Fall of the Church-Scriptural References

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Great8
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Fall of the Church-Scriptural References

Post by Great8 »

Please provide scriptural references to the fall of the church in the latter days.

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SPIRIT
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Re: Fall of the Church-Scriptural References

Post by SPIRIT »

You can start with Isaiah.

I don't type, so to save time, I'm just going to copy and paste some things -
some comments I've made to others.


"members like you are so busy worshiping their church leaders,
that they don't even care about what the Lord says and keeping HIS COMMANDMENTS.

keeping the commandment that He gave, to not only read,
but to search diligently the words of Isaiah.

"How some members can put their trust in anyone but the Lord - (I just SMH)
and keeping the commandment He gave to read Isaiah - not only to read but
to "search these things diligently; for great are the words of Isaiah."
He didn't tell us to do this just to give us a nice history listen.
The Lord wouldn't have given this - A COMMANDMENT if it wasn't important and going to apply to us today.
THIS IS THE LORD JESUS CHRIST TALKING AND GIVING US A COMMANDMENT ! - not just some quote
from so-called prophet or someone,
so we'd better listen, and keep this commandment.

********** "HAVE BEEN AND SHALL BE"

3 "And all things that he spake (HAVE BEEN AND SHALL BE),
even according to the words which he spake." 3 Nephi 23.

So what the Lord is saying is first,
Yea, a commandment I give unto
you that ye search these things diligently;
for great are the words of Isaiah.,"
and that, the things that Isaiah is saying are still in the future
"AND SHALL BE even according to the words which he spake." !

3 Nephi 23:1- 4
1 "And now, behold, I say unto you,
that ye ought to search these things.
Yea, a commandment I give unto
you that ye search these things diligently;
for great are the words of Isaiah."


2 "For surely he spake as touching all things
concerning my people which are of the house of Israel;
therefore it must needs be that he must speak
also to the Gentiles."


3 "And all things that he spake have been - and shall be,
even according to the words which he spake."


4 "Therefore give heed to my words;
write the things which I have told you;
and according to the time and the will
of the Father they shall go forth unto the Gentiles."

3 Nephi 20:11
11 "Ye remember that I spake unto you,
and said that when the words of Isaiah
should be fulfilled—behold they are written,
ye have them before you, therefore search them-"

"HAVE BEEN AND SHALL BE"
********** Isaiah uses what are called types from the past to show the future.
What has happened before, will happen again.

ALL THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH PERTAIN TO US TODAY
All prophecies in Isaiah are prophecies of the last days.


Isaiah 44:7
7 "Who predicts what happens as do I, and is the equal of me in
appointing a people from of old as types, foretelling things to come?

Isaiah 46
10 I foretell the end from the beginning,
from ancient times things not yet done.
I speak, and my purposes take effect;
I accomplish all my will.


So, isn't it just a little more than just a coincidence,
that here - first we were put under condemnation for treating the Book of Mormon lightly,
and when we search the Book of Mormon we have the Lord giving us this commandment
to "search diligently" the words of Isaiah,
and when we do, and start to read Isaiah,
what do we find in the very 1st Chapter of the Book ?
We find that Isaiah begins his book with our apostasy.
Hmm - now that's interesting isn't it.


Referring to our church and the sad condition we are in,
Isaiah begins his book speaking to us,
Ephraim, or the church today.

Isaiah 1:2-5
Description of modern Ephraim
(addressing our church he calls Israel)

2 Hear, O heavens! Give heed, O earth!
Jehovah has spoken:I have reared sons,
brought them up,but they have revolted against me.
3 The ox knows its owner,the donkey its master’s stall,
but Israel does not know; my people are insensible.

***
4 Alas, a nation astray, a people weighed down by sin, the offspring of wrongdoers, perverse children:
they have forsaken Jehovah, they have spurned the Holy One of Israel
, they have lapsed into APOSTASY.

From addressing his people personally as “Israel . . . my people” (v 3), Jehovah now addresses them impersonally as “a nation,” signifying their alienated state. Additionally, a regression occurs from his people’s simply going “astray” to their burdening themselves with “sin,” which, over time, ends in outright “wrongdoing.” That occurs collectively and generationally.
The “offspring of wrongdoers” turn into “perverse children,” meaning that the rising generation has by now become thoroughly corrupt. “Forsaking” Jehovah and “spurning” him finally become conscious and deliberate acts.

They have lapsed into apostasy. Hebrew nazoru ahor signifies that Jehovah’s people have become entirely “estranged” from him.
They have “gone backwards” to what they used to be before they became Jehovah’s covenant people, when they didn’t know their God. In effect, they have become godless again like the world’s heathen nations, but now more so because they have rejected the light they once had.
The apostasy into which they began to backslide a generation ago is now complete.
As a consequence, instead of enjoying the blessings of the covenant, they must suffer its curses."

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SPIRIT
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Re: Fall of the Church-Scriptural References

Post by SPIRIT »

as far as Nelson - and who he thinks he is - "pride cometh before the fall"

and those that still think that "all is well in Zion" -
may want to reconsider;
and come to the realization - that the church is not doing the Lord's will,
but the will of evil men - who control them - and the World.


21 And others will he pacify, and lull them away into carnal security, that they will say:
All is well in Zion; yea, Zion prospereth,
all is well—and thus the devil cheateth their souls, and leadeth them away carefully down to hell.


24 Therefore, wo be unto him that is at ease in Zion!
25 Wo be unto him that crieth: All is well!
2 Nephi 28
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
what more needs to be said.
Should be obvious by now, (to those that are not the blind following the blind)
that the church is corrupt and has joined "that great and abominable church"

but as we can see, there are still members that want to believe "all is well in Zion",
and in a church that has become corrupt and fallen into apostasy -
just as the scriptures said the Gentiles would - warning us not to unite with the church of the devil - but we have.

WHY WOULD THE LORD SAY THIS - IF IT WERE NOT POSSIBLE ?
"And blessed are the Gentiles" - "if it so be that they shall repent"
"and do not unite themselves to that great and abominable church,"

2 Nephi 6

12 And blessed are the Gentiles, they of whom the prophet has written; for behold,
if it so be that they shall repent and fight not against Zion,
and do not unite themselves to that great and abominable church,
they shall be saved; for the Lord God will fulfil his covenants which he has made unto his children;
and for this cause the prophet has written these things.

Have we repented as a church and people ? NO.
Do we see any need to ? - NO.
or to humble ourselves before the Lord, and ask for His forgiveness and seek His guidance
because we have gone astray. NO. *
(we have joined the World and do the bidding of the evil men that control it)
* Or have we become like those that tried to warn us;
those who gave us their book - hoping we wouldn't make the same mistakes as they did;
when they too - had the gospel - and became rich and full of pride -
then losing it - and suffering the consequences -
AS WE HAVE - AND AS WE WILL
suffering the same consequences - and destruction as they did,
as The Times of the Gentiles comes to an end.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

""A Bible!, A Bible! We have got a Bible" is referring to the Words of Christ and the Brother of Jared's vision
(the sealed portion) that the end-time servant brings to us - the church - to all the Gentiles - they will reject him and Christ's words.
*** (please see below)

The Book of Mormon comes forth to try the Gentiles' faith:
it contains but the "lesser part" of Jesus' words to the Nephites.(3 Nephi 26:8).
If the Gentiles will believe that portion - the Book of Mormon -
the Lord will manifest to them the greater things also.(3 Nephi 26:9).
The Book of Mormon, the record of a fallen people, contains warnings to the Gentiles: Moroni adds to the Book of Mormon a brief history of the Jaredites, addressing his abridgment specifically to the Gentiles.(Eth. 2:11).
He interrupts his account four times to speak directly to the them. (Eth. 2:9-12; 4:6-5; 8:23-26; 12:6-41).
Moroni has seen the Gentiles in a vision.(Morm 8:35). He tells them, therefore, things they should know.
The nation that does not serve God will be swept off the land. (Eth 2:9-10).
The Gentiles should repent and become clean before the Lord. (Eth. 4:6).
They should not allow secret combinations to get above them. (Eth 8:23-25).
They must exercise faith as did the ancients. (Eth. 12:6-31).
They must have hope and charity. (Eth.12:36-37).

Two consecutive histories of fallen peoples on this land fore-warn
the Gentiles of their own imminent fate. (Eth. 2:11; 8:21-26).
Mormon has vividly described the destruction of the Nephites. (Morm. 6:1-22).
Now Moroni recounts the destruction of the Jaredites in order to persuade
the Gentiles to repent. (Eth. 2:11; 8:23).
The Lord bids the Gentiles to come unto him.(Eth. 4:13).
In him they may be cleansed and sanctified. (Eth. 4:6-7).
The two following parallel statements tell the Gentiles the cause of their unbelief. Rhetorical markers are "when ye shall" and "then shall".

