How does God know the tribe of each of the 144,000?
God knows the tribe of each of the 144,000 because He has providentially kept their tribal bloodline and lineage intact. After hundreds of years, their tribal lineage remains clear enough for Him to identify them individually by tribe, such as Reuben, Gad, and Asher, and to designate 12,000 from each tribe.
Les explains that God has providentially kept at least this many young Jews fairly pure in their tribal bloodline. This enables Him to say specifically, 12,000 from the tribe of Reuben, 12,000 from the tribe of Gad, 12,000 from the tribe of Asher, and so on. God will be able to finger them and say, “you’re from that tribe.” It is amazing that after hundreds of years, there will still be that many young Jewish men whose tribal lineage is intact enough that God can identify them by tribe. These 144,000 are Jews, young Jewish men who will proclaim the gospel of the kingdom, not of grace, after the church is gone. All 12 tribes are represented.