D&C 133 - 134 (2020 repost)

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign. [00:00:15] Speaker B: Welcome to the weekly Deep Dive podcast on the Add On Education Network. The podcast where we explore the weekly Come Follow me discussion and try to add a little insight and unique perspective. I am your host, Jason Lloyd, here in the studio with my friend and the show's producer, Nate Pifer. [00:00:31] Speaker A: Hey, what's up, Nate? [00:00:32] Speaker B: It's. It's. Can I tell you, I. I really look forward to the time we have here in the studio. [00:00:38] Speaker A: Me too, man. [00:00:39] Speaker B: It's good times. [00:00:40] Speaker A: It's great times. Let's do this. [00:00:42] Speaker B: And Doctrine Covenants 133 and 134 powerful sections. There's a lot to unwrap in 133. I don't know if we're going to get to it all, but we'll sure try. And 134 is going to talk a little bit about the government and the importance of governments the world over. And Thanksgiving's coming up and I'm going to take a opportunity to take a swing at Thanksgiving when we get into 134. Yeah, we watched. My wife went down to Cedar City to go watch my daughter in a swim tournament. And so the boys were back at home having a boys night out. We watched the US Mexico soccer match. And in the halftime, or maybe it was before the game started, we'd switched channels and saw an old episode of Happy Days and the Fawns and everybody celebrating Thanksgiving and they go back to that first Thanksgiving with the Native Americans and the pilgrims and the whatnot. We'll dive right into that. Anyways, let's start first with Doctrine and Covenants, Sections 1 through 33. This section was supposed to be the suffix to the original Book of Commandments. So one, if you remember way back at the start of the year, as we talked about Doctrine and Covenants, section one, this was the introduction, Revelation, and Hearken, all ye people of the earth, give ear. Listen, Heed the voice of my servants. This is a summary statement that says along the same lines, listen, everybody, listen. This is important. Here are my servants. Go out, tell the whole world over. This is the Lord's concluding statement to the Book of Commandments. So most of the revelations and sections that we have been talking up into this point were in the 1840s, right before Joseph Smith dies. This, however, is going to take us back to 1831, a revelation that he received soon after the organization of the church. And this was meant to be that, that last revelation, that last section to close the Book of Commandments. So it's interesting. It starts, hearken, O ye People of my church, saith the Lord your God, and hear the word of the Lord concerning you. The Lord who shall suddenly come to his temple. The Lord who shall come down upon the world with a curse to judgment, yea, upon all the nations that forget God and make. And upon all the ungodly among you. And so as I read that first verse and he talks about the ungodly among you, I ask myself, who is you referring to in that verse? And I don't think it's just the world over. When he's addressing you specifically, going back to this very first statement, he says, hearken, O ye people of my church, saith the Lord. So he is speaking specifically to the people in his church. He's going to talk about the people, people in the world. But when he addresses them as you specifically to the people of the church, he is saying, so first he says, upon all the nations that forget God. [00:03:52] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:03:52] Speaker B: Now he's talking about the world and the nations in particular, the governments that forget God. We're going to talk about that when we get to 134, when we talk about thanksgiving and all that good stuff. But then the following statement. When he says, and upon all the ungodly among you, that's the people within the church, specifically, watch out anyone in the church who is ungodly. And then he says he's going to make bare his holy arm. And in the scriptures, the Lord uses body parts to talk about different things. And the arm represents strength and might, the power of the Lord, whereas the hand is usually the action that is associated with that power. So when he says the hand of the Lord, then the hand of the Lord stretched forth the universe. The hand of the Lord created the hand of the Lord smote or punished. It is how his power is demonstrated by. But when it says the arm of the Lord, it's referring more to his power. And it says here his holy arm is particularly associating it with salvation. The arm of the Lord to save his people. This might to be able to. There's power to save. And it says that all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of their God. And that made me pause and wonder a little bit. How is it that every. It says all the ends of the earth. So in my mind, when it says all the ends of the earth, every country, every person, every individual is going to see the salvation of their God. How is that possible? If it was you, Nate, if you were God and you wanted everyone to see the salvation that you bring to them, how could you manifest that. How would you. How would you show your salvation to everybody? [00:06:03] Speaker A: I don't know, man. [00:06:05] Speaker B: As I was thinking about this, I mean, spiritual salvation, you see somebody change and take on a different nature maybe, or behave differently. But even then it's not that you really see their salvation. You have to have faith that that's going to do something for them later. It's not like you instantly see salvation. So I don't know that it's talking about a spiritual salvation of sins. I think this is more the salvation against death, the ability to save. And for years we've been chasing this fountain of youth, this tree of life, if you will, this idea that how do we get it to beat death? And for as smart as science is, as far as we've come to be able to create vaccines or cures or new treatments and things, and understand better, unlock the quantum world and see things and see the universe differently than we've ever seen it, we can't beat death. We have saved people when they get in car accidents temporarily. So when I think of God seeing the salvation of their God, maybe I look at that, literally the salvation of Christ himself, that death did not keep him down when he stands and the whole world sees with the marks in his hand, the marks in his feet and the mark in his side from the spear and says, look, I beat death. I have been saved. Literally the salvation of their God, but also salvation in that he is going to come with dead people resurrected. Not just he himself saying, I beat death, but look at all of these people that I beat death for them as well. And then the people, all the ends of the earth. That's how I understand it when it says they shall see the salvation of their God. They will see that God has saved and is able to save from that one enemy that mankind and science and as far as we've come, have yet to find any sort of cure or salvation from. That's how I take it anyways. Next he says, for that reason, where he says, wherefore? And anytime you see wherefore, I like to look at it and interpret it as for that reason. For the