It is with a heavy heart we make this report on the Mt. Dale session. As many know we have continually proclaimed the DSDA history that shows the work (headquarters) moving in the prophetic east direction of Ezek. 47. This map is from God, confirmed by the Rod, and we cannot brush it aside. Thus it has ultimately led us today, to the association known as Mountain Dale General Association of DSDA.
What has taken place so far at this year’s session has been astounding on many levels. Let us first quote applicable and prophetic words of our Lord —
“Now go, write it before them on a tablet, And note it on a scroll, That it may be for time to come, Forever and ever: That this is a rebellious people, Lying children, Children who will not hear the law of the Lord;
Who say to the seers, “Do not see,” And to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us right things; Speak to us smooth things, prophesy deceits. Get out of the way, Turn aside from the path, Cause the Holy One of Israel To cease from before us.”
Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel: “Because you despise this word, And trust in oppression and perversity, And rely on them, Therefore this iniquity shall be to you Like a breach ready to fall, A bulge in a high wall, Whose breaking comes suddenly, in an instant. And He shall break it like the breaking of the potter’s vessel, Which is broken in pieces; He shall not spare.
So there shall not be found among its fragments A shard to take fire from the hearth, Or to take water from the cistern.” (Isaiah 30:8-14)
There were numerous doctrinal subjects taken up already, which included the New Codes, Jacob’s time of trouble, the Assyrian confederacy, and Fundamental Beliefs. Every one of these doctrines was defeated in a vote. Meaning that Mt. Dale’s voting from members, sided with the status quo, and therefore the following Mt. Dale official position means the following.
1. Jacob’s time of trouble, in its main application occurs BEFORE Ezek. 9 2. The New Codes are inspired and accepted as part of the Golden Bowl
3. The Fundamental Beliefs are important, however no. 5 and no. 7 are NOT in sequential order. 4. The Assyrian confederacy, as handed down from its beginning from Don Adair is confirmed and accepted as true doctrine by Mt. Dale.
They have now announced to the world field that these long-held doctrines have not changed at all. They have “dug in” as it were to the lessons taught. largely from Adair. Let us remember that the current head leaders we largely taught by Don Adair, or his primary pupil — Anthony Hibbert. Adair or Hibbert then taught Norman Archer, Andrew Decaries, Errol Stanford, Bro. MacCallum, Glenroy Matthews and so forth down the line.
In other words, the false ideas and doctrines now perpetrated among many Davidians –lays at the feet of Adair. Regardless of this history, we as DSDA cannot and MUST NOT think the following inspired counsel is just for Mother —
“We have many lessons to learn, and many, many to unlearn. God and heaven alone are infallible. Those who think that they will never have to give up a cherished view, never have occasion to change an opinion, will be disappointed. As long as we hold to our own ideas and opinions with determined persistency, we cannot have the unity for which Christ prayed.” ( 1 SLM, p.37)
No indeed! From what we are seeing, this lesson has just as much if not more application to DSDA than SDA! Again, Mt. Dale is proving that pride and stubbornness are often just too much to swallow, and new understandings or corrections will be fought at all costs, lest they be found to have taught wrongly.
The above concerns doctrinal matters, now let’s talk about the “spirit” of the meeting. To begin bro. Matthews was made the session chairman and once again allowed confusion, interruptions, back and forth to show forth. Disorganization was in full bloom from the beginning. For those of us who witnessed the virtual discussion last year with Mt. Dale, Matthews was also made the administrator of that meeting and it too showed disorganization. We clearly see that unfortunately this brother cannot handle or execute meeting procedures well.
The meeting got off with this confusion, and soon bylaws were passed that censored people. This followed in the footsteps of Waco, but was even more strict and exclusive.
ONLY tithe payers were allowed to attend. Many that attempted to join and were possibly piqued with interest in this message –were shut out and told to go home. Is this how Christ would have handled a meeting of brethren? Can we image Jesus peering out in the crowd when He spoke His great Sermon on the Mount discourse, “wait I don’t recognize you as a follower of mine, please leave.”
Then to continue this censorship Mt. Dale passed a motion that ONLY Card holders be allowed to raise their hand and speak! This was a shot across the bow to the faithful long-time Tithe payers who speak up and disclose hard questions that need addressed. In other words, the power grab by the few hard liners at Mt. Dale, was obvious. They had to hold onto their power and position at all costs, even to the point of shutting down their own people!
For us faithful tithe payers, it was like a gut punch. After faithful supporting (in large numbers we might add) Mt. Dale, our reward was censorship. Brethren are not stupid and did see that members like myself can and do bring up fair and thought-provoking issues, which Mt. Dale would prefer to keep hidden and silenced.
Again the counsel of the Lord —
“There will be those among us who will always want to control the work of God, to dictate even what movements shall be made when the work goes forward under the direction of the angel who joins the third angel in the message to be given to the world.” (TM, p. 299)
So where do Mt. Dale and those who cannot accept the false doctrines and censorship by the leaders go from here? All we can say is that it is now in the Lord’s hands. We shall know more as the coming days go by. One thing is certain, the two sides stand apart both spiritually and doctrinally.
“Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” (Amos 3:3)
In closing, at this point, several Mt. Dale brothers and sisters are praying about this crisis. Could it be that God will soon guide us to move forward with a new organization? Based out of New York, and in keeping with His prophetic roadmap of Ezek. 47? The ball is in Mt. Dale’s court.
Time will tell.
“Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel: “Because you despise this word, And trust in oppression and perversity, And rely on them, Therefore this iniquity shall be to you Like a breach ready to fall, A bulge in a high wall, Whose breaking comes suddenly, in an instant. And He shall break it like the breaking of the potter’s vessel, Which is broken in pieces; He shall not spare.“(Isaiah 30:12-14)
Tomorrow, July 31, 2022, Mt. Dale begins its 7 days of doctrinal studies. We encourage all present truth believers to attend. Controversial topics such as Jacob’s time of Trouble, the Assyrian Confederacy, New Codes, etc will be taken up. It starts at 8:30 am New York time.
Unfortunately, Mt. Dale select leaders have decided that ONLY tithe payers be allowed to enter this year’s session. This has made some , including yours truly, not pleased with this arbitrary decision.
The official Waco session has completed this last Sabbath, May 28th. We’d like to report what we saw and experienced, as we were able to spend time online via Zoom, attending it.
The Good:This year’s attendance was excellent! During the Zoom, for instance, we recall close to 300 online at one point. Plus there were close to 100 in person. So by all metrics, the session was very well attended. This speaks to a number of things. Obviously more interest in the message of the hour, and God’s technology provides more access to join.
“Because time and the gospel are at their climatic hour, and the work is consequently of transcendent scope, expansion, and importance, yet of exceeding short duration, God has inspired man to invent and build time and labor-saving, wonder-working, earth-mastering, tools and machinery of all kinds — marvels which would have staggered the imagination and beggared the credulity of former generations, notwithstanding that centuries aforehand “the High and Lofty One that inhabiteth eternity” (Isa. 57:15), declared: “But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.” Dan. 12:4.(WHR, p.36)
So the above prophetic reference is being fulfilled, praise the Lord!
In addition, there was order and structure for the session. Sermons, lessons, and testimonies were inspiring. Some new faces, at least to us , were noticed. Both Sabbath gatherings were basically good Davidian services. As many know, the SDA who observed our services should have seen the “striking” difference between a Davidian Seventh-day Adventist service and a regular SDA service.
You see the holy reverence in the DSDA and you see the lack of it in the SDA. BIG difference!
The week was centered on taking care of business-related matters but some were able to join via Zoom as well. Officers were voted in and brother Andrew Decaries was selected as the VP.
The Bad: Before we speak on this, the following SOP reference is noted —
“Suppose a brother held a view that differed from yours, and he should come to you, proposing that you sit down with him and make an investigation of that point in the Scriptures; should you rise up, filled with prejudice, and condemn his ideas, while refusing to give him a candid hearing? The only right way would be to sit down as Christians and investigate the position presented in the light of God’s word, which will reveal truth and unmask error. To ridicule his ideas would not weaken his position in the least if it were false, or strengthen your position if it were true. If the pillars of our faith will not stand the test of investigation, it is time that we knew it. There must be no spirit of Pharisaism cherished among us.” (TM, p.107)
This year Waco decided unfortunately to censor the chat message section on Zoom. What made it particularly problematic is that at the beginning of this session NO restrictions were noted. Brethren were free to express their thoughts (good or bad) on the happenings. This is not to be construed with allowing someone to get out of line with profanity or obscene remarks. Monitors do have their place at our meetings. Even false doctrine promotion should and must be monitored when a public viewing is made.
In fact, the Rod speaks on this —
“The Lord’s dealings with Joshua reveal that His servants must vigilantly watch that no evil enter into their ranks, and that His words through His prophets be feared as though He Himself were speaking directly to the people.” (Tract 4, p.30)
The other thing that we noticed is that the sound system was off on numerous occasions. Microphones occasionally were in and out or not working. So the sound aspect of the session left much to be desired. This of course affected the singing programs, which was unfortunate.
But back to the censorship. “Some” and we underline some, leaders at Waco seem to be of a pharisaical spirit. The idea of cutting out free speech is certainly coming from the controlling types and not in the Spirit of Christ. It is our hope that these few who exalt themselves up and decide to dictate the movements of the brethren when it is not right, humble themselves in Christ.
Overall the session was good, but as mentioned we see there is a need for improvement from management. The Lord’s servant said “truth can afford to be fair” and if someone brings tough questions or comments to session –let it be. Bring it on, if it’s truth we need it!
A while back we made a YouTube Video (along with a couple Blog reports) on Kingdom travel. How are the saints getting there, was our main focus. Well, not surprisingly, Eric Edstrom took exception to our reports and video and made a new YouTube video calling us a “false teacher”. He laid out his reasons for us being a false teacher on this Kingdom travel issue. In this report, we’ll go over his counter-report and break it down.
NOTE: Due to this new issue, we will postpone part 2 of the last post.
“Says the Spirit of Prophecy, “Close reasoners and logical thinkers are few. ” “How many men in this age of the world fail to go deep enough. They only skim the surface. They will not think closely enough to see difficulties and grapple with them, and will not examine every important subject which comes before them with thoughtful, prayerful study, and with sufficient caution and interest to see the real point at issue. They talk of matters which they have not fully and carefully weighed. ”—“Fundamentals of Christian Education,” p. 27; “Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. 4, p. 361.” (3 SC, no. 5-6, p.7)
What great counsel! “They talk of matters which they have not fully and carefully weighed”.
Let us see if this issue can come more into focus, to clear it. Although we were recently heartened to see Edstrom post a video where he/UPA.7 had to confess a lesson to unlearn, we now see that another issue may have to be re-studied and taken up as well to “unlearn”.
We will break down his report one by one starting with the beginning points to the last.
