God's Church
Prophecy in Motion
by C. Elden McNabb
The Second Gentile Anointed
Once, in 1939, while Bro. Kent was preaching in
Cleveland,
From A. J. Tomlinson's death in 1943, until February 13, 1957, Bro. Kent labored in that work; all the while inspiring others around him. He was also greatly effective in the development of the work of evangelism in the Church during that time.
The stage was being set. Opposition was directed against the fundamental principals of God's Church, and it had a devastating effect. It was not merely the man which the enemy was after; it was the precept of prophetic fulfillment in general, and the office of the General Overseer in particular. The rejection of that office was made at the General Assembly in 1948. Then, at the General Assembly in 1956, their victory became complete when Milton Tomlinson openly declared his submission to the General Assembly.
So, for all intents and purposes, the office of General Overseer was vacant. It was necessary only that Bishop Kent should step into that position and declare a reformation. He did so, and a few faithful, zealous men and women followed him.
For seven years Brother Kent labored in that office, fulfilling prophecy, and glorifying God before the public with every means available to him. Notably, in 1963, Bro Kent led the only protest which was raised against the atheistic attack against religious freedom in America. I had the pleasure of being a part of that noble group who marched in front of the White House to protest that infamous ruling against prayer and Bible reading in our schools.
During that time Bishop Kent fulfilled several prophecies. Particularly, in the Spirit and Power of John the Revelator, he read (explained) for us "The Revelation of Jesus Christ." The prophecy of the reading of that book is in Isaiah 29:11-12, 17-18. God said, "The vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed." The educated man: A. J. Tomlinson could not "read" it, but the uneducated man: Grady R. Kent did read it. An ignorant and unlearned man wrote the book (Acts 4:13), and an unlearned man was required by prophecy to read it. Bishop Kent, who had only a third grade education, was that man.
In Rev. 10:11, the angel told John, "Thou must prophesy again." Those words carried the same intent as when God said, “I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. In the case of Elijah, the Angel told Zechariah that John the Baptist would "go forth in the spirit and power of Elias." Jesus testified that that was exactly what had happened. [20] In the same fashion, it was necessary that a man come in the spirit and power of John the Revelator.
What about the fact that Brother Kent is dead now? The allegory of Elijah and Elisha foreshadow the fact that when Brother Kent died his spirit would come upon the prophet who would finish the work and fulfill the words of Jesus in Matt. 24:45-47. The responsibility now rests upon us to recognize that man as he executes his volume of the prophetic word.
In Rev. 22:8-10, the angel told John not to worship him because he was "of (his) brethren the prophets." He then proceeded to instruct him to, "Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand." Apparently that did not mean that just anyone could glance through that book and explain it, because even now it is too difficult for even the most learned. Furthermore, John was commanded in Rev. 10:4, to "Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not." Therefore, a Prophet must come in the spirit and power of John, to reveal those things to us, and explain the dark sayings the book.
Spiritually Called “The Son”
Another thing which it was necessary for someone in the spirit and power of John do is to fulfill the law of raising up seed to the dead, by a near kinsman. [21] Proverbs 30:1-4, shows clearly that this law was to be fulfilled in relation to Jesus Christ. Concerning the Son of God, He said, "What is His name, and what is His son’s name, if thou canst tell?" Obviously Jesus will have no natural son, but the prophecy can not be broken.
Only someone in the Spirit and Power of John the Revelator could open the Revelation of Jesus Christ, when "the time is at hand," and use it to bring forth the one who we could say is “spiritually called” the son of which Solomon prophesied. The book is open, and now the Elect can know how to fulfill it.
In Jer. 31:19-20, God used Ephraim to prophecy of him, saying, "Ephraim is my dear son." He further shows in verse nineteen that he will be the messenger of the covenant, saying, "I smote upon my thigh" (The thigh is used in Scriptures in relation to vows. See Gen. 24:1-9). Again, in Hosea 7:8, "Ephraim hath mixed himself among the people." That is, it will be a Gentile who fulfills that prophecy.
