Jordan and Anthony (former WMSCOG deacon) discuss the The World Mission Society Church Of God.

This article was submitted by a former deacon of the WMSCOG.

The World Mission Society Church of God claims that the truth of the early church has been lost and needs to be restored in the last days through their church.  The WMSCOG defends their theory in a study called Weeds and Wheat. The WMSCOG claims that the parable discussed in this sermon provides a way to “distinguish the true church from false churches” (Sermon Preaching III, page 43).

According to the above verses, weeds were planted by an enemy to harm the work of the farmer.  In the Weeds and Wheat study, the WMSCOG teaches that weeds look like wheat, and not even the farm workers can distinguish between them.  The WMSCOG also claims that weeds have strong vitality and will spread throughout the field.  In the above passages, the farmer ultimately wants to keep the wheat not the weeds, but will allow the weeds to remain until the harvest when the weeds will be burned and the wheat brought to the barn. The WMSCOG then proceeds to show Jesus’ words about the parable:

They then reference the NASB version to show that “doing evil” in verse 41 is translated as “lawlessness.” 

By referencing another translation that is more conducive to their doctrine, the WMSCOG argues that weeds represent the churches that disobey the “law.”  The WMSCOG then claims that since they follow the “law” they are the wheat, and therefore are the only way by which to gain entry into the heavenly barn. The WMSCOG goes as far as to say that “[t]hose who practice lawlessness will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Sermon Preaching III, page 44, emphasis added) – which they argue is only defined by the laws that the WMSCOG regulates.

The problem with the WMSCOGs interpretation is that this parable contradicts their story.  In addition to the sermon referenced in this article, the WMSCOG claims that the early Christian laws were lost for 1,600 years in sermons such as True Meaning of the Passover and God Who Built Zion.  

In the parable of the weeds and wheat, was there ever a time when the wheat was removed? From the moment the farmer (Jesus) sowed the wheat (the true believers), they were never uprooted – they were constantly there.  The wheat was sown first and existed in the field (the world) the entire time.  Has the “truth” of the WMSCOG existed from the time of Jesus until the end of the harvest (end of the age)?  No.  The WMSCOGs message is one that appeared later on, meaning it is a weed, not wheat. 

In order for the WMSCOGs version of early church history to be true, the parable would have to read that the enemy uprooted and removed the wheat (the true believers), replaced it with weeds (those who do evil or practice lawlessness), making it necessary for the farmer to return and replant the wheat (the true believers) just before the time of the harvest (the last days).

In fact, the story of the “lost truth” that only a small group will receive is a popular cult teaching and goes against the words of Jesus.

According to Jesus, the church He established through Peter will NOT be overcome. Yet the WMSCOG claims that Jesus’ statement was wrong because the church was overcome by Satan until Ahn Sahng Hong said we should keep the Passover, years after Armstrong proclaimed that message (see left, Sermon Preaching II, page 37).

Here it is proclaimed that there will be glory in the church for all generations. How could this happen if there was no truth in the churches for 1,600 years (many generations)? The above verse says “for ever and ever” – not “for ever and ever except for that period of time when there will be no glory in the church, until the glory is restored at a later time.”

Also –

This prophecy about Jesus coming as a type of King David explains that when he comes, he will be our King David from that time (the time of Jesus) on and forever.  Again, our King David’s reign never ended, never failed, and therefore will never need to be restored. Jesus will reign on this throne forever.

Ultimately, the World Mission Society Church of God (better titled The Cult of Zhang) wants to have their cake and eat it too, but they can’t have it both ways.  The WMSCOG teaches they are the “wheat” church because they follow a blend of new and old testament laws (those that serve the WMSCOGs means and generate profits). In order to believe the WMSCOG’s teaching, you would need to ignore the fact that the bible’s explanation of the church and Jesus’ reign being everlasting and uninterrupted, does not align with the WMSCOGs version of church history.  If you are still in the WMSCOG, it is time to leave that “weed” church, because it is not the church that Jesus established.

This article was submitted by a former deacon of the WMSCOG.

When I was a member of the World Mission Society Church of God, one verse in their doctrine was a pillar of my faith; Isaiah 25:6 (additional verses included for context). 

The World Mission Society Church of God interprets this verse to mean that in the future there will be a feast that contains wine that will swallow up death forever.  The WMSCOG says that this mountain is their definition of Zion, that this feast is their Passover celebration, and the Lord that prepares it is Ahn Sahng Hong.  It took about 8 years in the church for me to realize that perhaps these verses could be interpreted to be about Jesus at the last supper or the coming of the new heaven and new earth in Revelation. 

The WMSCOG teaches that the Lord in the above passage cannot be Jesus and must be Ahn Sahng Hong, because of the use of the word “aged.”  It is further taught that the wine was first opened at the time of Jesus, then sealed up for 1,600 years, from the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD until 1948 (although Ahn Sahng Hong did not begin to preach or observe the Passover until several years later).

