Chapter Twenty/A Multitudinous Great Crowd - The Blessings of the Great Crowd - Continue

 Further, they have become more zealous witnesses of Jehovah-'rendering him sacred service day and night i his temple." Are you one of these dedicated great crowd? If so, it is your privilege to serve Jehovah without letting up in the earthly courtyard of his great spiritual temple. Today, under the direction of the anointed ones, the great crowd is performing by far the greatest part of the witness work. Despite secular responsibilities, hundreds of thousand of them have made room for the full-time ministry as pioneers. But whether you are in that group or not, as a dedicated member of the great crowd, you can rejoice that because of your faith and works you are declared righteous as a friend of God and are welcomed as a guest in his tent. (Psalm 15:1-5; James2:21-26) Jehovah thus spreads 'his tent over those who love him, and, as a good host, protects them. - PROVERBS 18:10.

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 How do individuals of the great crowd qualify for survival? The elders tells John that they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." In other words, they have exercised faith in Jesus as their Ransomer, have made a dedication to Jehovah, have symbolized their dedication by water baptism, and "hold a good conscience" by their upright conduct. (1 Peter 3:16, 21; Matthew 20:28) Thus, they are clean and righteous in Jehovah's eyes. And they keep themselves "without spot from the world." - JAMES 1:27. 

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Chapter Twenty/A Multitudinous Great Crowd - The Blessings of the Great Crowd

 Through the divine channel, John receives further information regarding this: "And he [the elder] said to me: 'These are the ones that come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. That is why they are before the throne of God; and they are rendering sacred service day and night in his temple; and the One seated on the throne will spread his tent over them.' " - REVELATION 7:14b, 15. 

On an earlier occasion, Jesus had said that his presence in the Kingdom glory would culminate in "in great tribulation such as not occurred since the world's beginning until now, no, nor will occur again." (Matthew 24:21, 22) In fulfillment of that prophecy, the angels will unleash the four winds of the earth to devastate Satan's world system. First to go will be Babylon the Great, the world empire of false religion. Then, at the peak of the tribulation, Jesus will deliver the remaining ones of the 144,000 on earth, together with the multitudinous great crowd. - REVELATION 7:1; 18:2. 

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Chapter Twenty/ A Multitudinous Great Crowd - The Great Crowd Makes Its Appearance - Conclusion

 The harvesting of God's people during the Lord's day has thus been in full harmony with John's vision: first the work of gathering the remaining ones of the 144,000; then the gathering of the great crowd. As Isaiah prophesied, now "in the final part of the days," people of all nations are streaming to share in Jehovah's pure worship. And indeed, we exult in appreciation of Jehovah's creation of "new heavens and a new earth." (Isaiah 22:4; 65:17, 18) God is gathering "all things together again in the Christ, the things in the heavens and the things in the earth." (Ephesians 1:10) The anointed heirs of the heavenly Kingdom-chosen over the centuries since Jesus' day-are the "things in the heavens." And now, the great crowd of the other sheep appear as initial ones of "the things on the earth." Your serving in harmony with that arrangement can mean eternal happiness for you. 

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 When the second world war broke out, Satan put forth bitter efforts to stop the harvesting of the great crowd. Jehovah's work was restricted in many countries. During those dark days, and shortly before his death in January 1942, J.F. Rutherford, president of the Watch Tower Society, was heard to say: "Well . . .it looks as though the great multitude is going to be so great after all." But divine blessing directed otherwise! By 1946 the number of Witnesses ministering worldwide had jumped to 176,456-most of these being the great crowd. In 1987 there were 3,395,612 Witnesses who were serving Jehovah faithfully in 210 different lands-truly a Great Crowd! And the number keeps on increasing. 

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 During the 1920's and early 1930's, the John class has stressed the heavenly hope, both in the publications and in the preaching work. Apparently, the full number of the 144,000 had yet to be fulfilled. But increasing numbers of those who heeded the message and who showed zeal in the witness work came to profess an interest in living forever on the Paradise earth. They had no desire to go to heaven. That was not their calling. They were no part of the little flock but rather of the other sheep. (Luke 12:32; John 10:16) Their being identified in 1935 as the great crowd of other sheep was indication that the choosing of the 144,000 was then about complete. 

Do statistics support this conclusion? Yes, they do. In 1938, worldwide, 59,047 witnesses of Jehovah shared in the ministry. Of these 36,732 partook of the emblems at the annual celebration of the Memorial of Jesus's death, thus indicating that they had a heavenly calling. In the years since then, the number of these partakers has progressively decreased, principally because faithful witnesses of Jehovah finished their earthly course in death in 1987 only 8,808 partook of the Memorial emblems-just 0.1 percent of the 8,965, 221 attending that global observance. 

