The Josephite will emerge from his box sometime in the next three years (by January 2025) and more likely in the next two years (by January 2024). After his emergence he will perform a small restoration and then go away to his hidden kingdom land. Later he will return and perform the infinitely larger restoration of all things.
The small restoration concerns the things of the modern age, from the beginning of the United States in the 1770’s to the point of his emergence from the box. All things during this roughly 250-year period will be restored and vastly improved, leaving the world in a golden age.
However, to accomplish the small restoration, many things we currently have will be either altogether destroyed, altered or replaced by the Josephite, such as the following:
Marriage. The state will no longer be a part of marriage except to recognize it, but it will only recognize heterosexual unions. All same-sex unions will be undone. Plural marriage (polygyny) will be legalized. Men will be able to marry on their own authority, without needing permission from the state or a priest, and have as many wives as they want. Men will also be able to divorce on their own authority and according to their own terms, without state involvement.
Birth control. Contraceptives will no longer work and fertility will skyrocket. The Josephite will increase the human population of this planet exponentially by causing all sexual relations in which insemination occurs to produce offspring.
Children. The scriptural concept of “the children of men” will return. Upon divorce or separation, the children will remain with the father, not the mother.
Public education. The Josephite will demolish all public schools and also any school receiving public funds. New and improved educational material that will make all the former teachings obsolete will come from the Josephite to the rest of the world, so that everyone will have to go to him and purchase his courses to receive the updated information and training. He will thus re-teach and re-train the entire world in correct principles.
The right of women to vote. The Josephite will abolish this right. Only men will have the privilege and duty of voting. It may also be that only men will be able to hold political office.
Abortion. The Josephite will not allow any baby to be aborted worldwide. A tit-for-tat curse will come upon the land so that anyone who assists or makes an attempt to abort a baby will die, instead. Within days of the curse’s implementation, the practice of abortion will cease throughout the entire world.
Circumcision. A tit-for-tat curse will go out so that anyone attempting to circumcise a boy or girl will be prohibited from doing so and have their own genitals mutilated, instead.
Taxation. No government will be able to tax its own people. Everyone will be able to keep the full amount of what they earn. Excise taxes, laid upon imported foreign goods, may still be allowed.
Fiat money. The Josephite will restore precious metal money to the world and make all government fiat money, including cryptocurrencies, nonexistent. Goodbye paper money, credit cards and Bitcoin. Gold and silver certificates will still be available.
Digital technology. Almost all digital technology will be destroyed. There will be no more Internet, no more digital phones, no more digital television, or digital satellites, or digital music, or digital radio, or digital images and photography, or digital movies, or digital computers, or digital video games, etc. This means that this digital LDS Anarchy blog will also be gone three years from now. Every image created digitally or printed out digitally, will become blank. This will wipe out the pornography industry overnight, as well as every magazine, such as comic books, that use digital technology to produce their products. All movies made digitally will become blank images. Every film that incorporated CGI effects will no longer show those effects on the film. This digital curse will make it impossible to keep a record of anything that is or has been digital, so that all data that has at any point been in a digital format will be erased. The only functioning electronic equipment left on the planet will be the old analog systems. After the “digital apocalypse” has finished, the Josephite will proceed to replace the non-working digital technology and the old analog technology with a perfected form of analog technology and rebuild the world technologically from scratch.
Man-made laws. All laws everywhere will be altered by the Josephite to make them just and impart the rights and privileges to men that belongs to them. He will do this by destroying the ink that makes up the offending words. Whatever law or wording does not measure up to his standard will no longer exist in the books, nor in any photocopies of the books, nor even be able to be written in the books. No matter how many law books you look in, you will not find them there.
Marxism, communism, socialism, feminism, etc. The Josephite will destroy all these things, which are just shadows of the end-time beast kingdoms. He will also destroy all other shadows, excepting only his own shadow (Mormonism).
Covid-19 and its variants. This invisible scourge will end upon his emergence from the box. Just as the Josephite went into a box, so the whole world went into a box at the end of 2019, becoming locked down by their governments due to their response to this Coronavirus. The world is still in that box, but when the Josephite emerges from his box, so will the world emerge from its box.
All these changes and many more will be coming upon the world beginning in the next two to three years. Additionally, all the old stuff of the last approximately 250 years will be brought back and fully incorporated into society. The Josephite will also make real the many things that men simply imagined or designed and desired to create, but were never able to:
And then shall the second angel sound his trump, and reveal the secret acts of men, and the thoughts and intents of their hearts, and the mighty works of God in the second thousand years—
(D&C 88:109)
This small restoration will be a test run for the Josephite (to practice restoring things), will destroy the times of types and shadows and will allow the end times to officially begin. It consists of him taking full control of the entire world and remaking it in his image, so that he is now happy to be in it. It will only be a 250-year restoration because the Josephite, being a modern man, will only restore the portion of history of which he is familiar. So, we are nearing the very end of the current age.
What I expect over the next two years
The Josephite should remain boxed in for the next two years and then emerge in the beginning of 2024. In 2022, I expect him to start to be powered up in stages. If so, then we should start to see repercussions happening outside of the box as things happen inside of it. In particular, the Sun should react to his empowerment within the box. Solar activity, then, should greatly increase during 2022 with corresponding effects felt here on Earth.
I do not expect him to receive any more empowerment in 2023. Instead, I suspect he will get a certain amount of power during 2022, but not enough to free himself from the box, and then he will practice using those powers during the year 2023, while he is still boxed in. After a year of practice, I expect he will then use his faith to cause his full powers to cascade into himself and then bust out of the box at the end of 2023 or at the beginning of 2024.
Both the receipt and exercise of power within the box should, I believe, cause external effects (outside of the box). This means that if all hell breaks loose over the next two years and the Sun and Earth go absolutely bonkers, I will take that as a sign that the destroyer has finally got some power and is starting to use it.
As explained in a previous post, the wicked will form beast kingdoms after each of the first three seals of the sealed book is opened, translated and published, and they will incorporate all the wickedness of those first three thousand years of Earth’s temporal existence, but when the fourth seal is opened, they will not form another beast kingdom, but will instead wait until all the rest of the seals are opened, translated and published. (Now the publication of the contents of the seventh seal represents the end of the revelation of all things, which is what the book contains.)
And behold the book shall be sealed; and in the book shall be a revelation from God, from the beginning of the world to the ending thereof.
For the book shall be sealed by the power of God, and the revelation which was sealed shall be kept in the book until the own due time of the Lord, that they may come forth; for behold, they reveal all things from the foundation of the world unto the end thereof. (2 Nephi 27:7,10.)
Once in possession of the full revelation of all things, the wicked, led by a man who will be called, “the beast,” will form the fourth and final beast kingdom, described as a dragon kingdom. The wicked will then worship the dragon (the devil) empowering the fourth kingdom and they will also worship the man known as the beast:
And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. If any man have an ear, let him hear. He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints. (Revelation 13:1-10.)
Later on the false prophet will appear and they will also start worshiping an image of the beast that talks:
And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, and deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six. (Revelation 13:11-18.)
The beast, at some point, will be “wounded to death” (Rev. 13:3) and then later he’ll be healed. He is also said to “ascend out of the bottomless pit” and is described is this manner: he ”was, and is not, and yet is.”
The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. (Revelation 17:8.)
Everyone that reads these passages of scripture thinks the same thing: “It sounds like this guy is going to die, go to hell, and then come back alive, but that can’t be right. Jesus is the resurrection and this beast man will be wicked. There’s no way he’ll be able to come back alive, so this must be some trick or illusion to deceive the people into thinking he’s come back alive.” And this is what many people believe.
The counterfeit Christ
The truth of the matter is that the beast man will be mortally wounded, he will die, he will go to hell and then he will come back alive, his spirit joining to his body in an inseparable connection, the whole becoming immortal. This will not be done through the miraculous power of Christ and His resurrection, but through science. The false prophet, likewise, will have the same scientific “immortality process” performed on him, but while he is still alive, so that he changes from mortality to immortality, while yet in the flesh. These two men, then, will be the poster boys for the new immortality process.
The wicked will be able to remain in their sins and live forever, like the false prophet, never having to worship God or obey His commandments, because once the process is done to them, they will not be able to die, and even if they die before the process is performed on them, they can be brought back to life, just as what happened to the beast. All that is required is that they worship the dragon, the beast and the beast’s image and receive the mark or number of the beast, so that their loyalties are shown to lie with the beast and not God. Then they will be able to engage in whatever wickedness they want, because anything and everything, (except righteousness and obedience to God’s commandments), goes. These will be the selling points whereby the whole wicked world will throw their hat in with the beast.
The wicked will say, “The followers of Christ say their god died and was resurrected, conquering death? Well, the beast died and came back alive, too. He has also conquered death. And he promises immortality, just like Christ, only we get to do what we want! What can Christ offer us that the beast can’t? Nothing!” And so all the world will rally around the beast.
An immortal adversary
When the beast fights the destroyer’s two witnesses, they will discover that despite all the destructive power they have, his immortality protects him from them, whereas they, not being immortal, are the ones who end up getting killed:
And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. (Revelation 11:7.)
And so all the world will say, “Who is like unto the beast? Who is able to make war with him?” It is simply a fact that if your adversary is immortal, you are going to lose the war.
The Gifts Can Do All Things revelation
A few years back I received a revelation in which I learned that God can take any of the 14 best spiritual gifts, empower it infinitely and accomplish all things by it alone. I received this revelation after I had written the The faith of God, part fourteen: God is a miracle worker, not a scientist post. I understood that God didn’t need the gift of the working of miracles to do all things; He could prophesy all things, using the gift to prophesy, and all things would happen just as He prophesied; He could speak in the tongues of all things and thus perform all things; He could accomplish everything by healing all things, and so on and so forth, for every best spiritual gift. He has no limitations, whatsoever, save self-imposed limitations. I kept the revelation to myself because it didn’t seem necessary to reveal it. However, now it seems appropriate for this post.
In order to restore all things, Elias will need to have all things revealed. Hence God preparing the sealed book which contains the revelation of all things. And once all things are revealed, (via Elias’s fully empowered gift of the word of knowledge), all things become possible, per the revelation I received.
Now the men who will become the beast and the false prophet will have this understanding; namely, that once Elias publishes the final volume of the all-things revelation, then anything will be possible by using the scientific knowledge contained in the now unsealed book. So they will wait for him to finish translating the 7th sealed portion and then they will conquer death and mortality scientifically. This will allow them to unite the world behind them. But even with all things published, how does one go about searching the volumes and figuring out which part goes with what in order to make immortality? If you’ve got all the words of a language in one book so that now you can say anything you want and never be at a loss of words to express how you think and feel, but the language possesses 300 trillion words, it’s too many words to process and wade through. Even if there are words that exactly express how you feel, you’ll never find them. Nor will you ever be able to use all 300 trillion words. Mankind is limited in their mental processes. Even with access to everything, men only comprehend a small part. Although immortality will definitely be buried in there, like a needle in a haystack, how does one locate it? The beast and the false prophet will figure out the answer to these questions and they will find the information they seek. Here’s how they’ll do it:
The Devil’s Brain revelation
In the early years of this blog, I received a revelation that I had intended to post on the blog, but a friend of mine came over for a visit and we got to talking and I ended up sharing the revelation with him. Afterward I thought, “Well, one person now knows it, so that’s good enough for me.” And I didn’t speak it again to anyone else. That revelation was this: that it was impossible for any man, or group of men of any number, to outsmart the devil because the devil was attached to one-third of the hosts of heaven, which is one-third of an infinite number of spirits, and thus he had access, via the spirit of the devil, to all of the processing power of all those spirit brains. Not even all the computers in the world plus all the men who ever lived could match his brain power. Only God was smarter than the devil. Thus, nobody should ever try to take on the devil in a battle of wits because the devil will win each and every time.
Now this revelation means that the beast and also the false prophet, knowing that the science of immortality is buried somewhere in Elias’s newly published books, will turn to the devil for help in finding it and piecing the puzzle together, which he will most gladly do. Now demonically possessed, the two men will extract the immortality knowledge and apply it to themselves, and as for the false prophet, he will learn of miracle-appearing science and technology whereby to deceive the people into thinking he’s a miracle-working prophet.
Once in immortal bodies these men will be able to handle demonic possession in numbers unheard of. Normal demonic possession usually results in a human being going insane, for no one can handle a multitude of evil and unclean spirits for very long before their mind breaks down. Not so with the demonic duo. Their immortal bodies and brains will be perfect seance conduits, allowing the devil, his angels and the unclean spirits full entry, without insanity ensuing. This flood of dark spirits into them will allow them a power of speech beyond anything anyone’s ever heard before. They will be directly powered by the devil and the one-third and all the astounding brain power that comes with them, and as the devil now will have access to the full revelation of all things, courtesy of Elias, his devilish power of speech will be greater than at any time in the past. The beast, having figured out how to use Elias’s books to his advantage, will swell up in pride and consider himself a god among men (complete with the false prophet as his chosen mouthpiece) and worthy to be worshipped, and men, seeing these immortals and hearing their great works, blasphemies (for what can God do to them, now that they are immortal?) and promises to the people of immortality, too, will bow down and worship the beast as their death-conquering god. All men everywhere will say that the demonic duo are the manliest of men, conquering like Korihor by their strength and knowledge (which knowledge will be supplied by Elias). So prideful will they become that they will boast themselves against God Himself, saying, “If Jesus comes and burns all things, so what?! We cannot die!”
How it all ends
Per my post, Resurrection for the one; translation for the other, if God returns and you are mortal, you die temporally, but if you are immortal and still a sinner, you die spiritually, getting cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, which is the second death. And thus it actually will be for these end-time people; the mortal wicked will die temporally and the two immortals will die spiritually:
And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.
And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh. (Revelation 19:19-21.)
One last thing in closing, for those who still think that it cannot be correct that the demonic duo will be immortal: consider that there has always been more than one way to become immortal: via Christ’s resurrection or by eating the fruit of the tree of life. Although Elias will remove the cherubim and re-open the garden of Eden (see The seraphim and cherubim are plasmoids), he will become the new guardian of the tree so that no wicked person will be able to partake thereof. Nevertheless, all one needs to know is the exact composition of that fruit and how to duplicate it in the laboratory (which information will be in Elias’s books), and at that point immortality is within one’s grasp.
Ezekiel 1: Ezekiel’s vision of the four living creatures
Ezekiel chapter one describes a vision that Ezekiel saw by the river of Chebar:
Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river of Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God. In the fifth day of the month, which was the fifth year of king Jehoiachin’s captivity, the word of the Lord came expressly unto Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and the hand of the Lord was there upon him. (Ezekiel 1:1-3.)
And I looked, and, behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as the colour of amber, out of the midst of the fire. Also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance; they had the likeness of a man. And every one had four faces, and every one had four wings. And their feet were straight feet; and the sole of their feet was like the sole of a calf’s foot: and they sparkled like the colour of burnished brass. And they had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides; and they four had their faces and their wings. Their wings were joined one to another; they turned not when they went; they went every one straight forward. As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle. Thus were their faces: and their wings were stretched upward; two wings of every one were joined one to another, and two covered their bodies. And they went every one straight forward: whither the spirit was to go, they went; and they turned not when they went. As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, and like the appearance of lamps: it went up and down among the living creatures; and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning. And the living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning. (Ezekiel 1:4-14.)
By saying that a “whirlwind came out of the north,” it means that Ezekiel was beholding a vision taking place in the north, as in the far north, meaning in the interior of the hollow earth. The “great cloud” of brightness and fire that Ezekiel saw was the same as the “great luminous cloud” of fire that Olaf Jansen saw suspended in the inner space of the earth’s interior:
The great luminous cloud or ball of dull-red fire — fiery-red in the mornings and evenings, and during the day giving off a beautiful white light, “The Smoky God,” — is seemingly suspended in the center of the great vacuum “within” the earth, and held to its place by the immutable law of gravitation, or a repellant atmospheric force, as the case may be. I refer to the known power that draws or repels with equal force in all directions. (Quoted from The Smoky God, Part III, page 26.)
The four living creatures that came out of the great cloud (the inner Sun) were not naked (unembodied or disembodied) spirits, nor embodied spirits connected to (mortal or immortal) bodies of flesh and bones—and thus they were neither ministering spirits, angels nor angelic beings—but were those plasmoids which are known in the scriptures as cherubims. From the Wikipedia entry on plasmoid:
A plasmoid is a coherent structure of plasma and magnetic fields. Plasmoids have been proposed to explain natural phenomena such as ball lightning, magnetic bubbles in the magnetosphere, and objects in cometary tails, in the solar wind, in the solar atmosphere, and in the heliospheric current sheet. Plasmoids produced in the laboratory include field-reversed configurations, spheromaks, and in dense plasma focuses.
The word plasmoid was coined in 1956 by Winston H. Bostick (1916-1991) to mean a “plasma-magnetic entity”:
The plasma is emitted not as an amorphous blob, but in the form of a torus. We shall take the liberty of calling this toroidal structure a plasmoid, a word which means plasma-magnetic entity. The word plasmoid will be employed as a generic term for all plasma-magnetic entities.
The four plasma-magnetic entities which Ezekiel saw were not “living creatures” in the sense that they were living, breathing creatures, i.e. they weren’t alive. They were “living creatures” only in the sense that they seemed to be alive and they looked like creatures. In other words, they were merely Etch A Sketches made out of plasma.
Just as a man can take up a pencil and draw a picture of a unicorn on a piece of paper, and we can look at the drawing on the paper and see it, for the paper is real and the lead of the pencil that has been scraped onto the paper is also real, both being real objects, yet we do not say that the drawing is a real unicorn, but merely a representation of a unicorn; and just as that same man can draw many pictures of a unicorn, in sequential motion, on many pieces of paper, and then take those pieces of paper and put them together in order, and then flip through them like a book, so that the individual drawings appear to move, showing an animated movie, and these are all real objects, even real pieces of paper and real pencil lead scrapings, yet the animated unicorn is not a real unicorn, but merely an animated representation of a unicorn; and just as that man can color all his drawings, in vibrant paint, so that each individual piece of paper looks as close to a unicorn as it is possible to be, and then photograph these painted drawings and put the photographs onto film, in sequential order, and then add sound effects and cause the unicorn to speak, and after all that show his film to an audience, although the film is a real object and the sound coming out of the speakers of the theater is really audible, yet the unicorn that now dances around across the screen in glorious colors and brays and speaks in a human’s voice is still not a real unicorn, but merely the representation of one; and just as the man can take up wire and latex and other materials and make a three dimensional sculpture of a unicorn, in full color and in full size, and add robotics and mechanics and hidden speakers that allow the creation to move and speak and make sounds and run and leap and so on, and even though this creation is made out of real objects, yet when a child sees it and says to his father, “Daddy, is that a real unicorn?” the father will reply, “No, son; it is not. It’s just a representation of one that looks very realistic”; so in like manner God has power to create three dimensional representations out of plasma, that when beheld by mortal men appear to be living creatures, yet they are still just Etch A Sketches.
Ezekiel’s description of these plasmoids showed that each of them stood upon two legs like a man does, but their feet were straight and hoofed, like calves’ feet, and their heads had four faces each, each one facing a different direction—the face of a man looked straight ahead; the face of a lion looked to the right; the face of an ox looked to the left; and the face of an eagle looked straight back—and they also had four wings each with the hands of a man (and no mention of any arms) under each wing on each side. As if all of this weren’t as unlike a man enough, their feet also sparkled like burnished brass. (Sparkling, in particular, is what plasmoids are good at, given their electrical nature.)
They also did not move like living creatures do, turning as they went, but instead moved in straight lines—straight forward, or straight backward, or straight left or straight right—just as the rook piece in a game of chess moves:
Ezekiel also stated:
As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, and like the appearance of lamps: it went up and down among the living creatures; and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning. And the living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning. (Ezekiel 1:13-14.)
The cherubim that Ezekiel saw were electrically discharging and appeared to him to be like burning coals of fire or lamps. They were, in fact, arc lamps. From the Wikipedia entry on arc lamp:
An arc lamp or arc light is a lamp that produces light by an electric arc (also called a voltaic arc). The carbon arc light, which consists of an arc between carbon electrodes in air, invented by Humphry Davy in the first decade of the 1800s, was the first practical electric light. It was widely used starting in the 1870s for street and large building lighting until it was superseded by the incandescent light in the early 20th century. It continued in use in more specialized applications where a high intensity point light source was needed, such as searchlights and movie projectors until after World War II. The carbon arc lamp is now obsolete for most of these purposes, but it is still used as a source of high intensity ultraviolet light.
