The “Great Crowd” Renders Sacred Service Where?

“For this cause are they before the throne of God and are rendering divine service unto him day and night in his sanctuary.”​—Rev. 7:15, Rotherham’s “The Emphasised Bible.”

1. What is the case of “the crowd” in general with regard to the religions of the world?

RELIGION is on the decline. Correspondingly, attendance at “divine service” in church buildings, cathedrals and temples is declining. This is notably true in lands that make up what is called Christendom. Infidels, skeptics, agnostics, atheists and the antireligious are increasing. No efforts at a religious revival will recover them. That is the case with what may be called “the crowd” in general.

2. In what “crowd” are we interested, as foreseen in a vision to the old man exiled to the Isle of Patmos by the Roman government?

² However, we are interested in a special crowd, a “great crowd” foreseen by an old man exiled to the island of Patmos by the government of the Roman Empire. After seeing a vision of 144,000 spiritual Israelites, he writes, saying: “After these things I saw, and behold! a great crowd, which no one could have numbered, out of every nation, and of all tribes, and peoples, and languages, standing before the throne, and in the presence of the Lamb, invested with white robes, and palm-branches in their hands; and they cry with a loud voice, saying, ‘The salvation be ascribed to that God of ours who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.’”​—Rev. 7:9, 10, The Emphatic Diaglott, by Benjamin Wilson.

3. Why are those of that “great crowd” seen standing properly dressed, and why is it widely thought that they are in heaven?

³ What an honored position this “great crowd” is said to occupy, and what a dignified appearance they are said to have! Even in modern times it is proper for one to stand when in the presence of a monarch who is seated on his throne. But here those of that “great crowd” are seen standing before the throne of God himself. Also, in order to suit the occasion, they are clothed with spotless white robes. Are they seen standing in some out-of-doors gathering? No, for Revelation 7:15 (ED) says that “they . . . publicly serve him day and night in his temple [na·osʹ in the Greek original text].” Well, now, does this mean that those making up this “great crowd” finally go to heaven where the God is to whom they ascribe their “salvation”? The answer generally given is Yes! Why? Because it is said to be “in his temple” (ED), or, “in his sanctuary” (Rotherham), that they render to him public service or “divine service.”

4. Around what original Greek word does the question revolve, and in what connection was it used in John 2:19-21?

⁴ However, does that view fit all the detailed facts set out in the last book of the Bible, Revelation? Also, as regards those who today consider themselves part of that “great crowd” that is now being formed, do they expect to go to heaven and become spirit creatures like angels? Do they even want to go to heaven? They will tell you No! and they do not consider themselves to be begotten by God’s spirit to such a heavenly hope. The question revolves around that original Greek word that is variously translated as “tent,” “temple” and “sanctuary.” For example, in the Bible account of where Jesus Christ drove the money changers and merchantmen out of Herod’s temple, the original Greek word used is na·osʹ. There we read: “Jesus answered, ‘Destroy this sanctuary [na·osʹ], and in three days I will raise it up’. The Jews replied, ‘It has taken forty-six years to build this sanctuary [na·osʹ]: are you going to raise it up in three days?’ But he was speaking of the sanctuary [na·osʹ] that was his body.” (John 2:19-21, The Jerusalem Bible) By “sanctuary,” what did those Jews mean?

5. (a) What structure could the Jews not have meant when saying it took 46 years to build it? (b) To what must the word na·osʹ in the Greek Septuagint rendering of Isaiah 66:6 apply?

⁵ Certainly not the inner sanctuary that contained the vestibule, the Holy and the Most Holy compartments. They meant the temple structure as a whole, including its courtyards, in one of which the money changers and merchantmen were doing business. Herod’s temple as a whole was destroyed by the Romans in 70 C.E. Unlike Solomon’s earlier temple that was destroyed in 607 B.C.E., Herod’s temple was never rebuilt. Concerning the temple in Jerusalem, Isaiah 66:6 says, with prophetic significance: “That roar from the city, that uproar in the temple [na·osʹ in the Greek Septuagint translation], is the sound of the LORD dealing retribution to his foes.” (The New English Bible) “Hark! an uproar from the city, Hark! it cometh from the temple [na·osʹ], Hark! the LORD rendereth recompense to His enemies.” (The Jewish Publication Society of America) Very plainly the temple, sanctuary, or na·osʹ, does not mean just the inner sanctuary, but the entire temple area with all its structures.

