Restoration of All Things

“And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you, whom ye have crucified;

Whom the heavens must receive until the times of restitution of all things which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began” (Acts 3:20-21).

What is the “restitution or restoration of all things?” All the prophets preached it, yet it remains a mystery to so much of the world. Jesus spoke of it when he said:

“Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things, as the prophets have written” (Matthew 17:9-10).

According to Webster’s 1828 dictionary, the word “restitution” means the act of returning or restoring to a person some right that has been lost; the act of making good. The word “restoration” is defined as reestablishment, renewal, recovery, and the act of replacing in a former state. The two words are identical as the prophets described them.

The Book of Mormon has this to say about the restoration that was foretold by all the prophets:

“The dead shall come forth and be reunited, both soul and body, and be brought to stand before God, and be judged according to their works; Yea, this bringeth about the restoration of those things of which have been spoken by the mouths of the prophets. The soul shall be restored to the body, and the body to the soul; yea, and every limb and joint shall be restored to its body; yea, even a hair of the head shall not be lost, but all things shall be restored to their proper and perfect frame. And now my son, this is the restoration of which has been spoken by the mouths of the prophets. And then shall the righteous shine forth in the kingdom of God” (Alma 19:56-59).

According to the above prophecies, the restoration of all things will begin when Jesus Christ returns in the cloud and the dead in Christ rise first. The following verses also identify that time:

“For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first; Then they who are alive, shall be caught up together into the clouds with them who remain, to meet the Lord in the air.” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17)

“Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live; And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the Lord.” (Ezekiel 37:1-6)

“And they who have slept in their graves, shall come forth; for their graves shall be opened, and they also shall be caught up to meet him in the midst of the pillar of heaven: they are Christ's, the first fruits” (Section 85:27c).

The restoration of all things will be the beginning of Judgment Day or the Day of the Lord; a day when John’s book of Revelation will be unfolded in the eyes of the people (See Ether 1:101-1:113 and execute a comparison study of the Book of Revelation and Section 85 for clarity on this timeline).

The Book of Mormon is often referred to as the “Restoration Gospel,” even if the restoration of all things did not occur when the Book of Mormon came forth. Around 2,000 years ago, Jesus told the ancient inhabitants of America that the coming forth of their records (Book of Mormon) would be the “sign given” to know that the restoration of all things was near (3 Nephi 9:87+). Those records came forth almost 180 years ago, and other signs have since manifested that the restoration is getting nearer all the time.

Just prior to his discourse about the “sign,” Jesus also presented a phenomenal timeline revelation for the 20^th and 21^st century saints who would witness the rise of Israel, the nation-state. While apostate Christendom would be ensnared in its deception, Jesus plainly exposed the nation-state as a false restoration. First, Jesus quoted Isaiah:

“Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord. For ye shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight; for the Lord will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your rearward. Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high. As many were astonished at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men; So shall he gather many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him; for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider.” (Isaiah 52:11-15; compare to 3 Nephi 9:79-83)

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, All these things shall surely come, even as the Father hath commanded me. Then shall this covenant which the Father hath covenanted with his people, be fulfilled; and then shall Jerusalem be inhabited again with my people, and it shall be the land of their inheritance” (3 Nephi 9:84-85).

What an extraordinarily “precious” part to be missing from the book of Isaiah. These words from Jesus in the third book of Nephi are critical, confirming that Jerusalem is not yet inhabited with the Lord’s people as the world currently believes.

The Bible is loaded with prophecies concerning the restitution or restoration of all things, and the Book of Mormon finishes filling in the blanks. So it is unfortunate that even most Book of Mormon believers have failed to recognize this restoration timeline, even as plain and precious as it is in the book they profess to believe.

Last summer, my aunt came to visit us in Washington, D.C. Having recently lost both her husband and a beloved son, she had been on a “church hunt” hoping to achieve a sense of peace over the matter of life hereafter. She wanted desperately to know if she would ever see her husband and son again. The thought of heaven seemed a bit too allusive for her, and apparently none of her Christian friends were able to give her the assurance she was seeking. What was she seeking? Jesus and all the prophets called it HOPE.

Words cannot describe the thrill I received being able to reintroduce her to the gospel that she had abandoned in her youth. Whether she realized it or not, the Book of Mormon answered her prayers. The Book of Mormon (alongside its companion, the Bible) restores HOPE in the fullest sense, assuring us of life eternal, even Zion; and of the incomprehensible happiness that is promised to occur in that life and in that place.

Why couldn’t my aunt find a Christian church that offered her the hope she was seeking; namely, that she would see her husband and her son again? It is because this generation does not comprehend hope, and it does not comprehend hope because it does not comprehend the resurrection or the restitution of all things. Strange theologies are taught in its place. Today we have “heaven and hell” theology where only the saved go to heaven and everyone else goes to hell roasting to a crackly crunch for all eternity. We have rapture dogma which offers escape from reality and lifts only the “saved” into the heavenly realm forever and ever. We have reincarnation which presumes an evolutionary process of our souls in different bodies. We have the more recent kingdom-now theology which blends Christianity, Judaism, and Eastern religion, convincing us to place our hope in the here and now rather than in the restoration of all things. With all these sincere but erroneous teachings, is it any wonder my aunt was having a difficult time in her quest for HOPE?

It is the restoration of all things that Satan has tried most to counterfeit and destroy, and for good reason, too, for in that day will come his own demise. The prophets said that the Gentiles would reject the restoration gospel, and collectively speaking, that prophecy has been nearly fulfilled. Little wonder there is such hopelessness in this generation and little wonder so many seek hope in all the wrong places (like drugs, alcohol, sex, entertainment, sports, relationships, apostate churches and other religions, and even science). With God’s words at our fingertips, why are we such a “hopeless” people?

“Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness; In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began” (Titus 1:1-2).

“Behold I say unto you, that ye shall have hope through the atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection, to be raised unto life eternal; and this because of your faith in him according to the promise” (Mormon 7:47).

There sure are a lot of shepherds in the world today claiming to be the Lord’s prophets. By their fruits we are supposed to know them. Are they preaching the restoration of all things like all the Lord’s true prophets before them, or are they preaching another gospel?

Ever notice that the entire gospel of Jesus Christ is about a vineyard, whether it speaks of grapes from a vine or the withered fruit on a fig tree or a grain of mustard seed or the hiring of laborers in the vineyard or a Sower who went forth to sow his seed? In the book of Romans, there is a parable about an olive tree which filled an entire chapter in the book of Jacob. In the parable, the house of Israel was likened to a tame olive tree and the Gentiles to a wild olive tree. The Lord of the vineyard nourished the two trees even when they began to wax old and decay. Branches were plucked and pruned, then grafted into other trees where the moisture from their roots could take hold, causing the trees to bring forth fruit. God’s creation is all about a vineyard.

“For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man, a house-holder, who went out early in the morning to hire laborers into his vineyard” (Matthew 20:1).

