“And I saw, and I heard an eagle flying in midheaven say with a loud voice: ‘Woe, woe, woe to those dwelling on the earth because of the rest of the trumpet blasts of the three angels who are about to blow their trumpets!’”​—Revelation 8:13.

42. What may be signified by the flying eagle, and what is its message?

⁴² An eagle flies high in the sky, so that people in a wide area can see it. It has exceptionally keen sight and can see a long way ahead of itself. (Job 39:29) One of the four cherubic living creatures around God’s throne was pictured as a flying eagle. (Revelation 4:6, 7) Whether it is this cherub or another farsighted servant of God, it loudly proclaims a dynamic message: “Woe, woe, woe”! Let earth’s inhabitants take note, as the three remaining trumpet blasts are heard, each of them linked to one of these woes.

Chapter 22

The First Woe​—Locusts

 1. Who follow through when the angels sound the trumpet blasts, and what does the fifth trumpet blast announce?

THE fifth angel prepares to blow his trumpet. Four heavenly trumpets have already sounded, and four plagues have been directed to the third of the earth that Jehovah regards as most reprehensible​—Christendom. Her deathly sick condition has been uncovered. While angels sound the trumpet blasts, human heralds follow through on earth. Now the fifth angelic trumpet is about to announce the first woe, more fearsome even than what has gone before. It is related to a terrifying locust plague. First, though, let us examine other scriptures that will help us to understand this plague better.

 2. What Bible book describes a plague of locusts similar to the one that John sees, and what was the effect of it on ancient Israel?

² The Bible book of Joel, written during the ninth century B.C.E., describes a plague of insects, including locusts, that is similar to the one that John sees. (Joel 2:1-11, 25)a It was to cause much discomfort for apostate Israel but would also result in individual Jews’ repenting and returning to Jehovah’s favor. (Joel 2:6, 12-14) When that time arrived, Jehovah would pour out his spirit upon “every sort of flesh,” while fearful signs and alarming portents would precede “the coming of the great and fear-inspiring day of Jehovah.”​—Joel 2:11, 28-32.

A First-Century Plague

3, 4. (a) When was there a fulfillment of Joel chapter 2, and how? (b) How was there a plague like a swarm of locusts in the first century C.E., and how long did the plaguing continue?

³ There was a fulfillment of Joel chapter 2 in the first century. It was then, at Pentecost 33 C.E., that holy spirit was poured out, anointing the first Christians and empowering them to speak “the magnificent things of God” in many tongues. As a result, a large crowd assembled. The apostle Peter addressed those astonished onlookers, quoting Joel 2:28, 29 and explaining that they were witnessing its fulfillment. (Acts 2:1-21) But there is no record of a literal insect plague at that time, causing discomfort to some and leading others to repentance.

⁴ Was there a figurative plague during those days? Yes, indeed! It came as a result of the relentless preaching of the newly anointed Christians.b Through them, Jehovah invited those Jews who would listen to repent and enjoy blessings from him. (Acts 2:38-40; 3:19) The individuals who responded received his favor to a remarkable degree. But to the ones who refused the invitation, the first-century Christians became like a devastating swarm of locusts. Starting in Jerusalem, they spread through all Judaea and Samaria. Soon they were everywhere, tormenting the unbelieving Jews by publicly proclaiming Jesus’ resurrection, with all that this implied. (Acts 1:8; 4:18-20; 5:17-21, 28, 29, 40-42; 17:5, 6; 21:27-30) That plaguing continued until the “fear-inspiring day,” in 70 C.E., when Jehovah brought the Roman armies against Jerusalem to destroy it. Only those Christians who in faith called on the name of Jehovah were saved.​—Joel 2:32; Acts 2:20, 21; Proverbs 18:10.

The Locust Plague Today

 5. How has Joel’s prophecy had a fulfillment since 1919?

⁵ Reasonably, we could expect Joel’s prophecy to have a final fulfillment in the time of the end. How true this has proved to be! At the Bible Students’ convention at Cedar Point, Ohio, U.S.A., September 1-8, 1919, a notable outpouring of Jehovah’s spirit activated his people to organize a global campaign of preaching. Of all professed Christians, they alone, recognizing that Jesus had been enthroned as heavenly King, spared no effort in publishing abroad that good news. Their relentless witnessing, in fulfillment of prophecy, became as a tormenting plague to apostate Christendom.​—Matthew 24:3-8, 14; Acts 1:8.

 6. (a) What did John see when the fifth angel blew his trumpet? (b) Whom does this “star” symbolize, and why?

⁶ Revelation, written some 26 years after Jerusalem’s destruction, also describes that plague. What does it add to Joel’s description? Let us take up the record, as reported by John: “And the fifth angel blew his trumpet. And I saw a star that had fallen from heaven to the earth, and the key of the pit of the abyss was given him.” (Revelation 9:1) This “star” is different from that at Revelation 8:10 that John saw in the act of falling. He sees “a star that had fallen from heaven” and that now has an assignment with respect to this earth. Is this a spirit or a fleshly person? The holder of this “key of the pit of the abyss” is later described as hurling Satan into “the abyss.” (Revelation 20:1-3) So he must be a mighty spirit person. At Revelation 9:11, John tells us that the locusts have “a king, the angel of the abyss.” Both verses must refer to the same individual, since the angel holding the key of the abyss would logically be the angel of the abyss. And the star must symbolize Jehovah’s appointed King, since anointed Christians acknowledge only the one angelic King, Jesus Christ.​—Colossians 1:13; 1 Corinthians 15:25.

 7. (a) What happens when “the pit of the abyss” is opened? (b) What is “the abyss,” and who spent a short time in it?

⁷ The account continues: “And he opened the pit of the abyss, and smoke ascended out of the pit as the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun was darkened, also the air, by the smoke of the pit. And out of the smoke locusts came forth upon the earth; and authority was given them, the same authority as the scorpions of the earth have.” (Revelation 9:2, 3) Scripturally, “the abyss” is a place of inactivity, even of death. (Compare Romans 10:7; Revelation 17:8; 20:1, 3.) The small band of Jesus’ brothers spent a short time in such an “abyss” of relative inactivity at the end of the first world war (1918-19). But when Jehovah poured his spirit upon his repentant servants in 1919, they swarmed forth to meet the challenge of the work that lay ahead.

 8. How is it that the release of the locusts is accompanied by much “smoke”?

⁸ As John observes, the release of the locusts is accompanied by much smoke, like “the smoke of a great furnace.”c That is how it proved to be in 1919. The situation darkened for Christendom and for the world in general. (Compare Joel 2:30, 31.) The release of those locusts, the John class, was actually a defeat for Christendom’s clergy, who had schemed and plotted to kill the Kingdom work for good and who now rejected God’s Kingdom. Evidence of a smokelike pall started to spread over apostate Christendom as that locust band was given divine authority and began to exercise it in proclaiming powerful judgment messages. Christendom’s “sun”​—her appearance of enlightenment—​suffered an eclipse, and “the air” became thick with declarations of divine judgment as “the ruler of the authority of the air” of this world was shown to be Christendom’s god.​—Ephesians 2:2; John 12:31; 1 John 5:19.

Those Tormenting Locusts!

 9. What battle instructions did the locusts receive?

⁹ What battle instructions did those locusts receive? John reports: “And they were told to harm no vegetation of the earth nor any green thing nor any tree, but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. And it was granted the locusts, not to kill them, but that these should be tormented five months, and the torment upon them was as torment by a scorpion when it strikes a man. And in those days the men will seek death but will by no means find it, and they will desire to die but death keeps fleeing from them.”​—Revelation 9:4-6.

10. (a) Against whom primarily is the plague directed, and with what effect on them? (b) What kind of torment is involved? (See also footnote.)

¹⁰ Notice that this plague is not directed first against the people or prominent ones among them​—the ‘vegetation and trees of the earth.’ (Compare Revelation 8:7.) The locusts are to harm only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads, those in Christendom who claim to be sealed but whose record belies that claim. (Ephesians 1:13, 14) Thus, the tormenting utterances of these modern-day locusts were directed first against the religious leaders of Christendom. How these self-assuming men must have been tormented at hearing it publicly announced that not only were they failing to lead their flocks to heaven but they themselves would not get there!d Truly, it has been a case of ‘the blind leading the blind’!​—Matthew 15:14.

11. (a) How long are the locusts authorized to torment God’s enemies, and why is that not really a short time? (b) How severe is the torment?

¹¹ The torment lasts for five months. Is that a relatively short time? Not from the point of view of a literal locust. Five months describes the normal life span of one of these insects. Therefore, it is for as long as they live that the modern-day locusts keep stinging God’s enemies. Moreover, the torment is so severe that men seek to die. True, we have no record that any of those who were stung by the locusts actually tried to kill themselves. But the expression helps us to picture the intensity of the torment​—as though by the relentless assault of scorpions. It is like the suffering foreseen by Jeremiah for those unfaithful Israelites who would be scattered by the Babylonian conquerors and for whom death would be preferable to life.​—Jeremiah 8:3; see also Ecclesiastes 4:2, 3.

12. Why are the locusts granted to torment the religious leaders of Christendom, in a spiritual sense, but not to kill them?

¹² Why is it granted to torment these ones, in a spiritual sense, and not to kill them? This is an initial woe in the exposing of the lies of Christendom and her failures, but only later, as the Lord’s day progresses, will her deathlike spiritual state be fully publicized. It will be during a second woe that a third of the men are killed.​—Revelation 1:10; 9:12, 18; 11:14.

Locusts Equipped for Battle

13. What appearance do the locusts have?

¹³ What a remarkable appearance those locusts have! John describes it: “And the likenesses of the locusts resembled horses prepared for battle; and upon their heads were what seemed to be crowns like gold, and their faces were as men’s faces, but they had hair as women’s hair. And their teeth were as those of lions; and they had breastplates like iron breastplates. And the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running into battle.”​—Revelation 9:7-9.

14. Why did John’s description of the locusts fit the group of revived Christians in 1919?

¹⁴ This well illustrates the loyal group of revived Christians in 1919. Like horses, they were ready for battle, eager to fight for the truth in the way described by the apostle Paul. (Ephesians 6:11-13; 2 Corinthians 10:4) On their heads John sees what seem to be crowns as of gold. It would not be proper for them to have actual crowns because they do not begin ruling while they are still on earth. (1 Corinthians 4:8; Revelation 20:4) But in 1919 they already had a royal appearance. They were brothers of the King, and their heavenly crowns were reserved for them provided they continued faithful to the end.​—2 Timothy 4:8; 1 Peter 5:4.

