The War In Heaven Has Changed Battle Grounds

The War in Heaven Changing Battlegrounds

Or How to Tell When You Are Under Attack

by Jeffrey A. Bushman April 2014

As a young man and as a teacher, I loved the war chapters in the Book of Mormon.  There were others that didn’t seem to care for them.  I started to think that the main reason they were included in the book was to get young men to read the scriptures.  Later, I realized that the Lord had a reason for everything he had written, and it was to benefit His children in their efforts to complete their mission on the earth and safely return to Him.  As I learned imagery I started to realize that one great benefit of the war chapters was to teach that all war is inspired by Satan, for when people are at war they commit many more sins than at other times in their life, and if Satan can help them die with their murderous disposition they are in his power.

So I am going to use these chapters to show you Satan’s tactics and the methods he uses on people to get them to follow him.  I will also show you how the Lord prepares His people for the onslaught that will always come from Satan, giving them power to withstand him and his followers.

Satan was cast out after the war in heaven, but is continuing his battle here on the earth, trying to destroy the righteous and add members to his army by enticing them to sin.

I will use the leaders of the Lamanites to show the tactics, feelings and motives of Satan.  Then I will use men like Moroni, Lehi and Helaman to show the same things about the Lord.  For example, we learn in Alma 48:17 this about Moroni that also would apply to Christ.

 Yea, verily, verily I say unto you, if all men had been, and were, and ever would be,

 like unto Moroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea,

 the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men.

As I work through chapters Alma 43-58 I will use a red font to show how the wicked leaders are symbolic of Satan and use a black font to shown how the righteous leaders  are symbolic of Christ. 

Hopefully this will give us a way to tell who inspires the leaders in our day.

Chapter 43

V5-8  Zerahemnah appointed chief captains, all who at one time were members of the church and then became apostates who hated the church.  They were chosen to preserve the hatred the Lamanites had for the Nephites that he might bring them into subjection to accomplish his designs.  By stiring them up to anger it allowed Zerahemnah to gain power over his own people and use them for his purposes.

V9-13  The Nephites design was to support lands and family from being destroyed and to have the ability to have the freedom to serve God according to their desires.  They knew that the Lamanites would not just leave them alone but would seek to destroy any who believed in God.  The Nephites also wanted to keep the people who the 4 sons of Mosiah had converted, who had been Lamanites, from being destroyed, knowing they would not take up the sword to protect themselves.  They loved their fellow men.

 V19 Moroni (Christ) had prepared his people with armor and thick clothing to protect them against the wicked.

V20-22, 23  This was new to the Lamanites, their leaders were not thinking of protecting their men, but they feared they would not be able to overcome this group of Nephites because of their armor so they took off in the wilderness looking for weaker spots to exploit.

V23-54 Moroni understood what the wicked would do and sent messengers to Alma to ask the Lord where to go to protect their people.  Moroni also sent spies to follow the Lamanites so he would have knowledge on how best to save his people, and asked other Nephites wherever he went to help defend their people.  Moroni inspires his people because they are fighting for a better cause, sanctioned by God, to defend themselves from their enemies.  They are inspired to cry with one voice for the help of the Lord and they overcome their enemies.  Moroni stops the shedding of blood of the Lamanites when he sees an opportunity to get them to covenant to come no more against them to battle.

Chapter 44

V 1-7  Once he has Zerahemnah in his power he gives him a chance to save his life and the life of his men, but tells him what he will do if Zerahemnah won’t take an oath to not come again against the Nephites.  He is honest and does exactly what he says he will do in all circumstances.

Zerahemnah throws down weapons but won’t make an oath and tries to kill Moroni.  He stirs up his remaining men to greater anger after some of his men had thrown down their weapons and let depart.  He finally gives up when he sees that Moroni has kept his word and will destroy them if they don’t make a covenant.

Chapter 46

V4-7 Amalickiah wants to be a Nephite King and have power over the people.  Uses flattery promising positions of power to others if they will help him.  He dissents from the church.

