Questions and Answers
For many years, the (now defunct) Worldwide Church of God (WCG), under its human leader, Herbert W. Armstrong, knew the answer to this question. WCG also knew that God is not a Trinity, but a Family, consisting of two Persons—the Father and the Son. It knew that the Son—Jesus Christ—died and was dead for three days and three nights, and that He was resurrected by God the Father. WCG also knew that even though God is Spirit or a Spirit being, He has spiritual form and shape. When Mr. Armstrong died, changes were introduced under the new administration, in order to become more like “orthodox” Christianity. At first, it was proclaimed that God is just one Person, but He consists of three “hypostases” or modes of being. The “new” WCG adopted this concept from the Greek Orthodox Church. But not being satisfied with that “explanation,” it moved on to embrace the concept of the Trinity, as taught by the Roman Catholic Church and most Protestant churches—one Person in three Persons. (A long-time Evangelist stated at the time that the transition from the Greek Orthodox Church’s concept to the Roman Catholic Church’s concept was never explained.) With this change, the idea was promulgated… The Church of God has understood for many years that Jesus Christ was THE God of the Old Testament. In more recent times, some have lost this understanding and teach now that Jesus was “a” God, but not “the” God of the Old Testament, or that He did not exist prior to His human birth. Some even teach now that the Father was THE God of the Old Testament. All these assumptions and concepts are wrong. In our booklet, “Do You Know the Jesus of the Bible?”, we said the following in chapter 1: “Colossians 1:16 states that ‘all things’—visible and invisible—were created ‘by’ and ‘through’ Jesus Christ. We see in John 1:1–3 that ‘all things’ were made through the Word—the Logos—Jesus Christ; and Hebrews 1:1–2; 2:10 tells us that God the Father made ‘the worlds’ or the entire universe and ‘all things’ ‘through’ Jesus Christ.” This shows that it was Jesus Christ who created Adam and Eve. Continuing: “Jesus Christ spoke of His own pre-existence over and over again. At one time, He stated boldly that He—AS God—had lived before Abraham. The Jews were so outraged that they were willing to stone Jesus. Notice the dialogue and the reaction of the Jews to… In a recent Editorial, we stated “that no one has seen God the Father, except in a vision.” When people saw God in the Old Testament, they saw Jesus Christ. We continued: “When we consider the example of Moses, we find in Exodus 33:11 that ‘the LORD spoke to Moses face to face as a man speaks to his friend’… in Exodus 33:18, Moses asked to see God’s glory. In verse 20 God or Jesus Christ replied and said: ‘You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.’ In verse 23 we find that God did allow Moses to see His back, but not His face. God stated later that Moses saw the form or similitude of the LORD (Numbers 12:8). In these examples, men and, at times, women, had seen the appearance of God, actually Jesus Christ…” We state much more about Jesus Christ, being the God of the Old Testament, in our free booklet, “Jesus Christ—A Great Mystery.” On the other hand, while people never saw God the Father “face to face,” they DID see Him in visions. The Old Testament writers knew about the existence of the Father, and in the New Testament, further visions… One of the issues one must consider when answering the question posed in this Q&A is the warning given to us by Christ, in Matthew 24:4-5: “And Jesus answered and said to them: ‘Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, “I am the Christ,” and will deceive many.’” Notice, there will be many out there trying to deceive you. Notice also verse 24: “For false christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders, so as to deceive, if possible, even the elect.” So the warning is, there will be many false prophets and much deception. Ironically, there are numerous individuals claiming to be the two witnesses. One is claiming that he and his wife are the two witnesses which is patently absurd since they are called prophets, not prophetesses. Revelation 11:10 tells us: “And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them, make merry, and send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.” The Bible reveals that beginning with the New Testament Church, there were no longer prophetesses, and there is no indication that there will be some prior to Christ’s return. For… The question seems to make reference to an event described in Genesis 9. In verses 18-27, we read: (18) Now the sons of Noah who went out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. And Ham was the father of Canaan. (19) These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the whole earth was populated. (20) And Noah began to be a farmer, and he planted a vineyard. (21) Then he drank of the wine and was drunk, and became uncovered in his tent. (22) And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside. (23) But Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and went backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father’s nakedness. (24) So Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done to him. (25) Then he said: “Cursed be Canaan; A servant of servants He shall be to his brethren.” (26) And he said: “Blessed be the Lord, The God of Shem, And may Canaan be his servant. (27) May God enlarge Japheth, And may he dwell in the tents of Shem; And may Canaan be his servant.” A superficial reading of this… Have you ever thought about what was a prophet? Why did God provide them? What was their job? How much do we know about them? How much success did they have? We intend to expand our view of a prophet from what is traditionally thought. There were many prophets mentioned in the Bible, from possibly the first one mentioned in the book of Genesis, namely Enoch, although he was not specifically named as a prophet. We do not find this out about him until we read the book of Jude in verse 14: “Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, ‘Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints…’” The first person actually named by God as a prophet was Abraham (Genesis 20:7). The last person specifically identified and named as a prophet, Agabus, is mentioned in Acts 21:10-11. He prophesied that the Jews would bind Paul and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles. So, what was a prophet? Sometimes they went by the name seer which appears to be an older word for prophet. 