15. What is denoted by the locusts’ (a) iron breastplates? (b) faces like men’s? (c) hair like a woman’s? (d) teeth as those of lions? (e) making a lot of noise?

¹⁵ In the vision, the locusts have iron breastplates, symbolizing unbreakable righteousness. (Ephesians 6:14-18) They also have men’s faces, this feature pointing to the quality of love, since man was made in the image of God, who is love. (Genesis 1:26; 1 John 4:16) Their hair is long like a woman’s, which well pictures subjection to their King, the angel of the abyss. And their teeth resemble a lion’s teeth. A lion uses its teeth to tear meat. From 1919 onward, the John class has again been able to take in solid spiritual food, particularly the truths about God’s Kingdom ruled by “the Lion that is of the tribe of Judah,” Jesus Christ. Just as the lion symbolizes courage, so great courage has been needed to digest this hard-hitting message, to bring it forth in publications, and to distribute it around the globe. Those figurative locusts have made a lot of noise, like “the sound of chariots of many horses running into battle.” After the example of first-century Christians, they do not intend to stay quiet.​—1 Corinthians 11:7-15; Revelation 5:5.

16. What is the significance in the locusts’ having “tails and stings like scorpions”?

¹⁶ This preaching involves more than the spoken word! “Also, they have tails and stings like scorpions; and in their tails is their authority to hurt the men five months.” (Revelation 9:10) What could this mean? As they go about their Kingdom work, Jehovah’s Witnesses, using the spoken word and printed publications, issue authoritative statements based on God’s Word. Their message has a scorpionlike sting because they warn of Jehovah’s approaching day of vengeance. (Isaiah 61:2) Before the present generation of spiritual locusts lives out its life span, its divinely ordained work of declaring Jehovah’s judgments will be completed​—to the hurt of all stiff-necked blasphemers.

17. (a) What was announced at the 1919 convention of the Bible Students that would intensify the sting of their witnessing? (b) How have the clergy been tormented, and how did they act in response?

¹⁷ That locust band was overjoyed when a new magazine, The Golden Age, was announced at their 1919 convention. It was a biweekly magazine, designed to intensify the sting of their witnessing.e Its issue No. 27, of September 29, 1920, exposed the clergy’s duplicity in persecuting the Bible Students in the United States during the 1918-19 period. Through the 1920’s and 1930’s, The Golden Age tormented the clergy with further stinging articles and cartoons that exposed their crafty dabbling in politics, and especially the Catholic hierarchy’s accords made with the Fascist and Nazi dictators. In response, the clergy ‘framed mischief by law’ and organized mob violence against God’s people.​—Psalm 94:20, King James Version.

World Rulers Put on Notice

18. What job did the locusts have to do, and what occurred in response to the fifth trumpet blast?

¹⁸ The modern-day locusts had a job to do. The Kingdom good news had to be preached. Errors had to be exposed. Lost sheep had to be found. As the locusts went about these tasks, the world was forced to sit up and take notice. In obedience to the angels’ trumpet blasts, the John class has continued to expose Christendom as deserving of Jehovah’s adverse judgments. In response to the fifth trumpet, a particular aspect of these judgments was emphasized at a convention of the Bible Students in London, England, May 25-31, 1926. This featured a resolution, “A Testimony to the Rulers of the World,” and a public talk at the Royal Albert Hall on “Why World Powers Are Tottering​—The Remedy,” the complete text of both of these being printed in a leading London newspaper the following day. Later, the locust band distributed worldwide, as a tract, 50 million copies of that resolution​—a torment indeed to the clergy! Years later, people in England still spoke of this stinging exposé.

19. What further fighting equipment did the symbolic locusts receive, and what did it have to say about the London manifesto?

¹⁹ At this convention, the symbolic locusts received further fighting equipment, notably a new book entitled Deliverance. It included a Scriptural discussion of the sign proving that the ‘man child’ government, Christ’s heavenly Kingdom, had been born in 1914. (Matthew 24:3-14; Revelation 12:1-10) Thereafter, it quoted the manifesto published in London in 1917 and signed by eight clergymen, who were described as being “among the world’s greatest preachers.” They represented the leading Protestant denominations​—Baptist, Congregational, Presbyterian, Episcopalian, and Methodist. This manifesto proclaimed that “the present crisis points toward the close of the times of the Gentiles” and that “the revelation of the Lord may be expected at any moment.” Yes, those clergymen had recognized the sign of Jesus’ presence! But did they want to do anything about it? The book Deliverance informs us: “The most remarkable part of the affair is that the very men who signed the manifesto subsequently repudiated it and rejected the evidence which proves that we are at the end of the world and in the day of the Lord’s second presence.”

20. (a) What choice have the clergy made with regard to the locust band and their King? (b) Who does John say is over the locust band, and what is his name?

²⁰ Rather than announce the incoming Kingdom of God, Christendom’s clergy have chosen to remain with Satan’s world. They want no part with the locust band and their King, concerning whom John now observes: “They have over them a king, the angel of the abyss. In Hebrew his name is Abaddon [meaning “Destruction”], but in Greek he has the name Apollyon [meaning “Destroyer”].” (Revelation 9:11) As “angel of the abyss” and “Destroyer,” Jesus had truly released a plaguing woe on Christendom. But more is to follow!

[Footnotes]

Chapter 23

The Second Woe​—Armies of Cavalry

 1. Despite clergy efforts to stamp out the locusts, what has happened, and what does the coming of two more woes indicate?

FROM 1919 onward, the symbolic locusts’ invasion of Christendom has caused the clergy much discomfort. They have tried to stamp out the locusts, but these have kept coming on stronger than ever. (Revelation 9:7) And that is not all! John writes: “The one woe is past. Look! Two more woes are coming after these things.” (Revelation 9:12) Further tormenting plagues are in store for Christendom.

 2. (a) What happens when the sixth angel blows his trumpet? (b) What does the “one voice out of the horns of the golden altar” represent? (c) Why are four angels mentioned?

² What is the source of the second woe? John writes: “And the sixth angel blew his trumpet. And I heard one voice out of the horns of the golden altar that is before God say to the sixth angel, who had the trumpet: ‘Untie the four angels that are bound at the great river Euphrates.’” (Revelation 9:13, 14) The angels’ release is in answer to the voice that comes from the horns of the golden altar. This is the golden incense altar, and twice previously the incense of the golden bowls from this altar has been associated with the prayers of the holy ones. (Revelation 5:8; 8:3, 4) Therefore, this one voice represents the united prayers of the holy ones on earth. They petition that they themselves be delivered for further energetic service as Jehovah’s “messengers,” this being the basic meaning of the Greek word here translated “angels.” Why are there four angels? This symbolic number seems to indicate that they would be so organized as to cover the earth in its entirety.​—Revelation 7:1; 20:8.

 3. How had the four angels been “bound at the great river Euphrates”?

³ How had those angels been “bound at the great river Euphrates”? The river Euphrates in ancient times was the northeastern border of the land that Jehovah promised to Abraham. (Genesis 15:18; Deuteronomy 11:24) Apparently, the angels had been restrained at the border of their God-given land, or earthly realm of activity, held back from entering fully into the service that Jehovah had prepared for them. The Euphrates was also prominently associated with the city of Babylon, and after the fall of Jerusalem in 607 B.C.E., fleshly Israelites spent 70 years there in captivity, “bound at the great river Euphrates.” (Psalm 137:1) The year 1919 found the spiritual Israelites bound in a similar restraint, disconsolate and asking Jehovah for guidance.

 4. What commission do the four angels have, and how has it been accomplished?

⁴ Happily, John can report: “And the four angels were untied, who have been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, to kill a third of the men.” (Revelation 9:15) Jehovah is a precise Timekeeper. He has a timetable and is keeping to it. Hence, these messengers are released exactly on schedule and in time to accomplish what they have to do. Imagine their joy on coming forth from bondage in 1919, ready for work! They have a commission not only to torment but finally “to kill a third of the men.” This is related to the plagues heralded by the first four trumpet blasts, which afflicted a third of the earth, the sea, the creatures in the sea, the fountains and rivers, and the heavenly light sources. (Revelation 8:7-12) The four angels go further. They “kill,” exposing to a completion Christendom’s spiritually dead condition. Trumpeted pronouncements, made from 1922 onward and continuing to the present time, have accomplished this.

 5. With regard to Christendom, how was the sound of the sixth trumpet blast echoed in 1927?

⁵ Remember, the heavenly angel has just sounded the sixth trumpet. Responding thereto, the sixth of the series of Bible Students’ annual international conventions was held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The program there on Sunday, July 24, 1927, was aired through a chain of 53 radio stations, the most extensive broadcast network up to that time. That spoken message went out to an audience of possibly many millions. First, a forceful resolution exposed Christendom as spiritually dead and extended the invitation: “In this hour of perplexity Jehovah God bids the peoples to abandon and for ever forsake ‘Christendom’ or ‘organized Christianity’ and to turn completely away from it . . . ; [let] the peoples give their heart’s devotion and allegiance wholly to Jehovah God and to his King and kingdom.” “Freedom for the Peoples” was the title of the public talk that followed. J. F. Rutherford delivered this in his usual dynamic style, appropriate to “the fire and the smoke and the sulphur” that John next observes in vision.

 6. How does John describe the armies of cavalry that he next sees?

⁶ “And the number of the armies of cavalry was two myriads of myriads: I heard the number of them. And this is how I saw the horses in the vision, and those seated on them: they had fire-red and hyacinth-blue and sulphur-yellow breastplates; and the heads of the horses were as heads of lions, and out of their mouths fire and smoke and sulphur issued forth. By these three plagues a third of the men were killed, from the fire and the smoke and the sulphur which issued forth from their mouths.”​—Revelation 9:16-18.

7, 8. (a) Under whose guiding direction does the cavalry thunder forth? (b) In what ways is the cavalry similar to the locusts that preceded it?

