Chapter 1—A Strange Land
While in Ur of Chaldea, Abram (whom God later renamed Abraham) was in the midst of a people whose worship evolved in such a manner that they eventually presented offerings to “strange gods.”
It was the custom of the priest of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, to offer up upon the altar which was built in the land of Chaldea, for the offering unto these strange gods, men, women, and children. (Abraham 1:8)
Scholars say ancient Ur was a highly educated and advanced culture with impressive libraries, fine clothing, and schools of law. Elaborate jewels and treasures have been discovered in its land. That it is similar to today’s modern cities and lifestyle suggests that Babylon’s strange gods may not be too different from the gods we worship today.
Like many other nations, the Chaldeans erred by relying on the arm of flesh—their own works, “genius,” and means—instead of turning to the true and living God. Continued wickedness with a lack of repentance resulted in famine (Abraham 2:1). Their wayward worship had roots in truth, but progressivism is often the enemy of righteousness.
These circumstances describe our world today as much as they did in Abraham’s time when wicked King Nimrod ruled. Through thievery and cunning, Nimrod’s grandfather Ham (son of Noah) came to possess Adam’s sacred priesthood garment. When Nimrod wore this garment, he “became strong” and offered sacrifice to his Lord.
But with increasing prosperity and power, Nimrod forgot the Lord, “strengthened himself,” and was “reigning according to his heart’s desires after having conquered all his enemies” (Jasher 7:31, 42). “All nations and tongues . . . bowed down to the earth, and they brought [Nimrod] offerings, and he became their lord and king” as he “reigned in the earth over all the sons of Noah and they were all under his power and counsel.” Global power and vast wealth proved too tempting for the tyrant Nimrod, who “did not go in the ways of the Lord.” He “rebelled against the Lord and taught all his subjects and the people of the earth his wicked ways” (Jasher 7:45–47). Nimrod was globalist, dictator, and an antichrist. Nimrod “was the first to seize tyrannical power [previously] unused over the people.”
Abraham’s father Terah worked for Nimrod, who “dignified and elevated him above all his princes.” Terah “was in those days very great in the sight of the king and his subjects, and the king and princes loved him” (Jasher 7:41, 49). The apocryphal book of Jasher explains that Terah had to send his newborn son Abram to a cave to save the child’s life from the jealous King Nimrod. Threatened by a sign in the sky that signified a chosen one was born, Nimrod attempt[ed] to find (to kill) the infant Abram, who was prophesied to “grow up and be fruitful, and multiply, and possess all the earth, he and his children for ever . . . and his seed will slay great kings and inherit their lands” (Jasher 8:4).
Once weaned, young Abram was sent to his righteous grandfathers for safety and spiritual training. “When Abram came out from the cave, he went to Noah and his son Shem and he remained with them to learn the instruction of the Lord and His ways and no man knew where Abram was, and Abram served Noah and Shem his son for a long time . . . Abram knew the Lord from three years old and he went in the ways of the Lord” (Jasher 9:5–6). It’s ironic that Abraham’s father Terah was idolatrous but exalted in Nimrod’s kingdom at the very time Abraham forsook idolatry to eventually be exalted in the kingdom of God.
Already a follower of righteousness, Abraham sought even greater blessings and higher priesthood by “appointment of God,” not from the high priestly establishment of his day.
Finding there was greater happiness and peace and rest for me, I sought for the blessings of the fathers, and the right whereunto I should be ordained to administer the same; having been myself a follower of righteousness, desiring also to be one who possessed great knowledge, and to be a greater follower of righteousness, and to possess a greater knowledge, and to be a father of many nations, a prince of peace, and desiring to receive instructions, and to keep the commandments of God, I became a rightful heir, a High Priest, holding the right belonging to the fathers.
