Petra? Pella? Bozrah? Crackpot Prophet Weighs In

There are two subjects that Armstrongism has a deep fascination with. Both have become 100% factual beliefs/doctrines for many church leaders and members. These are British Israelism and the Petra/Place of Safety doctrine.

Ever since Loma whispered into Herbert's ear that Petra was the place to be, the church has placed a heavy emphasis on it. The weird thing is, there for a while, there was a concerted effort to claim that the church never taught such a thing. Embarrassed by the Peoples Temple suicides and the craziness of certain Church of God members, they tried to circle the wagons and claim that it was only speculation. That was an absolute lie that some still try and gaslight church members with.

I remember at a combined Holy Day service with the Dayton and Columbus churches around 1969/70 the minister telling those in attendance that day to make sure they returned back from the noon meal by a specific time because the doors to the auditorium were going to be locked and no one could enter after that point. He said they had important information to share from Pasadena (has had just returned from Pasadena).

Everyone was back in their seats early as a hush fell over the room. On the stage, he had a large green chalkboard similar to those used in classrooms. On it, he proceeded to draw out a calendar with dates for the specific time that would come when the church would be fleeing to Petra. Women were even encouraged to not get pregnant anytime before the date. My mother faithfully copied this crap and taped it up inside her cupboard in the kitchen. We were warned to not let this calendar be visible to unconverted neighbors and family members so that we did not stir up suspicion.

As the days went by my mother was faithful marking the days as they inched closer and closer to the time we were to flee. There were even small suitcases packed with essentials ready to grab at a moment's notice.

When you're a child and hear this disgusting shit it messes with your mind. The first thing that crosses your mind when you get home and your mother is not around is that she fled without you because you were not good enough to be chosen by God to go. This is the kind of filth the church relished controlling members within the 1960s.

The Peoples Temple suicides and the Heaven's Gate suicides came and went and the church breathed a sigh of relief because they were always on guard for guilt by association.

The 1980s hit and the church was going overboard in representing itself as a normal church doing normal things filled with normal people. AICF dumped hundreds of millions of dollars into concerts, members joined local civic organizations, charitable donations were made to local organizations, and much more. More and more ministers refused to teach the Petra doctrines and it seemed to disappear. Every once in a while the "place of safety" crapola was preached about, but those days seem to be few.

Then, the so-called great apostasy happened and the shit hit the fan. Long-held doctrines and silly beliefs that the church reveled in the 1950s-early 70s all the sudden were popular again as hundreds of splinter groups broke off claiming to restore the faith once delivered and that included the many bizarre teachings the church specifically had. Petra popped back up big time with many of these splinter groups as they saw the so-called great apostasy as a sure sign of the end times. Almost every single group resurrected the idea and has been reinforcing it to this day.

Various ones in the church who thought they knew more than Herbert, claimed that Petra just might not be that place. It could be in various spots in Jordan besides Petra. The raving legalist James Malm declared that it was Pella where everyone would end up. Wait, scratch that, not everyone, but he highly selected FEW that were adherents to his bizarre form of legalism would be there. Then our most highly respected Great Bwana to Africa Bob Mzungu Thiel started running off at the mouth about Petra and other locations he claims his followers would go to for their final indoctrination camp.

The other day the Great Bwana Mzungu declared that Petra MIGHT NOT be the place of safety but another location.

Where might the place of safety in the wilderness be? 

 

Many have wondered if Petra could be the place. 

 

What if is it not? 

 

Someone asked me about the possibility of Bozrah being the “place of safety.”

Someone is always asking him something. That is a common cop-out that COG leaders use to get their own opinions across as truth. The chances of anyone asking Bwana Bob Mzungu this is slim to none, but this is The Bob speaking and we all know what that means.

Never one to entertain an original thought in his own head, he immediately started searching for things to copy and paste that bolster his arguments.

This time he found Tim McHyde to back him up.

Objections and Questions Answered

Now you probably have the following questions:

• Q. What about Bozrah?
• A. Like Petra, Bozrah is part of Jordan, so what I’m saying here does not negate those theories completely, just expands them to the whole truth).
• Q. Isn’t Jordan a Muslim country? What about the Jordanians there?
• A. Jordan will be evacuated after the country is laid waste in the attack against Israel.
• Q. Will we need passports?
• A. Things will be normal when we leave, pre-Wormwood and therefore passports will be needed.
• Q. How do we know when it’s time to go?
• A. God must send some prophet since no man knows the day or hour.
• Q. How much time do we have?
• A. I think we won’t see the prophet until the 2020s at the earliest. https://escapeallthesethings.com/petra-bible-prophecy/

The Great Bwana Mzungu adds: 

While I do agree, based upon many scriptures, that Jordan seems to be the place and God will likely use a prophet to say when (and where), I disagree with the author’s view on many points–Jordan, to cite one example, will NOT be evacuated. But I do agree that Revelation 12:14-16 is talking about protection for faithful Christians and NOT physical Israel. As far as the old Worldwide Church of God goes, it speculated, but did not insist, on Petra being the place. 

