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The King Shines Light on the KingdomGod’s Kingdom Rules!
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The Kingdom Gathers Its Earthly Subjects!
14, 15. What four different groups were discussed in The Finished Mystery?
14 Faithful men and women have long been intensely curious about the “great crowd” (“great multitude,” King James Version) mentioned at Revelation 7:9-14. Not surprisingly, before it was Christ’s time to reveal the identity of this large group, much that was said on the subject veered wide of the clear, simple truths we know and love today.
15 In 1917, the book The Finished Mystery asserted that there are “two degrees or kinds of Heavenly salvation, and two degrees or kinds of earthly salvation.” Who made up the four groups of people with those different hopes for salvation? First, there were the 144,000, who would rule with Christ. Second, there was the great multitude. Back then, the idea was that these were nominal Christians who were still in the churches of Christendom. They had a measure of faith but not enough to take a firm stand of integrity. Therefore, they would be given lesser positions in heaven. As to the earth, it was thought that a third group, the “ancient worthies”—such faithful ones as Abraham, Moses, and others—would have positions of authority over the fourth group, the world of mankind.
16. What flashes of spiritual light came in 1923 and in 1932?
16 How did holy spirit guide Christ’s followers to the understanding that we cherish today? It happened progressively, through a series of flashes of spiritual light. As early as 1923, The Watch Tower drew attention to a group with no heavenly aspirations who would live on earth under Christ’s reign. In 1932, The Watchtower discussed Jonadab (Jehonadab), who attached himself to God’s anointed Israelite King Jehu to support him in the war against false worship. (2 Ki. 10:15-17) The article said that there was a class of people in modern times who were like Jonadab, adding that Jehovah would take this class “through the Armageddon trouble” to live here on the earth.
17. (a) In 1935, what brilliant flash of spiritual light came? (b) How were faithful Christians affected by the new understanding of the great multitude? (See the box “A Great Sigh of Relief.”)
17 In 1935 came a brilliant flash of spiritual light. At the convention held in Washington, D.C., the great multitude was identified as an earthly class, the same as the sheep in Jesus’ parable of the sheep and the goats. (Matt. 25:33-40) The great multitude would be among the “other sheep,” of whom Jesus said: “Those too I must bring in.” (John 10:16) When the speaker, J. F. Rutherford, asked: “Will all those who have the hope of living forever on the earth please stand?” more than half the audience rose to their feet! “Behold!” he declared. “The great multitude!” Many were deeply moved to understand at last their hope for the future.
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