Judaism and Armstrongism

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" height=35 BGCOLOR="#000099" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> <B>Judaism and Armstrongism</B></div> <div> <A HREF="id80.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Bible Study Articles">Bible Study Articles</A>   |   <B>Judaism and Armstrongism</B></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=445 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B> <A NAME="judaism_and_armstrongism__laodiceanism__"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></B></div> <div> <B>Judaism and Armstrongism</B> (Laodiceanism?)</div> <bR> <div> "A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head" (Revelation 12:1).</div> <bR> <div> The woman of Revelation 12 is a 'telescopic' woman. What appears, at first sight, to be 'one woman, turns out to be 'two' women. (The woman of Revelation 17-18 is also a 'telescopic' woman - the Antichrist 'kills' one while Christ 'kills' the other).</div> <bR> <div> The 'telescopic' concept is a component of 'typology'.</div> <bR> <div> "<B>Type; Typology.</B>  A hermeneutical concept in which a biblical place (Jerusalem, Zion), person (Adam, Melchizedek), event (flood, brazen serpent), institution (feasts, covenant) office (prophet, priest, king), or object (tabernacle, altar, incense) becomes a pattern by which later persons or places are interpreted due to the unity of events within salvation-history... The "type" is the original person of event and the "anti-type" (Gk. <I>antitypes</I>; cf. 1 Pet 3:21) the later "copy" that fulfills the former..." (G. R. Osborne, "Typology", <I>ISBE</I>, Vol.4, pp.930-31).</div> <bR> <div> The above quote is a general description of typology. Osborne in his article went on to note that:</div> <bR> <div> "... (in an interesting reversal of the usual order) the heavenly sanctuary prefigures the early tabernacle (8:5,9,24)...</div> <bR> <div> "In fact we may speak of horizontal (historical) and vertical (earthly-heavenly) types, with the latter predominately in the Epistles to the Hebrews".</div> <bR> <div> Typology, therefore, is a rich and varied subject.</div> <bR> <div> Two prophetic concepts lead into the relationship of "Judaism and Armstrongism".</div> <bR> <div> (1) "Telescoping - The leaping of a prophecy from a near to a far horizon <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Verdana" ><B>without the notice of intervening matter</B></FONT>" (J. Barton Payne, <I>Encyclopedia of Biblical Prophecy</I>, p.xviii).</div> <bR> <div> In <A HREF="id6.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Beast of Revelation">"Who and What is the Beast of Revelation?"</A> it was pointed out that:</div> <bR> <div> "... [a] telescopic prophecy may therefore be historical, subsequential, contemporaneous or a combination of the aforementioned)".</div> <bR> <div> That is, a prophecy is telescopic when it 'leaps' from one type to another without "notice of intervening matter" so that the types have linkages that may be historical, subsequential and contemporaneous or a combination of the aforementioned.</div> <bR> <div> (2) "The relationship between type and antitype is real and historical, <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FF0000" FACE="Verdana" ><B>based on an analogous correspondence that exists between them</B></FONT>" (Osborne, ibid.,).</div> <bR> <div> The relationship between two subjects may not necessarily be described as type and antitype as suggested in the relationship of the two woman of Revelation 12. It may be said that they are types of each other.</div> <bR> <div> "For this reason <B>a man will </B>leave his father and mother and<B> be united to his wife</B>, and the two will become one flesh. This is a profound mystery - but I am talking about <B>Christ and the church</B>." (Ephesian 5:31, 32).</div> <bR> <div> "Woe to <B>the bloody city</B>! It is full of lies and robbery. Its victims never departs... the multitude of harlotries of <B>the seductive harlot</B>, The mistress of sorceries, who sells nations through her harlotries, and families through her sorceries" (Nahum 3:1,4).</div> <bR> <div> In the Bible a woman is a symbol of both a church and a city, and for the latter, by extension of a kingdom.</div> <bR> <div> In Revelation 12 we have a telescopic prophecy involving Israel the Kingdom and Israel the Church.