POINT 1: THE BIRTH OF A CORPORATE CHILD
In a 1994 research paper, Tricia Tillin of Banner Ministries wrote,
"Very little is being said about the doctrine, origins, purpose and goal of the 'new move.' It is my belief that most churches and leaders do not know those things. Some leaders, however, are promising an escalation into world revival, but are cagey about how the transition will take place. Others hint at 'something being birthed in the Church' and 'God is raising up an Army.' The truth is, the present events and the way they are being handled by leaders point unerringly in the direction of the Latter Rain teaching"(1)
The hints at "something being birthed in the Church" have come from NEW, PROGRESSIVE REVELATIONS built on the Latter Rain foundation. Replacement Theology is the Latter Rain practice of replacing Israel with the Church as the object of Scriptural prophecy, and out of this practice have come the new revelations. One example of Replacement Theology is this prophetic word given at Toronto Airport Vineyard in 1992. In it, Mark Dupont equates Toronto with Jerusalem and the new anointing to a New Pentecost:
"Like Jerusalem, Toronto will end up being a sending-out place. It is of God that there are so many internationals in this area. The Lord is going to be sending out many people, filled with His Spirit with strong gifting, vision, and love to the nations on all continents."(2)
This is one example of Replacement Theology, but let's look at others in relation to the birth of a child within the Toronto movement. The first thing I want to establish is that a corporate child is being birthed into the Church. In 1994, a MAJOR OLD TESTAMENT PROPHETIC TYPE OF CHRIST was repeatedly presented as a new promise of the coming of a spiritual messiah. The first prophecy we'll look at is John Wimber's, in which God told him to go to the nations in what would be A SEASON OF NEW BEGINNINGS. He believes God said, "I'm going to start it all over again. I'm going to pour out my Spirit in your midst like I did in the beginning." Wimber writes,
"I heard myself say: Shall I have this pleasure in my old age? The very words that Sarah laughingly said to herself when she overheard the Lord say she was going to have a son from her 90-year-old womb by her 100-year-old husband (Gen. 18:10). This was a word of life from the Lord, and it touched me deeply."(3)
We now want to look at some like-references that show a definite progression, similar to the progressive conception and birth of a child. The first is a PROPHECY PROMISING IMPREGNATION, delivered by Morris Cerullo in a promotional letter for his 1994 London School of Ministry:
". . . . God has revealed to me revelations . . . of His Spirit, of His endtime, so sacred . . . . You never heard this word preached anywhere. It is Hot, it is sacred, it is Deep! . . . Come away to this place where I poured out My Holy Spirit . . . . I will make you pregnant with My reality. . . The Holy Spirit is the part of God that will manifest the pregnancy in your being. Something great is about to happen to you."(4)
Cerullo said God instructed him to teach that He "will MAKE YOU PREGNANT with [HIS] REALITY. . . ." through "sacred . . . revelations . . . never heard preached anywhere."(5) But the Church already has the Spirit indwelling it forever. We don't need God to impregnate us with His reality. And the simple gospel was once delivered to the saints; we don't need any new revelations that are Hot, Sacred and Deep, revelations that we never heard before.
The next is a PROPHECY OF THE IMPREGNATION given to Glenn Foster in a night vision in January 1994. In an interview with Pat Robertson, Judson Cornwall said Foster saw them both in a PREGNANT condition. He said that during this night vision, the Lord revealed:
"I am now impregnating some of my mature, older ministers with truth. . . . I'm choosing my older men because I can trust them to carry that truth to full gestation and have the patience to raise it up once it is delivered. . . . I will bring forth truth that is not now being taught and you will be part of it."(6)
This is a significant statement. The Church is being IMPREGNATED with TRUTH NOT NOW TAUGHT that will eventually manifest "something" in this world when it is raised up!(7) God does not impregnate us with NEW TRUTH to manifest "something." He speaks to us through His word in its proper context.
The next word is a PROPHECY OF FULL GESTATION given by Marilyn Hickey's husband, Wallace, at a Rodney Howard-Browne meeting aired on TBN in MAY 1994. This rhyming prophecy says that the "child" is growing in the Church:
"The Spirit in this very hour says, Don't think you've seen it all as you go in the Holy Ghost way. God is new and He's a growing person as anything that is alive. So you don't have to work it up or try in your flesh to strive. Just let God be God in you as a child, as a child be. God would will that the whole of everyone in eternity would be like He is, never old, ever young, growing, a growing thing."
