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The Lord teaches true doctrine to a people that only desire the truth in part, yet some of those same doctrines are no longer believed by the modern LDS church. The Lord teaches his approved method for determining whether a spirit is from him or not, a method which is no longer taught by the modern church. And the Lord teaches how to properly teach the gospel, a method which has been deliberately avoided by the modern church’s missionary program for almost 100 years.
Romans 11:1-5
Moses 6:52-62
Moses 3:5
JST Genesis 9:5
1 John 4:1
D&C 64:33-34
Nice episode as always guys, however, I would like to point out a couple of things I think you may be assuming based on american/mormon culture and traditions. First you seem to imply that only men will be high priests, when it is a priesthood without mother and father. I.e., neither patriarchal nor matriarchal, but given by God’s voice out of the heavens. Secondly, on this same point about the high priesthood, you mention others besides high priests in the celestial kingdom. I would like to know what verses you’re basing this upon. Section 76 lists in plain language the requirements to enter said kingdom as:
51 They are they who received the testimony of Jesus, and believed on his name and were baptized after the manner of his burial, being buried in the water in his name, and this according to the commandment which he has given—
52 That by keeping the commandments they might be washed and cleansed from all their sins, and receive the Holy Spirit by the laying on of the hands of him who is ordained and sealed unto this power;
53 And who overcome by faith, and are sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, which the Father sheds forth upon all those who are just and true.
54 They are they who are the church of the Firstborn.
55 They are they into whose hands the Father has given all things—
56 They are they who are priests and kings, who have received of his fulness, and of his glory;
57 And are priests of the Most High, after the order of Melchizedek, which was after the order of Enoch, which was after the order of the Only Begotten Son.
58 Wherefore, as it is written, they are gods, even the sons of God—
59 Wherefore, all things are theirs, whether life or death, or things present, or things to come, all are theirs and they are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.
60 And they shall overcome all things.
Notice specifically verse 57 says you must be a true high priest in order to enter the celestial kingdom. No one else is giving such a glory. Everyone else inherits Zion (the terrestrial kingdom and the traditional religious view of heaven) until they are ready to become a high priest.
Even the temple endowment teaches this as well. Notice you receive the final portion of the priesthood while in the terrestrial world and conversing with God at the veil who then admits you by his voice into the celestial kingdom.
Finally, a further note on gender. Moses 2 says:
26 And I, God, said unto mine Only Begotten, which was with me from the beginning: Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and it was so. And I, God, said: Let them have dominion over the fishes of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
27 And I, God, created man in mine own image, in the image of mine Only Begotten created I him; male and female created I them.
So “man” which in hebrew just means person/human, was created after the pattern of Christ who is in the image of God. And this singular original “man” was both male and female. Or another reading could be that Christ/God have both male and female aspects. Interestingly the idea of a bigendered being was considered holy in many ancient religions. Also an interesting thing to note is that YaHWeH in Hebrew which means “the one who causes to be” if read backwards (although it is technically spelled “wrong”) would be HooHii which means “He She”.
Furthermore, Moses 3 says woman was taken out of man: 21 And I, the Lord God, caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam; and he slept, and I took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh in the stead thereof;
22 And the rib which I, the Lord God, had taken from man, made I a woman, and brought her unto the man.
23 And Adam said: This I know now is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of man.
No disagreements from me. I didn’t want to sidetrack the discussion, so I tried to quickly state that women will be possessors of all things as well and move on, but probably didn’t do a good job of it. If God deals with us according to our understanding, and people in 1830 generally believed that only men could represent God, that would explain our male-only priesthood perspective. Now that we live in a society where women are viewed as being equal (if not yet treated that way), I won’t be surprised if (when) women play a larger role. A careful reading of the New Testament shows the women of that era had a much larger role in the ancient church than women in the “restored” church have today.
Joseph even authorized the laying on of hands for healings.
https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/nauvoo-relief-society-minute-book/33
And Paul refers to several women as deacons and apostles.
