A new video series begins today. The Series is titled: The Heavens Are Open Again. The first video in the planned seven-part series was made live today at this link: The Heavens Are Open Again, Part 1: Condemnation
This evening is the equinox. The First Vision happened near the Spring Equinox. The four year recurring visitation of Nephi with Joseph Smith took place on the Fall Equinox. These movements of the sun on the horizon were anciently associated with heavenly contact, and devotional festivals. Their relevance seem to have been reconfirmed at the beginning of the Restoration.
The sun is now racing across the horizon, moving more than 1 degree daily to the north. Daylight has been growing in the northern hemisphere since the Winter Solstice, but it now is moving rapidly toward the Summer Solstice.
The symbolism of these movements are largely forgotten by modern Christianity and even Mormonism. But they are indeed part of the gospel of Christ, as I intend to mention this coming Sunday during my talk.
Despite our forgetfulness, heaven still uses this occasion to convey ideas for believers. Does God still speak through an earthquake? Does removing the trumpet from the temple’s “angel” atop the highest spire say anything to believers today?
I’ve thought for several years that the shift from primarily proclaiming the Book of Mormon to now requiring fidelity to an organization’s leaders as a precondition for baptism, has gutted the Lord’s intended message. If the primacy of the Book of Mormon is no longer an organization’s central message, then there is no further need to proclaim themselves to the world.