4. (a) God’s covenant with David for an everlasting Kingdom is associated with what other covenant? (b) What did Jesus Christ say regarding it, and under what circumstances?

⁴ God’s covenant for an everlasting Kingdom in the line of descent from David is associated with another covenant, “the new covenant.” This covenant that was to replace an old covenant was mentioned by Jesus. This was after he had celebrated the Jewish Passover with his faithful disciples on the night of Nisan 14 in 33 C.E. He set up what came to be called “the Lord’s evening meal.” He knew that, on that same Passover day, he would shed his blood in sacrifice. In view of that, he took a cup of red wine, but before passing it to his faithful apostles, he said: “This cup means the new covenant by virtue of my blood.”​—Luke 22:20; 1 Corinthians 11:20, 23-26.

5. To whom was God’s promise of a new covenant made, and does the Republic of Israel claim to be in this covenant?

⁵ Like the old covenant, the new covenant is made with a nation but not with any of the nations of Christendom. Although the promise of the new covenant was made by means of the prophet Jeremiah to the nation of Israel more than 2,500 years ago, the Republic of Israel of today does not claim to be in the new covenant. Instead, the Republic of Israel became a member of the UN.

6. According to Jeremiah chapter 31, why did God see the need to make a new covenant, and in what would it result?

⁶ Why did God want a new covenant? Jeremiah 31:31-34 explains: “‘Look! There are days coming,’ is the utterance of Jehovah, ‘and I will conclude with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah a new covenant; not one like the covenant that I concluded with their forefathers in the day of my taking hold of their hand to bring them forth out of the land of Egypt, “which covenant of mine they themselves broke, although I myself had husbandly ownership of them,” is the utterance of Jehovah.’ ‘For this is the covenant that I shall conclude with the house of Israel after those days,’ is the utterance of Jehovah. ‘I will put my law within them, and in their heart I shall write it. And I will become their God, and they themselves will become my people. And they will no more teach each one his companion and each one his brother, saying, “Know Jehovah!” for they will all of them know me, from the least one of them even to the greatest one of them,’ is the utterance of Jehovah. ‘For I shall forgive their error, and their sin I shall remember no more.’”

A Better Covenant With a Better Mediator

7. Is the new covenant a renewal of the covenant that the Israelites broke, and why is it better than the Law covenant?

⁷ The new covenant is not a mere renewal of the earlier covenant that the Israelites broke. No, indeed! For the apostle Paul writes to the Christians at Rome, saying: “You are not under law but under undeserved kindness.” (Romans 6:14) It is really a new covenant, and it was to be expected that it would be a better one, for the Almighty God Jehovah is able to improve matters with regard to those whom he admits into the new covenant. For one thing, he raised up a better mediator, or go-between, in establishing the new covenant. This Mediator was no imperfect, sin-infected man like the prophet Moses.

8. (a) What does the new covenant have that makes it better than the Law covenant? (b) Who is the Mediator of the better new covenant? (c) What does Hebrews 8:6, 13 say about the new covenant and the superiority of its Mediator, and with what effect on the former covenant?

⁸ The Law covenant mediated by means of the prophet Moses was good in itself. However, that covenant provided for the sacrifice of animals whose blood could never wash away human sins. So for Jehovah God to set up a better covenant, there would have to be a better mediator with a better sacrifice. This all-necessary Mediator proved to be Jesus Christ. Pointing out the superiority of this Mediator as compared to the prophet Moses, the Bible gives us the following explanation: “But now Jesus has obtained a more excellent public service, so that he is also the mediator of a correspondingly better covenant, which has been legally established upon better promises. . . . In his saying ‘a new covenant’ he has made the former one obsolete.”​—Hebrews 8:6, 13.

“Obsolete” Old Covenant Replaced

9. (a) On what day did the old covenant pass away? (b) What took place on that morning, and in verification of what?

⁹ That “obsolete,” or out-of-date, covenant passed away 50 days after the resurrection of the Mediator of the new covenant. This took place on the day of Pentecost. On the morning of that day, the antitype of the Jewish Feast of Ingathering began to take place. How? Well, 120 faithful disciples of the Mediator of the new covenant gathered together in an upper room in Jerusalem and received the promised holy spirit, in fulfillment of the prophecy of Joel 2:28-32. It verified the start of the new covenant by furnishing audible and visible proof to all observers.