1) At the 3:00 mark Edstrom says that we say we will “physically walk to the kingdom.” No, that is not all that we said. We point out that just as in the type where riding was done (ie animals, chariots) there can be riding done as well (ie automobile or other vehicle transport –today’s chariots. And yes the Rod calls them chariots)
We should understand the word “chariot” from the Rod’s perspective. It is not limited to a flying saucer. Let us read —
“Again, there is no escaping the conclusion that these two powers plunge into war with each other at a time when everything vehicular is geared to unprecedented speed, and that their feverish preparations for combat must therefore include an intensified implementing of their fighting forces with fast-moving “chariots.” Daniel also, was told that in “the time of the end, many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.” Dan. 12:4.
Since the setting for this deadly clash is in a day of advanced mechanization, it could not have been World War I, because the preparation for that conflagration was in process when the machine age was but in its infancy. Even when the war was on, the chariots were too few, too feeble, and too slow to jostle one against another in the manner envisioned. To fulfill the prediction, these two powers must prepare when the chariots are many and mighty and fast, as they are today.” (Tract 14, p. 9)
Then the Rod shows many pictures of chariots down through the ages on pages 10 and 11. There is an evolution of chariots down through time to today.
2) Edstrom then goes over this reference at 5:36 —
“And if the flying saucers are indeed the Lord’s, then what else are they come for but to deliver every one whose name is found written in the Book (Dan. 12:1), and to slay those who oppress them (Isa. 66:16)? Or if perchance none of Heaven’s are yet come, still nothing is more certain than that the day hasteth greatly when they will come. What is of first and supreme importance to each, however, is to know for a surety that his name is written in the Book. To have this most blessed assurance, one must first know what will keep one’s name out of the Book, and what will put it in.” (WHR, p.11)
This reference is certainly not a solid one to base the idea that a chariot will be used for the saints to get to the kingdom. Why? It’s with suppositions. “if” and “if perchance” are shown to indicate the prophet is NOT certain about this issue. But the FINAL chariot will indeed come —
“The earth mightily shook as the voice of the Son of God called forth the sleeping saints. They responded to the call and came forth clothed with glorious immortality, crying, “Victory, victory, over death and the grave! O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” Then the living saints and the risen ones raised their voices in a long, transporting shout of victory.
Those bodies that had gone down into the grave bearing the marks of disease and death came up in immortal health and vigor. The living saints are changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, and caught up with the risen ones, and together they meet their Lord in the air. Oh, what a glorious meeting! Friends whom death had separated were united, never more to part.
On each side of the cloudy chariot were wings, and beneath it were living wheels; and as the chariot rolled upward, the wheels cried, “Holy,” and the wings, as they moved, cried, “Holy,” and the retinue of holy angels around the cloud cried, “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty!” And the saints in the cloud cried, “Glory! Alleluia!” And the chariot rolled upward to the Holy City.” (EWp. 287-288)
The Rod confirms this final chariot transport to heaven —
“Brethren, may you make the good and wise choice, make sure to stand on Mount Zion with the Lamb, ready to board Heaven’s flying saucer (Early Writings pp. 287, 288) at the sound of the trumpet, the blast which will be heard round the world as God finishes His judicial work with His people and with His ministry and its headquarters — the General Conference.” (WHR, p.74)
So the bottom line is that a chariot is to be used as transport, the FINAL transport of God’s people to the heavenly kingdom.
At this point, Edstrom has just ONE reference he wants to build his ideas upon (1 TG, no. 11, p.13), and he does so without further analyzing the many other references properly. That is the difference between his report and ours. ALL references are carefully considered and then put into the mix as it were.
“No one by beginning to study a subject from the middle, backward or forward, can learn its continuity and know what it is all about. If one is to learn the full truth of a subject, he must study it in its entirety. Dogs and cats, not civilized human beings, start eating the slice of pie from the center out. As intelligent human beings, as God’s people, we ought to eat the pie correctly.” (1 TG. no. 5, p.3)
“Some who are anxious to risk Present Truth on the weight of what one inspired statement seems to say or imply, are thereby presumptuously or very ignorantly overlooking the “weight of evidence.” (3 Ans. p.41-42)
3) At the 8:00 mark he discusses the following reference —
“In the days of Moses the Lord smote but one stream, the Red Sea, and one nation, Egypt. But now the Lord promises to smite every stream (all “seven”) and cause His people from the four corners of the earth to reach their land without so much as getting their feet wet. Although today as in Moses’ day, such a thing seems utterly impossible, yet it is certain that just as God made it possible then, He will now, too. The battle is the Lord’s, the will is ours. We have nothing to do but to obey His voice. That is our only duty Brother, Sister.” (1 TG, no. 31, p.7-8)
He then says —
“So this idea that he highlights ( referring to yours truly) that the people are not even going to get their feet wet implies that they walk over dry land. Well, it’s also possible that if you get on a chariot that your feet won’t get wet either. Have you thought about that?”
We are frankly surprised at the confused thinking expressed in this comment! Why would the Lord smite the seven seas to only then have His people fly over the seas? Edstrom unwittingly makes a mockery of what God want’s to accomplish here. Is God making a miraculous sign for nothing, no purpose? Just a meaningless trinket? Words cannot express our astonishment here brethren!
In EVERY case of miracle God’s used in Scripture they were for some lesson or benefit — search and see.
Why does the Rod say that it happened with Moses and it is “certain” to happen again? These are not our words and promise — they are God’s prophet!
At this point let us remember that the Lord’s Rod says —
“Thus through types and symbols He makes wise the simple and confounds the prudent by showing that where there is no type there is no truth.” (SRod, vol. 2, p.10)
Let us ask Edstrom —
Do we have a type for the corporate travel by chariot or flying saucer transport of God’s people to His kingdom on earth (land of Isreal) in our history?
But we do have Moses leading the Exodus travel on land as the type. This type is referred over and over again through PREPONDERANCE of references as we’ll see.