6. On Passover night of 33 C.E., what false witness did Jews give respecting Jesus and the na·osʹ of Jerusalem?

⁶ On Passover night, Nisan 14, of 33 C.E., certain Jews bore witness before the chief priests and the Sanhedrin, but if these witnesses lived to the year 70 C.E. they had it proved to them that their testimony against Jesus Christ that fateful night was false. They testified: “We heard him say, ‘I will throw down this temple [na·osʹ] that was made with hands and in three days I will build another not made with hands.’ “ (Mark 14:58) Their having Jesus killed did not save their temple from being thrown down completely in 70 C.E.

7. (a) How did the Jews ridicule the impaled Jesus on Calvary? (b) Where did Judas the betrayer finally throw the bribe money?

⁷ Later, on that same day, when the hostile Jews saw this Jesus impaled on the stake outside Jerusalem, they may have felt that he had been foiled in carrying out what they wrongly thought he had said. “So the passersby began to speak abusively of him, wagging their heads and saying: ‘O you would-be thrower-down of the temple [na·osʹ] and builder of it in three days, save yourself! If you are a son of God, come down off the torture stake!’” (Matt. 27:39, 40; Mark 15:29, 30) But before the impalement of Jesus the disciple who had betrayed him to his bloodthirsty enemies for 30 pieces of silver tried to absolve himself. This was Judas Iscariot, one of the 12 apostles. He tried to return the bribe money, but the bribers refused to take it back. Unable to clear himself in this way, what did the betrayer do? Matthew 27:5 reports: “Judas threw the money into the sanctuary [na·osʹ] and left them; then he went off and hanged himself.” (Good News Bible; The Jerusalem Bible; Young’s Literal Translation of the Holy Bible) Why did other modern Bible versions translate na·osʹ as “temple”?

8. Why, evidently, did many Bible translators use the word “temple” here instead of “sanctuary”?

⁸ Evidently because they recognized that the Greek word here did not mean the inner sanctuary with its porch, Holy and Most Holy, into which the high priest brought the blood of the sacrifices on the annual Atonement Day. It meant the temple with all its courts.

9. (a) So, does the “great crowd” need to be in heaven in order to serve God in his na·osʹ? (b) According to Revelation 3:12, may na·osʹ have a limited meaning?

⁹ Thus the “great crowd” may be said to be in the “temple,” or na·osʹ, of God and yet not be in heaven as spirit creatures with the 144,000 spiritual Israelites who make up the “little flock” of God. (Rev. 7:1-9, 15; Luke 12:32) Na·osʹ may also have a limited sense, for Jesus Christ addressed the first-century congregation in Philadelphia, Asia Minor, and said: “As for the one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple [na·osʹ] of my God; he will be secure, and will go out no more; and I will write my God’s Name on him, and he will be a citizen in the city of my God​—the New Jerusalem, coming down from heaven from my God; and he will have my new Name inscribed upon him.”​—Rev. 3:12, The Living Bible.

10. In what ways does Revelation 7:9-17 show that the “great crowd” fails to be in the congregation in that limited na·osʹ?

¹⁰ Such an inscription upon the members of the “great crowd” is not even mentioned in Revelation 7:9-17, neither are they said to be made ‘pillars’ in God’s temple. Those who are made symbolic ‘pillars’ are the 144,000 spiritual Israelites of 12 tribes.

11, 12. (a) In what way does the numbered group of spiritual Israelites differ from the “great crowd” as to names? (b) According to Revelation 14:1-5, how does the name of the city that comes down from God befit the 144,000?