Now, let’s get into the specifics of wine preservation. According to the WMSCOG’s interpretation, the wine was “opened” the first time at the coming of Jesus, then sealed, and reopened at the time of Ahn Sahng Hong. Therefore, this wine would be called “corked.”  After wine is opened, after about 5 days it begins to turn into a vinegar due to oxidation.  For wine to be aged, it should never be opened. Meaning, Jesus should never have served this wine that swallows up death. Once opened, it would undoubtedly spoil over the following 1600 years.

Now to understand the reason why this wine is called “aged.” It becomes a matter of translation and intent.  When you view the King James Version and several other versions, you see how this wine is meant to be described in more detail. In the KJV it is called “wine on the lees.” 

I once was teaching a WMSCOG bible study to a KJV-only person (if you are a member of the church and have gone preaching in the southern states of the US, you will know the type for sure) from the perspective that “it doesn’t matter which translation, they will all say the same truth I am delivering.” Then this verse came up and I had to do some fancy bible verse gymnastics in order to explain it away.  The phrase “wine on the lees” is uncommon and would make little sense to most people.

When wine is made, yeast is added to the grape juice, in order to convert the sugar in the juice to alcohol and carbon dioxide. Once the process of fermentation is complete, the yeast will drop to the bottom.  The sediment is referred to as gross lees which is made up of the yeast, grape skins, stems and other byproducts which are discarded. However, some of the yeast is very fine and takes a long time to settle to the bottom.  The flavor of the wine becomes increasingly richer the longer it remains in contact with the finer lees. That is where the expression, “aged like fine wine” comes from.

Subsequently, the wine in this verse can be interpreted in two ways. The wine is either aged, meaning unopened for many years, or high in quality.  The quality of the banquet is echoed several times throughout the verse. Note that the verse does not refer to “the most ancient of meats and the oldest of wines,” but rather emphasizes the quality. 

So let’s put on our thinking caps (or thinking yamakas) and take a deeper look at the original Hebrew text.

The Hebrew to English translation of Isaiah 25:6 can be found on BibleHub.

As you can see, the descriptive word for the wine in Hebrew is lees (or dregs in the Strong’s concordance). If you copy and paste the Hebrew word שְׁמָרִ֖ים into Google Translate, the result is yeast.

Although some translations such as the NIV simply describe the wine as aged, the emphasis is on the quality of the wine, and greatness of the feast that the Lord is preparing. There is no reference to a wine that swallows up death forever, being served and then remaining unused for any length of time. In fact, there is no direct link to the wine being what swallows up death at all. If this were to be the case, then the choicest of meats may also be credited to swallowing up death. If this is the case, then according to the WMSCOG’s interpretation, God would be serving us 1600 year old meat. Clearly, Isaiah 25:6-9 describes a banquet of the highest quality, and is not about how long this oxidized (spoiled) wine has been sitting around.

Reading further, it says in verse 7 that God will remove the shroud from all peoples (a shroud is a cloth that is used to cover the dead for burial) and wipe the tears from all faces.  What is important to remember here is that in the time of Isaiah, the Jewish people were the only ones known to be God’s people. But in the time of Jesus, a future event for Isaiah, we see all people being welcomed into God’s banquet and God removing death and sorrow from all nations. In conclusion, the scene in the above mentioned verses more accurately applies to Jesus at the last supper and to the saints entering Heaven (often compared to a banquet; Matthew 22:2, Luke 14:15, Revelation 3:20-21).

In defending their claims that Ahnsahnghong is divine, members of the World Mission Society Church of God have argued (as noted on numerous sites such as here, here or here) that Ahnsahnghong  “revealed the secret of the 7 thunders”.  Members of the WMSCOG claim that the 7 thunders in Revelation 10, represent the 7 feasts in the Old Testament (noted on this blog here).  When I was a member of the WMSCOG, I took extensive notes on this study because of the importance that high ranking members placed on this “secret”.  I was told that “through this study we prove that Ahnsahnghong is god because he is the only one that could unseal the 7 thunders”.

The basic summary of the study proceeds like this:

1. God told John not to write about the 7 thunders (Revelation 10:4)
2. The scroll will be opened in the last days (Revelation 22:10)
3. The scroll represents the Bible and only the Root of David, or God, could open the scroll (Revelation 5:1)  ***Click here for an article that addresses this point of the study.***
4. Jesus Christ is the Root of David (Revelation 22:16)
5. 7 thunders are perfect thunders (Revelation 10:4)
6. Thunder represents God’s voice (John 12:28), therefore the 7 thunders were 7 of God’s instructions/decrees
7. The scroll will be sealed until the end times (Daniel 12:4,9)
8. The tablets had writing on both sides (Exodus 32:15), therefore the 7 thunders, which the WMSCOG believes are the 7 feasts must have been written on the back
9. Ahnsahnghong reinstated the 7 feasts in the end times, therefore he is the Root of David

To those of you who have never been a member of the WMSCOG, I apologize if your head is spinning right now.  I know this is Bible hopscotch.

