Jesus said, “No one has ever gone up to heaven.” (John 3:13) He went on to show that good men who died before Jesus, such as Abraham, Moses, Job, and David, did not go to heaven because they were in death sleep in their graves. (Acts 2:29, 34) Rather, they held out the hope of a resurrection to life on earth. -Job 14:13-15.
God elects a specific number of faithful Christians and resurrects them to life in heaven after their death. (1 Peter 1:3, 4) Those chosen must continue to live up to Christian standards in terms of faith and conduct in order not to be disqualified from receiving their heavenly inheritance. -Ephesians 5:5; Philippians 3:12-14.
This article corrects this error.
The heavenly class is martyring itself.
In Heb. 11:37-39, the believers of the Old Testament era are described as having experienced persecution and martyrdom but not having “attained perfection” like the Christians. They will not be kept in the first resurrection, but will be resurrected as a second class, in a glorified, incorruptible body on earth. It means that the righteous of the living Old Testament age will be resurrected in the state in which Adam ate the fruit of the tree of life.
Paul said, “I don't believe I have yet attained the prize of an invitation to heaven.” (Philippians 3:14). Personal desires and ambitions have nothing to do with a person's election. Jesus said in Matthew 11:11,12, “Even the little ones in the kingdom of heaven are greater than John the Baptist. The kingdom of heaven is assailed by force.” He stated. The heavenly class will suffer persecution from Satan and will suffer the same Passion of Jesus and will have a harsher fate than John the Baptist. It is also an absolute requirement to “drink my cup,” that is, to be martyred. -Matthew 20:20-23.
Romans 6:3 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection,
The resurrection to life in heaven is called the “first resurrection.” (Rev. 20:6) The Greek word for “first” “protos” means “early” or “superlative”. In short, Christians who have been martyred will be resurrected “early” and “superlative” as immortal and incorruptible spirits in the same body as Jesus.
The apostle John wrote: “I heard the number of those who were sealed with the seal, and it was fourteen thousand. I heard the number of those who were sealed with the seal, and it was 144,000” (Rev. 7:4). The “sealed ones” mentioned in the Bible refer to a group of people chosen from among mankind to rule with Christ from heaven over the earth that will become a paradise. They will be delivered to the resurrection to heaven, as expressed in 2 Corinthians 5:8,9, where they are described as “greatly rejoicing to leave this body and to set up a dwelling place of our own with the Lord.”
In fact, Revelation 5:9 says, “9 And they sang a new song, saying: "You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation(not the 12 tribes of Israel), 10 And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth.” but this is actually 24 elders, not 144,000. (2 Cor. 1:21, 22; 5:8, 9; Rev. 20:6) In Rev. 14:3, the 144,000 face the 24 elders and play a song. In other words, different entities are facing each other. In conclusion, there are 24 elders (an unspecified number) and 144,000 (a finite number) in the priestly class of Christians in heaven.
After he was told about this group of 144,000 in his vision, he was shown another group. He described this group as “a multitude that no one could number, from among all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues. This multitude is the survivors of the coming “Great Tribulation” when the present wicked world will be destroyed. -Revelation 7:9, 14.
Apart from the uncountable multitudes, the 144,000 are described as those who were “purchased from among mankind as the firstfruits.” Jesus is called the firstfruits; in fact, He is the firstfruits to God. (Col. 15:20, 23; 1 Pet. 3:18) The faithful followers of Jesus Christ, His spiritual brethren, are also the firstfruits to God, but they are not the original firstfruits, but more like the wheat, the second harvest of grain presented to Yahuwah on Pentecost. They are the 144,000, and they are called the people “purchased from among mankind as the firstfruits to God and to the Lamb,” and “in a sense the firstfruits of creation.” -Revelation 14:1-4; James 1:18.
In Heb. 12:22, “But you approached the mountain of Zion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, the festive assembly of innumerable angels, 23 the assembly of the firstborn registered in heaven, God the Judge of all, the spirits of the righteous made perfect,” which is expressed in Rev. 144,000 in chapter 14, verse 1, standing face to face with the 24 elders on Mount Zion, indicating that they are both equal in brotherhood and sisterhood, yet separate entities.
The expression “firstfruits” suggests that there will be a few chosen chronologically to represent first and then those who will follow. Jesus, while on earth, also referred to those who would rule with Him in the heavenly kingdom as “the little flock” when describing them (Luke 12:32; 22:29). This is an apt description of those who will rule with Christ in heaven over His unspecified number of earthly subjects. -Revelation 5:10.
Revelation 6:9 When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. 10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?" 11 Then a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed.
Revelation 20:4 And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5 (But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished.The earliest manuscripts do not have this description.)This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.