4) At the 10:00 mark Edstrom goes into his ideas about “Metaphors”. Complete with his own private ideas. SOP explains something profound here–
“Satan is a cunning worker, and he will bring in subtle fallacies to darken and confuse the mind and root out the doctrines of salvation. Those who do not accept the Word of God just as it reads, will be snared in his trap. ” (SLM, vol. 2, p.52)
How does Edstrom read what God’s ref’s clearly said up to this point? He doesn’t take them as they read. He spiritualizes them away– Just “Metaphors” he explains. Again half baked ideas designed to prop up his false ideas and theories!
What part of this statement seems like a metaphor? “Lord promises to smite every stream (all “seven”) and cause His people from the four corners of the earth to reach their land without so much as getting their feet wet.”
He then goes on for several minutes on non-applicable and non-contextual points and examples.
5) At the 12:00 mark he then pulls up this reference —
Isa. 11:15 — “And the Lord shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with His mighty wind shall He shake His hand over the river, and shall smite it in the seven streams, and make men go over dryshod.”
Yes, the Lord will open the way for the gathering of His people. The Exodus of today, therefore, shall be as the Exodus of yesterday, only on a greater scale. God’s people in these last days shall be gathered from every land, not from the land of Egypt.” ( 2 TG, no. 31, p.8)
After reading the first paragraph Edstrom says “This is clearly a metaphor.”
Let’s read what the PROPHET says about this reference —
“And the Lord shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea [world]; and with His mighty wind shall He shake His hand over the river, and shall smite it in the seven streams, and make men go over dry shod.
“And there shall be an highway for the remnant of His people, which shall be left, from Assyria; like as it was to Israel in the day that He came up out of the land of Egypt.” Isa. 11:10-16.
Very evidently, then, the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night that so gloriously led the Hebrew host out of Egypt foreshadowed and even greater and more glorious protective covering, victoriously leading Israel of today not only on their way to the land of promise but all the while they are there.” (SRod Tract, p.54)
All metaphors? Give us a break! Edstrom is flatly rejecting what the text plainly says. Satan’s workers are crafty brethren, take heed!
“..from Isaiah 11 we see that the Lord is to “set His hand again the second time to recover the remnant of His people” (Isa. 11:11), and that when He does so, He will prepare a way for them “like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt.” Isa. 11:16.(1 Ans. p.25)
Was the preparing done by space flight? Was the preparation done through hardship and miracles from the Lord on the way there? Or just a comfortable space zoom to the holy land? Remember He could have very well zoomed the people over as He showed he could do this with Elijah and Phillip. Let’s get real and be logical thinkers and close reasoners.
“In the days of Moses the Lord smote but one stream, the Red Sea, and one nation, Egypt. But now the Lord promises to smite every stream (all “seven”) and cause His people from the four corners of the earth to reach their land without so much as getting their feet wet. Although today as in Moses’ day, such a thing seems utterly impossible, yet it is certain that just as God made it possible then, He will now, too. The battle is the Lord’s, the will is ours. We have nothing to do but to obey His voice. That is our only duty Brother, Sister.” (1 TG, no. 31, p.7-8)
“One nation, as it were, will say to another nation, “Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem.” Mic. 4:2.
Thus our work has also as its type the Exodus movement going out of Egypt, establishing itself in the promised land.As they were freed from their Egyptian bondage, so we shall be freed from the world’s yoke; and just as they possessed the land, and set up the kingdom, so shall we if we make their mistakes our stepping stones to success.” (1 TG, no.9, p.11)
“.. according to Scripture, Jew and Arab alike are to go out of the Promised Land, and the meek of the earth to march into it.
How are they to get there, and who is to open the way? — The answer to these questions we shall find in–
Zech. 14:4, 5 — “And His feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.”(2 TG, no.41, p.13-14)
The Lord Himself, you see, is to open the way for the returning of His people.
Isa. 11:11, 12, 16 — “And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set His hand again the second time to recover the remnant of His people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And He shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth…. And there shall be an highway for the remnant of His people, which shall be left, from Assyria; like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt.” (2 TG, no.41, p.13-14)
“This ingathering is indeed to be the second exodus, and it is to be exactly as the Lord has said:
“And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set His hand again the second time to recover the remnant of His people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea….like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt.” Isa. 11:11, 16.” (1 TG, no. 48, p.37-38)
Here in this above reference, we see that the prophet says the second exodus is to be “exactly” as the Lord says. Then we see in the reference “…like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt.”
If we use Edstrom’s logic, as used in his video report, we’d have to call the prophet a false teacher because he connects the word “exactly” to “come up out of the land of Egypt”. Then we’d say it will be “not exactly” — so he is wrong. Edstrom is not going “deeply” into this subject as counseled by Inspiration.
Time for another counsel from the Lord —
“The truths most plainly revealed in the Bible have been involved in doubt and darkness by learned men, who, with a pretense of great wisdom, teach that the Scriptures have a mystical, a secret, spiritual meaning not apparent in the language employed. These men are false teachers.
It was to such a class that Jesus declared: “Ye know not the Scriptures, neither the power of God.” Mark 12:24. The language of the Bible should be explained according to its obvious meaning, unless a symbol or figure is employed.
Christ has given the promise: “If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine.” John 7:17. If men would but take the Bible as it reads, if there were no false teachers to mislead and confuse their minds, a work would be accomplished that would make angels glad and that would bring into the fold of Christ thousands upon thousands who are now wandering in error.” (GC, p.598)
Teachers like Edstrom certainly fall into this category–spiritualizing away plain texts for a mystical and spiritual meaning!
