Chapter 10—A Strange Thing in the Land
When society grows in wickedness, “secret combinations” of evil people, businesses, churches, governments, and organizations gain power.
Satan is the “author of all sin” (Helaman 6:30) and “the founder of all these” secretive orders and abominations. The first to enter into such evil, Cain was promised gain, power, and wealth for murdering his brother. “Cain loved Satan more than God” and “gloried in his wickedness,” so he “was shut out from the presence of the Lord” (Moses 5:28, 31, 41).
Cain’s posterity kept these evil combinations going. “Lamech, having entered into a covenant with Satan after the manner of Cain” also “became Master Mahan, master of that great secret,” which his grandfather Irad “reveal[ed] to the sons of Adam.” Filled with anger, Lamech slew Irad not “for the sake of getting gain, but for the oath’s sake. For from the days of Cain there was a secret combination, and their works were in the dark, and they knew every man his brother” in crime through secret signs and key words. “Their works were abominations and began to spread . . . [and] prevail among all the sons of men” (Moses 5:49–54).
Writing about the Jaredites (whose ancestors fled the Tower of Babel at the time of its destruction), the ancient prophet Ether tells how these secret groups deceived, dominated, then “caused the destruction of this people” as well as “the people of Nephi” (Ether 8:21) on this land long ago (Ether 8–9). They have spread throughout the world and infiltrated this land again since the birth of our nation centuries ago.
These secret groups “are had among all people” (Ether 8:20)—including those who claim God’s name. “The Lord saw that his people began to work in darkness, yea, work secret murders and abominations; therefore the Lord said if they did not repent they should be destroyed from off the face of the earth” (Alma 37:22). God warns those tested by gain:
The riches of the earth are mine to give, but beware of pride, lest ye become as the Nephites of old. (D&C 38:39)
Hugh Nibley said, “The tragedy of the Book of Mormon is not what became of the Nephites, but what the Nephites became.” What happened to Nephites of old to justify such a warning to modern readers? A group called the Gadianton robbers, named for their leader, was a secret network of men who wanted power, wealth, and control. “It is that same being who put it into the heart of Gadianton to still carry on the work of darkness, and of secret murder; and he has brought it forth from the beginning of man even down to this time . . . Gadianton did prove the overthrow, yea, almost the entire destruction of the people” (Helaman 6:29, 2:13).
Helaman’s invaluable account gives four “danger-signals: three internal and one external” to help us recognize when these evils are among us. The external threat is their mortal enemy. “The internal danger signals are (1) the accumulation of wealth, (2) the appearance on the scene of ambitious men, and (3) the presence in the society of ‘secret combinations to get power and gain’.” The righteous knew that
the internal ills were the really dangerous ones and that without them there would be no external threat whatever” because God promised “they shall have no power over thy seed except they shall rebel against me also” (1 Nephi 2:23).
Gadianton robbers infiltrated both Lamanite and Nephite groups. When discovered, the Lamanites “were exceedingly sorrowful; and they did use every means in their power to destroy them off the face of the earth,” but the covenant-making Nephites responded differently. “Satan did stir up the hearts of the more parts of the Nephites, insomuch that they did unite with those bands of robbers and did enter into their covenants and their oaths, that they would protect and preserve one another in whatsoever difficult circumstances they should be placed, that they should not suffer for their” crimes. They too used “secret signs and secret words” to distinguish their own (Helaman 6:20–22).
Their objectives are always the same—power, gain, control by overtaking government, including God’s, and overthrowing liberty. They use their positions and political offices “to rule and do according to their will, that they might get gain and glory,” even “letting the guilty go unpunished because of their money” (Helaman 7:5). They make secret oaths, promises, and agreements with each other, swearing to protect each other at all cost, even with their lives.
Like their master Satan, they are quick to accuse and spread rumors because they have “much power of speech” (Jacob 7:4). Lying, intimidation, showmanship, deception, blackmail, and tight control of members are how they operate. Their actions and attitudes demonstrate vengeance, deceit, highly-competitive and ruthless ambition, and complete loyalty to the group and its interests regardless of the cost. While putting on a noble public image, they profess ethics, piety, and religion even. They are affluent in business, societies, churches, and community, and rub shoulders with the world’s most wealthy and powerful nobility, officials, elites, leaders, and tyrants. Although these groups destroyed every civilization in which they were allowed to thrive, for millennia many societies and nations have continued to support their agenda, even after their evil works are brought to light.
So diabolical and destructive are their plans to destroy God’s work that He commands that “all their oaths, covenants, agreements, signs, and wonders” must not be revealed lest people “should fall into darkness also and be destroyed.” For “there is a curse upon all this land, that destruction shall come upon all those workers of darkness, according to the power of God, when they are fully ripe” (Alma 37:27–28).
God eventually “will bring forth out of darkness unto light all their secret works and their abominations.” He commands us “to abhor such wickedness and abominations” (Alma 37:25, 29) because it is “put into the heart” of man by Satan, who fervently continues promoting his “works of darkness . . . until he drag[s] the people down to an entire destruction and to an everlasting hell” (Helaman 6:28).