It was conferred upon me from the fathers. It came down from the fathers from the beginning of time, yea, even from the beginning, or before the foundation of the earth, down to the present time, even the right of the firstborn, or the first man, who is Adam, or first father, through the fathers unto me. I sought for mine appointment unto the Priesthood according to the appointment of God unto the fathers concerning the seed. (Abraham 1:2–4)
When fifty years old and having “the Lord with him,” Abraham returned to his father’s land, where Nimrod again vigorously sought his life (Jasher 11:13–14). As he surveyed the land of his fathers, Abraham was deeply disappointed by what he found.
My fathers, having turned from their righteousness and from the holy commandments which the Lord their God had given unto them, unto the worshiping of the gods of the heathen, utterly refused to hearken to my voice; for their hearts were set to do evil, and were wholly turned to the god of Elkenah, and the god of Libnah, and the god of Mahmackrah, and the god of Korash, and the god of Pharaoh, king of Egypt.
Therefore they turned their hearts to the sacrifice of the heathen in offering up their children unto these dumb idols, and hearkened not unto my voice, but endeavored to take away my life by the hand of the priest of Elkenah. The priest of Elkenah was also the priest of Pharaoh. Now, at this time it was the custom of the priest of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, to offer up upon the altar . . . offering unto these strange gods. (Abraham 1:5–8)
Abraham was not a child when he was to be sacrificed on the altar by Nimrod’s wicked priests. He was an eternal High Priest who worshipped the true and living God. Abraham truly had God’s authority, so rejecting his voice was rejecting God. When corrupt priests sought his life and “laid violence upon me that they might slay me” (Abraham 1:12), Abraham again turned to his God for deliverance.
I lifted up my voice unto the Lord my God, and the Lord hearkened and heard, and he filled me with the vision of the Almighty, and the angel of his presence stood by me and immediately unloosed my bands, and his voice was unto me: Abraham, Abraham, behold, my name is Jehovah, and I have heard thee and have come down to deliver thee, and to take thee away from thy father’s house, and from all thy kinsfolk, into a strange land which thou knowest not of; and this because they have turned their hearts away from me, to worship [strange gods]. (Abraham 1:15–17)
In this context we better appreciate Abraham’s opening verse: “In the land of the Chaldeans, at the residence of my fathers, I, Abraham, saw that it was needful for me to obtain another place of residence” (Abraham 1:1). For their violence against Abraham and his God, “the Lord broke down the altar of Elkenah, and of the gods of the land, and utterly destroyed them, and smote the priest that he died” (Abraham 1:20).
Abraham’s miraculous deliverance on the priests’ altar was not his only, for Abraham had been similarly spared when Nimrod cast him into a fiery furnace for three days and three nights (Jasher 12:27, 35). These trials provided Abraham the opportunity he desired to attain even greater priesthood, knowledge, and righteousness. The Lord promised,
I will lead thee by my hand, and I will take thee to put upon thee my name, even the Priesthood of thy father, and my power shall be over thee. As it was with Noah so shall it be with thee; but through thy ministry my name shall be known in the earth forever, for I am thy God. (Abraham 1:18–19)
Even in the midst of Babylon’s erring and worldly ways, Abraham’s unyielding determination to serve the true God carried him through deviant beliefs and severe tribulation. Abraham distanced himself from worldly pursuits and the prevailing religion, drawing ever nearer to God by proclaiming truth to the rebellious.
In Ur, God gave him the sacred Urim and Thummim for He “didst choose Abram and broughtest him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees and gavest him the name of Abraham” (Nehemiah 9:7). Jehovah came to “deliver thee and to take thee away . . . into a strange land which thou knowest not of” (Abraham 1:16). Never ceasing to call on his powerful God, Abraham was led from Ur of Chaldea into the strange land of Haran. Like Ur, those in Haran failed to repent and heed the word of the Lord. After a lengthy time, and in response to Abraham’s mighty prayer, the Lord appeared to him, calling him again to yet another strange land.
I, Abraham, and Lot, my brother’s son, prayed unto the Lord, and the Lord appeared unto me and said unto me, Arise, and take Lot with thee; for I have purposed to take thee away out of Haran, and to make of thee a minister to bear my name in a strange land which I will give unto thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession when they hearken to my voice. (Abraham 2:6)
God prepared Abraham to minister in His name in the strange land of Canaan. “The Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee. And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: and I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken to him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran” for Canaan (Genesis 12:1–4).
