Was Herbert Armstrong The Elijah Of The Endtimes?

 

From an LCG source:

The topic has come up recently about whether HWA viewed himself as Elijah. Below are some excerpts from WCG literature and correspondence, which hopefully will clear it up. Members of the Church seemed to believe he was Elijah, and there is no indication that HWA attempted to correct this. The fact that the Church chose to publish, rather than squash, such comments indicates approval of and agreement with the comments, and the intent to influence the readers to favor that view.

Comments From Monthly Church Reports, PGR May 15, 1981.  

MIAMI, FL--AL KERSHA: Mr. Herbert Armstrong's sermon (delivered via the movie screen) was as strong and motivating as I have ever heard him in the 15 years I have been in the Church. The message was clear, earnest and powerful. Certainly an excellent message in preparation for the Passover and days of Unleavened Bread. In physical appearance Mr. Armstrong looked about 70; in spirit and power he sounded like a 35-40 year old man. The spirit and power that was in Elijah is obviously moving him. 

 

Weekly Letter Comments, PGR June 5, 1981. 

Yesterday we were blessed to hear from Mr. Gerald Waterhouse! I don't believe anyone left not having learned something new, or realizing even more the importance of God's Work and you (Mr. Armstrong) being the Elijah of this end time. He was, as always, very interesting and quite humorous! We are thankful for him and his helping all of us to speak the same thing. T.B. (Fincastle, VA) 

 

H.W.A. Diary by Robert E. Fahey, PGR Aug. 7, 1981. 

When Mr. Armstrong began I was all prepared to hear about the two trees once more. But I was in for a surprise. The beauty and blessings that we had seen seemed to inspire Mr. Armstrong to the sobering awareness that the national sins of the House of Joseph would cause God to remove the peace and prosperity from our peoples. "Britain and the United States are going down! And OUT!!" he thundered. "Like Elijah, I say to you, if God be God, GET OVER ON HIS SIDE! If this is God's Church, GET OVER ON HIS SIDE!" Then he went on to show that as Zerubbabel had prepared a physical temple among physical Israel for the physical Jesus to come to, so he was called to prepare a spiritual temple (the Church) of spiritual Israelites for the resurrected SPIRITUAL CHRIST to come to and make His own. 

 

Comments from Monthly Church reports, PGR Oct. 21, 1983.  

ROANOKE, VA--ROBERT PERSKY: All of the brethren who attended the Feast thought it was the best Feast ever. They all wished Mr. Armstrong had spoken longer on the Last Great Day. They always look forward with great anticipation to hearing him speak. They know he is God's end-time apostle and the "Elijah" of Malachi 4. 

 

Members' Reflections About the Church, PGR Nov 4, 1983.  

What a wonderful privilege it is to help hold up Elijah's hands and to have a small part in preparing the way for Christ to return, which shall end mankind's suffering. A.D. (Somerset, KY) 

 

From Ministerial Services, PGR June 7, 1985.  

Jesus Christ told His disciples, "Elijah truly is coming first and will restore all things" (Matt. 17:ll). The many truths of God's plan and supreme purpose for His Church and eventually all mankind have been restored in God's Church through His end-time Apostle. Yet, as Paul warns, we can, through neglect, let these things slip away from us! Mr. Armstrong has brought into sharp focus these "mysteries," now restored to God's Church, in his book MYSTERY OF THE AGES. As he has mentioned in the Refreshing Program, this is a book that should be reread as soon as we finish it the first time, in order to really soak up what God is teaching us. Learning is indeed a lifelong process. We must continue to study and review God's Word all our lives. 

 

Booklet: Inside Story of The World Tomorrow Broadcast 

But Who Is Behind All This ? 

Just as Noah, a "preacher of righteousness" (II Pet. 2 : 5 ) , stood ALONE in warning the world of his day of its impending destruction ; just as Abraham, with his family, stood ALONE in obeying God in his day; just as Moses, "whom they refused" ( Acts 7 : 35 ) , stood ALONE when God first began dealing with ancient Israel and bringing them out of slavery in Egypt; just as Elijah warned ancient Israel and cried out : "I am left ALONE, and they seek my life" ( Rom. 1 1 : 3 ); just as John the Baptist stood ALONE, not affiliated with the Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes or any of the other religious groups of his day warning Israel of his day "like a voice in the wilderness" ; so Mr. Armstrong and this prophetic Work stand ALONE as God's instrument in warning the modern descendants of ancient Israel America and the British Commonwealth of Nations-of their coming national punishment, and heralding the second coming of Jesus Christ JN PERSON as King of kings and Lord of lords !  