We are getting to the main reason why Edstrom is wrong in chariot travel to the kingdom. But first must deal further with his false ideas.
5) At the 16:00 mark Edstrom goes into what type means. Additionally, he misconstrues our words by us quoting the prophet. He tries to say we are saying that the anti-type Exodus will be fulfilled in exactly all the type particulars! No, that is not what we are saying. We are showing that the prophet by preponderance as shown, is saying that the delivery of God’s people shall be as in the day of Moses– deliverance on land to the kingdom–This is the type.
6) At the 21:00 mark Edstrom says “God will gather anti-typical Israel via heavenly chariots. They will not literally walk from around the world. This is absolute nonsense.”
Then he closes out his video by “exposing” your truly for other things such as our confederacy understanding, our King of the North understanding, etc.
Fine we say let him go for it, we stand ready to defend our position anytime.
Now for the final nail in the coffin as it were to his above ideas.
In our Fundamental beliefs, we are shown clearly that Jacob’s time of trouble occurs after Ezekiel 9. So the great quandry and box that Edstrom must get himself out of is —
How is JTT to occur “on the way home” by being zoomed over in a chariot? Please explain that to us brother Edstrom.
Before he thinks of how he is to explain that, let us remember that the Rod says we must harmonize one statement with another, let us read —
“Let us remember always to observe the inviolable rule that an interpretation of one inspired statement must harmonize with all other related statements.
Some who are anxious to risk Present Truth on the weight of what one inspired statement seems to say or imply, are thereby presumptuously or very ignorantly overlooking the “weight of evidence.” Others are doing this through shortsightedness, while still others are doing it to prop up certain cherished ideas of their own.” ( 3 Ans, p.41-42)
So how does Edstrom harmonize 1 TG, no. 11, p.13 “all aboard” the chariot, with our Fundamental beliefs showing JTT occurring “on the way home” to the kingdom? This question , brethren, is one of the most serious ones to ask those who teach the chariot travel to the kingdom.
Brethren what we have here is a truly misguided and false teacher who we have shown time and again his errors and leading the brethren into perdition. One of the most serious of all is his idea about everyone can have a home storehouse and KEEP the tithes if they “do the right thing”. Blasphemy brethren! Soon we will make part 3 of our video series on UPA7 showing the great public hypocrisy from their leader–Eric Edstrom. Be aware brethren this man is flat out — a perdition path leader!
“We have many lessons to learn, and many, many to unlearn. God and heaven alone are infallible. Those who think that they will never have to give up a cherished view, never have occasion to change an opinion, will be disappointed. As long as we hold to our own ideas and opinions with determined persistency, we cannot have the unity for which Christ prayed.” ( 1 Selected Messages, p.37)
Our report today will deal with the “many many to unlearn” part. As present truth believers, we have often used the above reference to Mother, admonishing her that some long-time Bible ideas and even SOP ideas may be incomplete or misunderstood. Therefore we need to relearn them or as Inspiration says — unlearn them. This counsel is NOT just for our beloved “Mother” the SDA church. No, it is nearly as needed to us as Davidian Seventh-day Adventists as it is to Her.
Recently Eric Edstrom made a video in which he said that his organization (UPA7.org) has a lesson to unlearn. We were very heartened by this confession. Few leaders among us have the courage to announce publicly that they have lessons to unlearn. We should all follow this lead and undergo a review process to see how we might have been led down a path where some leader or leaders (or even just by our own study) have shown us a lesson, we accepted, and then upon close inspection, we have seen the error of it. Let us hope this brother will someday “re-learn” his ideas on the home storehouses before it’s too late!
Let us now look at a checklist of lessons we have to unlearn.
1) The King of the North is solely the USA
We’re not sure where this lesson started from, but we know it has been repeated so often in the last few decades that many automatically think it’s truth. It’s the old “follow the crowd ” mentality. Yet once we “critically” inspect this teaching and after reviewing what the restoring message really teaches about this issue, we come to a more balanced and complete picture of who really is the King of the North today.
2) There is an intervening time after the sealing of the 144,000 and before Ezekiel 9
This is one of the many new code based teachings that is so full of holes, it really baffles the mind how one can completely throw out the Rod message, with all its supporting references, that show no intervening time (although an argument can be shown for the 7 days of silence as being a very short intervening time). For example Mt Dale produces a end time chart showing the intervening time as 42 months! This is flat-out false and should be taken out of circulation ASAP.
3) The Davidian SDA will have government officials and SDA officials come after them and persecute them for not going along with the Assyrian confederacy.
Another completely false idea based largely upon the compromised new codes. As the others, this one has been promoted for a long time and is largely attributed to a long-time false teacher–Don Adair. In fact many of the unlearned lessons have their basis from him, sadly.
4) Jacob’s time of trouble (its main application) comes before Ezekiel 9.
This one is directly in opposition to our core beliefs — our Fundamental beliefs as stated in our public announced beliefs in the Tract so named. This is derived and taught in conjunction with the above false lessons. It helps to complete this sandy foundation of doctrines.
In our upcoming new code meeting final report, we’ll have much more to say about lessons to unlearn and how the new codes are largely the basis for many of these teachings.
In our next post we’ll break down why each of these lessons should and in fact must be unlearned. They lead to a false understanding of the soon to come end time events.
NOTE: due to the importance of this issue, we’ve delayed part two of the post “Riches to rags and Rags to riches” for this more timely information.
Many of us are familiar with brother Don Adair. He is well established as one of the old-time brethren. His history goes way back, even to being on the camp at Waco with the prophet. Just like sister Bonnie (in the picture) he is one of possibly only two original Davidians still proclaiming the message.
