I agree JD,
I see as well that the 144,000 and the Great company are actually the same group being described in two different settings and in two different time frames. The 144000 and the Great crowd both represent the entire church of God. The 144,000 in scene one (verses 1 – 8) represent God's view or perspective of His perfect church... and scene 2 represents what John sees from a human perspective. So there is a contrast here, but its not one of numbers, but perspective, divine versus human.
Looking at the number 144,000 a little more closely... How is God to numerically express the entire church down through history? When you apply the promise to Abraham of an innumerable progeny, comparable to the stars in the heaven for number, we would certainly be dealing with a sizable group, an innumerable group, How is God to give a definite total for such an innumerable multitude? Why couldn't it be by a number which no man could number,- ie. by a symbol- which stands for completion and perfect symmetry?
David Chilton, in his excellent commentary on Revelation entitled, "Days of Vengeance" page 206 says
“The number 144,000 is obviously symbolic: twelve (the number of Israel) squared, then multiplied by 1000 (ten and its multiples symbolizing many; cf. Deut. 1:11; Ps.50:10; 68:17; 84:10; 90:4). St. John pictures for us the ideal Israel, Israel as it was meant to be, in all its perfection, symmetry, and completeness."
There is further biblical support that the 144,000 and the Great Multitude are identical, that they really are the same group being described from two different perspectives, divine and human. John heard the (perfect) number; then he saw the actual group. This "hearing" then "seeing" sequencing is a literary device that THE APOSTLE John uses frequently in Revelation to display his images from different viewpoints. David Chilton demonstrates this pattern of hearing and seeing on page 213 of:”Days of Vengeance:”
“For example, in 1:10-13, St. John hears a Voice, then turns
to see the Lord; in 5:5-6, he hears the Lion of Judah, then
sees the Lamb; in 6:1-8, he hears a living creature say "Come!"
- then sees the object of the creatures command. The same
pattern appears in this chapter: St. John tells us, I heard the
number of those who were sealed (v.4); then, after these things
- after hearing the number of the redeemed - I looked, and behold
a Great Multitude (v.9).
There is one church indivisible; the Great crowd is not a piddly 7 million Watchtowerites which we can all number; and the number of those sealed by the Spirit of God is a perfect number, representing a perfect innumerable body of believers....as promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.