reason that everyone is going to see the salvation of their God. For the reason that Christ is going to come. Prepare ye, Prepare ye, O my people. And again, who's he talking about? He says, O my people. And then the next line, he even goes to repeat it, says, people of my church. And as he's repeating this, O my people and people of my church, he's also repeating this idea, prepare Ye prepare, ye make ready. And, and how, how are we supposed to prepare ourselves? What does it mean to be prepared? Understanding that God is coming and on his way for that reason, we need to prepare. And I think that's a major message in, in Old Testament, New Testament, throughout all scripture, this idea that the bridegroom is coming and those that are prepared will be ready for it. And there is this need, this critical need to be prepared and be ready for that moment. And because he is coming and because he is coming soon, it is essential that everyone prepares. And maybe that is something we talk about a little bit more. How do we prepare ourselves? He elaborates a little bit, saying, sanctify yourselves, gather you together. And I know we've talked a lot about symbolism and imagery in the show throughout the year. When I see this sanctify yourselves and gather you together. I see this in sanctifying, almost baptism. I know we've associated baptism a lot with this purifying, this cleansing sanctification process. And then after you're baptized, you become a member of the church. So now you gather yourselves together. So the symbolism of being baptized and being a part of the church is much more than just this baptizing being members of the church. It's also supposed to spread out and apply to us. We need to sanctify ourselves. And as we sanctify ourselves, we should also be associating with each other, coming together, assembling together to strengthen each other and make it so we are better prepared as a people. And I think this is a critical idea, particularly in today's age, because I feel a lot of people come away with the sentiment and maybe even especially after Covid, that, you know what, I can feel God just as easily in my heart or in the home or in the woods or by myself or wherever I'm going to go. What is the purpose of coming together? Why do it at church, particularly? Because sometimes church is not always a very reverent place. And I know it should be, but as we go to church, sometimes we have to deal with kids crying or fighting. I know my kids aren't always saints, always sitting there hitting each other and trying to keep it on the down low so they don't get in trouble from their parents. And sometimes even away from the distractions of what you've got going on on the bench and what you have in the congregation, sometimes you might just get somebody stand up on the stand and just take a ramble and you feel like you're having a hard time connecting or understanding what is the purpose of coming together? If it's so much easier at times to feel the spirit when you're isolated, when you're not having to deal with kids in your quiet room with maybe some soft music playing or maybe nothing playing at all, you could just think and reflect and have some time to yourself. So what is it? Why is it so important to come together if we can find that on our own? That's. I don't know. Maybe I just read a couple verses from here. So. Verse 5. When he says, go ye out from Babylon. Be ye clean, bear the vessels, Lord. Sorry. Verse four. I'm going to come back. One. Wherefore? Prepare ye, prepare ye, O my people, sanctify yourselves. Gather ye together, O ye people of my church upon the land of Zion. All ye that have not been commanded to tarry. And then he says, come out from Babylon. 6. Call your solemn assemblies and speak often one to another. And let every man call upon the name of the Lord. Speak often together. And I know it was important in the early times of the church, the idea that there was safety in numbers when you're being persecuted and to have the saints coming together. But even then, sometimes the saints congregating in too large a number is actually what brought a lot of the persecution upon them. Maybe they would have been safer if they would have been a little bit more spread out. But for whatever reason, in the Lord's mind and the Lord's view as he is saying this, it is important that we come together. We sanctify ourselves and we assemble, and we speak often together. There is something there that's important. And I don't know. I don't know if I have a good answer for what it is. I know when we talk about faith and being saved, salvation is deeply personal. And in the end, when we're judged, I want to think we stand alone almost in a sense, that we're not going to be saved because of how good our wife was or because of how good the people around us were, but based on our own personal decisions and our own personal how we feel. Salvation or condemnation, whatever the case may be, judgment is a deeply personal thing. Yet at the same time, I think as we come together in a group, we receive the strength that we need to be able to stand alone at that day of judgment, if that makes any sense. [00:15:10] Speaker A: I think a lot of it has to do maybe not with salvation itself, but withstanding the various, you know, storms and whirlwinds that we are going to inevitably face while we're here. Because the thing is that the, you know, the armies of evil, or whatever you want to call them, are very unified in their purpose. And it feels like every day there's a new disgusting thing that is bombarding the family or faith or, you know, people trying to do something good. And that feels like a very unified attack. I think the idea of gathering together more is kind of the old analogy of the trees that all grow together individually. The wind could come, knock them down, but in a group or in a grove, their roots are able to grow together and interlink, and they're able to strengthen each other. And I think that as painful as it can be to be in certain church meetings where it just feels like it's just gone off the rails, I think that the bigger takeaway from that is that you're still all in it together and you're still all trying to figure it out, and you're still all trying to strengthen each other. Even throughout that part of the process and with how unified the adversary and his attacks are, I think that it's crucial that we are just as unified in opposing that and trying to strengthen each other against those things. [00:17:23] Speaker B: Well said. And I wonder, too, if when we're alone reflecting on things, I think often we see our own weaknesses, we see our own deficiencies, and we tend to beat ourselves up a little bit and putting ourselves up against this imaginary perfection or perfect world of where we're falling short. Right. But as we get together with other people and see other people for other people who they are, and we realize that nobody's perfect and we fit in, we belong. A sense of belonging. And you know what? We are in this together. And I'll look past your sins, you look past mine. Let's help each other try to be better and not be so critical. We're not holding ourselves against this imaginary perfect deal, but we become this unified body of people