by Giuseppe Monno
According to the doctrine of Jehovah’s Witnesses, God has chosen a literal number of 144,000 faithful who are destined for heaven, while the rest of believers will live forever on a paradisiacal earth. However, this interpretation does not find adequate support in the overall witness of biblical revelation.
In the Book of Revelation, there is indeed mention of the 144,000 who are sealed (cf. Revelation 7:4), yet the same context immediately presents a far broader reality: “a great multitude, that no one could count, of people from every nation, race, tribe and language” (Revelation 7:9). This multitude stands “before the throne and before the Lamb.”
Scripture clearly indicates that the throne of God is in heaven: “Now in my vision I saw a throne set in heaven, and on the throne someone was sitting” (Revelation 4:2); “The Lord has fixed his throne in heaven” (Psalm 103:19); “Do not swear at all, either by heaven, since that is God’s throne” (Matthew 5:34). It follows that the innumerable multitude is in heaven, in communion with God and with the Lamb.
The New Testament confirms this perspective. The Apostle Paul writes: “Our citizenship is in heaven” (Philippians 3:20); “we shall be with the Lord for ever” (cf. 1 Thessalonians 4:17); “we have a building from God, an eternal home in heaven” (2 Corinthians 5:1). Likewise, the First Letter of Peter speaks of “an inheritance which is imperishable… kept for you in heaven” (1 Peter 1:3–4).
How then should we understand the statement: “Blessed are the meek: they shall have the earth for their inheritance” (Matthew 5:5)? This echoes Psalm 37 and must be understood in a theological, not a materialistic sense. To “inherit the earth” does not mean the possession of a limited, earthly territory, but participation in the Kingdom of God, which begins already in the present life and reaches its fulfillment in definitive communion with Him.
In the biblical perspective, the true inheritance is not a place, but God Himself: “The Lord is my portion, my cup” (Psalm 16:5); “to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life” (Psalm 27:4); “God is the rock of my heart, my portion for ever” (Psalm 73:26). For this reason Paul can say: “we would rather be exiled from the body and make our home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8).
Revelation reaches its climax in the final vision: “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth… and I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God” (Revelation 21:1–2). Here there is no opposition between two separate destinies, one heavenly and one earthly, but rather the full communion between God and redeemed humanity is revealed: “Look, the home of God is with humanity” (Revelation 21:3).
Therefore, the number 144,000 should not be understood in a strictly literal sense, but symbolically, as an expression of the totality of God’s people. It derives from a symbolic construction: 12 tribes of Israel × 12 apostles × 1000, where the number twelve signifies the fullness of God’s people, while one thousand expresses totality and completion.
Salvation, therefore, is not reserved for a small group, but is offered to an innumerable multitude, called to share in the very life of God.
In light of the whole of Scripture, the idea of a division between “first-class” and “second-class” Christians is unfounded. All the saved are called to the same communion with God, in the fullness of His Kingdom.