The Danger of Misinterpreting the Scriptures October, 2008 by Otis DanielAll scripture is given by the inspiration of God, for the purpose of edifying The Church. Where the problem arises is when it becomes a private, personal interpretation, and every man or member cannot profit by it.
In science, in order for something to become a scientific fact, it must be tried and proven to be true over and over, again and again. If it ever fails, it is not a fact, but a theory. It is a theory until proven true; then, it becomes a scientific fact.
The scriptures are fact, not theory. Some man-made interpretations are not backed up by the Old Testament, nor the New Testament. Neither are some interpretations pure logic, or reason, nor can they be proven by history. These will "not hold water," as the saying goes, since The Word of God must be rightly divided.
When subtle redefinitions are used to weaken the character of Church membership, doubt replaces faith, docile attitudes take the place of back bone, and brothers sit in total confusion, unwilling to take a stand on any issue; therefore, opinions will replace facts and questions of doubt will replace answer of divine truth. Novice ideas will replace the wisdom of the hoary heads. Records of God's divine deliverances are forgotten and the path of duty is shunned because of difficulties and perils that are necessary for staying on the right road.
It is a sad commentary when Church of God members become so biblically and doctrinally malnourished that conflict and controversy become something that should be avoided whatever the cost. Could it be that many weak leaders have modeled for them?
Any matter handled incorrectly by the General Assembly will become a doctrinal issue, if left unchecked and uncorrected. Divisions are caused by someone not living the Word of God. If power hungry men are allowed by the General Assembly to continue their agenda in their unrestricted manner, in the end, their deceptive teachings will emerge causing weak leaders to believe and practice these teachings as doctrinally sound. The final results are manifested by weak, watered down preaching with no more substance than the leaven of the Pharisees of which Jesus warned The Church to beware lest these become accepted practices.
Personally, I had rather listen to those who have stood faithful with us than those who do not have the back bone to stand except with empty words and misinterpretations of God's scriptures in an effort to identify The Church of God.
Brethren, we need watchmen that will lift up the voice in fact, and not in theory, which requires us to cut every piece of The Word of God to fit. Brother Griffith often warned us, "Children, be careful with the Word of God."
I stand here today as a member of The Church of God at Catawba Island, Ohio. My sentence on these matters discussed is with humbleness of heart and mind, rejoicing in the fact that I am part of you who believe and stand on the divine scripture without compromise. Righteous men will always be lead according to that which has been revealed to the General Assembly.
First let me start with a quote from a minister not even affiliated with The Church of God. "Anyone who oppresses a Christian is not of God, but of the devil." What does that tell us about the character of God?
God reveals His character to us in Exodus 34: 6-7. Merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth. Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and that sin will by no means clear the guilty.
Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, was identified the same, manifesting the true character of God. Luke 4:18-19: "…the Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor, he hath sent me to heal the broken hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord."
The Church of God, the government of God, theocracy is identified in the same manner. To be The Church of God, it will have the same character as God.
The nature of God is to save and keep. Anything contrary to this is not of God but of the devil, who came to steal, kill and destroy. Jesus identifies him as a murderer from the beginning and the father of lies; and the truth is not in him. Scripture says Jesus came to give LIFE. When members are cast out of The Church, is that the nature of The Church? When members are not restored, is that the nature of The Church? In decision making, the true nature of The Church cannot be manifested when the spirit of God has been replaced by men seeking their own agenda for The Church of God. In every past dissension, groups of men lead the Assembly astray from theocracy. The voice of the General Assembly is hushed each time the Assembly findings are ignored therefore The Church ceases to function as the government of God. This was true in 325 A.D. and in every dissension since 325 A.D. until now; but God has lead faithful people out of all the confusion to continue theocracy. We stand today with others continuing the government of God, The Church of God, the pillar and ground of the truth.
Trying to find very detailed, symbolic spiritual meanings in ever scripture, while virtually ignoring the real point of the scripture is a dangerous way to handle any scripture. It is an easy mistake to fall into when it comes to interpreting the various figures of speech in the Bible. Rightly dividing becomes very necessary, and without it there will be more confusion about the plain meaning of the scripture. Without it, the scripture is left to the interpreter's imagination and one can make the Bible mean anything one would choose; inventing and misconstruing the true meaning.
One of our former General Overseers stated, "Some have come with us bringing with them their ideas, beliefs, agendas and unscriptural view, and they refuse to let them go." I agree that some are so determined that their different views become doctoring. Division has crept in, and with these different agendas, power hungry men have sought to force these interpretations on The Church and have set out to destroy anyone or any scripture that opposes them. I ask you, is this the nature of The Church?
The blessed truths with we hold so dear and cherish with our very lives was not obtained by men in pen-striped suits carrying brief cases acting like Philadelphia lawyers. Rather by holy men of God, on their faces before God seeking the Holy Ghost's direction in knowing the truth about scripture which brings life not death; which brings unity not division.