that are trying to be saints. And maybe we see that there's a lot of other imperfect people, too, struggling that you wouldn't see if you were by yourself. I don't know if that. [00:18:29] Speaker A: Yeah, I agree. [00:18:32] Speaker B: All right, here it says, let's go to verse five a little bit. Something that we kind of glossed over. I think verse five is pretty powerful when it says, go ye out from Babylon and Babylon and Zion. And those are the two places that are going to be juxtaposed throughout this entire section. And it's something that plays throughout the entire Bible. You see it in the Book of Revelation, you see it throughout the Old Testament. You see it certainly here in Doctrine and Covenants. What is the deal with Babylon? And we sing it. O Babylon, O Babylon, we bid thee farewell. What is Babylon? And for those who maybe do not understand the history, let us just run through it real quick. In the Old Testament, Babylon was a powerful nation that when Assyria fell as an empire, Babylon kind of rose from the ashes and took over Assyria and eventually took over all of Israel as well. And when they came down to Jerusalem and beat Jerusalem, at first they came in and they took all of the kings, the educated, the wealthy, the upper levels of society, if you will, and deported them into Babylon and just kind of this first little deportation. But it didn't end there. And eventually, as Jerusalem kept thinking maybe they were strong enough to stand on their own or rebel a little bit, it came to the point where almost all of Jerusalem gets exiled and carried captive into Babylon. And there they sit for a number of years before Persia arises and Persia conquers Babylon. And when they get there, they tell the Jews, Cyrus tells him, God told me in a dream that you need to go back to your land, you need to go build your temple. And he frees the Jews and they come out of Babylon and returned to Jerusalem. So Babylon has this idea of captivity from sin or apostasy. As Jerusalem sins, they fall into Babylon, if you will, until they remember the Lord and which time they are going to be returned back to Zion. And the interesting thing is the Lord refers to Babylon in very similar, if not the same terms as what he refers to, Zion. Both Zion and Babylon are portrayed as women. Both Babylon and Zion are called virgin and daughter. Both are portrayed as sitting in the dust. Zion will become the bride to the Lord, while Babylon will become a widow and bereft. So she used to be a bride, but now she is a widow. She has lost her husband. Zion gains children, while Babylon will lose her children. Zion will not be ashamed, but Babylon will suffer shame and it will be seen by others. God promises to protect Zion, but to destroy Babylon. Zion is righteous. Babylon is wicked. Zion worships the living God. Babylon worships the idols. Zion remains clean before the Lord. Babylon remains unclean. Zion experiences peace. There will be no peace for Babylon. The Lord will carry Zion. Babylon's idols are going to be carried away. Zion will have everlasting light. Babylon will be doomed to darkness. So you have these two cities that are very similar, and yet at the same time, they are almost these opposites. And this is something we have talked about quite a bit on this show. Nate is we've talked water, for example, this idea that water is the source of life, the fountain of living righteousness. But it also represents that river of sin, that chasm in Lehi's dream. And the waters, when you're talking about creation, it's the chaos that's opposite to order. You've got the Jonah and the waters that are threatening to destroy him. And he gets thrown over into the waters, the salt water, the ocean, the Sea of Galilee. These destroying. Yet water is also what brings peace. We've talked about other images that you talk. Almost two heads of the same coin. What are some other ones? We've talked about, Nate? Fire being purifying versus destruction. And somebody asked me earlier this week about the symbol of the serpent being used to represent the devil, where at other times it's used as a symbol of Christ. And when they asked me, they asked me, why is it that you would use the same symbol for the devil as you would for Christ? Why is it you would use these symbols that sometimes take a good representation? The city represents righteousness, the city now all of a sudden represents wickedness. Why the dichotomy? And as I was thinking about that, it reminds me of Christ's line, right? Jesus Christ, if you look through his ancestry, he's born from Judah and Tamar, from David and Bathsheba. You look at these relationships and you say, okay, King David, who stole another man's wife, Bathsheba. Why would Christ choose this line of wickedness and sin? And yet this is the line that he is going to be coming from. And this idea that as Christ comes, it's to perfect what wasn't perfect. This idea that Christ himself, when he is born, is visited by magi who represent the upper echelon of society, who come bearing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, who travel from afar, wise prepared, counselors to kings, well off. And yet on the other end, shepherds. And to give you an idea, if you had a family, the youngest was always the shepherd because nobody else wanted to. It was the bad chore, if you will, that always got put off on the squirt, the runt, whoever was the smallest that couldn't say no, they weren't trusted in society. Oftentimes they were outcasts. They represent the exact opposite of the magi. Here he is the king, the greatest of all, but yet he's not even placed in a bed. He's placed in a watering trough where the animals drink from. So Christ, this person who embodies everything, the greatest also Embodies everything. That's the worst when it comes to the time where he's going to be crucified. Here is a man who scolds Peter because he's washing his feet. And Peter offers, says, no, you shouldn't be doing this. This is something I should do. And Christ says, no, the greatest is the servant, and I need to serve you. I need to wash your feet. And I didn't come to be served. I've come to serve everyone. He's come to offer himself. Yet when he goes to see Lazarus, he doesn't touch the rock. He commands other people to roll the rock out of the way to the tomb. He doesn't go into Lazarus. He calls with a loud voice, saying, lazarus, come forth. Making Lazarus do the work. And when he comes all bound up in the burial cloth, he doesn't touch the cloth. He asks others to unwrap Lazarus. And this is a man that says in the verse that most of us have memorized. And Jesus wept because he cared about this man. And yet he didn't serve him in this way. He made Lazarus do the work. He made others unwrap him. He made others remove the stone. And in the Jewish law, to go and be in the same room as a dead person would make you ritually unclean. To touch something that was touching a corpse would make you ritually unclean. And here, Christ, coming into the atonement, maintained this purity, this ritual purity. But unlike the people that passed by, the Good Samaritan, who couldn't touch him because they were going to serve in the temple and had to remain clean, he still stopped to take care of him, but