There is a prophecy in the Old Testament which is one of the greatest ever recorded, primarily because it very clearly speaks about the Church of Jesus Christ in the last days. Therefore, let s take a look at what it says. In Daniel 2:19-29 we read, Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven. Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his: And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding: He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what [is] in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him. I thank thee, and praise thee, O thou God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might, and hast made known unto me now what we desired of thee: for thou hast [now] made known unto us the king's matter. Therefore Daniel went in unto Arioch, whom the king had ordained to destroy the wise [men] of Babylon: he went and said thus unto him; Destroy not the wise [men] of Babylon: bring me in before the king, and I will shew unto the king the interpretation. Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the king in haste, and said thus unto him, I have found a man of the captives of Judah, that will make known unto the king the interpretation. The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name [was] Belteshazzar, Art thou able to make known unto me the dream which I have seen, and the interpretation thereof? Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded cannot the wise [men], the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, shew unto the king; But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these; As for thee, O king, thy thoughts came [into thy mind] upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter: and he that revealeth secrets maketh known to thee what shall come to pass. Beginning in Daniel 2:39-43, the prophet gives the interpretation of the king's dream. He says, Thou [art] this head of gold. And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth. And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all [things]: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise. And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. And [as] the toes of the feet [were] part of iron, and part of clay, [so] the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken. And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay. These other Kingdoms represent the Greek or Macedonians, Cyrus or the Kingdom of Media and Persia, The Roman empire (iron) and a group of European nations. The prophesy states that they shall be like clay and iron and they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay. During the dark ages there were many weddings between the European kingdom trying to reinforce peace but they never were able to have peace. 1 / 12
In Daniel 2:44-45 we read, And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, [but] it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream [is] certain, and the interpretation thereof sure. We declare that this Kingdom is the Church of Jesus Christ founded by divine power (without hands), and that this church will destroy all the other Kingdom (earthly) and it shall stand forever! I never realized how great and important this simple declaration was until I visualized and realized that this last kingdom was set up AFTER the other kingdoms which came after the DARK AGES. The prophecy means that the church which Jesus Christ founded at the time of the Romans (which is the kingdom of iron) would fall into apostasy before of the ten kingdoms of iron and clay came into existence. The prophecy then states that when God restores His Kingdom it will last forever and fill the whole earth. But this scripture also tells us something else important. That is that the church prophesied by Daniel should be an expanding church. Here is something interesting to consider. Not only doesn t the Roman Catholic fulfill this prophecy but the number of people becoming Catholics is consistently going down rather than up, especially after their schism with the Protestants. The Protestants are not one church but many and are founded by men such as Calvin, Luther and many others, but they don t believe in an apostasy and certainly not in a restoration. Also their numbers are so divided that you would have to count each denomination TOGETHER in order for their member numbers to be relevant. That would be like counting apples and oranges, along with tangerines, watermelons and maybe bananas so that you could arrive at a significantly large number of fruit. But even so, their numbers are not growing very fast. In fact, some are actually losing membership at an alarming rate. Daniel was speaking about ONE church coming forth in the last days whose specific characteristics are only found in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. To support this idea there is also another great scripture in the New Testament that sheds light on this subject. The apostle John wrote, "And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars" (Revelation 12:1). It is widely accepted that the visions which John had on the Isle of Patmos are figurative in nature. That is, everything he wrote represents or is symbolic of something other than what is actually mentioned. For example, in the above verse there isn't a real woman who was clothed with the real sun, standing upon the real moon who wore a real crown that was large enough to have twelve real stars affixed to it. Therefore, each of these items must represent something different than what is actually being described. The hard part for many is determining what each figure represents. That shouldn't be too difficult because for each of these real items to be symbolic, they must 2 / 12
