Tag Archives: Destruction

Summary of Jarom + Jarom 1

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Summary of Jarom + Jarom 1

                The Book of Jarom… is the fifth book in the Book of Mormon….

Jarom opens up explaining that his father, Enos, commanded him to continue writing that a record of their genealogy might be kept. Jarom explains that there are many among him that have hardened their hearts and have made their necks stiff. However, he explains that those who are not stiffnecked; “…have communion with the Holy Spirit, which maketh manifest unto the children of men, according to their faith.” (Jarom 1:4) In other words, those who have Faith and do not harden their hearts or make their necks stiff can receive the Holy Ghost.

Jarom explains that 200 years have passed since Nephi, and the people of Nephi have been diligent in keeping the commandments of God. Because of their obedience, God has blessed them to be a mighty nation, with all manner of riches and weapons of war. The Lamanites on the other hand were larger in number, but stood no chance at overtaking the Nephites. The Nephites were blessed to have;
“…gold…silver… fine workmanship of wood, in buildings, and in machinery… iron… copper… brass… steel… [and] weapons of war…” (Jarom 1:8)

However, there were some among the Nephites that were not following all the commandments, and because of this God urged the Prophets to heed warnings to the people to avoid sin. God promised that if they fell into transgression that the Nephites would be wiped off the face of the land. These teachings were a success, because the people of Nephi were continually repenting of their sins. Jarom hands off the plates to his son Omni.

Looking at this from the point of view of the United States in 2015, we see a similar situation, where sin is rampant and the warnings of God are everywhere. If the people do not repent and change their ways, God will bring destruction to the United States and to many parts of the world.

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2 Nephi 1

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2 Nephi 1: Prophecies of a Land of Liberty

                Lehi instructs his children that he had received a vision and in this vision he saw the destruction of Jerusalem and prophesied unto them that if they had stayed in Jerusalem, they too would have perished because of the destruction.

Lehi goes on to explain that he saw a “Land of Liberty” in his dream; this Land of Liberty is present day United States of America. Lehi explains that many will flock to this land and that; “…none come into this land save they shall be brought by the hand of the Lord.” (2 Nephi 1:6) This means that many great men and women throughout history have been led to the United States by the hand of God. The forefathers of the United States established the first Free Nation of the World, and we led by God to establish a nation with religious liberties.

One might question how throughout ALL time and History; why was the North American Continent NEVER discovered… until much later in the history of mankind? Lehi explains; “…it is wisdom that this land should be kept as yet from the knowledge of other nations; for behold, many nations would overrun the land, that there would be no place for an inheritance.” (2 Nephi 1:8) The Lord had a purpose for the future “America” the world knows today, to be a safe haven and inheritance for His believers. Lehi exclaims that those who follow God will prosper in the Land of Liberty, but those who chose the path of wickedness shall be judged accordingly.

Lehi prophesied of a day when “…they shall dwindle in unbelief, after they have received so great blessings from the hand of the Lord—having a knowledge of the creation of the earth, and all men, knowing the great and marvelous works of the Lord from the creation of the world; having power given them to do all things by faith; having all the commandments from the beginning, and having been brought by his infinite goodness into this precious land of promise…” (2 Nephi 1:10) Because of their wickedness they shall be led captive by other nations and shall be led down a path to hell.

Because of this great judgment that will fall upon those who fall captivity to the devil, Lehi exhorts [urges] all to “…observe the statutes and the judgments of the Lord; behold, this hath been the anxiety of my soul from the beginning.” (2 Nephi 1:16) He reminds us that: “…Inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments [God’s Commandments] ye shall prosper in the land; but inasmuch as ye will not keep my commandments ye shall be cut off from my presence.” (2 Nephi 1:20) Lehi invites his family and the reader to “…be determined in one mind and in one heart, united in all things, that ye may not come down into captivity;” (2 Nephi 1:21)

Lehi explains to his family that his time is limited upon the earth, but urges his sons and the sons of Ishmael to take heed to the words of Nephi and follow his counsel as they have followed his own counsel.

