Let us now read Gerald Flurry's booklet, Ezekiel: The End-Time Prophet. This booklet superseded an earlier 1992 booklet by Gerald Flurry entitled The Ezekiel Watchman. This booklet was first printed in 2002. It has since been republished in 2004, 2007 and 2009. For this post I am reading through the 2004 version of this booklet. You can read the current 2009 version of this booklet on their website.
Among the topics explored in this reading of Ezekiel: The End-Time Prophet are:
- Flurry obliquely proclaiming himself to be "That Prophet" (Chapter 3). More on that doctrine of PCG's may be seen here and here.
- Flurry advocating HWA's deadly anti-medicine superstition (Chapters 6 and 11).
- Flurry stating that he has banned makeup for female PCG members (Chapter 6, pp. 54-57).
- Flurry apparently blaming women, specifically the ministers' wives, for causing the Tkach changes to occur (Chapter 6, pp. 54-57).
- Flurry saying he has given up drinking alcohol (Chapter 10).
- Flurry extolling showing no emotion upon the death of a loved one. "Nothing must get in the way of God’s work—not even mourning the loss of a loved one. We must put in check any emotion or anything else that holds up God’s work." (Chapter 10, p. 101.)
- Flurry saying "God’s hand is directly guiding me today as well." (Chapter 10, p. 103.)
- Flurry fantasizing about the members of the other COG groups (so-called "Laodiceans") wetting themselves. "They will be so scared, they will have urine running down their legs." (Chapter 10, p. 104.)
- Flurry boasting about himself on proclaiming his "new revelation" that there will be no animal sacrifices during the Millennium (Chapter 14, pp. 139-141).
Chapter 1
Parts of this chapter come from articles by Gerald Flurry written in the July-August 2001 issue of Royal Vision.
In a few short years, Ezekiel prophesied, the whole world shall come to know God! That is where everything is leading. This world is about to know God for the first time ever. ...HWA and his imitators have been saying Christ will soon return continuously since the 1930s. It has still not come about as they said it would.
Before that happens to this world, God says His end-time very elect will send out a warning message. They will declare the book of Ezekiel in its entirety, and help lead the world to get to know the true, living God. There is nothing more thrilling than truly knowing God! God reveals Himself in Ezekiel. (p. 1.)
The vision of Ezekiel 1 is described in great detail in this chapter. Of course Gerald Flurry will later claim to reveal the true meaning behind the words of one allowed to see such a vision.
Accompanying this description is a picture on page 3 of what Ezekiel saw in the vision.
Royal Vision, July-August 2001. |
Has anyone else ever had such a vision? (p. 4.)Although Flurry glorifies Ezekiel's vision it is actually to glorify Gerald Flurry since he claims to be the only man capable of properly understanding the Bible.
This is the God of the Bible. This is not little Lord Jesus in a manger, or Christ riding on a donkey. This is the God of Ezekiel and Revelation and the whole Bible! This is what He looks like and how He travels. How many people know this God? (p. 5.)And thus we see Flurry belittling how Jesus Christ has been often portrayed by mainstream Christianity. This is part of indoctrinating the reader to be utterly alienated with mainstream Christianity so that he or she will be convinced into joining PCG (and paying its leaders three tithes).HWA taught that Jesus was to be never represented in an illustration.
After describing Ezekiel's vision Flurry asks the reader what he or she would do in Ezekiel's place?
If you were Ezekiel, wouldn’t you listen? I believe I would, if I saw a vision such as this. Well, we are, in fact, receiving a vision like this—though not directly as Ezekiel did. God is revealing Himself to us today in powerful, miraculous ways—even in this message you are reading. (p. 5.)In other words reading this booklet is just as astonishing as what Ezekiel went through. Saying such boastful words will cause the unsuspecting reader to be mesmerized by what Flurry says in this booklet. When Flurry talks of the God Family dogma a reader in such an excited state will be most impressed. All that is done to make the reader feel compelled to make contact with PCG and join them. But when they join they will be told to pay three tithes to PCG for the rest of their lives.
Chapter 2
God is sending the Ezekiel message to the nations of Israel today through the Philadelphia Church of God! (p. 8.)Well, I guess we can just stop right here and say this booklet is trying to get you to join PCG. Everything else in this booklet are merely details.
This message must be delivered when all these events are being fulfilled. Mr. Armstrong could not do much of this work because he died before many of these prophecies were fulfilled. (p. 8.)HWA was a false prophet. HWA constantly insisted that catastrophe would soon occur at any minute now. And it never happened. This is not because he was off by a few years, but because they were never going to happen anyway.
I don’t believe there is a single instance in the Bible where God sent a prophet to say, hey, you’re all doing great! The fact that there is a prophet on the scene shows correction is necessary. That’s why God sends one—to warn. If a prophet has a message from God, you know there must be bad news in the short run. But every prophet of God brings wonderful news in the long run. (p. 8.)Gerald Flurry insists that the message of the Book of Ezekiel actually only applies to himself, Gerald Flurry. This alludes to Gerald Flurry's claim to be 'That Prophet', a teaching which he unveiled to PCG members in 1999. More on this idolatrous doctrine may be seen here and here.
God promises to make us the toughest Christians on Earth! God will use us to deliver this difficult message, and He tells us in advance that Israel won’t hear it!Gerald Flurry fear mongers that persecution will soon come upon PCG members. In fact Armstrongism has never had to endure such persecution ever since HWA started up his own group back in the 1930s.
Gerald Flurry fantasizes that once the Germans come and conquer America and turn Americans into slaves and that once this happens the captive Americans will remember what PCG taught them and convert to PCG's religion while in captivity. This is nonsense.
However, our message and their response is only stage one. It’s not the end result. Stage two brings the Great Tribulation, when many of God’s rebellious people and the nations of Israel repent. They will respond belatedly to the Philadelphia Church of God’s message.This will never happen.
The emphasis here is not on preaching the gospel. The message of this book is also bitter —it is a message of lamentations and mourning and woe. Our message is very difficult to deliver. But it’s better to speak about lamentations, mourning and woe, than to experience it! And that is exactly what is going to happen to those who fail to heed this message! (p. 11.)In other words, Don't any of you PCG members dare complain that PCG ministers are constantly claiming the world will fall apart at any moment. Clearly some in PCG are weary of the gloomy and dire proclamations of PCG's false prophets and here it would seem that Gerald Flurry is telling them they have no right to complain. This is an attempt to silence dissent within PCG.
You have access to that little book today! If you do not understand our teaching on this subject, write for our booklet The Little Book, and for a copy of Malachi’s Message. (p. 11.)Since 1992 Gerald Flurry has taught that Malachi's Message is the Little Book of Revelation 10. Needless to say this doctrine is complete nonsense. It even contradicts what HWA said about the Little Book. HWA said the Little Book referred to his numerous visits to world leaders. But this inconvenient fact has since been thrown into the memory hole.
