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Posts Tagged ‘Jerusalem’

jesus donkey

Before we can delve into the shenanigans of this year’s latest General Conference, I pray we remember the important significance of today – Palm Sunday.

For me personally, it was the day I was reborn in 1993. Although Palm Sunday 1993 took place in late March that year, the effects of what happened 2,000 years ago has been played out all over the world when Jesus rode into Jerusalem.

Take a moment this week to discover what happened each day of Holy Week. We pray it brings new insight in your walk with the Lord.

The following is about Palm Sunday we originally posted in 2016.

Tomorrow we’ll begin our look at this year’s church announcements. Be blessed my friend! (more…)

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december-witnessing-tip-of-the-day-8 December 8 – Messiah Would Enter Jerusalem Riding a Donkey. Zechariah 9:9; “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: Behold, thy King cometh unto thee: He is just, and having salvation; Lowly, and riding upon an ass, And upon a colt the foal of an ass.”

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With the advent of Holy Week, there’s going to be a slight delay in posting all of the General Conference talks. We’ll post 1-2 sporadically throughout this week, but our main focus right now is the importance of biblical events leading up to our Lord’s death on the Cross for us! Praise His Holy Name!

Palm Sunday is of course, one of the most important days in all of time. It marks the day when Jesus finally allowed for people to worship Him as King. Up until that day there were numerous times people had tried to label Him as King, but those were done with the intent to do Him harm, and He always said, ‘It is not my time’.

John 6:15; “When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone.”

John 7:30, 44; “Then they sought to take him: but no man laid hands on him, because his hour was not yet come. 44 And some of them would have taken him; but no man laid hands on him.”

John 8:59; “Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.

John 10:39; “Therefore they sought again to take him: but he escaped out of their hand.”

The timing of His announcement was solely in His hands, for He had come to do His Father’s will, and to fulfill scripture. Because He’s God, He controlled all things

. We can see how cool this is when we look back at historical events found in secular writings, and how they’re mentioned in the Bible as well! Check out the following passages –

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God’s word makes things pretty clear. In the 10th year of King Zedekiah’s reign, Jeremiah was thrown into prison as Jerusalem fell in the Babylonian takeover ~

Jeremiah 32:1-2 “The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. 2 For then the king of Babylon’s army besieged Jerusalem: and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the prison, which was in the king of Judah’s house.” [emp. added]

According to historical records, the 1st year of Zedekiah’s reign took place in bc 598-597. His reign ended with the fall of Jerusalem which has been documented c. bc 587-586.

This historical fact isn’t a problem, unless of course you’re reading history from an aberrant storyline such as Joe Smith’s inspired works. Check out the mass confusion found in the opening scenes of their signature canon, the Book of Mormon.

The following claim tells us when Lehi supposedly packed up his family and left Jerusalem…. (more…)

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June 3 – Facing Historical Facts. Jeremiah 42:10, 15-17; “If ye will still abide in this land, then will I build you, and not pull you down, and I will plant you, and not pluck you up: for I repent me of the evil that I have done unto you. 15 And now therefore hear the word of the LORD, ye remnant of Judah; Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; If ye wholly set your faces to enter into Egypt, and go to sojourn there; 16 Then it shall come to pass, that the sword, which ye feared, shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine, whereof ye were afraid, shall follow close after you there in Egypt; and there ye shall die. 17 So shall it be with all the men that set their faces to go into Egypt to sojourn there; they shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence: and none of them shall remain or escape from the evil that I will bring upon them.”

(more…)

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december-witnessing-tip-of-the-day-8 December 8 – Messiah Would Enter Jerusalem Riding a Donkey. Zechariah 9:9; “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: Behold, thy King cometh unto thee: He is just, and having salvation; Lowly, and riding upon an ass, And upon a colt the foal of an ass.”

(more…)

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jesus donkeyPalm Sunday is of course, one of the most important days in all of time. It marks the day when Jesus finally allowed for people to worship Him as King. Up until that day there were numerous times people had tried to label Him as King, but those were done with the intent to do Him harm, and He always said, ‘It is not my time’.

John 6:15; “When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone.”

John 7:30, 44; “Then they sought to take him: but no man laid hands on him, because his hour was not yet come. 44 And some of them would have taken him; but no man laid hands on him.”

John 8:59; “Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.

John 10:39; “Therefore they sought again to take him: but he escaped out of their hand.”

