Up until now, we've seen how fallen angels and their forbidden knowledge have affected the planet. This knowledge led God to exclaim, "and among all the workmanship of mine hands, there has not been so great wickedness as among thy brethren." (Moses 7:36)
Why is this the case?
What is different about this planet when compared to others?
Why does this planet have such wickedness?
I posit that we have something going on here that is unique. We have a being that is more evil than the other creations.
This most will be more controversial, so if there are things outside of your paradigm, let them sit until you find evidence for or against them.
Doctrine and Covenants 76:25-27
25 And this we saw also, and bear record, that an angel of God who was in authority in the presence of God, who rebelled against the Only Begotten Son whom the Father loved and who was in the bosom of the Father, was thrust down from the presence of God and the Son,
26 And was called Perdition, for the heavens wept over him—he was Lucifer, a son of the morning.
27 And we beheld, and lo, he is fallen! is fallen, even a son of the morning!
Here we have Lucifer, an angel in the presence of God, that rebelled. Why did he rebel? Had he seen someone else rebel?
Doctrine and Covenants 76:27 and 28
28 And while we were yet in the Spirit, the Lord commanded us that we should write the vision; for we beheld Satan, that old serpent, even the devil, who rebelled against God, and sought to take the kingdom of our God and his Christ—
29 Wherefore, he maketh war with the saints of God, and encompasseth them round about.
Here we have another being that makes war against God and his Christ. Wait a minute. God has a Christ? If it were referring to His only Begotten, it would say Son. This must be referring to the Christ that redeemed God long ago.
We have Lucifer that fights against us and our Savior, then we have the devil, whose title is Satan, making war with our God and his Christ. I wonder how common it is to have a being capable of making war with God in this manner.
I'm suggesting that this is not common at all, such that ours is the only planet with such a being involved. This being could have influenced Lucifer to fall, leading the angels to fall also. There are many questions about this to ask and ponder. I'll leave that up to the reader.
On another note regarding the fallen angels, it would seem that the Genesis account explains how the second incursion occurs, but does not explain how it wouldn't lead to the whole earth being corrupt again.
In Genesis 6, we read:
There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, When the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men...
Did you catch that?
The sons of God came in unto the daughters of men in those days, and also after that.
Sure does give new light to this verse.
I'll get to how former wickedness gets promulgated to today in future posts.
Sunday, May 29, 2022
Wednesday, April 28, 2021
Great Wickedness in the Earth - Part 4
I view the tower of Babel event as another large event where the purposes of God were at risk if God didn't step in.
The Genesis account doesn't give much detail as to who was involved in building the tower.
Genesis 11:
1 And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.
2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.
3 And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter.
4 And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.
5 And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.
6 And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.
7 Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.
8 So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.
9 Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.
What is meant by " now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do?"
What great evil were they imagining in their hearts? Who are THEY?
The book of Jasher is helpful in elucidating what went on.
Jasher 9:
20 And king Nimrod reigned securely, and all the earth was under his control, and all the earth was of one tongue and words of union.
21 And all the princes of Nimrod and his great men took counsel together; Phut, Mitzraim, Cush and Canaan with their families, and they said to each other, Come let us build ourselves a city and in it a strong tower, and its top reaching heaven, and we will make ourselves famed, so that we may reign upon the whole world, in order that the evil of our enemies may cease from us, that we may reign mightily over them, and that we may not become scattered over the earth on account of their wars.
22 And they all went before the king, and they told the king these words, and the king agreed with them in this affair, and he did so
So this happened under Nimrod, who was feared in all the earth. It appears they sought for more power and control than they already had.
It continues:
23 And all the families assembled consisting of about six hundred thousand men, and they went to seek an extensive piece of ground to build the city and the tower, and they sought in the whole earth and they found none like one valley at the east of the land of Shinar, about two days' walk, and they journeyed there and they dwelt there.
24 And they began to make bricks and burn fires to build the city and the tower that they had imagined to complete.
25 And the building of the tower was unto them a transgression and a sin, and they began to build it, and whilst they were building against the Lord God of heaven, they imagined in their hearts to war against him and to ascend into heaven.
So their purpose was to war with God. The war in heaven has not ended. However, there were three different groups involved.
26 And all these people and all the families divided themselves in three parts; the first said We will ascend into heaven and fight against him; the second said, We will ascend to heaven and place our own gods there and serve them; and the third part said, We will ascend to heaven and smite him with bows and spears; and God knew all their works and all their evil thoughts, and he saw the city and the tower which they were building.
There appears to be little difference between the three groups, they all want to destroy God. They all practice idolatry. Each group was going to ascend by their own merit, and not by the grace of God.
The book of Jasher continues
27 And when they were building they built themselves a great city and a very high and strong tower; and on account of its height the mortar and bricks did not reach the builders in their ascent to it, until those who went up had completed a full year, and after that, they reached to the builders and gave them the mortar and the bricks; thus was it done daily.
28 And behold these ascended and others descended the whole day; and if a brick should fall from their hands and get broken, they would all weep over it, and if a man fell and died, none of them would look at him.
Their hearts had waxed cold, as they had no love for their fellow man. They had but one goal, ascend and fight God.
They were reaching a point where if God didn't intervene, then the purification by the flood would have become naught.
29 And the Lord knew their thoughts, and it came to pass when they were building they cast the arrows toward the heavens, and all the arrows fell upon them filled with blood, and when they saw them they said to each other, Surely we have slain all those that are in heaven.
30 For this was from the Lord in order to cause them to err, and in order; to destroy them from off the face of the ground.
31 And they built the tower and the city, and they did this thing daily until many days and years were elapsed.
32 And God said to the seventy angels who stood foremost before him, to those who were near to him, saying, Come let us descend and confuse their tongues, that one man shall not understand the language of his neighbor, and they did so unto them.
33 And from that day following, they forgot each man his neighbor's tongue, and they could not understand to speak in one tongue, and when the builder took from the hands of his neighbor lime or stone which he did not order, the builder would cast it away and throw it upon his neighbor, that he would die.
34 And they did so many days, and they killed many of them in this manner.
35 And the Lord smote the three divisions that were there, and he punished them according to their works and designs; those who said, We will ascend to heaven and serve our gods, became like apes and elephants; and those who said, We will smite the heaven with arrows, the Lord killed them, one man through the hand of his neighbor; and the third division of those who said, We will ascend to heaven and fight against him, the Lord scattered them throughout the earth.
36 And those who were left amongst them, when they knew and understood the evil which was coming upon them, they forsook the building, and they also became scattered upon the face of the whole earth.
The big question to me is: why is this important?
Babel is the origin of Babylon. For when babylon was established, it was established after the pattern of babel. The "spirit" of babel lives on, even today. It is the same influence that led to the need for the flood. It is this same influence that will lead to great tribulation.
Let's revisit the wording of Genesis. " now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do."
In other words, they were going to accomplish their desires. They were going to ascend to heaven and wage war. Their intent was to kill God. Can God be killed? I won't speculate here about that.
What were some of their other designs? Perhaps they feared another flood event, and built a tower to survive a flood?
The Book of Jasher brings up power over their enemies, as well as fame/glory of the world. They didn't want to be scattered over all the earth by their enemies. The irony is that they sought to make war with God, and He scattered them.
