Today we look at a single verse in Isaiah with a single change. As we all know Isaiah can be tough be anyone not raised in Israel. This verse can cause some consternation if you do not know what Isaiah really wrote. Somehow we end up with the following:
King James Version of Isaiah 62:5
For as a young man marrieth a virgin,
so shall your sons marry thee;
and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride,
so shall thy God rejoice over thee.
I now introduce to you the best tool for understanding Isaiah that I have come across: Isaiahexplained.com. This website was created by Avraham Gileadi. He is the greatest Isaiah expert in the world who is Mormon (and possibly the best period). He has several great books, and you can find all of them on amazon.com. Here is his translation of Isaiah 62:5:
For as a young man weds a virgin,
so shall your sons marry you;
as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride,
so shall your God rejoice over you.
Gileadi does a great job of making Isaiah more readable for modern readers. His website also has some great commentary. But this verse is still quite troubling. Is is meant to be taken non-literally, and even if it is, what the heck does it mean?
The problem I have with this verse is the second line. It seems very odd, whether one is male or female. Why would a literal or symbolic son marry a parent? This is the kind of verse that sends people down the road to discounting all the truly great things the Bible has to say.
Fortunately for us, the Holy Spirit inspired Joseph Smith to change this to the following:
For as a young man marrieth a virgin,
so shall your God marry thee;
and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride,
so shall thy God rejoice over thee.
Lines 1 and 3 are meant to parallel each other, just as lines 2 and 4 are similar. Now we get something understandable. GOD would like a relationship with you that is just as profound as the one you have with your spouse. In fact, GOD loves you more than your spouse does. Imagine that.
A confusing verse becomes majestic with the stroke of Joseph Smith's inspired pen.
Monday, January 21, 2019
Tuesday, December 25, 2018
The SON Does Only What the FATHER Did!
King James John 5:19
Then answered Jesus and said unto them,
Verily, verily, I say unto you,
The Son can do nothing of himself,
but what he seeth the Father do:
for what things soever he doeth,
these also doeth the Son likewise.
There is no correction to this verse or any of the surrounding verses in the Joseph Smith Translation. Why is this important?
Here we have JESUS stating that the FATHER did everything JESUS did. I take that to mean, that just as CHRIST worked out an infinite Atonement to save the people of this Earth, CHRIST's Father, the MAN OF HOLINESS (Moses 6), worked out an atonement previous to CHRIST's, but for a different world.
I find this awe-inspiring! Here is the answer for anyone who wants to demean THE MOST HIGH GOD by insinuating He left the hard stuff for His Son. The FATHER had already been a Savior to a planet previous to CHRIST's work here. The FATHER is no coward, and he did not pass the buck to JESUS. Anyone wanting to be a God, has to serve as a Savior. Think about that for awhile.
I believe that the FATHER's atonement took place on the very first planet that He and his Queen created. I further believe that while the FATHER was mortal on that first Earth working out the atonement for the first humans, His Divine Queen was acting as the GOD in Heaven. In essence she was a single Heavenly Mother for a short period of time, while GOD MOST HIGH was serving Their children by suffering the horrific weight of the children's sins. When the FATHER finished the first atonement He returned to His Wife's side to co-rule the first Earth. These Two now rule all creation, but they appointed JESUS to be the God of this Earth.
Without the FATHER working out the first atonement, no person on any planet could be saved. There would be no JESUS to save us, because there would have been no FATHER to save JESUS.
Merry CHRISTmas and may 2019 be the year we all get much closer to GOD!
Then answered Jesus and said unto them,
Verily, verily, I say unto you,
The Son can do nothing of himself,
but what he seeth the Father do:
for what things soever he doeth,
these also doeth the Son likewise.
There is no correction to this verse or any of the surrounding verses in the Joseph Smith Translation. Why is this important?
Here we have JESUS stating that the FATHER did everything JESUS did. I take that to mean, that just as CHRIST worked out an infinite Atonement to save the people of this Earth, CHRIST's Father, the MAN OF HOLINESS (Moses 6), worked out an atonement previous to CHRIST's, but for a different world.
