Well, look who just had another prophetic orgasm.
Crackpot Bob, the self-appointed prophet of the improperly named "Continuing" Church of God and full-time professional Germany-watcher, has once again discovered that Europe is spending money on its own military. And just like every single time this has happened for the last seventy years, Bob has decided this can only mean one thing: Germany is secretly gearing up to blitzkrieg the United States, conquer Canada and England, and set up concentration camps for the modern-day “tribes of Israel”.
Because of course it is.
Never mind that Germany is frantically trying to build a military that can actually deter Russia after years of watching Ukraine get turned into a meat grinder. Never mind that German leaders are openly saying they need to be “war-ready by 2029” because Moscow is the threat. Never mind that the entire current buildup is a direct response to Russian aggression and the very real possibility that the United States might not be as eager to bankroll Europe’s defense forever.
None of that matters to Bob. In his carefully curated prophetic fever dream, every new German tank, every increase in the defense budget, every European leader who says “we need to be able to defend ourselves” is secretly code for “We can’t wait to invade the United States and put the descendants of Manasseh in camps.”
This is not analysis. This is a fetish.
Armstrongism has been running this exact script since Herbert W. Armstrong was still alive and predicting the Great Tribulation would hit between 1972 and 1975. Germany was always going to rise, lead a United States of Europe, and destroy America and Britain. The only thing that ever changed was the date. The prophecy failed. Then it failed again. Then it failed some more. And yet the same men (and their spiritual grandchildren) keep dusting it off every time Europe buys a new rifle.
Bob has simply inherited the family business of failed prophecy and turned it into a full-time lifestyle. He watches European defense news the way some men watch adult films. A German general says the Bundeswehr needs more troops? Bob starts quivering. The EU talks about strategic autonomy? Bob reaches for his Bible and his tissues. Donald Trump pressures NATO countries to spend more on their own defense? Bob declares that Trump is unknowingly raising up the Beast so it can destroy the very nation Trump is trying to strengthen.
It’s almost touching in its pure, undiluted delusion.
The actual news is straightforward. Germany is rearming because Russia is a hostile nuclear power that has already invaded a neighboring country and is rebuilding its military at a rapid pace. European leaders are admitting what has been obvious for years: they can no longer assume the United States will indefinitely underwrite their security. That is not the rise of the King of the North. That is basic national self-interest after decades of free-riding.
But basic national self-interest does not get Crackpot Bob out of bed in the morning. Only the thrilling possibility that Germany might one day put Americans in camps does that.
So once again we are treated to the same tired parade of scriptures ripped out of context, the same Lamentations passage about “friends becoming enemies,” the same Daniel 11 fantasy in which modern Germany is somehow both the ancient King of the North and the final Beast power that will conquer the United States. The same prophecy that has been “almost here” for longer than most of Bob’s readers have been alive.
Germany is arming itself against Russia. Bob is arming himself against reality.
And somewhere in Arroyo Grande, the crackpot prophet is smiling that strange little smile, convinced that this time—this time for sure—the tanks are finally coming for the United States.
He can hardly wait.
17 comments:
All spin. Bob is preaching to his own mini flock of believers/followers. Who are so minuscule they are invisible. He simply desires an audience. The day will come when he will be, like us all, no more. His ‘church’ will disintegrate and be forgotten and not even a memory like so many wannabe prophets before him. It doesn’t matter how sincere how motivated one is with one’s message. If it is not of the truth, and we know that Armstrongism is built on a foundation of sand, it will come eventually to nought.
All is vanity does saith the Word.
We have computers controlling all of our machines these days. One of the first things I must do when installing a customer's new equipment is to establish the company's' default settings, so that there are numerous predetermined actions about which they will not even need to think. .
Oh, There are many aspects of my job that remind me of Armstrongism. It's not just default settings!
I saw a chart in one of the earliest Plain 'Truths' which had repeated the standard British‑Israel prediction that Russia would attack Britain in that time of the 1830's. This idea did not originate with Armstrong; it came directly from late‑19th‑ and early‑20th‑century British‑Israel literature, which cast Russia as “Gog” and Britain as “modern Israel.”.
Only later, during the Second World War, did the future apostle abandon the Russian‑attack scenario and then he decided to replace Russia with Germany as the prophesied aggressor. Thus, the very early Plain Truth reflects Armstrong’s first prophetic model, in which Russia, not Germany, was expected to make war on Britain.
The point being you would have to be plain silly to believe anything these prophets drag out all their predictions are riddled with error and combined with plain lies that the truth has been revealed to them.
PS intended it to read :I saw a chart in one of the earliest Plain 'Truths' which had repeated the standard British‑Israel prediction that Russia would attack Britain in that time of the 1930's. - of course
7:56 Correct me if I’m wrong anyone but I think GG Rupert was the one who would’ve preached that Russia would invade the UK. But he wasn’t born till 1863 though.
Also I don’t think HWA ever taught Russia would invade the UK/USA but a revived US of E would invade the UK/USA. So maybe the chart was either a BI chart or GGR chart and HWA was just using it for illustrative purposes.