V10 He is a man of cunning devices and a man of many flattering words, to lead people to do wickedly, he seeks to destroy the church of God and their foundation of liberty which was given to them by God. 

V12-28   Moroni raises the title of Liberty, prays mightily to God for the blessing of liberty to rest on the people as long as there were Christians in the land.  He goes through the land inspiring the hearts of the people to come and make a covenant like he has to preserve the liberty of the land.  He gets others who put on their armor and raise the title of liberty.  He also teaches them about the blessings to the seed of Joseph and wants them to claim them.  He goes through all the land and the people flock to his standard and covenant to stand against Amalickiah.

V29  Amalickiah takes those who are for him, seeing they are starting to doubt his cause, he gets them to go into the land of Nephi where the Lamanites live.

V30-36  Moroni knows they will stir up the Lamanites to anger and come against them later, so he sends out his army and heads them in the wilderness and brings back most of the army of Amalickiah but Amalickiah escapes into the wilderness.  Moroni brings the rest of the dissenters back home and gives them a chance to uphold the liberty of the land or be punished for treason.  He established great peace and happiness in the land.  This comes because the people are becoming one with each other.

Chapter 47

V1,4  He stirs up Lamanites to anger, is very subtle to do evil.

V8 He uses deception, murder to gain power.

V16, 24-28  He is disobedient, murders king of Lamanites.

V35-36   He deceive own people, usurps the kingdom of Lamanites.

Chapter 48

V1   He speaks against the church and Nephites and appoints others to spread his hate.

V3-5  He blinds minds, stirs up anger, wants power over the Nephites also.

48:7-13  Moroni is preparing the people’s minds to be faithful,  fortifies their weakest places to be very strong.  He offers a defense the Nephites have not had before, fortified cities.  He is always a step ahead of their enemies.  He did joy in liberty of his people.  He did not like bloodshed, he was firm in the faith and willing to give his blood for his people.

V23  He hated to be the means of sending so many of their enemies out of this life unprepared to meet their God.  He loves people.

Chapter 49

V6-7, 10, 17, 26  he prepared his men with shields and armor like the Nephites had the last time they met.  Amalickiah would have made his men attack even knowing many would die because he did not care for the blood of his people.  His leaders made foolish oaths, Amalickiah was exceedingly angry with his people for failing to overpower the Nephites.  He cursed God, and swore stupid oaths.

V2-9, 20-24 Moroni fortifies cities to protect his people.  Knowing their enemies will come with armor this time.  He is always one step ahead.

Chapter 50

This whole chapter talks about Moroni’s unwearingness in well doing to save his people and how he puts a stop to contention caused by Morianton.

Chapter 51

V17-20  Moroni settles contention in own land in order to be able to withstand the Lamanites by putting down the King men who were seeking to destroy their freedom.  Because of disunity the Nephites lose several cities to the Lamanities.

V9, 25-28 Amalickiah’s stirring up the hearts of the Lamanites to anger against the Nephites.  He’s very diligent in preparing his people for battle, and personally leads their attack where they take control of many cities. He was very cunning and killed many Nephites.

Chapter 52

V19, 34-38 Moroni counsels with his leaders and they become one in their strategy,  they’re able to overpower the Lamanite army, stop shedding blood when they see they have them in their power, and give them opportunity to surrender.

V13  Ammoron seeks to divide the Nephite forces and harass the Nephites

Chapter 53

V2 Moroni is beloved by his people

Chapter 54

V16-17, 20-21  He knowingly lies and uses the death of his brother to justify killing Nephites.  His goal is to gain power over others.  He’s willing to wage an eternal war and then denys the testimony he had as a member of the church.

Chapter 55

V17-19, 31 Moroni could have killed the Lamanite army while they were in a drunken state but surrounds them and gives them the chance to surrender.  He did not delight in a wicked persons death, but loved to save his people.  They remembered the Lord their God and could not be taken in the Lamanites traps.

V29-34 Using all sorts of traps to destroy the Nephites,  Ammoron was always seeking to bring new forces into the battle.

Chapter 56

Helaman now is mentioned with his 2060 stripling soldiers.

