The Jews in Jerusalem had become very influential. They were
intimately involved with organizing trade in the Mediterranean
world, as many routes passed through Palestine toward the seaports
to the east. Many prosperous Jews became citizens of an everexpanding Greco-Roman worldly outlook as well. Their court, the
Sanhedrin (formerly Council of Elders), was entrenched there with its
chief priests and scribes (See Luke 22:66) and recognized as legitimate by the Romans who tolerated their religious ceremonies.3 They were recognized in matters of law which did not directly affect Roman interests, and as such it had no power to carry out sentences of death.

By Jesus’ time, the first century of the new era, the city of Jerusalem had grown in size to about three miles in circumference. The emperor Titus built a wall around the three million inhabitants it housed.Perhaps the most famous Roman governor of Judea was Augustus
Caesar (31 b.C. – a.d. 14), an energetic ruler who demanded order in
his government. He worked for financial reform while including
careful registration of persons of each conquered town or city,
according to their ancestral birthplace. Augustus was essentially
concerned with power. He was always suspect of other powers
arising in that area that would challenge Rome’s further expansion.
Palestine was therefore allowed to be only a semi-independent state
within a gentile dictatorship full of military sites.

Indications of the Roman presence were everywhere, especially near Jewish places of worship. Pontius Pilate, the Roman procurator in Judea who later would give up Jesus to be crucified, is rumored to have built his palace near the Jewish Temple.Herod the Great ruled Judea for a time (Josephus estimates 34 years until his death in 4 b.C.)4 as successor to the throne of his father Antipater. Herod was a prodigious builder, but also a murderer.

His wife and children suffered death at his possessive and jealous
hand. After the death of Herod during Jesus’ childhood, Palestine
was divided thrice into areas governed by Herod’s sons, Philip
(areas northeast of Galilee), Antipas (Galilee and Perea) and Pontius
Pilate who was made procurator over Judea, Samaria and Idumea.
Josephus tells us that Pilate planned to abolish the Jewish laws.5
Antipas and Pilate shared a love of power in their regions. Both were
involved in the trial of Christ.

But it was increasingly difficult for the Romans to rule the Jews
because they were mutinous, stiff-necked and insurgent as a captive
people in their own country. Pilate even encouraged ongoing conflicts
in his attempt to govern them. The more oppressive he became, the
more they robbed and protested his edicts, always in the name of
socio-political causes. He had a reputation for always denying the
Jews what they asked for. His final concession to them in allowing
Jesus to be crucified he made reluctantly in an effort to restore order and to protect his reputation with emperor Caesar, for the Jewish zealots exhorted Pilate that “…whosoever maketh himself a king
speaketh against Caesar.” (John 19:12)
)
By the time of Jesus’ birth the Jews had become but a remnant
of their once huge Davidic nation. Ten of the original Twelve Tribes
had been led north only to become lost in antiquity following the
breakup of Judah and Israel in the latter part of the tenth century.
Around 587 b.C.6 Nebuchadnezzar, king of Chaldea, led thousands
of Jews from Jerusalem into captivity in Babylon before burning
Solomon’s Temple and destroying the city, killing its king. Jerusalem
was eventually rebuilt in time for Alexander the Great—son of
Macedonian king Philip—and his armies to capture it. There were
several more conquests by Egyptian kings who offered sacrifices to
pagan gods within the city walls.

By the time Jesus was born, Jerusalem had been conquered nine
times, many hundreds of thousands of Jews paying the price of
the spoils until the Roman high priest John Hyrcanus begged the
Romans for help. They had not long since thrown off some of the
yoke of Syria, Greece and Egypt through their great freedom fighter,
Judas Maccabeus (who many Jews regarded as their Meshiach),
rededicating their precious temple in 165 b.C.7.

Roman rule in Palestine was habitually neutral but could turn
suddenly into open hostility. Pilate, a pagan, was increasingly
scornful of Jewish customs. He had a fondness for erecting graven
images, even flags with Caesar’s likeness. These probably were
done rather as a display of power than of open demonstration. This
angered and threatened the various Jewish sects. Veiled and then
open rebellion followed. Pilate increased his troops at the walls and
byroads of the city. Roman watchmen checked incoming visitors and
made sure that the Jewish priests never forgot their presence was
subject to Roman approval. With time the situation worsened until
Pilate’s men responded to a Samaritan disturbance by massacre.
Pilate’s ten-year rule of tyranny ended and he was sent to Rome.

Part 4 next week

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Jesus the Christ is the royal king of all who have and who will live on this earth in any age. In all ways the Savior Jesus Christ is a miracle among mankind—an everlasting symbol of all we can be to each other. We sing his praises. He is beloved by those in Heaven who attend him, as well as those mortals who serve him on earth.
He belongs to the ages.

The four gospels, unfortunately, are protracted in their reports of the life of Jesus. They present few comments on his childhood and early life as a young Jewish man, working for his father as a carpenter and learning the ways of men. Even the records of his short ministry are void of any long narratives or time lines. The result of this dearth
of material has been that most of the mortal life of Christ, Son of God and son of Man, is unavailable to us. Or is it?

From those several narratives, prophecies and insights from the Old Testament and a close attention to those eternal principles which Jesus taught us, it is possible to come to a fuller understanding of the way our Master perceived himself and his mission among the Hebrews and Romans he met and influenced for good. Though little of what he said is recorded, it is obvious that he spoke a great deal
to multitudes of people in his travels. Greater insight can be gained from his messages to them through pondering the ideas he taught, his demeanor among his disciples and the deeper, less obvious meanings which were essential to his ministry.

Though volumes have been filled with echoes of the prophecies
made about the birth and saving mission of Jesus, who among us
is really aware of the extent of Jesus’ love for the Torah and other Jewish writings or his intense devotion for his Heavenly Father? What can we say of his effort to convince his contemporaries of the truth of his discipleship and his mission? What essential lessons do his parables have for us? We can only wonder at his own anxieties and triumphs as he taught, healed, performed miracles and finally
let himself be overcome at the hands of one of his own apostles and then, without using his divine power to save himself, Jesus allowed the Jewish Court of Sanhedrin to condemn him to death, the infinite sacrifice from which he rose in glory.

Only when we understand how perfectly he lived the ideals he
taught can we really understand that Jesus Christ was the living embodiment of divine, eternal principles. Then we can more fully appreciate the greatest truths of all; that he lives, that he administrates this earth and its creatures whom he saved forever from physical and spiritual death, and that he will return to live among usin the majesty of perfect grace.

The birth date of Jesus cannot be known but might be very
roughly estimated. Luke, in his gospel, says that Jesus was baptized in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, about 29 a.d. (See Luke 3) Luke’s timing may not have been more than an estimate, for he says that Jesus at that time “began to be about thirty years of age,”(Luke 3:23) thirty being only the then legal age for proselytizing
in that region. According to Matthew’s account, Jesus was born
during the reign of King Herod the Great, who died several years later, rumored to be around 4 a.d.

Errors in calculating the Christian calendar used then (the
Dionysian system, which asserts Jesus was born 753 years after
the founding of Rome) make it impossible to know for certain, but various scholars have estimated the birth of Jesus to be between 5-1 b.C. Latter day scripture places the birth at 1 b.C. (Doctrine and Covenants 20:1, 21:3) We know that Jesus’ crucifixion occurred prior to the death of Herod Phillip in 33 a.d. and the historian Josephus records it occurring that year on April 3rd,1 so it is reasonable to assume that Jesus (the mortal) lived fewer than forty years on earth.

Jesus appeared on earth at a time when there was favorable
spiritual thinking. In prior centuries the Jews had been subject to Greek culture and language, which had spread over the Occident. The Jewish Diaspora (dispersion after the destruction of Israel and then Judah) saw many thousands of Jews adopt Greek ways or outwardly appear to embrace them under fear of death should their own ceremonies, held mainly in secret, be discovered. In Jerusalem there was at the time internal accord and what seemed like prosperity in the Greco-Roman world, known as the Pax Romana.

The Greeks spread culture, language, and philosophy. The Romans built the roads and ruled in the Mediterranean and the Roman Empire spanned the borders of Britain, Mesopotamia and Egypt.2 Under no threats of war for a time, they kept a somewhat tolerant political rule. A great era of trade was opening up, not to be rivaled until the nineteenth century. Travel for Jews was common then and encouraged throughout the region—the gospels record Jesus’ journeys with his apostles as far north as Tyre in Syria.

Part 3 of Chapter one next week.

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Palestine at the new era

For God doth not walk in crooked paths, neither doth he turn to the right hand nor to the left, neither doth he vary from that which he hath said, therefore his paths are straight, and his course is one eternal round. Doctrine and Covenants 3:2
Jesus Christ is our savior. he Came to this earth to save our souls from certain death at the hands of the Adversary of the world. He came to cleanse this world of its sinfulness, to soothe and teach us in our pain and sadness and sorrows. He came to show us the fount of true joy and fulfillment. He came to teach us of his Heavenly Father who is also our Creator.

Corollary to that lesson, Jesus taught brotherly love as an eternal principle of living, presenting the hearers of his Word with many examples from his private and public life. Jesus Christ gave the earth and all people on it an unprecedented opportunity: eternal life with God in Heaven who reigns supreme in the cosmos and Who is the Judge of all things.

Jesus came to save us from the wages of sin we create by our disobedience and our maligning. He came, he taught, he conquered death and sin for us all through his infinite and eternal Atonement. Though we can never fully understand the magnificent gift we have been given, the Atonement is a reality and the only way to our salvation.

It is a terrible thing to contemplate that if no Messiah had come to us, God’s immeasurable gift of eternal life could never be bestowed upon the race of men. Through five saving principles of God: propitiation, reconciliation, mediation, intercession and advocacy, Christ appeased the demands of divine justice by which all who desire to again dwell in their Father’s presence may do so.

Because of Jesus Christ we are redeemed from death and sin.…even so ye must be born again into the kingdom of heaven, of water and of the Spirit, and be cleansed by blood, even the blood of mine Only Begotten; that ye might be sanctified from all sin, and enjoy the words of eternal life in this world, and eternal life in the world to come, even immortal glory. For by the water ye keep the commandment, by the Spirit ye are justified, and by the blood ye are sanctified. Moses 6:59-60, Pearl of Great Price.

The Plan of Redemption, also called the Plan of Happiness or the Plan of Salvation, is based upon a dual foundation: the Fall of Adam and the divine Sonship of Jesus Christ. Man cannot resurrect or save himself. It had to be done by an infinite being—God Himself, manifested through His only begotten Son in the flesh, Jesus Christ.

The Atonement satisfied two necessary requirements; temporal(body) and spiritual. Jesus Christ voluntarily shed his blood to atone for Adam’s transgression, a condition which changed his and Eve’s deathless and holy state to a mortal one through their expulsion from the Garden (shut out from the presence of God) bringing upon them physical changes (their bodies became subject to death). But our Heavenly Father does not want any of His children to perish. Through his mercy our first parents could be reconciled again to Him through faith, repentance and obedience to the commandments. Because they reconciled themselves to the will of God their trials helped to prepare the way for all of us to experience the sametrials and blessings, the same gift of mortal life and the priceless opportunity if we are worthy to return to live with God after death.

Therefore remember, O man, for all thy doings thou shalt be brought into judgment. Wherefore, if you have sought to do wickedly in the day of your probation, then ye are found unclean before the judgment-seat of God; and no unclean thing can dwell with God… 1Ne 10:20-21 Book of Mormon.

Because of the intercession of Jesus Christ mankind does not carry Adam’s transgression, but each of us are answerable to God for our sins. Very briefly stated, we are redeemed from physical death as a gift. In keeping with the principle just stated, redemption from spiritual death is a lifelong process which we participate in through faith, our solemn and constant repentance, righteous longsuffering,taking upon us the name, i.e. the character of Christ in baptism by one having proper authority, and the bestowal of the gift of the Holy Ghost. Then we are saved by grace after all we can do. This is the central principle of the divine Plan whereby we may, except for the sons of perdition—those who fight against God—be cleansed of sin and renewed of body and spirit in this world and in our lives to come.

Jesus Christ was and is today the greatest of heroes, a masterpiece of creation by his immortal Father, our Supreme God. We need to learn of him, of his ways in the world, his trials, his purpose here among our ancestors, his true feelings as he walked gently, bravely and so boldly through his short but matchlessly powerful life. This is Jesus Christ—the risen, the perfect, the only Begotten Son of the Father. This is a bit of his story.

Jesus came to earth as a babe in Bethlehem, born to a woman named Mary and her husband Joseph, his stepfather. These two raised him. In his lifetime, Jesus was sought after by kings who wanted him destroyed. He was attacked many times by men who would have him lose his way, his life, his holy name and divine purpose. But Jesus never ran from his trouble—he never gave less than his all to the people who crowded around him and he never complained when they took his precious life and spilt his blood. Instead, he willingly offered himself to show us the way, conquering life and death forever through his resurrection. In forgiving us our sins, his Atonement makes possible our eternal life, with him, for every worthy soul.

Third instalment next week.

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Scholar Hugh Nibley clarified that Jesus and his apostles knew that the early Church would apostatize soon after the apostles were martyred. Jesus himself announced that the world would reject him, his followers, his doctrine, and his Church. Read 2Thess 2:3-4. This states that an apostasy must come before the Second Coming of Christ. 2Tim 3:1,5-7. Also Matt 24, Mark 13, Luke 21. The early apostles set up the church for only a temporary existence.

The English word “apostasy” derives from the Greek apostasia or apostasis (defection, revolt). It is mentioned in a religious context in the Septuagint (Greek translation of Old Testament made by 72 Palestinian Jews in 70 days) and the New Testament. Is 24:10 – A city of confusion.

Romans in the first three centuries after Jesus were more concerned with what they could make of religion than with its truthfulness. Religion should be a function of the state, not involved with personal salvation. They thought many gods played as guardians of the Roman state. The ancient forum at Rome was a mass of pagan temples and shrines, representing deities from many parts of the ancient world. It was governmental policy to seeking divine aid for the political state. Into this world was Christianity introduced. Eventually it led to apostasy in the Church and from the Church.

Overall causes in the 1st century
Christianity was considered an illicit religion. It had no status. Had not grown up with the status of the Roman empire. It didn’t have religious status that the Jews had acquired. It had not placed itself under the direction of the Pontifex Maximus, the minister in charge of the Roman religious bureau. His duty was to regulate the number of pagan religions within the empire and keep friction from interfering with them. Christianity had no protection. The Apostle’s Creed was written in this and the second centuries.

The major causes of persecution: These were charges of aetheism and anarchy. They would not place God alongside the pagan gods. The Christians declared that the pagan gods were demons. Charges of cannibalism. Romans thought the Lord’s Supper meant the Christians were eating the body of dead men.
The Holy Kiss was a suspect idea. In Paul’s epistle he asked that the brethren be greeted with a holy kiss. Rumors started that there was promiscuousness in the church meetings.

Persecutions came because of: 1)violations of the Roman constitution because the churches held some night meetings, punishable by death. 2) Christian church was a third race – Jews who did not assimilate with Roman citizens. 3) Also, scriptures contained the Old Testament and membership included many Jews. Many thought Christianity was an offshoot of Judaism. Romans thought that any religion outside the state protection had no right to exist. They were therefore denied the right of property, construction of buildings and holding services, and offered no redress of grievances.

When the pagan religions became week and Christianity became strong, Romans thought the gods were angry with them. Persecution began and then ran rampant through Rome. Nero ordered these. They were of no fixed duration and limited to the city of Rome. These began with the Emperor Domitian in a.d. 86 and ended with Diocletion’s Degree of Tolerance. After the close of the first century, there was no evidence of apostolic leadership but the church leaders professed to be guided by revelation. Christianity spread rapidly. Missionary work was carried on by traders, craftsmen and sailors.

Variants began appearing in the East, Greek Orthodox, Syrian, Russian, Armenian, Coptic and Abyssinian Catholic. In the west, sects began to form, they eventually became Roman Catholic. There was no recognized headquarters of Christian movement after Jerusalem destroyed. The Centers of Christianity moved to cities like Antioch, Ephesus, Corinth and Rome. The Gospel was taken to Britain and France, to the Sahara in Africa. These numbered about 5% of the empire’s religions. Presiding officers were bishops but they had no jurisdiction to make policy for other churches. There was no canonized distinctly Christian scripture. Gospels were known but no scriptures that received church-wide support at that time.

In the second and third centuries: Christians found themselves in a society of emperor worshippers. They were a lot of loyalty cults, for getting support for the political state. They had a religion of local deities. Sacrifices were offered for the continuation of blessings. Some of the main players:

Marcion – 140 a.d. He believed in baptisms for the dead. He was declared a heretic. The wealthy son of a bishop, Marcion stirred controversy by trying to create the first canonic list of biblical texts. He taught that the god of the Old Testament was not the true God but rather that the true and higher God had been revealed only with Jesus Christ. Marcion was excommunicated from the Roman church c. 144 CE, but he succeeded in establishing churches of his own to rival the Catholic Church for the next two centuries. He created such controversy that, when they excommunicated him, they even gave him back all the money he had donated to the Church. Now that’s serious!