I never saw that chart, 7:56, but, GG Rupert, from whom HWA had adapted many of his ideas, had his "Yellow Peril". The Japanese and Chinese were Rupert's Boogeyman. My parents became interested in HWA in the middle 1950s. During World War II, they had been teenagers, and would not have run across the HWAcaca on the radio, so would not have been aware of HWA's WW-II era prophecy failures. Reference materials being what they were during their teen age years and early adulthood, they chose HWA over Billy Graham back in 1955-56 because they became convinced that the Sabbath was the key to identifying God's church in modern times. British Israel based prophecy, the child rearing debauchery, church eras, three tithes and several other teachings were all undesirable passengers that came along with HWA's half a gospel. If Billy Graham had only taught the sabbath!
In "provimg all things", I held HWA accountable for 1975! That was simply too big of a botch job to allow someone who claimed to be God's apostle, end times Elijah, restorer of truth, someone who was allegedly the individual through whom God was speaking, to get away with. And, I've been proven right about his exposure for the past 50+ years. The parental units climbed on to some of the bottom rungs of the power structure and died without ever experiencing the fulfillment of their lifestyle they fervently believed would come in their lifetime. Some of my siblings attempted to dissuade them, but I began to believe that leaving would do more damage to them at their advanced age than would just riding that sick old horse until they or it collapsed, and I left them to their own devices. I never really developed a relationship with them in my adult life, but letting them be seemed like the kind and respectful way to handle their mess.
I really can't believe that all these years and attempted prophecy resets later there are still people who believe in and teach Armstrongism. But, you have your flat earthers, unless they are simply people who insist on being perverse or contrarian. Who knows what lurks in the deep recesses of the human mind?
Have you not heard of the Crimean war 7:56?
The Crimean War was 1853-1856 and there was Anglo-Russian war 1807-1812 and Britains involvement in Russia's civil war 1918-1920.
NOW you're doomed, America! Doomed once and for all!!
NYA-HA-HA-HA-HA!
(Oh, and Thy Kingdom come.)
I certainly hope that these tin horn dictators have not forgotten Mr. Armstrong's recommendations for a healthy diet. As I recall, nice salads with leafy green vegetables such as iceberg lettuce were mentioned frequently.
Hello to you. You are correct that G.G. Rupert taught a Russia‑versus‑Britain scenario in his prophetic material, but in the June 1934 Plain Truth we have Armstrong’s own handwritten annotation on page 3. Since he was the editor and personally cleared this chart, the handwriting can reasonably be attributed to him. In the wide right‑hand column you see the printed words “Second Woe,” - in 1936. Immediately to the left — written at right angles to the typeset text appears the handwritten note: “Russia vs Great Britain and US.” This is part of Armstrong’s own annotated chart. So regardless of Rupert’s earlier views, Armstrong himself taught a Russia–Britain–US conflict in his earliest prophetic framework. It appears to be something Armstrong adopted independently and is not simply a reflection of his British‑Israel background.
All the best
7:56 Yes, I’m familiar with the Crimean War. But those historical wars are not what British‑Israel writers or Armstrong in 1934 were talking about. They were predicting a future prophetic conflict based on Ezekiel 38–39, not referring to past Anglo‑Russian wars. Rupert himself wrote his Russia‑vs‑Britain prediction decades after the Crimean War and even after Britain’s 1918–1920 involvement in Russia, casting Russia as “Gog” and Britain as “modern Israel,” and like all BI writers he was describing a coming end‑time clash, not 19th‑century history. Armstrong echoed the same idea in his earliest prophetic model: his handwritten note “Russia vs Great Britain and US” in the June 1934 Plain Truth chart is an eschatological prediction, not a comment on earlier Anglo‑Russian conflicts. Please see my earlier comment about Armstrong’s chart for the details.cheers
Thank you for sharing you and your family’s experience when they first encountered Armstrong some 75 years ago now. Can understand why they stayed in. Many of the prophetic failures from the WWII era and before were largely forgotten by the time your parents came across HWA, and old copies of the Plain Truth were not really available. The Sabbath teaching was the hook that made everything else seem credible - as it did for me as well. Once people accepted that one point, the whole British‑Israel package and prophecy, tithing, church eras, and the rest came bundled in behind it.
Regarding Rupert: yes, he absolutely had his “Yellow Peril” framework, and HWA borrowed from him one suspects. Rupert’s Russia‑vs‑Britain scenario was also part of that inheritance. He wrote those predictions long after the Crimean War and even after Britain’s 1918–1920 involvement in Russia, framing them as future Ezekiel‑38 end‑time events. Armstrong echoed the same idea in his earliest prophetic model including the June 1934 Plain Truth chart. That was his first attempt at a prophetic framework before he later replaced Russia with Germany. In the succeeding years the whole BI theory began to be tacked on in greater force, becoming more and more central to his developing prophetic system.
Your point about the long trail of failed predictions is exactly right. The resets, the shifting timelines, and the constant “new truth” claims left many people waiting for a fulfilment that never came. It’s sobering how many lived their entire adult lives inside that system, hoping for something that was never going to materialise. We look beyond men and pray for God to guide and direct. Best to you.