V8,  He used persuasion to get people of Ammon to not break covenants they had made to the Lord. V36 He didn’t want to fight their enemies in their places of resort but they wished to draw them out into the open. V47-49, 56  Stripling soldiers loved liberty over life, had faith in the Lord and fought with the power of God, and not one of them was killed.

Chapter 57

V24-26 These stripling warriors fought with perfect faith, but all received many wounds in this battle.  200 had fainted with the loss of blood.  Helaman immediately had them taken from among the dead the treated their wounds hence none died.  If he hadn’t done this they would have died.

Conclusion

As we live in a complicated world it would be wise for us to see how people seeking leadership positions act, do they respond like righteous or wicked men?  We will need the spirit to help us discern their motives for the wicked use secret oaths, combinations and in public act in a manner to deceive the people into believing they are righteous.  Anger is a key that will help you tell motives, do they want to control others or bless their lives.  The 200 stripling warriors who were wounded are like many in the church who may be overcome by Satan and all they may need to secure eternal life is to have someone who cares, who binds up their wounds so they don’t die spiritually.  The war in heaven is still going on and Satan wants you to be his next causality, and control you with his power.  When the Nephites (Church today) were one or totally united with no contention, they enjoyed the power of the Lord that made them unbeatable.  They seem to have no casualties, this happened only when there was internal contention and conflict brought on by pride.  

You (Church) as Christ’s Symbolic Wife (part 2)

You (Church) as Christ’s Symbolic Wife

Part 2 of 2 by Jeffrey Bushman April 2014

In my last blog I tried to show how the House of Israel or the Church is symbolic of being Christ’s wife.

What I would like to do now is compare a temple marriage in our day that may have many similarities with the marriage of Christ to the church.

1) Both types of marriages are entered into by covenant with the Lord.  Baptism covenant for marriage to Christ and Temple sealing with our mortal spouse.

2) The wife takes the name of her husband. -At baptism we take the name of Christ upon us.

3)  Both marriages require man and wife to become one. -When we get to know the Lord we will gain Eternal life. (John 17:3)  In mortality we need to strive to become one with our mortal spouse and to overcome contention and petty jealousies.  The Lord in His intercessory prayer, prayed for His followers that they may be one as he and the Father are one.  Read John 17:21-25.  He also stated that if ye are not one ye are not mine. D&C 38:27

4)  Intimacy is a sacrament. –Elder Holland talked about intimacy between a man and women as being very sacred and holy, he called it a sacrament. For both to be good marriages the partners need to reveal themselves to each other in all aspects of their life.  Another is their being naked and not ashamed.  Here the Lord knows our sins and when we follow him, through the atonement, he covers our sins and we can be totally exposed to him and not be ashamed or embarrassed because of the spirit he gives as we try our best.  In our Temple marriage we need to do the same, which allow both to become united in all aspects of their relationship.

5)  We learn to see each other as we really are in both relationships.  See 1 John 3:2 to see how we can see the Lord as he is.

6) Both marriages requires both parties to bring all that they have to this relationship.  They should not hold back anything but become partners with a desire to make their relationship eternal.  It is not a 50%/50% relationship, but a 100%/100%.  If it were not so Christ is getting ripped off being married to us, since He is bringing much more than we are to the relationship, even if we were able to bring 100% of our own ability, which we can’t.

7) To gain the blessing based on the law of marriages, faithfulness is required of both parties until their end at death. They will not fall away after death.

8) The husband has power over the wife’s body to bring offspring into the family.  In the marriage to Christ (church), since the church is the female she is given, through her husband, the ability to bring forth children.  Women can accomplish this naturally through the bearing and rearing of children.  And as they do this they become more like their husband (Christ) in developing a righteous nature. Since men cannot bear children, I find it interesting that the Lord gives them the priesthood which has the responsibility to minister the gospel (D&C84:19-20).  With this priesthood power they are given authority and spend time going out into their field of labor, then labor 2 years (mission) in order to bring some individuals to the birth (Baptism) to become children of Christ.  This kind of birth still requires the husband to plant the seed through the Holy Ghost for this kind of birth to be possible.  By doing this men learn to give of themselves for others and develop the ability to love others as well as their symbolic husband.  After their missions they are to give service the rest of their lives in bringing others to a knowledge of their Savior and Redeemer. Maybe priesthood puts men on the same level as women,  so they can accomplish the same mission women do in the bearing and raising of their children.  Once women have raised their families they can turn their primary focus along with the brethren in helping nurturing the church and help bring others an experience of rebirth and growth in the knowledge of the Lord.

