THE DIVINE PLAN OF THE AGES — AN ANALYSIS OF PASSAGES SUPPOSED TO DEAL WITH EVERLASTING ANNIHILATION (PART III)

 

INTRODUCTION

C.T. Russell and the Bible Students believed in The Divine Plan of the Ages, which means that most of the approximately 30 billion people who have lived on the earth will get a resurrection during the thousand-year reign of Jesus Christ.

In 1924, The divine Plan of the Ages was rejected, and this opens for the possibility that billions of Adam’s descendants will be eternally annihilated. However, 12 articles in The Watchtower in 1965 restored the view of the Bible Students that most of Adam’s descendants will have a resurrection during the thousand-year reign of Jesus. However, in 1988, the conclusions of the articles in 1965 were rejected, and the view that still holds is that billions of Adam’s descendants, probably most of them, will be everlastingly annihilated.

The basic reason for the view that billions of Adam’s descendants will be eternally annihilated is as follows:

The Bible Students believed that the ransom sacrifice includes all Adam’s descendants, and that Jesus bought them all. This means that all Adam’s descendants will get a resurrection in the thousand-year reign of Jesus except the extreme few who “willfully resist the saving power of the Great Deliverer.” (Studies in the Scriptures, volume I)

How can this be true in light of the following statements in the Scriptures:

⁷ the heavens and the earth..,. are being reserved to the day of judgment and of destruction of the ungodly men.(2 Peter 3:7)

⁸ These very ones will undergo the judicial punishment of everlasting destruction from before the Lord and from the glory of his strength. (2 Thessalonians 1:9)

⁴² and they will pitch them into the fiery furnace. There is where [their] weeping and the gnashing of [their] teeth will be. (Matthew 13:42)

⁴¹“Then he will say, in turn, to those on his left, ‘Be on YOUR way from me, YOU who have been cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his angels. (Matthew 25:41

If some people “undergo the judicial punishment of everlasting destruction” and they are “cursed into the everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his angels,” how can the ransom sacrifice be applied to these people, so they get a resurrection in the thousand-year reign of Jesus?

Three errors were made in 1924, and they still stand.

• The ransom sacrifice guarantees a resurrection for all who die because of Adam’s sin. However, some people’s sins are not due to inherited sin, but rather to their own wickedness. They have sinned against the holy spirit, and for such sins, there is no ransom sacrifice. They will be annihilated forever. The error is in applying passages in the Christian Greek Scriptures to those who die because of Adam’s sin that should be applied to those who have sinned against the holy spirit.
• Some Greek words dealing with the judgment of the people in this wicked system of things have wrongly been given the meaning “eternal annihilation.”
• The context of each account was not carefully taken into consideration.

With these errors in mind, I will now analyze the five texts that the members of the Governing Body use to support the view that was first expressed in 1924:

• The illustration of the sheep and the goats (Matthew 25:31-46)
• The illustration of the wheat and the weeds (Matthew 13:24-30, 36-42)
• The words in 2 Peter 3:7 about the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly people.
• The words in 1 Thessalonians 1:6-9 about vengeance and everlasting destruction.
• The armies of the kings in Revelation 19:19-21 which will be killed.

The errors made in 1924 were based on a wrong interpretation of the illustration of the sheep and the goats. Since then, different interpretations of this illustration have been the primary reason for the wrong view that billions will be everlastingly annihilated. In this study I will discuss this illustration in detail.

THE ILLUSTRATION OF THE SHEEP AND THE GOATS

The illustration does not describe how the inhabitants of the nations of the world are separated into two groups, “sheep” and “goats,” as the members of the Governing Body claim. The brothers of Jesus are found in the congregations of Jehovah’s Witnesses, and treating them in a good or bad way reveals that one must be a part of one of these congregations. The “goats” are persons who have known the truth about God preached by the brothers of Jesus, but they have rejected this truth and thereby have sinned against the holy spirit.

What is really ironic is that the Bible has a message regarding the everlasting future of mankind that is the very opposite of what the members of the Governing Body teach. The passages that will be discussed below show that most of the approximately 30 billion of Adam’s descendants who have lived on the earth will be present and pass the final test after the thousand years, and by this get everlasting life. And the situation will not be that most of these 30 billion people will be everlastingly annihilated, as the members of the Governing Body teach.

The view of the present members of the Governing Body is that the words in verses 31 and 32 that the Son of man “comes in his glory,” and he “will sit down on his glorious throne” refer to the great tribulation. Then “all the nations will gather before him and he will separate people one from another just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.” Because the destiny of the goats is “the everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his angels” (verse 41), this evidently means everlasting annihilation without any hope of a resurrection.

The Watchtower of March 15, 2015, page 26, says:

³ To understand the illustration of the sheep and the goats correctly, we need to grasp three key elements of the account: the identity of those mentioned, the timing of the judgment, and the reason for being classified as either a sheep or a goat.

These are good points that will now consider.

THE TIME OF THE FULFILLMENT OG THE ILLUSTRATION

From the year 1924 and for 71 years, the view was that the words in 25:31 “When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit down on his glorious throne” refer to the establishment of the heavenly Kingdom in the year 1914 and the presence of Jesus Christ when he rules in the midst of his enemies. But The Watchtower of October 15, 1995, pages 22, 23, presented a different view. I quote from this article:

²³ If we analyze Jesus’ activity in the parable, we observe him finally judging all the nations… The parable, though, depicts the time when Jesus judges the people of “all the nations” who are then alive and facing the execution of his judicial sentence.

²⁵ This means, then, that Jesus’ ‘sitting down on his glorious throne’ for judgment, mentioned at Matthew 25:31, applies to the future point when this powerful King will sit down to pronounce and execute judgment on the nations.

We note the words that Jesus will be gathering “all the nations” before him and not some of them. It is not stated that he will judge “all the nations.” But he will separate “people” one from another. The people he will separate, of course, belongs to the different nations. But there is no stated relationship between all the nations and the people that will be separated.

The text tells about two separate actions, 1) The son of man will gather alle the nations before him, and 2) He separates individual humans like a shepherd separates the “sheep” from the “goats.” That the Son of man will judge the nations is something that is invented by the members of the Governing Body without any basis in the text.

The word “comes” in 25:31 is erkhomai (“come”), and we can find its reference by studying the context. In Acts 1:11, the word refers to his return as king in 1914. But in Matthew 24:30, 42, 44. 46, it refers to the coming of Jesus in the great tribulation. However, the words about the transfiguration of Jesus on the holy mountain can help us find the correct time setting for the fulfillment of Matthew 25:31.

I will now compare the words in Matthew 25:31 with what the gospel writers say about the transfiguration:

Matthew 25:31: ³¹ “When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit down on his glorious throne.

Matthew 16:27, 28: ²⁷ For the Son of man is to come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and then he will repay each one according to his behavior. ²⁸ Truly I say to you that there are some of those standing here who will not taste death at all until first they see the Son of man coming in his Kingdom.”

Mark 8:38, 9:1: ³⁸ For whoever becomes ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of man will also be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” ¹ Furthermore, he said to them: “Truly I say to you that there are some of those standing here who will not taste death at all until first they see the Kingdom of God already having come (erkhomai, perfect participle active) in power.”

Luke 9:26, 27: ²⁶ For whoever becomes ashamed of me and of my words, the Son of man will be ashamed of that person when he comes in his glory and that of the Father and of the holy angels. ²⁷ But I tell you truly, there are some of those standing here who will not taste death at all until first they see the Kingdom of God.”

There are three important points in Matthew 25:31, 1) “comes in his glory,” 2) “with the angels,” and 3) “sit down on his glorious throne.” In the presentation of the transfiguration, the three gospel writers use the words “glory” and “angels” that we also find in Matthew 25:31. And the words “sit down on his glorious throne” in Matthew 25:31 has a parallel as well.

Six days after Jesus spoke his words, the apostles saw his transfiguration, and what they saw was not Jesus acting as judge in the great tribulation, but they saw “the kingdom of God” and “the Son of man coming in his Kingdom.” These words can only refer to the Kingdom of God that was established in the year 1914. The words of Mark are particularly illuminating. He uses the perfect active participle of the verb erkhomai (“come”), and the translation must be “see the Kingdom of God having come.” (The word “already” in NWT13 is added and is not in the Greek text.) The point here is that the transfiguration showed that the Kingdom of God had come, it was established. And what they saw was not the great tribulation that was the end of the presence of Jesus but rather its beginning.

One of the apostles who were on the holy mountain with Jesus and who saw his transfiguration was Peter. In his second letter, he referred to the transfiguration, and his words are important. 2 Peter 1:16-18 says:

¹⁶ No, it was not by following artfully contrived false stories that we made known to you the power and presence (parousia) of our Lord Jesus Christ, but rather, we were eyewitnesses of his magnificence. ¹⁷ For he received from God the Father honor and glory when words such as these were conveyed to him by the magnificent glory: “This is my Son, my beloved, whom I myself have approved.” ¹⁸ Yes, these words we heard coming from heaven while we were with him in the holy mountain.

Peter confirms the conclusion I already have reached that the transfiguration referred to the coming of Jesus as king in the year 1914 and the establishing of the heavenly Kingdom. Peter says directly that the transfiguration showed the presence of Jesus. When the words of Jesus in Matthew 25:31 parallels his words about the transfiguration, we have strong evidence that the words in verse Matthew 25:31 refer to the presence of Jesus from the year 1914 and not to his coming in the great tribulation.

