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Two Men of Destiny: I am Cyrus

So much of history doesn’t make it into either the history books or the nightly news, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t important or inspiring. The Old Testament often shines a new light on the place of musty, dusty history in relation to the events of our day – if we look closely:

Isaiah 46:8-10:
8 Remember this, and shew yourselves men: bring it again to mind,
O ye transgressors.
9 Remember the former things of old:
for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like,
10 Declaring the end from the beginning,
and from ancient times the things that are not yet done,
saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:

Ecclesiastes 1:9:
The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be;
and that which is done is that which shall be done:
and there is no new thing under the sun.

Restated: The patterns of the past show us the future. So keep studying the past as depicted in scripture, and elsewhere, then it will be easier to recognize the same type of event when it shows up in our day, and the same type of people! I recently came across a stunning example while studying the history of how modern-day Israel came into being, primarily in Messianic Rabbi Jonathan Cahn’s book, The Oracle. Here’s the background:

Israel has a long and checkered past. We can go back to when God rewarded Father Abraham for his righteousness with the gift of a Promised Land:

Genesis 13:12, 14-15:
12 Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan,
and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain,
and pitched his tent toward Sodom.
14 And the Lord said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him,
Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward,
and southward, and eastward, and westward:
15 For all the land which thou seest,
to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.

Where was this land? It was the land of Canaan (later Palestine, now Israel). There’s been centuries of dispute over the rightful owner of this land: Christians, Jews, Muslims? To answer this questions we need to look at the title records, much as we do in real estate when property changes hands:

From Genesis 13 above, we clearly see that God gave this land to Abraham who lived about 4,000 years ago and “his seed after him.” Political control has not followed God’s estate plan for Abraham but has fallen in order to: the Egyptians, Israelites, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Turks, Arabs and Jews (source: https://graham.uchicago.edu/events/early-history-holy-land-08-15-22).
It’s not news that this is hotly disputed in our day. The big schism emerges between claims from human history versus God’s history.

Let’s look at two examples from human history to see how title was returned to the Israelites. The first occurred after their 70-year captivity in Babylon. The Persian King Cyrus conquered the Babylonians and took control of much of the Middle East in 539 BC (Wikipedia “Fall of Babylon”). In 538 BC, he freed the tribe of Judah to return to the Holy Land with the injunction to build the house of the Lord God of Israel (Wikipedia “Edict of Cyrus”), also described in the Book of Ezra:

Ezra 1:1-3:
1 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia,
that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia,
that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom,
and put it also in writing, saying,
2 Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia,
The Lord God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth;
and he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem,
which is in Judah.
3 Who is there among you of all his people?
his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem,
which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel,
(he is the God,) which is in Jerusalem.
(Also see Isaiah 44:28)

What did Cyrus do? He restored the Tribe of Judah to its original homeland given them by the Lord God of Israel. As you can see in this map, the land of Canaan was clearly under Cyrus’ control:

The Persian Empire, 490 BC, under King Cyrus’ successors
Courtesy Wikipedia Commons

So what is King Cyrus’ place in history that qualifies him as a “Man of Destiny”?

He just happened to conquer Babylon as Judah’s 70 years of captivity approached its necessary end or when they were due to be paroled from their enforced observation of 70 Shemitah years (a Sabbath on the Land every 7th year) that they had failed to voluntarily observe for 490 years previously (490 ÷ 7 = 70). So they were put into jail or captivity in Babylon while their homeland lay fallow, before being released by King Cyrus.
His edict not only releases them but commands them to return to Jerusalem and the land of Judah and build the house of the Lord God of Israel!
He was both a powerful general and a magnanimous ruler. He maintained respect for the history, culture, and religion of conquered lands, clearly shown by his actions towards the Israelites, and essential to their release from captivity.
On his tombstone and at the end of many official documents, he stated:
I AM CYRUS, King of the World.
He fulfilled both the Shemitah and Jubilee year promise of Restoration and Return of a lost people to their lost homeland, see Leviticus 25 below:

Leviticus 25:4, 8-10:
4 But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land,
a sabbath for the Lord:
thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard.
8 And thou shalt number seven sabbaths of years unto thee,
seven times seven years;
and the space of the seven sabbaths of years shall be unto thee
forty and nine years.
9 Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubilee to sound
on the tenth day of the seventh month, in the day of atonement shall ye make
the trumpet sound throughout all your land.
10 And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year,
and proclaim liberty
throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof:
it shall be a jubilee unto you;
and ye shall return every man unto his possession,
and ye shall return every man unto his family.

Note every 7th year was a Sabbath year (Shemitah in Hebrew), and every 50th year was a Jubilee year, both of which represent a restoration of possessions and blessings as well as a return to one’s possessions and land. So clearly the ancient Cyrus facilitated the tribe of Judah’s return to Canaan to rebuild Jerusalem and their second temple (known as Herod’s Temple).

So who is the other man of destiny? As World War II was winding down in Europe, President Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected to a 4th term in spite of bad health and took office in January 1945. He died shortly thereafter, on April 12, in Warm Springs, Georgia, of a massive stroke. That same evening, his Vice President, Harry S. Truman, was sworn in as President.

Truman was a nobody in Washington, a “Johnny Come Lately” to the pinnacle of power. Earlier, he had failed in business, then turned to politics in 1923, becoming a district judge in Missouri, then elected to the US Senate in 1934. He supported FDR’s New Deal and was prominent in passing bills and regulations in the burgeoning transportation industry, becoming known for his efficiency and integrity.

From 1941 to 1944, Truman headed the Senate Special Committee to Investigate the National Defense Program, which worked to reduce waste and mismanagement in U.S. military spending. Commonly known as the Truman Committee, it saved American taxpayers millions of dollars and propelled Truman into the national spotlight. (www.history.com)

Subsequently, he completed FDR’s term in office and ran for re-election in November 2, 1948 against Thomas E. Dewey who was heavily favored to win, but which turned out to be one of the greatest upsets in American history. Some newspapers even announced Dewey’s win ahead of the poll results:

Truman’s Surprise Upset Victory
(various sources)

Truman came from an obscure background into a glittering world of power and privilege. He only emerged into the spotlight upon the death of FDR and then remained a relatively unheralded participant in postwar events. So what’s his claim to a unique place in history? Is it this:

From www.history.com: In an effort to end the war in the Pacific and prevent the massive U.S. casualties that could result from an invasion of Japan, Truman approved the dropping of atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima (on August 6) and Nagasaki (on August 9). Japan’s surrender was announced on August 14, 1945; however, Truman’s use of the atomic bomb continues to be one of the most controversial decisions of any American president.

As horrific as those events were, they may be eclipsed in the next world by his pivotal role in another historic event not even mentioned in that article or others: The restoration of the Nation of Israel as a Jewish homeland. Here’s a quick summary:

As WWII was winding down, the US State Department commissioned a study of the condition of Jewish Refugee camps in Europe. Earl Harrison’s report showed they were almost as bad as the Nazi concentration camps had been. Truman, incensed, sent the report to British Prime Minister Attlee asking the British government to renew the vast number of expiring visas for Jewish emigration to Palestine, a British protectorate since 1917. Attlee answered with a letter of resistance and warning.
Truman then responded by releasing both the report and Attlee’s letter to the press. The resulting public uproar pressured Britain into issuing 100,000 much needed visas to Jews desperate to leave Europe and begin reclaiming their ancestral homeland.
In late 1947, the newly formed United Nations proposed and passed a partition plan for the area between Jews and Arabs. Six months later, on May 14, 1948, Jewish leaders in the region formed the state of Israel. British troops left, thousands of Palestinian Arabs fled and Arab armies invaded Israel. In the Arab-Israeli War, Israel defeated its enemies. (New York Times Archive, U.N. Partitions Palestine, Allowing for Creation of Israel).
Here’s what happened next, according to the account in Rabbi Jonathan Cahn’s book, The Oracle: Truman’s backing of the future Jewish state was fiercely opposed by his own State Department, which appeared resolved to thwart his will on the matter at every turn. Despite this he persevered and would be pivotal in the passage of the UN resolution that would bring Israel back into existence. And then, at the moment of Israel’s resurrection, it was because of Truman that America would become the first nation to grant UN recognition.
The newly formed country then sent their first official chief rabbi, Isaac Herzog, to America to visit the president. Rabbi Cahn continues:

The rabbi told the President that when he was still in his mother’s womb, the Lord had called him to be the instrument to bring about the rebirth of Israel after two thousand years. He told him that the Lord had given him the mission of helping the Jewish people at a time of despair and bringing about the fulfillment of the promise and prophecy of their return to the Promised Land. But the rabbi would become even more specific. He told Truman that in ancient times a similar mission had once been given to the leader of another great nation . . . Cyrus. The rabbi told Truman that Cyrus had also been given the mission of helping to redeem the Jewish people from their exile and restore them to their ancestral land. And then he read to the president the words of the ancient Persian king: “The Lord God of heaven hath . . . charged me to build Him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.” (See Ezra 1:2)

But wait, there’s more! God seems to enjoy embedding little clues or bread crumbs in history to be sure we don’t miss His hand in events important to His work:

Cyrus was in power for 30 years. Truman was in politics from 1923 to 1953, also 30 years.
Most scholars place Cyrus’ birth between 600 and 599 BC, so he would be about 60-61 when he conquered Babylon and ascended to the peak of his power, in 539 BC. Harry Truman was born May 8, 1884 and became president and leader of the free world April 12, 1945, just 1 month shy of his 61st birthday! Both were around the age of 60-61 when they ascended to power.
Cyrus issued the world’s first charter of universal human rights written on a “cylinder” declaring the right of those who had been exiled and displaced from their lands to return home, including the captive Jews. Truman’s working partnership with his UN appointee, Eleanor Roosevelt (the only woman among six) was effective in crafting and promoting the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights, approved December 10, 1948. It’s interesting reading; see the full article in Providence Magazine.
King Cyrus freed the Jewish people after 70 years of captivity. President Truman was a singular driving force behind the creation of the modern nation of Israel in 1948, exactly 70 years after the first Israeli settlements in 1878.
King Cyrus issued his edict freeing the Jews in his first year in power. Truman publicized the Earl Harrison report on Jewish refugees in Europe toward the end of 1945 that successfully allowed many thousand of Jewish refugees to settle in Israel, also in his first year as president.
In Jonathan Cahn’s book, The Oracle, the Hebrew word Tashuvu means you shall return and included in Leviticus 25 at least twice. Each Hebrew letter also has numbers associated with it, as well as meaning that combines for the meaning of the word they spell. Interpreted in a rather convoluted fashion, the four letters in Tashuvu are: tav = 400, shin = 300, beit = 2, and vav = 6. Added together, they equal 708. Rabbi Cahn reports that the number 660 = the year 1900. So 660 = 1900. 708 – 600 = 48. 1900 + 48 = 1948 in Western years – the year Israel was made a nation! The rest of the explanation is even more convoluted, so if you want the details, read chapter 32 of his book . . . . I’m starting to believe that there’s a reason why the Tribe of Judah were leaders in the Old World and will be one of two in the Millennium – Ephraim being the other. They must have thought up all the crazy symbolism embedded in Hebrew and for proof, just read the Book of Isaiah!
Finally, President Truman’s letter to Prime Minister Attlee was dated August 31, 1945, a Friday and the start of the Jewish Sabbath day at sundown. It is a long-standing custom for all Jewish congregations worldwide to read the same passage of scripture before their congregations on the Sabbath (called a Parashah). Which particular one was read the next day of the full Sabbath, worldwide? Could any of us have picked one more appropriate?

