"Peace and Safety" | "Violence and Spoil"

Frequently the “Powers” (or others seeking power or change) latch onto catch-phrases to maneuver people into compliantly (though sometimes violently) accepting or pursuing Utopian futures — phrases and slogans like this one from late 1700s France: Liberty, Equality, Fraternity. Sometimes they work for good and sometimes for evil. In our own time, we have heard:

Build Back Better
Safe and Effective
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI)
Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG)
Make America Great Again (MAGA)
Black Lives Matter
All Lives Matter
(plus many others).

A prophetic phrase that has been cropping up lately is “peace and safety.”¹ Where have we heard that before?

1 BUT of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.
2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape (New Testament | 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3)

Is this “peace and safety” pursuit just a build up to another 604-586 B.C. type catastrophe where Jeremiah and Ezekiel quoted the Lord’s own observation — that “violence and spoil” was the state of affairs because justice and judgment were not?​

6 ¶ For thus hath the LORD of hosts said, Hew ye down trees, and cast a mount against Jerusalem: this is the city to be visited; she is wholly oppression in the midst of her.
7 As a fountain casteth out her waters, so she casteth out her wickedness: violence and spoil is heard in her; before me continually is grief and wounds (Old Testament | Jeremiah 6:6–7).

9 ¶ Thus saith the Lord GOD; Let it suffice you, O princes of Israel: remove violence and spoil, and execute judgment and justice, take away your exactions from my people, saith the Lord GOD  (Old Testament | Ezekiel 45:9).

For those paying attention to the déjà vus of today’s national and world affairs, this observation of “violence and spoil” seems perfectly apt: war upon war; devastating geo-engineered storm after storm; “wild-fire” arson upon arson; litigation on litigation; misappropriation on misappropriation; scam after scam; scandal after scandal; mockery upon mockery of democratic, Republican, Constitutional principles and ideals.

To some degree we are beginning to see the extent of “violence and spoil” that the USA (and most other “Powers”) have concealed or suppressed from their people's awareness. Yet, even with the recent daily revelations, there are thousands of witnesses and exposés that remain unread, un-watched because we don’t really want to know the full truth — the full depth, the entire long spectrum from Right to Left — of “violence and spoil.” For many a 180° view is more than sufficient because a 360° comes too close to home.

BUT has God, the Supreme Polymath, given us a layered, bifurcated warning of things to come in His laments about JerUSAlem? Might things eventually come in threes: like the  destruction of the first Temple (Av 9, 587/86 B.C.) and the destruction of the second Temple² (Av 9, 70 A.D.) if we do not execute judgment and justice with integrity? — if we remain a hypocritical nation³ or a covenant people asking “what is our sin?”?⁴ Do we have an Av 9⁵ in our future? Do we understand how much Isaiah (at the point of 722 B.C.) and Jeremiah (at the points of 604, 597, 587/86 B.C.) were speaking to us in 2025? — that if we don’t begin to execute justice and judgment 360° that history will repeat itself?​

To me, God’s word seems but one long, déjà vu lament⁶ about and warning to His wayward children, interspersed with pleas, redemptive patterns and promises.

Let us look at our own reality 360°. Let us individually and as families reject the lures and acquisitions of “violence and spoil.” Let us petition every day for individual and national repentance, and where it cannot be found, for justice and judgment.

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1. Just web- or media-search “peace and safety” or “peace and security” to see numerous examples, e.g.: Thessalonians 5 Prophecy! (It’s Happening!) | Buddy Brown | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_UwT84MEo4
2. Per Jewish tradition, destruction of Temples 1 and 2 was on the same date Av 9, 656 years apart, though there is some dispute as to the truth of that coincidence: https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/tisha-bav-is-not-the-date-temples-were-destroyed/
3. Old Testament | Isaiah 10:1-6
   1 WOE unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed;
   2 To turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless!
   3 And what will ye do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation which shall come from far? to whom will ye flee for help? and where will ye leave your glory?
   4 Without me they shall bow down under the prisoners, and they shall fall under the slain. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
  5 ¶ O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation.
  6 I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.
4. Old Testament | Jeremiah 16:10
   10 ¶ And it shall come to pass, when thou shalt shew this people all these words, and they shall say unto thee, Wherefore hath the LORD pronounced all this great evil against us? or what is our iniquity? or what is our sin that we have committed against the LORD our God?
Old Testament | Proverbs 30:12
   12 There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness.
5. Av is the Hebrew fifth month (circa Gregorian July/August).
6. https://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.com/2014/01/gods-lament.html
https://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.com/2024/03/isaiahs-lamentations.html
https://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.com/2024/03/where-are-lamentations.html
.

Isaiah’s Lamentations?

If we accept that circa 34 A.D., Jesus commanded His people to

“search the words of Isaiah” because “all things that [Isaiah] spake have been and shall be, even according to the words which he spake,”¹

then do we ponder our place in those lamentations? Or are we so immersed in the environs of Babylon, like fish in water, that seeing, we see not how surrounded, compromised, distracted, preoccupied, addicted² we are? Do we ever ask how Isaiah’s words might apply to us in this very hour? how near his warnings might be to literal fulfilment?

What are we to make of these three lamentations out of many possible?

4 Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward.
5 ¶ Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.
6 From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.
7 Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.
8 And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city.
9 Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.
10 ¶ Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah (Old Testament | Isaiah 1:4–10).

8 ¶ The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it hath lighted upon Israel.
9 And all the people shall know, even Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria, that say in the pride and stoutness of heart,
10 The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones: the sycomores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars.
11 Therefore the LORD shall set up the adversaries of Rezin against him, and join his enemies together;
12 The Syrians before, and the Philistines behind; and they shall devour Israel with open mouth. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
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.
17 Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their young men, neither shall have mercy on their fatherless and widows: for every one is an hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth speaketh folly. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
18 ¶ For wickedness burneth as the fire: it shall devour the briers and thorns, and shall kindle in the thickets of the forest, and they shall mount up like the lifting up of smoke.
19 Through the wrath of the LORD of hosts is the land darkened, and the people shall be as the fuel of the fire: no man shall spare his brother (Old Testament | Isaiah 9:8-19).

9 ¶ Rise up, ye women that are at ease; hear my voice, ye careless daughters; give ear unto my speech.
10 Many days and years shall ye be troubled, ye careless women: for the vintage shall fail, the gathering shall not come.
11 Tremble, ye women that are at ease; be troubled, ye careless ones: strip you, and make you bare, and gird sackcloth upon your loins.
12 They shall lament for the teats, for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine.
13 Upon the land of my people shall come up thorns and briers; yea, upon all the houses of joy in the joyous city:
14 Because the palaces shall be forsaken; the multitude of the city shall be left; the forts and towers shall be for dens for ever, a joy of wild asses, a pasture of flocks; (Old Testament | Isaiah 32:9-14).

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?

Except, to whom were the majority of Isaiah’s lamentations and warnings directed?

