There must be lots more than 144,000 jehovahs witnesses.?

Question

Does that mean most of them are going to be really dissapointed?
or
Maybe I've got the wrong end of the stick?

I got the number from a post that was here yesterday. I got the idea that JW's say only 144,000 people go to heaven. Maybe I misunderstood? I'm not one myself.

Answer 1

Just imagine how it will take for them all to give their evidence.

Answer 2

144,000 go to heaven as per Revelation. Everyone else (not just Jehovah's Witnesses) have the hope of living forever on earth. Jehovah's Witnesses do not believe that the 144,000 consists only of members of their faith - the apostles are included in this number, for example.

Answer 3

Short and to the point:

There are as of now almost 7 million Jehovahs Witnesses and their assistance to the yearly Jesus Christ Memorial was about 16 million.

144,000 is just like you said, the number of people going to heaven. The rest will be extremely happy here on earth turned into a paradise.

Answer 4

Yes to Q1. No to Q2 if the JWs are correct but Yes if they are wrong. Yes to Q3.

Currently there are maybe 8 million baptized JWs and many million more associates. About 8,500 claim to be going to heaven when they die (part of this 144,000 class), but the rest are not disappointed because they have no desire to go to heaven. They have been told they can live forever in perfection on a paradise earth and this is what they are looking forward to. So they go round the doors telling people about this earthly hope.

However, JWs should read their leaders' literature more carefully than perhaps they do, for in it only those hoping to go to heaven have Jesus as their Mediator and are in the New Covenant, which declares them righteous before God, delivered from darkenss and transferred into the kingdom of Christ, and who have had their sins forgiven. This clearly means that all those millions of other JWs are NOT in that happy, safe situation. Their sins are STILL not forgiven. Yet they think God will be pleased with them? Strange indeed.

Answer 5

You see, this is why you have so many JW's beating on doors attempting to earn their salvation.

You see, the JW's believe that only they, the remnant church, will achieve salvation. Who is the remnant church? Their leaders of course, the Watchtower Tract Society. It's believed that they will total 144,000, when all is said and done. These JW's struggle to work for their salvation to be part of that remnant church. Thus, their zeal, you see?

The majority of them? Well, since they don't believe in a literal hell, they believe they will just cease to exist.

Isn't that a sad belief? No hope whatsoever. If they only knew Christ for who He really is. Then they could receive salvation and be assured it was theirs forever. Rather than work tirelessly, and still not be assured of what will happen to them.

I asked a JW once, "If it took you 2500 doors to knock on to receive your salvation, and you got 2499, then suddenly died...........where is your hope?" I could get no answer.

It's not through works that you receive salvation, but rather your works is a demonstration OF your salvation. It's only through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, do we see Heaven. No other way.

Another question I posed to them was...... "Are you a Jew?" The answer is always, "No." I state, "Scripture tells us that the 144,000 are a total of 12,000 Jews out of each tribe of Israel. If you're not a Jew, then this cannot apply to the Jehovahs Witnesses, nor the Watchtower Tract Society."

You see, when the Tribulation period comes, the church and it's believers, according to 1 Thes 4, will be taken up from here. ( The Rapture ) But yet, Revelation tells us that there will still be those, even during the Tribulation, who will be saved. Aka, the Tribulation saints, as they are known. But how will they hear the Gospel of Christ if the church is no longer? How can they hear if no believers are here to witness to them? And how could a believer stay alive during that time since the Antichrist would be hunting them? God made a solution to that problem....

Revelation tells us that the 144,000 would be "sealed" by God. What does that mean? That means that they will be under divine protection. They will be the ones who will bring the final message to the remaining people alive during that time. And those "messengers" will be protected by God Himself. There is nothing mentioned in scripture about anyone being a "remnant church", such as the JW's or the Mormons, or anyone like them, describe. To believe as they do, goes against the Word of God.

I hope this helps you.

Answer 6

I also don't understand how they got that number, I'll check back to see if someone answers that too, if you don't mind me adding a question to your post.

Where did the number 144,000 come from? I understand what it means, but I don't know how this figure came to be.

