A Multitudinous Great Crowd

HAVING described the sealing of the 144,000, John goes on to report one of the most exciting revelations in all Scripture.  His heart must have leaped with joy as he reported it, saying:  "After these things I saw, and look! a great crowd, which no man was able to number, out of all nations and tribes and people and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, dressed in white robes; and there were palm branches in their hands."  (Revelation 7:9) Yes, the holding back of the four winds allows for the salvation of another group besides the 14,000 members of spiritual Israel; a multilanugage great crowd."  -  REVELATION 7:1.

 Worldly commentators have interpreted this great crowd to be fleshly non-Jews converted to Christianity or to be  heaven-bound Christian martyrs.  Even the Bible Students in the past regardedd them as secondary heavenly class, as noted in 1886 volume 1 of Studies in the Scriptures, The Divine Plan of the Ages:  "They lose the prize of the throne and the divine nature, will finally reach birth as spirit beings of an order lower than the divine nature.  Though these are truly consecrated, they are overcome by the worldly spirit to such an extent that they fail to render their lives in sacrifice."  And as late as 1930, the thought was expressed in Light, Book One:  "Those who made up this great crowd fail to respond to the invitation to become the zealous witnesses for the Lord."  They were described as self-righteous group that  had a knowledge of the truth but did little preaching it.  They  were to get to heaven as secondary class that would not share in reigning with Christ.

There were, however, other associates of the anointed Christian s who later became most zealouse in their preaching work.  They had no aspirations of going to heaven.  Indeedm their hope was in line wiht the title  of a public talk featured by Jehovah's people from 1918 to 1922.  Originally, this as "The World Has Ended-Millions Now Living Will Never Die."  Soon thereafter, the Watch Tower magazine of October 15, 1923, explained Jesus' parable of the sheep and the goats  (Matthew 25:31-46) stating:  "Sheep represent all the peoples of the nations,  not spirit-begotten but disposed toward righteousness, who mentally acknowledge Jesus Christ as the Lord and who are looking for and hoping for a better time under his reign." 

Some years later, in 1931, Vindication,  Book One, discussed Ezekiel  chapter 9, identifying  those persons marked on the forehead for preservation at the world's end as the sheep of the abover parable .  Vindication, Book Three, released in 1932, described the upright heart attitude of the non-Israelite man Jehonadab, who joined  Israel's  anointed King Jehu in his chariot and went along to see Jehu's zeal in executin false religionists .  (2 Kings 10:15-17)  The book commented:  "Jehonadab represented or foreshadowed that class of people  now on earth duing the time that Jehu  work [of declaring  Jehovah's judgments] is in progress who are of good will, are out of harmony with Satan's organization, who take their stand on the side of righteousness, and are the ones whom the Lord will preserve  during the timeof Armageddon, take them  through that trouble, and give them everlasting life on earth.  These constitute the 'sheep' class."   In 1934 The Watchtower made it clear that these Christians  with earthly hopes should made a dedication to Jehovah and be baptized. The light regarding this earthly class was shining ever brighter. - PROVERBS 4:18.  

The understanding of Revelation 7:9- 17  was now about to burst forth in all its sparkling brilliance!  (Psalm 97:11)  The Watchtower magazine had repeatedly expressed the hope tha ta convention scheduled for May 30 to June 3, 1935 in Washington,  D.C., U.S.A., would be " a real comfort and benefit to those pictured by Jehonadab.  That it proved to be!  In a stirring talk on "The Great Multitude," delivered  to about 20000 conventioners, J.F. Rutherford, who at that time took the lead in the worldwide preaching work, gave Scriptural proof that the  modern-day other sheep  are identical with the great crowd of Revelation 7:9.  At the climax  of this talk, the speaker asked:  "Will all of those  who have the hope of living forever on the earth, please stand?"  As a large part of the audience stood up, the speaker declared: Behold!  The Great Multitude! "  There was  a hush followed by thunderous cheering .  How elated was the John class-and also the Jehonadab group!  On the following  day, 840 new Witnesses were baptized, most of those professing to be of that great crowd.

