Reading PCG's Booklet, Jerusalem in Prophecy

Let us now read Gerald Flurry's booklet, Jerusalem in Prophecy. This booklet was first published in 2001. It discusses events the conflict between the State of Israel and the Palestinians. This booklet is notable for containing what is quite possibly Flurry's most detailed account of what he says "will" happen in the Middle East shortly before Christ's return. It was revised in 2005 and 2010. For this post I am reading through the 2005 version. You can read the current 2010 version of this booklet on their website.

The booklet is also available in French, Finnish, Portuguese, Norwegian, Dutch and German.

Chapter 1

First Flurry vaguely talks about the conflict between the State of Israel and the Palestinians. Says no man can solve the conflict.

Then Flurry talks about how Jesus Christ at one time spoke emotionally about Jerusalem. Flurry then says that peace has not come to Jerusalem because the people of Israel (According to Flurry America, Britain and the State of Israel) are sinning and continuing to sin therefore the violence does not stop.

And what a price Jerusalem (and all mankind) has paid. Christ says the word woe eight times in this chapter. We shall see that Jerusalem’s history has been filled with woe, woe, woe. And the worst is yet to come! But so is the best, which is greater than we can even imagine. ...

The suffering that has occurred in Jerusalem is a type of what will happen to all humanity before Christ’s Second Coming. Christ wants all mankind to learn a lesson from what has happened in Jerusalem. So far, that lesson has not been learned. This city, so filled with woe and desolation, will soon learn a major lesson from God—because of a far more intense woe and desolation yet to come. (p. 3.)

But according to Flurry the only way one can stop sinning and be connected to God is by joining PCG.

Then Flurry talks about the history of Jerusalem, mentioning Abraham almost sacrificing Isaac in Genesis 22. Flurry says God chose Jerusalem.

Flurry says Melchizedek, mentioned in Genesis 14, may have founded the city as Salem. He also mentions the dogma, inherited from HWA, that Melchizedek was the pre-incarnate Christ.

There is strong evidence that Melchizedek founded Jerusalem. ... No other city has had such an incredible beginning. It was chosen by God and undoubtedly founded by Melchizedek—the great Being who became Jesus Christ (Hebrews 7:3). Who could be without father, without mother, and have neither beginning nor ending of life? This could only be the God who became Jesus Christ. Only God can be described this way. And no man has ever seen God the Father.

God chose Jerusalem from the very beginning. God founded this city in peace. It was founded to be a city of peace forever! (pp. 4-5.)

The teaching of Melchizedek being the pre-incarnate Christ is also taught by some of those Sunday keeping, bearers of the mark of the Beast Protestant Christians that HWA and his followers so love to condemn as false Christians.

Then Flurry mentions how Jerusalem was seized by King David. Then Flurry mentions that Judah fell into sin and Jeremiah condemned the Sabbath breaking. 

Jeremiah was told to stand in the gates of Jerusalem—where the kings and rulers would enter—and to warn them. They were breaking God’s Sabbath day. God always sends a messenger to warn His sinning people and Israel. The message must be declared where the people can hear it. ...

Jerusalem was destroyed because of Sabbath-breaking. It has been trodden down ever since—over 2,000 years! There is a cause for every effect. Jerusalem is a city in deep trouble today. Why? Because of sin. (pp. 6-7.)

Then Flurry mentions some of the other wars that have blighted Jerusalem over the centuries. But he ends the chapter assuring the reader that Jerusalem has a great and glorious future ahead after Christ's return.

Chapter 2

Today, in spite of the fact that the Jews gave the Sinai back to Egypt—an unparalleled gift—Egypt is fast becoming one of Israel’s most hostile neighbors. That should give us some idea of how giving land away does not buy peace. (p. 12.)

This is nonsense! Egypt's relations with the State of Israel greatly improved during President Sadat's time after the Yom Kippur War. And this friendly policy continued under President Mubarak. And now that the Muslim Brotherhood has been deposed after much one sided violence by the Egyptian military Egypt returned to this stance.

This land-for-peace process is almost unheard of in history, except perhaps what has recently happened in South Africa. (p. 12.)

