Herbert Armstrong's Tangled Web of Corrupt Leaders

Monday, July 11, 2022

Is “That Prophet” Alive Today?

 


Is “That Prophet” Alive Today?

 

Ever since “The Greatest Story Never Told! (Part 8)” given on December 12, 2015, David C. Pack has made it a doctrine of The Restored Church of God that “That Prophet” of Deuteronomy 18:18 and Acts 3:23 is Elijah the Prophet, not Jesus Christ as taught by Herbert W. Armstrong of The Worldwide Church of God. That had been a “bedrock” understanding about Jesus Christ for decades.

 

Being that David C. Pack had declared himself to be Elijah the Prophet eleven months earlier made this new teaching all the more convenient for him to be greater in importance to God than ever before. He was in the Bible more than he previously thought. It was the beginning of the floodgates opening.

 

Part 8 @ 06:49 Who is That Prophet of Deuteronomy 18? Two great questions immediately come up. Is he Christ or is he a man? And when is his commission carried out? Is he God or man? And when does he do what he’s supposed to do? Big question. Well, let’s go read in Acts 3, what it says. I’m gonna answer it in a way that is impossible to misunderstand.

 

And yet, Dave misunderstood it for the remaining 1 hour and 50 minutes. Then has continued to misunderstand for the next 6 years and 8 months…plus.

 

That logic never made sense to me because Jesus Christ was a man. If Dave was denying He was a man, then he is denying that God came in the flesh. Dave never went “all the way” there, but when he would dip his toes into that pool, I got incredibly uncomfortable.

 

It would have been such a simple question at the time, “Mr. Pack, isn’t Jesus Christ a man?” I guess either no minister at Headquarters asked him or he just “explained it away” without considering fully what he was saying.

 

This is a clip later in the message where he stated flatly that Elijah was That Prophet. See Audio: Part 8 Elijah That Prophet at end of this article.

 



This “new doctrine” took a sledgehammer to my spiritual foundation and rocked where I was as a Christian and what The Restored Church of God was doing as the place I had been “giving all” to. His “Ah shucks, it had to be someone” comments did not soften the cut I felt when I first heard this teaching.

 

This was the sermon that kept me tossing and turning three nights in a row. I had never been so spiritually disturbed. That teaching was wrong and not of God. I knew that. 


But on the other hand, I was in God’s one true church. Mr. Pack was the one God chose to lead the Work of God until Jesus Christ returns.

 

I wondered:

 

How is it possible that Mr. Pack could be so utterly wrong about something so utterly important? It’s all throughout our literature. It’s in The World to Come broadcasts. Mr. Pack wrote an entire book about it to prove that Gerald Flurry of The Philadelphia Church of God was a false prophet. It is a title only for Jesus Christ. Acts 3 makes it so clear. And yet…

 

It was a surreal time. I did not hear anyone else make a comment about it. All the ministers were acting like “business as usual.” Co-workers did not seem to be in a haze of shock.

 

I must be the only one at Headquarters that has a problem with this. Maybe I’m not as close to God as I thought. Maybe I am not of the wise because “the wicked shall not understand.” Maybe I’m a tare. Maybe I don’t have enough faith. Maybe I don’t have God’s Spirit after all. Maybe the devil is tricking me. I better counsel with the ministry.

 

On that Wednesday morning, I counseled with the Headquarters Pastor at the time who was training another man I liked very much. They spent the next 90 minutes showing me from the Bible how Mr. Pack was correct in his teachings and I was just not looking at it the right way, but that is okay because it is a minister’s job to help guide the brethren.

 

I was a sheep and the two shepherds were going to help keep me from wandering off.

 

I came with my Bible, but also with Mr. Pack’s own literature. I only had the heart to read a few “mild” quotes from it. “That book is old understanding,” the minister said. I have to stay current with what God is revealing to His apostle now. It is part of a Christian’s journey. This is why Christianity is hard.

 

By the end of the session, they got me to see it their way. I hugged both of them, feeling relieved. But the moment I started walking down the hallway, the “wait a minute” questions started to pop in my head.  “What about…” and “What about…” all the way to my truck in the parking lot. By the time I opened the door, I was already back to, “No. That’s not right. No way. Jesus Christ is That Prophet.” I could not shake it.

 

At this point, I was determined to do a deep study in my Bible when I got home. This was against the advice of the minister. He told me to “trust God’s government” and “do not study this any more.”

