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And
I saw a new heaven and a new earth.
For the first
heaven and the first earth had passed away. And the sea no longer
is.
Revelation
21:1
And I saw another angel ascending from the
east, having the seal of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice
to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the
sea, saying, Do not hurt the earth or the sea or the trees
until we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.
And
I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred and forty-four
thousand, having been sealed out of every tribe of the sons
of Israel.
Rev
7:2 -4
We are at the cusp between the age of the Church and the age of the
Kingdom of God.
The transition from the old earth and
heaven to the new earth and heaven need not be traumatic if you allow
God to lead you.
But Christians locked into their old paradigms need to understand what is about to happen or
risk being locked out. (Matthew 25:8)
The book of Revelation provides us with a clear insight into this time
if we can hear it. It shows us that the issue is not the
destruction of the old earth (which includes the church) but the truth
of the new earth (which is about the kingdom of God).
The
144000 from every tribe of Israel is the key to the transition to the
new earth and the new heaven - the Kingdom of God.
The New Heaven and the New Earth - the
Kingdom - is symbolised by the Holy City - the Bride - the New
Jerusalem coming down from God.
And I saw a
new heaven and a new earth. For the first heaven and the first earth
had passed away. And the sea no longer is. And I, John, saw
the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of Heaven,
prepared as a bride adorned for her Husband.
Rev 21
v 1 and 2
Its dimensions and its gates are given in chapter 21.
And the city
lies four-square, and the length is as large as the breadth. And he
measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand stadia. The
length and the breadth and the height of it are equal. And he
measured its wall, a hundred and forty-four cubits, according to the
measure of a man, that is, of an angel.
Rev 21
v 16 and 17
And the
twelve gates were twelve pearls.
Rev
21:21
The 144000 from every tribe - 12 by 12000 - is God's provision of patterning for the
Kingdom before the destruction of the old order. It is in this
sacramental patterning of the Kingdom that we will resonate and
coinhere with the New Heaven and the New Earth before the destruction
of the old.
The invitation to be sealed is not
for 144000 of the literal tribes of Israel. It is for you!
The Holy Spirit is the Seal.
Forget the glib evangelical cliche of 'Born Again Christian'. We are to
be sealed with true rebirth in the Holy Spirit. It is through the Holy Spirit that we are to
receive a true spiritual body that will be able to inhabit the realms
of God. (see here for
more).
'One who hears' says come! (Rev 22 v 17)
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