Isaiah : Part 4 - Raising the Ensign and Gathering Israel

         This series of papers came because of the Savior’s words regarding the importance of Isaiah’s words to Israel and the Gentiles.

“Now I tell you that you ought to carefully study these things. In fact, I give you a commandment to study these things diligently, because Isaiah’s prophecies are critical. He clearly focused his prophecy on My people who are part of the house of Israel. Therefore he necessarily prophesied about the Gentiles. And everything he prophesied has happened, or will happen, precisely as he foretold. Therefore pay careful attention to My words. Write down the things I’ve told you. At the time decided by the Father, they will be provided to the Gentiles. And anyone [Israel or Gentile] who obeys My words, repents, and is baptized, will be saved. Carefully study the teachings of the prophets, because many of them explain these things” (CofC 3 Nephi 10:4, emphasis added).

When Nephi appeared to Joseph Smith, he quoted prophecies primarily from the Old Testament with a few from the New Testament. Malachi, Isaiah, Acts, (an application of Deuteronomy 18), and Joel. The references quoted by Nephi refer to prophetic events fulfilled in the last days. They represent examples of what the Savior spoke to the Nephites. Isaiah and the “prophets” both addressed these matters. The words of these men apply to the Gentiles because of their role in assisting in Israel’s gathering in the last days.

“I tell you the truth. And I’ll give you a sign to identify the time when these things are about to happen, when I will gather My people, the house of Israel, from their long-scattered state, and will again establish My Zion among them. This is the sign for you: When the things that I’m declaring to you now and after this by the power of the Holy Ghost that are given to you by the Father are then revealed to the Gentiles, and taken as a message through them to you, that is when the Father’s covenant is being fulfilled. You are descendants of Jacob and will be scattered by the Gentiles. But the Father will reveal these things first to the Gentiles, then from them to you. It’s the Father’s plan for the Gentiles to be established in this land as a free people through His power, to allow the history and prophecies to come from them to a remnant of your descendants. That vindicates the Father’s covenant with His people, O house of Israel. Therefore the record of these events, and the events that will take place among you after this, will come from the Gentiles to your descendants. But your descendants will first fall away in unbelief because of iniquity. That’s an essential part of the Father’s plan. The covenant requires this record to come from the Gentiles, so the Gentiles will understand His direct involvement. Then the Gentiles, provided they don’t harden their hearts, will be able to repent and come to Me and be baptized in My name and know the true points of My doctrine, so they can be included with My people, the house of Israel. When these things happen, and your descendants begin to know these things, it will be a sign to let them know the Father’s work is underway, to fulfill the covenant He made to everyone who’s part of the house of Israel. When that time comes, kings will be at a loss for words not knowing what to say, for they’ll see what they were never told about and be forced to consider what they never expected” (CofC 3 Nephi 9:11, emphasis added).

Israel Redefined

          Historically, Israel and more specifically the “Jews,” are considered God’s chosen people because He spoke to them and offered a covenant. The Bible is the record of God’s dealings with them for centuries. During that time Israel was punished, suffered and scattered throughout the earth. Their great hope was always the Lord’s promise His covenant would one day be fulfilled. Israel will conquer all of their Gentile enemies and the Lord reigns over them and their inherited lands forever.

“And say unto them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen [Gentiles] where they are gone, and will gather them on every side and bring them into their own land. And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel, and one king shall be king to them all. And they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms anymore at all. Neither shall they defile themselves anymore with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions, but I will save them out of all their dwelling places wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them. So shall they be my people and I will be their God.

And David my servant shall be king over them, and they all shall have one shepherd. They shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them. And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelled. And they shall dwell therein — even they, and their children, and their children’s children for ever. And my servant David shall be their prince for ever.

Moreover, I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for ever. My tabernacle also shall be with them, yea, I will be their God and they shall be my people. And the heathen [Gentiles] shall know that I the Lord do sanctify Israel when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for ever” (RE Ezekiel 19:5-7, emphasis added).

This is a prophecy of when the Father fulfills His promise to Israel. What is made known in the Covenant of Christ is the Fathers intent on gathering Gentiles who don’t harden their hearts against the Lord. They are gathered and numbered with Israel. This is evident in His words to the Nephites.

