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Where Is the Great Crowd? |
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If
you ask a Jehovah’s Witness if he is going to heaven you’ll almost
always get an answer such as, “No. That’s for the Anointed Class
only”. The Watchtower teaches that only 144,000 individuals will live
for eternity in heaven. This group is made up of “Christians” from
the time of Christ’s resurrection until the year 1935 A.D. The rest of
the approximately 6 million Witnesses belong to a class known as the
Other Sheep, or Great Crowd. This Great Crowd, according to Watchtower
doctrine, will live forever on a paradise earth. Consider the following:.
"....the
heavenly hope was held out, highlighted and stressed until about the
year 1935. Then as 'light flashed up' to reveal clearly the identity of
the 'great crowd' of Revelation 7:9, the emphasis began to be placed on
the earthly hope." The
Watchtower, February 1, 1982, p.28
What
does the bible have to say about the location of this Great Crowd? Will
it, in fact, reside forever on the earth like the Jehovah's Witnesses
teach? Let's turn to the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures
for the answer.
Revelation 7:9-10 “After
these things I saw, and, look! a great crowd, which no man was able to
number, out of all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues, standing
before the throne and before the lamb, dressed in white robes; and
there were palm branches in their hands. And they kept on crying with a
loud voice, saying: ‘Salvation [we owe] to our God, who is seated
on the throne, and to the Lamb’.” So,
according to this verse, the great crowd is standing before the throne
where God Almighty Himself is seated. However, instead of interpreting
this passage literally, the
Watchtower appeals to the Greek text and teaches that standing
before the throne really means that the great crowd is figuratively
“in sight of” the throne from the earth. Can this interpretation be
justified? Let’s look at the next verse: Revelation 7:11
“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 worshipped God.”
Here
we see in the very same context that the angels are also standing
“before the throne” or, if you wish, “in sight of” the throne.
Would it be prudent to conclude that the angels are not really in the
presence of God in heaven, but at some earthly location with the great
crowd? Hardly. Now,
where are the 144,000 going to reside? That’s right. In heaven. We do
agree with the Jehovah’s Witnesses on this point. Take a look at what
they are doing up there:
Revelation 14:3
“And they are singing as if a new song before the throne and
before the four living creatures and the elders....” Do you see the same phrase, “before the throne”? Obviously, this
group is literally in heaven. To say that the angels and the 144,000 are
actually standing before God, but the Great Crowd is not, goes against
any rational and honest bible interpretation. One more verse:
Revelation 19:1
“After these things I heard what was as a loud voice of a great crowd
in heaven.”
Any problems with this
verse? Obviously, anyone reading the book of Revelation would never come
to the conclusion that the Great Crowd is relegated to the earth for all
eternity. In order for one to believe that, it is necessary to read
Watchtower publications.
We
urge you to study the scriptures by actually reading the scriptures. I
heard one bible teacher say that he was told to read all these
commentaries to understand the bible. After some years he realized that
by reading the bible he was able to understand all these commentaries.
The point is that God gave us His Word for us to read and understand. We
don’t have to be a part of any elite class of Christians to interpret
the bible. We need to sincerely read it while praying that the Holy
Spirit would illuminate it for us. Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would
come to guide us into all truth. (John 16:13) Why don’t you take Him
up on it?
Tower
To Truth Ministries |