Déjà Vu ~ 29-23 BC: Corruptions, Conversions, Inversions?

(from the Ancient Americas circa 29-23 BC)

Background: circa 600 BC two families fled the land of Jerusalem, eventually making their way across the ocean to what later became known as the Americas. The two families: Lehi (descended of Manasseh / Joseph¹) and Ishmael (likewise descended) intermarried and fractured into two groups with the two eldest sons of Lehi (Laman & Lemuel) squaring off against the four youngest sons (Sam, Nephi, Jacob, & Joseph). The conflict over rights of governance became so bitter, the younger group, led by Nephi, moved north(?) to escape the conflict,² but the bitterness of the two eldest soon led to their attempts to bring the Nephite group into servitude. For nigh a thousand years, the wars between the two groups waxed and waned with a few specific periods when peace prevailed to such an extent that they freely mingled and intermarried till power frictions arose again and they took up the old divisions and hatreds: mostly Lamanities versus Nephites, except for ”Nephite” dissenters seeking power who often stirred the Lamanites to anger and war as previously described in Déjà Vu: circa BC 72.³ But the Nephite great failing, that eventually proved their entire destruction was the continually repeating pride cycle⁴ and infiltration in government by secret combinations pursuing and protecting power and gain.

It doesn't take much investigation to witness a latter-day Nephite repeat in this land of the Americas.⁵ Thus, our best hope and prayer is perhaps for a Lamanite repeat of circa 29 to 23 BC. Can the native inhabitants of these Americas that were so devastated by the Europeans beginning 500 plus years ago, reject the ways and means of the domination system through a mighty conversion — through an inversion of our present dire straits?

