KEYWORDS: sign, comet, lord, prophet, world, god

Comet's Tale, The

David Berg

—MOJanuary 24, 1974NO.295-GP

P.O. Box 31, WC2E 7LX, London‚ England or BP 752‚ 75123 Paris, Cedex 03, France

1. YOU KNOW WHAT JUST CAME TO ME ABOUT THE COMET? Can you possibly guess why the Lord who sent the comet didn't let it appear? Now why did He send the comet? Two things: To help precipitate the world situation and as a warning.

2. ITS ACTUAL EFFECT ON THE WORLD IS OBVIOUSLY TREMENDOUS on politics, finances, governments‚ the weather and all kinds of catastrophes and so on. "The Comet Comes," and has gone‚ yet we can see its effects everywhere. It seems like the world's exploding! It's having its effect, but the fact that it was not seen as well as expected as a warning has not affected its effect at all. Its effect has been just as great.

3. BUT WHAT HAVE THE APPEARANCES OF COMETS USUALLY BEEN FOR? What's the purpose of the appearance of the comet? A dramatic appearance with a big comet in the sky, a big tail, and all the things that the astronomers were expecting—what is God's usual purpose in such an appearance?

4. AS A WARNING TO THE WORLD, RIGHT? Well all right: What happened as the comet was coming? Who warned the world? We did! We got out the warning from one end of this world to the other, and the world was warned by our words! Do you get it? So the Lord didn't even have to let the comet appear!

5. HE HAS WARNED THE WORLD BY OUR WORDS! It's just as though the Lord has said, "Now you have had the word, you don't deserve any other sign." "There shall no other sign be given to this wicked and adulterous generation!" (Maria: No other sign!) Yes, exactly! The sign like that in the skies, the comet!

6. IN THIS CASE HE ISN'T GOING TO GIVE THEM ANY OTHER SIGN! (Maria: Because He didn't say He wouldn't give them any sign, but He said no other sign.) I believe the original scripture says, "No sign shall be given this wicked and adulterous generation except that of the Prophet!" Oooh! Jonah and the whale! Jonah! It's about Jonah! Jonah was the one who warned Nineveh of the 40 Days! Jonah! And the Lord even said, "Like Jonah!" That's it!

7. THE LORD IS COMPARING OUR WARNING TO JONAH, DO YOU UNDERSTAND? The prophet! And you know what happened to Jonah when things didn't work out just the way he thought they were going to happen! He was very, very upset about it! (Maria: Just like you've been!) Just like I've been about that comet not showing up! It sounds or looks on the surface like we've given a false prophecy.

8. BUT WE'RE NOT THE ONES THAT PROPHESIED THE ACTUAL COMET WAS GOING TO BE SO TREMENDOUS, anyhow. The astronomers were the ones that prophesied about the size of the comet and how big it was going to be and all that. But we simply interpreted what the comet meant‚ what the Lord showed us the comet was going to mean and what it was going to do. Then the Lord turns right around and doesn't let the comet show after all as a warning to the world! Why?

9. HE'S GOING TO MAKE THEM TAKE OUR WORD FOR IT! Isn't that something! And they don't deserve any other sign but what God has already given, the warnings of the prophets, you see? (Maria: That clue has already been given in the Letter: You mentioned Jonah right in the Letter, and Nineveh!—"Nineveh shall be destroyed!")

10. JESUS SAID, "A WICKED AND ADULTEROUS GENERATION SEEKETH AFTER A SIGN, and there shall no sign be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah!" Matthew 12:39 is the main one. Wow, did you know that's in three Gospels? Matthew 12:39‚ Mark 8:12 and Luke 11:29 and 30! There's also something in Matthew 16:4.

11. "NO SIGN SHALL BE GIVEN UNTO IT BUT THE SIGN OF THE PROPHET JONAS!"—Only the sign of the prophet! We have been like the prophet Jonas, right?—And what has been our sign, huh? What was the sign of the prophet Jonas? What was the sign that he had? Read it! ("Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee. But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it‚ but the sign of the prophet Jonas:"—Matthew 12:38 & 39.)