The members of the Governing Body apply the illustration to Jesus’ judgment of the nations and all humans in the great tribulation. The word “judgment” is not found in the text. Two different actions are described: Jesus gathers all the nations before him in order to rule in their midst, and he separates humans that are not identified into two groups during his presence.

THE EARTHLY KINGDOM THAT WILL MAKE THE EARTH A PARADISE

Although the illustration refers to the time when Jesus becomes king and the kingdom of God is established, it does not specifically address the different characteristics of the heavenly kingdom, as seen in the illustration in Matthew 25:1-13 about the five foolish and the five discreet virgins. But verse 34 in chapter 25 shows that the illustration refers to people who will live in the coming earthly kingdom:

³⁴ “Then the King will say to those on his right: ‘Come, you who have been blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the founding of the world.

When we look for clues that can identify “the kingdom” that is mentioned, we need to consider the time factor that is mentioned in the verse, namely, “the founding of the world.” According to Luke 11:50, 51, the foundation/founding (katabolē) of the world (the human family) was laid at the time of Abel when children were born to Adam and Eve. Hebrews 11:11 confirms that katabolē is connected with the procreation of children.

The expression “the founding of the world” is used in the letter to the Ephesians. We read in 1:3, 4, and 2:6:

³ Praised be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for he has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in union with Christ, ⁴ as he chose us to be in union with him before the founding of the world, that we should be holy and unblemished before him in love…

⁶ Moreover, he raised us up together and seated us together in the heavenly places in union with Christ Jesus.

These verses show that the hope of members of the congregation in Ephesus was to rule with Jesus Christ in his heavenly kingdom. What is particularly important in 1:4 is the use of the preposition. The verse says that the Ephesians whose hope was the heavenly kingdom were chosen before (pro) the founding of the world. However, the kingdom that the sheep would inherit according to Matthew 26:34 was prepared from (apo) the founding of the world. The two prepositions are mutually exclusive, indicating that the kingdom mentioned in 25:34 is distinct from the heavenly kingdom.

The only alternative is the earthly kingdom that will exist on the earth during the thousand-year reign of Jesus Christ and after that forever. That there is both a heavenly kingdom and an earthly kingdom is confirmed in Hebrews chapters 2 and 3. In 2:5 we read about “the coming inhabited earth,” and in 3:1 we read about those who are “partakers of the heavenly calling.” We appreciate very much that Jesus mentions both the heavenly and the earthly kingdoms in his great prophecy about his presence.

The two different hopes, the heavenly one and the earthly one, are not only seen in the use of the preposition apo (“from”) in Metthew in contrast with the preposition pro (“before”) in the letter to the Ephesians. But it is also seen in the relationship between the persons that are mentioned in the illustration of the sheep and the goats.

The word “sheep” refers to persons who have God’s approval and who will inherit the earthly kingdom. But there is another group that is mentioned, namely, the brothers of Jesus in 25:40. The group called the brothers of Jesus in Hebrew 2:11, who also are children of God, according to 2:13, are “partakes of the heavenly calling” according to 3:1. This suggests that the brothers of Jesus that are mentioned together with the “sheep” also are partakers of the heavenly calling.

This conclusion is confirmed in the letter to the Romans, chapter 8. Verses 29 and 30 say that Jesus is “the firstborn among many brothers,” whom God called to the heavenly kingdom. Being brothers of Jesus, these individuals are also the children of God. Just as is the case in Matthew 25:31-46, two different groups are also mentioned in Romans 8:14-33:

¹⁴ For all who are led by God’s spirit are indeed God’s sons. ¹⁵ For you did not receive a spirit of slavery causing fear again, but you received a spirit of adoption as sons, by which spirit we cry out: “Abba, Father!”¹⁶ The spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are God’s children. ¹⁷ If, then, we are children, we are also heirs—heirs indeed of God, but joint heirs with Christ—provided we suffer together so that we may also be glorified together. ¹⁸ For I consider that the sufferings of the present time do not amount to anything in comparison with the glory that is going to be revealed in us.

 ¹⁹ For the creation is waiting with eager expectation for the revealing of the sons of God. ²⁰ For the creation was subjected to futility, not by its own will, but through the one who subjected it, on the basis of hope ²¹ that the creation itself will also be set free from enslavement to corruption and have the glorious freedom of the children of God. ²² For we know that all creation keeps on groaning together and being in pain together until now. ²³ Not only that, but we ourselves also who have the firstfruits, namely, the spirit, yes, we ourselves groan within ourselves while we are earnestly waiting for adoption as sons, the release from our bodies by ransom.

Paul shows that he and the Romans to whom his letter was addressed were God’s sons or children (verses 14, 15). They were also joint heirs with Christ (verse 16), and they were earnestly waiting for the release of their bodies (Verse 23). Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:50 that “flesh and blood cannot inherit God’s kingdom,” and in verses 35 to 49, he shows that in order to reign with Jesus Christ in heaven, a person must die and get a spirit body in his resurrection. This is “the release from our bodies.”

In addition to the mentioned group of God’s children, who have the heavenly calling, there is another group, “the creation” (verse 19), which refers to Adam’s descendants. They are “subjected to futility” (verse 19). But with the help of God’s children in the heavenly government, they “will be set free from enslavement to corruption” during the thousand-year reign of Jesus Christ. At the end of this period, when they will have reached perfection, they themselves will “have the glorious freedom of the children of God.”

Thus, we see that the earthly kingdom is mentioned together with the heavenly kingdom in Romans chapter 8 and Hebrews chapters 2 and 3, and it is implied, together with the earthly kingdom in Matthew chapter 25.

The conclusion to this section is that the brothers of Jesus refer to those who will reign with him in heaven, and the “sheep” are those who will inherit the earthly kingdom.

THE “GOATS” DO NOT REFER TO THE NATIONS OF THE WORLD 

Matthew 25:32 NWT13 has the rendering: “he will separate people from each other,” but the word “people” most likely will be misunderstood. The understanding of a part of the verse is that “people” refers to the inhabitants of all the nations, and that these inhabitants will be separated into two groups, sheep and goats. But that is a wrong understanding. In order to ascertain this, we need to know the Greek rules regarding pronouns that can refer back to nouns. The rules in English regarding pronouns that refer back to nouns are quite similar to the rules in Greek. In order to illustrate the issue, I use an English example, namely, Matthew 5:28:

²⁸ But I say to you that everyone who keeps on looking at a woman (gynaika, feminine singular accusative) so as to have a passion for her (autēn, third person feminine singular accusative) has already committed adultery with her (autēn, third person feminine singular accusative) in his heart.

*But I say to you that everyone who keeps on looking at a woman (gynaika, feminine singular accusative) so as to have a passion for him (auton, third person masculine singular accusative) has already committed adultery with him (auton, third person masculine singular accusative) in his heart.

The first quotation is grammatical because the pronouns referring back to the woman are feminine, and “woman” (gynaika) is feminine. The second clause is marked by an asterisk because it is ungrammatical. It is not possible to use a masculine singular pronoun to refer back to a feminine singular noun. The rule is the same in Greek. A pronoun that refers back to a noun must have the same gender and number as the noun. Now we understand the rules that can help us answer the questions regarding whether the goats refer to inhabitants of the nations of the world.

Below is my translation of Matthew 25:32

And all the nations (panta ta ethne, plural nominative neuter) will be gathered before him. And he will separate them (autous, third person masculine plural accusative) from each other (allēlōn, masculine plural genitive), just as the shepherd is separating the sheep from the goats.

Just as “him” in the ungrammatical example above cannot refer back to “the woman,” the pronoun “them” that is masculine cannot refer back to “the nations” that are neuter. The pronoun “them” must refer to some humans, but the identity of these humans the verse does not tell us. The conclusion is that those who will experience the everlasting fire are not all the inhabitants of the nations of the world who are not Jehovah’s Witnesses, but they are some unidentified persons expressed by the pronoun “them” among these inhabitants. A parallel example is found in Matthew 28:19, with my literal translation (above) and NWT13 (below):

¹⁹ Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations (ta ethnē, neuter plural accusative), baptizing them (autous,personal pronoun third masculine plural accusative) in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

¹⁹ Go, therefore, and make disciples of people of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy spirit.  

 The grammatical construction in Matthew 28:19 is similar to the construction in 25:32. “All the nations” are neuter and the following personal pronoun is masculine. Therefore, the personal pronoun cannot refer back to all the nations. The translators of NWT13 realized this, and therefore they added the words “people of” before “all the nations.” Thus, the personal pronoun “them” refers back to “people of” all the nations. Because the construction of 28:19 is similar to the construction of 25:32, those who are separated as goats are people of all the nations and not all the inhabitants of all the nations.

All the nations were gathered before Jesus when he became king in 1914 because he is subduing in the midst of these nations (Psalm 110:1, 2) And the Greek text is clear: After Jesus became king, some persons who are a part of these nations will be separated from one another into the two groups sheep and goats.[1] So the view that the members of the Governing Body have expressed that the “goats” are all the inhabitants of the nations of the world, except Jehovah’s Witnesses, who are the “sheep,” is grammatically impossible.