1 Samuel 9:9 says: “(Formerly in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, he spoke thus: ‘Come,… In the previous Q&A, we looked at the many changes that will occur at the return of Jesus Christ and finished up by showing that for Satan and his demons, their time of influencing and misleading mankind is almost up. Let us continue in this final Q&A of our series to see the incredible changes that will take place. With the evil demonic world removed, it will be time for re-educating the world in true values. Will there be schools or colleges? In Mr Armstrong’s book, “The Wonderful World Tomorrow,” referenced previously, we read on page 53 the following: “Actually, the Gospel and religious development is merely spiritual education. And it is significant that Elijah had organized and headed three schools or colleges (II Kings 2:3, 5; 4:38 — at Bethel, Jericho, and Gilgal) teaching God’s Truth in a world corrupted by false pagan education.” When properly organised, with a Godly curriculum and teachers who understand the Law of God, schools or colleges for young adults could be wonderful places of true learning and it is possible that these could be the vehicles for true education during the Millennium. Of course, parents will be expected to fulfil the instructions in Deuteronomy 6:5-9, as applied to their children, which was originally given to the ancient nation of Israel but will be even… In the first three Q&As of this series, we have seen how the decline in societal standards has plummeted over many decades, particularly in the area of education, and where we have arrived at the juncture where this madness cannot go on for much longer. Let us now move on to education in the future which is awesome to look forward to, when the standards that God will expect in the Kingdom of God will be instigated at the return of Jesus Christ. Let us again quote from Mr Armstrong’s book, “The Wonderful World Tomorrow,” where he shows on page 63 WHY modern education is wrong: “Modern education has been based on a false, erroneous, untrue foundation. The supposedly educated of this world — even the great minds — have absorbed false knowledge. They have been trained in a false approach to knowledge. Almost always, error is based on a false assumed premise or hypothesis, taken for granted, never questioned — and, of course, unproved. The ‘educated’ minds have been filled with such false hypotheses. They have allowed a false sense of values to flood their minds. “Truth appears to them to be fable. What is right may be to them foolishness. That which… In the previous two Q&As of this series, we reviewed some of the many changes that have occurred during the lifetime of many of us in the education of our children. The fruits are there to be seen today in the way that many of the younger generation behave. As a final look at contemporary education, let us review some recent news items. The following was printed in “Israel 365 News” on 29th March 2021, with the headline, “A plan to root out Christianity in California.” The article stated: “The Department of Education in California… has approved a 900-page ‘Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum’ designed to ‘decolonize’ America. The program aims to right the supposed wrongs of the imperial Christianity that swept the Americas clean of their indigenous religions. The curriculum’s core promise is that it will help root out Christianity, and the capitalism and racism that apparently came with it. “To empower children as forces for ending such white colonialist hangovers, pupils are being instructed to pray in chants each day to Aztec gods that formerly sacrificed (and sometimes ate parts of) children and their parents. The curriculum instructs the pupils to invoke these gods to empower themselves as ‘social warriors’… “Huitzilopochtli, the former Aztec god… In the previous Q&A of this series, we noted that the teaching of evolution has long been a false basis for indoctrinating the young, and with a preponderance of teachers with left-leaning views, we have a completely different picture to that experienced by students in decades past. We also started to look at the influences now at work in education. One conservative student wrote that “To survive college you keep [your mouth] shut when it comes to left versus right. That is the way it goes in USA colleges.” There is no doubt that if anyone wants to influence the young of today, start the process as early as possible at school, and continue this through college and university. Going back some years, we can see how perversion infiltrated the teaching profession and society.In 1970, in the UK, Margaret Thatcher was appointed education secretary and was elected as Prime Minister in 1979. In 1988, under her leadership, there was a classic case that can be seen from its inception to where we are today in terms of bringing and promoting perversion into schools. This would never have been countenanced in previous decades. Wikipedia reports as follows: “Section 28 or Clause 28 was a British…Does God travel?
Was Jesus Christ the God of the Old Testament?
Did People see God the Father in visions? When will His immortal Children see Him in His Glory?
What does the Bible tell us about the two Witnesses?
Why did Noah curse Canaan for a sin committed by Canaan’s father Ham?
What was the role of a Prophet?
Can you elaborate on education today and in God’s Kingdom? (Part 5)
Can you elaborate on education today and in God’s Kingdom? – Part 4
Can you elaborate on education today and in God’s Kingdom? – Part 3
Can you elaborate on education today and in God’s Kingdom? (Part 2)
