Joel's Army 1

PREFACE

This book is a snapshot in time. Originally published in 1991, it was a helpful sketch of the Latter Rain doctrines coming forth from the “Kansas City Prophets” and entering the Charismatic and Pentecostal churches. This movement had existed on the fringes of the Pentecostal community, and there was little reason to worry that these aberrant teachings would affect the mainstream evangelicalism.

In retrospect, this book is so much more important than anyone ever realized. We now know that what was then called the “New Wave Theology” movement has now tremendously grown to become the New Apostolic Reformation.

This book is a still photo, capturing a pivotal moment in history. The new doctrines of the New Apostolic Reformation were still “emerging” fifteen years ago. As such, these new doctrines were much more blatant. None of the church growth movement experts had come in to “tweak” them so that they would be marketable to the greater evangelical community. Nobody had come in to scale them down yet, in order to gradually introduce them as “progressive revelation.” In this book, you read the actual doctrines in their most pure, unadulterated form. And it is quite chilling!

The New Order of the Latter Rain, a cult that began in the late 1940s, taught a number of heresies, including 1) an overemphasis on “imparting” spiritual gifts and 2) the erroneous teaching that the Church must be built on a foundation of present-day apostles and prophets. Leaders at that time included William Branham, George Warnock, Ern Baxter, and George Hawtin. This cult eventually developed connections with the Shepherding and Charismatic Renewal movements, and the “Kansas City Prophets.”

This self-proclaimed group of modern-day “prophets,” at the Kansas City Fellowship perpetuated the doctrines of Latter Rain through the teachings of Mike Bickle, Paul Cain and others. It is here that this booklet picks up the story, for many of the quoted excerpts come from leaders at the Kansas City Fellowship prophecy conferences.

Just at this moment in history, a confluence was beginning which was to have massive repercussions throughout the rest of evangelicalism: John Wimber of the Vineyard Movement connected with the Kansas City Prophets. John Wimber had previously been picked up as an “experiment” by C. Peter Wagner at Fuller Theological Seminary for “signs and wonders” classes. For several decades Fuller had been laying considerable groundwork for the formation of new doctrines – ecclesiology, eschatology, missiology, soteriology, etc. Wimber’s connection to KCF proved to be the catalyst for the beginnings of what C. Peter Wagner was to later call the “New Apostolic Reformation.” The esoteric doctrines of the Latter Rain movement became an integral part of his post-modern evangelical canon. And because of Wagner’s influence, KCF leaders who would have been obscure in 1991, such as Mike Bickle, are now widely known throughout evangelicalism.

What you are about to read exposes some of the most pure forms of the New Apostolic Reformation doctrines – unadulterated – that can be found. They are wholly heretical and deeply disturbing. As this book goes to press as a second edition, these teachings are rapidly gaining impact and influence in the wider Christian world. What would have shocked fifteen years ago is now easily accepted.

May the Lord use this book to lead many back to His Word.

Sarah Leslie

“And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.” (2 Timothy 3:24-26)

Introduction

There are many new revelations and new winds of doctrine sweeping the Church today. Sensationalism seems to be the guiding light leading souls into extremes that are very far from the Truth that is laid out clearly in the Word of God.

“Joel’s Army” is one term among many that are all being used to describe the same teaching. We hear much about the “New Breed,” “New Wave,” etc. All of the terms cited below represent basically the same teaching.

Where does it come from? Where is it going? This booklet attempts to lay out a clear basis of understanding so that you can further your study.

If you are not willing to have your pet teaching questioned, is it because it will not stand in the Light of God's Word? Beware! The purpose of this writing is to warn the Church – be prepared at all times to give a reason for the hope that is within you! Be willing to stand straight and tall and say, “But, it is written.” In other words, back up your stand with Scripture. God has given us His Word for the final authority. His Word is relevant for today.

