Marked for Life..

I don’t have any tattoos and I can’t say that the idea really grabs me - I mean, as I understand it, they are pretty much there for life, and life changes. Who wants to to be advert for a football team or a girlfriend who has long since disappeared without trace? It seems to me that being there for life makes it quite a big deal and worth thinking long & hard about!

This morning we got to that point in the Book of Revelation (ch7) where the 144,000 are sealed (tattooed) and we asked the question “Who are these people, and what is this all about?”
Some have suggested that this should be interpreted literally and that it speaks of Jews who will become Christians before Jesus returns, on the basis that it says that 12,000 from each tribe were sealed or marked.
I don’t think that is the right interpretation for a number of reasons, a couple of which I’ll mention here. Firstly the order of the tribes does not follow the traditional convention of naming Reuben first, Dan is omitted, and Manasseh is named. Secondly, this sealing of the 144,000 is exactly what Jesus promised in the Letter to the church in Philadelphia, “I will write on him the name of my God” Rev 4:12. And thirdly, the 144,000 are later identified as those who have been redeemed from the earth (Rev 14:3).
I therefore take the 144,000 to represent the church on the earth; it is these who are marked with God’s seal of ownership to safeguard them through the difficult times on the earth. After all, didn’t Jesus comfort his disciples with the thought that although he was to ascend to heaven, the Holy Spirit would be send to them and that he would not leave them? This is totally in accord with Scriptures such as 2 Corinthians 1:22 ‘and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.’ and Ephesians 1:13 ‘in him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit’.

So, the 144,000 represent the church on the earth, secure in the knowledge that they are numbered and known. Then, in verse 9 we see the multitude that no man can number, from every tribe, language and nation - the church universal, from every age of church history, present in heaven. Later, in chapter 13 we will see satan’s counterfeit, the mark of ownership that he seeks to place on people.
The point being made is that it is vital that we are clear who we belong to, and if we belong to Jesus then we have the indelible mark or seal of his ownership on our lives, more permanent than any tattoo, and grounds for great confidence and assurance!

“But God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.” ” 2Tim 2:19

Goff