The timing of His announcement was solely in His hands, for He had come to do His Father’s will, and to fulfill scripture. Because He’s God, He controlled all things. We can see how cool this is when we look back at historical events found in secular writings, and how they’re mentioned in the Bible as well! Check out the following passages –

(more…)

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Mormon Decisions 10Today we’re looking at events from the BoM to see if they line up with the Bible, and if they seem reasonable for historical events taking place in BC 587. The passage below is a description of a dream Lehi had. 

1 Nephi 1:9-15 “And it came to pass that he saw One descending out of the midst of heaven, and he beheld that his luster was above that of the sun at noon-day. 10 And he also saw twelve others following him, and their brightness did exceed that of the stars in the firmament. 11 And they came down and went forth upon the face of the earth; and the first came and stood before my father, and gave unto him a book, and bade him that he should read. 12 And it came to pass that as he read, he was filled with the Spirit of the Lord.

(more…)

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Mormon Decisions 101 Nephi 2:4; “And it came to pass that he departed into the wilderness. And he left his house, and the land of his inheritance, and his gold, and his silver, and his precious things, and took nothing with him, save it were his family, and provisions, and tents, and departed into the wilderness.”

400+ kilometer journey to flee Jerusalem

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BoM ResearchEarlier today I published a Book of Mormon Resource Page so people who want/need info on various topics relating to the BoM can retrieve what they need from an easy access point. Whew!

You can read it here or look over to the right and you’ll find a widget waiting to be clicked!

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Israel in 600 BC – the Bible vs. the Book of Mormon

Today’s scenario of false prophecies is the kind that jumps right out at you and confirms there’s something fishy in Denmark, or in this case, Israel.

For 400 years Israel was in disobedience towards God and for a long time God had warned the Israelites there would be a price to pay for their willful disregard of His commandments.

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 Book of Mormon & Dates in History

     A few years ago I took a bible study class on the book of Jeremiah.  Now I’ve been taking bible study classes non-stop since I was saved back on Palm Sunday of ’93 and I have to say that just like every other Christian I learn a lot, but there are times when the studies are more significant than others.  The study of Jeremiah did that for me.

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Glenn Beck, the Jewish Mormon Out to Change the World

With His Mormon Centered Truths

Ed Decker

September 2011

Ever since Glenn Beck stepped out from the daily limelight on FOX TV and stopped stunning the world with his amazing insights regarding often hidden secrets of our national history and the underside of our political process; as well as his constant and ever-increasing call to challenge the hidden spiritual depths of the American Christian mindset, I have been waiting for the proverbial “other shoe” to drop.  It dropped when he turned his attention toIsrael. His trip there was not a casually planned event. It had a purpose that will shock you.

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John the Apostle Captured by Assyrians

Encyclopedia of JS Teachings, pg. 402; The Spirit of the Lord fell upon Joseph in an unusual manner, and he prophesied that John the Revelator was then among the Ten Tribes of Israel who had been led away by Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, to prepare them for their return from their long dispersion.

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March 19 – Numbers 14:25; “(Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwelt in the valley).  To morrow turn you, and get you into the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea”. 

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Use this verse as a geography lesson for the Mormon.  There has never been a river that empties into the Red Sea.  It is surrounded by wilderness (desert) only.

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1 Nephi 2:8; “And it came to pass that he called the name of the river, Laman, and it emptied into the Red Sea; and the valley was in the borders near the mouth thereof.”

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600 BC

     ezekials-tomb-at-kifel-wikimediaIt’ll be 14 years ago this month (March 20007) that I accepted the Lord into my life and you’d think I’d have studied Jeremiah by now, but it was always something else that came up.  I love studies because I am able to keep the focus off of me and as I said, He will always use it for His glory!

     This particular study has to be one of my very favorites.  I feel as if I’m a brand new Christian again with all that I’m learning and know just how blessed I am while I soak up His provision in the Word.  There have been many times it has brought back the memories of what it was like growing up in Utah a sixth generation Mormon.

     I don’t recall how many times that I would sit on my bed at night and try to line up parts of the Old Testament with the Book of Mormon.  I remember each time I tried this and then asked someone to help me sort out the confusion; I was repeatedly told that we’ll figure that out when we come before the Lord.  When I’d etch out the times to be alone and read again, I would get lost and more confused with the stories of Nephi leaving the fold and getting on that boat to cross the ocean.

     Now here it is some thirty years later and I’m finally getting it!  Thank you Lord!  The stories from the Book of Mormon and the Bible aren’t ever going to match up and it doesn’t matter how long you study it or from what angle, it doesn’t fit.

