Wise Men? Foolish Men?

Ever since reading Frederick Buechner's December 24th anthology entry titled “The Power of the Babe,”¹ I have been thinking about wise men and power. Buechner began with this scripture:

Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
MATTHEW 2: 1– 2

And then Buechner observes:

The foolishness of the wise is perhaps nowhere better illustrated than by the way the three Magi went to Herod the Great, king of the Jews, to find out the whereabouts of the holy child who had just been born king of the Jews to supplant him. It did not even strike them as suspicious when Herod asked them to be sure to let him know when they found him so he could hurry on down to pay his respects.

So what was it that made these wise men so foolish that it took a dream from God² to prevent their returning to report to Herod? Were they that obtuse about the nature of power — its perennial, obsessive pursuit, protection, and abuse?

Perhaps this is one possible answer. As wise men – as Magi – they were, in all likelihood, frequent associates and colleagues of the powers and authorities of their day. As friends and associates of those wielding power, they simply could not see what they did not want to see – a classic case of confirmation bias³ in First Century A.D. (or perhaps it was Last Century B.C.).

Should this not put us on notice that striving for or feeling privileged affinity to world powers and power systems can blind us to motives and agendas? that prestigious connections / associations cloud our judgment? skew our perceptions of reality?

Has this not been repeated time and again in history and current events?⁴ The power elites fraternize with other power elites and like unto King Solomon, the wise become foolish because they will not see; they will not know what they know; they forget these repeating, historical truths that:

"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men..."⁵ [which] “conveys the opinion [nay, the 99% historical verity?] that, as a person's power increases, their moral sense diminishes.”⁶

A rise or fall in hierarchical position [pecking order position] can radically rearrange the way we see the world.⁷

But as humans (especially leaders), it seems we are continually striving to rise in the eyes of the world, if not by our own efforts, then by privileged connection with those higher, till, as friends of the powers, we no longer see things as they really are; no longer see ourselves as we really are; no longer are able to speak with the bluntness of Jesus or his OT prophets or NT apostles about world powers and systems.⁸ Thus we fall under the spell of self-justification; fall in with the spirit of power⁹ as we lose connection to the “power of the Spirit.”

How dangerous it is to become popular; to seek for or have thousands or millions “like” us or our views, works, achievements. How dangerous it is to not recognize how this knowledge of human nature has been used (by the adversary and his technocrats) to set us up for our own individual temptation to seek after and to partake of the fruit of popularity; of high-ranking / privileged association.

What was the example of the One we have covenanted to always remember?  

Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye must watch and pray always, lest ye be tempted by the devil, and ye be led away captive by him. And as I have prayed among you even so shall ye pray in my church, among my people who do repent and are baptized in my name. Behold I am the light; I have set an example for you. … ye must watch and pray always lest ye enter into temptation; for Satan desireth to have you, that he may sift you as wheat.¹⁰

-----------------------/
1. Buechner, Frederick; et al., Faith That Matters (p. 392). HarperOne. Kindle Edition. (Bold emphasis added.)
2. New Testament | Matthew 2:12 ~ And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.
3. “Confirmation bias is the tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms or supports one's prior beliefs or values.[1] People tend to unconsciously select information that supports their views, but ignore non-supportive information. People also tend to interpret ambiguous evidence as supporting their existing position. The effect is strongest for desired outcomes, for  emotionally charged issues, and for deeply entrenched beliefs.“ Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias

4. Remember Israel's kings? Gentile leaders and kings? so many religious leaders? one of the latest being the tragic case of the gifted Ravi Zacharias: See: Ravi’s Ministry Declares He Was Guilty (My thoughts) (Whaddo You Meme?? | December 23, 2020 | Time: 6:08) at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-PUfczEBkM

