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| Pride Cycle |
» remember so little about the rise and fall of past cultures, peoples, nations, and empires;Perhaps it is time to review and remember the lamentations of an ancient American3 prophet and consider where we, as a people and nation, are on the cycle. Here is a summary of his witness from circa 50 B.C.4:
» are so oblivious to our recycling amnesia, generation upon generation;
» are so proud of our nation and its status that we refuse to acknowledge things as they really are? so proud that we let the powers-that-be and their followers (both Right and Left) keep secrets, commit atrocities, and conceal crimes in the name of National Security and under “color of law” when it's all a pretext and fraud to cover agendas of power, gain, and control;
» have great difficulty (in déjà vu of other times) seeing our place in the pride cycle that has been “the way of the world” since the beginning.
▪ the pride of their heartsSo, is there a latter-day K & G band of murderers and plunderers? AND is there anyone out there trying to expose the “murdering, plundering, lying, stealing, committing adultery” etc., etc.? someone trying to inform and warn us about hidden and secret things? about deceptions, distractions, diversions, agendas of corruption and destruction? Could these two men below be voices worth listening to? These are not pleasant things to hear, but must we hear them (and other witnesses) if we are to understand, confront, expose, and end this endless recycling of history? Have these men with their background, life experiences, and courage been preserved “for such a time as this”?5
▪ their exceeding riches
▪ their oppression to the poor
▪ withholding their food from the hungry
▪ withholding their clothing from the naked
▪ smiting their humble brethren upon the cheek
▪ making a mock of that which was sacred
▪ denying the spirit of prophecy and of revelation
▪ murdering, plundering, lying, stealing, committing adultery
▪ rising up in great contentions
▪ their boastings in their own strength
▪ a stiffnecked people, insomuch that they could not be governed by the law nor justice
▪ they began to set their hearts upon their riches
▪ they began to seek to get gain that they might be lifted up one above another
▪ they began to commit secret murders, and to rob and to plunder, that they might get gain
▪ those murderers and plunderers were a band who had been formed by Kishkumen and Gadianton
Are their voices and witness not one more confirmation of this prophetic observation6 from nigh 2,700 years ago concerning the powers-that-be and their followers/supporters?
Who is William Pelham Barr? Live chat with George Webb 080119 (Time 1:29:10) at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSW7MmBSt78
For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness. None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity. They hatch cockatrice' eggs, and weave the spider's web: he that eateth of their eggs dieth, and that which is crushed breaketh out into a viper. Their webs shall not become garments, neither shall they cover themselves with their works: their works are works of iniquity, and the act of violence is in their hands. Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction are in their paths. The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace. ¶ Therefore is judgment far from us, neither doth justice overtake us: we wait for light, but behold obscurity; for brightness, but we walk in darkness. We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes: we stumble at noonday as in the night; we are in desolate places as dead men. We roar all like bears, and mourn sore like doves: we look for judgment, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far off from us. For our transgressions are multiplied before thee, and our sins testify against us: for our transgressions are with us; and as for our iniquities, we know them; In transgressing and lying against the LORD, and departing away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood. And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter. Yea, truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey: and the LORD saw it, and it displeased him that there was no judgment.--------------------------------/
* “history repeating endlessly, with no memory”: from Hecht, Jennifer. Doubt: A History (Kindle Location 1920). HarperOne. Kindle Edition.
1. People of the Books: Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, aka LDS, aka Mormon with the books being: Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine & Covenants, Pearl of Great Price.
2. A few examples from the Books (bold emphasis added):
Old Testament | Deuteronomy 5:15 ~ And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore the LORD thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath day.
Old Testament | Deuteronomy 9:7 ~ Remember, and forget not, how thou provokedst the LORD thy God to wrath in the wilderness: from the day that thou didst depart out of the land of Egypt, until ye came unto this place, ye have been rebellious against the LORD.
Old Testament | Deuteronomy 32:7 ~ Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations: ask thy father, and he will shew thee; thy elders, and they will tell thee.
Old Testament | Malachi 4:4 ~ Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments.
New Testament | Mark 8:17–21 ~ And when Jesus knew it, he saith unto them, Why reason ye, because ye have no bread? perceive ye not yet, neither understand? have ye your heart yet hardened? Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember? When I brake the five loaves among five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? They say unto him, Twelve. And when the seven among four thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? And they said, Seven. And he said unto them, How is it that ye do not understand?
New Testament | Luke 17:32 ~ Remember Lot's wife.
New Testament | Luke 24:6 ~ He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee,
New Testament | John 15:20 ~ Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you;
New Testament | Acts 20:35 ~ I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.
New Testament | 2 Timothy 2:8 ~ Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel:
New Testament | Hebrews 13:3 ~ Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body.
New Testament | Revelation 2:5 ~ Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.
Book of Mormon | 1 Nephi 10:20 ~ Therefore remember, O man, for all thy doings thou shalt be brought into judgment.
Book of Mormon | 1 Nephi 15:25 ~ Wherefore, I, Nephi, did exhort them to give heed unto the word of the Lord; yea, I did exhort them with all the energies of my soul, and with all the faculty which I possessed, that they would give heed to the word of God and remember to keep his commandments always in all things.
Book of Mormon | 2 Nephi 9:39-41 ~ O, my beloved brethren, remember the awfulness in transgressing against that Holy God, and also the awfulness of yielding to the enticings of that cunning one. Remember, to be carnally–minded is death, and to be spiritually–minded is life eternal. O, my beloved brethren, give ear to my words. Remember the greatness of the Holy One of Israel. Do not say that I have spoken hard things against you; for if ye do, ye will revile against the truth; for I have spoken the words of your Maker. I know that the words of truth are hard against all uncleanness; but the righteous fear them not, for they love the truth and are not shaken. O then, my beloved brethren, come unto the Lord, the Holy One. Remember that his paths are righteous. Behold, the way for man is narrow, but it lieth in a straight course before him, and the keeper of the gate is the Holy One of Israel; and he employeth no servant there; and there is none other way save it be by the gate; for he cannot be deceived, for the Lord God is his name.
