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MICHAEL ROOD, DOOMSDAY PROPHET
by
Dr. John Juedes, 2003
Used With Permission
"Michael John Rood is an ordained
nondenominational Christian minister and Messianic rabbi,"
according to a brochure Rood produced to promote his seminars
which have been held around the United States. The brochure from
Lubbock, Texas describes his seminars:
+ From Here to Eternity Bible
Prophecy Seminar, which claims to be "for anyone who
wants to know the future of planet earth." It uses the book of
Revelation to assert that Jesus Christ is not "legally
obligated" (a key Rood term) to rapture the church before the
global economy collapses, America is destroyed by nuclear
attack, and an atheistic global government is established.
+ Archaeological Proofs of God's
Hand in History seminar describes unusual and contested
archeological finds such as remains of Sodom and Gomorrah,
remains of Pharaoh's chariots in the Red Sea from the time of
the Exodus, the real mount Sinai, the altar to the golden
calf, the rock that Moses struck, and Noah's ark.
+The Feasts of the Lord and the
Hebrew Roots of Christianity seminar claims to present
Rabbi Shaul's (apostle Paul's) understanding of the Torah,
ways which Y'Shua (Jesus) fulfilled the spring feasts
described in the Old Testament (OT), and how a Hebrew
understanding of the fall feasts makes the book of Revelation
understandable.
+ The Mystery of Iniquity:
The Legal Prerequisites to the Return of Jesus Christ, a book
which claims that the Christian church at large is under "
full deception." It claims the Antichrist will be revealed and
America destroyed "in our lifetime."
Rood distributes material from these
seminars on video and audio tapes through his web site,
www.michaelrood.com and at personal appearances. He publishes
his audiotapes, videotapes and book under the name Early Church
Communications in Two Harbors, Minnesota.
Pictures of Rood show him wearing
Mideastern dress-- a long, first-century style robe, Arabic or
Hebrew headdress, and long untrimmed beard. He also claims to be
a Jew, "We, who are Jews by nature, know..." (Mystery of
Iniquity, Chapter 8, also web interview with Sid Roth).
Unfortunately, Michael John Rood and
his teachings are not credible or accurate. Rood is not trained,
certified or recognized as a Rabbi, and his "ordination" by a
cult called The Way International (TWI) required only minor
instruction in an unaccredited TWI program. His central
teachings depart radically from the evangelical Christian faith,
and several of his teachings and practices are typical among
cults rather than among Christians or Messianic Jews (that is,
Jews who have accepted Yeshua [Jesus Christ] as Lord and
Savior). Furthermore, many of his teachings and practices are
drawn from a cult called The Way International which was
incorporated in 1954 and widely denounced by Christian leaders
and TWI's ex-followers alike. About 95% of TWI's followers have
left TWI after seeing its severe errors, and many ex-leaders of
TWI have founded a variety of splinter groups or ministries,
just as Rood has.
ROOD'S TEACHINGS AND
PRACTICES
**Rood predicted in the 1990s that
the seventh millennium of earth's existence would begin
on sunset, September 11, 1999, which he says is Tishri 1,
6001 on the Hebrew calendar. This would begin the "intermediate
events," before the rapture of the Church. He generally
interpreted the "intermediate events" to be the seven year Great
tribulation which would include collapse of the world economy,
world chaos, appearance of the Antichrist, the establishment of
a global government, attack on Israel, nuclear attack on
America, revolution in the United States, martial law, invasion
of America by the armies of Russia, China and other countries,
destruction of most of America and the death of most Americans.
He summarizes this list in Mystery of Iniquity saying
"America will be smashed by Russia, and Russia will be smashed
by God as they attempt to invade Israel" (p.48).
