It is written in Rev.14:4 -"These are the ones who have not been defiled with women, for they have kept themselves chaste. They are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These have been purchased from among men as first fruits to God and to the Lamb. "

This is not referring to physical virginity or physical harlotry. The women referred to here are the ones mentioned later on in Rev.17:5, Babylon the mother of harlots and her harlot-daughters.

This verse is stating that these 144,000 did not commit spiritual harlotry. They kept themselves chaste as pure virgins for Christ, undefiled by spiritual adultery with the flesh and the world. Spiritual adultery is explained in Jas.4:4:" You adulteresses. Know you not that friendship with the world is enmity towards God?" These are the ones who were faithful in moments of temptation, who kept themselves from worldliness. They followed the Lamb wherever He went. In other words, they took up their cross daily - for that is how the Lamb walked on earth.

Notice another phrase here, "they are purchased from among men". In Rev 14:3 we find that they were freed from the earth. They were the opposite of the "earth-dwellers". They had been freed from the earth. They were not occupied with the things of the earth. Their minds were set on the things that are above where Christ sits at the right hand of the Father. They were not thinking, "How can I make as much money as possible on earth and still go to heaven when I die? How can I live as comfortable a life as possible and still go to heaven when I die?" Earth-dwellers think that way. But these people were thinking, "How can I do all the will of God in my one earthly life? How can I show my gratitude to the Lord for dying for me on Calvary?" They were not the compromising, half-hearted, wishy-washy, worldly type of people who call themselves "believers" these days. They were in a different category altogether. They were redeemed (freed) from the earth. Their minds were not set on earthly comfort or wealth or honour.

Now we see that they are freed from men too - from men's opinions. The result is that they become first fruits to God and to the Lamb.

First fruits are those fruits that get ripe first of all on a tree. These are the ones who responded promptly to the Holy Spirit and became ripe during their earthly lifetime. They did not waste their lives. They did not waste the opportunities God gave them to take up their cross. They did not waste their opportunities to follow the Lamb. They took every opportunity that came their way to die to themselves and to follow Jesus, and to obey the leading of the Holy Spirit. The result was that they became ripe quickly. They are the first fruits.

Jas.1:18says that God "brought us forth by the word of truth so that we might be, as it were, the first fruits among His creatures".

Not everybody responds in the right way. But there will be a few who will respond aright and be the first fruits. The number 144,000 is not literal. It is symbolic of a small number of people. Jesus said that the way to life was narrow, and that only few would find it.

There is going to be a great multitude, "that no man can number" in the presence of God, who have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb. We saw that in Rev.7. Many of them will be babies of people from all religions, who died before they came to the age of understanding. Millions of them will be the aborted foetuses that there have been in the 20th century. The righteousness of Christ is put to their account and so they are in heaven. But they never had an opportunity to become overcomers. But those who consciously chose the narrow way that leads to life are a group that CAN be numbered. They are very, very few. These are the ones who took Matthew 5, 6 and 7 seriously and are first fruits to God and to the Lamb.