24.
Twelve tribes and twelve thousand sealed from each of the twelve tribes. Rev. 14:4-8 Who are they? Most will immediately guess that they are Jews. Because their natural birth was into one of the twelve tribes does that make them a candidate for this very special group? Who is a Jew? We think of Paul’s statement that a Jew, in the sight of the Lord, is not reckoned after the order of natural birth, and that circumcision is not of spiritual value. Rom. 2:28 He is a Jew, which is one inwardly. Circumcision is a work of separation, and cleansing wrought in the heart, and not in the flesh. It is a spiritual work accomplished within the spirit of mankind. It is not a religious ritual of any spiritual value when it is consummated in the flesh. Rom. 2:29 When Paul wrote to the Galatians he evaluated circumcision to be of no spiritual value. That which counts with the Lord is a new creature. All this is a fair and illuminating assessment of the requirement of the Lord for a spiritual people.
We are reminded that the Lord does not respect person or nationality. Christ died for all. Rom. 2:9 Therefore all who are born of the Spirit are in Christ Jesus. The blessings of the Lord are distributed equally, to the Jew first and then also to the Gentile. Rom. 2:10 The same is true with the rebuke and judgment of the Lord. All receive equal punishment and reward. The Lord reckons no difference between Jew and Gentile.
The kingdom of God in earth has been taken from a natural people and has been transferred to a spiritual people. A people who demonstrate and produce the fruits of righteousness. From this nation, no nationality on earth is excluded. Jew and Gentile are made one by the blood of Christ. As He has made all nations of one blood, so, He has made a great new nation by the blood of Christ. Addressing the Jews, Jesus said that the kingdom would be taken from them and given to the new nation, the spiritual people and nation. Mt. 21:43 He also spoke of the soon desolation that was to come upon them because they had not received the truth which had come to them. Their house was to be desolate. A people shorn of the power and presence of the Lord. A matter which is rectified by the individual, not the nation. All who receive Christ as Savior, and meet the Divine requirements are candidates to be a part of the one hundred forty four thousand. They are spiritual Israelites.