PCG Makes Passover Story About Themselves Than That Creature They Call Christ

 

Leave it to the Edmond Oklahoma cult to make the Armstrong version of Passover into a story about their church, Mystery of the Ages, and the intense persecution it faces daily. I honestly do not think Flurry has an original thought in his alcobol-riddled mind.

Baptized members of the Philadelphia Church of God observed the Passover, a memorial of the beating and death of Jesus Christ, on the night of April 14. Let’s consider the persecution that God’s one true Church has endured to preserve the Passover.

After the PCG beats and kills Christ at their annual ceremony he is left to be swept up with the crumbs and tossed outside for another year.

Flurry leaves his Christ in the dust and proceeds to tell the story of his imagined cult history and warns everyone that there are not many true Christians out there and thus it is easy to prove they are true Christians

Just a few decades after Christ’s death, a dark curtain fell on the history of God’s Church. Concerning this time period, Herbert W. Armstrong wrote in Mystery of the Ages, "Already the curtain was rung down on the history of the true Church. You read of it in the book of Acts, but it doesn’t go much beyond that. But the curtain seems to lift, and we begin to get a little bit of the history in about A.D. 150. There we see a church calling itself Christian, but it’s a totally different church, as different as night is from day, down from up, or black from white. But it called itself Christian." 

 

Notice what Edward Gibbon recorded in The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire: "The scanty and suspicious materials on ecclesiastical history seldom enable us to dispel the dark cloud that hangs over the first age of the Church." Mr. Armstrong often referred to this time period as "the lost century" because in secular history, as he wrote, "the history of that Church was lost." 

 

The book of Acts ends abruptly, several years before Paul’s death. John wrote his epistles and the book of Revelation around A.D. 85 to 90. 

 

Continuing from Mystery of the Ages: "Scholars and church historians recognize that events in the early Christian Church between A.D. 50 and 150 can only be seen in vague outline—as if obscured by a thick mist." (This is the same "lost century" he referred to in The Incredible Human Potential as occurring from A.D. 70 to 170.) Some Bible authors who wrote after A.D. 50, such as Peter, Jude and John, provided some details of the A.D. 50 to 90 period of Church history. But the primary purpose of their writings was not to chronicle events of the day, so the history of that period remains obscure. And the obscurity grows far thicker after A.D. 90. 

 

Mr. Armstrong quoted from a book titled A Handbook of Church History, by Samuel G. Green: "The 30 years which followed the close of the New Testament canon and the destruction of Jerusalem are in truth the most obscure in the history of the Church. When we emerge in the second century we are, to a great extent, in a changed world"(emphasis mine throughout). 

 

We do have some insight into this obscure time from secular sources. However, an element of caution must be used when studying secular history regarding the first- and early second-century Church. It is extremely difficult to tell who was a true Christian and who was false. As historian Edward Burton wrote, "The fugitives from Jerusalem … while some became true disciples of Jesus, others, as in the case in spreading of new opinions, may have imperfectly learnt, or ignorantly perverted, the real doctrines of Christianity" (Lectures Upon the Ecclesiastical History of the First Three Centuries). From secular history, the one measure we can safely use to determine which people were part of God’s true Church and which were not is the doctrines they taught.

Dave Pack Has To Move His Goal Posts After Jesus Fails To Return On Passover and Night To Be Much Observed

 

By now none of us should be surprised at the mental diarrhea that leaks out of Dave Pack's brain anymore. Week after week, month after month, year after year, he has been feeding his members some of the most absurd bullshit imaginable that they think is coming from God. Every time he opens his mouth the goalposts are changed, timeliness redefine, and dates clarified with "new understanding". Each and every time it has been an outright lie.

Just when you think he can't bet any crazier, he now says that the Feast of Tabernacles is a reenactment of Passover. So in effect, you are celebrating Passover every six months!

The RCG source for this states:

 

Gotta give it 5 🌟 at this highlight for HOW BAD it is: "IN FACT, the seven-day Feast of Tabernacles in the fall is actually a RE-ENACTEMENT OF THE PASSOVER so that God in effect has THIS Feast kept every six months, not just every year."

Here is Dave's latest: 

The full update:

"Greetings from Headquarters during the most important time of year!