Rood's other web site, www.6001.com,
showed a dramatic image of a mushroom cloud under the title "Zecharia's
Thermonuclear War." Rood's article "Zacharia's Thermonuclear
War" described the destruction of America, 9/11 terrorism, Iraq
and related topics. Residents of Two Harbors where Rood moved
after leaving San Antonio, Texas, say that Rood persuaded
several of his followers to move there also, and that they
stockpiled food and weapons to prepare for the American
holocaust. He claims that catastrophe would take its greatest
toll on coastal population centers, leaving remote Two Harbors
generally untouched.
One of Rood's followers, Daniel J. Lee,
also described these events in some detail in his article "Doom,
General All-Purpose 2001 and Beyond" on the Internet (www.mdcplus.com/web/webmaster/Dan2001gen/html).
Lee attributed all the doomsday predictions to Rood.
The specific date of these events is
extremely important to Rood. He claims that the current Hebrew
calendar is wrong (see below for more on this concept), and that
the seventh millennium would occur on Tishri 1, 6001, which he
asserted was September 11, 1999. This date was so important to
Rood that he named his web site www.6001.com. He was very
disappointed when the political catastrophes did not follow this
date, but still warns that their arrival is imminent.
Rood's ideas about the end times
include a heavy dose of conspiracy theory. In an advertisement
for his seminars, Rood wrote, "...Atheist have taken over the
corridors of power in Washington.... We are on a headlong plunge
into the terror of a plan for a world government who answer to
no God, and their power limited by no man. Through the illegal
Department of Re-Education, atheists have trashed our
constitution and polluted the minds of our children with the raw
sewage of evolution...." (Advertisement for seminar on
Revelation, Bible Prophecy and the New World Order, Feb 23-25;
1998, reiterated in Mystery of Iniquity, p. 70 under
the subtitle "The Fiery Judgement of America").
**Rood constantly criticizes the
Christian church at large as being "Babylon," which is
full of "pagan traditions" and under "full deception" (web site
and Lubbock brochure). He advocates that people leave the
Christian church to follow him and his teachings, which his web
site calls "journey out of Babylon." One of the tapes by Rood
sold on www.michaelrood.com is described as, "The Doctrine of
the Nicolaitains 90-minute audio tape defines and exposes the
present-day reality of Nicolaitanism as it thrives in the
hierarchical structure of the modern 'Church.'"
He specifically denounces tax-exempt
status and says he does not believe in 501c3 organizations.
However, he apparently has begun using that himself when he asks
for donations personally and on his web site. Rood gives donors
two options: mail donations to Two Harbors if donors don't want
a receipt, or to his foundation in Oregon it they do.
His teaching on "Nicolaitanism calls
for speculation, since the book of Revelation refers to but does
not describe the doctrine of the Nicolaitans. Rood especially
denounces denominational and tax-exempt churches.
Rood poses as a Christian minister and
claims to have references from several churches. In fact, most
of these references have been shown to be false. For example,
Rood attempted to gain followers from Alliance churches in
northern Minnesota. The District Office of Alliance churches in
that area wrote a letter outlining Rood's false teachings and
warning Alliance members to avoid him:
"According to Rev. Misener this group
is very deceptive in how they approach churches and
individuals. 'At first glance this group appears harmless,'
Rev. Misener stated, 'But once you sit down and dig into their
doctrinal stands they become pretty destructive. While they
call themselves a Messianic Jewish movement similar to Jews
for Jesus, they are far from that. They actually teach that
unless we return to the observance of the Sabbath on Saturday,
and the celebration of the Jewish festivals we are an
abomination to the Lord. It's like reading from the Book of
Galatians where the Judaisers came in and told the Gentiles
they need to observe all Jewish traditions and laws. In
fact... this group would not consider evangelicals to be
Christians at all. And they are VERY secretive about their
belief system.'" (The Alliance Echo, quoted in the
newsletter of the Hibbing, MN, CMA church newsletter, Nov.
1998)
The Two Harbors Ministerial Committee
also published a flyer warning that Rood's group was
aberrational. The churches also discovered that the churches and
ministers Rood gave as references were false-- they either did
not know Rood or did not approve of his ministry.