God said this land would ultimately belong to Abraham’s righteous seed only if and “when they hearken to my voice” (Abraham 2:6). It is possible for a once-strange land to become a promised land, but it is contingent on our willingness to adhere to God’s divine laws and covenants instead of relying on men’s counsels, philosophies, programs, reforms, and ideologies. By strictly seeking and obeying God’s commands and successfully overcoming a series of major trials (and relocations), Abraham was proven true and faithful, which qualified him for greater blessings.
By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.
By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise. For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. (Hebrews 11:8–10)
The lexicon says a ‘strange country’ refers to a settlement inhabited by another. How accurate a description of the world that God created but Satan claims to rule! In this sense, anything of the world makes a land or nation strange. Abraham’s promised land and “a strange country” were physically the same geographical area. Strange nations can temporarily exist on a land of promise, so merely living on that land does not make the land or its inhabitants holy. All who dwell on a land of promise have a serious responsibility to remain true to the laws and ideals that God decreed. They must obtain the promises to enjoy a promised land, and this was precisely what Abraham faithfully sought.
A descendant of those who fled the Tower of Babel and came to the American continent two thousand years before Christ, the prophet Ether knew this land was conditionally given to its inhabitants. Having abridged many centuries of Jaredite and Nephite writings, Moroni knew that the Book of Mormon’s message would be of great worth to future readers who would also have the opportunity to inherit the same land of promise. But if they failed to fulfill their obligation and secure divine promises, they too would be utterly destroyed.
Moroni mourned that his people had become worldly and “rejected all the words of Ether,” because “great and marvelous were the prophecies of Ether; but they esteemed him as naught and cast him out; and he hid himself in the cavity of a rock by day, and by night he went forth viewing the things which should come upon the people,” even “the destructions which came upon the people” (Ether 13:2, 13–14).
[Ether] truly told them of all things from the beginning of man; and that after the waters had receded from off the face of this land it became a choice land above all other lands, a chosen land of the Lord; wherefore the Lord would have that all men should serve him who dwell upon the face thereof; and that it was the place of the New Jerusalem, which should come down out of heaven, and the holy sanctuary of the Lord. Behold, Ether saw the days of Christ, and he spake concerning a New Jerusalem upon this land.
And he spake also concerning the house of Israel and the Jerusalem from whence Lehi should come—after it should be destroyed it should be built up again, a holy city unto the Lord; wherefore, it could not be a new Jerusalem for it had been in a time of old; but it should be built up again and become a holy city of the Lord; and it should be built unto the house of Israel.
And that a New Jerusalem should be built up upon this land unto the remnant of the seed of Joseph . . . and it shall be a land of their inheritance; and they shall build up a holy city unto the Lord, like unto the Jerusalem of old; and they shall no more be confounded until the end come when the earth shall pass away. And there shall be a new heaven and a new earth; and they shall be like unto the old save the old have passed away, and all things have become new.
And then cometh the New Jerusalem; and blessed are they who dwell therein, for it is they whose garments are white through the blood of the Lamb; and they are they who are numbered among the remnant of the seed of Joseph . . . and are partakers of the fulfilling of the covenant which God made with their father, Abraham. And when these things come, bringeth to pass the scripture which saith, there are they who were first, who shall be last; and there are they who were last, who shall be first. (Ether 13:2–6, 8–12)
Because God promised this land of America to Joseph’s seed (both to Manasseh, which includes western tribes of Indians, and to Ephraim), it is a promised land. This land will become holy only when its inhabitants gather to Christ and His gospel. Joseph Smith attempted to establish Zion in the United States in the 1830s but people were not committed enough to sacrifice what God required to be endowed with priesthood power, although most continued to worship and participate in ordinances.