9)  The husbands of both types of marriage have the ability to produce seed their entire adult life.  The wife seems to have a set window of opportunity in which to become one with her husband that will let her produce offspring.  However, both marriages are promised that if they keep their covenants, in the next life they can enjoy a continuation of the seeds forever. (D&C 132:19)  Also see verse 24 that states: "This is eternal lives-to know the only wise and true God, and Jesus Christ, whom he hath sent.”  See also D&C 131:1-4

10) Both marriages require the husband to love his wife as his own body, and to be willing to give himself for his wife. They are truly to become one body.  The word helpmeet is to find your equal opposite who has the power to make you whole or complete.  He can’t injure her without bringing harm to himself.

11) Wife is to nourish her children by providing the milk and the husband is to provide the meat.  We have been taught that you can’t give a baby meat before milk or they could choke and die.  This applies to both marriages.  The woman in both marriages needs to nourish her babes, providing them life sustaining milk.  I have always liked the imagery I see in Alma 32 where the people are encouraged to experiment upon the word.  If they do this, desiring to believe they will feel the word begin to swell within their breasts, verse 28.  Once they have become converted they will, of necessity, feel after all others and have a desire to share what they have (milk) with them.  Many times I have felt that teenagers think the gospel is boring.  They manifest this as, oh no!, not another lesson on such and such a topic.  The one thing they do not understand is that the Father is responsible for the meat and if they seek understanding from the Holy Spirit, they will start to taste some of the meat of the gospel.  Many times when missionaries go out on their mission and serve the Lord they start to look at scriptures differently and get excited about what they are now learning.  To them “squished bananas” (Baby food), so to speak taste much better than just plain milk.  Here on their missions they seek out the Lord and serve, that allows the spirit of the Lord to enlighten their souls.  In Isaiah 28:9-10  the Lord puts it this way,  “Whom shall he (The lord or husband) teach knowledge?  and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts”.  “For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little and there a little.”  In the JST of John 6:27 Christ states; “Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of Man hath power to give unto you.”  In verse 55 he continues; “For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.”

12) Husband to preside over the wife.  This only makes sense when the husband chooses to preside, according to the conditions necessary for him to have priesthood power.  This gives him power to minister to the church, even if it is only his family in the church.  Remember he is building a kingdom for both him and his wife.  The wife knows her husband is symbolic of the Lord and she should reverence the position.  To see what conditions are necessary in  men giving them the right to preside, please read D&C 121:41-46.  If men refuse to preside with these characteristics, the woman is free to disregard his directions if she knows they are wrong.

13) Husband is responsible to provide guidance, maintenance and protection for his wife and family.  This is always his responsibility, she does not have to qualify in his eye to be worthy of these blessings based only because of what she does for him.  He has his responsibility and she has hers to him and the children.  Many marriages are saved by the faithfulness of one spouse caring for the other until they have learned their responsibilities.  They should back up each other and assist when circumstances require or ability and needs provide opportunities.  Remember he should be willing to lay down his life for her.  The Lord has always looked out for His family (us) and he tells us of all the blessings He would love to give us if we exercise our agency and witness that we have chosen Him with all of our hearts and will follow His counsel.

14) Family is central to the Father’s plan for the eternal welfare and destiny of His children.   Remember, “neither is the man without the woman neither the woman without the man, in the Lord” 1 Cor. 11:11, and “Likewise ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honor unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as heirs together of the grace of life…..”  1 Peter 3:7.  Exaltation requires both.  Most husbands need to know to give honor to the wife is to place her in her rightful place and know that to be worthy of her you need to learn to function as the Lord himself does.  Then as the Lord says in Romans 8:17 that if we are righteous we will be heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.  Even Christ is willing to help us, who are weak, and share equally as we get to know Him and become like Him with His help.  We need this same kind of help from our eternal spouse here in mortality.

