Now he has changed how prophecies concerning the future King of the South is understood among PCG members.
The future King of the South is taught among many COGs to be a great Arab-Muslim combine who will arise, help to enslave Israel (the USA, Britain, and Israel) and later somehow provoke the European Empire to conquer the Arab world in a blitzkrieg attack.
PCG teaches that Iran is the King of the South. Most other COGs are more inclined to say it will be mainly composed of Arabs. Not least because Iran is east, not south, of Israel.
Daniel 11:40 is used to support this theory.
Another Scripture often used in regard to this is Psalm 83. As I understood it this Scripture was used by the COGs to say that later the Arabs will ally with Germany (Assyria) to defeat Israel (the USA, Britain and Israel).
However Gerald Flurry has put a new twist to this interpretation. He now says that the King of the South and the Psalm 83 nations are separate and distinct, and the Psalm 83 nations hate Israel even more than the King of the South.
He has revealed this 'new light' in the article A Mysterious Prophecy (The Philadelphia Trumpet, May-June, 2011).
These peoples’ enemies want to cut them off from being a nation (they are the descendants of the ancient nation of Israel). Their enemies don’t even want the world to remember the name of Israel!
The leader of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has vowed to wipe the Jewish nation off the map. The enemies of Psalm 83 have what appears to be an even deeper hatred. They even want to obliterate the biblical name of Israel forever! ...
“For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee: The tabernacles of Edom, and the Ishmaelites; of Moab, and the Hagarenes; Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre [Lebanon]; Assur [Assyria or Germany] also is joined with them: they have holpen the children of Lot. Selah” (Psalm 83:5-8). Here are the modern names of these nations, as taught at Ambassador College under Herbert W. Armstrong: Edom—Turkey; Ishmaelites—Saudi Arabia; Moab—Jordan; Hagarenes—anciently dwelt in the land known as Syria today; Gebal—Lebanon; Ammon—also Jordan. (We cannot be extremely precise in this understanding, but it gives a good general idea of where these nations are today.)...
Iraq, Iran, Egypt, Libya and Ethiopia are missing from this list. They will be allied with Iran when they are conquered by a German-led Europe (Daniel 11:42-43).
It appears Iraq, with its massive oil reserves, will be solidly in the Iranian camp. I have predicted this would happen since the early 1990s!
This Psalm 83 nations doctrine is a completely new prophetic doctrine that I have never encountered among the COGs.
As far as I can tell it is true that Gerald Flurry preached that Iraq would be allied with the King of the South BUT Gerald Flurry has never taught that the Psalm 83 nations are distinct from and unaffiliated with the King of the South (Iran) before now.
Therefore his "I have predicted this [Iraq will ally with Iran] would happen since the early 1990s!" statement must be regarded as simply a distraction obscuring the fact that Gerald Flurry has changed this doctrine.
Those of us who understand these things must make it clear that Gerald Flurry has opportunistically changed this doctrine.
Indeed, Gerry is good at thinking up new dream scenarios, and his minions fall for this since most of the speaking is done in such vague terms that he could predict just about anything.
ReplyDeleteGerald Flurry will do the exact same thing as the other prophecy buffs before him - err. All predictions will be brought to shame.
But there is always some guy somewhere out there trying to predict something that could, by some miracle indeed, come to pass. What they fail to realize is that the more they predict, the more ridiculous they appear when it fails...
INTELLECTUAL INCEST
ReplyDeleteI was in the PCG from 1994-1996 and a very close observer of the operations of that cult. Here is what's at play and how it works.
Geraldean speculates about something like this article and is vague, implies it is a strong possibility. Then his minions glum onto it and start repeating it in sermons, articles, Bible Studies, classes, booklets, and conversation. Pretty soon it grows legs and begins to take on a life of it's own. Then Geraldean swoops in, owns it and begins to preach it dogmatically. Next in the process it becomes accepted by the gullible and naive members as inspired prophesy. The term for this according to Bible scholars is"INTELLECTUAL INCEST."