The book of Genesis is the introduction to the Lord’s vineyard; a vineyard comprised of trees and fruits and seeds and all sorts of things one might find in a vineyard or GARDEN. No gospel compares to the gospel of Jesus Christ, where the end of the world was foretold from the beginning. The book of Revelation is a mirror image of the book of Genesis, even Hebrew experts who deny Jesus will admit that much. Yet of all the books in the Bible, the least respected is the book of Genesis. Not long ago, Pope John Paul II declared the book [Genesis] to be a myth, perhaps the most deceiving of all proclamations in the 20^th century. To discard Genesis is like building a house with no foundation. Perhaps that helps explain why the Lord’s house is in the condition it’s in today.

When God cast Adam from the Garden after eating the forbidden fruit, Adam knew that he had suffered a spiritual death, having been cast from God’s presence (defined as “hell” in 2 Nephi 6:27). Adam also knew that he would die a temporal (physical) death.

“Blessed be the name of God, for, because of my transgression my eyes are opened, and in this life I shall have joy, and again, in the flesh I shall see God. And Eve, his wife, heard all these things and was glad, saying, Were it not for our transgression, we never should have had seed, and never should have known good and evil, and the joy of our redemption, and the eternal life which God giveth unto all the obedient” (Genesis 4:6-11).

Was something lost in the Garden? Yes. Our eternal lives were lost, both spiritually and temporally. What will be restored? Our eternal lives will be restored, both temporally and spiritually.

In the beginning, Adam suffered the spiritual death first, then the temporal one.

“Yea, it behooveth him, and becometh expedient that he dieth, to bring to pass the resurrection of the dead, that thereby men may be brought into the presence of the Lord; Yea, behold this death bringeth to pass the resurrection, and redeemeth all mankind from the first death; that spiritual death for all mankind, by the fall of Adam, being cut off from the presence of the Lord, or considered as dead, both as to things temporal and to things spiritual” (Helaman 5:69-70).

In the end, at the time of the restoration, the order will be reversed. We will be restored temporally first, then spiritually.

“…the first shall be last, and the last shall be first in all things, whatsoever I have created by the word of my power, which is the power of my Spirit; for by the power of my Spirit, created I them; yea, all things both spiritual and temporal: firstly spiritual, secondly temporal, which is the beginning of my work; and again, firstly temporal, and secondly spiritual, which is the last of my work; speaking unto you that you may naturally understand, but unto myself my works have no end, neither beginning; but it is given unto you that ye may understand, because ye have asked it of me and are agreed.” (Section 28:8)

This order of events is spelled out in numerous ways by every prophet in the gospel, and it all begins in the book of Genesis.

“The earth abideth the law of a celestial kingdom, for it filleth the measure of its creation, and transgresseth not the law… He [God] hath given a law unto all things by which they move in their times, and their seasons; and their courses are fixed; even the courses of the heavens, and the earth; which comprehend the earth and all the planets; and they give light to each other in their times, and in their seasons, in their minutes, in their hours, in their days, in their weeks, in their months, in their years: all these are one year with God, but not with man. The earth rolls upon her wings; and the sun giveth his light by day, and the moon giveth her light by night; and the stars also giveth their light, as they roll upon their wings, in their glory, in the midst of the power of God. Unto what shall I liken these kingdoms, that ye may understand?” (Section 85)

The law of Moses given on Mount Sinai to the ancient children of

Israel

or Jews (which some refer to as the “Old Testament” or “Torah”) was the laborious version of God’s perfect law. Had the children of

Israel

been obedient children, they could have received the same perfect law without all the ritual and oppression, but they didn’t know how to behave themselves. The law they received can be compared to earthly instruction. For example, an earthly parent can tell an obedient child to do their homework with no further need for instruction. An obedient-minded child will get the homework done without supervision and strict rules. As a result, life will be pleasant not only for the child, but also for the parents and the teachers.

A child who is not obedient, on the other hand, requires heavy supervision and often a heavy hand with strenuous rules attached (come home from school, do math homework, eat dinner, do history homework, no television until all homework is done, etc). The children of Israel were like the disobedient child so God gave them what they needed and desired – a laborious version of his law. Yet laborious or not, the law they were given was still God’s perfect law; perfect enough, that is, to afford the children of Israel freedom and blessings unmatched in any other nation in the world at that time.

Unfortunately, that same law [of Moses] became distorted and abused through the years. In due time, its religious leaders had turned God’s perfect law into a Babylonian set of rituals that delivered men into bondage rather than freedom. Rather than hearkening to the original laws, they created their own laws and called them “oral traditions.” For example, instead of keeping six commandments for Sabbath as was in the law given by Moses, oral traditions expanded their Sabbath duties to 1,583 commandments.

By the time Jesus Christ arrived on the scene, he had to tell the religious leaders of the day that “had they believed Moses, they would believe him, for he was the fulfillment of their law” (Luke 14, John 5, etc.). Had they not tampered with the law of Moses as they did, they would have clearly recognized Jesus Christ as the very God who had given them their law in the first place. It was Jesus who fulfilled every jot and tittle of their sundry laws and ordinances in all that he accomplished upon the earth. Because they had so sorely transgressed the law, they didn’t recognize the law – their Savior – when he manifested himself. So they killed him.

Christ taught that the law of Moses had been fulfilled in him (Matthew 5:19, 3 Nephi 4:47, etc), and that it was time to remove the laborious rituals of the law. The law itself did not change, however. Like the earthly example quoted above, the law still required that we do our homework.

Unfortunately, not long after Christ’s departure, Christianity’s religious leaders did exactly the same thing that the Jewish religious leaders had also done. They took the liberty to add and delete from the law; inventing tedious requirements and rituals and administering their own versions of “oral traditions.” Christian leadership engendered Christians to bondage in much the same way that Jewish leaders had engendered their own disciples.

“The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done; and there is no new thing under the sun.” (Ecclesiastics 1:9)

God doesn’t change, and neither does his law (Isaiah 29:25, Hebrews 13:8, 3 Nephi 11:9, etc.). If the world would simply hearken to his commandments (do our homework), we would have a perfect world. There is no other rule of law that can guarantee the smooth and perfect order of the universe. We can try being ruled by democracy, or socialism, or fascism, or communism, or democratic republics (the closest thing to God’s law on earth, which is now giving way to democratic socialism), but none of these forms of law will stop the hate, the poverty, the sorrow, and the wars. Only God’s perfect law can do that. It is the only law that can set us free both temporally and spiritually.

The first chapters of Genesis describe a seven-day spiritual creation. On the first day, God separated the light from the darkness. On the second day, he created the firmament called heaven. The third day, he created grass, herbs, trees, and fruits. On the fourth day, he created the sun, moon, and stars. On the fifth day, he created animals and other moving creatures. On the sixth day, God created souls, “male and female he created them.” On the seventh day, he rested from his labors. On the eighth day (which would have been the first temporal day of God’s creation on earth) God created Adam in the flesh.

While the first seven days of God’s creation were spiritual, they were on a kind of parallel track with the seven days of his temporal creation. We are currently somewhere near the end of God’s sixth temporal day, and this based on solid Biblical genealogies. In Section 85, one can find an inversion of this 14-day calendar. Beginning with verse 25, seven trumpets will one day sound ushering in temporal resurrections. Following those seven will be seven more trumpets ushering in a time of spiritual restoration (Doctrine & Covenants, 85:26-35). The prophets always said that the first would be last, and the last would be first in all things.