</div> <bR> <div> Paul brings out "an analogous correspondence that exists between them":</div> <bR> <div> "Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea;... [and they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.  But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness. <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Georgia" ><B>Now these things were our examples</B></FONT>, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FF0000" FACE="Georgia" ><B>Now all these things happened unto them for examples: and they are written for our admonition</B></FONT>, upon whom the ends of the world are come" (1 Cor 10:1,3, 5-6,11).</div> <bR> <div> The examples of the people of God under the leadership of the Rock, Jesus Christ, provides examples of admonition for God's people today. It may then follow that the examples of the people of God during Jesus Christ's first advent ministry, (the first half of Daniel seventy week telescopic prophecy, as it applies to the 'true' Messiah', as oppose to the "false Messiah's first half), provide lessons for God's people today.</div> <bR> <div> (The Daniel 9 prophecy of the "seventieth week" has Christ and the Antichrist 'telescoped' together - if you want to know what the Antichrist does see what Christ does, and if you want to know what Christ does see what the Antichrist does).</div> <bR> <div> Typology suggest that Israel the Church may be 'blind' in regard to the Kingdom of God close to, or even at, the time of Christ's second coming just as Israel the Kingdom was 'blind' in regard to the Kingdom at Christ's first coming.</div> <bR> <div> This is the argument:</div> <bR> <div> Judaism is based on the Old Testament while Armstrongism is based on the Old and New Testament.</div> <bR> <div> Judaism has truth and error and Armstrongism has truth and error.</div> <bR> <div> From the Old Testament, Israel the Kingdom was looking forward to the coming of the Messiah and His Kingdom. Israel the Kingdom was expecting to be ruling in an earthly Kingdom.</div> <bR> <div> From the Old and New Testament, Israel the Church, is looking forward to the coming of the Messiah and His kingdom. Israel the Church is expecting to be ruling in an earthly Kingdom.</div> <bR> <div> Unfortunately the churches of God have adopted a "premillenial" doctrine of the Kingdom of God - the churches' of God version has elements of "dispensational" and "historical" premillennialism.</div> <bR> <div> Andrew Fausset pointed out, at least 20 years before Herbert W. Armstrong [HWA], 1892-1986, [the founder of the Radio/Worldwide Church of God], was born, that chialism, now known as premillenialism, was wrong about the reward of the saints.</div> <bR> <div> "I have often said it is much more difficult to unlearn an erroneous supposed truth than it is to learn a new truth" (Herbert W. Armstrong, <I>Mystery of the Ages</I>, p.xiii).</div> <bR> <div> "<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Verdana" ><B>The biggest obstacle to embracing this relatively new science called </B><I><B>socionomics </B></I><B>is our preconceived bias</B></FONT>, <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FF0000" FACE="Verdana" ><B>which is based on a life time of conditioning </B></FONT>by academia and the media. It is like being told for the first time that the earth is round, when all of your life you have been taught and have believed that the earth is flat. It is not that a round earth is such a difficult concept. <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#800080" FACE="Verdana" ><B>The problem is dislodging the preconceived belief </B></FONT>that it is flat.</div> <bR> <div> ""Everyone" <B>knows </B>it [the earth] is flat. Suggesting that it is round sounds like lunacy or heresy... They have been <B>taught </B>that it is flat from day one, and have always believed that. They never question it. <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008000" FACE="Verdana" ><B>That belief system now stands as the greatest barrier to learning the truth</B></FONT>" (Graham Dyer, <I>Short Term Update</I>, June 23, 2008, depression2007.com).</div> <bR> <div> "The Greek word ... to slander, originally meant to deceive, literally "to throw across," that is, to <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Verdana" ><B>take something out of its proper context and put it somewhere else where it did not belong, but would appear to belong</B></FONT>" (George Bailey, <I>Germans</I>, p.426).