Dedication​—To Whom? Why?

“But you are ‘a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation [a consecrated nation; a dedicated nation], a people for special possession.’”​—1 Peter 2:9, New World Translation; The Jerusalem Bible; The New English Bible.

1, 2. (a) Did Abraham Lincoln belong to any church of Christendom, and yet in his Gettysburg speech how did he refer to the nation of which he was president? (b) What action reflects on the trust of this nation in God, and how will the government that follows the world trouble be “for the people”?

OF ALL the churches of Christendom, not one could claim the 16th president of the United States of America as a member. Yet, when giving his famous Gettysburg address on November 19, 1863, that Bible-reading man, Abraham Lincoln, said these forceful words:

“Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. . . . But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate​—we can not consecrate—​we can not hallow​—this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. . . . It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us . . .”

² Since that memorable speech at the battle site at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, the United States has belied the claim of the motto on its dollar bill, “In God We Trust.” Despite the dedication of the president and of any other sincere Americans to it, “government of the people, by the people,” will “perish from the earth.” Happily, “for the people” this will be no lasting calamity, because there will follow the supreme royal government of God by his appointed King, Jesus Christ, for the blessing of all the inhabitants of this globe, including what is now the American continent.

3, 4. (a) What “nation” will then come to the fore? (b) From what words of Jehovah addressed to Israel was Peter quoting with regard to this new “nation”?

³ Then a new nation will come to the fore. What nation is that? It is the one to which the following inspired words were directed: “But you are ‘a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for special possession.’”​—1 Peter 2:9.

⁴ With those words the apostle Peter quotes expressions used by God with reference to His chosen people of Israel who were then at Mount Sinai in Arabia, as recorded at Exodus 19:5, 6. There we read: “And now if you will strictly obey my voice and will indeed keep my covenant, then you will certainly become my special property out of all other peoples, because the whole earth belongs to me. And you yourselves will become to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.”

5. In the light of Bible usage, do “consecrate” and “dedicate” mean the same thing?

⁵ At Exodus 19:6 and; 1 Peter 2:9, quoted above, some translations enhance the simple phrase “a holy nation” by translating it “consecrated nation” or “dedicated nation.”a (See The Jerusalem Bible; Moffatt; Knox; The New English Bible.) Accepting and living by Jehovah’s standards would set the Israelites apart as a consecrated or dedicated people. God can “consecrate” or “dedicate” a thing or person or group of people. From God’s standpoint, the two words can mean basically the same thing. However, imperfect humans, while not being able to “consecrate” anything, constituting it clean for a holy purpose, can properly and lovingly “dedicate” something, including themselves.

6. (a) In saying, “All that Jehovah has spoken we are willing to do,” what action was taken by the nation of Israel, individually and collectively? (b) Into what arrangement did God bring them without coercion?

⁶ God proposed to the delivered Israelites that they would become a holy nation to him, on the condition that they ‘strictly obeyed his voice and kept his covenant.’ They answered: “All that Jehovah has spoken we are willing to do.” Thus, individually as well as collectively, they irreversibly dedicated themselves to their Savior, Jehovah God. Although Jehovah had already chosen them because they were the natural descendants of Abraham, and had miraculously delivered them from Egypt through the Red Sea, yet he waited upon the Israelites to make this dedication of themselves to him and his worship voluntarily. On this basis they were made Jehovah’s covenant people. Concerning this, we read:

“When every commandment according to the Law had been spoken by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of the young bulls and of the goats with water and scarlet wool and hyssop and sprinkled the book itself and all the people, saying: ‘This is the blood of the covenant that God has laid as a charge upon you.’”​—Hebrews 9:19, 20; Exodus 24:1-8.

7. (a) What would be the situation of Jews in subsequent generations? (b) How could they lose their dedicated status?

