1 Nephi |
Revelation |
Revelation cont. |
1 Nephi 13:Verse 5 And the angel said unto me: Behold the formation of a church which is most abominable above all other churches, which slayeth the saints of God, yea, and tortureth them and bindeth them down, and yoketh them with a yoke of iron, and bringeth them down into captivity. 1 Nephi 13:Verse 6 And it came to pass that I beheld this great and abominable church; and I saw the devil that he was the founder of it. |
Revelation 17:Verse 3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. Revelation 17:Verse 6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration. Revelation 17:Verse 7 And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns. Revelation 17:Verse 8 The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.
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Revelation 17:Verse 9 And here [is] the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. Revelation 17:Verse 10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, [and] the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. Revelation 17:Verse 11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition. Revelation 17:Verse 12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. Revelation 17:Verse 13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. |
The subtlety of Satan gives him such a powerful advantage over mankind, that the Father placed in the offspring of Adam and Eve, an inborn "enmity" toward evil. This innate revulsion against wickedness, coupled with the "light of Christ," puts man on a level playing field in choosing good from evil. Life then, becomes a true "probationary state" where we prepare daily, by the choice of our words, works and thoughts, to meet God. Satan will try to "deceive the very elect" (J.S. Matt. 20, 22), teaching for doctrine the philosophies and commandments of men mingled with the scriptures, so that he can "carefully lead them down to hell" (2 Ne. 28:21). Using the same "enmity" and the power of pride, Satan will seek to physically and spiritually destroy the "saints of God."
The influences of Satan are so strong that the church and gospel flee into the wilderness for a space of time (Rev. 12:14) as Satan gains power and control over the hearts of men, during this great apostasy. This apostasy reflects the parable of the wheat and tares as we learn from the Doctrine and Covenants:
1 Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you my servants, concerning the parable of the wheat and of the tares:
2 Behold, verily I say, the field was the world, and the apostles were the sowers of the seed;
3 And after they have fallen asleep the great persecutor of the church, the apostate, the whore, even Babylon, that maketh all nations to drink of her cup, in whose hearts the enemy, even Satan, sitteth to reign--behold
he soweth the tares; wherefore, the tares choke the wheat and drive the church into the wilderness.
"Babylon, the whore" is the "persecutor of the church" and "slayeth the Saints of God." Joseph Smith views the work of Satan and Babylon in Section Seventy
Six of the Doctrine and Covenants, and in part has the same vision as John and Nephi about the power and purpose of Satan and the eventual judgement and destruction of him, and those who become his sons.
25 And this we saw also, and bear record, that an angel of God who was in authority in the presence of God, who rebelled against the Only Begotten Son whom the Father loved and who was in the bosom of the Father, was thrust down from the presence of God and the Son,
26 And was called Perdition, for the heavens wept over him--he was Lucifer, a son of the morning.
27 And we beheld, and lo, he is fallen! is fallen, even a son of the morning!
28 And while we were yet in the Spirit, the Lord commanded us that we should write the vision; for we beheld Satan, that old serpent, even the devil, who rebelled against God, and sought to take the kingdom of our God and his Christ--
29 Wherefore, he maketh war with the saints of God, and encompasseth them round about.
30 And we saw a vision of the sufferings of those with whom he made war and overcame, for thus came the voice of the Lord unto us: .
The "beast that was, and is not, and yet is" in Revelation 17:8 above, is the same "beast that was, and is not" and "goeth into perdition" in verse 11. This beast receives his power to make war with the saints of God, from the kings and nations of the world. It is the pride of men ("whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world," Rev. 17:8) that gives power to Satan, or the beast that "was, and is not, and yet is." Satan was cast out of heaven and has become "perdition," it is he, who comes from the "bottomless pit. The "Son of the Morning" "was" in the "first-estate," and Lucifer "is not," or did not receive his "second-estate," yet Satan "is" and he exists only, here (see Abr. 4:26-28) on the earth. The phrase used to describe Jesus Christ in the Book of Revelation and other scripture, is the definition of an "eternal truth", indicating that "THE" eternal truth is the "infinite and eternal sacrifice." The atonement provided by the "lamb slain from the foundation of the world" the great "I am that I am" is eternal, and compared to Satan, who "was, and is not, and yet is," Christ "was, is, and shall be."
4 John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace [be] unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne;
4 Now this is the testimony of John to the seven servants who are over the seven churches in Asia. Grace unto you, and peace from him who is, and who was, and who is to come; who hath sent forth his angel from before his throne, to testify unto those who are the seven servants over the seven churches.
8 For he saith, I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, the Lord, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.
8 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.
8 ¶ And the four beasts had each of them six wings about [him]; and [they were] full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.
18 I [am] he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.
18 For behold he judgeth, and his judgment is just; and the infant perisheth not that dieth in his infancy; but men drink damnation to their own souls except they humble themselves and become as little children, and believe that salvation was, and is, and is to come, in and through the atoning blood of Christ, the Lord Omnipotent.
5 For behold, the time cometh, and is not far distant, that with power, the Lord Omnipotent who reigneth, who was, and is from all eternity to all eternity, shall come down from heaven among the children of men, and shall dwell in a tabernacle of clay, and shall go forth amongst men, working mighty miracles, such as healing the sick, raising the dead, causing the lame to walk, the blind to receive their sight, and the deaf to hear, and curing all manner of diseases.
58 Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.
6 Wherefore, be of good cheer, and do not fear, for I the Lord am with you, and will stand by you; and ye shall bear record of me, even Jesus Christ, that I am the Son of the living God, that I was, that I am, and that I am to come.
4 I am the first and the last; I am he who liveth, I am he who was slain; I am your advocate with the Father.
12 And this Anti-Christ, whose name was Korihor, (and the law could have no hold upon him) began to preach unto the people that there should be no Christ. And after this manner did he preach, saying:
13 O ye that are bound down under a foolish and a vain hope, why do ye yoke yourselves with such foolish things? Why do ye look for a Christ? For no man can know of anything which is to come.
14 Behold, these things which ye call prophecies, which ye say are handed down by holy prophets, behold, they are foolish traditions of your fathers.
15 How do ye know of their surety? Behold, ye cannot know of things which ye do not see; therefore ye cannot know that there shall be a Christ.
16 Ye look forward and say that ye see a remission of your sins. But behold, it is the effect of a frenzied mind; and this derangement of your minds comes because of the traditions of your fathers, which lead you away into a belief of things which are not so.
17 And many more such things did he say unto them, telling them that there could be no atonement made for the sins of men, but every man fared in this life according to the management of the creature; therefore every man prospered according to his genius, and that every man conquered according to his strength; and whatsoever a man did was no crime.
53 But behold, the devil hath deceived me; for he appeared unto me in the form of an angel, and said unto me: Go and reclaim this people, for they have all gone astray after an unknown God.
And he said unto me: There is no God; yea, and he taught me that which I should say. And I have taught his words; and I taught them because they were pleasing unto the carnal mind; and I taught them, even until I had
much success, insomuch that I verily believed that they were true; and for this cause I withstood the truth, even until I have brought this great curse upon me.
These are the doctrines of Satan, and are "pleasing unto the carnal mind," and by these concepts, Satan is able to lead away the hearts of the children of men, and "deceive the elect." By these doctrines, "guilt" is swept away, as also the reasons for morality and ethics, in the home and family, and in the world of business and economics.