12. THIS EVIL AND ADULTEROUS GENERATION WANTED TO SEE THE PROOF, THEY WANTED TO SEE THE COMET and be sure and see the sign, something more than just the word of the Prophet! They wanted to see it, right? ("For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here. The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here."—Matthew 12:40-42.) (That Queen of the South is symbolic of the Arabs!) Do you get the point? They were seeking for the sign, to see this big comet to prove that that's really what was causing it all.

13. BUT THE COMET VIRTUALLY DISAPPEARED! The astronomers are saying that it's the strangest thing that's ever happened. They've never had a comet like that before! It was so huge and so big and it was seen for a little bit before it went around the sun. But as it left the sun its tail became‚ they said, of some kind of material that was invisible!

14. THE TAIL WAS INVISIBLE BECAUSE IT REFUSED TO REFLECT THE SUNLIGHT, and the comet was virtually without a tail! It was there, they've seen it on all their instruments as it flew around and left.

15. BUT IT GAVE NO WARNING TAIL, BECAUSE WE HAVE BEEN GIVING THE WARNING TALE! Right? God is going to make them trust our word and not even give them the comet to see! Isn't that something? 40 days by faith, we trusted the Lord's Word!—And 40 days by sight: That 40 days by sight we've certainly been seeing the sights of what the comet has caused!

16. BUT WE WERE DISAPPOINTED THAT WE DIDN'T GET TO SEE THE SIGN ITSELF. I mean it's like Jonah predicted Nineveh was going to be destroyed to prove what he was saying, but it didn't happen! The Lord usually fulfills the words of the prophets. But in his case it didn't even happen because the people repented, and so therefore, he was terribly disappointed!

17. WE ARE SEEING THE EFFECTS OF THE COMET, BUT THE ONLY SIGN THEY HAVE HAD IS OUR WORD! (Maria: Listen to this! In chapter 16 of Matthew it says: "The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempting Him.") Typical of our critics!—Especially our church critics! What was the thing they said to that girl? What was their major criticism of us?—"Oh those Children of God, you know: They prophesy and it doesn't happen! They're false prophets! They make predictions that don't happen!"

18. ("THE PHARISEES ALSO WITH THE SADUCEES CAME, AND TEMPTING DESIRED HIM THAT HE WOULD SHOW THEM A SIGN FROM HEAVEN.") A sign from Heaven! How about that! "Where's your sign from Heaven? Where's your comet?"—Inquisitioned by our church critics, the scribes and Pharisees! "Ha, ha! We thought all along that you were a false prophet!"

19. NOW JESUS IS ANSWERING THEM: ("When it is evening ye say it will be fair weather for the sky is red. And in the morning it will be foul weather today for the sky is red and lowring. O ye hypocrites!

20. "YE CAN DISCERN THE FACE OF THE SKY. BUT CAN YE NOT DISCERN THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES?") Look, look! Here you have been saying you know all about comets, and the face of the sky and you're saying just how‚ "Ha, ha! You see it didn't happen‚ it didn't show!"

21. BUT LOOK AROUND YOU! CAN'T YOU SEE WHAT'S HAPPENING! CAN'T YOU SEE THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES! Look what's happening on the Earth! You don't have to have a sign in the heavens to see it! Look! Isn't that ridiculous! ("A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign and there shall no sign be given unto it but the sign of the prophet Jonas.")

22. NO SIGN SHALL BE GIVEN UNTO IT BUT THE SIGN OF THE PROPHET'S OWN MESSAGE! Think of that! How significant that is! The only warning they've really had now is ours, and so now the Lord is refusing to let them see anything, to see the sign in the heavens. If they are not willing to believe our word and discern the signs of the times, or look around them and see what's happening, then why should they have a sign from the sky? Why should they have a sign from the heavens?

23. GOD GAVE THEM SUCH GOOD WARNING THROUGH US THAT HE DIDN'T HAVE TO LET THEM SEE A COMET! I mean our message has been everywhere! All about the comet has been all over the world, and the whole world got the warning‚ so God won't even let them see it! He's going to make them believe our word, right?