Do the 7 thunders in the book of Revelation represent the 7 feasts of the Old Testament?  This is key to the study, and if it can be refuted, the entire study fails because if the 7 thunders do not represent the 7 feasts, then they were not supposed to be reinstated by Ahnsahnghong or anyone else.  (Not that the Jews ever stopped celebrating them, but that is a topic for another article.)  In order to answer the question of whether the 7 thunders in Revelation represent the 7 feasts from the Old Testament, we will focus our analysis around two claims the WMSCOG makes in this study:

1. Thunder represents God’s voice.  (point #6 in the study)
2. The stone tablets, on which the 10 commandments were written, also had the 7 feasts written on the back.  (point #8 in the study)

Does The Sound Of Thunder Always Represent God’s Voice?

Numerous verses in the Bible describe God’s voice sounding like thunder to those that heard it (See 2 Samuel 22:14, Job 37:4-5, Psalm 18:13), but does this apply to God’s voice alone?  Revelation 6:1 proves that the sound of thunder does not always represent the voice of God Himself:

Again we can confirm that voices other than God’s can sound like thunder by looking at Revelation 19:6:

In the above two verses, it is clear that other voices from heaven, not only the voice of God, are described as sounding like thunder.  Therefore, the WMSCOG’s claim that the 7 thunders in Revelation 10 must be the voice of God, is not certain since the text does not say it is the voice of God.  This is important because if the 7 thunders do not represent God’s voice, then the argument that Ahnsahnghong is god because he “unsealed the secret of the 7 thunders”, or 7 instructions from God, is no longer tenable.  This is one possible problem with the study, but there is a far more glaring error–only the Ten Commandments were written on the stone tablets given to Moses which unequivocally refutes point #8 of the study, as we will now demonstrate.

Were The Old Covenant Feasts Written On The Back Of The Stone Tablets Given To Moses?

During the study about the 7 thunders, the pastor read Exodus 34, where God tells Moses to carve another set of stone tablets after he broke the first set of tablets (see Exodus 34:1).  In Exodus 34, God reminds Moses of the 7 feasts and other requirements prior to Moses writing the Ten Commandments on the second set of stone tablets.  The pastor, cited Exodus 32:15 and claimed that since the tablets had writing on both sides, that the seven feasts must have been written on the back:

The WMSCOG pastor claimed that God commanded Moses to write the seven feasts which, according to him, represented the covenant God made with the Israelites on the stone tablets in addition to the Ten Commandments.  However, Exodus 34:28 says:

Exodus 34:28 states that only the Ten Commandments were written on the stone tablets.  That’s bad news for point #8 of the study outlined above, because that means that the 7 thunders are not the 7 feasts.  It gets better.

The book of Deuteronomy also describes what was written on the first set of stone tablets (Deuteronomy 4:13, 9:10) and the second set of stone tablets (Deuteronomy 10:4).  Deuteronomy 4:13-14 says:

The above verses tell us that the covenant, or the Ten Commandments were written on the two stone tablets and in addition to the Ten Commandments, the Lord directed Moses to teach other decrees and laws that the Israelites were to follow.  Deuteronomy 5:1 begins with a list of the Ten Commandments and in verse 22 says:

The above verse clearly says that nothing more than the Ten Commandments were written on the first set of stone tablets.  But were the second set of tablets different?  Deuteronomy 10:1-2 tells us that they were the same:

Deuteronomy 10:4 confirms that the writing on the second set of tablets was in fact the same as the first.

Conclusion

Scripture clearly tells us that:

1. The covenant was the Ten Commandments (Deuteronomy 4:13-14 )
2. God added nothing more to the Ten Commandments written on the stone tablets (Deuteronomy 5:22)
3. The second set of tablets was the same as the first set of tablets (Deuteronomy 10:1-2, 4)

It is incomprehensible to read the above scriptural proof, and still conclude that there was anything except for the Ten Commandments written on the stone tablets.  After concluding that the 7 thunders John heard in Revelation 10 may not have been God’s voice, and that only the Ten Commandments were written on the stone tablets given to Moses, the rest of the WMSCOG’s study becomes irrelevant.

I remember believing that the WMSCOG’s studies were perfect when I was a member.  At least that’s how they were presented.  I remember hearing members say that the Bible never made sense until they had studied with the WMSCOG.  Today that statement seems overwhelmingly ironic after seeing other numerous examples of verses the WMSCOG has taken out of context in order to “make sense” of the Bible.

*The photo above is licensed under the Creative Commons license, available here.

According to the World Mission Society Church of God, the Roman Emperor Constantine abolished the Sabbath in 321 A.D at the First Council of Nicea.  On the official USA site, the WMSCOG quotes Constantine as stating, “All judges, city-people and craftsmen shall rest on the venerable day of the Sun.”   However, given the WMSCOG’s history of poorly interpreting Scripture, and their distortion of other author’s works as proven here, we feel their interpretation of history probably deserves a little closer examination as well.

