Jehovah’s Witnesses claim that “the “great crowd” of other sheep will survive the great tribulation and enter into God’s new world.” (ws14 1/15 p. 31 par. 18)
In this video, we’re going to prove that the “great crowd of other sheep,” as defined by the Governing Body, is a lie. I don’t use that word lightly. This goes beyond making a mistake due to human imperfection—the common excuse Jehovah’s Witnesses are taught to make when faced with failed prophetic interpretations made by the Governing Body. If you know that something is untrue and yet you teach it anyway, you are lying.
But before we get to that evidence, let’s be clear about what Witnesses are taught to believe about the end of the world.
The Governing Body teaches that the great tribulation starts when the nations attack Babylon the great, the worldwide empire of false religion, and ends with Armageddon. They teach that the other sheep—faithful Jehovah’s Witnesses with an earthly hope—who happen to be alive at the start of the great tribulation make up the great crowd. This great crowd of JW other sheep will survive the great tribulation and enter into God’s new world.
This belief is reinforced in their publications with terrifying images depicting the total destruction of Satan’s wicked world. But there is also reassuring artwork of Jesus and his angels protecting defenseless Jehovah’s Witnesses from the evil military forces coming to kill them. Finally, Witnesses are given faith-building illustrations showing Armageddon survivors striding out of the old world and into the new. Great rewards await these loyal Witnesses who will enjoy eternal life on an idyllic paradise earth where food abounds, everyone has a beautiful home, and children can safely play with wild animals.
This is great salesmanship on the part of the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses!
All that we’ve seen is based on a few cryptic verses cut out of the book of Revelation. Let’s read them now.
“After this 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.” (Revelation 7:9)
“In response one of the elders said to me: “These who are dressed in the white robes, who are they and where did they come from?” So right away I said to him: “My lord, you are the one who knows.” And he said to me: “These are the ones who 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 him sacred service day and night in his temple….” (Revelation 7:13-15)
Notice that John doesn’t know who the great crowd is. The answer is provided by one of the 24 elders he sees in his vision. He tells John that, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation…” (Verse 14)
Jehovah’s Witnesses know what the great tribulation is, because they read the Watchtower, watch videos on JW.org, and see all the stunning artwork we’ve just seen. But John had none of that. Nor is the great tribulation explained elsewhere in Scripture. The Organization says it starts with Babylon the Great, but John had yet to see that vision. We’re only in chapter 7 of Revelation. Babylon the Great won’t even be mentioned for another seven chapters, and Armageddon only comes up once, and that will be nine chapters away. And neither event is said to tie in with the great tribulation mentioned only once in Revelation 7:14. But do we see John pause for a moment and ask, “Okay, Lord, I get it that the great crowd comes out of the great tribulation, but, what exactly is this great tribulation?”
The Governing Body claims it knows what the great tribulation is, but do they provide any proof?
If we knew the type of individual who is depicted in this great crowd, that might help us identify where they will be when this great tribulation happens. The Organization claims that those making up the great crowd are the other sheep of John 10:16. They also claim that the other sheep are a class of Jehovah’s Witnesses who are just God’s friends, not his children. These are not born again, not anointed with holy spirit. So, they remain on earth when Armageddon comes. But we saw in the first two videos of this series that the other-sheep doctrine of Jehovah’s Witnesses is unscriptural. (If you haven’t seen those videos, I’ve put a link to them in the description field of this video.)
That still leaves us with the question:
Who are these people who are “rendering [God] sacred service day and night in His temple” shown in Revelation 7:14?
Maybe, if we can figure out what type of person was allowed to worship in the original temple in Jerusalem, we might have the basis to answer all our questions. That turns out to be true. The evidence is there and we don’t even have to go outside of Watch Tower publications to find it.
Over 20 years ago, a “Questions From Readers” article appeared in the May 1, 2002 issue of the Watchtower that asked this very question:
“When John saw the “great crowd” rendering sacred service in Jehovah’s temple, in which part of the temple were they doing this?” (w02 5/1 p. 31)
The article continues:
It is reasonable to say that the great crowd worships Jehovah in one of the earthly courtyards of his great spiritual temple, specifically the one that corresponds with the outer courtyard of Solomon’s temple.
