The Keys to Prophecy 3: The Prophets' Language

The bizarre and mystifying images employed by the prophets — by all ancient cultures, in fact — are derived from one common source: the heavens of antiquity. We have only to look at Hebrew history to determine this, though it is universally true of ancient cultures.

Israel strayed into the same practices as their neighbors, though their prophets strove mightily to curb that idolatry.

"And they left all the commandments of the Lord their God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and made a grove, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal." (2 Kings 17:16, italics added.)

King Josiah attempted to "put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem; them also that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven." (ibid. 23:5, italics added.)

Clearly this "host" or group was not comprised of God and his angels, and the heaven spoken of is not God's residence. The prophets referred to astral or cosmological bodies, as is specifically stated: the sun, moon, planets and stars. And the heaven spoken of is the vault of the sky over the Earth where all such astral bodies reside. This concept is key to understanding the meaning of the prophets.

Pay particular attention to the fact that planets are listed, along with the sun and the moon, among the things designated as the "host of heaven." Note that calves, cows and bulls were intrinsic symbols employed in their worship and the implication long recognized by scholars that Baal was an astral or cosmological deity.



Likewise, illustrations of the Egyptian goddess Hathor always depict her either as a cow with what is called a "sun disk" between her horns or as a queen wearing a disk and horns on her head.



In fact, it was the worship of astral images that the Lord, speaking through Moses, condemned "… lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them …." (Deuteronomy 4:19.)

So, the Israelites worshipped the stars and the planets in identical fashion to their neighbors the Babylonians, the Assyrians and the Egyptians. Scholars who study antiquity have long asserted this.

Joseph Smith, too, emphasized that the Egyptians’ gods represented "planets" and "stars" when he produced his explanations of his Egyptian papyri. It is no great leap of logic, therefore, to assume that the language of the prophets, immersed in Israelite culture, reflected that astral worship — reverence for the stars, moon, sun and planets — even though they condemned the practices associated with it.

So it is that when we turn to the scriptures, we see an abundance of such cosmological imagery in prophetic declarations — especially those concerning the last days. Tellingly, the same imagery can be found in other biblical pronouncements, illuminating their origins for us.

Let’s look at just one example.

"And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars." (Revelation 12:1.)

This 'woman,' described by John, is the same 'woman' worshipped by the idolatrous Israelites, their Queen of Heaven.

"But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem …." (Jeremiah 44:17.)

Sumerians also called their sky goddess, Inanna, the "Queen of Heaven." She was the Babylonians’ Ishtar, the Assyrians’ Astarte and the Egyptians’ Hathor (Athyr), Isis, or Sekhmet.

Of particular importance is that the very names of this goddess, Astarte, Ishtar and Athyr (the ‘s’ is aspirated), have the same root as our word ‘star,’ betraying their astral origin. They were all 'star' goddesses.

More familiar names for the same star goddess would include the Greek Aphrodite, Athena, and Artemis, or the Latin Venus, Minerva, and Diana.

As we learned in the previous installment in this series, Joseph Smith indicated that such symbols are representations. "When the prophets speak of seeing beasts [a woman in this case] in their visions, they mean that they saw the images, they being types to represent certain things." (History of the Church, p. 343.)

In the case of the Egyptian papyri, Joseph explained that those images that did not represent some spiritual concept such as God or the priesthood, instead represented stars and planets.

This is key. Like most Egyptian icons, the woman represents a star or a planet. Of course, in the ancient mind, both words can apply to the same image in the sky because they looked alike, mere pinpoints of light. But the archetype, the original image for these goddesses, was a planet. Joseph was emphatic about that.

Yet another connection is provided by the fact that Hathor, who nearly all scholars agree represented the planet Venus, was a celestial calf or heifer — the very same calf goddess worshipped by idolatrous Israelites, as we have seen. This lets us look at the woman of Revelation with new eyes. Substitute the word 'planet' for 'woman,' in the above verse, and you have a more relevant, understandable image that fits better with the sun, moon and stars imagery.

The same kinds of connections can be made for nearly all prophetic images, such as the beasts, the mountain, the kings, horses and other creatures, further strengthening this assessment.

© Anthony E. Larson, 2004

The Keys to Prophecy 2: Joseph Smith's Marvelous Key

The first and perhaps most crucial key to prophecy was revealed in this dispensation by Joseph Smith when he spoke on the subject of scriptural imagery.

"The prophets do not declare that they saw a beast or beasts, but that they saw the image or figure of a beast. Daniel did not see an actual bear or a lion, but the images or figures of those beasts. The translation should have been rendered 'image' instead of 'beast,' in every instance where beasts are mentioned by the prophets." (History of the Church, p. 343.)

Joseph’s use of the term "image" makes his meaning clear. Similar terms used by today’s scholars are "icon," or "symbol." In this context, all three words mean the same thing. That is, the images they saw were icons, not representations or pictures of the actual animals or creatures. Rather, what they saw were substitutes for the animals or beasts named.

An example of these "beasts" from Daniel, cited by Joseph Smith, may help to clarify. "The first was like a lion, and had eagle’s wings … and was made stand upon the feet as a man …." (Daniel 7:4.)



Here is that very "image of a beast" that conforms to Daniels description. It is a lion with wings and it stands erect. It is the mythical Babylonian "monster" Tiamat, which, coincidentally, corresponds to Daniel’s Babylonian era.

So, these images Joseph referred to are the icons of ancient cultures. "When the prophets speak of seeing beasts in their visions, they mean that they saw the images, they being types to represent certain things." (Ibid., p. 343.)

The profound importance of this bit of information becomes clear when we consider that "images" were the very things that the ancients venerated. When we look at Hebrew, Egyptian or Babylonian religious art, we are confronted by nothing but images and symbols. They are everywhere in ancient cultures, overwhelming and mysterious.



Beasts aren’t the only images in prophecy. We read of kings, stars, mountains, highways, temples, locusts and women as well, to name just a few. Drawing on Joseph’s statement, we can infer that all these are meant to convey meaning and not depict real creatures, individuals or objects. Instead, they are meant to symbolize or represent cultural gods and traditions that were well understood by the people of their era.



Open the quintessentially prophetic book of Revelation, and what leaps out at us, given this new perspective, are some of the same images we see on the walls of ancient temples and monuments. This is a key to scriptural iconography that almost everyone has missed, even though Joseph Smith made the connection, albeit obliquely.

For example, in that same sermon, the prophet mentioned Daniel’s vision of a four-headed beast. One looked like a lion, another a bear and the third a leopard. The fourth he described as a "dreadful and terrible," beast with ten heads. John apparently described seeing the same beast, although his description varies slightly from Daniel’s. "And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy." (Revelation 13:1.)

Further, John also described seeing aspects of the leopard, bear and lion in his beast. (Revelation 13:2.) This suggests that they were describing the same images.

And John added this peculiar detail: "And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast." (Revelation 13:3.)

Astoundingly, this beast—wounded head and all—was depicted in Mesopotamian cylinder seal art hundreds of years before John and Daniel described seeing them in vision.



Here we see the Babylonian dragon Tiamat, clearly the archetype of John’s and Daniel’s beast, doing battle with Marduk. Note that this illustration predates John and Daniel, meaning that these images were borrowed by the Hebrew prophets.

Other examples of this link between ancient imagery and prophetic imagery are found in Ezekiel, Revelation and Abraham.

Ezekiel also saw a creature with four heads, listed as that of a man, a lion, an ox and an eagle. (Ezekiel 1:10.) John listed the four as well as a man, a lion, a calf and an eagle. (Revelation 4:6, 7.)

Most stunning of all to Latter-day Saints is that these same four “beasts” can be seen in Facsimile No. 1 in the Pearl of Great Price, where Joseph describes them as "idolatrous gods," further confirming our thesis.

Some beasts of prophecy are virtually identical to the four images on Egyptian funerary jars, seen here beneath the couch on the Joseph Smith papyri.



We tend to think of scriptural imagery as unique, something completely separate and apart from that of other cultures and religions. But the above examples, and many more like them, amply demonstrate that this is not so.

The prophets’ sacred imagery drew its symbolism from the same sources as the idolatrous imagery of the pagans, hence the conspicuous similarities between mythological imagery and scriptural imagery.

As it turns out, we have been repeatedly exposed to these images. We simply failed to recognize them in the scriptures because our mindset told us they were images of things from the future, not the past.

Thus, we see that while the visions of the prophets may have been about the future, the imagery they employed was already ancient in their day.

So it is that we must first look backward in time to learn the meaning of those ancient symbols before we can properly attempt to interpret their use in visions of future events.

This is likely what Peter meant when he wrote, "We have also a more sure word of prophecy …." (2 Peter 1:19.) That is to say, the images of prophecy were well established and understood in his day. Then, for clarity, he added, "Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation." (2 Peter 1:20.) In other words, guessing — the preferred method of modern interpreters — is out.

Of course, to know the meaning of these symbols, "…they being types to represent certain things," as Joseph said, we must learn their source and what they meant to those who held them sacred.

© Anthony E. Larson, 2004

The Keys to Prophecy 1: An Introduction

Thanks to modern revelation, Mormons understand quite well what the prophets taught. The gospel has been made very plain due to the restoration and the ministering of modern prophets.

But there is one exception to that rule: prophecy.

It seems that the imagery of prophecy is still, to a great extent, an enigma to us. Visions such as those of John in Revelation, Daniel, Ezekiel and Isaiah — just to name a few — are loaded with symbolism that mystifies us.

Even some of Joseph Smith’s prophecies have these same, symbolic features. Sections 88 and 133 of Doctrine and Covenants are a case in point.

The fact that Joseph Smith used imagery consistent with that of the ancient prophets is a powerful verification of his calling as a prophet, but it still does little to help us interpret the mystifying symbolism of prophecy — either ancient or modern.

There has been no shortage of those who claim to have the answers to prophecy. A whole host of books attest to the sad fact that anyone’s guess is as good as another’s. A survey of the multitude of present offerings suggests that very nearly all of it is guesswork and hunches, since none of it actually gives the reader the tools to interpret prophecy. Each interpretation depends on its founder’s own approach.

Of course, anyone can open the scriptures, turn to a prophetic passage and hazard a guess at the meaning of the inspired imagery found there. And many do.

Warning of this very practice, Peter wrote, "No prophecy of the scripture is of private interpretation."

