The Image of God

Genesis 1:26-27
Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness.... So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

This is probably the main verse the WMSCOG uses to show that there is a "Mother God."  I've studied the word "Elohim" already, but now I'd like to focus on the phrase, "in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them."

The WMSCOG says this proves there are two gods.  Since God created male and female people, then there must be a god of the male image and a god of the female image, they say.

It is clear in the Bible that there is only ONE God, so why did He create both male and female in His image? 
I explored this question before, but I came across a good article that examines the subject quite well and thought you'd like to read it.  It's a bit long, but worth the read.  Check it out...
God as Tender as a Mother?

God is not human, and therefore is neither male nor female as humans are.  But when we look at the strengths of men and women, we find that God demonstrates characteristics of both.  For instance, He is strong and commanding like a typical man, and yet nurturing and comforting like a typical woman.

The WMSCOG represents "Mother God" as all the wonderful things we expect our earthly mothers to be: tender, caring, sacrificing themselves for their children, the special love of a mother.  Do they need a second god to be what they believe their "Father God" is lacking?

There is only ONE God, and the one true God we know from the Bible is already the perfect father and mother combined.

Communion

In talking with a WMSCOG member about the Passover and Communion, an interesting comment came up that I was reminded of today...

Even though the WMSCOG members take the bread and the cup of the Lord's Supper at Passover, they distinguish it from Communion in this way...  Communion is done at any time, and even many times, during the year.  But the Passover is done only once, on the appointed day and time.

They made a big deal about how Communion is not in the Bible (so they say), and not only that, the word "communion" is not even in the Bible (so they say).

Yes it is!  The word "communion" IS in the Bible, but you have to look carefully.  It's translated "participation" in the NIV, and "sharing" in the NASB, but read it here in the New King James Version:

1 Corinthians 10:16
The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?

The Greek word there is "Koinonia" which means "fellowship, association, communion, joint participation, the share which one has in anything."  And that word is used 19 times in the New Testament.

"From the East" continued

I mentioned last time that the biggest problem with the WMSCOG's insistence that a second-coming Christ will come from Korea (and that it's Ahnsahnghong) is the way they read the Scriptures to come to that conlusion.

First, understand that when the WMSCOG talks about the second coming of Christ, they are talking about him being born as a human baby, not his appearance on the clouds as taught by the mainstream churches.  That's why they need to show a specific country from which he will come. 

Now here's the lesson as it was given to me (not word for word, but in essence).  I'm sure I will be repeating some of my earlier study of "From the East," but that's ok...

(I'm going to put the WMSCOG explanations in red, and keep my comments in black.)

Isaiah 46:11a  From the east I summon a bird of prey; from a far-off land, a man to fulfill my purpose.
Here a bird of prey is being summoned from a far-off land in the east to fulfill God's purpose.
An eagle is a bird of prey.
God compares Himself to an eagle in Exodus 19:3-4 and Deuteronomy 32:10-12.
Ex. 19:4 ...how I carried you on eagle's wings...
Deut. 32:11 ...like an eagle that stirs up its nest...
Even though Isaiah 46:11 refers to King Cyrus, it also prophesies God calling Himself (this "bird of prey"), the second-coming Christ, from a far-off land in the east.

Bible scholars agree that Is. 46:11 describes King Cyrus.  The word for the "bird of prey" in this verse describes a swift, ravenous, predatory bird.  Like an eagle, yes, or a hawk.  We see it describe Cyrus because he commanded a swift, strong army and his emblem was a golden eagle (you can see it on Wikipedia).  He was also from the east of Israel, and it was by his decree that the Jerusalem temple was rebuilt.

For the sake of argument, let's say this prophecy does have a second fulfillment in the end times.
Now, regarding Ahnsahnghong...  Is there anything about Ahnsahnghong that would suggest a swift, ravenous, predatory bird?

Let's see more about this "one from the east."  The WMSCOG next directed me to Isaiah 41:2-4
2“Who has stirred up one from the east,
calling him in righteousness to his service?
[per footnote, alternate translation is
whom victory meets at every step?]
He hands nations over to him
and subdues kings before him.
He turns them to dust with his sword,
to windblown chaff with his bow.
3He pursues them and moves on unscathed,
by a path his feet have not traveled before.
4Who has done this and carried it through,
calling forth the generations from the beginning?
I, the LORD—with the first of them
and with the last—I am he.”

This is about the one from the east again.  Do you see in verse 4, God says "I, the Lord...I am he."  God is the one coming from the east.  (Wait, I said, don't you mean God is the one calling the one from the east? Yes, but He is the one from the east, "I am he." )
Read again... This passage does NOT say God is coming from the east.  It says God is the one who is calling a man from the east.  Besides, verse 2 says that this person is a powerful victor.  God hands nations and kings to him, and he turns them to dust.  Does this describe Ahnsahnghong?

Next we skipped down to Isaiah 41:8-9
“But you, Israel, my servant,
Jacob, whom I have chosen,
you descendants of Abraham my friend,
I took you from the ends of the earth,
from its farthest corners I called you.
I said, ‘You are my servant’;
I have chosen you and have not rejected you.

Here we see that this one is being called "from the ends of the earth, from its farthest corners."  This is how we know that it is not Japan (an island, beyond the ends of the earth), and not the edge of China.  It is Korea that is at the farthest corner at the ends of the earth to the east.

Look again at verse 8.  God has switched from talking about the "one from the east" to "Israel...descendants of Abraham."  God is talking about gathering them back together after they had been scattered from their own land.  Besides, how many Koreans are descendants of Abraham?