¹¹ Unlike the numberless “great crowd,” this numbered group of spiritual Israelites have the name of Jesus and the name of his Father written upon them. They also have written upon them the name of the city of God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from God. Just as Mount Zion was associated with ancient Jerusalem, so a spiritual Mount Zion is associated with this New Jerusalem that is heavenly. In agreement with this, the apostle John had a second vision of the 144,000 spiritual Israelites, and in making a record of this he wrote:

¹² “Look! the Lamb [Jesus Christ] standing upon the Mount Zion, and with him a hundred and forty-four thousand having his name and the name of his Father written on their foreheads. . . . And they are singing as if a new song before the throne . . . and no one was able to master that song but the hundred and forty-four thousand, who have been bought from the earth. . . . These were bought from among mankind as firstfruits to God and to the Lamb.”​—Rev. 14:1-5.

13. (a) Are those of the “great crowd” like the 144,000 in standing upon the heavenly Mount Zion? (b) Are they “bought from among mankind as firstfruits to God and to the Lamb”?

¹³ Do those descriptive details fit also the international “great crowd” of Revelation 7:9-17? No, for nowhere are they said to stand upon the heavenly Mount Zion. (Heb. 12:22) They are excluded from the original singers of the “new song.” They are not said to be “bought from the earth,” “bought from among mankind as firstfruits to God and to the Lamb.” Consequently, those of the “great crowd” expect to remain on earth forever and to share in bringing it to a Paradise state. They do not belong to the company of 144,000 “bought” ones that began to be formed on the day of Pentecost of 33 C.E., the day on which the Jewish high priest presented the “firstfruits” of the wheat harvest at the temple in Jerusalem. On that day the Greater High Priest, Jesus Christ, paid the purchase price to God in heaven by means of his shed blood, and God used him as the channel through whom to pour out the holy spirit that same day upon the 120 waiting disciples and later upon about 3,000 Jews and Jewish proselytes who repented and got baptized that day.​—Acts, chapter 2; Joel 2:28, 29; Heb. 4:15, 16.

THE “SEAL OF THE LIVING GOD” DIFFERENTIATES

14. Though both the 144,000 and the “great crowd” are brought into a saved condition, how does a seal make a difference between them?

¹⁴ One noteworthy thing that differentiates the 144,000 “bought” ones from the white-robed “great crowd” is what is called the “seal of the living God.” Revelation, chapter 7, which deals with both the 144,000 spiritual Israelites and the “great crowd,” shows that only the 144,000 are marked “in their foreheads” with that “seal” as being “the slaves of our God.” This indicates that there is a difference also in their appointed stations in God’s final arrangements, as regards heaven and earth. This remains true although all are brought into a saved condition, because those of the “great crowd,” as well as the 144,000, accept Jesus Christ as being “the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29, 36; 1 John 2:1, 2) In this way those of the “great crowd . . . have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” (Rev. 7:9, 14) This entitles them to worship Jehovah in his spiritual temple, which was typified or foreshadowed by the whole temple structure in ancient Jerusalem.​—John 4:21-24.

15. The time for making what cry for protection is approaching, and what harmful windstorm is still being held up, and why?

¹⁵ The time is approaching when people in general will say, in effect, to the long-entrenched lofty organizations of earthly society: “Fall over us and hide us from the face of the One seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, because the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” (Rev. 6:16, 17) A storm is about to break. This is indicated by the next words of the vision: “After this I [the apostle John] 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. And I saw another angel [a fifth] 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, 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.’”​—Rev. 7:1-4.

16. Why is it that the “great crowd,” although not sealed, are not harmed by the windstorm that is let loose in expression of the wrath of the Lamb?

¹⁶ None of the “great crowd” are reported as being sealed with that “seal of the living God,” only the 144,000 “slaves of our God.” Why, then, is it that none of the “great crowd” are harmed by that turbulent twister that results from the release of the “four winds” let loose from the four corners of the earth? Also, how is it that those of the unsealed “great crowd” do not feel the “wrath of the Lamb” after the sealing of the 144,000 is finished? Ah! it is because “they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” (Rev. 7:14) They now accept the benefits of his ransom sacrifice and seek cleansing from their sins by being washed in his sin-atoning blood. For their protection they do not look to deep-rooted imposing institutions of puny men, but look to Jehovah God and his Lamblike Son Jesus Christ. So they gratefully cry out: “Salvation we owe to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb.”​—Rev. 7:9, 10.

