Showing posts with label False Prophet's. Show all posts
Showing posts with label False Prophet's. Show all posts

Thursday, June 28, 2018

Ron Weinland Reveals The True Name of Jesus



Over the last couple of years, the Church of God has bee subjected to various self-appointed prophets, apostles and Pharisees have been warning us of doom and gloom they soon hope will to strike this nation, Canada, England and Australia. The thought of famine, pestilence, war and death excites these guys to no end.  It is like it is a fetish to them.

From raving lunatics like Pack, Malm, Cox, Flurry and Thiel, these near-death prophecies are the basis of their threats and demands that they lay upon their followers.  Unless their followers heed every single thing they say, salvation will not be granted by their gods.  Their god and the thing they call "jesus" is eternally pissed.  Grace, mercy and redemption are not part of their vocabulary.  Such things actually infuriate them.

This brings us to another Church of God false prophet who claims his "jesus" is soon to return.  The difference in this prophet's "jesus" and the one that some of the others claim to follow is that this "jesus" is a created being that never was part of the heavenly realm that most of Christianity understand and believes.

This prophetic fool is none other than Rond Weinland, the official certified Church of God felon.  In his June 8th letter to his rapidly imploding little flock, he attacks Christian and Jews for their varied beliefs in a Messiah. He has a fit over the Trinity, the council of Nicea and the Catholic Church, claiming they are all a mess and wholly not unified because of their beliefs...unlike the Churches of God who are 100% united across the board in their understanding in all doctrines and biblical interpretations!

Weinland, like the above lying false prophets, is looking forward to war as he writes:
That is why this world is about to be plunged into the worst times of all human history, whereby God declares that if He did not intervene that mankind would indeed annihilate himself. It has only been now in this prophesied period of the end-time that mankind has developed the means of doing just that through the use of nuclear weapons.
That time has now come when such weapons are going to be used. And once it begins, only God can stop it. It is important to know that there is enough power in such weapons to destroy all life from this planet many times over.
Weinland next writes about his "jesus" and the Jesus that Christianity and most Church of God's believe in.  According to the Second Witless Witness, the Jesus of Christianity and most COG's is Jesus Christ.  This Jesus is the Catholic Jesus and not the "jesus" of the true church.
Only One True Christ
This brings us back to the subject at hand. Indeed, God promised that He would give to mankind a Messiah—a Christ—through whom He would save the world. From the beginning of the Church of God on the Pentecost of AD 31 (Acts 2), the disciples taught about this Messiah, this Christ, who had died and was resurrected to life again, now having everlasting spirit life. They taught that he was the one who was now with God the Father and who was now working with Him to prepare for a Kingdom that would come and reign on this earth for 1,000 years (Rev. 20). But traditional Christianity chooses to ignore such scriptures and does not teach about this period of time because it does not fit their doctrine and beliefs.
The overwhelming majority of people simply do not question what they have been taught from youth. They do not understand that only two churches arose after the time of Christ’s death and then continued for many hundreds of years before other churches emerged on the world scene who also came to call themselves Christian.
First, there was the Church of God, which is known throughout scripture in the New Testament and is referred to in exactly that way—the Church of God—God’s Church. Indeed, the oldest Christian church is the Church of God, which God brought into existence on Pentecost AD 31 and has continued now for nearly 2,000 years.
However, in AD 325 another church began to emerge that began to use the stories and writings of the apostles to teach about a different Messiah—a different Christ. They chose a name to identify him as the one who was born on Christmas Day, and the one who was resurrected on the Sunday morning of Easter. But none of this is true. Nevertheless, they gave him a name and they became a very great religion on this earth. The name they gave him is that of Jesus Christ.
The problem with Christianity and the Churches of God is that they do not follow the "jesus" that the Second Witless Witnesses believes in. This "jesus" is the one that Felon Weinland revealed to the world in 1994, the year Felon Weinland and his dingy wife apostatized from the mother church. 1994 is an earth-shattering date in the history of the church as God was FINALLY speaking to his true prophet.
Although God’s Church has remained small through time, just as God said it would be, the Church of God has been teaching and publishing the truth of Christ’s return for just over 80 years now. But a more precise timing for that return was not known until God gave a very specific countdown to His Church that began in December 1994. The incredible event that began this countdown is the very event God foretold through the apostles Paul and John. Paul declared that this future prophesied event would be the sign of Christ’s coming—of his return. This is fully covered in the most recent book I’ve written, Prophesy Against the Nations.
It is the responsibility of God’s Church, as a watchman, to warn about a great world war that immediately precedes Christ’s actual return. That specific warning has now been going out to the world for nearly 70 years. In the countdown that began in 1994, there are very specific measures of time that God has given as to when he can send His Son to become the King of kings in His Kingdom. There are only very specific periods or moments in time in which God has shown that His Son can return.
The date of 1994 is vitally important to the end time Witless Witness in that is leads directly to March of 2019 or Pentecost 2020 as the date of the return of his "jesus".
The countdown that began in 1994 has specific periods of time in which God can bring this age of mankind to an end and then establish His Kingdom under the reign of His Messiah, the Christ, for the next 1,000 years. God has revealed that this final end-time count to Christ’s return must fully align with the timing of certain annual Holy Days and that within that alignment there must be the fulfillment of very specific segments of time.
Note that the "jesus" of Felon Weinland has failed to return several times now:
The first count in which this event could have occurred was on the Pentecost of 2012 or the Pentecost of 2013. But it did not happen at that time. The next and far more meaningful “count” and alignment for Christ’s coming is on Pentecost, June 9th of 2019.
You can know if that is the time Christ will once again stand upon the Mt. of Olives if a third world war has broken out by February or March of 2019 at the latest. If not, then the next possible return will be the Pentecost of 2020. Beyond that and there will be a space of more time that will be a matter of a few years. The world is just that close to a final world war—a nuclear war breaking out on earth. It is that nuclear war that is the trigger for Christ’s coming and the purpose for his intervention in the affairs of mankind to stop that war.
See the easy out the Felon gave himself for 2020?  If his "jesus" does not return, more time will be available for a few years more.  Every single self-appointed Church of God prophet has been saying this crap for 8 decades now. Thier "jesus" never seems to come during their expected dates.

