Would you like to learn how to challenge a false teacher who also happens to be raving Christian anti-Semite?

If you’ve never heard of the rabidly anti-Semitic ministry called Shepherd’s Chapel, then you’re about to learn a valuable lesson in TESTING everything you see, read or hear.  Allow me to provide a little background before presenting the challenge we at The Refiner’s Fire posed to one of their teachings about “The synagogue of Satan”…

Shepherd’s Chapel is a “Christian church and broadcast facility based in Gravette, Arkansas.” The church's founder was Arnold Benjamin Murray (April 20, 1929–February 12, 2014), who served as senior pastor until his death, when his son, David, took over to continue this world-wide ministry.

Shepherd’s Chapel founder, Arnold Benjamin Murray, makes claim that Cain was actually the son of Eve and Satan—the serpent seed doctrine. He ignored Genesis 4:1 which says, “Adam made love to his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, ‘With the help of the Lord I have brought forth a man’” (Genesis 4:1). Adam was Cain’s father, and there is no reason to believe otherwise. Murray also connected the parable of the good and bad seed in Matthew 13 with God’s curse of the serpent in Genesis 3 despite nothing in the context to connect the two passages.

Murray taught that there will be no rapture, despite passages such as 1 Thessalonians 4:16 and 1 Corinthians 15:51–52. As is all-too-common with Arnold Murray, he claimed that 95 percent of churches who teach the rapture will accept the Antichrist as their savior (from a November 1985 newsletter). In this way, Murray effectively denied the salvation of anyone who believes in the rapture. It is unsettling to hear a Bible teacher making such claims about those he disagrees with concerning a non-essential point of eschatology.

Murray also subscribed to the Christian Identity Movement, which teaches the British are the real descendants of the ancient Israelites. This movement has been the foundation, fuel, and ammunition for a great deal of racial bigotry. Murray denounced interracial marriages, an unbiblical position that itself wavers on the edge of racism.

Now – let’s examine just a FEW of the ways Murray’s “Synagogue of Satan” article is in error.  (Please read the article to get the full picture and to see if YOU can spot any blatant problems.)

To start with, the author completely discredits himself by arguing that Cain was the son of the Devil with the implication that Cain's descendants survived the flood. Both of those claims are the OPPOSITE of what scripture tells us. Noah (who was NOT related to Cain) and his family started the human race all over again after the flood. Cain and his descendants were DEAD, and there is NO scriptural evidence that the murderous, polygynist, Cain survived the flood!  YHWH was trying to start all over again, with OBEDIENT folks; not with criminals….

Prior to that, the author argues that in John 8:37 (“I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you”), that the word "know" here means "to appear, perceive" with the intent to argue that Jesus "perceived" the Jews he was addressing were actually not Abraham's seed.

But, he quotes Strong's 1492, mistakenly saying that "know" came from Strong's 3708, only choosing a lesser used meaning "to appear, perceive", rather than the more common "to discern clearly", which is the same meaning of 1492 "see or aware", that is, Jesus only said "I see you are Abraham's seed" or "I am aware you are Abraham's seed"! But this guy made a poor attempt to argue that Jesus instead recognized that they were not Abraham's seed.

This misguided author makes MANY such twists in his long and rambling article. For example:

He also says "As documented, the word Kenite means children of Cain". As proof, he cites Strong's H7017, which says a Kenite is a member of the tribe of Kajin. So he looks up "Kajin", Strong's H7014 and concludes that "Kajin" is the name of the first child, "Cain".

The problem is, Strongs H7014 says "Kajin" can mean the name of the first child OR a place in Palestine, OR the name of an Oriental tribe. In other words, the meaning of "Kajin" depends on the context. It doesn't just simply mean "Cain" just because you see the word!

Moreover, Scripture tells us that when Yeshua returns he will separate the goats and the sheep (pro Israel or against). But look at what Murray’s says:

“A single nation has fulfilled this, but that nation is not Israel, they could never fulfill this promise by God. The nation named Israel is extremely small including its population and it does not possess the gate of its enemy, nor does it bless the nations of the earth.

“However, the Christian nations are a blessing to the world by sharing the Word of God and their charitable acts. In addition, The United States of America does possess the gate of its enemy. It would be this nation that ultimately fulfilled this promise. The truth is, the Christian nations are the true decedents of the twelve tribes”….

That statement is just plain IGNORANT!

First of all, America is mentioned NOWHERE in Scripture!  It is all about ISRAEL!  YES, the Christian nations HAVE been a blessing to the world as Christian missionaries have basically traveled all over the world to present Jesus and his Word. But they've also been a curse on some levels, for they have been guilty of forcefully converting and even killing many innocents in order to accomplish their agenda.

For instance, Jews were forced to convert to Christianity by the Crusaders in Lorraine, on the Lower Rhine, in Bavaria and Bohemia, in Mainz and in Worms, Germany. Pope Innocent III pronounced in 1201 that if one agreed to be baptized to avoid torture and intimidation, one nevertheless could be compelled to outwardly observe Christianity: And let's not forget that at least six million Jews died in Hitler's Holocaust in the Catholic and Protestant Europe....

It is totally bogus to suggest that "the Christian nations are ‘the true decedents’ of the twelve tribes," What planet is Mr. Murray on and where in Scripture can one verify that nonsense?

One would have to KNOW the Torah to find out WHO were the forefathers of those 12 tribes standing at the foot of Mount Sinai to hear the giving of the Ten Commandments? (Yes, there were some "foreigners" mixed in (those who had followed Moshe out of Egypt when he liberated YHWH's people); but they were by NO MEANS the majority! They were simply hangers-on who were accepted by and absorbed into the tribes.)

To WHOM did YHWH give the command to safeguard and preserve His Torah just before they were scattered into the nations? The Tribe of JUDAH! (Genesis 49:10, Micah 4:2) The tribe that Yeshua was born into! Yes, Yeshua, the JEWISH Messiah that Murray seems to be attempting to rob of his tribal heritage in his attempt to build of “Christians”....

….Christians – those very people who have not only changed the name or our Messiah, but also changed the dates of his birth, death and resurrection and called his Torah a CURSE! While they claim that we are all "ONE in Christ," they've totally ignored the commanded Seventh Day Sabbath (which is a SIGN between YHWH and His people) along with His Feasts/Appointed Times, and instead, come up with their own, man-made "holy days" - both of which are steeped in paganism...And they're doing all that while chowing down on pork and shellfish, which God specifically said are NOT food….

Whoever was the author of this article at Shepherd’s Chapel, is at best a poor scholar, and at worst a false teacher.