Flossing Flurry's Flaws --
“Malachi's Message” or Malachi's MADNESS?
Jesus Christ
said the TRUTH would make us free (John
the attitude of Gerald Flurry's "Philadelphia Church of
God,"
seems to be a parody of the
go to jail" -- Flurry's teaching seems to be, "Ask
a question,
get disfellowshipped"! He avoids serious doctrinal issues,
questions and debates like the Bubonic Plague! Is he hiding
something? What is
the TRUTH about his book called
"Malachi's Message" for the end-time?
William F. Dankenbring
In
a recent issue of The Philadelphia Trumpet, published by Gerald Flurry and
the Philadelphia Church of God, Gerald Flurry states in the lead article that
his book Malachi's Message
IS the prophesied
fulfillment of the Scripture in Revelation 10, where we read:
"And I saw another mighty angel come
down from heaven, clothed
with a cloud: and a
rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as
it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire: And he had in his hand
a LITTLE BOOK open:
and he set his right foot upon the sea, and
his left foot on the earth, and cried with a loud voice, as
when a lion
roareth: and when he had cried, SEVEN THUNDERS uttered
their
voices. And when the
SEVEN THUNDERS had uttered their voices,
I
was about to write: and I heard a voice
from heaven saying unto me,
Seal
up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them
not. . . . And I went unto the angel, and said unto him,
Give me the
LITTLE BOOK. And he
said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it
shall make thy belly
bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey.
And
I took the LITTLE BOOK out of the angel's hand, and ate it up;
and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten
it, my belly was bitter.
And he said unto me, Thou must prophecy
again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and
kings"
(Rev.10:1-11).
In
this recent article, Gerald Flurry asserted dogmatically and without shame that
HIS book, Malachi's Message, IS this "little book" mentioned in
Revelation 10, which was sweet as honey to the taste, but bitter as bile to the
stomach! He claimed without pause or
proof that things uttered by the "seven thunders" were seven messages
contained in his book!
I
have read Malachi's Message -- and brethren, I assure you -- I tell you
most plainly and pointedly -- that it is no prize winner. It is a product of Gerald Flurry's own
imagination, riddled with doctrinal errors and huge gaping flaws -- EASILY
disproved by ANYONE who has an open mind, who is willing to question, test, and
examine the statements, and LOOK UP EVERY quoted SCRIPTURE! Gerald Flurry's book is NOT the "little
book" John was told to eat, and has nothing whatsoever to do with the "seven
thunders"! It is an IMPOSTOR, JUST
LIKE GERALD FLURRY IS AN IMPOSTOR!
Let's
take a good look at some of the GLARING ERRORS contained in Malachi's
Message -- before YOU become hooked on spiritual poison and become a spiritual fatality!
Gerald Flurry Versus
the Real Malachi
Now,
I have nothing "personal" against Gerald Flurry and his new
organization. Howver,
I have heard some things about them which cause me to grieve. They appear to have retreated into a form of
"isolationism" and are not carefully "proving all things,"
as Paul commanded us to do (I Thess.5:21).
They have retreated into the past, a time warp, where Herbert W.
Armstrong -- despite his many faults, blemishes and errors -- is virtually
"worshiped," put up on a pedestal, and glorified as the
"Elijah" to come. Yet Herbert
Armstrong himself admitted he was not a "prophet," and made many,
many mistakes throughout his life. The
prophecies concerning the coming "Elijah" say that he will restore
the truth of God. Herbert Armstrong did
restore some of God's truth -- but far from all of it -- and he was in error on
some very important points.
Furthermore,
the Elijah to come is prophesied to "turn the heart of the fathers to the
children, and the heart of the children to the fathers" (Mal.4:6) -- and
the dropout rate of young people from the Worldwide Church of God was enormous
when Herbert Armstrong was alive. They
have failed to truly
reconcile fathers and children.
Family break-ups were at high levels.