What is Flurry talking about? How can the implementation of majority rule in South Africa be compared to land for peace? This comment is quite baffling. It is been shown in a previous post that PCG viewed the rise of majority rule in a very bad light, even accusing Nelson Mandela's ANC of being in league with the Russians and Iranians and condemning interracial marriage as sinful.

The Israelis will finally see that their peace pact with the Palestinians has failed. The Jews really only see the effect of their wound. They don’t see the cause. That is why they turn to Germany for another peace pact! This time they place their trust in an even greater enemy! Once again they fail to trust God. It will lead to the worst disaster in the Jews’ long history of suffering. (p. 16.)

More nonsense. The United States are very much the preeminent mediator between the State of Israel and the Palestinians, when this booklet was written and today. Flurry is writing of a bizarre fantasy saying that the State of Israel will turn towards Germany to find peace.

The Jews are afraid to get tough even in the Arab areas which they control. They don’t want the “peace” process to break down. But what most of them don’t know is that the peace process is a deadly delusion! It is a wound that will cause death, if they don’t repent. It is like terminal cancer! (p. 18.)

Does Flurry want the State of Israel to just keep fighting the Palestinians forever? What is so wrong about wanting to live in peace with fellow human beings? I find it strange how Flurry does not seem to even say he wishes the peace process would work. He just says it is hopeless and death and destruction awaits everyone unless they join PCG, pay three tithes and extra offerings for the rest of their lives, and escape to the place of safety.

I also find it strange how Flurry makes no mention of Ariel Sharon's visit to the Temple Mount. Sharon wanted to prove to the Israelis that the Palestinians could not be trusted. Many Palestinians were affronted by his visit and, alas, fell for his ploy. The resulting turmoil allowed Sharon to persuade many Israelis that peace could not be made with the Palestinians and gained power in the next election to become the next Prime Minister. (At the time I could not understand why the Israelis would vote in a man who, intentionally or not, helped spark the intifada.)

We just don’t understand that God has broken the pride of our power because of our sins. But our enemies inside and outside our nations know that the pride of our power has been broken—that we are pitifully weak. And as Mr. Netanyahu said of the Arabs, our enemies will keep demanding more and more—until we collapse. (p. 20.)

But the State of Israel's will was not weak. The State of Israel built a wall. Attacks by Palestinians gradually declined and the second intifada ended with the State of Israel militarily secure and the Palestinians severely weakened and the peace process in tatters.

It was the Palestinians who endured by far the most loss of life during those terrible and tragic days. That is another fact which Flurry does not mention in this booklet. I can well recall LCG citing some of the numbers of fatalities of the intifada which noted there were many more Palestinian fatalities. Flurry does not do that in this booklet.

Essentially the State of Israel won this war, but it was largely a Pyrrhic victory because the political problems that led to the second intifada are still left in place so the conflict sadly still continues.

Flurry has a very black and white view regarding the situation there. The Israelis are good, the Palestinians are bad. He makes little attempt to try to view things from the Palestinians' perspective.

One Hungarian-born Holocaust survivor who lives in Israel said, “If there is anything that frightens Israelis more than Syrian troops on the Golan, it is German troops on the Golan.” (p. 25.)

"That Prophet" did not know that just a few years later Bashar al-Assad would launch a campaign of violence to bring the Syrian people into subjection. The proud and brave Syrian people were given no choice but to resist the blood thirsty tyrant. Today those Syrian troops are more worried about the situation in Syria then about seizing territory formerly controlled by Syria.

Our peoples boast of all the Bibles we print. But we don’t believe what is in them! We don’t believe God! We talk about Him much of the time. But we don’t believe Him—His Word! (p. 27.)

 Flurry ends this chapter with these words.

Unless they repent, their future is extremely bleak. The good news is, this present crisis will soon culminate in the return of Jesus Christ. What a glorious future that lies just ahead! But immediately before that event, the worst time of suffering ever on Earth is upon us. (p. 27.)

Insert

Pages 14-15 contain an insert article describing the views of one Israeli writer in 1994 who condemns giving land away to the Palestinians as part of the peace process. It is placed in the middle of Chapter 2.

In the current 2010 version this has been moved to the end of Chapter 2.

Chapter 3

In this chapter Flurry gives quite possibly the most detailed account of what he says will happen in the Great Tribulation and how it supposedly will play out in the Middle East.