Next time: A Multitudinous Great Crowd - Confirming the Identity if the Great Crowd

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Sealing the Israel of God - The Israel of God Today

Interestingly, Charles T. Russell recognized the 144,000 to be a literal number of individuals making up a spiritual Israel.  In the New Creation, Volume VI of his Studies in the Scriptures, published in 1904, he wrote :  "We have every reason to believe that the definite, fixed number of te elect [chosen anointed ones] is that several times stated in Revelation (7:4; 14:1); namely 144,000 'redeemed from amongst men,'" In Light, Book One, published in 1930 by the Bible Students, it was likewise stated:  "The 144,000 members of the body of Christ are thus in the assembly shown as selected, anointed, or sealed."  Jehovah's Witnesses have consistently held to the view that literally 144,000 anointed Christians make up spiritual Israel.

Nevertheless, does not natural Israel today merit some special favor?  In the period just prior to the Lord's day, when sincere Bible students were rediscovering many of the basic truths of God's Word, it was thought that with the ending of the Gentile Times the Jews would  again enjoy a privileged standing before God.  Thus C.T. Russell's book  The Time Is at Hand  (Volume  II of the Studies in the Scriptures), published  in 1889, applied Jeremiah 31:29-34  to the natural Jews and commented:  "The world is witness to the fact that  Israel's punishment under the dominion of the Gentiles has been continuous  since  [607] B.C. , that it still continues, and that there is no reason to expect their  national re-organization  sooner than A.D. 1914, the limit of their 'seven times'-252o years."  It seemed that the Jews would then experience a national restoration, and this prospect apparently brightened in 1917, when the Balfour Declaration pledged British support for making Palestine a national hom efor the Jews.

Following the first world war,  Palestine became a mandated territory under Great Britain, and the way opened for many Jews to return to that land.  In 1948 the political state of Israel was brought forth.  Did this not indicate that the Jews were in line for divine blessings?  For many years, Jehovah's Witnesses  believed this was so.  Thus, in 1925 they published a 128-page book, Comfort for the Jews. In 1929  they released  an atttractive 360-page volume, Life, designed to appeal to the Jews and dealing ing also with the Bible book fo Job. Great efforts were made especially in New York City, to reach the Jews with this Messianic message.  Happily, a few individuals responded, but the Jews by and large, like their forefathers of the first century rejected the evidence of  the Messiah's presence. 

It was obvious that Jewry, as a people and as a nation, was not the Israel described in Revelation 7:4-8 or other Bible prophecies related to the Lord's day.  Following tradition, the Jews continued to avoid using the divine name.  (Mattthew 15:1-3, 7-9) In discussing Jeremiah 31:31-34, the book Jehovah, published by Jehovah's Witnesses in 1934, stated conclusively:  "The new covenant has nothing to do with the natural descendants  of Israel and with mankind in general, but . . . is  limited to spiritual Israel, which is a member of the United Nations and a part of the world that Jesus spoke of at  JOHN 14:19, 30; and 18:36. 

In 1931 God's slaves on earth has received, with great joy, the name Jehovah's Witnesses.  They could subscribe wholeheartedly to the words of Psalm 97:11: "Light itselfhas flashed up for the righteous one, and rejoicing even for the ones upright in heart."  They could clearly discern that spiritual Israel alone had beeen brought into the new covenant.  (Hebrews 9:15; 12:22, 24)  Unresponsive natural Israel had not part therein, nor did  mankind in general.    This understanding cleared the way for a  brilliant flash of divine light, outstanding in teh annals of theocratic history.  This would reveal how abundantly  Jehovah extends his mercy, loving-kindness, and truth to all humans who draw close to him. (Exodus 34:6; James 4:8) Yes, otheres besides the Israel of God would benefit by the angel's holding back the four winds  of destruction. Who might these be?  Could you be one of them? Let us see.  

Next time: Sealing the Israel of God - A Multitudinious Great Crowd

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Sealing the Israel of God - How Many Are Sealed

 Jesus said to those in line for this sealing: 'Have no fear, little flock, because your Father has approved of giving you the kingdom." (Luke 12:32)    Other scriptures, such as Revelation 6:11 and Romans 11:25, indicate that the number of this little flock indeed limited and, in fact, predetermined.  John's next words confirm this:  "And I heard the number of those who were sealed, a hundred and forty-four thousand, sealed out of every tribe  of the sons of Israel: Out of the tribe of Judah twelve thousand sealed; out of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand; out of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand; out of the tribe of Asher twelve thousand; out of the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousandl if the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand; out of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand; out of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand; out of the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand; out of the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand; out of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand; out of the tribe of Benjamin twelve thousand sealed."- REVELATION 7:4-8. 

