Did Pastor Russell teach that the great multitude would only come to prominence after Armageddon?
The Witnesses today have no idea just how complex Russell’s system of interpretation was, nor how far removed their doctrines are from many of his. He taught that the Gospel age began at Jesus’ baptism, that after his invisible presence in 1884 the harvest work began, and it would run on into the Millennium age, for a short while. The harvest was not to convert the world but to select the ‘little flock’. They would comprise all of the true Church of that era, and would be small compared with the nominal church. However, God’s judgement would not start till the Millennium and there would be many living in the harvest period who would still be saved (to a lesser degree of privilege than the little flock). It would not be until during the Millennium that a great crowd would make their final response to the gospel. After the Millennium starts, Russell said, God will ‘pour out his spirit upon all flesh’ (Joel 2:28). Yet Russell also believed this great multitude would attain heavenly life!