For a time, and only after many were slain, did the Nephites repent, calling upon God to “protect this people in righteousness so long as they shall call upon the name of their God for protection . . . and they knew it was because of their repentance and their humility that they had been delivered from an everlasting destruction” (3 Nephi 4:30, 33).
After punishing the conspirators, the Nephites again began to prosper. “There were many cities built anew” and “many highways cast up, and many roads made” to connect all the land. But “some were lifted up unto pride and boastings because of their exceedingly great riches . . . for there were many merchants in the land, and also many lawyers and many officers. And the people were distinguished by ranks, according to their riches . . . insomuch that the church began to be broken up” until only a few were left “who were converted unto the true faith and they would not depart from it, for they were firm, and steadfast, and immovable, willing with all diligence to keep the commandments of the Lord” (3 Nephi 6:7–14).
Satan had great power [again] . . . stirring up the people to do all manner of iniquity, and to the puffing them up with pride, tempting them to seek for power, and authority, and riches, and the vain things of the world. (3 Nephi 6:15)
In just a few years, evil again reigned so “men inspired from heaven” were sent, “preaching and testifying boldly of the sins and iniquities of the people,” which angered the chief judges, lawyers, and high priests so much that these divinely-called but not hierarchal messengers were persecuted or put to death. To cover these crimes, the high priests, judges, and lawyers “did enter into a covenant one with another, yea, even into that covenant which was given by them of old, which covenant was given and administered by the devil, to combine against all righteousness . . . They did combine against the people of the Lord” to destroy them and “set at defiance the law and the rights of their country . . . that the land should no more be at liberty” (3 Nephi 6:20–21, 28–30).
And all this iniquity had come upon the people because they did yield themselves unto the power of Satan. And the regulations of the government were destroyed because of the secret combination[s]. (3 Nephi 7:6–7)
In every dispensation, God’s relentless warnings about these evil satanic works fall on deaf ears. So Moroni bluntly asks a simple but important question to latter-day readers who—instead of averting this tragedy among them—became “exceedingly rich, . . . buil[t] up churches unto themselves to get gain, and began to deny the true church of Christ” (4 Nephi 1:23, 26). He asks, “Why do ye build up your secret abominations to get gain?” (Mormon 8:40).
The Lord worketh not in secret combinations . . . [but] hath forbidden it . . . Whatsoever nation shall uphold such secret combinations, to get power and gain, until they shall spread over the nation, shall be destroyed. (Ether 8:19, 22)
Scripture must be taken seriously. “It is wisdom in God that these things should be shown unto you, that thereby ye may repent of your sins, and suffer not that these murderous combinations shall get above you . . . to your overthrow and destruction.” God “commandeth you when ye shall see these things come among you, that ye shall awake to a sense of your awful situation” because “whoso buildeth it up seeketh to overthrow the freedom of all lands, nations, and countries; and it bringeth to pass the destruction of all people, for it is built up by the devil . . . who hath hardened the hearts of men” (Ether 8:24–25).
Today’s Gadiantons
One of Satan’s most successful but pathetic tricks is to make people think the truth is just a conspiracy theory. “There is a conspiracy . . . in her midst” (Ezekiel 22:25) but because their acts are secret, few awaken to the reality. Those who awaken and warn others are viciously ridiculed.
The secretive Illuminati order was created in 1776, the same year our God-centered nation was founded. Their admitted goals, which James Robison courageously exposed in 1798, have come to fruition. They seek to obliterate Christianity, promote sensuality, abolish private property, reject marriage, redefine morality and abandon religion, destroy classes through excessive taxation, government takeover of parenting, control businesses through mandatory licensing, create political degradation, manipulate and control people’s thinking, and promote and perform evil works for the sake of destroying righteousness.
Those who valiantly fought for our nation’s independence knew that the Illuminati, like other secret combinations, exist and pose a serious threat to the nation. It was only by divine providence that this secretive plot was discovered in 1785 when a courier delivering the Illuminati’s evil plans was killed by lightning and his papers were discovered. The secret group quietly formed a new group called the “Society of the Friends of the Constitution” in 1789, fooling many by its new name. Washington did not “doubt that the doctrines of the Illuminati and principles of Jacobism had spread to the United States,” he wrote, for “on the contrary, no one is more fully satisfied of this fact than I.”
In 1838 Joseph warned “that there have been frauds and secret abominations and evil works of darkness going on, leading the minds of the weak and unwary into confusion and distraction.” In 1886, John Taylor reported, “The scenes which we are now witnessing in this [Utah] Territory are the results of a deep-laid and carefully planned conspiracy, which has been in process of formation for years.” He was rightfully concerned that these destructive societies would again infiltrate God’s land of promise.
While there was occasional proof of their existence, most failed to see it. In 1966 Harvard history professor Dr. Caroll Quigley published the gigantic volume Tragedy and Hope, which detailed the “grand conspiracy” of these “secret networks” made up of “the Rothschilds and other banking cartel families’ star role in the conspiracy, the part played by the Council on Foreign Relations and its British equivalent—the Royal Institute of International Affairs, known as Chatham House—and the master performance of ‘Colonel’ Edward Mandell House, the Dulles brothers, Walter Lippmann, and many others in this networking charade.” His work is highly credible because Dr. Quigley “studied it for twenty years and was permitted for two years to examine its papers and secret records.”