For Jesus to have a spiritual son, it is necessary that Jesus have a spiritual brother, or other near kinsman. That is why, when Jesus was on the cross, He made John His brother. He already had four brothers, and at least three of them believed on Him after the resurrection. So, Mary did not need another son, nor did John need a mother. But Jesus did it to set prophecy into motion. He needed a different kind of brother; one that could raise up a spiritual seed unto him, at the proper time.
Later Jesus allowed John to be exiled to the Isle of Patmos, where he gave him "The Revelation of Jesus Christ," by the disposition of angels. He did not give it to him for the Jewish Church, because they were gone. He gave it to him for us, and it came to us "as the words of a book that is sealed." Therefore, it was necessary for someone to come to us in the spirit and power of its writer, to open it up for us.
The ministry of the spirit and power of John the Revelator was to span two millennia. That is why we are told that the Angel (Messenger) in Rev. 10:1-2 had one foot on the sea and the other on the earth. The Sea represents the fifth millennium, and the Earth represents the sixth, just as it does in chapter thirteen. That is why we are told that, in the creation, on the fifth day the waters brought forth, and on the sixth day, the earth brought forth.
The preaching of "The Revelation of Jesus Christ," by Brother Kent, was the seed which brought forth that "son." That son is the Prophet in Rev. 10:7, who takes the book out of the Angel's hand, and eats it up. He is the "one like the Son of Man," in Dan. 7:13, who "came to the Ancient of Days (Jesus), and they brought him near before Him." To him was given the seventh trumpet: "the last trump."
Brother Kent declared, "We are living in the days of the voice of the fifth angel;" thereby implying that he was the fifth Anointed of the prophetic “seven” over The Church. In the course of that work, he fulfilled the allegory of "the generations of Isaac" (Gen. 25:19-26). He brought forth two men who were to be the sixth and the seventh Anointeds, one beloved and the other, because of his sins and iniquities, to be hated.
When Brother Kent died, he was succeeded by the sixth Anointed, Marion W. Hall, who was also the eighth man to lead the Church. When Brother Hall ascended to that office, he did not heed the warning in Hebrews chapter twelve; where we are admonished to beware lest we fulfill the prophecies about evil works. He fell into dishonor, and fulfilled Paul's prophecy of “that man of sin: the son of perdition (that causes ruin) in 2 Thessalonians 2. He went so far as to claim that an angel appeared to him and told him, "Your name is called 'The Word of God'."
Marion W. Hall sat in Moses' seat, in the Temple of God from the spring of 1964 until the Spring of 1972. He was the fulfillment of Jared, the sixth from Adam, whose name means "descending," He was rejected of God because of his iniquity, which, like a cancer, had completely devoured his spiritual, inner man.
The emergence of the sixth and seventh of those anointed men is also prophesied of by the birth of Pharez and Zerah (Gen. 38:27-30). In that allegory the midwife put a red thread on the wrist of the firstborn (Zerah), but the other came out ahead of him. So the midwife said to him, "This breach be upon thee," and she called his name Pharez. Pharez is surely a prophecy of M. W. Hall, whose actions caused the breach which finally destroyed God's Church.
Elden McNabb was revealed as the real "firstborn"
by a demonstration of the Holy Spirit, in a gathering in Bartow,
When the sins of Marion Hall caused his expulsion from The Church of God in the Spring of 1972, Robert S. Somerville became the ninth man to lead God's Church. Six of those nine men had truly been God's anointed, one of which had "failed of the grace of God."
In the allegory of the ten generations, of the three who were not in the category of God's Anointed, Peter faithfully did the work of perfecting the Church of God for Jesus. Then, he turned the church over to James, the Lord's brother. Milton A. Tomlinson allowed a departure from God's way. Likewise, Robert S. Somerville led God's Church even further into error, and the Spirit of The Church finally departed from it altogether in December of 1980.
Shortly after Brother Somerville took the office, he proclaimed himself to be the fulfillment of Benjamin. However, what he actually did was to fulfill the other side of Benjamin: Benoni. Jacob named him Benjamin, but Rachel knew she was dying, so she named the child Benoni, which means "Son of my sorrow." Brother Somerville was, indeed, the son under whose labors God's Church finally expired.
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[20] Matt. 11:14; Matt. 17:10-12
[21] Gen. 38:8; Deut.25:5-9; Ruth 4:10; Matt. 22:24