Edit:

Alright, I get it now. Thanks for the knowledge r w and reallytrue101.

It makes me a little concerned still. These 144,000 who won't be as easily "dooped," by the anti-christ, they could be anyone? They don't have to be righteous or be necessarily a member of the Jehovah Witnesses' religion? They'll just be sensitive to that spirit?

It kind of takes out the whole point about being a member of a church, or a member of the Jehovah Witnesses' church at most. In general, being a church goer is supposed to support that spiritual sensitivity that one would have when he lives in accordance to gospel standards, wouldn't it? I can consider that it would help those that won't have that sensitivity as the collective, but then why would it be necessary if these 144,000 are promised to appear to help out the world?

How does that add up, how would that work? I know that God's spirit can't dwell in unholy places or people, what if these 144,000 people don't chose to follow in their "destiny?" If they're not allowed to deny it, it would go against free will. God's way is letting people have free will.

I don't know, I have too many "it does not compute," moments when I think about the 144,000 in this new way.
That's a tough church doctrine to understand, I'll try my best to, but it's a little odd for me to digest. I really don't want to sound offensive, I'm explaining myself in the most honest way I can.

I'm not a Jehovah Witness either.

Answer 7

Vic gave the correct answer (the only one I saw) but did not explain.

The JWs teach that only 144,000 are going to heaven. This make this claim based on the verse in Rev mentioned previously.

They *also* teach that the remaining "saved", which they term "the great crowd" (biblical term), will live in eternal happiness in paradise *on earth*. They believe that the whole earth will be restored to paradise as was the garden of Eden in Genesis.

So, yes, you have the wrong end of the stick, but as can be seen by the answers, you are not the only one holding it.

Jim, not a JW, http://www.jimpettis.com/wheel/

Answer 8

I have no idea why people think that when they read of the 144,000 in Scripture, they think thats a total of all the saved folks. Its
not: far from it.
The 144,000 are a specific group who when
the Antichrist is here with his one-world government set up, and as written he is
pretending to be Jesus Christ himself, these
are the ones who realize something is just not quite "right" with this "jesus" who has come; they are those who come out of the
tribulation of Satan and are overcommers.
That is not to say they are the only ones who are saved or who are in heaven, or even those who after the true Christ comes, are not taught in the millinium and saved.
The amount of people in total who will be saved is "uncountable".
But this 144,000 come out of the deception early and help Gods Elect to teach others
and council others.
I would be amiss as a Christian teacher of the manuscripts if I did not say that with the doctrine taught the JW's, most of them are
in big, big trouble anyway. They have listened to man instead of to the simplicity in which Christ taught in his Word; if there
are 100 J.W.'s that are truly "saved" at this point (saved from deception i mean) I would be astonished, really.

Answer 9

there told that only the chosen ones know who they are so they all must be secretly thinking that there one of the 144 or they must think they will hang in there just in case there's a opening, they get the number from revelations where it speaks of 12 000 from each tribe of Israel being selected to be the bride of Christ

Answer 10

Yeah Common men, The Estimation to recruit people to heaven is done approx. 1900 years ago. From that time everything has gone up. So don’t worry may be it is 144000 X 2000 now? who knows ?

Answer 11

Harpazo = Rapture

END-TIME BIBLE PROPHECY

The Messiah Lord Jesus said BIRTH PANGS would signal the time of the end (Matthew 24:8). There are NINE birth pangs, they are all PRE-TRIBULATIONAL and the 1st three already occurred.

The first birth pang was worldwide conflict coupled with famines and earthquakes (Matthew 24:7-8). Worldwide conflict was fulfilled in 1914-1918, major famines happened in 1918-1921 and most of the world’s major earthquakes began to occur since 1900.

The second birth pang was the restoration of a Jewish State (Ezekiel 20:33-38; Ezekiel 22:17-22; Ezekiel 36:22-24; Zephaniah 2:1-2). This was fulfilled in 1948.

The third birth pang was Jewish control of the Old City of Jerusalem (Revelation 11:1-2). For the third Jewish Temple (Tribulation Temple) to be rebuilt, Jerusalem needs to be under Jewish control and this was accomplished in the Six Day War in 1967.