⁷ Subsequent generations of Jews would be born into this dedicated nation and, as a consequence, into a dedicated relationship with God. But individually, in growing to the age of responsibility, they would have to imitate those Jews at Mount Sinai in proving by their motivations of heart and actions that they were truly dedicated to Jehovah in order to continue in this holy nation in good standing. Indeed, their welfare as a nation and their very lives were involved. This is true because God can remove the sacred or holy status he places upon a people, if they prove unworthy, and transfer this to those who prove worthy. That is why the apostle Peter came to apply the original words of God to natural Israel, that they would become to him “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation,” to the new Christian nation that came into existence at Pentecost C.E. 33. How did this transfer of holy recognition come about?

8. (a) When Peter wrote his first inspired letter, what calamity was about to befall Israel, and what relationship did the Jews no longer hold with Jehovah God? (b) Who, then, composed the “consecrated nation”?

⁸ When the apostle wrote the words of 1 Peter 2:9, the Jewish people were nearing a national disaster. Their templed city of Jerusalem was about to be destroyed by the Roman legions and they were to be dispersed internationally, as Jesus had foretold. (Luke 21:20-24) Sad to say, in 33 C.E., they had rejected Jesus Christ the Mediator of God’s new covenant, and unquestionably the old Law covenant that had been mediated through the prophet Moses was no longer in force. “That which is Israel in a fleshly way” was now being rejected. (1 Corinthians 10:18; Matthew 23:38) The new nation of spiritual Israel had been produced by Jehovah God. (Romans 9:6; Galatians 6:15, 16) This new “consecrated nation” was made up of the disciples of Jesus Christ to whom Peter addressed his letter, namely, “the ones chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, with sanctification by the spirit.”​—1 Peter 1:1, 2.

9. Did God foreknow the members of that holy nation individually, and how did they become a chosen “race”?

⁹ This does not mean that God knew the individual members and appointed them by name beforehand. Rather, he foreknew that he would produce a new nation, “a holy nation,” and foreknew the things that would be required of each individual member in order for that one to be chosen and taken into the holy nation. Also, this spiritual nation would be made specially holy by God’s holy spirit, the members of the nation being begotten by means of the holy spirit to become spiritual sons of God. (Titus 3:4-7) In this holy, or sanctified, standing they could serve as a “royal priesthood.” As spirit-begotten ones, they were a “race,” a “chosen race.”

10. Since God deals with anointed Christians as a “nation” or group, what questions arise as to individual responsibility?

¹⁰ But how does dedication to Jehovah by the individual members of the new nation come into the matter? While God “consecrates” or “dedicates” them as a group or nation, must each one make an unreserved dedication of himself to God in order to be accepted as a member of this new nation? Do not the Scriptures simply say, in effect: ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved’? Or, simply, ‘Repent and be converted’? Thus, are not simple belief, repentance and conversion all that are specified as being required to become a disciple of Jesus, a Christian? Did Jesus, the Son of God, take the step of dedication when he was on earth? Let us see.

“I Have Come . . . to Do Your Will”

11. Under what covenant arrangement with God was it that Jesus was born, and how was that so?

¹¹ With regard to Jesus’ human birth, Galatians 4:4 tells us: “When the full limit of the time arrived, God sent forth his Son, who came to be out of a woman and who came to be under [Mosaic] law.” After his miraculous birth to a Jewish virgin, his circumcision on the eighth day confirmed that by birth he was one of God’s covenant people, and in this connection Joseph and Mary “brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to Jehovah.”​—Luke 2:22-24.

12. In symbol of what did John baptize Jews who came to him, but why did he first object to baptizing Jesus?

¹² It was to this dedicated nation that the forerunner of Jesus Christ, John the Baptizer, was sent, to call the nation to repentance. Even Jesus said: “I was not sent forth to any but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” (Matthew 15:24) The message to this dedicated people of God was a special one, not applicable to non-Israelite nations. John the Baptizer called upon those “lost sheep of the house of Israel” to repent of their sins against the Law covenant. (Matthew 3:1-6) “John baptized with the baptism in symbol of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” (Acts 19:4) However, when Jesus presented himself to John for water baptism, this obviously was not in symbol of repentance, for Jesus was sinless and no violator of the Law covenant under which he had been born. John, knowing this, hesitated to baptize Jesus, but complied with his request on being told: “Let it be, this time, for in that way it is suitable for us to carry out all that is righteous.” (Matthew 3:13-17) What did he mean?

