In order to show you that there are two classes of Christians, Jehovah’s Witnesses will have you read Luke 12:32, where Jesus says, “Have no fear, little flock, for your Father has approved of giving you the Kingdom.”

Then they go immediately to Revelation 7:4, which says, “And I heard the number of those who were sealed, 144,000, sealed out of every tribe of the sons of Israel:”

They will then take you to Revelation 14:1, which states: “Then I saw, and look! the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who have his name and the name of his Father written on their foreheads.”

They will say that the 144,000 refers to “spiritual Israel,” the “anointed class” of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Notice that they have hopscotched you from one part of the Bible to another, asserting without proof that all of these verses are referring to the same group.

I believe that the best way to handle this is to ask them to show you anywhere in Luke 12 or Revelation 7 or 14 where it says that the “little flock” is this same group of 144,000 that John saw many years later in his vision.

Jehovah’s Witnesses have been indoctrinated in this teaching to the point where they never question it, so you need to ask questions which put stones in their shoes.

Don’t argue with them.

Instead, let them be the teachers and put the burden on them to show you the connection.

You can say:

  • I’m sorry. I don’t see the connection. Why couldn’t the ‘little flock’ whom the Father gave the kingdom simply be the 12 apostles? 
  • After all, in Matthew 19:28, he told them that in the end times they would sit on 12 thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel.

After you have discussed that, you can offer them another option by asking one of them to read aloud Revelation 4:4: “All around the throne were 24 thrones, and on these thrones I saw seated 24 elders dressed in white garments, and on their heads golden crowns.”

Ask: 

  • If Jesus wasn’t referring to the 12 apostles, why couldn’t “little flock” be referring to those 24 elders?

When they insist that he was talking about the 144,000, you can ask them to read aloud Revelation 7:1: “After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree.”

Ask:

  • Based on that, how do we know that the 144,000 are in heaven? 
  • Doesn’t that verse say they will be on earth, where the angels will be protecting them?

After you have discussed that, ask one of them to reread aloud Revelation 7:4: “And I heard the number of those who were sealed, 144,000, sealed out of every tribe of the sons of Israel:”

Ask:

  • Don’t the verses that follow identify the 144,00 and being 12,000 from each of the tribes of Israel?

The Witnesses will tell you that this is symbolic and that the 144,000 are “spiritual Israel.”

They will say that these are not the tribes of fleshly Israel because Dan and Levi are missing.

Ask them:

  • How is it that 12 symbolic tribes of 12,000 comprise a literal 144,000 people? 
  • What exactly do these tribes symbolize?

The Witnesses have no answers to these questions.

Returning to the topic of the “little flock,” you can say:

  • Now that I think more about it, I’m wondering why “little flock” who will receive the kingdom can’t refer to all Christians because in Luke 12 Jesus was speaking to a large audience. 
  • Also, he didn’t mention going to heaven. 
  • He just said he was giving them “the kingdom.” 
  • It occurs to me that the number of Christians is small compared to the world’s population. 
  • So why couldn’t Jesus have referred to them all as “little flock” as a term of endearment? 

 Summary

The Witnesses will disagree with you.

That’s to be expected.

Keep the onus on them to prove that the Watchtower’s interpretation is the only correct option.

Your stone-in-the-shoe questions and comments are designed primarily to get the Witnesses to see that the Watchtower’s teaching is only an assumption and that there are many other possible interpretations.

Remember, it’s not incumbent on you to settle on a definitive interpretation of the term “little flock.”

You are just a student…

 

 

 

 

Comment Policy