- Aug 13, 2014
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Hey it;s been a while since i've been here but I've had a question that doesn't stop bugging me. I can't find anything about it online. In the book of Revelation according to an amillenialist viewpoint which is most calvinists and lutherans, the 144,000 is a symbolic number (12 tribes of Israel x 12 apostles x 1000) and represents the "fullness" of people who are saved. However, in the book of Jonah, no one analyzes the numbers for some reason. People just gloss over it. If you look at chapter 3 and 4, it takes Jonah 3 days to travel to the city, and they are given 40 days to repent. In chapter 4, 120,000 are mentioned by God that he wishes to give a chance. Obviously, you multiply 40x3x1000= 120,000. The common number here 1,000. I think these passages are significant in proving the amillenialist view. Also, I think that it supports the idea of election. Taking a literal view of the book of Jonah and believing there were exactly 120,000 people in that city is therefore the same logic as literally interpreting that only 144,000 are saved, as Jehovah's witnesses people. Therefore a consistent position would assume that all of these numbers are symbolic. I would like to hear views from any Lutheran, anglican, reformed, orthodox, view of this. In addition, the symbols go against the idea of "national election" for Israel, that everyone who lived in Israel was saved in the OT, because obviously if every single person was saved in the book of Jonah, that would be an example to interpret Romans 9 as Israel rather than individuals. Thoughts?