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1.  Book of Mormon | 3 Nephi 23:1-5 (Bold emphasis added.)
    1 AND now, behold, I say unto you, that ye ought to search these things. Yea, a commandment I give unto you that ye search these things diligently; for great are the words of Isaiah.
    2 For surely he spake as touching all things concerning my people which are of the house of Israel; therefore it must needs be that he must speak also to the Gentiles.
    3 And all things that he spake have been and shall be, even according to the words which he spake.
    4 Therefore give heed to my words; write the things which I have told you; and according to the time and the will of the Father they shall go forth unto the Gentiles.
    5 And whosoever will hearken unto my words and repenteth and is baptized, the same shall be saved. Search the prophets, for many there be that testify of these things.
2. New Testament | Acts 17:21
   21 (For all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing.) (Bold emphasis added.)
3. Cahn, Jonathan. The Return of the Gods. Charisma House. Kindle Edition.

03 - Isaiah Today — Déjà Vu Assyria?

If Isaiah is written as history AND prophecy:*

[Read: Fauci, Gates, Schwab, et al. al. al. and their hidden masters?!]

1 WOE unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed;
2 To turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless!
3 And what will ye do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation which shall come from far? to whom will ye flee for help? and where will ye leave your glory?
4 Without me they shall bow down under the prisoners, and they shall fall under the slain. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
5 O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation.
6 I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.
7 Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy and cut off nations not a few.
[Read presidents, governors, prime ministers, premiers, et al. al. al. manifesting as tyrants?]
8 For he saith, Are not my princes altogether kings?
[Read: nations targeted by the IMF, Federal Reserve, and like-minded cabals?]
9 Is not Calno as Carchemish? is not Hamath as Arpad? is not Samaria as Damascus?
10 As my hand hath found the kingdoms of the idols, and whose graven images did excel them of Jerusalem and of Samaria;
11 Shall I not, as I have done unto Samaria and her idols, so do to Jerusalem and her idols?
12 Wherefore it shall come to pass, that when the Lord hath performed his whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks.
13 For he saith, By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom; for I am prudent: and I have removed the bounds of the people, and have robbed their treasures, and I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant man:
[Read: the COVID 19 PLANdemic plan?]
14 And my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the people: and as one gathereth eggs that are left, have I gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped.
[Read: the inversion of public servants into mindless trespassers and enforcers of cruelties against the public who pays their wages.]
15 Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith? or shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it? as if the rod should shake itself against them that lift it up, or as if the staff should lift up itself, as if it were no wood.
16 Therefore shall the Lord, the Lord of hosts, send among his fat ones leanness; and under his glory he shall kindle a burning like the burning of a fire.
[Read: the house of cards and criminals will collapse as in an instant suddenly?]
17 And the light of Israel shall be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame: and it shall burn and devour his thorns and his briers in one day;
18 And shall consume the glory of his forest, and of his fruitful field, both soul and body: and they shall be as when a standardbearer fainteth.
19 And the rest of the trees of his forest shall be few, that a child may write them.**

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* “You can read the whole of Isaiah in reference to his own day, or you can read it as a prophecy for the last days.” The Last Days: Types and Shadows from the Bible and the Book of Mormon. Avraham Gileadi, Third Revised Edition 1998 © 1998 Book of Mormon Research Foundation, p. 5
“Isaiah consistently uses events in Israel's past as a framework around which to prophesy events in the future . . . Repeated descriptions of such events create patterns of things—things that “have been and shall be” p. 3 (compare 3 Nephi 23:3).”
Book of Mormon | 3 Nephi 23:2-3 ~ For surely he spake as touching all things concerning my people which are of the house of Israel; therefore it must needs be that he must speak also to the Gentiles. And all things that he spake have been and shall be, even according to the words which he spake.
** Old Testament | Isaiah 10:1-19

02 - Isaiah Today — CONfederacy?

One of God's laments about the children of Abraham was their continual search for help and safety by making alliances with other nations instead of looking to Him.¹ So again, if Isaiah is written as history AND prophecy² can we apply a prophetic, latter-day understanding to Old Testament | Isaiah 8:11-13 (despite its many contextual, interpretive challenges³):

For the LORD spake thus to me [Isaiah] with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying, Say ye not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid. Sanctify the LORD of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.⁴

The people of Judah and Jerusalem were in crisis. Assyria⁵ was a formidable power and Judah's neighbors, Aram / Syria and Israel were trying to force Judah into an alliance of defense against Assyria⁶ which king Ahaz of Judah opposed, being apparently pro-Assyria in his fear of the Aram / Israel alliance. Despite Isaiah's counsel, Ahaz appealed to Assyria for help against his neighbors and ended up becoming a tributary to Assyria.

SO, applying the prophetic purpose of Isaiah, who or what are we afraid of today? What is the latter-day way of this people – the ones crying for a confederacy – an alliance with some imagined savior? protector? (an alliance with pscience?⁷) Except Isaiah was instructed “with a strong hand” that he must not sanction a confederacy of any sort. He was not to go with the flow of worldly fear; he was to reject the way of the people; he was to say, perhaps with also a strong arm and voice: ”

“neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid.”

Is this the message?

“Let [God] be your fear ... let Him be your dread.”

Why dread? Could trust in (confederacy with) those pursuing and protecting power, gain, glory, and total control under cover of COVID be as catastrophic as signaling the end of man⁸ as God created him / her, male and female? as catastrophic as becoming tributaries? serfs? eternal captives? of a latter-day, yet ancient Assyrian system?

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NOTE: For those who substitute conspiracy for confederacy in Isaiah 8:12, and thus disparage the science and extensive history of ubiquitous conspiracy, read here: https://voices-from-the-dust.blogspot.com/2021/03/003-conspiracy-in-scripture.html

1. Old Testament | Judges 2:1-4 ~ AND an angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you. And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down their altars: but ye have not obeyed my voice: why have ye done this? Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you. And it came to pass, when the angel of the LORD spake these words unto all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voice, and wept.
Old Testament | Isaiah 31:1 ~ WOE to them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses, and trust in chariots, because they are many; and in horsemen, because they are very strong; but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the LORD!
Old Testament | Obadiah 1:6-7 ~ How are the things of Esau searched out! how are his hidden things sought up! All the men of thy confederacy have brought thee even to the border: the men that were at peace with thee have deceived thee, and prevailed against thee; they that eat thy bread have laid a wound under thee: there is none understanding in him.
2. “You can read the whole of Isaiah in reference to his own day, or you can read it as a prophecy for the last days.” The Last Days: Types and Shadows from the Bible and the Book of Mormon. Avraham Gileadi, Third Revised Edition 1998 © 1998 Book of Mormon Research Foundation, p. 5 
“Isaiah consistently uses events in Israel's past as a framework around which to prophesy events in the future . . . Repeated descriptions of such events create patterns of things—things that “have been and shall be” p. 3 (compare 3 Nephi 23:3).”
Book of Mormon | 3 Nephi 23:2-3 ~ For surely he spake as touching all things concerning my people which are of the house of Israel; therefore it must needs be that he must speak also to the Gentiles. And all things that he spake have been and shall be, even according to the words which he spake.
3. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3259260?seq=10#metadata_info_tab_contents | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pekah
4. In Context: Old Testament | Isaiah 8:6-13 ~ Forasmuch as this people refuseth the waters of Shiloah that go softly, and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah's son; Now therefore, behold, the Lord bringeth up upon them the waters of the river, strong and many, even the king of Assyria, and all his glory: and he shall come up over all his channels, and go over all his banks: And he shall pass through Judah; he shall overflow and go over, he shall reach even to the neck; and the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel. Associate yourselves, O ye people, and ye shall be broken in pieces; and give ear, all ye of far countries: gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces. Take counsel together, and it shall come to nought; speak the word, and it shall not stand: for God is with us. For the LORD spake thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying, Say ye not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid. Sanctify the LORD of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.
5. Grisly Assyrian Record of Torture and Death By Erika Belibtreu at https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/f4af/bb82f1b7920fa9444e29eb128bd13832cd46.pdf ; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assyria
6. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3259260?seq=10#metadata_info_tab_contents | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pekah
7. https://dejavu-times.blogspot.com/2020/10/pscience.html

8. https://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.com/2020/05/the-end-of-man.html

01 - Isaiah Today: "Covenant with Death"?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In Their Foreheads?

