| Book of Mormon |
Annotations |
|
Chapter 26
|
|
|
1 And after Christ shall have risen from the dead he shall
show himself unto you, my children, and my beloved brethren; and the words
which he shall speak unto you shall be the law which ye shall do.
|
|
|
2 For behold, I say unto you that I have beheld that many
generations shall pass away, and there shall be great wars and contentions
among my people.
|
|
|
3 And after the Messiah shall come there shall be signs
given unto my people of his birth, and also of his death and resurrection;
and great and terrible shall that day be unto the wicked, for they shall
perish; and they perish because they cast out the prophets, and the saints,
and stone them, and slay them; wherefore the cry of the blood of the saints
shall ascend up to God from the ground against them.
|
|
|
4 Wherefore, all those who are proud, and that do
wickedly, the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of Hosts,
for they shall be as stubble.
|
|
|
5 And they that kill the prophets, and the saints, the
depths of the earth shall swallow them up, saith the Lord of Hosts; and
mountains shall cover them, and whirlwinds shall carry them away, and
buildings shall fall upon them and crush them to pieces and grind them to
powder.
|
|
|
6 And they shall be visited with thunderings, and
lightnings, and earthquakes, and all manner of destructions, for the fire of
the anger of the Lord shall be kindled against them, and they shall be as
stubble, and the day that cometh shall consume them, saith the Lord of Hosts.
|
|
|
7 O the pain, and the anguish of my soul for the loss of
the slain of my people! For I, Nephi, have seen it, and it well nigh
consumeth me before the presence of the Lord; but I must cry unto my God: Thy
ways are just.
|
|
|
8 But behold, the righteous that hearken unto the words of
the prophets, and destroy them not, but look forward unto Christ with
steadfastness for the signs which are given, notwithstanding all
persecution—behold, they are they which shall not perish.
|
|
|
9 But the Son of Righteousness shall appear unto them; and
he shall heal them, and they shall have peace with him, until three
generations shall have passed away, and many of the fourth generation shall
have passed away in righteousness.
|
|
|
10 And when these things have passed away a speedy
destruction cometh unto my people; for, notwithstanding the pains of my soul,
I have seen it; wherefore, I know that it shall come to pass; and they sell
themselves for naught; for, for the reward of their pride and their
foolishness they shall reap destruction; for because they yield unto the
devil and choose works of darkness rather than light, therefore they must go
down to hell.
|
|
|
11 For the Spirit of the Lord will not always strive with
man. And when the Spirit ceaseth to strive with man then cometh speedy
destruction, and this grieveth my soul.
|
|
|
12 And as I spake concerning the convincing of the Jews,
that Jesus is the very Christ, it must needs be that the Gentiles be
convinced also that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God;
|
2 Ne 10:3 explicitly tells us that Christ is Jesus’ name,
yet here it is clearly being used as a title. The problem is that Christ is
from the Greek “Christos” meaning the anointed one. Nephi would have been
using the Hebrew “Messiah,” a title meaning “the anointed one.”
Also, this seems very Trinitarian, explaining “that Jesus is the Christ, the
Eternal God.”
Some defend some seemingly Trinitarian Book of Mormon references as not
contradicting current Mormon godhead doctrine (see The Doctrine of God the Father in the Book of Mormon),
but in context of doctrine taught in the “Lectures on Faith” how sound is
this defense?
From the “Lectures on Faith” that used to be in the Doctrine and Covenants
until the 1921 edition:
“The Father being a personage of spirit, glory, and power,
possessing all perfection and fulness. The Son, who was in the bosom of the
Father, is a personage of tabernacle . . . He is called the Son because of the
flesh . . . He, possessing the same mind with the Father, which mind is the
Holy Spirit that bears record of the Father and the Son.”
“Questions and Answers for Lecture 5
3. Q—How many personages are there in the Godhead?
A—Two: the Father and Son (Lecture 5: 1).
13. Q—Do the Father and the Son possess the same mind?
A—They do . . .