Deuteronomy 30:3-5:
3 That then the Lord thy God will turn thy captivity,
and have compassion upon thee,
and will return and gather thee from all the nations,
whither the Lord thy God hath scattered thee.
4 If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven,
from thence will the Lord thy God gather thee,
and from thence will he fetch thee:
5 And the Lord thy God will bring thee into the land
which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it;
and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers.

A final word from Rabbi Cahn’s book: The president asked the rabbi if the hand of the Almighty was in his actions toward the Jewish people. The rabbi responded that Truman had been given the task once fulfilled by King Cyrus and that he, like Cyrus, would hold a place of honor in the history of the Jewish people.

And here’s the capstone of this story – note this took place in the research institute of Hebrew University named for President Truman – Rabbi Herzog’s prophecy already fulfilled and reported in Advancing Jewish Thought, an online magazine article: The Story of Cyrus the Great, Invoked by Harry Truman, Is a Cautionary as Well as a Hopeful Tale):

In 1978, scholars and statesmen from the United States and Israel gathered for a symposium to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of the founding of Israel at the Harry S. Truman Research Institute at the Hebrew University. Among the presenters was Moshe Davis, a founding scholar in the field of America-Holy Land Studies, who offered his reminiscences of a 1953 meeting with Truman at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York. Truman’s longtime friend Eddie Jacobson had escorted the former president to the meeting and introduced him to the gathered scholars as “the man who helped create the State of Israel.”¹ According to Davis, the remark caused Truman to turn to his friend and say, “What do you mean ‘helped create?’
I am Cyrus. I am Cyrus,” evoking the Persian ruler from the sixth century BCE who was hailed in the Hebrew Bible for allowing the exiled Judeans to return to their homeland.
Note: I’m sure this was not uttered in pride but acknowledging the earlier words of Rabbi Herzog about his foreordained mission fighting for the State of Israel.

To all who also consider themselves humble and obscure servants of truth and righteousness, this story should give us hope of being able to make a real contribution to the growing good of the world, an ending quote describing Dorothea, a humble and forgotten woman in the novel, Middlemarch). And while we may not have academic institutions named for us, nor being able to say, I am Cyrus, with a more obscure president, Harry S. Truman, we can contribute to the growing good of the world, especially in these times fraught with increasing darkness but also exploding with goodness and miracles.

Then we can also say with Elisha to his servant in 2 Kings 6:15-17:

They that be with us are more than they that be with them!

Elisha and the Chariots of Fire
Courtesy www.godsbreathpublications.com

God’s Miracles: Being Made INVISIBLE

This blog will start a series on God’s miracles that don’t make it into the daily news. Some are real-life experiences, either heard first hand or in biographies of real people caught in real events, or “seen” as part of a near-death experience in the Spirit World.

Many of you may have seen the LDS movie, 17 Miracles, based on real history. One of those recounts a young mother who barely escaped a drunken husband with her two children. Then while sitting on the train waiting to leave, she saw him outside approaching her car. She quickly traded hats with the lady across from her but it did nothing to hid her face. Her husband came down the aisle, looking at each person intently. He came to her, scrutinized her face carefully, and then moved on. She was stunned but could only attribute his not recognizing her to a miracle of God.

Here are three more, the last one I heard directly from the missionary involved:

From Through the Window of Life, by Suzanne Freeman, (pp. 84-85): A young mother and her fussy baby were separated from her wagon train a short distance. Here’s what happened:

“After a while, I heard footsteps, then voices. At first I was relieved, thinking that someone from our group had missed me and came back to help. But then I realized the voices were speaking the enemy’s language.” Stacey stopped and pressed one hand against her chest. “I nearly fainted. I was so scared. There was no place to hide, and there was no time to run away. Porter was fussing as much as ever, crying louder than ever. The only thing I could think to do was pray, and it was a fast one. Just ‘Oh, Heavenly Father, please help us.’

“Those soldiers walked right past us, with just a bush between them and us. Not a single one of them paused or even stopped talking to one another. It was as if Heaven put earplugs on them or something. It was amazing. I thanked Father in Heaven over and over, but I was too scared to move until the search party came to get us.”

From We Were Not Alone: How an LDS Family Survived World War II Berlin, by Patricia Reece Roper and Karola Hilbert Reece, a true story of an LDS German family in very adverse conditions. It began when the father (the local Branch President) turned down an invitation to join the Nazi Party, saying: I serve only Jesus Christ, which cost him his job and all others except menial work assignments where he could only visit his family sporadically. The youngest daughter in the family was the one to go search out sources of food because her older siblings were employed. She was told good farms were at the end of one particular train line, so when she arrived she took the one of three roads out from that station that no one else took. Soon she realized why: there was a Russian garrison between the station and the village that was her only hope of food. If she turned back, she would return empty-handed, and her starving mother was only eating half her ration at each meal so that her children could eat enough to be able to work.

She bravely set out and was soon given a ride by a local farmer who hid her in smelly, dirty straw. She arrived safely and soon found a shopkeeper who didn’t want to sell her anything until he saw how half-starved she was and how sincerely in need. She offered to pay whatever he asked as they were earning regular pay, but he said he would sell her whatever her bags could hold at regular market prices and that she could come back every week. And every week, she miraculously found rides coming and going, until finally one week, there was no ride in sight as she was returning and approached the garrison. Just then she saw the soldiers all coming outside and knew she was in a terrible situation. If she turned back to the village, she would miss the last train home, her family would be horribly worried, and her mother might not live through such trauma. Here’s her account of what happened next (pp. 195-6):

There was no possible way that I could pass by them without being seen. If I were discovered, I could never survive what would be in store for me. There was no earthly help for me to plead for. No one was coming to my aid. So I turned to the only One who could give me the heavenly help I so crucially needed. Creeping between two trees by the side of the road, I quietly laid my nets down, folded my arms, and closed my eyes in prayer. I knew I urgently needed the courage to face the most savage enemies I’d ever known so that I could save the life of my mother. She was the one person on earth whose faith had sustained me and given me hope, courage, and a faith of my own at a time when all seemed lost. It was critical that I get home to her.

That day I did more than pray. I begged the Lord for his divine intervention. I felt like I was truly wrestling with the Lord. As I used every ounce of energy I possessed to reach my Father in Heaven, I became deaf to the soldiers’ voices and the world around me. My only focus was my Eternal Father.

The instant I began my prayer, I knew with all my soul that He was listening. He was right beside me, hearing each breath I took as I said, ‘I believe all the miracles Thou has done in the time recorded in the Bible. I also believe all Thou hast done for the people in the chosen land of America as recorded in the Book of Mormon. I know Thou art the same today, yesterday, and forever . . . . Dear Heavenly Father, I know Thou canst protect me. Please make me invisible to the eyes of those Russian soldiers so that I may walk through them unharmed, even as Thou hast done for Thy prophet Joseph Smith. Help me reach the train so that Mother will not have cause to worry beyond the strength she has to endure.’

After closing my prayer, I immediately picked up my sacks and, without a doubt in my heart, walked straight toward the Russian soldiers. I had to literally plough my way through them. As I pushed one soldier with my right shoulder to have a pathway through, he turned and said something to the soldier on my left. I looked into his eyes and he looked right through me, his big, clear, blue eyes holding no image of me. I continued on my way unscathed. They never even knew I was there. . . .and I caught the train home.

When she told her parents what happened, this was her mother’s response: Karola, you have made a tremendous sacrifice to get this food for us. I feel that the Lord has given you this test. You had a sufficient amount of faith to pass it. Her father’s: The Lord will not require your sacrifice anymore, and neither will we. Don’t go again. The Lord will provide. He will open the way for us to get food from some other source. Several days went by and soon her mother was starving again. Karola watched while her mother continued to go downhill, the rest is in her mother’s words: This morning after everyone left, I knelt by the side of the bed to pray. I had hardly begun when I broke down and cried to the Lord. I explained our pitiful circumstances. I have been surviving on faith and prayers for so long I knew it couldn’t last, and this morning it was clear to me that the end was near. It hurt me to envision your life [Karola’s] and the lives of the rest of the family if I should pass away. . . . I must have wrestled with the Lord for half an hour or more. When I finished, a great calm came over me, and I knew that help was coming. I lay down on the couch to rest and wait. . . . She opened the door some time later. There stood an America major. He merely said, ‘Wait right there,’ in his awkward German. I heard him run downstairs, and a few minutes later, he returned carrying several boxes. . . . ‘[these] are filled with food for you and your family’ . . . . He said that as he went past the PX store this morning, he felt as if someone pushed him inside. He took a cart and began to fill it with food. . . . He knew that he didn’t need anything, so he asked the Lord what he was supposed to do with it all. A deep impression came to him as he remembered the four young girls he had seen in church last Sunday. He went to the mission home, got their address and came straight over, and he came every week until he was transferred away.

A true story from a missionary just returned from an area in the Pacific where a very powerful hurricane had made landfall 3 months before and his was the worst hit area. It took three days for the Mission President to even make contact with his Bishop and assure his family that he and his companion were safe. The background is that this missionary and his companion were living on high ground in a concrete block house and were asked to move about 3 weeks before the hurricane hit, but they couldn’t find anywhere that met Mission standards, so they were still there when the storm hit, and hit hard. 90-95% of the buildings were destroyed and about the same number of people died. The Elders survived by hanging on to the posts of their bunk bed while most of their possessions were sucked out along with one wall.

They took in survivors until they were full, sharing their food and water from the small well outside their door. The last person they could accommodate had a somewhat fierce dog that kept others away. They then went and found their Bishop as the storm died down. He gave them a list of members and asked that they go and check on them. Miraculously, they had all survived which they then reported to the Bishop. In the meantime, he had found food and asked them to take it, go back and give it to each member.

By this time, these young man started to fear for their safety as the final survivors were probably growing more desperate and bolder. In his own words, he said: “We were two white faces in a sea of brown faces. Everyone had always looked at us and everyone had talked to us. This time no one looked at us and no one spoke to us. It seemed we were invisible to them.”

This Elder then chose to stay and complete the last 3 months of his mission doing service and cleanup, and I heard him speak in person shortly after he was released. I could see the fear he had experienced still deep in his eyes. The lesson was that he did what was right in spite of his fear and was protected. And who knows what this experience prepared him for in the future??

What stories will WE have to tell someday? Part of me shudders to think and part of me hopes I’ll rise to whatever challenge comes my way. So will we all have to have this trial and test of our faith? According to Elder Richard G. Scott in his October 2005 Conference talk, Truth Restored, we agreed to our mortal trials or at least knew they were coming:

So that the period of mortal testing and growth would yield its greatest benefit, you were taught and prepared for the circumstances you would personally encounter in mortality. Our Father’s pattern for guiding you through mortal life was explained. He would choose from among the most valiant, obedient spirit children prophets and other authorized servants to hold His priesthood, to be taught His truth, and to be guided to disseminate that truth among His children on earth. God would give each child moral agency, the right to choose His counsel or to ignore it. All would be encouraged but not forced to obey. You understood that while you could choose your path on earth, you could not determine the outcome of your choices. That would be decided by eternal law.

So I conclude from this that we all have individual paths ordained for our growth, and we don’t have every trial that is possible for others, just the ones we most need to demonstrate our worthiness for the level of glory we wish to attain in the next life. Additionally, here’s advice my mother was given in a priesthood blessing by her bishop many years ago: Your life has been designed to be the MOST perfect life it could be for your growth and development. If this was true for my mother, it must be true for all of us, because she was just another person like us, with strengths and weaknesses, and God is “no respecter of persons.” See the original blog post on my personal site, Just a Little Chipmunk in God’s Big Forest, for a fuller discussion.

