HWA and Jeremiah

After I read 'A Treasury of Famous Prophecies' an image formed in my head. I recalled this specific picture from The Picture Bible, which I used to read before I discovered Armstrongism. It contained an account of the Prophet Jeremiah, and it had one picture of him, walking away from some figures in the background, on p. 504 in my copy. He is saying to them that Babylon will conquer Judah despite an apparent victory for Judah. Of course he turned out to have his prophecy fulfilled and Babylon did prevail.

Then I thought, image if it was HWA instead of Jeremiah, image it is the USA in the middle of World War II. What did HWA say? ""Thus saith the Lord,"--to us, NOW--"Thy bruise is incurable....I have wounded thee with the chastisement of a cruel one"....Is not Hitler that "CRUEL ONE?" The last sentence of this chapter of prophecy says: "In the latter days ye shall consider it." That is NOW! The prophecies show America, as well as Britain, is in mortal danger, now, of invasion, of utter defeat-of captivity!" ( Herbert W. Armstrong, 'America Stands in Mortal DANGER, Now!' The Plain Truth, p. 2) He clearly believed that Hitler would triumph then. He believed his prophecies would be fulfilled then, not 60 years later.

What if Jeremiah had such a successful track record as the 'Apostle' and 'End Time Elijah' HWA? We get some indication of the answer with the fate of Hananiah in Jeremiah 28. There Hananiah said the following: "Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. Within two full years will I bring again into this place all the vessels of the LORD's house, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place, and carried them to Babylon: And I will bring again to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, with all the captives of Judah, that went into Babylon, saith the LORD: for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon." (v. 2-4). Then Jeremiah rebuked him and said "The LORD hath not sent thee; but thou makest this people to trust in a lie. Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will cast thee from off the face of the earth: this year thou shalt die, because thou hast taught rebellion against the LORD" (v. 15-16). And what was the result? "So Hananiah the prophet died the same year in the seventh month" (v. 17).

As far I can tell this Hananiah only ever made one false prophecy, and the Bible condemns him as a false prophet. HWA and Co. have made countless false prophecies, you have already read one. By that standard this Hananiah had a far, far better track record than the 'End Time Elijah' had. For anyone to continue to listen to HWA or any of his successors, especially in regards to prophecy, is irrational. They failed the test. "When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him" (Deuteronomy 18:22). If I was made aware of these false prophecies before I became hooked on Armstrongism I never would have accepted it.