"The Remnant: The 144 Thousand"

‘But upon Mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions. And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble, and they shall kindle in them, and devour them; and there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau for the Lord hath spoken it…And saviors [deliverers] shall come up on Mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD’s. (Obadiah 17,18,21)

These verses describe the Day of the Lord victory over Edom by ‘the house of Jacob…and the house of Joseph’ at the end of the age when ‘the kingdom shall be the Lord’s’ referring to the time of the sounding of the seventh angel’s trumpet in (Revelation 11:15:
‘And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ; and He shall reign for ever and ever.’

At that time ‘the Redeemer shall come to Zion’ (Isaiah 59:20; Romans 11:26; Revelation 14:1) to deliver the nation of Israel fulfilling Obadiah 17 with (v.18) telling of the complete extermination of the house of Esau by the Jewish remnant which is the 144 Thousand from the twelve tribes seen in (Revelation 14:1-5) with the Redeemer the Lord Jesus Christ on Mount Zion.

This prime group of Hebrew men, the ‘saviors’ of (Obadiah 21), of the ‘the sons of Israel’(Revelation 7:4) form the army of the Messiah ‘Your troops shall be willing on your day of battle’ of (Psalm 110:3) and are active throughout the end of age as ‘they follow the Lamb wherever He goes’(Revelation 14:4) during the intensive warfare with Satan’s forces, both physically and spiritually, who come against the faithful during this time when the persecution of God’s people is at it’s zenith (Matthew 24:21).

Micah 5:1-9 contains a number of references to this victorious remnant beginning with (v.1) showing the army of the Lord being called to ‘muster yourselves in troops’ [NASV] with (v.2) indicating the now well known birthplace of the Messiah and in (v.3) after the dispersion of A.D. 70 the remnant of His [Messiah] brethren will return to ‘the sons of Israel’ referring to the Jews gathering together with the144 Thousand also prophesied by Jacob in (Genesis 49:10) at the end of the 70th Week of Daniel. ‘The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a Lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh come, and unto Him shall the gathering [obedience] of the people be.’

(Micah 5:5) ‘And this Man [Messiah] shall be the peace, when the Assyrian [Antichrist] shall come into our land: and when he shall tread in our palaces, then shall we raise against him seven shepherds, and eight principal men.’ Here, the Man, the Lord Jesus Christ is the peace during the time the Assyrian [Antichrist] comes into Israel and defiles the temple which is the ‘abomination of desolation’ spoken of by Daniel and referred to by the Lord (Matthew 24:15).

There will be stiff resistance to his actions by these 15 leaders of the remnant so much so that (v.6) says ‘They shall waste the land of Assyria [Syria] with the sword, and the land of Nimrod [Iraq] in the entrances thereof; thus shall He deliver us from the Assyrian [Antichrist] when he comes into our land, and when he treads within our borders.’

‘And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people as the dew from the Lord, as the showers upon the grass, that tarries not for man, nor waits for the sons of men.’(v.7). The remnant, the 144 Thousand, are referred to as ‘dew from the Lord’ which is also how they are referred to in (Psalm 110:3) ‘Thy youth are to Thee as the dew’ indicating the great multitude.

‘And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles in the midst of many people as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep: who, if he go through, both treads down, and tears in pieces, and none can deliver. Thine hand shall be lifted up upon thine adversaries, and all thine enemies shall be cut off.’ (v.8,9)

Their invincibility in warfare is focused upon in these last verses telling of their great prowess in battle illustrated by their mighty position as lions among the least of the warlike ‘the flocks of sheep’ describing the power and quickness of the victory for ‘none can deliver…all thine enemies shall be cut off.’

‘The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity [blameless], nor speak lies, neither shall a deceitful tongue [lies] be found in their mouth: for they shall feed and lie down, and none shall make them afraid.’ (Zephaniah 3:13). (Revelation 14:5) is describing the 144 Thousand: ‘And in their mouth was found no guile [lies] for they are without fault [blameless] before the throne of God’ repeats and underlines the character qualities of these same young men, the 144 Thousand, with the same emphasis, showing their speech to be truthful in content and their actions and attitudes to be blameless high-lighting their personal holiness.