One further thought: our prayers asking for protection will be answered in accordance with our premortal agreements and the Lord’s will. See a beautiful example Karola Hilbert’s family prayer early in World War II as adversity overtook the citizens of Berlin and all of Germany (p. 101):

Mother bowed her head for prayer, and we reverently lowered our heads and put our arms around each other, interlocking them so that we because a tight, unbreakable circle. Mother prayed. All the yearnings of her soul were opened and laid before the Lord. She asked him for our lives, that we would be spared the devastation that surely lay ahead. That somehow we would survive, if that was his will, to raise future generations in righteousness to him. She prayed for our purity, that we would be chaste and no one would steal this from us. That our hearts would be pure and we would not fall into the temptation of working for vengeance or withholding our forgiveness from our predators. That we would share the light and the love of the gospel in whatever circumstances we would be sent. Lastly, she prayed for our possessions and our home. In closing, Mother humbly said, “We ask for these things, kind Father, only if it is thy will. We leave it to thee to decide if we will have or have not. We place all our lives, virtue, and possessions into they hands: do with them as thou wilt.”

Those prayers were answered but not after they had been tested to see if they would live the Gospel in adversity. They shared what they had, they were an example of faith to their friends and neighbors, and they surrendered their wills, their safety, and their lives to God. Her mother was even willing to starve, that her children might live. And the Lord allowed her to come within days of dying before He accepted her sacrifice, released her from it, and brought them much needed food. But we can’t all count on being spared adversity, suffering, and possibly even death in the days ahead, no matter how hard we pray and how beautifully we live the Gospel. May we all take a page from the Hilbert family’s story and rise to a higher plane of faith and surrender!

Sweet Are the Uses of Adversity

I alternate between being a whiner and a tantrum thrower when adversity seems to gang up on me. Many times I can take the road of faith, strap on my backpack filled with spiritual tools, and tackle that particular mountain. But with other challenges, life all of a sudden seems unfair, and I think I can’t possibly have signed up for this.

Sitting in Sacrament Meeting my first year as a new convert, I silently whined to the Lord: What gives? I just dedicated my life to you and it just got worse – why? The Lord’s answer in my mind: It wouldn’t be a test, would it, if it weren’t a REAL test?

So evidently, goodness doesn’t bring immediate rewards, or even just trying to be better. Years ago, I read this thought in an LDS singles newsletter, paraphrased from memory:

The reason we don’t have immediate rewards or punishments is that the Lord wants us to choose the right way because of our love and commitment to Him.
If He were to provide immediate blessings or negative consequences, many people would live “righteously” just for the reward and not really become better people. When good deeds don’t bring a visible result, it’s a much truer test of our intentions.

Along that line is the old saying: Virtue is its own reward. And what is that reward? Since I discovered God and His restored church as an adult, I could clearly see the difference that changing my intentions, then words and actions, brought: greater self-respect, and quickly too. It also brought improved relationships, greater achievement on the job, and a happier home life with my very deserving children.

Then I dimly remembered this thought from the Prophet Joseph Smith:

If you live up to these principles, how great and glorious will be your reward in the celestial kingdom!
If you live up to your privileges, the angels cannot be restrained from being your associates.
(LDS Church Manual, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, Chapter 39).

So we get a reward in the Celestial Kingdom and the company of angels in this life – this is getting better.

Years ago, my mother told me about a priesthood blessing she received from her bishop, paraphrased from memory:

Your life is the MOST perfect life you could have,
for your growth and development.

She was on a long road to see my father join the Church and needed regular encouragement. She was finally rewarded when he was baptized at age 85 and three months before her death. He stayed faithful and we participated in their sealing 9 months after her passing. Another eternal reward, and a true principle for all of us.

Then in a Stake Conference talk years ago, I heard this thought (sorry, no idea of the source), but it rings true:

The angelic choirs in heaven are singing praises to God
for the mortal adversities that brought them to Christ.

And that reminds me of another quote, from one of the survivors of the Willey Martin handcart companies, when he stood up in Sunday School after hearing some strong criticism of their leaders for choosing to leave late in the summer, putting their people at risk. This gentleman stood up at the back of the class and said, paraphrased:

You do not know what you’re talking about.
I price I paid to know my Savior was worth it,
and I would do it again!

By now, I was feeling properly put in my place, especially when this scripture rang in my mind:

Doctrine and Covenants 88:5-7:
5 Which glory is that of the church of the Firstborn, even of God,
the holiest of all, through Jesus Christ his Son—
6 He that ASCENDED up on high, as also he DESCENDED below all things,
in that he comprehended all things,
that he might be in all and through all things, the light of truth;
7 Which truth shineth. This is the light of Christ.
As also he is in the sun, and the light of the sun,
and the power thereof by which it was made.

If Christ needed to DESCEND before He could ASCEND, the greatest ever to walk the Earth, it must be true for us. My thought: Since we are to fill “the measure of our creation” (D&C 88:15-19), doesn’t that also mean we are to descend an equal distance below our real potential for goodness to qualify for the rewards that come with personal triumph?

Then, the phrase, Sweet Are the Uses of Adversity, echoed through my mind as I tossed around ideas for this post today. I also realized that we sometimes fall for a mistaken belief that: The more we live righteously, the more we’ll be protected from adversity.

That logic certainly appeals to our “natural man” and our desire for a “white-picket-fence” lifestyle, where everything is hollyhocks and rose buds. But a lifetime of observation and then gospel study contradicts that thought, absolutely. And as the Lord said, It wouldn’t be a test, would it, if it weren’t a REAL test? Ouch! We don’t have to like it, but we’ll get further if we just accept it, buckle on our backpack of faith, courage, and perseverance (qualities I’m counseled to cultivate in my Patriarchal blessing), and get on with it – another ouch!

So where did that phrase, Sweet Are the Uses of Adversity, come from? I thought it was a hymn but a search of the hymnal came up empty. Then I did a phrase search on the Church website and it seems the earliest reference is from a BYU Devotional, given February 2, 1962, by Elder Harold B. Lee (and later prophet), click HERE to listen to it – 36 minutes, it’s a corker and you’ll be glad you made the time. Sadly, no transcript is available, but here Elder Lee quotes Dr. Victor Hess, Nobel Prize winner for the discovery of cosmic rays:

Real faith for a scientist, as for anyone else, is often a matter of bitter struggle.
The victory must be won or the gift must be discovered by each one in his own soul.
It often takes the personal experience of grave danger of death
to bring conviction and prepare the way for faith in divine providence.
What is certain is that when faith comes,
there follows a great serenity of soul
and a deep peace in the human heart.

Mirroring that thought, Joseph Smith taught that “a religion that does not require the sacrifice of ALL THINGS never has the power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation” (Church Website Guide to the Scriptures: Sacrifice, first paragraph, EMPHASIS added).

Going back to my earlier question: Did I sign up for this? Evidently I did:

So that the period of mortal testing and growth would yield its greatest benefit, you were taught and prepared for the circumstances you would personally encounter in mortality. Our Father’s pattern for guiding you through mortal life was explained. He would choose from among the most valiant, obedient spirit children prophets and other authorized servants to hold His priesthood, to be taught His truth, and to be guided to disseminate that truth among His children on earth. God would give each child moral agency, the right to choose His counsel or to ignore it. All would be encouraged but not forced to obey. You understood that while you could choose your path on earth, you could not determine the outcome of your choices. That would be decided by eternal law (Elder Richard G. Scott, Truth Restored, Conference Talk, October 2005).

So what chosen trials will you be thankful for someday as you sing praises to your Savior in some glorious heavenly choir?

I, for one, am just realizing that the dynamics in my life that created far too much solitude, even social isolation, was a pure gift, as I became my own best companion and then a daughter of a Heavenly Father who’s a treasured counselor and fatherly comfort. I also now see what seems to be a boring trudge through long years of school, taught in a dry left-brained, sequential way, has given me an organized brain – paths I would never have chosen on my own.

You might start with the trials you’re facing today and apply Gospel principles to navigate through them. If you’re not thankful now, you will be someday as you warm up in your own heavenly choir!

So, let’s tackle the big one: The Time of Tribulation coming towards us. How we handle our current challenges is how we can best prepare for those we’ll face in the future. And studying the wars of the past will prepare us for the wars ahead. Remember that the generation that lived through the Great Depression and then World War II were later called The Greatest Generation, and for good reason. Out of great adversity, comes greatness of soul. That greatness built a powerful and prosperous new age. Sadly “moles” have crept in with a different agenda, bringing the next big fight in order for freedom, fairness, and goodness to triumph.

The Storm Approaches, Pixabay Image 20352

But triumph we will. Read this description of that glorious new day:

Revelation 14:1-3, 6-7, 12-13:
1 And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion [Zion in America],
and with him an hundred forty and four thousand,
having his Father’s name written in their foreheads.
2 And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps:
3 And they sung as it were a new song before the throne,
and before the four beasts, and the elders:
and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.
6 And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven,
having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth,
and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,
7 Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him;
for the hour of his judgment is come:
and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea,
and the fountains of waters.
12 HERE IS THE PATIENCE OF THE SAINTS
[patient through the tribulations]:
here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.
13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth:
Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours;
and their works do follow them.

To recap:

We must DESCEND before we can ASCEND above our trials to claim the glory promised to us.
No matter how hard our trials are, our rewards will be greater, far greater. See my previous blog post: A Feast of Fat Things.
Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning (Psalm 30:5), and the Lord will wipe away all tears from our eyes (Isaiah 25:8; Revelation 7:17, 21:4).

Finally, think about the “mansion in heaven” being prepared for you (D&C 76:111). It will be your perfect home in a world of great love, cooperation, goodness, and amazing creativity. Think of all the history and cultures that will come alive to enrich every day. As Sarah said in 17 Miracles to her fiancé George, as he tackled life and death struggles: It will all be worth it! He lost the mortal battle for survival but gained new life with Sarah by his side, eternally.

Let’s all use that mantra as we go through difficulties, large or small, and not lose our focus on the ultimate prize – reunion with our most real and ultimate Father, as well as all who’ve gone before.

Bon voyage!

A New Earth Rising, Pixabay Image 3077928

A Feast of “Fat Things”

When we think of the coming events of the Last Days, how many of us think it will be a “Feast of Fat Things”? Not many – if any – but the book of Isaiah is clear about the Lord’s promises to His faithful:

Isaiah 25: 3-4, 6, 8-9:
1 O Lord, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.
3 Therefore shall the strong people glorify thee, the city of the terrible nations shall fear thee.
4 For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.
6 ¶ And in this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people A FEAST OF FAT THINGS, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined.
8 He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the Lord hath spoken it.
9 ¶ And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.

But aren’t these amazing promises? They’re echoed a little differently in D&C 58:1-21, but with still powerful reassurance. This doesn’t mean that the phrase “Great and Dreadful Day of the Lord” is only GREAT. It will also be DREADFUL and we can see many signs of those times coming at a gallop. The reason for this dichotomy is that Satan and God/Christ are at war, have very different methods, and provide us with opposition in all things (2 Nephi 2:11).

