Footnote

a Christendom’s religions fail to recognize that a definite number, revealed in the Bible to be 144,000, makes up spiritual Israel. (Revelation 7:4) As a result, some draw the erroneous conclusion that Paul predicted a mass conversion of both the Jews and “the whole pagan world.” (The Jerusalem Bible) Paul’s illustration of the olive tree in Romans, chapter 11, however, makes little sense without a definite number being involved.