There is also a parallel example in Revelation 20:8, 9, and my translation is:

⁸ And he [Satan] will go out to mislead (planaō, aorist active infinitive) the nations (ta ethnē, neuter plural accusative) those in the four corners of the earth, the Gog (masculine singular accusative) and Magog to gather (aorist active infinitive) them (autous, personal pronoun third person masculine plural accusative) to the war, those being (ōn, relative pronoun, masculine plural accusative). And their (autōn, personal pronoun third person masculine plural accusative) number like the sand of the sea. ⁹ And they went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the encampment of the holy ones and the beloved city. But fire came down out of heaven and devoured them (autous, personal pronoun third person masculine plural accusative)

In verse 8, the verb “mislead” (planaō) is aorist infinitive. An infinitive has no temporal reference, and this infinitive shows the purpose of Satan, namely, “to go out to mislead the nations.” But the text does not say that he succeeded in misleading the nations. To the contrary, the text says that Satan will “gather them.” The personal pronoun “them” is masculine, and therefore it cannot refer back to the nations that are neuter.

So, the situation is exactly the same as with those that would be baptized (Matthew 28:19): people of all the nations and not all the nations would be baptized. The situation is also the same as with the “goats”: they are not the inhabitants of all the nations, but some of these inhabitants. Satan will not mislead the nations at the four corners of the earth, but some people of these nations. This is seen by the use of the masculine personal pronoun three times in Revelation: 8 and 9.

What about Gog and Magog? The word “Gog” has the masculine singular article, and therefore, Gog cannot refer back to the nations that are neuter plural. The word Magog does not have the article, but grammatically speaking, when two names are connected with “and,” only the first name has the article, and the article is implied in connection with the second name. This means that Gog and Magog are grammatically dual, and because of this, the plural pronoun “them” can refer back to Gog and Magog. This means that “Gog and Magog” are not designations of the nations at the four corners of the earth, but designations of those persons of the nations who attack the encampment of the holy ones and the beloved city are called “Gog and Magog.”[2]

[1]. The personal pronoun that the NWT13 translates as “the people” is autous, which is third person masculine plural accusative. If the personal pronoun referred back to “nations” that are neuter, the pronoun must have been auta, which is third person neuter plural accusative. The antecedent of autous is not grammatical but logical, namely, unspecified persons from the nations. I would, therefore, have translated autous by “persons” and not by “the people,” with an explanations in a footnote.

[2]. The distinction between the nations of the earth and those who will be judged is seen by expositors of the gospel of Matthew. For example, Robert H. Gundry says in his book Matthew A Commentary on his Literary and Theological Art, page 512, “The shift from the neuter panta ta ethnē, “all the nations,” to the masculine autous, “them,” implies individual rather than national judgment (cf. 28:19, 29).

THE NATIONS WILL BE PRESENT ON THE EARTH AFTER THE GREAT TRIBULATION

Jehovah gave a promise to Abraham, according to Genesis 22:18:

And by means of your seed all nations of the earth will certainly bless themselves due to the fact that you have listened to my voice.

The seed of Abraham refers to the 144,000 anointed Christians who will reign with Jesus in heaven, and who will serve as kings, judges, and priests during the thousand-year reign of Jesus.

The members of the Governing Body say that the nations with their 8 billion+ inhabitants will be eternally annihilated in the great tribulation, and that the only ones who will survive are the about 20 million Jehovah’s Witnesses.

The last chapters of Revelation show the very opposite, namely, that most of the approximately 30 billion people who have lived on earth, including the mentioned 8 billion+ humans, will have a resurrection during the thousand-year reign of Jesus. And even more important: These chapters indicate that most of these people who have received a resurrection will pass the test after the thousand years and receive everlasting life!

Revelation chapter 20 describes the thousand-year reign from the point of view of the resurrection and the final test of all humans. Chapters 21 and 22 describe the situation after the end of these thousand years. These two chapters show that nations of the earth definitely were not eternally annihilated. But they show that the inhabitants of the nations are alive and well after the great tribulation.

I count that the word “nations” (ethnos) is used 23 times in Revelation, and the 19 occurrences of the word “nations” in the first 19 chapters always refer to the political nations of the world that are in opposition to God’s Kingdom and his sovereignty. The great prostitute Babylon the Great is mentioned in chapters 17 and 18, and 18:23 says that “by your spiritistic practices all the nations (ethnos) were misled.”

I will now consider what will happen to the nations in and after the great tribulation. I start with Revelation 19:15:

15 And out of his [Jesus Christ] mouth protrudes a sharp, long sword with which to strike (patassō) the nations (ethnos), and he will shepherd them with a rod of iron. Moreover, he treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.

The word patassō has the meaning, “to strike a heavy blow; to slay by means of a mortal blow or disease.” (Louw and Nida) The nations will be among those who will be killed in connection with the great tribulation. However, the nations will have a resurrection during the thousand years, and they will continue to live on the earth during this period. We see this in Revelation 20:2, 3:

² And he seized the dragon, the original serpent, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. ³ And he hurled him into the abyss and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he would not mislead the nations (ethnos) anymore until the 1,000 years were ended. After this he must be released for a little while.

That Satan was bound for a thousand years, so he could not mislead the nations, shows that the nations will exist on the earth during the thousand years. After the thousand years, the nations will still fill the earth, as we see in Revelation 20:7-9: (The rendering of NWT13 above and my literal translation below):

⁷ Now as soon as the 1,000 years have ended, Satan will be released from his prison. ⁸ and he will go out to mislead those nations (ethnos) in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Maʹgog, to gather them together for the war. The number of these is as the sand of the sea. ⁹ And they advanced over the whole earth and encircled the camp of the holy ones and the beloved city. But fire came down out of heaven and consumed them.

⁷ And as soon as the 1,000 years have ended, Satan will be released from his prison. ⁸ and he will go out to mislead the nations (neuter), those in the four corners of the earth, the Gog and Magog (masculine), to gather them (masculine) for the war, they (masculine) being the number of them (masculine) like the sand of the sea. ⁹ And they (masculine) went up upon the width of the earth and the surrounded the encampment of the holy ones and the beloved city. And came down fire out of heaven and devoured them.

Please note the rendering of verse 8: “and he will go out to mislead the nations, those in the four corners of the earth.” The verse shows explicitly that the nations (ethnos) are established and exist in the four corners of the earth —over the whole earth — at the end of the thousand years, as is the case with the nations today.

 To show that “the nations” are not enemies of God, as some think, I will analyze the text. The most important point is that the word “nations” (ethnos, plural, ethnē) is neuter, while those who are misled are referred to by the masculine pronoun “them,” and Gog and Magog are masculine as well.

The grammatical situation here is similar to the grammatical situation in Matthew 25:32, where it is said that all the nations (neuter) are gathered before the King Jesus Christ, but those who are separated are referred to as “them” (masculine). This means that Jesus is not separating the nations as sheep and goats. But he is separating some persons from the nations as sheep and goats.

Revelation 20:8 says that the purpose of the Devil is to mislead the nations (ta ethne, neuter). But the text does not say that the nations were misled. Those who are misled are referred to by the personal pronoun “them/they” four times, and these pronouns are masculine plural. A masculine plural pronoun cannot refer back to a substantive that is neuter. This means that those who are misled are some of the inhabitants of these nations and not all the nations.

Gog and Magog are mentioned in Ezekiel 38:2, and Gog, in the land of Magog, would lead an attack on God’s people. The word “Gog” has the masculine article, but “Magog” does not have any article. The rule is that when two names are connected with “and”, and the first has the masculine article, both are masculine and definite. This means that the masculine pronoun “them” whom Satan gathers for the war must refer to the dual expression “Gog and Magog.” So, Satan will not mislead the nations at the four corners of the earth. But he will mislead some of their inhabitants, and those who are misled are called “Gog and Magog.”

Today, there are 195 nations of the world that are spread all over the earth; we could say that they are at the four corners of the earth. At the end of the thousand years, a similar situation emerges; nations are spread all over the world. The inhabitants of the nations today have inherited sin, and because of this, they are on the point of ruining the earth. But the inhabitants of the nations referred to in Revelation 20:8 will, at the end of the 1,000 years, have no inherited sin but “they have come to life” (Revelation 20:5).

The number of those who are misled by Satan after the thousand years is said to be “like the sand of the sea.” I have pointed out that this expression was in the days of Abraham applied to his seed, which counts 144,000 members. Is it possible to know the approximate number of the rebels? There are some important clues in Revelation chapters 21 and 22.

Chapter 20 ends after the thousand years when Satan and those who supported him were thrown into the lake of fire and were annihilated forever. The new period after the thousand years starts after this final judgment, and it is described in Revelation 21:1-4:

¹ And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the former heaven and the former earth had passed away, and the sea is no more. ² I saw also the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God and prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. ³ With that I heard a loud voice from the throne say: “Look! The tent of God is with mankind (anthrōpos) and he will reside with them, and they will be his peoples (laos). And God himself will be with them ⁴ And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away.”

That these words refer to the time after Satan and the rebels are annihilated is seen by the words, “the former things have passed away.” There is no death, no mourning, no outcry, and no pain anymore.

