Mystery of the Ages
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In all the above statements, made from 1980 to 1985, Mr. Armstrong was addressing the Church.
Yet he also, in his final work, Mystery of the Ages—of which he stated publicly he firmly believed was the most important book since the Bible—Mr. Armstrong made his most thorough and forceful statement to the world about his fulfillment as the Elijah.
(The following lengthy statement from the book contains Mr. Armstrong’s subheads):
“The real causes of all this world’s religious confusion—and all its evils—are revealed in seven basic mysteries that decry this Babylon of religious confusion and the resulting world chaos!
“But now God’s time has come! He now sends a voice to cry out with amplified world-covering power to reveal the way out of this senseless madness, into the world of peace and righteousness that soon shall grip the earth!
“In the book of Isaiah is a ‘now’ prophecy: ‘The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord...lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say...Behold, the Lord God will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him’ (Isa. 40:3, 9-10).” [Author’s note: Incidentally, because of this scripture, Mr. Armstrong had originally considered A Voice Cries Out as the title for Mystery of the Ages.]
“That voice now cries out!
“The prophet Malachi confirmed this: ‘Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple...’ (Mal. 3:1).
Contents
The Elijah to Come
“Both of these prophecies have a dual application. First, they refer to John the Baptist, who prepared the way before Jesus’ human ministry more than 1,900 years ago. But, as a prototype, or forerunner, these prophecies foretell one to prepare the way before Christ’s Second Coming as the King of kings and Lord of lords to rule over all nations!
“Malachi’s prophecy, like Isaiah’s, if you will read on past the first verse, refers to a human messenger preparing the way before Christ’s now imminent Second Coming, this time in supreme power and glory as Ruler over all nations!
“Understand the duality principle here. These prophecies refer to a type and its fulfillment.
“John the Baptist was a voice crying out in the physical wilderness of the Jordan River area, preparing for the human physical Jesus’ First Coming to a material temple at Jerusalem, to a physical Judah. But that was a prototype, or forerunner of a voice ‘lifted up’ (greatly amplified by modern printing, radio and TV), crying out in the midst of today’s spiritual wilderness of religious confusion, announcing the imminency of Christ’s Second Coming as the spiritually glorified Christ, to his spiritual temple (the Church resurrected to spirit immortality) (Eph. 2:21-22).
“Jesus came, over 1,900 years ago, to announce the future kingdom of God. He’s coming this time to establish that kingdom. That end-time last warning message is now going out worldwide in amplified power.
“It’s going before kings, emperors, presidents, prime ministers of nations—and to their peoples, on all continents and all nations of the earth!”
Hardcover, pp. 9-10
“It is revealed in Malachi 3:1-5 and 4:5-6 that God would raise up one in the power and spirit of Elijah, shortly prior to the Second Coming of Christ. In >Matthew 17:11 Jesus said, even after John the Baptist had completed his mission, that this prophesied Elijah ‘truly shall first come, and restore all things.’ Although it is plainly revealed that John the Baptist had come in the power and spirit of Elijah, he did not restore anything. The human leader to be raised up somewhat shortly prior to Christ’s Second Coming was to prepare the way—prepare the Church—for Christ’s coming, and restore the truth that had been lost through the preceding eras of the Church. Also a door was to be opened for this leader and/or the Philadelphia era of the Church to fulfill Matthew 24:14: ‘And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.’
“These prophecies have now definitely been fulfilled.”
pp. 290-291
Elijah to Come in Our Day
“Remember, once again, God’s principle of duality. As Jesus said in Matthew, the prophecy of Malachi 3:1 applied to John the Baptist in type; but if you will continue reading through Malachi 3:5, it becomes very clear that the prophecy is speaking of one to prepare the way before the Second Coming of Christ. John the Baptist was a voice crying out in the physical wilderness of the Jordan River, preparing the way for the First Coming of Christ, as a physical human being, to his physical Temple at Jerusalem and to the physical people of Judah, announcing the advance good news that the kingdom of God would in the future be established. But also preparing the way before his Second Coming was a messenger of whom Elijah was a type. A voice crying out in the worldwide spiritual wilderness of religious confusion, preparing the way for the spiritual glorified King of kings and Lord of lords to come in the supreme power and glory of God to his spiritual temple, the Church (Eph. 2:21), to actually establish the kingdom of God.
