Mis-Miss Translation
February 6, 2023 | by Marc Cebrian
A poor craftsman blames his tools.
There is an abundance of blame to go around whenever David C. Pack of The Restored Church of God fails. Living in a broken reality where The Twilight Zone meets Groundhog Day, the tragic morality tale of the vexed Pastor General will not have a happy ending.
"The Greatest Untold Story!" Series is Unending. Dave's god is hell-bent on stringing the brethren along while ruse after ruse toys with their hope, eroding their faith. The Kingdom of God will never arrive when he preaches it will, no matter how much shouting is involved.
The truth is sometimes stranger than fiction.
David C. Pack teaches strange fiction but calls it the truth.
The Mystery of God is ended. Daniel is unsealed. God showed me this. I’m rushing to call this out and make it plain. The Series is over. The 1335 began last Thursday. Bla bla bla.
During "The Greatest Unending Story! (Part 417)," given on February 2, 2023, he had a few more make-believe topics hidden up his sleeve.
The Three Shepherds of Zechariah 11 are finally identified. But not really.
A mistranslation opened a can of prophetic worms. But, this was a mis-mistranslation.
The elusively mysterious Three Shepherds of Zechariah 11 has been on the minds of RCG members since 2012. Speculation about their identity has been going on for over a decade.
Part 417 – February 2, 2023
@ 19:11 I’m gonna show you an extraordinary thing. I found the Three Shepherds…I found them. I found them in one place after another, after another, and I’m gonna show them to you.
On paper, this would sound like the most intriguing topic of Part 417. But, as with all things RCG, the reality is not nearly as rewarding as we hoped.
@ 31:22 Now, who are the Three Shepherds? Who are the Three Shepherds?
That sounds pretty convincing, right? He certainly knows how to tease up interest.
Dave goes into the book of Daniel and then severely disappoints anyone interested.
@ 32:17 I found them. They are mentioned at least three times…I’m just gonna tell you who these shepherds are. Who these rulers are. They are rulers who rise in front of Nebuchadnezzar, and they are consecutive. Wow.
Wow? He was excited about this, like it was a big deal.
@ 34:01 And watch. I will show you. I’ll show you. You’ll see it…Watch this. So, those would be three rulers. Horns means governments. The Three Shepherds are rulers who are also called horns.
He tied the horns in Daniel 7 to the Shepherds in Zechariah 11. Boom: minds blown. Or something.
@ 39:52 This becomes an extraordinary statement: “Three rulers I cut off in one month.” That means they had to die before he [Man of Sin] came to power. And in fact, they died before he was in power and went into Egypt before the 10 days. Now, this has been a mystery.
He says “shepherds” means “rulers” and “horns” means “rulers,” therefore, the three shepherds of Zechariah 11 are the three horns of Daniel 7 that will be cut off in one month.
“How do three horns in Daniel prove they are the same shepherds in Zechariah?”
"Because I said so."
“Good enough for me.”
Theorizing about three unnamed, vague leaders rising to power before the not-resurrected not-Man of Sin does not seem like extraordinary knowledge. Honestly, this was a massive letdown because I was curious to hear what he had to say.
Perhaps nobody in the audience caught this but Dave never identified WHO they were, only WHAT they were. Saying “three leaders” without naming them or giving a country of origin or their world role today amounts to a gigantic turd sandwich.
That is worse than a Nothingburger because he built it up so much.
@ 31:24 Who are the Three Shepherds?
We still do not know because he never told us. WHAT is not the same as WHO. WHAT is not nearly as important as WHO. WHO is everything. WHAT is junior varsity.
To put a very fine point on this: David C. Pack never said WHO the Three Shepherds of Zechariah 11 are. He thought, assumed, presumed, and guessed WHAT they are. We knew they were leaders back in 2012, so thanks for nothing, Dave.
Yawn.
@ 03:16 Now, as I like to say, “Our old friend, Miss Trans. Miss Translations has revisited us one more time.” And it’s powerful. I can only wish (and you’ll say the same. You won’t believe what I'm gonna show you). I can only wish I had learned this long ago. I would have never wrestled if a single word were correctly translated. I would have never wrestled with three kingdoms or four. But, a very big mistake was made in the Book of Revelation…
In the Kingdom, Dave will offer sucker punches followed by apologies to all the translators he has accused over the years. His mistranslations sometimes have an expiration date of a week, while others are tattooed on his lower back.
Continuing the tradition of reshaping the Bible into his own image, Dave changed a common word in Revelation 6:17 to explain away months of waffling.
Revelation 6:17
For the great day of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?
The boney fingers of blame are pointed at men who died centuries ago.
@ 9:31 Here’s the mistranslation: “For the great day of THEIR wrath is come.”
According to Dave, the word is plural, not singular. That is a vital discovery just as time runs out.
Dave concocted a new theory that the day of the great wrath is from both the Father and Jesus Christ. Therefore, there are three Kingdom periods, not four. (Insert rays of sunlight and angelic choir here.)
@ 09:25 It’s plural. It’s not saying one or the other. Now, that’s powerful. Had I known that, it would have been impossible to ever question whether the Day of Christ was other than the same day of God’s wrath. This is His day. His wrath.