I find this awe-inspiring! Here is the answer for anyone who wants to demean THE MOST HIGH GOD by insinuating He left the hard stuff for His Son. The FATHER had already been a Savior to a planet previous to CHRIST's work here. The FATHER is no coward, and he did not pass the buck to JESUS. Anyone wanting to be a God, has to serve as a Savior. Think about that for awhile.
I believe that the FATHER's atonement took place on the very first planet that He and his Queen created. I further believe that while the FATHER was mortal on that first Earth working out the atonement for the first humans, His Divine Queen was acting as the GOD in Heaven. In essence she was a single Heavenly Mother for a short period of time, while GOD MOST HIGH was serving Their children by suffering the horrific weight of the children's sins. When the FATHER finished the first atonement He returned to His Wife's side to co-rule the first Earth. These Two now rule all creation, but they appointed JESUS to be the God of this Earth.
Without the FATHER working out the first atonement, no person on any planet could be saved. There would be no JESUS to save us, because there would have been no FATHER to save JESUS.
Merry CHRISTmas and may 2019 be the year we all get much closer to GOD!
Monday, December 24, 2018
Is our righteousness keeping us from CHRIST?
Stuck in a drive-thru in Central California I had the following thought: what if our goodness is blocking our way to JESUS? Now by goodness I mean our delusional belief that we are good. CHRIST stated emphatically that there is only one good Being and that is GOD the FATHER (Matthew 17:19). Now that JESUS has worked out His infinite atonement, He is without question good by any definition of that word. (He was good before that, but He was either being stupendously humble in his answer to the rich young ruler, or He was being ironic and seeing if people understood the fact that He was also a GOD).
We all know that everyone sins, but some people fall into the "I sin less than most people, which really means I am righteous." Being less sinful does not makes us good by CHRIST's standard. Ten sins, one hundred, or a thousand, any sin is an automatic ticket to Hell. So because sin is unavoidable, maybe we should focus on something that we can control: our self-deception. Does only breaking five or ten or twenty percent of the commandments prevent us from seeking JESUS because we are not breaking most of them (Ether 12:41)?
We work so hard at avoiding sin, that when we are sometimes successful, we start believing in a form of self-atonement. By supposedly perfecting ourselves, we are in jeopardy of ending up in Hell. The pharisees of the SAVIOR's time felt they were righteous and wondered why CHRIST was spending all his time with sinners. JESUS kept answering their hypocritical questions with parables that were meant to say,
"All of you are sinners, but I am here to save you, if you will let me."
Did the haughty Jewish leaders at the time think CHRIST's statement about only the sick needing a doctor meant that He agreed with them (Mark 2:17)?
It is tempting to look at scripture and think "what a bunch of knuckleheads", but we can be just as ignorant. Today we take counsel about health and turn it into a commandment to distinguish the righteous from the sinners. Then we take this man-made commandment and add things to it to make it an even more ridiculous standard of worthiness. We do this with any rule, policy or standard. For example...
If Sister Lewis does not drink caffeinated drinks, then she must be more worthy than her second cousin who does.
If I avoid R-rated movies, then I am clearly better than people who do not.
If a woman has only one piercing, than she is more glorious than those with multiple piercings.
If a twelve year old wears a white shirt and tie and a jacket, he is worthier to pass the sacrament than the poor kid without the "Mr. Mac Aaronic priesthood package". (There is no package, because I know the owner's youngest son. He is great person and so is his father.)
If Brother Wilkinson pays ten percent of his gross income, instead of his net, he will certainly jump to the head of the line leading to Celestial glory.
If I went on a mission, I am better than any adult male in the ward who has not.
Sister Fertig is clearly righteous than other women because she has 7 kids.
There are dozens of other examples, but the point is this: all of these random acts of righteousness are keeping us from realizing what the spiritually retarded Pharisees should have realized:
We are all sick, and so we all need the Great Physician.
We are all sinners and we all desperately need the SAVIOR.
Do not let all of your good works and righteousness get in the way of having a relationship with GOD.