 

Just as Elijah trained the "sons of the prophets" to aid him in ancient Israel 

( II Kings 2 : 35); just as John the Baptist had his disciples and assist ants ; just as Jesus Christ Himself trained young men as disciples to assist Him in the ministry as He stood ALONE against religionists of His day; so Mr. Armstrong has founded the Ambassador Colleges to train dedicated servants of God who bring forth the "fruits" showing that Goo has called them to aid in this ministry of preaching the true Message of God's soon coming, world ruling Government, and standing ALONE as God's "watchman" (Ezek. 33:2) to warn modern Israel of exact and SPECIFIC punishments from God! These prophesied punishments on our people are right NOW beginning to have a great effect on the lives of every one of you who is 1'eading this booklet.' As I have already shown you, the men in this Work of God are alert, intelligent, successful and balanced men. But we DARE to preach a Message that is definitely DIFFERENT from the hackneyed, sentimental ideas going about today under the name of "religion." 

 

Mystery of the Ages, pp. 290-291 

This era of the Church was to produce fruit. To this era-or to its human leader-God had set before it an open door. It is recorded in I1 Corinthians 2:12 and also Acts 14:27 how Christ opened the door for Paul to go into other countries to preach the gospel. This Church and/or its leader had but little strength. Neither were of great and powerful stature in Satan’s world but those of this era were faithful to the Word of God. Though much of the original gospel truth, imparted to the original apostles by Jesus in person, had been lost, it was restored through the Bible to this era of God’s Church who were faithful in keeping it. It is revealed in Malachi 3:l-5 and 4:5-6 that God would raise up one in the power and spirit of Elijah, shortly prior to the Second Coming of Christ. In Matthew 17:11 Jesus said, even after John the Baptist had completed his mission, that this prophesied Elijah “truly shall first come, and restore all things.” Although it is plainly revealed that John the Baptist had come in the power and spirit of Elijah, he did not restore anything. The human leader to be raised up somewhat shortly prior to Christ’s Second Coming was to prepare the way-prepare the Church-for Christ’s coming, and restore the truth that had been lost through the preceding eras of the Church. Also a door was to be opened for this leader and/or the Philadelphia era of the Church to fulfill Matthew 24:14: “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” It was to be at a time when, for the first time in the history of mankind, the weapons of mass destruction were produced that could erase all humanity from the earth (Matt. 24:21-22). This also was to occur just before the Second Coming of Christ (verses 29-30). These prophecies have now definitely been fulfilled. The true gospel has been restored and has now gone in power into every nation on the face of the earth.

Commercial Break: Are The Elijah to Come Dr. Robert Thiel, The Elijah to Come Gerald Flurry, and Elijah to Come Dave Pack Using Their Bibles, Like a Crystal Ball, to Practice Fortune Telling???

"As I see it, YES"

MAGIC 8 BALL

Prophecy 

...or prediction, was one of the functions of the prophet. It has been defined as a "miracle of knowledge, a declaration or description or representation of something future, beyond the power of human sagacity to foresee, discern, or conjecture."

Prediction

A statement about what you think will happen in the future

"Fortune-telling is the practice of predicting information about a person's life.^[1] The scope of fortune-telling is in principle identical with the practice of divination. The difference is that divination is the term used for predictions considered part of a religious ritual, invoking deities or spirits, while the term fortune-telling implies a less serious or formal setting, even one of popular culture, where belief in occult workings behind the prediction is less prominent than the concept of suggestion, spiritual or practical advisory or affirmation.

Historically, Pliny the Elder describes use of the crystal ball in the 1st century CE by soothsayers ("crystallum orbis", later written in Medieval Latin by scribes as orbuculum).^[2]

Contemporary Western images of fortune-telling grow out of folkloristic reception of Renaissance magic, specifically associated with Romani people.^[1] During the 19th and 20th century, methods of divination from non-Western cultures, such as the I Ching, were also adopted as methods of fortune-telling in western popular culture.

