"Great Crowd" important detail glossed over

neat blue dog

The latest study WT gives another glowing report from Rutherford's time:

In his talk, Brother Rutherford identified those who
would make up the “great multitude” (King James Ver-
sion), or “great crowd,” mentioned at Revelation 7:9. Un-
til then, this group was thought to be a secondary heav-
enly class that was less faithful. Brother Rutherford used
the Scriptures to explain that the great crowd are not
chosen to live in heaven, but they are Christ’s other
sheep who will survive “the great tribulation”

. . .

According to an eyewit-
ness, over half of the some 20,000 peo-
ple in the audience stood. Then Broth-
er Rutherford declared: “Behold! The
great multitude!” That was followed by
thunderous cheering. Those who stood
realized that they were not chosen for
heavenly life.

But what they fail to emphasize is that this declaration was demonstrably false, even by JWs own teachings. These people were NOT the great Crowd as they believe it to be, as they pretty much are all dead by now without "coming out" of the great tribulation into the new world. So this was a lie, along with Rutherford's words that only "weeks" remained for the old world. Of course that doesn't matter, as it is still just around the corner, as the article goes on to say:

With the great tribulation just ahead,
it would be encouraging for us to review
what Revelation chapter 7 further says

waton

nbd. great thread. This emotional standing up is referred to as Vox populus, vox dei. as the people speak, God spoke.

The other shepp are Cornelius & co, not the other (non-anointed ) sheep. here is wt admission:

wt April 15, 1995 question from readers:

"revelation describes the great crowd only after the great tribulation--" so:

you can not come out of something that does not exist [yet].

In my days we used to teach the great tribulation cut short, in the middle between 1918 and Armageddon, to let the Great Crowd come out of it, from the empty time gap, (even if the greatest war disaster tribulation happened then and there, during that non tribulation hiatus. )

Now the question is, why is the GT cut short on account of the chosen ones, to save their flesh, when the anointed are lifted , called, raptured to heaven in the beginning of the Great Tribulation anyway? and:

why are these questions about the great crowd not allowed?

steve2

With the great tribulation just ahead,
it would be encouraging for us to review
what Revelation chapter 7 further says

So says the current Watchtower, using the same breezily confident language about the great tribulation being "just ahead" that Rutherford and his generation used so very many decades ago and most, if not all the adults from that time long dead and buried.

Such fools then, such greater fools now...

smiddy3

What I find incredible about this article is that they still quote Brother Rutherfraud at all .?

Funky

Just ahead! Soon! Very soon now!

If you ask your mom when dinner is, and she says "Just ahead! Soon! Very soon now!"

....and 140 years later you still haven't eaten....

...maybe it's time to consider that maybe, just MAYBE, dinner won't be ready "soon".

Just sayin'.

Doug Mason

For Rutherford, only the 144,000 were "Jehovah's witnesses". The term was not extended to the others until after his death. He used terms such as "Jonadabs" for the others. He had to find a way to cope with the fact that he now had more than 144,00 followers.

Yes, I deliberately used "witnesses", not "Witnesses".

Of course, the verse in Isaiah is in the context of the Babylonian exile. Second Isaiah said their condition resulted from their disobedience (to God) even though they had witnessed his works. Hence they were being punished by God.

Doug