can a jehovah wittness please explain this?

Question

rev ,7 talks about 144,000 jews from the 12 tribes of isreal going to heaven... how do jws say that the verse is half literal meaning 144,000 and the other half is figureitive meaning jews from the 12 tribes??

what about 2 cor. 5,1-10 , that clearly states when are bodies here on earth die God will have a heavenly one for us...and dont say hes only speaking about the 144,000 because it doesnt even mention them.......he means all belivers....

Answer 1

Jehovah's Witnesses believe that all the Christians who worked alongside the apostles are among the 144,000 who are resurrected to heaven. Thus, everyone in every congregation that Paul wrote to (Galatia, Ephesus, Corinth, etc) was "anointed".


The fact is that the vast majority of modern Jehovah's Witnesses (and other faithful mankind) hope to enjoy life ON EARTH forever, rather than in heaven. Jehovah's Witnesses understand heaven to refer to the dwelling place of spirit creatures such as Jesus and the angels. They understand the Scriptures to teach that exactly 144,000 humans will join Christ Jesus as kings and priests to administer God's Kingdom (which will soon replace all earthly governments).
(Daniel 2:44) God of heaven will set up a kingdom... It will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, and it itself will stand to times indefinite
(Revelation 14:1) Lamb [Jesus] standing upon the Mount Zion, and with him a hundred and forty-four thousand
(Revelation 20:6) they will be priests of God and of the Christ, and will rule as kings with him

The men and women who make up the 144,000 are selected by God from among two thousand years of Christians. Over whom will they rule? Over the vast majority of mankind, most of whom will have been raised from the dead after Armageddon.
(John 11:23,24) Jesus said to her: “Your brother will rise.” Martha said to him: “I know he will rise in the resurrection on the last day.”

Hell is NOT someplace/something mankind needs to fear; there is no suffering in the grave. Sometime after the resurrection, death and "hell" will themselves be destroyed.
(Ecclesiastes 9:5) For the living are conscious that they will die; but as for the dead, they are conscious of nothing at all
(Ecclesiastes 9:10) there is no work nor devising nor knowledge nor wisdom in Sheol ["hell"]
(Revelation 20:14) And death and Hades ["hell"] were hurled into the lake of fire


Almighty Jehovah God selects those few who have the heavenly calling. Each person "feels" his own hope and each person's hope remains unquestioned by his fellow Christians. Still the vast majority (literally more than 99.9%*) of Jehovah's Witnesses expect an EARTHLY hope, the same hope given to Adam and Eve.
(Genesis 1:28) God blessed them and God said to them: “Be fruitful and become many and fill THE EARTH and subdue it [caps added]
(Genesis 2:17) You must not eat from it, for in the day you eat from it you will positively die [so never eating from that tree means never dying]

Answer 2

TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION the144,000 started with the nation of Israel then in 36C.E. it was opened to the nations because a lot of the Jews had rejected Jesus and as far as you 2nd question you are forgetting the context those letters were written to the Christian congregations in the cities mentioned by their names to the Anointed Christians there in this case the letter was addressed to the congregation in Corinth as the letter to the Romans was not addressed to the Roman troops but to the Anointed Christians in Rome and yes they when they die are given spiritual bodies like the Angels because as 1st Cor 15: tells us flesh and blood cannot inherit Gods Kingdom and no it never meant all Christians or all people for that matter but only those so called and Chosen By God ....as for the rest Ps 37:9-11 and vs 29 clearly state that the meek and righteous will inherit the earth as does Isa 65:21-25 and Rev 21:3,4 Jesus even state his own cousin John will not be in Heaven Mat 11:11 Rev 7:13-17 mentions a Great Crowd here on Earth BTW if you hadnt noticed when reading the Bible there is usually a two fold fulfillment in most prophesies a minor and a major just as there are literal and Spiritual Jews hope this helps you if i can help further let me know best wishes Gorbalizer

Answer 3

Luke 18:10 states “Two men went up into the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector”

In this illustration, is the number Two literal or figurative, is the Pharisee only applied to Jews? And is the praying figurative or literal?