Chris and Taylor,
Please forgive this non-scriptural comment. You were joking a little about the CV 19 jab “conspiracy theories.” Putting all joking aside, you (and the all listeners), as honest seekers of truth, would benefit by doing a little research beyond the mainstream narrative. Here are a few good places to start: [edited]
I don’t want the comment section to turn into a COVID discussion board, so I deleted the links to the websites you provided. Nothing against those sites in particular, I similarly won’t post links to pro-vaccine websites.
I agree that everyone should research not only this, but any medical decision. Every treatment option, including something as simple as aspirin, has risks and benefits which will vary with each patient. Treatments that bypassed the normal clinical trial process more so than treatments that have gone through the standard process. Unfortunately, the irrational conspiracy theories I alluded to not only distract from the debate about relative risks, but make it more difficult to have quantifiable, objective concerns discussed rationally.
I haven’t had a chance to listen to this week’s podcast yet, but on this topic I think all of us who accept the Book of Mormon as the word of God should be a little hesitant in using the phrase “conspiracy theory”. This phrase is coined to ridicule those who believe in things like secret combinations happening in the latter days. We also need to exercise caution in believing any and all claims about secret combinations, as the same people behind creating the term will create easily demonstrable false conspiracies.
Trying to merge COVID and scripture, it seems pretty clear to me that there is more going on to the governments of the world’s response to COVID. I think Watcher is correct in some of his interpretations about the “report” being a vexation to the nations. The idea of locking people down and preventing meetings and fellowship runs counter to God’s plan. In Canada, as one example, religious liberties are being curtailed and those who wish to worship as the scriptures dictate are being persecuted.
It appears in the not too distant future that having a vaccine will be required to buy and sell in Babylon. While that may or may not have anything to do with what the scriptures say, it certainly is a step along that path.
Finally, from our current scientific understanding of the human body, those who have recovered from COVID have a better immunity than those who receive the vaccine. Yet, I’m curiously seeing many people who have already recovered from COVID getting the vaccine and many promoting its necessity. This is absolutely counter to all our current medical understanding. It points to massive ignorance by the masses and the so-called experts promoting it, or to a different, hidden agenda. Each of us should consider whether this is or isn’t part of the latter day secret combinations.
After listening to the intro, I don’t think the humor was out of line. And it is fair for the blog owners to determine which external links they want on their site. However, the topic of calling something a conspiracy theory reminded me of the Biblical concept of the watchman on the tower. It is hard to speak up and warn people about things that might not come to pass (and be called crazy) when the risk of not saying something might be catastrophic to people we love. Some people are naturally risk averse and their perspectives are important when the general narrative is to go full steam ahead. (This applies to stock market analysis as well as the use of new medical procedures.)
In my personal experience, it seems that people who are currently opposed to the new vaccines are being cautious about something that has not been fully tested for safety or efficacy. In that light, seeing that Chris and Taylor are both playing their part as good global citizens, would you trailblazers be opposed to updating people on any side effects (or lack of them) you experience in the next couple months?
Hi Ranae,
I finally got a chance to listen to the intro as well and agree the humor was in line. Perhaps it’s because I agree with where I think the secret combinations are and where they are not that I see where our Podcast hosts were coming from.
I have mixed feelings for those who follow different “conspiracy” ideas. I get that there are secret combinations in the latter days and I also judge them by my education, knowledge and understanding. So some of those “theories” seem far out there to me. But to those with a different level of understanding they seem reasonable. I admit that I may or may not have the right understanding and I could easily be wrong. But I’m also confident that the scriptures point us to the truth – it doesn’t matter whether the flat earth idea is correct or not, if 5G is Satan’s tool, etc., etc. The Gospel stands as the beacon we should all look to.
I see the current events as possible fulfillment of many parts of prophecy. I see how things could (and have) quickly changed. But I don’t know if these really are the latter day fulfillment. The points I use to think it is close is the timeline of the “little season” the saints are in, the signs in heaven and earth could be the dual eclipses (2017 and 2024) that cross near Zion, and other current events.