14. Q—What is this mind?
A—The Holy Spirit”
(Lecture 5).
|
|
13 And that he manifesteth himself unto all those who
believe in him, by the power of the Holy Ghost; yea, unto every nation,
kindred, tongue, and people, working mighty miracles, signs, and wonders,
among the children of men according to their faith.
|
|
|
14 But behold, I prophesy unto you concerning the last
days; concerning the days when the Lord God shall bring these things forth
unto the children of men.
|
|
|
15 After my seed and the seed of my brethren shall have
dwindled in unbelief, and shall have been smitten by the Gentiles; yea, after
the Lord God shall have camped against them round about, and shall have laid
siege against them with a mount, and raised forts against them; and after
they shall have been brought down low in the dust, even that they are not,
yet the words of the righteous shall be written, and the prayers of the
faithful shall be heard, and all those who have dwindled in unbelief shall
not be forgotten.
|
|
|
16 For those who shall be destroyed shall speak unto them
out of the ground, and their speech shall be low out of the dust, and their
voice shall be as one that hath a familiar spirit; for the Lord God will
give unto him power, that he may whisper concerning them, even as it were out
of the ground; and their speech shall whisper out of the dust.
|
Reading this in context, I think it’s clear that “familiar
spirit” has nothing to do with the occult. To the contrary, it sounds as if
it is a description of how something that is correct or good might seem
familiar. However, many Christians are put off by the term “familiar spirit”
in this verse since they understand the term this way:
“A familiar spirit is a demon that is summoned by a medium with the intention
that the spirit summoned will obey his or her commands” (“What is a familiar spirit?”).
And they understand the Bible to teach that one should not go after familiar
spirits.
“The soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after
wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even set my face against that
soul, and will cut him off from among his people” (Leviticus 20:6).
I think the meaning of “familiar spirit” in this verse is not the same as
used in the definition and in the Leviticus verse both listed above, but I
can see how many devout Christians concerned with literal demons and other
magic would have problems with a verse like this especially given Joseph
Smith’s history of dabbling in the occult.
|
|
17 For thus saith the Lord God: They shall write the
things which shall be done among them, and they shall be written and sealed
up in a book, and those who have dwindled in unbelief shall not have them,
for they seek to destroy the things of God.
|
|
|
18 Wherefore, as those who have been destroyed have been
destroyed speedily; and the multitude of their terrible ones shall be as
chaff that passeth away—yea, thus saith the Lord God: It shall be at an
instant, suddenly—
|
|
|
19 And it shall come to pass, that those who have dwindled
in unbelief shall be smitten by the hand of the Gentiles.
|
|
|
20 And the Gentiles are lifted up in the pride of their
eyes, and have stumbled, because of the greatness of their stumbling block,
that they have built up many churches; nevertheless, they put down the power
and miracles of God, and preach up unto themselves their own wisdom and
their own learning, that they may get gain and grind upon the face of the
poor.
|
It would seem to be important for the LDS Church to
provide full financial disclosure if only for accountability to this verse.
LDS apostles and prophets receive money from the Church. Some reports are
that it is quite a bit of money, but we don’t know the details since they
will not disclose this information.
Since I wrote the few sentences above, MormonLeaks provided documentation
that as of January 2014, the base living allowance given to LDS general authorities
was $120,000 annually
(DeseretNews Article
and
MormonLeaks documents).
|
|
21 And there are many churches built up which cause
envyings, and strifes, and malice.
|
|
|
22 And there are also secret combinations, even as in
times of old, according to the combinations of the devil, for he is the
founder of all these things; yea, the founder of murder, and works of
darkness; yea, and he leadeth them by the neck with a flaxen cord, until he
bindeth them with his strong cords forever.
|
|
|
23 For behold, my beloved brethren, I say unto you that
the Lord God worketh not in darkness.
|
|
|
24 He doeth not anything save it be for the benefit of the
world; for he loveth the world, even that he layeth down his own life that he
may draw all men unto him. Wherefore, he commandeth none that they shall
not partake of his salvation.
|
2 Ne 26:24, 27-28
Some think the Church prohibited some from partaking of his
salvation because it was “revealed” to the prophet that children of a parent in a same-sex marriage
should be forbidden from receiving any LDS priesthood ordinance including
baptism, according to President Russell M. Nelson (Deseret News and CBS News).