All in all, this was another attempt at corrupting all flesh, to thwart the work of God.
God's work shall not be thwarted.
The Genesis account doesn't give much detail as to who was involved in building the tower.
Genesis 11:
1 And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.
2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.
3 And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter.
4 And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.
5 And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.
6 And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.
7 Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.
8 So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.
9 Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.
What is meant by " now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do?"
What great evil were they imagining in their hearts? Who are THEY?
The book of Jasher is helpful in elucidating what went on.
Jasher 9:
20 And king Nimrod reigned securely, and all the earth was under his control, and all the earth was of one tongue and words of union.
21 And all the princes of Nimrod and his great men took counsel together; Phut, Mitzraim, Cush and Canaan with their families, and they said to each other, Come let us build ourselves a city and in it a strong tower, and its top reaching heaven, and we will make ourselves famed, so that we may reign upon the whole world, in order that the evil of our enemies may cease from us, that we may reign mightily over them, and that we may not become scattered over the earth on account of their wars.
22 And they all went before the king, and they told the king these words, and the king agreed with them in this affair, and he did so
So this happened under Nimrod, who was feared in all the earth. It appears they sought for more power and control than they already had.
It continues:
23 And all the families assembled consisting of about six hundred thousand men, and they went to seek an extensive piece of ground to build the city and the tower, and they sought in the whole earth and they found none like one valley at the east of the land of Shinar, about two days' walk, and they journeyed there and they dwelt there.
24 And they began to make bricks and burn fires to build the city and the tower that they had imagined to complete.
25 And the building of the tower was unto them a transgression and a sin, and they began to build it, and whilst they were building against the Lord God of heaven, they imagined in their hearts to war against him and to ascend into heaven.
So their purpose was to war with God. The war in heaven has not ended. However, there were three different groups involved.
26 And all these people and all the families divided themselves in three parts; the first said We will ascend into heaven and fight against him; the second said, We will ascend to heaven and place our own gods there and serve them; and the third part said, We will ascend to heaven and smite him with bows and spears; and God knew all their works and all their evil thoughts, and he saw the city and the tower which they were building.
There appears to be little difference between the three groups, they all want to destroy God. They all practice idolatry. Each group was going to ascend by their own merit, and not by the grace of God.
The book of Jasher continues
27 And when they were building they built themselves a great city and a very high and strong tower; and on account of its height the mortar and bricks did not reach the builders in their ascent to it, until those who went up had completed a full year, and after that, they reached to the builders and gave them the mortar and the bricks; thus was it done daily.
28 And behold these ascended and others descended the whole day; and if a brick should fall from their hands and get broken, they would all weep over it, and if a man fell and died, none of them would look at him.
Their hearts had waxed cold, as they had no love for their fellow man. They had but one goal, ascend and fight God.
They were reaching a point where if God didn't intervene, then the purification by the flood would have become naught.
29 And the Lord knew their thoughts, and it came to pass when they were building they cast the arrows toward the heavens, and all the arrows fell upon them filled with blood, and when they saw them they said to each other, Surely we have slain all those that are in heaven.
30 For this was from the Lord in order to cause them to err, and in order; to destroy them from off the face of the ground.
31 And they built the tower and the city, and they did this thing daily until many days and years were elapsed.
32 And God said to the seventy angels who stood foremost before him, to those who were near to him, saying, Come let us descend and confuse their tongues, that one man shall not understand the language of his neighbor, and they did so unto them.
33 And from that day following, they forgot each man his neighbor's tongue, and they could not understand to speak in one tongue, and when the builder took from the hands of his neighbor lime or stone which he did not order, the builder would cast it away and throw it upon his neighbor, that he would die.
34 And they did so many days, and they killed many of them in this manner.
35 And the Lord smote the three divisions that were there, and he punished them according to their works and designs; those who said, We will ascend to heaven and serve our gods, became like apes and elephants; and those who said, We will smite the heaven with arrows, the Lord killed them, one man through the hand of his neighbor; and the third division of those who said, We will ascend to heaven and fight against him, the Lord scattered them throughout the earth.
36 And those who were left amongst them, when they knew and understood the evil which was coming upon them, they forsook the building, and they also became scattered upon the face of the whole earth.
The big question to me is: why is this important?
Babel is the origin of Babylon. For when babylon was established, it was established after the pattern of babel. The "spirit" of babel lives on, even today. It is the same influence that led to the need for the flood. It is this same influence that will lead to great tribulation.
Let's revisit the wording of Genesis. " now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do."
In other words, they were going to accomplish their desires. They were going to ascend to heaven and wage war. Their intent was to kill God. Can God be killed? I won't speculate here about that.
What were some of their other designs? Perhaps they feared another flood event, and built a tower to survive a flood?
The Book of Jasher brings up power over their enemies, as well as fame/glory of the world. They didn't want to be scattered over all the earth by their enemies. The irony is that they sought to make war with God, and He scattered them.
All in all, this was another attempt at corrupting all flesh, to thwart the work of God.
God's work shall not be thwarted.
Friday, February 19, 2021
Great Wickedness in the Earth - Part 3
This post will have more speculation than usual, but my readers will see this speculation as fitting another piece into the puzzle that leads to great wickedness on this earth.
I said this post would be about the tower of Babel, but I wish to further expound on the idea that Nimrod reintroduced the giants into the land.
Previously, we established that the fallen angels shared forbidden knowledge with the descendants of Adam and Eve. Two dominant lines have been disclosed in scripture: that of Seth (the line of the righteous patriarchs) and that of Cain (the line of unrighteous patriarchs).
I postulate that their society was similar to ours in many ways. One way is the ease of accessing vast amounts of knowledge. Almost all knowledge can be used in two primary ways: for good, or for evil. It's not much of a stretch to imagine how each of the dominant lines of Adam's descendants would use such knowledge.
However, was this information lost in the flood, or did it make it through for Nimrod to discover?
In the writings of Flavius Josephus, a 1st century Jewish scholar loyal to Rome, we find a discussion about the pillars of one named Enoch (descendant of Cain) that were erected before the flood. One was made of stone such as marble, the other of either brick or a metal alloy whose name has lost meaning over the millennia (or both brick and metal). One of these pillars had much forbidden knowledge on it, while the other contained information on where to find caves containing significant amounts of antediluvian writings. One of the pillars is believed to be in Syria, but knowledge of such things has been buried.
If Nimrod found these pillars, and the caves, he would have easily become a fearsome man. How else would Nimrod go from being an ordinary man, to being a mighty one, like those of old? With the flood still fresh in their memory, a giant would likely cause great fear to come over people.
Genesis 10:8
And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth.
Thus, we can see how a second "incursion" of giants was accomplished whilst the fallen angels were imprisoned according to the book of Enoch. But then, why did this second time not result in corruption of all the earth? Would Nimrod's unknown methods be equal to the fallen angels procreating with the daughters if men? Likely not. Therefore, this race of giants would be less fearsome, smaller in stature, and cause less corruption than their antescendants.
Furthermore, it is my opinion that the tower of Babel event would not have occurred without the forbidden knowledge written on those pillars.