We trust you had as profitable a Passover as we did here. By now all God’s people worldwide in RCG (and all other groups) have had opportunity to take the symbols, and it has BECOME clear this was ALWAYS God’s intent! So much turns on the willingness to remember Christ’s death and a Christian’s attitude while doing so (I Cor. 11:26-31). For MANY REASONS that have also NOW COME INTO FOCUS, this was ALWAYS to precede the days we are awaiting—the seven-day Feast of Unleavened Bread. There is STILL GREAT reason to be expectant!

CONSIDER FIRST that we are entering the Night to be “MUCH OBSERVED” (Ex. 12:42)! THIS IS the ultimate day to “guard” in Abib, kept through all Israel’s generations. NEXT REMEMBER that the exodus from Egypt began on the First Day of Unleavened Bread.

Ask: WHAT DAY then MIGHT God start the Kingdom of Israel?

Also recall Christ’s command to “Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning…like unto men that wait for their lord…” (Luke 12:35-36). This instruction TO US has unmistakable roots in the Old Testament Passover/Night to be Much Observed! God commanded, “And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded…for I will pass through the land of Egypt this night” (Ex. 12:11-12). Much more could be said here! Now a little more big picture…

The Bible in MANY ways, and in many, many places, is the story of the seven Days of Unleavened Bread! It is these seven days that are referred to variously IN PROPHECY AS: one week—the last days—the evil days—those days—these days—the days come—the days of the Son of Man—and His days. The date of the New Testament Passover simply does not begin these seven days and is in NO way part of them. We were a day early in our watch! Unleavened Bread BECOMES our guidepost, SPECIFICALLY the Night to be Much Observed (Ex. 12:42).

As important as the New Testament Passover is, the Night to be Much Observed was celebrated 1,500 years before Christ’s sacrifice was memorialized, and it will continue through ETERNITY while the Kingdom’s arrival means the New Testament Passover will never be kept again. Of course, both are central—and that is an understatement. But one was ALWAYS intended to be transitory, and the other one eternal in purpose. IN FACT, the seven-day Feast of Tabernacles in the fall is actually a RE-ENACTEMENT OF THE PASSOVER so that God in effect has THIS Feast kept every six months, not just every year. PONDER THIS FURTHER and all of the relevant verses that you can think of while you await tonight, and maybe over the dinner table tonight...

It is easy to imagine that God is waiting for all saints worldwide in all groups to demonstrate that they kept both nights before a decision is made as to WHO STILL REMAINS within God’s Plan.

Brethren, we KNOW our Bibles and God’s Plan. Stay encouraged and focused on the parallels God would expect us to note going into this all-important Feast. Enjoy this special evening unlike ANY other through the year—while looking forward to what God APPEARS poised to do! We cannot think or know the hour—but we are all certainly praying that Christ arrives this year.

In Christ’s service,

David C. Pack" 

 

Dave Pack Caught In Another Lie

 

Well, here we are close to midnight on the West Coast and Dave Pack's creature he calls "christ" has not returned. Should we be surprised? When has any Church of God prophet ever told the truth in the last 80 some years? 

This was Dave on Wedsneday, April 13, 2022

Things we were learning and examining yesterday and before CONTINUED to come clear to ALL of us at Headquarters. 

 

THINK. 

 

A Thursday Passover night arrival by Christ would be seven days before the “last day” (of Unleavened Bread!) or “that day” (the day of the Lord)—when the WHOLE world will keep the final day of Passover with Christ. 

 

We took EXTRA time to be ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN of the ENORMOUS number of passages that are involved. 

 

The EVIDENCE is simply OVERWHELMING—FAR BEYOND what you COULD imagine!

Passover preparation everywhere should NOT change in any regard. 

 

Some will complete the service (and already be back home for hours), for others it may be several hours until their service begins. 

 

ALL EVIDENCE is that Christ “interrupts” this special night of the year, with some actually in the midst of the service, as will be the case in this time zone. 

 

God speed tomorrow night!

This was Dave in 2021 right before Passover.

Prophetic Update  
YESTERDAY (Mar 25)

Passover is less than a day away for us at Headquarters, and only hours away for some of you in the Far East. This day is crucial in God’s soon-to-unfold Plan, but for different reasons than we understood yesterday.

The New Testament Passover is in some regards the most important night of the year for Christians. God takes careful note of how His people prepare (or do not prepare) to take the symbols. There is no greater time of self-examination and preparation. It has become clear that God may want ALL brethren worldwide (seventh era included) to take the Passover prior to Christ’s arrival. What could be more crucial in determining the spiritual condition of each of His children?