⁷ Apparently, this cavalry thunders forth under the guiding direction of the four angels. What a fearsome spectacle! Imagine your reaction if you were to be the target of such a cavalry charge! Its very appearance would strike terror into your heart. Did you notice, though, how similar this cavalry is to the locusts that preceded it? The locusts were like horses; in the cavalry there are horses. Both, then, are involved in theocratic warfare. (Proverbs 21:31) The locusts had teeth like those of lions; the horses of the cavalry have heads like those of lions. Both are therefore tied in with the courageous Lion of the tribe of Judah, Jesus Christ, who is their Leader, Commander, and Exemplar.​—Revelation 5:5; Proverbs 28:1.

⁸ Both the locusts and the cavalry share in Jehovah’s work of judgment. The locusts emerged from smoke that portended woe and destructive fire for Christendom; from the mouths of the horses, there issue forth fire, smoke, and sulfur. The locusts had breastplates of iron, signifying that their hearts were protected by unbending devotion to righteousness; the cavalry wear breastplates colored red, blue, and yellow, reflecting the fire, smoke, and sulfur of the lethal judgment messages that gush from the mouths of the horses. (Compare Genesis 19:24, 28; Luke 17:29, 30.) The locusts had tails like scorpions for tormenting; the horses have tails like serpents for killing! It seems that what was started by the locusts is to be pursued by the cavalry with greater intensity to a completion.

 9. What does the cavalry symbolize?

⁹ So, what does this cavalry symbolize? Just as the anointed John class started the trumpetlike proclamation of Jehovah’s judgment of divine vengeance against Christendom, with authority to ‘sting and hurt,’ so we would expect the same living group to be used in the ‘killing,’ that is, in making known that Christendom and its clergy are completely dead spiritually, cast off by Jehovah and ready for “the fiery furnace” of everlasting destruction. Indeed, all of Babylon the Great must perish. (Revelation 9:5, 10; 18:2, 8; Matthew 13:41-43) Preliminary to her destruction, however, the John class uses “the sword of the spirit, that is, God’s word,” in exposing Christendom’s deathlike condition. The four angels and the riders of the horses give direction to this figurative killing of “a third of the men.” (Ephesians 6:17; Revelation 9:15, 18) This indicates proper organization and theocratic direction under the oversight of the Lord Jesus Christ as the awesome band of Kingdom proclaimers charges forth to the battle.

Two Myriads of Myriads

10. In what sense are there two myriads of myriads of cavalry?

¹⁰ How can there be two myriads of myriads of this cavalry? A myriad is literally 10,000. So two myriads of myriads would come to 200 million.a Happily, there are now millions of Kingdom proclaimers, but their number is far short of hundreds of millions! Remember, though, Moses’ words at Numbers 10:36: “Do return, O Jehovah, to the myriads of thousands of Israel.” (Compare Genesis 24:60.) That would mean, literally, ‘Do return to the tens of millions of Israel.’ Israel, however, numbered only about two to three million in Moses’ day. What, then, was Moses saying? No doubt he had in mind that the Israelites should be unnumbered as “the stars of the heavens and like the grains of sand that are on the seashore,” rather than be counted. (Genesis 22:17; 1 Chronicles 27:23) So he used the word for “myriad” to indicate a large but unspecified number. Thus, The New English Bible renders this verse: “Rest, LORD of the countless thousands of Israel.” This agrees with a second definition of the word for “myriad” found in Greek and Hebrew dictionaries: “an innumerable multitude,” a “multitude.”​—The New Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament; Gesenius’ A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament, translated by Edward Robinson.

11. For the John class to become myriads even in a symbolic sense, what would be needed?

¹¹ Nevertheless, those of the John class still remaining on earth number fewer than 10,000​—less than one literal myriad. How could they be likened to countless thousands of cavalry? To become myriads even in a symbolic sense, would they not need reinforcements? That is what they have needed, and by Jehovah’s undeserved kindness, that is what they have received! From where have these come?

12, 13. What historical developments from 1918 to 1935 indicated the source of the reinforcements?

¹² From 1918 to 1922, the John class began to hold out to distressed humanity the happy prospect that “millions now living will never die.” In 1923 it was also made known that the sheep of Matthew 25:31-34 would inherit life on earth under God’s Kingdom. A similar hope was held out in the booklet Freedom for the Peoples, released at the international convention in 1927. In the early 1930’s the upright Jehonadab class and the ‘men sighing and groaning’ over Christendom’s sorry spiritual condition were shown to be identical with the symbolic sheep having earthly life prospects. (Ezekiel 9:4; 2 Kings 10:15, 16) Directing such ones to the modern-day “cities of refuge,” The Watchtower of August 15, 1934, stated: “Those of the Jonadab class have heard the sound of God’s trumpet and have heeded the warning by fleeing to God’s organization and associating with God’s people, and there they must abide.”​—Numbers 35:6.

¹³ In 1935 those of this Jonadab class were specially invited to attend the convention of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Washington, D.C., U.S.A. There, on Friday, May 31, J. F. Rutherford gave his famous talk “The Great Multitude,” in which he clearly showed that this group of Revelation 7:9 (King James Version) was the same as the sheep of Matthew 25:33​—a dedicated group with earthly hopes. As a harbinger of things to come, at that convention 840 new Witnesses were baptized, most of them being of the great crowd.b

14. Would the great crowd have a part in the symbolic cavalry charge, and what resolve was expressed in 1963?

¹⁴ Has this great crowd had a part in the cavalry charge that got under way in 1922 and that received particular emphasis at the Toronto convention in 1927? Under the direction of the four angels, the anointed John class, it certainly has! At the world-circling “Everlasting Good News” Assembly of 1963, it joined with the John class in a rousing resolution. This declared that the world “faces an earthquake of world trouble the like of which it has never known, and all its political institutions and its modern religious Babylon will be shaken to bits.” The resolve was expressed that “we will continue to declare to all peoples without partiality the ‘everlasting good news’ concerning God’s Messianic kingdom and concerning his judgments, which are like plagues to his enemies but which will be executed for the liberation of all persons who desire to worship God the Creator acceptably with spirit and with truth.” This resolution was adopted enthusiastically at 24 assemblies around the globe by a grand total of 454,977 conventioners, of whom well over 95 percent were of the great crowd.

15. (a) In 2005 the great crowd made up what percent of the workforce that Jehovah is using in the field? (b) How does Jesus’ prayer at John 17:20, 21 express the unity of the great crowd with the John class?

¹⁵ The great crowd has continued to declare its unqualified unity with the John class in pouring out the plagues on Christendom. In 2005 this great crowd made up more than 99.8 percent of the workforce that Jehovah is using in the field. Its members are wholeheartedly in accord with the John class, concerning whom Jesus prayed at John 17:20, 21: “I make request, not concerning these only, but also concerning those putting faith in me through their word; in order that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in union with me and I am in union with you, that they also may be in union with us, in order that the world may believe that you sent me forth.” As the anointed John class takes the lead under Jesus, the zealous great crowd shares with them in the most devastating cavalry charge of all human history!c

16. (a) How does John describe the mouths and tails of the symbolic horses? (b) How have the mouths of Jehovah’s people been prepared for service? (c) What corresponds to the fact that “their tails are like serpents”?

¹⁶ That cavalry needs equipment for the warfare. And how wonderfully Jehovah has provided this! John describes it: “For the authority of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails are like serpents and have heads, and with these they do harm.” (Revelation 9:19) Jehovah has ordained his dedicated, baptized ministers for this service. Through the Theocratic Ministry School and other congregation meetings and schools, he has taught them how to preach the word, so that they are able to speak authoritatively with “the tongue of the taught ones.” He has put his words in their mouths and sent them forth to make known his judgments “publicly and from house to house.” (2 Timothy 4:2; Isaiah 50:4; 61:2; Jeremiah 1:9, 10; Acts 20:20) The John class and the great crowd have left behind a stinging message, corresponding to “tails,” in the thousands of millions of Bibles, books, brochures, and magazines distributed over the years. To their opponents, who are advised of the coming “harm” from Jehovah, these armies of cavalry truly seem like two myriads of myriads.​—Compare Joel 2:4-6.

17. Do Jehovah’s Witnesses have any part in the cavalry charge in lands where literature cannot be distributed because the work is banned? Explain.

¹⁷ A most zealous division of this cavalry is made up of brothers in lands where the work of Jehovah’s Witnesses is under ban. Like sheep amidst wolves, these have to be “cautious as serpents and yet innocent as doves.” In obedience to Jehovah, they cannot stop speaking about the things they have seen and heard. (Matthew 10:16; Acts 4:19, 20; 5:28, 29, 32) Since they have little or no printed material to distribute publicly, must we conclude that they have no share in the cavalry charge? Not at all! They have their mouths and authority from Jehovah to use them to express Bible truth. This they do, informally and persuasively, establishing studies in the Bible and “bringing the many to righteousness.” (Daniel 12:3) Though they may not sting with their tails in the sense of leaving behind hard-hitting literature, symbolic fire, smoke, and sulfur issue from their mouths as they witness tactfully and with discretion concerning Jehovah’s approaching day of vindication.

18. In how many languages and to what number has this cavalry distributed the plaguing message in printed form?

¹⁸ In other places, the Kingdom literature continues to expose Christendom’s Babylonish doctrines and ways, bringing her deserved harm in a figurative way. By using updated printing methods, this numerous cavalry in the 68 years before 2005 was able to distribute, in upwards of 450 of earth’s languages, billions of Bibles, books, magazines, and brochures​—many times more than a literal two myriads of myriads. What a sting those tails have inflicted!

19, 20. (a) Though the specific target of the plaguing messages has been Christendom, how have some in lands far beyond Christendom responded? (b) How does John describe the reaction of the people in general?

¹⁹ Jehovah purposed that this plaguing message should “kill a third of the men.” Hence, its specific target has been Christendom. But it has reached lands far beyond Christendom, including many where the hypocrisy of Christendom’s religions is well known. Have the people of these lands drawn closer to Jehovah as a result of seeing the plaguing of this corrupt religious organization? Many have! There has been a ready response among meek and lovable people who live in areas outside Christendom’s immediate sphere of influence. But as for the people in general, John describes their reaction: “But the rest of the men who were not killed by these plagues did not repent of the works of their hands, so that they should not worship the demons and the idols of gold and silver and copper and stone and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk; and they did not repent of their murders nor of their spiritistic practices nor of their fornication nor of their thefts.” (Revelation 9:20, 21) There will be no world conversion of such unrepentant ones. All who persist in their wicked ways will have to face adverse judgment from Jehovah in the great day of his vindication. But “everyone who calls on the name of Jehovah will get away safe.”​—Joel 2:32; Psalm 145:20; Acts 2:20, 21.