</div> <bR> <div> "The Bible ... is like a jigsaw puzzle, with thousands of various pieces of different forms and shapes that can be fitted together in only one precise pattern" (HWA, <I>The Mystery of Ages</I>, p.5).</div> <bR> <div> The 'premillennialists' puts together Scriptures (pieces of a jigsaw) such as these:</div> <bR> <div> "... God had sworn with an oath to him [David], that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne" (Acts 2:30, <FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >AV</FONT>).</div> <bR> <div> "And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel" (Matthew 19:28, <FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >AV</FONT>).</div> <bR> <div> "And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and <B>we shall reign on the earth</B>" (Revelation 5:10, <FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >AV</FONT>).</div> <bR> <div> and then come to the conclusion that Jesus Christ and the saints will literally be dwelling and reigning on the earth during the Millennium.</div> <bR> <div> This conclusion "would appear to belong" but it is taken out of its proper context.</div> <bR> <div> Sometimes when putting together a jigsaw some pieces seem to go together but it is later found that they are mismatched.</div> <bR> <div> The 'premillennial' doctrine also appears to fit together but it has taken Scriptures out of the proper context of "one precise pattern".</div> <bR> <div> (See the <A HREF="id5.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Kingdom of God">"Kingdom of God - What, Where and When?"</A> where it explains that the above Scriptures are to be understood in the 'absolute' sense not in the 'dynamic').</div> <bR> <div> I appreciate that for those who have believed in 'premillennialism' all their lives, adult lives, or their religious lives it is a challenge, but challenge has always been the case for God's people.</div> <bR> <div> In the apostles day it was the challenge of accepting the Gentiles. But that was a 'new' beginning challenge. But there are more challenging challenges.</div> <bR> <div> The end of the 'tabernacle' and 'temple' dispensations of the Old Covenant provide a template to view the end of the 'tabernacle' dispensation of the New Covenant.</div> <bR> <div> <B> Era-Ending Covenant Challenges</B></div> <bR> <div> "Ye shall therefore keep all my statutes, and all my judgments, and do them: that the land, whither I bring you to dwell therein, spew you not out" (Leviticus 20:22).</div> <bR> <div> "In Lev 18:25, 28; 20:22, the expression "to vomit" out of the land is used of the fate of the Canaanites upon Israel's entry into Palestine, and the potential fate of the Israelites themselves" (David E. Aune, <I>Revelation 1-5</I>, WBC, p.258, comment on Revelation 3:16).</div> <bR> <div> When God's people have not lived up to the requirements of Covenant then God can no longer 'fellowship' with them and so He has to withdraws His presence.</div> <bR> <div> (The principle above highlights a central reason for the need of a sacrificial system in the Millennium).</div> <bR> <div> But God gives His people a chance through a warning to change their ways so that they may not suffer the covenant 'curse'.</div> <bR> <div> For God's people in Jeremiah's day:</div> <bR> <div> "Do not trust in deceptive words and say, "This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD!"" (Jeremiah 7:4).</div> <bR> <div> "<B>7:4  </B><I>deceptive words. </I>Spoken by false prophets. The idea that God would not destroy Jerusalem simply because his dwelling, the temple, was located there was a delusion, fostered in part by the miraculous deliverance of the city during the reign of Hezekiah..." (NIVSB). </div> <bR> <div> "'Go now to the place in Shiloh where I first made a dwelling for my Name, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of my people Israel. While you were doing all these things, declares the LORD, I spoke to you again and again, but you did not listen; I called you, but you did not answer. Therefore, what I did to Shiloh I will now do to the house that bears my Name, the temple you trust in, the place I gave to you and your fathers. <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Georgia" ><B>I will thrust you from my presence</B></FONT>, just as I did all your brothers, the people of Ephraim'" Jeremiah 7:12-15).