Introduction

Revelation 7:1–8 stands as one of the most significant and debated passages in the book of Revelation. John describes a moment in which four angels are positioned at the four corners of the earth, holding back the winds of judgment until the servants of God receive His seal. What follows is a detailed numbering of 144,000 individuals taken from twelve tribes of Israel. This tribal list deliberately echoes the covenant censuses found in the Old Testament and invites readers to consider how God identifies, protects, and preserves His people. For most Christians throughout history, the 144,000 has been understood as symbolic language that represents the completeness and covenant fullness of God’s redeemed people under the New Covenant. However, some groups interpret this passage in a strict and literal sense and build the core of their doctrinal identity upon it.

Among these groups, Shincheonji (SCJ) stands out for claiming that Revelation 7 is being physically fulfilled through their organization in the present era. SCJ teaches that the twelve tribes listed by John do not refer to ancient Israel or to symbolic categories of believers but to a newly created set of twelve tribes established by Lee Man Hee at what they believe is the time of the Second Coming. According to their doctrine, the 144,000 are the first-fruits of salvation and consist of sealed leaders, evangelists, and priests within SCJ who form the spiritual government of the new kingdom. This interpretation not only defines SCJ’s internal structure but also shapes their teachings on authority, revelation, and the path to salvation. As a result, Revelation 7 becomes a crucial chapter for evaluating the validity of Shincheonji’s doctrinal claims. What follows will outline SCJ’s perspective and then examine the biblical and theological issues raised by their interpretation.

Revelation 7:1-8

After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree. 2 Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea: 3 “Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.” 4 Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel.

5 From the tribe of Judah 12,000 were sealed,

from the tribe of Reuben 12,000,

from the tribe of Gad 12,000,

6 from the tribe of Asher 12,000,

from the tribe of Naphtali 12,000,

from the tribe of Manasseh 12,000,

7 from the tribe of Simeon 12,000,

from the tribe of Levi 12,000,

from the tribe of Issachar 12,000,

8 from the tribe of Zebulun 12,000,

from the tribe of Joseph 12,000,

from the tribe of Benjamin 12,000.

Shincheonji’s Perspective

Shincheonji teaches that Revelation 7 is not a symbolic or future-oriented vision of the global Church but a prophecy that is being physically fulfilled through their organization today. They believe that the “12 tribes of New Spiritual Israel” are not ethnic Israel or symbolic representations of God’s people, but a literal new set of twelve tribes established by the Promised Pastor, Lee Man-Hee. In their view, the sealed 144,000 represent the first-fruits of God’s harvest at the time of the Second Coming—specifically, the 144,000 leaders, evangelists, and “priests” selected from each of the twelve tribes of Shincheonji. Accordingly, SCJ assigns every global believer into one of its twelve administrative tribes, each named after an apostle, mirroring the structure of Revelation 21. Each tribe, then, must produce exactly 12,000 sealed leaders who have mastered the “revealed word,” overcome spiritual Babylon, and completed the doctrinal requirements taught in their theology curriculum. These 144,000 form the spiritual government of the coming kingdom—those who will reign with Christ, teach the nations, and serve as the foundation of the restored creation.

From SCJ’s perspective, the “new song” of Revelation 14—sung only by the 144,000—is not a literal melody but the unique “word of testimony” revealed at the time of the Second Coming. They claim that this testimony was delivered to Lee Man-Hee after he opened the figurative little scroll of Revelation 10, and that only the sealed priests can truly understand, teach, and proclaim this message. In their doctrinal system, the Great Multitude in White is the second group in Revelation 7: those from every nation who hear this new testimony, believe it, and gather to Shincheonji after the sealing of the 144,000 is completed. Thus SCJ sees a divinely ordered hierarchy in Revelation: the priests (144,000) who rule and teach, and the multitude (global believers) who receive salvation through their testimony. From their internal viewpoint, this two-tier system is not inequality but fulfillment—reflecting God’s covenantal order, His pattern of choosing a representative priesthood, and His promise to restore Israel through a new spiritual nation composed of people from all languages and nations.

Doctrinal Issues

From Literal to Symbolic because Lee Man-hee said so?

