- HOME
- MESSAGE MENU #1
-
MESSAGE MENU #2
- OVERLOOKING THE SOURCE OF OUR STRENGTH AND SALVATION
- FALSE PROPHETS OR SERVANTS OF YAHWEH?
- BOOK OF MATTHEW WRITTEN IN HEBREW OR IN GREEK?
- CONCERNING BABYLON AND CURRENT EVENTS
- THE FIRSTFRUITS OF YAHWEH/YAHWSHUA
- WHAT DID YAHWSHUA MEAN WHEN HE SAID "TOUCH ME NOT"?
- WHERE WAS YAHWEH'S SHEKINAH GLORY AT THE TIME OF YAWHSHUA?
- THE WAVE-SHEAF CEREMONY
-
MESSAGE MENU #3
- THE FIRST VISIBLE LUNAR CRESCENT
- TITHING CHART BASED ON WEEKLY INCOME
- HOW TO TITHE BASED ON YOUR ANNUAL SALARY
- MAP OF ANCIENT KHAZARIA
- MAP OF EPHRAYIM AND MANNASAH, ACCORDING TO THE ANGLO-SAXONS
- THE NEW COVENANT IS CONDITIONAL
- BARACK OBAMA: A PROPHET OF ISLAM
- TIMELINE CHART OF YAHSHUA'S DEATH AND RESURRECTION
- THE SACRED NAMES IN ANCIENT PALEO-HEBREW
- ZECHARYAH 12:9
- THE 24 ELDERS ARE ALREADY IN THRONES IN HEAVEN
- THE INFAMOUS "AN EYE FOR AN EYE" LAW: ABOLISHED OR IN EFFECT?
- RE LOST TEN TRIBES
"FALSE PROPHETS,
OR
SERVANTS OF YAHWEH?
Throughout his ministry, Herbert Armstrong felt that Our Savior Yahushua (whom he always called "Jesus Christ") would come soon—very soon. He always thought and preached that the Great Tribulation was on the verge of beginning and that Yahushua's return would occur in the next five, ten, fifteen years. We not infrequently heard him thunder, "You could wake up tomorrow to discover Europe has risen overnight!" The Millennium and Yahweh's Kingdom were sometimes "just over the horizon" and certainly "within our lifetimes."
Other times, these events were announced in The Plain Truth magazine and other WCG publications, to come on specific dates, 1939, 1945, 1948, 1967, 1971... (We have published a message separately with many VERY SPECIFIC prophecies published by Herbert Armstrong, which never came to pass. Many people came and went---and Mr. Armstrong himself died---without seeing those things within their lifetimes. Not to mention fulfilled on specific dates for the general assembly.)
Some say that it is this atmosphere of expectation that became known as the "gun-lap mentality." In a race, the gun lap presumably is the final circuit around the track, the time to pick up the pace and make a quick sprint to the finish line. It is the period of the race when a runner makes an all-out effort to cross the tape as a winner, reaping the rewards of an impressive victory. This victory and reward surely are what Herbert Armstrong wanted for each of us. But in Scripture, the end does not justify the means. There are certain things Yahweh calls SINS, which we must stay away from. In Scripture, there are certain things that prophets should do and not do.
Some become frustrated at the pace and length of the gun lap and need exhortation to persist in the faith. In their minds, the final circuit seemed to expand interminably into the future, as they concluded, "My master is delaying his coming" (Matthew 24:48). And as in the parable, some of these began to beat their fellow servants and those who faithfully followed his teachings, and return to living as they had before their calling (verse 49).
Some Armstrong idolaters, claim however, that if a gun-lap mentality like Armostrong had is a sign of a false prophet, then the first-century apostles stand as charged! They say that several of them use apocalyptic language just as Herbert Armstrong did. And cite Paul in Romans 13:11-12:
"And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light."