10. On that day of Pentecost, how was it made manifest that Jesus’ disciples had been anointed with holy spirit?

¹⁰ When Jesus came up out of the waters of baptism and holy spirit was poured down upon him, the spirit was miraculously symbolized by the image of a dove hovering above his head. But in the case of the 120 Hebrew disciples on the day of Pentecost, how was their being anointed with holy spirit made manifest? By the appearing of tongues as if of fire above their heads and by their being gifted with the ability to proclaim God’s Word in foreign languages that they had never learned.​—Matthew 3:16; Acts 2:1-36.

11. (a) What ought to be evident to Jews, and why? (b) How do we know that Jews are not saying to one another, “Know Jehovah!” and what happiness do they not have?

¹¹ It ought to be evident to Jews and their rabbis that the Mosaic Law covenant is no longer in operation. Since the destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman legions in 70 C.E., they have not had a temple. At that time, their genealogical records were lost or destroyed. Thus today they do not know who belongs to the tribe of Levi and who is a descendant of Aaron so as to serve in the capacity of high priest for the Jewish nation. Instead of saying to one another, “Know Jehovah!” they consider the pronouncing of the divine name to be a sacrilege. So they do not share the happiness of Jehovah’s Witnesses over the fact that the “obsolete” old covenant has been replaced by the new covenant.

“An Everlasting Covenant”

12. (a) In what prayer can Jehovah’s Witnesses join from the heart? (b) With what was Jesus resurrected from the dead?

¹² In stark contrast with the Jewish situation of today, Jehovah’s Witnesses have an active, officiating High Priest at God’s right hand in the heavens. He is the Mediator of the new covenant, a mediator far greater than Moses. From the heart, these witnesses of Jehovah can join the writer’s prayer at Hebrews 13:20, 21: “Now may the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep with the blood of an everlasting covenant, our Lord Jesus, equip you with every good thing to do his will.” Since that “great shepherd” laid down his human life for “the sheep,” he could be resurrected from the dead in an immortal, bloodless spirit body but with the value of the blood of the new covenant that is faithfully kept and that is everlasting in its good effects.

13. (a) How is the death of the Mediator of the new covenant remembered every year by Jehovah’s Witnesses? (b) What do the emblems symbolize?

¹³ The sacrificial death of the Mediator of the new covenant, Jesus Christ, is remembered every year by Jehovah’s Witnesses on the anniversary of “the Lord’s evening meal.” The unleavened bread partaken of by those in the new covenant during that “evening meal” symbolizes the perfect flesh of the Mediator, and the wine symbolizes the pure, uncontaminated blood that, according to the Scriptures, contained the very life value of the Mediator.​—1 Corinthians 11:20-26; Leviticus 17:11.

14. When those in the new covenant partake of the Memorial emblems, what are they doing, symbolically speaking?

¹⁴ When those in the new covenant partake of the Memorial cup of wine at “the Lord’s evening meal,” it is only in a figurative way that they are drinking blood, that of the Mediator of the new covenant. It is also in a symbolic way that they eat his flesh when they partake of the Memorial loaf of unleavened bread. By doing this, symbolically speaking, they demonstrate their faith in the ransom sacrifice of the Son of God, the Redeemer of all mankind.

15. (a) How long has the new covenant already lasted, and how has it indeed proved to be a better covenant? (b) Why can the new covenant be referred to as “an everlasting covenant”?

¹⁵ The new covenant, now more than 1,950 years old, is nearing the accomplishment of its purpose. Already it has lasted centuries longer than the Mosaic Law covenant. Being based upon better promises and a better sacrifice with a better Mediator, it has indeed proved to be a better covenant. Because of not needing to be superseded or replaced by a new and better covenant, the successful new covenant is referred to as “an everlasting covenant.”​—Hebrews 13:20.

16. For what should we be thankful to Jehovah God?

¹⁶ Thanks to the Almighty God, Jehovah, that he has raised up a Mediator better than Moses, by means of whom He could legally take the Mosaic Law covenant out of the way by nailing it to the torture stake and provide the blood of the everlasting new covenant!

Chapter 13

The “Prince of Peace” Turns to Those Outside the New Covenant

1. Why cannot the Jews of today deny that the Mosaic covenant made with their forefathers was to come to an end?

NATURAL Jews today, those who are the fleshly descendants of the patriarch Abraham, cannot deny that the old Mosaic Law covenant was to be superseded by a new and better covenant. They cannot expunge from their manuscripts of the Hebrew Scriptures the words of God at Jeremiah 31:31: “‘Look! There are days coming,’ is the utterance of Jehovah, ‘and I will conclude with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah a new covenant.’”