 

Petra is large enough for the Philadelphian Christians to be protected–and they are the ONLY Christians promised protection from the Beast (cf. Revelation 3:7-10)–most Christians will NOT be protected (cf. Revelation 12:14-17).

Who are the "Philadelphia" Christians? Only those who are part of the one true church, the improperly named "continuing" Church of "god", of course. 

God forbid if any heathen Sunday worshiping Christians might show up at these places and interfere with  Bwana Bob Mzungu's teachings!

It is the eagles wings (cf. Revelation 12:14) and the idea the the most faithful are God’s sheep (cf. Psalm 95:7; 100:3; John 10) that get some to wonder about Bozrah. 

 

Anyway, Bozrah is in the right general direction. But, since this seems to mainly be a prophecy for Edom, it is not clear it is related to the place of protection for the Philadelphians in the wilderness. However, if the Turks were to turn against God’s protected people, then this could be the place where the Turks (Edom in various prophecies) and/or Jordanians (as some Edomites are likely there) are destroyed (cf. also Obadiah). The Philadelphians are the most faithful remnant of spiritual Israel (cf. Romans 2:28-29; Revelation 3:9)–so we will see about Bozrah. Now, because of how the Turks are expected to betray the physical nation of Israel (and perhaps also the faithful Christians), God has a special punishment.

The Great Bwana Mzungu then drags in dead Herbert to justify the claim that Herbert and he might have different thoughts about Petra. Though the quote by HWA is a gaslighting lie because he spoke about Petra from the stage of the Auditorium countless times as fact...until Jim Jones came on the scene. 

Now, I have long wondered if Petra would be the actual place. 

 

The late Pastor General of the old Worldwide Church of God, Herbert W. Armstrong, wrote:

Incidentally, I know many of you seem to have your hearts set on going very soon to Petra as “the place of safety” during the soon-coming Great Tribulation. Well, GET YOUR MINDS OFF PETRA. Brethren, I HAVE NEVER said that Petra definitely is the place of protection where God will take us. I HOPE IT IS NOT! One reason it could be the place is that it is a place NOBODY ELSE WOULD WANT TO GO. It would be the most UNpleasant, UNcomfortable, miserable place you could go! There is nothing to be desired there. But, just in case, God HAS miraculously given me very gracious favor in the eyes of King Hussein and also his brother, the Crown Prince. They are very friendly to me personally (Letter, July 16, 1982). 

It was widely spoken about in Pasadena that because of this direct relationship with King Hussein that the church would be able to gain special favor with the King as we attempted to enter the country en masse. 

Bwana Mzungu continues:

There are local reasons to consider that carved part of Petra may not the be place. 

 

Realize that Petra is one of the leading, if not THE leading, tourist destination in Jordan, hence there could be economic and other factors against that precise location itself (though if only a small amount of Christians flee, that might be tolerable, and even helpful to, the tourist industry possibly as a ‘side-show’ or to be of cultural or prophetic interest). Other than the aspect of caves (which does not mention the amount of caves), it should be noted, that many other areas in Jordan also are in the right direction and fit the description of the place–so it is possible that the Church may flee into Jordan and not stay in Petra, but somewhere else in Jordan or a neighboring area. 

 

It is also possible that the true Philadelphian Christians will stay in Petra for a time and then go elsewhere–and that is something I have written about before.

None of these dimwitted church leaders ever considered the impact of tens of thousands of Church of God members arriving in Jordan/Petra might me. The hundreds of commercial flights into the country. rental cars and busses to transport the people. Food, clothing, shelter for everyone, etc. It is a logistical nightmare that COPG folk imagine will happen on the spur of the moment. In reality, it would take many years to get all of this organized and go through proper diplomatic channels with passports, etc to get people into the country. But of course, there is always the magical god that will rapture everyone on eagle wings to Petra. Instantaneously shelter, food, water, clothing, and all the basic necessities of life will appear in the caves so that church leaders can pass them out to members of the diaspora as they enter the region.

