Destruction and Rejoicing

Lehi and others warned their contemporaries that they “must repent or the great city Jerusalem must be destroyed.” 1 Ne. 1:2RE Although he made the warning, he prayed for the people he had been warning, “even with all his heart in behalf of his people.” Id., paragraph 3. This should make us ask, who exactly were “his people?”

While praying on behalf of “his people” a pillar of fire descended “and he saw and heard much.” Id. This overcame him, and he went home and collapsed. As he laid on his bed, he was “carried away in a vision.” Id. In the vision he was shown “concerning Jerusalem: that it should be destroyed and the inhabitants thereof; many should perish by the sword and many should be carried away captive into Babylon.” Id.

Terrible destruction was just around the corner. His city and many of its residents would die, and the rest would go into captivity. But Lehi’s response seems oddly out of place. Instead of being sorrowful at what he saw instead, “he did exclaim many things unto the Lord, such as, Great and marvelous are thy works, O Lord God Almighty! Thy throne is high in the Heavens, and thy power, and goodness, and mercy are over all the inhabitants of the earth; and because thou art merciful, thou wilt not suffer those who come unto thee that they shall perish!” Id. Why this reaction?

Destruction was coming, but that had nothing to do with those who “come unto” the Lord. People were to be destroyed and enslaved, but Lehi’s prayer on behalf of “his people” gave him assurance that “they shall not perish” because they had come unto the Lord.

When wickedness overcomes people who have been taught to be better, it is a natural progression for them to be destroyed. The Book of Mormon has been available for nearly two centuries. It warns us and our ancestors of the following: “we can behold the decrees of God concerning this land, that it is a land of promise, and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall serve God or they shall be swept off when the fullness of his wrath shall come upon them. And the fullness of his wrath cometh upon them when they are ripened in iniquity. For behold, this is a land which is choice above all other lands. Wherefore, he that doth possess it shall serve God or shall be swept off, for it is the everlasting decree of God. And it is not until the fullness of iniquity among the children of the land that they are swept off. And this cometh unto you, O ye gentiles, that ye may know the decrees of God, that ye may repent and not continue in your iniquities until the fullness be come, that ye may not bring down the fullness of the wrath of God upon you as the inhabitants of the land hath hitherto done. Behold, this is a choice land; and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall be free from bondage, and from captivity, and from all other nations under Heaven if they will but serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ, who has been manifested by the things which we have written.” Ether 1:7RE

But destruction does not await those whom the Lord has promised by covenant that: “And you shall be called the children of the Most High God, and I will preserve you against the harvest. And the angels sent to harvest the world will gather the wicked into bundles to be burned, but will pass over you as my peculiar treasure.” T&C 158:17-18

So there is reason to fear coming judgments upon the wicked, but also reason to exclaim, like Lehi: Great and marvelous are your works, O Lord God Almighty! Your throne is high in the Heavens, and your power, and goodness, and mercy are over all the inhabitants of the earth; and because you are merciful, you will not suffer those who come unto you that they shall perish!

Idleness

“You shall not be idle, for he that is idle shall not eat the bread, nor wear the garment of the laborer.” T&C 26:10

“But if any provide not for his own, and especially for those of his own house, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” 1 Tim. 1:13

It is apparent that Zion will require endless labor to reverse the fall and allow the covenant promise to be realized: “The earth will yield its increase, and you will flourish upon the mountains and upon the hills, and the wicked will not come against you because the fear of the Lord will be with you.” T&C 158:14

For the earth to “yield” will require her to give way to persistent effort to reclaim the paradise that is possible here, if she is tended to by a husbandman willing to work by the sweat of his brow. Gen. 2:8-18

There will be no magic, only great effort. And the wicked (including the idler who is unwilling to labor for their bread and weave for their garment) will not come up to Zion, because they fear the great effort required there.

Learn a trade. Become competent at providing service, cultivating the earth, tending flocks, forging metal, harvesting lumber, performing carpentry, weaving, sewing, and a thousand other needed tasks for surviving and prospering.

The fellowships are a laboratory in which daily interaction allows believers to learn about one another. Idlers are proving themselves. Laborers are also proving themselves. God is also watching. This is a valuable, but temporary, time of proving. It will be followed by an even greater time of labor, sacrifice, and proving.

