Bible Study Seattle

“Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ send greetings.”  Romans 16:16  There are at least 4 references to this in the new testament.  I heard a sermon on this and it got me thinking.  The church is the bride of Christ.  Married people kiss.  But Christ’s bride will be many just as Solomon’s were.  Solomon had 1,000 wives/concubines; Jesus will have 144,000+(?)  It will be a case were polygamy works. Or maybe this view is wrong.  Christians should be careful not to be too dogmatic.

“After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree.  Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea: “Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.” Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel.”  Revelation 7:1-4

“Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads.  And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of rushing waters and like a loud peal of thunder. The sound I heard was like that of harpists playing their harps.  And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth.  These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they remained virgins. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were purchased from among mankind and offered as first fruits to God and the Lamb.  No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless.”  Revelation 14:1-5

The bride of Christ could also consist of 144,000 on earth and 144,000 in heaven.  Notice the numbers in 1 Chronicles:

“Asaph, Jeduthun and Heman were under the supervision of the king.  Along with their relatives—all of them trained and skilled in music for the Lord—they numbered 288.”  1 Chronicles 25:6-7

“This is the list of the Israelites—heads of families, commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, and their officers, who served the king in all that concerned the army divisions that were on duty month by month throughout the year. Each division consisted of 24,000 men.”  1 Chronicles 27:1

Notice that David had 288 musicians and 288,000 soldiers who rotated service monthly.  Further, notice who’s in charge in the future:

“This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them back into their own land.  I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. There will be one king over all of them and they will never again be two nations or be divided into two kingdoms.  They will no longer defile themselves with their idols and vile images or with any of their offenses, for I will save them from all their sinful backsliding, and I will cleanse them. They will be my people, and I will be their God.

“‘My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd. They will follow my laws and be careful to keep my decrees.  They will live in the land I gave to my servant Jacob, the land where your ancestors lived. They and their children and their children’s children will live there forever, and David my servant will be their prince forever.  I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant. I will establish them and increase their numbers, and I will put my sanctuary among them forever.   My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people.  Then the nations will know that I the Lord make Israel holy, when my sanctuary is among them forever.”  Ezekiel 37:20-28