5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dalberg-Acton,_1st_Baron_Acton
6. The proverbial saying 'power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely' conveys the opinion that, as a person's power increases, their moral sense diminishes. Source: https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/absolute-power-corrupts-absolutely.html
7. Bloom, Howard. The Lucifer Principle: A Scientific Expedition into the Forces of History (p. 291). Grove Atlantic. Kindle Edition.
8. New Testament | Matthew 23:5-7 ~ But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments, And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.
New Testament | Matthew 23:11-17 ~ But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted. ¶ But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves. Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor! Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold?
New Testament | Matthew 23:24–27 ~ Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.
New Testament | Matthew 23:33 ~ Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?
New Testament | Acts 23:3–5 ~ Then said Paul unto him, God shall smite thee, thou whited wall: for sittest thou to judge me after the law, and commandest me to be smitten contrary to the law? And they that stood by said, Revilest thou God's high priest? Then said Paul, I wist not, brethren, that he was the high priest: for it is written, Thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler of thy people. (Bold emphasis added above.)
9. https://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.com/2019/06/the-spirit-of-power.html
10. Book of Mormon | 3 Nephi 18:15-16, 18 See also:
Doctrine and Covenants | Section 10:5 ~ Pray always, that you may come off conqueror; yea, that you may conquer Satan, and that you may escape the hands of the servants of Satan that do uphold his work.
Doctrine and Covenants | Section 20:32-34 ~ But there is a possibility that man may fall from grace and depart from the living God; Therefore let the church take heed and pray always, lest they fall into temptation; Yea, and even let those who are sanctified take heed also.
Doctrine and Covenants | Section 31:12 ~ Pray always, lest you enter into temptation and lose your reward.
Doctrine and Covenants | Section 88:126 ~ Pray always, that ye may not faint, until I come.
Doctrine and Covenants | Section 93:49 ~ What I say unto one I say unto all; pray always lest that wicked one have power in you, and remove you out of your place.

Remembering Velikovsky | 2020

Immanuel Velikovsky
(See image source info below footnotes)

(2020: 125th anniversary of his birth; 70th anniversary of Worlds in Collision)

If one has never encountered Immanuel Velikovsky¹ — that great iconoclast² of “settled science and history” — NOW might be the time to read his Worlds in Collision, especially in light of the coming conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn, tomorrow, on this very winter solstice, December 21.

We are so used to a stable cosmos, we have trouble believing that in other times, humans endured terrifying chaos in the heavens for many years. (Remember the Exodus!) But with the 2020 roll-out of surveillance- and tech-based global tyranny, the level of interest in the heavens should spike, because:

• if something Powerful does not soon happen to counter the Utopian (Dystopian) plans³ of the world powers to “save” man and earth with “the arm of flesh”⁴; and
• if the indescribable evils, deceptions, and hypocrisy that has prevailed for decades are not brought to Judgment and Justice,

there may not be much left to save!

Perhaps this quote from the Documentary History of the Church will give us incentive to look more deeply into the prophets, their prophecies, and into the heavens. And to remind ourselves what the Prophet Joseph said (1843) about “the one grand sign of the Son of Man in heaven” — “the sign of the coming of the Son of Man.”

   There will be wars and rumors of wars, signs in the heavens above and on the earth beneath, the sun turned into darkness and the moon to blood, earthquakes in divers places, the seas heaving beyond their bounds; then will appear one grand sign of the Son of Man in heaven. But what will the world do? They will say it is a planet, a comet, etc. But the Son of Man will come as the sign of the coming of the Son of Man, which will be as the light of the morning cometh out of the east [see Joseph Smith—Matthew 1:26].”^[5]

   As the lighting up of the morning or the dawning of the morning cometh from the east and Shineth unto the west— So also is the comeing of the Son of Man. The dawning of the morning makes its appearance in the east and moves along gradualy s[o] also will the comeing of the Son of Man be. [p. [3]] it will be small at its first appearance and gradually becomes large ​r​> untill every eye shall see it. Shall the Saints understand it Oh yes, Paul says so. Shall the wicked understand Oh no they attribute it to a natural cause. They will probably suppose it is too great Comets comeing in contact with each other
   It will be small at first and will grow larger and larger untill it will be all in a blaze so that every eye shall see it. [p. [4]]^[6]

SO let us inform ourselves about past celestial events and their possible future parallels. And let us BEWARE: the world will discount the sign as just a planet, a comet — a natural thing — thus, if at some point, we are presented with an (holographic? culture-based?) image in the sky, seen differently in different parts of the world, we are not seeing the SIGN of

Him whom we have covenanted to always remember.⁷

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1. I encountered my first Immanuel Velikovsy book, Worlds in Collision, circa 1971. In the intervening years, I have read many other books by and about him and his fascinating, cogent arguments. He was an iconoclast of “settled science and history” to the end of his life. Last year, November 17, 2019 marked the 40th anniversary of his death and in a memorial blog,^* I concluded with these words:

 Once again we witness how power plays play-on to the detriment of knowledge and truth, even in lauded science. So perhaps the coming year 2020 will be a good year to read or re-read Velikovsky; perhaps too, to take up serious study of the Electric Universe,^[**] and to make our own judgments instead of just reading minority (disparaging) opinions and reports that claim to be majority ones (without offering a smidgen of scientific proof!). [How unbelievably applicable these 2019 words have become in our COVID 19-84 world.]