17. With respect to the issue over Universal Domination, to whom is the “great crowd” loyal, and where is it rendering sacred service, and to whom?

¹⁷ Down to the settlement of the all-important issue of Universal Domination they are loyal to Jehovah’s kingdom by Christ the Lamb. “That is why they are before the throne of God; and they are rendering him sacred service [la·treuʹein, Greek verb] day and night in his temple [na·osʹ].” (Rev. 7:15) There they are associated with the surviving remnant of the 144,000 sealed “slaves of our God.”

“OUT OF THE GREAT TRIBULATION”

18. Out of what are those of the “great crowd” said to come, and what question arises about it?

¹⁸ Included in the “salvation” that the “great crowd” experience is their coming out of what is prophesied in Revelation 7:14: “These are the ones that come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” Word for word, the original Greek text reads: “Out of the tribulation the great.” (Kingdom Interlinear Translation) So, now, what is this “great tribulation”? Instead of the word “tribulation,” other Bible translations read: “affliction,”a “distress,”b “persecution,”c “oppression,”d and “ordeal.”e But many other translations read “tribulation.”

19, 20. (a) What is the meaning of the Latin word from which “tribulation” is drawn? (b) What does Robertson’s commentary say about this word at Revelation 7:14, and how does Jesus’ prophecy use the word?

¹⁹ The Greek word thus variously translated is thlipʹsis. It denotes a bad experience. The English word “tribulation” comes from the Latin tribulum, which means “threshing board (sledge).”

²⁰ On the expression “the great tribulation” as used in Revelation 7:14, Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament (Volume VI, pages 352, 353) comments: “Apparently some great crisis is contemplated (Matt. 13:19ff.; Mt 24:21; Mark 13:19), though the whole series may be in mind and so may anticipate final judgment.” Matthew 24:21 refers first of all to ancient Jerusalem’s destruction in 70 C.E. and reads: “For then there will be great tribulation [thlipʹsis] such as has not occurred since the world’s beginning until now, no, nor will occur again.” Mark 13:19 reads: “For those days will be days of a tribulation [thlipʹsis] such as has not occurred from the beginning of the creation which God created until that time, and will not occur again.” This tribulation was to be part of the “sign when all these things are destined to come to a conclusion.” (Mark 13:4) “All these things” would include the completion of the sealing of the 144,000 spiritual Israelites.​—Rev. 7:1-8.

21. What is the vital Greek word used in the Septuagint Version rendering of Daniel 12:1, and who is Michael?

²¹ The Greek Septuagint Version of the Hebrew Scriptures uses the word thlipʹsis when referring to the same event at Daniel 12:1 and says: “And at that time Michael, the great prince who hath been over the children of thy people, will stand up, and there will be a time of tribulation [thlipʹsis]​—a tribulation [thlipʹsis] such as hath not been since there was a nation on the earth even to this time.” (The Septuagint Bible, by Charles Thomson; The Septuagint Version, published by Samuel Bagster and Sons Limited) According to Revelation 12:7, Michael corresponds with the glorified Jesus Christ.

22. Is the “tribulation” an expression of God’s displeasure with the “great crowd,” and what does their coming out of it mean?

²² From all the foregoing it can be seen that the “great tribulation” is not an expression of God’s wrath or displeasure against the “great crowd,” for the purpose of disciplining them and purifying them from their connections with this wicked system of things. The foretold “great tribulation” is the world trouble, the final “tribulation” upon this doomed world. It is the symbolic windstorm that was held back by the four angels at the four corners of the earth until the final ones of the 144,000 spiritual Israelites are sealed as the “bought” property of Jehovah God, the untransferable “slaves of our God.” The coming of the “great crowd” out of that “great tribulation” means that they survive it.

