The “Keys” of the Greatest Government Put to Use

“I will give you the keys of the kingdom of the heavens, and whatever you may bind on earth will be the thing bound in the heavens, and whatever you may loose on earth will be the thing loosed in the heavens.”​—Matt. 16:19.

1, 2. (a) In ancient Roman mythology, who was the supreme janitor in heaven? (b) Historically, what may be said for Jesus Christ as the holder of a key?

IS THERE a janitor or concierge up in heaven? In ancient Roman mythology Janus, the god of gods, was the supreme janitor in heaven and on earth. The temple of Janus once stood on the north side of the Roman Forum, near the Curia, but he is no longer worshiped. Nevertheless, what about the historical personage, Jesus Christ, now glorified in heaven at the right hand of the true “God of gods,” Jehovah? (Deut. 10:17) About the year 96 C.E., when dictating a letter to be sent to the congregation in Philadelphia in Asia Minor, this glorified Jesus said to the apostle John:

² “And to the angel of the congregation in Philadelphia write: These are the things he says who is holy, who is true, who has the key of David, who opens so that no one will shut, and shuts so that no one opens, ‘I know your deeds​—look! I have set before you an opened door, which no one can shut​—that you have a little power, and you kept my word and did not prove false to my name.’”​—Rev. 3:7, 8.

3. (a) What relationship did Jesus Christ bear to David? (b) Why did Jehovah give to Jesus Christ “the key of David,” and how does he use it?

³ Counting from David, the first Jewish king of Jerusalem, Jesus Christ is the 43rd in the royal line of descent from that famous king. With Jesus Christ that royal line ends, because he became the permanent heir of the kingdom of David. (Luke 3:23-31) For that reason Jehovah God gave to his glorified Son “the key of David.” The kingdom of David was a typical theocracy, a typical kingdom of God. (1 Chron. 29:23; 2 Chron. 13:5, 8) In the hands of the glorified descendant of David, Jesus Christ, this kingdom becomes a real, antitypical kingdom of God. As rightful holder of “the key of David,” he opens up or shuts down privileges and opportunities to persons on earth with reference to the kingdom of God.

4, 5. Near Caesarea Philippi, what privileges did Jesus Christ say that he would confer upon faithful Peter?

⁴ Looking forward to opening up privileges of service to his faithful apostle Simon Peter, Jesus once said to him: “You are Peter [Greek: Petros; Latin, Petrus], and on this rock-mass [Greek: tautēi tēi petrai; Latin: hanc petram] I will build my congregation, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of the heavens, and whatever you may bind on earth will be the thing bound in the heavens, and whatever you may loose on earth will be the thing loosed in the heavens.”​—Matt. 16:18, 19.

⁵ Jesus said those historic words some time after the Passover of 32 C.E., in the neighborhood of Caesarea Philippi, near the headwaters of the Jordan River.​—Matt. 16:13-17.

WHEN GIVEN AND USED

6. Those “keys of the kingdom of the heavens” were of what kind, and what did they represent?

⁶ Like “the key of David,” the “keys of the kingdom of the heavens” were not literal, material keys of an earthly kind. They were spiritual keys, namely, the privilege, honor, assignment and authority to initiate or open up a program of information, instruction and personal intervention with respect to the kingdom of the heavens. By means of this, those persons who chose to seek first the kingdom of the heavens could take advantage of the provision that God then made available through Jesus Christ, the Heir of the heavenly kingdom. Thus they entered into something not open to them before.

7. Earlier, at Jerusalem, Jesus had revealed to Nicodemus that basic conditions for anyone to enter into the heavenly kingdom of God?

⁷ Two years earlier, at Jerusalem, Jesus had revealed to a ruler of the Jews, a Pharisee named Nicodemus, certain basic conditions that a believer had to fulfill to gain entrance into the heavenly kingdom of God. Jesus said: “Most truly I say to you, Unless anyone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” What, “born again” from his same human mother? No, but Jesus said to Nicodemus: “Most truly I say to you, Unless anyone is born from water and spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. What has been born from the flesh is flesh, and what has been born from the spirit is spirit.”​—John 3:1-6.

8. Would it be logical for anyone not already a baptized, spirit-begotten Christian to possess and use such “keys,” and what example do we have in this regard?

⁸ So could a person who was not himself already “born from water and spirit,” not already a baptized, spirit-begotten Christian, possess and use the “keys” to open up to others the entryway into God’s heavenly kingdom? This would hardly be logical. Thus the “keys of the kingdom of the heavens” were not given to John, even though he baptized Jesus and was the first to preach: “Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens has drawn near.”​—Matt. 3:1, 2.