So, like Jesus, as the “firstfruits purchased from mankind,” he is assigned to rule the earth from heaven for a thousand years. The reason for going to heaven is to rule with Jesus for a thousand years on earth. In 1 Peter 2:9, it says, "9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;" As it says, Christians are those who will be priests in heaven.
Some people here are confused because in Rev. 7:1-8 the 144,000 are sealed on earth while the multitude is in heaven from verse 9. However, the Book of Revelation has a jumbled timeline, and in verse 13, twenty-four elders speak of the identity of the multitude in heaven, so we can read that the firstfruits who are purchased from the earth must be martyred, as listed in the previous verses, and unlike the multitude, they have already been martyred at an early stage and resurrected to heaven.
To summarize the points made so far,
- The first absolute condition for resurrection is to “drink the cup of Jesus,” that is, to enjoy the suffering that Jesus endured, including persecution and martyrdom.
- They will be “sealed and purchased as the firstfruits from mankind to reign on earth from heaven for a thousand years.”
144,000 and 24 elders.
As stated in Rev. 7:4, 12,000 each of the “sealed” 12 tribes of Israel will be picked up and assembled to make up the 144,000. However, since Jehovah's Witnesses say that only 144,000 people are the heavenly class, ignoring the 24 elders class, by their logic, most of them will not be able to achieve the heavenly class.
Therefore, this is too unreasonable.
Matthew 23:13 But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.
Matthew 19:28 So Jesus said to them, "Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
1 Corinthians 6:2 Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters?
Revelation 7:4 And I heard the number of those who were sealed. One hundred and forty-four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed: 5 of the tribe of Judah twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand were sealed; 6 of the tribe of Asher twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand were sealed; 7 of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand were sealed; 8 of the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Benjamin twelve thousand were sealed.
The 12 tribes of Israel, whether spiritual Israel or lineage Israel, 144,000 people can certainly be imagined as a finite number of special Christians. There are likely to be two types of Christians: the 24 elders who judge the world, and the special Christians who judge the spiritual Israel (and the world, including the false Christians excluding the 24 elders, of course). There are probably 144,000 commanders among the Christians.
Even at the time of Christ there was a distinction between the twelve disciples and Gentile Christians. The same is true in later generations, perhaps with the 144,000 being an even more selective elite force of Christians from around the world who are spiritual Israel, and the 24 elders being the standard, unspecified number of true Christians.
Philippians 3:10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, 11 if, by any means, I may attain to the outward resurrection from the dead. 12 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. 13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you. 16 Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind.
The word translated resurrection from the dead in verse 11 is “ex anastasis”, used only once in the entire Bible; instead of “anastasis” referring to Christ's resurrection in verse 10, ex, meaning “out,” accompanies this verse 11 only. In the bible hub, it is ἐξανάστασιν τὴν ἐκ νεκρῶν, and the sentence structure is, from the left, “outward resurrection, that, from, dead”. There seems to be a special class of outward resurrection from the dead, rather than the ordinary resurrection from the dead. In fact, the Restoration Translation of the Bible describes this passage as an “exceptional resurrection”. Furthermore, in verse 15, it is made clear that there is a difference in the spiritual level and goals of Paul and the other Christians to whom the heavenly hope is extended by stating, “If you have another thought."
So, if we take the 144,000 literally, they are not the usual heavenly class of resurrection, but a special, exceptional class, equally gathered from all over the world who have achieved an “outward resurrection from the dead, an exceptional resurrection”. But there are also 24 elders, an unspecified number of Christians from all over the world.
There is a superior and more exceptional resurrection within the first resurrection, and this is the consideration that are a class of 144,000. There seem to be two groups in the heavenly class: the 24 elders (unspecified number) and the 144,000 (finite number). The firstfruits and leaders of the celestial class are the 144,000. Paul spoke of having a vision of the “third heaven” in 2 Corinthians 12:2,3. Therefore, there may be a first, second, third, etc. level of the heavenly realm to which the 144,000 firstfruits and the 24 elders belong.
The apostle Paul also speaks of the faithful Jewish remnant who became the first Christians as being “firstfruits.” (Ro 11:16) The Christian Epaenetus is called “a firstfruits of Asia for Christ” (Ro 16:5), and the household of Stephanas “the firstfruits of Achaia.”—1Co 16:15.
Paul describes the Christians of the Ephesian congregation as those who had been “sealed” by the Holy Spirit, a preliminary seal concerning their heavenly inheritance. (Eph. 1:13, 14; 4:30) That seal means they belong to God (2 Co 1:21, 22) and indicates that they are indeed recipients of heavenly life.