In fact, such guessing is at the heart of the confusion that reigns in Christendom where prophecy is concerned. The would-be interpreters either avoid the most mysterious imagery, or they try to interpret it by turning to speculation.

The basic, underlying supposition of most analysts is that the Old Testament prophets, upon seeing our technologically advanced world in vision, were at a loss for words. Hence, they turned to imagery to describe what they saw in revelations. For example, an atomic bomb became "a pillar of fire and smoke," or an attack helicopter firing missiles became "locusts" with "stings in their tails."

However, research suggests that the prophets were using traditional imagery of their time, talking about natural events of which we know little or nothing. We'll see that we are oblivious to the the things that they took for granted.

Most damaging is that modern expositors’ interpretations take to be literal what was meant to be imagery and metaphor. Contrarily, they also resort to the opposite device, making symbolic what was meant to be literal. Thus, they almost entirely sabotage the original meaning of the prophets’ words.

What analysts universally fail to see is that there are numerous hints — ‘keys’ if you will — found in the scriptures, modern revelation and ancient history that all move us closer to understanding prophecy. By letting the prophets speak for themselves, rather than 'interpreting' their words, we discover those keys.

There are hints everywhere in ancient cultures that the images of scriptural prophecy were customary, traditional images, common to all early peoples. Thus, the study of ancient iconography or symbolism becomes an invaluable interpretive tool in our quest to discern the meaning of prophetic imagery.

This article is the introduction to a series that identifies and explains the various keys to prophecy. Some are found in scripture, some in the words of modern prophets, some in science and some in comparative mythology. Singly, they are curiously insightful; jointly, they make a powerful case for a truly novel method of interpreting prophecy.

Like fitting the pieces into a puzzle, each key adds a little to our understanding of prophecy, making the picture more complete. When all the pieces are in place, we see the big picture. They produce a comprehensive explanation of prophetic symbolism. They make prophecy plain and understandable for anyone.

Hence, Joseph Smith’s statement, "Revelation is one of the plainest books God ever cause to be written."

In subsequent installments in this series we will carefully search out and examine each of these clues as we unravel the mysteries of prophecy. But what may be even more exciting and enlightening is that this quest will also allow us to better understand all the ancient imagery found in the Bible and even in modern revelation. It will explain otherwise enigmatic statements by Joseph Smith and other modern prophets since his time — statements that have been neglected or dismissed by many LDS scholars because of their seeming irrelevance or lack of substantiation.

Still more remarkable is the discovery that this analysis will reveal uncommon knowledge about temples ancient and modern — from the icons that adorn their exteriors and interiors to the very purpose of the rituals enacted within and what they are meant to teach us.

It will also explain Joseph Smith’s interest in things Egyptian and the revelations, such as the book of Abraham, which came from that study.

So, as it turns out, this effort is fundamentally about understanding the gospel itself rather than just the narrow confines of prophecy. Indeed, this study will lead us to understand more clearly even the first principles and ordinances of the gospel, the very foundations of our faith.

Only a study of correct principles could have such sweeping and profound implications and ramifications.

© Anthony E. Larson, 2004

Nephite History: A Harbinger for Our Time (Part 4)

The thesis presented in this 4-part series has stood the test of time. It affirms that Nephite history is predictive, to one degree or another, of events yet to come in our time. Events and conditions that were once speculation on this author’s part nearly two decades ago in 1989, when Parallel Histories: The Nephites and the Americans was first published, have now become historic fact: The two histories mirror one another to a remarkable degree.

Lest the reader be inclined to minimize or dismiss the specific prognostic power of the parallel histories thesis, thinking that all these similarities are more hindsight than foresight and more rhetoric than fact, let’s consider the original exposition of this thesis in the context of world affairs at the time it was first published.

Contrary to all expectations at that time, near the close of the Cold War when the national mindset was still America vs. Russia, U.S. vs. U.S.S.R., West vs. East, this author predicted, based on the parallel histories thesis, that hostilities between America and Russia would cease, that the old 'us vs. them' state of affairs, which had endured for decades, would vanish.

Miraculously, it did, demonstrating the predictive power of the thesis, which is not due to any special ability of this author but rather to the foresight of ancient prophets. Consider how predictive were this author’s words, written in 1988, regarding today’s reality.

"The modern equivalent of the Gadianton band should now be present if our time is, in fact, parallel to the period of Nephite history in question. The question is, 'Who are they?'" (Parallel Histories: The Nephites and The Americans, pp. 83-84.)

The predictive capacity of the parallel histories thesis made the answer to that question relatively easy.

"While the Gadianton robbers originated from within Nephite and Lamanite society, it may be that because of the wider scope of modern political interplay, today’s Gadianton robbers originate on the periphery of the East/West interchange. The Gadianton robbers injected a third element into the duality that had existed in Nephite/Lamanite history up to that point. So it is that they must also be a third party to East/West relations today." (Ibid., p. 85.)

This assessment could not have been more accurate. Modern terrorism was born in the so-called Third World Nations.

"The Gadianton robbers were a secret combination, to be sure; but they were much more than that. Their first appearance in Nephite political problems was as a small conspiracy to take over the government. Assassination was one of their hallmarks. They were hard to attack because they hid in the wilderness or among the populace of cities where they mixed with the crowd. They surprised their victims by striking, seemingly, from nowhere — out of a crowd or out of the wilderness. After destroying an individual or a city, they disappeared again into the wilderness or into the crowd. They also kidnapped at will, taking hostages when it met their needs." (Ibid.)

This characterization of the Gadianton robbers clearly anticipated their rebirth as terrorists in modern times. The next paragraph foreshadowed their appearance on the world stage in our day.

"As they grew in numbers, they became more overt in their action, waging war on Lamanite and Nephite cities. Their strength was their ability to move within the existing political structures to further their ends, and at the same time they were an autonomous group capable of taking what they wanted by military force, if necessary. Their stock in trade was fear.

"Where do we find such a group today? What conspiratorial group forms today’s third column and finds asylum in sympathetic Third World countries? What group routinely resorts to assassination, kidnapping and the holding of hostages? Obviously these are the international terrorist groups, which match the description of the Gadianton band in every particular. Their principal weapon is fear, and they have added a new wrinkle to their modus operandi: hijacking and bombing." Ibid., pp. 85, 86.)

Once again, the perspective proffered by the parallel histories thesis nearly three decades ago allowed an extremely accurate forecast of the origins and tactics of today’s terrorists.

However, the most chilling part of this Book of Mormon insight sounds like today’s headlines.

"Struggle as they might, the Nephites and the Lamanites were unable to defeat the Gadianton robbers for many years. That leaves the modern world with the disagreeable prospect of a prolonged struggle with international terrorism.

"The prospects that this bodes for our time are truly remarkable. Will terrorism grip the world to the extent that no one will be safe? Will terrorist action assume the dimensions of full-scale warfare? Will the West and the East be forced by the growth of worldwide terrorism to cooperate to such an extent that they will stand as one people against this new menace? That appears to be the implication of the parallel history thesis." (Ibid., 86, 87.)

As this new conflict in our time drags out months and years from now, as it surely will, we would do well to keep the Nephite struggle with the Gadianton robbers clearly in mind by not letting ourselves become disheartened by the protracted nature of this struggle, nor should we allow dissention and contention to weaken our resolve.

This is the promise of the parallel histories: The Nephites successfully prosecuted this conflict in their day; it will surely be so in our time as well. Latter-day Saints should take heart, counsel and solace from the Nephite record, the Book of Mormon.

Our last consideration in this series has the most profound implications for our future — at the same time, both foreboding and inspiring. The last few chapters of Helaman and the entire book of 3 Nephi are those most likely to find equivalence in our time. Among many others, they depict:

· The seemingly intractable Gadianton wars finally came to an end, but not until the Nephites/Lamanites mustered the will and the unity to adequately address the problem in a final, winner-take-all battle.

· Samuel, a Lamanite, warned the Nephites and prophesied the signs of the Savior’s First Coming. While a few joined the church as a result of Samuel’s preaching, the greater part of the people disbelieved his message.

· Even though the signs of the Savior’s birth occurred as predicted by Samuel, the greater part of the Nephites remained unrepentant and persecuted the faithful.

· A political movement to replace the rule of judges (a republic) by that of a king (a monarchy) unraveled their nation, leaving the Nephites without a central government for the first time in their long history. Their nation degenerated into a collection of feudal clans or city-states, which agreed "that one tribe should not trespass against another."

· All that intrigue came to an abrupt halt when a great natural disaster struck, as Samuel had prophesied in painstaking detail, destroying cities and people en mass while entirely changing "the whole face of the land."

· The Savior came after the destruction and darkness subsided. He ministered to the survivors of the catastrophe and taught them the gospel.

· His coming ushered in a remarkable 200-year period of peace in the land and harmony among the people.

LDS prophetic tradition manifestly declares that our day and age will see a similar series of events: a cataclysmic destruction will befall us that will change the world so radically that we will see "a new heaven and a new earth;" the Savior will appear to the survivors in his Second Coming; and the Millennium, a new period of peace, safety and harmony, will be ushered in. One cannot help but notice this series of three events, yet to come, are virtually identical to the last three noted in Nephite history. Can that be mere coincidence?

Those predicted events and current events covered in previous installments in this series are all the more remarkable in that they serve to strengthen our thesis, leading us wonder how many other events in Nephite history may yet see fulfillment in our time.

Going down the bullet list above, many questions emerge. Will our war on terror be a protracted struggle? Will the outcome be the same in our day as it was for the hapless Nephites? Will we see a prophet come forth from a nation other than our own to call us to repentance and prophesy the proximity of the Second Coming? Will the faithful righteous in our day yet be persecuted by the greater populace, as were their Nephite counterparts — even though the signs of the Second Coming are apparent to all? Can it be that political machinations in our day will produce a struggle to alter or replace our constitutional form of government? Will that struggle dissolve our union as it did theirs?

While only time can truly answer those questions, the equivalence between the two histories pointed out in this series strongly suggests that Latter-day Saints have an obligation to study the Book of Mormon more carefully than they have done heretofore for answers to the dilemmas we face as our future unfolds.

In the give and take of national and international debate, if the rhetoric of politicians and pundits seems confusing, if it seems unclear what or who to believe regarding today’s terrorism and how to deal with it effectively, the Nephite story gives us an accurate and enlightening, prophets’ perspective of where our loyalties and efforts should lie and what we may expect in the ensuing months and years.