The UN, WEF, George Soros, Rothschilds, Rockefellers, politicians, and so many others confirm through word and deed that these combinations not only still exist, but they are thriving. Tycoon and tyrant David Rockefeller bragged that “some even believe we are part of a secret cabal working against the best interests of the United States . . . to build a more integrated global political and economic structure—one world, if you will. If that’s the charge, I stand guilty and I am proud of it.”
Having witnessed the effects of such wickedness firsthand, the prophet Ether was justifiably concerned for future Americans and begged all to “awake to a sense of your awful situation” (Ether 8:24).
Becoming Babel
Scripture is clear that history repeats itself and Babylon will be very much a part of latter-day events. The wise Solomon said, “What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9). This includes a modern type of the Tower of Babel.
When the whole earth was of one language and speech “the [God] who is before all . . . was the object of universal faith . . . They made a discovery by means of which they shook off their faith in the Most High. So it is written of Nimrod: And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, this being the starting point from which he commenced to attach himself to other powers . . . Foolish they certainly were, but at the same time they had a crafty design to rid themselves of the Supreme Power and to transfer His glory to another.
Throughout there is an allusion to the mysteries of religion. Thus, the words ‘Come let us build a city and a tower’ [“with its top in heaven”] mean that when they reached the plain [of Shinar], which signifies the “strange power,” and there was revealed to them the place of its dominion . . . they said, Here is a place where the beings of the lower world can abide in comfort . . . [This place] shall be to us a center of worship, and no other.” And “let us make a name . . . lest we be scattered abroad.”
How fitting that the punishment for becoming ‘one people’ with “one language, being united [that] they may indeed succeed in their undertaking” is the reason the Lord fulfilled their biggest fear by scattering them abroad and confounding their common language—thus “they lost the source of their power” and “their strength was broken.”
With a base some believe was up to 30 miles circumference, its height taking a year to climb, and its top reaching beyond the clouds, the Tower of Babel is a symbol of the kingdom and power Satan has on earth. Although Babel’s tower was utterly destroyed thousands of years ago, its symbol continues to appear in commercials, Oscar awards, political comments, advertisements, Hollywood productions, and more.
Decades ago, Scientific American featured a Tower of Babel illustration in a Lockheed ad, touting its technological advancements that counter God by “undoing the Babel effect,” bringing the world together with one voice. IBM also displayed an artist’s rendering of Babel’s Tower in their ads, with modern skyscrapers protruding from the ancient half-finished structure, implying that the business world is working to finish what Babylon left undone long ago—ambitiously pursuing immortality and glory through man’s own efforts.
Plato said “at one time all men had one speech but were confused and scattered when they sought immortality,” the same goal of many today. Babylonians sought to make man higher than God and named their city Babel, ‘the gate of the gods,’ but after God was finished with them, their name was more appropriately reduced to a homonym for the Hebrew word for confusion. Babylon and its tower represent false worship, redefined morality, blurred reality, and making a name for themselves instead of letting God “make their name great” (Genesis 12:2).
Remember, Babel “built the tower of the war against God and the Lord removed them” (3 Baruch 2:7, Greek) because they sought to “make ourselves an idol on top of it and let us put in its hand a sword to make war against” God. They “sought to pierce the heaven” (3 Baruch 3:7), “split the firmament to make war against it,” and “ascend to the top of the tower and dwell there.”
Today we are again becoming one world, connected by the universal language of technology, which has infiltrated every aspect of people’s lives around the globe. Technology breaks down the language barriers that God decreed and attempts to unify people in globalist and radical beliefs as one voice, again ‘undoing the Babel effect.’ With Google translate and other apps readily available, we are able to communicate with anyone, anywhere, anytime. Ironically, the technology and social media promoted to bring us all together with the help of a world-wide web instead has fragmented family and society.
God destroyed Nimrod’s prosperous kingdom and scattered its people when worship of strange things and global dominance became their sole focus. Today’s globalists are determined to unite all nations again—not under God—but into their New World Order.
The Tower of Babel fills the official poster for the 12-nation United Europe [precursor to the European Union]. Circling above the unfinished tower are 12 stars. Unlike those of the American flag, however, these are upside down, thus forming the pentagram of classic occultism. The pentagram, with its two ‘horns’ pointing upward and its ‘beard’ downward, is also known as the Goat of Mendes, or Baphomet, a symbol of Satan.
What’s interesting is that twelve nations formed the original European Union, but this poster only shows eleven stars. An ancient text may explain the ‘missing’ two horns. “They made the [tower] to reach the celestial ocean . . . It stood before them majestically: at the bottom and at the top they observed its two horns.” It was a “temple-tower” where false gods took their seats, saying, “This Babylon shall be our abode. No mighty one shall destroy [t]his house” then partook of a meal of consecration (Babylonian Creation Myth 48–49, 52–53).
We are told that the twelve stars on the European flag signify “the Queen of Heaven,” a title given to Semiramis, the earthly mother-wife of Nimrod also known as Ishtar, Isis, Ashtoreth, Minerva, Astarte, and Diana. She “wore a [turreted] crown of towers” on her head “because she first erected them in cities.” Paul says that in his day, “all Asia and the world worship” her but when he challenged her legitimacy and exposed her as a strange god, “the city was filled with confusion” (Acts 19:27–29).
