(The whole world - 144,000) -- where will they be?

[water]

I don’t know what JW believe where the rest of the world will be if only 144,000 go to Heaven?

How do they cope with this thought throughout of their entire lives on Earth. I could see that they don’t mind going out to evangelize but will they be so loving to know that the one who they evangelize to might take a seat in Heaven and reduce their own chances to be there?

Thanks!

 

[yessisan]

I don’t know what JW believe where the rest of the world will be if only 144,000 go to Heaven?

How do they cope with this thought throughout of their entire lives on Earth. I could see that they don’t mind going out to evangelize but will they be so loving to know that the one who they evangelize to might take a seat in Heaven and reduce their own chances to be there?

Thanks!

The rest of the JWs and those who accept Jehovah after 1000 yrs of trial (after resurrection) will live in a new and restored paradisiac Earth.

Maybe BibleSteve (CAF’s own JW apologist ) will join the discussion and tell you all about it.

 

[Ravyn_Guiliani]

I don’t know what JW believe where the rest of the world will be if only 144,000 go to Heaven?

How do they cope with this thought throughout of their entire lives on Earth. I could see that they don’t mind going out to evangelize but will they be so loving to know that the one who they evangelize to might take a seat in Heaven and reduce their own chances to be there?

Thanks!

Yessi is correct in her answer, but also they do not believe it is a first come first served basis, they believe the 144,000 are hand picked individually and few will fail to make it to Heaven (those who do will be “lopped off” and the new individual will be chosen by Holy Spirit and “grafted in”.) They believe that for the most part the number has been closed since 1935 and there are fewer than 10,000 now claiming that hope compared to the millions of JWs who plan on living on Earth in Paradise forever. My father claimed to be one of the 144,000–the “annointed”–but had a hard time proving it to many because he was not even born until 1936. It comes down to questioning ‘god’ and so most JWs avoid the issue. Guess you could say it is one of their ‘mysteries’.

 

[b_justb]

I don’t know what JW believe where the rest of the world will be if only 144,000 go to Heaven?

How do they cope with this thought throughout of their entire lives on Earth. I could see that they don’t mind going out to evangelize but will they be so loving to know that the one who they evangelize to might take a seat in Heaven and reduce their own chances to be there?

Thanks!

It’s been a while but I think it goes something like this:

144,000 go to heaven. The rest that make it through Armageddon will stay on earth and will assist in restoring earth to the original garden of Eden like ecosystem. Then there will be a resurrection and the dead will return to the paradise earth and have a choice to believe or not to believe.

This is where I get a little foggy. There is something about the 1000 yr reign and after that the devil will be let lose and the whole shooting match starts all over again for “a little while.” After that then the devil, his demons, and the resurrected ones that fail to believe will all be hurled into the lake of fire, which is the second death which is NOT hell but a total annihilation and a cessation to exist. If you are on earth and are found to be faithful at this point it’s all gravy and you live forever on earth as a perfected human in a perfect Garden of Eden setting.

I hope I reported faithfully their ideas (no sarcasm, honest).

 

[planter654]

I don’t know what JW believe where the rest of the world will be if only 144,000 go to Heaven?

How do they cope with this thought throughout of their entire lives on Earth. I could see that they don’t mind going out to evangelize but will they be so loving to know that the one who they evangelize to might take a seat in Heaven and reduce their own chances to be there?

Thanks!

We need to go and read Job: Those who think they know the thoughts of God and have it all figured out.

The Lord’s Speech given to Job Chapter 38…41 for God is putting us “all in our place”, don’t you think? Silence before the Lord!

God Bless

 

[b_justb]

water:

How do they [JWs] cope with this thought throughout of their entire lives on Earth?

I wanted to talk about this some more.