In just one sentence, you can see that some words are meant to be literal, some are meant to be figurative.

Rev 6:10-11 states “. 10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying: “Until when, Sovereign Lord holy and true, are you refraining from judging and avenging our blood upon those who dwell on the earth?” 11 And a white robe was given to each of them; and they were told to rest a little while longer, until the number was filled also of their fellow SLAVES and their brothers who were about to be killed as they also had been.”

These SLAVES of God, where later sealed in their foreheads in Rev 7:3 “3 saying: “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until after we have sealed the SLAVES of our God in their foreheads.””

Rev 7:4 states that these slaves of God number 144,000.

If the prophecy in Rev 6:10 happened in the earlier centuries, then how come the “judgment” of their blood upon those who dwell on the earth has not arrived yet? The judgment is still in the future.

That 144,000 is being CONTRASTED to a huge number, that no man was able to number, means that 144,000 is a small number and literal. Rev 7:9


2 Cor 5:10 talks about the people who will be judged.

10 For we must all be made manifest before the judgment seat of the Christ, that each one may get his award for the things done through the body, according to the things he has practiced, whether it is good or vile.

The 144.000 will be kings with Jesus and part of the FIRST resurrection and are given favor in the judgment itself.

Rev 5:10 states “ and you made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God, and they are to rule as kings over the earth.”

Dan 7:22 states “22 until the Ancient of Days came and judgment itself was given in favor of the holy ones of the Supreme One, and the definite time arrived that the holy ones took possession of the kingdom itself.”

Rev 20:5 states “This is the first resurrection. 6 Happy and holy is anyone having part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no authority, but they will be priests of God and of the Christ, and will rule as kings with him for the thousand years.”


The 144, 000 doesn’t have to be a literal Jew, it can have literal Jews, but not all.

He is not a Jew that is one on the outside, nor is circumcision that which is on the outside upon the flesh. But he is a Jew that is one on the inside, and his circumcision is that of the heart by spirit, and not by a written code.” (Rom. 2:12-29, NW)

Answer 4

Since the Jews rejected Jesus and his teachings, a reasonable explanation is that the group of 12 times 12,000 who are mentioned in Revelation 7, is not related to tribes of physical Israel, but refers to a spiritual Israel and its "tribes".

REMEMBER that Jesus kingdom will include not just the Heavens but also the Earth.

Rev 21: 1,2 - And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven.

If you are not part of the 144,000 then you will be part of the great multitude mention in Rev 7:9.

“After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages.”

Jesus will return and restore spiritual lsrael, "An Earthly Theocracy" which is not just for the Jews but for everyone. (every nation, from all tribes and peoples)

Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw him go into heaven." (Acts 1:10,11).

Answer 5

A previous answerer gave the Big Clue away by saying the Greek Scriptures (or New Testament) was only written for the anointed - the 144,000 in other words, according to JW theology. Now, strangely, this answerer is not one of this elite group. Neither are any of the other JW answerers. They do not claim to be in this group destined for heaven. Nor are they Jehovah's Witnesess. They would have to be Jews for that priviledge (Isa. 43:10 literal application but JWs make it symbolic) However, I am a Jehovah's Witness in the truly scriptural sense; I am a spiritual Jew, with the anointing of the Holy Spirit, and with the heavenly calling. (See Greek Scripture references given by other answerers.) None of the answerers so far are spiritual Jews. They know that the Greek Scriptures were not written for them; they were written for those of the anointed class. How they can pretend to understand them is beyond me.

You are correct to question the picking and choosing of what will be literal, and what will be symbolic in Holy Scripture. People taking such liberties can make the Bible appear to say anything they want it to say. As the readers of the letters to Corinthian Christians were of the anointed class, just as much as readers of the Revelation were, they knew there was only one faith, one hope, one calling, one baptism - to be with Christ in heaven. They knew nothing of a limited number going to heaven, nor would God reveal such a stupendous 'truth' only in the 20th century because Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James, instructed those who have been called and saved to "contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints." (Jude verse 3) By that time, the faith was ONCE FOR ALL entrusted to - who? - 12 men in Brooklyn in the 20th century? - No! It had been entrusted to 1st century Christians who ALL had the heavenly calling. Any other teaching is heresy.

