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The article below goes into detail about why Mr. Armstrong is not and could not be the Prophet mentioned in Malachi 4:5-6. What few understand is that he made numerous prophetic statements that fell flat and never came to fruition. <\/strong><\/p>\n But in all fairness, he was right in regards to many doctrinal issues outlined in scripture. But in terms of prophecy, he was wrong more often than not. <\/strong><\/p>\n The author also makes some strong accusations regarding his personal life, that I can’t and refuse to sign off on. Because I have no knowledge or proof that any of those claims are true. But in regards to failed prophecy the proof is provided courtesy of Mr. Armstrong’s own words published in his own magazine. . You can read the details below. I don’t publish this information to defame Mr. Armstrong only as a way to promote the truth. The gentleman below goes into detail why Mr. Armstrong couldn’t be the end time Elijah while also providing critical information to validate his statements.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n In the book of Malachi, we read of an astonishing prophecy.\u00a0 God declared:\u00a0<\/strong>Lo, I will send you the prophet Elijah before the great and\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0terrible day of the LORD comes.\u00a0 He will turn the hearts of\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0parents to their children and the hearts of children to their\u00a0<\/strong>parents, so that I will not come and strike the land with a\u00a0<\/strong>curse\u201d (Malachi 4:5-6).<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>Many remnants of the Worldwide Church of God think Herbert Armstrong was the end-time \u201cElijah.\u201d\u00a0 The so-called \u201cPhiladelphia Church of God\u201d under Gerald Flurry makes this belief a condition for baptism!\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>Was Herbert Armstrong the prophesied \u201cElijah\u201d \u2013 that is, one who was to come in the same office and likeness of the Old Testament prophet?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>What does the evidence show?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Although God did use Herbert and Loma Armstrong to raise up a Work of God during these end-times, restoring knowledge about the Sabbaths and annual Holy Days, and the identity of the English-speaking peoples, when we examine the life and teachings of Herbert Armstrong, and the church he built, we find serious errors which we must not ignore.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Notice, first of all, that \u201cElijah\u201d was to come immediately before the \u201cDay of the Lord,\u201d which prophecy reveals is the final time of awesome calamity and judgment upon the earth, at the intervention of God Himself (see Zeph.1:14-16; Isa.13:6-9; Joel 2:1-3, 30-32).\u00a0 Herbert Armstrong died in January, 1986 \u2013 20 years ago \u2013 long before the culmination of prophetic events to occur at the end of this age.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What about the prophecy that Elijah would \u201cturn the hearts of the fathers to their children\u201d and vice versa?<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Herbert Armstrong\u2019s own family deserted him and left the church he founded.\u00a0 His daughters left the Church years ago when the Church legislated on the issue of cosmetics and make up.\u00a0 His son Garner Ted Armstrong, rebelled against Herbert Armstrong in 1978 in a power struggle over who was to run the Church.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Church has not had much success in dealing with its young people, and the children of members.\u00a0 Most of them, fed up, left the church and wanted nothing to do with it.\u00a0 Its lauded programs for its young people were sadly lacking.\u00a0 The church never had a true Bible Sabbath school for its young people.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yet the Elijah to come is to be one who \u201cshall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers\u201d (Mal.4:6). Herbert Armstrong did not even succeed with his own family!<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The church itself has had a terrible record in dealing with young people, alienating them, and turning them off.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Herbert Armstrong could hardly have been the Elijah to come who truly will bring families back together.\u00a0 Because of the teachings of Herbert Armstrong on divorce and remarriage, he did more to break up homes <\/em>and marriages than any other minister in modern times!