Wednesday, April 27, 2022

Prophecy Calculations? “A man among the Gentiles”

“a man among
the Gentiles”*

He calls his wife Mrs. Watcher, so I shall refer to him herein as Mr. Watcher.1 As an avid reader of the pros and cons of many things, I recently came across the writings of Mr. Watcher. His take2 on “a man among the Gentiles”3 who has, traditionally, been (mis-?)identified as Christopher Columbus is fascinating — as is the perspective of Adrian Larsen (of To The Remnant4) that prompted Mr. Watcher's own research. They both consider the “man among the Gentiles” to potentially mark previously unconsidered possibilities for prophecy calculation and understanding.

The one question, however, that hangs over my perspective is the verse that precedes “a man among the Gentiles” — the one that says: “Behold the wrath of God is upon the seed of thy brethren.”
11 And it came to pass that the angel said unto me: Behold the wrath of God is upon the seed of thy brethren.
12 And I looked and beheld a man among the Gentiles, who was separated from the seed of my brethren by the many waters; and I beheld the Spirit of God, that it came down and wrought upon the man; and he went forth upon the many waters, even unto the seed of my brethren, who were in the promised land.5
Is verse 11 intended to reveal the nature of the man in verse 12 (behold | beheld)? I don't know, but I ask: Who brought more wrath upon the West Indies / Caribbean islands than Columbus (1492+)? Who set the pattern for violence that Cortés (1521+), Pizarro (1532+), and others carried on against the Aztec (Mexico / Mesoamerica), the Maya (Mesoamerica), the Inca (Peru) and other “new world” indigenous peoples6? (Even perhaps “the man” Nephi saw was Cortés?)

Except, some will protest that the Spirit of God would never “come down and work upon” a person whose disposition was to destroy and do evil? So again, I ask: Does God ever use unwitting “servants” to mete out Justice and Judgment7? What about this account in Isaiah? (JST in black bold; my emphasis in red bold.)
5 ¶ O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation.
6 I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.
7 Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so; but it is in his heart it is to destroy and cut off nations not a few.
8 For he saith, Are not my princes altogether kings?
9 Is not Calno as Carchemish? is not Hamath as Arpad? is not Samaria as Damascus?
10 As my hand hath found founded the kingdoms of the idols, and whose graven images did excel them of Jerusalem and of Samaria;
11 Shall I not, as I have done unto Samaria and her idols, so do to Jerusalem and to her idols?
12 Wherefore it shall come to pass, that when the Lord hath performed his whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks.8
Also consider several other verses about God moving, or standing back to allow, evil to destroy evil.9

But why was the wrath of God upon the seed of Nephi's brethren? Despite some tendency to romanticize indigenous history, there were in the “Americas” perpetual raids, wars, murders, theft, enslavement, human sacrifice, and elitist tyranny amongst many tribes and factions, not unlike what has been found throughout the world in all ages. God waited until the cup of iniquity was full and then the reaping began, just as it will, within short years, if not months or weeks, for our own nations in these Americas (and elsewhere).

For those who believe that the fruit of constitutional North America was not targeted for corruption10 and destruction from the beginning, and is not now overflowing, it is not too late to awaken from the seeing we-see-not and hearing we-hear-not dream-state. In déjà vu of every age, many, who insist on ignoring the prolific witness of mankind's dark-side, will be caught in a sudden flood of devastation as unaware as those in Noah's day. (Both red bold and black bold are JST):
43 36 But of that day and hour no one knoweth no man; no, not the angels of God in heaven, but my Father only.
44 37 But as it was in the days of Noe were Noah, so it shall be also at the coming of the Son of Man be.
45 38– 39 For it shall be with them as it was in the days that which were before the flood; for until the day that Noah entered into the ark, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark and knew not until the flood came and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be.
46 Then shall be fulfilled that which is written, that, In the last days,
47 40 Then Two shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken and the other left.
48 41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken and the other left.
49 42 And what I say unto one, I say unto all men; Watch, therefore, for ye you know not at what hour your Lord doth come.
50 43 But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be have been broken up; but would have been ready.
51 44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.11
But back to prophecy calculations. This post is not to say that other's impressions are mistaken for God seems to use multi-dimensional layers of fulfillment and types and shadows. Nephi was given both words and images, but what if the same words (“a man among the Gentiles”) could be paired with a different image to another seeker at some later date to convey new information? Divine communication is all about words and images as I pondered in a 2014 post.12  However, as seems the usual course of things, we may not know till the time of prophetic fulfillment which or how many prophecy calculations proved true; but keeping watch hopefully promotes thinking, preparing, repenting, and persistently seeking God and His Truth.