The term is now used for gas discharge lamps, which produce light by an arc between metal electrodes through an inert gas in a glass bulb. The common fluorescent lamp is a low-pressure mercury arc lamp. The xenon arc lamp, which produces a high intensity white light, is now used in many of the applications which formerly used the carbon arc, such as movie projectors and searchlights.
The electric plasma arc that Ezekiel saw went up and down between the four plasmoids, and it appeared to him to be bright fire. He also saw that lightning came out of the arc. In fact, Ezekiel saw that when the cherubims moved, they did so at the apparent speed of light, looking just like lightning bolts. People often mistake these and the other passages of scripture which speak of the cherubim and seraphim, as if they were speaking of angels, not understanding that these passages are describing very specific types of electrically discharging plasmoids.
In fact, if you take a look at the various religious beliefs about angels, you’ll see that different religions, sects and individuals often have these plasmoids listed as part of their official (or non-official) angelic hierarchy. For example, the Wikipedia entry on angels in Judaism lists seraphim, cherubim, chayot ha kodesh, ophanim and hashmallim as part of the angelic hierarchy, even though none of these things are angels, but merely plasmoids. Christianity isn’t any better, listing, according to the Wikipedia entry on Christian angelology, the seraphim as “the highest angelic class” with the cherubim as a close second. Even some latter-day saints fall into these same errors, misguidedly referring to there being a “seraphim level,” as if being a seraph (which is a non-living plasmoid) was something a person should aspire to.
Now, before I proceed, it needs to be understood that Ezekiel was seeing the very same four cherubim that God placed at the east of the Garden of Eden, which likewise had the electric plasma arc going up and down between the cherubim, looking like a sword of fire:
So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life. (Genesis 3:24.)
Continuing on with Ezekiel chapter one:
Now as I beheld the living creatures, behold one wheel upon the earth by the living creatures, with his four faces. The appearance of the wheels and their work was like unto the colour of a beryl: and they four had one likeness: and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel. When they went, they went upon their four sides: and they turned not when they went. As for their rings, they were so high that they were dreadful; and their rings were full of eyes round about them four. And when the living creatures went, the wheels went by them: and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up. Whithersoever the spirit was to go, they went, thither was their spirit to go; and the wheels were lifted up over against them: for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels. When those went, these went; and when those stood, these stood; and when those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up over against them: for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels. And the likeness of the firmament upon the heads of the living creature was as the colour of the terrible crystal, stretched forth over their heads above. And under the firmament were their wings straight, the one toward the other: every one had two, which covered on this side, and every one had two, which covered on that side, their bodies. And when they went, I heard the noise of their wings, like the noise of great waters, as the voice of the Almighty, the voice of speech, as the noise of an host: when they stood, they let down their wings. And there was a voice from the firmament that was over their heads, when they stood, and had let down their wings. (Ezekiel 1:15-25.)
The wheels that Ezekiel saw were pinched plasma columns going through and around each of the cherubim. Instead of seeing the whole column, the prophet (Ezekiel) only saw a ring-like cross-section part, which appeared to be a wheel within a wheel. Because the pinched plasma column envelopes each cherubim, wherever the cherubim goes, the “wheel” seen goes with it, whether it be up, down, forward, backward, left or right. As Ezekiel saw, “the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels,” meaning that the pinched plasma column was the source of the cherubim’s power, like every other plasmoid (for all plasmoids are formed of pinched plasma columns).
Ezekiel also here mentions that the rings were full of eyes encircling the cherubim. These weren’t, of course, real eyes, but only additional plasma displays that looked like eyes.
He also states that the cherubim were under a firmament, meaning that the cherubim were not in heaven, but on earth, which is just where God put them (at the east of the Garden of Eden).
Now, their wings were not the wings of a bird or a bat, which fly by flapping in air and are composed of solid matter, but were plasma wings that do not flap to fly or move. When the cherubim mount up, that is, when they rise up (levitate) in the air, the plasma wings extend upward; (and we can assume that when they move forward or backward or left or right, the plasma wings extend outward); and when they stand still on the earth their wings extend downward, one wing covering one side of each of their four sides. But again, when they move, the wings don’t flap, nor in fact do they need to flap, for plasmoids move electrically. As the wings are composed of plasma, which can be dense like solid matter, or less dense like liquid, or even less dense like a gas, the wings flow with electrical power, which means that when when the electrical current goes down, so do the wings, and when the wings extend out or upward, it means means that the electrical current has gone into high power mode, and thus a sound would be produced, electrically.
Ezekiel said that their wings made a noise of great waters that sounded like a voice, even like the voice of Jehovah, and also as if it were the noise or speech of a multitude. Again, this wasn’t from flapping wings, but from electrically produced voices, such as what our current technology has finally done using laser-induced plasma in the air:
Ezekiel also heard another voice which came from above the firmament, from the throne of Jehovah in the firmament of heaven:
And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it. And I saw as the colour of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his loins even upward, and from the appearance of his loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about. As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake. (Ezekiel 1:26-28.)
The throne that Ezekiel saw is the same throne that Olaf Jansen saw:
The base of this electrical cloud or central luminary, the seat of the gods, is dark and non-transparent, save for innumerable small openings, seemingly in the bottom of the great support or altar of the Deity, upon which “The Smoky God” rests; and, the lights shining through these many openings twinkle at night in all their splendor, and seem to be stars, as natural as the stars we saw shining when in our home at Stockholm, excepting that they appear larger. “The Smoky God,” therefore, with each daily revolution of the earth, appears to come up in the east and go down in the west the same as does our sun on the external surface. In reality, the people “within” believe that “The Smoky God” is the throne of their Jehovah, and is stationary. The effect of night and day is, therefore, produced by the earth’s daily rotation. (Quoted from The Smoky God, Part III, page 27.)
An understanding of the hollow earth theory gives us the tools to correctly interpret the location of the vision. The vision isn’t speaking of the outer surface of earth and of a throne up in heaven in outer space, but of the inner surface of earth and of a throne set in the midst of the heavens of inner space.
Ezekiel 2 & 3: God speaks to Ezekiel; the Chebar river vision ends; the same vision ensues in the plain
While beholding the vision at the river Chebar, God spoke to Ezekiel, as recorded in chapters two and three. Later, at the end of the vision, Ezekiel said this:
Then the spirit took me up, and I heard behind me a voice of a great rushing, saying, Blessed be the glory of the LORD from his place. I heard also the noise of the wings of the living creatures that touched one another, and the noise of the wheels over against them, and a noise of a great rushing. So the spirit lifted me up, and took me away, and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; but the hand of the LORD was strong upon me. (Ezekiel 3:12-14.)
Again, the noise of a great rushing that Ezekiel heard wasn’t of the flapping of the wings or of the wheels spinning around or grinding away, but of the electrical sound effects produced by so much electrical current coursing through these plasmoids and the pinched plasma column they were embedded in. Also, this wasn’t really the end of the vision because later he went to the plain and the same vision was opened up to him again:
And the hand of the LORD was there upon me; and he said unto me, Arise, go forth into the plain, and I will there talk with thee. Then I arose, and went forth into the plain: and, behold, the glory of the LORD stood there, as the glory which I saw by the river of Chebar: and I fell on my face. Then the spirit entered into me, and set me upon my feet, and spake with me, and said unto me, Go, shut thyself within thine house. (Ezekiel 3:22-24.)
So he obeyed and went to his house.
Ezekiel 4 to 7: Ezekiel while at his house
I am going to skip over these chapters because they do not have anything to do with the topic of this post.
Ezekiel 8 (verses 1 through 4): Ezekiel at his house sees the vision of the plain again
While Ezekiel was sitting in his house, God again opened up the same vision he had seen in the plain, which was the same vision he had seen at the river of Chebar:
And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in mine house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, that the hand of the Lord GOD fell there upon me. Then I beheld, and lo a likeness as the appearance of fire: from the appearance of his loins even downward, fire; and from his loins even upward, as the appearance of brightness, as the colour of amber. And he put forth the form of an hand, and took me by a lock of mine head; and the spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the inner gate that looketh toward the north; where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy. And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the vision that I saw in the plain. (Ezekiel 8:1-4.)
Ezekiel 8 (verses 5 through 18): Ezekiel sees abominations among the people
In verses 5 through 18 of this chapter, God showed Ezekiel the evil things people were doing in secret. It is the wickedness and abominations among the people which kindles God’s wrath, unleashing the destroyer upon the world (in the next chapter).
~1st tangent remarks begin~
Ezekiel 9: Ezekiel sees six men led by a man clothed with linen
Ezekiel is next shown the destroyer during the end times and also his end-time helpers:
He cried also in mine ears with a loud voice, saying, Cause them that have charge over the city to draw near, even every man with his destroying weapon in his hand. And, behold, six men came from the way of the higher gate, which lieth toward the north, and every man a slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man among them was clothed with linen, with a writer’s inkhorn by his side: and they went in, and stood beside the brasen altar. And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon he was, to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed with linen, which had the writer’s inkhorn by his side; and the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof. (Ezekiel 9:1-4.)
And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity: Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house. And he said unto them, Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain: go ye forth. And they went forth, and slew in the city. (Ezekiel 9:5-7.)
And it came to pass, while they were slaying them, and I was left, that I fell upon my face, and cried, and said, Ah Lord GOD! wilt thou destroy all the residue of Israel in thy pouring out of thy fury upon Jerusalem? Then said he unto me, The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceeding great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of perverseness: for they say, The LORD hath forsaken the earth, and the LORD seeth not. And as for me also, mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity, but I will recompense their way upon their head. And, behold, the man clothed with linen, which had the inkhorn by his side, reported the matter, saying, I have done as thou hast commanded me. (Ezekiel 9:8-11.)
The man clothed with linen that Ezekiel saw marking the foreheads of the righteous with the writer’s inkhorn by his side is the restoring Elias, who is the same angel ascending from the east that John saw (which Joseph Smith identified as the restoring Elias), who would be writing the Father’s name upon the foreheads of the 144,000.
And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel. (Revelation 7:1-4.)
And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads. (Revelation 14:1.)
Ezekiel saw that Elias would come with six men, who themselves were destroyers, as they had destroying or slaughtering weapons in their hands (and thus operated under the spirit and power of Elias, which is the spirit of destruction), and he saw that Elias was in charge of the six, given that they were commanded by the Lord to follow Elias, and their task was to destroy the people who were not marked in their foreheads. These six men are the same as the four angelic helpers (which Joseph Smith identified as having power to destroy) and two witnesses of the angel that John saw. And thus we find the four angelic helpers slaying the third part of men, just as four of the six men with the man clothed with linen that Ezekiel saw used their destroying weapons to slay men:
And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men. (Revelation 9:13-15.)
And we also find that the angel’s two witnesses likewise were engaged in killing men, just as two of the six men that Ezekiel saw were with the man clothed with linen went forth with slaughtering weapons and slew men:
…and the angel stood, saying,…I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth. And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed. (Revelation 11:1,3-5.)
Ezekiel’s man “clothed with linen” compared to Daniel’s man “clothed in linen”
Ezekiel’s man clothed with linen is the same man clothed in linen that Daniel saw in his own vision, at first alone and then later on with his two witnesses:
And in the four and twentieth day of the first month, as I was by the side of the great river, which is Hiddekel; then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a certain man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz: his body also was like the beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet like in colour to polished brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude. And I Daniel alone saw the vision: for the men that were with me saw not the vision; but a great quaking fell upon them, so that they fled to hide themselves. Therefore I was left alone, and saw this great vision, and there remained no strength in me: for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no strength. Yet heard I the voice of his words: and when I heard the voice of his words, then was I in a deep sleep on my face, and my face toward the ground. (Daniel 10:4-9.)
Then I Daniel looked, and, behold, there stood other two, the one on this side of the bank of the river, and the other on that side of the bank of the river. And one said to the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, How long shall it be to the end of these wonders? And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever that it shall be for a time, times, and an half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished. And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things? (Daniel 12:5-8.)
This shows that Daniel, Ezekiel and John were all shown a vision of the end times and all three of them saw the destroyer, his two witnesses and (in the case of Ezekiel and John) his four angelic helpers. (Zechariah also recorded that he saw the same group of seven men but I won’t get into that in this post.)
~1st tangent remarks end~
Ezekiel 10: Ezekiel identifies the four living creatures as cherubim
In the tenth chapter of Ezekiel, Ezekiel saw the man clothed with linen go in between the wheels and the cherubim and get coals of fire and scatter them over Jerusalem. By now, having seen the same vision three times, he finally knows what these creatures are and so he categorically identifies them as cherubim:
Then I looked, and, behold, in the firmament that was above the head of the cherubims there appeared over them as it were a sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a throne. And he spake unto the man clothed with linen, and said, Go in between the wheels, even under the cherub, and fill thine hand with coals of fire from between the cherubims, and scatter them over the city. And he went in in my sight. Now the cherubims stood on the right side of the house, when the man went in; and the cloud filled the inner court. Then the glory of the LORD went up from the cherub, and stood over the threshold of the house; and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of the LORD’s glory. And the sound of the cherubims’ wings was heard even to the outer court, as the voice of the Almighty God when he speaketh. And it came to pass, that when he had commanded the man clothed with linen, saying, Take fire from between the wheels, from between the cherubims; then he went in, and stood beside the wheels. And one cherub stretched forth his hand from between the cherubims unto the fire that was between the cherubims, and took thereof, and put it into the hands of him that was clothed with linen: who took it, and went out. (Ezekiel 10:1-7.)
And there appeared in the cherubims the form of a man’s hand under their wings. And when I looked, behold the four wheels by the cherubims, one wheel by one cherub, and another wheel by another cherub: and the appearance of the wheels was as the colour of a beryl stone. And as for their appearances, they four had one likeness, as if a wheel had been in the midst of a wheel. When they went, they went upon their four sides; they turned not as they went, but to the place whither the head looked they followed it; they turned not as they went. And their whole body, and their backs, and their hands, and their wings, and the wheels, were full of eyes round about, even the wheels that they four had. As for the wheels, it was cried unto them in my hearing, O wheel. And every one had four faces: the first face was the face of a cherub, and the second face was the face of a man, and the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle. And the cherubims were lifted up. This is the living creature that I saw by the river of Chebar. And when the cherubims went, the wheels went by them: and when the cherubims lifted up their wings to mount up from the earth, the same wheels also turned not from beside them. When they stood, these stood; and when they were lifted up, these lifted up themselves also: for the spirit of the living creature was in them. Then the glory of the LORD departed from off the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubims. And the cherubims lifted up their wings, and mounted up from the earth in my sight: when they went out, the wheels also were beside them, and every one stood at the door of the east gate of the LORD’s house; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above. This is the living creature that I saw under the God of Israel by the river of Chebar; and I knew that they were the cherubims. Every one had four faces apiece, and every one four wings; and the likeness of the hands of a man was under their wings. And the likeness of their faces was the same faces which I saw by the river of Chebar, their appearances and themselves: they went every one straight forward. (Ezekiel 10:8-22.)
Of especial note is that Ezekiel here notices that every part of the cherubim and their wheels were full of eyes, and not just the rings.
The opening of the Garden of Eden
Ezekiel saw that the destroyer went in-between the cherubim and took fire from between them. He also explained where the cherubim were, writing, “Now the cherubims stood on the right side of the house” and “every one stood at the door of the east gate of the LORD’s house.” In other words, the destroyer will have to go to the east of the Garden of Eden, where the four cherubim are, and there he will open up the garden again by snuffing out the electrical arc lamp (the flaming sword) between them.
Normally anyone who goes to the garden would get electrocuted and incinerated by these plasmoids, burning up in electrical fire, but as it is impossible to kill the destroyer, and as he is the restorer of all things, the restoration of all things must, of necessity, include the re-opening of the Garden of Eden, therefore the destroyer will travel to the cherubim, walk right up and short circuit the pinched plasma column that powers them, allowing access, once again, to the tree of life.
~2nd tangent remarks begin~
John’s eighth angel is the same man clothed with linen that Ezekiel saw
When the seventh seal opened, John saw the seven angels getting the seven trumpets.
And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets. (Revelation 8:1-2.)
Then he saw an eighth angel standing at the altar, who filled the golden censor with fire from the altar and cast it to the earth, just as the man clothed with linen Ezekiel saw took coals of fire from between the cherubim and scattered them over the city:
And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand. And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake. (Revelation 8:3-5.)
We see from this that John, Ezekiel, Daniel, Zechariah and many others all described different aspects of the same vision of the end-time ministry of the destroyer, hence subtle differences, just as Lehi and Nephi caught different details of the same tree of life vision (Lehi missing the fact that the river of water was filthiness). Okay, now let’s turn our attention away from the destroyer and back to the topic of the seraphim and cherubim.
~2nd tangent remarks end~
John’s vision of four beasts
Revelation chapter four from the King James Version reads:
After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter. And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold. And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God. And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind. And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle. And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come. And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever, the four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. (Revelation 4:1-11.)
The same chapter from the Joseph Smith Translation reads (and notice the differences, shown in bold italics):
After this I looked, and behold, a door was opened into heaven; and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me, which said, Come up hither, and I will show thee things which must be hereafter. And immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. And he that sat there was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone; and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. And in the midst of the throne were four and twenty seats; and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment, and they had on their heads crowns like gold. And out of the throne proceeded lightnings, and thunderings, and voices; and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven servants of God. And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal; and in the midst of the throne were the four and twenty elders; and round about the throne were four beasts full of eyes before and behind. And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle. And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within; and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come. And when those beasts give glory, and honor, and thanks to him that sits on the throne, who liveth forever and ever, the four and twenty elders fall down before him that sits on the throne, and worship him that liveth forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, and honor, and power; for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. (JST Revelation 4:1-11.)
Ezekiel’s four living creatures compared to John’s four beasts
First I want to point out that newer translations of the Bible use the same descriptive words for the creatures that both John and Ezekiel saw, whereas the KJV uses different words. For example, the New King James Version says this:
Also from within it came the likeness of four living creatures. (NKJV Ezekiel 1:5.)
And in the midst of the throne, and around the throne, were four living creatures full of eyes in front and in back. (NKJV Revelation 4:6.)
The 2009 Reina-Valera Spanish language version of the Bible also uses the same terms, calling them “seres vivientes,” which means “living beings.”
y en medio de ella, la figura de cuatro seres vivientes. (Ezequiel 1:5.)
y en medio del trono, y alrededor del trono, cuatro seres vivientes llenos de ojos por delante y por detrás. (Apocalipsis 4:6.)
Only the King James Version calls these creatures something different in each passage:
Also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures. (KJV Ezekiel 1:5.)
and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind. (KJV Revelation 4:6.)
The JST follows the KJV in using “beasts” to describe what John saw and “living creatures” to describe what Ezekiel saw, because to the prophetic mind of Joseph Smith it was all the same thing and either description works for the Greek source word; nevertheless, all modern translations use either “living creatures” or “living beings” for both Ezekiel and John.
Why do the modern translators deviate from the KJV? Because although the Greek word could be translated as both “beasts” or “living creatures/beings,” in this particular passage and context it is understood by all the modern interpreters that these are symbolical beasts, more in line with the cherubim of Ezekiel, and not actual beasts, and therefore using the word “beasts” conjures up the thought of a real animal, of which they are not, therefore the newer versions all agree that it is more correct to translate it as “living creatures” or as “living beings.” The modern translations, then, show that the beasts that John saw were of the same type of living creatures that Ezekiel saw. In other words, both Ezekiel’s living creatures and John’s beasts were cherubim. But if you use only the KJV, you might end up thinking they were different things.
At any rate, there are other clues in the text which indicate that John and Ezekiel were actually viewing the very same vision, but were just describing different aspects of it. For example, both Ezekiel and John saw a throne that had a rainbow encircling it, and they both saw that there was someone sitting on it:
John: “And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.” (Revelation 4:2-3.)
Ezekiel: “And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it. And I saw as the colour of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his loins even upward, and from the appearance of his loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about. As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD.” (Ezekiel 1:26-28.)