Michelangelo's Isaiah

Recently, I was directed¹ to an essay,² entitled, “Isaiah’s Job” which “first appeared in The Atlantic Monthly in 1936.”

If one has ever wondered how to navigate this present corrupted world—wondered how to be one with the Remnant instead of the masses (i.e., majority)—this essay might prove helpful. Here is a portion highly relevant to all of us in this age of messaging and WorldWideWeb.

Everyone with a message nowadays is, like my venerable European friend, eager to take it to the masses. His first, last and only thought is of mass acceptance and mass approval. His great care is to put his doctrine in such shape as will capture the masses' attention and interest. This attitude towards the masses is so exclusive, so devout, that one is reminded of the troglodytic monster described by Plato, and the assiduous crowd at the entrance to its cave, trying obsequiously to placate it and win its favor, trying to interpret its inarticulate noises, trying to find out what it wants, and eagerly offering it all sorts of things that they think might strike its fancy.
The main trouble with all this is its reaction upon the mission itself. It necessitates an opportunist sophistication of one's doctrine, which profoundly alters its character and reduces it to a mere placebo. If, say, you are a preacher, you wish to attract as large a congregation as you can, which means an appeal to the masses; and this, in turn, means adapting the terms of your message to the order of intellect and character that the masses exhibit. If you are an educator, say with a college on your hands, you wish to get as many students as possible, and you whittle down your requirements accordingly. If a writer, you aim at getting many readers; if a publisher, many purchasers; if a philosopher, many disciples; if a reformer, many converts; if a musician, many auditors; and so on. But as we see on all sides, in the realization of these several desires, the prophetic message is so heavily adulterated with trivialities, in every instance, that its effect on the masses is merely to harden them in their sins. Meanwhile, the Remnant, aware of this adulteration and of the desires that prompt it, turn their backs on the prophet and will have nothing to do with him or his message.³

It is well worth the time to read the entirety.

In the End Times and Judgment, we are told that a critical difference between the Remnant and the masses will be found in their foreheads.

And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. 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. (New Testament | Revelation 7:2-4)

And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads. (New Testament | Revelation 9:3-4)

And he [another beast who rose up out of the earth] had power to give life unto the image of the beast [that arose out of the sea], that the image of the beast [from the sea] should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. (New Testament | Revelation 13:15-17)

AND I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads. (New Testament | Revelation 14:1)

AND he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. (New Testament | Revelation 22:1-4)

Now the Amlicites knew not that they were fulfilling the words of God when they began to mark themselves in their foreheads; nevertheless they had come out in open rebellion against God; therefore it was expedient that the curse should fall upon them. (Book of Mormon | Alma 3:18)

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. (Doctrine and Covenants | Section 77:9)

Perhaps some questions to ask ourselves: Are we just another historical déjà vu seeking “mass acceptance and mass approval”? What is being written or sealed in our foreheads as we go about our daily lives? Can we awaken in time? Can we endure the seeming solitude?

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1. Thanks to my sibling, BYS.
2. (by Albert Jay Nock, reposted 06/21/2008 at Mises Daily at https://mises.org/library/isaiahs-job)
3. First two paragraphs of Part III of the essay.

“My People” ?

If we are to study Isaiah as Jesus commanded:¹

If we are to apply Isaiah’s words to ourselves as Nephi wrote:²

If we think we are (amongst) God’s chosen in the latter days:

THEN have we ever studied what God had to say about “my people” in Isaiah and elsewhere?

Here are four Isaiah samples. Could there be any déjà vu parallels? Have we become so ensnared in the culture of Babylon that we can’t see for not looking? Can’t hear for not listening? Can’t confess for self-righteousness?

Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me. The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider. Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward. Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment. (Old Testament | Isaiah 1:2-6)

Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: and their honourable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst. Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it. (Old Testament | Isaiah 5:13-14)

He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. (Old Testament | Isaiah 53:8)

CRY aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. (Old Testament | Isaiah 58:1)

Could there be additional déjà vus from Jeremiah?³

Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit. Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the LORD. For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water. (Old Testament | Jeremiah 2:11-13)

O generation, see ye the word of the LORD. Have I been a wilderness unto Israel? a land of darkness? wherefore say my people, We are lords; we will come no more unto thee? Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? yet my people have forgotten me days without number. (Old Testament | Jeremiah 2:31-32)

For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge. (Old Testament | Jeremiah 4:22)

Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of the LORD. (Old Testament | Jeremiah 8:7)

And I will punish Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he hath swallowed up: and the nations shall not flow together any more unto him: yea, the wall [Street???] of Babylon shall fall. My people, go ye out of the midst of her, and deliver ye every man his soul from the fierce anger of the LORD. (Old Testament | Jeremiah 51:44-45)

Perhaps we could all benefit from listening to the déjà vu observations and warnings of Rabbi Jonathan Cahn.⁴

What does the focus of our time, energy, thoughts, and resources witness about the Gods or gods⁵ of our everyday living?

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1. Book of Mormon | 3 Nephi 23:1-3 ~ AND now, behold, I say unto you, that ye ought to search these things. Yea, a commandment I give unto you that ye search these things diligently; for great are the words of Isaiah. For surely he spake as touching all things concerning my people which are of the house of Israel; therefore it must needs be that he must speak also to the Gentiles. And all things that he spake have been and shall be, even according to the words which he spake.
2. Book of Mormon | 2 Nephi 11:8 ~ And now I write some of the words of Isaiah, that whoso of my people shall see these words may lift up their hearts and rejoice for all men. Now these are the words, and ye may liken them unto you and unto all men.
3. More of God's Words re “my people” from Jeremiah (circa 600 BC). Could these contain more parallels?
Old Testament | Jeremiah 5:23-31 ~ But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone. Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear the LORD our God, that giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in his season: he reserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest. Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden good things from you. For among my people are found wicked men: they lay wait, as he that setteth snares; they set a trap, they catch men. As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxen rich. They are waxen fat, they shine: yea, they overpass the deeds of the wicked: they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet they prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge. Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this? A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land; The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?
Old Testament | Jeremiah 7:12 ~ But go ye now unto my place which was in Shiloh, where I set my name at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel.
Old Testament | Jeremiah 9:1-3 ~ OH that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people! Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men; that I might leave my people, and go from them! for they be all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men. And they bend their tongues like their bow for lies: but they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith the LORD.
Old Testament | Jeremiah 15:6-7 ~ Thou hast forsaken me, saith the LORD, thou art gone backward: therefore will I stretch out my hand against thee, and destroy thee; I am weary with repenting. And I will fan them with a fan in the gates of the land; I will bereave them of children, I will destroy my people, since they return not from their ways.
Old Testament | Jeremiah 18:15 ~ Because my people hath forgotten me, they have burned incense to vanity, and they have caused them to stumble in their ways from the ancient paths, to walk in paths, in a way not cast up;
Old Testament | Jeremiah 23:2 ~ Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the LORD.
Old Testament | Jeremiah 23:25-27 ~ I have heard what the prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed. How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies? yea, they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart; Which think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbour, as their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal.
Old Testament | Jeremiah 23:31-32 ~ Behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that use their tongues, and say, He saith. Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the LORD, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness; yet I sent them not, nor commanded them: therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith the LORD.
Old Testament | Jeremiah 50:6 ~ My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains: they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their restingplace.
4. Rabbi Jonathan Cahn: http://www.dejavu-times.blogspot.ca/2015/06/talk-about-deja-vu.html 
5. Gods ? http://dejavu-times.blogspot.ca/2015/07/gods.html