We all know that everyone sins, but some people fall into the "I sin less than most people, which really means I am righteous." Being less sinful does not makes us good by CHRIST's standard. Ten sins, one hundred, or a thousand, any sin is an automatic ticket to Hell. So because sin is unavoidable, maybe we should focus on something that we can control: our self-deception. Does only breaking five or ten or twenty percent of the commandments prevent us from seeking JESUS because we are not breaking most of them (Ether 12:41)?
We work so hard at avoiding sin, that when we are sometimes successful, we start believing in a form of self-atonement. By supposedly perfecting ourselves, we are in jeopardy of ending up in Hell. The pharisees of the SAVIOR's time felt they were righteous and wondered why CHRIST was spending all his time with sinners. JESUS kept answering their hypocritical questions with parables that were meant to say,
"All of you are sinners, but I am here to save you, if you will let me."
Did the haughty Jewish leaders at the time think CHRIST's statement about only the sick needing a doctor meant that He agreed with them (Mark 2:17)?
It is tempting to look at scripture and think "what a bunch of knuckleheads", but we can be just as ignorant. Today we take counsel about health and turn it into a commandment to distinguish the righteous from the sinners. Then we take this man-made commandment and add things to it to make it an even more ridiculous standard of worthiness. We do this with any rule, policy or standard. For example...
If Sister Lewis does not drink caffeinated drinks, then she must be more worthy than her second cousin who does.
If I avoid R-rated movies, then I am clearly better than people who do not.
If a woman has only one piercing, than she is more glorious than those with multiple piercings.
If a twelve year old wears a white shirt and tie and a jacket, he is worthier to pass the sacrament than the poor kid without the "Mr. Mac Aaronic priesthood package". (There is no package, because I know the owner's youngest son. He is great person and so is his father.)
If Brother Wilkinson pays ten percent of his gross income, instead of his net, he will certainly jump to the head of the line leading to Celestial glory.
If I went on a mission, I am better than any adult male in the ward who has not.
Sister Fertig is clearly righteous than other women because she has 7 kids.
There are dozens of other examples, but the point is this: all of these random acts of righteousness are keeping us from realizing what the spiritually retarded Pharisees should have realized:
We are all sick, and so we all need the Great Physician.
We are all sinners and we all desperately need the SAVIOR.
Do not let all of your good works and righteousness get in the way of having a relationship with GOD.
Sunday, December 23, 2018
Moses is a god? Aaron is a prophet?
It is Joseph Smith's birthday today (1805). A perfect day to examine another of his prophetic corrections to the Holy Bible.
King James Exodus 7:1
And the Lord said unto Moses,
See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh;
and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet.
Wow! I guess we are supposed to take this figuratively. That of course, leads to the quandary of what is literal in the Bible and what is not. That leads to the rabbit hole of, "it is all made up and we can ignore everything", or at least the stuff we don't like.
Thankfully, JESUS allowed and assisted (via the Spirit) Joseph Smith in changing the verse to the following:
Joseph Smith Translation Exodus 7:1
And the Lord said unto Moses,
See, I have made thee a prophet unto Pharaoh;
and Aaron thy brother shall be thy spokesman.
No offense to Aaron, but you cannot be a real prophet if you give people anything they want (the golden calf). Prophets have to say hard things to people with hard hearts. Aaron is still important here, but he is just the guy delivering the message that GOD delivers to Moses.
Moses is not a god in any sense. Moses is a prophet of the MOST HIGH. This is a real prophet, one that is literally called of GOD, by the actual voice of JEHOVAH. Moses did not take over because he was the oldest living apostle after the previous prophet died.
As far as I know that last true prophet called by GOD was Joseph Smith. Brigham admitted that he was not a prophet, but a Yankee guesser. I assume that means someone who makes an educated guess. I prefer getting my information from a true representative of GOD, and better yet, to get it directly from GOD Himself.
That should be the goal of all of us, so we can skip the middle man, and get truth directly from the Source of all truth.
Saturday, December 22, 2018
Man's age limit is 120 Years?
King James Genesis 6:3
3. And the Lord said,
My spirit shall not always strive with man,
for that he also is flesh:
for his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.