\u00a0 And his neglect of spending time with his own children as they grew up, and abuse toward them, set a tragic example for the entire Church of God, today.\u00a0 We will discuss his own sad example later on in this article.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>In addition to teaching a flawed divorce and remarriage doctrine for over thirty years, causing the break up of families, even those with young children, Herbert\u2019s teaching about divine healing caused many thousands to avoid medical examinations, medical doctors, and all drugs and medicines as instruments and \u2018poisons\u2019 of the devil.\u00a0 There were many cases of young children and elderly people dying because of this abominable teaching.\u00a0\u00a0 (Write for our free booklet, \u201cDoes God Heal Today?\u201d).\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 These facts alone would seem to prove conclusively that Herbert Armstrong, who himself admitted at times that he was not a \u201cprophet,\u201d could not be the prophet Elijah who is to come preparing the way for the Messiah.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 If he was NOT the prophet Elijah, this means that Gerald Flurry, of the so-called Philadelphia Church of God, could not be his successor, \u201cElishah,\u201d nor is he \u201cthat Prophet\u201d who was to come, as he himself so audaciously claims to be!\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 So many today seem to almost worship the memory of Herbert Armstrong.\u00a0 Since his death on January 16, 1986, Joseph Tkach has taken the Worldwide Church of God in a completely opposite direction, and revoked and changed ALL the basic teachings of the Church.\u00a0 He himself has proven to be a Judas Iscariot \u2013 a modern day \u201cson of perdition.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yet the question remains \u2013 why did Herbert Armstrong ever appoint this man as an \u201cevangelist\u201d in the Church during his later years?\u00a0 Why did he appoint him to be his \u201csuccessor\u201d when he died?\u00a0 Why did he put so much trust in this man, who has proved to be a heretic and false teacher who has trampled on ALL the fundamental teachings that Herbert Armstrong imparted to the Church?<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Would \u201cElijah\u201d have made such an enormous error in judgment?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What went wrong?\u00a0 Where did Herbert Armstrong go astray?\u00a0 There is much more to the saga and life story of Herbert W. Armstrong than many thousands of people imagine.\u00a0 The truth will boggle your mind.\u00a0 The evidence shows, today, in retrospect, that Herbert Armstrong was a great teacher of many truths of God, many of which he restored to the Church during these end times \u2013 but he was also a deeply flawed man of God.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 When I think about the life of this man, and the Church and religious Work he built, I feel much like David felt, when hearing of the deaths of Saul and Jonathan.\u00a0 David lamented their deaths.\u00a0 He sorrowed for them, even though Saul had totally disqualified himself from office.\u00a0 David cried out, \u201cHow have the mighty fallen!\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Even though Saul had been God\u2019s selected, chosen \u201canointed,\u201d he had begun abusing his office and finally sinned greatly and totally disqualified himself from being the king of Israel (see I Sam.15).\u00a0 Even after that point, however, God left him in office for many more years, until the time came for David to be given the throne.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 So I have pondered about the truth about Herbert W. Armstrong.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The parallels between the lives of King Saul and Herbert Armstrong are plentiful.\u00a0 But there are other amazing Scriptural parallels, also.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Let\u2019s examine the \u201cfruits\u201d of the ministry of Herbert W. Armstrong, and determine once and for all, whether he was indeed \u201cthe Elijah to come.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 If indeed Herbert Armstrong came in the power and spirit of Elijah, a mighty prophet, then we would think that his prophetic utterances would have been inspired by the Spirit of God.\u00a0 What was his \u201ctrack record,\u201d in terms of Bible prophecy?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In 1956-57, as a teenage boy, I became awestruck by the prophetic booklets written by Herbert W. Armstrong \u2013 especially two called 1975 in Prophecy,<\/em> and United States<\/em> and the <\/em>British<\/em> Commonwealth<\/em> in Prophecy.