Combining the colored stones
Ezekiel said that the throne had the appearance of a sapphire stone. Sapphire stones look like this:
John said that the Man sitting on the throne had the appearance of a jasper stone and a sardine stone. Here’s what a jasper stone looks like:
And here’s what sardine stone (carnelian) looks like:
John said the rainbow looked like an emerald. Here’s what an emerald looks like:
Ezekiel said there was a fire within the throne, like the color of amber. Amber looks like this:
Now, combining what each prophet said, we get: the Man of sardine and jasper was sitting on the sapphire throne, and there was amber fire encircling within the throne, which fire proceeded up and down from His loins, and around this fiery throne was an emerald rainbow.
Notice again what Olaf Jansen said of the inner Sun:
The great luminous cloud or ball of dull-red fire — fiery-red in the mornings and evenings, and during the day giving off a beautiful white light, “The Smoky God,” — is seemingly suspended in the center of the great vacuum “within” the earth, and held to its place by the immutable law of gravitation, or a repellant atmospheric force, as the case may be. I refer to the known power that draws or repels with equal force in all directions.
The orb he saw in the sky changed colors throughout the day, but one color he did notice actually matches the sardine and jasper colors that Ezekiel saw. The sky itself that surrounded the orb was nitrogen-rich blue, like the atmosphere we see around us here on the outside surface, which again calls to mind Ezekiel’s mentioning of a sapphire.
We can surmise, then, that these scriptural texts are talking about the spherical inner Sun, located in the interior of the earth, suspended at the center of the planet by gravitation, in inner space. And the Man sitting on the throne wasn’t sitting atop it, meaning on the outside of it, but at its precise center, being above all. (Standing on the inner surface of the earth and looking up, the highest point would be the exact center of the inner Sun, which Olaf Jansen said the inhabitants of that inner world called: “the throne of Jehovah.”)
Now, to show that this is correct, I will go to the next part of what John said:
And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold. (Revelation 4:4.)
Joseph Smith corrected that text to read as follows:
And in the midst of the throne were four and twenty seats; and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment, and they had on their heads crowns like gold. (JST Revelation 4:4.)
This correction is important because it reveals the location of the throne. Joseph Smith said the following about the 24 elders:
Q. What are we to understand by the four and twenty elders, spoken of by John?
A. We are to understand that these elders whom John saw, were elders who had been faithful in the work of the ministry and were dead; who belonged to the seven churches, and were then in the paradise of God. (D&C 77:5.)
When Jesus died, He went to paradise, which, according to His own words, is in the heart of the earth:
Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee. But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: for as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. (Matthew 12:38-40.)
The heart of the earth would be at the earth’s center, which is where Olaf Jansen said the inner Sun is found. Therefore, the inner Sun is where paradise is located. And the righteous dead do not wait for their resurrection on the outside of that sphere, but within it. The current Bible text incorrectly has the 24 elders and their 24 seats “round about” the throne, meaning encircling it. Joseph Smith corrected this to read that the 24 seats and 24 elders were “in the midst of the throne,” meaning that they were inside the throne.
Unless a person understands that the throne spoken of is a spherical one, with outer and inner surfaces, the idea of seats being in the midst of a throne makes no logical sense, whatsoever. People who read these passages envision a typical kingly throne that men make, like unto a chair, not a moon-sized, or planet-sized, or Sun-sized spherical throne. Getting the right image, though, causes the text to finally make sense.
Okay, continuing on with John’s text, he mentions something that Ezekiel doesn’t:
And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God. (Revelation 4:5.)
Joseph Smith changed this to:
And out of the throne proceeded lightnings, and thunderings, and voices; and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven servants of God. (JST Revelation 4:5.)
Continuing with John’s text, we find that both John and Ezekiel mention a crystal:
John said: “And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal:” (Revelation 4:6.)
Ezekiel said: “And the likeness of the firmament upon the heads of the living creature was as the colour of the terrible crystal, stretched forth over their heads above.” (Ezekiel 1:22.)
Joseph Smith identified John’s crystal sea of glass in this way:
Q. What is the sea of glass spoken of by John, 4th chapter, and 6th verse of the Revelation?
A. It is the earth, in its sanctified, immortal, and eternal state. (D&C 77:1.)
Joseph also said this:
In answer to the question—Is not the reckoning of God’s time, angel’s time, prophet’s time, and man’s time, according to the planet on which they reside?
I answer, Yes. But there are no angels who minister to this earth but those who do belong or have belonged to it.
The angels do not reside on a planet like this earth; but they reside in the presence of God, on a globe like a sea of glass and fire, where all things for their glory are manifest, past, present, and future, and are continually before the Lord.
The place where God resides is a great Urim and Thummim.
This earth, in its sanctified and immortal state, will be made like unto crystal and will be a Urim and Thummim to the inhabitants who dwell thereon, whereby all things pertaining to an inferior kingdom, or all kingdoms of a lower order, will be manifest to those who dwell on it; and this earth will be Christ’s. (D&C 130:4-9.)
Continuing on with the text:
and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind. (Revelation 4:6.)
Once again, Joseph Smith corrected this to read:
and in the midst of the throne were the four and twenty elders; and round about the throne were four beasts full of eyes before and behind. (JST Revelation 4:6.)
Joseph Smith needed to make this correction because it shows the proper placement of both the elders and the beasts. The elders were in the midst of the throne, meaning that they were within the throne, while the beasts were round about the throne, meaning that they encircled the throne, or to be plainer, they were below the firmament of crystal which surrounds the throne. In other words, the four beasts were on earth, even on the inner surface of the outer shell of earth, below the firmament of heaven.
To understand this placement, we need to understand that just as the outer surface of earth has a blue atmosphere, which is the “firmament of heaven,” which is below the vacuum of outer space, so the inner surface of earth has a blue atmosphere, the “firmament of heaven,” which is below the vacuum of inner space. The throne of Jehovah is set in the center of that vacuum of inner space directly above the blue firmament of heaven, which is the inner atmosphere. The four beasts, then, are below that firmament, on earth, where God had originally placed them at the beginning. Again:
And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life. (Gen. 3:22-24.)
The cherubims have been there, on earth, at the east of the garden of Eden, ever since. Because the outer shell of earth encircles the throne of Jehovah which is set in the middle of the inner earth sky, the JST corrected the Revelation text to say that the four beasts were “round about” (encircling) the throne.
Looking at the same corrected (JST) verse, we can also see that what John saw matched what Ezekiel saw:
and in the midst of the throne were the four and twenty elders; and round about the throne were four beasts full of eyes before and behind. (JST Revelation 4:6.)
Two verses later, John says:
And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come. (Revelation 4:8.)
Compare that to what Ezekiel said about the cherubim:
As for their rings, they were so high that they were dreadful; and their rings were full of eyes round about them four. (Ezekiel 1:18)
And their whole body, and their backs, and their hands, and their wings, and the wheels, were full of eyes round about, even the wheels that they four had. (Ezekiel 10:12)
These “eyes” are vortices, that is, they are smaller rotating columns of plasma seen at a cross-section within the larger column (think: rotating spherical wheels within a larger spinning wheel) and they fill up all the observable volume of space, like toroidal pearls on a string. To the observing prophet, they look just like eyes, complete with sclera, iris and pupil. (Now, for those who want a primer on plasma physics, here is Anthony Peratt’s hour-long presentation on petroglyphs):
Continuing on, we find that the four beasts that John saw had the same or similar faces that Ezekiel’s cherubim had:
And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle. (Revelation 4:7.)
As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle. (Ezekiel 1:10)
One difference is that Ezekiel described one of the faces as that of an ox, whereas John described that same face as that of a calf. Both words are descriptions of bovine animals, thus it’s prophetically the same thing.
Another difference is that John’s beasts were four with one face each, while Ezekiel’s living creatures were four with four faces each. Another difference is that John’s beasts had six wings whereas Ezekiel’s cherubim had only four. Does this mean that these were different things? No, not at all. Plasmoids alter their appearance and structure according to the electrical environment. When the electrical environment changes, their forms change accordingly. But they are still the same things.
Now that we’ve mentioned the four beasts and their wings and eyes, let’s see what Joseph Smith had to say about all of this.
Joseph Smith’s explanation of John’s four beasts
Q. What are we to understand by the four beasts, spoken of in the same verse [Revelation 4:6]?
A. They are figurative expressions, used by the Revelator, John, in describing heaven, the paradise of God, the happiness of man, and of beasts, and of creeping things, and of the fowls of the air; that which is spiritual being in the likeness of that which is temporal; and that which is temporal in the likeness of that which is spiritual; the spirit of man in the likeness of his person, as also the spirit of the beast, and every other creature which God has created.
Q. Are the four beasts limited to individual beasts, or do they represent classes or orders?
A. They are limited to four individual beasts, which were shown to John, to represent the glory of the classes of beings in their destined order or sphere of creation, in the enjoyment of their eternal felicity.
Q. What are we to understand by the eyes and wings, which the beasts had?
A. Their eyes are a representation of light and knowledge, that is, they are full of knowledge; and their wings are a representation of power, to move, to act, etc. (D&C 77:2-4.)
Thus, cherubims are just three dimensional divine drawings that God made using plasma. They have no soul, nor free will. They are like animatronics or automatons or pre-programmed robots made out of plasma, that respond to their environment in predictable ways. These things are plasmoids of a very specific type, which cannot be reproduced in a laboratory, and which move, speak, glow, hold things, praise God, etc.
Notice that the Bible Dictionary entry on cherubim calls attention to their symbolic nature:
Cherubim
Figures representing heavenly creatures, the exact form being unknown. They are found in the Holy of Holies, on the Mercy Seat of the Ark (Ex. 25:18, 22; 1 Kgs. 6:23–28; Heb. 9:5), and in the visions of Ezekiel (Ezek. 10; 11:22). In the account of the Fall, cherubim are represented as keeping “the way of the tree of life” (Gen. 3:24).
The author or authors of that entry were obviously taking Joseph Smith’s words in D&C 77 as their guide.
John’s four beast’s compared to Isaiah’s seraphim
Okay, going back to verse eight, John says the following:
And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come. (Revelation 4:8.)
Why is it that they rest not day or night? Because they are just electrical appliances. As long as your alarm clock doesn’t eventually disintegrate or otherwise break down from overuse, you can keep it plugged into the electrical outlet, or you can keep its batteries in, and you can keep it turned on, all of the time. The same principle applies to plasmoids, which never experience wear and tear. You can keep them powered for all eternity and they never break down.
Now, notice that John’s cherubim were saying something very similar to what Isaiah’s seraphim were saying:
In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. (Isaiah 6:1-4.)
Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: and he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. (Isaiah 6:5-7.)
What’s the difference between the cherubim and the seraphim? The seraphim are above the firmament of crystal, where God’s throne is, while the cherubim are below the firmament of crystal, which is below God’s throne. But the seraphim and cherubim are both likewise plasmoids.
So, when Joseph Smith prayed the following about seraphs, he wasn’t talking of angels, nor of angelic creatures, but of divinely made representations (drawings or animations or sculptures that move and make sound and speak) of heavenly things and truth:
And help us by the power of thy Spirit, that we may mingle our voices with those bright, shining seraphs around thy throne, with acclamations of praise, singing Hosanna to God and the Lamb! (Doctrine and Covenants 109:79.)
Unfortunately, the Bible Dictionary entry on seraphim gets it partly right and partly wrong:
Seraphim
Probably fiery beings. Angelic beings mentioned in the account of Isaiah’s vision (Isa. 6:2). They are represented as winged and partly human in form. They are attendants in Jehovah’s court, the ministers of the heavenly sanctuary, joining in adoration before the throne.
It is certainly true that seraphim are fiery (as are cherubim), but it is incorrect to say that they are angelic beings. They are most definitely not angelic beings, but are just more plasmoids.
If it looks like a plasmoid, moves like a plasmoid and sounds like a plasmoid, it’s an angel! (So they say.)
To recap: When a pinched plasma column changes its electrical current, going higher or lower in electrical power, the plasmoids within that column likewise begin to alter their form and appearance. The four cherubim that Ezekiel saw, the four beasts that John saw and the seraphim that Isaiah saw are all the result of the same process. A plasma column forms, becomes pinched and creates a plasmoid of a specific type, called a cherub, which at certain power levels stays put on the earth, while at other levels it moves along or mounts up, raising its wings up or down accordingly, all the while making electrically-produced noises which sound like voices. When the electrical current changes, so does its form. Beginning with four wings, it now sprouts six and whereas it started with four faces, now it has only one, each plasmoid with a different face. Also its electrically-made sounds appear to chant, “Holy, holy, holy,” etc. If you lift the cherubim up above the firmament, now its form changes again, into that of a six-winged seraphim, which also begins to chant, “Holy, holy, holy.” But it’s all the same manifestation, just in different locations and at different power levels.
Thus, the four beasts that John saw are the same four living creatures that Ezekiel saw—which Ezekiel identified as cherubim, and which Joseph Smith called figurative expressions and representations—and the seraphim that Isaiah saw are just more of the same type of manifestation.
In conclusion
The point of this post is merely to put forth the understanding that the seraphim and cherubim aren’t a type of angel or angelic creature, but are graphical and auditory and tactile representations made of plasma, created by God to teach divine principles and to give Himself glory.
Obviously, none of this matters one iota to anyone’s salvation. Anyone can continue to believe the seraphim and cherubim are merely strange, unknown types of angels, and they can hold onto that belief until the day they die, and if they have kept their covenants they’ll still be saved, but I thought I would clear up some of this mystery anyway.
Nephi, John and Daniel all saw visions of the end times.
Nephi’s vision
Nephi’s vision begins with him seeing the formation of the great and abominable church and continues on to the very end of all things, but as he was prohibited from writing the whole vision, we only have an account from the formation the great church up to the pouring out of the wrath of God upon it and the wars and rumors of war among the nations that belong to it.
His vision begins here:
And it came to pass that the angel spake unto me, saying: Look! And I looked and beheld many nations and kingdoms. And the angel said unto me: What beholdest thou? And I said: I behold many nations and kingdoms. And he said unto me: These are the nations and kingdoms of the Gentiles. And it came to pass that I saw among the nations of the Gentiles the formation of a great church. (1 Nephi 13:1-4.)
and ends here:
And as there began to be wars and rumors of wars among all the nations which belonged to the mother of abominations, the angel spake unto me, saying: Behold, the wrath of God is upon the mother of harlots; and behold, thou seest all these things—and when the day cometh that the wrath of God is poured out upon the mother of harlots, which is the great and abominable church of all the earth, whose founder is the devil, then, at that day, the work of the Father shall commence, in preparing the way for the fulfilling of his covenants, which he hath made to his people who are of the house of Israel. (1 Nephi 14:16-17.)
At that point the work of the Father commences. In other words, the restoration of all things—which includes the restoration of the house of Israel to the lands of their inheritance—officially commences when the nations belonging to the great and abominable church begin warring among themselves. When these wars and rumors of wars begin, it will also be the time that the first seal of the sealed book is opened.
John’s vision
John’s vision is from the opening of the first seal to the end of all things. However, that part of the vision which is the restoration of all things takes place from the opening of the first seal to the sounding of the seventh angel’s trumpet. That is, from Revelation 6:1 to Revelation 11:15.
And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals (Revelation 6:1)
And the seventh angel sounded; (Revelation 11:15.)
Wars and rumors of wars at the opening of the first seal
John described what happens on earth when the first seal finally gets opened and it corresponds with what Nephi saw when the work of the Father commences: wars and rumors of wars.
When the first seal is opened John sees a guy on a horse with a bow “and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.” That is, he engages in wars of aggression, some of which he wins (wars) and some of which are still in the planning stage (rumors of wars). The wars don’t stop at the first seal, but continue on with the opening of other seals. For example, at the opening of the second seal, he sees another guy on a horse with a great sword and peace is taken from the earth and people start killing each other. The fourth seal’s opening results in death, hunger, violent death by sword and beasts devouring people. The fifth seal’s opening results in the saints being martyred. And so on and so forth.
From great and abominable church to the beast with seven heads and ten horns
When Nephi’s end time vision opens, the restoring Elias is nowhere to be found. He has already emerged from his spiritual box, punished his enemies who tormented him while he was trapped in the box, gone to his secret place and established his kingdom there, returned from his kingdom to perform his own work and finally left to return to his hidden kingdom to enjoy his carrot. (This rest and relaxation is necessary in order for him to recharge his “batteries” in preparation for the infinite work of restoring all things.) In his absence the great and abominable church forms and then proceeds to persecute, imprison, torture and kill the saints and also pervert the holy word of God.
Then Elias comes back and blows his stack and begins to make things right again. At some point during his advent, all the churches of the world coalesce into the great and abominable church, save for the church of the Lamb, so that now there are only two churches in the world. The great church then gathers multitudes to fight against the Lamb of God but can’t seem to get it together and instead, those pertaining to that great church fight among themselves.
To rectify the situation, the great church, which is the spiritual kingdom of the devil, begins to form itself politically. These political kingdom attempts are called beasts, for they are not mere man-made associations, but devil-inspired monstrosities, for the hellish great whore of all the earth is the thing pulling the strings. In other words, the formation of these kingdom attempts are church programs. The attempts to “get it right,” that is, to get the political kingdom of the devil matching his spiritual kingdom, take place during the opening of the first six seals. After the seventh seal is opened, things come together for the wicked and they are finally able to establish a beast which is truly diabolical through and through.
Just as the great and abominable church forms among many churches (“And the angel said unto me: Behold the formation of a church which is most abominable above all other churches” 1 Nephi 13:5) and then later coalesces into a single monstrosity, absorbing all other churches except for the church of the Lamb of God, so that there are now only two churches, so the political kingdom of the devil begins its formation among many other nations and kingdoms and then later coalesces into a single monstrosity, absorbing everything that does not pertain to Zion, and thus splitting the world into two.
Elias does the same, only first
Everything the wicked do is a reaction to what Elias does. Therefore it will be Elias who first unites the saints into a single spiritual entity, being a church that is the spiritual kingdom of God, and then he will proceed to establish the kingdom of God politically, forming Zion. Following the example of Elias, the wicked will see the establishment of Elias’s church, and then when he leaves they will form their own great and abominable church, to compete with him. When he returns from his absence, they will see him form the perfectly just, political kingdom of Zion, and in the spirit of competition they will follow suit and attempt to form a perfectly unjust and ungodly beast kingdom.
The location of the devil’s political kingdoms
The first attempts will come from that region of the world in which were found the Median Empire, the Persian Empire and the realm of Grecia (Macedonia). But all these attempts will fail. The final, successful attempt will be headquartered in the city of Babylon itself.
Thus when Zechariah sees in vision the woman, representing wickedness, he sees that she is carried to the land of Shinar, which is Babylon:
Then the angel that talked with me went forth, and said unto me, Lift up now thine eyes, and see what is this that goeth forth. And I said, What is it? And he said, This is an ephah that goeth forth. He said moreover, This is their resemblance through all the earth. And, behold, there was lifted up a talent of lead: and this is a woman that sitteth in the midst of the ephah. And he said, This is wickedness. And he cast it into the midst of the ephah; and he cast the weight of lead upon the mouth thereof. Then lifted I up mine eyes, and looked, and, behold, there came out two women, and the wind was in their wings; for they had wings like the wings of a stork: and they lifted up the ephah between the earth and the heaven. Then said I to the angel that talked with me, Whither do these bear the ephah? And he said unto me, To build it an house in the land of Shinar: and it shall be established, and set there upon her own base. (Zechariah 5:5-11.)
The political establishment of the kingdom of the devil in Babylon takes place at the beginning of the seventh thousand years, whereas the other attempts in the regions round about take place at the end of the sixth thousand years.
The great whore sitting upon many waters; the beast rising up out of the sea
The great and abominable church (the spiritual kingdom of the devil) won’t have its headquarters in the city of Babylon. The great whore of all the earth is said to sit upon many waters, which was interpreted by the angel as being many nations, kindreds, tongues and people.
And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. (Revelation 17:1-2.)
And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. (Revelation 17:15.)
And it came to pass that I looked and beheld the whore of all the earth, and she sat upon many waters; and she had dominion over all the earth, among all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people. (1 Nephi 14:11.)
