Revelation 5:9, 10, which speaks of people from all nations being made a kingdom and priests, ruling "over the earth"? Realizing that if the "other sheep" are Gentiles, I would therefore need to find some explanation for this scripture. For me, I find a need to understand what this 144,000 concept means in connection with it all.
Well, I spent some time yesterday reading scriptures and pondering it. So...the 144,000 are spoken of as being from "the sons of Israel". They stand with the Lamb on Mount Zion, they're undefiled, can master a song that no one else can master, follow the Lamb wherever he goes, and are bought as firstfruits from the earth.
Revelation 20:4, 5 mentions those who partake in the first resurrection, who rule as kings for a thousand years. The curious thing about this scripture is that it does not mention a specific number. It only mentions "the souls of those executed...for bearing witness to Jesus". Obviously not all 144,000 people were necessarily executed--certainly not if we assumed the Society was right. It seems like a tough subject.
But then, New Jerusalem is referred to as "coming down out of heaven" in Revelation 21. Also in Revelation 21, "kings of the nations" bring their glory into this New Jerusalem. Is it logical to conclude, then, that a heavenly rulership would then be followed by some sort of direct interaction with man on earth, or that perhaps earth would be totally transformed into a place as awesome as heaven itself?
Clearly, the "great crowd" is rendering sacred service in God's "temple". Since God no longer has a temple on earth, isn't it reasonable to conclude that the great crowd is in heaven? It is also clear that Armageddon would not kill all mankind who didn't agree with some specific religious organization, as even after the thousand years, Satan goes out to mislead "the nations". By JW logic, at least, presumably there would only be one nation, right? It's also clear that the "dead" who are judged after Satan is thrown into the lake of fire are not merely "spiritually dead", as the sea, Death and Hades would not logically be giving up spiritually dead people, but rather LITERALLY dead people. But JWs have sent these people back in time and essentially, inevitably, placed them in a category amongst the first resurrection! But this second resurrection is clearly explained--"the rest of the dead did not come to life until after the thousand years had ended."
Well, primarily I'm curious--is there any other Bible translation apart from the NWT that says at Rev. 5:9, 10 that the people from all nations would be ruling "over the earth" instead of "on the earth"? I've not found any translations that say "over" apart from NWT. The Greek term that's used there, according to James Allen Hewett's book on Greek New Testament grammar (which the Society has quoted from), means "on", and they make no mention of "over" as being a possible meaning. Strong's Dictionary says "on", "on behalf of", and does have "over" as a possibility, but...does it apply in this case? Or did the Society render it as "over" to support their doctrine?
Curious to hear your thoughts. Got a meeting tonight. If I'm fortunate, maybe the Thought Police will be arresting me soon. I'm a little scared and a little sad that no one will believe me, but...no one believed Galileo. Doesn't change the facts, though--he was right. Take care.
SD-7