Sunday Observance In Scripture

Immediately after the resurrection of Jesus, there was some confusion among the Jewish converts about certain Jewish practices such as circumcision, which particular day of worship to observe, and whether or not to observe the Jewish feasts.  We see these issues addressed by the Apostle Paul in many places (e.g. Col 2:14-17, Gal 5:6). While Paul goes to the Jewish synagogue on the Sabbath in order to evangelize to the Jews (Acts 17:2, 18:4) but gathers with Christian followers on Sunday (Acts 20:7).  [Click here to see an in-depth explanation of Acts 20:7]

First We Must Study Church History

And how does one study Church history?  By reading historical documents.  The writings of Christians throughout the ages have left the academic world with a veritable wealth of knowledge and insight concerning the beliefs and practices of Christians since the time of Jesus Christ.  These are easily accessible to anyone with an Internet connection, and studied heavily in academia and seminaries throughout the world.  You can read the writings of the first Christians online for free here, at your local library, or pick up any one of a number of good compendiums available online, or from your favorite bookstore.  Now, if you were to click over and read some of these writings, just what would they say?

Sunday Observance In The Early Church

The historical record stands in stark contrast to the claims of the WMSCOG.  All of the writings of the first Christians unequivocally claim that Christians were observing Sunday as their day of worship, some 240 years before the Nicean Counsel when the WMSCOG claims that Sunday worship was imposed upon a “Saturday-observant” Christian world.  Unfortunately for them, their claim does not hold up with history.  You can visit your local library, or purchase any compendium of early Christian writings (such as this one) and read what the first Christians had to say.  For instance:

Ignatius (appointed by Peter as Bishop of Antioch) in the IX chapter of his letter to the Magnesians in 110 A.D. writes:

“If they who were concerned in old things, arrived at a newness of hope, no longer observing the Sabbath, but living according to the Lord’s day, by which our life sprung from him and by his death (whom certain persons deny)…we have been made his disciples, let us live according to Christianity.”

Barnabas (named in Acts 14:14, who was an apostle and the companion of Paul) writes in the XV chapter of his Epistle in 120 A.D.

“Wherefore, also, we keep the eighth day with joyfulness, the day, also, on which Jesus rose again from the dead.”

Justin Martyr (one of the first Christian apologists) wrote in the LXVII chapter of his first apology in 140 A.D.

“Sunday is the day on which we all hold our common assembly, because it is the first day on which God, having wrought a change in the darkness, made the world; and Jesus Christ our savior , on the same day rose from the dead.”

The Didache (considered by all major scholars to be the most authoritative historical writing on early Christianity outside the Bible) stated in 80-90 A.D.

“And on the day of our Lord’s resurrection, which is the Lord’s day meet more diligently.”

Don’t just take our word for it though.  See for yourself, by googling, or visiting your local library and learn exactly what the first Christians thought about Sunday vs Saturday observance.  Note well, how everything written both before and after 325 AD. unequivocally states that Christians observed Sunday.  How can the WMSCOG get it so wrong?  It’s turning a blind eye to the clear historical record to say the least, and I don’t know any historian who wouldn’t laugh their version of history out of the room.

Do Christians Worship The Sun On Sunday?

Not content to leave it at misrepresenting early Christian practices, the WMSCOG takes it a step further, claiming on their official USA site, that during the fourth century:

Ouch.  Now, that just looks silly after all of the historical research we have done (you did go and read up on early Christian observance of Sunday didn’t you?)

The WMSCOG implies that Christians are worshiping the Sun when they gather to worship on Sunday.  Let’s take that argument and apply it to Jews and other Sabbatarians.  Saturday is named after the planet Saturn.  Does that mean that Jews and the WMSCOG worship Saturn because they gather to worship on Saturday? People who gather on Sunday are no more worshiping the Sun god that those who gather on Saturday are worshiping the pagan god of Saturn.

Did Constantine Really Abolish The Sabbath?

Constatine, as emperor, only had jurisdiction over civil observance of the day of rest. Constantine did not have authority within the church to designate or change the day of worship.  In fact, Constatine helped stop the persecution of Christians by making Sunday a day of rest, so they could not be singled out for discrimination by a mostly-pagan populous.

Eusebius, a Roman Bishop and historian, wrote “The Life of Constantine”.  Eusebius wrote regarding Constantine and Sunday worship:

“And since his [Constantine] desire was to teach his whole army zealously to honor the Saviour’s day (which derives its name from light, and from the sun), he freely granted to those among them who were partakers of the divine faith, leisure for attendance on the services of the Church of God, in order that they might be able, without impediment, to perform their religious worship”.

Eusebius makes it clear that Christians were previously unable to worship on Sundays because they were required to work.  Previously, Saturday was the only day of rest, or day on which no customary work was to be done.  If Constantine would have abolished the Sabbath, as the WMSCOG claims, then he would have had to reinstate Saturday as a day of work. There is no historical evidence, that I can find, to even suggest that Constantine abolished Saturday as a day of rest.  Is there any evidence in Jewish history that supports that Constantine abolished the Sabbath and forced the Jews to work or prohibited them to worship on Saturday?  No.  Did Constantine institute any consequences for Christians that did not worship on Sunday?  No.  Then it is impossible for Constantine to have “abolished” the Sabbath and therefore, the WMSCOG’s claims remain unfounded.  It is revisionist history to say otherwise.