Ether 4
15 Behold, when ye shall rend that veil of unbelief which doth cause you to remain in your awful state of wickedness, and hardness of heart, and blindness of mind, then shall the great and marvelous things which have been hid up from the foundation of the world from you—yea, when ye shall call upon the Father in my name, with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, then shallye know that the Father hath remembered the covenant which he made unto your fathers, O house of Israel.
16 And then shall my revelations which I have caused to be written by my servant John be unfolded in the eyes of all the people.
(emphasis added (Italicized) "when ye shall" "then shall"

The parallel nature of this scripture reveals a deeper meaning.
It teaches that people can rend the veil of unbelief- which has caused
them to remain in an awful state of wickedness, hardness of heart, and blindness of mind - by calling on the Father in the name of Jesus with a broken heart and a a contrite spirit.
It further teaches that the great and marvelous things hidden up from the foundation of the world are the Father's fulfillment of his covenant with the house of Israel, as contained in the revelations of John. These great and marvelous things, however, have not yet been revealed. As adverse as it may seem , we conclude from these scriptures, therefore, that many of us as Gentiles still remain in an awful state of wickedness. We have not yet rent the veil of our unbelief- we have not called upon the Father in the name of Jesus as we ought.
The Gentiles' rending of the veil is significant in this overall scripture. Moroni has just shown us how the Brother of Jared "rent the veil".
The Lord now bids the Gentiles to do the same.
When they exercise faith as the Brother of Jared saw.
In other words, the Lord invites the Gentiles to make their calling and election sure by being received into his presences as the Brother of Jared was.
When they do that, he will reveal to them the "greater things", unfolding to them all his revelations.
The Lord's great and marvelous work typifies the greater things.
The Lord performs that work among the Gentiles.
To that end, he sends among them the three Nephite disciples. The great and marvelous work involves the coming forth of the words of Christ.
The Father empowers a latter-day servant to bring forth the words of Christ to
the Gentiles. The servant is the light to the Gentiles. To him, they rally as to an ensign. When the Lord lifts up his hand and ensign to the Gentiles, they perform their saving mission to the house of Israel.
Through his latter-day servant, the Lord concludes His work among the Gentiles and commences His work among the house of Israel: as the Lord's covenant, light, and ensign, the servant personifies the gospel that has hitherto served as a "covenant", "light", and "standard" to the Gentiles, as the gospel has been a "messenger" preparing the way before the Lord, so the servant is a "messenger" who prepares the way before the Lord's coming to earth.

The Book of Mormon contains less than a hundredth part of Jesus' words to the Nephites. Yet, in the last days, the fullness of Jesus' words comes forth to the Gentiles in accordance with the servant's mission.
The plates of Nephi contain the greater part of what Jesus taught the people.
They, therefore, are among the "other books" to come forth. They "make known to all kindreds, tongues, and people, that the Lamb of God is the Son of the Eternal Father, and the Savior of the world".
They make known also the folly and abominations of the Gentiles.
Prophecies about the Gentiles in the latter days thus show two facets. Those Gentiles who are under condemnation- which causes the Lord to withhold from them the greater things- will remain under condemnation if they do not repent.
For that reason, the Gentiles must turn from their evil ways. Those Gentiles who make their calling and election sure, to whom the Lord reveals the greater things, do not, of course, represent all the Gentiles. In the latter days, the gospel turns first to the Gentiles. But when many of them reject it, the gospel turns to the Jews and other natural lineages of Israel.

***Moroni saw that many Gentiles would mock the Brother of Jared's vision. Moroni writes that vision in the sealed portion of the Book of Mormon. Many Gentiles too, will not believe the great and marvelous work - will not believe the words of Christ. Of the words of Christ coming forth in the day, the Gentiles will say, "A Bible!, A Bible! We have got a Bible, and there cannot be any more Bible".
The Words of Christ and the Brother of Jared's vision cover the entire history of humanity. In that respect, they resemble the Bible more than the Book of Mormon does. The two full accounts will come forth to the Gentiles- when some Gentiles become sanctified as the Brother of Jared - and turn from the Gentiles to the house of Israel.

From these scriptures , we gain a clearer idea of how so many Gentiles will sin against the gospel of Jesus Christ . They will disavow the new revelations the Lord will bring forth. Having formerly received the gospel, many Gentiles will now reject it. Instead of repenting of their iniquities, they will harden their hearts and deny the Lord of Hosts. Refusing to come unto Christ and obey his voice, these Gentiles will be as "salt that hath lost its savor".
At the time they reject the gospel, the wicked Gentiles are "lifted up in the pride of their hearts above all nations". They are "filled with all manner of lyings, and of deceits, and of mischiefs, and all manner of hypocrisy, and murders, and priestcrafts, and whoredoms, and of secret abominations". Being "lifted up in the pride of their eyes", they "put down the power and miracles of God". Publishing for money, they "preach up unto themselves their own wisdom and their own learning, that they may get gain and grind upon the face of the poor".
(3 Nephi 16:10)

These Gentiles have no charity for their fellow beings. They don't thank the Jews nor Lehi's descendants for the scriptures they have received from them. Instead, they curse and hate them and will not recover them. (please see below *** (A) )
The Lord lengthens out his arm to the Gentiles all the day long. But they mar the Lord's servant who brings forth His words. Their rejecting the Lord's servant and their rejecting the gospel doubly testifies of their apostasy; Nephi, therefore, offers no hope for the Gentiles unless they reconcile themselves to Christ.
Although the Gentiles know God's decrees on this land, many allow secret combinations to get above them. Drunken with iniquity and all manner of abominations, they suffer woes- God's covenant curse. When they reject his words, the Lord cuts them off from his people. He removes the fullness of his gospel from among the wicked, giving it to those who will receive it. With the wicked Gentiles' apostasy and its aftermath, the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
The Lord turns the iniquities of the Gentiles upon their own heads. He comes out in justice against them. The wicked Gentiles bring down the fullness of God's wrath, just as the Jaredites and Nephites did. The Lord visits the Gentiles "with thunder and with earthquake, and with a great noise, and with storm, and with tempest, and with the flame of devouring fire". The sword of justices falls on the wicked Gentiles. He destroys the Gentiles; cities and chariots and executes vengeance and fury upon them. He covers their land with a desolating sickness. A scourge consumes the wicked.
The unrepentant Gentiles cannot stand before God's power. Lehi's descendants, whom God empowers, marshal themselves and vex the wicked Gentiles.
They go among the Gentiles like a lion among the beasts, treading down and tearing to pieces. Lehi's descendants, who are of the house of Israel, inherit the Gentiles' lands and cities. The Lord reestablishes Lehi's descendants in this land, even as the wicked Gentiles perish.
Although the scriptures say that the Gentiles will perish, the Lord doesn't utterly destroy them. Some Gentiles, as we have seen, turn from their evil ways. Some don't harden their hearts. They don't unite with that great and abominable church nor fight against Zion. These Gentiles know where their blessings come from - they know that the Lord has blessed them with the blessings of Israel.
To save as many Gentiles as will come to him, the Lord calls on them before the day of judgement. he stirs up the Gentiles and the house of Israel in order to persuade them to repent. The Gentiles must repent and not continue in iniquity. They must forthwith repent and humble themselves. If they do, it will be well with them. As they repent and come to the Lord, he will be merciful to them. Those Gentiles who repent and obey the words of Christ will be blessed.

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SPIRIT
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Re: Fall of the Church-Scriptural References

Post by SPIRIT »

His (vineyard - that represents his people (Isa. 5 v 7) in a choice land) became corrupt,
and about - what it really means **********when “the end draweth nigh,
and this is for the last time that I shall prune my vineyard” (Jacob 5:62, 64),
and the gathering of The House of Israel.

taken from another post of mine -

If the lord really was still leading the church, and Nelson was a prophet, (which he's not)
you wouldn't be seeing what you are seeing in the church today.

(about Jacob 5)

Avraham Gileadi

His vineyard become corrupt; (Jacob 5:39)
(overcome by the wild and has withered and died (symbolizes judgment and covenant curse)(Jacob 5:40)
and the Lord of the vineyard weeps and says "what could I have done more for my vineyard
?" (Jacob 5:41
********" (I have stretched forth mine hand almost all the day long), and THE END DRAWETH NIGH" (Jacob 5:47)
(please see 2 Nephi 28:32 below)
The trees became corrupt when their branches grew too lofty (pride), taking strength to themselves. (Jacob 5:48)
The trees of the vineyard are ready to be hewn down, and cast into the fire.(Jacob 5: 42,46) denoting judgment.

when the servant of the Lord brings the words of Christ (sealed portion) to the church,
they will say "We have received the word of God, and we need no more of the word of God, for we have enough!"
2 Nephi 28

29 Wo be unto him that shall say: We have received the word of God, and we need no more of the word of God, for we have enough!

30 For behold, thus saith the Lord God: I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little; and blessed are those who hearken unto MY PRECEPTS, and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn wisdom; for unto him that receiveth I will give more; and from them that shall say, We have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which they have.

31 Cursed is he that putteth his trust in man, or maketh flesh his arm, or shall hearken unto the precepts of men, save their precepts shall be given by the power of the Holy Ghost.

********
32 Wo be unto the Gentiles, saith the Lord God of Hosts! For notwithstanding
(I shall lengthen out mine arm unto them from day to day),
they will deny me
;
nevertheless, I will be merciful unto them, saith the Lord God,
if they will repent and come unto me;
(for mine arm is lengthened out all the day long), saith the Lord God of Hosts.


Avraham Gileadi Ph.D.