Montanus – claimed to be the embodiment of the Holy Ghost, whom Jesus had promised to send. He strongly criticized the growing corruption in the Church, denouncing the lack of revelation and spiritual gifts as evidence of apostasy. The Montanist sects believed in continuing revelation, but acted without benefit of the keys of authority.

The resulting controversies stirred by these heretics caused the mainstream Church to declare an end to close the canon of scripture and declare that revelation had ceased. In addition to the Marcionites and Montanists, there were other heretical offshoots such as the Gnostics, Ebionites, Simonians, Cleobians, Dositheans, Gortheonians, Masbotheans, Meandrians, Carpocratians, Valentinians, Bsilidians, and Saturnillians, each of which introduced new false teachings into the Church.

Third Century
After a period of intense pagan persecution during the second century which killed off many professing Christians, there came period of relative peace, wealth, and luxury for them. It may well be the increased affluence and acceptance may have weakened Christianity more than the persecutions did. Here are some descriptions from the Christians of this period.
Origen- “Several come to church only on solemn festivals; and then not so much for instruction as diversion. Some go out again as soon as they have heard the lecture, without conferring or asking the pastors questions. Others stay not till the lecture is ended; and others hear not so much as a single word; but entertain themselves in a corner of the church. (Milner, 1836)

Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage-
“Each had been bent on improving his own patrimony; and had forgotten what believers had done under the apostles, and what they ought always to do. They were brooding over the arts of amassing wealth; the pastors and the deacons each forgot their duty; works of mercy were neglected, and discipline was at its lowest ebb; luxury and effeminacy prevailed; meretricious arts in dress were cultivated; fraud and deception practiced among brethren. Christians would unite themselves in matrimony with unbelievers; could swear not only without reverence but even without veracity. With haughty asperity they despised their ecclesiastical superiors; the railed against one another with outrageous acrimony, and conducted quarrels with determined malice. Even many bishops, who ought to be guides and patterns to the rest, neglected their stations, gave themselves up to secular pursuits. They deserted their places of residence and their flocks; they traveled through distant provinces in quest of pleasure and gain; gave no assistance to the needy brethren; but were insatiable in their thirst of money. They possessed estates by fraud and multiplied usury. What have we not deserved to suffer for such conduct? Even the divine word hath foretold us what we might expect: ‘If his children forsake my law and walk not in my judgments, I will visit their offenses with the rod and their sins with scourges.” These things had been denounced and foretold, but in vain. Our sins had brought our affairs to that pass, that because we had despised the Lord’s directions, we were obliged to undergo a correction of our multiplied evils and a trial of our faith by severe remedies” (Milner, 1836).

Eusebius-
“Nor was any malignant demon able to infatuate, no human machinations prevent them so long as the providential hand of God superintended and guarded his people as worthy subjects of his care. But when by reason of excessive liberty, we sunk into negligence and sloth, one envying and reviling another in different ways, and we were almost, as it were, upon the point of taking up arms against each other with words as with darts and spears, prelates inveighing against prelates, and people rising up against people, and hypocrisy and dissimulation had arisen to the greatest height of malignity, then the divine judgment, which usually proceeds with a lenient hand, whilst the multitudes were yet crowding into the church, with gentle and mild visitation began to afflict the episcopacy; the persecution having begun with those brethren in the army. But as if destitute of all sensibility, we were not prompt in measures to appease and propitiate the Deity; some indeed like atheists, regarding our situation as unheeded and unobserved by a Providence, we added one wickedness and misery to another. But some that appeared to be our pastors deserting the law of piety, were inflamed against each other with mutual strifes, only accumulating quarrels and threats, rivalship, hostility and hatred to each other, only anxious to assert the government as a kind of sovereignty for themselves (Eusebius, 1833).
In addition to growing worldliness, negligence, and wickedness among the general population of the Church, Mosheim’s “Ecclesiastical History” tells us that the government of the Church also began to change.

“The ancient method of ecclesiastical government seemed in general still to subsist, while, at the same time, by imperceptible steps, it varied from the primitive rule and degenerated toward the form of religious form of a religious monarchy . . . This change in the form of ecclesiastical government was soon followed by a train of vices, which dishonored the character and authority of those to whom the administration of the Church was committed . . . The bishops assumed in many places a princely authority, particularly those who had the greatest number of churches under their inspection, and who presided over the most opulent assemblies. They appropriated to their evangelical function the splendid ensigns of temporal majesty. A throne, surrounded with ministers, exalted above his equals the servant of the meek and humble Jesus; and sumptuous garments dazzled the eyes and the minds of the multitude into an ignorant veneration of their arrogated authority. The example of the bishops was ambitiously imitated by the presbyters, who, neglecting the sacred duties of their station, abandoned themselves to the indolence and delicacy of an effeminate and luxurious life. The deacons, beholding the presbyters deserting thus their functions, boldly usurped their rights and privileges, and the effects of a corrupt ambition were spread through ever rank of the sacred order(John Lawrence Mosheim, 1811)

Copying the pagan temples and rituals, candles and incense began to be used as part of Christian worship. Also introduced during this period was the veneration and worship of martyrs. Virtues and prodigies were attributed to the bones of saints and martyrs. True spiritual gifts, as described in the New Testament, were no longer manifested or expected.

The Apostles’ Creed, drawn up in the first or second century, emphasizes the true Humanity, including the material body of Jesus, since that is the point that the heretics of the time (Gnosticss, Marcionites, later Manicheans) denied. See 1John 4:1-3. The Gnostics held that the physical universe is evil and that God did not make it.

Apostles’ Creed: https://www.ccel.org/creeds/apostles.creed.html

The manner of baptism changed as well as the manner of excommunication. Baptism, a simple rite of immersion administered upon repentance became an elaborate ceremony including milk and honey, ceremonies borrowed from military traditions and rituals marking the liberation of slaves, the lighting of candles and the wearing of white robes and crowns. Infant baptism became common as did sprinkling or the pouring of water on the head instead of immersion.

The simple ordinance of the sacrament became the elaborate mass. Transubstantiation began to be taught as doctrine. Ultimately, the lifting up of “the host” for veneration and worship as God itself became common. Later, only the priest would drink the wine, administering only the bread to the communicants, thus changing or ignoring the commandment to eat and drink in remembrance of Jesus.

Paul had carried the message of personal revelation. Through the atonement of Christ, a plan of salvation had been offered and it was exclusive, not just an added way to gain salvation, but the only way. It provided the foundation for the Roman government’s opposition.

The second great change was in the field of administration. The presiding officer was a bishop only and each had independent jurisdiction. Non-biblical books emerged from leaders of the church who had not known the apostles. Some of these were on the mysteries of Christ’s church, some championed paganism against Christianity. People began putting stock in them.

Docetism and Gnosticism arose. This may or may not have begun with the church. This was untenable to Christianity because it robbed it of its great proof that Jesus is the Messiah. Ideas of priesthood beliefs about mankind’s pre-existence, concepts of universal salvation, and other beliefs were changing. These changes resulted in lack of unity and no divine priesthood. Disorganization ruled. Doctrines that were plain and simple were now complex. Belief in a pre-existence on earth led to identification of humans with fallen spirits. Scripture was coming to be interpreted allegorically or symbolically. The Church groped for inspired leadership but found none.

Gnosticism: Origins are not known. The believed the most important Christian doctrines were reserved for a select few. The orthodox belief was that the fullness of the Gospel was to be preached to the entire human race. They were agreed that the orthodox Christians were wrong in supposing that God had taken human nature or a human body. Some distinguished between Christ, whom they acknowledged to be in some sense divine, and the man Jesus, who was at most an instrument through whom the Christ spoke. The “Others” affirmed that there was never a man Jesus at all, but only the appearance of a man, through which appearance wise teachings were given to the first disciples. Against this, the orthodox Christians affirmed that Jesus was conceived through the action of the Holy Spirit (thus denying the Gnostic position that the Spirit had nothing to do with Jesus until his baptism), that he was born (which meant he had a real physical body) of a virgin (which implied that he had been special from the first moment of his life, not just from baptism on). Gnostic ideas influenced many ancient religions[2]that teach that gnosis (variously interpreted as knowledge, enlightenment, salvation, emancipation or ‘oneness with God’) may be reached by practicing philanthropy to the point of personal poverty, sexual abstinence (as far as possible for hearers, entirely for initiates) and diligently searching for wisdom by helping others.[3] However, practices varied among those who were Gnostic.
In Gnosticism, the world of the demiurge is represented by the lower world, which is associated with matter, flesh, time and, more particularly, an imperfect, ephemeral world. The world of God is represented by the upper world and is associated with the soul and perfection. The world of God is eternal and not part of the physical. It is impalpable and timeless.

Copying the pagan temples and rituals, candles and incense began to be used as part of Christian worship. Also introduced during this period was the veneration and worship of martyrs. Virtues and prodigies were attributed to the bones of saints and martyrs. True spiritual gifts, as described in the New Testament, were no longer manifested or expected.

The manner of baptism changed as well as the manner of excommunication. Baptism, a simple rite of immersion administered upon repentance became an elaborate ceremony including milk and honey, ceremonies borrowed from military traditions and rituals marking the liberation of slaves, the lighting of candles and the wearing of white robes and crowns. Infant baptism became common as did sprinkling or the pouring of water on the head instead of immersion.

The simple ordinance of the sacrament became the elaborate mass. Transubstantiation began to be taught as doctrine. Ultimately, the lifting up of “the host” for veneration and worship as God itself became common. Later, only the priest would drink the wine, administering only the bread to the communicants, thus changing or ignoring the commandment to eat and drink in remembrance of Jesus. People were placing themselves under the supervision of bishops. Latin Christianity was replacing that of the earlier Greek cultural period. Christian congregations numbered several thousands. Finally, there was a Latin translation of scriptures. Disunity and disorganization was rampant.

Fourth Century – By then, Christianity had lost much of its concept of worth and the dignity of man. The Pre-existence was perverted into a relationship that identified humans with fallen spirits. Scripture was coming to be interpreted allegorically or symbolically. Churches were groping for inspired leadership to preserve unity.
It appears that without apostles to guide the ancient church, that men of good reputation were submitted to the people for their approval to head congregations. The bishops chosen in this manner relied upon the body of elders as a council of sorts. In the fourth century, the principle of common consent was abandoned and power was consolidated in the bishops. The lay members were excluded from ecclesiastical affairs. The organization of the church began to shift, mirroring the political government’s organization. Bishops of large cities established smaller communities in the suburban areas and surrounding countryside. They ordained bishops that were subordinate to their own authority.

Thus the church began to coincide with the political organizations of the Roman territories, with archbishops overseeing large areas corresponding to Roman civil authority. The links between the civil government and the church began to consolidate. By this point, doctrinal innovations and controversies consumed the Church. Gnosticism, Hellenism, and pagan ritual began to infect the teachings and practices. The Arian Controversy led to such contention the Emperor Constantine called the Nicene Council to resolve the matter: Was Christ man or God? Was he created or eternal? Are God the Father and God the Son separate or simply manifestations of the same being? The Nicene Creed, intended to unite the Church, fractured it. Arius was banished and his writings burned. When readmitted to fellowship, he was murdered in Constantinople, with disciples of Athanasius being the chief suspects.

Eventually, under Constantine the Great(313-337) Christianity received favors and government help an became a tolerated religion. It became favored. Constantine, not a member of church was chief priest of all religions of state and promoted paganism as well as Christianity and supported both. Bishops were given positions of responsibility in government. The churches finally gave financial support. The Edict of Milan was issued in a.d. 313. It gave tax breaks, granted Sunday as a Sabbath rest and worship day, and granted his subjects the right to give money to the church.

But in a.d. 392 the Roman emperor Theodosius proclaimed it the sole religion and ordered all pagan religions abolished. Thereafter, Christianity began to persecute the pagan religions. But pagan culture was strongly embedded. Church leaders solved problems by making interpretations drawn from pagan backgrounds. They thought the Lord’s Supper merely a memorial service. Mysticism entered. Many questions arose and could not be answered by revelation, as it was thought to be unnecessary. Prophetic leadership had disappeared, and revelation. By then Christianity had lost much of its concept of the worth and dignity of man. The truth of the pre-existence was perverted into a relationship that identified humans with fallen spirits. Scriptures were being interpreted allegorically or symbolically. Churches groped for inspired leadership to preserve unity.

a.d. 325 – The Nicene Creed. This was a calling of the Council of Nicea. Called by Emperor Constantine who wanted Christianity to give the empire the benefit of a unified god theory. The church accepted leadership from one who was not a member. Only 318 bishops came, plus 200 churchmen. Constantine presided. He was not a member of any church. They were to determine the relationship between church and state. A compromise doctrine emerged. But the current Creed came from several changes made at future councils. From this time on, churchmen would be withdrawn from purely ecclesiastical functions and put into the service of the state. These beliefs have been officially adopted into most Christian churches.

The basic meaning of the Creed developed from the word “substance”. This means immaterial essence, the force behind nature, an immaterial spirit. The Creed was in answer to the Gnostic idea that Christ had a material body. A creed generally emphasizes the beliefs opposing those errors that the compiles of the creed think most dangerous at the time. The Creed of the Council of Trent, which was drawn up by the Roman Catholics in the 1500s, emphasized those beliefs that Roman Catholics and Protestants were arguing about most furiously at the time. The Creed was emphatic in affirming the Deity of Christ, since it is directed against the Arians, who denied that Christ was fully God.

The Nicene Creed: http://www.ancient-future.net/nicene.html

When the Nicene Creed was drawn up, the chief enemy was Arianism, which denied that Jesus was fully God. Arius was a presbyter (priest-elder) in Alexandria, Egypt, in the early 300s. he was fond of saying: “the Logos is not eternal. God begat him, and before he was begotten, he did not exist.” He taught that the Father, in the beginning, created the Son, and that the Son, in conjunction with the Father, created this world. Arius insisted the Son was inferior to the Father and could not be co-eternal with Him.

The result of this was to make the Son a created being, and hence not God in any meaningful sense. It was also suspiciously like the theories of those Gnostics and pagans who held that God was too perfect to create something like a material world, and so introduced one or more intermediate beings between God and the world: God created A, who created B, who created C, who created Z, who created the world. A bishop, Alexander, said the Son was equal to the Father and created from his substance. The council was called to straighten this our and arrive at a universal theory. Read Matt 24:25.

The Council of Nicea was an important event in history of changing Christianity. At Nicea, Christianity turned to pagan speculation for definition of the nature and attributes of God. Jesus’ advice to keep separated the things of Caesar and God was lost sight of. Christianity was no longer a religion to assist men to live in accord with the gospel ideals and in gaining eternal salvation. It was a department of government within the political state. The essence of gospel principles became based on theological definition which was based on philosophical processes.

Men broke the everlasting covenant. The must pay the penalty. Is 24:4-6. Much evil was done. This heresy promoted an antagonism between body and spirit. The body was regarded as a curse. Like Gnostics. This gave rise to hermit practices where men sought to torture their bodies in self denial. This led to monks, monasteries, reclusiveness, celibacy, corruptions. They believed that to have true and full felicity with God it was necessary to separate the body from the spirit and deny the body. They developed a disregard for truth. It was okay to lie if it promoted the church interests. Lies were acceptable to God, it was thought, if they perpetrated in a cause that man calls good. This lasted until the 15th century.

Fifth Century through the Seventh Century
Rival bishops contended for primacy. Prelates of Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem sank below the patriarchs of Rome and Constantinople in wealth and dignity. The latter two contended for the title of “universal bishop.” The rise of Islam in Asia Minor diminished the power of the Bishop of Constantinople, permitting the Bishop of Rome to claim the triumphant title of Pontiff. When classical Rome fell, the Church became an alternative political structure and the bishops became the ultimate powers in their realms, commanding armies and ruling over the nobles. Corruption and vice were rampant because no secular authority could effectively check the clergy.
The attempts to live in celibacy gave rise to scandal. It became the custom for priests to live with “sub-introduced women,” who passed as sisters of the priests (Roberts, 1895)

Salvian-
“The very church which should be the body to appease the anger of God, alas! What reigns there but disorders calculated to incense the Most High? It is more common to meet with Christians who are guilty of the greatest abominations than with those who are wholly exempt from crime. So that today it is a sort of sanctity among us to be less vicious than the generality of Christians. We insult the majesty of the Most High at the foot of his altars. Men, the most steeped in crime, enter the holy places without respect for them. True, all men ought to pay their vows to God, but why should they seek his temples to propitiate him, only to go forth to provoke him? Why enter the church to deplore their former sins, and upon going forth–what do I say?–in those very courts they commit fresh sins, their mouths and their hearts contradict one another. Their prayers are criminal meditations rather than vows of expiation. Scarcely is service ended before each returns to his old practices. Some go to their wine, others to their impurities, still others to robbing and brigandage, so that we cannot doubt that these things had been occupying them while they were in the church. Nor is it the lowest of the people who are thus guilty. There is no rank whatever in the church which does not commit all sorts of crimes” (Jackson, 1884).