**Rood claims that he alone teaches
accurately and that following him and his teachings is the
way out of deception. His web site offered a package of his
teachings to help people "get back to the Lord." It asserted
that Rood's teachings would get people "out of Babylon"
(www.6001.com/product1, 9-10-99). He promoted his teachings on
the Hebrew festivals as "greater... than any available on the
planet." He is the one who can reveal "the mystery" that the
Christian church is too deceived to recognize. He often uses
words like "mystery" and "unknown" to attract others' curiosity
and imply that he knows what few others do. He likes to say that
his teachings are so different that they are "a Rood awakening"
to people.
**Rood repeatedly inflates his
accomplishments, ability and importance. In an
advertisement for his seminar on Revelation, Bible Prophecy and
the New World Order, he claimed that when he was a Marine, the
whole Marine battalion on a ship gathered at the same time to
hear him speak on the return of Christ which led to "the largest
number of Marines since WWII" being baptized at once. His claims
to be an ordained Christian minister and Messianic rabbi are
also misrepresentations. The Lubbock brochure mentioned above is
not the only time he claimed to be a trained minister in a
denomination. He said, "I was an energetic exponent of the
teachings of my church and theological institutions. I had a...
denomination to protect.... Just because a denomination is in
the mainstream of modern Christianity...." (Mystery of
Iniquity, p. 23). Readers are led to believe that Rood was
affiliated with a mainstream denomination and theological
institution, when his involvement in a cultic group was actually
far from that.
Rood repeatedly claims that respected
people in certain communities approve of his ministry when in
fact they do not. Several ministers in the northern Minnesota
area report that Rood falsely claimed their support in order to
gain a hearing from people. Once Rood spoke at a seminar at
which minister and former pro football player Reggie White
spoke. Soon thereafter, Rood's web site said that White
supported Rood's ministry, when in fact White did not. This
claim was soon removed from Rood's web site.
**Counting time, calendars and date
setting are very important to Rood. He, Robert Wadsworth
and Richard Fike (also ex-followers of TWI) developed an
"accurate" Hebrew calendar using sightings of the new moon from
Jerusalem, observations of barley (aviv) crops in the
Negev of Israel, and astronomy. (www.michaelrood.com/calend).
(Because Wadsworth believes that celestial events in the next 20
years are much like those which occurred before Messiah's birth,
he believes that Christ will return to earth in 2040 instead of
2010 as he previously believed.)
This calendar is critical to Rood for
several reasons: First, it gives him a way to establish a
definite date for the "intermediate events" of the collapse of
America which precede the second coming of Christ. Second, Rood
uses it as a tool of legalism, implying that all Sabbath and
festivals observed by Jews are false-- unless they use his
calendar. Third, he uses it to assert himself as the source of
accuracy regarding the dating of the end times and Hebrew
observances, which he says are essential for all believers to do
today, as well as the date of Biblical events. For example,
Rood's web site offers charts which give specific dates for
creation (March 23-29, 001 BC), Gabriel's announcement to
Zechariah about John's birth (Sunday, May 23, 4 BC) the birth of
John the Baptist (March 21, 3 BC), the birth of Jesus Christ
(Wed, Sept 23, 3 BC) and the beginning of the seventh millennium
(Sept 11, 1999). Fourth, he uses it legalistically, to require
that all observances be done on his definite, minute to minute
schedule.
