One of the core doctrines of the Watchtower is that only 144,000 humans will go to heaven, where
they are to rule as kings. Most Jehovah's Witnesses are not considered part of the 144,000 and do not expect to go to heaven. Rather they believe
themselves part of the Great Crowd that will never die, but rather reside forever on earth.
Prior to 1935, all "true Christians" were said to be anointed and called to heaven. Therefore,
everyone associating with the Watchtower Society prior to 1935 was automatically part of
the heavenly class. Those who converted after 1935 generally are told they have an earthly hope. What makes this doctrine
quite absurd is that it indicates God could only find 144,000 true
Christians over a period of 2000 years, yet over 6 million true Witness Christians since 1935.
Revelation 7 defines the 144,000 are a class of "kings and priests",
so there is no issue in claiming these are a smaller group than
the Great Crowd. However, there are aspects of this Watchtower doctrine that merit consideration
and are discussed in this article:

1. Is the number 144,000 literal?
2.Did the total number of 'true Christians' between Jesus time and 1935 only amount to 144,000 people?
3.Does the memorial show respect to Jesus?

Literal number

The number 144,000 is
mentioned just twice in the Bible.

Revelation 7:3,4 - ""Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until after we have sealed the
slaves of our God in their
foreheads." And I heard the number of those who were sealed, a hundred and forty-four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of the sons of Israel."

Revelation 14:1, 4-5 - "And I saw, and, look! the Lamb 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. ...These are
the ones that did not defile themselves with women; in fact, they are virgins. These are the
ones that keep following the Lamb no matter where he goes.
These were bought from among mankind as firstfruits to God and
to the Lamb, and no falsehood was found in their mouths; they
are without blemish."

The Watchtower makes the claim that in these Scriptures the number 144,000 is literal, but all
other descriptors of them are figurative, saying that they are not literally:

from the tribes of Israel
having the name of Lamb and Father on their foreheads virgins
holding no falsehood on their mouths without blemish In such a figurative passage
there is no strong reason to believe that the number 144,000 is any less figurative. Closer inspection of Revelation
also shows that this group are not collected over a two thousand year period, but rather the entire group reside on earth at the time of the great tribulation. Revelation 7:4 says that the winds are held back, not to seal the remnant, but rather to seal a 144,000 sons of Israel.
TBC

obadiah777: well you do know going to heaven is different from going to the kingdom of heaven right ? they are two different things

How do you mean?

obadiah777: well you do know going to heaven is different from going to the kingdom of heaven right ? they are two different things

How do you mean?

Yooguyz:

How do you mean?

going to heaven means you will be in rulership and authority of the kingdom of God on earth. however going into the kingdom of heaven means you will be a citizen in the kingdom of Heaven on earth. one is rulers and the other is the ruled. only a select will be the rulers but it is also sweet being admitted into the kingdom even if you are not a ruler .

^^ Lord knows why you are laughing.

@ OP: Eleyi gidi gan.

ARareGem: ^^ Lord knows why you are laughing.

@ OP: Eleyi gidi gan.

excuse me mrs, am not yoruba, please translate.

CONTINUATION
ONLY 144,000 IN 2000 YEARS

Watchtower doctrine has been that until 1935, all "true Christians" were part of the heavenly class, which means that over a period of 1902 years only
144,000 people can be
considered to have worshipped God acceptably.

"As spirit-anointed brothers of Christ, all the early Christians had
the prospect of being heavenly priests with Christ." Jehovah's
Witnesses - Proclaimers of God's Kingdom p.35

"And Christians back there in the first century needed it. At that
time all of them were spirit-anointed Christians who looked forward to a future resurrection
"into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."
"Let Your Kingdom Come" p.88

"For some 19 centuries after this there was only one calling, the heavenly one. It was an undeserved kindness that God bestowed on a limited number in
furtherance of his own wise and loving purposes." United in
Worship of the only True God p.111

"Selecting these future corulers over mankind would take time.
Why? For one thing, that
opportunity had to be extended to people of all nations. And, while many professed to lay hold
of it, few truly proved to be faithful followers of God's Son.
(Matthew 22:14) High standards had to be met." True Peace and
Security - How Can You Find It? p.65

"We understand that this
heavenly calling continued down
through the centuries, though during the so-called Dark Ages,
there may have been times when the number of anointed ones
were very few. With the
reestablishment of true
Christianity near the end of the last century, more were called and chosen. But it seems that in
the mid-1930's, the full number of the 144,000 was basically completed. Thus there began to
appear a group of loyal Christians with the earthly hope. Jesus
termed such "other sheep," who unite in worship with the
anointed as one approved flock."
Watchtower 1996 Aug 15 p.31

So how many true Christians were there to receive the heavenly calling in the 1835
years between 100 A.D and 1935 A.D.? The Watchtower provides
figures that can be used to determine this figure.
The Watchtower would have us believe that in the first century,
whilst some of the apostles were
still alive, there were tens of thousands of Christians worthy to be of the heavenly calling.
40,000 are said to have been martyred in the year 95 A.D. alone.

"Brief respite followed the death of Nero, but by the latter years of the first century the second great
persecution, under Emperor Domitian, flared up. It is said that in the year 95 alone some 40,000 suffered martyrdom. Also, it was
in this period that John, last living of the twelve apostles, was exiled
to the isle of Patmos, from where he recorded the inspired Bible
book of Revelation about A.D.96." Watchtower 1951 Sep 1 p.516

Again from 1878 to 1935, tens of thousands attained the equally
high standards that were
required to receive the calling.We find that over 52,000 Jehovah's Witnesses claimed the
heavenly calling by taking the emblems in 1935.