Isaiah’s Wild and Natural Olive Tree Branches

Isaiah’s mini-allegory of an olive tree in Isaiah 11:1, 10 appears to be the inspiration for other scriptural olive tree allegories.
The old tree no longer bears fruit, so a new procedure is needed for it again to do so. In Isaiah’s case, a “watersprout” (hoter, also “rod”) is allowed to grow out of the “trunk” (geza, also “stem”) of the tree. However, watersprouts, being wild by nature, don’t bear fruit. That is why they are cut out of fruit trees in the spring. Still, if a tree is failing and a watersprout can keep it alive, it can be permitted to grow strong enough to sustain a “graft” (sores, also “root/sprig”) that will eventually become a fruit-bearing “branch” (neser).

The analogy of Gentiles as a wild branch or branches that don’t bear fruit, and the house of Israel as a natural branch or branches that do bear fruit, seems self-evident.
The upshot of this, however, is that in God’s Day of Judgment most of the wild branch or branches of God’s people are “cut off” (krt, Isaiah 9:14; 22:25; 29:20; 48:19) so that the natural branch or branches may be grafted in.
Only those parts of the wild branch or branches that sustain the natural ones that are grafted in remain with the tree.
In short, the Gentiles’ receiving the good news when Israel rejects it is but an interim phase toward a more glorious, fruit-bearing phase (see Romans 11).

Wild Fruit—A Setting for Divine Intervention (because of apostasy)

Isaiah uses the allegory of a “vineyard”—which starts off as a national locale but ends up as the entire earth—to show God’s loving care for his people (Isaiah 5:1–7; 27:2–6). God cultivates the vineyard, clears it of stones, plants it with choice vines, builds a watchtower in its midst, and hews a winepress for it.
When he expects it to yield grapes, it yields only “wild grapes” (be’usim)—grapes that rot before they ripen. So God says, “I will have its hedge removed and let it be burned; I will have its wall broken through and let it be trampled.
I will make it a desolation: it shall neither be pruned nor hoed, but briars and thorns shall overgrow it”
(Isaiah 5:5–6).

Because this allegory applies to God’s end-time people as well as to those of Isaiah’s day, the scenario of God’s people apostatizing, followed by a foreign power invading their land, repeats itself at the end.
Isaiah’s predictions of Assyria’s invasion of the Promised Land and its conquest of the world illustrate the fulfillment of the allegory—how the wickedness of God’s people precipitates God’s Day of Judgment and how God uses his people’s enemies to punish them (Isaiah 5:26–30; 10:5–14; 13:4–13; 28:14–22).
In the end, however, the good fruit a righteous remnant of God’s people brings forth fills the whole earth
(Isaiah 4:2; 11:1; 27:6; 37:31–32).
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Who Are God’s Servants Called by God’s Endtime Servant?
January 13, 2018
Avraham Gileadi Ph.D.

At the point in Zenos’ allegory of the olive tree, when the mother tree and three daughter trees have “brought forth much fruit, and there is none of it which is good” (Jacob 5:32)—and all the trees are “good for nothing save it be to be hewn down and cast into the fire” (Jacob 5:43)—the Lord of the vineyard instructs his servant to “call servants, that we may labor diligently with our might in the vineyard, that we may prepare the way, that I may bring forth again the natural fruit, which natural fruit is good and the most precious above all other fruit” (Jacob 5:61).

The Lord of the vineyard commands these servants to graft branches from the three daughter trees into the mother tree and from the mother tree into the daughter trees—at the same time replacing the trees’ most bitter branches and casting them into the fire (Jacob 5:52–58, 66).

********** Lest we be among those who “suppose they know of themselves” (2 Nephi 9:28) and assume
that God’s servant who appears in these verses is the prophet Joseph Smith, or that church members in general constitute those “servants,” a little searching of the scriptures might be in order.


**********
First, these events occur when “the end draweth nigh, and this is for the last time that I shall prune my vineyard” (Jacob 5:62, 64).
Second, the servants are to “begin at the last that they may be first, and that the first may be last” (Jacob 5:63); in so doing they are to “prepare the way” for the natural fruit (Jacob 5:61, 64).
And third, “the last time, that the servants of the Lord shall go forth in his power, to nourish and prune his vineyard” is “the day that he shall set his hand again the second time to recover his people,” after which “the end soon cometh” (Jacob 6:2).

Because the scriptures define “the end” as the end of the world (Daniel 12:4, 9; Matthew 24:3, 14; 1 Nephi 14:22; Moses 7:67), and because the trees’ most bitter branches are “cast into the fire” at the end of the world (Jacob 5:66; 6:3), and because the last being first and the first, last refers to the scattered house of Israel being “gathered in from the four quarters of the earth, and from the north countries” (Ether 13:11–12), and because the Lord’s “setting his hand again the second time” ushers in the end of the world,
the above events are still future.


They start with God’s endtime servant: “In that day the sprig of Jesse, who stands for an ensign to the peoples, shall be sought by the nations, and his rest shall be glorious.
In that day my Lord will set his hand again the second time to reclaim the remnant of his people—those who shall be left out of Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, Cush, Elam, Shinar, Hamath, and the islands of the sea. He will raise the ensign to the nations and assemble the exiled of Israel; he will gather the scattered of Judah from the four directions of the earth” (Isaiah 11:10–12; emphasis added).

As “a descendant of Jesse, as well as of Joseph, unto whom rightly belongs the priesthood, and the keys of the kingdom, for an ensign, and for the gathering of my people in the last days” (Doctrine & Covenants 113:6), the “sprig” of Jesse (Hebrew sores, also “graft” or “root”) gathers Israel in a new exodus at the end of the world that resembles Israel’s ancient exodus out of Egypt: “And there shall be a pathway out of Assyria for the remnant of his people who shall be left, as there was for Israel when it came up from the land of Egypt” (Isaiah 11:16; cf. 51:9–11).

Isaiah, Hosea, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, all predict Israel’s endtime gathering by God’s servant named David: “Give ear and come unto me; pay heed, that your souls may live! And I will make with you an everlasting covenant: [my] loving fidelity toward David. See, I have appointed him as a witness to the nations, a prince and lawgiver of the peoples.
You will summon a nation that you did not know; a nation that did not know you will hasten to you—because of Jehovah your God, the Holy One of Israel, who gloriously endows you” (Isaiah 55:3–5);

“And afterwards the people of Israel will return and seek Jehovah their God and David their king. And they will fear Jehovah and his goodness in the last days” (Hosea 3:5); “They will serve Jehovah their God and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them. Therefore fear not, my servant Jacob, says Jehovah, nor be dismayed, O Israel. For, behold, I will save you from afar, and your offspring from the lands of their captivity. Jacob will return and be at rest and at peace, for none will make [him] afraid” (Jeremiah 30:9–10; cf. 23:1–8; 29:14; 31:8–10);

“I will seek out my sheep and deliver them out of all the places where they have been scattered in a cloudy and dark day. I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries. I will bring them to their own land and feed them upon the mountains of Israel. . . . And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he will feed them, [even] my servant David. He will feed them and he will be their shepherd. And I Jehovah will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them. I Jehovah have spoken [it]” (Ezekiel 34:12–13, 23–24).

Word links to Isaiah 11:10–12—and thus to Jacob 6:2—identify God’s servants who “go forth in his power” to graft Israel’s natural branches into their own olive tree as the spiritual kings and queens of the Gentiles who prepare the way for Jehovah’s coming. “I will lift up my hand to the Gentiles, raise my ensign to the peoples; and they will bring your sons in their bosoms and carry your daughters on their shoulders. Kings shall be your foster fathers, queens your nursing mothers” (Isaiah 49:22–23; emphasis added; cf. Isaiah 62:10–11; 2 Nephi 10:7–9).

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The prophet Zenos’ allegory of the olive tree seems to provide the common source for Nephi’s and Paul’s olive tree imagery (cf. Romans 11:16–24; 1 Nephi 10:12–14; 15:12–16). The olive tree as a symbol of Israel, together with the fig tree and grapevine, has a long history in the Old Testament (cf. Judges 9:8–13; Hosea 14:6–8; Jeremiah 11:16–17). All three varieties can renew themselves even if they decay and are cut down.

The Lord likens Israel to a cultivated or tame olive tree, which, after growing to full stature, begins to wax old and decay (Jacob 5:3). Israel grew to full stature under kings David and Solomon but from then on declined spiritually and politically. Paul makes another allusion to the tree that decays and waxes old. It symbolizes the old covenant, or testament, which the new must replace (Hebrews 8:13).

Gentiles begin entering the picture with Israel’s exile to Assyria in 722 B.C. and Judah’s exile to Babylon in 587 B.C. and the deportation and resettlement of Israelites in other parts of these empires. Wild branches are grafted into the olive tree when the Gentiles accept the gospel after the Jews reject it (cf. Romans 11:1–27). By that time, many Israelites had assimilated into the Gentile nations so that these too could qualify for the blessings of God’s covenant with Israel by right of lineage.

For a time, under this grafting arrangement, the mother tree bears good fruit, as do three transplants to other parts of the vineyard. The transplants comprise (1) Jewish and Jewish–Christian migrations (Ether 13:11); (2) the Ten Tribes, who, after their exile into Mesopotamia, journey into Eastern and Western Europe (cf. 2 Esdras 13:40–46); and (3) the descendants of Lehi, who possess the land “choice unto me above all other parts of the land of my vineyard” (Jacob 5:43; cf. 2 Nephi 1:5; 29:13).

