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The undefiled. Rev. 14:4 They are female, not male. The Lord gave Moses a statute whereby the name of a deceased man would be continued by his brother taking the deceased wife as his wife. The first born was then to receive the name of the deceased, that his posterity and name might be continued. Deut. 25:5-6 To refuse was to be taken to the gates of the city where the elders sat judging situations arising because of a violation of the statutes of the Lord. If he then continued to refuse, she was to loose a shoe from his feet and spit in his face. Most definitely a degrading and embarrassing act. He then became known as the man who had his shoe loosed. Deut. 25:7-10.
However, this law did not apply to the high priest. Because he had been crowned with the holy anointing oil (a type of the baptism of the Spirit) he was restricted to choosing a virgin to be his wife. A widow, even his brothers wife was defiled, only to him, by having been married to his brother. Also included were women who were divorced, profane (unholy or polluted by the standards of the law) or an harlot. Lev. 21:13-14 Jesus is our High Priest. Heb. 3:1 Thus we can comprehend the meaning when John wrote that the one hundred forty four thousand are not defiled after the manner of women. That which hindered the marriage of the High Priest to a woman was her lack of being a virgin.
With this in view, supposing we gave a slight variation to the word with and changed it to, after the manner of women. In other words, because they had been involved with a man and were no longer virgins they were excluded from being a member of the one hundred forty four thousand. This special group are members of the body of Christ. It is imperative that there be absolutely no defilement, of any sort, even what might be considered just a small or minor defect. The very fact that they are singled out as they are in the vision given to John speaks of their importance. Their experiences in the Lord will be felt by the entire body of Christ, His pure and holy Bride. Their very close and consistent relationship with the Lord Jesus is another strong evidence of their importance to the plan of the Lord for the ages to come. To man, the standards of the Lord are unachievable, but with the Lord, all things are possible. The only High Priest who is holy, harmless, undefiled and without sin, the perfect sacrifice is able to accomplish His perfect will in our lives. And He will do it. Note. Heb. 7:26.