I was taught by a sincere institute teacher that this means that since the flood, GOD has set the upper age limit for a human being at 120 years. I then discovered the JST and learned this is not the case. Read for yourself...
JST Genesis 8:5*
5. And the Lord said unto Noah,
My spirit shall not always strive with man,
for he shall know that all flesh shall die,
yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years;
and if men do not repent,
I will send in the floods upon them.
Let's deal with the asterisk first. Because of the material left out of the book of Genesis that precedes GOD describing the creation, the chapters are numbered differently to reflect Joseph's additions.
I like the change that reflects who GOD is talking to, but that is minor compared to the change about why GOD will withhold his Spirit and what the 120 years refers to.
It has nothing to do with people being human, or flesh. This has nothing to do with an age limit and it has everything to do with a time limit being set. GOD is starting a countdown timer of 120 years from this point to the flood. That seems incredibly patient and unbelievably fair to me. I don't think any of the flood victims got to the Spirit World and said, "Hey, I only got 120 years from the time that Noah guy warned me to change my ways!"
Blake Ostler has astutely pointed out in his books, that GOD is merciful because he does not exercise immediate justice when we sin. There is always a time period allowed for the person to repent, or change their mind. GOD is just because there will be an eventual accounting, but GOD is merciful because we get time to repent.
So it is possible to pass the 120 year limit if we are lucky. Perhaps using the advice in D+C 89 to maximize our time here. Of course, that would entail drinking beer and not eating meat all the time. I would prefer being in the Spirit World, to trying to be the world's oldest human of my generation.
Noah knew he had 1 century and change to preach repentance and get an ark built. Nephi got a ship built in a tiny fraction of that time, but he did not have to preach repentance to anyone except Laman and Lemuel and some of Ishmael's hard-hearted family.
So these people are left with 2 options. It appears there was not much success, and possibly no success in getting people to turn back to GOD.
1. If a person repented at this point in time, they were taken up into Zion to be with Enoch and company. That would have obviously been better than option 2 which has two parts.
2a. Death by drowning but that pales in comparison to number 2b.
2b. The time spent in Spirit Prison for the honorable, but misguided, and the horrific time in Hell for the truly evil.
Joseph Smith strikes again.
3. And the Lord said,
My spirit shall not always strive with man,
for that he also is flesh:
for his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.
I was taught by a sincere institute teacher that this means that since the flood, GOD has set the upper age limit for a human being at 120 years. I then discovered the JST and learned this is not the case. Read for yourself...
JST Genesis 8:5*
5. And the Lord said unto Noah,
My spirit shall not always strive with man,
for he shall know that all flesh shall die,
yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years;
and if men do not repent,
I will send in the floods upon them.
Let's deal with the asterisk first. Because of the material left out of the book of Genesis that precedes GOD describing the creation, the chapters are numbered differently to reflect Joseph's additions.
I like the change that reflects who GOD is talking to, but that is minor compared to the change about why GOD will withhold his Spirit and what the 120 years refers to.
It has nothing to do with people being human, or flesh. This has nothing to do with an age limit and it has everything to do with a time limit being set. GOD is starting a countdown timer of 120 years from this point to the flood. That seems incredibly patient and unbelievably fair to me. I don't think any of the flood victims got to the Spirit World and said, "Hey, I only got 120 years from the time that Noah guy warned me to change my ways!"
Blake Ostler has astutely pointed out in his books, that GOD is merciful because he does not exercise immediate justice when we sin. There is always a time period allowed for the person to repent, or change their mind. GOD is just because there will be an eventual accounting, but GOD is merciful because we get time to repent.
So it is possible to pass the 120 year limit if we are lucky. Perhaps using the advice in D+C 89 to maximize our time here. Of course, that would entail drinking beer and not eating meat all the time. I would prefer being in the Spirit World, to trying to be the world's oldest human of my generation.
Noah knew he had 1 century and change to preach repentance and get an ark built. Nephi got a ship built in a tiny fraction of that time, but he did not have to preach repentance to anyone except Laman and Lemuel and some of Ishmael's hard-hearted family.