     I know this sounds like it’s over simplifying the events, but for those of us who aren’t qualified to be in the discussion boards of FARMS or FAIR, indulge me for a moment if you will.

     When we open up the Book of Mormon we can see from the very first page that it is describing how the “prophet Lehi” was called by God to escape the impending doom of His wrath upon Israel.  At the bottom of the first page the date of BC 600 tells us when the events of the Book of Mormon supposedly took place.

     There are several problems with this scenario when you compare it to the Bible and the historical aspect of that time period.  In Jeremiah we are given several examples of when events took place like the three different stages of when Babylon took Israel and Judah into captivity.  It began in BC 605 and continued on until about BC 586, but the nation of Israel was finally let out of captivity after they had been exiled for seventy years.

     We have dates of when Egypt fell to Babylon at Battle of Carchemish in BC 605 and dates of when Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 AD.  These things are documented, verified and obviously true, factual events in history.  We have ample evidence of communities that existed and were then destroyed all throughout the Middle East during history.  The wells from where Jacob offered sacrifices to God, down to the location of the Garden of Gethsemane can all be verified.

     There are two immediate reasons why we can’t trust the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith.

     The first problem that raises suspicion is the date.  In BC 600 Israel had just experienced it’s first of three stages of being taken into captivity by the Babylonians.  The Lord God had given the Israelites specific guidelines as to what they should do during the sieges, whom to listen to and how to behave; then He gave them a choice.

     The children of God could submit themselves willingly to the yoke of slavery or they would die by one of three ways; famine, pestilence or sword.  In other words, God never gave the tribes a choice of fleeing the continent!  You either chose to submit, be obedient and He would bless you and prosper you while in captivity; or you became food for the vultures.

     The other problem is why.  Why would you worship a god who doesn’t keep his promises?  The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob promised His children they would be punished for their sin of idol worship.  The Bible specifically declares what happened to the Israelites. Yet Joseph Smith introduces a “lost tribe” that claims they fled the scene.

     Why should you believe those people are holy?

     Why should you believe a group of people that kept going back to retrieve the plates and writings of their people if they thought their people were behaving ungodly?  Remember how Nephi made a few attempts at going back to retrieve the plates and ran into continuous trouble until he finally beheaded Laban in 1 Nephi 4:18?

     Both kingdoms of Israel and Judah were definitely living in sin, that’s why God punished them by sending them into captivity.  Both Israel and Judah had their own set of problems and neither of them was any better than the other nations (Gentiles) that surrounded them.  So when the missionary tells you they “escaped” because of the sin around them, you can now say that God provided a way out and they obviously rejected it.  IF in fact they were even a “real tribe” to begin with!

     The rest of First Nephi chapter four goes on to tell the reader that they were afraid the Jew would find out what they were doing.  They spoke of “the Jews” as if they weren’t one of them.  Did they or did they not come from the God of Israel?  1 Nephi 18:1-8 is the story of the ship being packed and how they sailed for the Promised Land.

     The examples are taken from the entire book of Jeremiah.  The majority of the book of Jeremiah is filled with prophecy, so if I listed all the scriptures about the subjects I’d basically be writing down the entire book of Jeremiah. The promise of forgiveness and redemption by God, the remnant He will leave here on earth and the punishment God deals out to His people is intermixed with future prophecy.   Also note, the book of Jeremiah is not in chronological order.

Below is a chart that contains the basics; timeline, God’s instructions, behavior of people, and the results.

Bible Book of Mormon
Timeline/dates BC 627-585* – Jer. 1:1-3  Circa BC 6001 Nephi 1
Behavior of people Idol worship/listening to false prophets who proclaim no punishment from God Jews hated prophet Lehi for denouncing their sin. 1 Nephi 1:19.
God’s instructions to people Repent and return Start packing to leave for wilderness. 1 Nephi 2:2
Behavior of people Some obeyed/most did not They left for Promised Land on ship 1 Nephi 18:1-23; sailed for two years BC 591-89.
Consequences of sin Judgment/Punishment None, according to BoM.
Immediate results Death by sword, famine or pestilence if stayed in Jerusalem.  If obeyed; 70 yrs. captivity. Lived in the Americas for 1,100 yrs.  Circa BC 589 to 421 AD.
Future results God welcomed them back, Messiah is delivered 500+ yrs. later All Nephites die.  Moroni 10:34.
Historical, factual evidences of Jerusalem in circa BC 600 Letters, seal w/ name Gedaliah, ration tablets w/ name of Jehoiacin, king of Judah, found near Ishtar Gate. ** No evidence found/Result of the exodus of Lehi and Nephi was BoM.

