Mistaking Reality: a Tragic Parallel? a Warning?

In recent days since July 13th, we have heard many witnesses report how they mistook gunshots for innocuous fireworks or firecrackers, but for veterans and others with the experience of gunfire or with emergency training, they knew immediately the reality — that another act of violence and treason was being perpetrated upon American soil.

But what is the tragic parallel? It is that despite repeated historical patterns and evidence, too many of us remain undiscerning of the reality within corrupted, competing power structures. We have too many “Crooks” (and patsies, both Left and Right) hiding on “inclined” roofs, or other concealed places. We have too many security experts or watchdogs who, for reasons of R.I.C.E.¹ or otherwise, ignore and / or suppress evidence as they follow a path of lying, cheating, stealing, and killing² to further ideological goals or to cover for failings.

Yes, Trump’s close call is miraculous to his supporters and other observers (though infuriating to those who plotted or preferred his death), but only time will tell if Trumpers are again mistaking reality in seeing in him a savior of American purpose and promise. What are the historical patterns, evidences, and values he has manifest over his life? What have his past actions and words demonstrated, unfiltered by idolization and selective memory?

And what of his defiant words and motions moments after the attempted assassination? Are we mistaking courage with the reality of who he is — a man who has already dodged so many “bullets” in his career that a sense of invulnerability pervades his expectations and responses in life? Remember his “joking” words that loyal supporters would still vote for him even if he shot someone on 5th Avenue in New York³?

Despite the repeating patterns of history, we the people continually fall for idolatrous hope in “strong men” who promise things their dispositions to tyranny will never deliver. Are we so blind that we cannot see where “America” is headed – either into a collective, corporate tyranny under Left fwokism⁴ or into the arms of an egocentric strongman who promises great things but delivers despotism? Either way, in my view from historical perspective, we are going to be “kicked into [a despotic] reality”⁵ within the next year or two with a suddenness that will be stunning.

So what might God’s purpose be in Trump’s survival? Could it be a parting shot to the American people? a final graphic warning to give ear to the prophecies of destruction and death that Justice must inflict if the worship and idolatries of power, gain, glory, and self are not abandoned; if we refuse to repent; if we continue to sustain Babylon and all her idols and crimes against God's creation?

Are we living our lives pretending / imagining that all the evils that are being done (once in secret but now more openly by both Left and Right) are but mere firecrackers, when, in reality, gunfire is already claiming innocent victims, like Corey Comperatore⁶ and hundreds of others in other times and places who have been quietly assassinated for witnessing for truth – for opposing lying narratives – even for just being alive?

Once again, here is Moroni’s warning: –

21 And they [secret combinations] have caused the destruction of this people of whom I am now speaking, and also the destruction of the people of Nephi.
22 And whatsoever nation shall uphold such secret combinations, to get power and gain, until they shall spread over the nation, behold, they shall be destroyed; for the Lord will not suffer that the blood of his saints, which shall be shed by them, shall always cry unto him from the ground for vengeance upon them and yet he avenge them not.
23 Wherefore, O ye Gentiles, it is wisdom in God that these things should be shown unto you, that thereby ye may repent of your sins, and suffer not that these murderous combinations shall get above you, which are built up to get power and gain—and the work, yea, even the work of destruction come upon you, yea, even the sword of the justice of the Eternal God shall fall upon you, to your overthrow and destruction if ye shall suffer these things to be.
24 Wherefore, the Lord commandeth you, when ye shall see these things come among you that ye shall awake to a sense of your awful situation, because of this secret combination which shall be among you; or wo be unto it, because of the blood of them who have been slain; for they cry from the dust for vengeance upon it, and also upon those who built it up.
25 For it cometh to pass that whoso buildeth it up seeketh to overthrow the freedom of all lands, nations, and countries; and it bringeth to pass the destruction of all people, for it is built up by the devil, who is the father of all lies; even that same liar who beguiled our first parents, yea, even that same liar who hath caused man to commit murder from the beginning; who hath hardened the hearts of men that they have murdered the prophets, and stoned them, and cast them out from the beginning.
26 Wherefore, I, Moroni, am commanded to write these things that evil may be done away, and that the time may come that Satan may have no power upon the hearts of the children of men, but that they may be persuaded to do good continually, that they may come unto the fountain of all righteousness and be saved  (Book of Mormon | Ether 8:21-26).

Please let us:

▪ see and hear 360;
▪ quit pretending we can discard or ignore without consequence evidences that counter our idealized, idolized hopes and narratives;
▪ fervently pray that the wicked, whether Left or Right, be brought to repentance, and if they refuse repentance, that they be brought to exposure and accountability, justice and judgment.

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1. R.I.C.E.: Reward, Ideology, Coercion, Ego – https://dejavu-times.blogspot.com/2024/04/the-price-of-rice.html
2. https://dejavu-times.blogspot.com/2020/01/lost-soul-of-america.html
3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTACH1eVIaA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgqGfhVlXrE (“Of course, I was joking.”)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMmiLWDpCno
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xaMhfNq_xY
4, https://dejavu-times.blogspot.com/2023/04/correction-fwoke.html
5. https://dejavu-times.blogspot.com/2020/09/kicked-into-reality.html
https://dejavu-times.blogspot.com/2020/05/the-t-point.html
6. https://apnews.com/article/trump-rally-fatal-shooting-corey-comperatore-2c4930b7749cab1c53fc006a58450ed4

Confused About the “Lost Ten Tribes”? Part III

First in the Series: Confused About the Jews? Part I: Conflation¹
Second in the Series: Confused About Israel? Part 2: the Gathering?²

Part 3: Confused About the “Lost Ten Tribes”?
Speculations and opinions about the identity and / or location of the lost Ten Tribes are too numerous to review here, so I footnote³ a sampling of thoughts and opinions for those interested, with the observation that from God’s perspective, seemingly exclusive questions (such as: “Is it this? Is it that? or is it something else?) are sometimes answered with “It’s all of them⁴! In the case of the Ten Tribes, could it be all of them: some lost; some scattered; some assimilated; some distinct; some hidden; some here; some there?”

In this post I will just consider what the Prophet Joseph Smith reportedly said about the Lost Ten Tribes because what some believed and witnessed in the 1800s seems to have been discarded⁵ by many in this latter-day as being too fantastic. Here are several “fantastic” testimonies of one of the possibilities:

1. AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF WANDLE MACE (1809-1846)
Journal of Wandle Mace, typescript, HBLL
(As told to his wife, Rebecca E. Howell Mace)⁶

Chapter 7
I have listened to the Prophet Joseph in public, and in private, in sunshine and shower–as many others have done as he taught from the stand–At my own house, and at his ho[u]se, I have been familiar with him, from the time he escaped from prison in Missouri in 1839 until his martyrdom in 1844, and do know that no man could explain the scripture–throw them wide open to view, so plain that none could misunderstand their meaning–except he had been taught of God.

--- I have many times been pondering upon a subject, and seemed to come to a stand-still, not knowing how to gain farther information, relating to it, when upon going to meeting on the sabbath, the key would be touched by Joseph and the subject would be so plain I wondered why I had not seen it before.

I was in this situation in relation to the Ten lost tribes of Israel. I had read everything I could find relating to them. I had carefully studied the statistics of the Jews, and not withstanding they had been persecuted for hundreds of years, being murdered and driven, until they were now scattered all over the known world, yet they numbered several millions. I reasoned thus, had the `Ten Tribes’, suffered equal disaster, and they had increased in number, in the same ratio as the Jews, the would number nearly ten times as many–or nine times and a half as it is nine a half tribes instead of ten. If they have increased in this proportion, where is there habitable earth for this vast amount of people who are hidden from the rest of mankind? I could not see.

I was in this train of thought, unable to obtain further information from any source, when as usual on a Sunday morning, I took my skiff and crossed the river to Nauvoo, to attend meeting.

Joseph addressed the congregation, and as if for special benefit, touched upon this subject which opened a new field for reflection to me. His subject was: The “restitution of all things spoken of by all the Holy Prophets since the world began,” quoting the twenty first verse of the third chapter of the Acts of the Apostles.

In the course of his remarks he spoke of the earth being divided at various times. He said, “When Enoch and his city was taken away, a portion of earth was taken and would again be restored. Also in the days of Peleg, the earth was divided, see Genesis 10th Chapter 25 verse.” He then referred to the `Ten Tribes’, saying, “You know a long time ago in the days of Shalmanezer King of Assyria when the Ten Tribes was taken away, and never been heard of since.” He said, “The earth will be restored as at the beginning, and the last taken away will be the first to return, for the last shall be first, and the first shall be last in all things.” He illustrated the return by saying.

“Some of you brethren have been coming up the river on a steamboat, and while seated at the table, the steamboat run against a snag which upset the table and scatter the dishes; so it will be when these portions of earth return. It will make the earth reel to and for `like a drunken man,’” quoting 24th chapter Isaiah 20th verse. When speaking of the return of the Ten Tribes, he said, “The mountains of ice shall flow down at their presence,” and a highway shall be cast up in the midst of the great deep.”

These remarks satisfied me, it was no longer necessary to hunt the place on this earth where the Ten Tribes were so long hidden, for the earth was divided and taken away, and will be the first to return, as it was the last taken away.

“He shall command the great deep, and it shall be driven back into the north countries, and the islands shall become one land.”

“And the land of Jerusalem and the land of Zion shall be turned back into their own place, and the earth shall be like as it was in the days before it was divided. See [D&C 133:21-24] Appendix. Doctrine & Covenants.