“Further, in Matthew 17:1-8, Peter, James and John saw the vision of Moses, Elijah and Christ glorified in the kingdom of God. Then in Matthew 17:10 the disciples asked Jesus, ‘Why then say the scribes that Elias [Elijah] must first come?’ Remember John the Baptist had finished his ministry and had been imprisoned before Jesus even began his ministry. At the time the disciples asked this question, John the Baptist had come and been put to death. Yet Jesus answered, speaking of the yet future, ‘[Elijah] truly shall first come, and restore all things’ (Matthew 17:11).
“This could not possibly refer to John the Baptist. John the Baptist restored nothing, but called on people to repent in preparation for the First Coming of Jesus as a physical human.
“In the first few years of the New Testament Church, Jesus’ true gospel had been suppressed and supplanted with a false gospel—not the gospel of Christ (the kingdom of God) but man’s false gospel about a Christ who did away with his Father’s commandments.
“Also Malachi 4:5-6 pictures the Elijah to come at the very end of the Church age—at a time when, if this end-time message were not proclaimed, the glorified Christ would come and smite the world with total destruction. (The word curse in this verse is translated from the Hebrew, which some translators render total destruction.)”
pp. 348-349
What the Church Understood and Backed Up
In the latter portion of his 52-year ministry, Mr. Armstrong was able to look back at his fruits and accept that he was the man who was called to fulfill this prophetic role of Elijah.
The follwing are examples showing that the Church clearly understood this, and backed him up in teaching the Way of God to all nations and in “turning the hearts of the fathers to the children.”
• On May 10, 1982, the Worldwide News reported that the Advisory Council of Elders, comprised of the Church’s leading evangelists, had presented to Mr. Armstrong a precious memento: The Cup of Elijah. Its picture was featured on the front page, and contained the following caption:
“PASADENA—A ‘surprised’ Pastor General Herbert W. Armstrong received a piece of Steuben crystal entitled the ‘Cup of Elijah’ from the Advisory Council of Elders and wives May 3, reported evangelist Ellis LaRavia, a member of the council.
Parallels Between the Three Elijahs
Elijah the Prophet, John the Baptist and Herbert W. Armstrong were separate individuals, yet all three shared some amazing parallels. Consider:
• Occasional Doubt: Now that he is not here to speak for himself, detractors (who formerly followed him) have said Mr. Armstrong “went back and forth” on whether he was the final Elijah.
While Mr. Armstrong would likely question, and perhaps even for a time (naturally) doubt, his fulfillment of the Elijah role, the second Elijah, John, actually went “back and forth” on whether Christ WAS CHRIST! Read it for yourself in Matthew 11:2-3, 6. Christ recognized that John was “offended in” Him (Christ). Think of it! Yet this did not invalidate where John stood at the time he was beheaded, regarding Christ as the Messiah. Neither did it diminish his role as the Elijah who preceded and announced Christ’s First Coming. After such colossal doubt and faithlessness, John was still considered—by the very Jesus Christ whom he doubted—to be the single greatest human being who ever lived. Yes, Christ stoutly defended him in the face of such a terribly wrong attitude.
Ponder this carefully.
Remember, John had actually heard a voice from heaven, when he baptized Christ, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased” (Matt. 3:17)—and yet he doubted. Christ was also his cousin, and had been known to him for thirty years as the Messiah—and yet he doubted. But he was still as great as any human being “born of women”!
• Miracles: Some seem to use classic Catholic reasoning toward Mr. Armstrong—they require more miracles of him before they will “canonize” him as Elijah in their minds.
But does the fact that God may have only performed a few miracles directly through Mr. Armstrong make him an insufficient candidate for the Elijah role? Certainly, the first Elijah did call fire down from heaven. But the final “false prophet” (II Thes. 2:3-11; Rev. 16:13-14; 19:20) will also do this. Elijah did do some other miracles. So will the false prophet. But it is entirely speculative to say that either the number or kind of miracles that Mr. Armstrong did was greater, lesser or the same as Elijah.
But any conclusion to this speculation is irrelevant. Here is why.
John the Baptist, who was also an Elijah, was the greatest person who ever lived. This means he was even greater than the original Elijah—yet John did not perform a single miracle (John 10:41)!
By comparison, Mr. Armstrong exceeded John in an important regard.
• Three Colleges: Over the course of his ministry, Mr. Armstrong established three colleges to train full-time servants for God’s Work. Apart from the giant scope of the rest of his ministry, this was an enormous accomplishment in itself (of course, God did it through him).