In that regard, the Book of Mormon is truly a roadmap or guide for our times in more specific ways than many heretofore envisioned. We would be well advised to pay heed to its message to us.

© Anthony E. Larson, 2007

Nephite History: A Harbinger for Our Time (Part 3)

The true predictive power of the Nephite record becomes apparent as we focus on the period of time recorded near the end of Helaman and move forward into 3 Nephi. As we do so, we find that their history reads like our recent newspaper headlines.

The many stunning similarities between Nephite and American history now include the advent of institutionalized terrorism. Their war with the Gadianton robbers plunged the Nephites into a new kind of battle for freedom, just as has happened in our recent history.

Gone were the old struggles between two historic enemies — the Nephites and the Lamanites in Helaman’s time, the East and the West in our time. The Gadianton robbers, like today’s terrorist counterparts, were an entirely new element — a third column, if you will — that fought an entirely new kind of war against both sides.

The modern terrorists are easily recognizable in the reflection of the robbers.

"And they [the Gadianton robbers] did commit murder and plunder; and then they would retreat back into the mountains, and into the wilderness and secret places, hiding themselves that they could not be discovered, receiving daily an addition to their numbers, inasmuch as there were dissenters that went forth unto them." (Helaman 11:25.)

As with the terrorists in our time, the Gadianton robbers had no formal government with which the Nephites or Lamanites could negotiate, nor were they located in a country with recognizable borders. Instead, they sought refuge in "the mountains," "wilderness" areas and "secret places," just as do today’s terrorists.

In their time, as in ours, things went from bad to worse in short order.

"And thus in time, yea, even in the space of not many years, they became an exceedingly great band of robbers …

"Now behold, these robbers did make great havoc, yea, even great destruction among the people of Nephi, and also among the people of the Lamanites." (Helaman 11:26, 27.)

The destruction of the World Trade Towers in New York City on September 11, 2001 certainly qualifies as "great destruction" by terrorists in our time. Also evident in this verse is the fact that, as in Book of Mormon times, our recent history consists of nations that once divided themselves into two camps — East and West — both on the receiving end of terrorist tactics, which include threats, destruction and warfare.

So, we took the initiative, just as our Nephite cousins did.

"And it came to pass that it was expedient that there should be a stop put to this work of destruction; therefore they [the Nephites] sent an army of strong men into the wilderness and upon the mountains to search out this band of robbers, and to destroy them." (Helaman 11:28.)

Americans, united in their resolve to defeat terrorism in the wake of 9/11, sent armies into "the wilderness" and "upon the mountains" of Afghanistan and Iraq in order to put "a stop" to the terrorists’ "work of destruction."

But just as happened in Nephite times, our war against terror has not gone all that well. These and the following verses could be torn from our recent headlines!

"But behold, it came to pass that in that same year they were driven back even into their own lands …

"[In the next year] they did go forth again against this band of robbers, and did destroy many; and they were also visited with much destruction." (Helaman 11:30.)

As often as we launch initiatives against the terrorists, they strike back with numerous attacks as in Spain, England and Russia, for example.

"And they were again obliged to return out of the wilderness and out of the mountains unto their own lands, because of the exceeding greatness of the numbers of those robbers who infested the mountains and the wilderness." (Helaman 11:31.)

The equivalence of these verses brings us right up to our present, where our struggle against the terrorists has bogged down, necessitating a "surge" of more troops.

"… And the robbers did still increase and wax strong insomuch that they did defy the whole armies of the Nephites and also of the Lamanites; and they did cause great fear to come upon the people upon all the face of the land." (Helaman 11:32.)

That terrorist-instigated death, destruction and kidnapping in our time has had the same effect is beyond dispute.

"Yea, for they did visit many parts of the land, and did do great destruction unto them; yea, did kill many, and did carry away others captive into the wilderness …." (Helaman 11:33.)

The Nephite record gives the name of the Gadianton robbers’ leader as Giddianhi. Terrorism also has a name in our time: Osama bin Laden. The Nephites called their nemesis the Gadianton robbers. In our complex world they are known by several names: the Taliban, Al-Qaeda, Hezsbollah and Hamas, to name only a few.

The bad news for us, because we could suffer the same fate, is that no Nephite army could prevail against the robbers.

"For so strong were their holds and their secret places that the people could not overpower them; therefore they did commit many murders, and did do much slaughter among the people.

"… the Nephites were threatened with utter destruction because of this war, which had become exceedingly sore." (3 Nephi 1:27.)

We, in our time, are faced with an equally intractable foe and a prolonged struggle to free ourselves of such intimidation and violence, to defeat an enemy who has sworn our "utter destruction."

It is unlikely that events in our time will play out exactly like those of Nephite times. Still, the similarities are striking and well worth keeping in mind because they give us a cognitive lens that we can use to bring into focus the events of our time.

Eventually the toll taken by Gadianton terrorism became so great that two historical enemies, the Nephites and the Lamanites, combined efforts to eradicate their common foe.

"… the Gadianton robbers had become so numerous, and did slay so many of the people, and did lay waste so many cities, and did spread so much death and carnage throughout the land, that it became expedient that all the people, both the Nephites and the Lamanites, should take up arms against them." (3 Nephi 2:11)

The implication of the parallel histories thesis is that much the same thing will happen in our time.

The struggle in Nephite times drug on for years and was a painful, prolonged affair that seemed impervious to solution. To make things worse, the Nephites and their leaders apparently argued among themselves about how to defeat this powerful enemy.

"And in the fifteenth year they [the robbers] did come forth against the people of Nephi; and because of the wickedness of the people of Nephi, and their many contentions and dissentions, the Gadianton robbers did gain many advantages over them." (3 Nephi 2:18.)

We see the same political "contentions and dissentions" in our case, giving aid and comfort to our enemies.

Battle after battle, the Nephites could not prevail over the robbers until their leader, governor Lachoneus, hit upon a remarkable if not extreme solution.

"Yea, he sent a proclamation among all the people, that they should gather together their women, and the children, their flocks and their herds, and all their substance, save it were their land, unto one place.

"And he caused that fortifications should be built round about them, and the strength thereof should be exceedingly great. And he caused that armies … should be placed as guards round about to watch them, and to guard them from the robbers day and night." (3 Nephi 3:13,14.)

Then, Lachoneus appointed a "chief captain" of the armies, named Gidgiddoni, who implemented the final steps in the stratagem to draw the Gadianton robbers out of hiding, making them vulnerable.

"… we will prepare ourselves in the center of our lands, and we will gather all our armies together, and we will not go against them, but we will wait till they shall come against us …." (3 Nephi 3:21.)

We may yet be forced to adopt draconian measures, as the Nephites did, to defeat this enemy. Recall that every attempt to bring the robbers to justice met with failure until the Nephites hit upon a seemingly harsh and radical strategy as enunciated by Lachoneus and Gidgiddoni. After two pitched battles, one of which was the greatest known to that point in Nephite history, the Gadianton robbers were finally annihilated.

The Nephites’ success over terrorism is heartening, but their prolonged struggle portends difficult times ahead for us. It suggests that we will overcome terrorism in our time, too, but not without tremendous sacrifice.

Make no mistake. This eventuality, too, will play out in our time much like it did in Nephite times. We are not carbon copies, but we are unmistakable reflections.

This comparison also makes an open-and-shut case for the theory that the Book of Mormon is as much prophecy as history. We and our Nephite cousins are nearly indistinguishable. Therefore, the history of one becomes the prophecy of the other.

No wonder Mormon felt compelled to write his marvelous book. In his place, any of us who love the gospel and the work would want to do the same.

© Anthony E. Larson, 2007

Nephite History: A Harbinger for Our Time (Part 2)

Mormon, as the author of the Book of Mormon, was in a truly unique position. He had an intimate knowledge of two cultures that were widely separated in time yet shared the same general geographic location: the Americans and the Nephites. He was a historian and a prophet — a historian because he had custody of the plates that recorded all Nephite history, a prophet because he had been shown the future when people he called "Gentiles" would inhabit the western hemisphere.

This uncommon status allowed him to clearly see the many, striking similarities between Nephite and American histories.

Put yourself in Mormon’s place.

· You have a detailed knowledge of both nations, both the Nephites and the Americans (Gentiles). You have read and re-read all the history of your people — about 1,000 years of history — thus giving you an intimate knowledge of their doings.

· You have also read that portion of the plates that is "sealed," which contains the visionary accounts of the future time of the Gentiles and the latter days.

· In addition, you have been treated to your own, personal vision of the Gentiles — rather like having a spiritual time machine — which has undoubtedly made an indelible impression on you.

Thus, even though the Gentile nations will not blossom in the New World for over 1,000 years you know their 'history' (futurity) as perfectly as you know Nephite history.

Given God’s charge to you, Mormon, to write a history of your people that will come forth to the Gentiles in the latter days, you have a unique, momentous calling. It will give you the power to speak to generations yet unborn, a golden opportunity to communicate with perhaps millions of souls across the centuries.

What would you do? How would you let the Gentiles know of events and characters to come? Would you not want to warn them to tell them of each event or circumstance and how to react to it or avoid it altogether?

But, wait a minute! The Spirit reminds you of this fundamental rule of prophecy: You may not make the facts too plain. That would detract from the free agency of future generations. Remember that Nephi was prohibited from plainly listing coming events. "And behold, I Nephi, am forbidden that I should write the remainder of the things which I saw and heard." (1 Nephi 14:28.) Therefore you realize that you may write only a history of your people.

Still, there may be a way that you, Mormon, can warn the Gentiles without violating the Spirit’s directive. You know that there are remarkable likenesses — parallels, if you will — between the two cultures, Nephite and Gentile. Indeed, you realize that by judiciously tailoring your record of Nephite history, the parallels to Gentile history become obvious. Thus, this history you write will also be prophetic!

So, it appears that Mormon deliberately prepared the book that carries his name to depict similarities between events and conditions in Nephite history and our own. Thus, with some careful study and prayer, it should become quite clear to any student of the Book of Mormon that it is also a rough outline of our day and time.

Let’s turn our attention to Nephite history to compare it with the corresponding era in recent world history. We focus on the episodes depicted in the fourth chapter of Helaman, which cover the 8-year period from 38 B.C to 30 B.C. Therein we see foreshadowed the conditions and events our world experienced in the mid-19th century, roughly corresponding to our 51-year period from 1938 to 1989 we call the Second World War and the Cold War.

