Gerald Flurry has an article up on his website that he wrote about the Armstrongite hymn,
By the Waters of Babylon. His entire article is written which such hopeful delight that ex-Church God members would be wishing they could sing this song as they are held captive in Saudi Arabia or Germany.
Because Church of God members chose not to listen to Flurry, they will be sent into captivity. You remember that, it's that fun time that the Church of God loved to use as a weapon to keep members under control. Do what I say or you will be taken captive by the Germans or other agents of the Beast power, as they take you into captivity and put you in concentration camps or make you their slave.
From ROYAL VISION November-December 2015
PSALM 137 PAINTS A TERRIFYING PROPHETIC PICTURE OF A TRAGEDY ABOUT TO BEFALL A GREAT MANY OF GOD’S PEOPLE.
It begins, “By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion”(Psalm 137:1). Zion refers to God’s Church. In the end time, there is a righteous Zion and a rebellious Zion. Here the rebels remembered their recent history with righteous Zion before they rebelled. This is a prophecy about God’s Church.
The Psalms are filled with prophecy: They are mainly the work of David, who was a prophet (Acts 2:29-31). Jeremiah and Moses were also prophets who wrote some of the psalms.
Verse 8 of Psalm 137 also shows that this is prophecy: “O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us.” Who is the “daughter of Babylon”? Anciently, God sent Jeremiah to Judah with a warning for the Jews that Babylon was coming. When he wrote his book, however, he didn’t address it to Judah—he addressed it to Israel. That is because his message is a prophecy for the end-time descendants of Israel. Babylon is coming again, but this time it is the daughter of Babylon.
This prophecy about “Zion” is for this end time. Specifically here, Zion refers to God’s Church in the modern day—the work of Herbert W. Armstrong and the Philadelphia Church of God.
This is talking specifically about people who remember Zion—the work of Mr. Armstrong—while they are enslaved by Babylon. They are captive in Germany, Saudi Arabia perhaps, and other countries like Turkey and Lebanon—and they are weeping! They are weeping in Babylon. They didn’t weep when they were in the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand or Judah. They didn’t weep then, but they are weeping in captivity to Babylon!
There are people in God’s Church—the Laodiceans, in the last era of God’s Church before the Second Coming (Revelation 3:14-22)—who are about to go into captivity!
All of the wayward Church of God members out there enjoying life outside the church will soon bee looking back in wistful nostalgia at the memory of Herbert Armstrong (and Gerald Flurry) and all that he taught. They will realize he was the true end time prophet.
While in captivity, these people remember righteous Zion in—this must mean that THEY HAVE FORGOTTEN RIGHTEOUS ZION TODAY! Only the Laodiceans could ever remember loyal Zion. People who were never in that Church could remember the message of Zion, but only the Laodiceans could remember righteous Zion. In that future distress, they will remember Mr. Armstrong; they will remember the members of the Church; they will remember what happened in the past. How can you just blot it out of your mind? They will remember how we served God together—so, in captivity, they will weep and finally repent. But THEY WON’T REMEMBER UNTIL THEY ARE IN BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY!
Given the fact that every single COG leader, from the present day through the past 80 some years, has told one lie after another about the "sure word of prophecy" they proclaim. How can we trust certified liars like James Malm, Bob Thiel, Dave Pack, Gerald Flurry, Ron Weinland and Gerald Weston, as they spout one silly useless prediction after another. All of these men got their understanding from Herbert Armstrong, who was the grandfather of the lies they continue to promote.
The Laodiceans have to repent and sing these songs in a strange land. It will take a Babylonian captivity to wake up these people of God.
They become victims of God’s warning prophecies, which they had helped to proclaim before they rebelled!
BY THE WATERS OF BABYLON:
By the waters of Babylon, There we wept and there sat down;
Hung our harps on the willow trees, Zion, yet we remember'd thee!
Then our captors required of us; Sing a song of Zion now!
Could we sing the Eternal's songs, By the waters of Babylon?
Let my right hand forget her skill, If Jerusalem I forget;
If I fail to remember thee, Let my tongue cleave unto my mouth!
But we thought of Jerusalem, When we sat near Zion's streams.
Far above even our chief joy, We remember'd Jerusalem.
In that day of Jerus'lem's fall, When the children of Edom said,
Down with her, down unto the ground,
Even to the foundations!
O thou daughter of Babylon,
To thy ruin hast'ning on;
Happy he that rewardeth thee,
Just as thou unto us hast done.