9. How do we know whether Peter was spirit-begotten when he was given the first of the “keys,” and what about the circumcised Ethiopian proselyte mentioned in Acts 8:27, 28?

⁹ Well, then, was the apostle Peter spirit-begotten when Jesus Christ gave him the first of the “keys” to use? Yes, for, on the day of Pentecost of 33 C.E., Jehovah God used the glorified Jesus to baptize with the holy spirit about 120 disciples, including Peter, who were waiting in an upper room in Jerusalem. First after Peter had thus been begotten by God’s spirit, he rose up to speak to more than 3,000 Jews and circumcised proselytes who gathered to witness how the prophecy of Joel 2:28, 29 had begun to be fulfilled. If the circumcised Ethiopian proselyte who is mentioned in Acts 8:27, 28 was among the “reverent men” then dwelling in Jerusalem on that day of Pentecost, he did not get over from the temple to hear Peter. (Acts 2:1-12) But he got his opportunity later on.

10. When and how did Peter use the first of the “keys”?

¹⁰ Peter forthrightly told those thousands of observers that they had committed a crime as a religious community by impaling Jesus Christ 52 days previously. Then those conscience-stricken “reverent men” asked: “Men, brothers, what shall we do?” Peter was the one to answer: “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. For the promise is to you and to your children and to all those afar off, just as many as Jehovah our God may call to him.” Peter continued on. “And with many other words he bore thorough witness and kept exhorting them, saying: ‘Get saved from this crooked generation.’” (Acts 2:14-40) Thus the spirit-begotten Peter used the first of the “keys.”

11. How did thousands of those listening to Peter get “born again” or “born from water and spirit”?

¹¹ Did any of those natural Jews go in through the now open entryway as Jews to whose forefathers Jehovah God had made the promise of Joel 2:28, 29? Acts 2:41, 42 answers: “Therefore those who embraced his word [Peter’s word] heartily were baptized, and on that day about three thousand souls were added. And they continued devoting themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to sharing with one another, to taking of meals and to prayers.” Through their getting baptized in water in the name of Jesus Christ and thereafter receiving the free gift of the holy spirit, they were “born again,” “born from water and spirit.”​—John 3:3, 5.

FOR WHOM THE SECOND KEY WAS USED

12, 13. (a) If Peter had needed to use only one key, what would this have meant? (b) However, what did Jesus say about this to his disciples just before his ascension to heaven?

¹² Peter had been promised, not one key, but “the keys of the kingdom of the heavens.” This meant at least two keys. So, when was he given the second key, and in behalf of whom? If Peter had needed only one key, then only natural Jews and circumcised Jewish proselytes would make up the 144,000 whom Jesus Christ builds upon himself as the rock-mass to be his complete spirit-begotten congregation. (Matt. 16:18; Rev. 7:4-8; 14:1-3) But was the heavenly salvation to be limited to only those admitted by Peter’s use of a key on the day of Pentecost? Well, what did Jesus say to his apostles and others assembled together with them in Jerusalem? On that day, he said to his disciples:

¹³ “In this way it is written that the Christ would suffer and rise from among the dead on the third day, and on the basis of his name repentance for forgiveness of sins would be preached in all the nations​—starting out from Jerusalem, you are to be witnesses of these things. And, look! I am sending forth upon you that which is promised by my Father [in Joel 2:28, 29]. You, though, abide in the city until you become clothed with power from on high.”​—Luke 24:46-49.

14, 15. According to Acts 1:8, how did Jesus make distinctions with regard to extending the preaching of repentance to “all the nations”?

¹⁴ However, according to Acts 1:8, Jesus went into more detail as to how the preaching of repentance on the basis of his name was to be extended progressively to “all the nations.” There he said: “But you will receive power when the holy spirit arrives upon you, and you will be witnesses of me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the most distant part of the earth.”

¹⁵ Here Jesus divided off Samaria from “all Judea.” For that matter, all along through his earthly ministry he distinguished between circumcised natural Jews and circumcised Samaritans.

16. How did it come about that on his way back to Galilee Jesus spent two days with the residents of the Samaritan city of Sychar?