1 Nephi 12

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1 Nephi 12: The Loathsome and Filthy

                Nephi sees another vision;

“…I looked and beheld the land of promise; and I beheld multitudes of people, yea, even as it were in number as many as the sand of the sea… I beheld multitudes gathered together to battle, one against the other; and I beheld wars, and rumors of wars, and great slaughters with the sword among my people.” (1 Nephi 12:2)

Nephi saw many generations pass away because of these wars, he also saw a mist of darkness upon the face of the land of promise. Nephi explains; “…I saw lightnings, and I heard thunderings, and earthquakes, and all manner of tumultuous noises; and I saw the earth and the rocks, that they rent; and I saw mountains tumbling into pieces; and I saw the plains of the earth, that they were broken up; and I saw many cities that they were sunk; and I saw many that they were burned with fire; and I saw many that did tumble to the earth, because of the quaking thereof.” (1 Nephi 12:4) After seeing this great destruction, Nephi beheld a vapor of darkness go before the world which was like unto a mist that was a representation of the; “…temptations of the devil, which blindeth the eyes, and hardeneth the hearts of the children of men, and leadeth them away into broad roads, that they perish and are lost.” (1 Nephi 12:17)

The Angel explains that the Large and Spacious building which Lehi and Nephi had now both seen in visions was the; “…vain imaginations and the pride of the children of men. And a great and a terrible gulf divideth them…” (1 Nephi 12:18) However, the Love of God is strong, because he sent his Only Begotten Son to Atone for the sins of the world, Nephi saw; “…the heavens open, and the Lamb of God descending out of heaven; and he came down and showed himself unto them… I also saw and bear record that the Holy Ghost fell upon twelve others; and they were ordained of God, and chosen.” (1 Nephi 12:6-7) The Angel then explains to Nephi that Jesus Christ ordained Twelve Apostles to minister when he was gone and that those Twelve Apostles; “…shall judge the twelve tribes of Israel… And these twelve ministers whom thou beholdest shall judge thy seed [the seed of Nephi]…” (1 Nephi 12:9-10)

The Angel then shows Nephi how many of his seeds generation would pass away, and how eventually they would be overcome by the seed of his brothers and because of great wars and temptations the seed of Nephi would “…dwindle in unbelief.” (1 Nephi 12:22) Because of this unbelief they would become; “…a dark, and loathsome, and a filthy people, full of idleness and all manner of abominations.” (1 Nephi 12:23)

Revelation 9

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Revelation 9: Wars and Plagues

                The Fifth Angel sounded; “…I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth; and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit… and there arose a smoke out of the pit… and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. And there came out of the smoke locust upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power… it was commanded of them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing… but only those men which have not the seal of God on their foreheads…” (Revelation 9:1-4) Here we have the Fifth Angel sounding the trumpet and a large hole opening from the earth, this hole would darken the sun and the air (so thick black air) and out of the smoke will come Locusts that have the ability to sting like scorpions, basically flying scorpions come out of the smoke. These locusts are commanded to only hurt men (and women) who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. Essentially they are commanded to only go after the wicked people of the earth.

In the next verse we read; “…to them [the locusts] it was given that they should not kill them [the wicked people], but that they should be tormented five months…And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.” (Revelation 9:5-6) So when this Fifth Angel sounds the trumpets, all the wicked people of the earth will be stun by locusts [essentially flying scorpions] and be tormented to the point of wanting to die, but be unable to die! John describes the locusts as “…horses prepared unto battle… faces of men… hair of women… teeth of lions… breastplates of iron… sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle… tails like unto scorpions…” (Revelation 9:7-10) John also explains that they are led into “battle” by Abaddon, which in Greek is Apollyon. Apollyon means destruction and is often times used to describe Satan.

Will there really be locusts that can sting like scorpions? The simple answer is no. We must understand that John was describing things that he saw from a perspective of his time. How would someone from thousands of years past describe an airplane, tank, machine gun? In the words and descriptions of that time, so perhaps the “locusts” he saw were actually modern infantry coming out of thick dark smoke that was caused from bombs. We don’t know, and we won’t know. But we can kind of understand what John might have been seeing.

The Sixth Angel sounded; “…and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God. Saying to the sixth angel… Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. And the four angels were release… [and]… were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year… to slay the third part of men… by these three was the third part of men killed.” (Revelation 9:13-15; 18) John explains that these last third of the worlds wicked were to be destroyed, because they never once felt bad for their sins and never desired to repent.

Ezekiel 5-6

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Ezekiel 5-6

Chapter 5: Judgment of Jerusalem

Ezekiel is commanded to shave his head and beard. Once he has the hair, he is commanded to evenly divide the hair into thirds.

  • He must burn a third
  • Smite a third with his knife
  • Scatter a third to the wind

He is commanded to do this to indicate the judgment that will be executed on the inhabitants of Jerusalem. The chapter goes on further to explain more judgments; including famine and wild beasts. The result of this judgment leads fathers to “…eat the sons… and the sons shall eat their fathers…” (Ezekiel 5:10) The pangs of hunger cause these wicked people to resort to cannibalism.