Christmas Day

Today we commemorate the birth of Christ. The names and titles He held reflect His eternal importance. Here is a list of only a few:

Firstborn Son

Only Begotten

Wonderful Counselor

Mighty God

Prince of Peace

Lion of Judah

Lamb of God

Immanuel

Messiah, Christ, Anointed

Everlasting Father

Holy One of Israel

Redeemer

Savior

Shepherd

Resurrection and the Life

Rock of Heaven

Bread of Life

Chief Cornerstone

King of kings

Lord of lords

The Word of God

Man of Sorrows

Bridegroom

Author and Finisher of our Faith

Shiloh

Master

Rabbi

Judge

True Vine

Husbandman

Great Angel

Dayspring

Alpha and Omega

The Branch

Beloved

The Root of David

The Way, the Truth and the Life

Bright and Morning Star

Son of the Morning

Light of the World

Image of the Father

Anchor of our Faith

Mediator

Son of Man

Son of God

Captain of Salvation

Hope of Nations

Advocate

Horn of Salvation

King of the Jews

Son of David

Endless

Eternal

Amen

Tomorrow

On the night before Christ’s birth, believers faced death in the Americas because a sign foretold by Samuel had not happened. A prophet named Nephi prayed that night for deliverance on behalf of others. “And behold, the voice of the Lord came unto him, saying, Lift up your head and be of good cheer. For behold, the time is at hand, and on this night shall the sign be given, and on the morrow come I into the world, to shew unto the world that I will fulfill all that which I have caused to be spoken by the mouth of my holy prophets. Behold, I come unto my own to fulfill all things which I have made known unto the children of men from the foundation of the world, and to do the will both of the Father and of the Son — of the Father because of me, and of the Son because of my flesh. And behold, the time is at hand and this night shall the sign be given.” 3 Ne. 1:3.

We celebrate Christ’s birth tomorrow, although there is little reason to think His birth happened near the winter solstice. He came as the Lamb of God, to be slain. Few people recognized the season, and fewer recognized the signs when He came. Prophetic words were ignored or misunderstood, and religious leaders thought it was impossible for Him to be the fulfillment.

God calls His plan a “strange act.” It is “strange” because of the difficulty mankind has in recognizing God’s accomplishments. Christ seemed too ordinary, too obscure, living at the wrong place, with the wrong qualifications for contemporaries to recognize.

“The world always mistook false prophets for true ones, and those that were sent of God they considered to be false prophets, and hence they killed, stoned, punished, and imprisoned the true prophets, and they had to hide themselves in deserts, and dens, and caves of the earth, and though the most honorable men of the earth, they banished them from their society as vagabonds, while they cherished, honored, and supported knaves, vagabonds, hypocrites, impostors, and the basest of men.” T&C 146:6.

Perhaps the only way heaven can get things done is through God’s “strange act”–unrecognized, unaccepted, and with stealth. God came before much like a “thief in the night.” He will come again. “And again, verily I say unto you, the coming of the Lord draws nigh and it overtakes the world as a thief in the night. Therefore, gird up your loins that you may be the children of the light, and that day shall not overtake you as a thief.” T&C 108:2.

Birthdate

Light increases and darkness decreases beginning a day ago. Today is Joseph Smith’s birthdate. The date is no accident. It symbolizes the reason for his life.

Many people who once held Joseph in high regard now believe he was a pretender and a fraud. His life history has been smothered by lies. In September 1823 an angel explained to him, as Joseph recorded: “He called me by name, and said unto me that he was a messenger sent from the presence of God to me and that his name was Nephi, that God had a work for me to do, and that my name should be had for good and evil among all nations, kindreds, and tongues, or that it should be both good and evil spoken of among all people.” Even the critics spreading lies about his life fulfill the prophecy.

Joseph did not lie to conceal his sins. He did not betray his wife. He respected her, and the correspondence between Emma and Joseph show their devotion to each other. Both of them denied Joseph had other wives. But after his murder many adulterous witnesses who practiced polygamy claimed otherwise. Someone is lying. Either the adulterers lied or Joseph and Emma did. Jeremiah suggests some sins are related: ” they commit adultery, and walk in lies.” Jer. 8:18. Lying and adultery go together.

The life he lived and sacrificed ought to be regarded with a little more sympathy and trust. He earned it. You can download the paper I wrote and listen to the talk I gave on Plural Marriage from this website. And the paper on problems with Mormon History is also available to read. I have considered carefully the subject, and researched it for decades. Joseph Smith was not an adulterer, despite all the poorly supported claims by open adulterers to the contrary.

