Plain Truth 1977 (Prelim No 02) Feb_w

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[ p [ f f i ~ m urnrnuna magaz in e o f u n d e r s t a n d in g

Vol. XLII , NO.2

ARTICLESJust What Do You Mean : Born Again?Rhodesia: Why No Peace Is in SightThe Majority: Uncommitted, Unconcerned and UnawareA Tale of Two ProphetsA Personal Letter from Herbert W. ArmstrongTelling of His Visit to Southern AfricaHuman Survival:L iv ing in the Shadow of Worldwide Famine

FEATURESPersonal from Herbert W. ArmstrongTV-Radio LogIn Br iefGarner Ted Armstrong Speaks Out!

February 1977

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The PLAIN TRUTH - SUPPORTED BYYOUR CONTRIBUTIONSThe Plain Truth has no subscripti on or newsstandprice . It is supported through contr ibut ions from ourreaders and th ose who have chosen, voluntari ly, tobeco me co- workers with us in this worldwide wo rk .The Ptein Truth is nonp rofit, accepts no commercialadvertisi ng , and has nothing to sell. Contributions aregratefully welcomed and are tax-deductible in the U.S.Those who can are encouraged to add their f ina nc ialsupport in the sp irit of helpingtomake The Plain Tru thavailable. without price . to others. Contribut ion sshou ld be sen t to The Pla;n Truth, Pasadena,CA 91123 or to one of our offices nearest you (seeaddresses be low ).

Edtfor-In-Chlef: HERBERTW.ARMSTRONGEditor: GARNER TEDARMSTRONGAssistant to the Editor: Robert L. KuhnPUblish ing Consultant: Arthur A.Ferdigsenior Editors: C. Wayne Cole, David JonHili , RaymondF. McNair, Roderick C. Meredith

Manag ing Editor: Brian W. KnowlesAssistant Managing Editors: Dexter H. Faulkner , Jo hnR. SchroederAssociate Ed itors: Lawson C. Briggs, Robert A.Ginskey, D. Paul Graunke , George Ritter , Richard H.8edllacikContributing Editors: David L. Antion, Don Abraham,Charles V. Dorothy, Lester L. Grabbe, Ray Kosanke,Robert C. Smith, Les StockerEditorial Staff: li nda Blosser, Cheryl Graunke, LesleyKalber, Barbara McClure. Ronald B. Nelson, ScottRockho ld , Janet SchroederCopy Edtfor: Ron BeideckWomen's Consultant: Carole Ritter

News Editor: Gene H. HogbergNews Research Staff: Janet Abbot, Jeff Calkins, WernerJebens, Donald D. Schroeder. Marc Stahl, Keith Stump

Art Director: Allen MeragerGraphics: ASSOCIate Arl Duector: Greg S. Smrth: StettArtists. Hand all Cole, Ron Lepeska, W. Gary Richardson.Gene T,kasingh, Mike Woodruff: Prooocton and QuaIJyControl: Monte Wolverton; Color Quality Control : JimRasmussenPhotography: Photo Services Director: Warren Watson:David Armstrong , Charles Buschmann, Ken Evans, JoyceHedlund, Alfred HennigPhoto Flies :Manager : Alan Leiter: linda Lulkoski

Publishing Coordinator: Roger G. uopross: Siall : ToliBohonik, Colleen Doerr, Charley T. Eliiott, Peter Moore ,Clayton Steep

Alon Reininger - Con tact

ABOUT OUR COVERA " Distr ic t Assistant " in Rhodesia 's Ministry ofInternal Affairs reflects the uncertain mood of all inhis coun try today. A four-year guerrilla war dragson ; settlement talks have stalemated. A report onRhodesia 's uncertain future begins on page 4.

The Pla in Truth is published mont hly by Ambassador CoI., ge,Pasadena. California 91123 . Copyright 1977 AmbassadorCollege. All rights reserved. Second-class postage paida t Pasadena, CA, and at. adomona! mailing otfices . PRINTED IN U.S.A.AND ENGLAND.Uniled Stales : P.O. Box 111, Pasadena. Calitornia 91123Canada: P. O. Box 44,Station A, Vancouver , B.C. V6C 2M2.Mexico: tnsntvcion Ambassador, Apartado Postal 5595. MexicO5, D.F.Colombia: Apartado Aereo 11430, Bogota 1, D.E.United Kingdom, Europe . tndie, Atrice : P. O . Box 111,St. Albans, Herts.. AL2 3TREnglandSoutti Af rica , Mauritius and Malaw i: P. O. Box 106 0,Johannesburg, Republic of South Afric a 2000

Rhodesia: P. O. Box U.A.30. Union Ave , SalisburyAustralia and Southeast Asia: G.P.O. Box 345, Sydney NSW2001, AustraliaNew Zea land and Pacilic Isles: P. O. Box 2709, Auckland 1, New ZealandThe Philippines: P. O. Box 2603, Manila 2801WestIndies: P. O. Box 6063, SanJuan, Puerto Rico 00936Switzerland: Case Postale 10,91, rue de la Servette, CH-1211,Geneva 7.BE SURE TO NOTIFYus IMMEDIATELYof any c hange in your address.Please include your old mailing label and your new address. IMPORTANT! The publisher assumes no responsibility for return ofunsonciteo art work , photograp hs, or manuscripts.

Circulation Manager: E. J. Martin: Statl : Mark Arm strong, Gordon Muir. Mike LinacreBusiness Manager: Raymond L. Wright

Director ot Pastoral Administration: Ronald L. DartInternational Division: Leslie McCUlloughInternational Editions: Dutch Language : Jesse Korver ;French: Dioar K. Aparuan: Genman: Gotlhard Behnisch:Great Britain: Peter Butler:Spanish: Kenneth V. FIylandOffices: Auckland, New Zealand: Robert Morton; Bonn ,West Germany: Frank Schnee: St. Albans, England:Frank Brown; Burleigh Heads. Aust ralia.- Dennis Luker ;Geneva. Switzerland: Bernard Andrist; Johannesburg,South Atrica ' Robert Fahey: Manila, PhiIJppJnes : ColinAdair; utrecnt. The Netherlands' Roy Mcca rthy: Vancouver. B.C., Canada: C.Wayne Cole

Founder, President and Publisher:HERBERTW. ARMSTRONGExecutive Vlce--Presldent and Co-Publisher:GARNERTEDARMSTRONGAssociate Publishers: Stanley R.Rader, Robert L, Kuhn


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Personal from ...

HowICametobeGoing to Kings andHeadsofGovernment

I seems ve ry possib le God has onceagain revealed something NEW tous, and important.Actua lly th e TRUTH - which has

become th e accepted and officia lteaching of thi s Church - startedunder most unusual conditions. T hisis GOD'S Church, and it, in thi spresent era, rose up in this worldwhose God is (though the world isdeceived into ignorance of it) Satanthe dev il. It is like a sprout of GOODwheat sprouting up among thorns,th istles, and briers.

We are not "just another denomination ." It is true that numerous denominations do teach some thingsas we do - bu t they have only thebranches and the twigs of the tree.How many of them have the realTRUNK OFTHE TREE - with its MAINBRANCHES?In o ther wo rds, how man y ofth em kn ow what spiritua l sa lvationreally is, what the KINGDOM OF

GOD (Christ's whole Gospel) reallyis, WHY God put humani ty here onea rth: WHAT is our real ultimatehuman POTENTIAL, or HOW we sha llrea ch it? How many know GOD'SPURPOSE, or His MASTER PLAN forwo rking it out? Or know why we a reher e, where we a re going, or THEWAY? Those are th e BIG MAINbranch es of the tree of knowledge .Th ey are th e MISSING DIMENSION inkn owled ge.So we are utterly UNLIKEany otherchurch!I person all y was DUMBFOUNDEDwhe n I di scovered , late in 1926, thatmy Protestan t Sunday school teaching had be en th e VERY OPPOSITE ofwha t the Bible SAYS . I have beenshocked beyond me asure to findth at humanity, includ ing those inChr istianity, o r a ll religions in ge nera l - a nd wit h VERY infinitesimallyFEW exceptions ~ really do NOT BELIEVE WHAT GOD SAYS.Adam and Eve listened as Godfirst instructed them - revealedknow ledge a nd truth to th em in th eGARDEN OF EDEN . But THEY DIDNOT BELIEVE WHAT HE SAID. Instead, they believed what Satansaid. Shocking? You don't believeth at stateme nt? Open you r Bibl eand read it for yo urself! Or, are YOUwilli ng to believe what Christ SAYSthere? For He is the pe rsonal WORDOF GOD, and the Bibl e is His WordThe PLAIN TRUTH February 1977

in wntmg - the wri tten WORD OFGOD. I BELIEVEwhat it says, for it iswha t CHRISTsays!Jesus cam e over 1,900 years agowith a vita l MESSAGE from G od but after 3Y2 years of preaching it tohundreds of thousands, only 120still BELIEVED WHAT HE SAID (ActsI : 15). I do BELIEVEwha t He says!

Let me tell you how it ca meabo ut.As the apostle Paul was travelingth e OPPOSITE WAY from GOD'S wayuntil God struck him down and re vealed Christ 's TRUTH to him, sowas I putting my whole he artin to business - unconcerned aboutGod or His TRUTH. Th is is howGOD turned me a round, openedmy mind , poured His TRUTH intoit. He used the wife o f my youth inmy conversion. He opened her mindto th e TRUTH of His Sabba th . Thiswas like a bolt of lightning to me on ly the bol t STRUCK ME stra ightth rough! To me it was religiou s fanaticism! At the same time I wascha llenged by a sister-in-law into anan gry bu t diligent a nd thoroughstu dy and research in to the theoryo f EVOLUTION as op pos ed to crea tion by the Creator God . Bothcaused me to study Genesis . Of

co u rse I studied eve ryth ing I couldge t hold of on Darwin ism and evolution - th e works of Hu xley, Haec k e l , Ly el l, Sp en cer. Vog ht,Chamberlin, etc., etc.I began to see that my ch ildhoodPro testant teaching was th e or-eo SITE of biblical teach ing. My intensive study into science and the BiblePROVED th e existence of God , a ndth e ABSOLUTE AUTHORITY of th eBible as H is WORD - His revealedKNOWLEDGE to man.I remember what a sho ck it was toread in Roman s 6:23 th at THEWAGES OF SIN IS DEATH , whe n in aProtestant Sunday school I ha dbeen tau ght the wages - or wha t wego t paid - for SIN was ETERNAL LIFEin an ever-burning hellfire - tha t Iwould burn and burn forever , yetnever come to be burned up . I waseq ually shocked to read th e last pa rtof the same sentence - bu t the giftof God is ETERNAL LIFE throughJesus Christ our Lord. I did notkn ow eterna l life had to be receivedas a GIFT - I was tau ght th at Ialready had eternal life - I was anIMMORTAL SOUL.To make a long story sho rt. th efirst six months of thi s dili gent, a l'mos t night and day STUDY IN(Continued on page 17)


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JUSTWHATDOYOUMEAN:

?ust what is a "born-again" Christian? Don't be too sure you know! Many -. .perhaps millions - sincerely believe they have been "born again" - yetdo not understand what Jesus meant when He used those words.by Herbert W. ArmstrongWHY d id th e Ph a r i s e e ,Nicode m us , und er s tandwhen Jesus sa id to him : "Ex

cept a man be born again, he cannotsee th e kingdom ofGod"?

