laronius

You might be underestimating how utterly bad the people are that God destroys. And even then He does it for their own good. Wrath and firey indignation are helpful at times in trying to scare people straight, but it's always love that motivated God. Having said that, there is such a thing as righteous fear that can be healthy but it's more a fear of letting God down than Him destroying us.

It definitely alludes to something happening. I was just curious about your specific interpretation of it.

Do you have any scriptural or reliable prophetic evidence for the US being invaded? It's a common belief among a certain segment of the LDS population but I don't know that I've ever seen any credible support for it.

I did miss the Numbers 31 reference but thank you for providing the additional references. There are two things to keep in mind when reading about how the Lord deals with people, particularly in the Old Testament. First, He deals and communicates with us on our level. For a people or person with hard hearts and stuff necks He will of necessity use harsher methods in order to try to break that hardness and stiffness. I am reminded of trips to the chiropractor where actual violence is used to free up my neck and spine. The result is actually a blessing though some pain must be endured in the process. Likewise, God will use as much pain and suffering as needed to get us where we need to be. Secondly, God is viewing everything that happens from a truly eternal perspective, something impossible for us at this point. He knows who we were in the premortal world, what needs to happen in this life and for how long to accomplish His purposes. When the Lord commanded the Israelites to sack an entire city there are so many factors coming into play that only an omniscient God could fathom and bring about. The people of that city were undoubtedly wicked and would have only continued in sin, making their own situation worse. The children would have been raised in wickedness, knowing no better. From our perspective we only see wrath and vengeance, but God sees the end from the beginning and all possible outcomes and which path will yield the most favorable results. That's something that even for people of faith is difficult to accept at times. It requires us understanding God's true character, specifically that He loves us, and a knowledge that we can completely trust Him.

One of the footnotes from Ezekiel says this: HEB wood. Wooden writing tablets were in common use in Babylon in Ezekiel’s day. Num. 17:2 (1–10). TG Scriptures to Come Forth. To me this makes more sense. But regardless of what the medium is it's the fact that it's a record of prophetic nature that ultimately matters.

My dad would call my mom "Woman" on a regular basis because of how Jesus used the term. She took it in the way it was intended. Intent matters. Especially in the light that God's final creation was woman. To Him I'm sure it's one of the highest compliments. What we see in the world today are Satan's attempts to degrade our true identity and confuse our ability to see us how God sees us.

The next verse says: 13 Now the Spirit knoweth all things; nevertheless the Son of God suffereth according to the flesh that he might take upon him the sins of his people... I interpret this as saying that until He experienced it himself He had to rely on the Spirit to know how to comfort them.

If the brother of Jared wrote the record himself he may have simply referred to himself as me and I and referenced his brother Jared. It's possible his name simply never got recorded.

Can you provide some examples of the cruelty you are referencing? It might help in providing a more direct answer to your question.

I'll insert some doctrine here. 1 Cor. 6:19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s. As Elder Maxwell said, the only thing that is uniquely ours is our will. Everything else is God's and we are only stewards. That puts these types of questions squarely in God's court to answer. And I don't think it's a one size fits all answer either. Fortunately we know personal revelation is a thing. For those who don't know these things I don't blame them for simply wanting to escape the pain. But that doesn't mean I'm going to help them either because I do know better. If we are still here then that means God still wants us here.

This wouldn't be someone seeing them self. Using your example, Nephi saw the future Messiah. Could that future Messiah have interacted with Nephi?

We know that God can see past, present, and future. Do you think He can also interact with the past and future? Or more specifically, could the already resurrected Lord have shown himself to the Brother of Jared?

I think the point that is trying to be made is that there may in fact be some truth in those theories but there has never been an official explanation. That's why terminology matters. Kind of like saying we disavow polygamy but don't say polygamy is a false doctrine because at certain times the Lord has in fact authorized it. But as a rule we generally don't make that distinction and just let people believe that we have rejected those theories because otherwise they will say "You are still a bunch of racists." The reality though is that we don't know if those theories are right or wrong, God has never said. Some though automatically believe they can't be the right because that would be racist and God isn't racist. But whatever God wants to do is right regardless of how we view it. According to modern beliefs not allowing women to hold the priesthood is in fact sexist. But if God in His infinite wisdom ordains is that way then it is right regardless of what society labels it. And if God had His reasons for not allowing certain races to hold the priesthood then that's His purview and it is right.

You might want to read chapter 6 of Jesus the Christ by Talmage. It's called Meridian of Time and gives his views on the matter.

Saying something is not official church doctrine is not the same thing as saying it is not true. Many people receive personal revelation about truths that have been established as official church doctrine. Now that doesn't mean those particular theories are true. It just means that there has been no official explanation. We know that Jesus put restrictions on to whom the gospel should be preached to during His mortal ministry. To me this is an even bigger restriction than withholding the priesthood. The Jews mistakenly believed it was because Christ had only come to save those of Israel. They were wrong of course and through revelation that restriction was eventually rescinded. But I don't think we ever really got a good explanation for it in the first place. In time all will be revealed.

Can't get more symbolic than that.

We don't know the process by which a self-existing intelligence becomes a son or daughter of God. Clearly, though, there is enough involvement in our Heavenly Parent's parts to form that familial relationship. But the immortal state of Adam and Eve is not equal to the resurrected and glorified state of those who receive exaltation. It might be a closer comparison to those in the Telestial Kingdom. Still not the same but closer.

I was reminded today about the earthquake that hit the Salt Lake area four and a half years ago right as covid was gearing up and roughly 200 years since the first vision. The angel Moroni on the temple dropped his trumpet in the quake. There was speculation at the time that maybe there was some symbolism in the event. I'm curious now that a few years have gone by if hindsight lends credibility to potential symbolism.

In the Bible "knowing" can have a sexual connotation. Makes me wonder if the tree of knowledge played a roll in their ability to reproduce. Also, Adam is referred to as being like a child when first created. It was probably the same for Eve. Physical attraction may simply have not been present at this point.

Exactly. I would liken it to the Word of Wisdom. While the WoW came by revelation and has some specific prohibitions, it's mostly a general rule intended to be customized according to people's individual needs. Wheat is to be the staff of life for man but for a diabetic or gluten intolerant individuals it could be very problematic. Vaccines are also a blessing and in general can be very beneficial to the population. But that doesn't mean we ought to forfeit all decision making in the matter.

That may not have been visually spectacular but I would call what you felt spectacular and more importantly the kind of experience you needed. My dad once related an experience (not NDE) that also allowed him a glimpse of the other side by way of what he felt which was a combination of love and incredible homesickness that brought him to tears and lasted a few days. Sight is only one of our senses and not always the most important.

Why do your friends feel unsafe? Conservatives are opposed to promoting their lifestyle but that does not equate to violence. They would probably feel much safer if they just stopped listening to the liberal talking heads. Fearmongering is how they maintain their influence.

Supposed mandates just provide a cloak of legitimacy to do what they were going to do anyway. Years ago it may have mattered when national interest was actually a factor. Now it's "Let's see what we can force through before the next election."

I'm happy that it was a decisive victory. Razor thin margins cause problems.

Am I the only one here who dislikes the get out the vote efforts that happen every election? The problems we face as a country are not because some don't vote. It's because some (actually many) who do vote but have no idea what they are really voting for. Uninformed voters will be the death of this country. The messaging should be "Get informed before you vote." Of course it's becoming increasingly difficult to find truthful, unbiased information so that doesn't help.