The construction of the EU Parliament in the image of the Tower of Babel sends the message that Nimrod had the right philosophy and his Tower promoted the glorification of mankind over God.
Europe’s Parliament building also looks like the unfinished Tower of Babel, its design based on Peter Bruegel’s 1563 rendition of Babel’s tower. Should there be any question, “members of the European Parliament” proudly told a journalist that they definitely “knew what the Tower of Babel was and what it meant”—that it represented “Babel from the Bible, and that the purpose of the EU was to finish what Nimrod and the people together had failed to do some 3,500 years ago.”
The world’s tallest building currently is the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. Opened in 2010 at a phenomenal height of 2,722 ft—over half a mile high—it triples the height of the Eiffel Tower and nearly doubles Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Taipei’s gigantic towers. Its sky-piercing top is eerily reminiscent of Babel’s tower which sought to pierce the heavens. The motives are clearly given on a plaque found inside the Burj Khalifa which reads: “From the earth to the sky. Aspiration and achievement—a shining symbol of what Dubai strives for and what we can accomplish.” Another inscription describes this desert tower’s “power,” global focus, and pride.
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| Burj Khalifa, Dubai, UAE Donaldytongm Wikimedia Commons |
Not to be outdone, Saudi Arabia is working on an even more massive tower in Jeddah, aptly called the Kingdom Tower, set to reach a full kilometer in height (3,308 ft). Other countries are drafting their own ideas for Babel-esque tower buildings.
The Empire State building and World Trade Center’s twin towers were this nation’s most iconic skyscrapers. When both towers fell on September 11, 2001, the US was shocked and humbled enough to turn to God—for a very short time. Many struggled to find Him because God had been intentionally driven out of school, government, culture, media, homes, hearts, and conversation.
World Trade Center was a symbol of America’s economic power—proud, majestic, towering. But in a matter of moments, it had come crashing down to dust . . . a warning to even the most proud, majestic, and towering of nations that no nation is invulnerable or exempt [from destruction].
Instead of repenting, the US chose to be defiant. As ruins of the World Trade Center towers were cleared away, “a sign appeared at Ground Zero with these words: A new icon will soon rise above the Lower Manhattan skyline . . . the Freedom Tower.” It would be “an icon of defiance” of “a people, who far from being repentant, glory in their iniquity,” like Cain (Moses 5:31). The attitude of rebuilding it bigger, better, and stronger—without repenting—was a prideful act of deliberate rebellion. Senator Kerry told his agreeable fellow legislators, “One of the first things we should commit to . . . is to rebuild the towers of the World Trade Center and show the world we are not afraid—we are defiant!”
Senate majority leader Tom Daschle unwittingly identified America as a nation under judgment when he quoted the Bible: “The bricks have fallen down but we will rebuild” and “we will replace” (Isaiah 9:10, NIV), thus tying America to a former nation under judgment. The bricks also tie to the Tower of Babel, for the biblical account tells of their ambition, saying, “Come, let us make brick” to build their tower (Genesis 11:3).
Instead of worshipping God in His revealed manner, they sought to take ascension into their own hands by creating a city and tower made of bricks, not godliness. Their temple-tower took 43 years to build with phenomenal manpower. “Its height amounted to 5,433 cubits and 2 palms” (Jubilees 10:21), about 1.5 miles high with innumerable stairs that took “a year to mount to the top.” The tower’s bricks were valued even more than life. The wicked construct their structures with “bricks of sin” (1 Enoch 99:13). Babel’s workers “said each to his neighbor, Let us take bricks and let each of us write our names on the bricks” to build it. It was about destroying God and making a name for themselves.
Babel was not only a religious and political enterprise, but it engaged in the most advanced technology and science of its day. Today’s science still represents an attempt to elevate man to godhood by conquering space, the atom, disease, [DNA], and eventually death.
More rebellion is seen in placements of a woman riding the beast in sculptures at Brussel’s airport and also outside the European Council of Ministers building in Brussels, and in paintings at the Berlin Wall as well as both Strasbourg’s and Brussels’ parliaments. She is also featured on a British stamp and European bank notes and currency.
This woman riding the beast has “Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the Earth” written on her forehead and her beast is “covered with blasphemous names” (Revelation 17:5, 3). Among many things, she represents paganized Christianity, a worldwide political and religious system, and all that is evil in the world. The powerful beast with horns that she rides is father of the Gods in Greek mythology, a bull with crescent-shaped horns—a symbol of Baal.
The EU, like others, clearly state their intention to complete what Babylon started and God stopped, with an attitude of willful rebellion and defiance, being “of one mind” in wickedness.
These are of one mind and they hand over their power and authority to the beast. (Revelation 17:13, ESV)
The spirit of Babel lives on today when people deny God, usurp His world, and modify His creations. That God halted the spectacular Tower’s completion and utterly destroyed it should be warning enough to not continue in the same path. How prideful it is to believe that we are exempt from punishment and can reverse God’s actions and power.