Is Constantine Satan?

In the WMSCOG’s study on the book of Daniel, or Daniel’s Prophecy, they claim that Constantine is Satan because he allegedly changed God’s laws (Daniel 7:25).  The WMSCOG also claims that the positive changes that Constantine made for Christians during his reign were an attempt by Constantine (or Satan according to the official WMSCOG site) to trick Christians into turning against God.

It is important to mention that immediately prior to Constantine’s rule, the Christians suffered what is called The Great Persecution during which 20,000 Christians died under the Roman Emperor Diocletian.  Why doesn’t the WMSCOG consider Diocletian to be Satan?  During the Diocletian rule, Christians were forced to burn incense and offer sacrifices to pagan gods and were arrested, tortured, and sometimes killed if they refused. Constantine made the practice of offering sacrifices illegal and expelled those officers in his court that made sacrifices to pagan gods.  Why would Constantine do this if his goal was to turn Christians away from God?  It was not until Constantine legalized Christianity that the persecution ceased.

In the above quote, the WMSCOG claims that Constantine wanted Christians to bow down before him.  But Eusebius, in his writings about Constantine, explains that Constantine was displeased with people who praised him excessively.

“And now that all these ceremonies were completed, and the divine qualities of the emperor’s character continued to be the theme of universal praise, one of God’s ministers presumed so far as in his own presence to pronounce him blessed, as having been counted worthy to hold absolute and universal empire in this life, and as being destined to share the empire of the Son of God in the world to come. These words, however, Constantine heard with indignation, and forbade the speaker to hold such language, exhorting him rather to pray earnestly on his behalf, that whether in this life or in that which is to come, he might be found worthy to be a servant of God“.

Did Constantine Abolish Other Feasts?

In his writings about Constantine, Eusebius tells us that Constantine died at noon on the day of the Pentacost.

“All these events occurred during a most important festival, I mean the august and holy solemnity of Pentecost, which is distinguished by a period of seven weeks, and sealed with that one day on which the holy Scriptures attest, the ascension of our common Saviour into heaven, and the descent of the Holy Spirit among men. In the course of this feast the emperor received the privileges I have described; and on the last day of all, which one might justly call the feast of feasts, he was removed about mid-day to the presence of his God, leaving his mortal remains to his fellow mortals, and carrying into fellowship with God that part of his being which was capable of understanding and loving him”.

Here is evidence of yet another Christian feast that was not abolished by Constantine. If the WMSCOG’s claims that Constantine abolished the Sabbath were valid, why would Constantine abolish the Sabbath and not the Pentecost?  This does not make sense.  Just another example of how the WMSCOG’s misrepresentation of history easily fails in light of additional sources.

Conclusion

It is abundantly clear that the historical facts do not support the WMSCOG’s claims that Constantine “abolished” the Sabbath and in fact only prove that the WMSCOG must resort to historical revisionism in order to clamor for listeners.

*The photo above is licensed under the Creative Commons license, available here.

In a Bible study that I attended at the World Mission Society Church of God called “Clean and Unclean Animals”, I was taught that ZhangGilJah represents the heifer being sacrificed in Numbers 19.  After discovering that the WMSCOG uses contextomy to make many of their arguments, I am compelled to delve further into claims made by the group.  Can a solid connection be made between the ceremonial sacrifice of a red heifer and Zahng Gil Jah?

Why Does The WMSCOG Believe That The Red Heifer In Numbers 19 Represents ZahngGilJah?

The WMSCOG missionary that taught this lesson claimed that there was a “spiritual meaning” to the heifer being sacrificed, because the heifer was the only female animal sacrificed by the Israelites during the Old Testament times.  The missionary seemed to have come to this conclusion through an analogous comparison.  “Jesus was the Passover Lamb and through His sacrifice we receive the forgiveness of sins.  In the same way “mother” is the red heifer and through her sacrifice we receive the water of life.  Just as the prophecy of the Passover Lamb was fulfilled by Jesus, the prophecy of the heifer had to be fulfilled by ‘mother'”.  The missionary cited Numbers 9:9 to support his connection to the water of life referenced in Revelation 22:17.

Historical Significance of the Red Heifer

Egyptian pagan worshipers considered heifers (or female cows) sacred and representative of the Egyptian goddess Isis.  It is interesting to note that the headdress that Isis wore consisted of cow’s horns surrounding a red solar disk (see the picture on the left).  Other titles for Isis included “Mother-god”, “Queen of heaven”, “Lady in red”, and “Lady of eternity” among others.  For the Egyptians, Isis represented motherhood, magic and fertility.  Biblical references to the pagan worship of a female deity are also noted.  Jeremiah chapter 44 describes the disasters the Lord brings upon the Jews as a result of their  idolatrous worship of the “queen of heaven“.  See also Jeremiah 7:18 where the Lord says:

It is clear in the Bible, that God was angered by the idolatrous worship of a female goddess considered to be the “queen of heaven”.  Based upon  historical facts and Biblical context, one can conclude that the sacrifice of a red heifer is in direct opposition to the Egyptian pagan belief in a sacred heifer (female cow) which was also representative of their “mother god”.