In Shincheonji’s doctrine, the 144,000 and the great multitude represent two distinct, hierarchical classes within their organization.

The 144,000 are interpreted literally as the exact number of pastors, evangelists, and tribe leaders who are “sealed” with the revealed word of God in SCJ. These are considered “spiritual priests” who will reign with Christ. SCJ often links this sealing to their own graduation ceremonies, claiming each member of the 144,000 must memorize the parables and “revealed word” to be qualified.
The great multitude is interpreted symbolically as the global followers who come from every nation to join SCJ after the 144,000 have been sealed. They are called “the people of the nations,” or “believers,” who will receive salvation through the teaching of the sealed pastors.

This interpretation creates a two-tiered system of salvation — one elite, priestly class that rules, and one subordinate group that follows — mirroring the very structure found in Jehovah’s Witness theology.

The problem lies in how SCJ switches between literal and symbolic interpretation within the same passage to support its system:

• In verses 4–8, the number (12,000 x 12,000) and the tribal listing are treated literally, even though the list doesn’t match any historical list of Israel’s tribes (Dan is missing; Joseph and Manasseh both appear).
• But in verse 9, when John immediately sees “a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language,” SCJ suddenly shifts and calls this symbolic, saying it represents the worldwide followers of their movement.

This selective literalism violates a core principle of biblical interpretation: consistency with context. Revelation is full of symbolic imagery — numbers, creatures, and objects — that point to spiritual realities. To interpret one part literally and the next symbolically, without textual justification, is arbitrary and self-serving.

In both systems, the literal-symbolic flip conveniently elevates the organization’s leadership while demoting everyone else to a secondary class of believers.

There’s a reason why I call Shincheonji the “Korean Jehovah’s Witnesses”.

Revelation 7: “Heard vs. Saw” – One People, Two Angles

Revelation 7:3–4 describes them as those “sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel.”

The “seal” is a mark of God’s ownership and protection (cf. Eph 1:13; 2 Tim 2:19).

This sealing is symbolic of the redeemed people of God — the Church — being preserved through tribulation.
Importantly, right after the 144,000 are listed, John sees a “great multitude that no one could number, from every nation” (Rev 7:9). This shows the 144,000 and the great multitude are two ways of describing the same reality: the complete people of God.

We can see this same pattern elsewhere in the book of Revelation

Rev 5:5–6: John hears “the Lion of Judah,” then sees “a Lamb standing as slain” — two perspectives on the same Person.

A key narrative feature in Revelation that strengthens the doctrinal argument is the repeated pattern in which John hears one thing and then sees another, with both elements intentionally interpreting each other. This hearing and seeing dynamic is deliberate, consistent, and serves as one of the book’s primary interpretive keys. In each instance, what John hears provides the symbolic or covenantal framework, while what he sees reveals the actual substance or fulfillment of that symbolism.

This pattern appears clearly in Revelation 5. John hears that the Lion of the tribe of Judah has conquered (Rev 5:5). Yet when he looks, he sees not a lion but a Lamb who has been slain (Rev 5:6). The lion and the lamb are not two different figures or two different modes of salvation. They are two complementary symbolic angles of the same person, Jesus Christ. Likewise, in Revelation 1, John hears a loud voice like a trumpet (Rev 1:10) and turns to see Christ standing among the seven lampstands (Rev 1:12). Again, what he hears and what he sees interpret each other, revealing Jesus as the fulfillment of the prophetic voice.

The same pattern appears directly in Revelation 7, and this is where the doctrinal implications for Shincheonji become unavoidable. John hears the number of those sealed: 144,000 from the twelve tribes of Israel (Rev 7:4). But when he looks, he sees something entirely different: a great multitude that no one can count, from every nation, tribe, people, and language (Rev 7:9). This is not a contradiction. It is the same hermeneutical pattern already established in Revelation 1 and 5. The twelve-tribe numbering is the covenantal symbol; the great multitude is the fulfilled reality. The 144,000 and the multitude are not two separate classes of believers. They are two perspectives on the same redeemed people of God — first in symbolic Old Testament imagery, then in New Covenant fulfillment among all nations.