In times past, it has been said that the great crowd is in a spiritual equivalent, or an antitype, of the Court of the Gentiles that existed in Jesus’ day. However, further research has revealed at least five reasons why that is not so.”
It has always irked me, even when I was a true believer in the world of Jehovah’s Witnesses, that they would never accept responsibility for having taught us something that wasn’t true. Notice the wording used to introduce the new light:
“In times past, it has been said…”
Really?! A long, long time ago, people used to believe…
Come on! Take ownership of your mistakes and apologize. Oh, but that is something else they cannot bring themselves to do.
Anyway, moving on. Notice that they start by claiming that it is “reasonable to say that the great crowd worships Jehovah in one of the earthly courtyards of God’s spiritual temple.”
Again, really?! They haven’t given us any reasons to believe that it is reasonable to believe that. This is a good example of eisegetical reasoning. They're starting right off with a premise that they expect you to accept before any evidence has been presented.
But as you will see very shortly, there is no evidence at all to support the idea that there are earthly courtyards of any kind in God's great spiritual temple. They need to seem to present evidence without actually providing any. Not an easy thing to do, but they’ve had years of experience in the technique of gaslighting to fall back on and you’ll see it in full display in this article.
What they do is to provide all kinds of reasoning and evidence to show that their former belief is false. They pit their former teaching against their new one: The temple is not the “Court of the Gentiles” from Herod’s temple but is the outer court from Solomon’s temple.
In other words, dear Watchtower reader, since our former teaching is false, our new teaching must be true. No need to prove that our new teaching is true. That’s a given.
This is known as a false dichotomy, a type of logical fallacy. They present you with two choices. The claim is that if one is false, the other must be true. But what if they are both false? What if there’s a third choice that they are hiding from you?
This brings us to the moment of truth. This is the point of the article where they present evidence that proves they are knowingly deceiving their flock:
“…the Greek word… translated “temple” that is used with reference to the Court of the Gentiles “refers to the entire complex, rather than specifically to the Temple building itself,” says A Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew, by Barclay M. Newman and Philip C. Stine. In contrast, the Greek word (na·os’) translated “temple” in John’s vision of the great crowd is more specific. In the context of the Jerusalem temple, it usually refers to the Holy of Holies, the temple building, or the temple precincts. It is sometimes rendered “sanctuary.”
And there you have it! They have revealed the true meaning of the word “temple” in John's vision, stating that it refers to the sanctuary, the holy of holies. Why is that so significant?
It’s significant because we can figure out who the great crowd is comprised of by determining who was allowed to render sacred service to God in both Solomon’s temple as well as Herod’s temple. Let’s start by reading what Strong’s Lexicon says about naos. There we read that it is a word derived from the primary verb, “to dwell”. It goes on to say:
USAGE: In the New Testament, "ναός" (naos) refers specifically to the inner sanctuary or the most sacred part of the temple where God's presence dwells. It is distinct from the broader temple complex, which includes the outer courts. (Strong’s 3485, naos)
The Watchtower says that naos “usually refers to the Holy of Holies,” but Strong’s Lexicon says that it “refers specifically to the inner sanctuary.” The point is that naos is distinct from the broader temple. It is distinct from the outer courts. Why does that matter? It is the place where Jehovah dwells, the naos, the Holy Dwelling Place.
Only the priests could enter into the sanctuary.
Who are the priests under the new covenant?
The anointed of God, those born of holy spirit, are the ones called to become a kingdom of priests. Only priests can serve in the temple sanctuary, the naos.
But the Governing Body says that the great crowd is composed of JW other sheep. They are not priests. This creates a paradox for the Governing Body. How can a non-priestly class made up of JW other sheep be rendering sacred service to God in his holy of holies, the heavens? How does the Governing Body get around this conundrum? And make no mistake, they know this is a problem for them. They’ve already revealed in this article that they’ve done “further research”. So, either they are grossly inept and unqualified to lead millions of people to the truth, or they are willfully misleading the flock. Fools or liars…not much of a choice.