WHY do people not understandthose words today?How MANY know, today, thatJe sus' Gospel was a sensational,n ev e r - befo re proclaimed NEWSANNOUNCEMENT?Jesus Was a NewscasterThose in Judea knew - or shouldhave known - Malachi's prophecyconcern ing this. It wa s the Gospel ofG od . : and the word " gosp el"me ans GOODNEWS!Jesus was a NEWSCASTER. Hisnews was something absolutely NEW

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- never before proclaimed to man-kind. It was the most wonderfulNEWS ever reported. Actually almosttoo wonderful for humans to believe. It was news of the utterly tran-scendent potential of man .A humor columnist wrote a biton the news printed in da ily newspapers. It is actually NOT news , heinsisted, since it is a repor ting ofevents th at a lready have happened ..Therefore it is no longer NEW, bu tOLD when printed. He insisted itreally ought to be cal led OLDS!The tremendous Message that

Jesus brought was NEWS! It was no ta report of pas t events. It was AD-YANCE news! - news of an almostunbelievable UTOPIAN WORLD TOMORROW!

And it is SURE!And it was news that we may be

BORN AGAIN! Yet almost nob odyunderstands it!How MANY; even today, kn ow

that Je sus' Gospel was actua lly soBREATHTAKING - so seem ingly in-credible. so startling, it sho u ld haveleft its hearers in a daze of awe! Itdidn 't. WHY?WHY has it never been recognizedby the world as th e stupendou sNEWS th at it actu ally was?

Simply because the leaders inJudea rejected it - hated it - hatedJesus for announcing the wonderfulgreat news - turned most of thepeople against it. And it has been soMIsrepresented, so distorted andmaligned , that the whole world ha s

The PLAIN TRUTH February 1977


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been deceived - and has totallyMISUNDERSTOOD IT! Your Bible saysthe WHOLE WORLD - all nations -have been deceived about that Gospel!The time was at hand, then, forthis Message to be announced! The

time is at hand, today, for its trueMEANING to be made so PLAIN thatpeople may UNDERSTAND IT!

It WILL BE, in this article. And it isa crucial CHALLENGE to you whonow read it!And you have to UNDERSTAND

what was that news announcement,or you can never UNDERSTAND whatJesus meant about being "bornagain."What Was the News?Notice, briefly, first, what that astonishing NEW Message was!The pre-announcement, in Malachi 's prophecy, says: "Behold. Iwill send my messenger, and heshall prepare the way before me:and the Lord, whom ye seek [theMessiah], shall suddenly come to histemple, even the Messenger of thecovenant . . ." (Mal . 3: I).

Now notice the beginning of theMessenger's proclamation of thatMessage.It is recorded in Mark's Gospel.chapter I: "The beginning of thegospel of Jesus Christ, the Son ofGod; as it is written in the prophets . . . ." Then follows the citat ionfrom Malachi , wri tten above. Thatis followed by the account of Johnthe Baptist , preparing the way before Christ, the Messenger.Then, verses 14-15: "Now after

tha t John was put in prison, Jesuscame into Gal ilee, preaching thegospel of the KINGDOM OF GOD,and saying, The time is fulfilled, andthe Kingdom of God is at hand:repent ye, and believe the gospel."That is, BELIEVE the Good News!What IS the Kingdom of God?What did He mean - the Kingdomof God?Jesus' whole Message - His Gospel - was about the KINGDOM OFGOD! Yet few know anything aboutit, today.Do you know WHY?Jesus' Gospel - His news AN-


NOUNCEMENT of the Kingdom ofGod - was SUPPRESSED during thevery first century!Paul wrote to the Christians inGalatia: "I marvel that ye are sosoon removed from him that calledyou into the grace of Christ UNTOANOTHER GOSPEL: which is not another; but there be some thattrouble you, and WOULD PERVERTthe gospel of Christ . . ." (Gal. 1:6-7;see also II Cor. II :3-4 and Rom.I: 18, where "hold" should be translated "hold back" or "suppress" asin some translations).The MESSAGE God sent to man

kind by Jesus Christ - His GOSPEL- His GOOD NEWS ANNOUNCEMENT- was not procla imed to the wor ldafter about 70 A.D.Jesus was born to be a KING. HisMessage was the coming KINGDOMOFGOD.A kingdom is a). a NATION composed of people, and b), the GOVERNMENT of the nation.In some cases, the people of anat ion a re the descendants - thechildren - of one man. The nationof Turkey is the descendants of theancient Esau, twin brother of Jacob,whose name was changed to Israel,father of the nat ion Israel. Beforethe twins were born, God said tothei r mother , Rebekah, "Two na-tions are in thy womb . . ." (Gen .25:23).

Now Jesus the Messiah was tocome as "the Messenger of the covENANT." The "Old Covenant" hadestablished the human children ofIsrael as a NATION or KINGDOM ofhumans, called the . KINGDOM OFISRAEL. Jesus came as the Messenger - heralding the Message of theNEW Covenant that shall set up thespirit-composed children of GOD asthe Kingdom of God!As the ancient Kingdom of Israelwas composed of the human FAMILY

of the human man Israel. so theKingdom of God will be composedof the divine family of the divineGOD!

And what does this have to dowith "being BORN AGAIN"? It haseverything to do with it!The prophet Daniel wrote of this

Kingdom of God. In his secondchapter, after foretelling of the

Chaldean Empire (Babylon) , thePersian Empire , the Graeco-Macedonian Empire with its four divisions, and the Roman Em pire,s tretch ing even into the now-forming resurrected "Holy Roman Empire" in Europe, we read th efollowing: "And in the days of thesekings [the forthcoming United Nations of Europe] shall the God ofheaven set up a kingdom, 'whichshall never be destroyed . . . bu t itshall break in pieces and consumeall these kingdoms, and it shallstand f or ever " (Dan. 2:44). To"stand forever" it will, of necessity,be a Kingdom of IMMORTALS, notmortals.

It will be a WORLD-RULING Kingdom!

Daniel's seventh chapter portraysit again - and shows the connectionwith being "born again ." The fourworld empires - Babylon throughRome and its coming resurrection inEurope - are pictured as four beasts- wild animals.Saints Become ImmortalVerse 17: "These great beasts, whichare four, are four kings [kingdoms],which shall arise ou t of the ear th .But the saints of the most High shalltake the kingdom, and possess thekingdom forever; even for ever andever." To possess it FO R EVER, the.saints will have to be IMMORTAL!

Then the Babylonian resurrectionin Europe "made war with thesaints, and prevailed against them;until the Ancient of days [Christ atsecond coming] came, and judgmentwas given to the saints of the MostHigh; and the time came that thesaints possessed the kingdom" (verses 21-22). Read also verse 27.

The second coming of Chr is t isdescribed thus: "And the seventhangel sounded; and there were greatvoices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become thekingdoms of ou r Lord, and of hisChrist; and he shall reign for ever 'and ever" (Rev. 11:15).

Yet in spite of these and manymore such scr iptures, many deceived theologians today misleadthe people saying that the CHURCHis the Kingdom of God! Or, that(Continued on page 27)

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A RHODESIAN GUARD FORCE sentry surveys guerrilla-infested territory from the obse rvation pos t in the center of a"p rotected village" in a tribal trust lands region.

R H O D E S I ~WHY NO PEACE IS IN SIGHT by Gene H. HogbergThe Geneva Conference on Rhodesia has adjourned. its delegates locked in a s ta lemate overhow to arrive at a formula forachieving a peaceful transition toblack rule .Meanwhile the Soviet Union iss tepp ing up its mil itary aid to guer-4

rillas who aim to "liberate" thecountry by force of arms. Americanintelligence sources report that Russian ships have recently been un-The author recently toured southernA frica. This is the second in a series ofexclusive reports.

loading additional tons of ammuni-tion and other materie l in the portsofTanzania and Mozambique.

The same sources also have beeninformed that abou t 5.000 Rhode-sian guerr illas have been movinggradually from Mozambique tocamps in Tanzania for training.

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Mozambique. Ta nzania and otherblack Africa n countries have openlydeclared their intention to supportguerrilla operations aimed at toppling the white gove rnment of Rhodesia.On the Scene in SalisburyFor an altogether too brief and illusory moment. it appeared. last September. that peace might b reak ou tin Rhodesia; that the four-year-oldfight against militant nationalistguerrillas would cease; that a peaceful. orderly 'transit ion to a black majority government could take place.Swallowing the bitterest pill of hispolit ical career. Rhodesia's PrimeMinister Ian Smith. under intenseoutside pressure. accepted U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's sett lement formula. Against his betterjudgment - knowing full well that thenationalist opposition was hopelesslydivided, that an Angola-style civilwar between the contending forcescould erupt catching both whites andblack moderates in the middle. leading to massive white flight - he accepted the Kissinger plan. with itssupposed safeguards to prevent suchchaos from occurring.I was in Salisbury, Rhodesia'spleasant capital city. the day Mr.Smith and his cabinet made theirmonumental decision . Along withabout 50 other newspaper and television reporters from around theworld. I stood outside Rhodesia'spar liament bui ld ing in the la te afternoon hours of September 24.Everyone sensed the gravity ofthe decision that was being ago nized over inside the unpretentiousstructure fronting Cecil Square named after Rhodesia's founder.Cecil Rhodes. At issue was theacceptance or rejection of Dr. Kissinger's settlement formu la. Essentially. it called for a two-yeartransitional government for Rhodesia. which would. in turn. preparethe way for turning the reins of government over to leaders representing Rhodesia's blacks. who outnumber whites by a 20-to-1 ratio.

