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2000 TGF Bible Conference

Pauline Eschatology: The Complete Ministry of the 144,000

Session V
The Relevance of the 144,000 to the Body of Christ
Stephen E. Rodabaugh

Abstract. This session resolves the relevance of the 144k of Israel's Third Generation to the Jewless, Gentileless, non-earthly Body of Christ. The Body of Christ, as the redeemed humanity of Israel's Messiah, sits with Christ over all angels and supervises the angelic hosts in their empowerment and direction of the 144k. As those who oversee the angelic restoration of Israel's future empire through the 144k, it is imperative for the Body of Christ to master all that the Scriptures have to say concerning the ministry of the 144k. Furthermore, the Body of Christ, along with all of God's Elect, are to draw comfort from the great sacrifice offered by the 144k and the rightful acknowledgment of Christ as the true Messiah of the Nation.

 

General Outline of Session V:

 

I. Administrative Relationship of the Body of Christ to the 144,000

  1. Body over angelic ranks
  2. Angelic ranks over Israel and 144,000
  3. Summary of Body's administrative relationship to the 144,000

II. Temporal Relationship of the Body of Christ to the 144,000

  1. Rapture of Body and the First Four Seals
  2. All left behind at Rapture are reprobate
  3. Birth and conception of 144,000

III. Eschatological Relationship of the Body of Christ to the 144,000

  1. Interrelationships of hopes of the Elects
  2. Hope of Body: keystone of all the hopes
  3. Double purpose of the Day of the Body

IV. Emotional Relationship of the Body of Christ to the 144,000

  1. Body is fullness of humanity of Israel's Messiah
  2. Body rests because of 144,000 executing vengeance

I. Administrative Relationship of the Body of Christ to the 144,000

  1. Body Over Angelic Ranks
    1. Body is jointly-seated with Christ in the Third Heaven over all angelic ranks
      1. Body's paradise = Third Heaven above the angelic heavens (II. Cor. 12:1–4)
      2. Body blessed with all spiritual blessings in the super-heavens (Eph. 1:3)
      3. Body jointly seated with Christ over all angelic principalities and powers (Eph. 1:20; 2:6) and where the Body is now seated is where Christ now sits and whence He will descend for His Body (Phil. 3:20 (Greek text), I Thess. 4:16–17).
    2. Body, as the fullness of Christ's authority, will administrate and govern the angelic ranks and through them the entire created order:
      1. Directly asserted in Greek text of I Cor. 6:2–3.
      2. Necessary inference of the logical principle of Heb. 7:7 (the lesser is blessed by the better) and the following texts: Eph. 3:10 (the Body instructs the angels in regard to the many-sided = dispensational wisdom of God); I Cor. 13:1 (when the Pauline scriptures were in revelation, the Body spoke with tongues of angels—cf. I Cor. 14:2).
      3. Necessary inference of Body forever dwelling within the Shekhinah Glory with Christ (I Thess. 4:16–17) and the fact that Shekhinah is the Cloud of angels.