New Jerusalem is described as a bride, and the bridegroom is Jesus Christ, as we see in Revelation 21:9-10:

⁹ And there came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls which were full of the seven last plagues, and he spoke with me and said: “Come here, I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.” ¹⁰ So he carried me away in [the power of the] spirit to a great and lofty mountain, and he showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God

These words show that New Jerusalem is the heavenly government consisting of 144,000 members. They will reign with Jesus during the thousand years, and after that to time indefinite.

The Greek word anthrōpos (“human being, individual”) is used in the plural, and the words laos (“a body of people, a multitude”), also in the plural, refer to the same group. God will be among these human beings, these bodies of people. But who are they? They are the nations living at the four corners of the earth, as we see in Revelation 21:23-26:

²³ And the city has no need of the sun nor of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God illuminated it, and its lamp was the Lamb. ²⁴ And the nations (ethnos) will walk by means of its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. ²⁵ Its gates will not be closed at all by day, for night will not exist there. ²⁶ And they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations (ethnos) into it.

According to 20:8, Satan tried to mislead the nations at the four corners of the earth. But here they are, after Satan and the rebels are annihilated.

The fact that the nations of earth are present after Satan and the rebels are gone shows that the nations passed the final test and chose to serve Jehovah. In other words: Revelation chapters 21 and 22 imply that most of the approximately 30 billion people who have lived on the earth will pass the final test and receive everlasting life.

 I have already mentioned that the 19 occurrences of “nations” (ethnos) in the first 19 chapters of Revelation refer to the political nations of the world. This is also confirmed by the context of Isaiah 60:19, 20, where words about the New Jerusalem are quoted:

¹⁹ For you the sun will no longer be a light by day, Nor will the shining of the moon give you light, For Jehovah will become to you an eternal light, And your God will be your beauty. ²⁰ No more will your sun set, Nor will your moon wane, For Jehovah will become for you an eternal light, And the days of your mourning will have ended.

The words that “nations will walk by means of its light” are taken from Isaiah 60:2, 3:

² For look! darkness will cover the earth And thick gloom the nations; But on you Jehovah will shine, And on you his glory will be seen. ³ Nations will go to your light And kings to your shining splendor.

In the prophecy of Isaiah 60, Jehovah speaks through the prophet to Jerusalem, which represents Jehovah’s people. The nations in Isaiah’s prophecy refer to different political nations that will support Jerusalem, and therefore, “the nations” in the fulfillment after the thousand years must also be the nations of this world with their inhabitants.

The words that “They will bring the glory and honor of the nations into it” are taken from Isaiah 60:5:

⁵ At that time you will see and become radiant, And your heart will throb and overflow, Because the wealth of the sea will be directed to you; The resources of the nations will come to you.

The words “the glory and honor of the nations” are brought into New Jerusalem, showing that the inhabitants of the nations that are present after the thousand years are supporting the work of the heavenly government.

Chapter 22 in Revelation continues the description of the situation after the annihilation of Satan and the rebels when New Jerusalem comes down from heaven. We read in 22:1, 2:

¹ And he showed me a river of water of life, clear as crystal, flowing out from the throne of God and of the Lamb ² down the middle of its main street. On both sides of the river were trees of life producing 12 crops of fruit, yielding their fruit each month. And the leaves of the trees were for the healing of the nations. ³ And no more will there be any curse. But the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in [the city], and his slaves will render him sacred service; ⁴ and they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. ⁵ Also, night will be no more, and they have no need of lamplight nor [do they have] sunlight, because Jehovah God will shed light upon them, and they will rule as kings forever and ever.

These verses represent a beautiful symbolic description of the situation where the inhabitants of the nations have received everlasting life. That their lives are upheld by God forever is described as a river of water of life and trees that continually produce their fruit. Verses 3-5 relate to those who are connected with the throne of God, the 144,000 members of the government who will rule as kings forever.

Revelation 19:15 shows that the nations will be killed in the great tribulation. Revelation 20:3, 4 shows that the nations will be present during the thousand-year reign of Jesus (by a resurrection). Revelation 20:23-27 and 22:1, 2 show that the nations are present on the restored new earth after the Devil and the rebels are eternally annihilated. This shows that the nations have passed the final test.

I started this section with God’s promise to Abraham that his seed would bless all the nations of the world. This discussion has shown that these words will get a literal fulfillment: Most of the inhabitants of the nations of the world will be blessed with everlasting life, on the basis of the ransom sacrifice, and through the bride of Jesus, New Jerusalem, which is identical with the seed of Abraham.

What is really ironic is that the Bible has a message regarding the everlasting future of mankind that is the very opposite of what the members of the Governing Body teach. The passages we have now discussed show that most of the approximately 30 billion of Adam’s descendants who have lived on the earth will be present and pass the final test after the thousand years, and by this get everlasting life. And the situation will not be that most of these 30 billion people will be everlastingly annihilated, as the members of the Governing Body teach.

A POSSIBLE PROBLEM A man asked Jesus according to Luke 13:23-30: “Lord, are those being saved few?” Jesus answered:  24 “Exert yourselves vigorously to get in through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will seek to get in but will not be able. These words would appear to contradict the conclusion of this section. If persons have to “exert (themselves) vigorously to get into the narrow door,” how can it be true that the inhabitants of the nations, most of the 30 billion descendants of Adam who have lived on the earth will get everlasting life? The word “salvation” primarily referred to a resurrection from the dead, being saved from the grave. (Hosea 13:14) Jesus said that all the dead in the memorial tombs will get a resurrection. (John 5:28, 29) This shows that the answer to the man’s question is No. Those who will be saved from death are not few. Jesus and his disciples were gathering sincere persons who would be declared righteous, be baptized with holy spirit, and become new creatures, so they could be members of the group of 144,000 who would get spiritual bodies in the resurrection and reign together with Jesus in heaven. According to Romans chapter 11, the Jewish nation, who were the people of God, was first offered the opportunity to fill the 144,000 places in the heavenly government. But as the mentioned chapter shows, most of the Jews refused to accept this offer. Therefore, the invitation to fill the 144,000 places was extended to the people of the nations. But the chapter shows that individual Jews still had the possibility to become members of the heavenly government. This is the background of the answer gave to the man’s question, according to Luke 13:23-30. When the Jewish nation that first got the offer to fill the 144,000 places, refused to comply with the invitation, individual members of this nation had to “exert themselves vigorously” to secure one place among the group of 144,000 members.[1]

[1]. A detailed discussion of the answer of Jesus is found in the article “‘Lord, are those being saved few?’ (Luke 13:23)” (https://mybelovedreligion.no/2024/06/05/lord-are-those-being-saved-few-luke-1323-2/). A discussion of Romans chapter 11 is found in the article “Fleshly Israel and spiritual Israel according to the letter to the Romans.” (https://mybelovedreligion.no/2024/05/06/fleshly-israel-and-spiritual-israel-according-to-the-letter-to-the-romans/).

THE IDENTIFICATION OF THE “GOATS”

Let us first see how Jesus identifies the “goat.” I quote Matthew 25:41-46:

 ⁴⁰And in reply the king will say to them, ‘Truly I say to YOU, To the extent that YOU did it to one of the least of these my brothers, YOU did it to me.’
⁴¹ “Then he will say, in turn, to those on his left, ‘Be on YOUR way from me, YOU who have been cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his angels. ⁴² For I became hungry, but YOU gave me nothing to eat, and I got thirsty, but YOU gave me nothing to drink.  ⁴³ I was a stranger, but YOU did not receive me hospitably; naked, but YOU did not clothe me; sick and in prison, but YOU did not look after me.’ ⁴⁴ Then they also will answer with the words, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and did not minister to you?’  ⁴⁵ Then he will answer them with the words, ‘Truly I say to YOU, To the extent that YOU did not do it to one of these least ones, YOU did not do it to me.’ ⁴⁶ And these will depart into everlasting cutting-off, but the righteous ones into everlasting life.”

I will discuss various aspects of identifying the “goats.”

THE IDENTIFICATION MADE BY THE MEMBERS OF THE GOVERNING BODY

The new interpretation of the illustration that places its fulfillment at the time immediately before Armageddon, occurred in the year 1995. I will quote a few articles from this time and until the present.

The Watchtower of October 15, 1995, page 22, says:

²³ If we analyze Jesus’ activity in the parable, we observe him finally judging all the nations. The parable does not show that such judging would continue over an extended period of many years, as if every person dying during these past decades were judged worthy of everlasting death or everlasting life. It seems that the majority who have died in recent decades have gone to mankind’s common grave. (Revelation 6:8; 20:13) The parable, though, depicts the time when Jesus judges the people of “all the nations” who are then alive and facing the execution of his judicial sentence.

The Watchtower of August 15, 1998, page 20, says:

¹⁷ All nations will shortly be examined by Christ so that he can “separate people one from another, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.” (Matthew 25:31-33).