 *Time of Jeremiah’s ministry.

**Notes from Ryrie Study Bible, NASB, 1995

      Because it’s impossible to write anything about Jeremiah and not mention Daniel or Ezekiel you will notice if you study anything further about Jeremiah, you will be referring back to their books in addition to 1st and 2nd Kings.  Jeremiah served from BC 627 to BC 585.  Ezekiel’s and Daniel’s ministry took place in BC 592-570 and BC 605-536 respectively.  So as you can see these three power houses were contemporaries.  Their books provide a comprehensive view of rulers, people, countries and God’s dealings with mankind.

     I would like to encourage and challenge the members of the LDS Church to not just take my word for this Biblical truth, but also to look at these events from an historical outlook as well.  The following is a short list of what was going on historically worldwide from BC 600 – 570.

 The following references were taken from http://www.answers.com/topic/6th-century-bc

 BC 600 – “The Persian religious leader Zoroaster in this century will found a faith whose sacred literature will be the Zend-Avesta. The teachings of Zoroaster (Zarathustra) will dominate Persian religious thought for centuries.”

 BC 597 – “The Hanging Gardens of Babylon are one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, with exotic shrubs and flowers irrigated by water pumped from the Euphrates.”

BC 597 – “Jerusalem falls March 16 to Babylon’s Nebuchadnezzar II (Nebuchadrezzar II), who plunders the city and has Judah’s king Jehoiachin taken to Babylon, where he will be imprisoned for years (see 587 B.C.).”

BC 595 – “Egypt’s 26th dynasty king Necho II dies after a 15-year reign and is succeeded by his son, who will defend his southern borders against the kingdom of Cush in his 6-year reign as Psamtik II.”

BC 568 – “The former Egyptian king Apries invades his former realm with support from Babylon’s Nebuchadnezzar II (Nebuchadrezzar II), but he is defeated and imprisoned; although he escapes, he is later murdered by the usurper Ahmose II, who has him buried with full military honors.”

Also see some of the other links for sources of historical events circa BC 600 – 550

http://www.art-and-archaeology.com/timelines/greece/archaic/archaic.html

http://www.wilsonmar.com/1history.htm#Moses

http://www.packrat-pro.com/600BC.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/600_BC

http://www.bible-history.com/links.php?cat=16&sub=104&cat_name=Ancient+Documents&subcat_name=Josephus

http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/religion/jews/captivity.htm

http://www.thenagain.info/WebChron/MiddleEast/RevMesopot.html

http://www.transformativedesigns.com/archaeology/Artifactsisrael.html

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November 17 – Ezra 6:5; “And also let the golden and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took forth out of the temple which is at Jerusalem, and brought unto Babylon, be restored, and brought again unto the temple which is at Jerusalem, every one to his place, and place them in the house of God.”

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This verse is just an example to show that there was never but one temple at a time built for the Lord.  There have been three temples built in all, but there’s only been one at a time all throughout history.  The Babylonians had many temples though and you’ll see in today’s quote that the Mormons have it wrong again.

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Alma 16:13; “And Alma and Amulek went forth preaching repentance to the people in their temples, and in their sanctuaries, and also in their synagogues, which were built after the manner of the Jews.”

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“Lord Increase Our Faith”, page 64; “The real focus on the Book of Mormon should be on the details of the book itself, not on the details of the process by which it came forth.  Although we do not know everything about the process of its coming forth or its translation, the Book of Mormon is open to full scrutiny.” – Neal A. Maxwell

Ensign, May 2007, pg. 88; “This ancient volume of holy scriptures is a sacred companion to the Bible, containing the fulness of the everlasting gospel of Jesus Christ.” – L. Tom Perry

     My objective in this article is for members of the LDS Church to ponder the information presented here and honestly ask themselves if it makes sense the Book of Mormon is from God.  While I don’t agree with Mr. Maxwell’s opinion on how people should view the Book of Mormon (Galatians 1:6-9), we’re going to take him up on what he said about it being open to full scrutiny.

     All right, so I have an obsession with the book of Jeremiah; I’ll be the first to admit it!  If you’re a Mormon, have you ever read the book of Jeremiah?  There’s an important lesson to be learned in Jeremiah 36:20-32.  King Jehoiakim had decided he didn’t like God’s written word so he cut it up and burned it thinking that would take care of God, but he was sorely mistaken.