Answer 6

The Christan Greek Scriptures were written for the spirit anointed class, the 144,000 of mankind that have been bought from the earth to serve as kings and priest in the heavens and share in the responsibly of teaching mankind what is Jehovah's will for us and to judge, during that 1,000 year reign of Christ.
The book of Revelation was written after Corinthians and as you have read in your bible, Jehovah gave us his information progressively, until the bible was complete. Now it severs to teach us, to reprove us and to set all maters straight.

Answer 7

why not go to your local kingdom hall and ask someone there, for anyone under the guise of a witness can mislead you on the internet

Answer 8

***Are the 144,000 only natural Jews?

Rev. 7:4-8: “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: . . . Judah . . . Reuben . . . Gad . . . Asher . . . Naphtali . . . Manasseh . . . Simeon . . . Levi . . . Issachar . . . Zebulun . . . Joseph . . . Benjamin.” (These cannot be the tribes of natural Israel because there never was a tribe of Joseph, the tribes of Ephraim and Dan are not included in the list here, and the Levites were set aside for service in connection with the temple but were not reckoned as one of the 12 tribes. See Numbers 1:4-16.)

Rom. 2:28, 29: “He is not a Jew who is one on the outside, nor is circumcision that which is on the outside upon the flesh. But he is a Jew who is one on the inside, and his circumcision is that of the heart by spirit, and not by a written code.”

Gal. 3:26-29: “You are all, in fact, sons of God through your faith in Christ Jesus. . . . There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor freeman, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one person in union with Christ Jesus. Moreover, if you belong to Christ, you are really Abraham’s seed, heirs with reference to a promise.”

***Is the number 144,000 merely symbolic?

The answer is indicated by the fact that, after mention of the definite number 144,000, Revelation 7:9 refers to “a great crowd, which no man was able to number.” If the number 144,000 were not literal it would lack meaning as a contrast to the “great crowd.” Viewing the number as literal agrees with Jesus’ statement at Matthew 22:14 regarding the Kingdom of the heavens: “There are many invited, but few chosen."

***Is heavenly life set out in the “New Testament” as the hope for all Christians?

John 14:2, 3: “In the house of my Father there are many abodes. Otherwise, I would have told you, because I am going my way to prepare a place for you. Also, if I go my way and prepare a place for you, I am coming again and will receive you home to myself, that where I am you also may be.” (Jesus here shows that his faithful apostles, to whom he was speaking, would, in time, be in his Father’s “house,” in heaven, with Jesus. But he does not here say how many others would also go to heaven.)

John 1:12, 13: “As many as did receive him [Jesus], to them he gave authority to become God’s children, because they were exercising faith in his name; and they were born, not from blood or from a fleshly will or from man’s will, but from God.” (Notice that the context, in verse 11, refers to Jesus’ “own people,” the Jews. As many of them as did receive him when he came to them in the first century became God’s children, with heavenly life in view. The verbs in the text are in the past tense, so this passage is not referring to all people who have become Christians since then.)

Rom. 8:14, 16, 17: “All who are led by God’s spirit, these are God’s sons. The spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are God’s children. If, then, we are children, we are also heirs: heirs indeed of God, but joint heirs with Christ, provided we suffer together that we may also be glorified together.” (At the time this was written it was true that all who were led by God’s spirit were God’s sons whose hope was that they would be glorified with Christ. But this had not always been true. Luke 1:15 says that John the Baptizer would be filled with holy spirit, but Matthew 11:11 makes clear that he will not share in the glory of the heavenly Kingdom. So, too, after the gathering of the heirs of the heavenly Kingdom, there would be others who would serve God as followers of his Son and yet not share in heavenly glory.)

***Must a person go to heaven to have a truly happy future?

Ps. 37:11: “The meek ones themselves will possess the earth, and they will indeed find their exquisite delight in the abundance of peace.”