Comparing their 8-year period to our 51-year period serves to show that our timelines are typically more expansive. It’s like looking through a magnifying glass: We see their history as a microcosm of our own.

That expansiveness is evident on many levels. In this example, not only does their timeline span a shorter period than does ours, their setting is much less complex than our own. Also, their events were based in a restricted geographical area, where ours spans the entire globe.

Beginning when Nephi, the son of Helaman, took his father’s judgment seat, we learn of a great war.

"And in the fifty and seventh year they [the Lamanites] did come down against the Nephites to battle, and they did commence the work of death: yea, insomuch that in the fifty and eighth year of the reign of the judges they succeeded in obtaining possession of the land of Zarahemla; yea, and also all the lands, even unto the land which was near the land Bountiful.

"And because of this their great wickedness, and their boastings in their won strength, they [the Nephites] were left in their own strength; therefore they did not prosper, but were afflicted and smitten and driven before the Lamanites, until they had lost possession of almost all their lands." (Helaman 4:5, 13.)

This conflict was unique in that the Lamanites came against the Nephites unexpectedly and with such sudden, overwhelming force that they managed to take the Nephite heartland, including the ancient capital, Zarahemla, as they drove the fleeing Nephites northward. Only the natural defenses provided by the narrow neck of land separating the North and South territories finally allowed the Nephites to consolidate their forces to halt the advance of the Lamanite armies. It was also that narrow neck of land that became their base of operation for the Nephites as their armies struggled to retake their land from the Lamanites.

Our version of the parallel began about 68 years ago when the Axis powers made a sudden, astonishing push across Europe. Called "Blitzkrieg" by Germans, it took the world by surprise, engulfing country after country until the Nazis had captured most of Central Europe. Their seemingly unstoppable assault was halted on the western warfront only by the geographical barrier of Europe’s westernmost coastline.

Their next objective was England. But that tiny island, isolated from the mainland by the channel, became a geographical and tactical hurdle that the Third Reich could not surmount. Thus, the tiny island nation, Great Britain, became the base of operations for the Allies as they battled to retake Europe.

The resemblances are uncanny:

· In both histories, the 'good guys' lost the heartland of a continent to a surprise, lightening-swift offensive by the 'bad guys.'

· The bad guys' offensive in each case was stalled at a unique and fortuitous geographical feature.

· That feature then became the base of operations for the good guys, from which they launched a counter-offensive to retake their lost lands.

· Both histories record a prolonged struggle to regain lost territory.

· In that effort, the bad guys proved to be too strong for the good guys, who settled for only half of their original homelands, leaving the rest in the hands of their enemies.

· In both histories, a highly fortified line — North and South in Nephite history, West and East in our Cold War — was drawn across the former heartland at the stalemate point between two standing armies.

These similarities make it obvious that we have behaved very much like the Nephites. We fought a similar war with remarkably similar outcomes. The geopolitical structure of our mid-to-late 19th century world matched theirs.

Indeed, it can be said that our recent history very closely parallels that of the Nephites, firmly supporting the overarching parallels that span the entire history of both cultures. This allows us to assume that the two histories are strikingly similar in very specific instances, begging the question: What else can we learn about our time by reading Helaman’s account?

© Anthony E. Larson, 2007

Nephite History: A Harbinger For Our Time (Part 1)

Nephi used a handy teaching device to instruct his people. He found it useful to compare events and conditions in his time to those found in his scriptures, "the books of Moses" and the "writings of Isaiah." He wrote, "…for I did liken all scriptures unto us, that it might be for our profit and learning." (1 Nephi 19:23.) He later amplified on that concept by adding, "Now these are the words, and ye may liken them unto you and unto all men." (2 Nephi 11:8.)

This is a vital key for our study. In a similar manner, we as well can "liken" events in Nephite history to those in our time "for our profit and learning." When we do so, some rather remarkable similarities stand out, parallels that allow us to better see our reflection in the mirror of Nephite history and even permit us a glimpse of what may await in our future.

Most Latter-day Saints understand that the Book of Mormon was written so we could learn from the shortcomings of the Nephites and the Lamanites. What most fail to consider is that the two histories — Nephite and American — are strikingly similar.

Mormon may have intended that this 'likening' of the two histories be far more comprehensive and penetrating than the superficial comparison usually made. He may have intended that we see the remarkable similarity between events and conditions in our time and those in Nephite times.

This becomes especially meaningful when we consider that both Moroni and Mormon clearly saw our day in vision. Speaking to the Gentiles, Mormon wrote, "Behold, I speak unto you as if ye were present, and yet ye are not. But behold, Jesus Christ hath shown you unto me, and I know your doing … for I know that ye shall have my words." (Mormon 8: 35; 9:30.)

Having seen our day, he was in the unique position to compile Nephite history so as to emphasize the similarities between them and us. With a repetitive, detailed review of Nephite problems, those prophets sought to teach us about our own difficulties. In that manner, it seems, they diligently portrayed our destiny in vivid and graphic narrative, using their history like a paintbrush on the canvas of our day and time.

Our thesis: Americans are the modern counterparts of the ancient Nephites.

Seen thusly, Nephite history is a prophetic harbinger for our time — a Paul Revere, if you will, to our modern world, riding out into our age of moral darkness to warn of what is about to overtake us.

President Ezra Taft Benson wrote of these similarities, "The record of the Nephite history just prior to the Saviors' visit reveals many parallels to our own day as we anticipate the Savior's second coming." (A Witness And A Warning, p.37.)

So, let’s examine the record to see what this enhanced perspective brings.

Tracing the threads of both histories back in time, we find that both Nephite history and American history began in the Middle East with the house of Israel.

Led by revelation, Lehi’s party left Jerusalem in the Southern Kingdom and traveled southward and eastward, halfway around the world to settle in the Promised Land. Fleeing incursions by the Assyrians, and later by the Babylonians, many residents of the Northern Kingdom also emigrated in the same epoch as Lehi’s party. Only, these Israelites migrated northward and westward. What’s more, Assyrians relocated captive Israelites to the northernmost borders of their empire.

From there, it is evident that they migrated into Europe around the Black and the Caspian seas. President Joseph Fielding Smith, in Answers to Gospel Questions, wrote, "From these (Israelite) exiles many without question found their way into the area which formed the nations of northern Europe."

But that is only the beginning of our comparison. Many good examples of these remarkable parallels are found when we compare the origins of both cultures to learn who are today’s equivalents of the Nephites and the Lamanites.

· Founders of both Nephite and American cultures, respectively, wandered in the "wilderness" during their different sagas, covering great distances.

· Both crossed oceans to get to the New World: The Nephites did so early in their history; the Americans did it late in their history.

· Both emigrated to distant lands, where they settled. For the Nephites, it was the "land of original inheritance" in the New World. For the forerunners of the Americans, it was greater Europe.

· The Western Hemisphere ultimately became home to both cultures.

· In the Book of Mormon saga, the Nephites were forced to separate themselves from their brethren, the Lamanites in the South, due to religious persecution and intolerance. They moved North, away from the "lands of original inheritance," to found their new nation. In American history, our forebears departed Europe, the land in which their forefathers first settled, or their "first inheritance" after leaving the Middle East, to flee religious persecution and intolerance. There, in the West, they founded a new nation, leaving their 'brethren' behind in the East.

· Both nations were the 'good' half of a 'good guys - bad guys' duality. For the Nephites, their nemeses were the Lamanite groups, their relatives. For the Americans, their nemeses were European groups, their relatives.

· Like the Nephites, Americans in the West were constantly defending themselves against the 'bad guys' in Europe, in the East — most especially during the recent period known as the Cold War.

· The orientation of the struggle between the Nephites and their Lamanite cousins was north and south. The orientation in our day, especially during the Cold War, has been a struggle between the East and the West.

Thus, by comparing American history with Nephite history, we see how very similar the two are — even to the point that both chronicles concern descendents of the House of Israel.

Lest anyone doubt that the prophets of the restoration taught that we are Israelites and that this comparison of American ancestry to Nephite ancestry is therefore invalid, consider that Moses appeared to Joseph Smith in the Kirtland Temple to commit "the keys of the gathering of Israel from the four parts of the earth, and the leading of the tem tribes from the land of the north." (Doctrine and Covenants, 110:11.)

This revelation raised the question: Who and where are the Israelites? One simply must first identify them in order to gather them. The answer came with the first callings to foreign missions in this dispensation: They went to England and Europe.

And, here’s the reason why:

· The Prophet Joseph Smith once said, "There are thousands of good people in England and those old countries (lands of original inheritance) who are waiting for the fullness of the gospel, and it will not be long before they will flock to Zion, for Ephraim (Israel) dwells largely in those parts" (Joseph Grant Stevenson, The Life of Edward Stevenson, master’s thesis, Brigham Young University, 1955, p. 25).

· In a 1937 General Conference, Elder John A. Widtsoe said, "The blood of Ephraim, the blood of Israel, runs strong in European countries …."

· In his book, Progress of Man, President Joseph Fielding Smith wrote, "… the blood of Israel is profusely scattered throughout the island of Great Britain.

· Elder Orson F. Whitney, in Gospel Themes, wrote, "… it is also a fact that from Scandinavia and the nations of Northern Europe has come much of the blood of Israel — the blood of Ephraim now within the pale of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints."

These discoveries set the stage for even greater revelations regarding striking similarities between the Nephites and the Americans, which we will explore in three future installments in this series.

© Anthony E. Larson, 2007

9/11 and the Book of Mormon

This article was written shortly after terrorists attacked the United States on 9/11/2001.

The tumultuous and tragic events of recent days have left Americans everywhere stunned and shocked. "How could this happen to us?" seems to be the question on most lips.

This author, like most of his fellow citizens, sat riveted to the television set on September 11th by the surreal events as they unfolded in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania. However, unlike most, it came as little surprise to this writer. Because of his reading of similar events in Nephite history, only the timing of the terrorist attack seemed premature.

A slightly different sequence of events

As readers of Parallel Histories: The Nephties and the Americans know, this author has been predicting a drought-related economic collapse in the U.S. for several years, ever since the thesis was first published in 1989. This prediction was based on the great Nephite drought and famine, as related by Mormon in the book of Helaman.

