It is generally understood among modern Gentiles our prophetic destination is the establishment of New Jerusalem and Zion. This is our ultimate objective. What is less clear is how the Lord leads us there. Since the days of Joseph Smith members of churches linked to the prophet studied and spoke of this eventual outcome. The question is what is the process leading to this outcome?
In a vision given to Denver Snuffer the Lord provides His view of those whom the Lord leads to the valley at the base of the mountain where the Patriarchal Fathers dwell. The location where the Lord’s people sought to ascend.
“I saw a great mountain, and upon the top thereof was the glory of the fathers. To reach the top, all were required to enter through a narrow pass [metaphor for the process]. In the pass was a great beast, cruel and pitiless.
The Lord brought people whom he had chosen to the mouth of the pass, and there he told them to wait for him, and he went away. The people did not wait for Him, but began to move forward into the narrow pass. The beast killed some and injured others, and none were able to pass through [saints of Joseph Smith’s day].
After great losses, many deaths, and terrible suffering, the people chosen by the Lord withdrew and departed from the mountain. After four and five generations[1], the Lord again brought some few back to the pass and again told them to stay at the mouth of the pass and wait on Him. But again there were those who tired of waiting, for they could see in the distance the glory of the Fathers and they desired to be there. These, being overtaken by their zeal, did not wait, but moved into the pass where again the beast killed or hurt them.
Among those who waited, however, was a man who knelt and prayed, and waited patiently for his Lord. After a great time, the Lord came to this man and took him by the hand and led him into the pass where the great beast guarded the way. As the Lord led, however, the beast was ever occupied with attacking others, and therefore its back was turned to the Lord and the man. And so they passed by unnoticed, safely to the top. The Lord sent the man to the Fathers who, when they saw the man, inquired of him, How came you to be here and yet mortal; the last who came here were brothers [Joseph and Hyrum Smith] who had been slain, and you are yet alive? And the man answered, I waited on the Lord and he brought me here safely” (RE T&C 163, emphasis added).
In this vision the Lord instructed the people on two occasions to wait upon the Lord. Most were too zealous and proceeded to the pass where they were met by the beast and turned back. In the second example there were those who waited on the Lord but only one waited and prayed. That man was met by the Lord, was taken by the hand and led by Him safely through the pass and joined the Fathers.
The vision given by the Lord to Denver Snuffer is specifically detailed for a purpose. The Lord’s counsel to each group was to wait upon Him. Why wait? Because preparation is necessary before His chosen people have sufficient knowledge to pass by the beast [Satan] and ascend to where the Fathers dwell. Why is additional preparation necessary? We find the answer in the following verses of 1 Nephi 13 & 14.
“I also saw they had a book. The Angel asked me: Do you know the book’s purpose? I replied: I don’t know. So He said: It comes from the Jews. And I saw it. And He told me: The book you see is a record of the Jews [Bible]; it contains many of the prophecies of the holy prophets. It’s a record like the engravings on the brass plates, except it’s less complete. Still, it contains the covenants of the Lord has made to the house of Israel; therefore they’re very valuable to the Gentiles. Then the Angel of the Lord said: You’ve seen that the book came from the Jews. When it came from the Jews, it contained the fullness of the gospel of the Lamb, whom the Twelve witnesses testified about. And they testified truthfully of the Lamb of God. So these things were delivered in purity from the Jews to the Gentiles, relating the truth of God. After they’re delivered by the Lamb’s Twelve witnesses, from the Jews to the Gentiles, you see the establishment of that corrupt and utterly wicked church, which is the most detestable of all other churches. For they removed from the Lamb’s gospel many clear and extremely valuable parts and they’ve also removed many of the Lord’s covenants. They’ve done all this in order to corrupt and pervert the right ways of the Lord, to blind people’s eyes and harden their hearts. Therefore you see that after the book has passed through the hands of that corrupt and utterly wicked church, many clear and extremely valuable things are gone from the book, which is the book of the Lamb of God. And after these clear and valuable things are gone, it was passed along to all the Gentile nations . . .”