• https://dejavu-times.blogspot.com/2019/11/remembering-velikovsky.html
** https://www.thunderbolts.info/wp/  |   https://www.youtube.com/user/ThunderboltsProject
In the 1980s, I became aware of Anthony E. Larson and his prophesy trilogy based on the Velikovsky research. But just like Velikovsky and advocates of the Electric Universe, Larson's work has sometimes struggled to get a hearing. https://mormonprophecy.com/

2. Iconoclast: a person who attacks settled beliefs or institutions (Source: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/iconoclast
3. https://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.com/2020/11/ready-or-not.html
4. https://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.com/2020/12/01-isaiah-today-covenant-with-death.html
5. • History of the Church, 5:337; from a discourse given by Joseph Smith on Apr. 6, 1843, in Nauvoo, Illinois; reported by Willard Richards. Quoted from https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/teachings-joseph-smith/chapter-21?lang=eng
• https://latterdaysaintmag.com/what-will-the-grand-sign-of-second-coming-be/ (Bold emphasis added.)
6. • Joseph Smith Papers: Discourse, 6 April 1843–B, as Reported by James Burgess. Document Transcript. https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/discourse-6-april-1843-b-as-reported-by-james-burgess/3#full-transcript (spelling left as it was; bold emphasis added.).
• What Every Mormon Should Know About Astronomy by John P. Pratt at https://www.johnpratt.com/items/docs/lds/meridian/2000/mormastr2.html
7. https://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.com/2019/02/that-we-do-always-remember-what.html

Image Source:
Page URL: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Immanuel_Velikovsky.jpg
File UTL: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e4/Immanuel_Velikovsky.jpg
Attribution: Photographer: Donna Foster Roizen. Copyright holder: Frederic Jueneman [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]

Out of Phocas

If Jesus broadcast these words today (even if they weren't addressed directly to us), what would we, Christians, do?

• [W]oe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! …
• Woe unto you, ye blind guides, …
• Ye fools and blind: …
• Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.
• Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.
• Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?¹

Yes, what would we do? especially if He had cried, “Hypocrites!” seven times in scarce the time for us to take seven, shocked breaths? especially when we are all guilty to some degree or other.

I suspect that many of us would throw Him to the censors — just as we have done to a lot of unsavory history — which brings me to the topic of Phocas, Eastern Emperor of Rome, circa 602-610 A.D.²

Phocas, a low-ranking officer under Emperor Maurice [Mauritius], staged a military coup and was soon crowned the new emperor by the patriarch in the church of St John the Baptist at the Hebdomon. To cement his power, Phocas brutally tortured and murdered Maurice, his wife, and nine children, after which he “devoted his energy to purging enemies and destroying conspiracies.”

The lasting legacy of Phocas, however, was to “settle” a long-running supremacy struggle within the Roman Church.

When Phocas usurped Maurice [Mauritius], Gregory the Great was bishop of Rome and he praised Phocas as a restorer of liberty. Gregory referred to him as a pious and clement lord, and compared his wife (the new Empress) Leontia to Marcian's consort Pulcheria (whom the Council of Chalcedon called the new Helena). In May 603, portraits of the imperial couple arrived in Rome and were ordered by the pope to be placed in the oratory of St Caesarius in the imperial palace on the Palatine.

Imperial approval was needed in that time to appoint a new pope, but the approval was delayed by a year upon the death of Pope Sabinian in 606, as Phocas was occupied with killing internal enemies that threatened his rule. He finally gave approval in 607 and Boniface III became pope. Phocas declared Rome "the head of all churches". Shortly afterwards, Phocas had a gilded statue of himself erected on a monumental column in the Roman Forum, known as the Column of Phocas.³

So, in short, papal primacy⁴ and papal supremacy⁵ came out of the reign of Phocus.⁶ 

So how does this relate to 2020? Perhaps in the subtle and no-so-subtle censorship (denial or rejection) of truth. We don't insist that leaders speak truth to us.⁷ We don't let history inform our knowledge of things as they have been and are. We distract ourselves from what is really going on in this world of fear-mongering, power abuse, and “lying wonders.” We acquiesce too easily to living a lie — to pretending it's all pro-health when it's all pro-control. We refuse to admit that the un-corrupted science of human health and well-being belies every mandate.⁸ We use “love thy neighbour” to force / shame others into the pied-piper march of trust in “the arm of flesh” which is anything but loving, either God or our neighbour. We muzzle ourselves. We don't openly acknowledge the truth of history. We don't admit that secret combinations have got above us. We pretend that by obeying mandates, the mandates will go away, even when we're blatantly informed that such mandates will not go away. 