have some sort of relationship to whatever they are representing. Therefore, the question can be asked, "Who or what is represented by the woman, the sun, the moon, the crown and the twelve stars?" Unfortunately, from this one verse alone, it is impossible to make that determination. But let's put the whole story together. Continuing, the revelator wrote, "And she being with child cried, travailing in birth and pained to be delivered. And there appeared another wonder in the heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns upon his heads, and his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth, and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born" (Revelation 12:2-4). The dragon is representative of the devil. The fact that he has "seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns" shows what great power he has. Furthermore it shows that the devil has more than one power at his disposal through which he rules. Since God uses only one power - the priesthood - it wouldn't be too far fetched to say that Satan uses several "priesthoods" to accomplish his goals. This great, powerful dragon drew away one third of the stars of heaven, and these stars then were cast to the earth. This is a clear reference to the war which Satan waged in heaven. The stars then are the angles of heaven who followed after him. But who is the woman, and who is the child she delivered? Some say that Christ was the child. But that still doesn't explain who the woman was. It certainly isn't Mary, the mother of Jesus. Furthermore, the man child can't be Christ if the very next verses are to make any sense. "And she brought forth a man child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days" (Revelations 12:5-6). It must be kept firmly in mind that everything in Revelation is symbolic. The woman and man child spoken of are not symbolic of real men and woman, but represent something much different. Notice also that when the "man child" was born, the dragon was waiting to devour him. Instead, the child was taken off the earth and was returned "unto God and his throne", while the woman fled into the wilderness. Furthermore, there was a place prepared for her to go to in the wilderness where she was feed for 1260 days. There is no similarity between this story and the life of Christ or Mary, His mother. The story tells us that Satan and his angels came to earth where they set about trying to tempt Adam and Eve. In fact, they were successful in separating these two people from their creator. The gospel was then given to man, and everytime it was preached, Satan was there to destroy it. And it was the gospel that has been taken off the earth at various times because of the wickedness of man. Thus, the "man child who was to rule all nations" represents the Gospel of Christ, and the "woman" who brings forth the Gospel in much pain and travail is the church. Then what is the "sun" "moon" and "twelve stars" symbolic of? The "sun" is the Son of God, 3 / 12
who shines forth with the glory of the Father, whose light and life extends to all, just as the sun gives light and life to all. The twelve stars represent the twelve apostles, shining brightly as they spread forth the gospel, and they form the ruling power of the church. The "moon" represents that which is changeable. The real moon doesn't always look the same to us. Sometimes it's full, sometimes it's only half full, sometimes it's just a quarter full, and sometimes it isn't there at all. The symbol of the church standing on the moon shows how the church remains constant even though the world changes. Revelation 12:7-13 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. (Here John is talking about the war in the preexistence.) And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. Therefore rejoice, [ye] heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time. And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man [child]. This is the purpose of the Devil - to persecute the church of God. But which wilderness was it that had been prepared for the church? "And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child. And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time from the face of the serpent. And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. And the earth helped the woman,( do you remember Peleg?) and the earth opened her mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth. And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ" (Revelation 12:13-17). In every age, the devil, "that old serpent" has always persecuted the church which tries to bring forth the gospel to mankind. But the church was given "two wings" like that of a great eagle. What does that mean? Isaiah talked about "the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia" (Isaiah 18:1). As discussed earlier, this was the continent of North and South America. Truly this continent look like the wings of a great eagle. Furthermore, at the time John wrote this, it was a wilderness. 4 / 12