I will introduce a poem upon this subject, by Sister E. R. Snow, as it was published in the Millennial Star 1851, pg. 272 entitled

An Address to the Earth

Thou, earth, wast once a glorious sphere of noble magnitude,
And didst with majesty appear, among the worlds of God.
But thy dimensions have been torn asunder, piece by piece,
And each dismembered fragment borne abroad to distant space.
When Enoch could no longer stay amid corruption here,
Part of thyself was borne away to form another sphere.
That portion where his city stood He gained by right approved;
And nearer to the throne of God His planet upward moved.
And when the Lord saw fit to hide the “ten lost tribes” away,
Thou, earth, was severed to provide the orb on which they stay.
And thus, from time to time thy size has been diminished, till
Thou seemest the law of sacrifice created to fulfil.
The curse of God on man was placed: that curse thou didst partake,
And thou hast been by turns disgraced and honored for his sake.
The vilest wretches hell will claim now breathe thy atmosphere,
The noblest spirits heaven can name have been embodied here.
Jesus the Lord thy surface graced; He fell a sacrifice;
And now within thy cold embrace the martyred Joseph lies.
When Satan’s hosts are overcome, the martyred princely rare,
Will claim thee their celestial home thy royal dwelling place.
A “restitution” yet must come, that will to them restore,
By the grand law of worlds, thy sum of matter heretofore.
And thou, O earth, will leave the track thou hast been doomed to trace
The Gods with shouts will bring thee back to fill thy native place.⁶

2. A website titled NewRevelations.net⁷ has done extensive work in compiling other witnesses. Here is an account (from section 5) given by Homer Brown and Israel Call:

Homer Brown: "‘Then [Joseph Smith] added, ‘In consequence of this great portion [of the City of Enoch] being taken away, it naturally threw the earth out of balance. Now when it comes back, and also the planet on which the Lost Tribes are, the earth will receive its equilibrium and revolve as it naturally was in the very beginning.’

Israel Call: "Yes, my father, Anson Call, was a particular friend of the Prophet Joseph. I have heard him say on a number of occasions that the Prophet Joseph told him in company with others, that the Ten Tribes of Israel were on a portion of this earth that had been taken away."⁷

3. According to Phebe Carter Woodruff, JS [Joseph Smith] had similarly instructed the Saints in Nauvoo in summer 1840.

In a letter to her husband, Wilford Woodruff, Phebe stated that JS had “been advanceing new things to the church and publick of late says that this earth was the largest panat [planet] that ever was made and that there has been parts taken from it several times and at the time the 10 tribes were lost there was a part taken from it and that they would all come back and be joined to it again and that would be the realing to & fro like a drunken man &c &c.”
(Phebe Carter Woodruff, Montrose, Iowa Territory, to Wilford Woodruff, Liverpool, England, 2 July 1840, digital scan, Wilford Woodruff, Collection, CHL; see also Walker, Diary, 10 Mar. 1881, in Larson and Larson, Diary of Charles Lowell Walker, 540; and “Recollections of the Prophet Joseph Smith,” Juvenile Instructor, 1 June 1892, 344.)⁸

4. Compilation posted by exmocaptainmoroni⁹ OP•11y ago

More sources. I wish I knew where this pdf file I have came from, but I'm not sure.

Ten Lost Tribes Are On Another Planet Joseph Smith taught that the lost Ten Tribes were on another planet. He taught this to over a dozen individuals, including one of his wives, and several apostles:

Allen, Daniel 1872
Beck, James 1861
Brown, Benjamin 1924
Call, Anson 1924
Cannon, George Q. 1891
Dibble, Philo 1882/4,1906
Gates, Jacob 1881
Hamblin, Jacob ?
Mace, Wandle Before 1890
Pratt, Orson 1875
Richards, Franklin W. 1892
Rogers, Samuel After 1840?
Smith, Bathsheba 1892
Snow, Eliza R. 1881, 1931
Snow, Joseph 1889
Van Cott, John 1931
Young, Brigham 1867

President Young said he had heard Joseph say that the Ten Tribes of Israel were on a portion of land seperated from this Earth. (Wilford Woodruff Journal, September 8th, 1867.)

A portion of the North country containing the Ten Tribes may be separated from the Earth. (Wilford Woodruff Journal, September 25th, 1859.)

Joseph Smith said that the 2 Prophets who would Prophesy in the streets of Jerusalem for 3 years & a half, were Enoch & Elijah. Also the two wings north & South of our earth were inhabited. the north with the 9-1/2 tribes & the south wing by the People of Enochs City – this Earth when first created occupied a Position next to Kolob the highest in glory of all the Creations consequently on account of the high Position we once occupied we have fallen below all of the others in space–consequently our sufferings are greater–the greater the rise the greater will be the fall-when we are Redeemed we will be taken back again & Placed in our former Position. (James Beck Journal (Notebook) 1859-1865; October 8th 1861.)

I heard the Joseph the Prophet say that he had seen John the revelator and had a long conversation with him, whom told him that he John was their leader, prophet, priest, and king, and said that he was preparing that people to return and further said there is a mighty host of us. And Joseph further said that men might hunt for them but they could not find them for they were upon a portion of this planet that had been broken off and which was taken away. And the sea rushed in between Europe and America, and that when that piece returns there would be a great shake; the sea would then move to the north where it belonged in the morning of creation. (Daniel Allen, Minutes of the Parowan, Utah School of the Prophets, 17 August 1872.)

The Prophet Joseph once in my hearing advanced his opinion that the Ten Tribes were seperated from the Earth; or a portion of the Earth was by miracle broken off, and that in the latter-days it would be restored to Earth or be let down in the polar regions. Whether the Prophet founded his opinion upon revelation or whether it was a matter of mere speculation with him, I am unable to say. (Orson Pratt to John C. Hall, December 13th, 1875. [Elder Pratt however seemed to of been of the opinion that they resided on or in the North Pole.])

11 Feb 1881 – Some remarks were made by Sister Green stating that she heard Eliza Snow speak of the 9 and ½ lost tribes being on an orb and would eventually come back to their former place and we should know when they came by certain signs.

6 Mar 1881 – Brother Jacob Gates … Said he heard Joseph Smith say when he was at Bishop Partridge’s house in Far West, Missouri, concerning the ten lost tribes. “They are hid from us by land and air.” Said Bishop Partridge, “I guess they are by land and water,” in a doubting manner as if Joseph did not know what he was talking about. “Yes,” said Joseph, “by land and air; they are hid from us in such a manner and at such an angle that the astronomers cannot get their telescopes to bear on them from this Earth.”

10 Mar 1881 – At night paid Sister Eliza R. Snow a short visit and had some conversation with her on the dividing of the Earth. She told me that she heard the Prophet say that when the Ten Tribes were taken away the Lord cut the Earth in two, Joseph striking his left hand in the centre with the edge of his right to illustrate the idea, and that they were on an orb or planet by themselves, and when they return with the portion of this Earth that was taken away with them, the coming together of these two bodies or orbs would cause a shock and make the ‘Earth reel to and fro like a drunken man.’ She also stated that he said the Earth was now ninety times [percent?] smaller now than when first created or organized.

17 April 1898 – Attended Sunday school theological class. Brother Joseph Snow gave a very interesting lecture on the scattering and gathering of Israel. Said that the papyrus obtained by the Prophet Joseph Smith in connection with the Books of Moses and Abraham fond in the wrappings of the mummies gave an account of the ten lost tribes of Israel, their journeyings geographically to the land of the North country, a place where no man had ever set his foot before, also a diagram showing their present location (in space), also the city of Enoch. (Diary of Charles L. Walker.)

In the afternoon I go uptown and meet Lorin Woolley, with whom I converse for 2 or 3 hours. He told me of some of his experiences in the underground business, and confirmed some points of doctrine I had believed in. He agreed with me that the ten tribes are not on the earth, and moreover said that in reading George Q. Cannon’s Doctrine and Covenants, he had noted in the margin a statement to that effect, which had been made by the Prophet Joseph Smith. (George E. Woolley (his uncle) Journal, September 22, 1891.)

He [Franklin W. Richards] said that the ten tribes of Israel were separated from the earth – so Joseph Smith had said. (Rudger Clawson Diary, Book 10, p. 87 (referring to Richards, 3 Apr 1892 conference talk)

I heard him say, “Peradventure, the Ten Tribes were not on this globe, but a portion of earth had cleaved off with them and went flying into space, and when the time comes when the ‘earth reels to and fro like a drunken man and the stars from heaven fall,’ it would join on again.” Bathsheba W. Smith, Recollections of the Prophet Joseph Smith, The Juvenile Instructor 27:34, 1st June 1892.

Philo Dibble testified in May, 1884 that in 1882 in response to his asking the Prophet of the location of the Ten Tribes he was drawn a diagram showing the Earth with two spheres on either of its sides, one of which was supposed to be their residence. (His son Sidney and Matthew M. Dalton made sworn statements to this effect in January 1906.)⁹

I have not verified the source of all the above references, but my guess concerning the “Lost Ten Tribes” is that the evidence and witness supports in varying degrees that some are lost; some scattered; some assimilated; some distinct; some hidden; some here; some there. God knows.