This pattern dismantles Shincheonji’s hierarchical structure, which depends entirely on separating the 144,000 from the “Great Multitude in White.” SCJ insists these are distinct spiritual classes so they can elevate the 144,000 as a privileged group tied to their organizational structure. But Revelation’s own narrative technique forbids this. Once John hears one thing and sees another, the symbolism is meant to merge, not divide. Maintaining two separate classes requires ignoring the established hermeneutic that Revelation itself uses to interpret its symbols.

In short, SCJ’s teaching collapses because it violates the book’s internal logic. John’s hearing and seeing are interpretive pairs. Lion and Lamb refer to the same Christ; trumpet-voice and Christ refer to the same speaker; 144,000 and great multitude refer to the same redeemed people. When this pattern is allowed to stand, the entire Shincheonji hierarchy — and the idea that only their members constitute the true twelve tribes — is exposed as a doctrinal invention rather than a biblical truth.

The Missing Names of Israel and how it points to Revelation 7 being symbolic

The twelve tribes of Israel normally come from Jacob’s twelve sons (Genesis 35:22–26):

Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Zebulun, Issachar, Dan, Gad, Asher, Naphtali, Joseph, and Benjamin.

However, because Levi (the priestly tribe) had no land inheritance, and Joseph’s inheritance was split between his two sons (Ephraim and Manasseh), the land allotments often list Ephraim and Manasseh instead of Joseph.

However, in Revelation 7:4–8, the list of tribes is: Judah, Reuben, Gad, Asher, Naphtali, Manasseh, Simeon, Levi, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin.

Notice the oddities:

Dan is missing.

Ephraim is missing.

Levi is included (though Levi usually isn’t when land inheritance is listed).

Joseph appears alongside Manasseh.

This mix doesn’t appear anywhere else in Scripture. It’s a deliberate reordering and reshaping of Israel’s tribal structure.

Joseph was the father of Ephraim and Manasseh, but in the Old Testament, Joseph’s inheritance was always represented by his sons (Genesis 48:5–6).

So, if this were meant to be a literal tribal census, Joseph and Manasseh wouldn’t both appear — either Joseph would represent both, or his two sons would appear instead.

Therefore, their inclusion together is symbolic, not genealogical.

Here’s the key theological point:

• Joseph often symbolizes faithfulness and restoration (he was preserved in Egypt to save his family and reconcile Israel).
• Manasseh, his firstborn, means “God has made me forget my trouble” (Genesis 41:51) — a name tied to redemption and healing.

By including Joseph (the father) and Manasseh (the son), John’s list may be symbolically emphasizing restoration and renewal — fitting for a vision of God sealing His redeemed people.

To further show that Revelation 7 for the names are also symbolic:

 Dan is omitted, likely because of his tribe’s association with idolatry (Judges 18:30–31; 1 Kings 12:29).

Ephraim, often linked with idolatry and rebellion in the prophets (Hosea 4:17; 8:11), is also left out — possibly replaced by “Joseph” to represent faithfulness instead of rebellion.

Shinceonji also admits that the 12,000 is symbolic when connecting to Revelation 21.

Shincheonji admits that the 12,000 stadia is symbolic in Rev 21, which is a good thing; however, they would then make the claim that the 12,000 in Revelation 7 is no longer figurative but instead would be literal.

However, this inconsistency needs to be called out because we can see that the 12,000 stadia has the same numeric grammar, like how the city is 12,000 stadia which is the symbolic magnitude. Then the people, the 144,000, is the symbolic fullness of the covenant people (SCJ would also agree with this, claiming that their location and institution is the place of the 144,000 sealed priests). 

→ If 12,000 is symbolic in Rev 21, 144,000 (built from the same 12/12/1000 matrix) is, by parity of reasoning, symbolic in Rev 7/14.

This shows an inconsistency with their interpretation of the book of Revelation.

SCJ: symbolic 12,000 stadia (city) but literal 144,000 (people).

→ That flip isn’t driven by the text; it’s driven by organizational necessity (to manufacture a ruling class). The vision’s own logic pushes the opposite way: both sets of numbers work the same symbolic field—covenant completeness fulfilled in Christ.

