A Brief Evaluation of Heavenly Mother of World

Mission Society Church of God in Galatians 4:26

by Jaymark Molo
World Mission Society Church of God (WMSCOG), also known as the
Church of God, is a religious movement that originated in South Korea in
1964. This church does not only believe in God the Father, but also endorses
God the Mother in their theology.
In our previous study, we have seen that Revelation 22:17 cannot be
used to substantiate the claim of WMSCOG to their doctrine of the bride as
divine.1 However, one might still object that Galatians 4:26 still remains to
attest that there is a Heavenly Mother. So this leads us to ask: Does
Galatians 4:26 teaches the existence of the Heavenly Mother as WMSCOG
believes? This question deserves a careful examination from the Scriptures.
WMSCOG Heavenly Mother Theology in Galatians 4:26
The Bride, Jerusalem and Mother. WMSCOG would argue that
Heavenly Mother is not something newit is just that we did not know.2
God the Mother is believed to be the Heavenly Jerusalem and the Bride of
Christ. They claim that the belief in her is necessary for salvation, stating
God grants us the promised eternal life only after we know and believe in
God the mother.3 To know the motherone must see Jerusalemto
identify Jerusalemone must be acquainted with the brideto be familiar
with the brideone must recognize that she is God. Thus, the WMSCOG
logic goes this way:
(1) The Bride is God (cf. Rev. 22:17).
(2) The Bride, which is God, is no other than Jerusalem (cf. Rev.
21:9-10, see also: vv. 1-2).
(3) Therefore, Jerusalem is God.
(4) If Jerusalem is our Mother, the Mother is God.
(5) Jerusalem is our Mother (cf. Gal. 4:26).

1
Jaymark Molo, A Brief Evaluation of the Bride of World Mission Society Church of
God in Revelation 22:17, posted on August 10, 2016
(http://www.backtothescriptures.org/#!A-Brief-Evaluation-of-%E2%80%9Cthe-
Bride%E2%80%9D-of-World-Mission-Society-Church-of-God-in-Revelation-
2217/capg7/57aaa2560cf25744c580817d). Accessed on August 16, 2016.
2
God the MotherIs It Really in the Bible? (https://www.thetruewmscog.com/god-
the-mother-is-it-really-in-the-bible/). Accessed on August 16, 2016.
3
https://www.wmschurchofgod.org/heavenly-mother/god-the-mother/. Accessed
on August 10, 2016.
 (6) Therefore, the Mother is God or God the Mother undeniably
exists!
The conclusions (3 and 6) are indeed undeniably valid if the premises
are proven to be true (1, 2, 4, and 5). So, it is a must for us to discuss the
truthfulness of the following premises before one can deny the conclusions.

A Brief Reply to the Arguments of WMSCOG in Galatians 4:26 and

Some Related Arguments to it

Bride and God. There is no need to examine the divinity of the bride
again here (premise 1) for this has been discussed elsewhere.4 But for the
sake of brevity: The bride is not God. The bride refers to the church (cf. Eph.
5:22-24 and 2 Corinthians 11:2). And if this the case, the major premise (1)
of the syllogism presented above crumbles and consequentially the minor
premises associated with it shares the same fate.
Bride and Jerusalem. Looking at Revelation 21:1-2, the angel told
the Apostle John that he was going to show him the bride of the Lamb, and
he showed the Holy City Jerusalem coming down out of heaven. Now does
this mean that an actual city is the bride? If this is so, how can the bride be
the church if John construes the bride as New Jerusalem as well?
The dilemma can be solved by recognizing that the text has dual
applications. The bride both refers to the church and to the Holy City
Jerusalem.
In Revelation 19:7 we are admonished by Apostle John to be glad for
the wedding banquet of the Lamb and bride has come. In verse 8, the
bride is clearly identified with the people of God. The wedding banquet
here refers to the Second Coming of Christ.5 At the second advent of Christ,
the people of God or the church will be united with the Lamb or the
Bridegroom and the wedding banquet will take place. Thus, the everlasting
union of Christ and the Church will be finally realized (cf. Rev. 19:7-9; 21:1-
2).