Jesus said, "The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, they are life." Remember God is not the author of confusion.
This having been said, let us together address an interpretation of a scripture which is causing confusion and possible division among some. Keeping in mind that trying to find detailed, symbolic, spiritual meanings in scripture, while ignoring the real point, is a dangerous way to handle scripture. Remember also there is safety in the voice of the General Assembly. Ignore it and the result will be trouble.
Zechariah 13: 8-9: "And it shall come to pass, that in all the land said the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die, but the third part through the fire shall be left therein. And I will bring the third part through the fire and will refine them as silver is refined and will try them as gold is tried. They shall call on my name, and I will hear them, I will say, it is my people. And they shall say The Lord is my God." Why did one third become the focal point of these scriptures? Where did this interpretation come from?
Verse 8 states, "In all the Land." In the Hebrew definition here, "land" means: earth, all nations, or inhabitants.
Jesus states in John 17: "I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world (earth or nations), but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil (the evil one)."
Two thirds and one third does not signify a specific amount in the Hebrew, but rather a portion. God could have said, nine-tenths shall be cut off and one tenth left.
Part in the Hebrew definition of the particular scripture means that of inheritance. That portion of all nations, of all generations that will receive the inheritance of God will bring through the perfection process. The whole Church of God is taken out of all nations. So we sing, "Her wings shelter men of all nations." The whole Church, as it continues the government of God, will God bring through the process of perfection.
If we're not careful, we will process The Church down to numbers and a number which cannot be numbered, as the Bible speaks about will become 144 thousand. We can even take the ark which is a type of The Church, and have the numbers down to us and our families. "Us four and no more, oh Lord close the door." Let others continue to make every effort to identify themselves as The Church by one-third, but the continuation of The Church of God is always a whole taken out of every nation.
God knows the numbers of stars, the weight of the earth, the measurement of the heavens, even the hairs on our heads. He knows exactly how many members there were in 1923 and 1993.
It is recorded in 1922; there were 21,076 members. I ask the question, is less than 2,000 members one third? Holding on to this type of thinking, there does this leave A.J. Tomlinson, M.A. Tomlinson, and other faithful members before 1993? How can one-third of a living body live?
When I took the covenant, it was after 1923. The ministers, which are the proper authority recognized by God and The Church stated, "You are now bone of His bone and flesh of His flesh; The Body of Christ" (the whole body). He did not state, "You are now one-half of the body of Christ." I received the same revelation that A.J. Tomlinson received and I recognized it as he had stated, "A continuation of the greatest government on earth, God's government, The Church of God." If I was wrong then, I joined one-half of The Body of Christ. This was preached in a meeting with the leadership of the Elders, or the organization Church of God, and the leadership of the Church of God of Prophecy. I know, because I was there when this was preached. It was stressed that we might reconcile our differences and come together and be a whole body again instead of being two sisters. I certainly had trouble with that message. The Church of God is identified as the only daughter; no sisters.
We left the Church of God of Prophecy, because we no longer recognized it as the government of
The Church of God; not because we saw it as a second part and we had to find the third part…..No! We recognized that it was no longer continuing as God's government or The Church of God, and we had to be faithful to our covenant to God and continue the government of God, if we had to stand alone on a milk crate on Central Avenue, as recorded that A.J. Tomlinson did.
The voice of the Assembly was taken away, as was done in 325 A.D. and also in 1923. We felt it ceased to function as the beautiful government of God. Therefore, these were left with no authority to transact business as The Church of God.
Those who could not recognize this as The Church of God continued on as the government of God, not as one-third of The Body of Christ; but as the whole Body. The Church of God, as we know in order to keep it The Church of God, it could not be taken out of the hands of God, or it would once again cease to function as The Church of God. Therefore, with great humility before God, we agreed with those who continued on The Church in 1923 as they declared "All matters of government should come before the Assembly and be discussed with love, humility and meekness and be settled under the guidance of the Holy Ghost according to scripture, anything less, it ceases to be The Church of God." When the voice of the Assembly was silenced once again, it ceased to function as the government of God, theocracy, just as before.
Our very beings could identify with these of 1922 (Upon This Rock - Volume I - Page 618). "Many of the ministers were so disturbed and discouraged because of measures passed and the way the assembly ended, that many of them could not go to their respective fields of labor with any degree of victory and joy to toil and labor for The Church of God, and many said they did not know how to preach The Church of God anymore, while such men were allowed to be in control."
They longed for The Church to be put back in good order and fellowship as it used to be years ago when every action that was taken in the General Assembly could be recognized by an expression from all. "It seems good to the Holy Ghost and to us. But alas, in the last Assembly, these seemed to be not God in this passage of any measure."