In other words, the current dispute over East Jerusalem is a strong sign that the Day of the Lord is almost here! We must wake up! Men must heed God’s warning before it is too late! Any peace talks over Jerusalem make headlines around the world. But here is the greatest “scoop” of all, and the news media totally ignore it! (p. 30.)

They ignore PCG's message because you and your predecessors kept making totally wrong and inaccurate predictions.

Pages 31-38 contain what is quite possibly Flurry's most detailed account of what he says will happen in the very near future. He discusses what he says is fated to happen just before Christ's return with particular emphasis on the viewpoint of the State of Israel during these alleged future.

Essentially Flurry says that the State of Israel and Britain will go to Germany for help not realizing that Germany plots to betray them by militarily conquering them. The Palestinians will seize control of East Jerusalem, after which the State of Israel will go to Germany for help. In response to this appeal Germany will lead the European Empire into conquering "radical Islam" led by Iran (the King of the South) and utterly rout those forces.

After this, at the State of Israel's request the European Empire will send its troops into the State of Israel peacefully. But unknown to the State of Israel Germany plots to betray them. As the European forces peacefully enter the State of Israel the European leader, allied with the Vatican, will betray the State of Israel by conquering them and enslaving the Israeli people and taking them into exile. The European Empire will do this to America and Britain as well.

At this point PCG members will escape to the place of safety with (PCG's) God's protection. It is often said to be Petra, Jordan.

Eventually, horrified by the great bloodshed and destruction caused by the European Empire, Russia and China will ally with each other. In response the European Empire will attack this Eastern alliance. But Russia and China will amass an army of 200 million which will advance over the Euphrates river and inflict great destruction upon the European Empire.

Eventually these two opposing armies will meet each other at Megiddo (Armageddon). But just at that moment (PCG's) Jesus Christ returns. Seeing this dramatic event the two rival armies put aside their differences and advance onto Jerusalem to fight the returning Christ. But in the Kidron valley outside Jerusalem (the Valley of Jehoshaphat) PCG's Christ will destroying these armies leaving a trail of blood that will measure 200 miles long at four feet in height.

Now that the armies of the world have been destroyed and that the Americans, British and Israelis are finally now ready to repent and convert to PCG the World Tomorrow will begin to be created under the leadership of glorified PCG members who have been transformed into God beings and the world will live in perfect peace and harmony for a thousand years.

And so there is Flurry's prophetic scenario in brief. It is total nonsense of course.

Israel went into captivity in 718-721 B.C., while Judah’s was over 100 years later, in 585 B.C. (p. 35.)

Flurry means 721-718 B.C. What an amusing typo.

“And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon” (Revelation 16:16). God gathers them into the plain of Megiddo. Armageddon means armed Megiddo. (p. 36.)

Is this true? I was always under the impression that Armageddon is simply the Greek form of Har Megiddo, because the Book of Revelation was written in Greek. I have never heard of Armageddon being interpreted in that way.

Flurry shows his love for imagining gore and bloodshed yet again.

The blood is going to be up to the horses’ bridles! “And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs” (Revelation 14:19-20). The length of 1,600 furlongs is about 200 miles. The Valley of Jehoshaphat is going to become a river of blood, roughly 4 feet deep and about 200 miles long! That is almost too much blood to even imagine. However, the Asiatic armies alone have 200 million soldiers. (p. 38.)

The whole I was an Armstrongite I thought those verses were merely symbolic. I never imagined that was to be interpreted literally. No Armstrongite writer I have read ever said that was meant to be taken literally. This is the first time I have ever heard of this idea.

Chapter 4

Flurry then ends the booklet by saying that a glorious future awaits those few who choose to repent and get to go to the place of safety.

If we can catch this vision before Christ returns, we will be given a magnificent reward. “Behold, the Lord God will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him” (verse 10). God has a reward for YOU if you do His work. (p. 41.)

Flurry does not explain it in this booklet but he teaches that PCG members will be transformed into immortal God beings. Although the rest of humanity will have the opportunity to become God beings later PCG members will be of a higher rank then the rest of humanity. This elite position will be reserved for the glorified PCG members for all eternity and the rest of humanity have no chance of ever attaining their rank. This doctrine that church members will be part of an exclusive elite within the God Family have been taught since at least 1957.

