yoel-
for those who do not know- the 144,000 is from the XB, Revelation 7:4-8. It
is, according to modern fundamentalists, supposed to be a prophecy and
reads:
"Then I heard the number of those who were sealed; 144,000 from ALL the
tribes of Israel.
>From the tribe of Judah 12,000 were sealed
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 Naftali 12,000
from the tribe of Menaseh 12,000
from the tribe of Simeon 12,000
from the tribe of Levi 12,000
from the tribe of Issaschar 12,000
from the tribe of Zebulun 12,000
from the tribe of Joseph 12,000
from the tribe of Benjamin 12,000"
BUT THIS IS A MISTAKE! It's been years since I studied Judaism, so I may be
wrong, but I am certain that this is incorrect. They are omitting "Efraim"
and "Dan" and are including "Joseph" as a distinct tribe. Weren't Joseph's
sons seperate tribes? Menasheh is included above, but Efraim is not. And
Joseph is given as a distinct tribe. Also, Dan is missing. Isn't this list
wrong?
Nevertheless, the introduction to this ridiculous list reads: "Then I heard
the number of those who were sealed; 144,000 FROM ALL THE TRIBES OF ISRAEL"
Btw, the J Witnesses say that they are the 144,000, in spite of the fact
that there are already much MORE than 144,000 of them. (I guess this is
because they are the "real Israel" too!)