*** w66 9/1 pp. 543-544 Questions From Readers ***
Would it be proper to use the expressions “other sheep” (John 10:16) and “great crowd” (Rev. 7:9) interchangeably at all times?—G.S.
No, this would not be Scripturally fitting. All those making up the “great crowd” of Revelation 7:9 are “other sheep,” but not all of the “other sheep” of John 10:16 constitute a part of the “great crowd.” These terms are not wholly synonymous.
All persons having God’s approval may Scripturally be viewed as sheep. And Jesus Christ said: “I surrender my soul in behalf of the sheep.” (John 10:15) Whereas there is a “little flock” of 144,000 “sheep” with the prospect of resurrection to heavenly life, many other sheeplike ones have the prospect of life on earth in God’s promised new order. (Luke 12:32; Rev. 14:1-4; Ps. 37:11, 29) All persons with earthly hopes and possibilities are referred to as the “other sheep,” at John 10:16, to distinguish them from those “sheep” who are granted heavenly life. The earthly “other sheep” will include faithful men of old times, like Abraham, David and Daniel. (Heb. 11:8-19, 32-35; Dan. 12:13) Many others resurrected during Christ’s thousand-year reign will prove obedient to God and will thus show that they too are “other sheep” of the Fine Shepherd. This term also applies to the “great crowd” of righteously disposed persons who will live right through the destructive end of this system of things, and to any of their righteous offspring during Christ’s millennial reign.
So, “other sheep” is a broad term. However, the “great crowd” constitute but a part of the “other sheep” class. Revelation 7:9, 14 tells us: “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. . . . ‘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.’” To be noted is the fact that the “great crowd,” who are distinguished from the 144,000 of spiritual Israel, “come out of the great tribulation” marking the “last days.” (Matt. 24:20, 21) The “great crowd” of Revelation 7:9 have not come out prior to ‘the time of the end.’
Hence, the term “other sheep” takes in all righteously disposed persons with earthly prospects and it includes the “great crowd.” The “great crowd,” however, are only those sheeplike ones with earthly hopes who have associated with Jehovah God’s earthly organization during the time marked by the “great tribulation” attending these last days.
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I was thinking of this one actually. I'm old....a jw for over 45 years before I left. Repeated again in 1986 and 1995. Amazingly, an official doctrinal position that hardly changed for 30 years. The WTS loves to quibble about terminology.
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*** w86 8/1 p. 31 Questions From Readers ***
Can a Christian who has earthly hopes be spoken of as part of the “great crowd” now, in view of the fact that he has not yet survived “the great tribulation”?—Revelation 7:9, 14.
Yes, that is appropriate in view of his or her prospects.
Revelation chapter 7 mentions two groups. First the 144,000 “sealed out of every tribe of the sons of Israel.” (Revelation 7:4) Comparing Revelation 14:1-5 shows that the 144,000 are “bought from the earth,” to become “firstfruits to God.” These, therefore, are the ones who will reign in heaven with Christ. (Galatians 6:16; 2 Timothy 4:18) The second group is “a great crowd, which no man was able to number,” who “come out of the great tribulation.”
In its setting, Revelation 7:9-17 depicts the earthly survivors of the coming tribulation. So someone who wanted to be extremely exacting might restrict the term “great crowd” to persons who have survived that tribulation. But is it necessary to be that restrictive? We do not believe so. Obviously, those who will survive had to have been gathered before “the great tribulation” so that they could qualify for survival. Thus we have applied the term “great crowd” to loyal Christians who at this time serve Jehovah God with the prospect of survival and of their being ‘guided to fountains of waters of life’ on earth. (Revelation 7:17) If one of the “great crowd” should die now, just before the “great tribulation,” there is every reason to look forward to his or her resurrection to life on earth.
Similar points can be made concerning the term “other sheep.” In John 10:7-16, Jesus first spoke of his “sheep,” whom we understand to be the “little flock” destined for heavenly life. Jesus next said: “I have other sheep, which are not of this [heavenly] fold; those also I must bring, and they will listen to my voice, and they will become one flock, one shepherd.” We have often presented Scriptural evidence identifying the “other sheep” as those whose prospect is earthly life.—Luke 12:32.