Joel's Army

New Breed

Overcomers

First-Fruits

Elijah Company

The Bride

Manifested Sons of God

Phineas Priesthood

New Wineskin

New Wave

Latter Rain

BLOW THE TRUMPET! Hear the noise of the chariots! The chariots are leaping across the mountains! The army of the Lord is approaching! The earth will quake before them; the heavens shall tremble…. A great people and a strange; there hath not been ever the like.

Utterly awesome, this army is mentioned in Joel. This is the verse used by teachers and “prophets” to declare that God is raising up an army in these days. The Endtime army. Do you want to be a part of it? Just think – you will supposedly be able to climb the wall like men of war. Even when you fall on the sword you will not be wounded. Crowds clap and cheer as they visualize the wondrous feats they will be able to perform in the Name of the Lord! No one wants to miss God and not be a part of what He is doing! It all has such a “spiritual” ring to it. Tears well in the eyes of hungry seekers as they wait for a new experience. Perhaps, they imagine, even tonight the heavens will open and that Endtime “anointing” will be poured out. There is always an expectancy that perhaps this is the time “it” will happen.

The imminence of such a supernatural manifestation was shared with Charismatic Christians overseas. Latter Rain “prophets” from the Vineyard Ministries International visited England as part of their world outreach. Their “prophetic” message was that God is raising an army in these last days to execute judgment and dominion throughout the Earth. They declared that the time is at hand for God to pour out His Spirit (the Latter Rain) on the Church in an unprecedented scale, in fulfillment of Joel 2:28, marking the beginning of the great “new thing” God is doing on the earth.

Vineyard Ministries have held conferences overseas and throughout the U.S.A. Churches and denominations have been proselytized and preyed on with a “gospel” that leaders claim is ordained to bring forth:

3. the greatest Army (Joel's Army) distinguished by invincibility, immortality and divinity;

6. the greatest miracles, supernatural signs and wonders, far exceeding that of the Apostles and Prophets of old.

1. Israel as an everlasting chosen nation of God and their national repentance and restoration, both physically and spiritually, in one day at the Second Advent of Jesus Christ (their Messiah). (Gen. 17:7,13,19; Is. 66:7-8; Jer. 31:35-37; Zech. 12-14; Rom. 11:1-2,25-27);

2. The great outpouring of the Spirit on Israel (the Jewish nation) and on all flesh, Jesus Christ returns from heaven with His saints (the Church) at the end of the tribulation period. (Zech. 12:10-13; Joel 2:28; Acts 2:16-21);

3. The Rapture – the catching away of both the dead and the living saints to meet the Lord in the air (I Th. 4:23-18; 2 Th. 2:1; John 14:11-3; Cor. 15:51-56);

5. The Seven-year tribulation (Dan. 9:24-27; Matt. 24:21-22; Jer. 30:4-7; Dan. 12:1; Rev. 6-19); and

6. The descent of Christ from heaven with His saints (His TRUE army) at the Battle of Armageddon. (Zech 14:5; Jude 14; Rev. 29:14)

According to this false gospel, the great out-pouring of the Spirit mentioned in Joel 2:28-29 is to have its complete fulfillment in these days (this generation) when God will pour out His Spirit in full measure on an unprecedented scale – even exceeding that of the Disciples and Apostles on the Day of Pentecost. In fact, they believe that this baptism will empower a “New Breed” of people (“Joel’s Army”) with supernatural qualities. Their entire Last Days scenario contradicts orthodox dispensational views. Even more serious, this view undermines the Gospel of the Deity of Christ. Anything that even remotely undermines the Deity of Christ, or ascribes deity to man (or an army of men) is an antichrist doctrine.

References in the book of Joel pertaining to Israel and the “Day of the Lord” are spiritualized to apply to the Church. Literal Israel becomes “the Church” and the “Day of the Lord” is seen as the manifestation or “incarnation of God” in this Joel's Army. This is antithetical to the dispensational view which holds that the “Day of the Lord” refers to the literal Second Coming of Christ with His saints. The proponents of the “Joel's Army” heresy are notorious for reading between the lines and spiritualizing Scripture. They are even spiritualizing global events to parallel their outlandish prophetic views. It seems to give them a deep feeling of being spiritually perceptive. In researching their materials, we see this time and again. By all accounts this belief system is “Gnosticism” to the core.

