Gerald Flurry has an article up on his website that he wrote about the Armstrongite hymn, By the Waters of Babylon.
His entire article is written which such hopeful delight that ex-Church God members would be wishing they could sing this song as they are held captive in Saudi Arabia or Germany.
Because Church of God members chose not to listen to Flurry, they will be sent into captivity. You remember that, it's that fun time that the Church of God loved to use as a weapon to keep members under control. Do what I say or you will be taken captive by the Germans or other agents of the Beast power, as they take you into captivity and put you in concentration camps or make you their slave.
From ROYAL VISION November-December 2015
PSALM 137 PAINTS A TERRIFYING PROPHETIC PICTURE OF A TRAGEDY ABOUT TO BEFALL A GREAT MANY OF GOD’S PEOPLE.
It begins, “By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion”(Psalm 137:1). Zion refers to God’s Church. In the end time, there is a righteous Zion and a rebellious Zion. Here the rebels remembered their recent history with righteous Zion before they rebelled. This is a prophecy about God’s Church.
The Psalms are filled with prophecy: They are mainly the work of David, who was a prophet (Acts 2:29-31). Jeremiah and Moses were also prophets who wrote some of the psalms.
Verse 8 of Psalm 137 also shows that this is prophecy: “O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us.” Who is the “daughter of Babylon”? Anciently, God sent Jeremiah to Judah with a warning for the Jews that Babylon was coming. When he wrote his book, however, he didn’t address it to Judah—he addressed it to Israel. That is because his message is a prophecy for the end-time descendants of Israel. Babylon is coming again, but this time it is the daughter of Babylon.
This prophecy about “Zion” is for this end time. Specifically here, Zion refers to God’s Church in the modern day—the work of Herbert W. Armstrong and the Philadelphia Church of God.
This is talking specifically about people who remember Zion—the work of Mr. Armstrong—while they are enslaved by Babylon. They are captive in Germany, Saudi Arabia perhaps, and other countries like Turkey and Lebanon—and they are weeping! They are weeping in Babylon. They didn’t weep when they were in the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand or Judah. They didn’t weep then, but they are weeping in captivity to Babylon!
There are people in God’s Church—the Laodiceans, in the last era of God’s Church before the Second Coming (Revelation 3:14-22)—who are about to go into captivity!All of the wayward Church of God members out there enjoying life outside the church will soon bee looking back in wistful nostalgia at the memory of Herbert Armstrong (and Gerald Flurry) and all that he taught. They will realize he was the true end time prophet.
While in captivity, these people remember righteous Zion in—this must mean that THEY HAVE FORGOTTEN RIGHTEOUS ZION TODAY! Only the Laodiceans could ever remember loyal Zion. People who were never in that Church could remember the message of Zion, but only the Laodiceans could remember righteous Zion. In that future distress, they will remember Mr. Armstrong; they will remember the members of the Church; they will remember what happened in the past. How can you just blot it out of your mind? They will remember how we served God together—so, in captivity, they will weep and finally repent. But THEY WON’T REMEMBER UNTIL THEY ARE IN BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY!Given the fact that every single COG leader, from the present day through the past 80 some years, has told one lie after another about the "sure word of prophecy" they proclaim. How can we trust certified liars like James Malm, Bob Thiel, Dave Pack, Gerald Flurry, Ron Weinland and Gerald Weston, as they spout one silly useless prediction after another. All of these men got their understanding from Herbert Armstrong, who was the grandfather of the lies they continue to promote.
The Laodiceans have to repent and sing these songs in a strange land. It will take a Babylonian captivity to wake up these people of God.
They become victims of God’s warning prophecies, which they had helped to proclaim before they rebelled!
BY THE WATERS OF BABYLON:
By the waters of Babylon, There we wept and there sat down;
Hung our harps on the willow trees, Zion, yet we remember'd thee!
Then our captors required of us; Sing a song of Zion now!
Could we sing the Eternal's songs, By the waters of Babylon?
Let my right hand forget her skill, If Jerusalem I forget;
If I fail to remember thee, Let my tongue cleave unto my mouth!
But we thought of Jerusalem, When we sat near Zion's streams.
Far above even our chief joy, We remember'd Jerusalem.
In that day of Jerus'lem's fall, When the children of Edom said,
Down with her, down unto the ground,
Even to the foundations!
O thou daughter of Babylon,
To thy ruin hast'ning on;
Happy he that rewardeth thee,
27 comments:
It makes sense to move 100,000 people (maybe millions)across the ocean to captivity in Germany or in Babylon. Will be on airplanes that maybe seat 200 people?? Do you know how long that will take? Or a boat that will take weeks??? We could perhaps use Mr. Flurry's jet. Nonstop service to Babylon.
Praise ye the Lordo! Death shall them seize. Zion does not refer or mean "the Church" Gerald just makes stuff up as he goes. And while Zion might be "The Joy of all the land",
I have sat on the Temple Mount over looking Zion, you know, "the city of the mighty king doth on its North side stand", and it is a dirt bike track looking hill and nothing special. Or as the guide tell me when I said, "No, Mt Zion of the Old Testament". He said , "That's it, we exaggerate."