2. How was the question of who would be the Mediator of the new covenant finally disclosed?

² Who the mediator of that new covenant would be was not foretold by Jeremiah. But on the night of Nisan 14, 33 C.E., when Jesus Christ handed the cup with the Passover wine to his disciples, he showed that he was to be that Mediator. (Luke 22:20) At Hebrews 7:22 we are told that he is the “pledge,” surety, or guarantee, of such a new and “better covenant.”

3. What other office toward God does Jesus Christ hold, and was it by line of descent?

³ By his sacrifice in behalf of the new covenant, Jesus became Jehovah’s High Priest. He did not become such by natural descent from Aaron, the first high priest of Israel. He was sworn into the office of High Priest by the oath of the Most High God, Jehovah, the Priest-Maker. The words of Psalm 110:4 apply to Jesus: “Jehovah has sworn (and he will feel no regret): ‘You are a priest to time indefinite according to the manner of Melchizedek!’”​—Hebrews 7:20, 21.

4. (a) With what sort of “Israel” did Jehovah make the promised new covenant, and why? (b) Those taken into the new covenant become the sons of what parents?

⁴ With the exception of a small remnant, the nation of natural Israel rejected Jesus Christ as the Mediator of the new covenant. Thus “the house of Israel” with which God made the foretold new covenant proved to be a spiritual Israel, “the Israel of God.” (Galatians 6:16) That spiritual Israel was brought to birth on the day of Pentecost, 33 C.E. Being spiritual, it could take into its citizenship believing non-Jews, or Gentiles. (Acts 15:14) Peter addressed it as “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for special possession.” (1 Peter 2:9) This “holy nation” is composed of the spiritual sons of the Greater Abraham, Jehovah, the Maker and Fulfiller of the Abrahamic covenant. Hence, they are at the same time the “sons” of Jehovah’s wifelike heavenly organization, prefigured by Sarah, the wife of Abraham. Unavoidably, the new covenant of the Greater Abraham takes into account that heavenly organization as the mother of the promised “seed,” prefigured by Isaac.

“Other Sheep” Included in One Flock

5. What did the new covenant require down here on earth?

⁵ That new covenant needed active ministers down here on earth, and the members of the anointed remnant have served as the adequately qualified “ministers of a new covenant” that has replaced the old Mosaic Law covenant. (2 Corinthians 3:6) They are not clerical ministers inside the hundreds of religious sects of Christendom, the outstanding part of modern-day Babylon the Great. They have heeded the commanding call of Revelation 18:4 and have come out of that world empire of false religion.

6. (a) The number of the ministers of the new covenant is limited to how many? (b) How do we know that the Fine Shepherd would turn his attention to those outside the new covenant?

⁶ The number of the ministers of that new covenant was to be limited to 144,000. (Revelation 7:1-8; 14:1-5) So the time was bound to come when the Fine Shepherd would turn his attention beyond the ministers of the new covenant. Jehovah’s Prime Minister foresaw this and referred to this when he said, at John 10:16, that he had “other sheep,” which were not of the “little flock” of 144,000.​—Luke 12:32.

7. (a) Why are members of the “other sheep” class not ministers of the new covenant? (b) How has the remnant of those in the new covenant already become a blessing to the families and nations of the earth?

⁷ While the “other sheep” would not be of the “little flock,” they would be ministers of God, too, but not ministers of the new covenant. And the fact that those “other sheep” would become “one flock” with the remnant of those “ministers of a new covenant” would indicate something grand. What? This: Before being glorified in the heavenly Kingdom, the remnant would personally associate with the “other sheep” on earth. In this way the remnant of the spiritual seed of Abraham would begin to be a blessing to all the families and nations before “the war of the great day of God the Almighty” at Armageddon and before the start of the Millennium.​—Galatians 3:29; Revelation 16:14, 16.

8. When did the Fine Shepherd turn his attention to those outside the new covenant, and what preliminary step have these “other sheep” taken?

⁸ This has actually proved to be the case, particularly since 1935. Since then, millions of those “other sheep” have associated with the tens of thousands of congregations of Jehovah’s Witnesses around the globe and have dedicated themselves to the Supreme Shepherd, Jehovah God. They have thus been admitted into the “one flock” of the Fine Shepherd, Jesus Christ.

9. Did the widening out of the attention of the Mediator of the new covenant mean that the ministry of the new covenant had ended on earth?

⁹ Did the fact that the Mediator of the new covenant was, from then on, widening out his attention to include also the “other sheep” mean that the ministry of the new covenant ended in 1935? No, for there is a remnant of ministers of the new covenant yet on earth, and they still have to finish that ministry.

