Who is the “man of sin?”
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Jules Dervaes writes: I would prefer not to deal in prophetic details (names, places, dates). It is—and has always been—a dangerous and risky business. The WCG got stuck in dealing in prophecy and that has caused a horrendous amount of suffering. I will, however, explain what I wrote in 1987.
Please see:
ZECHARIAH’S PUZZLE, which gives an outline for the future: “A look at history will show that it was the priestly leadership in Judah that continued until the time of the Messiah, including the three and one-half years of His ministry. This period is foretold by the term “your associates” which attests to the fact that, during the tenure of “Joshua,” Christ would come to the Jerusalem Temple over which he/they had charge.” (Zech. 3:8)
I understood Pastor General Tkach, Sr. to be the biblical “Joshua” of this Zechariah prophecy in its New Testament fulfillment–through duality. I thought his associates were the ministers under him who went along with him in his deception to lead the Church astray. I wrongly expected Tkach Sr. to lead the WCG in the Laodicean Era right through to the Second Coming. I also believed that the WCG would stay intact as ONE church because I knew there to be only ONE government of God on this earth at any one time. I did not foresee the emergence of Flurry and all the subsequent REBELS.
THE REAL POPE, and this excerpt: “The Ambassador College Bible Correspondence Course (1983), lesson 3, on page 11, presents this poignant question: “At His ‘coming’ (parousia), what will Christ do to ‘that Wicked [one]‘ who has seated himself ‘as God’ in the temple of God?” This is in reference to II Thess. 2:4.
At the time of that writing, I thought that the “man of sin” was, by his actions, Tkach, Sr. His later death proved that prophecy can be a tricky thing. Today I still believe that Joseph Tkach fulfilled the conditions of the “man of sin,” as it was he who instigated the end-time apostasy. That is without a doubt. Did he have to be alive at Christ’s actual coming? I have to give that more thought. My inclination is to believe that, down through the ages, there were other MEN of sin who each tried to take God’s place in His temple-church. A GENERIC prophecy was one sure way of keeping the brethren on their toes—hopefully! Today’s church members, however, were not only blind to the 1986 situation, but they are still blind even at this late date. Furthermore, they who were at first understandably blind have now turned rebellious. If one wants solely to understand prophecy fulfillment in its entirety, the thing to do is to wait. “Wait for the movie” means that we can see prophecy in detail only after it happens.
