OUR FUTURE IS OUR PAST BY A. SCOTT RODERICK Independently Published Copyright ã 2019 by A. Scott Roderick All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. ISBN: 9781790466221 First Edition Table of Contents INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................... 5 I. A BASIC PREMISE ............................................................................. 7 1. ONE ETERNAL ROUND. ............................................................................... 8 2. THE PREMISE APPLIED. ............................................................................. 8 II. CLARIFYING TERMINOLOGY ..................................................... 11 III. PART 1: THE FIRST SHALL BE LAST ....................................... 13 1. PRESENTING THE FRAMEWORK. .............................................................. 13 A. ISRAEL’S OPPORTUNITY AND REJECTION. ......................................................... 14 B. THE CLOSE OF ONE DISPENSATION MARKED THE BEGINNING OF ANOTHER. ..... 20 C. SUMMARY OF THE FIRST HALF. ......................................................................... 22 2. THE DOCTRINE; HOW IT’S LOST. ............................................................. 24 A. THE GREATER PRIESTHOOD: THE DOCTRINE OF CHRIST. ................................. 27 B. CHRIST REAFFIRMS HIS DOCTRINE TO THE NEPHITES. ...................................... 29 3. KEY PLAYERS. ............................................................................................ 35 A. JOHN THE BAPTIST. .......................................................................................... 35 B. JESUS CHRIST. .................................................................................................. 44 C. SUMMARY. ........................................................................................................ 53 IV. PART 2: THE LAST SHALL BE FIRST ........................................ 55 1. EVENTS FROM THE FIRST HALF REPEATED IN THE SECOND. ................ 55 2. MODERN-DAY COUNTERPART TO JOHN THE BAPTIST. ............................ 61 A. THE LATTER-DAY ELIAS. .................................................................................. 61 V. THE PROPHECY OF MOSES AND THE FULFILLMENT OF JOHN’S MISSION. ................................................................................. 95 VI. THE PROPHETIC NARRATIVE. ................................................ 107 1. THE ROOT OF JESSE—ISAIAH 11:10; D&C 113:5-6. ............................ 109 2. DAVID THE KING—EZEKIEL 37:24-25. .................................................. 118 A. THE STICK OF JOSEPH. ................................................................................... 121 B. KING BENJAMIN AS A TYPE FOR KING DAVID. ................................................. 128 3. ONE MIGHTY AMONG THE SEED OF JOSEPH—2 NEPHI 3:24. .............. 138 4. ONE MIGHTY AND STRONG—D&C 85:7. ............................................... 143 A. SET IN ORDER THE HOUSE OF GOD. ............................................................... 144 B. HIS BOWELS SHALL BE A FOUNTAIN OF TRUTH. .............................................. 158 C. ETERNAL WORDS. ........................................................................................... 161 D. CLOTHED WITH LIGHT FOR A COVERING. ........................................................ 161 E. SCEPTER OF POWER. ...................................................................................... 164 5. THE SERVANT—3 NEPHI 21:9-11. ......................................................... 168 A. THE GENTILES’ REACTION TO FURTHER LIGHT AND KNOWLEDGE .............. 170 B. THE EFFECTS OF THE GREAT AND ABOMINABLE CHURCH ON MODERN CHRISTIANITY ............................................................................................... 178 C. THE GENTILES’ STUMBLING BLOCKS. .......................................................... 179 D. THE LORD’S PLAN TO RESTORE DOCTRINAL PURITY ................................... 181 E. HOW THE SERVANT BRINGS TO LIGHT THE WORDS OF CHRIST .................... 185 F. NEPHI’S EXPLANATION OF THE MOSES PROPHECY ........................................ 188 6. SUMMARY OF THE PROPHETIC NARRATIVE IN THE CONTEXT OF JOHN THE BELOVED’S MISSION. ........................................................................... 193 VII. THE GREATEST OBSTACLE TO THE GENTILES. .............. 195 VIII. PROPHETIC WARNINGS FROM THE BOOK OF MORMON. ................................................................................................................ 199 IX. CONSEQUENCES OF THE GENTILE REJECTION ................ 