1 AND it came to pass that when the sixty and second year of the reign of the judges had ended, all these things had happened and the Lamanites had become, the more part of them, a righteous people, insomuch that their righteousness did exceed that of the Nephites, because of their firmness and their steadiness in the faith.
2 For behold, there were many of the Nephites who had become hardened and impenitent and grossly wicked, insomuch that they did reject the word of God and all the preaching and prophesying which did come among them.
3 Nevertheless, the people of the church did have great joy because of the conversion of the Lamanites, yea, because of the church of God, which had been established among them. And they did fellowship one with another, and did rejoice one with another, and did have great joy.
4 And it came to pass that many of the Lamanites did come down into the land of Zarahemla, and did declare unto the people of the Nephites the manner of their conversion, and did exhort them to faith and repentance.
5 Yea, and many did preach with exceedingly great power and authority, unto the bringing down many of them into the depths of humility, to be the humble followers of God and the Lamb.
6 And it came to pass that many of the Lamanites did go into the land northward; and also Nephi and Lehi went into the land northward, to preach unto the people. And thus ended the sixty and third year.
7 And behold, there was peace in all the land, insomuch that the Nephites did go into whatsoever part of the land they would, whether among the Nephites or the Lamanites.
8 And it came to pass that the Lamanites did also go whithersoever they would, whether it were among the Lamanites or among the Nephites; and thus they did have free intercourse one with another, to buy and to sell, and to get gain, according to their desire.
9 And it came to pass that they became exceedingly rich, both the Lamanites and the Nephites; and they did have an exceeding plenty of gold, and of silver, and of all manner of precious metals, both in the land south and in the land north.
10 Now the land south was called Lehi and the land north was called Mulek, which was after the son of Zedekiah; for the Lord did bring Mulek into the land north, and Lehi into the land south.
11 And behold, there was all manner of gold in both these lands, and of silver, and of precious ore of every kind; and there were also curious workmen, who did work all kinds of ore and did refine it; and thus they did become rich.
12 They did raise grain in abundance, both in the north and in the south; and they did flourish exceedingly, both in the north and in the south. And they did multiply and wax exceedingly strong in the land. And they did raise many flocks and herds, yea, many fatlings.
13 Behold their women did toil and spin, and did make all manner of cloth, of fine-twined linen and cloth of every kind, to clothe their nakedness. And thus the sixty and fourth year did pass away in peace.
14 And in the sixty and fifth year they did also have great joy and peace, yea, much preaching and many prophecies concerning that which was to come. And thus passed away the sixty and fifth year.
15 And it came to pass that in the sixty and sixth year of the reign of the judges, behold, Cezoram was murdered by an unknown hand as he sat upon the judgment–seat. And it came to pass that in the same year, that his son, who had been appointed by the people in his stead, was also murdered. And thus ended the sixty and sixth year.
16 And in the commencement of the sixty and seventh year the people began to grow exceedingly wicked again.
17 For behold, the Lord had blessed them so long with the riches of the world that they had not been stirred up to anger, to wars, nor to bloodshed; therefore they began to set their hearts upon their riches; yea, they began to seek to get gain that they might be lifted up one above another; therefore they began to commit secret murders, and to rob and to plunder, that they might get gain.
18 And now behold, those murderers and plunderers were a band who had been formed by Kishkumen and Gadianton. And now it had come to pass that there were many, even among the Nephites, of Gadianton's band. But behold, they were more numerous among the more wicked part of the Lamanites. And they were called Gadianton's robbers and murderers.
19 And it was they who did murder the chief judge Cezoram, and his son, while in the judgment–seat; and behold, they were not found.
20 And now it came to pass that when the Lamanites found that there were robbers among them they were exceedingly sorrowful; and they did use every means in their power to destroy them off the face of the earth.
21 But behold, Satan did stir up the hearts of the more part of the Nephites, insomuch that they did unite with those bands of robbers, and did enter into their covenants and their oaths, that they would protect and preserve one another in whatsoever difficult circumstances they should be placed, that they should not suffer for their murders, and their plunderings, and their stealings.
22 And it came to pass that they did have their signs, yea, their secret signs, and their secret words; and this that they might distinguish a brother who had entered into the covenant, that whatsoever wickedness his brother should do he should not be injured by his brother, nor by those who did belong to his band, who had taken this covenant.
23 And thus they might murder, and plunder, and steal, and commit whoredoms and all manner of wickedness, contrary to the laws of their country and also the laws of their God.
24 And whosoever of those who belonged to their band should reveal unto the world of their wickedness and their abominations, should be tried, not according to the laws of their country, but according to the laws of their wickedness, which had been given by Gadianton and Kishkumen.
25 Now behold, it is these secret oaths and covenants which Alma commanded his son should not go forth unto the world, lest they should be a means of bringing down the people unto destruction.
26 Now behold, those secret oaths and covenants did not come forth unto Gadianton from the records which were delivered unto Helaman; but behold, they were put into the heart of Gadianton by that same being who did entice our first parents to partake of the forbidden fruit—
27 Yea, that same being who did plot with Cain, that if he would murder his brother Abel it should not be known unto the world. And he did plot with Cain and his followers from that time forth.
28 And also it is that same being who put it into the hearts of the people to build a tower sufficiently high that they might get to heaven. And it was that same being who led on the people who came from that tower into this land; who spread the works of darkness and abominations over all the face of the land, until he dragged the people down to an entire destruction, and to an everlasting hell.
29 Yea, it is that same being who put it into the heart of Gadianton to still carry on the work of darkness, and of secret murder; and he has brought it forth from the beginning of man even down to this time.
30 And behold, it is he who is the author of all sin. And behold, he doth carry on his works of darkness and secret murder, and doth hand down their plots, and their oaths, and their covenants, and their plans of awful wickedness, from generation to generation according as he can get hold upon the hearts of the children of men.
31 And now behold, he had got great hold upon the hearts of the Nephites; yea, insomuch that they had become exceedingly wicked; yea, the more part of them had turned out of the way of righteousness, and did trample under their feet the commandments of God, and did turn unto their own ways, and did build up unto themselves idols of their gold and their silver.
32 And it came to pass that all these iniquities did come unto them in the space of not many years, insomuch that a more part of it had come unto them in the sixty and seventh year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi.
33 And they did grow in their iniquities in the sixty and eighth year also, to the great sorrow and lamentation of the righteous.
34 And thus we see that the Nephites did begin to dwindle in unbelief, and grow in wickedness and abominations, while the Lamanites began to grow exceedingly in the knowledge of their God; yea, they did begin to keep his statutes and commandments, and to walk in truth and uprightness before him.
35 And thus we see that the Spirit of the Lord began to withdraw from the Nephites, because of the wickedness and the hardness of their hearts.
36 And thus we see that the Lord began to pour out his Spirit upon the Lamanites, because of their easiness and willingness to believe in his words.
37 And it came to pass that the Lamanites did hunt the band of robbers of Gadianton; and they did preach the word of God among the more wicked part of them, insomuch that this band of robbers was utterly destroyed from among the Lamanites.
38 And it came to pass on the other hand, that the Nephites did build them up and support them, beginning at the more wicked part of them, until they had overspread all the land of the Nephites, and had seduced the more part of the righteous until they had come down to believe in their works and partake of their spoils, and to join with them in their secret murders and combinations.
39 And thus they did obtain the sole management of the government, insomuch that they did trample under their feet and smite and rend and turn their backs upon the poor and the meek, and the humble followers of God.
40 And thus we see that they were in an awful state, and ripening for an everlasting destruction.
41 And it came to pass that thus ended the sixty and eighth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi.⁶