“. . . When the things that I’m declaring to you now and after this by the power of the Holy Ghost that are given to you by the Father are then revealed to the Gentiles, and taken as a message through them to you, that is when the Father’s covenant is being fulfilled . . . But the Father will reveal these things first to the Gentiles, then from them to you. It’s the Father’s plan for the Gentiles to be established in this land as a free people through His power, to allow the history and prophecies to come from them to a remnant of your descendants. That vindicates the Father’s covenant with His people, O house of Israel.  . . . The covenant requires this record to come from the Gentiles, so the Gentiles will understand His direct involvement. Then the Gentiles, provided they don’t harden their hearts, will be able to repent and come to Me and be baptized in My name and know the true points of My doctrine, so they can be included with My people, the house of Israel . . .” (CofC 2 Nephi 12:11, emphasis added).

Just as the disciples of Jesus in Jerusalem carried the gospel to the Gentiles after the crucifixion of the Savior. The Gentiles receive the Bible and Covenant of Christ first and those who resist hardening their hearts against these things become the means of carrying the gospel to Lehi’s seed. The repentant Gentiles assist Lehi’s seed in gathering Israel. [footnote 3 Nephi 21]

          Numbering repentant Gentiles with Israel introduces the need to redefine “Israel” in a manner that differs from traditional views. Near the end of his ministry, Nephi explained the litmus test for determining the composition of Israel in the last days.

“ . . . Now, my dear people, I wish to talk to you. I don’t want to let you think you are more righteous than the Gentiles will be. Unless you keep God’s commandments, you’ll all likewise be lost. And because of the words provided to you, don’t conclude the Gentiles will be completely destroyed. I tell you: All the Gentiles who repent are the Lord’s covenant people, and all the Jews who refuse to repent will be rejected. The Lord only covenants with those who repent and believe in His Son, who is the Holy One of Israel” (Ibid). [check reference]

Determining who is heir to the promises God made to Israel has less to do with birth lineage and more to do with spiritual rebirth lineage. Qualifying to covenant with the Lord can only be done by those who comply with His requirements, Israel or Gentile.

          Those who repent, are baptized and receive the baptism by fire and the Holy Ghost qualify as sons of God.

“Therefore, brethren, we are debtors not to the flesh, to live after the flesh, for if you live after the flesh, you shall die unto sin. But if you through the spirit do put to death the deeds of the body, you shall live unto Christ. For as many as are led by the spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For you have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father [to Christ]. The spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. And if children, then heirs — heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ, if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be named with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation waits for the manifestation of the sons of God, for the creation was made subject to tribulation, not willingly, but by reason of him who has subjected it, in hope because the creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, who have the firstfruits of the spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, that is, the redemption of our body” (RE Romans 1:34, emphasis added).

Those receiving the baptism by fire and the gift of the Holy Ghost become the sons and daughters of God, or more specifically of Christ. This is the outcome for those who vigorously pursue it through a covenant with Christ to take upon His name and “Do the things ye have seen Me do.” Compliance to the covenant terms leads to adoption into the family of Christ, accessing the blessings of Abraham and adoption into Israel.

“Now these are the words king Benjamin hoped to hear from them. Therefore he told them: You’ve said the words I wanted to hear, and the covenant you’ve made is a righteous covenant. Now because of the covenant you’ve made, you’ll be called the sons and daughters of Jesus Christ. Today, He has spiritually begotten you. You’ve said your hearts have changed through faith in His name. As a result, you’re born of Him and have become His sons and daughters. You’re now free under His wings, and there’s no other Savior under whose wings you can be sheltered. There’s no other name given through which salvation comes. Therefore all of you who have made the covenant with God to be obedient for the remainder of your lives, take upon yourselves the name of Christ. Those who do this will be found at the right hand of God and will answer to the name of Christ” (CofC Mosiah 3:2, emphasis added).

Those receiving this change of heart, receive the “mind of the Father” and become “one”[1] with the Father and Son of God. With the adoption comes the understanding the sons and daughters of God receive as their heritage  suffering for the benefit of others. They are blessed with the promise of incomprehensible rewards in the next life. In mortality, the caveat is as Paul wrote, “if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.”

          Suffering in mortality is the heritage of the Lord’s adopted posterity. Those who qualify for spiritual rebirth and adoption into Christ’s family receive His Priesthood and minister for the benefit of others.

“And now Melchizedek was a priest of this Order, therefore he obtained peace in Salem and was called the Prince of Peace. And his people wrought righteousness, and obtained Heaven, and sought for the city of Enoch which God had before taken, separating it from the earth, having reserved it unto the latter days, or the end of the world, and has said and sworn with an oath that the heavens and the earth should come together, and the sons of God should be tried so as by fire. And this Melchizedek, having thus established righteousness, was called the King of Heaven by his people — or in other words, the King of Peace” (RE Genesis 7:20, emphasis added).