Rev. 21:1-4: “I saw a new heaven and a new earth . . . I heard a loud voice from the throne say: ‘Look! The tent of God is with mankind, and he will reside with them, and they will be his peoples. And God himself will be with them. And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away.’”

Mic. 4:3, 4: “They will not lift up sword, nation against nation, neither will they learn war anymore. And they will actually sit, each one under his vine and under his fig tree, and there will be no one making them tremble; for the very mouth of Jehovah of armies has spoken it.”

Answer 9

A Theological Dilemma

“THE idea of the immortality of the soul and faith in the resurrection of the dead . . . are two concepts on completely different planes, between which a choice needs to be made.” These words of Philippe Menoud sum up the dilemma faced by Protestant and Catholic theologians over the condition of the dead. The Bible speaks of the hope of a resurrection “at the last day.” (John 6:39, 40, 44, 54) But the hope of many believers, says theologian Gisbert Greshake, “rests in the immortality of the soul, which separates from the body at death and returns to God, while hope in the resurrection has largely, if not completely, disappeared.”

In that case, a thorny problem arises, explains Bernard Sesboüé: “What is the condition of the dead during the ‘interval’ between their bodily death and final resurrection?” That question seems to have been at the center of theological debate in the last few years. What led to it? And more important, what is the real hope for the dead?

Origin and Development of a Dilemma

The first Christians had clear ideas on the matter. They knew from the Scriptures that the dead are not conscious of anything, for the Hebrew Scriptures say: “The living are conscious that they will die; but as for the dead, they are conscious of nothing at all . . . There is no work nor devising nor knowledge nor wisdom in Sheol, the place to which you are going.” (Ecclesiastes 9:5, 10) Those Christians hoped for a resurrection to take place during the future “presence of the Lord.” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17) They did not expect to be conscious somewhere else while they awaited that moment. Joseph Ratzinger, present prefect of the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, says: “No doctrinal affirmation existed in the ancient Church on the immortality of the soul.”

However, Nuovo dizionario di teologia, explains that when reading Church Fathers, such as Augustine or Ambrose, “we become aware of something new with respect to Biblical tradition—the emergence of a Greek eschatology, fundamentally different from that of Judeo-Christians.” This new teaching was based on “the immortality of the soul, on individual judgment with reward or punishment immediately after death.” Thus, a question was raised about the “intermediate state”: If the soul survives the death of the body, what happens to it while it awaits the resurrection at the “last day”? This is a dilemma theologians have struggled to resolve.

In the sixth century C.E., Pope Gregory I argued that at death souls go immediately to the place of their destiny. Pope John XXII of the 14th century was convinced that the dead would receive their ultimate reward on Judgment Day. Pope Benedict XII, however, refuted his predecessor. In the papal bull Benedictus Deus (1336), he decreed that “the souls of the deceased enter a condition of bliss [heaven], purging [purgatory], or damnation [hell] immediately after death, only to be reunited with their resurrected bodies at the end of the world.”

Despite controversy and debate, this has been the position of churches of Christendom for centuries, although the Protestant and Orthodox churches in general do not believe in purgatory. However, from the end of the last century, an increasing number of scholars have pointed out the non-Biblical origin of the doctrine of the immortality of the soul, and as a consequence, “modern theology now often tries to view man as a unity that is totally dissolved in death.” (The Encyclopedia of Religion) Bible commentators, therefore, find it difficult to justify the existence of an “intermediate state.” Does the Bible speak about it, or does it offer a different hope?

Did Paul Believe in an “Intermediate State”?

The Catechism of the Catholic Church says: “To rise with Christ, we must die with Christ: we must ‘be away from the body and at home with the Lord’. [2 Corinthians 5:8] In that ‘departure’ which is death the soul is separated from the body. [Philippians 1:23] It will be reunited with the body on the day of resurrection of the dead.” But in the texts here quoted, does the apostle Paul say that the soul survives the death of the body and then awaits the “Last Judgment” to be reunited with the body?