10. Who today are benefiting from the ministry of the new covenant as rendered by the eight writers of the Christian Greek Scriptures?

¹⁰ Today, both the remnant of the “little flock” and the increasing “great crowd” of the Fine Shepherd’s “other sheep” are benefiting from the ministry of others who went before them, such as the apostle Paul. In carrying out his ministry of the new covenant faithfully until his death in Rome some time before Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 C.E., Paul was inspired to write 14 of the 27 books of the Christian Greek Scriptures. How thankful the anointed remnant and the “great crowd” of the “other sheep” can be that faithful men of the first century, such as the apostle Paul and the seven other writers of the Christian Greek Scriptures, carried out their ministry of the new covenant to the finish of their earthly lives! And in our time, millions of the “other sheep” are already benefiting from the ministry of the new covenant, as rendered by the anointed remnant under the Mediator, Jesus Christ. The “Prince of Peace” has now turned his attention to these dear “other sheep,” whose numbers have grown rapidly.

11. (a) How long has the new covenant been in effect, and what does this indicate? (b) The remnant of the ministers of the new covenant serve in what capacity today?

¹¹ However, time must now be running out! The new covenant has already been in effect for more than 1,950 years, over 400 years longer than the Mosaic Law covenant that it replaced, and the number of ministers of the new covenant is diminishing as members pass off the earthly scene in death. But today’s remnant of those ministers continue to serve as “the faithful and discreet slave” whom the Master, Jesus Christ, has appointed “over all his belongings.”​—Matthew 24:45-47.

Extending the Invitation: “Come!”

12. According to Revelation 22:17, what invitation is the “bride” class extending, and to whom?

¹² How loving is the service rendered by those ministers of the new covenant! For instance, in Revelation 22:17 we read: “The spirit and the bride keep on saying: ‘Come!’ And let anyone hearing say: ‘Come!’ And let anyone thirsting come; let anyone that wishes take life’s water free.” The “bride” class, along with Jehovah’s active force, or spirit, is extending that invitation to those who are outside the new covenant. The invitation is extended, not to those now dead in the memorial tombs who are to be blessed with a resurrection from the dead, but to people now living, who are in danger of destruction at Armageddon but who have hearing ears.

13. (a) Has the invitation extended by the “bride” class been in vain? Explain. (b) What are those who have already accepted the invitation doing in obedience to Revelation 22:17? (c) What must be the case with regard to the time left for extending the invitation?

¹³ Not in vain has this loving invitation been extended worldwide especially since 1935. Over three million have already responded to the gracious invitation to come and drink. As those who have appreciatively heard, they are obediently saying to still many other millions athirst for endless life on a paradise earth, “Come!” But the time for extending this gracious invitation to the “other sheep” is limited. After more than a half century of being extended, the time remaining for it should now be very short, as God’s war at Armageddon looms ominously over “this generation” of mankind.​—Matthew 24:34.

14. For what should we be giving Jehovah thanks and praise?

¹⁴ So, now, thanks to Jehovah that he has provided the capable Mediator who is successfully accomplishing the purpose of the new covenant in producing a people, 144,000 strong, for His name! Praise, too, to Jehovah that his Mediator as a Fine Shepherd is already bringing increasing millions of “other sheep” into the “one flock,” where they have already entered into the early benefits flowing to mankind from the new covenant!

Chapter 14

After the New Covenant​—The Millennial Kingdom

1, 2. (a) With whom may the millions of beneficiaries of the operation of the new covenant be compared today? (b) What did the terms of the new covenant say?

MILLIONS of people all around the earth have already received grand benefits from the operation of the new covenant, even though they are not in it. They are like the non-Israelite residents who lived in Israel during the days when the Mosaic Law covenant was still in force. (Exodus 20:10) How has this been the case with such increasing millions of beneficiaries who are associated with the remnant of spiritual Israelites today?

² In the prophecy of Jeremiah 31:31-34, the One laying down the terms of the new covenant said: “I will put my law within them, and in their heart I shall write it. And I will become their God, and they themselves will become my people.”

3. (a) In what form was the law of the old Mosaic covenant given to Israel? (b) Before the Christian Greek Scriptures began to be written, where did God have the laws of the new covenant written?

