“What was left by the caterpillar, the locust has eaten; and what was left by the locust, the creeping, unwinged locust has eaten; and what the creeping, unwinged locust has left, the cockroach has eaten.”

(Joel 1:4, NWT 1984)

“The prophet Joel likened the work of God’s people to a series of plagues by insects … Jehovah’s people are like … swarms of insects.” (Live With Jehovah’s Day in Mind, page 172) The prophet Joel mentioned locusts and cockroaches, and “these locusts picture the anointed remnant of Christians.” (The Watchtower, May 1, 1992, page 11) But who today make up the cockroach class?

According to the aforementioned Watchtower issue, “the locust plague is succeeded by a huge plague of cavalry. How true this is today, as the few thousand remaining anointed Christians are reinforced by more than four million ‘other sheep.’” Hence the “cockroach” from Joel’s prophecy symbolizes the ‘great crowd of other sheep.’ Today “Jehovah’s anointed locusts” are “joined by … Jesus’ ‘other sheep.’” (The Watchtower, May 1, 1998, page 10) “Advancing like an army [they] enter into houses, and devour everything in their path … What a vivid portrayal of the perseverance and thoroughness of God’s people in carrying out the witnessing work in modern times!” – The Watchtower, July 15, 2008, page 4.