The Priesthood after the Order of the Son of God, referred to as the Melchizedek Priesthood is Patriarchal in nature. Meaning, those who have gone before obtained covenants and promises from God, passing from those whom God originally promised, to their posterity. Hence, the quote by Nephi to Joseph Smith:

“And again he quoted the fifth verse thus: Behold, I will reveal unto you the Priesthood by the hand of Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. He also quoted the next verse differently: And he shall plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers, and the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers; if it were not so, the whole earth would be utterly wasted at his coming” (RE T&C 1, Joseph Smith History 3:4, emphasis added).

One may conclude the trial of the sons of God by fire is only an allusion to the coming of Christ and his entourage of the people of Enoch and Melchizedek at the last day. That is true, but the trial by fire arrives sooner and in varying degrees, grace for grace. The sons and daughters of God are tried in the fires of adversity by truth being revealed to them and their choice to harden their hearts or receive what God has given.

Receiving truth with an open and obedient heart opens the windows of Heaven and  “ . . . the remission of sins bringeth meekness, and a humble heart. And because of meekness and a humble heart comes the presence and gift of the Holy Ghost, and this Comforter fills with hope and perfect love, and this love endures by being diligent in prayer unto the end comes, when all the holy ones will live with God . . .” (CofC Moroni 8:5, emphasis added).

          Receiving the Holy Ghost and the attendant meekness and humility provides remission of their sins. The remission of sins prepares them for the next step in their spiritual progression, the reception of the Holy Ghost.[2] It is through this medium we may first hear the voice of angels in preparation for seeing them.[3] Their counsel prepares us for the “pillar of fire” experience, presuming the Spirit of Elijah is present. When this preparation is complete, they are encircled by a pillar of fire, and are introduced to those voices they have only heard. This conduit is temporary.[4] Eventually it becomes permanent when a Temple is constructed in Zion.[5] In the confines of the pillar of fire, mortals are purged from sin [the hot coal placed on Isaiah’s lips by the Seraphim] through the blood of the Savior and introduced in the pillar of fire to interact with the Patriarchal Fathers[6] dwelling in “everlasting burnings” with God when residing in Heaven. The pillar is an extension of Heavenly conditions recreated on earth. Within those confines the “Patriarchal Fathers” instruct the penitent regarding covenant terms God made with them for the benefit of their posterity. Once aware of God’s promises to the Father’s, the posterity who are instructed by the Fathers within the pillar of fire turn their hearts to the Fathers with gratitude for their righteousness and directions to the path leading to God’s presence. This is the trial by fire prior to the final judgment[7], cleansing the earth for the meek to inherit it.[8]

The Role of the “Root of Jesse” in Raising the Ensign

          In the Savior’s description of the “root of Jesse,” there are keys mentioned to accomplish two missions assigned to the “descendant of Jesse as well of Joseph.” The first is raising an “ensign” the Gentiles seek after.[9]  

          The “root of Jesse” is unidentified in the Lord’s explanation of Isaiah’s prophetic metaphor of the tree stump. Presumably his work is the “greater work” Joseph Smith spoke of as he spoke of the offices of Elias, Elijah and Messiah.[10] Joseph Smith was associated with the Spirit of Elias but one, the “root of Jesse” follows after who is associated with the Spirit and power of Elijah. It is a greater, more powerful work with the ability to open a conduit between Heaven and Earth and seal the inhabitants together in one family, Israel. The “root of Jesse” holding this power is granted a “glorious rest” in God’s kingdom.

          Joseph Smith alluded to the work of the “root of Jesse” without mentioning his name or title. Only the outcome of his effort by contrasting it with the work Joseph Smith would accomplish.

“But I beg leave to say unto you, brethren, that ignorance, superstition and bigotry placing itself where it ought not, is oftentimes in the way of the prosperity of this Church; like the torrent of rain from the mountains, that floods the most pure and crystal stream with mire, and dirt, and filthiness, and obscures everything that was clear before, and all rushes along in one general deluge; but time weathers tide; and notwithstanding we are rolled in the mire of the flood for the time being, the next surge peradventure, as time rolls on, may bring to us the fountain as clear as crystal, crystal, and as pure as snow; while the filthiness, flood-wood and rubbish is left and purged out by the way” (Smith Jr., Joseph. Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith (p. 155, emphasis added). Deseret Book Company. Kindle Edition).

