Who will stand there as sharers with the Lamb Jesus Christ in the heavenly world government? John observed the number and said:

⁷ “And I saw, and, look! the Lamb standing upon the Mount Zion, and with him a hundred and forty-four thousand having his name and the name of his Father written on their foreheads. And they are singing as if a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders; and no one was able to master that song but the hundred and forty-four thousand, who have been bought from the earth. These are the ones that did not defile themselves with women; in fact, they are virgins. These are the ones that keep following the Lamb no matter where he goes. These were bought from among mankind as firstfruits to God and to the Lamb, and no falsehood was found in their mouths; they are without blemish.”​—Revelation 14:1, 3-5.

SPIRITUAL ISRAELITES

9, 10. (a) With what did the 144,000 have to be sealed? (b) Out of what nation were they sealed, and how many to a division?

⁹ That comparatively small number, 144,000, is not a miscalculation. It was also set forth earlier by John, in Revelation 7:1-8. It is there made clear that one of the requirements for being one of the “little flock” of Kingdom sharers is that of being marked in the forehead with the identifying “seal of the living God,” besides having written on the forehead, as it were, the name of the Lamb and the name of his Father, Jehovah God. How many meet this requirement, and of what nation or race are they? The apostle John leaves us in no doubt about this, saying:

¹⁰ “And I heard the number of those who were sealed, a hundred and forty-four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of the sons of Israel: Out of the tribe of Judah twelve thousand sealed; out of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand; out of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand; out of the tribe of Asher twelve thousand; out of the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand; out of the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand; out of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand; out of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand; out of the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand; out of the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand; out of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand; out of the tribe of Benjamin twelve thousand sealed.”​—Revelation 7:4-8.

11, 12. (a) Of what kind of Israel do the 144,000 have to be? (b) According to Romans 9:29 and Ro 11:5, how many natural Jews qualified?

¹¹ The names of these twelve tribes differ from the list of names of the original twelve tribes of natural Israel, as given in Genesis 49:3-28. Rightly so, for Revelation 7:4-8 presents the names of the tribes of spiritual Israel. They have to be spiritual Israelites if they are to stand with the Lamb Jesus Christ on the heavenly Mount Zion. (Revelation 14:1-3; Hebrews 12:22) Here we have to take into consideration the words addressed to the Lamb Jesus Christ, at Revelation 5:9, 10: “You were slaughtered and with your blood you bought persons for God out of [whom? Out of natural, circumcised Israel? No, but out of] every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and you made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God, and they are to rule as kings over the earth.” Bible history shows that there were only a “remnant” of Jews according to the flesh that became Christians. It was just as the Christianized Jew, the apostle Paul, said:

¹² “Unless Jehovah of armies had left a seed to us, we should have become just like Sodom, and we should have been made just like Gomorrah.” Also: “In this way, therefore, at the present season also a remnant has turned up according to a choosing due to undeserved kindness [and not according to fleshly Israelite descent].”​—Romans 9:29; 11:5.

13, 14. (a) Do the 144,000 need to be fleshly Israelites? (b) To what extent do they have to be spiritual Israelites?

¹³ In order for 144,000 persons “out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation” to be rated as “Israelites” they would have to be such in a figurative sense, that is, be inwardly Israelites. As Romans 2:29 reminds us: “He is a Jew who is one on the inside, and his circumcision is that of the heart by spirit.”

Accordingly, the natural Jews as well as the non-Jews who become the dedicated, baptized disciples of Christ and whom God picks out to share with Christ in world rule God begets with his spirit. All such become spiritual Israelites.

17, 18. What did God foreordain about sharers in world rule?

¹⁷ Jehovah God, the Universal Sovereign, predestinated or foreordained the number that would share with Christ in the Kingdom rule over all the earth. He also foreordained the requirements and personal qualifications for those worthy to share in the world rule. That is why there will be only 144,000 who share with Jesus Christ in the world government. They must be spiritual Israelites. Aside from his Son Jesus Christ, Jehovah did not predestine or foreordain individuals. Rather, he set out in advance the requirements and personal qualifications for Kingdom heirs. In the light of this we understand Romans 8:29, 30:

¹⁸ “Those whom he gave his first recognition he also foreordained to be patterned after the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. Moreover, those whom he foreordained are the ones he also called; and those whom he called are the ones he also declared to be righteous [or, whom he justified]. Finally those whom he declared righteous are the ones he also glorified.”