In the New Wave (New Apostolic Reformation) theology, we find that whatever God says or promises Israel is dogmatically applied to the Church; and in some cases this done to such extremes that the Church is deified. The danger is that spiritualizing God's Word in this way can result in idolatry and fanaticism. Because they rely upon the old Gnostic 2^nd-century allegorical method of interpreting the Scriptures, the modern “prophets” have come to believe that the Church is the exclusive beneficiary of all God has promised to Israel. The Latter Rain false prophets and teachers are so bent on spiritualizing Scripture that even the “sun turning dark,” the “moon turning to blood” and the “earthquakes” in Joel are spiritualized to apply to the Church. It is absurd, if not outright blasphemous, the way these leaders spiritualize God's Word. This Gnostic approach to the Bible diffuses into the Church to the point where some groups have lost the literal meaning of Scripture completely.

The following quote from a message on Joel’s Army was delivered at a Vineyard conference in Anaheim, California, a number of years ago. It clearly illustrates how absurd spiritualizing the literal meaning of the text can become:

…And here's what I think that the sun and the moon mean on a symbolic level. I think this is a horrible thing He's talking about in verse 31 when He says The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood… because in the Old Testament, the sun frequently stands for the Lord or for the Son, S-O-N. See, it's a perfect symbol for Him, because it brings light to the whole world and it has light of its own that radiates out from its being… It's a more powerful source of light than anything in the world. The sun frequently stands for the Lord Himself and what I think He's saying here is that the Lord Himself will cover Himself with darkness during this time. Psalm 18:11 says that, it says that the Lord can and at times will hide Himself with darkness. And so I think that what the Lord is saying is that there's coming a time during the last day ministry when the Son of God will hide Himself from the earth and especially from the rebellious. So there'll be a time when the rebellious will call out and they'll want to come to the Lord, but they won't see Him. They won't be able to come to Him. (Jack Deere, “Joel’s Army,” Vineyard Ministry International, audio cassette, 1990)

Question: Is there ever a time that the Lord quits knocking at the door? What happened to the verse, “Whosever cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out”? The above quotation from Deere is implying there will be a time when salvation will not be offered. Then why have a Last Days ministry? What is the purpose of this ministry? To what then are they called? Answers to these questions will become clear to you as you read on. Deere continues:

The second thing He says is that the moon will be turned to blood. Now, the moon, I believe, is a symbol of occult power, the powers of evil. The moon is first of all the light of the night… and there is revelation in the darkness. There is light in the powers of darkness. The powers of darkness, occult powers, do have revelation or do have light, but only it's a light that is characterized by darkness and used for evil, and it's ultimately deceptive. The moon is only a reflector. It has no light in and of itself. Satan has no light in him at all. The moon makes a perfect symbol of occult powers. And the moon is also beautiful. And there is a beautiful side of the darkness and the evil and that's why it's so alluring. So, He speaks of the Lord as the sun and He says, “There's coming a time when I will not be easily found, when I will cloak myself with darkness,” but there's also coming a time when the occult powers, the moon—when they'll be turned to blood. Now this could mean two things. It could mean when it says the moon is turned to blood, it could mean the occult powers are put to death, because blood is the sign of two things in the Bible: death or it's a sign of grace and life. And I think He means here the moon is going to be turned into a sign of grace or life. It's the ultimate deception, so that people on the earth will turn to the occult power and they'll look upon it as a source of grace and life just like the blood of Jesus. It will be a counterfeit. (Jack Deere, ibid.)

The application is most confusing, to say the least. Does the moon really mean life or death? And is God turning His back on us so all is lost? These are seriously confusing and irresponsible statements. Has this “Joel's Army” now become our salvation?

We are told that we should just accept these radical differences in theology, but not use these differences as an excuse for breaking fellowship. However, strangely enough, it is not us who have broken fellowship. Rather, the testimony I receive over and over is that when someone questions the “new teaching” they are called divisive and asked to leave the church – sometimes even thrown out physically.