Let us hope and pray for a repeat of verse 37, because verses 38-40 seem so unalterable?

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1. Book of Mormon | 1 Nephi 5:14 ~ And it came to pass that my father, Lehi, also found upon the plates of brass a genealogy of his fathers; wherefore he knew that he was a descendant of Joseph; yea, even that Joseph who was the son of Jacob, who was sold into Egypt, and who was preserved by the hand of the Lord, that he might preserve his father, Jacob, and all his household from perishing with famine.
Book of Mormon | Alma 10:2-3 ~ I am Amulek; I am the son of Giddonah, who was the son of Ishmael, who was a descendant of Aminadi; and it was the same Aminadi who interpreted the writing which was upon the wall of the temple, which was written by the finger of God. And Aminadi was a descendant of Nephi, who was the son of Lehi, who came out of the land of Jerusalem, who was a descendant of Manasseh, who was the son of Joseph who was sold into Egypt by the hands of his brethren.
2. Book of Mormon | 2 Nephi 5:1-7
3. https://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.com/2020/05/deja-vu-from-circa-bc-72_30.html
4. Pride Cycle: https://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.com/2019/08/are-we-repeating-history-without-memory.html
5. Lost soul of America: https://dejavu-times.blogspot.com/2020/01/lost-soul-of-america.html
6. Book of Mormon | Helaman 6:1-41

What is Consciousness?

Have we noticed how many physicists are talking about consciousness?¹ They don't all agree on its definition, but its best description was perhaps recorded in Ohio in 1833, being:

“knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come.”²

These words were actually recorded as a description for truth, but what better definition of consciousness than to be increasing in awareness of what is true? And that is the tricky part: discovering, deciphering, discerning what is true, the difficulty of which is frankly acknowledged in the very next sentence that follows truth:

And whatsoever is more or less than this [i.e., things as they are, as they were, as they are to come] is the spirit of that wicked one who was a liar from the beginning.³

So does this mean that in any given moment, we are either in a state of consciousness or in a state of deception​? I suspect so. I also suspect (for those who seek the first state as opposed to the second) that the rest of the abbreviated text that surrounds this pithy description may contain more truth than most of us are prepared for or are willing to understand.⁴

So, is there any safe place to find truth? books? observation? experience? archives? artifacts? records? journals? science experiments? eye-witnesses? psychedelics? revelation? scripture? It seems obvious that not one of these is foolproof. Not just because we all have our own over- and under-lays of bias, opinion, interpretation, emotional investment, imprinting, indoctrination, faith, belief, etc., etc., but because in this fallen world, that “liar from the beginning” is and has been at work seeking to destroy the Plan and the souls of men. Distortion, co-opting, the turning of things upside down are just a few of the nefarious tools applied in the desolation agenda.

Here one can see my own over- and under-lays — my attempt at finding a “truth” place by running everything I can through the prism of scripture. But since I also believe that even scripture has not escaped the insertions and redactions⁵ of the “liar,” I try to sense / discern what feels right and cohesive (which is, of course, impacted by all those over- and under-lays). Sometimes, it feels like a no-win situation.

Nonetheless, we live in this physical world (though some dispute “physical” alleging that we live in a digital, virtual, non-matter simulation) with an urge to know what is, what was, and what is to come.

So, here are a few things to read (amongst many) from the prism of scripture that might help in knowing of things: “as they are” | “as they were” | “as they are to come.” (Suggestion: make three columns and fill them as you read. As you do, you may see the recycling, déjà vu pattern that has brought us to this day and age.)