²⁰ What we have just discussed is part of the second woe. There is more to come before this woe runs its course, as we shall see in the chapters that follow.

[Footnotes]

Chapter 24

A Sweet-and-Bitter Message

Vision 6​—Revelation 10:1–11:19

Subject: The vision of the little scroll; temple experiences; the blowing of the seventh trumpet

Time of fulfillment: From the enthronement of Jesus in 1914 to the great tribulation

1, 2. (a) In what did the second woe result, and when will this woe be declared over? (b) Whom does John now see descending from heaven?

THE second woe has been devastating. It has plagued Christendom and her leaders, “a third of the men,” who are thus exposed as being spiritually dead. (Revelation 9:15) John must have wondered after that what the third woe could possibly bring. But wait! The second woe is not yet finished​—not until we reach the point recorded at Revelation 11:14. Before then, John is to witness a turn of events in which he himself takes an active part. It begins with an awe-inspiring sight:

² “And I saw another strong angel descending from heaven, arrayed with a cloud, and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as the sun, and his feet were as fiery pillars.”​—Revelation 10:1.

 3. (a) Who is the “strong angel”? (b) What is the significance of the rainbow upon his head?

³ Who is this “strong angel”? It is evidently the glorified Jesus Christ in another role. He is arrayed with a cloud of invisibility, which reminds us of John’s earlier words about Jesus: “Look! He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, and those who pierced him.” (Revelation 1:7; compare Matthew 17:2-5.) The rainbow upon his head reminds us of John’s earlier vision of Jehovah’s throne, with its “rainbow like an emerald in appearance.” (Revelation 4:3; compare Ezekiel 1:28.) That rainbow suggested the serenity and peace surrounding God’s throne. In the same way, this rainbow on the angel’s head would identify him as a special peace messenger, Jehovah’s foretold “Prince of Peace.”​—Isaiah 9:6, 7.

 4. What is denoted (a) by the face of the strong angel being “as the sun”? (b) by the angel’s feet being “as fiery pillars”?

⁴ The face of the strong angel was “as the sun.” Earlier, in his vision of Jesus at the divine temple, John had noted that Jesus’ countenance was “as the sun when it shines in its power.” (Revelation 1:16) Jesus, as “the sun of righteousness,” shines forth with healing in his wings for the benefit of those who fear Jehovah’s name. (Malachi 4:2) Not only the face but also the feet of this angel are glorious, “as fiery pillars.” His firm stance is that of the One to whom Jehovah has given “all authority . . . in heaven and on the earth.”​—Matthew 28:18; Revelation 1:14, 15.

 5. What does John see in the hand of the strong angel?

⁵ John observes further: “And he had in his hand a little scroll opened. And he set his right foot upon the sea, but his left one upon the earth.” (Revelation 10:2) Another scroll? Yes, but this time it is not sealed. With John, we can expect soon to see further thrilling disclosures. First, though, we are given the setting for what is to follow.

 6. (a) Why is it appropriate that Jesus’ feet are upon the earth and the sea? (b) When was Psalm 8:5-8 completely fulfilled?

⁶ Let us return to the description of Jesus. His fiery feet are upon the earth and the sea, over which he now exercises full authority. It is just as stated in the prophetic psalm: “You [Jehovah] also proceeded to make him [Jesus] a little less than godlike ones, and with glory and splendor you then crowned him. You make him dominate over the works of your hands; everything you have put under his feet: small cattle and oxen, all of them, and also the beasts of the open field, the birds of heaven and the fish of the sea, anything passing through the paths of the seas.” (Psalm 8:5-8; see also Hebrews 2:5-9.) This psalm was completely fulfilled in 1914, when Jesus was installed as King of God’s Kingdom and the time of the end began. Thus, what John sees here in vision applies since that year.​—Psalm 110:1-6; Acts 2:34-36; Daniel 12:4.

The Seven Thunders

 7. In what manner does the strong angel cry out, and what is the significance of his cry?

⁷ John’s contemplation of this strong angel is interrupted by the angel himself: “And he [the angel] cried out with a loud voice just as when a lion roars. And when he cried out, the seven thunders uttered their own voices.” (Revelation 10:3) Such a powerful shout would catch John’s attention, confirming that Jesus is truly “the Lion that is of the tribe of Judah.” (Revelation 5:5) John would also be aware that Jehovah, too, is sometimes said to “roar.” Jehovah’s roaring prophetically heralds the regathering of spiritual Israel and the coming of the destructive “day of Jehovah.” (Hosea 11:10; Joel 3:14, 16; Amos 1:2; 3:7, 8) Clearly, then, the lionlike cry of this strong angel forebodes similar great events for the sea and the earth. It calls on the seven thunders to speak.

 8. What are the ‘voices of the seven thunders’?

⁸ John has previously heard thunders proceeding from the very throne of Jehovah. (Revelation 4:5) Back in David’s day, literal thunder was at times spoken of as “the voice of Jehovah.” (Psalm 29:3) When Jehovah audibly proclaimed his purpose to glorify his own name in the days of Jesus’ earthly ministry, to many it sounded like thunder. (John 12:28, 29) Therefore, it is reasonable to conclude that the ‘voices of the seven thunders’ are Jehovah’s own expression of his purposes. The fact that there were “seven” thunders suggests the completeness of what John heard.

 9. What does a voice out of heaven command?

⁹ But listen! Another voice sounds forth. It brings a command that must seem strange to John: “Now when the seven thunders spoke, I was at the point of writing; but I heard a voice out of heaven say: ‘Seal up the things the seven thunders spoke, and do not write them down.’” (Revelation 10:4) John must have been anxious to hear and record those thunderous messages, just as the John class today has waited eagerly for Jehovah to disclose his divine purposes for publication. Such revelations come only at Jehovah’s appointed time.​—Luke 12:42; see also Daniel 12:8, 9.

The Finish of the Sacred Secret

10. By whom does the strong angel swear, and to what pronouncement?

¹⁰ Meantime, Jehovah has another commission for John. After the seven thunders have sounded, the strong angel speaks again: “And the angel that I saw standing on the sea and on the earth raised his right hand to heaven, and by the One who lives forever and ever, who created the heaven and the things in it and the earth and the things in it and the sea and the things in it, he swore: ‘There will be no delay any longer.’” (Revelation 10:5, 6) By whom does the strong angel swear? The glorified Jesus swears, not by himself, but by the highest Authority of all, Jehovah, the immortal Creator of the heavens and the earth. (Isaiah 45:12, 18) With this oath, the angel assures John that there will be no further delay on God’s part.

11, 12. (a) What is meant by there being “no delay any longer”? (b) What is brought to a finish?

¹¹ The Greek word here translated “delay” is khroʹnos, which literally means “time.” Some have thus felt that this declaration of the angel should be translated: “There will be no more time,” as though time as we know it will end. But the word khroʹnos here is used without a definite article. So it does not mean time in general but, rather, “a time” or “a period of time.” In other words, there will be no further period of time (or, delay) by Jehovah. A Greek verb derived from khroʹnos is used also at Hebrews 10:37, where Paul, quoting from Habakkuk 2:3, 4, writes that “he who is coming . . . will not delay.”

¹² “No delay any longer”​—how those words appeal to the aging John class today! In what respect is there no delay? John informs us: “But in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, when he is about to blow his trumpet, the sacred secret of God according to the good news which he declared to his own slaves the prophets is indeed brought to a finish.” (Revelation 10:7) Jehovah’s time is here for bringing his sacred secret to its happy climax, with glorious success!

13. What is the sacred secret of God?

¹³ What is this sacred secret? It involves the seed first promised in Eden, which proved primarily to be Jesus Christ. (Genesis 3:15; 1 Timothy 3:16) It also has to do with the identity of the woman out of whom the Seed comes. (Isaiah 54:1; Galatians 4:26-28) Further, it takes in the secondary members of the seed class and the Kingdom in which the Seed reigns. (Luke 8:10; Ephesians 3:3-9; Colossians 1:26, 27; 2:2; Revelation 1:5, 6) The good news about this unique heavenly Kingdom must be preached in all the earth during the time of the end.​—Matthew 24:14.

14. Why is the third woe linked with God’s Kingdom?

¹⁴ Surely, this is the very best of news. Yet, at Revelation 11:14, 15, the third woe is linked with the Kingdom. Why? Because for those of mankind who prefer Satan’s system of things, the trumpeting forth of the good news that the sacred secret of God is brought to a finish​—that is, God’s Messianic Kingdom is here—​is woeful news. (Compare 2 Corinthians 2:16.) It means that the world arrangement that they like so well is near to being destroyed. The voices of the seven thunders, containing such ominous storm warnings, become clearer and louder with the approach of Jehovah’s great day of vengeance.​—Zephaniah 1:14-18.

The Opened Scroll

15. What do the voice out of heaven and the strong angel tell John, and what is the effect on John?

¹⁵ While John is waiting for the blowing of this seventh trumpet and the bringing to a finish of the sacred secret of God, he is given a further assignment: “And the voice that I heard out of heaven is speaking again with me and saying: ‘Go, take the opened scroll that is in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the earth.’ And I went away to the angel and told him to give me the little scroll. And he said to me: ‘Take it and eat it up, and it will make your belly bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.’ And I took the little scroll out of the hand of the angel and ate it up, and in my mouth it was sweet as honey; but when I had eaten it up, my belly was made bitter. And they say to me: ‘You must prophesy again with regard to peoples and nations and tongues and many kings.’”​—Revelation 10:8-11.

16. (a) How did the prophet Ezekiel have an experience similar to John’s? (b) Why did the little scroll taste sweet to John, but why was it bitter to digest?

¹⁶ John’s experience is rather similar to that of the prophet Ezekiel during his exile in the land of Babylonia. He too was commanded to eat a scroll that tasted sweet in his mouth. But when it filled his stomach, it made him responsible to foretell bitter things for the rebellious house of Israel. (Ezekiel 2:8–3:15) The opened scroll that the glorified Jesus Christ gives to John is likewise a divine message. John is to preach regarding “peoples and nations and tongues and many kings.” To feed upon this scroll is sweet for him because it is from a divine source. (Compare Psalm 119:103; Jeremiah 15:15, 16.) But he finds it bitter to digest because​—as previously with Ezekiel—​it foretells unsavory things for rebellious humans.​—Psalm 145:20.