The fourth birth pang will be the Ezekiel 38 war. Russia, allied states of Iran, Ethiopia, Somalia, Germany and Armenia will invade Israel. God will miraculously destroy the invading army by earthquake, civil war among the invading soldiers, pestilence, blood, flood, hailstones, fire and brimstone. This will bring a revival in Israel where many Jews will turn to the Lord, and Israel will spend 7 years and 7 months burying the bodies and burning for fuel the military equipment left behind (Ezekiel 39:9-16).

The 5th birth pang will be the development of a one world government (Daniel 7:23-24).

The 6th birth pang will be the splitting of the one world government into 10 kingdoms and this Ten Kingdom Stage will continue until mid-Tribulation (Daniel 7:24).

The 7th birth pang will be the revelation of the Antichrist (II Thessalonians 2:1-3; Daniel 7:24).

The 8th birth pang will be a period of peace and false security that will be shattered by the Tribulation (1 Thessalonians 5:1-3).

The 9th and final birth pang before the Tribulation is the signing of the 7-year covenant between Israel and the Antichrist. THIS EVENT IS WHAT BEGINS THE (7-year) TRIBULATION - NOT THE RAPTURE!

The Rapture of the Church (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18) is also a pre-tribulational event (Luke 21:34-37; 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10; 1 Thessalonians 5:1-10; Revelation 3:10; Revelation 19:6-8). The fact that the Church is not mentioned in any of the Tribulation Scriptures proves the Rapture is pre-tribulational. All raptured Christians will receive glorified bodies (Romans 8:22-23; 1 Corinthians 15:50-54)) and it can happen at any second.


THE FIRST HALF OF THE TRIBULATION (SUPPORTING VERSES IN REVELATION 6-9 AND 17)

The Ministry of 144,000 sealed Jewish believers will bring many throughout the world to accept Christ.

There will be a powerful Ministry of Two Witnesses who will also be anointed Jewish believers.

A one world religious system (Babylon the Harlot) will rule. Under this one world religious system, many who are saved during the Tribulation will suffer persecution and death.

The Political system of the 10 kings of the one world government will continue.

During the first half of the Tribulation there will also be war, worldwide famine, death (1/4 of the world’s population will die), a huge earthquake, a blackout and a meteor shower. 1/3 of earth’s dry surface will be destroyed, 1/3 sea life and salt water will be destroyed, a fallen angel called Wormwood will make 1/3 of earth’s fresh water bitter, 1/3 of earth’s natural light sources will be destroyed, there will be another blackout and demons in the form of “locust-scorpions” will come up out of the abyss led by Abaddon their king and they will inflict harm and pain for five months upon those who are not sealed by God (unbelievers). Another demonic invasion will occur and the demons involved will be led by four fallen angels who will be released from the Euphrates River and this army will kill 1/3 of the earth’s population.


MID-TRIBULATION (SUPPORTING VERSES IN REVELATION 10-14 AND 17)

The Antichrist will war against the 10 kings, and during the war the Antichrist will be killed.

Satan will be cast out of the atmospheric heavens onto earth and will resurrect the Antichrist.

The Antichrist will kill 3 kings (the kings of Syria, Egypt and Mesopotamia) and the 7 other kings will submit to him.

The Antichrist will kill the Two Witnesses in Jerusalem and the wicked people will celebrate this event. Three and a half days afterwards, God will resurrect the Two Witnesses and take them up to Heaven and the people who celebrated will become terrified. The city of Jerusalem where the murder of the Two Witnesses occurred will then suffer an earthquake which will kill 7,000 people.

The False Prophet will receive from Satan the power to perform great miracles and will deceive many. The False Prophet will command all people to worship the Antichrist and have persons create an image to the Antichrist. The False Prophet will use his satanic powers to give it life and the ability to speak. The False Prophet will cause those who refuse to worship the Antichrist and the image to be killed.

The False Prophet will issue his own counterfeit seal known as the Mark of the Beast and it will be placed on all those who surrender to the Antichrist’s authority and accept him as god. Those who refuse to take this mark will not be able to buy or sell. Those who take this mark will spend eternity in the Lake of Fire.

