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IF, in reading Old Testament Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, Zechariah, Malachi, etc., etc., you get the distinct déjà vu that the Twelve Tribes were serial offenders, might it not be wise to “take heed” and “liken them unto” our latter-day selves? Do we ever ask ourselves how much of our lives and ideologies reflect the Sermon on the Mount and how much reflects the Babylonian screeds of competition; accumulation; wealth/power/fame; freedom from market rules, regulations, boundaries; ends justify means; riches/excess = God’s blessing; etc., etc..
Do we believe in AND countenance the separation of church and markets? Of religion and business? Of equity and bottom-line? Of charity and merit?[2]
Why did the Savior quote (His own) Old Testament prophets in His visit to the Americas as recorded in the Book of Mormon, 3rd Nephi? Why did Moroni quote Old Testament prophets in his appearances to Joseph Smith? Are we offended by Spencer W. Kimball’s accusation in 1976 that “… we are, on the whole, an idolatrous people—a condition most repugnant to the Lord” (see “The False Gods We Worship,” http://www.lds.org/ensign/1976/06/the-false-gods-we-worship?lang=eng ).
Does not God say that latter-day judgments will begin in His own house?[3] Does that give us any pause for reflection?
Are we serial offenders and seriously offended at the accusation?
Is 33 A.D. a prescient warning for the latter-days?
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[1] Old Testament Zechariah 13:6: “And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends. (Latter-day Christians of all stripes?) See also: D&C 45:52
[2] Book of Mormon Mosiah 4:17-19: “Perhaps thou shalt say: The man has brought upon himself his misery; therefore I will stay my hand, and will not give unto him of my food, nor impart unto him of my substance that he may not suffer, for his punishments are just— But I say unto you, O man, whosoever doeth this the same hath great cause to repent; and except he repenteth of that which he hath done he perisheth forever, and hath no interest in the kingdom of God. For behold, are we not all beggars? Do we not all depend upon the same Being, even God, for all the substance which we have, for both food and raiment, and for gold, and for silver, and for all the riches which we have of every kind?”
[3] Doctrine and Covenants Section 112:24–26: “Behold, vengeance cometh speedily upon the inhabitants of the earth, a day of wrath, a day of burning, a day of desolation, of weeping, of mourning, and of lamentation; and as a whirlwind it shall come upon all the face of the earth, saith the Lord. And upon my house shall it begin, and from my house shall it go forth, saith the Lord; First among those among you, saith the Lord, who have professed to know my name and have not known me, and have blasphemed against me in the midst of my house, saith the Lord.” (emphasis added).