To add insult to injury, the Church is being told that some of these literal signs do occur in the Last Days (such as: the sun turning dark, the moon turning to blood and earthquakes), but that they do not come as a result of a sovereign act of God's wrath towards wicked men at the end of the Great Tribulation known as the cataclysmic phase of the DAY OF THE LORD (The Second Advent of Christ). On the contrary, we are led to believe that these cataclysmic events are caused by the Last Day “Prophets,” two of whom are thought to be “Endtime Witnesses” – namely “Prophet” Paul Cain and “Prophet” Bob Jones. We are told that these false prophets will manifest these supernatural signs and much more by their “incarnate” powers. Their powers will supposedly be so great that they will call forth Joel’s Army by their prophetic word.

You see, everybody, every scholar I know, every commentator I know, knows that these passages in Ezekiel 37; 38, and 39 are all talking about the Last Day ministry. They all know it's the Last Day move of the Holy Spirit – and how is it going to be? What's going to happen to this lifeless church? How is it going to start? Well God could just speak a word from heaven. He could just cause a revival to start among us. He could just put the conviction of sin in our heart supernaturally by His Spirit. But that's not how He's going to do it. He's going to raise up the prophetic. What brings the bones to life here? It is the prophetic word inspired by God. “Prophesy son of man;” and then it happens. At each stage of the way prophecy, and then life, comes. And then what's the result of that prophetic? A vast army. (Jack Deere, ibid.) [emphasis added]

Jack Deere continues by proclaiming the “prophets” are now on the scene:

You see, that really is how He's going to end the last day ministry. You see why we're excited about someone like Paul Cain or Bob Jones coming on the scene? Or others that we've met? We're excited because that's how He's going to end. It's a signal that the Last Days are very close at hand and this is New Testament also. Revelation 11:3 – you know those two powerful witnesses in Revelation? You know what they are, first and foremost? They are prophets. He said they will prophesy for 1,260 days. He's going to end the last days just before His Son returns with a prophetic movement that will sweep the entire face of the earth and will eclipse anything we have ever seen before… the significance of these signs and wonders. They just happen on the earth. But they don't just happen on the earth. They come because they are prayed for and they are predicted by God's people. (Jack Deere, ibid.) [emphasis added]

Jack Deere continues:

Prophets will predict it. It's already happening. It's like the first time Paul Cain came here. Remember? John told us this story. I was talking to Paul Cain on the phone and I said, “Paul, when are coming to visit John? We've been talking about it for two months.” And Paul said, “I don't know, but the Lord told me on the day I come, there'll be an earthquake.” …You know at 3:38 in the morning, the morning of the day he arrived here on Saturday morning, that earthquake came centered in Pasadena and then the day after he left, that earthquake came in Armenia that took all of those thousands of lives. You see, that's not unusual anymore. That's going to be normal for prophetic people that God wants to endorse. He's done that through Bob Jones four or five times – given cosmic signs in the heavens that could not be contradicted. He's done that through Bob Jones. He will do that regularly now…. (Jack Deere, ibid.)

Question: Can we build on these signs? Do they prove the authenticity of the prophets? Our Lord Jesus Christ warned, “A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign” (Matt. 16:4).

Why do thousands of devotees flock yearly to a small poor Yugoslavian village? The apparitions of Medjugorje give the pilgrims the sense of their own miracles. The pilgrims are enthralled that they can look directly into the sun for several minutes without being blinded. Others say they see the sun pulsating. Some even report physical healing. A seminarian said he saw a red glow emanating from the sun and saw it start to beat. He asked, “What does that mean?” and he heard the words, “Jesus in the Eucharist and spreading his peace around the earth.”

What did this sign in the heavens do for him? It caused him to go out to try and increase devotion to the Eucharist. Needless to say, at the heart of the Eucharist is the doctrine of transubstantiation (the belief that the communion is the actual body and actual blood of the Lord).

