Dear Fellow Believers,

Every now and then someone in the body of Christ or along its perimeter concocts a theory so absurd and unnatural (flying in the face of obvious Scripture passages) that one has to wonder about the ulterior motive. The theory I encountered in the fall of 1996 was Rick Farwell's assertion that Jesus Christ will not be the Chief Priest during the millennial kingdom. Such a screwball premise and the truth it flies against will, admittedly, only interest students of Scripture. All of you are that, so here we go.

What could possibly be the motive of even wanting to take away the millennial priesthood from Christ, Who is its obvious Chief Priest?  I can't even guess at a motive here. Okay, I'll guess. I think that some teachers just want to distinguish themselves with outrageous theories. It's an attention-getting device. They want to look brave and vanguard-ish by arguing against mature consensus. It about sensationalism, I think. Kind of like, "The apostle Paul was gay!" or, "Moses was black!" or "Jesus Christ was a woman!" or "Elijah is still alive!"

Whacko conspiracy theories that have surfaced lately include:

"Jesus Christ did not pre-exist!"
"Half of Paul's letters aren't for the nations!"
"The flood of Noah was local!"
"God doesn't know the future!"
"The Millennial kingdom started in 70 AD!"
"The snatching away of the body of Christ was invented in the 1800's!"

This is junk exegesis that belongs on the cover of National Enquirer.

In 1996, Rick Farwell (of "God doesn't know everything!" infamy) developed a theory that Jesus Christ is a priest NOW, and so cannot be a priest during the thousand-year kingdom, leaving that honor to the sons of Zadok.

Huh? I'm tempted to say that you can't make this shit up—but apparently you can.

It is unfortunate to have to invest time and energy debunking such bunk, but when enough people say, "Hm, these National Enquirer teacher-types might have a point," then a man has to do what a man has to do.

Here is my debunking of the Farwell bunk of 1996, recorded before a small group of believers in Almont, Michigan, at the home of Dean Hough. This gathering occurred a week after confronting the bunk (I am somewhat of a bunk-confronter) at Rick's church in Fairview, SC.

Thankfully this is not a waste of time, as you will learn much about the priesthood of Christ following the lines of the Melchizedek order, and you will also add a couple new laws-of-interpretation arrows to your considerable quiver.

Thanks again to Rodney Paris, who turned the twenty-six year old audio cassette tape into a delectable digital gem.

Greetings to all the saints, wherever you are.

Remaining your brother in Christ from the edge of the bottom of the Floridan peninsula,

Martin