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The Jehovah's Witness Version of the 144,000
Jehovah’s Witnesses teach
that only 144,000 people will go to heaven. God chooses these
144,000 individuals, the process began with the first century
Christians and was completed in the year 1935. Of course from 1879
(the year the Watchtower started) till 1935 only faithful Jehovah’s
Witnesses were chosen for this special role. All faithful Jehovah’s
Witnesses not chosen to be among the 144,000 elite that go to heaven
(those joining the Watchtower after 1935)
will spend eternity on earth. All other people on the earth will be destroyed at
war of Armageddon here on earth. This would also include any
Jehovah's Witnesses who has been disfellowshipped or is otherwise
unfaithful to the Watchtower and has not worked his or her way back
into the good graces of the Watchtower by the time of Armageddon.
There are of course many
holes in this theory and if this is your first exposure to this
teaching you are probably in a state of disbelief. This is however a
Watchtower teaching accepted by six million Jehovah’s Witnesses. The
purpose of this article is to take a realistic look at this theory.
First, on what is this theory
based?
The Watchtower has come to
this conclusion based on Revelation 7:1-9
| 7
After this I saw four
angels standing upon the four corners of the earth, holding
tight the four winds of the earth, that no wind might blow
upon the earth or upon the sea or upon any tree. 2
And I saw another angel ascending from the sunrising, having
a seal of [the] living God; and he cried with a loud voice
to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth
and the sea, 3 saying: "Do not harm the
earth or the sea or the trees, until after we have sealed
the slaves of our God in their foreheads." 4
And I heard the number of those who were sealed, a hundred
and forty-four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of the
sons of Israel:
5 Out of the tribe of Judah twelve thousand
sealed;
out of the tribe of Reu´ben twelve thousand;
out of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand;
6 out of the tribe of Ash´er twelve thousand;
out of the tribe of Naph´ta·li twelve thousand;
out of the tribe of Ma·nas´seh twelve thousand;
7 out of the tribe of Sim´e·on twelve thousand;
out of the tribe of Le´vi twelve thousand;
out of the tribe of Is´sa·char twelve thousand;
8 out of the tribe of Zeb´u·lun twelve
thousand;
out of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand;
out of the tribe of Benjamin twelve thousand sealed.
9 After these things I saw, and, look! a great
crowd, which no man was able to number, out of all nations
and tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the
throne and before the Lamb, dressed in white robes; and
there were palm branches in their hands. 10
And they keep on crying with a loud voice, saying:
"Salvation [we owe] to our God, who is seated on the throne,
and to the Lamb." |
The most apparent flaw in this teaching
is that the Watchtower takes the number 144.000 in verse 4 to be
literal but the explanation of these numbers in verses 5 through 8
they discard as figurative. While they give no reason as to why they
take the number 144,000 to be literal, the Watchtower contends that
verses 5 through 8 are figurative because the 12 tribes mentioned do
not match the actual 12 tribes of Israel. Convenient, because if they take verses
5 through 8 literally as they do verse 4 then they could not be part
of the 144,000 unless they were descendents of one of the tribes
mentioned. One certainly has to question the reasoning if not the
motive of anyone that picks and chooses verses in one passage to be
literal and figurative.
But for the moment let’s say they are
correct, only 144,000 faithful Christians will go to heaven and that
it started with Christ’s apostles. According to the Watchtower there
were 52,465 of the select 144,000 still alive in 1935. That means
that in 1800 plus years, from the time of the apostles till 1879 God
could find only 91,535 faithful Christians worthy of a heavenly
calling, but in the short span of 56 years He was able to find
52,465.
It certainly does not seem reasonable
that the preaching work of the apostles and the first century
Christians would only reach 91,535 people not to mention the next
1700 years. Any thinking person would realize that the number of
144,000 Christians would have been filled long before 1879, most
likely in the first century.
Consider for example Acts Chapter 2:
40-47 NIV
| With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with
them, "Save yourselves from this corrupt generation." Those
who accepted his message were baptized, and about three
thousand were added to their number that day. They devoted
themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship,
to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled
with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by
the apostles. All the believers were together and had
everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods,
they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued
to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in
their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts,
praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And
the Lord added to their number daily those who were being
saved. |
Three thousand added in one day and the
number was added to daily! Doesn't seem like it would take very long
to get to 144,000.
Consider Acts 5: 12-16 NIV
| The apostles performed
many miraculous signs and wonders among the people. And all
the believers used to meet together in Solomon's Colonnade.
No one else dared join them, even though they were highly
regarded by the people. Nevertheless, more and more
men
and women believed in the Lord and were added to their
number. As a result, people brought the sick into the
streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least
Peter's shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by.
Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem,
bringing their sick and those tormented by evil spirits,
and all of them were healed. |
From the second
half of the 1st
century till the early 4th century, thousands of Christians were
killed in the Roman Coliseum. There are records of Christian martyrs
from the first century to modern times. The records in the book of
Acts record thousands of Christian conversions.
The World Christian Encyclopedia estimates that by A. D. 100
there were 1 million Christians in the Roman Empire out of a
population of 181 million. Even if their estimates are off by
a whopping 80%, which is highly unlikely the number of first century
Christians would still exceed 144,000. The logical question
that comes to mind is "why would God deny the vast majority of first
century Christians heavenly honors and save it for those who
joined the Watchtower Society between the years 1879 and 1935?".
Stranger still is their belief that for 18 centuries God was
supposedly very picky and skipped over hundreds of thousands of
Christians for heavenly honors and then in 1879 when the Watchtower
came along God suddenly made it first come first served and He
choose virtually everyone who joined the Watchtower between the
years 1879 and 1935.