Then we turned to Isaiah 24:14-16
They raise their voices, they shout for joy;
from the west they acclaim the LORD’s majesty.
Therefore in the east give glory to the LORD;
exalt the name of the LORD, the God of Israel,
in the islands of the sea.
From the ends of the earth we hear singing:
“Glory to the Righteous One.” ...
Here we see again, it is "in the east" and "from the ends of the earth."
But these verses also talk about the west and the islands of the sea.  It is about people everywhere praising God.

So far we have only seen verses in Isaiah.  The WMSCOG acknowledges that Isaiah wrote from the Kingdom of Judah, which is NOT "directly east, on the same parallel" as Korea.  What does the WMSCOG do then?  They go to two verses in the New Testament.

Revelation 7:2  Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God....
Here we have the one from the east.  He has the seal of God.  Let's see who that is.  Turn to John 6:27
Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.
Jesus has the seal of God, so this one coming from the east is the second-coming Christ.

Here, the angel may (or may not) be Christ, but the seal that he has in Rev. 7:2 is a noun, the thing to be used for sealing the servants of God (see Rev. 7:3-4).  In John 6:27, the "seal" is a verb.  The seal Jesus has in that verse is not the instrument used for placing a seal, but the marking of the seal.  You can see it a bit better in the KJV:
"...for him hath God the Father sealed."
Now here we come to their conclusion...
So from Isaiah we know that Christ will return from east of Jerusalem (in the Kingdom of Judah), but from Revelation we have a more specific location--east of the Island of Patmos.  What country is directly east of Patmos, at the ends of the earth, at its farthest corners?  Only Korea.

Couldn't we just as easily say the reverse?  The location mentioned in Revelation was a general location, but from Isaiah we get a more specific location.  Isaiah did have more verses after all, and gave the specifics of "the ends of the earth" and "its farthest corners."  But they must not say that or Ahnsahnghong will have no chance of fulfilling that "prophecy" because the "ends of the earth" east of Jerusalem is the coast of China.

The difference in latitude between the Island of Patmos and the city of Jerusalem is approximately 6 degrees.  There is enough difference to make even the southern tip of South Korea not quite line up with the northern tip of Israel (much less Jerusalem).

So even if you were to go along with their faulty interpretations of the Scriptures, you still can't come to the conclusion that a second-coming Christ must come from Korea.

I know this was a very long post, but I didn't want to break it up this time.  I hope you don't mind.

More about "From the East"

Although I have written previously about the "From the East" prophecy, I would like to address it again...

When you are studying with the WMSCOG and they talk about the second-coming Christ being from the east, they pull out a map and show you that South Korea is directly east of the island of Patmos, where John received the Revelation (Rev. 1:9).  They are both on the 37th parallel.

Here's a website that will tell you the latitude and longitude of anywhere you ask.  It shows "Patmos, Greece" at 37 degrees 18.5 minutes north.  "South Korea" is at 35 degrees 54.5 minutes north at its center, but the northern part of South Korea, around Seoul, is at 37 degrees north.

They say that although Russia has land farther east, it's too far north.  Japan doesn't qualify because it's an island, and the edge of China is also ruled out because you can go up and around on land to reach Korea.

At first sight, this looks intriguing.  I didn't know what to say to that since Korea is directly east of Patmos.  Yet at the same time I get the strong feeling that something is not right.  Kind of like the feeling when my sister first started talking to me about the Bible studies she had started with her "new church."  It sounded ok at the very first, and yet it didn't sit quite right with my spirit.

What is it that's amiss?

First, we can say that "east" does not always mean "directly east, on the same parallel."  We say the sun rises in the east, but for most of us it doesn't rise "directly east, on the same parallel."  But we still say it rises in the "east" because that's the way our language works.  Do you ever say, "The sun rises in the southeast"?    (or northeast, depending on where you live)  Neither do I, but we all know what we mean.

But the more glaring mistake here is in the way they read the Scriptures to come to their conclusion.  I'll explain more next time....

Happy New Year

First of all, I pray you all have a happy and blessed 2011!

I called my sister.  She knew by caller ID who was calling.  When she answered the phone, the very first thing she said (even before hello) was, "Happy New Year, [genny]!"

Have you noticed that, although a WMSCOG member will not say "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Easter," they are very quick to wish you a "Happy New Year" for January 1st?

But look closer into January 1st as New Years Day, and you'll notice they are inconsistent with their teachings.  The same reasons they will not celebrate Christmas or Easter should also prevent them from acknowledging January 1st as New Years Day.

It is not in the Bible.
January 1st is not the the first day of the Biblical calendar.  The Biblical new year begins with the month that contains the Passover.
Ex. 12:2  This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year.
Lev. 23:5  The LORD’s Passover begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month.
Any other date celebrated as a "New Years Day" can be considered "unbiblical," including dates like Chinese New Year or Korean New Year.

The source of our calendar is...
A Catholic Pope (Gregory XIII).  Our Gregorian calendar was a reform of the Julian calendar, which was established by Julius Caesar.  The Julian calendar was a reform of previous Roman calendars.  January first appeared in the Roman calendar of Numa.  The month of "January" has nothing to do with the Bible.  It's a tradition of men.

It commemorates a pagan god.
January was named after the Roman god Janus, the god of doorways and beginnings.

I'm not against celebrating January 1st.  It's significant to the society we live in.  Even though it's really just another day, there is something intriguing about watching the calendar dates change... kind of like watching the car's odometer roll to 100,000.  (I remember seeing that happen on our old truck, and it had the dial type of odometer, not one of those new electronic ones.  Pretty fun to watch!)

But a WMSCOG member celebrating and wishing you a Happy New Year?  No, that would contradict their own teachings.