Here's Revelation 7:4 from the New World Translation of the Bible
And I heard the number of those who were sealed, a hundred and forty‐four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of the sons of Israel:
In the article "Great Crowd" in the Watchtower Biblical/theological encyclopaedia Insight on the Scriptures, we find:
The apostle [Paul] wrote: “He is not a Jew who is one on the outside, nor is circumcision that which is on the outside upon the flesh. But he is a Jew who is one on the inside, and his circumcision is that of the heart by spirit.” (Romans 2:28, 29) Why, too, would there be no mention of any ‘sealing’ of the Gentile Christians in this divine vision? And why would not the Gentile Christians be able to master the new song sung by the 144,000? (Revelation 14:3) It thus seems clear that the 144,000 sealed ones are of spiritual Israel, not fleshly Israel—hence include both Jewish and Gentile Christians.—Galatians 6:16.
The 144,000 sealed ones are of spiritual Israel. In other words, adopted into one of the tribes.
Here's a further explanation from the article "Do All Faithful Christians Go to Heaven?" in the 1 June 2011 issue of The Watchtower magazine.
So, too, with this heavenly Kingdom. Jesus, the Lamb of God, rules with 144,000 co-rulers “bought from among mankind.”—Revelation 14:1, 4, 5.
True, 144,000 is a small number compared with the number of all faithful ones, past and present. But this is understandable because the 144,000 are resurrected to heaven for a specific sacred assignment of work. If you were to build a house, would you contract all the skilled builders in your area? No. You would need only as many as were required for the job. Similarly, not all faithful ones are chosen by God for the unique privilege of ruling with Christ in heaven.
WHO ARE THE 144,000 WITNESSES- Introduction
Jehovah’s Witnesses say that 144,000 “anointed” Christians will go to heaven as spirits, while the rest of saved humanity will live on the earth. How should we respond to this teaching?
WHO ARE THE 144,000 WITNESSES- Interpretation of Revelation 7:4
When Jehovah’s Witnesses quote Revelation 7:4 to prove that only 144,000 people will go to heaven, we may object by saying
this passage does not refer to some heaven-bound group, but to individuals from the twelve tribes of Israel. Now, Jehovah’s Witnesses may try to counter by arguing that Israel is merely symbolic of the Christian congregation. But if they interpret Israel symbolically in this passage they would also have to interpret the 144,000 symbolically as well, since they’re both mentioned in the same verse. Well, either way, their teaching crumbles. Oftentimes, Jehovah’s Witnesses will also cite Revelation
14:1-5; but once again, nothing in this passage proves that only 144,000 saved individuals will go to heaven.
WHO ARE THE 144,000 WITNESSES- The Earthly Class
On the flip side, Jehovah’s Witnesses claim that the “great multitude” of Revelation 7:9 is a description of the so-called “earthly class” — saved individuals who don’t number among the 144,000 elite. Sad to say, the vast majority of Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that their only hope lies in being included with
this group, since the 144,000 “tickets” to heaven have already been “sold out.” Interestingly enough, all the passages alluding to the great multitude — such as Revelation 7, verses 9 and 15 — place the group before God’s throne which, according to Revelation 11:19, is located in heaven. This is the exact opposite of what Jehovah’s Witnesses teach.
WHO ARE THE 144,000 WITNESSES- The Scriptural Answer
Contrary to their beliefs, the Bible states that all saved
individuals will live in glorified, resurrected, physical bodies — much like Christ’s (Phil. 3:21; 1 John 3:2). Furthermore, Scripture tells us that saved individuals will dwell in both the new heavens and the new earth which, according to Ephesians 1:10, will be brought together under Christ. The truth is, all tickets have not been sold: Jesus Christ paid the price so that whosoever trusts in Him alone will indeed be saved (John 3:16).On Jehovah’s Witnesses and the eternal destiny of saved
humanity, that’s the CRI Perspective. I’m Hank Hanegraaff.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
This issue is covered in David A. Reed’s Jehovah’s Witnesses Answered Verse by Verse (B153/$7), 104-110. For commentaries on the Book of Revelation, we encourage you to get a copy of our bibliography of recommended readings on the subject of Eschatology (DE150/$0.25). These resources are available through CRI. For shipping and handling information, please call CRI or refer
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