Adult Sabbath School: YHVH Plays Second Fiddle

One of HWA's favorite sermons, ok his only one, was about God being a "Uniplural" Elohim.  From this it was but a short hop to "God is a family" and someday we would become God "as God is God" and "There were two trees....."  Wrong....terribly wrong!

El is the original Most High God in the Old Testament, borrowed from the local Canaanite religion and the Elohim (the plural part)  were His Council of the Gods. It is this Council of the Gods that El is talking to when He says, "Let US make man in OUR Image..."  and it is El who gets nervous when Adam and Eve eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and says in Genesis 3:22 

"And the LORD God said, "The man has now become like one of us, (El and The Council of the Gods) knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever." You see, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil along with the Tree of Life were God Food Trees. They were not for humans consumption. Humans were merely to be the worker bees for the gods in the original Sumerian myth later given a Hebrew twist. . Both the knowledge of good and evil and eternal life were reserved for the gods. However, why then Adam and Eve sinned by eating of the Tree before they knew it was evil to do is beyond most. None of this has anything to do with El talking to the one who would later become Jesus of the New Testament.

HOW ON EARTH DID THIS SCRIPTURE GET LEFT IN THE BIBLE?

"Contrary to these biblical traditions that suggest an assimilation between Yahweh and El, there are other passages that seem to indicate that Yahweh was a separate and independent deity within El’s council. Deuteronomy 32:8-9 is one of those rare biblical passages that seemingly preserves a vestige of an earlier period in proto-Israelite religion where El and Yahweh were still depicted as separate deities: Yahweh was merely one of the gods of El’s council! This tradition undeniably comes from older Canaanite lore.

Deuteronomy 32:8-9

When the Most High (’elyôn) gave to the nations their inheritance, when he separated humanity, he fixed the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of divine beings. For Yahweh’s portion is his people, Jacob his allotted heritage.  (YHVH was merely one of the Divine Beings at this point and given his people to be the god over, i.e The God of Israel.)

There are two points to take away from this passage. First, the passage presents an apparently older mythic theme that describes when the divine beings, that is each deity in the divine counsel, were assigned and allotted their own nation. Israel was the nation that Yahweh received. Second, Yahweh received his divine portion, Israel, through an action initiated by the god El, here identifiable through his epithet “the Most High.” In other words, the passage depicts two gods: one, the Most High (El), is seen as assigning nations to the divine beings or gods (the Hebrew word is elohim, plural “gods”) in his council; the other, Yahweh, is depicted as receiving from the first god, the Most High, his particular allotment, namely the people of Israel. Similarly, in another older tradition now preserved in Numbers 21:29, the god Chemosh is assigned to the people of Moab.

The Divine Council

Other biblical passages reaffirm this archaic view of Yahweh as a god in El’s council. Psalm 82:1 speaks of the “assembly of El.” Psalm 29:1 enjoins “the sons of El” to worship Yahweh, and Psalm 89:6-7 lists Yahweh among El’s divine council.

Thus there seems to be ample evidence in the biblical record to support the claim that as Yahweh become the supreme national deity of the Israelites, he began to usurp the imagery, epithets, and old cultic centers of the god El. This process of assimilation even morphed the linguistic meaning of the name El, which later came to mean simply “god,” so that Yahweh was then directly identified as ’el—thus Joshua 22:22: “the god of gods is Yahweh” (’el ’elohim yhwh). "  http://contradictionsinthebible.com/are-yahweh-and-el-the-same-god/

With this in mind we can also better understand the rather enigmatic but well known verse in Exodus 20:5 which warns Israel not to make any graven images etc …"Because I the Lord YOUR God, am a jealous God."   Even as a kid I wondered why God was jealous. Jealous of what?  Other gods evidently and the text can better be understood as meaning "You shall not bring any other gods into my presence, for I the Lord YOUR God am a jealous God."  In other words, there were gods aplenty. Just don't bring them into the territory of YHVH. 