Satan works by FEAR and the Lord works by FAITH (see related BLOG). The Lord creates boundaries for how far Satan can go in each of our lives and nations, although it doesn’t usually feel like it. If people who experience near-death experiences can be believed, we all at least agreed to the adversities we would face in this life and some probably even volunteered for them, for added glory in the next life (implied in Revelation 20:4). And if you carefully study God’s “appointed times,” you will see how He also regulates the flow of history to create a beginning and end to global adversities. See my related blog posts: God’s “Appointments” With Man and God’s “Appointments” For Great Events. If the Lord could exactly time the events of the last week of Christ’s life to match the 3 celebrations around Passover, how much more can He orchestrate events and their timing in our lives?

To reiterate from my recent talk, Approaching Adam-ondi-Ahman, at the Book of Mormon Evidence Conference on April 6, 2023, we in America only get to the “Feast of Fat Things” at Adam-ondi-Ahman, grace for grace just as Christ did in His early life (D&C 93:18-20). At the last minute, the Spirit directed me to the image below, which speaks powerfully about our climb from the darkness of the Telestial world up our own individual progression to the Celestial glory in the Church of the Firstborn (D&C 76:52-54). We then end up qualified to be there when Christ comes to the valley of Adam-ondi-Ahman. With each victory, we stand on higher ground, in greater light.

We are symbolically in an enclosed stone tower and, if we’re lucky, we’ll have a few small windows looking out on the promised glory, to keep us going in this relatively drab and often very scary world. So I want to share some of the “dishes” that will be served up to us at the final feast – hopefully for you to store away and trot out when you need a dose of hope!

Our Symbolic *Upward* Journey to Adam-ondi-Ahman
Inside the **Arc de Triomphe**, Public Domain Image

When we finally get to the top, we find where our own personal tower of growth and suffering ends: in a high place of glory, and literally at the coming of Christ at Adam-ondi-Ahman (D&C 88:95-98). In that promised glory, we will witness and assist in the great gathering of the 12 Tribes, symbolized by the 12 roads leading to this Paris landmark, the renowned Arc de Triomphe, and where this dark stairway actually goes, up onto its roof:

Aerial view of Arc de Triomphe, Paris – Licensed for use by shutterstock.com

Compare the long climb up that dark tower with the wonder and glory of emerging on top of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, built to commemorate France’s great military victories of the past, symbolic of our own personal triumphs.

Not only will you be crowned with deliverance, glory, and eternal rewards at Adam-ondi-Ahman, but you will be in a spiritual leadership position to see the entire gathering of the 12 Tribes of Israel, to participate in the building of the New Jerusalem, and then watch Zion spread out across America, then North America, safe in God’s protective care. While the rest of the world battles it out during Armageddon and is pummeled by the Abomination of Desolation, faithful seekers are rescued out of them by the 144,000, then brought to us, their nursing mothers and nursing fathers (1 Nephi 21:22-23). It’s hard to imagine a more glorious ending to our mortal Telestial struggles. Then read how an early Patriarch, Charles D. Evans describes Life in Zion:

The light of the gospel, which had but dimly shown because of abomination, now burst forth with a luster that filled the earth.
Cities appeared in every direction, one of which, in the center of the continent, was an embodiment of architectural science after the pattern of eternal perfections, whose towers glittered with a radiance emanating from the sparkling of emeralds, rubies, diamonds and other precious stones set in a canopy of gold and so elaborately and skillfully arranged as to shed forth a brilliancy which dazzled and enchanted the eye, excited admiration and developed a taste for the beautiful, beyond anything man had ever conceived.
Fountains of crystal water shot upward their transparent jets in the brilliant sunshine . . . .
Gardens, the perfections of whose arrangement confound all our present attempts at genius. . . .
Schools and universities were erected, to which all had access; in the latter Urims were placed, for the study of the past, present and future . . . .
All learning was based on eternal certainty.
Angels brought forth the treasures of knowledge which had lain hid in the womb of the dumb and distant past.
(published in The Contributor magazine in 1894; full version at www.NoFearPreps.com and in her book, The Great Gathering, pp 50-52)

Under Christ, Ephraim will manage the world’s government from the New Jerusalem and in spiritual partnership with tribe of Judah in the old Jerusalem – 2 capital cities. Finally the abuses and excesses of “wickedness in high places” will be vanquished, and one Mighty and Strong will lead us:

Isaiah 2:3 – 2 Capitals during the Millennium:
. . . Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
(See also Micah 4:2 and 2 Nephi 12:3)

D&C 85:7:
7 And it shall come to pass that I, the Lord God, will send one mighty and strong, holding the scepter of power in his hand, clothed with light for a covering, whose mouth shall utter words, eternal words; while his bowels shall be a fountain of truth, to set in order the house of God, and to arrange by lot the inheritances of the saints whose names are found, and the names of their fathers, and of their children, enrolled in the book of the law of God;

We have this and many other promises of eternity to anticipate:

From the Prophet Brigham Young:
Let me here say a word to console the feelings and hearts of all who belong to this Church. Many of the sisters grieve because they are not blessed with offspring. You will see the time when you will have millions of children around you. If you are faithful to your covenants, you will be mothers of nations. You will become Eves to earths like this, and when you have assisted in peopling one earth, there are millions of others still in the course of creation. And when they have endured a thousand million times longer than this earth, it is only as it were at the beginning of your creation. Be faithful and if you are not blessed with children in this time, you will be hereafter. (Deseret News, Vol 10, p 306, Oct 14, 1860)
And guys, you will be needed too . . . creating whole worlds, together with your own Eve!

For more inspiration, watch Michael Rush’s wonderful video on YouTube: Reality is Not What You Think It is . . . FYI: The second half contains most of the meat.

Finally, remember the words of an old man who suddenly stood up at the back of his Sunday School class that was criticizing the Willey and Martin Handcart companies for “foolishly” leaving for Utah so late in the year: You know nothing about it. What I experienced to come to know my Savior was WORTH IT, and I would do it again. That silenced the critics, and are “words to remember” when times look extra dark. God’s purpose is to refine us enough to qualify for all His promised blessings.

So onward and upward – Listen to some of my favorite music to put some pep in your step when you feel down, then add your own links in the Comments section:

Savior, Redeemer of My Soul – Dallyn Bayles and Jenny Oaks Baker
The Prayer – Tabernacle Choir with Katherine Jenkins and intro by composer David Foster
Come Go With Me – Kenneth Cope
Ye Elders of Israel – Priesthood Conference choir
Hope of Israel – Sung by us ordinary singers in General Conference
Nearer, My God, to Thee – Vocal Point
Mozart: Ave Verum Corpus– The Romanian Foundation for Excellence in Music, International Music Festival 2014 – a reminder that we have many brothers and sisters not yet gathered – and a benediction on you all!

This is My Religion – What’s Yours?

When we’re exposed to a flood of new spiritual insights, experience, or simply information, it’s easy to get pulled off center from the basics of Eternal Truth.

Brigham Young once said, It’s all right to think far out, just don’t forget to think your way back! (from memory). As usual, his common sense advice finds application in many situations, and this is one of them. So I try to keep these characteristics of God and Light clearly in my mind, as well as my understanding of Satan and the Dark side, as I integrate new learning with what I already know. It’s important to follow French philosopher Simone Vey’s advice, as quoted by Kate Holbrook, while at the Church History Dept:

All wrong translations, all absurdities in geometry problems,
all clumsiness of style, and all faulty connection of ideas,
all such things are due to the fact that
thought has seized upon some idea too hastily and,
being thus prematurely blocked, is not open to truth.

So here is how I see and describe God, His Kingdom, and His works, paired with Satan’s counterparts – in my TOTEM POLE OF TRUTH:

*GOD and LIGHT*	SATAN and DARKNESS
GOD exists	SATAN and evil are real
JESUS is the CHRIST	Satan’s ANTI-CHRIST is a false “Savior”
GOD, JESUS are SERVANTS	SATAN and the A-C are TYRANTS
Author of CREATION, ATONEMENT, IMMORTALITY, & ETERNAL LIFE	Goal: TOTAL DESTRUCTION of Mankind with no progression
Christ is our ADVOCATE	Satan is our ACCUSER
Men have FREE AGENCY	Men are ENSLAVED to the will of Satan
THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS is the Work of God	THE CHURCH OF THE DEVIL and the WHORE OF BABYLON is the Work of Satan
JOSEPH SMITH is called of God to organize God’s Restored Church.	SATAN’S LEADERS organize Secret Combinations.
PROPHETS & APOSTLES: Leaders trusted by God, or He removes them	SATAN’S MINIONS and SLAVES, Evil and Unclean Spirits
God of LOVE and all its offspring	Author of HATE and all its offspring
God of TRUTH Good is Good, and Bad is Bad. God keeps His promises. He delights in “plainness.” (2 Nephi 31:3)	God of FALSEHOOD Good is Bad, and Bad is Good. Satan is a liar from the beginning. (D&C 93:25; Alma 5:20-25)
God of PEACE and CONFIDANCE	Author of FEAR and INSECURITY
God of ABUNDANCE Matthew 6:33: But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.	Creator of SCARCITY Artificially created for power and profit. D&C 104:17: For the earth is full, and there is enough and to spare;
GOVERNMENT of the people, by the people, and for the people. Inspired the United States Constitution. Christ heads world government in the Millennium.	GOVERNMENT of TYRANNY Socialism and Communism Promises everything but never delivers. Satan is bound during the Millennium.
FAMILY is the organization of heaven, focused on serving mankind.	The focus is on the INDIVIDUAL and anything that separates each one from God.
MARRIAGE only between 1 man and 1 woman and shall “become one flesh” with total fidelity.	IMMORALITY enthroned, any deviation from God’s law is encouraged and supported.
CHILDREN are loved and cared for.	CHILDREN are abused, exploited, murdered.
FAMILIES build COMMUNITIES to support life, creativity, all good things.	SATAN builds SECRET COMBINATIONS that undermine human life & civilization.
COMMUNITIES build the KINGDOM OF GOD	SECRET COMBINATIONS build the KINGDOM OF THE DEVIL
Our DESTINY is OUR CHOICE	Satan controls our DESTINY

So when someone doesn’t want to accept the officially published word of an Apostle of the Lord because they don’t like that Apostle’s personality, I remember that the Lord will not allow His prophet, counselors, nor Apostles to teach falsehood in their official capacity (see item 9 above). But I also search the scriptures to find corroboration and further enlightenment.

See my previous Blog Post, O Say What is Truth? for more to chew on. Do study, but study carefully and keep early opinions squarely in the Maybe Box, until evidence and revelation bring greater clarity. And do spend time in your intellectual and spiritual sandbox, enjoy the journey, and don’t take yourself too seriously – remember we’re supposed to become as little children (3 Nephi 11:37-38) . . . .

Author’s Photos – Early *Selfies* – **Me in MY Sandpile Upper Left**

The Half Hour of Silence

In the past year, I’ve discovered a new toy, a Gospel toy. Instead of relying on other spiritual teachers almost exclusively, I’ve learned to search my Church’s website, then learn directly from the scriptures – by topic. The Half Hour of Silence referred to in scripture has prompted a lot of theories about when it occurs and its length in real time. Here’s are the scriptures directly referencing it:

Revelation 8:1
Introduction: John sees fire and desolation poured out during the seventh seal
and preceding the Second Coming.
1 And when he had opened the seventh seal,
there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.