24. IT'S JUST LIKE OUR WORD HAS BECOME THE WARNING COMET! Praise God! Thank You, Lord! (Maria: It says‚ "And he left them, and departed." That passage was Matthew 16:2,3 & 4.) Just think, He said the twice to them! It was twice in Matthew about that: "No sign shall be given."

25. THEY WERE SEEKING A SIGN, right? What is it the scribes and the Pharisees and all the scientists, the high priests of this world, have all been seeking?—The sign to prove our word, but they never got the sign!

26. NOW THEY'RE JUST GOING TO HAVE TO BELIEVE IT BECAUSE WE SAID IT! Take our word for it and discern the signs of the times!" The times means the world conditions.—Can't you see the world conditions? Can't you see what's happening all around you? Can't you tell? You talk about your signs in the sky and the weather and all that you can predict, but you can't even see what's happening all around you! Isn't that something?

27. THE ONLY SIGN THAT'S GOING TO BE GIVEN TO YOU IS THE SIGN OF THE PROPHET, God's Word! Think of that! In other words, the Lord is just going to give them our warning only! (Maria: In Mark 8:11: "And the Pharisees came forth and began to question with Him seeking of Him a sign from Heaven, tempting Him.")

28. "WHERE'S YOUR SIGN FROM HEAVEN? WHERE'S YOUR COMET‚ huh? Ha! Ha! You're no prophet of God! You can't show us the sign! Aha‚ you're false prophets! You failed! There's no sign from Heaven!" ("And He sighed deeply in His Spirit, and said, Why doth this generation seek after a sign? Verily I say unto you, there shall no sign be given unto this generation. And He left them, and entering into the ship again departed to the other side.")

29. IN OTHER WORDS, NO VISIBLE SIGN, A HEAVENLY MIRACULOUS SUPERNATURAL SIGN WAS NOT GIVEN. That's the thing they sought after. That's the thing they were seeking, this supernatural miraculous sign from the heavens. But God got so disgusted with them He wouldn't even give them that! Think of it!—God was so fed up with them, the wicked and adulterous generation, He wouldn't even give them that!

30. HE SAID NO SIGN SHALL BE GIVEN THEM BUT THE PROPHET, THE SIGN OF THE PROPHET! What is a prophet's sign?—It's really his message‚ And of all things, the Lord used that very Scripture about the prophet Jonah! "40 days and Nineveh shall be destroyed!—40 days and Nineveh shall be destroyed!"

31. OUR MESSAGE IS THE SIGN! WE SENT THAT SIGN OUT ALL OVER THE WORLD! Look at the signs the kids held on the streets and everywhere else! The signs! Everywhere! God's going to make them believe our word. If they won't trust our words, He's not going to give them any other sign, right?—No other sign but the sign of the prophet Jonas! (In Luke 11:27: "Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the Word of God, and keep it!") He said more blessed are they that hear the Word of God and keep it, or obey it, the words of His prophets. In other words, even it they don't see a sign, they believe the word and they obey it.

32. THE LORD REALLY IN A WAY WAS TESTING THE WORLD'S FAITH in not allowing that comet to appear as it was expected to appear. It did appear, it was here, but nothing as phenomenal and dramatic as was expected. They were pinning their faith on the comet. If that thing showed up, then they'd believe. We told them, and we've been telling them a long time before there was ever any talk about a comet‚ but they wouldn't believe. But, "If that comet comes and it does happen, then we'll believe."

33. BUT HE'S NOT GOING TO LET THEM SEE IT: HE'S GOING TO MAKE THEM BELIEVE OUR WORD! He's not even going to let them have a sign from Heaven, but they have to believe our word. We have been the sign! We have been the tail of the comet!

34. THE TALE OF THE PROPHET HAS BECOME THE TAIL OF THE COMET! What was the purpose of the comet? It's a sign of warning, right? We'll, we got out the warning, we got out the signs and the posters and the placards and the literature, and we gave the warning, our tale of woe, the tale of the prophets became the tail of the comet, right? Think of that!

