“ . . . Nevertheless, they shall return again to their own place, to enjoy that which they are willing to receive, because they were not willing to enjoy that which they might have received. For what does it profit a man if a gift is bestowed upon him, and he receive not the gift? Behold, he rejoices not in that which is given unto him, neither rejoices in him who is the giver of the gift” (RE T&C 86:4, emphasis added).
Several conferences ago Stephanie Snuffer spoke of our lack of self-awareness. Nowhere is our lack of self-awareness more fully exposed than when we draw nearer to God. The closer we come the sharper the contrast between perfection and imperfection. The distance between us is not a measure of God’s love and acceptance. Rather, we judge ourselves more harshly because of our short comings and interpret our misgivings as God’s disapproval. How can He love us when we find ourselves inadequate, unacceptable and unlovable.
Recent events regarding the introduction of the Covenant of Christ have been enlightening and damning. Denver delicately used the word “sobering” as he spoke of prophecy that is “exactly” for our time, at this moment.
Christ, declaring the “new name” for the modern English version of the Book of Mormon was not happenstance. It will do for us precisely what a “new name” is intended for us.[1] Through it we obtain greater light and knowledge. In the T&C the Lord referred to the original edition of the Book of Mormon as, “the New Covenant” for which the original saints of Joseph Smith’s day were condemned for their vanity, unbelief, and treating it lightly.[2]
Fresh Start for a New Generation
Like the saints of the first Gentile generation, the Lord extends the “Covenant of Christ” to the last Gentile dispensation before the door closes on their final covenant opportunity. Thereafter a small number or remnant of Gentiles carry this and other books to descendants of Lehi and assist in delivering the new light to tribes of Israel that remain scattered.
Modern Gentiles feel as privileged and chosen by God as their ancestors and ancient Israel before them. As modern Gentiles read the New Testament accounts of the Savior’s life, they feel certain they would not have crucified their Savior nor persecute and kill the early saints.
If covenant history has taught us anything, it has exposed our lack of self-awareness and inclination to misjudge the Lord’s servants when sent by the Heavenly Council. We currently risk repeating the same mistakes of those who have gone before us. The title for this paper is intended to lead us on a thought experiment to test our self-awareness, determining if we are up to the task before us at exactly this time. When weighed in the balance, will it be said of us: We said, but did not do according to that which I [the Lord] have written and brought forth fruit meet for the Father’s kingdom. Making that assessment correctly is literally a matter of life and death.
Nephi’s Use of Scripture
Nephi explained his approach to using the scriptures. In first Nephi he recorded the following:
“So, I taught my brothers these things. I also read to them from the brass plates, so they could learn what the Lord had done in other lands among former people. I read to them many things from the books of Moses. But in order to more completely persuade them to believe in the Lord their Redeemer, I read to them what the prophet Isaiah had written. I applied all scriptures to us, to educate and benefit us. Therefore I said to them: Listen to the prophet’s words, you who are a remnant of the house of Israel, a branch that’s been broken off. Listen to the prophet’s words written to all the house of Israel and apply them to yourselves, so you can have hope as well as your Israelite relatives from whom you’ve been broken off” (Covenant of Christ, 1 Nephi 19:22-24, emphasis added).
Nephi shares important points about how we should apply scripture in our lives and the outcome for those who follow his instruction. They have hope.
If we desire to be hopeful in our future we need to heed the prophetic voices, (referred to twice) and liken all scripture to ourselves for our education and benefit. How might this be accomplished?
The “What if … ?” Thought Experiment
To apply the process of likening the scriptures to us, I propose asking a series of questions prefaced with the words, “What if.” They follow a logical progression to lead us to a more objective assessment of our self-awareness.
Let’s begin with a scripture quoted in Denver’s introductory talk on the Covenant of Christ.
“Alma gives this extensive explanation about Melchizedek. And he's teaching things about Melchizedek that are unheard of except within the Book of Mormon. And after he finishes this lengthy exposition about things going on in the life of Melchizedek—in what happened, who he was, and how it unfolded—he says, Now I don't intend to explain [all] this at length; what I've said is enough. The scriptures are readily available to you; if you deliberately misinterpret or distort them, it will be to your own destruction (Alma 10:2 CE).
So after explaining a great deal about Melchizedek, he says, “I don't need to go on about this stuff. You already have the Scriptures . . .” (Covenant of Christ Modern English Translation, Denver Snuffer Jr., p.9, emphasis added).