Now for our responsibility, if the Lord is willing to have us as His symbolic wife and give us all He has or will have, what is our responsibility.   Certainly it is to do the best we can with our marriage covenants that we recommit each week as we take the sacrament.  If we do our best, He will bless us with the spirit of the Holy Ghost, which if we possess when we die, will qualify us for a place in Paradise and eventually in the Celestial Kingdom to dwell with Him and our heavenly parents forever.

When Moses received the 10 commandments the first three had to do with how we think and act about God. (Christ)  He said not to have any other gods before me, not to make any graven images to worship and don’t take the name of the Lord in vain.  Taking this in family imagery he is saying: put me as your husband first and don’t worship things made by man’s hands (things of this world) and don’t break the covenants you made we me by taking my name in vain, which is making covenants you know you are going to break.  If we are guilty of any of these sins we are guilty of the sin of idolatry, which is really the sin of adultery.

One very important thing the Lord has given us that helps us fulfill our responsibility to Christ as our husband is to pray and read the scriptures.  If you went to a wedding and after the ceremony the wife stated to you that she didn’t care for her husband and was not going to talk to him again or listen to what he says, how long will that marriage last?  It is already over.  The only way to build a relationship with our symbolic husband is through pondering and praying to express our cares and concerns and thankfulness of having him as our husband.  As we reveal ourselves to him in this manner we become closer to him and trust his care and concern for us.  As we read the scriptures, Nephi said, ( 2 Nephi 32:3) that as we feast on the word, (read the scriptures) that the words of Christ will tell us all things that we should do.  This is mostly how he will talk to us if he chooses not to answer directly by voice or dream or in some other way.  When we need His help we go to Him with our problem and as we read the scriptures with our problem in mind we will get direction at some point from our reading and pondering.  Then in verse 5, He says the Holy Ghost will then show us what we should do.  If we continue faithful then we may get to the point where He may choose to visit with us personally.

If we won’t read and pray we may find that we have put something before our husband and we may be guilty of adultery.  Here are a few references that may help give us the desire to read and pray.  Helaman 3:29  it talks about anyone can take hold of the word of God.  2 Nephi 31: 20  the blessing of feasting on the word and never giving up the habit.  One or two others: Alma 17:2-3, 2 Timothy 3:15-17,  Alma 31:5,  and I will conclude this list with Alma 37:8-9 talking about the importance of scripture study “…They have enlarged the memory of the people, convinced many of the errors of their ways, brought them to the knowledge of their God unto the salvation of their souls….”

If you are a single adult

If you are single and it is because you have never had the opportunity to be married to a good person, or your former spouse broke their covenants and you are left alone, if you are single for about any reason, but have been and still are faithful to your baptismal covenant and have a desire to enjoy the blessings of marriage but aren’t being given the opportunity at this time, please remember the following:

You are currently married symbolically to the Lord!!!  He loves you and will grant all blessings He has in store for you if you remain faithful.  You are in a marriage relationship with Him and you can develop the ability and characteristics that will guarantee you a spouse forever if you continue to draw close to the Lord and fulfill your marriage covenant to Him.  You will develop all the marriage skills that are necessary for you to have a wonderful marriage relationship with another of God’s children whether it is here in mortality or after you go to the spirit world.  I know that you will look back some day and thank the Lord for the spouse you have received.  No matter when you received them.  You will not feel cheated or left out, for your symbolic husband will give you peace, love and direction that will prepare you for later experiences and make your life here a life of joy, peace and happiness knowing you are following Christ on the way to eternal life.