We seem almost completely out of focus — unconscious of prophetic past or advancing prophetic fulfillment.

-----------------------------/
1. New Testament | Matthew 23:13-15, 16, 17, 23, 24, 25, 27, 29, 33 (Read the whole chapter, JST, too)
New Testament | Luke 13:31-32 ~ The same day there came certain of the Pharisees, saying unto him, Get thee out, and depart hence: for Herod will kill thee. And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.
2. https://military.wikia.org/wiki/Phocas
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phocas
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phocas
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papal_primacy
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papal_supremacy
6. A more detailed account of papal primacy and papal supremacy is given in Dowling, John. The history of Romanism: from the earliest corruptions of Christianity to the present time ; with full chronological table, indexes and glossary ; and fifty illustrative engravings 1853 (Kindle Locations circa 1659-1909). Kindle Edition.
7. Old Testament | Isaiah 30:8-11 ~ Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever: That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the LORD: Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits: Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.
8.  https://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.com/2020/11/which-science.html

(Just a few more resources of thousands possible)

• The Great Barrington Declaration at https://gbdeclaration.org/
• Dr. Roger Hodkinson CEO & Medical Director – MA, MB, FRCPC, FCAP (Time 5:02) Presentation to Edmonton public hearing, November 13, 2020 at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvYzf0MqObg
• Making face masks mandatory is not backed by science or law: Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms at https://www.jccf.ca/making-face-masks-mandatory-is-not-backed-by-science-or-law/
• Huge Lawsuits Coming Against COVID Totalitarians …  at https://thenewamerican.com/huge-lawsuits-coming-against-covid-totalitarians-and-con-artists/?fbclid=IwAR0dzvQxcJbaogNTRoJ15DA2LgAcY49P6OWUqNfdFU0kGotagYjfm64QG34 

• Coronavirus Fraud Scandal — The Biggest Fight Has Just Begun at https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2020/10/17/coronavirus-fraud-biggest-crime-against-humanity.aspx?cid_source=dnl&cid_medium=email&cid_content=art1ReadMore&cid=20201017Z1&mid=DM679632&rid=989570834
• Pandemic Truth Warriors (Video Section at A Warrior Calls) at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtB2oua1nXaPJtqJcibKmGg/videos OR  https://awarriorcalls.com/home/ OR https://www.bitchute.com/channel/K6tBDPiVYwHO/
• What NO ONE is Saying About The Lockdowns (corbettreport.com | November 24, 2020 | Time: 9:08) at https://www.corbettreport.com/lockdowns/

01 - Isaiah Today: "Covenant with Death"?

Over the next few days / weeks / months (as long as internet endures), I intend to post a few observations titled, Isaiah Today — inspired, in part, by Avraham Gileadi's:.

You can read the whole of Isaiah in reference to his own day, or you can read it as a prophecy for the last days.¹

[Disclaimer: I have none of the qualifications of Gileadi and have not prevailed to grasp the depth of his work, but, in these posts, I offer some (more surface) latter-day observations / thoughts / possibilities. Take them or leave them as you will. They are not meant as interpretations or fulfillments — only as points of possible déjà vu, multilayered awareness.]

Consider: could there be a more apt description of what is flooding our media than: trust in the arm of flesh; trust in the voice of world powers / experts / authorities; trust in the rushed concoctions of science and scientists; present your arm of flesh for a saving shot so you can re-access your God-given rights and freedoms that the world powers / experts / authorities have taken away for your and the world's good?

