The thirty-fourth chapter of the book of Ezekiel paints a GRIM and SHOCKING picture of a condition that would prevail in God’s Church – just before Jesus Christ returns. This picture is one of abandonment, the misuse of power, and the WILLFUL NEGLECT of God’s people by those ministers who were ordained to FEED and PROTECT the FLOCK!

But despite this SHOCKING reality, few may realize that this passage of the Bible also prophesied that God would use a TRUE and FAITHFUL REMNANT to speak out against the willful NEGLECT of these apostate ministers or SHEPHERDS.

Apostate Ministers Like Vultures Shortly before Mr. Armstrong died in his ninety-fourth year, he said, For some years now, there have been some, like vultures, waiting for me to die. They would like to come back and take over the leadership of the church in my stead...

Mr. Armstrong was speaking in the context of those apostate ministers or leaders that were no longer in the Church.

During the 1970s, Mr. Armstrong had to battle those liberals who sought to inject false teachings into the very Church of God. He had said at the time the Church was being, “systematically liberalized” and was “bearing virtually no fruit.”

In an article titled, “Recent History of the Philadelphia Era of the Worldwide Church of God” Mr. Armstrong states:

The “fruits” of the rebel leaders and “liberals” of the 1970s should now be clear to all. After some 35 years of steady growth in all facets of the Work of God’s church, the rate of growth began to slow, then ceased entirely in some areas, and, finally, even decreases began to be experienced in the number of radio and television stations, Plain Truth circulation, number of prospective members, number of co-workers, amount of income for the Work, etc. – all under the “leadership” of the liberal elements.

In that same article, Mr. Armstrong made this CHILLING and SOMBER statement:

I want you, brethren, to think about and understand what happened to God’s church in the 1970s “lest history repeat itself!” I want you to see the “fruits” of rebelling against God’s way and God’s government.

A Learning Lesson That Was Not Learned Certainly the events of the 1970s should serve as a lesson to all of God’s people, but that DID NOT HAPPEN – because the very one who succeeded Mr. Armstrong also continued in the path of those liberal elements of the 1970s.

Mr. Armstrong had no conception that his successor was also LIKE a VULTURE – waiting for him to die. Jesus Christ had purposely blinded him as to how Satan would use this apostate pastor-general to systemically destroy the Church as we knew it. Had Mr. Armstrong known, he would have never chosen this man to be his successor.

However, there were the prophecies that had to be fulfilled that could not have been had he remained alive (II Thessalonians 2:1-3,7; Daniel 12:7; Ezekiel 34).

Over that eight-year period of time, the Church was subtly subjected to the gradual changes that came into the full and open acceptance of Protestantism in 1994.

In an OPEN LETTER, our Pastor, Mr. Billingsley wrote:

After the death of Mr. Armstrong, all that we believed and held dear was thrown out on the very first day of our ministerial conference in Santa Barbara [California] in 1994 by the one who had replaced Mr. Armstrong as Pastor-General! Many of us were left stunned and in total shock!

That night left me sleepless and literally crying. Knowing the changes had already been made from 1986 until the time of that conference should have prepared me for what this man would do, but it did not.

The doctrinal changes of this apostate pastor general severely wounded God’s people – causing a breakup of the Church – with many ministers leaving to form their own groups. Sadly, those ministers, in some form or fashion, have from that time been continuing to compromise with some of those doctrines that Jesus Christ used Mr. Armstrong to restore within the Church of God.

Here again is a quote from Mr. Billingsley: These men did not really believe that God used Mr. Armstrong to restore His doctrinal teachings within His Church. To further their own goals and achieve their purposes, they pretended to believe Mr. Armstrong was chosen and flattered him (Mr. Armstrong) in his presence. Mr. Billingsley continues:

… Most of the ministers today do NOT believe ALL of those doctrinal teachings either!

They say they do, but many speak disrespectfully of Mr. Armstrong, and at the same time have made changes in many of those restored doctrinal teachings. Since they could not accept ALL of the erroneous changes, as made known by that leader from 1986 to 1994, they were not content to stay within that organization, but carried over the erroneous doctrines they did accept into the newly forming Churches.