Husbands were divorcing wives and wives were leaving husbands. The situation in the Worldwide Church of God,
during Herbert Armstrong's later years, was chaotic, with divorce and
remarriage at all-time highs. Certainly
these would not be the "fruits" of the ministry of the
"Elijah" to come!
Gerald
Flurry is right to compare the present-day leader of the Worldwide Church of
God to "Judas Iscariot." The
modern leadership of the Church is indeed betraying Jesus Christ and His
truth! The Worldwide Church of God has
truly slipped into a state of precarious apostasy!
The Great Errors of Gerald
Flurry
However,
Flurry himself is also grievously wrong in many of his doctrines, espoused in Malachi's
Message. He is totally wrong to use
the prophecy in Zechariah concerning "Joshua the high priest" and to
claim it refers to Joseph Tkach. Notice!
According to Flurry:
"Joshua was Zerubbabel's
chief assistant. They are both end-time
types
of two men who work together just before Christ's
return. Joshua rebelled
and 'despised the day of small things.' He turned away from the way
Zerubbabel built.
That is how Satan got to him (Zech.3:1).
"The
'man of sin' rules in God's
instructions of 'he' who was 'taken out of the way' (II
Thes.2). There is
to be a Judas-like betrayal today, just as there was with
Joshua.
"And
end-time Joshua and the 'man of sin' reign in God's Church just before
Christ's
return (Zech.3:8; II Thes.2:1-3). Are
the one and the same? Both turn
away from past instructions.
Both have filthy garments.
Failing to submit to
Christ's
government is the major problem of both men" (MM, p.61).
Sadly,
this exegesis is all mixed up, spiritually.
The "man of sin" of II Thessalonians refers most directly to
the future "BEAST" or ruler of the end-time Babylonian Empire
(Rev.17:10) who will literally sit in the Temple of God, soon to be rebuilt in
Jerusalem (Rev.11:-1-2). He will
literally sit in the
Tkach does not literally claim that he is "God." This prophecy can only refer to him as a
secondary type, since he does "exalt himself" and sits in the
"Church" and acts with brazen impunity as he changes doctrines. But the primary meaning of this Scripture is
obviously as a reference to the end-time Dictator who, like Antiochus Epiphanes, will desolate God's Temple and install the
abomination of desolation (see Dan.11:31-32; Matt.24:15-21) and who will
persecute God's people (Rev.12:14-16).
Who is "Joshua"
the High Priest?
Flurry
also completely misunderstands the significance of "Joshua the high
priest" in Zechariah 3, also. Let's
notice this passage carefully.
"Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel
of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. The LORD said to Satan, 'The LORD rebuke you, Satan!
The LORD, who has chosen
Notice! This man is snatched FROM the
"fire," a type of the Great Tribulation. That means he is SAVED! He is a chosens
vessel of Almighty God! He is most defnitely NOT an "apostate" who starts out well
but ends up going astray! Rather, the
exact OPPOSITE is true! Let's continue
the passage:
"Now Joshua was dressed in FILTHY CLOTHES as he stood before
the angel. The angel said to
those who were standing before him, 'Take off his filthy clothes.' Then he said to Joshua, 'See, I have TAKEN
AWAY YOUR SIN, and I will put rich garments on you.' Then I said, 'Put a clean turban on his
head.' So they put a clean turban on his
head and clothed him, while the angel of the LORD stood by" (Zech.3:3-8).
This
scene shows a man who was filthy with sins, but who REPENTED -- and who was
then used mightily by God! This
describes the very opposite of a man plunging into APOSTASY -- it shows a man
FORSAKING apostasy and REPENTING of a grievous, filthy, spiritual past!
In
ancient times, Joshua the high priest and Zerubbabel
the governor of
become level ground. Then
he will bring out the capstone to shouts of "God bless it!' God bless
it!"' Then the word of the LORD
came to me: 'The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation; his hands will also
COMPLETE IT. Then you will know that the
LORD Almighty has sent me to you" (Zech.4:4-9).