The deliberations inside were prolonged and undoubtedly intense.When Mr. Smith finally appeared,an hour after sundown. the swarming newsmen did their best to getthe story. But to all questions theThe PLAIN TRUTH February 1977

never-ruffled Prime Minister hadbut one answer: the government'sdecision would be announced at8:00 p.m. the following evening in amajor address to be broadcast a ndtelecast to the Rhodesian people.All the next day , and increasinglymore so as the time neared for Mr.Smi th's address to the nation. theatmosphere in Salisbury seemedheavy with expectation. Shopperson the stree ts seemed preoccupied.Diners in the Monomatapa Hotel.where I was staying. hurriedthrough their meals in order to getto a television set in time for thehistory-making event. I returned tomy room and its black -and-white.one channel set.When the moment finally arrived,

RHODESIAN PRIME MINISTER IanSmith talks to newsmen afte r hiscabinet cond itiona lly "accepted maj ority rule plan.Mr. Smith said what all his countrymen knew - or feared. dependingupon one's political out look - hewould say: that the II -year-Iongperiod of self-declared independence under white rule was at anend; that the free world was notgoing to give Rhodesia any moresupport. even of a sub rosa nature;that the time was now to try to secure the best political deal withhopefully moderate black leaders inorder to keep Rhodesia in the Western camp. free from communistdomination.

No Alternatives AvailableIn his broadcast, Mr. Smith recalledhis recent series of meetings in Pretor ia with the South African PrimeMinis ter Mr. Vorster and with Dr.Kissinger. He said that at thesemeetings it was made "abundantlyclear" to him and his governmentthat as long as the present circumstances in Rhodesia prevailed theycould expect "no help or support ofany kind from the free world."Mr. Smith sa id his government.therefore. had no al te rnat ive but toaccept the settlement plan as proposed in Pretoria . He stressed .however. that his government's acceptance was conditionally based ontwo assurances from both the Americans and the British : I) tha t terrorism on Rhodesia's borderlandswould cease, and 2) that UnitedNations sanctions against the beleaguered country would be lifted,once again permitt ing unrestrictedtrade between Rhodesia and theworld and allowing for the infusion of badly needed foreigncapital.To those who heard Mr. Smiththat evening. there were no "ifs, andsor buts ." His government. he toldviewers, accepted at face value theKissinger plan. The same plan. hehimself was told. had been agreed toby the leaders of the so-called" front-line" black states - Angola.Mozambique. Tanzania. Zambiaand Botswana.A "TWO-Day High"For a day or two in Salisbury. thepolitical atmosphere could be bestdescribed as reserved optimism .Perhaps. just perhaps, things mightwork out. "Dr. K" appeared to havepulled another miracle out of hisdip lomatic hat.The newspaper Sunday Mail wasfull of hope for the future. The endto sanctions, speculated some of itseconomists. could produce an economic boom. In fact. the biggestproblem might be a sudden outburst of inflation. At last, obsolescen t machin ery in Rhodesia'sfactories could be replaced instead

of being patched up with home-made parts. .A cartoon on the editorial pageshowed how the end to sanctions(Continued on page 8)

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R H O D E S I ~ SORDEALFor over four years Rhodesiansecurity forces have beenfighting an ever-widening antiguerri lla campaign in the country 'sborder regions . The past year saw asharp escalation in violence ; nearly1,200 guerri llas were killed in 1976as opposed to 720 for the previousthree years. Rhodesia's militaryservices lost over 130 men in 1976compa red to 75 up until last year.Morale among the servicemen, bothblacks and whites (left) is still high ,but the price they are paying(funeral, bottom right) is a costlyone as months go by without apeaceful settlement. Others, too,pay a price . Bodi ly mutilation ofrural blacks by terrorists is notuncommon. Man, right, probab lyinformed government officials oflocal guerr illa activity. In a sense,he was lucky ; others have had theirlips chopped off as well. Blacks inthe ' 'operational areas" have had tobe relocated in fenced-off " PV's"or protected villages , which areguarded day and night (bottomleft). Striking from bases inMozambique or Zambia, terror istsexact toll in property also, such asthis train (top right) on the vital raillink to South Africa . Raids onguerrilla camps often net sizablecaches of Russian A-47 rifles andother commu nist-supp liedarmaments .Photo credits, clockwise, beginning lower left:Michael Evans. Michae lEvans, Rod Eja. Alan Reininger.Alan Reininger, Michae l Evans. All from Contact.


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DESPITE TERRORISM, traditional life goes on for Rhodesia 's rural Mashona people. Inside a "protected village," a newstorage bin for ma ize is erected, wh ile a cluster of ch ildren giggle at the photographer.

could benefit the long-sufferingRhodesian consumer : He might beable to drive his l2-year-old American car (hopefully replaced soonwith a new import) into a petrolstation and say, "Fill 'e r up!" . . . Hemight be a ble to at last repl ace hislO-yea r-old razor blades . . . be ableto trave l wit hout cu rrency distinctions . .. and at last hear the" patter of feet belonging to foreignbusinessmen."Business would profit from an other angl e. too . With an end toterrorism - one of the conditions ofMr. Smith's acceptance - no longerwould Rhodesia's young men becalled away from their jo bs five orsix times a year for extended toursof du ty in the country's "opera tionalareas" searching out guerrilla unitsflowing across the borders from Mozambique and Zambia.This was indeed good news - if itwere true.Torpedoed by MoscowThe Kissinger plan, however, didn 'tmake it th rough the weekend.What has fol lowed sinc e th atnight of September 25 is but another cha pter of the sorry, sordidstate of affairs in con temporary Africa. First the "f ron t- line" presidents. in a pronouncement fromLusaka. Zambia . claimed they neversaw the fina l se tt lement Smithagre ed to - and wouldn' t ha ve approved it if they had .Politi ca l ana lysts generally dis-8

count their disavowal. Most likelythe Soviet Union , through Presidents Neto and Machel (of the newMarxist-oriented states of Angolaand Mozambique . respectively) .pressured the black states intoabruptly changing their minds.Ever since the Kremlin dousedthe flickering flame of peace. Rhodesia's plight has gone from bad toworse . The front-line states and rep resentatives of Rh odesia ' s fourblack nationalist organizations demanded the convening of a conference at the European headquartersof the United Nations in Ge neva.Switzer land. to se tt le the issue.Smith reluctantly agreed - sta tingthat he would be a ttending only toimplement the Kissinger plan. notto negotiate the package anew.Nationa lists Ripped by DissensionEven if progress of a sort is reachedin Geneva. genuine peace is by nomeans around the corner. On thenationalis t side. there are deep divi sions , which have been merelypapered over. and which will reap pear as wide as ever once the Geneva formalities are dispensed with .To begin with , there is that curious."patriotic-front" coalition betweenJoshua Nkorno, long-time "moderate" who says he supports a capitalist system for Zim babwe (thenationalist's name for Rhodesia),and Robert Mug abe , who claimsthat a future Zimbabwe must "follow socialist principles" and "assault

capitalist and bourgeois tenden-cies." The Nkomo-Mugabe mar-riage of con venience is opposed bytwo other groups, the first headedby Bishop Abel Muzorewa, who hasconsiderable popul ar support. andthe second headed by NdabaningiSithole , formerly Muzorewa's chieflieutenant.The intense nationalist rivalry haserupted peri od ically in violence.with the bloody slaughter of guerril-las belonging to one group by thoseloyal to another faction.Th e Cape Town. South Africa.newspaper Die Burger notes tha t thefactio us na tionalist movem en t isfurther complicated by ancient tri

balloyalties:"The discord and strife amongthe black people is an import ant as

pect of the Rh odesian probl emwhich is not taken into consideration seriously enough. especiallyby the ou tsid e world. Even if thewhites of Rhodesia could be wishedaway, it would not ensure that aso lu tion would be found . Possiblyrather the contrary. for then thestrife between the black groups. whohave already so clearly indicates!their bit ter animosity towards oneanother. could be intensified ."On the one hand there are mensuch as Mr . Joshua Nkorno, who is

supported ma inly by the Matabelesand who leans over towards the caP:italist system. and on the othe r han dthere is the Rev. Sith ole who is supported mainly by the Shona-speak-



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VARIED FACES OF RHODESIA - Nationalist leader, Joshua Nkomo, left, ponders his role in a future "Zimbabwe."What role is left for coun try 's 270,000 whi tes, outnumbered by 6,000,000 blacks, is biggest question of all.

ing people and who leans over far tothe other side. The division andstrife between them strongly remindone of the situation in Angola at thetime of independence in that country. It is among other things tocounteract a development similar tothat in Angola that it is consideredso vitally importan t to keep as manywhi tes as possib le in Rhodesia. Asthings stand at present , a stabilizinginfluence can come on ly fromthem."Unpalatable TruthThat last phrase - that only thewhites can act as a stabilizing influence - is an extremely hard onefor many peopleto face today. Nevertheless , it is a fact that in 'Rhodesia, as elsewhere in Africa, it wasthe whi te Europeans who not onlyintroduced progressive civilizationbut eliminated two scourges whichhad ravaged the nat ive Afr icanpeoples : d isease and tribal warfare .

In 1890 when Rhodes' pioneercolumns first arrived in what is nowRhodesia, the region was inhabitedby no more t han one million people.Today, according to Lewis H. Gannof Stanford University's Hoover Institute: "Rhodesia's African population amounts to 6 million andkeeps expanding at a rapid rate thathardly bespeaks grinding oppression, much less genocide. Within thelifetime of a single grandmother, thecountry was propelled from theThe PLAINTRUTH February 1977

early Iron Age to the age of modernindustry. In terms of health service,life expectancy, education, use ofconsumer goods, and agriculturalproduction, the condition of the indigenous people has improved in amanne r tha t wo uld have bee n inconceivab le to an ancien t Shonaking." By African sta ndards," continuesGann in the summer 1976 issue ofOrbis, "the Rh odesian economy isreasonably balanced. The country'sfarmers, especially th e wh ite entrepreneurs, are reasonably efficient.Rhodesia, a country as large as California , can feed herself and evenproduces a food surp lus for export.How many 'progressive' nations canmake that cla im? Its mining sec torhas grown. Manufacturing, too, hasmade much progress and now accounts for a somewhat larger shareof the GNP t han farming and min ing together."