The Antichrist will break the seven-year covenant he made with Israel, cause the sacrifices to stop, sit in the Jewish Temple, declare to the world that he is really God and set up an idol called the Abomination of Desolation in the Temple (Daniel 9:27; Daniel 12:11; Matthew 24:15-16; 11Thessalonians 2:3-4; Revelation 13:11-15).

Through the Antichrist and the False Prophet, Satan will attempt to destroy the Jews once and for all but he will fail because 1/3 of the Jews will succeed in fleeing into the wilderness. These Jews who escape will accept the Lord Jesus as their Saviour during the Tribulation (Zechariah 13:7-9) and while they are in hiding, God will miraculously provide for them (Zechariah 13:8-9; Isaiah 41:17-20). Divine intervention will also destroy the pursuing army.


THE SECOND HALF OF THE TRIBULATION (SUPPORTING VERSES FOUND IN REVELATION 15, 16, 18, 19, 20)

In the second half of the Tribulation, those with the Mark of the Beast will suffer skin sores, the remainder of sea water and fresh water will be destroyed, the sun will cause terrible burns and the wicked will blaspheme God. There will be yet another blackout and persons will suffer gnawing pains.

Babylon will be the center of world economy and political system but Babylon will be swiftly destroyed by fire and become uninhabitable for man.

The Antichrist will locate the Jews who sought refuge in the wilderness and surround them with his armies to wipe them out. The Lord Jesus will then descend from Heaven with His angels and Saints. He will come with great glory riding upon a horse and will destroy the Antichrist, the False Prophet and all of their armies. After this, a loud voice will cry out “It is done!” followed by the greatest earthquake in the earth’s history and hail weighing 120 pounds will fall.

At the end of the Tribulation, there will be another blackout, the stars will fall from the sky and the heavenly bodies will be shaken (Matthew 24:29), the Antichrist and the False Prophet will be thrown into the eternal Lake of Fire and Satan will be cast into the Abyss and bound for 1,000 years.


THE MILLENNIUM

The Lord Jesus will reign over the entire earth during the Millennium. The Jewish and Gentile believers who survive the Tribulation will go on to populate the Millennium. Believers who died before and during the Tribulation and believers who were raptured will be present on earth during the Millennium and because they will have glorified bodies they will not reproduce. All believers will be given special tasks by the Lord Jesus (Revelation 20:4-6). There will be no wars (Isaiah 2:2-4), animals will return to the Edenic state and become vegetarians (Isaiah 11:6-9), people will not labour in vain but eat what they plant and inhabit what they build, there will be renovations in the heavens and earth and there will be righteous and unrighteous children born during the Millennium (Isaiah 65:17-25).

At the end of the Millennium, Satan will be loosed from the Abyss and will deceive and gather the unrighteous for a war against the righteous. This will be his final attempt to destroy the righteous and when the unrighteous of the Millennium surround the good people, God will send fire down from Heaven which will suddenly and massively annihilate all of the wicked people. Satan will then be cast into the Lake of Fire where he will remain in torment for eternity (Revelation 20:7-10).


THE GREAT WHITE THRONE JUDGMENT

The Great White Throne Judgment will be the next main event. The old heavens and earth will be done away with and all will stand before God’s throne to be judged (Revelation 20:11-12). Those whose names are not found written in the Book of Life will be cast into the Lake of Fire which will be their final and eternal abode (Revelation 20:14-15).


THE ETERNAL ORDER (REVELATION 21 AND 22)

Those whose names are found in the Book of Life will enjoy paradise with God forever. The heavens and earth will be made new and the New Jerusalem will come down upon the earth making the earth like Heaven. All curses from the fall will be removed and the earth will be inhabited by the Triune God (The Father, Son and Holy Spirit), all angels and all of the righteous. The seas, moon, night and sun will be done away with and the glory of God will illuminate the earth. The River of Life will flow from God’s throne, the Tree of Life will bear health-giving fruits and leaves and the name of Jesus will be on the foreheads of all of the righteous.


God’s Plan of Salvation for Us
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZkDk1GZ7do