Foreigners Gathered to God's House of Prayer, Chapter Seventeen

ON FRIDAY, May 31, 1935, Joseph F. Rutherford addressed a convention crowd in Washington D.C. He discussed the identity of the "great crowd," or "great multitude," seen in vision by the apostle John.  At the climax of Brother Rutherford's talk, he asked: "Will all those who have the hope of living forever on the earth please stand?"  According to one of those attending, "over half of the audience stood."  Then the speaker said: "Behold! The great multitude!"  ( he was mistaken; there are more and he forgets the fact that all humans are still sinful and imperfect.) Another who was present recalls:  "There was at first a hush, then a gladsome cry, and the cheering was loud and long." -Revelation 7:9, King James Version.  

That was an outstanding moment in the ongoing fulfillment of a prophecy written down some 2,000 years earlier and appearing in our Bibles at Isaiah chapter 56.  As with many other prophecies in Isaiah, this one contains both comforting promises and stern warnings.  In the first application, it is addressed to God's covenant people of Isaiah's own day, but its fulfillment extends over the centuries to our day. 

Next time: What Salvation Requires

From the Book Isaiah's Prophecy Light for all Mankind, Volume II, 2001