17. (a) Who are the ones who tell John to prophesy “again,” and what does this mean? (b) When was the dramatic portrayal seen by John due to be fulfilled?

¹⁷ The ones who tell John to prophesy again are doubtless Jehovah God and Jesus Christ. John, although exiled on the island of Patmos, has already prophesied regarding peoples, nations, tongues, and kings through the information recorded so far in the book of Revelation. The word “again” means that he must write and publish the rest of the information recorded in the book of Revelation. But remember, John is here actually participating in the prophetic vision. What he records is, in fact, a prophecy to be fulfilled after 1914, when the strong angel takes up his position astride the earth and the sea. What, then, does this dramatic portrayal mean to the John class today?

The Little Scroll Today

18. At the beginning of the Lord’s day, what interest did the John class show in the book of Revelation?

¹⁸ What John sees foreshadows remarkably the experience of the John class at the beginning of the Lord’s day. Their understanding of Jehovah’s purposes, including the implication of the seven thunders, was then incomplete. Nevertheless, they had a deep interest in Revelation, and Charles Taze Russell had commented on many parts of it during his lifetime. After his death in 1916, many of his writings were collected and published in a book entitled The Finished Mystery. In time, though, this book proved to be unsatisfactory as an explanation of Revelation. The remnant of Christ’s brothers had to wait a while longer, until the visions started to be fulfilled, for an accurate understanding of that inspired record.

19. (a) How was the John class used by Jehovah God even before the voices of the seven thunders were fully published? (b) When was the John class given the opened little scroll, and what did this mean for them?

¹⁹ Like John, however, they were used by Jehovah even before the voices of the seven thunders were fully published. They had preached diligently for 40 years before 1914, and they had struggled to stay active during the first world war. They had proved to be the ones who, when the master arrived, were found to be giving the domestics food at the proper time. (Matthew 24:45-47) Thus, in 1919 they were the ones who were given the opened little scroll​—that is, an open message to preach to mankind. Like Ezekiel they had a message for an unfaithful organization​—Christendom—​that claimed to be serving God but, in fact, was not. Like John they had to preach some more regarding “peoples and nations and tongues and many kings.”

20. What did John’s eating up the scroll picture?

²⁰ John’s eating up the scroll pictured that Jesus’ brothers accepted this assignment. It became a part of them to the extent that they were now identified with this portion of God’s inspired Word, drawing nourishment from it. But what they had to preach contained expressions of Jehovah’s judgments that were unpalatable to many of mankind. Indeed, it included the plagues foretold in Revelation chapter 8. It was sweet, however, to these sincere Christians to know those judgments and to realize that they were again being used by Jehovah in proclaiming them.​—Psalm 19:9, 10.

21. (a) How has the message of the little scroll become sweet also to the great crowd? (b) Why is the good news bad news for opponents?

²¹ In time, the message of this scroll also became sweet to the “great crowd . . . out of all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues” who were found to be sighing on account of the detestable things they saw being done in Christendom. (Revelation 7:9; Ezekiel 9:4) These, too, vigorously proclaim the good news, using sweet, gracious words to describe Jehovah’s marvelous provision for sheeplike Christians. (Psalm 37:11, 29; Colossians 4:6) But to opponents, this is bad news. Why? It means that the system in which they trust​—and which may even have brought them a transitory satisfaction—​must go. For them, the good news spells doom.​—Philippians 1:27, 28; compare Deuteronomy 28:15; 2 Corinthians 2:15, 16.

Chapter 25

Reviving the Two Witnesses

 1. What does the strong angel call upon John to do?

BEFORE the second woe is finally past, the strong angel calls upon John to take part in another prophetic presentation, this one having to do with the temple. (Revelation 9:12; 10:1) Here is what John reports: “And a reed like a rod was given me as he said: ‘Get up and measure the temple sanctuary of God and the altar and those worshiping in it.’”​—Revelation 11:1.

The Temple Sanctuary

 2. (a) What temple sanctuary would endure right up to our day? (b) Who is the High Priest of the temple sanctuary, and what is its Most Holy?

² The temple here mentioned cannot be any literal temple in Jerusalem, since the last of these was destroyed by the Romans in 70 C.E. The apostle Paul, however, showed that even before that destruction, there had appeared another temple sanctuary that would endure right up to our day. This was the great spiritual temple that fulfilled the prophetic types provided by the tabernacle and later by the temples built in Jerusalem. It is “the true tent, which Jehovah put up, and not man,” and its High Priest is Jesus, whom Paul describes as having already “sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens.” Its Most Holy is the location of Jehovah’s presence in heaven itself.​—Hebrews 8:1, 2; 9:11, 24.

 3. At the tabernacle, what was pictured by (a) the curtain separating the Most Holy from the Holy? (b) the animal sacrifices? (c) the altar of sacrifice?

³ The apostle Paul explains that the curtain of the tabernacle, separating the Most Holy from the Holy compartment, pictures Jesus’ flesh. When Jesus sacrificed his life, this curtain was rent in two, showing that Jesus’ flesh was no longer a barrier to his entry into Jehovah’s presence in heaven. On the basis of Jesus’ sacrifice, his anointed underpriests who died faithful would, in due course, also pass into the heavens. (Matthew 27:50, 51; Hebrews 9:3; 10:19, 20) Paul points out, too, that the continual sacrifices of animals at the tabernacle pointed forward to Jesus’ one sacrifice of his perfect human life. The altar of sacrifice in the courtyard represented Jehovah’s provision, according to his will, for accepting Jesus’ sacrifice in behalf of the “many”​—of the anointed and, later, of the other sheep—​who would be “earnestly looking for him for their salvation.”​—Hebrews 9:28; 10:9, 10; John 10:16.

 4. What was symbolized by (a) the Holy Place (b) the inner courtyard?

⁴ From this divinely inspired information, we can conclude that the Holy Place in the tabernacle symbolizes a holy condition enjoyed first by Christ and then by the anointed members of the royal priesthood of the 144,000 while they are still on earth, before entering through “the curtain.” (Hebrews 6:19, 20; 1 Peter 2:9) It well represents their having been adopted as spiritual sons of God, even as God acknowledged Jesus to be his Son following Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan in 29 C.E. (Luke 3:22; Romans 8:15) And what of the inner courtyard, the only part of the tabernacle visible to nonpriestly Israelites and the place where the sacrifices were made? This pictures the perfect standing of the man Jesus that qualified him to offer his life for mankind. It also represents the righteous standing as holy ones, imputed on the basis of Jesus’ sacrifice, that his anointed followers enjoy while on earth.a​—Romans 1:7; 5:1.

Measuring the Temple Sanctuary

 5. In Hebrew Scripture prophecies, what was implied by (a) the measuring of Jerusalem? (b) the measuring of Ezekiel’s visionary temple?

⁵ John is told to “measure the temple sanctuary of God and the altar and those worshiping in it.” What does this imply? In the Hebrew Scripture prophecies, such measuring provided a guarantee that justice would be rendered on the basis of Jehovah’s perfect standards. In the days of wicked King Manasseh, the prophetic measuring of Jerusalem testified to an unalterable judgment of destruction on that city. (2 Kings 21:13; Lamentations 2:8) Later, however, when Jeremiah saw Jerusalem being measured, this confirmed that the city would be rebuilt. (Jeremiah 31:39; see also Zechariah 2:2-8.) Likewise, the extensive and detailed measuring of the visionary temple witnessed by Ezekiel was a guarantee to the Jewish exiles in Babylon that true worship would be restored in their homeland. It was also a reminder that, in view of their errors, Israel henceforth had to measure up to God’s holy standards.​—Ezekiel 40:3, 4; 43:10.

 6. Of what is John’s being told to measure the temple sanctuary and the priests worshipping in it a sign? Explain.

⁶ Therefore, when John is commanded to measure the temple sanctuary and those priests worshipping in it, it is a sign that nothing can prevent the fulfillment of Jehovah’s purposes regarding the temple arrangement and those associated with it, and that those purposes are nearing their climax. Now that all things have been placed under the feet of Jehovah’s strong angel, it is the time for “the mountain of the house of Jehovah” to become “firmly established above the top of the mountains.” (Isaiah 2:2-4) Jehovah’s pure worship must be exalted, after centuries of Christendom’s apostasy. It is also time for those of Jesus’ faithful brothers who have died to be resurrected into “the Holy of Holies.” (Daniel 9:24; 1 Thessalonians 4:14-16; Revelation 6:11; 14:4) And the last sealed ones on earth of “the slaves of our God” must be measured according to the divine standards in order to qualify for their permanent place in the temple arrangement as spirit-begotten sons of God. The John class today is fully aware of those holy standards and is determined to measure up to them.​—Revelation 7:1-3; Matthew 13:41, 42; Ephesians 1:13, 14; compare Romans 11:20.

The Trampling of the Courtyard

 7. (a) Why is John told not to measure the courtyard? (b) When was the holy city trampled underfoot for 42 months? (c) How did the clergy of Christendom fail to uphold Jehovah’s righteous standards for 42 months?

⁷ Why was John forbidden to measure the courtyard? He tells us in these words: “But as for the courtyard that is outside the temple sanctuary, cast it clear out and do not measure it, because it has been given to the nations, and they will trample the holy city underfoot for forty-two months.” (Revelation 11:2) We have noted that the inner courtyard pictures the righteous standing on earth of spirit-begotten Christians. As we shall see, the reference here is to the literal 42 months extending from December 1914 to June 1918, when all professing Christians were put to a severe test. Would they uphold Jehovah’s righteous standards during those war years? Most did not. En bloc, the clergy of Christendom put nationalism ahead of obedience to divine law. On both sides of the war, which was fought mainly in Christendom, the clergy preached the young men into the trenches. Millions were slaughtered. By the time that judgment started with the house of God in 1918, the United States had also entered that bloodspilling, and the clergy of all of Christendom had incurred a bloodguilt that still cries out for divine vengeance. (1 Peter 4:17) Their being cast out has become permanent, irreversible.​—Isaiah 59:1-3, 7, 8; Jeremiah 19:3, 4.

 8. During World War I, what did many of the Bible Students realize, but what did they not fully appreciate?

⁸ What, though, of the small group of Bible Students? Were they to be measured immediately in 1914 by their adherence to divine standards? No. Like the professed Christians of Christendom, they too must be tested. They were ‘cast clear out, given to the nations’ to be severely tried and persecuted. Many of them realized that they should not go out and kill their fellowman, but as yet they did not fully appreciate Christian neutrality. (Micah 4:3; John 17:14, 16; 1 John 3:15) Under pressure from the nations, some compromised.