After God gave the commandment to “go forth and multiply” on the sixth spiritual day of creation, the mandate for that call was put into effect by our first earthly father and mother: “Adam and Eve, who were our first parents” (1 Nephi 1:160). On the first day of the temporal creation, the first flesh of the human race was introduced and subjected to the perfect law of God. God gave Adam a choice:

“And I, the Lord God, commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat; But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; Nevertheless, thou mayest choose for thyself, for it is given unto thee; but remember that I forbid it; For in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Genesis 2:11-22).

Most people know the story. It was Eve who first broke the law and ate the fruit of the forbidden tree. Adam then also ate of the tree. Paul revealed a fabulous mystery about Adam and Eve and their eating of the fruit:

“And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. Notwithstanding they shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety” (1 Timothy 2:14-15).

It was Eve, not Adam, who was deceived by the serpent (Eve being a similitude for the Church). Adam tasted the fruit, giving his life for his bride Eve, just as Christ tasted the bitter cup and gave his life for his bride the Church. Had Adam not tasted the fruit, Eve would have died a spiritual and temporal death with no chance for redemption. According to the law, Eve’s disobedience required a reparation that could only manifest itself through the bearing of children…”they shall be saved in childbearing if they continue in faith.” Through Eve’s seed, of course, came the Redeemer who redeemed not only Eve, but all of us.

Those who read the book of Genesis sometimes wonder about the cherubim and the flaming sword that prevented Adam from partaking of the tree of life (Genesis 3:28-31). The necessity for that cherubim and flaming sword is revealed in the Book of Mormon.

“Now we see that the man had become as God, knowing good and evil; and lest he should put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever, the Lord God placed cherubim and the flaming sword, that he should not partake of the fruit. And thus we see, that there was a time granted unto man, to repent, yea, a probationary time, a time to repent and serve God. For behold, if Adam had put forth his hand immediately, and partook of the tree of life, he would have lived for ever, according to the word of God, having no space for repentance; Yea, and also the word of God would have been void, and the great plan of salvation would have been frustrated” (Alma 19:82-86).

If we ever hope to understand God’s creation, we need to understand law, for it works the same in the temporal world as it does in the spiritual. Everything revolves around God’s law. In the Garden, God’s law was simple and clear – eat the fruit and you will die. The Parent had laid down the law for the children. “If you do this, you will suffer these consequences.” This was not unlike one of our temporal laws. If we murder someone, we know the consequences; we go to jail or get the death penalty or both. Adam made his choice, and because God’s law is perfect and God doesn’t lie, Adam had to pay the price for his crime – he had to die. Partaking of the tree of life would have allowed Adam to live even after he had broken the law (that would be like letting a murderer go free after he had murdered).

Unlike this world with its corrupt courts and judges, the guilty do not go unpunished in God’s legal system. Adam chose to commit the crime (sin), and given the law, he had to pay the price. We all have to pay the price because we all have chosen to act in accordance with those things that bring death.

In reality, there are only two sets of laws to choose from in this world. One set leads to freedom; the other leads to slavery. There is no in-between, no synthesis, even if today’s utopian-globalists would have us thinking there is. We either keep God’s perfect law of freedom, or we “slippery-slope” into evil’s law of bondage. To have a world of perfect freedom and harmony, we would collectively have to abide by the laws of the Celestial Kingdom, or in other words, keep God’s perfect commandments. We think we are a free people, but we cannot understand freedom until we understand the perfect laws of our Creator.

The creation of the soul was an eternal creation. Had there been no way to redeem our spiritually dead souls, we would have remained in a state of endless torment forever. Remember how Nephi defined that spiritual death? He called it “hell” (2 Nephi 6:27).

To some, the idea of our souls being in torment might seem incomprehensible, but there is a temporal way to comprehend it. At one time or another, all of us have tasted the bitter pill of depression or hopelessness, whether due to an illness, or losing a loved one, or some particularly awful circumstance. Guilt can be the most tormenting of all pain, and it is the very emotion that defines the “hell” that accompanies spiritually “dead” souls. Emotions like guilt can be temporary in this life, but what happens after this life, after we die and our souls live on?

According to the law in every civilized society on earth, if a person murders, no one else can pay the price but the murderer himself. This is also the law in heaven. Adam and all of humanity had to be redeemed for the sake of our eternally tormented souls, but who could redeem us? Who could pay the price for the spiritual death of all mankind? There was only One who could pay such a fine, and that was God, himself; the Man who imposed the sentence to begin with; the Lawgiver. Eye for an eye, God’s perfect law required a perfect atonement. But how could God pay the price (in blood) unless he could live and die as a man? Hence came forth the Redeemer through the seed of Eve (notwithstanding they shall be saved in childbearing, 1 Timothy 2:15). To atone for our rebellion, God would have to die for us. And he did.

“Yea, all are hardened; yea, all are fallen, and are lost, and must perish except it be through the atonement which it is expedient should be made; For it is expedient that there should be a great and last sacrifice; yea, not a sacrifice of man, neither of beast, neither of any manner of fowl; for it shall not be a human sacrifice: but it must be an infinite and eternal sacrifice. Now there is not any man that can sacrifice his own blood, which will atone for the sins of another. Now if a man murdereth, behold, will our law, which is just, take the life of his brother? I say unto you, Nay. But the law requireth the life of him who hath murdered; therefore there can be nothing, which is short of an infinite atonement, which will suffice for the sins of the world.” (Alma 16:209-216)

Although most Christians don’t ask these questions, many agnostics do. Why did God offer the fruit to begin with? Why not just keep the Garden as it was if things were so perfect? The Book of Mormon offers the most easy to comprehend answer.

“And now, behold, if Adam had not transgressed, he would not have fallen; but he would have remained in the garden of Eden. And all things which were created, must have remained in the same state which they were, after they were created; and they must have remained for ever, and had no end. And they would have had no children; wherefore, they would have remained in a state of innocence, having no joy, for they knew no misery; doing no good, for they knew no sin. But behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things. Adam fell, that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy. (2 Nephi 1:111-115)

Did God offer the fruit so that we could exist in our temporal bodies; so that there would be a physical creation as well as a spiritual one? Yes, but God apparently wanted something even more than that. God wanted man to be free, both spiritually and temporally. How would a man be free if he could not make choices, and how could he make choices unless he knew the difference between right and wrong? If God wanted man to be free, then God had to offer him knowledge of both good and evil.

But God also knew that when given the choice, man would choose evil over good. It has always been man’s nature to succumb to evil. That is why empires always fall. Every kingdom of this world has been a temporary kingdom for this very reason: man chooses evil over good. Atheists and agnostics who would like to argue against this logic cannot do it. Not only does history prove that empires always morally collapse, science also proves it by the law of entropy or “second law of thermodynamics.” Societies deteriorate unless acted upon by an outside force (i.e., God).

God’s whole creation was an irony beyond words. The only way to create free men in the flesh was to give them knowledge. Yet to give knowledge meant that men would choose evil over good, their flesh being weak. By choosing to serve the law of evil, as opposed to God’s perfect law, men would bring inevitable misery and death upon themselves. Why would God make a perfect creation by the law and not give men a chance to live by that law?