Since the JW’s do not view Jesus as Divine the idea of not seeing Jesus or being with Him for eternity is no big deal. Their reasoning is that since the earth originally was a Garden and there was no sin, that is the place to get back to, to be in perfect communion with God. What is missing or lacking there (IMO of course) is the parts in Genesis that state that God walked with Adam and spoke to him, and that during the breezy parts of the day God would come and visit. There was a communion between the first man and his creator that is missing in the end time scenario of the JW’s.

Another thing that really made me wonder and doubt JW ideology is that Jesus says that in the resurrection men and women would not marry (cf Mark 12:24-25). This told me that only the people that made it through Armageddon would be allowed to have children and a married life style and the vast majority of resurrected humans would not. This was never touched on in any JW teachings that I can recall. Even as a child I saw how a class structure of “have” and “have-nots” was being built by JW ideology. I found it to be unbelievable, and so did not buy into it.

water, it’s so hard to describe the kind of lost, desperation that comes to people that leave the JW’s. We were brainwashed (please I am not trying to be uncharitable, I am just trying to be honestly descriptive) into believing all sorts of things that simply have no merit as being ascribed to Christianity. The indoctrination is so deep that for some they never recover even if they leave, and for others it take years even decades to heal from it.

We all need God’s mercy so bad.

So how do JW’s cope with it? They accept it and fully believe it as unquestionable fact. If you don’t, look what happens to you. (Deliverance, Alleluia! But deliverance is painful; look what toll it took on the Israelites.)

 

[water]

Thank you all for responding.
Thank you b_justb for putting a lot of thoughts to this.
and thank others for sending me information on this:

b_justb, would you mind discuss more about the following verses.
These passages are used for JW’s belief about the remaining.

Matt 5:5 The meek will inherit the earth

(Psalm 37:9-10) For evildoers themselves will be cut off, But those hoping in Jehovah are the ones that will possess the earth. 10*And just a little while longer, and the wicked one will be no more; And you will certainly give attention to his place, and he will not be.

(Psalm 37:29) The righteous themselves will possess the earth, And they will reside forever upon it.

 

[b_justb]

Merry Christmas!

Water, these are some of the proof texts that JW’s use to back up their ideas of a paradise earth. Christians believe there will be a new heavens and a new earth, so this is really not any sort of problem. The disconnect is in seeing them as different and separate places. One where God is and the other where God is not; yet perfection is in both. Christians don’t believe that perfection exists outside the Divine, but within Him.

The stanzas from the psalmist are prophetic poetry.

The verses from Jesus’ “Sermon on the Mount” is plucked out of the beatitudes. If you read the verses around those we see that what Jesus is talking about is the attitudes that embody the Kingdom of heaven, which he states several times. To take vr. 5 out of context changes the meaning of what is being spoken about.

THE GOSPEL OF SAINT MATTHEW 5:1 Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down his disciples came to him. [sup]2[/sup] And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: [sup]3[/sup] "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. [sup]4[/sup] Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. [sup]5[/sup] Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. [sup]6[/sup] Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. [sup]7[/sup] Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. [sup]8[/sup] Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. [sup]9[/sup] Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. [sup]10[/sup] Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. [sup]11[/sup] Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. [sup]12[/sup] Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so men persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

So, here is the disconnect in JW ideology. Jesus is not making a distinction between two places showing that one class of people will reign in heaven and another class of people will live on earth. He is showing The Way to be perfect to see God, to be sons of God, to be in the Kingdom of heaven.

Notice the last verse quoted above. Jesus is saying the prophets are in heaven enjoying their great reward, not asleep awaiting earthly resurrection.

Thank you all for responding.
Thank you b_justb for putting a lot of thoughts to this.
and thank others for sending me information on this:

b_justb, would you mind discuss more about the following verses.
These passages are used for JW’s belief about the remaining.

Matt 5:5 The meek will inherit the earth

(Psalm 37:9-10) For evildoers themselves will be cut off, But those hoping in Jehovah are the ones that will possess the earth. 10*And just a little while longer, and the wicked one will be no more; And you will certainly give attention to his place, and he will not be.

(Psalm 37:29) The righteous themselves will possess the earth, And they will reside forever upon it.