The false pretenses of those ministers – who claim to believe what Mr. Armstrong taught – was prophesied to take place:

And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth they shew much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness (Ezekiel 33:31).

The doctrinal changes by Mr. Armstrong’s successor and the splintering off of those many ministers from the Church of God has led to the prophesied scattering of God’s people. But out of this SCATTERING, God, as we shall see, presents us with a wonderful picture of hope and the PRESERVATION of his truth by his FAITHFUL and LOYAL REMNANT.

A Description of the Scattering

In time past, Mr. Armstrong applied Ezekiel 34 to the work of the false ministers of the churches of this world, but he also admonished us to be careful “LEST ANY OF THIS APPLY TO THE MINISTRY OF GOD’S CHURCH.”

In light of what happened to the Church after Mr. Armstrong’s death, we now find that Ezekiel 34 has profound spiritual application to the Church of God. Most of God’s people are aware of the meaning behind this passage of the Bible, but it would appear that fewer of them have understood that THE WORK of God’s true Church is also prophesied to be ACTIVELY REVIVED within this terrible time of scattering.

… Thus saith the Lord God unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks? (Ezekiel 34:2).

Speaking spiritually, this is God’s way of saying that the Ministers do not have the interest of God’s people, but are simply using them for personal gain. Micah 3:11 reads:
THE HEADS THEREOF JUDGE FOR REWARD, AND THE PRIESTS THEREOF TEACH FOR HIRE, AND THE PROPHETS THEREOF DIVINE FOR MONEY: …(my emphasis)

Notice how verse 4 of Ezekiel 34 goes right to the heart of THE SCATTERING that has occurred within God’s Church:

The diseased have ye not strenghthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them.

Notice God says that His people are right there among the ministers who are ruling them with CRUELTY and FORCE. This word FORCE is connected to a Hebrew word that speaks of MILITARY PROWESS. This means that ministers have used their office and their false teachings to gain the upper hand over God’s Flock.

One minister even teaches that if you support his work, you will have ensured yourself a “TICKET” to the PLACE OF SAFETY.

In this scathing rebuke, God declares that the leaders of these splinter groups are not working to bring back the scattered people of God.

In other words, the notion of seeking or desiring to unify God’s people as the Church was unified under Mr. Armstrong is not in their thoughts. They would only want to bring God’s people together if it serves to enlarge or magnify their authority over the people.

In speaking of the ministers who rebelled against God’s GOVERNMENT, Mr. Armstrong said:

… Some wanted “The Chief Seat.” They wanted the HIGHEST, most prestigious office. Not so much coveting money as coveting IMPORTANCE in the eyes of their brethren and other ministers (Pastor General’s Report, Feb. 19, 1982).

And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd ... My sheep wandered through all the mountains... (mountains being symbolic of great nations) Ezekiel 34:5-6.

God’s people are now scattered throughout the nations.

... My flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none did search or seek after them (Ezekiel 34:6).

This prophecy has led many to assume or conclude that there will be no ONE TRUE BODY used by God – until Jesus Christ returns, but a closer look at Ezekiel 34 will prove the very opposite of such belief – even as we shall see.

The first thing we should understand is that God’s reference to “NO SHEPHERD” is in the context of those ministers that are failing to feed the flock; it is in this context, because God is directly addressing these ministers. If you go back to verse 4, God plainly says: “... neither have ye sought that which was lost ...”

Can we GRASP the SIGNIFICANCE of what God is saying here? Among the many splinter groups out there, God says there is NO MAN among them that is genuinely representing and serving the people of God!

This is STRONG and PROFOUNDLY SAD commentary on those ministers who knew and served in the CHURCH OF GOD under Mr. Armstrong. These ministers are not seeking out God’s people because they are not genuinely concerned about the welfare of God’s flock. In the outward show of piety and SELF RIGHTEOUSNESS, they are deceiving and harming the people of God.