Whereas the great whore sits on many waters, each of the devil’s political kingdom attempts, including the devil’s perfected kingdom, emerge from waters, specifically rising up out of a particular sea (the Mediterranean Sea) that was near to John’s location on the Isle of Patmos:
And I saw another sign, in the likeness of the kingdoms of the earth; a beast rise up out of the sea, and he stood upon the sand of the sea, having seven heads … (JST Revelation 13:1.)
…and then these get established on the earth, with the perfected kingdom having its headquarters at a specific location: the city of Babylon.
Daniel’s visions
Daniel saw multiple end-time visions (three in total) and they were all about the very same things: the establishment of the political kingdoms of the devil in the last days. One vision was recorded in Daniel chapter 7, one was recorded in chapter 8 and the final vision was recorded in chapters 10, 11 and 12. I’ll begin with the vision found in chapter 7.
The lion beast with eagle’s wings
In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed: then he wrote the dream, and told the sum of the matters. Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea. And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another. (Daniel 7:1-3.)
Now all four beasts came up from the Great Sea, which is the Mediterranean Sea. This region of the world is also where each beast gets set up.
The first was like a lion, and had eagle’s wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man’s heart was given to it. (Daniel 7:4.)
The first beast corresponds to the opening of the first seal of the book sealed with seven seals and thus comes into existence towards the end of the sixth thousand years:
And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see. And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer. (Revelation 6:1-2.)
The bear beast
And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh. (Daniel 7:5.)
The second beast corresponds to the opening of the second seal of the sealed book and thus also comes into existence towards the end of the sixth thousand years:
And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see. And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword. (Revelation 6:3-4.)
The bear beast had three ribs in its mouth because the lion beast (representing the first kingdom attempt and its first king) had three kings in it and this fourth king (the bear beast) supplants them, becoming a new beast. The ribs, then, are the three ribs (kings) of the lion beast. Thus the bear beast has devoured the lion beast. This is, after all, the devilish game of thrones in which only the strong survive. It is a dog eat dog world among the nations belonging to the great whore; or, in this case, a bear eat lion world.
Now, these first two beasts come from the east; that is, from the region of Persia.
The leopard beast with four wings and four heads
After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it. (Daniel 7:6.)
The third beast corresponds to the opening of the next four (third, fourth, fifth and sixth) seals of the sealed book and thus also comes into existence towards the end of the sixth thousand years:
And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.
And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.
And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.
And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand? (Revelation 6:5-17.)
Now, this third beast comes from the west; that is, from the region of Greece.
The dreadful, terrible and exceedingly strong fourth beast with iron teeth and ten horns
After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns. I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things. (Daniel 7:7-8.)
The fourth beast corresponds to the opening of the seventh seal of the sealed book and thus comes into existence at the beginning of the seventh thousand years:
And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. (Revelation 8:1.)
This particular beast comes from Babylon.
The angel’s interpretation of the four beasts
These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth. (Daniel 7:17.)
Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time. But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end. (Daniel 7:23-26.)
The interpretation of the beasts by the angel as both kings and kingdoms is literal. During the restoration of all things, when the seals get opened, kingdoms will form with kings (one or more) attached to them, not nations with presidents and prime ministers and chancellors. Those who attempt to interpret these passages as applying to our times, which are the times of types and shadows, which occur prior to the restoration of all things, must force-fit the prophecies by making them speak of merely symbolic kings and kingdoms. Such purely symbolic interpretations cannot be correct, for no angel would take a symbol (beast) and give its interpretation as another symbol (king/kingdom). That makes no sense, whatsoever. Proper interpretation is taking the symbol (beast) and giving its literal meaning (king/kingdom).
Another example of this is the angel’s interpretation to Nephi concerning the symbols of the great and abominable church:
“…that great church, which is the mother of abominations; and she is the whore of all the earth. (1 Nephi 14:10.)
“…the mother of harlots, which is the great and abominable church of all the earth,” (1 Nephi 14:17.)
The terms “mother of abominations” and “whore of all the earth” and “mother of harlots” are symbols which refer to a literal church. There is no reason to explain that the symbols “mother” and “whore” mean “church,” unless “church” is not a symbol; thus it must be literal. If it is yet another symbol, then we are back at square one, having no understanding whatsoever as to what any of it means. The symbol “church,” then, becomes meaningless because then anyone can interpret “church” however he wants, making the interpretation pointless and useless. In like manner, the “kings” and “kingdoms” interpretation of “beasts” by the angel giving Daniel a guided tour of the vision can only be literal kings and kingdoms.
John’s description of the fourth beast
And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. (Revelation 13:1-2.)
According to this description, the fourth beast will be composed of parts of the previous three beasts. Notice that it was like a leopard but had the feet of a bear and the mouth of a lion. This is more dog eat dog stuff, but in this case it’s: dragon beast eats what’s left of the lion, bear and leopard beasts.
Okay, now let’s look at the vision recorded in Daniel chapter 8.
The two-horned ram, the last higher than the first
Then I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and, behold, there stood before the river a ram which had two horns: and the two horns were high; but one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last. I saw the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward; so that no beasts might stand before him, neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will, and became great. (Daniel 8:3-4.)
The ram corresponds to the opening of the first two seals of the sealed book, the first horn corresponding to the first seal and the second horn corresponding to the second seal; thus the ram comes into existence towards the end of the sixth thousand years. The first horn also corresponds to the lion beast, while the second horn corresponds to the bear beast.
As we shall see in the next section, the ram comes from the east; that is, from the region of Persia. This is why it pushed “westward, and northward, and southward”, but not eastward.
The angel’s interpretation of the ram
The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia. (Daniel 8:20.)
This doesn’t mean that the two horns represent two kings only. They in fact represent more than two kings. The first horn represents three kings, while the higher last horn represents one king. (We’ll see this later.)
The he goat with the notable horn that breaks into four horns
And as I was considering, behold, an he goat came from the west on the face of the whole earth, and touched not the ground: and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes. And he came to the ram that had two horns, which I had seen standing before the river, and ran unto him in the fury of his power. And I saw him come close unto the ram, and he was moved with choler against him, and smote the ram, and brake his two horns: and there was no power in the ram to stand before him, but he cast him down to the ground, and stamped upon him: and there was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand. Therefore the he goat waxed very great: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and for it came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven. (Daniel 8:5-8.)
The he goat corresponds to the opening of the next four (third, fourth, fifth and sixth) seals of the sealed book and thus also comes into existence towards the end of the sixth thousand years.
Daniel says that the he goat “came from the west”; that is, from the region of Greece.
The angel’s interpretation of the he goat
And the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king. Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power. (Daniel 8:21-22.)
The little horn
And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land. And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them. Yea, he magnified himself even to the prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down. And an host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practised, and prospered. (Daniel 8:9-12.)
The little horn corresponds to the opening of the seventh seal of the sealed book and thus comes into existence at the beginning of the seventh thousand years.
The angel’s interpretation of the little horn
And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up. And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people. And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand. (Daniel 8:23-25.)
Daniel chapter 10: the destroyer is revealed
Okay, now we turn to the final vision that Daniel saw of the end times. It begins with Daniel seeing Elias the destroyer in vision, recorded in verses 1 through 9.
In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a thing was revealed unto Daniel, whose name was called Belteshazzar; and the thing was true, but the time appointed was long: and he understood the thing, and had understanding of the vision. In those days I Daniel was mourning three full weeks. I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled. And in the four and twentieth day of the first month, as I was by the side of the great river, which is Hiddekel; then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a certain man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz: his body also was like the beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet like in colour to polished brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude. And I Daniel alone saw the vision: for the men that were with me saw not the vision; but a great quaking fell upon them, so that they fled to hide themselves. Therefore I was left alone, and saw this great vision, and there remained no strength in me: for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no strength. Yet heard I the voice of his words: and when I heard the voice of his words, then was I in a deep sleep on my face, and my face toward the ground. (Daniel 10:1-9.)
In verse 14 he is informed by the angel speaking to him that this vision of the destroyer is still a long ways off; in other words, it will take place during the end times:
Now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days: for yet the vision is for many days. (Daniel 10:14.)
The destroyer looked the way he did to Daniel because Daniel was not seeing the destroying angel of Daniel’s time, but the destroying angel of the end times. Specifically, he was seeing the destroyer as he would appear in the beginning of the restoration of all things (which itself begins at the opening of the first seal), and so Daniel was seeing the destroyer’s upgraded form. The restoration of all things is “the work of the Father,” meaning it is an infinite work fit only for a God, but the destroyer is only a man and only an angel; he’s no god. Being a finite being, he can only do a finite work. To do the Father’s infinite work of restoring all things, the destroyer will have to pull a Buzz Lightyear and go “to infinity and beyond!” Thus, when he begins the restoration of all things he must and will enter infinity: the realm of the Gods. No one can enter the realm of the Gods without changes occurring to one’s very being.
The upgraded destroyer is what God referred to when He said:
And out of weakness he shall be made strong, in that day when my work shall commence among all my people, unto the restoring thee, O house of Israel, saith the Lord. (2 Nephi 3:13.)
The weak destroyer becomes strong from the perspective of man when he emerges from his box with his gifts fully empowered. He then will use those powers to obtain his carrot and perform his own work. But all of that, despite being gigantic in scope, is still of a finite quantity. God still looks upon the angel and says, “He’s still weak.” But then the restoration of all things commences, which includes the restoration of the house of Israel to the lands of their inheritance, and the destroyer by his faith upgrades himself into the infinite levels. Now he can do what only God can do, being “made strong” like God is strong. Now, from the perspective of God, the angel is no longer considered weak, but strong, and his appearance alters accordingly, becoming godlike.
John likewise saw the destroyer during the restoration of all things, but at this point (in Revelation chapter 10) it is almost the end of the infinite restoration, and so his upgraded form is enormously glorified, yet John still calls him an angel, albeit a mighty one:
And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire: and he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth, and cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth: and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices. (Revelation 10:1-3.)
Nevertheless, in the very next chapter the godlike destroyer is now called “the God of the earth” (Revelation 11:4.) So the performance of the Father’s infinite work has caused the lines between angel and god to blur.
The two witnesses, having likewise entered infinity with their father, are also greatly changed. Although they didn’t do anything but observe and listen while their father performed all things, the experience upgrades them, nonetheless. They now have all sorts of outrageous powers:
And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed. These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will. (Revelation 11:5-6.)
Getting back to Daniel: the angel speaking to Daniel next starts to give him a play-by-play of the political kingdoms of the devil that will exist during the restoration of all things and up to the Second Coming. This account starts in chapter 11.
The angel’s words concerning Persia and Grecia
Behold, there shall stand up yet three kings in Persia; and the fourth shall be far richer than they all: and by his strength through his riches he shall stir up all against the realm of Grecia. (Daniel 11:2.)
The first three kings in Persia correspond to the opening of the first seal of the sealed book and they will stand up towards the end of the sixth thousand years. These first three kings are part of the lion beast and also form part of the first horn of the ram.
The fourth king in Persia who “shall be far richer than they all” corresponds to the opening of the second seal of the sealed book and he also will stand up towards the end of the sixth thousand years. This king corresponds to the bear beast and also is the last, higher horn on the ram.
The angel then begins speaking of the realm of Grecia (the kingdom of Macedonia) and its kings:
And a mighty king shall stand up, that shall rule with great dominion, and do according to his will. And when he shall stand up, his kingdom shall be broken, and shall be divided toward the four winds of heaven; and not to his posterity, nor according to his dominion which he ruled: for his kingdom shall be plucked up, even for others beside those. (Daniel 11:3-4.)
The mighty king of the realm of Grecia whose kingdom shall be broken and divided toward the four winds of heaven corresponds to the opening of the next four (third, fourth, fifth and sixth) seals of the sealed book and thus he also stands up towards the end of the sixth thousand years.
The rest of Daniel chapter 11 and then chapter 12
From verse 5 to the end of the chapter details the transition from the imperfect kingdoms that existed after the opening of the third, fourth, fifth and sixth seals to the final perfected kingdom of the devil that will exist after the seventh seal is opened until it is destroyed at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Two kings are mentioned throughout the account: the king of the south and the king of the north:
And the king of the south shall be strong, and one of his princes; and he shall be strong above him, and have dominion; his dominion shall be a great dominion. And in the end of years they shall join themselves together; for the king’s daughter of the south shall come to the king of the north to make an agreement: but she shall not retain the power of the arm; neither shall he stand, nor his arm: but she shall be given up, and they that brought her, and he that begat her, and he that strengthened her in these times. (Daniel 11:5-6.)
Looking over a map of the region, two kingdoms clearly show themselves: to the north is the kingdom of Macedonia and to the south is the kingdom of Egypt. I will therefore call the king of the north, “the Macedonian king,” and the king of the south, “the Egyptian king.” This designation doesn’t mean that every mention of “the king of the south” or “the king of the north” is necessarily referring to the very same person. When a king is deposed, or dies or is killed, his successor takes his place, becoming the new king of the north or south. So when I say “the Macedonian king” or “the Egyptian king,” I am referring to whoever is the king at that time, during the description of that verse.
As it is kind of hard to follow who does what to whom in this narrative, I will also use the New King James Version to see if any clarity is obtained. The NKJV translates the above two verses in this way:
Also the king of the South shall become strong, as well as one of his princes; and he shall gain power over him and have dominion. His dominion shall be a great dominion. And at the end of some years they shall join forces, for the daughter of the king of the South shall go to the king of the North to make an agreement; but she shall not retain the power of her authority, and neither he nor his authority shall stand; but she shall be given up, with those who brought her, and with him who begot her, and with him who strengthened her in those times. (NKJV Daniel 11:5-6.)
So, the Egyptian king sends his daughter and company to the Macedonian king to form an agreement, but it doesn’t pan out and they remain at odds and, it looks like, the Egyptian king (“him who begot her”) ends up deposed. Enter a new Egyptian king:
But out of a branch of her roots shall one stand up in his estate, which shall come with an army, and shall enter into the fortress of the king of the north, and shall deal against them, and shall prevail: and shall also carry captives into Egypt their gods, with their princes, and with their precious vessels of silver and of gold; and he shall continue more years than the king of the north. (KJV Daniel 11:7-8.)
But from a branch of her roots one shall arise in his place, who shall come with an army, enter the fortress of the king of the North, and deal with them and prevail. And he shall also carry their gods captive to Egypt, with their princes and their precious articles of silver and gold; and he shall continue more years than the king of the North. (NKJV Daniel 11:7-8.)
So the (new) Egyptian king, a descendant of the former king’s daughter, invades the Macedonian king’s fortress and loots it, taking their idol gods, molten images and gold and silver items, and this particular Egyptian king will remain king for a longer time than the Macedonian king.
So the king of the south shall come into his kingdom, and shall return into his own land. But his sons shall be stirred up, and shall assemble a multitude of great forces: and one shall certainly come, and overflow, and pass through: then shall he return, and be stirred up, even to his fortress. (KJV Daniel 11:9-10.)
Also the king of the North shall come to the kingdom of the king of the South, but shall return to his own land. However his sons shall stir up strife, and assemble a multitude of great forces; and one shall certainly come and overwhelm and pass through; then he shall return to his fortress and stir up strife. (NKJV Daniel 11:9-10.)
Here we have a complete contradiction in translations, the one (KJV) saying that the Egyptian king enters the Macedonian kingdom and then returns to Egypt but then the sons of the Egyptian king are stirred up and invade the north; whereas the other (NKJV) says that the Macedonian king retaliates by invading Egypt, but then returns to his own land and afterwards the sons of the Macedonian king assemble a vast army and invade Egypt and stirs up the Macedonian people for more war against Egypt. Which do I think is right? The NKJV makes more sense to me in this passage than the KJV.
And the king of the south shall be moved with choler, and shall come forth and fight with him, even with the king of the north: and he shall set forth a great multitude; but the multitude shall be given into his hand. And when he hath taken away the multitude, his heart shall be lifted up; and he shall cast down many ten thousands: but he shall not be strengthened by it. For the king of the north shall return, and shall set forth a multitude greater than the former, and shall certainly come after certain years with a great army and with much riches. (KJV Daniel 11:11-13.)
And the king of the South shall be moved with rage, and go out and fight with him, with the king of the North, who shall muster a great multitude; but the multitude shall be given into the hand of his enemy. When he has taken away the multitude, his heart will be lifted up; and he will cast down tens of thousands, but he will not prevail. For the king of the North will return and muster a multitude greater than the former, and shall certainly come at the end of some years with a great army and much equipment. (NKJV Daniel 11:11-13.)
Here we have the Egyptian king enraged and fighting against the Macedonian kingdom, and when the Macedonian king sends out a great army, it is defeated by the Egyptian king, which causes the heart of the Egyptian king to lift up in pride, but even though he kills tens of thousands of Macedonians, he’s no stronger for it. Later the Macedonian king pushes south and retaliates with an even greater army, bringing with him a lot of equipment.
Notice also in verse 11 that the Egyptian king “shall be moved with choler.” In Daniel chapter 8 the he goat is also said to be “moved with choler” against the ram:
And I saw him come close unto the ram, and he was moved with choler against him, and smote the ram, and brake his two horns: and there was no power in the ram to stand before him, but he cast him down to the ground, and stamped upon him: and there was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand. (Daniel 8:7.)
Next we have everyone ganging up on the Egyptian king:
And in those times there shall many stand up against the king of the south: also the robbers of thy people shall exalt themselves to establish the vision; but they shall fall. (KJV 11:12.)
Now in those times many shall rise up against the king of the South. Also, violent men of your people shall exalt themselves in fulfillment of the vision, but they shall fall. (NKJV 11:12.)
The Gadianton robbers of this time take full advantage of the people of the Lord, but eventually they come to naught.
This next part speaks about the Macedonian king:
So the king of the north shall come, and cast up a mount, and take the most fenced cities: and the arms of the south shall not withstand, neither his chosen people, neither shall there be any strength to withstand. But he that cometh against him shall do according to his own will, and none shall stand before him: and he shall stand in the glorious land, which by his hand shall be consumed. He shall also set his face to enter with the strength of his whole kingdom, and upright ones with him; thus shall he do: and he shall give him the daughter of women, corrupting her: but she shall not stand on his side, neither be for him. After this shall he turn his face unto the isles, and shall take many: but a prince for his own behalf shall cause the reproach offered by him to cease; without his own reproach he shall cause it to turn upon him. Then he shall turn his face toward the fort of his own land: but he shall stumble and fall, and not be found. (KJV 11:15-19.)
So the king of the North shall come and build a siege mound, and take a fortified city; and the forces of the South shall not withstand him. Even his choice troops shall have no strength to resist. But he who comes against him shall do according to his own will, and no one shall stand against him. He shall stand in the Glorious Land with destruction in his power. He shall also set his face to enter with the strength of his whole kingdom, and upright ones with him; thus shall he do. And he shall give him the daughter of women to destroy it; but she shall not stand with him, or be for him. After this he shall turn his face to the coastlands, and shall take many. But a ruler shall bring the reproach against them to an end; and with the reproach removed, he shall turn back on him. Then he shall turn his face toward the fortress of his own land; but he shall stumble and fall, and not be found. (NKJV 11:15-19.)
This appears to be the same person that John mentions in Revelation 13:3 and Revelation 17:8,11.
And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. (Revelation 13:3.)
The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. (Revelation 17:8.)
And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition. (Revelation 17:11.)
Next a tax collector is the new Macedonian king, but he only lasts a few days:
Then shall stand up in his estate a raiser of taxes in the glory of the kingdom: but within few days he shall be destroyed, neither in anger, nor in battle. (KJV Daniel 11:20.)
There shall arise in his place one who imposes taxes on the glorious kingdom; but within a few days he shall be destroyed, but not in anger or in battle. (NKJV Daniel 11:20.)
