Tomorrow, starting at sundown, begins the holiest day of the year for the Jewish people. It is Yom Kippur or Day of Atonement. It is very unusual for it to be this early in the year. This is the year in the 19th year cycle that the High Holy Days are as early as can be. These fall Holy days usually occur closer to the Fall Equinox.
The Feast of Trumpets, or Rosh Hashanah, began at sundown last Thursday on Sept. 4. Yom Kippur starts at sundown Friday, Sept. 13 and ends at sundown Sept. 14. These two dates are extremely important. They mark a 10-day period when the Book of Life is opened. It is an opportunity to change a course correction. A time to acknowledge weaknesses and mistakes. It is a time to make things right. It is a time to repent. It is a time to return to the Lord. It is a time to prepare, an opportunity to have your name written in the Book of Life. It is an invitation to meet the Groom prior to the symbolic Wedding Feast.
How symbolic would it be if during this 10 day window of a time to repent, a critical decision was made that was contrary to returning back to the Lord. A lost opportunity to acknowledge weaknesses and mistakes. The opportunity to course correct, and admission of past failures and wrong doing. Unfortunately due to pride, arrogance and fear, we choose to rely on the arm of flesh, and remain in sin.
Here is a past blog post entitled: Wo, wo, wo
Nephi spoke of the "Zion" of our time and said: "Wo be unto him that hearkeneth unto the precepts of men, and denieth the power of God, and the gift of the Holy Ghost." (2 Ne. 28: 26.)
Now having one "wo" pronounced upon a people is a warning of condemnation in this life. Their ways do not prosper and they suffer setbacks because they listen to the precepts of men. They fall back. More concerning is when three "wo's" are pronounced upon a people. The connotation being a condemnation which will last beyond this life and into eternity. So I take the following statement with some considerable seriousness:
"[T]hey have all gone astray save it be a few, who are the humble followers of Christ; nevertheless, they are led, that in many instances they do err because they are taught by the precepts of men. O the wise, and the learned, and the rich, that are puffed up in the pride of their hearts, and all those who preach false doctrines, and all those who commit whoredoms, and pervert the right way of the Lord, wo, wo, wo be unto them, saith the Lord God Almighty, for they shall be thrust down to hell." (2 Ne. 28: 14-15.) Three "wo's" pronounced and three names of God used to make that warning. False doctrines and whoredoms are an equivalent in this passage. That is, you are "whoring" after other false gods, and betraying the true Lord God Almighty, when you preach false doctrines which assure you, in your pride, that you are safe, elect, chosen and better than others. Such teachers are condemned three-fold.
What an interesting problem we have in front of us. No-one can trust in any man or men. All of us are required to hear God's voice, and follow Him.
Great Post.
ReplyDeleteExcellent post. Scary to realize exactly who and what Nephi is talking about. He is talking to us and the LDS church. And I absolutely love your reference to 2 Ne. 28: 26. I never considered before that blindly following was pronouncing a "wo" upon me. We need to follow the Holy Spirit and trust in the Power of God, and not in man. Holding to the rod of Iron is trusting in the Holy Scriptures. I found this quote from Joseph Smith today that goes along with this thought of not blindly following men's precepts. I love it. It negates the old adage that the Lord will never allow the prophet to lead us astray, that idea is hogwash:
ReplyDelete“None are required to tamely and blindly submit to a man because he has a portion of the priesthood. We have heard men who hold the priesthood remark that they would do any thing they were told to do by those who presided over them; if they knew it was wrong. But such obedience as this is worse than folly to us; it is slavery in the extreme and the man who would thus willingly degrade himself should not claim a rank among intelligent beings until he turns from his folly.” (Millennial Star Vol. 14) http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/MStar/id/37806
Thanks again for your post!
Great posts Scott & David!
DeleteIf prophets 'can' lead us astray, and they can, and if the BoM foretells the latter day apostasy of the Church, which it does, then I believe false prophets have lead the people astray and when Joseph died the true Church ceased to exist and thus went into apostasy.
Some righteous individuals remained and did the best they could, but none would have followed Brigham Young.
Joseph taught & warned that we or the Saints can tell 'false prophets & imposters', by if they preach or practice polygamy or anything 'contrary' to the teachings of Christ and the scriptures.
Thus it's easy to see that Brigham Young and all those other leaders come came after him were just false prophets starting a false church with no authority or Priesthood.
Once we realize this everything starts to make sense. The true Church will be restored again in Zion. What's interesting to consider is that there must be true prophets somewhere on earth, probably quietly helping people. We know 2 will probably shortly show up in Jerusalem. I don't believe they will be LDS members, but independent prophets who truly believe in and live the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
It would be so great to actually know of a true prophet and be able to listen to & learn from him. But those who are ready for Zion will all be prophets, they won't need a prophet to lead them for they will have the Holy Spirit as their guide and Christ's teachings to lead them.