Notice I Corinthians 11:26­: “For as often as you eat this bread, and drink this cup, you do shew the Lord's death till He come.” This could easily be read to mean we take the Passover before Christ comes!

Now think! The actual feast picturing Israel leaving Egypt begins Saturday night—the First Day of Unleavened Bread. This is the Night To Be Much Observed. This is when the physical Passover lamb was eaten anciently. Would this not picture the GREAT Supper? Related, we have studied the Scriptures enough to know the importance of the weekly Sabbath in God’s mind. This scenario also further elevates the seventh day.

In practical terms, if God wants everyone everywhere to take the symbols, the earliest possibility for Christ’s Return would appear to be deep into tomorrow night. Think of yesterday’s announcement. This would mean He arrives to set up the Kingdom with the Old Testament Passover/Night To Be Much Observed still “in” the Kingdom.

All this said, continue to stay alert now—and all the way into the start of the Holy Day season!

Jon Brisby Gets Crazier: No More Matzos = Jewish Sin

 

It was in 1996 that Raymond Cole pressed Jon to become a minister, a course that he never would have chosen of his own accord. 

He was ordained by Mr. Cole on the Feast of Trumpets in 1997 but did not jettison his corporate career until late 1999 when the church was in dire need of more full-time helpers. 

He moved his family to Eugene, Oregon that year and worked as Raymond Cole’s ministerial assistant until Mr. Cole’s death in 2001. 

Thereafter, Jon became Pastor and Director of Church of God, The Eternal, 

a position of service he holds to this day.

Jon Brisby is another one of the splinter group leaders that have managed to tick off a lot of members. COGE members have been quite vocal here on one of the longest-running threads on this blog, Church of God, The Eternal's Jon Brisby Sinks To A New Vile Low. COGE members claim Brisby is coming up with all kinds of heresy, kind of like Bob Thiel does. Dreams are important to Brisby.

Today this comment was posted. 

What about their new truths on unleavened bread and atonement revealed by Jon Brisby in these last days? No more matzos, they are Jewish sin. Unleavened bread must be organic whole wheat, home made, thin and burned to a crisp or it doesn't count. And our atonement doesn't really count as atoning unless we begin our fast before sundown and are already afflicted. Also, herbs and homeopathy are the same wicked sin as doctors and medications. No faith! Jesus walks in Eugene, listen. He has new truth in Jon. Cole didn't know these things. Jon has new truth More to come

Poor Bob Thiel, the little guy just can never get a break. Now Brisby has spoken out against the homeopathic quackery that is so important to Thiel. People who go to naturopaths and herbalists are wallowing in wicked sin.

I remember in elementary school being told as a second grader that I could not have any water or food after 12:00 noon on the eve of atonement. The crazy minister in the Dayton, OH area said your stomachs had to be completely empty when sundown arrived, even if you were a child and had gym class after 12:00. No water for you, heathen! God's highly intelligent minister had spoken!

Jon seems to be one step ahead of Dave Pack though. When you read the comments on the blog entry mentioned above, some of his followers believe Jon is a walking embodiment of Christ and thus needs to be listened to when he delivers new truth. While Dave Pack claims his Christ is coming to Wadsworth, it's not going to be long till Dave Claims he is the embodiment of Christ. After all, with all of these failures happening with Dave, the only thing left is for him to declare himself as Christ returned. Jon is like Thiel in the endless supply of revelations he receives in dreams, supposedly from his god.

Dave Pack: Christ Will Return On Passover And Disrupt Services

 

And here we go AGAIN! 

Dave's latest. 

His creature he calls "Christ" is set to return tomorrow night or sometime on April 15 where ever RCG people are still keeping Passover.

How many times does a false prophet need to lie before his followers call him a liar and walk away?

I can state with 100% assurance that Dave's creature will NOT be returning on Passover or any time soon after that. When this creature fails to appear he will tell another lie. Then another lie. Then another. And yet, his cadre of emasculated man/boys will sit there like happy seals and clap him on the back and tell him what a great prophet he is.

Things we were learning and examining yesterday and before CONTINUED to come clear to ALL of us at ☣Headquarters☢. 

 

THINK. 

 

A Thursday Passover night arrival by Christ would be seven days before the “last day” (of Unleavened Bread!) or “that day” (the day of the Lord)—when the WHOLE world will keep the final day of Passover with Christ. 

 

We took EXTRA time to be ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN🥰 of the ENORMOUS number of passages that are involved. 

