The 144 Thousand & The New Song

‘The New Song’

     The most popular, and most quoted reference utilizing ‘new song ‘ is found in Psalm 40:3 where David describes one of the results of the Lord’s working in his life after he was delivered from the depths of sin when he was saved:

‘I waited patiently for the Lord, and He inclined unto me and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay and set my feet upon a Rock, and established my goings. And He hath put a new song in my mouth even praise unto our God, many shall see it and fear and shall trust in the Lord.’ (Psalm 40:1-3).

     Five more ‘new song’ occurrences are found in the Psalms with the first Bible occurrence in Psalm 33:3-

’Sing unto Him a new song; play skillfully with a loud noise.’ Here the righteous are commanded to not only sing a new song and play skillfully unto the Lord, but in the previous verses three other commands to worship are also given: ‘Rejoice in the LORD, O ye righteous: for praise is comely for the upright. Praise the LORD with harp: sing unto Him with the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings. (v.1, 2)

     However, this Psalm also includes the harp, which is the national instrument of Israel, and the instrument of choice in the New Testament worship/songbook of the Revelation where the Day of the Lord is vividly described in chapters 8, 9, 16-20. And as we will see later in this message, the new song is also a key term in the book of the Revelation.

     The reason for these commands to worship is found in (v.4)-‘For the Word of the LORD is right; and all His works are done in truth.’ This powerful call to worship the LORD is based in the Psalmist’s appreciation for the written living and powerful Word of God.

     Psalm 96:1 ‘O sing unto the LORD a new song: sing unto the LORD, all the earth’ is the next new song reference and this command to worship is followed by a dozen more imperative calls to worship the LORD with the end of the Psalm indicating the ultimate reason for this panoply of praise:

‘For He comes, for He comes to judge the earth: He shall judge the world [Gentiles] with righteousness, and the people [Jews] with His truth. (v.13).

    

     Here the Psalmist looks forward to the great and terrible Day of the Lord when God will indeed punish the Gentile and Jew alike which will also have a purifying effect on those Jews who will be saved as a nation in a day! Then, right close in proximity, Psalm 98:1 echoes the same refrain:

‘O sing unto the LORD a new song; for He has done marvelous things: His right hand, and His holy arm, has gotten Him the victory.’

     The Psalm continues this victory theme underscoring His salvation, His righteousness and with a prophetic view looks to the day when ‘He comes to judge the earth; with righteousness shall He judge the world [Gentiles] and the people [Jews] with equity.’  Here again the harp is utilized in (v.5) showing the importance of this instrument in the worship of the Lord

     In Psalm 144:9 David promises to utilize ‘a new song’ in order to praise God for His working in the midst of the battle against ‘strange children’ who were afflicting him. He also includes other musical instruments of worship, the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings to accompany this praiseful singing.

     The last Psalm reference is in Psalm 149:1:

‘Praise ye the LORD, Sing unto the LORD a new song, and His praise in the congregation of saints.’ The first six verses ring with praise, with the closing verses focusing on a future time of judgment much like Psalm 96 & 98 which could well be an additional reference to the end of the age Day of the Lord which is also called the Wrath of God (Isaiah 13:9, 13; Zephaniah 1:15).

     ‘Sing unto the LORD a new song, and His praise from the end of the earth’ (Isaiah 42:10) is also in the midst of two prophetic passages the first (v.1-9) describing the ministry of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ during His Incarnation and the second (v.13-17) describes the Day of the Lord, God’s Wrath which occurs after the end of this age. 

     The two references in the New Testament carry with them prophetic significance also because they are both found in the book of the Revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ. The first is in chapter five, where the Lord Jesus is introduced. He is called the Lion of the Tribe of Judah the Root of David the One Who is able to open the scroll containing God’s Day of the Lord program for the end of the age. He appears in form as the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

     This great work of redemption He accomplished on the Cross brings forth singing at the Throne of God by the Four Beasts and the Twenty-Four Elders as these beautiful lyrics of praise testify:

‘And they sung a new song, saying: Thou art worthy to take the book and to open the seals thereof: for Thou was slain and hast redeemed men to God by Thy Blood out of every kindred, and tongue and people and nation: And hast made them unto our God kings and priests and they shall reign on the earth.’(Revelation 5:9, 10) The chapter concludes with one of the most powerful praise scenes in the Word of God with all of creation giving glory to the Father and to the Lamb!