In Nephite history, our blueprint for American history, Mormon recorded that a severe drought in Helaman’s time, which caused a total economic collapse and famine among the Nephites and Lamanites, immediately preceded the onset of the Gadianton’s terrorist reign. It appears that this sequence of events will not hold in our time. While a drought still clutches the states west of the Rockies, it has yet to reach the magnitude or proportions of the Nephite debacle.

The drought may turn out to be only a contributing factor in our time, or we may be called upon to endure a double dose of tragedy: global terrorism and famine brought on by drought. Only time will tell how these two primary phases of Nephite history will play out in American history.

It may be that this barbaric act of terrorism will precipitate the financial crisis in our time. Stocks, especially, seem very weak, perhaps signaling the onset of a deep financial disaster. Judging by the early reaction of the stock markets and the airline industry, these terrorist acts have staggered an already weakened economy. As the effects of this economic bombshell ripple out through our economy, we may well see our economy collapse as surely as the World Trade Towers collapsed in the wake of the airplanes' impact.

A review of recent history and its Nephite parallels.

In Nephite history, the drought came on the heels of a great political debate characterized by wicked politicians who gained control of the highest offices in the Nephite culture. This corruption was widespread and pervasive, according to Helaman.

The parallel histories thesis indicated that something similar was to happen in our time. Indeed, the Clinton administration saw a literal fulfillment of this parallel.

The Nephite debate saw a contest for the hearts and minds of the people, a struggle between Nephi and the corrupt judges that ruled the Nephites. The similarities were overwhelming to someone in our time who vividly understood the Nephite corruption and its counterpart in America’s government. The logic and the rhetoric employed in the Nephite government scandals, as recorded in Helaman, were virtually identical to those heard in the modern media during the Clinton administration. The same rhetorical parsimony and flawed logic that typified the Clinton impeachment scandal in our time prevailed in the Nephite scandal. (See “The Book of Mormon as Prophecy.”

The duplicity of the wicked judges is easily seen in Helaman, thanks to the inspired interpretation of a prophet of God. However, that same type of deceit went virtually undetected by most Americans during the years of the Clinton scandals. Had all Latter-day Saints clearly understood the parallel nature of the two cultures, they would have been able to easily detect the deception perpetrated upon them by modern politicians.

Those scandals brought on by corruption in Nephite government were followed by a severe drought that caused a devastating famine. The loss of life was significant. After a period of recovery from the famine when the Nephite society rebuilt, the renewed war with the Gadianton robbers plunged the country into a new kind of battle for freedom.

The parallel histories thesis calls for many more such terrorist attacks like those we have seen in the recent past. Seen as commonalities in Nephite history and their protracted battle with the Gadianton bandits, the modern struggle with terrorism is no different. As with so many of the parallels, this one differs only in timing and scope.

Testing the validity of the Book of Mormon as prophecy

In this author’s opinion, the events of the last half-century bear out the validity of the parallel histories thesis. The many, stunning similarities between Nephite and American history now include the advent of institutionalized terrorism. What was once speculation on this author’s part over a decade ago has now become historic fact: the two histories parallel one another!

This also makes an open-and-shut case for the theory that the Book of Mormon is as much prophecy as history. We and our Nephite cousins are nearly indistinguishable. Therefore, the history of one becomes the prophecy of the other. No wonder Mormon felt compelled to write his marvelous book. In his place, any of us who love the gospel and the work would want to do the same.

Make no mistake. This eventuality, too, will play out in our time much like it did in Nephite times. We are not carbon copies, but we are unmistakable reflections.
What happened to them, what may happen to us.

As pointed out in the original book, Parallel Histories: The Nephites and The Americans, the commonalities are remarkable, and the modern terrorists are easily recognizable in the reflection of the Gadianton robbers.

The Gadianton robbers "did commit murder and plunder; and then they would retreat back into the mountains, and into the wilderness and secret placed, hiding themselves that they could not be discovered …." (Helaman 11:25.)

The robbers had no formal government, nor were they located in one country with recognizable boarders. Today’s terrorists are virtually identical. They also have retreats where they hide to train for and plot more nefarious deeds.
The bandits preyed upon Nephites and Lamanites alike.

"Now behold, these robbers did make great havoc, yea, even great destruction among the people of Nephi and also among the people of the Lamanites." (Helaman 11:27.)

The U.S. and Western European nations, the Nephite counterparts, have not been the only target of modern Gadianton robbers. Russia and other Eastern European countries, the Lamanite counterparts that were once part of the old Soviet Union, have been plagued by terrorism.

The bad news for us, because we could suffer the same fate, is that no Nephite army could prevail against the robbers, "… who dwelt upon the mountains, who did infest the land; for so strong were their holds and their secret places that the people could not overpower them; therefore they did commit many murders, and did do much slaughter among the people." (3 Nephi 1:27.)

Eventually the toll taken by Gadianton terrorism became so great that two historical enemies, the Nephites and the Lamanites, combined efforts to eradicate their common foe.

"… the Gadianton robbers had become so numerous, and did slay so many of the people, and did lay waste so many cities, and did spread so much death and carnage throughout the land, that it became expedient that all the people, both the Nephites and the Lamanites, should take up arms against them." (3 Nephi 2:11)

The implication of the parallel histories thesis is that much the same thing will happen in our time.

The struggle in Nephite times drug on for years and was a painful, prolonged affair that seemed impervious to solution. To make things worse, the Nephites and their leaders apparently argued among themselves about how to defeat this powerful enemy.

"And in the fifteenth year they [the robbers] did come forth against the people of Nephi; and because of the wickedness of the people of Nephi, and their many contentions and dissensions, the Gadianton robbers did gain many advantages over them." (3 Nephi 2:18.)

The problem may be equally intractable in our time.

Battle after battle, the Nephites could not prevail over the robbers until their leader, governor Lachoneus, hit upon a remarkable, if not extreme, solution.

"Yea, he sent a proclamation among all the people, that they should gather together their women, and the children, their flocks and their herds, and all their substance, save it were their land, unto one place.

"And he caused that fortifications should be built round about them, and the strength thereof should be exceedingly great. And he cause that armies … should be placed as guards round about to watch them, and to guard them from the robbers day and night. (3 Nephi 13,14.)

Then, Lachoneus appointed a “chief captain” of the armies, named Gidgiddoni, who implemented the final steps in the stratagem to draw the Gadianton robbers out of hiding, making them vulnerable. After two battles, one of which was the greatest known to that point in Nephite history, the Gadianton robbers were annihilated.

The Nephite’s success over terrorism is heartening, but their prolonged struggle portends the same for us. We will overcome terrorism in our time, too, but not without tremendous sacrifice.

The Nephite record gives the name of the Gadianton robbers’ leader as Giddianhi. Terrorism also has a name in our time: Osama bin Laden. The Nephites called their nemesis the Gadianton robbers; ours is called the Taliban and the Al Queda.

Reading Helaman and 3rd Nephi, one cannot help but be stunned by the remarkable similarities between the Nephite and American terrorism predicament.

Setting the record

Lest any reader be inclined to minimize the specific predictive power of the parallel histories thesis, thinking that all these predictions are more hindsight than foresight, more rhetoric than fact, consider the original exposition of this thesis and the context of world affairs at the time it was first published. Parallel Histories was written near the close of the Cold War, so the mindset was still America vs. Russia, U.S. vs. U.S.S.R., West vs. East. Contrary to all expectations at the time, this author predicted that hostilities between American and Russia would cease forever, that the old ‘us vs. them’ situation, which had endured for decades, would vanish. Yet it did. We now live in a politically different, more complicated world. Yet, consider how accurate were this author’s words, written over a decade ago, in 1989, regarding today’s reality.

"The modern equivalent of the Gadianton band should now be present if our time is, in fact, parallel to the period of Nephite history in question. The question is, “Who are they?” (Parallel Histories: The Nephites and The Americans, pp. 83-84.)

The predictive power of the parallel histories thesis made the answer to that question relatively easy.

"While the Gadianton robbers originated from within Nephite and Lamanite society, it may be that because of the wider scope of modern political interplay today’s Gadianton robbers originate on the periphery of the East/West interchange. The Gadianton robbers injected a third element into the duality that had existed in Nephite/Lamanite history up to that point. So it is that they must also be a third party to East/West relations today." (Ibid., p. 85.)

This assessment could not have been more accurate. Modern terrorism was born in the so-called Third World Nations.

"The Gadianton robbers were a secret combination, to be sure; but they were much more than that. Their first appearance in Nephite political problems was as a small conspiracy to take over the government. Assassination was one of their hallmarks. They were hard to attack because they hid in the wilderness or among the populace of cities where they mixed with the crowd. They surprised their victims by striking, seemingly, from nowhere—out of a crowd or out of the wilderness. After destroying an individual or a city, they disappeared again into the wilderness or into the crowd. They also kidnapped at will, taking hostages when it met their needs." (Ibid.)

This characterization of the Gadianton robbers clearly anticipated their rebirth as terrorists in modern times. The next paragraph foreshadowed their appearance on the world stage in our day.

"As they grew in numbers, they became more overt in their action, waging war on Lamanite and Nephite cities. Their strength was their ability to move within the existing political structures to further their ends, and at the same time they were an autonomous group capable of taking what they wanted by military force, if necessary. Their stock in trade was fear.

"Where do we find such a group today? What conspiratorial group forms today’s third column and finds asylum in sympathetic third World countries? What group routinely resorts to assassination, kidnapping and the holding of hostages? Obviously these are the international terrorist groups, which match the description of the Gadianton band in every particular. Their principal weapon is fear, and they have added a new wrinkle to their modus operandi: hijacking and bombing." (Ibid., pp. 85-86.)

Once again, the perspective proffered by the parallel histories thesis allowed an extremely accurate forecast of the origins and tactics of today’s terrorists. However, the most chilling part of this two-decade-old insight sounds like today’s headlines.

"Struggle as they might, the Nephites and the Lamanites were unable to defeat the Gadianton robbers for many years. That leaves the modern world with the disagreeable prospect of a prolonged struggle with international terrorism.

"The prospects that this bodes for our time are truly remarkable. Will terrorism grip the world to the extent that no one will be safe? Will terrorist action assume the dimensions of full-scale warfare? Will the west and the East be forced by the growth of worldwide terrorism to cooperate to such an extent that they will stand as one people against this new menace? That appears to be the implication of the parallel history thesis." (Ibid., 86, 87.)