These colleges carry a remarkable parallel: The original Elijah also organized three schools, for the “sons of the prophets,” located at Gilgal, Bethel and Jericho (II Kgs. 2:1-7, 4:38).
Since at least 1966, the Church understood that the Ambassador Colleges were not merely “religious schools,” but full-education Liberal Arts colleges (The Wonderful World Tomorrow, p. 54, 1966 edit.). (Incidentally, John established no colleges.)
• Sent to Kings: John the Baptist warned one king in Judea. Elijah apparently worked with two or three kings in Israel, and perhaps with certain others.
But Herbert Armstrong went to vastly more than both of these men put together! He was sent to modern Israel’s national leaders, several leaders of modern Judahand to many Gentile leaders. He came to know personally above one-third of all the kings, queens, presidents, prime ministers and chancellors—heads of state—on earth, perhaps 70 or more.
In a February 21, 1974, Letter to the Brethren (while over the Pacific on the way to the Philippines), under the subhead “Elijah Went to Kings” he wrote:
“God had hid Elijah from King Ahab of Israel—first by the brook Cherith, fed by the ravens, then in the house of the widow in Zarephath. Finally, God told Elijah in the third year to go to King Ahab. In the way Elijah met Obadiah, governor of the king’s palace, who greatly feared God. Elijah told Obadiah to go tell King Ahab Elijah had come.
“But Obadiah feared for his life! He said, ‘As the Eternal thy God liveth, there is NO NATION OR KINGDOM whither my lord [King Ahab] hath not sent to seek thee: and when they said, He is not there; he took an oath of the kingdom and nation, that they found thee not’ (I Kings 18:10).
“Ahab’s servants did not inquire or take an oath of the sheepherders, farmers, or common people. Obviously, Ahab’s men went directly to the KING of each nation, indicating that Elijah was known to the kings of the earth in his day.
“Today, after 40 years, the DOORS TO THESE NATIONS ARE OPENING one after another, faster than I can get to them! THIS IS DEFINITELY OF GOD!
“And now, PUBLIC APPEARANCE CAMPAIGNS are planned already in THREE nations, sponsored by officials high in the governments of these nations. Already I have gotten the MESSAGE OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD to audiences of 55 to 100 of each nation’s LEADERS in banquets or dinners in India, Japan, Thailand, South Vietnam, Ethiopia, and the Philippines.
“This is positively miraculous! It is GOD’S DOING!”
• “Taken Away from the Evil to Come”: Another incredible parallel exists between the original Elijah, John the Baptist and Mr. Armstrong: Each man was spared from impending calamity to occur just beyond their time.
Isaiah wrote, “The righteous perishes, and no man lays it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come” (Isa. 57:1).
Let’s “consider” what few seem to consider.
Who can doubt that Mr. Armstrong, after a lifetime of intense persecution, was “taken away” from the greatest period of prophesied worldwide trouble to ever strike earth—the Great Tribulation, the long difficult period preceding it, and the truly horrific Day of the Lord, foretold to last an entire year?
The original Elijah was miraculously taken away into the sky in a whirlwind (II Kgs. 2:1) after undergoing intense persecution and fleeing for his life. Israel experienced great—and almost non-stop—difficulty and instability after he was gone.
John the Baptist did die through beheading after barely reaching beyond age 31. But he was also taken away from having to witness the horrible crucifixion of Jesus, 21/2 years later, and the catastrophic destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple a little more than 40 years later.
Let none of us be counted among the “none considers” category in regard to an obvious parallel of how God spared these three men, removing each from impending evil.
“Mr. LaRavia quoted the pastor general as saying: ‘You mean, I get a piece of Steuben crystal? I give away a lot, but I’ve never received one.’
“The formal dinner was the last of three Mr. Armstrong was host to in his Pasadena campus home for the advisory council.
“Designed by Peter Yenawine of the Steuben Glass Works in Corning, N.Y., the cup is No. 14 in a limited series of 25. Flared at the rim and the base of the stem, the cup is quadrangular with its rim carefully cut in shallow beveled edges. The words ‘The cup of Elijah, the prophet’ are inscribed below the rim in 16th–-century-style Hebrew lettering. Its four-pillared crystal stem is supported by an inner silver rod that extends from a circular silver stand.”
• The annual God’s Sacred Calendar was produced by the WCG and sent to the entire membership. Each year the publication was hung on thousands of refrigerators and bulletin boards. The major theme throughout the 1985-86 edition, the last before Mr. Armstrong’s death, reinforced that he was fulfilling the Elijah role by turning the hearts of the children to the fathers.
