Adult Sabbath School: Never Before Understood and Unveiled At Last!: Preterism Matters

The entire experience of the Worldwide Church of God and all it's Shisms, Splits, Splinters and Slivers is based on the BOOK OF REVELATION UNVEILED AT LAST!.  Without the Book of Revelation and assorted sordid prophecies linked to our times by magical thinking, the Churches of God and many Fundamentalist Churches would not have much to motivate the faithful to join them.

 Fear does motivate. Fear causes one to join. Fear keeps one in place.  But, perfect love is said to cast out fear, so let's take a stab at putting the Book of Revelation in its proper place in history and reality and let the chips fall where they may.

"The Truth never changes; but we are not always as well informed as we would like to believe. We Christians must be flexible enough to change our positions when we discover we have made mistakes. We may not be comfortable with Truth which is different from what we were taught as children; but then we have no promise that the Truth is something which we will always be comfortable with. In any case, when differences come to light, we, not the Truth, must change."

 Don Stoner

 Consider Preterism

 Preterism is the belief that all Bible prophecies, including those concerned with the return of Christ, resurrection of the dead, rapture, judgment, and arrival of the kingdom of God, came to complete fulfillment in A.D. 70 upon the destruction of Herod’s temple in Jerusalem as predicted by Jesus.

 "The problem is not in what the Bible teaches. The problem is the assumptions and expectations modern Christians bring to the Bible. Everyone has opinions about what biblical prophecy should be about, and those opinions have a lot to do with what Christians “see” in prophecy. We recognize the critical role these assumptions play in our understanding of various portions of the Bible. But prophecy, understood on its own terms, is often surprisingly direct and simple." - Tim Martin

 When will Jesus return?

This question is often asked today. It was also asked by the disciples. Jesus answered His disciples and His words are straight and true:

When they persecute you in this city, flee to another. For assuredly, I say to you, you will not have gone through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes. (Matthew 10:23)

For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works. Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.” (Matthew 16:27-28)

 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.....Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place.(Matthew 24:30-34)

https://preterismmatters.webs.com/

Revelation

 1. The Date of Revelation                                                                                                      

 2. Timing and Theme                                                                                                            

 3. The Beast                                                                                                                          

 4. The Millennium 

When was Revelation written?

AVOID THE QUICK FIX OF 96

 When confronted with the Preterist view of Eschatology people often say, "Wasn't the Book of Revelation written after 70 A.D.?" They point out (incorrectly) that Revelation was written in 95 or 96 A.D. This is known as the "quick fix of 96" for if Revelation was written under Domitian's reign then the Preterist view has a problem. The fact is the Book of Revelation was written before Before Jerusalem Fell as hyper creedalist Ken Gentry shows in his book. There are two kinds of evidence regarding the composition of the Apocopypse, internal evidence and external evidence. Internal comes from within Revelation itself and is therefore the most important kind of evidence. External evidence is evidence from outside Revelation such as writings of the early church fathers. External evidence does not hold as much weight as internal evidence. Below is the tip of the ice berg for internal evidence to prove Revelation was written under the reign of Nero Caesar before 70 A.D. For more in-depth study read the book Before Jerusalem Fell.

 1. Revelation was written at a time when Christianity and Judism were operating in the same circles. This was not the case after the destruction of the temple in 70 A.D.

 2. Revelation chapter 11 tells us that the temple was still standing. We know the temple was destroyed in 70 A.D.

 3. Nero Caesar was the reigning emperor at the composition of Revelation as chapter 17 indicates. Nero was the sixth emperor.

 4. If Revelation was written in 95 or 96 A.D. there surely would have been mention of Herod's Temple having been destroyed 25 years earlier, but there is silence on this issue.

 See the article Date of Revelation by Timothy King.

The Time and Theme of Revelation

At the very beginning of the Book of Revelation we are told explicitly when the prophesies contained in the book were to be fulfilled! The timing of the prophecies is the key to understanding Revelation.

 ¹ The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants—things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John, ² who bore witness to the word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw. ³ Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near. (Revelation 1:1-3)

 John was not writing to Christians living in America in the 21^st century. He was writing to seven churches in Asia which have long since disappeared. Revelation cannot be understood apart from this fact.

(The Seven Letters to the Seven Churches in Asia Minor are NOT types of Church Eras. That is just made up to give Revelation modern a significance it does not deserve in actual history.

Dennis Diehl)

 ⁴ John, to the seven churches which are in Asia:

Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne, (Revelation 1:4)

 The theme to the Book of Revelation was the Second Coming of Jesus against the apostate Jews in A.D. 70. This was prophesied by Jesus in Matt. 10:23, 16:27-28, Ch 24, etc. The phrases “they who pierced Him” and “all the tribes of the land” are two familiar designations for Old Covenant Israel.