maintain his purity. Yet at the time of crucifixion, what does he do? He prays and takes all of the sins upon him, making him, if you will, the vilest of sinners. In a sense that he is descending below all. He is the one that is being punished for all of the sins. He is crucified between two sinners and Gethsemane, as he bleeds from every pore. Having an issue of blood and coming from every pore of your body would make you very unclean. Being spit on by Gentiles, being scourged, how he was treated would make him extremely unclean. And here is a man that is embodying both ends, both extremes. The purity, the unpurity, in this sense, this idea that God became man so that man might become God. He took this imperfect line of David and Bathsheba and all of these problems that go through the entire Old Testament until we get to the New Testament. And yet he was able to bring perfection to it. That we take this idea that Babylon itself, as Christ was talking to the Jews and they said, we have Abraham as a father, and he picks up stones and says, I can make seed of Abraham out of these stones. This idea that the Gospel goes from the Jews to the Gentiles in the last days, from the Gentiles to the Jews, that even Babylon is going to now come into Zion, flee there and be saved. I don't know. Is this. It's kind of a long ramble. [00:29:20] Speaker A: I think it's important. I think kind of as you're talking about this, the duality in a lot of this also just represents the idea that by nature nothing is either better or worse than anything else. Right. Nothing by nature should be condemned or saved. Right. Like the, the poorest or the most rich among us shouldn't be judged and condemned by the other for, for the opposite position. Right. Like Christ came for both. And so, yes, the Pharisees had a hard time with Jesus hanging out with sinners and with the unclean people, but also a lot of the disciples even, and some of the poorest among them had a hard time with him not condemning, you know, the Sadducees or the Pharisees just outright or even some of, like the, the rich people too. Right. Like, like both, both. Both sides of that spectrum had a problem with who Jesus was hanging out with or eating with or ministering to or teaching. Right. And it's the prodigal son. [00:30:41] Speaker B: Right. [00:30:42] Speaker A: It's all of these things where it's easy to go, you know. Yeah, we can condemn all the rich people or we can condemn, you know, the, the greatest among us in society because, you know, they, they have everything given to them or they have all these privileges or whatever it is. Right. But like the magi that came and visited Jesus are awesome and brought gifts too. Right. And Jesus was here to save them too. And it's, it's the idea that, that by nature the serpent isn't glorified or condemned because with Christ it can be redeemed, right? [00:31:32] Speaker B: Yes. [00:31:33] Speaker A: And so by nature, water isn't evil or good because again, through Christ, it's the living water. Or, you know, it's like all of these things that contain this supposed duality can all be redeemed and, and are not condemned by nature, right? [00:31:56] Speaker B: Yes. And. And this, this, this duality exists within us. [00:32:04] Speaker A: Yes. And that. I think that that's. Yes, exactly. That's. That's the culmination of all of this, right. Is that by nature our bodies are meant to die. They're meant to break, they're meant to sin. Not meant to, but they will by nature. Right. But that through Christ, these will also be the same bodies that are glorified and will be with us for eternity in glory. [00:32:35] Speaker B: The natural man is an enemy of God and has been forever. Yet man is God's greatest creation, and men are. That they might have joy. [00:32:45] Speaker A: And this frail, imperfect body will eventually be the body that is perfected through Christ. Right. Like it all keeps pointing back to the same thing. That by nature these bodies are an enemy to God and will be the perfected bodies that hopefully, if what we believe is true, create worlds. [00:33:08] Speaker B: Right? Yes. [00:33:09] Speaker A: The same body, the same. [00:33:11] Speaker B: Yes. [00:33:12] Speaker A: A perfected version of it, but the same thing. [00:33:15] Speaker B: And that's why I look at Zion and Babylon as maybe one of the. As a beautiful embodiment of the atonement. Because you remember the Jews went into Babylon and the Jews came out of Babylon and they were saved. Righteous people fell into Babylon and righteous people were pulled out, out of Babylon just the same. And it's, I guess, up to you, maybe, maybe going back to that talk of what direction you're headed in and what you're going to do to become clean, whether you're coming from Zion or whether you're going to Zion from Babylon, God saves wherever we're at. Well, not wherever we're headed. Wherever we came from. We were on a roll. You had it so beautiful. And then I didn't quite deliver on the end there, but that's all right. [00:34:12] Speaker A: No, let's keep going. [00:34:13] Speaker B: Let's keep rolling. There's a statement right after he says, go ye out of Babylon, that he says, be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord. And I think most of us growing up that have had the priesthood or been talked to about the priesthood, that's a scripture that's been read to us at least I have heard it over and over throughout my life growing up. Be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord? And that is a phrase that I wanted to talk about a little bit here. What does it mean to bear the vessels of the Lord? And what does it mean to be clean and the vessels of the Lord? This goes back to Moses time when the Levites were given the priesthood and the responsibility of carrying the vessels. Or in other words, the utensils and the furniture and the objects that were inside of the temple. Because the tabernacle, the temple was A tent, a large stationary structure that they would carry with them and set up where they went and they would create the covering. And everybody had a part in the tabernacle, by the way, not just those that were in the priesthood that carried the vessel of the Lord. The covering always had to be replaced. So every year they were sowing new covering and constantly maintaining it and upkeeping it and working on it, but particularly those that bore the vessels of the Lord. So Exodus chapter 37, verse 16. We get an idea of these vessels where it says dishes and his spoons, his bowls and his covers to cover withal. These are the vessels. And so I brought here a book. You're not going to be able to see it out there, but Nate, maybe you can help us. It's on page 592. Just describe the picture that you're seeing as we're talking about vessels and these instruments or utensils that are in the temple. [00:36:23] Speaker A: This is the biggest book I've ever seen in my life. [00:36:27] Speaker B: It's Temples of the Ancient World, edited by Donald Perry, One of my all time favorite books. It's out of print if you can find it. [00:36:36] Speaker A: Have you read this thing? [00:36:37] Speaker B: Absolutely. [00:36:37] Speaker A: Don't lie to me. [00:36:38] Speaker B: I love that book. [00:36:39] Speaker A: There's like 7,000 pages in this book. [00:36:41] Speaker B: It's fantastic. [00:36:43] Speaker A: All right, what do you want me. I'm looking at this picture. What do you want me to describe? [00:36:46] Speaker B: Yeah, so there should be like two pictures, Right. The top is from an Egyptian relief kind of carved in the stone there. [00:36:53] Speaker A: Okay. So looks like he's holding some sort of a rod or a staff. And at the end of that staff is a hand that's holding a bowl. And it looks like there's a flame coming out of it maybe, and another hand on top of it, maybe by the dude holding this thing, dropping like a seed or berry or incense or something. And then on top of that, about halfway on that staff or that rod that he's holding looks like a box with a lid that's kind of being slid off. So maybe that's where he got whatever the thing he's dropping in this flame is. [00:37:34] Speaker B: Okay. [00:37:34] Speaker A: And then. Oh, want me keep going? [00:37:37] Speaker B: Sure, yeah, keep going. [00:37:39] Speaker A: And then below it is kind of what it looks like is the. Maybe like what the hand and the bowl look like from the bottom view, which again, it just looks like some sort of a staff or a rod. And then the hand is just holding a cup. And then on the other side, or a bowl, and then on the other side just looks like the Bowl. [00:38:04] Speaker B: Yeah. So these are depictions. You've got priests here that are carrying instruments. And these instruments are these utensils as you described, kind of like this staff or a long spoon, if you will. Right. And at the end, there is a hand and cupping shape. It's used to hold incense or oil. And so these are temple instruments that you use for the. Inside the temple, you have an altar where you offer incense. And what happens is you burn it. The smoke rises and it's like the prayers of the righteous ascending up into the Lord. And you scoop it with this long handled spoon, with this hand kind of in a cupping shape and spoon out your incense. Or you use it for your fire, or you use it to pour oil or anoint with this idea, these instruments. And where I wanted to go with this, as we're talking about you, that bear the vessels of the Lord. So this made sense in Moses time when you had a tent that you had priests that were taking these instruments and they had to be clean in carrying them. They made sure that physically they washed their hands, that they were wearing their priestly garments, that they were clean in their physical appearance, but also spiritually, that they were clean or living their lives in a way that they could handle these sacred objects and that they would protect the objects. You're not going to go show them out to the whole world and flaunt them around or say, hey, look, everybody, I'm holding the temple. This was sacred and you kept it protected. You kept it private. And you'd carry it to the next location and carefully set it up and put it within the temple to where it could do it. But as I look at this statement that the Lord makes today, be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord, it doesn't seem like it translates as well, because today we are not relocating our temples, and we don't have people assigned to be taking the altars out of the temple and moving it to the new location, or taking the instruments and the lamps and whatever and moving them around. And maybe there is some of that that goes on with the shutdown, but that is not what I am talking about. We don't have a specific priesthood class that is associated with relocating the objects in the temple as we travel. So why is the Lord in Doctrine and Covenants, reiterating, be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord? And as I look at these instruments and I think about what we receive when we go to the temple, I believe we receive the instruments of the Lord, male and female, as we go in and as we go through the temple process, that we are the ones that carry those instruments, and we are the ones that are told to keep them secret, to keep them sacred, and to not show people to keep it respected, just as the priest did before. So as I look at this verse, be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord. I think those who have gone into the temple and made covenants with the Lord and received his gifts, and have been enabled to walk past the angels that stand as sentinels, to be able to enter into the presence of the Lord, be clean. Understand that you are permitted to enter into the presence of the Lord. And if you are, do what you can to be clean, to be worthy of that, remember what you are carrying. Remember what the Lord has given you when you went to the temple. So thanks for. [00:41:45] Speaker A: It's awesome. [00:41:46] Speaker B: Thanks for describing that there, Nate. [00:41:48] Speaker A: I feel like I did a pretty good job. [00:41:51] Speaker B: Yeah, I think. I think it's hard to visually imagine what's being described on paper. I think maybe I'll take a snapshot of the image there. Just put it on their cover art for the episode. So smart. [00:42:06] Speaker A: I like it. People, I think, will be. I think people will be interested in. [00:42:09] Speaker B: That kind of see what we're talking about. All right, so section 133. There's all sorts of amazing things that are happening in this section, this closing section, and it's such a powerful one because again, who's speaking here? In some of these other sections, you have Joseph Smith explaining something, or Joseph Smith talking, or Joseph Smith providing instruction in here. Hearken, O ye people. This is the word of the Lord, and the Lord is speaking. And when he speaks, it's just loaded like this with all sorts of cool things. And so we talked about coming out of Babylon. He talks about the nation or the gospel going first unto the Gentiles and then unto the Jews. This idea, the reverse chiasmus from one before it was first to the Jews, then to the Gentiles. He's going to talk about establishing Zion. And then he says, let's see, some crazy things are going to happen. Verse 10. Yea, let the cry go forth among all people, awake and arise and go forth to meet the bridegroom. Behold, and lo, the bridegroom cometh. Go ye out to meet him. Prepare yourselves for the great day of the Lord. And so here we have. Go meet the bridegroom. Go forth to meet him. And let them who are among the Gentiles flee unto Zion. And let them who are of Judah flee unto Jerusalem. So you have got two gathering places. One, those who are the Gentiles flee to Zion. But two, those who are of Judah, Jerusalem, and the Jews still are the Lord's covenant people. They've always worshiped God, and God still holds them in special regard. And still, even as he says in the last days, the word of the Lord, and you're going to see that throughout this section as well, comes from Jerusalem. And the law of the Lord is going to come from zion. And verse 15. But verily, thus saith the Lord, let not your flight be in haste, but let all things be prepared before you. That he that goeth, let him not look back, lest sudden destruction shall come upon him. Don't look back. And we talked about Lot and his. His wife. This idea of looking back. Perhaps if you look back, you see