Even the God of the Old Testament evolved over time. Original  Polytheism lost out to Monotheism. Eventually YHVH overtook El and became the "one true God."  But in the beginning it was not so.

COG: Future Rulers of Church and State?

Rulers of Church and State? They won't be ruling over a Hamster!

So they think they are going to rule "Church and State". 

These are the words of certain Armstrongism leaders who think they somehow are qualified to be world leaders. Who somehow think they are the heirs of the Kingdom of God under Jesus Christ. They believe they are preparing to be world government administrators and leaders in their "World Tomorrow". They honestly believe Jesus Christ is going to appoint them as the highest rank of rulers and leaders in what they call "The World Tomorrow". 

Yes, they do. I know, because I once thought as they did, and acted as they did. I sat in their shoes, in their worldview. I don't doubt for a second they believe - with their whole minds - that somehow, this is their destiny. That they are earning and qualifying for the corner office and highest positions on the 4th floor of Universal Headquarters of Kingdom, Incorporated. Yes, they believe this. 

They believe that because every seventh day, and every festival time, their gatherings and their method of worship are exactly what God demands and requires of His people. They believe, that because of their ties to their magnificent End Time Apostle who Restored All Things, and their obedience to the Restoration, that if they hold fast to that Faith once Delivered, that they will hold such magnificent offices that they will be right "up there" with Moses, Elijah, Elisha, Paul, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and in their minds, Herbert, Garner Ted, Rod, Raymond, and all of the other pioneers of Armstrong's short-reigned movement. They think these things because this is what they have accepted as truth, and have committed their lives to. They think these things because to think otherwise would make their entire lives a lie. To think otherwise would be - to them - unconscionable. 

Yet by this train of thought, they not only ignore the deep, spiritual teachings of Jesus Christ, but they also ignore the entire core and foundation of the entire Gospel they think they proclaim. They ignore the countless failures that they proclaim as present truth. They ignore the harm they cover like a cat covers its dung in the litter box. They reason their way around any evidence that completely refutes their viewpoints. They instead ingest a toxic diet of pride, hubris, power, lust, mammon, arrogance, and abuse and spew it all over well-meaning members with the force and smell of a bad night's drinking binge. They do this unashamedly, and unapologetically. They do this blind and deaf to any reason, to any logic, to any emotion, or to any evidence of truth. They are intoxicated with the delusions of power and the poisons of the drug of brainwashed thinking and cult mentality. They think they act in love, but stab their claws deep into the hearts of the shackled and the chained, thinking they are holding them to ordained Law and divine submission, not seeing the dungeons and depth of depravity they tie their victims to, and as starving vampires, suck the living life and energy out of their victims while energizing themselves with their lives. 

While molesting the Gospel of Jesus Christ with their depravities, and spitting on the face of the Lord with their doctrines of satanic nightmares, they sit in their high lives relishing in their "blessings" and "favor" from the spiritual extortion of their victims. As we have read, many have, under the full duress and victimization of their abusers, entered the depths of depression and anxiety due to being cut off from their loved ones. Many have taken their own lives because there is no longer any reason to love in their own minds. Others sit there as lifeless drones, listening to rehashed garbage over and over and over again. Others sit there and take the berating, uncompassionate, loveless "authority" of their spiritual "overseers", never measuring up and always not doing enough. Most sit under the threat of punishment and disfellowshipment for their mistakes, always fearing their loss of salvation or not "qualifying" enough to make it, and stay restrained by their slave masters because they fear if they leave what little they have will be taken from them. They do this because they have bought into the lies which came from Herbert himself and have been taught over and over again by his hirelings. 

God has said in his word that those who want to be the greatest must become the least. He has said that those who want to rule must become servants. He has said if you want to be rich, give to the poor. He has said that he is looking for those who are the hands and feet of Jesus. God has said to feed the hungry. To clothe the unclothed. To visit the jailed. And to nurse the sick. 

