The pre-mortal Josephite
We know that Satan, who is the devil, was the angel Lucifer in the heavens before his fall. And we know that Adam is the archangel Michael (per the scriptures and the temple endowment), that Noah is the angel Gabriel (per Joseph Smith)
While speaking in 1839 to members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and some Seventies prior to their leaving for missionary service, the Prophet Joseph Smith said: “Noah, who is Gabriel, … stands next in authority to Adam in the Priesthood; he was called of God to this office, and was the father of all living in his day, and to him was given the dominion. These men held keys first on earth, and then in heaven.” (Quoted from History of the Church, 3:386. Cited in Noah, The Great Preacher of Righteousness by Joseph B. Romney, Ensign, February 1998.)
and that Jesus Christ is the Father’s Angel of mercy, the Firstborn. But who is Joseph-Nephi?
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. (D&C 89:21)
Joseph-Nephi is the destroying angel, who is also simply known as the destroyer:
For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the LORD will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you. (Exodus 12:23)
The section heading of Doctrine and Covenants section 61 states:
Revelation given through Joseph Smith the Prophet, on the bank of the Missouri River, McIlwaine’s Bend, August 12, 1831. On their return trip to Kirtland, the Prophet and ten elders had traveled down the Missouri River in canoes. On the third day of the journey, many dangers were experienced. Elder William W. Phelps, in a daylight vision, saw the destroyer riding in power upon the face of the waters.
Then there are these verses of the section, which speak of the very same destroyer of the Passover:
Behold, verily thus saith the Lord unto you, O ye elders of my church, who are assembled upon this spot, whose sins are now forgiven you, for I, the Lord, forgive sins, and am merciful unto those who confess their sins with humble hearts; but verily I say unto you, that it is not needful for this whole company of mine elders to be moving swiftly upon the waters, whilst the inhabitants on either side are perishing in unbelief. Nevertheless, I suffered it that ye might bear record; behold, there are many dangers upon the waters, and more especially hereafter; for I, the Lord, have decreed in mine anger many destructions upon the waters; yea, and especially upon these waters. Nevertheless, all flesh is in mine hand, and he that is faithful among you shall not perish by the waters.
…
Behold, I, the Lord, in the beginning blessed the waters; but in the last days, by the mouth of my servant John, I cursed the waters. Wherefore, the days will come that no flesh shall be safe upon the waters. And it shall be said in days to come that none is able to go up to the land of Zion upon the waters, but he that is upright in heart. And, as I, the Lord, in the beginning cursed the land, even so in the last days have I blessed it, in its time, for the use of my saints, that they may partake the fatness thereof. And now I give unto you a commandment that what I say unto one I say unto all, that you shall forewarn your brethren concerning these waters, that they come not in journeying upon them, lest their faith fail and they are caught in snares; I, the Lord, have decreed, and the destroyer rideth upon the face thereof, and I revoke not the decree. (D&C 61:2-6,14-19)
The destroying angel was specifically created, and endowed with power, to destroy all things, top to bottom, which are found in God’s kingdom:
Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster [the destroyer] to destroy. (Isaiah 54:16)
Thus, he is the Father’s royal executioner.
In the heaven’s above, the destroyer was separate from all the other angels, reporting to no one but the Father Himself. This angel was mightier and stronger and more powerful than all the rest of the angels combined. Only God (the Father, the Son or the Holy Ghost) is more powerful then he.
Mormon theology gives the angelic hierarchy as being: 1st, God the Father; 2nd, the Firstborn; 3rd, Michael the archangel, then all the other angels below Michael, beginning with Gabriel. The destroying angel, however, is not a part of that hierarchy, and so for him it goes: 1st, God the Father; 2nd, the destroying angel; then everyone else (including Christ) below him.
God has two arms
When the Father expresses mercy and salvation and creation, He does so through Christ and Michael and Gabriel and the rest of the angelic hierarchy. But when the Father expresses judgment and justice and destruction and death and curses and scattering, He does so through the destroying angel. These two angels, Jesus and the destroyer, represent God’s two arms, His arm of mercy and His arm of justice.
The demonic destroyer is patterned after the divine destroyer
Lucifer, “an angel of God who was in authority in the presence of God” (D&C 76:25), who fell from heaven and became the devil and Satan, desired to be the Only Begotten Son of God according to the flesh, instead of Jesus the Firstborn, but he was denied that position, and being thus denied the opportunity of becoming the Savior and Redeemer and Messiah of mankind, in his rage he discarded Christ, the Father’s Angel of mercy, as his chosen pattern, and looked instead to the Father’s angel of destruction, even to the divine destroying angel, as his pattern, patterning himself from that point on after that individual, becoming a demonic destroying angel.
And just as the divine destroying angel (who destroys God’s enemies) is called the destroyer:
Behold, the destroyer I have sent forth to destroy and lay waste mine enemies; and not many years hence they shall not be left to pollute mine heritage, and to blaspheme my name upon the lands which I have consecrated for the gathering together of my saints. (D&C 105:15)
so the demonic destroying angel (who is God’s enemy that seeks to destroy God’s works) is likewise called the destroyer:
And behold, the watchman upon the tower would have seen the enemy while he was yet afar off; and then ye could have made ready and kept the enemy from breaking down the hedge thereof, and saved my vineyard from the hands of the destroyer. (D&C 101:54)
Now, the devilish plan was simple: the demonic destroyer just needed to cause people to die in their sins, so that they became filthy, and then the divine destroyer would do the rest. Nothing in the Father’s kingdom was immune to the destroyer’s destructive power, therefore even God Himself could be destroyed. All the devil needed to do was get the destroyer’s sense of justice kindled and focused towards whatever the devil wanted destroyed, and the nature of the destroyer was such that he would end up annihilating it. Basically the plan was to use God’s own rules, and His own designated destroyer, against Him. The stakes were high, though, for if the devil failed, this same destroyer had power to, and would, annihilate the devil and his followers. The gamble nearly backfired right from the start because after the rebellion, while still in the heavens, the destroyer nearly ended the existence of the devil and the one-third.
The destroyer’s first employment
The earliest recorded actions of the destroyer that we have in our current scriptural canon were mentioned by the prophet Isaiah:
Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Art thou not it that hath cut Rahab, and wounded the dragon? (Isaiah 51:9)
Rahab in the above scripture, according to my understanding, is the one-third of the hosts of heaven that rebelled with Lucifer, and the dragon is the fallen angel himself. I have taught on this blog that the one-third, as well as all those who die in their sins, are connected to the devil through chains of hell. It would appear that after the devil and his whore wife Rahab (the one-third) rebelled against God, while they were still in heaven, the destroyer rose up against them and proceeded to destroy their spirit bodies, beginning by cutting (detaching) the chains of hell that connected the one-third to the dragon, wounding the dragon. But, for some reason, the destroyer was stopped before he completed his work of annihilation. I suppose it was because the other angels were alarmed at seeing these spirits (their siblings!) annihilated before their very eyes by the destroyer, and they cried out to the Father to make him (the destroyer) stop, and so the Father ordered him to stop. Thus, the devil and the evil spirits that comprised the one-third were spared. But their eternal, immortal spirits were, nevertheless, cut and wounded, which is supposed to be impossible, showing that the destroyer has been given power to destroy everything, even immortal and eternal things.
No qualms about killing the guilty
The near destruction of Rahab and her dragon king (being spirit siblings of the destroyer, as well), shows that the destroying angel was given a healthy dose of the Father’s sense of justice, without any corresponding dose of the Son’s mercy. In other words, he’s completely merciless. He had no qualms about “cleaning up” Father’s kingdom of these now filthy things, even though they were his brother and sisters. (For more information on the “sisterhood” of Rahab, see the post, The brides of Satan, and its follow-up comments.) His intention was not to kick them out, but to eradicate them altogether. But the other angels aren’t like that. They have a sense of justice, but also the Son’s compassion and mercy. And mercy is what they wanted for these doomed souls. So, the Father stopped the destroyer’s work before completion. And it must have been the Father’s intervention, for the destroyer will only listen to and obey the Father.
Banishment substituted for destruction
Instead of employing His singular destroying angel, then, the Father employed Michael and the vast host of heaven, and together, this two-thirds group was able to overpower the dragon and his one-third group, casting them out of heaven to earth. This shows just how powerful a being the destroyer is. He alone was more than a match for the devil and the one-third (which is an infinite number of spirits), not only being able to cast them out, but able to make them entirely extinct, whereas it took the whole rest of heaven (the two-thirds) to be able to force Satan and his hosts of hell out.
During the banishment procedure, the destroyer stood and watched, without any participation on his part. Thus, to Michael and the rest went the glory of that great accomplishment.
No participation in the Creation
When Jesus formed the earth, with Michael participating, creating this world under the Father’s guidance, the destroyer stayed in the heavens, watching. He was created to destroy, not to create. In addition to the endowment, which teaches that Michael helped create this earth, we have also been taught by our leaders that all of us participated in some way in the creation of the earth. However, that cannot be entirely true, for the destroyer did not participate in any way in the creation of the earth. His expertise is strictly in demolition, not construction:
And everything that is in the world, whether it be ordained of men, by thrones, or principalities, or powers, or things of name, whatsoever they may be, that are not by me or by my word, saith the Lord, shall be thrown down, and shall not remain after men are dead, neither in nor after the resurrection, saith the Lord your God. For whatsoever things remain are by me; and whatsoever things are not by me shall be shaken and destroyed. (D&C 132:13-14)
It is the destroyer that will fulfill the above scripture by shaking and destroying every single thing that does not come under the protective power of God’s Son. But before that day—when he will hew down all the trees that have born evil fruit and toss them into the eternal fire—comes, he has already performed, and also yet will perform, many other works of destruction. Let’s review some of the past ones.
The days of Enoch
In the days of Enoch there were vast changes made to earth, such as land coming up out of the sea and mountains fleeing, etc. There were enemies of the people of God who came against them, and when that happens, and destruction goes forth from the Lord, the destroying angel is inevitably employed. Therefore these passages in the Book of Moses may have had the destroying angel involved:
And so great was the faith of Enoch that he led the people of God, and their enemies came to battle against them; and he spake the word of the Lord, and the earth trembled, and the mountains fled, even according to his command; and the rivers of water were turned out of their course; and the roar of the lions was heard out of the wilderness; and all nations feared greatly, so powerful was the word of Enoch, and so great was the power of the language which God had given him. There also came up a land out of the depth of the sea, and so great was the fear of the enemies of the people of God, that they fled and stood afar off and went upon the land which came up out of the depth of the sea. And the giants of the land, also, stood afar off; and there went forth a curse upon all people that fought against God; and from that time forth there were wars and bloodshed among them; but the Lord came and dwelt with his people, and they dwelt in righteousness. (Moses 7:13-16)
This land that came up may have later sunk down, becoming, perhaps, the legend of the lost continent of Atlantis. The destroying angel would be the one used by God to sink an entire continent, killing every last soul found upon it. Also, the destroyer is the one employed by God to send out curses.
The destroyer has a throne
Just as Jehovah has a traveling throne, which is one of those celestial objects that is classified by astronomers as a brown dwarf, so the destroying angel has a traveling, planetary throne. We don’t exactly know what kind of celestial object it is. It may be another brown dwarf, but I suspect (and will assume for the rest of this post) that it is, instead, a monstrous, planet-sized, blue comet called after himself and thus known as the destroyer.
Behold, the destroyer I have sent forth to destroy and lay waste mine enemies; and not many years hence they shall not be left to pollute mine heritage, and to blaspheme my name upon the lands which I have consecrated for the gathering together of my saints. (D&C 105:15)
Whenever really big acts of destruction are called for, the destroying angel passes by earth with his throne,
And the spoiler [the destroyer] shall come upon every city, and no city shall escape: the valley also shall perish, and the plain shall be destroyed, as the LORD hath spoken. (Jeremiah 48:8)
whereas when little or localized acts of destruction is what is required by God, then the destroying angel leaves his throne at home in the heavens.
It may be that the popular notion of comets being harbingers of doom does not come from normal-sized comets, but from this one mega-sized comet’s various passes through our solar system in the past. So destructive is this thing that it has given all comets a bad name.
The flood of Noah
If we continue making our way forward through the scriptural canon, we can see that the destroying angel and his destroyer throne have been quite active throughout history. The flood of Noah was a worldwide catastrophe that was caused by the pass-by of some massive and monstrously-sized heavenly body. It wasn’t Jehovah’s throne (the brown dwarf) that passed by, but the monstrous comet, the destroyer’s throne.
No compunction about killing innocents
Again, it needs to be understood that the destroying angel is endowed by God with a full portion of His sense of justice, without any of the normal portions of God’s mercy given to the other angels. This angel, therefore, has no qualms, whatsoever, about killing innocents, even children.
And the LORD said,
I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them….
And God said unto Noah,
The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth. (Genesis 6:7,13)
Both the wicked adults and their innocent children, as well as the innocent animals, were to be destroyed.
Now, God cannot employ His other angels for such a work, because they would all cry out, “What about the innocents!” and perhaps even revolt. The destroying angel alone can do such divine work, because his sense of justice is exactly like God’s sense of justice, but without the accompanying sense of mercy that comes of Christ. In other words, all other angels are Christlike, whereas this particular angel is not. He is representative of God’s justice, with no mercy extended to anyone.
The dividing of the earth
And unto Eber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg; for in his days was the earth divided; and his brother’s name was Joktan. (Genesis 10:25)
This event also was possibly the destroying angel’s handiwork, performed by a pass-by of his throne.
The Tower of Babel
And the LORD said,
Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.
So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth. (Genesis 11:6-9)
Who was the Father speaking to? His Angel of mercy? Nope. He was likely speaking to His angel of destruction. After all, confounding the language of people and scattering them is a curse, not a blessing. Curses are a manifestation of God’s justice, not of His mercy, and they come under the jurisdiction of the destroyer.
This tendency to confound people’s languages in order to scatter them will follow the destroying angel into his mortal probation:
And thus prophesied Joseph, saying:
Behold, that seer will the Lord bless; and they that seek to destroy him shall be confounded; for this promise, which I have obtained of the Lord, of the fruit of my loins, shall be fulfilled. (2 Nephi 3:14)
Previously on this blog I have given my understanding of the above scripture as meaning a confounding of languages, but I never gave scriptural support for that. So, I will take the time to do so now.
The 1828 Dictionary gives the following definitions of “confound,” (and also notice that one of them means to destroy) :
CONFOUND, v.t. [L., to pour out. Literally, to pour or throw together.]
1. To mingle and blend different things, so that their forms or natures cannot be distinguished; to mix in a mass or crowd, so that individuals cannot be distinguished.
2. To throw into disorder.
Let us go down, and there confound their language. Genesis 11.3. To mix or blend, so as to occasion a mistake of one thing for another.
A fluid body and a wetting liquor, because they agree in many things, are wont to be confounded.
Men may confound ideas with words.4. To perplex; to disturb the apprehension by indistinctness of ideas or words.
Men may confound each other by unintelligible terms or wrong application of words.5. To abash; to throw the mind into disorder; to cast down; to make ashamed.
Be thou confounde and ber thy shame. Ezekiel 16.
Saul confounded the Jews at Damascus. Acts 9.6. To perplex with terror; to terrify; to dismay; to astonish; to throw into consternation; to stupify with amazement.
So spake the Son of God; and Satan stood a while as mute confounded what to say.