At the same time, I’m sure during the American Civil War, WWI and Spanish Influenza, WWII, etc. there were plenty of signs that people may have interpreted as the time was near at hand. So it could still be many years off and even beyond my lifetime. I’m praying that it is closer than that and we who are having our eyes opened to the hidden narrative that was happening in the 1830s and 1840s will be around to see the fulfillment.
Isaiah had something to say about this, and it merits pondering:
Isaiah 8:11-12 (ESV)
For the LORD spoke thus to me with his strong hand upon me, and warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying: “Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread.”
Are there conspiring people with evil designs? Yes. Does the Lord want us searching high and low and speculating about all the various conspiracies that might be afoot? It doesn’t appear so. The Lord knows what’s going on. If it gets to the point where we will be taking upon ourselves the mark of the beast by receiving a vaccine, I’m confident he will have sent numerous authorized servants beforehand to adequately warn every person on the planet about the eternal consequences of receiving the shot. How can he possibly hold us accountable when we haven’t been properly warned? I haven’t seen an Isaiah or Jeremiah arrive on the scene yet to warn us about the vaccine.
In the meantime, are conspiring businesspeople leveraging this illness to increase their profits and stifle smaller competitors? Yes. Are politicians using this to grasp powers they have not been granted? Yes. Those are the hidden works of darkness we should wear out our lives bringing to light. Not speculation and pseudo-science, but demonstrable, provable, deleterious impacts on our lives right now. I think the hysteria about the vaccines themselves is a classic case of misdirection, distracting the people so they argue among themselves rather than focusing on the corrupt crony capitalistic marriage between government and big business that is perpetrating the biggest transfer of wealth in the history of the planet.
I don’t remember anyone here equating these vaccines with the mark of the beast. They simply said be careful because the people promoting them don’t have your best interest in mind, and they might not be what they are hyped to be. If you want warnings about that, there are plenty. The scriptures also tell us that people have a very hard time telling the difference between true prophets and false ones. (I am using “prophet” in a general sense of a voice of warning, not someone who was directly called by God with a specific message for a specific people.)
MD, can you explain why you used a version of the Bible that translates into the word “conspiracy” instead of the more common KJV “confederacy” that most of your audience is familiar with? I can read those same verses using the KJV and come up with a completely opposite application than what you did.
(In reference to nation-states vs. globalism)
9 Associate yourselves, O ye people, and ye shall be broken in pieces; and give ear, all ye of far countries: gird [tie or bind] yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces.
10 Take counsel together, and it shall come to nought; speak the word, and it shall not stand: for God is with us.
11 For the Lord spake thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, [after the manner of popular opinion] saying,
12 Say ye not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy; [the people are told to be good global citizens, and tear down their borders to erase national identity]
neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid. [the media has been pumping fear, first about Trump and most recently about Covid. Do what you are told. It is science if we tell you it is. Your mask protects me, and my mask protects you. See, we are all in it together!]
13 Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. [take counsel from God, and don’t make scientists your false idols. Do you trust an experimental injection to protect you more than using wisdom to support the immune system God designed?]
“It appears in the not too distant future that having a vaccine will be required to buy and sell in Babylon.”
I interpreted Mike’s comment as either a direct or indirect reference to Revelation 13:17
And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
As for using a modern translation, I do that often in the podcasts unless I need to show a word link with the BoM or D&C. “We believe the Bible to be the word of God, as far as it is translated correctly”. The King James translation was done over 400 years ago, and it has translation problems. The English language has evolved significantly since then, so that the same words today mean something entirely different than what they meant back then. My favorite examples are ejaculation and intercourse, both things that back in the day respectable men and women could engage in publicly without any problem. Additionally, knowledge of ancient Greek and Hebrew has improved significantly in the past 400 years, along with findings of the Dead Sea Scrolls and other manuscripts to help improve the translation. Bad translations lead to bad doctrine.
Almost every modern translation uses conspiracy where KJV uses confederation. More importantly, the underlying Hebrew word is used 16 times in the Old Testament. The only time it is translated in KJV as confederacy is in Isaiah 8…all other instances are translated as conspiracy or treason. So even the KJV disagrees with the KJV translation of Isaiah 8:12.