¹⁶ After the Passover of 30 C.E., during the first year of his public activity, he had to pass through Samaria on his way from Judea to Galilee. In that connection it was observed that “Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.” (John 4:9) However, at Jacob’s fountain near the city of Sychar, Jesus chose to talk to a Samaritan woman. She proved to be, in fact, the first person to whom Jesus confessed that he was the Messiah or Christ. Was this because she was not a Jewess? (Matt. 16:20) Moreover, at the invitation of the Samaritan residents of Sychar, he and his apostles stayed with the Samaritans for two days and talked to them. A number of them believed and said to the Samaritan woman who had borne witness to them: “We do not believe any longer on account of your talk; for we have heard for ourselves and we know that this man is for a certainty the savior of the world.”​—John 4:39-43.

17. What position did Jesus take toward those believing Samaritans and water baptism?

¹⁷ Yet, even after this, Jesus continued to draw a difference between Jews and Samaritans, despite the belief of some Samaritans in him. Did Jesus call for any of those believing Samaritans to be baptized in water with John’s baptism? No! This was significant, inasmuch as immediately before the account of Jesus’ visit to Samaritan Sychar, it is written: “When, now, the Lord became aware that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John​—although, indeed, Jesus himself did no baptizing but his disciples did—​he left Judea and departed again for Galilee. But it was necessary for him to go through Samaria. Accordingly he came to a city of Samaria called Sychar near the field that Jacob gave to Joseph his son. In fact, Jacob’s fountain was there.”​—John 4:1-6.

18. Two years later, when Jesus was passing through Samaria on his way to Jerusalem, what attitude did Samaritan villagers show?

¹⁸ Did things go so favorably for Jesus two years later? He and his disciples were going in the opposite direction, to attend the Jewish festival of the booths at Jerusalem. Then Jesus’ messengers “went their way and entered into a village of Samaritans, to make preparation for him; but they did not receive him, because his face was set for going [whither?] to Jerusalem. When the disciples James and John saw this they said: ‘Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and annihilate them?’ But he turned and rebuked them. So they went to a different village.” (Luke 9:51-56) Had Jesus yielded to the violent temper of James and John, this might have prejudiced the Samaritans against Christianity.

19. (a) When Jesus sent out the 12 apostles by twos, what instructions did he give concerning Samaria? (b) According to John 8:47, 48, what was the attitude of Jews in general toward Samaritans?

¹⁹ Even a year earlier, before the Passover of 32 C.E., when Jesus sent out the apostles to preach by twos, he said to them: “Do not go off into the road of the nations, and do not enter into a Samaritan city; but, instead, go continually to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, preach, saying: ‘The kingdom of the heavens has drawn near.’” (Matt. 10:5-7; Luke 9:1-6) Months later, after the festival of the booths of 32 C.E., Jesus sent out the 70 evangelizers and gave them instructions like those given to the 12 apostles. The villages and cities in which they preached God’s kingdom were probably in Judea, not in Samaria. (Luke 10:1-24) They made no report of visiting Samaritan places. They went to “the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Why so? Because those evangelizers were not given authority greater than that of apostles. The general attitude of the Jews toward Samaritans was betrayed when Jesus told the unbelieving Jews that they were not from God, and they retorted: “You are a Samaritan and have a demon.”​—John 8:47, 48.

20. Why did the Samaritans not get any benefit from Peter’s use of the first of the “keys of the kingdom” at Pentecost in Jerusalem, and so what question arises?

²⁰ Jesus made a distinction between Samaritans and Jews when he said to the Samaritan woman: “You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, because salvation originates with the Jews.” (John 4:22) Jesus classified a Samaritan as a “man of another nation” or, more literally, “of another race.” (Luke 17:16-18; see word-for-word reading of Kingdom Interlinear Translation.)a The Samaritans, who worshiped at Mount Gerizim, did not attend the Pentecost in Jerusalem in 33 C.E. So they got no benefit from Peter’s use of the first of the “keys of the kingdom of the heavens.” (Acts 2:5-11) When, therefore, did the 12 apostles give Samaria their attention after the holy spirit had been poured out at Jerusalem that they might share in what Jesus foretold in Acts 1:8?

21. How did Philip the evangelizer come to be in Samaria, and why did much joy result from his presence?

²¹ After Pentecost many things happened to the Christian congregation in Jerusalem. Persecution that followed the martyrdom of Stephen scattered all the members of the congregation from Jerusalem except the 12 apostles. (Acts 8:1-5) Not by apostolic orders and instructions, but because of the persecution, Philip, a close fellow worker of Stephen, and other Jewish Christians fled north to the district of Samaria. (Acts 6:1-6; 21:8) There Philip, who had been favored with the gift of miracles by God’s spirit, preached the good news about the resurrected and glorified Jesus Christ and performed many miraculous signs in the way of healings. “So there came to be a great deal of joy in that city.”​—Acts 8:8.

