Why There is NO NEED For Prophets In The New Covenant and Any COG Leader Today Who Claims They Are One, Is A Liar

Biblical Tests for Prophets: Straight from Scripture, No Loopholes Allowed

The Bible doesn't leave us guessing on how to identify a true prophet versus a false one—especially crucial when Armstrongism's landscape is littered with self-proclaimed "Elijahs," "Zerubbabels," and "prophets" whose track records read like a comedy of errors. Deuteronomy 18:15-22 is the gold standard for the office. God promises a prophet like Moses, but the test is ironclad: "When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him" (Deuteronomy 18:22, ESV). One miss, and they're out. No "it was conditional," no frantic booklet revisions, no "well, it partially came true in a spiritual sense." True prophets get it right—100%.

Deuteronomy 13 adds another layer: Even if signs or wonders come to pass, if the "prophet" leads you after other gods or away from God's commandments (as revealed at the time), they're false. In the New Covenant era, this translates to anything contradicting the finished work of Christ or adding to the closed canon. Jesus Himself warned, "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits" (Matthew 7:15-16). Fruits include doctrine, character, financial integrity, and whether their message produces freedom in Christ or bondage, fear, and tithing pressure.

The New Testament reinforces this. "Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good" (1 Thessalonians 5:20-21). "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world" (1 John 4:1). Testing involves alignment with Scripture, the fruit of the Spirit (not narcissism or control), and consistency with the gospel of grace. Prophets in the NT church (Ephesians 4:11) were foundational for the early era, often involved in forth-telling truth or specific guidance, but the office isn't a perpetual hierarchy demanding ongoing "new truth" beyond the Bible. The completed canon and indwelling Spirit equip every believer (2 Timothy 3:16-17; John 16:13).

Bob Thiel's Claims as a Case Study in Failing the Tests

Bob Thiel (Bwana Bob, the self-styled Crackpot Prophet of the Continuing Church of God) provides a textbook example of why these tests matter—and why modern claimants fall flat. He has an in-depth article on his sites titled "How To Determine If Someone is a True Prophet of God," where he lays out criteria, cites dreams, anointings, comments from Roderick Meredith, and more to justify his role.

On December 15, 2011, I was anointed with oil by a Living Church of God minister (Gaylyn Bonjour) who prayed God would grant me a 'double-portion' of His Holy Spirit. This was not planned by him in advance, but happened after I asked for prayer related to some meetings I was to have. He later confirmed that what he did could not be undone. I also had dreams consistent with how God says He communicates with prophets (Numbers 12:6; Acts 2:17-18). Dr. Meredith had earlier stated that God may consider me to be a prophet. ... In my case, I have not made false prophecies, but have had the relatively few I have made confirmed... On October 3, 2008, Dr. Roderick C. Meredith... stated that God may consider me to be a prophet... In late January/early February 2009, Dr. Meredith told me over the telephone that if he (Dr. Meredith) was raised to the office of apostle, he was considering ordaining me (Bob Thiel) as a prophet... The CCOG has the signs/fruits and fruits of Acts 2:17-18, including the fruits of a prophet... CCOG has been the fastest growing COG in the 21st century.

But apply the actual biblical tests, and it unravels. His framework rests on Herbert W. Armstrong's discredited British Israelism, failed 1975 prophecies (which he defends or reinterprets), and a legalistic Old Covenant shadow that the New Covenant renders obsolete. Dreams and vague "warnings" about geopolitics are spun post-hoc as fulfillment—classic false prophet tactics. Deuteronomy 18 demands precise predictive accuracy, not elastic news analysis that can be retrofitted. His "fruits"? Division, attacks on critics (including ex-members exposing scandals like those in Kenya), heavy emphasis on tithing and his unique role, and a track record of propping up a system rife with authoritarianism and unfulfilled end-time dates across COG splinters. Jesus said you'd know them by fruits, not by self-published articles defending one's own prophethood or membership tallies that ignore quality, doctrine, or the New Covenant's freedom from such hierarchies. Thiel's approach sidesteps the New Covenant's sufficiency, turning "prophecy" into a perpetual fundraising and control mechanism rather than pointing to Christ's completed work.

This isn't unique to Thiel—it's the Armstrongist pattern: endless "prophets" chasing relevance through speculation while ignoring the clear biblical verdict on their predecessors' flops.

Resting in the Superior New Covenant Reality

In the end, the proliferation of "crazy men" in Armstrongism isn't a bug—it's the inevitable feature of clinging to an outdated, hierarchical model that the New Covenant explicitly surpasses. Hebrews 1:1-2 declares it plainly: God spoke through prophets in the past, but now He has spoken fully and finally through His Son. Jesus is the Prophet par excellence (Deuteronomy 18:15 fulfilled), the Great High Priest, and the King whose kingdom is not built on endless middlemen but on direct access for all believers. The New Covenant, promised in Jeremiah 31:31-34 and unpacked in Hebrews 8-10, internalizes God's law on our hearts, ensures we all know Him without a special class of intermediaries, and secures complete forgiveness—rendering the old system's shadows (including ongoing prophetic offices for new revelation) obsolete.

The foundation of apostles and prophets (with Christ the cornerstone) was laid once for all (Ephesians 2:20). We build on it today through teaching, pastoring, and the ordinary gifts of the Spirit, not by awaiting the next "Elijah" to rewrite doctrine or set dates. The canon is closed; adding to it or claiming extra-biblical authority invites the warnings of Revelation 22:18-19. The Holy Spirit, given to all at Pentecost, guides, convicts, and equips—no need for self-appointed watchmen demanding allegiance and cash while their predictions crumble or their "double portions" and dreams conveniently affirm their own authority.

Armstrongism's endless parade of false prophets—like Thiel's elaborate self-justification via anointings, selective Meredith quotes, dream interpretations, and growth stats—exposes the bankruptcy of that system: it produces fear, division, financial exploitation, and disillusioned lives rather than the freedom, joy, and fruitfulness of resting in Christ's finished work. Sarcasm aside, it's heartbreaking—families fractured, vulnerable people exploited (including those African congregations dealing with real scandals), all in the name of "restoring" something Jesus already perfected. The biblical tests exist precisely to protect us from this. Test everything against Scripture. Hold fast to the good. Reject the wolves in prophetic sheep's clothing who fail Deuteronomy's accuracy standard and Jesus' fruit test.

The beauty of the New Covenant is this: You don't need the latest COG "prophet" to navigate the times. You have the living Word, the indwelling Spirit, and the completed revelation in Christ. That's abundance, not lack. Walk in that freedom, expose the wackiness where it persists, and let the clown car of self-proclaimed Elijahs—complete with their in-depth articles proving their own specialness—fade into irrelevance. The true Prophet has spoken—everything else is just noise.