Don’t forget too his words re not peel potatoes too deeply the minerals are just under the skin. Don’t overcook vegetables you destroy the life‑giving elements. Not using aluminum pots. At one point system actually sold “waterless” surgical‑steel cookware
I just wonder some times. I wonder if William Miller, Mrs. E.G. White, GG Rupert, Dugger and Dodd, and HW Armstrong are conscious in spirit, and watching and learning from the abominable $hitstorm they unleashed and watched fizzle out!
10:34
(Part 1)
Thanks for that source and explanation. It’s very interesting to see the development of HWA’s prophetical understanding. I asked ChatGPT re this idea of Russia invading the US/UK and it stated thus:
Armstrong did not invent the idea that Russia would invade Britain or America. This interpretation circulated widely in British-Israel circles, Adventist offshoots, evangelical prophecy conferences, and prophetic books after the Russian Revolution. Armstrong had been heavily influenced by British-Israel literature from the late 1920s onward, so he inherited much of that prophetic environment even though he later rejected portions of it. Once he moved the timing of Ezekiel 38 and the Second Woe, Russia's target necessarily changed.
Beginning around 1938–1941 Armstrong became convinced that prophecy required the revival of the Holy Roman Empire, a German-led European Beast power, and Germany—not Russia—to destroy Britain and America. This increasingly became the centerpiece of his teaching. During WWII he argued repeatedly that Hitler and the coming European system—not Russia—fulfilled the relevant prophecies concerning the punishment of the modern descendants of Israel.
One of the clearest statements comes from the June 1948 Plain Truth. Armstrong wrote: “No such war between Russia and the United States is prophesied..." He continued: "This invasion... will not come from the Russians..." He then added that Ezekiel 38 does not describe a Russian invasion of America or Britain but a different invasion occurring at another time and place. This is almost the exact opposite of what his 1934 chart appears to imply.
Why did he make the change? From reading the progression of his writings, there seem to be four reasons.
(1) His understanding of Daniel 2 and 7 expanded. He became increasingly convinced that the final Beast was a revived Roman Empire centered in Europe. That automatically made Europe—not Russia—the immediate enemy of the Anglo-American nations.
(2) His understanding of Revelation shifted. He came to distinguish more carefully the Great Tribulation, the Beast's military campaigns, the Day of the Lord, the Sixth Trumpet (Second Woe), and Ezekiel 38. In later years these became separate events rather than being compressed into a short period.
(Part 2)
(3) His interpretation of Ezekiel 38 changed. This is perhaps the biggest theological change.
Early:
• Russia invades modern Israel (Britain and America).
Later:
• Russia invades after Christ has intervened (or at least after Europe's rise), targeting a different geopolitical situation.
By the 1940s he insisted Ezekiel 38 had been widely misunderstood by prophecy teachers.
(4) His expectations about timing changed. In 1934 he expected the end within about two years. When that failed, he did not abandon prophetic interpretation; instead he reworked the sequence. This affected almost every major prophetic chart he had published.
Interestingly, Armstrong never directly acknowledged that he had changed his views. By the 1950s he often emphasized that The Plain Truth had warned for over 20 years about a coming united Europe. In doing so, he highlighted elements of his early writings that fit his later framework while giving much less attention to the parts—such as the 1934 chart and its 1936 expectations—that he had revised.
The evidence indicates that Armstrong's early (1934) view reflected a transitional stage in his prophetic thinking rather than the fully developed system he later became known for. His 1934 interpretation likely drew on:
• inherited British-Israel prophetic traditions that expected a Russian assault;
• the geopolitical fears of the early 1930s; and
• an immature chronology that placed the Second Woe much earlier than he later would.
Between roughly 1938 and 1948, his prophetic system underwent a major reorganization. After that, his settled position became:
• Germany/Europe (the revived Beast) would conquer the United States and Britain during the Great Tribulation.
• Russia and the Asian powers would appear later under the Sixth Trumpet (Second Woe), primarily in conflict with the European Beast power rather than invading the U.S. and Britain.
That later framework remained essentially consistent in his teachings from the 1950s through the 1980s.
Armstrong was reading widely in British-Israel literature in the early 1930s, so it's quite plausible that his first prophetic chart reflects ideas circulating in that movement before he later revised them, especially since he refers to the Great Pyramid students in the same issue, which IIRC was once an adjunct belief to British Israelism.
Wouldn't it have been nice for all of us if HWA had actually been inspired by God, as opposed to reading widely and guessing?
You know what I've always said. If he was wrong about the prophecies, he was wrong about the doctrines as well. And he, himself, actually gave us that criteria! God supposedly provided him with correct understanding of end time prophecies because he had restored the correct God-given doctrines, and the church was obeying them. Obviously, the past 50 years has proven that there was a disconnect!
Unless of course, it's the brethrens' fault for not being ready! But that is really bogus! God would have raised up stones to complete His plan, if HWA's outline had been His plan.
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