22. Because of the water baptism of many Samaritan men and women at the hands of Phillip, what question comes up?

²² What was the effect of this? “When they believed Philip, who was declaring the good news of the kingdom of God and of the name of Jesus Christ, they proceeded to be baptized, both men and women.” This included a certain magician named Simon who “had been practicing magical arts and amazing the nation of Samaria.” (Acts 8:9, 12, 13) At this point the question arises, Were those believing Samaritans born “from water and spirit”? Well, the water of baptism had entered into the matter, but what about the spirit? If they had become spirit-begotten after their water baptism, then Philip was the one who opened the way for this new group, Samaritans, into the “kingdom of the heavens.” But did he really do so, although he was not one of the 12 apostles? What does the inspired record show?

23. Why is Phillip not reported as making any promise of the holy spirit to the Samaritan candidates for baptism in Jesus’ name?

²³ This Philip was not one of the apostles to whom Jesus said: “Whatever things you may bind on earth will be things bound in heaven, and whatever things you may loose on earth will be things loosed in heaven.” (Matt. 18:18; 16:19; 10:2-4; John 1:43-48) So Philip is not reported as making any promises of the gift of the holy spirit to the Samaritans in connection with their water baptism. He was not authorized to say, as Peter did to the Jews on the day of Pentecost: “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.”​—Acts 2:38.

24. (a) Did the Samaritans, by getting circumcised and keeping feasts set out in Moses’ writings, get into the Mosiac Law covenant? (b) After water baptism in Jesus’ name, were they at once born “from water and spirit”?

²⁴ The Samaritans were not in the Law covenant Moses had mediated for the Israelites at Mount Sinai, even though the Samaritans viewed the first five books of Moses, the Pentateuch, as God’s Word and observed a Passover and a Pentecost at Mount Gerizim in the district of Samaria. (2 Ki. 17:29, 30; John 4:19, 20) So their circumcision of the flesh did not of itself make them Jewish proselytes. The Samaritans were not implicated in the impalement of Jesus and so did not need to be baptized in water for God’s forgiveness of such a gross sin for which there should be repentance. But the Samaritans got baptized at Philip’s hands in the name of Jesus Christ as being the Messiah (Christ) and “the savior of the world.” (John 4:25, 26, 28, 29, 42) Did they, on this account, become “born from water and spirit”? No! For they did not then get the holy spirit.

25. How does Acts 8:14-17 show why the baptized Samaritans had not been born from water and spirit?

²⁵ Why was this? Acts 8:14-17 tells us: “When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they dispatched Peter and John to them; and these went down and prayed for them to get holy spirit. For it had not yet fallen upon any one of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they [Peter and John as apostles] went laying their hands upon them, and they [the baptized Samaritans] began to receive holy spirit.” This does not mean simply miraculous spiritual gifts.

26. Thus the baptized Samaritans become qualified for what privilege, and Peter, in the presence of John, made use of what instrument?

²⁶ Here first the baptized Samaritans became “born” from spirit as well as from water and were qualified to enter God’s heavenly kingdom. (John 3:5) The activity of the spirit here was like that reported later in Acts 10:44-46 and Ac 11:15-17. Thus in behalf of the believing baptized Samaritans the apostle Peter used the second of the “keys of the kingdom of the heavens.” True, the apostle John was there with Peter, but, earlier, on the day of Pentecost, 11 other apostles were with key-bearing Peter.​—See also Matthew 18:1, 18.

27. How does Acts 8:18-23 show Peter taking the lead in dealing with Simon the former magician?

²⁷ Peter’s priority is borne out by what Acts 8:18-23 next tells us: “Now when Simon [the magician] saw that through the laying on of the hands of the apostles the spirit was given, he offered them money, saying: ‘Give me also this authority, that anyone upon whom I lay my hands may receive holy spirit.’ But Peter said to him: ‘May your silver perish with you, because you thought through money to get possession of the free gift of God. You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not straight in the sight of God. Repent, therefore, of this badness of yours, and supplicate Jehovah that, if possible, the device of your heart may be forgiven you; for I see you are a poisonous gall and a bond of unrighteousness.’” This indicates that Peter was taking the lead as Christ’s principal agent on this occasion. As the one to whom the keys of the Kingdom had been committed, he spoke.

