The "Great Crowd" -- Another Looming Time Problem for Jehovah's Witnesses?

NOTE: For historical context, the below essay was originally written in 2004.

“After these things I saw, and, look! a great crowd, which no man was able to number, out of all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb . . . And in response one of the elders said to me: “These who are dressed in the white robes, who are they and where did they come from?” So right away I said to him: “My lord, you are the one that knows.” And he said to me: “These are the ones that come out of the great tribulation” – Revelation 7:9, 13, 14

In the November 1, 1995 issue of The Watchtower, two study articles were published which presented what, for Jehovah's Witnesses, was a huge change in teaching. For years--yes decades--prior to this, Jehovah's Witnesses taught that Jesus' prophetic words: "This generation will by no means pass away until all these things occur" had application to the generation that included those who saw the beginning of the "time of the end", in 1914. Over the years, this led to all sorts of calculations, speculations, and estimates as to reasonable chronological constraints on the day by which the "end" must surely come.

In one stroke of the pen, this Watchtower changed all that. While not altering the basic teaching that the "last days" began in 1914, it effectively "de-linked" the "generation" of Jesus' prophecy from a chronological tie to 1914, thereby not limiting the date at which Jehovah could bring the "end" to some mathematically plausible date with the year 1914 as its anchor.

This change in doctrine did not go unnoticed by the rank and file. While individual Jehovah's Witnesses may express varying thoughts, ranging from "the end is still right around the corner" to "I'm not so sure," it has become evident over the ensuing years that a fair number are by their actions "hedging their bets." Meeting attendance in many lands has fallen. In some cases, this is because secular or educational requirements conflict with these, and Witnesses are sensing the need to balance providing for themselves and their families with adherence to all the directives emanating from Brooklyn.

I have not, though, heard much discussion among fellow Witnesses concerning what seems to me to be another looming time-based problem. It has to do with the understanding of the "great crowd" of Revelation 7. Jehovah's Witnesses teach that these individuals comprise a certain group that manifests itself during the "last days" who have the hope of living, not in heaven, but forever on the earth. However, there is a feature of how this group is described in Revelation that involves a time constraint. What is it? The Watchtower explains:

Technically speaking, is there a difference between the Biblical terms “other sheep” and “great crowd”?
. . . Now, what can be said about the identity of the “great crowd” mentioned at Revelation 7:9? Well, look at verse 13 and the question, “Who are they and where did they come from?” We find the answer at Revelation 7:14: “These are the ones that come out of the great tribulation.” So the “great crowd” is composed of those who come out of, or survive, the great tribulation. As verse 17 says, they will be ‘guided to fountains of waters of life’ on earth.

. . . In summary, we might remember “other sheep” as the broader term, encompassing all of God’s servants having the hope of living forever on earth. It includes the more limited category of sheeplike ones today who are being gathered as a “great crowd” with the hope of living right through the impending great tribulation. -- Anonymous, Questions From Readers, The Watchtower, Watchtower Bible & Tract Society, Inc. 1995 4/15: 31. (Bold added)

A further quote from the book Reasoning From the Scriptures states this even more clearly. After quoting the relevant verses from the Revised Standard Version, the book states:

To “come out” of something a person must go into it or be in it. So this great multitude must be persons who actually experience the great tribulation and come out of it as survivors. -- Anonymous, Reasoning From the Scriptures, Watchtower Bible & Tract Society, Inc. 1989: 315 (Italics in original text)

Many more citations could be provided, but these should suffice to make the point that Jehovah’s Witnesses teach that a defining characteristic of the “great crowd” is that its members would entertain a realistic hope of never dying, but rather of passing alive through the “great tribulation.” Similar to the former teaching concerning a “generation” tied to the year 1914, the timing of the manifestation of this group would impose a time constraint as to when the “great tribulation” must occur if they are to “come out” of it. What is taught with respect to such timing?

Jehovah’s Witnesses teach that this “great crowd” actually began to manifest itself early in the 1930’s. The book Jehovah’s Witnesses—Proclaimers of God’s Kingdom states:

Meetings for Worship, Instruction, and Encouragement
Particularly beginning in the 1930’s, prospective members of the “great multitude,” or “great crowd” of other sheep, began to manifest themselves. (Rev. 7:9, 10, KJ; John 10:16) These were at that time referred to as Jonadabs. -- Anonymous, Jehovah’s Witnesses—Proclaimers of God’s Kingdom, Watchtower Bible & Tract Society, Inc. 1993: 243

The Watchtower of May 15, 2001, comments on the defining moment when “a brilliant flash of understanding” occurred with respect to this group:

A Brilliant Flash of Understanding
The understanding of Revelation 7:9-17 was about to shine forth in sparkling brilliance. (Psalm 97:11) The Watchtower had expressed the hope that a convention scheduled for May 30 to June 3, 1935, in Washington, D.C., U.S.A., would be “a real comfort and benefit” to those pictured by Jehonadab. And that it proved to be!