The clamour for the saving shot; the hue and cry for everyone to comply has become obsessive and deafening, BUT when the vaccine applause dies; when inexplicable, escalating numbers begin to perish,² perhaps then we will hear the echo:

Lo, thou trustest in the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt [corrupted science? WHO? CMOs? et al.?]; whereon if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt [man elevated in power, gain, and glory] to all that trust in him.³

Yes, these were the words of Rabshakeh (captain of Assyria's king Sennacherib), followed by his mocking of God as being no more reliable than Pharaoh.⁴ But then came the word of Isaiah and the unexpected end of Sennacherib⁵ because Hezekiah fervently prayed for protection and trusted in the LORD his God.

So why are we so fear-driven that WHO; that defacing, demoralizing, dehumanizing mandates; that rushed vaccines have become our promised saviors? What does this say about us?

Relying on human helps to fortify against possible disaster betrays a lack of trust in Him who governs our affairs. Such helps seek to substitute for the welfare and protection that come from keeping covenant with God. . . . // Like all idolatry, relying on the arm of flesh blinds people to divine purpose and providence—that God saves those who trust in Him (Isaiah 42;17-43:4).⁶

Isaiah, therefore, reduces every kind of dependence on things human to a “covenant with death” (Isaiah 28:15, 18).⁷

And what words more accurately describe this present crisis and coming consequence than those in bold below (unless we repent of fear and misplaced trust):

15 Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
16 ¶ Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.
17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.
18 ¶ And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.⁸

“Covenant with death” my friends, is, perhaps, the best description of what mRNA⁹ is intended to do to our unique, God-designed DNA. And if we're not happy with our DNA and gene-expression, we shall in time come to know that the adversary's bifurcated, opposed obsessions of 1) destroying / corrupting God's creation; and 2) “improving” creation to prove his brilliance have caused much of what we blame on God or the aberrations / deficiencies of nature.

Could the obsessive cry to obey? to do as we're told? to trust in the powers? be a parallel trumpet calling us to hurry and make bare our arm — to make our “covenant with death” — because the hidden army manipulating flesh has but a short time?¹⁰

--------------------
1. The Last Days: Types and Shadows from the Bible and the Book of Mormon. Avraham Gileadi, Third Revised Edition 1998 © 1998 Book of Mormon Research Foundation, p. 5 

p. 3 ~ “Isaiah consistently uses events in Israel's past as a framework around which to prophesy events in the future . . . Repeated descriptions of such events create patterns of things—things that “have been and shall be” (compare 3 Nephi 23:3).”

Book of Mormon | 3 Nephi 23:1–3 ~ AND now, behold, I say unto you, that ye ought to search these things. Yea, a commandment I give unto you that ye search these things diligently; for great are the words of Isaiah. For surely he spake as touching all things concerning my people which are of the house of Israel; therefore it must needs be that he must speak also to the Gentiles. And all things that he spake have been and shall be, even according to the words which he spake. (Bold emphasis added.)

2. (when the virulence of the released bioweapon is increased to escalate fear, stress, death, and rage against those who said it was no more than a a bad case of flu)

3. Old Testament | Isaiah 36:6
Old Testament | Isaiah 36:4-6 ~ And Rabshakeh said unto them, Say ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this wherein thou trustest? I say, sayest thou, (but they are but vain words) I have counsel and strength for war: now on whom dost thou trust, that thou rebellest against me? Lo, thou trustest in the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt; whereon if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is to all that trust in him.
4. Old Testament | Isaiah 36:7-10, 14-20 ~ But if thou say to me, We trust in the LORD our God: is it not he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and said to Judah and to Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar? Now therefore give pledges, I pray thee, to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them. How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master's servants, and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? And am I now come up without the LORD against this land to destroy it? the LORD said unto me, Go up against this land, and destroy it. . . . Thus saith the king, Let not Hezekiah deceive you: for he shall not be able to deliver you. Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD, saying, The LORD will surely deliver us: this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria. Hearken not to Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of Assyria, Make an agreement with me by a present, and come out to me: and eat ye every one of his vine, and every one of his fig tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his own cistern; Until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards. Beware lest Hezekiah persuade you, saying, The LORD will deliver us. Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? Where are the gods of Hamath and Arphad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim? and have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? Who are they among all the gods of these lands, that have delivered their land out of my hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?
5. Old Testament | Isaiah 37:6-7 ~ And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say unto your master, Thus saith the LORD, Be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard, wherewith the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.
Old Testament | Isaiah 37:33-38 ~ Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shields, nor cast a bank against it. By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the LORD. For I will defend this city to save it for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake. Thou the angel of the LORD went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh. And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Armenia: and Esar-haddon his son reigned in his stead.
6. Gileadi, p. 47-48 (Bold emphasis added.)
7. Ibid., p. 46
8. Old Testament | Isaiah 28:15-18
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RNA_vaccine
The End of Man: https://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.com/2020/05/the-end-of-man.html
10. New Testament | Revelation 12:12 ~ Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.