The "jesus" of Weinland keeps failing to return because of some many variables at work in his church and the world today.  It is his church members fault that they are not ready and its the world's fault that they just cannot seem to royally f___ it all up. Weinland's "jesus" has to sit there and twiddle his thumbs for a few more years.
The book, Prophesy Against the Nations, explains the prophetic countdown that began in December 1994 and the intricate plan whereby God will fulfill specific timing and prophecy for this end-time. The eventual precise timing God will use to fulfill these prophetic events is somewhat fluid due to current choices being made by people in God’s own Church and by leaders in this world. That is because there are great variables that exist because of the kinds of choices people have before them, and this has strong bearing on how and when God will bring all things together in order to complete the fulfillment of all end-time prophecy. Nevertheless, God is using specific segments of timing in order to usher in His Kingdom on earth where the Christ will finally become the prophesied King of kings over all nations.
There is now a final cleaning of the true Church of God.  It is time for Weinland's god to spit out more people. After all, it is COG members fault "jesus" cannot return to earth and wreck vengeance upon Weinland's critics.
A Final Cleansing for God’s Church
Since the final countdown for Christ’s return began in 1994, God has been preparing His Church for that return. As part of this process, God has also been restoring and revealing far more truth to His Church so that His Church is indeed ready for that return. Part of that process of God revealing truth is also a process for revealing error—in order to cleanse the Church and get rid of error.
Herbert W. Armstrong, an end-time apostle of God, although not received by the world as God’s apostle, was raised up by God in the 1930s in order to begin this process of restoring truth in His Church. God did this because over the prophetic era of the Church known as Sardis, much truth had been lost. As a matter of fact, truth began to be lost not long after the last of the original apostles died. That apostle was John, who in his later years was imprisoned for a time on the Isle of Patmos by the Roman government. It was there that the last book of scripture was revealed to him—the Book of Revelation.
But after 1800 years of persecution that came from different governments of man, beginning with the Roman Empire, as well as persecution and death from those who even called themselves Christian, the Church of God began to lose truth it was originally given. Once the printing press was invented and many other organizations with many varying beliefs concerning Christianity arose on the scene, it became even more of a struggle for the Church of God to hold onto the truths it had been given from the beginning.
So God raised up an end-time apostle whose job and commission was to begin restoring truth once more. God was doing this all in preparation for His Son to be sent back to this earth once again. It was revealed to Herbert W. Armstrong
Herbert W. Armstrong was also shown in the late 1940s that a company of ten nations in Europe would have much to do with the events of this end-time. He spoke of these ten nations that would arise at the end and that they would have (1) a common government (first the EEC and then the European Union), (2) a common currency (the Euro which came on the scene in 1999, 13 years after his death in 1986), and (3) its own military which has now become a reality as well.
But the world did not truly listen to God’s apostle nor has it ever really listened to His prophets and apostles.
Now we get to the final truth that Felon Weinland needs to reveal about his "true jesus".  Felon Weinland has bought into the "one god" teaching and this explains that his "jesus" is a created being He also goes on to explain how God became the Father.
It wasn’t until 2005, after Herbert W. Armstrong died in January 1986, that God revealed more error about this Trinity teaching to His Church. Mr. Armstrong knew that the holy ghost or holy spirit was not a being—not a separate God being, but he had not come to see the rest of the error in the Trinity teaching, which was that there is only “one” being who is God who has eternally existed. Christ had a beginning in life only after being born of Mary because the One Self-Existing Eternal God (Yahweh Elohim) had begotten Mary with His Son. By this act He added to His name—that of being God who then became a Father.
So God’s Church teaches that Christ has not eternally existed as the Trinity teaches. Scripture is filled with much evidence that there has only been One who has eternally existed and that He is the Almighty Self-existing Eternal God. No one else has ever had such self-existing eternal life in them—only One has.
“I am the LORD [Yahweh or the Eternal], and there is none else, there is no God [Elohim] besides me: I girded you, though you have not known me: That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none besides me. I am the LORD [Yahweh, the Eternal], and there is none else” (Isaiah 45:5-6).
Did you know it took until 2005 for God to reveal to the church that "jesus" never eternally existed and that he is nothing more than a created being?  I don't know what planet Weinerdude is on, but there have been people who have taught this since the beginning of Christianity!
In 2005, God gave to his final apostle and His Church to know that Christ was not of the Trinity either. He has not eternally existed, but had his beginning of life and existence from a birth that the One Eternal Self-existing God gave in begettal to Mary as his mother.
There is one last final teaching that Weinerdude needs to give to the church and that is TRUE name of his "jesus".
Only One Christ & One Last Error to Correct
As this post stated at the beginning, the world is filled with very divergent and conflicting beliefs about the Messiah—the Christ. This is true in both Judaism and in traditional Christianity. Traditional Christianity does agree on one primary thing and that is the name they have given him—Jesus Christ.
That is a different Christ than the one the disciples spoke of in scripture. The first book of the New Testament makes it clear what the Messiah’s true name was to be, but the church that became great in the Roman Empire after AD 325 changed that name and influenced its change in all scriptures as well.
God declared what His Son’s name was to be and it is not the name chosen and given to him by traditional Christianity.
It is important to understand what God told Joseph before His Son was born of Mary. God made it clear to Joseph, and to all who will listen, what the Messiah’s name was to be. This will first be quoted for how it is stated in the New King James Version of the Bible.

“Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a son, and you shall call his name JESUS, for he will save his people from their sins.’ So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: ‘Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel,’ {Isa 7:14} which is translated, ‘God with us.’ Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn son. And he called his name JESUS” (Matthew 1:18-25).
The name God gave to His Son as given through an angel to Joseph was not “Jesus.” Jesus is supposedly a transliteration of the actual word, which in English is “Joshua.” “Jesus” (Iesous [ee-ay-sooce’]) is supposedly the closest sound from Latin or Greek that could be used for the name of Joshua in Aramaic or Hebrew. However, it is not an actual translation of the word. The name of Jesus does not carry the actual meaning of the name of Joshua, yet that is the name God instructed to be given the Christ.

Joshua the Christ is coming to save us!  What amazing new truth!
Clearly the name of Joshua (Immanuel) is about “God being with us,” giving Christ power to help “save” His people—to help save us from our sins. Christ was the very Word of God made flesh as it speaks of in the Book of John. It is about the very Son of God, who is of the same Word of God (“logos” – the very revelatory thought and mind of God).
Indeed, after nearly 2,000 years God is about to send His Son as the Messiah—the Christ—to first save mankind from self-annihilation, and then to establish the Kingdom of God over all nations. The last great error to be removed from God’s Church in order that it be made fully ready for Christ’s coming is the correction of his very name. The name “Jesus” Christ represents all that began to be taught in error in a church calling itself Christian after AD 325. That name represents the teaching of that church in doctrines like the Trinity, Easter, Sunday worship, Christmas, and much more that is in error to God’s Word.
The one whose feet may well be standing once again next year upon the Mt. of Olives, after nearly 2,000 years, is Joshua the Christ—the true Messiah sent from God to save mankind.