28. To whom else was the Kingdom opportunity then open, and where did the spirit-begotten Samaritans begin worshiping?

²⁸ From then on the same opportunity could be presented to others in the district of Samaria. Accordingly, Acts 8:25 tells us: “Therefore, when they [Peter and John] had given the witness thoroughly and had spoken the word of Jehovah, they turned back to Jerusalem, and they went declaring the good news to many villages of the Samaritans.” Now the baptized, spirit-begotten Samaritans began to worship their heavenly Father, Jehovah, neither on Mount Gerizim nor at Jerusalem, but in his great spiritual temple.​—John 4:21.b

29. After Saul’s conversion to Christianity, what happened to the spirit-begotten congregation in Judea, Galilee and Samaria, and where did Phillip settle down?

²⁹ Philip and other Jewish Christians had been obliged to flee down to Samaria because of the persecution promoted by the Pharisee Saul of Tarsus. But after Saul himself was converted to Christianity, things changed for the congregation in Palestine. “Then,” according to Acts 9:31, “indeed, the congregation throughout the whole of Judea and Galilee and Samaria entered into a period of peace, being built up; and as it walked in the fear of Jehovah and in the comfort of the holy spirit it kept on multiplying.” Philip, however, finally settled down in the seaport city of Caesarea, where the Roman governor of the province of Judea had his headquarters and where an Italian band of soldiers was stationed.​—Acts 8:40; 21:8; 10:1; 23:23-35.

[Footnotes]

“The Keys of the Kingdom” and the “Great Crowd”

1. In view of Phillip’s final move to Caesarea, what questions arise about him regarding 36 C.E.?

IN THE year 36 C.E. a marked event in Christian history took place in Caesarea on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. Whether Philip the evangelizer had settled there by that year we do not know for certain. If he had done so, then why was he not used in connection with a certain army officer of the Italian band of soldiers then stationed there? Philip had preceded the apostle Peter in Christian activity in Samaria, so why not now in Caesarea in 36 C.E.? The inspired Scriptures give us the answer.

2. When was the Mosaic Law covenant abolished, and yet for how long was preferential treatment to circumcised Jewry continued?

² The Law covenant that Moses had mediated between Jehovah God and Israel at Mount Sinai in Arabia was abolished on the basis of the impalement of Jesus Christ, the descendant of Abraham and King David. That was three years and a half from the water baptism and spirit-anointing of Jesus back in 29 C.E. Nevertheless, Jehovah continued to give preferential treatment to the natural Jews and Samaritans also during this period for three years and a half more, to fulfill the prophecy of Daniel 9:24-27a. This “week” or period of seven years terminated in the seventh lunar month (Tishri) of 36 C.E. From then on the Israelite descendants of Abraham would be put on the same spiritual level as the people of the non-Jewish nations, the uncircumcised Gentiles. After that no more preferential treatment to the Jews by the God of Abraham! How was this demonstrated in 36 C.E.?

3. (a) Where was the apostle Peter at this time, and why? (b) Why did Peter come to be criticized by the circumcised Jewish Christians at Jerusalem for his unusual action?

³ About this time, upon urgent request from the Christian congregation in the seaport city of Joppa, Peter had come and raised up the benevolent Jewish Christian Dorcas from the dead. There he stayed a few days with Simon the tanner. (Acts 9:36-43) At that time an uncircumcised Gentile was undesirable as an associate of a Jew, just as much so, indeed, as a person disfellowshiped from the congregation of God’s people. (Matt. 18:17) So, up to this time, the Jewish-Christian Peter had never voluntarily entered into the house of an uncircumcised Gentile. (This was doubtless true of the evangelizer Philip also.) Consequently, when, later, the circumcised Jewish Christians at Jerusalem heard that Peter had finally entered a Gentile home, they criticized him, saying that “he had gone into the house of men that were not circumcised and had eaten with them.”​—Acts 11:3.

4. How did the Jewish Christian apostle Peter explain his feelings after he stepped into a Gentile home in Caesarea?

⁴ Even Peter, although he had been a Christian apostle for some years now, said to the householder into whose house in Caesarea he had hesitated to set foot: “You well know how unlawful it is for a Jew to join himself to or approach a man of another race.” (Acts 10:28, NW; Jerusalem Bible; The New English Bible) Gentile races were considered to be defiled or unclean.

5, 6. What facts did Peter set forth in defense of his criticized action in Caesarea?

⁵ In defense of himself, Peter had to state the facts to the apostles and other circumcised Jewish Christians at Jerusalem. What were the facts? These: That Peter had not initiated this action of his own accord. He had acted in obedience to Jehovah God.