Doctrine and Covenants 88:95-98
95 And there shall be silence in heaven for the space of half an hour; and immediately after shall the curtain of heaven be unfolded, as a scroll is unfolded after it is rolled up, and the face of the Lord shall be unveiled;
96 And the saints that are upon the earth, who are alive, shall be quickened and be caught up to meet him.
97 And they who have slept in their graves shall come forth, for their graves shall be opened; and they also shall be caught up to meet him in the midst of the pillar of heaven—
98 They are Christ’s, the first fruits, they who shall descend with him first, and they who are on the earth and in their graves, who are first caught up to meet him; and all this by the voice of the sounding of the trump of the angel of God.

Doctrine and Covenants 38:9-12
9 Wherefore, gird up your loins and be prepared. Behold, the kingdom is yours, and the enemy shall not overcome.
10 Verily I say unto you, ye are clean, but not all; and there is none else with whom I am well pleased;
11 For all flesh is corrupted before me; and the powers of darkness prevail upon the earth, among the children of men, in the presence of all the hosts of heaven;
12 Which causeth silence to reign, and all eternity is pained, and the angels are waiting the great command to reap down the earth, to gather the tares that they may be burned; and, behold, the enemy is combined.

What do we learn in these scriptures?

The Half Hour of Silence begins right after the Seventh Seal is opened (Revelation 8:1).
The heading to Revelation 8 clearly states that the Seventh Seal is opened before the Second Coming and the beginning of the Millennium. This is supported by the fact that the rest of this chapter describes the “dreadful” events preceding Christ’s final Second Coming, but after the Seventh Seal is opened.
Christ comes immediately after the Half Hour of Silence, as well as those resurrected or translated at that time (D&C 88:95).
The Silence reigns because of wickedness on the Earth, and the angels in heaven are restrained from “reaping down the Earth” (D&C 38:12). My thought on why the angels are restrained: Satan and his minions must have their day, so that their final judgment will be just. FYI, the entire Chapter 38 is well worth reading and digesting.

And here’s a final tidbit, found embedded in those same search results, with the link to the scriptural topic, “Silence, Silent” and it provides counsel to “the prudent” that we might well remember when the time comes:

Amos 5:12-15:
12 For I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins: they afflict the just, they take a bribe, and they turn aside the poor in the gate from their right [the wicked, distinguished from “the prudent” below].
13 Therefore the prudent shall keep silence in that time; for it is an evil time.
14 Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live: and so the Lord, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye have spoken.
15 Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that the Lord God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph [that’s us, folks].

Now we come to the ongoing discussion about how long this Half Hour lasts. I have encountered two theories:

Option 1: Quoting Jst 2 Peter 3:8: But concerning the coming of the Lord, beloved, I would not have you ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
If we figure this out in a literal sense, this is the math:
1 day = 24 hours; 48 “half hours” = 1 day; 1,000 years ÷ 48 half hours = 20.83 years
Option 2: Quoting Daniel 9:27: And he shall confirm the covenant with many for ONE WEEK [here, one hour]: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
[NOTE that the Lord will “confirm the covenant” for the whole week (7 years), but the Antichrist will put a stop to public religious worship halfway through it. I take this to mean that neither he nor Satan himself can stop our inner spiritual growth – it’s beyond their power – even if they shut down all Christian worship services.]
Here One Week is “the Hour” which = 7 of something. It could be 7 days in the literal sense of a week, as in Revelation 3:10 and John 2:4 where Christ’s “Hour” = 7 days of the last week of His life. He came to Jerusalem on a Monday, was crucified on Friday, and resurrected “3 days and 3 nights later” on the next Monday, or over the course of 1 week.
Since we don’t think our time of severe tribulation will last only 3 1/2 days, we then consider that “the Hour” can also = 7 Years of Tribulation, foreshadowed by Pharoah’s dream of 7 years of plenty, followed by 7 years of famine.
So a Half Hour = 3 1/2 years, with this logic. This also lines up with some numbers in Daniel and Revelation: 1260 or 1290 days, 42 months or time, times, and half a time. These numbers paired with meaningful Hebrew Feast days are major ways the real timeline is defined, and this Half Hour of Silence fits into its progression of events perfectly.

A fuller explanation of these two options is given in Farrell Pickering’s video, Daniel’s Hour and the 1/2 Hour of Silence or available on a DVD at propheticappointments.com. He also makes the point that if 20.83 years was really the length of this very destructive time, no one would survive. So I agree with his analysis that 3 1/2 years is the actual time span, and that the Lord buried His messages even deeper in the scriptures than the scripture in 2 Peter, so that future religious leaders wouldn’t omit or alter it in the scriptures, as has been done with many other doctrines. This is also comparable to the Savior’s style of teaching in parables so that only those spiritually prepared to hear that truth and be accountable for living it would understand His message.

Where this fits in a sequence of events is shown clearly on Brother Pickering’s full timeline, and I’ll be addressing it in my upcoming book, hopefully finished by June this year. But this Half Hour (3 1/2 years) will be the time of The Great Tribulation where God’s true followers will be refined in their own personal fire of tribulation and then, if one stays faithful, he or she will emerge with their garments made white, being pure and spotless before God. . . (Alma 13:12). And this is when we all can belong to the Church of the First Born and enjoy the Lord’s Feast of Fat Things in Zion preparing for the glorious Millennium where missionary work and a fuller gathering of Israel continues, with Eternity beckoning beyond that. See the end of my previous post for a preview of this this coming glory.

Buckle your seatbelts, keep the faith, stay in the boat, and hang on for the ride!

Hell Hath An Exit

My Institute of Religion instructor in Boise emailed us voluminous notes and quotes after each class, and one quote in particular stuck in my memory. But when I went to find it, I couldn’t, thinking it was from Elder Boyd K. Packer. So I googled it and finally found it. The author was actually by Elder James E. Talmadge, speaking in General Conference in 1930! Here’s the quote:

To hell there is an exit as well as an entrance. Hell is no place to which a vindictive judge sends prisoners to suffer and to be punished principally for his glory; but it is a place prepared for the teaching, the disciplining of those who failed to learn here upon the earth what they should have learned.
True, we read of everlasting punishment, unending suffering, eternal damnation. That is a direful expression; but in his mercy the Lord has made plain what those words mean. ‘Eternal punishment,’ he says, is God’s punishment, for he is eternal; and that condition or state or possibility will ever exist for the sinner who deserves and really needs such condemnation; but this does not mean that the individual sufferer or sinner is to be eternally and everlastingly made to endure and suffer.
No man will be kept in hell longer than is necessary to bring him to a fitness for something better. When he reaches that stage the prison doors will open and there will be rejoicing among the hosts who welcome him into a better state.
(April 1930 General Conference Report, p. 97)

Why do people make destructive choices, destructive enough to consign them to this Spirit Prison? President Brigham Young gives us some insight:

I know very well that, whether we are active or not, the invisible spirits are active. And every person who desires and strives to be a Saint is closely watched by fallen spirits that came here when Lucifer fell [EVIL SPIRITS], and by the spirits of wicked persons who have been here in tabernacles and departed from them [UNCLEAN SPIRITS], but who are still under the control of the prince of the power of the air.
Those spirits are never idle; they are watching every person who wishes to do right, and are continually prompting them to do wrong. This makes it necessary for us to be continually on our guard – makes this probation a CONTINUAL WARFARE. (Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses Vol 7:239)

Now I’ll combine those thoughts with what “Spencer” saw in Visions of Glory, about how we are surrounded by both the dark spirits described above and those filled with light. They all want our attention and especially obedience. Read this for yourself, starting in Chapter 6, section “In the Bar” (p. 107 in the original edition and p. 97 in 5-Year Anniversary version – very few differences, just smaller print). Here are some excerpts that describe how they operate better than I can, organized by type of spirit:

I next found myself inside [the bar]. There were many people tightly packed on the dance floor, dancing closely, drinking, and smoking. I could hear their thoughts, which were a continual stream of obscenities, rationalizations, and sexual lusts. . . . They looked liked normal people on a dance floor. If they could have heard each other’s thoughts, there would have been no restraint at all, but an ensuing scene of bestial acts. . . . the evil spirits were focused on specific people, those who were thinking and feeling the greatest lust and thrall. They grew more aggressive in urging them to think darker thoughts and have stronger lusts. . . . Some were looking for sexual fantasy, some for intoxication, some for drug-induced euphoria, some were seeking violence and domination. When the humans reached a certain state of intoxication, or when they abandoned themselves to the instructions of the evil ones, an opening occurred near the crown of their heads. When it opened, it looked to me like a black tear in their spirit . . . . The closest spirit rushed at them and entered like fog being sucked into a vacuum . . . . The evil spirits wanted to spiritually destroy their targets so that they could obtain permanent control over them and cared nothing for the experience of the mortals. (The disembodied [unclean spirits] delighted in the physical sensations of the mortals, but had no desire to dominate, only to prolong the experience. . . .) From the evil spirits‘ perspective, having a mortal yield to their temptations gave them power over the mortal. If they suggested an act, and the mortal did exactly that, they set their hooks a little deeper. They were not after the thrill; they were after dominion of the soul, and eventually, lifelong control . . . . their real goal was to gain enough control that they could keep the Holy Spirit from having any influence in the person’s life at all. They weren’t just trying to control behavior; they were trying to ensnare these people in the chains of hell . . . . I saw that people who had already been entrapped by them could hardly hear their own thoughts . . . . Once these evil spirits had total control, they then desired that the mortal should quickly depart mortality, so that their possession became permanent. They thereafter urged them to risky behavior, acts of violence, and suicide to hasten the day of their mortal death.

The disembodied [unclean] spirits were waiting for specific feelings to arise in the humans . . . . The disembodied spirits were waiting for specific feelings to arise in the humans . . . . They were not trying to harm the humans so much as to share in their physical thrills and addictions.

Here are the [race] track, the good angels were few in attendance, being kept away by the mortals yielding their will to the evil ones, but there was a greater opportunity for good angels to intervene. Here, some people were praying . . . . Even a thought of God, prayer, a request, an intention to do good, an act of regret or kindness, brought the good angels. They could then surround the person, protecting them from the evil ones for as long as that attitude persisted. There had to be some act of free will to invite the good spirits. (NOTE: Some sentences were combined out of order for clarity.)

I saw inside movie theaters and . . . where people were watching TV. I saw . . . amusement parks, casinos, and large sports events. I saw people listening to music from stereos and earphones. I saw people laughing at parties and endlessly hanging out with their friends. I thought these were everyday things of no spiritual significance . . . . [but] these were all the ways people unknowingly moved themselves away from the Spirit of the Lord. I realized in each of these scenes that the good angels were absent or pushed away some distance. The people in these scenes were so involved in the entertainment that they weren’t listening to the Holy Spirit . . . they were willingly isolating themselves . . . . I saw people obsessed with eating, with not eating, with dieting, with acting, with dancing or performing, with fashion or beauty, with sports, with dating, or with school – none of which were inherently evil. They were just so focused upon these things that the voice of the Holy Spirit, as I saw being delivered by the good angels, was pushed far away . . . .

Spiritual Gifts: We choose evil gifts by obeying the temptations of the evil spirits . . . we are creating a spiritual link . . . and when we allow this to happen over and over, we are changed, darkened, and dragged down, until we become the servants of darkness, and we receive our wages from the master of darkness. I observed that there are many people who are governed by the voice of Jesus Christ, who are like lanterns being carried through darkness. They push the darkness away by their approach, and the dark angels must depart. Evil beings are powerless to penetrate it and are compelled to depart. [Sound familiar?] The same thing is true of people who are ruled by evil. They become lamps of darkness and push the light away. They become a force of darkness, even while walking in the brightness of spiritual day. Everyone who associates with them is darkened by them, and the good angels are powerless to penetrate it – until that person by an act of free will asks for help or prays for guidance.