Could this not be a reference to a literal, fleshly Israel? No, for  Revelation 7:4-8 diverges from the usual tribal listing.  (Numbers 1:17, 47)  Obviously, the listing here is not for the purpose of identifying fleshly Jews by their tribes but to show a similar organizational structure  for spiritual Israel.  This is balanced.  There are to be exactly  144,000 members of this new nation-12,000 from each of 12 tribes.  No  tribe in this Israek if Gid  us exclusively royal or priestly.  The whole nation is to rule as kings, and the whole nation is to serve as priests. -  GALATIANS 6:16; REVELATION 20:4, 6.

Although the natural Jews and Jewish proselytes were given the first opportunity to be chosen for spiritual Israel, only a minority of that nation responded.  Jehovah therefore extended the invitation to the Gentiles.  (John 1:10-13; Acts 2:4, 7-11; Romans 11:7)  As in the case of the Ephesians, who previously had been "alienated  from the state of Israel," now non-Jews could sealed with God's spirit and become part of the congregation of anointed Christians.  (Ephesians 2:11-13; 13:5, 6; Acts 15:14) It is appropriated, then, for the 24 elders to sing before the Lamb:  "With your blood you bought persons for God out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and you made them to be  a kingdom and priests to our God, and they are to rule as kings over the earth." - REVELATION 5:9, 10.

The Christian congregation is "a chosen race, a royal priesthood,  a holy nation."  (1 Peter 2:9) Replacing natural Israel as God's nation, it becomes a new Israel that is "really 'Israel.'" (Romans 9:-8;6; Matthew 21:43)  For this reason, it was quite proper for Jesus' half brother James to address his patastorial letter to the twelve tribes that are scattered about," that is, to the worldwide congregation of anointed Christians that in time would number 144,000. - JAMES 1:1.

Next time: Sealing the Israel of God - The Israel of God Today

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Sealing the Israel of God - The Sealing of God's Slaves

John goes on to describe how some will be marked for survival, saying: "And I saw another angel ascending from the sunrising, having a seal of the living God; and he cried with a loud voiceto the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, saying: 'Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until after we have sealed the slaves of our God in their foreheads." - REVELATION 7:2, 3.  

Though this fifth angel is not named, all the evidence indicates that he must be the glorified Lord Jesus.  In line with Jesus' being the Archangel, he is here shown to have authority over the other angels. (1Thessalonians 4:16; Jude 9) He ascends from he east, like "the kings from the rising of the sun"- Jehovah and His Christ-who come to execute Judgment, as did the kings Darius and Cyrus when they humbled ancient Babylon. (Revelation 16:12; Isaiah 45:1; Jeremiah 51:11; Daniel 5:31) This angel also resembles Jesus in that he is entrusted with sealing anointed Christians.  (Ephesus 1:13, 14) Further, when the winds are unleashed, it is Jesus who leads the heavenly armies in executing judgment on the nations. (Revelation 19:11-16) Logically, then, Jesus would the one to command that destruction of Satan's earthly organization be held back until God's slaves are sealed.

What is this sealing, and who are these slaves of God?  The sealing began at Pentecost 33 C.E. when the first Jewish Christians were anointed with holy spirit.  Later, God proceeded to call out and anoint "people of the nations." (Romans 3:29; Acts 2:1-4, 14, 32, 33; 15:14)  The apostle Paul wrote about anointed Christians' having a gurantee that they "belong to Christ" and added that God "has also put his seal upon us and has given us the token of what is to come, that is, the spirit, in our hearts."  (2 Corinthians 2:21, 22; compare Revelation 14:1.)  Thus when these slaves are adopted as God's spiritual sons, they receive a token in advance of their heavenly inheritance-a seal or pledge.  (2 Corinthians 5:1, 5; Ephesians 1:10, 11) They can say:  "The spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are God's children.  If, then, wer are children, we are also heirs: heirs indeed of God, but joint heirs with Christ, provided we suffer together that we may also be glorified together." - ROMANS 8:15-17.