This is a SOBERING indictment of those men who were entrusted with the solemn duty of feeding the very Church of God. Malachi 2:7 reads, “... the priest’s lips should keep knowledge …” Through deceit and compromising with God’s truth, the ministers have garnered God’s strong rebuke and displeasure. God does not view any of those ministers who compromise with doctrine as His representatives; and that is why the CONDEMNING statement, “THERE IS NO SHEPHERD.”

There are probably about three hundred splinter groups out there, and this condemnation applies to ALL those who are DOCTRINALLY COMPROMISING.

Please notice an even more CHILLING statement directed at the ministers in Ezekiel 34:10:

Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my flock at their hand …

This scripture should invoke a certain kind of FEAR in EVERY minister of GOD, for He says that He is going to require the flock of His people at the hand of these ministers!

This expression is in the context of Ezekiel 33:6 – where God makes it known that He would REQUIRE the blood of the one who had not been warned – at the hand of the WATCHMAN – who had failed to warn that individual.

Mr. Armstrong has said the blood of our people would be on him if he failed to deliver God’s warning message. We can be sure Mr. Armstrong must have had a certain kind of fear about that. He had to have this kind of fear, because he knew that if he failed to deliver the Ezekiel WATCHMAN message that failure would result in the loss of his eternal life.

Those ministers who are now compromising with doctrines are running this same risk. THIS IS VERY SERIOUS for it should be remembered what Jesus Christ said about those who cause His little ones to fall away:

But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea (Matthew 18:6).

The word “OFFEND” means to trip up, stumble, to entice someone to sin; and this is exactly what these ministers are doing. May God help them to WAKE UP and repent!

Through His prophet Jeremiah, God has the same indictment of the ministers: … Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the LORD (Jeremiah 23:2).

The Bible reads, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Heb. 10:31). Those ministers who are now using God’s people and compromising with doctrines need to take stock of what God is saying.

There Must Be A Renewed True Work Ask yourself this question: Is God going to work with all the splinter groups that are now out there? The prophecy of Ezekiel 34 dismisses any notion that God would ever do any such thing. Mr. Armstrong said that Jesus Christ...Is going to marry the one and only true church - not a number of scattered groups or scattered individuals.

The splinter groups are divided and are not ALL speaking the same things as the Church is commanded to do.

Please notice something else in Ezekiel 34:1,2:

And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them ...

Mr. Armstrong fulfilled this prophecy by speaking out against the false religious system that exists within the nations of Israel. He showed that the false churches of this world did not represent the true Church of God and that their religion was diametrically the opposite of what Christ taught.

But now that we understand the spiritual application of these prophecies, it comes to the understanding that even though verse 2 of Ezekiel 34 is about what Mr. Armstrong did, it is also an indication or evidence that Mr. Armstrong’s WORDS and WORK must now be used to speak out against those ministers or shepherds that are now leading God’s people astray.

Take note that God says, “PROPHESY, AND SAY UNTO THEM …” This means that God is addressing someone (His Faithful Flock or Church) to speak out against these rebel ministers.

God says a message must be delivered to these shepherds; God says we are to tell them that they are failing to seek out the flock; that there is “NO” true “SHEPHERD” among them and that God is going to “REQUIRE” HIS FLOCK “AT THEIR HAND.”

This evidence alone is an indication that God is calling for A LOYAL REMNANT to do a job; and if so, then it implies that there must be one main body of believers or remnant that God is using to deliver this STRONG MESSAGE. This means that God’s people must be BOLD in delivering this message. “Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of the LORD” (Ezekiel 34:7).

Notice that this admonition also implies that someone is being commissioned to deliver a message. God says they are to HEAR his words. With the understanding that there is NO GOD APPROVED SHEPHERD among the many splinter groups, it is clear that someone has to take God’s message to those rebel ministers.