Zenos devotes by far the largest portion of his allegory to the final grafting phase that occurs after “a long time had passed away,” when all four trees have become corrupt (Jacob 5:29–77). This locates the allegory’s main time frame in the last part of the latter days, as also implied by the expression, “the end soon cometh” (Jacob 5:29). By that time, the branches have “overcome the roots . . . taking strength unto themselves” (Jacob 5:37, 48). The servant asks the Lord of the vineyard to “spare it a little longer,” whereupon the Lord commissions him to commence the regrafting process (Jacob 5:50–60).

The phrase, “Begin at the last that they may be first, and that the first may be last” (Jacob 5:63), refers initially to the restoration of the gospel to the Gentiles and, eventually, when these reject it, to its acceptance by the Jews and all the house of Israel (1 Nephi 13:42; cf. Matthew 20:1–17; Romans 11:17–27; 3 Nephi 16:10–11). This end-time process is an exact reversal of when the Jews rejected the gospel and the Gentiles accepted it in the time of Christ and the early apostles.

According to the prophet Ether, the day in which the first will be last and the last first is when the house of Israel will be gathered “from the four quarters of the earth, and from the north countries” (Ether 13:11–12). Moroni, who wants to say more on this subject, is “forbidden.” Instead, he says, “Great and marvelous were the prophecies of Ether; but they esteemed him as naught, and cast him out” (Ether 13:13). Evidently, Moroni can’t say more because the Lord wants to “try the faith” of his people with the words we now have (cf. 3 Nephi 26:9–1).

For a fuller understanding of these prophecies we must rely on the words of Isaiah, who predicts that the Lord will gather Israel and Judah from the four corners of the earth and from the land of the North, at which time they will return in a new exodus to Zion (cf. Isaiah 11:10–12:6; 43:2–8, 16–17; 48:20–21; 49:1–22). On this very subject, Nephi quotes the prophecies of Isaiah after he too is forbidden to say more (1 Nephi 20:20–21; 21:1–22).

Jacob adds that “the day that he [the Lord] shall set his hand again the second time to recover his people, is the day, yea, even the last time, that the servants of the Lord shall go forth in his power, to nourish and prune his vineyard; and after that the end soon cometh” (Jacob 6:2). This prophecy relies on Isaiah’s prediction that the Lord will “set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people.” At that time, the “outcasts of Israel” and the “dispersed of Judah” will be gathered from the “four corners of the earth” and will participate in a new exodus to Zion (Isaiah 11:11–12:6; cf. 2 Nephi 21:11–22:6).

Also speaking of that time, the Prophet Joseph Smith says, “Christ, in the days of His flesh, proposed to make a covenant with them [the Jews], but they rejected Him and His proposals, and in consequence thereof, they were broken off, and no covenant was made with them at that time. But their unbelief has not rendered the promise of God of none effect: no, for there was another day limited in David, which was the day of his power; and then His people, Israel, should be a willing people” (TPJS, 14–15).

The “day of power,” to which both Jacob and Joseph Smith refer, is the day that “the Messiah will set his hand again the second time to recover them; wherefore, he will manifest himself unto them in power and great glory, unto the destruction of their enemies, when that day cometh when they shall believe in him” (2 Nephi 6:14; cf. 1 Nephi 14:13–17).

Zenos’ beautiful allegory of the olive tree may thus be more fully understood in the light of Isaiah’s prophecies of the same end-time scenario. In all likelihood, the allegory is itself an expansion upon Isaiah’s olive tree allegory (cf. Isaiah 11:1).

By linking up with the words of Isaiah each time they predict end-time events, Book of Mormon prophets clearly point us to Isaiah. And each time they do, only one scenario emerges from these combined scriptures, and it is always the same. Lest we esteem the prophecies of Isaiah as naught and cast them out—as the Jaredites did those of Ether—therefore, we might ask, Is understanding the words of Isaiah perhaps the main test we must pass before the Lord reveals more? And second, Is the final grafting of the Jews, the Ten Tribes, and the Lamanites into the olive tree held up until some of us perform this?

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Re: Fall of the Church-Scriptural References

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Isaiah 5
Jehovah’s vineyard yields bad fruit, leading to Assyria’s invasion and covenant curses on offenders.

1 Let me sing for my Beloved
a love song about his vineyard:
My Beloved had a vineyard
on the fertile brow of a hill.

Much of Isaiah’s prophetic imagery comes from the agricultural environment of ancient Israel. At certain seasons of the year, such as harvest time, minstrels traveled the rounds of farms to help lighten labor. As servants trod grapes to extract their juice, musicians played instruments and sang ballads in which the workers participated, turning drudgery into a dance. In that way, the latest love song was popularized throughout the land and was soon on everyone’s lips. “My Beloved”—the subject of Isaiah’s song—represents Israel’s God in his quintessential aspect (Isaiah 43:4; 49:15-16; 54:7-8; 63:7-9).

2 He cultivated it, clearing it of stones,
and planted it with choice vines.
He built a watchtower in its midst
and hewed for it a winepress as well.
Then he expected it to yield grapes,
but it produced wild grapes.

Jehovah plants the vineyard that represents his people (v 7) in a choice land—“on the fertile brow of a hill” (v 1). With the aid of his servants the prophets, he cultivates it and clears it of “stones,” removing its former wicked occupants and preparing the ground for planting the new. He builds a watchtower so that his prophets—their watchmen—may keep vigil. He hews a winepress, an ecclesiastical or communal framework in which his people can bring forth the fruits of their labors.
But instead of producing good fruit, they produce “wild fruit” (be’usim)—fruit that rots before it ripens (cf. Isaiah 3:14-15).

3 Now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and you men of Judea,
please judge between me and my vineyard!
4 What more could have been done
for my vineyard than I have done for it?
When I expected it to yield grapes,
why did it produce wild grapes?

* the watchmen in Isa. 56:10 Isaiah is definitely talking about church leaders - watchmen that are blind and unaware - as we have seen - just in these last few years by what the church is doing.

When Jehovah exposes his people’s actions for what they are, not for what they assume they are, his people are compelled to judge themselves. Although what Jehovah does for them lacks nothing, they fall far short of his rightful expectations. They may indeed be bringing forth fruit, even much fruit, but none of it any good:
*Their watchmen are altogether blind and unaware” (Isaiah 56:10); “Their works are worthless” and “amount to nothing” (Isaiah 41:24, 29).
Sinking into apostasy, they “have not wrought salvation in the earth” in order that its inhabitants
“might not abort”
(Isaiah 26:18).

5 Let me now inform you
what I will do to my vineyard:
I will have its hedge removed
and let it be burned;
I will have its wall broken through
and let it be trampled.

Because Jehovah has done for his vineyard all he can possibly do, his people are left without excuse.
His response to their permitting the vineyard to become derelict is to remove its “hedge”—his divine protection—and “let it be burned”; to “have its wall broken through”—its defenses violated—and “let it be trampled.” Word links identify the king of Assyria/Babylon, Jehovah’s fire and sword, as the one who burns and tramples Jehovah’s reprobate people: “I will commission him against a godless nation . . . to tread [them] underfoot like mud in the streets” (Isaiah 10:6; cf. 26:10-11; 34:5-8).

6 I will make it a desolation:
it shall neither be pruned nor hoed,
but briars and thorns shall overgrow it.
Moreover, I will forbid the rainclouds to rain on it.

The idea of the land and institutions of Jehovah’s people’s becoming a desolation as a result of their apostasy permeates Isaiah’s prophecy (Isaiah 6:11-12; 33:8-9; 64:10-11). Additional covenant curses include a lack of rain and the proliferation of “briars and thorns”—the wicked’s overrunning the land (Isaiah 7:23-25; 9:18-19; 32:12-13). Once the vineyard is no longer “pruned or hoed”—as Jehovah withdraws his spiritual ministry—his people are left to themselves. Although these evils happen to his people as a whole, not all come under this condemnation (v 17; Isaiah 3:10; 5:16-17; 8:13-14).

7 The vineyard of Jehovah of Hosts is the house of Israel
and the people of Judah his cherished grove.
He expected justice,
but there was injustice;
he expected righteousness,
but there was an outcry.

In an end-time context, “Israel” and “Judah” serve as codenames of those who are Jehovah’s covenant people in that day. Their depiction as “his cherished grove” infers that in the beginning Jehovah doted over them. As the vines reach fruit-bearing age, however, they deeply disappoint him. The words “He expected justice, but there was injustice; [he expected] righteousness, but there was an outcry” (wayeqaw lemispat wehinneh mispah lisdaqa wehinneh se‘aqa) use assonance and alliteration to dramatize this disenchantment. The parallel terms “injustice” and “outcry” express grave ethical violations.

8 Woe to those who join house to house
and link field to field till no place is left,
and you are restricted to dwell
in the centers of the land!

A series of seven “woes” or covenant curses follows Isaiah’s vineyard allegory, detailing a cross-section of hedonistic behaviors that underscores the unjust and unprincipled standards by which Jehovah’s end-time people live.
A spirit of speculation overcomes them—as manifested by oppressive zoning laws, for-profit property developments, corporate mergers, and other questionable entrepreneurial ventures—forcing the poor of his people out of rural, self-sustaining lifestyles into the cities or centers of the land.
Only his people who are thus disenfranchised Jehovah acknowledges as “you.”