     I believe it was Matthew Henry who said “Those who hate it always seem to do things like this in life” …they either try to destroy or discredit God’s very words. 

     It was 600 BC and the prophet Jeremiah had been warning the Israelites for forty years that danger was lurking.  He told them God had an important message He wanted for them to hear and if they obeyed Him they wouldn’t lose their lives.  Times would be tough, but if they fled for Egypt on their own seeking safety, they would die by sword, famine or pestilence.  If they stayed put in Jerusalem (Jer. 42:10) God would protect their lives in the upcoming onslaught of the Babylonian takeover.  While they were in captivity for a time, there was a small remnant that was allowed to remain seventy years later.

     The certifiably insane King Nebuchadnezzar (descendant of Queen of Sheba and Solomon) marched the Israelites out of Jerusalem, chained some of them nude alongside a river while partying on a boat nearby and eventually went totally mad, living with animals.  He too hated God and turned the sacred scrolls into sacks filled with sand for the captive Israelites to carry into Egypt.  No one escaped his wrath.  (Eventually Nebuchadnezzar repented and worshipped God.)

     Now some 2,400 years later we have the story of Joseph Smith and the “golden plates” which he said contains the “fullness of the gospel”, otherwise known as the Book of Mormon.  One of the remarkable events about this story is the timeline.  It’s the story of a lost tribe of Israelites fleeing Jerusalem in 600 BC and guess what?  Yep, they’re headin’ for Egypt, seeking safety from the fall of Jerusalem.

     Okay, foregoing the arguments, let’s say God told everyone but this lost tribe of “Nephites” to stay put in Jerusalem; what about Joseph Smith’s other assertion about the Book of Mormon? 

     He said a lot of things about this work so his claims should be investigated as Mr. Maxwell suggests.  It’d be amazing if anyone escaped the wrath of Nebuchadnezzar, so these plates should be of significant value if true, right?   

     What do these brass plates tell us?  Does the Book of Mormon contain the “fullness of the gospel”?  Remember, parts of these plates are supposedly what the Nephites hauled over to the States when they sailed here.   

     Let’s begin with what Doctrine and Covenants 19:26, 27:5 and 135:3 says:

And again, I command thee that thou shalt not covet thine own property, but impart it freely to the printing of the Book of Mormon, which contains the truth and the word of God—

Behold, this is wisdom in me; wherefore, marvel not, for the hour cometh that I will drink of the fruit of the vine with you on the earth, and with Moroni, whom I have sent unto you to reveal the Book of Mormon, containing the fulness of my everlasting gospel, to whom I have committed the keys of the record of the stick of Ephraim.

Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Seer of the Lord, has done more, save Jesus only, for the salvation of men in this world, than any other man that ever lived in it. In the short space of twenty years, he has brought forth the Book of Mormon, which he translated by the gift and power of God, and has been the means of publishing it on two continents; has sent the fulness of the everlasting gospel, which it contained, to the four quarters of the earth…

     As you can see, we have confirmation through the prophecies above; the Church does believe it’s the “fullness of the gospel”.  Now in light of those prophecies by Smith, we need to compare them with what the Bible says about prophets and prophecies, in addition to looking at a few core Mormon doctrines and see if they’re in the Book of Mormon.  If they’re not found on those plates, we ask in all sincerity – how can this be the fullness of the gospel if it doesn’t contain all the requirements for salvation?

What the Bible Says:

Deuteronomy 18:20-22; “But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die.  21 And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the LORD hath not spoken?  22 When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.”

Deuteronomy 13:1-5; “If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, 2 And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; 3 Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 4 Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.  5 And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn you away from the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the LORD thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee.

     Mormons believe a true and full salvation can only be attained in the highest kingdom of heaven which they call the “Celestial Kingdom”.  The Celestial Kingdom is reserved solely for those who have been found worthy enough to become a god themselves after they have accomplished a number of works here on earth.  Below are a handful of requirements and beliefs each Mormon needs for a true salvation in the Mormon Church. 

What the Mormon Church Says:

Church Government

 3 Nephi 12 says the twelve Nephite apostles received power to share the gospel, baptize and give the gift of the Holy Ghost.  This is the closest we come to anything remotely close to the hierarchy we see in the Mormon Church today.

