In my previous videos about Ahn Sahng Hong, I have examined some of the claims made by
the World Mission Society Church of God to justify their belief that he
is the second coming of Christ. I will direct you to those videos for more detailed discussion.
In short, the fundamental proof for why Ahn Sahng Hong is not the second coming
of Christ is the fact that he is dead. The fact that he is dead is proof that he is a sinner:
“…through one man sin entered into the world,
and death through sin, and so death spread to all mankind, because all sinned.” (Rom 5:12)
The only reason a person dies is because they are connected to sin.
But, if this is true, then why did Christ die in His first coming? After all, the Bible describes
Him as, “Him who knew no sin,” (2 Cor. 5:21). I covered this issue at length in this video.
For our purposes, Christ died in His first coming because He took our sin upon Himself as a perfect
sacrificial offering. Our sin produced His death. This is the reason why Christ’s people have a
promise of eternal life, because our penalty was perfectly paid in His death for us. This is Paul’s
point in Romans 6 – Christ has died once with respect to sin; not His own sin, but our sin:
“…the death that He died, He died to sin once for all…” (Rom. 6:10.)
The World Mission Society agrees with this understanding. Yet this begs the question – if
Christ is subject to death again in His second coming, for what reason would He be subject to it?
The Biblical answer to this hypothetical scenario is that Christ would be in some way or another
connected to sin. In His first coming, His death was connected to our sin. But since the Bible’s
clear testimony is that His death for our sin was a singular occurrence, a hypothetical second death
would have to be in connection with sin in another way – through Himself. To put this succinctly,
the only way Christ would die a second time was if He, Himself were guilty of sin.
There are many obvious problems with this.
The Bible teaches that He, “…will appear a second time without reference to sin…”
Christ was not a sinner in His first coming and He will not be a sinner in His second coming.
Also, if Christ were a sinner, it would completely undue His entire work of redemption.
Ahn Sahng Hong being dead is a huge theological problem
for the World Mission Society because, if he was the second coming of Christ,
then all of these problems about a sinful Christ and a nullified atonement need to be reconciled.
Nevertheless, there is a passage of scripture that the World Mission Society points to
in an attempt to claim that Christ’s second death was prophesied – Micah 4:9:
“Now, why do you cry out loudly? Is there no king among you, or has your counselor perished,
that agony has gripped you like a woman in childbirth?”
The emphasis of the World Mission Society is on the clause, “…Is there no king among you,
or has your counselor perished…” Given that Micah 4 opens by saying, “…in the last
days,” they infer from this that this verse is evidence that God in the Person of Christ
would leave behind His people after His second coming – i.e. that He would die a second time.
Here is an abbreviated quotation of the World Mission Society’s understanding
of this verse from a sermon given on this subject:
“The King of Zion is God. However, it says, ‘The King has disappeared from Zion,’ and,
‘the Counselor has perished in Zion’…it says that these things will take place in the last days.
Here, God, who is to perish, is the very God who teaches us the way of truth,
and the God who proclaims the law from Zion. What will happen to this God? It says,
‘He will perish in the last days’…After proclaiming the law of the New Covenant
from Mount Zion, what will happen? His body on this earth will pass away…what does it mean when
Micah 4:9 says, ‘Have you no king? Has your counselor perished?’ Who has to perish? God!”
There is a fundamental problem with this interpretation;
it confuses a rhetorical question for a future prophecy.
Micah 3 concludes by telling of the coming destruction against Jerusalem by the Babylonians.
Looking at verse 11, we see an example of a rhetorical question:
“Is not the LORD in our midst?”
A rhetorical question is one for which the questioner does not expect
a direct answer. There are two main types of rhetorical questions:
questions whose answers are so obvious that there's no need to say them
or questions without any answer at all. This question in verse 11 is a rhetorical question with
a (supposedly) obvious answer. Some other examples of this kind of question are:
“Is rain wet?” “Can fish swim?”