We know that brother Dudly Goff surfaced recently, but unfortunately, his reports (YouTube) were to discredit the Rod movement instead of proclaiming it. Yet brother Adair, instead of denying the message, has added great controversy to it through the years to say the least!
Probably the greatest controversy involving Don is his well-known teaching of “those with”. The doctrine that there will be others who survive the Ezek. 9 church judgment besides the 144,000. Of course we don’t need to go into all the holes that exist with this doctrine. But the key point is that he has largely based his ministry upon this doctrine.
So now it appears that due to age (about 91 years) both of these pioneers are retired to living in assisted homes. In the case of sister Bonnie, she is still able to communicate with the brethren via phone and even sometimes via Zoom and conference calls–praise the Lord! Not so with brother Don.
“The Lord will keep you from all harm- he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.” (Psalms 121:7-8)
There are conflicting reports as to his approval of being taken out of his long-time Salem organization grounds. Some say he is distraught by the move and very unhappy. Almost like imprisonment against his will. Others say he is content and enjoys his new surroundings. Whatever the case, those who want to freely talk to him have been restricted by his main caregiver — a certain woman named Judy.
(Recent picture of Don with his caregivers. Lady on left is Judy)
Brother Gerard has attempted many times to contact Don yet mostly has failed due to these restrictions. He did claim to have spoken to Don once recently and reported that he said he was very unhappy and wanted to go back “home”. We also, tried to contact the home and were told “he is out with Judy”. So the next day we tried again and was hung up on (??). So there does seem some type of control exercised over him at this point.
But let us not lose track of the fact that the Lord has allowed this to play out. Sadly, we know from DSDA headquarters history that Don Adair’s DSDA leadership candlestick, as it were, was removed and transferred to Mt. Dale due to his propensity to inject his own pipe into the Golden Bowl. This is important history we cannot overlook.
Unfortunately, it is very late in Adair’s life and it truly is sad that we have used the following warning counsel for his situation —
“These strange ideas should not even be mentioned, much less taught as essential truths. We have reached a time when things are to be called by their right name. As we did in the earlier days, we must arise, and under the Spirit of God, rebuke the work of deception.” (2 SLM, p. 25)
As many know we are nearing the completion of the new code meetings and have learned that some of the “strange fire” doctrines taught among us are because of the Florence Houteff/ Don Adair additions and subtractions put into our message from these new codes.
Sadly Don has had a prominent role in these errors. Sister Bonnie relayed to us one time that brother Houteff said to Don “you are not fit to teach this message”. The false ideas about the Assyrian confederacy, intervening time, Jacob’s time of trouble coming before Ezek. 9, and other misconceived ideas largely came from Adair’s private constructions, his attempt to inject his own pipe into the Golden Bowl.
It is our prayer that a miracle can come before it’s too late. Recanting, according to God’s word makes one a “great hero”.
“But it was not at all easy for the priests, scribes, and Pharisees in Christ’s day to recant what they had taught the people, and neither will it be easy for the private interpreters of today, even though they know that such an honest and trying confession would make them great heroes.” ( 2 TG, no. 24, p.16-17)
Let’s face it, from an early age many of us learned the great value of money. I remember as a kid getting 35 cents a week for doing chores and we thought that was great! Of course, things were much cheaper back then. But the idea of what money could do was engrained in our minds from an early age. This would only get more firm and desirable as we grew up.
Yet our loving God warns us many times about the love of money. Yes, He even uses heathens to warn. In fact there was a popular hit song made in 1978, despite being heathen and worldly in nature, its message NAILS what money does to many, and its holding power —
Before we begin we are reminded that the Word tells us that money can be a trap.
“For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” (1 Tim. 6:10)
“And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou will enter into life, keep the Commandments.
He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet? Jesus said unto him, If thou will be perfect, go and sell what thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.
But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions. Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” (Matt; 19:16-24)
FROM RICHES TO RAGS
In today’s world, we generally know who is the “richest of the rich”. Forbes magazine annually publishes the top 100 richest people on earth. Only one dirty little secret. They leave out the “real” richest ones! Do the Rothschilds ring a bell? They should, for their family basically created the modern world’s banking system in the early 1800s. They and the Rockefellers, for example, are truly the richest of the rich today. There exist about 7 or 8 closely-knit families (aka dynasties) that basically control most of the world’s money (Gold, Silver, the printing presses, etc.)
As some know, the Rothschilds have Biblical significance as well, due to their control of Great Britain for centuries. The “queen” is just a figurehead as many know. Great Britain in the end times is called the king of the North, along with the other Assyrian nations (USA, Canada, Australia, Germany, France for example). Thus the USA is a leader among the Assyrian nations and is considered KON by this connection. However the Elijah message tells us —
“Plainly then, during the time of the end Great Britain is the king of the north …”(1 TG, no. 4, p.22)
“Because of idolatry, the Assyrian was permitted to take God’s ancient people and their pleasant land. And certain it is that the Assyrian will control the land just so long as God’s people continue in idolatry. But, just as soon as all idols are cast aside, — yes, as soon as the great revival and reformation takes place in the hearts of the people, — then the Assyrian (the power that now rules them) shall certainly fall, and God’s people shall just as certainly return. The Assyrian shall thus fall, not at the sword of a mighty man, and not of a mean man, but “through the voice of the Lord shall the Assyrian be beaten down, which smote with a rod.” Isa. 30:31. (1 TG, no.33, p.4-5)
Also In Daniel, we know that the King of the North ( Identification key to the KON — Tract 12, p.86-87) will be VERY rich, for it says —
“But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt..” (Daniel 11:43)
Who today basically runs much of the world’s wealth? You got it the Rothschild’s banking empire, its tentacles far-reaching into nearly every nation (North Korea and Iran, being two exceptions).
