The information came to John orally. Whether at this time he saw the company of the sealed, the prophecy does not state.

Regarding this number two views have been held:

 (1) that it is literal;

 (2) that it is symbolic.

 Some of those who hold that the number is literal point out that the numbering may be by a system such as that employed in the numbering of the 5,000 who were miraculously fed, where only the men and not the women and children were counted (see Matt. 14:21). Those who hold that the number is symbolic point out that the vision is clearly symbolic, and that inasmuch as the other symbols are not to be literally interpreted neither need this one be. Twelve is considered by many Bible students a significant number in the Bible, doubtless because there were 12 tribes in Israel (see Ex. 24:4; 28:21; Lev. 24:5; Num. 13; 17:2; Joshua 4:9; 1 Kings 4:7; 18:31; Matt. 10:1; Rev. 12:1; 21:12, 14, 16, 21; 22:2). The twelvefold repetition of the number 12,000 (Rev. 7:5-8) may suggest that the principal aim of this passage is not to disclose the precise number of the sealed but to show the distribution of the sealed among the tribes of spiritual Israel.

 The 144,000 are here presented as those who are “able to stand” through the terrible events portrayed in ch. 6:17 (see comment there). They have the “seal of the living God” (ch. 7:2) and are protected in the time of universal destruction, as were those who possessed the mark in Ezekiel’s vision (Eze. 9:6). They are approved of Heaven, for John later sees them with the Lamb on Mt. Zion (Rev. 14:1). They are declared to be without guile and without fault (Rev. 14:5). John hears them singing a song that “no man could learn” (Rev. 14:3). They are designated as “first-fruits unto God and to the Lamb” (Rev. 14:4).

 There are differences of opinion as to precisely who from the last generation of the saints will constitute the 144,000. Lack of more definite information such as would be needed to arrive at dogmatic conclusions on certain points has led many to give emphasis, not to who the 144,000 are, but what they are—that is, the kind of character God expects them to possess—and to the importance of preparing to belong to that guileless throng. The following counsel may be apropos: “It is not His [God’s] will that they shall get into controversy over questions which will not help them spiritually, such as, Who is to compose the hundred and forty-four thousand. This those who are the elect of God will in a short time know without question” (EGW Supplementary Material on ch. 14:1-4; cf. PK 189).

 Twelve tribes are listed here (vs. 5-8), but they are not entirely identical with the enumerations found in the OT (see Num. 1:5-15; Deut. 27:12, 13; cf. Gen. 35:22-26; 49:3-28; 1 Chron. 2:1, 2). The OT lists commonly begin with Reuben, whereas the present enumeration begins with Judah, perhaps because Christ came of the tribe of Judah (see Rev. 5:5). In the OT, Levi is sometimes not included as a tribe, though, of course, he is listed as a son of Jacob. This was doubtless because Levi received no inheritance among the tribes (see on Joshua 13:14). Here the tribe of Levi is counted, but not that of Dan. To reckon Levi and yet retain the number 12 it was necessary to omit one of the tribes, inasmuch as Joseph was reckoned as two tribes, namely Ephraim (probably called “Joseph” in Rev. 7:8) and Manasseh. Perhaps Dan was excluded because of that tribe’s reputation for idolatry (Judges 18:30, 31).

 The order in which the tribes are listed here is different from any OT list. Some have pointed out that if vs. 7 and 8 are placed between vs. 5 and 6, the tribes follow in the order of Leah’s sons, Rachel’s sons, Leah’s handmaid’s sons, and Rachel’s handmaid’s sons—except for Dan, in whose place appears Manasseh. However, no particular point is gained by the rearrangement.

The names of some of the tribes are not spelled the same as in the OT. This is because the NT names are transliterated from the Greek, whereas the OT names are transliterated from the Hebrew. Greek transliterations of Hebrew names are often inexact because the Greek alphabet lacks certain sounds common in Hebrew.

 Those who insist that the 144,000 are literal Jews contend that the application to Christians as spiritual Israel cannot be reconciled with the division into 12 specific tribes. However, if “children of Israel” must be taken literally, what reason is there for not taking vs. 5-8 and ch. 14:1-5 literally as well? Aside from the fact that the Jews have long lost their tribal distinctions, the fantastically remote likelihood of an actual identical number being redeemed from each tribe—but not a single soul from Dan—and the requirement that they all be celibates (ch. 14:4) would put too great a strain on one’s credulity. If, however, the 144,000 are not literal Jews but figurative Israelites, spiritual Israel, the Christian church, then the tribal divisions and other details are also figurative, and the difficulties vanish.

 These Israelites thus sealed are then to be understood as belonging to spiritual Israel, the Christian church (see Rom. 2:28, 29; 9:6, 7; Gal. 3:28, 29; 6:16; cf. Gal. 4:28; 1 Peter 1:1; see on Phil. 3:3). Spiritual Israel, in Bible figure, is represented as also being divided into 12 tribes, for the 12 gates of the New Jerusalem have engraved upon them the names of the 12 tribes of Israel (see Rev. 21:12).