Thankfully, God did not create us only to cast us out from the Garden and leave us miserable. He equipped us with his perfect law of freedom (his commandments), and gave us the choice to obey or not to obey them as any good parent would do. In a recent editorial, a woman described the challenges of parenting; in particular the desire she had to shield her own child from evil. She wrote:

“There is no magic wand we can wave over our children to give them grown-up eyes; to give them instant maturity and the instinct for self-preservation that only comes with years, a few hard knocks… And even if we could wield such a wand, we know we’d be robbing our kids of the very innocence that makes childhood a special journey.” (My Turn, Newsweek, February 13, 2006)

This author is right, but she didn’t go far enough. Even if we could wield such a wand, we not only would be robbing our kids of innocence, we would be robbing them of their FREEDOM TO CHOOSE. There is a popular saying that “the two greatest gifts we can give our children are roots and wings.” There is another popular saying that goes something like this: “If you love something, set it free…if it doesn’t return, it wasn’t yours to begin with.” Both of these fashionable sayings could be lifted straight off the pages of Holy Scripture. Both of these sayings describe the Heavenly Father’s relationship with his children. The author in Newsweek concluded her article with the following words:

“These days I watch over my own child and try to teach him to be savvy… But I also try to preserve the enthusiasm that makes a kid feel that delightful things could be right around every corner. It’s a tightrope all parents tiptoe across as we search for balance. As we read the morning paper or watch the evening news. As we hug our children and hold our breath.”

This, of course, is from an earthly parent’s perspective. Imagine the perspective of our Heavenly Parent whose laws are perfect and just. How much more does our Creator hug his children and hold his breath? Even though he knew it would be man’s way to choose evil, God did indeed give us roots (his law) and wings (freedom to choose). Could there be greater gifts? Yes, there could be, and there is. God also gave us a way to be redeemed from our rejection of his law. He paid the ultimate price for our freedom by giving his life for our own.

“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13).

I think God loves soldiers. His words are full of soldier metaphors, such as his desire that we always be on guard duty as “watchmen.” Jesus said that he had never seen such great faith as that of the Centurion, probably because soldiers have an unusually keen understanding of authority. And when it came time to metaphorically describe defeating the enemy, Jesus used the uniform of a soldier – the armor. It was Jesus who said that there is no greater love than when a man lays down his life for his friends. Isn’t that what freedom-fighting soldiers do? Isn’t that what Jesus did for us? God is the perfect soldier. He laid down his own life so that we could be free.

“And because that they are redeemed from the fall, they have become free for ever, knowing good from evil; To act for themselves, and not to be acted upon.” (2 Nephi 1:117-120)

This isn’t something one hears preached from most pulpits. Isaiah 45:7 tells us that God created evil. Why would God create evil?

“For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so… righteousness could not be brought to pass; neither wickedness; neither holiness nor misery; neither good nor bad. Wherefore, all things must needs be a compound in one; Wherefore, if it should be one body, it must needs remain as dead, having no life, neither death nor corruption, nor incorruption, happiness nor misery, neither sense nor insensibility. Wherefore, it must needs have been created for a thing of nought; Wherefore, there would have been no purpose in the end of its creation. Wherefore, this thing must needs destroy the wisdom of God, and his eternal purposes; and also, the power, and the mercy, and the justice of God. And if ye shall say there is no law, ye shall also say there is no sin. And if ye shall say there is no sin, ye shall also say there is no righteousness. And if there be no righteousness, there be no happiness. And if there be no righteousness nor happiness, there be no punishment nor misery. And if these things are not, there is no God. And if there is no God, we are not, neither the earth, for there could have been no creation of things, neither to act nor to be acted upon; wherefore, all things must have vanished away” (2 Nephi 1:81-93).

Had there not been an opposition in all things (good and evil), righteousness could not have been brought to pass. What a profound revelation. No misery, therefore no happiness; no bad, therefore no good. If there were no evil, there would be no knowledge, and no choices, no agency, no freedom, no righteousness, and no joy, and we wouldn’t exist either for there would have been no children (2 Nephi 1:113). Without evil, man would not be free to choose between opposing forces, for there would be no opposing forces.

“Man could not act for himself, save it should be that he was enticed by the one or the other” (2 Nephi 1:100).

A dictator would create a people with no knowledge and no choices. Satan wanted the job:

“And he came before me, saying, Behold I, send me, I will be thy Son, and I will redeem all mankind, that one soul shall not be lost, and surely I will do it; wherefore, give me thine honor.

But behold, my beloved Son, which was my beloved and chosen from the beginning, said unto me: Father, thy will be done, and the glory be thine forever. Wherefore, because that Satan rebelled against me, and sought to destroy the agency of man, which I, the Lord God, had given him; and also that I should give unto him mine own power; by the power of mine Only Begotten I caused that he should be cast down; and he became Satan.” (Genesis 3:2-4)

How many people search their entire lives for the meaning of life? How many study the minds of great philosophers just in hopes to attain some bit of understanding for why we were put on this earth? God wants us to know the meaning of life, and he created a way for us to find it if we will but have the desire to find it. Solomon’s wisdom did not come from a philosophical text or a college classroom or a self-help talk show. Solomon obtained his wisdom by the words of his Creator. Those same words are available to all, and they have been available (to those who seek them out) since the beginning of time.

To recap, we know that to have had a creation of free men, God had to give us knowledge. But to give us knowledge meant that we would make poor choices and suffer as a consequence. The price of our death was paid by the Creator. By his law we die, and by his law we will be made alive again. God, himself, atoned for us, but that is not the end of the story. It remains up to us to be worthy of his atonement. After all, it is we who broke the law to begin with, and it is we who continue to break the law. The gift of atonement is valid only under the condition of repentance.

Consider it in the earthly sense. If we commit a crime, we go to jail. If bail is paid on our behalf, we get out of jail but that doesn’t mean we’re forgiven – we still have to go to trial. If the judge is merciful, we may receive probationary privileges. Understanding these earthly laws can help us understand our Creator’s spiritual laws. Jesus said:

“If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe if I tell you heavenly things?” (John 3:12)

The matter of posting bail, being put on trial, and being released on probation are all interwoven in the story of the Creation. God himself posted bail for us and as a result, we are free. However, we are also on trial for our faith (1 Peter 1:7, Ether 5:7). Yet because we are guilty of breaking the law – not just Adam, but all have sinned and fall short of God’s glory – we are all under a probationary period in this life.

According to web definitions, probation is a way of dealing with offenders without imprisoning them, under conditions of good behavior. Probation is part of the sentencing process, yet it is also the suspension of a prison sentence. Webster’s 1828 dictionary defines the word probation as a moral trial; the state of man in the present life, in which he has the opportunity of proving his character and being qualified for a happier state. The prophets couldn’t have chosen a better word to describe our circumstances in the flesh:

“For the day should come that they must be judged of their works, yea, even the works which were done by the temporal body in their days of probation” (1 Nephi 4:52).

