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Hi. Um, I'm going to pause on the series on the Apostle Paul that I was doing. Doesn't seem to be a lot of people interested in it. I've got them written up and I may conclude that I have two more videos I can do on it. Um, but I have also worked on for quite some time now, uh, a series of videos on the Book of Mormon. And I keep feeling the spirit leading me in that direction. And I feel like because of events that are going to take place in this world and very soon, the things that will unfold and in the days to come and the role that the Book of Mormon will play and the prophecies that are in it. I believe that, uh, it may be important for us to tackle some of that.
I want to encourage people because when you're trying to figure out what's real and what isn't, you know, uh, do we stand with Joseph told the truth in all cases? Uh, or just with polygamy and some other things that bring them put on him? You know, where, where do we land on that? Uh, how much do we accept of the official church narrative of what took place versus looking at original documents and eyewitness accounts at the time? And I believe that, uh, when we look at those things, uh, it lends itself to a lot of questions, a lot of which I have discussed and elaborated on in other videos. But when it comes to the Book of Mormon, can we trust it? What does it add, if anything, to the Bible? What is its real purpose? And I want to go in that direction because there's so many things that have just come into my mind and in my heart and as I've studied and and looked at these things, I, I want to share that. And I'm going to start today on that series, I believe, with something that I think is important for us to look at, um, and which will lead into our discussions about the Book of Mormon because it's very much related to it. And that is Zion.
So, if you're looking at Latter-day Saints, regardless of what version of it, which organized church you're speaking of, what are the things that that stand out that are different, uh, in its theology and its doctrine from any other Christian church? And of course, we have the idea that, you know, a priesthood was restored to the earth again and with it authority and with that ordinances. But if you set those things aside, what is the next thing that is right at the top when it comes to the thing that sets us apart? And that is the talk about Zion, the doctrine of Zion, the beliefs and understanding of Zion and how they have changed over the years. And I wanted to begin this discussion on the Book of Mormon by tackling that topic just a little bit with a working theory that I have and have shared in a couple of places regarding Zion. And I think we need to discuss why Zion fails, why it did fail, and why it has continued to fail and fails to this day.
So, this may be surprising to some of you, especially if you're new to the channel, but, uh, I'm going to provide references and you can check these out for yourself. But the surprising truth is that God never told Joseph Smith or gave him a commandment to build Zion. Not once. Instead, everywhere you see any commandment regarding Zion, he commanded them to establish the cause of Zion. The cause of Zion is a people who are born again and live according to the principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ. That's the cause of Zion. That's what brings it about. And this is what God asked the church to do. And how were they to do that? Well, he told them that after the Book of Mormon was published, that they were to go forth into all the world, beginning with the Lammonites, and they were to preach the fullness of the gospel found in the Bible and the Book of Mormon together. That's it. Simple. But did they do that? And I submit to you, no, not really. Instead, what they did is they began to preach, and you can find this in the journals of the missionaries, that everywhere they went, they preached Joseph Smith is a prophet, and we have the one true church, basically the only ones with authority, and that we are going to build Zion, and those are the things that they mostly preached about. None of those things is the gospel of Jesus Christ. And again, God never commanded them to build Zion or to preach Zion. Even Zion is simply the result of a people who are truly living according to God's law. And that law under the new covenant is the law of love. It is the gospel. It is a sermon on the mount. It's not until 1833 that we get any hint of talk of redeeming Zion and in one case about establishing Zion. But at that point, the whole church is under condemnation for treating lightly the Book of Mormon and the new covenant that Christ established at the cross. And we have to say that at this point, if suddenly it goes from establishing the cause of Zion to talking of establishing Zion itself, we must make a decision. Do we go with that or do we go with what the Book of Mormon says?
And this is where the Book of Mormon comes in because it's kind of surprising that they didn't seem to understand or know this and that they came up with the idea that they were to build Zion because in the Book of Mormon, which, by the way, the Lord accused them of treating lightly, it states that it is the seed of Lehi who will build the new Jerusalem on this continent. And it states that if that's a disclaimer, if the Gentiles repent, then they can be numbered among the house of Israel and they may assist in the building up of the new Jerusalem and in the gathering of the lost tribes. But we aren't to build it ourselves. And it's impossible unless you want to forsake the prophecy. And in the writings of the Book of Mormon and even God's will, it is the Lammonites. It is the seed of Lehi. And so, how did we forget this? How did the first elders forget this? How have we not understood this all these years? And so, if you wonder why Zion fails, I think we have to start with that. We're not supposed to build it in the first place. No wonder it failed. What did God ask us to do? Go into all the world and preach the fullness of the gospel, beginning with the Lammonites. And the Lammonites, upon being converted, were to build the new Jerusalem.
After reading David McAuliff's book Truman about how Scottish farmers from Kentucky moved from there to settle and establish the city of Independence, Missouri, after hearing reports from Daniel Boone, and that's Daniel Boone's son. You're thinking about the famous Daniel Boone. His son wrote back to his kin in Kentucky. And he wrote that this land here in the area of Independence and Blue Springs and so forth was a new Eden. That was his words. When I read that and and heard the description that it was like a promised land, I came to the stark realization that God had brought them there. The people that settled Independence, the people whom the Mormons tangled with and had problems with and feuds with, God had brought them there. And I theorize that these Scottish farmers are descendants of the lost tribe of Manasseh, the ones who were scattered into the northern countries by Assyria, rather than those descended from Lehi, who came from Jerusalem. And one of the reasons I say that is that the symbol of both Scotland and the tribe of Manasseh is the unicorn. And I also happen to believe that the English people are descended from, at least in part, from remnants of the tribe of Ephraim that were scattered up into Europe. And so Ephraim and Manasseh would essentially end up on the same island together. And I believe that God brought these Scottish farmers to establish Independence because the members of Manasseh who migrated from Europe and repented and came under Christ would eventually have been joined to members of the tribe of Manasseh who are descended from Lehi. In other words, Native Americans.
