In T&C 37:4-8, the Lord restored to us a record of the discussion he had with his disciples while on the Mount of Olives looking across at the temple complex in Jerusalem. While parts of it appear in Matt. 11, there is additional information from this sermon that are restored here regarding the scattering and gathering of Israel, the times of the gentiles, and an "overflowing scourge" or "desolating sickness" which is scheduled to occur:
"As you have asked of me concerning these signs of my coming, in the day when I shall come in my glory in the clouds of Heaven, to fulfill the promises that I have made unto your fathers, for as you have looked upon the long absence of your spirits from your bodies to be a bondage, I will show unto you how the day of redemption shall come, and also the restoration of the scattered Israel.
"And now you behold this temple which is in Jerusalem, which you call the House of God, and your enemies say that this house shall never fall. But verily, I say unto you that desolation shall come upon this generation as a thief in the night, and this people shall be destroyed and scattered among all nations. And this temple which you now see shall be thrown down, that there shall not be left one stone upon another. And it shall come to pass that this generation of Jews shall not pass away until every desolation which I have told you concerning them shall come to pass. You say that you know that the end of the world comes. You say also that you know that the heavens and the earth shall pass away, and in this you say truly, for so it is. But these things which I have told you shall not pass away until all shall be fulfilled, and this I have told you concerning Jerusalem.
"And when that day shall come shall a remnant be scattered among all nations; but they shall be gathered again, but they shall remain until the times of the gentiles be fulfilled. And in that day shall be heard of wars and rumors of wars, and the whole earth shall be in commotion. And men’s hearts shall fail them and shall say that Christ delays his coming until the end of the world, and the love of men shall wax cold and iniquity shall abound. And when the times of the gentiles is come in, a light shall break forth among them that sit in darkness, and it shall be the fullness of my gospel, but they receive it not, for they perceive not the light and they turn their hearts from me because of the precepts of men.
"And in that generation shall the times of the gentiles be fulfilled. And there shall be men standing in that generation that shall not pass until they shall see an overflowing scourge, for a desolating sickness shall cover the land. But my disciples shall stand in holy places and shall not be moved; but among the wicked, men shall lift up their voices, and curse God, and die. And there shall be earthquakes also in diverse places and many desolations. Yet men will harden their hearts against me, and they will take up the sword one against another and they will kill one another."
That last sentence seems to echo Isaiah 6:15, where the ancient, sole-superpower Egypt may be an apt latter-day symbol for the United States:
Behold, the Lord rides upon a swift cloud and shall come into Egypt; and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it. And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians and they shall fight, every one against his brother and every one against his neighbor, city against city and kingdom against kingdom. And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof, and I will destroy the counsel thereof; and they shall seek to the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards. And the Egyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruel lord, and a fierce king shall rule over them, says the Lord, the Lord of Hosts.
Going back to Christ's prophecy in T&C 31:8, this prediction on the Mount of Olives really disturbed his disciples:
And now, when I, the Lord, had spoken these words unto my disciples they were troubled, and I said unto them, "Be not troubled, for when all these things shall come to pass you may know that the promises which have been made unto you shall be fulfilled. And when the light shall begin to break forth, it shall be with them like unto a parable which I will show you: You look and behold the fig trees, and you see them with your eyes, and you say, when they begin to shoot forth and their leaves are yet tender, you say that summer is now nigh at hand. Even so, it shall be in that day when they shall see all these things, then shall they know that the hour is nigh."
It really was the good news they were asking about, even if some of the events leading up to it bothered them to learn of.
The "light [that] shall break forth among them that sit in darkness [or] the fullness of my gospel" seems to echo what Christ told the Nephites of the Father's work in the end times in 3 Nephi 9:12:
For in that day, for my sake, shall the Father work a work which shall be a great and a marvelous work among them, and there shall be among them those who will not believe it, although a man shall declare it unto them. But behold, the life of my servant shall be in my hand; therefore, they shall not hurt him, although he shall be marred because of them. Yet I will heal him, for I will shew unto them that my wisdom is greater than the cunning of the Devil. Therefore, it shall come to pass that whosoever will not believe in my words, who am Jesus Christ, which the Father shall cause him to bring forth unto the gentiles, and shall give unto him power that he shall bring them forth unto the gentiles, it shall be done even as Moses said — They shall be cut off from among my people who are of the covenant.