→ The measurements describe a person (the church), not the footprint of a compound. Symbolic city ⇒ symbolic numbers ⇒ symbolic 144,000.

Going back to the New Song and the 144,000 – The city-as-bride and 12/12/1000 pattern show that Revelation’s climactic imagery celebrates the completed people of God in Christ—not a new hierarchy. Therefore the “new song” (Rev 5; 14) is the church’s worship of the Lamb’s finished redemption, not SCJ’s claim to unique revelation. If SCJ concedes the 12,000 stadia are symbolic, consistency requires recognizing the 144,000 as symbolic too—one redeemed people (Rev 7:4–9: heard as “144,000,” seen as “a great multitude no one can count”).

Bottom line: Revelation 21’s numbers preach the same sermon as Revelation 5, 7, and 14—Israel fulfilled, the apostles’ foundation laid, the nations gathered, the Bride complete, worshiping the Lamb. SCJ’s attempt to keep 12,000 symbolic but 144,000 literal is precisely the kind of selective literalism Revelation’s own literary design refuses to support.

The Two Tier System of Salvation

Through Christ, we already have unity between Jew and Gentile.

Ephesians 2:14-16 – 14 For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15 by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, 16 and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.

Through the cross, Christ removed every barrier that once separated God’s people:

• The law of commandments that distinguished Jew from Gentile was fulfilled in His body (v. 15).
• He reconciled both groups “in one body to God through the cross.”
• The result: “one new humanity” — a single spiritual people of God, where distinctions of race, class, or religious privilege no longer define access to God.

Paul builds on this in Galatians 3:28, where he says:

• “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

This is not mere social equality; it’s spiritual unity. Every believer stands on the same ground before the cross — fully reconciled, fully included, fully anointed by the Spirit.

We can already see that the believers are already royal priesthood in 1 Peter 2:9 –

• “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession.”

Here, Peter applies Old Testament priestly language — once reserved for the tribe of Levi — to every believer. In Christ, there is no longer a class of priests who mediate God’s word or forgiveness on behalf of others. Every Christian, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, has direct access to the Father (Hebrews 4:16).

This doctrine — the priesthood of all believers — is foundational to New Testament Christianity. The entire church is now the temple of God (Eph 2:21–22), not a physical or hierarchical structure.

Shincheonji’s interpretation of the 144,000 undermines the unity found in Christ.

SCJ divides believers into two permanent spiritual classes:

• 144,000 “sealed priests” who alone can reign and interpret God’s word.
• The “great multitude” who depend on these priests for salvation.

This mirrors the Old Testament structure where only Levitical priests could approach God’s presence — a structure Christ’s sacrifice permanently replaced (Hebrews 10:19–22).

SCJ effectively rebuilds the “veil” that Christ tore in two (Matthew 27:51), positioning Lee Man-Hee and the tribe leaders as mediators between God and His people.

While it is true that in heaven there may be different roles and degrees of responsibility (1 Corinthians 6:2-3, Luke 19:17-19, 1 Corinthians 3:14-15), it does not teach a hierarchy of salvation.

The important thing to remember is how all believers share equally in justification and adoption –

• Romans 8:17 – “If we are children, then we are heirs — heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ.”
• Galatians 3:28 – “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
• Ephesians 2:6 – “God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms.”

While SCJ may try to argue that the 144,000 are also saved equally with the Great Multitude in white in a sense; they are also ignoring how they claim that the 144,000 will also be the rulers throughout the new heavens and new earth and are even distinct from the rest of the members of Shincheonji. Ironically, the Jehovah’s Witnesses also run into this same issue.

The Physical Fulfillment of Revelation, p. 156 – 

Rv 6, the twelve tribes of New Spiritual Israel are created. Although Revelation says there are 144,000 servants of God who are sealed, many pastors insist the number 144,000 is symbolic. This is simply false. As stated in the verses above, there are clearly 12,000 people sealed from each of the twelve tribes of Israel. The number 144,000 is not symbolic; it is an actual number. Does this mean only 144,000 will receive salvation? Obviously not. The salvation of the great, countless multitude dressed in white robes begins in Rv 7:9. There is, however,a difference between these 144,000 and the great multitude in white.