Horror ?

In this season of observing “the dark side,” my nephew put out a call for horror movie suggestions. If he were open to my suggestions, here is a small sample (of an endless litany—shortest to longest):

  1. Opium in China ~ http://www.history.com/shows/mankind-the-story-of-all-of-us/videos/opium-in-china (4 min.; see also ftn 1)
  2. Docu. ~ Auschwitz: The Nazi Final Solution ~ http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/auschwitz-nazi-final-solution/ (47 min.)
  3. Docu. ~ Nazi Concentration Camps ~ http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/nazi-concentration-camps/ (58 min.)
  4. Movie:  The Children’s War (2010, documentary abt Uganda child soldiers ~ 64 min.)
  5. Docu. ~ Ghosts of Abu Ghraib ~ http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/ghosts-of-abu-ghraib/ (82 Min.)
  6. Movie:   Dirty Wars (2013: 87 min.)
  7. Docu. ~ Aghet: A Genocide ~ http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/aghet-genocide/ (93 min.)
  8. Docu. ~ The New American Century ~ http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/new-american-century/ (94 min.)
  9. Docu. ~ War By Other Means ~ http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/war-by-other-means/ (1992: 52 min.)
10. Docu. ~ Stealing a Nation ~ http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/stealing-a-nation/ (2004: 56 min.)
11. Docu. ~ Making a Killing: The Untold Story of Psychotropic Drugging ~ http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/making-a-killing-the-untold-story-of-psychotropic-drugging/ (95 min.)
12. Movie:   Taxi to the Dark Side (2007: 106 min.)
13. Movie:   Bloody Sunday (2002: 107 min.)
14. Docu. ~ Congo: White King, Red Rubber, Black Death ~ http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/congo-white-king-red-rubber-black-death/ (110 min.)
15. Docu. ~ Blood and Oil ~ http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/blood-oil/ (2010: 112 min.)
16. Movie:  The Killing Fields (1984: 141 min.)
17. Docu. ~ Racism: A History ~ http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/racism-history/ (2007: 176 min.)
18. Docu. ~ The Most Evil Men in History ~ http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/most-evil-men-in-history/ (300 min.)

This is just a small, diverse sampling of what the pursuit of power and profit has wrought in past and present. Why then, do we, so often, stop our ears and shut our eyes to the horrors in the real world while taking pleasure in scaring ourselves with fiction?

What is the weapon of our mass distraction (WMD²) for this October week? Fictional horror movies? What will it be next week? and every week thereafter till we wake up to realize:

Horror hath taken hold upon me because of the wicked that forsake thy law. (Old Testament | Psalms 119:53)?

What are we doing?—for Heaven's sake!

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1.  Other textual supporting sources:
▪ Opium: The Downfall of Imperial China http://www.historywiz.com/downfall.htm
▪ The Opening to China Part I: the First Opium War, the United States, and the Treaty of Wangxia, 1839–1844 ~ https://history.state.gov/milestones/1830-1860/china-1
2. WMD ~ first heard it used this way by others. Also could be termed Weapons of Media Distraction; Weapons of Mass Deception, etc.

The Lamb AND the Lion*??

Recently I came across the words of a father and son¹ whose passionate advocacy of non-violence turned my thoughts to that subject. And once again, I found myself confronted with the mysteries of God, and with how easily our passions and philosophies can blind us to the full spectrum of:

who God is:

[Who] sittest enthroned, with glory, honor, power, majesty, might, dominion, truth, justice, judgment, mercy, and an infinity of fulness, from everlasting to everlasting  (Doctrine and Covenants | Section 109:77);

what He says:

… for all flesh is in my hands, and I will do as seemeth me good  (Pearl of Great Price | Moses 6:32);

and what He does.²

We have been told in various ways and times that:

Great is his wisdom, marvelous are his ways, and the extent of his doings none can find out. His purposes fail not, neither are there any who can stay his hand  (Doctrine and Covenants | Section 76:2-3; see also Old Testament | Isaiah 55:8-9).

Yet, like Job’s friends, we, too often, take rigid positions on God’s “permissible ways and means” and criticize those whom God Himself has lauded. Let’s take the example of Nephi₁ as J. Madson does in his Claremont lecture.³

But first, let me say: I too am a pacifist who wonders why D&C 98 has seemed to receive such short shrift in this latter-day. I believe that war and violence are prime tools of the adversary to lay waste to as much of creation as possible, YET (if we observe full spectrum), war and violence seem to also be facets of God’s restoration, justice and judgment—a restoration, justice and judgment that cannot be robbed even by mercy⁴ (or even by one’s passion for non-violence).

Let us observe.

The scriptures are overflowing with references to God’s promises of restoration, justice and judgment:

Alma₂: … the meaning of the word restoration is to bring back again evil for evil, or carnal for carnal, or devilish for devilish—good for that which is good; righteous for that which is righteous; just for that which is just; merciful for that which is merciful. Therefore, my son[s and daughters], see that you are merciful unto your brethren [and sisters]; deal justly, judge righteously, and do good continually; and if ye do all these things then shall ye receive your reward; yea, ye shall have mercy restored unto you again; ye shall have justice restored unto you again; ye shall have a righteous judgment restored unto you again; and ye shall have good rewarded unto you again. For that which ye do send out shall return unto you again, and be restored; therefore, the word restoration more fully condemneth the sinner, and justifieth him not at all  (Book of Mormon | Alma 41:13-15).

King Benjamin: Therefore, they have drunk out of the cup of the wrath of God, which justice could no more deny unto them than it could deny that Adam should fall because of his partaking of the forbidden fruit; therefore, mercy could have claim on them no more forever  (Book of Mormon | Mosiah 3:26; see also Alma 12:32).

Amulek: Yea, well doth he cry, by the voice of his angels that: I will come down among my people, with equity and justice in my hands. Yea, and I say unto you that if it were not for the prayers of the righteous, who are now in the land, that ye would even now be visited with utter destruction; yet it would not be by flood, as were the people in the days of Noah, but it would be by famine, and by pestilence, and the sword  (Book of Mormon | Alma 10:21-22).