It is we who break the law, so it is we who must recognize our crimes and repent of them. We are being proved in this life. If we waste this probationary privilege, we will undergo not only a prison sentence between death and the resurrection, but also a final sentencing or punishment in the resurrection, one which will eternally pale the trials in this life by comparison. Alma chapter 19 offers a preview of the prison sentence:

“And these shall be cast out into outer darkness; there shall be weeping, and wailing and gnashing of teeth; and this because of their own iniquity; being led captive by the will of the devil. Now this is the state of the souls of the wicked; yea, in darkness, and a state of awful, fearful, looking for, of the fiery indignation of the wrath of God upon them; thus they remain in this state, as well as the righteous in paradise, until the time of their resurrection.” (Alma 19:46-47)

The book of Revelation offers a preview of the final sentencing, and so does Section 18:

“…I command you to repent--repent, lest I smite you by the rod of my mouth, and by my wrath, and by my anger, and your sufferings be sore--how sore you know not! how exquisite you know not! yea, how hard to bear you know not! For, behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer, if they would repent; but if they would not repent, they must suffer even as I” (Section 18:2).

Our bail has been paid but we are still on trial. Probation is a gift. The opportunity to repent is a gift. The prophets understood all of these things and much more. Little wonder they cried without fear of death to REPENT! REPENT! Little wonder the saints of the early restoration were commanded to “preach nothing but repentance.” What does repentance mean by Webster’s definition? It means sorrow for anything done or said, any pain or grief which a person experiences in consequence of injury produced by his conduct. Repentance, therefore, is not a one-time affair. There is no such thing as “once saved always saved” as most Protestant churches teach. That’s like saying to a criminal fresh on probation, “no matter what, you will never go to jail.” Our law would never stand for that and neither does God’s law. If a released prisoner on probation shows no remorse and continues to break the law, that prisoner goes back to jail. And if it works that way in the earthly realm, how much more does it work in the heavenly?

Real penitence is deep remorse for sin. Real penitence involves a change of mind and heart which includes a change in what we desire. Worldly things are not heavenly things, or as Jesus taught it, “we cannot serve both God and the world” – we have to make a choice. This day of our probation affords us the opportunity to subordinate our flesh and elevate our souls.

The laws of nature force us to both choose and serve. We choose to serve good or we choose to serve evil. Either way, we are servants to consequences. If we choose to serve God, we will find freedom (life). If we choose to serve the world, we will find bondage (death). The question comes down to our comprehension of freedom, and our definitions of good versus evil. To be servants of God’s law makes us free men. To be servants of the world makes us slaves, first spiritually, then inevitably temporally.

When our lives are finished, if we have wasted or abused this day of our probation, there will be no “second Redeemer,” but rather, there will be judgment. God gives us a very long time in this probationary state to make our necessary amends; to seek changes in our hearts. If a life time isn’t long enough for us to choose the way of freedom, then what more can the Lord do, besides violate his own law, which he cannot do, because his law is perfect and he is perfect.

What about those who have no knowledge of God’s law? What about innocent children who die before they are morally accountable? The beauty of God’s perfect law is that it is not only a just law, it is merciful also, which mercy came by means of the atonement itself.

“And now the plan of mercy could not be brought about, except an atonement should be made; therefore God himself atoneth for the sins of the world, to bring about the plan of mercy, to appease the demands of justice, that God might be a perfect, just God, and a merciful God also” (Alma 19:97).

God’s mercy atones for those devoid of knowledge in the day of their probation. But woe unto those who have received his law (and by the law is the knowledge of sin, Romans 3:20) who then procrastinate the day of their probation in the flesh. Although they too will be restored, their restoration will be requisite with God’s justice:

“He hath given unto you that ye might know good from evil, and he hath given unto you that ye might choose life or death, and ye can do good and be restored unto that which is good, or have that which is good restored unto you; or ye can do evil, and have that which is evil restored unto you” (Helaman 5:86).

What is the meaning of life? We are bodies and souls of knowledge and experience, free to choose the law we so desire to serve. If we desire the law of good, we will be restored to that which is good. If we desire the law of evil, we will be restored to that which is evil. Many are there who think they choose “good” when in fact they choose “evil” (see my paper on Love). Some simply lack understanding. Some have been deceived. And still others are willfully ignorant and choose to remain so. The good news is that those who do recognize God’s perfect law and choose to abide by it will one day be restored to the Garden, where a cherubim and flaming sword will no longer keep them from the tree of life.

“Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city” (Revelation 22:14).

In the garden, Eve “ate” the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. What does it mean to “eat?” Temporally, it means to ingest food and drink. What about spiritually?

“This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die”

“But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs. And she said, Truth, Lord; yet the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the master's table” (Matthew 15:25-26).

“Hearken diligently unto me, and remember the words which I have spoken; and come unto the Holy One of Israel, And feast upon that which perisheth not, neither can be corrupted, and let your soul delight in fatness” (2 Nephi 6:101-102).

“And now behold, after ye have tasted this light, is your knowledge perfect?” (Alma 16:163)

How does one eat Jesus’ crumbs, or feast on words, or taste light? Did Eve literally pluck a piece of fruit from a fruit tree, or did she digest actual knowledge of good and evil, something she was clearly forbidden to do?

“And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die; for God doth know, that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it became pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make her wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat; and gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they had been naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons” (Genesis 3:10-12).

Genesis 6:66 (Inspired Version) tells us that all things are both temporal and spiritual. Temporal trees were made for man’s use and are good for food, but what about spiritual trees? In the parables of the vineyard, men and women are spiritual trees who produce fruit and are good for food (ye shall know them by their fruits: Matthew 7:25).

It pleased the Lord of the Vineyard to use trees, fruit, and all that is related to planting a GARDEN as allegories for his creation. Trees are particularly interesting. In Exodus 15, the Lord showed Moses a tree, which when he cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet. In Deuteronomy 20, the Lord commanded the children of Israel to destroy all the trees that contained no meat. In Leviticus 19, the Lord told Israel to plant all manner of trees for food, but to count the fruit of them as “uncircumcised” for three years. In Judges 9, a group of trees went forth to anoint a king over them – the olive and fig tree and even the vine refused, but the bramble tree replied “put your trust in my shadow.”

According to the Psalmist, those who love the law are like a tree planted by rivers. Those who trust in the Lord are like a tree by waters according to Jeremiah 17 and in Job 14 we learn that there is hope for trees that are pruned.

In Isaiah 36 the Assyrian entices the children of Israel to “eat everyone of his vine and everyone of his fig tree,” and in Isaiah 55 the trees in the field clap their hands. In Isaiah 56 the eunuch is told not to say that he is a dry tree. And what will beautify the Lord’s sanctuary according to Isaiah in chapter 60? Trees of course; the fir, the pine, and the box together.

Jeremiah used a tree parable to identify the murderers of Jesus Christ when he wrote, “let us destroy the tree with the fruit thereof.” Speaking to his murderers, Jesus revealed the mystery of Jeremiah’s words in Matthew 21 as he relayed the parable of the householder and the vineyard.

The entire chapter of Ezekiel 17 is a parable about trees. The entire chapters of Ezekiel 28 and 31 are parables of the Assyrian who was a tree in the Garden of Eden. In Daniel 4, King Nebuchadnezzar had a vision of a tree that sounded a lot like the same Assyrian.

