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.

Monday, April 12, 2010

Examining Prophecies--Melchizedek

A continuing look at the prophecies the World Mission Society Church of God uses to prove Ahnsahngong as God, the second coming Christ. Remember, the goal is to see if the prophecies point to Ahnsahnghong as the unique one to fulfill them....

When Christ returns for the second time
He will come in the order of Melchizedek.
Hebrews 7:1-4
"For this Melchizedek ... without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest continually."

The WMSCOG says this means that the second coming Christ will fulfill these prophecies:
1) He will bless us with eternal life through the Passover bread and wine.
2) He will be born among unbelievers ("without father or mother").
3) He will be born of Gentiles ("without genealogy").
4) He is God ("without beginning of days or end of life").
(These are taken straight from the church website: http://english.watv.org/truth/christ_melchizedek.html)

Looking at those points one by one:
#1 about the Passover—I’ll look at that separately with the prophecy about “restoring the Passover.”

#4 about being God, without beginning of days or end of life…well, we know that Ahnsahnghong was born and then died here on earth and no one saw him alive again. So to say that he fulfilled this part of the prophecy already assumes that he is God. The conclusion of examining these prophecies will show whether he is God or not.

#2 and 3 are similar—he will be born to Gentile unbelievers. We can discuss whether this is an accurate interpretation since reading the rest of Hebrews 7 gives a much clearer idea of what being a “priest in the order of Melchizedek” means, and there are serious ramifications of having God raised by unbelieving parents (Was his family Buddhist? As a child did he honor his parents and worship a false god?!?!).

However, just going with it for now… yes, Ahnsahnghong fulfilled that interpretation of the prophecy, but let’s estimate how many other people would also fulfill this prophecy. A conservative estimate of the world’s population is 6.6 billion. We’ll take the large estimate of 18 million Jews and 2.1 billion Christians. That still leaves more than 4 billion people. Even considering that there were fewer people in 1948 and that not all of those people are “from the east”, that is still an enormous number! Even if you consider South Korea only, the population who are not Jewish or Christian still numbers about 25 million!

But what does it really mean to come "in the order of Melchizedek"? The WMSCOG frequently takes verses out of context. If you read all of Hebrews chapter 7, you can see clearly that Paul was showing all the ways Jesus as a priest was similar to the priest Melchizedek. By law, the priests were to be from the tribe of Levi, but Melchizedek was not. The idea is NOT that the Christ needs to be from a non-Israelite (Gentile) family, but that he is from a non-Levite family.

Hebrews 7:16
"who has come, not according to the law of a fleshly commandment, but according to the power of an endless life."
(He was not a Levite, but He did raise Himself from the dead.)

In other words, in Hebrews 7, Paul is talking about the Jesus who lived, died and rose again, not another, different second coming Christ.

You can see how easy it is to start with the assumption that Ahnsahnghong is the second coming Christ, and then look for all the “prophecies” he fulfilled. It’s much harder to start with the prophecies (even the WMSCOG interpretations), and use them to pinpoint Ahnsahnghong as the only one who fulfilled them. But I'll keep looking for a more specific prophecy...

7 comments:

  1. Genny.. If you dont mind me commenting.. Melchizedek (or properly pronounced, Malik zedek or King Of Rightousness) was a common Deity of Cannanite Religions.. Yet when I mentioned that, I was blown off. Iam a historian and the jew whose better half is unfortunatly a member of this "Church".

    Id like to add, that the name was common for the Jebusuites who inhabited the region of what is now Jerusalem and this was one of their dieties.

    Also in Judaism, Melchizedek as also known to be Shem as noted in the Talmud.

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  2. Thanks, Hal. That's interesting. (Readers who would like to get a little more information, here's a link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melchizedek)

    I'm glad to hear a Jewish perspective. Regarding prophecies of the Messiah, what do you think about the WMSCOG's insistence that he should come from an unbelieving family (wmscog's prophecy of Melchizedek) and that he must rule/preach 40 years (wmscog's prophecy of David's throne)? In my research I have not come across any Jewish teachings interpreting prophecies that way.

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  3. The problem with the church is that they are so ingrained that "father" and "mother" must preach that they will not understand the actual meaning. During the time of Jesus, preaching was done in every town and city in Judah (or Iudea during the Roman times). Jesus's preaching was no different. Today's Pharisee's (which ironically most of the WMSCOG can not recognize in today's form) are known as Rabbi's or Masters.

    As far as the prophicies are consider, Judaism does not split G-d like a pie such as the holy trinity which ironically is a form of paganism. The Messiah (which only means annointed one) must meet all of the prophcies and will come once. Such as the failure of Simon Bar Kokhba.

    Im going to post the reasoning of Jesus's failure of being the Messiah...

