TheShiningLight Bible Studies, Church of God, and World News Home Mission Statement Links Donations Holy Day / New Moon Dates Home Mission Statement Links Donations Laodicea; and The COG Today Holy Day / New Moon Dates Local Elder Response to The Henderson Paper: Part 7 admin January 19, 2015 COG News, Doctrine, Holy Days Comments Daily News: Jan 2015 There is now little doubt that the Mideast war prior to the Israeli elections, which I have been warning of for ages is now; is very close at hand. I have posted an article on the plans, the situation and the preparations for the looming war, and will be updating it. 2015 Middle East War: Timeline Israel is mobilizing for war. Israel seems to have broken the ceasefire without a cause, in a deliberate attempt to provoke a pre election war; see the above for some of the reasons why. However this works out, a regional war is looming between Israel and Hezbollah, Hamas, Syria and Iran in the coming weeks or even days. NEW MOON ANNOUNCEMENT: The next new moon should be easily visible after sunset ending Jan 21; making Jan 22 the first day of the 11th Biblical month. The Letter As I said earlier, the Bible does not indicate that the average Israelite, Jew or NT Christian was intended to be involved in calendar matters – or even understand the details of the formulation of the calendar. [This is absolutely false for we are commanded to prove ALL things by the scriptures. 1 Thes 5:21 Prove all things; hold fast that which is good [By God’s Word]. 22 Abstain from all appearance of evil. and to live by every word of God Mat 4:4. It is the job of the priests and elders to diligently teach the whole Word of God. Deu 3 and 6. Not to change that word or to follow idols of men and a false un biblical calendar system.] The calendar is simply a physical tool to be used for God’s very important spiritual purposes. [False again, this is the rejection of God’s commands by proclaiming the lie: “its only physical.” While the heavenly bodies are physical, they were created by God to fulfill a spiritual purpose and to teach us spiritual lessons. If we then defy the command to use the LIGHT and we do the precise opposite of what God has commanded, using the darkness; we defeat the intentions of the Creator and reject his commandment; this is REBELLION against God, like Eve and Adam rebelled to do what they decided was good in their own eyes; in place of what God had commanded them.] You also expressed concern over the complexity of the Hebrew calendar. Again the false “calculation vs. observation” fallacy. The issue is not calculations, but what to base those calculation on; the commanded LIGHT or the darkness of the Rabbins. Now we come to the complexity of the man devised Rabbinic calendar and its convoluted calculations vs. the simplicity of the calendar that the Creator put in motion and commanded us to use. Here we have two false claims; First the implication that calculation is good: without mentioning the difference between calculating the LIGHT as commanded by God; against the false calculations of the conjunctions of darkness used by the modern Rabbins. The second false statement is that God did not intend his people to follow his Word and instead intended them to follow idols of men completely contrary to God’s Word. Once again my comment would be that the formulation of a calendar is a based on physical knowledge of math and science. Complex math is not sinful. And furthermore, God didn’t intend for Church members and their children to be able to calculate the calendar for themselves. There is no problem with calendar calculations being complex. When 2 Corinthians 11:3 warns us against our minds being “corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ”, it is talking about spiritual knowledge, not about math and science. [The Scriptural calendar is a TEST just ;like the Sabbath; will we obey God or idols of men. Therefore the Biblical Calendar IS spiritual and not limited to its physical aspects. By his position now can disregard ALL of the commandments as “Only Physical” when we know that ALL physical commandments are meant to teach us spiritual lessons and ALL physical commandments have their spiritual purpose! Of course the calendar command to use teh LIGHTT is spiritual just as the command not to eat a certain fruit was BOTH physical and spiritual; it goes to obeying God, or following our own ways to do as WE like. ] The next verse demonstrates that the simplicity has to do with spiritual knowledge: “For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you may well put up with it.” I’ll use sunset tables as an example. It’s not an exact comparison with calendar determinations, because as Maimonides stated, unlike the determination for the new month (which was the responsibility of an authoritative body) [Wrong again; God set sunset to begin the day and God set the LIGHT at sunset to begin the month. The Seventy only had the authority to examine to determine the month as God had commanded. They had NO authority to change God’s Word from LIGHT to darkness, add postponements or depart from God’s Word in any way, and they never did so! It was the apostate Rabbins gained control over that body from the Scribes about 357 AD, and abandoned the scriptures for their own ways] witnesses the beginning of the Sabbath is something God has made known to each individual. When the sun goes down on Friday, we know the Sabbath has begun. Determining when the Sabbath begins is information that has been given to us by God, and it truly is quite simple. But perhaps sunset tables can still be used as an example. [As God made known the sunset to begin the day; God also made known the LIGHT to begin the moon months! And as sunset times can be calculated; the times of the visibility of the moon’s LIGHT can also be calculated!] We could know when the Sabbath begins by watching