Notice! This cannot refer to Herbert Armstrong, not
even in type. Even if one suggests that
God used him to begin His end-time work in 1934, he is now DEAD. He most certainly will NOT
"complete" or "finish" the Work of the Church! Therefore, he was NOT an end-time
"type" or fulfillment of "Zerubbabel"! That should be perfectly plain.
The
Scripture goes on, however, "Who despises the day of small things? Men will REJOICE when they see the plumb line
in the hand of Zerubbabel. . .' Then I asked
the angel, 'What are these two olive trees on the right and the left of the lampstand?' Again I
asked him, 'What are these two olive branches beside the two gold pipes that
pour out golden oil?' He replied, 'Do
you not know what these are?' 'No, my
lord' I said. So he said, 'These are the
TWO WHO ARE ANOINTED TO SERVE THE LORD of all the earth'" (Zech.4:10-14).
What
is this talking about? These two
"anointed ones" were Zerubbabel and Joshua
the high priest! They were a type of the
TWO WITNESSES of the End Time! They
worked TOGETHER to finish and complete the WORK OF GOD on earth, prior to the return
of Jesus Christ!
Therefore,
in no way could this prophecy refer to Herbert Armstrong -- who is now DEAD --
and Joseph Tkach -- who has now turned ASIDE from the
true paths of God!
Rather,
as John writes in the book of Revelation, Almight God
says:
"And I will give POWER TO MY TWO
WITNESSES, and they
will prophecy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth. These ARE
the two olive trees and the two lampstands
that stand before the
Lord
of the earth. If anyone tries to harm them, fire comes
from
their mouths and devours their enemies. This is how any one who
wants to harm them must die.
These men have power to shut up the
sky so that it will not rain during the time they are
prophesying; and
they have power to turn the waters into blood and to strike
the earth
with every kind of plague as often as they want"
(Rev.12:3-6).
How
clear! Joshua the high priest and Zerubbabel were two powerful servants of God who were types
of the end-time Two Witnesses prophesied in the book of Revelation. In no way, therefore, is "Joshua" a
type of that miserable dog and cur Joseph W. Tkach
who has sold his soul to the devil and has departed from the faith and followed
in the diabolical footsteps of Judas Iscariot, the supreme traitor of all time!
Flurry and the "
Flurry
is also dead wrong when he claims, "Even if a temple is built in
This
is utter nonsense. The prophet Daniel
foretold of a
Furthermore,
to claim that this
Talking
about this end-time Temple, God says, "This is what the LORD Almighty
says: 'In a little while I will once more
SHAKE THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH, the sea and the dry land. I will SHAKE ALL NATIONS, and the desired of
all nations [Christ the Messiah!] will COME, and I will fill this house [the
'The glory of this present house
will be greater than the glory of the former house,' says the LORD
Almighty. 'And in this place I will
grant peace,' declares the LORD Almighty' (Hag.2:6-9).
Gerald
Flurry says any
the final things remaining that must be accomplished before
the return of the Messiah is the rebuilding of His
Hence,
here we see that Gerald Flurry's "Message" is the EXACT OPPOSITE
OF MALACHI'S MESSAGE! Only Satan the
devil could inspire him to call his horrible error "Malach's
Message"! Whom will you believe?
The Mystery of the 144,000
Flurry
claims that the
"The Laodiceans
will DIE and be sealed during the 2 1/2 year
Tribulation.
Therefore, we can see that the 144,000 of God's people
receive their salvation through the Tribulation experience
-- and
death" (p.29).
He
adds,
"Again, the Bible indicates that all
the Laodiceans who enter
God's
Kingdom must DIE for God
(Rev.6:9-11; 12:11-12).
You
should read every word. . . . The Laodiceans have to
prove
themselves by dying for God" (MM,
p.30, his emphasis).