What happened with this knowledge after the tower of babel? There are many secret societies that claim their knowledge came down from one named Enoch. They profess to have received this information from the righteous Enoch, but then why the need to keep it secret by wicked oaths?
More on the tower of Babel soon.
I said this post would be about the tower of Babel, but I wish to further expound on the idea that Nimrod reintroduced the giants into the land.
Previously, we established that the fallen angels shared forbidden knowledge with the descendants of Adam and Eve. Two dominant lines have been disclosed in scripture: that of Seth (the line of the righteous patriarchs) and that of Cain (the line of unrighteous patriarchs).
I postulate that their society was similar to ours in many ways. One way is the ease of accessing vast amounts of knowledge. Almost all knowledge can be used in two primary ways: for good, or for evil. It's not much of a stretch to imagine how each of the dominant lines of Adam's descendants would use such knowledge.
However, was this information lost in the flood, or did it make it through for Nimrod to discover?
In the writings of Flavius Josephus, a 1st century Jewish scholar loyal to Rome, we find a discussion about the pillars of one named Enoch (descendant of Cain) that were erected before the flood. One was made of stone such as marble, the other of either brick or a metal alloy whose name has lost meaning over the millennia (or both brick and metal). One of these pillars had much forbidden knowledge on it, while the other contained information on where to find caves containing significant amounts of antediluvian writings. One of the pillars is believed to be in Syria, but knowledge of such things has been buried.
If Nimrod found these pillars, and the caves, he would have easily become a fearsome man. How else would Nimrod go from being an ordinary man, to being a mighty one, like those of old? With the flood still fresh in their memory, a giant would likely cause great fear to come over people.
Genesis 10:8
And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth.
Thus, we can see how a second "incursion" of giants was accomplished whilst the fallen angels were imprisoned according to the book of Enoch. But then, why did this second time not result in corruption of all the earth? Would Nimrod's unknown methods be equal to the fallen angels procreating with the daughters if men? Likely not. Therefore, this race of giants would be less fearsome, smaller in stature, and cause less corruption than their antescendants.
Furthermore, it is my opinion that the tower of Babel event would not have occurred without the forbidden knowledge written on those pillars.
What happened with this knowledge after the tower of babel? There are many secret societies that claim their knowledge came down from one named Enoch. They profess to have received this information from the righteous Enoch, but then why the need to keep it secret by wicked oaths?
More on the tower of Babel soon.
Wednesday, February 26, 2020
The Gospel - Part 4
Previously, we discussed faith, repentance, and baptism.
These first two are principles, and baptism is an ordinance, or ritual; but I didn't cover what the gospel is.
Paul defines the gospel in 1 Corinthians 15:
1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;
2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
5 And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve:
6 After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.
7 After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles.
8 And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.
In simple terms, it is the gospel by which we are saved. In other words, we are saved by Christ.
The gospel is Christ dying for us, and him rising again. This is the good news. He suffered and died so that we may live.
Unfortunately, this ignores the horrible agony in Gethsemane, but it is included in dying. All of the prophets pointed to this event, but I'll mention only 1.
Moses lifted up the brazen serpent on a pole or cross and those who would look upon it would live. Brazen means unashamed. The serpent is the symbol for sin. Christ was unashamed on the cross because he committed no sin, yet he became sin for us to become sinless. Christ was no serpent, he had no forked tongue.
Those that exercise faith to look to Christ, will be saved. Those that have this faith will seek to overcome their own sin, and they will desire to show their devotion publicly by baptism.
What is significant about the thousands that saw our risen Lord? Why does Paul include their witness? Does that add validity to his claim that Jesus rose from the grave?
Next up, what does "born of the spirit" mean?
These first two are principles, and baptism is an ordinance, or ritual; but I didn't cover what the gospel is.
Paul defines the gospel in 1 Corinthians 15:
1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;
2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
5 And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve:
6 After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.
7 After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles.
8 And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.
In simple terms, it is the gospel by which we are saved. In other words, we are saved by Christ.
The gospel is Christ dying for us, and him rising again. This is the good news. He suffered and died so that we may live.
Unfortunately, this ignores the horrible agony in Gethsemane, but it is included in dying. All of the prophets pointed to this event, but I'll mention only 1.
Moses lifted up the brazen serpent on a pole or cross and those who would look upon it would live. Brazen means unashamed. The serpent is the symbol for sin. Christ was unashamed on the cross because he committed no sin, yet he became sin for us to become sinless. Christ was no serpent, he had no forked tongue.
Those that exercise faith to look to Christ, will be saved. Those that have this faith will seek to overcome their own sin, and they will desire to show their devotion publicly by baptism.
What is significant about the thousands that saw our risen Lord? Why does Paul include their witness? Does that add validity to his claim that Jesus rose from the grave?
Next up, what does "born of the spirit" mean?
Friday, January 17, 2020
Great wickedness in the Earth - part 2: Return of the Giants
Before we continue, I have an addendum to the previous post. I leave my posts alone once I've uploaded them. The book of Jasher has more evidence for there being great technology and what kind of wickedness there was. Jasher 4:
16 And all the sons of men departed from the ways of the Lord in those days as they multiplied upon the face of the earth with sons and daughters, and they taught one another their evil practices and they continued sinning against the Lord.
17 And every man made unto himself a god, and they robbed and plundered every man his neighbor as well as his relative, and they corrupted the earth, and the earth was filled with violence.
18 And their judges and rulers went to the daughters of men and took their wives by force from their husbands according to their choice, and the sons of men in those days took from the cattle of the earth, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, and taught the mixture of animals of one species with the other, in order therewith to provoke the Lord; and God saw the whole earth and it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted its ways upon earth, all men and all animals.
If you read the previous post, I needn't say more.
So we had the flood. How did the giants return?
We know they returned because of Genesis 6:4 saying: ...and also after.
Let's take a look at some of the more popular theories.
The first is that there was another incursion by angels. If that were to be the case, why does the bible (through Moses) only mention the one in genesis 6?
A second theory is that because they were technologically advanced, they could have escaped death from the flood by hiding in bunkers or remaining in aircraft for the duration of the flood. While this is theoretically possible, the giants mentioned in the bible don't seem to have that technology after the flood.
The third theory gets closer to how I recently viewed the matter. Ham was cursed by Noah for whatever he did with "uncovering his nakedness". This curse brought about giants through his seed. It is true that the seed of Ham became giants (Cannanites and Philistines for sure, perhaps other tribes as well; Goliath was a Philistine).
However, why would a curse make one's offspring giant? Also, while that event was significant, it isn't brought up relating to any giants.
Another theory:
Let's look closer at Genesis 6.
9 ¶ These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.
10 And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
So Noah was perfect in his generations, he was genetically clean. As were his sons. However, verse 12 says all flesh was corrupt. Were Noah and his sons not flesh? Yes they were, but they were the only exceptions to "all flesh being corrupt". We do this sort of thing today in our language. An example: all of them were wicked, save one.
So the women that Noah's sons married were not listed before the "all flesh was corrupt". The idea is that Ham's wife carried DNA of the giants. With our current understanding of DNA, she may have only had 1/2 or 1/4 of the DNA of a giant. (Or even less, I suppose). This would easily explain why some of the canaanites and philistines were giants, but not all of them.