Eighth through the Eleventh Centuries
Perhaps no other references outside the 8th-11th centuries are necessary to establish that the Church had fallen into complete and total apostasy, bereft of the Spirit of God, without authority, a rejected harlot that had committed fornication with the kings of the earth. Just consider the manner in which the “Vicars of Christ” ascended to the throne of power.

757 A.D. – Upon the death of Pope Paul I, the Duke of Nepi compelled some bishops to consecrate Constantine, one of his brothers, as pope.

768 A.D. – A more “legitimate” group of electors chose Stephen IV and Constantine’s eyes were put out and the Bishop Theodorus’ tongue was amputated. The Bishop was left in a dungeon to die in agony of thirst.

795 A.D. – Nephews of Pope Adrian seized his successor, Pope Leo III in the street, forced him into a nearby church and attempted to put out his eyes and cut out his tongue.

816 A.D. – Stephen V was driven from the city of Rome. Paschal I, his successor, was accused of blinding and murdering two ecclesiastical rivals in the Lateran Palace.

872 A.D. – Pope John VIII secretly allied himself to pay tribute to Muslim invaders and the Bishop of Naples maintained a secret alliance to receive a share of the plunder from them.

891 A.D. – Formosus, a conspirator who had been excommunicated for the murder of John, was elected pope.

896 A.D. – Boniface VI becomes pope despite his being deposed as a deacon for his immoral and lewd conduct. Stephen VII, his successor, had the body of Formosus disinterred, clothed in papal robes, and tried before a council. The indecent scene ended with cutting off three of the deceased’s fingers and the corpse being cast into the Tiber River. Stephen was ultimately deposed and thrown into prison where he was strangled to death.

896-900 A.D. – No less than five popes were consecrated and deposed.

904 A.D. – Leo V was thrown into prison by Christopher, who usurped his place. He was expelled from Rome by Sergius III, who seized the papacy by military force.

905 A.D. – Sergius lived with a celebrated prostitute, Theodora, who exercised extraordinary influence and control of the Pope. Theodora also was romantically involved with John X, leading to his ascending to the papal throne in 915 A.D. He maintained the papacy with Theodora’s help for 14 years. However, the hateful intrigues of her daughter Marozia led to his overthrow. John X was thrown into prison where he was killed, smothered with a pillow.

931 A.D. Marozia engineered her son’s becoming Pope John XI. Another of her sons, jealous of her devotions to the first, had Marozia thrown into prison. The grandson of Marozia then became Pope John XII in 956 A.D.

956 A.D. – John XII was only 19 when he became pope and his reign was so shockingly immoral that the Germanic Emperor Otho I was compelled by the German clergy to intervene. John was tried on the charges of selling ordinations of bishops for bribes, as well as having ordained a ten year-old as bishop. He was charged with incest and multiple adulteries. He was deposed and Leo VIII reigned in his stead.

963 A.D. – Leo VIII, upon gaining power, seized his antagonists, cut off the hand of one, the nose, fingers, and tongues of others. He was killed by a man whose wife he had seduced.

John XIII was strangled in prison. Bonficace VII imprisoned Benedict VII and killed him by starvation. John XIV was secretly put to death in the dungeons of St. Angelo castle. The body of Boniface was dragged by the populace through the streets.

Emperor Otho took the liberty of the Italians from appointing the “successor of Saint Peter.” By his royal authority, he places his own kinsman, Gregory V on the pontifical throne, only to have him flee before the opposition of the Romans.

There was even an “anti-Pope, John XVI. Emperor Otho seized him, put out his eyes, cut off his nose and tongue, and sent him through the streets mounted on an ass facing backwards with a wine-bladder on his head.

1033 A.D. – Benedict IX, a boy of less than 12 years sat on the “apostolic throne.” One of his successors, Victor III said the boy’s life was so foul and shameful that he ruled like “a captain of a banditti.” Unable to bear his adulteries, homicides, and abominations, the people rose up against him. Knowing he was about to lose his position, Benedict put the papacy up for auction! It was purchased by a presbyter named John who became Pope Gregory V in 1045 A.D.

Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries
The doctrine of the granting of indulgences and exemptions from temporal penalties became common. This led to the selling of forgiveness for sin for monetary considerations. This practice, among others, contributed to the rise of Protestantism. An agent of the Pope, John Tetzel boasted that he had saved more souls from hell through the selling of indulgences than Saint Peter had by preaching Christianity.

Fourteenth through the Sixteenth Centuries
Three popes at one time! Rivalries between Rome and Avignon in France resulted in a period where there were two popes simultaneously? Which one of them had Peter’s keys? This fiasco continued until 1409 when a general council of the Church was convened at Pisa. The two popes were deposed and a third installed in their stead. However, neither deposed pope would bow to the will of the council. The Church would not be reunited under a single Pope until 1414 (Talmage, 1909).
Rise of the Court of the Inquisition in Spain- Thousands were burned at the stake and tens of thousands tortured.

Through the challenging influence of Protestants, the Roman Church abandoned the practice of indulgences at the Council of Trent. Nevertheless, it had done so for four centuries. The practice placed the Popes in the position of sitting in judgment as God himself, fulfilling the scripture in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4.

The Council of Trent also forbade the reading of the scriptures by non-clergy. It declared, “…the holy scriptures were not composed for the multitude, but only for that of their spiritual teachers.”

The Protestant Reformation
Martin Luther-
A German priest, an Augustinian monk. Martin Luther defied the Roman Church and is excommunicated. John, Elector of Saxony undertook the establishment of an independent church based on Luther’s teachings. By what authority was this done? What authority did Luther have? If the Roman Church had no authority, by what authority could a church be established? In this case, the state assumed the authority that belongs only to God.
He opposed the papal indulgences. He said the whole system of church penances and indulgences was contrary to scripture, reason and right. He wrote 95 theses and nailed them to the door of his church. He was excommunicated. This caused the Protestant uprising. He proclaimed the doctrine of absolute predestination and of justification by faith alone. The effect of this belief resulted in the nullifying of free agency as God-given.

There was a popularization of the Bible and the invention of printing, the discovery of cheaper ways of producing paper so the Bible could be printed for everyone. Protestants developed the idea that salvation was an individual processes which needed neither priestly no saintly mediation to secure supernatural aid for salvation. Each should seek knowledge concerning the will of God. The Lord said all truth can be circumscribed into one great whole. Christianity was broken into many sects. Protestants introduced that people should have right to choose their religion. This led to the formation of many sects: Quakers, Anabaptists, Methodists. The sacrament service was corrupted. When Jesus ate and drank with his disciples, his body was yet unpierced, blood unshed. They ate with him in remembrance of him. The sacrament became perverted in that worshippers were taught that the crucified Jesus was offered up anew as a constantly recurring atonement for sins of current congregants.

Joseph Smith in his first vision in 1820 was told by Jesus that all existing churches had gone astray, both in their teachings and in heir practice, although they had “a form of godliness” (JS-H 1:18-19. Thus it was necessary for a “restoration” of the Gospel to take place. JST Thess 2:1-9… After reformation, Joseph Smith sought knowledge from the only source from which it could come. Men had forsaken the whole gospel system – its laws, ordinances, saving truths.

Ulrich Zwingli-
Led the reformation movement in Switzerland. His trial by the state eventually led to civil war between Catholics and Protestants. In the battle, Zwingli was killed and his body was brutally mutilated.

William Tyndale-
Tyndale was “condemned by virtue of the emperor’s decree, made in the assembly at Augsburg. Brought forth to the place of execution, he was tied to the stake, strangled by the hangman, and afterwards consumed with fire, at the town of Vilvorde, A.D. 1536; crying at the stake with a fervent zeal, and a loud voice, ‘Lord! Open the king of England’s eyes.'” His crime? Translating the Bible into English (Foxe).

John Calvin-
Calvin appeared as another leader of the Swiss reformation movement. A doctrinal extremist, he taught the depravity of man and the false doctrine of predestination, denying the truth of man’s agency. In 1553, Calvin was found at Geneva consenting to the burning at the stake of Servetus because he published views Calvin considered heretical.

Henry VIII and the Church of England-
King Henry VIII sought and failed to obtain permission to divorce his wife. He and the English Parliament broke away from the Roman Church and founded the Church of England. Again, we must ask, by what authority was this done. What revelation or dispensation from God enabled an earthly king to establish a church in God’s name?

The Church of England established the Westminster Confession of Faith in 1646, which still serves as the functional creed for modern Protestantism. It includes the following claims:

“The whole counsel of God, concerning all things necessary for his own glory, man’s salvation, faith, and life, is either expressly set down in Scripture, or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from Scripture: unto which nothing at any time is to be added, whether by new revelations of the Spirit, or traditions of men . . . The Supreme Judge, by which all controversies of religion are to be determined, and all decrees of councils, opinions of ancient writers, doctrines of men, and private spirits, are to be examined, and in whose sentence we are to rest, can be no other but the Holy Spirit speaking in the Scripture” (Westminister Confession of Faith, n.d.).

The Confession denies the possibility of current and future revelation from God and limits God to only speak through the Bible. It also declares God’s nature to be “a most pure spirit, invisible, without body, parts, or passions” in clear contravention to many scriptures that describe God with a body, parts, and passions.

Seventeenth Century to Present
As we can see, the Roman Church’s claim to the unbroken transmission of the keys of the kingdom from Saint Peter are not supported by history. John was the last surviving apostle who receive his authority from Christ. Only he would have had the authority to ordain any successors. The Roman Church does not and cannot claim authority from John. Even if it were the case that Peter somehow ordained a successor, we can clearly see that the papacy has been the nexus of political intrigue, murder, corruption, and abominations throughout the centuries. Men murdered for it. It was even auctioned and purchased. There is no possible way that the authority of the ancient apostles comes down to the present day through this corrupt lineage. This authority was lost and with it, the keys of Christ’s kingdom on earth. If it were possible that a corrupt tree could produce pure branches, the assertions of Protestantism to have reformed the Church might be valid. However, there was no possible way any reformer, however sincere or influential, could restore the keys of the kingdom that were lost in the apostasy. This would require a new gospel dispensation–a new revelation.
The Church of England’s sermon “Perils of Idolatry” it states:

“Laity and clergy, learned and unlearned all ages and sects and degrees have been drowned in abominable idolatry, most detested by God and damnable to man, for eight hundred years and more” (Sermons or Homilies Appointed to be Read in Churches, 1824)

Roger Williams-
Roger Williams, pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in America at Providence, Rhode Island, refused to continue as pastor on the grounds that, “There is no regularly-constituted church on earth, nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance: nor can there be, until new apostles are sent by the great Head of the Church, for whose coming I am seeking.” (Bryant, 1872)

Williams also said, “The apostasy… hath so far corrupted all, that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new apostles to plant churches anew.” (Anderson, 1966)

John Wesley-
John Wesley, the founder of Methodism wrote in his sermon, “The More Excellent Way” the following indictment of Christianity:

“The cause of this [decline of spiritual gifts following Constantine] was not, (as has been vulgarly supposed,) `because there was no more occasion for them,’ because all the world was become Christians. This is a miserable mistake; not a twentieth part of it was then nominally Christian. The real cause was, `the love of many,’ almost of all Christians, so called, was `waxed cold.’ The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other Heathens. The Son of Man, when he came to examine his Church, could hardly `find faith upon earth.’ This was the real cause why the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian Church; because the Christians were turned Heathens again, and had only a dead form left.” (Russie, 2011)

Alexander Campbell-
The founder of the Church of Christ (Disciples) wrote “The meaning of this institution (the kingdom of heaven) has been buried under the rubbish of human tradition for hundreds of years. It was lost in the dark ages and has never, until recently been disinterred” (Roberts, 1895)

Dr. William Smith-
“In a work prepared by seventy-three noted theologians and Bible students, we read: “…we must not expect to see the Church of Holy Scripture actually existing in its perfection on the earth. It is not to be found, thus perfect, either in the collected fragments of Christendom, or still less in any one of these fragments. . . ” (Smith, 1896)

Dr. Harry Emerson Fosdick-
A prominent American Baptist clergyman and author, described the decadent condition of the Christian churches of the first half of the twentieth century in these words:

“A religious reformation is afoot, and at heart it is the endeavor to recover for our modern life the religion of Jesus as against the vast, intricate, largely inadequate and often positively false religion about Jesus. Christianity today has largely left the religion which he preached, taught and lived, and has substituted another kind of religion altogether. If Jesus should come back to now, hear the mythologies built up around hint, see the creedalism, denominationalism, sacramentalism, carried on in his name, he would certainly say, ‘If this is Christianity, I am not a Christian'” (Associated Press, 1925)

Summary
The scriptures clearly predict the falling away of the ancient Christian church. Not only did the world reject the apostles and their authority, but the Church did also. In the centuries that followed, it descended into corruption. Attempts to reform it could not restore the authority that was lost and the teachings that no future revelation could be expected and that any claims to such must be rejected outright prevented this from occurring.

Protestant reformers have been cited, indicating that they understood that a new gospel dispensation must come before the Church could be restored. Reformation was not enough. Man could not, of himself, restore the authority that only comes from God.

The Restoration
Latter-day Saints testify that God himself brought to pass the restoration of the primitive Christian Church again in modern times with all its gifts, powers, keys, and authority. God the Father and the Son appeared to the prophet Joseph Smith in 1820, restoring the true knowledge of God, forever invalidating the creeds of man’s religions.

In 1823, a heavenly messenger named Moroni revealed the location of the plates upon which was engraved a sacred, ancient record of God’s dealings with the ancient inhabitants of the Americas. Joseph Smith was given power to translate this record into English and publish it as the Book of Mormon in 1829.

In 1829, John the Baptist appeared and restored the Aaronic Priesthood, which includes the keys of baptism by immersion for the remission of sins. Later in that same year, the ancient apostles Peter, James, and John appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery and conferred upon them the Melchizedek Priesthood and ordained them as apostles of Jesus Christ.

In 1836, Moses, Elias, and Elijah appeared to Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon in Kirtland, Ohio and conferred priesthood keys related to the gathering of Israel, the gospel of Abraham, and the power to bind the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to the fathers.

All the powers and authority possessed by ancient Christians is present once again on the earth today. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the repository of those keys and the Church is governed as it was anciently by living apostles and prophets. I invite you to investigate these claims, bearing witness that they are true. You can learn the truth of them for yourself through the Holy Ghost. It is by the Holy Ghost that I know that they are true, in the name of Jesus Ch

The post Gospel Doctrine Class The Great Apostasy Through the Centuries to the Restoration appeared first on Judah and Joseph: Scepter and Birthright.

What is a testimony? How does it come about and what does it
mean to the bearer? In 1Cor 12:3 the Apostle Paul, teaching of the
gifts of the Spirit said “…no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but
by the Holy Ghost.” John the Baptist gave a perfect testimony to the
Jews and priests: “And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of
God.” (John 1:32) It is also true, I believe, that a young boy named
Joseph Smith asked his Heavenly Father to direct him to the correct
church one fateful day in 1820, and that as a result of his ensuing
testimony he endured from that time forward naught but hardship,
persecution and eventually murder, finally sealing with his own
blood his testimony of what he heard and saw that day in the grove
near his father’s farm.

Like a court witness who gives affirmation of fact, a testimony is
actual evidence of an event. It does not come simply, in most cases. If
it is a spiritual affirmation, it comes by the power of the Holy Ghost
to one who has dutifully studied, prayed and perhaps fasted in faith
to know for certain some great point of eternal truth. The Holy Ghost
(or Holy Spirit) then gives its revelation. But this sacred prompting
must be received as truth when revealed, for that holy messenger
of the Lord will not linger with unbelievers. Those who deny what
they have felt or who look to intellectualize or criticize it will find the
prompting slipping away and their inspiration lost in confusion.
A testimony, then, is a witness of things which are true, constituting
a knowledge that cannot be denied by the believer, who feels
the impressions made by the Holy Ghost become indelible upon his
enlightened soul. How many mortals have willingly given their lives
because they could not deny the knowledge so convincingly given
them by the Holy Ghost?