Also, in John's vision he saw "the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth." In the days of Peleg the earth was divided, thereby literally swallowing a large amount of water. This separated the wilderness of America from the wilderness of the Middle East, thereby preventing Satan from attacking this church by using the Roman Empire. The waters acted as a wall or barrier which protected the church which was hidden from the face of the serpent where it was nourished in the wilderness for "a time and times and half a time". How long is a time, and times and a half time? We don't really know because the scriptures don't clearly tell us. But if a "time" is equal to 100 year, then "times" would be 200 years and "a half time" would be 50 years. If that is the case then that would be equal to 350 years. According the the time line given in the Book of Mormon, Christ established his church among the Nephite people after His resurrection, which would place the event at 34 A.D. The final battle at the hill Cumorah which completely annihilated the Nephites took place at 385 A.D. It was at that time when the enemies of Christ fully destroyed the church which Jesus had established. The difference between 34 A.D. and 385 A.D. is 349 years. It is possible that the time line of the book of Mormon could be off by one year. However, before that great battle, "the dragon was wroth with the woman (the church in Palestine), and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." The remnant spoken of here refers to the saints who lived under the Roman Empire's thumb. During this period of persecution the church which was hidden in the wilderness was safe from Satan's attacks for a time. However, when the times had ended, eventually the dragon also made war with this remnant of the seed of the church. Revelation 13:1-6 I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as [the feet] of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who [is] like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty [and] two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. These verses are clearly after the establishment of the church of Christ and to make sure that people would understand that there should be a total apostasy John wrote in Revelation 13:7 And it was given unto him to MAKE WAR with the saints, and to OVERCOME them: and POWER was given him OVER ALL kindreds, and tongues, and nations. To make sure that people would understand his vision, John wrote in Revelation 17:1-9, 18 AND there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, 5 / 12
saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: And upon her forehead [was] a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration. And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns. And here [is] the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth. Therefore it is very clear that the church of Christ was spoiled from an apostasy. To better understand this topic I suggest to read The Last days and The churches of God and Revelation and 666 and The purpose of the Book of Mormon The Catholic church denies there was a great apostasy, otherwise would undermine their own credibility. The Protestant don t really believe there was an apostasy even though they broke away from the Catholic Church because they said it was teaching false doctrine. Unfortunately for both of them Daniel and John are giving the real proof that the prophecy of Paul in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-8 when he wrote, Let no man deceive you by any means: for [that day shall not come], except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth [will let], until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming. Not only does John tells us in what city the woman was living but he also gave several other interesting hints and clues. The book of Revelation opens with these words: "The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him. to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass" (1:1) We learn from this verse is that Jesus Christ is going to reveal to John events that will "SHORTLY come to pass." In other words, these are things that will happen in the near future. What we must keep in mind is that what was the near future for John is now the distant past for us. In the first three chapters we read of warnings given to seven specific churches. What is interesting to note is that the church at Rome is not mentioned as one of them. The Catholic Church claims that the church at Rome always presided over the entire church. The bishop of Rome is known as the Pope. The Catholic 6 / 12
Church also believes that it is the Pope who is the Vicar of Christ or substitute of the Son of God. As such, he claims the right to receive revelation for the church. They further claim that there is an unbroken line in the succession of Popes from the present day all the way back to Peter, who they say was the first Pope. The question we need to ask ourselves is, why was John receiving this revelation for the church rather than the Pope at Rome? We also need to keep in mind that at the time that this revelation was given, John was the last living apostle alive. So it appears that he, rather than the Pope in Rome, was in charge of giving direction and counsel to the church. In Revelation 18:2-5 we read, And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. John says that this woman had committed fornication (was associated) with kings (political power) and with merchants (business men). At the time of the Romans there were no kings; only the emperor. This woman was associated with the greatest political power of the world and with the most powerful business men. Did you know that during the dark ages kings obeyed the Pope and that the Pope had the power to declare WARS? Think about the crusades! Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. In Revelation 18:5 it reads, For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. I do not recognize other woman, compared to the elect lady of Christ but defined just a whore or the opposite of the true religion. The angel declared as recorded in Revelation 18:6-7, Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double. How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. The Catholic church is the ROMAN Catholic church and we saw what John declared about Rome and Revelation 18:16-18 And saying, Alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls! For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off, And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What [city is] like unto this great city! No other city had the power on earth as Rome. This city dominated the world for about one 7 / 12