God has condemned the love of money, and the advancement of sordid gain. He has condemned those who take advantage of the widows and the fatherless. Those who take advantage of the poor, or make merchandise of the brethren. He has spoken time and time again, over and over again in the scriptures about the importance of the fruits of the Spirit, and the manifestation of love in His people to God and to man. He has said over and over again the importance of mercy, of grace, of forgiveness, and of truth. He has said that His people would humble themselves, and look not to worldly possessions, but spiritual discernment and God's guiding Spirit. 

But what do we have? What do we have in the Church of God scene? 

We have leaders who build compounds and mansions. Who take their members for everything they have for what? For jet aircraft. For trees. For BMW's, and gemstones. For buildings laden with crystal and Steinways. For the finest desks and offices, suits and ties. For posh surroundings and expensive dinners. For trips, and for the best Feast-cations. Instead of embracing the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and his ministry of love - they've traded it all in for mammon and selfish ambition and wickedness. And they seem to be blind, deaf, and mute to it all. 

They think they're going to rule church and state? They are not qualified to rule a hamster or a gerbil, much less any sort of world government! Anyone who has any knowledge of the words of Jesus Christ knows they are making a sham out of the Gospel, and perpetuating an ongoing scam. The only reason why they keep going is that there are people who continue to buy into the lies and the untruths that these false prophets, teachers, and ministers have convinced them to believe. 

These "ministers" - no matter what they say or believe in their delusions - are not qualified, nor will they have any part of the rule of God's people, since they refuse to obey and follow the teachings of Jesus Christ, and instead embrace the shadows that pointed to Him. They don't exhibit the love or compassion that marks a servant of Jesus Christ. They live in a make-believe world of empty threats and empty words. I will say it again. The only authority they have is the power of deception to those who submit themselves to such deception. Otherwise, they are just weak men who make a mockery of the Lord they claim to serve and know. 

Jesus said, "Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest". And there are thousands of members of the COG's who absolutely require rest for their souls and minds and hearts. A rest that cannot be found in one physical day out of the week no matter how perfectly they observe it  - but only in Jesus Christ's indwelling spirit. That is the promised Rest that's available, if only people would take the hand of their Savior and enter into it, and run from the lies and the shackles and the chains.

submitted by SHT

Lamborghini's, Gulfstream Jets, Gold and Silver..We Deserve The Best!

A reader here sent the following (see below) to be me about the church pastor who recently bought his wife a Lamborghini for their 8th wedding aniversary. As appaling as it sounds, and is, it is no different than Gerald Flurry buying a Gulfstream jet just so he and his family can travel without touching the unwashed masses.  It is not like it is being used to fly to nations around the world to meet leaders so he can proclaim a message about a "strong hand from someplace" like his hero Herbert Armstrong did.  No, Flurry does no such thing.  He uses it to fly back and forth to England, transport his grandkids to Irish Dance contests, and to fly to the occasional public lecture with 50 or 60 people present (of which 30-40 are PCG members.) Flurry's private jet is the perk he claims he deserves as God's prophet and King that he now proclaims himself as. After all, his hero HWA could live in a multi-million dollar mansion surrounded by gold and silver objet d'art's, fine 17th and 18th European and American art and antique furniture. HWA's Regency Silver-gold gilt Candelabra 1812 Sold for $222,500.00 All of these treasures, whether HWA's, Flurry's or Gray's are items bought while associated with a church.  Unlike Jesus who set out when he preached without food, money or a place to sleep, and just like he sent the apostles out without any money or food, all whom had to rely upon the kindness of strangers of each day that went by, not months and years worth of money being collected as the "profits" of the Church of God and religion today demand. They expect to live like royalty while some of their members live in poverty. Whether being conned by prosperity gospel preachers or tithe-demanding church leaders, the money is all ill-gotten and certainly does nothing to glorify the God they claim to follow. ================================================ Should a megachurch pastor be lambasted for buying his wife a $200,000 Lamborghini? By Michelle Singletary Washington Post Pastor John Gray of the Relentless Church in Greenville, S.C., has been skewered for splurging on a $200,000 Lamborghini for his wife. A husband surprised his wife with a car for their eighth wedding anniversary. He posted the joyous moment on Instagram. Probably no one would have cared — except in this case the husband is a minister at a megachurch and the car cost as much as a home. It was no ordinary gift or husband. Pastor John Gray of the Relentless Church in Greenville, S.C., has been skewered for splurging on a $200,000 Lamborghini for his wife. Gray is also an associate pastor at Lakewood Church under the leadership of Pastor Joel Osteen, a megachurch minister who has also been criticized for living too well. The video of Gray presenting his wife with the car has been taken down, but you can view snippets of it in an entertainment report by Inside Edition. The rebuke for Gray’s largesse was swift and brutal.