If we liken this scripture to ourselves, then perhaps the appropriate way of interpreting this passage is to replace Alma’s name with Denver’s name. Rather than direct the instruction to the Nephites, direct the instruction to latter-day Gentiles. As Denver has pointed out on several occasions, it was not uncommon for Nephi and Jacob to quote Isaiah’s or the words of Zenos and adopt them as their own.[3] Denver also points to how Mormon did so without attribution. Is it reasonable to then presume that the words of Alma quoted by Denver should be directly applied to us if we are to liken them to ourselves?
This is the first “What if . . .” question for consideration. When Denver says, “I don’t need to go into this stuff. You already have the scriptures. If you deliberately misinterpret or distort them it will be to your own destruction,” should we be more deliberate in our study of scripture knowing our lives hang in the balance and stand in jeopardy?
The Second “What if . . . ?
“These scriptures are sent forth to be my warning to the world, my comfort to the faithful, my counsel to the meek, my reproof to the proud, my rebuke to the contentious, and my condemnation of the wicked. They are my invitation to all mankind to flee from corruption, repent and be baptized in my name, and prepare for the coming judgment” (Covenant of Christ- Modern English Translation, Denver Snuffer Jr., p.14, emphasis added).
“What if these scriptures are a warning to the world in its entirety, a comfort to the faithful, the Lord’s counsel to the meek, and His reproof of the proud, rebuke of the contentious, and the Lord’s condemnation of the wicked. If they are literally what this quotation claims they are, how might they be likened to us. Which category do we fall in? Are we proud, contentious and wicked? Or are we faithful and meek and comforted by them?
“These words about how the scriptures have been treated by those in the past warn us about how we treat your scriptures today. We are afraid of making errors again by failing to maintain or guard the scriptures. We have acted on your [the Lord’s] permission to proceed to the end with our plan to update language to select a current vocabulary, and we took care not to change meaning of anything in the Book of Mormon. You promised us that you:
… will lead all who come to me to the truth of all things. The fullness is to receive the truth of all things, and this too from me, in power, by my word, and in very deed. For I will come unto you if you will come unto me” (Covenant of Christ-Modern English Translation, Denver Snuffer Jr., p.13, emphasis added).
The warning the Covenant of Christ represents to the world and expressly to the Gentiles is to “Awake and arise” from complacency. Pay strict attention to how the Lord responds when His word is treated lightly by those whom He entrusts with His scriptures.
The Third “What if . . . ?”
“This is an extraordinarily tightly written book. It emphasizes only a small handful of themes. Everything in the book that got included is designed to support the handful of themes. The war chapters (that seem to be so long-winded and superfluous) are tightly focused on illustrating the theme that they just told you about, in order to show you exactly how God vindicates His word when He warns people, and they choose to reject His warning, and then reject the prophets and either drive them away or kill them. What happens flows naturally as a consequence. Even though the way in which the results get to occur may seem happenstantial/random; they are not. Everything is designed tightly” (Covenant of Christ-Modern Translation, Denver Snuffer Jr., p.7, emphasis added).
What if the reference to the war chapters in the Covenant of Christ are intended for us to liken to ourselves because we face the same circumstances “exactly” at this time.[4] This is part of the “coming judgment” in the previous passage the Covenant of Christ prepares us for. The Covenant of Christ is a warning to the wicked. A comfort to those who heed the warning. Preparation for impending judgments through humbling ourselves, repenting of our sins and turning to face God.
Repetition of comments regarding the war chapters should add to the urgency and seriousness of the necessary preparation.
“But this [Covenant of Christ] has a different purpose. This is to help a new generation to understand the content to help with the Lord’s return.” It has been a rework under Divine direction to accomplish that purpose. All of the restatements of the text are designed to sharpen the reader’s focus on those things most important for preparing a generation for the Lord’s return. Therefore I recognize that the text speaks a message now that was out of focus in the earlier text and therefore greatly sharpens the warning to us. The war chapters that seemed so random before are now aimed directly at us. We are now shown how selective and precise the destruction of the wicked has occurred in the people on this land who ripened in iniquity and failed to heed the God of this land.
The text is now ours. To either heed or reject. To parse into segments that ignore the direct and threatening warning sharpened in the restatement in modern English, or to give heed and realize the Lord will “in His wrath” do again what has happened before on this land” (Covenant of Christ text blogpost, Denver Snuffer Jr., August 12, 2024, emphasis added).
Why emphasize the war chapters, (“now aimed directly at us”) if we are not about to face the same circumstances. Are we ill prepared because our hearts are not right before God and remain focused on the things of this world rather than the fulfillment of prophecy we now face?
