Revelation 7:1-8 - The Sealing Of The 144,000

¹ After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth. They were holding back the four winds of the earth so that no wind would blow on the earth, on the ocean or on any tree. ² And I saw another angel coming up from the east; he held the seal of the living God. [Note: This "seal" was a mark of identification or ownership]. And he called out with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given [the power] to harm the land and the ocean, ³ saying, "Do not harm the land, or the ocean, or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God [with a mark] on their foreheads." ⁴ Then I heard the number of those who were sealed. [It was] one hundred forty-four thousand [in all] from every tribe of the Israelites [Note: This could refer to Christians of Jewish descent]. ⁵ There were twelve thousand sealed from the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand from Reuben, twelve thousand from Gad, ⁶ twelve thousand from Asher, twelve thousand from Naphtali, twelve thousand from Manasseh, ⁷ twelve thousand from Simeon, twelve thousand from Levi, twelve thousand from Issachar, ⁸ twelve thousand from Zebulun, twelve thousand from Joseph and twelve thousand from Benjamin.