     But, the last reference using ‘A new song’ is also one of the most intense and glorious demonstrations of worship to the Lord and the Lamb because of the presence of this choice group of saints, the 144 Thousand Hebrew men who make up half of this antiphonal choir singing the “new song” on earth and ‘the harpers’ in heaven making up the other half by resounding this majestic praise song:

‘And I heard a Voice from heaven, as the Voice of many waters, and as the Voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers  harping with their  harps: And they sung as it were a new song before the Throne, and before the four beasts and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred forty four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.’(Revelation 14:2,3)

     This scene depicts the LORD setting ‘His King [The Lord Jesus Christ/Lamb] upon My holy hill of Zion’ (Psalm 2:6). Yes, He is about to make:

‘Thine [The Lord Jesus Christ/Lamb] enemies Thy footstool’ (Psalm 110:1), and this magnificent music-filled worship scene with the choir of heavenly harpers and the earthly choir of these 144 Thousand select sons of Israel has been organized to celebrate this long-awaited moment!

     While we cannot be dogmatic about the identity of these heavenly harpers, it would seem likely that the redeemed saints of the Lord in heaven would be the ones supplying the heavenly music thereby teaching their earthly counterparts, to whom they have ‘Passed the Torch’ earlier just before the rapture, the lovely lyrics of this coronation song of the King of kings and LORD of lords!

     Although this ‘New song’ passage does not reveal it’s lyrics one might imagine the beauty of the multi-faceted harmonies that will be sung by this great multitude of heavenly harpers, as this united choir of perfection, representing the Old and New Covenant, will undoubtedly sing on that glorious day to come.

O worship the King all glorious above,

O gratefully sing His power and His love;

Our Shield and Defender, the Ancient of Days,

Pavilioned in splendor, and girded with praise.     [‘O Worship the King’-Robert Grant, c. 1779-1838]

That’s it…Yes…Well, it surely seems to fit the moment does it not? But, these words also match the occasion!

“Lift up your heads O ye gates, and be ye lift up ye everlasting doors

And the King of glory shall come in.

Who is this King of glory?

The Lord strong and mighty in battle.

Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors;

And the King of glory shall come in.

Who is this King of glory?

The Lord of Hosts, He is the King of glory. Selah.”     [Psalm 24:7-10-David, King of Israel]

     However, there are some most significant words being proclaimed from heaven at this point in history:

‘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 of His Christ; and He shall reign forever and ever.’(Revelation 11:15)

     The Seventh Trumpet has sounded ending the 70^th Week of Daniel which is when the above scene on Mt. Zion takes place in Revelation 14:1 for the Lord Jesus Christ, at this point in history, is literally being made King of Israel by the twelve tribes, and the kingdoms of this world become His at this very same time. Therefore, the words from these ‘Great voices in heaven’ proclaiming this magnificent event may well be the words of this last ‘New song’ in the Word of God!

Chaplain LEWolfe  www.btmi.org  I-85 Exit 35 SC   McPilot    Stop in, and please pray for our ministry!

The Great Congregation-The 144 Thousand

The Great Congregation-The 144 Thousand

     In Psalm 22 the title of this message is first written in the book of Psalms. It appears four times in the Psalms and as should be expected it refers to a great multitude gathered to hear God’s Word. However, the appearance in Psalm 22:25 holds prophetic implications as it looks forward to the day when the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ appears on Mt. Zion

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     In that day He will be accompanied by The 144 Thousand Servants of Our God, The Sons of Israel who will be called out to serve their God during the most trying and troublesome time after the end of this age of grace during the Day of the LORD when God will intervene taking control of His planet earth with mighty, unmistakable judgments from heaven.

     These judgments have been prophesied by numerous O.T. and N.T. prophets alike. Every historical N.T. book except the Gospel of John including the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ refers to the sign which precedes the Day of the LORD. God will darken the sun, the moon will be turned to blood, and the stars shall fall from heaven in that day!

     It is during this time of judgment that the LORD will appear on Mt. Zion with The Great Congregation at the end of the 70^th Week of Daniel during the celebration which occurs after His appearance to redeem all Israel which is referred to in Isaiah 59:19, 20; and Romans 11:25-27 when He redeems those Jews who repent and turn unto God! It is at this point in time that the Seventh Angel sounds and  “The kingdoms of the world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign for ever and ever.” (Revelation 11:15)

     God’s Word records the appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ as the Lamb and with Him are The 144 Thousand (Revelation 14:1-5). This passage appears in response to the record of the Antichrist and his false prophet’s actions which occur in Revelation 13. Although the power of the Antichrist will be somewhat limited during the Day of the LORD he will continue his attacks against those saints who remain on earth after the Rapture during the Day of the LORD.

     The Two Witnesses, The 144 Thousand and those who will be saved during this time of devastating judgment will be the focus of his unrelenting warfare against the saints. Even though the church saints will be home in heaven, and the faithful Jews in the land of Israel will be protected by fleeing into the wilderness (Matthew 24:16ff; Revelation 12:6, 14), but these remaining Jews, the 144 Thousand and the Two Witnesses (Revelation 11:3-17) will continue on earth (Revelation 9:4, 17:14) to perform their most necessary ministry during this great time of devastating judgment.