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Chapter Twenty/A Multitudinous Great Crowd - The Great Crowd Makes Its Appearance

 From the time of the apostle John and on into the Lord's day, anointed Christians were puzzled as to the identity of the great crowd. It is fitting, then, that one of the 24 elders, representing anointed ones already in heaven, should stir John's thinking by raising a pertinent question. "And in response of the elders said to me: 'Those who are dressed in white robes, who are they and where did they come from?' So right away I said to him: 'My lord, you are the one that knows.' " (Revelation 7:13, 14a) Yes, that elder could locate the answer and give it to John. This suggests that resurrected ones of the 24-elders group may be involved in the communicating of divine truths today. For their part those of the John class on earth got to learn the identity of the great crowd by closely observing what Jehovah was performing in their midst. They were quick to appreciate the dazzling flash of divine light that emblazoned the theocratic firmament in 1935, at Jehovah's due time. 

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Chapter Twenty/A Multitudinous Great Crowd - A Universal Shout of Praise

 The great crowd is praising Jehovah, but others are also singing his praises. John reports:  "And all the angels were standing around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell upon their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying: 'Amen! The blessing and the glory and the wisdom and the thanksgiving and the honor and the power and the strength be to our God forever and ever.  Amen.' " - REVELATION 7:11, 12.

When Jehovah created the earth, all of his holy angels "joyfully cried out together, and all the sons of God began shouting in applause." (Job 38:7) Each new revelation of Jehovah's purpose must have evoked similar angelic shouts of praise. When the 24 elders -the 144,000 in their heavenly glory-cry aloud in recognition of the Lamb, all others of God's heavenly creatures chime in with praises for Jesus and for Jehovah God. (Revelation 5:9-14) Already, these creatures have been overjoyed to observe the fulfillment of Jehovah's purpose in his resurrecting faithful and anointed humans to a glorious place in the spirit realm. Now, all of Jehovah's faithful heavenly creatures burst into melodious praise as the great crowd appears. Truly, for all of Jehovah's servants, the Lord's day is a thrilling time in which to be living. (Revelation 1:10) Here on earth, how privileged we are to share in the song of praise by witnessing to Jehovah's Kingdom. 

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Chapter Twenty/A Multitudinous Great Crowd - In Heaven or on Earth? -

 Additionally, we read: "When the Son of man arrives in his glory . . . all nations will be gathered before him." The whole human race is not in heaven when this prophecy is fulfilled. Certainly, those who "depart into everlasting cutting-off" are not in heaven. (Matthew 25:31-33, 41, 46) Instead, mankind stands on earth in Jesus' view, and he turns his attention to judging them. Similarly, the great crowd is "before the throne and before the Lamb" in that it stands in the view of Jehovah and his King Christ Jesus, from whom it receives a favorable judgment. 

The 24 elders and the anointed group of 144,000 are described as being "round about the throne" of Jehovah and "upon the [heavenly] Mount Zion." (Revelation 4:4; 14:1) The great crowd is not a priestly class and does not attain to that exalted position. True, it is later described in Revelation 7:15 as serving God "in his temple." But this temple does not refer to the inner sanctuary, the Most Holy. Rather, it is the earthly courtyard of God's spiritual temple. The Greek word na-os', here translated "temple" conveys the broad sense of the entire edifice erected for Jehovah's worship. Today, there is a spiritual structure that embraces both heaven and earth. - Compare MATTHEW 26:61; 27:5, 39, 40; MARK 15:29, 30; JOHN 2:19-21, New World Translation Reference Bible, footnote.

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Chapter Twenty/A Multitudinous Great Crowd - In Heaven or on Earth?

 How do we know that "standing before the throne" does not mean that the great crowd is in heaven. There is much clear evidence on this point. For example, the Greek word here translated "before" (e-no'pi-on) literally means "in [the] sight [of]" and is used several times of humans on earth who are "before" or "in the sight of" Jehovah. (1 Timoth5:21; 2 Timothy 2:4; Romans 14:22; Galatians 1:20.) On one occasion when the Israelites were in the wilderness, Moses said Aaron: "Say to the entire assembly of the sons of Israel, 'Come near before Jehovah, because he has heard y0ur murmurings.' " (Exodus 16:9) The Israelites did not have to be transported to heaven in order to stand before Jehovah on that occasion. (Compare Leviticus 24:8) Rather, right there in the wilderness they stood in Jehovah's view, and his attention was on them.

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