**Rood's emphasis on particular
days blinds him to truth. For instance, he says worship on
Sundays, and especially sunrise services on Easter, are an
abomination to the Lord because the sun god was worshiped on
Sunday mornings (Mystery of Iniquity, Chapter 8). He
seems to completely miss the fact that Jesus Christ chose to
rise from the dead at sunrise on a Sunday. As the apostle Paul
mentions, the resurrection was on the Feast of Firstfruits which
was a Sunday (1 Corinthians 15). By Rood's theory, people should
conclude that God was creating an abomination by placing both
the resurrection and the Feast of Firstfruits on the morning of
sun god worship! Christian don't worship on Sundays because they
honor the sun God, but because God chose Sunday as the day of
Christ's resurrection, by which he gives eternal life to His
people. From the earliest times, Christians worshiped at sunrise
on Sundays (as Roman official Pliny the Younger noted in his
famous letter to Caesar). Rood doesn't seem to realize that when
Christians worship on Sundays, they worship the true God and
read the Holy Scriptures, and never impregnate virgins and kill
babies in sacrifice as he says believers in the sun god did.
Rood also seems to miss the fact that
celebrating Jesus' birth on December 25, doesn't mean that
people are worshiping Saturnalia, anymore than celebrating your
sister's birth on December 25 means you're worshiping
Saturnalia. And when they recognize Christ's death on Good
Friday, no one actually offers sacrifices, or even knows
anything about, Dagon the Philistine fish god (if it actually
ever existed). Rood also says that the commercialism of
Christmas is reason not to celebrate it on December 25, which
again shows faulty logic. That's like saying that since July 4
is commercialized, everyone should celebrate Independence Day on
some other date. . To Rood, the particular days and times mean
far more than the beliefs, practices and faith of the people.
**Rood promotes highly speculative
and unfounded ideas, from his date-setting, to his
predictions of events of the "tribulation," to his
archaeological "discoveries." Contrary to Rood, discoveries of
Noah's ark are anecdotal and unproven, the altar of the golden
calf does not exist, and the location of Moses' rock and Sinai
cannot be confirmed, Wyatt's theories of the ark of the covenant
are spurious and no one has ever produced it. It is ironic and
revealing that in a day when there are huge numbers of confirmed
archaeological finds which confirm Bible events, Rood picks only
speculative "finds" which lack convincing evidence.
Martin, Rood, Wierwille of TWI and
others have written hundreds of pages about the date of Jesus'
birth. Yet, each part of their case is based on speculation, not
on facts. The Bible does not explicitly state that the star was
a conjunction of Jupiter, or that ancient astronomers recorded
its appearance, nor the amount of time between Gabriel's
announcement and John's conception, nor the exact length of
Mary's pregnancy; nor does it state that the moon and stars
alluded to in Revelation 12:1 refer specifically to the time of
evening on Tishri 1 between 6:18 and 7:39 p.m. To define things
that the Bible does not define is speculation, no matter how
logical it sounds.
**Rood's speculation about end time
political events has made him a darling of the Prophecy
Club and Christians who accept conspiracy theories and paranoia.
The Prophecy Club promotes tapes by people who assert US
government conspiracy (including complicity in 9/11 terrorism),
Bible codes, "idolatry" pervading the Christian Church at large,
war on Israel, America as "Mystery Babylon," collapse of world
economy, One World Government, a political Antichrist, King
James version of the Bible only, God speaking audibly to them,
and UFOs' part in coming world events. In this milieu,
speculation without evidence is rewarded (and even encouraged,
since Prophecy Club fans view evidence against their speculation
as extra reason to assume conspiracy). Rood has an ongoing
relationship with Prophecy Club, having served as one of its
speakers and appeared on panels ironically called "intelligence
briefings." The Club sells some of Roods tapes including "How
Hanukkah Portrays the Rise and Fall of the Antichrist."
**Rood teaches legalism, demanding
that all Christians "keep the Torah." According to him, it
is essential that Christians keep the Sabbath and
observe O.T. festivals (following his calendar), use O.T.
purification rites, etc. To him, it is an abomination to God
when Christians do not observe them completely and accurately.
Rood says the "old lie" is that we
never achieve perfection: "Do you get frustrated with your
efforts and fall back into the old lie that has been told over
and over: 'You can never achieve perfection on this earth....'"
