First Quarter of 2019 the Sabbath School studies the book of Revelation.

Lesson One
The Gospel From Patmos (click to see full lesson)

Revelation 1:1 states the title of the book as "The Revelation of Jesus Christ".

Jesus is the central figure of Revelation. The book begins with Him (Rev. 1:5-8) and concludes with Him (Rev. 22:12-16)

This Jesus in Revelation is the Jesus of the four Gospels. Revelation continues the description of Jesus and His work of salvation as He returns to heaven. The book of Revelation focuses on different aspects of His existence and ministry. Essentially it begins where the Gospels end, with Jesus' resurrection and ascension

A great video emphasizing this concept of Revealing Jesus in Revelation -- can be listened to by clicking the link below.
Join hosts James Rafferty and Ivor Myers as they discuss the book of Revelation and the importance of putting Jesus first.

Jesus First, Revelation Salvation in symbols and signs

I also embedded the video into the opening post of this thread.

Revelation in symbols and signs
starts exploring the seven churches in episode 7
All the churches are studied and can be found on the internet
Below are links to the study of the first two messages to the churches

07 Ephesus


08 Smyrna

Here is Doug Batchelor on the 144,000:

"Revelation 7:1-4 states: "After these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. 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, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel."

Then the Scripture lists 12,000 from each of the following 12 tribes: Judah, Reuben, Gad, Asher, Naphtali, Manasseh, Simeon, Levi, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin.

Now the main question is whether or not the 144,000 are actually 12,000 literal Israelites from each of these respective tribes. Twelve tribes came from the 12 sons of Jacob, but because Joseph was sold into slavery by his older brothers, he was separated from his family for many years. After Joseph finally reunited with his father, Jacob promised to compensate by adopting Joseph's two sons as his own, to be numbered with his sons in place of Joseph.

"Now thy two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, which were born unto thee in the land of Egypt before I came unto thee into Egypt, are mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine." Genesis 48:5. Hence, Joseph would be numbered twice through his sons. So its not the literal 12 tribes, but the clue to it being a spiritual meaning to the 144,000 was the way in which the tribes are listed in Revelation 7:5-8. This is the only time in Scripture that the names of the tribes appear in this order. Reuben, the firstborn of Jacob, is listed as second while Judah, fourth in birth order, is listed as first. Joseph and Levi are included, while Ephraim and Dan are left out. Why?

Because "Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder [viper] in the path, that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward" (Genesis 49:17), and "Ephraim is joined to idols: let him alone" (Hosea 4:17).

I watched Pastor Doug Batchelor as one of the two presenters of that week's Sabbath School lesson and heard him say that he is probsbly in the minority in that he believes the 144,000 is a literal number.

I'm sure he has some rationale by which he makes this statement. Revelation is mostly symbol, so this is quite unusual.

The following link will probably show his rationale in believing that the 144,000 is a literal number:

https://www.amazingfacts.org/news-and-fe...re-the-144-000-

Fortunately that was an article, not a video. I read it in its entirety, and I must say I did not see any legitimate support for 144,000 being a literal number. He seems to pull random facts and evidence from obscure places because it fits his trajectory.

However, kudos to Batchelor for prefacing the article with "I share the following study with confidence, but I also realize and respect that others may have a different interpretation."

So, not surprisingly, I do not agree with his assertion.

But no big deal. It bears not a bit on salvation.

Math is interesting. The SDA church now boasts 21 million members.



1/100 of 21,000,000 = 210,000.
If less than 210,000 are not doing anything beyond engaging in common worldly enterprises, does that mean that SDA's will have a hard time finding 144,000 to make up God's count?

Logic is interesting.
If less than 210,000 of 21,000,000 are not doing anything beyond engaging in common worldly enterprises, does that mean that the others are doing something beyond engaging in common worldly enterprises?