Was The Prophecy Of The Heifer In Numbers 19 Fulfilled?

The WMSCOG’s interpretation of the heifer being sacrificed in Numbers 19 suggests that in order to fulfill this prophecy, a female version of God or Christ would need to appear in the flesh as Jesus Christ did.  This argument would only be sustainable if Jesus did not fulfill the prophecy with His sacrifice on the cross.  Are there any connections between the sacrifice of the heifer and Jesus’ sacrifice in the New Testament?

Did Jesus Represent The Passover Lamb And The Heifer?

According to Numbers 19:3, it was required that the heifer be sacrificed “outside the camp“.  We can see the fulfillment of this requirement in Hebrews.

It is noted in Number 19:9 that the purpose of the sacrificial heifer was “for purification from sin“.  Fulfillment of this requirement through the blood of Jesus Christ can also be noted in the above verses.

Numbers 19:2 requires that the heifer chosen by the Israelites be “without defect or blemish“.   Fulfillment of this requirement is also noted in Hebrews.

In the above verses, Jesus who was without blemish or defect, fulfilled the requirement of all animal sacrifices, whether male [bulls] or female [heifer],  in Numbers 19:2.  Not only is the sacrifice of the heifer specifically mentioned, but it is understood that the sacrifice of Jesus Christ surpassed the cleansing the Israelites hoped to obtain through animal sacrifices required by the law of the Old Testament.  Therefore, it is clear that no other sacrifice after the sacrifice of  Jesus Christ, is necessary for us to receive cleansing or purification from sin.  Further proof of this is seen here:

In the above verses we understand that the animal sacrifices made by priests according to the Old Testament law could “never take away sins“.   But Jesus, an eternal priest in the order of Melchizedek (Hebrews 6:20), “by one sacrifice…has made perfect forever those who are being made holy“.  If by Jesus’ sacrifice (“once for all”), we are made holy forever, what need would there be for another Savior?

But What About The Water Of Life?

As mentioned earlier, the WMSCOG missionary that taught this lesson, drew a parallel between the heifer’s ashes mixed with water (Numbers 9:9)  and the water of life in Revelation 22:17 and concluded that faith in the “mother god” was necessary for cleansing from sin, and therefore was synonymous with the water of life necessary for salvation.  But who does the Bible say is the water of life?

In the above verse, Jesus tells us that He is the water “welling up to eternal life“.  Therefore, Zahng Gil Jah can not represent the water of life.

Did Zahng Gil Jah Fulfill The Prophecy Of The Sacrificial Heifer In Numbers 19?

Due to the clear connections between the sacrificial heifer and Jesus’ sacrifice I would have to conclude NO.  By Jesus’ sacrifice we receive the purification of sins forever, a claim that could never be made with regards to the ceremonial requirements of the Old Testament law.  Not only did Zahng Gil Jah NOT fulfill the prophecy of the sacrificial heifer, there was no need for anyone else to do so.

Conclusion

It is abundantly clear by the above historical and Biblical analysis that the World Mission Society Church of God’s lesson on “Clean and Unclean Animals” is severely flawed.  One could only agree with their interpretation if one completely ignores the historical and Biblical context.  So in summary, the WMSCOG argument remains unsupported for the following reasons:

1. It can be concluded that the choice of a female animal was in direct opposition to the Egyptian worship of the pagan goddess Isis (represented by a red heifer) and NOT to imply that there was ever a female counterpart to the One Almighty God.  The pagan Egyptians, like the WMSCOG, believe that the red heifer represents their “mother god”.
2. The idolatrous worship of a female god provokes God to anger (Jeremiah 7:18).
3. The sacrifice of female animals was already in practice prior to the requirement to sacrifice a heifer, as evidenced by Leviticus 3:1.
4. Jesus fulfilled the requirement of all animal sacrifices, whether male or female, as clearly noted in Hebrews 9:13-14.
5. Jesus’ sacrifice atoned once for all and forever, for all of our sins ( Hebrews 10:10-14), therefore there will never be a reason for another “god” to exist.
6. Jesus said He is the water of life, therefore Zahng Gil Jah is not and never will be.

Also see: Does Zhang Gil Jah Fulfill The Prophecy Of The Heifer In Numbers 19? Or Is She Just A Cow?

*The photo above is licensed under the Creative Commons license, available here.

The World Mission Society Church of God believes that Zahng Gil Jah is both the “mother” and “bride” described in the Bible.  How does the WMSCOG arrive at this conclusion?  How do WMSCOG recruiters present this conclusion to potential new recruits?