While the battle of Armageddon is taking place in Israel, thousands of Church of God members will be able to fly into Petra or drive in unnoticed by the Beast power and the legions of armies encompassing the area. Of course, as one minister claimed, that magical god was going to place a cloud cover over Petra so that enemy planes could not see what was taking place below. 

When I came to Pasadena in 1975 the joke around campus that fall was about a student who earlier that summer had prophesied that the 5 egrets on the David Wynn sculpture in front of the auditorium would come alive. Four of the egrets would grab each corner of the auditorium, pick it up and the fifth egret would lead the way as they flew it to Petra. He actually had several church members believe this crap.

When you read Bwana Bob Mzungu's crap and compare it to this guy's bizarre belief, the chances are far greater for the four egrets to come alive than anything Bwana Bob says will actually happen.

That Other Deranged Crackpot Prophet Says: This is the last opportunity to unite the Churches of God

 

It's your last chance to unite before it's all over!

Why is it that the current Church of God movement has so many mentally ill men leading it? We are infected with deluded narcissistic men who make bold and outlandish claims that never have and never will come to pass.

This is one of the latest posts from that other crackpot prophet leading the so-called "christian" Churches of "god", Wade Cox, the bitter competition in Africa with Bob Thiel's fake ministry.

If you thought spending three and half years with Bob Thiel in charge in Petra would be hell on earth, it will be even worse under this looney tune.

God has dealt with the Measuring of the Temple and we are now at the final phase of dealing with the nations and the removal of the sinful societies. The Churches of God have been judged and they have been scattered. Their ministries have been warned for the last time and their people also warned for the final sequence before the Witnesses Enoch and Elijah arrive for the commencement of the Final Empire of the Beast after the War of the Sixth Trumpet and they then begin to deal with the Empire of the Beast. We have said that Messiah will destroy the systems of this world. There will be no false religion left on the planet under Messiah and the Host. There will be no second chances with the arrival of the Witnesses. If you have not repented and got rid of Hillel and those other false doctrines by the end of the Second Year of the Witnesses, then you will not be in the First Resurrection. If you do not repent of Hillel and your false doctrines by the Messiah and the Jubilee then you will die by the commencement of the Millennium. Everyone then goes to the Second Resurrection of the Dead after the Millennium. If you want to take those risks, then you are a true gambler betting against the word of God. 

The COG has no major or minor prophets, just a bunch of self-appointed nincompoops.

There appears to be a significant increase and access to the Open Letter to the Churches of God of this month. The brethren seem to be completely disinterested in the truth of anything. Many are repenting but the reality is that the majority are brainwashed and unable to see through the errors taught them. They have only this last opportunity and responsibility to unify the Churches of God under the correct doctrines of the Original Churches of God and if they do not do that they will then suffer under the Witnesses, as we said Last Sabbath. We dealt with the issue of what Bible to choose and how to use it this New Moon of the Fifth Month. This of itself is an important topic and task. The Churches of God have been seriously misled from the issue of the KJV in 1611 based on the seriously flawed and forged Textus Receptus and the many forgeries incorporated into the Receptus and also from the Post Temple Masoretic Text forged by the Jews in the Dispersion. It is not a joke. Messiah and the Host will destroy you and send you to the Second Resurrection if you do not repent by the arrival of the Messiah. The Ministry has nowhere to go, and nor do you, if you follow them. It is your own personal responsibility to get the doctrines correct. Your ministers are no doubt teaching you false doctrines if they are pushing Hillel and the false God of Ditheism or Binitarianism/Trinitarianism. They will be judged severely (Jas 3:1), but you are also responsible, and you cannot blame anyone else but yourself. If they do not speak according to the Law and the Testimony, there is no light in them. (Isa. 8:20) 

 

Wade Cox
Coordinator General

 

Dave Pack: Particularly Arrogant

Particularly Arrogant

 

Professional cheek-presser David C. Pack of The Restored Church of God power-sat through his final final message a final time on July 15, 2023. "The Greatest Unending Story! (Part 459)" revealed never-before-understood knowledge that put the entire Series into perspective and cleared up some of the greatest mysteries mankind has ever faced so precisely and accurately it can never be altered.

 

If there is one thing David C. Pack is best at, it is proving to the brethren of The Restored Church of God who and what he is. He repeatedly shows them that nothing coming out of his mouth can be trusted because he will surely backtrack his own statements and disregard all accountability.

 

Case in point:

 

Part 458 – July 8, 2023

@ 01:28:48 But, I wanna just say, if this exact timing is somehow wrong, I simply can’t tell you more. I can’t.