Originally the Bible contents are described as “in purity,” containing the “truth of God.” Those truths were “clear and extremely valuable.” The accuser’s plan was to bring the Bible in its pristine condition into the power of his church. Once in control of the record, the devil’s church removes much of the Lamb’s gospel and many covenants the Lord made with Israel. Like a roadmap to God, the Bible contained God’s promises to His Family and the means by which He fulfills His promises to them.
By removing the clear and valuable truth’s in the Bible, the Gentiles seeking guidance from it were left with an incomplete map. It became impossible to understand the character and nature of the true and living God and left mankind with a distorted view of Him and our kinship with Him. Without the clear and extremely valuable knowledge redacted from the record the pure teachings were corrupted and perverted, misleading mankind in their search for the Father and Mother and Their Son. Left with incomplete information God became incomprehensible and unapproachable. Mankind became perplexed with the contradictions in the Bible, hardening their hearts and blinding their minds against God and the testimony of the Twelve Disciples.
What mankind lacks appreciation of is the full scope of their ignorance due to the loss of sacred gospel truth and knowledge of God’s promises to His people. When the Angel introduces the Bible to Nephi, He draws a comparison to the brass plates of Laban saying the Bible is less complete.
The loss of truth from the Bible, is even more significant than is appreciated by modern Gentiles. The loss of truth causes the Gentile nations who receive the Bible to “stumble” in the original Book of Mormon or causes “a great number of people” to “make a great number of mistakes.” Those mistakes give Satan power over them.
“. . . And after all Gentile nations receive the book, a great number of people make a great number of mistakes that gives Satan power over them. That altered book is what the Gentiles who crossed the sea to escape captivity bring with them. It lacks many clear, understandable things about the Lamb of God. Nevertheless, you see the Gentiles have left captivity and have been liberated by God’s power to independently control the land. The land is better than all other places on earth. The Lord God covenanted with your father to inherit it, and your descendants will mix with your brothers’ descendants and survive. God won’t let the Gentiles destroy all your brothers’ descendants, or leave the Gentiles in the awful blind condition you see that resulted from that utterly wicked church removing the clear and extremely valuable parts of the Lamb’s gospel. Therefore, the Lamb of God says, I’ll have mercy for the Gentiles and will judge and punish the remnant of the house of Israel . . .” (Ibid)
Satan exerts power over the Gentiles because the corrupt and perverted doctrine misleads them into forbidden paths. In particular, the teachings of the Lamb that were clear and understandable no longer are. This means knowledge of the prototype of the saved man could no longer be understood by the Gentiles as instructed by the Bible.
Still, the Lord has mercy on the Gentiles and leads them out of captivity to scatter the seed of Laman and Lemuel and take possession of the land that “is better than all other places on earth.”
“ . . . Then the Angel of the Lord told me: The Lamb of God says: After I’ve judged the remnant of the house of Israel (referring to your father’s descendants), after punishing them using the Gentiles, I’ll show mercy to the Gentiles. They’ll make a great many mistakes because of the extremely clear and valuable parts of the Lamb’s gospel that have been removed by that utterly wicked church, which is the mother of harlots [offspring are churches who sell themselves for money]. But by My power I’ll bring to light for them more of My gospel, which will be clear and very valuable, says the Lamb. Indeed, says the Lamb, I’ll personally appear to your descendants so they are able to write many things that I’ll provide to them, which will be plain and very valuable. After your descendants are destroyed and fall away in unbelief, along with your brothers’ descendants, these writings will be hidden and protected, to later be delivered to the Gentiles by the gift and power of the Lamb. My gospel will be written in them, says the Lamb – My rock and My salvation. I’ll bless those who then want to bring about My Zion; they’ll have the gift and power of the Holy Ghost. And if they continue faithful to the end, they’ll be raised up on the last day and saved in the everlasting kingdom of the Lamb. Therefore, any who proclaim peace, the joyful news, how beautiful shall be their presence upon the mountains! . . .” (Ibid)
Gentiles who receive the altered Bible eventually receive mercy from God. He brings to light more of His gospel that is “clear and very valuable” like the original gospel in the Bible prior to its alteration. The resurrected Lamb of God appears to Lehi’s descendants, teaching doctrine clear and plain. This is the beginning of the Lord’s restoration of that which was removed or corrupted. This restoration effort initially targets the Gentiles but is carried by them to Israel’s Lehi descendants and then Israel generally, recovering those people who repent as well.