There's one more theory that we must discuss; and it involves nimrod, an early descendant of Ham. The bible says he became a mighty one. What did he really become? The book of Jasher says that he was feared in all the earth. Why would one man be so feared if he was an ordinary man? This idea is that somehow Nimrod changed his DNA and became a giant, which, if it were a "germ line mutation" it would be transferred to his seed.
I'm not here to tell you which one is most likely, and it's possible that something else entirely occurred. Either way, the giants returned, and some few still remain to this day. I, myself have heard eyewitness testimony of this fact from multiple sources, and have no reason to doubt them, given the biblical ramifications.
There is still much debate about how the giants returned, and I have only given a cursory summary of each, as it is not my purpose to provide an in-depth analysis of each.
I highly recommend spending time in prayer on whether this matter is important for you to learn about and how it may impact your understanding of history.
Next, we will delve into the significance of the tower of babel (or really, its destruction), and how that has impacted the very direction of human history.
It's my goal to connect a few dots that have been forgotten in the sands of time.
May the peace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ be with you.
16 And all the sons of men departed from the ways of the Lord in those days as they multiplied upon the face of the earth with sons and daughters, and they taught one another their evil practices and they continued sinning against the Lord.
17 And every man made unto himself a god, and they robbed and plundered every man his neighbor as well as his relative, and they corrupted the earth, and the earth was filled with violence.
18 And their judges and rulers went to the daughters of men and took their wives by force from their husbands according to their choice, and the sons of men in those days took from the cattle of the earth, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, and taught the mixture of animals of one species with the other, in order therewith to provoke the Lord; and God saw the whole earth and it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted its ways upon earth, all men and all animals.
If you read the previous post, I needn't say more.
So we had the flood. How did the giants return?
We know they returned because of Genesis 6:4 saying: ...and also after.
Let's take a look at some of the more popular theories.
The first is that there was another incursion by angels. If that were to be the case, why does the bible (through Moses) only mention the one in genesis 6?
A second theory is that because they were technologically advanced, they could have escaped death from the flood by hiding in bunkers or remaining in aircraft for the duration of the flood. While this is theoretically possible, the giants mentioned in the bible don't seem to have that technology after the flood.
The third theory gets closer to how I recently viewed the matter. Ham was cursed by Noah for whatever he did with "uncovering his nakedness". This curse brought about giants through his seed. It is true that the seed of Ham became giants (Cannanites and Philistines for sure, perhaps other tribes as well; Goliath was a Philistine).
However, why would a curse make one's offspring giant? Also, while that event was significant, it isn't brought up relating to any giants.
Another theory:
Let's look closer at Genesis 6.
9 ¶ These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.
10 And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
So Noah was perfect in his generations, he was genetically clean. As were his sons. However, verse 12 says all flesh was corrupt. Were Noah and his sons not flesh? Yes they were, but they were the only exceptions to "all flesh being corrupt". We do this sort of thing today in our language. An example: all of them were wicked, save one.
So the women that Noah's sons married were not listed before the "all flesh was corrupt". The idea is that Ham's wife carried DNA of the giants. With our current understanding of DNA, she may have only had 1/2 or 1/4 of the DNA of a giant. (Or even less, I suppose). This would easily explain why some of the canaanites and philistines were giants, but not all of them.
There's one more theory that we must discuss; and it involves nimrod, an early descendant of Ham. The bible says he became a mighty one. What did he really become? The book of Jasher says that he was feared in all the earth. Why would one man be so feared if he was an ordinary man? This idea is that somehow Nimrod changed his DNA and became a giant, which, if it were a "germ line mutation" it would be transferred to his seed.
I'm not here to tell you which one is most likely, and it's possible that something else entirely occurred. Either way, the giants returned, and some few still remain to this day. I, myself have heard eyewitness testimony of this fact from multiple sources, and have no reason to doubt them, given the biblical ramifications.
There is still much debate about how the giants returned, and I have only given a cursory summary of each, as it is not my purpose to provide an in-depth analysis of each.
I highly recommend spending time in prayer on whether this matter is important for you to learn about and how it may impact your understanding of history.
Next, we will delve into the significance of the tower of babel (or really, its destruction), and how that has impacted the very direction of human history.
It's my goal to connect a few dots that have been forgotten in the sands of time.
May the peace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ be with you.
Thursday, September 12, 2019
Great Wickedness on the Earth - Part 1
This post is intended to set the stage of an important worldview that has been lost over the millennia.
God told Enoch in Moses 7: 36, "... and among all the workmanship of mine hands there has not been so great wickedness as among thy brethren."
What was this wickedness? What happened such that this earth of all the earths (see Moses 7:30) was more wicked than others?
Why would angels of heaven not keep their first estate? (Jude 1:6)
Where did the giants come from (Moses 7:15, Genesis 6)?
Is the fall of Lucifer (Isaiah 14:12) related to such great wickedness and fallen angels?
Let's see if we can connect some of these dots in this series.
Genesis 6 really sets the stage to understand what has gone on over the past 6000 years or so.
2 That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.
3 And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.
4 There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.
5 And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Who were the "sons of God"? And how did we get giants from them coming in unto the daughters of men? It should be obvious that giants would not come about if these "sons of God" were ordinary humans, but that this would require something of a more supernatural ilk.
The wickedness of man was tied to the giants by using the conjunction "and". Therefore the presence of these giants and the "sons of God" (who I believe to be the angels that kept not their first estate as described in Jude and discussed later) brought about great wickedness. So much wickedness that God decided he would wipeout all flesh by the flood.
We learn in the first book of Enoch that the watchers (as the fallen angels are called) taught the children of Adam forbidden knowledge. What was that forbidden knowledge?
1 Enoch 8:
1 And Azazel taught men to make swords, and knives, and shields, and breastplates, and made known to them the metals of the earth and the art of working them, and bracelets, and ornaments, and the use of antimony, and the beautifying of the eyelids, and all kinds of costly stones, and all
2 colouring tinctures. And there arose much godlessness, and they committed fornication, and they
3 were led astray, and became corrupt in all their ways. Semjaza taught enchantments, and root-cuttings, 'Armaros the resolving of enchantments, Baraqijal (taught) astrology, Kokabel the constellations, Ezeqeel the knowledge of the clouds, Araqiel the signs of the earth, Shamsiel the signs of the sun, and Sariel the course of the moon. And as men perished, they cried, and their cry went up to heaven . . .
Why is it that the weapons of war brought about godlessness? Could it be that they no longer were reliant on God, but on these angels? We aren't given much detail, but we do know that in the same chapter in Genesis, Noah is given the command to build the arc. The two incidents (angels coming down and the flood) seem to be related.
Side note: I'm not saying that we can't or shouldn't study some of the things listed above. One should be very careful when studying such things as it can easily lead to pride and idolatry.
But why did the angels of heaven fall? What would cause holy and righteous angels to make that kind of choice?
Perhaps there is more going on than meets the eye at first glance. Let's take a look at the book of Enoch for some further clarification.