</div> <bR> <div> For God's people today:</div> <bR> <div> "Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FF0000" FACE="Georgia" ><B>remove your lampstand </B></FONT>from its place" (Revelation 2:5).</div> <bR> <div> The removal of the lampstand is the warning to the church at Ephesus, that begins the messages to the churches. The removal of God's presence (the lampstand) would be the outcome of covenant infidelity. Another outcome for covenant infidelity, expressed in a different metaphor, is behind the warning to the church at Laodicea, that ends the messages to the churches.</div> <bR> <div> "...These are the words of the Amen, <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FF0000" FACE="Georgia" ><B>the faithful and true witness</B></FONT>, the ruler of God's creation. I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm - neither hot nor cold - <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#800080" FACE="Georgia" ><B>I am about to spit you out of my mouth</B></FONT>. You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008000" FACE="Georgia" ><B>But you do not realize </B></FONT>that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent" (Revelation 3:14-17,19).</div> <bR> <div> The challenge for God's people today is to recognize their spiritual state. Christ's statement about being a "faithful and true witness" suggests that part of the problem is that because of the belief in premillennialism God's end time people are not faithful and true witnesses.</div> <bR> <div> Though many do not realize it "Armstrongism" has become their God; and we all have our different gods that get in the way of our worshipping the true God.</div> <bR> <div> An extreme example of this is this statement on a Church of God website:</div> <bR> <div> "We Remember... Herbert W. Armstrong NO Departures from Any of the Doctrinal Teachings!"</div> <bR> <div> <B>Speaking with authority type</B></div> <bR> <div> "When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law" (Matthew 7:28-29).</div> <bR> <div> "For the scribes claimed no authority of their own. They conceived their duty in terms of the faithfulness to the tradition they had achieved. So they were antiquarians, delving into commentaries, searching for precedents, claiming the support of famous names among the rabbis. Their only authority lay in the authorities they were constantly quoting...</div> <bR> <div> "Not that he was contradicting Moses... but rather the scribal corruptions of Moses. Yet in doing this he was challenging the inherited traditions of the centuries..." (John R.W. Stott, <I>The Message of The Sermon on the Mount</I>, BST, pp.214-215).</div> <bR> <div> (The critics of this article may accuse me of "delving into commentaries". But I have to because I am unlearned and, typological, I didn't go to Ambassador College [founded by HWA] - a far-future type of the Rabbinical school of Hillel).</div> <bR> <div> "In his authority Jesus differs from the "teachers of the law". Many of them limited their teaching to the authorities they cited, and a great part of their training centered on memorizing the received traditions... They spoke of the authority of others... Yet many teachers of the law did indeed offer new ruling and interpretations..." (D.A. Carson, <I>Matthew</I>, EBC, Vol.8, p.195).</div> <bR> <div> To provide the far-future type, here are a couple of partial quotes from one Church of God website for August 2008:</div> <bR> <div> "This is something Herbert W. Armstrong warned about for years... he wrote in 1980".</div> <bR> <div> "For years, Mr. Armstrong warned..."</div> <bR> <div> "As Herbert W. Armstrong wrote back in March 1982..."</div> <bR> <div> More quotes could be given from other websites and different aspects of keeping the 'tradition' alive expressed.</div> <bR> <div> It is not suggested that HWA was wrong in what he "wrote" and "warned" about, in the context from where the quotes are taken; but that it suggests, in relation to those quoting, a symptom of covenant infidelity. The issue is not with HWA but with those who follow him.</div> <bR> <div> The typological argument above suggests that the Churches of God have some challenges ahead.