Finally, a “vile person” becomes the new Macedonian king. I will use only the KJV from now on:
And in his estate shall stand up a vile person, to whom they shall not give the honour of the kingdom: but he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries. And with the arms of a flood shall they be overflown from before him, and shall be broken; yea, also the prince of the covenant. And after the league made with him he shall work deceitfully: for he shall come up, and shall become strong with a small people. He shall enter peaceably even upon the fattest places of the province; and he shall do that which his fathers have not done, nor his fathers’ fathers; he shall scatter among them the prey, and spoil, and riches: yea, and he shall forecast his devices against the strong holds, even for a time. And he shall stir up his power and his courage against the king of the south with a great army; and the king of the south shall be stirred up to battle with a very great and mighty army; but he shall not stand: for they shall forecast devices against him. Yea, they that feed of the portion of his meat shall destroy him, and his army shall overflow: and many shall fall down slain. And both these kings’ hearts shall be to do mischief, and they shall speak lies at one table; but it shall not prosper: for yet the end shall be at the time appointed. Then shall he return into his land with great riches; and his heart shall be against the holy covenant; and he shall do exploits, and return to his own land. At the time appointed he shall return, and come toward the south; but it shall not be as the former, or as the latter. For the ships of Chittim shall come against him: therefore he shall be grieved, and return, and have indignation against the holy covenant: so shall he do; he shall even return, and have intelligence with them that forsake the holy covenant. And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate. And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits. And they that understand among the people shall instruct many: yet they shall fall by the sword, and by flame, by captivity, and by spoil, many days. Now when they shall fall, they shall be holpen with a little help: but many shall cleave to them with flatteries. And some of them of understanding shall fall, to try them, and to purge, and to make them white, even to the time of the end: because it is yet for a time appointed. And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done. Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all. But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces: and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things. Thus shall he do in the most strong holds with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many, and shall divide the land for gain. And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over. He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon. He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape. But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps. But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him: therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many. And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him. (Daniel 11:21-45.)
The vile person spoken of in the above passage appears to be the same person John mentions here:
And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, and deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. (Revelation 13:11-17.)
Chapter 12 finishes the vision with another viewing of the destroyer, this time with his two sons attending him:
Then I Daniel looked, and, behold, there stood other two, the one on this side of the bank of the river, and the other on that side of the bank of the river. And one said to the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, How long shall it be to the end of these wonders? And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever that it shall be for a time, times, and an half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished. (Daniel 12:5-7.)
Daniel chapter 2
In Daniel chapter 2 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had a dream which Daniel interpreted. This dream also speaks of the same time period and of the same kingdoms that Daniel saw in vision in chapters 7, 8 and 10-12. Here is Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and Daniel’s interpretation of it:
Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, shew unto the king; but there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these; as for thee, O king, thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter: and he that revealeth secrets maketh known to thee what shall come to pass. But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, but for their sakes that shall make known the interpretation to the king, and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thy heart.
Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; 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. Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake 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 threshingfloors; 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.
This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king. Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold. And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth. And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise. And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters’ clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken. And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay. 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. Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure. (Daniel 2:27-45.)
The head of gold corresponds to the lion beast kingdom, coming forth after the first seal is opened; the silver breast and arms correspond to the bear beast kingdom, coming forth after the second seal is opened; the belly and thighs of brass corresponds to the leopard beast kingdom, coming forth during the opening of the third, fourth, fifth and sixth seals; and the legs and feet of iron (with clay mixed in the feet and toes) corresponds to the dragon beast kingdom, coming forth after the opening of the seventh seal.
When the dragon beast is established, it will be composed of parts of the previous three kingdoms: lion, bear and leopard. In like manner, this image of the final beast of iron is composed of parts from the previous three kingdoms: gold, silver and brass.
The head of gold is at the top because it’s the first kingdom established and because it’s the least degenerate of the four. It is superior (higher) than all the rest. Daniel says the second kingdom of silver is “inferior” to the first because it is baser or more degenerate. This kingdom, then, is made up of less valuable silver and is put lower than the head. Hence the bear kingdom is more diabolical and degenerate than the lion kingdom. The third kingdom of brass is likewise even more degenerate than the previous two, hence being lower and thus closer to hell and also composed of a metal of lesser value. Thus the leopard kingdom is far worse than the bear kingdom. Finally the fourth kingdom of iron is the most degenerate of them all, being nearly a perfect match to the dragon spirit which empowers it. This kingdom of iron matches the fourth beast Daniel saw, which had iron teeth.
The image itself represents both all four kingdoms, the order of formation of each kingdom and also the final beast that will be established after the seventh seal opens, which will be made up of the parts of the previous three.
Now Daniel states that the head of gold is king Nebuchadnezzar. He’s the most famous king of Babylon and the final, fourth kingdom will be established in Babylon and will be the kingdom of Babylon, therefore it is appropriate that it bears his head. It may also be that the person who establishes the first kingdom (the lion beast) will be a descendant of that ancient king Nebuchadnezzar, someone who hails from Persia.
Although the great image seen in the dream is largely thought to be symbolic, it may turn out to be a very real thing. Nebuchadnezzar may have seen, in actuality, the very image that the last beast John saw caused to be made:
And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, and deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. (Revelation 13:13-15.)
The stone cut out without hands is the political kingdom of God (Zion) that God will establish through Elias, around the time of the opening of the first seal. Recall Elias’s prayer:
Hearken, and lo, a voice as of one sent down from on high, who is mighty and powerful, whose going forth is unto the ends of the earth, yea, whose voice is unto men—Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. The keys of the kingdom of God are committed unto man on the earth, and from thence shall the gospel roll forth unto the ends of the earth, as the stone which is cut out of the mountain without hands shall roll forth, until it has filled the whole earth. Yea, a voice crying—Prepare ye the way of the Lord, prepare ye the supper of the Lamb, make ready for the Bridegroom. Pray unto the Lord, call upon his holy name, make known his wonderful works among the people. Call upon the Lord, that his kingdom may go forth upon the earth, that the inhabitants thereof may receive it, and be prepared for the days to come, in the which the Son of Man shall come down in heaven, clothed in the brightness of his glory, to meet the kingdom of God which is set up on the earth. Wherefore, may the kingdom of God go forth, that the kingdom of heaven may come, that thou, O God, mayest be glorified in heaven so on earth, that thine enemies may be subdued; for thine is the honor, power and glory, forever and ever. Amen. (D&C 65:1-6.)
He doesn’t say the gospel is the stone; he says the gospel shall roll forth as the stone shall roll forth. The gospel is not the stone, but it rolls forth like the stone will roll forth.
Although the above interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream is non-standard, it’s still correct. The typical interpretation is that each segment of the great image is one of the great empires, beginning with the kingdom of Babylon, then the Medo-Persian Empire, then the kingdom of Alexander the Great and finally the Roman Empire. But this cannot be, for Daniel said: “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” (Daniel 2:44.) The stone comes forth during the days of these kings, not after they have come and gone, and it also breaks in pieces and consumes all these kingdoms. Therefore, both the kings and their kingdoms must be around during the time of the stone and the kingdoms in particular must still be standing, in order for the stone to break them. As the final beast is composed of all the previous beasts, when it is destroyed by the stone, this prophecy will be fulfilled.
Why the wicked kingdoms only become established after the first seal is opened
The opening of the first seal reveals all the things of the first thousand years, both good and bad, and so the wicked will attempt to imitate the ancient wicked practices and kingdoms that they read about in the first unsealed portion of the book. As each new seal is opened, they will learn of new (actually, old) wicked works, causing a rearrangement of their kingdom affairs, to more closely align with all the wickedness that Elias reveals in his translations of the sealed book. Elias will do this on purpose, to ripen them in iniquity, so that they can justifiably be destroyed at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. His purpose is not to save them, but to destroy them. Contrast that to how Alma operated:
And now, my son, I command you that ye retain all their oaths, and their covenants, and their agreements in their secret abominations; yea, and all their signs and their wonders ye shall keep from this people, that they know them not, lest peradventure they should fall into darkness also and be destroyed. For behold, there is a curse upon all this land, that destruction shall come upon all those workers of darkness, according to the power of God, when they are fully ripe; therefore I desire that this people might not be destroyed. Therefore ye shall keep these secret plans of their oaths and their covenants from this people, and only their wickedness and their murders and their abominations shall ye make known unto them; and ye shall teach them to abhor such wickedness and abominations and murders; and ye shall also teach them that these people were destroyed on account of their wickedness and abominations and their murders. For behold, they murdered all the prophets of the Lord who came among them to declare unto them concerning their iniquities; and the blood of those whom they murdered did cry unto the Lord their God for vengeance upon those who were their murderers; and thus the judgments of God did come upon these workers of darkness and secret combinations. Yea, and cursed be the land forever and ever unto those workers of darkness and secret combinations, even unto destruction, except they repent before they are fully ripe. And now, my son, remember the words which I have spoken unto you; trust not those secret plans unto this people, but teach them an everlasting hatred against sin and iniquity. (Alma 37:27-32.)
In conclusion
None of the end-time things that Nephi saw, nor that John saw, nor that Daniel saw have happened, yet. When the destroyer comes out of his box, does his thing and then hightails it out of here to his kingdom, that is when Nephi’s vision will start to happen and we’ll finally get to see the great and abominable church form. But as for Daniel and John’s visions, more time must pass and the destroyer must return and begin the restoration of all things before the things those two saw happen. Thus it is a mistake to interpret Daniel’s end-time visions as already having been fulfilled, whether partially or wholly.
Nevertheless, this does not mean we necessarily have long to wait, for although Elias is still trapped in his box, I have recently learned that he is now in his third and final stage (the ascension phase) of his captivity.
Necrosis (from the Greek νέκρωσις “death, the stage of dying, the act of killing” from νεκρός “dead”) is a form of cell injury which results in the premature death of cells in living tissue by autolysis.
In biology, autolysis, more commonly known as self-digestion, refers to the destruction of a cell through the action of its own enzymes…The term derives from the Greek words αὐτο- (“self”) and λύσις (“splitting”).
In other words, when a living organism undergoes necrosis, the necrotic cells essentially commit suicide.
The treatment for necrosis is debridement. From the Wikipedia entry on debridement:
Debridement is the medical removal of dead, damaged, or infected tissue to improve the healing potential of the remaining healthy tissue.
Unless you cut the necrotic parts off, the necrosis will spread to the surrounding tissues, causing the eventual demise of the entire organism. Again from the Wikipedia entry on necrosis:
Cellular death due to necrosis does not follow the apoptotic signal transduction pathway, but rather various receptors are activated, and result in the loss of cell membrane integrity and an uncontrolled release of products of cell death into the extracellular space.
This initiates in the surrounding tissue an inflammatory response which attracts leukocytes and nearby phagocytes which eliminate the dead cells by phagocytosis. However, microbial damaging substances released by leukocytes would create collateral damage to surrounding tissues. This excess collateral damage inhibits the healing process. Thus, untreated necrosis results in a build-up of decomposing dead tissue and cell debris at or near the site of the cell death. A classic example is gangrene. For this reason, it is often necessary to remove necrotic tissue surgically, a procedure known as debridement.
Our spirit bodies are composed of individual bits connected to each in an unbreakable bond. Each individual bit glows or shimmers, like individually shining light bulbs. When we commit even one single sin, knowingly disobeying God’s eternal commandments, the sin causes one or more of the individual spirit bits that comprise out spirit body to “wink out” like a light bulb that is turned off, so that it no longer shines. The sin causes the individual spirit bit or bits to commit spiritual suicide (just like its physical counterparts self-destruct in necrosis), which causes the spiritual death of that individual spirit bit.
Whereas the bonds in-between the molecules and atoms that compose our physical body are breakable—and thus necrosis can be treated via debridement of the dead flesh—the bonds of our spirit bodies are unbreakable, which means the dead part cannot be cut off to save the rest of the soul. As a result, just like untreated physical necrosis, which grows and grows until it entirely consumes the entire organism, spiritual necrosis, even if it initially affects only one single spirit bit, will cause all the surrounding spirit bits to likewise go dark because they are inseparably connected to that dead spirit bit and they become affected by its demise by losing all hope and faith and thus likewise dying, so that eventually a shining spirit that has committed just one sin will turn entirely soot black in spiritual death. This is why the scriptures speak of sin as causing death:
Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. (James 1:15.)
If spiritual necrosis occurs or remains outside of a probationary state, there is no way to recover an eternal spirit bit from this type of death. Once dead, it stays dead forever and brings all the surrounding spirit bits which are connected to it to their own death, through spiritual suicide, and the process then repeats for the living spirit bits that surround the newly dead bits, in an ever widening sphere of influence, until the entire organism is brought down.
Oneness stops spiritual necrosis
If everyone of a group of shining spirits are shining equally bright and are connected to each other, the darkness that is found outside the kingdom of God cannot overcome them. Being equally bright, each spirit (being next to another spirit) is kept at the same brightness, without any contrast. Otherwise, should two spirits of unequal brightness be brought together and be connected to each other, the spirit that shined the brightest would dim down to the level of the dimmer spirit, just as a dark, dead bit of spirit matter causes a bright bit of spirit matter to switch off if connected to it. It is akin to a heat source that is surrounded by other heat sources of equal hotness. The heat source doesn’t cool because it can’t cool. It can only cool if it is surrounded by cooler temperatures. But as long as the ambient temperature is the very same as the one given off by the heat source, everything remains hot forever.
Therefore God organizes the heavens by grouping like things together and linking them all together in unbreakable bonds so that it becomes impossible for spiritual necrosis to occur. Thus all those who inherit the celestial kingdom shine like the Sun and receive a fulness of that glory, becoming one with each other:
Ye who are quickened by a portion of the celestial glory shall then receive of the same, even a fulness. (D&C 88:29.)
And the glory of the celestial is one, even as the glory of the sun is one. (D&C 76:96.)
Likewise, all those who inherit the terrestrial kingdom shine like the moon and receive a fulness of that glory, becoming one with each other:
And they who are quickened by a portion of the terrestrial glory shall then receive of the same, even a fulness. (D&C 88:30.)
And the glory of the terrestrial is one, even as the glory of the moon is one. (D&C 76:97.)
This partitioning of kingdoms and glories is necessary in order that each group retains its respective glow without any dimming effects from dimmer beings or from the blackness of outer darkness.
Whereas all the celestial kingdoms are one glory and equal, and all terrestrial kingdoms are likewise one glory and equal, in the case of the telestial kingdoms, each kingdom twinkles in glory like a tiny star in the nighttime sky, but the individual telestial kingdoms vary in intensity, so that all those that pertain to a specific telestial kingdom will be of one particular glory, receiving a fulness of that glory, and will be equal to each other, while those that pertain to a different telestial kingdom will be of a different glory intensity, and will be equal to all those who pertain to that same telestial kingdom:
And also they who are quickened by a portion of the telestial glory shall then receive of the same, even a fulness. (D&C 88:31.)
And the glory of the telestial is one, even as the glory of the stars is one; for as one star differs from another star in glory, even so differs one from another in glory in the telestial world; for these are they who are of Paul, and of Apollos, and of Cephas. (D&C 76:98-99.)
The celestial kingdom is patterned after our eternal God and Father, who is of one glory, thus all celestial kingdoms have the same glory, that of the Sun, there being only one Sun. The terrestrial kingdom is patterned after the earthly example and teachings of the Son of God, who is of one glory, and thus all terrestrial kingdoms have the same glory, even that of the Moon, there being only one Moon. But the telestial kingdoms are patterned after all the various mortal teachers that people follow, hence each particular telestial kingdom being slightly different than the others, and thus the telestial kingdom is given the glory of the stars, of which there is an infinite number.
Again, everything must be grouped with like things, otherwise the spiritual necrosis effect takes place and the higher order things fall downward to the level of lower order things:
For intelligence cleaveth unto intelligence; wisdom receiveth wisdom; truth embraceth truth; virtue loveth virtue; light cleaveth unto light; mercy hath compassion on mercy and claimeth her own; justice continueth its course and claimeth its own; judgment goeth before the face of him who sitteth upon the throne and governeth and executeth all things. (D&C 88:40.)
Spiritual necrosis is a contagion
If any one of these many spirits making up any of these various kingdoms somehow gets a case of spiritual necrosis, not only will his or her spirit body eventually die a spiritual death, but because the inhabitants of these kingdoms are connected to each other, as one, the spiritual necrosis will spread like a plague through those connections to the other inhabitants of the kingdom, thereby destroying all things of that pertain to it. Nevertheless, the connection is absolutely necessary, for without it, spiritual necrosis will likewise spread throughout, for no unconnected spirit can remain bright while surrounded by outer darkness or dimmer beings. Only the connection to other saved people of like glory allow the spiritual flames in these people to shine forever. So the connection stops the plague, but should the plague break out, the connection is what allows the plague to destroy all things.
Although the atonement and resurrection of Christ has power to re-ignite the dead spirit bits during the second estate—upon faith, repentance and the other gospel works—the bits will go dark again regardless, unless they are connected to the other saved spirits, hence God having to gather all things, both in heaven and on earth, in one:
That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: (Ephesians 1:10.)
This stops the spread of the dreaded disease. But it only works if the people who are made one are cleaned every whit from their sins, so that every part of their spirit body shines and they are spotless.
Connecting spirits of unequal glories causes spiritual necrosis
And Amulek hath spoken plainly concerning death, and being raised from this mortality to a state of immortality, and being brought before the bar of God, to be judged according to our works. Then if our hearts have been hardened, yea, if we have hardened our hearts against the word, insomuch that it has not been found in us, then will our state be awful, for then we shall be condemned. For our words will condemn us, yea, all our works will condemn us; we shall not be found spotless; and our thoughts will also condemn us; and in this awful state we shall not dare to look up to our God; and we would fain be glad if we could command the rocks and the mountains to fall upon us to hide us from his presence. But this cannot be; we must come forth and stand before him in his glory, and in his power, and in his might, majesty, and dominion, and acknowledge to our everlasting shame that all his judgments are just; that he is just in all his works, and that he is merciful unto the children of men, and that he has all power to save every man that believeth on his name and bringeth forth fruit meet for repentance. (Alma 12:12-15.)
I suppose that the saying in the church that “the wicked would be more miserable dwelling with God in heaven than with the devil in outer darkness” is derived from the above scripture, yet the same can be said about any intermingling of glories. A telestial spirit enjoys “eternal felicity” (D&C 77:3) as long as it dwells in the telestial kingdom among other telestial spirits, but if you have it dwell in the terrestrial kingdom among terrestrials, or in the celestial kingdom among celestials, its comparative dimness instantly fills it with shame so that it becomes miserable forever and spiritual necrosis ensues, which brings the telestial spirit, and all that is connected to it, down to destruction. The same goes for a terrestrial dwelling among celestials. In a sea of brilliant white, the single black spot gets all the attention, or as the case may be, the dimmer off-white spirit gets all the attention, which immediately brings about shame, hopelessness, misery and the instantaneous onset of spiritual necrosis. Thus no one of a lower glory can go up to a higher glory:
And heard the voice of the Lord saying: These all shall bow the knee, and every tongue shall confess to him who sits upon the throne forever and ever; for they shall be judged according to their works, and every man shall receive according to his own works, his own dominion, in the mansions which are prepared; and they shall be servants of the Most High; but where God and Christ dwell they cannot come, worlds without end. (D&C 76:110-112.)
Nevertheless, those of a higher glory can go to a kingdom of a lower glory, but only for a temporary visit:
These are they who receive not of his fulness in the eternal world, but of the Holy Spirit through the ministration of the terrestrial; and the terrestrial through the ministration of the celestial. And also the telestial receive it of the administering of angels who are appointed to minister for them, or who are appointed to be ministering spirits for them; for they shall be heirs of salvation. (D&C 76:86-88.)
Behold, I will liken these kingdoms unto a man having a field, and he sent forth his servants into the field to dig in the field. And he said unto the first: Go ye and labor in the field, and in the first hour I will come unto you, and ye shall behold the joy of my countenance. And he said unto the second: Go ye also into the field, and in the second hour I will visit you with the joy of my countenance. And also unto the third, saying: I will visit you; and unto the fourth, and so on unto the twelfth. And the lord of the field went unto the first in the first hour, and tarried with him all that hour, and he was made glad with the light of the countenance of his lord. And then he withdrew from the first that he might visit the second also, and the third, and the fourth, and so on unto the twelfth. And thus they all received the light of the countenance of their lord, every man in his hour, and in his time, and in his season—beginning at the first, and so on unto the last, and from the last unto the first, and from the first unto the last; every man in his own order, until his hour was finished, even according as his lord had commanded him, that his lord might be glorified in him, and he in his lord, that they all might be glorified. Therefore, unto this parable I will liken all these kingdoms, and the inhabitants thereof—every kingdom in its hour, and in its time, and in its season, even according to the decree which God hath made. (D&C 88:51-61.)