Joseph Smith associated himself and his contemporaries with the time likened unto a flood, filling the “most pure and crystal stream with mire, and dirt, and filthiness, and obscures everything that was clear before, and all rushes along in one general deluge.” His view of their current condition was unvarnished and candid. Joseph’s optimism was not for his day, but a future time when his condition would be improved upon and the stream returned to a “fountain as clear as crystal, and as pure as snow.” While Joseph Smith referred to his time as a flowing stream filled with debris, the return to clarity over time begins at the “fountain” where the water begins and feeds the stream. The fountain is an allusion to the time when the pillar of fire is given permanent residence over a temple in Zion and the flow of revelation unaltered by man.

          Joseph Smith also described the covenant history of the Lord’s people in the letter referred to on the introduction of this website. His description of the time when the Lord’s people would be “a willing people” was not a reference to his time. He associated with another name.

“Christ, in the days of His flesh, proposed to make a covenant with them [Judah], but they rejected Him and His proposals, and in consequence thereof, they were broken off, and no covenant was made with them at that time. But their unbelief has not rendered the promise of God of none effect: no, for there was another day limited in David, which was the day of His power; and then His people, Israel, should be a willing people;—and He would write His law in their hearts, and print it in their thoughts; their sins and their iniquities He would remember no more” (Smith Jr., Joseph. Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith (p. 13, emphasis added). Deseret Book Company. Kindle Edition).

The Savior and His proposals were rejected by the Jews during His mortal ministry. Israel made no covenant with the Lord at that time, but Joseph Smith offered the assurance a day of covenant would one day come. Joseph referred to it as “another day limited in David.” Joseph Smith often incorporated in his speaking excerpts of scripture into his regular discourse without attribution. His reference to “another day limited in David” is a quotation from RE Hebrews 1:9. Paul in his letter to the Hebrews spoke of a time of eventual redemption for Israel after their opportunity with the Savior had passed.

“ . . . If they [Israel] harden not their hearts, they shall enter into my rest. Seeing therefore it remains that some must enter therein, and they [Judah] to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief, again, he limits a certain day, saying in David, Today, after so long a time, as it is said, Today, if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. For if Joshua had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. There remains therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest, he also has ceased from his own works, as God did from his” (RE Hebrews 1:9, emphasis added).

The day when Israel enters the Lord’s rest, when they have His law written in their hearts, and printed in their thoughts [mind of the Father] and their sins and iniquities wiped from the Lord’s consciousness is “another day limited in David” or the “root of Jesse.”

The Root of Jesse Delivers Israel from Captivity in Babylon

          The first half of Isaiah uses Hezekiah, a direct descendant of Jesse  [root of Jesse] and presiding monarch over Israel as a type for his latter-day counterpart and a symbol of the Lord’s temporal salvation of Israel in the last days.

The second half of Isaiah draws on a future monarch conquering ancient Babylon and delivering Israel with an edict to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem. Isaiah will never meet the king of Persia who invades ancient Babylon and overthrows their kingdom. The details of Cyrus foreshadow his role as liberator of Israel and patron of the effort to rebuild the Temple. Cyrus is a Gentile [representing the Joseph side of the “root of Jesse”]. His liberation of Israel from ancient Babylon foreshadows the latter-day David’s liberation of Israel from modern Babylon or “spiritual wickedness.”[11]  Scholars wrestle with the conundrum of how Isaiah, who preceded Cyrus by approximately 150 years could not only accurately foretell his victory over ancient Babylon but do so calling him by name. The tremendous gap in time communicates the significance of time that passes between the two prophetic figures. Isaiah Part 5 will explore some details portraying what the latter-day David, the descendent of both Jesse and Joseph does to gather Israel and present a righteous, willing people to the Lord.

[1] “. . . And all those who keep his commandments shall grow up from grace to grace and become heirs of the Heavenly kingdom and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ, possessing the same mind, being transformed into the same image or likeness, even the express image of him who fills all in all: being filled with the fullness of his glory, and become one in him, even as the Father, Son, and holy spirit are one” (RE T&C 110, Lectures on Faith, Lecture 5:2, emphasis added).

[2] “The holy ghost is the conduit through which Christ will speak to you, now. Today. With the same guidance He provided to those 8 witnesses who wrote the New Testament.