In the early days of PCG when it could not be foreseen that PCG would emerge as one of the main offshoot groups of Armstrongism those who joined PCG were discouraged and fearful.
PCG's leaders mainly used Malachi's Message in order to lure WCG members into PCG. But the 1% of PCG overcame their problems and established themselves as a major offshoot group for Armstrongism. Those who were of small stature in WCG were suddenly in charge. The adulation and authority given to HWA was now given to them.
To the 1% of PCG it must have seemed as though Malachi's Message had done this for them since they used it so often to lure in new members from WCG. To them it must have seemed as though Malachi's Message had the power of life itself. It gave them tithe paying members. No wonder they should have idolized it the way in the disgusting way that they have, namely by proclaiming it to be the Little Book of Revelation 10.
Actually it is widely known that many of the ideas within Malachi's Message were plagiarized from The Letter to Laodicea by Jules Dervaes, written December 1986-January 1988. It was sent to 237 WCG ministers including Gerald Flurry and John Amos. In fact on September 26, 1990 Jules Dervaes sent a letter to Gerald Flurry in which he denounces Malachi's Message as "a direct and clear plagiarism" of his work.
The problem with the Laodiceans is they have forgotten who they are! They have forgotten that they’re the sons of the God of Ezekiel 1! That is why even Mr. Armstrong said to the members and ministers of God’s Church, “Most of you just don’t get it.” They wanted to follow the god of this world and still be in God’s Church. The powerful God of Ezekiel 1 would not tolerate that! (p. 12.)This is referring to HWA's sermon for Pentecost in 1985. That sermon is not what Gerald Flurry portrays it as. Rather HWA was talking about why, in his view, it was necessary for some to become "firstfruits" and be resurrected at Christ's return while the vast majority needed to wait until after that. That is what HWA was talking about.
HWA did not have some divinely inspired premonition foreseeing the Tkach changes as Flurry so often insinuates.
If we fail to warn them about the consequences of these actions, God will hold us responsible for their blood! ... Who is giving God’s warning today? God help me if I don’t do it. These verses are talking about Mystery of the Ages (we have already mailed over 130,000 copies!) and Malachi’s Message, which represent our two commissions. (p. 16.)So PCG mailed out over 130,000 copies of Mystery of the Ages between 1997 and 2004. Has PCG gained any great expansion in membership for it? Think about all the people who ordered it and did not join PCG. PCG's use of Mystery of the Ages failed to get those many people to join PCG. What inefficient efforts on PCG's part! PCG would have been better off not having Mystery of the Ages considering how few people have joined PCG because if it.
A court injunction temporarily stopped our mailing of this book. But God intervened and gave us the victory in that court case. (p. 17.)PCG did not win the court case. Tkach's WCG won the court case however PCG essentially bought the copyrights from Tkach's WCG after paying the Man of Sin's organization $3 million. It is was not a victory, it was a purchase.
Chapter 3
Here Gerald Flurry insinuates he will be alive when Christ return.
This watchman is prophesied to be present when Germany rises to power and destroys the modern nations of Israel—unless they repent. The watchman is on the scene when it all happens. Herbert Armstrong fulfilled the watchman role in a general way, but there is a more specific fulfillment today for the PCG. (p. 20.)This is complete nonsense. Gerald Flurry will simply die one day and others will run PCG in his stead.
Mr. Armstrong saw prophecies about the sword and the direction world events were moving. But did he actually see the sword coming? The answer is no; only we can fully see that happening today. (p. 24.)This is nonsense. HWA most certainly saw a sword coming. But because he was merely a false prophet the sword never came.
Mr. Armstrong thought the end of Israel would occur in his lifetime. He was exactly right about the prophecies, but his timing was off a few years. God did not reveal to him many of the specifics of Ezekiel’s book. For example, Mr. Armstrong didn’t understand about the Laodicean Church era in these prophecies. Most of that truth was to be revealed after his death. (p. 24.)This is also nonsense. HWA made many false prophecies. The fact that his words failed to be fulfilled prove HWA is a false prophet and that God was never with him.
There is a group of Philadelphians who “sigh and cry ... for all the abominations” (Ezekiel 9:4) and warn the Laodiceans and Israel. And there is also a sanctuary (temple or church) of God that God has to punish for not doing its job as a watchman (Ezekiel 33:5-6). Both of God’s end-time churches will be on the scene when Israel falls apart. One group will be protected, and the other will be punished in the Great Tribulation. (p. 25.)Once again Gerald Flurry insists that only PCG members will escape the Great Tribulation.
One of the reasons the watchman warns the Laodiceans and the world is to save his own life! The PCG delivers this warning message, and God takes it to a place of safety during the Tribulation (Revelation 12:14). We are not bashing people. The purpose of our work is to save physical and spiritual lives! And God says the only way we can do that is to warn! Israel’s last watchman doesn’t come on the scene until the enemy is rising and getting prepared to attack Israel! (p. 26.)Flurry threatens his readers that divine punishment will befall them if they do not do what he says and join PCG.
You have “delivered thy soul” if you deliver this warning message! This is how you save your life! It’s your ticket to a place of safety ! If you don’t support God’s warning to the Laodiceans and Israel, you will pay with your blood!Here Flurry promises that those who give money to PCG will get to go the place of safety and escape the Great Tribulation.
God says this watchman group will be there when the blood is spilled. That is why we must be protected by God. (p. 26.)
Back in 1999 Gerald Flurry proclaimed himself to be That Prophet. (More on that declaration of his may be seen here and here.) In the quote below he is surprisingly blunt about claiming to be a Prophet and to be the only prophet in the entire world. Essentially he is saying that one can only know God through himself, Gerald Flurry.
When the Tribulation comes to pass, then they will know that a prophet was among them! Obviously, the prophet is on the scene when it comes to pass. The phrase “lo, it will come” is translated in the Soncino Commentary as, “Behold, it comes.” The Interlinear Bible reads, “Behold, it is coming.” Yes, it is coming. It is coming speedily! God warns us to either submit to His government now or learn a big part of that lesson by being conquered by the Nazis.Of course it is complete nonsense that Gerald Flurry is a Prophet, That Prophet or any other kind of true prophet.
Verse 33 reveals that there is a modern-day Ezekiel watchman on the scene who is a watchman and a prophet. He prophesies about the sword coming. He says, “Behold, it is coming! ” Even Mr. Armstrong, though he was a watchman in a general way, did not specifically fulfill Ezekiel 33 because he could not see the sword as this man can today. This individual comes at the “last end.” He is called a prophet in Ezekiel 33:33 and a watchman in verse 7. He is termed a prophet in Ezekiel 2:5 and a watchman in Ezekiel 3:17. He comes to watch and prophesy. He is not here to restore all things. That has been done by Mr. Armstrong. The watchman is on the scene to warn the Laodiceans and the world of what is coming— behold, it is coming!