23. The surviving “great crowd” will form the beginning of what new thing, and with what prospects ahead?

²³ What a delightful privilege it will then be for the saved “great crowd” to continue “rendering [God] sacred service day and night in his temple,” in the earthly courtyards of his great temple arrangement! The “new heavens” will have been established over them, and they will be the beginning of the “new earth” in which righteousness is to dwell endlessly. (2 Pet. 3:13) A new Paradise will begin blossoming upon the cleansed earth, and there will not be in it any Devil to try tempting them to turn to unrighteousness of any kind. Happy, indeed, is the prospect that is set before the “great crowd” that will survive the “war of the great day of God the Almighty” at Har–Magedon!​—Rev. 16:13-16.

[Footnotes]

Sacred Service in This “Time of the End”

1. How do we know that we are living in the “time of the end,” and what does Daniel 12:4 say about it?

IN THE light of the unsealed prophecies of the Bible we should have no trouble in seeing that we are living in the foretold “time of the end.” With regard to this critical period, the prophecy of Daniel 12:4 says: “But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.” (The Jewish Publication Society of America; Leeser) The Greek Septuagint Version reads: “And thou, Daniel, close the words, and seal the book to the time of the end; until many are taught, and knowledge is increased.” (Bagster; Thomson; Latin Vulgate; Lamsa’s Holy Bible from Ancient Eastern Manuscripts) The “great crowd” that is described in the last book of the Bible has benefited from this increase of Bible knowledge and understanding.​—Rev. 7:9-17.

2. (a) Why is how the “great crowd” renders “sacred service” important? (b) How is the Greek word translated ‘to serve’ different from the word rendered “sacred service”?

² Ever since this “great crowd” began to be gathered in 1935 C.E., it has been “rendering . . . sacred service” to Jehovah God. Just how they do this is very important. Why? Because to his faithful 11 apostles Jesus Christ said on his last night with them: “I have spoken these things to you that you may not be stumbled. Men will expel you from the synagogue. In fact, the hour is coming when everyone that kills you will imagine he has rendered a sacred service to God.” (John 16:1, 2) Instead of “sacred service,” The Jerusalem Bible says “holy duty”; The New English Bible says “religious duty”; Rotherham’s The Emphasised Bible says “divine service.” The original Greek word thus translated is la·treiʹa. The verb form of that Greek noun is la·treuʹein. It differs from the Greek verb di·a·ko·neinʹ, which means “to minister or serve,” and which is used even in common, ordinary, mundane things, things not sacred, as in Matthew 8:15.

3. Why did the Jews who stuck to the Law covenant think they could not go wrong in killing Jesus and persecuting his disciples?

³ Saul of Tarsus, Asia Minor, was once a misguided Jew who persecuted Christians until he got converted. He spoke of his fellow Jews as being “Israelites, to whom belong the adoption as sons and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the sacred service [la·treiʹa] and the promises; to whom the forefathers [Abraham, Isaac and Jacob] belong and from whom Christ sprang according to the flesh.” (Rom. 9:4, 5) Because they stuck to that “sacred service” set out in the Law covenant, the unbelieving Jews thought that they could not be wrong in impaling Jesus Christ and persecuting his faithful disciples even to the death.

4. How does Paul speak of the service of the priests in the tent compartments, and what did those activities typify?

⁴ For the time that the Law covenant was in effect, that “sacred service” under it had its place, and it was acceptable to God. So the apostle Paul puts it on a high level when he says: “For its part, then, the former covenant used to have ordinances of sacred service [la·treiʹa] and its mundane holy place. For there was constructed a first tent compartment in which were the lampstand and also the table and the display of the loaves; and it is called ‘the Holy Place.’ But behind the second curtain was the tent compartment called ‘the Most Holy.’ . . . After these things had been constructed this way, the priests enter the first tent compartment at all times to perform the sacred services [la·treiʹa].” (Heb. 9:1-6) That ceremonial sacred service was in connection with the sacrifices offered in behalf of the nation of Israel. It did not refer to everyday things of the people. As the apostle Paul points out, all such “sacred service” under the old Law covenant was typical, prefiguring Christian matters.