At 2 Corinthians 5:1, Paul refers to his death and speaks of an “earthly house” that is “dissolved.” Was he thinking of the body deserted by its immortal soul? No. Paul believed that man is a soul, not that he has a soul. (Genesis 2:7; 1 Corinthians 15:45) Paul was a spirit-anointed Christian whose hope, like that of his first-century brothers, was ‘reserved in the heavens.’ (Colossians 1:5; Romans 8:14-18) His ‘earnest desire,’ therefore, was to be resurrected to heaven as an immortal spirit creature at God’s appointed time. (2 Corinthians 5:2-4) Speaking of this hope, he wrote: “We shall all be changed . . . during the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised up incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”—1 Corinthians 15:51, 52.

At 2 Corinthians 5:8, Paul says: “We are of good courage and are well pleased rather to become absent from the body and to make our home with the Lord.” Some believe that these words refer to an intermediate state of waiting. Such ones refer also to Jesus’ promise to his faithful followers that he was going to prepare a place in which to ‘receive them home to himself.’ But when would such prospects be realized? Christ said that it would be when he ‘came again’ in his future presence. (John 14:1-3) Similarly, at 2 Corinthians 5:1-10, Paul said that the hope common to anointed Christians was to inherit a heavenly dwelling. This would come about, not through some presumed immortality of the soul, but through a resurrection during Christ’s presence. (1 Corinthians 15:23, 42-44) Exegete Charles Masson concludes that 2 Corinthians 5:1-10 “can be well understood then without having to resort to the hypothesis of an ‘intermediate state.’”

At Philippians 1:21, 23, Paul says: “In my case to live is Christ, and to die, gain. I am under pressure from these two things; but what I do desire is the releasing and the being with Christ, for this, to be sure, is far better.” Does Paul here refer to an “intermediate state”? Some think so. However, Paul says that he was put under pressure by two possibilities—life or death. “But what I do desire,” he added, mentioning a third possibility, “is the releasing and the being with Christ.” A “releasing” to be with Christ immediately after death? Well, as already seen, Paul believed that faithful anointed Christians would be resurrected during the presence of Christ. Therefore, he must have had in mind the events of that period.

This can be seen from his words found at Philippians 3:20, 21 and 1 Thessalonians 4:16. Such a “releasing” during the presence of Christ Jesus would enable Paul to receive the reward that God had prepared for him. That this was his hope is seen in his words to the young man Timothy: “From this time on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me as a reward in that day, yet not only to me, but also to all those who have loved his manifestation.”—2 Timothy 4:8.

The Resurrection—A Splendid Bible Truth

The first Christians considered the resurrection an event that would begin during Christ’s presence, and they received strength and comfort from this splendid Bible truth. (Matthew 24:3; John 5:28, 29; 11:24, 25; 1 Corinthians 15:19, 20; 1 Thessalonians 4:13) They faithfully awaited that future joy, rejecting apostate teachings of an immortal soul.—Acts 20:28-30; 2 Timothy 4:3, 4; 2 Peter 2:1-3.

Of course, the resurrection is not limited to Christians with a heavenly hope. (1 Peter 1:3-5) The patriarchs and other ancient servants of God exercised faith in Jehovah’s ability to bring the dead back to life on the earth. (Job 14:14, 15; Daniel 12:2; Luke 20:37, 38; Hebrews 11:19, 35) Even those billions who over the course of centuries never knew God have the opportunity of coming back to life in an earthly paradise, since “there is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Acts 24:15; Luke 23:42, 43) Is this not a thrilling prospect?

Rather than have us believe that suffering and death will always be, Jehovah points to the time when “the last enemy, death,” will be eliminated forever and faithful humankind will live eternally on an earth restored to Paradise. (1 Corinthians 15:26; John 3:16; 2 Peter 3:13) How marvelous it will be to see our loved ones come back to life! How much better this sure hope is than the hypothetical immortality of the human soul—a doctrine based, not on God’s Word, but on Greek philosophy! If you base your hope on God’s sure promise, you too can be sure that soon “death will be no more”!—Revelation 21:3-5.