35. NO OTHER SIGN'S GOING TO BE GIVEN THEM BUT THE SIGN OF THE PROPHET! ("And when the people were gathered thick together He began to say, 'This is an evil generation! They seek a sign, and there shall no sign be given it but the sign of Jonas the prophet! For as Jonas was a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of Man be...")

36. JONAS WAS A SIGN UNTO THE NINEVITES! The prophet himself and his message was a sign unto the Ninevites! I've always wondered what the "sign of the Prophet Jonas" was. It means that he himself was the sign, really‚ see?—Including all that had happened to him.

37. WHAT HAPPENED TO US? WHO WAS OUR WHALE? Huh? What almost swallowed us, but we escaped? Huh? We were beginning to warn the world and almost got swallowed by the whale, right?—America! They nearly swallowed us up! If we'd disobeyed and stayed there much longer they would have, but the Lord delivered us in the Great Escape, right? Even that was a sign to the world!

38. EVEN OUR ESCAPE FROM AMERICA WAS A SIGN, RIGHT?—A SIGN OF WARNING TO THE WHOLE WORLD! The whole world heard about it, that the Children of God were leaving America like rats leave a sinking ship! That was a sign just like Jonas' escaping from the whale!

39. ("FOR AS JONAS WAS A SIGN UNTO THE NINEVITES, so shall also the Son of man [in this case, us] be to this generation. The queen of the south [the Arabs!] shall rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation, and condemn them. For she came from the utmost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon and behold, a greater than Solomon is here.")—The MO Letters? Do you get what that means!

40. THE ARABS ARE LISTENING TO OUR WORDS AND BELIEVING US! The Arabs are listening even to us! Even as the Arabs listened then, the Arabs are listening now, but the world's rejecting our message! How about that! "This wicked and adulterous generation," the Jews, was whom He was speaking to, you know that?—And the great Roman Empire was like the great capitalist system empire of today.

41. EVEN THE ARABS, HE'S SAYING‚ BELIEVE THE WORDS, but now a greater than Solomon is here and you won't believe! Think of that! Wow! How symbolic that is! Isn't that tremendous! Isn't that terrific! The Arabs are believing us and heeding our advice! Isn't that something?

42. ("THE MEN OF NINEVAH SHALL RISE UP IN THE JUDGMENT with this generation‚ and shall condemn it. For they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here!") Think of that, Nineveh‚ the original Nineveh, the real Nineveh, the one that Jonas preached to did repent, and so God spared them.

43. SO THEY'RE GOING TO BE A TESTIMONY AGAINST THIS MODERN NINEVAH‚ this modern system because it is not going to repent, and therefore God's going to destroy it. (The next verse is: "No man, when he hath lighted a candle, putteth it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick.") He's talking about what?

44. HE'S TALKING ABOUT JONAH AND HIS MESSAGE! I never got the connection before!—He's going on talking about witnessing. Jonah was a witness. Jonah was a prophet. He gave the warning message. Now Jesus is going on talking about the candle being a light to the world! Think of it! Praise God! Hallelujah! Thank You, Lord!

45. WE'RE THE LIGHT THAT'S LIGHTING THE WORLD! The comet didn't light the world.—God didn't have to use the come to light the world! He's letting our tale light the world, not the comet's tail!—The tale of the prophets! O praise God‚ thank You, Lord!

46. WE ARE THE TAIL OF THE COMET, think of that! The tale of the prophets became the tail of the comet! Isn't that something! "Show us a sign," they said, "from Heaven.—Where's your sign from Heaven?" But no sign shall be given to this wicked and adulterous generation. We're not going to show you the comet after all! We're all the sign you deserve! We're the tail! The tale of the prophets is the tail of the comet.

47. HEY!—THE "COMET"! THE "LONGHAIRED"! THE TALE OF THE LONGHAIRED! The warnings by the hippies! Everybody always calls us hippies! We are the comets! We're the longhairs! We're the hippies! We're the prophets! It's our tale that the world is seeing, and God's going to make them believe that like Jonas himself was a sign! The Lord said they're not going to get any other sign. All they're going to get is Jonas and his message.