The use of the word confederacy is a matter of nuance. You know that when translating from a foreign language some synonyms make more sense in certain situations than others do, even when the same underlying word is used. In this case, Samaria and Damascus had an alliance to take out Ahaz, and God was warning the king not to make an alliance with Assyria, but rather to trust God that this was a temporary problem. The threat to Ahaz was real, so how can you use this particular verse to say that God is warning us against conspiracy theories, that not every warning is based on fact? In this particular case, the war was actually on his doorstep.
I personally don’t think that Isaiah is warning Ahaz against committing treason or conspiring against his own country, so the use of confederacy to describe a political alliance makes absolute sense.
God is actually saying, Trust ME. The solutions man offers you are not going to turn out well in the end.
MD,
Yes, I was referencing that passage, however if you read what I wrote it was not that the vaccine was the mark of the beast. Rather, what appears on the horizon is that people will be limited in their social, economic, and other freedoms based on their vaccination status. If you cannot see that establishing that precedent is a half a step from requiring a mark as mentioned in scriptures I think you aren’t paying attention to the signs and warnings God has given us.
I agree, the vaccine isn’t the mark. However, the current events that are transpiring ought to give us all pause as they relate to the fulfillment of the word of God. We should see how quickly the vaccine passport idea is being accepted to see how quickly Babylon can require just such a mark.
Keep in mind that medical experts knew all along that masks, social distancing, and lockdowns were never going to work – they had science showing their ineffectiveness. Yet that has become the mantra and that has been done. If you step back and see the religious persecutions happening in what used to be considered the free world, it appears there may have been a different motivation for those actions.
The powers that still rule this world are going to fight against God. We need not fear, as God will prevail. However, God does expect us to take His words and His warnings seriously. We should be waiting and watching for the events to transpire. As I said, this all may or may not be part of those warnings, it’s up to each of us to search the word of God and take heed of what He has said.
Regardless, when the servants arrive and restore the gospel, we will all be able to accept it or reject it. If you have been vaccinated or not will not limit your entrance to Zion. We know from the scriptures what the requirements are to join Zion. If the mark requirement comes along before the servants, I’m sure those who accept the gospel will be able to cast it off, repent of that, and join Zion. God’s plan will succeed, the devils’ will fail.
Let me just chime in here to observe that I see the tendency among people who study prophecy to project their present circumstances onto the prophetic narrative and look for connections. That is a natural human tendency — we always want to have an explanation for what is going on. Therefore, I would suggest that we need to have some humility and patience in drawing any conclusions prematurely. But like I said, it is a human tendency that Joseph and his peers also exhibited.
Searcher, What is the alternative? Nephi told his readers that he did liken the scriptures unto himself. If we don’t attempt to find the application in our own circumstances, what are they good for? I am not saying that every application is accurate, for example, Christians have thought the return of Christ was imminent for 2000 years, but isn’t that better than assuming it was so far off that they didn’t need to think about it or prepare for it?
Here is a bit a scriptural context that could help when trying to apply the Revelation to our time.
The English word mark is a translation of the Greek word charagma, which means a stamp or engraved mark. This was used to describe when an artisan “signed” his work as well as the brand on a horse or other animal. It was a visible, tangible marker identifying ownership. The only other time charagma is used outside of Revelation is in Acts 17:29, which says: “we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device.” Even here it is a physical, visible image. The mark of the beast is the name of the beast: Rev. 13:17, 14:11. If that’s what the word meant when John wrote it, we should honor that meaning when trying to apply it to today…it needs to be a physical, externally visible sign indicating ownership by name.
John repeatedly links the mark with worshipping the beast: Rev. 14:9, 14:11, 16:2, 19:20, 20:4. It doesn’t appear that a worshipper of God can inadvertently take upon themselves the mark of the beast, it seems to be a consequence of the conscious decision to worship the beast. So when trying to apply the mark of the beast to our times, we should honor this link John makes with active worship of the beast.