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SPIRIT
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Re: Fall of the Church-Scriptural References

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"What could I have done more for my vineyard?"

"And it came to pass that the Lord of the vineyard wept, and said unto the servant:
What could I have done more for my vineyard?" (verse 41)

Jacob
CHAPTER 5
1 Behold, my brethren, do ye not remember to have read the words of the prophet Zenos, which he spake unto the house of Israel, saying:
2 Hearken, O ye house of Israel, and hear the words of me, a prophet of the Lord.
3 For behold, thus saith the Lord, I will liken thee, O house of Israel, like unto a tame olive tree, which a man took and nourished in his vineyard; and it grew, and waxed old, and began to decay.
4 And it came to pass that the master of the vineyard went forth, and he saw that his olive tree began to decay; and he said: I will prune it, and dig about it, and nourish it, that perhaps it may shoot forth young and tender branches, and it perish not.
5 And it came to pass that he pruned it, and digged about it, and nourished it according to his word.
6 And it came to pass that after many days it began to put forth somewhat a little, young and tender branches; but behold, the main top thereof began to perish.
7 And it came to pass that the master of the vineyard saw it, and he said unto his servant: It grieveth me that I should lose this tree; wherefore, go and pluck the branches from a wild olive tree, and bring them hither unto me; and we will pluck off those...
8 And behold, saith the Lord of the vineyard, I take away many of these young and tender branches, and I will graft them whithersoever I will; and it mattereth not that if it so be that the root of this tree will perish, I may preserve the fruit thereof unto myself; wherefore, I will take these young and tender branches, and I will graft them whithersoever I will.
9 Take thou the branches of the wild olive tree, and graft them in, in the stead thereof; and these which I have plucked off I will cast into the fire and burn them, that they may not cumber the ground of my vineyard.
10 And it came to pass that the servant of the Lord of the vineyard did according to the word of the Lord of the vineyard, and grafted in the branches of the wild olive tree.
11 And the Lord of the vineyard caused that it should be digged about, and pruned, and nourished, saying unto his servant: It grieveth me that I should lose this tree; wherefore, that perhaps I might preserve the roots thereof that they perish not, that I might preserve them unto myself, I have done this thing.
12 Wherefore, go thy way; watch the tree, and nourish it, according to my words.
13 And these will I place in the nethermost part of my vineyard, whithersoever I will, it mattereth not unto thee; and I do it that I may preserve unto myself the natural branches of the tree; and also, that I may lay up fruit thereof against the season, unto myself; for it grieveth me that I should lose this tree and the fruit thereof.
14 And it came to pass that the Lord of the vineyard went his way, and hid the natural branches of the tame olive tree in the nethermost parts of the vineyard, some in one and some in another, according to his will and pleasure.
15 And it came to pass that a long time passed away, and the Lord of the vineyard said unto his servant: Come, let us go down into the vineyard, that we may labor in the vineyard.
16 And it came to pass that the Lord of the vineyard, and also the servant, went down into the vineyard to labor. And it came to pass that the servant said unto his master: Behold, look here; behold the tree.
17 And it came to pass that the Lord of the vineyard looked and beheld the tree in the which the wild olive branches had been grafted; and it had sprung forth and begun to bear fruit. And he beheld that it was good; and the fruit thereof was like unto the natural fruit.
18 And he said unto the servant: Behold, the branches of the wild tree have taken hold of the moisture of the root thereof, that the root thereof hath brought forth much strength; and because of the much strength of the root thereof the wild branches have brought forth tame fruit. Now, if we had not grafted in these branches, the tree thereof would have perished. And now, behold, I shall lay up much fruit, which the tree thereof hath brought forth; and the fruit thereof I shall lay up against the season, unto mine own self.
19 And it came to pass that the Lord of the vineyard said unto the servant: Come, let us go to the nethermost part of the vineyard, and behold if the natural branches of the tree have not brought forth much fruit also, that I may lay up of the fruit thereof against the season, unto mine own self.
20 And it came to pass that they went forth whither the master had hid the natural branches of the tree, and he said unto the servant: Behold these; and he beheld the first that it had brought forth much fruit; and he beheld also that it was good. And he said unto the servant: Take of the fruit thereof, and lay it up against the season, that I may preserve it unto mine own self; for behold, said he, this long time have I nourished it, and it hath brought forth much fruit.
21 And it came to pass that the servant said unto his master: How comest thou hither to plant this tree, or this branch of the tree? For behold, it was the poorest spot in all the land of thy vineyard.
22 And the Lord of the vineyard said unto him: Counsel me not; I knew that it was a poor spot of ground; wherefore, I said unto thee, I have nourished it this long time, and thou beholdest that it hath brought forth much fruit.
23 And it came to pass that the Lord of the vineyard said unto his servant: Look hither; behold I have planted another branch of the tree also; and thou knowest that this spot of ground was poorer than the first. But, behold the tree. I have nourished it this long time, and it hath brought forth much fruit; therefore, gather it, and lay it up against the season, that I may preserve it unto mine own self.
24 And it came to pass that the Lord of the vineyard said again unto his servant: Look hither, and behold another branch also, which I have planted; behold that I have nourished it also, and it hath brought forth fruit.
25 And he said unto the servant: Look hither and behold the last. Behold, this have I planted in a good spot of ground; and I have nourished it this long time, and only a part of the tree hath brought forth tame fruit, and the other part of the tree hath brought forth wild fruit; behold, I have nourished this tree like unto the others.
26 And it came to pass that the Lord of the vineyard said unto the servant: Pluck off the branches that have not brought forth good fruit, and cast them into the fire.
27 But behold, the servant said unto him: Let us prune it, and dig about it, and nourish it a little longer, that perhaps it may bring forth good fruit unto thee, that thou canst lay it up against the season.
28 And it came to pass that the Lord of the vineyard and the servant of the Lord of the vineyard did nourish all the fruit of the vineyard.


29 And it came to pass that a long time had passed away, and the Lord of the vineyard said unto his servant: Come, let us go down into the vineyard, that we may labor again in the vineyard. For behold, the time draweth near, and the end soon cometh; wherefore, I must lay up fruit against the season, unto mine own self.
30 And it came to pass that the Lord of the vineyard and the servant went down into the vineyard; and they came to the tree whose natural branches had been broken off, and the wild branches had been grafted in; and behold all sorts of fruit did cumber the tree.
31 And it came to pass that the Lord of the vineyard did taste of the fruit, every sort according to its number. And the Lord of the vineyard said: Behold, this long time have we nourished this tree, and I have laid up unto myself against the season much fruit.
32 But behold, this time it hath brought forth much fruit, and there is none of it which is good. And behold, there are all kinds of bad fruit; and it profiteth me nothing, notwithstanding all our labor; and now it grieveth me that I should lose this tree.
33 And the Lord of the vineyard said unto the servant: What shall we do unto the tree, that I may preserve again good fruit thereof unto mine own self?
34 And the servant said unto his master: Behold, because thou didst graft in the branches of the wild olive tree they have nourished the roots, that they are alive and they have not perished; wherefore thou beholdest that they are yet good.
35 And it came to pass that the Lord of the vineyard said unto his servant: The tree profiteth me nothing, and the roots thereof profit me nothing so long as it shall bring forth evil fruit.
36 Nevertheless, I know that the roots are good, and for mine own purpose I have preserved them; and because of their much strength they have hitherto brought forth, from the wild branches, good fruit.
37 But behold, the wild branches have grown and have overrun the roots thereof; and because that the wild branches have overcome the roots thereof it hath brought forth much evil fruit; and because that it hath brought forth so much evil fruit thou beholdest that it beginneth to perish; and it will soon become ripened, that it may be cast into the fire, except we should do something for it to preserve it.
38 And it came to pass that the Lord of the vineyard said unto his servant: Let us go down into the nethermost parts of the vineyard, and behold if the natural branches have also brought forth evil fruit.
39 And it came to pass that they went down into the nethermost parts of the vineyard. And it came to pass that they beheld that the fruit of the natural branches had become corrupt also; yea, the first and the second and also the last; and they had all become corrupt.
40 And the wild fruit of the last had overcome that part of the tree which brought forth good fruit, even that the branch had withered away and died.
41 And it came to pass that the Lord of the vineyard wept, and said unto the servant: What could I have done more for my vineyard?