48. THE TALE OF THE PROPHETS‚ NOT THE TAIL OF THE COMET! Jonas was the comet! It was his tale that Nineveh believed and repented on. Right? Ha! Isn't that something! The comets are longhairs! It's our tale that the people have to believe. Think of that! They are the Jonas of this generation! The longhairs! And it's our tale, and we're the only comets that God's going to let the world see!

49. IT'S OUR TALE THAT THE WORLD'S GOING TO HAVE TO BELIEVE, and that's all the sign that's going to be given this wicked and adulterous generation—just us! They've had their comets! They've heard their tales! They don't have to see it! They've heard it! Isn't that something! How stupid can we get!

50. THE BIG COMET THAT THE WORLD WAS GOING TO SEE WAS US—AND OUR TALE! Now isn't that something! And all the time we thought it was going to be the comet itself! We're the longhairs! Our warning is the tale of the longhairs! The longhaired tale! The warning of the hippies! The hippie's warning! The comet's tail, the prophet's tale, tale of the prophet, the tail of the comet, the sign of the prophet Jonas!

51. JONAS WAS A SIGN HIMSELF TO NINEVAH‚ and Nineveh repented just because of Jonas' word, his message, just because they believed his tale, right? The tale of the prophet‚ the warning of the prophet, the tail of the comet! Think of that! (Maria: And Jesus was a sign, but they didn't repent, and we're a sign now.)

52. SEE‚ JESUS WAS A LONGHAIR TOO! He was an even greater sign, and they still wouldn't repent. Just like we're an even greater sign to this world today than Jonas ever was. I mean we're even in a sense a greater sign than Jesus was, because He said‚ "Greater works than these shall ye do!" Jesus never got out millions and millions of pieces of literature in every country in the world like we do! We're a greater sign to the whole world even than Christ was‚ in that sense, in that we have gotten the message out further than He was able to get it out at that time. "A Greater is here," and yet they will not repent! That's it, praise God! That's it!

53. OUR WORDS OF WARNING HAVE BECOME THE COMET'S TAIL, and that's all the sign the Lord's going to give them!—No other comet, no other longhair but us!—No other tail of the comet but us!—No other warning but the warning of the prophets.—No tail of the comet but the warning of the prophets! Praise God, hallelujah, thank You, Jesus! Isn't that wonderful? Isn't that something?

54. SOMEBODY SAID SOMETHING ABOUT THAT the other day and I didn't even get it! Somebody got that verse and sent it to us, but it didn't sink in, I still didn't get the point! (Maria: I think it was Samson who got that, the Prophet!) But I am so damn thickheaded, I am so dumb and stupid!—God has to give me something supernaturally before I can understand it! Somebody else can tell me right off, but I don't get the point!

55. ONE GUY SENT US THE SCRIPTURE ABOUT THE STAR FALLING FROM HEAVEN, and Samson or somebody sent us the scripture about Jonas the prophet being the sign, but I didn't get it!—I was still looking for that comet!—And I think Jeth sent something about that same thing, and I still didn't get the point! The Lord had to practically give it to me by supernatural revelation before I got it!

56. I'M JUST NOTHING WITHOUT THE LORD! I have to get it right straight from the Lord, or I don't get it at all! I can't even see it, I don't understand it. Lord help me! Well, I guess the Lord made me that way‚ or I'd try to figure it all out in my head.

57. HE HAS TO GIVE ME SOME CRAZY DREAM like I just had about the collapse of the whole monetary system, the explosion of the money, the collapse of the bank! (See "Money Explodes" Letter No.294.) I had to see a childish illustration like a comic strip before I could understand, before I could get the point!—And even then sometimes I don't understand! Well, praise the Lord! I wondered why I woke up so early this morning.

