The thought of relying and studying only a couple of topics, and using that knowledge to get to heaven makes me vomit. I cry for Zion and hope for the redemption a better society. Perhaps the thoughts below will help us turn our ear to the type of society meant for us.
Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
I thought you might find this interesting, and very pertinent. It is to me. The Gods of the Old testament; The Savior, along with other angels (hebr 13:2) in the New Testament; the men that Joseph spoke of, and that Brigham asked us to entertain; often come as Men, they eat with them (the servants, in other words, us), slept in their houses, conversed, sat under trees, walked with them…etc.
The Savior returned to the Disciples after His death. There he met two, and walked with them. His appearance was so normal, that they didn’t recognize Him or who he was. Later he sat with the 12 and ate with them, they felt His Hands.
The Lord and two Angels talked with Abraham (Gen 18). Ate with him, sat in his tent, went for a stroll, etc…He made a deal with Abraham considering the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. He and His two companions than went to Lot’s place in Gomorrah (Gen 19). There they conversed with : and his family, ate with them, and stayed the night at their house. Other men saw the Lord and His Two Friends, and wanted to “hang out” with them, among other things. Quite obviously they appeared to be quite normal folks, attractive even. When they tried to break in, one of the Angels grabs Lots hand and pulls him into the House. They later take and his daughters by the hand and tell them to get out of town because, well, they don’t want to be there.
There are numerous other examples of Angels visiting men, appearing and acting as normal Men do. In most cases, they aren’t even recognized by those they visit as angels, until they do something Men don’t do, like go up in the fire of a sacrifice into heaven. I put some instances of that at the bottom. They are men who can shake hands (resurrected men see D&C129), including the Lord and His friends that visit Abraham and Lot.
These are the Gods that Joseph wanted us to know, to understand, and to entertain, literally, in our homes. Remember, the keys of this type of Administration are in the preparatory priesthood. Theses visits prepare us for the Calling and Visitation of Christ within the keys of the Higher Priesthood. The ordinances aid in this, so that we may “see the Face of God and live” (D&C 84:20-22).
We are asked to do this very thing in the temple, along with much deeper examples of course, and the instructions on meeting these men, and beginning conversation, are written in section 129. Oh there is much to learn here.
Joseph and Brigham in the next two quotes give us some thoughts pertaining to this…
If any man does not know God, and inquires what kind of a being He is—if he will search diligently his own heart—if the declaration of Jesus and the apostles be true, he will realize that he has not eternal life; for there can be eternal life on no other principle. My first object is to find out the character of the only wise and true God, and what kind of a being He is; and if I am so fortunate as to be the man to comprehend God, and explain or convey the principles to your hearts, so that the Spirit seals them upon you, then let every man and woman henceforth sit in silence, put their hands on their mouths, and never lift their hands or voices, or say anything against the man of God or the servants of God again….
These ideas are incomprehensible to some, but they are simple. It is the first principle of the gospel to know for a certainty the character of God, and to know that we may converse with Him as one man converses with another, and that He was once a man like us; yea, that God himself, the Father of us all, dwelt on an earth, the same as Jesus Christ Himself did; and I will show it from the Bible.
(Brother Joseph, King Follett Discourse)
…Him who has created you (the Supreme of the universe) − who has organized and planned and executed and brought into existence − all his teachings to his people? Simply this − Son, daughter, live before me, so that I can come and visit you: order your lives with that propriety, that I will not be disgraced to come and abide with you for a season; or, when I send my angels or my minister the Holy Ghost to reveal my mind and will to you, or to bless you with abiding comfort, that they may not be disgraced in your society. I say, all revelations of God teach simply this − Son, Daughter, you are the workmanship of mine hands: walk and live before me in righteousness; let your conversation be chaste, let your daily deportment be according to my law; let your dealings one with another be in justice and equity; let my character be sacred in your mouth, and do not profane my holy name and trample upon mine authority; do not despise any of my sayings, for I will not be disgraced. I wish to send one of my servants to visit you. What for? That you may see and know as others have − that you may see as you are seen − that you may understand those principles pertaining more particularly to the kingdom you are in. I have, in my wisdom, reduced you; I have caused that you should drink of the dregs of the bitter cup. I have placed you in the depths of ignorance, and have surrounded you with weakness, to prove you. I have subjected you to all misery that can be endured. I have caused you to come upon this earth, where misery, and darkness, and every species of unbelief and wickedness reign, to prove you, that you may understand and know the good from the evil, and be capable of judging between these with a righteous judgment. I have caused all this to be done; and now, son and daughter, the inhabitants of the whole earth that have lived from the days of Adam until now, the first and the last, − the grand aim of all that I, the Lord, have revealed is to instruct you to live so that By so doing, you shall I can come and visit you, or send my angels, that they can enter into your habitations, walk and converse with you, and they not be disgraced. Be made partakers of all knowledge and wisdom, power and glory that the sanctified or glorified beings enjoy. And this is, first of all, what the Lord wishes of the people.
(JD 6:285, Brigham Young, August 15, 1852)
…there will be strangers in your midst, walking with you, talking with you: they will enter into your houses and eat and drink with you, go to meeting with you, and begin to open your minds, as the Saviour did the two disciples who walked out in the country in days of old. About the time the Temples are ready, the strangers will be along and will converse with you, and will inquire of you, probably, if you understand the resurrection of the dead. You might say you have heard and read a great deal about it, but you do not properly understand it; and they will then open your minds and tell you the principles of the resurrection of the dead and how to save your friends: they will point out Scriptures in the Old and New Testament, in the Book of Mormon, and other revelations of God, saying, “don’t you recollect reading so and so, that saviors should come up on Mount Zion?” &c.; and they will expound the Scriptures to you….They will expound the Scriptures to you, and open your minds, and teach you of the resurrection of the just and the unjust, of the doctrine of salvation: they will use the keys of the holy Priesthood, and unlock the door of knowledge, to let you look into the palace of truth. You will exclaim, That is all plain: why did I not understand it before? and you will begin to feel your hearts burn within you as they walk and talk with you.
