THE REMNANT, OR 144,000.
By S. T. Cranson
Will they be sealed among the literal Jews? This is a question of importance to those who are looking for the coming of the Lord. Some are expecting the return of the Jews to Jerusalem, others suppose that ten tribes were lost, and will be found in the last days, and will compose a part of the 144,000. But we shall have to differ from them. Let us find the origin of the twelve tribes, and trace their history, and we shall find no difficulty in determining where and when the 144,000 will be made up. The origin of the twelve tribes of Israel is shown in Gen. xxii, 15-18. The promise was made to Abraham, that in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because he had obeyed the voice of the Lord, [Gen. xxii, 18,] and the same was made, or confirmed unto Isaac, [Gen. xxvi, 29,] the son of promise. Afterwards the Lord appeared unto Jacob, the son of Isaac, on his return from exile to his brother Esau, by night, and after wrestling all night till break of day, the angel was about to depart, but Jacob said, I will not let thee go except thou bless me. And he said unto him, what is thy name? And he said, Jacob And he said unto him, Thy name shall no more be called Jacob, but Israel; for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed. Gen. xxxii, 24, 28. The name of Jacob being changed to Israel, all his posterity were called the children of Israel—the house of Israel—all Israel, the whole house of Israel—house of Jacob. And nowhere is one tribe called all Israel, &c. Let this be distinctly understood. Israel had twelve sons who were heads or representatives of the twelve tribes of Israel, called the tribe of Judah, the tribe of Benjamin, &c. There is one thing to notice here: they were required to keep a correct genealogy of each family, so that a distinction might be kept between the tribes; and every man was required to know to which tribe he belonged; otherwise they were to be cut off from Israel, or were put from the priesthood. Neh. vii, 64. The son of the stranger, if he would join the congregation of Israel, must be circumcised, and identify himself with some one of the tribes, and abide by the same laws. Lev. xxiv, 22; Num. ix, 14, 15; xv, 15, 16, 29. After many years, the Lord brought the children of Israel into Canaan, and divided the land according to the number of the tribes of Israel, giving each tribe a portion except the tribe of Levi; because the Lord had chosen the tribe of Levi to the priesthood, and they should live by the tithes and offerings of the other tribes. Josh. xiii, 14, 33; xviii, 7. After the children of Israel had taken possession of Canaan, they were governed by Judges, who were appointed by the Lord, till the days of Samuel; when Israel desired a king. 1 Sam. viii, 4, 5. From this time until the death of Solomon, the twelve tribes were united and governed by one king. After the death of Solomon, Rehoboam, son of Solomon, went to Shechem; for all Israel were come to Shechem to make him king. But Rehoboam refused the counsel of the old men, and took the counsel of the young men, and answered them roughly; therefore Israel rebelled against the house of David, and made Jeroboam king over Israel. And there were none that followed the house of David but the tribe of Judah only. 1 Kings, xii, 1-10; 2 Chron. x. After Rehoboam was rejected, he returned to Jerusalem and strengthened himself, having Judah and Benjamin on his side. From this time the house of Israel was divided into two kingdoms, called the kingdom of Israel and the kingdom of Judah; as the Lord declared to Solomon, before his death, saying, I will surely rend the kingdom from thee and will give it to thy servant; yet the Lord promised a part of the kingdom to the house of David. 1 Kings, xi, 11, 12, 13, 31. Now mark the history of Israel; after the ten tribes revolted from the house of David, Jeroboam said in his heart, Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David, if this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people turn again unto their lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah, and they shall kill me, and go again to Rehoboam, king of Judah.—Whereupon the king took counsel and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, it is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O, Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And he set the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan. And this became a sin; for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan. And he made an house of high places, and made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the house of Levi. 1 Kings, xii, 26, 31. It seems that Israel never repented of their sins, and so God removed Israel out of his sight in the days of Hoshea, king of Israel. 