      4. Necessary inference of Paul (and Body) having the authority to curse any angel of any rank who opposes Paul's unique gospel (Gal. 1:8–9), an attitude totally in appropriate for a Jew and which would indicate reprobation for that Jew (II Pet. 2:10, Jude 8).
      5. Necessary inference of the officers of the Corinthian assembly having the authority to hand one over to Satan (I Cor. 5:5).
      6. Necessary inference, within the context of Eph. 2, of the One Spirit, One Lord, One Father-God in Eph. 4:4–6—in contrast with Israel's kingdom in B below, there is nothing between the Triune Godhead and the Body of Christ, hence its superior position over the angelic hosts. Explicitly confirmed by the earlier revealed Scriptures I Cor. 8:5; 12:4–6, again in contrast with B below.
      7. Many other proofs in [DS7].
  2. Angelic Ranks Over Israel and 144,000
    1. Angels are the many spirits over Israel's kingdom: Heb 1:13,14, Ezek. 1:21, I Kings 22:21-23, II Chron. 18:20-22, I Sam 16:14-23, 18:10; 19:9, Ps 104:4, etc. This is also universally the case in the non-Pauline N. T.
    2. Angels are the many lords over Israel's kingdom: Gen 19:2,18 (angels are Lot's lords/priests), Dan 10:16,17,19; 12:8 (Gabriel is Daniel's lord), Is 6:6–7 (Seraph is Isaiah's priest/lord), Ps 136:3 (angels are the psalmist's lords), Zech 5:10; 6:4 (angelic tutor is Zechariah's lord), I Cor 8:5 (heavenly lords, = holy angels for Israel, = demons for pagans). This is also universally the case in the non-Pauline N. T.
    3. Angels are the many gods over Israel's kingdom: Ps. 8:5 (cf. LXX, Heb. 2:7); 82:1,6 (where the angels are commissioned to be faithful gods over the Land and the earth),8; 95:3; 96:4; 97:7,9; 135:1; 136:2; 138:1 (David is submitted unto the gods, for he sings before Jehovah's host of gods), Dan. 10:13,21; 12:1; 11:36 (cf. 8:11,25—this forces "gods" to equal the "starry host"). This is also universally the case in the non-Pauline N. T.
    4. God governs elect Jews through holy angels, reveals Scriptures through angels: Dan 7:16–; 8:17–; 9:21–; 10:10–12:13, Acts 7:53, Gal 3:19, Ezek. 2:2, Heb 2:2, Is 6:6,7, etc. Again note Heb7:7 (the one who blesses is of superior authority). This is also universally the case in the non-Pauline N. T.
  3. Summary of Body's Administrative Relationship to the 144,000. The Body governs and ministers to the angelic hosts, and the angelic hosts govern and minister to Israel, especially the Remnant as the ground troops which establish Israel's eternal empire. Thus the Body of Christ oversees the angelic empowerment of 144,000 to re-establish Israel's kingdom, that is the Body of Christ administrates the angelic recovery of Israel's kingdom through signs and wonders and the 144,000. Thus it is part of the Body's hope, and future prospect as Christ's perfect fullness, to direct the 144,000 through the angelic hosts. Thus it is the Body's self-interest to want to understand the ministry and place of the 144,000, and to feel tenderly toward them as our Messianic brethren. More on this is III below.