However, in all that we read from Paul he never set specific dates for Yahushua's general return. Herbert Armstrong often did. Maybe the most "famous" of Paul's gun-lap misunderstandings is his instruction in I Corinthians 7, the marriage chapter:
"But this I say, brethren, the time is short, so that from now on even those who have wives should be as though they had none, those who weep as though they did not weep, those who rejoice as though they did not rejoice, those who buy as though they did not possess, and those who use this world as not misusing it. For the form of this world is passing away." (verses 29-31)
Paul is not alone among the apostles in thinking the end was near in his time. But in Paul's times, him and the apostles feared for their lives because Yahushua had predicted that Jerusalem would be totally overtaken by the roman armies and their population killed or deported. And they were seeing it happen, exactly as predicted. They feared for their lives on a day-to-day basis. They had seen themselves and brethren like them incarcerated, beaten and even martyred. Their world, Judeah and their faith, was being visibly threataned and would pass away. They had already seen their city sieged, taken, and the Temple destroyed in 70 a.d. Therefore Paul had a lot of very good reasons for having that urgent feeling.
John similarly writes: "Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know it is the last hour" (I John 2:18). James puts it a little differently: "You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Master is at hand" (James 5:8). But John knew that their lives would soon come to an end for preaching the gospel, just like Yahushua's life had come to an end for preaching the Truth. And they knew that upon death, and "in the twinkling of an eye," they would be rersurrected and would see Yahushua come. This is far the scenario given by Herbert Armostrong when he set all those wrong dates for Yahushua's return. Even Peter says, "But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers" (I Peter 4:7). (Again, he did not set specific dates for Yahushua's return to this earth).
However, Paul and Peter were only imitating the urgent voice of their Lord and Savior Yahushua Ha Mashiach. He made the same kind of statements during His ministry! Is Christ a false prophet? No, He never set specific dates for His return! Are Peter and Paul false prophets? No, they never set specific dates for Yahushua's return! The first words out of Yahushua's mouth are of this sort: "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of Yahweh is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel" (Mark 1:15)!
This urgency is a common theme in His preaching until His death. He says to His disciples on His last Passover, "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also" (John 14:3). He makes His return sound very imminent! And this is because He knew that His follower's lives would not last two thousand more years. He knew they would die or "sleep" and upon that, immediately after, see Him!
Yahushua never SET SPECIFIC DATES like Armstrong and others under him did...
His urgent statements do not end with His death, however. In His Revelation to the apostle John, such urgent language persists:
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. (1:3)
Behold, I come quickly! (3:11)
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. (3:20)
Behold, I am coming quickly! (22:7, 12)
Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand. (22:10)
Surely I am coming quickly. (22:20).
If these passages are any indication, Herbert Armstrong's urgency is no black mark on his ministry and certainly no proof he was a false prophet. He was, like his predecessors in the first century, applying a Christ-endorsed technique to get us prepared for the Kingdom of Yahweh! But his words when doing so---sprinkled with specific predictions based upon his misunderstanding of Bible timing and world events that made him SET SPECIFIC DATES for Yahushua's general coming---certainly qualified him for the title: "FALSE PROPHET."
So what are all those predictions Herbert Armstrong made, if they are not false prophecies?
Speculation? Speculation is not necessarily sin---unless doctrine is made of it---and even though all speculations involving biblical prophecy—especially regarding the timing of their fulfillments—should be taken with Mashiach's words in mind:
"But of that day and hour no one knows, no, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. . . . Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. . . . Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not expect Him." (Matthew 24:36, 42, 44)
Yahushua Himself did not know the time of His own coming! He taught against teaching specific dates for His general coming! Armstrong speculated, and made a doctrine of it, teaching it as truth!
These errors do not mean that we should not believe nor follow the rest of Herbert Armstrong's teachings. Whether or not you want to believe he was or was not a false prophet, we can continue to use what he taught as correct truth as a base for our beliefs because we can verify it from the Word of Yahweh. If his unfulfilled predictions pass without vindication, we could say that his "batting average" was no worse than some of the most eminent leaders of the church throughout the centuries. He was indeed human, his perspective flawed, his understanding imperfect. The question is not, would any of us fare any better? The question is whether we want to become TEACHERS and imitate other false prophets setting specific dates, or Yahushua and His disciples who DID NOT!