An example of divination or fortune-telling as purely an item of pop culture, with little or no vestiges of belief in the occult, would be the Magic 8-Ball sold as a toy by Mattel, or Paul II, an octopus at the Sea Life Aquarium at Oberhausen used to predict the outcome of matches played by the Germany national football team.^[3]

There is opposition to fortune telling in Christianity, Islam, Baháʼísm and Judaism based on scriptural prohibitions against divination.

Terms for one who claims to see into the future include fortune teller, crystal-gazer, spaewife, seer, soothsayer, sibyl, clairvoyant, and prophet; related terms which might include this among other abilities are oracle, augur, and visionary.

Fortune telling is dismissed by the scientific community and scientific skeptics as being based on magical thinking and superstition

Critical analysis

Fortune telling is dismissed by the scientific community and skeptics as being based on magical thinking and superstition.

Skeptic Bergen Evans suggested that fortune telling is the result of a "naïve selection of something that have happened from a mass of things that haven't, the clever interpretation of ambiguities, or a brazen announcement of the inevitable."^[26] Other skeptics claim that fortune telling is nothing more than cold reading.^[27]

A large amount of fraud has occurred in the practice of fortune-telling.^[28]

Fortune telling and how it works raises many critical questions. For example, fortune-telling occurs through various methods such as psychic readings, tarot cards, and more. What is similar about many of these methods is that they are based on random phenomena. For example, astrologers believe that the movement of stars in the sky can have implications on one's life.^[29] In the case of tarot cards, people believe that images displayed on the cards have significant meanings on their lives. The problem is that there is a lack of evidence to support why such things, such as the stars, would have any implications on our lives.

Additionally, fortune-telling readings and predictions made by horoscopes, for example, are often general enough to apply to anyone. In cold reading, for example, readers often begin by stating general descriptions and continuing to make specifics based on the reactions they receive from the person whose life they are predicting.^[30] The tendency for people to deem general descriptions as being representative to themselves has been termed the Barnum effect and has been studied by psychologists for many years.^[31]

Nonetheless, even with a lack of evidence supporting the various methods of fortune-telling and the many frauds that have occurred by psychic readers, for example, fortune-telling continues to become popular around the world. There are many reasons for the appealing nature of fortune-telling such as that people often experience stress when there is uncertainty and thus seek to gain deeper insight into their future. 

It is certain-It is decidedly so-Without a doubt-Yes, definitely-You may rely on it-As I see it, yes-Most Likely-Signs point to yes-Most likely-Outlook Good-Reply hazy, try again -Ask again later-Better not tell you now-Concentrate and ask again-Cannot Predict now-Don't count on it-My reply is No-My sources say NO-Outlook not good-Very doubtful

Church of God International Internal War Over COVID Continues

Delta Isolation

Facebook comment:

"This is what a luke warm church sounds like...sad to see a Church of God promoting the end time pharmakiea that deceives the nation's and makes the merchants of the world rich. 

Revelation is being fulfilled befor your eyes and you praise the beast that is rising. 

GOD help you when the False prophet and Lawless one arise."

CGI’s Civil War Continues!

The Church of God International recently posted another article by Jeff Reed about his personal experiences with Covid-19 on their website and on their Facebook homepage. In the article, Mr. Reed wrote: “I’ve been in isolation since testing positive for Covid last week. I am blessed to be vaccinated, so my symptoms were very mild. My God-given immune system had a blueprint for defeating this pathogen quickly. It felt like a head cold except less of an inconvenience. Head colds usually stay with me for up to two weeks, and this infection was gone in a day and a half. I continually praise God for His guidance and protection in my life. Understanding His Word can help us avoid and mitigate a lot of problems we face in life.”

He went on to share his reasoning for self-isolating: “I’m in isolation because it has been confirmed that a small percentage of vaccinated individuals can get mildly infected with the Delta variant and be contagious to others. I am one of those individuals, and I want to do all I can to protect those vulnerable to sickness and death. In the past few weeks, Covid has hit many hard in the Church of God. Many CGI congregations have also been affected.”