thousand years. According to the above scripture the leaders of this religion would be dressed in purple and scarlet. Have you ever looked at the Cardinals of the Catholic Church? That describes the way they are dressed, and they are the ones who chose the pope. The scriptures also say that the whore would be decked with gold and precious stones and pearls. Take a look at what the cardinals wear and you will see many rings on their hands and crosses around their neck all of which are full of jewels. The above quoted scripture also stated, "With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication." Have you ever thought about the sale of indulgences by the Catholic Church? This was a practice whereby rich people could pay a certain amount of money to be forgiven of their sins. There were many Catholic priests who strongly disagreed with this practice, including Martin Luther, and who were ordered killed because of their opposition. Have you ever heard about masses for the dead? This is where people could pay a certain amount of money to transfer a person from purgatory to heaven. The Pope loves to be named the VICARIVS CHRISTI which means the substitute of the son of God. We read in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 Let no man deceive you by any means: for [that day shall not come], except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. The apostasy came about because of things such as the "holy" inquisition, indulgences and other things which were not taught by a merciful God. But this should be no surprise because the Bible has given us all the hints and clues we need to see this. Martin Luther (1483-1546 father of the Protestant reform ) I searched only to reform the church according to the scriptures. The spiritual powers were not only corrupted but absolutely ANNIHILATE from sin, therefore in them now there is nothing else that something corrupted and an enemy will and contrary to God. I say simply that Christianity CEASED to exist between the people who would have to have preserved (written in Galat 1535, Weins IX, P.I. 293/24-27, page 50) Roger WILLIAMS (1603-1683, theologian and English reformer, founder of the colony of Providence (actual state of Rhode Island -USA-), advocate of the right of religious freedom) 8 / 12
There is not a church, regularly instituted on earth, neither any person qualified to perform the ordinance of the church, nor there will be until the Great Leader of the Church will send new Apostles, who I am looking for." (Picturesque America page 502) John WESLEY (1705-1791, theologian and English reformer, founder of the Methodist Church) "it seems that these extraordinary gifts of the spirit stayed in the Church no more than two or three centuries. Rarely we have news of them after that terrible period during which the emperor Constantine proclaimed himself Christian...After this time the gifts of the spirit were almost totally gone...and the Spirit of Christ which was between the Christians was not greater of that of the heathen...this was the true cause by which in the Christian Church was no more possible to find this extraordinary gifts, because the Christians became again heathen and in them the spirit of Christianity was totally gone. (Wesley's Works, vol. 7, sermon 89, page 26,27) It is easy to see that holy inquisition crusades and indulgences are a very big burden, historically speaking, for the Catholic Church. The Pope himself just two years ago was asking for forgiveness, so the matter is so obvious that they can just apologize and hope the people could forgive and forget. The Protestants are the most bad in judging their fellow man. It seems that they have nothing to be ashamed. Let's go to see how good they were in the past centuries. Let's start from the very beginning. Luther and Calvin were surely the leaders of the reformation. Luther was a strong anti-semite and that is nothing, Calvin followed the practice of the catholic church to put people at the stake, when it was necessary. Protestants in USA and Catholics in south America had slaves for centuries, surely they were practicing the teachings of Jesus at the very best. But the most intriguing thing is that between catholic and Protestant begun a very strong physical war. By 1609 much of Europe was divided into two armed camps of Protestantism and Romanist. For political as well as religious reasons these two camps waged the Thirty Years' war against each other (1628-1648 a.d.). Finally, when the war was settled by the peace of Westphalia, Lutheranism and Calvinism became recognized religions ( which one was the right one is still a mystery). Still today In Ireland we have periodical battles between catholic and Protestant, they are just showing their fruits! 9 / 12