This has to raise some questions. Is the God of Scripture a GROWING THING in us AS A CHILD? NO. Is God a GROWING PERSON as ANYTHING that is alive? NO. Hickey was not prophesying about the God of the Bible.
The next progressive prophecy is the PROPHECY OF THE BIRTH from a brochure entitled, "The Great Intruder," advertising the 1994 Passion & Fire Conferences held by Jill Austin of Master Potter Ministries:
"Prophetically, the child Isaac, which means 'Laughter,' is being released in nation after nation as the new wine is being passed."
This prophecy contradicts Hebrews 1:1-2, which tells us,
"God, who at sundry times and in diverse manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds."
Christ Jesus our Lord, who fulfilled the type of Isaac by His coming into the world, means "Emmanuel, God with us." This movement's child is "Isaac, meaning Laughter," and "he" is being released into the world as new wine, bringing joy and laughter to the nations.
The last "word of the Lord" we want to look at is a PROPHECY OF THE CORPORATE SON in The Endtime Handmaidens newsletter of October 1994. This revelation shows us that "Sarah's Child, Isaac," is a corporate man:
"Sarah is a type of the Church. The Church is 'withered,' and its womb is dried up in many places, but God is sending a revival of joy to awaken and renew the Church so that she can bring forth the 'man-child' of joy, even the army of overcomers who will go forth in the likeness and image of the Lord in these last days."(8)
Take note of this: the STATED PURPOSE of the laughing revival IS TO BRING FORTH THE "MAN-CHILD" OF JOY THAT WILL SUBDUE THE EARTH. National ministry leaders have now said God would impregnate, has impregnated, has brought that impregnation to full gestation, and has released "the child" into all the nations. But there is NO MENTION in Scripture of such a prophetic utterance after the appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ. Nor does Scripture speak of a release of ANY OTHER SPIRIT but the Holy Spirit, sent ONCE AND FOR ALL at Pentecost to announce the glorification of Christ at the right hand of God and to permanently indwell all believers. This new move is founded on PROGRESSIVE REVELATION, "truths" never heard nor seen before, a typical mark of the Latter Rain Movement.
POINT 2: IN LATTER RAIN, THE FORMATION OF A CORPORATE BODY WILL BE THE SUPPOSED FULFILLMENT OF THE ABRAHAMIC COVENANT
We're all familiar with what Paul wrote in his letters to the Romans and Galatians about what was promised to Abraham - Let's recap it:
1. God spoke promises to Abraham and to his one seed, who is Christ (Gal. 3:16).
2. What God promised through Christ was the gospel and the Holy Spirit, which would be offered to all nations (Gal. 3:2).
3. Christ is the one who blesses the nations by giving the Holy Spirit to all INDIVIDUALS who believe through the preaching of the PERSONAL gospel (Gal. 3:2).
4. This was fulfilled at Pentecost and is ongoing (Acts 2:33).
5. Those who do not believe in Him are excluded from the blessing and will not inherit the nations when Christ returns.
But in Latter Rain teaching, the Corporate Seed will supposedly fulfill the Abrahamic Covenant. For example, Latter Rainist Alan Vincent teaches that every city and family on earth is to receive this blessing through the Church's celebration of Tabernacles. In a taped talk entitled "God's 'Suddenlys," Vincent's new revelation brings together Isaac with the Abrahamic covenant and the feasts of Israel. Vincent said,
"[God's] had this on His agenda for millennium, and now you're privileged to see the fulfillment of all of that the prophets have said. That was true, of course, for the nation of Israel, it was true for the city of Jerusalem, now it's becoming true for every single city on the face of the earth because God promised through Abraham, He said, 'I will, through your seed, WHICH IS THE CHURCH, every family on the face of the earth is going to be blessed.'"
