WCG’s Latest on Revelation

TRANSFORMED FROM TRUTH

Worldwide Church of God Transformed from Truth to Fairy Tales

In the October 2008 edition of its Christian Odyssey magazine, WCG reported:

Revelation

It’s No Mystery

By Mike Feazell

The book of Revelation holds special interest for many Christians. With its strange, many-headed monsters and mystifying symbols, Revelation has provided through the centuries the raw material for a myriad of equally strange and mystifying interpretations and predictions.

From the second century on, every succeeding generation of Christians has had its prophecy pundits who claimed to understand and rightly “interpret” Revelation’s symbols as referring to nations and events in their particular day and “proving” that Christ would return in their generation. And all of them were wrong.

Our generation is no different…

“What must soon take place”

Most biblical scholars agree that Revelation was written sometime in the late first century after the sacking of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Jewish Temple (A.D. 70). The intense persecution against Christians in Rome launched by the Roman emperor Nero would have been at least a recent vivid memory for believers, and renewed abuse by Roman authorities was an ever-present fear. Christian hope was understandably challenged by the stories of Roman Christians being rounded up and imprisoned, butchered, fed to lions in the arena, enslaved, or smeared with tar and burned as human torches on crosses along Roman roadsides.

The author of Revelation describes himself as John, writing as an exile on an island in the Aegean Sea called Patmos, located off the coast of what is today south-western Turkey. His purpose is simple: “…to show his [Jesus’] servants what must soon take place” (Revelation 1:1). In other words, the author was writing about events of his day, not about the flow of history through the centuries and millennia to come after him.

Apparently, however, it’s no fun to believe that Revelation was actually about things that were to take place “soon” after the book was written. Here we are, 19 centuries later, still trying to find ways to interpret it as having been written for our day.

WCG used to understand that the Book of Revelation is not only relevant for today, it really does discuss and provide prophetic information that actually will be fulfilled in the 21st century.

Many who discount prophecy seem to do it by only partially quoting the Bible, or basing a doctrine on a misleading translation. For example, the above article has the subheadline “What must soon take place”. The implication is that 1900 years is not soon, thus the Book of Revelation really is not revealing things that will occur in the 21st century associated with the Great Tribulation, Day of the Lord, the return of Christ, the millenium, and beyond.

But Jesus, in the Book of Revelation itself in the NKJV, states:

Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this (Revelation 1:19).

Thus, it was most obviously NOT just for the 1st and early 2nd centuries.

Furthermore, even if WCG and others wish to insist that their misleading translation is correct, then they should look at the last chapter of the Book of Revelation, where Jesus states:

Surely I am coming quickly (Revelation 22:20).

So, either Jesus is liar (which He was not) or the new WCG simply does not wish to truly understand the prophecies of the Book of Revelation.

Additionally, the Book of Revelation itself gives shows that certain events would take a relatively long time to be fulfilled. Why else would it quote those who state:

“How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” (Revelation 6:10)

Thus, long time periods for the fulfillment in at least parts of what the book teaches were themselves prophesied.

The Book of Revelation is prophetic and many of the prophecies will be fulfilled in the 21st century.

Those like the WCG that fail to keep the biblical holy days (like the Feast of Tabernacles that began last night) simply often misunderstand much of biblical prophecy.

Those who do not understand (or like WCG, no longer understand) that God has a 7000 year plan, with the 6000 years of human rule to end in the 21st century simply are not heeding the many commands from Jesus to “watch”.

But those events written in the Book of Revelation that have not yet occured, “the things which will take place”.

Several articles of possibly related interest may include:

The 18 Restored Truths: Do You Know What the First Changes the Tkach Administration Made? Some have said healing, others other subjects, but probably the first change had to do with eliminating being part of the Philadelphia era. This article documents what those changes were and compares the Tkach list of restored truths to Herbert W. Armstrong’s list of restored truths. It contains many quotes from Herbert W. Armstrong.
Why Prophecy? Because the World Will Not End Next Week Some question or downplay the role of prophecy. This article gives some of the biblical reasons what it is important and explains why the world cannot end for at least 3 1/3 years from now.
End of Mayan Calendar 2012–Might 2012 Mean Something? There is a Mayan calendar prediction for change in 2012. 2012 changes were also centuries ago predicted by the Hopi Native Americans (the Hindus may have some predictions for the next decade as well). Do these Mayan/Hindu/Hopi prophecies have any value? 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?
Did The Early Church Teach Millenarianism? Was the millennium (sometimes called chiliasm) taught by early Christians? Who condemned it. Will Jesus literally reign for 1000 years on the earth? Is this time near?
Does God Have a 7,000 Year Plan? What Year Does the 6,000 Years of Human Rule 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? When does the six thousand years of human rule end?