Should the visit become a permanent stay, spiritual necrosis would ensue. Just as a shining spirit, if set in the midst of darkness, can be overcome by the darkness and wink out, so it can be overcome by too much light.* If you set a low intensity light next to a high intensity light, the brighter light drowns out the dimmer light, so that it now appears dark in comparison. Lower glories, then, would experience instantaneous shame (darkness) if they went up to dwell with higher glories. Or, to put it in the vernacular of the scriptures, lower glories cannot abide the higher glories:
And the redemption of the soul is through him that quickeneth all things, in whose bosom it is decreed that the poor and the meek of the earth shall inherit it. Therefore, it must needs be sanctified from all unrighteousness, that it may be prepared for the celestial glory; for after it hath filled the measure of its creation, it shall be crowned with glory, even with the presence of God the Father; that bodies who are of the celestial kingdom may possess it forever and ever; for, for this intent was it made and created, and for this intent are they sanctified.
And they who are not sanctified through the law which I have given unto you, even the law of Christ, must inherit another kingdom, even that of a terrestrial kingdom, or that of a telestial kingdom. For he who is not able to abide the law of a celestial kingdom cannot abide a celestial glory.
And he who cannot abide the law of a terrestrial kingdom cannot abide a terrestrial glory.
And he who cannot abide the law of a telestial kingdom cannot abide a telestial glory; therefore he is not meet for a kingdom of glory. Therefore he must abide a kingdom which is not a kingdom of glory. (D&C 88:17-24.)
The reason why it is permissible for a higher glory to come down and temporarily visit a lower glory is because the lower glory spirits are a multitude of dimmer spirits all connected to each other, whereas the visiting higher glory dignitary is just one very bright spirit, and so the lower glory spirits draw power from the entirety of the lower glory group, allowing them to abide a temporary visit, making it joyful and not miserable.
Thus any permanent intermingling between the glories, in which a brighter glory comes down to dwell with dimmer glories, or a dimmer glory goes up to dwell with brighter glories, invariably leads to misery and spiritual necrosis of the dimmer glories, followed by misery and spiritual necrosis of the higher glories, because once you become one, you “mourn with those that mourn” (Mosiah 18:9), so that the whole connected society becomes miserable forever. Everyone in the whole connected heavens, then, must be perfectly happy, otherwise they all become perfectly miserable. So God keeps all dissimilar groups separated from each other and any visits of a higher glory to a lower glory are of a temporary nature only; and as for the wicked, they are altogether removed from existence, so that they never existed, making it impossible for any of the saved people to mourn over them, for you cannot mourn over what never existed. All of this locks in our eternal felicity.
No unclean thing can inherit the kingdom of heaven
Some people think it’s kind of harsh that God won’t allow sinners into His kingdom at the last day. Those who are filthy still, their very spirits having ceased shining and winked out of existence, like tiny light bulbs turned off, so that they will appear covered in soot—and yet there is no soot on them, but their very souls are black—such people will be cut off from the group of saved people and will be tossed like filthy rags into the garbage heap that lies outside the kingdom, to be burned in eternal fire, just as the leprous people during the time of Moses had to live outside the camp. Why must this be so? It sounds harsh, but it’s yet another saving measure. God must protect the saved souls from the highly infectious nature of spiritual necrosis. Should these contagious people be allowed in, it would prove the entire destruction of the heavens. As the atonement of Christ has no more power to re-ignite their spirits, for the second estate is now over, the only other measure to take is the one of last resort. Therefore they get debrided.
* The destroyer, being constrained by his gospel covenants, will not be able to destroy the bodies of the wicked by physically slaying them in his anger like he used to do during his pre-mortal existence, but this will not deter him. He will merely use light and truth as his weapon and destroy their spirits by spiritually drowning them in more light than they can handle:
Behold, here is the agency of man, and here is the condemnation of man; because that which was from the beginning is plainly manifest unto them, and they receive not the light. And every man whose spirit receiveth not the light is under condemnation. (D&C 93:31-32.)
For of him unto whom much is given much is required; and he who sins against the greater light shall receive the greater condemnation. (D&C 82:3.)
Now Ammon said unto him: I can assuredly tell thee, O king, of a man that can translate the records; for he has wherewith that he can look, and translate all records that are of ancient date; and it is a gift from God. And the things are called interpreters, and no man can look in them except he be commanded, lest he should look for that he ought not and he should perish. (Mosiah 8:13.)
All the temple marriage sealings we perform are father to child. All of them. The doctrine is based upon Malachi 4:5-6:
Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: and he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.
When a man goes into a temple and has his bride sealed to him for time and all eternity, that sealing isn’t a horizontal sealing, but a vertical sealing, for men are the heads of women and husbands are the heads of wives:
But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God. (1 Corinthians 11:3.)
For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. (Ephesians 5:23.)
When that eternally married couple have children, we say that these children are “born under the covenant,” meaning they are automatically sealed to their father. We also say that they are “sealed to their parents,” but that’s an incorrect statement, for the ordinance only seals fathers to children and children to fathers. The newly born children do not need a new sealing because the sealing that occurred between their parents is the father to child sealing.
The temple marriage sealing is a vertical line or cord that goes from the father to the unborn children who will be born through his wife. It doesn’t go to the wife, but though her, to the spirits who are still in heaven. Thus, children born under the covenant don’t get a new sealing cord, but use the same one that connects their mother to their father, for the father is a tree trunk, the mother is a branch attached to him by the sealing and their children are fruits that come forth on that motherly branch, which are likewise attached to the fatherly trunk by the same sealing.
When a man and his wife are sealed together for time and all eternity after their children have been born, the already-born children may be sealed in a separate ordinance, but this sealing isn’t a new sealing cord. It’s merely the grafting of already fallen fruit into the same sealing cord that attaches the wife to her husband.
For strait is the gate, and narrow the way that leadeth unto the exaltation and continuation of the lives, and few there be that find it, because ye receive me not in the world neither do ye know me. (D&C 132:22.)
A woman is sealed to her father through her mother, her father’s wife, and her sons and daughters are sealed to their father, her husband, through her. The first sealing (father to daughter through mother) puts her into the family of God and the second sealing (father to child through wife) allows for the continuation of the lives, for no part of the family of God can be sterile, but must produce an endless bounty of fruit. Likewise, a man is sealed to his father through his mother, his father’s wife, and his children are sealed to him through their mother, his wife.
Again, when a father is sealed to a son or daughter, that son or daughter is accounted as part of the family of God, and when a husband is sealed to his (unborn or already born) child through his wife, that husband and wife are accounted as fruitful, even if they are never able to have any children in this life, because the sealing promise is of eternal and endless seed in the next life.
This shows that there is two-step process for exaltation and the continuation of the lives. If you only get one of the sealings, it is not enough to exalt you. If you marry a wife for time and all eternity but never get sealed to a father, you are out of the family of God and the eternal marriage sealing you got comes undone. And if you were born under the covenant but never marry for time and all eternity, you get kicked out of God’s family as a sterile tree and the father to child sealing comes undone.
(Additionally, we will be double-judged according to our behavior towards the one we are sealed to. For example, if you are a child sealed to a father, and you break the 5th commandment (“Honor thy father and thy mother” Exodus 20:12, which puts the children below both father and mother, making a vertical line from father to mother to child), rebelling against your father, but later as an adult you get sealed for time and all eternity to a spouse, and you treat your spouse righteously, but you never repent, make restitution and reconcile with your father, that first sealing will come back to haunt you, for it will be undone by the Josephite, which will also undo your marriage sealing, and you will end up debarred from exaltation. All those who get these two sealings, then, must make sure that righteousness has been done on both accounts, otherwise the Josephite will judge you unworthy of exaltation, and remove you from the list of the exalted.)
The two sealings are the same type of sealing (father to child) except that in the case of a woman, one sealing goes to her, while the other goes through her. In the case of the man, one sealing goes to him while the other proceeds from him.
Those who inherit a telestial, terrestrial or non-exalted celestial kingdom are sterile trees. They need to be sterile because if they produced eternal fruit, those new souls could never obtain God’s exalted status, for a telestial tree can only produce telestial fruit, a terrestrial tree only terrestrial fruit and a non-exalted celestial tree only non-exalted celestial fruit. Only exalted people produce fruit capable of achieving all heights and depths, therefore everyone below exaltation will be sterile in the resurrection.
Now, children aren’t sealed to the mother, at all, for mothers do not have the seeds of life in their bodies. They only have pots of soil (ova) into which the seeds of life (semen) are inserted. Only men have these seeds, and it is these same human seeds of life that are used by God to grant “eternal lives” (D&C 132:24,55), which is the eternal posterity of the gods. Therefore eternal lives come only through men. All sealing, then, is to the man, for only the man has life in himself, he being a “fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself” (Genesis 1:11).
God has power to take the man, who is a temporal fruit tree, and make him an eternal fruit tree, and so everything and everyone attached to that now eternal man likewise becomes eternal. His temporal seed then becomes eternal seed, thus continuing God’s works and posterity forever.
The aim of the temple marriage sealing is, then, posterity. Outside of posterity, it has no purpose or meaning, whatsoever. This is why God says the following about the purpose of sealing wives to a husband:
But if one or either of the ten virgins, after she is espoused, shall be with another man, she has committed adultery, and shall be destroyed; for they are given unto him to multiply and replenish the earth, according to my commandment, and to fulfil the promise which was given by my Father before the foundation of the world, and for their exaltation in the eternal worlds, that they may bear the souls of men;for herein is the work of my Father continued, that he may be glorified. (D&C 132:63.)
In other words, a wife is given to a man in eternal marriage so that he has posterity both on earth and in heaven, which exalts the wife and fulfills God’s promise concerning the continuation of the seeds forever:
Abraham received all things, whatsoever he received, by revelation and commandment, by my word, saith the Lord, and hath entered into his exaltation and sitteth upon his throne. Abraham received promises concerning his seed, and of the fruit of his loins—from whose loins ye are, namely, my servant Joseph—which were to continue so long as they were in the world; and as touching Abraham and his seed, out of the world they should continue; both in the world and out of the world should they continue as innumerable as the stars; or, if ye were to count the sand upon the seashore ye could not number them. This promise is yours also, because ye are of Abraham, and the promise was made unto Abraham; and by this law is the continuation of the works of my Father, wherein he glorifieth himself. Go ye, therefore, and do the works of Abraham; enter ye into my law and ye shall be saved. (D&C 132:29-32.)
But the whole thing is vertical, going from father to child through the mother. And these temple marriage sealings allow men and women to become the family of God, so that they become begotten sons and daughters of God. Such sealed people are not just saved angels, but exalted gods, and they will form a genealogical chain of vertical links, from Adam to the latest generation.
For we saw him, even on the right hand of God; and we heard the voice bearing record that he is the Only Begotten of the Father—that by him, and through him, and of him, the worlds are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God. (D&C 76:23-24.)
Wherefore, as it is written, they are gods, even the sons of God—wherefore, all things are theirs, whether life or death, or things present, or things to come, all are theirs and they are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s. (D&C 76:58-59.)
Then shall they be gods, because they have no end; therefore shall they be from everlasting to everlasting, because they continue; then shall they be above all, because all things are subject unto them. Then shall they be gods, because they have all power, and the angels are subject unto them. (D&C 132:20.)
These sealings pertain only to the celestial kingdom and to exaltation. Nevertheless, we read that all things must be sealed:
Q. What are we to understand by the sounding of the trumpets, mentioned in the 8th chapter of Revelation?
A. We are to understand that as God made the world in six days, and on the seventh day he finished his work, and sanctified it, and also formed man out of the dust of the earth, even so, in the beginning of the seventh thousand years will the Lord God sanctify the earth, and complete the salvation of man, and judge all things, and shall redeem all things, except that which he hath not put into his power, when he shall have sealed all things, unto the end of all things; and the sounding of the trumpets of the seven angels are the preparing and finishing of his work, in the beginning of the seventh thousand years—the preparing of the way before the time of his coming. (D&C 77:12.)
What about the people who make it into the celestial kingdom, but who don’t inherit exaltation? What about the people who receive a terrestrial kingdom, or a telestial kingdom? What kind of sealing do they get?
The vertical salvation sealing: master to servant
The saved angels who make it into the celestial kingdom, but who don’t get exalted, are said to be servants:
Therefore, if a man marry him a wife in the world, and he marry her not by me nor by my word, and he covenant with her so long as he is in the world and she with him, their covenant and marriage are not of force when they are dead, and when they are out of the world; therefore, they are not bound by any law when they are out of the world. Therefore, when they are out of the world they neither marry nor are given in marriage; but are appointed angels in heaven, which angels are ministering servants, to minister for those who are worthy of a far more, and an exceeding, and an eternal weight of glory. For these angels did not abide my law; therefore, they cannot be enlarged, but remain separately and singly, without exaltation, in their saved condition, to all eternity; and from henceforth are not gods, but are angels of God forever and ever. (D&C 132:15-17.)
The inhabitants of the telestial kingdom are likewise said to be servants:
But behold, and lo, we saw the glory and the inhabitants of the telestial world, that they were as innumerable as the stars in the firmament of heaven, or as the sand upon the seashore; and heard the voice of the Lord saying: These all shall bow the knee, and every tongue shall confess to him who sits upon the throne forever and ever; for they shall be judged according to their works, and every man shall receive according to his own works, his own dominion, in the mansions which are prepared; and they shall be servants of the Most High; but where God and Christ dwell they cannot come, worlds without end. (D&C 76:109-112.)
From those passages we can extrapolate that everyone (celestial, terrestrial and telestial) below the exalted will be servants. What kind of sealing will it be, then? Why, master to servant, of course:
Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; with good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men: knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free. And, ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing threatening: knowing that your Master also is in heaven; neither is there respect of persons with him. (Ephesians 6:5-9.)
Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God: and whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ. But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons. (Colossians 3:22-25.)
Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal; knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven. (Colossians 4:1.)
Let as many servants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honour, that the name of God and his doctrine be not blasphemed. And they that have believing masters, let them not despise them, because they are brethren; but rather do them service, because they are faithful and beloved, partakers of the benefit. These things teach and exhort. (1 Timothy 6:1-2.)
Exhort servants to be obedient unto their own masters, and to please them well in all things; not answering again; not purloining, but shewing all good fidelity; that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things. (Titus 2:9-10.)
Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward. (1 Peter 2:18.)
The saved servants need a sealing to remain in God’s kingdom. But as they did not qualify themselves as the exalted sons and daughters of God, nor as lost sons of perdition, they will be sealed as kingdom servants:
And he said unto his servant: When I will; go ye straightway, and do all things whatsoever I have commanded you; and this shall be my seal and blessing upon you—a faithful and wise steward in the midst of mine house, a ruler in my kingdom. (D&C 101:60-61.)
Thus, when the First Presidency authorized that Jane Elizabeth Manning James be sealed* as a “Servitor” (or servant) to Joseph Smith, we can see that this wasn’t an aberration, but the spirit of Elias operating, foreshadowing the great sealing of servants that the Josephite would perform during his ministry, in which all those who will inherit a telestial, terrestrial or a non-exalted celestial reward, would be vertically sealed to some saved master as an eternal servant.
* This sealing was temporary, for in 1979 James was endowed by proxy and will, because of her extreme faithfulness, end up receiving all the temple blessings and entering into her exaltation, despite being denied these blessings in mortality. She stands as an example to all latter-day saints of what it takes to obtain exaltation. She served in mortality but all things will be subject to her in eternity. The saved who cannot match her absolute dedication will not be accounted worthy of that great reward she will receive, but will receive instead her first sealing reward of “Servitor for eternity.”
The gospel allows for the creation of a marital steward “bishop”
…every man shall be made accountable unto me, a steward over his own property, or that which he has received by consecration, as much as is sufficient for himself and family. (D&C 42:32; see verses 30-39.)
It is wisdom in me; therefore, a commandment I give unto you, that ye shall organize yourselves and appoint every man his stewardship; that every man may give an account unto me of the stewardship which is appointed unto him. For it is expedient that I, the Lord, should make every man accountable, as a steward over earthly blessings, which I have made and prepared for my creatures. (D&C 104:11-13.)
Under the law of consecration and stewardship, all stewardships were to be disbursed by the church to the men of the church. In the case of married men, these stewardships were to be disbursed to the husbands, and not to their wives. Each stewardship was to be sufficiently large to maintain both the man and his wife and children. The husbands, working their stewardships, were responsible to maintain their wives and children out of it, and whatever surplus resulted from it at the end of the year, beyond the needs of the husband and his wife and children, was then to be consecrated to the church bishop, for use by the church bishop to maintain widows, orphans and the poor and also to give out further stewardships.
When a man received a stewardship from the church by this law, he essentially became the bishop of his wife and children, with the accompanying responsibility to provide for the temporal salvation of his family through the stewardship (inheritance) he received from the church. Doctrine and Covenants section 83 was given in the context of this law (the law of consecration and stewardships):
Verily, thus saith the Lord, in addition to the laws of the church concerning women and children, those who belong to the church, who have lost their husbands or fathers: Women have claim on their husbands for their maintenance, until their husbands are taken; and if they are not found transgressors they shall have fellowship in the church. And if they are not faithful they shall not have fellowship in the church; yet they may remain upon their inheritances according to the laws of the land.
All children have claim upon their parents for their maintenance until they are of age. And after that, they have claim upon the church, or in other words upon the Lord’s storehouse, if their parents have not wherewith to give them inheritances.
And the storehouse shall be kept by the consecrations of the church; and widows and orphans shall be provided for, as also the poor. Amen. (D&C 86:1-6.)
So, when a church husband died, his church stewardship fell into the hands of his wife and children, as their inheritance, whether they were members or not. (Of course, he may have put it in his will to dispose of the stewardship in some other way upon his death.) But while he was alive, his wife had a claim upon him for maintenance, and not upon the church bishop. This maintenance claim, though, only came through the law of consecration and stewardship.
Once a child became an adult, the father was to give him an inheritance, via his stewardship, if he could. If not, then the child was to go to the church bishop for help. Again, these laws only applied to the law of consecration and stewardship.
When a man died, if he was poor, his wife, being a widow, and his children, being orphans, had to be provided for by the church bishop. These laws, which operate under the law of consecration and stewardship, were exactly what the following scripture was talking about:
But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel. (1 Timothy 5:8.)
The context of the scripture, found in 1 Timothy 5:1-16, is a list of instructions concerning the church and its responsibility to take care of widows. In other words, these words concern the disbursal of church funds, not family funds. A church bishop was responsible to use the church funds to provide for widows, orphans and poor of his own congregation, and a steward bishop (the husband who received church property as a stewardship) was responsible to use the church property to provide for those of his own house. If they did not fulfill this responsibility (having no excuse, for the funds or property were there), they would be guilty of denying the faith.
These scriptures do not condemn any man who is poor, who is incapable of providing the basic necessities of life for himself, for his wife or for his children, due to unemployment, illness, or any other number of valid reasons. Poverty is never equated in the scriptures as wickedness. In fact, the poor have claim on the church for maintenance, as well as the widows and orphans.
The only time the poor are condemned is when they receive a stewardship (church property) according to the law of consecration and stewardship, and then refuse to work it. Here is one of the scriptures that condemns such men:
Wo unto you poor men, whose hearts are not broken, whose spirits are not contrite, and whose bellies are not satisfied, and whose hands are not stayed from laying hold upon other men’s goods, whose eyes are full of greediness, and who will not labor with your own hands! (D&C 56:17.)
The husband was to work the stewardship with the goal of creating a surplus at the end of the year, from which to consecrate to the church for the poor. A man that didn’t work the stewardship, or that worked only enough to support his family, was a greedy sinner. Greedy, because he wanted to keep the surplus for himself, like the Gentiles do, or because he didn’t want to work, at all, and would rather just let the church bishop support him when he went at the end of the year and reported that not only was there no surplus this year, but he took a loss and needed church help. This is the meaning of this scripture, and it is all given in the context of the law of consecration and stewardship.
Another scripture along the same lines is:
And the inhabitants of Zion also shall remember their labors, inasmuch as they are appointed to labor, in all faithfulness; for the idler shall be had in remembrance before the Lord. Now, I, the Lord, am not well pleased with the inhabitants of Zion, for there are idlers among them; and their children are also growing up in wickedness; they also seek not earnestly the riches of eternity, but their eyes are full of greediness. (D&C 68:30-31.)
