Watching the elaborate and varied rituals connected with the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, the multi-colored regiments and banners attending her coffin, the thousands lining the procession route, and of course the new King, his siblings, and their spouses following the prescribed ceremonial order, one cannot but ponder the ultimate pageantry of a much grander and glorious kingdom, in which each of us is privileged to strive for citizenship.
The Supreme Sovereign On His Way
No earthly monarch or procession attending such a one can compare to the breathtaking glory of Christ’s second coming, described in the following passage from Revelation:
And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and He that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He doth judge and make war.
His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns; and He had a name written, that no man knew, but He Himself.
And He was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and His name is called The Word of God.
And the armies which were in heaven followed Him upon white horses clothed with fine linen white and clean.
And out of His mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it He should smite the nations: and He shall rule them with a rod of iron; and He treadeth the wine press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
And He had on His vesture and on His thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS (Rev. 19:11-16).
The Regiments of the Redeemed
The apostle Paul depicts the different groups of the saved in his description of Christ’s second coming in First Thessalonians:
For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God; and the death in Christ shall rise first.
Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord (I Thess. 4:16-17).
The apostle John in the book of Revelation also speaks of these two groups. The first group he describes is the 144,000, twelve thousand from each of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel (Rev. 7:4-8). The apostle then writes:
After this I beheld, and lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands (verse 9).
Obviously these are two different groups, as the first group numbers 144,000 while the second group is innumerable. Whether one believes the 144,000 to be a literal or symbolic number, it is clear from this context that they are a numbered group, while the group that follows is unnumbered. Hence the distinction.
In the book Early Writings, the distinction between the 144,000 and the resurrected saints becomes clearer still:
Soon we heard the voice of God, like many waters, which gave us the day and hour of Jesus’ coming. The living saints, 144,000 in number, knew and understood the voice, while the wicked thought it was thunder and an earthquake. When God spoke the time, He poured upon us the Holy Ghost, and our faces began to light up and shine with the glory of God, as Moses did when he came down from Mount Sinai.
The 144,000 were all sealed and perfectly united. On their foreheads was written, God, New Jerusalem, and a glorious star containing Jesus’ new name. At our happy, holy state the wicked were enraged, and would rush violently up to lay hands on us to thrust us into prison, when we would stretch forth the hand in the name of the Lord, and they would fall helpless to the ground. . . .
Soon our eyes were drawn to the east, for a small black cloud had appeared, about half as large as a man’s hand, which we all knew was the sign of the Son of man. We all in solemn silence gazed on the cloud as it drew nearer and became lighter, glorious, and still more glorious, till it was a great white cloud. The bottom appeared like fire, a rainbow was over the cloud, while around it were ten thousand angels, singing a most lovely song; and upon it sat the Son of man. His hair was white and curly and lay on His shoulders, and upon His head were many crowns. His feet had the appearance of fire; in His right hand was a sharp sickle; in His left, a silver trumpet. His eyes were as a flame of fire, which searched His children through and through. Then all faces gathered paleness, and those that God had rejected gathered blackness. Then we all cried out, “Who shall be able to stand? Is my robe spotless?” Then the angels ceased to sing, and there was some time of awful silence, when Jesus spoke: “Those who have clean hands and pure hearts shall be able to stand; My grace is sufficient for you.” At this our faces lighted up, and joy filled every heart. And the angels struck a note higher and sang again, while the cloud drew still nearer the earth.
Then Jesus’ silver trumpet sounded, as He descended on the cloud, wrapped in flames of fire. He gazed on the graves of the sleeping saints, then raised His eyes and hands to heaven, and cried, “Awake! awake! awake! ye that sleep in the dust, and arise!” Then there was a mighty earthquake. The graves opened, and the dead came up clothed with immortality. The 144,000 shouted, “Alleluia,” as they recognized their friends who had been torn from them by death, and in the same moment we were changed and caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the air [##1|Ellen G. White, Early Writings, pp. 15-16.##].
In another statement Ellen White further explains the uniqueness of the 144,000, and how their experience sets them apart from the rest of the redeemed:
With the Lamb upon Mount Zion, “having the harps of God,” they stand, the hundred and forty-four thousand that were redeemed from among men; and there is heard, as the sound of many waters, and as the sound of a great thunder, “the voice of harpers harping with their harps.” And they sing “a new song” before the throne, a song which no man can learn save the hundred and forty-four thousand. It is the song of Moses and the Lamb—a song of deliverance. None but the hundred and forty-four thousand can learn that song, for it is the song of their experience—an experience such as no other company have ever had. “These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth.” These, having been translated from the earth, from among the living, are counted as “the first fruits unto God and to the Lamb.” Revelation 15:2,3; 14:1-5. “These are they which came out of great tribulation;” they have passed through the time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation; they have endured the anguish of the time of Jacob’s trouble; they have stood without an intercessor through the final outpouring of God’s judgments. But they have been delivered, for they have “washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” “In their mouth was found no guile, for they are without fault” before God. “Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple; and He that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them” [##2|——The Great Controversy, p. 649 (italics supplied).##].