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1. https://threewatches.blogspot.com/
https://onewhoiswatching.wordpress.com/
2. https://onewhoiswatching.wordpress.com/2022/04/11/a-man-among-the-gentiles/
https://onewhoiswatching.wordpress.com/2022/04/13/a-man-among-the-gentiles-2/
https://onewhoiswatching.wordpress.com/2022/04/15/man-among-the-gentiles-final/
3. Book of Mormon | 1 Nephi 13:12
   12 And I looked and beheld a man among the Gentiles, who was separated from the seed of my brethren by the many waters; and I beheld the Spirit of God, that it came down and wrought upon the man; and he went forth upon the many waters, even unto the seed of my brethren, who were in the promised land.
4. https://www.totheremnant.com/2022/03/destruction-part-1-man-among-gentiles.html
https://www.totheremnant.com/2022/03/destruction-part-2-most-sacred-privilege.html
(plus 5 more parts)
5. Book of Mormon | 1 Nephi 13:11-12  (Bold emphasis added.)
See also: Book of Mormon | 1 Nephi 13:13-14 (Bold emphasis added.)
   13 And it came to pass that I beheld the Spirit of God, that it wrought upon other Gentiles; and they went forth out of captivity, upon the many waters.
   14 And it came to pass that I beheld many multitudes of the Gentiles upon the land of promise; and I beheld the wrath of God, that it was upon the seed of my brethren; and they were scattered before the Gentiles and were smitten.
6. ● "The pitiless destruction he [Columbus] and his men wrought upon the indigenous peoples of the West Indies, whom he encountered when he first arrived in the Americas, also began a process of decimation of American Indian populations that would continue for a century."
DK. The History Book (Big Ideas) (p. 268). DK Publishing. Kindle Edition.
● "Such inhumanities and Barbarisms were committed... acts so foreign to human nature that I now tremble as I write." Bartolome De Las Casas Spanish historian (c. 1527) | Ibid., (p. 266).
● "I and my companions suffer from a disease of the heart that can be cured only with gold." Hernán Cortés, 1519 | Ibid., (p. 274). (Bold emphasis added.)
● Consider also whether the West Indies and Caribbean indigenous were brethren of the Nephites through the account of Hagoth and his ships in Alma 63; or from these words from Helaman 3:14: “But behold, a hundredth part of the proceedings of this people, yea, the account of the Lamanites and of the Nephites, and their wars, and contentions, and dissensions, and their preaching, and their prophecies, and their shipping and their building of ships, and their building of temples, and of synagogues and their sanctuaries, and their righteousness, and their wickedness, and their murders, and their robbings, and their plundering, and all manner of abominations and whoredoms, cannot be contained in this work.” (Bold emphasis added.)
7. Being the law of the harvest: what one sows is what one reaps: as in
Old Testament | Jeremiah 6:19 | unchanged in JST
   19 Hear, O earth: behold, I [the LORD] will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not hearkened unto my words, nor to my law, but rejected it.
New Testament | Galatians 6:7
   7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
Book of Mormon | Mosiah 7:28-33
   28 And now, because he said this, they did put him to death; and many more things did they do which brought down the wrath of God upon them. Therefore, who wondereth that they are in bondage, and that they are smitten with sore afflictions?
   29 For behold, the Lord hath said: I will not succor my people in the day of their transgression; but I will hedge up their ways that they prosper not; and their doings shall be as a stumbling block before them.
   30 And again, he saith: If my people shall sow filthiness they shall reap the chaff thereof in the whirlwind; and the effect thereof is poison.
   31 And again he saith: If my people shall sow filthiness they shall reap the east wind, which bringeth immediate destruction.
   32 And now, behold, the promise of the Lord is fulfilled, and ye are smitten and afflicted.
   33 But if ye will turn to the Lord with full purpose of heart, and put your trust in him, and serve him with all diligence of mind, if ye do this, he will, according to his own will and pleasure, deliver you out of bondage.
8. Old Testament | Isaiah 10:5-12 | JST in black bold; my emphasis in red bold,
9. Old Testament | Isaiah 45:7 | unchanged in JST
   7 I [the LORD] form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.
Old Testament | Jeremiah 4:6 | unchanged in JST
   6 Set up the standard toward Zion: retire, stay not: for I [the LORD] will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction.
JST Old Testament | Jeremiah 18:8-10
   8 If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of withhold the evil that I thought to do unto them.
   9 And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it;
   10 If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of withold the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.
Old Testament | Jeremiah 23:2 | unchanged in JST
   2 Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the LORD.
Old Testament | Jeremiah 44:2 | unchanged in JST
   2 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Ye have seen all the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, and upon all the cities of Judah; and, behold, this day they are a desolation, and no man dwelleth therein,
Old Testament | Jeremiah 44:11 | unchanged in JST
   11 ¶ Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will set my face against you for evil, and to cut off all Judah.
Old Testament | Jeremiah 39:15-17 | unchanged in JST
   15 ¶ Now the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah, while he was shut up in the court of the prison, saying,
   16 Go and speak to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring my words upon this city for evil, and not for good; and they shall be accomplished in that day before thee.
   17 But I will deliver thee in that day, saith the LORD: and thou shalt not be given into the hand of the men of whom thou art afraid.
10. The witnesses are everywhere and prolific in prophetic scripture and secular exposés:
See also: https://dejavu-times.blogspot.com/2020/01/lost-soul-of-america.html
https://dejavu-times.blogspot.com/2008/06/memo-to-cindy-mccain-et-al.html
11. Lutes, Kenneth and Lyndell. Joseph Smith Translation (pp. 2175-2176 | New Testament | Matthew 24:43-51). Lutes Publishing. Kindle Edition. 
See also: Pearl of Great Price | Moses 8
Compare: Pearl of Great Price | JS-Matthew 1:43
12. https://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.com/2014/02/here-and-there.html

*Image Source:
Page URL: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Silhouette_of_man_facing_left,_no._9_LCCN2004662038.tif
File URL: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9f/Silhouette_of_man_facing_left%2C_no._9_LCCN2004662038.tif
Attribution: Peale, Charles Willson, 1741-1827, artist, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Description: Title: Silhouette of man facing left, no. 9 Abstract/medium: 1 picture : hollow-cut white paper silhouette, mounted on black paper ; irregular image 8 x 4 cm, cut from sheet 13 x 11 cm.
Date: 1761
Permission: Public Domain
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