 There is no “first presidency”, no quorum of the seventies, no bishops, no bishopric, no wards, no branches, no stakes and no stake presidents, no area presidency…compare it with what the Bible says about church structure:

1 Corinthians 10:32, 12:9-10, 18, 29, 30; Acts 13:1, Romans 12:8, Ephesians 2:20, 3:5, 4:11 

God

Father God has a body of flesh and bonesD&C 130:22

God was once a man. – HC 6:305, Gospel through the Ages, pg. 105 

God has many wives/Mother gods Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, pg. 25

God has a father Gospel Truth, pg. 101; The Seer by Orson Pratt, pg. 132; Discourses of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pg. 38

God had sex with Mary Journal of Discourses 4:218 – Brigham Young, February 8, 1857; Journal of Discourses  1:50-51, 8:115, 11:268

God progresses/Eternal progression – Distinct Doctrines and Teachings of the Pearl of Great Price, pg. 76; Gospel through the Ages, pgs. 114-115; Articles of Faith, pg. 390 

Three Separate Personages in Godhead Mormon Doctrine, pg. 576; D&C 130:22-23; Encyclopedia of Mormonism, pg. 552; Mormon Doctrine of Deity, pgs. 9-10; History of the Church 6:474, June 16, 1844

gods/polytheism

Many gods and councils of gods Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pg. 348; Abraham 4:25

Man may become a god – Discourses of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pgs. 136-137; Gospel through the Ages, pgs. 105-106; D&C 76:58, TPJS 342-345

Man is a god in embryo Miracle/Forgiveness, pg. 3

Heaven

Three levels of heaven. – Encyclopedia of Mormonism, pg. 367; D&C 131:1-4

Jesus

 

Jesus chosen to become a godMormon Doctrine, pg. 129, Abraham 3:27-28

Jesus and Lucifer are brothers Jesus the Christ, pg. 8; Gospel through the Ages, pg. 15

Jesus was MarriedJournal of Discourses 2:82, 2:210, 4:259-26 

Jesus was a polygamist Jesus was Married by Ogden Kraut, pg. 27; Journal of Discourses 13:309

Jesus Crucified for Polygamy Journal of Discourses 1:346

 Polygamy

Polygamy Condemned Jacob 2:24

Polygamy is true salvation D&C 131:1-4, 132:4-6, 20-21; Journal of Discourses 5:204 & 282, 11:269, 12:262, 13:167-168, 13:189, 17:225; Doctrines of Salvation 2:67; Mormon Doctrine, pg. 219; Evidences and Reconciliations, pg. 390; Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pg. 332…

Pre-existence

Elohim populating earth through sexually begotten spirit children –

Discourses of Brigham Young, pg. 24; D&C 49:17, 93:23-29, 138:55-56; Mormon Doctrine, pg. 516; Abraham 3:22-28; Journal of Discourses 4:216; Melvin Joseph Ballard, Sermons and Missionary Services, page 247; Answers: Straightforward Answers to Tough Gospel Questions, pgs. 5-6; Life Before, pg. 91; For Behold Ye are Free, pg. 42; Ensign, November 1997, pg. 65; Way to Perfection, pg. 29…

 

Salvation

Temple marriage a requirement for exaltation – Teens, Temple Marriage and Eternity, pg. 1; Doctrines of Salvation 2:62; D&C 131:1-4

President of Church Holds Keys to – Mormon Doctrine, pg. 591

Salvation after Death

Book of Mormon – none is available after death 2 Nephi 9:15, 38; Alma 12:13-14, 34:31-34, 42:22-23

Other LDS teachings say it is necessary

Baptism for the dead D&C 124:29-30, 128:15; Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pg. 191; History of the Church 4:568-569; Encyclopedia of Mormonism, pg. 1258; Are Mormons Christians? pg. 19; Doctrines of Salvation 2:175…

     As the reader can plainly see, not one of those core doctrinal teachings is in the Book of Mormon.  The list here is brief in comparison to the hordes of all their teachings.  What we’ve presented here is enough to show the Book of Mormon certainly doesn’t stand up to the claims Joseph Smith and other Church leaders have made.

     How can the Book of Mormon contain the “fullness of the gospel” if their teachings are not to be found in the Book of Mormon?

     If you’re LDS we want you to know that we pray diligently for you each and every day.  We hope you’ll investigate these claims for yourself and see that God is not a God of confusion as it says in 1 Cor. 14:33.  Ask yourself and your leaders why there is such a huge contradiction in what D&C says and what the Book of Mormon doesn’t say.

With Love in Christ;

Michelle

1 Cor. 1:18  …

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