Someone might reason: Jesus was pointing to a future gathering of “other sheep,” hence the term applies only to those who, after Jesus spoke, would accept the Biblical hope of everlasting life on earth. However, it seems unnecessary to confine the term thusly, as if Jesus were defining matters chronologically or sequentially. We believe that he was stressing that he was the shepherd of the unified sheep. Some sheeplike persons come into a fold to go to heaven. There are also other sheep who will accept him as shepherd; these will be at unity with those first mentioned. Having this view, the term “other sheep” includes men of faith who died before Jesus inaugurated the way to heaven, such as Noah, Abraham, Job, David, and John the Baptizer. (Matthew 11:11; Acts 2:29; Hebrews 10:19, 20) When these are resurrected in the new system of things, they can accept the Fine Shepherd and have the prospect of endless earthly life with the rest of Jesus’ “other sheep.”
*** w95 4/15 p. 31 Questions From Readers ***
Technically speaking, is there a difference between the Biblical terms “other sheep” and “great crowd”?
Yes, though we should not be unduly sensitive about word usage or be upset if someone uses the terms interchangeably.
Most Christians are familiar with the passages where we find these terms. John 10:16 is one. There Jesus said: “I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; those also I must bring, and they will listen to my voice, and they will become one flock, one shepherd.” The other expression, “great crowd,” appears at Revelation 7:9. We read: “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.”
Let us consider John 10:16 first. Who are the sheep? Well, it would be good to fix in mind that all of Jesus’ loyal followers are referred to as sheep. At Luke 12:32, he called those of his disciples who would be going to heaven the “little flock.” A flock of what? Of sheep. The “sheep” of the “little flock” will be part of the Kingdom in heaven. However, there are others, those with a different hope, whom Jesus also views as sheep.
We can see this in John chapter 10. After speaking about sheep such as his apostles whom he would call to life in heaven, Jesus added in verse 16: “I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; those also I must bring.” Jehovah’s Witnesses have long recognized that in this verse Jesus was speaking of people having the prospect of life on earth. Many faithful ones in pre-Christian times, such as Abraham, Sarah, Noah, and Malachi, had such prospects. So we can rightly include them as part of the “other sheep” of John 10:16. During the Millennium, such faithful pre-Christian witnesses will be resurrected and will then learn of and accept Christ Jesus, becoming “other sheep” of the Fine Shepherd.
We also know that since the general call of the heavenly class ended, millions have become true Christians. These too are rightly termed “other sheep,” since they are not part of the “little flock.” Rather, the other sheep today look forward to living right on into an earthly paradise.
Now, what can be said about the identity of the “great crowd” mentioned at Revelation 7:9? Well, look at verse 13 and the question, “Who are they and where did they come from?” We find the answer at Revelation 7:14: “These are the ones that come out of the great tribulation.” So the “great crowd” is composed of those who come out of, or survive, the great tribulation. As verse 17 says, they will be ‘guided to fountains of waters of life’ on earth.
Understandably, though, for these to survive the approaching great tribulation, they must earlier have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb, becoming true worshipers. Hence, though Revelation 7:9 is describing this crowd after the tribulation, we may apply the term “great crowd” to all with earthly hopes who are rendering Jehovah sacred service now, just before the great tribulation breaks out with the nations’ attack on false religion.
In summary, we might remember “other sheep” as the broader term, encompassing all of God’s servants having the hope of living forever on earth. It includes the more limited category of sheeplike ones today who are being gathered as a “great crowd” with the hope of living right through the impending great tribulation. Most of those loyal Christians alive today are of the “other sheep,” and they are part of the “great crowd” as well.
It is worth repeating that, fine as it is to be clear on these specifics, there is no need for any Christian to be overly word conscious—what might be called word critical. Paul warned about some who were “puffed up with pride” and involved in “debates about words.” (1 Timothy 6:4) If we personally recognize certain distinctions between terms, fine. Yet, we need not, either outwardly or inwardly, be critical of another who may not use Biblical terms quite as precisely.