The inspired prayer offered to repent and return to the Lord included these words about the unrepentant Nauvoo gentiles who never knew Joseph:

The wickedness of the gentile saints dismayed the people of Illinois who had welcomed them, and provoked the anger of their indignant neighbors, who then implemented your judgments against the rebellious saints. The former gentile saints were driven into the wilderness, and relocated into a desolate land, where they suffered hunger, cold, and sickness. In that isolation the gentile leaders were emboldened to openly practice abominations and wrongly teach the people to call them sacraments, as they reigned with blood and horror over the people. Secret murders, open defiance, and the slaughter of over 200 men, women, and children fixed the anger and opposition of the entire United States, who were moved by your will to curtail the barbarism of the gentile saints. Even today the gentile saints justify lying to others as part of their religion, believing you will vindicate them in their dishonesty. They seek deep to hide their counsel from others, and now deny your judgments against their ancestors, claiming you have never rejected them. They have, as you foretold, spoken both good and evil of your prophet Joseph. They ascribe many of their wicked practices to Joseph, who correctly told their ancestors that they never knew him — for indeed, the gentile saints have grown distant from you because of their willful rebellion, pride, foolishness, and blindness. We acknowledge that we must distinguish ourselves from them, admit the errors of the past, and in the depths of humility, seek to be reclaimed as yours. T&C 156:6-7.

As I think on Joseph Smith’s birthdate I think of honor, virtue, sacrifice, humility, fidelity to God, struggles, and martyrdom. It leaves me grateful for his life. I want to speak only good of him, just as the angel Nephi said would happen.

Destroying a Nation

In the vernacular of the Book of Mormon, to “destroy” did not mean annihilation. It meant to end the organized existence of people or to terminate their independent government, deprive them of a land, and end their cultural dominance. In the Book of Mormon, people were destroyed when they lost control over their government and land. Their ability to preserve their own values and choose the way they were governed was imposed on them by others. Often, but not always, it was from a different ethnic group. Once people were destroyed, they were oppressed and suffered. Often they were oppressed with grievous taxes and had religious liberties removed.

Destroyed people faced a choice: either repent, in which case they came through the period of oppression with another chance; or if they were angry and rebellious, they would then be “swept away.” Being destroyed is not at all the same as being “swept away.” It is possible for people to have been destroyed and not even realize it. But when they are “swept away,” they face extinction and cannot help but notice it.

Book of Mormon themes about destroying people are not history, but prophecy. They are intended to awaken people to things as they happen, so they will understand and repent before it is too late.

God has decreed there will be “a full end of all nations.” T&C 85:3. Despite this, His people have also been told, “Fear not, O Jacob my servant, says the Lord, for I am with you. For I will make a full end of all the nations to which I have driven you. But I will not make a full end of you[.]” Jeremiah 17:4.

Doug Mendenhall

My friend Doug Mendenhall passed away this evening. He died of complications related to COVID. I want to thank the doctors and nurses at the Provo Regional Hospital for their heroic efforts over the last 10 days to care for Doug.

Doug was a faithful friend who was true to his word. He volunteered to attend and record all 10 lectures that began in Boise, Idaho and ended in Phoenix, Arizona. He brought his equipment to record those talks, and are available today because of him. He made it possible for us to hear them again now.

I grieve the passing of my good friend. He was energetic, committed and upbeat.

Shirking

The US Supreme Court dismissed the Texas election challenge on procedural grounds, and did not reach the merits. As much as the Supreme Court may not want to choose the President, there is a far greater likelihood of national violence and splintering without a Supreme Court decision on the merits of these election challenges.

It does not matter which way the Supreme Court decides the issue. It is only important that they do so. Without a resolution there are going to be ongoing conflicts from the serious charges raised about irregularities in voting that will only grow over time. But a Supreme Court decision will operate to stabilize the unrest. We may not like a referee’s call during a game, but both sides accept the outcome, even if it is a bad call.

The Supreme Court may not want to or like deciding the challenge on the merits. But shirking that responsibility will prove to be destructive in the long run.

JST and Book of Mormon

I received a very good question from someone who has worked on the scripture recovery effort. His question is the following:

“And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you.” In 3 NE 7:1, Christ explains, “Behold, ye have heard the things which I have taught before I ascended to my Father.” But when we look at the same teachings in, for example, Matthew 3:47, Christ is quoted as saying the exact opposite: “And then will I say, You never knew me.” And this was a correction Joseph made in the JST.I’m trying to reconcile the conflict/discrepancy. Christ can know you, whether or not you know Him. So Joseph’s change makes a great deal of sense. But I also recognize that Christ’s statement in 3 Nephi can be a way of indicating that those making the claim were not acknowledged servants of His, but simply wannabes.Is it possible, perhaps likely, that Joseph’s understanding was such that he didn’t catch the difference until later in time, working on the JST? We seem to have a few instances of that already

I responded to his question as follows:

I understand that at the time of translating the Book of Mormon Joseph was charged by God with creating a translated text that the gentiles of the day would accept as scripture. If it had not been acceptable to the gentiles as scripture in 1830, they would not have perpetuated it. It needed to be perpetuated. So the wording was to allow gentiles to accept it and then to print and reprint it, preserving it for a later effort to conclude the restoration.