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1. https://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.com/2024/05/confused-about-jews-part-i-conflation.html
2. https://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.com/2024/05/confused-about-israel-part-2-gathering.html
3. Lost Tribes
• https://thefairestgem.com/2020/08/12/the-prophet-joseph-smith-teaches-of-the-ten-lost-tribes/
• https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/old-testament-student-manual-kings-malachi/enrichment-d?lang=eng
• http://www.newrevelations.net/wherearetentribes.html
• https://www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/answers/Question:_Did_Joseph_Smith_believe_that_the_lost_Ten_Tribes_were_living_under_the_polar_ice_cap%3F
• https://byustudies.byu.edu/article/the-ten-lost-tribes-a-world-history/
• http://www.mormonthink.com/QUOTES/losttribes.htm
• https://www.mormondialogue.org/topic/73501-where-are-the-lost-ten-tribes/
• http://www.newrevelations.net/wherearetentribes.html
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_Lost_Tribes
• https://www.reddit.com/r/exmormon/comments/1fzmwv/
joseph_smith_taught_multiple_followers_that_the/
• https://mormonbible.org/old-testament/old-testament-3/the-ten-lost-tribes
• https://www.britannica.com/topic/Ten-Lost-Tribes-of-Israel
• https://aish.com/the-search-for-the-ten-lost-tribes/
• https://www.gutenberg.org/files/27177/27177-h/27177-h.htm
• https://mormonmonsters.blogspot.com/2009/09/ten-tribes-live-on-another-planet.html
• https://rodolfovergara.com/are-the-ten-tribes-of-israel-on-another-planet/
• https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/israel/losttribes.html
• https://www.mormondialogue.org/topic/73501-where-are-the-lost-ten-tribes/
4. https://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.com/2019/12/could-earth-be-square.html
5. https://www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/answers/Question:_Did_Joseph_Smith_believe_that_the_lost_Ten_Tribes_were_living_under_the_polar_ice_cap%3F

6. https://doctrineandcovenantscentral.org/history/wandle-mace/
https://archives.lib.byu.edu/repositories/14/resources/7610
7. http://www.newrevelations.net/wherearetentribes.html
8. https://www.reddit.com/r/mormon/comments/17oloem/location_of_10_lost_tribes/ (Willy Pete)
Footnote 12 from https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/letter-from-thomas-burdick-28-august-1840/2#12659479498828434175 (p. 175)
9. https://www.reddit.com/r/exmormon/comments/1fzmwv/joseph_smith_taught_multiple_followers_that_the/

Confused About Israel? Part 2: the Gathering?

First in this series: Confused About the Jews? Part One: Conflation¹

Part TWO:
A friend was struggling with the non-fulfillment of a desired promise when these words came into her mind: “The things of eternity cannot be rushed.” When she reported the experience, it reminded me of an article published some years ago in “Gleanings in Genesis,”² explaining three principles in discerning the will of God for making changes in our lives or circumstances. And how interesting that Jacob / Israel should be our model for those three principles.

“... It has been suggested by Dr. Griffith-Thomas that this incident [Jacob leaving Padan-Aram] supplies us with valuable principles for regulating the believer in his daily life when in doubt concerning the will of God. How often one is puzzled to know whether God would have us take a certain course or not. How may I be sure of God’s will concerning some issue which confronts me? An important question; one that is frequently met with, and one which must find answer in the Word alone. Surely God has not left us without something definite for our guidance. Not that we must always look for a passage of Scripture whose terms are absolutely identical with our own situation, but rather must we search for some passage which sets forth some clearly defined principles which are suited to meet our case. Such indeed we find here in Genesis 31.

“Jacob was in a strange land. He had been there for twenty years, yet he knew he was not to spend the remainder of his days there. God had assured him he should return to Canaan. How much longer then was he to tarry at Padan-Aram? When was he to start out for his old home? How could he be sure when God’s time for him to move had arrived? Pressing questions these. Note how the answer to them is found here in three things: first, a definite desire sprang up in Jacob’s heart to return home — this is evident from Genesis 30:25. But this in itself was not sufficient to warrant a move, so Jacob must wait a while longer. Second, circumstances became such that a move seemed the wise thing; the jealousy of Laban and his sons made his continued stay there intolerable. (Genesis 31:1, 2.) This was ordered of God who makes all things “work together” for the good of His own people. But still something more was needed ere Jacob was justified in leaving. So, in the third place there was a clear word from God

— “The Lord said unto Jacob, Return unto the land of thy fathers.” (Genesis 31:3.)

“It is not always that God gives us a manifestation of these three principles, but whenever they do combine and are evident we may be sure of His will in any given circumstance”³ (bold emphasis added).

Now, I present a third case about timing when seeking to discern the will of God. It comes from Ginzberg’s Legends of the Jews as he tells of Moses leading the Children of Israel out of Egypt and deciding to take a longer route in order to avoid contact with the Philistines. Ginzberg inserts this explanation for the detour:

“... there was the fear that the sight of the land of the Philistines would awaken sad recollections in the Israelites and drive them back into Egypt speedily, for once upon a time it [the land of the Philistines] had been the scene of a bitter disappointment to them [the Israelites]. They had spent one hundred and eighty years in Egypt, in peace and prosperity, not in the least molested by the people. Suddenly Ganon came, a descendant of Joseph, of the tribe of Ephraim, and he spake, "The Lord hat appeared unto me, and He bade me lead you forth out of Egypt." The Ephraimites were the only ones to heed his words. Proud of their royal lineage as direct descendants of Joseph, and confident of their valor in war, for they were great heroes, they left the land and betook themselves to Palestine. They carried only weapons and gold and silver. They had taken no provisions, because they expected to buy food and drink on the way or capture them by force if the owners would not part with them for money.

“After a day's march they found themselves in the neighborhood of Gath, at the place where the shepherds employed by the residents of the city gathered with the flocks. The Ephraimites asked them to sell them some sheep, which they expected to slaughter in order to satisfy their hunger with them, but the shepherds refused to have business dealings with them, saying, "Are the sheep ours, or does the cattle belong to us, that we could part with them for money?" Seeing that they could not gain their point by kindness, the Ephraimites used force. The outcries of the shepherds brought the people of Gath to their aid. A violent encounter, lasting a whole day, took place between the Israelites and the Philistines. The people of Gath realized that alone they would not be able to offer successful resistance to the Ephraimites, and they summoned the people of the other Philistine cities to join them. The following day an army of forty thousand stood ready to oppose the Ephraimites. Reduced in strength, as they were, by their three days' fast, they were exterminated root and branch. Only ten of them escaped with their bare life, and returned to Egypt, to bring Ephraim word of the disaster that had overtaken his posterity, and he mourned many days.”⁴

The above three examples bring me to these questions:

▪ If the three Jacob-principles are a potential guide in the things of God’s will and timing, should they have been satisfied in the founding of the state called Israel?
▪ Was the “gathering” in God’s will and timing or man’s?
▪ Are we to take the passion and rhetoric of Theodor Herzl,⁵ “the father and founder of political Zionism,” et al. as the governing desire of the Jews?
▪ Can we acknowledge that there were many Jews who opposed the creation of a nation state, like Moshe Menuhin who wrote of his and others’ distress in "Not by Might, Nor by Power": The Zionist Betrayal of Judaism⁶; or of Rabbi Yaakov Shapiro who wrote: The Empty Wagon: Zionism's Journey from Identity Crisis to Identity Theft⁷; or of many others of Tribe Judah with the same concerns who can be found by searching?⁸
▪ Was 1948 (date of the founding of a nation calling itself Israel) the initiation of the promised, prophesied gathering?
▪ Is Tribe Judah to gather first in lands originally divided amongst Twelve?
▪ Could Herzl or perhaps even Walter Rothschild⁹ (a major Zionism advocate and financier) be Ganon-types who desired and imagined something so avidly that there was no thought about God's timing; perhaps an obsession and self-appointment to impose a sectarian vision?
▪ In this world of power obsession and lying wonders have we been deceived?
▪ Has Tribe Judah’s identity been stolen as Rabbi Shapiro claims?¹⁰
▪ If the Twelve Tribes of Israel had a commission from God to witness of His Plan of Redemption and Salvation¹¹ is that what the nation calling itself Israel has been seeking to do?

God has great promises of gathering for Tribe Judah AND for the other eleven Tribes, as well as for all Gentiles who come unto Him as Nephi writes:

1 ... for I, Nephi, would not suffer that ye [the people of Nephi] should suppose that ye are more righteous than the Gentiles shall be. For behold, except ye shall keep the commandments of God ye shall all likewise perish; and because of the words which have been spoken ye need not suppose that the Gentiles are utterly destroyed.
2 For behold, I say unto you that as many of the Gentiles as will repent are the covenant people of the Lord; and as many of the Jews as will not repent shall be cast off; for the Lord covenanteth with none save it be with them that repent and believe in his Son, who is the Holy One of Israel (Book of Mormon | 2 Nephi 30:1–2).

1 AND now, my beloved brethren, I have read these things that ye might know concerning the covenants of the Lord that he has covenanted with all the house of Israel—
2 That he has spoken unto the Jews, by the mouth of his holy prophets, even from the beginning down, from generation to generation, until the time comes that they shall be restored to the true church and fold of God; when they shall be gathered home to the lands of their inheritance, and shall be established in all their lands of promise.
3 Behold, my beloved brethren, I speak unto you these things that ye may rejoice, and lift up your heads forever, because of the blessings which the Lord God shall bestow upon your children .(Book of Mormon | 2 Nephi 9:1–3, bold emphasis added).

What do we make of “until the time comes that they shall be restored to the true church and fold of God; when they shall be gathered home to the lands of their inheritance ...”?

Yes, there may be other interpretation of wording and placement, but what also of these words:

11 Wherefore, after they are driven to and fro, for thus saith the angel, many shall be afflicted in the flesh, and shall not be suffered to perish, because of the prayers of the faithful; they shall be scattered, and smitten, and hated; nevertheless, the Lord will be merciful unto them, that when they shall come to the knowledge of their Redeemer, they shall be gathered together again to the lands of their inheritance (Book of Mormon | 2 Nephi 6:11).

7 But behold, thus saith the Lord God: When the day cometh that they [the Jews] shall believe in me, that I am Christ, then have I covenanted with their fathers that they shall be restored in the flesh, upon the earth, unto the lands of their inheritance (Book of Mormon | 2 Nephi 10:7).