5. Is what Paul tells Christians to do at Romans 12:1 something of an ordinary kind, and what does he call it?

⁵ In line with that, Paul said in his letter to the Christians at Rome: “Consequently I entreat you by the compassions of God, brothers, to present your bodies a sacrifice living, holy, acceptable to God, a sacred service [la·treiʹa] with your power of reason. And quit being fashioned after this system of things.” (Rom. 12:1, 2) So their doing something of a sacrificial kind would be out of the ordinary, something not carried on in general by the unchristian people of this worldly system of things.

6. By entering the Law covenant through Moses, the Israelites obligated themselves to do what toward God, and what did the martyr Stephen say about this?

⁶ After the nation of Israel was delivered out of the house of slavery in ancient Egypt, they were given an organized form of sacred service to God. As the Christian martyr Stephen worded it: “‘And that nation for which they will slave I shall judge,’ God said, ‘and after these things they will come out and will render sacred service [la·treuʹein] to me in this place.’” (Acts 7:7) By entering the Law covenant with Jehovah God through Moses as their mediator, the Israelites obliged themselves to render sacred service to Him. Later the majority of the covenant-bound Israelites chose to worship other gods. “So,” as Stephen went on to say, “God turned and handed them over to render sacred service [la·treuʹein] to the army of heaven, just as it is written in the book of the prophets, ‘It was not to me that you offered victims and sacrifices for forty years in the wilderness, was it, O house of Israel?’”​—Acts 7:42.

7. (a) In order to attain to the fulfillment of God’s promise, what did Paul say that the Jews were rendering to Him? (b) According to what the Jews called a sect, the apostle Paul was doing what to the God of his forefathers?

⁷ It was many years after Jehovah God had canceled his Law covenant with the natural house of Israel that the apostle Paul said in a judicial hearing before King Agrippa at Caesarea: “Our twelve tribes are hoping to attain to the fulfillment of this promise by intensely rendering [God] sacred service [la·treuʹein] night and day. Concerning this hope I am accused by Jews, O king.” (Acts 26:7) Because of such an accusation Paul could say before the Roman governor Felix in the presence of Jewish accusers: “I do admit this to you, that, according to the way that they call a ‘sect,’ in this manner I am rendering sacred service [la·treuʹein] to the God of my forefathers, as I believe all the things set forth in the Law and written in the Prophets.”​—Acts 24:14; 28:22.

8. (a) What is that “sect” according to which even the “great crowd” of today is worshipping Jehovah? (b) Why is there great danger of rendering a misguided “sacred service,” and what did Paul say is our safeguard?

⁸ The so-called heretical “sect” according to which Paul was worshiping Jehovah as God was Christianity. (Acts 11:26; 1 Pet. 4:16) Today those of the “great crowd” publicly acknowledge that they are Christian witnesses of Jehovah, and for that reason they must be very careful as to how they try to serve Jehovah in a sacred way. Since the “time of the end” set in at the close of the “times of the Gentiles” in 1914, false gods and false lords have multiplied. (Luke 21:24, Authorized Version) Even 19 centuries ago the apostle Paul found it necessary to remind the “Christians” in the capital city of the Roman Empire: Jewish apostates “exchanged the truth of God for the lie and venerated and rendered sacred service [la·treuʹein] to the creation rather than the One who created.” (Rom. 1:25) He showed what was his safeguard against misguided sacred service, when he said: “Even though there are those who are called ‘gods,’ whether in heaven or on earth, just as there are many ‘gods’ and many ‘lords,’ there is actually to us one God the Father, out of whom all things are, and we for him; and there is one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things are, and we through him.”​—1 Cor. 8:5, 6.

HOW RENDERED AND WHEN

9. When did efforts to render “sacred service” to God according to the Mosiac Law covenant become out of order, and why?

⁹ During the 1,545 years that the Law covenant was in operation toward the Jewish nation, from 1513 B.C.E. to 33 C.E., the faithful Jews rendered to Jehovah God what was “sacred service” acceptable to him. But when that Law covenant was abolished at the time that the glorified Jesus Christ mediated the new covenant in heaven in 33 C.E., the Mosaic Law covenant was no longer the means by which to render sacred service approved by Jehovah, the God of the new covenant. (Heb. 8:10-13) To have their religious service approved by Jehovah God, the Jews had to render it through the Mediator greater than Moses, Jesus Christ the Son of God, the ‘seed of Abraham.’ (Gal. 3:16) This was referred to on that spring day in 2 B.C.E. when the Jewish priest named Zechariah declared that his eight-day-old son should be named John.