These
Scriptures simply do not say what Gerald Flurry says they say. Rather, Rev.6:9-11 speaks of MANY true
Christians dying during the Great Tribulation.
But it does not say ALL will perish in martyrdom! Similarly, Revelation 12:11-12 merely states
that the devil will come down to the earth with great wrath and fury. Verses 14-16 show that some of God's people
will be protected from Satan; but others will be persecuted. There is NO MENTION OF MARTYRDOM, although it
will certainly happen to SOME! Persecution
is NOT "martyrdom"! Many will
be persecuted, thrown in prison, and treated horribly. Some will definitely be martyred -- but
nowhere does God say all the Laodiceans will be
martyred -- only that they will suffer the "fire" of the Great Tribulation
(Rev.3:18). In the process, many of them
will finally REPENT, and learn their lesson.
Who
then are the real 144,000 of Revelation?
Let's understand! The apostle
John sees them after the Great Tribulation (Rev.6:11-17), during a pause before
the Day of the Lord begins, when God Himself sends plagues upon the earth
(Rev.7:1-2). John says quite clearly that they are 12,000 from EACH of the 12
tribes of
What
is this "sealing"? It cannot
be receiving of God's Spirit -- they already have that, being "servants of
God." To claim that is is "death," as Flurry does, makes
no sense whatsoever. These people are
SURVIVORS, still alive at the end of the Great Tribulation! What, then, is it? Notice!
"Then I heard him call out in a loud voice, 'Bring the guards of
the city here, each with a WEAPON in his hand.'
And I saw six men coming from the direction of the upper gate, which
faces north, each with a deadly weapon in his hand. With them was a man clothed in linen who had
a writing kit at his side. They came in
and stood beside the bronze altar. . . . Then the LORD called to the man clothed
in linen who had the writing kit at his side and said
to him, 'Go throughout the city of
Ezekiel
continues: "As I listened, he said
to the others [other angels], 'Follow him through the city and KILL, without
showing pity or compassion. Slaughter
old me, young men and maidens, women and children, but DO NOT TOUCH ANYONE WHO
HAS THE MARK" (Ezekiel 9:1-6).
This
"mark" is the same thing as the "seal" in Revelation 7:3 --
it is the "seal" or "mark" of divine PROTECTION and setting
apart! In other words, the PLAGUES OF
GOD which will fall upon the earth during the Day of the Lord,
will not harm or touch the "sealed" and protected servants of God who
are still alive at that time! They will
be supernaturally SPARED and SAVED from the judgment that will fall upon the
heads of all the wicked!
"The Government of
God"?
Unfortunately,
Gerald Flurry's so-called "Philadelphia Church of God" is no more the
true "
Flurry
believes that the "government of God" is only in his
"church" group today. He
thunders at everybody else:
"When we reach 'the great and
dreadful day of the Lord,' all
rebellion from the Church against the Elijah Work [which he
claims is his work] is removed. At that point, all Firstfruits
support what Christ has restored through HWA or they are
dead spirtually! Even though HWA died before 'the great and
dreadful Day of the Lord,' there are many who still don't
support
what Christ restored though him. When that Day arrives,
ALL
CHURCH MEMBERS WHO STILL REBEL AGAINST
GOD'S
GOVERNMENT WILL BE CUT OFF FOREVER!"
(MM, p.29).
Flurry's
"church government" is just another totalitarian, dictatorial,
heavy-handed, tyrannical form of HUMAN government. Although professing to be God's Church, and
therefore claiming God is in charge of ONLY that Church, Flurry has proved by
his errors and his attitude that God is not in that Church! It is just another
of Satan's End-time Deceptions!
Speaking
about Church government in the
"Ye know that the princes of the
Gentiles EXERCISE DOMINION
over them, and they that are great exercise AUTHORITY upon
them.