 

@ 01:14:30 I can’t come back with 359 [459], and I'm telling you, I won't.

 

One week later, Part 459 delayed the RCG Summer Picnic’s evening activities by at least two hours since Dave could not resist focusing all the attention on him when the Main Hall was filled with visitors. Event weekends act like a magnet for his tongue.

 

Making light of his previous statements somehow makes it all okay.

 

Part 459 – July 15, 2023

@ 01:04 If you'll recall, I said last week, "This Series is over. Next week." [laughing] Or was it just, "This Series is over?" Maybe that was what it was.

 

The All-Believing Zealots in the audience laughed at this. There is a portion of the RCG membership that seem oblivious to their own dire circumstances. Moments like this reveal their numbers, and it is discouraging.

 

 

One of the great mysteries cleared up with Part 459 was the long-perplexing “one month” puzzling Dave since 2012. Luckily for him, it was yet another way in which he personally fulfills prophecy and cements his ever-presence in the pages of your Bible.

 

Dave speaking for the length of a month during the month of Tammuz was the secret necessary for the Kingdom to come. So, the door was wide open for Jesus Christ to return any time between July 15 and July 19. I said, ANY TIME BETWEEN JULY 15 AND JULY 19.

 

Hmmm. That didn’t work. Av 1 came and went. Nothing happened. How can that be? Dave sounded so confident.

 

@ 16:48 So, these are some of the Mysteries of God that are clearing up that are telling us we’ve got this right.

 

It is a curious thing why the audience did not also laugh here.

@ 33:12 So then, where is the year? This year? Where is it? When is it? It wasn’t on the 24^th [of Tammuz, July 13]. I was suspicious. I ended the way I did because I was suspicious. I’ll tell ya, you’ll see how I end when we’re done today. But we should be able to figure it out. The 1335. We've battled that for a long time. Battled and battled and battled and battled, but you know what, brethren? We got it. It's the split-second of Passover two-and-a-half months before the Day of the Lord. You know, that moment is very special.

 

@ 35:37 We’ve battled and battled and battled and battled and battled. But, eventually, we got them. Now, the people who left didn’t get them. They didn’t stay long enough. They weren’t even excited to know that the Lord of Hosts and the Captain of the Hosts were Father and Son. And that Christ was never the God of the Old Testament. You know, a little minor detail like that. 

 

Dave has no understanding that having a theory that has not yet moved is not the same as having a theory proven right. He will not and can never be right about the return of Jesus Christ because he is a false prophet forever disqualified. This is why he continues to wallow in the hell of his own doing.

 

@ 36:52 But we got it. And maybe I should say God eventually made it clear. You could argue we didn’t get anything. I didn’t get anything, but it came clear.

 

Crediting God with the continued failure of David C. Pack’s teachings is the same type of praise as if you commend God for allowing an orphanage to burn to the ground with all the kids inside. Wow. Are you super-sure you want to put His fingerprints on something like that?

 

 

@ 55:58 But, there is a month there, and I finally understand it. My quest with my wife on Obama’s re-election, November 6, 2012, almost eleven years ago, was to try to figure this out. And I never could, and never could, thought I did, and never could, thought I did, and this theory and that, and imagine how much we had to learn before we could ever get it right. But God seemed to wait for last to explain what I ran into and got a headache from first.

 

@ 56:47 Now, if it’s Tammuz, well then, we’re right on track. We’re lookin’ at Tuesday (July 18). Because it's the month of Tammuz and it's 29 days. I didn't speak on Tammuz 1. I spoke on Tammuz 3. And I don’t know when God woulda lifted the Staffs and fed the flock. So, I don’t know.

 

Wishy-Washy Dave avoided hard dates because he was unsure when the "one month" officially began since he never stopped talking. One of his messages fulfilled prophecy setting a clock in motion so that God could initiate the arrival of the Kingdom of God. Man…if he could only know which one it was.

 

@ 1:24:36 Now, I said this Series is over last week. I don’t know what in the world I would discover that could cause us to have another one. There's a final message. But I do read, you know, a final message that's given in a season. Is it this one? It wudn't the last one. I thought so and times before that.

 

Could you imagine waking up each day wondering HOW you are fulfilling prophecy?

 

You just know in your heart that your god is using you for a great purpose, but that same god keeps you in the dark about the details because it refuses to communicate essential details clearly even though you are tasked with leading the last little flock on the planet.

 

This is the life of David C. Pack. He pours through the instruction manual, trying to understand how Peg A fits into Slot X. Sure, the parts connect if you press hard enough and ignore a few paragraphs, but it certainly does not match the diagram.