The Watchtower simplified of July 15, 2013, pages 6-8, says:

¹¹ In 1995, The Watchtower gave a new explanation of Matthew 25:31. That verse states: “When the Son of man arrives in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit down on his glorious throne.” The Watchtower said that Jesus became King of God’s Kingdom in 1914, but he did not at that time become the Judge of “all the nations.” (Matthew 25:32; compare Daniel 7:13.) Keep in mind, though, that the illustration of the sheep and the goats is mainly about the work Jesus will do as Judge. (Read Matthew 25:31-34,41, 46.) Since Jesus was not the Judge of all the nations in 1914, he could not have begun judging people as sheep or goats in 1914. (See endnote.) When will Jesus begin judging all the nations? (bold font in the original)

¹³ Jesus will judge people of all nations as sheep or goats when he comes during the great tribulation. Then, at Armageddon, the goats will be ‘cut off’ forever, that is, destroyed. So this shows us how important our preaching work is. Before the great tribulation begins, people still have time to change their thinking and start living in a way that puts them on the road “leading off into life.” (Matthew 7:13, 14) It is true that some people may now have an attitude that might make us think that they are a sheep or a goat. But we should remember that it is during the great tribulation that Jesus will make the final judgment of the sheep and the goats. It is very important to keep preaching the Kingdom message to as many as possible so that they have an opportunity to accept it.

The Watchtower of September 2024, page 20, says:

THE SHEEP AND THE GOATS

¹ WE LIVE in a climactic time! Soon, Jesus will judge every living person.

3 In the parable of the sheep and the goats, Jesus described the judgment of people who have the opportunity to respond to the good news and to support his anointed brothers. (Matt. 25:31-46) During the “great tribulation,” he will render this judgment right before Armageddon. (Matt. 24:21) Just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, Jesus will separate those who loyally support his anointed followers from those who do not.

The online article (7.18.2024) “What is the coming of Christ?” says:

Great tribulation: The end of this wicked world. First, false religion will be destroyed. Then, there will be a time when Jesus will judge the sheep and the goats and appoint his faithful slave over all the Master’s belongings. Finally, the rest of this system will be destroyed at Armageddon.

The Scriptures make dozens of references to the future time when Christ comes to judge the people of the earth. For example, Matthew 25:31-​33 says:

“When the Son of man [Jesus Christ] comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit down on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will put the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on his left.”

This time of judgment will be part of a “great tribulation” unlike anything in human history. That tribulation will culminate in the war of Armageddon. (Matthew 24:21; Revelation 16:16) Christ’s enemies, described in his illustration as goats, “will undergo the judicial punishment of everlasting destruction.” (2 Thessalonians 1:9; Revelation 19:11, 15) In contrast, his faithful servants, the sheep, will have the prospect of “everlasting life.”​—Matthew 25:46.[1]

Important points from the quotations:

• The Watchtower of October 1995: the people of “all the nations” who are then alive and facing the execution of his judicial sentence.
• The Watchtower of August 15, 1998: All the nations will be judged as sheep or goats.
• The Watchtower of August 15, 2013: People of all the nations will be judged as sheep or goats.
• The Watchtower of September 2024: Soon, Jesus will judge every living person.
• Online article 7.19.2024: Christ’s enemies are the goats; they are all who are living who are not his faithful servants.

The five points above indicate the setting of the illustration given by the members of the Governing Body. In all the quotations above, it is said that the illustration shows how Jesus will judge the nations of the world. The word “judge” is not found in the illustration, and there is nothing else in the text that indicates judging. So, when the members of the Governing Body claim that the illustration refers to judging, this is invented by them and has no basis in the Bible.

Verses 31 and 32 tell that Jesus sits down on his glorious throne, and all the nations are gathered before him. I have already shown there are strong reasons to believe that this refers to the year 1914 when Jesus became king and God’s kingdom was established. The text does not say that Jesus is judging the nations or the people of the nations. But it says that Jesus separates some unidentified people of the nations as sheep and goats.

Who are those that are supposed to be judged? The quotations from 1995 and 1998 says that all the people of the nations of the earth will be separated into sheep and goats. The next quotation seems to be a little more cautious. The Watchtower of July 2013 says that Jesus will judge “people of all the nations.” This expression does not say that all people of the nations will be judged.

Have the members of the Governing Body changed their mind? No, the quotations from 2024 says that, “Soon, Jesus will judge every living person.” This means that the goats are the 8 billion+ people who will be alive when Armageddon comes. The online article supports this conclusion. It says that “Christ comes to judge the people of the earth.” These words can only be understood as referring to all living humans, and this is the same as saying that Jesus “will judge all the people of the nations of the world, the words that found in The Watchtower of October 15, 1995:

The members of the Governing Body still believe that the people of all the nations on the earth will be separated into “sheep” and “goats.” Those who support the brothers of Christ (Jehovah’s Witnesses) are the “sheep” and all others are the “goats.” This means that the belief is that 8 billion+ humans will be everlastingly annihilated in Armageddon and 20 million+ Jehovah’s Witnesses will survive.

THE TRUE IDENTIFICATION OF THE “GOATS”

The separation relates to Christ’s brothers. Persons who come to the support of these brothers when they are in need, will be classified as “sheep,” and those who do not support Christ’s brothers will be classified as “goats.” One important side of the identification is that the “goats” are “cursed into the everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his angels” (verse 41), which means “everlasting cutting-off” (verse 46). This means that the “goats” will be everlastingly annihilated without any hope of a resurrection.

The setting here is that the sins of the “goats” are so serious that they lead to everlasting destruction. However, the sins described do not seem particularly serious. James 4:17 says, “If one knows how to do what is right and yet does not do it, it is a sin for him.” But not doing what one knows to be right does not lead to everlasting annihilation. So, it is important to scrutinize the text of the illustration to find the true identification of the “goats.”

SINS THAT CAN BE FORGIVEN AND SINS AGAINST THE HOLY SPIRIT

We may look at the illustration in the light of Jesus’ words about sin: I quote Matthew 12:31, 32 (above), 12:39-41 (middle), 11:21, 22 (below):

³¹ “On this account I say to YOU, Every sort of sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the spirit will not be forgiven. ³² For example, whoever speaks a word against the Son of man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the holy spirit, it will not be forgiven him, no, not in this system of things nor in that to come.

³⁹ In reply he said to them: “A wicked and adulterous generation keeps on seeking for a sign, but no sign will be given it except the sign of Joʹnah the prophet. ⁴⁰ For just as Joʹnah was in the belly of the huge fish three days and three nights, so the Son of man will be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights. ⁴¹ Men of Ninʹe·veh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and will condemn it; because they repented at what Joʹnah preached, but, look! something more than Joʹnah is here.

²⁰ Then he started to reproach the cities in which most of his powerful works had taken place, because they did not repent: ²¹ “Woe to you, Cho·raʹzin! Woe to you, Beth·saʹi·da! because if the powerful works had taken place in Tyre and Siʹdon that took place in YOU, they would long ago have repented in sackcloth and ashes. ²² Consequently I say to YOU, It will be more endurable for Tyre and Siʹdon on Judgment Day than for YOU.

According to Matthew 12:31, 32, every sort of sin and blasphemy will be forgiven, except sin against the holy spirit. This includes sexual immorality, murder, and even speaking words against Jesus Christ. According to Matthew 12:39-41 “the adulterous and wicked generation,” who rejected Jesus, will have their sins forgiven and get a resurrection on Judgment Day. I demonstrate in the article, “Sin against the holy spirit” that “this wicked and adulterous generation” includes all the Jews who lived in the days of Jesus.[2]

Matthew 11:21, 22 speaks about some of the members of “this wicked and adulterous generation,” namely about the inhabitants of Chorazin and Bethsaida. The inhabitants of these two cities heard the preaching of Jesus and saw his miracles, but refused to believe in him. Nevertheless, the sins of the inhabitants of these cities will be forgiven, and they will get a resurrection on Judgment Day.

In view of the points mentioned above, how can it be that when a person does not do something that is good, his sin will not be forgiven, and he will be classified as a “goat” and be everlastingly annihilated? That does not make sense! Is this the same as saying that the words of Jesus in his illustration of the sheep and the goats are not true? Absolutely not! What is wrong is the interpretation of the illustration by the Governing Body and not the words of Jesus.

Jesus said that the only sin that cannot be forgiven is blasphemy against the holy spirit. This means that the “goats” must be guilty of sin against the holy spirit. But how can we see this from the text of the illustration?

THE SCENARIO PRESENTED BY THE MEMBERS OF THE GOVERNING BODY

During the presence of Jesus from the year 1914, millions of people have died. A few of these have been servants of Jehovah but most of them have not known Christ’s brothers and have not supported them. We can see what their destiny will be by reading Revelation 6:1-8. The white horse symbolizes Jesus Christ as becoming king in the year 1914. After that, several catastrophes like wars, famines, and pestilences would occur. And verse 8 mentions a horse with the name hadēs, signifying that those who died in the mentioned catastrophes would come to hadēs, and all those in hadēs will get a resurrection according to Revelation 20:13. This has previously been pointed out, and we read in The Watchtower of October 15, 1995, page 22:

It seems that the majority who have died in recent decades have gone to mankind’s common grave. (Revelation 6:8; 20:13)

On this background, I will take a closer look at the separation of the “sheep” and the “goats,” as it is presented by the members of the Governing Body. The Watchtower of May 2024 says that after the great tribulation has begun and until shortly before Armageddon there is a possibility that people can start to serve Jehovah. The article also says that people who die in this period may have a resurrection. But these possibilities are terminated when Armageddon comes.

Shortly before Armageddon, Jesus Christ will separate all living humans into two groups, “sheep” and “goats” on the basis of whether a person has supported the brothers of Christ or not, is the view.