Adds the Natal Witness of Durban: "I t is a simple, irrefutable historical fact that 80 years of whiterule in Rhodesia have been, on thewhole and in any measurable terms,beneficial to the whole population.On one hand, as black leaders arequick to observe, the white population has enjoyed an enviably highstandard of living, but, on the otherhand , there can be li tt le doubt thatthe black, miserab ly poor though hemay be in far too many cases, issubstantially better off in health, insecurity, and even in numbers tha n

he wo uld have been without the


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unique blessing, one not earned, inthe final analysis, even by the stintof their own efforts. They have beenthe recipients, strange as it mayseem, of the b ir th righ t blessingsconferred upon them by a distantbiblical ancestor - the patriarchAbraham. (To understand this allimportant subject, write for our freebooklet The United States and theBritish Commonwealth in Prophecy.It will open your eyes as to the realreason why the English-speakingworld is having its troubles today.)Rhodesia's blacks have - to thelimits of their own cultural backgrounds - benefited from this bir thright blessing as well. The proof ofthis is the greater standard of livingthey have enjoyed in comparisonwith the inhabitants of most of Africa's black-ruled states.Majority Rule - No Such ThingIn this light , it is sheer folly to thinkthat conditions will be any better forthe black man under a "majori tyrule" government - simply becausethe term "majori ty rule" in the African context is also sheer folly .Dr. Ernest Lefever, a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution inWashington D.C and the author ofseveral books on Africa, wrote in theWall Street Journal on June 2, 1976:"Desp ite screaming headlines tothe contrary, we persist in our illusions about what is politicallypossible in tropical Africa. Dr. Kissinger implies that somehow Rhodesia could move quickly from'minority rule' to 'majority rule ' andt ha t a fte r this transition 'minorityrights' would be respected. The record of the last 15 years does notsustain this hope."The record? According to the1976 Freedom House worldwidesurvey of political freedom, of the37 black African states, three (Bot

swana, Gambia and Mauritius)have democrat ic political and civilrights, while II are "partly free"and 23 are "not free ," that is, theyenjoy vir tually no political or civilrights .The popu la r base of the rulingelites ofmany of these states is oftenfar smaller than that of the rulingminority in Rhodesia - often comprising a mere handful of men ofone tribe or sub-tr ibal group. But

10

such black minority regimes are notcondemned by either the politiciansor the news media of the Westernworld.Dr. Lefever perhaps exposes araw nerve when he adds:"The Rhodesian government isnot condemned because it rests on anarrow base - all other African regimes do - but because that base is

predominantly white in an overwhelmingly black country. It makeslittle difference whether the Rhodesian regime is more democratic, representative, and humane than manyblack regimes or that it operates bythe rule of law, permits and responds to opposition groups, has arelat ively free press, is constrainedby its l imited electorate, and is attempting to broaden political participation - attributes rarely presentin black African countr ies. It evenmakes little difference whether thereare greater educational and economic opportunities than in someblack countries. What matters israce, as though the colour of skinhad some intrinsic relationship tobasic human rights. "

You canunderstandprophecyEvents now shaping up willaffect every l iv ing person onearth . Discover what proph-ecy says about modern na-t ions . Read tomorrow'sheadlines today! Requestyour free copy of The UnitedStates and the Bri tish Com-monwealth in Prophecy.Write to The Plain Truth.(See addresses on insidefront cover.)

THE UNITED STATES...

BRITISH COMMONWEALTH'in ' P ' U > ~

Uncertain FutureRhodesians deserve a chance towork out their own solutions, free ofcommunist-supported "liberators"and misguided pronouncementsfrom the West. Prime MinisterSmith has committed himself to major ity rule - " responsible" major ityrule. There is no turning back now.If the self-a ppointed na tionalistleaders can't agree on a futurecourse of action, Smith is ready, hesays, to work with other representatives of Rhodesia's black peopleswilling to cooperate in constructinga peaceable future for the country.Smith also claims that he hadbeen assured by both Henry Kissinger and South Africa 's PrimeMinister John Vorster that his country would receive outside aid if theGeneva talks broke down "becauseof the fault of the black politicians . . . and definitely not the faultofmyself and my government."He did not elaborate on what theaid would be, but apparently referred to, as a minimum, the liftingof international sanctions againstRhodesia. Greater access to Western arms was also a veiled implication, since he emphasized th atRhodesia with but a little help couldstill handle the badly split guerrillas- providing there is no all-outRusso-Cuban intervention.The Rhodesian crisis won 't goaway quietly. It is destined to re

main front-page news for quitesome time. At this moment. there isno peaceful light at the end of thetunnel.At this juncture the Geneva conference appears to be a tota l failure,leaving. at least for now, only thecrucible of war. The impact uponthe Uni ted States, Great Britain and pe rhaps more importantly.neighboring South Africa - of intensified guerrilla activity supportedby Soviet a rms remains to be seen.Nevertheless , it is an extremely dangerous situation.All of which is a pity. for Rhodesiais one of the most pleasant - anddespite the current difficulties peacefulcountries to live in anywherein the world; a country in which thereremains a tremendous reservoir ofgood will and cooperation betweenblacks and whites. It would be ashame to see it all end indisaster. 0



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THE MAJORITY:UNCOMMITIEQUNCONCERNEDANDUNAWARE

by Garner Ted Armstrong

It's crazy time. Alarm and apathy shouldn't mix, nor "Christian gunmen, JJ but they do. Today, whenawesome world events demand urgent action, when frightening trends in conditions demand thesoberest contemplation, when violence, kidnappings, assassinations, murders, civil wars,hijackings, and the toppling of governments should cause the deepest introspection, the millionsdoze. Famine with flatulence, emergencywith ease, crisis without concern: none really mix. Yetthey prevail. What about you? Would you go to a poker game in a burning house? Swim in atyphoon? Fly serenely into a thunderstorm? Walk lazily through a mine field? Liberally lace yourscotch with arsenic? Lie down to sleep on a sinking ship? It's time you wondered about theparadox of apathy in a time demanding total commitment.

Fw hum ans are truly aware. Oh ,we become sensitized to the littlethings - things that affect ourdaily lives in some important way like joblessness. low wages, hightaxes. so a ring insurance rates , orThe PLAIN TRUTH February 1977

gun control. But very few seem capable of comparing potential Araboil embargoes with the price ofwheat in Canada ; the transition Ofgove rnment in America to thepotential for war in Korea or Yugo - '

sla via: the incredible . yet underpla yed. litt le noticed, unpublicizeddrought that has gripped Europe ,Britain , Canada and the U.S. within ternational rela tions and the priceof food. Nor are very many able, it

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seems, to gra sp the relationship ofany of the foregoin g with Bibleprophecy !Yet. according to the propheciesin your Bible. you are living in thelast days of this present civi lization.An age is abo ut to end . A vas t epicis taking place - the decay and finaldestruction of civilization as weknow it - and a new and differentage is soo n to emerge which will beutt erly different in every respec t tothis age . But millions upon millionsare unaware of the relationship between present world conditions andBible prophecy!For twenty long years on TheWorld Tomorrow program. I havebeen referring repeatedly to Chris t'sprophecies found in Matthew 24. Ihave continually said that wars andrumors of wars would intensify onth e world scene. along with famine,droughts, shortages . disease epidemics, record -shat ter ing ea rthquakes,an d all the prophesied eve nts lead ing to the "g rea t tribulation" (Ma tt.24:21-22). Take a quick look at th isworld the way it really is.A Sick, Sick World!G rowi ng civil anarchy - terrorism.vio lence and crime - con ti nues totear a t the thread s of Western civilizat ion. Twenty thou sand mu rdersper yea r in th e United States a lone.Th ese are the headl ines tha t rockthe world today.

Th e gr im events of Entebbeserve d to rem ind us that anti-Semitism is far from dead in thi s world'ssoc ie ty. Blatant. unabashed. rawracism is a slee ping time bom bwhich th reatens to erupt anew .Recently there have been vei ledthreat s ("We will brin g down thetem ple of humanity") by a smallerpowe r to use the unt h ink ab l ewea pon if push ed into a corner. Asthe United States cont inues to fosterth e proliferat ion of nucl ea r weaponry in the world (albei t throughthe beneficent spread of "peaceful"nuclear reactors). the number of nations act ua lly possessing the bombincreases year by yea r - whether wehave the courage to admit it or not.Meanwh ile, Western arms policies continue to fuel the MiddleEas t. America finds it necessary tosupp ly both side s of the fence withsupersophisticated weaponry. Take12

Ir an for example . Rep or ts TheMiddle East magazine: " It [Iran)now has 'o n order' 80 F-14 Tomcats.a long with 190 Phan toms and 179F.5E interceptor a ircra ft. Te hran isalso a ttempting to obtain in oi l-forarms bar ter deal s another 300 of thelat est available airc raft on the Western market , including F-16s and F18s. . .. Besides these. there a re reportedly ano the r 1,500 Chieftaintanks 'o n orde r' from Brita in" (October 1976. p. 19). If current ordersare filled . comba t airc ra ft levels inIran will be doubled. West and Easthave been rushing arms into theMiddle Eas t at record rates. Thespark is bound to be touched offsoo ner or later. Those weapons willno doubt be used.The Energy CrunchMilitar ily spea king, the West continu es to sell advanced munitions tocountr ies that have their hands onits th roat . As Fortune wa rned:"Since the Yom Kippu r Wa r. ourdependenc e on OP EC oil has increased from 17% to 22% of our[American) domestic production.and ifpresent trends continue, we willbe buying nearly hal f of our oil fromOPEC countries by 1980" (January1976, p. 102).Have Western nations been aboutthe busin ess of encouraging conserva tion of unrenewabl e energy resources by, say. cutt ing ba ck on theuse of "our toys"? Frankly, no! Inthe U.S ., Detroit is back to bui ld ingmore big gas hogs than ever.

The Fortune editor ia l continues:"It a lmost seems as if we have settled apathetically for living indefinitely a t OP EC's mercy. . . . If theArabs were to unl imber their oilwea pon aga inst countries supporting Israel, we could be left wit h theop tion of either giving in or takingm ilitary ac tion. Viewed aga instthese ugly possibilities, the currentdithering [inact ion and lack of policy) looks like an abdication of thenational interest."

Th e pan ic per iod of the energycrisis (lat e 1973 and ea rly 1974) willbe paled into insignificance by thenext one, especia lly in the UnitedStates. Can you imagin e wha t it'sgoing to be like with our crude oilfau cet turned fully halfway off'?

Already the re is a very real natu-

ral gas sho rtage in th e UnitedStates. No tes Business Week: "Eachyea r across the country. the shor tageof natu ral gas worsens. concea led tosome exten t by the recen t string ofwa rm winters . . . but noneth elessrea l and ever more th reatening. Indeed the gas shortage is in manyways the lead ing edge of the real'energy crisis.' . . . Acco rdi ng to figur es released last week by the Fed era l Power Commission. the nationthi s winter will suffer a 22% shortfallin supplies. Last yea r the figure was18%. Th e yea r before 14%" (September 27. 1976. p. 66).The Time of the EndAs I've sa id so many times before.any way you want to slice it. thisworld is headed into a time of ind escr iba ble troubles on a global sca le.We are now living in what the Bibleca lls "the time of the end."The end-time fulfillments of Matthew 24 a re shap ing up very fast.Th e time for procrastination in proclaiming an urge nt warning and witness to the nations of th is world isover. We must fulfill our awesomeresponsibility.Yet pro phecy after pro phecy inyo ur Bible wa rns us that at the timewhen the second coming of JesusChrist would be imminent. vastnumber s of God' s own peop lewo u ld d rift in to leth argy a n dapa thy, sleepily going abo ut theirown day-to-day affairs as if trying toshove the unacceptable future intoth e back of their minds and pretendther e is unlimited time left for theirown personal pleasures.It makes no sense at all for peoplein a burning bu ilding to be tellin gjok es - or farmers given seve restorm warnings to sca tter their stockto sum me r pastures. Yet. as theBible pred icted . many today livethei r.dai ly lives as if ob livious to thedeadly potential of these times!Soon. a grea t depression tha t willmake the crash of '29 look like apicnic by comparison will rock theworld. From any given momen t nation after nati on in the a ffluent. indu str ialized wor ld could plunge in topoverty - with banks fa ilin g andclosing, bu siness and industry goingbankrupt , and a barter system replacing present economic systems.