Who is this watchman—this prophet? Haven’t I given you revelation about Ezekiel and all the prophetic books? Almost every book and booklet I have written is filled with revealed prophecy. Has anyone else done that? Is revealed prophecy present in any of the Laodicean churches? Do they even have a smattering of the new revelation which God has rained down on His people through me? They have no new revelation.
How many true prophets are there on Earth today? Only one. People may scoff at that, but soon they won’t. When the Tribulation comes, they’ll remember a man who was out there with a powerful message that probably got him into some measure of trouble internationally . Then they will know who he was—after it is too late physically! (p. 28.)
Most of his prophecies are based on the dogma of British Israelism. As Silenced.co has shown British Israelism is built on a foundation of sand. In fact DNA evidence refutes British Israelism.
Gerald Flurry and his yes men said the Muslim Brotherhood would take over Egypt and turn it into a state like Iran. But Gerald Flurry's prophecy failed. The Muslim Brotherhood was overthrown and violently suppressed by the military in 2013 at the cost of at least 638 lives. Just recently former President Morsi has been sentenced to twenty years in jail. It is clearly seen that Gerald Flurry has no idea what will happen in the future.
Chapter 4
In this chapter Gerald Flurry fear mongers that African Americans will soon go on a rampage against white Americans. He had a chapter on this fear mongering topic in the original 1992 booklet which was published soon after the LA riots of 1992. Alas, to this day PCG's leaders say the same wild accusations and fear mongering against ethnic minorities whenever some riot should occur in an "Israelite" nation such as America or Britain.
It was the Rodney King court case, in which white policemen were acquitted of using excessive force in arresting a black man, that triggered the L.A. violence. In the last decade, there have been several more highly publicized cases of police acting against minorities, particularly in large cities like Los Angeles and New York. Serious rioting in Cincinnati, Ohio, and Bradford, England, in 2001 were also sparked by racial incidents. The public outcry has been intense and sustained. Now, as a result, the police fear to act, even more than they have feared to in the past. (p. 35.)Since at least 1992 Gerald Flurry and his fellows have constantly exploited communal clashes to stir up fear that the end will soon occur. When the riots in London occurred in 2011 PCG's leaders said these same things again. Throughout the current crisis regarding police brutality PCG has constantly fear mongered that African Americans are on the verge of unleashing "race war" against the white majority in order to make PCG members fearful of the world so that they always stay in PCG despite its many problems.
We are told to “ prophesy against ” Israel. The Laodiceans have failed to do that. The PCG must not fail. (p. 38.)Actually many of these "Laodiceans", the members of the other COG groups, also continue to insist that Germany will soon destroy America. Why does Flurry say untrue things?
The last third of Israel will be taken captive and made slaves around the world. In their captivity, these slaves will tell their captors about the prophecies of the PCG! The Gentiles will learn about God from their slaves! So we see that even Israel’s slavery will serve God’s work.This is all nonsense based on the false idea that only PCG speaks for God. PCG does not speak for God. This is nonsense. PCG speaks for themselves, not God.
There is a big lesson Israel and the world must learn. “And they shall know that I am the Lord, and that I have not said in vain that I would do this evil unto them” (verse 10). The people of Israel will be punished. Then they shall know all the prophecies of Mr. Armstrong and the pcg were not in “vain”! These warning prophecies have been written and spoken because they were inspired by God. The words of Mr. Armstrong and the PCG are from the great God, who doesn’t speak words in vain! People either listen, or pay a terrifying price! (p. 39.)
Chapter 5
This chapter recites HWA's teaching that Ezekiel 28 reveals how Satan used to a cherub named Lucifer but he rebelled against God thus becoming Satan the Devil. This is an idea inherited from HWA.
Chapter 6
When Gerald Flurry was kicked out of WCG he started up another group, the Philadelphia Church of God. Now for decades WCG members had been told over and over again that God called them to join WCG and it was their duty to stay in it. Flurry needed more people to join his PCG and he had to argue against this deeply held idea that one must stay in WCG to be with God. So of course Flurry says that God has moved to be with Flurry in PCG and not Tkach in WCG.
As part of his bid to get more WCG members to join his PCG he wrote his various booklets and said things about them that HWA had never said. Flurry called this "new revelation" and proclaimed that it proved that God was with him and no one else, not Tkach in WCG or any of the other hundreds of COG groups that sprang up in response to the Tkach changes.
Where did God go when He left His sanctuary in this end time? He removed His lamp to another physical location where He then started revealing Ezekiel and other prophecies to the people who didn’t leave God spiritually— but who did leave the Laodicean Church along with Him! Who understands Ezekiel? Who has new revelation in books and booklets on all the major and minor prophets? We have these and other prophetic books that tell us what is happening today. That is where you will find God’s sanctuary. (p. 50.)Once again Flurry appeals to the new doctrines he devised and insists that they are "new revelation" that "proves" that God is with PCG alone. This is also bid to claim the right to receive the three tithes from potential new members.
Anciently, 70 elders had meetings with God! The number 70 is God’s way of revealing that these end-time elders also had meetings with the true God! But then they betrayed Him and turned their backs on Him. God used this number 70 for a very special reason. He is telling us these are His own ministers going astray! It is a revealing sign!Ridiculous. Just because there are seventy elders in Exodus and seventy elders mentioned in Ezekiel they have absolutely nothing to do with WCG ministers accepting the Tkach changes. Flurry has just devised this idea himself.
God speaks in coded language. Then when the time is right, He breaks the code. God reveals all of His truth. We can’t discover it for ourselves (Amos 3:7). (p. 52.)
Now onto the next topic.
One of the very worst things that HWA did was that he taught an anti-medicine superstition in which his followers were forbidden from taking medicines or "relying" on doctors to heal them.
Many WCG members died or had their health permanently compromised because of trying to follow this anti-medicine superstition. Considering the horrendous toll this doctrine of death imposed on WCG members it is little wonder that this was one of the very first doctrines changed by Tkach.
But Gerald Flurry proclaims that this doctrine is correct and continues to teach it. He even denounces this attempt to stop people dying and suffering as a sign of turning away from God.
