Paul wrote the Jews want a sign, the Greeks want wisdom. And the Vulcans want logic.
COGs are good at producing “new truth”, “proof-texting logic” and “signs”. H.W.A (Hoeh, Waterhouse and Associates) came up with so many “proofs” that HWA was whoever he was supposed to be. I think Gerald Flurry’s first “proof” of being HWA’s successor was that he was disfellowshipped 40 days before the date of HWA’s death. And Dave Pack has God’s fingerprints. These proofs are no more credible than the proof that Franz Josef Strauss was the Beast.
Now I haven’t been picking on Pack and others without reason. The Pharisees, Scribes, disciples of John the Baptist and others questioned Jesus, and they were right in doing so. When someone appeared as a teacher and purveyor of truth it was their duty to check him out. I contend the COG critics have every right to sound out those who claim to be Top Dog of the Top COG or facilitator of the faithful fragment. If you don’t like the heat, don’t put yourself in the spotlight!
And now, as I understand it, Bob Thiel stated he has a “sign” regarding the timing of the setup of his CCOG.
Back in 2006, in the LCG, Dr Thiel said he was asked to do a sermon on the Law during the FOT. And this year, 2013, as pastor of the CCOG, he decided to do a sermon on the Law at the FOT again.
The clincher comes when he noticed Deuteronomy 31:10-13:
Then Moses commanded them: “At the end of every seven years, in the year for canceling debts, during the Feast of Tabernacles, when all Israel comes to appear before the LORD your God at the place he will choose, you shall read this Torah before them in their hearing…
… as long as you live in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess. [NIV]
Got it? A sermon on the Law, seven years, at the FOT. Wow, this must be a sign that God wanted Bob to leave the LCG and start his own COG.
Now Moses didn’t say, “Every seven years at the FOT, wherever you chose to hold it, give a sermon about your interpretation of the Law.” The seventh year is the year when debts are canceled, slaves are released… [Wait a minute, slaves… didn’t Bob call himself the Overseer?] And this is to be done at the place God will choose: first it was the Tabernacle at Shiloh, then the Temple in Jerusalem.
In Synagogues, the weekly “Torah portion” is read each week, with the objective of reading the Torah through each year. Of course when the “seven years” begins is not certain, and strictly speaking this applied to Temple service, or at least living in Israel. (Eretz Israel, the Land of Israel, not some country dubbed Israel by British-Israelism.)
[“Sign of the T” was borrowed from Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)]