●  Old Testament | Isaiah 59
●  New Testament JST⁶ | Matthew 24 | John 15 | Romans 8 | 2 Timothy 3 | Jude 1
●  Book of Mormon | 1 Nephi 13, 14 | 2 Nephi 2, 9, 28-30 | Mosiah 3 | Alma 12, 32, 41 | |Helaman 12 | Ether 8
●  Doctrine and Covenants 19, 76, 88, 93
●  Pearl of Great Price | Moses 7 | Abraham 3

What if the prism of scripture (even with its and our flaws) is the testing site where we are to:

Prove all things; hold fast that which is good⁷?

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1. Just google or wiki "physicists exploring consciousness" (One example I have commented on is at https://dejavu-times.blogspot.com/2020/03/my-foot-toms-big-toe-step-one.html
2. Doctrine and Covenants | Section 93:24 ~ And truth is knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come;
3. Doctrine and Covenants | Section 93:25
4. Doctrine and Covenants | Section 93:23-40 ~ Ye were also in the beginning with the Father; that which is Spirit, even the Spirit of truth; And truth is knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come; And whatsoever is more or less than this is the spirit of that wicked one who was a liar from the beginning. The Spirit of truth is of God. I am the Spirit of truth, and John bore record of me, saying: He received a fulness of truth, yea, even of all truth; And no man receiveth a fulness unless he keepeth his commandments. He that keepeth his commandments receiveth truth and light, until he is glorified in truth and knoweth all things. Man was also in the beginning with God. Intelligence, or the light of truth, was not created or made, neither indeed can be. All truth is independent in that sphere in which God has placed it, to act for itself, as all intelligence also; otherwise there is no existence. Behold, here is the agency of man, and here is the condemnation of man; because that which was from the beginning is plainly manifest unto them, and they receive not the light. And every man whose spirit receiveth not the light is under condemnation. For man is spirit. The elements are eternal, and spirit and element, inseparably connected, receive a fulness of joy; And when separated, man cannot receive a fulness of joy. The elements are the tabernacle of God; yea, man is the tabernacle of God, even temples; and whatsoever temple is defiled, God shall destroy that temple. The glory of God is intelligence, or, in other words, light and truth. Light and truth forsake that evil one. Every spirit of man was innocent in the beginning; and God having redeemed man from the fall, men became again, in their infant state, innocent before God. And that wicked one cometh and taketh away light and truth, through disobedience, from the children of men, and because of the tradition of their fathers. But I have commanded you to bring up your children in light and truth.
5. Pearl of Great Price | Articles of Faith 1:8 ~ We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God.
Book of Mormon | 1 Nephi 13:24-29 ~ And the angel of the Lord said unto me: Thou hast beheld that the book proceeded forth from the mouth of a Jew; and when it proceeded forth from the mouth of a Jew it contained the fulness of the gospel of the Lord, of whom the twelve apostles bear record; and they bear record according to the truth which is in the Lamb of God. Wherefore, these things go forth from the Jews in purity unto the Gentiles, according to the truth which is in God. And after they go forth by the hand of the twelve apostles of the Lamb, from the Jews unto the Gentiles, thou seest the formation of that great and abominable church, which is most abominable above all other churches; for behold, they have taken away from the gospel of the Lamb many parts which are plain and most precious; and also many covenants of the Lord have they taken away. And all this have they done that they might pervert the right ways of the Lord, that they might blind the eyes and harden the hearts of the children of men. Wherefore, thou seest that after the book hath gone forth through the hands of the great and abominable church, that there are many plain and precious things taken away from the book, which is the book of the Lamb of God. And after these plain and precious things were taken away it goeth forth unto all the nations of the Gentiles; and after it goeth forth unto all the nations of the Gentiles, yea, even across the many waters which thou hast seen with the Gentiles which have gone forth out of captivity, thou seest—because of the many plain and precious things which have been taken out of the book, which were plain unto the understanding of the children of men, according to the plainness which is in the Lamb of God—because of these things which are taken away out of the gospel of the Lamb, an exceedingly great many do stumble, yea, insomuch that Satan hath great power over them.
6. JST = Joseph Smith Translation (Suggested source: https://www.amazon.com/Joseph-Smith-Translation-Kenneth-Lyndell-ebook/dp/B00BLDICL4 )
7. New Testament | 1 Thessalonians 5:21
New Testament | 1 Corinthians 2:10-14 ~ But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. (Bold emphasis added.)