Readers will recall that Pastor Bill Watson’s Medina, Ohio congregation was hit particularly hard by the virus and has been at the center of the storm over Covid-19 within the church. In fact, the reaction to Mr. Reed’s last article was so negative from that direction (Ohio) that the elder decided to take a much softer and more humorous stance in this post.

He continued: “As an elder in the Church, I have no expertise or business giving anyone medical advice. We believe the choice to receive medical care or vaccination is solely left up to the individual. I did speak to a Church elder who is a medical professional, and his warning to the Church of God is to take this Delta variant seriously. It is very contagious and is spreading quickly among the unvaccinated population of our country.” This comment was followed by a retelling of the joke about the man in the house in the midst of a flood who refused the help of a jeep, boat and helicopter that God had sent to rescue him (all the time professing his faith that God would save him).

However, even with this softer voice and a touch of humor, the rancor from the other side was not restrained. The most virulent comments appeared on Facebook. One commentator wrote: “I am out, I have been following the Church of God International for over 25 years … God I pray for the Christ followers all over the world, to See what is happening. God bless” Another wrote: “Amen, I am not taking their shot!! I am almost 65 years old, praise God, If more would trust in god and put their faith and trust in him and his hands!! There would be no sicknesses or diseases!! Praise the Lord, he is the only truth, way and light in this dark world! He is the true life, unto man!! We are only passing through. With his blood covering us!! I praise you JESUS!! And I thank you for your protection!! Amen!!”

And, if those comments weren’t bad enough, there were many more in the thread that were even more egregious! One man wrote: “This is what a lukewarm church sounds like...sad to see a Church of God promoting the end time pharmakiea that deceives the nation's and makes the merchants of the world rich. Revelation is being fulfilled before your eyes and you praise the beast that is rising. GOD help you when the False prophet and Lawless one arise.” Another lady observed: “Read Psalm 91. God is our healer. One has no idea how they would have dealt with covid without the vaccine. Doctors have told me all my life there is nothing you can do for a virus but let it run its course. The vaccine is NOT stopping people from getting covid any more than mask wearing is.” And this one was priceless: “I THOUGHT THE SABBATH KEEPING CHURCHS OF GOD WERE INSTRUCTING BREATHEREN NOT TO TAKE MURDERED, WEE ABORTED BABYS TISSUES, /// VACINES INTO THERE BODYS.......” (Many of the spelling and grammatical errors were retained to demonstrate the level of the discourse on the topic).

Poor Jeff! My own thoughts and comments were a little different from the ones quoted above. The comments which I posted on CGI’s website were as follows:

“May God speed your complete recovery from the infection, and may He bless you for your care and concern for those around you. I very much enjoyed that joke you related - it has been around in various forms for many years, and the spiritual lesson is sound. Our faith must allow for whatever means God chooses to address our needs, and we must be willing to admit that God's help may not always arrive in the way that we expected it to appear. God's thinking is superior to ours, and we must not fall into the trap of trying to make/imagine Him in our own image (we are a reflection of Him, not vice versa).

Opinions are great - everybody has them, but truth is supreme! God expects Christians to be humble and care for each other. Moreover, as long as the laws and demands of human government do not contradict God's laws and will, the New Testament makes plain (Christ and Paul) that God expects His people to respect and follow those dictates. God also makes clear in Scripture that He expects His people to take care of themselves and exhibit proper care and concern for those around them.

Public health measures (vaccines, masks, distancing, cleaning) are designed to mitigate the impact of disease - not to curtail rights or freedoms. Moreover, our failure to follow that guidance may be symptomatic of attitudes that are inappropriate in a Christian (willfulness, rebellion, haughtiness). There are numerous things that governments do to protect their citizens from harm (like requiring them to stop, yield or wear seat belts when riding in a car). We can refuse to follow those directives, but a number of very negative consequences may follow (like citations, crashes, injury, or death).

You are to be commended for the good example which you have set in this matter - an example that is consistent with sound Christian theology and teachings. Likewise, Mr. Vance Stinson is to be commended for giving voice to your perspective. I hope and pray that ALL of our brothers and sisters in Christ will take note of these examples and follow them. May God continue to bless us and help us through this current scourge.”

At any rate, let’s hope that the common sense and Christian love exhibited by Mr. Reed and Mr. Stinson prevails in CGI. The physical and spiritual lives of their membership may depend on it!

Lonnie Hendrix