Now, I mention these things here because there is a perverse doctrine in the church and in the world at large that a man has a marriage responsibility to provide for and maintain his wife and children, and that if he cannot provide sufficiently for them, or at all, that he is a sinner. But this is simply the perversion of the above scriptural principles, for no man is commanded to maintain his wife and children. When a man covenants to take a wife, his part of the marriage covenant does not include a maintenance provision. Why not? Because all men are commanded to take a wife, even the poor.
The poor are never to be condemned for their poverty. (See Mosiah 4:16-26.) Poverty does not equate to wickedness in the Lord’s gospel. In fact, the gospel is specifically for the poor. Were there a commandment to maintain a wife, then none of the poor would be able to comply with the commandment to marry.
The responsibility to maintain a wife and children only shows up when the law of consecration and stewardship is on the scene, when a man has been provided, by the church, with a stewardship, from which to maintain his family. This law and responsibility actually helps the man develop his masculinity, because it requires him to use wisdom in the management of the properties.
Whenever the law of consecration and stewardship of properties is not in effect, the following gospel principle is in play:
And now behold, my beloved brethren, I say unto you, do not suppose that this is all; for after ye have done all these things, if ye turn away the needy, and the naked, and visit not the sick and afflicted, and impart of your substance, if ye have, to those who stand in need—I say unto you, if ye do not any of these things, behold, your prayer is vain, and availeth you nothing, and ye are as hypocrites who do deny the faith. Therefore, if ye do not remember to be charitable, ye are as dross, which the refiners do cast out, (it being of no worth) and is trodden under foot of men. (Alma 34:28-29.)
And now, for the sake of these things which I have spoken unto you—that is, for the sake of retaining a remission of your sins from day to day, that ye may walk guiltless before God—I would that ye should impart of your substance to the poor, every man according to that which he hath, such as feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and administering to their relief, both spiritually and temporally, according to their wants. (Mosiah 4:26.)
And if it turns out that you yourself are among the poor, then the following gospel principle applies:
And again, I say unto the poor, ye who have not and yet have sufficient, that ye remain from day to day; I mean all you who deny the beggar, because ye have not; I would that ye say in your hearts that: I give not because I have not, but if I had I would give. And now, if ye say this in your hearts ye remain guiltless, otherwise ye are condemned; and your condemnation is just for ye covet that which ye have not received. (Mosiah 4:24-25.)
Note: The above post was written in or around the year 2014, and was kept unpublished because I felt it was useless to release the information, since it contradicted the current teachings of the church leadership, as well as current societal sensibilities, and thus no one would believe it, nor would anyone act on it. Releasing the information would have no effect on the status quo, whatsoever. The poor or needy men who had no means to sustain their families would continue to be looked down upon as sinners by the church leadership and by all those who surrounded them, even if I published it. I had no power to correct the leadership, nor was I authorized to even make the attempt. Nor did I want to put the leadership in a bad light. So I left the teaching unpublished for the last five years, thinking that no good would come of releasing the teaching, and that I would just leave it up to the Josephite to make the correction when he came out of his box. But yesterday it dawned on me that perhaps some good could come of it, after all, in the form of taking the false weight of guilt off of the shoulders of the men in this church who, for whatever reason, have not been able to find a job or other financial means sufficient to support their families, and who are made to feel like they are sinners. They are not sinners. Trying to get ahead financially, and not having success at it, or not having sufficient success at it to support one’s family, is not a sin. So, to correct that erroneous idea, I am now releasing the teaching. And if turns out that the leadership chokes on it, well, then let them choke.
Disintegration: The pre-Creation condition was a state of disintegration.
Translated (Non-Fallen) Integration: The Creation brought about a translated state of integration in which things could abide the presence of God. Prior to the Fall of Adam, God walked around on this planet without things flying apart.
Mortal (Fallen) Integration: The Fall caused all things to transition into an integrated state of mortality that cannot abide the presence of God. This meant that all things would eventually die and stay dead forever—for the spirit would separate from the body and the body would turn to dust, never again to become whole—and also that all things would instantly disintegrate, reverting back to the pre-Creation state, if God were ever to be present again.
The full effects of the Fall
Latter-day saints teach that there were two detrimental effects of the Fall of Adam (sin and death) which made it impossible to return to live with our heavenly Father and become like Him, but that through the atonement of Jesus Christ, all those who repent of their sins, exercise faith in Him and obey God’s commandments may be made clean, receiving a remission of their sins; and through the power of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, all mankind will live again in resurrected bodies and be brought back into God’s presence, to stand before Him to be judged and to receive a reward according to their works.
In truth, though, there are two categories of effects that the Fall caused. Latter-day saints preach and teach the first category only (and its revealed solution), because they know practically nothing of the second category. This is not the fault of latter-day saints, though. The scriptures are centered almost exclusively on the first category.
The two categories are the following:
because of spiritual and temporal death, the Fall prohibited mankind from rising up and dwelling with God in the heavens; and
because of imperfection, disunity, uncleanness and mortality, the Fall prohibited God from coming down and dwelling with mankind on the earth.
The result of both categories is the same: all things would eventually disintegrate (reverting to the pre-Creation state), mankind would eventually become, en masse, devils, even angels to the devil, and Satan would eventually win the war that he began in the heavens. Knowing all of this, the devil just needed to cause Adam to fall and the entire war was practically won. So he got the serpent to tempt the weak link in the chain (the woman) and Adam fell soon thereafter.
Two problems, two solutions
But God, being all-powerful, all-knowing and all-wise, had already prepared a plan to deal with these contingencies and rescue us from our fallen condition. Because there were two categories of effects, the plan had two parts to it, each part solving one set of problems. Alma called God’s plan the “plan of happiness” (Alma 42:8,16), the “plan of redemption” (Alma 42:11,13), the “plan of salvation” (Alma 42:5), the “plan of mercy” (Alma 42:15,31) and the “plan of restoration” (Alma 41:2). It is merely a contingency plan.
Jesus Christ solves the first problem
In the scriptures the first part of the plan is laid out extensively, especially in the Book of Mormon:
But God did call on men, in the name of his Son, (this being the plan of redemption which was laid) saying: If ye will repent, and harden not your hearts, then will I have mercy upon you, through mine Only Begotten Son; therefore, whosoever repenteth, and hardeneth not his heart, he shall have claim on mercy through mine Only Begotten Son, unto a remission of his sins; and these shall enter into my rest. (Alma 12:33-34.)
One effect of the Fall is that once we leave our Father in heaven and come down to earth, we cannot return back to heaven and continue to dwell there with Him. If we return to heaven without our physical body (a gift God has bestowed upon us), having lost it forever, God’s justice debars us from dwelling with Him. That same justice also debars us from entering the kingdom of heaven if we leave heaven perfectly clean and return filthy. Thus we need our bodies back and we need to be cleansed from our iniquities, otherwise we turn into devils.
An answer to the following question needed to be found:
How can the spiritual and temporal death—which comes upon all mankind because of the Fall of Adam and their own, personal sins–be overcome, so that man may be cleansed from his iniquity, receive his physical body again and be brought back into the presence of God, without his physical body disintegrating, to be judged according to his works, whether good or evil, so that the righteous among them may dwell with God eternally in the heavens forever thereafter?
The answer is: by God sending down His Son, Jesus Christ, to work out an infinite, perfect and eternal atonement and bring to pass the resurrection of the dead and the remission of sins on conditions of repentance, faith and obedience.
How the first part works
The suffering of Jesus Christ allows us to be forgiven of our sins (on conditions of faith, repentance and obedience to God’s commandments) and also buys Him the right to resurrect us:
And he cometh into the world that he may save all men if they will hearken unto his voice; for behold, he suffereth the pains of all men, yea, the pains of every living creature, both men, women, and children, who belong to the family of Adam. And he suffereth this that the resurrection might pass upon all men, that all might stand before him at the great and judgment day. (2 Ne. 9:21-22.)
His death looses the bands of death:
And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities. (Alma 7:12.)
Now, there is a death which is called a temporal death; and the death of Christ shall loose the bands of this temporal death, that all shall be raised from this temporal death. (Alma 11:42.)
His resurrection breaks the bands of death:
And if Christ had not risen from the dead, or have broken the bands of death that the grave should have no victory, and that death should have no sting, there could have been no resurrection. (Mosiah 16:7.)
All of this is to appease the demands of God’s justice. And what does justice demand? Justice demands that everything broken be fixed:
I say unto thee, my son, that the plan of restoration is requisite with the justice of God; for it is requisite that all things should be restored to their proper order. Behold, it is requisite and just, according to the power and resurrection of Christ, that the soul of man should be restored to its body, and that every part of the body should be restored to itself. (Alma 41:2.)
If you broke Father’s priceless Faberge egg, it is not enough that you feel sorry for what you did, and that you confess your sin, and that you ask for forgiveness, and that you covenant never to break any more eggs. All that is well and good, but the egg is still broken. Justice also requires that the egg be restored whole again. This is why restitution is part of the repentance process.
After we are dead, we will be brought before the tribunal of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, for judgment as to whether we will get into heaven, and if so, what reward we will get. Everything previously given to us must be present. If we return without our bodies, having lost them forever, we will become dead forever—for a living soul is a spirit plus a body, and not just a spirit alone—and we will become just like the devil, to be cast off forever just like he will be:
For as death hath passed upon all men, to fulfil the merciful plan of the great Creator, there must needs be a power of resurrection, and the resurrection must needs come unto man by reason of the fall; and the fall came by reason of transgression; and because man became fallen they were cut off from the presence of the Lord.Wherefore, it must needs be an infinite atonement—save it should be an infinite atonement this corruption could not put on incorruption. Wherefore, the first judgment which came upon man must needs have remained to an endless duration. And if so, this flesh must have laid down to rot and to crumble to its mother earth, to rise no more.O the wisdom of God, his mercy and grace! For behold, if the flesh should rise no more our spirits must become subject to that angel who fell from before the presence of the Eternal God, and became the devil, to rise no more.And our spirits must have become like unto him, and we become devils, angels to a devil, to be shut out from the presence of our God, and to remain with the father of lies, in misery, like unto himself; (2 Ne. 9:6-9.)
When we were spirits living in heaven, having never received a body, we could remain in heaven as a naked spirit, but once we left heaven and came to earth, we were given a bodily garment. You have to come back to the heavenly gates dressed in the bodily garment, otherwise you cannot pass through those gates, for the bodily garment is required to be worn in heaven by all those to whom it was handed out, just as the wedding garment in the parable of the wedding supper was required to be worn by those attending the wedding:
And Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables, and said, The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son, and sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come. Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage. But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise: and the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them. But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy. Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage. So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests.
And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: and he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen. (Matthew 22:1-14.)
If you are not found wearing the bodily garment, to outer darkness you go. There are no exceptions to this rule. Our bodies must be re-connected to our spirits, so that we can give an accounting of what we did in them, but as none of us has power to get our bodies back, Christ had to do this for us.
The physical body, then, is absolutely necessary. We need it restored back to the spirit, otherwise, we can’t be saved. But Jesus can’t give us back a mortal body, because once we get our bodies back we will be brought into the presence of God, for judgment, and no mortal flesh can survive in the presence of God:
Wherefore, how great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth, that they may know that there is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah, who layeth down his life according to the flesh, and taketh it again by the power of the Spirit, that he may bring to pass the resurrection of the dead, being the first that should rise. (2 Ne. 2:8.)
Mortal flesh disintegrates in the presence of God, therefore God needs to give us a body that can endure His presence.
Now, there are two types of bodies that can withstand the presence of God: a translated body and a resurrected body, but only a resurrected body can bring the wicked into God’s presence without it flying apart, for a translated body is only a body of sanctified flesh. In other words, it is a body cleansed every whit from its iniquity, and thus it can abide the presence of God:
…and they [the three translated Nephite disciples] were sanctified in the flesh, that they were holy… (3 Ne. 28:39.)
Should an unclean man be changed from mortality to a translated state, the iniquity of the man would immediately change his body back to the mortal state, for sin works death (mortality):
For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sin, which were not according to the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death….Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin by that which is good working death in me; that sin, by the commandment, might become exceeding sinful. (JST Rom. 7:5,13.)
Translation doesn’t stick on unclean people. Only those who have been cleansed every whit of their iniquity, like Nephi was, can be translated:
And now it came to pass that according to our record, and we know our record to be true, for behold, it was a just man who did keep the record—for he truly did many miracles in the name of Jesus; and there was not any man who could do a miracle in the name of Jesus save he were cleansed every whit from his iniquity— (3 Ne. 8:1.)
Translated bodies are changeable bodies, and thus are unusable for the day of judgment:
And in this state they were to remain until the judgment day of Christ; and at that day they were to receive a greater change, and to be received into the kingdom of the Father to go no more out, but to dwell with God eternally in the heavens. (3 Ne. 28:40.)
For this reason, the redemption of Christ resurrects all men (instead of translating them), for resurrected bodies are permanent bodies. They don’t change. They lock the person into whatever is their final, resurrected state, be it good or bad. The resurrection, then, is the official end of a person’s second estate and they then resume living in eternity, to inherit endless life or endless damnation:
And we see that death comes upon mankind, yea, the death which has been spoken of by Amulek, which is the temporal death; nevertheless there was a space granted unto man in which he might repent; therefore this life became a probationary state; a time to prepare to meet God; a time to prepare for that endless state which has been spoken of by us, which is after the resurrection of the dead. (Alma 12:24.)
If they be good, to the resurrection of endless life and happiness; and if they be evil, to the resurrection of endless damnation, being delivered up to the devil, who hath subjected them, which is damnation— (Mosiah 16:11.)
The resurrection brings all men, both the righteous and the wicked, back into the presence of God, and this is the first part of God’s redemption:
And because of the redemption of man, which came by Jesus Christ, they are brought back into the presence of the Lord; yea, this is wherein all men are redeemed, because the death of Christ bringeth to pass the resurrection, which bringeth to pass a redemption from an endless sleep, from which sleep all men shall be awakened by the power of God when the trump shall sound; and they shall come forth, both small and great, and all shall stand before his bar, being redeemed and loosed from this eternal band of death, which death is a temporal death. (Mormon 9:13.)
This resurrection is the restoration of which the prophets speak:
Yea, this bringeth about the restoration of those things of which has been spoken by the mouths of the prophets.The soul shall be restored to the body, and the body to the soul; yea, and every limb and joint shall be restored to its body; yea, even a hair of the head shall not be lost; but all things shall be restored to their proper and perfect frame.And now, my son, this is the restoration of which has been spoken by the mouths of the prophets— (Alma 40:22-24.)
This first part of the plan of salvation, redemption, restoration, happiness—
For man is spirit. The elements are eternal, and spirit and element, inseparably connected, receive a fulness of joy; and when separated, man cannot receive a fulness of joy. (D&C 93:33-34.)
—and mercy is brought to pass by Jesus Christ, who is God’s Right Arm, even His Only Begotten Son, according to the flesh. It deals with the problem of man being unclean and cut off from God forever and solves that problem by offering mankind the opportunity to make themselves clean in the blood of Christ, thus preparing them to meet their Maker, and brings all of them back into the presence of God, completely restored in permanent, resurrected bodies, so that they can be judged and receive their inheritance. But there is also a second part to God’s plan which solves a different problem.
The second part of the plan
For this problem, the following question needed to be answered:
How can the mortal and imperfect condition—which came upon all things because of the Fall of Adam and the shortcomings of mankind—be restored back to the pre-Fall condition of perfection and transfiguration, so that God may come back down into the presence of man, in all His glory, without all things disintegrating, to dwell on earth with man for a thousand years?
Here we have the problem of God’s Second Coming, which will cause all mortal things to disintegrate. Things are reversed: the second part doesn’t concern itself with getting man into God’s presence in heaven (and how to survive that), but of how to survive God coming into man’s presence here on earth, and dwelling here for a thousand years with us, as we live out our second estate (the probationary state). For that, all things need to be translated. (As resurrection doesn’t deal with the second estate—for resurrection marks the end of the second estate—it is insufficient to deal with this problem.)
Nevertheless, he that endureth in faith and doeth my will, the same shall overcome, and shall receive an inheritance upon the earth when the day of transfiguration shall come; when the earth shall be transfigured, even according to the pattern which was shown unto mine apostles upon the mount; of which account the fulness ye have not yet received. (D&C 63:20-12.)
This part of the plan of redemption redeems men and all other created things from the translation-to-mortal transition effect of the Fall, reverting the planet back to its pre-Fall state of translation. It accomplishes all of this during this very life, and not after the death of the body. It enacts the Father’s mercy in that all the vicarious works that God has commanded to be done, get done, to full completion and perfectly, causing all the righteous to become one and perfect and cleansed every whit, fully preparing them for receiving translated bodies. It causes the righteous among mankind to receive a fulness of joy, in this life, and not just in the hereafter, for God’s Son will personally reign here and this planet will become like heaven. And it causes all those who are sealed and translated, etc., to be saved. Thus, it is as much a part of the plan of happiness, salvation, redemption, mercy and restoration as is the other part.
Whereas the first part was enacted by the Savior, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, He being a part of the Godhead, which was necessary so that man would not have to suffer for their own sins, God Himself suffering for them—
And moreover, I say unto you, that salvation doth not come by the law alone; and were it not for the atonement, which God himself shall make for the sins and iniquities of his people, that they must unavoidably perish, notwithstanding the law of Moses. (Mosiah 13:28.)
—the second part could not be enacted by God Himself, for God’s justice required that the necessary works be done by man. This is because the steps of repentance—
1) Recognize – acknowledge that you did something wrong,
2) Remorse – feel sorrow for what you did,
3) Confession – confess your wrongs to all the offended parties,
4) Apology – express regret and sorrow for what you did, 5) Restitution – seek to right all the wrongs you’ve done,
6) Ask forgiveness – after performing all of the above, ask forgiveness of the offended parties,
7) Abandon the behavior – never do the offenses again.
—have an all important fifth step, requiring that the offending party make a full restitution, otherwise there is no forgiveness. Therefore Jesus Christ would remain in the heavens until that full restitution, or restitution of all things, occurred, so that the righteous among mankind could be entirely forgiven and not cursed and destroyed at His Second Coming:
And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. (Acts 3:21.)
The requirement of restitution meant that all of the righteous who sought forgiveness needed to do their part in making the necessary restitution come to pass, according to what was in their power. But as the entire group combined couldn’t perform the whole work, nor did they have sufficient faith and power to do the parts requiring miracles, God needed to send someone down from heaven who was mighty and strong and powerful, someone who was not a part of the Godhead, who would come down and perform all the works in behalf of the rest of mankind, acting as part of the group of men. This individual would act in the authority of the Father, just as Jesus did, but unlike Jesus he could not be part of the Godhead:
Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared. Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him. (Exodus 23:20-21.)
Additionally this man would have a two-fold purpose: 1) getting the righteous and all their possessions prepared to survive the advent of Jesus and 2) getting the wicked prepared to be destroyed by it. This latter purpose would be necessary because just as no unclean thing can enter the kingdom of heaven, so when the earth is turned into heaven by the end-time servant when he prepares it to receive its heavenly king, Jesus Christ, there can be no unclean thing here. Also, the restitution of all things had to apply equally to both the righteous and the wicked, but whereas the righteous would be restored to the pre-Fall integrated state of translation, the wicked would be restored to the pre-Creation state of disintegration, so that they would become entirely annihilated.
This final purpose, in particular, of preparing the wicked for destruction, disqualified everyone in heaven and on earth from the position, that is, all the saving angels and all the saving men, and even the saving God Himself—(for, as explained above, Jehovah Himself could not perform these works, except vicariously through a servant who was not a part of the Godhead)—except for one individual who was particularly disposed by nature towards destruction.
The wicked always die in the presence of God
And he said unto Moses, Thou canst not see my face at this time, lest mine anger be kindled against thee also, and I destroy thee, and thy people; for there shall no man among them see me at this time, and live, for they are exceeding sinful. And no sinful man hath at any time, neither shall there be any sinful man at any time, that shall see my face and live. (JST Exodus 33:20.)
But now mine own eyes have beheld God; but not my natural, but my spiritual eyes, for my natural eyes could not have beheld; for I should have withered and died in his presence; but his glory was upon me; and I beheld his face, for I was transfigured before him. (Moses 1:11.)
For behold, I could not look upon God, except his glory should come upon me, and I were transfigured before him. But I can look upon thee in the natural man. Is it not so, surely? (Moses 1:14.)