³ In the case of the Law covenant, Jehovah God, by means of the prophet Moses as mediator, gave to natural Israel “the handwritten document . . . , which consisted of decrees.” (Colossians 2:14) What, though, about the law of the new covenant? Its Mediator was not to inscribe it on stone, or to write it in a manuscript. Its Mediator left behind no writings of his own. We ascertain what is the law of the new covenant from the inspired Christian Greek Scriptures. (2 Timothy 3:16) But even before those Greek Scriptures began to be written, from about 41 C.E., Jehovah God began writing his law of the new covenant. When? On the day of Pentecost, 33 C.E. Where? Exactly where he had long before promised to write it: “I will put my laws in their mind, and in their hearts I shall write them.”​—Hebrews 8:10.

4. God’s writing his laws upon the heart and putting them in the mind of his servants would have what good effects?

⁴ Being inscribed upon the heart, those laws would be less likely to cease being loved by those who obeyed them. If those laws were put “in their mind,” they would be less likely to forget them. Hence, the keepers of those laws say, in the words of Psalm 119:97: “How I do love your law! All day long it is my concern.” From their most inward being, they set their affections upon Jehovah’s laws as given through his Mediator, Jesus Christ. Thus, with the right motivation, they determine to keep those precious laws. This applies both to the “little flock” in the new covenant and to the “great crowd” of “other sheep” who are, not in the new covenant, but under it.​—Compare 1 John 5:3; John 14:15.

Kingdom Issue to the Fore!

5. What did the Mediator of the new covenant foretell at Matthew 24:12-14?

⁵ Keepers of the laws of the new covenant dare not succumb to what the Mediator, Jesus Christ, foretold as part of “the sign . . . of the conclusion of the system of things”: “Because of the increasing of lawlessness the love of the greater number will cool off. But he that has endured to the end is the one that will be saved. And this good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations.”​—Matthew 24:3, 12-14.

6. (a) Was Matthew 24:14 a mere prophecy? (b) Who have taken it as more than prophetic, and what may be said concerning their endurance?

⁶ This last statement concerning an earth-wide witness to the Kingdom was not a mere prediction. It was a directive for his disciples living in “the conclusion of the system of things.” It was a guide for their correct course of action down to the complete end of a system of things that is loveless and ridden with lawlessness in general, not merely with disrespect for God’s law. Who today prove to be true Christians, taking those words of Jesus Christ as a directive to them? The historical facts that have multiplied since 1919 truthfully answer, “Jehovah’s Witnesses”! Their Bible educational campaign regarding the Kingdom is the greatest on record, and they have shown endurance in it during the past 67 years. Each year now, it grows in scope and power.

7, 8. (a) During World War I, what did Satan try to do to those in the new covenant? (b) In the postwar period, how did the Kingdom issue leap to the fore?

⁷ Satan the Devil tried to prevent this phenomenal Bible educational campaign by having the small remnant of spiritual Israelites wiped out during World War I. He failed! Promptly, after their revival from a deathlike state in the summer of 1919, they held their first postwar convention in Cedar Point, Ohio, in September of that year. At the second Cedar Point convention in September 1922, the Kingdom issue leaped to the fore. On the fourth day of that convention, entitled “The Day,” the president of the Watch Tower Society brought his thrilling discourse to a grand climax by exclaiming:

⁸ “Then back to the field, O ye sons of the Most High God! Gird on your armor! Be sober, be vigilant, be active, be brave. Be faithful and true witnesses for the Lord. Go forward in the fight until every vestige of Babylon lies desolate. Herald the message far and wide. The world must know that Jehovah is God and that Jesus Christ is King of kings and Lord of lords. This is the day of all days. Behold, the King reigns! You are his publicity agents. Therefore advertise, advertise, advertise the King and his Kingdom.”

Getting to Know Jehovah More Discerningly

9. (a) Because of the increase of the evidence respecting that righteous government, people have to take what stand? (b) Those taking a favorable stand are being given what knowledge?

⁹ It has now been more than 70 years since Christ was enthroned in Kingdom power in 1914. Since then, the evidence respecting God’s righteous government has increased tremendously. The people of the world of mankind have to take their stand regarding the Kingdom issue, either for the Kingdom or against it. And those taking their stand for that divine government are having fulfilled toward them these vital words of the new covenant: “They will no more teach each one his companion and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know Jehovah!’ for they will all of them know me, from the least one of them even to the greatest one of them.”​—Jeremiah 31:34.

10. (a) So under what designation did the remnant of spiritual Israelites begin to welcome the “other sheep”? (b) What knowledge did the “other sheep” acquire?