I'll sing "By The Waters of Babylon THIS way. The Satire Version that Could Be Sung By PCG.
OK, Take your hymnals and rise, and turn to page 33 - By the Rock of Herbert. Page 33.
Cue Piano intro.
ALL TOGETHER NOW. *lifts hands*
By the Idol of Flurry's Rock
There sat all of Flurry's Flock
Looked upon it with fervent gaze
They all looked on it all amazed
When they looked and they saw it there
Looking for some of Herbert's Hair
Can they kneel by that rock one day
That would make their entire day
Sitting there, pretty as you please
Was that rock sitting with great ease
Everyone come and kneel right down
This old rock is a royal crown
Sitting down by that rock we see
Cause old Herbert had knelt by thee
Do we see what a special stone
Herbert knelt by it all alone
It's not true, we can't prove a thing
We believe it with all our being
We can't prove it to be so true
Take our word, from us to you
So we kneel by that rock with glee
So that all can truly see
It's a rock that we call our own
we think it will be a throne.
Dennis said:
"I have sat on the Temple Mount over looking Zion, you know, "the city of the mighty king doth on its North side stand","
Sorry, Dennis. You forgot to hold "king" for 8 seconds until we're signaled to stop by the over-zealous song leader. ;)
Psalm 137 is a great example of why we should reject the notion that every word in the Judeo-Christian Bible is the inspired word of God. This little passage reflects the bitterness and disappointment of its human author - it does NOT represent God. Notice verse 9: "Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones." What a nice, Godly sentiment that is! - NOT
"Sorry, Dennis. You forgot to hold "king" for 8 seconds until we're signaled to stop by the over-zealous song leader. ;) "
LOL Mercy, I was too busy remembering to sing, "Oh Israel, Oh Israel, God shed his grace on thee...."
Personally my biggest Church of God hymn problem was with "We are not divided. All one body weeee, ONE in hope and Doctrine, ONE in charity..." I always wondered what church we were talking about.
I've got a BETTER theme for all ex-cog members.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8eXvxg90Y0
"But since you been gone
I can breathe for the first time
I'm so moving on"
My biggest COG hymn problem was "Blow the Horn let Zion hear."
For all of the hymns this was the gloomiest and darkest song I think I have ever sang anywhere, anytime, anyplace. Hands down. Maybe its scriptural, but still. Singing it WHILE SMILING was just WEIRD.
Anonymous 7:45 PM said, "Sorry, Dennis. You forgot to hold "king" for 8 seconds until we're signaled to stop by the over-zealous song leader". ;)
MY COMMENT - I remember WCG song leaders doing that!
Richard
LOFCOG said:
"MY COMMENT - I remember WCG song leaders doing that!"
My comment:
Yes, I know. I was one of them who DID that. Along with all the other little tricks we used to do leading the songs. One-handed leading, stop and don't sing for a stanza, men one verse, women the second, and on and on.
Ugh.
Anonymous said...
My biggest COG hymn problem was "Blow the Horn let Zion hear."
Right! I was never a fan of climbing through the windows leap lol
Hello Miller Jones
I pondered that psalm when I passed by the military base securing Deir es Zor on my way to Al Hassakah on the rivers of Babylon. At the time the monument to the Armenian slaughter still stood and I saw the little ones strewn alongside the road.
I have related the story of many of my wcg congregants and family who indeed had wept "on the river Kwai" and must have cursed their opressors in the manner as the psalm relates, I'm sure.
To me this psalm carries profound depth in human suffering. I know at times like that people ask where God is in all of that. I read that a survivor of the Russian Gulag related that cult members and the orthodox priests somehow were the only ones to retain a sense of humanity and human behavior in the camps. Interesting how those things work.
nck
Miller Jones
During WW2, Russian mothers killed their own babies to protect them from being abused by German soldiers. Perhaps you want to shut your eyes to the horrors in the real world, but the bible doesn't. It acknowledges great evils, and Gods judgment on those responsible.
To me, as someone who enjoyed more exciting types of music, such as rock, country, and blues, the hymns at sabbath services were never other than routine, lame, and boring. Inspiring is not a word which I would have chosen for the experience, although every once in a great while there was some moving “special music”. I’ve never been a really big fan of choral music, but occasionally an individual man or woman with a good voice and some level of passion could turn in a memorable performance.
Because to me, music that came into our lives through the church was what you did because you weren’t allowed to do anything else, it was never more than a placebo. Ersatz. In fact, I remember being shocked when reading an interview of Aretha Franklin, in which she stated that she learned to sing as she did from church. That just didn’t compute for me at that time, but later, when we had to work overtime at the AC Press some Sundays getting the PT out, and at 10:00 break time, walking around the block, I got some education! The press was actually located in what we then called the “colored section” of town. There was an old stone church right across the street from the front entrance to the press. The windows of the church were frequently open, and I got to find out firsthand what got Aretha so excited about singing at church! I’d stand there, my feet glued to the ground, listening until our break was over, wondering why we couldn’t have similar music in our church. What I was hearing would just lift you up, and you could tell that the members of that church were really deeply and passionately involved in their music in a way that we in ours didn’t even realize could exist.