205 CONCLUSION ...................................................................................... 217 5 INTRODUCTION In the distant future, we will look back on mortality and learn that God set truth before us in advance if we asked and searched diligently. Had we been inquisitive like Nephi,1 we might learn it is possible to know most of what we face before it occurs. Time, asking, searching and prayer has led me to conclude that God is everything we consider Him to be: just, merciful, kind, patient and especially loving. He enlightens and guides those who confess their ignorance and seek His guidance.2 Over thirty years ago, my attention turned to prophecy and how it might become understandable to my wife and children. My studies showed that reoccurring words and phrases were keys to unlocking the words of the prophetic fathers; they are common threads woven through different books of scripture and prophetic narratives. I have written much by way of prophecy, but believe there remains an immediate need to understand the context of our day. God is moving his work forward and has given tools to recognize the signs in our times. This book is a starting point to understanding what God is telling us about our day through his 1 “I, Nephi, was desirous also that I might see, and hear, and know of these things, by the power of the Holy Ghost, which is the gift of God unto all those who diligently seek him, as well in times of old as in the time that he should manifest himself unto the children of men.” (1 Nephi 10:17) 2 “Let him that is ignorant learn wisdom by humbling himself and calling upon the Lord his God, that his eyes may be opened that he may see, and his ears opened that he may hear; For my Spirit is sent forth into the world to enlighten the humble and contrite, and to the condemnation of the ungodly.” (D&C 136:32-33) 6 Our Future is Our Past prophets. For simplicity, the analysis hinges on two prophecies, but the themes are embedded throughout scripture. Before exploring the prophecies, it is important to establish a premise from the scriptures about how the Lord orchestrates and explains His plan. 7 I. A BASIC PREMISE 1. NOTHING NEW UNDER THE SUN. From the book of Ecclesiastes, several verses suggest history repeats itself: The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? It hath been already of old time, which was before us. (Ecclesiastes 1:9-10, emphasis added) The Lord shows us his pattern in things that have been, because they become examples of things which shall be. Though mankind views itself as innovative, original and creative, the Lord challenges that assumption by stating that which was done by mankind is also that which shall be done; we are predictable beings. Given a prescribed set of conditions, man reacts in redundant patterns. Consequently, man will never surprise God because He knows mankinds response given any set of circumstances. The outcomes are not preordained, only foreknown. There is literally, “nothing new under the sun” when God’s knowledge of man is considered. 8 Our Future is Our Past 1. ONE ETERNAL ROUND. In contemplating if the Lord’s plan calls for man to act in repetitious patterns, it may be important to think about an oft repeated phrase, “his paths are straight and narrow and his course is one eternal round.”3 From a practical application, how might the Lord’s path be straight and still remain “one eternal round?” It suggests there really is nothing new under the sun and God has been observing the same pattern in different cycles for eons of time. From these passages the conclusion may be affirmed that history repeats itself. Therefore, if we want to know what occurs in the future, it would be wise to consider past events as a template of the future. 2. THE PREMISE APPLIED. With this understanding, Christ’s explanation regarding the writings of Isaiah is clear. And now, behold, I say unto you, that ye ought to search these things. Yea, a commandment I give unto you that ye search these things diligently; for great are the words of Isaiah. For surely he spake as touching all things concerning my people which are of the house of Israel; therefore it must needs be that he must speak also to the Gentiles. And all things 3 1 Nephi 10:19; Alma 7:20; Alma 37:12; D&C 3:2; D&C 35:1. A Basic Premise 9 that he spake have been and shall be, even according to the words which he spake” (3 Nephi 23:1-3, emphasis added). After commanding survivors in Bountiful to search the words of Isaiah, the resurrected Lord explains that Isaiah spoke of all things relating to Israel. The Savior adds a curious twist by stating because Isaiah writes about all things relating to Israel, he must therefore speak to the Gentiles.