Posted by Bibleman [Bibleman] on November 26, 1999 at 17:34:55 {2lTH7z2znEf9UnUPxURUslyACFuF8c}:
In Reply to: **WHY ONLY 144,000? posted by Bruce on November 26, 1999 at 13:41:27:
Hi Bruce,
The problem I have is that there were 14 clean animals right? Well I understand about separating the clean animals from the unclean, but you are also separating out 2 clean ones out of the 14 to make 12.
From my experience, for a nice "clean" comparison, to have the clean animals represent the 144,000 it should have simply been six couples to make 12, then the entire group of clean animals could represent the 144,000.
So you see, you're separating out 12 from a group of 14, which seems to me to be gratuitous.
Look at it this way, it would be more logical to find some symbolic significance in the FOURTEEN animals related to some chronology symbolism than 12.
I don't mind the theory of perhaps the animals representing different aspects of saved humanity and the clean animals representing the anointed remnant except they went in by 14 as you claim and that is not a representative number of the anointed. Their number is 12. So if there were six couples totalling 12 going in, then I'd say: "Ahaaaaa, there's a connection." But sense the clean animals are going in as a group of 14, there is no connection. Not a natural connection anyway that I see.
But maybe you're right. Maybe we should try and find some distinct symbolism here. If so, though, it is certainly quite complex. But perhaps you're inspired to see this.
So let me see if I got this right. The basics are 2 each of every animal, but Jehovah requested 12 EXTRA of the clean animals which thus represented his extra distinction to set aside 12 additional animals apart from the initial two each. So I can see that if you separating the clean animals in 2 + 12 rather than a whole number of 14.
And as they say, "Interpretation belongs to god" so maybe this is your special word for us to understand.
As you said though, this only works with 14 animals. If in fact the scriptures specifically only mean seven clean animals verses 2 unclean rather than 2 and 14 or 4 and 14, then you have a non-application to the 144,000 no matter how you slice it.
So thanks for sharing. I won't put myself in the position of dismissing this as a false teaching, but I do maintain some reservations, of course.
Thanks for sharing and insisting. Maybe from this we can understand other things.
Cheers,
Bibleman