I have already shown that Christ’s brothers are the rest of the 144,000 anointed Christians who will reign with Jesus Christ in heaven. And the few remaining ones of these are only found in the community of Jehovah’s Witnesses. This means that the 20 million+ Witnesses who live when Armageddon starts are classified as “sheep” because they have actively supported Christ’s brothers in their congregations.

But who are the “goats”? In Part II in this series, I showed that when Armageddon comes, there are 2 billion children below 14 years. These have neither had the possibility nor the capacity to support Christ’s brothers. But according to the interpretation of the members of the Governing Body, these will be everlastingly annihilated without any hope of a resurrection. I also showed that there will be 800 million people with serious mental problems, also without the possibility or capacity to support Christ’s brothers. In addition to these, there are more than 3.2 billion adults who have the capacity to support Christ’s brothers. But they have not had a full chance to hear the good news of the Kingdom. All these will also be eternally annihilated.

Most people who consider this scenario will question it because of their sense of justice. That more than 6 billion people will be everlastingly annihilated for something they did not know about and therefore did not do contradicts what is just and right, and it contradicts the love of Jehovah towards his earthly sons and daughters. If we see this scenario in the light of the words of Jesus that every sort of sin will be forgiven, and that the inhabitants of Chorazin and Capernaum together with the whole generation of Jews, will get a resurrection, the interpretation of the members of the Governing Body simply is terrible and abhorrent!

The members of the Governing Body cannot plead ignorance here and say that Jehovah will find a solution to this situation. The situation that I have described is based on the reality of the situation when 8 billion people live on the earth, and very few of them serve Jehovah. And it is based on the interpretation of the members of the Governing Body that Jesus Christ will separate all humans into two groups shortly before Armageddon.

Jehovah has a solution to this situation. But this solution is very different from the interpretation of the members of the Governing Body.

  THE REAL SEPARATION OF THE “SHEEP” AND THE “GOATS”

I return to the words of Jesus that every sort of sin will be forgiven except sin against the holy spirit. This means that to deserve everlasting annihilation, a person must have sinned against the holy spirit. Can we deduce this from the illustration of the sheep and the goats?

A part of Christ’s brothers was collected in the first century CE, and this collection started again in the 1870s when C.T. Russell and his associates began studying the Bible to find the truth about God. During the rest of the 19th century and until the year 1935, almost all the Bible Students and Jehovah’s Witnesses were anointed Christians, Christ’s brothers.

However, there is evidence that some Christians were not anointed but looked forward to inheriting the earthly kingdom before 1935. I knew Brother Skonnord, who became a Bible Student in 1919, but he had an earthly hope. It was from the year 1935 that the focus shifted to the earthly hope.

I have already shown that there is strong evidence that Matthew 25:31 refers to the year 1914 when Jesus became king and all the nations were gathered before him. The calling of the rest of the 144,000 was ongoing, and particularly from 1935, the preaching of the Kingdom focused on the possibility of living forever in the earthly paradise. Can we then conclude that the separation of “sheep” and “goats” started in 1935? No.

We must keep in mind that there is no connection in the text between the nations that are gathered before the king Jesus Christ and the separation of the “sheep” and the “goats.” Neither is there any connection between the preaching of the good news of the Kingdom and the separation of the “sheep” and the “goats.” The purpose of the preaching is to help sincere persons to start serving God, and the purpose is not to separate people who will be eternally annihilated.

What, then, does the separation refer to? We can illustrate the situation by quoting Matthew 13:41-43 (above) and 13:47-50 (below):

⁴¹ The Son of man will send forth his angels, and they will collect out from his kingdom all things that cause stumbling and persons who are doing lawlessness, ⁴¹ and they will pitch them into the fiery furnace. There is where [their] weeping and the gnashing of [their] teeth will be. ⁴³ At that time the righteous ones will shine as brightly as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.

⁴⁷ “Again the kingdom of the heavens is like a dragnet let down into the sea and gathering up [fish] of every kind. ⁴⁸ When it got full they hauled it up onto the beach and, sitting down, they collected the fine ones into vessels, but the unsuitable they threw away. ⁴⁹ That is how it will be in the conclusion of the system of things: the angels will go out and separate the wicked from among the righteous ⁵⁰ and will cast them into the fiery furnace. There is where [their] weeping and the gnashing of [their] teeth will be.

Both quotations are illustrations and prophecies — they will be fulfilled in the conclusion of the system of things, which is identical to the presence of Jesus. The illustrations relate to the kingdom of the heavens and are therefore fulfilled on anointed Christians. The kingdom of the heavens contained both wheat and weeds, which referred to sincere Christians and false Christians. Therefore, the angels collected the weed, the false Christians “out from his kingdom”.

The kingdom of the heavens was like a dragnet that “gathered up fish of every kind,” both sincere Christians and false Christians. The angels would then “separate the wicked from among the righteous.” The separation of the weeds from the wheat and the unsuitable fish from the fine ones would occur inside the Christian congregations. They do not indicate any separation Christians from the people of the world.

The illustration of the sheep and the goats are not connected to the kingdom of the heavens but connected with the earthly kingdom that was prepared from the founding of the world. Just as there was a need to collect out of the heavenly kingdom persons who were doing lawlessness, there was a need to collect out of the earthly kingdom persons who were false Christians. This is what the illustration of the “sheep” and the goats is all about. And this illustration is fulfilled during the presence of Jesus. just as the two other mentioned illustrations.

And now we are close to understanding the sins of the “goats.” They are not sentenced to everlasting annihilation because of something they did not know and did not do. Christ’s brothers took the lead in the congregations and in the preaching of the good news of the Kingdom from the start of the 20th century. Hebrews 13:17 shows how these should be viewed:

¹⁷ Be obedient to those who are taking the lead among YOU and be submissive, for they are keeping watch over YOUR souls as those who will render an account; that they may do this with joy and not with sighing, for this would be damaging to YOU.

Jesus showed that the “goats” did not support his brothers who historically speaking took the lead in the congregations. This means that the “goats,” in reality, did not support Jesus. Hebrews 6:4-6 describes a situation when anointed Christians did not support Jesus:

⁴ For it is impossible as regards those who have once for all been enlightened, and who have tasted the heavenly free gift, and who have become partakers of holy spirit, ⁵ and who have tasted the fine word of God and powers of the coming system of things,  ⁶  but who have fallen away (parapiptō), to revive them again to repentance, because they impale the Son of God afresh for themselves and expose him to public shame.

The persons who are mentioned in these verses were not ignorant. They had been enlightened, and they had the chance to continue to accept the ransom sacrifice of Jesus. But instead of accepting this free gift, they fell away. The word parapiptō has the meaning “to abandon a former relationship or association.” These persons consciously rejected the worship of Jehovah and the kingship of Jesus Christ, and therefore they deserved to get an adverse judgment.

In a similar way, the “goats” have also rejected the ransom sacrifice by their refusal to support the brothers of Jesus, who have taken the lead in the Christian congregations. This means that the “goats” are not ignorant persons, for in order to support or not support Christ’s brothers, a person must know who these brothers are, and that is only possible by having a relationship with one of the Christian congregations. The “goats” had such a relationship. But they consciously refused to support Jesus and his brothers. Therefore, they sinned against the holy spirit. When we understand this, we ascertain that the sentencing of the “goats” to everlasting annihilation is just and right.

We can see that the judgment of the “goats” is righteous by comparing two accounts:

Hebrews 6:4-6: Christians who had benefited from the ransom sacrifice and had been born again and had a heavenly hope, but who rejected the ransom sacrifice and who had refused to continue to serve Jehovah, had sinned against the holy spirit and would be everlastingly annihilated.

Matthew 25:40, 41: Christians and interested persons who knew the position of the anointed brothers of Jesus but who refused to support these brothers of Jesus, indicating that they rejected the ransom sacrifice and refused to be servants of God, had sinned against the holy spirit and would be “cursed into the everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his angels.”

Accusing the 8 billion living persons for the lack of support for the brothers of Jesus, with the result that they lose their lives forever, is completely absurd. Most of these people are unaware of who the brothers of Jesus are and the need to support them. But the situation is different for persons who are a part of the congregations of Jehovah’s Witnesses. They have benefited from the ransom sacrifice and dedicated their lives to Jehovah. If they consciously refuse to continue to serve Jehovah, they can rightly be accused of failing to support the brothers of Jesus. And they can rightly be labeled as “goats.”

THE SOLUTION OF JEHOVAH 

What is the solution to the situation that when Armageddon comes, there are 8 billion+ humans on the earth who are not serving Jehovah, most of whom have not at a personal chance to do so?

The solution is very simple because it is based The divine Plan of the Ages and the ransom sacrifice. Jesus died for all Adam’s descendants and he bought them all. This means that each descendant of Adam must get a personal chance to accept or reject the ransom sacrifice. Most of the 8 billion+ humans who lives when Armageddon comes have not had this chance. Therefore, when they die, they will get a resurrection in the thousand-year long Judgment Day to get this chance.

Not only these, but all others who are not among the 144,000 who will get a heavenly resurrection or those who have sinned against the holy spirit, will get a resurrection on Judgment Day. Paul shows in 1 Corinthians 15:22 that “all who die in Adam,” who dies because of inherited sin, will get a resurrection. This includes all who have lived on the earth except the members of the two mentioned groups.

