Prophesying Again

In November of 1989, following the spectacular news of the Berlin Wall coming down in Germany, a journalist from Seattle contacted the Worldwide Church of God—the headquarters there in Pasadena, California—and, according to the Worldwide News writing in November, also of 1989, here’s what transpired. It says, “The news director was well aware of the World Tomorrow program and the fact that for more than 40 years, the church had been predicting the reunification of Europe in some form. He asked for on-air comments about whether the church believed the opening of the wall was the commencement of end-time prophetic events.” I mean, that was pretty exciting to hear about, at least initially.

Sadly, though, the church representatives of the organization Mr. Armstrong had raised up left that man terribly disappointed. This was just a newscaster in Seattle, and if you know anything about the history of the Worldwide Church of God at the time, you know that even at that point—late in 1989—they already had begun the process of changing Mr. Armstrong’s teachings, of watering down Mr. Armstrong’s many prophetic teachings.

In 1986, for example, the year Mr. Armstrong died, the Worldwide Church of God came out with an updated version of TheUnited States and Britain Prophecy—and this was the most requested book Mr. Armstrong ever produced. It went to about 6 million people, and already just months after he died, they were working to water down the message of that book—and doing it in a dishonest way, a deceitful way, sneaking in changes to that 1986 version. The next year, in 1987, they left the dishonesty aside and just went full force in this change of doctrine. They reduced that book from 184 pages down to 53 pages, and they essentially deleted the last four chapters of the book, which is the strongest part of the message—the conclusion to the message, they just stripped it right out of there. And then in the middle of 1988, just about 2 1/2 years or so after Mr. Armstrong died, the booklet was taken out of circulation. The book that was distributed to 6 million people was gone—no longer mailed out to those who requested it.

So I think you can understand why, just with that one example, why when the newscaster, or that news director, called after the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, why he was so disappointed with what church representatives had to say.

Back to that Worldwide News article, it says, “The news director was disappointed that we would not proclaim this to be the absolute beginning of end-time events, but it was interesting”—this is the Worldwide Church writing—“but it was interesting that he did say that what the church has predicted from the Bible was remarkably close to what appears to be happening.”

Pretty sad commentary on what was once a wondrous work, a mighty work for God! A prophetic work, that went all around the world through the World Tomorrow program, the Plain Truth magazine, which had a circulation of 8 million before Mr. Armstrong died, the many books and booklets over the years, the broadcasting work of Mr. Armstrong, first on radio, then on television.

Let’s look at Revelation 3.

Imagine what Mr. Armstrong would have said, if he was still alive at the time. He died just a few years before, but imagine what he would have told that station manager in 1989. Well you’ve been saying that Europe would unite all these years, for decades in fact! Is it significant that this wall has come down in Europe? And you know what Mr. Armstrong would have said. He would have said absolutely it is! This is the beginning! Europe is uniting. The Bible has prophesied that.

It would’ve been hard for Mr. Armstrong to contain himself. For those of you that have heard him speak, or seen him on those old World Tomorrow programs, he would’ve jumped out of his chair, probably, or jumped into that phone if he could have, to help inform that station manager. But after he died, those that followed his steps—and really they didn’t—but those who said they did, those who said they would, they weren’t as excited about God’s prophecies, they weren’t as excited about God’s truth, as Mr. Armstrong was. Clearly. Obviously.

There is a Proverb that says, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” If there is no prophetic vision, organizations fall. Organizations disappear. That’s what we’ve seen happen to that once-great church, the Worldwide Church of God, it no longer even exists today. And it all started by losing the vision, losing the hope for the future. Gesenius defines that word vision that is mentioned in that Proverb as a vision from God respecting future events.

I mean, a third of the Bible is prophecy, and most of it’s for our time today. God wants us to know what’s coming; God wants us to see what

s ahead. God expects His people to be people of vision.

In Revelation 3 and verse 17 here, though, it speaks of the people of God who lose the vision and who turn to material things instead. Verse 17, “Because you say, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and know not that you are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.” See, if you take away the prophetic vision, this is what we become. This is what we turn to.

And after Mr. Armstrong died, I mean, here was a church that, for the most part, was large and strong and had a message going to out over 380 television stations, 8 million on the circulation, as I said. A united church, a focused church. And yet after he died, it just split apart, into all of these competing organizations—all of them in disagreement with one another, all of them fighting against each other. That’s what happens when we lose our vision of the future, when we let go of that prophetic vision.

Let’s look at Amos chapter 2. God gives us the vision so that we might proclaim it, so that we might teach it. So that we might help others to understand and to see.

Amos chapter 2 and verse 10, God says, “Also I brought you up from the land of Egypt, and led you forty years through the wilderness, to possess the land of the Amorite. And I raised up of your sons for prophets, and your young men for Nazarites. Is it not even thus, O you children of Israel? says the Lord.” God raises up leaders, individuals, prophets, teachers, to do something—to deliver a message.