2 Kings, xvii, 1-23. From this time the kingdom of Israel was no more. Some have supposed that the ten tribes were lost, or went off somewhere in a far country, where they never have been found, and in the last days they will be brought back again to their own land; or, there will be sealed among them, 120,000 which will make so many of the 144,000, or the remnant who will stand on Mount Zion singing the new song. Rev. vii, 2-8; xiv, 1-5. But this view does not appear correct to me. Where does the Bible tell us that the ten tribes were lost? The Bible says, "in the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria took Samaria and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah and in Habor by the river Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes. So Israel was carried away out of their own land to Assyria unto this day. 2 Kings xvii, 6, 23. The Bible tells us plainly where they went; so we know; and if we know where a thing is, it is not lost. The fact is, the twelve tribes always existed from the days of David to Christ. It may be asked, How do you make that out? We ask, who were the true Israel? Were those who sinned in the wilderness and were cut off, or, were those the true Israel who remained obedient? Those who were obedient, of course. We have just seen that Jeroboam made Israel to sin, and they were cut off; but there were some who did not sin, and they left Jeroboam, and these were the true Israel. When Jeroboam put away the Levites from being priests, and made the lowest of the people, priests, contrary to the law, [Num. iii, 10,] then the priests and Levites that were in all Israel resorted to him. (Rehoboam,) out of all their coasts; for the Levites left their suburbs and their possessions, and came to Judah and Jerusalem; for Jeroboam and his sons had cast them off from executing the priest's office unto the Lord. And he ordained priests for the high places and for the devils, and for the calves which he had made. And after them, out of all the tribes of Israel, such as set their hearts to seek the Lord God of Israel, came to Jerusalem, to sacrifice unto the Lord God of their fathers. So they strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and made Rehoboam, son of Solomon, strong, three years. 2 Chron. xi, 15-17. So we see that all who feared the Lord went to the house of David; and these were the true Israel; in this way the twelve tribes were kept along. Had not the tribe of Levi gone over to the house of David, what would have been done for priests, the tribe of Levi being lost? We find something more definite, if possible, to show that the twelve tribes remained: the kingdom of Judah was carried away to Babylon, and remained seventy years in captivity; when Artaxerxes issued a proclamation that all they of the people of Israel and of his priests and Levites in his realm, which are minded of their own freewill, should go up to Jerusalem with Ezra; [Ez. vii, 13;] and many, even all Israel, returned, though there was but a remnant. Ez. ii, 7; vi, 16, 17; Neh. vii, 13.—So the priests and the Levites and the porters and the singers, and some of the people, and Nethinims and all Israel, dwelt in their cities. The blessings of the gospel and the Messiah, were promised to the twelve tribes as well as to one tribe; and according to the promise, Christ came to his own, and his own received him not. John i, 11. If there were not twelve tribes at his first advent, how could the promise of God be fulfilled? "A Prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed." Acts iii, 22, 25. This prophet was Christ, and the promised seed.—God gave the promise to Abraham; and it was renewed69at Mount Sinai unto the twelve tribes of Israel; and here we see a fulfillment in the coming of the Messiah to his own. This is evident from what Paul said, Acts xxvi, 6, 7. "And now I stand and am judged [for what? Paul,] for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers: [The twelve tribes:] Unto which promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come." Where would be the propriety of Paul saying the twelve tribes instantly serving God if ten tribes had been lost? James dedicates his epistle to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting. Now if ten tribes were lost, how could James, with any consistency, write to the twelve tribes? The existence of twelve tribes in the days of the apostles cannot very well be doubted. But here is a seeming difficulty with some of our friends, since all distinction between Jew and Gentile is done away in Christ, where there is neither Jew nor Gentile, to know when the 144,000 are sealed, where they come from, but when rightly understood, all is plain. Before Christ, the literal seed of Jacob was called Israel, but not so since Christ. "For he is not a Jew which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh: but he is a Jew which is one inwardly: and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God. For they are not all Israel which are of Israel: neither because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, in Isaac shall thy seed be called; that is, they which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted for the seed. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." Rom. ii, 28, 29; ix, 6-9; Gal. iii, 29. By these quotations we see the New Testament definition of Israel. The Jews rejected Christ and were broken off, because of unbelief, and the Gentiles were graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive-tree. See Rom. xi. So the Gentile believers became Israel, and in this way the house of Israel is kept up, and will remain till Jesus comes again. Now we can see where to find the remnant. A remnant is a small piece, and the last end of any thing. The remnant are the few who are alive at the coming of Christ. See 1 Thess. iv, 16, 17; Rev. xii, 17; xiv, 1-5; xvi, 2, 3. Tompkins, Mich., Aug. 1853.