WEBVTT

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Day 361, or December the 27th. Everyone is precious.

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Our thoughts today come from Revelation chapter

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7, verse 4. Then I heard the number of those

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who were sealed, 144 ,000, from all the tribes

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of Israel. And now the big picture surrounding this

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verse. John continues his prophecies of tribulation

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with the seven trumpets. Of course, to a Jewish

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ear, trumpets are very significant. They were

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usually made from a ram's horn and go back to

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the beginning of time. They were used in times

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of war, in religious ceremonies, and vitally

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when Matthew records the words of Jesus as he

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was teaching about his second coming. This is

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what was recorded in Matthew chapter 24 verse

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31. And he will send out his angels with the

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mighty blast of a trumpet, and they will gather

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his chosen ones from all over the world, from

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the farthest ends of the earth and heaven. They

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herald the end of time. And now today's action

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step. The idea of a crowd of 144 ,000 has proved

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a point of fascination ever since Revelation

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was written. What exactly did John mean? Jehovah's

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Witnesses believe the final number of the heavenly

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church will be 144 ,000, with the rest of saved

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humanity living on a glorified earth. A segregated

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eternity doesn't ring true to me, and I can't

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justify it from elsewhere in the Bible. It seems

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to me that it simply describes an enormous number

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who will get into heaven, that is, twelve tribes

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squared and multiplied by a thousand. Personally,

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I do not believe that God has a numeric target,

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or, as 1 Timothy 2 verse 4 puts it, he, that's

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God, wants everyone to be saved and to understand

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the truth. There is an important point here,

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however, and that is the fact that God doesn't

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just talk about multitudes, but he thinks of

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them as a vast crowd of counted individuals.

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We are all important to God, and each one of

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us should live in the light of being that important.

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Hold your head high, and no matter what other

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people may think of you, or what you think of

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yourself, Jesus was dying to meet you before

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you ever thought of him.