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.
Showing posts with label east. Show all posts
Showing posts with label east. Show all posts
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
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....
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....
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Examining Prophecies--From the East
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 from the east.
This means Korea since it is the farthest country east (without crossing water).
Isa. 24:15-16; Isa. 46:11; Isa. 41:2
Isa. 41:2 mentions simply “one from the east,” not specifying how far east. Isa. 46:11 mentions someone “from the east…from a far country.” That scripture has already been fulfilled by Cyrus of Persia. It may be a dual prophecy with another fulfillment to come, but if Persia was described as a “far country” then it is not necessary for “far” to mean as far as Korea.
Now for Isa. 24:15-16: “ Therefore glorify the LORD in the dawning light,
The name of the LORD God of Israel in the coastlands of the sea.
From the ends of the earth we have heard songs:
“Glory to the righteous!”...”
The WMSCOG puts “in the east” together with “the ends of the earth” to reach the conclusion of Korea, which is the farthest country east on the continent of Asia. But there is also some land in China which is still a little east of Korea, and there is LOTS of land in Russia that extends well east of Korea. The WMSCOG also ignores the phrase “in the coastlands of the sea” which refers to the Mediterranean Sea west of Israel. If these verses are meant to pinpoint the second coming Christ in the way that the WMSCOG interprets, then you must consider that he might come from the west ends of the earth, which would be Portugal? Morocco? Senegal? No? Perhaps they want to consider the east only and that reference to be a sea in the east—then that could be Japan? Or one of the South Pacific islands?
Actually, this verse describes people from all over the world, east to west, giving glory to God—not a specific country that will produce the second coming Christ.
But we’ll say we are looking for a second coming Christ from somewhere in the east. (I have heard of that prophecy before, and there is significance about the east throughout the Bible.) Ahnsahnghong does fulfill that prophecy, but so does everyone else living in the continent of Asia (and that’s a lot of people—well over a billion in China alone). With the mobility of people in this era, though, we could also look for someone living in the west who has family roots in the east. So that narrows the search…well…slightly…
When Christ returns for the second time
He will come from the east.
This means Korea since it is the farthest country east (without crossing water).
Isa. 24:15-16; Isa. 46:11; Isa. 41:2
Isa. 41:2 mentions simply “one from the east,” not specifying how far east. Isa. 46:11 mentions someone “from the east…from a far country.” That scripture has already been fulfilled by Cyrus of Persia. It may be a dual prophecy with another fulfillment to come, but if Persia was described as a “far country” then it is not necessary for “far” to mean as far as Korea.
Now for Isa. 24:15-16: “ Therefore glorify the LORD in the dawning light,
The name of the LORD God of Israel in the coastlands of the sea.
From the ends of the earth we have heard songs:
“Glory to the righteous!”...”
The WMSCOG puts “in the east” together with “the ends of the earth” to reach the conclusion of Korea, which is the farthest country east on the continent of Asia. But there is also some land in China which is still a little east of Korea, and there is LOTS of land in Russia that extends well east of Korea. The WMSCOG also ignores the phrase “in the coastlands of the sea” which refers to the Mediterranean Sea west of Israel. If these verses are meant to pinpoint the second coming Christ in the way that the WMSCOG interprets, then you must consider that he might come from the west ends of the earth, which would be Portugal? Morocco? Senegal? No? Perhaps they want to consider the east only and that reference to be a sea in the east—then that could be Japan? Or one of the South Pacific islands?
Actually, this verse describes people from all over the world, east to west, giving glory to God—not a specific country that will produce the second coming Christ.
But we’ll say we are looking for a second coming Christ from somewhere in the east. (I have heard of that prophecy before, and there is significance about the east throughout the Bible.) Ahnsahnghong does fulfill that prophecy, but so does everyone else living in the continent of Asia (and that’s a lot of people—well over a billion in China alone). With the mobility of people in this era, though, we could also look for someone living in the west who has family roots in the east. So that narrows the search…well…slightly…
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