And again Vincent said,
"God, you promised Abraham, seven full times you repeated it, you swore it by an oath, every time you talked about a covenant, you said 'this is the heart of the thing.' And soon as the Spirit comes and starts to shake the city of Jerusalem, Peter says, 'Oh, this is what the prophets have talked about!' This is just one city experiencing what every city must experience. Otherwise, God's the biggest liar there ever was, and of course, that's impossible. I'm saying that quite shockingly. Beloved, God HAS to keep His word. It has to happen. Why should God keep saying again and again, 'This is what I'm going to do through the seed,' and then Jesus coming in the sudden rapture theory, and spoiling God's covenant promises to Abraham? It's impossible for Jesus to come until these things are fulfilled."
Vincent then said that God will bless every city on earth and thus fulfill His covenant promise to Abraham. How? BY MOVING THE SEED OF ABRAHAM INTO THE CELEBRATION OF TABERNACLES:
"But I tell you what God said to me was, He said, 'Alan, I am moving the Church from the Day of Atonement to Tabernacles.' . . . As if the devil could stop him fulfilling His covenant to Abraham. As if the devil could even stop Him from using the Church. . . . [God supposedly told Vincent,] 'The Day of Atonement is over and Tabernacles is coming, and I'm getting ready to laugh and I'm getting ready to roar, and I tell you this whole world is going to feel the shaking of that laughter and the power of that roar.'"
Before we look at the Feast of Tabernacles, I want to summarize what the Latter Rain prophets said up to this point:
1. God said there would be a season of New Beginnings;
2. these New Beginnings are based on and proliferated by New Revelations;
3. the New Revelations are bringing forth a corporate child who is supposedly Abraham's seed, and through whom every city on the face of the earth will be blessed; and
4. that blessing will be fulfilled through the celebration of a type of Tabernacles in a time of revival, harvest and unity.
POINT 3: THE CELEBRATION OF TABERNACLES IS VITAL TO THE AGENDA OF THE CORPORATE CHILD
The celebration of the true Feast of Tabernacles is described in Zechariah 14, which places it in its proper time frame - Tabernacles will be celebrated after Jesus returns. This is the HOPE OF THE GOSPEL - Christ's return - and the current celebrations of Tabernacles have nothing to do with the Church as A NEW ISRAEL in this age. The one verse always tied to this "revival" is "this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations, and then the end shall come" (Matthew 24:14). But what gospel? And what does it do to our hope of Christ's return leading to the true celebration of Tabernacles in the Millennial kingdom?
In an article in the Morning Star Journal, Robin McMillan and Steve Thompson assert that the gospel was foreshadowed in three Old Testament feasts of Israel, based on Exodus 23:15-16:
1. The first feast is PASSOVER, and Christ our Passover has been slain; for the saved, Passover has been celebrated.
2. The second feast is PENTECOST, which is the descent of the Holy Spirit upon those who believe. But according to McMillan and Thompson,
"PENTECOST IS NOT THE COMPLETE HARVEST. . . . IT IS NOT ENOUGH."
3. The third feast is TABERNACLES, of which McMillan and Thompson say,
"There is another realm of spiritual experience typified in scripture by the Feast of Tabernacles. Until we understand and partake of this feast, as we have both Passover and Pentecost, WE WILL NEVER FULFILL OUR DESTINY AND CALLING. We must discover the meaning of the Feast of Tabernacles and 'celebrate' it along with Passover and Pentecost. . . ."What God did among Jews in Jerusalem, He is going to do among humanity and worldwide. PENTECOST WILL COME TO MATURITY IN THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES."(9)
What McMillan and Thompson have done here is to come out from under the authority of Scripture and point to an unbiblical "spiritual experience." New Age Theosophist Alice Bailey correctly predicted the consequences of trading biblical truth for experience:
"What the orthodox theologian and the narrow doctrinaire have to offer no longer satisfies the intelligent seeker or suffices to answer his questions. He is shifting his allegiances into wider and more spiritual areas. He is moving OUT FROM UNDER doctrinal authority AND TO direct personal, spiritual experience AND COMING UNDER the direct authority which contact with Christ and His disciples, the masters, gives."(10)
One last point we must understand is how these writers view Pentecost and Tabernacles. The Latter Rain says that Pentecost is the experience of God at a personal level, which is true. But then they move on to Tabernacles, and say that this Feast is the experience of God by all members of the body at the same time BEFORE CHRIST'S RETURN. But there is no such event foretold in Scripture, especially in the way McMillan and Thompson describe. They write, "There is another realm of spiritual experience typified in scripture by the Feast of Tabernacles." Notice this: they are not even speaking of Tabernacles, but of "another realm of spiritual experience" that is "TYPIFIED BY the Feast of Tabernacles." When they speak of Tabernacles, they are really talking about the corporate body sharing "an experience" from "another realm." That experience is "Christ" coming TO His Church BEFORE He comes FOR His Church. That's Latter Rain.