The most vital part for us is to recapture his sense of urgency for the nearness of Mashiach's return. If we should die tomorrow, our day of salvation has ended, and Yahushua's second coming will be our next conscious experience! Some of us are not aware how close the end really is for us! If we knew we had only a day or two left to live, what would we do to strengthen our relationship with Yahweh? That is how we must live every day! That is having the correct perspective! Setting dates for His general coming IS NOT.
"Therefore," writes Paul in Hebrews 12:1, ". . . let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race [the gun lap!] that is set before us."
Now, brethren, let's read something from 1983:
The word of Yahweh commands us: "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of Yahweh: because many false prophets are gone out into the world" (1 Jn. 4:1).
Moses similarly said, "And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which Yahweh hath not spoken? When a prophet speaketh in the name of Yahweh, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which Yahweh hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shaft not be afraid of him" (Deut. 18:21, 22).
Yahweh, through Jeremiah, said; "The prophet that bath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully .... Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith Yahweh, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness; yet I sent them not, nor commanded them: therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith Yahweh" (Jer. 23:28, 32).
Many who read and hear Mr. Armstrong's prophecies of imminent doom are not aware that he has rewritten his major work The United States and Britain in Prophecy and changed the time of his predictions. A careful consideration of his writings will force one to the plain truth that he is a presumptuous prophet who has spoken his "dreams" instead of the truth.
In order to understand the presumptuousness of his writings, we must understand that Mr. Armstrong claims that his "revelations" are "by God's direction and authority" (The United States and Britain in Propecy, 1980 edition, p.184; we will abbreviate this "USBP"). This is what Moses condemned in Deuteronomy 18:21 and 22! Armstrong believes that biblical prophecies were "closed and sealed. . . until now. And even now they can be understood only by those who possess the master key to unlock them" (USBP, p. 5).
Deuteronomy 18:20-22 is the classic passage on judging whether a prophet is true or false!
"But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die. And if you say in your heart, "How shall we know the word which Yahweh has not spoken?"—when a prophet speaks in the name of Yahweh, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which Yahweh has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him."
This seems fairly clear-cut: If a man falsely claims to speak in God's name or Yahweh's name--whatever the case might be---or if he speaks in another god's name, Scripture says he is worthy of death. If the man's predictions do not occur, he is a false prophet. Si says Yahweh's word. Conversely, if a man speaks in Yahweh's name, and what he says happens, he may indeed be a true prophet (Jeremiah 28:8-9).
Apart from Mashiach Himself, Ezekiel may be the clearest and most obvious case of a true prophet. He prefaces many of his prophecies with "the word of Yahweh came to me, saying . . ." (Ezekiel 3:16; 6:1; etc.), followed by a direct quotation of Yahweh's words. This is speaking "a word in My name" (Deuteronomy 18:20). If it is indeed what Yahweh commanded him to say, he is guiltless, whether or not it comes to pass within his lifetime. Many of Ezekiel's prophecies, for instance, had a near fulfillment (in type) and a far fulfillment (antitype). In both cases, he is shown to be a true prophet of Yahweh.
However, false prophets on occasion get something right. Balaam is a prime biblical example. Ordinarily, he was a false prophet, eager to prophesy for or against others, as his employer and his money desired. Yahweh, however, puts true words in his mouth when He attempts to prophesy against Israel (Numbers 22-24). He even prophesies of the coming of Mashiach (Numbers 24:17-19)! What are we to make of this?
Then there is the occasion when Yahweh Himself sends a lying spirit to persuade Ahab to fight at Ramoth Gilead, where he would fall in battle (I Kings 22:1-37). In this instance, He also sends the truth by a true prophet named Micayah, revealing that the prophets of apostate Israel had been lying to the king all along. Nothing like a curve ball to help confuse matters!