\u00a0 <\/em>The first booklet has not been in print for many years, for obvious reasons — it predicted the Second Coming of Jesus Christ in 1975!\u00a0 When it became increasingly doubtful that Christ would return by that date, the booklet was quietly withdrawn from circulation in the 1960\u2019s.\u00a0 But when I first read it in 1957, I assumed it was probably true.\u00a0 Herbert Armstrong seemed to have everything figured out!<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 When I began attending the local Church in Tacoma, Washington, in 1957-58, and read the co-worker letters and Church literature, Herbert Armstrong was preaching that the original apostolic Church had two \u201c19 year time cycles\u201d to spread the gospel \u2013 from 31 A.D. to 50 A.D., and from 50 A.D. to 69 A.D., the year the Romans attacked Jerusalem.\u00a0 Herbert Armstrong was fond of drawing an amazing parallel: He pointed out that exactly \u201c100 19-year time cycles later,\u201d in 1931 A.D., he was ordained to the ministry by the Church of God, Seventh Day.\u00a0 Because of doctrinal differences, he separated from them and began a separate, independent work of God in 1934 A.D. Then, he used to tell us, he preached to the United States for 19 years, but expanded the broadcast to Europe in 1953 \u2013 exactly 19 years later.\u00a0 He theorized that the Church would have one more 19-year time cycle to complete its work \u2013 by 1972 \u2013 and then it would be carried to the wilderness to a place of protection during the Great Tribulation, from 1972-1975, culminating in the return of Jesus Christ!<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 All this seemed reasonable to my youthful, impressionable mind, in 1957-58.\u00a0 I entered an intensive study of Church literature, and found Mr. Armstrong to be correct in many basic doctrines taught nowhere else.\u00a0 So I began attending Ambassador College, founded by Herbert Armstrong, in Pasadena, California, in the fall of 1959.\u00a0 Four years later I graduated and began working full-time in the Letter Answering Department, and subsequently began writing articles for the Church publications.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Needless to say, it was a major disappointment for most of us in the Church when 1972 came around, and instead of the Church fleeing to the wilderness as so powerfully predicted by Herbert Armstrong for decades, nothing happened \u2013 except the temporary disfellowshipment of Garner Ted Armstrong for supposed \u201cspiritual problems,\u201d but which actually concerned sexual involvement with young women other than his wife.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n 1975 In Prophecy!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In the booklet by the above title, Herbert Armstrong struck fear into readers by proclaiming a German-led European combine would \u201cblast our cities and industrial centers with hydrogen bombs\u201d (p.14), and added, \u201cIt\u2019s later than you think!\u201d\u00a0 He declared that \u201cthese prophecies are as certain as tomorrow\u2019s sun,\u201d and went on to proclaim confidently, \u201cMILLIONS <\/em>of lukewarm inactive professing Christians will suffer martyrdom \u2013 and that BEFORE the anticipated push-button leisure-year of 1975 dawns upon us!\u201d (p.20, emphasis mine).<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Herbert Armstrong was so confident of his accuracy that he asserted: \u201cYou have been warned! . . . You can take this lightly, let it slip from your mind . . . If you do, you have now read your fate — and . . . I SAY TO YOU ON AUTHORITY OF GOD ALMIGHTY THAT IT<\/em> IS ABSOLUTELY SURE!\u201d <\/em>(p.31).<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Now, that is powerful \u201cauthority\u201d!\u00a0 But did Herbert Armstrong REALLY have \u201cauthority of God Almighty\u201d to make that prediction?\u00a0 Was he the powerful \u201cprophet\u201d of God that he seemed to THINK he was?<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Obviously, Jesus Christ did not return in 1975, as so confidently predicted for almost 20 years!\u00a0 Herbert Armstrong\u2019s prophetic insight was in error \u2013 his prophetic timetable was shot to pieces!\u00a0 From that time onward, he did not attempt to pinpoint the exact year, or even the approximate time, of Jesus\u2019 second coming.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Also back in the early 1960\u2019s, Herbert Armstrong became very interested in the race for space \u2013 especially after the Russians put their first “sputnik” satellite in orbit around the earth in 1957.\u00a0 He wrote articles, gave sermons, and wrote a booklet entitled \u201cWho Will Rule Space?