looking at the entire picture, Jude 14 must be taken literally. So in determining the upper limit of this number, murias could describe a number up to 190,000. If the number of saints reached 200,000, it would more accurately be described as “hundreds of thousands.”
The sum of 144,000 fits within the range of 20,000 to 190,000.