Interestingly, as this is written, the media report that Russia has formally offered to assist America in its fight against terrorism, completely fulfilling this part of the prediction.

Some things alike, some not

It is unlikely that events in our time will play out exactly like those of Nephite times. Still, the similarities are striking and well worth keeping in mind because they give us a cognitive lens that we can use to bring into focus the events of our time.

We may yet be forced to adopt draconian measures, as the Nephites did, to defeat this enemy. Recall that every attempt to bring the robbers to justice met with failure until the Nephites hit upon a seemingly harsh and radical strategy as enunciated by Gidgiddoni.

"… we will prepare ourselves in the center of our lands, and we will gather all our armies together, and we will not go against them, but we will wait till they shall come against us …." (3 Nephi 3:21.)

As this new conflict in our time begins to drag out months and years from now, as it surely will, we would do well to keep the Nephite struggle with the Gadianton robbers clearly in mind by not letting ourselves become disheartened by the protracted nature of this struggle, nor should we allow dissention and contention to weaken our resolve.

A positive message for our time

Latter-day Saints should take heart and solace from the Nephite record, the Book of Mormon. The Nephites successfully prosecuted this conflict in their day; it will be so in our time as well. That is the promise of the parallel histories.

If, in the give and take of national and international debate, the rhetoric of politicians and pundits seems confusing, if it seems unclear what or who to believe regarding today’s terrorism and how to deal with it effectively, the Nephite story gives us an accurate and enlightening, prophets’ perspective of where our loyalties and efforts should lie and what we may expect in the ensuing months and years. In that regard, the Book of Mormon is truly a roadmap or guide for our times in more specific ways than any heretofore envisioned. We would be well advised to pay heed to its message.

Will you heed the warning? Or turn a deaf ear?

Since most Saints have never noticed the truly parallel nature of the two histories, theirs and ours, this assessment begs a difficult question. How much longer will we overlook Mormon’s message and warning? Will we continue to close our eyes to the effort and sacrifice of prophets — both ancient and modern — to bring us this crucial understanding? As Mormons, can we any longer afford to callously disregard this unspoken, but clearly accurate and valid, facet of the Book of Mormon story as we have in the heretofore?

More than ever before, the Book of Mormon — and Helaman in particular — is strongly recommended reading for Saints in these latter days.

© Anthony E. Larson, 2001

Stars, Planets, Moons, and Temples

Mormonism is unique among Christian denominations for many reasons. One of the things that makes it so distinctive was its founder’s interest in bringing ancient texts to light. Another was the instigation of temple use, a practice thought to be largely pagan and thus suspiciously sacrilegious by normative Christianity.

While it may not be readily apparent at first, upon closer inspection we will see that ancient sacred texts and temple use are closely related.

While the rest of Christianity contented itself solely with the Bible, Joseph Smith endeavored to establish the Book of Mormon as an equally important ancient, sacred record. Indeed, he tried to impress on modern Christianity the value of ancient records, beyond the Bible, to the practice of true religion.

Public interest in things from Egyptian antiquity has always been high, but it was far more than mere curiosity that compelled the latter-day prophet to purchase the Egyptian papyri that ultimately resulted in the Pearl of Great Price and the facsimiles therein.

At present, much is written and said by Latter-day Saints about the Book of Mormon, its origins in antiquity and its advent in modern times via angelic ministrations. Surprisingly, little dialog is devoted to the Pearl of Great Price, even less to the Egyptian elements found therein to which Joseph devoted considerable time and effort. Perhaps that is so because it deals with some topics — stars, planets and moons — that seem largely foreign to religion, as is commonly supposed, topics that seem better suited to cosmology, astronomy or archeology. In fact, Joseph Smith and the church he founded have taken criticism from both science and religion over the years because he ventured into these areas.

Astral bodies, stars, planets and moons, are seldom foremost in the minds of Latter-day Saints when contemplating the gospel. Indeed, modern Christianity as a whole has long since divested itself of nearly all such references since discussions of such objects is more typically thought to be the purview of either ancient pagan religions or modern science. Ministers and evangelists in Joseph Smith’s day were horrified by the prophet’s penchant for discussing such things in the context of the gospel. The stigma of being a "cult," attached to Mormonism by orthodox Christianity, stems partly from these associations.

All this begs the question that nearly all Saints avoid: What seemed so vital about documents from the Egyptian culture and its religion that a prophet of God would dedicate so much time and effort to explaining their meaning and symbolism, as seen in the Pearl of Great Price facsimiles? One can easily appreciate the value of translating the books of Moses, Enoch and Abraham for the doctrines contained therein, but what value can be gleaned from studying Egyptian hieroglyphs? Did Joseph include them simply to establish his credentials as a bona fide translator of ancient texts? Or was he pointing the way to a subject helpful in a thoroughgoing understanding of the gospel?

The answer to those questions may be provided by considering the other part of the equation cited at the outset of this article: modern temples.

The two primary temples of this era, the Nauvoo and the Salt Lake, were liberally decorated with icons of stars, planets and moons. This they have in common with both ancient texts and the temples of yesteryear, those erected by all ancient cultures. Those temples, too, were decorated with symbols of stars, planets and moons, along with illustrations of their gods, goddesses and a multitude of other religious icons peculiar to each culture.

Scholars readily acknowledge the strong and pervasive influence of astral beliefs at the heart of those ancient religions, reflected in the astronomical alignments and astrological references built into those edifices — from Angkor Wat to Tiahuanaco, from Teotiuacan to Stonehenge, from Karnak and the pyramids at Geza to Solomon’s temple and those erected by all Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cultures, including the Greeks and the Romans. They all venerated the heavens and the orbs they saw there. It is for that reason, for example, that our modern names for the planets come from the Roman pantheon.

Thus, the Prophet not only pointed to the use of astronomical imagery in ancient texts by exploring the meaning of the icons he found on the Egyptian papyri that came into his hands, he also employed similar astronomical imagery in modern temples. Indeed, as in ancient temples, it is astral imagery that almost exclusively dominates modern temple iconography. In so doing, Joseph Smith, and Brigham Young after him, simply authenticated or validated the connection between the restored gospel and ancient cosmological beliefs.

The iconography and rhetorical imagery of the restored gospel stand side by side with those of ancient cultures as reflected in their writings and their art.

All this is as it should be if, as Joseph Smith maintained, his was a restoration of the original gospel, which was taught universally by inspired prophets anciently. The true religion should retain and display those same ancient traditions, rhetoric and icons.

But it also suggests an extraordinary value in studying ancient history to understand what the ancients knew and what a modern prophet knew about the past that compelled them to make astral iconography, past and present, an integral part of religion and temple iconography. After all, such imagery is not employed simply to keep authors and artisans busy writing and chiseling.

Perhaps the clue as to why knowledge of the heavens is a vital part of the true religion and how that knowledge spawned a multitude of icons in ancient cultures the world over can be found in several passages of scripture, each of which say essentially the same thing: the heavens and the earth we know now are not the heavens and earth the ancients knew; and conversely the heavens and the earth we know now will be replaced by "new heavens and a new earth." (Isaiah 65:17; 2 Peter 3:7, 13; Revelation 2:21, Ether 13:9; Doctrine & Covenants 29:23.)

Such dramatic language suggests radical changes in our solar system anciently. These sweeping and dynamic changes would have caused tremendous natural disasters, paroxysms of nature, wiping out large populations and dramatically altering Earth’s environment — changes that would have left few survivors to experience entirely "new heavens and a new earth," changes that compelled the ancients to make these dramatic sky shows the entire focus of their religious and cultural traditions.

Indeed, one school of thought suggests that the ancients were consumed with rehearsing the celestial drama that brought about those sweeping changes, that they made every attempt to preserve that knowledge in rite, ritual, architecture, art, text and religion since they considered it sacred as well as historical.

This would explain the compulsive use of cosmological imagery in ancient temples by their builders. Temples were specifically designed by the ancients to reflect, recall and reconstruct a lost cosmology, one that existed before the heavens and the earth suffered dramatic, sweeping changes.

Thanks to revelation and Joseph's prodigious appetite for knowledge, he must have learned all the ancients knew - including the Earth's true history. Naturally, he incorporated this perspective in the restoration, it's scriptures, it's doctrine and it's most sacred sites. Thus, our modern temples become living repositories of ancient wisdom and tradition, as well as venues for making sacred covenants.

This view would also explain the admixture of two distinct cosmologies seen in those same edifices, leading to confusion among modern LDS scholars about their meanings and use. Temple iconography juxtaposed the present cosmology and that of the past, combining both in one presentation. To those who understood the profound transformation in the heavens and the earth anciently, such juxtaposition was proper and correct, not confusing and mysterious. Only modern man, divested of his cosmological heritage, would be perplexed by this coincidence.

And those two facts explain why a modern prophet would resurrect the use of that same imagery in modern temples, they being a restoration of ancient convention.

The marvel and the tragedy is that we, the modern saints, have confused, denied and ultimately rejected that part of the record bequeathed us, that we consider it mere exaggerated myth and legend. Even the inspired efforts of a latter-day prophet to bring these ideas to light have gone largely ignored by those who practice the very religion he founded.

The fact that Latter-day Saints almost universally discount such a possibility, even though statements of their prophet, their revealed scriptures and their temple iconography indicate otherwise, reveals a fatal flaw in their comprehension of the legacy they inherited from Joseph Smith in the magnificent revelation that comprises this latter-day restoration of the gospel.

© Anthony E. Larson, 2002

Section 84: The Forgotten Commandment

Part I – The Commandment

Section 84 of the Doctrine & Covenants is a pivotal revelation for Latter-day Saints, or should be.

The preamble to this section says, "The Prophet designates it a revelation on priesthood." In it, the Lord explains some of the roles of priesthood bearers, including a thorough explanation of missionary work and how it might be carried out. "And this revelation unto you, and commandment, is in force from this very hour upon all the world, and the gospel is unto all who have not received it." (verse 75.)

This makes it plain that this "revelation" is not only a disclosure of information, but it also carries a "commandment."

In the process of explaining this mandate to teach the gospel, the Lord touches on an aspect of priesthood responsibility that is entirely overlooked in the church today when he gives this added command: "Nevertheless, let the bishop go unto the city of New York, also to the city of Albany, and also to the city of Boston, and warn the people of those cities with the sound of the gospel, with a loud voice, of the desolation and utter abolishment which await them if they do reject these things. (verse 114.)