One of the first doctrinal changes that came after Mr. Armstrong’s death was with the healing doctrine. Spiritually they were saying that God has forsaken the Earth. They couldn’t rely on God to heal them. Those men couldn’t see the God of Ezekiel 1! They had a monumental faith problem, and then afflicted the whole Church with it! Remember how it all started with weakened faith. Allow your faith to weaken, and that’s when Satan can really begin to work on you. (p. 53.)The same horrendous results continues to predictably ensure in PCG. In 2006 Garth MacDonald died and it was reported that one reason for his death was his reluctance to take medicines because of HWA's anti-medicine superstition. Garth MacDonald's brother is Brad MacDonald, who has since emerged as one of the main leaders of PCG.
Now we enter another topic.
After this Gerald Flurry then launches a bizarre rant against women who fail to conform to his stereotype of the docile and submissive woman. Among other things he insinuates that such women helped to engineer the Tkach changes and lead people away from God, meaning away from PCG.
Here we see Flurry begin his bizarre rant against women.
These are God’s own women weeping for another god. The women of this world have always been following Tammuz or some false god. So this has to be God’s own Church! They are not happy with God and His religion. They want to follow the god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4), and, like Eve, they are used by Satan to lead the weak men astray! (p. 54.)Here Flurry is preemptively silencing any objections the women of PCG by insinuating that their complaints prove they are worldly and not in tune with PCG.
Less than a year and a half after writing that [in support of HWA's makeup ban], Mr. Tkach expressed drastically different views on the subject, and changed the ruling. Something radical must have been going on in the Church at the time for him to have had such a drastic, Habakkuk 1:11-like mind change. Again, in the 1970s, that was the issue that started everything on the wrong track.It is complete nonsense to insinuate that allowing makeup led to the Tkach changes. The real problem is that HWA assumed to himself absolute authority and then passed this absolute authority to Tkach. This gave Tkach the ability to do whatever he wished to WCG. Those within WCG were powerless to stop him because of HWA's legacy of authoritarianism. Why scapegoat makeup? It was HWA's one man rule that opened the way for the Tkach changes.
You may think this is not a big issue. But look at the fruits! In retrospect, we can see that Satan was working on the women, just as he worked on Eve in the Garden of Eden. This is not unprecedented. Now, it is one thing to be weak in faith, and it is quite another to turn away from God! We have witnessed an Adam and Eve scenario all over again. And, just as it did in the 1970s, it has derailed the whole Church. (p. 55.)
This issue is really not about cosmetics—it’s about women weeping and wailing for another god! (p. 56.)Meaning this is about cosmetics. It is about cosmetics. Once again Flurry plays the religion card to force women to not wear makeup and socially isolating them from mainstream society. This is make them socially dependent on PCG for their social life.
Satan repeatedly follows this pattern. This is the inner temple, where only true ministers are supposed to serve God, and yet we see some women are there having a wrong influence on God’s ministry! It is God’s way of saying women are having a sinful and damaging affect on the Laodicean ministry today! It’s the same trend that affects this world. It is terribly abominable because these leaders had the truth and are turning away from it! (pp. 56-57.)This is just disgusting to vilify women in such a way. These words are garbage. They as loathsome as vomit.
We now carry on after that disgusting rant.
There are details in these scriptures that we must understand, or we won’t know how to handle these events. I prophesy that events will get even worse. As the work gets more exciting, our adversary gets more wrathful. We must know how to combat our enemy. (p. 58.)Flurry has constantly said things will get worse. Thirteen years since this booklet was published we are still waiting for catastrophe to occur.
People say we are bashing the Laodiceans. Actually we are “sighing and crying” about the abominable doctrinal changes! Then we warn them, in love, about the great slaughter on the horizon unless they repent! It is the same slaughter Mr. Armstrong warned us about for over 50 years! God’s people are without excuse. (p. 59.)Here Flurry is obliquely justifying his no contact policy against "Laodiceans", namely WCG members and members of the other COG groups. This policy requires PCG members to shun the members of WCG and the other COG splinter groups, even if they are close family members. This astoundingly draconian policy has inflicted the most frightful harm upon PCG members and those who love them. That policy appears to have been in force among PCG members since 2000, before the publication of this booklet.
These are the kinds of strong emotions in God’s people who “sigh and cry” because of the abominations committed in God’s Church, first of all, and secondarily in the nations of Israel. Only these people who sigh and cry receive a mark and are delivered to a place of safety. (p. 59.)What Flurry really means is that only PCG members will go to the place of safety. Some wonder why PCG members stay in it despite the many problems there. Part of the reason is that they believe they will be cast into the Great Tribulation if they should ever leave PCG.
When the Laodiceans go into captivity, God will not leave them alone. ... God will be a little sanctuary to them. They are His Family, and He loves them and will be right there with them. ... Fifty percent of them will believe Him and come through it, dying in the faith and securing a place as part of Christ’s bride. ... At that point they will be childlike—submissive and teachable. (p. 65.)Join PCG or die. Flurry is crudely threatening his readers that a most terrible fate await unless they join PCG. It is essentially blackmail.
On page 63 is a little insert article.
God’s spiritual temple—His obedient Church—is being measured. A great part of this occurred with the great falling away of the Laodicean era. When God measured, if any of us became ashamed, turned ourselves around and gave ourselves to God, He then put us in His inner court with the rest of His very elect. (p. 63.)In other words Flurry has proclaimed that PCG members are the only true Christians in the entire world.
If God gives revelation, as He did here to Ezekiel, He wants the recipients to write it, publish it, so that all Israelites—physical and spiritual—have a chance to measure themselves by it—so they can keep God’s laws and ordinances. That includes following God’s government and sticking to all the doctrines of the Church. (p. 63.)In other words, do whatever you are told to do by PCG.
Chapter 7
In this chapter Flurry uses a chapter of the Book of Ezekiel to say that the Tkach changes are like a wall which will soon be destroyed a great hurricane, namely the Great Tribulation which HWA and his imitators have been shrilly insisting will soon occur since the 1930s.
Those false ministers are daubing the wall with false doctrines. If you examine the wall carefully, you see how false and foolish the doctrinal wall is. This is not just speaking of the Worldwide Church of God. The other Laodicean churches have also rebelled against major doctrines of God. Their walls of doctrine appear to be strong, but examine them closely and you see they are like mere Hollywood props! (p. 70.)Meaning, Don't listen to them. Listen to me.
Chapter 8
The marriage of Boaz and Ruth was a type of Christ’s marriage to the Church. “I spread my skirt over thee” also means that God protects His wife as any good husband should, if His wife is loyal. (p. 73.)It is insisted that at any given time salvation can be lost in one fails to do what PCG commands. Some wonder why so many stay in PCG despite the many problems there. Partly it is because PCG members are afraid they will lose salvation if they leave or are kicked out of PCG. This is simply an induced phobia designed to keep people within PCG.