</div> <bR> <div> "Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father'" (Luke 3:8).</div> <bR> <div> Perhaps the reason why God did not reveal the full jigsaw to HWA was to test His people, after his death, if they would follow a man or God.</div> <bR> <div> The teachings of the Church of God Seventh Day were stepping stones for HWA to his deeper understanding of God and His Word. The teachings and doctrines of HWA are stepping stones for God's people today to a deeper understanding of God and His Word.</div> <bR> <div> The biggest stumbling block for God's people today is the false doctrine of premillennialism and all the misunderstanding that comes with it.</div> <div>                               </div> <div> This is not an attack on HWA. I would not be here writing this if it were not for the teachings of Herbert Armstrong and those who supported his work.</div> <bR> <div> It is not a 'belittling' of HWA to say that he did not understand certain Scriptures and doctrines just as it is not a denigration of David to say he was wrong to commit adultery and murder. We all make mistakes.</div> <bR> <div> Having brought together David and HWA it is of note that a rich "analogous correspondence ... exists between them".</div> <bR> <div> Perhaps the most obvious one is put well by Stanley Rader (Ahithophel) in his book "Against the Gates of Hell". In the chapter entitled "Conspiracy" there is a sub-heading entitled <I>O Absalom!</I>. Here Rader writes:</div> <bR> <div> "A startling parallel to the Garner Ted-Herbert Armstrong tragedy - no softer word will do - can be found in the biblical story of King David and his son Absalom..." (p.107).</div> <bR> <div> Perhaps a lesser type is in their 'first' wives. David is promised to an elder sister but ends up marrying the younger sister. In the account in 1 Samuel the elder sister is introduced first.</div> <bR> <div> In HWA's autobiography the chapter entitled "How I Met My Wife" there is a subheading <I>I Meet Two Pretty Girls</I>. In this account he meets first the younger of two sisters but ends up marrying the older.</div> <bR> <div> After HWA death Joseph Tkach Jr. rises to prominence, later to become the second pastor-general to follow HWA. Like Rehoboam, the second king after David's death, before him Tkach Jr., and his father, rejected the 'elders'.</div> <bR> <div> Rehoboam's policy led to a divided Israel, the Kingdom. The Tkachs' policy led to a divided Israel, the Church.</div> <bR> <div> Israel the Church, from a typological view, is now in the time of the 'divided Kingdom. It was during the earlier 'divided' kingdom that God mightily used the prophets.</div> <bR> <div> "my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. "Because you have rejected knowledge, </div> <div> I also reject you as my priests; because you have ignored the law of your God, I also will ignore your children... And it will be: Like people, like priests. I will punish both of them for their ways </div> <div> and repay them for their deeds" (Hosea 4:6 & 9)</div> <bR> <div> "The blame for Israel's spiritual decline is put at the feet of her spiritual leaders, specifically her priests, although the prophets are also mentioned (4:4-10). It is always dangerous to generalize or oversimplify the complexities of life, but the failure of spiritual leadership is one of the top reasons why people in the church fail to acknowledge God, to have a steadfast devotion for God, <B>and be faithful and true to him </B>(4:1)" (Gary V. Smith, <I>Hosea/Amos/Micah</I>, NIVAC, pp.92-93).</div> <bR> <div> (The warning to the Laodiceans is given by "the  faithful and true witness"). </div> <bR> <div> The failure of the accepted/acknowledged spiritual leadership of the people in the earlier 'divided' Kingdom is a type for today. Typology suggest that Israel the Church is near their time of the prophets.</div> <bR> <div> In the time of the 'Divided' Kingdom Ahab and Jezebel provide the typological types for the Beast and the false prophet. The true Jehovah-worshippers, of this time in the northern kingdom of Israel, picture God's true church while the pseudo-Jehovah-worshippers (Jeroboam's instituted worship) pictures traditional Christianity. The introduction of Baal-worship by Ahab and Jezebel types the new religious system of the Beast and false prophet, which is to supplant the true- and pseudo- church/es during the tribulation. The house and altar of Baal picture the temple of the Beast, and Ahab's "wooden image" (1 Kings 16:33) pictures the 'literal' image of the Beast - the image of the beast is a dual concept.