It would be of interest to see what happened when the Protestants came out. The Pope was seriously afraid that the entire organized church could become Protestant. So the Pope made the counter reformation. It is a way to show the smart people that something was wrong before and they were trying just to fix the situation in some way. If they were right they didn't need to do a counter reformation this is so evident. The Counter reformation employed persecution in its fight against Protestantism. Government controlled by the Roman church were prompted to annihilate the reformation faith. From the Book "What on earth is God doing" by Renald E. Showers page.75 Although all the Protestants groups had rejected much of the apostasy of the Roman church MANY STILL CARRIED with them some of the Roman beliefs and practices. Most groups continued to reject the concept of a future, theocratic kingdom. They believed that their church was the kingdom of God on earth, and that it was to operate basically as Israel had in Old Testament times. This meant that the Protestant Church and the state were to be united, with the state enforcing the church's policies. No one was to be permitted to hold beliefs contrary to Scripture. Because of these wrong beliefs some Protestants group resorted to the same tactic as the Roman church- the bloody persecution of those who held other beliefs. Through this means Satan brought disgrace to the Protestant movement. The Anabaptists disagree strongly with the policy of persecuting those of contrary belief. They were convinced that church and state should kept separate and that no one church should enforce its beliefs upon others. One reason for this conviction was the fact that many Anabaptists rejected the idea that the church is the Kingdom promised in the Old Testament. They believed in a future, theocratic kingdom on earth. Because the Anabaptists disagreed with certain views of the other Protestants, they were persecuted severely (the Protestants having for mother the catholic church were just doing what they leaned from their mother) Although MANY ANABAPTISTS WERE PUT TO DEATH, God continued to preserve the movement. Anyway a group of fanatical Anabaptists at Munster, Germany, introduced to the concept of the kingdom extreme ideas and practices contrary to the scripture. Their radical practices not only disgraced belief in a future kingdom, but also brought further persecution from PROTESTANTS AND ROMANS. 10 / 12
FROM THE SAME BOOK AT PAGE 85 Through the combined influence of the philosophies and movements of the nineteenth century, Satan succeeded in getting much of Protestantism to go APOSTATE. Liberal Protestantism developed during the latter part of the century and reached its peak in the early decades of the twentieth century. Its development could be described as a Protestant, scientific, philosophical, economic, and political thought. The liberals thought it was necessary to reinterpret the Gospel so to be able to present it in the thought forms of the modern world. This is clearly to say that what was just preached before was wrong, or better they were just reinterpreting the Gospel to make it more fashionable. At the end of his book the author shows clearly that the Protestants have no idea regarding God's plan at page 117 there is written. CONCLUSION. The biblical philosophy of history poses at least two problems to many minds. The first problem is this: in light of all the pain and suffering involved in the consequences of rebellion, why God create His personal subjects with a potential for rebellion? This is another way of asking why God made angels and men with a will of their own and the ability to choose between obedience and rebellion. 11 / 12
The BIBLE DOES NOT ANSWER THIS QUESTION. It would seem reasonable to ASSUME, however, that God desired to enjoy fellowship with and receive love and worship from His creatures (Genesis 3:8-9). genuine fellowship, love and worship are not forced or mechanical; they must be given voluntarily. Only persons who have a will of their own and the ability to choose are able to offer such things voluntarily. Evidently God decided that voluntary response, even though it involved the risk of rebellion, was worth more than a programmed, mechanical response that would guarantee no rebellion. ( we know like members of the church of Jesus Christ lds that this point leaded to Satan's rebellion and that intelligence was not create and no done and free agency is the engine for intelligence. If intelligence is forced to do something is no more intelligence it is just a puppet and puppet has no intelligence. When God planned to have his offspring He wanted it like Himself and He is totally free because the truth will make you free and God is Truth and light and his offspring should live by the same principles. So when God made man in His imagine and likeness couldn't do him any different from Himself.) The second problem is as follows: Why does God let the rebellion go on so long? Why couldn't He have demonstrated His sovereignty by crushing Satan as soon as he rebelled? Again the Bible DOES NOT GIVE AN ANSWER. Perhaps if God had destroyed Satan immediately, other creatures later on would have concluded that the only reason for Satan's failure was that he didn't try the right method, or that he didn't have enough time to execute his plan fully. Thus, others, thinking that they could do better, might be tempted to try their hand at overthrowing the rule of God, and the kingdom of God would experience one rebellion after another. Fortunately, we, as lds people, know the reason why Satan has his time 12 / 12