Christ's love of using Marriage Imagery. He as the Husband

Christ as Husband to the Church, His Wife

By Jeffrey Bushman April 2014

As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we have been taught that Christ is a symbolic husband and the church is His wife.  We teach that at the 2^nd coming He will come as the bridegroom to receive His wife.  In the parable of the 10 virgins (Matt. 25:1-13) we understand that 5 are foolish and will not be ready for the wedding feast and 5 will be wise and will go into the feast when the bridegroom comes.  The foolish will not have oil in their lamps that represents the spirit of the Holy Ghost (D&C 45:56-57) making it impossible for other virgins to share their oil with them.  They need the spirit to be worthy to enter into the feast.  The reason the Lord gave why the 5 foolish are locked out of the feast is when they knock Jesus said, “I don’t know you” but in the JST of that verse it reads “ye know me not” (Inspired Version  Matt. 25:11) and they are locked out.  Since we know the Lord knows all of us and if we don’t know him it is because we don’t put him first in our lives, and focus on other things.

This marriage imagery is used by many of the prophets in the Old Testament, and if not understood makes it difficult to understand their message.  I will refer to Ezekiel, Hosea and Isaiah to help show this imagery.  Jeremiah and others also use this imagery many times in their writing.  This first paper on marriage will just be a basis for what will follow in further papers.

Ezekiel 16

 2 Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations,  Ezekiel is to call Jerusalem to repent  because they are rejecting the Lord.

 3 And say, Thus saith the Lord God unto Jerusalem; Thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of Canaan; thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother an Hittite.  I will tell you about your beginnings.  You were nothing special among others, in fact you were a half breed.(Low status person)

 4 And as for thy nativity, in the day thou wast born thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed in water to supple thee; thou wast not salted at all, nor swaddled at all.  On the day of your birth no one even cut the umbilical cord, washed you up or cleaned you upon birth and you were not even clothed.

 5 None eye pitied thee, to do any of these unto thee, to have compassion upon thee; but thou wast cast out in the open field, to the lothing of thy person, in the day that thou wast born.  No one cared for you at all, but you were thrown away into a field and let to die.

 6 ¶And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live; yea, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live.  Christ then said that he came to where you were and saw that you were in your blood (sin & the natural man) and said live, or I have forgiven you of your sins and saved her life.

 7 I have caused thee to multiply as the bud of the field, and thou hast increased and waxen great, and thou art come to excellent ornaments: thy breasts are fashioned, and thine hair is grown, whereas thou wast naked and bare.  Christ takes this little child and raises her until she has reached adulthood and has covered her nakedness (atonement means to cover).

 8 Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness: yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord God, and thou becamest mine.  Once she has become a young adult,  Christ comes and makes a covenant with her and she becomes His wife.  Spread my skirt over thee is like when Ruth goes to Boaz and because he is a near kinsman it was his responsibility to marry her because of the death of her 1^st husband who left her no children.  She told him to spread his skirt over her.  Or in other words you are to marry me and take care of the husband responsibilities.

 9 Then washed I thee with water; yea, I throughly washed away thy blood from thee, and I anointed thee with oil.  Once they had covenanted with each other, he then washes away her sins and anoints her with oil.  This happens at baptism and confirmation, but may always give you thoughts of the temple experience.

 10 I clothed thee also with broidered work, and shod thee with badgers’ skin, and I girded thee about with fine linen, and I covered thee with silk.  Some of these items were used in the Tabernacle and Temple anciently

  12 And I put a jewel on thy  forehead, and earrings in thine ears, and a beautiful crown upon thine head.  He gives her a crown to show that she is to rule with him as king and queen and joint heirs with all that the Father has to give them. (Romans 8:14-18)

 13 Thus wast thou decked with gold and silver; and thy raiment was of fine linen, and silk, and broidered work; thou didst eat fine flour, and honey, and oil: and thou wast exceeding beautiful, and thou didst prosper into a kingdom. Because of their eternal marriage she prospers into a kingdom.  All of us can have a kingdom if we remain faithful to the Lord. (D&C 131:1-4)  Here we will rule over our increase or posterity.

 14 And thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty: for it was perfect through my comeliness, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord God.  All that she has is because of the Lord, and the rest of the world noticed she was different from them.