The right to receive that guidance also imposes on us the responsibility to ask. We are not supposed to remain in doubt. As New Testament writer Jacob put it: “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and upbraids not, and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering,” (Jacob 1:2)

The prophet who explained the process emphasized how important it was that we ask and pursue God for guidance: “Wherefore, now after I have spoken these words, if ye cannot understand them, it will be because ye ask not, neither do ye knock. Wherefore, ye are not brought into the light, but must perish in the dark. For behold, again I say unto you that if ye will enter in by the way and receive the holy ghost, it will shew unto you all things what ye should do.” (2 Ne. 14:1) (Reconciled unto Christ, Part 6, blogpost, Denver Snuffer Jr., emphasis added).

[3] “Gifts [of the Spirit] are an open conduit. What flows through the gifts will include opposition. Just because you have a gift doesn't mean that this gift is not equally accessible by the opposition as it is accessible by God. "It must needs be that there is an opposition in all things." (2 Ne. 2:11.) You can't bring about righteousness without there being an opposition in all things. So how do you avoid mistakes when you allow something to influence you through your gift, that actually comes from the adversary pretending to be the source of light? The pretentions of the Bringer of light, the Light Bearer, which is what Lucifer's name mean, do mislead. Well, to avoid mistakes, first of all, I would look to the scriptures as a standard against which to measure any new revelation given to you. If you look at Christ on the Road to Emmaus, and you look at Moroni's lectures to Joseph, everything communicated was scripture-based. I've given a more comprehensive restatement of the Restoration that anyone since Joseph, but have almost entirely confined it to the scriptures and statements attributed to Joseph. That measuring standard is where you first find the anchor needed to keep the truth. People who don't read their scriptures are subject to all kinds of foolish presumptions about things that aren't there. If you go back and look at the exact wording, sometimes the foolish presumption is not justified by the actual language and content of the scripture you think justifies what you are doing. Study and compare everything to the scriptural standard. The more familiar you are with their language the better equipped you will be to recognize truth. Second, personal worthiness. We have to live our lives in conformity with the light that we have. We cannot ignore commandments, or excuse ourselves from departing, and expect that we can avoid deception. If we are willing to disobey and excuse ourselves, then we become unable to distinguish the light from the shadows. It's just the way it is. If we lie to ourselves, we love a lie. And if we love a lie we're going to be deceived by lies. We make ourselves open to lies, we make ourselves willing to accept them” (A Visit With Denver Snuffer, pp.15-16, emphasis added).

[4] “I know that... well... the fact is that a pillar of fire by night and a pillar of smoke by day is an allusion, an attempt to refer to things we are familiar with to describe things that we are not familiar with. A conduit that reaches up into heaven as the temporary appearance of the Lord to Joseph in the First Vision is intended to be a permanent connection at some place. It will be one of the reasons why people say, let’s not go up against the people of Zion because Zion is too terrible. The presence of God is dreadful to the wicked, it’s frightening to them. They get near it and it convicts them of their unworthiness. They dare not go up. But the pure and the humble and the noble are drawn to it. They will want to be there [. . . to it shall the Gentiles seek” (RE Isaiah 5:4). And so that conduit, that fiery pillar, that stairway to heaven, Jacob’s ladder, the chariot of fire, all of those things are an attempt to describe that heavenly connection, that heavenly presence. To the unworthy and the ungodly looking at it, they may or may not be able to see anything about it but they will sense extraordinary dread. It will frighten them. To the worthy there will be something enlightened about the very presence of the place. It will not seem to them to just be another place. It will seem as though the God of heaven has some base established there. That’s when you know that an ensign has been established in the tops of the mountains to which nations will flow saying, come, let us go up and learn from the god of Jacob, because that ensign is actually something godly, holy, edifying, instructive, revelatory, filled with light, and redemptive, and the god who dwells there is going to be the Lord . . .” (Cursed-Denied the Priesthood,  Denver Snuffer Jr., p.25, emphasis added).