Wednesday, October 19, 2011

False Prophets: Harold Camping and Rod Meredith



Prophet Thiel has a tirade today against Harold Camping who has once again predicted the end of the world this coming Friday, October 21st.  Thiel at least recognizes that Camping is incorrect and a liar.


According to Harold Camping and other supporters of his Family Radio, Jesus will return on and the world will end on October 21, 2011.  Here is what he wrote in his We are Almost There! book:
Significantly, the number 17 links perfectly to the fact of the rapture because spiritually, the number 17 signifies heaven. Moreover, the number 2 (second month) spiritually identifies with those who have been commissioned to bring the Gospel. Is it not amazing that they will be raptured on the 17th day of the second month? Is that coincidental? We also have learned that the last day of the earth’s existence, October 21, 2011, is the 23rd day of the seventh month of the Biblical calendar. The number 23 normally signifies God’s wrath being poured out. The number 7 (seventh month) signifies the perfect fulfillment of God’s purposes. Could this also be coincidental, that the final completion of God’s punishment on the unsaved occurs in the seventh month on a day that features the number 23, which is a number that completely identifies with God’s wrath, thus signifying God’s perfect wrath on the unsaved?  (p. 61-62).
So, based on his proclamations, the world has only a couple of days to exist. Of course, that is not possible, so in a couple of days, his remaining followers will again see that his prediction was wrong (like they did about his predictions for 1994, and the one for May, 21, 2011)

It is interesting that Thiel can see that Camping is a false prophet but cannot see that Meredith is also a false prophet.  Meredith has had just as many false prophecies over the years and MORE!

But Thiel dances by the false prophecies this way.  He claims Camping is making private interpretations of of prophecy, while LCG's and Meredith's version is "literal."  Camping takes his interpretations as literal also.  I do not understand why Meredith's private interpretation are any different than Camping's private interpretations.
We in the Living Church of God believe:
19 We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: 20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. (2 Peter 1:19-20, KJV)
Now, Peter is warning that unlike improper human reasoning, prophetic scriptures were not private interpretations. October, 21, 2011 and many of the numbers that have been associated with it are not biblical prophecies, but improper private interpretations of scripture.

While we in believe that we have “a more sure word of prophecy”, it is because we believe that many prophetic scriptures are literal and should often be understood that way. Sadly, those into their own private interpretations, and misunderstand the Bible and the Holy Days, have another view.

Thiel then goes on to say this:

Because he prefers his own imaginations to the truth of the Bible, Harold Camping seems to load one misleading calculation onto other misleading information to get to the wrong answer. He should not be listened to by those that actually believe the Bible. The heavenly signs in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21 have not happened, and they must happen first according to Jesus before He can return.

If this is true then Thiel must stop listening and following Rod Meredith, because Meredith over the decades has used his own imagination to interpret scripture in accordance with his belief on the way things should be.  So far has has struck out every single time he opens his mouth.  Once a liar, always a liar.

Yet, Thiel can call Camping a false prophet and not Meredith:

It remains my view that when Jesus does not come on May 21, 2011, hopefully the warnings to his followers will finally sink in. And some may remember that Jesus said,
11 Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. (Matthew 24:11)
Meredith is a proven and documented false prophet, along with Herbert Armstrong, Gerald Waterhouse, Dean Blackwell and Herman Hoeh.  They have all lied through their teeth for decades.

But there is a grand scheme going on by Satan here.  With Camping and others continually being proven to be false prophets this will have an impact upon the Living Church of God whenever they decide to make an end time prophecy in the future.  Because of all the failed prophets in the past, when people hear LCG/Meredith utter prophecies the world will laugh at LCG and Meredith.  They will be mocked and scoffed at.


Despite false predictions, Jesus will return. And we are to look forward to His return as the Apostle Peter wrote. Jesus will return no earlier than 2018 (and likely later) as certain biblically-required steps have not yet happened (Daniel 9:27; cf. Matthew 24:15,21,29-30).

When God’s true servants proclaim the truth about prophetic events, people are likely to point to false predictions (supposedly, but not really, from the Bible) and scoff, though God still wants people to repent (2 Peter 3:3-9). This scoffing is one of the dangers of the October 21, 2011 date that will soon be proven false.



If Thiel and LCG don't want to be mocked and scoffed at then stop telling prophetic lies as if they were the truth!  Shut down your cult headquarters and stop lying!