Samuel the Lamanite: And he said unto them: Behold, I, Samuel, a Lamanite, do speak the words of the Lord which he doth put into my heart; and behold he hath put it into my heart to say unto this people that the sword of justice hangeth over this people; and four hundred years pass not away save the sword of justice falleth upon this people  (Book of Mormon | Helaman 13:5; see also Ether 8:23).

Jesus: And it shall come to pass, saith the Father, that the sword of my justice shall hang over them at that day; and except they repent it shall fall upon them, saith the Father, yea, even upon all the nations of the Gentiles  (Book of Mormon | 3 Nephi 20:20).

Mormon₂: Therefore, repent ye, and humble yourselves before him, lest he shall come out in justice against you—lest a remnant of the seed of Jacob shall go forth among you as a lion, and tear you in pieces, and there is none to deliver  (Book of Mormon | Mormon 5:24).

(Many other relevant scriptures follow the footnote section below.)

Granted, some may claim that all this violent imagery of sword, bloodshed, destruction “tearing to pieces,” etc. is merely symbolic; yet a perusal of history (especially BoM history) witnesses that there is real blood and real annihilation in God’s justice and judgment.

So back to Nephi and J. Madson. This is what I would ask Brothers R. & J. Madson (and every other soul persuaded by the Madson analysis of Nephi’s killing of Laban):

▪ Does your narrative of Nephi jive with God’s (1 Nephi 11:6)? Or with his own father Lehi’s (8:3)? Or with Nephi’s own witness in the very next chapter:

And it came to pass that thus far I and my father had kept the commandments wherewith the Lord had commanded us (1 Nephi 5:20).

▪ Did God cut Nephi off? denounce him? deny him further revelation? Or did Nephi pass the excruciating test of:

And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them; (Pearl of Great Price | Abraham 3:25)?

Is this not the type of supreme test that proved Abraham’s loyalty, and will test the loyalty of every other soul that advances that far in faith and obedience to God?⁵ (Before you completely misinterpret this sentence, please read the blog post entitled, “Rule of Law: Ten to One” —web address and note also at footnote 5.)

▪ What if God’s justice finally caught up with Laban (God’s own due time) AND thrown into the mix was a supreme test for Nephi?⁶

▪ Hasn’t God demonstrated time and again that He is a God of discernment?⁷ Doesn’t He do what seemeth Him good—tailored to the needs of each and every soul—even if it appears bizarre or objectionable to us?

▪ Why do you call Nephi a murderer when God doesn’t? You talk of “proof-texting.” What is the word for disregarding voluminous text that counters your theory? Is that not the equivalent of “taking away plain and precious things”?

▪ What if you were a faithful, obedient servant of God and were constrained by the Spirit as Nephi? Or as Abraham?

▪ Whose “lack of imagination” are you really criticizing in Nephi’s “narrative”? Couldn’t God have provided the essential Brass Plates in myriad, miraculous ways? Why didn’t He? And why did He pick what was probably Abraham’s greatest aversion (human sacrifice) to prove him?⁸ Could “Thou shalt not kill” have been a passion of Nephi’s?

And it came to pass that I was constrained by the Spirit that I should kill Laban; but I said in my heart: Never at any time have I shed the blood of man. And I shrunk and would that I might not slay him  (1 Nephi 4:10).

We don’t know a lot of things, except we observe that God seems to target our passions / obsessions when He “proves us herewith.”

▪ So, if God doesn’t use His transrational powers to ease our way, is it always for lack of our imagination?⁹ or might God, at times, have some overriding transrational purpose—as we are “led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which [we] should do”  (1 Nephi 4:6)?

SIDE NOTE: It might be interesting to compare the parallels and inverses of these two scriptures when considering the Spirit’s words to Nephi:

Book of Mormon | 1 Nephi 4:12-13 ~ … the Spirit said unto me again: Slay him, for the Lord hath delivered him into thy hands; Behold the Lord slayeth the wicked to bring forth his righteous purposes. It is better that one man should perish than that a nation should dwindle and perish in unbelief.

New Testament | John 11:49-51 ~ And one of them, named Caiaphas, being the high priest that same year, said unto them, Ye know nothing at all, Nor consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not. And this spake he not of himself: but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation;

▪ Can your imagination consider that Laban’s sword could stand for God’s “sword of justice”—a term used several times in the Book of Mormon and by Jesus himself at 3 Nephi 20:20:

And it shall come to pass, saith the Father, that the sword of my justice shall hang over them at that day; and except they repent it shall fall upon them, saith the Father, yea, even upon all the nations of the Gentiles.

And while we are quoting Jesus:

And I say unto you, that if the Gentiles do not repent after the blessing which they shall receive, after they have scattered my people— Then shall ye, who are a remnant of the house of Jacob, go forth among them; and ye shall be in the midst of them who shall be many; and ye shall be among them as a lion among the beasts of the forest, and as a young lion among the flocks of sheep, who, if he goeth through both treadeth down and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver. Thy hand shall be lifted up upon thine adversaries, and all thine enemies shall be cut off  (3 Nephi 20:15-17).

And my people who are a remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles, yea, in the midst of them as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep, who, if he go through both treadeth down and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver  (3 Nephi 21:12; see also 3 Nephi 20:16; Mormon 5:24).

Also look at 3 Nephi 9:1-13; 10:14, and 16:9 to observe what the resurrected Christ declares He did in judgment in the Americas. (This was no metaphor!)

▪ Furthermore, could Laban’s sword have been preserved as a warning and witness of God’s attributes of justice and judgment? a witness that he who takes the sword [to get his own way versus God’s way—like so many in the BoM; like the Crusaders of old; etc., etc.] will perish with the sword (New Testament | Matthew 26:52)? Or as Shakespeare put it: “hoist with his own petard.” Or as Nephi phrases the broad application:

And the blood of that great and abominable church, which is the whore of all the earth, shall turn upon their own heads; for they shall war among themselves, and the sword of their own hands shall fall upon their own heads, and they shall be drunken with their own blood (1 Nephi 22:13). (See a further parallel at 1 Nephi 14:3.)

▪ Can the fiery wrath /anger / fury of God always be explained away as a figure of speech designed to work repentance upon the hearts of men (D&C 19:7)? or did the Jaredites, Nephites, and countless others experience, in real time, the meaning of justice and judgment?

▪ How often has God Self-described as a God of justice and judgment, as well as of mercy?

I shouldn’t have to say this, but this post is not a pro-war pitch. It is a pitch to us pacifists to consider ALL the Godly attributes, so when Christ returns, we don’t find ourselves in a devastating (inverse) déjà vu. If the Jewish hierarchy and others could reject a long-anticipated Savior because He came as a meek Lamb when they expected an avenging Lion, what about us? What are we priming ourselves to receive the second time round? Only the meek Lamb? What if He comes as a Lion?¹⁰

Beyond decrying war, I think the Book of Mormon is a treatise on justice and judgment filled with pleas of a merciful God to repent and come unto Christ with a broken heart and contrite spirit and to yield to the enticing of the Holy Spirit OR face the unyielding Law of Justice and Judgment—which I suspect will “Do unto us as we did unto others.” (Again, see the last sentence of Alma 41:15.)