The Creation of Heaven and Earth, page 197

The order in which they are chosen by God is also different; the 144,000 are chosen first and the great multitude in white are chosen later.

Paul’s teaching in Romans 11 offers a direct doctrinal refutation of Shincheonji’s two-class system built around a hierarchical distinction between the 144,000 and the “great multitude.” In Paul’s metaphor, Israel is the cultivated olive tree — the historic covenant people through whom God brought forth the Messiah. When Gentiles believe in Christ, they are not added to a second tree or given a lower spiritual status; they are grafted into the same olive tree that already exists (Romans 11:17 through 24). This image is theological, not agricultural. Paul is describing the unified people of God under the New Covenant. There is one tree, not two. There is one covenant family, not a divided spiritual structure. Every believer, Jew or Gentile, shares the same root, the same promises, the same salvation, and the same access to God through Christ.

This completely dismantles Shincheonji’s hierarchical doctrine. SCJ effectively creates two olive trees: a Korean-based priestly class of 144,000 who possess special authority and revelatory privilege, and a second-tier global “great multitude” who depend on the first group for understanding and salvation. This division is foreign to the New Testament. Paul teaches the exact opposite: all believers stand on equal footing in one redeemed body, united not by organizational affiliation but by faith in Christ. The unity of the olive tree prohibits the creation of an inner priestly elite and an outer class of dependent believers. By dividing God’s people into two spiritual tiers, SCJ denies the doctrinal reality Paul emphasizes — that every believer is grafted into the same covenant family through Christ alone, without a mediating human hierarchy.

Violating the Completed Priesthood of Christ

A central teaching of the New Testament is that Jesus Christ is the final and eternal High Priest whose priesthood is perfect, complete, and never transferable. Hebrews 7:24 through 28 emphasizes that Christ holds His priesthood permanently because He lives forever, and therefore His priestly role is unrepeatable and cannot be passed on or shared with any other human figure. The finished work of Christ — His atoning sacrifice, His resurrection, and His ongoing intercession — ends the need for any new priestly hierarchy. Under the New Covenant, all believers have direct access to God through Christ alone, without mediation from a special class of human priests.

Shincheonji’s doctrine contradicts this core truth by creating a new human-mediated priesthood structure. In their system, Lee Man-hee acts as a new Moses or Aaron, functioning as the mediator through whom God’s revelation must pass. The 144,000 are positioned as a new priestly class, elevated above ordinary believers and given exclusive spiritual authority as the supposed “priests” of the era of fulfillment. This framework mirrors the Levitical priesthood of the Old Covenant — a system that the book of Hebrews explicitly says has been fulfilled and replaced by Christ’s eternal priesthood. By reintroducing a hierarchy of mediators and restricting access to God’s revelation to a select elite, SCJ effectively denies the sufficiency of Christ’s priesthood and undermines the New Covenant reality in which there is one Mediator between God and humanity, the man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:5).

The Transition from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant

The 12,000 per tribe are numbered from the tribes of Israel, which can be argued to be covenant language.

We can see throughout the Old Testament, including:

• Numbers 1:1–4 – God commands Moses to number the sons of Israel “by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names.”

This census marked who belonged to God’s covenant people under Moses, those who were under the covenant of Sinai and eligible to serve in God’s army.

Likewise, we can also see in Numbers 26:1-2 where before entering the promised land, another census was taken to confirm which tribes would inherit the covenant promises.

So, in the biblical tradition, numbering by tribe was always a covenantal act — identifying those under God’s protection, promise, and inheritance. It separated those in covenant with Yahweh from the nations outside it.

Going back to the book of Revelation, we can see that Revelation 7 also uses the same Covenant pattern.

When John hears the number 144,000 sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel, he’s deliberately echoing those covenant census scenes.

• The “sealing” parallels how God marked His covenant people as His own (cf. Ezekiel 9:4–6).
• The “numbering” signals divine recognition — God knows those who belong to Him.
• The “tribes of Israel” recall the covenant nation through which God first revealed Himself and promised redemption (Genesis 12:2–3; Exodus 19:5–6).