Therefore, to short-sightedly infer that because only the 144,000 purchased from the tribes of Israel were “sealed with the firstfruits and seals” in the Book of Revelation, the 24 elders purchased from the Gentiles do not fall under that category, is not in harmony with the soundness of the entire Bible. The fact that the 24 elders are also on the throne of priests in heaven if we cite the Pauline epistles, and that they are described as facing the 144,000 on Mount Zion, implies that they are the firstfruits purchased from the earth with the seal of the Holy Spirit in an equal brother-sister relationship, united in a separate entity but in equal spirituality with it The firstfruits of the Holy Spirit.
In the first century, there was a distinction between blood-tribe Israel and Gentiles, and in particular blood-tribe Jewish Christians were described as the firstfruits, but subsequent Gentiles also received the seal of the Holy Spirit and in a sense became the firstfruits as Gentiles. The Book of Revelation, describing the equal purchase of Christians from the tribe of Israel and from all other nations of the world, indicates that there will be a finite number of 144,000 and an unlimited number of 24 elder-class Christians at the same time. And then there are the various Christian classes of the great multitude of righteous who have received the assurance of eternal life on earth, presumably the unbelieving righteous at the time when Christ himself will redeem them at his second coming.
Being raptured alive without martyrdom?
1 Thessalonians 4:16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.
1 Corinthians 15:35 But someone will say, "How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come?" 36 Foolish one, what you sow is not made alive unless it dies. 37 And what you sow, you do not sow that body that shall be, but mere grain--perhaps wheat or some other grain. 51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed--
The passage in 1 Thessalonians 4:16 refers to “the alive and remaining ones” as genuine Christians who have died to sin and corruption, been spiritually reborn, and are passing through persecution and tribulation. They will be caught up in the air to be with the Lord forever. In 1 Corinthians 15:51, it states that they will not fall asleep in death, meaning that the “alive and remaining” Christians, even if they die, will not fall asleep but will immediately be resurrected. Revelation 11:7-11 describes two witnesses dying, remaining dead for three and a half days, then being resurrected and ascending. This can be interpreted as “not falling asleep in death” because the period is so brief—three and a half days—compared to Christians who were martyred in life and remained in death's sleep for long ages.
Furthermore, if we interpret the “rapture while still alive” as literally occurring for participation in the first resurrection, then the eligible Christians would need to have endured severe persecution and suffered the same afflictions as Jesus. This interpretation suggests that in the midst of persecution, when they were near death, their lives were taken at Jesus’ return, they died, and met Him in the clouds. This is also a perfectly plausible interpretation.
The case of the great multitude being caught up alive into heaven
This interpretation is also possible, so I will explain it. In Revelation 7:9, the great multitude is described as “standing before the throne and before the Lamb.” Opinions differ on whether this means they are standing before God spiritually or literally present before God in heaven. However, the phrase “they held palm branches in their hands” and verse 17 stating “the great multitude is led to the fountain of the water of life” strongly support the interpretation that this is an earthly paradise.
Zechariah 8:6 "Thus says the Lord of hosts: 'If it is marvelous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days, Will it also be marvelous in My eyes?' Says the Lord of hosts. 7 "Thus says the Lord of hosts: 'Behold, I will save My people from the land of the east And from the land of the west; 8 I will bring them back, And they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. They shall be My people And I will be their God, In truth and righteousness.'
Revelation 21:2 Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. 4 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away."
As this scripture states, Yahuwah Himself declares, “I will gather them to Myself from every place where they have been scattered.” Thus, the “great multitude that no one could count”—God's people scattered throughout the world—will be miraculously transported through the air, that is, raptured. As described in Revelation 21:2, entering the New Jerusalem descending from heaven (though it descends, it remains relatively high within the Earth's atmosphere). It will then descend to the earth around the time the millennial reign begins.
Acts 8:38-40 records the miracle of Philip being taken up by the Spirit of the Lord and instantly transported through the air 40 kilometers from Gaza to Azotus. The Greek word “hapazo” used here is the same word as “caught up” in 1 Thessalonians 4:16.
1 Corinthians 15:38 But God gives it a body as He pleases, and to each seed its own body. 39 All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of animals, another of fish, and another of birds. 40 There are also celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies; but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. 41 There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory. 42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. 43 It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
During that aerial movement, the great multitudes—though not the first resurrection of the martyr class of eternal immortality, as the “Second class”—will inherit imperishable earthly bodies that have partaken of the water and fruit of life.
Ezekiel 47:12 Along the bank of the river, on this side and that, will grow all kinds of trees used for food; their leaves will not wither, and their fruit will not fail. They will bear fruit every month, because their water flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for medicine."
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