("So They Will Be Called Oaks of Righteousness," www.6001.com/Godsword).
When Rood asserts that humans can achieve perfection by keeping
Torah, he completely misses the words of the apostles who said,
"Why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of the
disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able
to bear? No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord
Jesus that we are saved," (Acts 15:10).
Rood's six point statement of faith
never mentions Jesus Christ, grace or faith, but mentions
commands, obedience and legalism twice each:
"1. GOD is.
2. He is a rewarder of those who
diligently seek Him.
3. They that hunger and thirst after
righteousness shall be filled to the point of their hunger.
4. You will be given only as much
truth as you will obey.
5. Obedience to the commands of GOD
can never be referred to as Legalism.
6. Legalism can only be in reference
to strict adherence to the doctrines and commands of men."
The emphasis throughout is on people's
own works and obedience, not on God's grace and mercy. Numbers
five and six implicitly acknowledge that he has often been
accused of legalism. By asserting that legalism is strict
adherence to the commands of men, Rood is actually
saying that God requires strict adherence to all
God's commands, which is plainly legalism even though Rood
doesn't admit it.
When Rood addresses the subject of
requiring obedience to Old Testament commands in Mystery of
Iniquity, he phrases it in such a way that it may appear to
be a loving option rather than a legalistic requirement:
"Many times I have been asked, 'Are
Christians required to keep these assemblies?' ...Are we
looking to do the bare minimums of obedience, or do we desire
to aggressively obey out of a heart of love? Does the question
reveal a heart that is still at enmity against the law of
God?... We who are Jews by nature know.... No one is justified
because one keeps the feasts. But do we live in opposition to
the Torah because the grace of God covers our sin?" (Mystery
of Iniquity, Chapter 8)
He tries to make it sound less
legalistic by emphasizing that Christians will do it if they
love God. But he repeatedly says that Christians who do not
celebrate the Feasts of Leviticus 23 "sin," transgress" are "in
opposition" and "enmity" against the "law," and must instead
"aggressively obey." Although he frames his answer in a way that
sounds less like law, he plainly thinks it is a legalistic
requirement, not an option which Christians may choose to do or
not do. This is completely different from presenting
opportunities to express love which are not required by law.
It is disturbing that the Statement of
Faith never mentions central New Testament teachings, such as
creation, the humanity and divinity of Jesus Christ, the
personality of the Holy Spirit, faith, salvation in Jesus
Christ, salvation by grace through faith instead of works, the
forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, life
everlasting, etc.
Rood claims that worship on Sunday is
an act of idolatry because in the ancient world the first day of
the week was reserved for worship of the sun god and fertility
gods. He claims that the true date of Christ's resurrection
seldom falls on a Sunday, and that December 25 is not Jesus'
birthday, but the birthday of the sun god. Rood denounces
celebration of Christmas and Easter as "Satanic" holy days, as
the links on his web site make apparent. Chapter 8 of Rood's
book Mystery of Iniquity is devoted to this topic.
Rood also requires his followers to
follow a "clean" (kosher) diet, and practice fasting.
Since Rood requires obedience to all
commands of God, does not center on the grace of Jesus Christ
and neglects several central NT teachings, he is radically
different from Messianic Jews, who accept the grace of Yeshua
the Messiah (Jesus Christ) and believe they are saved by faith
without works or the observing of the law. While some may choose
to keep elements of Torah prescriptions and Jewish traditions,
they do not require them to be carried out as Rood
does.
Rood's web site links to an article
"The Maiden Moon" by Bruce Brill (www.angelfire.com/nm/hebrewcalendar/paper.htm)
on which Rood's email and physical addresses are listed as
contacts. This emphasizes the legalism attached to the issue of
calendars, citing "...the gravity of celebrating of holidays on
the celestially correct day...." In other words, Sabbaths and
festivals are profaned by those who celebrate them on
technically inaccurate times.