According to the LDS Church, “Baptism symbolizes our birth into the kingdom
of God. It is a pivotal event in our eternal progress. Just as we cannot have
mortal life without physical birth, so we cannot enter the kingdom of God
except by being born of the water and of the Spirit” (The Covenant of Baptism).
But then, the LDS Church announced in April 2019 that
someone had repented of this revelation, so now these children can be
baptized (Church News).
|
|
25 Behold, doth he cry unto any, saying: Depart from me?
Behold, I say unto you, Nay; but he saith: Come unto me all ye ends of the
earth, buy milk and honey, without money and without price.
|
|
|
26 Behold, hath he commanded any that they should depart
out of the synagogues, or out of the houses of worship? Behold, I say unto
you, Nay.
|
|
|
27 Hath he commanded any that they should not partake
of his salvation? Behold I say unto you, Nay; but he hath given it free
for all men; and he hath commanded his people that they should persuade all
men to repentance.
|
Annotation for 2 Ne 26:24, 27-28 above
|
|
28 Behold, hath the Lord commanded any that they should
not partake of his goodness? Behold I say unto you, Nay; but all men are
privileged the one like unto the other, and none are forbidden.
|
Annotation for 2 Ne 26:24, 27-28 above
|
|
29 He commandeth that there shall be no priestcrafts;
for, behold, priestcrafts are that men preach and set themselves up for a
light unto the world, that they may get gain and praise of the world; but
they seek not the welfare of Zion.
|
It would seem to be important for the LDS Church to
provide full financial disclosure if only for accountability to this verse.
LDS apostles and prophets receive money from the Church. Some reports are
that it is quite a bit of money, but we don’t know the details since they
will not disclose this information.
Since I wrote the few sentences above, MormonLeaks provided documentation
that as of January 2014, the base living allowance given to LDS general authorities
was $120,000 annually
(DeseretNews Article
and
MormonLeaks documents).
“Set themselves up for a light unto the world.” Reminds me of the constant
admonition to obey the prophets in things like the 14 fundamentals of
following the prophet and “when the prophet speaks . . . The debate is over”
(Obedience to the Prophets,
and
“The Debate Is Over”
ellipses as found in the original).
|
|
30 Behold, the Lord hath forbidden this thing; wherefore,
the Lord God hath given a commandment that all men should have charity, which
charity is love. And except they should have charity they were nothing.
Wherefore, if they should have charity they would not suffer the laborer in
Zion to perish.
|
|
|
31 But the laborer in Zion shall labor for Zion; for if
they labor for money they shall perish.
|
It would seem to be important for the LDS Church to
provide full financial disclosure if only for accountability to this verse.
LDS apostles and prophets receive money from the Church. Some reports are
that it is quite a bit of money, but we don’t know the details since they
will not disclose this information.
Since I wrote the few sentences above, MormonLeaks provided documentation
that as of January 2014, the base living allowance given to LDS general authorities
was $120,000 annually
(DeseretNews Article
and
MormonLeaks documents).
|
|
32 And again, the Lord God hath commanded that men should
not murder; that they should not lie; that they should not steal; that they
should not take the name of the Lord their God in vain; that they should not
envy; that they should not have malice; that they should not contend one with
another; that they should not commit whoredoms; and that they should do none
of these things; for whoso doeth them shall perish.
|
|
|
33 For none of these iniquities come of the Lord; for he
doeth that which is good among the children of men; and he doeth nothing save
it be plain unto the children of men; and he inviteth them all to come unto
him and partake of his goodness; and he denieth none that come unto him,
black and white, bond and free, male and female; and he remembereth the
heathen; and all are alike unto God, both Jew and Gentile.
|
Joseph seemed to practice this more or less like stated
here. However, not too long after Joseph’s assassination, Brigham Young
banned Black people from the priesthood and from the temple. The priesthood and
temple ordinances are critical items for LDS progression. The temple
ordinances are salvific, so weren’t Black people prevented from coming unto God
until 1978 according to LDS teachings?
(to see how the Church currently portrays the justifications of Brigham Young
and other apostles and prophets for this ban, see Race and the Priesthood)
|