It is the same with those who have contributed
to this book, and through their inspirational stories and special
affirmations all who partake of their great faith can be uplifted.
When this compilation of testimonies of Jesus Christ was begun,
there was one strongly held goal in everyone’s mind. Every contributor
wanted to tell the salient events of their life; how they had
changed, especially after their conversion to the Gospel of Christ,
much as one who has discovered great wealth wants to share that
special story with others who also seek precious treasure. Each
person felt prompted to relate to me some of their most private
beliefs concerning the one we call our Savior and Redeemer, and our
Heavenly Father. They felt the need to express their gratitude for
the Christ who has risen from the dead to save us all that we need
not fear death or torment and each one gained great satisfaction in
expressing in this way their love of the Savior, regardless of the scope
of their knowledge, the complexity of their background, their station
in life or the color of their skin.

The post Life Changing Testimonies of the Lord Jesus Christ appeared first on Judah and Joseph: Scepter and Birthright.

Zechariah (Hebrew: זְכַרְיָה,) =YHVH has remembered, was considered author of his book, 11th of 12 minor prophets. He was a prophet of the two-tribe Kingdom of Judah, and like Ezekiel was of priestly extraction. According to Ezra 5:1; 6:14 Iddo is the father of the prophet Zechariah, according to Zechariah 1:1 Berechiah is the father of Zechariah, and Iddo is his grandfather. Discrepancy has several probabilities.

His prophetic career began in second year of Darius, king of Persia (520 b.c.) about sixteen years after the return of the first company from their Babylonian exile. He was a contemporary of Haggai. (Ezra 5:1) He was a Levite born in Babylon (Neh. 12:1, 16), and he was both a prophet and a priest.

Because of Israel’s rebellion against the ways of God (Zech. 1:2-6), not only did the Assyrians exile the northern kingdom in 722 BC, but also the Babylonians took the southern kingdom of Judah captive in 586 BC (Zech. 1:2-6). This second exile ended when the Babylonian Empire fell to the Persian Empire (539 BC), and Cyrus the Great decreed that the Jews could return to Jerusalem to rebuild their Temple (Ezra 1:2-4). Shortly after their return, Levitical sacrifices were reinstituted on a rebuilt altar of burnt offering (Ezra 3:1-6), and in the second year of the return, the foundation of the temple was laid (Ezra 3:8-13; 5:16). However, because of external opposition and internal depression, the building of the Temple was halted for about 16 more years.

Zechariah opens his book with an exhortation for Israel to repent quickly so that they could be in the position to receive God’s blessing. God confirmed that He was very angry with the forefathers of Israel who did not hearken to the words of the prophets, who were sent to call them to repentance.

However, even though God used Gentile nations to come up against Israel in judgment, He was even angrier with them because they went too far. At this point, Zechariah received eight prophetic visions for Israel, which all follow the same pattern, 1) introductory words, 2) description of the things seen, 3) question by Zechariah to the angel for the meaning, 4) the explanation by the angel.

1. The Man Among the Myrtle Trees (Zech 1:7-17)
Meaning: God’s anger against the nations and blessing on restored Israel. In this vision, there was a man riding a red horse, standing in a grove of myrtle trees in a ravine. Behind him were red, brown and white horses. The angel of the Lord explained that these horses were sent throughout the earth, and found the world at rest and peace. But, Israel was not at rest and peace. In fact, it had been exiled for 70 years and Jerusalem was in ruins. Then God lamented over His beloved people and the land of Israel. He declares, “I am
very jealous for Jerusalem and Zion, but I am very angry with the nations that feel secure. (Zech. 1:14b-15,17). The message of this vision is that God was angry at the nations of the world, which spoiled Israel, and that He would bless restored Israel again, showing His faithfulness
2. The Four Horns and the Four Craftsmen (Zech 1:18-21)
Meaning: God’s judgment on the nations that afflict Israel. In this vision, Zechariah saw four horns and four craftsmen. When asked, the angel was clear in the interpretation of these symbols: “These are the horns that scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem but the craftsmen have come to terrify them and cast out these horns of the nations who lifted up their horns against the land of Judah to scatter its people” (Zech. 1:18, 21).
In prophecy, a horn when used symbolically indicates invincible strength (Micah 4:13) or often a Gentile king who represents his kingdom (Dan. 7:24; Rev. 12:3). These clearly represent nations, compare these horns with the four great and powerful empires that came against Israel (Babylon, Media-Persia, Greece and Rome). Although Babylon had been subdued, the vision was truly prophetic because the other three empires were yet to inflict their oppression upon Israel and receive judgment for it.
3. The Surveyor with a Measuring Line (Zech 2:1-12)
Meaning: God’s future blessing on restored Israel. In this vision, Zechariah saw a man with a measuring line go and measure Jerusalem to find out how long it is. An angel came up and told the angel talking to Zechariah, “Run, tell that young man, ‘Jerusalem will be a city without walls because of the great number of men and livestock in it. And I myself will be a wall of fire around it,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will be its glory within'” (Zech. 2:4-5).
This is an incredibly prophetic statement because Zechariah was seeing his visions and giving his messages to the returning exiles of Israel who were in the process of building a wall around Jerusalem. The vision was showing that there would be a Messianic day when Jerusalem would grow to vast proportions and not need a wall because of God’s protection.
4. The Cleansing and Crowning of Joshua, the High Priest (Zech 3)
Meaning: Israel’s future cleansing from sin and reinstatement as a priestly nation. The first three visions pictured Israel’s external deliverance from Captivity, her expansion, and the material prosperity of the land. However, in the fourth, God is focusing on the internal state of Israel, which is in need of cleansing from sin and reinstatement as a priestly nation and a light to the world. This vision is a bit different from the others in that there are no questions about it from Zechariah, or explanations by the angel. The characters are identifiable and used symbolically. We see Joshua, the son of Johozadak, the high priest who returned with Zerubbabel from Babylon, who is representing the nation of Israel; the Angel of the Lord; Satan, the accuser; the attending angels; and Zechariah, who becomes a vocal participant in the vision.
5. The Gold Lampstand and the Two Olive Trees (Zech 4)
Meaning: Israel as the light to the nations under Messiah, the King-Priest. In this vision, Zechariah saw a gold lampstand with a bowl of oil at the top, from which seven channels continually supplied the seven lights on the lampstand. Then, there were two olive trees standing on each side of the lampstand with two gold pipes that continually supplied golden oil to the bowl.
Zechariah asked the meaning of the lampstand with seven lights, and was told, “These seven are the eyes of the Lord, which range throughout the earth” (v. 10b). And of the olive trees, “These are the two who are anointed to serve the Lord of all the earth” (v. 14). The whole vision is connected to Zerubbabel, the governor of Judah, and the rebuilding of the Temple. The angel says that he would finish the Temple (v. 9) through the abundant supply of the Spirit of God, and then everyone would know that God’s hand was in it. Thus, the oil for the lamp is associated with the Holy Spirit. Jewish sources say that God would shed His light on Israel, in contrast to their present darkness, and this would enable God’s plans to be fulfilled.
6. The Flying Scroll (Zech 5:1-4)
Meaning: The severity and totality of divine judgment on sin in Israel. The last three visions have to do with the administration of judgment on sin in Israel, and on the Gentile nations who have not responded to the God of Israel. In the sixth vision, Zechariah saw a flying scroll, 30 feet long and 15 feet wide. Interestingly, it is the exact dimensions of the tabernacle, perhaps indicating that the message on it was in harmony with God’s presence in the midst of Israel. The scroll was not rolled up, but flying open so that both sides could be read.
The angel explained to him what it meant: “This is the curse that is going out over the whole land; for according to what it says on one side, every thief will be banished, and according to what it says on the other, everyone who swears falsely will be banished. … It will enter the house of the thief and the house of him who swears falsely by My Name. It will remain in his house and destroy it” (Zech. 5:3-4).
7. The Woman in a Basket (Zech 5:5-11)
Meaning: The removal of national Israel’s sin or rebellion against God. In this vision, Zechariah saw an ephah, which is a measuring basket for grain and other household commodities. The basket represented “the iniquity of the people throughout the land.” (v. 6). When the lid was lifted, inside the basket sat a woman. The angel said that the woman represented wickedness, and he pushed the wickedness back into the basket and shut the lid (v. 8). This is not to suggest that women are wicked. Rather, the Hebrew word for wickedness is in the feminine form, and the “woman” was wickedness personified. Then, Zechariah saw two women with the wind in their wings like a stork, and they lifted the basket up into the air between heaven and earth.When Zechariah asked where the basket was being taken, he was told: “To the country of Babylonia to build a house for it” (Zech. 5:11). Babylon is the place of ancient and future idolatry and rebellion against God, so an apt location for the removal of idolatry from Israel. Putting wickedness and idolatry back in Babylon also sets the stage for her final judgment (Rev. 17-18).
8. Four Chariots (Zech 6:1-8)
Meaning: Divine judgment on Gentile nations. Then Zechariah saw four chariots coming out from between two bronze mountains. In this instance, the bronze mountains could symbolize the righteous, divine judgment of God against sin (Rev. 1:15; 2:18) meted out by chariots of war going out into the world. The first chariot had red horses, the second black, the third white, and the fourth dappled ¬ all of them powerful. It has been suggested that the colors represent: red = war and bloodshed, black = death, white = triumph, and dappled = pestilence.
The angel told him that: “These are the four spirits of heaven, going out from standing in the presence of the Lord of the whole world. The one with the black horses is going toward the north country, the one with the white horse towards the west, and the one with the dappled horses toward the south” (Zech. 6:5-6). They were sent throughout the world. The four spirits of heaven may refer to angels of divine judgment or to the power of God to accomplish His judicial purpose. The phrase, “the Lord of the whole world,” connotes a Messianic phrase when Messiah will exact universal rule from Zion.
Zechariah 10:4. What Is the Meaning of the Symbols As They Relate to Judah? “Out of them is repeated four times in this verse. Judah will provide the corner-stone for security. In Is. 28:16 this is a figure for the Davidic king. The tent peg, or nail, was the hooked peg built into a wall to hold the implements of war as well as the household utensils. This is the attribute of reliability (cf. Is. 22:23). The battle bow refers to effective power in leadership (cf.Ho. 1:5). Every ruler (lit. ‘oppressor’); usually the word is employed in a bad sense, but here it is used positively. Their prince-leader will not oppress by unjust taxation or impose crushing burdens too great for the poor to bear, but will exact tribute from their vanquished enemies. Oesterly ascribed the above titles to Simon, Judas, and Jonathan Maccabeus, but each one of the four is undoubtedly Messianic. The ultimate reference is to the Lion of the tribe of Judah, by whose aid His people will conquer every foe.” (Guthrie and Motyer, New Bible Commentary, p. 796.)
(33-37) Zechariah 11. Armageddon
Zechariah 11–13 deals with the battle of Armageddon and its attendant horrors. Ezekiel also referred to this battle (see Ezekiel 38–39). This battle will take place before the Second Coming of the Savior. Zechariah 11 is a preface to chapters 12–13, in which Zechariah prophesied of the battle of Armageddon.

(33-38) Zechariah 11:1–3. Destruction of the Political Kingdom of Judah
The land of Israel, with all its powerful and glorious creatures, is to become desolate. Now, inasmuch as the desolation of a land also involves the desolation of the people living in the land, and of its institutions, the destruction of the cedars, cypresses, etc., does include the destruction of everything lofty and exalted in the nation and kingdom; so that in this sense the devastation of Lebanon is a figurative representation of the destruction of the Israelitish kingdom, or of the dissolution of the political existence of the ancient covenant nation. This judgment was executed upon the land and people of Israel by the imperial power of Rome. This historical reference is evident from the description which follows of the facts by which this catastrophe is brought to pass.”

