THE MYSTERY OF MAN

God Enters the Picture

Consider now what has been covered about God's PURPOSE for the angels that sinned on earth. For that angelic rebellion leads directly to God's PURPOSE for MAN--to our question of WHAT and WHY is MAN?

Armstrong Was Likely To Be Wrong In His Theories About Man

Seeing that Armstrong propounded fallacious theories with respect his discussion on angels, and he appears to be discussing questions pertaining to man by logically following on from his fallacious discussion of angels, it is likely that his discussion on man will also contain fallacies!

Earth's Face in Devastation

Let me here interject a biblical principle within the immediate context. There is this instruction in Isaiah:

"Whom shall he teach knowledge? And whom shall he make to understand doctrine? ...precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little" (Isa. 28:9-10).

But most who try to apply this principle in biblical understanding take each "little" verse out of its context, to "interpret" their own ideas into it.

Armstrong Was Guilty Of The Accusations He Levelled Against Others

From our examination above of Armstrong's fallacious theories, it is indeed evident that the very thing he accuses others of doing is the very thing he himself has done. For he has taken verses out of their context, and interpreted his own ideas into them! Armstrong is no different from the other false teachers he is accusing!

Man in God's Image

The first thing God did was turn darkness back into LIGHT as originally made. God said, "Let there be light: and there was light" (Gen. 1:3).

Armstrong's Fallacious Theory About The Earth's Original State

Where is Armstrong's proof that the state of the earth was originally light? How could it have been originally light when it did not even exist at the time Armstrong claims that it existed?

Theories upon theories, and fallacious ones at that, and repeated several times too!

Eden Was Not The Work Of Angels

Once again the earth was a perfect, but as yet unfinished, creation--lacking the finishing touches.

What "finishing touches" were these that the earth was lacking? Does Armstrong have proof, or is he propagating more of his theorems?

For the record, even the most beautiful garden on earth, Eden, was not the work of angels. It was indeed Yahweh's work, for Beresheet 2: 8 says that it was Yahweh the Mighty One who planted the garden in Eden. So what does one make of this theory of angels beautifying an unfinished creation of Yahweh? What is this theory of man supposedly beautifying or completing an unfinished creation of Yahweh?

Armstrong is just propagating theories from his head with no scriptural proof whatsoever, and expecting people to believe his theories!

The Soul Is Mortal

Therefore the SOUL is physical, composed of matter, and can die. This is a TRUTH believed by very few denominations, and probably by no other religions--another PROOF that identifies the one true Church of God!

The Worldwide Church Of God Was Not The True Church

If the possession and belief in truth is a proof that identifies "the one true Church of God", then possession and belief of error identifies what is not "the one true Church of God"! Seeing that Armstrong caused the Worldwide Church of God to possess and believe all the errors contained in this book of his, Mystery of the Ages, it is EVIDENT, from Armstrong's own words, that the Worldwide Church of God, of which Armstrong headed, WAS NOT "the one true Church of God", at least when it held to and believed these fallacious teachings of Armstrong, its name notwithstanding!

The Soul Can Die

The soul is merely the breathing animal. All animals are biblically called "souls"--in Hebrew, nephesh. Therefore, if man is a soul as in Genesis 2:7, so also are the dumb animals. But there is a human spirit in the human soul.

This human spirit does not impart human life. Human life, like that of all vertebrates, comes from blood circulation, oxidized by the breath of air. But God reveals there is a spirit within every human. This spirit is not present in animals. The human spirit empowers the human brain with intellect--with ability to acquire knowledge, to think, reason, make decisions, produce attitudes of good or evil.

Eliyah The Tishbi Understood Man More Than Armstrong

It is evident that the original Eliyah, Eliyah the Tishbi, understood more about the human spirit than did the false Eliyah, Herbert W. Armstrong!

1 Melakhim 17: 17-22 reads, " 17:17It happened after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick; and his sickness was so sore, that there was no breath left in him. 17:18She said to Eliyah, 'What have I to do with you, you man of the Mighty One? You are come to me to bring my sin to memory, and to kill my son!' 17:19He said to her, 'Give me your son.' He took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into the chamber, where he abode, and laid him on his own bed. 17:20He cried to Yahweh, and said, 'Yahweh my Mighty One, have you also brought evil on the widow with whom I sojourn, by killing her son?' 17:21He stretched himself on the child three times, and cried to Yahweh, and said, 'Yahweh my Mighty One, please let this child's soul come into him again.' 17:22Yahweh listened to the voice of Eliyah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived."

When Eliyah prayed to Yahweh he prayed that the child's soul or spirit come into him again. Implying that the child's soul had departed from him! In other words, because the child's soul or spirit had departed from the child he died! And for the child to live his soul or spirit needed to come into him again! This was Eliyah's understanding! And this understanding shows that without the spirit in man he CANNOT live! Yet Armstrong says, "this human spirit does not impart human life"!

And when Yahweh listened to the voice of Eliyah the soul or spirit of the child came into the child again, and the child revived or lived again! In other words, the fundamental difference between a dead body and a living one is the dead body DOES NOT have a spirit in it, while a living body HAS! It is therefore clearly seen that the spirit in man does indeed impart life to man, Armstrong's words notwithstanding!

This is not to say that a body devoid of blood and air will live. No! It is simply to say that a human body CANNOT live without having a human spirit inside it!

Armstrong is therefore seen again to be promoting his theories that are contradicted by Yahweh's words!

Kohelet (Ecclesiastes) 3: 18-21 reads, " 3:18I said in my heart, 'As for the sons of men, the Mighty One tests them, so that they may see that they themselves are like animals. 3:19For that which happens to the sons of men happens to animals. Even one thing happens to them. As the one dies, so the other dies. Yes, they have all one breath; and man has no advantage over the animals: for all is vanity. 3:20All go to one place. All are from the dust, and all turn to dust again. 3:21Who knows the spirit of man, whether it goes upward, and the spirit of the animal, whether it goes downward to the earth?'"