Reading carefully, we see that this directive carries two parts. The first, is to teach the gospel: "warn the people … with the sound of the gospel." The second is to tell them "of the desolation and utter abolishment" that might befall them.

Clearly, the first directive refers to missionary work, a mandate church members have heeded and apparently fulfilled rather well, given the remarkable growth of the church in the latter half of the 20th century. But, the second reference seems quite vague. What is the "desolation" referred to? What is "utter abolishment?"

Webster’s Dictionary defines 'desolate' as "barren or laid waste … without inhabitants, deserted." It also defines 'abolish' as "to do away with, to put an end to."

Since the Lord applied these terms to three major American cities, a rather grim picture emerges. Without equivocation, God seems to be talking about reeking havoc in a catastrophe great enough to entirely wipe the cities of New York, Albany and Boston off the map, complete with all their inhabitants, if they do not accept the gospel.

But that is not all. To clarify and amplify, God reiterates the commandment. "And verily I say unto you, the rest of my servants, go ye forth as your circumstances shall permit, in your several callings, unto the great and notable cities and villages, reproving the world in righteousness of all their unrighteous and ungodly deeds, setting forth clearly and understandingly the desolation of abomination in the last days." (verse 117.)

So, we learn that this mission was not exclusive to Bishop Whitney; verse 117 extends this commandment to all priesthood holders, "the rest of my servants." We also learn that they should visit not just the three cities first named, but many others also: "the great and notable cities and villages."

Then, the Lord repeats his charge that they teach about possible, impending destructions, "the desolation of abomination."

This presents a problem for today’s priesthood bearers. Which of us can even begin to explain the "desolation" and "utter abolishment" the Lord referred to? What do those terms mean? What could cause such devastation?

While every general conference of the church has one or more talks about the vital importance of missionary work, where are the talks explaining or elucidating the second part of the commandment: teaching "clearly and understandingly the desolation of abomination?" More importantly, we must ask why this part of the commandment has not been acknowledged? How is it that we have focused so well and appropriately on missionary work without also teaching the other half of the equation, the promised devastation?

If we’ve not been instructed in these things or discovered them for ourselves, how are we to teach them, as we were commanded to do? How are we going to teach something we do not understand? In that case, how are we going to fulfill the Lord’s charge to teach it at all, let alone do so plainly?

As a matter of fact, any discussion of prophetic destructions has been almost completely banned from our discourse in the church. Over the last half-century, the subjects of prophecy and catastrophe in church discussion have become increasingly taboo. Where once they were central to our very character as Latter-day Saints, they have been almost completely marginalized in our day and age.

Our instruction manuals for teaching in the church almost entirely avoid the subject of the last days and their associated destructions. The idea is almost never addressed from the pulpit, and even then it is treated in such an oblique manner as to avoid any substantive handling of the subject.

Yet, given the wording of this section, it would seem that we are under as great an obligation to teach about the impending destructions as we are to do missionary work.

So, let’s reverse this trend. Let’s more fully perform our duty as priesthood bearers. Let’s look at this once again to see if we might regain some lost ground and thereby properly fulfill this commandment from the Lord.

One might begin by asking, what is the "desolation and utter abolishment" of which the Lord spoke? What is the "desolation of abomination in the last days" that all priesthood bearers, "the rest of my servants," are herein commanded to "set forth clearly and understandingly?"

A clue to the answers to those questions lies a little further on in that section. "For, with you saith the Lord Almighty, I will rend their kingdoms; I will not only shake the earth, but the starry heavens shall tremble." (verse 118.) The keywords in these verses are "rend their kingdoms," "shake the earth" and "the starry heavens shall tremble." Anyone schooled in the nature of planetary catastrophes that have punctuated Earth’s past and the prophetic metaphors they gave rise to will recognize what the Lord intended. These same metaphors have been used by the prophets to describe numerous episodes in Earth’s past when the entire world came to the brink of destruction — episodes such as Noah’s Flood, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, the Exodus and numerous other such widespread catastrophes. The references are subtle but unmistakable. The metaphors "desolation of abomination," or "desolation and utter abolishment" are coded expressions for planetary catastrophes of the most devastating kind where nature goes on a rampage, where almost all the works of mankind crumble in worldwide earthquakes while oceanic super-tsunamis rush in upon continents, wiping vast areas of the globe clean of any vestige of life, all as the heavens appear to reel about as a result of our planet’s wobbling on its axis of rotation.

As if to put a lock on his meaning, God added this unmistakable declaration. "For I, the Lord, have put forth my hand to exert the powers of heaven; ye cannot see it now, yet a little while and ye shall see it, and know that I am, and that I will come and reign with my people." (verse 119.)

It is the powers of heaven that wreck destruction and havoc on the Earth, a frequent scriptural theme. And just to clarify, the Lord says that there is nothing unusual to see in the heavens just now, "ye cannot see it now." But the time will come when we will all see and know what the desolation of abomination is. That is, "yet a little while and ye shall see it."

Finally, as a warning against dismissing the importance of this knowledge and its conveyance, the Lord said, "And your minds in times past have been darkened because of unbelief, and because you have treated lightly the things you have received ... Which Vanity and unbelief have brought the whole church under condemnation." (verses 54 and 55)

Make no mistake. Ignoring or dismissing this aspect of our priesthood callings by failing to obey the Lord’s commandment in this regard has brought condemnation upon us all. Perhaps not coincidentally, these are the very verses President Ezra Taft Benson quoted when he counseled church members to repent of their doubt and pride, saying also that the whole church was under condemnation.

Part II – Watch the Skies

To assure the reader that the above is not a strained interpretation of a few obscure and selected verses, we should take a moment to learn why the Lord might want his priesthood to understand the cause and nature of planetary catastrophes.

In all ancient cultures, the priestly class dominated the religious life of any culture, including the symbolic center of their religious tradition: the temple. All ancient cultures had temples wherein the priestly class administered rites and rituals of salvation, whether or not they had the true priesthood.

We learn from Abraham that this was certainly true of the Egyptians. "Pharaoh, being a righteous man, established his kingdom and judged his people wisely and justly all his days, seeking earnestly to imitate that order established by the fathers in the first generations …. Now, Pharaoh being of that lineage by which he could not have the right of Priesthood, notwithstanding the Pharaohs would fain claim it from Noah, through Ham …." (Abraham 1:26, 27.)

We know from archeology and research into the Egyptian religion that they not only had temples, but they performed resurrection rituals, much as we do in our temples today. Thus, as Abraham implies, they obviously sought to imitate true priesthood orders and rituals. (See Hugh Nibley’s extensive writings on this subject.)

Some temples were elaborately constructed edifices, such as the Parthenon in Athens, Greece. Others were merely groups of standing stones, such as Stonehenge. In the Americas, pyramids were the temples of choice, as were the Ziggurats of Mesopotamia. Native Americans in the southwestern United States constructed Kivas. All these are easily identified as temples because of the rituals practiced therein.

But the temples weren’t only ritual centers. They were observatories, and their architecture abounds in astral alignments. Research has shown us that they assiduously tracked the movements of the heavenly bodies. As we have seen, they were absolutely obsessive about fixing and tracking the points where these bodies rose over the horizon, most especially the Sun during the summer and winter solstices.

A fundamental part of priestly responsibility was to watch the skies by tracking the movements of the Sun, the Earth, the Moon, the planets and the stars, which they accomplished with a variety of ingenious methods.

Most common among these ancient sky watchers was the practice of aligning stones or architecture such that the first rays of light from the Sun as it rose in the morning would fall on a well-marked spot on another stone or marker within a building. Thus, they could track the Sun’s rising on the horizon throughout the year as it varied, moving slightly more north or south each day until it reached its most extreme positions at the winter and summer solstices. This, then, was a simple but effective way of ascertaining that the Earth, not the Sun, was moving in its normal, prescribed path. Any deviation would easily be discerned.

This proclivity has long puzzled archeologists and anthropologists. Why did the ancients seem preoccupied with astronomy? Why did they track the movement of astral bodies? Why was astronomy so important to them that they practiced it and incorporated it into their most sacred shrines, their temples?

This was as true of God’s authentic prophets and priests as it was of the pretenders. We learn this from Abraham, for example. "But the records of the fathers, even the patriarchs, concerning the right of Priesthood, the Lord my God preserved in mine own hands; therefore a knowledge of the beginning of the creation, and also of the planets, and of the stars, as they were made known unto the fathers." (Abraham 1:31.)

This notion is further confirmed when Abraham is shown stars and planets through the Urim and Thummim. It seems to be God’s desire that the prophets have an intimate knowledge of things astronomical. But to what end, if not to watch for irregularities in the skies?

This is reflected in our modern temples, where astral symbols abound, as they also did in ancient temples. This was and is information about the Sun, the Moon and the many stars or "great lights, which were in the firmament of heaven" — the very icons we find adorning the walls of our sacred temples.

But, what does astronomy have to do with religion and priesthood? It’s really quite simple.

God always warned the world’s inhabitants of impending planetary disasters. The scriptures are replete with such accounts. Adam and Noah warned of the coming Great Flood; Abraham warned Lot to flee Sodom and Gomorrah; Moses warned the Israelites, Pharaoh and the Egyptians of the plagues that would shortly befall them; and Samuel the Lamanite warned the Nephites of the destructions to accompany the crucifixion of the Savior.

Not only that, there are an even greater multitude of warnings regarding identical destructions and devastations in the last days, before the second coming. John wrote extensively in his Revelation. Isaiah, Malachi, Zechariah, Habakkuk, Nahum, Joel and even the Savior himself told of these planet wide catastrophes as a "desolation of abomination." Hence, there are a multitude of past and future warnings from the prophets in our scriptures of the "desolation and utter abolishment" that awaits the world in our day, just as they occurred in the past.

It is only natural, then, that God would charge his priesthood with the sobering task of watching the heavens to discern any change in the motions of the Earth, Sun, Moon or the planets. Alterations in any of those would likely portend trouble.

So, this is the easily discernable reason why all ancient cultures, including those led by prophets, were so invested in watching the heavens. Any deviation in the movement of the stars or planets meant almost certain disaster for Earth’s inhabitants. So, tracking them was the sure way to know at the earliest possible moment if something went awry.

A rather practical, down-to-earth approach for such an esoteric discipline as astronomy, wouldn’t you say?