In summary, we may passionately disagree with the ways and means of restoration, justice and judgment that fill scripture text (especially the Book of Mormon); but, as I’ve said before: “The God we want isn’t always the God we get.” In the end, it will all come down to a matter of life and death.

He hath given unto you that ye might know good from evil, and he hath given unto you that ye might choose life or death; and ye can do good and be restored unto that which is good, or have that which is good restored unto you; or ye can do evil, and have that which is evil restored unto you  (Book of Mormon | Helaman 14:31).

=====================

NOW A NOTE to all who assume they are a tried, true, and chosen people with God’s sanction to pursue war: I offer the words of the Lord to His “saints” through Joseph Smith (1832):

Ye call upon my name for revelations, and I give them unto you; and inasmuch as ye keep not my sayings, which I give unto you, ye become transgressors; and justice and judgment are the penalty which is affixed unto my law. Therefore, what I say unto one I say unto all: Watch, for the adversary spreadeth his dominions, and darkness reigneth; And the anger of God kindleth against the inhabitants of the earth; and none doeth good, for all have gone out of the way  (Doctrine and Covenants | Section 82:4-6).

Isaiah has a lot to say about us too, if seeing we would but see.

Finally, I would suggest that God’s restoration (with judgment and justice) is so powerful and potentially devastating that it can only be justifiably engaged in by tried and true people of God under direct, unequivocal revelation from Him and within His revealed parameters. Spoiler alert: Tried and true is extremely rare in history, so it’s highly doubtful that any justice or judgment is being dispensed via God’s revealed word by any group or nation in this latter day. (For those who believe in the “chosen” USA, there are hundreds of informed, warning voices—Chris Hedges for one; Chalmers Johnson for another—detailing the dire and despicable state of affairs. My own brief observation of several years ago is at http://www.dejavu-times.blogspot.ca/2008/06/memo-to-cindy-mccain-et-al.html).

So, is there any latter-day justice and judgment? Perhaps inadvertently as natural men and natural law¹¹ pursue their own way—as oblivious as the tyrants of old to what they and we are bringing upon ourselves.


This post has become too long, so I will address other relevant questions in future posts, such as:

▪ Have Captain Moroni and others been as redacted as Nephi in the Madson writings and the lecture on non-violence?
▪ Do only the wicked destroy the wicked? (Mormon 4:5) or does God sometimes use others as His agents of justice and judgment? and
▪ Why we shouldn’t judge everyone who is destroyed in the flesh as wicked.

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1. http://puremormonism.blogspot.ca/2011/09/speaking-truth-to-power.html (See also the long comments section following that post.)
http://themormonworker.wordpress.com/2011/03/21/non-violent-reading-of-book-of-mormon-claremont-conference/
2. http://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.ca/2013/11/god-is-not-rational.html
Book of Mormon | 2 Nephi 26:24 ~ He doeth not anything save it be for the benefit of the world; for he loveth the world, even that he layeth down his own life that he may draw all men unto him. ...
3. http://themormonworker.wordpress.com/2011/03/21/non-violent-reading-of-book-of-mormon-claremont-conference/
4. Book of Mormon | Alma 42:24-26 ~ For behold, justice exerciseth all his demands, and also mercy claimeth all which is her own; and thus, none but the truly penitent are saved. What, do ye suppose that mercy can rob justice? I say unto you, Nay; not one whit. If so, God would cease to be God. And thus God bringeth about his great and eternal purposes, which were prepared from the foundation of the world. And thus cometh about the salvation and the redemption of men, and also their destruction and misery.
(See also Book of Mormon | Jacob 6:10; Mosiah 15:9, 27; Alma 34:16.)
5. http://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.ca/2013/11/rule-of-law-ten-to-one.html . Also I will be posting in the near future an essay entitled “Questions of Evidence?” regarding who is speaking in Abraham 3:25, for the consideration of those who think it may be the voice of the adversary.
6. I will consider Mormon 4:5 in another post.
7. Some synonyms for discernment are: judgment, acumen, sensitivity, insight. Some might also say that God is “a God of the expedient” as LDSA did in the comments section of the blog post referred to in footnote 1 above. You did not like that word, but expedient is used 7 times in the New Testament and 106 times in the BoM, D&C, & PoGP, mostly in referring to God’s instructions.
8. As confirmed in Book of Mormon | Jacob 4:5 ~ Behold, they believed in Christ and worshiped the Father in his name, and also we worship the Father in his name. And for this intent we keep the law of Moses, it pointing our souls to him; and for this cause it is sanctified unto us for righteousness, even as it was accounted unto Abraham in the wilderness to be obedient unto the commands of God in offering up his son Isaac, which is a similitude of God and his Only Begotten Son.
9. Obviously and scripturally our unbelief, doubts, behaviors, etc. have an impact. (See 2 Nephi 27:23)
10. New Testament | Revelation 5:5 ~ And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.
11. http://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.ca/2014/03/natural-or-unnatural.html


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Additional scriptures of relevance:

Book of Mormon | 2 Nephi 6:15 ~ And they that believe not in him shall be destroyed, both by fire, and by tempest, and by earthquakes, and by bloodsheds, and by pestilence, and by famine. And they shall know that the Lord is God, the Holy One of Israel.

Book of Mormon | 2 Nephi 10:6 ~ Wherefore, because of their iniquities, destructions, famines, pestilences, and bloodshed shall come upon them; and they who shall not be destroyed shall be scattered among all nations.

Book of Mormon | Alma 34:16 ~ … while he that exercises no faith unto repentance is exposed to the whole law of the demands of justice; therefore only unto him that has faith unto repentance is brought about the great and eternal plan of redemption.

Book of Mormon | Alma 41:1-4 ~ AND now, my son, I have somewhat to say concerning the restoration of which has been spoken; for behold, some have wrested the scriptures, and have gone far astray because of this thing. And I perceive that thy mind has been worried also concerning this thing. But behold, I will explain it unto thee. I say unto thee, my son, that the plan of restoration is requisite with the justice of God; for it is requisite that all things should be restored to their proper order. Behold, it is requisite and just, according to the power and resurrection of Christ, that the soul of man should be restored to its body, and that every part of the body should be restored to itself. And it is requisite with the justice of God that men should be judged according to their works; and if their works were good in this life, and the desires of their hearts were good, that they should also, at the last day, be restored unto that which is good. And if their works are evil they shall be restored unto them for evil. Therefore, all things shall be restored to their proper order, every thing to its natural frame—mortality raised to immortality, corruption to incorruption—raised to endless happiness to inherit the kingdom of God, or to endless misery to inherit the kingdom of the devil, the one on one hand, the other on the other—

Book of Mormon | Alma 42:1 ~ AND now, my son, I perceive there is somewhat more which doth worry your mind, which ye cannot understand—which is concerning the justice of God in the punishment of the sinner; for ye do try to suppose that it is injustice that the sinner should be consigned to a state of misery.

Book of Mormon | Helaman 5:3 ~ Yea, and this was not all; they were a stiffnecked people, insomuch that they could not be governed by the law nor justice, save it were to their destruction.

