Bible Studies

RABBI ZEV PORAT AND THE VIRGINS

by Jeff Van Hatten
06/15/23
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Revelation 14:1 – “I looked, and behold, Yeshua was standing on Mount Zion. With Him were one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads.”
Revelation 14:4-5 – “These are the ones who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins – they follow Yeshua wherever he goes. They have been redeemed from among men as first fruits to Yahweh and to Yeshua – and no lie was found in their mouth, they are blameless.”

The Common Interpretation:
Many scholars have interpreted these verses to mean that these individuals are from all nations, not just from the twelve tribes of Israel as are the 144,000 of Revelation 7:1-9. Scholars also state that the 144,000 are the most like Yeshua of all who have ever walked the earth, that they are obedient and follow the commandments without fault. With this I have no difference of opinion.

However, most of these scholars have also interpreted these verses to mean:
• These are men who have never married, remaining single until death,
• These are men who have never had sexual relations with any woman outside of marriage,
• These are men who, if they have married, have never cheated on their wife, or taken more than one wife,
• These are men who have never in some other way misused sex.

None of those additional interpretations are satisfactory to me, for several reasons:
• These additional interpretations appear to demonstrate carnal thinking,
• “Every man who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery . . .” (Matthew 5:28)
• Any man who had even had the slightest, most miniscule stray thought would be an adulterer,
• I have yet to meet even a twelve year old male that has never had a lustful thought,
• An adulterous man can not be considered a virgin – all have defiled themselves with women!,
• These interpretations do not appear to allow scripture to interpret scripture.
But even more importantly, none of these additional interpretations demonstrate spiritual thinking.

Gender Neutrality:
The Greek words used for “men” (ἄνθρωπος anthrōpos G444) and for “one or ones” (οὐδείς oudeis, οὐθείς outheis, οὐδεμία oudemia, οὐδέν ouden, and οὐθέν outhen G3762) and for “these” (οὗτος houtos, αὕτη hautē, τοῦτο touto; G3778) are not necessarily male gender specific words. All three Greek words more accurately indicate humans in general, either male or female.

In light of these non-gender specific Greek words, one can therefore, also add the following interpretations:
• Every woman who looks at a man with lust for him has already committed adultery,
• An adulterous woman can not be considered a virgin – all have defiled themselves with men!

The Unique Interpretation:
Revelation is a study in contrasts between True Religion and false religion, between the True Messiah and the false messiah, between True Worship and false worship. In almost every other instance in Revelation a woman (harlot riding the beast, etc.) depicts false religion, or idol worship. Likewise, in many Old and New Testament scriptures a woman (or women) are used to depict false testimony, false religion, false worship, or false gods.
If we let scripture interpret scripture, then the following interpretation becomes evident and, to me, is considerably more satisfactory:
• These 144,000 virgins are those who have never, ever, defiled themselves by studying, accepting, or thinking about any lord other than Yahweh / Yeshua.
• These virgins have never bowed to any false god or lord,
• These virgins follow the example of Yeshua, who stated “I say only what the Father has taught me” – John 5:28,
• These virgins have never taught any other gospel than the one given in scripture,
• These virgins have never spoken any word about Yeshua other than those given in scripture,
• These virgins have never spoken any word about Yeshua other than those given specifically to them by the Holy Spirit.

Rabbi Zev Porat recently posted a video in which he affirms the spiritual meanings, with additional in depth interpretations. Here are a few excerpts of what he states:
• The 144,000 are very, very important. They have a special seal, a special Mark. And when we study the Book of Revelation we see that everybody has some kind of seal on their forehead. Either you have the Seal of God the Holy Spirit or you have the Mark of the Beast.
• Scripture is speaking about spiritual Israelites – those that are grafted into Israel and become spiritually Israel. And it's also speaking about physical Israelites, Jews who are grafted back into Israel, back into the Olive Tree.
• Spiritual Israel also consists also of the ten tribes that were scattered. In the last days there's really going to be 12 000 from each tribe.
• If you're under the blood of Yeshua you are spiritually Israel.
• Virgins is not speaking about sexual relationships – it's spiritual. It's speaking about being pure – it's speaking about the Bride of Yeshua, that become clean; white as snow through the blood of the Lamb.

Here’s the video as shown on Rumble:
https://rumble.com/v2ogd3e-the-144-thousand-explosive-revelation-get-ready-to-be-shocked-messianic-rab.html

Conclusions:
When one thinks spiritually rather than carnally, it becomes quite clear that since these 144,000 humans (male or female) have never defiled themselves with any false religions or false lords (women), they are, in essence, virgins. Likewise, since they only speak that which is given by Yahweh, Yeshua, or the Holy Spirit (Ruach Ha’Kodesh), there is no lie found in their mouth.

Therefore, I believe that Revelation 14:1-5 is talking about those humans who are spiritually and morally undefiled, not about those who are carnally or sexually undefiled, and is talking about humans that could be either male or female. This also more closely follows other scripture which states that there is neither male nor female in Yeshua, as stated in Galatians 3:27-28 – “You were all baptized into Mashiach, and so you were all clothed with Mashiach. In Mashiach, there is no difference between Jew and Greek, slave and free person, male and female. You are all the same in Mashiach Yeshua.”

The 144,000 virgins are the redeemed, the firstfruits to Yahweh and to Yeshua. No doubt about it, the Rabbi agrees.

Final Thought for 2023
The stage for Yeshua’s return is being set. Prophecy continues to unfold in an escalating pattern as foretold by the Hebrew prophets. The season of the birth pains is here – they are burgeoning and not going away. Time is short – Yeshua Ha’Mashiach is coming soon – be sure you have salvation in Yeshua and keep busy reaching the lost.