The idea of God sealing, and protecting, his people is also reinforced with the fact that the Tribe of Dan is not included in the list.

By numbering “Israel,” Revelation 7 signals continuity between the covenants, not the creation of a completely new people. 

Israel was the first to be called God’s covenant nation, and then the Church, which is composed of both Jews and Gentiles, is the fulfillment of the covenant through Christ (Romans 11:17–24; Galatians 3:29).

The Old and New Covenant

Paul, in Galatians 4:21–31, gives a theological interpretation of Israel’s story using Abraham’s two sons: Ishmael (by Hagar) and Isaac (by Sarah). This is not just a story about two mothers but a revelation of two ways of relating to God — two covenants.

1. Hagar = Mount Sinai = Old Covenant (Law and Slavery)

Hagar, the slave woman, represents the covenant made at Mount Sinai — the covenant of the Law given to Moses. Her son, Ishmael, was born according to the flesh (Gal 4:23), meaning human effort and natural descent. This symbolizes Israel under the Law: those born into the covenant by physical lineage, bound to the obligations of the Law but not set free by grace. Paul connects this directly to Jerusalem on earth, saying it is “in slavery with her children” (v. 25). In covenant terms, this was Israel according to the flesh — the old covenant people who received God’s revelation first (Romans 9:4–5), yet were awaiting its fulfillment.

2. Sarah = Jerusalem Above = New Covenant (Promise and Freedom)

Sarah, the free woman, represents the covenant of promise — the Jerusalem above (Gal 4:26), which is spiritual and heavenly. Her son, Isaac, was born through promise — by the supernatural work of God, not by human will or flesh. This symbolizes the new covenant people of God, those who are born not of natural descent, but by the Spirit (John 1:12–13). Paul writes: “Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise.”

This includes all believers — Jew and Gentile — who have been brought into the new covenant through Christ.

How this order is also reflected in Revelation 7

Now we can see why Revelation 7 presents the 144,000 from Israel first, then the great multitude from every nation:

1. The Old Covenant – Israel first: God’s promises and revelation came to the physical descendants of Abraham (Romans 9:4).
2. New Covenant – all nations – Through Christ, those promises are fulfilled and extended to all who believe, forming one spiritual family (Gal 3:7–9, 28–29).

John’s vision honors this covenant order. Israel appears first to acknowledge God’s faithfulness to His original covenant promises. But then John sees the great multitude — the ultimate fulfillment of those promises in the new covenant people of God, composed of believers from every tribe, tongue, and nation.

Hagar → Sarah
Sinai → Jerusalem above

Law → Grace

Flesh → Spirit

Old Covenant Israel → New Covenant Church

Conclusion

Revelation 7 presents a rich and symbolic vision of God’s covenant people, one that moves from the imagery of Israel’s tribal structure to the fulfillment of God’s promises in a worldwide, redeemed multitude. The numbering of the 144,000 echoes the covenantal censuses of the Old Testament, marking those who belong to God and are under His protection. Yet the tribal list itself is intentionally unlike any genealogical list in Scripture. Dan and Ephraim are missing, Joseph and Manasseh appear together, and Levi is included despite not being part of the land allotments. This creative reconfiguration signals that the list is not intended as a literal end times census but as symbolic, covenantal language pointing to restoration, redemption, and God’s faithfulness to His promises. The transition from what John hears, the 144,000 from Israel, to what he sees, the countless multitude from every nation, follows a consistent literary pattern in Revelation where symbolic hearing is fulfilled through a greater Christ centered reality.

Shincheonji’s interpretation collapses under the weight of these textual and doctrinal details. By insisting that the 144,000 is a literal number of Korean tribe leaders and by turning the great multitude into a subordinate class of global followers, SCJ contradicts the unity of God’s people expressed throughout Scripture. Their selective literalism, hierarchical reading, and reconstruction of a priestly elite violate the New Testament teachings on the one people of God, the one olive tree, the priesthood of all believers, and the completed mediatorship of Christ. Revelation 7 points not to the rise of a new religious hierarchy but to the fulfillment of God’s covenant promises in Christ, a redeemed people drawn from all nations, sealed by the Holy Spirit, and united as one body before the throne.