Book of Mormon | 3 Nephi 26:5 ~ If they be good, to the resurrection of everlasting life; and if they be evil, to the resurrection of damnation; being on a parallel, the one on the one hand and the other on the other hand, according to the mercy, and the justice, and the holiness which is in Christ, who was before the world began.

Book of Mormon | 3 Nephi 28:35 ~ For do ye suppose that ye can get rid of the justice of an offended God, who hath been trampled under feet of men, that thereby salvation might come?

Doctrine and Covenants | Section 24:16 ~ And it shall come to pass that whosoever shall lay their hands upon you by violence, ye shall command to be smitten in my name; and, behold, I will smite them according to your words, in mine own due time.

Old Testament | Proverbs 13:2 ~ A man shall eat good by the fruit of his mouth: but the soul of the transgressors shall eat violence.

Old Testament | Proverbs 21:3 ~ To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.

New Testament | Revelation 18:21 ~ And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.

*Old Testament | Isaiah 31:4 ~ For thus hath the LORD spoken unto me, Like as the lion and the young lion roaring on his prey, when a multitude of shepherds is called forth against him, he will not be afraid of their voice, nor abase himself for the noise of them: so shall the LORD of hosts come down to fight for mount Zion, and for the hill thereof.

*Old Testament | Hosea 5:14-15 ~ For I will be unto Ephraim as a lion, and as a young lion to the house of Judah: I, even I, will tear and go away; I will take away, and none shall rescue him. I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early.

*Old Testament | Hosea 13:7-9 ~ Therefore I will be unto them as a lion: as a leopard by the way will I observe them: I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved of her whelps, and will rend the caul of their heart, and there will I devour them like a lion: the wild beast shall tear them. O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me is thine help.

*New Testament | Revelation 5:5 ~ And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.

See also Book of Mormon | 2 Nephi 10:6; 23:9+; 3 Nephi 9; 10:13.

There are too many to reference all, but searching and study will lead you forth.

A Coming Déjà Vu ?

I read about the calamities of former days, (as in these brief examples):

Would that I had raised my voice at that moment, that it might have saved me from the pain in which I am. … Woe is me because of the misery of this time! (Papyrus Ipuwer VI; Ancient Egypt) http://www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/texts/ipuwer.htm

A voice was heard upon the high places, weeping and supplications of the children of Israel: for they have perverted their way, and they have forgotten the LORD their God. (Old Testament Jeremiah 3:21)

… there was great mourning and howling and weeping among all the people continually; yea, great were the groanings of the people, because of the darkness and the great destruction which had come upon them. And in one place they were heard to cry, saying: O that we had repented before this great and terrible day, and then would our brethren have been spared, and they would not have been burned in that great city Zarahemla. And in another place they were heard to cry and mourn, saying: O that we had repented before this great and terrible day, and had not killed and stoned the prophets, and cast them out; then would our mothers and our fair daughters, and our children have been spared, and not have been buried up in that great city Moronihah. And thus were the howlings of the people great and terrible. (Book of Mormon 3 Nephi 8:23-25)

I look around and listen to the news and views of today, and I cannot help but wonder if we are in for a latter déjà vu of the headline that might have graced every historical “Extra, Extra” had there been any capacity to print it:

Earth, wind/fire, water clipart from office.microsoft.com

Are we any different than former days? Why have we been asked to study Isaiah¹? To read the Book of Mormon? To apply those ancient texts to our day and lives²?

Is it because we, too, have:

▪ fallen in lust with the terrestrial?
▪ been seduced by The Three Temptations?
▪ been distracted by markets, commerce, and careerism?
▪ placed our faith in the visible in place of the invisible?
▪ been seduced by our senses and the sensible?
▪ lost consciousness of the esoteric, symbolic, and mysteries?
▪ followed “idols” (even spiritual ones), instead of the Spirit?
▪ lost our ability to distinguish true from false?
▪ treated traditions as if they were dogmatic truths?
▪ thought outward appearance was sufficient?
▪ acted as if service (of whatever kind³) was always superior to stillness? [Be still, and know that I am God: (Old Testament Psalms 46:10)]
▪ created God in our image?
▪ forgotten why we are here?

Brigham Young said all truth belongs to the gospel wherever it is found. Alma said God grants to all nations to teach His word⁴; so perhaps we should also be learning from additional prophetic voices outside the confines of our culture, traditions, and norms.

Let us not be afraid of honest, critical, and healing reflection. Let us not be afraid of following the Spirit if it says “No” to the expectations of others and their time-consuming agendas. Let us not be so conforming to the things of mere habit and custom. Let us not fall into the condemnation given to the Church at Ephesus.⁵

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1. Book of Mormon 3 Nephi 23:1 ~ AND now, behold, I say unto you, that ye ought to search these things. Yea, a commandment I give unto you that ye search these things diligently; for great are the words of Isaiah.
2. Book of Mormon 2 Nephi 11:8 ~ And now I write some of the words of Isaiah, that whoso of my people shall see these words may lift up their hearts and rejoice for all men. Now these are the words, and ye may liken them unto you and unto all men. Also 1 Nephi 19:24 ~ Wherefore I spake unto them, saying: Hear ye the words of the prophet [Isaiah], ye who are a remnant of the house of Israel, a branch who have been broken off; hear ye the words of the prophet, which were written unto all the house of Israel, and liken them unto yourselves, that ye may have hope as well as your brethren from whom ye have been broken off; for after this manner has the prophet written.
3. Including, all too frequently, the enormous time and energy sacrifices demanded of members for super-activities, cultural fêtes at temple dedications, camps, jamborees, galas, grand meals, elaborate ward/stake events/activities, extra meetings, fund-raisers, etc., etc., which take

▪ farmers from their fields during critical weather windows;
▪ parents from their children for days-on-end;
▪ everyone from scarce time for contemplation, pondering, meditation, reflection, study, and other forms of important or critical service;
▪ many from the real mission and purpose of their time and lives.

4. Book of Mormon, Alma 29:8 ~ For behold, the Lord doth grant unto all nations, of their own nation and tongue, to teach his word, yea, in wisdom, all that he seeth fit that they should have; therefore we see that the Lord doth counsel in wisdom, according to that which is just and true.
5. New Testament Revelation 2:1-5 ~ UNTO the angel of the church of Ephesus write; … I know thy works, and thy labour [service?], and thy patience, … and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted. Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. [Personal relationship with ME? Inner work?] Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. (See “Which Church” post in labels below for greater explanation.)

Stumbling Along ?

“There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true.”  (Søren Kierkegaard ~ 1813-1855)

In varying degrees, we are all guilty of this reality of “two ways to be fooled.” This reality kept coming to mind as I recently read and listened to a scholarly hypothesis¹ about the Bible as it relates to the Book of Mormon.

I confess to being both enlightened and questioning. If I am reading / hearing Daymon Smith right (which is by no means certain), he believes that tradition and metatexting have created a relationship between the two that should not exist.