Until this glorious moment when Zion/New Jerusalem is established on this continent, the land promised remains a strange land, separated from God because of strange things. Whoever occupies this choice and promised land, which God “preserved for a righteous people,” is under solemn obligation to live up to God’s covenant terms or they will be “swept off.” This is a major message of the Book of Mormon:
[God] would that they should come forth even unto the land of promise, which was choice above all other lands, which the Lord God had preserved for a righteous people.
And he had sworn in his wrath unto the brother of Jared, that whoso should possess this land of promise, from that time henceforth and forever, should serve him, the true and only God, or they should be swept off when the fulness of his wrath should come upon them.
And now, we can behold the decrees of God concerning this land, that it is a land of promise; and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall serve God, or they shall be swept off when the fulness of his wrath shall come upon them. And the fulness of his wrath cometh upon them when they are ripened in iniquity.
For behold, this is a land which is choice above all other lands; wherefore he that doth possess it shall serve God or shall be swept off; for it is the everlasting decree of God. And it is not until the fulness of iniquity among the children of the land, that they are swept off. (Ether 2:7–10)
That God calls it “a choice land” confirms its favored potential, but it also implies people on this land have a choice. God’s covenant terms are simple: “Serve him, the true and only God,” or be removed when a fulness of iniquity is reached. It is an “everlasting decree of God” that cannot be altered or revoked. This land “became a choice land above all other lands” (Ether 2:8–9, 13:2) only after its founders received God’s promises.
Gentiles are given the opportunity to know and “behold the decrees of God,” but if they refuse to turn to Him to be sanctified, they will “bring down the fulness of the wrath of God upon [themselves], as the inhabitants of the land have hitherto done” (Ether 2:11).
God’s wrath is first demonstrated by the withdrawal of His Spirit. Ultimately it ends with spiritual death and physical destruction.
Remember that my Spirit will not always strive with man. Wherefore, if ye will sin until ye are fully ripe ye shall be cut off from the presence of the Lord. And these are my thoughts upon the land which I shall give you for your inheritance; for it shall be a land choice above all other lands.[For] this is a choice land, and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall be free from bondage, and from captivity, and from all other nations under heaven if they will but serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ. (Ether 2:15, 12)
For this land to be free from bondage means its people must be free from sin and oppression, which requires faith in the Lord and genuine repentance. Freedom from oppression and tyrannical rule is necessary to serve the God of the land, whom we are clearly told is Jesus Christ.
All who dwell on a choice land must honor God’s laws and covenants to remain on it. A strange land refuses to turn to Christ, is motivated by greed and gain, rejects divine truths and gifts, and rules with selfish oppression. Failure to uphold God’s laws and constitutional principles estranges this people and land from Him. The Lord declared,
According to the laws and constitution of the people, which I have suffered to be established and should be maintained for the rights and protection of all flesh, according to just and holy principles . . . for this purpose have I established the Constitution of this land, by the hands of wise men whom I raised up unto this very purpose, and redeemed the land by the shedding of blood. (D&C 101:77, 80)
Although the world desperately needs to return to God, they refuse to repent, denying them His profound promise of prosperity, protection, priesthood, posterity, and the promise of everlasting life. Yet many refuse to seek these blessings but still assume their salvation is assured.
Even with zealous devotion to religious duties and professing His name, they are “wandering in strange roads” (1 Nephi 8:32), having hearts set on the world. “Thus have they loved to wander. They have not refrained their feet, therefore the Lord doth not accept them. He will now remember their iniquity and visit their sins” (Jeremiah 14:10).
While in a land promised him and in a strange country, Abraham looked for that city “which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God” (Hebrews 11:10). It is significant that, in this verse, city means “fulness.” Abraham sought the city—the fulness—with a foundation of truth and righteousness, God as its architect. Abraham’s relentless pursuit of this fulness confirms it was his greatest desire (Abraham 1:2–4).
Even if a physical city of Zion was not established in Abraham’s day, certainly he and his righteous sons personally obtained a spiritual Zion, Isaac and Jacob being “heirs with him of the same promise” (Hebrews 11:9). Because God spoke with them face to face, each personally qualified to receive blessings of the patriarchs, like others of God’s “holy order.”