\u201d In those years, Herbert Armstrong was very impressed with the fact that human beings could not survive in outer space without a self-contained \u201cearth environment\u201d \u2013 a \u201cspace suit.\u201d To him, this indicated that man\u2019s proper habitat was the earth \u2013 not outer space!<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Herbert Armstrong sincerely believed that man would never \u201cconquer space.\u201d In fact, he said several times, and even wrote, that if man attempted to \u201cconquer space,\u201d that God would destroy him, even as He destroyed the tower of Babel when mankind attempted to build it to \u201creach heaven\u201d (Gen.11:4). Even so, Herbert confidently predicted that God would thwart and frustrate man’s attempt to rocket into space.\u00a0 He said that if man succeeded in going to the moon, he would not return alive!<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 As the major proof text to support this theological idea, Herbert Armstrong turned to Psalm 115, where we read: \u201cThe heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord’s; but the EARTH hath he given to the children of men\u201d (Psa.115:16).<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Of course, after the United States first successfully put men on the moon, in 1969, and several times during the 1970\u2019s, this prediction and teaching of Herbert W. Armstrong was again quietly shoved aside and dropped \u2013 forgotten, except by those of us who personally heard his teachings in the late 50\u2019s and early 60\u2019s.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Herbert Armstrong was supposed to be renown for his knowledge and perception of Bible prophecy.\u00a0 And I believe that he probably did pick up much basic understanding of prophetic portions of the Bible during his studies \u2013 such as the basic understanding of the book of Revelation, the world kingdoms of Daniel 2 and 7, and their correlation with the beasts of Revelation 13 and 17.\u00a0 I also believe that he stumbled across a major Biblical discovery when a woman challenged him whether he knew the locations of the \u201clost ten tribes\u201d of Israel.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Notice what the Scriptures say about self-appointed \u201cprophets.\u201d\u00a0 In the book of Deuteronomy, God told Moses: \u201cBut if any prophet DARES to speak a message IN MY NAME when I did NOT<\/em> COMMAND HIM TO DO SO, he must die for <\/em>it and so must any prophet who speaks in the name of other gods\u201d (Deut.l8:20).<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This is serious business, with God!\u00a0 He THUNDERS rebuke against those who \u201cpresume\u201d to speak a message \u201cin His name,\u201d when He Himself has NOT given them the message!\u00a0 He says the penalty for such a thing is \u2013 DEATH!\u00a0If nothing else, it would at least appear that Herbert Armstrong got carried away with himself, in his predictions, and was very over-zealous in some of his pronouncements, claiming God\u2019s inspiration and authority for his own interpretations!<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Isn\u2019t that plain?\u00a0 But notice further!\u00a0 God Almighty Himself goes on, explaining further:<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cYou may wonder how you can tell when a prophet\u2019s message does NOT come from the Lord.\u00a0 If a prophet speaks IN THE NAME OF THE LORD and what be says does NOT COME TRUE,<\/em> then it is NOT the Lord\u2019s message.\u00a0 <\/em>That prophet has spoken on his OWN authority (NOT<\/em> GOD\u2019S!), and you are not to fear him\u201d (Deut.18:21-22,Good News Bible).<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 If Herbert Armstrong truly feared God, then it seems to me that he would not have been so presumptuous and \u201cpositive\u201d in his statements, when he was really only theorizing or speculating!\u00a0 He had no revelation from God, no \u201cThus saith the Lord,\u201d no dreams or visions from the Almighty.\u00a0 His predictions were based entirely on personal Bible Study, as well as his own speculation, based on various thoughts and ideas.\u00a0 But when he went on to claim \u201cAUTHORITY OF GOD ALMIGHTY\u201d for his erroneous predictions, then he stepped way over the line \u2013 and history has proved him to be in utter error!\u00a0 In being so dogmatic, he misinterpreted God’s Word and sinned against God!<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Now, it is not a \u201csin\u201d to speculate, or to make predictions based upon available evidence.\u00a0 We all do that in various aspects of our lives.\u00a0 Stock brokers do it regarding the stock market.