 

The EVIDENCE is simply OVERWHELMING☠—FAR BEYOND what you COULD imagine!

Passover preparation everywhere should NOT change in any regard. 

 

Some will complete the service (and already be back home for hours), for others it may be several hours until their service begins. 

 

ALL 🤯EVIDENCE🤯 is that Christ “interrupts” this special night of the year, with some actually in the midst of the service, as will be the case in this time zone. 

 

God speed tomorrow night!

PCG's Lil'Joel Hilliker Says To Deleaven Your Use Of Technology

 

God does observe all your texts, chats and search histories, regardless of your age or circumstances. 

 God sees it all and judges you by it.

It is that time of year in Church of Godland when everyone is scurrying to and fro trying to get leaven and sin out of their lives. They want to be able to sit in confidence at Passover services that they are free and clear of sin, if only for a few minutes, till they find out who's feet they have to wash and pop an attitude of "ew, not him!".

At the Philadelphia Church of God cult compound in Edmond Oklahoma, they have been in hyperdrive trying to get sin out of their lives, which they have not done and will never be able to do.

Every spring holy day season, we deleaven: thoroughly cleaning out lockers, backpacks, rooms, kitchen appliances, cars, garages and so on. And as we deleaven, we examine ourselves for hidden “leaven,” or sin—and work to deleaven ourselves.

Very often, God chooses this time of year to expose problems in our lives. Though this might often be uncomfortable and even painful, it is wonderful—because once something is exposed, we can deal with it. You cannot deleaven something if you can’t see the leaven.

Correction doesn’t feel good in the moment: “Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby” (verse 11). 

 

If we respond to God’s “deleavening” the right way, it yields beautiful results! It can be embarrassing—it can sting—but it helps you grow. It makes you more righteous! That is what this time of year, and in many ways, our whole lives, is all about.

I hate to burst Lil'Joel's closeted bubble, but there are NO righteous people in the PCG, starting with Gerald Flurry himself! 

Anyway, of the many grievous sins that PCG members carry around with them, it is the use of technology that is the most appealing.

Let’s look at one area where most teenagers in the world, and even many in God’s Church, have a lot of leaven: our use of technology. 

 

We are so reliant on technology today. For students taking Imperial Academy classes online, technology makes receiving a godly education possible! Technology makes many things possible, but it also has serious potential problems. It makes it easy to find trouble. Perhaps even more dangerously, it makes it easy to hide trouble—to conceal what we’re doing from other people. 

 

But even if you can hide your online activity from other people, God sees everything. And often, people who think they are getting away with things really aren’t. God often exposes activities that shouldn’t be happening and stops them. But—and this might surprise you—He won’t do that in every case.

From watching porn to reading dissident websites, PCG's god is there watching and shaking his head in disgust.

Consider all the safeguards already in place in God’s school and within His Church to guard against misusing technology. Imperial Academy, for example, has a rule that all websites other than the class link are closed, and instant messaging programs are prohibited during class. The Internet on the headquarters campus is equipped with several content blockers. For college students, access to the Internet turns on at 7 a.m. and turns off at 10:30 p.m. In 2020, Gerald Flurry banned smartphones at IA and Armstrong College. God is serious about trying to protect us! 

 

God does want to protect you, and will use your parents, your teachers, the school, the ministry, and even your peers to do that. But if you are determined to get yourself into trouble, God will let you do that! If you are determined to find ways around all the rules, boundaries and obstacles that are there to help you—if you’re determined to lie and deceive so you can do what you want, then there is a point when God will say, Fine. If that’s what you want, go ahead.

Then, like any good control freak and professional guilt tripper in COG leadership, Lil'Joel has this to say:

God does observe all your texts, chats and search histories, regardless of your age or circumstances. You are personally responsible before Him for the sites you visit, the movies you watch, who you talk with, what you say, what images you share with others. God sees it all and judges you by it. 

It's always the members at fault and never the leadership who are some of the biggest purveyors of pornography and sexual misdeeds in the church. Apparently PCG's god also looks the other way when ministers lead people to suicide, tell parents to leave their daughter at the mall so the state can take care of her, or tell people they're of no use to god. But remember you loathsome PCG members, god is watching YOU!

Some sins of technology:

Sending or receiving a text triggers your brain to release dopamine, which creates a pleasant sensation, a feeling of reward. You tend to crave more of those dopamine hits, so texting quickly becomes addictive. 