13. (a) How did Jesus fulfill Psalm 40:7, 8? (b) What did Jesus’ baptism symbolize?

¹³ Here Jesus was acting in harmony with the prophecy concerning him at Psalm 40:7, 8: “In view of that, I said: ‘Here I have come, in the roll of the book it being written about me. To do your will, O my God, I have delighted.’” In Hebrews 10:5-10 that prophecy is applied to Jesus Christ, since, in Jesus’ case, God did not want sacrifices that were offered in line with the Mosaic Law covenant, but wanted as a sacrifice the perfect human body that God had prepared for his Son to be sacrificed as the basis for a new covenant. So when getting baptized, Jesus was not dedicating himself to God, for he was already a member of a dedicated nation and, being sinless, needed no conversion. (Hebrews 7:26) Rather, his baptism was a symbol of the presenting of himself to his heavenly Father to do His further will. And in this respect Jesus set a pattern for the baptism of his disciples.

14. (a) After John’s imprisonment, what message did Jesus start to preach? (b) For what did the repentance and baptism at this time prepare people?

¹⁴ After Jesus heard that John the Baptizer had been put into prison, he launched out on a campaign of preaching to the already dedicated Israelites. “From that time on Jesus commenced preaching and saying: ‘Repent, you people, for the kingdom of the heavens has drawn near.’” (Matthew 4:17) Baptizing in symbol of repentance gained new intensity. (John 3:26; 4:1, 2) When the Greater Moses, Jesus Christ, ascended to heaven and presented to Jehovah God the value of the merit of his human sacrifice, the Mosaic Law covenant was voided and the basis was laid for the setting up of the foretold “new covenant.” (Jeremiah 31:31-34) So, on the day of Pentecost of 33 C.E., the Jewish disciples of Jesus were transferred from the Mosaic Law covenant to the “new covenant” of which the Greater Moses, Jesus Christ, was the Mediator.b

15. (a) What did not end immediately for the Jews with the canceling of the Law covenant? (b) What was God’s will now for Jews who cared about their dedicated relationship with God?

¹⁵ While the Law covenant had now been invalidated, God’s time period of special favor and attention to the Jews, on the basis of their being the natural seed of Abraham, had not ended; it ended first in the year 36 C.E. So, even after the first outpouring of holy spirit in 33 C.E., the spirit-anointed apostle Peter said to a crowd of Jews in Jerusalem: “Repent, therefore, and turn around [be converted] so as to get your sins blotted out, that seasons of refreshing may come from the person of Jehovah and that he may send forth the Christ appointed for you, Jesus.” To repair their dedicated relationship with God would now involve not only repenting over sins against the Law covenant in which they still considered themselves to be but also presenting themselves as prospective members of this new nation, which was God’s will then for all who became disciples of Jesus, Christians. This is confirmed by what Peter said earlier on the day of Pentecost to Jews who were “stabbed to the heart” over their share in causing the death of Jesus. To them, Peter said: “Repent, and let each one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the free gift of the holy spirit.” Thus, much more was involved than simple repentance and a general resolve to do better based on belief in Jesus.​—Acts 3:19, 20; 2:37-40, NW; AV.

16. (a) When the Kingdom message reached the circumcised Samaritans, what did their baptism in water symbolize? Why? (b) What substantiated that they had been taken into covenant relationship with God?

¹⁶ Before ascending to heaven, Jesus told his apostles that they would widen out the witness regarding him to “Samaria and to the most distant part of the earth.” (Acts 1:8) While the Samaritans were non-Israelites, people “of another nation,” they got circumcised because they accepted the books of the Bible written by Moses and considered him the mediator between themselves and God. (Luke 17:16-18) In His undeserved kindness, Jehovah saw good to have Peter use a special key for the Samaritans somewhat earlier than the use of one for uncircumcised Gentiles in opening up opportunities in connection with the kingdom of the heavens. But since those Samaritans had not really been in the Mosaic Law covenant, and were ‘worshiping what they did not know,’ they now, in getting baptized, first had to dedicate themselves understandingly to Jehovah God in the name of the Messiah, Jesus, as the Mediator of a new covenant. Their being baptized afterward with the holy spirit substantiated that they had been accepted into the new covenant.​—Matthew 16:18, 19; John 4:4-42; Acts 8:5-25.