Malachi Martin, a Catholic priest who authored many books including The Jesuits and The Keys of This Blood, said in a radio interview a few years ago that the Pope had a special revelation. This revelation told him that within his lifetime he would be authenticated as a moral and religious leader by a sign in the heaven. This sign would be such a clear happening that all men (from New York, Denver, Tasmanian Jungle, Singapore and Beijing) would know he had this role!

“…An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas.” (Matt. 12:39)

The “Day of the Lord” is re-interpreted by the false prophets to mean that Christ will come to His Church and incarnate (become God in flesh) an army of believers – thus giving them supernatural qualities to execute judgment on the Church. The “Day of the Lord” is also misconstrued to mean a time of judgment, starting with the Church. The key text they love to quote is from I Peter 4:17: “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the House of God.” The common orthodox interpretation of the text is that God will punish the righteous when they sin, and punish the ungodly at the coming judgment. This is quite adequate and clear. Ever since the inception of the Church, the Holy Spirit has been in the business of judging and purging the Church. God's sovereign judgment will continue to chasten, cleanse and purge the Church until the judgment seat of Christ when the saints will receive their rewards and the records of service are set straight.

The “Day of the Lord” as seen through the eyes of the New Wave “prophets” will be a time when Joel’s Army, led by these “prophets,” will pour out God's wrath on the church! Then, they claim, for the first time in two thousand years the “pure church” will come forth. In other words, the blood of Christ did not avail, nor will it, in the last days because this Joel’s Army and the “prophets” will do what Jesus Christ’s blood could not; i.e., “cleanse” the Church. If indeed it takes this Joel’s Army to purify the Church, then all the preaching of the Cross from the early Church to the present was in vain. And rather than the Cross of Christ being God's final answer to “walking in newness of life,” we should look for another.

This Joel’s Army heresy, as it is applied to the Church and the world, is not only in total conflict with the true Gospel of Christ, but represents a radical new rendition of the doctrines of redemption and purification. By all analyses it is “another gospel.” It poses a real threat to unstable churches because it is yet another great deception beguiling the Church.

The following is a further account of Jack Deere's “bloody slaughter on the church by Joel's Army” that will turn the scene of the Church to blood and darkness before perfection.

The Scripture never encourages us to warn the unbeliever of the wrath that is to come. When the prophets speak to God's people, they warn God's people about what's to come. And then he says to God's people, not to the unbelievers, but he says to God's people, “let the land, those who live in the land of Palestine, let them tremble” – now how could that be? Our Lord Jesus is coming back, we all believe that. But why should God's people tremble? …He's going to come TO the Church. He's going to come TO the Church before He comes FOR the Church. 1 Peter 4:17 says that judgment is near and that it's going to begin with the House of God… The Lord Jesus, before He comes and visits judgment upon the earth, He's going to come and visit it upon His Church. And no one, no one, in His Church is going to escape that judgment….

You really want the Day of the Lord to come? Woe to you, woe to you who long for the Day of the Lord. That Day will be darkness, not light… He's coming in judgment. He's coming to purify His Church. He will not come back for that Bride. He will come to purify that Church and make it His Bride and that's why judgment is going to come….

How is God going to bring judgment upon His Church, and then judgment upon the land after His Church? He's going to do it with a large and mighty army. Now what is this army like? He says, first off in verse 3, well, first of all He said that this army is totally unique. This army, there's never been one like it, and there never will be one like it in ages to come… When this army comes, He says it's large and it's mighty. It's so mighty that there's never been anything like it before… “Begin the slaughter and begin it in the temple and begin it with the elders, the leaders of my people.” And they walk through the land and they start and they begin to slaughter and, you know God has already started that? He has already started with the biggest names in His household? He has already started the slaughter… and it is coming now among the Church. He'll start with the leaders, but He'll move out into the Church. That's why, when He says in verse 2, “It's a day not of rejoicing and happiness, it's a day of darkness and gloom. It's a day of clouds and blackness, like dawn spreading across the mountains.” You really want the Day of the Lord to come? Woe to you, woe to you who long for the Day of the Lord. That Day will be darkness, not light. (Jack Deere, ibid.) [emphases added]

Reading and listening to the kind of war this Joel’s Army is supposed to wage against the Church in the last days, we learn that not only is it totally unscriptural, but it reflects an ominous spirit. Far from being redemptive, it is destructive and even sadistic. It is a spirit that denies Jesus Christ is come in the flesh and that the Church was purchased with His precious blood.

“Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.” (Ephesians 5:25-27)

The Joel’s Army “prophets” manifest a bigoted, belligerent and vindictive spirit. “Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of” (Luke 9:54, 55). This spirit is identified in the following statement of Rick Joyner when he uses Phinehas as an example. Phinehas executed judgment with a javelin for the Lord.

The Lord’s purpose in preparing for the harvest is to JOIN, not to separate. The dismantling of organizations and disbanding of some works will be a positive and exhilarating experience for the Lord’s faithful servants. They will not be just leaving something behind, they will be going on to a much greater work.... Those serving in leadership must trust their discernment and REMOVE the stumbling blocks.

To be distinguished from the “stumbling blocks,” the Lord will raise up a great company of prophets, teachers, pastors and apostles that will be of the spirit of Phinehas. Just as the son of Eleazar could not tolerate iniquity in the camp of the Lord, this “ministry of Phinehas” will save congregations, and at times, even whole nations, from the plagues that will be sweeping the earth…. (The Harvest Trilogy, The Morning Star Publications, 1989, p. 10)

Repeated and regular reference is made to the death Ananias and Sapphira suffered as a result of lying to the Holy Spirit (Acts 5). Christians are reminded that if they resist or rebel against what God is doing through the “prophets and apostles” they too could suffer the same fate. The Church is being told that the ministry that judged Ananias and Sapphira is being revived and restored to the Church by the “prophets.” Fear of this happening is growing widely. Members are afraid to speak out against the errors and abuse. Out of fear, many submit to the “prophets.”

Not only is this a very dangerous position, but is tantamount to sinning against the sovereignty of the Holy Spirit. We dare not substitute these false “prophets” for the true ministry of the Holy Spirit – God forbid! We wish that these “prophets” would settle for the Spirit of Jesus Christ – full of Grace and Truth.

Joel’s Army shares the same mindset as the Latter Rain Movement and they are indeed “birds of a feather.” Their bizarre claims of new revelation and deep insight conspicuously lack substance, other than expressing subjective feelings (passive or emotional). The ingredients that hold their religious beliefs together are: 1) personal experiences; 2) mysticism – understood only by the elite; 3) allegorizing Scriptures; and 4) preaching based on intuition, feelings or perception (as opposed to the criteria of Biblical Truth). These subjective ingredients appeal to Christians who are unstable in the Word of God.

The quotation below is a good example of how the Scriptures are allegorized, taken out of context and applied in a typical cultish manner. Note how the term “Joel’s Army” is presumptuously and conveniently applied to the Church with no regard to: 1) the literal interpretation or meaning; 2) the context; and 3) the fundamental principles of hermeneutics (science of interpretation). Throughout the quote an allegorical and mystical meaning is in evidence. False prophet Paul Cain brought this teaching in through his Latter Rain roots. This comes out very clearly in his “Joel’s Army” message:

This army is also in the New Testament. It's referred to as the Manchild. I know some of you are going to disagree with this. Don't you even stop to disagree. Revelation 12:25… If you disagree, just file it in miscellaneous and check it out. And don't bother with it. When we get to heaven we'll check it out and you'll find out I'm right. Here it is, this great army in the New Testament is the Manchild, Revelation 12:5; the Overcomers, Revelation 2 and 3; the 144,000 Servants, Revelation 7:3; the Bride or the Lamb’s Wife, Revelation 19:7 and 21:9; and the White Horse, Revelation 6:2; the Firstfruits, Revelation 14:4; the Precious Fruits, James 5:7; the Wise Virgins, Matthew 25:1-13; the Manifested Sons of God, Romans 8:19-23. And it's certainly a remarkable fact that none of these names are expressions applied to the saints of God or at any other time in history. But all of them are in their context and promises showing undeniably that they belong to the end of time… to this present generation; Matthew 24:34. You know, it's always today. Of course today the Lord says today, today, today… And God wants us to realize once again in closing that there's going to be a great Company of Overcomers prepared for this mighty ministry which I call the Prize of All Ages. And again, God's offering to the believers of this generation a greater privilege than was ever offered to any people of any generation at any time from Adam clear down through the end of the millennium. (Paul Cain, “Joel’s Army,” Kansas City Fellowship, Southside Meeting) [emphases added]

These “prophets” disregard dispensational truth and claim that Joel’s Army is God's Word incarnated, which makes them “Manifest Sons of God.” Essentially, this is Gnosticism. As Charismatics they owe their beginnings to the “Latter Rain Movement” – the mother of present day Manifest Sons of God teaching. History recalls that this mysterious “New Age Army” concept, with all its spiritual trimmings, found its way into the classic Pentecostal sphere through the Latter Rain movement in 1948. At that time the Assemblies of God, as well as others, noted the unsavory nature of it and its potential adverse effect on sound biblical truth. No time was wasted on the part of the Assemblies of God and others to confront it head on. Since that time, relative stability and great progress has been enjoyed. But, once again this “strange fire” has flared up – history repeating itself.

The Gnostic aspect of the “Manifest Sons of God” heresy can readily be identified in four ways:

1. The claim to perfection through progressive revelations beyond the Scriptures;

2. The written Word of God is held in low esteem and experiential knowledge very high;

4. The claim that the “god-man” dwells in every member and is waiting to be discovered and manifest by the believers.

There are very strong traces of these characteristics in the Joel’s Army and Manifest Sons of God teachings.

Sam Fife was one of the original Manifest Sons of God “apostles” who came out of the Latter Rain movement. He was a leader of the group referred to as “The Move of God” or “The Body.” One of his teachings was that “Concerning the miracles that Jesus did while He was on earth, these were done by the soul power that is inherent in all of the sons of Adam; i.e., that Jesus perfected the best of man’s nature and later, after the resurrection He perfected the God nature.” He later claimed to be “I AM.” An analysis of Sam Fife’s teachings was done in the 1970s:

The first premise held is that both the Old and the New Testaments have first a letter (or literal) meaning and then a spirit (or spiritual) meaning. This brings us to progressive revelation of the Scriptures, as they don't claim to have all the spirit mysteries of the Word yet revealed, but it is being revealed precept upon precept.

The next point concerning the Scriptures is that the Bible is not the final authority for Truth. Rather, the “spirit” is their final authority, followed by the witness of the corporate ministry. The Bible becomes secondary to this “spirit” and corporate ministry.

Just to illustrate this point, Sam Fife has said that in these last days that whatever the corporate spirit in them leads them to do – whether or not they have scripture to stand on – that is what they will do. In a private conversation, I asked him if he felt the spirit leading him to kill someone, would he do it? His answer was in the affirmative…

…Sam makes it clear that since Jesus went into oblivion and does not now exist as an individual entity apart from his spiritual body (the Church), that we should not expect to see him come again at the second advent. When Sam speaks of the Lord’s coming again, he is referring to the appearing of Christ IN a group of people, God’s elect. (Raymond Yenkana, “Report on Sam Fife”, June 12, 1978)

A lady called me, gasping in horror. A noted evangelist had just come on a Christian television program, held up his Bible and said that he held it in no more esteem than the Readers Digest. This is being done more and more as the “new” revelations take precedence over the written Word of God. Are you gasping in horror, or are you cooing out the soothing words, “Touch thou not the anointed”? As the Church apathetically sits by, the pastors stand in line at The Old Country Buffet or McDonalds. Meanwhile the teaching on Joel’s Army is taking root in one form or another in many ministries.

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