The prophet Hosea told the children of Israel that they will dwell under the shadow of the tree in Lebanon, and then went on to say “who is wise that he shall understand these things, prudent that he shall know them?” Hosea asked good questions. Do we understand these things?

In Joel 1 the Lord described a dried-up vine as well as many withered trees. This depressing scenario, according to Joel, just precedes the Day of the Lord (hint: he was speaking of our day).

Jesus said that the axe is laid at the root of every tree and also that all trees are known by their fruits. He also taught the parable of the grain of mustard seed which is the least of all seeds, yet when grown is the greatest among herbs, becoming a tree so that birds can lodge in its branches.

Jesus warned the Gentiles in Luke 23 that “if these things are done in the green tree, what shall be done in the dry tree?” He similarly warned the Gentiles in Romans 11 when he reminded them not to boast against the branches, for they didn’t bear the root, but the root bore them (obviously speaking to the Gentile Christian population).

Lehi had that incredible vision of a tree in 1 Nephi 2 and Nephi saw it also in 1 Nephi 3. In Isaiah 6 and 2 Nephi 9 we learn of a “tenth” who will return and be eaten as a teil tree (the holy seed being their substance).

Jesus, himself, was hanged on a tree. Judas hung his own self from a tree. The sixth seal of Revelation speaks of how the stars of heaven will fall like a fig tree that casts her “untimely” figs. Why are the figs untimely? And of course there is the tree of life in Genesis which is mirrored in Revelation 2. In the Garden, the tree of life was off-limits. In the resurrection, the overcomers will eat freely of it.

Considering that there is an “opposition in all things,” and that all things are both temporal and spiritual, is it any wonder those pesky global environmentalists are tree-huggers? J When I used to have those fabulous hour-plus long conversations with Brother Bill Davies, he used to share his testimonies. I now wish I had recorded the one where he described an experience in the forests of Washington. He said that the trees spoke to him. I’m not sure how many others he shared that with, as he was afraid people wouldn’t believe him, or would think he was crazy. Not me. I believed him then, and with knowledge much increased, I have even more reason to believe him now. Without a doubt, all things are both temporal and spiritual. The tree huggers aren’t all that far from the truth after all.

Nowhere in scripture is the tree of life so well defined as it is in Lehi’s vision with its precious fruit that was most sweet above all he had ever tasted (1 Nephi 2). Lehi described it as a fruit to be most desired, that exceeded all the whiteness he had ever seen. Eating that fruit filled his soul with “exceeding great joy” and he wanted all of his family to taste it. From 1 Nephi chapter 3 we learn that the fruit Lehi tasted was the fruit from the tree of life.

Lehi’s son, Nephi, also saw a vision of the tree of life and its fruit. But in neither vision was the fruit defined. It was described most vividly (sweetest, exceeded all whiteness, most desired, etc), but not defined. Other allegories in the vision were defined:

The large and spacious building was the vain imaginations and pride of the world.

But what about the fruit? Why wasn’t it defined? Why was it only described? What might that fruit be that exceeds all whiteness and is the sweetest of all fruits, and that fills our souls with exceeding great joy?

“Now if ye give place, that a seed may be planted in your heart, behold, if it be a true seed, or a good seed, if ye do not cast it out by your unbelief, that ye will resist the Spirit of the Lord, behold, it will begin to swell within your breasts; And when you feel those swelling motions, ye will begin to say within yourselves, It must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding; yea, and it beginneth to be delicious to me. Now behold, would not this increase your faith? I say unto you, Yea; nevertheless it hath not grown up to a perfect knowledge. But behold, as the seed swelleth, and sprouteth, and beginneth to grow, then ye must needs say, that the seed is good; for behold it swelleth, and sprouteth, and beginneth to grow. And now behold, will not this strengthen your faith? Yea, it will strengthen your faith, for ye will say, I know that this is a good seed, for behold, it sprouteth and beginneth to grow. And now behold, are ye sure that this is a good seed? I say unto you, Yea; for every seed bringeth forth unto its own likeness; therefore, if a seed groweth, it is good, but if it groweth not, behold, it is not good; therefore it is cast away. And now, behold, because ye have tried the experiment, and planted the seed, and it swelleth, and sprouteth, and beginneth to grow, ye must needs know that the seed is good. And now behold, is your knowledge perfect? Yea, your knowledge is perfect in that thing, and your faith is dormant; And this because you know; for ye know that the word hath swelled your souls, and ye also know that it hath sprouted up, that your understanding doth begin to be enlightened, and your mind doth begin to expand. O then, is not this real? I say unto you, Yea; because it is light; and whatsoever is light, is good, because it is discernible; therefore ye must know that it is good. And now behold, after ye have tasted this light, is your knowledge perfect? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; neither must ye lay aside your faith, for ye have only exercised your faith to plant the seed, that ye might try the experiment, to know if the seed was good. And behold, as the tree beginneth to grow, ye will say, let us nourish it with great care, that it may get root, that it may grow up and bring forth fruit unto us. And now behold, if ye nourish it with much care, it will get root, and grow up, and bring forth fruit. But if ye neglect the tree, and take no thought for its nourishment, behold, it will not get any root; and when the heat of the sun cometh and scorcheth it, because it hath no root, it withers away, and ye pluck it up and cast it out. Now this is not because the seed was not good, neither is it because the fruit thereof would not be desirable. But it is because your ground is barren, and ye will not nourish the tree; therefore ye can not have the fruit thereof. And thus it is if ye will not nourish the word, looking forward with an eye of faith to the fruit thereof, ye can never pluck of the fruit of the tree of life. But if ye will nourish the word, yea, nourish the tree as it beginneth to grow, by your faith with great diligence, and with patience, looking forward to the fruit thereof, it shall take root; and behold, it shall be a tree springing up unto everlasting life; And because of your diligence, and your faith, and your patience with the word, in nourishing it, that it may take root in you, behold, by and by, ye shall pluck the fruit thereof, which is most precious, which is sweet above all that is sweet, and which is white above all that is white; yea, and pure above all that is pure; And ye shall feast upon this fruit, even until ye are filled, that ye hunger not, neither shall ye thirst.” (Alma 16:153-172)

What is the fruit? The fruit is something that comes from planting and nourishing seeds so that our “tree” can grow. Alma called the process “exercising faith.” The seed is an IDEA, something new we have never before considered. Planting and nourishing the seed requires SEEKING KNOWLEDGE to determine whether the idea is right or wrong. It takes FAITH in the idea even to plant the seed, let alone to nourish it. The more we SEEK to know if the idea is right or wrong, the more stimulated we will be if the idea proves itself to be a good one. The question left to be asked is, “How do we seek?” Alma answered that question in verse 169 by saying, “if you will nourish the word…”.

What is more satisfying than feasting on Christ’s words? “Delicious” only begins to describe it. The words of God exceed all whiteness being the sweetest of all fruits, filling our souls with great joy. It is only from this fruit that we can increase our faith. There is no shortage of deceivers who would have us believe that we can achieve “great faith” by means apart from the word of God, but there is no other means. The fruit that not only makes us full, but is most satisfying and desired above all other fruit, is that of knowledge which is obtained by nourishing the word. Faith is the beginning of knowledge. It is the exercising of faith that produces knowledge. Once again, the spiritual is in perfect harmony with the temporal, for this matter of exercising faith describes the scientific method. All great discoveries begin with a simple idea. It is exercising faith in that idea (experimentation) that produces knowledge.