Kohelet acknowledges that the composition of humans is similar to that of animals! Both are from dust and to dust both return. Both have spirits within them, only that man has the spirit of man, while animals have the spirit of animals! But both have spirits within them!

And from what is noted from 1 Melakhim 17, it is this spirit in flesh, whether of man or animal, that ensures that flesh lives. Without it, even if flesh is healthy and has air in its lungs, it will not live. Flesh, whether of man or of animal, cannot live without its respective spirit within it!

Rejecting God's Law and Government

The wily Satan got to Adam through his wife Eve. He did not say, "CHOOSE MY WAY!" He appeared as a subtle serpent. He cleverly deceived her.

He put DOUBTS in her mind about God's veracity.

Armstrong Cast Doubts On Yahweh's Veracity

Has not Armstrong also acted in the manner Hasatan acted, putting DOUBTS in the minds of his readers about Yahweh's veracity? For by causing people to believe his fallacious theories, theories negated by Yahweh's word, has he not caused people to doubt Yahweh's word and therefore Yahweh's veracity?

Armstrong has acted no differently to the manner Hasatan acted! Armstrong has behaved like his father, Hasatan the devil, in promulgating his lies!

Humans, Cut Off from God?

They celebrate a pagan Easter acknowledging the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. But they overlook entirely the plain biblical teaching that all who ever lived are to be resurrected from the dead, although in the time order of three distinctly different resurrections. The only hope the Holy Bible gives for the vast humanity of this dying world is the hope of a resurrection from the dead, but that is a positively sure hope. All this will be completely covered and the full scriptures given in the chapters to follow.

Where Is Armstrong's Proof For Three Resurrections?

Does Armstrong have biblical proof for "three distinctly different resurrections"?

Carefully Reading Mystery Of The Ages

The real truth is startling, but you will find it plainly revealed in your own Bible. Follow it as you carefully read this book.

It is by following the Bible as one "carefully" reads "this book" that it has become evident that "this book", Mystery of the Ages, contains numerous fallacious theories. It was NOT inspired by Yah'shuah the Messiah. If it did not originate in Armstrong's head, then it originated with Hasatan the devil.

Why the Second Adam?

Who, then, is a real Christian? Only those who have been, and are being, led by the Holy Spirit of God (Rom. 8:9, 11, 14). And none can receive the Holy Spirit until that person 1) REPENTS--of his sins, his transgressions of God's law; and 2) has complete faith in Jesus Christ--relying on Christ-which includes BELIEVING Jesus Christ. I mean, believing what he says--his WORD the Holy Bible!

Armstrong Did Not Have The Holy Spirit In Him

Seeing that Armstrong, by his promotion of his fallacious theories that are contradicted by Yahweh's word, the Holy Bible, has not he shown himself NOT to have had complete faith in Yah'shuah the Messiah? And seeing that he has said that only those with "complete faith" in Yah'shuah the Messiah receive the Holy Spirit, has not he shown that HE DID NOT have the Holy Spirit in him at the time he wrote these fallacies that we have already examined?

And seeing that he did not have the Holy Spirit in him at the time he wrote these fallacies, should any one bother to believe his words, seeing that they were not inspired by the Holy Spirit?

It appears that since Armstrong's words in this book were not inspired by the Holy Spirit, seeing that the Holy Spirit did not dwell in him at the time he wrote this book, it is evident that this book originated from Armstrong's head. And if not, it originated from Hasatan the devil!

Armstrong Taught For Doctrine The Commandments Of Men

In Satan's deceived world many have come to a counterfeit Christ who is supposed to have done away with his Father's commandments. They even worship Christ. But Jesus himself said plainly:

"Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.... And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.... Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye" (Mark 7:7, 9, 13).

Deceived millions do not realize that they are worshiping Christ in vain. They have been deceived into worshiping "another Jesus."

Seeing that Armstrong has taught for doctrines his own theories, "the commandments of men", he caused people to worship Yahweh IN VAIN! By his theories, "the commandments of men", he caused people to "reject the commandment of Yahweh", that they may keep Armstrong's traditions and theories! And in so doing the word of Yahweh was made of no effect!

Armstrong was guilty of the same sin that the Perushim (Pharisees) and Sofrim (Scribes) were guilty of in Yah'shuah's time! Armstrong was guilty of the same sin he accuses "traditional Christianity" of committing!

It is therefore evident that Armstrong preached a counterfeit Messiah. It is therefore evident that Armstrong "deceived" people "into worshipping 'another Jesus'"!

And seeing that he did not have the Holy Spirit at the time he wrote this book, he was evidently a minister of Hasatan transforming himself into a minister of light! For he was deceiving people into worshipping the Messiah in vain.

He was evidently not the true Eliyah to come who was to restore all things. For the Eliyahs who came in times past spoke only the word that Yahweh gave them to speak. They did only the works that Yahweh gave them to do. They did not cause people to worship Yahweh in vain. Instead they turned people from vain worship to the correct and pure worship of Yahweh. Armstrong is therefore evidently seen to have fallen woefully short of the standard of the Eliyahs who came in times past. Yet Armstrong did indeed proclaim himself to have been the Eliyah to come before the great and dreadful day of Yahweh! What lies! What deception!


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© 1998, Isaac Aluochier, All rights reserved. Published by Servants of Yahweh, P O Box 44848, Nairobi, 00100, Kenya. E-mail: servantsofyahweh@serveyahweh.org. Permission is hereby GRANTED to reproduce this and other publications in the Servants of Yahweh web site, http://www.serveyahweh.org, unless otherwise stated.