When Is the Sealing?
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The sealing of the saints is completed at a specific time, as revealed in the Revelation sequence: “And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign forever and ever” (Rev 11:15).
This is the last trump, heralding the Second Coming. Continuing, “Saying, We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which are, and was, and are to come; because You have taken to You Your great power, and have reigned. And the nations were angry, and Your wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that You should give reward unto Your servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear Your name, small and great; and should destroy them which destroy the earth” (Rev 11:17-18).
Note that God’s wrath is not over at this time—it is paused, suspended.
Now compare Revelation 7:1-17 “And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. 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, saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads” (Rev 7:1-3).
This passage does not say all are sealed right then, since likely the great majority were sealed long before this (recall the “souls under the altar” in Revelation 6:9). But it is clear that a full 144,000 have—at this point—now been sealed. The number is complete. This includes both Philadelphian and Laodicean Christians, the final two eras of God’s people. Many in Laodicea—the “wise virgins”—will by then have returned to faithfulness and died in martyrdom, helping complete the number.
A Key Word!
But does this suggest that all of God’s chosen firstfruits have been physical Israelites? Far from it.
Recall that there are twelve groups of 12,000 each. And each group is “of” one of the Israelite tribes. Can this mean God will only choose His advance guard to rule beside Christ at His Return from those of Israelite stock?
How could this be, when many of Paul’s epistles were written to Gentile Christians? All of the congregations that he oversaw were primarily Gentile. Titus, the recipient of one of Paul’s letters, was Greek (Gal. 2:3), and Timothy, to whom two canonized epistles are directed, was half Greek (Acts 16:3). Also, Cornelius and his family (of Acts 10-11) were Italian. And what about the Ethiopian eunuch of Acts 8:1-40, among others?
Add to this the important fact that very few who are called into God’s Church can be considered “pure” Israelites. For example, my last name, “Pack,” appears to be Jewish, but I am not a Jew in the ethnic, physical sense, as far as I know. Finally, I know a great many non-Israelite brethren and they are some of the most deeply converted people one could meet.
This becomes the second key point in the correct understanding of how the 144,000 are assigned to each tribe. The Greek word translated “of” is ek, which means “in accordance with” or “according to.”
These are not 12,000 who were of Judah physically, 12,000 of Reubenite descent, 12,000 coming from Gad, 12,000 of Asherite descent, and so on. These are 144,000 Christians—who had been both Israelites and Gentiles, with many being mixtures of both. These became part of spiritual Israel—the Church—past and present—who are assigned to rule the physical twelve tribes in the Millennium!
So there are evidently 12,000 Spirit Being saints assigned to—in accordance with or according to—rule Judah, 12,000 designated to lead Reuben, and so forth. Some who had been Gentiles in the flesh will help lead the physical nations of Israel in the Millennium, beginning immediately with the very Israelite remnant itself.
How marvelous, just, and wonderfully inclusive is God’s Plan! Because He started with a single nation, some have actually accused God of being racist. Incredible—and far from the truth! Israelite and Gentile receive the same reward in every regard!
Strangers in Old Testament Israel
This offer to both Israelites and Gentiles should not come as a surprise. Even in the Old Testament, strangers (foreigners) could always join themselves to Israel if they accepted the nation’s laws. Let’s read six passages:
First, “But the stranger that dwells with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God. You shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in meteyard, in weight, or in measure” (Lev. 19:34-35).
Next, “And the Levite, (because he has no part nor inheritance with you,) and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, which are within your gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do” (Deut. 14:29).
And, “Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses: for whosoever eats that which is leavened, even that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a stranger, or born in the land” (Ex. 12:19).
As well as, “You shall have one manner of law, as well for the stranger, as for one of your own country: for I am the Lord...” (Lev. 24:22).
And again, “And when a stranger shall sojourn with you, and will keep the Passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as one that is born in the land: for no uncircumcised person shall eat thereof” (Ex. 12:48).
And finally, “One law shall be to him that is home born, and unto the stranger that sojourns among you” (Ex. 12:49).