At last I realized that this was the message of this whole experience, to see how darkness infests mortality through evil “angels,” and how light is amplified in our lives through obedience to God and the ministry of angels of light. I started seeing glimpses of how people’s choices were making this happen. . . . This may explain why some families have been royalty for hundreds of years, or wealthy and oppressive from the beginning of time, or any other dark familial trait. It may also explain why prophets and apostles tend to be related and greatness runs in families.

So we see here two “escalators”: one going DOWN into darkness, the other UP into greater light, both influencing both our descendants and even our ancestors! We make this choice daily, even minute by minute, not just once. So how can we get on the UP escalator, or back on it, and then stay there, in the real world? Here are a few of my thoughts:

First, simply command negative thoughts to leave, then keep rejecting them every time they show up. Don’t invite them in, give them the best seat in the house, and offer them a meal, entertaining them!
Even better, heed the old saying, An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, which are great words to live by and lead to the next point.
Study, then practice, this scripture, Let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of the God; and the doctrine of the priesthood shall distill upon they soul as the dews from heaven (D&C 121:45).
So Be proactive:
For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. (Galatians 6:8-9)
Finally, look forward to the sure fulfillment of God’s promises, described in Doctrine and Covenants, chapter 58:
3 Ye cannot behold with your natural eyes, for the present time, the design of your God concerning those things which shall come hereafter, and the glory which shall follow after much tribulation.
4 For after much tribulation come the blessings. Wherefore the day cometh that ye shall be crowned with much glory; the hour is not yet, but is nigh at hand. . . .
7 And also that you might be honored in laying the foundation, and in bearing record of the land upon which the Zion of God shall stand;
8 And also that A FEAST OF FAT THINGS might be prepared for the poor; yea, a feast of fat things, of wine on the lees well refined, that the earth may know that the mouths of the prophets shall not fail;
9 Yea, a supper of the house of the Lord, well prepared, unto which all nations shall be invited.
10 First, the rich and the learned, the wise and the noble;
11 And after that cometh the day of my power; then shall the poor, the lame, and the blind, and the deaf, come in unto the marriage of the Lamb, and partake of the supper of the Lord, prepared for the great day to come.
(D&C 58:3-4, 7-11; also see Isaiah 25:6-9)

And here are just some of what’s being served at that FEAST OF FAT THINGS:

And verily I say unto you, I give unto you a sign, that ye may know the time when these things shall be about to take place—that I shall gather in, from their long dispersion, my people, O house of Israel, and shall establish again among them my ZION; (Book of Mormon, 3 Nephi 21:1)
We will be escorted to Zion by the returning “Remnant of Jacob” or remnant of the Lost 10 Tribes:
22 But if they will repent and hearken unto my words, and harden not their hearts, I will establish my church among them, and they shall come in unto the covenant and be numbered among this the remnant of Jacob, unto whom I have given this land for their inheritance;
23 And they shall assist my people, the remnant of Jacob, and also as many of the house of Israel as shall come, that they may build a city, which shall be called the New Jerusalem.
24 And then shall they assist my people that they may be gathered in, who are scattered upon all the face of the land, in unto the New Jerusalem.
25 And then shall the power of heaven come down among them; and I [Christ speaking] also will be in the midst.
(Book of Mormon, 3 Nephi 21:22-25)
Description of the glorious ZION, spreading across our continent after the New Jerusalem described above, from a dream by Patriarch Charles Evans:
Charles D. Evans Dream (published in The Contributor magazine in 1894, Excerpts, or read the more complete version for free on: https://www.nofearpreps.com/ in her book, The Great Gathering, pp. 50-52):
The light of the gospel, which had but dimly shown because of abomination, now burst forth with a luster that filled the earth. Cities appeared in every direction, one of which, in the center of the continent, was an embodiment of architectural science after the pattern of eternal perfections, whose towers glittered with a radiance emanating from the sparkling of emeralds, rubies, diamonds and other precious stones set in a canopy of gold and so elaborately and skillfully arranged as to shed forth a brilliancy which dazzled and enchanted the eye, excited admiration and developed a taste for the beautiful, beyond anything man had ever conceived.
Fountains of crystal water shot upward their transparent jets in the brilliant sunshine . . . .
Gardens, the perfections of whose arrangement confound all our present attempts at genius. . . .
Schools and universities were erected, to which all had access; in the latter Urims were placed, for the study of the past, present and future . . . .
All learning was based on eternal certainty. . . .
Angels brought forth the treasures of knowledge which had lain hid in the womb of the dumb and distant past. . . “Out of Zion the perfection of beauty God shineth.”
Brigham Young gave a similar promise:
The business of the Elders of this Church (Jesus, their elder brother, being at their head), is to gather up all the truths in the world pertaining to life and salvation, to the Gospel we preach, to mechanisms of every kind, to the sciences, and to philosophy, wherever they may be found in every nation, kindred, tongue and people, and bring it to Zion. The “Gathering” was to be not only a bringing together of people, but of all the treasures surviving in the earth from every age and culture; Every accomplishment, every polished grace, every useful attainment in mathematics, music, in all science and art belong to the Saints, and they rapidly collect the intelligence that is bestowed upon the nations, for all this intelligence belongs to Zion. All the knowledge, wisdom, power, and glory that have been bestowed upon the nations of the earth, from the days of Adam till now, must be gathered home to Zion. What is this work? The improvement of the condition of the human family. (Hugh Nibley quoting Brigham Young in Why I Believe, a collection of essays, published by Bookcraft, SLC, 2002; originally from Brother Brigham Challenges the Saints, 1994, emphasis added)
Now a final quote from Brigham Young, written originally for the childless women of his day: Let me here say a word to console the feelings and hearts of all who belong to this Church. Many of the sisters grieve because they are not blessed with offspring. You will see the time when you will have millions of children around you. If you are faithful to your covenants, you will be mothers of nations. You will become Eves to earths like this, and when you have assisted in peopling one earth, there are millions of others still in the course of creation. And when they have endured a thousand million times longer than this earth, it is only as it were at the beginning of your creation. Be faithful and if you are not blessed with children in this time, you will be hereafter. (Deseret News, Vol 10, p 306, Oct 14, 1860)
This quote is capped by a YouTube video by Michael Rush, titled: Reality is not what you think it is – it is far more awesome than you can imagine! The last half or so is the meatiest part; fast forward if you’re short on time.
And finally, if we don’t make choices that send us to “Hell,” we’ll have no need of an “Exit”!

So when your “perfect brightness of hope” dims a little, please direct your attention to the great “Feast of Fat Things” the Lord promises all through the scriptures and in the personal experiences of us mere mortals, because His “tender mercies” surround us every day, especially when we look for them, call them forth with faith, reject the influence of dark spirits, and live worthy of increasing light – keep the faith now and forever!

Making Decisions When It Counts

It’s a gray day here but with very large and very white snowflakes floating leisurely down from heaven, putting me in quite a reflective mood. I had wanted to build on my Sunday energy, after working on my Online Institute course and attending church, and work on my upcoming book by the same name as this website: Last Days Decoded. I was about to start throwing content into it when my energy simply deserted me. I know when I’m licked, so I “clocked out” and rummaged through my videos, finally deciding on a marvelous mini-series, Winds of War, continuing the first episode I started a few days ago. Today I saw Natalie Jastrow and Byron Henry plunge into Poland, to visit her Jewish uncle Berel Jastrow and other long-lost relations, just before Germany invades.

They are driving into her father’s hometown when Natalie spots a road sign: Oświęcim. She comments on it and says, “That’s where my father and Aaron [her other uncle] studied the Talmud as boys. It had a different name then under the Austrians. What was it?”

Berel: “Auschwitz.”

Talk about foreshadowing! The producer and director of this series, Dan Curtis, was the very first to get approval to film in the actual Auschwitz location. They had to rebuild the railroad track entering under the famous guard tower in order to film the scene, “The Last Train to Auschwitz,” where many of the extras on that train had actually been interned there as children. They volunteered for this job in order to stare down the ghosts of their past. It was filmed at the exact location where it had really happened, and in the middle of winter, in the middle of the night. Filmed technically in color, it was foggy, gray, black and white. I felt cold just watching it. German guards practically dragged Jews off the trains or stood at rigid attention holding back ferociously barking German Shepherds. Herman Wouk, the author of the original novels, and Producer Director Dan Curtis were watching from the sidelines and commented he believed this was exactly how it must have really been. The extras confirmed it, and the Assistant Director had been one of them, arriving there at age 13. He survived two years in the work camp, then dedicated his life to making films about the Holocaust. His name: Branko Lustig and he went on to direct Schindler’s List.

The story follows two American families’ experience all through the war from the early 1939 build-up, to war’s end in 1946. One family is Jewish (the Jastrows) and one Christian (The Henrys). They bump up against one another with life-changing results, much of it shaped by events of the war. Not only is their personal story engaging, but this is also a serious lesson in contrasting decision-making styles:

Some characters were clear-minded, seeing reality for what it was, and decisive. So they almost always had a better outcome. Others struggled with cloudy, even wishful thinking, becoming paralyzed mentally. They were then pushed along by circumstance to often disastrous consequences. These two groups present different archetypal styles we see in life today: those who take charge of their circumstances – to the degree they can – and those whose circumstances take charge of them.

In graduate school, I took a course called The Psychology of Learning where we mostly studied lab mice and rats. In one experiment, rats soon learned to push a lever to get a food pellet. The experiment’s goal was to see what happened when this positive reinforcement was given a negative component. The lever was wired to deliver a relatively mild but definitely unpleasant electric shock. The rats’ responses were fascinating: most found the relative strength of the positive and negative reinforcers to be about equal. Usually they just froze in front of the lever unable to make a decision, unless they were very hungry. We see this ambivalence, even paralysis, in others and, if we look, we can probably see it in ourselves when presented with a situation that both attracts us and causes us real pause. We can’t let that normal human reaction, though, control our decisions when the consequences might mean life or death. We have to consciously break that log-jam.

In this series, we see how both types process decisions in light of a grim new reality which challenges each one to examine their deepest identity and goals, see their choices clearly, then act decisively in line with those values. Those characters who couldn’t do this, and who didn’t understand the patterns of history, usually paid a heavy price.

Other movies to watch or books to read containing the same lesson: Woman in Gold (a movie based on a true story about art restitution in Austria), Eleni (a book detailing a true story of escape from Nazi-controlled Greece during WWII), and Coming Out of the Ice (another true story in book form) about a family who was sent by Ford Motors to Stalin-controlled Russia in the late 1930s, against the intuition and better judgment of the mother. They should have listened. All perished except the son Victor who survived 18 years in Siberia – a riveting read.

Author Herman Wouk manned a minesweeper ship in the Pacific, and he had begun writing for the Navy in the war. He came home and wrote Caine Mutiny taken from his war experiences for which he won a Pulitzer. Then thinking there was a bigger novel behind this cataclysmic event, he estimated it would probably take three years of research and end up about 800 pages long. Eventually calling it The Main Task, he didn’t start until 1960. It ended up as 2,000 pages in 3 volumes and took 14 years! It topped the best-seller list, and he had many offers to turn it into a TV miniseries. But since he hated what had been done with previous books, The Caine Mutiny, Marjorie Morningstar, and others, he refused to entertain any of them. But Dan Curtis promised him the moon, including writing the screenplay and having a voice in sponsors and casting. The result: a gorgeous production totally true to the original story, with top actors, filmed in 10 countries, using over 40,000 extras, and costing ABC many millions. It’s a never-to-be-repeated miracle of film-making, not a sanitized account of the Holocaust, and a must see!