Book of Mormon | 2 Nephi 10:23–24 ~ Therefore, cheer up your hearts, and remember that ye are free to act for yourselves—to choose the way of everlasting death or the way of eternal life. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, reconcile yourselves to the will of God, and not to the will of the devil and the flesh; and remember, after ye are reconciled unto God, that it is only in and through the grace of God that ye are saved.
Book of Mormon | Mosiah 1:6-7 ~ O my sons, I would that ye should remember that these sayings are true, and also that these records are true. And behold, also the plates of Nephi, which contain the records and the sayings of our fathers from the time they left Jerusalem until now, and they are true; and we can know of their surety because we have them before our eyes. And now, my sons, I would that ye should remember to search them diligently, that ye may profit thereby; and I would that ye should keep the commandments of God, that ye may prosper in the land according to the promises which the Lord made unto our fathers.
Book of Mormon | Mosiah 16:13 ~ And now, ought ye not to tremble and repent of your sins, and remember that only in and through Christ ye can be saved?
Book of Mormon | Helaman 5:6-12 ~ Behold, my sons, I desire that ye should remember to keep the commandments of God; and I would that ye should declare unto the people these words. Behold, I have given unto you the names of our first parents who came out of the land of Jerusalem; and this I have done that when you remember your names ye may remember them; and when ye remember them ye may remember their works; and when ye remember their works ye may know how that it is said, and also written, that they were good. Therefore, my sons, I would that ye should do that which is good, that it may be said of you, and also written, even as it has been said and written of them. And now my sons, behold I have somewhat more to desire of you, which desire is, that ye may not do these things that ye may boast, but that ye may do these things to lay up for yourselves a treasure in heaven, yea, which is eternal, and which fadeth not away; yea, that ye may have that precious gift of eternal life, which we have reason to suppose hath been given to our fathers. O remember, remember, my sons, the words which king Benjamin spake unto his people; yea, remember that there is no other way nor means whereby man can be saved, only through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ, who shall come; yea, remember that he cometh to redeem the world. And remember also the words which Amulek spake unto Zeezrom, in the city of Ammonihah; for he said unto him that the Lord surely should come to redeem his people, but that he should not come to redeem them in their sins, but to redeem them from their sins. And he hath power given unto him from the Father to redeem them from their sins because of repentance; therefore he hath sent his angels to declare the tidings of the conditions of repentance, which bringeth unto the power of the Redeemer, unto the salvation of their souls. And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.
Book of Mormon | Helaman 14:30-31 ~ And now remember, remember, my brethren, that whosoever perisheth, perisheth unto himself; and whosoever doeth iniquity, doeth it unto himself; for behold, ye are free; ye are permitted to act for yourselves; for behold, God hath given unto you a knowledge and he hath made you free. He hath given unto you that ye might know good from evil, and he hath given unto you that ye might choose life or death; and ye can do good and be restored unto that which is good, or have that which is good restored unto you; or ye can do evil, and have that which is evil restored unto you.
Book of Mormon | Moroni 10:18–19 ~ And I would exhort you, my beloved brethren, that ye remember that every good gift cometh of Christ. And I would exhort you, my beloved brethren, that ye remember that he is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and that all these gifts of which I have spoken, which are spiritual, never will be done away, even as long as the world shall stand, only according to the unbelief of the children of men.
Doctrine and Covenants | Section 3:3 ~ Remember, remember that it is not the work of God that is frustrated, but the work of men;
Doctrine and Covenants | Section 4:6 ~ Remember faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, brotherly kindness, godliness, charity, humility, diligence.
Doctrine and Covenants | Section 8:10 ~ Remember that without faith you can do nothing; therefore ask in faith. Trifle not with these things; do not ask for that which you ought not.
Doctrine and Covenants | Section 18:10 ~ Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God;
Doctrine and Covenants | Section 42:30 ~ And behold, thou wilt remember the poor, and consecrate of thy properties for their support that which thou hast to impart unto them, with a covenant and a deed which cannot be broken.
Doctrine and Covenants | Section 52:40 ~ And remember in all things the poor and the needy, the sick and the afflicted, for he that doeth not these things, the same is not my disciple.
Doctrine and Covenants | Section 89:18–20 ~ And all saints who remember to keep and do these sayings, walking in obedience to the commandments, shall receive health in their navel and marrow to their bones; And shall find wisdom and great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures; And shall run and not be weary, and shall walk and not faint.
As to: Old Testament | Isaiah 43:18-19 ~ Remember ye not the former things[?], neither consider the things of old[?] Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert. [Perhaps we are missing the “?” marks, for Isaiah subsequently says:] Old Testament | Isaiah 46:8–9 ~ Remember this, and shew yourselves men: bring it again to mind, O ye transgressors. Remember the former things of old:
>>Many remember examples are pleadings for the Lord to remember His mercy, His lovingkindness, His covenants when dealing with His oppressed or wayward people.
3. (somewhere in the North or South)
4. Book of Mormon | Helaman 4:12–13; 5:3; 6:17-18
5. See parallels for each of us in this post: https://www.proverbs31.org/read/devotions/full-post/2019/01/14/for-such-a-time-as-this
6. Old Testament | Isaiah 59:3-15 ~
