User:Grenavitar/Jonadabs
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Jonadab is a religious term used by Jehovah's Witnesses.
Witnesses believe that 144,000 men and women will reign with Jesus Christ in heaven. Of all the Christians who have lived and died since the Crucifixion and Resurrection, only 144,000 will be chosen. These are the anointed ones.
Witnesses believe that places are reserved in heaven for living Witnesses, and that the last place was taken in 1935. These assured-of-heaven Witnesses are known as the Mordecai-Naomi class. Any Witness who has converted since 1935 will have a place in heaven only if one of the Mordecai-Naomi class apostasizes and loses his/her place in heaven. These people are known as the Ruth-Esther class of the anointed.
However, Witnesses who believe that they have no hope of joining the anointed can still hope to live an eternity in an earthly paradise. These Witnesses are called Jonadabs or the great crowd. The great crowd is the term currently preferred. The terms Jehonadab, other sheep, and perishable are also used.
The Jehovah's Witness leadership apparently does not keep a register of the living anointed. Individual believers can declare themselves to be anointed, and their claims will be given credence in proportion to the evident holiness of their lives. Some people who are too humble to put themselves forward as anointed may truly be so, while some who claim to be anointed may in fact be hypocrites.
There are some 8000 elderly Witnesses who believe that they are among the anointed. When the Witnesses hold their annual "Lord's supper" or eucharistic communion, these Witnesses take communion. The other Witnesses, the Jonadabs, merely watch.