“ . . . It is instead a prophecy. As the one who abridged the text explained why the less than 1% of the material was given to us today as our warning: “Why have you altered God’s holy word so as to bring condemnation on your souls? Look to God’s revelations, because the time is coming when all these things will certainly be fulfilled. The Lord has shown me great and awe-inspiring things about what’s going to take place soon after these words appear among you. Now, I speak to you as though you were present, yet you are not. But Jesus Christ has shown you to me, and I know the things you do. I know you live pridefully. There are none, except for a few, who aren’t lifted up in pride to their very center, to the point of wearing very fine clothing, and to the point of envying and strife, malice, persecution, and all kinds of iniquity. Your congregations [Lord’s people] and churches[5] — every single one of them — have become polluted because of the pride of your hearts. You love money and your material possessions and your fine clothing and decorating your houses of worship more than you love the poor and the needy, the sick and the afflicted. You pollutions, hypocrites, and you teachers who sell yourselves for things that will corrode and decay, why have you polluted God’s holy congregation? Why are you ashamed to take upon yourselves the name of Christ? Why don’t you consider that the value of an endless happiness is greater than misery that never dies? Isn’t it because of the world’s praise?” Mormon 4:5.
Covenant of Christ was meant specifically as a warning to us. Now. And we need to understand the text. As Jesus Christ forewarns us about this very moment we live in: “Yes, woe to the Gentiles unless they repent: For when that day comes, says the Father, I’ll take away your strength from you, and I’ll destroy your security. Your cities will fall and I’ll break open your guarded borders. Your sciences and learning will turn into foolishness, and your false beliefs will cause your failure. I’ll expose the fraud of those in authority, and your trusted institutions will lose everyone’s loyalty.” 3 Ne. 9:12.
This is now underway. We need to awaken and see how the Covenant of Christ is aimed directly at us, to awaken us to our present plight, the justified condemnation we are under, and coming judgments.
The Lord’s clarifications throughout the new text are all intended to address us where we are today” (Discussing the Covenant of Christblogpost, Denver Snuffer Jr., August 14, 2024, emphasis added).
The segments of this blogpost remove the “What if” and place our own fate in our hands. There is no question we need to awaken to the awfulness of our situation.
“Any nation that upholds such secret conspiracies, to get power and wealth, until they spread throughout the nation, will be destroyed. Because the Lord won’t permit the blood of His holy ones, which will be shed by them, to always cry out to him from the ground for vengeance without avenging them. Therefore, you Gentiles, it’s God’s wisdom for you to be shown these things, so you’ll repent of your sins and not allow these murderous conspiracies, that are always set up for power and money, to control you, so that you won’t provoke your own destruction. Indeed, the sword of the justice of the Eternal God will fall upon you, to your ruin and destruction, if you allow these things to continue. Therefore the Lord commands you, when you see these things come among you, to wake up to a sense of your awful situation because of this secret society that’s come into existence among you. Woe to this conspiracy on account of the blood of those who have been killed; they cry out from the dust for vengeance upon it, and upon those who make and support it.
Indeed, whoever builds it up hopes to overthrow the freedom of all lands, nations, and countries. These conspiracies bring about everyone’s destruction since they’re built up by the accuser, who’s the father of all lies. He’s the same liar who deceived our first parents, who caused people from the start to commit murder. He’s hardened people’s hearts so that they’ve murdered the prophets, stoned them, and banished them. As a result, I’ve been commanded to write these things so evil can be ended. And so the time will come when Satan won’t have any power over peoples hearts, so they can be persuaded to always do good and come to the Source of all righteousness and be saved” (Covenant of Christ, Ether 8:22-26, emphasis added).
Moroni was shown our day. He is an objective witness of our conditions and sought to awaken us to the seriousness of our circumstances. Both those who profess to be part of the Lord’s congregation and those who swear fealty to religious institutions, having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof. The hearts of both groups are prideful and lack humility disciples of Christ should possess.
There exists among them the same Satanic conspiracies designed to exercise power over the people and exact wealth through evil alliances. Every society on this land that embraced these conspiracies met with chaos, murder and eventual destruction. The latter-day Gentiles and the entire world for whom the Covenant of Christ is intended to invite and warn have these conspiracies. They are present in all societies in differing degrees. It is an abomination that brings desolation. It is the root cause of all abominations and all lead to desolation.
The Lord has always destroyed those who establish conspiracies of evil to get gain and power through murder and subjection. The Lord intends to do away with all those who enter into and sustain them. He destroys the powers of darkness by dragging them and those who support them into the light. There will be a day when, “Satan won’t have any power over peoples hearts, so they can be persuaded to always do good and come to the Source of all righteousness and be saved.” The Covenant of Christ is a step toward that outcome. It is our choice whether or not we accomplish this before God’s wrath is poured out upon the wicked. We will either be comforted by Him as His sword of justice falls upon those who ignore this warning, or be humbled through suffering His wrath because we lack self-awareness. Our actions speak louder than our words when the Lord measures our obedience by how we heed words in the Covenant of Christ and those delivered by His servant.