what you're missing and you change your mind and decide not to flee. And if you hesitate and stay back, it's not that the Lord's going to destroy you. It's more that the Lord can't save you because you didn't make it to Zion. You didn't come out. You didn't. You. You didn't pull yourself away from this. And this is where, when the Lord comes, talk about his coming. Verse 17. For behold, the Lord hath sent forth his angel crying through the midst of heaven, saying, prepare ye the way of the Lord and make his path straight. For the hour of his coming is nigh, when the Lamb shall stand upon Mount Zion and with him 144,000 having his father's name written on their foreheads. Wherefore prepare ye for the coming of the bridegroom. Go ye out to meet him. So he's not coming alone. And he talks about these 144,000. I know there's been all sorts of talks about these 144,000. [00:45:54] Speaker A: Wait, are the Jehovah's Witnesses, right, man? [00:45:58] Speaker B: This is 144,000. And the way I understand this, and from looking at maybe a few other sources on this, is the idea that he is coming with 144,000 who have also been resurrected. And whether that is a specific number, whether it is a certain count, I don't know. The point I get out of this is that you shall see the salvation of the Lord. One, you are going to see him resurrected. Two, you are going to see faithful dead also alongside him, resurrected, showing that, yes, those that had faith and believed that he could do it, here is the proof. You don't have to have faith anymore. You can Know for surety God will save you. For behold, he shall stand upon the Mount of Olivet and upon the mighty ocean, even the great deep, and upon the islands of the sea, upon the land of Zion. That's a lot of places to be standing. And you have to wonder, is this guy, how big is he? Or what does it mean to stand? And in other places, as it talks about standing on the Mount of Olives, it talks about splitting the Mount of Olives and dividing it. And he stands upon the sea, and he is also going to stand upon Zion. So are we talking about multiple appearances, or is he going to actually physically stand on the ocean in Jerusalem? Jerusalem. And the Mount of Olives is not next to the ocean. And then Zion. Obviously, if we're talking about the new Jerusalem or the American continent, or if we're even talking about the City of Enoch coming down, standing in all these places at the same time, physically, I don't see as possible. But it makes me wonder, what do they mean by him standing there? If it's going to divide and destroy the mountains, if it's going to have an impact and dry up the seas, or it's going to have a destructive characteristic, is it referencing an asteroid that is going to hit the mountains so as being almost like a footstep of God stamping on the Earth? Is the Earth headed to a point where we are going to be hit from multiple asteroids? An asteroid hitting the American continent, an asteroid hitting the ocean, an asteroid hitting the Mount of Olives and dividing the mountains and destroying it and smashing into the ocean? There's all sorts of things that are going to happen. The Lord says that he is coming with a curse, and not only upon Zion, but it also says and upon the islands of the sea. So pretty much everywhere he's going to stand. And he shall utter his voice out of Zion, and He shall speak from Jerusalem. And the voice shall be heard among all people. And listen to his voice. It shall be a voice as the voice of many waters and as the voice of great thunders which shall break down the mountains and the valleys shall not be found. He shall command the great deep and it shall be driven back into the north countries and the islands shall become one land. Now, we have talked about a lot of things that he has prophesied and talked about, and we've talked about how a lot of these things have been fulfilled. But as I read through these sections, it seems to me more like something that we are waiting for that is yet to have happened. And as I try to vision him speaking with a voice that sounds like many waters, for whatever reason, it almost seems to me like a broadcast. If he is speaking and it is being heard on tv, everywhere, radios or whatever the case, and being played all over, is that not the same or similar to many waters roaring or rolling at the same time? This idea that the sound of water is not because one single little drop is moving through the river, but it's made up of all sorts of water that is constantly flowing past that point, that almost a flow, this idea, his voice is going to be flowing throughout, everywhere, the entire Earth. It is an interesting idea, but it's also going to break down. The mountains and the valleys shall not be found. The land of Jerusalem, the land of Zion, shall be turned back into their own place, and the Earth shall be like as it was in the days before it was divided. Any thoughts on the Earth before it was divided? As we. Oh, go ahead, Nate. [00:50:39] Speaker A: Sorry, none. [00:50:42] Speaker B: I think as we look at the Old Testament and it says, in the days of Peleg, the Earth was divided. And then we go back to these prophecies, the end time, the Earth is going to be back to how it was before it was divided. And then we look at the Earth and this idea of Pangea and it dividing and coming back together, it seemed like a very simple thing to say, well, the Earth split up and it's going to be all pushed back together. I don't know if that is what it is talking about here, though. I wonder. I could be way off on this and maybe it is talking about Pangea. When you look at the historical record of the Earth and you look at how it has changed, science does suggest that the Earth was together at one point, but it also suggests that that point in time was millions of years before we got here. And the geological record does not seem to bear out that this is something that was a more recent change within the last 4,000 years. Five, five thousand years. And so, as I read in the days of Peleg, the Earth was divided. Makes me think almost more about the Tower of Babel when their language was confounded. And now you had people that necessarily didn't communicate with each other, they were split out. And you have this idea of new nations being created and people having different cultures, different languages, that the Earth was divided. But as we see today, the Earth is becoming more and more unified. To travel via car or plane is much quicker and more efficient than back in the day, as we had to walk or travel through a wagon or a handcart or Whatever the case may be, Is he saying that the Earth is going to be more unified, that the Earth is going to have one more global economy and we are not going to have different languages and different divisions, but we will all be one? Or is he talking physically about the Earth being pushed to one? I don't know. I am just throwing out different ways to think of this. There is enough evidence here where he talks about breaking down mountains, hiding valleys, that there could be a very serious physical transformation. Where it talks about the land of Zion and the land of Jerusalem, which is opposite ends of the earth. Right. Jerusalem, the old