     

II. Temporal Relationship of the Body of Christ to the 144,000

  1. Rapture of Body and the First Four Seals
    1. Day of Man followed immediately by the Day of the Lord (= Third Generation)
      1. The Body dispensation is the Day of Man: I Cor. 4:3 (Greek text: the AV "man's judgment" = Day of Man in the Greek).
      2. The Day of the Body of Christ precedes the night in which the Day of the Lord comes as a thief; so that the Day of the Lord cannot catch up to or overtake the Day of the Body: I Thess. 5:1–5. Also note, the Hebrew day begins with night. This implies that the night following the Day of the Body is the beginning of the Day of the Lord, i.e. the Third Generation.
      3. Remarks: The Day of Man = Day of the Body precedes, but does not overlap with the Day of the Lord. Indeed, how could the Day of MAN overlap with the Day of the LORD—it is a self-contradiction to have a period of time that is BOTH. Further, the night following the Day of the Body is the beginning of the Day of the Lord, so the Day of the Lord immediately follows the Day of the Body.
      4. The Rapture, i.e. the Joint-Ascension of the Body with Christ, is the ending of the Day of the Body and of Man: I Thess. 4:13–18. Thus the Day of the Lord begins immediately with the Rapture of the Body.
    2. Wagons/Horsemen of the First Four Seals are prevented only by the presence on earth of the Body of Christ.
      1. Four wagons, with their captains, of the demonic horses at the beginning of the Third Generation: Zech. 6:1–8. These wagons unload their cargo out of the Brook of Kidron, where there is the opening of the Abyss. The four spirits of the heavens indicates that the Third Generation is beginning, for this terminology is established in Dan. 7:2; 8:9 as indicating such. Indeed, the four spirits of the heavens are the four demonic princes which head up these four wagons
      2. Four Horsemen are the captains of the demonic forces of the First Four Seals which begin the Third Generation: Rev. 6:1–8. Clearly the four wagons and the Four Horsemen are to be correlated, with Zechariah being understood first, and then understanding John in that light. From Zechariah, we learn: these Four Horsemen (horses) are the four spirits of the heavens; and the White Horseman is the Prince of Greece, the Red Horseman is the Prince of Palestine, the Black Horseman is the Prince of Medo-Persia/Assyria/Babylonia, and the Pale Horseman is the Prince of Egypt with charge over the nephilimic incursion (bay horses) into the line of Jacob, an incursion in which Satan personally participates..
      3. The Four Horsemen and their hosts are ready to erupt from the portal of the Abyss—they were prepared to do this at the close of the Second Generation, and would have if the Third Generation had immediately followed the Second Generation: Rev. 1:3; 22:10–11. John is the capstone of Israel's prophets and the Apocalypse was ready at the close of the Second Generation to be fulfilled; indeed, John had finished the Apocalypse at Patmos by the close of the Second Generation.
      4. What restrains the Four Horsemen and the Third Generation is the Body of Christ's presence: II Thess. 2:5–8
        1. Until the restraining one be taken out of the midst, the AntiChrist cannot be revealed, including his nephilimic conception by Satan. Thus the Body must be raptured for the First Four Seals to be opened. Some say the Holy Spirit is the Restraining One; but He is omnipresent and cannot be taken out of the midst. It is more accurate to say that Holy Spirit, through His angelic spirits, restrains the Four Horsemen until He empowers and glorifies the Body at its Joint-Ascension with Christ at the Catching-Away (Rapture) (I Cor. 15:42–48; I Thess. 4:13–18).
        2. The reasons why the Four Horsemen are restrained while the Body is here include the following:
          1. The Body is superior to the angelic hosts, and it would be a violation of that administrative order for there to be that demonic activity which is part of the angelic program to restore Israel's kingdom.
          2. The Body is non-ethnic—neither Jew nor Gentile, and it would be a violation of that non-ethnicity for there to be that demonic activity which is part of the master plan to restore a kingdom in which there is Jew and Gentile. (See [DS7].)
          3. The Body is of the Day of Man which precedes the Day of the Lord which is inaugurated by the Four Horsemen.
      5. The Four Horsemen and their demonic cohorts erupt out of the Abyss as soon as the Body as the Restraining One is removed.
  2. All Left Behind at Rapture are Reprobate
    1. In the Day of the Body (I Thess. 5:5—see A(1) above), one is either a member of the Body with the Hope of the Body, or one has no hope at all and hence is a reprobate; and one living during the Day of the Body is either comforted by the Body Hope or not comforted at all: I Thess. 4:13,18.
    2. All who live into the Day of the Lord from the Day of the Body will not escape the wrath poured out in the Day of the Lord: I Thess. 5:3. Hence all such are not only reprobate, but will not die a natural death.