Malachi, Malach (Hebrew: מַלְאָכִי,) “Messenger”, writer of the Book of Malachi, the last book of the Neviim (prophets) section in the Jewish Tanakh. He does not directly mention the restoration of the temple. He probably prophesied after Haggai and Zechariah (Malachi 1:10; 3:1, 3:10) and possibly delivered his prophecies about 420 BC, after the second return of Nehemiah from Persia (Book of Nehemiah13:6),
Malachi 1:1. Little is known of the life of Malachi, apart from what can be learned in his book. Malachi lived after the prophets Haggai and Zechariah and is believed to have been a contemporary of Nehemiah. The book was probably written about four hundred years before the birth of Christ. Lehi and his family left Jerusalem in 600 B.C., nearly two hundred years before the time of Malachi. The Nephites, therefore, could not have obtained the words of Malachi except from the Lord. The plates of Laban could not have contained them.
Malachi 1:2–5. Did the Lord Really “Hate” Esau? The word hated in Hebrew means to be loved less than someone else, not to be disliked with bitter hostility (compare Genesis 29:31). Esau was the brother of Jacob, who became Israel, father of the twelve tribes. So complete was the rejection of the Lord by Esau’s descendants that they came to symbolize to the prophets the wickedness of humanity in general (see D&C 1:36). Before Malachi’s time they were known as Edomites, or Idumeans, and their place of habitation was known as Edom. Esau symbolized the world, Jacob=Israel.
Malachi 1:6–14. Of What Sins Was Ancient Judah Also Guilty and Why? The people of Judah, and particularly the Levites living among them, were polluted and corrupt. As the spiritual sons and servants of the Lord (see v. 6), their offerings to God had become common and worthless.
The priests and Levites of Malachi’s day were mocking God by offering sacrifices to the Lord with sick, blind, and lame animals and calling them acceptable (v. 8). They had no reverence for what they were doing. The Lord told them: “I have no pleasure in you, . . . neither will I accept an offering at your hand” (v. 10). They were selfish and worldly, and not one of them would kindle a fire on the hearth of the altar unless he were paid for it. The Lord had been insulted. The table on which the offering was made was polluted. The offering itself was “contemptible” (v. 12). Such action, Malachi promised, would result in cursing rather than blessing. (Jesus the Christ, p. 21; for the special requirements of a sacrifice under the law of Moses, see Leviticus 22:18–22; Deuteronomy 15:21; 17:1.)
Malachi 2:5–7. What a Priesthood Holder Should Be Like The faithful priesthood bearer is a sincere worshiper. He acts as if he were in the Lord’s presence when upon the Lord’s errand. He is honest in all his dealings with others, and his speech is dignified and appropriate. He walks with the Lord with confidence and assurance and is comfortable in his role of blessing others and leading them into a better way of life. He is a student of the scriptures and has the capacity to teach the words of life to others. “He is the messenger [teacher, tool, representative] of the Lord of hosts” (v. 7).
Malachi 2:8–10. The Lord’s Anger toward Unfaithful Priesthood Bearers In these verses the Lord reminded the priests and Levites that His representatives were men who formerly walked with Him in peace and equity and turned many away from iniquity (see v. 6). He then spelled out the sins of Judah and her priesthood. The latter, for example, had “caused many to stumble at the law” by rendering unjust and immoral decisions, thus bringing them to spiritual destruction and ruin (v. 8). When compared with the instructions to the Levites set forth in Deuteronomy 33:8–11, such conduct falls short of God’s intended standard. For this reason they were contemptible to the people rather than loved by them as the Lord had intended (see vv. 8–9).
Malachi 2:11–17. Of What Sins Was Judah Guilty? As a result of the failure of the priests to judge and lead in righteousness, Judah had fallen once again into a serious sin. She “hath profaned the holiness of the Lord which he loved, and hath married the daughter of a strange God” (Malachi 2:11). This passage calls to mind again the often used figure in the Old Testament of the husband (Jehovah) and the wife (Judah/Israel). As solemn a bond or covenant exists between Jehovah and Israel as exists between a husband and his wife. But Judah had chosen another partner, “the daughter of a strange God,” meaning that Judah had formed a temporal or spiritual alliance with a nation that did not regard Jehovah as the Lord of heaven.
Malachi 3:1. Who Was the Messenger Sent to Prepare the Way of the Lord, and Who Was the Messenger of the Covenant? One of the messengers sent to prepare the way of the Lord at His first coming was John the Baptist. John’s mission was performed in the spirit and power of the priesthood of Elias (see Luke 1:17). Elias is a name for a forerunner, one who goes before or prepares the way for someone or something greater. In that sense the Aaronic Priesthood is the priesthood of Elias because it prepares and qualifies individuals for greater blessings.
Joseph Smith explained: “The spirit of Elias is to prepare the way for a greater revelation of God, which is the Priesthood of Elias, or the Priesthood that Aaron was ordained unto. And when God sends a man into the world to prepare for a greater work, holding the keys of the power of Elias, it was called the doctrine of Elias, even from the early ages of the world.Joseph Smith was also an Elias in that he was a forerunner, one who prepared the way, who laid the foundation for the Second Coming through the restoration of the gospel.
In the meridian of time the way was prepared by John for the Messenger of the Covenant Himself to come and bring the greater blessings (see Matthew 3:1–3, 11–12). He who was mightier than John and followed after him to baptize with fire and the Holy Ghost was Jesus Christ, the Son of God. He is called the Messenger of the Covenant because He mediates the gospel of salvation unto men.
“This sudden latter-day appearance in the temple does not have reference to his appearance at the great and dreadful day, for that coming will be when he sets his foot upon the Mount of Olivet in the midst of the final great war. The temple appearance was fulfilled, in part at least, by his return to the Kirtland Temple on April 3, 1836; and it may well be that he will come again, suddenly, to others of his temples, more particularly that which will be erected in Jackson County, Missouri.
(34-9) Malachi 3:2. “Who May Abide the Day of His Coming?” The Lord’s return to earth in glory will be a great and dreadful day. As John the Baptist told the Jews, the Savior will gather in the wheat (the righteous), and the chaff (the wicked) He will burn with “unquenchable fire” (Matthew 3:12). The only ones who survive will be those who have kept their covenants with the Lord or who are worthy of at least a paradisiacal, or terrestrial, glory. All wickedness will be destroyed from the earth.
Malachi 3:3–6. What Is the Offering in Righteousness to Be Made by the Sons of Levi? There is more than one meaning for the “offering in righteousness” to be made by the sons of Levi at or near the Second Coming of the Lord.
Malachi 3:7–9. “Will a Man Rob God?” At this point the Lord, through Malachi, engaged Judah in a series of questions and answers. He said they have strayed from His ordinances, and He begs them to return. “Wherein shall we return?” they ask (v. 7). He replies that they have robbed Him, even God. Again they question, “Wherein have we robbed thee?” to which He replies, “In tithes and offerings” (v. 8). Therefore, He says, they “are cursed with a curse” (v. 9). Ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house.’
Malachi 3:10–12. Blessings for Paying Tithes To Israel, ancient and modern, the Lord promised to “open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it” (v. 10). All material and spiritual things are His to give as He sees fit. Included in His “blessings from heaven” are revelations from Him in one’s personal life. All blessings are, of course, conditional (see D&C 82:10;130:21; 132:5). He desires to bless His faithful children abundantly (see 1 Corinthians 2:9).
“The devourer” may mean locusts and other pests to agriculture, but it may refer to Satan as well. The Lord promised that the fruits of the ground and vine will not come forth ahead of their time when they would be of little or no value. The implication is that our efforts to provide for ourselves would be blessed and bear fruit in their season. Because of the blessings that will come to the faithful, they will be recognized by the world around them, both individually and as a people.
Malachi 3:13–15. Is It Vain to Serve the Lord? One truth about covenant relationships is that both parties must observe their promises in order to keep the covenant in force. Sometimes when those lacking faith lose promised blessings, they blame the Lord (see D&C 58:29–33). But the Lord is God; He never breaks a promise (see D&C 82:10).The difficulty, as described by Malachi, is that the critics of the Lord have twisted the truth. They question the profit stemming from observing the ordinances of the Lord and maintain that “it is vain to serve God” (v. 14). They see inequity when the wicked prosper and those who work evil are elevated, and they blame the Lord for permitting such things to exist. Thus, their words of criticism are “stout” against the Lord (v. 13).
Malachi 3:16–18. What Is the “Book of Remembrance”? Those who devote themselves to the Lord earn for themselves the privilege of having their names recorded in the Lamb’s book of life. This sacred “book of remembrance” (v. 16) is kept in heaven and contains the names of the faithful children of Father in Heaven, or, in other words, those who are His precious jewels. (See D&C 128:6–7; Psalm 69:28; Revelation 3:5; 21:27.) They are those who will inherit eternal life, for this book contains “the names of the sanctified, even them of the celestial world” (D&C 88:2). Those whose names are written there and who afterwards return to sinful ways will have their names blotted from the book (see Revelation 13:8; 17:8; 22:19).
(34-17) Malachi 4:5–6. What Is the Great Work Elijah Commenced? This earth has a destiny. Its purpose is to provide a place for people to work out their eternal salvation before the Lord. Part of that salvation depends on their acquiring the necessary ordinances, in righteousness, that will seal them to God and to each other for time and all eternity. But the ordinances are not for the living only. Otherwise, billions would have been denied these blessings simply because the necessary priesthood power was not available in the time or place they lived.
Joseph Smith was told by Moroni that Elijah would come. Moroni mentioned the “promises made to the fathers” (JS—H 1:39) in ancient times. These promises, Moroni said, would assist in turning the hearts of the children to their fathers. President Joseph Fielding Smith wrote: “What was the promise made to the fathers that was to be fulfilled in the latter-days by the turning of the hearts of the children to their fathers? It was the promise of the Lord made through Enoch, Isaiah, and the prophets, to the nations of the earth, that the time should come when the dead should be redeemed. And the turning of the hearts of the children is fulfilled in the performing of the vicarious temple work and in the preparation of their genealogies.” (Doctrines of Salvation,2:154.)
Elijah came to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery in fulfillment of the Lord’s promise recorded by Malachi. His visit occurred on 3 April 1836 in the Kirtland Temple. The priesthood keys Elijah brought were the sealing powers of the Melchizedek Priesthood, the means whereby that which is bound and sealed on the earth is also bound and sealed in the heavens. (See D&C 110:13–16.)
Commenting on the meaning of turning hearts, Joseph Smith said: “Now, the word turn here should be translated bind, or seal. But what is the object of this important mission? or how is it to be fulfilled? The keys are to be delivered, the spirit of Elijah is to come, the Gospel to be established, the Saints of God gathered, Zion built up, and the Saints to come up as saviors on Mount Zion.” (Teachings, p. 330.)
Some of the lessons and insights that make a careful study of the Old Testament not only meaningful but critical are—
1. The testimony of the existence of God.
2. The record of the beginnings of mankind as a divine race placed on the earth for eternal purposes.
3. The importance of establishing a covenant relationship with God.
4. The history and purpose of the establishment of the elect lineage through which the priesthood would be restored and the blessings of the gospel extended to all in the last days.
5. The revelation of a divine law upon which civil and criminal codes of many nations would be built.
6. The knowledge that God intervenes directly in the lives of men and nations and that through Him many are divinely led, directed, and protected.
7. The blessings of obedience to the laws of God and faith in His name.
8. The consequences of disobedience and rebellion against God and His laws.
9. The corruption that results from any form of idolatry and the reasons for the commandments of the Lord against it.
10. The need to live and endure throughout mortality in obedience to God’s laws, even though suffering and pain and persecution may come.
11. The way by which the Saints can escape the corruptions and resulting judgments of the last days.
12. The promises of a literal gathering of Israel in the last days and a time of restoration and redemption for Israel.
13. The greatness and the dreadfulness of the day when the Lord will come in His glory.
14. The testimony that the God of the Old Testament is Jesus Christ and that He came to earth to free us from death and make it possible for us to be freed from sin and thus return to the presence of God the Father.

The Last Recorded Prophet in Old Testament Israel
For years Israel had denied, dishonored, persecuted, fought, and rebelled against the prophets. Malachi was the last of the true prophets in Israel in the Old Testament period of whom we have a record. God had desired that this nation be holy, His peculiar treasure. Upon them He had promised to heap His riches, glory, and power: “I will abundantly bless her provision: I will satisfy her poor with bread. I will also clothe her priests with salvation: and her saints shall shout aloud for joy.” (Psalm 132:15–16.) Not only this, but He desired to have them sufficiently pure that He could make their cities His place of habitation. They were to become Zion, where the Lord declared He would make His abode forever. (See Psalm 132:13–14.) By rejecting the prophets, Israel forfeited the promises and potential of becoming like Enoch’s people.

After the Babylonian exile, the Jewish nation zealously taught and practiced the law and gathered and preserved the words of the prophets. This in itself was good, but by the time of Christ, the learning of scribes gained precedence over continuing revelation, and the oral tradition in many cases had come to overshadow the law. The temptation for the Jews during this period was to honor dead prophets over living ones. Dead prophets do not have power to say “no,” any more than did the false gods worshiped by the Israelites in earlier times. Dead prophets call only past generations to repentance, or so it seems to those who reject the living ones.

The word of God to dead prophets can be falsified, misinterpreted, and bent to where it has lost its power to bring people to the Lord. Individuals are able to maintain a false sense of piety and righteousness even as they reject the living oracles. Christ criticized the people of His day for building the tombs of the prophets (Luke 11:48), and Samuel the Lamanite called the Book of Mormon people to repentance for the same sin (see Helaman 13:25–27).

The men who guided Israel during the period of Persian domination, unlike Moses, did not derive their authority from divine revelation but from the commission of a foreign emperor. A human king gave status and authority to the Torah, encouraged its codification, and threatened any offender of Mosaic precepts with fines, banishment, or death. In this way the law of Moses was established and made known to, even imposed upon, all Jewry under foreign rule. Unfortunately, the human hand by itself can preserve only the letter of the law.

Being a part of the empires of the day was a blessing for physical, if not spiritual, Israel. Throughout Israel’s history the sedentary Israelites were continually pressured by the Arabic and Aramean nomads. The power of the Persian, and later the Greek, armies preserved the security of the Jewish population during those periods when the nation was too weak to defend itself. Had Judah not been part of the gentile empires, the nomads might have overwhelmed the inhabitants of Judea. They could have pushed the Jews into the sea. Thus, as in so many other things, the centuries of subjection brought Israel both blessings and problems.

The Rise of the Scribes
When Judah returned from exile in Babylon, they brought back with them a number of things that were not a part of their original beliefs. If one of these things could be picked out to typify all the rest and symbolize what they meant, it would be the scribes. The scribes were originally educated men who made their livelihood keeping the records of the empire or as copyists of the scriptures.

These they studied diligently, both to detect scribal errors and to understand the scriptures’ meaning. Eventually their role expanded. Not only did they supply copies of the scriptures to the growing number of synagogues, but they also became teachers of the law. As long as Israel had prophets, the scribes remained teachers and copyists. But when the prophetic voice ceased in Israel, these experts in the law of Moses began to fill the vacuum.

“Once the true prophet has been duly rejected and passed to his reward, swarms of experts descend upon his words to begin the learned business of exegesis [drawing meaning out of the written word]. The words of the dead prophets become the peculiar possession of armies of specially trained and carefully conditioned scholars.”
A major factor contributing to the escalation of the power of the scribes was the shift of the common language of the people from Hebrew to Aramaic. Though a sister tongue, Aramaic was still sufficiently different that it made the Hebrew of the scriptures hard to understand. So, the people had to rely on the scholars for their information and understanding. The titles the scribes took upon themselves reflected their growing importance: lawyers, doctors, elders, and rabbis. It should not be surprising that there was no unity of interpretation among these scholars.

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The books of the Bible do not fall into chronological order. Their position is determined usually by whether they are historical or prophetic books. The books of Ezra and Nehemiah were originally part of a compilation that included 1 and 2 Chronicles. Ezra 1:1–3 and 2 Chronicles 36:22–23 and are almost identical.

The books of Ezra and Nehemiah are actually the last two historical books of the Old Testament. Zechariah and Haggai were prophets during this same period. Malachi is the only prophet known to have served in Israel between the time of Ezra and Nehemiah and the beginning of the New Testament.

The books of Ezra and Nehemiah tell the story of Israel’s history from the first return to Jerusalem until the end of Nehemiah’s second term as governor of Judah (538 B.C. to shortly before 400 B.C.). The first part is the telling of the first return of exiles in the first year of Cyrus the Great(538 BC) and the completion and dedication of the new Temple in Jerusalem in the sixth year of Darius (515 BC). The second part is the telling of the subsequent mission of Ezra to Jerusalem and his struggle to purify the Jews from what the book calls the sin of marriage with non-Jews.

Ezra is written to fit a schematic pattern in which the God of Israel inspires a king of Persia to commission a leader from the Jewish community to carry out a mission; three successive leaders carry out three such missions, (1 rebuilding the Temple(2 purifying the Jewish community, (3 sealing of the holy city itself behind a wall. (This last mission, that of Nehemiah, is not part of the Book of Ezra.) The book probably appeared in its earliest version around 400 BC, and continued to be revised and edited for several centuries after before being accepted as scriptural in the early Christian era.

Basic Structure of Book of Ezra:
1. Decree of Cyrus, first version: Cyrus, inspired by God, returns the Temple vessels to Sheshbazzar, “prince of Judah”, and directs the Israelites to return to Jerusalem with him and rebuild the Temple.
2. 42,360 exiles, with men servants, women servants and “singing men and women”, return from Babylon to Jerusalem and Judah under the leadership of Zerubbabel and Jeshua the High Priest.
3. Jeshua the High Priest and Zerubbabel build the altar and celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. In the second year the foundations of the Temple are laid and the dedication takes place with great rejoicing.
4. Letter of the Samaritans to Artaxerxes, and reply of Artaxerxes: The “enemies of Judah and Benjamin” offer to help with the rebuilding, but are rebuffed; they then work to

frustrate the builders “down to the reign of Darius.” The officials of Samaria write to king Artaxerxes warning him that Jerusalem is being rebuilt, and the king orders the work to stop. “Thus the work on the house of God in Jerusalem came to a standstill until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.”
5. Tattenai’s letter to Darius: Through the exhortations of the prophets Haggai and Zechariah, Zerubbabel and Joshua recommence the building of the Temple. Tattenai, satrap over both Judah and Samaria, writes to Darius warning him that Jerusalem is being rebuilt and advising that the archives be searched to discover the decree of Cyrus.
6. Decree of Cyrus, second version, and decree of Darius: Darius finds the decree, directs Tattenai not to disturb the Jews in their work, and exempts them from tribute and supplies everything necessary for the offerings. The Temple is finished in the month of Adar in the sixth year of Darius, and the Israelites assemble to celebrate its completion.
7. Letter of Artaxerxes to Ezra (Artaxerxes’ rescript): King Artaxerxes is moved by God to commission Ezra “to inquire about Judah and Jerusalem with regard to the Law of your God” and to “appoint magistrates and judges to administer justice to all the people of Trans-Euphrates—all who know the laws of your God.” Artaxerxes gives Ezra much gold and directs all Persian officials to aid him.
8. Ezra gathers a large body of returnees and much gold and silver and precious vessels for the Temple and camps by a canal outside Babylon. There he discovers he has no Levites, and so sends messengers to gather some. The exiles then return to Jerusalem, where they distribute the gold and silver and offer sacrifices to God.
9. Ezra is informed that some of the Jews already in Jerusalem have married non-Jewish women. Ezra is appalled at this proof of sin, and prays to God: “O God of Israel, you are righteous! We are left this day as a remnant. Here we are before you in our guilt, though because of it not one of us can stand in your presence.”
10. Despite the opposition of some of their number, the Israelites assemble and send away their foreign wives and children.

The contents of Ezra-Nehemiah are structured in a theological rather than chronological order: The Temple must come first, then the purifying of the community, then the building of the outer walls of the city, and so finally all could reach a grand climax in the reading of the law.

Ezra 2:64–65 indicates that approximately fifty thousand people made the first trip back to Jerusalem. Ezra 1:4 tells of the responsibilities of the Jews who remained in Babylonia. By far, most of the expatriated Jews chose not to return to Jerusalem at this time, a decision that indicates how well they had been absorbed into the Babylonian way of life.

Zerubbabel was a descendant of Jehoiachin, the king who was carried away captive into Babylon, which descent means he was of the royal Davidic line. Zerubbabel was also an ancestor of Jesus Christ (see Matthew 1:12; Zorobabel is the Greek form). Zerubbabel was governor of Judah (see Haggai 2:2). The second temple in Jerusalem is often called the temple of Zerubbabel. Haggai and Zechariah prophesied favorably about the role and trustworthiness of Zerubbabel (see Haggai 2:4, 21–23; Zechariah 4:6–9).

Jeshua, the high priest, and Zerubbabel, the governor, cooperated to direct the rebuilding of the temple. The reconstruction began with the very heart of Israel’s religious facilities, the altar of the temple, which was placed on the very site where the temple formerly had stood. The altar was necessary so that worship and sacrifice could begin again according to the pattern laid down by Moses (see Leviticus 1–7). The altar was made ready for the sacrifices of the week of Succoth (feast of Tabernacles) and for other high holy days.
At the final captivity of Israel by Shalmaneser, the cities of Samaria were depopulated of their inhabitants in B.C. 721, and they remained in this desolated state until, in the words of 2 Kings 17:24, ‘the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Ava (Ivah, 2 Kings 18:34), and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel: and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the cities thereof.’ Thus the new Samaritans were Assyrians by birth or subjugation.
The Assyrian foreigners were idolaters and had no desire to serve Jehovah or worship rightfully in the temple. Later when these foreign Samaritans intermarried with some of the Israelites, both a mixed race of Samaritans and a variant form of the worship of Jehovah developed. Such were the circumstances in the New Testament times. This variant religion was heavily intermingled with pagan and other unauthorized religious practices, which the Jews saw as highly offensive. When Zerubbabel refused their help, the Samaritans were understandably angry and sought revenge by writing to the king of Persia and accusing the Jews of rebellion.
The Hand of the Lord Intervened in the Building of the Temple. After many years, prophets of God appeared in Jerusalem to provide the inspired direction and incentive to continue the temple building. In the first year of the reign of King Darius, the prophet Daniel petitioned the Lord about Jeremiah’s prophecy of the seventy years (see Daniel 9:1–2).

