Dr. Ben Toh talks about vision based on Proverbs 29:18a which says, “Where there is no vision, the people perish…” (KJV). But NIV interprets it this way: “Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; but blessed is he who keeps the law.” And in ESV, it is interpreted as “Where there is no prophetic vision the people) cast off restraint, but blessed is he who keeps the law.” Other interpretations are also very similar to these interpretations. So I think ‘vision’ in Proverbs 29:18 should be interpreted as ‘revelation’ or ‘prophetic vision’ which is given to us by God to help us to keep his law.

Then is this vision from Proverbs 29:18 in a way related to Bill Gates’ vision about his company? Could Bill Gates have received a prophetic revelation similar to that of Proverbs 29:18 that his company’s product would be on every PC? I don’t think so. Therefore, Bill Gates’ vision must have been a different vision that is not like the vision in Proverbs 29:18. Dr. Ben Toh also uses Abraham as an example to talk about God’s vision for an individual. Dr. Ben Toh says that God had great hope and vision for Abraham. To fulfill this vision, God TRAINED Abraham in faith for 25 years.

Wow, he starts with Proverbs 29:18a and along the way he picks up Bill Gates and Abraham and finally arrives at 25 years of TRAINING! It is amazing how he somehow connects all these dots based on the notion of ‘vision’ ultimately arriving at TRAINING.

But when one pays close attention, he can see that the original meaning of ‘vision’ in Proverbs 29:18 evolves into a totally different species, TRAINING! So one can guess how the story would end: Since it is right to have a vision, one must receive UBF training! So when you reject UBF training, you reject God’s vision!

What is a cult? There are largely two classes of cults. One is like UBF. It starts with biblical principles. But its ultimate goal is to make sheep obey and practice its ideological and institutional principles absolutely. This kind of cult is very tricky to spot. The other one starts with non-biblical principles from the beginning and its ultimate goal is again to make sheep totally committed to it. UBF belongs to the former class of cult. We can clearly see this in Dr. Ben Toh’s message.
So how to interpret Proverbs 29:18? I read Matthew Henry’s commentary. He seems to interpret the vision in Proverbs 29:18 as the word of God and I think he is right. I think Proverbs 29:18 does not talk about Bill Gates’ vision and absolutely not Hitler’s vision.

I know there are many Christian ministries out there who interpret ‘vision’ only in terms of success and great achievement. Of course the Bible inspires us to succeed and to achieve many great things. But the vision in Proverbs 29:18 doesn’t seem to be inspiring us in such a way. It could be the case that one succeeds greatly when he keeps the law of God. But even if it is not the case, one is still blessed when he keeps God’s law. So through Proverbs 29:18, one should be inspired to keep God’s law instead of being inspired to have Bill Gates’ vision. Most of all Proverbs 29:18 does not inspire us to receive divine training from Dr. Ben Toh. I think Dr. Ben Toh does not know the meaning of vision in Proverbs 29:18. Dr. Ben Toh’s only desire is to inspire his sheep to work hard for him to establish a big ministry. He is only using Proverbs 29:18 to this end instead of feeding his sheep with Proverbs 29:18 with sincere and prayerful interpretation.

Don't forget Jim Jones' Socialist vision for America. He started out as an effective inner-city minister. He tried to use Christianity,at first, to instill this vision in his followers- we all know how that ended up. He was more successful at ingratiating himself with all the local politicians (with the use of his followers)so that when concerned relatives and ex-members went to there local and state representatives, with allegations of abuse, they looked the other way. It seems like UBF leaders are well on there way to doing this now, as they have already done with Dr. Armstrong, Ruth Tucker and the NEA. In the past, when "international delegates" had visa problems, they would send letters and make calls to Sen. Dick Durban's office, petitioning his help. (I think they were successful most of the time in doing this.)