Rembrandt, The Baptism of the Eunuch, 1626
A comment was made on here today that mentioned the Ethiopian eunuch mentioned in Acts 8 and how we see no one in Armstrongism ever emulated this guy. COG leaders tend to look with giggily adoration on those they see as hyper-masculine men of the old covenant stories. This was when men were men. Manly men of God.
For those who forgot, the Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch story:"The Ethiopian Eunuch was an exemplary character, but who would pick a eunuch as their super hero?"
Here we have a man so dedicated to his job of faithfully serving that queen that he is castrated so that no "improprieties" could happen between him and Queen Candice. While he might have been castrated after being taken prisoner at a young age to serve the royal court or willingly did so later on is not mentioned. What is mentioned is how dedicated he is to all that he does.
That dedication is what led him to travel over 1,600 miles to Jerusalem, in a chariot no less, to worship at the temple, knowing full well that as eunuch he would be rejected from entering the temple grounds. Yet, he still went.
He was not some poor Ethiopian out for a weekend jaunt to Jerusalem but was in a position of power and privilege that gave him access to the Queen and other influential people associated with the Queen/government. Being trusted with the Queen's money means he was not some poor little bookkeeper in the back room somewhere. It took money and dedication to travel that long of a distance through some of the most dangerous places.
He was also a person of such influence and education that he had access to a scroll or papyrus of the Book of Isaiah that he was traveling with and reading. Both scrolls and papyrus were painstakingly detailed books written and painted, not something the regular public had access to.
Here is a man so dedicated that he traveled over 1,600 miles to Jerusalem, knowing he would be rejected, yet went anyway. This is the kind of dedicated man that COG leaders should be emulating, but you never hear them doing such a thing.
Anyway, back to the story. Philip sees him reading the scroll and asks him if he understands what he is reading. He says no he doesn't and asks for Philip to explain it to him. Here is a man of such lofty status yet humble enough to admit he did not understand and asked for help. Imagine a COG leader asking for help understanding the scriptures they claim to know all about. What a sight that would be!
Philip took the Old Covenant scriptures he was reading and applied them to Jesus, so effectively that the eunuch desired to be baptized.
Much like the thief on the cross story at Jesus' crucifixion, nowhere is there any mention of the eunuch repenting of any sins he had committed. He understood the story that Philip told him about Jesus so well that he desired to be part of the "Jesus movement" that was sweeping the land at that time. He had faith and believed.
One would think that COG leaders like Gerald Flurry who has dumped millions of dollars into stage plays emulating Old Covenant prophets would see this as an amazing story about the salvational work of Jesus and the faithfulness of a "less than" man. But, that would involve Jesus, and that dude is not exactly welcome in most COGs today because beating people over their heads with the law or dancing some jig is more important.
Besides, the COG today is led by such mighty masculine men who supposedly still possess their testicles that to emulate a eunuch opens the door to women having a position of say in things. Since women also do not possess testicles and have menstrual periods that make them "supposedly" unclean, this is used against them. I remember one minister from Pasadena (now in UCG) making the statement that because women had menstrual periods and that scripture considered them unclean when that was happening, that was the reason they were unfit to preach or teach. Could you trust their words being spoken if they were having their unclean period?"
There are many men and women of faith in the Scriptures that the "men" leading COG's today could set up on pedestals as examples of faithfulness, but you never see these "men" do so. It is always more about them than anything else.
To be like the eunuch is to have humility and be teachable. This is what has led men and women of faith for centuries. People who are filled with wonder and desire for something bigger and greater than what they see around them instead of the crap spoonfed to them each week in canned sermons.
The Church of God needs more faithful Ethiopian eunuchs in its midst than the current crop of emasculated leaders we currently have in too many of the more vocal COG's today. Today church leaders are faith killers. They have stripped wonder and inquisitiveness from people's lives by force-feeding them their answers to everything. Good people of faith need to leave these emasculated impotent men behind and step out in freedom. It's pretty cool out here!
15 comments:
An excellent post and certainly one for further thought.