Contrast this with the righteous who have the name of God on their foreheads: Rev. 14:1, 22:4. This is a direct link to the Levitical high priest who had a metal plate attached to his hat so the plate rested on his forehead. Engraved on the plate were the words HOLINESS TO THE LORD (Exodus 28:36-38). Name, engraved, visible, forehead…see all the links?
Revelation seems to describe a binary situation: you either have the name of the beast written on your forehead, or the name of the LORD. There doesn’t seem to be a third category with no name. We either belong to God or belong to Satan. Just as a wicked person can’t accidentally take upon them the name of Christ and be saved, I don’t see how a faithful person can unknowingly take upon themselves the name of the beast and be doomed for eternity. The scriptures tell us the time will come when everyone knows the truth and makes their choice, and there is a great division. Any modern application should honor this binary, conscious decision rather than a secret, surreptitious mark that catches its victims unaware.
Previous “prophets” have warned us that the Nazi swastika was the mark of the beast. That beast couldn’t even invade England, let alone conquer the world. In the 70s, “prophets” warned us barcodes were the mark of the beast. If so, we’re already doomed. Later “prophets” warned us that RFID technology was the mark of the beast. In that case we’ve all sworn allegiance to Satan.
I would encourage everyone to study the context of the scriptures before trying to identify something as the mark of the beast, because the scriptural criteria seem to eliminate most proposed candidates, and there is a long list of failed prophecies that didn’t bother to test against the scriptural requirements.
To MD’s post –
I agree, the mark would be an outward sign. However, I’m not sure we have great scriptural evidence that it isn’t taken on unknowingly or by being deceived. We have a fairly easy time identifying that the corporate LDS church has been handed over to Satan, they worship a false god and call evil good and good evil in making covenants with death and hell. Do you believe that the members are all consciously choosing to disobey God? The scriptures tell us that one of the ways we sin is by following the traditions of our fathers. Most members are deceived, believing they are worshipping God and doing what He wants because that’s what they grew up believing.
Given that Satan is the great deceiver, it stands to reason that he may well attempt to deceive many people into accepting and taking upon them the mark. I believe you can a make a case that God’s true servants will raise the voice of warning – hence we are told repeatedly in the scriptures to not be deceived. But I don’t think it will be Satan on the one hand saying “Come on, people! Take my mark, worship the devil!” and God’s servants saying on the other hand “Worship only God!”. Satan may try to place himself in God’s position and try to convince people he is God (kind of like the LDS temple ceremony where Satan is given a major role).
The caveat to my position, is how I view the majority of people. I don’t think the majority of people find Satanism attractive. However, I do see more and more overt Satanic messaging in popular culture and media. Look at things like some of the Superbowl halftime shows, awards ceremonies, music videos, netflix shows, movies, etc. I see more and more overt Satanism. It’s different from my youth where we had to look for it in backwards masking on cassettes and vinyl records. It does appear the youth are being bombarded with messaging that Satanism is popular.
As to what role I see the COVID vaccine playing into the mark of the beast would be it leading us down the path where requiring such a mark to live and work in Babylon is easily accepted:
“To get America to herd immunity, being vaccinated should be incentivized. If that fails, CNN’s Michael Smerconish proposes the government and businesses should consider measures to exclude the unvaccinated from the workplace and events.”
The alternative is to not jump to conclusions at everything that looks like it might fit while continuing to search the word of God and seek His guidance. As you rightly pointed out Christians have been looking for Christ’s return for 2000 years. Usually, there are additional clues in scripture to let us know that we can conclude, for example, that the vax is not the sign. Encouragingly people are watching for the signs and that is what the Lord wants. We just need to be patient in drawing conclusions IMHO.
What is an authorized prophet? There will not be a High Priesthood prophet to lead the church until the servants return. But prophets warning people? This is already happening. Was Amos an authorized prophet, or just a herdsman who was called directly by the Lord to prophesy? Can this not be happening today? There are many prophets warning about this vaccine. No, it is not the mark of the beast. Not yet, they say. Though it is the start of it. Is it a deadly poison? They say YES.