42 Behold, I knew that all the fruit of the vineyard, save it were these, had become corrupted. And now these which have once brought forth good fruit have also become corrupted; and now all the trees of my vineyard are good for nothing save it be to be hewn down and cast into the fire.
43 And behold this last, whose branch hath withered away, I did plant in a good spot of ground; yea, even that which was choice unto me above all other parts of the land of my vineyard.
44 And thou beheldest that I also cut down that which cumbered this spot of ground, that I might plant this tree in the stead thereof.
45 And thou beheldest that a part thereof brought forth good fruit, and a part thereof brought forth wild fruit; and because I plucked not the branches thereof and cast them into the fire, behold, they have overcome the good branch that it hath withered away.
46 And now, behold, notwithstanding all the care which we have taken of my vineyard, the trees thereof have become corrupted, that they bring forth no good fruit; and these I had hoped to preserve, to have laid up fruit thereof against the season, unto mine own self. But, behold, they have become like unto the wild olive tree, and they are of no worth but to be hewn down and cast into the fire; and it grieveth me that I should lose them.
47 But what could I have done more in my vineyard? Have I slackened mine hand, that I have not nourished it? Nay, I have nourished it, and I have digged about it, and I have pruned it, and I have dunged it; and I have stretched forth mine hand almost all the day long, and the end draweth nigh. And it grieveth me that I should hew down all the trees of my vineyard, and cast them into the fire that they should be burned. Who is it that has corrupted my vineyard?
48 And it came to pass that the servant said unto his master: Is it not the loftiness of thy vineyard—have not the branches thereof overcome the roots which are good? And because the branches have overcome the roots thereof, behold they grew faster than the strength of the roots, taking strength unto themselves. Behold, I say, is not this the cause that the trees of thy vineyard have become corrupted?
49 And it came to pass that the Lord of the vineyard said unto the servant: Let us go to and hew down the trees of the vineyard and cast them into the fire, that they shall not cumber the ground of my vineyard,
for I have done all. What could I have done more for my vineyard?
50 But, behold, the servant said unto the Lord of the vineyard: Spare it a little longer.
(duration of DS mission)
51 And the Lord said: Yea, I will spare it a little longer, for it grieveth me that I should lose the trees of my vineyard.
52 Wherefore, let us take of the branches of these which I have planted in the nethermost parts of my vineyard, and let us graft them into the tree from whence they came; and let us pluck from the tree those branches whose fruit is most bitter, and graft in the natural branches of the tree in the stead thereof.
53 And this will I do that the tree may not perish, that, perhaps, I may preserve unto myself the roots thereof for mine own purpose.
54 And, behold, the roots of the natural branches of the tree which I planted whithersoever I would are yet alive; wherefore, that I may preserve them also for mine own purpose, I will take of the branches of this tree, and I will graft them in unto them. Yea, I will graft in unto them the branches of their mother tree, that I may preserve the roots also unto mine own self, that when they shall be sufficiently strong perhaps they may bring forth good fruit unto me, and I may yet have glory in the fruit of my vineyard.
55 And it came to pass that they took from the natural tree which had become wild, and grafted in unto the natural trees, which also had become wild.
56 And they also took of the natural trees which had become wild, and grafted into their mother tree.
57 And the Lord of the vineyard said unto the servant: Pluck not the wild branches from the trees, save it be those which are most bitter; and in them ye shall graft according to that which I have said.
58 And we will nourish again the trees of the vineyard, and we will trim up the branches thereof; and we will pluck from the trees those branches which are ripened, that must perish, and cast them into the fire.
59 And this I do that, perhaps, the roots thereof may take strength because of their goodness; and because of the change of the branches, that the good may overcome the evil.
60 And because that I have preserved the natural branches and the roots thereof, and that I have grafted in the natural branches again into their mother tree, and have preserved the roots of their mother tree, that, perhaps, the trees of my vineyard may bring forth again good fruit; and that I may have joy again in the fruit of my vineyard, and, perhaps, that I may rejoice exceedingly that I have preserved the roots and the branches of the first fruit—
61 Wherefore, go to, and call servants, that we may labor diligently with our might in the vineyard, that we may prepare the way, that I may bring forth again the natural fruit, which natural fruit is good and the most precious above all other fruit.
62 Wherefore, let us go to and labor with our might this last time, for behold the end draweth nigh, and this is for the last time that I shall prune my vineyard.
63 Graft in the branches; begin at the last that they may be first, and that the first may be last, and dig about the trees, both old and young,the first and the last; and the last and the first, that all may be nourished once again for the last time.
64 Wherefore, dig about them, and prune them, and dung them once more, for the last time, for the end draweth nigh. And if it be so that these last grafts shall grow, and bring forth the natural fruit, then shall ye prepare the way for them, that they may grow.
65 And as they begin to grow ye shall clear away the branches which bring forth bitter fruit, according to the strength of the good and the size thereof; and ye shall not clear away the bad thereof all at once, lest the roots thereof should be too strong for the graft, and the graft thereof shall perish, and I lose the trees of my vineyard.
66 For it grieveth me that I should lose the trees of my vineyard; wherefore ye shall clear away the bad according as the good shall grow, that the root and the top may be equal in strength, until the good shall overcome the bad, and the bad be hewn down and cast into the fire, that they cumber not the ground of my vineyard; and thus will I sweep away the bad out of my vineyard.
67 And the branches of the natural tree will I graft in again into the natural tree;
68 And the branches of the natural tree will I graft into the natural branches of the tree; and thus will I bring them together again, that they shall bring forth the natural fruit, and they shall be one.
69 And the bad shall be cast away, yea, even out of all the land of my vineyard; for behold, only this once will I prune my vineyard.
70 And it came to pass that the Lord of the vineyard sent his servant; and the servant went and did as the Lord had commanded him, and brought other servants; and they were few.
71 And the Lord of the vineyard said unto them: Go to, and labor in the vineyard, with your might.
For behold, this is the last time that I shall nourish my vineyard; for the end is nigh at hand, and the season speedily cometh; and if ye labor with your might with me ye shall have joy in the fruit which I shall lay up unto myself against the time which will soon come.
72 And it came to pass that the servants did go and labor with their mights; and the Lord of the vineyard labored also with them; and they did obey the commandments of the Lord of the vineyard in all things.
73 And there began to be the natural fruit again in the vineyard; and the natural branches began to grow and thrive exceedingly; and the wild branches began to be plucked off and to be cast away; and they did keep the root and the top thereof equal, according to the strength thereof.
74 And thus they labored, with all diligence, according to the commandments of the Lord of the vineyard, even until the bad had been cast away out of the vineyard, and the Lord had preserved unto himself that the trees had become again the natural fruit; and they became like unto one body; and the fruits were equal; and the Lord of the vineyard had preserved unto himself the natural fruit, which was most precious unto him from the beginning.
75 And it came to pass that when the Lord of the vineyard saw that his fruit was good, and that his vineyard was no more corrupt, he called up his servants, and said unto them: Behold, for this last time have we nourished my vineyard; and thou beholdest that I have done according to my will; and I have preserved the natural fruit, that it is good, even like as it was in the beginning. And blessed art thou; for because ye have been diligent in laboring with me in my vineyard, and have kept my commandments, and have brought unto me again the natural fruit, that my vineyard is no more corrupted, and the bad is cast away, behold ye shall have joy with me because of the fruit of my vineyard.
76 For behold, for a long time will I lay up of the fruit of my vineyard unto mine own self against the season, which speedily cometh; and for the last time have I nourished my vineyard, and pruned it, and dug about it, and dunged it; wherefore I will lay up unto mine own self of the fruit, for a long time, according to that which I have spoken.
77 And when the time cometh that evil fruit shall again come into my vineyard, then will I cause the good and the bad to be gathered; and the good will I preserve unto myself, and the bad will I cast away into its own place. And then cometh the season and the end; and my vineyard will I cause to be burned with fire.

Teancum
captain of 100
Posts: 873

Re: Fall of the Church-Scriptural References

Post by Teancum »

Daniel 2:44

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/stu ... ng=eng#p44
44 And in the adays of these bkings shall the God of heaven cset up a dkingdom, which shall never be edestroyed: and the fkingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall gbreak in pieces and hconsume all these ikingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.

Mamabear
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Re: Fall of the Church-Scriptural References

Post by Mamabear »

“The vax it is a Godsend, it’s safe and effective.”
Not a scripture but lots of people are treating it as such.

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Gadianton Slayer
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Re: Fall of the Church-Scriptural References

Post by Gadianton Slayer »

Teancum wrote: December 26th, 2021, 8:14 am Daniel 2:44

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/stu ... ng=eng#p44
44 And in the adays of these bkings shall the God of heaven cset up a dkingdom, which shall never be edestroyed: and the fkingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall gbreak in pieces and hconsume all these ikingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.
Yeah, doesn’t quite hold up to what Joseph taught. I’m with him on this one, and it is the most scripturally supported.

"There is a distinction between the church of God and kingdom of God. The laws of the kingdom are not designed to effect our salvation hereafter. It is an entire, distinct, and separate government. The church is a spiritual matter and a spiritual kingdom; but the kingdom which Daniel saw was not a spiritual kingdom, but was designed to be got up for the safety and salvation of the Saints by protecting them in their religious rights and worship. Anything that would tolerate man in the worship of his God under his own vine and fig tree would be tolerated of God." (Council of Fifty, Joseph Smith Papers, Administrative Records, 128)

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SPIRIT
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Re: Fall of the Church-Scriptural References

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Teancum wrote: December 26th, 2021, 8:14 am Daniel 2:44

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/stu ... ng=eng#p44
44 And in the adays of these bkings shall the God of heaven cset up a dkingdom, which shall never be edestroyed: and the fkingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall gbreak in pieces and hconsume all these ikingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.
fortunately, this scripture -
this kingdom - IS NOT talking about, and IS NOT the current LDS church
(which the Lord will hurl to the ground. Isa 28)

but this one is. Isa 28

The church and it's leaders haven't been led by the Lord for over a hundred years.
and have corrupted His church, and brought it to where it is - in total apostasy -
just as the scriptures said it would.
And now The Times of the Gentiles (US) are ending - and the Lord will hurl to the ground *** Isa.28:2
The Drunkards of Ephraim (church leaders) and blind members - that follow them blindly.