(Those words that Christ claims as his own have been declared by that servant and include the words in
T&C 156,
157 and
158.)
Latter-day Winos
In
Isaiah 8:1-2, we find a "woe" pronounced on the latter-day "drunkards of Ephraim":
Woe to the crown of pride,
to the drunkards of Ephraim
whose glorious beauty is a fading flower,
which are on the head of the fat valleys
of them that are overcome with wine.
Behold, the Lord has a mighty and strong one,
which,
as a tempest of hail and a destroying storm,
as a flood of mighty waters overflowing,
shall cast down to the earth with the hand.
The crown of pride,
the drunkards of Ephraim,
shall be trodden under feet,
and the glorious beauty
which is on the head of the fat valley
shall be a fading flower,
and as the hasty fruit before the summer,
which,
when he that looks upon it sees,
while it is yet in his hand,
he eats it up.
In that day shall the Lord of Hosts be
for a crown of glory
and for a diadem of beauty
unto the residue of his people,
and for a spirit of judgment
to him that sits in judgment,
and for strength
to them that turn the battle to the gate.
But they also have erred through wine,
and through strong drink are out of the way.
The priest and the prophet
have erred through strong drink,
they are swallowed up of wine,
they are out of the way through strong drink;
they err in vision,
they stumble in judgment.
For all tables are full of vomit and filthiness,
so that there is no place clean.
There is only one last-days church organization that claims to be primarily composed of Ephraimites. This is from their web site:
Two additional brief thoughts on these words from Isaiah. First, the "crown of pride" as an alternate name for these Ephraimite leaders is interesting. It recalls Christ's parallel description of this latter-day, gentile church in
3 Nephi 7:5, where he quotes the Father: "At that day when [not "if"] the gentiles shall sin against my gospel, and shall reject the fullness of my gospel, and
shall be lifted up in the pride of their hearts above all nations and above all the people of the whole earth…" It's tough to find stronger superlatives than that--and from the Father.
Second, that word "filthiness" that the translators used was their polite way of avoiding an uncomfortable word. The Hebrew means feces, dung, or excrement. The feast presented on tables by these drunkards does not consist of the lavish smorgasbord you might expect. Instead, it is partially digested food (vomit) or wholly digested food (feces) which has been returned to the serving plates for your feasting pleasure. All of which has lost its nutritional value and appeal. Apparently extreme reuse of what is represented to be (but is not) nutritional and beneficial offerings to their followers is what warranted Isaiah's extreme analogy here. In fact, in English we even use the idiom of someone "regurgitating" what they've been taught. With the frequent repetition of the same teachings among adherents in correlated materials, Isaiah's choice of words seems very well selected. It may also call to mind leaders' endless quoting of each other in L-dS general conferences.
The Refuge Provided by Lies & an Accord with Death & Hell
After a brief (but related) aside in paragraph 3, the Lord returns to the activities of these Ephraimite winos and quotes them in their glee:
Wherefore, hear the word of the Lord, you scornful men that rule this people which is in Jerusalem. Because you have said,
"We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement! When the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us, for we have made lies our refuge and under falsehood have we hidden ourselves!"
What lies could such leaders put their trust in, supposing that those lies would be protective from an overflowing scourge & desolating sickness? What do they suppose could provide a refuge from the dire effects of some coming pandemic? Is it a false hope they might not only willingly accept but also urge their followers to accept? What form might that take?
Whatever the case, according to the Lord, this covenant and agreement they have put in place will not be honored but will be done away with. Instead, the "overflowing scourge" will actually overtake them.
Therefore, thus says the Lord God:
Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone,
a tried stone,
a precious cornerstone,
a sure foundation.