Those “drunken” from Babylon’s “golden cup” (Jeremiah 51:7) are deranged and delusional, apathetic or unaware of just how tight Satan’s gasp on them is. Satan desperately seeks to convince us that man and scientific advancements must be brought together to solve society’s problems so we cannot focus on worshipping the true God, who separated races and nations “that they should seek the Lord . . . feel after him, and find him” (Acts 17:27). God mercifully stopped their progress, scattered them, “changed their faces,” and confused their language to thwart their nefarious plans and turn them back to Him.
“Being puffed up by their strength and great stature, and proudly thinking that they were better than the gods, [men] raised a huge tower, where Babylon now stands: and when they were already nearer to heaven, the winds came to the help of the gods, and overthrew their structure upon them, the ruins of which were called Babylon.” Or “Some among them undertook to erect a large and lofty tower, that they might climb up into heaven. But God sending forth a whirlwind, confounded their design.”
Babel’s confusion of tongues through a “mighty wind” that destroyed the tower would be easily understood by the early Christians, for a “mighty wind” allowed the Apostles to speak in tongues (Acts 2:1–11). Wind, ruach, is the breath or Spirit of God (Genesis 2:7) but in Arab mythology desert winds are the voice of the djinn, demons of the whirlwind.
A tornado or whirlwind is a sign of God’s power, a force of creation or destruction. “Vengeance cometh speedily upon the ungodly as the whirlwind, and who shall escape it?” (D&C 97:22). A whirlwind “shall carry away . . . all those who are proud and that do wickedly” (2 Nephi 26:4–5). “If my people shall sow filthiness they shall reap the chaff thereof in the whirlwind and the effect thereof is poison” (Mosiah 7:30). When the fulness of iniquity finally arrives, vengeance comes
speedily upon the inhabitants of the earth . . . and upon my house shall it begin, and from my house shall it go forth, saith the Lord; first among those . . . who have professed to know my name and have not known me, and have blasphemed against me in the midst of my house. (D&C 112:24–26)
“The great day of the Lord is near . . . a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of devastation and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of trumpet and alarm against the fortified cities and . . . the high towers” (Zephaniah 1:14–16).
All who “buildeth up at his own will and pleasure . . . take heed.” Consequences are coming, so “let the rebellious fear and tremble . . . for the day of wrath shall come upon them as a whirlwind, and all flesh shall know that I am God” (D&C 63:4, 6).
Clever Counterfeits
We have been deceived into thinking the devil has horns and a tail or a vile demeanor, because we never expect him to wear a suit and tie with a smile—and that’s how he tricks us. He is so charming, enticing, attractive, polished, well-spoken, and convincing that even the righteous fail to see his hand at times. His workers “are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ, and no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:13–14, Berean).
Every generation from the beginning of time has fallen for Satan’s big lie because “the serpent was more cunning than” all (Genesis 3:1). It is the pattern of history. Forty-four centuries ago, in 1800 b.c., an account of life in Egypt mirrors ours today, and we are told it was the pattern in previous generations even before theirs. Speculation, gender confusion, gangs, greed, inflation, suicides, deception and dishonesty, laws being trampled, and apathy dominated.
Just like his premortal plan, Satan’s big lie is that we can do what we want in life and still be like God and have eternal blessings. Many believe we can “eat, drink, and be merry” in this life and “it shall be well with us” (2 Nephi 28:7) but without obtaining His spirit we can never claim the riches of eternity.
God repeatedly tests us to see if we will seek truth and discern those who are doing His will. Holy ones cry repentance to people who refuse to hear. Rarely recognized as divinely sent, they are misunderstood, despised, persecuted, and cast out. Jesus, Enoch, Nephi, Paul, John, Abraham, Noah, Lehi, and many others were not in a church’s hierarchy and were disbelieved, rejected, accused of heresy, or put to death. We will be judged on our response to His message, so be careful to not reject unexpected messengers.
As long as Satan roams, there will be imposters and blasphemous imitations. Satan first used the form of a snake, but today he also uses systems, seduction, and science to deceive us into believing his impossible promises—and nearly all have fallen for it. It was the manner of Nimrod, “a mighty man, powerful in hunting [men’s souls] and mighty in sinning.” He would carefully entrap people by encouraging them to “abandon the [gospel] statutes of Shem and adopt the statutes of Nimrod.”
So successful was Nimrod that he united all nations in “single-minded wickedness” (Wisdom of Solomon 10:5). What we believe are new sins or advancements in today’s world are just repeats of what destroyed societies before. Satan must hide the truth so we cannot awake to his scheme to imitate then decimate God’s government and plan. He and his workers have an eye single to helping the antichrist usurp this world.
An early Christian writer, Hippolytus, says that the Anti-Christ imitates Christ in every particular: each sends out his apostles, gives his seal to believers, does signs and wonders, claims the temple as his own, has his own church and assembly, etc. Such is the method of ‘the great Deceiver of the World,’ against whom, says Hippolytus, ‘Enoch and Elias have warned us.’ We are reminded how Satan put forth his claim, ‘I am also a son of God’ (Moses 5:13).