BUT
IT SHALL NOT BE SO AMONG YOU: but
whosoever will
be great among you, let him be your minister [servant]; and
whosoever
will be chief among you, let him be YOUR SERVANT: even as the
Son
of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to
give his life a ransom for many" (Matt.20:24-28).
Flurry
threatens all who don't follow HIM and his group with DEATH in the Great
Tribulation, unless they repent NOW. He
claims their "sealing" means being MARTYRED during the Great
Tribulation. Knowing that we serve a
righteous and a just God, I suspect that God will reserve for Gerald Flurry the
very punishment that he so quickly threatens so many others with!
On
the last page of his book, page 83, Flurry says:
"We are going to be accused of
rebelling against God and His
authority. WE ARE
DOING JUST THE OPPOSITE! . . . Who
has a government problem?
The whole battle we face is struggling
to cling to Christ's government. . . . WE ARE NOT REBELLING
--
WE ARE TAKING A STAND AGAINST THOSE WHO ARE!"
Of
course, Joseph Tkach and the Worldwide Church of God
do accuse Flurry and his group of rebelling against "Church
authority" and the "government of God." But now Flurry and his group are accusing
others of the very same thing when they disagree with him! So what we see here is a strange theological
oxymoron. Flurry is guilty of doing the
very same thing he accuses Tkach and the
If
Flurry were taking a stand against those who are rebelling against God, and if
he were standing up for the TRUTH of God, and not just for old ERRORS and
doctrinal mistakes of the past, then I
would have nothing against him -- I would cheer him and and
root for his team. But alas, I cannot do
that. The "fruits" have proven
that his group is just another "miniature Worldwide" with all of its
governmental errors and doctrinal faults -- including the abuse of authority
and stubborn refusal to admit and confess their mistakes, and to repent and
receive proven and provable new Truth!
Flurry and his Church have shown no interest whatsoever in the revealed
new truth God has given us of the correct dates to observe the Passover and
Pentecost! In fact, he ridicules the
truth, and insists that anciently the Jews kept the Passover at the beginning
of Nisan 14, and later lost that knowledge -- despite all the evidence of the
Jewish history, Talmud, Mishnah, and the Bible
itself, to the contrary!
I
sincerely wish that Gerald Flurry and his "Philadelphia Church of
God" were truly seeking to serve God and seeking His Truth. But the "fruits" prove
otherwise. Yet many former Worldwide
Church of God members are being sucked right into the vortex of his spiritual
whirlpool, where they will drown, spiritually, unless they free themselves from
his error and authoritarian management!
Whom Will You BELIEVE?
Finally,
in the conclusion of his book, Malachi's Message, Gerald Flurry
declares, with seeming sincerity and authority:
"Brethren, please study and digest
this message, and pray fervently
for God to guide you.
BELIEVE YOUR BIBLE
-- NOT MEN!
Your
eternal life hangs in the balance" (MM, p.83,
On
this one thing Gerald Flurry is certainly right. You should definitely "BELIEVE YOUR
BIBLE -- NOT MEN!" (p.83). And that includes Gerald Flurry!
Flurry
also tells people who read his book, "
"GOD
COMMANDS -- TEST YOUR LEADERS" (p. 5).
This
also is very good advice. And it applies
just as much to Gerald Flurry as
it does to Joseph W. Tkach, or any other man on the
earth, today! Flurry declares:
"The point is, THOSE CLOSE TO GOD
FOLLOWED
JESUS
CHRIST -- not some of the deceived leaders in
God's Church."
Flurry
continues:
"We often ask the question, 'Is he
out of the Church?' But that
isn't the most important question. That isn't the question the
Apostle
John was most concerned about. His
followers were
'cast out' of the
because they were actually FOLLOWING CHRIST! Following
Christ
has gotten many people kicked out of God's Churches --
when those Churches were going astray. A CHRISTIAN IS ONE
WHO
FOLLOWS CHRIST -- not a man or a church organization"
(MM, p.4).