Winds of War takes our story from March 1939 to Pearl Harbor and runs 18 hours. War and Remembrance starts there and ends in 1946 and runs 30 hours. I tell people that Winds is the appetizer and War. . . is the meal! Two couples who watched the whole thing, at my recommendation, all said, “This was LIFE-CHANGING!” Winds of War broke viewing records at the time (1983, then War. . . in 1988) and for good reason: They’re both excellent start to finish and top to bottom, pulling no punches about the harsh realities of the Holocaust.

But finally, it is simply wonderful story-telling about what war does to people and to their lives. Romance was involved and as attention grabbing as that was, at the end of the day, both I and one of those other viewers said that the character with the most impact was Aaron Jastrow. He and his cousin Berel had grown up and studied the Talmud together in the town that later became Auschwitz. But they took different paths in life. Berel stayed faithful to the religion of their fathers, while Aaron became disaffected as a teenager, migrated to America, and excelled as an academic. His book, A Jew’s Jesus, was so successful that he bought a villa near Sienna, Italy and was working on his next book, The Arch of Constantine, with the help of his niece Natalie Jastrow, armed with a Master’s Degree from an East Coast women’s college and an attitude of privilege.

Aaron also hires Byron Henry as a research assistant, an American and a Christian, whose father, Victor Henry, is the American naval attaché to Germany in early 1939. Natalie is played by a young Allie McGraw and the role of Aaron is filled by John Houseman in Winds and John Gielgud in War. Byron falls hard for Natalie and so begins a long story line. His father has problems in his marriage with a complicated ending. As compelling as those stories are, the trajectory of Aaron Jastrow has real staying power. He started out as a cultural Jew who came up against the realities of his Jewishness in extreme circumstances that challenged him to decide where his true identity and allegiance lay. His story was so brilliantly told and acted, it is simply one of the best performances I’ve ever seen, by an actor in his 80s! For a rich taste of John Gielgud’s talent, watch his performance telling his fellow Jews the story of Job, in this YouTube clip from War . . . HERE, then keep viewing the follow-up interviews and readings by Herman, even after age 100! As Latter-day Saints, we have some further comfort to offer Aaron and his fellow Jews. They will all come to a unity of the faith after Christ rescues them at the Mount of Olives. And what stories they will have to share!

Both mini-series are available in most library systems and to purchase reasonably on Amazon: Winds HERE and War HERE. These are what I bought, but there are multiple versions. Be sure to buy one that plays on N. American DVD/Blu-Ray players (NTSC format).

Every story in this amazing saga was different and every ending unique. Someday we’ll have our own stories to tell about experiences in the Great Tribulations coming to Gentile America, both the trials and the miracles that we’ll share at Adam-ondi-Ahman with all the other faithful followers of Christ. Viewing or reading stories like this can make it all so much more real, and prepare us for our own hard decisions. And finally remember: our righteousness doesn’t protect us from adversity but qualifies us for spiritual, even miraculous help to get through it.

Now YOU have a decision to make: Will you deliberately choose to look the gathering storm in the eye? Will you study the wartime adversities of others and put yourself “in the picture”? Are you willing to set aside your comfortable world for a time, step into another, and then suffer vicariously to lessen your suffering in the tribulations ahead? We cannot change the actual reality predicted by the scriptures and confirmed by our growing knowledge of the immense evil awake on our planet. Just as the last good witch in Sleeping Beauty cannot undo Maleficent’s curse on the baby princess Aurora, we cannot undo the curse upon mankind because of sin, greed, and the fall.

“But,” in her words, “. . . I can soften it. Instead of dying, the princess will sleep 100 years and then wake from the kiss of true love.” So we too can also soften the impact of what’s to come: by preparing mentally and emotionally for hard times, and remembering that the Lord matches the size of His miracles to the depth of our adversity and need.

Then we can end up at the GREAT day we’re all looking forward to: Adam-ondi-Ahman and the New Jerusalem with our beloved Savior healing our wounds and sorrows – the symbolic “kiss” of true love between Christ, the ultimate Bridegroom, and His Bride, the Church.

O Say What Is Truth?

Have you ever experienced or observed a troubling situation that might be in a “gray area” of right and wrong:
(1) While playing Rummy, all your cards finally form runs or groups that you can lay down, except one Jack that you can discard, go OUT, and claim the 25 bonus points. Your opponent throws down his hand in disappointment and THEN you notice that the discarded Jack can actually be played on his group of Jacks, so the game technically isn’t over, he gets another turn, and you see those coveted 25 points disappearing. His hand is still intact, face down on the table. What do you do?
(2) Or read an historical account that doesn’t line up with other sources (i.e., Thomas Jefferson fathered children with Sally Hemmings)?
(3) Or finally you find yourself sitting at the feet of an enthralling speaker who says that we can think our way to prosperity and is promoting a book called The Secret?

Religions, by definition, teach truth or believe they do. Similarly, religious people are also seeking truth, eternal truth, or say they are. Joseph Smith in 1820, as one of them, went into the Sacred Grove to ask God directly about the truth of the many churches vying for his attention. See #3 below for what he learned.

So as we seek truth, even this same truth, we can learn from Joseph’s journey, and what was that journey? I identify 3 steps:
(1) His own EXPERIENCE: He attended various churches, listened to the discussions going on in his family and neighbors, and then observed the “fruits” of all of them in their behavior, attitudes, and treatment of others. These observations created more questions and few answers.
(2) His own STUDY: His family read the Bible and Joseph searched the scriptures on his own. Then he came across the verses in James 1:5-6:
5 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. 6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.
(3) His own REVELATION (FAITH): Joseph exercised faith with purity of intent and sincerity of heart, offered a humble prayer to God, and he got an answer! He was young and immature in some ways, and certainly not perfect. But his sincerity and real intent brought forth an answer. Because of his prophetic role to come, his answer came in an amazing form: the actual appearance of God the Father and Son Jesus Christ advising him to join “none of them” [other churches]. The rest, they say, is history, which started him on a path to restore the original church of Jesus Christ through direct revelation from deity and purity of doctrine based on actual and eternal truth: And truth is knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come; . . . (Doctrine & Covenants 93:24)

I followed a somewhat similar path to understanding eternal truth and finding God’s Restored Church. And I soon understood the scripture of learning “by study and by faith” (D&C 88:118). View the ABOUT page for my conversion story. My experience, followed by study, and then faith/prayer led me to standing on my own personal Rock of Revelation, still my road to truth today.

Let’s take the examples above and discuss them in light of these three steps:
(1) EXPERIENCE: My son and I play traditional Rummy regularly and this exact situation happened to me during a very competitive game. Peter didn’t see that as I laid down all my other cards, the Jack I discarded could actually be played on his 3 Jacks on the table, that I had missed seeing. He just threw down his hand in defeat, but just as he did that, in horror I saw my mistake. I had a choice: say nothing and get the extra 25 points for “going out” or acknowledge my error and continue the game. Fortunately I made the choice of integrity and said, “Ouch, I didn’t see this Jack was playable, so it’s still your turn.” I put the Jack on my side where it belonged, netting me only 10 points, and he took a turn. We came to a true ending soon after. I still won but by a lot fewer points. Why didn’t I take that easy bigger win? Because honesty was more important to me than a quick and soon forgotten win. In discussing this, we agreed that to win by cheating is NO WIN AT ALL, because all violations of the laws of God eventually are “shouted from the housetops” (Thou Shalt Not Steal). We could only really win playing “by the rules.” One of my siblings plays a different family card game where they all cheat, as often as possible, but they also all agree that All’s fair in war and cards” and this is war! I contend that they’re playing a different game than the one we usually play, just technically with the same name, and it’s fine if everyone is informed. Finally, my great-great grandfather Samuel Parrish is buried in the Centerville UT Cemetery. His simple headstone reads: Here Lies An Honest Man. My mother told me many times that his honesty was legendary, and this legacy followed after him to my grandparents, parents, and their descendants. That is a cardinal character trait I greatly value and emulate. To cheat in a card game, even in a small way, puts a blot on my soul that I don’t want to carry, now or into the next life. Experience teaches us these lessons – our own and watching others.

In the world of STUDY, humans use the Scientific Method, careful historical research (primary vs secondary sources, wherever possible), and logical analysis. It is my experience from growing up immersed in the academic world, that everything we think is absolute truth may only be relative to the level of creation in which we find ourselves. Even something like the Law of Gravity seems to be suspended when reading about Near Death Experiences with people and spiritual beings being transported effortlessly up, not always down, and through solid materials like walls and ceilings, and there is other evidence for higher realms of existence with different governing physics. So we need to not mistake theory for law: The Theory of Evolution is just that and definitive proof has never been established through rigorous scientific study. Why do scientists and historians vehemently uphold as truth things not fully proven? Many analysts can often identify a private agenda behind their posturing. Example: Evolution opens the door to tossing out God’s rule book and opening Pandora’s box on every imaginable sin. And haven’t we seen that? Just watch any of the true crime shows for a ringside seat! So watch for hidden agendas and actual “fake news”!

(2) BY STUDY: Example: Did Thomas Jefferson really father illegitimate children by Sally Hemmings? Evidence for YES: DNA from her descendants partly matches Thomas Jefferson’s. Evidence for NO: He had promised his wife not to remarry after her death, which he honored. He was a devoted Christian who practiced great personal integrity according to an historian, Dumas Malone, who did a lifetime of research and wrote a 6-volume biography of this esteemed president. This was also corroborated in accounts of early biographer Henry Randall who practically lived with Thomas Jefferson, and in an adjoining room where he couldn’t miss any comings or goings. He described Jefferson as “immaculate a man as God ever created.” And finally, Randall described a conversation with Jefferson’s grandson, Thomas Jefferson Randolph, who related that the family all knew that Hemmings was the mistress of Jefferson’s nephew, Peter Carr, and that “their connection . . . was perfectly notorious at Monticello.” He also had the Jefferson DNA and this is as close to historical truth as we usually get. The misinformation was spread by James Thomson Callender, an angry journalist who didn’t get an appointment as Postmaster in Richmond, VA, so he sought to smear all Federalists leaders, Jefferson being one of them. This was enlarged upon more recently by Fawn Brodie whose works are widely condemned by established scholars. It appears she didn’t want to climb the academic ladder with real historical research so she sought a popular and sensation-seeking readership among the public. Those with an agenda jumped on her ideas and widely promoted her books. Lesson here: authors, publishers, and politicians frequently have an agenda. Ignore that at your peril!

Enter the world of FAITH and we also encounter problems. It’s easy for the human side of us to mistake our wishes and emotions as answers from God. Or there are the hypocrites who know they’re lying but they want fame, wealth, power, or all three. Then there are the sincere seekers who simply don’t know how to distinguish doctrinal fact from theory or erroneous interpretation.

(3) FAITH/REVELATION: In our third example above, we encounter someone who claims that we can create immense wealth in our lives simply through the power of our own thoughts. A book promoting this idea, called The Secret, was reviewed and promoted on Oprah in the early 2000s, and quickly gained a following. It was certainly attractive to me; I had struggled financially for years as a single mother. How could this be wrong? Don’t we all know our thoughts can be self-fulfilling prophecy as demonstrated in many university studies? But it wasn’t long before an LDS speaker punctured that balloon: while our thoughts certainly can influence outcome, especially in the form of FAITH, it is really God that ultimately brings blessings He deems appropriate as the result of righteous living and consecrating all to God: But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you (Matthew 6:33 and 3 Nephi 13:33). I stood corrected, lesson learned, and the subtlety of the Adversary duly noted!