[1] “The name of Jacob was given by man (his father); the name of Israel was given by God (his Heavenly Father). God giving someone a new name is a profound event. It signifies that person has a newness of life with Him. Receiving a new name from God also marks entry into His family, for when God gives a name, He is adopting into His family. He names someone because they belong to Him” (A Glossary of Gospel Terms, New Name p.736, emphasis added).
“Then the white stone mentioned in [Revelation 1:12] will become a Urim and Thummim to each individual who receives one, whereby things pertaining to a higher order of kingdoms will be made known. And a white stone is given to each of those who come into the Celestial Kingdom, whereon is a new name written, which no man knoweth save he that receiveth it. The new name is the key word.”1 Since the white stone and new name mentioned in it are referring to the state of exaltation and inheritance, and since the promise which the Second Comforter (Christ) is working to obtain for those to whom He ministers is the promise of exaltation, that equivalency may also be made. The difference is that those described in this statement are in a future state in which they have actually inherited the condition of exaltation, have entered into the Celestial Kingdom to dwell there, and possess the white stone on which their new name is written; whereas the promises Joseph speaks of in reference to the Second Comforter2 and the promises in T&C 86:1 are given to a mortal and are to be realized fully in the future.” (A Glossary of Gospel Terms, White Stone, p.838, emphasis added). Giving an “New Name” the Book of Mormon the “New Name” of Covenant of Christ may be a way of symbolizing greater light and knowledge is manifest to those who receive the new record.
[2] “And your minds in times past have been darkened because of unbelief, and because you have treated lightly the things you have received, which vanity and unbelief have brought the whole church under condemnation. And this condemnation rests upon the children of Zion, even all, and they shall remain under this condemnation until they repent and remember the new covenant, even the Book of Mormon, and the former commandments which I have given them, not only to say but to do according to that which I have written, that they may bring forth fruit meet for their Father’s kingdom. Otherwise, there remains a scourge and a judgment to be poured out upon the children of Zion, for shall the children of the kingdom pollute my holy land? Verily, verily I say unto you, nay” (RE T&C:82:20, emphasis added)”
[3] “but Nephi set a pattern. Nephi wrote his text, recognizing that some of the message that he wanted to convey existed in an earlier prophetic form in Isaiah. And so he took the Isaiah materials and he embedded it into his, but it was to convey his own message. I've written about this in the book Nephi’s Isaiah. He gives you his adoption of the Isaiah text, and then he gives you an interpretive key in his last chapters of Second Nephi to tell you why he put it in there and how you ought to interpret and understand what he had done there. Then along comes his brother, Jacob, who does essentially the same thing. He gives you his account, but he incorporates into his account the allegory that was written by Zenos, and he adopts it entirely. He tells his people, “Come up to the temple. I'm going to prophesy to you.” They come up. The allegory that Zenos wrote he then delivers to them, and he says, “Here's now my prophecy. Now that I've read you this allegory, my prophecy is: Those words are true.” So he's delivered his message and his prophecy. In the case of Nephi and in the case of Jacob, they give attribution to the source material that they used in their prophetic writing. I don't believe Mormon did the same thing, even if the writers that he's abridging did it in their original. I believe that Mormon, in making his abridgment, simply put in the material without attribution. But I believe that the entirety of the Book of Mormon has lengthy, adopted passages taken from what are called the Brass Plates and simply incorporated right into the narrative without attribution. And that when you are reading the Book of Mormon, you are actually reading not just Mormon's abridgment of their stuff; you're reading a great deal of content that comes directly from the earlier Brass Plates that we are told will one day shine brightly. I believe the shining of the brightness of the Brass Plates has already been embedded into the text of the book that we now have [in the Covenant of Christ]” (Covenant of Christ- Modern English Translation, Denver Snuffer Jr., p.8, emphasis added).
[4] “The new Covenant of Christ is intended to tell you exactly where you are and exactly how we got here. It is a revelation from God” (Covenant of Christ-Modern English Translation, Denver Snuffer Jr., p.12, emphasis added).
[5] “There are some changes that we made deliberately in the book in order to communicate some concepts. These concepts belong within the original, but the way in which they worded it is different than the way we chose to word it. In this version of the Covenant of Christ, the word “church” is always negative—it is always apostate; it is always corrupt. And God's people are called the “congregation.” If you encounter congregation, you are reading about the people following God. If you encounter church, you are reading about people that are corrupt, priestcraft being practiced, an effort to gain authority and control and influence” (Covenant of Christ-Modern English Translation, Denver Snuffer Jr., p.7, emphasis added).
Scott Roderick
8/15/2024
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