world, Zion, the American continent being smashed together to one continent. It seems to have that sense, that meaning. And the Lord, even the Savior, shall stand in the midst of his people and shall reign over all flesh. And they who were in the north country shall come in remembrance before the Lord. Yeah, I guess they will come because it talks about all the waters of the deep being driven back into the north countries. And if all the water is being driven into the north countries, then the people from the north countries are going to have to inevitably move down or it's going to be a new water world up there. And let's see. [00:53:37] Speaker A: Terrible movie. [00:53:41] Speaker B: Yeah. Verse 25. And the Lord, even the Savior, shall stand in the midst of all people and shall reign over all flesh. We talked about the people that are coming from the north, and they who are in the north countries shall come in remembrance before the Lord and their prophets shall hear his voice and shall no longer stay themselves. And they shall smite the rocks and the ice shall flow down at their presence, and a highway shall be cast up in the midst of the deep. And then their enemies shall become prey unto them. And the barren deserts shall bring forth pools of living water and the parched ground shall no longer be a thirsty land. All sorts of transformation. I guess I'd better say it's probably going to happen sooner. There's not going to be a whole lot of ice that'll be flowing at his presence left. Or maybe it's already flowing at his presence and that's part of his coming. [00:54:36] Speaker A: Yeah, there you go. [00:54:40] Speaker B: And. And maybe if you. If you think about it, the Little Ice Age in Europe happened a while back. And because of the colder temperatures and because of what happened, you had a lot of immigration coming over here to the Americas, did you not? From the countries in the north with the potato famine in Ireland, that brought a lot of immigrants over. And because of the Little Ice Age and because of what happened. And as that all ends in the 1800s. The ice is flowing and the temperature is warming. It has brought this highway from the deep of this transatlantic carrying from people that once there was two nations on different sides of the world. Now we're being brought together from this highway that was cast up from the deep. And these people from the north countries coming back down in here, remembering the Lord and coming to seek religious asylum. Sweet. I don't know. It's full of all sorts of crazy stuff and there's all sorts of stuff we can say. And the Lord's. How much? How much? I want to get to our Thanksgiving stuff too. [00:55:56] Speaker A: Let's get to Thanksgiving stuff. [00:55:58] Speaker B: Let's. Let's. The wine press, maybe. Let's talk about the wine press. And then let's talk about the day and the year and then let's go into our Thanksgiving stuff, if that's okay. When Christ has come, his voice shall be heard. I have trodden the winepress alone and have brought judgment. All the people, and there were none with me. And so he's coming all dressed in red, and his clothes are stained red. Going back to that imagery that we talked about at the start of this episode, Nate, this idea that Christ bled from every poor in Gethsemane and stained himself red for our sins and covered Himself red that he might save us. But here he's covering himself red. Not that he might save, but going back, he's red because he's trampled his enemies. He destroyed them at his coming, and their blood splattered all over his clothes. It's not his blood now, it's the blood of others that he has squeezed out. Going back to Doctrine Covenants 19, that those who do not he suffered, that men might not, but those who will not repent and turn to him will suffer even as he suffered. This idea that he will be pushing the blood from them out of their pores. Kind of interesting imagery as he's coming back at that time. But as we are talking about him coming, it says. Sorry. He says that it's going to be in. In. In this day. I'm looking for it. I'm. I've. In verse 51. And I have trampled them in my fury, and I did tread upon them in my anger, and their blood have I sprinkled upon my garments and strained all my raiment and stained all my raiment. For this was the day of vengeance which was in my heart. So this vengeance, this trampling of blood, it's in a day. And verse 52, the very next verse. And now the year of my redeemed is coming, and they shall mention the loving kindness of their Lord. So you have a day of vengeance, a day of wrath, a day of trampling. And it's followed directly after by a year of loving kindness, a year of tender mercy. And that's the Lord. He chastens us and he's harsh. But it's followed by immediately after, by this kindness, this love, and this compassion. Go back to Third Nephi and the darkness that came on the earth, and how bad it was, and yet how glorious was his coming and the time that he spent. And it was a lot more the peace that they enjoyed than the destruction that they felt in that moment. All right, I'm sorry. That's a lot in 133, and there's a whole lot more we could talk about. But let's get into 134 before we completely run out of time in here. Verse one, we believe that Governments were instituted of God for the benefit of man, and that he holds a man accountable for their acts in relation to them, both in making laws and administering them for the good and safety of society. Governments are instituted by God and are therefore accountable to God. And I know we've got Thanksgiving coming up. And as I read that verse, you might wonder, what in the world does that have to do with thanksgiving? The thing that let me read George Washington's letter on Thanksgiving, and hopefully this all becomes clear. So here's the national proclamation as we're about to get into the proclamations of the Church. Here's from President Washington. Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor. So first and foremost, what we just read in Doctrine and Covenants that Governments are instituted by God and are accountable to him, is echoed with what President Washington says. It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection. And whereas both houses of Congress have by their joint committee requested me to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness. So first, because it is the government's duty to acknowledge God and second, because Congress by joint committee requested him to recommend to the people a day of public thanksgiving and prayer. He is doing this. So Congress. Congress is asking the president to have a day of prayer to recognize God. Compare that to Congress today when they are voting on, yeah, we need to have a national plumber's day. Can we get the president to recognize national plumber's day or national, I don't know, donut day or national whatever day you can name it. I mean, look in the calendar. We've got all sorts of national whatever days that are now recognized by the government that congress actually deliberates on and then requests it to be approved by the president. Compare that to our first Congress who is imploring the president to create a day where the people can recognize and appreciate God. And