Out of th is will emerge growingThe PLAIN TRUTH February 1977


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anarchy. racial bloodbaths. urbanwars. ga ng vio le nce as armedgroups pi llage from the ir own countrymen in a frenzied effor t to surv ive . The collap se of prese ntsys tems could take place in an ygiven 90-day period following ashocking failure of the economicsystem. Living. as we do. in th eshadow of the bomb and on theve rge of chaos - we st ill like topr eten d these shocking events willno t. no. cannot, occur. We somehowconvince ourselves a ll will be well the re's no need for concern - we have alwaysmanaged to tou gh it outbefore. and we can toughit out again .Jer em iah's wa rnin gsfell on dea f ea rs - bu tthe enemy came.John the Baptist was a"vo ice crying in the wilderness" not only in fac t.but in prophetic symbo lism - a voice carrying a message of the

coming of the Son ofGod then. and the needto rep ent. bu t carryingtha t message into a wilderness of religious confusion. doubt . a pa thy.lethargy an d unconcern .Jesus sa id : "And intheir case the prophecyof Isaiah is being ful filled . which says. 'Youwill keep on hearing. bu twill not understand ; and

you will keep on seeing.bu t will not perceive; forthe heart of this peop leha s become dull . andwith their ears theysca rcely hear. and theyhave closed their eyes lest theyshould see with their eyes. and hearwith thei r ears. and understand withthe ir heart . and turn again. and Ishould heal them ' " (Matt. 13:1415. New American Standard Bible).What Is Your Obligation?Did you ever notice Jesus' prediction that a great Work of WITNESS and WARNING to thi s sleepyworld would immediately precedeHi s own interference in worldevents? "And this gospel of thekingdom shall be preached in all theThe PLAIN TRUTH February 1977

world for a witness unto all nations;and then sha ll the end come" (Matt .24: 14).The ONLY prophesied event. then.which determines exactly WHEN the

"end sha ll come." is the preaching ofthat witness and warning message tothe world! That great Work . proclaiming the soo n-coming of Christ.and making plain the t rue MEANINGof today's frightening world conditio ns. was prophesied to take placejust bef ore a great tribulation!Somehow. YOU have come into

contact with t ha t g reat Work! Areyou one who is so sleepily uncon-cerned about this present world thatyou just cannot seem to becomealert to the tremendous meaning ofthe times in which you live? Paradoxica lly. Jes us prophesied that HISOWN PEOPLE would be about halfasleep at the most dangerous momen ts in history. Search the Scriptures concerning the condi tion ofthe Church of God jus t prior to thetribulation. and you find a sleepychurch , lying down on the job,drowsily unconcerned (see Mat t.

24 :37-51 ; Matt . 25:1-13; Rev . 3:1422).Knowledge carries obligation s.

Awareness of world conditions carries responsibility . If yo u were thefirst to di scover a build ing on fire.surely yo u would report it. I f youhad advance warn ing of a flashflood. surely you would warn yourneighbors to go to high gro und . Ifyou were aware of impending dan ger. surely yo u would feel a responsi-bili ty!Knowledge of th is kind requires acommitment! It requiresaction instead of apathy.Wha t is, then . the obliga tion required of onewho KNOWS the scope ofworl d con ditions in theligh t of Bible prophecy who clearly sees the fa ct

that we are living in theprophesied time of theend?Obviously. it is to become INVOLVED in thatgreat Work of God . It isto sea rch the Scriptures.to watch world news andchanging world conditions (Luke 21:36). toPRAY for the Work. andto support the Work .Paul sai d : "Continuein prayer, and wa tch inthe same with thanksgiving; with al praying alsofor us. that God wouldopen unt o us a door ofutterance . to speak themystery of Christ . forwhich I am al so i nbonds: that I ma y makeit manifest. as I oug ht tospeak" (Col . 4:2-4).Paul said to keep onpraying in a watchf ul attitude. fully

sen sitized and aware of the meaningof condit ions. He sa id to pray specifically for the work be ing done ofpreaching a message of warning andwitness to a ll nations - to make ityour very life - as it was to Paul .and to all tho se called into God'sWork down through th e ages.

In thi s time of NONinvolvement ,of inact ion. of lethargy, inattent ion ,sleepy, turned-off. "don't-care" attitudes. are YOU one who can clearlysee a call ing of God and answer thatcall? 0

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A TALE OF TWOPROPHETSby David Jon Hill

"For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came byJesus Christ" (John 1:17). Was Moses ever acquainted withgrace and truth? Did Jesus ignore the law? Did these two proph-ets - one the founder of Israel and mediator of the Old Cov-enant, the other the Son of God and the Mediator of the NewCovenant - have anything in common? Were they Jekyll andHyde, or two of a kind? Were they opposites, or just alike?Contradictory or complementary? Let's get to know both Mosesand Jesus better - the tale of these two prophets is fascinating!

Hrd , strong, stern - does thatdescribe Moses?Merciful, loving, longsuffering, meek, lowly, kind, forgi ving ,frie ndly - does tha t describe Jesus?Could both of these descriptionspossibly fit both Moses and Jesus?

Almost every Ch ristian knowsmore abo ut Jesus than he doesab ou t Moses, Let's become betteracquainted with that man Moses.Let 's look into the pages of Scriptu re and find out mor e about thatprophet God used to begin the writing of His Holy Bible . Let's get to14

know that Moses who prophesied ofChrist - that Moses who broughtIsrael from slavery to sovereignty(Acts 7:37 and Exodus 6:26, 27).Behind the ScenesLet's become personally familiarwith the character and personalityof that Moses who was "mighty inwords and in deeds" accord ing toStephen, the first martyr of theChristian Church (Acts 7:22). Let'sset aside all preconceived notionsabout th at man Moses, and get toknow him intimately. We can draw

from history and tradition , but let'savo id bigotry a t a ll costs. Let 's gobehind the scenes of plague andpestilence, behind the events of th epa rting of the Red Sea and the giving of the Law, behind the stories ofthe building of the tab ernacle in thewilderness, the establishment of th eLevitical pri esthood.Moses was a human being. Hesu ffe red frustrations from unfulfilled desires , misunderstandings ofhis mot ives from his fellow Israelites, self-doubts concerni ng his ownabili ties to perform the momentoustas ks God requ ired of him, familypr ob lem s wi th his wife, sis ter.brother , in-laws and adopted parents.Let's get to know him bett er - hewas reall y a pretty nice guy . Let'sbecome Moses' friend - afte r all,God was! (Exodus 33: II . )Je su s de scend ed fro m Judah .Moses came from Levi . Both weresons of Abraham. Jesus was a "babein a manger." Moses was a bab e ina boat. Moses was born a slave .Je sus was the single object of inten se persecution by a king inspiredby Satan det ermined to exterminateHim while He was yet a ch ild.Mo ses was ad opted into Pharaoh's

famil y a nd became a prince ofEgypt. J esus was the Prince o fPeace. Moses was a gen er al of thea rmies of Egypt. Jesu s was Ca ptainof th e Host. Moses fled for his lifeinto exile in Sina i, away from Egyp t.Je sus was taken, to sa ve His life, inexile into Egypt by His parents.Years of PreparationMo ses' li fe spa nned 120 years.Je sus' human life was only a littleover 33. Moses' life is easily dividedinto three distinctly different periodso f 40 ye a rs each . E ighty yea rspassed before God ca lled Moses tohis most important rem aining fortyyea rs. But th e measure of the manMoses was greatly influ enced bythose eighty years of preparat ion.Let's look a t them bri efly.

Whatever the arguments as towhich is dominan t in a man 's life,two things shape the per son: heredity and environment.Moses' great grandfather wasLevi, son of Jacob and Leah, andfounder of one of th e tribes ofIsrael. When Leah, Jacob 's cou sinThe PLAIN TRUTH February 1977


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on Abrah am 's side of the family,bo re Levi she was very happy because he was her third son by Jacob.Leah was not Jacob 's choice for awife, but through deception by Laban, Jacob's uncle-cum-father-inlaw, became his first legal wife . Jacob's choice was Rachel, Leah ' s sister. Th erefor e Jacob preferredRachel and snubbed Leah. God sawLeah's problem and blessed herwith the majority of Jacob's sons. Atthe birth of this third son, Leah feltth ings would be different : "Now th istim e will my husband be jo ined untome, because I have born him th reesons: therefore was his name calledLevi" (Genes is 29:34).Levi , in Hebrew, means "jo ined ."Alt hough Leah ' s sentiment regarding her thi rd son was per sonal, herchoice of name for Levi later provedto . be prophetic as well : the entiretri be of Levi "jo ined" the nation ofIsrael to God by fulfillin g the officesof the Levitical priesthood!Beginn ing with Abra ham, whomarried his half-sister, and con tinuin g th rough Isaac, who took acousi n to wife, and Jacob, who alsoma rr ied a cousin, the custom of thefami ly had been to ma int ain thegenetic pool by interm arriage withinthe fam ily. Many problems werecreated by this, but man y strengthswere also passed on. Th e record ofthe family shows wea lth, educationand brilli ance. Until politically generated slavery via the first pogromsof history in Egypt thrust Abraham 's descendants into a poverty soabject they didn't even own theirown bodies, he and his offspringwere wea lthy beyond most modernconcepts of riches.Educa ted in the finest institutionsof learn ing in the centers of the civilization of the ir day as well as bythe crucible of trade, comme rce andanima l husbandry, Abraham andhis children were cosmopolitans ofthe nth degree of the ir day. Contrary to popula r opinion, the recordseems to show that Abra ham andhis fami ly brought culture to Egypt.rather than obtaining it there.As to b r i lliance : Abra ha m.,blessed by God, managed to extrica te himself from two politicallytricky situations with the Pharaoh ofEgypt and the King of Gerar - no tonly esca ping the consequ ences ofThe PLAIN TRUTH Februa ry 1977

lying to them, but adding immenselyto his already great riches in theprocess. Isaac maintained the fam ilywealth and duplicated Abrah am 'spolitical coup with a later King ofGerar. Ja cob even outmaneuveredhis own father and brother (with hismother's help ), won both the birthright and the blessing from Isaac,outfoxed th e very foxy Laban, hisuncle, and establ ished ind ependentwea lt h for a family of twelve sonsand a daughter! And of course weall know of the brilliant success ofJoseph , the half-brother of Levi, inEgypt.Faults and TalentsTh e purpose of a ll this is to showthat despite the fact that Moses bega n as the son of a slave. he hadinh erent capacities in his bloodlineswh ich qu alified him to be used tofulfill the un ique comm ission Godca lled him to accomplish.