**Rood's speculation has led to
false predictions. No cataclysmic events followed his
prediction that September 11, 1999 was to be the start of the
seventh millennium. Rood also published this prediction on his
www.6001.com web site in September, 2002: "... the warning that
went forth from Zion concerning the nuclear attack on Israel.
Israel has been given the OK to pre-empt Iraq. The brimstone is
about to hit the fan.... The repercussions in the US will create
pandemonium." Israel did not attack Iraq, Iraq fell to US and
coalition forces in 2003, and no pandemonium ensued in America.
Rood said that after Israel's prime
minister Ariel Sharon went up to the temple mount September 28,
2000, "I expected it to escalate into a full-blown nuclear
confrontation in the ensuing weeks," (Mystery of Iniquity,
Chapter 8).These kinds of reckless predictions based on his
speculation are typical, and result in a roller coaster of fears
and disappointments in his followers.
The Doomsday List cites other false
dates and false prophecies Rood has made: See also The Rapture
Ready Web site
** Rood attacks pre-tribulation
millennialism and devotes much of Mystery of Iniquity
to condemning it as "false teaching." "...Jesus prophesied
of the secret pre-tribulation rapture heresy and warned us of
the 'false prophets' that would be teaching this very doctrine"
(P. 42) He believes that when the world plunges in war and
turmoil, Christians who believe in the pre-trib rapture will
feel betrayed. While many of his Biblical attacks on the pre-trib
rapture make a lot of sense, his alternative is not credible
either.
**Rood has not denounced the
teachings and beliefs he held when he was a follower of
The Way International (TWI). His biography claims that he
is an "ordained nondenominational Christian minister," but does
not state that it is The Way Int. which ordained him. By
implying that this ordination gives him credibility, and that
the ordaining body is credible, he misrepresents his background.
TWI taught many non-Christian teachings, including obedience to
universal laws (the "laws" of prosperity, believing, etc), that
Jesus Christ was a perfect man but not human and divine, that
the Holy Spirit is not a personal being, that the filling of the
Holy Spirit just amounts to people regaining their own spirit
which was lost at the Fall, that many verses of the Bible are
untrustworthy because they were altered hundreds of years after
they were written, and so forth.
Rood's move to Two Harbors disturbed
the community. Some of his followers refer to "the miracle" when
Rood was driving truck through the Two Harbors area on Christmas
1995, stopped to worship at a nearby church, and was invited to
a resident's home. At the time he was going through a divorce
from his wife Sarah. He moved to Two Harbors soon after that and
lived in a variety of places, from others' property to an RV. He
moved into a vacant building for little or no rent in 1997 and
dubbed it the headquarters of Early Church Communications, and
for a time lived behind the building in an RV.
Rood promoted his seminars held in a
hotel and held studies in a community center. Richard and Linda
Fike moved there in May 1998. Later Rood's daughter Leigh (who
had lived in California with her mother and her three sisters)
moved to Two Harbors to be with him after high school, where she
met and married Eric Fransen. Rood persuaded about ten people to
move there to be near him, although they all moved out (except
for Rood's daughter Leigh and her husband) before long, once
they found that the jobs and ministries that Rood promised never
developed. Rood remarried Judith Dithers.
Early Church Communications seemed to
virtually shut down in 2003. The only address at which Rood is
now doing business in Two Harbors is a P.O. Box at the Post
Office. The business phone number is answered by Rood's
son-in-law. Fike, who once ran it, moved out of Two Harbors,
too. He apparently had some disagreements with Rood, including a
disagreement with another leader in the group, John Coughlin, at
a Feast held at Grantsburg, Wisconsin, on the issue of eating
hot dogs (some seem to be more legalistic about eating kosher
than others).
Two Harbors has been disturbed by
apparent personality changes in those who followed Rood. One
outstanding characteristic is fear, which is mainly due to
Rood's continual predictions of the catastrophe which will come
to America any day.