So these people are left with 2 options. It appears there was not much success, and possibly no success in getting people to turn back to GOD.
1. If a person repented at this point in time, they were taken up into Zion to be with Enoch and company. That would have obviously been better than option 2 which has two parts.
2a. Death by drowning but that pales in comparison to number 2b.
2b. The time spent in Spirit Prison for the honorable, but misguided, and the horrific time in Hell for the truly evil.
Joseph Smith strikes again.
Thursday, December 20, 2018
Thou shalt not revile the gods?
I want to deal today with a short verse from the book of Exodus that creates 2 problems for the price of one.
King James Exodus 22:28
Thou shalt not revile the gods;
nor curse the ruler of thy people.
Problem #1= "the gods"
Joseph Smith taught about a plurality of Gods, so why did he change this verse? Joseph talked of at least 3 Gods in the GODHEAD, and the possibility of others joining them as subordinates, but never equals. No one on this planet is every going to be the equal of JESUS, let alone His Father.
I am wondering how this verse slipped past the monotheistic reformers from King Josiah's day who wanted to eliminate any mention of any Gods other than the MOST HIGH. This led to rejecting JESUS because the Jews of His day could not understand how GOD could have a Son who was also a GOD. Moses obviously knew there were more than one divine being after having been admitted to Their Heavenly Council with an assignment to write the first 5 books of the Bible. Moses also knew that their was ONE SUPREME GOD, because Moses had to be transfigured in order to withstand the glory of the MOST HIGH.
Problem #2 = "the ruler of thy people"
Is this the King, the High Priest, the President, the Governor, etc?
No, it means the GOD THE FATHER, as you shall see.
Joseph Smith Translation Exodus
Thou shalt not revile thy God;
nor curse the ruler of the people.
Problems solved. "thy God = "the ruler of the people"
This is before Israel got the King they were clamoring for. They dreamed of being like every other foolish nation in world history that has one guy or gal with too much power. Why have JEHOVAH tell you what to do? HE is merely smarter than all of us fallen mortals put together, with money left over to buy another planet. Kudos to Israel for a decision dumber than starting a land war in Asia in the fall.
The second line is meant to parallel the first line and say the same thing is a different way. This was written to help boneheaded Israel (and all boneheads after) learn how important GOD truly is. Repetition is the mother of learning. Sadly, the Jews did not learn, which is why they are now Jews instead of Christians.
Joseph makes a divinely inspired correction to show that no matter how many Gods there are, there is only supreme Ruler, and that is the GOD MOST HIGH.
I am personally surprised that the Utah version of Mormonism has not trotted out this verse to support their version of the ruler of the people, aka the "Prophet." Anciently, prophets never ran anything, but Latter-day Saints are not the best people at doing research. Now we get 15 pseudo-prophets running a corporation. I guess some of the "devil's dozen" (15) realized the quandary of the first line referring to "gods." Since they do not really use the JST, they probably do not know about the revision. Maybe they could use this passage in the future to say that they are gods, because they are being worshipped as if they were.
This is just another example that shows that Joseph Smith was either the smartest person who ever lived, or he was getting help from GOD.
I choose the latter option.
King James Exodus 22:28
Thou shalt not revile the gods;
nor curse the ruler of thy people.
Problem #1= "the gods"
Joseph Smith taught about a plurality of Gods, so why did he change this verse? Joseph talked of at least 3 Gods in the GODHEAD, and the possibility of others joining them as subordinates, but never equals. No one on this planet is every going to be the equal of JESUS, let alone His Father.
I am wondering how this verse slipped past the monotheistic reformers from King Josiah's day who wanted to eliminate any mention of any Gods other than the MOST HIGH. This led to rejecting JESUS because the Jews of His day could not understand how GOD could have a Son who was also a GOD. Moses obviously knew there were more than one divine being after having been admitted to Their Heavenly Council with an assignment to write the first 5 books of the Bible. Moses also knew that their was ONE SUPREME GOD, because Moses had to be transfigured in order to withstand the glory of the MOST HIGH.
