How many people will take part in the Greater Exodus or be part of those in Judea who flee?
Could it be about 700 million?
In Revelation 9:16 is a census recording of the number of individuals in the army. The count is 2 hundred thousand, thousand. In modern language that is 200,000,000 which is 200 million. John records that this is a number which could be counted.
Yet, when we look at Revelation 7:9, John has recorded that there is a vast number of saints before the throne of Elohim of which no one could count.
If 200 million is a countable number, then this uncountable number must be much greater.
700 million would fit that.
But why 700 million, why not 500 million? There is a couple of scriptures that provide clues we can use to determine that 700 million could be a probable number for this uncountable crowd of saints.
In 1 Kings 19, Elijah is hiding in the cave at Mount Horeb, the mountain of Elohim. After some extrodinary and unexplanable weather events, Elohim talks with Elijah who pours out his heart about being hunted by men of the evil king Ahab and his wife Jezebel. Elohim assures him that he will be safe and directs Elijah that he must purge the evil from The Land with the sword. Then Elohim makes a fascinating statement in verse 18; “Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal and every mouth that has not kissed him.”
That’s interesting. Elohim is bringing tribulation upon Israel and yet will leave 7 thousand in The Land, specifically those who have not bowed to false gods nor used their mouth to kiss the false god.
Elijah’s experience took place about one hundred years after King David died[i]. Part way through his reign, King David erroneously took a census of the people of Israel. When the count was given to him, there were 800 thousand men in Israel; 500 thousand of those were from Judah (2 Samuel 24:9). David realized his mistake in doing this and as a consequence he was given a choice of punishment. He chose three days of pestilence, which resulted in the death of 70 thousand men (2 Samuel 24:15). That leaves a population of around 700 thousand men. Fast forward to Elijah’s time, a mere 100 (ish) years later and the statement by Elohim about leaving 7000 men in Israel indicate that Elohim is showing us the pattern of 10%.
The same is found in Romans 11. Paul wrote to the people of Rome with encouragement by reminding them about the event that happened to Elijah in 1 Kings 19. He reminded them how Elohim did not abandon Elijah but surrounded him with 7000 who did not bow to a false god. Then in verse 5 Paul writes “In the same way then, there has also come to be at the present time a remnant according to God’s gracious choice.”
Paul’s words of encouragement emphatically state that Elohim will not abandon His people in his (Paul’s) day and indicates through context within the full chapter that this is meant to continue into the future for our day and time too.
During the upcoming 3 ½ year tribulation, there will be a leader upon the earth who will require all knees to bow to him. We know him as the beast. Yet there will be many who will not obey his commands. These people will be the ones taking part in the Greater Exodus or are fleeing from Judea.
If Elohim stated that He would leave a remnant of 7000 for Elijah, which is about 10% of Israel’s population at that time, we can use the same calculation to determine the number of the remnant in our day. Since the remnant is described as being uncountable (Revelation 7:9); we can deduce that their numbers will be greater than the 200 million which the scriptures indicate is a countable number (Revelation 9:16).
The world’s population base has reached the 8 billion mark now. Ten percent of 8 billion is 800 million. That would be the 10% remnant right now. However, before the people of Elohim either flee or exodus at the start of the tribulation, there will be a lot of death occurring among the people of the world. The population could very easily decrease by one billion by the time the tribulation starts, done by the evil hands of hasatan through his lust for world control. This would bring the population of the world to the 7 billion mark. Ten percent of 7 billion is 700 million. This falls perfectly in line with the formula that Elohim revealed to Elijah about the 7000 men who would remain. That would truly be an uncountable number of saints as the remnant before Elohim’s throne. And it is these saints who have endured to the end of the tribulation and are blessed. That is quite an uncountable crowd of people who do not obey the commands of the beast.
There is yet another point of evidence about the remnant being 10 percent. This is found in Isaiah 6:11-13. In this chapter, our Elohim is commissioning Isaiah with a task to go to the people in Israel and speak the words of Elohim to them, so that they know the words even if they don’t listen or take heed of them. Isaiah asks Elohim how long he is to speak and teach the people. Elohim’s reply begins in verse 11 to 13 stating that he is to continue even when the land and the people suffer tribulation to the point that the once prosperous land becomes a waste land and the people scattered across the earth. Elohim wants Isaiah to continue because a percentage will return. The scattering of the people is a well known teaching which began when the Northern Kingdom of Israel was captured by the Assyrians and removed from The Land, followed with the captivity of the Southern Kingdom of Judah by the Babylonians about a hundred and fifty years later. However, it was not until the Ottoman Empire ruled The Land that it became desolate and a waste – just as verse 11 states. This is verified by Mark Twain who in 1867 travelled to the Holy Land while it was under the Ottoman Empire rule and documented his description of the Holy Land[i] – stating it was a waste land without very many people. But since World War One and then World War Two, we have been seeing the manifestation of verse 13 regarding the return of those scattered. In this verse, Elohim is very specific about the percentage of people who do return – a tenth shall return. Of course this scripture has a lot more to say about what transpires with this remnant but that is not the focus for this article. The point involves the percentage which Elohim allocates and which we can utilize as a calculation for those who are the end time remnant. Again, ten percent of the world’s current population is 800 million – truly an uncountable number. And as mentioned above, it is quite conceivable that by the time the tribulation itself happens, there will be a reduced population to probably 7 billion which means ten percent will be 700 million – which falls in line with the percentage of people Elohim said would be with Elijah (above) – still an uncountable number.
In regards to the 144, 000: so many people believe that the number of those who will receive protection during the tribulation will be only 144,000. This article is intended to point out that it is a vastly greater number who will have this protection. The job of the 144,000 during the tribulation is not yet made totally clear, but it seems to indicate that these individuals will be required to protect the 700 million, just like the 12,000 strong army of Israel did to protect Israel in the battle against Midian (Numbers 31). That example is equated with the 144,000 because the selection for each group is done in the same manner (Revelation 7:4-8). These are the only two examples of this type of selection in the scriptures. The original selection is 1000 men from each tribe to equal 12,000 but in the end times the selection is 12,000 from each tribe to equal 144,000. Could the increase in the number be necessary since the number of people needing protection is far greater than Israel was in Numbers 31? This adds further confirmation that the number of people either fleeing in Judah or taking part in the exodus will be vastly greater than anyone has anticipated.
So, let us be encouraged in knowing that we could very well see potentially 700 million people taking part in this most amazing event of being protected through the tribulation.
Hopefully we can be encouraged by this information. Many of us fear that we (as Elohim’s people) will be absorbed into the world’s judgment and have to suffer. This fear is based on a lack of understanding about our Elohim’s righteous plan for us as His people and for His whole creation. The more we know His plan, the better we are at standing firm with His armour on and seeing the salvation of Adonai taking place. Understanding brings resolve and commitment - so it is imperative to know His plan for us. That means knowing that a vast number of us will be protected during this harsh time of tribulation. Let it be that this information offers some clarity.
Let this mind be in you that is in Messiah, Yeshua.
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