The Book of Mormon states:

And after they [these things that proceeded forth from the mouth of a Jew] go forth by the hand of the twelve apostles of the Lamb, from the Jews unto the Gentiles, thou seest the formation of that great and abominable church, which is most abominable above all other churches; for behold, they have taken away from the gospel of the Lamb many parts which are plain and most precious; and also many covenants of the Lord have they taken away. And all this have they done that they might pervert the right ways of the Lord, that they might blind the eyes and harden the hearts of the children of men. … [and] because of these things which are taken away out of the gospel of the Lamb, an exceedingly great many do stumble, yea, insomuch that Satan hath great power over them. (Book of Mormon 1 Nephi 13:26-27, 29)

But despite these alleged losses and corruptions to the original word of God, I wonder two things:

1)  if Daymon Smith’s analysis will cause some to turn entirely away from the Bible because it fails to meet the criteria for being the book that Nephi calls the book of the Lamb of God? (1 Nephi 13:28, 38); and
2)  if this will cause us to stumble even more?

Here are a few reasons to proceed cautiously:

▪ If the Apocrypha still has value despite its problems,² why not the Bible, even when “plain and precious things” are missing?

▪ The Book of Mormon story begins, with its feet firmly set in the Bible landscape, and then makes continual reference to Bible characters and matters within Book of Mormon text. For example, word searches in the Book of Mormon reveal these number of relevant references:

Bible Characters referenced in Book of Mormon text	Bible Matters   referenced in Book of Mormon text
Adam (25)	Garden of Eden (5)
Eve (3)	Fruit of the tree ( / the Fall) (4)
Cain (3)	confounded the language (4)
Noah (3)	house of Israel (123)
Melchizedek (5)	tithes (8)
Abraham (29)	Sodom and Gomorrah (2)
Sarah (1)	land of Jerusalem (40)
Isaac (13)	Egypt (18)
Jacob (55)	Assyria (9)
Joseph of Egypt (33)	Babylon (11)
Moses (75)	Red Sea (13)
Solomon (6)	Law of Moses (43)
Zedekiah (7)	Sinai (3)
Isaiah (23)	sacrifice and burnt offerings (3)
Jeremiah (7)	desiring many wives and concubines like David & Solomon (3)
Malachi (2)	temple of Solomon (2)
(Apostle) John (3)	born of Mary (2)
Christ (381)	Jews (75)
Redeemer (41)	Gentiles (141)
God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (10)	Sabbath (5)

Created with the HTML Table Generator

▪ The Lord, who knows past, present, and future, commanded us to study Isaiah³; and the Isaiah chapters, liberally quoted in the Book of Mormon, are markedly similar to those in the Bible, as are other Bible teachings and story references.

▪ As to Daymon’s strong objection to connecting the tower of Old Testament Genesis (11:1-9)⁴ to the Book of Mormon tower references (Ether 1:3, 33), I would suggest that the following further references to “the great tower” are supportive of a connection:

Book of Mormon Omni 1: 22 ~ It [a large stone with engravings on it] also spake a few words concerning his [Coriantumr’s] fathers. And his first parents came out from the tower, at the time the Lord confounded the language of the people; and the severity of the Lord fell upon them according to his judgments, which are just; and their bones lay scattered in the land northward.

Book of Mormon Mosiah 28:17 ~ Now after Mosiah had finished translating these records [24 gold plates ~ Mosiah 8:9; 28:11-18], behold, it gave an account of the people who were destroyed, from the time that they were destroyed back to the building of the great tower, at the time the Lord confounded the language of the people and they were scattered abroad upon the face of all the earth, yea, and even from that time back until the creation of Adam.

Book of Mormon Helaman 6:27-28 ~ Yea, that same being who did plot with Cain, that if he would murder his brother Abel it should not be known unto the world. And he did plot with Cain and his followers from that time forth. And also it is that same being who put it into the hearts of the people to build a tower sufficiently high that they might get to heaven. And it was that same being who led on the people who came from that tower into this land; who spread the works of darkness and abominations over all the face of the land, until he dragged the people down to an entire destruction, and to an everlasting hell.

(Bold emphasis added in the above.)

▪ And though Daymon Smith may believe that other men’s “inspirations” and proddings were behind the Articles of Faith, including #8:

We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God. (Pearl of Great Price Articles of Faith 1:8);

as well as the “Joseph Smith Translation” of the Bible; yet the latter-day value of the Bible can perhaps be affirmed in this account from Joseph Smith’s history:

While I was laboring under the extreme difficulties caused by the contests of these parties of religionists, I was one day reading the [New Testament] Epistle of James, first chapter and fifth verse, which reads: If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. Never did any passage of scripture come with more power to the heart of man than this did at this time to mine. It seemed to enter with great force into every feeling of my heart. I reflected on it again and again, knowing that if any person needed wisdom from God, I did; for how to act I did not know, and unless I could get more wisdom than I then had, I would never know; for the teachers of religion of the different sects understood the same passages of scripture so differently as to destroy all confidence in settling the question by an appeal to the Bible. At length I came to the conclusion that I must either remain in darkness and confusion, or else I must do as James directs, that is, ask of God. I at length came to the determination to “ask of God,” concluding that if he gave wisdom to them that lacked wisdom, and would give liberally, and not upbraid, I might venture. (Pearl of Great Price JS-History 1:11-13)

Taking the same advice that Joseph Smith did, perhaps we can stumble a little less, if we don’t become too passionately attached to uncertain things before God fully reveals His mind, will, and words. Daymon Smith readily admits these are his ideas and theories. According to New Testament James 1:5, we can certainly ask questions and pursue possible answers, though, as usual, God responds in His “own due time.” (Scripture count for “own due time” = 23.)

As I see it, our job is to

seek learning, even by study and also by faith[,]
(Doctrine and Covenants Section 88:118; 109:7, 14)

which, in our human condition, seems to involve a lot of stumbling even when we have access to things that are

plain and pure, and most precious and easy to the understanding of all men.
(Book of Mormon 1 Nephi 14:23)

History and scripture seem but to witness one long déjà vu of stumbling and stumblers! So, let us thank God, for the promises of repentance and revelation.

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1. Daymon Smith’s, A Cultural History of the Book of Mormon, Vol. 1: Setting, a foundation, of stones to stumble over; see his website: http://daymonsmith.wordpress.com/
2. Doctrine and Covenants Section 91:1-6 ~ VERILY, thus saith the Lord unto you concerning the Apocrypha—There are many things contained therein that are true, and it is mostly translated correctly; There are many things contained therein that are not true, which are interpolations by the hands of men. Verily, I say unto you, that it is not needful that the Apocrypha should be translated. Therefore, whoso readeth it, let him understand, for the Spirit manifesteth truth; And whoso is enlightened by the Spirit shall obtain benefit therefrom; And whoso receiveth not by the Spirit, cannot be benefited. Therefore it is not needful that it should be translated. Amen. (Bold emphasis added.)
3. Book of Mormon 3 Nephi 23:1 - 3 ~ AND now, behold, I [Jesus Christ] say unto you, that ye ought to search these things. Yea, a commandment I give unto you that ye search these things diligently; for great are the words of Isaiah. For surely he spake as touching all things concerning my people which are of the house of Israel; therefore it must needs be that he must speak also to the Gentiles. And all things that he spake have been and shall be, even according to the words which he spake.
4. Old Testament Genesis 11:1-9 ~ AND the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there. And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter. And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech. So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth. (Bold emphasis added.)