"THE LITTLE ONE" HAS BECOME "A THOUSAND"

"DARKNESS itself will cover the earth, and thick gloom the national groups; but upon you Jehovah will shine forth, and upon you his own glory will be seen."  (Isaiah 60:2)  These words will describe the situation on earth since 1919.  Christendom has rejected the sign of the royal presence of Jesus Christ,  "the light of the world."   (John 8:12; Matthew 24:3)  Because of he "great anger" of Satan, chief of "the world rulers of this darkness," the 20th century was the cruelest, most destructive time of man' s history.  (Revelation 12:12; Ephesians 6:12)  Most people live in spiritual darkness. 

Still, light does shine today.  Jehovah 'shines forth' upon his servants, the anointed remnant, who are the earthly representatives of his heavenly "woman."  (Isaiah 60:1) Especially since their release from Babylonish captivity in 1919, these have reflected God's glory and have 'let their light shine before men.'  (Matthew 5:16)  From 1919 through 1931, Kingdom light shone brighter  and brighter as these ones cast off the remaining shackles of Babylonish thinking.  They increased in number to tens of thousands as Jehovah fulfilled his promise:  "I shall without fail collect the remaining ones of Israel  together.  In unity I shall set them, like a flock in the pen, like a drove in the midst of its pasture; they will be noisy with men."  (Micah 2:12)  In 1931, Jehovah's glory upon his people became even more evident when they accepted the name Jehovah's Witnesses. -Isaiah 43:10, 12.

Would Jehovah shine forth on only the remaining ones of the "little flock"?   (Luke 12:32)  No. The September 1, 1931, issue of  The Watchtower pointed to another group.  In a fine explanation of Ezekiel 9:1-11), it showed that the man with the writer's inkhorn mentioned in those verses represents the anointed remnant. Who are marked on the forehead by that "man"?   "Other sheep," ones who have the hope of living eternally on a paradise earth.  (John 10:16; Psalm 37:29)  In 1935 this group of  "other sheep" were discerned to be the "great crowd . . . out of all the nations"  seen in vision by the apostle John.  (Revelation 7:9-14)  From 1935 until now, much attention has been focused on the gathering in of the great crowd.

This gathering work is alluded to in Isaiah's prophecy when it says:  " Nations will certainly go to your light, and kings to the brightness of your shining forth."  (Isaiah 60:3)  Who are the "kings" referred  to here?  The remaining ones of the 144,000 who, along with Jesus Christ, are joint heirs of the heavenly Kingdom and have taken the lead in the witness work.  (Romans 8:17; Revelation 12:17; 14:1)  Today, the few thousand remaining ones of the anointed remnant are greatly outnumbered by the "nations," those with an earthly hope who come to Jehovah for instruction and invite others to do the same.  -Isaiah 2:3.

Next time: Jehovah's Zealous Servants

Watchtower, 2000