7 And it shall come to pass that the Jews which are scattered also shall begin to believe in Christ; and they shall begin to gather in upon the face of the land; and as many as shall believe in Christ shall also become a delightsome people (Book of Mormon | 2 Nephi 30:7).¹²

Mostly I have questions because the history of man, including the Children of Israel, has been one déjà vu after another where:

16 They seek not the Lord to establish his righteousness, but every man walketh in his own way, and after the image of his own god, whose image is in the likeness of the world, and whose substance is that of an idol, which waxeth old and shall perish in Babylon, even Babylon the great, which shall fall (Doctrine and Covenants | Section 1:16).

Do we really think that the GODS* of the nation called Israel are any more or less than the GODS* of every other nation from the Americas through Europe, to the entire Middle East and beyond — being *Guns, Oil, Drugs, Sex? being also the DOGS of war¹³! I repeat the laments of God and Moses that have echoed for nigh 4000 years:

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 31:16).

27 For I [Moses] 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? ...
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 (Old Testament | Deuteronomy 31:27, 29).

So few of God’s children (whether of Tribes Israel or Gentile) have seemed to learn wisdom. The pride cycle¹⁴ spins on and we take sides instead of crying repentance to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, beginning with ourself! 

Yet, there is hope (with a warming):

16 ¶ Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;
17 Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.
18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
19 If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:
20 But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it (Old Testament | Isaiah 1:16-20).

----------------------------------------/
1. https://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.com/2024/05/confused-about-jews-part-i-conflation.html
2. Written by Arthur Pink
3. https://www.grace-ebooks.com/library/Arthur%20W.%20Pink/Gleanings%20in%20Genesis%20-%20Arthur%20W.%20Pink.pdf  | pp. 323-324
Additional Summary:
“First, a definite conviction in our hearts that God desires us to take a certain course or do a certain thing.
“Second, the path He would have us take being indicated by outward circumstances, which make it (humanly) possible or expedient we should do it. Then, third, after definitely waiting on God for it, some special word from the Scriptures which is suited to our case and which by the Spirit bringing it manifestly to our notice (while waiting for guidance) is plainly a message from God to our individual heart. Thus may we be assured of God’s will for us. The most important thing is to wait on God. Tell Him your perplexity, ask Him to prevent you from making any mistake, cry earnestly to Him to make “plain His way before your face” (Psalm 5:8), and then “wait patiently” till He does so. Remember that “whatsoever is not of faith is sin.” (Romans 4:23.) If you are sincere and patient, and pray in faith, then, in His own good time and way, He will most certainly answer, either by removing the conviction or desire from your heart, and arranging your circumstances in such a manner that your way is blocked — and then you will know His time for you to move has not arrived — or, by deepening your conviction, so ordering your circumstances as that the way is opened up without your doing anything yourself, and by speaking definitely through His written Word. “Commit thy way unto the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass. (Psalm 37:5.) The meek will He guide in judgment; and the meek will He teach His way.” (Psalm 25:9.) “He that believeth shall not make haste.” May writer and reader be permitted by Divine grace to enjoy that blessed peace that comes from knowing we are in the will that “good and perfect and acceptable will” — of God.
4. Ginzberg, Louis. The Legends of the Jews — Volume 3 . (Locations 115-134) Kindle Edition. Print Edition: pp. 7-9)
Additional comment from Ginzberg:
“This abortive attempt of the Ephraimites to leave Egypt was the first occasion for oppressing Israel. Thereafter the Egyptians exercised force and vigilance to keep them in their land. As for the disaster of the Ephraimites, it was well-merited punishment, because they had paid no heed to the wish of the father Joseph, who had adjured his descendants solemnly on his deathbed not to think of quitting the land until the redeemer should appear.” (Ginzberg, Louis. The Legends of the Jews — Volume 3,. p. 9.)
See also:
Old Testament | Exodus 13:17
   17 ¶ And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, Lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt:
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodor_Herzl
6. Menuhin, Moshe. "Not by Might, Nor by Power": The Zionist Betrayal of Judaism (Forbidden Bookshelf). Open Road Media. Kindle Edition.
7. The Empty Wagon: Zionism's Journey from Identity Crisis to Identity Theft
https://www.youtube.com/@RabbiYaakov/videos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6PsKFBxY8Y
8. For example: Meet The ‘Wrong Jew’ The Media Doesn’t Want You To Know Exists
(Double Down News | Apr 28, 2024 | Time 4:00 min.) at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mEuE-XiHj4
9. • Walter Rothschild and the Balfour Declaration
https://www.rothschildarchive.org/family/family_interests/walter_rothschild_and_the_balfour_declaration
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balfour_Declaration
• https://www.britannica.com/event/Balfour-Declaration
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Rothschild,_2nd_Baron_Rothschild
chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www1.udel.edu/History-old/figal/Hist104/assets/pdf/readings/14balfour.pdf
• https://www.history.com/topics/middle-east/balfour-declaration
• https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-balfour-declaration
• Lord Rothschild presentation 8 Nov 2018 Sothebys NYC
(Waddesdon Manor | Dec 18, 2018 | Time 16:49 min.) at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhaihcUNAnE
• The Full Balfour Centenary Lecture with Simon Schama
(The Jewish Leadership Council | Nov 8, 2017 | Time 1:13:57 min.) at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4c-gRbSn_I
• The True Story Behind the Balfour Declaration
(Israel's Foreign Affairs Min. | Nov 2, 2017 | Time 5:03 min.) at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAYDRdHytO4
10. See footnote 7 and consider also:
New Testament | Revelation 2:9
   9 I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.
New Testament | Revelation 3:9
   9 Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.
11. New Testament | Acts 13:47
   47 For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth.
New Testament | Philippians 2:15
   15 That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;
 Old Testament | Isaiah 42:6-7
   6 I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles;
   7 To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.
• “Here is a people whom God had chosen and redeemed from agony and slavery, a people to whom He gave His Torah, a land, prosperity, and prophets. And this people whose destiny was to be a witness to the living God and a light to the nations, ...” | Heschel, Abraham Joshua. The Prophets (p. 369). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.
12. Other potentially relevant verses:

Old Testament | Hosea 1:10-11
   10 ¶ Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God.
   11 Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together, and appoint themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land: for great shall be the day of Jezreel.
Old Testament | Micah 2:12
   2 ¶ I will surely assemble, O Jacob, all of thee; I will surely gather the remnant of Israel; I will put them together as the sheep of Bozrah, as the flock in the midst of their fold: they shall make great noise by reason of the multitude of men.

Book of Mormon | 1 Nephi 10:14
   14 And after the house of Israel should be scattered they should be gathered together again; or, in fine, after the Gentiles had received the fulness of the Gospel, the natural branches of the olive-tree, or the remnants of the house of Israel, should be grafted in, or come to the knowledge of the true Messiah, their Lord and their Redeemer.
Book of Mormon | 1 Nephi 19:15-16
   15 Nevertheless, when that day cometh, saith the prophet, that they no more turn aside their hearts against the Holy One of Israel, then will he remember the covenants which he made to their fathers.
   16 Yea, then will he remember the isles of the sea; yea, and all the people who are of the house of Israel, will I gather in, saith the Lord, according to the words of the prophet Zenos, from the four quarters of the earth.
Book of Mormon | 1 Nephi 22:11-12
   11 Wherefore, the Lord God will proceed to make bare his arm in the eyes of all the nations, in bringing about his covenants and his gospel unto those who are of the house of Israel.
   12 Wherefore, he will bring them again out of captivity, and they shall be gathered together to the lands of their inheritance; and they shall be brought out of obscurity and out of darkness; and they shall know that the Lord is their Savior and their Redeemer, the Mighty One of Israel.
Doctrine and Covenants | Section 77:14
   14 Q. What are we to understand by the little book which was eaten by John, as mentioned in the 10th chapter of Revelation?
   A. We are to understand that it was a mission, and an ordinance, for him to gather the tribes of Israel; behold, this is Elias, who, as it is written, must come and restore all things.
Doctrine and Covenants | Section 77:9-11
   9 Q. What are we to understand by the angel ascending from the east, Revelation 7th chapter and 2nd verse?
   A. We are to understand that the angel ascending from the east is he to whom is given the seal of the living God over the twelve tribes of Israel; wherefore, he crieth unto the four angels having the everlasting gospel, saying: Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. And, if you will receive it, this is Elias which was to come to gather together the tribes of Israel and restore all things.
   10 Q. What time are the things spoken of in this chapter to be accomplished?
   A. They are to be accomplished in the sixth thousand years, or the opening of the sixth seal.
   11 Q. What are we to understand by sealing the one hundred and forty-four thousand, out of all the tribes of Israel—twelve thousand out of every tribe?
   A. We are to understand that those who are sealed are high priests, ordained unto the holy order of God, to administer the everlasting gospel; for they are they who are ordained out of every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, by the angels to whom is given power over the nations of the earth, to bring as many as will come to the church of the Firstborn.
Old Testament | Isaiah 11:11-12
   11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.
   12 And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.
Old Testament | Ezekiel 37:21-22
   21 And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land:
   22 And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all:
13. https://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.com/2019/05/the-dogs-of-war.html

14. https://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.com/2019/08/are-we-repeating-history-without-memory.html

Confused About the Jews? Part I: Conflation

A decade ago, I first came across an author who lumped Twelve Tribes into one and called them all Jewish.¹ Periodically, I have observed the same conflation, but in the past few weeks, I have been reading another author² who incredibly, persistently conflates twelve into one, which motivated this post. However, if we know our history (and it hasn’t been corrupted too much), we know, in summary, that