According to Strong’s Concordance, hautou is used 924 times in the New Testament. Following this line of thinking opens up 923 other possibilities of pronoun mistranslation to be shifted upon need later. The Bible can now say whatever you want. A biblical charlatan's paradise.
hautou (G848)
Contraction for G1438; self (in some oblique case or reflexive relation): - her (own), (of) him (-self), his (own), of it, thee, their (own), them (-selves), they.
Using the same logic, any Prophecy Know-It-All could proclaim a mistranslation led him to see “HER wrath is come.” Since women are not in leadership roles, the only inarguable possibility is this is the Church. So, the brethren have a “great day of wrath” upon the world. Nobody ever understood this before because nobody else was ever led to look up the word.
With that bathroom door left open on this, anyone who wants to take liberty with any of the pronouns in the New Testament could have a field day. Wiccans would be excited to see the Bible teach about a goddess.
Mistranslations are not a curse to David C. Pack. They are a blessing.
@ 10:28 That means the 10 days of Tribulation terminated at the start of God’s wrath, which is not just the Seventh Seal, but the Sixth. I don’t know that was ever understood. But it's after the Tribulation.
@ 10:52 …and it's the wrath of both Beings. It is Their day. So, Christ's day or "the end" could never have been coming before Their wrath came at the same time. How I wish I had known that. But it never crossed my mind to look it up.
One thing about Dave is that he has a genuine skill (no snark inserted) of knowing how to string Bible verses together to make a point. With this explanation, he almost had me. I opened my reasoning to the possibility he could be right on this and tried to see it from his perspective.
To be fair, whether it is singular wrath or plural wrath will not make a difference when the time comes. Punishment from two God beings would be no more terrifying than from One.
But then, he had to slip a lie in.
He almost got away with his point without making a blatant and verifiable falsehood. I wonder if the man is incapable of speaking the truth anymore. It is as if everything he says is tainted in some way.
@ 11:17 But never looked it up. I don't think you would be able to do it in any generation before you could go to eSword and see that the Greek is 100% plural.
Record scratch. How many of the brethren fact-checked this?
The Greek word is not 100% plural. eSword calls out David C. Pack as a liar.
hautou (G848)
Contraction for G1438; self (in some oblique case or reflexive relation): - her (own), (of) him (-self), his (own), of it, thee, their (own), them (-selves), they.
The New Testament would need to be rewritten to make all 924 times in 767 verses plural.
Even Ed knows that is malarkey.
But, if the apostle and Pester General says the word is 100% plural, then everyone in RCG needs to accept that. Facts be damned.
The Packian Triad of Fraud missed an opportunity when they did not go to town on The Rules of Effective Bible Study #10 “Use More Than One Translation.”
As it turns out, that plural information was not-so-hidden.
The word is translated as "their" in the NIV, ESV, CSB, NASB20, NASB95, LSB, NET, RSV, ASV, and NLT.
That is an impressive list. However, all these versions are not suitable for doctrine per The Restored Church of God and Worldwide Church of God standards.
RCG has a booklet on the topic, “How We Got the Bible—Which Translations Are Best?”
It concludes on page 33.
Despite some inaccuracies of the King James Bible, we recommend it as your primary study Bible, not only because it is one of the most accurate but because many study tools, such as Strong's Concordance, Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon and others, are based on the KJV…No Bible translation is 100% accurate. But when God opens a person’s mind to His understanding, that person will always strive to divide truth from error.
Hmm. Page 33. Dave preached Part 417 on the 33rd anniversary of his first doodie in Wadsworth. Perhaps that means something significant. But maybe not. Just a thought.
When you apply Rule #6 "Examine the Context," and Rule #8 "The Bible Interprets Itself," the correct answer about Revelation is…well…revealed.
Revelation 6:16
…Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb.
The wrath of the Lamb is identified in verse 16.
Verse 17 refers to the wrath of the previous sentence making it singular. The Lamb’s wrath.
Revelation 6:17
For the great day of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?
The translators had it right. Derp.
But that does not matter.
@ 11:30 Now, that’s helpful because it leads us to the clarification regarding another verse that strengthens Abib 1…We’re building 10 days of Tribulation, then wrath, and then Abib 1.
Dave often makes his point and ignores the implications because he needs to bulldoze his way through his notes. The dominoes of misunderstanding topple one into another. He took this “plural wrath means three Kingdoms” idea and ran with it, fumbling into other cascading errors.
@ 21:35 So, in other words, the Great Tribulation begins March 12th. Since this is February 2nd, and this is a short month by 2 or 3 days on average, it becomes very important if we can pin down the things in front of the 10 days, but not until we've locked in old cement the 10 days.
The things in front of the 10 days land us on tomorrow morning. Tuesday, February 7.
@ 1:45:01 A few other things that suggest this is right. It looks like Elijah blasts at a full moon. That would be about the 15th or the 16th [Shevat – February 6 or 7]. Well, it turns out he blasts at the 17th. Pretty much a full moon.
@ 1:54:28 I don’t see how you get past Tuesday at about, what, 10:17 or something in the morning here. I just don’t see how you do it.
But we know from the Pathetic Update Saturday night to not be surprised when nothing happens. A surprise was never an option.
Who are the Three Shepherds of Zechariah 11?
We still do not know.
Did a mistranslation in Revelation 6:17 open up an understanding of imminent prophetic events on the horizon?
Nope. It is fine as is.
What significant event will happen tomorrow morning?
Ann’s Pastry in downtown Wadsworth will receive a visitor. Their glazed donuts are the best.