 9. What is the holy city that was trampled underfoot by the nations, and on earth, who represents this city?

⁹ How was it, though, that the holy city was trampled underfoot by those nations? Clearly, this does not refer to the Jerusalem that was destroyed over 25 years before Revelation was written. Rather, the holy city is New Jerusalem, described later in Revelation, that is represented now on earth by the remaining anointed Christians in the temple’s inner courtyard. In time, these also will become a part of the holy city. So trampling on them is tantamount to trampling on the city itself.​—Revelation 21:2, 9-21.

The Two Witnesses

10. What are Jehovah’s faithful witnesses to do while being trampled on?

¹⁰ Even while being trampled on, these loyal ones do not cease to be Jehovah’s faithful witnesses. Hence, the prophecy continues: “‘And I will cause my two witnesses to prophesy a thousand two hundred and sixty days dressed in sackcloth.’ These are symbolized by the two olive trees and the two lampstands and are standing before the Lord of the earth.”​—Revelation 11:3, 4.

11. What did it mean for the faithful anointed Christians to prophesy “in sackcloth”?

¹¹ These faithful anointed Christians needed the quality of endurance, for they had to prophesy “in sackcloth.” What did this mean? In Bible times sackcloth often symbolized mourning. Wearing it was a sign that the person had been brought low in sorrow or distress. (Genesis 37:34; Job 16:15, 16; Ezekiel 27:31) Sackcloth was associated with the mournful messages of doom or grief that God’s prophets had to proclaim. (Isaiah 3:8, 24-26; Jeremiah 48:37; 49:3) The wearing of sackcloth could indicate humility or repentance in view of divine warning. (Jonah 3:5) The sackcloth worn by the two witnesses appears to indicate their humble endurance in announcing Jehovah’s judgments. They were witnesses proclaiming his day of vengeance that would bring mourning also to the nations.​—Deuteronomy 32:41-43.

12. Why does the time period during which the holy city was to be trampled underfoot seem to be literal?

¹² The John class had to preach this message for a definitely stated time: 1,260 days, or 42 months, the same length of time that the holy city was to be trampled underfoot. This period seems to be literal, since it is expressed in two different ways, first in months and then in days. Additionally, at the beginning of the Lord’s day, there was a marked period of three and a half years when the hard experiences of God’s people matched the events prophesied here​—starting in December 1914 and continuing to June 1918. (Revelation 1:10) They preached a “sackcloth” message concerning Jehovah’s judgment of Christendom and the world.

13. (a) What is denoted by the fact that the anointed Christians were symbolized by two witnesses? (b) What prophecy of Zechariah is brought to mind by John’s calling the two witnesses “the two olive trees and the two lampstands”?

¹³ The fact that they were symbolized by two witnesses confirms to us that their message was accurate and well founded. (Compare Deuteronomy 17:6; John 8:17, 18.) John calls them “the two olive trees and the two lampstands,” saying that they “are standing before the Lord of the earth.” This is an evident reference to the prophecy of Zechariah, who saw a seven-branched lampstand and two olive trees. The olive trees were said to picture “the two anointed ones,” that is, Governor Zerubbabel and High Priest Joshua, “standing alongside the Lord of the whole earth.”​—Zechariah 4:1-3, 14.

14. (a) What was indicated by Zechariah’s vision of the two olive trees? and the lampstand? (b) What would the anointed Christians experience during the first world war?

¹⁴ Zechariah lived in a time of rebuilding, and his vision of the two olive trees meant that Zerubbabel and Joshua would be blessed with Jehovah’s spirit in strengthening the people for the work. The vision of the lampstand reminded Zechariah not to ‘despise the day of small things’ because Jehovah’s purposes would be carried out​—“‘not by a military force, nor by power, but by my spirit,’ Jehovah of armies has said.” (Zechariah 4:6, 10; 8:9) The small band of Christians persistently carrying the light of truth to mankind during the first world war would similarly be used in a rebuilding work. They too would be a source of encouragement and, few as they were, would learn to rely on Jehovah’s strength, not despising the day of small beginnings.

15. (a) The fact that the anointed Christians were described as two witnesses also reminds us of what? Explain. (b) What kind of signs are the two witnesses authorized to perform?

¹⁵ The fact that they were described as two witnesses also reminds us of the transfiguration. In that vision, three of Jesus’ apostles saw him in Kingdom glory, accompanied by Moses and Elijah. This foreshadowed Jesus’ sitting down on his glorious throne in 1914 to accomplish a work prefigured by those two prophets. (Matthew 17:1-3) Fittingly, the two witnesses are now seen to perform signs reminiscent of those of Moses and Elijah. For example, John says of them: “And if anyone wants to harm them, fire issues forth from their mouths and devours their enemies; and if anyone should want to harm them, in this manner he must be killed. These have the authority to shut up heaven that no rain should fall during the days of their prophesying.”​—Revelation 11:5, 6a.

16. (a) How does the sign involving fire remind us of the time when Moses’ authority was challenged in Israel? (b) How did Christendom’s clergy defy the Bible Students and stir up trouble for them during the first world war, and how did these fight back?

¹⁶ This reminds us of the time when Moses’ authority was challenged in Israel. That prophet uttered fiery words of judgment, and Jehovah destroyed the rebels, consuming 250 of them by literal fire from heaven. (Numbers 16:1-7, 28-35) Similarly, Christendom’s leaders defied the Bible Students, saying that these had never graduated from theological colleges. But God’s witnesses had higher credentials as ministers: those meek persons who heeded their Scriptural message. (2 Corinthians 3:2, 3) In 1917 the Bible Students published The Finished Mystery, a powerful commentary on Revelation and Ezekiel. This was followed by the distribution of 10,000,000 copies of the four-page tract The Bible Students Monthly with the feature article entitled “The Fall of Babylon​—Why Christendom Must Now Suffer—​the Final Outcome.” In the United States, the irate clergy used the war hysteria as an excuse to get the book banned. In other countries the book was censored. Nevertheless, God’s servants kept fighting back with fiery issues of the four-page tract entitled Kingdom News. As the Lord’s day proceeded, other publications would make clear Christendom’s spiritually defunct condition.​—Compare Jeremiah 5:14.

17. (a) What events in the days of Elijah involved a drought and fire? (b) How did fire issue forth from the mouths of the two witnesses, and what drought was involved?

¹⁷ What of Elijah? In the days of the kings of Israel, this prophet proclaimed a drought as an expression of Jehovah’s indignation on the Baal-worshipping Israelites. It lasted three and a half years. (1 Kings 17:1; 18:41-45; Luke 4:25; James 5:17) Later, when unfaithful King Ahaziah sent soldiers to force Elijah to come into his royal presence, the prophet called down fire from heaven to consume the soldiers. Only when a military commander showed proper respect for his position as a prophet did Elijah consent to accompany him to the king. (2 Kings 1:5-16) Likewise, between 1914 and 1918, the anointed remnant boldly drew attention to the spiritual drought in Christendom and warned of fiery judgment at “the coming of the great and fear-inspiring day of Jehovah.”​—Malachi 4:1, 5; Amos 8:11.

18. (a) What authority is given the two witnesses, and how was this similar to that given Moses? (b) How did the two witnesses expose Christendom?

¹⁸ John goes on to say of the two witnesses: “And they have authority over the waters to turn them into blood and to strike the earth with every sort of plague as often as they wish.” (Revelation 11:6b) In order to persuade Pharaoh to let Israel go free, Jehovah used Moses in striking oppressive Egypt with plagues, including the turning of water into blood. Centuries later, the Philistine enemies of Israel well remembered Jehovah’s acts against Egypt, causing them to cry: “Who will save us from the hand of this majestic God? This is the God that was the smiter of Egypt with every sort of slaughter [“plague,” Revised Standard Version] in the wilderness.” (1 Samuel 4:8; Psalm 105:29) Moses portrayed Jesus, who had authority to pronounce God’s judgments on the religious leaders of his day. (Matthew 23:13; 28:18; Acts 3:22) And during the first world war Christ’s brothers, the two witnesses, exposed the death-dealing quality of “the waters” that Christendom was serving to her flocks.

The Two Witnesses Are Killed

19. According to the Revelation account, what takes place when the two witnesses finish their witnessing?

¹⁹ So severe was this plague on Christendom that after the two witnesses had prophesied for 42 months in sackcloth, Christendom used her worldly influence to have them ‘killed.’ John writes: “And when they have finished their witnessing, the wild beast that ascends out of the abyss will make war with them and conquer them and kill them. And their corpses will be on the broad way of the great city which is in a spiritual sense called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was also impaled. And those of the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations will look at their corpses for three and a half days, and they do not let their corpses be laid in a tomb. And those dwelling on the earth rejoice over them and enjoy themselves, and they will send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those dwelling on the earth.”​—Revelation 11:7-10.

20. What is “the wild beast that ascends out of the abyss”?

²⁰ This is the first of 37 references in Revelation to a wild beast. In due course we will examine this and other beasts in detail. Suffice it to say for now that “the wild beast that ascends out of the abyss” is of Satan’s design, a living political system of things.b​—Compare Revelation 13:1; Daniel 7:2, 3, 17.

21. (a) How did the religious enemies of the two witnesses take advantage of the war situation? (b) The fact that the corpses of the two witnesses were left unburied indicated what? (c) How is the time period of three and a half days to be viewed? (See footnote.)

²¹ From 1914 to 1918 the nations were occupied with the first world war. Nationalistic feelings ran high, and in the spring of 1918, the religious enemies of the two witnesses took advantage of the situation. They maneuvered the State’s legal apparatus so that responsible ministers of the Bible Students were imprisoned on false charges of sedition. Faithful coworkers were stunned. Kingdom activity almost ceased. It was as though the preaching work were dead. In Bible times it was a terrible indignity not to be interred in a memorial tomb. (Psalm 79:1-3; 1 Kings 13:21, 22) Therefore, great reproach would attach to leaving the two witnesses unburied. In the hot Palestinian climate, a corpse in the open street would really start to smell after three and a half literal days.c (Compare John 11:39.) This detail in the prophecy thus indicates the shame that the two witnesses had to endure. Those mentioned above who were imprisoned were even denied bail while their cases were on appeal. They were exposed publicly long enough to become a stench to the inhabitants of “the great city.” But what was this “great city”?

