“And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. And then shall the wolf dwell with the lamb; and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf, and the young lion, and the fatling, together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’s den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.”
These words, again borrowed from Isaiah, are familiar to all of us. The time frame puts it inside the larger Nephi prophecy regarding the fulfillment of covenants made to the “fathers.”
What is interesting for us is the narrative of end-of-times peace and return of righteousness. This includes a “people of God” returning to inhabit the earth set inside the Book of Mormon narrative prophecy. The Book of Mormon remnant figure centrally into the progression. It (the book) comes forth, and from that time until the fulfillment of the return of righteousness and peace, the book’s involvement is central. The gentiles receive custody of it. Don’t do much with it. Some few actually believe it. They will eventually take it to the remnant. The remnant begin to come onboard with their conversion. They increase, the gentiles decrease, the momentum builds. The gentiles ultimately get swept away, while the remnant begin to grow into the fullness of the Gospel in all its rights, ordinances, and return to the knowledge of Christ.
As the culmination of these trends, which begin small, but gain momentum as they roll forth, we see the final product for what it was always intended to become: Zion. Once the stone cut out of the mountain without hands begins to roll forth, it will not stop until it has filled the whole earth.
Among those who are destined to fulfill these events, they will “not hurt nor destroy in all” the Lord’s “holy mountain.” What does it mean to “not hurt?” What does it mean to “not destroy?” Why a “holy mountain?”
The earth itself will be “full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” What “knowledge of the Lord” is referred to here? How completely does the water cover the sea? Will there be any need for one man to say to another “know ye the Lord” in that day, or will all who remain know Him? (Jer. 31: 34; D&C 84: 96-99.)
We imagine that day, but do not live for it. We think ourselves qualified to be part of that group. But ask yourself, do you make others hurt? Do others who hurt find relief from their pain by what you are willing to suffer, without returning evil for evil, but good for evil? Or do you believe such ideas to be “weird?” Because they are, indeed, for all we do, all we say, all we live and all we are, so alien to us that they are weird indeed.
From inside that culture, looking back at us and our time, reading our foolishness, observing our entertainment, they will think us more than “weird.” They will think us utterly insane. And they will be right. We are the madmen, claiming ourselves to be righteous, while dwelling in raw sewage and celebrating revenge, discord, hatred and anger. We speak of Zion while marketing Babylon. We ask “what will sell” before we undertake any project. We study the trends of the fallen, wicked and perverse in order to adapt our faith, our words, and our conversations to appeal to Babylon. The social statistics of Latter-day Saints run about 7 years behind the larger population.
We’re all headed to hell, but console ourselves that we remain “peculiar” because we are slower in our descent than the larger population. It never occurs to us that a complete break will be needed.
The Lord plans to provide that break. The question then will be whether we join with those who lament the fall of Babylon (Rev. 18: 9-11), or among those who will rejoice at the coming of Zion (D&C 84: 96-102.) Perspective is affected by what our hearts value. Unfortunately, the choice is “either-or,” and not both. (Luke 16: 13.)
Well this is indeed “getting weird”…
The Lord plans to provide that break. The question then will be whether we join with those who lament the fall of Babylon (Rev. 18: 9-11), or among those who will rejoice at the coming of Zion (D&C 84: 96-102.) Perspective is affected by what our hearts value. Unfortunately, the choice is “either-or,” and not both. (Luke 16: 13.)
Well this is indeed “getting weird”…