\u00a0 Farmers take their \u201cbest shot\u201d at predicting the weather, so they can know what crops to plant, and when to plant.\u00a0 Weather forecasters make predictions based on latest available evidence also \u2013 and because of the vagaries and temperamental nature of the weather, they are often forced to \u201ceat their own words.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n The Fall of Ancient Tyre<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It seems that whenever Herbert Armstrong launched out on his own, and made predictions, he was invariably shown to be in abysmal error.\u00a0 But sometimes he simply \u201ccopied\u201d the errors of other Churches, or organizations, or writers, but simply never gave them credit!\u00a0 That is to say, he \u201cplagiarized\u201d their writings and idea, and never gave them one line of credit, making any reader to think HE was the sole author of the material!<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A case in point is one of the booklets which for many years was one of the staple booklets of the Worldwide Church of God.\u00a0 Titled Proof of the Bible, <\/em>in early editions of this booklet Herbert W. Armstrong wrote that one way critics might attempt to \u201cdisprove\u201d the Bible would be to REBUILD ANCIENT TYRE!\u00a0 He quoted the Bible prophecies regarding ancient Tyre, claiming that Tyre was prophesied to NEVER BE REBUILT!<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In the booklet, Herbert Armstrong boldly challenged skeptics, \u201cHere is how you can DISPROVE the Bible and the very existence of God.\u00a0 If there is no God, and IF the Bible is not inspired!\u00a0 Just go over and build a small city on the site of New Tyre.\u201d Herbert said there is nothing to prevent skeptics from building a city on that site, \u201cexcept that the Bible they scoff at says they CAN\u2019T\u201d (p.20).<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Back in the 1950\u2019s I was impressed by these challenging statements, as I read them.\u00a0 But one day, as I was visiting a Church family near Portland, Oregon, in 1958, before I attended Ambassador College, I noticed a small booklet lying on the kitchen table.\u00a0 Curious, I picked it up and began reading it.\u00a0 I was rather shocked!\u00a0 As I read, it sounded like the very words of Herbert Armstrong in his booklet on Proof of the Bible!<\/em>\u00a0 Only this particular booklet was written and published by the Seventh Day Adventist Church! <\/em>\u00a0I was dumfounded!\u00a0 I asked the lady about the booklet and she assured me that she had received it from the Adventist Church.\u00a0 It was word-for-word identical, in most respects, to the booklet Herbert Armstrong published later under his own name!\u00a0 Needless to say, Herbert Armstrong had obviously \u201cborrowed\u201d the material, and used it wholesale, without giving any credit to the original author!\u00a0 I thought at the time that this was not good, but I put the matter on the shelf, and decided that this one act did not of itself invalidate any of Mr. Armstrong\u2019s other teachings which I had proved from the Bible.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 At that point, I didn\u2019t know quite what to think. But I assumed the booklet was true, regardless of who really wrote it.\u00a0 I really didn\u2019t question it much at the time.\u00a0 It discussed ancient Biblical predictions against Tyre and Babylon, claiming that since neither of these cities had been \u201crebuilt,\u201d as the booklet stated, and the Bible prophesied, that this proved the Bible had to be inspired by God.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In Ezekiel 26 and 27 God did foretell the fate of ancient Tyre.\u00a0 He said the city would be destroyed in an awesome paroxysm: \u201cHow art thou destroyed, that wast inhabited of seafaring men, the renowned city, which was strong in the sea\u201d (Ezek.26:17). God said, \u201cthou shalt be no more: though thou be sought for, yet shalt thou never be found again, saith the Lord\u201d (Ezek.26:21).<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 As the prophecy said, God did bring Nebuchadnezzar, and later Alexander the Great, against Tyre, and destroyed the city.\u00a0 It did become \u201ca place to spread nets upon\u201d (Ezek.26:14), \u201clike the top of a rock\u201d (same verse).\u00a0 God said ancient Tyre would be \u201cbuilt no more\u201d (v.14).<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Worldbook Encyclopedia <\/em>points out that Alexander the Great conquered Tyre in 332 B.C., and built a road or causeway from the mainland to the island, creating a peninsula upon which the present town of Tyre now stands.<\/em>\u00a0 Tyre became a part of the Roman, and then the Byzantine Empire.