Verse 12 says “But you gave the Nazarites wine to drink; and commanded the prophets, saying, Prophesy not.” There is always a resistance, though, to that prophetic message going out—because of the god of this world—because of his army that’s working to bury that message. That’s what the great controversy is over within these groups that have split apart since Mr. Armstrong died. Within all of these churches of God, the controversy was over—from the beginning—it was over prophesying, and whether or not we would proclaim God’s truth, God’s prophetic message.

I mean if God said it would happen and then it starts happening, we should be jumping out of our chairs. We should be finding it difficult to contain our excitement, our enthusiasm for God’s Word, for God’s teaching.

Chapter 3 in Amos, “Can two walk together, except they be agreed? Will a lion roar in the forest, when he has no prey? Will a young lion cry out of his den, if he has taken nothing?” There’s a reason, you see, that lions roar. When do they roar, why do they roar? Verse 5, “Can a bird fall in a snare upon the earth, where no gin is for him? Shall one take up a snare from the earth, and have taken nothing at all? Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people be not afraid? Shall there be evil in the city, and the Lord has not done it?”

When the trumpet sounds, I mean that signifies something. In Old Testament Israel, it was a sign of alarm, or invasion. I mean, there were other usages for the trumpet, as well. But the trumpet of war, the trumpet of alarm, was to awaken the people, to help them see what was coming, to help them see that the enemy was approaching.

Wars and rumors of wars are breaking out all over the earth—now what should people of God do when that happens? What should we proclaim? What should be our message? Should we go hide in a cave? Should we bury our head in the sand? Or should we teach? Should we proclaim? Should we warn? Should we watch? Should we blow the trumpet? Of course we sound the alarm.

Verse 7 says, “Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he reveals his secret unto his servants the prophets. The lion and has roared,” verse 8 says, “who will not fear? The Lord God has spoken, who can but prophesy?” When God raises up a work, when He raises up a watchmen, and a watchmen work, that work must prophesy. That work must blow the trumpet—that’s why we’re here.

Let’s look at Revelation 10.

God’s brought us into this to support that message. Now to support it the way He wants us to, it’s important that we see what God sees. That’s why we’ve got to dig into the prophecies of God and know what God has said about these 10 nations, these 10 kings in Europe, that are uniting even now. They have been! I mean, the Berlin Wall coming down 21 years ago, that opened the way for these things to happen. Look at the dramatic changes in Europe since that time! Look at Europe today.

Of course, there’s problems, and, as I’ve covered in that forum on the image of Daniel 2, it’s a mixture of iron and clay. It doesn’t have the strength to durably last for decades and decades and decades, but it certainly will have the strength to rise as a superpower for a few short years! It will have that iron strength to fulfill numerous dramatic prophecies.

Revelation 10 verse 7 says, ” But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he has declared to his servants the prophets.” God, you see, has revealed that there is a mystery that needs to be revealed to this earth, truth revealed to the people of this earth.

Verse 11 says, “And he said unto me, you must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.” So right when this mystery is about to be finished—right when God brings a watchman along to warn the people of God that they’re turning away from His prophecies, that they’re turning away from what Mr. Armstrong taught—right when this happens, God says He raises up a work to warn the nations.

Verse 1 of chapter 11, it talks about, “and there was given me a reed like a rod: and the angel stood, saying, rise, and measure the temple of God”—warn the church, as well, warn those that worship therein. There’s no chapter break, really, in this passage. It’s just one continuous message. And that’s what God is giving us—that’s the vision that He’s given to this church—to warn God’s people, to warn this world, to proclaim what is coming.

We have a booklet titled The Little Book that discusses this prophecy in Revelation 10 and 11. My father writes on page 12, “Even the commission to prophesy again,”—he’s speaking of verse 11, which we just read—“it makes no sense unless you know that the end-time Elijah prophesied the first time. If he hasn’t come, that means Elijah still must come on the scene and prophesy the first time.” Of course he’s talking about the office, or the prophecy that Mr. Armstrong fulfilled, himself. That he came on the scene and fulfilled this the first time. And now here comes another work, a work of raising up the ruins of that work that was destroyed after he died.

Back to the booklet, it says, “The basic theme of our whole work is prophecy. That is what God prophesied it would be in Revelation 10 and verse 11.” That’s been the theme of this work, that’s been around now, really right about that same time that the wall came down. This Church started on Dec. 7, 1989, just a month later—a month after that event when that station manager called Pasadena, and we know from history what was already happening, sadly, in the Worldwide Church of God. But God had a solution! It was a very small beginning! A mustard seed beginning! Just a handful of people, just a little manuscript. And right away, work began on a little newsletter that was called the Philadelphia Trumpet that is now the Trumpet magazine. It’s been around here for 20 years or so—more than that. It has a circulation of over 300,000, that’s just the monthly, print version of the magazine. Soon after that, there was a brief stop on radio before we went to television in 1993, with The Key of David. It’s hard to believe, isn’t it? The Key of David’s been around for over 18 years now. 18 years. It’s on 194 television stations today.