Centuries of subtle deception lead us from Christ to antiChrist ideas, then eventually to the ultimate deception—accepting the plan and the antiChrist himself. They “will turn their ears away from the truth and will wander off” the path and “accept the unacceptable” (2 Timothy 4:4, Amplified). We must be awake and watching for counterfeits are many:
Those who obtain the real Zion and its glorious blessings truly will be happy and own everything—unlike Satan’s plan, where as the WEF tells us, “by 2030, individuals will own nothing and be happy.”
There will be, in the next generation or so, a pharmacological method of making people love their servitude, and producing dictatorship without tears . . . People will in fact have their liberties taken away from them, but will rather enjoy it because they will be distracted from any desire to rebel by propaganda or brainwashing . . . enhanced by pharmacological methods.
The development of an underclass is essential to a new global order. The reality is that the ‘middle class’ is intentionally disappearing. This means the underclass or slave class must be kept ignorant . . . where people are obsessed with television shows [and electronics].
Many of man’s innovations, even if designed for good, are being used for evil. Even in 1992, patent approval was given for a ‘silent subliminal presentation system’ which “subliminally transmitted information . . . that can be perceived and decoded by the listener’s subconscious mind,” a technique compatible with almost all audio devices. Basically, someone can speak into a microphone, generate subsonic orders that can be aimed at—and received subconsciously by—a person who remains entirely unaware.
Subliminal programming has only intensified in power and pervasiveness. We are to watch our words, thoughts, and deeds because who knows what (or who) is subtly influencing them. “My thoughts are not your thoughts and My ways are not your ways” (Isaiah 55:8, CSB).
Thanks to secret combinations and divergent religious views, many who should have “awakened to their awful situation” (Ether 8:24) instead have entered the great and spacious building and gone woke.
As discussed, secret combinations are experienced and instrumental in destroying people and nations. They come from “that same being who put it into the hearts of the people” to build a tower at Babel. They “spread the works of darkness and abominations all over the face of the land” as they “hand down their plots, and their oaths, and their covenants, and their plans of awful wickedness from generation to generation” (Helaman 6:28, 30).
Too many professed Christian ‘believers’ accept Satan’s destructive lies that all really is well in Zion. For example, a Mormon Transhumanist Association—the first religious special interest affiliate of the World Transhumanist Association—claims to be Christ’s disciples while believing “the development and dissemination of advanced technologies—cryogenics, bionics, artificial intelligence, and so on—will raise humanity to the heights of power and immortality that [Joseph] Smith envisioned” for immortality and eternal life. They completely misconstrue and misinterpret Joseph’s statement that we can learn to become as gods as an action entirely within the reach of human genius, removing God from the equation. Joseph acknowledged that knowing God was the requirement for eternal life.
Their affirmation states, “We believe that scientific knowledge and technological power are among the means ordained by God to enable such exaltation, . . . immortality, resurrection, renewal of this world” and more. They also see the fulfillment of “the dispensation of the fulness of times” (D&C 124:41) in terms of neo-human achievement and consider “science and technology among the most obvious manifestations of active faith,” leaving no room for faith, sacrifice, obedience, spiritual transformation, and priesthood power. Transhumanism leaves no need for a savior and is the earthly manifestation of Satan’s premortal plan—to give immortality to all who want it, without earning it.
Being completely misled about God’s great work (and what was revealed to Joseph), they deceive many. It is impossible to support transhumanism and Christ’s gospel, for transhumanism is the antithesis of His gospel.
Many “set themselves up for a light of the world” but “seek not the welfare of Zion” (2 Nephi 26:29). This mindset results in “weaken[ing] the nations” (Isaiah 14:13). God will provide all of these things—immortality, visions, glory, health, strength, a resurrected body, and eternal riches—but not through technology or modified machines, only through qualifying spiritually by proven obedience, faith, repentance, and sacrifice. The truly righteous will receive all things and eternal treasures in God’s time frame, not ours, and through His power, not ours.
Many pretend they can offer God’s promised blessings but their imitative version cannot bring salvation. Still, Satan’s workers are persuasive: “They did deceive many with their flattering words who were in the church and did cause them to commit many sins” (Mosiah 26:6).
Since dependence on technology is central to the success of these destructive schemes, there are many counterfeits for this too.
The rainbow is a good example of just how pervasive and powerful Satan’s tactics are to deceive and destroy us. God set the rainbow “in heaven” as “a pledge of faithfulness between me and them forever . . . in accordance with my ordinance” (1 Enoch 55:2). But now the rainbow has become “the world’s most recognizable symbol of sexual deviancy” instead of a “beautiful symbol of a merciful promise: God will not give up on mankind . . . The rainbow is a sign of God’s mercy. But that mercy does not mean God tolerates sin—it means He works to free man from sin.”
Under guise of a very suspicious ‘global warming crisis,’ dangerous chemicals in the atmosphere from HAARP, Project Blue Beam, contrail clouds, and more all work to change (destroy) God’s atmosphere. Because the rainbow colors have different frequencies and HAARP’s high-frequency weather modifications disrupt those, is God’s rainbow at risk?
One CIA whistleblower claims that top-secret Project Blue Beam’s name is descriptive of the blue, violet, and purple color frequencies that they are trying to remove from the atmosphere—the positive God frequencies of Alpha and Omega. Removing them would result in a concentration of negative power. This project also ties to advanced holograms. Will these holograms be used to deceive us? Are they removing God’s natural blue light frequency while creating a damaging artificial blue light emitted by phone or computer screens? It’s interesting to consider.