Right after telling us that the temple in John’s vision refers to the sanctuary, the Holy of Holies, the article glosses over that bombshell revelation, and states:
Members of the great crowd exercise faith in Jesus’ ransom sacrifice. They are spiritually clean, having “washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” Hence, they are declared righteous with a view to becoming friends of God and of surviving the great tribulation. (James 2:23, 25) In many ways, they are like proselytes in Israel who submitted to the Law covenant and worshiped along with the Israelites.
Of course, those proselytes did not serve in the inner courtyard, where the priests performed their duties.
So, they acknowledge that these so-called “friends of God” do not serve in the inner courtyard, where the priests performed their duties, yet they also acknowledge that the great crowd are standing in the sanctuary where the priests performed their duties. They are engaging in a theological slight of hand! A magic trick!
They tell you, their audience, that the naos refers to the place where the priestly class performs its duties, but since the other sheep are not of the priestly class, they can’t be in the naos, but that is where John sees them standing, so just ignore that please. “Move along, move along. These aren’t the droids you’re looking for.”
The article continues:
“And members of the great crowd are not in the inner courtyard of Jehovah’s great spiritual temple, which courtyard represents the condition of perfect, righteous human sonship of the members of Jehovah’s “holy priesthood” while they are on earth. (1 Peter 2:5) But as the heavenly elder said to John, the great crowd really is in the temple, not outside the temple area in a kind of spiritual Court of the Gentiles.
So, the great crowd do not make up a “holy priesthood,” but are still in the temple area, just not in the actual place the elder shows them to be standing which is the place only the “holy priesthood” can go. The article concludes with this little gem of condescension:
What a privilege that is! And how it highlights the need for each one to maintain spiritual and moral purity at all times!”
What hypocrisy! “Spiritual and moral purity” would preclude lying to your brothers and sisters, surely?
How did I miss this myself back in 2002? Because like the rest of my JW friends, I had allowed my critical thinking to be deactivated by trusting in men for my salvation. No more.
Once you realize that someone has been lying to you to exploit you, revulsion is what you feel.
Sadly, when this happens, too many Jehovah’s Witnesses abandon Jehovah God and Jesus Christ and lose all confidence in the Bible. This becomes for them a lose-lose situation. The Devil had us when he got us to believe the lies of the Governing Body, but if we now leave not only the Organization, but God and Christ too, then the Devil still wins.
Not for me, and I hope not for you. Let’s take that lose and now turn it into a win!
Consider the door that is now open to us.
Do you remember what happened when Jesus died?
“...Again Jesus called out with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. And look! the curtain of the sanctuary was torn in two, from top to bottom...” (Matthew 27:50, 51)
That curtain was 60 feet high, an inch thick. It was massive, and yet it was split completely in two parts. Why did God make that happen when Jesus died? It was done to symbolize that a way had been opened between heaven and earth, between God and his human children.
“We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, both sure and firm, and it enters in within the curtain, where a forerunner has entered in our behalf, Jesus, who has become a high priest in the manner of Melchizedek forever.” (Hebrews 6:19, 20)
“Therefore, brothers, since we have boldness for the way of entry into the holy place by the blood of Jesus, which he opened up for us as a new and living way through the curtain, that is, his flesh,” (Hebrews 10:19, 20)
The entire temple arrangement was put in place to give us a means to understand the future spiritual reality of God’s Kingdom. Only the high priest could enter the holy of holies, and even then, only once a year on the Day of Atonement. The rest of the priests served in the adjoining holy chamber. But the ripping of the curtain symbolized that the way was now clear for all priests to enter into the holy of holies, heaven, where our Father dwells.
The only way to go through that curtain is to accept the promised adoption by holy spirit to become a child of God.
“However, to all who did receive him, he gave authority to become God’s children, because they were exercising faith in his name. And they were born, not from blood or from a fleshly will or from man’s will, but from God.” (John 1:12, 13)
The men of the Governing Body do not want their flock of so-called “other sheep” to know that this hope is open to them, so they hide the fact that the people making up a great crowd that comes out of the tribulation are serving as priests in God’s holy temple in the heavens.
Now that we know that the anointed children of God make up the great crowd that John sees, we need to take a closer look at the great tribulation that these ones come out of. Would it surprise you to learn that this great tribulation isn’t what the Governing Body claims it to be? By this point, probably not. We’ll do an exegetical analysis of the great tribulation in our next video.
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