Biblical Answers to the World Mission Society Church of God

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.--1 John 4:1

Are you or a loved one struggling with this group? Do you need Biblical answers about the World Mission Society Church of God (WMSCoG or CoGWMS), their founder Ahnsahnghong (Ahn Sahng/Sang-Hong) or their current leader "Mother Jerusalem" (a.k.a. "Heavenly Mother God," Zang/Zahng Gil-Jah, or Chung Gil Cha)? Thank you for coming here. I hope my blog helps you. Questions and comments are always welcome.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Examining Prophecies--David's Throne, Part 1

Another prophecy the World Mission Society Church of God uses to prove Ahn Sahng-Hong as Christ...

When Christ returns
He will reign on David’s throne.
Hosea 3:5; Luke 1:31; 2 Sam. 5:4
According to the WMSCOG, Jesus did not completely fulfill the prophecy of receiving David’s throne.

Since King David was 30 years old when he became king and reigned for 40 years, that is what Jesus was expected to do also. Jesus began His kingship (was baptized) at 30 years old (Luke 3:23), but only ministered for 3 years (approximately). Therefore, His ministry was incomplete. The second coming Christ will have to be baptized at 30 (like David) and preach for the unfulfilled 37 years. Ahnsahnghong was baptized at 30 years old in 1948 and preached the remaining 37 years, dying in 1985. (This is why they will also say that his death was also to fulfill a prophecy—he could not keep preaching after 37 years because he would have exceeded the allotted time.)

Isa. 55:3; Heb. 13:12
Additionally, the sign of the true prophetical King David (according to the WMSCOG) will be that he restores the Passover. This is another prophecy the WMSCOG uses to point to Passover, but I’ll look at the Passover separately, later. Right now, I’m going to look at David’s throne….

Finally, here would be a nice, specific prophecy (baptized at 30, preach for 37 years)—IF it was interpreted correctly, but it’s NOT! I have never, ever seen any Jewish scholar reporting that the prophecy of reigning on David’s throne means that the Jews expected the Messiah to be baptized at 30 years old and rule for 40 years. If there is one out there, the WMSCOG ought to reference it. “Sitting on David’s throne” has nothing to do with the years of David’s reign—it’s all about the family line of David. Why would the WMSCOG misinterpret this prophecy? Because what kind of chance is there that a man from Korean family would be descended from the Jewish King David?

I searched the Scriptures to find out what is meant by “reigning on David’s throne.” As I read each one I asked, in this passage is “David’s throne” referring to the years of reign (beginning at 30, reigning for 40 years)? Or is it referring to the descendants of David ruling on the throne of Israel? Not once did I see a Scripture that could have been meant to refer to the years of reign. If I’ve missed one, I hope someone will be kind enough to point it out.

I'm going to save space and just write the Scripture references. You can look them up quickly at www.biblegateway.com.

2 Sam. 3:9-10
This is before David even began to rule as king. When Abner spoke this, did he know already the years of David’s rule? No. He was talking about David and his line being established as rulers of Israel and Judah.

1 Kings 1:13, 29-37
1 Kings 2:4, 10-12, 24, 33, 45
1 Kings 3:6-7

These verses all refer to Solomon becoming king after David, about Solomon being given David’s throne. As a matter of fact, Solomon did reign for 40 years (1 Kings 11:42), but we don’t know how old he was when he became king. Nevertheless, these verses are given when Solomon BECAME king. Were they limiting their king to 40 years of service? No, they expected David to have descendants sitting on the throne forever.

Psalm 132:11
Isa. 16:5

Who will sit on the throne? “One from the house of David”—a descendant of David.

Isa. 9:7
The Messiah to reign on David’s throne will reign from “that time on and forever,” not a mere 40 years.

Jer. 13:13-14
Jer. 17:25
Jer. 22:1-5
Jer. 29:16

Who are the kings who sit on David’s throne in the book of Jeremiah? Not kings who began their rule at 30 years old and continued for 40 years. They were descendants of David, ruling over Israel and Judah.

Jer. 33:17-21
Who is the man that will sit on the throne? A descendant of David.

Isa. 11:1, 10
Rev. 5:5
Rev. 22:16

These are all about someone from the "root of David" or the "root of Jesse" (who was David's father). That is a reference to the family line, not a number of years.

Luke 1:31-33
Was Jesus expected to reign for only 40 years? No. Did He need someone to complete His remaining 37 years of preaching? No. He rose from the dead and lives forever Himself. “His kingdom will NEVER end.”

But wait—if the prophecy of David’s throne means that the second coming Christ must be a descendant of David, doesn’t that contradict the previous prophecy of him being a Gentile (the order of Melchizedek)?

