⁵ Thousands every month are taking advantage of the time left in the “year of goodwill on the part of Jehovah.” They recognize the hopeless plight of the present system of things, and they are choosing the course of practical wisdom. They are turning their attention to God’s Word, the Holy Scriptures, there to learn that God has wonderful blessings in store for his “men of goodwill.” They are an evergrowing “great crowd” who are accepting the invitation from God through his servants to “become reconciled to God.”

6. How was the growing crowd of believers foretold, and what characteristic marks their worship of God?

⁶ The existence of this “great crowd,” however, is no surprise to those familiar with God’s Word, for they were long ago seen in a prophetic vision of our day given to the faithful apostle John on the island of Patmos and written down in the book of Revelation. He described them this way:

And they keep on crying with a loud voice, saying: ‘Salvation we owe to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb.”’ (Rev. 7:9, 10) This “great crowd,” who are obviously “men of goodwill,” are not divided by racial and national barriers, nor is there any hatred or inequality among them because of skin color or language differences. They come from all nations, tribes, peoples and tongues, and they stand unitedly, shoulder to shoulder, proclaiming their praise and their indebtedness to God and to the Lamb.