(JD 6:295, Brigham Young, August 15, 1852)
The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob longs to Come to your home, to send angels to teach you concerning Resurrection, and all the keys and appendages and types therein. They long to show us the Mysteries, for they are only mysteries to those who cannot see them. They long to speak and to converse. But, most importantly, to prepare us. They will prepare us to withstand the burning. They will prepare us in knowing the future in relation to the past. They will come, as they did to Abraham and lot, and teach us where to go, and lead us by the hand in that direction. They will more excellently prepare the way, by giving us the knowledge we need to get there. As one did for Elijah, they can prepare food for us that will in enable our bodies to withstand incredible trials, and sustain us for long periods. They will awake us in the morning, and give us direction. They will literally be our friends, our guardian Angels to watch over us.
People persecuted Joseph because he thought our God to be as close as a man. But he repeatedly testified that until we are willing to accept Him in this fashion, as well as the Glorious nature of His fullness, we would never understand Him, and could not entertain Him nor His servants in our homes, or in eternity. In my estimation, there is much here for us to learn from, and to change our lives around. Our homes must literally be temples, with places for worship and contemplation. Our minds clear of worldly substance and pride. Lets discuss this. To me it means a lot about who I am, Who my God is, and what I need to become. God speed….Dan
I had an interesting experience with this a couple of days back. I was coming back from a small pizza conference in California and had stopped at an abandoned building a couple of miles west of the SLC airport on i-80. IT’s an old abandoned building and an old railroad car which have been peppered with graffiti. I have always had an affinity for graffiti and the art form that it is, so I stopped to snap a few pictures. I drove up (it’s on a frontage road easily visible from I-80), parked on the side of the road, jumped the fence and walked around the area for a couple of minutes. I was the only car within a couple of miles and certainly the only one at this abandoned warehouse. After 10 minutes or so, I make my way back to my car and am slightly surprised to see another small sedan parked at the gate, across the road from mine. Inside the car is a guy who I can see and who is watching me as I approach the gate. By the time I get to the gate, he’s standing on the other side waiting for me.
When I see him, I certainly think it’s a bit odd. Not totally abnormal, but a bit strange. He was an older man, probably around 70 years old. White hair cut very short, almost like a military crew cut. He was wearing a dark blue sweater, coupled with a pair of jeans. Nicely dressed. Looked respectable, like your grandpa or an older gentleman from church. Looked like hundreds of “grandpas”. Nothing remarkable, but certainly clean cut and clean shaven.
When i first saw him I thought of this verse in Hebrews 13, thinking that this man might have a message to share with me. So I climb the fence and start chatting with this man. Small talk – talking about the building, the view of the great salt lake, etc. After a couple of minutes of small talk I tell him I have to leave to meet my wife. My wife was waiting to pick me up and I was a couple of minutes late. We exchange goodbyes and I walk across the street to my car.
As I get in my car I look across the street and this guy is staring at me, making some gestures like someone would make if your zipper was down – almost like he was trying to hint at something, like my zipper was down or something. By this time I’m in my car and glance back at him. He’s still standing outside his car staring at me. I then start my car (leaving the car in park) and roll down the window to ask him if he needs anything, as he was still staring at me, still thinking about this Hebrews verse in the back of my mind.
He slowly walks across the road to where he’s a couple of feet from my window. I ask again if he was going to say something. His response was “no, but I was thinking something.” At this, I’m thinking this could be one of those Hebrews moments…maybe he’s going to share something important, some wisdom or something. I ask, naively, what he was thinking and he blurts out that he’s looking for some gay sexual advance of somesort. I’ll save you the crudeness of his language, but suffice it to say that I was totally disgusted.
My response, word-for-word, was: “Are you kidding me? Get a life…” in a disgusted tone, and a bit louder than I thought, and I drive away as fast as I can. By this time my blood is at a near boil, wanting to turn around and hit him in the face as hard as I can a few times, but I keep going and meet my wife at the airport, wanting to throw up every couple of minutes.
Now, you may be wondering what the moral of this story is… me too.
Though, I take a couple of things from this. (1) I’m a bit leery of Hebrews 13:2 at the moment and (2) you simply cannot trust appearances.
This man was as respectable looking as he could be, clean cut, clean shaven, an average everyday person. Had he said something which I found “profound,” his looks likely would have reinforced his thoughts. Had he looked like a bum, driving a car which looked like it was going to fall apart, I may not have been as ready to listen to him, though i hope it would have been the same. Therefore, I will likely not return to this abandoned warehouse and will hopefully be less reliant on appearance to listen to someone. Maybe I will rather seek out those who look downtrodden.
Who knows. It’s funny now, somewhat, though I’m still disgusted by it. Thought I’d share.
thanks for the story.
A) you did learn something. You cant trust appearance. In fact, it is the big deceiver. None of the Angels who’ve discussed with me or those I know would be welcomed in society.
B) you acted and followed the idea that anyone is worth your time, what he did with that is our of your control. So, let it be, its on his head not yours.
c) if you can find some humility and peace in the situation, stay open but rely on discernment, you will talk with angels, and likely already have. MAny times in the bible men did not know they had spoken to angels, or that they know them. An angel is on an errand from the Lord, no matter his calling.