Chapter 6: Israel shall be destroyed

Ezekiel sets his face towards the mountains and prophesies against Israel: He is told to tell its people that the high places will be made desolate, those who are close to the city will die by the sword and those far off shall die from famine. After all this desolation, the people will know that God exists.

Jeremiah 49-50

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Jeremiah 49-50

Chapter 49: Judgment and Destruction

Jeremiah prophesies destruction for the Ammonites. Edom (whose fall is compared to Sodom and Gomorrah) will fall. The heart of the mighty men of Edom shall be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.

Chapter 50: Babylon shall be destroyed

The Lord is angry with Babylon for their sin; “My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray…” (Jeremiah 50:6) The Lord is upset with the choices his children are making and more upset with the “Pastors” or teachers that are supposed to be showing them the way. Instead “…they have forgotten their resting place.” (Jeremiah 50:6) Because of this Babylon will fall at the hands of a nation from the north; the “…most proud shall stumble and fall…” (Jeremiah 50:32) This will cause Israel to scatter, but be once again restored.

Jeremiah 47-48

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Jeremiah 47-48

Chapter 47: The destruction of the Phillistines

Jeremiah foretells of destruction from the north (Babylon, which is predicted for the Philistines. The Babylonians are compared to an overflowing flood.

Chapter 48: The destruction of Moab

Judgment and destruction will come upon Moab, until it is destroyed. Moab is punished for its complacency and pride.

Genesis 19-21

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Genesis 19-21

Chapter 19: Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah

Lot entertains holy men, but before they are able to lay down at night, men from Sodom encircle the house and demand to see the holy men. Lot tells them that they cannot come in, but if they were to leave, he could offer then his daughters (Genesis 19:8). Those men that were demanding to see the holy men are stricken with blindness, giving Lot, his wife and his daughter’s time to leave. Because angels had told them the city of Sodom would be destroyed by the hand of God. They were commanded to leave and go to the city of Zoar, they were also commanded to not “…look not behind…” (Genesis 19:17).

Lot and his family narrowly escape Sodom when “…the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven… but his wife (Lot’s wife) looked back from behind him, and she became as a pillar of salt.” (Genesis 19:24-26)

Abraham woke up in the morning and saw Sodom and Gomorrah as “…the smoke of a furnace.” (Genesis 19:28). God remembered Abraham by removing Lot before destroying Sodom and Gomorrah.

When Lot arrives in Zoar, he and his daughters take shelter in a cave at the top of a mountain. Lot’s daughters come up with a plan to save Lot’s “seed” by getting him drunk and then “lying” with him to “preserve” his seed. The first night, Lot’s oldest daughter lies with him and then the next day she tells her younger sister to do the same thing. (Genesis 19:30-34).

In my scriptures I have Genesis 19:30-32 marked as “What?” which is an entire list of “What?” scripture stories/verses in the Bible that make you stop and think, maybe even wonder why these things are in the Bible. As we read more of the Old Testament, I will make sure to point out the odd things that you can find in the Bible. Honestly if the Bible were to be made into a movie, it would easily have an R rating. This along with other oddities that you can find in the Bible, gives me reason to believe that the Bible is not the complete written work of God. The Bible has passed through so many hands, it is hard to know what part of the Bible is really and what was added by men. Now, this particular story probably did happen, and we can see that it was probably for good reasoning, so as to preserve mankind.

Anyways, they both get pregnant and bare Lot a son, the oldest had a son and names her son; Moab, who later becomes the father of the Moabites. The younger daughter has a son as well and names her son; Benmmi, who is the father of the children of Ammon.

Chapter 20: Abimelech and Sarah

Abraham and Sarah travel to Gerar, between Kadesh and Shur. After arriving in Gerar, the king of Gerar sent for and took Sarah, because Abraham had told them that she was his sister.

But God comes to Abimelech (the king of Gerar) in a dream and tells him that he will be comitting sin if he touches Sarah, because she is another man’s wife. Abimelech tells God “Said he not unto me, She is my sister?”  (Genesis 20:5), God tells him the truth and promises him that he will not be cursed because of what he had done, because he acted in ignorance. But he commands him to restore Sarah to Abraham because he is a prophet.

In the morning, Abimelech calls for Abraham and asks him;

Abimelech: “…What has thou done unto us?… that thou hast brought on me and my kingdom a great sin?…” (Genesis 20:9)

Abraham: “…Because I thought, Surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will slay me for my wifes sake. And yet indeed she is my sister; she is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife” (Genesis 20:11-12)

Abimelech then took sheep, oxen, men and women servants and gave them to Abraham, also restoring Sarah to him and allowing him to stay anywhere that it pleased Abraham throughout the kings land.