Independence was established on the border of the Indian territory, serving as a launching base for the expansion out west. It is therefore sadly ironic that the early saints who had the blood of Ephraim within them were disobedient and therefore remained Gentiles. They did not repent, as the Book of Mormon says, if they will repent. And therefore, they had to be driven out. They were trying to build Zion in a place where God had not asked them to do it. And they were trying to build something God had not asked them to build. What did he tell them to do? They were to go to the Lammonites, which is the Indian territory that was in Kansas, just a little west of Independence. The place of Independence, Missouri, and the Temple Lot is a sacred site to several tribes, especially the Osage, who recount a story of a god who descended out of the sky and taught them what is essentially the sermon on the mount. And this same story is repeated among almost all indigenous tribes. Therefore, I believe that Independence was meant to become a core part of Zion in the last days. But the Mormons settling there was both premature and disobedient.
And this brings us to men changing revelations from God. Something that took place a number of times in the early church. They modified a revelation of God to change the place of Zion. Originally, God told them they were to go and be among the Lammonites, that Zion would be built among the Lammonites. But that revelation was later changed to read that it would be on the border by the Lammonites, which is how the saints ended up in Independence. And I believe that the saints would eventually have come to be in Independence. But by changing that revelation and by being disobedient, they were too early. And this caused the inevitable conflict with their neighbors and the failure of the mission to the Lammonites. Neither the Mormons nor the Scottish farmers who established Independence had truly been born again yet. This is the theory that I put forth. Both of these groups were Christian, much the same way that people are Christian today. Which is to say, it's probably more about words and belief than a changed heart. And because the Mormons were a weird sect of Christianity, the two groups did not have the love of Christ in their hearts for one another, uh, they didn't get along. It's as simple as that.
The original plan that God had laid out for them, which they had set aside, was that the saints were to go to the Lammonites in the Indian territory and bring the gospel to them. They did not do this. They did go to one or two tribes out east, but that is not the place that they were told to go. And besides, instead of handing Native Americans a book that they cannot read, what they needed to do was sit and listen to the tribal leaders, let them tell their stories, get to know them, and then adhering to the oral traditions of the Native Americans, share with them stories from the Book of Mormon. Over time, become friends, become allies, do good unto them, and demonstrate the love of Christ, develop that relationship, share the good news of Jesus and the good news of the covenant that God made with their ancestors. This is what I believe with all my heart they were supposed to do and didn't. We needed to befriend them and share the good news of God's plan to restore them as a people, that they might awaken to lead this whole nation in the ways of the creator, rather than treat them as children and ignorant savages. I believe they were supposed to treat them as brothers and sisters in Christ. The relationship should have been one of mutual respect. And guess what? This would have taken years to develop. They would have had to live among them as God asked them to. And had they done that, these two groups of people could have merged, becoming one family in Christ with the blessings of the Holy Spirit.
In time, the converted descendants of Lehi, having received blessings from on high, would have become Manasseh restored, and they would have begun to build a new Jerusalem. And the new Jerusalem is not really a city, but it is a people who live in the kingdom, who walk in the kingdom, and in the powers of the age to come. And the Mormons, having become obedient to God rather than falling under condemnation as they did in 1833, they would have lived among the Native Americans and they would have, as the Book of Mormon says, they would have been numbered among the house of Israel. In other words, they would have numbered among the indigenous tribes, and in that, they would have found their own tribal identity, even that of Ephraim. They did try to lay hold of that inheritance, but they failed. And when the printing press was destroyed in Independence, they were printing the page of the revelation that said, "And the rebellious are not counted as the blood of Ephraim." And so they weren't. And so they were run out. But if they had gone to the Lammonites, lived among them, developed that relationship, and converted them, I believe they would have truly been converted themselves. I don't think they really were yet. Instead, they were too busy trying to build up a church organization, which I don't think God was particularly interested in. He was more interested in them becoming the church, not another denomination, but simply walking in the promises. And as Ephraim and Manasseh, the two would have enjoyed the blessings of heaven and walked in the power of Christ's kingdom.
And in time, the residents of the nearby Independence would have been converted by the manifestation of the love and the power of the church of the Lamb of God, which would then have emerged from the wilderness as God promised. He told them early on, told Joseph Smith, that if this generation will repent, I will bring forth my church out of the wilderness. And even so, I believe those two converted people who are truly born again, the Native Americans, Manasseh, and the Saints, Ephraim, had they truly given their life to Christ instead of trying to build up another church, would have emerged out of the wilderness as a true witness for Christ, not in word only, but in deed. And to this day, the saints continue to repeat this mistake of believing that we're called to build Zion. I see people all the time saying, "Hey, we know we got to build Zion." And I always ask them, "Why do you think you're supposed to build Zion? Show me the scripture. You won't find it. Go and look." And so, we need to look at those things that they were called to do. And we need to acknowledge they never did it. And so if we desire Zion, we must first desire Christ above all. For Zion is simply the natural byproduct of a people who are changed by his love. Amen.
And when we get together next time, I'll hopefully begin a whole series of videos on the Book of Mormon, uh, what its purpose is, and reveal some of the evidences that maybe you haven't considered before, but more importantly, why are those scriptures important to us? What do they contain that we need? And so until then, God bless. Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music]