On the other hand , there werefami ly characteristics many preferto overlook in lioniz ing these holymen of the Bible. God doesn't leaveit out, however. He tells the wholestory and makes these gia n ts mucheas ier to understand by showingtheir entirely human faults as wellas talents. Th e family had a streakof clever , scheming deviousness andused it to execute plots against eachother as much as agai ns t the worldaround them. Strong, if not violent,tempers provided another commontrait. Opinionat ed and of iron will,the y were from time to time noteven beyond a rg uing with GodHimself - though the main th rust ofth eir lives was one of faithful obedience.Another overview of Moses' heredity was a strong dominanceamong the women of the fam ily. Nosecond-class citizens, these women- they are only a bit ove rshadowedby even more dominant males inthe family, by custom, trad ition andthe way God mad e th ings.Following the family trad ition,Moses' father , A rnrarn, mar ried hisown aunt , his father 's sister - andtogether they prod uced Miri am, Aa ron and Moses: all parti cipating inthe focus of this genea logy of strongtraits.Living in more than difficulttim es. Am ram a nd Joch eb ed ,

(

Moses' parents, gave birth to him inan impossible time for raising sons.By royal decree all boy babies wereto be exterminated. The Egyptiansfe ared a popu lation explosionamong their Hebrew slave classwould enda nger their national existence: hen ce infant icide by law!Using their natural history of resourcefulness and exe rcising faith,Moses' parents set their as yet un named th ree-month-old son on avoyage down the river prec alculatedto end at the feet of the frustra ted,childless daughter of Pharaoh as shepursued her ritu alistic ablutions inthe waters of the Nile-god Egyptserved.Clever Miri am spied on the eventand repor ted all to mother Jochebed(both strong women). Even moreclever, Jochebed managed to ingratiat e her self wit h the roya ldaught er of Phar aoh and wranglehersel f the position of wet nurse andgove rness for that blessed gift of theNil e, (named now) Moses! And inaddition, she got paid! That fascinating interplay of human endeavorand God 's intervention at time s ofcrisis set Moses on a career unprecedented in history.Just as the innocent nam ing ofLevi by Leah, drawing from the circumstances of his bir th, was laterprophetic, so was the naming ofMoses by the daughter of Pharaoh.Viewing the ch ild's miraculous appearan ce on the bosom of the godNile as an answer to her prayers, shedubbed him "Drawn Out" (Moses),because, she said, " I drew him outof the water" (Exodus 2:10). Later,as you know, this Moses was to"draw out" the entire slave-na tionof Israel, and in so doing destroyEgypt for generations.First Forty YearsPaul tells us in Hebrews a peculiarthing abo ut Moses: "Esteeming thereproach of Christ grea ter richesthan the treasures in Egypt: for hehad respect unto the recompence ofth e rewa rd. By faith he forsookEgypt, not fearing the wrath of theking : for he endured, as seeing himw ho is in v is i b le"! ( H e b rews11 :26,27 .) Th is truth, inspired bythe Holy Spirit, says Moses knew hisheritage, his background, the promises and prophecies passed on from

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Abraham to Jacob to Levi to Amran,to Moses!The biblical record of Moses' first

forty years covers jus t hal f a chapte r , but th e skeleton outline ofevents provides enough detai l toflesh in most of the remainder fromreason and tradition. Taught thetruths Abraham received from God,Moses' first learning experience, hisprimary education, was rece ived atthe breast of Jochebed, the witty,clever, faithful mother-cum-governess for the adopted, miraculous Giftof the Nile, the new Prince of Egypt!Built onto this basic foundation oftruth was his royal education.Adopted into the very to p socialstratum of the greatest civilizationof the day , nothing was spared toprovide him with the very bestavailable on earth in every facet ofhis life. History, perverted by polit ical necessi ty of the time as is thecase of all history. Mathematicsfrom the accumulated intelligenceof the unprecedented and, to thisday , unduplicated excellence ofpyramid builders . Medicine fromphysicians performing de li catebrain surgery unduplicated until ou rpresent century . Military tacticsfrom the reservoir of the strongestarmy of the day. Literature and thear ts from one of the cradles of thismost precious segment of life. in thehuman sphere of things. Politicalscience. eng ineering . horticultu re.ast ronomy. th e physical scie nces.the social grace s, government. law.protocol, j ur isprudence . . .Forty years of the bes t educa tion.i nc luding p rac ti cal a pp li ca tion .available on earth - and. of course.all paid for from the royal treasury!And . most important of all, this entire process was God-guided. TheLord knew how He was going to useMoses all along. And , speaking ofcleverness, wasn 't God pretty clever.getting Satan and his deceived followers to provide a proper background for Hi s boy Moses!?Life Begins at FortyPermeated with the truth of Godtaught him by his real mother, saturated with all ' the knowledge theroyalty of Egypt cou ld provide,Moses came to the first severe crisispoint of his life. Seeking to destroy. this spoiled gift of the gods. Moses'16

siblings of actua l Egypt ian royal tymus t have precipi ta ted his need toflee into exile when he slew thatEgyptian in defense of his bloodbrethren.

Well, they say life begins at forty!And for Moses, at least, a completely NEW life began at forty.

Reared in the lap of luxury unimaginable, unlimited funds to sustain his every need and whim , anunlimited supply of manpower always at his disposal to executewhatever project he might want topursue, lauded , praised, honoredand revered, protected, provided forand pampered - Moses now facedmaking his living wi th his own twohands! Exhausted and fear-riddenfrom his flight from Egypt, Mosesmet a Mid iani te mogul namedJethro-Reuel (which modest name,being interpreted, means "His Excellency, the F riend of God"). J.R.offered him a job as a shepherd forhis flocks which wandered for sustenance all over the Sinai wilderness.

Another forty years of Moses'cont inuing educat ion lay beforehim. The rough life of a nomadicherdsman , forced to survive andthrive in the blast furnace of thatimpossible piece of geography: theSinai Desert! What a comedown forthe powerful . Prince of Egypt . Penniless. wanted for murder by themost powerful nation on earth, sonof a slave people, inexperienced inliving by the sweat of his brow,Moses bega n a new life. Forty yearsand Mose s ha d gone from rags toriches - and hack to rags again!But don't feel too sorry for him God was with him, and he knew it!He knew about Christ! He couldpicture in his mind 's eye 'the fulfillment of promises made to Abrahamab ou t the first coming of Jesus thatyou and I can read about in theGospels as recorded history: Andbeyond that , he could also pictureth e other promises of that secondcoming that hasn't happened yet:the Kingdom. the power and theglory of God on earth! Moses couldsee all that as if it had already happened. He was jealous in guardingin his heart and mind his own partin that Kingdom of God - and hewell knew what kingdoms are allabout.

That knowledge, that faith sus-

tained him completely. Moses didn'tmiss a beat in picking up his newstyle at' life in the desolate desert.He selec ted a rough, strong. hardwood stick and started herdingsheep.

It wasn't all bad news.J.R. had asupply of daughters tha t wouldn' tquit, seven of them! He happilygave Zipporah, his eldest, to Mosesfor his wife, and promptly became agrandfather. Moses called his son"Stranger" (Gershom), because, hesaid, "I have been a stranger in astrange land" (Exodus 2:22).Jesus' Enigmatic StatementOne thing we should understandthoroughly is that Moses was verypersonally acquainted with the Onewe call Jesus. The Jesus of the NewTestament was the Lord of the OldTestament! Jesus frustrated the theologians of His day with thisen igmat ic commen ta ry : "Yourfather Abraham rejoiced to see myday: and he saw it, and was glad.Then said the Jews unto him , Thouar t not yet fifty years old, and hastthou seen Abraham? Jesus said untothem. Verily, verily, I say unto you.Before Abraham was . I am"! ( John8:56-58.)Jesus the Word of God who was

God , and became flesh, alwaysexisted. He was the One who told usthat no man had either seen orheard the Father. It was throughHim that all things tha t a re made inheaven and in earth were made .Jesus is the One who , in the prayerHe made to His Father justthe -crucifixion. asked 1'("He had formerly en :Father be res to red tha d comple ted thewhich He came to earth .The doctrines of some woulo 1, -

I gate Jesus to being a created being.I having a beginning. Some think Heis Michae l th e archangel. And ofcourse some are of the opinion thatHe was just an outstanding humanbeing of His day expounding socialphilosophies beyond the ' scope ofHis gene rat ion . And many denyHim altogether, even as a histori calperson , and feel He is the inventionof whoever it was that started theChrist ian movement . an outstanding member of the mythical(Continued on page 45)

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(Continuedfrom page 1)DEPTH, m ade me reali ze howWRONG I had been - in how I lived- in what I believed - in almostevery way. It brough t me to a stateof literall y GIVING UP everything Ihad believed - starting all overag ai n f rom scratch, rea lizing theBible was God REVEALING tru e basic knowledge. It brought a bo ut acomple te con version by th e springof 1927. I cam e to feel everyth ingabo ut me had been WRONG - NOGOOD - I com pared mysel f to aworthless hunk of burned-out j unk.I think FEW have ever had preconceived beliefs, ide a s, opinions, sothoroughly ERASED fr om their minds- able to look a t the BIBLE as G odliterally speak ing to me (in print ) giving me KNOWL EDGE th at wastrue!But G od was ca lling me to a VERYSPEC IAL COMMISS ION . In man y W ,lySHe had prepared me in ce rtain expe riences - most UNUSUAL experiences - in ea rly li fe from age 16 formy future ca lling.In other words, God b rought meto a WILLINGNESS to completelyOPEN MY MIND to His revelati on ofTRUTH - eve n though it was o ftentruth I did not like to receive.I know of NO OTHER who has everbecome founder of a reli gion , or areligiou s lead er of ANY KIND , who

ever came INTO THE TRUTH in theway God BROUGHTME INTO IT .Always, it seems, men sta rt ou t inreligiou s or Bible study with soMANY PREVIOUS FALSE BELIEFS th atwha t new knowledge th ey do learnis a ll mixed up with so mu ch pr evio us ly bel ieved ERRONEOUS teachings, they never do come to, receiveGODS TRUTH pure and simple, justAS IT IS!At a lunch eon today. I was sayingthat th e MOST IGNORANT peop le inth e wo rld tod ay are the HIGHESTEDUCATED! Tha t is true BECAUSE thi swo rld' s educa tion - especially itshigh er educa tio n in the grea t un ive rsi ties - is a lmos t a ltoge t h e rBASED on the FALSE PREMISE of th e

EVOLUTIONARY THEORY. They haveThe PLAIN TRUTH Februar y 1977

been " educa ted" by be ing TAUGHTthings that are UNTRUE - oppos iteto, or antithesis of. TRUTH. Childrena re started out, as ide from th e three"R's," be ing TAUGHT things th at a reeither direct lies, theories, or fa lsepropaganda . They are graded onhow closely th ey recite or write intests what has been given th em .