[5] “Here, then, we have finally arrived at Elijah‘s significance as the one who must first return. He was not the last one living who held the sealing power, though he did in fact possess it. Instead, he is vital as the last one to make the ascent from earth to heaven. He rose up through the fiery corridor, and went to God‘s presence. He joined the ―fathers in heaven who are to return. He last opened the way by his physical ascent. He will be the first to physically descend through the fiery corridor to return from heaven to dwell again on earth. His return will not be made in a temporary opening. We‘ve had plenty of those. His return will open a permanent, fixed stairway between the ―fathers in heaven and those who are prepared for the return of Zion. Zion will be overshadowed by the Lord‘s glory. The fiery corridor, or pillar of fire, or ladder to heaven, or conduit into heaven, or chariot of fire, will be opened by Elijah‘s descent. It will remain over Zion and will be visible there. It will not be temporary. It will be the place from which the first preparations for the Second Coming begin. At that location a small group will be prepared to endure this opening. They, and those called to join with them, will escape being ―utterly wasted‖ at the unveiling of our Lord in glory at His return. It is Elijah who will restore the hearts of the fathers to the children or, in other words, he will reestablish the lost corridor between heaven and earth that connects those in heaven with those on earth. This fiery path needs to be opened beforehand. The path, once it opens, will allow men on the earth to be prepared for the coming again of those who are Zion above. Well, Elijah answers to this . . .” (The Mission of Elijah Reconsidered, Denver Snuffer Jr., pp.28-29, emphasis added).

[6] “This quote divides mankind into three groups: First, us, the living, are required to do work using Elijah‘s guidance. Second, the ―fathers which are in heaven‖ to whom we must have a bond to avoid being wasted at the Lord‘s return. Third, ―our dead‖ who are intended to benefit from our connection and qualify to be resurrected into a saved line of priestly authorities stretching through us to the ―fathers which are in heaven. We must be sealed to ―the fathers which are in heaven in order to be saved. ―Our dead must be redeemed and sealed to us, that they may also inherit eternal life with us. Doing a sealing between our dead and ourselves, however, is not enough and only connects two of the three groups together. Until we are also connected to the third group, that is ―our fathers which are in heaven, we remain vulnerable to being ―utterly wasted at His coming” (The Mission of Elijah Reconsidered, Denver Snuffer Jr., p.29, emphasis added).

[7] And the murderous guilt of that utterly wicked church — the whore of the entire earth — will come back upon their own heads, because they’ll fight among themselves. The swords they wield will fall upon their own heads, and they’ll be drunk with their own blood. And every nation that fights against you, O house of Israel, will be turned against each other. They’ll fall into the pit they dug to ensnare the Lord’s people. Those who fight against Zion will be destroyed. And the great whore that’s corrupted and perverted the right ways of the Lord — that utterly wicked church — will tumble to the dust, and its fall will be complete. The prophet has said: The time is quickly coming that Satan will no longer have power over mankind’s hearts. The time is soon coming that the proud and those who do evil will be like straw; and the time is coming that they will certainly be burned. Indeed, the time is soon coming when the full extent of God’s wrath will be poured out on all mankind, since He won’t allow the wicked to destroy the righteous. Therefore He’ll keep the righteous safe by His power, even if it means that the full extent of His wrath must come while the righteous are preserved by God destroying their enemies by fire. Therefore the righteous don’t need to be afraid, because the prophet has said: They will be saved, even if it requires fire. My brothers, these things are coming soon; there will be blood, fire, and smoke here, covering the face of this land. It will happen to mortal people in this life if they reject the Holy One of Israel. However the righteous won’t be destroyed, because those who fight against Zion are who will be cut off” (CofC 1 Nephi 7:4, emphasis added).

[8] “And blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” (Matthew 3:8).

[9] “ . . . And in that day, there shall be a root of Jesse who shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the gentiles seek, and his rest shall be glorious” (RE Isaiah 5:4, emphasis added).

[10] “Let us suppose a case. Suppose the great God who dwells in heaven should reveal himself to Father Cutler here, by the opening heavens, and tell him, I offer up a decree that whatsoever you seal on earth with your decree, I will seal it in heaven; you have the power then; can it be taken off? No. Then what you seal on earth, by the keys of Elijah, is sealed in heaven; and this is the power of Elijah, and this is the difference between the spirit and power of Elias and Elijah; for while the spirit of Elias is a forerunner, the power of Elijah is sufficient to make our calling and election sure; and the same doctrine, where we are exhorted to go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead, &c” (Smith Jr., Joseph. Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith (pp. 387-388, emphasis added). Deseret Book Company. Kindle Edition).

[11] “ . . . Let them [Israel]  therefore which are among the gentiles flee unto Zion, and let them who be of Judah flee unto Jerusalem, unto the mountains of the Lord’s house. Go out from among the nations, even from Babylon, from the midst of wickedness, which is spiritual Babylon. But truly thus says the Lord: Let not your flight be in haste, but let all things be prepared before you; and he that goes, let him not look back, so that sudden destruction won't come upon him” (RE T&C 58:2, emphasis added).

Scott Roderick

8/12/2025

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