The Laodiceans have lost this marriage and Family of God concept because they are spiritually blind. This is the greatest mistake they or anyone on Earth can make today! ... We know that many of them will wake up before or during the Tribulation. But why must they be so rebellious that they allow Satan to turn them away from their most noble, majestic crown? (p. 78.)In fact most of the other COG groups continue to teach the God Family dogma that HWA taught. Flurry is misleadingly insinuating that the other COG groups have done what Tkach's WCG have done.
The Laodicean children must go through the Great Tribulation—mainly because of their rebelling parents! What a horrifying penalty for God’s people who had the truth and rejected it! (p. 78.)This is crude emotional blackmail. Here Flurry is threatening even the children of his readers with being cast into the Great Tribulation for not sending money to PCG and joining it. This is disgusting behavior.
Again, this warning to those in God’s Church is far more serious than any warning to the nations of Israel, because their salvation is at stake! His wife is taking “strangers” instead of her Husband. That is what all the doctrinal changes are about in the Laodicean churches! Christ says this is no “small matter”! He is condemning the end-time Laodiceans—His wife—who have left Him! That is their cardinal sin! (p. 79.)While it is accurate to say that Tkach's WCG have changed many doctrines including the God Family dogma, these words do not accurately describe the other COG groups which have continued to teach many of HWA's doctrines including HWA's God Family dogma.
They have been given the highest calling in the Family of God! In God’s Family they will be on the wife level, while all the other saints will be on the children level! God will judge His wife according to her wedding covenant. That is judgment on the highest level! If only we can see what a fabulous, majestic calling God gives us today! (p. 81.)This teaching has present in Armstrongism since at least 1957 as may be seen in a sermon by Richard David Armstrong. This idea that "the church" will constitute some sort of "elite" within the God Family for all eternity continues to be taught within the other COG groups such as LCG. PCG is not alone is promoting this elitist nonsense.
When we are married to Christ, what will our job be? “And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the Lord, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth; And the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall hear Jezreel” (verses 21-22). God’s physical and spiritual laws will be in harmony. The heavens and Earth are here personified as needing each other’s cooperation. Everything in the heavens and Earth—the whole universe—is brought into harmony with God’s laws! This is the monumental work that Christ and His bride will direct for all eternity!Flurry then insists that the Laodiceans will repent in the Great Tribulation.
We are not getting ready to marry Christ so that we can pluck on harps forever! Our future job is of such magnitude only the mind of God can comprehend it! (p. 82.)
This chapter ends with the following words.
The firstfruits must be preparing fervently now for their marriage to Christ. We must have the vision to see beyond the marriage. Our great work isn’t ending when we marry Christ—it’s just beginning! (p. 82.)These words ended the original 1992 booklet, The Ezekiel Watchman. These words are a clear imitation of the ending of HWA's book, Mystery of the Ages.
Chapter 9
God says we must declare Israel’s abominations to them. We must prophesy about Israel’s abominable sins and the violent double-cross by the Germans! We must declare it! No other church can or will do so! The Laodiceans and Israel will fight against this message. Still, God says declare it!Many of the other COG groups also insist that the Germans are fated to soon conquer and enslave the American people. By saying only PCG can deliver this message is untrue. Why does Flurry say things that are not true?
Chapter 10
All of the Laodiceans are going to fall by the sword! There will be no escape for them!Thus any word spoken against PCG is demonized as just personal attacks. The reader is being told to ignore any information that might make him or her reconsider joining PCG. The reader is being trained to ignore any information PCG's leaders do not want him or her to know about.
Many Laodiceans scoff at us. They don’t believe God would send a prophet in our day. Their criticisms are worse than anyone’s from the world. The reason is that if you want to fight against the people who have God’s truth, about the only way you can do that is to demonize them and their leader. (p. 99.)
Never forget: Things could end suddenly. I don’t know exactly what God’s time schedule is. I don’t know how much time we have left. I just want to make sure we keep God’s perspective, and never let some date or some land deter us from giving our all to God. We can never afford to let up in this work. (p. 100.)Flurry keeps using fear to keep his followers fearful of being outside of PCG.
This job is a test of how much we love the people in the world. Are we willing to put our lives on the line for them? Do you love them enough to give yourself as a sacrifice to the great God of Ezekiel 1? To give Him your all, with no restrictions—nothing holding you back from Him, not even the death of a loved one? We must examine ourselves for areas where we may be holding back God’s work.
Some of God’s people, for example, still drink too much alcohol. Yes, God sanctions and encourages the right use of alcohol. But I know that some people would be better off without it. I haven’t had a drink of alcohol in several years. Why? Because I feel I can be more effective in the work without it. Am I against alcohol? Of course not; I love to see people enjoy alcohol, as God instructs us. But if something is getting in your way, it is better to eliminate it. ... For some, that offense may be alcohol. (p. 100.)This is clearly a response to the fact that Gerald Flurry got arrested in 1993 for being in control of a car while intoxicated with alcohol.
That is His message to us today. Don’t act like other men. Follow Ezekiel’s example. Nothing must get in the way of God’s work—not even mourning the loss of a loved one. We must put in check any emotion or anything else that holds up God’s work. (p. 101.)This is inhuman. To take Ezekiel's example out of context to insinuate that human beings should deny their feelings of grief upon the death of a loved one is strange behavior. This is not good.
Here what happened upon the death of Ezekiel's wife is exploited to tell PCG members to keep emotions in check, even the loss of a loved upon death. It is talk like this that produces fanaticism.
This is quite horrifying if one thinks about it thoroughly. The natural human emotions to grieve upon the death of a loved one is devalued, minimized and belittled in order to aggrandize devotion towards PCG. With talk like this it is no wonder so many people have had such bad experiences with PCG.
This is an opportunity we will never, ever have again! I believe if you asked all God’s saints throughout history to choose a single time to have been called by God, they all would choose the time just before the return of Christ! We have the greatest opportunity God will ever give to anyone, coupled with the best time to be called. (pp. 101-2.)This assertion denigrates all the distinguished personages of the Old Testament and the New Testament. If today is the best time to be a part of "the true religion" (as defined by Gerald Flurry) then why listen to the Old Testament, the New Testament or even HWA? Ultimately only following Gerald Flurry matters if one accepted this assertion.
Why do PCG members even call themselves Christians if the events of today are so much more meaningful and important than what happened in Jesus' time? If this assertion is correct then it would mean that Herbert Armstrong and Gerald Flurry are far greater than all the personages in the Bible, even Jesus Christ Himself.
Some wonder why so many PCG members stay there despite the many problems within it. Partly it is because PCG members are told by PCG's leaders that being in PCG means they are the elite of the world.