Zerubbabel had returned to Jerusalem about sixteen years previously and had been frustrated in his temple building project. Daniel 9:17–19 shows Daniel’s prayerful concern for the sanctuary (temple) and the city Jerusalem. The Lord answered Daniel and raised up two prophets in Jerusalem: Haggai and Zechariah. Haggai 1:1–5, 12–14; Zechariah 4:9; and Ezra 6:14 show how these two prophets inspired Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the people to complete the holy temple in spite of persecution, hard times, and governmental red tape, much as prophets in this dispensation have inspired the Saints to sacrifice much to build temples.
“The second temple in Jerusalem was completed in 516 B.C., exactly seventy years after the temple was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 B.C. Thus, Jeremiah’s prophecy was fulfilled (see Jeremiah 29:10–14).
“It is known in history as the Temple of Zerubbabel. In general plan it was patterned after the Temple of Solomon, though in many of its dimensions it exceeded its prototype. The court was divided into a section for priests only and another for the public; according to Josephus the division was effected by a wooden railing.
“An altar of unhewn stone was erected in place of the great brazen altar of old. The Holy Place was graced by but one candlestick instead of ten; and by a single table for the shew-bread instead of the ten tables overlaid with gold which stood in the first Temple. We read also of a golden altar of incense, and of some minor appurtenances. The Most Holy Place was empty, for the Ark of the Covenant had not been known after the people had gone into captivity.
“In many respects the Temple of Zerubbabel appeared poor in comparison with its splendid predecessor and in certain particulars, indeed, it ranked lower than the ancient Tabernacle of the Congregation—the sanctuary of the nomadic tribes. Critical scholars specify the following features characteristic of the Temple of Solomon and lacking in the Temple of Zerubbabel:
(1) the Ark of the Covenant; (2) the sacred fire; (3) the Shekinah, or glory of the Lord, manifested of old as the Divine Presence; (4) the Urim and Thummim, by which Jehovah made plain His will to the priests of the Aaronic order; (5) the genius or spirit of prophecy, indicative of the closest communion between mortals and their God. Notwithstanding these differences the Temple of Zerubbabel was recognized of God and was undoubtedly the site or seat of Divine revelation to duly constituted prophets.” (Talmage, House of the Lord, pp. 42–43.)
It was the temple of Zerubbabel that King Herod refurbished and made very beautiful. He added many courtyards and surrounding buildings that made it one of the wonders of the world at the time of Jesus.
Book of Nehemiah – Told largely in the form of a first-person memoir, it concerns the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem by Nehemiah, a Jew who is a high official at the Persian court, and the dedication of the city and its people to God’s laws (Torah).The events take place in the second half of the 5th century BC, and together with the Book of Ezra, it represents the final chapter in the historical narrative of the Hebrew Bible.

The book tells how Nehemiah, at the court of the king in Susa, is informed that Jerusalem is without walls and resolves to restore them. The king appoints him as governor of Judah and he travels to Jerusalem. There he rebuilds the walls, despite the opposition of Israel’s enemies, and reforms the community in conformity with the law of Moses. After 12 years in Jerusalem, he returns to Susabut subsequently revisits Jerusalem. He finds that the Israelites have been backsliding and taking non-Jewish wives, and he stays in Jerusalem to enforce the Law.
Little is known about the background of Nehemiah except that he was a Jew born while the Jews were in exile. His age is not given, but it is likely that he was born after Cyrus had decreed the Jews could return to their homeland. Only a small number of the Jews in exile chose to return. Nehemiah’s family must have been one of those that did not. They were probably of some influence, since Nehemiah was the cupbearer to King Artaxerxes ( Nehemiah 2:1). Assassination was a constant threat to a king, and poisoned food or drink was one of the most effective ways to accomplish it. The cupbearer, the one who ensured that the king’s food and drink were safe, was in a position of great trust and responsibility. Even though he was in Persia enjoying power and importance, Nehemiah had not forgotten his people and homeland. When he heard of their sad condition, he fasted and prayed for his people.
Nehemiah 2:1–11. The King Sent Nehemiah to Jerusalem The favor in which Nehemiah was held by King Artaxerxes is evident not only in that he granted him permission to return but also in that he gave him guards, an escort, and a safe conduct through the lands on his return to Judah “beyond the river,” or west of the Euphrates. The king also granted him permission to use timber from the royal forests to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem as well as the gates and his own house.
The names of the families assigned to repair the walls and gates are given in Nehemiah 3. But the leaders of the surrounding communities were angry that the Jews were fortifying Jerusalem and resuming their former religious practices. Sanballat, the governor of Samaria, was especially angry. But the plan they laid to attack and prevent the repair of the walls, now about halfway up (see Nehemiah 4:6), was frustrated by Nehemiah, who had those who guarded and

those who labored arm themselves by day and by night (see vv. 21–22). Nehemiah’s encouragement to the Jews to defend their families and homes (v. 14) is similar to the charge Moroni gave in the Book of Mormon (see Alma 43:46–47; 46:12).
Nehemiah’s true greatness shines forth in these verses. One of the reasons the Jews were still in great poverty was the unrighteous oppression of the people by their previous rulers. Nehemiah could have glutted himself in the same manner, but instead he became angry about the over taxation (the king’s tribute), usury (interest), slavery, and the confiscation of private property.
Although his predecessors “were chargeable unto the people” (Nehemiah 5:15) or, in other words, laid a heavy burden upon the people, Nehemiah showed his greatness as the governor by not accepting a salary from the taxes of the people. He was wealthy and chose to serve without remuneration.
The righteous kings in the Book of Mormon had the same sense of public morality and worked for their livelihood rather than burdening their people (see Mosiah 2:14; 29:40).
Nehemiah 6. What Was the Importance of the Wall? Sanballat tried to lure Nehemiah into some “mischief” (Nehemiah 6:2) through an invitation for negotiations, but Nehemiah was not deceived. In fact, he was not even intimidated by Sanballat’s threat to report a Jewish rebellion to King Artaxerxes.
The wall was finished in fifty-two days (see v. 15), and watches were set to protect those who lived in the city. The walls were a protection, but they were also an important physical symbol of the establishment of the Jews as a people. The holy city became a unifying force as families were chosen by lot to come live in it (see Nehemiah 11:1–2). Sanballat and the other enemies of Judah fully understood the significance of the walls and of Nehemiah’s unifying leadership. That is why their opposition was so persistent.
Nehemiah 7:63–65. What Did It Mean to Be “Put from the Priesthood”? Those who could not trace their genealogy, or who tried to hide it, were denied the priesthood. The same situation was reported in Ezra 2:62. “The Tirshatha” is a title for the governor (see Nehemiah 7:65, 70).
Nehemiah 8:1–12. Establishing the Synagogue and the Feast The reading of the law to the people by Ezra the scribe is of particular importance because it appears to have been the first time a synagogue, or a place to read and expound the scriptures, was established in Jerusalem after the return from Babylon. One Bible scholar commented on verse 8 as follows: “The Israelites, having been lately brought out of the Babylonish captivity, in which they had continued seventy years, according to the prediction of Jeremiah, [25:11], were not only extremely corrupt, but it appears that they had in general lost the knowledge of the ancient Hebrew to such a degree, that when the book of the law was read, they did not understand it: but certain Levites stood by, and gave the sense, i. e., translated into the Chaldee dialect. . . . It appears that the people were not only ignorant of their ancient language, but also of the rites and ceremonies of their religion, having been so long in Babylon, where they were not permitted to observe them. This being the case, not only the language must be interpreted, but the meaning of the rites and ceremonies must also be explained; for we find from ver. 13, &c., of this chapter, that they had even forgotten the feast of tabernacles, and every thing relative to that ceremony.”
Nehemiah 8:10. Care for the Poor Once again, Nehemiah’s great goodness was demonstrated. He did not call for religious observance alone. He called on the people not only to join in a religious feast but to remember the poor, to share their joy in God’s goodness by charitable service.
Nehemiah 8:13–18. Why Did Nehemiah Reestablish the Feast of Tabernacles? Unless one understands the significance of the feast of Tabernacles, it may seem peculiar that Ezra chose this feast as so important. The commandments for its observance are found in Leviticus 23:34–44. Elder Bruce R. McConkie explained its peculiar significance:
“One of the three great feasts at which the attendance of all male Israelites was compulsory, the Feast of Tabernacles, was by all odds Israel’s greatest feast. Coming five days after the Day of Atonement, it was thus celebrated when the sins of the chosen people had been removed and when their special covenant relation to Jehovah had been renewed and restored. Above all other occasions it was one for rejoicing, bearing testimony, and praising the Lord.
In the full sense, it is the Feast of Jehovah, the one Mosaic celebration which, as part of the restitution of all things, shall be restored when Jehovah comes to reign personally upon the earth for a thousand years. Even now we perform one of its chief rituals in our solemn assemblies, the giving of the Hosanna Shout, and the worshipers of Jehovah shall yet be privileged to exult in other of its sacred rituals.
“Also known as the Feast of Booths, because Israel dwelt in booths while in the wilderness, and as the Feast of Ingathering, because it came after the completion of the full harvest, it was a time of gladsome rejoicing and the extensive offering of sacrifices. More sacrifices were offered during the Feast of the Passover than at any other time because a lamb was slain for and eaten by each family or group, but at the Feast of Tabernacles more sacrifices of bullocks, rams, lambs, and goats were offered by the priests for the nation as a whole than at all the other Israelite feasts combined. The fact that it celebrated the completion of the full harvest symbolizes the gospel reality that it is the mission of the house of Israel to gather all nations to Jehovah, a process that is now going forward, but will not be completed until that millennial day when ‘the Lord shall be king over all the earth,’ and shall reign personally thereon. Then shall be fulfilled that which is written: [Zechariah 14:9–21]. That will be the day when the law shall go forth from Zion and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. Manifestly when the Feast of Tabernacles is kept in that day, its ritualistic performances will conform to the new gospel order and not include the Mosaic order of the past.” (The Promised Messiah, pp. 432–33.)

In their new spirit of unity and national pride, the Jews made covenants to marry within Israel (see Nehemiah 10:30); keep the Sabbath (see v. 31); pay the “temple tax” instituted by Moses (see v. 32); make offerings (see vv. 33–35); dedicate the firstborn to the Lord (see v. 36); support the Levites and priests with their tithes (see vv. 37–38); and do all things necessary to sustain the temple (see v. 39). In other words, they covenanted to reestablish obedience to the law of Moses.

Nehemiah 10:38 mentions “the tithes of the tithes.” The Levites were to tithe their own support money for the priests. Originally the temple tax was half a shekel for everyone over twenty years of age (see Exodus 30:13). This amount was reduced to a “third part,” or one third of a shekel. Such offerings were still a practice in the days of Jesus (see Luke 21:1–4).
Nehemiah cleared the synagogues of foreigners (see Nehemiah 13:1–3) and then cleansed the temple of a resident apostate (seevv. 4–9). He enforced controls on buying and selling on the Sabbath (see vv. 14–21) and further advised all Israel to marry wives from among their own people. Here was a man who left a position of great wealth and influence and out of love for God and his people dedicated his life to righteous purposes. Surely Nehemiah will be counted as one of God’s chosen servants.
Nehemiah 13:28–31. What Event Was Recorded in These Verses, and Why Is It Significant? In later times the Samaritans viewed Mount Gerizim as the holy mountain in opposition to the Jews who saw Jerusalem as the sacred place (see John 4:19–22). Although it is not specifically stated, the conflict mentioned here in Nehemiah was what led to the establishment of Mount Gerizim as the holy place of the Samaritans.
“After the return from the Babylonian captivity Gerizim again became a place of importance, as the center of the Samaritan worship. A certain Manasseh, son or grandson of Joiada, a priest in Jerusalem (Neh. 13:28), had married the daughter of Sanballat the Horonite. Refusing to put her away, he was expelled from the priesthood, and took refuge with the Samaritans, among whom, as a member of the high priestly family, he set up upon Mount Gerizim a rival temple and priesthood (John 4:20).”

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Daniel was among those of the first captivity, and he remained in Babylon with many of the other Jews even after most of them had returned to their homeland to rebuild their temple and nation. He was in Babylon serving various kings through the seventy years of the Jewish captivity.
( Jer 25:11; 29:10). Though there is no indication of his age at the time of his captivity, Daniel 1:21 shows that he lived to at least the age of eighty. It was the second year of the king’s reign (2.1).

Daniel 2:5. Did Nebuchadnezzar Really Forget His Remarkable Dream? In the Middle East among oriental people dreams were highly regarded and the interpretation of dreams was very profitable for the magicians and astrologers. However with Nebuchadnezzar’s dream they had a major problem. When he woke from his dream he could not remember it (though In verse 5 the phrase ‘is gone from me’ should probably read ‘is certain with me,’ as the Persian word azda (‘sure’) is used. It troubled him that he could not remember it-he wanted know the dream and have it interpreted. As was the practice the king, he called his magicians, astrologers, sorcerers, and the Chaldeans to an audience and asked them to give him the interpretation of his dream. The Chaldeans were highly regarded priest-magicians who attended to the worship of idols and they represented the gods of Babylon. These wise men were probably very pleased to have been called before the king and were anticipating some great opportunity to be rewarded. But they could not interpret it.

Daniel 2:17–19. Daniel and His Companions Preserved Their Lives by Obtaining Revelation from God. The response of Daniel and his friends at a time when their lives were in danger because of the king’s sentence on all the wise men illustrates that faith in Heavenly Father will harness the powers of the universe to serve you in your hour of need in the solution of problems too great for your human strength or intelligence.

Daniel testified that “there is a God in heaven” (Daniel 2:28), and it was by the power of that God that the secret of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream was made known. The Revelation of the Coming Millennial Kingdom (2:44-45). Daniel then reveals that God will set up a new and eternal kingdom which shall not be destroyed. The scope of this kingdom will be global – include all the peoples of the earth, consume all the fallible kingdoms of men and twice in this verse it is declared to be eternal.

Nebuchadnezzar’s attention at this point in Daniel’s interpretation is again focus on the stone that was supernaturally cut out of a mountain. This great stone will break into pieces all the previous empires.

Daniel 2:28. Did Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream Pertain Only to the “Latter Days”?
The inspired interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream that Daniel gave made it clear that the fulfillment of the king’s dream would begin in the immediate future. Daniel said to Nebuchadnezzar, “Thou art this head of gold” (v. 38). The dream revealed events that would take place over a long span of time. The culmination, however, was to take place in the last days. The Hebrew word that was used, achariyt (ah khar eet), means “last or end.

Daniel 2:31–45. What Were the Kingdoms Represented in Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream?
History certifies to the fact that King Nebuchadnezzar was the head of gold. The Medes and Persians, an inferior kingdom to Babylon, were the arms and breast of silver. The Macedonian kingdom, under Alexander the Great, was the belly and thighs of brass; and the Roman kingdom under the Caesars was the legs of iron. Later on the empire of Rome was divided. The head of the government in one division was at Rome and the head of the government in the other division was at Constantinople. So these two great divisions represented the legs of iron. Finally, the Roman empire was broken up into smaller kingdoms, represented by the feet and toes of iron and clay.”

“With the history of the world delineated in brief, now came the real revelation. Daniel said: “‘And in the days of these kings [that is, the group of European nations] shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed . . .

“This is a revelation concerning the history of the world, when one world power would supersede another until there would be numerous smaller kingdoms to share the control of the earth. And it was in the days of these kings that power would not be given to men, but the God of heaven would set up a kingdom—the kingdom of God upon the earth, which should never be destroyed nor left to other people.

“The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was restored in 1830 after numerous revelations from the divine source; and this is the kingdom, set up by the God of heaven, that would never be destroyed nor superseded, and the stone cut out of the mountain without hands that would become a great mountain and would fill the whole earth.” SW Kimball

Daniel 2:44–45. How Is It That the Kingdom Set Up by God Will Consume the Other Kingdoms? Section 65 of the Doctrine and Covenants tells of the fulfillment of the rest of Daniel’s prophecy. The Prophet Joseph Smith prayed that the ecclesiastical kingdom of God, which was established on the earth in his day, might roll forth that the future kingdom of heaven might come. “During the millennium the kingdom of God will continue on earth, but in that day it will be both an ecclesiastical and a political kingdom. That is, the Church (which is the kingdom) will have the rule and government of the world given to it.” (Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, p. 416.)