He that believes shall not make haste.
Judgment also will I lay to the line,
and righteousness to the plummet
And the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies,
and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.
And your covenant with death shall be disannulled,
and your agreement with hell shall not stand;
When the overflowing scourge shall pass through,
then you shall be trodden down by it.
From the time that it goes forth, it shall take you;
for morning by morning shall it pass over,
by day and by night.
And it shall be a vexation only to understand the report [i.e., the news going around].
For the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it,
and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it.
For the Lord shall rise up as in Mount Perazim,
he shall be angry as in the valley of Gibeon,
that he may do his work,
his strange work,
and bring to pass his act,
his strange act.
Now therefore, be not mockers,
lest your bands be made strong;
For I have heard from the Lord God of hosts a consumption,
even determined upon the whole earth.
When Lies Eventually Come to Light: CRT, meet the Guys
It's not clear what will happen to the idolatrous followers of these drunkards when the lies and falsehoods they have bet the farm on finally come to light.
When it finally does so, however, there will be pretty some pretty harsh realizations. It will also be the case for any not among elite religionists and other "world leaders". Imagine how half of the US population might begin react
were they to discover, say for example, that as a result of their trust in the solution so urgently and forcefully pushed on them by so many leaders, they were to then be subject to all manner of very significant health problems, even including death. It's not difficult to imagine what emotions might sweep over a national or world population at such a realization: betrayal, loss, sadness, and a tsunami of anger.
Interestingly, at the same time that a medical solution has been so thoroughly pushed on US and world populations by almost every means possible (including door-to-door knocking now), there has been a similar, seemingly urgent push through modern society going on in parallel. Its origins, history, and current dynamics have been very well documented in the book "
Irresistible Revolution: Marxism's Goal of Conquest & The Unmaking of the American Military". In short, the Marxist tactical playbook intentionally foments division of a people through any available "divider" (whether "race", gender, sexual orientation, ownership of capital, etc.), which in turn leads to anger, internal conflict within that nation, and ultimately its collapse and destruction. This is the approach being very cunningly and
very urgently foisted on the American populace. And the means of dividing the people in the current situation is the level of melanin in their epidermises. (termed "Critical Race Theory" or CRT) Our national unwillingness to repent and turn to the Lord is what has ultimately left us spiritually defenseless in the face of this deceptive, manipulative agenda so artfully being executed by foreign powers.
But back to the current situation resulting from the pandemic response: Hypothetically, if millions were to awaken to a worldwide, very-quickly-rolled-out medical program that had resulted in horrific effects including widespread death, who would they credit with having carried out such a program? If such an "awakening to our awful situation" were to happen, resulting from unexpected medical effects of the current "prevention" campaign, whom would that tsunami of anger be directed against? Who have been the chief protagonists? What names come to mind?
Now look at their faces. What is common across all these? How would you classify their epidermal melanin levels? Or their gender? Or age?
Marxist CRT "training" now being broadly and very urgently disseminated by businesses, corporations, universities, schools, political leaders, the corporate press, agitators, and even religious leaders everywhere, teaches a person that anyone with low melanin levels is inherently "racist" because of inherent "white privilege" built into the system. Marxist agitators also teach that violence against such people is then completely justified and right. Could it hypothetically be possible at that point for agitators to highlight this fact and leverage it to great effect in stirring up millions to frothy anger? Could such a lineup of faces turn out to be a list of the "fall guys"? Could the reaction of the masses reach the level of genocidal and fratricidal responses toward an entire "Caucasian race"?
With that in mind, it may not be difficult to see how the prophecy made in 2017 could come to pass.
Those who have entered faithfully in to the covenant this day are going to notice some things. The spirit of God is withdrawing from the world. Men are increasingly more angry without good cause. The hearts of men are waxing cold. There is increasing anger and resentment of gentiles. In political terms, it’s rejection of white privilege.