The multitude came together and were confounded. Acts 2.7. To destroy; to overthrow.
So deep a malice to confound the race of mankind in one root.
Now, notice the text of Ether, concerning the confounding of the languages at the Tower of Babel:
And Kib was the son of Orihah, who was the son of Jared; which Jared came forth with his brother and their families, with some others and their families, from the great tower, at the time the Lord confounded the language of the people, and swore in his wrath that they should be scattered upon all the face of the earth; and according to the word of the Lord the people were scattered.
And the brother of Jared being a large and mighty man, and a man highly favored of the Lord, Jared, his brother, said unto him:
Cry unto the Lord, that he will not confound us that we may not understand our words.
And it came to pass that the brother of Jared did cry unto the Lord, and the Lord had compassion upon Jared; therefore he did not confound the language of Jared; and Jared and his brother were not confounded. Then Jared said unto his brother:
Cry again unto the Lord, and it may be that he will turn away his anger from them who are our friends, that he confound not their language.
And it came to pass that the brother of Jared did cry unto the Lord, and the Lord had compassion upon their friends and their families also, that they were not confounded. (Ether 1:32-37)
So, in the above scripture we see that God confounded the people’s languages, but the text also speaks of the people themselves being confounded, with the understanding that “confounding people” meant that their languages were confounded. This use of the word confound doesn’t mean that the people were perplexed or abashed or any of the other uses of the word, but merely that their language was altered to the point that they couldn’t understand anyone else, nor anyone understanding them. This sense of the word given in Ether chapter one is the same sense of the word as used in 2 Nephi 3 (according to my understanding.) So, this angel’s enemies aren’t going to be merely perplexed or abashed or ashamed, like Laman and Lemuel were when they were confounded by their father,
And it came to pass that my father did speak unto them in the valley of Lemuel, with power, being filled with the Spirit, until their frames did shake before him. And he did confound them, that they durst not utter against him; wherefore, they did as he commanded them. (1 Nephi 2:14)
but they will literally be cursed and their language confounded, just like at Babel.
Now, this cursing needs to happen, because this angel, during his mortal probation, will be translating all the records into all the languages of the world, both living and dead languages. He will need to translate the records into the dead languages because all the dead languages are coming back, as part of the restoration of all things. How do they come back? By a repeat of the confounding of languages that occurred at Babel. He will curse his enemies, confounding their languages, and the world’s languages will multiply, so that every language that ever existed on this planet will be spoken again, necessitating him translating the records into all the old languages, too.
The slaying of the priest of Pharaoh
Abraham was offered up upon the altar as a sacrifice by the priest of Pharaoh and Elkenah and he lifted up his voice to God for help and God helped him by sending an angel to him, an angel who saved him, not by saving life, but by destroying life:
And as they lifted up their hands upon me, that they might offer me up and take away my life, behold, I lifted up my voice unto the Lord my God, and the Lord hearkened and heard, and he filled me with the vision of the Almighty, and the angel of his presence stood by me, and immediately unloosed my bands;…Behold, Potiphar’s Hill was in the land of Ur, of Chaldea. And the Lord broke down the altar of Elkenah, and of the gods of the land, and utterly destroyed them, and smote the priest that he died; and there was great mourning in Chaldea, and also in the court of Pharaoh; which Pharaoh signifies king by royal blood….Now, after the priest of Elkenah was smitten that he died, there came a fulfilment of those things which were said unto me concerning the land of Chaldea, that there should be a famine in the land.(Abraham 1:15,20,29)
Now, after the Lord had withdrawn from speaking to me, and withdrawn his face from me, I said in my heart:
Thy servant has sought thee earnestly; now I have found thee; thou didst send thine angel to deliver me from the gods of Elkenah, and I will do well to hearken unto thy voice, therefore let thy servant rise up and depart in peace. (Abraham 2:12-13)
God performed all this destruction through His destroying angel, His emissary of justice, who always leaves a path of destruction wherever he goes.
Sodom and Gomorrah
Notice in the Joseph Smith Translation of this account that the three angels prayed for God to send down fire and brimstone:
And the Lord did not destroy Sodom until Lot had entered into Zoar. And then, when Lot had entered into Zoar, the Lord rained upon Sodom, and upon Gomorrah; for the angels called upon the name of the Lord for brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven. And thus they overthrew those cities and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground. (JST Gen. 19:30-32)
They didn’t work a miracle, but merely prayed in faith and God responded by sending down fire and brimstone, destroying the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, all the plain, all the inhabitants of those cities and everything that was growing upon the ground. In other words, total destruction of everything. Was it God that sent down the fire and brimstone? Yes, but He likely did it through His appointed representative for dealing out justice, the destroying angel, just as God shows mercy through His appointed representative for showing mercy, Christ. God does all these things, yes, but vicariously, through His appointed emissaries.
Now, just as with the flood of Noah, there were likely little children, innocent children, found among the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding region, and these kids got killed, too. (It would be quite abnormal for cities to be entirely composed of only an adult population.) So the destroying angel would be the only one capable of performing such a task.
Abimelech cursed and nearly killed
The destroying angel, being the most powerful angel the Father has (excepting only the Father’s Angel of mercy, who is Christ), represents the power of God and has a tendency of cursing all those who oppose God’s will. We see this with Abimelech, who was cursed, along with his household, and also threatened with death:
But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him,
Behold, thou art but a dead man, for the woman which thou hast taken; for she is a man’s wife.
But Abimelech had not come near her: and he said,
Lord, wilt thou slay also a righteous nation? Said he not unto me,
She is my sister?
and she, even she herself said,
He is my brother:
in the integrity of my heart and innocency of my hands have I done this.
And God said unto him in a dream,
Yea, I know that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart; for I also withheld thee from sinning against me: therefore suffered I thee not to touch her. Now therefore restore the man his wife; for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live: and if thou restore her not, know thou that thou shalt surely die, thou, and all that are thine….
So Abraham prayed unto God: and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maidservants; and they bare children. For the LORD had fast closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah Abraham’s wife. (Genesis 20:3-7,17-18)
So, all the curses that are found in the scriptures are likely the handiwork of the destroying angel, for although the Angel of mercy has power to curse (for Christ has all power), when God wants something cursed, and one of His mortal servants utters a curse in faith, according to His sense of justice, the tool He uses to send out the curse is the destroying angel.
Joseph Smith mentioned this cursing tendency of the destroyer
The George Laub journal contained a transcription of one of Joseph Smith’s sermons, which was this:
24th chapter of Revelations of John Mathew, Mathew 6 & 7 14 verses, & the orriginal translation Reads thus and I will Send you a nother witness & he shall preach this gospel to all nations to the ends of the world But woe to that man or woman who Shall lift up their or his hands against god’s witness for the[y] are rasing their hands or arms against the power of god and the[y] will be cursed.
So, Joseph Smith believed that God would send a witness to the world, who would preach the gospel to the ends of the world, and whoever opposed that witness would be opposing the power of God and would end up cursed. This witness, of course, is none other than Joseph-Nephi, the destroying angel. So, we can expect that as soon as the Josephite is let out of his box, curses will go forth.
The Passover
The Passover is actually named after the destroyer. The Father came down with His destroying angel and looked at the door posts and lintels, and wherever there was lamb’s blood, He would prohibit the angel from entering there and killing the firstborn of man and beast, causing the destroyer to instead pass over the household. The ordinance has four individuals in play: God the Father, who is the One looking to see if the Lamb’s blood is protecting the household from the destroyer; the Lamb, represented by the lamb’s blood upon the door posts and lintels; the devil, who is tempting people to not comply with God’s commandments to put the lamb’s blood on the door posts and lintels, so that they aren’t under the Son’s protection; and finally, the destroying angel himself, whose job is to “clean up” all the filth, by executing them. The message of the Passover is that there is a destroying angel, and he will annihilate you unless you come under the Lamb’s protection, and you cannot come under the Lamb’s protection unless you comply with God’s commandments, so obey God’s commandments or perish!
The destruction of the Amorites by hailstones
The book of Joshua says the following:
And it came to pass, as they fled from before Israel, and were in the going down to Beth-horon, that the LORD cast down great stones from heaven upon them unto Azekah, and they died: they were more which died with hailstones than they whom the children of Israel slew with the sword. (Joshua 10:11)
These hailstones came from the destroyer, for hail (as well as floods) are his specialty:
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)
In fact, his power over the waters has been amply demonstrated not only with Noah’s flood, but also with another great event of the past:
Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Art thou not it that hath cut Rahab, and wounded the dragon? Art thou not it which hath dried the sea, the waters of the great deep; that hath made the depths of the sea a way for the ransomed to pass over? (Isaiah 51:9-10)
The above seems to me to be referring to an event that occurred in conjunction with the passage of the Lost Ten Tribes through the Arctic Ocean as they traveled north.
Also, in the aforementioned Doctrine and Covenants section 61, the Lord gave instructions for how the saints should travel, but He also gave an exception for the destroyer, who was yet to be born:
Behold, I, the Lord, have appointed a way for the journeying of my saints; and behold, this is the way—that after they leave the canal they shall journey by land, inasmuch as they are commanded to journey and go up unto the land of Zion; and they shall do like unto the children of Israel, pitching their tents by the way. And, behold, this commandment you shall give unto all your brethren.
Nevertheless, unto whom is given power to command the waters, unto him it is given by the Spirit to know all his ways; wherefore, let him do as the Spirit of the living God commandeth him, whether upon the land or upon the waters, as it remaineth with me to do hereafter. (D&C 61:24-28)
The destroyer is the one who has power to command the waters, and the destroyer has the privilege of having it given to him by the Spirit to know all his ways, meaning how he should travel, whether by land or by water, so the destroyer is not restricted by these commandments, but can travel as he sees fit, according to the manifestations of the Spirit in him.
The heavenly Elijah/Elias
I’m not going to go over every instance of destruction, or cursing, or scattering or miracle that the destroying angel was likely involved in. Instead, I want to turn my attention to the fact that the destroyer is the heavenly Elijah/Elias, after which the earthly Eliases were patterned after. This is why we find Elijah the Tishbite doing the following:
Then the king sent unto him a captain of fifty with his fifty. And he went up to him: and, behold, he sat on the top of an hill. And he spake unto him,
Thou man of God, the king hath said,
Come down.
And Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty,
If I be a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty.
And there came down fire from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty.
Again also he sent unto him another captain of fifty with his fifty. And he answered and said unto him,
O man of God, thus hath the king said,
Come down quickly.
And Elijah answered and said unto them,
If I be a man of God, let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty.
And the fire of God came down from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty. (2 King 1:9-12)
The fire that came down from heaven was sent by the heavenly Elias, who is the destroyer.
Now, these soldiers were just following orders. They weren’t doing anything wicked. All the captains did was communicate the king’s order and they were killed for it, along with their fifties. That’s pretty harsh. But Elijah the Tishbite had exercised faith, and also they had dared to do a very big no-no: they dared to command an Elias.
The heavenly Elias, who is the destroying angel, reports to no one, except to the Father. Nobody tells the heavenly Elias what to do. Not even Christ. An earthly Elias is no different. Earthly Eliases come on the Father’s authority, and the Father’s authority trumps the authority of everyone else, including the authority of the Son. A mortal king’s authority, then, is nothing in comparison.
Notice that the third captain of fifty was able to avoid getting himself and his fifty turned into toast only by humbling himself before Elijah and submitting to his authority:
And he sent again a captain of the third fifty with his fifty. And the third captain of fifty went up, and came and fell on his knees before Elijah, and besought him, and said unto him,
O man of God, I pray thee, let my life, and the life of these fifty thy servants, be precious in thy sight. Behold, there came fire down from heaven, and burnt up the two captains of the former fifties with their fifties: therefore let my life now be precious in thy sight.
And the angel of the LORD said unto Elijah,
Go down with him: be not afraid of him.
And he arose, and went down with him unto the king. (2 Kings 1:13-15)
God the Father’s authority is upon the earthly Eliases, therefore, if anyone commands an Elias, it is as if they had commanded God the Father Himself. And if anyone offends an earthly Elias, it is as if they had offended God the Father Himself. Whatever is said or done to one of His earthly Eliases, God the Father takes it personally, hence the quick execution of the first two fifties.
We see this same principle with Elisha, who got a double portion of the spirit of Elijah. (And the spirit of Elijah the Tishbite was the spirit of the heavenly Elijah, who is the destroying angel.) Look what happened when some young people made fun of Elisha’s baldness:
And he went up from thence unto Beth-el: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him,
Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head.
And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the LORD. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them. (2 Kings 2:23-24)
The destroyer is the one who curses and slays people, therefore, Elisha, acting in the authority of the destroyer (and the destroyer’s authority is the Father’s authority), being offended, could send forth a curse and it would happen immediately. The mocking that those people did was taken personally by God the Father and required swift justice and judgment, hence them being torn to shreds.
Because the destroyer’s authority is as high as it gets, even Christ submits to it, despite Him being the Heir to the throne. Jesus submits to the Father’s authority in all things, and so when the heavenly Elias, or one of the mortals that come patterned after him—who are the destroyer’s (and the Father’s) proxies—exercises their authority, Christ submits to it. Hence we find this curious exchange:
Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. But John forbad him, saying,
I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?
And Jesus answering said unto him,
Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness.
Then he suffered him. (Matthew 3:13-15)
Jesus went to John to be baptized of him. In other words, Jesus went to submit Himself to John’s authority. John the Baptist was an Elias. He came in the spirit and power of Elias, therefore He came authorized by the Father:
And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. (Luke 1:17)
Notice that John forbade the Lord from being baptized. That took some guts to do, right? Jesus’s authority was greater than John’s, wasn’t it? Not really, because John was authorized by the destroyer himself, and thus was fully authorized to forbid Him. In other words, it was John’s call to make whether to baptize this sinless Man. “Suffer it to be so now,” therefore, was not a command, but a petition, which John accepted. It had to be a petition, for nobody but the Father Himself can legitimately command an Elias. Not even Christ.
Proxies of the Father and proxies of Christ
There are two types of proxies, then. All mortal Eliases are proxies of the Father, representing one of the Father’s arms, even His arm of justice, whereas others become proxies of the Son, representing the Father’s arm of mercy. So, for example, those who possess priesthood, are representatives of the Son, hence all ordinances we do are done in the name of Jesus Christ, or having been commissioned of Jesus Christ. And those who are “the least of Christ’s brethren” also become proxies of Christ, per this scripture:
When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: and before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: and he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand,
Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
Then shall the righteous answer him, saying,
Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
And the King shall answer and say unto them,
Verily I say unto you,
Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand,
Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
Then shall they also answer him, saying,
Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
Then shall he answer them, saying,
Verily I say unto you,
Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal. (Matthew 25:31-46)
But proxies of the Father are reserved only for Eliases.
The spirit and power of Elias
When Elijah the Tishbite challenged the prophets of Baal to call down fire from heaven, he mocked their failed attempts:
And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said,
Cry aloud: for he is a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked. (1 Kings 18:27)
and then after they failed, and after he succeeded in calling down fire from heaven, Elijah killed them:
And Elijah said unto them,
Take the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape.