▪ Moses led Twelve Tribes of Israel (aka Jacob) out of bondage in Egypt (being descendants of Jacob’s 12 sons in order of birth: Reuben(L), Simeon(L), Levi(L), Judah(L), Dan(B), Naphtali(B), Gad(Z), Asher(Z), Issachar(L), Zebulun(L), Joseph(R) [Manasseh, Ephraim], and Benjamin(R)³;

▪ after 40 years of wandering in the wilderness with the fickle faithful,⁴ Moses died (as well as all the old fearful), then Joshua led the young posterity of the twelve sons of Israel across the Jordan River into their Promised Land flowing with milk and honey⁵;

▪ the land west of the Jordan was divided amongst 9½ Tribes with Reuben’s, Gad’s, and half of Manasseh’s posterity assigned lands east of the Jordan; see map here⁶;

▪ after years of wars with their pagan neighbors and a few conflicts amongst themselves, their judges-system was abandoned in favor of a royal-system, much to the dismay of Samuel the prophet⁷;

▪ after a disappointing king Saul, a war-plagued king David, and a wise-then-foolish king Solomon, the “united” kingdom split in two: Solomon’s foolish son Rehoboam hanging onto the South (with Tribe Judah and Tribe Benjamin⁸), while Ahijah-anointed Jeroboam took the North Ten Tribes in an idolatrous direction in order to preserve his power⁹;

▪ the kings of the divided North and South sometimes helped, sometimes hindered each other until the South-Judah king Ahaz invited Assyria to settle a conflict with his pesky, perfidious Northern brethren¹⁰

▪ circa 722 BC, rapacious Assyria consented and, as was Assyria's tyrannical custom, exported the North conquered peoples to some distant land (Lost Ten Tribes?) while importing other conquered peoples to take the lands of the displaced¹¹;

▪ that temporarily solved the North-South “brotherly” divide but then Babylon took the reigns of power from Assyria and soon (circa 587 BC) displaced much of Tribe Judah+ (including Daniel, et al.) to Babylon¹²;

▪ 70 years later some of Tribe Judah returned to Jerusalem to rebuild where they encountered Samaritans whose traditions claimed Hebrew ancestry; thus, the divide resurfaced and endured for hundreds of years as we read in the Gospel accounts¹³;

▪ Note: Not all of the Ten (722 BC) or all of Tribes Judah / Benjamin (587 BC) were displaced. Some of the poor remained and undoubtedly mixed and intermarried with other tribe members or with other imported locals. For example, the family of Book of Mormon Lehi were of Tribe Manasseh living in the environs of Jerusalem in 600 BC.¹⁴

So how do we sort this all out? Who is a Jew? Who is a different Semite¹⁵? Who is a Gentile?

Well, as DNA testing has shown, all of us are a mixed medley of genetics. Assyria and Babylon helped orchestrate that mix-up early on by exporting and importing numerous tribal populations, including the Twelve of Israel, not to mention the natural catastrophes, famines, and other wars in history that set other populations on the move. By now, the majority of the world must have, at least, a trace of Abraham in their genetics, considering that he had at least 8 biological sons,¹⁶ (and perhaps a number of daughters). Granted, the “seed” chosen to be a blessing and light to the world (according to the Bible) was through Abraham's  son Isaac and his grandson Jacob/Israel, but the whole batch of Twelve Tribes of Israel consistently failed their promise and potential (like most of us, Gentiles included). As Abraham Heschel wrote:

Here is man whom God had made and to whom He had given dominion over sea and land. Here is a people whom God had chosen and redeemed from agony and slavery, a people to whom He gave His Torah, a land, prosperity, and prophets. And this people whose destiny was to be a witness to the living God and a light to the nations, betrayed His teachings, turned to idols, and abandoned Him. The Judge of the world cried His protest again and again. But the people remained deaf to the prophets.¹⁷

Throughout history, only a remnant seems to have grasp the Plan, with the majority recycling perpetually through the laments of Moses and God:

27 For I [Moses] 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? ...
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 (Old Testament | Deuteronomy 31:27, 29; for God’s lament see footnote 4 below).

So who are the descendants of Tribe Judah? What does the DNA reveal? In recent months, a new vlog¹⁸ has come forth (March15, 2023) with fascinating data worth studying (along with its pro and con comments):

THE MYSTERY OF ANCIENT ISRAELITE DNA
(Unraveling the Scriptures | Apr 26. 2024 |Time 10:20 min.) at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1xF12jM4rc

THE ORIGIN OF THE MIZRAHI JEWS: ARE THEY REAL JEWS?
(Unraveling the Scriptures | May 6, 2024 | Time 11:03 min.) at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNCXx5Yrgu8&t=2s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNCXx5Yrgu8

In addition, this observation:

The Difference Between Judaism and Israel Explained
Andrew Bustamante | May 5, 2024 | Time 2:16 min.) at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hBzeWTOsMw
NOTE: Bustamante's praise of the CIA  in other interviews is not in accord with history, human nature, or R.I.C.E (https://dejavu-times.blogspot.com/2024/04/the-price-of-rice.html).

It appears that cultural and religious affiliations are a large part of what makes a Jew, but another conflation error, with tragic historical and current day consequences, is to lump all Jews (genetic, religious, cultural) into one unity, discounting the diversity in thought, opinion, character, feeling, etc., inherent in every group. Every group, Jew, Arab, Gentile, Black, White, Chinese, Japanese, et al. al. al. has their share of authoritarian scoundrels who pursue and claim entitlement to dominate and to reconfigure the world. History is rife with scoundrels, but they do not and should not define an entire group. To label any person, Jew or Gentile, as antisemitic or racist or ...phobic if they criticize or oppose some favored agenda or narrative distorts truth. Some rabbis have even labelled other Jews as antisemitic for differing from the scripted view. Jews are as diverse in their opinions, perspectives, hopes, and dreams as any other group.¹⁹ And this current rise of persecution of any identifiable Jew is conflation at its tragic worst. It is the very spirit of Nazism writ-large, whatever the alleged justification. Yes, there are plenty of scoundrels in the history (and current events) of Tribe Judah, just as there are plenty in the history of Tribe Ephraim, not to mention “Tribes” Germany, Russia, China, Japan, USA, and on and on. Conflation leads to confusion, chaos, and criminality, as we presently witness on our college campuses, and elsewhere.

If we knew our history, we would know that many elites-of-domination (within every nation, kindred, tongue, and people) seek and eventually attain power in nigh every GO and NGO worldwide. That is the nature of the power-beast. Orchestrating conflation is one of their primary tools for managing peoples and power. In today's global, technified, power-mad world, we can be pretty sure that whatever we perceive as truth is probably more than half programming, propaganda, and perfidy. And if we ask any difficult questions of the powers or their servitors, we risk some blanket label designed to shut down thought and discourse. But thought and discourse are crucial to unravelling regional and global conflicts. Are we to ignore conflations that distort because we are afraid of labels and ideological dogmatists who claim teflon-immunity to criticism or questions? 

As I conclude this post on Confused About the Jews? Part I: Conflation, can I even ask:

Have we also conflated the land?

Map source - footnote 20

And if we have conflated the land, what does that say about the “Gathering” (which I intend to ponder in Part II)? 