God “will set my [rain]bow in the cloud” once the covenant was established with Noah, “a token of a covenant between me and the earth . . . [and] between me and you and for every living creature” (Genesis 9:12–13, JST). His everlasting covenant offers way more than flood protection:
The bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it that I may remember the everlasting covenant which I made unto thy father Enoch; that when men should keep all my commandments, Zion should again come to earth, the city of Enoch which I have caught up unto myself.
And this is mine everlasting covenant, that when thy posterity shall embrace the truth, and look upward, then shall Zion look downward, and all the heavens shall shake with gladness, and the earth shall tremble with joy. And the general assembly of the church of the firstborn shall come down out of heaven, and possess the earth, and shall have place until the end come. And this is mine everlasting covenant which I made with thy father Enoch. (Genesis 9:16, JST)
The days of Noah did not have this covenant established yet, nor the rainbow sign of it. “As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also” (Luke 17:26) in last days. In modern times it was revealed, “The Lord hath set the bow in the cloud for a sign that while it shall be seen, seed time and harvest, summer and winter shall not fail; but when it shall disappear, woe to that generation, for behold the end cometh quickly.” When the rainbow is not seen, then will “commence desolation, calamity, and distress among the nations, without seed time or harvest.” The Zohar says that when the rainbow is again restored, it will be in splendid unearthly colors.
Distraction leads to deception, and deception is key to making people believe false things. It is easy to be deceived when Satan and “the satans” (1 Enoch 40:7) have mastered the art of imitation and counterfeits. They immediately take everything of God’s and change it a few degrees to make it into something inferior but patterned after God’s but more enticing to man. If we choose a path that has even one degree of variance, we will never arrive at our final destination. This is why the gift of discernment offered in the Lord’s act and strange act is so valuable.
“All Men Were Offended”
Recognizing Satan’s tactics, refusing complacency, and rejecting strange things in the land is the great test of morality. Scripture warns that Satan “leadeth them by the neck with a flaxen cord until he bindeth them with his strong cords forever” (2 Nephi 26:22), even “the chains of hell” (Alma 12:11). The progression is so subtle that it escapes our notice. It’s a brilliant plan because a flaxen cord is not perceived as a threat since it’s a very fine, weak single thread that is easily broken. If Satan can bind us with this type of sin, odds are that we will not notice. Only after we are entwined in seemingly harmless endeavors does the flaxen cord become strong enough to resist breakage, making it much harder to escape. From there, it is hard to unwind ourselves from Babylon’s pull until ultimately we are grasped with the chains of hell.
God’s servants cannot deliver words people want to hear, for they are strictly commissioned to preach only what God knows people need to hear. False prophets and teachers refrain from preaching repentance. Instead they point to themselves, claim ‘all is well,’ and promote their variations or versions as the ‘better’ way. They support worldly ideologies, deliver smooth words, encourage followers to believe salvation is assured by outward works and busyness, collude with businessmen and politicians, amass great fortune, conform to political correctness, and appear holy to some—but fail to walk or teach the right path to God’s presence. They “teach with their learning and deny the Holy Ghost . . . They say unto the people, Hearken unto us and hear ye our precepts . . . for God hath given His power to men” (2 Nephi 28:4–5). They are “ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Timothy 3:7).
In times of greatest darkness, the Lord provides a voice of warning, a voice of reason, a voice of truth. In the days of Enoch, wickedness prevailed so much that the Lord shortly thereafter sent the Flood. God said,
Enoch, my son, prophesy unto this people and say unto them—Repent! for the Lord is angry with this people . . . Their hearts have waxed hard, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes cannot see afar off . . .
Ever since the day I created them have they gone astray and denied me, and have sought their own counsels in the dark . . . and have not kept the commandments which I gave unto their father Adam. Wherefore they have foresworn themselves, and, by their oaths, they have brought upon themselves death; and a hell I have prepared for them, if they repent not. (Moses 6:27–29)
The humble Enoch asked, “Why is it that I have found favor in thy sight, and am but a lad, and all the people hate me; for I am slow of speech. Wherefore am I thy servant?” The Lord replied, “Go forth and do as I have commanded thee and no man shall pierce thee. Open thy mouth and it shall be filled, and I will give thee utterance . . . Say unto this people: Choose ye this day to serve the Lord God who made you. Behold, my Spirit is upon you, wherefore all thy words will I justify . . . and thou shalt abide in me, and I in you; therefore, walk with me” (Moses 6:31–34).
Enoch was anointed to see things that “were not visible to the natural eye” and from then, people knew “a seer hath the Lord raised up unto his people” (Moses 6:35–36). A righteous people would consider themselves blessed beyond measure to have a seer in their midst, but when wickedness rules, a prophesying seer is a serious disruption to complacency.