What kinds of things has knowledge produced in the earthly sense? Knowledge has produced electricity, automobiles, even airplanes that fly half way around the world in just a few hours. Knowledge has produced instant means of communication via telephones and computers. Knowledge has produced surgeons who can repair hearts, lungs, kidneys and brains. All of these are but a few of many rewards that started with a simple idea; a simple act of faith to try the experiment; a seed that was planted that sprouted into a tree of knowledge, the fruits of which we really can’t imagine having to live without. These are earthly rewards of knowledge. Can we fathom heavenly rewards?

“For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, besides thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him” (Isaiah 64:4).

Today is a day of probation; a day of exercising faith and tasting the fruits of that faith. Tomorrow when Christ returns, the fruits of our faith will deliciously proceed to manifest into a wholesome knowledge; a spiritual restoration.

“Verily I say unto you, Blessed are those servants, whom the Lord when he cometh shall find watching; for he shall gird himself, and make them sit down to meat (doctrine), and will come forth and serve (teach) them” (Luke 12:40).

“And there was no inequality among them, for the Lord did pour out his Spirit on all the face of the land, to prepare the minds of the children of men, or to prepare their hearts to receive the word which should be taught among them at the time of his coming, That they might not be hardened against the word, that they might not be unbelieving, and go on to destruction.”

Would it be too presumptuous to suggest that Jesus Christ was that tree of life in the garden, and that his fruits are the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6)? Nephi said that the tree he saw was a representation of the love of God (1 Nephi 3:69), and according to Paul, the love of God is Jesus Christ (Romans 8:39).

Would it also be too presumptuous to suggest that Lucifer was the tree of knowledge of good and evil? There were many trees in Garden, but only two are well defined. Both produced knowledge, but only one produced truth, the perfect law, and life itself. The other produced death, for it was the tree of good and evil – a blending of truth and lies? Isn’t that how Satan works to this very day?

Many in the world have eaten and are eating from the bitter tree of knowledge. Their knowledge has enabled them to control the world, but in the end for them is death. What a mystery, and one which may explain why the word “fruit” in scripture is so often cloaked in parables.

“Even the forbidden fruit in opposition to the tree of life; the one being sweet and the other bitter” (2 Nephi 1:98)

How can we comprehend the Vineyard’s restoration if we can’t comprehend the origins of the Vineyard?

The restoration of all things was so important to the Lord that all of his prophets preached it. Why aren’t today’s prophets preaching it too? Instead of hearing about the restoration, what do we hear? We hear about being Left Behind. We hear about “our purpose.” A best seller called The Purpose Driven Life has driven hundreds of thousands of Christians into a frenzy trying to find their “purpose.” Yet the Vineyard is not about our purpose. It is about the Lord’s purpose.

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).

As usual, the world would have us looking in the opposite direction to the truth; believing that the mysteries of life are all about our purpose, when in reality, it is all about the Lord’s purpose for us. Scripture defines many of the Lord’s purposes, but there is one purpose in particular that God has purposed upon the whole earth.

“I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him underfoot, then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders.” (Isaiah 14:25-26).

Who is the Assyrian? For starters, he is the one orchestrating a world government. The Assyrian is the one who said:

“ By the strength of my hand, and by my wisdom I have done these things; for I am prudent, and I have moved the borders of the people, and have robbed their treasures, and I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant man. And my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the people; and as one gathereth eggs that are left, have I gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped” (Isaiah 10:13-14).

It is by the Assyrian’s wisdom and prudence that our borders are being moved (free trade), our treasures are being robbed (central banking system) and our inhabitants are being put down (wars). It is the Assyrian who seeks to diminish nationhood, and he is accomplishing it without a struggle, for who can war against him? Like Isaiah wrote, no one has moved the wing, opened the mouth, or peeped.

“Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with fair branches, and with a shadowing shroud, and of a high stature; and his top was among the thick boughs. The waters made him great, the deep set him up on high with her rivers running round about his plants, and sent out her little rivers unto all the trees of the field. Therefore his height was exalted above all the trees of the field, and his boughs were multiplied, and his branches became long because of the multitude of waters, when he shot forth. All the fowls of heaven made their nests in his boughs, and under his branches did all the beasts of the field bring forth their young, and under his shadow dwelt all great nations. Thus was he fair in his greatness, in the length of his branches; for his root was by great waters. The cedars in the garden of God could not hide him; the fir trees were not like his boughs, and the chestnut trees were not like his branches; not any tree in the garden of God was like unto him in his beauty. I have made him fair by the multitude of his branches; so that all the trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God, envied him.” (Ezekiel 31:3-9)

So not only is the Assyrian wise and prudent, the Assyrian was a cedar (a great tree) in

Lebanon

who was so big and so exalted and so beautiful that all of the other trees in the Garden of Eden envied him. This “tree” even housed the beasts of the field and all great nations under his shadow. This description is amazingly similar to the tree King Nebuchadnezzar saw in his vision:

“The tree that thou sawest, which grew, and was strong, whose height reached unto the heaven, and the sight thereof to all the earth; Whose leaves were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all; under which the beasts of the field dwelt, and upon whose branches the fowls of the heaven had their habitation; It is thou, O king, that art grown and become strong; for thy greatness is grown, and reacheth unto heaven, and thy dominion to the end of the earth.” (Daniel 4:19-22)

“And it shall come to pass in that day that thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased! The Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked and the scepters of the rulers. He who smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke, he that ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted, and none hindereth. The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet; they break forth into singing. Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee, and also the cedars of Lebanon, saying, Since thou art laid down, no feller is come up against us. Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming; it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations. All they shall speak and say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we? art thou become like unto us? Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols; the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee. How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and shall consider thee, and shall say, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms; And made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; and opened not the house of his prisoners? All the kings of the nations, yea all of them, lie in glory, every one of them in his own house. But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and the remnant of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a carcass trodden under feet. Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land, and slain thy people; the seed of evildoers shall never be renowned. Prepare slaughter for his children for the iniquities of their fathers; that they do not rise, nor possess the land, nor fill the face of the world with cities. For I will rise up against them, saith the Lord of hosts, and cut off from Babylon the name, and remnant, and son, and nephew, saith the Lord. I will also make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of water; and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith the Lord of hosts. The Lord of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand; I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him underfoot, then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders. This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth; and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations. (Isaiah 14:4-26; 2 Nephi 10:26-48).

It is the Lord’s purpose to break the Assyrian in his land (on earth!), and remove his yoke from the righteous. That’s right, the same Assyrian who was the most desired of all trees, the King of Babylon, whose wisdom had become corrupt because of his brightness.

“Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness; I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee” (Ezekiel 28:17).

This tree is going to be cut down. Notice the timeframe in Isaiah’s prophecy. “The golden city ceased.” This is a prophecy about the fall of Babylon, an event that comes five trumpets after the Lord has returned. In other words, this is a prophecy about the restoration of all things.