The cover featured little children greeting Mr. Armstrong, and a red banner in the lower corner stated, “The Hearts of the Children.” On page one was a caption for the cover: “‘Remember the Law of Moses, My Servant, which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children. And the hearts of the children to their fathers. Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse’ Malachi, Revised Authorized Version.”
The calendar was filled with images of dancing children; a father reading The Bible Story to his child; smiling children at Feast sites around the world; Imperial school (grade and high schools established for children of employees to receive an education in God’s values) students in concert; three little girls running on a track; and young adults learning golf, canoeing and archery at the Australian SEP. Mr. Armstrong was pictured with two Little Ambassadors from Shanghai on his lap. There were also images of SEP camps around the world—Orr, Minnesota, was represented with young people sitting around a campfire and receiving instruction on living an abundant life. Loch Lomond, Scotland, showed youth learning the fine art of scoring a soccer goal. The last page displayed pictures of theYouth Bible Lessons and the January issue of the magazine Youth 85.
In all, there were 40 pictures of activities in which children were the focus. All showed how God was using Mr. Armstrong to teach a generation to look to God to guide them into adulthood. The calendar demonstrated there was no question that the Church actively endorsed and taught the Malachi 4:6 role Mr. Armstrong was fulfilling near and through the end of his life!
• The Church also made certain that its little children were taught specifically about the Elijah prophecy. For instance, Lesson 8 for the 11-year-olds of the Church (Level 6 in Y.E.S.) taught children of this age certain specifics of the prophecy. On the last page of a lesson about Elijah, following a description of how John the Baptist introduced Christ’s First Coming, was found the following:
“John was a type of the future ‘Elijah’—one who would also be sent by God to the world in the spirit and power of the Elijah the prophet, this time just before Christ’s Second Coming to rule the earth.
“As John prepared the way for Christ’s first coming, so the prophesied Elijah to come would prepare the way for Christ’s Second Coming to earth. Jesus said that this man would ‘restore all things,’ referring to God’s Government in His Church and Christ’s Gospel of the Kingdom of God. This has been done today by God’s end-time apostle, Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong. The work of proclaiming the Gospel message Jesus Christ brought is today being done by Mr. Armstrong with the active support of the membership of the Worldwide Church of God.”
• The Good News magazine, which contributed to the Church’s spiritual diet, published this in the March 1983 article “Fervent Prayer Avails Much”:
“God prophesied of three ‘Elijahs.’ The first was the man Elijah, who was the pattern or type of the two following. John the Baptist was the second ‘Elijah’ (Matt. 17:12-13). And in this end time, Herbert W. Armstrong supported by God’s true Church is fulfilling God’s commission as the third ‘Elijah’ (Mal. 4:5-6, Matt. 17:11).”
“The world is being warned! Lives are being changed! God has provided the open doors of the media to this Philadelphia era of God’s true Church to get the job done (Rev. 3:7-8). God has raised up this era through Pastor General Herbert W. Armstrong, and uses him as head spokesman. We are called to support him and this end-time Work of a third and final Elijah!”
• The Church also taught this prophecy to those from the world. The following comes from Lesson 18, page 14, of the Ambassador College Bible Correspondence Course:
“Jesus also said the Elijah to come would ‘restore all things’ (Matt. 17:11). Restitution is restoring to a former state or condition—restoring something that had been taken away. What former state or condition needs restoring? What was taken away and when?
“God’s government was taken away from the earth at Lucifer’s rebellion. But it was not restored at Jesus’ first coming. Christ will restore it when He returns (Acts 3:19-21)...
“Just as Christ shall restore the government of God over the entire earth, the one who was to come in the spirit and power of Elijah would restore it in God’s Church. God’s government has been restored in the one true Church of God!
“In the process of restoring the government of God in the Church through the modern Elijah, God has used him to restore many related truths. Of primary importance was the restoration of Christ’s true gospel of the Kingdom of God! That gospel was restored when Pastor General Herbert W. Armstrong of the Worldwide Church of God first went on the air with ‘The World Tomorrow’ radio program the first week in January, 1934, in Eugene, Oregon, United States of America, and then to the world when he went on Radio Luxembourg and Radio Ceylon in 1953...”
Without a doubt, both Herbert W. Armstrong and the Worldwide Church of God recognized the unique role he had been called to accomplish. Yet few today believe this fulfillment or do so from the proper perspective.
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