In another statement the inspired pen speaks of another redeemed regiment, complete with insignia, together with another indicator of the distinction held by the 144,000:
As we were traveling along, we met a company who also were gazing at the glories of the place. I noticed red as a border on their garments; their crowns were brilliant; their robes were pure white. As we greeted them, I asked Jesus who they were. He said they were martyrs that had been slain for Him. With them was an innumerable company of little ones; they also had a hem of red on their garments. Mount Zion was just before us, and on the mount was a glorious temple, and about it were seven other mountains, on which grew roses and lilies. And I saw the little ones climb, or, if they chose, use their little wings and fly, to the top of the mountains and pluck the never-fading flowers. There were all kinds of trees around the temple to beautify the place: the box, the pine, the fir, the oil, the myrtle, the pomegranate, and the fig tree bowed down with the weight of its timely figs—these made the place all over glorious. And as we were about to enter the holy temple, Jesus raised His lovely voice and said, “Only the 144,000 enter this place,” and we shouted “Alleluia” [##3|——Early Writings, pp. 18-19.##].
The Two Adams Meet
Another phase of this long-anticipated pageantry is described by Ellen White in The Great Controversy—the meeting of humanity’s father and humanity’s Savior in the courts of glory:
As the ransomed ones are welcomed to the City of God, there rings out upon the air an exultant cry of adoration. The two Adams are about to meet. The Son of God is standing with outstretched arms to receive the father of our race—the being whom He created, who sinned against his Maker, and for whose sin the marks of the crucifixion are borne upon the Saviour’s form. As Adam discerns the prints of the cruel nails, he does not fall upon the bosom of his Lord, but in humiliation casts himself at His feet, crying, “Worthy, worthy is the Lamb that was slain!” Tenderly the Saviour lifts him up and bids him look once more upon the Eden home from which he has so long been exiled [##4|——The Great Controversy, p. 647.##].
Crowns of Righteousness
Watching the flag-draped coffin of the late Queen making its way to Westminster Hall, topped by the Imperial State Crown with its 2,901 jewels [5], I was reminded of one of my favorite hymns: “Will There Be Any Stars in My Crown?” (Of course, the lyrics should say, “many stars,” not any, for the servant of the Lord tells us, “There will be no one saved in heaven with a starless crown” [##6|White, Last Day Events, p. 282.##]. Speaking of the 144,000, she writes, “Some crowns appeared heavy with stars, while others had but few. All were perfectly satisfied with their crowns” [##7|——Early Writings, p. 16.##].)
No diadem adorning the brow of any earthly sovereign will compare with those crowns of righteousness, which the redeemed will cast in humble gratitude at the feet of their Lord [##8|——The Great Controversy, p. 667.##]. The apostle Paul looked forward to receiving his crown when he wrote, just before his martyrdom:
I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.
Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day; and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing (II Tim. 4:7-8).
In the midst of the honor and celebration being accorded the life of Queen Elizabeth, some have rightly reminded us of the many injustices and rampant suffering for which the British Empire has been responsible, and which the late Queen’s reign has likewise facilitated. Thoughtful Christians, Seventh-day Adventists in particular, cannot ignore these troublesome facts of history. More than anything else, these dark chapters of the not-too-distant past draw a stark contrast with the government of God’s universe—an empire of choice to which servitude and submission are rendered with love and joy.
Like the apostle Paul, God’s faithful in every age have striven through His grace to receive that ultimate crown of righteousness, eternal and imperishable. May each of us be found triumphant and victorious at last, cleansed and purified through our Savior’s blood, is my prayer.
REFERENCES
1. Ellen G. White, Early Writings, pp. 15-16.
2. ----The Great Controversy, p. 649 (italics supplied).
3. ----Early Writings, pp. 18-19.
4. ----The Great Controversy, p. 647.
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_State_Crown
6. White, Last Day Events, p. 282.
7. ----Early Writings, p. 16.
8. ----The Great Controversy, p. 667.
Pastor Kevin Paulson holds a Bachelor’s degree in theology from Pacific Union College, a Master of Arts in systematic theology from Loma Linda University, and a Master of Divinity from the SDA Theological Seminary at Andrews University. He served the Greater New York Conference of Seventh-day Adventists for ten years as a Bible instructor, evangelist, and local pastor. He writes regularly for Liberty magazine and does script writing for various evangelistic ministries within the denomination. He continues to hold evangelistic and revival meetings throughout the North American Division and beyond, and is a sought-after seminar speaker relative to current issues in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. He presently resides in Berrien Springs, Michigan