To say that the number of
people that are to go to heaven is limited to 144,000 is absurd and
completely without any Biblical support. After
one examines the numbers
to think that it
would take God over 1800 years to find that many faithful Christians
simply defies all logic. But
regardless of how absurd and unreasonable the theory may be let’s examine the modern
numbers of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society.
As we mentioned the
Watchtower claims the number was filled in 1935 and let’s assume the
average age of those 52,465 still alive when the number was sealed
to be age 35. Age 35 is an extremely conservative age to work with because as the
Watchtower says these are ones whose faith have been tested. That
means in 1985, the first year on our chart we have 9,051 people with
the average age of 85 and in 2004 8,570 of these folks are still
alive at the average age of 104.
One has to question why the
number of the heavenly class left on earth increased several years.
If fact in 1992 the number was 8,683 and over he next ten years it
increased to 8,760. Apparently the Watchtower Bible and Tract
Society is concerned about how this increase is viewed by it's
followers because they addressed the issue in the August 15, 1996
Watchtower in the following 'Questions From Readers" article.
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Questions From Readers
The reports for some
years show that the number
partaking of the Memorial
emblems increased slightly. Does
this suggest that many new
ones are being anointed with
holy spirit?
There is good reason to believe that the
number of 144,000 anointed Christians was complete decades
ago.
At Acts 2:1-4, we read about the first ones
in that limited group: "Now while the day of the festival of
Pentecost was in progress they were all together at the same
place, and suddenly there occurred from heaven a noise just
like that of a rushing stiff breeze, and it filled the whole
house in which they were sitting. And tongues as if of fire
became visible to them and were distributed about, and one
sat upon each one of them, and they all became filled with
holy spirit and started to speak with different tongues,
just as the spirit was granting them to make utterance."
After that, Jehovah selected others, and he
anointed them with his holy spirit. Thousands were added in
the very early years of Christianity. At the Memorial
celebration in our time, the speaker often calls attention
to the apostle Paul’s words at Romans 8:15-17, which mention
that the anointed ‘receive a spirit of adoption as sons.’
Paul added that the holy spirit they receive ‘bears witness
with their spirit, that they are God’s children, joint heirs
with Christ.’ Those who truly have this spirit-anointing
know it with certainty. It is not a mere wish or a
reflection of an emotional and unrealistic view of
themselves.
We understand that this heavenly calling
continued down through the centuries, though during the
so-called Dark Ages, there may have been times when the
number of anointed ones were very few. With the
reestablishment of true Christianity near the end of the
last century, more were called and chosen. But it seems that
in the mid-1930’s, the full number of the 144,000 was
basically completed. Thus there began to appear a group of
loyal Christians with the earthly hope. Jesus termed such
"other sheep," who unite in worship with the anointed as one
approved flock.—John 10:14-16.
The facts over the decades reflect both the
completion of the calling of the anointed and Jehovah’s
blessing on the growing "great crowd," who hope to survive
"the great tribulation." (Revelation 7:9, 14) For example,
at the Memorial celebration in 1935, attended by 63,146,
those partaking of the emblems in evidence of their
profession to be anointed numbered 52,465. Thirty years
later, or in 1965, the attendance was 1,933,089, while the
partakers decreased to 11,550. Moving 30 years closer, in
1995 the attendance jumped to 13,147,201, but only 8,645
partook of the bread and the wine. (1 Corinthians 11:23-26)
Clearly, as the decades passed, the number of those
professing to be of the remnant greatly decreased—some
52,400 in 1935; 11,500 in 1965; 8,600 in 1995. However,
those with earthly hopes have been blessed, and their number
has increased abundantly.
The most recent published report is for the
year 1995, and it shows 28 more partakers than in the
preceding year though the ratio of partakers to those
attending did actually drop. On balance, that a few more
chose to partake of the emblems is no cause for concern.
Over the years some, even ones newly baptized, have suddenly
begun to partake. In a number of cases, after a while they
acknowledged that this was an error. Some have recognized
that they partook as an emotional response to perhaps
physical or mental strain. But they came to see that they
really were not called to heavenly life. They asked for
God’s merciful understanding. And they continue to serve him
as fine, loyal Christians, having the hope of everlasting
life on earth.
There is no need for any of us to be concerned if a
person begins to partake of the emblems or ceases to do so.
It really is not up to us whether someone actually has been
anointed with holy spirit and called to heavenly life or
not. Recall Jesus’ solid assurance: "I am the fine shepherd,
and I know my sheep." Just as assuredly, Jehovah knows those
whom he has chosen as spiritual sons. There is every reason
to believe that the number of anointed ones will continue to
decline as advanced age and unforeseen occurrences end their
earthly lives. Yet, even as these truly anointed ones prove
faithful till death, in line for the crown of life, the
other sheep, who have washed their robes in the blood of the
Lamb, can look forward to surviving the impending great
tribulation.—2 Timothy 4:6-8; Revelation 2:10. |
The Watchtower's theory on
the 144,000 falls
apart on all fronts, the more one examines this teaching the more
absurd it becomes. The number of years that the Watchtower can
continue to sell this teaching to it's followers is growing short.
In 1995 the Watchtower was
forced to change the failed prophecy that those living in 1914 would
live to see the end of this world. The Watchtower similarly teaches
that some of those sealed in 1935 will live to see the end of the
world. Even someone as young as 20 years old in 1935 would now
(2006) be 91 years old. The Watchtower has yet another failed
prophecy that they must soon change. How will they do it? They will
pull it off of course, they are very experienced in this area.
It should be
interesting!
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