Rev.14: 1 “ And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads…

“These are they which follow the lamb withersoever He goeth. These were redeemed from among men, BEING THE FIRST FRUITS UNTO GOD AND TO THE LAMB” vesre :4.

We appreciate the father of glory for granting to some us of now the privilege to be aware of His glorious light, love and His plans for the ages. That through the indwelling light of life in them (Jn. 1:4, 9) they must follow Him withersoever He goeth. And of course, this is a realm where there is no choice of ours, anymore. By choice here I do not mean what men call ‘free will’ for of a truth there is no free will or man being a ‘free moral agent’ for he who is a free moral agent will choose not to be a slave to the devil – sin (Rom. 6:16, Eph. 2:2, 4:17-19). For I see men to be either a slave to the devil or a slave to God. In fact Jesus said,

“ The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.” (John.3:8)

If Jesus where to have had a choice, he would not have gone to the cross, he ended up saying, they will not mine be done. He lost his wll for and in the purpose of the Father.

So what I mean by no choice is simply that our will have been broken as a result of the life of God already imparted in us. Here our old man has loosed his grip on us. So our desire is not to please self any more but our lover – Christ (the anointing within). No desire to seek our own estimation or commend ourselves to men, but He alone is become our standard. Oh! What a joy and the state of freedom to be called his own and that we truly know and experience that within us. For the wife of the Lamb is all glorious within (Ps. 45:8-14, 1 Pet. 1:4).

To follow wherever He goeth is to be led by the voice of the Master within (2 Cor. 13:5). Not by any system or systems, that which is glamorous or “that which is highly esteemed among men…” (Lk. 16:15) but that still small voice communicated to us by the spirit. “My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me” (Jn. 10:27). For “everyone moved by the spirit is a Son of God” (Rom. 8:14) JB.

To be ‘led’ of the spirit goes beyond merely being directed or admonished inwardly by the spirit. It is the principle of life, because “…if you are led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law” (Gal. 5:18).

HOW DO WE COME TO THIS STATE OF BEING?

The word says, “…These were redeemed from among men, being the FIRST-FRUITS UNTO GOD and to THE LAMB”.

In Israel’s most ancient legal law (Exo. 22:28-29, 34:19-20), the first male of men or animals are pronounced God’s property. They belong to God. The first born of men are always redeemed. (Num. 3:13; 8:17). As it were in Egypt, the first born sons of the Israelites were dedicated to God and so to have them delivered from Egypt as God’s own property, the first born sons of the Egyptians had to die as a corresponding ransom for them, with the tenth plague that was visited on them (Exo. 12:29-34).

And the community of Israel, which was redeemed from Egypt, a type of the world, in place of the first-born sons was spared on that occasion. The Levites were consecrated to God. Num. 3:12, 40-51, 8:16-18.

Now our reading says, the ‘first fruits’ are those who are redeemed from among men. In other words, they have been delivered from the beastly system of the world around them. And for them to be so delivered and become God’s property simply means, they also now possess the very nature of God within them, which enables them to become the true followers of the Lamb wherever He goes. So how did they (the redeemed 144,000) come to have this divine nature imparted unto them? Again we read

“By His own choice He made us His children by THE MESSAGE OF TRUTH so that we should be a sort of FIRST FRUITS OF ALL THAT HE CREATED” (Jm. 1:18) .

Let us quickly remember this, that the first fruit of any harvest is not the totality of the harvest, so if there be a ‘first fruit’ unto God, there shall eventually be an ingathering at the end of the day.

Meanwhile the principle of being harvested from the world is “the message of truth”. That means all that have received the word of truth are begotten of the father and not just the numerical 144,000 as physical Israelites. So it goes beyond a literal number of people, but all of mankind even at this age and the ages to come that have received and will receive the word of truth.

To be continued…

© 2016 – Dr. David O. Ogaga