Quote:
Originally Posted by Ohio
It is disturbing Cassidy.
During the Heyday of the New Way in Taipei, which WL considered the consummation of his life's work, the major focus of the work of his ministry, in which he considered himself the Minister of the Age and the Commander-in-Chief of the army of the Most High, a gospel chart was developed and displayed to all the trainees from around the globe. By the year 2,000, the gospel of the kingdom was to be preached to the whole inhabited earth and then the end would come!
Numerous Blended brothers, who were the key trainers designated by WL himself, made it abundantly clear that the chart was not theirs, no absolutely not. They proclaimed repeatedly that "this is Brother Lee's chart." The chart had projections from year 1986 through 2000 when the Lord would return. There was no data beyond y2k. They were emphatic about this.
They even discussed how wonderfully blessed it would be to be born into the Recovery in 1976, which would include all the eleven year old children when I heard this announcement while I was in Hall #3 during May of 1987. These eleven-year-olds would graduate in 1994 from HS, and 1998 from college, and then spend their last two years before His return preaching the gospel in the Full Time Training with brother Witness Lee!
Didn't you say this was "very disturbing," Cassidy?
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It would seem,
Ohio, from the article that Tomes was not content to base his argument on what Witness Lee actually said or did in context as you have done. Rather, he finds it necessary to resort to hyperbole of the worst kind, that is, literally taking something Witness Lee said and twisting it, bending it, and stretching it to mean something different thereby violating the integrity of article. Witness Lee did not predict 1997 nor a day within 1997 as Tomes states. It was Tomes who calculated the year 1997. Here is what I mean:
Tomes in his article claims that Witness Lee said certain things. I have put the quotes of Witness Lee in blue as Tomes articulated them and then added the actual missing quotes from Witness Lee in black.
Tomes' version of Witness Lee statements: “Based upon the fact that in the eyes of the Lord 1,000 years are the same as a day…6 days mean 6,000 years, and the 7th day will be the 7th thousand, the Sabbath rest during the millennium."“millennial kingdom, a period of 1,000 years, will be the 7th period of 1,000 years, the first 6,000 years being the period from the time of Adam’s creation until the time of the Lord’s coming back.” "from… Adam’s creation until the time of the Lord’s coming back”
What Witness Lee actually said in context and with the proper construct:
"Some say that the Sabbath rest in this chapter is the millennium. They say that the millennial kingdom, a period of a thousand years (Rev. 20:4), will be the seventh period of a thousand years, the first six thousand years being the period from the time of Adam’s creation until the time of the Lord’s coming back. This concept is based upon the fact that in the eyes of the Lord a thousand years are the same as a day (2 Pet. 3:8). According to those who hold this concept, six days mean six thousand years, and the seventh day will be the seventh thousand, the Sabbath rest during the millennium. This interpretation has never satisfied me. To say that the Sabbath rest in [Hebrews] 4:9 is simply the millennial kingdom is not altogether accurate; it is only partially correct.”
Now Ohio and fair-minded readers,
Read the above quotes a few times. The juxtaposition of these two quotes show that Tomes flipped the order of what Witness Lee said, then twisted Witness Lee's direct statements to make it sound as if Witness Lee embraced this concept fully, and then Tomes exhibiting the shoddiest research and scholarship claimed that Witness Lee built a prophecy to predict the year the Lord would return!!!
Here below are Tomes misrepresentations in
bold after slicing and dicing of Witness Lee statements, putting words in Witness Lee's mouth, and forcing us to buy-in to his conclusions. I find this section of the article
very disturbing:
What Tomes would have us believe:
"W. Lee claimed the 6 creation days portray the entire span of human history. He says,99 “
Based upon the fact that in the eyes of the Lord 1,000 years are the same as a day…6 days mean 6,000 years, and the 7th day will be the 7th thousand, the Sabbath rest during the millennium.”100 The,101 “
millennial kingdom, a period of 1,000 years, will be the 7th period of 1,000 years, the first 6,000 years being the period from the time of Adam’s creation until the time of the Lord’s coming back.” W. Lee asserts the span of human history—“
from… Adam’s creation until the time of the Lord’s coming back”—is 6,000 years. This is implies when Christ will return—
W. Lee predicts Christ’s 2nd coming will occur 6,000 years after man’s creation. LSM dated Adam’s creation at 4004 BC102 and Christ’s birth at 4 BC. Hence the interval from Adam to Christ was exactly 4,000 years. This leaves 2,000 years for the “age of grace,” which should have ended in 1997.103 Hence,
W. Lee’s teaching implies Christ should have returned in AD 1997; He did not! This means Daniel’s 70th week ought to have started in 1990 with Antichrist’s 7-year pact with Israel. The overcomers’ rapture and the great tribulation should have begun in 1993. Plus, the majority’s rapture and Christ’s triumphant return to earth should have happened in 1997. They did not! None of these end-time events
predicted by Witness Lee was actually fulfilled.
This is a failed prophecy!
Cassidy