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A. C. M

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Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Mar 19, 1912

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 39, No. 12.

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A. C. M

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3696 — The 144,000

I have been studying the thought that there will be only 144,000 living righteous people at the time the Lord comes. What about the children that will be born into the world? There will be thousands and thousands of children under the age of responsibility. What will become of them? Will they be saved, or lost, or numbered with the 144,000 living? Or is there anything to show that there will not be any children under the age of understanding, or responsibility, before the Lord comes?

A. C. M

We do not know that there is any scripture which tells us that there will be just 144,000 saved when the Lord comes. We are taught, it seems to us, quite clearly, in Revelation 14 and Revelation 7, that there will be a special class of 144,000. The Bible way of numbering is numbering the men that are of strong age. When the children of Israel entered the land of Canaan, a type of the heavenly Canaan, they were numbered from twenty years old and upwards. When our Lord fed the 5,000 and the 4,000, it said there were about 5,000 men, besides women and children, and 4,000 besides women and children. In the early church we are told that the number of men was about 5,000 (Acts 4:4), and yet we know there were many women, and doubtless children, who were with these believers. So it may be in the case of the 144,000. It may not include the women and children, and yet they would be numbered among the saved, equally well with the 144,000.
This special company which are numbered are of a special character—those who have borne great trials, and met them in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Regarding the salvation of children in general, this we know, that those who died from Adam's sin will be raised from the dead through the grace of our Lord. If they have no sins of their own, they certainly have right to the salvation which He offers. The Lord does not reveal to us just what His will is concerning the irresponsible ones. The Bible is addressed to responsible men and women, and we can leave the irresponsibles with Him, knowing that what the Master does He will do well.