</div> <bR> <div> Some one hundred years after David's death, Elijah appears on the scene to confront the typological "beast and false prophet" of his day.</div> <bR> <div> From this typology presentation of Israel the Kingdom and Israel the Church above, HWA cannot be the Elijah to come. The Elijah comes sometime after HWA's death, just as Elijah the Tishbite came some time after David's death.</div> <bR> <div> (Elijah 'long' sojourn, in Zarephath of Sidon is a type for the two witnesses in Jerusalem - "the heart" of the Beast's kingdom - "Elijah is commanded to go and reside in the heart of the very land from which the Baal worship now being promoted in Israel had come" (NIVSB, note on 1 Kings 17:9)).</div> <bR> <div> <B>Not Knowing God</B></div> <bR> <div> "Paul Newman has said of him [Robert Redford], <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FF0000" FACE="Verdana" ><B>"I have known the man for over 40 years and I don't know him, not really"</B></FONT>"(Suzie Mackenzie, <I>American dreamer</I>,<I><B> </B></I>guardian.co.uk, August 14, 2004).</div> <bR> <div> "Indeed, part of the problem with the book is that we do not seem to know very much about [Richard] Gatling's internal life. "<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FF0000" FACE="Verdana" ><B>We know him, but we don't know him</B></FONT>," the author says at the end, which is probably the sort of thing that a biographer should admit at the beginning of a book" (The Economist, <I>A little Gatling music</I>, economist.com, June 12, 2008).</div> <bR> <div> The misunderstanding of the Kingdom, not only concerning the reward of the saints and other aspects of the kingdom, but it is also includes misunderstandings about God. This suggests that the people of God don't really know Him as well as they should.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Alternative scenario</B></div> <bR> <div> And he [John] shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord (Luke 1:17).</div> <bR> <div> The 'typology' of the coming of Elijah the prophet (Malachi 4:5) has warnings for Israel the Church which may be divided into two scenarios - events leading up to Elijah the Tisbite and the events leading up to John the Baptist.</div> <bR> <div> Two scenarios of eras, from what is erroneously called the Old Testament, have been suggested as a parallel of the Seven Eras of the Churches of Revelation.</div> <bR> <div> In both these schemes "Elijah" appears on the scene in the "Laodicean era".</div> <bR> <div> The first scenario of eras has:</div> <bR> <div> <B>Ephesus</B> = Patriarchs</div> <bR> <div> <B>Smynra</B> = Israel in Egypt</div> <bR> <div> <B>Thyatira</B> = Leadership of Joshua and the former Judges</div> <bR> <div> <B>Sardis</B> = Leadership of the latter Judges and Saul</div> <bR> <div> <B>Philadelphia</B> = King David</div> <bR> <div> <B>Laodicea</B> = Solomon and the divided Kingdom</div> <bR> <div> The second, using Mike Blume's parallel, has:</div> <bR> <div> And the seven churches and their letters show a parallel to the entire Old Testament period. So we see how the Old was a shadow of the New.</div> <bR> <div> <B>EPHESUS</B></div> <bR> <div> This is the GARDEN PICTURE.</div> <bR> <div> Jesus is in the midst of the candlesticks as in the Garden trees. And The angel is commended for guarding the church against error, as Adam was to guard or keep the Garden. But the angel left his first love, as Adam had fallen. And the candlestick would be removed, as Adam was removed from the Garden, if they did not repent. And the Garden remains open to the overcomer, as Jesus tells the overcomers that they may eat of the fruit of life.</div> <bR> <div> <B>SMYRNA</B></div> <bR> <div> This is the period following the Garden when the Patriarchs lived. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph up to Moses.