The Laodiceans have lost that stronghold. God is not going to protect them from the Great Tribulation. These are our Family members. God wants us to love them and to express that love through this work. Your dedication to this work shows your degree of love for the Laodiceans and the world. (p. 102.)Here Flurry is obliquely justifying the no contact policy imposed against members of the other COG groups, who are demonized by Flurry as "Laodiceans". According to PCG Information this policy began to be enacted upon PCG members in 2000. It was restated again in 2005. This policy has inflicted much harm and strive upon PCG members. It is a most cruel and terrible punishment designed to intimidate PCG members and force them to be unfailingly loyal.
As I spoke of earlier, one Laodicean evangelist said that it was a mistake to think God directly guides His Church. Here is what Ezekiel wrote about that: “So the spirit lifted me up, and took me away, and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; but the hand of the Lord was strong upon me” (Ezekiel 3:14). God’s hand was strong upon Ezekiel; it was strong upon Mr. Armstrong. Anyone who restored all things had to have God’s hand strong upon him! It is pure vanity and arrogance for someone to push all that work aside and deny that God directly guides His leader and Church!Of course Gerald Flurry is referring to himself. In the 1999 PCG ministers conference Gerald Flurry proclaimed himself to be That Prophet citing Scriptures that are usually applied to Jesus Christ Himself. More on this idolatrous doctrine may be seen here and here.
God’s hand is directly guiding me today as well. It must be, for us to fulfill this job. ... A man is doing that job. (For more information, write for our free booklet Who Is That Prophet?) (p. 103.)
They like to talk only about a God of love. They usually won’t even discuss the God that smites! They don’t want to know that God. Those Laodiceans and the world MUST hear this message! The arrogance will stop! “All hands shall be feeble, and all knees shall be weak as water” (verse 17). They will be so scared, they will have urine running down their legs. (p. 104.)Once again Flurry shows us his sick imagination. Flurry has a sadistic imagination when talking about those he disapproves of.
In verse 22, God refers to His “secret place”—His holy of holies. It is there spoken of as being polluted by God’s people. But when we are loyally serving God, that “secret place” is a refuge for God’s people. God loves us and wants to invite us into the most special place in His life. Imagine the most majestic people on this Earth and multiply it by thousands, and that’s where we are in God’s mind. We are His special possession. (p. 104.)Once again Flurry is claiming that PCG members will be the elite of the Earth, and even the elite of the God Family. Such extravagant flatteries cause PCG members to think that paying three tithes to PCG is no great sacrifice. It is only when they realize that God could not possibly with PCG that they see that the three tithes has been an exploitation they dearly wish they had not endured.
Chapter 11
These people will hear the watchman message but won’t act on it until the Tribulation comes to pass—if they act on it at all! (p. 105.)The reason the vast majority of people do not join PCG upon watching The Key of David or reading The Philadelphia Trumpet is because is it nonsense. Most people can tell it is just nonsense.
God revealed Israel’s modern identity to Herbert Armstrong, and that opened up one third of the Bible to his understanding—that third of the Bible which is prophecy. (p. 106.)This is complete nonsense. HWA plagiarized the idea from British Israelism. HWA got the idea from other people. This is a clearly well documented fact.
PCG ministers and members can fantasize all they like that HWA got the idea of British Israelism just by reading the Bible but it is simply not the case. No amount of make believe will change this fact.
This means that none of the Laodiceans are doing God’s work of warning. The whole book of Ezekiel is about warning Israel of a coming nuclear attack and enslavement! But if you don’t know who the nations of Israel are, how can you warn them? God says in Ezekiel 2, 3 and 33 that if the people of Israel aren’t warned of the coming Tribulation, then their blood will be on the head of the watchman! That is a direct warning to all of the Laodiceans and the PCG! (p. 108.)Once again Flurry is misleading insinuating that only his PCG is sending out this massage. In actual fact most of the Armstrongite COGs continue to passionately believe that a German led European Empire will soon conquer America and enslave the American people as slaves and take them away to Europe. It is simply not true that only PCG delivers this message of coming catastrophe. Why does Flurry say untrue things?
So many have come to the PCG from the lukewarm Laodicean churches and said, “I was starving spiritually.” The ministers can no longer detect and help cure spiritual disease! The people are perishing spiritually (p. 108).Flurry often says this. But regardless of how new converts to PCG may feel or think PCG is still not the one true church. God is not with PCG.
Verse 4 continues, “... neither have ye healed that which was sick ....” The Laodiceans are not being healed because of a watered-down healing doctrine. Ministers have got - ten the people’s minds off faith. The WCG discontinued Mr. Armstrong’s healing booklet and replaced it with a very deceitful booklet with no focus on faith. The new booklet destroyed the faith of WCG members! It takes faith to be healed! (Write for Mr. Armstrong’s edition of The Plain Truth About Healing.) (p. 108.)Many WCG members have suffered and even died because of HWA's anti-medicine superstition which he plagiarized from the Jehovah's Witnesses of the time. It is truly appalling that Flurry continues to promote this most dangerous doctrine of death.
It has even been reported that one Garth MacDonald died in 2006 because he refused to take medicine for a condition he had. His brother Brad MacDonald is now one of the main leaders of PCG.
Chapter 12
Later, when David was getting quite old, another son, Adonijah, rose up against him. This time Abiathar made the mistake of siding with the rebellion. Perhaps he believed David really had gotten too old for his job. The high priest turned on the king! For David, that betrayal must have been one of the most depressing moments of his life. (p. 114.)Or maybe Flurry is projecting his own disappointments regarding the Tkach changes upon the Biblical events described.
All through that treachery, a noble group, the sons of Zadok, were loyal to God’s throne. Ezekiel 44:15 is talking specifically about the ministers, but it applies to all of us as we follow God’s loyal ministers. It began through me, strongly supported by John Amos. We weren’t men of stature in that church, but we clung to what Mr. Armstrong had taught! (p. 115.)Here is an admission of the fact that Gerald Flurry was not particularly important within HWA's WCG.
We became sons of Zadok in the midst of that watershed event. That Church split was a special moment in our history, one that will ennoble us for all eternity—the greatest moment in our spiritual lives! Developing and displaying loyalty in the midst of that betrayal was really an act of qualifying for very prestigious positions. We must qualify to become an eternal son of Zadok! What a vision this is! This is a job God will give us for all eternity because we remained Philadelphian in the midst of the Laodicean rebellion. God is challenging us with this vision. Our eternal reward depends on the choices we make now, on a daily basis! (p. 116.)Here Flurry is reinterpreting the WCG - PCG split as an act of faith towards God. Flurry talks as though only WCG and PCG exist and the other COG groups do not even exist. This misleadingly ignores the many other WCG members who left WCG to follow HWA's teachings outside of Tkach's WCG but did not join PCG.
