If the Teaching of the Benjamin Generation by Joseph Prince is not from the Bible or God, it must be from Man or Satan or Both – By Lim Ban Seng (Dated 8 Dec 2020)
“Joseph Prince claimed that he received direct revelation from God about the end-time generation – the Benjamin Generation – a generation marked by God’s abundant grace and supernatural favour. It is abundantly blessed with physical and material blessings. It is the most favoured generation of all and the last and final generation before the rapture. Hence, the call to his followers at New Creation Church (NCC) to embrace this great grace bestowed upon them; they are the Benjamin Generation.
Does the Bible mention anything about a last Benjamin generation before Christ returns?
Yes, the last generation of Benjamin before Christ returns is mentioned in Revelation 7:8: “… Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand.” This is the last and final generation of Benjamin before Christ returns.
Can the body of Christ of believers be that last Benjamin generation?
No, they are not of the nation of Israel. Benjamin is one of the 12 tribes of Israel. There will be a last generation of the Benjamin tribe before Christ returns but they will be of the nation of Israel as mentioned in Revelation 7:4,8.
Will the last generation of Benjamin before Christ returns be a prosperous generation that is abundantly blessed with physical and material blessings?
No, that last generation of Benjamin is mentioned in Revelation, and Revelation, as we know, will be a time of tremendous suffering and persecution under the antichrist for all the tribes associated with the nation of Israel. The true believers will not be able to buy or sell under the rule of the antichrist.
What does the Bible actually say about that last generation of the body of Christ before Christ returns?
2 Timothy 4:3-4: “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.”
The last generation of the body of Christ, according to Scriptures, will not endure sound doctrine. They do not want to know what the Bible really says. They are more interested in listening to and be entertained by fables (man-made or self-invented stories of this miracle and that miracle). They are more attracted to listening to the feel-good heresies of Joseph Prince than the tough truths of the Lord Jesus. They are more fascinated by the false grace doctrine of Joseph Prince than the true grace teaching of the True Church. They are more taken in by the cheap grace of Joseph Prince than the costly grace of the Bible.
2 Timothy 3:1, “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.” According to 2 Timothy 3:1, things will be pretty bad and dangerous for believers at that time before the rapture.
How different this is from what Joseph Prince says about the last generation of the body of Christ before the rapture! Joseph Prince says that the Benjamin Generation at New Creation Church will be the final generation before the rapture. And he assures his followers that things will be pretty good for them as they will be abundantly blessed with material things and success, and will be safe, healthful, youthful and full of vitality.
If you believe Joseph Prince, you will have to reject what 2 Timothy 3:1 says. But when you change what 2 Timothy 3:1 says, you are calling God a liar. The one key underpinning of Joseph Prince’s ministry is that he is constantly calling God a liar through his implicit and frequent rejection of what God says in the Scriptures.
It is not that Joseph Prince has not read the books of Scriptures, and is not familiar with common verses like 2 Timothy 3:1. He read but he didn’t believe. He chose to pervert the Scriptures for the sake of filthy lucre (1 Peter 5:2). His perversion of the Scriptures is one of the best exemplifications of the “subtilty” (2 Corinthians 11:3) and “wiles of the devil” (Ephesians 6:11) we have seen.
Joseph Prince has been preaching about this Benjamin Generation for many years. And he was at it again in his recent sermon, titled: “Five Times More Favour And Provision” on 15 November 2020.
Before he died, “… Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather together, that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last days”: (Genesis 49:1 NKJV). Thus, the Bible prophesied in Genesis 49:2-27 about what will befall the last generations of each of the twelve sons of Israel (including Benjamin) in the last days.
If, therefore, you want to know what the Bible prophesied about Benjamin’s descendants in the last days, you can study what Jacob said to Benjamin in Genesis 49:27 (NKJV): “Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; In the morning he shall devour the prey, And at night he shall divide the spoil.” That’s all that Jacob had to say in his prophecy about Benjamin’s descendants in the last days.
Now compare the prophecy about Benjamin in Genesis 49:27 to what Joseph Prince preaches and you can determine if he is perverting the Scriptures or teaching you what the Bible says.
Since Joseph Prince said that his followers at New Creation Church are that last Benjamin Generation, what you can do is replace the word “Benjamin” in Genesis 49:27 with “New Creation Church” and see if you like how it sounds or if you can make sense of what it means for you as a part of New Creation Church:
Genesis 49:27 (NKJV): “Benjamin (New Creation Church) is a ravenous wolf; In the morning he shall devour the prey, And at night he shall divide the spoil.”
If you still don’t understand, perhaps it is time to ask Joseph Prince to explain what Genesis 49:27 has to say about the current which is also the last and final Benjamin Generation at New Creation Church.
You have to ask Joseph Prince to explain why he left Genesis 49:27 out in his preaching of the last Benjamin Generation and substituted it with prophecies not found in the Bible. Presumably he must have thought about it hard and long to have written a book on it: “The Benjamin Generation.”
How did Joseph Prince come up with his idea of a supernaturally and abundantly favoured Benjamin Generation? Joseph Prince simply chose to focus on the word “gracious” in Genesis 43:29 and imagined wild things which led to his Benjamin Generation creation! (He is, as usual, reading his pet grace doctrine into ‘every’ passage of the Scriptures, instead of letting the context determine its meaning).
Genesis 43:29: Then he lifted his eyes and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son, and said, “Is this your younger brother of whom you spoke to me?” And he said, “God be gracious to you, my son.”
But when you study the context of Genesis 43:29, Joseph had been separated from his family for many years. So when he saw his brothers, he felt deeply and in particular for Benjamin who shared the same biological mother as him (Genesis 43:29,30). (The other brothers had different biological mothers.) Hence, Joseph greeted Benjamin with, “God be gracious to you, my son.” (Gen 43:29b)
The fact is Jacob had also used the word “gracious” in referring to all his sons, not any one in particular. Referring to his own children, Jacob said to Esau in Genesis 33:5, “The children whom God has graciously given your servant.”
Hence, the same word “gracious” was first associated with the other brothers of Benjamin in Genesis 33:5, when Benjamin had not even been born then (Gen 35:16-18).
If Joseph Prince had decided to pounce on Genesis 33:5 as well, there could have been, in association with New Creation Church, a Reubenite Generation, a Simeonite Generation, a Levite Generation, a Judahite Generation and so on; he could have written 12 books instead of 1 to promote his inventions.
Joseph Prince doesn’t care if he is perverting the Scriptures. Do you think what Joseph Prince is doing is alright with God? Joseph Prince doesn’t even care as long as he could use what he perverts to support his false grace doctrine, but do you care if it is not alright with God?
The idea of a final supernaturally favoured and prosperous Benjamin generation made up of Christians before the rapture that is concocted by Joseph Prince is not taught in the Bible. If the teaching of the Benjamin Generation by Joseph Prince is not from the Bible or God, it must be from man or Satan or both! Where else can it be from?”
Lim Ban Seng
Attending Grace Fellowship, Singapore