-------------------------------------/
1. Wilder, Lynn K.. Unveiling Grace. Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
‘Mike’s blessing said, “The blood of Ephraim flows in your veins.” Wow, he had a Jewish heritage? Later I searched his genealogy, since we were encouraged to find the names of dead ancestors to take with us to the temple for their saving ordinances, but I didn’t find any Jewish ancestry’ (p. 46, bold emphasis added).
In another story, she tells of a Palestinian who asked her, “I lived in Arizona and met some Mormons. They told me they are Jews, something about adoption. Can you explain?” In her reply, she explains about the various Tribes, but again seems to leave the impression that if one is of a Tribe, one is a Jew (p. 303).
2. Connelly, Douglas. The Book of Revelation Made Clear: A User-Friendly Look at the Bible’s Most Complicated Book. Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
Despite the clarity of New Testament | Revelation 7:4-8:
   4 And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.
   5 Of the tribe of Juda were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand.
   6 Of the tribe of Aser were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Nepthalim were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Manasses were sealed twelve thousand.
   7 Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Levi were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Issachar were sealed twelve thousand.
   8 Of the tribe of Zabulon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand .
The author writes; “144,000 Jewish believers receive God’s seal on their foreheads” (p. 104).
“They hear about Jesus and come to believe (we assume) through the testimony of the 144,000 Jewish believers who are sealed by God’s angel” (p. 110).
“Not only will the 144,000 Jewish believers stand through the Tribulation because of God’s protection; a huge throng of people will also turn to Christ in faith and will stand in God’s presence in heaven” (p. 113; also pp. 118, 196, 231, 330, 332).
3. Bracket letter stands for the mother of the son: Leah, Bilhah, Zilpah, Rachel. Joseph obtains a double portion of inheritance through his sons Manasseh and Ephraim. Levi, the priestly order obtains no land inheritance, but cities in each of his brothers lands.
4. which seems to be the repeating human condition (Hebrew, Israelite, or Gentile) forever cycling between loyalty and disloyalty.
Old Testament | Deuteronomy 31:16
   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.
5. Old Testament | Exodus 3:7-8
   7 ¶ And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows;
   8 And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
6. Old Testament | Joshua 13:Heading
Inheritance of Reuben, Gad, and one half of Manasseh confirmed.
MAP of land division:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:12_Tribes_of_Israel_Map.svg
“English: Map of the territories allotted to the "twelve tribes of Israel" according to the Book of Joshua, chapters 13–19, before the move of Dan to the North. Note that these territories were only allegedly allotted to said tribes, and the texts themselves indicate that the tribes had troubles conquering all these areas and cities from the native peoples. The Biblical account may also be far from historically accurate, and has been disputed by scholars.”
7. https://voices-from-the-dust.blogspot.com/2024/01/446-warning-manner-of-kings-then-now.html
8. Old Testament | 1 Kings 12:21
   21 ¶ And when Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah, with the tribe of Benjamin, an hundred and fourscore thousand chosen men, which were warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, to bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam the son of Solomon.
9. Old Testament | 1 Kings 12:Heading
Rehoboam seeks to impose greater burdens upon the people—The ten tribes revolt and turn to Jeroboam—Jeroboam turns to idolatry and worships false gods.
10. Old Testament | 2 Kings 16:7
   7 So [king] Ahaz [of Judah] sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying, I am thy servant and thy son: come up, and save me out of the hand of the king of Syria, and out of the hand of the king of Israel, which rise up against me.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahaz
11. Old Testament | 2 Kings 15:Heading
Divers kings reign in Israel and in Judah—Their wickedness, wars, conspiracies, and evils set forth—Much of Israel is carried captive to Assyria by Tiglath-pileser.
Old Testament | 2 Kings 15:29
   29 In the days of Pekah king of Israel came Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, and took Ijon, and Abel-beth-maachah, and Janoah, and Kedesh, and Hazor, and Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali, and carried them captive to Assyria.
Old Testament | 2 Kings 17:Heading
Hoshea reigns in Israel and is subject to the Assyrians—Israel forsakes the Lord, worships idols, serves Baal, and rejects all that the Lord gave them—The ten tribes are carried away captive by kings of Assyria—Land of Israel (Samaria) repopulated by other people—Many forms of false worship found among the Samaritans.
Old Testament | 2 Kings 17:1, 3-6
   1 IN the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah began Hoshea the son of Elah to reign in Samaria over Israel nine years. ...
   3 ¶ Against him came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria; and Hoshea became his servant, and gave him presents.
   4 And the king of Assyria found conspiracy in Hoshea: for he had sent messengers to So king of Egypt, and brought no present to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year: therefore the king of Assyria shut him up, and bound him in prison.
   5 ¶ Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria, and besieged it three years.
  6 ¶ In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.
12. Old Testament | 2 Kings 24:Heading
Jerusalem besieged and taken by Nebuchadnezzar—Many of Judah carried captive into Babylon—Zedekiah becomes king in Jerusalem—He rebels against Babylon.
Old Testament | 2 Kings 25:Heading
Nebuchadnezzar again besieges Jerusalem—Zedekiah is captured, Jerusalem and the temple destroyed, and most of Judah carried into Babylon—Gedaliah, left to govern the remnant, is slain—The remnant flee to Egypt—Jehoiachin is shown favor in Babylon.
Old Testament | Jeremiah 5:Heading
Judgments shall be poured out upon the Jews because of their sins—Their iniquities cause blessings to be withheld from them.
Old Testament | Jeremiah 39:Heading
Jerusalem is taken and the people captivated—Jeremiah and Ebed-melech, the Ethiopian, are preserved.
Old Testament | Jeremiah 40:Heading
The king of Babylon makes Gedaliah governor over the remnant of Jews left in Judah—Jeremiah is freed and dwells among them.
Old Testament | Jeremiah 42:Heading
Jeremiah promises Johanan and the remnant of Judah peace and safety if they remain in Judah, but a sword and famine and pestilence if they go to Egypt.
Old Testament | Jeremiah 43:Heading
Johanan carries Jeremiah and the remnant of Judah into Egypt—Jeremiah prophesies that Babylon shall conquer Egypt.
Old Testament | Jeremiah 44:Heading
Jeremiah prophesies that the Jews in Egypt, save a small remnant, shall be destroyed because they worship false gods.
Old Testament | Ezra 9:Heading
Many Jews intermarry with, and follow the abominations of, the Canaanites and others—Ezra prays, and confesses the sins of all the people.
Old Testament | Daniel 1:Heading
Daniel and certain Hebrews are trained in the court of Nebuchadnezzar—They eat plain food and drink no wine—God gives them knowledge and wisdom beyond all others.
   1 IN the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem, and besieged it.
   2 And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with part of the vessels of the house of God: which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god; and he brought the vessels into the treasure house of his god.
13. New Testament | John 4:9
   9 Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samaritans
14. Book of Mormon | Alma 10:3
   3 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.
Note: The Book of Mormon also documents that a Tribe of Judah group migrated to the ancient Americas also before the destruction of Jerusalem in 587 BC.:
Book of Mormon | Mosiah 25:2-3
   2 Now there were not so many of the children of Nephi, or so many of those who were descendants of Nephi, as there were of the people of Zarahemla, who was a descendant of Mulek, and those who came with him into the wilderness.
   3 And there were not so many of the people of Nephi and of the people of Zarahemla as there were of the Lamanites; yea, they were not half so numerous.
Book of Mormon | Helaman 6:10
   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.
Book of Mormon | Helaman 8:21
   21 And now will you dispute that Jerusalem was destroyed? Will ye say that the sons of Zedekiah were not slain, all except it were Mulek? Yea, and do ye not behold that the seed of Zedekiah are with us, and they were driven out of the land of Jerusalem?
15. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semitic_people
16. Ishmael (Hagar); Isaac (Sarah); and by Keturah:
Old Testament | Genesis 25:1-2
   2 And she [Keturah] bare him Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah.
17. Heschel, Abraham Joshua. The Prophets (p. 369). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.
18. https://www.youtube.com/@UnravelingtheScriptures/videos.
Other relevant vlogs:
THE HIDDEN TRUTH LAND OF ISRAEL: WHO DOES IT BELONG TO?
(Unraveling the Scriptures | Oct 26, 2023 | Time 10:35 min.) at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIDBinN2LtQ
A HIDDEN CHAPTER OF HISTORY THE ORIGINS OF THE PALESTINIANS ACCORDING TO THE BIBLE
(Unraveling the Scriptures | Oct 17, 2023 | Time 13:44 min.) at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3pC8MnlEIg
THE MYSTERIOUS HIDDEN DNA OF THE ARABS
(Unraveling the Scriptures | May 2, 2024 | Time 10:45 min.) at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4v0ujc9s85k
THE ORIGIN OF THE IRANIANS ACCORDING TO THE BIBLE
(Unraveling the Scriptures | Apr 18, 2024 | Time 10:24 min.) at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjYze7W4uVE
19. Just read: Menuhin, Moshe. "Not by Might, Nor by Power": The Zionist Betrayal of Judaism (Forbidden Bookshelf) . Open Road Media. Kindle Edition.
20. MAP sources:
https://www.conformingtojesus.com/charts-maps/en/12_tribes_of_israel_map.htm
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:12_Tribes_of_Israel_Map.svg

Star of Islam? or Ishtar? or ... ?

It appears that several states have decided to redesign their state flags to include an 8-pointed star.¹ Some are calling it a symbol of Islam,² but in reality, it is far older than Islam. Some have asked: Why should all these flag designers happen upon the 8-pointed star at nearly the same time? Most of us don’t know why, but perhaps the goddess Ishtar / Inanna does since this goddess, in her many manifestations, has now returned to the world, front and center; and the eight-pointed star is historically hers.³

Even Utah considered using the 8-pointed star, allegedly, to represent its Tribal Nations,⁴ but opted for a single, 5-pointed star⁵ in its new flag, though one can find several instances of the 8-pointed version being offered for sale or flying in a virtual Utah breeze.⁶

The flag reform activists and design “experts” all insist that “symbols should mean something,” but the question is: Can we knowingly choose a symbol and ignore its historical meaning? What new meanings are designers ascribing to an old symbol and how do officials convey that new meaning to the many who will only see the symbol and never hear verbal or textual explanations? Yes, we have the 1978 case of new meaning assigned to the rainbow symbol, but then again, the rainbow was also co-opted long ago by Ishtar / Innana⁷ — the goddess of “ancient gender-bending parades.”⁸ Can we not see parallels to the old idolatry that caused such grief to the prophets of old? Yes, we need compassion for the genuine dysphorics, but this present obsession with affirming self-idolatry and cancel-contraries is to become like a pagan god, is it not? What is the message we give to knowingly display or affirm any symbol of pagan gods? To reclaim a co-opted symbol takes knowledge, exposure, public education, transparency, and persistence. 

The controversies when re-designing flags will always be with us in this multicultural world, as will self-obsessed diva / divo (SOD) activists and Balak/Balac-types⁹ pursuing disruption and destruction; so let us each ponder our own individual standing: How will I answer accusations of compromise and idolatry? Where is my membership within the NT Revelation churches¹⁰?