1 Enoch 6:
1 And when the sons of men had multiplied, in those days, beautiful and comely daughters were born to them.
2 And the watchers, the sons of heaven, saw them and desired them. And they said to one another, “Come, let us choose for ourselves wives from the daughters of men, and let us beget for ourselves children.”…
5 Then they all swore together and bound one another with a curse.
6 And they were, all of them, two hundred, who descended in the days of Jared onto the peak of Mount Hermon.
1 Enoch 7:
1 These and all the others with them took for themselves wives from among them such as they chose. And they began to go in to them, and to defile themselves through them, and to teach them sorcery and charms, and to reveal to them the cutting of roots and plants.
2 And they conceived from them and bore to them great giants. And the giants begat Nephilim…
In other words, the angels were enticed by the beauty of women and sought to have their own seed.
They took an oath, much like the ones in the Book of Mormon. In Ether 8, we read:
15 And it came to pass that thus they did agree with Akish. And Akish did administer unto them the oaths which were given by them of old who also sought power, which had been handed down even from Cain, who was a murderer from the beginning.
Where did Cain get this oath?
Moses 5:
29 And Satan said unto Cain: Swear unto me by thy throat, and if thou tell it thou shalt die; and swear thy brethren by their heads, and by the living God, that they tell it not; for if they tell it, they shall surely die; and this that thy father may not know it; and this day I will deliver thy brother Abel into thine hands.
30 And Satan sware unto Cain that he would do according to his commands. And all these things were done in secret.
31 And Cain said: Truly I am Mahan, the master of this great secret, that I may murder and get gain. Wherefore Cain was called Master Mahan, and he gloried in his wickedness.
Isn't this the same kind of oath the "watchers" made with each other? This is speculation, but it would appear that they either watched Cain make his oath, or were taught by the prince of the power of the air (or one of his subjects). Some even believe azazel is the same being as lucifer, but we won't delve into that debacle here.
So these angels were wicked, but why does Genesis 6 say that the wickedness of man was great? What did these angels do to cause men to be wicked?
The watchers taught them sorcery and charms. The children of Adam were taught to rely on themselves instead of God. They were taught to manipulate the world around them, not by the will of the true and living God, but by their own will. Letting go of one's will for the will of God is one of the most important tasks in this life. The "miracles" that they would have performed can be done by God, and by His followers, but never without permission and always in His way. A good example of this is any of the plagues of Egypt that were replicated by the sorcerers. Doing those miracles was sinful because they didn't do it by the power of God, or with His permission.
Additionally, the watchers taught them how to be idle by technology. What great wickedness has been brought about by the technology we have today?
What else happened that led to the flood?
Let's take a look at Genesis 6.
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
The earth was corrupt? What did they do to the earth to corrupt it? Was it the violence? Violence has a tendency to harden hearts, just look at how people feel toward those in "enemy" countries.
What does "all" flesh signify? If we look at the current direction of gene editing technology, it should be clear that animals are included in our experiments. One example is the liger, a combination between a lion and a tiger. I'm not making this up.
So all flesh was corrupted and life needed a new start. That's why there was a flood. It's not just wickedness, but corruption of flesh.
Now that we have some more background, let's take a look at the offspring of the watchers.
They were giants.
1 Enoch 7:
1. And all the others together with them took unto themselves wives, and each chose for himself one, and they began to go in unto them and to defile themselves with them, and they taught them charms and enchantments, and the cutting of roots, and made them acquainted with plants.
2. And they became pregnant, and they bare great giants, whose height was three thousand ells:
3. Who consumed all the acquisitions of men. And when men could no longer sustain them,
4. the giants turned against them and devoured mankind.
5. And they began to sin against birds, and beasts, and reptiles, and fish, and to devour one another's flesh, and drink the blood.
6. Then the earth laid accusation against the lawless ones.
Did those giants have spirits? Where did those spirits come from? For those that have been through an LDS temple endowment, you are aware of the threat that the spirits that followed lucifer would possess the bodies of the children of Adam. I submit that the giants were not a creation ordained by God, so God was not going to be supplying spirits for them; yet they had spirits.
1 enoch 15:
And now the giants, who have been begotten from body and flesh, will be called evil spirits on earth, and their dwelling-places will be upon the earth.
9. Evil spirits proceed from their bodies; because they are created from above, their beginning and first basis being from the holy watchers, they will be evil spirits upon the earth, and will be called evil spirits.
10. But the spirits of heaven have their dwelling-places in heaven, and the spirits of the earth, who were born on the earth, have their dwelling-places on earth.
11. And the spirits of the giants, who cast themselves upon the clouds, will be destroyed and fall, and will battle and cause destruction on the earth, and do evil; they will take no kind of food, nor will they become thirsty, and they will be invisible.
12. And these spirits will not rise up against the children of men and against the women, because they have proceeded from them, in the days of murder and destruction.
Other translations use the word "demon". Either way, their spirits are evil or demonic. The spirits were already followers of satan and lucifer, they just inhabited giant bodies.
At this point, you may be thinking: ok, I can understand why God would just send a flood to wipeout all of the giants and corrupt flesh, but what does this have to do with wickedness after the flood? That's the topic we'll cover in part 2.
God told Enoch in Moses 7: 36, "... and among all the workmanship of mine hands there has not been so great wickedness as among thy brethren."
What was this wickedness? What happened such that this earth of all the earths (see Moses 7:30) was more wicked than others?
Why would angels of heaven not keep their first estate? (Jude 1:6)
Where did the giants come from (Moses 7:15, Genesis 6)?
Is the fall of Lucifer (Isaiah 14:12) related to such great wickedness and fallen angels?
Let's see if we can connect some of these dots in this series.
Genesis 6 really sets the stage to understand what has gone on over the past 6000 years or so.
2 That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.
3 And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.
4 There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.
5 And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Who were the "sons of God"? And how did we get giants from them coming in unto the daughters of men? It should be obvious that giants would not come about if these "sons of God" were ordinary humans, but that this would require something of a more supernatural ilk.
The wickedness of man was tied to the giants by using the conjunction "and". Therefore the presence of these giants and the "sons of God" (who I believe to be the angels that kept not their first estate as described in Jude and discussed later) brought about great wickedness. So much wickedness that God decided he would wipeout all flesh by the flood.
We learn in the first book of Enoch that the watchers (as the fallen angels are called) taught the children of Adam forbidden knowledge. What was that forbidden knowledge?
1 Enoch 8:
1 And Azazel taught men to make swords, and knives, and shields, and breastplates, and made known to them the metals of the earth and the art of working them, and bracelets, and ornaments, and the use of antimony, and the beautifying of the eyelids, and all kinds of costly stones, and all
2 colouring tinctures. And there arose much godlessness, and they committed fornication, and they
3 were led astray, and became corrupt in all their ways. Semjaza taught enchantments, and root-cuttings, 'Armaros the resolving of enchantments, Baraqijal (taught) astrology, Kokabel the constellations, Ezeqeel the knowledge of the clouds, Araqiel the signs of the earth, Shamsiel the signs of the sun, and Sariel the course of the moon. And as men perished, they cried, and their cry went up to heaven . . .
Why is it that the weapons of war brought about godlessness? Could it be that they no longer were reliant on God, but on these angels? We aren't given much detail, but we do know that in the same chapter in Genesis, Noah is given the command to build the arc. The two incidents (angels coming down and the flood) seem to be related.
Side note: I'm not saying that we can't or shouldn't study some of the things listed above. One should be very careful when studying such things as it can easily lead to pride and idolatry.