    3. All those who are sleeping and drunk during the Day of the Body, will continue to do so during the night of the Day of the Lord (the Hebrew day begins with night, and see I Thess. 5:4 that the Day of the Lord begins with darkness). Hence all unsaved during the Body age will continue to be unsaved during the resumption of Israel's program.
    4. All those saved in the Body age are spared the wrath of the Day of the Lord, and, in context, all those not saved in the Body age who live into the resumption of Israel's age are not spared the wrath of the Day of the Lord: I Thess. 5:3,7–10.
    5. All those not believing the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ = our testimony (Paul's gospel) during the present dispensation trouble the Body of Christ, and all such living into Israel's Day of the Lord will be dealt vengeance and eternal damnation: II Thess. 1:6–8–10.
    6. Body of Christ is the Restraining One whose presence blocks the revealing of the Man of Sin: II Thess 2:6–8. See A(2) just above.
    7. Body of Christ comprises precisely those that believe Paul's gospel: II Thess. 2:13–17.
    8. The truth in the context of II Thess. 2:5–17 is the gospel of Paul and the handed-over doctrines to the Thessalonians by word or epistle of Paul: II Thess. 2:10–15.
    9. All those from this dispensation who are present when the Man of Sin is revealed are precisely those who reject the truth of Paul's gospel, and these are therefore not in the Body / Restraining One removed out of the midst before the revealing of the Man of Sin: II Thess. 2:10–12 and (3) above.
    10. All those from this dispensation who reject the truth of Paul's gospel perish and are condemned: II Thess. 2:10,12.
    11. Therefore, ALL those left behind at the Rapture of the Body are reprobate and will NEVER be saved. Rejecting the truth for this dispensation, they are rejected forever. This is the unavoidable conclusion of I Thess. 4:13–II Thess. 2:17 and the above points.
    12. Those left behind are reprobates who support the Man of Sin and his lie: II Thess. 2:3–4,10–12. These constitute that part of the AntiBody which directly supports the AntiChrist. So all those in opposition to Paul's distinctive gospel and its distinctiveness are the AntiBody generally; and at the time of the Rapture, the AntiBody supports the AntiChrist.
    13. The book/movie Left Behind, promoted by Jack and Roxella van Impe, is false. The claimed purpose of Left Behind [e.g. p. 212]—it will help to save those left behind, especially loved ones and friends and neighbors—seems demonic in its attempt to pervert Paul's plain statements. The advertisement of Left Behind as a way to bring about the salvation of lost relatives is offensive. The terrible irony is that those promoting Left Behind are generally those opposing the distinctive gospel of Paul, and if such do not repent, and the Rapture takes place in their lifetime, THEY will be LEFT BEHIND and killed and condemned. See (9) below and IV.B. below.
    14. If the principle of I Kings 2:5–6,8–9, carried out by a warrior Benaiah of the priestly line (I Kings 2:34,46), applies here, then no one left behind at the Rapture would die a natural death; that this principle applies here is confirmed by I Thess. 5:3, II Thess. 2:8,9. See IV.B. below.
  3. Birth and Conception of 144,000
    1. As priests, each of the 144,000 must be at least 30 years old in accordance with the Law: Num. 4:3,23,30,35,39. This 30 year requirement must be satisfied before they take on their priestly duties as documented in [TGF 2000 Sessions III–IV], and these priestly duties consume 7 years.
    2. All left behind at the Rapture are reproved: see B above.
    3. None of the 144,000 is alive when the Rapture takes place, since they are of Elect Israel and are not reprobate: [TGF 2000 Session IV].
    4. Therefore, all the 144,000 are born after the Rapture to reprobate parents of Jewish stock. Similar arguments establish that the Two Witnesses, and indeed all Elect Israel of the Third Generation, are born, are born to reprobate parents of Jewish stock. Also, all the righteous of the nations of Israel's Third Generation are born after the Rapture to reprobate parents of Gentile stock. Cf. Micah 7:6, Matt. 10:34–37.
    5. It would appear that the 144,000 are conceived immediately given Is. 66:7–11 and the time constraints in (1) just above in a 40 year generation. Finally, the 144,000 are contemporaries of the AntiChrist (see (6) below and I John 2:18); and the AntiChrist is conceived immediately in order that he can imitate Christ, start his public "ministry" by age 30 at the beginning of the Fifth Seal (= year 30 of the Third Generation), receive his deadly wound and be resurrected by the conclusion of the Sixth Seal (= year 33 of the Third Generation).
    6. The 144,000, along with the Two Witnesses, are apparently the good seed which in their earlier years cannot be differentiated from the bad seed of the Third Generation: Matt. 13:36–43. But the bad seed is sown by Satan and includes the nephilimic seed, which cannot be sown—this sowing is part of the First Four Seals—until the Rapture occurs and which must be sown as soon as the Rapture occurs: see A above.
    7. Therefore, the 144,000 and the Two Witnesses are conceived, along with the nephilimic seed, as soon as the Rapture occurs.

