*** w80 8/15 pp. 14-15 pars. 2-4 The "Great Crowd" Renders Sacred Service Where? ***
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 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·os´ 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 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·os´. There we read: "Jesus answered, ‘Destroy this sanctuary [na·os´], and in three days I will raise it up’. The Jews replied, ‘It has taken forty-six years to build this sanctuary [na·os´]: are you going to raise it up in three days?’ But he was speaking of the sanctuary [na·os´] that was his body." (John 2:19-21, The Jerusalem Bible) By "sanctuary," what did those Jews mean?
Matthew 27:5 reports: "Judas threw the money into the sanctuary [na·os´] 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·os´ as "temple"?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 Thus the "great crowd" may be said to be in the "temple," or na·os´, 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·os´ 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·os´] 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.
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
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.
You need to also remember that prior to 1935 the "great company" (great crowd) WAS believed to be in heaven with the 144k but as an inferior class (not first fruits) Although it was Rutherford that presented it history demonstrates all too well that if was likely Fred Franz that brought this point to "light". Franz always seemed to be the most vocal about the GC being inferior (recall the "Tom, Dick and Harry" comment his nephew paraphrased in C of C)