17. (a) When and how did God first visit the uncircumcised non-Jews “to take out of them a people for his name”? (b) What did their baptism in water symbolize?

¹⁷ In the year 36 C.E., when God’s time of special favor to the Jews expired, Jehovah God turned his attention to the uncircumcised non-Israelites, the Gentiles, “to take out of them a people for his name.” (Acts 15:14-18) Using another of the “keys,” Peter was sent to the household of the Roman centurion named Cornelius, who was kindly disposed to the Jewish people. These Gentiles must have accepted the witness about Jehovah God and his glorified Messiah, for the holy spirit fell upon them and they began speaking in tongues. God had mercifully begun to grant “repentance for the purpose of life to people of the nations also,” through Jesus Christ, “the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.” (Acts 11:18; John 1:29) Jehovah had accepted them, too, into his spiritual nation on the basis of the dedication made to him in their hearts. Holy spirit confirmed this. So none of the Christianized Jews who accompanied Peter could find objection to his command that they get “baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.” That started off “the conversion of people of the nations.” (Acts 10:1-48; 15:3) Since then all who have desired to serve God, whether Jew or Gentile, have had to make a dedication in their hearts to Jehovah. And, in connection with their baptism in water, they present themselves for the doing of God’s will for them, in imitation of Jesus.

18. What questions now present themselves, to be taken up in the next study?

¹⁸ But how important is dedication, of which water baptism is a symbol? How is this connected with salvation, especially in view of God’s day of wrath just ahead? Must those who are not part of Jehovah’s spiritual nation, but who hope to live on earth forever, get baptized?

[Footnotes]

Dedication and Its Symbol

1. How can a sign of a person’s identity be a good thing, as in the case of sincere Jews before Jerusalem was destroyed in 607 B.C.E.?

A SIGN or symbol of a person’s identity or official standing can be a good thing, yes, a necessary thing. For instance, when Jerusalem was about to be destroyed in 607 B.C.E., a symbolic “man” was sent out to mark the foreheads of right-hearted Israelites in order to protect them from being slaughtered. Only those few who were outraged over ‘the detestable things being done’ in the midst of what should have been God’s holy city were marked for salvation.​—Ezekiel 9:1-7.

2. What identifying factors are discussed in Revelation chapter 7, and how do these relate to salvation?

² Today a “great tribulation” is about to strike the whole world. So Revelation 7:1-8 tells us that the “four angels” stationed at the four corners of the earth are instructed to hold back the four winds from blowing and producing a most destructive storm or “tribulation” until the fixed number of God’s chosen ones have been given a seal in their foreheads. Also, this allows time for a “great crowd” to cleanse themselves “in the blood of the Lamb” in order to be identified as worthy of surviving this “great tribulation.”​—Revelation 7:9-14; Matthew 24:21, 22.

3, 4. In the case of the Jewish high priest, of what would the ‘symbol of dedication’ on his turban be a reminder?

³ In ancient Israel a priesthood was set up. Moses had carried out the specific instructions from Jehovah on making the distinctive garments for the high priest. Regarding the turban, it is written: “They made a rosette of pure gold as the symbol [sign] of their holy dedication and inscribed on it as the engraving on a seal, ‘Holy to the LORD’ [“Consecrated to Yahweh,” The Jerusalem Bible], and they fastened on it a violet braid to fix it on the turban at the top.”a​—Exodus 39:30, 31; 29:6; Leviticus 8:9, The New English Bible; New World Translation.

⁴ This ‘symbol of dedication’ would be a reminder to the high priest and to all observers that he had been “consecrated” or dedicated by God to a sacred service in behalf of a dedicated people. He and his fellow priests would take the lead in instructing the people and offering acceptable sin-atoning sacrifices, which would help them to live up to their dedication to God. This would contribute to the holy dedicated status of the nation, for they were warned that if they left Jehovah, he would, in turn, leave them and abandon them to their enemies.​—Deuteronomy 28:15, 25, 63.