POINT 4: THERE ARE THREE ASPECTS OF THE LATTER RAIN'S FEAST OF TABERNACLES THAT SHOW THE CHILD IS ENTERING THE FEAST
Joy and gladness are part of the celebration of Tabernacles, and through the Laughing Phenomena, we've certainly seen plenty of what's passing for joy. But there are three other aspects of this Feast that we need to note, because they will tie other aspects of this "move" together.
REVIVAL - This is the Latter Rain's first aspect of Tabernacles. By "revival", we're referring to restoration through signs and wonders, which is how Rodney Howard-Browne defined it. McMillan and Thompson wrote,
"The restoration of that which the years have stripped away from God's people wlll come as a result of the overflowing of new wine and oil! Many people who are experiencing the new wine and oil in this recent outpouring are also experiencing a restoration in their lives! Some have wept deeply as the oil of the Lord has been applied to their wounds. The Lord is accomplishing in minutes or hours that which counseling and psychological approaches have not accomplished in years, as He fills them to overflowing with the Holy Ghost."
HARVEST - This is the second aspect of Tabernacles. In their article, McMillan and Thompson envision the joy of this great harvest associated with Tabernacles:
"The manifestations of joy and spiritual drunkeness . . . . are a witness that He is bringing restoration and hope to people for the LARGEST HARVEST OF SOULS that has ever occurred - the Feast of Ingathering or the Feast of Tabernacles."
McMillan and Thompson state that Tabernacles is THE KEY to what is happening in the Church:
". . . our participation in a spiritual celebration of the feast of Tabernacles is the key to God releasing fullness and maturity in the church. It is a feast of joy and release, bringing restoration. It is also a feast of humility, unity and ultimately, the ingathering of many lost people. It is the celebration of the harvest."(11)
UNITY - This is the third aspect of Tabernacles. On page 57 of his book, "Weighed and Found Wanting . . . Putting the Toronto Blessing in Context," Pastor Bill Randles says,
"In 1951, [George Warnock] wrote his book, The Feast of Tabernacles, in which he laid out a specific doctrine for the Latter Rain Movement. He taught that the Church was about to usher in the completion of God's feasts through perfection of the saints and their dominion over the earth."Essentially, this Latter Rain teaching implies that the three great annual feasts of the Lord in Israel's worship (Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles) typify the whole Church Age, beginning with the death of Jesus on the cross, and consummating in 'the manifestations of the Sons of God' - the 'overcomers' who will become perfected and step into immortality in order to establish the Kingdom of God on earth.
"According to Warnock, this will be accomplished through the restoration of the Church in unity . . ."
McMillan and Thompson also associate the current drive for unity with the endtime Feast of Tabernacles. They write,
"This same humility enables us to walk in unity with our brothers as well. During the Feast of Tabernacles, all of Israel dwelt in booths, the rich and poor alike. As they left those things which defined their station in life and separated them into different classes, they celebrated the goodness of God in unity, without division."
In Latter Rain, unity is essential to the manifestation of the corporate man-child because God cannot incarnate in a divided body. Now let's summarize what we have said thus far:
1. Revival will result in a unified Church, also called the corporate child;
2. "He" is to fulfill the Abrahamic Covenant by going forth, taking the Toronto Blessing to the nations;
3. This going forth as a corporate man will bring about the endtime harvest;
4. All of this is accomplished through a spiritual experience that typifies the celebration of Tabernacles.
The next thing we'll look at is the true origin of the Latter Rain Feast of Tabernacles.