One ex a mple : A grandson o fmine was once asked by his teacher(he was in grade school), "W ho d iscovered America?" "The Ind ians,"he answered . "You are WRONG,Lar ry ," sa id the teacher. "Do n' t yo ukn ow th at COLUMBUS discoveredAme rica?" "But the Indians wer e already here lon g before Columbuscam e," answered my grandson. Hewas given a fa iling grade for th atco rrect an swer .

Our system of education is one ofmem orizing. Ch ildren and olde r stu dents are expected to MEMORIZEwha t is tau ght, whether true or false.G erman children are taugh t onething about World Wars I and II ,bu t Brit ish and American childrenhave altoge the r DIFFERENT historybooks from wh ich they a rc taugh t.I commented at lunch tod ay th atthe hardest ones to educate in them illenn ium when the KINGDOM OFGOD rules the eart h will be the co llege professors and the va in schola rly minds of th e " highly educated. "It is FAR more difficult to UN lea rnerror than to LEARN a truth neverheard before.But God brough t me through a

process th at ERAS ED former miskn owledge - and, as it were, gaveme a clear sta r t from "scratch."I wonder if yo u realize th at everyTRUTH of GOD, acc epted as trueDOCTRINE and BELIEF in the Worldwide Church of God, came fromChrist through me, or was finallyapproved a nd mad e official th roughme.Fo rty-three years ago, God com

mitted to me His GREAT COMMISSION - to ca rry Christ's G ospelMESSAGE of th e imminent comingKI NGDOM OF GOD in to a ll th ewo rld.

Aga in I say that is a STAGGERINGRESPONSIBILITY!Alone, I would be utterly help lessto ca rry ou t th at commission. Th erefore, God used me first in raising upHIS CHURCH of th is era , to stand

loyally back of me, making it pos-sible.Th e parent church was 19 mem

bers. Th at was in Au gust 1933. I hadreally been given the GREAT COMMISSION in mid-July of that yea rwhen I was 40. I was not elected ; Iwas appointed by Je sus Christ , th eHEAD of the Church. How may th atbe known? By THE FRUITS - BYTHEFACTS, w h i c h ca n no t b e co ntrad icted!My wife and I were then members of NO church . We were a tte ndin g, fellows hi pping in love, andtrying to cooperate with th e peoplethen known as Church of God , Seventh Day, with headquarter s atStanberry, Missouri. Their ministe rs , comparatively uneducated(on ly one had a yea r of college),je alous of the fruit God was bearingth rough me , o pposed a nd pe rsecu ted me from the beginn ing,though the brethren all seeme d tolove my wife and me warmly. Butwe had never becom e members ofth ei r church.Soon we learned of th e di stinction , in t he 2nd and 3rd chaptersof Rev elation . God revealed to me.plai nly. in 1926-27, th a t in the se twoch apters Christ was speaking of th eva rious conditions in H is Church allthrough th is age up un til His returnas King of kin gs in His KINGDOM .But the condition s mentioned in theme ssage to the an gel of the Churcha t Ephes us predominated duringth at first era of the Churc h. Th eyhad amo ng them some of the Laodicean luk ewarmness. They also hadth e apos tles and their immediat esuccesso rs proclaiming the AN NOUNCEMENT of th e KINGDOM OFGOD. But becau se of rapidly growing persecution , and th e rise of wha tlat er became th e Rom an Ca tholicChurch, the ir people rapidly we returning to "ANOTHER GOSPEL" (Ga l.1:6-8 ; II Co r. 11:3-4 ; Rom . 1:18 ,25 ;etc. ) . But the predom inating condition in that era was that they hadlost th ei r first love.But we in thi s Ph iladelphia erahave too much of that fault, a lso.When firs t TRULY converte d, it islik e a ROMANCE, bu t we too sooncool down in our LOVE for Chris tan d HISWORK.

Th ose brethren I came amo ngwere humble, sincere, strict Sabbath17


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keepers, bu t as a whole, spiritua llyDEAD - especially the ir m inisters.Still there were some among themwho had th at first love of the TRUTH .But they did NOT proclaim Christ'sGospel of the KINGDOM OF GOD,nor eve n understand what it was.Th ey were bent on .preaching a" third angel's message."God a llo tt ed 6 ,000 yea rs forhumanity to go its own way - following Adam 's example. Men orga

niz ed th eir own s o c ie t ies,governments, forms of educat ionand commerce , not realizing th eywere being sway ed by Satan in theprocess. Man is writing the lesson byEXPERIENCE - going Satan 's WAY the way th at can onl y bring evil results.Now th at 6,000 yea rs is almos tup , the KINGDOM OF GOD is about

to take ove r and GOVERN th is ea rth.Th e tim e has arrived when Godwan ts the imminency of His KINGDOM to be ANNOUNCED to a ll theworld.Th e living Christ trained andcho se me to ca rry out th at staggering and trem endou s GREAT COMMIS

SION.No MAN, of himself, could havedecid ed to do thi s, a nd , on his ownhuman ability and power alone,have RAISED up thi s WorldwideChurch of God , have developed thefaci lities and machinery for BROADCASTINGTHAT ANNOUN CEMENT - byrad io, printing press, television , persona l preach ing to THE WORLD.Th isWORK OF GOD has grown into agreat, powerful WORLDWIDE andWORLD-KNOWN work.Th ere is bu t one answer. No onecan believe that I a lone had theability and the power to accompl ishsomething that neve r before in th ehistory of man has been done! GOD

DID IT, though He used me as ahuman servant . No MAN BY HUMANABILITY COULDHAVEACHIEVED IT .Yet G od a lways has wo rkedth rough ONE MAN, su rro u nde d byhelpers.Ea rly in my studies - 1926-27- God op ened my eyes to th e factth at , whil e Revelation 2 and 3 covered the conditions in the WHOLECHURCH from its beginn in g toChr ist's coming, th ese two chap tersalso represen ted successive ERAS,with a certain characteristic domi-18

nating each. WE a re th e Philadelph ia era at the specific TIMEwhen God is having to OPEN DOORSto nations where those doors havebeen CLOSED to Christ 's message.Another vita l NEWTRUTHGod re

vea led to me was our identificat ionas the lost sheep of the Hou se ofIsr ae l (Mat t. 10:6) - as di stin-guished from the Jews (see booklet ,United States and British Common-wealth in Prophecy) . Another wasthe fact that ANGELS first inhabitedthi s earth , prior to Adam. Th at theGOVERNMENT OF GOD was established on ea rt h ove r them , and thatth ey sinned (II Peter 2:4), reje ctedGODS GOVERNMENT , rebelled, andwen t their own way of DESTRUCTIONAND DARKNESS, instead of God 'sway of CONSTRUCTIONan d LIGHT.Although I learned ea rly man y ofth ese BASIC TRUTHS, God did notcommi t to me His GREAT COMMISSION unt il I had been severely tr iedand tested - by opposition, per-secution, hardship, giving up everything my hear t had been previouslyse t on. Th e commitm ent to me ofth e GREAT COMM ISSION came whe n Iwas 40 years old - almos t SEVENYEARS a fte r I was first called bybeing challenged into Bible study.In th ose early days of gettingChrist's last MESSAGEto the people, Ihad to sta rt in the VERY SMALLESTmanner possible. I first spoke overrad io in October 1933. I proclaimed,for five days straight, the KINGDOMOFGOD, showing the PROMISES weremade to ABRAHAM - that they werefor inheritance of th e EARTH, notheaven - tha t Christ was go ing toreturn to EARTH and rul e here for ath ousand yea rs. Hundred s wereSHOCKED! Th ey looked in th ei r Bibles, as I had asked th em , to the veryscr ip tu res I gave them .They went toth eir ministers. They sa id to them,WHY have YOU been preaching tome ju st th e OPPOS ITE of wha t th eBible says, show ing the scriptures totheir ministers. That b rou ght persecu tion from the ministers, bu tpeople began to LISTEN.. On January 8, 1934 the programcalled "Radio Church of God "went on the ai r, never to cease toth is day. Audiences GREW . I had totak e it on FAITH.Once, whe n I had to leave homein two minutes for the broadcast,

withou t the money to pay (as I hadto in ad vance) for th at morning' sbroadcast, a man came to th e frontdoor, saying, "Here's my tithe," andleft running . It was 10 dollars. An other tim e I was walk ing to th e sta tion for a broad cast , and the moneyHAD NOT COME. But a man met meon th e way, a nd handed me themoney. ALWAYS, one way or another, th e money came . This was aWORK OF FAITH. It was the Work ofGOD!In those early days I was espe cially in te res ted in th e book of Ezekiel. A special reason was th at I sawEzekiel was first give n God's message in PROPHECY, whil e he was aJewish slave , by the River Cheba r inthe l and of Babylon. Now thi s wasclose to 120 years af t er the House ofISRAEL had been tak en ca ptive toASSYRIA.My asto nis hmen t was arousedwhen I saw th at his message was tobe tak en to the HOUSE OF ISRAEL.Now Ezekiel was a slave among theHOUSE OF JUDAH - not Israel. Byth is tim e many of th e " lost sheep ofth e Hou se of Israel" had migratednorth and west from Assy ria . Th eywere, by Ezekie l's time, in Britainand Western Europe.The book of Ezekiel sta rts off in

the first chapte r with a rathe r we irddescription o f his vis io n of th eGLORYOFGOD.Th e first message , or inst ructionfrom God , comes, beginning thesecond chapter. "And he sa id untome , Son of man, I send thee to th e

children of Israel, to a rebellious nation : . . [and th ey sha ll know] thatth er e hath been a prophet amo ngth em " (Ezek. 2:3, 5; cf. Rev. 3:9).Now notice cha p ter three . In verses 8- 10 of the seco nd chapter , hehad been give n the message in abook - a roll , written on both sides- about wh ich I will refe r lat er. Incha p te r 3 , ve rse I, Go d sa ys :". . . Eat THIS ROLL , and GO speakun to th e house of Israel." Aga in inve rse 4: "Son of man , GO, ge t th eeun to the hou se of Israel, and speakwith my words unto th em ."NOWH ERE in the Bible a re JEWSca lled " the hou se of Israel." Thisterm applies ONLYto the TEN-tribedKingdom of Israel taken in to Assyrian captivity more than a hundredyea rs before Ezekiel and the Jews of



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th e Hou se of JUDAH were taken toBab ylon .Nowhere in the book does Ezekielrecord his journey from where hewas in Babylon to those of th eHouse of Isr ael who were then inBritain and Western Europ e. No whe re does he record his giving ofth e message to them. He merely RECEIVED the message. He merely RECORDED IT INWRITING.Th ere is no reason to th ink hismessage was ever delivered to theHou se of Israel in Ezekiel's time.