How They Recruit Using Galatians 4:26

When recruiting in shopping malls, heavily populated areas, or on college campuses, WMSCOG recruiters approach people and ask, “have you ever heard of god the mother in the Bible?”  Regardless of what the person says, as long as they are not immediately shunned away, recruiters quickly open the Bible and begin to explain how they arrive at their conclusion that there is a “female god”.  (When I was a member, I was taught to recruit this way).  The WMSCOG “logic” goes something like this:

1. Revelation 22:17 – WMSCOG recruiters point out that the “Spirit” is capitalized and therefore refers to the Holy Spirit.  The bride has to be “god” because no one else can give us eternal life (as in water of life).  Then, who is the bride?
2. Revelation 21:2 – The holy city, new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven prepared as a bride for her husband.  Who is the bride’s husband?
3. Revelation 21:9 – The bride is the wife of the Lamb.  Who is the Lamb?
4. John 1:29 – The Lamb is Jesus.  Then who is mother in the bible?
5. Galatians 4:26 – The Jerusalem that is above is our mother.  (I know it’s confusing, hang in there):

So, according to the WMSCOG formula:

mother in the Bible (Galatians 4:26) = Jerusalem above (Galatians 4:26) = Jerusalem bride (Revelation 21:2) = bride wife of Jesus (Revelation 21:9) = bride gives water of life (Revelation 22:17, just like Jesus in John 4:14) =

Therefore, bride is mother god

Clear as mud right?  Anyone can clearly see that this does grave violence to the original meaning of the Scriptures.  If you skip around in the Bible this way doing a keyword search, you can make it say anything you want to.  Unfortunately for the WMSCOG, this interpretation easily fails when we read the verses in their proper context (and by the way, if you thought you could make sense of any book by jumping around all over it, grabbing a line from this chapter and another line from another chapter, you should try this with some other book in your library you’ve read before and see how it very poorly communicates the underlying story).

Problems With The WMSCOG Interpretation

1. While the WMSCOG does not believe that the “bride” in the Bible represents the church, they contradict their own founder, a Korean man named Ahnsahnghong, when he writes that the bride does represent the church.
2. While the WMSCOG believes that the “mother” in Galatians 4:26 represents a “mother god” (whom they also claim is a lady living in Korea named Zahng Gil-Jah), they again contradict their own founder Ahnsahnghong who wrote a book denouncing the idea of a “mother god”.

Galatians 4:26 Grossly Misinterpreted

The WMSCOG continues their pattern of misinterpreting Scripture by completely ignoring the context surrounding their cherry-picked verses.  A person can be seriously mislead by this sort of thinking if the context surrounding Galatians 4:26 is not examined.  Considering the context of Galatians 4 in its entirety, it becomes clear that the apostle Paul was not referring to a “female god”.  Let us read the text as it is written.

Paul begins the chapter by comparing Christians to heirs of their father’s estate (Galatians 4:1-2).  In continuing with this analogy, Paul goes on to explain how we were slaves under the law until Jesus, also born under the law, came to redeem us and adopt us as God’s children, making us heirs of our Father’s Kingdom.

Paul goes on to express his concern for the Galatians because they had turned back to observing “special days and months and seasons and years” (Galatians 4:9-10).  It is clear that Paul is quite disturbed by the behavior of the Galatians when he says “I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you” (Galatians 4:11) and “I am perplexed about you!” (Galatians 4:20). The Galatians seemed to have turned back to observing the ceremonial law of Moses, (“Tell me, you who want to be under the law” Galatians 4:21) despite having learned about redemption through Jesus Christ.

Paul uses the story of Abraham and his two sons to illustrate his point.  Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman (Hagar) and one by a free woman (Sarah).  As we read on in Galatians 4, Paul tells us that what he is about to say should be taken figuratively  (aka metaphorically, allegorically, NOT literally).  

Ahn Sahng Hong also agreed with this interpretation.

When interpreting the above verses figuratively as Paul intended (and flat out says), the following becomes clear:

1. Hagar represents the present city Jerusalem, the old covenant, and therefore her children are slaves.
2. Sarah represents the heavenly city Jerusalem, the new covenant, and therefore her children are free.

Therefore, in Galatians 4:26, it is clear that when Paul says that the “new Jerusalem is our mother” he is referring to the heavenly country Jerusalem as our motherland.  In order to illustrate this more clearly, here are some additional Biblical examples of the word “mother” being used to refer to a country.

For more information on what the word “mother” is used to represent in the Bible, please view this excellent article.

Conclusion

As you can see, Galatians 4:26 taken out of context can mean anything.  However, when we read the verse in context, it is abundantly clear that this verse does not refer to a mother god and Ahn Sahng Hong agreed.  When I was in the WMSCOG, they discouraged us from reading outside the verses they wanted us to memorize because they said we would not be able to understand the Bible on our own.  Actually, I can see another reason why–because doing so quickly leads one to leave the WMSCOG.

