The next domino to fall in the Society's muddled chronology-based teachings is very likely to be the concept that the "general call" for anointed members of the 144,000 ended in 1935, when the "great crowd" was identified. After 2+ decades of seeing the number of "Memorial partakers" hover in the mid-8000's, when actuarially speaking the number can't really be more than a few hundred at most, the Society needs to do something (as in, change the teaching, just as the passing of time necessitated a change to the "1914 generation" teaching).
At our circuit assembly this past weekend, I heard something which makes me think the Society may already be laying the groundwork for this "new light". Here it is:
The public talk included "4 lines of evidence" that we are living in "the last days". They were:
1) World events (Matthew 24, Mark 13, etc.)
2) People's attitudes (2 Timothy 3:1-5)
3) Political developments (Rev. 12:9, Devil being hurled down to earth, etc.)
4) Positive changes in Jehovah's org. (Isa. 2:4, preaching work Matt. 24:14, etc.)
Now, compare that list to the 6 "lines of evidence" presented in a talk from last year's "Special Assembly Day" (this list was also found in a Watchtower article from 3 or 4 years ago - Blondie or someone with access to the WT-CD can help with the exact reference):
(1) World events (2) People' attitudes (3) We're living in the time of the "8th king" (4) We're living in the time of the "toes" of the image in Daniel (5) Global preaching work (6) The number of "genuine anointed" is decreasing
Notice any big differences?
Items (1) & (2) are identical. Item (3) on the latest list is a summarization of items (3) & (4) on the older list. Item (4) on the new list is an expansion of item (5) on the old list.
Whoops! There's nothing on the new list corresponding to item (6) on the old list!
So, apparently, it is no longer a matter of concern that the "number of genuine anointed is decreasing"! Hmm, maybe they aren't decreasing at all...given that the majority of the Governing Body wasn't even born before 1935 (let alone baptized by then), and that within 3 to 5 years probably all on the GB will be "young anointed", it seems the Society is "easing in" this new light to help "legitimize" all these new, younger additions.
I suspect we'll be seeing a Watchtower study article on this within a year or 2.
What do you think?
PS I also find it significant that the reference to the "8th king" (the UN) was dropped entirely, folded into a "political developments" item - the Society has been downplaying the UN for some time now.