144000 is a natural number. It has significance in several religious movements. In the Mayan calendar, 144000 represents a cycle of time named Baktun.

[edit] Christianity

The number 144,000 has a religious significance for Christians because of its use in the Book of Revelation of the New Testament. The 144,000 are mentioned three times in the Book of Revelation:

• Revelation 7:3-8 (ESV)

Tribes of Israel
The Tribes Reuben Simeon Levi Judah Dan Naphtali Gad Asher Issachar Zebulun Joseph Manasseh Ephraim Benjamin
Related topics Israelites Tribal allotments Ten Lost Tribes
v • d • e

saying: "Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until after we have sealed the servants of God on their foreheads." And I heard the number of the sealed, a hundred and forty-four thousand, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:

12,000 from the tribe of Judah were sealed,
12,000 from the tribe of Reuben,
12,000 from the tribe of Gad,
12,000 from the tribe of Asher,
12,000 from the tribe of Naphtali,
12,000 from the tribe of Manasseh,
12,000 from the tribe of Simeon,
12,000 from the tribe of Levi,
12,000 from the tribe of Issachar,
12,000 from the tribe of Zebulun,
12,000 from the tribe of Joseph,
12,000 from the tribe of Benjamin were sealed.

• Revelation 14:1 (ESV)

Then I looked, and behold, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads.

• Revelation 14:3-5 (ESV)

And they were singing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. No one could learn that song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. For it is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins. It is these who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These have been redeemed from mankind as firstfruits for God and the Lamb, and in their mouth no lie was found, for they are blameless.

The numbers 12,000 and 144,000 are variously interpreted in traditional Christianity. Some, taking the numbers in Revelation to be symbolic,^[1] believe it represents all of God's people throughout history in the heavenly Church.^[2] Others insist the numbers 12,000 and 144,000 are literal numbers and representing either descendants of Jacob (also called Israel in the Bible) or others to whom God has given a superior destiny with a distinct role at the time of the end of the world.^[3] One understanding is that the 144,000 are recently converted Jewish evangelists sent out to bring sinners to Jesus Christ during the seven year tribulation period.^[4] Another is that the 144,000 are a larger version of the ancient Israelite army, sent out at the end of the tribulation period to kill the ungodly.^[5] Preterists believe they are Jewish Christians, sealed for deliverance from the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.

[edit] Jehovah's Witnesses

Jehovah's Witnesses distinctly believe that only 144,000 people will be raised to heaven, and will thus spend eternity with God. They do not believe that this number necessarily comes from descendants of Jacob, but from early Christians, and those of Jehovah's Witnesses who profess to be "anointed" (or "spiritual Israel").^[6] Witnesses believe that the 144,000 have been selected by God from the time of Jesus' apostles through to the modern era. They believe that the 144,000 (those having a "heavenly hope") will reign with Christ in heaven, while all other people accepted by God will live forever on a paradise earth (an "earthly hope").

[edit] Skoptzists

The Christian Skoptsy sect in Russia believed that the Messiah would come when the Skoptsy numbered 144,000, and all their efforts were directed to reaching this total.

[edit] Islam

144,000 is alleged to have been the number of Sahaba of Muhammad, though other totals have been given.^[14]

The number is also given as the total number of prophets in Islam,^[15] although this has also been reported as 124,000 or 244,000.

[edit] New Age movements

The number 144,000 is also significant in various New Age religious movements.

• Song of the 144,000 is a poem by J. J. Dewey that features prominently in the New Age novel The Immortal
• The Church Universal and Triumphant teaches that Sanat Kummara and the Lords of the Flame also brought 144,000 souls with them from Venus.
• The new age religion called Raëlism also states that there are 144,000 chosen people to continue humanity in case of an upcoming disaster.^[16]
• The Church of the Subgenius believes that somewhere between 144 000 and 144 people will be taken with the Xists aboard the pleasure saucers.

[edit] Popular culture

• 144,000 Gone is a 1984 song by Agent Steel.
• 144,000 is the title of:

• a song written and performed by California-based neo-psychedelic rock band Silver Sunshine;
• the eighth track of Tribal Seeds' 2009 album The Harvest.* On GZA's 1995 album :* the debut album from London-based hip hop artist 'M9'.

• Songs mentioning 144,000 in the lyrics include:

• 4th Chamber by Liquid Swords. ("Rollin' with the lands, the tribe's a hundred and forty four thousand chosen. Protons, electrons always cause explosions.")
• G.O.D. (Gaining One's Definition) by Common. ("Cuz when the trumpets blowin', 24 elders surround the throne. Only 144,000 gon' get home.")

[edit] Other uses

• A Baktun is 20 Katun cycles of the ancient Maya Long Count Calendar, which contains 144,000 days.
• In author John DeChancie's comic fantasy Castle series, 144,000 doors (or "aspects") of the Castle each lead to another parallel universe.

[edit] See also

• Chosen people

[edit] References