But why did the angels of heaven fall? What would cause holy and righteous angels to make that kind of choice?
Perhaps there is more going on than meets the eye at first glance. Let's take a look at the book of Enoch for some further clarification.
1 Enoch 6:
1 And when the sons of men had multiplied, in those days, beautiful and comely daughters were born to them.
2 And the watchers, the sons of heaven, saw them and desired them. And they said to one another, “Come, let us choose for ourselves wives from the daughters of men, and let us beget for ourselves children.”…
5 Then they all swore together and bound one another with a curse.
6 And they were, all of them, two hundred, who descended in the days of Jared onto the peak of Mount Hermon.
1 Enoch 7:
1 These and all the others with them took for themselves wives from among them such as they chose. And they began to go in to them, and to defile themselves through them, and to teach them sorcery and charms, and to reveal to them the cutting of roots and plants.
2 And they conceived from them and bore to them great giants. And the giants begat Nephilim…
In other words, the angels were enticed by the beauty of women and sought to have their own seed.
They took an oath, much like the ones in the Book of Mormon. In Ether 8, we read:
15 And it came to pass that thus they did agree with Akish. And Akish did administer unto them the oaths which were given by them of old who also sought power, which had been handed down even from Cain, who was a murderer from the beginning.
Where did Cain get this oath?
Moses 5:
29 And Satan said unto Cain: Swear unto me by thy throat, and if thou tell it thou shalt die; and swear thy brethren by their heads, and by the living God, that they tell it not; for if they tell it, they shall surely die; and this that thy father may not know it; and this day I will deliver thy brother Abel into thine hands.
30 And Satan sware unto Cain that he would do according to his commands. And all these things were done in secret.
31 And Cain said: Truly I am Mahan, the master of this great secret, that I may murder and get gain. Wherefore Cain was called Master Mahan, and he gloried in his wickedness.
Isn't this the same kind of oath the "watchers" made with each other? This is speculation, but it would appear that they either watched Cain make his oath, or were taught by the prince of the power of the air (or one of his subjects). Some even believe azazel is the same being as lucifer, but we won't delve into that debacle here.
So these angels were wicked, but why does Genesis 6 say that the wickedness of man was great? What did these angels do to cause men to be wicked?
The watchers taught them sorcery and charms. The children of Adam were taught to rely on themselves instead of God. They were taught to manipulate the world around them, not by the will of the true and living God, but by their own will. Letting go of one's will for the will of God is one of the most important tasks in this life. The "miracles" that they would have performed can be done by God, and by His followers, but never without permission and always in His way. A good example of this is any of the plagues of Egypt that were replicated by the sorcerers. Doing those miracles was sinful because they didn't do it by the power of God, or with His permission.
Additionally, the watchers taught them how to be idle by technology. What great wickedness has been brought about by the technology we have today?
What else happened that led to the flood?
Let's take a look at Genesis 6.
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
The earth was corrupt? What did they do to the earth to corrupt it? Was it the violence? Violence has a tendency to harden hearts, just look at how people feel toward those in "enemy" countries.
What does "all" flesh signify? If we look at the current direction of gene editing technology, it should be clear that animals are included in our experiments. One example is the liger, a combination between a lion and a tiger. I'm not making this up.
So all flesh was corrupted and life needed a new start. That's why there was a flood. It's not just wickedness, but corruption of flesh.
Now that we have some more background, let's take a look at the offspring of the watchers.
They were giants.
1 Enoch 7:
1. And all the others together with them took unto themselves wives, and each chose for himself one, and they began to go in unto them and to defile themselves with them, and they taught them charms and enchantments, and the cutting of roots, and made them acquainted with plants.
2. And they became pregnant, and they bare great giants, whose height was three thousand ells:
3. Who consumed all the acquisitions of men. And when men could no longer sustain them,
4. the giants turned against them and devoured mankind.
5. And they began to sin against birds, and beasts, and reptiles, and fish, and to devour one another's flesh, and drink the blood.
6. Then the earth laid accusation against the lawless ones.
Did those giants have spirits? Where did those spirits come from? For those that have been through an LDS temple endowment, you are aware of the threat that the spirits that followed lucifer would possess the bodies of the children of Adam. I submit that the giants were not a creation ordained by God, so God was not going to be supplying spirits for them; yet they had spirits.
1 enoch 15:
And now the giants, who have been begotten from body and flesh, will be called evil spirits on earth, and their dwelling-places will be upon the earth.
9. Evil spirits proceed from their bodies; because they are created from above, their beginning and first basis being from the holy watchers, they will be evil spirits upon the earth, and will be called evil spirits.
10. But the spirits of heaven have their dwelling-places in heaven, and the spirits of the earth, who were born on the earth, have their dwelling-places on earth.
11. And the spirits of the giants, who cast themselves upon the clouds, will be destroyed and fall, and will battle and cause destruction on the earth, and do evil; they will take no kind of food, nor will they become thirsty, and they will be invisible.
12. And these spirits will not rise up against the children of men and against the women, because they have proceeded from them, in the days of murder and destruction.
Other translations use the word "demon". Either way, their spirits are evil or demonic. The spirits were already followers of satan and lucifer, they just inhabited giant bodies.
At this point, you may be thinking: ok, I can understand why God would just send a flood to wipeout all of the giants and corrupt flesh, but what does this have to do with wickedness after the flood? That's the topic we'll cover in part 2.
Wednesday, January 23, 2019
Ether 13
2 For behold, they rejected all the words of Ether; for he truly told them of all things, from the beginning of man; and that after the waters had receded from off the face of this land it became a choice land above all other lands, a chosen land of the Lord; wherefore the Lord would have that all men should serve him who dwell upon the face thereof;
We see that they rejected all of Ether's words. As discussed in Ether 12, he was a prophet of the Lord, which means his words here are the words of Christ. Are we able to only accept some of the words of Christ? The words of Christ do not represent a buffet in which we can accept the words we like and reject all others. While some may try to only focus on a part of His words, we need to be open to ALL of His words. If you read His words, don't just assume you know what He is trying to say, because we often assume using our background and filters rather than taking the words at face value or what they really mean.
Joseph Smith said the following about interpreting scripture: What is the rule of interpretation? Just no interpretation at all. Understand it precisely as it reads.I have a key by which I understand the scriptures. I enquire, what was the question which drew out the answer, or caused Jesus to utter the parable? (Teachings pg 276)
"He truly told them of all things, from the beginning of man", what would that include? Did he teach about the fall, and how the atonement would be performed on our behalf, such that faith and repentance were needed? He probably mentioned baptism by immersion and by fire and the Holy Ghost, along with the need for us to see Christ in this world. If we look at D&C 132: 22-23, it says, " 22 For strait is the gate, and narrow the way that leadeth unto the exaltation and continuation of the lives, and few there be that find it, because ye receive me not in the world neither do ye know me.
23 But if ye receive me in the world, then shall ye know me, and shall receive your exaltation; that where I am ye shall be also."
What does it mean to receive Him in the world?
See 2 Nephi 32:6
" 6 Behold, this is the doctrine of Christ, and there will be no more doctrine given until after he shall manifest himself unto you in the flesh. And when he shall manifest himself unto you in the flesh, the things which he shall say unto you shall ye observe to do."