</div> <bR> <div> Isaac and Joseph both experienced a sort of death come to life again. Isaac was resurrected in a sense from the altar, since Abraham fully intended to slay him and have God resurrect him to fulfill the promise of having seed from Isaac. Joseph was left as dead, in Jacob's mind, when the boys sold him, and he "arose" to rule in Egypt. Smyrna's church was poor yet rich, like the "fathers' who lived as strangers in the land. They would be imprisoned as Joseph was. And in Moses' day Aaron wore a crown of life as high priest. And the tribulation paralleled the plagues in Egypt they endured.</div> <bR> <div> <B>PERGAMOS</B></div> <bR> <div> Wilderness journey from Egypt.</div> <bR> <div> The wilderness is likened to an abode of devils, just as Pergamos' believers were where satan's seat was. During the Exodus, Balaam and Balak were resisting, just as is mentioned to this church. The angel of the Lord stood ready to smite Balaam with a sword. Balaam was slain with the sword by Phinehas the priest in Numbers 31. The enemies of this church would be smitten with the sword of God's mouth. And the overcomers are the ones who go into the most holy place to eat the hidden manna from the ark inside there!!</div> <bR> <div> <B>THYATIRA</B></div> <bR> <div> This corresponds to the age after the exodus when Israel had a monarchy and brings in David's kingdom.</div> <bR> <div> Jesus calls himself Son of God, as is parallel in David (Read Psalm 2:7, and many more Psalms, where David speaks of himself in foreshadow of Son of God). The church tolerated Jezebel, a wicked queen in the time of the monarchs of Israel. 3.5 years of tribulation occurred in her day due to backsliding, and this is parallel, of course, with the 3.5 years mentioned throughout Revelation. Then it ends with ruling with a rod of iron, which is a Psalm of David (2:9).</div> <bR> <div> <B>SARDIS</B></div> <bR> <div> End of the monarchy in Israel.</div> <bR> <div> The people of God were defeated and taken captive into Babylon. Church thinks its alive but really dead. A few people are faithful. Like a remnant that would come out of Babylon.</div> <bR> <div> <B>PHILADELPHIA</B></div> <bR> <div> Return from Exile in Babylon with Ezra and Nehemiah.</div> <bR> <div> They rebuilt the temple, which is noted in this letter to this church. But there is a synagogue of Satan. False Jews fought Ezra and Nehemiah in Ezra 4 and Neh. 4, 6 and 13. An hour of testing would come paralleled by Antiochus Epiphanes who came after the old testament period as prophesied in Dan 8 and 11, witnessed by the historical, but uninspired, book called Maccabees. New Jerusalem was the reward of the overcomers... a new temple!</div> <bR> <div> <B>LAODICAEA</B></div> <bR> <div> Last Days from time of Jesus when Pharisees and scribes ruled. They bragged of self-sufficiency. They were naked and poor! Jesus said they would be spewed out, just as God would mash Jerusalem 40 years after killing Jesus. They must repent and sup with Jesus, as in the communion supper of bread and wine... (<I>The Symbolism in the Book of Revelation</I>, mikeblume.com).</div> <bR> <div> In the argument above David and HWA have been typed. Solomon's and Rehoboam's reigns have been typed by Joseph Tkach Snr and Jnr. The divided Kingdom essentially pictures the Church after the death of HWA.</div> <bR> <div> Using Mike Blume's scenario Ezra parallels HWA and Antiochus Ephiphanes types the Tkachs.</div> <bR> <div> Antichous wanted to 'Hellenise' the Jews - the Greek culture being the dominant culture of the times - while the Tkachs wanted to traditionalize the Church - traditional Christianity being the dominant religion of the times.</div> <bR> <div> Both conversion attempts were rejected by the people.</div> <bR> <div> "The Pharisee ("separatist") party emerged largely out of the group of scribes and sages who harked back to Ezra and the Great Assembly. The meaning of the name is unclear; it may refer to their rejection of Hellenic culture or to their objection to the Hasmonean monopoly on power. It is difficult to state at what time the Pharisees, as a party, arose. Josephus first mentions them in connection with Jonathan, the successor of Judas Maccabeus ("Ant." xiii. 5, § 9). One of the factors that distinguished the Pharisees from other groups prior to the destruction of the Temple was their belief that all Jews had to observe the purity laws (which applied to the Temple service) <I>outside</I> the Temple. The major difference, however, was the continued adherence of the Pharisees to the laws and traditions of the Jewish people in the face of assimilation. As Josephus noted, the Pharisees were considered the most expert and accurate expositors of Jewish law" (<I>Pharisees</I>, wikipedia).