And they took them: and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there. (1 Kings 18:40)
All of this behavior is at odds with normal prophets of God, who are meek and humble and long-suffering and compassionate, just like Christ. Mocking, though, is an attribute of the heavenly Elias, who was prophesied by Isaiah to have a sharp tongue during his mortal probation:
And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword (Isaiah 49:2)
Sharpness of tongue, then, is an attribute of the heavenly Elias, which was exhibited by the earthly Eliases. Additionally, Elijah the Tishbite and his successor, Elisha, also exhibited the tendency of the heavenly Elias to curse and kill.
We see this same pattern with the other two mortal Eliases that came after Elijah and Elisha. John the Baptist was an Elias sent to prepare the way of the Lord, and he was sent in the spirit and power of Elias. Jesus also came in the capacity of an Elias. Both of these men demonstrated this spirit and power during their ministries.
For example, John the Baptist spoke with much sharpness:
Then said John to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, crying against them with a loud voice, saying,
O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth, therefore, fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves,
Abraham is our father; we have kept the commandments of God, and none can inherit the promises but the children of Abraham;
for I say unto you that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. And now also, the axe is laid unto the root of the trees; every tree, therefore, which bringeth not forth good fruit shall be hewn down and cast into the fire. (JST Luke 3:12-14)
But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them,
O, generation of vipers! Who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Why is it that ye receive not the preaching of him whom God hath sent? If ye receive not this in your hearts, ye receive not me; and if ye receive not me, ye receive not him of whom I am sent to bear record; and for your sins ye have no cloak. Repent, therefore, and bring forth fruits meet for repentance; and think not to say within yourselves,
We are the children of Abraham, and we only have power to bring seed unto our father Abraham;
for I say unto you that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. And now, also, the axe is laid unto the root of the trees; therefore, every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit shall be hewn down and cast into the fire. (JST Matthew 3:33-37)
Jesus also routinely used sharp speech, calling his enemies hypocrites and fools and serpents and vipers. But He only cursed once, and that was to a fig tree, but it amply demonstrated that He also came in the spirit and power of Elias, like the others before him:
Now in the morning, as he returned into the city, he hungered. And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it; and there was not any fruit on it, but leaves only. And he said unto it,
Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward, forever.
And presently the fig tree withered away. And when the disciples saw this, they marveled and said,
How soon is the fig tree withered away! (JST Matthew 16-18)
And on the morrow when they came from Bethany, he was hungry; and, seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came to it with his disciples; and as they supposed, he came to it to see if he might find anything thereon. And when he came to it, there was nothing but leaves; for as yet the figs were not ripe. And Jesus spake and said unto it,
No man eat fruit of thee hereafter, forever.
And his disciples heard him. And they came to Jerusalem. And Jesus went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers and the seats of them who sold doves, and would not suffer that any man should carry a vessel through the temple. And he taught, saying unto them,
Is it not written,
My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer?
But ye have made it a den of thieves.
And the scribes and chief priests heard him and sought how they might destroy him; for they feared him because all the people were astonished at his doctrine. And when even was come, he went out of the city. And in the morning as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. And Peter, calling to remembrance, said unto him,
Master, behold the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away. (JST Mark 11:14-23)
The above also shows that Jesus acted as an Elias when He overthrew the tables of the moneychangers and the seats of the dove-sellers and did not allow any one to carry a vessel through the temple. All this use of force was Him acting in the capacity of the heavenly Elias. So Jesus was an Elias, just as John the Baptist had said:
John answered them, saying;
I baptize with water, but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not; he it is of whom I bear record. He is that prophet, even Elias, who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose, or whose place I am not able to fill; for he shall baptize, not only with water, but with fire, and with the Holy Ghost. (JST John 1:27-28)
But Jesus did not come in the full capacity of the heavenly Elias, for He was here representing God’s arm of mercy, not His arm of justice. He was a shadow or type of what was yet to come. Thus He rebuked his disciples when they wanted to manifest a bit more of the spirit and power of Elias than what Jesus and John the Baptist had already done:
And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem, and sent messengers before his face: and they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him. And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem. And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said,
Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did?
But he turned, and rebuked them, and said,
Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.
And they went to another village. (Luke 9:51-56)
We see from this that the spirit and power and mission of Jesus was to save, while the spirit and power and mission of Elias is to destroy. In other words, the heavenly Elias (after which all earthly Eliases are patterned) is the destroying angel. The apostles, prophets, seers, revelators and saints were and are patterned after Jesus, the saving Angel, but there have also been a few individuals who have been given a portion of the spirit and power of the heavenly Elias, who have been patterned after the destroying angel. Nevertheless, these Elias men have only demonstrated small degrees of his spirit and power because they were always meant to be mere shadows and types of the actual destroying angel.
Noah was also an Elias
And in those days there were giants on the earth, and they sought Noah to take away his life; but the Lord was with Noah, and the power of the Lord was upon him; and the Lord ordained Noah after his own order and commanded him that he should go forth and declare his gospel unto the children of men, even as it was given unto Enoch.
And it came to pass that Noah called upon the children of men, that they should repent; but they hearkened not unto his words.
And also, after that they had heard him, they came up before him, saying,
Behold, we are the sons of God. Have we not taken unto ourselves the daughters of men? And are we not eating, and drinking, and marrying, and given in marriage? And our wives bear unto us children; and the same are mighty men, which are like unto them of old, men of great renown.
And they hearkened not unto the words of Noah. And God saw that the wickedness of man had become great in the earth; and every man was lifted up in the imagination of the thoughts of his heart, being only evil continually.
And it came to pass that Noah continued his preaching unto the people, saying,
Hearken and give heed unto my words. Believe, and repent of your sins, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, even as our fathers did, and ye shall receive the Holy Ghost, that ye may have all things made manifest; and if you do not this, the floods will come in upon you;
nevertheless, they hearkened not. And it repented Noah, and his heart was pained that the Lord had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the Lord said,
I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man, and beast, and the creeping things, and the fowls of the air, for it repenteth Noah that I have created them and that I have made them; and he hath called upon me, for they have sought his life. (JST Genesis 8:6-15)
Why did the Lord send in the floods? Was it because the people were really wicked? Nope. It was because Noah regretted that God had created mankind and that so much wickedness was now everywhere, and he called upon God to destroy the world. The spirit of Elias is the spirit of destruction and justice and judgment, and Noah here was exercising this very spirit in his desire for God to wipe everything out and just “start over” with him and his little family.
Noah also acted as an Elias in his cursing of Canaan:
And Noah began to till the earth, and he was a husbandman; and he planted a vineyard, and he drank of the wine and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent; and Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his brethren without; and Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father, and they saw not their father’s nakedness. And Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his youngest son had done unto him; and he said,
Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.
And he said,
Blessed be the Lord God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant, and a veil of darkness shall cover him, that he shall be known among all men. God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. (JST Genesis 9:27-31)
Noah, then, is an early scriptural example of a mortal servant of God operating under the spirit and power of Elias and during his mortal ministry he obtained the very keys that the actual heavenly Elias would end up using to restore all things:
And also with Elias, to whom I have committed the keys of bringing to pass the restoration of all things spoken by the mouth of all the holy prophets since the world began, concerning the last days; and also John the son of Zacharias, which Zacharias he (Elias) visited and gave promise that he should have a son, and his name should be John, and he should be filled with the spirit of Elias; (D&C 27:6-7)
Joseph Smith understood from this revelation that the Elias in question was the angel Gabriel. (And anyone reading the above passage will come to the same conclusion.) Later on, though, he revealed in one of his speeches that Noah and Gabriel are one and the same person. How did Joseph Smith know? Because Joseph Smith was a seer operating under Elias’s shadow, which itself is the spirit and power of Elias, allowing one to more easily recognize Eliases, and thus this spirit, in conjunction with his gift of the word of knowledge, allowed him to plainly see that Noah was an Elias. And using this same gift, Elias Noah = Elias Gabriel also pops out.
Now, the angel (Elias) Gabriel possessed keys, and keys are only obtained during a mortal probation. Notice again what Joseph Smith said:
While speaking in 1839 to members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and some Seventies prior to their leaving for missionary service, the Prophet Joseph Smith said: “Noah, who is Gabriel, … stands next in authority to Adam in the Priesthood; he was called of God to this office, and was the father of all living in his day, and to him was given the dominion. These men held keys first on earth, and then in heaven.” (Quoted from History of the Church, 3:386. Cited in Noah, The Great Preacher of Righteousness by Joseph B. Romney, Ensign, February 1998.)
So, when we read that Elias (the angel Gabriel) possessed “the keys of bringing to pass the restoration of all things,” this means that Gabriel must have already had a mortal probation. The same principle applies to each and every angel that holds keys:
And the voice of Michael, the archangel; the voice of Gabriel, and of Raphael, and of divers angels, from Michael or Adam down to the present time, all declaring their dispensation, their rights, their keys, their honors, their majesty and glory, and the power of their priesthood; giving line upon line, precept upon precept; here a little, and there a little; giving us consolation by holding forth that which is to come, confirming our hope! (D&C 128:21)
Therefore, given that Moroni, Michael, John the Baptist, Peter, James, John the Beloved, Gabriel, Raphael, Moses, Elijah and Elias all came to Joseph Smith as angels possessing keys, all of these men had already had mortal probations. They obtained their keys in mortality, and then retained them when they died or were translated. Joseph Smith also obtained the keys of the mysteries and sealed things during his mortal ministry, and he retains those keys still, even after his death.
The keys of these various angelic/translated personages (which they retain even after their mortal ministries) are meant to be used by the Elias who restores all things, not by the angels themselves. The angels act, then, as repositories, until the destroying angel comes down to earth for his own mortal probation and then directs each of them to deliver their keys into his hands. Each of them used these various keys to a mere degree during their mortal ministries, whereas when they deliver their keys into the hands of Elias the destroyer, he will then use them in their absolute fullness.
Thus, even though Noah/Gabriel possesses “the keys of bringing to pass the restoration of all things,” this does not mean that he will be the one who actually brings to pass the restoration of all things, for he is not the Elias who restores all things. He merely possesses these keys—for he was the instrument God used back then to restore the earth back to a state of righteousness by wiping out the wicked, leaving only a righteous branch—which keys he will deliver to the man whose spirit he operated under in mortality: Elias the Josephite destroyer. In D&C 27, Moroni and Elijah and Peter and James and John are also said to possess certain keys, but none of these people will be using their keys during the end times. No, they will merely be delivering them to Elias the Josephite, and then the Josephite will use them to work his wonders.
The Elias Noah, like the other mortal Eliases I have mentioned, did not operate under a fullness of the spirit and power of the heavenly Elias, but merely under a portion, making him yet another shadow of the end times Elias, which is the actual heavenly Elias.
John the Beloved also acted under the spirit of Elias
John the Beloved apostle of Jesus Christ was a representative of the Lord Jesus Christ, but because he became translated and was assigned an Elias role to play during the end times (see D&C 77:14), John likewise received a portion of the spirit and power of Elias. Hence we find, through the revelation of Joseph Smith, that John actually uttered a curse, acting as an Elias:
Behold, I, the Lord, in the beginning blessed the waters; but in the last days, by the mouth of my servant John, I cursed the waters. Wherefore, the days will come that no flesh shall be safe upon the waters. And it shall be said in days to come that none is able to go up to the land of Zion upon the waters, but he that is upright in heart. (D&C 61:14-16)
This curse that God had John utter, did not come to pass immediately, like the curses that the Elias who restores all things will utter, but was to be fulfilled during the end times, during the ministry of the Josephite, who will cause, by the working of miracles, John’s curse to be made sure. This is why the Lord says, “the days will come” and “it shall be said in days to come.” The curse was uttered by John, but not activated, for such activation comes only from the destroyer himself.
Regarding Joseph Smith
As I explained in the In closing, what Mormonism is section of the John the Revelator is not the Elias who restores all things post, Mormonism is Elias’s shadow. Therefore Joseph Smith was a seer operating under the spirit and power of Elias. Nevertheless, Joseph never said that he, himself, was Elias, nor even an Elias. He only affirmed that the spirit and power and office of Elias was in operation during the Mormon restoration. And it indeed was.
In the same sermon, Joseph differentiated between the spirit and power and office and keys of Elias, and those of Elijah, as well as those of Messiah. But the spirit and power of Elias and the spirit and power of Elijah are the same spirit, just operating in different modes. It worked for Joseph Smith to view these things as separate and distinct, but they are two sides of the same coin, just as Elijah and Elias are the same name, one translated into English from Hebrew, and the other translated into English from Greek. But it’s the same name.
The spirit of Elias (Mode One) manifested in Joseph Smith via his revelations and translations. In other words, the word of God transmitted through Joseph Smith was the spirit and power of Elias. If you look through the Doctrine and Covenants, you’ll see that God repeatedly warned of curses if obedience wasn’t given to His commandments. Curses are manifestations of the spirit of Elias. But Joseph Smith never cursed anyone. He was told by God that he could curse people, and God would honor those curses and He would cause the curse to happen (in God’s own due time, not immediately, for this was merely Elias’s shadow, not Elias himself), but Joseph never cursed anyone. So, he didn’t act like an Elias.
The spirit of Elijah (Mode Two) manifested in Joseph Smith via the priesthood ordinations, offices and keys bestowed by the angels, which allowed the ordinances of salvation and exaltation to go forth and be recorded in the heavens. Now, Joseph Smith split these two spirit modes into two divisions, holding the Aaronic priesthood as the standard and representative of the spirit of Elias, while the Melchizedek was held as representative of the spirit of Elijah, and you can certainly do this. It worked for him to see it that way, and it works for others to see it that way, so let people believe this all they want. Nevertheless, both priesthoods represent the spirit of Elijah, for baptism is an ordinance of salvation, and both Aaronic priests as well as priests or elders after the order of Melchizedek have power to baptize. Baptism, then, represents Mode Two of this spirit, and baptism can be done by priests of the Aaronic order. So, the distinction he makes isn’t as black and white as he wanted it to be.
The spirit of Messiah is the manifestation of the spirit of power (miracles.) The spirit of power manifested to a degree in the life of Joseph Smith with all the baptisms of fire that he had, and the visions and angelic ministrations.
Joseph Smith, then, operated in a degree under the two modes of the spirit of Elias/Elijah, and also had a degree of the spirit of Messiah, but he was a representative of the Lord Jesus Christ, not of the Father. This is why the Lord refers to the message (Mormonism) as the Father’s messenger, and not to Joseph Smith.
And even so I have sent mine everlasting covenant into the world, to be a light to the world, and to be a standard for my people, and for the Gentiles to seek to it, and to be a messenger before my face to prepare the way before me. (D&C 45:9)
Joseph Smith, then, cannot be considered an Elias, but as he operated under a degree or shadow of this spirit, I will account him among the others anyway.
Other manifestations of the spirit of Elias
The spirit and power of Elias has manifested from the very beginning and also at various and sundry times. For example, right after the fall of Adam, this spirit manifested:
And I, the Lord God, said unto the serpent:
Because thou hast done this thou shalt be cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life; and I will put enmity between thee and the woman, between thy seed and her seed; and he shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
Unto the woman, I, the Lord God, said:
I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception. In sorrow thou shalt bring forth children, and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
And unto Adam, I, the Lord God, said:
Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the fruit of the tree of which I commanded thee, saying—
Thou shalt not eat of it,
cursed shall be the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life. Thorns also, and thistles shall it bring forth to thee, and thou shalt eat the herb of the field. By the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, until thou shalt return unto the ground—for thou shalt surely die—for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou wast, and unto dust shalt thou return. (Moses 4:20-25)
Later on it manifested after Cain slew Abel:
And the Lord said unto Cain:
Where is Abel, thy brother?