Don’t ever let this vision slip—this is what makes you what you are. We must know who we are and how much Jesus Christ loves each one of us. Even in times of trial, we must recognize God’s love for us. Every trial will pay off in the long run. God is working in terms of preparing us for eternity! Don’t ever let Satan make you believe otherwise. God has a love we can’t even fathom. (pp. 118-119.)And thus the reader will believe that any attempt to point out that PCG's dogmas are wrong will be viewed by the reader as a wicked attempt by Satan to wrench him or her away from the "true religion" (PCG).
The truth is many of PCG's dogmas are simply untrue. Most people who encounter them can clearly see this. But some people think they have discovered the truth and whenever someone tries to tell this to such a person he or she simply assumes that Satan is trying to stop them from entering the God Family.
It takes time, and God must put those pillars [PCG members] through some tests. But that is exactly how the Philadelphians are proving themselves today. They won’t be intimidated by a son of perdition or a whole church going astray! They will stay with God even if it gets them killed! (p. 119.)And so with words like these the reader becomes convinced that anything preventing him or her from joining PCG or fitting in with them is of a supernatural test on the way to Godhood. Of course this is complete nonsense. A narcissistic delusion used to render people into loyal tithes payers.
Chapter 13
God always has a work that emanates from His headquarters. God gave beautiful headquarters buildings for the work under Mr. Armstrong. Mr. Armstrong built a house for God—Ambassador Auditorium. None of the other buildings at Pasadena headquarters remotely compared to that house.
God also gives the Philadelphia Church beautiful structures. Consider the effect God’s headquarters can have. God inspired us to do some beautiful landscaping around the PCG headquarters here in Edmond, Oklahoma. (We hope to move our headquarters to our 170 acres soon.) The landscaping has not only beautified the area around our building, but also those next to us. We were told that many tenants close to us were not happy with their business condominiums. They weren’t certain they wanted to stay until we rebuilt the pond and did our landscaping. Now all the tenants want to stay and help improve the complex. That is just one small example of how you can turn the minds of men in a positive way. (p. 123.)Here Flurry is teaching his followers to be very attached towards what happens at their headquarters in Edmond.
No matter what men say, this is the great and only hope of mankind! (p. 124.)The reader is being taught to ignore any information contrary to what Flurry says. This will make the reader very susceptible to whatever Flurry says.
This is a prophecy that we will proclaim Ezekiel’s temple to all the world. (p. 125.)But PCG has completely failed to do so. PCG is a small group only composed of about 5000 members. They think they will soon become God beings fated to be the elite of the God Family for all eternity. While waiting for this future they throw away three tithes and vast amounts of money to PCG's leaders and those people get to live in luxury. This is how PCG can get about $19.5 million a year in income as was the case in 2012.
The expression “many mansions” should read “many offices.” God has many offices to fill in His Ezekiel temple. These same king-priests will later have offices in new Jerusalem!This is HWA's God Family heresy. It is nonsense.
I hope this destiny stirs us far more than anything else in our lives! The reward given to these pillar-priests, the highest-level offices in God’s Kingdom, is magnificent beyond words! (pp. 126-127.)
It is easy to get bogged down in the present-day drudgery of this world. God has an unbelievably exalted goal for all of us. He wants to lift our thoughts out of this world into an illustrious future world that He will rule. Many people think it is just another fantasy. But they are wrong. Soon Christ will be here to bring peace, joy and abundance to this wretched world. (p. 127.)"Many people think it is just another fantasy" because it is another fantasy. Both the Mormons and even the early Jehovah's Witnesses taught that one could become God beings in the afterlife. The God Family doctrine is a heresy that had long been taught by many other persons. HWA was not original with this idea.
Of course, there is great symbolism in all of this. God’s people must eat manna, or spiritual food, today. They must be ruled by the Ten Commandments, or the law. That means there has to be government based on the law—symbolized by Aaron’s rod. That government must always emanate from God’s throne. The ark of the covenant is all about God ruling man. God’s Church is His temple today (1 Corinthians 6:19; Ephesians 2:21). God is building His spiritual temple now—this very moment! (pp. 127-128.)In other words one must always be loyal to PCG or else (PCG's) God will not be with you. This is manipulative nonsense designed to make people mentally dependent upon PCG.
We do God’s work through His Holy Spirit—typed by the bowl of oil—not by human ability. (p. 130.)Here "human ability" is redefined to mean activity without PCG approval. Any field of activity outside of PCG's purview is belittled as worthless and without divine approval from PCG's God.
All of the Laodicean groups teach a government of man—not God’s government, which Mr. Armstrong taught. (p. 131.)Here "government of man" actually means living outside of PCG's authority.
Everything in the temple revolves around God’s altar, just as the Church today revolves around God’s ministry—symbolized by the altar. God’s very elect today are being trained for a spectacular job in the Ezekiel temple. These saints are compared to pure gold in God’s present and future service. They will be on the highest king-priest level in the Millennium and throughout eternity. God wants us to deeply understand how highly He values our unswerving loyalty! (p. 132.)This is part of why PCG members stay in it despite the many problems there. They think a great reward awaits them if they stay in PCG. So enduring the problems within it seems like a small sacrifice.
Notice the gold has “become” dim. The fine gold is changed. And God is discussing His sanctuary —His own Church and, specifically, the ministers who serve Him! They had God’s precious truth and now are losing it! They have changed from fine gold to dim gold. Thankfully, at this point, they are still gold. There is still hope! This is temple language that obviously applies to God’s own Church. Satan has deceived the ministers and then led most of God’s people astray. “The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold, how are they esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands of the potter!” (verse 2). God likens the “precious sons of Zion” to fine gold. He is discussing His own ministers first of all. Of course, it applies to all of His people too. This same truth is covered in Malachi’s Message. (p. 133.)What Flurry means is that he is disappointed that, aside from John Amos, not one WCG minister chose to join Flurry's banner and serve him within PCG.
God wants us to see the value He places on His own people! Do you see how precious you are to God if you remain His very golden elect? (p. 133.)Flurry wants PCG members to think staying in PCG brings them God's favor. This makes it possible for PCG members to ignore and put up with the many problems within PCG.
Psalm 68 includes prophecy of God’s future world (p. 133).It should be noted that PCG's recruitment program, now called The Key of David, was originally entitled God's Future World. It was later renamed The Key of David, which obliquely refers to the God Family dogma.
Flurry boasts that when Christ returns an earthquake will occur in Jerusalem that will drastically alter the topography of the landscape.
That dramatic event will alter the landscape where Ezekiel’s temple is to be built. This mountain is going to split in half. One half will move to the north and one half to the south. That will create a deep valley running east and west. The Mount of Olives will probably be a good deal higher than it is now. That miracle will immediately bury much of the filth in Jerusalem and will make our landscaping and building programs much easier. (p. 134.)Flurry boasts that such dramatic changes to the topography of the area will occur merely to make it easier for glorified PCG members to rebuild Jerusalem in a manner they wish.
