CG7 Does Not Know If There Will Be a ‘Great Tribulation’

“Orthodox” 16th Century Representation of the “Apocalypse”

In the latest issue of its The Bible Advocate, CG7-Denver has the following statements:

The BA asked Church of God (Seventh Day) ministers their views on the tribulation period prophesied in Matthew 24:21 (see also Mark 13:19 and Luke 21:20-26), whether its fulfillment is in the past, in the present, or in the future. This is an issue on which the Church has no firm position. (The Great Tribulation. The Bible Advocate, November-December 2011, p. 5)

The Bible shows that Great Tribulation will begin (Matthew 24:21) after a time that Jesus called “the beginning of sorrows” (Matthew 24:5-8). And while the sorrows apparently have began, the Great Tribulation itself is still a future event. The above article has a survey that indicates that perhaps half of the CG7 ministry believes this.

The late Herbert W. Armstrong felt that CG7 represented the Sardis era of the Church of God. He once was part of them:

I had been fellowshipping with, working with, the latter part of the Sardis era, as described in Christ’s own words in Revelation 3:1-5. (Autobiography of Herbert W. Armstrong, 1973 ed., page 450).

He was specifically ordained as a minister and apostle by CG7 (a picture of that ministerial ordination license is shown in the article Who Was Herbert W. Armstrong? How is He Viewed Today?). But he left them and was used to found the Philadelphia Church Era. He had seen that CG7 had lost information, would not always teach the truth, and did not have the zeal he felt Jesus required of the most faithful portion of the true Church.

The Bible itself warned that the Sardis Church would lose much of what it had:

1″And to the angel of the church in Sardis write,

‘These things says He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars: “I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. 2 Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect before God. 3 Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent. Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you. 4 You have a few names even in Sardis who have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. (Revelation 3:1-4)

CG7-Denver keeps losing more and more of the truths it once had. And while it can be argued that CG7’s position on the Great Tribuation has always been hard to pin down, I would simply like to state that A.N. Dugger (former, and major, CG7 leader of the 20th century) clearly believed that most of the events in the Book of Revelation were for the future and that the current CG7 teaches that many of those same events were for the past (this is documented in the article Church of God, Seventh Day: History and Teachings).

This latest published position of the Great Tribulation (including words that it has “no firm position”) is disappointing which again, to me at least, confirms that CG7-Denver is at best part of Sardis. Many in Sardis will not watch as they should and will not see what they should be seeing.

Note: After posting this, someone who believes that the destruction of Jerusalem fulfilled the Great Tribulation wrote me. He, like many of the CG7 ministry, believe that this fulfilled Jesus’ words. This is in error.

Let’s look at what Jesus actually stated:

21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22 And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened. (Matthew 24:21-22)

Now consider that there have been worse tribulations than the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. Further consider that unless those days were shortened NO FLESH WOULD BE SAVED. This is not referring to some limited action in Jerusalem. And even if some wish to insist that it is, the reality is that the “elect” received a warning to flee Jerusalem 2-3 years prior to its destruction and many of them ended up in a town called Pella.

The great tribulation has NOT happened. There have been events worse than the 70 A.D. destruction of Jerusalem by Roman armies, and there will be worse events in the future. And this is a trial of tribulation that comes upon the whole world and only the Philadelphians (Revelation 3:7) are promised protection:

10 Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.(Revelation 3:10).

The great tribulation is more than something involving Jerusalem, though Jerusalem will clearly be involved (Matthew 24:15; Daniel 11:31). The great tribulation still remains for the future.

Some articles of related interest may include the following:

Church of God, Seventh Day: History and Teachings Nearly all COG’s I am aware of trace their history through this group. Whaid Rose is the president of the largest CG7 group (Denver). Do you know much about them?
The Sardis Church Era was predominant circa 1600 A.D. to circa 1933 A.D. Discusses early history of the Seventh Day Baptists, Seventh-day Adventists, and COG-7th Day.
Joyce’s Photos of Sardis Sardis is the fifth of the seven churches listed in the Book of Revelation.
Does God Have a 6,000 Year Plan? What Year Does the 6,000 Years End? Was a 6000 year time allowed for humans to rule followed by a literal thousand year reign of Christ on Earth taught by the early Christians? What year may the six thousand years of human rule end? When will Jesus return? 2018 or 2019?
Can the Great Tribulation Begin in 2010, 2011, or 2012? Can the Great Tribulation begin today? What happens before in the “beginning of sorrows”? What happens in the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord? When is the earliest that the Great Tribulation can begin? What is the Day of the Lord?
End of Mayan Calendar 2012–Might 2012 Mean Something? Are there Mayan calendar predictions for change in 2012? Changes were centuries ago predicted by the Hopi Native Americans. Do Mayan/Hindu/Hopi/Buddhist/New Age/Nostradamus prophecies have any value here? Why might Satan have inspired this date? Does the Dresden codex show destruction of the earth by flood? Can the great tribulation start before 2012? How might Barack Obama be involved in 2012?
2012 and the Rise of the Secret Sect This is a link related to a book by Bob Thiel (COGwriter). This also has YouTube videos related to 2012. The book is for those truly interested in understanding how prophecies inter-relate and who want to see a real sequence of end time events.