 

David C. Pack will never be able to properly connect the biblical pieces together because rightly dividing the word of truth is beyond his grasp.

 

 

@ 1:25:15 No man knows the day or the hour. That’s kind of a problem. Is that no man? …No prophet has ever known that day. The apostles never knew it. The Bible says Christ doesn’t know it. Angels don’t know it. And it has struck me from time to time when the Bible seems to pull YOU toward a particular time (and it does); if YOU nail that day down, it strikes me as particularly arrogant. And I have to bite my lip and say, “But God says the Goodman know. He knows, and he tells his house.” Or does he give'em a range of time? No prophet, apostle, Christ, and the angels know it, just the Father. But we know. Or, I know. No man knows the day or the hour or can’t think or know the hour.

 

It would be hard to believe David C. Pack pays attention to his own words as closely as I do. This troublesome verse in Matthew 24 and Mark 13 has been a thorn in his flesh for over a decade. Dave occasionally acknowledges that such words exist but ignores them because they cannot possibly apply to him.

 

“it has struck me from time to time”

 

And yet, between Tammuz 1 of 2022 to Tammuz 1 of 2023, Dave taught 59 dates for the return of Jesus Christ. Was he struck all 59 times? Maybe he needs to get struck a little harder to pay attention.

 

“the Bible seems to pull YOU…if YOU nail that day down”

 

Dave's coping mechanism to keep his conscious mind away from realizing he is a biblical fraud is to implement the generous placement of the separating pronoun, YOU. He warns if YOU do this, he has concerns.

 

It is almost as though what has occurred inside The Restored Church of God happened due to and implemented by some entity beyond the bounds of his own flesh. Some other voice spoke the words and set dates that all failed. It was not David C. Pack. It was YOU.

 

“it strikes me as particularly arrogant”

 

Dave betrays a rare moment of pure honesty.

 

“I have to bite my lip”

 

David C. Pack does not bite his lip. He pushes through his uncomfortable feelings and chooses to teach what he knows is incorrect because he "ran out of time." The Restored Church of God would be a much happier place if David C. Pack were capable of biting his lip.

 

 

@ 1:32:13 And there are people who leave because he says My Lord delays His coming. Shouldn’t we at least say, What if some among us commit suicide at the last minute ‘cause it goes a few days longer? Now, you know, and I know, and they should know, and God knows they were never gonna get eternal life anyway because they were on a short-timer’s attitude. But what if that happened? What if, you know…It goes long enough the people say, “I’m outta here. I just waited and waited and waited.” Well, then, that’s a decision that you made. Best case scenario, such people who bail out, best case is they’re goin’ into the year. Worst case, it looks like those people are cut asunder and burned on the spot. And they weeping and gnashing their teeth even if they quit a day before. But, I’m gonna at least warn about that.

 

The fate of those who leave The Restored Church of God is assured. Using his superior discernment and apostolic wisdom, David C. Pack knows just like you know, and God knows who will not receive the gift of eternal life. This broad color in the Brainwashing Rainbow casts a bleak, fearful shadow over all the brethren, keeping them in their chairs.

 

Waiting is not the issue. Listening to a proven false prophet God is not leading is.

 

 

While enthusiastically asserting the Series is over, Dave set up quotes for a future article.

 

@ 1:34:30 What could be so big, so transcendent, so sweeping in power and force and knowledge to overcome all the points about timing? All of them. Not just tonight. Well, what could do that? It would have to be an oracle outside the Bible. Nobody else is gonna pick up the Bible and find different months and days and understanding…

 

@ 1:38:58 After the last message, Christ comes quickly. That’s really fast. That’s not a month. I’m just trying to these are subtle nuances. It took me a long time to see them. But it all adds up. So, what in the world could change everything? Nothing I can see…I do not rule out that we could go two or three more weeks, brethren. I have no authority to do that. I don’t see how you could go two or three more weeks without another message. But I'm not gonna say anything along that line.

 

I wonder how much of this will be ripe for use after Part 460 is delivered tonight.

 

Av 1 on July 19 was a focal point, but Dave gave himself wiggle room of “two or three more weeks.” The brethren hanging on will be waiting much longer than that.

 

Whatever changes are afoot or new “reset in thinking” occurs, there is one aspect that will not change. Out of his own mouth, David C. Pack of The Restored Church of God has judged himself to be “particularly arrogant.” 

 

The end must be near because he and I both agree.

Marc Cebrian

See: Particularly Arrogant