Since modern astronomy denies the possibility of any deviation in the orbits of the Earth, the Sun and the other planets in our solar system, they are left with no basis for understanding the ancients’ preoccupation with the heavens. They chalk it up to superstition, and that’s where it ends.

But ancient and modern revelation, along with all the texts left behind by other ancient cultures, repeatedly and compellingly insist that the order of the heavens has altered in historic times, in spite of the insistence to the contrary by modern science.

The prophets repeatedly spoke of a change so great, so sweeping that it completely alters both the heavens and the Earth. "But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. … Nevertheless, we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth …." (2 Peter 3:7, 13.)

"And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea." (Revelation 21:1.)

This principle is most clearly enunciated in latter-day revelation. "And the end shall come, and the heaven and the earth shall be consumed and pass away, and there shall be a new heaven and a new earth.

"For old things shall pass away, and all things shall become new, even the heaven and the earth …." (Doctrine and Covenants 29: 23, 24.)

All this being true, then it only makes sense that God would want to reestablish this practice of watching the heavens among his priesthood in the latter days. And knowing this explains why the priesthood was assigned the duty of "watchmen" in the "watchtowers." While a watchtower in a fortress or walled city might be useful in spotting an army of approaching foes, an observatory might effectively be thought of as a watchtower and the priesthood as watchmen where the possibility of planetary disorder exists.

Hence, the Lord implores his people, and especially those ordained to the priesthood to "Watch, therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come." (Matthew 24:42.)

Also, "Gird up your loins and be watchful and be sober, looking forth for the coming of the Son of Man, for he cometh in an hour you think not." (Doctrine and Covenants 61:38.)

This, then, is a duty traditionally assigned to God’s priesthood bearers. That he would again restore this assignment to the priesthood in these latter days is perfectly natural and in harmony with the ancient pattern. That means that this is information and understanding that every latter-day priesthood holder should master, as we have been commanded, in order to fully discharge our sacred duties.

Not only can we better fulfill our callings through this study and practice, this information will further enhance our gospel understanding to a considerable degree, allowing us to better understand the scriptures, the words of the prophets and the symbolism of our temples. This is true because the symbolism that dominates the gospel actually originated in ancient astral events.

Part III – The Reiteration

Lastly, in order to better understand the 84th Section, we must turn to the 88th Section, where the Lord reiterates in much more detail what he gave in the earlier revelation. Read this revelation with the counsel and commandment of the 84th Section in mind to bring greater clarity and meaning to the Lord’s expressions.

Let’s review Section 88 verse by verse, beginning about half way through.

"77 And I give unto you a commandment that you shall teach one another the doctrine of the kingdom."

God here referred to the same commandment he already gave in Section 83, as will be plainly seen as we proceed.

"78 Teach ye diligently and my grace shall attend you, that you may be instructed more perfectly in theory, in principle, in doctrine, in the law of the gospel, in all things that pertain unto the kingdom of God, that are expedient for you to understand …."

This is the very instruction needed to prepare a teacher to explain what the desolation of abomination is, how to watch for it and how to explain it. While we are presently doing a good job of teaching gospel principles and law, we have fallen down in the other two named categories: theory and doctrine. Otherwise, the knowledge of these planetary destructions would be common among us. Since they are not, this is prima fascia evidence of our ignorance.

And what are those things that we have failed to study and fully understand?

"79 Of things both in heaven and in the earth, and under the earth; things which have been, things which are, things which must shortly come to pass … and the judgments which are on the land …."

You see, it is in studying the "things both of heaven and in the earth" that we discover the changes wrought by past planetary catastrophes, because those changes are explicit in ancient history or "things which have been." Of course, by studying "things which are," we find a basis for comparison with the past. In so doing, we learn that our world and its heavens are vastly different than they were.

Additionally, in studying "things which must shortly come to pass," we learn that coming planetary disorder will be nearly identical to past catastrophes, giving us yet another basis for comparison and a vivid idea of what the future holds for this world when planetary disorder once again nearly destroys our planet, causing "desolation and utter abolishment."

"80 That ye may be prepared in all things when I shall send you again to magnify the calling whereunto I have called you, and the mission with which I have commissioned you."

This is the heart of the matter. We cannot be fully prepared to "magnify the calling" we’ve been given if we have not prepared ourselves with this vital knowledge, which we now utterly lack.

"81 Behold, I sent you out to testify and warn the people, and it becometh every man who hath been warned to warn his neighbor."

This is a restatement of the mission: We must "clearly and understandingly" tell them of the "desolation and utter abolishment" that awaits this world.

"84 Therefore, tarry ye, and labor diligently, that you may be perfected in your ministry …."

Without this knowledge of planetary catastrophe, we cannot be "perfected" in our knowledge. And we cannot properly teach if our knowledge is incomplete or incorrect. Hence the Lord’s counsel to "tarry" while we "labor diligently" to learn these concepts.

"… 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; …"

Notice here that this mission to teach of planetary catastrophe is not only necessary to teach the nonmembers or Gentiles, it is needful "to prepare the saints for the hour of judgment." Thus, this mission is as much to the members of the church as it is to potential converts. This is the second part of the commandment, which we have completely overlooked.

"85 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."

Just to clarify that both sections 84 and 88 are talking about the same things, notice that the Lord once again cites the "desolation of abomination," while yet further defining it as the "wrath of God."

And here’s the payoff. So that we might be certain what he’s talking about, the Lord describes the desolation’s most prominent elements.

"87 For not many days hence and the earth shall tremble and reel to and fro as a drunken man; and the sun shall hide his face, and shall refuse to give light; and the moon shall be bathed in blood; and the stars shall become exceedingly angry, and shall cast themselves down as a fig that falleth from off a fig-tree."

It is these variously described, symbolic elements that are seen to comprise the effects that accompany a planetary disaster.

In Section 84, he cited another such symbolic, yet very real, element. "I will not only shake the earth, but the starry heavens shall tremble."

It is the comprehension of these metaphors, and the many other symbolically described elements, that are crucial to one’s understanding of the very things we’ve been commanded to teach, that is "set forth clearly and understandingly." It is these elements of planetary catastrophe that we must master in order to teach them to others.

"88 And after your testimony cometh wrath and indignation upon the people."

The Lord said the same thing with more obscure language in Section 84 when he said, "For, with you saith the Lord Almighty, I will rend their kingdoms."

That is to say, first comes the priesthood’s warning, then comes the destruction. It’s the same pattern followed throughout world history: God calls a prophet to warn the people of impending disaster and call them to repentance. That done, the promised destructions are poured out.

For good measure, the Lord then lists many more elements of a planetary encounter.

"89 For after your testimony cometh the testimony of earthquakes, that shall cause groanings in the midst of her, and men shall fall upon the ground and shall not be able to stand.

"90 And also cometh the testimony of the voice of thunderings, and the voice of lightnings, and the voice of tempests, and the voice of the waves of the sea heaving themselves beyond their bounds.

"91 And all things shall be in commotion; surely, men’s hearts shall fail them; for fear shall come upon all people."

Again, it is these natural phenomenon that constitute the prophesied desolation.

Next is an entirely metaphorical narrative that cannot be understood until one is thoroughly schooled in the prophetic tradition that arose from past planetary calamity. It is coded language, symbolic allusions to very real things that will be seen and heard.

"92 And angels shall fly through the midst of heaven, crying with a loud voice, sounding the trump of God, saying: Prepare ye, prepare ye, O inhabitants of the earth; for the judgment of our God is come. Behold, and lo, the Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him."

It is in the decoding of such metaphors or symbolic language that a corrected view of ancient planetary catastrophe becomes vital. With it, we can see what such allegorical declarations truly mean.

Now comes the 'piece de resistance' of this revelation.

"93 And immediately there shall appear a great sign in heaven, and all people shall see it together."

It is this "great sign" that is the cause of these overwhelming natural phenomenon that will sweep the Earth.

Some have supposed that since the word "sign" is used here that there would be some stunning, symbolic manifestation in the heavens that would signal the onset of the destructions. But, the training and education that comes with studying past planetary encounters tell us otherwise.

Joseph Smith explained in more explicit terms what that "great sign" would be. "There will be wars and rumors of wars, signs in the heavens above and on the earth beneath, the sun turned into darkness and the moon to blood, earthquakes in divers places, the seas heaving beyond their bounds; then will appear one grand sign of the coming of the Son of Man in heaven. What will the world do? They will say it is a planet, a comet, &c." (History of the Church, 5:337.)

Of course, the entire world will call this sign a planet or a comet because that’s exactly what it will be — a planet-sized orb that also looks and behaves like a tremendous comet.

And just so there are no loose ends to this exposition, make note that Joseph connects this "sign" with all the same devastating natural destructions as the two revelations we’ve been considering. That can lead to only one, inescapable conclusion: The planet or comet is not only a sign, it is the very agent — the single cause — of all the natural destructions that are part of God’s desolation.

Epilogue

After all this exposition, these points are worth making one last time: It is the Lord who decreed that the priesthood’s role is to be the conservators and expositors of this knowledge among church members. Not only that, they were charged with watching the heavens for deviations that might portend renewed catastrophes.

Sadly, present-day priesthood holders not only do not understand these things, they are inclined to discount and suppress them, thinking they are too fantastic or bizarre to be credible. This is due, as the Lord revealed, to our "unbelief." Most elders in the church know nothing of the simplest aspects of astronomy, thinking it something entirely and completely foreign to the gospel of Christ. Yet, a survey of teachings by general authorities from Joseph Smith on forward has revealed that these subjects have been amply treated and clarified in this dispensation, to say nothing of the preponderance of evidence found in our scriptures and the other records we have from the past.

Today’s priesthood holders have no concept of such a mandate from the Lord, even though it is plainly stated in latter day revelation. Neither have they properly searched our scriptures, otherwise these things would have been self evident. Therefore, today’s priesthood holders are unable to comply with the Lord’s mandate to teach these truths "clearly and understandingly."

Perhaps its time we stopped treating prophecy and prophetic imagery as the redheaded stepchild of the gospel. Maybe it’s time we reversed our course by taking seriously this commandment. By admitting our oversight, we can begin to correct it.

Remember God’s counsel: "And your minds in times past have been darkened because of unbelief, and because you have treated lightly the things you have received—

"Which Vanity and unbelief have brought the whole church under condemnation." (Section 84:54, 55.)

Will we allow this to continue?

© Anthony E. Larson, 2007