--------------------------------------/
1. New Flags Being Unveiled Across America Raising Concerns
(One America News Network | Apr 25, 2024 | Time 3:28 min) at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P12HUYw9ENk
NOTE: Their (OANN) display of the new Utah flag shows one of the proposed flags with the 8-pointed star and not the final approved version with the 5-pointed star.
• 8 pointed Star Meaning, The Symbolism And Origins Of The Octagram (Symbols And Meanings | Jul 20, 2021 | Time 1:29 min.) at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21X-Sqa8ZCg
2. However, from my observation, Arabic and Islamic countries most frequently use the five-pointed star.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_flag
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symbols_of_Islam
3. Cahn, Jonathan. The Return of the Gods. Charisma House. Kindle Edition.
• https://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.com/2023/05/choose-you-this-day.html
“The Star of Ishtar or Star of Inanna is a Mesopotamian symbol of the ancient Sumerian goddess Inanna and her East Semitic counterpart Ishtar. The owl was also one of Ishtar's primary symbols. Ishtar is mostly associated with the planet Venus, which is also known as the morning star.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_of_Ishtar
• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Eight-pointed_stars
• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Flags_with_one_eight-pointed_star_(centered)
• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Star_of_Shamash
• Excerpt from https://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.com/2024/03/isaiahs-lamentations.html
“Let us take time to ponder: How much social-consensus and self-centrism is manifest in our thoughts and behaviours? Have we any awareness of how our society has initiated and embraced the return of the old world gods Baal, Moloch, and Ishtar3 — the gods that caused so much prophetic lamentation in the past? How many of us naively participate in or affirm the rites, rituals, fashions, philosophies, and parades of the revived gods? And if we have somehow avoided the lure of Babylon and her resurgent gods, are we content with the praise of our goodness? the preaching of a 180 gospel of love and mercy almost completely ignoring justice and judgment, except for our judgments of the transparently wicked world? “
4. • Eight Tribal Nations: https://flag.utah.gov/final-flag-designs/
• Utah Beehive Flag: https://flag.utah.gov/symbolism/
5. A five-pointed star (☆), geometrically an equilateral concave decagon, is a common ideogram in modern culture. Comparatively rare in classical heraldry, it was notably introduced for the flag of the United States in the Flag Act of 1777 and since has become widely used in flags.
It has also become a symbol of fame or "stardom" in Western culture, among other uses.”
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five-pointed_star
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentagram
• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Five-pointed_stars
6. • Salt Lake Tribune: https://www.sltrib.com/artsliving/2022/11/10/see-new-design-that-may-replace/
• https://www.ebay.com/itm/155978367502?itmmeta=01HWXGCD1P24XRBAMHXJP5KD2C&hash=item245109020e:g:sL0AAOSwmqVlj1v1&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAA4P9lyXZMJeQYkgLtCJG9dk11oTE6GbWP3%2FXDZi6aOyZtANWxxMy7spJWyuyKxuLUAfORTasX2DL4jbDZSP3kDjvcgwsvKJHMOWxhZQzR5jt4hV9lhIXNQL0ck3zMnN7ivYJOJ6ICw88uMkVDR7iqThs1djtZgzLJ6oyuaN79J3veq1hLP9FNJBQ%2FADak2ldVaJVCCaKjopFVa1pjHMyfCi1iKNtdvlNbR4W6fA6X5iLQZIHtKsXYEKKQKt%2FWpW0lnR%2BQqlWOHUpFF9m9D2H29XlibR3iSwAgp%2BkJwYZTCVZg%7Ctkp%3ABFBMktGxsOdj
7. The Sign: The Rainbow Banner -
Cahn, Jonathan. The Return of the Gods (p. 181-184). Charisma House. Kindle Edition.
“There is an ancient Elamite inscription that reads “Manzat Ishtar.” There is debate over whether the name Ishtar is to be taken just as it appears or as a generic noun. Nevertheless, the inscription translates to the name Rainbow Ishtar.” Cahn, Jonathan. The Return of the Gods (p. 183). Charisma House. Kindle Edition.
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow_flag_(LGBT)
8. • “as they marched in the goddess’s ancient gender-bending parades,”
Cahn, Jonathan. The Return of the Gods (p. 172). Charisma House. Kindle Edition.
9. New Testament | Revelation 2:14
   14. But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication. (See also: Old Testament | Numbers 22-24; 31:16; New Testament | 2 Peter 2:15; Jude 1:11)
https://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.com/2022/11/deja-vu-doctrine-of-balaam-doctrine-of.html
10. https://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.com/2011/08/which-church.html

Flag Reform Extras:
• Flag reform was a mistake
J.J. McCullough | Dec 24, 2023 | Time 16:24 min.) at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRtUiORUh7c
• 🇺🇸 DOES YOUR FLAG FAIL? Grey Grades State Flags!
(CGP Grey | Apr 2, 2023| Time 18:52 min.) at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4w6808wJcU
• DID I DESIGN THE NEW UTAH FLAG? | The Beehive Flag Explained
(Flags for Good | Mar 14, 2023 | Time 12:33 min.) at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0-tpz4iKhM

Not in the Mind of God?

Over the years, this excerpt from an 1890 address by President Wilford Woodruff has caused considerable discussion:

The Lord will never permit me or any other man who stands as President of this Church to lead you astray. It is not in the programme. It is not in the mind of God. If I were to attempt that, the Lord would remove me out of my place, and so He will any other man who attempts to lead the children of men astray from the oracles of God and from their duty. (Sixty-first Semiannual General Conference of the Church, Monday, October 6, 1890, Salt Lake City, Utah. Reported in Deseret Evening News, October 11, 1890, p. 2.)¹

The same goes for President Benson’s 1980 talk, Fourteen Fundamentals in Following the Prophet where the Fourth Fundamental is: “The prophet will never lead the Church astray.”² President Benson bolstered this fundamental with a story told by Marion G. Romney about President Grant’s advice to always follow a prophet’s counsel because one would be blessed even if the prophet’s advice proved wrong. Yes, this is an individual case of advice, but it is used to support a general (ironic?) case that a living prophet can never lead the church astray. This idea is deeply embedded in church manuals and instruction. Only a sampling of references to President Benson’s talk are listed here,³ but the talk is a pervasive footnote.
 
Then, we have this 2021 video:

Follow the Prophet—He Speaks for God
(Russell Simon | Jan 10, 2021 | 2:51 min.) at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BavQ7i-vh0
Original source at Church Site⁴:
Description: Around a table in the Smith family log home in Palmyra, New York, President Russell M. Nelson and Joy D. Jones, General Primary President, ask a panel of children why it’s important to have a prophet. (Circa June 2021 | Time 2:51 min.)

We also have this: a recent resurfacing of the COVID issue:

Idaho Saints Rebuked for Not Following the Prophet
(Connor Boyack | Apr 21, 2024 | Time 55:44 min.) at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jv-CW0mUds0&t=5s

Yes, we are also told to follow the Spirit, but the more insistent drum beat seems to be “follow the prophet,” which is absolutely true if we accept Nephi’s definition:

21 And now I, Nephi, declare unto you, that this prophet of whom Moses spake was the Holy One of Israel; wherefore, he shall execute judgment in righteousness (Book of Mormon | 1 Nephi 22:20–21; bold emphasis added);

which clarifies the preceding verse: “that all those who will not hear that prophet [the Holy One of Israel] shall be cut off from among the people.”⁵

But by juxtaposing “follow the Spirit” with “follow the living prophet / president” a cognitive dissonance is resolving in some leaders and members who can’t accept that the Spirit might direct others to choose or decide contrary to perceived living counsel or authority? And since discerning the Spirit is a challenging, sometimes uncertain, work-in-progress for many of us, the default of “follow the leader / prophet” is more enticing, less time-consuming, less stressful, more soothing; except fairly concerning to those who are aware of the possible uses in creating cognitive dissonance — a known psychological tactic for manipulating thoughts and behaviors.

So as I consider what might be “in the mind of God,” I ask myself:

Why was Jesus so hard on the leaders of His day⁶?
Why did He direct His disciples to do the same⁷?
Why were Isaiah, Jeremiah, Micah, et al. so condemnatory of end-time leaders / priests / prophets⁸?
What should we make (or not) of Joseph Smith’s last dream⁹?
Why the story of an old prophet leading a young prophet astray¹⁰?
And why this provision?

76 But a literal descendant of Aaron has a legal right to the presidency of this priesthood, to the keys of this ministry, to act in the office of bishop independently, without counselors, except in a case where a President of the High Priesthood, after the order of Melchizedek, is tried, to sit as a judge in Israel.
...
82 And inasmuch as a President of the High Priesthood shall transgress, he shall be had in remembrance before the common council of the church, who shall be assisted by twelve counselors of the High Priesthood;
83 And their decision upon his head shall be an end of controversy concerning him.
84 Thus, none shall be exempted from the justice and the laws of God, that all things may be done in order and in solemnity before him, according to truth and righteousness (Doctrine and Covenants | Section 107:76, 82–84).¹¹

Yes, I believe this provision is intended to check straying and / or corruption, but are we, in today's world, too naïve about the nature of power and fraternal bonds?

This post is not to pronounce judgment on anyone, but to raise a cautionary flag as we roll on in these end-times. IF the test of loyalty to God is going to be so severe that

24 ... if it were possible^[12], they shall deceive the very elect (New Testament | Matthew 24:24);

then what greater proving than to test dogmatic expectations? And just as Jesus honored and respected God's temple¹³ in His day despite corruptions, can we not do likewise for the Restoration if we perceive problems, contraries, concerns, manipulations, encroachments of Babylon, and so forth? Just as the ancient temple was God's notwithstanding its administrators, so is the Restoration.

Each of us will be tested on an individual basis. Will we turn away from God's Restoration because of offended expectations and fallible flesh, or will we hold to the Word — to the rod, and follow the Spirit wherever it leads, even beyond every expectation? The present drum beat may feel excessive to some for as one commenter observed on Boyack’s vlog:

“To me, it sounds like programming, whether intentional or not. A wise person made this comment on a FB post, ‘The idea to remember is that if everyone is individually going to Jesus Christ and receiving personal revelation, then each person much be deceived for Satan to capture everyone. But if we are taught to follow the prophet, then only the prophet needs to be deceived for Satan to capture everyone’" (@meridentoombs3840).

I guess the thing I take away from the past four years, especially, is that God’s mind (and heart) is intent on preparing His children for the Day of Judgment and Justice. Do we ask ourselves, What am I preparing to face: the Law of Mercy or the Law of Justice?