How do we make sense of these situations while “holding to the Rod” firmly and confidently? As we progress down the path of Sincerity and Real Intent, with Faith in Christ, we start to get real answers. Then as we listen to our leaders and church educators, we must be alert to how their words actually line up with true doctrine. I have, therefore, created my own list of guidelines for “vetting” the source of spiritual truth:

AUTHORITATIVE:
(1) Personal Revelation, straight from God through the Holy Ghost, and correctly understood.
(2) Prophets and Apostles, then living, over the pulpit or in official publications
(3) Scriptures, correctly translated and understood

SEMI-AUTHORITATIVE:
(1) Church Education, dependent upon the correct understanding of the church educator.
(2) Church College Professors, with the same proviso above.
(3) Deseret Book Publications, sometimes incorrect statements or doctrine creep in spite of their editors’ best efforts. Note that books are regularly recalled when errors are discovered.
(4) The Apocrypha, see D&C 91:1-6

INTERESTING – All Else:
(1) All human learning is subject to personal error or opinions of the speaker/writer, BUT IT MAY ALSO BE TRUE AND VALUABLE. Keep in your MAYBE BOX.

It’s so easy, even appealing, to jump on an idea that sounds right, but here’s a good caution from French philosopher Simone Vey (emphasis added):

But we don’t need to let all these real concerns stop us from courageously examining ideas, but let’s always remember to verify them through other sources and then hold them up to the light of what we already know, what I call my Baseball Diamond of Basic Truths. Each plate is a truth I’ve already vetted “by STUDY and by FAITH” and by personal EXPERIENCE:

HOME PLATE: God is perfect and loves us perfectly.
FIRST BASE: There is an eternal plan and places are being prepared for us in the hereafter that align with our choices in this life.
SECOND BASE: The Lord has organized His church, ordinances, and doctrine to provide the path back home to Him, should we choose it.
THIRD BASE: God gave us Free Agency and He will never use force in His Kingdom.
The entire baseball field represents this mortal, fallen world, including the ability to stray from the path around the bases that completes a “HOME RUN” or attaining eternal life. I invite you to really examine your faith and how you would label your own bases. When life starts to pull us away from our fundamental faith and spiritual knowledge, we can touch those bases again and renew our commitment. I like to live a quote from Brigham Young (paraphrased here): It’s all right to think far out, just be sure you can think your way back!

We have many church authorities and educators who’ve given us great teaching and insight into the path to exaltation. And, increasingly, we also have ordinary members who’ve chosen to do a “deep dive” into the scriptures and ecclesiastical history. However, none in this group always gets it right, including me, and they admit theirs is a work in progress. So study widely and do your own original searches on our church website as well as:
https://scriptures.byu.edu/ – Scripture Citation Index from BYU that gives all citations of General Authorities’ usage of particular scripture references.
https://www.josephsmithpapers.org – The Church has posted their complete file of Joseph Smith documents, arranged oldest to newest and by category.
Church Scriptures – Use the Search feature with the magnifying symbol in the top horizontal menu. You might try “church of the firstborn” as an exact phrase or “remnant of Jacob” and see what you learn. For this post I read the Truth section in the Guide to the Scriptures under Study Helps on this site and was amazed at what I learned in 30 minutes!

Click on link for my FINDING TRUTH handout to learn more, and as the man said, Try it, you’ll like it!

God’s “Appointments” With Great Events

If we want evidence that Hebrew Feast Days are truly “appointments” for holy occasions, let’s see if they align with any past and then future events. Here are only some:

(1) Events of the last week of Christ’s mortal life,
(2) God and Moses parting the Red Sea,
(3) God and Joshua parting the Jordan River,
(4) The fall of the walls of Jericho,
(5) Feasts Days aligned with events of the Restoration of the Gospel in our day through the Prophet Joseph Smith,
(6) Christ coming at Adam-ondi-Ahman to the faithful,
(7) Christ splitting the Mount of Olives to rescue the Jews at the end of Armageddon,
(9) The “Hidden Day” or Day 8 of Tabernacles symbolizing Christ’s Final Coming in the Clouds – The Day and the Hour No Man Knoweth (Matthew 24:36)

LET’S LOOK AT THE DETAILS:

(1) THE LAST WEEK OF CHRIST’S LIFE line up perfectly with PASSOVER EVENTS:
Nisan 10 (Monday): Triumphal entry of Christ into Jerusalem on the day the Shepherds annually brought the Temple Lambs to be inspected and selected by the priests. He was the real Lamb, and ever after called The Lamb of God. See John 12:1-19)
Nisan 14 (Friday): Passover which starts at sundown and followed by: the Last Super, Gethsemane, betrayal by Judas, scourging, trials, crucifixion, burial just before sundown, and the end of that day, when “the Sabbath” would begin.
Nisan 15 (Saturday): First Day of Unleavened Bread and a High Holy “Sabbath”
Nisan 16 (Sunday): Weekly Sabbath – Originally held on Sunday, only later changed by Hillell II to Saturday in response to Constantine’s actions (SOURCE). The two Sabbaths fulfill the “3 days and 3 nights in the tomb,” see Jonah 1:17, Matthew 12:40.
Nisan 17 (Monday): FirstFruits when Christ is resurrected early in the morning. See Mark 16:9; Matthew 28:1; John 20:1, 14-16.
This is the exact sequence of celebration that had been followed by the Israelites for 1500 years, since the Exodus with Moses at Mt Sinai, in preparation for these events. The Israelites were so blinded by tradition and the pride of their leaders, few recognized the lowly man from Nazareth as their awaited Messiah. The tribe of Judah and their descendants paid a fearsome price for the His crucifixion, which will only to reach final resolution when Christ comes to rescue and forgive them at the Mount of Olives (Zechariah 14).

(2) GOD, WITH MOSES, PARTED THE RED SEA on the 7th day of Unleavened Bread, always on Nisan 21, which was also First Fruits that year, the original “Day of Deliverance for Israel”:
As far as the sequence of events, Passover was after sunset on the 14th of Nisan/Abib (Exodus 12:6) and the death angel passed-over at midnight (Exodus 12:23-29). During the early daylight hours on the 14th of Nisan/Abib, the children of Israel received gold and precious things from the Egyptians (Exodus 12:35-36). They left Egypt at night of the 15th of Nisan/Abib (Exodus 12:42; Deuteronomy 16:1). Late on the 16th of Nisan/Abib, the children of Israel arrived in Succoth (Exodus 12:37). Later, apparently on the 18th of Nisan/Abib, Pharaoh decided to pursue them (Exodus 14:5). On the 20th of Nisan/Abib, Pharaoh’s armies get near the children of Israel (Exodus 14:9). On the 21st of Nisan/Abib, GOD PARTED THE RED SEA AND THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL CROSSED IT ON DRY LAND (Exodus 14:20-22, 29). [Then] during the daylight hours of the 21st, the Egyptian army pursues and is destroyed (Exodus 14:23-28).
NOTE: The Israelites cross the Red Sea on a Day of Deliverance: Nisan 21 when FirstFruits coincides with the 7th day of Unleavened Bread. See earlier POST for explanation, and remember days in the Hebrew calendar go from sundown to sundown, not midnight to midnight.
Source: https://www.cogwriter.com/news/doctrine/7th-day-of-unleavened-bread/

(3) GOD, WITH JOSHUA, PARTS THE JORDAN RIVER for the Israelites to finally enter the Promised Land, arguably on Yom Kippur or the Day of Atonement, the most holy day in the Jewish calendar: And the people came up out of Jordan on the TENTH DAY OF THE FIRST MONTH, and encamped in Gilgal, in the east border of Jericho (Joshua 4:19). We know that Nisan in the spring is the “first month” in the Jewish calendar, but there are 2 Jewish New Years annually: Nisan 1 (the Passover feasts) and Tishri 1 six months later (the feasts surrounding the Day of Atonement). Which is the “first month” referred to above? See Joshua 5:8-9: Shortly after crossing the Jordan: 8 And it came to pass, when they had done circumcising all the people, that they abode in their places in the camp, till they were whole. 9 And the Lord said unto Joshua, This day have I ROLLED AWAY THE REPROACH OF EGYPT from off you. Yom Kippur or Day of Atonement on Tishri 10 is the one day of the year that the Lord forgives sins in Israel, which is then followed by 5 days of preparation and 7 days of the Feast of Tabernacles, the most joyous festival in the Jewish calendar that celebrates being forgiven and the prospect of dwelling with the Lord and His protection and care. So I maintain this is when the 40 years of wandering and condemnation were lifted off the Israelites, because it better matches the wording and significance of this event.

(4) THE WALLS OF JERICHO FELL on day 7 of Unleavened Bread that also coincided with FirstFruits. These two will foreshadow when Christ comes to Adam-ondi-Ahman on FirstFruits, which also occurs when it is also the 7th day of Unleavened Bread. Evidence here:
Joshua 3:7 This day will I begin to magnify thee in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee.
Joshua 5:10 And the children of Israel encamped in Gilgal, and KEPT THE PASSOVER on the fourteenth day of the month at even in the plains of Jericho. (NISAN 14)
NOTE: Then continuing immediately after Passover:
Joshua 6:1-5:
1 Now Jericho was straitly shut up because of the children of Israel: none went out, and none came in.
2 And the Lord said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valour.
3 And ye shall compass the city, all ye men of war, and go round about the city once. Thus shalt thou do SIX DAYS.
4 And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams’ horns: and the SEVENTH DAY ye shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets.
5 And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him.
NOTE: The SEVENTH DAY is of the Feast of Unleavened Bread and in this year was almost certainly also a day of FIRSTFRUITS and therefore a DAY OF DELIVERANCE.

(5) HEBREW FEASTS ALIGN WITH THE RESTORATION of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Here’s a sampling:
FEAST OF TRUMPETS when Joseph took plates out of the ground on September 22, 1827 – The Book of Mormon’s call was to REPENTANCE and to PREPARE, both physically and spiritually, for the great days ahead. This matches the ancient meaning of this important day (Tishri 1).
The Day Before PASSOVER – The Church is organized on April 6, 1830 (Nisan 13).
TRUMPETS – Mission calls are issued September 14, 1830 to take the Book of Mormon to the Lamanites in Missouri (Tishri 1).
PASSOVER – Priesthood Keys are restored in the Kirtland Temple, April 3, 1836 (Nisan 14).
SHABBAT NACHAMU (the Sabbath of Consolation, 1 of 7 each year) – The first settlers arrive in Salt Lake Valley, July 24, 1847.

(6) CHRIST COMES TO ADAM-ONDI-AHMAN, also another “Day of Deliverance for Israel” – when Michael stands up, and Christ appears. Details coming soon!

(7) CHRIST SPLITS THE MOUNT OF OLIVES on Yom Kippur or Day of Atonement when repentant Jews will finally be forgiven for His crucifixion, followed by the Feast of Tabernacles to which all Israel’s enemies are invited (see Zechariah 14).

(8) THE FINAL COMING IN THE CLOUDS on The “Hidden Day” of Tishri 22 – it will remain unknown until it actually happens because only Heavenly Father knows when every last person on Earth finally and definitely decides which church he chooses (Christ’s or the Devil’s), the last sifting of the “Sheep and Goats” before the Millennium.
See BLOG POST: The Day and the Hour No Man Knoweth for further explanation.