“ For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, “Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; “ A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel” (Luke 2:29-32). James says that, following that, the tabernacle of David will be set up. He refers to the prophecy of Amos: “ In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old: “ That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen [R.V. nations], which are called by my name, saith the Lord that doeth this” (Acts 15:16-17). James doesn’t say in his statement how long it will be between the taking out o f the Gentiles and the setting up again of the Throne of David. Amos, as the context shows, says it will be in the last days of this age. The Millennium will be one result of the setting up of that throne. The throne of David will first become a ruins. Both say that it will re main a ruins until God has taken out of the Gentiles a people for His name. What does Herbert W. Armstrong have to say about all this ? Absolutely nothing. He doesn’t even refer to the 15th chapter of Acts. Armstrong, like all the cult leaders, takes from the Bible what suits him and cynically disregards all the rest. This is the man who would have you believe that he is the only true prophet of God, the only true preacher of the Gospel on the face of the earth today! Another of Herbert W. Armstrong’s basic fun damental, foundational propositions is that the House of Israel is not Jewish. Here is what he says: “The House of Israel is not Jewish! Those who constitute it are not Jews, and never were! That fact we shall now see conclusively, beyond refute.” What are the facts ? Both the Old and New Testaments use Israel and Jews as interchangeable terms. Both the Old and New Testaments speak of Israel and the Jews as one and the same nation. In both the Old and New Testaments, Jews are called Israel and Israel is called Jews. Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, is called king of Israel (2 Chron. 21:1). Ahaz, king of Judah, is called king of Israel (2 Chron. 28:19). Now come over into the New Testament. Our Lord Jesus Christ says: “ I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matt. 15:24). He was with the “ lost sheep of the house of Israel”— in Palestine, not in Assyria—or Scotland, or Ireland, or England, where Armstrong says that only Israelites could be found. Jesus Christ wasn’t much of a British Israelite. There was Nathaniel. “Jesus saw Nathaniel coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israel ite indeed, in whom is no guile” (John 1:47). MAY, 1968
Nathaniel was in Palestine, not in any of the places he was supposed to have been according to the only real Bible scholar the world has known since Simon the sorcerer! There is Nicodemus, “ a ruler of the Jews” (John 3 :1 ). “ Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?” (V. 10). So in the case of Nicodemus, Jew and Israel are used interchangeably—a thing Herbert Armstrong says never was true. There is Paul. He is of the tribe of Benjamin, a tribe according to Armstrong reckoned only with Jews. But listen to Paul: “ Are they Hebrews? so am I. Are they Israelites? so am I” (2 Cor. 11:22). According to Armstrong, there were no Israelites in Palestine in the days of Christ, only Jews. Listen to the Christians in the 4th chapter of Acts: “ For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the peo ple of Israel, were gathered together . . .” (v. 27). Now come to Peter’s sermon at Pentecost. According to Armstrong, only Jews are in Pales tine ; and according to him the Bible never confuses Jews with Israelites, never uses the terms inter changeably. Listen to Peter: “Ye men of Israel, hear these words” (Acts 2 : 22 ). Again Peter and John are brought before the Sanhedrin (Acts 4). And present there are “Annas the high priest, and Caiaphas, and John, and Alex ander, and as many as were of the kindred of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem” (v. 6). That is all Jewish. Listen to Peter: “Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel . . .” So Herbert W. Armstrong to the contrary not withstanding, the Holy Spirit uses Jew and Israel interchangeably—in Palestine, before the Sanhe drin, at a time when Armstrong says there were no Israelites in Palestine; at a time, Armstrong says, when nobody on earth used the terms interchange ably. Herbert W. Armstrong’s British Israelism is in a no-man’s land somewhere between the delirium tremens and the St. Vitus’ dance. A rmstong ’ s G ospel What are Herbert W. Armstrong’s views of Christ. Who is Christ and what is His nature, ac cording to him? In the February, 1963 issue of his magazine, on page 7, he wrote: “ But how many realize that Jesus Christ, Himself, was bom again — and in the same
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