Have we seen or heard any snapping red flags over the past many years? Are we seeing, yet not seeing? hearing, yet not hearing? What will the coming years bring?

Considering our God-given agency, I suspect there is much that happens that is “not in the mind of God” — i.e., according to His will. Just consider the many lamentations recorded in scripture¹⁴? Yet everything is in His ability to heal and redeem, if we will but turn to and trust in Him, repenting and aligning with His will; with His knowledge of powers and possibilities beyond our imagination — beyond our present comprehension.

--------------------------------------------/
1. Source: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/dc-testament/od/1?lang=eng (Bold emphasis added)
See also:
Doctrine and Covenants | Official Declaration 1:11
2 Fourteen Fundamentals in Following the Prophet | EZRA TAFT BENSON of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles | February 26, 1980:
 “Fourth: The prophet will never lead the Church astray.”
“President Wilford Woodruff stated: “I say to Israel, The Lord will never permit me or any other man who stands as president of the Church to lead you astray. It is not in the program. It is not in the mind of God.” (The Discourses of Wilford Woodruff, selected by G. Homer Durham [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1946], pp. 212-213.)
“President Marion G. Romney tells of this incident which happened to him:
“I remember years ago when I was a Bishop I had President [Heber J.] Grant talk to our ward. After the meeting I drove him home. . . .Standing by me, he put his arm over my shoulder and said: “My boy, you always keep your eye on the President of the Church, and if he ever tells you to do anything, and it is wrong, and you do it, the Lord will bless you for it.” Then with a twinkle in his eye, he said, “But you don’t need to worry. The Lord will never let his mouthpiece lead the people astray.” [In Conference Report, October 1960, p. 78]›
Source: https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/ezra-taft-benson/fourteen-fundamentals-following-prophet/
3. ▪ Repeated in October 2010 | Our Very Survival By Elder Kevin R. Duncan Of the Seventy
Source: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2010/10/our-very-survival?lang=eng#p15
▪ Consistently Recommended or referred to in numerous manuals and content:
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/book-of-mormon-seminary-teacher-manual-2017/helaman/lesson-113-helaman-13?lang=eng
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/foundations-of-the-restoration-teacher-manual/lesson-9-follow-the-living-prophet?lang=eng
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/old-testament-seminary-teacher-material-2018/isaiah/lesson-126?lang=eng
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/scripture-study-the-power-of-the-word-teacher-manual/lesson-8?lang=eng
https://speeches.byu.edu/topics/prophets/
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/old-testament-student-manual-kings-malachi/bibliography?lang=eng
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/teachings-of-the-living-prophets-student-manual-2016/chapter-7?lang=eng
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/teachings-of-the-living-prophets-student-manual-2016/chapter-2?lang=eng (4X)
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/book-of-mormon-seminary-teacher-manual-2024/36-helaman-7-12/361-teacher?lang=eng
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/old-testament-student-manual-kings-malachi/chapter-24?lang=eng (2X)
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/old-testament-seminary-teacher-resource-manual/the-book-of-isaiah/isaiah-1-12?lang=eng
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/old-testament-seminary-student-study-guide-obs/the-book-of-jeremiah/jeremiah-23-false-prophets?lang=eng
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/bc/content/shared/content/english/pdf/language-materials/34237_eng.pdf (2X)
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/book-of-mormon-teacher-resource-manual/the-book-of-alma/alma-43-58?lang=eng
4. Source: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/media/video/2020-05-0030-follow-prophets-they-speak-for-god?lang=eng&collectionId=9e790dc7ca744028bf6f1e1e4676fd60
(Archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20210612061721/https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/media/video/2020-05-0030-follow-prophets-they-speak-for-god?lang=eng&collectionId=9e790dc7ca744028bf6f1e1e4676fd60
5. Context: Book of Mormon | 1 Nephi 22:20-21
   20 And the Lord will surely prepare a way for his people, unto the fulfilling of the words of Moses, which he spake, saying: A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. And it shall come to pass that all those who will not hear that prophet shall be cut off from among the people.
   21 And now I, Nephi, declare unto you, that this prophet of whom Moses spake was the Holy One of Israel; wherefore, he shall execute judgment in righteousness.
6. https://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.com/2023/10/respecting-obeying-authority-what-did.html
https://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.com/2022/03/speaking-truth-to-power-new-testament.html
7. JST Matthew 7:6-9; JST1876-NT, p. 10 (Bold emphasis added.)
   6 And Jesus said unto his disciples, Beholdest thou the Scribes, and the Pharisees, and the Priests, and the Levites? They teach in their synagogues, but do not observe the law, nor the commandments; and all have gone out of the way, and are under sin.
   7 Go thou and say unto them, Why teach ye men the law and the commandments, when ye yourselves are the children of corruption?
   8 Say unto them, Ye hypocrites, first cast out the beam out of thine own yes; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.
   9 Go ye into the world, saying unto all, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come nigh unto you.
8. And can we safely assume they meant everyone but us?
Old Testament | Isaiah 9:13–16; Book of Mormon | 2 Nephi 19:13-15
   13 ¶ For the people turneth not unto him that smiteth them, neither do they seek the LORD of hosts.
   14 Therefore the LORD will cut off from Israel head and tail, branch and rush, in one day.
   15 The ancient and honourable, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail.
   16 For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed.
Old Testament | Isaiah 28:7
   7 ¶ But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment.
Old Testament | Isaiah 56:10-11
   10 His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber.
   11 Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough, and they are shepherds that cannot understand: they all look to their own way, every one for his gain, from his quarter.
Old Testament | Micah 3:5-11
   5 ¶ Thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets that make my people err, that bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace; and he that putteth not into their mouths, they even prepare war against him.
   6 Therefore night shall be unto you, that ye shall not have a vision; and it shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not divine; and the sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall be dark over them.
   7 Then shall the seers be ashamed, and the diviners confounded: yea, they shall all cover their lips; for there is no answer of God.
   8 ¶ But truly I am full of power by the spirit of the LORD, and of judgment, and of might, to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin.
   9 Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel, that abhor judgment, and pervert all equity.
   10 They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity.
   11 The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the LORD, and say, Is not the LORD among us? none evil can come upon us.
Old Testament | Jeremiah 23:2-4
   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.
   3 And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase.
   4 And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the LORD.
9. Joseph related the following dream which he had last night [June 26-27, 1844]:
“I was back in Kirtland, Ohio, and thought I would take a walk out by myself, and view my old farm, which I found grown up with weeds and brambles, and altogether bearing evidence of neglect and want of culture. I went into the barn which I found without floor or doors, with the weather boarding off, and was altogether in keeping with the farm. While I viewed the desolation around me, and was contemplating how it might be recovered from the curse upon it, there came rushing into the barn a company of furious men, who commenced to pick a quarrel with me. The leader of the party ordered me to leave the barn and the farm, stating it was none of mine, and that I must give up all hope of ever possessing it. I told him the farm was given me by the Church, and [HC 6:609] although I had not had any use of it for some time back, still I had not sold it, and according to [p. 177] <​June 27​> righteous principles it belonged to me or the Church. He then grew furious, and began to rail upon me and threaten me, and said it never did belong to me nor the Church. I then told him that I did not think it worth contending about; that I had no desire to live upon it in its present state, and if he thought he had a better right I would not quarrel with him about it, but leave; but my assurance that I would not trouble him at present did not seem to satisfy him, as he seemed determined to quarrel with me, and threatened me with the destruction of my body. While he was thus engaged, pouring out his bitter words upon me, a rabble rushed in and nearly filled the barn, drew out their knives, and began to quarrel among themselves for the premises; and for a moment forgot me, at which time I took the opportunity to walk out of the barn about up to my ankles in mud. When I was a little distance from the barn I heard them screeching and screaming in a very distressed manner, as it appeared they had engaged in a general fight with their knives. While they were thus engaged the dream or vision ended”
https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/history-1838-1856-volume-f-1-1-may-1844-8-august-1844/183
10. https://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.com/2010/11/lesson-from-old-prophet.html
https://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.com/2021/08/lesson-from-old-prophet-revisited.html
11. Extracted verses from section 107 for those who are curious:
Doctrine and Covenants | Section 107:77–81; bold emphasis added
   77 And the decision of either of these councils, agreeable to the commandment which says:
   78 Again, verily, I say unto you, the most important business of the church, and the most difficult cases of the church, inasmuch as there is not satisfaction upon the decision of the bishop or judges, it shall be handed over and carried up unto the council of the church, before the Presidency of the High Priesthood.
   79 And the Presidency of the council of the High Priesthood shall have power to call other high priests, even twelve, to assist as counselors; and thus the Presidency of the High Priesthood and its counselors shall have power to decide upon testimony according to the laws of the church.
   80 And after this decision it shall be had in remembrance no more before the Lord; for this is the highest council of the church of God, and a final decision upon controversies in spiritual matters.
   81 There is not any person belonging to the church who is exempt from this council of the church .
12. https://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.com/2012/09/if-it-were-possible.html
13. New Testament | Matthew 21:12-13 (Bold emphasis added.)
   12 ¶ And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves,
   13 And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.
New Testament | Luke 19:45-47 (Bold emphasis added.)
   45 And he [Jesus] went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold therein, and them that bought;
   46 Saying unto them, It is written, My house is the house of prayer: but ye have made it a den of thieves.
   47 And he taught daily in the temple.
14. https://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.com/2024/03/where-are-lamentations.html
https://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.com/2024/03/isaiahs-lamentations.html
https://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.com/2016/02/where-is-anguish.html
https://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.com/2018/04/sighing-and-crying.html
https://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.com/2017/11/seest-thou-what-they-do.html