¹⁰ In 1935 the remnant of spiritual Israelites began welcoming the “other sheep” of the Fine Shepherd into active association with them in “one flock” under Jesus Christ, all of them being Jehovah’s Witnesses. Then those “other sheep,” who began building up to be “a great crowd” without any foreordained number, undertook, along with the spirit-begotten remnant, to “observe the commandments of God” and to do “the work of bearing witness to Jesus.” (Revelation 7:9-17; 12:17) Thus from the start in 1935, these “other sheep” also got to know Jehovah “from the least one of them even to the greatest one of them.”

11. How is Christian knowledge of Jehovah different from and better than that of the Jews under the Law covenant?

¹¹ In what way, however, is Christian knowledge of Jehovah different from and better than the knowledge that the Jews had under the old Mosaic Law covenant? The heavenly Maker of the new covenant goes on to tell us: “For I shall forgive their error, and their sin I shall remember no more.” (Jeremiah 31:34; Hebrews 8:12) This is due to the fact that the new covenant is based upon a better sacrifice by means of a better Mediator. (Hebrews 8:6; 9:11, 12, 22, 23) The better sacrifice of the better Mediator needs no repeating, as on the annual Day of Atonement under the old Mosaic Law covenant. (Hebrews 10:15-18) In view of all of this, the knowledge of Jehovah possessed by those in and under the new covenant is indeed better, more enriching, more discerning, more complete than the knowledge of God that the Jews had under the Law covenant.

12. Above all, what position does Jehovah occupy toward those taken into the new covenant and those under it?

¹² Above all, Jehovah God, the Covenant-Maker, is the King over those whom he takes into the new covenant and over those whom he places under it. (Matthew 5:34, 35; Jeremiah 10:7) The apostle Paul, 1,850 years before Jesus was enthroned as King in the heavens in 1914, pointed to Jehovah’s kingship over those obeying the laws of the new covenant, saying: “Now to the King of eternity, incorruptible, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.”​—1 Timothy 1:17.

The Millennial Kingdom After “the Great Tribulation”

13. (a) When and under what circumstances will the “great crowd” in full measure enter into the blessings flowing from the new covenant? (b) What grand purpose will the new covenant have achieved?

¹³ The “great crowd” of “other sheep,” who are not in the new covenant but are under it, look forward to coming out alive from “the great tribulation.” After this present doomed system of things is destroyed, they will enjoy, for a thousand years, the reign of Jesus Christ and his joint heirs over the cleansed earth. (Revelation 7:9-14) Then the purpose of the new covenant will have been achieved, that of producing “a people for special possession” to become heirs of God’s heavenly Kingdom. (1 Peter 2:9; Acts 15:14) By means of God’s Kingdom, blessings will flow in full measure to the “great crowd” of surviving “other sheep.” Satan the Devil and his invisible demon organization will have been abyssed and will be unable to interfere.​—Revelation 21:1-4; 20:1-3.

14. What good preparation will the surviving “great crowd” have had?

¹⁴ The surviving “great crowd” of “other sheep” will have had good preparation for taking up life in the new system of things. Like the remnant of spiritual Israelites, they will have come to know God “from the least one of them even to the greatest one of them.” (Jeremiah 31:34) In prayer to God, the reigning King once said: “This means everlasting life, their taking in knowledge of you, the only true God, and of the one whom you sent forth, Jesus Christ.” (John 17:3) So this universal knowledge of Jehovah God will work out for everlasting salvation. This will be true not only for the “flesh” that will be saved alive out of the “great tribulation” but also for the billions of human dead ones who will hear the voice of the King and come forth from their memorial tombs. All needed knowledge of Jehovah will be imparted to such resurrected ones.​—Matthew 24:21, 22; John 5:28, 29; Revelation 20:11-15.

15. Why will the carrying out of the new covenant not result in any loss to the “great crowd” of the “other sheep”?

¹⁵ Happily, the carrying out of God’s new covenant to grand success will not result in loss to the “great crowd” of sheeplike ones who survive the destruction of this doomed system of things. Rather, it will open up the way for even grander blessings here on the cleansed earth that will be theirs to inherit and that they will have an initial part in transforming into a global paradise. (Matthew 25:34; Luke 23:43) Shortly now, those ruining the earth will be gone, “but those hoping in Jehovah are the ones that will possess the earth. . . . The meek ones themselves will possess the earth, and they will indeed find their exquisite delight in the abundance of peace.” (Psalm 37:9-11) All hail the Millennial Kingdom of Jehovah God by the “Prince of Peace” that follows the carrying out of the new covenant!