\u00a0 Christian crusaders occupied it from 1124 A.D. until Moslems captured it in 1291 A.D.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Says the Jamieson, Fausset, Brown Commentary, <\/em>the prophecy that Tyre would become like a rock, and \u201cbe built no more\u201d (Ezek.26:14), was \u201cfulfilled as to the mainland Tyre<\/em> under Nebuchadnezzar.\u00a0 The insular Tyre recovered partly after seventy years (Isa.23:17-18), but again suffered under Alexander, then under Antigonus, then under the Saracens, at the beginning of the fourteenth century.\u00a0 Now its harbors are all choked with sand, precluding all hope of future restoration: \u2018Not one entire house is left, and only a few fishermen take shelter in the vaults\u2019 (Maundrell).\u00a0 So accurately has God\u2019s Word come to pass.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Regarding the phrase, \u201cthou shalt be no more,\u201d the Commentary points out, \u201cnot that presently there was to be no more a Tyre, but she was no more to be the <\/em>Tyre that once <\/em>she was; her glory and name were to be no more.\u00a0 As to Old Tyre the prophecy was literally fulfilled, not a vestige of it being left.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Adam Clarke in his Commentary quotes Maundrell, who visited the place before 1825 A.D., as follows: \u201cIt is a Babel of broken walls, pillars, vaults, etc., there being not so much as one entire house left!\u00a0 Its present inhabitants are only a few poor wretches, harboring themselves in the vaults, and subsisting chiefly on fishing; who seem to be preserved in this place by Divine Providence as a visible argument how God has fulfilled his word concerning Tyre, that it should be the top of a rock, a place for fishers to dry their nets on.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 As to the prophecy \u201cyet shalt thou never be found again,\u201d Clarke declares: \u201cThis is literally true; there is not the smallest vestige of the ancient Tyre, that which was erected on the main land.\u00a0 Even the ground seems to have been washed away; and the new Tyre is in nearly a similar state.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Clarke adds, \u201cNotwithstanding the former destructions, Tyre was a place of some consequence in the time of St. Paul.\u00a0 There was a Church there (see Acts 20:3-4, etc.), which afterwards became famous.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Herbert Armstrong would have done his cause much better service, and God greater service, if he had been much less naive and accepting of Adventist literature, copying their ideas and plagiarizing their material on \u201cTyre,\u201d if he had only done his own research, and used the Commentaries referred to above.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Attempting to use the example of Tyre to \u201cchallenge the skeptics\u201d was a foolish device.\u00a0 Skeptics would argue that since there was a city called Tyre which still existed in that area in the time of the apostle Paul, and exists today, that this prophecy does not constitute \u201cproof\u201d of the divine inspiration of the Bible.\u00a0 Certainly not the way Herbert Armstrong claimed!\u00a0 He obviously misinterpreted the prophecy!<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>
\nWas Herbert Armstrong REALLY the \u201cElijah to Come\u201d as Some Claim?<\/strong><\/h1>\n
\u00a0Many people today believe that\u00a0<\/strong>Herbert W. Armstrong, the\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0founder of the Worldwide Church of God, was the \u201cElijah\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0prophesied by Malachi to come in the \u201clast days.\u201d\u00a0 Could\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>this be true?\u00a0 Of course, he died in 1986, some twenty years\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0ago.\u00a0 Much has occurred in the world since that time.\u00a0 His\u00a0<\/strong>own church has broken up, gone into apostasy, and been\u00a0<\/strong> divided into hundreds of small groups, churches, and <\/strong>splinter groups.\u00a0 What is the\u00a0 no-holds-bared TRUTH about\u00a0<\/strong>Herbert Armstrong?\u00a0 Was he really a \u201cprophet\u201d of God?\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>Here\u2019s the good, the bad, and the ugly \u2013 but the TRUTH.\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n
By William F. Dankenbring<\/strong><\/h2>\n
The Big Mistake<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Prophetic Errors \u2013 Could \u201cElijah\u201d Be So Wrong?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
The \u201cSpace Race\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n