What is God’s purpose? God intends to break that being he created in the Garden, that being who rebelled against God’s only begotten son, and that being whose branches were exalted, sheltering all great nations. That which is purposed upon the whole earth will begin with the restoration of all things.

Could the following mandate have anything to do with how God will accomplish his purpose?

“And I, God, said, Let them have dominion over the fishes of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. And I, God, created man in mine own image, in the image of mine Only Begotten created I him; male and female created I them. And I, God, blessed them and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth” (Genesis 1:28-30).

Knowing that the kingdoms of this world would be in the hands of the Assyrian, why did God give man the commandment to “have dominion” and “subdue the earth?”

Subdue: a militant term which means to conquer, to crush, to subjugate or take by force.

“And I, the Lord God, said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou shalt be cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life; And I will put enmity between thee and the woman; between thy seed and her seed; and he shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel” (Genesis 3:20-21).

What does it mean to bruise? In Webster’s 1828 dictionary, bruise is defined by two very obvious words – to CRUSH and to BREAK. God’s purpose is to BREAK the Assyrian in his land. Have we bruised Satan’s head (his authority) or is he still bruising our heel? (“Heel” in Hebrew means to circumvent and the word “circumvent” means to gain advantage over another by stratagem or deception.) Are we doing the bruising or is the Assyrian still bruising us? Obviously, he is still bruising us. But there will be a restitution.

“Behold, it is written before me; I will not keep silence, but will recompense, even recompense into their bosom, Your iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers together, saith the Lord, which have burned incense upon the mountains, and blasphemed me upon the hills; therefore will I measure their former work into their bosom.” (Isaiah 65:6-7)

The overcomers are they who will eat of the tree of life in the midst of paradise (Rev 2:7).

The overcomers are they who loved not their own lives, but kept their testimony even unto

The overcomers are they who keep his commandments to the end who will have power over

What about those ten-thousand who will come with the Lord to execute judgment and convince the ungodly of their ungodly deeds? (Jude 14-15)

What about the 144,000 with the mark of God on their foreheads who are redeemed from the earth? (Revelation 7)

What about the strength of the Lord’s house, his warriors, his young men and middle-aged also, who will gather together for the redemption of his people and throw down the towers of his enemies? (Section 102:5)

What about those armies of heaven who ride with the Lord on white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean? (Revelation 19) And why was Joseph Smith, Jr. given a revelation that we must wait until the Lord’s army of Israel became very great? (Section 102:8)

What about the man-child (the Kingdom meaning “the people”) who will rule all nations? (Revelation 12)

Our directive was to have dominion and subdue, so guess what? If we are faithful, it is we who will break the Assyrian. Daniel said:

“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 forever” (Daniel 2:44).

“But the saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever” (Daniel 7:18).

“The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble; the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining; And the Lord shall utter his voice before his army; for his camp is very great, for he is strong that executeth his word; for the day of the Lord is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?” (Joel 2:10-11).

“The portion of Jacob is not like them; for he is the former of all things; and Israel is the rod of his inheritance; the Lord of hosts is his name. Thou [Israel] art my battle axe and weapons of war; for with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms” (Jeremiah 51:19-20).

The same mandate preached by all the prophets was also preached by Joseph Smith, Jr.:

“Wherefore, I have called upon the weak things of the world, those who are unlearned and despised, to thresh the nations by the power of my Spirit; and their arm shall be my arm, and I will be their shield and their buckler, and I will gird up their loins, and they shall fight manfully for me; and their enemies shall be under their feet; and I will let fall the sword in their behalf; and by the fire of mine indignation will I preserve them. And the poor and the meek shall have the gospel preached unto them, and they shall be looking forth for the time of my coming, for it is nigh at hand.” (Section 34:4a-d)

No counterfeit endowment will compare to this endowment, and woe to those who stand in the way of God’s army in that day. It will be a time of restitution – of restoring all things back to the Garden. God’s purpose will be accomplished. Human kind will finally know its Creator. God’s perfect law will finally be both temporally and spiritually understood.

“For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater; So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth; it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace; the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.” (Isaiah 55:10-12)

This paper doesn’t scratch the surface of the Vineyard, nor of the Restoration, but I hope that by exploring a few fundamentals of the Garden that I have ignited a thirst to understand more of it.

Each subject discussed deserves at least a book be written on its behalf. Yet many books have been written already. Books galore are already available for our use and edification. No one could explain the trees, the fruits, and the seeds better than the prophets. No one could explain freedom and agency better than the prophets. Certainly no one could explain the perfect law better than the prophets. It’s all about the law!!

My purpose in writing this paper was to pull together the unchanging purpose of the Vineyard and attempt to define it with 21^st century language. I feel sorely unworthy of the task. Yet undertaking this study of well over 150 hours has been a blessing beyond words. Many times I pondered on the prayer, “on earth as it is in heaven.” For example, Nephi’s vision of the river of water was the gulf which separated the wicked from the tree of life. Was that the same river of water that the Lord caused to go out of Eden to water the Garden? Was it the same water that made the Assyrian a great cedar in Lebanon? Obviously there are great spiritual implications to those waters or that great gulf, but will that gulf become “temporal” once again in the future – waters that will temporally separate the righteous from the wicked?

“Behold, I, the Lord, in the beginning, blessed the waters, but in the last days by the mouth of my servant John, I cursed the waters; wherefore, the days will come that no flesh shall be safe upon the waters, and it shall be said in days to come, that none is able to go up to the land of Zion, upon the waters, but he that is upright in heart.” (Section 61:3)

The Assyrian is not yet broken, and like in the Garden, he also has a purpose. His purpose is to bruise our heel. The prophets were very clear that the greatest deceit of all would come at the end of this age. Are we awake and ready for it, or do we think Eden will come first, handed to us on a silver platter? In the beginning, the Assyrian knew that Enoch would build a city of righteousness, so with the Assyrian’s help, Cain built a city first (and called it “Enoch”). The Assyrian knows prophecy. He knows our weaknesses and he knows what to mimic. Beware of today’s prophets. They teach a strange restoration, not like the one our Creator has purposed.

The Lord has his hand stretched out still. He still waits for us, and asks that we wait for him (Isaiah 30:18).

“Behold, this is wisdom in me; wherefore marvel not, for the hour cometh that I will drink of the fruit of the vine with you on the earth, and with Moroni, whom I have sent unto you to reveal the Book of Mormon, containing the fullness of my everlasting gospel; to whom I have committed the keys of the record of the stick of Ephraim; and also with Elias, to whom I have committed the keys of bringing to pass the restoration of all things, or the restorer of all things spoken by the mouth of all the holy prophets since the world began, concerning the last days” (Section 26:2).

May God bless us with faith, wisdom, understanding, and also with a desire to spread the HOPE of the restoration of all things which was foretold from the beginning.

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I dedicate this paper to my friend, Lynne, who shares my fascination of the Garden. And also to my husband, Dave, who allows me all the time I need to learn and to write – my soul mate with whom I can share all things – who listens to my thoughts and actually comprehends them most of the time.