ROOD'S "REVELATIONS" SELL CD'S

Michael Rood began as a follower of the cult The Way International, continued as a teacher of end-time prophecy with the Prophecy Club, and now claims to be a prophet who has a unique calling from Yahweh and regularly receives direct revelation from Him.

Rood's claim that he receives revelation from Yahweh serve as a useful technique for getting donations, and serve as a warning for those who consider following him.

Most of Rood's "A Rood Awakening" letters to his followers claim some kind of revelation from Yahweh. Here are some examples:

"Nine years ago I received a revelation from Heaven concerning the three layers of the seventy sevens prophecy... Exactly one year ago this month the revelation necessary to unlock the third and final layer of Daniel's prophecy finally came. 'The Jonah Code and the Seventy Shavuim Prophecy of Daniel' seminar is the result of that revelation. The entire, two-night seminar is now available as a digitally recorded 6 audio CD set.... It is also the revelation for which you have been waiting an entire lifetime-- even though you may not yet have realized it.... (This is) the restoration of the ancient paths..."" (Michael Rood, "A Rood Awakening," April 2007)

"I prayed about going (to Uganda) and received a clear word from Yahweh that I should go." (April 2007)

"That began a series of confirmations and miracles from YHWH that moved us onto the farm in Oregon in August of 2001." (December 2006)

"...YHWH miraculously provided us with a 28-year-old, four wheel drive Land Cruiser."

"...there was more revelation waiting for me in both the Gospels and the book of Daniel, but I also knew that I was not allowed to touch it until I was faithful to get the first revelation out to the world through the doors of television...." (August 2006)

"...YHVH spoke to me in a revelation dream stating that his judgement was going to change my plans for ministry.... Your plans for the future are going to be interrupted; I am telling you this by the spirit of YHVH." (August 2006; note that Rood isn't consistent in how he spells "YHVW/ YHWH/ Yahweh)

"I just received a letter about a woman in Costa Rica who saw a vision from Heaven that concerns both you and me. In this vision she saw a bearded man teaching the Feasts of the LORD.... A voice spoke to her, telling her to listen to this man because he was teaching the truth. The End. A week later she turned on the televison and saw the same man...me...."

"...Heaven really is 'on our side.'... the Master of the Universe had instructed a poor woman in Latin America, 'Listen to him; he is teaching the truth.'" (March 2007)

Why Claim Revelation from Yahweh?

It is interesting to see how Rood uses his claim that he regularly receives revelation and miraculous interventions from Yahweh.

Above all, Rood uses revelation as a way to increase sales of his CDs and DVDs: "invest in your future by gaining an understanding of 'the times and the seasons' and revelation of 'things to come' by ordering 'The Jonah Code' audio CD series." (April 2007)

Several times in each letter about his revelations he tells his followers to buy his most recent audio seminar and to send "substantial" donations to enlarge his work. After all, he assures his donors that they are supporting not just any teacher, but the one teacher who receives revelation from Yahweh himself. As Rood says, "If this revelation is worth your support.... A freewill offering to YHVH is up to your freewill..." (August 2006). To Rood, an offering to Rood is an offering to YHVH which carries out YHVH's own revelation. For all the talk about supernatural provision from Heaven, Rood sure spends a lot of time selling his seminars and soliciting donations. This is in stark contrast from the prophets and apostles of the Bible, who almost never made pleas to believers for financial support.

This is a trick Rood learned from his days as a follower of Victor Paul Wierwille who began the cult The Way International. Wierwille also claimed to teach by revelation and that God spoke audibly to him. Like Wierwille, Rood's pitch is that he alone can restore truth lost to the world for 2,000 years, and his means is the same-- selling seminars and CDs..

There is also a not-so-subtle shift from following Yahshua the Messiah to following Michael Rood. He quotes Yahweh's words to the Costa Rican woman, "Listen to him," meaning Rood (March 2007). When Yahweh last said those words, it was on a mountain in Israel. Yahshua was transformed before the eyes of Peter, James and John into a visage as bright as the sun, and Yahweh said, "Listen to Him!" (Matthew 17:5, Mark 9:7, Luke 9:35). Yet Rood tells his followers to listen to himself, not to Yahshua.

Sooner or later Rood spells out his main message in his seminars and letters. He tells his followers, "Through learning and living the Torah they will walk in the blessings promised....the truth of the Torah.... to be educated in the Torah.... foundations of Torah.... children learn the Torah.... weekly Torah studies.... disciple these leaders in the Torah.... the freedom and blessing of living the Torah." (March 2007). This is the revelation Rood promotes.

The New Testament book of Revelation, one of Rood's favorites, does not point to the Torah. Instead, it points to Yahshua: "the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy" (Revelation 19:10). The same letter that emphasizes discipling people in the Torah at least eight times does not mention making disciples of Yahshua the Messiah, but mentions him only as an afterthought. The testimony of Jesus/Yahshua is certainly not the spirit of Rood's prophecy.

Yahshua's message was not "live the Torah and find blessing." Instead, His message was "I am the way, the truth and the life.... I am the living bread from Heaven.... those who believe in me will live even if they die... if a man remains in me he will bear much fruit." He offers salvation and eternal life in Himself, not in Torah study.

Furthermore, New Testament books like Galatians emphasize that the Law and Torah observance is "bondage" and "slavery." To those who want to go back to the Torah the apostle says, "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery" (Galatians 5:1).

Another Countdown to Doomsday for America

Rood uses the prophetic threat of end-time calamity to stir up his followers to promote his ministry and give him money, just as the Watchtower of the Jehovah's Witnesses has done for over a century. A November 7, 2006 email from "A Rood Awakening" warned his followers that "the four year countdown to the thermonuclear ruin of Damascus has already begun."

Rood's April 2007 letter was six-months more urgent: "...we are now three and a half years away from Zechariah's thermonuclear war and the beginning of the last shavua." (p. 3) Rood prophesies calamity for the USA: "The U.S. is eventually going to be taken down. America's spiritual revival will happen after Zechariah's thermonuclear war. Your best insurance for the future is to give to those in need now, while the dollar still has value, so that when you have nothing, your gift will be returned to you from Heaven...." In the context of his letter, "give to those in need" clearly means to give money to Rood so he can pay for his televison air time and distribute his CDs about Torah observance to the poor in Costa Rica.

But not to worry, Rood has given false prophecies about this before. He originally stoked up his followers by prophesying that Zechariah's thermonuclear war would happen in the year 1999, 2000 and 2002. It did not happen then, either, which recalls the words of the Torah, "If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the LORD does not take place or come true, that is a message the LORD has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him" (Deuteronomy 18:22). Hopefully followers of Michael Rood will take these to heart now and avoid the pain of facing them in the fall of 2010 when another of Rood's revelations will be shown to be false.

Dr. John P. Juedes, 2007, www.abouttheway.org

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