Daniel 7:9–14. Daniel Saw Adam, or the “Ancient of Days,” and Also Christ Taking His Rightful Place As King over the Earth Daniel’s vision continued until he saw “thrones . . . cast down” (v 7:9), that is, until the worldly governments lost their dominion (vv. 12, 14, 18, 27). He then saw the establishment of the kingdom of heaven with Christ at its head. This kingdom would rule “all people, nations, and languages” forever (v. 14). Latter-day revelation teaches that eventually all worldly kingdoms will come to an end in preparation for the millennial Zion (see D&C 87:6). This seems to be what Daniel saw.
In an address to the Twelve Apostles, the Prophet Joseph Smith explained the name “Ancient of Days”: “Daniel in his seventh chapter speaks of the Ancient of Days; he means the oldest man, our Father Adam, Michael, he will call his children together and hold a council with them to prepare them for the coming of the Son of Man. He (Adam) is the father of the human family, and presides over the spirits of all men, and all that have had the keys must stand before him in this grand council. This may take place before some of us leave this stage of action. The Son of Man stands before him, and there is given him glory and dominion. Adam delivers up his stewardship to Christ, that which was delivered to him as holding the keys of the universe, but retains his standing as head of the human family.” (Teachings, p. 157.)
Daniel 7:13–14. What Will Happen at the Great Gathering at Adam-ondi-Ahman? President Joseph Fielding Smith explained the teachings of Daniel about the great priesthood gathering to be held at Adam-ondi-Ahman (Adam in the presence of Christ): “Daniel speaks of the coming of Christ, and that day is near at hand. There will be a great gathering in the Valley of Adam-ondi-Ahman; there will be a great council held. The Ancient of Days, who is Adam, will sit. The judgment—not the final judgment—will be held, where the righteous who have held keys will make their reports and deliver up their keys and ministry. Christ will come, and Adam will make his report. At this council Christ will be received and acknowledged as the rightful ruler of the earth. Satan will be replaced. Following this event every government in the world . . . will have to become part of the government of God. Then righteous rule will be established. The earth will be cleansed; the wicked will be destroyed; and the reign of peace will be ushered in.” (Doctrines of Salvation, 3:13–14; see also D&C 78:15–16; 107:53–57; 116; Smith,Teachings, pp. 122, 158.)
Daniel 7:18, 22, 27. The Saints Will Possess the Kingdom Daniel taught that the Saints will possess the kingdom after the Lord returns to take His rightful place at the head of that kingdom. It is necessary, however, for the Saints to prepare themselves to take possession of the kingdom.
Daniel 8. What Was the Significance of Daniel’s Vision of the Ram and the He-Goat? Though much of what Daniel saw in this vision is now history, it is not part of the Old Testament. Most of what he recorded in this chapter was fulfilled between 500 B.C. and the time of Christ, a period with few Old Testament writings describing it. This history is summarized in Enrichment K.
The vision in Daniel 8 focuses on the second and third empires spoken of in Daniel 7. The two-horned ram symbolized the Median-Persian Empire, and the horns (Daniel 8:3) represented the kings of Media and Persia (see verse 20). The one horn which came up last and was higher than the other represented the Persians, who finally dominated the alliance and assumed power over the Medians. The goat that came and “smote the ram, . . . brake his two horns . . . [and] cast him down to the ground” (v. 7) signified Alexander the Great and his Greek Empire. (The word choler used in verse 7 means “anger” or “wrath.”)
Alexander himself fit the description of the “great horn” (verse 21). At age thirty-two, Alexander died in the height of his power. “When he was strong, the great horn was broken” (v. 8). After he died, his four chief generals carved up the empire, and they seem to be the four notable horns that came up instead of the one (see vv. 8, 22). The “little horn” (v. 9) that came from one of them has generally been interpreted to represent Antiochus IV (Epiphanes), who ruled Syria 175–164 B.C.
He persecuted the Jews bitterly, declaring observance of the Mosaic law to be a capital offense. Though Antiochus IV may fit the conditions described in the prophecy, he seems to have been a type of those who function through the power of Satan and seek to “cast down” the “stars of heaven” (the children of God— Job 38:7; Isaiah 14:13;Revelation 12:4) and seek to “magnify” themselves against the “Prince of princes” (Daniel 8:25), who is Christ. Antiochus IV took away the daily sacrifice of the temple and cast down the place of the Lord’s sanctuary. Similar events occurred during the Roman era after the coming of Christ.
“Now, in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgression of the Jewish nation was come to the full, the Roman power destroyed the Jewish nation, took Jerusalem, caused the daily sacrifice to cease, and not only that but afterwards destroyed the mighty and holy people, that is, the apostles and primitive Christians, who were slain by the authorities of Rome”. Parley P. Pratt
That this prophecy refers to more than just the time up through the Maccabean period is also indicated by two phrases in Daniel 8:19. The phrase “in the last end of the indignation” means “in the latter period of indignation, or in the last days” (Daniel 8:19a). The phrase in verse 26, “it shall be for many days,” means “pertains to many days hereafter” (Daniel 8:26a).
Daniel 8:16. Who Is Gabriel and Why Would He Be Sent to Give Daniel Understanding of His Vision? The messenger sent to Daniel was the ancient prophet Noah. The Prophet Joseph Smith explained the relationship that Noah has to the human family and thus gave great insight into why he was directly associated with events on the earth after his mortal ministry: “The Priesthood was first given to Adam; he obtained the First Presidency, and held the keys of it from generation to generation. He obtained it in the Creation, before the world was formed, as in Gen. 1:26, 27, 28. He had dominion given him over every living creature. He is Michael the Archangel, spoken of in the Scriptures. Then to Noah, who is Gabriel; he stands next in authority to Adam in the Priesthood; he was called of God to this office, and was the father of all living in his day, and to him was given the dominion. These men held keys first on earth, and then in heaven.” (History of the Church, 3:385–86.)
(28-45) Daniel 9:24–27. Gabriel’s Explanation of the Seventy Weeks The Hebrew word that is commonly translated weeks would more properly be translated sevens. It means a period divided into sevens. The phrase “seventy weeks” thus refers to seventy periods of sevens. These periods of seven could be days, weeks, months, years, or even periods of unspecified duration. Because of this variation, it is difficult to tie Gabriel’s explanation to specific historical time periods, but many attempts have been made to do that, resulting in several differing interpretations of the passage.
Though the time periods mentioned are difficult to identify, the context and several phrases in the passage indicate that the passage has to do with a period in which the salvation of Daniel’s people is to be accomplished. Daniel 9:24 is undoubtedly a reference to the coming of Christ and His Atonement, by which forgiveness of sins and reconciliation to God through repentance would be made possible. By completing the mission His Father sent Him to accomplish, Christ fulfilled the law and the words of the prophets concerning His coming, and thus did He “seal up [make sure] the vision and prophecy” (v. 24). Verse 25 refers to the time between the return of the Jews to rebuild Jerusalem and the coming of the Messiah. Verse 26 makes reference to the Messiah being “cut off, but not for himself,” which seems to be an allusion to His Crucifixion. The rest of the chapter describes the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple and parallels very closely the message of Matthew 24:15 and Joseph Smith’s inspired revision of that verse (see JS—M 1:12). The reference to confirming the covenant for one week (see Daniel 9:27), however, has not been satisfactorily explained and may make problematic the explanation given above.
Daniel 10:5–8. The Appearance of the Lord to Daniel Daniel tried to describe the glory and majesty of the Lord. His description is very much like that given by other prophets in similar circumstances. Compare this passage with Ezekiel 1:26–28; Revelation 1:13–15; D&C 110:2–3.
Being in the presence of the Lord drained Daniel of his strength. Other prophets have also had similar experiences (compare Moses 1:9–10; JS—H 1:20).
Daniel 10:13. Adam and Noah Appeared to Daniel Previous reference has been made to a visitation of Gabriel (Noah) to Daniel (see Notes and Commentary on Daniel 8:16). This chapter refers to Michael, who is Adam (see Smith, Teachings, p. 157).
Daniel 10:13. Who Is the Prince of the Kingdom of Persia? That Adam came to assist the messenger in contending with the prince of the kingdom of Persia suggests that the prince was not a mortal leader in Persia but was the leader of the evil forces that supported the unrighteous dominion of the kingdoms of the world. If that reasoning is correct, then Satan or one of his host is the prince spoken of. Other scriptural passages record instances of Adam’s intervening to support and sustain righteous individuals in contention with Satan (see Jude 1:9; D&C 128:20).
Daniel 10:14. What Did the Messenger Come to Make Daniel Understand? The messenger said that he had come to make Daniel understand what would befall his people “in the latter days.” He also said that the vision was “for many days” (Daniel 10:14). The content of the next two chapters indicates that what was given to Daniel was not an account of the latter days only but was also an account of things from Daniel’s time extending far into the future, including the latter days.
Daniel 11:1–45. Daniel’s Vision of Successive Kings, Wars, and Conflicts It is clear from the sketchy way in which the prophecy deals with the events of the time period covered in this chapter that Daniel’s intention was not to emphasize the history but only to give it as a background in order to indicate its effects upon the Lord’s people.
Elder Bruce R. McConkie wrote about the abomination of desolation mentioned by Daniel: “These conditions of desolation, born of abomination and wickedness, were to occur twice in fulfillment of Daniel’s words. The first was to be when the Roman legions under Titus, in 70 A.D. laid siege to Jerusalem, destroying and scattering the people, leaving not one stone upon another in the desecrated temple, and spreading such terror and devastation as has seldom if ever been equalled on earth. . . .
‘And again shall the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, be fulfilled.’ ([JS—M] 1:31–32.) That is: Jerusalem again will be under siege. . . . It will be during this siege that Christ will come, the wicked will be destroyed, and the millennial era commenced.” (Mormon Doctrine, p. 12)

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Daniel (Heb. God is my judge) ( דָּנִיֵּאל) was an interpreter of dreams, a visionary during the Babylonian exile around 597 b.c. during the reign Jehoiakim of Judah (606 b.c.) Ezekiel mentioned three Biblical figures in a row as men of righteousness: Noah, Daniel and Job. (Ezek 14:14, 20). He was the companion of kings.
The Book of Daniel is in the third division of the Hebrew Bible, the Hagiographa. Contains 12 chapters. One of several children taken into Babylonian captivity where they were educated in Chaldean thought. However, he never converted to Neo-Babylonian ways. Through instruction from “the God of Heaven” (Dan.2:18), he interpreted dreams and visions of kings, thus becoming a prominent figure in the court of Babylon. He also had apocalyptic visions concerning the Four monarchies.

Daniel was a member of the late 7th c. b.c. aristocracy of Judah. A nobleman, when Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem he looted the king’s palace and temple and took all the princes, the mighty, the captives, craftsmen and smiths into captivity, leaving only the poorest to survive on their own. It was the practice to train all eligible men for courtiers to serve in the king’s palace. Daniel was one of those chosen.

The first chapters of the book describe how King Nebuchadnezzar erects an enormous golden statue, and orders, “Whoever will not fall down and worship shall at once be thrown into a burning fiery furnace” (3:6). Daniel and his friends were observant followers of the Torah, and refuse to bow down to the statue. Certain Babylonians are jealous of the king’s Israelite advisors because of their high standing in the king’s court, and tell him that “there are certain Jews, whom you appointed to administer the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; these men pay no heed to you, O king” (3:12).

Infuriated, Nebuchanezzar orders the three men to be thrown into the fiery furnace. Miraculously, they remain in the furnace unharmed, while the three men who carried the men to it are killed when a “tongue of flame” leaps out at them. Nebuchadnezzar has them released from the furnace and blesses their God who sent an angel to save them. He commands that anyone who curses Israel’s God “shall be torn limb from limb, and his house confiscated” (3:29) In the narrative of Daniel (Ch 2), it was the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar and the king was distressed by his

dreams, so he summoned his interpreters. They were unable to relay or interpret the dreams. The king demanded the execution of all the wise men in Babylon. When Daniel learned of the king’s order, he asked the captain of the guard, Arioch, to let him see the king. Daniel prayed for God’s mercy to receive a revelation from the king’s dream.

Daniel 3:19–23. The Casting of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego into the Furnace:
To heat the furnace “seven times more than it was wont to be” (Daniel 3:19) is presumed to be an idiomatic way of saying that the furnace was to be heated much hotter than usual—to be heated as hot as it could be heated . “If the three were brought up to the furnace, it must have had a mouth above, through which the victims could be cast into it. When heated to an ordinary degree, this could be done without danger to the men who performed this service; but in the present case the heat of the fire was so great, that the servants themselves perished by it.” The king apparently viewed the events in the furnace through an opening at the bottom.

Nebuchadnezzar recounted his dream of a huge tree that was suddenly cut down at the command of a heavenly messenger. Daniel was summoned and interpreted the dream. The tree was Nebuchadnezzar himself, who for seven years, lost his mind and became like a wild beast. All of this came to pass until, at the end of the specified time, Nebuchadnezzar acknowledged that “the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men” (Dan 4:25) and his sanity and kingdom were restored to him.

God then revealed the mystery to Daniel in a vision that same night. Daniel praised God with a doxology (a song of praise to God) Daniel was granted access to the king and relayed the description of the dream, followed by its interpretation (v.37-45). With Daniel’s successful interpretation of the dream, the king expressed homage, followed by his own doxology that
affirmed that Daniel’s God is God of gods for revealing this mystery of his dream. Daniel was then promoted to chief governor over the whole province of Babylon. At Daniel’s request, his companions were also promoted, so that they remained at the king’s court.

Daniel was given a Babylonian name: Belteshazzar – prince of the king. His friends were given the names Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. They were educated in Aramaic, scientific and diplomatic skills. Daniel refused the King’s food and wine, but chose a vegetarian diet. He was faithful to his people and the Hebrew teachings.

Chapter 5 relates the story of King Belshazzar, son of Nebuchadnezzar, and a banquet he threw for hundreds of Babylonian nobles. After a full night of drinking, the intoxicated king decides to drink wine from the treasures his father had taken from Solomon’s Temple. At this moment, a man’s finger appears and writes words on the wall of the banquet hall. Belshazzar watches in horror, and he summons men of his palace to decipher the message with a promise that they would become a high government official. No one can interpret the message, so the king commands Daniel to read the handwriting on the wall because of his reputation as an interpreter of dreams. According to the book, “And this is the writing that was written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN” (5:25). Daniel then interprets the meaning of the words to the king. ” MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians” (5:26-28). That evening, Belshazzar was killed, and Darius the Mede (possibly Cyrus, King of Persia) became king of Bablyon.

Following the ascension of Darius, Daniel is quickly appointed to a high office in the new government. In a strange twist of Persian law, the king is unable to reverse a law once he himself has signed it, and Daniel’s rivals use this against him. They get Darius to sign a law that states, “whoever shall address a petition to any god or man, beside you, O king, during the next thirty days, shall be thrown into a lions’ den” (6:8). These men knew that Daniel, as a pious Judean, prayed to God three times a day facing Jerusalem. They immediately go to Darius, and tell him of Daniel’s constant violation of the new ban.

Although Darius loves and respects Daniel, he cannot overturn the law, and throws him into the lions’ den. Daniel spends the night with the lions, while Darius, nervous and sleepless, fasts until dawn. He returns to the lions’ den to find Daniel unharmed, who responds that God sent him an angel “who shut the mouths of the lions so that they did not injure me” (6:23). Darius orders Daniel’s enemies to be thrown into the den, and the hungry lions immediately consume them. (From Jewish Virtual Library)

Why Did Daniel Pray Three Times a Day toward Jerusalem? Solomon, in his dedicatory prayer of the temple in Jerusalem, referred to the people’s praying “toward the city which thou hast chosen, and toward the house that I have built for thy name” (1 Kings 8:44). The Prophet Joseph Smith once counseled the Twelve Apostles to “make yourselves acquainted with those men who like Daniel pray three times a day toward the House of the Lord” (History of the Church, 3:391). And President Wilford Woodruff, in the dedicatory prayer on the Salt Lake Temple, said: “Heavenly Father, when thy people shall not have the opportunity of entering this holy house to offer their supplications unto thee, and they are oppressed and in trouble, surrounded by difficulties or assailed by temptation, and shall turn their faces towards this thy holy house and ask thee for deliverance, for help, for thy power to be extended in their behalf, we beseech thee to look down from thy holy habitation in mercy and tender compassion upon them, and listen to their cries.” (In James E. Talmage, The House of the Lord, p. 142; emphasis added.)
This is not to suggest that the direction in which one faces when one prays has mystical significance, but, rather, that it is an attitude of spiritual “facing.” To face the temple, which is the temporal representation of the House of God, suggests that one turns one’s heart to the Lord and the covenants made in the temples to be more like Him. President Woodruff clarified this point in what he said next: “Or when the children of thy people, in years to come, shall be separated, through any cause, from this place, and their hearts shall turn in remembrance of thy promises to this holy Temple, and they shall cry unto thee from the depths of their affliction and sorrow to extend relief and deliverance to them, we humbly entreat thee to turn thine ear in mercy to them; hearken to their cries, and grant unto them the blessings for which they ask.” (Talmage,House of the Lord, p. 142)

Daniel 6:24. Daniel’s Accusers Cast into the Lions’ Den
The term or ever, as used in Daniel 6:24, means “before.” Some have attacked the cruelty of condemning the women and children, too. To an absolute monarch, however, it probably seemed the logical thing to do, for out of these families might come insurrection in the future. The lesson must be severe enough to warn any others who might be jealous of the king’s favorite and most valuable servant. An absolute monarch would likely feel that any other course would slowly cause him to lose power.