Church music is an indicator of what your church lifestyle is going to be like. Music comes from the abundance of the soul. Our own WCG world was American Gothic to the max. Waiting for the Germans. “By the Waters of Babylon” is so symbolic of all of that. That we would even sing such songs is symptomatic of weltschmerz rather than joy.
BB
Mental illness.
I doubt that this group will ever be invited to sing this song at Armstrong auditorium. On second thought this group might not even exist or be alive any more.
The ugliest part of this is that the PCG and other churches of god can't wait for this to happen. They lust after it. They hope this is true!
The tribulation is something they want to happen so they can gloat.
The love of God is never seen in these groups and compassion is not in their scope of emotions.
"It begins, “By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion”(Psalm 137:1). Zion refers to God’s Church.
Bare assertion.
"In the end time, there is a righteous Zion and a rebellious Zion."
Says who?
"Here the rebels remembered their recent history with righteous Zion before they rebelled. This is a prophecy about God’s Church."
I call bullshit.
"The Psalms are filled with prophecy: They are mainly the work of David, who was a prophet (Acts 2:29-31). Jeremiah and Moses were also prophets who wrote some of the psalms."
Why should anyone believe there's any such thing as a "prophet"?
"Anciently, God sent Jeremiah to Judah with a warning for the Jews that Babylon was coming. When he wrote his book, however, he didn’t address it to Judah—he addressed it to Israel. That is because his message is a prophecy for the end-time descendants of Israel. ...This prophecy about “Zion” is for this end time."
And you know this how?
"Specifically here, Zion refers to God’s Church in the modern day—the work of Herbert W. Armstrong and the Philadelphia Church of God. This is talking specifically about people who remember Zion—the work of Mr. Armstrong—while they are enslaved by Babylon."
LOL! What a house of conjectural cards!
"They will remember how we served God together—so, in captivity, they will weep and finally repent. But THEY WON’T REMEMBER UNTIL THEY ARE IN BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY!"
I love it how Armstrongites make up everything, and finally "prove" their points by fantasizing a future of revenge porn. It's the only "evidence" for anything they've got.
DennisCDiehl said...
Personally my biggest Church of God hymn problem was with "We are not divided. All one body weeee, ONE in hope and Doctrine, ONE in charity..." I always wondered what church we were talking about.
I am in the church to this day. And I refuse to sing this verse.
When Gavin Rumney posted this video, I was entranced with the joyous melody and the equally joyous moves of the dancers/lip synchers.
Then it occurred to me, These are the words of a dirge! Why not a somber tune and a dance to match? Why not choose a different psalm to get this treatment?
And speaking of joyous singing, like Byker Bob I once stood outside an African Methodist Episcopal church enraptured by the music coming through the windows. My girlfriend and I were dressed too informally to go inside and stand in the back (it was summertime in Tallahassee). We probably should at least have peeked in and gestured to a deacon to come over to the door and accept a donation.
John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd later brought this church music into the public consciouness in their film, “The Blues Brothers”, RP.
Probably over fifteen years ago now a young hot steel guitar player burst into the public consciousness, revealing more about the music prevalent in black churches. Many of the inner city congregations could not afford organs. So the vastly less expensive steel guitar (sacred steel) evolved into the role as a close substitute. Robert Randolph and his uncles were some of the church musicians in House Of God Church in Orange, NJ. Robert, up until about 2001, was totally unaware of non-church music. A New York Times music critic attended a performance by “The Word” which was involved in a church tour, and created interest in the young guitar protege who was the anchor of the performances. This led to a secular tour, and the creation of Robert Randolph and the Family Band. The rest has become part of music history, with Robert guesting on the David Letterman Show and making other appearances with guitar luminaries such as Eric Clapton.
There are many videos on youtube.
Check out Robert Randolph and the Family Band!
BB
“Because Church of God members chose not to listen to Flurry, they will be sent into captivity.”
Because some people made the big mistake of listening to Gerald Flurry's “new revelation” that he made up to exalt himself, they have already been kept in PCG captivity for many years.
BB, thanks for the Robert Randolph tip. Great stuff.
"Happy is he who taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones."
@8:30AM,
This group is Boney M. They were very popular in the disco scene in the 1970's. They had many hits including their biggest song Rasputin, Night Flight to Venus was perhaps their biggest LP, they split up around 1987. The song Rivers of Babylon posted here on Banned is found on their Night Flight LP (I still have my original 1979 copy of this record) The 3 ladies in the group, Liz Mitchell, Marcia Barrett and Maizie Williams are still alive, as for the gentleman in the group, Bobby Farrell, he past away a few years ago, December 30th 2010, at the age of 61 from a heart attack while he was on tour in Russia.
Craig.
Craig
Great stuff you had that record. They were pretty big at the time. Immortal for a generation.
Mamamama ma Baker.............
I could see them at the auditorium, I mean they are ENGLISH, DUTCH and GERMAN.
(Huge tongue in cheek here.:-)
nck
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