If one is suddenly called to prophesy to the world, where would they start? Where would they proclaim the word of God? On a street corner? Town square? Blog? Youtube? How do they make the voice of the Lord heard as an average person? There are people out there making “Thus saith the Lord” statements. Are they true prophets? False prophets? How do we know?
My point is, they are there, and they are speaking. Is it not our job to listen and pray for confirmation as with any other possible word from God? Of course there are many false prophets, but they are pretty easy to discern by their messages. Are they prophesying peace and prosperity? Do they contradict the scriptures? Boom, bye, Felicia!
I have found that there are true prophetic words out there, if we seek them, or are led to them. The Holy Spirit will always testify of truth. If this vaccine is a poison, it might be wise to pray about it, and maybe pray for deliverance against deadly poisons and those who administer them.
I hope these prophets are wrong. I would hope that the “global elite” Gadianton Robbers are not trying to hurt the people of the world. They can’t really want to reduce the population to a mere 500 million, could they? Knowing that Satan is behind them, though… talk about a conspiracy theory.
I agree, it’s possible that the voice of warning may be coming from those places. But I’m not sure they are prophets. My expectation is that if it’s the word of God being delivered to them, they would proclaim it as such. The message should be “Thus saying the Lord…” or “An angel appeared unto me and told me to warn the people…”. Maybe I’m missing it, but what I’ve seen are people using their own knowledge and understanding of the scriptures and current events and drawing the connections.
That’s what I’m doing. I haven’t received any message from God to warn the people about it.
The big flag for me is that they want to vaccinate people who have recovered from COVID. That makes no sense. Does it mean that this the mark of the beast? No, not necessarily. It may just mean that they are really, really stupid or there is another agenda at play. When I go to connect the dots and compare it to scripture, what I see is it leading the people down the path to not just accept the mark of the beast in the future, but to eagerly request it – even to demand it be given to them and others.
I see lots of signs of event leading to the fulfillment of scriptural prophecy. But I could be mistaken. As Searcher says, millions of people over the years have seen the events they are living through as fulfilling the scriptures. I think one difference is that we have reason to believe that we really are close to the end times events. But what is close? 1 year, 10 years, 20 years, 100 years? I don’t know.
I have seen quite a few messages where they say, the Lord said this to me, go warn my people. They write out the words of the Lord in quotes or in bold to differentiate what is their own words or opinion. They are claiming “Thus saith the Lord” statements, even paragraphs, of His speaking, from His own point of view. At the risk of posting a link, this website is where many of these prophets submit their prophecies. 444prophecynews.
https://444prophecynews.com/
They are prophecies, whether they are of God is for the Spirit to discern. The site has pinned a few about the vax at the top; there are also categories you can pick or search. They are also labeled if they are words, prophecies or simply testimonies. There are other websites, blogs, and there are also quite a few people on Youtube who say the same or similar things. God gave them visions or words of warning.
Anyway, while I don’t personally believe the vax is the Mark, as that would require a more conscious choice of rejecting God in my opinion, it could be the Abomination of Desolation, desecrating the human Temple. It literally changes human DNA, you know, the building blocks of God, and rewrites the RNA or the software of the human immune system. I think Father’s DNA and immune system are perfectly fine, as is, TYVM. It is not like previous vaccines at all, which have also harmed people.
Also, I think everyone interpreting scripture in their own times to their own events IS fulfilling the scriptures. The layers and multiple shadows and fulfillments of scriptures is their entire purpose. God is so brilliant. ? That said, I do believe we are closer to 1 year, or even 1 month, for the possible beginning of Judgements. I can see it happening any day now, actually. Seals 1-6 could take place all in 1 day. The scriptures say destruction on Babylon occurs in 1 hour. I don’t know, I keep up my daily prayers of repentance, just in case. LOL ? ?