Chapter 14
In this chapter Flurry unveils a "new revelation" to impress PCG members and "prove" that God is only with PCG and no other church, Armstrongite or otherwise. Namely he here proclaims that there will be no animal sacrifices during the millennium.
Because of what is stated in Ezekiel 40 through 48, I thought for years that physical sacrifices would be offered in the Millennium. That is simply not true. Those sacrifices were to deal with carnal people only. Now God gives His Holy Spirit—after His Son was sacrificed—to make us perfect (Matthew 5:48). (p. 139.)I wonder what other persons who lived within HWA's WCG would have to say on this topic. I will note that the topic of whether or not animal sacrifices would be offered during the Millenium was not often discussed.
I have never read or heard where any man taught that the sacrifices in Ezekiel 40-48 were spiritual. But God has revealed this truth to us now to expand the great vision of our future jobs. (p. 140.)And so once again Flurry can claim to have "revealed" some sort of "new revelation". The real purpose of this "new revelation" is not to reveal said knowledge but to provide (inaccurate) evidence that God is with Gerald Flurry alone and to be a Christian is subtly redefined to mean being a PCG member.
When Christ stopped the physical sacrifices, it was forever. Now is the time for spiritual sacrifices forever! (p. 141.)Once again this is Flurry trying to motivate his followers into being willing to go through any sacrifice on behalf of PCG. The PCG follower thinks he or she is pleasing God in this way but rather they are learning how to love being exploited by those who live off of the three tithes and extra financial gifts PCG members are strongly encouraged to give to PCG's leaders.
This gloriously bright Being is the real architect of the temple in Ezekiel’s prophecy! He is the royal author who has revealed this new truth about Ezekiel’s temple — the very subject you are reading about right now! (p. 144.)Here Flurry is assuming to himself the authority of God and claiming to speak in His name. He is claiming that it is God who has "revealed" that there will be no animal sacrifices in the Millennium. In fact it is Gerald Flurry who has made this declaration.
Why would God take men like Josiah or Mr. Armstrong out of the way? (2 Thessalonians 2:7). It’s very simple. Today, God doesn’t want some exalted leader to carry the rest of us. God wants to see how many Josiah and Armstrong attitudes there are so He can see who the elite will be in Ezekiel’s temple. It’s almost time to start building the physical temple. God wants to know who will fill His world-ruling offices! (p. 145.)Many WCG members expected HWA to remain with them until the return of Christ and then forever in the God Family. But HWA is a false prophet so of course these members found themselves to be bitterly disappointed.
We are living in a prophetic time when God is revealing our individual dedication. There are several churches of God in this end time, but only one is doing God’s work. Those saints who commit to Christ’s work are going to receive a fabulous job in Ezekiel’s temple. Soon the whole world will know who is who. It will be obvious by their work.In other words Flurry claims that only PCG is the legitimate continuation of HWA's WCG. Even though both UCG and LCG and maybe even COGWA are able to command the loyalty of even more people than PCG Flurry insists only PCG is legitimate.
God plans to send us to other planets in the universe in the future. He sent Lucifer to planet Earth to administer His government. Lucifer rebelled and destroyed this Earth. God then saw He must recreate Himself (Genesis 1:26). Only His character can rule the Earth and universe. (p. 146.)
And Flurry has a strong financial motive to say this because if one should join PCG then he or she is required to pay three tithes to them and he lives off of the money sent to his organization.
God doesn’t look to evangelists and apostles — men of stature — to do His work. God looks to the very humble man who trembles at His Word. This is where God looks—where you will find His power and His work! (p. 148.)Flurry loathes the fact that (aside from his assistant John Amos) no WCG minister chose to follow him into establishing PCG. This was because Flurry was only ordained in 1973 and was not of particular importance until he got fired by Tkach's WCG.
There will be “no end” to the growth and increase of God’s government. Endless growth! Perhaps God will continue to expand His Family. What God does with His Family beyond the Millennium will make even the Millennium seem dull by comparison! (p. 150.)This is Flurry's attempt to get his readers "on a spiritual high". These words sound marvelous beyond words. But it is all based on the heretical nonsense of HWA's God Family dogma.
God has His people keep the Feast of Tabernacles each year to deeply etch this vision into our minds. We must be taught, retaught and taught again to learn this magnificent vision. That is the only way we will ever get it! Then, when Christ gets here, we will be ready to teach it to the world! (p. 151.)PCG observes the Feast of Tabernacles in an unbiblical and illegitimate manner. HWA devised a completely non-biblical manner of observing it. Rather people were supposed to set up booths within their property and live in it to remember the wanderings of their ancestors. They did not drop everything to go to some place which could be far away and meet up with other Jews in some big eight day indoctrination convention. Rather they met up with their families and built tents within their houses.
The Armstrongites have been dreadfully fooled on this matter. Their perversion of the Feast of Tabernacles into an eight day indoctrination session shows the complete
Flurry ends his booklet with these words.
Before God’s plan is complete, we will help Him teach many billions of people . This is no small concept. God keeps pounding this majestic message into our minds. We are temporary, but created to live forever in God’s Family. That is why we were created!
This is God’s most noble vision. It is beyond human understanding. Only God can reveal such a future to us. (p. 151.)What Flurry really means is to accuse all of humanity outside of PCG of being cut off from God. He insists one may only approach God through his PCG. No where else.
Here "God's most noble vision" is subtly redefined to refer to PCG's teachings. But it is not from God. It is from Gerald Flurry, largely inherited from HWA.
Here "human understanding" is subtly redefined to mean any thought or idea contrary to what is taught by PCG. The reader is being told to not trust any person or any thought contrary to what PCG has taught.
And so we reach the end of Flurry's booklet.
This is yet another booklet designed to make the reader convinced that God is with Gerald Flurry and no one else in order to get the reader to join PCG. No mention is made in this booklet that the members are PCG are required to pay three tithes to PCG's leaders. It is with this teaching that PCG was able to enjoy an annual income of $19.5 million in 2012.
Thanks for being The Watchman to this collection of cults -- the material and analysis is nothing short of amazing.
ReplyDeleteNo one in the Cult of Herbert Armstrong Mafia seems to have understood that if Ezekiel was writing about the end times, he completely failed as a prophet to warn Israel of ancient times (B.C.). There is no particularly good reason to map what is in the Old Testament to the current crop of failed churches of God spouting nonsense, except to prove Fanagle's Law: Draw the curve and pick the points to match.
Sure come up with a nonsensical premise and then bend, distort and lie about irrelevant facts to make them fit your insane premise.
That's not a formula for mental health.
Thank you for your kind comment, Black Ops Mikey. It is much appreciated.
ReplyDelete