So what has this riches to rags idea have to do with end times? Verse 45 of Daniel tells us —
“And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.”
You see brethren, soon the most powerful men by virtue of their riches shall be brought down! Their rulership shall soon cease! In fact, many of those caught in that web of desire for riches shall meet up with this Word of God and fulfill it —
“In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats; To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.” (Isaiah 2:20-21)
Thus, the rich are soon to become poor. Rothschilds, Rockerfellers, and all the wealthy men of the earth will no longer hold the power they now have, the world’s power structure will turn to the meek and lowly, yet RICH in God’s Word and power! And even riches too!
In the next post, we’ll discuss the “rags to riches” part.
As we go through the new codes, we are closing in on finishing the complete investigation of the codes. Briefly, what we have found is that approximately 50% of them have shown contradictions and are not in harmony with the VTH published message! That is quite a bunch. New discoveries are found and we will, by God’s grace disclose all our findings in the final report issued (hopefully) in May or June of this year. Please pray for this endeavor! Here is report no. 8 of our recap of a recent meeting.
(January 22, 2022)
New Code Committee Investigation — Eighth Meeting Report Comments and concerns
Bro. Peralta led the meeting off in prayer. He briefly recapped the prior meeting. The contradictory teaching of the sixth trumpet was well noted in the first part of volume 12, no. 2. This is perhaps one of the clearest areas of concern with the new codes. No comments are questions we raised so we began with the reading.
Code Reviews
Volume 12, no. 2
Brother Michael noted the words on page 12 —
(This is a deep subject. If I am not making it clear to you, then you should ask questions, for it is very important. It is not a doctrine to talk about merely to pass the time.)
He said these words do not seem in line with the type of Brother Houteff’s tenor of speech. Bro. Peralta said he concurred. Brother Lee also noted that the way the language is made is very different than the way the prophet spoke in his published message.
An area of concern was noted at the 36:00 minute mark brought up by Brother Terry. He wanted to go back over page 19, where it says —
“For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many.” After quoting this it says — “The angels of Revelation 9 were to slay a third part of men. In that way “the slain of the Lord shall be many.” (page 19)
He then asked — How do we understand this reference, to those in the world or to those in the church?
Bro. Michael noted that VTH places that reference to apply to both. However it should be pointed out that when reviewing the approximately 50 references VTH published, they only speak of this slaying in Isaiah 66:16 applying to the SDA church. Here are a couple examples —
“For, behold, the Lord will come with fire, and with His chariots like a whirlwind, to render His anger with fury, and His rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire and by His sword will the Lord plead with all flesh: and the slain of the Lord shall be many.” (Isa. 66:15,16.)
This scripture cannot meet its fulfillment at any other time than at the purification of the church, for those who escape from the slaying of the Lord are sent to all nations to proclaim God’s fame and His glory, and to bring all their brethren (those who shall be saved) to the house of the Lord. “(Verses 19,20.)(2 SC, no. 10, p.8)
Speaking of Isaiah 66: 15, 16, 17 and 19 it says —
“Here it is reiterated that the slaying takes place in the church among those who are well acquainted with the things of God, so much so that those who escape are sent to declare His glory, and His fame amongthe Gentiles. Moreover, the very fact that the Gentiles are not slain but are to be taught of God after the slaying takes place, positively shows that the slaying takes place in the church only, and before probation closes for the Gentiles. To repeat, those who escape the slaying are sent to preach salvation to the Gentiles.”(1 TG, no. 52, p.23-24)
NOTE: This above TG reference was from a sermon given and published by the prophet on August 2nd, 1947, which is about one year after the supposed new code sermon given on July 20, 1946, about one year before. The positive statement positively shows that the slaying takes place in the church only would indicate that the supposed sermon is contradictory and unusual.
Again another TG sermon made just about 6 months after the supposed new code sermon, made on January 25, 1947 in regards to Isaiah 66:16 said —
“Those that escape from the slaying of the Lord , you note, are sent to the Gentile nations there to proclaim to them the Lord’s fame and His glory, and also to bring all their brethren (all that can be saved) to the house of the Lord. ( 1 TG, no. 25, p.11)
So once again we see strange and confusing contradictions from this code. Brother Peralta asked Brother Michael if he could bring a couple of references where VTH places Isaiah 66:16 to the world, as he said he has never found that. Brother Michael said he would.
Brother Terry then pointed out that Rev. 9 slaying angels are always put in the context of slaying in the world, for example, he read this —
“These four messages prepare the four angels “for to slay the third part of men” — all who fail to receive into their lives the saving truth of the gospel as revealed in the four messages. They are, to recapitulate, (1) those who close their ears to the proclamation of the judgment, which is revealed “at an hour”; (2) those who heed not the solemn warning of the day of God’s vengeance, which is revealed “at a day”; (3) those who receive not the latter rain, which comes “at a month”; and (4) those who do not join “His redeemed” (the 144,000), who are sealed “at a year.” All these who fail to make the needful preparation for gloryland after the truth is proclaimed to them, shall perish at the command of the angelic horsemen whose army numbers “two-hundred thousand thousand.” (Tract 5, p.89)
A discussion then ensued about the four angels who slay in Rev. 7 and those who slay in Revelation 9:14-15. Brother Mclean asked –what is the time frame of the hurting of these angels? Brother Rene then spoke that the new code incorrectly applies the Rev. 9 angels to the church, when the message applies it to the world and after the SDA close of probation.