A remnant of the Gentiles repent and turn to the Lord. They are given the power of the Holy Ghost. They declare the cause of Zion to nations and their presence among nations is “beautiful” in the Lord’s eyes.
“ . . . Then I saw my brothers’ descendants and the book of the Lamb of God, which had come from the Jews, and that it came from the Gentiles to my brothers’ descendants [native Americans]. After it had come to them, I saw other books[2] that came by the Lamb’s power from the Gentiles to them – these convinced the Gentiles and my brothers’ descendants, and also the Jews who were scattered throughout the earth, that the records of the prophets and the Lamb’s Twelve witnesses are true. Then the Angel told me: These last records [other books] that you’ve seen among the Gentiles will confirm the truth of the first ones [Bible] – which come from the Lamb’s Twelve witnesses – and will reveal the clear and valuable things which have been removed from them and reveal to all people of every tribe and language that the Lamb of God is the Son of the Eternal Father and Savior of the world and that all people must come to Him or they cannot be saved. And according to the words of the Lamb they must come unto Him. And the Lamb’s words will be revealed in the records of your descendants[3] as well as in the records of the Lamb’s Twelve witnesses. So they’ll [Bible and Book of Mormon] both be witnesses together, because there’s one God and one Shepherd over the whole earth . . .” (Ibid)
The altered Bible is given to Gentile nations from the Jews. Thereafter the Gentiles carry the Bible to descendants of Laman and Lemuel. Then the Lord initiates a process, restoring the precious and valuable content removed from or altered in the Bible. The loss of these teachings cause the Gentiles to make many mistakes. Lost teachings must be restored to reclaim the Gentiles, descendants of Laman and Lemuel and Israel’s scattered remnant. These groups remain in darkness until “other books” are brought to light and lost Biblical teachings are restored. The operative word in Nephi’s vision is “convinced.” Convinced must not be conflated into converted, though some will be converted. The Lord intends to remove all Satanic barriers remaining as obstacles to the Gentiles, Laman and Lemuel’s descendants and Israel. All may be convinced by the restoration of sacred truth’s, but may not be willing to make the required sacrifices to comply with the requirements. Power, prominence, pride, wealth and personal aspirations may prevent the “broken heart and contrite spirit” necessary to receive the Holy Ghost. All may be convinced of the truth but not all will be willing to offer sacrifices required for compliance.
The emergence of “other books” is a sign to everyone, and an expectation of those who believe in the Lord’s restoration. To reject or fight against these books as the Lord brings them to light is to fight against the establishment of Zion and the Lord's restorative work. That is why only remnants of the Gentiles, descendants of Laman and Lemuel and Israel survive to participate in the New Jerusalem and Zion.
“ . . . At a future time, He'll reveal Himself to all nations, both to the Jews and to the Gentiles. And after He has revealed Himself to the Jews and to the Gentiles, He’ll then appear to the Gentiles and to the Jews. The last will be first and the first shall be last.
If the Gentiles then obey the Lamb of God, He’ll reveal Himself to them in word and power and in person, in order to remove barriers to their belief, and if they don’t harden their hearts against the Lamb of God, they’ll be included with your father’s descendants – indeed, they’ll be included as part of the house of Israel. And you’ve also heard that whoever doesn’t repent must perish. As a result, if the Gentiles harden their hearts against the Lamb of God, when I’ll bring about a great and awe-inspiring work among mankind, one that will be everlasting – one way or the other – either to convince them, resulting in peace and life eternal; or to give them up to their hard hearts and blind minds, bringing about their slavery and temporal and spiritual destruction, under the accuser’s enslavement which I’ve spoken about . . .” (RE 1 Nephi 13:20-42, 1 Nephi 14:1-7, emphasis added).