Language of scriptures gives a description of the events now underway and calls it the end of the times of the gentiles. This process with the spirit withdrawing, will end on this continent, as it did with two prior civilizations in fratricidal and genocidal warfare. For the rest of the world, it will be as in the days of Noah in which, as that light becomes eclipsed, the coldness of men’s hearts is going to result in a constant scene of violence and bloodshed. The wicked will destroy the wicked.
The covenant, if it is kept, will prevent you from losing light and warmth of heart as the spirit now steadily recedes from the world. The time will come when you will be astonished at the gulf between the light and truth you will comprehend and the darkness of mind of the world.
(Closing Remarks, Covenant of Christ conference, 9 Sep 2017, Boise, Idaho)
In that conference, held in the Egyptian Theater in Boise, Idaho, a covenant of life was offered to any willing to accept it. It is still available. This very last-days covenant of peace was prophesied of in
Ezekiel 19:7:
Moreover, I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for ever. My tabernacle also shall be with them, yea, I will be their God and they shall be my people. And the heathen shall know that I the Lord do sanctify Israel when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for ever.
That covenant of peace now has a mirrored counterpart that has also been offered to the world, even in precisely the same location the covenant of peace was originally offered just 3.5 years earlier. It is
the doctrine of the two ways.
All these events are interwoven with the others described in
T&C 85:3:
And thus with the sword and by bloodshed, the inhabitants of the earth shall mourn. And with famine, and plague, and earthquake, and the thunder of heaven, and the fierce and vivid lightning also, shall the inhabitants of the earth be made to feel the wrath, and indignation, and chastening hand of an Almighty God, until the consumption decreed has made a full end of all nations, that the cry of the saints, and of the blood of the saints, shall cease to come up into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth from the earth, to be avenged of their enemies.
This decree matches the Isaiah 8:4 "consumption, even determined upon the whole earth" we read above. And it will, in fact, come upon all nations, not just some. There does not seem to be an exception for the United States. It echoes Daniel's vision of the last days in
Daniel 2:6, when the stone (or kingdom of God) is prophesied utterly destroy the image of Babylon:
You, O king, saw and beheld a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before you, and the form thereof was terrible. This image’s head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, his legs of iron, his feet, part of iron and part of clay. You saw until a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay and broke them to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors, and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them. And the stone that smote the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.
As
Isaiah 1:5 explains, the kingdom, or family of God, will be established along with a temple (the Lord's house) in the tops of the mountains as part of a prophesied last-days Zion in the Western Hemisphere:
It shall come to pass in the last days, when the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, "Come 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. And he shall judge among the nations and shall rebuke many people. And they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.
That will be the location where one of the final scenes of the Book of Mormon (
Mormon 3:4) will repeat--a great and woeful lamentation--though from a mountaintop instead of a hilltop, and about the unrepentant, fallen gentile civilization this time rather than the unrepentant, fallen Nephite civilization:
And my soul was rent with anguish because of the slain of my people, and I cried, O ye fair ones, how could ye have departed from the ways of the Lord? O ye fair ones, how could ye have rejected that Jesus, who stood with open arms to receive you? Behold, if ye had not done this, ye would not have fallen. But behold, ye are fallen, and I mourn your loss. O ye fair sons and daughters, ye fathers and mothers, ye husbands and wives, ye fair ones, how is it that ye could have fallen? But behold, ye are gone, and my sorrows cannot bring your return. And the day soon cometh that your mortal must put on immortality, and these bodies which are now moldering in corruption must soon become incorruptible bodies. And then ye must stand before the judgment seat of Christ to be judged according to your works. And if it so be that ye are righteous, then are ye blessed with your fathers who have gone before you. Oh that ye had repented before this great destruction had come upon you. But behold, ye are gone, and the Father, yea, the Eternal Father of Heaven, knoweth your state, and he doeth with you according to his justice and mercy.
There is still time to turn to the Lord and accept what he is now offering. Please consider the Lord's invitation, if you have not. But that window of time will not continue indefinitely, just like it did not for the Nephites or for the Jaredites.