⁶ When Peter was at the house of Simon the tanner in Joppa, God sent Peter a vision to make known that what God had now cleansed Peter should not keep on calling unclean. Then three men who were sent by the Italian centurion Cornelius of Caesarea called at the house to inquire about Peter. God now told this Jewish-Christian apostle to go with them, “not doubting at all, because I have dispatched them.” Six of the circumcised Jewish Christians of the Joppa congregation went along with Peter up the seacoast to Caesarea. The next day, when they entered the house of the Gentile centurion Cornelius, he explained that God’s angel had appeared to him and told him to send for Peter at Joppa, “and he will speak those things to you by which you and all your household may get saved.”​—Acts 10:1-33; 11:14.

7. How far along did Peter get with his speech to the Gentiles in the house of Italian centurion Cornelius?

⁷ Unaware of what was about to happen, Peter proceeded to give the message about the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ, his death and his resurrection from the dead by God’s almighty power. In his speech Peter got along as far as to say: “This is the One decreed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. To him all the prophets bear witness, that everyone putting faith in him gets forgiveness of sins through his name.”​—Acts 10:34-43.

8. While Peter was yet speaking, what proof did God give that he was now admitting uncircumcised believing Gentiles into the spirit-begotten congregation?

⁸ At this point Jehovah God gave the proof that he was now admitting believing Gentiles, though uncircumcised, into the congregation of spirit-begotten Christians, for we read: “While Peter was yet speaking about these matters the holy spirit fell upon all those hearing the word. And the faithful ones that had come with Peter who were of those circumcised were amazed, because the free gift of the holy spirit was being poured out also upon people of the nations. For they heard them speaking with tongues and glorifying God.”​—Acts 10:44-46.

9. In his account at Jerusalem, how did Peter describe the action of the holy spirit at Caesarea, and with what did he compare it?

⁹ When giving his own account of this at Jerusalem, Peter said: “But when I started to speak, the holy spirit fell upon them just as it did also upon us in the beginning [at Pentecost, 33 C.E.]. At this I called to mind the saying of the Lord, how he used to say, ‘John, for his part, baptized with water, but you will be baptized in holy spirit.’ If, therefore, God gave the same free gift to them as he also did to us who have believed upon the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I should be able to hinder God?”​—Acts 11:15-17.

10. What did Peter now command to be done with these uncircumcised Gentiles, and why?

¹⁰ So what did Peter now do? “Then Peter responded: ‘Can anyone [of the six Jewish Christians who accompanied Peter] forbid water so that these might not be baptized who have received the holy spirit even as we [circumcised Jewish Christians] have?’ With that he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.”​—Acts 10:46-48.

11. (a) From then on, the spirit-begotten Gentile believers were free to act in what capacity? Why? (b) How was the action of the holy spirit the same on three occasions, with three distinct groups?

¹¹ Thus “God for the first time turned his attention to the [uncircumcised] nations to take out of them a people for his name.” (Acts 15:14) On this occasion, in the house of the uncircumcised centurion Cornelius in Caesarea, Peter used another of the “keys of the kingdom of the heavens,” the third key. From then on, the spirit-anointed disciples of Jesus could be witnesses of him “to the most distant part of the earth.” (Acts 1:8) What God had opened up by means of the key-holder Peter remained open for an earth-wide witness. In agreement with this, God’s holy spirit “fell upon” (Greek: epipípto) three distinct classes of believers, (1) on the baptized 120 disciples and, afterward, about 3,000 converted Jews, all at Jerusalem on Pentecost of 33 C.E.; (2) on the baptized Samaritans, but only after the arrival and services of the apostles Peter and John; and (3) on the believing Gentiles gathered in the house of Cornelius in Caesarea, in 36 C.E.​—Acts 1:15; 2:1-4, 38, 41; 8:15-17; 10:44, 45; 11:15, 16.

OPENING UP A WAY TO THE “GREAT CROWD”

12. Since then Jehovah has been taking out what class from among whom?

¹² Down through the centuries since then Jehovah has been taking out a “people for his name” from among circumcised Jews, circumcised Samaritans and uncircumcised Gentiles. (Amos 9:12) This people for Jehovah’s name was to number just 144,000, who were to be united with Jesus in his heavenly kingdom.​—Rev. 7:4-8; 14:1-3.

13. What did Food for thinking Christians and The Divine Plan of the Ages show about natures and the salvations involved?

¹³ In September of 1881 the Watch Tower publication Food for Thinking Christians was issued. Later, in 1886, the book The Divine Plan of the Ages was issued. These two publications showed that the spiritual nature and the human or earthly nature are separate and distinct. Accordingly, the salvation of the spirit-begotten congregation of 144,000 to heaven would be different from that of redeemed humanity to life on a paradise earth. Yet, the ransom sacrifice of Jesus Christ would be basic to both salvations.

