The 12th chapter of Isaiah is only 6 verses. It basically is a Psalm praising God for the salvation he provides. In context, salvation comes after God subjects “Jacob” to the heat of his anger. The opening verse states: In that day you will certainly say: “I thank you, O Jehovah, for although you were angry with me, your anger gradually subsided, and you comforted me.”
Again, in context the expression of God’s anger comes through the Mighty God who will stand up and begin ruling on behalf of Jehovah, lopping off branches and felling trees with a great crash. Interestingly, Jesus used a similar illustration when he likened himself to a vine and his disciples to branches. Jesus went on to say: “If anyone does not remain in union with me, he is thrown out like a branch and dries up. And men gather those branches and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.” —John 15:6
The 10th chapter of Isaiah elaborates upon the dead-wooding process of removing those who prove false to their owner: “Look! The true Lord, Jehovah of armies, is chopping off branches with a terrible crash; the tallest trees are being cut down, and the lofty are brought low.”
There is another important point. As regards the twig of the stump of Jesse, Isaiah 11:4 says: “He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth and put the wicked to death with the breath of his lips.” In Revelation, the glorified Jesus is similarly portrayed as having a long sword protruding from his mouth. The symbolic congregation of Pergamum is specifically warned to repent or else Christ will war against them with the long sword of his mouth. In other words, they would be put to death. So, it is apparent that the “earth” that will be smitten with the rod of his mouth is what is known as the “earthly organization.”
Surely, no one would doubt that the complete destruction of Christ’s congregation would be a terrifying, unequivocal expression of divine wrath. Those remaining ones left over from the fiery purge —otherwise known as the remnant —receive salvation in the form of being sealed and gathered into the Kingdom of God. That is why in the last verse of Isaiah 12 the remnant is described as inhabitants of Zion. That harmonizes with the 14th chapter of Revelation that reveals 144,000 holy ones bought from the earth standing upon Mount Zion with Christ —the Lamb.
Not only that, the 144,000 are all playing harps and signing out with a thunderous sound, something like a new song —a song that only the 144,000 are able to master.
The 12 chapter of Isaiah depicts the same thing: “Sing praises to Jehovah, for he has done magnificent things. Let this be made known in all the earth. Cry out and shout for joy, you inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.”
And there is another parallel. The 14th chapter of Revelation reveals that after the 144,000 are gathered to Zion —some via the first resurrection and the remnant by virtue of being sealed —an angel flying in midheaven declares everlasting good news to the world and announces: “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of judgment by him has arrived, so worship the One who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and the springs of water.”
That the remnant is on earth physically even though numbered among the 144,000 standing on Mount Zion with Christ is evident by what is stated at Revelation 14:13: And I heard a voice out of heaven say, “Write: Happy are the dead who die in union with the Lord from this time onward. Yes, says the spirit, let them rest from their labors, for the things they did go right with them.” As Paul indicated, the first resurrection begins during the parousia, whereas the living who survive do not sleep in death but are instantaneously changed in the twinkling of an eye. And, Paul and Revelation confirm that the remnant will be 7,000 persons.
We should not suppose that the everlasting good news proclaimed by the angel is reflected in the messaging of the Watchtower. How do you know? Because immediately following another angel issues the warning: “If anyone worships the wild beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he will also drink of the wine of the anger of God that is poured out undiluted into the cup of His wrath…” (9,10)
The 666 mark of the beast is the judgment that will take place after the great tribulation is cut short and the beast miraculously revives and gives life to the image. Everything the Watchtower teaches about these matters is wrong. Surely, the fact that Jehovah’s Witnesses have been so thoroughly deceived by the so-called faithful slave into believing that the Kingdom has been ruling since 1914 and a plethora of other falsehoods attached to that, is reason enough for Jehovah to be furious.
The everlasting good news that the angel is yet to declare will be the genuine message that the Kingdom is ruling. Then the sealed sons of the Kingdom —the brothers of Christ —will shine as brightly as the sun, which is reflected in the words at Isaiah 12:2: “Look! God is my salvation. I will trust and feel no dread; for Jah Jehovah is my strength and my might, and he has become my salvation.”