"Provided we suffer together"-what does that mean?  In order to receive the crown of life, anointed Christians must endure, faithful even to death.  (Revelation 2:10)  It is not a matter of 'once saved, always saved.'  (Matthew 10:22; Luke 13:24)  Rather,  they are admonished:  "Do your utmost to make the calling and choosing of you sure for yourselves."  Like the apostle Paul, ultimately they must be able to say:  "I have fought the fine fight, I have run the course to the finish, I have observed the faith." (2 Peter 1:10, 11; 2 Timothy 4:7, 8)  So here  on earththe testing and sifting of the remaining spirit-begotten sons of God must go on until Jesus and his accompanying angels will have firmly implanted the seal 'in the forehead' of all these, identifying them conclusively, irrrevocably, as tried and faithful  "slaves of our God."  That seal then becomes a permanent mark. Evidenly, when the four winds of tribulation are unleashed, all of spiritual Israel will have been sealed in finality, even though a few will still be alive in the flesh.  (Matthew 24:13; Revelation 19:7)   The entire membership will be completed! - ROMANS 1:25, 26.

Next time: Sealing the Israel of God - How Many Are Sealed>

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Sealing the Israel of God - The Four Winds

Before Jehovah unleashes this fury, heavenly angles perform a special service.  John now beholds this in vision:  "After this I saw four angels standing upon the four corners of the earth, holding tighg the four winds of the earth, that no wind might blow upon the earth or upon the sea or upon any tree." (Revelation 7:1)   What does this mean for us today?  These  "four winds" are a vivid symbol of destruction judgment about to be let loose on a wicked earthly society, on the surging  "sea" of lawless humanity, and on lofty treelike rulers that draw support and sustenence from the people of the earth.  - ISAIAH 57:20; PSALM 37:35, 36. 

No doubt, these four angels represent the four angelic groups, whom Jehovah uses to hold back the execution of judgment until the appointed time.  When the angels release those winds of divine wrath to whirl at one time from north, south, east, and west, the devastation will be tremendous. It will resemble , but on a supendous scale, Jehovah's use of the four winds to scatter the ancient Elamites, shattering and exterminating them.  (Jeremiah 49:36-38)   It will be  a gigantic storm wind far devastating  than the "tempest" by which Jehovah annihilated the nation of Ammon.  (Amos 1:13-15)   No part of Satan's organization  on earth will be able to stand in the day of Jehovah's fury, when he vindicates his sovereignty for all eternity to come. - PSALM 83:15, 18; ISAIAH 29:5, 6. 

Can we be sure that God's judgment will ravage the entire earth?  Listen again to his prophet Jeremiah:  "Look!  a calamity going forth from nation to nation, and great tempest itself will be roused up from the remotest parts of the earth.  And those slain by Jehovah will certainly come to be  that day from one end of the earth clear to the other end of the earth."  (Jeremiah 25:32, 33)  It is during this tempestuous storm that darkness will engulf  this world. Its ruling angencies will be shaken into oblivion.  (Revelation 6:12-14)  But the future will not be dark for everyone. For whose sake, then,  are the four winds held back? 

Next time: Sealing the Israel of God - The Sealing of God's Slaves

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Sealing the Israel of God

Vision 4 -REVELATION  7:1-17 

Subject: The 144,000 are sealed, and a great crowd is observed standing before Jehovah's throne and before the Lamb

Time of Fulfillment: From the enthronement of Christ Jesus in 1914 on into his Millennial Reign

"WHO is able to stand?" (Revelation 6:17)  Yes, who indeed?  When the great day of divine wrath devastates Satan's system, rulers and peoples  of the world may well ask that question.  To them it will appear that the impending cataclysm will snuff out all human life.  But will it?  Happily, God's prophet assures us:  "Everyone who calls on the name of Jehovah will get away safe."  (Joel 2:32)  The apostles Peter and Paul confirm that fact.  (Acts 2:29-21; Romans 10:13)  Yes, those who call on the name Jehovah will be survivors.  Who are these ones?  As the next vision unfolds, we shall see.  

It is truly remarkable that anyone should come through Jehovah's day of judgment alive, for anoter of God's prophets describes it in these words:  "A windstorm of Jehovah, rage itself has gone forth, an onward sweeping tempest.  Upon the head of the wicked ones it will whirl.  The burning anger of Jehovah will turn back unto he will have executed and until he will caried out the ideas in his heart."  (Jeremiah 30:23, 24)   It is urgent that we take steps to weather that storm! - PROVERBS 2:22; ISAIAH 55:6, 7; Zephaniah 2:2, 3.  

