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 Locusts =  Arabs? "I won't say he's got an agenda, I'm just putting the facts out there.  It's an intentional perversion of the word of God, a forced interpretation that makes very, very little sense."

Question/Comment:

----- Original Message -----
From: Name Withheld
To: Paul Stringini
Sent: Sunday, April 24, 2011 12:47 PM
Subject: Pastor Murray - The locusts are now Arabs, apparently.
Just had to air my disgust to someone who'd understand.  My wife has been a follower of Pastor Murray's since she was a child.  I'm a very, very recent addition to the family of Christ, so I don't claim to be a biblical scholar, but sitting down and hearing the things he was saying tied my stomach up in knots.  It just felt wrong.
 
So, I started doing exactly what Pastor Murray suggests - I started digging in and fact checking for myself.
 
My wife mentioned to me, as we were discussing the end times, that the Shepherd's Chapel claims that it's coming up.  That's nothing new, he's always saying that.  In this program, however, he proved his point by mentioning the swarms of locusts in Revelation 9:3.  He claims that the locusts swarming are actually referring to Arabs swarming. 
 
When she told me that, eyebrows raised, I said, "You should probably verify that for yourself."
 
She got mildly irritated and said I should do it.
 
So, I started searching through Strong's online.  With little information on where he got that idea, we ended up just watching the episode, so I could follow along and verify.
 
Here's the explanation.  He says that the Hebrew word for "locust" is, in fact, "ערבי", pronounced "arabi".  Of course, in the Hebrew language, the word for "Arab" is the same word, "arabi".  Okay, sure, I verified that with a Hebrew disctionary online.  The word for "Arab" is, in fact, "arabi".  Of course, this word is never once used in the Bible.
 
Which brings us to the problem.  The Hebrew word for "locust", as mentioned in the bible, is "אַרְבֶּה", pronounced "arbeh".
 
There's another problem with this logical leap - the word used for locust in Revelation is in Greek, not Hebrew.
 
I won't say he's got an agenda, I'm just putting the facts out there.  It's an intentional perversion of the word of God, a forced interpretation that makes very, very little sense.
 
I'll never listen to him again.

My First Response:

----- Original Message -----
From: Paul Stringini
To: Name Withheld
Sent: Sunday, April 24, 2011 5:43 PM
Subject: Re: Pastor Murray - The locusts are now Arabs, apparently.

Hi, Name Withheld
 
And then you add to what you have seen all the facts about the locusts that are being referenced in Revelation and the extent of Murray's speculative and manipulative handling of the word is evident.
He is focusing on one word to the neglect of every meaningful word in the passage.
 
"And it was given to them that they should not kill them but that they should be tormented five months."
 
Those swarming Arabs are killing, and this has been going on for more than five months.  I think back to the swarm in Iran not long ago, what came of that?  Or the one in Egypt?  Arnold Murray is just making up more false prophecy to cover the old false prophecy.  And I have said this about him, he will die before any of the real events come, he will never see those days.
 
Plus there is nothing to suggest any earlier trumps have sounded, except that Arnold Murray has been saying so since the 80's when I was in elementary school. What and when exactly were those?  I've never learned that and I listened to all his teachings up till 1996.
 
A Trumpet is meant to be a signal, and as the Apostle Paul said,  "if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?" (1Cor 14:8)  The trumpets are meant to be clear signals so that we would know what was going on and not get all confused like good old Arnold.
 
I say it daily, we are not in the end times, and I will not declare the end times have begun until I see the events described by the trumpets actually happen,  Hail and fire mingled with blood must be cast on the earth burning a third part of trees and devastating smaller vegetation (the blood may come from the hail hitting living creatures and causing blood to be mingled with the hail and fire, or not)  Then a mountain sized rock, burning with fire will land in the sea killing a third of what is in the sea,  then a third of the fresh water supplies will be poisoned, then the sun will be darkened, and the moon darkened and the stars by about a third.  And then the fifth trumpet will sound and the locusts will be revealed.
 
The fifth trumpet may be more symbolic and I think the reason is that after the first four which are very clear, the wise will know what is going on and will be able to, at that time, interpret what happens next.  So I basically look for that sequence and until that happenes we are not in the end times and we are definitely nt in the fifth trumpet.

This is just another case of a false teacher holding the newspaper in one hand and the bible in the other and he reads them both under the assumption that we are in the end times.  Back in the late 30's it could have been Nazi's swarming,  and even now it might be the new world order that is really swarming and provoking the Muslims, whatever is going on it has NOTHING to do with the trumpets of Revelation.  I might listen to someone talk about how this might be interpreted according to the four horsemen, but that is an entirely different matter.  No trumpets have sounded, there is nothing to see here.
 
But you already knew that.
 
Hey, it was great hearing from you.  Sorry about your situation, You will be in my prayers, the best thing you can do for your wife is for you to know your stuff first and then perhaps then she may be persuaded.  I never talk about it, but my wife and I had a huge battle when I was enlightened in 2005, and she was not easily convinced, but the scriptures finally won her over.  It is not just a doctrine here and there but a whole philosophy.  So long as people believe Arnold has the bible behind him, they will tend to stick with what they know, but most of these people are loyal to the bible first, they don't realize that Arnold Murray's teachings condition their minds to automatically see things a certain way, it is very difficult to break through the conditioning, but not impossible, gather your own strength first, then show her.
 
Sincerely,
Paul Stringini
 

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