Gray went back on social media to defend the right to spend his money on anything he wants. “First of it all, it wasn’t a pastor that bought the car,” Gray said in a video responding to the controversy. “It was a husband that bought the car. Get that in your spirit, I’m a husband first — don’t confuse what I do with who I am. What I do is I pastor God’s people. Who I am is a husband and a father, and I’ll do anything to honor them and I won’t ask permission from anybody to do it. No man should.” Gray also addressed accusations that he used church money to buy the car. He says the money came from the success of his books and reality show on the Oprah Winfrey Network. “I have created and been patient my whole life for this moment — I’m 45,” he said. “I’m supposed to wait until I’m 70 to live my best life? And my best life is seeing my wife happy.” Aventer Gray also took to social media to respond to the criticism. "I don't see anyone screaming about how basketball players drive what they do while you paying $$$ to see them play in arenas and on fields,” she wrote. Michelle Singletary responds:  Here’s my take on the controversy. Personally, I don’t care what Gray does with his money. If he has the cash to buy a $200,000 vehicle, more power to him. We have no business in his business if the funds didn’t come from the church coffers or because of some malfeasance. “Not a nickel, not a penny from this church, Relentless Church, went toward the gift that I gave my wife,” Gray said. Further, Gray is not a priest who took a vow of poverty. If his books, speaking engagements and TV show afford him and his family a life of luxury, that’s called living the American Dream. And being a Christian does not mean you can’t have expensive things. In Proverbs it says, “All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.” Still the question for many people of faith is how much profit is too much for a pastor? Should ministers be living their best lives when so many in their congregation are struggling to make ends meet? The same is said about top corporate executives who earn multimillion-dollar salaries while many of their workers don’t make a living wage. Or why are athletes paid insane amounts of money when teachers often have to take part of their modest salaries and buy supplies for their students? The answer: Life is just not fair. Some folks can sing, dunk or preach their way to prosperous lives. We can only hope that they give generously out of their abundance. I believe to whom much is given, much is required. But having said all this, I do fault the Grays for one thing — bragging. Why did he feel the need to make a public display of his present? When you hold certain positions, like that of a pastor, you should show restraint in the exhibition of your wealth. The optics of the anniversary gift was a mistake. It took the focus off his ministerial work and put it on his material wealth. I’m not suggesting that Gray should hide his fortune, but in the video, as he’s presenting his wife with the car, he struts around and yells, “Lamborghini Urus.” Later, when addressing the critics, Gray defiantly says, “I don’t really care what you think.” That’s not true. He does care what the masses think. There were invited onlookers, and he posted the gift exchange online. If Gray didn’t want to show off, he would have presented the vehicle to his wife in private. Yet the Grays aren’t alone. Social media is all about showing people what you have, where you eat or the amazing vacation places you go. Inevitably such displays of affluence make others feel less than. Perhaps the lesson to learn from Gray’s conspicuous consumption is this: Live your best life without having to show the world how rich you are.