Isn't
that amazing? Gerald Flurry knows
this truth. He even writes about
it. Indeed, a TRUE CHRISTIAN IS ONE WHO
FOLLOWS CHRIST! But why, then, doesn't
Gerald Flurry do as he says, and FOLLOW CHRIST? Christ kept the Passover with the Jews of His
day, throughout His life (Luke
Why
doesn't Gerald Flurry take the hint -- and OBEY GOD?
Is
Flurry, therefore, really "FOLLOWING
CHRIST?"
"WOE To the Shepherds"!
The
Word of God has some strong words for modern ministers, like Gerald Flurry, who
claim to be His official representatives.
God Himself thunders, "To the shepherds: Thus said the Lord GOD: Ah, you shepherds of
Jeremiah
the prophet wrote, "'WOE to the shepherds who are destroying and
scattering the sheep of my pasture!' declares the LORD. Therefore this is what the LORD, the God of
Israel, says to the shepherds who tend my people: 'Because you have
SCATTERED my flock and DRIVEN
THEM AWAY [through "disfellowhipment" as
well as other means, including "boring them to death" in some cases]
and have not bestowed care on them, I will bestow PUNISHMENT on you for the
EVIL you have done,' declares the LORD'" (Jer.23:1-2).
I
sincerely hope that Gerald Flurry and those ministers with him will both come
to full repentance before they go so far adrift from the truth which they once
held that they earn for themselves the full, undiluted and undiminished WRATH
and fury of God, which He will pour out on the wicked shepherds, the evil
ministers, and all those who MISLEAD God's people! As the apostle Paul wrote to the Romans,
"The WRATH OF GOD is being revealed from heaven against ALL the
godlessness and wickedness of MEN WHO SUPPRESS THE TRUTH by their
wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has
made it plain to them. . . . so that [these] men are
without excuse" (Rom.1:18-20).
This
is no small matter, but something ALL should take with the utmost
seriousness and urgency.
Presently,
the "Philadelphia Church of God" possesses fatal and dangerous errors. They came out of Worldwide, but not "all
the way out" of
I
hope and pray that the leaders of the Philadelphia Church of God will come to a
much fuller and deeper repentence and submission to
the will of God. It is right that they
should help expose
the errors of Worldwide -- but they should not blind themselves to REAL new
truth, and bring people into servitude and cruel "bondage" to
themselves -- replacing one dictatorship with another! They themselves must also open their eyes to
the fact that Herbert Armstrong did not have all the truth, and that we must
continue to GROW in grace and the knowledge of God's Word and HIS LAWS (II
Pet.3:18). If they follow the example of
Worldwide, and put people out for asking questions, or bringing up serious new
truth, then they are no better than the apostates they are fleeing from -- they
are just "the pot calling the kettle black" -- modern hypocrites!
A FINAL WARNING
Some
people think I speak out too harshly and strongly in denunciation and
condemnation of the errors of others -- whether they be
Joseph Tkach, Gerald Flurry, Garner Ted Armstrong,
Ron Dart, Roderick Meredith, or anyone else.
However, I do not believe that
to be the truth. Those same people would
probably condenn John the Baptist for saying to the
Pharisees -- the leaders of the "
"O generation of VIPERS, who hath
warned you to flee from the
wrath to come? Bring
forth therefore FRUITS MEET FOR
REPENTANCE"
(Matt.3:7-8).
These
sincere and well-meaning people don't think I should speak out so negatively,
but just concentrate on "preaching the gospel." I suppose they would also, therefore, condemn
Christ Himself, who said of false ministers and apostates of His time --
"WOE unto you,
scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! . . . Ye serpents, ye
generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of
hell?" (Matt.
23:27,
33).
It
is not right to cover up evil, or to ignore doctrinal error. It is SIN to do so! God's Word thunders, "Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine
heart: thou shalt
in any wise REBUKE THY NEIGHBOUR, and not suffer SIN upon him" (Leviticus