 15 ¶But thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy fornications on every one that passed by; his it was.  But she became proud in her heart and thought she was smarter than the Lord and started to commit many sins.  The foremost was the sin of Adultery or Idol  worship, putting someone or  anything before the Lord who you had covenanted with to always put first.  Idolatry is really just term for spiritual adultery.

Then in the following verses 16-31  The Lord describes her many sins such as sleeping with anyone who came by and taking the gold and silver he gave her to make worldly thing and worship them.  Take sacred clothing and give it to the unworthy, take the meat or great knowledge and just throw it out for the world to mock. (casting  pearls before swine)  Further she takes the children she had born for her husband and sacrificed them to false gods.  Perhaps her greatest sin was she no longer remembered what the Lord had done for her when she was polluted in her own blood.

 32 But as a wife that committeth adultery, which taketh strangers instead of her husband!

 33 They give gifts to all whores: but thou givest thy gifts to all thy lovers, and hirest them, that they may come unto thee on every side for thy whoredom.

 34 And the contrary is in thee from other women in thy whoredoms, whereas none followeth thee to commit whoredoms: and in that thou givest a reward, and no reward is given unto thee, therefore thou art contrary.   Here he says that she is not even smart, for when a woman choses to be a whore she is paid for her services and she is so dumb for she pays others to sleep with her.

 35 ¶Wherefore, O harlot, hear the word of the Lord:

 36 Thus saith the Lord God; Because thy filthiness was poured out, and thy nakedness discovered through thy whoredoms with thy lovers, and with all the idols of thy abominations, and by the blood of thy children, which thou didst give unto them;

 Verses 36-44 The Lord describes because of her sin he will take those she committed adultery with, and they will destroy all that she has, all that the Lord gave unto her and their armies will cause her to suffer for her sins and as a conquered city she will cease to play the harlot.  Then the anger of the Lord will rest.

 45 Thou art thy mother’s daughter, that lotheth her husband and her children; and thou art the sister of thy sisters, which lothed their husbands and their children: your mother was an Hittite, and your father an Amorite.  Here the Lord reminds her that she has chosen to go back to the way she was, saying I was wicked because I was  born that way.

 46 And thine elder sister is Samaria, she and her daughters that dwell at thy left hand: and thy younger sister, that dwelleth at thy right hand, is Sodom and her daughters.

 Verses 46-58  He describes that she has sisters whom he was married too also (Samaria or the 10 tribes and Sodom who was destroyed for her wickedness.  Ezekiel 23 talks about His wives one being Aholah and the other Aholibah.  One is Jerusalem or the Kingdom of Judah, the other is Samaria or the Kingdom of Israel)

 59 For thus saith the Lord God; I will even deal with thee as thou hast done, which hast despised the oath in breaking the covenant. This completes the great apostasy and helps to bring in the dark ages where the gospel light is not available in its fullness.  We call this the SCATTERING as Israel has forsaken her husband.

Here it is important to know that after a time apart, the Lord (Hosea 3:1-5)  will buy her back from those she was sold to, (Atonement) and in the latter days she will return to Him through the GATHERING or repentance or conversion.

 60 ¶Nevertheless I will remember my covenant with thee in the days of thy youth, and I will establish unto thee an everlasting covenant.  Even though she has sinned against him, he will remember the covenant he made with her in the days of her youth and he will, still at a future time, be married to Him again.

 61 Then thou shalt remember thy ways, and be ashamed, when thou shalt receive thy sisters, thine elder and thy younger: and I will give them unto thee for daughters, but not by thy covenant.

 62 And I will establish my covenant with thee; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord:  Later He will establish this covenant again and she will accept Him and will get to know Him, that He is the Lord. (John 17:3 when this happens and you get to know the Lord you will have eternal life.)

 63 That thou mayest remember, and be confounded, and never open thy mouth any more because of thy shame, when I am pacified toward thee for all that thou hast done, saith the Lord God.