5. Though today there is no Jew named Cohen who can identify himself as the Aaronic high priest, why is our case not hopeless?

⁵ The tragic history of the Israelites is filled with the calamities they suffered as a result of turning away from God’s commandments and their dedicated service to him. After the second destruction of Jerusalem and its temple in 70 C.E., the high priest with the symbol of dedication on his turban passed off the scene. Today no Jew with the family name of Cohen (meaning “Priest”) can prove himself to be the high priest of Israel. Is our situation, then, hopeless? No! For concerning the glorified Son of God, we read: “Such a high priest as this was suitable for us, loyal, guileless, undefiled, separated from the sinners, and become higher than the heavens. . . . he offered himself up.”​—Hebrews 7:26, 27.

6, 7. Was Jesus born into the priestly tribe of Israel, and how could he become a high priest?

⁶ Since Jesus was the Son of God, he did not need to be a member of the tribe of Levi or of the priestly family of Aaron to become God’s priest. That could be so according to the marvelous arrangements of Jehovah God. King David was inspired by God’s spirit to prophesy concerning this illustrious descendant, who was to be higher than his royal forefathers: “The utterance of Jehovah to my Lord is: ‘Sit at my right hand until I place your enemies as a stool for your feet.’ The rod of your strength Jehovah will send out of Zion, saying: ‘Go subduing in the midst of your enemies.’ Your people will offer themselves willingly on the day of your military force. In the splendors of holiness [in holy array], from the womb of the dawn, you have your company of young men just like dewdrops. Jehovah has sworn (and he will feel no regret): ‘You are a priest to time indefinite according to the manner of Melchizedek!’”​—Psalm 110:1-4, New World Translation; An American Translation.

⁷ So, down to our own day, the glorified Jesus Christ remains a royal High Priest, higher than the chief priests of ancient Israel with their material symbol of dedication. He is in office not because of being a Levite priest but by the sworn oath of Jehovah God.

A Symbol for Those Who “Offer Themselves Willingly”

8. Why is this the day of Christ’s “military force,” and how do those now offering themselves willingly proceed in this respect?

⁸ The disciples of that royal High Priest, Christ Jesus, now “offer themselves willingly” on the day of his “military force.” They dedicate themselves to Jehovah God in the name of this royal High Priest, getting baptized in water in symbol of that dedication. These are the ones the complete number of whom must be finally sealed before the outbreak of the “great tribulation.” They, along with their companions of the “great crowd,” “offer themselves willingly” just like dewdrops in bringing God’s refreshing message of salvation to the people.​—Revelation 7:2-4, 9, 10, 14.

9. At Romans 12:1, 2, what counsel does Paul give to anointed Christians?

⁹ Writing to the disciples of 1,900 years ago, the apostle Paul said: “I entreat you by the compassions of God, brothers, to present your bodies a sacrifice living, holy, acceptable to God, a sacred service with your power of reason. And quit being fashioned after this system of things, but be transformed by making your mind over, that you may prove to yourselves the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”​—Romans 12:1, 2.

10, 11. (a) So Paul addresses his plea to the Gentile Christians in Rome as a follow-up to what discussion? (b) In what way was this arrangement an expression of great compassion on God’s part?

¹⁰ The above entreaty comes immediately after Paul’s discussion of the symbolic olive tree. Like branches in a garden olive tree, the dedicated nation of Israel was the natural offspring of God’s “friend” Abraham. As such they were first in line to become “Abraham’s seed” according to the promise made to him. (Genesis 12:3; 22:17, 18; Galatians 3:16, 29; James 2:23) But only a remnant of natural Jews accepted Jesus as the Messiah and were transferred from being the natural seed of earthly Abraham to being the spiritual seed of the Greater Abraham, Jehovah. (Romans 11:5, 7) The rest were lopped off as “branches.” To replace them, God turned to the non-Jews or, as it were, to a symbolic wild olive tree, to extract sufficient “branches” to graft into the spiritual garden olive tree that was to be composed of 144,000 branches rooted in the Greater Abraham, Jehovah God, the Source of all blessings.​—Romans 11:13-33; Revelation 14:1.