The attitude of latter-day believers should be vigilance in watching, praying and waiting upon the Lord for more of the “other books” because more revelation from God is the predominant sign among the Lord’s congregation.
[1] “The restoration through Joseph Smith will always remain, even if God chooses to order it differently before his return. It is his to do with as he determines best. He’s now sent me as a witness. The passing of Eldred Smith was a moment in time that reflects the cumulative effect of a lot of decisions – including and beginning with the initial overthrow of the government of the church by the twelve at the passing of Joseph and Hyrum. Culminating in the final overthrow of the priesthood itself, by the death of the discarded Eldred Smith and the discontinuation of the authority that was supposed to have been kept in honorable remembrance from generation to generation. God will bestow that authority again and it will go forward. But it will go forward without these organizational pretenders that amass wealth and practice priestcraft” (A Visit with Denver Snuffer, Tim Malone, p.5, emphasis added).
“Now even the imitation of it has come to an end, because there is no perpetuation “in honorable remembrance” of the descendants of Hyrum Smith occupying the office of Patriarch to the Church. There have been many signs given by God that He was about to do something new from the time of the death of Joseph Smith till today. All that was left at the end was for a witness to be appointed, to come to declare, “Now it has come to an end.” In the last talk in the 10 lecture series I said, the witness has now come, and I am he. It has come to an end with something new now begun. One of the signs of it having come to an end was the passing of Eldred Smith. There are many other signs given if you look for them. You can see them all along the way, from the condemnation in 1832, to the expulsion from Missouri, the forced exodus from Nauvoo, the suffering during and following the exodus, the afflictions, judgments and wrath of God at the Saints, their pride, lying, deceit, hypocrisy, murders, priestcrafts, and whoredoms (as Christ foretold), inquisitorial abuse of the population once isolated from the US, mass-murders, contradictions in “fundamental” teachings, changes to the ordinances including the temple rites, quest for popularity and centrally-controlled, tightly correlated rejection of teachings—the history of the LDS Church has been a long, downward path. It has walked away from the light, and increasingly embraced darkness. Its members are now ruled by traditions that contradict the scriptures and commandments of God. They are asleep and cannot be awakened. God will now do something new and leave them to make their own way” (Plural Marriage, Denver Snuffer Jr., pp.39-40, emphasis added).
“So we've got ourselves an interesting opportunity that has been presented to us because the Lord has, in our dispensation, done pretty much—over a period of years and generations, because when you reject the covenant and you kill the one through whom it was being offered, then you have to wait four and five generations before it can be renewed—but it's the same pattern as the one that was had at Bountiful: The voice speaks, they don't hear it (1832-38); the voice speaks, they don't hear it (1841 through the end of that generation); the voice speaks a third time, and they open their ears, and they heard it. It's really incumbent upon us to decide whether or not we're interested, willing, and capable of doing what has been asked of us—because the Prayer outlines the kind of conduct that fails; it defines for us what they were up to that provoked His judgment; it tells us what not to do…and then they got worse. When the offer was made in 1841…” (Context of the Answer to Prayer for Covenant, Denver Snuffer Jr., p.15, emphasis added).
[2] Reference to “other books” raises the question of what is included in the library that constitutes the “other books.” Without question Joseph Smith’s translation of the Book of Mormon is included. What exactly does this portion of the record of Joseph of Egypt and his people represent?
“One of the clarifications that the Covenant of Christ makes very clear is that the text is NOT a history. That point is made continually: Jacob 2:13: “And not even one percent of the doings of this people, who are now becoming numerous, can be written on these plates.” Words of Mormon describing what his abridgment has included: 1:2: “I can’t write one percent of my people’s activities.” Helaman 2:4: “But not even one percent of events are included in this book, such as an account of the Lamanites and Nephites wars, conflicts, divisions, preaching, prophecies, shipping, shipbuilding, building of temples, synagogues, and sanctuaries, and their righteousness and wickedness, and their acts of murder, robbery, and plunder, and all kinds of abominations and whoredoms and idol worship.” Ether 6:20: “Then he ended his record, but I haven’t written one percent of it[.]” 3 Ne. 2:16: “they can’t all be written in this book. Indeed, this book can’t contain even one percent of what occurred among so many people in 25 years.”