 

But, I knew I had to “Prove all things, hold fast that which is good.” That was a foundational verse for my entire Christian journey. I spent weeks going through my Bible and the RCG literature (before it was removed from every nook and cranny at Headquarters). I was driven to prove what was true. My intent was not to prove Mr. Pack wrong. But that did become the ultimate conclusion.

 

After much study, I proved it all the more powerfully that Jesus Christ is That Prophet. I still have those notes. At this point, I just had to “endure” the stab in my gut whenever Mr. Pack would bring it up. I began to listen to him more carefully than in the past and really hear what he is saying and how he is saying it.

 

If he is so wildly wrong about this teaching, what else is he wrong about?


The seed was planted. I became a David C. Pack skeptic. I never believed he was an apostle anyhow, I just “accepted” everyone said it. But this new way of thinking grew. I was deeply interested in critical thinking, prosecuting the truth, proving all things, and letting the Bible prove the Bible.

 

Eventually, I resigned from The Restored Church of God in March of 2021. And now I have a website. That has been an odd journey.

 

 

Due to all the whoppers Dave laid out in Part 381 this past Sabbath, something huge escaped my attention, which is probably fine since that article was more than long enough already.


There is a new big question on the table: Who is That Prophet now?

 

Follow the logic:

 

Jesus Christ was That Prophet  Dave Pack becomes Elijah the Prophet  That Prophet is actually Elijah the Prophet Dave Pack is then Elijah That Prophet  Dave Pack now is NOT Elijah the Prophet  Dave Pack cannot be That Prophet  Ancient Elijah is still dead and cannot be That Prophet  Who is That Prophet now?  Dave throws a dart on his open Bible

 

 

Based on what was just declared on July 9, David C. Pack HAS to also do a major reversal on who That Prophet is. If Dave is not Elijah the Prophet, then he cannot be That Prophet. Since the ancient Elijah the Prophet is now one of the Two Witnesses who will need to be resurrected before he can start his commission, he cannot be That Prophet either. Can he?

Dave may squint and turn his head sideways at Deuteronomy 18 to make that also be about the Two Witnesses of Revelation, but since the word there is prophet—singular, he will really need to pull off some world-class Biblical Twister to sell that, even to Brad.

 

Here’s an idea. I have already declared I am a non-prophet/non-psychic, but allow me for a moment to channel Dave’s warped thinking into my brain. THUNK. Do not try this is at home. It is for demonstration purposes only.

 

I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him. Deuteronomy 18:18-19

 

If I were Desperate Dave running on the hamster wheel in the third floor Executive Imaginarium with The Coffee Kid and Pepper Boy manning the projector, here is how I would do it:

 

First, look up each and every word in Strong’s Concordance. Then, remove all the words that those awful, incompetent translators added in to “cloud” what God was really saying. Read all the various other translations. Then examine what is being said and who it is being said to.

 

Eureka! I have the answer. 

 

God was talking to Moses. God is telling him He is going to resurrect another prophet like him. That other prophet is Elijah. God was telling Moses that he was going to get a partner named Elijah. Since Elijah and Moses will be the Two Witnesses, they are like each other. Plus, Elijah was a great speaker and Moses was not, so logically, Elijah would be “the chief” of the two. Elijah is a type of Aaron going before Pharaoh, so of course what HE says will carry consequences to those who do not heed.

 

It makes perfect sense that God hid this in His word until the very end, right there in the Old Testament and we never saw it because it wasn’t time yet. No minister I ever talked to or even heard about ever read that verse and said That Prophet of Acts 3 was going to be working with Moses and that the Two Witnesses are right there in Deuteronomy 18. It’s impossible to misunderstand. Once you see it for what it is. This is the most electrifying knowledge I have ever been privileged to teach in my fifty-some-odd years of preaching. And you are the very first who get to hear it. Because you held on, brethren.

 

Yikes. I just wrote that. That is not a Dave quote, just in case you were wondering.

 

The long-standing Acts 3 distortion would still be in play regarding Elijah. Forget the fact Peter keeps bringing up Jesus Christ from beginning to the end of that chapter. Peter was just a fisherman, so what did he know? Dave has no problem repeating, “Peter got it wrong” anyhow.

 

Seriously, if Dave uses this angle to teach it to the church, that would be incredible. And he would owe me sixty bucks.