22. (a) What is the great city? (b) How did the public press join in with the clergy in rejoicing over the silencing of the two witnesses? (See box.)

²² John gives us some clues. He says that Jesus was impaled there. So we immediately think of Jerusalem. But he also says that the great city is called Sodom and Egypt. Well, literal Jerusalem was once called Sodom because of her unclean practices. (Isaiah 1:8-10; compare Ezekiel 16:49, 53-58.) And Egypt, the first world power, sometimes appears as a picture of this world system of things. (Isaiah 19:1, 19; Joel 3:19) Hence, this great city pictures a defiled “Jerusalem” that claims to worship God but that has become unclean and sinful, like Sodom, and a part of this satanic world system of things, like Egypt. It pictures Christendom, the modern equivalent of unfaithful Jerusalem, the organization whose members had so much reason to rejoice when they silenced the disturbing preaching of the two witnesses.

Raised Again!

23. (a) What happens to the two witnesses after three and a half days, and what is the effect on their enemies? (b) When did Revelation 11:11, 12 and Ezekiel’s prophecy of Jehovah’s breathing upon a valley of dry bones have a modern-day fulfillment?

²³ The public press joined the clergy in vilifying God’s people, one paper saying: “The finis of The Finished Mystery has been given.” Nothing, though, could have been further from the truth! The two witnesses did not stay dead. We read: “And after the three and a half days spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet, and great fear fell upon those beholding them. And they heard a loud voice out of heaven say to them: ‘Come on up here.’ And they went up into heaven in the cloud, and their enemies beheld them.” (Revelation 11:11, 12) Thus, they had an experience similar to that of the dry bones in the valley that Ezekiel visited in vision. Jehovah breathed upon those dry bones, and they came to life, providing a picture of the rebirth of the nation of Israel after 70 years of captivity in Babylon. (Ezekiel 37:1-14) These two prophecies, in Ezekiel and in Revelation, had their striking modern-day fulfillment in 1919, when Jehovah restored his “deceased” witnesses to vibrant life.

24. When the two witnesses came to life, what was the effect on their religious persecutors?

²⁴ What a shock for those persecutors! The corpses of the two witnesses were suddenly alive and active again. It was a bitter pill for those clergymen to swallow, the more so since the Christian ministers whom they had schemed to put in prison were free again, later to be fully exonerated. The shock must have been even greater when, in September 1919, the Bible Students held a convention in Cedar Point, Ohio, U.S.A. Here J. F. Rutherford, recently released from prison, stirred conventioners with his talk “Announcing the Kingdom,” based on Revelation 15:2 and Isaiah 52:7. Those of the John class began once again to “prophesy,” or preach publicly. They advanced from strength to strength, fearlessly exposing Christendom’s hypocrisy.

25. (a) When were the two witnesses told, “Come on up here,” and how did that take place? (b) What shocking effect did the restoration of the two witnesses have on the great city?

²⁵ Christendom tried again and again to repeat her triumph of 1918. She resorted to mob action, legal maneuvering, imprisonment, even executions​—all to no avail! After 1919 the spiritual domain of the two witnesses was out of her reach. In that year Jehovah had said to them: “Come on up here,” and they had ascended to an elevated spiritual state where their enemies could see them but could not touch them. John describes the shocking effect their restoration had on the great city: “And in that hour a great earthquake occurred, and a tenth of the city fell; and seven thousand persons were killed by the earthquake, and the rest became frightened and gave glory to the God of heaven.” (Revelation 11:13) There were truly great convulsions in the realm of religion. The ground seemed to move under the leaders of the established churches as this body of revivified Christians got to work. One tenth of their city, figuratively 7,000 persons, were so profoundly affected that they are spoken of as being killed.

26. Who are represented by the “tenth of the city” and the “seven thousand” of Revelation 11:13? Explain.

²⁶ The expression “a tenth of the city” reminds us that Isaiah prophesied regarding ancient Jerusalem that a tenth would survive the destruction of the city as a holy seed. (Isaiah 6:13) Similarly, the number 7,000 reminds us that when Elijah felt that he alone remained faithful in Israel, Jehovah told him that there were, in fact, still 7,000 who had not bent down to Baal. (1 Kings 19:14, 18) In the first century, the apostle Paul said that these 7,000 pictured the remnant of the Jews who had responded to the good news about the Christ. (Romans 11:1-5) These scriptures help us to understand that the “seven thousand” and the “tenth of the city” in Revelation 11:13 are those who respond to the restored two witnesses and abandon the sinful great city. They die, as it were, to Christendom. Their names are taken off her membership rolls. They no longer exist as far as she is concerned.d

27, 28. (a) How did ‘the rest give glory to the God of heaven?’ (b) What were Christendom’s clergy forced to acknowledge?

²⁷ But how did ‘the rest [of Christendom] give glory to the God of heaven’? Certainly not by abandoning their apostate religion and becoming servants of God. Rather, it is as explained in Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament, in discussing the expression “gave glory to the God of heaven.” There it is stated: “The phrase signifies not conversion, nor repentance, nor thanksgiving, but recognition, which is its usual sense in scripture. Compare Josh. vii. 19 (Sept.). John ix. 24; Acts xii. 23; Rom. iv. 20.” To her chagrin, Christendom had to acknowledge that the God of the Bible Students had performed a great act in restoring them to Christian activity.

²⁸ It may be that the clergy gave this acknowledgment only mentally, or to themselves. Certainly, none of them went on record as publicly acknowledging the God of the two witnesses. But Jehovah’s prophecy through John helps us to discern what was in their hearts and realize the humiliating shock that they experienced in 1919. From that year onward, as the “seven thousand” left Christendom despite her determined efforts to hold on to her sheep, the clergy were forced to recognize that the God of the John class was stronger than their god. In later years they would realize this even more clearly, as many more of their flock would depart, echoing the words of the people when Elijah triumphed over the Baal religionists at Mount Carmel: “Jehovah is the true God! Jehovah is the true God!”​—1 Kings 18:39.

29. What does John say is coming quickly, and what further shaking awaits Christendom?

²⁹ But listen! John tells us: “The second woe is past. Look! The third woe is coming quickly.” (Revelation 11:14) If Christendom is shaken by what has happened so far, what will she do when the third woe is announced, the seventh angel blows his trumpet, and the sacred secret of God is finally finished?​—Revelation 10:7.

[Footnotes]

Chapter 26

God’s Sacred Secret​—Its Glorious Climax!

 1. (a) How does John inform us that the sacred secret is brought to a finish? (b) Why do the angelic hosts speak loudly?

DO YOU recall the sworn declaration by the strong angel recorded at Revelation 10:1, 6, 7? He stated: “There will be no delay any longer; but in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, when he is about to blow his trumpet, the sacred secret of God according to the good news which he declared to his own slaves the prophets is indeed brought to a finish.” Jehovah’s due time has arrived for the sounding of that final trumpet! How is it, then, that the sacred secret is brought to a finish? John is truly overjoyed to inform us! He writes: “And the seventh angel blew his trumpet. And loud voices occurred in heaven, saying: ‘The kingdom of the world did become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will rule as king forever and ever.’” (Revelation 11:15) Those angelic hosts have reason to speak loudly, even in thunderous tones! For this historic announcement is of universal importance. It is of vital concern to all living creation.

 2. When and with what event is the sacred secret brought to a triumphant finish?

² The sacred secret comes to its happy climax! Gloriously, magnificently, it is brought to a triumphant finish in 1914 when the Lord Jehovah enthrones his Christ as associate King. Acting for his Father, Jesus Christ takes over active rulership in the midst of an enemy world of mankind. As the promised Seed, he receives Kingdom power in order to bring to nothing the Serpent and his brood and restore paradisaic peace to this earth. (Genesis 3:15; Psalm 72:1, 7) As Messianic King, Jesus will thus fulfill Jehovah’s Word and vindicate his Father, “the King of eternity,” who must rule as Sovereign Lord “forever and ever.”​—1 Timothy 1:17.

 3. Why has Jehovah God, though always King, allowed other sovereignties to exist on earth?

³ But how did “the kingdom of the world . . . become the kingdom of our Lord,” Jehovah? Has not Jehovah God always been King? That is true, for the Levite Asaph sang: “God is my King from long ago.” And another psalmist proclaimed: “Jehovah himself has become king! . . . Your throne is firmly established from long ago; you are from time indefinite.” (Psalm 74:12; 93:1, 2) In his wisdom, though, Jehovah has allowed other sovereignties to exist on earth. Thus the issue raised in Eden as to whether man can govern himself without God has been fully tested. Man-rule has failed miserably. True, indeed, are the words of God’s prophet: “I well know, O Jehovah, that to earthling man his way does not belong. It does not belong to man who is walking even to direct his step.” (Jeremiah 10:23) Ever since the defection of our first parents, the entire inhabited earth has been under the domination of “the original serpent,” Satan. (Revelation 12:9; Luke 4:6) It is time, now, for a dramatic change! To vindicate his rightful position, Jehovah begins to exercise his sovereignty over the earth in a new way, through his designated Messianic Kingdom.

 4. When the sounding of the trumpets got under way in 1922, what was brought to the fore? Explain.

⁴ When the sounding of the seven trumpets got under way in 1922, the Bible Students’ convention at Cedar Point, Ohio, featured a talk by J. F. Rutherford based on the scripture “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 4:17, King James Version) He concluded with these words: “Then back to the field, O ye sons of the most high God! Gird on your armor! Be sober, be vigilant, be active, be brave. Be faithful and true witnesses for the Lord. Go forward in the fight until every vestige of Babylon lies desolate. Herald the message far and wide. The world must know that Jehovah is God and that Jesus Christ is King of kings and Lord of lords. This is the day of all days. Behold, the King reigns! You are his publicity agents. Therefore advertise, advertise, advertise, the King and his kingdom.” God’s Kingdom by Christ Jesus was brought to the fore, and that set off the great surge of Kingdom preaching that has included the judgments heralded by the sounding of all seven of the angelic trumpets.

