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The following is the first of a series of writings that examines the teachings
of the Church of God with regard to the seventh seal, or sometimes
noted as "7th seal". It is our position
that much of what is presently being taught has been passed down by
well meaning men, but has not been properly interpreted. Time, and
the passing of years, has
clearly shown that many of the interpretations and prophecies have
been in err and that is it time to take a fresh look at
prophetic teachings
surrounding the Book of Revelation and ask God to show us what He
has intended to reveal to His servants.
One of the interesting
and somewhat
unique teachings of the
Church of God
organization in which many of us were formerly associated is their
interpretation of the Book of Revelation. The Church of God takes the amillennial position, believing that the second coming of Christ
could occur at any moment. They believe that the book of Revelation
is divided up into seven distinct series that represents seven segments of time or
“church ages”. The table at the bottom of this
webpage provides a top level overview of each time
segment.
The
events surrounding the first five seals are certainly of historical
significance and have had worldwide impact. They can easily be found
in both religious and secular history books. However, the historical events
surrounding the sixth and seventh seals are much less widely known.
These events are said to have initially occurred in the Southern
part of the United States and later expanded to other parts of the
country and, to a limited degree, foreign lands.
Among
the Church of God, the opening of the sixth seal is credited to
Daniel S. Warner, more commonly named by his initials, “D. S. Warner”. He is
primarily known as the founder of the Church of God (Anderson), but
other similar church groups claim him as the earliest and
predominant pioneer of their individual bodies. His
two primary teachings were that (1) Christians should forsake all
religious organizations and denominations ("sectism") and be joined to Christ
alone, and that (2) Christians must live a holy life.
In the
early 1930s, some of the ministers within the Church of God
(Anderson) reformation movement began to express
dissatisfaction with what they considered worldliness and
organization, the over emphasis of education, among a few other
things.
In 1933,
a North Carolina Church of God minister by the name of
Walter S. Goodnight (W. S. Goodnight,
pictured above) wrote a
128 page book titled “Chart Explanation of the Revelation”. It was published
by Warner Press, the official publishing house of the Church of God
(Anderson). This book is considered to be the first book ever
written that describes the teachings of the new “7th seal movement”.
A detailed explanation is given of seven segments of the Book of
Revelation. W. S. Goodnight boldly made the claim that the seventh
and last seal (church age) was opened up in 1930 and would ultimately
end in 1980, shortly followed by the second coming of Christ.
Being
that the time of this web writing is 2009, it should be apparent to all
that the seventh seal did not end in 1980, neither has Jesus come
back.
Several
men have attempted to correct errs and expand the prophetic
teachings of W. S. Goodnight, including G. W. Pendleton, C. S.
McAlister, J. F. Lawson, P. D. Turnbow and Emerson A.
Wilson. Of the brethren mentioned above, Emerson A. Wilson was
probably the
most successful, and his writings and teachings resulted in rallying
many people together in the 1950s and 1960s who had become dissatisfied within the
Church of God (Anderson). Unfortunately, this movement was short
lived and has virtually
disbanded due to repeated schisms and divisions.
Only a few hundred scattered congregations remain in the United
States and in several foreign countries.
In the
late 1980s, Daniel (Danny) Wilburn Layne (pictured above) began teaching that the seventh seal
was opened in the year 1980, the exact year in which he professed
salvation & sanctification (May & November, respectively). He was the founder
and Apostle of the
Church of God (Restoration), which mainly consists of former members
of
the Church of God (Guthrie, OK) and a few other various Church of God groups. His teaching on the seventh seal
was
nearly identical to prior seventh seal advocates, particularly since
he studied their teachings. However, his
manner of interpretation of the seventh seal opening date based on
his entering the scene is seriously in
question. It is at best a violation of 2 Peter 1:20 and at worst a
display of extreme arrogance. Layne was born on
March 30, 1944 and died of a longstanding health related issue on September 21,
2011 at the age of 67.
In our
next article of the examination of the Church of God's teaching of the seven seal, we will discuss details of what was actually
taught by W. S. Goodnight, as he and his teachings are at the foundation of the entire
movement.
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