the time back then, Congress wasn't doing this because they wanted to be reelected. They wanted to recognize God and let God truly know that they appreciated what he did in allowing them to create this government. Whereas in today, Congress says, you know what, if I can get the plumbers union to know that I love them and I'm backing them and I'm going to create this day that supports them, and then I can wear that as a badge saying that, that I support our plumbers, let's get this day passed. And the whole purpose isn't to glorify God. This to glorify their own desires, their own selves and say, what can I do for myself? Not what can I do to glorify God. It's changed. It's changed significantly. So he says, because he's been recommended by Congress and because it's his duty now. Therefore, I do recommend and Assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the people of these states to the service of that great and glorious being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be, that we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks for his kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation. For the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of his providence which we experienced in the course and conclusion of that late war. For the great degree of tranquility, union and plenty which we since enjoyed, for the peaceable and rational manner which we have enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted, for the civil and religious liberty for which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge, and in general, for all the great various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us. These are the blessing. These are the reason. So if I ask people what is the meaning of Thanksgiving today? And we talk about Turkey Day or this idea, you know, we get together and the thing that really drives me crazy going back to watching this Happy Days and this idea of the first Thanksgiving and education. We're always taught this. When I was a kid, I had to bring a brown paper bag to school, which we would cut and make a little vest for Indians and Pilgrims. So half the people made these hats and half made these vests. And this idea that Thanksgiving was all about the Native Americans who saved the first colonists that came here by providing them food. And now we are thankful for them for saving us. This had nothing to do about the first Native Americans feeding the colonists that got here. This was not the purpose for Thanksgiving. In fact, that feast happened different time, different. I don't know. I feel like we've been distracted and turned away from the idea that government was created by God and it has a duty to God. And the government initially believed that and turned our hearts to God. And yet we've taken a. Take an opportunity to maybe turn away from that and try to use it to celebrate something else or make it something that it wasn't. So that's. That's my soapbox. [01:06:00] Speaker A: I love Thanksgiving. [01:06:02] Speaker B: I love Thanksgiving too. Don't get me wrong. Thanksgiving is fantastic. [01:06:08] Speaker A: It's my favorite holiday. [01:06:09] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:06:10] Speaker A: I like it more than Christmas because of what Christmas has become. [01:06:15] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:06:16] Speaker A: Thanksgiving's still a day that you just get together with family and you eat and you watch football and you tell everybody the things that you're thankful for. You're not buying presents for everybody and who knows who. You're not stressing out about if the gifts you got them are good enough or flashy enough or whatever. [01:06:35] Speaker B: Yeah, but now you also have Black Friday encroaching in on that space. [01:06:38] Speaker A: I don't even care. See, But I don't do. I don't do Black Friday. [01:06:42] Speaker B: I don't either. [01:06:43] Speaker A: Or Cyber Monday. I don't do any of those things. I enjoy Thanksgiving as like, mellow and as low key as possible. [01:06:51] Speaker B: Well, as we are coming into this time, I guess. I guess all I have to say is remember the reason for this holiday was to be thankful and to appreciate God and what he has done for us. [01:07:07] Speaker A: Amen to that, brother. [01:07:09] Speaker B: And last note on governments, when it talks about God instituting governments, if we have a problem with government, if we have a problem with what they are doing, which I Do I think a lot of people do? [01:07:26] Speaker A: A lot. [01:07:28] Speaker B: But at the same time, how many people are willing to stand up and use the government to effect change? Because Joseph Smith sure had plenty of reason to be upset with government. The extermination order, the lack of care from the United States. And yet all throughout his life he says, I am the biggest proponent of the Constitution. And he would use whatever channels he could, he would approach the governor, he would go to the United States. And today, how many people are sitting there stockpiling weapons and ammo, waiting for the day that they can go and throw the tea in the harbor once more and overthrow a tyrannical government and just waiting for it all to hit the fans so that they can stand up and do something? How many of them are willing to stand up now and run for office or stand up now and make a change to help keep the government from reaching that point? Or how many of them are actually egging it on and trying to push it over the edge so that they have an excuse to riot? As bad as the government is, what I take out of this section is God instituted governments. And if we are fighting against those, in a sense, we are fighting against God. [01:08:48] Speaker A: Unless they become tyrannical man. [01:08:50] Speaker B: But he has given us tools. Even in the Constitution, he has given us tools to effect change. [01:09:00] Speaker A: Okay, so were the Founding Fathers out of line in rebelling against Great Britain? [01:09:09] Speaker B: No, I don't believe so. [01:09:10] Speaker A: Because they had a tyrannical government. [01:09:12] Speaker B: Because they went through all the channels first and the government wouldn't listen to them. [01:09:17] Speaker A: Okay, there you go. So there is still, there is still a potential solution if you try to go through the channels. And the channels are now no longer being respected for how they were, they were designed. [01:09:31] Speaker B: I guess one thing that's frustrating to me is, is, is to see the candidates and the caliber of candidates that we have year after year. [01:09:38] Speaker A: Yeah, they're the worst. [01:09:41] Speaker B: And yet I know there's a lot. [01:09:42] Speaker A: Of good people that don't want to have their lives destroyed. [01:09:46] Speaker B: When are we going to rise up? [01:09:48] Speaker A: We need to do this again, Jason. [01:09:51] Speaker B: God save the King. [01:09:52] Speaker A: No, we're out of time to do this again. What are we talking about next week? [01:09:56] Speaker B: Next week we're Talking Doctrine Covenants 1, 135, 136. It's Joseph Smith's death. [01:10:03] Speaker A: Okay, thanks for listening everybody. Until next week. [01:10:07] Speaker B: See ya. Sa.