    •Be an ordinary human being (as opposed to the Son of God)

    Our Messiah will not claim devinity.

    •Bring peace to the world

    Last I checked, during the time before through and after Jesus (and including Ahnsahnhong) there has been war. Ahnsahnhong does not meet this or a few other prophcies.

    •Gather all Jews back into Israel

    There are only a tad more Jews back in Israel than there are in the US. So unfortunatly this prophecy has not been met.

    •Rebuild the ancient Temple in Jerusalem

    The prophcey of the Temple.. The Temple was around during Jesus time and was not rebuilt during the time of Ahnsanghong. The "Temple" in Korea does not count as it is not built with the specifications as set forth in the law.

    •Unite humanity in the worship of the Jewish G-d and Torah observance

    There is one G-d.. Not 3 different versions of G-d as set in the holy trinity.

    Melchizedek had no lineage. As I had stated earlier, the use of Zedek was a common Diety of Common. Jesus had lineage as set forth in both Matthew 1:17 and in Luke 3:23–38. Ahnsahnhong had lineage. Israel unlike Korea was never a hermeted kingdom (Im going by the "Evidence book" given to preaching members).


    Ahnsahnhong, has not even met the prophcies as stated in the following:

    Ezekiel 37:26-28
    " I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant. I will establish them and increase their numbers, and I will put my sanctuary among them forever. 27 My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people. 28 Then the nations will know that I the LORD make Israel holy, when my sanctuary is among them forever.’”

    Isaiah 43:5-6
    “Do not fear, for I am with you;
    I will bring your offspring from the east,
    And gather you from the west. “I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’
    And to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’
    Bring My sons from afar
    And My daughters from the ends of the earth"

    When did Ahnsahnhong gather ALL the jews of the world into Israel? He did not.

    Zechariah 14:9

    "And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one."

    In my view,Ahnsahnhong and the followers when they preach, get shafted at times. Wouldnt the world want to know that the one true Lord Almighty has been here?

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  4. Melchizedek's blessing of Abraham with Bread and Wine is done by Jews every Sabbath and holiday. Ahnsahnhong and the church have interupted it as that it can be done only during Passover because Jesus sacrificed his body through the passage; Matthew 26:26-27

    "While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.”
    Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28This is my blood of theb covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins."

    The Tithe offering (or Tenth for those who do not understand Old English) in which Abraham gave a tenth of his possessions to Melchizedek, is done at every Jewish service. Its what keeps our synagogues running. We dont centrally collect the money for the main church.

    Preaching has nothing to do with prophecy in Judiasm for the Messiah. Jesus wanted to change the order from Aaron to Melchizedek, because it was easier to follow than 613 commandments. Ahnsahnhong's preaching of 40 years (it would be less since he died in 84)wouldnt even meet the 40 years assuming he started in 48 and with the war years, he more than likely would of been a solider in the South Korean Army.

    We as Jews (I do not speak of us as a nation) generally dont preach, because we have an identity. I will leave with two last remarks:

    "God did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us—who are all here alive today." (Deut. 5:3)


    God is not a mortal" (Numbers 23:19).

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    1. I appreciate your input, Hal. You and I disagree about Jesus, but there are many resources available concerning that, so I don't wish to go to great lengths debating it here. However, I will leave a link to an article by Dr. Michael Brown (a Messianic Jew whom I had the privilege of hearing in person). He has written a very interesting series of books, "Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus." Whether you agree or not, I'm sure it would benefit you in your studies to read what he has to say. Here's the link to his website:
      http://realmessiah.com/read/jewish-apologetics-christianitys-ongoing-and-unique-challenge

      Anyway, in the case of the WMSCOG, you and I both agree that they are wrong about Ahnsahnghong and 'Mother God' (Zahng Gil Jah). If you also wish to debate with them about Jesus (or the existence of God Himself, as an atheist I met wanted to do), you may have an even harder job ahead of you.

      PS--We tithe at our church too. Like yours, it is used to keep our congregation running and support our ministry and missionary projects. It is not sent to a central office. My church has annual meetings for the entire congregation, and monthly meetings for the board of deacons, to discuss how all the money is used. Does the WMSCOG do anything like that? Do any members ever ask (and get an answer to) what happens to all the money that's collected at the WMSCOG?

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  5. From what Ive seen, the tithes and offerings are sent to the main church in NJ and it is distrubuted (I am assuming) to the other churches. I do know they have meetings and bible studies however the deacons and all must go to the main church in Ridgewood and meet with the pastor. They offered to baptise me and I offered to give them a Mikvah.....

    Ive heard new members ask why the money doesnt stay but they are generally blown off.

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    1. "They offered to baptise me and I offered to give them a Mikvah"
      That's a good one! :)

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