The message in fact is for tod ay and con ta ined a WARNING of thingsto happen to Britain, America andthe West ern European nations NOWin OUR DAY.I sa w clear ly, back in those ea rlydays, that Ezekiel's prophecy was a, message to be taken by some MODERN TWENTIETH CENTURYservant ofG od - a "mode rn Ezeki el " toAm erica, Britain , Canada, Au stralia , New Zeal and and South Africa .I dwelt in hundreds of broad castson thi s book of Ezekiel and itsWARNING of things IMMINENTLYNOW to HAPPEN to Brit a in ,th e Un ite d St at es a nd West ernEurope.Of course I a lways did , from thevery beginning of th is WORK OFGOD, proclaim the goo d news of theCOMING KINGDOM OFGOD.

The original apostles proclaimedthe KINGDOM OFGOD, but they a lsoput very special emphasis on some thing th at specially applied only totheir time, right then . They werepersonal EYEWITNESSES to the death ,burial a nd resurrection of Je su sChrist. In THEIR day, the chief opposition and persecution came fromthose Jewish leader s who rejectedChrist as the promised Messiah .Do NOT MISUNDERSTAND. Th eJews as a who le did not reject

Ch rist. Indeed, virtually all His followers - the 120 that were WITHHIM and the apostles (Acts I :15)from which th e Church started - a llwe re J ews (o r proselytes). Th eChurch BEGAN as almost 100% JEW-ISH . The apos tle Paul always wentfirst to the Jews, and most of hischurc hes started ou t as Jewish. Th epersecution was not so much fromthe rank and file of Jewish people asfrom their Jewish RULERS, who heldpolitical jobs under the Roman gov-The PLAINTRUTH February '1977

ernment - the Pharisees - and a lsothe scribes and Sadducees.Nevertheless, the EARLIEST opposition and persecuti on the apos tlesfaced at th e BEGINNING o f theChurch was from these officials whoREJECTED Christ as the promisedMessiah . The apostles were EYEWITNESSES to His life, death an dRESURRECTION. Th ey spe nt 40 dayswith Him AFTERHis resurrection.In OUR TIME, God showed me inth e New Te stament whe re He sentHis disciple s FIRST to th e same " lostshe e p of th e hou se o f Israel "(Ma tt. 15:24) . And so it was thatChrist, the Head of th is Work ,cau sed me during the first 20 or 25years of this Work to put SPECIALem phasis on Ezekiel's warning toOUR PEOPLE, IN OUR DAY. (Again,read the ab ove-mentioned booklet.)But in the MEANTIME I was mak-ing every effor t , as well as G arnerTed after he cam e on the broadcast- 1955 and after, as my chief assis tan t in God 's Work - to get theGOOD NEWS of the com ing KINGDOM OF GOD into other countriesAROUND THE WORLD - but withVERYLITTLE SUCCESS.In those Gentile countries, thegovernment CONTROLS ALL MEANSOF PUBLIC COMMUN ICATION OREDU CATION . They and their forms ofgo vern ment seek to control theMINDS of their people.

For years I tried to rea ch coun-tri es like India , China , Ru ssia, Argen t ina , Brazil , et c. , and evenBritain, France, Germany, Holland ,Belgium, etc . from radio stationsOUTSIDE their countries but close totheir borders .These stations were representedto us by New York agents as superpower stations that would give ushu ge blanket coverage in the adjoining nations we wan ted to reach .We went on them, thinking a t thetime that we had found a way to

reach these nations from the OUTSIDE.We even star ted really BUILDING our Un ited St ate s listen in gaudience - and Plain Truth circulation - through three Mexican sta tions just across the border.But , ou tside of these, most of theothers proved to be really of vir tually no value. They were stationsthat had been installed du ring thewar by U.S. military sources. After

the war , these "smart" agents toldloc al agents they could keep themgo ing as profitable businesses byselling time to religiou s broadcasters- regarded by them as "s uckers"who would buy anything. 'But exce pt for South Africa. theydid very little if any good. Th ey simply were NOT getting .the messageout to the world. Th e doors to thesenation s we were trying to reach werereally closed to us, then. Closed toChrist 's message.

But Chr ist sa id to H is Philadelphia era Church, that because weha ve but littl e st reng th, He wouldopen those doors to us (Rev. 3:8).Now I wan t to take you back toEzekiel and show you something Ithink VERY EXCITING and MOST IM-PORTANT!God sai d to Ezekiel: "But thou ,son of man , hear what I say un toth ee . . . open thy mouth , and ea tthat I give thee. And when I looked ,behold , an hand was sent un to me;and , 10, a roll of a book was the rein ;and he spread it before me ; and itwas written within and without: andthere 'was written therein lam en tation s, a nd mourning, and woe"(Eze k. 2:8-10) .

Co ntinue : "Mo reover he saidunto me , Son of man, ea t tha t thoufindest ; eat th is roll, and GO speakunto the house of Israel" (Ezek. 3: I).Now let us turn to the book ofRe velation .

Chapter one give s the openingsalutation and the introduction, giving the real SUBJECT of which thebook is concerned. It is in verse 10:"I was in the Spir it on the Lord'sday , and heard behind me a gre atvoice, as of a trumpet." ,In the opening salutat ion we findth at it is NOT th e revelation of Johnat a ll, but the revelation of Je susChrist. The apostle John was merelythe WR ITER, who recorded ( I) theWORD OF GOD, (2) the testimony direct words of - Jesus Christ , and(3) all the th ings that he SAW inVISION. In th is vision he was takenfrom the Isle of Patmos, whe re hea c tua l ly was as he wrote, into THEDAYOFTHE LORD - a special periodof TIME here ca lled the "LORD'SDAY."

The DAY OFTHE LORD is the t imewhen GOD supernaturally sha ll INTERVENE in thi s world's affairs, the

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A ~ e r s o n a l l e t t e r from HerbertWArmstrongTELLING OF HIS VISIT

TO SOUTHERN AFRICA

ARRIVAL - Dignitaries greet Herbert W. Armstrong at th e airpor t in the southern Af rican nati on of Swaziland .

Dear Plain Truth Reader:I have been virtually a prisoner inmy hotel suite here at Port Elizabeth , South Africa, in the Elizabeth Hotel for one week with aseriously sprained ankle . I canhobble around a little, but if I mustgo as far as across the room I go in a. wheelchair . I t' s the first time in mylife I can remember using a wheelchair.It happened a week ago tonight,on Thursday, November 11. I washaving a one-night public campaignin the "Great Room" of this hotel(which seats about 700 or 800people). The room was virtuallypacked. I was in fine shape for itand spoke for an hour and a half -The PLAIN TRUTH February 1977

one of the strongest sermons of mylife (no punches pulled).Extra StrengthI was feeling"that God had given meextra strength and power beside aspirit of deep conviction that heldthe audience spellbound and movedthem emo tionally. I know th e sermon did no t seem long to the au dience because it con tained a fast moving story flow from the BEGIN NING when only the "WORD" and"GOD" existed, right on through allcreation to NOW , showing WHY Godpu t humanity on the earth and theCAUSE of all worl d tro ubles andHOW God finally will bring us worldPEACE - and the GLORY that shall

yet be man's human potential , FINISHING THE CREATION OF BEAUTYAND GLORY OVER THE ENTIRE LIMIT-LESS UNIVERSE!It truly is the most EXCITING, INTEREsTING , MEANINGFUL and IMPORTANT story that could possiblybe told - and it 's all TRUE!Si tting in two of the three chairsto the left of the pulpi t were Mr.Stanley R. Rader and Mr. RobertFahey, manager of the South Afri can office and the Work in this partof the world.

The meeting had been opened byMr. Fahey, followed by remarks introducing me by Mr. Rader. I hadbeen ' sitt ing in the middle of thethree chairs. As I finished, Mr.

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Fahey, situ ng next to ' the pulpit,rose and started to move backwardsso I could walk in front of him tomy, seat in the midd le. So withoutthinking I started to walk aro undbehind him . I guess it seemed at theinstant impolite to walk in front ofhim. At any rate, with my one blindeye and very poor eyesigh t in theother, I did not notice that we wereon a pla tform that did not extend allthe wayback to the rear wall.Actually it extended only acouple of steps backward from thepulpit. It was a rather BIG two steps

up to the pla tfo rm or three sho rter_steps. Anyway, without seeing theback end of the platform, I step pedin to th in AIR - and fell down to thefloor - some sixteen to eighteeninches.It all happened so suddenly Ihardly realized what had happened,

but bo th Mr. Rader and Mr. Faheyand other men were there instantlyto pick me up . I had fallen fullweight on my left ankle whiletwisted inward.It was a bad sprain.Next morning the doctor came. I

was taken in an ambulance to a hospital which seemed to be aboutth ree cities away . I was taken on astretcher. The ambulance was cov-ERED so we could see only ou tthrough one or two very small openings - with a big red cross on eachside and the rear of the outside ofthe ambulance. Both Stan and Bobwent along, sitting on a side seat.while my stretcher filled the remainder of the interior.The attendants lifted me on thestretcher stairs up to the secondstory of the building and into a

ROYALAUDIENCE - Mr. Armstrong presents a gift of Steube n crystal to King Sobhuza 1/of Swaziland, while Mr. StanleyRader, who accompanies Mr. Armstrong on his travels, looks on. The king, 76, has ru led the 6,70o-square-mile kingdomfor 55 years. He is attired in his nation 's traditional tribal costume.

22 The PLAIN TRUTH February 1977


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room equipped with X-ray apparatus.No bones were broken, j ust a verysevere sprain, bu t a severe sprain, Ifound , can be a VERY PAINFUL EXPERIENCE. I was returned to my hotelsui te in the ambulance after the footwas wrapped in bandages. Soon awheelchair and a pair of crutchesarrived at my room. .Fortunately for me, since I havebeen literally imprisoned here for aweek - so far - they provided mewith what I suppose is the presidential' suite . It contains one f

Documents

Plain Truth 1977 (Prelim No 02) Feb_w