Isaiah 28 is all about - The Drunkards of Ephraim

Ephraim’s “fat proud ones” (vv 1, 4) include its “priests,” “prophets,” and “seers” (Isaiah 56:10-12).
Intoxicated with the wine of self-deception (v 15), they “stray,” “err,” and “blunder” in their policies. Instead of obtaining revelation from Jehovah (vv 9, 14, 16, 26, 29), they water down his word until it is ineffectual in empowering his people (vv 10-13; Isaiah 32:6). The best their spiritual feasts offer is “vomit”—partly digested food regurgitated for Jehovah’s people to consume.

----------------------------------------------------

Isaiah 28 exposes the follies of the "Drunkards of Ephraim! " (mostly the leaders of the church)

Isaiah 28
Ephraim and its prophets reap disaster for being delusional and for rejecting divine revelation.
http://www.isaiahexplained.com/28#commentary

Isaiah 28 audio Avraham Gileadi
https://www.isaiahexplained.com/legacy/ ... aiah28.mp3

I find it absurd that some, (the "all is well in Zion" crowd ) can say that Isaiah 28 has nothing to do with the church,
while the church itself says that Isaiah 29 does.

quote
"First we must note here that Isaiah is speaking to "the drunkards of Ephraim”.
There is no question that the Latter-Day Saints refer to themselves as “Ephraim” and there is no question that the Church teaches that the very next chapter of Isaiah (chapter 29) refers to our day or the coming forth of the Church, and the Book of Mormon. Therefore, it would seem quite logical that Isaiah 28 would also refer to Ephraim of our day."

taken from: LDS Seminary Student Study Guide

"Isaiah 29 is one place in the Bible where the Book of Mormon is referred to, even though it is not mentioned by name.
As you read this chapter, look for prophecies of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon and the impact this book will have on the world."

If you want a big wake up call please read and study the 28th chapter of Isaiah,
it will reveal that every word applies to our church in these days
and to no other people.
Isaiah cites that this people would be given "precept upon precept;
precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little and there a little."
These identical words, were used by the Prophet Joseph Smith among his closing instructions
to the latter day saints, warning us to go forward not backward. D.C.128:21-22 ; 2Nephi 28:30

That's where the Lord has laid a trap for us.
Isaiah 28:13 "But the word of the Lord was unto them
precept upon precept, precept upon precept;
line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little;
that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken,
and snared, and taken."

1 Woe to the garlands of glory
of the drunkards of Ephraim!
Their crowning splendor has become as fading wreaths
on the heads of the opulent overcome with wine.

Chapters 28-31, which form a didactic unit comprising Part VI of Isaiah’s Seven-Part Structure (Isaiah 28-31; 55-59),
each commence with a “woe” or covenant curse.
Ephraim’s chief sins of pride and drunkenness catch up with Israel’s birthright tribe in Jehovah’s Day of Judgment. Instead of acknowledging current inconvenient truths,
the people of Ephraim look back on past glories earned in more righteous times as if they still apply today. Ephraim’s self-deception, stemming from intoxication with “wine” at the highest levels, compounds the hard times that lie ahead (v 7; Isaiah 56:10-12).

"Isaiah's prophecy concerning Ephraim consists mostly of censure.
Ephraim lives in the past, acting as if former glories were current ones: “Woe to the garlands of glory of the drunkards of Ephraim!
Their crowning splendor has become as fading wreaths on the heads of the opulent overcome with wine” (Isaiah 28:1).
The king of Assyria—a new Flood (Isaiah 8:7–8)—will invade Ephraim’s land:

*** 2.“My Lord has in store one mighty and strong: as a ravaging hailstorm sweeping down, or like an inundating deluge of mighty waters,
he will hurl them to the ground by his hand.

The proud garlands of the drunkards of Ephraim shall be trodden underfoot”(Isaiah 28:2–3)."

The imagery of “a ravaging hailstorm sweeping down” and of “an inundating deluge of mighty waters” identifies the king of Assyria/Babylon and his alliance of aggressor nations (Isaiah 8:7-8; 17:12; 18:2).
A second “one mighty and strong” in the Book of Isaiah is Jehovah’s servant, who makes an end of him at the last. Although Jehovah provides a refuge for a repentant remnant of his people against the storms of their enemies (Isaiah 4:6; 25:4-5; 57:13), he empowers the archtyrant—Jehovah’s (left) hand—over “the drunkards of Ephraim” to cast their illustriousness to the ground (cf. vv 1, 3).(Bold & Italics mine)

Isaiah 28

7 These too have indulged in wine and are giddy with strong drink:priests and prophets have gone astray through liquor.
They are intoxicated with wine and stagger because of strong drink; they err as seers, they blunder in their decisions.
8 For all tables are filled with vomit; no spot is without excrement.

As the political and ecclesiastical leaderships of Jehovah’s people always appear on a par (Isaiah 3:2-4; 9:14-16; 24:2), so Ephraim’s “fat proud ones” (vv 1, 4) include its “priests,” “prophets,” and “seers” (Isaiah 56:10-12). Intoxicated with the wine of self-deception (v 15), they “stray,” “err,” and “blunder” in their policies. Instead of obtaining revelation from Jehovah (vv 9, 14, 16, 26, 29), they water down his word until it is ineffectual in empowering his people (vv 10-13; Isaiah 32:6). The best their spiritual feasts offer is “vomit”—partly digested food regurgitated for Jehovah’s people to consume.


We are still satisfied with the milk portions - the ABC portions of the gospel.
We will not accept the meat portions of the gospel.

9 Whom shall he give instruction?
Whom shall he enlighten with revelation?
Weanlings weaned from milk,
those just taken from the breast?
10 For it is but line upon line, line upon line,
precept upon precept, precept upon precept;
a trifle here, a trifle there.

Although Jehovah wants to give his people “instruction” and “revelation,” they are but babes and sucklings who haven’t developed far enough to digest more than milk: “Everyone who uses milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe” (Hebrews 5:13). Ephraim’s mode of learning is still “line upon line, line upon line, precept upon precept, precept upon precept, here a little, there a little” (saw lasaw saw lasaw qaw laqaw qaw laqaw ze‘ir sam ze‘ir sam). Assonance and alliteration parody their rote method of learning that consists of parroting back what their leaders teach.

13 So to them the word of Jehovah remained:
Line upon line, line upon line,
precept upon precept, precept upon precept;
a trifle here, a trifle there, that,
persisting, they might lapse into stumbling
and break themselves,
become ensnared and be taken captive.

Instead of receiving a greater portion of the “word of Jehovah” through divine revelation, the people of Ephraim remain ensconced in its lesser version as that is all they know. The end result is their ruination: “Sanctify Jehovah of Hosts, making him your fear, him your awe. And [to you] he will be a sanctuary, but to the two houses of Israel a stumbling block or obstructing rock, and a snare, catching unawares the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Many will stumble into them, and when they fall shall be broken, and when they become ensnared shall be taken captive” (Isaiah 8:13-15; cf. 5:13; 42:18-25).

---------------
Isaiah 3
12 As for my people, babes subject them; women wield authority over them.
O my people, your leaders mislead you, abolishing your traditional ways.

"The leaders of these people have misled them, and those who are led are confused” (Isaiah 9:13–16).
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=54297&p=1144743&hil ... d#p1144743

Isaiah 28 exposes the follies of the "Drunkards of Ephraim! " (church leaders)
Isaiah 28
Ephraim and its prophets reap disaster for being delusional and for rejecting divine revelation.
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=55396&p=1037704&hil ... h#p1037704

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Oldemandalton
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Re: Fall of the Church-Scriptural References

Post by Oldemandalton »

Daniel 2:44
And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.

Doctrine and Covenants 42:69
Lift up your hearts and rejoice, for unto you the kingdom, or in other words, the keys of the church have been given. Even so. Amen.

Doctrine and Covenants 35:27
Fear not, little flock, the kingdom is yours until I come. Behold, I come quickly. Even so. Amen.

A talk by President Wilford Woodruff
Published in Millennial Star, 2 Sept. 1889, 545–49; https://josephsmithfoundation.org/the-k ... e-kingdom/

On that occasion the Prophet Joseph rose up and said to us: “Brethren, I have desired to live to see this temple built. I shall never live to see it, but you will. I have sealed upon your heads all the keys of the kingdom of God. I have sealed upon you every key, power, principle that the God of heaven has revealed to me. Now, no matter where I may go or what I may do, the kingdom rests upon you.”

Now, don’t you wonder why we, as Apostles, could not have understood that the prophet of God was going to be taken away from us? But we did not understand it. The Apostles in the days of Jesus Christ could not understand what the Savior meant when He told them, “I am going away; if I do not go away the Comforter will not come!” [see John 16:7]. Neither did we understand what Joseph meant. “But,” he said, after having done this, “ye Apostles of the Lamb of God, my brethren, upon your shoulders this kingdom rests; now you have got to round up your shoulders and bear off the kingdom.” And he also made this very strange remark: “If you do not do it you will be damned.”

I am the last man living who heard that declaration. He told the truth, too; for would not any of the men who have held the keys of the kingdom of God or an apostleship in this Church have been under condemnation and would not the wrath of God have rested upon them if they had deserted these principles or denied and turned from them and undertaken to serve themselves instead of the work of the Lord which was committed to their hands?