God is offering you a chance now to live and rule in this city with Him in the near future! That is exciting enough to make us faint, if we truly understand it. (p. 42.)

Unfortunately for Flurry and those persuaded to join PCG this God Family doctrine is heretical nonsense. (It also happens to be quite similar to what is taught in Mormonism.)

Isaiah 42:8: "I am the Lord: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images."

Isaiah 43:10: "Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me."

Isaiah 44:6: "Thus saith the Lord the King of Israel, and his redeemer the Lord of hosts: I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God..."

Isaiah 44:8: "Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any." (From Mike of Mike's Enlightenment Page.)

Here are some other posts that discuss the God Family doctrine.

• The God Family discusses how I first learned of this doctrine and how Roderick C. Meredith claim it was 'revealed' to HWA's group.

• A Problem in the God Family Doctrine discusses how HWA taught that humanity was simply Plan B for God. According to HWA God originally intended to have Angels govern the Universe but Lucifer's rebellion forced God to create Humanity instead. This aspect of HWA's God Family doctrine is never discussed in Stephen Flurry's booklet.

• Called to the Truth? Will all in the God kingdom be Equal? discusses how the COGs teach that those who become God Beings at the return of Christ will be superior in rank then all other people who become God Beings afterwards, even though all are supposedly as fully God as God is God. The COGs nevertheless teach that there will be ranks and that the God Family will be divided into an elite (the deified church) while the rest will be inferior in rank. This aspect of the God Family doctrine is never discussed in Stephen Flurry's booklet.

• Why I no longer believe in the God Family doctrine (and never will) (offsite article by Felix Taylor Jr.) discusses how the God Family doctrine is simply not in the Bible.

• Reading PCG's Booklet, God is a Family discusses Stephen Flurry's booklet (1995) which teaches the God Family doctrine. It also discusses how Stephen Flurry misleadingly uses a Protestant commentary to insinuate the Bible teaches the God Family when the author of this commentary never taught the God Family doctrine at all.

Flurry ends this booklet with these words.

“To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne” (verse 21). God’s people are now being trained to rule with Christ from Jerusalem for all eternity. What a fabulous future. Will you be among that group? “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches” (verse 22). I hope we are all listening to God’s Spirit! (p. 46.)

Flurry claims that by joining his PCG (and paying three tithes and extra offerings for the rest of your life) you will be able to gain this most glorious future. It is all nonsense. Flurry is a false prophet and so was his predecessor, HWA, who made numerous false prophecies.

And so this booklet comes to an end.

Current 2010 Version

In 2010 PCG revised this booklet. It is very similar to the 2005 version discussed in this post. However these two paragraphs have been added in to discuss events that occurred after the 2005 printing.

In 2005, Israel evacuated the 9,000 Jewish residents of the Gaza Strip and turned the area completely over to the Palestinians. With all Israeli military installations dismantled and troops gone, terrorists took the opportunity to flood the area from neighboring Egypt—and to bring their weapons along. They immediately began using the Strip as a launching ground for rocket attacks, which have continued at a steady pace ever since. In the summer of 2007, the radical terrorist group Hamas staged a violent coup and took over all of Gaza; this gave this terrorist proxy of Iran a toehold right on Israel’s doorstep. This is the dangerous result of Israel’s policy of trying to reconcile with the Palestinians by giving them things. (p. 15.)

In January 2006, Hamas not only entered politics, but took over the government, winning 74 out of 132 parliamentary seats. A Hamas-led Palestinian unity government formed in March 2007 was subsequently dissolved when Hamas violently took over the Gaza Strip three months later. (p. 22.)

Summary

This booklet is nonsense. British Israelism is untrue. Silenced.co has shown that British Israelism is built on a foundation of sand. In fact DNA evidence refutes British Israelism.

HWA and Flurry have no right to claim to have any sort of reliability in predicting the future. Both men have a track record for making inaccurate prophesies. There is no need to fear their words.

But at least we got to see Flurry's imagination run wild. Too bad so many people seem to take his words at face value and let these words persuade them to pay three tithes and extra offerings to PCG.