Next time: Sealing the Israel of God -The Four Winds

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Earthquakes in the Lord's Day - "Fall Over Us and Hide Us"

 John's words continue: "And the kings of the earth and the top-ranking ones and the military commanders and the rich and strong ones and every slave and every free person hid themselves in the caves and the rock-masses of the mountains.  And they keep saying to the mountains and rock masses: 'Fall over us and hide us from the face of the One seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, because the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?'" - REVELATION 6:15-17. 

When Hosea was pronouncing Jehovah's judgment on Samaria, the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel, he said: "The high places of Bethaven, the sin of Israel, will actually be annihilaed.  Thorns and thistles themselves will come up upon their altars. And people  will in fact say to the mountains,  'Cover us!' and to the hills, 'Fall over us!' (Hosea 10:8) How were those  words fulfilled? Well, when Samaria fell to the cruel Assyrians in 740 B.C.E., there was nowhere for the Israelites to run.  The words of Hosea express the feeling of helplessness, abject terror, and abandonment that the conquered people felt.  Neiter the hills nor the mountainlike institutions of Samaria could protect them, even though they had seemed so permanent in the past.

Similarlym when Jesus was being led to his death by the Roman soldiers, he addressed the women of Jerusalem  and said: "Days are coming in which people will say,  'Happy are the barren women, and the wombs that did not give birth and the breast that did not nurse!'  Then they will say to the mountains, 'Fall over us!' and the hills, 'Cover us over!'  (Luke 23:29, 30)   The destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 C.E. is well documented and it is evident that Jesus' words had an import similar to that of Hosea's .  There was no hiding place for the Jews who remained in Judea.  Wherever  they tried to hid in Jerusalem, or even when they fled to the mountaintop citadel of Masada, they were unable to escape the violent expression of Jehovah's judgment. 

Now the opening of the sixth seal has shown that something similar will happen durin the coming day of Jehovah's wrath. At the final shaking of this earthly system  things, those committed to supporting it will desperately seek for a hiding place. But they will not find one.  False religion, Babylon the Great, has already failed them miserable.  Neither caves in the literal mountains nor symbolic mountainlike  political and commercial organizations will provide financial security or any other kind of help. Nothing will shelter them from Jehovah's  wrath.  Their terror is well described by Jesus:  "Then the Son of man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will beat themselves in lamentation, and they will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory." - MATTHEW 24:30.

Yes, those who have refused to recognize ther authority of the victorious Rider of the white horse will be forced to admit their error.  Humans who have willingly been part of the second seed of the serpent will be faced with destruction when Satan's world passes away.  (Genesis 3:15; 1 John 2:17)  The world situation at that time will be such that many will, in effect  , ask: "Who is able to stand?"  They will apparently assume that no one at all can stand approved before Jehovah in that day of his judgment. But they will be wrong, as the book of Revelation goes to show. 

Next time: Sealing the Israel of God

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Earthquakes in the Lord's Day - "The Heaven" Departs

In Bible prophecy, mountains and islands were said to rock or be otherwise destabilized at timeof great political upheaval.  For example, when foretelling Jehovah's judgments against Nineveh, the prophet Nahum wrote:  "Mountains themselves have rocked because of him, and the very hills found themselves melting.  And the earth will be upheaved because of his face." (Nahum 1:5)  There is nor record of any breaking up  of literal mountains when Nineveh actually fell in 632 B.C.E.  But a world power that previously had seemed mountainlike in its strength suddenly collapsed. - Compare JEREMIAH 4:24.

 Therefore,  "every mountain and every island" as referred to at the opening of he sixth seal would logically be political governments and dependent organizations of this world that have seemed so stable to many mankind.  The will be rocked right out of place, to the consternation and horror of those who have previously trusted in  in them.  As the prophecy goes on to relate, there will be no question that the great day of the wrath of Jehovah and his Son-the final quaking that removes all of Satan's organization-has come with a vengeance! 

Next time: Earthquakes in the Lord's Day- "Fall Over Us and Hide Us" 

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Earthquakes in the Lord's Day - "The Heaven" Departs

John's vision continues: "And the heaven departed as a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and every island were removed from their places." (Revelation 6:14)  Clearly, these are not the literal heavens or the literal mountains and islands.  But what do they symbolize?