⁷Lo, he doth come with the clouds, and see him shall every eye, even those who did pierce him, and wail because of him shall all the tribes of the land. Yes! Amen! (Revelation 1:7 YLT)

 John clearly identified himself and the seven churches in Asia Minor as living in the tribulation!!!

 ⁹ I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. ( Rev 1:9 NKJV)

Jesus said to the church in Thyatira:

²⁵ But hold fast what you have till I come. (Revelation 2:25)

 Question: Is the church at Thyatira still holding on to what they have? Are they still waiting for Jesus to return? Obviously not. The church at Thyatira is long gone now. So did Jesus fail? Did He deceive that church? Or did He come back in their lifetime as He promised?

 Jesus said to the church in Sardis:
"Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown." (Revelation 3:11)

Question: Is the church at Sardis still holding on to what they have? Are they still waiting for Jesus to return? Obviously not. The church at Sardis is long gone now. So did Jesus fail? Did He deceive that church? Or did He come back in their lifetime as He promised?

 The Lord told the seven churches in Asia in the first century He was coming quickly in their time.

 “Behold, I am coming quickly! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.” (Revelation 22:7)

¹⁰ And he said to me, “Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand. (Revelation 22:10)

 Contrast with Daniel 8:26 which reads:

²⁶ “ And the vision of the evenings and mornings  Which was told is true;  Therefore seal up the vision,  For it refers to many days in the future.”

There was only about 500 years between Daniel and Revelation.

 “And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work.
(Revelation 22:12)

He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming quickly.” Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus! (Revelation 22:20)

The Beast of Revelation was Nero Caesar......

Revelation 17:9-10

9 Here is the mind which has wisdom: The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. 10 There are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must continue a short time.

 FULFILLED IN NERO

The first seven Kings of the Roman Empire were:

1. Julius Caesar

2. Augustus Caesar

3. Tiberious Caesar     

4. Gaius Caesar

5. Claudius Caesar    "Five have fallen"

6. Nero Caesar          "one is"

7. Galba             "must remain for a little while"

 Galba was the King for only seven months.

......con't

https://preterismmatters.webs.com/thebookofrevelation.htm

Children of the Great Tribulations

Children born into or who started attending church at a young age had no hope. From infancy to adulthood, we were threatened with death and torture. We were born in the end times. Children of the Great Tribulation. A whole generations hope was stolen from them. We had no future.

Our only possibility we had given to us was strict obedience to our parents and the church. Then we might be worthy to board a plane for the middle-east. If we were disobedient or had the wrong attitude we would get left behind and die some horrible death during the Tribulations or in the death camps.

From my childhood, I was told the world would soon end. We were told we'd never finish high school or in some cases grade school. We would never marry, have children, go to college or work normal jobs. Marriage would happen on the other side of Petra.

I remember my mom bursting out in tears over something I had done. She said; "Michael, you must learn to obey. It breaks my heart to think of you getting left behind." Time was always short. We don't have much time left and etc.

I was so far behind in life than the "worldly" kids. Had no destiny except to go to Petra. Most of them were planning to go to college and had parents who planned it. At our house, we planned for a once in a lifetime trip to visit God's HQ in Pasadena. I'm so happy to be free.

Used by permission from Facebook, MB

The One Thing All Church of God Ministers Fear

This pretty much sums up how all of the splinter groups formed and still are forming.  The thought of losing a paycheck scares all of these men.  God forbid if any of them ever had to actually work!

Rod Meredith, like Vik Kubik, Jim Franks, Clyde Kilough and many, many others, all waited in the Worldwide Church of God while they schemed in the background how they would form their new organizations in order to have the perpetual paycheck waiting for them.  In the meantime, they disfellowshipped people left and right for not agreeing with the changes.  Rod Meredith hung around as long as the Worldwide Church of God was paying his attorney fees and then slammed the screen door behind him as he left. Most of the COG ministry was like Pavlov's dog, flash the dollar sign and they will come, salivating!

From a previous thread on Herbert Armstrong:

HWA admits that his great fear was the fear of losing his job. 

That's the WCG/splinter experience in a nutshell. Men claimed to fear God, but when put into a crisis they feared for the loss of a visible paycheck, rather than the loss of relationship with an invisible God.   

Even Rod Meredith stayed on with the Tkaches for three years after he knew they were apostates... because he needed WCG's protection in the Leona McNair lawsuit. Within a month of the lawsuit being settled (and RCM didn't have to pay a dime of the hundreds of thousands of dollars that went to Leona McNair and hw lawyers in the settlement), he formed the Global Church of God. The men who formed UCG were even worse, disfellowshipping brethren in March 1995 for holding the same beliefs these ministers would claim to uphold in July 1995.   

Yes, the vast majority of men in the ACOG ministry followed HWA's example, living in fear of losing their jobs, and putting those jobs ahead of the brethren they were supposed to serve.