58. THAT DREAM REALLY WOKE ME UP, I'll tell you‚ and it really shook me up so I couldn't go back to sleep! I kept thinking, "I've got to remember it!" but I didn't want to wake you up. So I was lying there thinking, trying to memorise the pictures: the grocery store, the ticket office, the railroad, the junk yard‚ the bank, the Pig explodes, etc.

59. I WENT OVER THOSE POINTS SO MANY TIMES trying to remember them so I wouldn't forget them, forget them, for I thought, "Lord, I just can't wake her up, she's so tired!"—And just about that time you turned over and heaved a big sigh and batted your eyes!—And I reached over and kissed you and knew the Lord wanted me to tell you right now!

60. (MARIA: YOU SAID, "MY FUNNY LITTLE GIRL!") Yes, you're so funny!—You screwed up your little face and looked at me and batted your eyes. You're so funny, honey! Praise the Lord! Hallelujah! Thank You, Lord! Well‚ that's it!

61. WE ARE GOD'S COMETS, AND THEY MUST BELIEVE OUR TALE, and He's not going to give them any other sign but us and our message, our warning message. How about that! Thank You, Lord! Thank You, Lord! That is really some revelation! Praise God! Well, Lord help us in Jesus' Name to understand better and not be so dumb!

62. WE NEVER DREAMED WE WERE GOING TO BE THE COMET OURSELVES and all of our literature and warnings and signs and messages. We've gotten the message out to the world, Lord, to the whole world! Our message of warning was even in Time Magazine! It's been in the papers, on television, on radio—everywhere! We're gotten out the message to the whole world!

63. WE ARE THE COMETS AND IT'S OUR TALE THEY HAVE TO BELIEVE! Isn't that something! Ha, ha, ha! That's really funny! "No sign shall be given but the sign of the prophet Jonas!" No sign but the sign of the prophets‚ that's the only sign they're going to get! No other tail! No sign from Heaven. To the critics who demand a sign, who want the proof‚ no other sign!

64. THEY'RE NOT GOING TO GET ANY OTHER SIGN BUT OURS! It's the sign of the prophets! Praise God? Thank You, Lord! Amen! They better believe it! God warned them, otherwise the Arabs are going to rise up and condemn them! They believed it and obeyed it! Even Nineveh is going to rise up against them‚ the ancient Ninevites: They obeyed the prophet, they heard the message and obeyed the comet's tale‚ the prophet's tale! Praise God? No other sign is going to be given—no other comet but our comment!

65. SO THE LORD MUST BE ABOUT TO DESTROY THEM or some of them somehow: Babylon, America, the capitalistic system, the monetary system‚ the Green Pig‚ the works! Isn't that something, isn't that funny?—

66. THAT VOICE FROM HEAVEN SAID, "DON'T WORRY, THE GREEN PIG IS ABOUT TO EXPLODE and blow the bank to bits!" Isn't that funny! It's as though you don't have to worry about your money or the bank or anything: It's all going down the drain anyway! Ha‚ ha, ha! Praise God! Thank You, Lord! Wasn't that something?

67. THE TALE OF THE COMET! THE TALE OF THE PROPHETS! WE ARE THE COMETS AND IT'S OUR TALE they have to believe! God bless you all, we love you! XXX!—You better believe it! If you want to know more about the money situation, the Mideast, America's future or what's going to happen next, write for more of our letters on these subjects listed herein.

68. GOD BLESS AND KEEP YOU AND SAVE YOU FROM THE WRATH TO COME!—And He will if you'll believe our tale and repent and receive Jesus and start helping others with God's Love! If you agree with this‚ join with us, work with us and help us get out the message to a weary waiting world.

69. READ YOUR BIBLE AND PRAY AND GIVE AND WITNESS AND LOVE!—And send for more MO Letters about what's going on, so you won't be in the dark about what's happening! If you'd like to be a part of our youth ministry and express your sympathy for our cause, send for a beautiful free "Certificate of Fellowship" for your wall. Please include a helpful donation if you can. Thanks for listenin'! We love you!—And don't forget God loves you!—Ask Him to come into your heart and help you help others!—In Jesus' NAME, amen!