Even Christ’s teachings are likewise not given but in a tiny sample: 3 Ne. 12:1: “And now not even one percent of what Jesus taught the people can be written in this book.” I assume that if over 99% of what the Lord taught was omitted from the text, then He has every right to make His message more clearly stated for us.
Covenant of Christ (like the Book of Mormon) is NOT a history. It is instead a prophecy” (Discussing the Covenant of Christ blogpost, Denver Snuffer Jr., August 14, 2024, emphasis added).
[3] “Then the Lord God will bring forward for you the words of a book, and the words will be from those who have died. The book will be sealed, and a revelation from God from the beginning to the end of the world will be in the book. And because of what’s sealed up, the sealed things won’t be made known while people remain wicked and practice abominations. So the book will be kept from them . . .” (Covenant of Christ, 2 Nephi 11:19, emphasis added).
“Don’t do anything with the sealed things; I’ll reveal them at the right time. I’ll show mankind that I’m able to do My own work . . .” (RE 2 Nephi 11:21, emphasis added).
“ . . . I’ve written on these plates the very things Jared’s brother saw. Greater things were never revealed than those things revealed to Jared’s brother. Therefore the Lord has commanded me to write them down and I’ve written them. He also commanded me to seal them up under His care. He has also commanded me to protect the ability to translate them, so I’ve sealed the Interpreters according to the Lord’s commandment. The Lord told me: They must not go to the Gentiles until they repent of their iniquity and become clean before the Lord. The Lord said: When they exercise faith in Me, just as Jared’s brother did, so that they become sanctified in Me, then I’ll show them the things Jared’s brother saw, even providing all My revelations to them. This is what Jesus Christ said, who’s the Son of God the Father of the heavens and the earth, and everything in them” (Covenant of Christ, Ether 1:17, emphasis added).
“ . . . Those who refuse to believe My words won’t believe in Me, that I Am. And those who refuse to believe in Me won’t believe in the Father, who sent Me. For I Am the Father. I Am the light, the life, and the truth of the world. Come to Me, Gentiles, and I’ll show you the greater things, knowledge that’s hidden away because of unbelief. Come to Me, O house of Israel, and it will be revealed to you how the Father has great things in store for you from the foundation of creation that you haven’t received because of unbelief. When you move aside the veil of unbelief that cause you to remain in your awful state of wickedness and hardness of heart and blindness of mind, then great and miraculous things that have been hidden away from you from the foundation of creation will come to you. When you call on the Father in My name with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, then you’ll know, O house of Israel, that the Father remembers the covenant He made to your fathers. Then the revelations I had MY servant John [the Beloved] write will be understood by everyone. Remember, when you see these things, you’ll know that the time is near whey they will be revealed. Therefore when you receive this record, you can know the Father’s work has begun throughout the land. So repent, everyone, throughout the world. Come to Me, believe in My gospel, and be baptized in My name. Because anyone who believes and is baptized will be save, but anyone who doesn’t believe will be condemned. Signs will follow those who believe in My name. Those who are found faithful to My name on the last day will be blessed, for they’ll be lifted up to live in the kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of creation. I Am the one who has spoken it. Amen” (Covenant of Christ, Ether 1:18-19, emphasis added).
“And now not even one percent of what Jesus taught the people can be written in this book. But the plates of Nephi contain most of what He taught the people. I’ve written these few things He taught the people, intending for them to be brought back to this people from the Gentiles, as Jesus has explained. After they get this first to test their faith, if they believe this record, then greater things will be added to them. If they refuse to believe this record, then the greater things will be added to them. If they refuse to believe this record, then the greater things will be withheld from them to their condemnation . . .” (Covenant of Christ, 3 Nephi 12:1, emphasis added).
Scott Roderick
9/26/2024
Comentarios