And he said:
I know not. Am I my brother’s keeper?
And the Lord said:
What hast thou done? The voice of thy brother’s blood cries unto me from the ground. And now thou shalt be cursed from the earth which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand. When thou tillest the ground it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength. A fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth. (Moses 5:34-37)
And it manifested during the days of the secret combination that the murderer Lamech pertained to:
Wherefore the Lord cursed Lamech, and his house, and all them that had covenanted with Satan; for they kept not the commandments of God, and it displeased God, and he ministered not unto them, and their works were abominations, and began to spread among all the sons of men. (Moses 5:52)
In those days the spirit of Elias began to be poured out upon the world, because of the wickedness of the people:
And thus the works of darkness began to prevail among all the sons of men. And God cursed the earth with a sore curse, and was angry with the wicked, with all the sons of men whom he had made; for they would not hearken unto his voice, nor believe on his Only Begotten Son, even him whom he declared should come in the meridian of time, who was prepared from before the foundation of the world. (Moses 5:55-57)
And during the days of Enoch the spirit of Elias was manifested and began to be poured out upon the land and men:
And the Lord said unto me:
Prophesy;
and I prophesied, saying:
Behold the people of Canaan, which are numerous, shall go forth in battle array against the people of Shum, and shall slay them that they shall utterly be destroyed; and the people of Canaan shall divide themselves in the land, and the land shall be barren and unfruitful, and none other people shall dwell there but the people of Canaan; for behold, the Lord shall curse the land with much heat, and the barrenness thereof shall go forth forever; and there was a blackness came upon all the children of Canaan, that they were despised among all people. (Moses 7:7-8)
And the Lord said unto me:
Go to this people, and say unto them—
Repent, lest I come out and smite them with a curse, and they die. (Moses 7:10)
And the giants of the land, also, stood afar off; and there went forth a curse upon all people that fought against God; and from that time forth there were wars and bloodshed among them; but the Lord came and dwelt with his people, and they dwelt in righteousness. (Moses 7:15-16)
And it came to pass that Enoch talked with the Lord; and he said unto the Lord:
Surely Zion shall dwell in safety forever.
But the Lord said unto Enoch:
Zion have I blessed, but the residue of the people have I cursed. (Moses 7:20)
And during the days of Methuselah this spirit also manifested:
And it came to pass that Methuselah prophesied that from his loins should spring all the kingdoms of the earth (through Noah), and he took glory unto himself. And there came forth a great famine into the land, and the Lord cursed the earth with a sore curse, and many of the inhabitants thereof died. (Moses 8:3-4)
The spirit of Elias, then, is a spirit of destruction that brings curses. But it also brings plagues. For example, during the ministry of Moses, all those plagues that he unleashed upon the land and people of Egypt, were manifestations of the spirit and power of Elias, which was put upon the heads and possessions of the unbelieving and rebellious.
Fast-forwarding to Joseph-Nephi
Joseph-Nephi is yet another earthly person we know of who can be added to the list of men that have possessed and/or operated under the spirit and power of Elias.
To recap: On this list we could put Noah, Elijah the Tishbite, Elisha the son of Shaphat (who had a double portion of Elijah’s spirit), John the Baptist, Jesus the Christ, John the Beloved, Moses, Joseph Smith and probably many others, including many of the Nephite and Jaredite prophets.
All of these individuals were patterned to a degree after the heavenly Elias, making them his shadows and types. But Joseph-Nephi isn’t merely patterned after the heavenly Elias, he actually is the heavenly Elias. This means that he is the very destroying angel and as such, nobody can tell him what to do.
A different sort of angelic ministration
When Joseph Smith started receiving the ministration of angels, beginning with his First Vision and then continuing with Moroni’s many visits, as well as other heavenly personages, he was continually being instructed by Jesus or by the angels. For example, he wrote:
When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him! (Joseph Smith—History 1:17)
At that point the Son took over the conversation and all subsequent ministrations or visions had the Son or the angels speaking to Joseph, giving him instructions. If ever the Father was seen or heard afterward, He merely bore record of the Son, as He did in the First Vision. We are taught in the church that this proves that Joseph Smith was really a prophet, for all revelation comes through Christ, according to President Joseph Fielding Smith:
“I would like to call your attention to one little thing in the first vision of the Prophet Joseph Smith. It is very significant, and Joseph Smith did not know it. If he had been perpetrating a fraud, he would not have thought of it. You will recall in your reading that the Father and the Son appeared, and the Father introduced the Son and told the Prophet to hear the Son.
“Now suppose the Prophet had come back from the woods and had said the Father and the Son appeared to him, and the Father said, ‘Joseph, what do you want?’ and when he asked the question and told him what he wanted, the Father had answered him; then we would know that the story of the Prophet could not be true.
“All revelation comes through Jesus Christ. I have not time to go into the scriptures and give references for that, but that is the fact.” (Answers to Gospel Questions, 5 vols., Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1957–66, 1:16.) [Quoted from The Magnificent Vision Near Palmyra by James E. Faust.]
Despite what President Smith said above, all this proves is that Joseph Smith wasn’t Elias. For everyone other than Elias, all divine revelation comes through the Son of God. But for Elias, revelation comes directly from the Father. There is no intermediary. (And for his proxies, if there was an intermediary, it was the destroyer himself.)
So, when the destroyer, who is currently boxed up and hidden somewhere by the Lord, comes out of his box, he will finally experience the ministration of angels, possibly getting a First Vision type of experience like Joseph Smith did. But there will be one huge difference in the accounts this man will give of these divine visits: when the Father appears with His Son Jesus Christ and all the holy angels, it will be the Father speaking and instructing the Josephite, not the Son. All instructions and orders will go from the Father directly to His emissary of justice (the Josephite), and whatever interaction the Josephite will have with Christ and the angels will be as their superior officer.
In other words, if an angel appears to this man, the angel will merely say, “Okay, boss. What are your instructions?” The angels will not be instructing him, but will be receiving instructions from him. Even Jesus Christ Himself will be taking His orders from the destroyer, as evidenced by the vision John the Revelator saw:
And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud,
Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.
And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped. (Revelation 14:14-16)
So, here we have the Son of Man taking orders from an angel. Which angel? The destroying angel. In fact, just about all orders that John sees and hears barked out during his end times vision are issued by the destroyer, who is the one in charge of the whole end times affair.
When the Father comes down
There have been only a few recorded instances in which God the Father actually came down to earth. All the rest of the time, He just remained in heaven and allowed someone to see a vision of Himself, and bore record of His Son. So, the times when He comes down are special and important.
During the Creation we know the Father came down. And when He came, He was the one in charge:
And God said,
Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. (Genesis 1:26)
Who was the Father speaking to? He was speaking to the Son. And the Father was the one in charge. He was the one barking the orders.
During the Tower of Babel confounding, the Father came down:
And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. And the LORD said,
Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech. (Genesis 11:5-7)
Who was the Father speaking to? This time He was speaking to the destroying angel. And the Father was again the one in charge. He was the one barking orders.
During the Passover, the Father came down, along with His destroying angel:
For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD. And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.
…
For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the LORD will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you. (Exodus 12:12-13,23)
Once again, it’s the Father doing the work, looking for the blood of the lamb, and then stopping His destroyer from entering those domiciles. Every single time the Father comes down, He is actively participating and directing everything and everyone.
But notice that the First Vision account does not follow this pattern:
When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—
This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!
My object in going to inquire of the Lord was to know which of all the sects was right, that I might know which to join. No sooner, therefore, did I get possession of myself, so as to be able to speak, than I asked the Personages who stood above me in the light, which of all the sects was right (for at this time it had never entered into my heart that all were wrong)—and which I should join. I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong; and the Personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in his sight; that those professors were all corrupt; that:
“they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, they teach for doctrines the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof.”
He again forbade me to join with any of them; and many other things did he say unto me, which I cannot write at this time. (Joseph Smith—History 1:17-20)
Here the Father comes down, but just points to Christ and tells Joseph that Christ is His Son and to hear Him. Then He clams up and the Son does all the talking. The vision is bizarre for this reason. The Father doesn’t come all the way down to earth only to let His Son do all the talking! The Father could have just stayed in heaven, given Joseph a vision of Himself sitting upon His throne, and pointed to Christ, telling Joseph that He’s His Son and to listen to Him, and then let Christ speak. Why did the Father come down and then clam up?
Now, church apologists will say He came down to show that He had a body and was distinct from the Son, but He could have done that while remaining in heaven. There is no need to come down to earth with His Son, only to have the Son do all the talking. When the Father comes down, He takes charge of things. So why did all of that happen the way it did?
The answer is because Joseph Smith’s First Vision was a mere shadow, just like all the rest of Mormonism. Mormonism is Elias’s shadow, therefore even the First Vision is incomplete. The First Vision was supposed to have the Father instructing the miracle-working seer, with His Son and the angels present and listening, and then after the instruction the miracle-working seer takes charge and starts issuing orders to the others present, as the Father’s emissary in charge of the end times work. That’s how it is supposed to go down. But that didn’t happen. It didn’t happen because the seer of that time was Joseph Smith, not Elias. So, we got a shadow of what’s going to happen. God the Father came down, announced His Son, and then stopped, because Elias himself wasn’t present, only Elias’s shadow was present, the seer being Joseph Smith the Gentile, so the Son took over, as He always does when dealing with His own proxies, for Joseph Smith was a proxy of the Son, not of the Father, therefore, he dealt with Jesus. But the Father had to come down anyway because even the First Vision of Elias’s shadow requires the Father being present.
Now, when the First Vision happens a second time, it will be with Elias himself present, who is the Josephite and the actual destroying angel, and not just his shadow, and at that time, the First Vision will replay in a different way, with the Father coming down with Christ and the angels like the first time, but this time Christ and the angels will be silent and taking orders from the seer, and the Father will be talking directly to His emissary of justice, the destroyer, and instructing him in all things that pertain to the dispensation of the fullness of times.
King Abaddon
In the Revelation of St. John the Divine, John mentions that the insect army he saw had a king over them:
And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon. (Revelation 9:11)
King Abaddon, or king Apollyon, is none other than the destroying angel. The Bible dictionary gives the following for these names:
Abaddon
A Hebrew word found in the Wisdom literature of the Old Testament denoting “the place of the lost” (Job 26:6; Prov. 15:11; 27:20), which the King James Version translates as “destruction.” In Rev. 9:11 it is used as a name of the devil. See also Apollyon.Apollyon
Destroyer, a Greek translation of the Hebrew word Abaddon, or “Destruction”; in Rev. 9:11 it is the name of the Angel of the Abyss (bottomless pit) made familiar to English readers by Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress.
Thus, king Abaddon means, “king Destruction,” and king Apollyon means, “king Destroyer.” However, the Bible Dictionary is incorrect in stating that Abaddon “in Rev. 9:11 it is used as a name of the devil.” It most certainly is not used in that verse with reference to the devil (who is the demonic destroying angel.) No, in that verse it is used for the divine destroying angel.
King Abaddon, therefore, will be a literal king, over a literal kingdom. And yet, the Josephite, according to my understanding, is from the USA. So, how can he be an American and yet be a king? We have no kings here, right? But he won’t be a king in America. His kingdom will be located in a far country, in the east and in the north:
Who raised up the righteous man from the east, called him to his foot, gave the nations before him, and made him rule over kings? he gave them as the dust to his sword, and as driven stubble to his bow. (Isaiah 41:2)
I have raised up one from the north, and he shall come: from the rising of the sun shall he call upon my name: and he shall come upon princes as upon mortar, and as the potter treadeth clay. (Isaiah 41:25)
Calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth my counsel from a far country: yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it. (Isaiah 46:11)
The Josephite, then, will be born and raised as an American, enter into his shadow (Mormonism) and then get put into a spiritual box and hidden by the Lord (which is where he is now) to “cook” for awhile. At some point he will emerge from that box as the rod of Jesse, fully empowered and capable of working all manner of miracles, and then he will send out an announcement of his deliverance from his box, and he will also send forth curses, cursing all his enemies and working miracles to cause catastrophic changes in the conditions among men, to allow him to get his promised carrot (which is his divinely bestowed reward) and start his own work. We must assume, then, that this carrot must at least partially consist of a kingdom, in some far away and unknown land, in which he goes there and establishes himself as king, even as King Abaddon, thus fulfilling these and other scriptures that say that he comes from a far country in the east and north, such as the following which also speaks of the distant kingdom he will establish:
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. (Daniel 11:44)
The location of king Abaddon’s kingdom
Anyone who has studied Jan Lamprecht’s work (see the post, The hollow earth theory, the plasma model and Mormon theology), or Rodney Cluff’s work (see the post, Our Living Hollow Earth), on the hollow earth theory, will instantly understand that the destroyer will undoubtedly set up his kingdom on the inner surface of the earth, in the hollow of the earth. This is because the directions “east” and “north” and its description as “far away” give its location away. If you continue to travel north on just the right course, you will be led into the interior surface of the planet, and then once inside, if you continue to travel east on just the right path, you will be led to where king Abaddon will set up his kingdom. It can only be called a “far country.” In fact, it’s about as far away a far country as one can travel to. There is no place more hidden than king Abaddon’s kingdom land.
This means that the Josephite, once out of his box, will divide his time between both sides of the world, outside here with us, where he was born in America, and also inside where the kingdom he will establish will be. This is absolutely necessary, for he will be performing a work of salvation that must save the whole world, both inside and out, but it also means that from time to time the Josephite will “go missing,” and during these times nobody will be able to figure out where he’s gone to.
From Rod to Root
And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: (Isaiah 11:1)
And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious. (Isaiah 11:10)
There are four parts of the plant mentioned by Isaiah in Isaiah 11:1,10. A rod, the Stem, a Branch and a root. Who are these people? They are:
- Stem=Christ (per D&C 113:1-2)
- Branch=Christ
- Rod=Josephite
- Root=Josephite
The Branch and rod are instruments of destruction and judgment. These are horizontal instruments. They grow horizontally from the plant. What do you do with a branch or a rod? You use it to strike others with it. You hold it horizontally from you, in your hands.
The Stem and root are instruments of salvation and mercy. These are vertical instruments. They grow vertically upward or downward. The Stem, which offers us individual salvation, is not sufficient to save us. Although He brings us up to God, connects us to God, He also needs the root to connect to the rest of us, as a group. Thus, individual salvation is represented by the Stem (Christ), while group salvation is represented by the root (the Josephite.)
Both Jesus and the Josephite will undergo a role reversal, each one performing one role at first, and then the second role at last. So, Christ came as the Stem (and instrument of mercy) during His first coming, and He’ll come as the Branch (and instrument of judgment) during His second coming. And the Josephite started out as the destroying angel, even the rod, in the heavens, as the instrument of God’s judgment, and when he is empowered here on earth, he will resume that exalted position of rod. Thus, curses and destruction will immediately go forth once the guy is powered up, for he resumes his rod role.
And as the rod, he will have one lineage:
What is the rod spoken of in the first verse of the 11th chapter of Isaiah, that should come of the Stem of Jesse?
Behold, thus saith the Lord: It is a servant in the hands of Christ, who is partly a descendant of Jesse as well as of Ephraim, or of the house of Joseph, on whom there is laid much power. (D&C 113:3-4)
With this lineage, he will be “partly” a descendant of Jesse as well as of Ephraim.