Enoch went forth in the land, among the people, standing upon the hills and the high places, and cried with a loud voice, testifying against their works; and all men were offended because of him . . . [Many came] to behold the seer, for he prophesieth, and there is a strange thing in the land; a wild man hath come among us. (Moses 6:37–38)
When questioned, Enoch said his authority came from being taught “in all the ways of God” who “spake with me.” He taught that “Satan hath come among the children of men and tempted them to worship him; and men have become carnal, sensual, and devilish and are shut out from the presence of God” so they “must repent.” As Enoch spoke “the words of God . . . people trembled and could not stand in his presence” (Moses 6:41, 43, 47, 49–50). So backward was their thinking that Enoch was seen as a “wild man” causing “a strange thing in the land” (Moses 6:38).
By preaching the need for repentance, Enoch was considered apostate, strange, and “wild,” which scripturally means being “led by their evil nature” (Enos 1:20). Although he was despised and hated, Enoch eventually attained the level of righteousness required to establish Zion but it did not come easily. Distortion, damning traditions, deception, and delusion had become so great that professed believers were mixed up. Many led by the precepts of men believed the Zion-worthy Enoch was evil. Thomas Paine realized, “He who dares not offend cannot be honest.”
The devil has great power to deceive; he will so transform things as to make one gape at those who are doing the will of God.
Those residing in the strange great and spacious building have the same reaction. Few are willing to consider that they themselves might be numbered among those who “were in the attitude of mocking and pointing their fingers towards those who had come at and were tasting of the fruit . . . They did point the finger of scorn . . . but we heeded them not . . . for as many as heeded them had fallen away” (1 Nephi 8:27, 33–34). “Fear not the sinners” and “companions of sinners” (1 Enoch 94:3, 97:4).
What did Enoch preach that caused them shake, tremble, fear, and not be able to stand in his presence? Fortunately, the Book of Enoch preserved his message that was preached long ago, a message that is just as applicable and urgent today as it was in Enoch’s day.
Enoch’s epistle is written to all “who will dwell upon the earth and to the last generations who will observe truth and peace” (1 Enoch 92:1). He tells us that the ‘wicked’ comprise two groups: “the first are religious teachers who are said to pervert the truth and lead many astray from the right paths,” and the second group are the “rich and powerful . . . oppressors of the righteous.” Enoch boldly rebuked the rich “for in your riches you have trusted” and the “sinners, for your riches make you appear to be righteous but your heart convicts you of being sinners . . . What have you gained from your deeds?” He called out “lying witnesses” who “spread evil” and “lay the foundations of sin and deceit.” To those who “strayed from the holy deeds” and “reject the foundation and everlasting inheritance of their fathers, a spirit of error pursues you: You will have no rest.” To all who “practice lawlessness and aid iniquity . . . He will destroy your glory . . . [and] all the righteous and holy will remember your unrighteous deeds” (1 Enoch 94:8, 96:4, 102:6, 95:6, 100:9, 99:11–16).
The oppressed include “slaves, day laborers, persons whose goods and livelihood have been taken unjustly by the rich and powerful” as men of all levels and status are oppressed under global control. Many are morally bankrupt and “employ deceit to obtain the wealth,” but they will “die in the wealth of [their] sins.” Their “souls are full of ill-gotten wealth” and “sinful riches” that cannot endure (1 Enoch 63:10, 103:5). Their kingdoms are built “not with their own labors” but with “bricks of sin” that include social, political, and religious transgressions so “from all their foundations will they be overthrown” (1 Enoch 99:13, 94:6–7).
God’s house “lies in ruins” because what they are obligated to do is not done. “This people say the time is not come” yet for Zion to be established because they are preoccupied with their own houses (Haggai 1:2). “My people, why should you be living in well-built houses while my Temple lies in ruins?” (Haggai 1:4, Good News). It is a hard message, but true servants never shirk from delivering it. “Do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ” (Galatians 1:10)
Enoch called out sins that can only bring destruction and because of it, “all men were offended.” He called out their specific sins that he learned after receiving sacred records from God, including the record ‘of all things’ that detailed all wicked acts and sins since the world began. This book, given to the Lord’s most faithful servants in times of greatest wickedness, comes with a duty to expose evil and proclaim in power the dire need for repentance as the fulness of iniquity comes in.
A “strange thing in the land” will happen again as records of evil deeds, works of darkness, and hidden sins are revealed, exposed, and “read upon the house tops . . . by the power of Christ; and all things shall be revealed” which “ever have been among the children of men, and which ever will be even unto the end of the earth” (2 Nephi 27:11). If the thought of all your deeds being broadcast to the world in any way strikes fear in you, there is only one solution—repent, now.
It is an urgent matter because secret combinations and strange things are among us. Through diligently exposing and bringing darkness into the light, “evil may be done away” and “the time may come that Satan may have no power upon the hearts of the children of men, but that they may be persuaded to do good continually” and be saved (Ether 8:26).
For this reason, it is “an imperative duty that we owe to God” and our families to bring “to light the hidden things of darkness” and expose all evil, error, and darkness that keep us captive (D&C 123:7–11).
We should waste and wear out our lives in bringing to light all the hidden things of darkness, wherein we know them; and they are truly manifest from heaven—These should then be attended to with great earnestness. Let no man count them as small things; for there is much which lieth in futurity, pertaining to the saints, which depends upon these things. (D&C 123:13–15)
Footnotes and sources can be found HERE.