In a stirring talk on “The Great Multitude,” delivered to about 20,000 conventioners, J. F. Rutherford presented Scriptural proof that the modern-day “other sheep” are identical with that “great crowd” of Revelation 7:9. (John 10:16) At the climax of this talk, the speaker asked: “Will all those who have the hope of living forever on the earth please stand?” As a large part of the audience stood up, Rutherford declared: “Behold! The great multitude!” There was a hush, followed by loud cheering. On the following day, 840 new Witnesses of Jehovah were baptized, most of these professing to be of the great crowd. -- Anonymous, Behold! The Great Crowd!, The Watchtower, Watchtower Bible & Tract Society, Inc. 2001 5/15: 14-15

Thus, 840 individuals are identified as being baptized on that dramatic day in 1935, with most professing to be of the “great crowd.”

Three years later, in 1938, the numbers of those identifying themselves as part of the “great crowd” had grown substantially:

Meetings for Worship, Instruction, and Encouragement
For the first time, in its issue of February 15, 1938, The Watchtower specifically invited them to be present at the Memorial, saying: “After six p.m. on April 15 let each company of the anointed assemble and celebrate the Memorial, their companions the Jonadabs also being present.” They did attend, not as partakers, but as observers. Their presence began to swell the number of those on hand at the time of the Memorial of Christ’s death. In 1938 the total attendance was 73,420, while those who partook of the emblematic bread and wine numbered 39,225. -- Anonymous, Jehovah’s Witnesses—Proclaimers of God’s Kingdom, Watchtower Bible & Tract Society, Inc. 1993: 243

So, by 1938, 34,195 individuals are identified as being part of the “great crowd” by virtue of declining to partake of the bread and wine at the annual Memorial observance.

Finally, there is a famous quote attributed to Joseph F. Rutherford some time before his death in January, 1942:

The Great Crowd to Live in Heaven?
During the next five years, as the number of Jehovah’s Witnesses grew, those who partook of the emblems at the annual Memorial of Christ’s death gradually declined in number. Still, the influx of the great crowd was not as rapid as what Brother Rutherford had expected. At one point he even said to Fred Franz, who became the Society’s fourth president: “It looks as if the ‘great multitude’ is not going to be so great after all.” -- Anonymous, Jehovah’s Witnesses—Proclaimers of God’s Kingdom, Watchtower Bible & Tract Society, Inc. 1993: 171

In summary, Jehovah’s Witnesses teach that the “great crowd” has been continuously gathered since the 1930’s. Since an individual baptized as one Jehovah’s Witnesses today is taught to be of this group, it is true that much time could elapse before this new disciple, especially if young, would be in any danger of dying, and thus not “coming out” of the great tribulation. It might, then, be argued that representatives from the “great crowd” do indeed “come out of the great tribulation.” Further, it is undeniably true that some individuals from this group have died as a result of “time and unforeseen circumstance” and I don’t argue that this would detract in any way from the identification of the overall group as one that survives the “great tribulation.”

However, to have any real meaning as a teaching of dramatic note, would not the “great crowd” need to include at the very least a representative sample of those earliest members, from that day in 1935? If none of the group of 840 baptized that day who professed to be members of the “great multitude” actually “come out of the great tribulation,” then how can J. F. Rutherford’s dramatic statement be construed to be correct? Further, Jehovah’s Witnesses teach that a new disciple can have one of only two hopes. If an individual is not of the “great crowd,” by definition that individual must be of the anointed, or the 144,000. We do not teach a third option. How would this affect the concept that the gathering of the “anointed” had all but ceased by that date?

References to the “aging anointed and their loyal great crowd companions” are made quite frequently in the publications of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Almost subconsciously, this leaves a general impression of the “anointed” as being aged, and the “great crowd” as young and vibrant. What tends to get obscured unless one really stops to think about it is that the early individuals identified as part of the “great crowd” are themselves now very, very old. In this year 2004, sixty-nine years removed from that spring day in 1935, how much more time is left for these ones? It must be remembered that this announcement was an answer to the concerns of Jehovah’s Witnesses of the day who had concluded that they weren’t entirely comfortable with the hope of going to heaven. If it is reasonable to conclude that these would have been mature adults, individuals who were at least in their 20’s, such ones would be approximately 90 years old today. Even if that group included a few 10-year-olds, baptized as children, these would be close to 80 years of age.

This, then, can be looked at two ways. It could be added to the lines of evidence already presented by Jehovah’s Witnesses that the “great tribulation” must be extremely close.

On the other hand, if the understanding of this scriptural passage is incorrect, then--similar to the 1914 dilemma--if a certain date passes where this ceases to be a realistic scenario, some revised explanation of this topic will need to be published. I will be extremely interested to see what such an explanation might be, and how it will be accepted.