“Can birds fly?” “Do dogs bark?”
The answer to all of these is, “Duh!”
The answer is so obvious, it does not need to be overtly stated.
In verse 11, God speaks against the leaders of Jerusalem because, in spite of their disobedience
and wickedness, they have asked themselves the question, “Is not the LORD in our midst?”
The expect answer from a fellow Israelite would be, “Duh! Of course He is. We’re His
people.” That’s why, “Calamity will not come upon us.” This posture though is the result of the
people’s hardness of heart, because they can’t see all of their disobedience and blasphemies.
For this reason, God is bringing judgment against Jerusalem – because they have
violated the covenant they had made with Him and the refuse to acknowledge their sin.
This is the immediate lead-in to chapter 4.
So let’s look at the context of chapter 4 to properly understand verse 9.
The World Mission Society points to the phrase,
“it will come about in the last days,” to justify their understanding of verse 9 as a prophecy.
Verses 1-8 certainly do contain a prophecy about what the last days will look like – a
hope that God is giving to Judah as they are on the cusp of being exiled to Babylon.
With this in mind, look at verse 9 – this verse opens with a transitionary statement –
“Now, why…” (עַתָּ֕ה לָ֥מָּה in Hebrew). This phrase is used because God is asking a question of
their present condition – as a nation about to be exiled. In other words, verse 9 is not prophetic.
This is confirmed in verse 11 in the statement, “and now many nations have been assembled against
you,” now being in reference to their imminent destruction at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar. God
is asking, “Is there no king among you NOW? Has your counselor perished NOW?”
At this time in Judah’s history kings Jehoiachin and Zedekiah had been taken captive
by Nebuchadnezzar. The loss of the king, God’s representative, was perceived as a withdrawal
of His protection & favor – a thought that ran through the minds of the people of Judah as they
were being taken captive. It’s to these people, those who have been given the prophecy that,
“…the mountain of the house of the LORD will be established as the chief of the mountains,”
that God asks, “Is there no king among you, or has your counselor perished?” Remember that the true
king of Israel is God Himself (1 Sam. 12:12), not the man He put on the throne for a time.
Even though all of the men who ruled over Israel & Judah died, God was always the true king because
He never died. The expected answer from a faithful Israelite to God’s question in verse 9 is, “Duh!
Of course not! Just because we are going into exile doesn’t mean that God has abandoned us.”
It’s this perspective that is the lead-in to Micah 5,
wherein is prophesied the birth of Christ in verses 2-5.
Christ is the fulfillment of this promise – that even though the world is falling down around them,
God’s people have not been abandoned. His love for them persists and His rule over them
remains. This is why verse 9 is phrased as a present question (עַתָּ֕ה לָ֥מָּה); God is using
rhetoric to remind His people of Who He really is, in spite of their present circumstances.
The World Mission Society habitually misquotes this verse to justify a phony prophecy about a
supposed second death of Christ. They do not quote it as it as been recorded in scripture – as a
question. Rather they turn it into a statement – “What will happen to this God? It says, ‘He will
perish in the last days.’” No, the Bible doesn’t say that. It says, עַתָּ֕ה לָ֥מָּה – “Now, why…?”
Micah 4:9 is not a prophecy – it is a rhetorical question with an obvious answer for God’s
faithful. God is always among His people in calamity & defeat and in peace & victory. He
abides forever as our Wonderful Counselor (Is. 9:6). He is not dead. He lives!
Ahn Sahng Hong was a sinful false prophet. The fact that he is dead is proof of this, for,
“…the wages of sin is death.” If Ahn Sahng Hong were, as the World Mission Society believes,
without sin as the second coming of Christ, He would not be dead. Period.
For a further rebuttal to the World Mission Society Church of
God’s doctrine of Christ Ahn Sahng Hong, please see my prior videos on the subject.
If you are currently a member of the World Mission Society Church of God, please, read
the Bible for yourself and examine it’s clear, consistent teaching of Who Christ really is.