The members of the Governing Body do not believe this. They have devalued and restricted both the ransom sacrifice and the resurrection. This is a false teaching, and I have written the four articles in this series in order to defend what the Bible teaches about the ransom sacrifice and the doctrine of the resurrection.

For those who want to understand the nuances and details of these doctrines, I recommend the article, “Getting Adam’s Chance” and my book, The Atonement Between God and Man.

[1].  https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/502015241?q=goats&p=par

[2].  https://mybelovedreligion.no/2024/06/03/sin-against-the-holy-spirit/

DIFFERENT INTERPRETATIONS OF THE SHEEP AND THE GOATS LEAD TO THE REJECTION OF THE RANSOM SACRIFICE

Russell and the Bible Students believed that the ransom sacrifice included Adam and Eve and all their descendants. The ransom sacrifice should be applied to all these during the thousand-year reign of Jesus.

The important point was that imperfect humans with inherited sin cannot have a full personal chance to choose to serve Jehovah. Therefore, they must die, get a resurrection during the thousand-year reign of Jesus, and become perfect and free from inherited sin. Then they will have their full personal chance, exactly the same chance that Adam had.

There were two exceptions, though. One exception was that the ransom sacrifice could be applied to persons who loved Jehovah. They would be baptized with holy spirit and become new creations. When they died, they would get a heavenly resurrection and become a part of the heavenly government.

The other exception was mentioned in Volume 1 of Studies in the Scriptures (A 156):

According to God’s arrangement in providing a ransom, all mankind, unless they wilfully resist the saving power of the Great Deliverer, must be delivered from the original penalty.

The view of the Bible Students was that very few persons would “willfully resist” the ransom sacrifice. One example of such a person was Judas, and in The Watchtower of November 1, 1911, Russell expressed that Judas probably would not get a resurrection.

The illustration of the sheep and the goats, which is a part of Jesus’ great prophecy, has had three different applications:

1879-1924

The separation of the sheep and the goats occurs during the thousand-year reign of Jesus. After the thousand years, the goats will be everlastingly annihilated. The Watchtower of May 1915, page 157 (5694) says:

The other sheep will be the great flock of the Lord, the great family of Adam, purchased by Jesus. For a thousand years the work of calling and gathering mankind and separating between sheep and goats will progress, as outlined in Matthew 25:31-40.

1924-1995

Several problems were seen with the application of the illustration to the thousand-year reign of Jesus. Two articles in the year 1924 solved the problem as to the right time application of the illustration. But it created more problems. I quote from The Watchtower of February 15, 1924, page 57 (above), and 59 (below):

The Lord has been present since 1874, but not until 1914 did he take unto himself his power and reign. From the language used by our Lord in the parable it seems that the particular application should be made after 1914. He said: “When the Son of man shall come . . . then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory.”—Matthew 25: 3L

Our conclusion therefore is that the parable of the Sheep and Goats has a particular and specific fulfilment between the year 1914, at the beginning of the World War, and the beginning of individual restoration blessings.

The importance of the ransom sacrifice was stressed. The Watchtower of February 15, 1924, page 41, says:

The great ransom sacrifice we as Christians all agree is the touchstone or measuring square by which we are to determine whether or not a doctrine is true or false. If a doctrine does not square with the ransom it cannot be true and should be discarded. If a conclusion or doctrine is entirely in harmony with the ransom, then we should hesitate to discard it without careful and prayerful consideration.

The Watchtower of December 15, 1924, contains the death blow to “The Divine Plan of the Ages.” But the view that the ransom sacrifice included all Adams descendants was still believed and continued to be believed until the year 1937. I quote page 381, 382:

4 For a time the parable became to Bible Students a picture of the judgment at the end of that thousand-year day of judgment, when the righteous (the sheep) would enter into the blessedness of life on the restored earth, and when the wicked (the goats) would be destroyed forever as unworthy of life. It is now seen to be a symbolic description of a judgment at the time of the second advent, one which determines who among men have already proved themselves unworthy of the blessings of the kingdom. The true interpretation has thrown light on many other scriptures, and has enabled the servants of the Lord to see their work and the purpose of their message much more clearly than hitherto.

RANSOM GUARANTEES OPPORTUNITY OF LIFE

13 Since the time when it pleased God to make the plan of the ages clear, and once again to set forth the “ransom for all” by the blood of his dear Son (1 Timothy 2:4-6), it is seen that neither Adam nor any of his sons are excluded from its benefits. It came, therefore, to be commonly held that with the exception of the Church (those begotten of God to newness of life) everyone must have an actual resurrection from the dead in order to participate in the benefits of the ransom. It was further thought that none besides the Church could be subjected to final destruction until, in the resurrection, a full opportunity had been given to enter into obedience to Christ and into blessings of life. But clearly those views are not true to Scripture or to fact. It is not necessary that one should have received the gift of the holy spirit before he can be subject to the sentence of death; nor true, as some have thought, that no one could be amenable to the second death before the death of Jesus. The death of Judas as the son of perdition is evidence sufficient against both suppositions. Who can think that if father Abraham had turned from God after the long experience which he had, God would be obliged to bring him forth in resurrection in order that he should have a full opportunity for knowing God?

14 The ransom price accepted by God can not entail upon him a necessity to let each person die before giving him the benefit of the ransom, and that such opportunity can be given only in resurrection. It does, however, appear to show that everyone must get an opportunity of freedom from the bondage of Satan, as well as from the power of death. It is God’s own good pleasure to decide when he will give that opportunity. It seems evident that there are now some who, like Judas (the outstanding figure and representative of those who reject the way of God), see the purpose of God in Christ and reject it.

KNOWLEDGE BRINGS APPROPRIATE RESPONSIBILITY

15 What stands out clearly is that there are some who are children of the wicked one, who know sufficient of God both in experience and by the fact that they stand forth as representing him who in spirit are bitterly opposed to has ways, and who are really and truly servants of the evil one. For God to let all this pass as if they acted in blindness would seem to belittle his justice rather than to exalt it. Such would not learn righteousness even in the land of uprightness.—Isaiah 26:10.

The first judgment, that of Jerusalem and the nation of Israel, resulted in the separation of wheat and chaff and in the burning of the chaff. (Matthew 3:12) It was a casting off of that which was waste. The second judgment, now in operation upon Christendom, is more complex and has two phases. It results in the separation of the sheep and goats, and also of wheat and tares (Matthew 13: 24-30); that is, separation between those who are “the children of the kingdom” and those who are the “children of the wicked one”. The tares are those, chiefly ecclesiastics, who profess to represent God, but who are servants of the present order of things and opponents of the kingdom of heaven. The parable of the Sheep and Goats shows another aspect of this same judgment. The sheep are not the “wheat”, the children of the kingdom, hut are the meek of the earth who, when the truth of God is presented to them, are inclined to take it; they are not supporters of Satan’s system of government. The goats correspond very closely to the tares. They are those who have professed to be supporters of God and of righteousness, but who have the wayward disposition which is so frequently shown by the goat, and which is so contrary to the meek disposition associated with the sheep.

17 This parable shows that even as Satan will be bound during the reign of Christ in order that he can not hinder the work of restoration, so those who have been decisively proved to be his willing servants will not be permitted then to oppose truth. They will be destroyed at the commencement of the Messianic reign (Matthew 25:41); but Satan Is permitted to live (bound) for a later testing.—Rev. 20: 3.

The Bible Students, including  J.F. Rutherford, believed that sincere persons could, on the basis of the ransom sacrifice, be granted forgiveness for sins.

But the important issue was the belief that, because of imperfection and inherited sin, it was impossible for humans to be qualified and have a fair chance to decide to serve God or not. It could be compared to a pupil in elementary school who was asked to take a University exam. He or she would not pass the exam because he or she was not qualified for the test. This means that people who violated the laws of God could not be sentenced to eternal annihilation, except in rare cases where a person was permeated by wickedness, as in the case of Judas.

Because of the situation, Adam’s descendants had to die, which was the penalty for sin. The ransom sacrifice guaranteed each of these dead persons a resurrection during the thousand-year reign of Jesus. The sacrifice also guaranteed that each resurrected person would gradually proceed toward perfection. At the end of the thousand years, all humans would be perfect without sin, and everything that was lost in connection with the first paradise was restored. To use the illustration: Every human had now made a University study and was qualified to take a University exam. This is the truth of the Bible!

J.F. Rutherford had now developed a different view. His application of the illustration to the time after 1914 was correct because Matthew 25:31 connects the illustration with the time when Jesus becomes king.

But his interpretation of the illustrationcontradicted several Scriptures in the Bible, that I have shown in detail in Part I, and represented a perverted outlook of people — a different view of human beings than Jehovah and Jesus have.

According to ¶ 13 (brown script) he rejected The Divine Plan of the Ages, and Rutherford says regarding the views of this Plan: “But clearly those views are not true to Scripture or to fact.” What he meant when he said that the views of The Divine Plan of the Ages were contrary to fact is seen in ¶ 15 (brown script).