Regarding "the heaven,"  we are helped in our understanding by a similar prophecy that tells of Jehovah's rage against all the nations: "And all those of army of the heavens must rot away.  And the heavens must be rolled up, just a book scroll." (Isaiah 34:4)   Edom in particular must suffer. How? She was overrun by the Babylonians soon after the destruction of Jerusalem in 607 B.C.E. At that time, there were no outstanding events recorded  as happening in the literal heavens. But there were catastrophic events in Edom's "heavens."  Her human governmental powers were abased from their elevated, heavenlike postion.  (Isaiah 334:5)  They were "rolled up" and put aside , as it were, like an old scrollthat was no logner of any use to anyone.

Thus, "the heaven" that is to 'depart as a scroll' refers to the anti-God governments that rule over this earth.  They will be removed with finality by the all-conquering Rider of the white horse.  (Revelation 19:11-16, 19-21)   This is confirmed  by what the apostle Peter  said when he looked foward to the event signified by the opening of the sixth seal.  "The heavens and the earth that are now stored up for fire and are being preserved to the day of judgment and of destruction of the ungodly men." (2 Peter 3:7) But what about the expression,  "every mountain and ever island were removed from their places"?

Next time: Earthquakes in the Lord's Day - "Conclusion of "The Heaven" Departs" 

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Earthquakes in the Lord's Day - A Time of Darkness

As John goes on to show, the great earthquake is accompanied by terrifying events that involve even the heavens.  He says:  "And the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the entire moon became as blood, and the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as when a fig tree shaken by a high wind casts its unripe figs."  (Revelation 6:12b, 13)    What a striking phenomenon!  Can you imagine the frigthening darkness that would result if the prophecy were fulfilled literally?  No more warm, comforting sunlight by day!  No more friendly, silvery moonlight by night!  And the myriad of stars would no longer twinkle against the velvety backdrop of the sky.  Instead, there would be cold. relentless blackness. - Compare MATTHEW  24:29. 

In a spiritual sense, such darkness was prophesied for ancient Israel.  Jeremiah warned:  "A desolate waste is what the whole land will become, and shall I not carry out a sheer extermination?   On this account the land will mourn, and the heavens above will certainly  become dark." (Jeremiah 4:27, 28)  In 607 B.C.E.  when that prophecy was fulfilled, things were dark indeed for Jehovah's people.  Their capital city, Jerusalem, fell to the Babylonians.  Their temple was destroyed, and their land was abandoned.  For them, there was no comforting light from heaven.  Rather, it was as Jeremiah mournfully said to Jehovah:  "You have killed; you have shown no compassion.  You have blocked approach to yourself with a  cloud  mass, that prayer may not pass through." ( Lamentations 3:43:44) For Jerusalem, the celestial darkness meant death and destruction. 

Later,  a similar darkness in the heavens signified disaster for ancient Babylon. Of this, God's prophet was inspired to write: "Look! The day of Jehovah itself is coming, cruel both with fury and with burning anger, in order to make the land an object of astonishment, and that it may annihilate  the land's sinners out of it.  For the very stars of the heavens and  their constelletions of Kesil will not flash forth their light; the sun will actually grow dark at its going forth, and the moon itself will not cause its light  to shine. And I shall certainly bring home its own badness upon the productive land, and their own error upon the wicked themselves." (Isaiah 13:9-11) This prophecy was fulfilled in 539 B.C.E. when Babylon  fell to the Medes and the Persians. It well describes  the blackness, the hopelessness, the lack of any comforing light for Babylon as she fell forever from her position as premier world power.

In a similar way, when the great earthquake strikes, this entire world system will be engulfed in the despair of total darkness.  The bright, shining luminaries of Satan's earthly system will send forth no ray of hope .  Already today, earth's political leaders, especially  in Christendom, are notorious for their corruption, lying, and immoral lifestyle.  (Isaiah 28:14-19)   No longer can be trusted,  Their flickering light will go into total eclipse when Jehovah executes judgment .  Their moonlight influence on earth's affairs  will be exposed as bloodied, death dealing.  Their worldly supestars will be extinguished like plunging meteorites  and scattered like unripe figs in a howling windstorm.  Our entire globe will quake under a "great tribulation such as has not occurred since the world's beginning until, no, nor will occr again." (Matthew 24:21)  What a fearful prospect!  

Next time: Earthquakes in the Lord's Day - "The Heaven" Departs 

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