Then in 2005 and 2006, we stood in disbelief that this very thing could happen again in so few years. We had to stand once again and declare we would continue The Church of God, even if we had to stand alone. How fortunate and delighted we were when we found other like-minded that would continue on the government of God upon this earth (land).
We join our voices today in declaring The Church of God is continuing to function as the government of God under Jesus Christ, the head of The Church and under the guidance of the Holy Ghost according to scripture.
Is not the Holy Ghost in her? Then, the gifts are in her, all the doctrine, nothing is lost. I do not find in the scripture anywhere since the arise shine, that the voice of mirth, the voice of gladness, the voice of the bride, the voice of the bridegroom ceases in The Church of God. That tells me The Church of God will continue to lift up the voice with a strong voice until she is taken from this world (land).
The scriptural gauge of The Church is the spirituality of its leadership; general, regional, local. We began to see a difference in the 70's of the strong voice of The Church of God. Men who had suffered and given their all for The Church began to pass off the scene. We felt as Elisha when Elijah left, "My father, my Father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof."
When a question was asked to J.R. Kinser why the Church message was not preached as we used to hear it preached, his reply was, "Because the ministers don't know it." We knew the real power of God, but we refused to pick up the mantel because the cost was too great. It seemed to cost too much to become as Jacob. "For Jacob had power with God."
All disruptions run parallel. A quest for power and influence drive men to foolish ends. They become arrogant and demanding, seeking control, void of spiritual guidance. Spirit-filled men are denounced continually and their character attacked. People are mistreated under the guise of justice. Members become disturbed, confused and grieved. Many become dissatisfied, disenchanted, discouraged and give up. So many injustices are experienced in a power-struggle that years cannot erase.
If for one moment I could recognize any of the groups from 325 A.D. to 2006 as God's proper authority, the government of God, The Church of God, I would certainly come under these men's rules. If that was my thinking I would be ready to empty myself, repent, do homage, kiss rings, rub heads, change my wardrobe and most certainly be ready to subject my wife and daughter's behavior and lifestyle over to power hungry men's ideas and opinions. I would tell my wife to be ready for some wild ideas on dress, hair styles, and behaviors which has never and will never have anything to do with God's holiness. Instead of running to and recognizing this authority, my Bible tells me to flee (to run as escaping from those with hostile intent). History records that A.J. Tomlinson and others did this very thing.
Those who continued The Church of God, their license was revoked and declared void. They were removed from any and all positions of honor and trust and any and all positions occupied by them in The Church of God were judged vacant.
(Upon This Rock - Volume ll - Page 117) In a business conference conducted September 10, 1923, moderated by Pastor Ellis, A.J. Tomlinson and several associates were excommunicated from fellowship at the local Church. This is proof enough that they were no longer members of the Church of God (Elders).
Faithful members in many places were driven from the very churches they had sacrificed to build. Their names erased from the records of the very Church of God they had faithfully served and supported. Is this the nature of The Church of God? This is the way man fixes it.
(Upon This Rock - Volume ll - Page 117) Bishop Tomlinson never wanted to be accused of belonging to that group anymore. He desired to be a member of The Church so designated in the scripture, regardless of the criticism and persecution he underwent for such a confession.
(Upon This Rock - Volume l - Page 588) We recognize the government of The Church of God as being theocratic in form … we are following God's Bible, and we recognize His Bible as His words to us. We say God settles our disputes, that is, we go to the Bible to settle our debatable questions. We claim that in the book we can find laws and rules, either in stature, type, prophecy, or principle, sufficient to govern The Church of God without making any new ones. We may miss the mark occasionally, but we should not censure ourselves too severely for that when it is discovered, but only proceed to make corrections to put us back in line again. This is the way God fixes it!
His divine Institution, theocracy, the government of God, The Church of God, continues on and will continue on. The Church of God cannot become stagnant, looking back to any ground with endeavors to lay claim to any scripture of identification when all the time they have ceased to function as The Church of God and the very nature of The Church proves this very fact.
(Upon This Rock - Volume l - Page 624) The true Church will continue to follow in the walk of the apostles and the early Church, and we call on all true lovers of The Church of God to join with us in serving under God's government so that we may all once more speak the same thing and be so perfectly joined together in the same mind and the same judgment that will be said of us;"They are of one heart and soul."
(Upon This Rock - Volume l - Page 580) Some will be sorry someday when they see what they have lost by not standing in the day of conflict. Slide out if you want to, but you'll regret it someday.
Stay with The Church and be a battle hardened, loyal soldier and the glory will be revealed in you in due time, and you will be glad someday.
The true identifying mark of The Church of God is not a number or numbers, but the true nature of God manifest in her and through her. The Spirit and the Bride say come.
John 1: 38-39: "Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, what seek ye? They said unto Him, Rabbi (which is to say, being interpreted, Master,) where dwellest thou? He saith unto them, come and see."
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