His point is that there are so many wicked people on the earth who oppose true Christians and grossly violate the law of God. These people must be held accountable for their wicked works now. It is not right that these wicked people will die and get a resurrection in the thousand-year reign of Jesus, and there get the chance to serve God. He ignores the fact that all humans are imperfect with inherited sin, and he claims that all people at that time were separated into two groups, “sheep” and “goats.” And the “goats” will be everlastingly annihilated in Armageddon, as we see in ¶ 17 (violet script)

But why would J.F. Rutherford, on this background, stress “the ransom for all”—(2 Timothy 2:4-6), and “that neither Adam nor any of his sons are excluded from its benefits”? (¶ 13)

These words aligned perfectly with the new model he presented because it did not reject the ransom sacrifice. What he rejected was God’s purpose with the ransom sacrifice and the way he would apply this sacrifice, as it was presented in The Divine Plan of the Ages.

The old viewpoint was that the ransom sacrifice would be applied to all humans during the thousand-year reign of Jesus and cause complete restoration of everything that was lost in the first paradise. No human would be everlastingly annihilated in this old system of things, only during the thousand years. The only exception was rare and extreme cases when a person was permeated by wickedness, like Judas. Such a person could be everlastingly annihilated.

The new view was that the ransom sacrifice would be fully applied in this old system of things. And the test would not only be related to humans who had been perfect. But the sacrifice was fully applied after the year 1914, and all imperfect humans with inherited sin had to take a stand for or against God and be separated as “sheep” and “goats.” The “goats” would not get a resurrection during the thousand-year reign of Jesus. But they would be everlastingly annihilated.

The reason why the ransom sacrifice still could be viewed as including all Adam’s descendants was that both models allowed the application of the sacrifice to all humans. The difference was when this application would occur, and how many humans in this old system of things would be everlastingly annihilated. The view of the old model was that everlasting annihilation of persons in this old system would almost never occur, while the view of the new model was that great numbers of humans to whom the sacrifice had been applied, and because of this, had had their test, would be everlastingly annihilated.

While the ransom sacrifice, including all Adam’s descendants, could be applied to both models, the differences between the two models put a strain on the belief in the ransom sacrifice. And the result was that after some years, basic parts of the ransom sacrifice was rejected by the leaders of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

The rejection of The Divine Plan of the Ages occurred in 1924, and the rejection that the ransom sacrifice includes all Adam’s descendants occurred 13 years later, in 1937. I quote The Watchtower of July 1, 1937, page 350:

³⁶ When with his disciples, Jesus instructed them that all creatures that will receive everlasting life and the blessings of Almighty God must willingly and faithfully serve God. Then of himself he said: “And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.” (Matt. 20: 27, 28) This shows that the man Jesus understood that it was the will of his Father Jehovah not only that he tells the truth and become the Vindicator of his Father but that as a man he must die to provide the ransom or redemptive price “for many” of the human race. For how many of the human race: all or only a part? Not for all, because the redemptive price results beneficially only to those who believe on and obey God and Christ Jesus.

Therefore he gave his life as a ransom for as many of the human race as take their stand on the side of God and Christ and maintain their integrity toward God when put to the test. It is written: “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Rom. 6: 23)

I show in Part II that the view that the ransom sacrifice includes all Adam’s descendants, and that “the vast majority” of these, including great numbers of humans who have grossly violated God’s laws, will get a resurrection during the thousand-year reign of Jesus, again was held from 1965 to 2000. But the view of The Divine Plan of the Ages that imperfect humans with inherited sin are not qualified to be tested regarding their everlasting future was not restored. The view was that billions of imperfect humans will be everlastingly annihilated in the great tribulation.

1995-2025

In the year 1995, a new interpretation of the illustration of the sheep and the goats was presented. This new view is that the illustration of the sheep and the goats were not fulfilled from the year 1914, but it will be fulfilled in the great tribulation. In the great tribulation, God will judge all the nations and their inhabitants. Only the “sheep” who are Jehovah’s Witnesses will survive the great tribulation, and 8 billion+ will be everlastingly annihilated.

I quote from The Watchtower of October 1995, pages 22-27:

²³ The parable, though, depicts the time when Jesus judges the people of “all the nations” who are then alive and facing the execution of his judicial sentence…

¹⁰ So the sheep must be ones who over a period of time have come to the aid of​—actively supporting—​Christ’s brothers and have exercised faith to the extent of receiving a righteous standing before God.

²¹ On the other hand, vast numbers out of “all the nations” will have proved themselves to be like stubborn goats. They “will depart into everlasting cutting-off.” What a relief for the earth!

The Watchtower of August 15, 1998, page 20, says:

¹⁷ All nations will shortly be examined by Christ so that he can “separate people one from another, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.” (Matthew 25:31-33

Today, The Divine Pan of the Ages, which announces that there will be a complete restoration of the paradise in Eden, and a complete restoration of all Adam’s descendants who have died because of Adam, has been completely rejected.

The present view is that all humans today get the test of their eternal destiny on the basis of how they react to the preaching of the good news of the kingdom. This means that the test of their eternal destiny is made when they are imperfect humans with inherited sin.

The implementation of The divine Plan of the Ages opens the possibility that, because humans are created in the image of God, most of the perfect humans who will undergo the final test after the thousand years will choose to serve Jehovah God. His original purpose will now have been fulfilled, and because of this, his name has been sanctified.

The rejection of the Divine Plan of the Ages opens the possibility that most of the approximately 30 billion people who have lived on the earth will be everlastingly annihilated. This would mean that only a few of Adam’s descendants will be present at the final test after the thousand years and choose to serve Jehovah God. With so many billions of Adam’s descendants everlastingly annihilated, his original purpose will only partially have been fulfilled. And because of this, his name will not be sanctified.

ALL THOSE WHO DIE IN THE GREAT TRIBULATION EXCEPT THOSE WHO HAVE SINNED AGAINST THE HOLY SPIRIT WILL GET A RESURRECTION

The fact is that the interpretation of the illustration of the sheep and the goats is the most important reason why the present members of the Governing Body believe that so many billions of Adam’s descendants will be everlastingly annihilated.

But how can a single illustration be so important? This is not only an illustration. But its words show that it is also a prophecy, and it is a part of the great prophecy of Jesus regarding his presence and the establishment of the kingdom of God. As I have shown above, the false interpretations of this illustration have had great consequences.

Because the test of the “sheep” and the “goats” is whether they support the brothers of Jesus, the fulfillment must be in the congregations of Jehovah’s Witnesses, where the few brothers of Jesus who are still on the earth, are, and not on the inhabitants of all the nations of the world.

Since the year 1914, there have been individuals in these congregations who have known the truth and for whom the ransom sacrifice has been applied. But these persons have refused to support the brothers of Jesus in these congregations, and by this, they have rejected the ransom sacrifice. They are the “goats.”

They are in the same class as anointed Christians in the first century CE who are mentioned in Hebrews 6:4:6-8:

⁴ For it is impossible as regards those who have once for all been enlightened, and who have tasted the heavenly free gift, and who have become partakers of holy spirit, ⁵ and who have tasted the fine word of God and powers of the coming system of things, ⁶ but who have fallen away, to revive them again to repentance, because they impale the Son of God afresh for themselves and expose him to public shame. ⁷ For example, the ground that drinks in the rain which often comes upon it, and that then brings forth vegetation suitable to those for whom it is also cultivated, receives in return a blessing from God. ⁸ But if it produces thorns and thistles, it is rejected and is near to being cursed; and it ends up with being burned.

For the anointed Christians in the first century CE who rejected the truth, there was no ransom sacrifice. And for those who have known the truth but refused to support the brothers of Jesus, there is no ransom sacrifice. Both these groups will be everlastingly annihilated.

The new interpretation of the illustration in 1924 led to the rejection of The Divine Plan of the Ages, and to the belief that imperfect humans with inherited sin are qualified to be tested for their eternal destiny. This led to the view that the test was whether they accepted the good news of the kingdom preached by Jehovah’s Witnesses or not. Those who accepted this message, became “sheep” and would get everlasting life, and those who did not accept this preaching, were “goats,” who would be everlastingly annihilated.

The correct interpretation of the illustration, that it is fulfilled inside the congregations of Jehovah’s Witnesses of those who support and not support the brothers of Jesus, requires a completely new interpretation of the purpose of the preaching of the kingdom of God.

Imperfect humans with inherited sin are not qualified to go through a test with their eternal destiny in view. Only perfect humans are qualified for such a test. Therefore, all humans who have died because of inherited sin in the past and present, and all those who die in the great tribulation will experience a resurrection during the thousand-year reign of Jesus, they will become perfect and free of sin. And then they are qualified for the test with their eternal destiny in view.

In the first century, the purpose of the preaching of the kingdom of Jesus and his disciples was not to separate those living into two different groups. But the purpose was to find sincere persons who loved the truth and who, after being declared righteous, baptized with holy spirit, and become new creations, would be a part of the heavenly government with 144,000. All other living people, except those who sinned against the holy spirit, would get a resurrection during the thousand-year reign of Jesus.

The purpose of the preaching of the kingdom today, during the presence of Jesus, is not to separate all people into two groups, “sheep” and “goats.” But the purpose is to find sincere persons who love the truth, and who will be a part of the great crowd who will survive the great tribulation, and whom God will use to cultivate the earth and make everything ready for the resurrection. All other persons who have died during the presence of Jesus and who will die in the great tribulation, except those who have sinned against the holy spirit, will get a resurrection during the thousand years.