"Year ...... Att. ...... Part.
1935 ...... 63,146 ... 52,465"
Jehovah's Witnesses -
Proclaimers of God's Kingdom p.717

To be conservative, from the figures above we can estimate that by the end of the first century there were at least 65,000 Christians and in 1935
there were 52,000 Anointed Watchtower followers. Therefore
we have:
144,000
less 65,000
less 52,000
equals 27,000 true Christians called during the 1835 years
between 100 A.D. and 1935
That would mean that during this period God could only find an additional 15 true Christians per year, throughout the entire
world. The word conservative is used
because there have been many more than 52,000 Watchtower partakers. To the 52,000 actively
partaking in 1935 there needs to be added the many Watchtower
followers that had died prior to 1935 and the 10,000 now partaking.
The word conservative is alsoused as history shows that therewere likely more than 65,000
Christians in the first century. By the end of the second century
there were an estimated
3,000,000 Christians of which over one millions Christians had been martyred.

"It has been calculated that by the end of the second century
60,000 copies of the major part of the Christian Greek Scriptures
could have been in circulation,
even if only one in every fifty of those professing Christianity possessed a copy." Watchtower
1963 Apr 15 p.249

"Diocletian assumed the crown A.D. 284. At first he seemed friendly to the Christians, but in the year 303 he gave in to
persuasion and opened the tenth persecution, probably the most
ferocious of all. Suffocation by smoke, forcible drinking of melted lead, mass drownings and burnings, breaking on the rack of men and women alike
ran the empire with blood. In a single month 17,000 were slain.
In the province of Egypt alone,144,000 such professed Christians died by violence in the
course of this persecution, in addition to another 700,000 who died as a result of fatigues
encountered in banishment or under enforced public works."
Watchtower 1951 Sep 1 p.518

These men, women and children offered their lives for God and it is illogical to claim these early
Christian martyrs were not worthy to be counted as true Christians and hence denied the
heavenly calling. They are shown great disrespect by being branded as unworthy and apostate simply because it does
not fit the Watchtower theory that only 144,000 go to heaven.

"Diocletian assumed the crown A.D. 284. At first he seemed friendly to the Christians, but in the year 303 he gave in to
persuasion and opened the tenth persecution, probably the most
ferocious of all. Suffocation by smoke, forcible drinking of melted lead, mass drownings and burnings, breaking on the rack of men and women alike
ran the empire with blood. In a single month 17,000 were slain.
In the province of Egypt alone,144,000 such professed Christians died by violence in the
course of this persecution, in addition to another 700,000 who died as a result of fatigues
encountered in banishment or under enforced public works."
Watchtower 1951 Sep 1 p.518

These men, women and children offered their lives for God and it is illogical to claim these early
Christian martyrs were not worthy to be counted as true Christians and hence denied the
heavenly calling. They are shown great disrespect by being branded as unworthy and apostate simply because it does
not fit the Watchtower theory that only 144,000 go to heaven.

EISEGENESIS OF INTERPRETATION

As discussed at the section on paradise, the Bible consistently shows that the resurrection
hope is a heavenly one held out to all Christians. In an effort to make the number that go to
heaven appear small, the
Watchtower refers to a heavenly class that is described as a "Little
Flock of 144,000".

"One aspect of that secret
involved Jehovah’s selecting a “little flock” of 144,000 humans to be associated with his Son as part of the seed, to
reign with him in heaven."
Examining the Scriptures Daily 2007 p.117 Nov 28.

These terms do not appear together in the Bible, and there is
no reason to believe they refer to the same group. Yet Watchtower
publications group "little flock" and "144,000" together over 300
times over the last 5 decades.
The 144,000 (hundred and forty-four thousand) are described only twice in the Bible at
Revelation 7 and 14, and the term Little Flock appears only once:

Luke 12:32 "Have no fear, little flock, because YOUR Father has approved of giving YOU the kingdom."

To group these terms and claim heaven will be limited to a little flock results from an eisegesis
doctrinal approach, as the
context of Revelation and the gospels contain no such arbitrary links. As shown at Great Crowd,
the other sheep (gentiles)
actually become part of the little flock (Jews) and the great crowd
is a heavenly group.
Memorial Celebration
One of the results of this doctrine is that most Jehovah's Witnesses
do not partake of the bread and wine emblems in memorial of the
death of Jesus. Only the 144,000 are permitted to.

"Since sharing in the bread and wine passed during the Memorial
involves all of this, it would obviously be inappropriate for
those having an earthly hope to partake . Those with an earthly hope discern that they
themselves are not anointed members of the body of Christ, nor are they in the new covenant
that Jehovah made with those who will rule with Jesus Christ.
Since "the cup" represents the new covenant, only those in the new covenant partake of the
emblems. Those looking forward to everlasting life in human perfection on earth under the Kingdom are neither baptized
into Jesus' death nor called to rule with him in heaven. Were they to partake of the emblems, it would signify something that is
not true with respect to them.Thus, they do not partake,though they do attend the Memorial as respectful observers." Watchtower 2006
Feb 15 p. 24

This is in direct violation of Jesus words, where he commands partaking of the emblems as an
importance acceptance of him and gaining everlasting life.

John 6:53-57 "Accordingly Jesus
said to them: "Most truly I say to YOU, Unless YOU eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his
blood, YOU have no life in
yourselves. He that feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has everlasting life, and I shall resurrect him at the last day; for
my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. He that feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood
remains in union with me, and I in union with him. Just as the
living Father sent me forth and I live because of the Father, he also
that feeds on me, even that one will live because of me."

1 Corinthians 11:25b-26 "Keep doing this, as often as YOU drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as YOU eat this loaf and drink this cup, YOU keep proclaiming the death of the Lord, until he arrives."