Daniel 6:28. Daniel Prospered
He had served five kings: Nebuchadnezzar, Evil-merodach, Belshazzar, Darius, and Cyrus. Few courtiers have had so long a reign, served so many masters without flattering any, been more successful in their management of public affairs, been so useful to the states where they were in office, or have been more owned of God, or have left such an example to posterity.

Chapters 7-12 are mystical, apocalyptic visions that relate to the four powerful kingdoms that had persecuted the Jewish people: Babylonia, Media, Persia, and Greece. The book describes events that occurred to the period of Antiochus Epiphanes of Syria, so some scholars put the date of The Book of Daniel at or around 165 B.C.E., during the period of the Hasmonean revolt against the Hellenistic Greeks. We will include information of the latter chapters next handout.

The Book of Esther: Also known as The Scroll (Megillah) in the Writings of the Bible. Relates story of Jewish woman (Esther Rabbah) in Persia in 3rd year of reign of Ahasuerus (Xerxes) (486-465 b.c.) He ruled over 127 provinces. She becomes queen of Persia, thwarting a genocide of her people. The author of the story of Esther’s courageous work is unknown. In ten chapters it tells the origin of Purim and the blueprint for its celebration. Purim is celebrated by Jews each year in memory of their being saved from extermination. The story is the core of the festival of Purim.

Celebrated on the 14th day of Adar (Hebrew name for March). Purim means “lots” and refers to the lottery than Haman used to choose the date for the massacre. It is accompanied by a 3 days fast in commemoration of Esther’s fast.

The Summary:
Ahasuerus, ruler of a massive Persian empire, holds a lavish party, initially for his court and dignitaries and afterwards for all inhabitants of the capital city Shushan. Ahasuerus orders the queen Vashti to display her beauty before the guests. She refuses. Worried all women will learn from this, Ahasuerus removes her as queen and has a royal decree sent across the empire that men should be the ruler of their households and should speak their own native tongue. Ahasuerus then orders all beautiful young girls to be presented to him, so he can choose a new queen to replace Vashti.

One of these is the orphan Esther, whose Hebrew name is Hadassah. After the death of her parents, she is being fostered by her cousin Mordecai. She finds favor in the king’s eyes, and is made his new queen. Esther does not reveal that she is Jewish. Shortly afterwards, Mordecai discovers a plot by courtiers Bigthan and Teresh to assassinate Ahasuerus. The conspirators are apprehended and hanged, and Mordecai’s service to the king is recorded.

Ahasuerus appoints Haman as his prime minister. Mordecai, who sits at the palace gates, falls into Haman’s disfavor as he refuses to bow down to him. Having found out that Mordecai is Jewish, Haman plans to kill not just Mordecai but all the Jews in the empire. He obtains Ahasuerus’ permission to execute this plan, against payment of ten thousand talents of silver (which the King declines to accept and rather allows him to execute his plan on principle), and he casts lots to choose the date on which to do this—the thirteenth of the month of Adar. On that day, everyone in the empire is free to massacre the Jews and despoil their property.

When Mordecai finds out about the plans he and all Jews mourn and fast. Mordecai informs Esther what has happened and tells her to intercede with the King. She is afraid to break the law and go to the King unsummoned. This action would incur the death penalty. Mordecai tells her that she must. She orders Mordecai to have all Jews fast for three days together with her, and on the third day she goes to Ahasuerus, who stretches out his sceptre to her which shows that she is not to be punished. She invites him to a feast in the company of Haman. During the feast, she asks them to attend a further feast the next evening. Meanwhile, Haman is again offended by Mordecai and consults with his friends. At his wife’s suggestion, he builds a gallows for Mordecai.

That night, Ahasuerus suffers from insomnia, and when the court records are read to him to help him sleep, he learns of the services rendered by Mordecai in the previous plot against his life. Ahasuerus is told that Mordecai has not received any recognition for saving the king’s life. Just then, Haman appears, to ask the King to hang Mordecai, but before he can make this request, King Ahasuerus asks Haman what should be done for the man that the king wishes to honor. Thinking that the man that the king is referring to is himself, Haman says that the man should be dressed in the king’s royal robes and led around on the king’s royal horse, while a herald calls: “See how the king honors a man he wishes to reward!” To his horror and surprise, the king instructs Haman to do so to Mordecai. After leading Mordecai’s parade, he returns in mourning to his wife and friends, who suggest his downfall has begun.

Immediately after, Ahasuerus and Haman attend Esther’s second banquet, at which she reveals that she is Jewish and that Haman is planning to exterminate her people, including her. Overcome by rage, Ahasuerus leaves the room; meanwhile Haman stays behind and begs Esther for his life, falling upon her in desperation. The king comes back in at this moment and thinks Haman is assaulting the queen; this makes him angrier than before and he orders Haman hanged on the gallows that Haman had prepared for Mordecai.

The previous decree against the Jews cannot be annulled, but the king allows the Jews to defend themselves during attacks. As a result, on 13 Adar, 500 attackers and Haman’s ten sons are killed in Shushan, followed by a Jewish slaughter of 75,000 Persians, although they took no plunder. Esther sends a letter instituting an annual commemoration of the Jewish people’s redemption, in a holiday called Purim (lots). Ahasuerus remains very powerful and continues reigning, with Mordecai assuming a prominent position in his court.

Jewish observances:
The primary commandment related to Purim is to hear the reading of the book of Esther. The book of Esther is commonly known as the Megillah (scroll). Although there are five books of Jewish scripture that are properly referred to as megillahs (Esther, Ruth, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, and Lamentations), this is the one people usually mean when the speak of The Megillah. It is customary to boo, hiss, stamp feet and rattle noisemakers whenever the name of Haman is mentioned in the service. The purpose of this custom is to “blot out the name of Haman.”

In addition, we are commanded to send out gifts of food or drink, and to make gifts to charity. The sending of gifts of food and drink is referred to as shalach manos (lit. sending out portions). Among Ashkenazic Jews, a common treat at this time of year is hamentaschen (lit. Haman’s pockets). These triangular fruit-filled cookies are supposed to represent Haman’s three-cornered hat. It is customary to hold carnival-like celebrations on Purim, to perform plays and parodies, and to hold beauty contests. I have heard that the usual prohibitions against cross-dressing are lifted during this holiday, but I am not certain about that. Americans sometimes refer to Purim as the Jewish Mardi Gras. Work is permitted as usual on Purim, unless of course it falls on a Saturday ( Jewish Shabbat).

The

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Ezekiel 43:1–5; 44:4. The Glory of God Fills the Temple The glory of God is manifest in the brightness and power of His divine presence. It is expected that the glory of the Lord would fill His holy house in Jerusalem. Unquestionably, His glory has filled all of the temples that have been built in His name and by His authority. (See Numbers 9:15–18; 2 Chronicles 5:13–14; Ezra 6:14–16; D&C 110:1–5; 124:27–28, 38–41.)
Ezekiel 43:18–27. What Sacrifices Will Be Offered in the Temple? President Joseph Fielding Smith explained: “When these temples [the temple seen by Ezekiel and others to be built in the New Jerusalem] are built, it is very likely that provision will be made for some ceremonies and ordinances which may be performed by the Aaronic Priesthood and a place provided where the sons of Levi may offer their offering in righteousness. This will have to be the case because all things are to be restored. There were ordinances performed in ancient Israel in the tabernacle when in the wilderness, and after it was established at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, and later in the temple built by Solomon. The Lord has informed us that this was the case and has said that in those edifices ordinances for the people were performed. . . .
“We are living in the dispensation of the fulness of times into which all things are to be gathered, and all things are to be restored since the beginning. Even this earth is to be restored to the condition which prevailed before Adam’s transgression. Now in the nature of things, the law of sacrifice will have to be restored, or all things which were decreed by the Lord would not be restored. It will be necessary, therefore, for the sons of Levi, who offered the blood sacrifices anciently in Israel, to offer such a sacrifice again to round out and complete this ordinance in this dispensation. Sacrifice by the shedding of blood was instituted in the days of Adam and of necessity will have to be restored.
“The sacrifice of animals will be done to complete the restoration when the temple spoken of is built; at the beginning of the millennium, or in the restoration, blood sacrifices will be performed long enough to complete the fulness of the restoration in this dispensation. Afterwards sacrifice will be of some other character.” (Doctrines of Salvation, 3:93–94.)
Ezekiel 45:1–8; 47:13–48:29. How Will the Land Be Divided among the Tribes of Israel? According to Ezekiel’s vision of the future, the Holy Land will be divided in strips running between the Mediterranean Sea on the west and the Dead Sea and the Jordan River on the east. Each of the twelve tribes will be given a strip of land with a strip out of the middle for the prince, the city, and the Levites, that is, the priests. Joseph will receive a double portion (Ezekiel 47:13)

since Ephraim and Manasseh, Joseph’s sons, both became tribes in Israel. The city will have twelve gates, one for each tribe (including Levi and one for Joseph). On the north will be the tribes of Reuben, Judah, and Levi; on the east will be Joseph, Benjamin, and Dan; on the south will be Simeon, Issachar, and Zebulun; on the west will be Gad, Asher, and Naphtali. Jerusalem will then be called the Lord is there (Jehovah-shammah; Ezekiel 48:35). There will be a gathering there of the scattered tribes of Israel, and the temple that Ezekiel saw in vision will be central in location and function in that gathering.
Regarding the inheritances of Joseph’s descendants in the Middle East, Sperry commented: “Of interest to the Latter-day Saints is the fact that provision is made for the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh. It is quite evident from Ezekiel’s vision that not all of Joseph’s descendants are to have their inheritance on the American continent, as some of our people have supposed. We may be justified in believing, however, that most of Joseph’s seed will be provided for on this land (see Ether 13:5–12), but Ezekiel very obviously implies that some of Joseph’s descendants will dwell in Palestine.” (Voice of Israel’s Prophets, pp. 236–37.)
Ezekiel 47:1–12. Waters Issue from the Temple: The Prophet Joseph Smith proclaimed: “Judah must return, Jerusalem must be rebuilt, and the temple, and water come out from under the temple, and the waters of the Dead Sea be healed. It will take some time to rebuild the walls of the city and the temple, &c; and all this must be done before the Son of Man will make His appearance.” (Teachings, p. 286.)
The waters issuing forth from under the temple and the healing of the Dead Sea may occur when the Lord Himself sets foot upon the Mount of Olives, causing this mountain to divide in two and create a large valley”. (see Zechariah 14:4; D&C 133:20–24).
Ezekiel 47:22–23. Who Are These Strangers? Undoubtedly there will be converts who are not part of blood Israel who will receive an inheritance because of their devotion to the gospel. They will then be adopted into the house of Israel. These strangers may be some of the gentile peoples who will accept the gospel in the last days.
Ezekiel 48:31–34. The Gates of the City Revelation 22:13–17 has the requirements one must fill to enter in the gates of the holy city.
Ezekiel 48:35. Jerusalem Will Be Called Holy. The Joseph Smith Translation reads: “And the name of the city from that day shall be called, Holy; for the Lord shall be there” (see JST, Ezekiel 48:35; emphasis added). The temple will be built as a symbol to Israel that the Lord is with His people.

D&C 29 is an end-time prophecy, adding many details:
20 And it shall come to pass that the beasts of the forest and the fowls of the air shall devour them up. 21 And the great and abominable church, which is the whore of all the earth, shall be cast down by devouring fire, according as it is spoken by the mouth of Ezekiel the prophet, who spoke of these things, which have not come to pass but surely must, as I live, for abominations shall not reign. 22 And again, verily, verily, I say unto you that when the thousand years are ended, and men again begin to deny their God, then will I spare the earth but for a little season; 23 And the end shall come, and the heaven and the earth shall be consumed and pass away, and there shall be a new heaven and a new earth.

A website, The Temple Institute, www.templeinstitute.org, is actively in search of funds to build the Third Temple in Jerusalem. Some of the vessels, priestly garments, the location of a Red Heifer, paintings, a new Sanhedrin, are already in place and waiting for the million or so dollars to fund a rebuilding. A place has not been chosen or secured. Here is a paragraph from their website:

“THE TEMPLE INSTITUTE CONSIDERS IT OF PRIMARY IMPORTANCE to educate about the great significance of Mount Moriah, the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, the only site in the world that is considered holy by the Jewish people, and the only site in the world which G-d chose to rest His presence through the establishment of the Holy Temple. To learn more about the sacred Temple Mount…
https://www.templeinstiitute.org/temple_mount.htm
to find out how to request a tour of the Temple Mount according to halacha, Jewish law, without treading upon the actual site of the Temple, which is Biblically forbidden for all people, whether Jew or Gentile.”

Other Considerations:
Throughout the Bible, the lack of a proper burial constitutes a curse and punishment. In Deut 28:26 one curse that befalls those who disobey the covenant statutes involves military conquest and death without burial. This is what the Judeans faced as they marched out of their fallen cities. Ancient Judeans and Israelites had no concenpt of heaven or hell. Those who died were thought to be in a sleep. Place of the dead=Sheol, but this was imagined as an underworld, a pit.

Thumbnail of final events in Judah history: Remember that the ancient Kingdom of Judah, captured and led to Babylon around the 7th century BCE, had been a client state in the Assyrian empire. Egypt feared the sudden rise of Babylon. It seized control of Assyrian territory to the Euphrates in Syria, but Babylon counterattacked. Josiah, king of Judah, paid tribute but was killed in battle with Egyptians at Megiddo in 609 b.c. The court of Jerusalem divided into two parties, one supporting Egypt, the other Babylon. After a 3 month siege in Jerusalem in 598 b.c. resulting in death of next few of Judah’s kings, Nebuchadnezzar pillaged Jerusalem and the Temple and took many, including Zedekiah, to Babylon. He was blinded. Judah was then called Yehud Medinata (Judah Province), putting an end to the Kingdom of Judah.

In 539 b.c. the Persians conquered Babylon. The Decree of Cyrus allowed Jews to return to Jerusalem. By 520-515 b.c., in addition to those who remained in Judah, there were significant Jewish communities in Babylon and in Egypt; this was the beginning of the later numerous Jewish communities living permanently outside Judah in the Jewish Diaspora (Dispersion). The foundation of the Second Temple laid. The people of Judah spent 70 years in captivity. (Jer 29:10-14, 25:12, Ezra 1:2-4).

Benefits to captivity:
Cured of Idolatry
The Jews were almost completely cured of idolatry, no matter what their faults and downfalls were in later periods of history, they never returned to the idolatry of the nations around them as they had. The Babylonian Captivity had taught them to abhor the worship of idols.

2. The Scribes and Rabbinic Literature
The situation caused them to be separated from Jerusalem and the Temple and thus there came a new order called the “Scribes.” In their earliest stages they served the Jewish colonists in a very valuable way, especially in teaching, guarding and preserving the Scriptures. The Scribes produced the rabbinical literature known as the Mishna (God’s laws allegedly passed down orally and not recorded in Scripture), the Gemara (a commentary on the Mishna and a compilation of accepted traditions). These two volumes were later added to and combined to form the Talmud (Babylonian Talmud). There was also other important literature and secular writings.

3. The Synagogues
Places for assembly or “synagogues” were instituted in order to conduct formal Jewish worship, and to provide schools for education while they were far from their homeland. It was the difficult circumstances of the Babylonian Captivity that allowed for the synagogues, without these unusual circumstances there might not have been synagogues which kept the national spirit of the Jewish people even after the fall of the Second Temple.

4. The Teaching of the Scriptures
The Jewish people pursued the Scriptures. They compiled the Scriptures and studied them intensely, realizing the reason for the Captivity and teaching this to their children. Later Ezra, the Scribe, taught the Scriptures and gave light to its meaning.

5. Unification of the Jewish People
Similar to the captivity in Egypt, the Babylonian Captivity brought a common hardship and isolation which brought a common sympathy and a closer relationship with each of individual of the nation. They returned united and purified, anyone who would not learn this lesson remained in Babylon only to become lost in history.

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