     The 144 Thousand young Hebrew men called out from the twelve tribes of Israel (Revelation 7:1-8) make up the earthly part of “The Great Congregation” which is the subject of the message at hand. However, the heavenly harpers spoken of in Revelation 14:2, 3 far outnumber the 144,000 who are singing from Mt. Zion on earth.  

     The heavenly congregation is truly a very large gathering, indeed, for we believe these are the saints of the ages, the great multitude of Revelation 7:9 “Which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues”. “These are they which came out of [the] great tribulation” (Revelation 7:14). The raptured and resurrected saints of the ages make up this great host of heavenly harpers in Revelation 14:2, 3. Therefore, this great multitude in heaven plus the 144 Thousand on earth become “The Great Congregation” spoken of in the multiple Messianic passages of the Psalms.

     In Psalm 22:30, 31 the 144 Thousand are described: “A seed shall serve Him; it shall accounted to the Lord for a generation. They shall come, and shall declare His righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that He has done this.” Unlike the many generations of Israelites who constantly and consistently rebelled against the Lord, the latest of which is this present generation of Jews who reject their Messiah as have all those since He suffered and died to pay the penalty for their sins when He gave His life for the sin of entire human race 2,000 years ago on the Cross of Calvary!

     However, there is a generation coming who will be “A seed” who are a part of “the rest of her [the woman’s] seed” (Revelation 12:17) and will “declare His righteousness”, they will preach and present the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a “people that shall be born” those who will be saved during the Day of the Lord and then  at the end of the 70^th Week of Daniel when the “Redeemer comes to Zion” (Isaiah 59:20)  the “nation will be born at once” (Isaiah 66:8) who then will live on earth to be part of the great gathering (Micah 5:3) who will populate the promised land during the Millennium (Revelation 20:4-6) when the Lord Jesus Christ will rule and “sit on His father David’s throne” (Luke 1:32) in Jerusalem!

     The next occurrence of “The Great Congregation” in the book of Psalms is in Psalm 35:18 “I will give Thee thanks in the great congregation: I will praise Thee among much people.”  This Psalm has a number of similarities to Psalm 22 which is the well recognized “Psalm of the Cross” as it vividly portrays the suffering of the Lord Jesus on the Cross.

     In addition to (Psalm 35:18) which is similar to (Psalm 22:22, 25) which mention this same congregation, Psalm 35:15- 17 also has Messianic tones reflected in text: “But in Mine adversity they rejoiced, and gathered themselves together; yea, the abjects gathered themselves together against Me, and I knew it not; the did tear me, and ceased not: With hypocritical mockers in feasts, they gnashed upon me with their teeth. Lord, how long wilt Thou look on? Rescue my soul from their destructions, my darling from the lions.”

     Lewis de Grenada who commented along with Charles Haddon Spurgeon in his condensed version of the ‘Treasury of David’ saying that portions of these verses definitely apply to the Lord’s suffering on the Cross of Calvary which underscores the Messianic character of this short passage including “The Great Congregation” in (v.18). 

     And, although we cannot be dogmatic as to who “The Great Congregation” is, there will be a great gathering of Jews during the end-times at the end of the 70^th Week of Daniel as recorded in Micah 5:3 “Therefore He will give them up [the Jews] until the time that she which travails [Israel at the end of the 70^th Week] has brought forth: then the remnant [144 Thousand & the Woman of Revelation 12] of His brethren shall return unto the children of Israel.”

 

     And, there will be a great gathering of God’s people as mentioned above in Revelation 14:1-5 both in heaven and on earth which could well be what is referred to in these Great Congregation passages. There is one more passage in the Psalms that is Messianic mentioning The Great Congregation: “I have preached righteousness in the great congregation, lo, I have not refrained My lips, O LORD, Thou know. I have not hid Thy righteousness within My heart; I have declared Thy faithfulness and Thy salvation: I have not concealed Thy loving-kindness and Thy truth from the great congregation.” (Psalm 40:9-11)

     The difference in this passage is the verbs are all past tense which means that the actions have been completed. If these refer to  the Lord Jesus Christ then it is describing things which He has already accomplished in His first coming. And, He definitely preached righteousness in the great congregation: To the thousands assembled at the miraculous event when He fed multiple thousands and the great congregation gathered “In the last day that great day of the feast Jesus stood and cried out saying If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink. He that believes on Me as the Scripture has said, out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.” (John 7:37ff)

Chaplain LEWolfe  www.btmi.org  I-85 Exit 35 SC   McPilot    Stop in, and please pray for our ministry!