The Book of Hosea is much like this chapter in Ezekiel.  Here Hosea is told that because the House of Israel has departed from Him and committed whoredoms he is to marry a whore who is going to have 3 children.  He names each one and they are symbolic of what the Lord is going to do to Israel for breaking their covenant with Him, later he then tells them that when they return to Him he will change some of the names to show now how he will bless them in the last days.

I have chosen to not spend time with Hosea at this time and instead will finish this up with a chapter from Isaiah.  I didn’t want this to be too long.  This part will show what the Lord teaches is going to happen to his wife who has prepared herself for Him at His second coming.

3 Nephi 22 or Isaiah 54

1 And then shall that which is written come to pass.  (This refers back to 3 Nephi 21 where the Lord talks about the New Jerusalem, He then explains what is going to happen.)  Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: These are non members who have not made any marriage covenants(baptism) with the Lord.  They will sing because they will receive the Lord by covenant.  for more are the children of the desolate (non-members of Christ’s church) than the children of the married wife, saith the Lord.  There will be more people join the church at this time than there are members of the church. (the married wife who have made and kept their covenant with the Lord)

 2 Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes; Because of the increase of the size of the Lords family they will have to add walls and ropes to hold up the sides of the tent (or house) and strengthen the stakes.  That is why we call them stake centers for they are holding up part of the Lords house.

 3 For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.  The Lord’s people will increase after the wicked are burned that they will inhabit the cities whose inhabitants have been destroyed.

 4 Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more.  Here the Lord says don’t worry about the past because of what you did when I first made a covenant with the house of Israel and you committed adultery and you suffered for your sins

 5 For thy Maker is thine husband;(Christ) the Lord of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called. 

 6 For the Lord hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God.  When you sinned against me anciently

 7 For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee.

 8 In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer. I have always loved you and will extend great mercy to you, even though for a while I couldn’t because of your refusal to repent.  I still love you.

 9 For this is as the waters of Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee.  This is all like a big love letter the Lord is reassuring his love for Israel and he will receive them unto himself in love.

 10 For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee. More of the same

 11 ¶O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires.

 12 And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones.  Here he seems to be describing what he will build for her, like a heavenly city

 13 And all thy  children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children.

 14 In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear: and from terror; for it shall not come near thee.  The Lord will dwell among his family and teach their children himself (Millennium) and they will not have to worry about their enemies.

 15 Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by me: whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake.  I am more powerful than your enemies

 16 Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy.  I am in control, don’t fear anything

 17 ¶No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord. Great Love Story.  

Below is a short summary of what I was trying to say.

Church as Wife of Covenant Marriage       or        Abrahamic Covenant                                Covenant Received in Temple

A.   Know the Lord in Marriage                    Priesthood = Keys of knowledge of God

B.   Seed eternal                                             Seed like sand = Eternal Marriage

C.   Live with Him in Celestial Kingdom       Promised Land = Celestial Kingdom

D.   Every Member a Missionary                 Through Seed all the Earth Blessed

                                                                   

1.  Promised access for all Christ's children through baptism (House of Israel)

2.  Marriage to the Lord takes place, and the Lord wants to reveal himself to His wife, and take care of her.

3.  After a time she follows after other lovers and commits adultery on many different occasions.

4.  Spirit withdraws, she suffers the natural consequences for her sins.

5.  She repents by seeking help from her husband, who forgives her as she renews  her promise to be faithful.  She promises to do her part on helping Him do His work.

6.  Eventually she lusts after the world and totally forsakes the Lord. Leaves her husband,  commits  adultery , wants a divorce and is granted one by the Lord.

7.  In the midst of her treachery he comes and buys her back from those who have made her a slave. She doesn't know it.

8.  She wanders from place to place seeking her own desires.  Still immoral, has many children with the peoples of the world.

9.  In last days she learns that there is much that she has lost and seeks a restitution because of an invitation her former husband sends to her telling that he has always loved her and is willing to take her back if she will repent.

10.  The new and everlasting covenant is restored to the earth again, in His own house that will give them a chance to get to know Him again.

11.    They prepare themselves for the return of their husband by witnessing that they are willing to follow the spirit he has sent.