Is receiving Him in the world the same as Him manifesting himself unto one of us?
If we pair those verses with a quote from Joseph Smith about knowledge, it begins to be clear.
"Knowledge saves a man.." - King Follett discourse. What knowledge is it?
And finally, Joseph came out and said that seeing Christ will "peradventure from this time henceforth occupy your attention while you live." King Follett sermon. Knowing God is part of the journey. How can we become like Him if we don't know Him?
Back to all things.
Is it significant that he told them ALL THINGS? When was the beginning of man? Was it before or after the fall?
This land did become a choice land, what's so special about this land? Why do All MEN need to serve Him who dwell on this land? What happens if we don't serve Him? What waters receded off this land? Were they the waters of the flood? Or was this land under water before the flood?
I'm not here to give you all the answers, but to encourage you to ponder these things for yourself.
The next several verses represent what Moroni included as part of ALL THINGS. Let's take a look at them individually.
3 And that it was the place of the New Jerusalem, which should come down out of heaven, and the holy sanctuary of the Lord.
This land is the place for the New Jerusalem. It will come down from heaven. Here we see a parallelism much like what we see in Isaiah to define words. What is the HOLY SANCTUARY of the Lord? Is it not heaven itself? The New Jerusalem will come down from the presence of the Lord.
When will it come down? I do not know, but I suspect that the New Jerusalem is the city of Enoch that must return. The city of Enoch is spoken in Moses 7:62 and truth will I cause to sweep the earth as with a flood, to gather out mine elect from the four quarters of the earth, unto a place which I shall prepare, an Holy City, that my people may gird up their loins, and be looking forth for the time of my coming; for there shall be my tabernacle, and it shall be called Zion, a New Jerusalem.
Moses 7: 63
And the Lord said unto Enoch: Then shalt thou and all thy city meet them there, and we will receive them into our bosom, and they shall see us; and we will fall upon their necks, and they shall fall upon our necks, and we will kiss each other;
So, the New Jerusalem shall come down from heaven, there will be a gathering from the 4 quarters of the earth, and those with Enoch will receive those that are gathered. It is interesting to note that the Lord said "we will kiss each other". He includes himself in that ritual or ordinance. Why? Because he will dwell with them.
Back to Ether
4 Behold, Ether saw the days of Christ, and he spake concerning a New Jerusalem upon this land.
Wow. Ether had at least one vision of Christ's life. Was it anything like what Nephi saw in 1 Nephi 13? What about what alma saw in Alma 7:11-14? What about every other prophet in the book of Mormon as discussed in Helaman 8:19-23?
If you are unsure that these prophets saw Christ, please read the verses in Helaman carefully.
Ether spoke concerning a new Jerusalem upon this land. What land is that?
5 And he spake also concerning the house of Israel, and the Jerusalem from whence Lehi should come—after it should be destroyed it should be built up again, a holy city unto the Lord; wherefore, it could not be a new Jerusalem for it had been in a time of old; but it should be built up again, and become a holy city of the Lord; and it should be built unto the house of Israel
Is this verse still yet in the future? Or did it already happen? Has Jerusalem been rebuilt to be a holy city of God? No. Therefore, it must be destroyed and rebuilt as a holy city.
6 And that a New Jerusalem should be built up upon this land, unto the remnant of the seed of Joseph, for which things there has been a type.
7 For as Joseph brought his father down into the land of Egypt, even so he died there; wherefore, the Lord brought a remnant of the seed of Joseph out of the land of Jerusalem, that he might be merciful unto the seed of Joseph that they should perish not, even as he was merciful unto the father of Joseph that he should perish not.
8 Wherefore, the remnant of the house of Joseph shall be built upon this land; and it shall be a land of their inheritance; and they shall build up a holy city unto the Lord, like unto the Jerusalem of old; and they shall no more be confounded, until the end come when the earth shall pass away.
The New Jerusalem will be for the remnant of Joseph upon this land. There has been a type going on with all of this. Joseph was taken to Egypt and had an inheritance there. His seed were brought here, and have an inheritance here. Egypt is spoken of in Isaiah, the nations upon this land are represented by Egypt in Isaiah. This can be a reference to that type as well.
We learned in verse 3 that the New Jerusalem will come down from heaven, but verse 8 speaks of the remnant of Joseph building up a holy city. Could there be a combination of both?
9 And there shall be a new heaven and a new earth; and they shall be like unto the old save the old have passed away, and all things have become new.
10 And then cometh the New Jerusalem; and blessed are they who dwell therein, for it is they whose garments are white through the blood of the Lamb; and they are they who are numbered among the remnant of the seed of Joseph, who were of the house of Israel.
11 And then also cometh the Jerusalem of old; and the inhabitants thereof, blessed are they, for they have been washed in the blood of the Lamb; and they are they who were scattered and gathered in from the four quarters of the earth, and from the north countries, and are partakers of the fulfilling of the covenant which God made with their father, Abraham.
What does a new heaven mean? How will that happen? Does it have something to do with the elements melting with fervent heat?
The New Jerusalem will come after there is a new earth. Why? Will their coming burn us up and make a new earth? What is significant about those that dwell in the New Jerusalem?
Is being washed in the blood of the lamb the only requirement? What are the others? What are the requirements to be numbered with Joseph's seed? What about being numbered with the seed of Israel as a whole or Abraham? Are there requirements for those as well?
Then the old Jerusalem will be restored. They also will have been washed clean from the blood and sins of this generation by the blood of the Lamb. There will be people from all over the world that gather in the old Jerusalem. Including the lost ten tribes that went north.
12 And when these things come, bringeth to pass the scripture which saith, there are they who were first, who shall be last; and there are they who were last, who shall be first.
I don't have much to say about this verse, but who was first? Who was last? Why does it reverse?
13 And I was about to write more, but I am forbidden; but great and marvelous were the prophecies of Ether; but they esteemed him as naught, and cast him out; and he hid himself in the cavity of a rock by day, and by night he went forth viewing the things which should come upon the people.
Here we see that we are not given the things that Ether told his people. Yet we find it so easy to be lifted up in pride that we have the book of Mormon and so we have more knowledge than everyone else. This people were taught things that we cannot understand. We know so little that we are as infants.
Perhaps our understanding of future events has been quite skewed, and hopefully these words have helped you think about what is to come. There is more to the chapter than first meet the eye. While there are more verses, I will not be discussing them as they are mostly about the history of the remaining people.
We see that they rejected all of Ether's words. As discussed in Ether 12, he was a prophet of the Lord, which means his words here are the words of Christ. Are we able to only accept some of the words of Christ? The words of Christ do not represent a buffet in which we can accept the words we like and reject all others. While some may try to only focus on a part of His words, we need to be open to ALL of His words. If you read His words, don't just assume you know what He is trying to say, because we often assume using our background and filters rather than taking the words at face value or what they really mean.