[Many] became high priests of God; and it was on account of their exceeding faith and repentance, and their righteousness before God, they choosing to repent and work righteousness rather than to perish.
Therefore they were called after this holy order and were sanctified, and their garments were washed white through the blood of the Lamb. Now they, after being sanctified by the Holy Ghost, having their garments made white, being pure and spotless before God, could not look upon sin save it were with abhorrence. (Alma 13:10–12)
To be made perfect in Christ, our faith must be built on the pure doctrine of Christ, for it is the foundation of the heavenly city that patriarchs and prophets so diligently sought. God called, chose, and “ordained priests after his holy order, which was after the order of his Son, to teach these things unto the people” (Alma 13:1). These “noble and great ones” (Abraham 3:22–23) ascend—then descend—to teach others divine truths, but they, like their message, are often despised because clouds of unbelief and darkness hinder people from recognizing truth and light.
The worldly don’t recognize God’s true servants, whose spiritual standing (which only comes by sacrificing much and obtaining a real, personal relationship with God) almost always goes unnoticed, concealed from faithless and unbelievers.
Wo be unto him that will not hearken unto the words of Jesus, and also to them whom He hath chosen and sent among them. For whoso receiveth not the words of Jesus and the words of those whom He hath sent, receiveth not Him; and therefore He will not receive them at the last day. (3 Nephi 28:34)
In the last days, God again sends holy ones “whom ye know not of” (D&C 49:8) to declare gospel truths to prepare the willing. John the Baptist fulfilled his mission to prepare people for Jesus Christ’s mortal ministry. A similar function is required in modern times as we prepare for His second coming, but many false prophets masquerade as true messengers so discernment is critical.
[True prophets] act as God’s messenger and make known God’s will. The[ir] message was usually prefaced with the words, ‘Thus saith Jehovah’ . . . It was also the prophet’s duty to denounce sin and foretell its punishment . . . He was, above all, to be a preacher of righteousness. When the people had fallen away from a true faith in Jehovah, [true] prophets had to try to restore that faith and remove false views about the character of God and the nature of the Divine requirement.
By definition, true and holy messengers have separated from the world. The Hebrew qodesh (holy) means to be set apart from, separated, or consecrated. Its Greek form hagios means to be sacred, worthy of veneration, or set apart. God’s ‘sent ones’ are commanded to declare “repentance and redemption through faith on the name of mine Only Begotten Son” (D&C 29:42) and preach the doctrine of Christ, as defined by God in scripture. Gospel truths and “glad tidings of great joy” (Alma 13:22) are freely proclaimed. ‘Gospel’ means this very thing. The faithful recognize the “glad tidings declared unto us . . . for behold, angels are declaring it unto many at this time in our land; and this is for the purpose of preparing the hearts of the children of men to receive his word” (Alma 13:23–24). And so, God’s servants in every dispensation must declare the crucial message that “now is the time to repent” (Alma 13:21). The Lord “commanded them that they should preach nothing save it were repentance and faith on the Lord, who had redeemed his people” (Mosiah 18:20). The true “church of God” will preach “repentance and faith in God” (Mosiah 25:22). This charge is reaffirmed in latter-days.
To not teach saving truth to others, especially children, is sin. One version of the Articles of Faith says the “sincere, honest, and humble . . . will receive the fulness of the gospel with gladness as soon as they hear it,” but the proud and hardhearted respond with anger when truth is spoken. “The guilty taketh the truth to be hard, for it cutteth them to the very center” (1 Nephi 16:2).
His servants preach truth regardless of outcome. Faith and repentance are the foundation of the doctrine of Christ, the first laws and ordinances of His gospel, the only doctrine that “can save this people”:
Heavy destruction awaiteth this people, and it cometh unto this people, and nothing can save this people save it be repentance and faith on the Lord Jesus Christ. (Helaman 13:6)
True messengers are endowed with the gift of prophecy, having walked His strait and narrow path to sanctification and parted the veil to receive their call from God, being elected to His work. Armed with divine knowledge and priesthood, in His name and with His power they preach the doctrine of Christ—His pure gospel—in vain to a stubborn, wayward generation. Having experienced the path firsthand, they can testify of the right way to God’s presence. All ‘prophets’ who preach erring views about the path to God or do not understand His nature or character are false prophets.