But then he will miraculously switch from destroyer to savior, which is entirely impossible, for he was “made to destroy” as Isaiah said, so this switch goes entirely against his very nature, and he will begin a work of salvation, as one of the saviors on mount Zion, this time performing all the work perfectly. This miraculous switch from destroyer to savior, or from judgment to mercy, switches his position, too, from horizontal to vertical, and he becomes the root, an instrument of mercy and salvation.
And as the root, his lineage will be re-assigned (see the post, Re-assignment of parentage) :
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)
(Notice that no longer is he “partly” descended, but he’s fully descended.)
It is Christ then, not the destroying angel (the Josephite), who will destroy the wicked at the Second Coming, for the Josephite will be in root mode when Christ comes back, while Christ will be in Branch mode.
Thus, there are not four servants spoken of by the designations root, rod, stem and branch, but just two, for there were always just two sons of God who were designated and appointed by God to pull off the entire salvation and redemption of all things: Jesus (who pulled off the infinite amount of suffering required) and the Josephite (who will pull off the infinite amount of work required.)
The prophecies now make sense
Now that I have this understanding that the Josephite is the none other than the destroying angel, and that this angel reports to the Father only, and everyone, including Christ, will be taking orders from him during the end times, and also that he is the very king Abaddon (king Destruction) spoken of in the book of Revelation, many of the prophecies I have taught in private now make a bit more sense.
For example, the CA earthquake I had prophesied about on this blog will be caused by the Josephite, and when I learned that I wondered, “What kind of a prophet or seer goes around destroying things?” It made no sense to me. That is, until I learned who this guy really is. And there are very many other prophecies I have uttered (in private) about the things he will be destroying outright, catastrophically, which show that there will be no gradual changes performed by him, but everything will be a series of jolts. Ready or not, once he gets out, we won’t be able to get off his roller coaster ride of vast and abrupt changes.
Also, the nature of his curses is now apparent to me. In other words, these words don’t apply to him:
And now, verily I say unto you, if that enemy shall escape my vengeance, that he be not brought into judgment before me, then ye shall see to it that ye warn him in my name, that he come no more upon you, neither upon your family, even your children’s children unto the third and fourth generation. (D&C 98:28)
Nobody, but nobody is going to escape this guy’s vengeance. Once this man is out of his box, whoever even looked at him funny is going to be cursed, no matter when they did it. Whoever he feels “escaped” God’s vengeance while he was in his weak state will be dealt with, by miraculous power, so that every enemy of his will be “brought into judgment.” It doesn’t matter how many years the man has been in his box, he undoubtedly has got a list of grievances that people have done to him, and once out, these people are going to suffer. For all we know his enemies have completely forgotten about him, but he undoubtedly has not forgotten about them. In other words, nobody holds a grudge like this guy! His sense of justice will not quit until it is entirely satisfied. And by “entirely,” I mean “entirely” in the Lord’s sense (an hundred-fold!) :
And if he do this, thou shalt forgive him with all thine heart; and if he do not this, I, the Lord, will avenge thee of thine enemy an hundred-fold; and upon his children, and upon his children’s children of all them that hate me, unto the third and fourth generation. (D&C 98:45-46)
This applies equally to those in the church. Anyone at all who offended this man, whether in the church or out, whether in the leadership or not, is getting cursed. And those who have left the church, or removed their names from it, or who are inactive, or who have been excommunicated, will be promptly told to get back in, and if they don’t immediately jump back into those re-baptismal waters and repent, severe curses will go out. There won’t be any long grace period. He will expect immediate compliance, and if there is none forthcoming, he will consider the person disobedient and take immediate and swift and severe action against him. This will apply equally to men and women.
So, this guy isn’t Christlike, at all. He is a saint, sure, but he’s unlike any of the other saints, because his nature is not one of saving, but of destroying.
So, when he is released from his box, the saints are going to have a rude awakening, because none of us have ever experienced someone like this before, someone who will rebuke you if you do something wrong, and if you don’t repent on the spot, will cover you with Job sores:
So went Satan forth from the presence of the LORD, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown. (Job 2:7)
or with the daughter of Zion curse:
And it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet smell there shall be stink; and instead of a girdle a rent; and instead of well set hair baldness; and instead of a stomacher a girding of sackcloth; and burning instead of beauty. Thy men shall fall by the sword, and thy mighty in the war. And her gates shall lament and mourn; and she being desolate shall sit upon the ground. (Isaiah 3:24-26)
or with whatever else he thinks of, for your wickedness and rebellion. This guy will expect to be obeyed by all, without delay. Submissive obedience and respect to him and his authority, honoring him in his high and holy calling, will be the only way to avoid the penalties he will be dealing out.
Also, we are going to see something that is quite bizarre, for this man will be doing what Jesus did: sending angels to do his bidding at his whim.
And now Jesus knew that John was cast into prison, and he sent angels, and, behold, they came and ministered unto him. (JST Matthew 4:11)
This means that he will be able to convince the world, easily, of the truth of all his words. The church leadership will be utterly convinced, there will be no room for doubt, and thus anyone who disobeys this man will do so with full knowledge that he’s speaking the truth and without any excuse to be made, so that when the curses immediately fall upon them, they won’t be able to say they didn’t know what was coming.
Also, the planets will be easily manipulated by him, using his miraculous power, or using his throne, for he will be obeyed in all things, by all things, except by the rebellious. In other words, we are in for the show of shows, as the Father puts all things, all power, all authority, into this one man’s hands. And thus, as the Josephite is the Father’s emissary, it will be the Father who prepares the way of His Son, just as the scriptures state:
The Father prepares the way
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)
Yea, the work shall commence among all the dispersed of my people, with the Father to prepare the way whereby they may come unto me, that they may call on the Father in my name. Yea, and then shall the work commence, with the Father among all nations in preparing the way whereby his people may be gathered home to the land of their inheritance. (3 Nephi 21:27-28)
The end times work is of the Father, not the Son
So, the work of the Father, as the scriptures in the Book of Mormon repeatedly say, will commence in the last days:
And it shall come to pass that the Lord God shall commence his work among all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people, to bring about the restoration of his people upon the earth. (2 Nephi 30:8)
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)
Therefore I write unto you, Gentiles, and also unto you, house of Israel, when the work shall commence, that ye shall be about to prepare to return to the land of your inheritance; yea, behold, I write unto all the ends of the earth; yea, unto you, twelve tribes of Israel, who shall be judged according to your works by the twelve whom Jesus chose to be his disciples in the land of Jerusalem. (Mormon 3:17-18)
And then shall the work of the Father commence at that day, even when this gospel shall be preached among the remnant of this people. Verily I say unto you, at that day shall the work of the Father commence among all the dispersed of my people, yea, even the tribes which have been lost, which the Father hath led away out of Jerusalem. Yea, the work shall commence among all the dispersed of my people, with the Father to prepare the way whereby they may come unto me, that they may call on the Father in my name. Yea, and then shall the work commence, with the Father among all nations in preparing the way whereby his people may be gathered home to the land of their inheritance. (3 Nephi 21:26-28)
And when these things come to pass that thy seed shall begin to know these things—it shall be a sign unto them, that they may know that the work of the Father hath already commenced unto the fulfilling of the covenant which he hath made unto the people who are of the house of Israel. (3 Nephi 21:7)
Therefore, when ye shall receive this record ye may know that the work of the Father has commenced upon all the face of the land. (Ether 4:17)
and this work will be performed by the Father’s emissary of justice, who is the destroying angel, who is Joseph-Nephi, who is the Father’s messenger, just as the Father told Malachi:
And it came to pass that he commanded them that they should write the words which the Father had given unto Malachi, which he should tell unto them. And it came to pass that after they were written he expounded them. And these are the words which he did tell unto them, saying:
Thus said the Father unto Malachi—
Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in; behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of Hosts. (3 Nephi 24:1)
The Father, then, not the Son, will be sending a messenger during the end times, and this messenger will come authorized by the Father, not by just the Son. This is not to say that the Josephite, being already a member of the LDS church (according to my understanding), will not possess the two priesthoods (of Melchizedek and of Aaron.) We can expect that he will, indeed, possess these priesthoods, like every other male member of the church. However, he will also possess the seal of the living God, which is of the Father:
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, (Revelation 7:2)
Q. What are we to understand by the angel ascending from the east, Revelation 7th chapter and 2nd verse?
A. We are to understand that the angel ascending from the east is he to whom is given the seal of the living God over the twelve tribes of Israel; wherefore, he crieth unto the four angels having the everlasting gospel, saying:
Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.
And, if you will receive it, this is Elias which was to come to gather together the tribes of Israel and restore all things. (D&C 77:9)
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)
When the Lamb shall stand upon Mount Zion, and with him a hundred and forty-four thousand, having his Father’s name written on their foreheads. (D&C 133:18)
So, this is not Aaronic priesthood, nor Melchizedek priesthood. This is something above and beyond what we have. We don’t have it, but the Josephite will have it. How will he get it? Probably directly from the Father Himself. He is the Father’s personal servant, after all. He’s got direct access to Him.
Before the end times begins
But let me back it up a little bit. Before the Father’s work begins, the Josephite is put into a spiritual box in which he cannot make not even one degree of progress:
Then I said,
I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought, and in vain: (Isaiah 49:4)
While in this box, he “cooks,” pushing against the spiritual forces locking him in, performing a spiritual isometric press, becoming stronger and stronger in faith, but continually frustrated. At some point he will finally be strong enough to get out and he will then be given what I call his “carrot on a stick.”
yet surely my judgment is with the Lord, (Isaiah 49:4)
This carrot must be, at least in part, the kingdom I have been talking about, with lands and a house or palace and servants, etc. His house or palace, in fact, has been prophesied by Isaiah to be “glorious.” So, we know it is particularly special and probably is going to be constructed in a miraculous manner. In other words, it will be an “impossible-to-exist” house:
And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious. (Isaiah 11:10)
As I explained in the last post (The Prophet who is like unto Moses), the Josephite will be bringing a special group of Gentiles with him to the Lost Ten Tribes.
Concerning the records of the Lost Ten Tribes, we know nothing. Joseph-Nephi will likely have to go to wherever these tribes have been placed, and get their records, bringing their records back to the Gentiles, in powerful translated forms. Once the Gentiles have all the words of Christ that were given to the Jews, to the Nephites, to the Lost Ten Tribes, and to any other scattered branch of Israel, then the prophecy of the Gentiles rejecting the fullness of the gospel can be literally fulfilled.
Concerning the Gentiles bringing these records to the Jews, to the Nephites, and to the Lost Ten Tribes and any other scattered branch of Israel, it shouldn’t be too difficult to accomplish this feat for the Jews and the Nephites, but as for the Lost Ten Tribes, given they are hidden away somewhere, Joseph-Nephi may need to bring a group of Gentiles with him, who possess all these records, so that they can fulfill the prophecies and give them to the tribes.
The fact, then, that Joseph-Nephi will be traveling to where the Lost Ten Tribes are to get their records, and traveling back to where the Gentiles are, and then traveling with Gentiles to where the Lost Ten Tribes are, so they can give the other tribal records to the Lost Ten Tribes, and also the fact that at some point, when Joseph-Nephi will begin to gather the tribes together he will again need to go to where the tribes are, because the function of the keys of gathering indicate a need for him to personally lead the Lost Ten Tribes back to their original tribal lands:
After this vision closed, the heavens were again opened unto us; and Moses appeared before us, and committed unto us the keys of the gathering of Israel from the four parts of the earth, and the leading of the ten tribes from the land of the north. (D&C 110:11)
All of this indicates that Joseph-Nephi will have untrammeled access to travel back and forth, to and from the place where the Lost Ten Tribes are. For others it will be impossible to get to them, but not for him (and this special group of Gentiles he may bring with him.)
We can assume, then, that this special group of Gentiles will be part of his carrot. Perhaps they will consist of his family and friends, taken from the outside world and brought to the inside world, where his kingdom is.
After he obtains his miraculous carrot (whatever it entails), he will then start his own work:
yet surely my judgment is with the LORD, and my work with my God. (Isaiah 49:4)
This is not the Father’s work, but the Josephite’s work. Whatever it consists of, it’s going to be huge, affecting the entire world. Like the carrot, it will be a work of miracles and restoration, only on a much grander scale. Only after the Josephite has obtained his carrot and fully established his own work will the Father’s work begin. And it is the Father’s work that officially begins the end times.
The end times prophecies begin in 1 Nephi 13
I have already gone over the prophecies found in 1 Nephi 13 and 14, so I will not take time to review them in this post. Where 1 Nephi chapter 14 ends, Revelation chapter 4 begins, so let’s jump ahead to John’s end times vision.
A review of the Revelation of St. John the Divine
Given that Elias the Josephite is the point man for all things during the end times, we can expect that he will be found all over John’s end times vision.
The first voice, speaking like a trumpet
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. (Revelation 4:1)
This loud voice may have been the Josephite’s voice. It would make sense that it was his voice, given that he is the one in charge of all end times affairs and he is the first sign that appears. Also, notice that the voice commands John to come up. A trademark of the Josephite’s is him barking orders to people.
A strong angel concerned with the sealed book
And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice,
Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof? (Revelation 5:2)
The destroyer is described as being strong. Also, this angel is particularly concerned with the sealed book. The sealed book is the sealed portion of the plates of Mormon (per my understanding), and it is the Josephite who will be the one that translates it, therefore it makes sense that this angel is the Josephite.
A voice from the midst of the four beasts, commanding not to hurt
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. (Revelation 6:5-6)
As we shall see later, both the angel ascending from the east and king Abaddon (who are one and the same person) give “hurt not” commandments. This voice is likewise giving similar commands, therefore, this voice is possibly also the destroyer’s voice.
The angel ascending from the east, with the seal of the living God, commanding not to hurt
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. (Revelation 7:2-3)
Per Joseph Smith, this is the Elias who restores all things. Therefore, this is the destroyer, Elias the Josephite. Notice, also, that this angel has a loud voice, just as the first voice was loud like a trumpet. The location of this angel is “from the east,” meaning that this angel (the Josephite) is already by this time established on the interior surface of the planet, as king Abaddon, and so he is ascending out of the interior of the earth, from his kingdom, to the outer surface of the planet.
The eighth angel at the altar
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)
This eighth angel might also be the Josephite. Notice that he is in heaven with the seven angels. He is the one that gets everything started, before the seven angels begin sounding their trumpets, after the seventh seal is opened and the space of about a half hour of time has passed. It would make sense that this angel, then, is the Josephite, because this angel is doing exactly what the Josephite does: leading everything. Also, although he is an eighth angel, he is not numbered by John as part of the seven. He’s separate from the other angels. That fits the Josephite.
The flying angel with a loud voice, saying “Woe!”
And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice,
Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound! (Revelation 8:13)
This may be the Josephite.
King Abaddon, the angel of the bottomless pit
And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.
…
And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon. (Revelation 9:1-4,11)
This star which fell from heaven, who is the angel of the bottomless pit, who is king Abaddon/king Apollyon, is definitely Elias the Josephite. Notice that king Abaddon commands the insects not to hurt the grass or any green thing or any tree, and that he mentions the seal of the living God in the foreheads of the sealed men. The Josephite is in root mode at this point, and therefore is trying to save all that can be saved.
