The apostle John received an exciting prophetic vision. In it, angels are told to hold back the destructive winds of the great tribulation until the final sealing of a group of slaves. (Rev. 7:1-3) That group is made up of 144,000 who will rule with Jesus in heaven. (Luke 12:32; Rev. 7:4) Then John mentions another group, so vast that he exclaims: “Look!”​—an expression that may indicate his surprise at seeing something unexpected. What does John see? “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.” (Rev. 7:9-14) Imagine how happy John must have been to learn about myriads of people practicing true worship in the future! That vision no doubt strengthened John’s faith. How much more should it strengthen our faith, since we live in the time of the fulfillment of the vision! We have seen the gathering of millions whose hope is to survive the great tribulation and live forever on earth. w19.09 26 ¶2-3

Imagine that the nations have just made their long-awaited proclamation of “peace and security.” They may boast that the world has never been so safe. The nations will want us to think that they have the world situation under control. But they have absolutely no control over what will follow. “Babylon the Great” will be destroyed! (Rev. 17:5, 15-18) “God [will] put it into their hearts to carry out his thought.” What is that thought? To destroy the world empire of false religion, including Christendom. God will put his thought into the hearts of “the ten horns” of the “scarlet-colored wild beast.” The ten horns represent all the political powers that support “the wild beast”​—the United Nations. (Rev. 17:3, 11-13; 18:8) When those political powers turn on false religion, that will mark the beginning of the great tribulation. It will be a truly catastrophic world event. w19.10 14 ¶1, 3

In the first century, Diotrephes envied those who took the lead in the Christian congregation. He wanted “to have the first place” among congregation members, so he spread malicious talk to discredit the apostle John and other responsible brothers. (3 John 10) Although not going as far as Diotrephes, we too could begin to envy a fellow Christian who receives an assignment that we had hoped to get​—especially if we feel that we are just as qualified as he is to care for that responsibility. Envy is like a poisonous weed. Once the seed of envy takes root in our heart, it can be difficult to destroy. Envy feeds on other negative feelings, such as improper jealousy, pride, and selfishness. Envy can choke the development of good qualities, such as love, compassion, and kindness. As soon as we see envy starting to sprout, we need to uproot it from our heart. w20.02 15 ¶6-7