Its interesting to watch, both spiritually and physically, the events as they are now unfolding. Talk about kicking the hornets nest. And its not even the work of MAN, but of God. Who else can or has the capacity to reach down and truly bring to the hearts of mortal man an eternal covenant long prior established, and then honor that here and now, only God! His WORD is pulling hearts, moving men and women to come to life, almost as if activated at the sound of a pre-mortal call. There is no MAN to follow, CHRIST is doing His work now, and ALL have the opportunity to come directly to Him. "Zion," if only preliminarily is being established; in thought, heart and idea. Zion's trumphets, even if afar off, far in the distance, are being heard.
ReplyDeleteWhile the invitation is to many, few are responding. It begins by connecting ourself directly with Heaven. It begins by honoring 100% that voice that lies deep within you. Learning to clearly distinguish between that true, even holy, identity that has been with you your whole mortal life, as one who understands intimately your true connection to Christ, to Father. Honor that "voice," that experience, until in a moment of critical mass, heavenly grace, that celestial reunion is experienced -- not in some far off, after you have passed time, but here, now.
There is so much clamor about the internet and in the church. We can't afford to get lost in the noise. Thousands of years of prophets words have spoken, have looked forward to this moment. We are hear now. Celestial bodies "there" are mortally coming to life "here", rising through the telestial dust. Through all our mistakes, our generational conditioning, through sin, through perceived appearance-Christ is redeeming; God's song, God's purposes, even God's covenant will NOT be silenced. Any attempt by any man who thinks pitifully that they can in some way stand between a FATHER and his SON, by any means, be it dominion, coercion, deceit, manipulation or any other kind of abuse will not only fulfil prophecy of the damned and wicked, but will serve as the very catalyst by which the righteous will arise, call out and allow for a connecting of Heaven and earth in a way heretofore unseen.
In the end, Babylon (in ALL its forms) will fall! Sadly, her demise will be long, painful and full of suffering as that is her nature--that is, genuine belief that her ways are above the very God of Heaven, that she can with the same "authority" and "power" by which she has reigned with blood and horror in this realm can possibly allow her such dominion in the presence of Father.
Remove your heart from their coffers! Whether placed there blindly or by fear, your heart has always belonged elsewhere. Believe in God. Believe in Christ. Believe their words! Experience His love, and believe the words that come to you as you walk this almost solitary path out of Bablyon. These early morning glimpses, even bursts of heavenly insight, are simply a prelude to what is coming, and what will be experienced when Zion comes in all her beauty. (cont'd)
(cont'd)
ReplyDeleteIt is in us! Repentance, even the ability to turn away from and then kneel, is so inside us. We know who we are. Even more so, we KNOW the difference between HIS voice -- and the predominately sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbals. Your words are hollow to us, they do not save, they no longer liberate, they no longer free, but only provide a more sophisticated, illusionary gateway heading in the same direction as the world. We will blindly follow you no more!
Today I repent! Today I stand with Christ! Today I choose the resumption of my eternal identity and relationship. I declare that I will no longer allow man to mediate my relationship with God. I boldly, yet humbly, enter the presence of God, in faith. I ask that the covenant by which I have been bought be made fully active in my life. I step in faith, allowing the words of ancient prophets, prophets of the Old, combined with the prophets of the New, along with Nephi, Enos, Alma, Brother of Jared, Moroni and Mormon, and even Joseph Smith who NOT only walked the path, but who testified BOLDY that they had, and that the way is open to all and that ONLY CHRIST stands present, for there is no other "servant" or MAN which has the ability to return us back into the presence of Father.
I know the consequences of living such a prayer. Somehow this has, in some way, already played itself out in my heart. Somehow this has already spiritually played itself out. So, let us choose today, and step into eternity.
I found the following quote from an article, "Pride, Gross Iniquity, And Suffering For One’s Sins" by Brad.
ReplyDeleteI post it, not so much for the face value content, but rather because of the personal questions it provoked inside of me...
"The question we should be asking ourselves is not why the ban was right until 1978, but rather why God permitted us to persist in doing something so obviously wrong until 1978. Part of the answer is that we insisted on it. We demanded it and refused to consider otherwise. We were defensive and obstinate and self-assured and prideful and utterly unwilling to consider that we were wrong, that what we were doing was wrong. Some of us were willing, but their very marginalization only marks them as exceptions that prove the general rule of our being very and prolongedly guilty of the above forms of unrepentance...
...The Kingdom’s growth and, by extension, the people of the world are paying a price for our unwillingness to publicly confess our sin, which we instead hide under a cloak of un-Christian folklore and false-doctrine and proud insistence that it wasn’t our fault, it was really God’s. When you have committed a great evil, and when you persisted in committing it for an extended period and at incalculable human cost, anything short of fully acknowledging it for what it truly is, and of anguished, broken-hearted contrition for having done it is not full repentance. And without full repentance, full redemption is not possible, but instead one must continue to suffer for one’s iniquities."
How many times in my own personal life have I followed this same pattern? Hmm...