for the sun to set each Friday, but for many of us, it would be inconvenient — and often not possible due to weather, obstructions at the horizon, etc. So we typically use sunset tables to determine when the Sabbath will begin. That way we can plan to have our work done well in advance of sunset, giving us the opportunity to “change gears”. I read up a little on the internet about sunset tables and found that they, too, can be quite mathematically complex. But there’s nothing sinful about the complexity. Sunset tables are only a physical tool, to be used to help accomplish an important and wonderful spiritual purpose. [He is now trying to say that calculating the Rabbinic calendar is proper because we can calculate sunset. This is enormously deceitful, because God commands us to begin the month by the LIGHT and that can be calculated; while this man is trying to defend the indefensible departure from God’s commanded LIGHT; to claim that we should calculate the darkness of conjunctions. He comes back again and again to this false argument that all calculations are the same! NO, Absolutely NOT! In the scriptures God commanded us to begin the month by the LIGHT of the moon and that can be calculated and then confirmed whenever possible by observation. This man wants us to depart form God’s Word to begin the month with conjunctions contrary to God’s Word. This conjunction system was first proposed by Hillel 2 in 359 AD and was not generally accepted by all Jews until 1078 ad!]. Deu 5:31 But as for thee, stand thou here by me, and I will speak unto thee all the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which thou shalt teach them, that they may do them in the land which I give them to possess it. 32 Ye shall observe to do therefore as the Lord your God hath commanded you: ye shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. 33 Ye shall walk in all the ways which the Lord your God hath commanded you, that ye may live, and that it may be well with you, and that ye may prolong your days in the land which ye shall possess. The physical promised land is allegorical of eternal life in the spiritual Promised Land of Eternity. Isn’t it possible that God has chosen to delegate calendar matters to an authority as a way of blessing His people with a particular type of simplicity – a practical and useful form of simplicity – the ability to use the Hebrew calendar for planning and preparing for God’s festivals, just as we use our Gregorian calendar to plan various aspects of our lives? [ABSOLUTELY NOT! No man may depart from the Word of God and be guiltless!] In regard to your quotations, on page 51 of your paper, from the writings of Mr. Armstrong and Kenneth Herrman: I have Mr. Armstrong’s 1952 booklet from which the quote is taken. It’s important to understand the context of his comment. He had explained the biblical truth of taking the Passover once a year, unlike the practice of many churches who take “The Lord’s Supper” several times during the year. He covered the OT Passover, the NT Passover and the meaning of the biblical term “break bread”. He ended the booklet by clarifying which calendar we should use. [Here is now an amazing attempt at deceit! He tries to obscure HWA’s insistence that the Scripture calendar begins the months with the first visible moon light at Jerusalem; by glossing this over with the glib statement that HWA was trying to differentiate the modern western calendar from the Jewish calendar. Brethren, regardless of his reasons for these statements, HWA was in fact declaring that the Biblical months begin with the first LIGHT of the moon as seen from Jerusalem; which is absolutely correct! It was Later that HWA was convinced that the modern Rabbinic calendar did go by the LIGHT; when of course it does NOT; it goes by the darkness of conjunctions. Herbert was right on this until his staff deceived him; now the time has come to restore this truth. The next few paras are an attempt to hide the Biblical calendar truth; by distracting people from what they wrote and into a discussion of the supposed purpose of their writing. the deceitfulness is so blatant and self evident that I will not comment much on these paras. Concentrate on what Herbert and his assistant said and not on this man’s attempt to claim they did not say what they said. For the record; HWA was wrong on many things and we should obey God’s word and not the word of HWA; nevertheless in this case HWA was consistent with God’s word; it was only when he was distracted from scripture into the traditions of the Rabbins that he changed on the calendar. Because you grew up in the Church, it may be a little hard for you to relate to the idea of needing an explanation that the Gregorian calendar is not the calendar to be used when determining God’s festivals. That was the overall point Mr. Armstrong was making in the quote you used. (When I came into the Church as a teenager, I had never even heard of such a thing as the Hebrew Calendar. I would guess that was true for many that God called into the Church at the time – and for those in the world who read the Church’s literature.) Mr. Herrmann’s 1953 article was an entire article devoted to the subject of the existence of a calendar that differs from what he called “the Roman calendar”. He explained that there is also a calendar used by the Jews — a fact that was unknown to many readers of the Church’s literature. Mr. Herrmann’s article is titled: “God’s Sacred Calendar”. The subtitle is “The Roman calendar on your wall originated with Julius Caesar about 45 B.C. But God gave Israel a DIFFERENT calendar! Without a knowledge of it, you can not obey the Creator.” The article went on to ask the question, “ How can we know the proper time to keep Passover, the Feast of Tabernacles and the other sacred days which God commanded for the church?” He was explaining why we must use