</div> <bR> <div> The Hasmonian and Roman periods pictures the Church after the death of HWA. The Pharisees, Essenes, Sadducees picture the divided Churches.</div> <bR> <div> The harking back to "Ezra and the Great Assembly" types the Churches harking back to HWA and the heyday of the Worldwide Church of God.</div> <bR> <div> After the rejection of Antiochus and the rejection of the Tkachs, through a misguided zeal, the Jews and the Churches of God got off on the wrong foot. This provides an introduction to the last section.</div> <bR> <div> <B>The world that Jesus Christ arrived in, a type for the future</B></div> <bR> <div> "Two features of this inter-testamental period are worth noting in view of their influence on the world into which Jesus arrived. The first was the increasing devotion to the law, the <I>torah</I>. This became the supreme mark of the faithful Jew. It eventually developed into a somewhat fanatical cause, supported by a systematic building of a whole structure of theology and exposition and application around the law itself. There were professional experts, scribes, involved in this, and there also emerged lay movements devoted to the wholehearted obedience to the law - the Pharisees. <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Verdana" ><B>We may be tempted to dismiss all this as legalism</B></FONT>. Doubtless it tended in that direction, and we shall hear Jesus with his unique insight and authority exposing some of the failure and misguidedness of his contemporary devotees of the law and tradition. <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FF0000" FACE="Verdana" ><B>But we should also be aware of the positive and worthy motives that lay behind it</B></FONT>. Had not the exile, the greatest catastrophe in their history, been the direct judgment of God on the failure of his people precisely to keep the law? Was that not the message of the great prophets? Surely then they should learn the lesson of history and make every effort to live as God required, thus not only avoiding a repetition of such judgment, but also hastening the day of his final deliverance from their present enemies. The pursuit of holiness was serious and purposeful. It was a total social programme - not just a fringe of hyper-religious piety.</div> <bR> <div> "The second feature was the upsurge of apocalyptic, messianic hope. As persecution continued and as the nation experienced martyrdoms and great suffering, there developed hopes of a final climatic intervention by God himself, as the prophets had foretold. He would establish his kingdom for ever by God himself, as the prophets had foretold. He would establish his kingdom for ever by destroying his (and Israel's) enemies, vindicating and lifting up the righteous oppressed, and put an end to their suffering. In varied ways these hopes included the expectation of a coming figure who would realize this intervention of God and lead the people. These expectations were not all linked together, or attached to one single figure. They included terms like messiah (anointed one), son of man, a new David, Elijah, or the Prophet, the branch, etc.... The coming of such a figure would herald the end of the present age, the arrival of the Kingdom of God, the restoration of Israel and the judgment of the wicked.</div> <bR> <div> "One can the imagine the stirrings of hearts and quickening of pulses in Jewish homes and communities when, into this mixture of aspirations and hopes dropped the message of John the Baptist, and then of Jesus himself - </div> <bR> <div> "The time is fulfilled! (what you have been waiting for as something future is now here and present); the kingdom of God is at hand! (God is now acting to establish his reign in the midst of you); so repent and believe the good news (urgent action is required of you now)" (Christopher J. H. Wright, <I>Knowing Jesus through the Old Testament</I>, (Oxford, UK: Monarch Books, 2005, pp.25-26).</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <A HREF="id116_m.htm" TITLE="Judaism and Armstrongism">Top of Page</A>                       <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Future Watch">Home Page</A></div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>