10. (a) On that day of circumcising his son, Zechariah said that it was God’s purpose for His people to render what to Him after being freed from their enemies? (b) In behalf of that oath-bound covenant, John became the forerunner of whom?

¹⁰ Then the inspired Zechariah told of God’s purpose to “perform the mercy in connection with our forefathers and to call to mind his holy covenant, the oath that he swore to Abraham our forefather, to grant us, after we have been rescued from the hands of enemies, the privilege of fearlessly rendering sacred service [la·treuʹein] to him with loyalty and righteousness before him all our days.” (Luke 1:59-75) John the son of Zechariah became the forerunner of Jesus Christ, the one whom God used in carrying out the covenant that he made with Abraham, confirming it with an unbreakable oath.​—Gen. 12:3; 22:15-18; Gal. 3:8, 16; Heb. 6:13-17.

11. (a) Where is the “great crowd” endeavoring to render “sacred service” to God today? (b) What question does 1 Corinthians 10:31 raise with regard to that “great crowd”?

¹¹ As persons who are already blessed through the Abrahamic covenant, those of the “great crowd” find themselves in the earthly courtyards of Jehovah’s spiritual “temple” and are seeking to render “sacred service” fearlessly to the God of Abraham. But how? True, the words of the apostle Paul at 1 Corinthians 10:31 apply to the “great crowd” as well as to the remnant of the 144,000 spiritual Israelites, namely: “Therefore, whether you are eating or drinking or doing anything else, do all things for God’s glory.”

12. Because of our different viewpoint and because we do these common things under the name of Christian witnesses of Jehovah, does this of itself make these things “sacred service,” or not?

¹² By those words does the apostle Paul mean that all things that we now do as Christians become “sacred service” (lat·reiʹa) because of our having a different viewpoint respecting these things? Why should that be the case? When we eat, drink and sleep and do things that all other humans are obliged to do to live, whom are we really serving? Ourselves, naturally. Yes, when we now do those things, we have God’s glory in mind. Hence, we do not overeat to the point of sickness or gluttony; we do not drink alcoholic beverages to the point of drunkenness; we do not regularly sleep too much to the point of laziness or slothfulness. Yet now when we eat, drink, sleep under the religious name of Christian witnesses of Jehovah, the same as all other humans do under their religious names, does this of itself transform these basic, essential acts of human living into “sacred service”? No; why should it?

13. Why is the case different when the anointed witnesses of Jehovah celebrate the Lord’s Evening Meal each year on the right date?

¹³ Of course, when Christian witnesses of Jehovah who are anointed with his holy spirit celebrate the Lord’s Supper or Evening Meal each year, this does make a difference. Then their eating the unleavened bread and their drinking the red wine on the springtime night of Nisan 14 are things done under the command of Jesus Christ and have the deep significance that he attached to them. So they are a vital part of the “sacred service” rendered to God by these members of Christ’s spiritual body.​—1 Cor. 11:20-26; Matt. 26:26-30; Luke 22:19, 20.

14. Why is it advisable to do the things stated at Romans 13:1-7, and in doing so do we differ from all other law-abiding citizens of the land?

¹⁴ On the other hand, when all Christian witnesses of Jehovah do what the apostle Paul instructs them to do in Romans 13:1-7, they are doing only what is required of all other citizens or alien residents of a country. Properly we do so as good and orderly persons, and this keeps us from getting into trouble with the “superior authorities.” We also do so with a higher motivation, that is, to keep a good conscience and an appreciation of what is right and fitting. But our now acting in this way under the name of Christian witnesses of Jehovah does not automatically change our proper conduct into the Scriptural “sacred service.” All other law-abiding citizens do the same things, even without the same motivations that we have. So how do we differ in these respects?

