Category Archives: Characteristics of the 12 Tribes of the 144,000 (Conference)
1. The Sealing of the 144,000 Tribe By Tribe – The Tribe of Judah
By John Thiel, The Characteristics of the Twelve Tribes of the 144,000 Conference, study 1, mp3
Scripture reading: Revelation 7:13 And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? 14 And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
These words are key to this whole conference. We want to explore the people who make up the 144,000. The tribal forefathers that are recorded in Revelation 7 will comprise the experience of those who are being sealed among the 144,000. This first message is both an introduction and the study of the first tribe which is mentioned in the words of Revelation 7. We see here the names of the tribes out of which one hundred and forty four thousand persons are to be sealed: Read the rest of this entry
2. The Tribe of Reuben
By John Thiel, The Characteristics of the Twelve Tribes of the 144,000 Conference, Study 2, mp3
The 144,000 are a people who needed to be purified. One of the elders asked the apostle John in his vision, Who are these? And he answered him:
Revelation 7:14 …Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Read the rest of this entry
3. The Tribe of Gad
By John Thiel, The Characteristics of the Twelve Tribes of the 144,000 Conference, study 3, mp3
To Be Among The 144,000
There is an item that frightens many Seventh-day Adventist believers and prevents them from believing the truth about the 144,000. It is the truth that there will be a people dwelling on earth such as are described in the following words:
Revelation 14:5 And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.
These 144,000 have been purged and cleansed from all their sins. Here is yet another reference about these people: Read the rest of this entry
4. The Tribe of Asher
By John Thiel, The Characteristics of the Twelve Tribes of the 144,000 Conference, study 4, mp3
Origins
The 144,000 are people who may have come from the worst case scenarios, such as the polygamous circumstances of Jacob’s household. These people who will be standing without fault before the throne of God are a people who were not like that to start with; they were born in very sinful circumstances, like David was.
Psalm 51:5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. 6 Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden [part] thou shalt make me to know wisdom. 7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Read the rest of this entry
5. The Tribes of Dan and Naphtali
By John Thiel, The Characteristics of the Twelve Tribes of the 144,000 Conference, study 5, mp3
Scripture reading: Revelation 7:13 And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? 14 And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
The 144,000 are a people whose beginnings were far from holy. But they are going to finally stand pure and holy. However, how do they get there? Read the rest of this entry
6. The Tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh
By John Thiel, The Characteristics of the Twelve Tribes of the 144,000 Conference, study 6, mp3
Only One of Two
Ephraim and Manasseh were the two sons of Joseph, but only one of them is found in Revelation chapter 7.
Revelation 7:6 Of the tribe of Aser [were] sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Nephthalim [were] sealed twelve thousand.
Dan and Naphtali also were brothers, but Dan isn’t there. Read the rest of this entry
7. The Tribe of Simeon
By John Thiel, The Characteristics of the Twelve Tribes of the 144,000 Conference, study 7, mp3
Washing Our Robes
Revelation 7:13 And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? 14 And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
The 144,000 are here described as a people who are going through great tribulation. Why is this their experience? So that they would wash their robes and make them white in the blood of the Lamb; so that their robes of character will be made white, purified, through this experience. Now we ask the question, When is this text applicable? It is the period of the three angels’ messages, the third angel being the sealing angel. Read the rest of this entry
8. The Tribe of Levi
By John Thiel, The Characteristics of the Twelve Tribes of the 144,000 Conference, study 8, mp3
We are learning that the 144,000 are without sin, without fault, and undefiled. This is how they are described in Revelation. They are like that, not because they started like that, not because they were always like that, but in that they were purified out of horrifying corruptions. This is vividly revealed in the tribe of Levi. And phenomenally this purification in reference to the tribe of Levi is expressed in the book of Malachi:
Malachi 3:3 And he shall sit [as] a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness. Read the rest of this entry
9. The Tribe of Issachar
By John Thiel, The Characteristics of the Twelve Tribes of the 144,000 Conference, study 9, mp3
Among the many negative influences because of the dysfunctional circumstances of the family of Jacob, with those multiple mothers and the conflict that was being generated because of envy and the yearning for the love of their husband, we see such a vast display of things that are so contrary to God’s ways. It is just unbelievable. These men of God, like Jacob, demonstrate at first something that doesn’t make much sense, but as we keep on reading we can see how much it actually applies to the issues of life in our own experiences. Read the rest of this entry
10. The Tribe of Zebulon
By John Thiel, The Characteristics of the Twelve Tribes of the 144,000 Conference, study 10, mp3
Genesis 30:19 And Leah conceived again, and bare Jacob the sixth son. 20 And Leah said, God hath endued me [with] a good dowry; now will my husband dwell with me, because I have born him six sons: and she called his name Zebulun.
What kind of effect was upon Zebulon as he was born to this family feud conflict? Rachel was Jacob’s favourite wife, and obviously he must have spent more time with her than with Leah. It was Rachel who gave to Leah the right to sleep with her husband as a trade-off, as we saw in the story of Issachar. Then Leah again conceived and bare Jacob the sixth son, and she now thought, Surely Jacob will dwell with me. Obviously he mustn’t have been dwelling with her very much. They were in different tents, and he was there for Leah, but he was there for Rachel more than for Leah; but now that she had given birth to this son, she said, Surely he will now dwell with me. Read the rest of this entry
11. The Tribe of Joseph
By John Thiel, The Characteristics of the Twelve Tribes of the 144,000 Conference, study 11, mp3
Scripture reading: Psalm 105:16 Moreover he called for a famine upon the land: he brake the whole staff of bread. 17 He sent a man before them, [even] Joseph, [who] was sold for a servant: 18 Whose feet they hurt with fetters: he was laid in iron: 19 Until the time that his word came: the word of the LORD tried him.
We are exploring the precious lessons that are taught in reference to the children of Jacob, as they pertain to the sealing of the 144,000. As we have seen, of those tribes of the 144,000, Dan and Ephraim are missing. We now understand why. In this study we are now looking at those words:
Revelation 7:8 … Of the tribe of Joseph [were] sealed twelve thousand. Read the rest of this entry
12. The Tribe of Benjamin
By John Thiel, The Characteristics of the Twelve Tribes of the 144,000 Conference, study 12, mp3
Scripture reading: Deuteronomy 33:12 [And] of Benjamin he said, The beloved of the LORD shall dwell in safety by him; [and the LORD] shall cover him all the day long, and he shall dwell between his shoulders.
To be among the 144,000 does not mean perfection at first. The perfection that they are described as having is the end-result of a purification process after which they are declared as perfect and sinless. Read the rest of this entry
13. The Sealing of the 144,000 – Overview
By John Thiel, The Characteristics of the Twelve Tribes of the 144,000 Conference, study 13, mp3
The sealing of the 144,000 tribe by tribe has been our meditation and our study for many hours. We have appreciated that ever since the work of the third angel who was the sealing angel, after 1844-1848, the sealing of the 144,000 has been taking place. And here we are today, my generation is the fourth generation from that time; and even at that time there were other generations that were part of that scene; so that makes it even five generations ago. The sealing of the 144,000 has been going on for that long. And like the twelve sons of Jacob, the people ever since 1848 were given a lifetime to perfect their characters so that they could be sealed among the 144,000. As we studied the sons of Jacob, we saw that they came to a position where they were so totally humbled, and their characters were so totally winnowed through the experiences, that they came even to the point of the death of their father, after all that had taken place in Egypt with Joseph, and you can see their utter humiliation and dependence on the mercy of God here expressed: Read the rest of this entry
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