Now, I wish to speak about these insects for a bit, since they have something to do with the Josephite.
The Lord’s insect army
Revelation chapter nine is often interpreted as containing prophetic symbolism for wars among men during the end times. John’s description of the locusts, horses and horsemen is typically interpreted as symbolically referring to the war machinery and weapons used by soldiers of the last days. Joel chapters one and two speak of the same events happening in Revelation chapter nine, with Joel also referring to locusts, horses and horsemen. And so many also interpret the first and second chapters of Joel as referring to wars among men during the end times, and thus as mere symbols.
The truth of the matter is that these three chapters are not referring to men, but to an insect army, a swarm of insects, the likes of which the world has never before seen. The Lord created these peculiar insects during the Creation of the world, and then hid the creatures, away from men, to multiply endlessly for nearly 6,000 years, so that He could unleash them upon the wicked of the last days as a plague. They have been kept in check, in their hidden place, this whole time. Joel and John both attempt to describe what these things look like, how they behave and what they can do. Neither Joel nor John had ever seen such insects before because the Lord has kept them hidden. They are described as locusts, horses and horsemen because the insects are of different classes, orders, stages or types. As nobody has ever seen these things before, when they finally make their appearance, we will fully understand that the description of them that John and Joel made was accurate.
Now, I will show from the Bible, from both Joel and Revelation, that these two servants of God were prophesying of (Joel) and seeing in vision (John) the very same event.
Both mention locusts
That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpiller eaten. (Joel 1:4)
And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you. (Joel 2:25)
And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. (Revelation 9:3)
And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men. (Revelation 9:7)
Both mention the creatures resembling horses and horsemen
The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run. (Joel 2:4)
And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men. (Revelation 9:7)
And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle. (Revelation 9:9)
And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them. And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone. (Revelation 9:16-17)
Both mention the creatures setting things on fire
O LORD, to thee will I cry: for the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame hath burned all the trees of the field. The beasts of the field cry also unto thee: for the rivers of waters are dried up, and the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness. (Joel 1:19-20)
A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them. (Joel 2:3)
Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array. (Joel 2:5)
And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone. By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths. (Revelation 9:17-18)
Both mention the people being in pain or torment
Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness. (Joel 2:6)
And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man. (Revelation 9:5)
Both mention the creatures causing the Sun to be darkened
The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining: (Joel 2:10)
And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. (Revelation 9:2)
Both provide imagery of a flying swarm of insects
Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand; a day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations. (Joel 2:1-2)
And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. (Revelation 9:2-3)
Both mention that the creatures make the sound of chariots
Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array. (Joel 2:5)
And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle. (Revelation 9:9)
Both mention the creatures have teeth like lions
For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion. (Joel 1:6)
And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions. (Revelation 9:8)
And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone. (Revelation 9:17)
Both call the creatures an army
The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining: and the Lord shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the Lord is great and very terrible; and who can abide it? (Joel 2:10-11)
Yea, the LORD will answer and say unto his people, Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, and ye shall be satisfied therewith: and I will no more make you a reproach among the heathen: but I will remove far off from you the northern army, and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things. (Joel 2:19-20)
And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you. (Joel 2:25)
And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them. (Revelation 9:16)
Other details differ between the two accounts
Joel calls the creatures “a nation” that is “without number” and that they are “a great people and a strong” and that “there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it.”
For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion. (Joel 1:6)
A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations. (Joel 2:2)
Whereas John actually gives a number of 200 million to them:
And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them. (Revelation 9:16)
The reason for the discrepancy is that John is speaking of a specific insect type, which he calls “the horsemen,” which is of a limited number, numbering but 200 million, whereas the rest of “the army,” consisting of other types of insects, are without number.
Joel says the insects devour everything and “nothing shall escape them.”
He hath laid my vine waste, and barked my fig tree: he hath made it clean bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white. (Joel 1:7)
A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them. (Joel 2:3)
Whereas John says they are commanded to not hurt (eat) the plants.
And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads. (Revelation 9:4)
It could be that John here was specifically referring only to not hurting the grass, plants and trees of the righteous, and not to all plant life in general. This may make sense, considering the angels were told by Elias not to hurt the plant life only until the 144,000 are sealed in their foreheads.
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. (Revelation 7:2-3)
Once they are sealed (and they got sealed in chapter 7, in an event that occurs before chapter 9), then plants can be harmed. But the plants of the righteous (their crops) should be just as protected by the seal as the righteous themselves. So, this may be an instruction concerning not harming the crops of the righteous.
Speculation on where the bugs come from
Okay, so the above is my official interpretation, namely, that these are insects of a kind God has kept hidden from us, which is why the descriptions given by Joel and John are so confusing to people. Now I’m going to speculate a little bit about where these bugs come from.
There is one location I have heard of that might be a proper place for the “hidden place” of these bugs: the Inner Sun of the hollow earth. Legend has it that the Inner Sun is at the center of the earth, surrounded by a vacuum of space, thus nothing at the Inner Sun can get to the shell of the earth, and nothing at the shell can get to the Inner Sun suspended in the sky by gravity at the center, or pit, of the hollow shell. The King James Version calls the place these bugs come from, “the bottomless pit,” although other translations call it, “the pit of the abyss.” Certainly, considering the descriptions I’ve heard about this peculiar celestial object, the Inner Sun can be described as a pit of the abyss. It is very much like the pit of a fruit, if we think of the earth as a very large fruit with a pit at its center spot.
If the Inner Sun is also hollow, like the outer earth shell, then it might have polar openings like the earth does, each of which may give the impression of an immeasurably deep gulf, even a “bottomless pit.” Regardless of the way we define the word “pit”—as the pit at the center of a fruit, or as a deep hole’s innermost recess—the Inner Sun seems to fit the description.
Now descriptions of the Inner Sun are that one side of it (one of its hemispheres) shines with light, while the other side (the other hemisphere) does not, with the base of the Sun being dark but allowing some light to shine through, very much in the shape and glow of a moon, and also like twinkling stars. Apparently, the way the shell spins around it, presents an illusion of a rising and setting sun and a rising and setting moon, and also of twinkling stars in the heavens above.
Now, what has never been explained in the various descriptions that I have read is why one half of it is dark, or semi-dark (if it shines like the moon or twinkles like stars.) If we assume that this Inner Sun exists as described, and if we assume that there are some flying insects we don’t know about, then it may be that the Lord put “His great army” of very special insects on one hemisphere of this glowing Inner Sun orb, to cover its surface, making it dark. It may be that these insects feed off of the radiation given by the Inner Sun, and sometimes they gather, allowing some light to shine forth as the “moon” or as “twinkling stars.” As men do not live on the Inner Sun, but on the inner and outer surface of the earth’s shell, and as there is a vacuum of space between the Inner Sun and the shell, these insects would never have had any interaction with man since the day of their creation.
Thus, they would be hidden “in plain sight,” for men living on the inner surface of the shell would look up at night at the dark side of the Inner Sun and the darkness they would see would really be the bodies of these innumerable insects upon the surface of the Inner Sun, blocking the light, but they would never know it.
Also, the description of the insects as having breastplates of iron and so forth makes it seem like they are prepared or created to inhibit a place where conditions are really harsh, such as the surface of an Inner Sun, and the description of fire and smoke and brimstone coming out of their mouths may simply mean that these things absorb Inner Sun radiation, but also may release it from their mouths, just like the fictional Godzilla does, except for real.
The fiery flying serpents
Of especial note is that these insects fly and belch fire. The fiery flying serpents that the Lord sent to afflict the Israelites in the wilderness did the same thing:
And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. (Numbers 21:6)
The Book of Numbers does not say that they flew, but Nephi says they were fiery flying serpents:
And he did straiten them in the wilderness with his rod; for they hardened their hearts, even as ye have; and the Lord straitened them because of their iniquity. He sent fiery flying serpents among them; and after they were bitten he prepared a way that they might be healed; and the labor which they had to perform was to look; and because of the simpleness of the way, or the easiness of it, there were many who perished. (1 Nephi 17:41)
Also Isaiah says fiery flying serpents in his prophecy:
Rejoice not thou, whole Palestina, because the rod of him that smote thee is broken: for out of the serpent’s root shall come forth a cockatrice, and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent. (Isaiah 14:29)
Now, the reason why this may be important is that both the creatures described by Joel and John, as well as the fiery flying serpents, may be denizens of the surface of the Inner Sun. This is why both belch fire and also why they fly. It requires the Lord, or one of His angels working a miracle, to allow whatever is on the surface of the Inner Sun to travel through the vacuum of space to the inner or outer surface of the earth’s shell without dying. Nevertheless, the creatures can’t walk the distance, but must fly. So, it may be that all these various creatures living on the surface of the Inner Sun fly for this very reason, so that if the Lord extends the atmosphere which is found above the Inner Sun, so that it reaches and connects to the atmosphere surrounding the shell, the creatures, be they fiery flying serpents or fiery flying insects, can fly to the new location.
So, when we read:
And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. (Revelation 9:1-3)
If “the bottomless pit” is the Inner Sun, then smoke cannot come out of it and go into the void or vacuum of space. Smoke cannot arise in a vacuum. So, the angel must be extending the Inner Sun atmosphere to connect to the outer shell atmosphere, allowing the insects to escape to the outer world. The smoke itself may not even be smoke. That may simply be the dark “cloud” of the swarming insects as they ascend up and outward to the outer world. And, given that their breastplates are, as it were, “of iron,” it may be that these creatures naturally follow the Earth’s magnetic lines of force. In other words, as soon at the angel extends the atmosphere, they rise, following the magnetic lines outward. This may explain why Joel describes them as being very ordered, marching in ranks or columns:
They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks: neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk every one in his path: and when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded. (Joel 2:7-8)
As for their numbers being innumerable, it may be that they are stacked, one on top of another, on the surface of the Inner Sun, feeding off of the radiation there, and as they multiply, they add more levels to the stack, so that it gets higher and higher and higher over time. The only limitation may be the extent of the solar atmosphere, which may be many miles high. Given the reduced gravity on that orb, none of them may topple over or be pressed by any weight. Thus, for 6000 years the Lord can continuously multiply His “northern army” without any humans or natural predators to molest them, so that they become a truly endless number of creatures. Thus, Joel’s words about the appearance of this particular army being such a spectacular event that has never happened before makes a bit more sense:
Hear this, ye old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land. Hath this been in your days, or even in the days of your fathers? Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation. (Joel 1:2-3)
A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations. (Joel 2:2)
The Lord is obviously quite proud of this innumerable insect army He has created. After this event happens, we will be talking about it in astonishment for quite some time. Okay, the speculation is over.
King Abaddon’s natural jurisdiction
Elias the Josephite, in his capacity as king Abaddon, living in his hidden, inner earth kingdom, would have jurisdiction over the Inner Sun, as well as the rest of the inner earth world. Thus, he would be the one who would possess “the key to the bottomless pit,” where all these insects come from. These are all the “secret places,” the treasures of which the end times Cyrus was prophesied to get:
Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut;
I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron: and I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel. For Jacob my servant’s sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.(Isaiah 45:1-4)
(And what will be the surname that God will give the end times Cyrus? It will be Joseph-Nephi.)
So the Josephite destroyer will go into the interior of the earth (bringing with him some Gentiles he selects) and there he will establish his kingdom. We may assume, then, that initially his kingdom land will occupy only a portion of the landmass found within the earth. (The other portion of land will be inhabited by the Ten Lost Tribes.) Later the Ten Lost Tribes will come out of the interior of the earth, to the outer world, leaving the interior uninhabited, except for the Josephite and the people of his kingdom, which kingdom will then extend to all of it. Thus, he will become the king of the whole interior, whose jurisdiction must also encompass every part of it, including the Inner Sun.
It is important that he be there, too, because it is in the Inner Sun (assuming that it is the bottomless pit) where the devil will be bound for a thousand years. It is king Abaddon the Josephite destroyer who will bind Satan and his angels, and it will be king Abaddon residing on the inner surface of the planet, gazing up at the Inner Sun, who watches over the devil, making sure he remains bound. Thus he becomes the keeper or warden of this prison for the devil and the one-third, and must reside on the inside surface of the earth, where he can keep watch over it.
Okay, I’ll continue going through Revelation.
A continuation of the review of Revelation
The voice that came from the four horns of the golden altar
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 bottomless pit. (JST Revelation 9:13-14)
This might be the voice of the Josephite.
The mighty angel standing upon the sea and the earth
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)
The destroyer is said to be mighty. This angel may very well be the Josephite. Most latter-day saints believe this angel is the seventh angel, who is the archangel (Michael), because of what is written in D&C 88, but this angel is not identified by John as the seventh angel. Also, this angel swears with an oath and speaks of the sounding of the trumpet of the seventh angel:
And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer: but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets. (Revelation 10:5-7)
So, “the angel…sware…that…in the days of the voice of the seventh angel,…the mystery of God should be finished.” Thus, he cannot be the seventh angel, because he is talking of someone else who is the seventh angel.
It also makes sense that this angel is Elias the Josephite because he ends up giving John an Elias mission, and who would be better to give an Elias mission to John, save Elias himself?
And I went unto the angel, and said unto him,
Give me the little book.
And he said unto me,
Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey.
And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter. And he said unto me,
Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings. (Revelation 10:9-11)
Notice also that John requests that he be given the book (for the words, “Give me the little book,” is a request, not a command, for Elias cannot be commanded), but the angel does not give the book but instead commands John to “Take it, and eat it up.” This angel is the one barking orders, just as the Josephite will do.
Now, concerning that scripture in D&C 88, which I am sure some reader will bring up:
And then shall the first angel again sound his trump in the ears of all living, and reveal the secret acts of men, and the mighty works of God in the first thousand years. 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—and so on, until the seventh angel shall sound his trump; and he shall stand forth upon the land and upon the sea, and swear in the name of him who sitteth upon the throne, that there shall be time no longer; and Satan shall be bound, that old serpent, who is called the devil, and shall not be loosed for the space of a thousand years. (D&C 88:108-110)
The order given in the section for the trumps sounding and the standing of the angel upon the sea and land is different than what is given in the Revelation of John. The mighty angel of Revelation chapter ten stands upon the sea and earth after the sixth trump sounds and before the seventh trump sounds, whereas the angel standing upon the sea and earth in D&C 88 stands upon the land and sea after all seven trumps have been blown the first time, and then all seven trumps are blown a second time, and only after the second time, does this angel swear that there shall be time no longer. Everyone who reads this passage in D&C 88 assumes that the “he” of “and he shall stand forth upon the land and upon the sea” is the angel that is mentioned just before the semicolon: “the seventh angel shall sound his trump;” but that semicolon might represent a shift of focus, whereby the Lord is now talking about someone different than the seventh angel. In other words, He might now be talking of the Josephite and not the seventh angel (who is Michael.)
The angel who has two witnesses
The angel who spoke to John in Revelation chapter ten, continued to speak to him in chapter eleven:
And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying,
Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months. And 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. (Revelation 11:1-4)
This is yet more evidence that this angel is none other than the Elias who restores all things: the Josephite. The Josephite comes with two witnesses, per Zechariah:
Then answered I, and said unto him,
What are these two olive trees upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof?
And I answered again, and said unto him,
What be these two olive branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves?
And he answered me and said,
Knowest thou not what these be?