The World Mission Society Church of God teaches that observance of the Sabbath is required for salvation and celebrates the Sabbath from approximately 9 am until 10 pm on Saturday (yes that’s 13 hours in church every Saturday if you’re counting, and it is absolutely exhausting).  Despite the long day, many members stay until 12 am or later on the Sabbath to “study”.  When I was a member, I remember a WMSCOG Deacon explaining that “Jewish people do not observe the Sabbath correctly because they begin observing on Friday evening“.  I found this very strange.  I wondered how the Jews, who had been commanded to observe the Sabbath when the commandments were given to Moses by God in Exodus 20, could have gotten it wrong?  Did the Jews observe the Sabbath incorrectly, and did Moses fail to correct them?

What Does the Bible Say?

Interestingly, the Bible does provide some guidance on this topic.  In Leviticus 23, the Lord commands the Israelites to observe 7 feasts.  Included in the command to observe The Day of Atonement, the Lord says:

The above verse clearly states that the Sabbath was to be observed from evening to evening.  Some WMSCOG members have argued that this particular Sabbath is during the Feast of Weeks and therefore does not apply to all Sabbath observances.  Well, then why don’t they follow it when a Sabbath falls within another feast?  In the Bible though we find many other verses that explain that all feast dates were calculated based on the new moon.  For instance:

Why does God repeatedly refer to the feasts as “New Moon” feasts?  It is because the Jews observe a lunar calendar (sundown to sundown).  The first day of the month was calculated based on the new or full moon.  We, in modern times, have adopted the solar calendar (sunrise to sunrise).  The Jews have not adapted their calculations of the feast times to adjust to our solar calendar, thus observing the Sabbath as they always have, evening to evening.

The Sabbath is Evening to Evening

Therefore, according to the Bible, the Jews are keeping the old covenant law as the Israelites were instructed by Moses, after receiving the commandments from the Lord. On the other hand, the WMSCOG is not observing the Sabbath according to the Bible, and also makes other miscalculations when it comes to other feast dates.

Even the Seventh Day Adventists Observe Sundown on Friday to Sundown on Saturday

The Seventh Day Adventist Church, the same denomination WMSCOG leader Ahn Sahng Hong was a member of until he was kicked out in 1962, observes the Sabbath from sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday. Perhaps this was one of the grievances Ahn Sahng Hong had with the SDA’s that ultimately led to his expulsion.

Conclusion

We see in Scripture that the Sabbath is to be celebrated from evening to evening.  The Jewish people have always celebrated it that way, and still do today.  Are the Jews, (whose Sabbath it is), the Seventh Day Adventists, and the Bible wrong, while the World Mission Society Church of God is right?  Extremely unlikely.

I’ve heard a lot of World Mission Society Church Of God members claim that “Ahn Sahng Hong had to preach the gospel for 37 years in order to fulfill the Prophecy of King David’s throne“.  Let’s take a closer look at this claim.

Ahn Sahng Hong’s History

After being raised Buddhist, the WMSCOG claims that Ahn Sahng Hong was baptized into the Seventh Day Adventist Church in 1948.  Baptism documents have proved his baptism date to be a complete fabrication by the WMSCOG.  Ahn Sahng Hong’s real baptism date was October 9, 1954.  After remaining a member of the Seventh Day Adventists for 10 years,  Ahn Sahng Hong was kicked out in 1962.  The World Mission Society Church of God claims they were founded by Ahn Sahng Hong in 1964.  In actuality, Ahn Sahng Hong established his own church, the Witnesses of Jesus Church of God, on April 28, 1964.

WMSCOG members have claimed that Ahn Sahng Hong had to have been baptized into the SDA church originally because they were the only ones worshiping on Saturday.  However, Jesus was not baptized into another religion, despite having been raised a Jew.  This begs the question, why did he not start his own church in 1948 or 1954 (Ahn Sahng Hong’s real baptism date)?

To break down the math though, according to Ahn Sahng-Hong’s tombstone he lived from 1918 – 1985.

Let’s say for the sake of argument that Ahn Sahng Hong was baptized in 1948 as the WMSCOG claims.

If he preached for 37 years as the WMSCOG claims, then he would have had to start preaching in 1985-37=1948, supposedly the year he entered the SDA church.  This still does not work.

Jesus began his ministry and started his own church at the point of his baptism.  Ahn Sahng Hong, on the other hand, did not begin to preach the “new covenant Passover” until he established his own church in 1964.  A fact that the World Mission Society Church of God admits on their own website.  This is a full 16 years later than the supposed 1948 baptism date.  (Completely ignoring for a moment that Herbert Armstrong “restored the Passover” in his Worldwide Church of God about 30 years before Ahn Sahng Hong supposedly did).

The WMSCOG Contradicts Themselves on Ahn Sahng Hong’s 37 Year Ministry

In an article titled, All the members of the Church of God over 70 nations Celebrated 2003 Passover of the New Covenant on April 16, 2003, the WMSCOG admits that:

Therefore, he did not preach his “new covenant Passover” for 37 years as they claim here, but for only 21 years!  This proves that he did not fulfill the “prophecy of King David” as the WMSCOG claims.

Thus, even according to the WMSCOG’s own manufactured prophesies, Ahn Sahng Hong was not God.