 

Many people try to “multitask” by texting and chatting while doing homework or other activities. But multitasking is just another word for doing distracted, subpar work. 

 

If you text and chat, examine the time you might be wasting. And closely examine the content of your messages: What are you texting about? Chats might be innocuous, but they can also be silly and worthless. And chats often include pictures, memes and gifs that lead to more time-wasting Internet-surfing for the next hilarious meme to share. Beyond that, it is soeasy for this to devolve into inappropriate exchanges: insults, complaining, obnoxious opinions, worldly language, off-color pop-culture references, innuendos, raunchy jokes, sexually suggestive comments, flirting. 

 

Verses 3-4 continue, “But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks.” There are things you just shouldn’t talk about. Yet wouldn’t you say that “filthiness,” “foolish talking” and wrong “jesting” describe a lot of group chats? Proverbs 15:2 says, “The tongue of the wise useth knowledge aright: but the mouth of fools poureth out foolishness.” Even if you or your friends are not “pouring out foolishness,” the memes, YouTube videos and Spotify songs you share might be.

A final warning before that pissed off god strikes you down:

Be honest. If you’ve been misusing technology, show them. Bring it all out into the light.Let God deleaven you before the holy days. Wherever He exposes a problem, thank Him for that, and then do all you can to root it out entirely!

 

Why I Do Not Believe in an End-Time Tribulation - Or the Pitfalls of Designer Prophecy

Why I Do Not Believe in an End-Time Tribulation

Or the Pitfalls of Designer Prophecy

By NeoDromos 

 

I came to the Worldwide Church of God (WCG) not to be a spiritual titan but for safety.  I was a teenager and impressionable and Basil Wolverton’s drawings put the fear in me.  The theme of escape from disaster continued to be present with varying degrees of intensity in my thirty-year WCG experience. The idea of a prophesied end-time frenzy of destruction called The Great Tribulation seemed plausible.  The world was a bad place and the trends did not look good.  Comeuppance was way overdue.  But now I do not believe in the idea of a second, end-time Great Tribulation.  Let me tell you why.

It Already Happened

In spite of the apocalyptic Millerite hype, Jesus made a very clear statement in Matthew 24:21 about the time setting of the tribulation.   Jesus said, here in two translations:

“For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.” (KJV)

“For at that time there will be great tribulation, unmatched from the beginning of the world until now, and never to be seen again.” (Berean Study Bible)

It is obvious that Jesus stated that this time of great distress was a one-time event.  That's what "nor ever shall be" or “never to be seen again” means.  This means that ideas such as the former rain and the latter rain or type and anti-type or any other odd hermeneutics that one might concoct to render up two occurrences of this singular event are just not sufficient to overpower the words of Jesus.  

The surrounding context of this verse indicates that Jesus was talking about the 70 AD events, soon to happen.  If there can be only one nonpareil event, when does that one event happen?  Does it happen in 70 AD as Jesus stated?  Or does it happen in the 21^st Century as many of the apocalyptic Millerite prophets would like us to believe?  In fact, Jesus used the language of imminency in Matthew and his description of events surrounding verse 21 aligns with the Fall of Jerusalem and the Destruction of the Temple in 70 AD.   Further, Jesus said it would all happen in one generation.  Also, it is anchored chronologically in 70 AD by Jesus’ reference to the Destruction of the Temple. Occam’s razor says Jesus’ direct language trumps more complicated and dubious hermeneutics such as type/anti-type.  It happened once in 70 AD – never to happen again.  

Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs) and No Flesh Should be Saved Alive

Armstrongists, I suspect, realize that this one-time event was a one-time event.  But they have developed an exegesis that grabs the time of great distress, clones it, and transports a clone into the future. This then creates a dual fulfillment for an obviously non-dual prophecy.  It also makes for an exciting ride where all church requirements can become urgent due to the shortness of time.  This violates Jesus’ characterization of the time of great distress but Jesus seems to have only a bit part in this Millerite theater. The necessary exegesis for the duality is devised by providing a novel interpretation for the next verse.  Jesus states in verse 22:

“And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.”

This is the WMD Theory.  This idea from the Armstrongist legendarium has been used to situate the tribulation at the end of days, whenever that might be. The reasoning is that only in our time do the necessary WMDs exist to accomplish the complete extermination of every living thing.  What is overlooked is that the tribulation does not have to occur as soon as WMDs are invented – it could occur centuries later.   WMDs are just a pre-condition not a precipitating event. 