14. What did the public talk given in Los Angeles, California, on Sunday, February 24, 1918, emphasize?

¹⁴ On February 24, 1918, amid World War I, J. F. Rutherford as president of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society delivered a public talk in Los Angeles, California, U.S.A. It was entitled “Millions Now Living May Never Die.” After World War I the material of this astounding talk was published in book form. This presentation emphasized that there would be righteously disposed persons on earth who would be spared alive during the coming day of God’s wrath. They would survive into God’s new order and have the opportunity never to die off the earth transformed into a paradise.

15. What did the talk in 1923 at Los Angeles, on Jesus’ parable of the sheep and the goats, set forth?

¹⁵ Again in Los Angeles, in 1923, a convention was held and the Society’s president talked on Jesus’ parable of the sheep and the goats. By Scripture he established the fact that the symbolic “sheep” of this parable are those who now, during this “time of the end,” do good in various ways to Jesus’ spiritual or “born again” brothers. In reward for this such doers of good would be preserved through the coming battle of Armageddon, and the glorified “Son of man,” the heavenly King Jesus Christ, would usher them into the earthly realm of his kingdom of a thousand years. (Matt. 25:31-46) This brightened the earthly hopes for many sheeplike persons who did good to Christ’s “brothers” as if they were doing it directly to him.

16, 17. When the climax in this development of Bible understanding came 12 years later, why was it no ordinary occasion?

¹⁶ However, a climax of this development of Bible understanding came 12 years later. This proved to be no ordinary occasion in human history. The great economic depression was by then in its sixth year. The Roman Catholic “Holy Year” of 1933 had failed to bring the promised “peace and prosperity.” Due to clashes with the Ethiopian Empire, Fascist Italy was preparing for war and on October 3, 1935, Italian troops invaded the Empire. Adolf Hitler was in the third year of his dictatorship over Germany, and was savagely persecuting Jehovah’s Witnesses. On October 7, 1934, he had been warned by hundreds of cablegrams from all over the earth that, if he did not desist from persecuting them, Jehovah would destroy both him and his Nazi party. But goatishly he determined to exterminate this “brood” of unpolitical Christians from the German Reich.

¹⁷ During 1935, America’s president, Franklin D. Roosevelt, was running into difficulties in connection with the institution that he fathered, the NRA (National Recovery Administration), and the national government was yielding to the pressure of Catholic Action. Soviet Russia was under “strong man” rule by Joseph Stalin. Imperial Japan, as an aggressive opposer of Communism, was veering toward the ill-fated “Tripartite Pact” with Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany, to form the Axis Powers. World War II was in the making!

18. Where did Jehovah’s Witnesses hold a convention in the spring of 1935, and what was the subject of the public talk?

¹⁸ Critical though governmental affairs world wide were in 1935, it proved to be an exceptionally thrilling time for Jehovah’s Witnesses. They held a convention in America’s national seat of government, Washington, D.C., on May 30 through June 3. The public lecture given on Sunday, June 2, was entitled “Government” and was radiocast into Great Britain, Europe, Africa and the islands of the sea.​—See the issue of July 17, 1935, of The Golden Age.

19. On Friday afternoon, May 31, the members of what class were identified, and what was to be the experience of this class as regards the “great tribulation”?

¹⁹ Earlier, on Friday afternoon, May 31, a stirring address was delivered to the conventioners. Due to its importance, it was broadcast simultaneously over two radio stations. Sheeplike persons interested in everlasting life on an earth in a paradise state were especially invited to attend the convention. The interest of all the conventioners was captured by the theme misunderstood up till then, namely, the “great multitude” seen in vision by the apostle John according to Revelation 7:9-17, Authorized Version. To the particular delight of the visible and invisible audience, the members of that “great multitude” were identified. They are not a heaven-bound, “born again” class of Christians. They are the earthly “sheep” class of Jesus’ parable recorded in Matthew 25:31-46. They survive on earth and in this way “come out of the great tribulation.”​—Rev. 7:14.

20. What commitment were those who wanted to be prospective members of the “great multitude” obliged to make, and, after publicly attesting to it, what were they not to expect the spirit to do?