These scriptures indicate that neither mortal men, nor sinful men, can see the face of God and live. A mortal body needs to be transfigured (temporarily changed into the translated state) in order to see God’s face without perishing, but if the person is sinful, the translated body reverts to its mortal configuration and perishes anyway. Translation only sticks on righteous people who have been cleansed every whit and are perfect before God. Even a resurrected body cannot keep a person alive in God’s presence if they are unclean, for those who remain in their sins, being filthy still, will rise in the resurrection, behold God’s face in their filthiness, and then experience the second death.
In the first part of the plan, the wicked are brought forth through the resurrection (a permanent bodily configuration), into the presence of God in heaven and then they experience destruction via the second death. In the second part of plan, God is brought down into the presence of our translated planet and all the translated things upon it, but the wicked, translation not having worked upon them, are still in a mortal state, and so they then experience destruction via the first death.
Translation is used for the second part of the plan so as to keep the second state (the probationary state) intact, and also so that the bodies of the wicked will disintegrate at the Second Coming, fulfilling the prophecies of them becoming dust under the feet of the righteous. If they had resurrected bodies at the Second Coming, they would experience the second death and these prophecies would fail.
The men who currently hold the keys of the kingdom of heaven administer the ordinances based upon their perception of our current spiritual state. Those who exercise faith in Christ and repent get both their names and their works written in the earthly priesthood records; and through Peter’s keys of the kingdom of heaven those names and works are also recorded in the heavenly book of life. But should a man return to his sins, become inactive in the church and the church lose all contact and awareness of him and his return to iniquity, the man’s name and works remain on both the earthly priesthood records and the heavenly record, even if that man ends up dying in his sins, having entirely rejected his God. A person’s name and works are only blotted out if he or she is known to be a covenant breaker who refuses to repent.
Now, the final spiritual state is the instant of resurrection. Given that no one who holds the priesthood keys has power to know the final state, the ones who hold the priesthood keys leave it up to God to make the records match the conduct.
There are three things that are required for salvation: the power of the atonement and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the ordinances of the gospel and our own personal conduct. All three things must perfectly match. Our covenants bind us to Christ, which allows Him to save us, but our conduct must also be in keeping with the covenants. If we keep our covenants, we become a truly penitent person, which Christ can justifiably save, keeping the righteousness (justice) of the plan of salvation intact. If we do not keep our covenants, we remain in our sins, yet the covenants still bind us to Christ, which causes Him to save the wicked, not the penitent, thus destroying the entire plan of salvation, for Christ cannot justifiably save an impenitent person. If He were to try to save the impenitent, He would cease to be Christ. Should such a thing happen, the power of the atonement would be undone and all things would be destroyed. The conditions of salvation, then, are faith in Jesus Christ and repentance, which means that our conduct must match the covenants, otherwise God becomes an unjust God and all things cease to exist.
God’s plan for the perfection of the records
At the time of the end, God had always intended to send His emissary of justice (the Josephite), whose sense of justice was as acute as His own, and this servant would have a right to the priesthood and keys of the kingdom of heaven:
What is the root of Jesse spoken of in the 10th verse of the 11th chapter?
Behold, thus saith the Lord, it is 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. (D&C 113:5-6.)
Once in possession of all the necessary keys, the Josephite then would go about making a correction of errors, setting the house of God in full order:
And it shall come to pass that I, the Lord God, will send one mighty and strong, holding the scepter of power in his hand, clothed with light for a covering, whose mouth shall utter words, eternal words; while his bowels shall be a fountain of truth, to set in order the house of God, and to arrange by lot the inheritances of the saints whose names are found, and the names of their fathers, and of their children, enrolled in the book of the law of God; (D&C 85:7.)
And again, let all the records be had in order, that they may be put in the archives of my holy temple, to be held in remembrance from generation to generation, saith the Lord of Hosts. (D&C 127:9.)
He will not alter the records according to the current spiritual state of the people, but according to their final state. He will have the gifts of the discerning of spirits and the gift to prophecy and the gift of the word of knowledge, to such an extent, that he will be able to perceive the final spiritual state of each and every person who ever lived, or who lives, or who ever will live, allowing him to make out the records perfectly, so that the earthly priesthood records (and through the keys, the heavenly book of life) and the final spiritual state of each person are an exact match.
Now, there is this idea among latter-day saints that the ordinances guarantee the final state, taken from this scripture:
Verily, verily, I say unto you, if a man marry a wife according to my word, and they are sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, according to mine appointment, and he or she shall commit any sin or transgression of the new and everlasting covenant whatever, and all manner of blasphemies, and if they commit no murder wherein they shed innocent blood, yet they shall come forth in the first resurrection, and enter into their exaltation; but they shall be destroyed in the flesh, and shall be delivered unto the buffetings of Satan unto the day of redemption, saith the Lord God. (D&C 132:26.)
If you’ve received all the ordinances of salvation and exaltation, being sealed in the temple to a spouse for time and all eternity, as well as having received all the other ordinances, and then commit all sorts of sins, but do not shed innocent blood, and then you die in your sins, do you enter into your exaltation? Everyone reads the above scripture and says, “Yes. It says they will enter into their exaltation, so they will enter into it.”
Others read the above scripture and say, “Wait a moment. It says IF you are sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, so that must mean that God still has a say-so in it later. If He decides you are worthy, then the sealing becomes sealed forever.”
Still others reply to this, “No. The sealing of the Holy Spirit of promise isn’t something separate from the actual sealing given in the temple. So, it cannot be that. It must mean exactly what it says: you are guaranteed exaltation once you get these ordinances, unless you shed innocent blood.” But the sense of justice of the people who think the Holy Spirit of promise is separate bugs them and they refuse to accept such a premise.
Who is right and who is wrong? The people who state that the ordinance itself is the Holy Spirit of promise are the ones who are right. As long as that sealing is intact and you haven’t shed innocent blood, you are guaranteed to enter into your exaltation. Nevertheless, there is yet another variable to take into account: the ordinances do not become permanently written in the books until the Josephite comes forth and sets the records in order.
The Josephite is completely unbiased, for he is God’s arm of justice and justice is blind. He doesn’t care whether you have had an ordinance or not. All he looks at is your spiritual state at the very end. If his sense of justice indicates that you, in your final state, will be worthy of a particular ordinance, he will write that ordinance in. If you have received that ordinance and it is on the books, but he perceives that in your final state you are unworthy of that particular ordinance, because you didn’t repent in time, he will blot the work out of the books. And so it goes with everyone’s name and all the works, writing in the names and works of those who deserve to have their names and works written in, and blotting out the names and works of those who don’t deserve to have their names and works written in, all according to what he sees in your final state.
Your current spiritual state will be of no importance to the Josephite. You can think, “I have had the sealing ordinances and have not shed innocent blood. It doesn’t matter what sins I do; eventually I will repent, according to the guarantee of the ordinance, and despite whatever problems my sins cause me in this life, in the next life they will be eventually remitted and I’ll enter into my exaltation.” But this is not so.
Repentance must be done in this life, for if we wait until the next life, it becomes much, much harder to repent and to obtain the same blessings that were offered to us in this life. In other words, let’s say you procrastinate your repentance and then die; in the next life, because of the difficulty of repentance, whatever degree of repentance you will obtain, and thus reward, may or may not be to the same degree you could have obtained had you repented in this life, before the instant of your death.
This means, for example, for those who are sealed for time and all eternity in the temple, as married couples, that they must repent of whatever sin or transgression of the new and everlasting covenant of marriage before they die, for if they do not, there is a chance that they won’t be able to attain such a depth of repentance in the afterlife, before they are resurrected, and then the Josephite, looking forward and seeing that full repentance has not been achieved, will merely blot out the sealing, undoing it, making it so that it never existed.
What constitutes as a sin or transgression of the new and everlasting covenant of marriage?
“…and he shall rule over thee…” (Gen. 3:16)
This keeps the covenant:
The husband rules over the wife.
This sins or transgresses against the covenant:
The wife rules over the husband; the husband doesn’t rule over the wife; the husband refuses to rule over the wife; the husband isn’t allowed to rule over the wife; the wife refuses to be ruled over by the husband; the wife doesn’t allow the husband to rule over her; the wife isn’t ruled over by the husband; the husband is ruled over by the wife; the husband allows the wife to rule over him; the wife demands to rule over the husband; the husband demands to be ruled over by the wife; the husband and the wife establish an equal partnership in which nobody rules and all things are done by joint consensus; and so on and so forth.
Thus the marriage covenant is patterned after the “just king” model. It is a kingdom like in Esther chapter one. The Josephite, then, looking upon a married couple, whether they are sealed in the temple or not, will look at the final state of the couple, and if the two people abode by the new and everlasting covenant of marriage and have repented of their sins by the time of their resurrection, he will write their names in and write in the ordinance of the sealing of the Holy Spirit of promise, and then those two people, even if they have never married for time and all eternity in life, will find that in the day of resurrection they are now eternally married to each other.
On the other hand, if he sees a temple married couple, and he perceives that by the resurrection the wife has not repented of breaking the covenant, whereas the husband has, he will blot out the wife’s ordinance and write another woman’s name in her place, and the man will come forth and call for his wife and discover that it is someone else, who is worthy of the ordinance, and the two of them will enter into their exaltation while the woman will find that she is not called forth as a wife, for the records do not show her ever having been married, and she will not receive exaltation.
The same goes for a man who breaks the covenant and doesn’t repent by the resurrection, whereas the wife keeps the covenant even until the resurrection. The man will find that he has no wife and no exaltation, whereas the woman will find that she is the wife of another man and she will enter into her exaltation with the other man.
The current state of the records is immaterial
To the Josephite, the records, as they are currently constituted, are of no use to him, for they are made out only according to the limited perceptions of the humans who possessed the keys before him, which were according to the current spiritual state they perceived. Given that one’s spiritual state can change from time to time, the only state of importance is the final state, for that will be the eternal state, and so that is the state that the Josephite will base his assessment on.
The most dangerous man in existence
Given this power to alter all the records, both those of the past, present and future, the Josephite will be the most dangerous man in existence. If he blots out your name, you don’t get saved. Those whose names aren’t written in the earthly priesthood records don’t have their names written in the heavenly book of life, and thus they don’t receive eternal life, but instead receive the second death, to be cast out into the lake of fire and brimstone at the day of judgment by the destroying angel, Abaddon. The Josephite, then, judges all things, and decides who he will destroy, and what reward each person will receive, by writing in the works that pertain to the various rewards available.
God can entrust nobody but the Josephite with this very important job, because any other angel or servant of God would be tempted to write the names of the wicked in the books, for penitent people such as holy angels and saints cannot bear to have anyone suffer the pains of a damned soul. Therefore, should God give to any other angel or servant power to make out the books permanently, as the Josephite will have, that angel or servant would cause the destruction of all things because they would end up writing in the names of the wicked, so that nobody would get cast into the lake of fire and brimstone and nobody would cease to exist, thus frustrating the plan of God’s justice. But as the Josephite is, essentially, merciless, and actually enjoys his job of destroying souls, he has no qualms about blotting out a person’s name eternally if they deserve it; therefore to him goes the job of filling out the books.
The enemies of the Josephite, then, not understanding how dangerous he is, thinking the man can only affect the here and now, this life only, and not the hereafter, or the afterlife and eternal state, fight him. But the proper response to a man who wields such godly power is to grovel before him, as I have stated before on this blog, so that he writes your name and all the works of the gospel for you in the books, so that you obtain every blessing available.
Unlike the current leaders who possess keys, who sometimes write a person’s name in, and also some works, and then later, based upon altered behavior, blot out some works or blot out a person’s name, and then later write the names and works back in, according to more altered behavior, the Josephite’s ordering of the books will be the permanent record. There will be no alterations once he gets started writing and blotting. What he writes in, stays written. What he blots out, stays blotted out. And if he has cursed you so that nobody can write your name in, making you accursed, there will be no power on earth or in heaven to get you saved. His decision will be final.
What this means for us
We ought not to become complacent in keeping our covenants. As long as we are continually striving to keep all of the covenants we have made, aligning our lives with the scriptural principles as best we can, then on the day of our death, having fully repented of our sins, we will find that our spiritual state in the instant of our death, being worthy of the ordinances, will match our spiritual state in the instant of our resurrection, and we will leave this life firm in the hope of our salvation and exaltation. But if we become complacent, thinking that we don’t have to exactly conform to God’s words and his commandments and our covenants, and we procrastinate the day of our repentance, we might find that our spiritual state in the instant of our death does not match our spiritual state in the instant of our resurrection, and we will find that what we receive in the day of resurrection as far as reward goes is vastly different and far less than what we thought we were going to get in the instant we died, all because the Josephite has “set in order” the records, and made them match or conform to our spiritual state in the instant of resurrection.
For those who are in an unequal marriage, in which one or more of the parties are not keeping the marriage covenant, the only thing that matters is that you keep that covenant. The Josephite will only judge individually, and so whoever is striving to keep the covenant, despite opposition from a spouse, gets the sealing, and whoever isn’t keeping the covenant, gets made as if they never were sealed.
A Word of Wisdom, for the benefit of the council of high priests, assembled in Kirtland, and the church, and also the saints in Zion—to be sent greeting; not by commandment or constraint, but by revelation and the word of wisdom, showing forth the order and will of God in the temporal salvation of all saints in the last days—given for a principle with promise, adapted to the capacity of the weak and the weakest of all saints, who are or can be called saints. (D&C 89:1-3.)
The Word of Wisdom is for the temporal salvation of all saints in the last days, but it has two applications:
Behold, verily, thus saith the Lord unto you: In consequence of evils and designs which do and will exist in the hearts of conspiring men in the last days, I have warned you, and forewarn you, by giving unto you this word of wisdom by revelation—that inasmuch as any man drinketh wine or strong drink among you, behold it is not good, neither meet in the sight of your Father, only in assembling yourselves together to offer up your sacraments before him. (D&C 89:4-5.)
The warning is in consequence of the evils and designs which do exist in the hearts of conspiring men in the last days, from the time the revelation was first given to Joseph Smith (February 27, 1833) to the time of the Elias who restores all things. The forewarning, however, is in consequence of the evils and designs which will exist in the hearts of conspiring men in the last days, which will be during the end times.
When Elias gets out of his box, he will initiate a church reset. This will reset the Word of Wisdom back to being merely a word of wisdom “to be sent greeting; not by commandment or constraint.” Thus it will no longer be binding upon the saints.
Moses as a repeating pattern
After his reset, Elias will go away for a time, perhaps even for a long time, to his hidden kingdom, to enjoy himself and to let the wheat and tares ripen. We will then get a repeat scenario of when Moses went away:
And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and gat him up into the mount: and Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights. (Exodus 24:18.)
While Moses was up in the mount, talking with God for such a long time, the people down below started to wonder why he was delayed so long:
And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. (Exodus 32:1.)
Aaron then made them a golden calf, had them get naked and dance and sing and worship the idol, as they engaged in revelry.
And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To morrow is a feast to the LORD. And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play. (Exodus 32:5-6.)
When Moses and Joshua came down the mountain, they heard the noise of the huge party the idolaters were making:
And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony were in his hand: the tables were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written. And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables. And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said unto Moses, There is a noise of war in the camp. And he said, It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome: but the noise of them that sing do I hear. (Exodus 32:15-18.)
Moses then blew his top, or as the record says, his “anger waxed hot.” He then made the idolaters drink the idol (which likely made them sick) and ordered them killed:
And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses’ anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount. And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strawed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it. (Exodus 32:19-20.)
And when Moses saw that the people were naked; (for Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies:) then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the LORD’s side? let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him. And he said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbour. And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men. (Exodus 32:25-28.)
As with Moses, so with Elias
Elias, before he goes away, will cause a golden age of prosperity to dawn upon mankind, the likes of which modern society has never before seen. As the church will also be reset by Elias before he leaves, the Word of Wisdom will be a non-binding principle, making the people free to drink wine, strong drinks, mild drinks, hot drinks, smoke tobacco and so on.
In his absence a great apostasy will ensue, during which the wicked tares will take the abundance of their goods and throw continual parties, eating and drinking to excess, for the valleys will be fat with produce and plenty of animals to slaughter and the people will be engorged with riches:
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! (Isaiah 28:1.)
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. (Isaiah 28:7-8.)
And so they will become drunkards engaging in revelry and riotous behavior. At some point, Elias will come back, and like Moses, his anger will wax hot by what he sees:
Behold, the Lord hath 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. (Isaiah 28:2.)
Unlike Moses’s anger, which got appeased, the anger of Elias will be like a raging volcano, unable to calm down, and he will send forth a plague upon the people, a desolating scourge which will be an overflowing sickness:
For a desolating scourge shall go forth among the inhabitants of the earth, and shall continue to be poured out from time to time, if they repent not, until the earth is empty, and the inhabitants thereof are consumed away and utterly destroyed by the brightness of my coming. (D&C 5:19.)
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. (D&C 45:31.)
The wicked will attempt to protect themselves from the desolating scourge by quarantining themselves in above ground places of refuge and below ground caverns and facilities, but the destroyer will send forth hail and storm to destroy the places of refuge and a flood of waters to flush them out of their underground hiding spots:
Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem. Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves: therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste. 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 ye shall be trodden down by it. From the time that it goeth 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. (Isaiah 28:14-19.)
The difference between Moses and Elias
Again, Moses’s anger was eventually appeased. Not so with Elias. This sickness will be an ongoing event, going out day and night, from the moment Elias returns and blows his stack, until Jesus comes back and the wicked of the world are entirely destroyed. It will be a perpetual curse from that day forward until there are no more wicked. Only then will Elias’s anger be appeased.
Elias’s anger, then, is patterned after God the Father, and not after Moses. When the children of Israel worshiped the golden calf, God’s first instinct was to allow His anger to wax hot so that he could destroy the whole of them and make a new nation out of Moses:
And the LORD said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people: Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation. (Exodus 32:9-10.)
In other words, the anger of the Lord is manifested by the destroyer acting. The destroyer does not discriminate, therefore if the anger of the Lord would have waxed hot, the now angry destroyer would have come down and killed every last one of them, both idolater and innocent bystander, both men, women and children, because the principle the destroyer acts upon is: wipe the slate clean and start over again.
But Moses intervened on behalf of the children of Israel, trying to keep them alive. Despite that intervention, the destroyer had already begun to become angry, requiring, at the very least, that those who refused to repent be killed, which would appease the angel’s anger:
And the Lord said unto Moses, If they will repent of the evil which they have done, I will spare them, and turn away my fierce wrath; but, behold, thou shalt execute judgment upon all that will not repent of this evil this day. Therefore, see thou do this thing that I have commanded thee, or I will execute all that which I had thought to do unto my people. (JST Exodus 32:14.)
The whole plan of salvation, then, is simply a way to appease the anger of the destroyer, so that he doesn’t act. Once God begins to get angry, the destroying angel also starts to get angry, and as he is the executor of God’s wrath, once he gets angry, he begins to act,and that’s the problem.
While the destroying angel is in the heavens, things are done so as to appease his (and thus God’s) anger, in order to save as many souls as possible. But once he comes to earth during his mortal probation, he must be incited to more anger than he’s ever before felt and then unleashed upon the populace.
Now it needs to be this way, for of all the emotional states, anger is the most energetic. Because the end-time work is infinite in scope, the destroyer needs all the energy he can muster to accomplish it. Thus it is through anger that the restoration of all things takes place. God allows His destroyer’s anger to rage endlessly so that the righteous get fully protected and the wicked get fully destroyed:
For the LORD shall rise up as in mount Perazim, he shall be wroth 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 ye 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. (Isaiah 28:21-22.)
God protects His people from the destroyer’s wrath
Just as God provided a means by which the children of Israel could survive the wrath of the destroyer, namely, the Passover, so God has provided a means to the Gentiles saints whereby they will be able to survive the coming desolating scourge:
And all saints who remember to keep and do these sayings, walking in obedience to the commandments, shall receive health in their navel and marrow to their bones; and shall find wisdom and great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures; and shall run and not be weary, and shall walk and not faint. And I, the Lord, give unto them a promise, that the destroying angel shall pass by them, as the children of Israel, and not slay them. Amen. (D&C 89:18-21.)
This, then, is the actual end-time purpose of the Word of Wisdom.
LDS Anarchy 
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