In his Plain Truth of January, 1959, Armstrong claimed that 90% of all prophecies in the Bible began to be fulfilled in 1934, with the commencement of his work. Alan E. Highers gave a brief summary of his pretentious claims, and we quote:
"(1) Jesus began his teaching and training of the disciples for their world-wide mission in 27 A.D. Exactly one hundred time cycles later, in 1927 A.D., God began the intensive training of Herbert W. Armstrong to carry that same gospel. (He believes that he is the fulfillment of Matthew 24:14 and Mark 13:10.) (2) Jesus began his earthly ministry at age 30. (3) The apostles were endued with power on the day of Pentecost in 31 A.D., and Herbert W. Armstrong was ordained to preach on or near the day of Pentecost in 1931 A.D., just one hundred time cycles later. A time cycle, according to Armstrong, is nineteen years. (4) The apostles began preaching in 31 A.D., says Armstrong, and for one time cycle (nineteen years) their preaching was confined to one continent, but in 50 A.D. Paul carried the gospel to Europe. Likewise Armstrong began to preach on radio in January 1934 and one time cycle later (nineteen years), in January, 1953, he began broadcasting to Europe. (5) From the time Paul carried the gospel to Europe in 50 A.D. it was another time cycle to 69 A.D. when the disciples fled Jerusalem prior to its destruction in 70 A.D. So, Armstrong began broadcasting in Europe in January of 1953, therefore he opines that in one time cycle (he wrote this prediction in 1959) the termination of opportunity to preach the gospel would likely come. That would have been 1972 which has come and gone" (Via The Spiritual Sword, January 1978, p.18).
Remember these "time cycles" when we quote from his original edition of USBP. The nineteen years "time cycle" is a product of his fertile imagination, not Bible teaching, and it has now been demonstrated to be false, though his followers are impressed with his comparisons of himself to Yahushua and the apostles.
In The Inside Story of the World Tomorrow Broadcast, Mr. Armstrong said, "For two 19-year time cycles the original apostles did proclaim this Gospel, the Gospel of the Kingdom fo God, but in A.D. 69 they fled.... For eighteen and one-half centuries that gospel was not preached. The world was deceived into accepting a false gospel. Today Christ has raised up His work and once again allotted two 19-year time cycles for proclaiming His same Gospel, preparatory to His Second Coming" (via The Plain Truth About Armstrongism, Roger R. Chambers, p.15).
The plain truth is that Mr. Armstrong's "two 19-year time cycles" ended in 1972 and the second coming of Mashiach did not take place, so he is a false prophet!
Not only is this true, but he knows that he is a false prophet! In 1972 he revised his 1967 edition of USBP, and changed the dates of his predictions, but still makes the same predictions! Here are some of the places in which he changed his predictions. Hew knew he had already erred, yet continued to do so!:
1967 Edition
"Events of the next five years may prove this to be the most significant book of this century. People of the Western World would be STUNNED! - DUMBFOUNDED! - if they knew! . . ." (Foreword of book) "A STAGGERING TURN in world events in due to erupt in the next four to seven years" (p. ix)
"The great world Powers are formulating their policies - laying their plans. But the next five to seven years will see astounding events explode in a manner very different than the nations plan! WHY?" (pg. x, xi) "The events prophesied to strike the American and British peoples in the next four to seven years are SURE!" (p. xii) "It bears repeating! Events of the next five years may prove this to be the most significant book of this century!" (p. 10) "You need to look at prophecies of Jesus of Jeremiah, of Isaiah, and others, describing HOW much more INTENSE is to be the punishment God is going to lay on the British and American people in five to seven more years" (p. 185) ----------------------------------------------------------------- |
1972 Revision
"People of the Western world would be stunned - dumbfounded - if they knew! . . ." (Foreword of book) "A STAGGERING TURN in world events is due to erupt in the next few years" (p. ix) "The great world powers are formulating their policies - laying their plans. But the next few years will see astounding events explode in a manner very different than the nation plan! Why?" (pg. x, xi) "The events prophesied to strike the American and British peoples in the next few years are SURE!" (p. xii) (This space is blank! Seems it did not "bear repeating"!) "You need to look at prophecies of Jesus of Jeremiah, of Isaiah, and others, describing how much more intense is to be the punishment God is going to lay on the British and American people" (p. 163, quotes from 1980 printing) ----------------------------------------------------------------- |
When his predictions did not come true, he simply changed the time for their fulfillment and reprinted his book! Did the Bible change between 1967 and 1972? All Bible believers know the answer to that! The plain truth is that Mr. Armstrong is a false prophet and he knew it! Now whether he begged for divine mercy and obtained we do not know... But we know what we have been witnesses of.