Those called are chosen “because of our being wanderers in a strange land. Therefore, we are thus highly favored, for we have these glad tidings declared unto us” by angels (Alma 13:23). The ministering of angels is a gift found from obtaining the lesser Aaronic priesthood.
His sent ones have chosen to be strangers to the world, wanderers with no place to call their own as wickedness overruns the land. They love pure truth in a world that despises and rejects it. They seek God’s city and fulness, “weeping for Zion” to be established (D&C 21:8). They do not wait passively because they know Zion can only come as souls are converted through proper, faithful worship. “Zion shall be redeemed with judgment and her converts with righteousness” (Isaiah 1:27).
Evil desperately attempts to “overthrow the doctrine of Christ” (Jacob 7:2) by offering counterfeit, modified, imitative versions to ensnare the complacent and make the only true doctrine and way to God seem vain, unnecessary, and foolish. Satan is relentless because he knows that
whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God. (2 John 1:9)
Because of its eternal significance, holy messengers must preach the doctrine of Christ “in plain terms that we may understand, that we cannot err” (Alma 13:23). In other words, the gospel of Jesus Christ must be taught by simplicity instead of scholarship, by scripture instead of story, by conviction instead of correlated curriculum, by light instead of laughter, by truth instead of tradition, and by power instead of pride—for the express purpose that the willing can understand sufficient to obtain eternal life. Knowing this, Nephi declared,
I must speak concerning the doctrine of Christ. Wherefore, I shall speak unto you plainly, according to the plainness of my prophesying. For my soul delighteth in plainness; for after this manner doth the Lord God work among the children of men. For the Lord God giveth light unto the understanding. (2 Nephi 31:2-3)
Nephi gave us a valuable key that the Lord works among us in “this manner” of prophesying in plainness. Nephi reiterates how valuable the gift of prophecy and plainness are to him—it ‘delights his soul’—then he reveals its purpose: “that they may learn” (2 Nephi 25:4). Those who “erred in spirit shall come to understanding and they that murmured shall learn doctrine” (2 Nephi 27:35) only if they reject the world and seek truth.
His gospel must be taught in plain terms. Even if preached in plainness, hard hearts prevent many from understanding God’s word because comprehending sacred things requires belief, faith, and the Spirit. His gospel becomes plain as we develop faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and receive more of the Spirit. “By the power of the Spirit our eyes were opened and our understandings were enlightened, so as to see and understand the things of God” (D&C 76:12). Not preaching His gospel in simplicity and plainness impedes others in their pursuit of salvation, so we must obtain and understand truth first.
Seek not to declare my word, but first seek to obtain my word, and then shall your tongue be loosed; then, if you desire, you shall have my Spirit and my word, yea, the power of God unto the convincing of men. (D&C 11:21)
But many teach and preach without following these steps, leaving their listeners with far less than the convincing “power of God” offered.
Plainness is a gift of the Spirit because it requires the Spirit. The spirit is required to be a humble follower of Christ. Nephi’s gift of plainness and understanding came only after he asked God for truth (1 Nephi 2:16–17), believed Him, and faithfully left a corrupted Jerusalem behind (2 Nephi 25:4). “God’s words are plain unto all those that are filled with the spirit of prophecy . . . according to the spirit” (2 Nephi 25:4). We must be sanctified to possess the spirit of prophecy. Plainness is an attribute of God, a characteristic of godliness “which is in the Lamb of God” (1 Nephi 13:29). God “doeth nothing save it be plain” (2 Nephi 26:33). Plainness lacks artificial show or ornamentation, and speaks with clarity, sincerity, and candor. “Seeing then we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech,” Paul said (2 Corinthians 3:12).
