Who are the 144,000 in Revelation 7:1? Some would say they are Israel, Jehovah’s witnesses, or all of God’s people.
The number of the sealed comes to 12,000 for each tribe. The balanced numbering suggests that 12 is a symbolic number for the fullness of the people of God. Dan is omitted, possibly because Dan was early associated with idolatry (Judges 18; cf. 22:15; 21:8). Instead, we find both the tribe of Joseph and the tribe of Manasseh. Now Manasseh and Ephraim were the two sons of Joseph. Hence, logically we should find either Manasseh and Ephraim as separate heads of two (half) tribes, or Joseph as the head covering both smaller groups. The oddity of this listing again suggests that it is symbolic. Some think that the 144,000 includes only Jewish believers. But “servants of our God” in 7:3 must include Gentile saints as well. The equal status of Gentiles and Jews in the seven churches (Eph. 2:11-22), and the promises associated only with the 144,000 (9:4; 14:1-5) confirm it. According to 7:1-8, the saints are known by God one by one, and none slips by his care (cf. Matt. 10:30).
https://frame-poythress.org/ebooks/the-returning-king/
A few commentators interpret the 144,000 as a literal reference to the nation Israel.677 But this interpretation seriously complicates the book of Revelation by bringing in racial distinctions that no longer exist in the NT purview. It disregards the historical fact that ten of the twelve tribes disappeared in Assyria, and the remaining two lost their separate identity when Jerusalem fell in A.D. 70. The number is obviously symbolic.678 Twelve (the number of tribes) is both squared and multiplied by a thousand — a twofold way of emphasizing completeness. It refers to that generation of faithful believers about to enter the final turbulent period that will mark the end of human history.679 That there are 144,000 (12,000 from each tribe of Israel) is a symbolic way of stressing that the church is the eschatological people of God who have taken up Israel’s inheritance. Their being sealed does not protect them from physical death but insures entrance into the heavenly kingdom. It indicates that they will remain faithful in the coming persecution. The idea of the church as the new Israel appears to have grown out of Jesus’ promise to his disciples that they would one day “sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Matt 19:28; cf. Luke 22:30). Paul writes that the believer in Christ is the true Jew (Rom 2:29), and he refers to the church as “the Israel of God” (Gal 6:16). James addresses his letter to “the twelve tribes in the Dispersion” (1:1) when writing to the Christians scattered throughout the Roman world. Peter speaks of believers as “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation” (1 Pet 2:9), phrases taken directly from the OT (Isa 43:20; Exod 19:6) and reapplied to the NT church.
Mounce, Robert H.. The Book of Revelation (The New International Commentary on the New Testament) (Kindle Locations 3137-3150). Eerdmans Publishing Co – A. Kindle Edition.
Tyler Vela:
I Got 144,000 Problems But Revelation Aint One
Various scholars:
The Council 