Sister Brenda then asked –why is there so much emphasis on the writings of VTH after his death comparing them to his published writings? Bro Peralta answered that these new codes were never published by the prophet while he was alive (some for a good 20 years) and that the brethren wonder why he did not. The writings of these new codes, as we have found, do not all line up with the original writings of the prophet, therefore we need to point out the discrepancies and contradictions.
Brother Trevor mentioned that he is concerned that there may be an eagerness to throw out too much of these codes and we should avoid that. Brother Peralta agreed. Bro Michael then said he thought that these codes are not part of the Golden Bowl because they were not published by the prophet.
Brother Trevor then asked Brother Michael –what is meant by published? He responded –by written form. Brother Rene mentioned that the definition should be by how the prophet understood published as explained in his writings. This discussion was quite extensive and lasted over an hour. Most of the brethren concurred that to be published means to be in written form, at least in terms of the inspired message.
Brother Peralta mentioned that this code was definitely one that would be labeled as contradictory and not in harmony with the VTH published message.
Today, January 29, 2022 we concluded our 9th meeting of our code review series. It’s been quite a blessing as many brethren from different associations have joined us to discuss these new codes. We are averaging about 20 to 25 people per meeting and great contributions and inputs are given in each of the meetings. The word says — “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” (2Tim. 2:15)
That is so true, especially when we come together as a group to look at the controversial writings known as the new codes. We are discovering quite eye-opening issues, for example, we’d like to point out what we found today in the meeting.
First, before we begin, most of the codes reviewed so far have been found to be NOT in harmony with the message. In our next meeting we are going to be on volume 12, no. 4. For example, one of the harmonious codes would be volume 10, no. 7 where Florence posted a response from brother Houteff to a SDA leader explaining why he was teaching the message as he was. No one can find fault with the contexts of that code, and neither could we.
Granted we are not saying this is part of the Golden Bowl, but we are saying this, as true historical writings, cannot be thrown into the trash heapor burned as some foolishly instruct. Also, we will be getting to volume 13, no. 5,6, which is about the Sabbath . There is GREAT LIGHT here, and we do not expect this code to be called out as contradictory to the message.
Nevertheless, our duty is to inspect these closely, like we did today and find out exactly what they are about. In 12 SC, no. 3 today we read the following —
WHEN DOES THE JUDGMENT OF THE LIVING COMMENCE?
To those who wish to know when the living in the church will be judged in the books of heaven we give you the benefit of Brother Houteff’s clear-cut statements which he wrote in answering specific questions on the subject:
(12 SC, no. 3, p.18-19)
1. “As to whether this work of separation, or investigation of who has and who has not the ‘wedding garment,’ is now taking place, I may say that it is not, for the reason that we are now in the marking time of Ezekiel chapter nine, not yet in the time of investigation of who has the mark, and who has it not. The marking itself is not the separation, not a work of the sanctuary in Heaven. It takes place in the church on earth as well as in the home. Each one for himself decides his own case either by sighing and crying for the abominations in the midst there of, or by not so doing. Thus they themselves determine whether to be marked, or to be left without the mark and be cut down by the angel’s slaughter weapons.
The only judging which the sanctuary in Heaven does in regard to these is to give the right for one class of the dead to arise either in the first resurrection, or in the second resurrection; and to give right for one class of the living to stand on Mount Zion with the Lamb for translation, and for the other to die at the slaughter weapons of the angels, and to arise in the second resurrection. Thus it is seen that the time of the sanctuary judgment among the living first fruits starts at the time of the slaughter, and continues thereafter during the time of the second fruits.” (NO reference given)
Ok look at this closely. We see that Florence prefaces the numerical points as “Brother Houteff’s clear-cut statements which he wrote in answering specific questions on the subject.” Next, we see quotations givenon the words, meaning it is given as supposed words said somewhere in the VTH published message, right? Not exactly!
We did a word search, for example on these words “I may say that it is not, for the reason that we are now in the marking time..” on the SRod writings and NOTHING shows up throughout the message except for this new code. So where is this supposed statement to be found? Obviously Florence is pulling shenanigans without being forthright and responsible. Her words mixed in there? We do not know, which should cause us alarm.
Secondarily, you will notice NO supportive reference is given as to where VTH said those words in the message! Nothing at all. All guess work brethren! Inspiration doesn’t work that way.
Again this is repeated throughout this area of this code. For another example —
5. “The reason that you have not been able to ascertain from the publications how we are to know when the Judgment will pass from the dead to the living is that you have failed to study the message in its entirety. The trumpet is even now blowing, but as yet the day has not been announced. We can, however, say that the slaughter of Ezekiel 9 is what marks the Judgment passing from the dead to the living.” (NO Reference given)
Search “The reason that you have not been able to ascertain from the publications ..” and you will not find any VTH published statement saying this! Nor do we see any reference Florence shows where this comes from (??). We are only to believe her, right? I don’t think so! Like the ol state motto of Missouri “Show me” (aka — the Show Me state).
As we have already shown, Florence had the propensity to add to Inspiration when she tried to put her name as the author of one of the TG’s she tried to send out (but got caught beforehand). And now we see, her posting supposed words of the prophet without any proof of those statements. This leads to us wondering what else did she try to slip into the message as being from VTH (??).
Unfortunately, many DSDA haven’t looked into the history of Florence Houteff. She and her family were a key part to the “knockout blow” yet even before that, she had disturbing actions. See our three-part series on YouTube —
“The only ones that will endure to the end will be those who carefully watch their steps from being carriedaway either by his additions to, or by his subtractions from, the works of Inspiration.” (2 TG, no46, p.43-44)
HearYeTheRod 