²⁰ These come under the obligation to commit themselves to Jehovah’s Fine Shepherd, Jesus Christ. They show their commitment by “consecrating,” or dedicating, themselves to Jehovah through Christ. Scripturally such a dedication should be attested to by water baptism in the name of the Father, the Son and the holy spirit. (Matt. 28:19, 20) So, if any desired to be prospective members of the “great multitude,” they should logically dedicate themselves now and symbolize their dedication by water baptism. (The Watchtower, August 15, 1934, p. 250, par. 34) It was not to be expected that, following their baptism, God’s spirit would ‘fall upon’ them and beget them to a heavenly life that they were not seeking.

21. By this disclosure, what were hundreds moved to do the next day, and into what “flock” did they stream?

²¹ The disclosure was electrifying, especially for those sheeplike ones who were longing for a definite understanding of their position in Jehovah’s arrangement. So they were galvanized into action by the identification of the “great multitude.” The following day, Saturday, June 1, was programmed so as to offer an opportunity for water baptism. Great was the joy of 840 candidates, most of whom were immersed with the hope of being classed by Jehovah with the prospective “great multitude.” It proved to be an outstanding baptismal event. It was as if the floodgates had been opened up, and throngs streamed through into a publicly confessed relationship with Jehovah, entering into the “one flock” of the Fine Shepherd to associate with his spiritual “brothers.”​—John 10:16; Matt. 25:34.

22. (a) What “key had been used, and with what effect? (b) To what government was their attention directed next day, and for them it was theirs to hail as being what?

²² It was as if the “faithful and discreet slave” class had used a “key of knowledge” (Matt. 24:45-47; Luke 11:52) and had unlocked the door for prospective members of the “great multitude” to enter into wonderful privileges. Taking hold of these would work for them to “come out of the great tribulation” and enter into the cleansed earth under its new world government by Christ. Their attention was directed to that government on the following day by the public address on the subject “Government,” a subject so well adapted to the then existing world situation. To the large visible audience and to a vastly larger radio audience, the address gave early warning of the destruction impending over all the earthly governments of worldly men in God’s war at Armageddon. Furthermore, the address magnified Jehovah’s theocratic government by Christ as being the only hope for all mankind. This was the divine government for the “great multitude,” or the “great crowd,” to acclaim as their glorious hope!a

23. (a) By use of the “key of knowledge,” had the door to believers suitable for the heavenly kingdom been closed? (b) What may be given as evidence in this regard?

²³ However, by such use of the “key of knowledge” had the door that admits suitable believers to the heavenly kingdom been simultaneously locked? No, for Jesus Christ is the One who has “the key of David” and he alone can shut such a door. Admittance was still possible to certain ones according to God’s will. As an evidence of this, certain members of the anointed remnant of Jehovah’s Witnesses were baptized in water in years subsequent to that momentous disclosure about the “great multitude” in the spring of 1935 and the publication of this disclosure in the issues of August 1 and 15, 1935, of the Watchtower magazine.​—Rev. 3:7; Luke 11:52; Matt. 23:13.

24. (a) What will block the entry of further ones into the “one flock” under the Fine Shepherd? (b) In what capacity is the Shepherd admitting “sheep” into the “one flock”?

²⁴ Only the outbreak of the “great tribulation” can block further entrance of humans into the ranks of the sheeplike ones who will make up the “great multitude,” or “great crowd.” (New World Translation) The way of escape from destruction with this doomed system of things will then be a lost opportunity for salvation. For all these years since 1935 the door into the Fine Shepherd’s “one flock” has stayed open. Reportedly, more than two million have gone in. The Fine Shepherd, Jesus Christ, said: “I am the door of the sheep.” (John 10:7-9) As such, he is still admitting the friends of his spiritual “brothers” and separates them from the “goats” who will never survive the “great tribulation” and its “war” at Har–Magedon. All those who now want to, let them listen to the Fine Shepherd’s “voice” as it is now expressed through his spiritual “brothers” yet on earth. (John 10:16) O how grand their privilege is to enjoy the safety of the “one flock” under the “one shepherd”!

[Footnotes]

Concerning what followed this suggestion, the Washington newspaper Herald said:

“Like a tidal wave that mighty throng in and around the auditorium swept to its feet. Arms raised aloft, Jehovah’s witnesses at the top of their lungs shouted their affirmation. Windows in the auditorium rattled as the sound wave beat against them and the voice of the throng, police estimated, could easily have been heard for a mile.”

Similar scenes were enacted at the same moment in London, Belfast, Glasgow, Copenhagen and hundreds of other places in many parts of the earth.​—The Golden Age, issue of June 19, 1935, p. 598; see also the Year Book of Jehovah’s Witnesses for 1936, p. 62, par. 3.