Read Revelation 14:1–5
In the midst of the persecution we saw yesterday, what hope do we have that we can endure the temporary reign of the beasts? If it is going to be so difficult to worship only God and not them, how can we know that we will actually stay the course? Or, for that matter, that anyone can? I do not think it is a coincidence that today’s passage immediately follows yesterday’s. Notice the contrast between the beast worshipers and the 144,000. The idol worshipers took the mark of the beast on their foreheads, but the foreheads of the 144,000 have the name of the Lamb and the Father on them. The chastity in verse three probably represents a lack of idolatry, rather than literal virginity. Throughout the Bible, sexual immorality is used as a way to represent worshiping other gods, like the beasts.
But why 144,000? We have seen it before, and we are seeing it again. Will only exactly 144,000 endure and learn this new song? This number might seem oddly specific, but it is a round number. Multiply 12 times 12 times 1,000, and you get 144,000—we have seen symbolic math like this before. But beyond that, the purpose of this passage is to encourage us that we can faithfully endure the reign of the beasts. Lest we think only a few handfuls will endure, John paints a picture of a great multitude who do so! 144,000 people might not sound like a lot today. San Diego Comic Con draws a crowd that size, and there are over eight billion people on the planet. But consider the time John was writing this. There probably were not 144,000 people in all of Jerusalem! So this is what he is getting at: faithful endurance is possible, and not just for a select few. There will be a great multitude who worship God alone, and we have the opportunity to be part of them if we follow their example of faithful endurance