No, remember Hebrews 7--the prophecy about Melchizedek was not about being a Gentile. Only members of the tribe of Levi were permitted to be priests according to the law. Melchizedek did not obtain his priesthood from his genealogy. Jesus also is not a priest because of His genealogy. He was not from the tribe of Levi. His was a God-given priesthood. Being a priest in the order of Melchizedek does not mean that the Christ must be a Gentile. It means that the Christ is not from the tribe of Levi.

We could say that because Ahnsahnghong was a Gentile, he was definitely not from the tribe of Levi, and so he still would fulfill this prophecy of being in the order of Melchizedek. But He does not fulfill the prophecy of being one of David’s descendants to sit on David’s throne (as it is rightly interpreted).

Click here to go on to Part 2.

7 comments:

  1. At the beginning of this blog you quoted a verse in the bible:

    Hosea 3:5 -- Afterward the Israelites will return and seek the LORD their God and David their king. They will come trembling to the LORD and to his blessings in the last days.

    Can you please explain to me how is this verse possible, because Hosea wrote this around 720BC, but Kind David had died around 1000BC. Then how can King David be found in the last days? This also goes along one more verse I have not been able to understand:

    Ezekiel 37:24 -- "'My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd. They will follow my laws and be careful to keep my decrees.

    Ezekiel wrote this around 530BC, but again King David had already died at this time, yet Ezekiel is talking about the future. How would you explain those two verses?

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  2. Thanks for writing, John.

    Bible scholars agree that "David" was used as a prophetic name for the Messiah (Christ). It's used in Jeremiah 30:9, Ezekiel 34:23-24 and 37:24-25, and Hosea 3:5.

    Here's what the J.F.B. Commentary says about the reference to David in the Ezekiel 34 passage:
    "the antitypical David, Messiah, of the seed of David, which no other king after the captivity was: who was fully, what David was only in a degree, 'the man after God's own heart.' Also, David means beloved: Messiah was truly God's beloved son."

    Did that answer your question?

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  3. what about ACTS 1:11 (this SAME JESUS, Who has been taken from you into heaven, WILL come back in the SAME WAY you have seen him go into heaven


    same/sām/Adjective: Identical; not different; unchanged.


    Pronoun: The same thing as something previously mentioned.

    Adverb: Similarly; in the same way.

    Synonyms: adjective. identical - identic - like - equal - even - similar
    adverb. similarly - likewise

    MY QUESTION, HOW COULD A KOREAN BE 2ND COMING CHRIST WHEN JESUS WAS JEWISH, AND ACCORDINLY tO ACTS 1:11 IT IS THE SAME JESUS, who WILL COME BACK. pLEASE HELP ME UNDERSTAND THIS.

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    Replies
    1. I want to know too! can someone from WMSCOG answer the question above.

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    2. In this verse the disciples are looking up into the sky to see Jesus Christ. The first thing we need to understand about this verse is that Jesus was not taken up into the sky by the clouds. He ascended into the sky and then the clouds covered him (explaining more about Christ coming on the clouds). Also there is something very important about the language the angels use. They ask the disciples "why are you looking into the clouds?" If Christ was supposed to appear literally on the clouds we should absolutely be looking to them to see his return. Yet the angels say "why are you looking at the clouds?" In other words they are saying, you are looking in the wrong place. "This same Jesus will come back in the same way you saw him go". When he left the disciples he was physically a man in the flesh. In the same way we will see him return the same way he left us; in the flesh. Also focusing on the fact that Jesus was Jewish is not entirely the correct way of thinking. It's very ethnocentric to think that God could not possibly come back as something other than maybe say a white male or something like that. We have to understand that God does not care about the physical things "the flesh counts for nothing John 6:63". It doesn't matter if God came to us as a frog, God is God no matter what form, what country, or what nationality Elohim hails from. I hope this helped some of your understanding. God Bless You

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    3. Imagine this... Mom leaves child with a babysitter and says, "I'm going out for a bit, but I want you to do these chores." Then she gets in the car and drives away. The child sits on the doorstep watching the road. Does it make sense for the babysitter to say, "Why are you watching the road? She'll come back the same way you saw her leave."

      Yes. The babysitter said, "Why are you watching the road?" because the child was given something to do and isn't doing it. The babysitter then sais, "She'll come back the same way you saw her leave" so the child will know how to expect the mom to come back. It's ok for the child to look out the window at the road periodically, but not to sit there waiting because there is work to be done.

      The angels did not say "Why are you looking at the clouds" to mean "you are looking in the wrong place." They said it because the disciples were give something to do and they weren't doing it.

      When they said, "This same Jesus will come back in the same way you saw him go" the words for "in the same way" mean "in like manner." If they had meant that He would be born again as a baby, wouldn't they have said, "Jesus will come back the same way He came this time"?

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    4. And its mentioned above

      "This same Jesus will come back in the same way you saw him go". When he left the disciples he was physically a man in the flesh. In the same way we will see him return the same way he left us; in the flesh.
      The point is he had resurrected body, incurruptible body immortal body

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