a different calendar from our “Roman” calendar, and he explained in detail where the Roman calendar conflicted with God’s requirements. Additionally, much of Mr. Herrmann’s article is an explanation for the need for a calendar authority, along with the fact that God gave that authority to the Jews. In Mr. Armstrong’s full 1940 article, “How to Figure Passover”, he concludes that the Church must use the Hebrew Calendar to make that determination for observing the Passover. He stated the same concepts that the Church believes today: 1) that the Bible does not give us enough specific information to formulate a calendar, 2) that authority over calendar matters was given to the Jews, not the Church, and 3) that history is contradictory and unreliable for this important matter (he wrote: “Surely we can see that profane history only contradicts itself, is inaccurate, cannot be depended upon, and HAS NO AUTHORITY WHATSOEVER.”) The letter writer then deceitfully claims that HWA never changed his mind on the calendar while subtly introducing the 1940- date. He also hides the fact that HWA insisted on the first LIGHT from Jerusalem, and was deceived into thinking that the Rabbinic Calendar went by the LIGHT; when it does the exact opposite and goes by the darkness. HWA was duped and these men have also been duped; they are spiritually blind men following false traditions and misunderstandings that have crept in over time. That was the foundation for the Church’s calendar understanding from the time of 1940. To my knowledge it has never changed — and Mr. Armstrong never changed his beliefs in that regard. The quotes you referenced were not a statement about his (or Mr. Herrmann’s) believing there is a biblical requirement for observation of the new crescent. They were not given in that context or for that purpose. They were statements about their understanding (or misunderstanding), at the time, of principles on which the Hebrew calendar is based. I think you would clearly see that if you were to read Mr. Herrmann’s entire article. Was Mr. Armstrong, in his quote, perhaps stating his belief at the time, that the first day of the month on the Hebrew calendar would always coincide with the ability to see the new crescent in Jerusalem? The 1952 version said, “… when the new moon is first visible …”. Here the letter writer notices HWA’s change over time; a change that he had just denied above. The 1974 version was written as you quoted it, “… when the new moon usually is visible …” Mr. Armstrong’s conclusion [In 74 HWA made literally dozens of doctrinal changes as he fully apostatized] (that the Scriptures do not give enough information to formulate a calendar and that God intends for the Church to use the Hebrew calendar) is not contradicted by the quotes you listed. The quotes are simply references to Mr. Armstrong’s and Mr. Herrmann’s understanding of details of the Hebrew Calendar. The quotes are not references to their belief that the Hebrew Calendar could only be acceptable for our use if it is based upon observation. In context, their quotes were part of their evidence for using the Hebrew Calendar rather than the “Roman” calendar for observing God’s festivals. It may seem strange to some people today that the details of the Hebrew Calendar were not always completely and clearly understood by Mr. Armstrong (and others) during the early years of this modern era of the Church. After the “trail has been blazed”, it can at times be hard for generations that follow to understand or relate to the challenges of being a “pioneer”. Herbert fully believed the scriptures on the calendar and was convinced that the Rabbinic calendar also used the first LIGHT of the moon to set the months. The Rabbins calculate the molad or average time between the conjunctions of full darkness, and do NOT calculate the first visible light of the moon as God commands us to use. This misunderstanding became entrenched to this very day. The time has come to reveal this falsehood and restore the Biblical calendar of the Word of God But at any rate, Mr. Armstrong saw clearly the foundational calendar principles that the Church still believes to be true today – and to my knowledge, he never believed otherwise. You made the statement, “It is said Mr. Armstrong was later misled by Herman Hoeh and certain Rabbis who convinced him the Rabbinic calendar uses light in its calculations to establish appointed times.” [He now tries to say that the information available is wrong, when his own letter speaks to his [and COGWA’s] complete lack of honesty on the subject.] I don’t know who said those things. I came into the Church in 1963, and I have never heard of such a thing. I asked a minister who has been around much longer than I have — and who has a very good grasp of the history of the inner workings of the Church over many decades. He too had no knowledge of such a thing. I do know, however, that there is a lot of misinformation on the internet about what took place over past decades of the Church. Sometimes I’m quite shocked by the huge amount of misinformation about what took place since the time I’ve been in the Church. And as recently as our COGWA split from UCG there has been a great deal of misinformation (from supposedly knowledgeable sources) about the facts and about motives. I won’t address any more points from your paper at this time, because I feel sure that you could anticipate my answers to them, with the two different paradigms in mind. If I’ve overlooked something important to you, please let me know. This letter goes on for another 3,000 or so words. I hope to complete this series tomorrow and the next day post the two page COGWA Doctrinal Response to the Paper. Updated: January 22, 2015 — 03:43 ← Previous Post Next Post → Leave a Reply Your email address will not be published. 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