I am also reminded of Gods comment to Elijah that He had preserved in Israel many who had not bowed the knee to Baal, when Elijah believed he alone was left.
Food for thought again. I read widely a number of Christian publications, mainly associated with the modern state of Israel, and while I do not always agree with the writers and their theology there is no doubt in my mind that God cannot be placed into a ‘box’ and that all is black and white, as per Armstrongism.
We have brothers and sisters in Christ who are not in any way tainted with the cog movement who live astonishingly fine and upright lives. Who I might add are well versed in scripture. And there are many of them. Thank God for God.
Great article! Thank goodness Armstrongism does not represent the church or Christ!
Isaiah 56
4 For thus saith the Lord unto the eunuchs that keep my sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and take hold of my covenant;
5 Even unto them will I give in mine house and within my walls a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters: I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off.
And what is not told is that the Ethiopian man went back home and probably continued in his belief in God through Christ. He probably didn’t encounter the apostles again or attended any churches that Paul raised up after this because of location and what the Roman army did a few decades later. Perhaps he raised up a church in Ethiopia. There are other Christians who are not apart of the “main work” like this case or Elijah thinking he was the only one. Christ showed this on a few occasions in the gospels. What is interesting is that in LCG Sabbath booklet near the end, Meredith mentioned several other Sabbath groups that an individual can attend. Why don’t they come with that same understanding in regards to the “big picture.”
When I made the comment about the wood decaying and the gold collapsing on the ark in the cave on the Bob Thiel - Indiana Jones thread, that information was from an Ethiopian legend. The Ark was not present in the second Temple. Legend has it that Ethiopian Jews spirited it away from the first Temple to keep it from falling into enemy hands, and secreted it in a cave.
The current ACOG leaders should castrate themselves, It's only fair, they've been castrating the members of the members for years!
I noticed as a youth growing up in Worldwide it actually seemed as if HWA really disliked the role of Christ as our messiah & personal savior. It seemed as if he & too many of the ministry de-emphasized Christ and exalted the role of HWA as "apostle" and that of the rank of the ministry. Seems as if this has continued especially in the likes if Flurry, Pack & others who keep crowning themselves with titles and authority.
"What is interesting is that in LCG Sabbath booklet near the end, Meredith mentioned several other Sabbath groups that an individual can attend."
That might or might not be true, but what's true is that Meredith ain't no trustworthy reference. In one of his TV programs, just before his death, he came within a hair breath of stating that church government has the right to directly control members minds. This is mind rape and a direct violation of the separation of church and state.
God turned king Uzziah into a leper when he crossed this line by burning incense in the temple.
Incidentally, dictionaries define ownership as control, so Meredith (and his crony ministers) tried to steal all church members lives. It's heartwarming that the bastard is dead.
They now keep it in a chapel in Axum.
The HIERARCHY system always produces a long chain of castrated sycophants, from the top to the bottom.
Yea 1:57, the problem with the current COG system is that they made Armstrong their "Biblical hero". The exalted him as apostle even after his death, they believe he was the Elijah to come, or he would be one of the two witnesses. Meredith thought he was above most of the rest because he was one of the original five or so.....
These individuals needed to be humbled more.
1:57, when I was a teen in WCG, a few of us teens were talking about how we loved God, but we weren't so sure about Jesus and really didn't like those parts of the Bible. I'm so saddened to say this; but it does go to show how terribly we were taught about our redeeming Savior Who loves us and is pleased with us today. Armstrongism poisoned one's mind to the love of Christ. But, not anymore, I'm so grateful to say.
Ethiopian eunuch Bob Thiel. There, he has a biblical title. non-prophet wannabe without a set of balls.
Heh, right now the prophlet is squalling because the pope referred to Dante as a "prophet".
I don't even think it would help most of the ACOG ministers if they copied the body modification examples set by the Ethiopian eunuch or Origen (early church leader of the ante-nice period). Their personalities and temperaments would still overwhelm any possible goodness.
Can you imagine? "I even castrated myself, and you still won't respect me as a prophet!"
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