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Doctrine changes · Claim record

Until 1923 the movement taught that the separating of the sheep from the goats in Matthew 25 would happen during the thousand-year reign of Christ; in 1923 it was moved into the present.

Claim ID claim-doctrine-chg-sheep-goats-millenniumConcerns 15 October 1923Later reinterpretation
Later reinterpretation · 15 October 1923 Supported

Until 1923 the movement taught that the separating of the sheep from the goats in Matthew 25 would happen during the thousand-year reign of Christ; in 1923 it was moved into the present. The Watchtower, 15 May 1995The Watchtower, 15 May 2001

The organisation’s position or later explanation: The organisation records the 1923 change as a flash of light and gives its reasons: during the Millennium Christ's brothers would not be sick or imprisoned.

Show the evidence (2 sources)
Primary JW publication Verified

The Watchtower, “Part 1—Flashes of Light—Great and Small”

15 May 1995 · p.18 · par. 11 · Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society

“The very next year, bright light shone on the parable of the sheep and the goats. It was seen that this prophecy was to be fulfilled in the present Lord’s day, not in the future during the Millennium as previously thought.”

“The very next year” is 1923, the year after the 1922 Cedar Point convention mentioned in the preceding sentence. The paragraph records the first of two changes to the timing of Matthew 25:31-46.

Official source

Provenance and verification note

Confidence note. Document opened on wol.jw.org on 19 September 2026; the wording was read in full and the page number taken from the library's own page markers.

Accessed. 19 September 2026 · Source ID. src-chg-d-w-1995-0515-p1-sheep-goats-1923

Primary JW publication Verified

The Watchtower, “‘Behold! The Great Crowd!’”

15 May 2001 · p.14 · Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society

“The Bible Students regarded the great crowd as a secondary heavenly class, a group that had knowledge of Bible truth but did little about spreading it.”

A later account of the pre-1935 understanding, in the organisation's own words.

Official source

Provenance and verification note

Confidence note. Document opened on wol.jw.org on 19 September 2026; the wording was read in full and the page number taken from the library's own page markers.

Accessed. 19 September 2026 · Source ID. src-chg-d-w-2001-0515-great-crowd

Claim page

A direct link to this claim is https://jwtruth.org/evidence/claim-doctrine-chg-sheep-goats-millennium/. Every source above opens the original document or the best available copy. If you believe the wording, date or context is wrong, report an error.