Joseph Smith said the following about interpreting scripture: What is the rule of interpretation? Just no interpretation at all. Understand it precisely as it reads.I have a key by which I understand the scriptures. I enquire, what was the question which drew out the answer, or caused Jesus to utter the parable? (Teachings pg 276)
"He truly told them of all things, from the beginning of man", what would that include? Did he teach about the fall, and how the atonement would be performed on our behalf, such that faith and repentance were needed? He probably mentioned baptism by immersion and by fire and the Holy Ghost, along with the need for us to see Christ in this world. If we look at D&C 132: 22-23, it says, " 22 For strait is the gate, and narrow the way that leadeth unto the exaltation and continuation of the lives, and few there be that find it, because ye receive me not in the world neither do ye know me.
23 But if ye receive me in the world, then shall ye know me, and shall receive your exaltation; that where I am ye shall be also."
What does it mean to receive Him in the world?
See 2 Nephi 32:6
" 6 Behold, this is the doctrine of Christ, and there will be no more doctrine given until after he shall manifest himself unto you in the flesh. And when he shall manifest himself unto you in the flesh, the things which he shall say unto you shall ye observe to do."
Is receiving Him in the world the same as Him manifesting himself unto one of us?
If we pair those verses with a quote from Joseph Smith about knowledge, it begins to be clear.
"Knowledge saves a man.." - King Follett discourse. What knowledge is it?
And finally, Joseph came out and said that seeing Christ will "peradventure from this time henceforth occupy your attention while you live." King Follett sermon. Knowing God is part of the journey. How can we become like Him if we don't know Him?
Back to all things.
Is it significant that he told them ALL THINGS? When was the beginning of man? Was it before or after the fall?
This land did become a choice land, what's so special about this land? Why do All MEN need to serve Him who dwell on this land? What happens if we don't serve Him? What waters receded off this land? Were they the waters of the flood? Or was this land under water before the flood?
I'm not here to give you all the answers, but to encourage you to ponder these things for yourself.
The next several verses represent what Moroni included as part of ALL THINGS. Let's take a look at them individually.
3 And that it was the place of the New Jerusalem, which should come down out of heaven, and the holy sanctuary of the Lord.
This land is the place for the New Jerusalem. It will come down from heaven. Here we see a parallelism much like what we see in Isaiah to define words. What is the HOLY SANCTUARY of the Lord? Is it not heaven itself? The New Jerusalem will come down from the presence of the Lord.
When will it come down? I do not know, but I suspect that the New Jerusalem is the city of Enoch that must return. The city of Enoch is spoken in Moses 7:62 and truth will I cause to sweep the earth as with a flood, to gather out mine elect from the four quarters of the earth, unto a place which I shall prepare, an Holy City, that my people may gird up their loins, and be looking forth for the time of my coming; for there shall be my tabernacle, and it shall be called Zion, a New Jerusalem.
Moses 7: 63
And the Lord said unto Enoch: Then shalt thou and all thy city meet them there, and we will receive them into our bosom, and they shall see us; and we will fall upon their necks, and they shall fall upon our necks, and we will kiss each other;
So, the New Jerusalem shall come down from heaven, there will be a gathering from the 4 quarters of the earth, and those with Enoch will receive those that are gathered. It is interesting to note that the Lord said "we will kiss each other". He includes himself in that ritual or ordinance. Why? Because he will dwell with them.
Back to Ether
4 Behold, Ether saw the days of Christ, and he spake concerning a New Jerusalem upon this land.
Wow. Ether had at least one vision of Christ's life. Was it anything like what Nephi saw in 1 Nephi 13? What about what alma saw in Alma 7:11-14? What about every other prophet in the book of Mormon as discussed in Helaman 8:19-23?
If you are unsure that these prophets saw Christ, please read the verses in Helaman carefully.
Ether spoke concerning a new Jerusalem upon this land. What land is that?
5 And he spake also concerning the house of Israel, and the Jerusalem from whence Lehi should come—after it should be destroyed it should be built up again, a holy city unto the Lord; wherefore, it could not be a new Jerusalem for it had been in a time of old; but it should be built up again, and become a holy city of the Lord; and it should be built unto the house of Israel
Is this verse still yet in the future? Or did it already happen? Has Jerusalem been rebuilt to be a holy city of God? No. Therefore, it must be destroyed and rebuilt as a holy city.
6 And that a New Jerusalem should be built up upon this land, unto the remnant of the seed of Joseph, for which things there has been a type.
7 For as Joseph brought his father down into the land of Egypt, even so he died there; wherefore, the Lord brought a remnant of the seed of Joseph out of the land of Jerusalem, that he might be merciful unto the seed of Joseph that they should perish not, even as he was merciful unto the father of Joseph that he should perish not.
8 Wherefore, the remnant of the house of Joseph shall be built upon this land; and it shall be a land of their inheritance; and they shall build up a holy city unto the Lord, like unto the Jerusalem of old; and they shall no more be confounded, until the end come when the earth shall pass away.
The New Jerusalem will be for the remnant of Joseph upon this land. There has been a type going on with all of this. Joseph was taken to Egypt and had an inheritance there. His seed were brought here, and have an inheritance here. Egypt is spoken of in Isaiah, the nations upon this land are represented by Egypt in Isaiah. This can be a reference to that type as well.
We learned in verse 3 that the New Jerusalem will come down from heaven, but verse 8 speaks of the remnant of Joseph building up a holy city. Could there be a combination of both?
9 And there shall be a new heaven and a new earth; and they shall be like unto the old save the old have passed away, and all things have become new.
10 And then cometh the New Jerusalem; and blessed are they who dwell therein, for it is they whose garments are white through the blood of the Lamb; and they are they who are numbered among the remnant of the seed of Joseph, who were of the house of Israel.
11 And then also cometh the Jerusalem of old; and the inhabitants thereof, blessed are they, for they have been washed in the blood of the Lamb; and they are they who were scattered and gathered in from the four quarters of the earth, and from the north countries, and are partakers of the fulfilling of the covenant which God made with their father, Abraham.
What does a new heaven mean? How will that happen? Does it have something to do with the elements melting with fervent heat?
The New Jerusalem will come after there is a new earth. Why? Will their coming burn us up and make a new earth? What is significant about those that dwell in the New Jerusalem?
Is being washed in the blood of the lamb the only requirement? What are the others? What are the requirements to be numbered with Joseph's seed? What about being numbered with the seed of Israel as a whole or Abraham? Are there requirements for those as well?
Then the old Jerusalem will be restored. They also will have been washed clean from the blood and sins of this generation by the blood of the Lamb. There will be people from all over the world that gather in the old Jerusalem. Including the lost ten tribes that went north.
12 And when these things come, bringeth to pass the scripture which saith, there are they who were first, who shall be last; and there are they who were last, who shall be first.
I don't have much to say about this verse, but who was first? Who was last? Why does it reverse?
13 And I was about to write more, but I am forbidden; but great and marvelous were the prophecies of Ether; but they esteemed him as naught, and cast him out; and he hid himself in the cavity of a rock by day, and by night he went forth viewing the things which should come upon the people.
Here we see that we are not given the things that Ether told his people. Yet we find it so easy to be lifted up in pride that we have the book of Mormon and so we have more knowledge than everyone else. This people were taught things that we cannot understand. We know so little that we are as infants.
Perhaps our understanding of future events has been quite skewed, and hopefully these words have helped you think about what is to come. There is more to the chapter than first meet the eye. While there are more verses, I will not be discussing them as they are mostly about the history of the remaining people.
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