Monday, May 23, 2011

Bob Thiel Lecturing Harold Camping Acolytes



Chiropractor/Herbalist Bob Thiel is setting Harold Camping's cult straight with the 'truth of gawd."  Bob wants Camping's group to know that they have been deceived.  They are fools because they have wrong dates and wrong theology.  Only God's revealed word through Roderick (Spanky) Meredith contains the true word for all humanity.

And of course, since he ignored the calendar in the Bible, Harold Camping did not even have the correct date for Pentecost in 2011.  Pentecost will be on June 12th this year, and no, Jesus will not be coming then either.  There are too many biblically-required events that need to happen first and there is not enough time between now and then for them to happen.


Thiel has been in communication with some of Campings acolytes.  Now that Camping's prophecy failed Bob is hoping they see the true light and come to the true Church.

Yet sadly, at least one Camping supporter, without any refuting facts, said that my article had not sufficiently persuaded him that Harold Camping was wrong a few months ago.  Now, hopefully with their blinders off, more of Harold Camping’s supporters will be willing to take a more objective view and see that what I wrote is true, and of course, always had to have been true.
 You can read more of Bob's warning to Camping's followers here Harold Campings Teachings About the End of the World Do Not Agree With the Bible   Barf bag may be need for the sheer hypocrisy in Bob's screed.


Chiropractor Bob goes on to write:

The iniquity of false prophets such as Harold Camping, Ronald Weinland (who still claims that Jesus will come on May 27, 2012), and others will turn various people off about prophecy. More will feel comfortable being scoffers. And this rise of scoffers who will not believe in prophecy is also foretold in the Bible by the Apostle Peter:
Thiel is not happy with WeinerDude Weinland's prophecies, but what about Meredith's? What about the iniquity of the liar and false prophet Roderick C Meredith?  What about all of his documented lies and failed prophesies?  What about Herbert Armstrong's?  What About Gerald Waterhouses's?  What about Dean Blackwell's?    What about Herman Hoeh's? What about LCG's predictions that there are 6-12 years left?   You are starting to look as stupid as Camping right now!

Monday, April 18, 2011

Endtime Apostle Makes Another Prediction




Apostle Malm is on a roll again today. Did you know that the Abomination of Desolation will be set up this September 28th?  Apostle Malm thinks so.  Well, maybe he does or maybe he doesn't. In the grand style of all Armstrongite false prophets, he qualifies his statement with a "This IS NOT a prediction; it is merely an example."


The resurrection will take place late on the sixth day of Unleavened Bread: The proof of this will be clear if the abomination is set up 1,290 days Dan 12, counting back from a future sixth day of unleavened Bread!

For example: if the sixth day of Unleavened Bread were to be counted back from 2015; and if my count is accurate; and if the sixth day [April 10, 2015]  is accurate with an accurate calculation of the new moon: Then the abomination would be set up on 28 Sep of this year.  If the new moon calculation or my count is not correct then the abomination shouid be set up within a few days of 28 Sep.

Realizing he is a liar he had to add the following qualifier concerning his prediction:

This IS NOT a prediction; it is merely an example. ALL the biblical signs must be present before the tribulation begins!  We do know that the year is now imminent, but we do not know for sure the precise year.

But lest ye think that Apostle Malm is the only fool out there making such predictions check out this Armstrongite moron:  The Abomination That Makes Desolate

This nut job predicted that the abomination of desolation would be happening in the Ambassador Auditorium (God's True House on earth) on August 31, 2010.  Oops, missed THAT one dude!



Wednesday, January 19, 2011

A Problem with Prophecy


A Problem with Prophecy

Dennis Diehl - EzineArticles Expert AuthorOne of the hallmark traits of most Fundamentalist Christians is their obsession with Bible Prophecy. Prophecy has a rather mystical draw to it and implies that the future is not so unknowable after all. Most humans spend their waking time either in the past feeling angry or in speculation of the future feeling anxious. It goes with not having the ability to live the real day one is currently experience. Many Christians have raised knowing the future to an art form and have learned that it is also quit profitable for the church in keeping members in line with fear, anxiety and a perverse kind of hope.


Bible prophecy and making it the center of one's life, reading the newspaper as one would the Bible, is a slippery slope and a very negative way to live one's life.


With enough study, one can learn that there are other explanations for that which many hold so near and dear as predictions of things that will happen "shortly" in the future. No one seems to think that "shortly" for whoever really wrote Revelation has now been over Two Thousand Years! I hate to think what "I'll be back later" would mean!