CONTINUING A CULT
Michael John Rood was a follower,
evangelist, teacher and high level leader in the cult The Way
International for over 15 years, beginning in 1972.. Many people
who were involved in TWI at that time remember him because he
was heavily involved and held highly visible leadership
positions.
Two articles from the Washington
Post mention and quote Rood. One article describes a TWI
meeting in which the leader introduces "'The Rev. Mr. Michael
Rood,' The Way's Washington area director-- 'limb coordinator'
in Way parlance-- and the honored guest at this twig. A
nine-year veteran of the Way, Rood, 29, still displays vestiges
of his years as a Marine Corps sergeant." ("Giving Thanks for
Array of Blessings," Washington Post, Oct. 13, 1981,
p.A11, by Sandra Boodman)
This indicates that Rood began his
involvement in TWI when he was only 20, was ordained in TWI and
was a high level leader. "Limb coordinators" were in charge of a
state (half a state if TWI had many followers there, or more
than one state if there were few). Only about 15 leaders at TWI
headquarters were above the limb coordinator level. In order to
be ordained and a limb leader in TWI, Rood would have had to
serve one or more one-year terms as a TWI recruiter ("WOW
Ambassador") and graduated from Way Corps training, which
included two years working menial jobs at TWI campuses while
taking unaccredited courses. The Way Corps and college offered
no accredited courses or degrees (in contrast to most religious
colleges and seminaries and programs leading to ordination which
do include accredited degrees). Rood also claims to have been
involved in Capitol Hill Christian Fellowship, a TWI-related
group.
The Post article goes on to
quote Rood, "'You can't trust anyone these days,' he says in his
flat, twangy Grand Rapids, Mich., voice, 'You can only trust God
and his word. All the negatives, fears, questions about life.
Insecurity complexes-- all that goes' if you believe in The Way,
Rood says."
Another article by Boodman, ""'The
Way' Recruiters Are Active in D.C., Tidewater," appeared in
the same issue of the Post, p. A03. It mentioned firearms
training which TWI required Corps trainees to take. Rood
explained TWI's rationale: "'It was just a hunter's safety
course,' said The Way's Washington area director Michael Rood, a
former Marine Corps marksman. 'We teach people how to floss
their teeth, do jet-style packing and handle guns.'"
Rood claims he was a leader in Capitol
Hill Christian Fellowship, but doesn't say that it was a TWI-related
group.
Rood still maintains relationships with
other ex-followers of TWI (almost everyone who was in TWI when
Rood was has left to form or join splinter groups, which are
substantially the same as TWI in teachings and practice). They
include Robert Wadsworth who worked with Rood to correct the
Hebrew calendar, Bo Reahard, who maintains a Biblical Astronomy
web site, Jamie Louis who books some of Rood's tours, and
Richard Fike who works closely with Rood. Rood has spoken to
gatherings of TWI splinter groups such as Christian Educational
Services. He has also attended meetings of splinter groups such
as those by Dale Sides of Liberating Ministries for Christ. Rood
continues to maintain connections with them because they still
have much in common.