¹¹ So it was an expression of great compassion on God’s part for those Romans and all other uncircumcised non-Jews to become a part of the spiritual seed of Abraham for blessing all the families of the earth by means of God’s kingdom. (Ephesians 2:12; Galatians 3:26-29) This laid upon them the course of self-sacrifice. But this was the only privilege that God then held out to human creatures, and what a special privilege it was! Not overstepping proper bounds, the apostle Paul wrote and said to them: “Present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, also your members to God as weapons of righteousness. For sin must not be master over you, seeing that you are not under law [the law of Moses] but under undeserved kindness.”​—Romans 6:13, 14.

12. What would be involved for spirit-anointed disciples of Christ when they are told, “present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead”?

¹² While Paul is writing to those who were already dedicated Christians, “holy ones,” he is not overlooking what they had done at first in dedicating their lives, when he said: “Present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead.” But they must live up to this dedication, in this sacrificial course. If such were not done, then they, as replacement branches, would be lopped off, too. (Romans 1:7; 11:21, 22) Moreover, these words written under inspiration would be read by future disciples of Jesus Christ and would offer strong encouragement for them to take all the steps necessary to enter into and maintain this dedicated, baptized relationship with God. To preserve their dedicated relationship with God, once made, they would be in a continual battle to fashion their fleshly members into weapons of righteousness rather than submitting these to the mastery of sin. This would be in obedience to Jesus’ words: “If anyone wants to come after me, let him disown himself and pick up his torture stake and continually follow me.”​—Matthew 16:24.

A “Great Crowd” of Symbolizers

13. Is it proper for those having an earthly hope to make a dedication to God and to symbolize this by water baptism?

¹³ Throughout the earth today more than 2,300,000 persons are joining in publishing the good news of the Kingdom, and the vast majority of these have presented themselves for baptism in water in symbol of their dedication. At the yearly celebration of the Lord’s Evening Meal, less than 10,000 of all of these partake of the emblematic bread and wine to confess that they are Christ’s disciples with a heavenly hope. But do all the others properly make a dedication and symbolize this by water baptism? Very definitely they do, for they, too, must come into a proper relationship with God through the Fine Shepherd, Christ Jesus, in order to survive the “great tribulation” just ahead and gain an inheritance as part of God’s “new earth.”​—2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:1-4.

14. What fine relationship appropriately prevails within the “one flock” of the Fine Shepherd, Christ Jesus?

¹⁴ So the overwhelming majority of Jehovah’s dedicated witnesses do not entertain any heavenly hope of joint heirship with Jesus Christ in the Kingdom above. They do not claim to be spiritual Israelites begotten by Jehovah’s spirit. Yet they inseparably associate with the remnant of spiritual Israelites as members of the “one flock” under “one shepherd,” Jesus Christ. (John 10:16) This is excellent on their part and Scripturally correct.

15. (a) Who, in addition to the natural Jews, left Egypt and finally entered the Promised Land, and as what were they rated there? (b) Whom do they picture today?

¹⁵ Let us here do what the scripture at 1 Corinthians 10:18 tells us to do, “look at that which is Israel in a fleshly way.” At its exodus from Egypt under the leadership of Moses not all who left were natural, circumcised Israelites. “A vast mixed company also went up with them, as well as flocks and herds.” (Exodus 12:38) When the Israelites entered the Promised Land, such ones became the “alien resident who is inside your gates.” (Exodus 20:10; Numbers 35:15; Leviticus 19:9, 10) That ancient vast mixed company pictured the “great crowd” of the “other sheep” of the Fine Shepherd, Jesus Christ, of today.​—John 10:14, 16; Revelation 7:9-17.

16, 17. (a) In what way did the “vast mixed company” get baptized with the Israelites, figuratively speaking? (b) Who have escaped from the antitypical Egypt of today, and who will suffer destruction under circumstances like those at the Red Sea?