In virtually every instance when God says, “Hear the words of the Lord,” it has to do with a human instrument receiving and delivering that message to the person or people to whom God is addressing. Notice a few examples:

Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me” (Ezekiel 3:17); “Stand in the gate of the LORD’S house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the LORD …” (Jeremiah.7:2); “Hear ye the word which the Lord speaketh unto you, O house of Israel:”

(Jeremiah.10:1); “Then said Isaiah to Hezekiah, Hear the word of the LORD of hosts: (Isaiah 39:5).

Of course, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel were prophets who received direct communication from God; and even as Mr. Armstrong taught, there are no such prophets today – because the Bible is COMPLETE for our time.

But as you consider that Ezekiel 34 is a prophecy about the spiritual condition of God’s Church – and knowing that God always sends a message in time of spiritual depravity, it becomes clear that Ezekiel 34:7 is about a message being taken to those ministers that are compromising with God’s truth. Notice Romans 10:14,15:

… and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? ... This Scripture has to do with the preaching of the Gospel, but please note that the matter of HEARING is by way of one being used by God to deliver that message.

This same principle applies to Ezekiel 34:7. Those ministers who are compromising with God’s truth are deceived – and don’t believe they are doing that which is wrong in the sight of God; and so, God has to declare to them that they are going to be punished for such action.

This writer knows of one group that appears to be holding to what Mr. Armstrong taught, and even admits that Mr. Armstrong was the end time Elijah, yet this same group admits that they take issue with – and disagree with Mr. Armstrong on the MAKEUP issue. As far as it is known all their women are allowed to wear MAKEUP.

A Surviving Loyal Remnant Jesus said that the gates of hell would never prevail against the Church (Matthew 16:18)! This means that even in the midst of the GREAT APOSTASY or FALLING AWAY (II Thessalonians 2:3) – along with the scattering of the Church, there would always be A LOYAL REMNANT who would uncompromisingly cling to the truth (Romans 11:5). Zerubbabel a Type of Mr. Armstrong In speaking of this group, Zechariah 4:10 reads, “ ... for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel ...”Anciently, Zerubbabel built the physical temple, and Mr. Armstrong taught he was the spiritual type of Zerubbabel for it was he who was used by Jesus Christ to build the Spiritual Temple (the Church) in this end time preparing the bride for the Bridegroom (Revelation 19:7-8).

The LOYAL REMNANT now rejoices because out of this religious confusion that now exists among God’s people, they see and hold to the standard set by Mr. Armstrong. They are not confused because they passionately cling to what Mr. Armstrong taught.

Notice that they see the PLUMMET in Mr. Armstrong’s hand. A plummet is a device used for accurate measuring. This means that God is judging His people on the basis of all those DOCTRINES HE used Mr. Armstrong to RESTORE within the CHURCH OF GOD. God is determining how much we love those RESTORED TRUTHS. Those DOCTRINES are not to be changed or tampered with in any way, shape, or form. God’s FAITHFUL FLOCK knows these things and are HOLDING FAST – even as Christ commands them to do (Revelation 3:11).

… neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for them (Ezekiel 34:10). Jesus Christ our True Deliverer In the overall scheme of things, it is the LIVING Christ that is going to DELIVER His people from the DECEITFUL and OPPRESSIVE hands of those apostate ministers. Of course, each individual has a responsibility to examine their leaders by PROVING ALL THINGS – even as the Scriptures command us to do (Acts 17:11; 1 John 4:1; Revelation 2:2); we should not allow men to deceive us.

BUT NOTICE what God says:

As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day (Ezekiel 34:12).

Christ has promised to deliver His Flock. This means that the time will come when false leaders or ministers will no longer oppress and deceive God’s people.

Thanks be to God that day is now at hand. As God’s faithful elect, we must be about our Father’s business of bringing this wonderful message of God’s plan to recover His people – delivering them from the hand of those who are administering rule over them through deceit.

May God help the rest of His elect who are scattered around this world to take HEED before it comes to be too late to be counted among those who will escape the extremely hard and trying times just ahead of us and then be able to stand glorified before the awesome and majestic presence of our glorious and wonderful Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Praise be to Him and our Father forever and ever.