POINT 5: THE TRUTH IS THAT THE LATTER RAIN FEAST OF TABERNACLES PARALLELS THE NEW AGE AGE OF AQUARIUS
In her 1985 book, "A Planned Deception: The Staging of a New Age 'Messiah'", Christian writer Constance Cumbey writes about Rev. Ernest Ramsey, an enthusiastic follower of the Alice Bailey and Benjamin Creme teachings. She says that his major report was entitled "An Evolutionary Basis For The Reappearance of the Christ and his Executives, the Masters of Wisdom." Cumbey writes,
"In his Research Report #2, he tells of something he was led to by a spirit guide - what he terms 'Neo-Pentecostalism.' An aberrant branch of Pentecostalism, this is more commonly known as the 'Manifest Sons of God.' . . . Ramsey concludes . . . that this is part of the New Age Movement."
Cumbey continues,
"The most interesting section of Ramsey's report dealt with 'Neo-pentecostalism.' Ramsey spent a semester at one of the Neo-Pentecostal or Manifest Sons of God seminaries . . . . Already familiar with the Alice Bailey writings, he was amazed to see that there was a branch of Pentecostalism that embraced the same teachings - albeit using sometimes different terminology."Like those seeking the 'Age of Aquarius' these people too were seeking a 'New Age.' Like the other New Agers, these people taught that 'The Christ' was an anointing - not necessarily one man. They taught that Jesus was a pattern son who was to be a sign of something even greater to come - the 'Manifestation of the Sons of God.' They too believed the earth was to be cleansed of evil. And chillingly, like the other New Agers, they believed they were to be 'God's' instruments to do such cleansing. The New Agers believed they were gods. The Manifest Sons of God likewise taught that if one accepted their 'new revelation' that they themselves would actually become Christ at the time of the unveiling or manifestation of the Sons of God."
Cumbey continues her eye-opener with this revelation:
"Ernest Ramsey excitedly pointed out in his report that [the Manifest Sons] had a teaching which indeed did parallel the Aquarian teaching of the Age of Aquarius - the Old Testament 'Year of Jubilee' as well as the 'Feast of Tabernacles.' The Year of Jubilee paralleled the redistribution of the world's wealth. The Feast of Tabernacles was the equivalent of the coming together of the world's peoples and varied religions under one tent or tabernacle - the equivalent of the New Agers' long-awaited 'New World Religion.' . . . ."
We must not miss this point: the Replacement Theology of the Manifest Sons of the Latter Rain has brought the Age of Aquarius into the Church under the guise of the Feast of Tabernacles and the Year of Jubilee.
___________
(1) Tricia Tillin, Banner Ministries, unpublished research
paper, 1994.
(2) Mantle of Praise Ministries, Inc. A two part prophecy by Mark Dupont concerning revival coming to part of the church of Toronto. May 1992 & July 1993, Part One: May 92, While In Toronto For The Area Of Southern Ontario, Point E.
(3) John Wimber, "Season of New Beginnings," File NEWBEG.TXT,
23879 Bytes, Compuserve, CIN-4, Lib 2. Originally published in the
May/June 1994 edition of Vineyard Reflections newsletter published
by Association of Vineyard Churches. John Wimber, Publisher; Bill
Henderson, editor.
(4) Morris Cerullo, London School of Ministry promotional
material, 1994
(5) Cerullo: "I will make you pregnant with My reality": In
Latter Rain teaching, the Church replaces Israel. This is the
impregnation of the Church and the resulting pregnancy symbolized by
the woman with child in Revelation 12:2: "And she being with child
cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered."
(6) Pat Robertson interview with Judson Cornwall, 700 Club,
Family Channel, June 9, 1994.
(7) The statement is significant considering the global
implications of "something being "raised up" based on "truth not now
being taught." Jude 3 states that we are "to contend for the faith
that was once for all entrusted to the saints." A "new truth" can
only lead toward a great delusion.
(8) Discernment newsletter, Jewel van der Merwe, LATTER RAIN
and The Rise of Joel's Army, p. 5 citing End-Time Handmaidens, Angel
Letter #2, September/October 1994.
(9) Robin McMillan and Steve Thompson, Teaching: "Beyond
Pentecost," The Morning Star Journal, Vol. 4 No. 3, 1994, p. 43,44,48.
(10) Alice A. Bailey, The Externalization of the Hierarchy, p.
417.
(11) McMillan and Thompson, p. 44.
