I know a lot of people read it figuratively. I read it literally, but I always start there, until the Holy Spirit shows me(or I think he has ;o) that it is figurative. It could be the first fruits of the first fruitsâŚlike the wave offering⌠some think this company and the manchild, who is âcaught up to Godâs tghroneâ are the same. Since they are of the twelve tribes of Israel I have wondered if they are the saints who rose at Christs death when the veil of the temple ws rentâŚ
And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split. 52The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; 53and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many.âŚMt 27
If Jesus is our high priest, ever making intercession for us before the throne, perhaps these are there with Him, making intercession also. I see this possibility in hebrews 12, the heavenly assemblyâŚ
22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, 23 to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel.
I see this heavenly tabernacle as perhaps being assembled outside of time as we know it, seen through a glass darkly, wheels within wheels⌠but back to 144,000 as a first fruit of the first fruitâŚIn Leviticus 23, interestingly enough, when the Israelites came into the promised land, they were to offer the first sheaf of the first harvest
9 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 10 âSpeak to the sons of Israel and say to them, âWhen you enter the land which I am going to give to you and reap its harvest, then you shall bring in the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest. 11 He shall wave the sheaf before the Lord for you to be accepted; on the day after the sabbath the priest shall wave it. 12 Now on the day when you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a male lamb one year old without defect for a burnt offering to the Lord. 13 Its grain offering shall then be two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering by fire to the Lord for a soothing aroma, with its drink offering, a fourth of a **hin of wine. 14 Until this same day, until you have brought in the offering of your God, you shall eat neither bread nor roasted grain nor new growth. It is to be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwelling places.
That is what I am referring to, since Jesus, as firstborn from the dead, ascended leading âcaptivity captiveâ and/or âcaptives in His trainâ(Eph 4:10,11) so that âHe might fill all thingsâ- maybe took with Him a âfirst sheafâ of the coming harvest(first resurrection) which will be made up of we who are âa kind of first fruits of creationâ. Maybe He took that first sheaf to be a company of intercessors.
Like David as a type with the âthree mighty menâ and then âthe thirtyâ and the 300 or whatever it was, I cant remember, the Lord has the âtwo anointed onesâ, the â24 elders around the throneâ, the â144,000â, the martyrs âunder the altarâ(How long O Lord"- also intercessors perhaps- âCome quickly Lord Jesusâ) and then the whole company of the first resurrection- the revelation of the sons of God at the redemption of our bodies(we who have the first fruits of the Spirit) when the Lord âwhom the heavens must receive until the period of the restoration of all things spoke of by all the prophets since ancient timeâ(Acts 3:19)
James 1:18 In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures.
These are just some thoughts assembled over the years of my interest in eschatology and the language of it(and the 144,000 always intrigued me), which, in my opinion, even when it is figurative gives insight into solid spiritual realities(By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible)
As far as husbands being defiled, I remember Paul said something about the husband and wife not denying one another âexcept for a short time for the purpose of prayerâ.
Even as Jesus and John the Baptist were celibate for reasons of their callingâŚI donât think husbands are defiled but for the purpose of that calling conjugal relations might 'defile" it- do some aspect of celibacy we dont yet understand, like those who Jesus said, âmake themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of Godâ⌠Paul said in regards to this, âBut each man has his gift and it is better to marry than to burnâ
This also comes up in the widows covenant. âDonât take any widows under the age of 60 because after a short time they will want a man again and will break the covenantâ⌠if a widow was placed within the care of the church she was to devote herself t service and prayer.
To me this is the bride âcoming down from out of heavenâ, the holy city, and also the âhabitation of God in the SpiritââŚbuilt of living stones, Chrst Jesus being the chief cornerstone.**