The World Tomorrow program again, sadly, has long since been taken off the air because those following Mr. Armstrong didn’t want that message. They didn’t want on television with God’s truth. They were embarrassed by it, to be frank. They were embarrassed by the prophecies of God. And so someone has to continue. Someone has to carry on. And someone has been, to the tune of about 600 episodes since 1993.

Verse 2, “But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not, for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.” Speaking of that time, then, around the Tribulation. Verse 3, “And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.” Here again, a 3 1/2 year time period. That is the Great Tribulation spoken of in so many prophecies, this 3 1/2 years.

Verse 4, “These are the two olive trees,”—speaking of those witnesses, the two witnesses—“and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth. And if any man will hurt them, fire proceeds out of their mouth, and devours their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.” I mean, what an awesome display! Even as this world erupts into worldwide conflagration and violence, God will make His presence known, using this as a last resort to help mankind see that there is a solution coming! There is and answer to the problems that we just see multiplying in our world.

Notice what it carries on into. You can read the rest of the chapter later. Verse 13, “And the same hour was a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand, and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven. The second woe is past”, verse 14 says, “and, behold, the third woe comes quickly.” I mean, everything is happening so fast, prophecies are being fulfilled so fast. It’s happening so quickly, God says. And look at where it leads.

Verse 15, “And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.” This is where it’s leading! This is what it’s buildingto! The kingdoms of this world becoming God’s kingdom, God’s world! In fact, God has raised up this church to start a new world, to start with education, teaching, to start with that vision of hope.

Look at Ephesians 3.

You look at this world and it needs hope; it needs vision. It needs to know that it’s not just going to end in a revolution and then that’s it. It’s not just going to end with a martyrdom and it’s over. What’s the point?

Ephesians 3 and verse 9, it says, “And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world has been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ.”

It’s a little bit of an awkward translation here, but that word dispensation there, it means to distribute something and it’s implying that there is a work that’s going to be busy with this distribution of God’s truth, even as the world is falling apart. God’s not just going to sit back just because it’s Satan’s world and say nothing, or do nothing! He’s going to help this world, to warn this world about where it’s headed. And then also present this world with the glorious solution to the problems of mankind, the insoluble problems that have never been fixed and that are only worsening with each passing day.

Verse 8 says, “Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.” And then it continues with verse 9.

Paul was just so excited to preach these unsearchable riches and to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, “which from the beginning of this world,” it says, “has been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ.”

See, we have to help make men see this. We have to explain the mystery. And we have to bring people along and help them see how important it is to distribute the mystery, to publish this truth—that’s our commission—to prophesy again.

Verse 10 goes on and says that even the principalities and spirit beings in the angelic realm want to know these mysteries themselves—I mean, they’re peering into God’s work here on earth. They’re excited about it, as well.

You can look at 1 Peter 1 and verse 12 on your own time.

Let me just quote to you, though, an excerpt from our booklet Prophesy Again, which is based upon that verse in Revelation 10 that we read just a moment ago. My father writes in Prophesy Again, “The angels are absolutely dazzled by what God is doing with man, and yet most of God’s people today are not even interested in this mystery because they’re so blind.”

Just like Revelation 3 prophesied, they’ve lost their interest in the truth of God. They’ve lost their interest in studying the Bible. They are no longer excited about praying to the God of this universe. They’ve given up on fasting, on fellowship, on meditation—all those tools that we need to be strong Christians who are willing to fight for God, who are willing to warn for God, who are willing to proclaim God’s truth, who can’t think of doing anything else but standing up and saying something.

My father finished here, saying, “God is evaluating our level of interest in this mind-staggering plan.” That’s quite a statement, but it’s certainly true. God is evaluating our interest level in His work.

People get so caught up into distractions, entertainment, things of that nature, so obsessive over those things and have little or no interest at all in the things of God. It’s sad because God is the only one who has the answers. God is the only one who gives us purpose, hope for the future.

Mr. Armstrong often said that if our heart is not in God’s work, well, we’ll just simply drift away from God. If our heart really isn’t in the work of God. Why is it, if our heart’s not in it, we just drift away? Well, it’s because God’s commission is a vision of hope! God’s work is a prophetic work. If we lose that hope, if we lose our vision of the future, then, well, the work just becomes too difficult to carry on with. It’s too hard to finish, as that proverb says—I mentioned it earlier—“where there is no vision the people perish.” But take heart, take hope, in the rest of the verse. It says, “but he that keeps the law,” he that holds on to it, “happy is he.”