15. If we defy man-made prohibitions of Jehovah’s worship and so do what other citizens do not do, what kind of service does this become, and why?

¹⁵ However, suppose the authorities of the land forbid us to carry on our worship as Christian witnesses of Jehovah? What now if we take up the words of the apostles of Christ: “We must obey God as ruler rather than men”? (Acts 5:29) Our continuing to do what all other citizens do not do, in order to obey what God orders his dedicated, baptized witnesses to do keeps what we are doing a service sacred to him. This holds true even though the authorities and other citizens of the land may denounce it as illegal, lawless.

16. What instance of this obligatory “sacred service” is given in Hebrews 10:23-25?

¹⁶ For instance, God’s Word commands: “Let us hold fast the public declaration of our hope without wavering, for he is faithful that promised. And let us consider one another to incite to love and fine works, not forsaking the gathering of ourselves together, as some have the custom. but encouraging one another, and all the more so as you behold the day drawing near.”​—Heb. 10:23-25.

17. Does the way that the “superior authorities” legalistically brand our obeying the divine exhortation change the spiritual nature of our course?

¹⁷ Undeniably our obedience to this inspired exhortation, even though we suffer for it at men’s hands, is a sacred service to the Supreme Being, Jehovah God. Let the displeased “superior authorities” of the land brand it as they choose to do, legalistically.​—2 Tim. 2:8-10.

18. The “public declaration of our hope” has to do with what government, and so this comes under what mandatory words of Jesus?

¹⁸ The confession or “public declaration of our hope” has to do with God’s Messianic kingdom that will reign for the blessing of all the families of the earth. Regarding such “public declaration,” Jesus said when prophesying concerning “the conclusion of the system of things” these mandatory words: “This good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations; and then the end [telʹos] will come.” (Matt. 24:3, 14) “You will . . . be put on the stand before governors and kings for my sake, for a witness to them. Also, in all the nations the good news has to be preached.”​—Mark 13:4, 9, 10.

19. Who are the ones who must carry the fulfillment of those prophetic words into effect, and their doing so is part of what?

¹⁹ Who are to carry out the fulfillment of those prophecies that they may be proved true? No others than the dedicated, baptized disciples of the Giver of the prophecies, Jesus Christ, the ones to whom the prophecies were given. Their seeing their duty and their taking part in putting those prophecies into effect is a part of the “sacred service” that they may not sidestep.

20. Proving that his disciples must do this “sacred service,” what did Jesus say to his disciples in a mountain of Galilee, and so what must those who live in the “conclusion of the system of things” do?

²⁰ Buttressing up the fact that his disciples were to carry on this “sacred service,” the resurrected Jesus appeared to about 500 of his disciples in a mountain in “Galilee of the nations” and commanded them: “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, teaching them to observe all the things I have commanded you. And, look! I am with you all the days until the conclusion [syn·telʹi·a] of the system of things.” (Matt. 28:19, 20; 4:15; 1 Cor. 15:6) Since the end of the “times of the Gentiles” in 1914 we have been living in the “conclusion of the system of things.” So all we dedicated, baptized disciples of the resurrected, fully empowered Jesus Christ are under orders to carry out this “sacred service” that he has laid upon us. To the end of this conclusion of the system of things” we must do so, never slacking the hand.

21. (a) To those who make it into the heavenly New Jerusalem, what privileges will be granted? (b) To those of the “great crowd” proving faithful to the end of the “great tribulation,” what favors will be granted?

²¹ Concerning the 144,000 spiritual Israelites who gain admission into the heavenly city, the New Jerusalem, it is written: “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 [la·treuʹein]; and they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.” (Rev. 22:3, 4) As for the faithful, obedient ones who make up the numberless “great crowd,” they will be blessed with “salvation” out of the “great tribulation” with which this “time of the end” will close, and under the millennial kingdom of the Lamb of God they will continue “rendering [God] sacred service” in the earthly courtyards of his spiritual temple. “And God will wipe out every tear from their eyes.”​—Rev. 7:9-17.