When Joseph did the JST, the charge from God was different. In that work he was restoring the “fullness of the scriptures” to remove errors from the King James Version. It was not to go out to the world, but only to believers inside the restoration. Ultimately, the gentiles of his day were not even allowed to receive the JST, and when it finally did roll out it was from a group who altered and corrupted it to include their changes, and omitted many of Joseph’s.

Our Restoration Edition which the Lord approved in 2017 is the first time the fullness of the scriptures have been provided. In it the change Joseph made to the text is revealed, or preserved. But that does not mean we should do anything to alter the Book of Mormon text because it preserves the record in the form gentiles were willing to accept in 1830. This is why we need the new scriptures to include both accounts.

If the difference is noticed, it will provoke an investigation. That should result in uncovering what Joseph did, under the inspiration from heaven, to give the investigator insight into God’s merciful patience with mankind’s weaknesses.

Puppets and Puppeteers

America was founded in revolutionary fire as men and women yearned to be free from oppressive and arrogant monarchs. They fled from every nation in Europe, and after the founding of a new nation they fled from every nation on earth. America was created from the human impulse to be free.

There is a resilient and deeply imbedded impulse that inclines Americans toward freedom. Although the schools of America have been corrupted and compromised, and leaders of media and commerce are easily manipulated into assuming it is possible to become puppeteers controlling the American public, there remains the problem of making puppets.

If Americans cannot be satisfied that an actual election with accurate vote counts have taken place, it will not take long before the putative puppeteers learn they have no puppets to control. It will not end well.

It is critical for the peace in America that everyone be openly and fully satisfied that the voting has been accurate, and all indications of fraud have been ruled out.

Republic and Arrogance

The Electoral College was adopted by the Constitutional fathers to prevent a dictatorship by population centers. But concentration of power in population centers is trending more and more.

Washington DC, Boston, New York, Pittsburg, Detroit, Chicago and Philadelphia are utterly dependent upon rural American to exist. They cannot eat without constant re-supply coming from rural America.

If rural America, called “fly-over-country” by the urban centers of political power, were ever to awaken to their ability to decimate, even destroy the urban centers, it would recalibrate political power in the United States.

At some point, it is foreseeable, that rural America will tire of the arrogance of the crowded and vulnerable big cities. When that happens, the Republic itself will undergo a needed realignment and the arrogant will be humbled.

We live in an interesting time. Our day resembles the time when the United States of America was founded: When a great number awakened to tyranny and decided to brook it no longer.

Possessing This Land

God established an ancient covenant over the land occupied by Americans. That covenant was explained to the Brother of Jared. With all going on at the present, the words seem as timely as today’s headlines. Ether 1:6-7 in the new scriptures is posted below:

[W]hoso should possess this land of promise, from that time henceforth and for ever should serve him, the true and only God, or they should be swept off when the fullness of his wrath should come upon them.
And now we can behold the decrees of God concerning this land, that it is a land of promise, and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall serve God or they shall be swept off when the fullness of his wrath shall come upon them. And the fullness of his wrath cometh upon them when they are ripened in iniquity. For behold, this is a land which is choice above all other lands. Wherefore, he that doth possess it shall serve God or shall be swept off, for it is the everlasting decree of God. And it is not until the fullness of iniquity among the children of the land that they are swept off. And this cometh unto you, O ye gentiles, that ye may know the decrees of God, that ye may repent and not continue in your iniquities until the fullness be come, that ye may not bring down the fullness of the wrath of God upon you as the inhabitants of the land hath hitherto done. Behold, this is a choice land; and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall be free from bondage, and from captivity, and from all other nations under Heaven if they will but serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ, who has been manifested by the things which we have written.

Spring Conference

I’ve accepted an invitation to speak at a general conference during the week of Passover this coming spring. It’s to be held in the sunny southern Nevada area. I understand the organizers of the conference are also planning for an extended retreat/gathering at or near where the conference will occur.

Frequent online presentations on the conference theme, the Religion of the Fathers as well as other topics will help us review what we have already been given on the topic until the conference. For a calendar of these online presentations visit the conference website, http://religionofthefathers.com

I have been working on a talk for the conference for a few weeks now. The subject is important and I hope to contribute something worthwhile at the event.