And I said,
No, my lord.
Then said he,
These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth. (Zechariah 4:11-14)
These two witnesses will be men who witness the entirety of the restoration of all things, in all its infinite greatness. Every single miracle that Joseph-Nephi does, these two men will see, so that they will be able to testify to the whole thing, from beginning to end. This will fulfill the law of witnesses.
In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established. (2 Corinthians 13:1)
So, although there is only one man (the Josephite) who will perform an infinite number of impossible tasks, there will also be two men who will be able to say that they saw him do it all.
The destroyer’s helpers will likewise be destroyers
Before I continue through Revelation, I wish to explain something about the destroyer’s helpers.
Elias the Josephite destroyer will have two witnesses, plus four (or eight) angelic helpers, plus John the Beloved. These helpers all act as Elias destroyers. Also, there will be 144,000 high priests.
Now, the principle is the same as with Christ. Just as Christ the Savior has His helpers, who are His servants, acting as saviors, who represent Him and do the same things He does, so Elias the destroying angel’s helpers will act as Eliases and destroyers, representing him and doing the same kind of things he does.
Thus, John the Beloved apostle of Christ will destroy through that curse that he put upon the waters.
And the two witnesses who stand by the Lord/God of the whole earth, who is the Josephite, will also act as Elias destroyers:
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)
They will be killing people, through miracles, and sending out plagues and curses at will. These two miracle-working prophets, in fact, will be so powered up, that I suspect that they aren’t just any two people. Everyone has their own idea as to the identity of the two witnesses, but based upon this gift of the working of miracles that they will manifest, which so closely matches the same gift that the Josephite will have, this may be a genetic thing. In other words, it may be that the two witnesses will be none other than the Josephite’s sons. This makes a bit of sense to me, given that they will get to witness the whole miraculous work, from beginning to end, so they must have an extra close and special relationship to the destroyer.
The four angelic helpers are also said to be destroyers:
Q. What are we to understand by the four angels, spoken of in the 7th chapter and 1st verse of Revelation?
A. We are to understand that they are four angels sent forth from God, to whom is given power over the four parts of the earth, to save life and to destroy; these are they who have the everlasting gospel to commit to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people; having power to shut up the heavens, to seal up unto life, or to cast down to the regions of darkness. (D&C 77:8)
So, these are likewise acting as Elias destroyers. The identity of these four seem to me to be translated Nephites, namely, the three translated Nephite disciples of Christ, plus one more. The fourth may be Alma the younger. I haven’t, as yet, made that determination.
There are also four angels spoken of in this passage:
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)
These four may be the same four spoken of before, or an additional four. Either way, they are acting as Elias destroyers, for their purpose is “to slay the third part of men.”
Joseph Smith received the following about the 144,000:
Q. What are we to understand by sealing the one hundred and forty-four thousand, out of all the tribes of Israel—twelve thousand out of every tribe?
A. We are to understand that those who are sealed are high priests, ordained unto the holy order of God, to administer the everlasting gospel; for they are they who are ordained out of every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, by the angels to whom is given power over the nations of the earth, to bring as many as will come to the church of the Firstborn. (D&C 77:11)
If they are administering the everlasting gospel, then they are performing ordinances of salvation and exaltation among the populace of the world. This is the spirit of Elijah, which deals with priesthood and keys and ordinances, and the spirit of Elias, which deals with the word of God (for surely they will also be preaching the gospel); but they don’t appear, from the scriptures, to be cursing anyone or killing anyone or destroying anything. So, calling them Elias destroyers may be premature. Nevertheless, if they are the group that will be “binding up the law and sealing the testimony” not only among the righteous (see the post, What It Means to Bind Up the Law and Seal Up the Testimony), but also among the unbelievers and rebellious, delivering them “over unto darkness,” then perhaps it can be said that they will be acting as Elias destroyers:
Therefore, tarry ye, and labor diligently, that you may be perfected in your ministry to go forth among the Gentiles for the last time, as many as the mouth of the Lord shall name, to bind up the law and seal up the testimony, and to prepare the saints for the hour of judgment which is to come; that their souls may escape the wrath of God, the desolation of abomination which awaits the wicked, both in this world and in the world to come. (D&C 88:84-85)
Behold, and lo, there are none to deliver you; for ye obeyed not my voice when I called to you out of the heavens; ye believed not my servants, and when they were sent unto you ye received them not. Wherefore, they sealed up the testimony and bound up the law, and ye were delivered over unto darkness. (D&C 133:71-72)
Okay, so now I’ll return to John’s Revelation vision.
Back to reviewing Revelation
A great voice from heaven
And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them,
Come up hither.
And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them. (Revelation 11:12)
The two witnesses will be killed and then three and a half days later they will come back alive. Then they hear this great voice telling them to come up to heaven, and they ascend. Whose voice is it? The most obvious answer is it is the Josephite’s voice. They are his witnesses, after all. He would be the one to call them to him, for their place is by his side, for they “stand by the Lord of the whole earth,” who is king Abaddon.
Now, it needs to be understood that the Josephite must complete the whole work of salvation and redemption by the sounding of the seventh trump:
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)
And his witnesses must see it all. So, by the time the two miracle-working prophets start the days of their prophecy, we can assume that the Josephite will have finished all the work of salvation and redemption for the dead, from the days of Adam to the present, and all the work of salvation and redemption for the living, and all the work of salvation and redemption for the as-yet unborn, so that all that is left to do is to go to the spirit world and fully complete the preaching of the dead that Jesus Christ started:
For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: by which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. (1 Peter 3:18-20)
For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit. (1 Peter 4:6)
Jesus spent about a day and a half in the spirit world, preaching to the spirits in paradise, and organized a missionary force to go and preach to the spirits in prison (according to the vision of Joseph F. Smith.) This missionary force has been preaching to the spirits in prison ever since, which is a period of nearly 2000 years now. However, given that the Josephite must re-do everyone’s work perfectly, he will need to go to the spirit world and re-do all of the preaching, all by himself, while all the spirit missionaries rest from their labors. This same principle applies for all the other work that he does, too, for when he starts working, we all will stand still and just watch, for our imperfect works will cease and we will behold perfection unfold before our very eyes:
Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed. (D&C 123:17)
So, our works only continue until the Josephite begins working.
Now, the prophecy of the two witnesses begins after the sixth angel has sounded his trumpet and before the seventh angel has sounded. So, after the two witnesses have finished their prophecy and are killed, their bodies remain dead for three and a half days. This means that their spirits go to the spirit world, to be with the destroyer, for he will be there as an embodied spirit, even as a translated man, whereas they will be there as disembodied spirits, and thus, as disembodied spirits they will be able to view the spirit world and witness the work of preaching that he does, resuming their position by his side, as his witnesses. The Josephite won’t be a disembodied spirit, because his preaching must be a miracle, and given that it is impossible for a physically-embodied man to preach to spirits—for spirit missionaries are required to preach to spirits, while embodied missionaries are required to preach to embodied people—he will do it anyway, performing this impossible task nonetheless. And he will do it in record time, too, taking only three and a half days to preach to every single soul found in the spirit world, convincing everyone of the truth and establishing the two-handed condition among them. That work of preaching being finished, he will either ascend to heaven, while his two witnesses use their own miracle-working gift to re-enter their bodies, coming back alive, or he will use his miracle-working gift to bring them back alive and then he will ascend to heaven. (Either way, he ends up in heaven and they end up alive again, on earth.) Then they will hear the voice of the destroyer speaking to them from heaven to “come up hither” and they will ascend to again be by his side, to witness the final act he does, just before the seventh trumpet sounds, which is this:
And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven. The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly. And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying,
The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. (Revelation 11:13-15)
The angel that commands the Son of Man
And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud,
Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.
And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped. (Revelation 14:14-16)
Only the Josephite has authority to command Christ and have Him obey like this. He is the only one who fits as being this angel.
The angel with power over fire
And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying,
Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe. (Revelation 14:17-18)
Again, the Josephite speaks with a loud voice and barks orders to everyone, so he fits here, too. Now, it may seem strange that the Josephite appears to be all over the place, on earth, in heaven, in the bottomless pit, in the interior of the earth, everywhere apparently. It is normal for one to say, “It cannot all be him. He cannot be everywhere at once. It is absolutely impossible to be in two places at once!” But keep in mind that the Josephite must do an infinite amount of impossible work in an impossibly short amount of time, and thus nothing can nor will be impossible for him to do in order to accomplish it all, not even being in two or more places at the same time. (Try wrapping your mind around that.) So, every single one of these instances may literally be him.
Also, this angel has power over fire. Will the Josephite have power over fire? Of course, he will.
The great voice out of the temple commanding the seven angels with the plagues
And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels,
Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth. (Revelation 16:1)
This is probably the voice of the Josephite.
The great voice coming out of the temple saying, “It is done.”
And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying,
It is done. (Revelation 16:17)
Again, this is probably the voice of the Josephite. He starts the whole thing and he is the one who will say when it is finished.
The angel having great power
And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying,
Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. (Revelation 18:1-3)
This angel is quite possibly the Josephite.
The mighty angel throwing the millstone
And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying,
Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all. (Revelation 18:21)
This guy has “Josephite destroyer” written all over him.
The angel standing in the Sun
And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven,
Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; that ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great. (Revelation 19:17-18)
The Josephite certainly will have power to stand in the Sun, plus this angel has a loud voice and is inviting the fowls to feast upon wicked men. That’s something that probably only the destroyer would delight in.
The angel that binds the dragon
And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season. (Revelation 20:1-3)
This is Elias the Josephite, who has power to seal all things, including Satan and his angels. Notice, also, that here the Josephite, who is embodied, is laying hold of a spirit being, and binding him. This is altogether impossible, but he does it anyway.
About the end times plagues and destruction
John’s Revelation vision has seven seals opened, then seven trumpets blown and finally seven vials full of plagues poured out, with some major events happening each time afterward. Every time something major happens, it should be understood that the Josephite is the one causing it. (Even the actions of the wicked during the end times are but reactions to something he does.) The angels blowing trumpets or pouring out vials do not cause the prophesied major events that follow to happen. They merely exercise faith that the prophecies will be fulfilled, and then the Josephite uses his gift of the working of miracles to make them happen. After all, these things are all curses and death and destruction and demolition, which is his area of expertise. (Nevertheless, the final end of the wicked, in which they are burned up by the brightness of the Lord’s coming, won’t be the handiwork of the Josephite destroyer, but of the Lord Jesus Christ, who will be coming back as a destroying Elias, even as Elias the Messiah, who is the Branch.)
Yet more keys to discerning impostors
The information in this post, then, gives yet more keys to discern impostors who may appear, claiming to be the Elias who restores all things. For example, anyone who claims to be Elias, who says he saw the Father and the Son, and that the Son gave him instructions, or that he saw angels and the angels gave him instructions, is an impostor. Anyone who is not professing to be a king, is probably not Elias. (I assume he will let it be known that he is a king from a far country.) Anyone who is meek and lowly and Christlike and loving and kind and forgiving, etc., is probably an impostor. Elias will be sharp tongued, offending people left and right. He will not be adverse to using force and may even mock people. And he will undoubtedly have enemies and have no qualms about destroying them. In fact, Elias will have five points of motivation for getting out of his box:
- Simply getting out (so that he can finally progress)
- Avenging himself of his enemies
- Obtaining his beloved carrot
- Engaging in his personal work
- Doing the Father’s great and marvelous work of restoring all things
The second point in particular, about the enemies, is extremely important. As the Lord said,
Therefore, inasmuch as you are found transgressors, you cannot escape my wrath in your lives. (D&C 104:8)
so it will be with the Josephite. None of his enemies will escape his wrath. Even if his enemies die before he gets out of his box, the man will merely rewind the time to a point at which they are yet alive, and then severely punish them.
So those who come before us in sheep’s clothing, pretending to be Elias, who have no enemies, cannot be him. Elias will be more like a devouring and lone wolf than a saintly lamb. Everything about the man will be intimidating, even perhaps in his weak state.
More on the end times Cyrus prophecy
Concerning just how intimidating the Josephite will be, I’ll turn again to Isaiah’s prophecy of the end times Cyrus:
I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: that they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else. (Isaiah 45:5-6)
We see from this that the Father Himself is going to gird the Josephite for the express purpose of having the whole world know that there is no God besides the Father.
I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will direct all his ways: he shall build my city, and he shall let go my captives, not for price nor reward,
saith the LORD of hosts. (Isaiah 45:13)
And the Father Himself will raise this man, in righteousness, and direct all his ways.
Thus saith the LORD,
The labour of Egypt, and merchandise of Ethiopia and of the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over unto thee, and they shall be thine: they shall come after thee; in chains they shall come over, and they shall fall down unto thee, they shall make supplication unto thee, saying,
Surely God is in thee; and there is none else, there is no God. Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour.
They shall be ashamed, and also confounded, all of them: they shall go to confusion together that are makers of idols. (Isaiah 45:14-16)
So, God will deliver the entire world’s wealth and its inhabitants to this man and they shall fall down before him and supplicate to him and confess that God is in him.
Surely, shall one say,
in the LORD have I righteousness and strength:
even to him shall men come; and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed. (Isaiah 45:24)
Again, we see from this that there will be one (and that “one” is the Josephite) who will obtain righteousness and strength (see the post, The Strength of the Lord) through the Lord, and to him men will come and everyone who opposes him or who is angry at him, will be cursed. Given all of the above (and more like scriptures), describing the Josephite as “intimidating” may actually be a gross understatement.
Don’t make the fatal mistake
My hope with this post is that we don’t make the mistake of rejecting this guy because of his abrasive nature. Many people who expect an end times servant to come have the wrong idea about what he’s going to be like, or who he is, or who he was in the heavens. Having a proper understanding of the Josephite’s pre-mortal role as the destroying angel, the Father’s royal executioner and His emissary of justice, and as an actual king over an actual kingdom here on earth, with an earthly throne and also a heavenly throne (the monstrous comet!), will allow us to more easily identify him when he appears, to more easily understand his destructive nature and to more easily submit to his authority (which will be from the Father, not just from the Son.) Also, because of his tendency to curse those who slight him, submission to his authority will mean the difference between being cursed and blessed, miserable and happy, alive and dead, saved and damned. In other words, let this guy have his way in all things! Having a knowledge, then, of his nature will allow us to make allowances for it, instead of getting offended and committing spiritual suicide by rejecting him. As long as we take as our example the third captain of fifty, and grovel before before the Elias destroyer, we will survive his advent:
And the third captain of fifty went up, and came and fell on his knees before Elijah, and besought him, and said unto him,
O man of God, I pray thee, let my life, and the life of these fifty thy servants, be precious in thy sight. (2 Kings 1:13)
LDS Anarchy 
1 Nephi 13 & 14 commentary, using CTC’s view
On June 17th, 2008, Anthony E. Larson uploaded a post to this blog called, The Great and Abominable Church. A couple of weeks later a visitor called CTC claimed that 1 Nephi 13 & 14 spoke of a literal great and abominable church that had yet to make its appearance and that much of both of these chapters was yet to be fulfilled. He said he got this information from someone who he believed was a bona fide prophet of God. CTC did not use a chronological approach to Nephi’s prophecy. This made it easy for him to get around certain parts which posed problems to him as a future fulfillment. But I’m not going to take that approach. I’m going to read it chronologically and literally, and see where it takes me.