4
See, Jaymark Molo, A Brief Evaluation of the Bride of World Mission Society Church
of God in Revelation 22:17, Ibid.
5
WMSCOG believes in similar vein: The book of Revelation was written after Jesus
had ascended, and it prophesied about the things that were to happen in the last days.
Thus, the Lamb mentioned in the above verse indicates the Second Coming Jesus,
unfortunately, they believe that the Lamb is Ahnsahnghong. Heavenly Mother
(http://english.watv.org/truth/truth_life/content_mother.asp). Accessed on August 22,
2016.
 On the other hand, the bride is also represented with Holy City
Jerusalem because it incorporates all who are the bride, just as all the
students of a school are sometimes called the school. Moreover, the
actuality of the city is corroborated with the hope of Old Testament (Isa.
65:17-1; 21:10; 52:1; Dan. 9:24) and the hope of New Testament as well
(John 14:1-3; Heb. 11:10; 12:22; 2 Pet. 3:13). The detailed description of
John (Rev. 21) to the New Jerusalem suggests that it is literally in heaven
coming down on earth (v. 2).
Thus the the saints and the city together are the bride of Christ. Both
are arrayed as the bride beautifully dressed. The church is dressed in fine
linen (Rev. 19:8), and the New Jerusalem is said to be adorned with the
glory radiating as gold, pearls, and precious stones (Rev. 21:18-21).6
Jerusalem and Mother. The larger context of Galatians is teaching
about salvation by faith. In Galatians 4, Paul uses an allegory (verse 22) to
make a comparison between two Old Testament characters Hagar and
Sarah. Hagar represents the covenant of works.7 While Sarah represents the
covenant of faith.8
Those who seek to be justified by the law who are called children of the
slave woman (Hagar in 4:24-26) and those who seek to be justified by faith
who are children of the free woman (4:22 and 30) or children of promise,
(Sarah in 4:28).
Examining the larger and immediate context of Galatians 4:26, one can
see that a text taken out of context can lead to plethora of interpretations
and here are the several reasons to re-consider the interpretation suggested
by WMSCOG:
Firstly, the comparison of Jerusalem being our mother is not to be taken
in a literal sense. Paul emphatically said in the immediate context that
these things are being taken figuratively (v. 24). Unfortunately, the

6
Ranko Stefanovic, Revelation of Jesus Christ: Commentary on the Book of Revelation
(Berrien Springs, MI: Andrews University Press, 2009), 588, 589.
7
Francis D. Nichol, Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary (Washington, D.C.:
Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1978), 971.
8
H.L. Willmington further explains: Paul presented Hagar and Sarah, with their sons
Ishmael and Isaac, as types of the contrast between the bondage of legalism and the liberty
of grace. Hagar, like those who depend on the law, was a slave; and her son, who was
naturally born, was also a slave. Sarah, like those who depend on grace, was free; and her
son, whose birth was miraculous, was Abrahams heir (4:2127; see Gen. 16:118:15; 21:1
21). Willmington's Bible Handbook (Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House Publishers, 1997), 701.
interpretation of WMSCOG is guilty of taking this in a literal sense by
inferring that the woman is literally no other than God the Mother.
Second, even if the text is taken literally, the passage would say that the
mother would be both Jerusalem and Sarah (v. 22), not God the Mother nor
Zhang Gil Jah. Interestingly, we cannot find a single passage that supports
Sarah and Jerusalem as God nor does Scripture calls the mother as God.
Thirdly, the phrase Jerusalem which is above (v. 26) can only be
understood in relation to Jerusalem which now is (v. 25).9 The Jerusalem
which now is (v. 25) refers to the literal Israel as a nation. But the
Jerusalem which is above (v. 26) refers to the Christians as a church. For
this is the central point of this whole figurative illustration: that Judaism is
slavery and the Christian state [is] liberty.10
Lastly, Paul consistently believes that there was only one God.11 He even
explicitly made this clear by declaring in Galatians 3:20 that God is one.
The concept of having two gods, a God the Father and God the Mother, is
absolutely foreign in the book of Galatians.
Conclusion
Here are several conclusions we have reached in this study: (1) The
bride is not God; (2) The bride both refers to the church and actual heavenly
city of Jerusalem; (3) Jerusalem is our mother, but she is not God.
In conclusion, although WMSCOGs gospel is quite contrary to the
gospel preached by Paul (cf. Galatians 1:7-9), love for them should come
first as we try to present to them the eternal gospel of God (cf. 1 Cor. 13:1-
3).

9
Others believe that this phrase is a reference to Gods abode in the heavenly city
that will one day appear on earth (Rev. 21:2). Robert B. Hughes and Carl J. Laney, Tyndale
Concise Bible Commentary (Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House Publishers, 2001), 584.
10
H. D. M. Spence-Jones, The Pulpit Commentary: Galatians (Bellingham, WA: Logos
Research Systems, Inc., 2004), 203.
11
1 Cor. 8:4-6, Rom. 3:29-30, etc.