We have learned to develop the bad habit of reading Paul's predications of "time is short" with the same generous deference to the fact that short for Paul never really quite worked out for him either. We all know the cycle Paul went through of telling the Church to be ready, act as if you had no family and support the Church, to his final realization that "oh well, I fought a good fight, it was fun while it lasted, I was wrong... I still win... see ya."


On the other hand, we have areas of scripture that have always been used as prophecy which, to me, are simply not and never were intended to be by the original authors.


Isaiah 7 is an example of such a use of OT scripture by NT authors. This virgin birth prophecy ranks as one of the most questionable uses of scripture Matthew used to tell his story of Jesus birth. Matthew had a habit of mining the OT for anything that seemed like it fit the story he wanted to tell about Jesus. When one examines the OT context, we have to conclude that, that at least in it's original meaning, it was never meant to have the meaning Matthew assigned it. In fact, in its original context, it has absolutely nothing to do with prophecy but is merely a historical account of events going on at the time. It was never viewed as a prophecy of the birth circumstances of either the Jewish Messiah or Jesus until Matthew mined it for it's story telling value to his perspective. Matthew took the parts that fit his story but left out parts of that same story in Isaiah that obviously made no sense to his perspective on Jesus. If you simply look at Matthew's accounts of Jesus birth story, it is easy to see he cobbled it together in the style of the day from OT scriptures and not real events that he knew of. It is not my point to explain all this here, and I have touched on it in past columns.


Another aspect of "prophecy" we miss is that much of what the COGs use to promote their urgency upon the membership is probably prophecy written after the fact, which makes it really non-prophecy.


Either the book of Daniel was written during the time of the events recorded, 585 BC, or as many scholars now feel, it was written much later in the 160's BC to encourage the Maccabeans in their revolt against Rome. It was written AFTER all the events prophesied took place, which is why Daniel 11 is so specific. Daniel 12 then becomes rather generic because after the rise of Rome, the authors didn't really know the rest of the story much after the specifics of the 160's ended.


The point is that we all know that OUR lives were lived, and many still live their lives out, linking Daniel to Matthew 24, which also was written to address issues now long past from our times.


Again it is not my purpose to prove that to you, but I have accepted that much of what we call history prophesied is really "prophecy" historicized, or the conforming of later writings to fit events as they had already occurred. If the detail of Daniel 11 is the kind of thing that is able to be locked in stone for future fulfillment, then we as humans have no choice in the part we have to play in the game as it is already decided for us evidently down to the details. It's a philosophical problem to me about choices and free will.


Other problem with prophecy is that they simply didn't come true. We all were groomed with the fantastic story of the fall of Tyre and how it would be scraped bare never to be inhabited etc. The problem is it wasn't and the city of Tyre existed in NT times and does to this day. The Tyranians rebuffed Nebuchadnezzar and only succumbed to Alexander the Great, yet still exists. It's a cop out to point out ancient ruins in the water as proof of prophecy fulfilled when the city called Tyre is just over your shoulder. These facts are easily found in a simple search on the topic.


Ezekiel's Failed Prophecies on Tyre and Egypt


Ezekiel made a prophecy that, at the time he wrote, seems most likely to be fulfilled. The prophet was writing, in 587BC, at the time when Nebuchadnezzar was laying siege on Tyre. With such a powerful army like Nebuchadnezzar's, it was not surprising that Ezekiel prophesied the fall of Tyre to the Babylonian king.
Ezekiel 26:7-14: For thus says the Lord: "Behold I will bring upon Tyre from the north Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, king of kings, with horses and chariots, and with horsemen and a hosts of many soldiers. He will slay with the sword your daughters on the mainland; he will set up a siege wall against you. He will direct the shock of his battering rams against your walls, and with his axes he will break down your towers...With the hoofs of his horses he will trample all your streets; he will slay your people with the sword and your mighty pillar will fall to the ground...they will break down your walls and destroy your pleasant houses... I will make you a bare rock...you shall never be rebuilt, for I have spoken," says the Lord God.


The whole passage clearly prophesied the sack and complete destruction of Tyre by Nebuchadnezzar. However, the vivid description of the sack and fall of Tyre never happened. After a siege of thirteen years, until 573BC, Nebuchadnezzar lifted his siege on Tyre and had to arrive at a compromised agreement. Thus Nebuchadnezzar did not destroy Tyre. Tyre was destroyed by Alexander the Great, 240 years later. And furthermore, despite the prophet, the city of Tyre was eventually rebuilt.


