17, 18. (a) What accounts for the great increase, since 1935, in the number of those looking forward to eternal life on earth? (b) In what vital work are those of the great crowd zealously sharing?

¹⁷ For many years Jehovah’s people had talked about God’s promises regarding the earth. Because of what they expected to occur back in the 1920’s, they proclaimed that “Millions Now Living Will Never Die.” But there were not millions who embraced God’s provisions for life at that time. In the majority who did accept the truth, holy spirit engendered the hope of heavenly life. Especially after 1935, however, a marked change took place. It was not that The Watchtower had ignored the hope of eternal life on earth. For decades Jehovah’s servants had talked about this and had looked for those who fit the Bible’s description. In Jehovah’s due time, though, he saw to it that these manifested themselves.

¹⁸ The available records show that for many years most Memorial attenders partook of the emblems. But within 25 years after 1935, the attendance at the annual Memorial of Christ’s death soared to over one hundred times the number of those who were partaking. Who were these others? Prospective members of the great crowd. Clearly, Jehovah’s time had come to gather them and to prepare them for surviving the great tribulation just ahead. As foretold, they have come “out of all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues.” (Revelation 7:9) They are zealously sharing in the work that Jesus foretold when he said: “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 will come.”​—Matthew 24:14.

1. What milestone of spiritual understanding was reached in 1935?

ON May 31, 1935, there was great joy among the delegates at a convention of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Washington, D.C. There, for the first time, the great multitude (or, great crowd) of Revelation 7:9 was clearly identified in harmony with the rest of the Bible and in accord with events that had already begun to unfold.

2. What indicated that a growing number had realized that God had not called them to heavenly life?

² About six weeks earlier, at the celebration of the Lord’s Evening Meal in congregations of Jehovah’s Witnesses, 10,681 of those present (about 1 out of 6) had not partaken of the emblematic bread and wine, and 3,688 of these were active proclaimers of God’s Kingdom. Why did they refrain from partaking of the emblems? Because on the basis of what they had learned from the Bible, they realized that God had not called them to heavenly life but that they could share in Jehovah’s loving provisions in another way. So at that convention, when the speaker asked: “Will all those who have the hope of living forever on the earth please stand,” what happened? Thousands rose to their feet, followed by prolonged cheering on the part of the audience.

3. Why did the identifying of the great multitude give fresh impetus to the field ministry, and how did the Witnesses feel about this?

³ What the delegates learned at that convention gave fresh impetus to their ministry. They came to appreciate that now, before the end of the old system, not just a few thousand but a great multitude of people would be given the opportunity to come within Jehovah’s arrangement for the preservation of life, with a view to living forever on a paradise earth. What a heartwarming message was there presented to lovers of truth! Jehovah’s Witnesses realized that there was a great work to be done​—a joyous work. Years later, John Booth, who became a member of the Governing Body, recalled: “That assembly gave us much to rejoice over.”

4. (a) To what extent has there actually been a gathering of the great crowd since 1935? (b) In what way are those of the great crowd giving evidence that theirs is a living faith?

⁴ During the years that followed, the number of Jehovah’s Witnesses increased dramatically. In spite of the often violent persecution heaped upon them during World War II, their numbers nearly tripled within a decade. And the 56,153 publishers who had been giving a public witness in 1935 increased, by 1994, to over 4,900,000 Kingdom proclaimers located in more than 230 lands. The vast majority of these look forward with eager anticipation to being included among those whom Jehovah favors with perfection of life on a paradise earth. Compared with the little flock, they truly have become a great crowd. They are not people who say they have faith and yet do not demonstrate it. (James 1:22; 2:14-17) All of them share with others the good news about God’s Kingdom.