 

Could you imagine? God’s Apostle, who is also here “in the spirit and power of Elijah” draws the same conclusion as an antichrist? Except, I got here first. For the record, I found this answer inside 30 second just before noon on Monday, July 11, 2022.

 

If God reveals to Dave the same information I just found sitting with my laptop on my couch, what would that say about me from a biblical perspective? That is not a question for you or for me. That would be a question for Dave. We’ll jump off that bridge when we get to it.

 

Or…and I hope this is truly the case, Dave goes the other way and he announces that Jesus Christ really really really is That Prophet of Deuteronomy 18 and Acts 3 after all. They can take all that literature out of the trash bin and put it back onto the shelf.

 

I would feel very comfortable with that because it would be true.

 

But if he does this, it will yet be another reversal of a foundational teaching of The Restored Church of God that has been held on to for almost seven years. Talk about shaking the tree again with that one.

 

He surely won’t spend 1 hour and 57 minutes explaining how he is NOT That Prophet and that Jesus Christ is. I’m curious to see how much energy he actually devotes to dismantling his own erroneous teaching.

 

If Dave went this route and returned to “Jesus Christ is That Prophet” just as I asserted back in 2015, then I could imagine the counseling that Bradford G. Schleifer would give as I sat in his office.

 

“Well Marc, you didn’t exercise enough patience. You answered the matter before you heard it. See, God sorted it out just like Mr. Armstrong always used to say. You didn’t trust God’s government, His Church, His ministers, or me. You didn’t believe Mr. Pack was God’s apostle and this is the result. If only you had held on just a little longer…”

 

I feel a little bit like Thanos taking his seat.

 

Now…we wait.


Marc Cebrian


See: Is “That Prophet” Alive Today?


Elijah That Prophet

11 comments:

  1. Marc, Your documentation and record keeping of Dave Pack's mistaken meanderings over the years is remarkable and your presentations very well done. You indeed have been "called for such a time as this." I know it is difficult to find one's beliefs but then get stuck with the craziness of those who present it and unable to abide it and can leave one alone in the dark for a time. But all will be well for you. Thank you for all the effort you have into presenting your RCG and Dave Pack experience.

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  2. PACK WRITES:
    Christ twice warns of false prophets among God's
    people at the end of the age. There are more of these men than most
    realize. Should you be concerned? Can you recognize them? Can you
    resist their seduction?

    Yes, Davey, you are indeed one of those false prophets even when judging by your own standards!

    PS- Marc, you were a member of UCG for a while. What was it that caused you to leave that group?

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  3. Love this Marc! We’ve talked about this before, but this was the exact same thing that finally convinced me to leave RCG. I remember going through the office grabbing every copy of that book right after that sermon because I had a feeling they were going to throw them away. I also remember talking to the HQ minister and saying “but Mr. Pack didn’t even refute his own book” LOL.

    Pack taught for years to prove everything and not blindly follow leadership. It still amazes me how many members/ministers did the exact opposite.

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  4. I received a copy of that book in 2010 so he must have made reprints until he discontinued it. The proofs (a term we used in geometry) right out of the Bible proved Furry could not be that prophet but I didn't really care about him at the time. When I heard Pack declare himself That Prophet I thought WHAT! The pot calling the kettle black. There are many people in that organization that do not have very good memories or even the background if they came in after he started all this nonsense. The quotes on your website from that book are a very good refresher. Maybe you could remind people of that article and where to find it.

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  5. I vividly remember Dave lampooning Gerald Flurry from the lectern in his messages before 2015. He really enjoyed mocking him to the church. I do not yet have the quote on hand but he used to say, "There isn't a title in the Bible the man doesn't like to claim."

    Dave doesn't have any tattoos but "Irony" is what I would recommend for him.

    It's so interesting to me that Dave has said in sermons and written in his books warning about EXACTLY what he has now become. He warned everyone...about himself.

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  6. "I must be the only one at Headquarters that has a problem with this. Maybe I’m not as close to God as I thought. Maybe I am not of the wise because “the wicked shall not understand.” Maybe I’m a tare. Maybe I don’t have enough faith. Maybe I don’t have God’s Spirit after all. Maybe the devil is tricking me. I better counsel with the ministry." MC

    Marc, God had reserved unto himself 4 other people who didn't bow unto Elijah That Prophet Pack at that time. You were not all alone in your thinking.