When Nebuchadnezzar broke the gates down he found the city almost empty. The majority of the people had moved by ship to an island about one half mile off the coast and fortified the city there. The mainland city was destroyed in 573, but the city of Tyre on the island remained a powerful city for several hundred years.
The implication of this paragraph is clear: that Nebuchadnezzar destroyed a major portion of Tyre. Tyre's main city was always on the island. The part of the city on the mainland is nothing more than a suburb. In other words, Nebuchadnezzar could achieve no more than take over a relatively minor part of the city. Furthermore it is obvious from the passage in Ezekiel that the complete destruction of Tyre by Nebuchadnezzar was prophesized. Ezekiel himself admitted that this prophecy was a mistake!


Ezekiel 29:17-20: ...the Lord God came to me: "Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made his army labor hard against Tyre; every head was made bald and every shoulder was rubbed bare; yet neither he nor his army got anything from Tyre to pay for the labor that he had performed against it... (Website: Rejection of Pascal's Wager)


The prophecies of both Isaiah and Ezekiel against Egypt also fell far short of reality in their "fulfillment."
"The prophet Isaiah, for instance, foretold the drying up of all the waters of the Egypt, and the destruction of all land used for plantation due to this drying up of the River Nile.


Isaiah 19:5-7: And the waters of the Nile will be dried up, and the river will be parched and dry; and its canal will become foul, and the branches of Egypt's Nile will diminish and dry up, reeds and rushes will rot away. There will be bare places by the Nile, on the brink of the Nile, and all that is sown by the Nile will dry up, be driven away, and be no more.


This part of Isaiah, widely accepted by scholars to be written around the eighth century BC, is about 2750 years old. And in all this period of two and three quarters millennia, this prophecy has yet to be fulfilled! Moreover it is clear from the context that Isaiah prophecy was meant for the Egypt of his time. For it was with that Egypt that Isaiah and his people had a grievance against, and the prophecy was a warning to them. Obviously this is a clear example of an unfulfilled prophecy." (Website: Rejection of Pascal's Wager)


I only point these out because so many would NEVER entertain the idea that any prophecy of the Bible didn't come true and will launch any number and kind of apologetic to defend what was said would be from what really occurred in history. Some of you are doing that right now.. :)


The last Pope would be the last Pope and now this Pope will be the last Pope and I expect the next Pope will also be the last Pope.


And now we again live in a time where "prophecy" can manipulate real lives. There are any number of those who just know how it will all be. The kings of all directions are doing this and that..."just read my article and see for yourself." Every world news event , like in the 60's or 70's or 80's, is worthy of note. The last Pope would be the last Pope and now this Pope will be the last Pope and I expect the next Pope will also be the last Pope. Meanwhile we get older but not the wiser for the experience. What we'll end up with is drawing every imagined prophetic event to ourselves in reality as some government leaders even seem to base policy on "what the Bible says." It is very possible to cause things to happen because one expects them to happen. The problem is you end up with all the damage and none of the salvation. In short, an end of the world scenario can be acted out based on false subconscious beliefs and yet still you end up with no Second Coming, World Tomorrow or Kingdom of God. You end up screwed up.


So why might it be better not to LIVE your actual life around the alleged reality and truth of prophecy and the "imminent" return of Jesus which has been imminent now for a couple thousand years?


I've been there, I've done this. I've lived my real life ahead of my actual life while it quietly slipped by. I've made life decisions in the past based on a preoccupation with the future. I've also let a lot of precious life time go by thinking about things that proved to be untrue and teaching things that weren't. I thought they were, but when one realizes they aren't, it would be hoped one would stop that. I did.


I've been there, I've done this. I've lived my real life ahead of my actual life while it quietly slipped by. I've made life decisions in the past based on a preoccupation with the future. I've also let a lot of precious life time go by thinking about things that proved to be untrue and teaching things that weren't.


Basing a life on what may or may not happen in the future, and Bible types did it all the time and were wrong too, is to miss the present. And whether one admits it or not , the present is all we ever actually really have to work with. Your kids really are their ages they are NOW and one does not postpone making memories with them now because the future is a more serious consideration. They will NEVER again be kids, and you and I will never again be any younger. For Paul, to live might be loss and to die gain, but that theological rhetoric and let's face it, Paul never, from what we can note, ever had to enjoy his children, mate or life in the now. He was in the imminent future right up until it bit him in the bum. He may have had the power to have a wife, great word there, "power", but I bet he was basically not one the women would flock to to begin with.


If you are still in a COG, does your Sabbath experience, weekends that your kids also have to call their free time, only consist for them of coming, sitting and going? How often we forget that the parents generally got to make their life decisions but then deny them to their children. I know, "raise up your child in the way he should go.." Problem I have is with the "should go."