III. Eschatological Relationship of the Body of Christ to the 144,000

This section borrows heavily from the Romans 8 notes and [DS7]

  1. Interrelationships of Hopes of the Elects
    1. Administrative order: Christ over Body, Body over angels, angels over Israel, Israel over the Gentiles, Gentiles over the earth (flora and fauna).
    2. Christ and Body are in the Third Heaven, the holy angels reside in the purified Second Heaven, Israel resides in the Land/Eternal Jerusalem, and the Gentiles fill the earth.
    3. Christ ministers to the Body so that it can properly minister to the angels, the Body ministers to the angels so that they can properly minister to Israel, the angels properly minister to Israel so that they can properly minister to the Gentiles, and Israel properly ministers to the Gentiles so that they can properly manage the earth.
  2. Hope of Body: Keystone of All the Hopes
    1. All the Elect of all the houses (Body, Israel, Gentiles) look for the consummation of the Body's hope: Rom. 8:16–24.
    2. Body's glorification includes the Body's humiliation of Satan: Rom. 16:20 + see notes on Rapture-Battle (i.e. the doctrine that the Body goes to war at the Rapture to take its place in the Third Heaven).
    3. Body hands Satan over to Michael, who wars against Satan to purify the Second Heaven and claim the angelic hope: Rev. 6:12–17; 12:7–9.
    4. The holy angels, as the Shekhinah, descend upon Olivet, split it, rest upon the 144,000 as the Remnant of Israel, and lead them to total victory so as to secure Israel's hope in the Land and Eternal City: see [TGF 2000 Sessions III–IV].
    5. With Israel secured for 1,000 years, the Gentile question is resolved at Gog and Magog and the Gentile hopes are secured in the new earth: Rev. 20:7–15; 21:1–27.
  3. Double Purpose of the Day of the Body
    1. Body of Christ is formed in the Day of Man to complete Christ: I Cor. 4:3, Eph. 4:13.
    2. AntiBody of AntiChrist formed in the Day of Man to set the Man of Sin up after the Rapture: II Thess. 2:1–17 (see II above).

IV. Emotional Relationship of the Body of Christ to the 144,000

  1. Body is Fullness of Humanity of Israel's Messiah
    1. Body is the fullness of Christ in His humanity: Eph. 1:22–23, Col. 2:10.
    2. Christ tenderly loves the Elect of His Nation: I Kings 10:9, II Chron. 2:11, Is. 19:25, Mal. 1:3 / Rom. 9:13, Matt. 15:21–28, John 3:16; 10:7–18; 11:5; 13:1, etc.
    3. Therefore the Body loves Elect Israel and will oversee the angelic recovery of Israel's kingdom (I, II, III above); and in particular, the Body loves the 144,000 as the redeemers of the Land [TGF 2000 Sessions III–IV].
  2. Body Rests Because of 144,000 Executing Vengeance
    1. The AntiBody is among those that trouble the Body.
      1. For AntiBody, see II, III above.
      2. AntiBody troubles Body: II Thess. 1:4–6,8 (note that the ones troubling the Body are those refusing to obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus = our testimony (1:10) = our gospel = handed-over- doctrine [by our] word or our epistle (2:14—15)), II Tim. 1:8–15; 2:3(Greek text),9,17–19; 4:10,14–15. Note the context of II Thess. 1:4–2:17 in I Thess. 4:13–II Thess. 2:17.
    2. Body is to rest from being troubled by the AntiBody and any other reprobates when the Day of the Lord comes: I Thess. 4:13,18; 5:11, II Thess. 1:6–10, overall context of I Thess. 4:13–II Thess. 2:17.
    3. Body is to be comforted by the vengeance of the 144,000.
      1. Every member of each Elect House rejoices in God's justice being carried out: e.g. Rev. 11:15–19.
      2. Members of the Body of Christ are not to take vengeance of those who wrong them (Rom. 12:17–21); although we are entitled to self-defense (I Tim. 5:8).
      3. The plagues, earthquakes, and the 144,000, of the Day of the Lord, will execute vengeance on those that have troubled the Body of Christ: II Thess. 1:6. In particular, they will execute vengeance on the AntiBody; and the 144,000 will personally execute any AntiBody from this dispensation who are still alive in the last 3.5 years of the 70th Sabbatical and not killed by the plagues and earthquakes—any such "left behind" will have their heads harvested and the blood of their bodies pressed out are part of the mother of all sacrifices in which the blood is up to the horse's bridle. You won't see this truth portrayed in Left Behind.
      4. The 144,000 execute vengeance on behalf of all the Houses of the Elect; they are the last army in earth history (cf. Gog and Magog in Rev. 20). But in particular, they execute that vengeance for the Body of Christ which the Body is not allowed to do. Therefore, the Body is comforted by the ministry of the 144,000.


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