Nephi prophesied that “many parts which are plain and most precious” of Christ’s gospel and “many covenants of the Lord” would be “taken away” by the “great and abominable church, which is most abominable above all other churches” (1 Nephi 13:26). Ordinances, doctrine, and scripture would be altered, corrupted, misunderstood, suppressed, lost, ignored, or erroneously translated over time. These sins—encouraged by an abominable “church”—greatly provoke God. Facing similar circumstances, Paul urged, “Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines” (Hebrews 13:9) that do not build on the sure foundation of Christ’s gospel. To deceive the masses, Satan leaves much of scripture intact but carefully tempts men to modify or ignore components of doctrine to keep us from the real path to God. When saving doctrines are modified, people stumble, apostasy results, and Satan rules.
Because of the many plain and precious things which have been taken out of the book, which were plain unto the understanding of the children of men, according to the plainness which is in the Lamb of God—because of these things which are taken away out of the gospel of the Lamb, an exceedingly great many do stumble, yea, insomuch that Satan hath great power over them. (1 Nephi 13:29)
Pure doctrine, found in the original revelations, is “most precious” (1 Nephi 14:23). We cannot treat it lightly. Each passing generation has a greater risk of losing, altering, or misunderstanding truth if it is not guarded with utmost care. We must not minimize or exchange truth to compromise with the world. To do this sells that which should be held sacred. “Do not sell it” (Proverbs 23:23).
The early restored church acknowledged that apostasy can happen to a complacent church and people while they are unaware.
We believe that there has been a general and awful apostasy from the religion of the New Testament, so that all the known world have been left for centuries without the Church of Christ among them; without a priesthood authorized of God to administer ordinances; that every one of the churches have perverted the gospel; some in one way and some in another . . . The few who have practiced the last ordinance have perverted the first, or have done away the ancient gifts, powers, and blessings which flow from the Holy Spirit, or have said to inspired apostles and prophets we have no need of you in the body in these days.
Those few, again, who have believed in and contended for the miraculous gifts and powers of the Holy Spirit, have perverted the ordinance or done them away. Thus, all the churches preach false doctrines and pervert the gospel, and instead of having authority from God to administer its ordinances, they are under the curse of God for perverting it. Paul says, ‘Though we or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.’
The Lord says “much of my gospel” was given in plainness and “all men must come unto him or they cannot be saved” (1 Nephi 13:34, 40). But the Book of Mormon, like other scripture, has been taken lightly and we are condemned for it because it contains essential knowledge of God’s latter-day work and our responsibilities to it. Some who “are truly humble and are seeking diligently to learn wisdom and find truth” (D&C 97:1) are waiting because they “know not where to find it.”
For there are many yet on the earth among all sects, parties, and denominations who are blinded by the subtle craftiness of men, whereby they lie in wait to deceive, and who are only kept from the truth because they know not where to find it. (D&C 123:12)
Lehi and Nephi both saw in vision that wickedness, tradition, error, and iniquities covered the whole land so much that even those on the strait and narrow path were at great risk of becoming “lost” by “wandering in strange roads” (1 Nephi 8:32)—all except a few.
They have all gone astray save it be a few, who are the humble followers of Christ. Nevertheless, they are led, that in many instances they do err because they are taught by the precepts of men. (2 Nephi 28:14)
God is calling us to become strangers to the world, to become holy in a strange land, and to return to worshipping and serving “the God of this land, who is Jesus Christ” (Ether 2:12). Few are willing to pay the required price to be misunderstood, rejected, and severely tried to be elected. The faithful willingly endure humiliation and persecution from those who do not understand and “point the finger of scorn” (1 Nephi 8:33). Those who endure are refined, prepared, and chosen to testify with a sure knowledge that God lives, that His work may roll forth and He may be glorified in it.
This strange but choice land will become a holy, sanctified land of promise when His covenant is honored and fulfilled. But for now, it is a strange land in a wicked world that despises the righteous because they forsake the world and all its strange things among them.
Footnotes and sources can be found HERE.