Is anyone paying attention to the fact that so far we have received only “a lesser part of the things which he [Jesus] taught the people”—that since the prophet Joseph Smith we have been on trial to see if we will believe the things that have been extended to us (3 Nephi 26:6–11)? If not, […]
Greater Portion, Lesser Portion Read More »
Question: Jeremiah 23:5–6 says that the “righteous Branch” the Lord raises up to David is called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. Doesn’t that prove this verse is referring to Jesus Christ? Answer: First, a correct translation of Hebrew yhvh tzidqeinu in Jeremiah 23:6 is “Jehovah is our righteousness.” As the Hebrew language possesses no capital letters,
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Linked ideas throughout the Book of Isaiah demonstrate how God’s people respond to his end-time servant’s message. Those who acknowledge the servant do as he does. As the servant keeps the terms of God’s covenant, so do they. When they live God’s law for its own sake, not for the sake of reward, God blesses
Analogies between the One and the Many Read More »
“The path of the righteous is straight; you pave an undeviating course for the upright. In the very passage of your ordinances we anticipate you, O Jehovah; the soul’s desire is to contemplate your name. My soul yearns for you in the night; at daybreak my spirit within me seeks after you. For when your
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Given that end-time scriptures define the house of Israel as the Jews, Ten Tribes, and Lamanites, and Latter-day Saints as “the Gentiles” or “fulness of the Gentiles” (melo’ haggoyim), it is no surprise that millennial prophecies reserve the blessings of God’s covenants specifically for the house of Israel and those affiliated with them such as
From Whence Our Blessings Come Read More »
Question: I’m having difficulty sorting out which laws or terms of God’s covenants apply on different spiritual levels and how these covenants connect to one another. That includes the Ten Commandments, baptism, and temple covenants. Can you clarify? Answer: Of three major covenants God made with his people and with individuals—the Sinai, Davidic, and Abrahamic
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Have you wondered whether the Hebrew prophets wrote down revelations precisely as God gave them, or whether they added their own thoughts and ideas? Isaiah, for example, was a literary genius as well as an inspired prophet of God. His writings exhibit many layered literary devices. These mechanics of prophesying show an amazing deliberation in
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“This is to me as in the days of Noah, when I swore that the waters of Noah would no more flood the earth. So I swear to have no more anger toward you, never again to rebuke you. For the mountains shall be removed and the hills collapse with shaking, but my charity toward
Ancient Types of End-Time Events Read More »
Jesus’ saying that he came to bring “division” on the earth—so much that families would divide against themselves (Luke 12:51–53)—in no way contradicted his most solemn prayer that his disciples might be one in him as he is one in the Father (John 17). It merely affirmed that the truth he personified would act as
Grounds for a Great Division Read More »
The Jewish historian Josephus recounts how a kind of psychosis and barbarity overcame the Jews around 70 A.D., when a million perished at the hands of the Romans. As the world’s end-time scenario sees a recurrence of all past evils, we may expect to see—and do already see—a similar spiritual, emotional, and mental imbalance in
A Psychology of Insanity Read More »
Question: In what ways is the fulness of gospel different from the basic principles of the gospel? Answer: After we define the gospel’s basic principles as faith in Jesus Christ, repentance of transgressions, baptism by immersion for the remission of sins, and the laying on of hands for the reception of the Holy Ghost—the latter
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“Their feet rush after evil; they hasten to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are preoccupied with mischief; havoc and disaster follow in their wake. They are unacquainted with the way of perfection; integrity is not within their bounds. They have made crooked their paths; none who treads them knows peace.” (Isaiah 59:7–8) “Jehovah of Hosts
Deconstruction and Reconstruction Read More »