When the Lord gave the keys of the kingdom of God, the keys of the Melchizedek Priesthood, of the apostleship, and sealed them upon the head of Joseph Smith, He sealed them upon his head to stay here upon the earth until the coming of the Son of Man. Well might Brigham Young say, “The keys of the kingdom of God are here.” They were with him to the day of his death. They then rested upon the head of another man—President John Taylor. He held those keys to the hour of his death. They then fell by turn, or in the providence of God, upon Wilford Woodruff.

I say to the Latter-day Saints the keys of the kingdom of God are here, and they are going to stay here, too, until the coming of the Son of Man. Let all Israel understand that. They may not rest upon my head but a short time, but they will then rest on the head of another Apostle, and another after him, and so continue until the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ in the clouds of heaven to “reward every man according to the deeds done in the body” [see History of the Church, 1:245].

I want to add another thing, because I feel it my duty to say it to the Latter-day Saints. There is a feeling–it was so in the days of Joseph Smith–that he was not the man to lead the Church. (Sound Familiar?!) Even his bosom friends, men with whom he saw the angels of God, Oliver Cowdery and others, considered him a fallen prophet and though they ought to lead the Church. This history is before you and before the world. The same feeling was manifest in the days of Brigham Young when he was called to hold the keys of the Presidency of the Church. there were other men who though they should be appointed to that office. But the God of heaven manifested to you, and to me, and all men, who were in Nauvoo, upon whom the mantle had fallen. Brigham Young took his place, and led the Church and kingdom of God up to the day of his death.

There are men to-day, there will be men till the coming of the Son of Main, I expect, who feel as though they ought to lead the Church, as thought it is not going on right–that is, that, and the other is wrong. I say to all Israel at this day, I say to the whole world, that the God of Israel, who organized this Church and kingdom, never ordained any President or Presidency to lead it astray. Hear it, ye Israel, no man who has ever breathed the breath of life can hold these keys of the kingdom of God and lead the people astray. (This could have been written today!)

We talk of revelation. There has been a feeling of wonder many times as to why Brigham Young did not have revelation, why John Taylor did not have revelation, why Wilford Woodruff does not have revelation, why any other apostle does not have revelation. I hold in my hand a book of revelations, enough to lead this Church into the celestial kingdom of God. Anybody who will obey that law will have all the revelation that he can fulfill on earth. We are not without revelation. The heavens are full of it, so is the holy Priesthood. (Again, we here the same complaints today!)

I know the destiny of this people; it is revealed by the God of Israel, and left on record. I know the destiny of this kingdom, and I want to say, let us try to unite together and fulfill the law of God. You need not trouble about the kingdom God has established. He will take care of it. The same God who has organized this Zion and gathered one hundred and fifty thousand people here from the nations of the earth, has his eye over you, He is watching over you, and He will take care of you when you do your duty. Zion is not going to be moved out of her place. The Lord will plead with her strong ones, and if she sins He will chastise her until she is purified before the Lord.

I do not pretend to tell how much sorrow you or I are going to meet with before the coming of the Son of Man. That will depend upon our conduct.

With regard to the keys of the kingdom of God, they were placed on the earth to remain, and they will remain until Jesus Christ comes in the clouds of heaven. But I and other men, the apostles, and all who are called to officiate in the name of the Lord need the faith and the prayers of the Latter-day Saints.

By way of closing I will say that Brigham Young, John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, these Twelve Apostles around me, and every one of the Seventies, High Priests, High Councillors, Presidents o Stakes, the Melchisedec and the Aaronic Priesthood, and all the Latter-day Saints–all will get what they labor for. Whatsoever we sow, whether good of evil, of that we will reap the fruit.

But in the morning of the resurrection you will find Joseph Smith holding the keys of this kingdom and dispensation at the head of all Israel who belong to this dispensation; he will hold them to the endless ages of eternity, notwithstanding that we shall get our reward for what we do. The keys of the kingdom were given to Joseph Smith. They were placed on the heads of other men to make use of on earth for a short time; and when we get through we shall all have our reward.

Let us make up our minds to serve and honor God. Do not have any fears concerning the kingdom; the Lord will lead that aright; and if Brother Woodruff or any of the Presidency of this Church should take any course to lead you astray, the Lord will remove us out of the way. We are in the hands of the Lord, and those keys will be held and taken care of by the God of Israel until He comes whose right it is to reign.

God bless you all. Amen

diligently seeking
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Re: Fall of the Church-Scriptural References

Post by diligently seeking »

Dutiful company man —-old-feller-Dalton, Truth does not need the persuasion of man pacifying us with “you can trust us completely,” or “we can never lead you astray”. How do I know?—- Holy Writ tells me so. 🎶 Genuine Key bearing Oracles are a treasure— but they certainly do not point to themselves or Keys that “fell on them” as being a viable anchor for their flock. 🤷‍♂️

A correlated blinders off— careful study of the Book of Mormon and the teachings of our Dispensation head Prophet will point you the clear direction of where true persuasion of Truth is found —-they all with out exception teach / promote this pure doctrine found in 2 Nephi 4. The niceties / persuasion of W..W pacifying words don’t follow the patterns established in scriptures— to especially include the most correct book given to us to shed light on what the Truth M.O. should look like. One more reason no doubt-our minds have grown dark”… and the condemnation remains un-lifted. No?

JuneBug12000
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Re: Fall of the Church-Scriptural References

Post by JuneBug12000 »

Teancum wrote: December 26th, 2021, 8:14 am Daniel 2:44

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/stu ... ng=eng#p44
44 And in the adays of these bkings shall the God of heaven cset up a dkingdom, which shall never be edestroyed: and the fkingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall gbreak in pieces and hconsume all these ikingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.
I know people quote this scripture and say the kingdom means The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" but I think it just means the kingdom Christ set up when He came to Earth. I don't know what to make of the "great apostasy" as preached by our church. There were definitely people, both individuals and groups, in contact with heaven between Christ and Joseph Smith. Joan of Arc? William Tyndale? The Separatists who became Pilgrims?

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Re: Fall of the Church-Scriptural References

Post by Mamabear »

D&C 64:39
D&C 1:15
D&C 84:54-56
D&C 112:24-26
D&C 113:8-10
Isaiah 24:5
Ether 4:8-9
Isaiah 52:3-6
2 Nephi 7:2
2 Nephi 26:20-22, 29

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BuriedTartaria
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Re: Fall of the Church-Scriptural References

Post by BuriedTartaria »

Joseph Smith's last dream, the dilapidated barn

I was back in Kirtland, Ohio, and thought I would take a walk out by myself and view my old farm, which I found grown up with weeds and brambles, and altogether bearing evidence of neglect and want of culture. I went into the barn, which I found without floor or doors, with the weather boarding off, and was altogether in keeping with the farm.
While I viewed the desolation around me, and was contemplating how it might be recovered from the curse upon it, there came rushing into the barn a company of furious men who commenced to pick a quarrel with me.
The leader of the party ordered me to leave the barn and the farm, stating it was none of mine and that I must give up all hope of ever possessing it.
I told him the farm was given me, and although I had not had any use of it for some time back, still, I had not sold it, and according to righteous principles it belonged to me.
He then grew furious and began to rail upon me, and threaten me, and said it never did belong to me.

I then told him that I did not think it worth contending about, that I had no desire to live upon it in its present state, and if he thought he had a better right, I would not quarrel with him about it, but leave. But my assurance that I would not trouble him at present did not seem to satisfy him, as he seemed determined to quarrel with me, and threatened me with destruction of my body.
While he was thus engaged, pouring out his bitter words upon me, a rabble rushed in and nearly filled the barn, drew out their knives, and began to quarrel among themselves for the premises, and for a moment forgot me, at which time I took the opportunity to walk out of the barn, about up to my ankles in mud.
When I was a little distance from the barn, I heard them screeching and screaming in a very distressed manner, as it appeared they had engaged in a general fight with their knives.
While they were thus engaged, the dream or vision ended.



LDS church ending historical, community building pageants that emphasize Joseph Smith's story;
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/

Iconic angel Moroni statues with religious meaning are slowly being used less frequently for temples
https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2020/10 ... ons-under/

The whole "we aren't using Mormon anymore" situation

The Second Comforter doctrine being removed from discussion, teachings and scripture footnotes
"A fanciful and flowery and heated imagination be aware of, because the things of God are of deep import, and time, and experience, and careful and ponderous and solemn thoughts can only find them out. Your mind, O man, if you will lead a soul unto salvation, must stretch as high as the utmost Heavens, and search into and contemplate the lowest considerations of the darkest abyss, and expand upon the broad considerations of eternal expanse. You must commune with God. How much more dignified and noble are the thoughts of God than the vain imagination of the human heart? None but fools will trifle with the souls of men.", it's clear in Joseph's writings, Oliver's exertion, stories throughout the Book of Mormon, Joseph taught man should seek a literal ministering encounter from God.


Removing the original foundations of the SLC Temple (that Brigham allegedly 'prophesied' should stand into the millennium)


Almost removing the historical murals of the Manti temple

Most important prophet is the current prophet. They pretend the "prophets" of today are equals to Joseph and more relevant than Joseph.

There is a clear pattern of removing the foundation of the LDS church in varying ways. Taken as isolated incidents, these may seem not a big deal. Looking at it as a whole, the modern-day LDS church is executing a reboot to be more welcome among a world increasingly moving farther away from God.

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