Mr. Armstrong's interpretation of prophecy is based on his British-Israel theory, which is not all wrong but it does have its share of errors. Many attribute Anglo-israelism to Herbert Armstrong, not knowing he was not the first nor the last to lay claim to it. He claims that the meaning of prophecy was "closed and sealed till the time of the end - till the latter half of the twentieth century" (USBP, p. 6). The "Master Key" that he found is "the identity of the United States and British nations in these prophecies today" (USBP, p. 9).
His amazing "discovery" "by God's direction and authority" was that "our white, English-speaking peoples today - Britain and America - are actually and truly the (only) birthright tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh" (USBP, p. 95). Another writer will discuss this false theory in detail, but we will simply point out that the theory was not "lost" until the "latter half of the twentieth century" as Mr. Armstrong fasely claims. In 1902, Mr. J.H. Allen wrote Judah's Sceptre and Joseph's Birthright! Notice a few comparisons between that book and Mr. Armstrong's suppossedly "original" writing, and see for yourself if anglo-israelism was really "lost" until Armstrong says talked about it for the first time in the mid-20th century!
Mr. Armstrong's interpretation of prophecy is based on his British-Israel theory, which is not all wrong but it does have its share of errors. Many attribute Anglo-israelism to Herbert Armstrong, not knowing he was not the first nor the last to lay claim to it. He claims that the meaning of prophecy was "closed and sealed till the time of the end - till the latter half of the twentieth century" (USBP, p. 6). The "Master Key" that he found is "the identity of the United States and British nations in these prophecies today" (USBP, p. 9).
His amazing "discovery" "by God's direction and authority" was that "our white, English-speaking peoples today - Britain and America - are actually and truly the (only) birthright tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh" (USBP, p. 95). Another writer will discuss this false theory in detail, but we will simply point out that the theory was not "lost" until the "latter half of the twentieth century" as Mr. Armstrong fasely claims. In 1902, Mr. J.H. Allen wrote Judah's Sceptre and Joseph's Birthright! Notice a few comparisons between that book and Mr. Armstrong's suppossedly "original" writing, and see for yourself if anglo-israelism was really "lost" until Armstrong says talked about it for the first time in the mid-20th century!