Abraham then prayed unto God, and God healed Abimelech and caused that his wife and his servants to bare children.

Chapter 21: Abraham and Abimelech

Sarah is visited by the Lord and caused that Sarah in her ripe old age to have a child. She bares Abraham a son and calls him Isaac. Isaac is circumcised by Abraham at the age of 8 days old. Abraham was 100 years old when Isaac was born. We learn that promises of Abraham will be preserved through Isaac and not through Abraham’s other son Ishmael, who was conceived through Hagar. Hagar and her son Ishmael are cast out of Abraham’s household. Abraham gives Hagar a bottle of water and sends her and Ishmael on a journey through the wilderness of Beer-sheba. But during this journey, Hagar runs out of water and places Ishmael on the ground nearby, and starts weeping, because she does not want to watch her son die. God hears the voice/cry of Ishmael and calls out to Hagar; “…What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is. Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand; for I will make him a great nation. And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went and filled the bottle with water and gave the lad drink.” (Genesis 21:17-19)

Ishmael grows up in the wilderness and becomes an archer. Hagar and Ishmael dwell in the wilderness of Paran and Ishmael marries a woman from Egypt.

Abraham and Abimelech deal justly with each other and make a covenant to each other to continue to deal justly.

Genesis 16-18

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Genesis 16-18

Chapter 16: Hagar and Ishmael

Sarai goes to Abram and tells him to go to her maid, Hagar and have children with her, because Sarai is unable to, and wants children. Abram does as his wife asks, this all happening 10 years from the time that they established themselves in the land of Canaan. Sarai after seeing that Hagar was pregnant with her husband’s child, gets worried that God will judge her. Sarai speaks with Abram and asks what she should do, Abram responds that she should do as she “pleaseth” with Hagar, so Sarai deals “Hardly” with Hagar and Hagar flees.

Hagar, having fled is visited by an angel of the Lord, who tells her:

  • That she needs to return to Sarai and submit to her.
  • That she will bear a son, and his name will be Ishmael.

This all happened by the fountain in Shur, which is later named “Beer-Lahai-Roi” – between Kadesh and Bered. Hagar has the child and Abram names his new son, Ishmael, as the Lord had told Hagar he would.

Chapter 17: Abrahamic Covenant

When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared unto him and Abram and God conversed (they talked and walked with each other). God tells Abram that he will no longer be called by Abram, but now by a new name: Abraham.

God tells Abraham that he will make him “exceedingly fruitful” and establishes his covenant with him. Men, starting at the age of 8 days old will be required to be circumcised, removing the flesh of the foreskin. Abraham is also instructed of the Lord to no longer call his wife Sarai, but by her new name: Sarah. God promises Abraham that through his wife Sarah, they will have a son and his name will be Isaac.

God promises Abraham’s son Ishmael that he will also be blessed, having 12 princes born unto him, making him and his posterity a great nation.

At the age of 99, Abraham and his son, Ishmael (age 13) are circumcised.

Chapter 18: Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah

The Lord appears unto Abraham in the plains of Mamre, three holy men also appear unto Abraham and ask for water and bread. Abraham also fetches a young, tender calf for them to eat.

These three holy men tell Abraham that his wife Sarah will conceive a son, Sarah over-hears this and laughs in her heart, Sarah being old an unable to have children thought that this was impossible.

The Lord tells Abraham about Sarah laughing in her heart after over-hearing that she would conceive a son unto Abraham. The Lord asks Abraham; “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” – but the Lord assures Abraham that Sarah will indeed bare Abraham a son, even in her ripe old age. Abraham confronts Sarah and asks her why she had laughed in her heart, and out of fear, Sarah denies that she had laughed in her heart..

We learn that Abraham will command his children to do justice and judgment in the world.  The Lord also appears unto Abraham and discusses the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham does not want Sodom and Gomorrah to be destroyed and asks God; “…If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city…”  (Genesis 18:26) then will you not destroy the city? God tells him that he will not, if he can find fifty righteous men within the city. But Abraham does not stop there, he continues to ask the Lord (essentially hypothetical questions) if smaller and smaller amounts of righteous men can be found, if the Lord would still spare the city. He starts with 50, then goes to 45, 40, 30, 20 and then finally 10, each time the Lord responds that he will not destroy the city, but cautioning him to not make him angry by his constant demands.