There are problems with the WMD Theory. If we follow the Armstrongist line of reasoning, we have this effect: Jesus is speaking in Matthew 24 about local events connected with Jerusalem. Then suddenly out of context in verse 22, he makes a statement that relates to the entire planet at a future time when technology makes WMDs possible. Clearly, this would be puzzling to the listeners at that time because they know of no way that life can be totally and globally exterminated or why there would be a sudden context shift from their time to the distant future  (if we apply the Armstrongist line of reasoning) - so they are confused and Jesus sounds like he doesn't know what he is talking about. And apparently from the account, none of the disciples say "what did you mean by that odd statement?" Then Jesus immediately goes back to local Jerusalem-related events and continues.

That is a flawed exegesis. It is concocted, to the point of being painful, to pluck the great tribulation out of context.  It simply does not work. But when read in a simple context, it makes sense: Jesus is making the point that if this train of events were not interdicted every Jew in Jerusalem and its environs would be killed. Obviously, the people doing the killing, the Romans, would still be alive. But the Bible is about the Jews, not the Romans.  Only the Jews are important to the prophetic narrative.  They are the “all flesh.”

And, as Jesus prophesied, this happened.  In 70 AD, Titus built a wall around Jerusalem with the intent of starving its population to death.   Jews caught trying to escape by the surrounding Roman soldiers were crucified.  And the Valley of Hinnom (Gehenna) was filled with corpses (something Jesus also prophesied).  Had the entire siege not been overtaken by events at the last, all the inhabitants of Jerusalem would have been killed. 

The Place of Safety

Ancillary to the fascination with The Great Tribulation is the idea of the Place of Safety.  Like the tribulation, it has a 70 AD context.  Also, like the tribulation, it is transported without justifiable exegesis to the end time by Armstrongists.   If we briefly unpack some scriptures, the problems emerge. 

The Woman in Rev 12:1 is not the church.  It is Israel (not the BI Israel but the real Israel).   The symbolism in Rev 12:1 associated with this Woman can be connected directly with Genesis 37:9.  She gives birth to the Child who is Jesus.   Jesus is seen as a logical outcome of the historic Judaic Polity – He came to his own.   Notice that at the time the Woman gave birth, there was no New Testament Church – just the Church in the Wilderness.  Stephen describes Israel at Sinai as the Church in the Wilderness (Acts 7:38).   So it was the Jewish nation that was the Woman who had a place prepared for her.  My guess is that this “place” referred to the flight into the Diaspora – a kind of wilderness from the Jewish perspective.  Later in the passage, the church is mentioned.  Revelation further states:

“And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.”

The church, like its leader Jesus, is also an outcome of Judaic Polity or the Woman.  It all began with the Jerusalem Church – a Christian church of Jews. So the situation is that in 70 AD disaster some Jews flee into the wilderness of the Diaspora and the church suffers horrible persecution.  Eusebius and Epiphanius recorded the belief in the Fourth Century that the Jerusalem Church evacuated to Pella, about 80 miles from Jerusalem, before the 70 AD events ensued. They stayed local.  And this Pella scenario may describe what happened to only the Jerusalem part of the church during the 70 AD time of great tribulation.   Nobody seems to know what happened to the Jerusalem Church after Pella.  So the “place prepared for her of God” does not directly align with the idea of a global tribulation and a flight by the whole scattered church to Petra or whatever place.  Wrong people. Wrong crowd size. Wrong kind of place.  Wrong aftermath.  In summary, wrong exegesis. 

Conclusion

Why is the belief in an end-time tribulation persistent within Armstrongism?  Apocalyptic Millerism, from 1844 to now, is principally about the exaltation of end-time events.  It is mesmerizing.  It is exciting.  And I believe that it is a form of liturgy.  Pentecostals do a holy dance and Armstrongists believe the Great Tribulation followed by the Parousia is just a few, quick steps into the future – both a part of a liturgy of elation.  And because Millerite end-time prophecy is liturgy, it is repeatable without embarrassment. The problem is that elation can smother out serious reflection.  This kind of liturgy is rooted in emotion rather than intellection and the fire of emotion often wins the debate unfairly – the passionate and primal dispossessing the reserved and analytical.  I used to get wound up about the tribulation back in the days when I believed a lot of ideas without serious thought.  Now, in my view, it is a liturgical crutch for people who just might be losing interest in religion.