    We in the field churches would often receive an email ahead of the upcoming Sabbath. It would read something like; Mr. Pack believes that this week's sermon is the most important message he has given in his 40 year ministry - it is a message you will want to hear. Unfortunately, many times, Dave Pack would go on and give a two hour sermon ALL ABOUT HIMSELF.

    Two weeks prior to the revelation of his Elijah prophethood, I anticipated he would go into this subject. I did a quick 1 hour bible study and easily concluded that HWA was not the prophesied Elijah to come. Two weeks later I could not believe Dave Pack could be that ignorant and crazy to claim that personage. There was no minister in our congregation after that sermon and the congregation was abuzz at this new revelation after services. I thought it was my duty to inform them that there is no way in this world or the the world to come that Dave Pack is Elijah. He can claim what he wants to claim I told them, but there will be a day when all of you will know that Dave Pack is not Elijah.

    Marc, you and I are both analysts, and you know analysts can't survive in the RCG. The running "laugh track" in the field congregations was that The Greatest Story was always going to be a moving target and never settled. You have analyzed and predicted what Dave Pack is going to do with Elijah That Prophet in his story line. The problem is his whole story is shot full of holes and a congested mess. Who is and where to fit Elijah That Prophet in Dave's wild month of kingdoms, Sabbaths, moons , Nebuchadnezzar, resurrections, prophets, judgments, witnesses, gospel testimony, close quarters, Wadsworth, temple, 1335 etc., becomes moot compared to the rest of the easily shuffled mess that Dave has created.

    Marc, you have created the true story of the Wadsworth mess and you have a great eye for plinking all the moving targets that Dave presents. Keep up the "greatest work"!

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  7. Dennis, thank you for the very kind words. Much appreciated.

    Tonto, I was "called out of the world" into UCG in March of 2019. I was baptized there in September of 2019. The more time I was there, the less "correct" UCG felt. I thought they were too soft, too weak, and too easy to be the "real Christianity" I was reading in the Bible. I could not get a minister to correct me like I thought I should be. I also could not get that same minister to take action when I pointed out things going on in the congregation. (A whole other story).

    My big issue was my 3rd Tithe years was coming up and I couldn't get an elder there to tell me I had to do it. Even though it was commanded, they said that no longer applies due to modern taxes and relief programs.

    Meanwhile, I had watching The World to Come program for about two years and I liked what the man was saying and how he was saying it. It made sense to me. Beyond Today was Beyond Boring. I thankfully left before Jelly was born...

    So, I started the read the RCG literature. A friend of mine was CONVINCED it was God's Church as a continuation of Worldwide Church of God. My friend was "an old-timer" from the '70s if I remember right. He became an RCG member later.

    I read the book, The True Church: One or Many Organizations. The light bulb went on. I was in the wrong place. I reached out to the local minister. We met. We talked. I read more books. I was invited about a month later. Then I went to the HQ picnic in Ohio in August that year (2012) and was soon hired and invited to move at the Feast. I moved to Ohio in November of 2012. I started the first week of December. I left March 2021. :)

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  8. Marc, it took me years to come to believe the following after leaving WCG in 1980: there is no third tithe. What's third is the year. So why would God command a tithe only every third year? I could not find a command to tithe every year, that is, give 10% to the Levites, knowing "all the tithe" does not mean a "tithe of all". Israel didn't tithe in the 7th year since they weren't supposed to harvest. They did tithe every year for the feasts except in the 7th year. They were to store up for the 7th year. But why tithe only every third year to give the tithe to others? Note: no tithe is called 1st, 2nd, 3rd tithe in scripture.

    It looks like the Levites were about 2% of the population - Num 31:30. The Levites are listed first in Deut 14:28-29; 26:12 as recipients of this third year tithe (not third tithe!). I've concluded 10% of the entire nation of Israel's increase was supposed to be given every third year to about 2% of the population (Levites) and to about 1.3% of the population (stranger/fatherless/widow), the equivalent of giving 3.3% every year to 3.3% of the population. The tithes were to be stored up...in the "gates". It's the math (chuckle).

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  9. There ain't any prophet, though hucksters will attempt to profiteer from our misery and to rob us of our blessings if we allow them to. We're on our own.

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  10. “Is 'That Prophet' Alive Today?”


    At least two of That FALSE Prophet are alive today: Gerald Flurry and David Pack.

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