Michael John Rood has continued many of
the themes and practices which made TWI a cult. Both TWI and
Rood:
a) disparage the Christian Church as
full of deception and pagan practices;
b) consider themselves to be the one
source of truth, the revealer of the unknown Mystery and the
way out of "pagan" Christianity;
c) follow the teachings of one Man
who can lead them out of deception,
d) warned that America would be
attacked and destroyed by Communist powers,
e) promote highly speculative,
unfounded and inaccurate theories,
f) devote attention to minute detail
on areas of "research" that have essentially little
significance,
g) criticize celebration of Christmas
(TWI replaced it with "Happy Household Holidays),
h) use similar terminology, such as
when Rood refers to believers receiving "the gift of holy
spirit," (Mystery of Iniquity, p. 54) meaning that
they receive the human spirit which Adam, lost at the fall,
not "the Holy Spirit" as evangelical Christianity teaches,
i) promote the "Lamsa Bible" written
by George Lamsa, which claims to the translated from the
Aramaic and therefore more accurate than translations from the
Greek. Lamsa actually rejects most central Christian beliefs
(his doctrine is similar to the Unity School of Christianity
where he worked for many years) and his translation is deeply
flawed in many ways ("George M. Lamsa-- Christian Scholar or
Cultic Torchbearer?" Christian Research Journal, by
John Juedes on
Rood's claim to have identified the
exact day of Jesus' birth while defaming the celebration of
December 25 is also something TWI claimed to do. TWI's book,
The Promised Seed, also identified Tishri 1, 3 BC, between
6:18 and 7:39 P.M. as the date and time of Jesus' birth.
(Although Rood says that was Sept 23, while TWI says it was Wed.
Sept. 11, because Rood claims to use a "corrected" Hebrew
calendar.)
Rood is different from TWI in his
legalistic requirement that Christians keep the Torah and
observe the Saturday Sabbath and Hebrew festivals. (Although TWI
did emphasize obeying certain universal laws, such as believing
and tithing.) On the surface, Rood seems to contradict TWI
teaching by emphasizing Hebrew religion, while TWI showed some
anti-Semitic characteristics such as denying the WWII holocaust.
However, TWI distinguished between
Judeans (those truly of Abramic descent and religion who lived
in Israel at the time of Christ) and Jews (those who now claim
to be Jews but in fact are not true descendants). TWI blindly
followed the assertions in the book The Thirteenth Tribe
by Arthur Koestler which claimed that the religion of the
Hebrews (Judeans) became more corrupt in the centuries after
Jesus Christ was born and in essence ceased to exist as a race
and as a religion. Jews today, they asserted, are actually
descendants of the Khazars, an Asiatic (from the area of Russia)
tribe which converted to Judean religion in the seventh or eight
century A.D. and combined the Khazar and Hebrew languages to
make Yiddish. As such, modern Jews have no right to the land in
Palestine. ("Jew and Judean," in Jesus Christ our Passover,
V.P. Wierwille, pp. 435-440)
This unsubstantiated theory fits well
with British Israelism, popular in the early 1900s, which
claimed that the British were the true descendants of Israel.
This has the same effect of dismissing the modern Jewish race
and faith.
Rood may maintain the same distinction
between Jews and Judeans. He may also hold British Israelist
beliefs, since he claims that his name "Rood," is from England
and means "cross," (which is true) while also claiming that he
is a Jew.
Rood also differs from TWI in that he
denounces its theory of seven administrations, which is a
repackaging of E.W. Bullinger's ultradispensationalism which
asserts that baptism should not be practiced by Christians, and
that only Paul's seven epistles are authoritative for Christians
today. This is to be expected since Rood requires Christians to
keep the Torah. Rood clearly is attacking , TWI/ultradispensational
beliefs in Mystery of Iniquity, pp 57, 61, 64-66), yet
he, never mentions TWI by name.
Michael John Rood is clearly not a
reputable Christian minister and Messianic rabbi as he claims to
be, nor is he a reliable source for accurate Bible teaching..
His speculative predictions about end time events, archaeology
and other topics have led, and will continue to lead, to more
disturbance in the minds of those who accept his theories. His
adherence to teachings and practice learned in a cult, and his
legalism draw people away from the grace of Jesus Christ which
the New Testament teaches. People would be wise to neither
accept Rood's teachings nor support his ministry.
Addendum: The bottom of the
www.6001.com home page includes a button to submit a request to
be on the site's mailing list. After submission, a "Success"
page appears which lists a web site address to use to be removed
from the mailing list. The web site, revfred3.9, redirects to a
"live girls" porn site.
Dr. John Juedes, 2003
http://www.abouttheway.org/