Millennium: The Beginning & the End?

Have you ever wondered why Satan was to be bound for a 1000 years at the beginning of the Millennium, and then loosed at the end to orchestrate a final rebellion / battle?¹ Could it entail more than just to test the “millennials”?

Here is one man's understanding of why Satan is merely bound for a thousand years and then “loosed for a little season.”

That man may be "without excuse" God is going to subject him to a final test under the most favorable circumstances. Man has charged his fall and continuance in sin to Satan. "Take him away," he cries, "paralyze his power; cripple his malignant activity; bind and imprison him and deliver us from his dominating influence, and then you will see that man is radically good and virtuous and is simply the victim of an unfavorable environment."

God answers it shall be done. Satan shall be bound and imprisoned so that he can no longer deceive men, and lest man shall say that sinful habits are too deeply rooted to be soon eradicated the test shall last for a Thousand Years, and man shall have during that period of probation all the blessed influences of the Holy Spirit and the presence of Christ Himself.

Man has never known and therefore cannot conceive what this world would be like free from Satanic influence. It would certainly be a marvelously different world. There would be no one to stir up hate and passion, and engender strife and turmoil. True, man would still have an evil heart of unbelief to contend against, but it would be like a magazine of gunpowder without a spark to ignite it. That the evil heart of man has not been eradicated will be evident when at the close of the Millennium Satan is loosed and finds no difficulty in deceiving the nations. Rev. 20: 8.² ...

As the evening shadows of the Millennial Day fall, the Angel who imprisoned Satan will unlock the "prison house" of the "Bottomless Pit," and Satan will come forth embittered by his forced confinement to vent his anger upon the people of God, a refutation of the claim that the miseries of perdition will lead to repentance. Satan will still be the same malignant being after his 1000 years of confinement that he was before. His hatred against God and His people will be unquenched.  ...

As soon as Satan is loosed from his prison in the "Bottomless Pit," he will find a vast multitude ready to believe his lie, and to serve and obey him. He will gather them from the "Four Quarters of the Earth" to battle. They will be in number as the "sand of the sea." Rev. 20: 8-9. The revolt will be Worldwide, and will mean the Mobilizing of Vast Armies. Satan will conduct them across the "Breadth of the Earth" until they compass the "Camp of the Saints" (the Holy Land), and lay siege once more to the "Beloved City." From this we see that the unregenerate heart is like a powder magazine, all it needs is a match to set it off, and Satan when freed will be that match. This the "last war" that this world shall ever see, will be bloodless, for the vast armies of Satan shall be destroyed by FIRE.

From this we see that the "Millennial Dispensation," like all the six Dispensations before it, will end in failure [for most]. God will have tested man in "Innocence," under "Conscience," under "Self-Government," under the "Headship of the Family," under "Law," under "Grace," and finally under the influence of the "Holy Spirit," free from Satanic influences, and under them all he will prove himself to be hopelessly, incurably and incorrigibly bad.

If after a 1000 years of the Presence of the King, and of universal peace and blessing, man still persists in rebelling against his Maker, what will there be left for God to do?³

Except, the most important thing, He already accomplished millennia ago, at age 33. The final thing left to do will be the Judgment according to His warning:

Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.⁴

So, will this 1000 years finally prove that man is NOT, by nature, radically good and virtuous as so many new-agers and others declare in this age of the “Sovereign Self”? Will we finally see that the lamentations by God and His prophets⁵ throughout the ages were more than justified? understand why the words “Repent” and “Love” occur an identical number of times (628) in our four books of scripture?⁶ Will we at last comprehend that the measure of God's love for us, wretched sinners that we are,⁷ is immeasurable.

BUT, we also must know that despite our wretched natures, we also have the capacity to fill the measure of our creation as measured and assisted by God. We have the ability to choose good over evil, to self-reflect, to forgive, to repent. We have the ability to see through the lies, deceptions, propaganda and recycling ideologies of the Utopians and schemers of every age. We have the unrelenting witness of history that secret combinations continually cycle, intent on the destruction of all that is good.⁸ We have the ability to say NO to the powers⁹ and the Utopians.