Problem #2 = "the ruler of thy people"
Is this the King, the High Priest, the President, the Governor, etc?
No, it means the GOD THE FATHER, as you shall see.
Joseph Smith Translation Exodus
Thou shalt not revile thy God;
nor curse the ruler of the people.
Problems solved. "thy God = "the ruler of the people"
This is before Israel got the King they were clamoring for. They dreamed of being like every other foolish nation in world history that has one guy or gal with too much power. Why have JEHOVAH tell you what to do? HE is merely smarter than all of us fallen mortals put together, with money left over to buy another planet. Kudos to Israel for a decision dumber than starting a land war in Asia in the fall.
The second line is meant to parallel the first line and say the same thing is a different way. This was written to help boneheaded Israel (and all boneheads after) learn how important GOD truly is. Repetition is the mother of learning. Sadly, the Jews did not learn, which is why they are now Jews instead of Christians.
Joseph makes a divinely inspired correction to show that no matter how many Gods there are, there is only supreme Ruler, and that is the GOD MOST HIGH.
I am personally surprised that the Utah version of Mormonism has not trotted out this verse to support their version of the ruler of the people, aka the "Prophet." Anciently, prophets never ran anything, but Latter-day Saints are not the best people at doing research. Now we get 15 pseudo-prophets running a corporation. I guess some of the "devil's dozen" (15) realized the quandary of the first line referring to "gods." Since they do not really use the JST, they probably do not know about the revision. Maybe they could use this passage in the future to say that they are gods, because they are being worshipped as if they were.
This is just another example that shows that Joseph Smith was either the smartest person who ever lived, or he was getting help from GOD.
I choose the latter option.
Wednesday, December 19, 2018
Adam Lived 1000 Years!
Most people know that the King James Version of the Bible states that Adam lived 930 years. What most people do not know is Joseph Smith changed that number to 1,000 years. What I did not know and what surprises the heck out of me is that the lds Book of Moses (which is taken from Joseph Smith's Translation) does NOT reflect that change.
Can someone please explain this to me?
Is the lds church too cowardly to put in this small, but significant change?
Is it just that no one in authority can actually read?
Does anyone in Salt Lake care?
Is it the old "well we cannot trust the Reorganized church (Community of Christ)."
I guess this fits with the lds paradigm of not using the JST to begin with, because Joseph never finished his work. I do not care if Joseph only made one percent of the necessary changes in the Bible, I want to know what he did change!
The reason why this is so vital to me is that it makes perfect sense that Adam lived exactly 1,000 years. Adam was told by the MOST HIGH GOD in the Garden of Eden that he would die in the same day that he ate the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. One day to GOD is 1,000 years. GOD does not lie. Adam died at the exact end of that time frame. Time was different in the Garden, because the Earth had not yet fallen.
King James Genesis 2:17
But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,
thou shalt not eat of it:
For in the day that thou eatest thereof
thou shalt surely die.
Joseph Smith made no changes to this verse! There are hundreds of changes to the Book of Genesis, but not this critical verse.
Why exactly 1,000 years? Because Adam and Eve started out in a terrestrial state that mirrors the World of Spirits. They in essence started out in a higher state than we do, so there was no need for them to go back. Our two noble parents learned everything they needed to know and do in order to be redeemed by CHRIST and go on to enter Heaven. Since they had to wait for CHRIST to first be resurrected and given the keys to resurrect everyone else, they most likely waited in Paradise which is the highest level in the World of Spirits. But they were already sufficiently prepared to ascend.
Most of us are going to have learn a wealth of information when we are dead. The corrupt condition of the world today is not as conducive to spiritual growth as it was when Eve and Adam lived.
For example my noble Mother lived to be 92 years old and now has 908 years (if necessary) to learn and grow in the Spirit World.
A child taken at ten has 990 years if needed. If you make it to 111 years ("eleventy-one" in Tolkien speak), then you "only" have 889 years left.