¹⁶ In Moses’ day the non-Israelite “vast mixed company” shared similar experiences with the circumcised Israelites, including a marvelous baptism. As regards that baptism, the apostle Paul wrote, at 1 Corinthians 10:1-4: “Our forefathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea and all got baptized into Moses by means of the cloud and of the sea; and all ate the same spiritual food and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they used to drink from the spiritual rock-mass that followed them, and that rock-mass meant the Christ.” Thus, in a figurative way, both the Israelites and the “vast mixed company” got baptized although they did not literally get wet.

¹⁷ That miraculous baptism by Jehovah God consigned them to Moses as their God-given leader, just as if they literally had been baptized into him. But this was not a baptism into death, as in the case of the pursuing Egyptians. (Exodus 14:1–15:21) Today we are nearing a similar situation. The faithful remnant of spiritual Israelites and their “great crowd” of companions have left the antitypical Egypt. (Revelation 11:7, 8) They march to the New Order of things under Christ’s millennial kingdom. The Greater Moses, the glorified Lord Jesus Christ, leads them. Pursuing them is the enemy world, determined that they shall not make it to safety. The antitypical Egyptians are heading for the battlefield of God, Har–Magedon, where they will be baptized with fire, destruction. None of them will be left alive to tell the horrifying story. (Revelation 16:14-16; Matthew 3:11, 12) As during the Red Sea episode, the slaughter at Har–Magedon will not include any of spiritual Israel or the “great crowd” of the “other sheep” of the Greater Moses.

18. How will those of the “great crowd” fare like the “vast mixed company” after their departure from Egypt under the leadership of Moses?

¹⁸ The faithful ones of the “great crowd” are not straggling behind, half-heartedly desiring to return to the antitypical plague-smitten Egypt under its Pharaoh, Satan the Devil. With faces forward, they keep in continuous touch with the remnant of spiritual Israelites, like “one flock.” (John 10:16) Just as the “vast mixed company” survived through the Red Sea, so those of the modern-day “great crowd” will find themselves on the shores of salvation after the “war of the great day of God the Almighty.”

19. Particularly since when have those making up the “great crowd” of today been submitting to baptism in water, and how have they cleaned up their identity to offer pure worship to God?

¹⁹ Particularly since 1935 those now making up the “great crowd” have been submitting to baptism in water in symbol of the unqualified dedication of themselves to God through the Greater Moses, Jesus Christ. They have washed their robes of identification and have made them “white in the blood of the Lamb,” the Greater Moses. (Revelation 7:9-14) They offer clean worship to God.

20. Where do those of the “great crowd” worship Jehovah, and how was this foretold at Zechariah 8:20-23?

²⁰ This “great crowd” of clean worshipers are at God’s spiritual temple day and night. (Revelation 7:15-17) They were prefigured by the ones whom the prophet Zechariah foresaw as worshiping at Jehovah’s temple after its restoration in Jerusalem following the release of the Israelites from Babylon in 537 B.C.E.​—Zechariah 8:20-23.

21. In what way do the “great crowd” “take hold of the skirt of a man who is a Jew,” and because of what do they have hope of surviving the “great tribulation”?

²¹ The attitude of those “ten men out of all the languages of the nations” bespeaks devotion to the one living and true God, Jehovah God! Today such devotion is acceptable to Him through the greatest “Jew” ever on earth, the once-sacrificed “Lamb,” Jesus Christ. They faithfully imitate Jesus by submitting to water baptism in symbol not only of the presentation of themselves but additionally, in their case, of their wholehearted dedication to the same God. ‘Taking hold of the skirt’ of the remnant of the 144,000 spiritual Jews, they gather with that “people” to the Jerusalem above, the heavenly Jerusalem. At its spiritual temple, represented by the remnant yet on earth, they render “sacred service” to the Most High God, Jehovah, day and night. Their hope is to survive the “great tribulation,” to continue their dedicated service to God forever on earth. Their being properly identified as unreservedly dedicated and baptized servants of God puts them in line for this, being assured that “the Father is looking for suchlike ones to worship him . . . with spirit and truth.”​—John 4:23, 24.

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