5 And the angel said unto me: Behold the formation of a church which is most abominable above all other churches, which slayeth the saints of God, yea, and tortureth them and bindeth them down, and yoketh them with a yoke of iron, and bringeth them down into captivity.
Further evidence that this church which is most abominable above all else cannot be assigned a specific denomination or religion is this verse. It describes this church as slaying the saints, torturing and binding them down into captivity. I think this is talking in a spiritual sense, otherwise it would probably not distinguish between saints and others who are not saints.
When Alma was telling his son, Helaman, about his conversion he confessed that he had “murdered many of his children, or rather led them away unto destruction” (Alma 36:14). He is not referring to murdering the body, but the soul, which includes the spirit. Death is a separation, and spiritual death is our separation from God. When someone causes that separation to happen, it is spiritual murder just as surely as if they had physically killed or murdered. The death of the physical body is not nearly as tragic as killing the spirit. That becomes very clear as Alma and Amulek are watching the believers getting burned in the place of martyrdom (Alma 14:10–11). As Amulek expresses his horror at watching women and children literally burned alive for their beliefs, he turns to his priesthood leader and suggests that they use that priesthood to end the suffering. Alma’s answer is fascinating. He doesn’t deny they could stop the murder (physical), but that they should not stop it, because the “the Lord receiveth them up unto himself, in glory.” These wicked people didn’t understand that killing the body is so temporary, swallowed up in the resurrection as it is.
Physical murder is no small thing either, and this great and abominable church is guilty of that as well, but it may be that the physical murder often comes as a result of frustration for not being able to commit spiritual murder. There are some great examples of that throughout the scriptures, but a couple come quickly to mind. Amulon threatens that “whosoever should be found calling upon God should be put to death” (Mosiah 24:11). If they didn’t pretend to be spiritually dead, he would make them physically dead. Another very clear example of the frustration Satan feels when he can’t kill the spirit is Nehor and Gideon (See Alma 1:7–9). Nehor tried to convert Gideon away from his testimony of God (i.e. spiritually slay him). Gideon “withstood him with the words of God,” which frustrated Nehor. So he took out his sword and killed Gideon’s body. What a great illustration of using the armor of God. Gideon withstood Nehor with “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:17). Nehor could not overcome that defense, so he opted to kill the body instead.
Probably the biggest weapon Satan has is deception. Christ taught that in the latter days Satan’s lies would deceive the very elect” (Matthew 24:24). These are the saints slain by Satan, “blinded by the craftiness of men”(D&C 76:75).
- Jeremiah 28:14 (10–15)
- Revelation 17:6 (3–6)
- Revelation 18:24
- 1 Nephi 14:13
- 2 Nephi 10:16
- Alma 36:14
No comments:
Post a Comment