I’m doing this because it interests me, not because I subscribe to this view, so please don’t take this as my interpretation of this chapter. As I’ve said before, my understanding of prophecy is that it is plain and speaks of real things, and also that it often has shadows or types. When CTC first posted his comments, I did not respond, because I hadn’t taken the time to really look at 1 Nephi 13, to see if the fulfillment that we normally assign to it could be a mere shadow. So, I remained silent and let others respond to him. However, recently I have found myself mentioning time and time again about a coming future captivity of the saints, which brought to my mind what Nephi had stated in 1 Nephi 13, which then brought to my mind what CTC had written in his comments.
All of which leads me to this post, in which I look at these chapters and attempt to interpret them as if their literal fulfillment was still future. So, let’s begin.
Chapter Thirteen of First Nephi
I will quote a part of the chapter, then give what is commonly assumed as its fulfillment, but as a shadow, and then I will give its literal future fulfillment. I will try to convincingly show why the shadow fulfillment does not satisfy the prophecy, meaning why the prophecy is not fulfilled every whit by the shadow, necessitating a future, literal fulfillment. I am using this as my Book of Mormon text.
The times of the Gentiles
This is obviously talking about the times of the Gentiles. But which times? The times of the primitive church with the twelve apostles, the times right after the death of the apostles, the times of Joseph Smith, the current times, or a future time of the Gentiles? Nephi isn’t clear on this point, but I will interpret this as a future time.
The formation of a church
Shadow past fulfillment: Some have stated that this is the Roman Catholic Church, a literal church, which would put its formation after the death of the apostles. Others have stated that this is the “church” of science, a metaphorical church, which would put its formation after the Roman Catholic Church. Others believe this is speaking metaphorically about all churches that are not the true saints of God, per the later verse of 1 Ne. 14:10, giving it a metaphorical “formation” and a metaphorical “captivity.” These must all be shadows because they do not fulfill the prophecy every whit.
Literal future fulfillment: This a real church, not a figurative or metaphorical church. And it exists among other, real churches. It literally kills and tortures real saints—or sanctified people who have entered into a covenant with God, witnessed by baptism—and literally binds them, puts real iron yokes upon them and brings them down into literal (not metaphorical) captivity.
To literally fulfill this prophecy every whit, living saints of God must be present during, or after, the formation of this church, and they must be killed, tortured, bound, yoked with iron, and brought into captivity. Also, there must be other, real churches present, which do not pertain to the abominable church.
This has not occurred, yet, for although there were people tortured, killed, put into iron yokes and brought into captivity, by various religious organizations in the past, these tortured souls were not saints of God, for the church of God was already non-existent by then and the saints and apostles were already dead. Therefore, this prophecy must pertain to the future.
Devil, materialism, worldy praise
The previous commentary applies to this section, as well, for if the church of God is not present, in order for this abominable church to bring God’s saints down into captivity and destroy them, it cannot be fulfilled literally.
Many waters
Shadow past fulfillment: The Gentiles of Europe are divided (separated) from the American Indians (Lamanites) by the Atlantic Ocean.
Literal future fulfillment: The Gentiles of Asia are divided (separated) from the American Indians (Lamanites) by “many waters.” The term “many waters” refers to that body of water called by the Nephites, Irreantum, which is the Pacific Ocean.
The Spirit of God upon a man
Shadow past fulfillment: The European Gentile, Christopher Columbus, “believed himself chosen by God to find [a new] land and deliver the light of Christianity to the natives there.” He sailed upon the Atlantic Ocean to the New World, all the way to the Lamanite remnant.
Literal future fulfillment: A man among the Asian Gentiles (not necessarily a Gentile man, nor Asian) will have the Spirit of God come down and work upon him. This man will be a holy prophet of God and will travel from Asia to North America, upon the Irreantum or Pacific Ocean, until he reaches the Lamanite remnant.
The Spirit of God upon captive Gentiles
Shadow past fulfillment: European Gentiles (Puritans) leave Europe and their religious “captivity” for America to partake of religious freedom. (Never mind that Europe was one of the freest places on the planet at the time.) They travel over the Atlantic Ocean.
Literal future fulfillment: Asian Gentiles are wrought upon by the Spirit of God, becoming saints of God, and leave Asian captivity, meaning that they leave the captivity of the tyrannical Chinese, North Korean and other communist regimes and dictatorships, which bind the people down in literal captivity. They travel over the Irreantum (Pacific Ocean.)
The scattering of the Lamanites
Shadow past fulfillment: Lots of European Gentiles are in America. The European Gentiles partially scatter the American Indians and gather them into reservations. The European Gentiles take possession of Indian and American land. Some prosper, some do not. The European Gentiles are white, fair and beautiful.
Literal future fulfillment: Lots of different Gentiles are in America. An unnamed group of (European?) Gentiles fully scatter the American Indians, off of the reservations, and smite them, so that the Lamanites are completely landless. The Spirit of the Lord comes upon a righteous group of (Asian?) Gentiles (saints) and they prosper and inherit the land. This righteous group of Gentiles is white, fair and beautiful.
Former captors wage war against former captives; God saves former captives
Shadow past fulfillment: Many European Gentiles (in the American British colonies) are either deists or believe in God, Christianity and the Bible. The American Revolutionary War ensues. Despite hardships, lack of supplies, training, etc., the American Continental Army defeats the British.
Literal future fulfillment: The Asian Gentiles (who are converted saints of God)—who left their Asian communist countries, who traveled over the Irreantum (Pacific Ocean), who are now living upon the land of America—humble themselves before the Lord and obtain the gifts and powers of the Holy Ghost. Their mother countries (China, Russia and the rest) send warships upon the waters to battle them and gather together upon the water and also gather together upon the land. Divine intervention (miracles of God) takes place and the armies of the mother Gentile nations, as well as the armies of all those nations who were gathered with them to battle the former Asian Gentile captives, are defeated by the power of God, and not by any power of man.
A book, the record of the Jews
Shadow past fulfillment: The European Gentiles (now called American citizens) have a Bible—written by multiple authors, not a single Jew—which has been corrupted by that great and abominable church, you know, the Roman Catholic Church, or the science non-church, or the vast assembly of non-saint churches “church.” That church. Anyway, that church/non-church takes some plain and precious parts away from the Bible and then sends it out to all the European Gentiles, which then makes its way to America, since the European Gentiles have traveled there over the Atlantic Ocean. And because of this faulty Bible, many of the European Gentiles stumble and sin. But hope is not lost, for the Lord has a plan.
Literal future fulfillment: The Asian Gentiles saints living in America have a book, written by a singular Jew, which contains a record of the Jews, the covenants of the Lord and many of the prophecies of the prophets. This book is like the plates of brass, except it doesn’t contain as much information as the plates of brass. It contains the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the testimony of all twelve apostles of the Lord.
When the book first appears, written by the singular Jew, it will go to the Gentiles, presumably to the Asian Gentiles who were in captivity, since they will be carrying the book. After it goes to the Gentiles, the great and abominable church will be formed. That church apparently will get a copy of the book and make drastic changes to it, taking out plain and precious parts. Then they will publish the book far and wide, so that it ends up in every Gentile nation, including in America.
There will be, then, two editions of the book. One which is pure, carried by the Asian Gentile saints living in America, and the other which is corrupted, carried by the other Gentiles (living in America and elsewhere). Because of the corrupted version, many Gentiles stumble and sin. But hope is not lost, for the Lord has a plan.
Another book, the record of the Nephites
Shadow past fulfillment: The Book of Mormon, an abridged record of the Nephites, was written, and came forth to the Gentiles that were stumbling, by the gift and power of God, and in it is God’s rock, salvation and gospel, and it contains the many plain and precious parts that have been taken out of the Bible, as well as an abridgment of the ministry of the Savior to the Nephites. Those during the time of Joseph Smith were blessed with the gift and power of the Holy Ghost as they sought to establish Zion.
Future literal fulfillment: An unabridged Nephite record (not the Book of Mormon) will be written, to come forth to the Gentiles that stumble, by the gift and power of God, and in it will be God’s rock, salvation and gospel, and it will contain the many plain and precious parts that have been taken out of the book that is carried by the Asian Gentile saints. In the Nephite record will be “many things” that the Savior personally ministered to the Nephites. In other words, it will be an unabridged account of that ministry. Those during the time of the appearance of this unabridged Nephite record will be blessed with the gift and power of the Holy Ghost as they seek to establish Zion.
Two records established in one
Shadow past fulfillment: The Bible written by multiple Jews went to the Lamanites. Later, the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price went to the Lamanites, and these last records established the truth of the Bible (as far as it is translated correctly), which is a record of the four apostles of the Lord, and made known the plain and precious parts missing in it. Both volumes of scripture were established in one, by being bound up as a quadruple combination.
Literal future fulfillment: The unchanged book carried by the Asian Gentile saints, written by a singular Jew, will go to the Lamanites. Later, the unabridged Nephite record (as well as other records) will go to the Lamanites and will establish the truth of the unadulterated book that is carried about by the Asian Gentile saints, which is a record of all twelve apostles of the Lord, and will make known the plain and precious parts that are missing in the perverted edition of that record. Both volumes of scripture will be established in one.
Chapter Fourteen of First Nephi
The whole of 1 Nephi 14 is still future, according to my understanding, but since I’m using CTC’s view to interpret the prophecy, I will try to bring up anything that may coincide with what I wrote about chapter thirteen.
Numbering
Shadow past/present fulfillment: I suppose latter-day saints could interpret numbering among the house of Israel as fulfilled by getting their patriarchal blessings, which tell them what tribe they have been assigned to.
Literal future fulfillment: Numbering is a tribal function. I’ve already gone over this on this blog before, so I’m not going to elaborate on this topic again. Let it suffice that my understanding is that this pertains to the future and has not yet been fulfilled in any part, whatsoever.
The great and marvelous work
Shadow past fulfillment: The times of Joseph Smith in which he restored many lost truths and layed the foundation of the kingdom is often thought as the great and marvelous work.
Literal future fulfillment: The great and marvel work takes places after the numbering of the Gentiles among the house of Israel, therefore, it is still a future event.
The covenants of the Father to the house of Israel
I don’t really need to comment on this.
Two churches only
Shadow past fulfillment: Some use this scripture retroactively, to apply to the thirteenth chapter of First Nephi. So, they define the great and abominable church as everything that isn’t the LDS church.
Literal future fulfillment: The great and marvelous work, which is still future, will cause a division among the people, so that there are no longer a multiplicity of churches on earth. Everything will either align itself with the great and abominable church, being absorbed by her, or join the saints of God in the now-called church of the Lamb of God. The church of the Lamb of God will be using, if you remember, the Book of the Lamb of God. In other words, that unchanged book written by a singular Jew, carried by the Asian Gentile saints, which contains the writings of the twelve (not four) apostles of the Lamb. Just as Mormons are called Mormons because of the book they carry and use and believe, so the Lamb of God church will be called by the name of their main book.
Headquarters in the midst of Irreantum
Shadow past fulfillment: Bad (non-LDS) churches are all over the planet.
Literal future fulfillment: The great and abominable church will be headquartered somewhere in the Pacific Ocean and will have global reach.
The church of the Lamb of God
Shadow past fulfillment: Good (LDS) churches are all over the planet.
Literal future fulfillment: The church of the Lamb of God will have global reach, but small membership, due to the other church’s wickedness.
Gathering of the whore to fight the Lamb
I ain’t gonna interpret this.
Power of God upon the saints and covenant people
Nor will I interpret this. But do notice that at this point in the prophetic timeline, the covenant people of the Lord are still in their scattered state.
Worldwide wars
Nor will I interpret this. But do notice that only now, after there are wars and rumors of war everywhere, after the numbering, after the unabridged Nephite record and the record of the twelve apostles of the Lamb come forth, etc., only after all these things happen does the work of the Father commence in preparing the way for the fulfilling of His covenants with Israel!
The apostle John
Shadow past fulfillment: John the apostle wrote the Book of Revelation, which contains some of the things that Nephi saw and the Book of Revelation is found in the Bible, which was written by multiple Jews.
Literal future fulfillment: John the apostle will appear in the future, with a mission to gather the tribes of Israel, as a Jewish Elias, meaning an Elias of the tribe of Judah, and he will come and restore all things pertaining to the Jews.
It was for this reason that John was translated, that he might perform this latter-day work.
John, then, is the Jew, out of whose mouth the book, which Nephi saw in vision, would proceed. He is the “hand of the twelve apostles of the Lamb” which will write this book. Through John will proceed the record and testimony of all twelve apostles of the Lamb, and all the things which Nephi saw will be written by John, “and also many things which have been,” meaning that John will write things which preceded Nephi. The writings of John in the Bible do not cover all the things that the angel told Nephi John would write, which would be written in the book that proceeded out of the mouth of the Jew, which is called “the Book of the Lamb of God.”
And this is the very reason why the angel prohibited Nephi from writing the rest of his vision. The Book of Revelation does not contain the vision that Nephi saw. If anything, it only contains a part of the vision, or an abridgement. Nephi could not write what he saw because it was not the proper time for that information to come forth. When John re-appears on the scene, he will dictate the book that Nephi saw the Asian Gentile saints carrying, which will contain the full vision of Nephi, as well as the covenants of the Lord, many of the prophecies of the prophets, the testimony of all twelve apostles, a record of the Jews and “many things which have been.” Yet, despite all that, it will still be less material than what the plates of brass contain.
John may, in fact, be the man who is wrought upon by the Spirit of God, who goes forth upon the many waters (Irreantum) to the promised land, who is followed by the Asian Gentile saints. John may be that man among the Asian Gentiles, who preaches to them and gives them the book that he will write, which they will carry with them to the promised land. John may be the very one who frees them from captivity, allowing them to leave their countries and come over the Irreantum to America.
Wrapping this up
Is any of this true? Could our standard interpretation of these two chapters be mere shadows? I will leave it up to the reader to figure that out for him or herself. One thing is for sure, if 1 Nephi 13 has yet to be literally fulfilled, we know what the very first thing mentioned is: the formation of a great and abominable church and the death, torture and captivity of the saints. Let us hope that none of the things I wrote above have any basis in prophetic reality.
Complete List of Articles authored by LDS Anarchist
December 29, 2012
Categories: Babylon, Gift of the Holy Ghost, Holy Ghost, Jesus Christ, LDS, Patriarchal Blessings, Power of the Holy Ghost, Preaching the Gospel, Prophecy, Prophets, Repentance, Sanctification, Scriptural Expositions, Secret Combinations, Symbolism, Tribalism, Zion . Tags: America, American Indians, Asia, Atlantic Ocean, Baptism, Book of Mormon, Book of the Lamb of God, captivity, Christopher Columbus, Church, Church of the Devil, Church of the Lamb of God, covenants, Death, destruction, devil, Elias, Europe, Gathering, Gentiles, Great and Abominable Church, Great and Marvelous Work, history, House of Israel, Irreantum, Jesus Christ, Jew, Jews, John, John the Apostle, John the Beloved, Lamanites, Land of Promise, Last Days, Latter-days, Nephi, Nephites, Pacific Ocean, Prophecy, Prophecy Interpretation, Remnant of Jacob, saints, Saints of God, Scattering, Scriptural Commentary, Scriptures, Spirit of God, Torture, Tribes of Israel, War, Warfare . Author: LDS Anarchist . Comments: 58 Comments