Wow! Now here is a “Thus saith the Lord” word that needs to be prayed about.
https://444prophecynews.com/california-burn-get-ready-walt/
Guess we’ll know if this is a true prophecy or not by next week. LOL
Thanks for sharing the website. I read several and do not get the feeling they are genuinely from God. The vocabulary and tone and overall message don’t match what I find in the scriptures. I don’t get a confirmation from the Spirit either.
The scriptures actually point out that condemnation does not come about because of things that enter our body.
JST Matthew 15:9 ¶ And he called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand:
10 Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth the man.
11 Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying?
12 But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up.
13 Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.
14 Then answered Peter and said unto him, Declare unto us this parable.
15 And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding?
16 Do ye not yet understand that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly and is cast into the draught?
17 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.
18 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:
19 These are things which defile a man. But to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.
If we accept the claims that the vaccine changes the physical body, it does not follow that it affects our standing before God. It is what is in our hearts that matters. God has all power over all things, including our physical bodies. If there is some harm done to the body, God has it within His power and will to undo it. We know His servants will be healing the sick, if the vaccine is one of the sicknesses, then the faithful will be healed.
“The Son of Man cometh not in the form of a woman, neither of a man traveling on the earth.”
I have heard two interpretations of the “man traveling on the earth” part of this verse. The first is that he will not come again in a mortal body; the second is that he will not be someone who is like a vagabond, without a personal history and general place residence who just appears and disappears, kind of like the rumors of the 3 Nephites. Either of these interpretations open up completely different options.
I think most people would tend to dismiss the idea that Christ could be walking among us incognito, but that ties in with His statement in JST Matthew 23:39 where he says, “ye shall not see me henceforth and know that I am he of whom it is written by the prophets until ye shall say: Blessed is he who cometh in the name of the Lord, in the clouds of heaven, and all the holy angels with him. Then understood his disciples that he should come again on the earth, after that he was glorified and crowned on the right hand of God.”
This idea is consistent with the parable of the master who spends a different hour of the day in the field with the workers, and each was blessed in his time. It is also consistent with your point about “all are under sin, except those which I have reserved unto myself, holy men that ye know not of.” I had always assumed this might apply to John the Beloved or the 3 Nephites, although those people were known to Joseph Smith. It raises the possibility that there are people walking among us who are without sin, doing some work here among the rest of us. The parable of Jacob 5 talks about the servant who is caring for the vineyard and calls a few other servants to labor with him until the work is done. Might this be a subtle reference to these holy men God tells Joseph about?
The confusing thing to me is that the phrase can be read either way. For a scripture that is designed to keep us from false ideas about how Christ will appear, the contradiction is not helpful to me. (At least I know he won’t appear as a woman.)
I have to break my comments up. (Part 2)
In relation to the advice to the Shakers to “be not deceived, but continue in steadfastness, looking forth for the Heavens to be shaken, and the earth to tremble and to reel to and fro as a drunken man, and for the valleys to be exalted, and for the mountains to be made low, and for the rough places to become smooth”, the people in that day had a not distant memory of the shaking of the New Madrid earthquake from 1811-1812. This was the earthquake that made the river flow backward for a couple hours, and the land undulated like water. It was felt throughout the country. Just a couple years later came the “year without summer” which seems to be the event that took the Smith family from Vermont to New York, as well as causing catastrophic famine in certain parts of the northern hemisphere, due to a major volcanic eruption half way around the world. A decade later came “the night the stars fell”, a story we are somewhat familiar with because it happened amid the exodus from Jackson County, but it was seen as a sign across the country that God’s judgment was coming soon.
You can see why people were on alert for messengers from the Lord at that time. Had the Saints not broken the covenant, who knows what we might have seen during those days?
The only other thought I had about this part of the presentation was about “Jacob shall flourish in the wilderness”. I think in the podcast you mentioned Israel here, but I have a theory that the use of Jacob and Israel might relate to unrepentant vs. repentant children of the promise. In this case, Jacob might not be a specific reference to the Lamanite descendants, which are mentioned in parallel, but could refer to the rebellious saints who did quite well for themselves in the wilderness of the Rocky mountains and are still mostly unrepentant.