Judah's Scepter and Joseph's Birthright
"But the great bulk of Israelites are not Jews, just as the great bulk of Americans are not Californians" (p. 71). "The very understanding of this difference is the KEY by which almost the entire Bible become intelligible, and I cannot state too strongly that the man who has not yet seen that Israel of the Scripture is totally distinct from the Jewish people, is yet in the very infancy, the mere alphabet, of Biblical study, and that to this day the meaning of seven-eights of the Bible is shut to his understanding" (p. 79). "We have brought you through this group of words to show that 'ish,' in the Hebrew means 'a man.' Now take the Hebrew word which is translated covenant, which in its original form has no vowel, but which in its Anglicized form retains the vowel 'i' to preserve the 'y' sound, and we have "Brith,' which joined with 'ish' is Brith-ish, and means 'a covenant man' Today the British people, or men of the covenant, are called Britons, and are dwelling in the British Isles!!!" (p. 275). In a chapter entitled "Dan - The Serpent's Trail," He quotes Gen. 49:17; Joshua 19:47; Judges 18:11, 12 and 18:29 and says: "And just here we must keep in mind the fact that in the ancient Hebrew there are no written vowels, and that in the word Dan there are only two letters used which are equivalent to the English, D and N. Hence it makes no difference if the word is Dan, Don, Dun, Din or Den . . ." (pp. 259-262). |
United States and Britain in Prophecy
"Jews are Israelites, just as Californians are Americans. But most Israelites are not Jews, just as most Americans are not Californians." (p. 65). "We want to impress, here, that Israel and Judah are not two names for the same nation. They were, and still are, and shall be till the second coming of Christ, two separate nations . . . . This distinction is vital, if we are to understand prophecy . . . This is the KEY, and a master key, to Bible understanding!" (pp. 66, 68). "The Hebrew for 'man' is 'iysh,' or 'ish.' In English the ending 'ish' means 'of or belonging to (a specified nation or person).' In the original Hebrew language vowels were never given in the spelling. So omitting the vowel 'e' from berith, but retaining the 'i' in its anglicized form to preserve the 'y' sound, we have the anglicized Hebrew word for covenant, brith . . . So the Hebrew word for 'covenant' would be pronounced, in its anglicized form as birth. And the word for 'covenant man' or 'covenant people,' would therefore be simply 'BRIT-ISH'" (p. 95). In a chapter entitled" Dan a Serpent's Trail," he quotes Gen. 49:17; Joshua 18:11, 12 and 18:29 and says: "The, the word 'Dan' in its English equivalent could be spelled, simply, 'Dn.' It might be pronounced as 'Dan,' or 'Den,' or 'Din,' or 'Don,' or 'Dun' - and still could be the same original Hebrew name" (p. 96, 97). (This is how they both get Danites in Ireland!) |
Other parallels could be given, but these are sufficient to show that the "master key" that Mr. Armstrong claims was "lost" until the "later half of the twentieth century" and then was written "by God's direction " was certainly known by Mr. Allen in 1902.
A study of the two books leads me to believe that Mr. Armstrong found his "key" from Mr. Allen instead of God. It is a fanciful theory contrived by manipulating words and twisting Scripture. It certainly does not fit the truth!
In spite of the fact that Mr. Armstrong missed his prophecy on 1972, he continues to forecast doomsday in "this generation." In a booklet Is This the End Time? (1971), he contends that "this generation" of Matthew 24:34 is our generation, because we have "the doomsday weapon." He says, "the Bible reveals that Yahushua is likely to return to set up His world-ruling kingdom in your lifetime and mine! (That is, barring any unforeseen termination of your life or mine!) Yahushua's return will likely occur in this very generation!" (pp. 29, 30).
Herbert W. Armstrong was born on July 31, 1892, so he has not had an "unforeseen termination" of his life! Will his followers admit that his is a false prophet if he dies before his prophecy is fulfilled? Probably, they will rewrite the same prophecies and change the date of fulfillment-just as Mr. Armstrong has done.
"This generation" of Matthew 24:34 did not refer to the one of 1914 (as Jehovah's Witnesses claim), nor to 1948 (as Hal Lindsey and many other premillennialists teach), nor "our generation" (as Mr. Armstrong, Seventh-Day Adventists and perhaps others teach). The events of Matthew 24 took place in the generation of those who heard Yahushua "real-time". (See Matt. 1:17; 11:16; 12:38-45; 16:4; 23:36 for use of the word "generation.") The "signs" given by Yahushua in Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21 all came to pass in the, destruction of the temple in 70 A.D., just as Yahushua predicted.
When Mr. Armstrong's predictions of "four to seven years" from 1967 did not come true, he rewrote his book and changed the time of his predictions. His "time cycles" are not true. His prediction of the second coming within his lifetime ("this generation") is a perversion of what Yahushua said. "Thou shalt not be afraid of him" (Deut. 18:22).
Guardian of Truth XXVII: 11, pp. 322-324
June 2, 1983
(updated with sacred names (except in some quotes) in 2013)