Will we, in these days of trial, have the courage and strength to refuse compliance and complicity when the “authorities” / the “powers” claim: 'It is not lawful'¹⁰? Will we be any better in that ending day 1000 years from now? For Whom do we reserve our YESes?

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1. New Testament | Revelation 20:1-3, 7-10
1 AND I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season. ...
7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.
10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
Doctrine and Covenants | Section 88:110–114
110 And so on, until the seventh angel shall sound his trump; and he shall stand forth upon the land and upon the sea, and swear in the name of him who sitteth upon the throne, that there shall be time no longer; and Satan shall be bound, that old serpent, who is called the devil, and shall not be loosed for the space of a thousand years.

111 And then he shall be loosed for a little season, that he may gather together his armies.
112 And Michael, the seventh angel, even the archangel, shall gather together his armies, even the hosts of heaven.
113 And the devil shall gather together his armies; even the hosts of hell, and shall come up to battle against Michael and his armies.
114 And then cometh the battle of the great God; and the devil and his armies shall be cast away into their own place, that they shall not have power over the saints any more at all.
2. Larkin, Rev Clarence. The Book of Revelation (Kindle Locations 3896-3917). Kindle Edition.
SMS NOTE: And what if all the abused, the trafficked, the aborted, and all those who never reached accountability were healed of their traumas and given the opportunity to grow up without sin unto salvation [if that were their choice]? We cannot know all the nuances of God's plan of Mercy and Justice, but this may apply here, too: “that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.” (New Testament | 1 Peter 4:6; Doctrine and Covenants | Section 76:73; 88:99; 138:10, 34).
3. Ibid., (Kindle Locations 3981-3999)
4. New Testament | Matthew 7:13-14 (bold emphasis added)

5. Just five examples out of hundreds possible:
● Old Testament | Deuteronomy 31:16 ~ And the LORD said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers; and this people will rise up, and go a whoring after the gods of the strangers of the land, whither they go to be among them, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them.
● Old Testament | Deuteronomy 31:25-30

25 That Moses commanded the Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, saying,
26 Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee.
27 For I know thy rebellion, and thy stiff neck: behold, while I am yet alive with you this day, ye have been rebellious against the LORD; and how much more after my death?
28 ¶ Gather unto me all the elders of your tribes, and your officers, that I may speak these words in their ears, and call heaven and earth to record against them.
29 For I know that after my death ye will utterly corrupt yourselves, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will befall you in the latter days; because ye will do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger through the work of your hands.
30 And Moses spake in the ears of all the congregation of Israel the words of this song, until they were ended.
● New Testament | Romans 3:10-18
10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.
12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
13 Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:
14 Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:
15 Their feet are swift to shed blood:
16 Destruction and misery are in their ways:
17 And the way of peace have they not known:
18 There is no fear of God before their eyes.
● Old Testament | Isaiah 59:1-21 (classic lament)
● https://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.com/2014/01/gods-lament.html
6. CD-Rom: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints © 2001 Intellectual Reserve, Inc.,
7. New Testament | Romans 7:24 ~ O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
New Testament | Revelation 3:17 ~ Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
Book of Mormon | 2 Nephi 4:17 ~ Nevertheless, notwithstanding the great goodness of the Lord, in showing me his great and marvelous works, my heart exclaimeth: O wretched man that I am! Yea, my heart sorroweth because of my flesh; my soul grieveth because of mine iniquities.
Book of Mormon | Mosiah 2:21 ~ I say unto you that if ye should serve him who has created you from the beginning, and is preserving you from day to day, by lending you breath, that ye may live and move and do according to your own will, and even supporting you from one moment to another—I say, if ye should serve him with all your whole souls yet ye would be unprofitable servants.
8. https://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.com/2020/03/in-one-fell-swoop.html
https://dejavu-times.blogspot.com/2020/03/covid-covert.html
9. New Testament | Ephesians 6:12 ~ For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

10. (to sing, to embrace; to visit in nursing homes / hospitals; to open your business; to gather for social, cultural, sports, family events; to go maskless; to stand too close together; to freely worship; to travel without "necessity"; to reveal facts counter to the power narrative; to protest tyranny; and on and on.) Remember what the Savior did when He was told "It is not lawful"? https://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.com/2020/05/it-is-not-lawful.html (The video clips therein have been censored by the powers, but can perhaps be found in other places by searching relevant words.)