 5. In 1928, what happened at the Bible Students’ convention that highlighted the seventh trumpet blast?

⁵ The trumpet blast of the seventh angel was reflected in highlights of the Bible Students’ convention in Detroit, Michigan, July 30-August 6, 1928. At that time 107 broadcasting stations were tied in to what The New York Times described as ‘the most extensive and expensive radio hook-up in history.’ The convention enthusiastically adopted a powerful “Declaration Against Satan and for Jehovah,” pointing to the overthrow, at Armageddon, of Satan and his evil organization and the emancipation of all who love righteousness. Loyal subjects of God’s Kingdom were delighted to receive a convention release, the 368-page book Government. This supplied the clearest of proofs “that God set his Anointed King upon his throne in 1914.”

Jehovah Takes Power

 6. How does John report the announcement of Christ’s having been enthroned in God’s Kingdom?

⁶ Christ enthroned in God’s Kingdom​—what joy this announcement calls forth! John reports: “And the twenty-four elders who were seated before God upon their thrones fell upon their faces and worshiped God, saying: ‘We thank you, Jehovah God, the Almighty, the One who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and begun ruling as king.’”​—Revelation 11:16, 17.

 7. How were thanks given to Jehovah God (a) by the remnant of the symbolic 24 elders on earth? (b) by those of the symbolic 24 elders who had been resurrected to their positions in heaven?

⁷ The ones that offer these thanks to Jehovah God are the 24 elders, symbolizing the anointed brothers of Christ in their heavenly positions. From 1922 onward a remnant on earth of these 144,000 anointed ones got busy in the work that was set in motion by the trumpet blasts. They came to realize the full import of the sign at Matthew 24:3–25:46. Even earlier in the Lord’s day, however, their fellow witnesses who had already ‘proved faithful even to death’ had been resurrected to take their positions in heaven, so that they could now represent the entire group of 144,000 in falling upon their faces to render homage to Jehovah. (Revelation 1:10; 2:10) How thankful all of these are that their Sovereign Lord has not delayed in bringing his sacred secret to a climactic finish!

 8. (a) What effect does the blowing of the seventh trumpet have on the nations? (b) Against whom have the nations expressed their wrath?

⁸ On the other hand, the blowing of the seventh trumpet brings no joy to the nations. The time has come for them to experience Jehovah’s wrath. As John relates: “But the nations became wrathful, and your own wrath came, and the appointed time for the dead to be judged, and to give their reward to your slaves the prophets and to the holy ones and to those fearing your name, the small and the great, and to bring to ruin those ruining the earth.” (Revelation 11:18) From 1914 onward the nations of the world have fiercely expressed their wrath against one another, against God’s Kingdom, and especially against Jehovah’s two witnesses.​—Revelation 11:3.

 9. How have the nations been ruining the earth, and what has God determined to do about it?

⁹ Throughout history the nations have been ruining the earth by their incessant warfare and bad management. Since 1914, however, this ruination has escalated to an alarming degree. Greed and corruption have resulted in expanding deserts and tremendous loss of productive land. Acid rain and radioactive clouds have damaged large areas. Food sources have been polluted. The air we breathe and the water we drink are contaminated. Industrial wastes threaten life on land and in the sea. At one time, the superpowers threatened complete ruination by way of nuclear annihilation of all humankind. Happily, Jehovah will “bring to ruin those ruining the earth”; he will execute judgment on those proud, godless humans who are responsible for earth’s sorry state. (Deuteronomy 32:5, 6; Psalm 14:1-3) Therefore, Jehovah arranges for the third woe, to bring these wrongdoers to account.​—Revelation 11:14.

Woe to the Ruinous Ones!

10. (a) What is the third woe? (b) In what way does the third woe bring more than torment?

¹⁰ Here, then, is the third woe. It comes quickly! It is Jehovah’s means of bringing ruination to those who desecrate his “footstool,” this lovely earth on which we live. (Isaiah 66:1) It is set in motion by the Messianic Kingdom​—the sacred secret of God. God’s enemies, and Christendom’s leaders in particular, have been tormented by the first two woes​—resulting principally from the locust plague and the armies of cavalry; but the third woe, which Jehovah’s Kingdom itself administers, brings more than torment. (Revelation 9:3-19) It provides the death stroke in ousting a ruinous human society and its rulers. This will come as the climax of Jehovah’s judging at Armageddon. It is just as Daniel prophesied: “And in the days of those kings [rulers who are ruining the earth] the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be brought to ruin. And the kingdom itself will not be passed on to any other people. It will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, and it itself will stand to times indefinite.” Like an imposing mountain, God’s Kingdom will rule over an earth made glorious, vindicating Jehovah’s sovereignty and bringing eternal joy to mankind.​—Daniel 2:35, 44; Isaiah 11:9; 60:13.

11. (a) What ongoing series of happy events does the prophecy describe? (b) What undeserved kindness is realized, how, and by whom?

¹¹ The third woe is accompanied by an ongoing series of happy events that will proceed progressively through the Lord’s day. It is the time ‘for the dead to be judged, and for God to give their reward to his slaves the prophets and to the holy ones and to those fearing his name.’ That means a resurrection from the dead! For the anointed holy ones who had already fallen asleep in death, this takes place early in the Lord’s day. (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17) In due course the remaining holy ones join these by an instantaneous resurrection. Others too are to be rewarded, including God’s slaves the prophets of ancient times and all others of mankind who come to fear Jehovah’s name, whether they are of the great crowd who survive the great tribulation or of “the dead, the great and the small,” who are raised to life during Christ’s Millennial Reign. Since God’s Messianic King has the keys of death and of Hades, his Kingdom rule opens the way for him to dispense everlasting life to all who reach out for that precious provision. (Revelation 1:18; 7:9, 14; 20:12, 13; Romans 6:22; John 5:28, 29) Whether it is immortal life in the heavens or eternal life on earth, this gift of life is an undeserved kindness from Jehovah, for which each recipient may be forever thankful!​—Hebrews 2:9.

Behold the Ark of His Covenant!

12. (a) According to Revelation 11:19, what does John see in heaven? (b) Of what had the ark of the covenant been a symbol, and what happened to it after Israel went into captivity to Babylon?

¹² Jehovah rules! Through his Messianic Kingdom, he is exercising his sovereignty toward mankind in a marvelous way. This is confirmed by what John sees next: “And the temple sanctuary of God that is in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen in his temple sanctuary. And there occurred lightnings and voices and thunders and an earthquake and a great hail.” (Revelation 11:19) This is the only mention in Revelation of the ark of God’s covenant. The Ark had been the visible symbol of Jehovah’s presence with his people Israel. In the tabernacle, and later in the temple built by Solomon, it was kept in the Most Holy. But when Israel went into captivity in Babylon in 607 B.C.E., Jerusalem was desolated and the ark of the covenant disappeared. That was when representatives of the house of David ceased “to sit upon Jehovah’s throne as king.”​—1 Chronicles 29:23.a

13. What is denoted by the fact that the ark of God’s covenant is seen in the heavenly sanctuary of God?

¹³ Now, after more than 2,600 years, the Ark is seen once more. But in John’s vision this Ark is not in an earthly temple. It appears in the heavenly sanctuary of God. Once again, Jehovah rules by means of a king in the royal line of David. This time, however, the King, Christ Jesus, is enthroned in heavenly Jerusalem​—the exalted vantage point from which he executes Jehovah’s judgments. (Hebrews 12:22) The following chapters of Revelation will unveil these to us.

14, 15. (a) In ancient Jerusalem, who only got to see the ark of the covenant, and why? (b) In the heavenly temple sanctuary of God, who get to see the ark of his covenant?

¹⁴ In ancient earthly Jerusalem, the Ark was not seen by the Israelites in general, nor even by the priests serving in the temple, for it was within the Most Holy that was screened off from the Holy Place by a curtain. (Numbers 4:20; Hebrews 9:2, 3) Only the high priest got to see it when he entered the Most Holy on the annual Day of Atonement. Nevertheless, when the temple sanctuary in the heavens is opened, the symbolic ark is visible not only to Jehovah’s High Priest, Jesus Christ, but also to his underpriests, the 144,000, including John.

¹⁵ Those first ones who have been resurrected to heaven see this symbolic ark at close range, for they have taken their place as part of the 24 elders around Jehovah’s throne. And the John class on earth have been enlightened by Jehovah’s spirit to discern His presence in His spiritual temple. There have also been signs to alert mankind in general to this wonderful development. John’s vision speaks of lightnings, voices, thunders, an earthquake, and hail. (Compare Revelation 8:5.) What do these symbolize?

16. How have there been lightnings, voices, thunders, an earthquake, and a great hail?

¹⁶ Since 1914 there has been a tremendous upheaval in the realm of religion. Happily, though, this “earthquake” has been accompanied by dedicated voices giving a clear message about God’s established Kingdom. Thunderous ‘storm warnings’ from the Bible have been sounded. Like lightning, flashes of insight as to God’s prophetic Word have been seen and publicized. A hard pounding “hail” of divine judgments has been unleashed against Christendom and false religion in general. All of this should have caught people’s attention. Sadly, though, the majority​—like the people of Jerusalem in Jesus’ time—​have failed to discern the fulfillment of these Revelation signs.​—Luke 19:41-44.

17, 18. (a) The sounding of the trumpets of the seven angels has brought what responsibility to dedicated Christians? (b) How are Christians fulfilling their commission?

¹⁷ The seven angels continue to sound their trumpets, signaling historic events here on earth. Dedicated Christians have a great responsibility to continue proclaiming these announcements to the world. How joyfully they are fulfilling that commission! This is indicated in that during the 20 years from 1986 to 2005, they almost doubled the hours spent yearly in the ministry​—from 680,837,042 to 1,278,235,504. Truly, “the sacred secret of God according to the good news” is being made known “to the extremities of the inhabited earth.”​—Revelation 10:7; Romans 10:18.

¹⁸ Other visions now await us as God’s Kingdom purposes continue to be unveiled.

[Footnote]

 1. How will an understanding of the signs described in Revelation chapters 12 to 14 help us?

THE sacred secret of God has been unlocked. (Revelation 10:7) Jehovah’s Kingdom by his Messiah is now a dynamic reality. It rules! Its presence spells doom for Satan and his seed and glorious victory for the Seed of God’s heavenly organization. The seventh angel has not finished blowing on his trumpet, however, for he has much more to reveal to us about the third woe. (Revelation 11:14) The signs described in Revelation chapters 12 to 14 will help us to broaden our appreciation of all that is involved in that woe and in bringing God’s sacred secret to a finish.