I'm amazed after all these decades the COG still can't figure out whether to eat out on the Sabbath! Do you really believe some Deity cares! Do you really think there are angels taking names!


I used to take my kids to the local zoo on Sabbaths after church. This was in the 1970's. I have never regretted spending MANY a Friday night with them when little swimming at the YMCA and stopping at Dunkin Donuts on the way home. That ritual of the "now" is far more remembered than any sermon I may have given that day. But for some, depending on their prophecy laden pastor, life is just one big "around the corner", "just a little longer" and never ending "gun lap." I had kidded for years that we have been in the gun lap so often, we run the risk of running out of bullets. Little did I know that was a prophecy that would come true!


Prophecy means little to me at this point in my life. It may mean a lot to some of you depending on who is feeding the need to know what I don't think we can know in this world. We can hid behind the idea that we know God is doing this or that, but that's pretty iffy knowing.


Whatever your position, at least know that even the Bible got it wrong at times, not matter what your pastor says or how your church motivates you with prophecy to live on the edge of your chair, just a bit ahead of the now, in somewhat a fearful or at least anxious, "what's going to happen" state. Isaiah was wrong, Ezekiel was wrong, Paul was wrong and yes, even Jesus was mistaken in his own perceptions of his own experience. That's another story.


If we can be wise enough to see that even Bible prophecies indeed have failed, that some prophecies are not really prophecies , and that reading the newspaper as if it were the Bible come to life is not wise, we might actually have a life in the now we can say was a real life. A life lived in anticipation of some alleged future is not a real life. It's disillusionment in the making.


I'm going to go out on my own limb of prophecy here. I predict that all the leaders of any COG who promote prophecy first and have not really ever given a sermon using the ideas in this article, will live out their lives and come to the same conclusions Paul did. They kept a Faith and now it's time to pass on.


I predict that Churches like PCG and RCG will pass from the scene when their me only leadership does. One can only get so much mileage out of playing the sermons on world events by those who died years ago. Yet I guess we do that when repeating Paul's admonitions of the shortness of time forgetting it is long since past when he felt it would end. We do it when we say "Behold I come quickly" when that quickly was over 2000 years ago.


I predict that WCG (soon to be GIF it seems we can predict) will become a meaningless footnote to the Christian experience. I mean why belong to something in California that is everywhere you live? What holds scattered groups together is being special and having special insights into "The Middle East, What Next." And "Will You Be in the Place of Safety." Don't get me started!


I predict more people will avail themselves of the Internet to do their own studies and come to their own conclusions. I always had to ask a pastor because somehow I thought he must know. After all, he was an "expert" on the Bible. Now you can ask lots of pastors and scholars and even those who used to be and no longer can abide it. I predict the era of Guru's will end for those who learn to think and search a matter out from many and not just one source. I would hope that people in congregations dominated by one grand idea spoken by one grand human being will finally wake up and not care if asking a question or questioning a sermon or concept gets them kicked out. Being kicked out, terminated, fired, marginalized or blocked at the door can be the greatest freedom you'll ever experience if you ever choose to reclaim your own brain and perspectives. Remember...ANY TIME you are listening to another human being tell you how it is, and your get that little "uh oh" in the tummy....listen to it! It's the truth trying to have a chat with you.


I predict many will keep on believing the unbelievable because that's what humans do to keep fear and uncertainty at bay. I do it, you do it.


I predict that very few people give a rats... bum... about what I think!


Don't live in anticipation of possible future. We can't know and no one has ever gotten it right. All prophecies about the Second Coming of Jesus have failed to date 100% ! Don't miss your NOW for that idea that just around the corner, me and mine will be justified in forgetting to enjoy the one life we know we NOW have on this planet. It's a dangerous world to be sure, this does not mean it is the result of prophets who themselves missed their own marks way back.


A life based on Prophecy as interpreted by someone who thinks they know and enforced upon one as fact , just wait and see, is going to be a stressed one at best. You are also going to have to give up a few bucks hard earned to keep the mythology and the grand poopa in prediction mode. Remember there is Addiction to Predictions. Don't allow yourself to wake up decades older with grown kids having regrets you didn't go to the zoo or stop at Dunkin Donuts in their jammies on the way home....even on the Sabbath.


Dennis Diehl
SCMassageTherapy@aol.com
Dennis Diehl is a former Pastor and currently has a successful Therapeutic Massage practice in Greenville, SC.