The Most High God and his Queen, the Most High Goddess are perfectly fair. No one gets cheated out of their "Day" of experience. I can also promise you that someone dying young is not going to be complaining when they get to the Spirit World. Unless of course they did something so horrific as to end up in Hell. The lowest level of the Spirit World will be no day at the beach. Most people are likely to end up in the middle level, Prison, which is a terrible name for a place of enormous potential progress. The truly CHRIST-like people, regardless of religion, are going to the top level which is Paradise. If you do not believe me then read Doctrine and Covenants 76 and look for the references to the World of Spirits.
So Joseph Smith already knew most people thought the Bible was silly for many different reasons and one of them was that the original patriarchs lived apparently ridiculous lengths of time. If you are a fraud then you "correct" all of those long lives into something more believable to help sell your new religion. Joseph did not do that, because Joseph was not a fake. He made the first patriarch older, because it is the truth, however more implausible the number is.
I recognize that most of what I am saying is the Gospel according to me. I feel strongly that this is true simply because it points to the fairness and impartiality of our Divine Parents. I might not make it where GOD dwells, but I get the same chance and exact same amount of preparation as everyone else. And so do you.
Can someone please explain this to me?
Is the lds church too cowardly to put in this small, but significant change?
Is it just that no one in authority can actually read?
Does anyone in Salt Lake care?
Is it the old "well we cannot trust the Reorganized church (Community of Christ)."
I guess this fits with the lds paradigm of not using the JST to begin with, because Joseph never finished his work. I do not care if Joseph only made one percent of the necessary changes in the Bible, I want to know what he did change!
The reason why this is so vital to me is that it makes perfect sense that Adam lived exactly 1,000 years. Adam was told by the MOST HIGH GOD in the Garden of Eden that he would die in the same day that he ate the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. One day to GOD is 1,000 years. GOD does not lie. Adam died at the exact end of that time frame. Time was different in the Garden, because the Earth had not yet fallen.
King James Genesis 2:17
But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,
thou shalt not eat of it:
For in the day that thou eatest thereof
thou shalt surely die.
Joseph Smith made no changes to this verse! There are hundreds of changes to the Book of Genesis, but not this critical verse.
Why exactly 1,000 years? Because Adam and Eve started out in a terrestrial state that mirrors the World of Spirits. They in essence started out in a higher state than we do, so there was no need for them to go back. Our two noble parents learned everything they needed to know and do in order to be redeemed by CHRIST and go on to enter Heaven. Since they had to wait for CHRIST to first be resurrected and given the keys to resurrect everyone else, they most likely waited in Paradise which is the highest level in the World of Spirits. But they were already sufficiently prepared to ascend.
Most of us are going to have learn a wealth of information when we are dead. The corrupt condition of the world today is not as conducive to spiritual growth as it was when Eve and Adam lived.
For example my noble Mother lived to be 92 years old and now has 908 years (if necessary) to learn and grow in the Spirit World.
A child taken at ten has 990 years if needed. If you make it to 111 years ("eleventy-one" in Tolkien speak), then you "only" have 889 years left.
The Most High God and his Queen, the Most High Goddess are perfectly fair. No one gets cheated out of their "Day" of experience. I can also promise you that someone dying young is not going to be complaining when they get to the Spirit World. Unless of course they did something so horrific as to end up in Hell. The lowest level of the Spirit World will be no day at the beach. Most people are likely to end up in the middle level, Prison, which is a terrible name for a place of enormous potential progress. The truly CHRIST-like people, regardless of religion, are going to the top level which is Paradise. If you do not believe me then read Doctrine and Covenants 76 and look for the references to the World of Spirits.
So Joseph Smith already knew most people thought the Bible was silly for many different reasons and one of them was that the original patriarchs lived apparently ridiculous lengths of time. If you are a fraud then you "correct" all of those long lives into something more believable to help sell your new religion. Joseph did not do that, because Joseph was not a fake. He made the first patriarch older, because it is the truth, however more implausible the number is.
I recognize that most of what I am saying is the Gospel according to me. I feel strongly that this is true simply because it points to the fairness and impartiality of our Divine Parents. I might not make it where GOD dwells, but I get the same chance and exact same amount of preparation as everyone else. And so do you.
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