
Latter-day Saints have many scriptures that tell us about events of the latter days. We also have a large quantity of informal prophecy that has been recorded and passed down from living prophets and apostles since the early nineteenth century. Like many Christians of other faiths, LDS anons are trying to figure out how this Qanon movement fits into that prophetic schema.
For Roman Catholics, Protestants, and Evangelicals, the lack of modern prophets and their rejection of modern revelation prevents them from coming to any correct conclusions. For example, there are many Evangelicals who believe in an event they call "The Rapture," where they interpret passages about Christ raising the righteous from the graves at his coming to mean something else. They believe that the "saved" believers will be taken up off the Earth mysteriously and dwell in heaven while a seven-year period of tribulation descends on mankind.
The passage they refer to is in Luke 17. However, in that chapter, the disciples ask Jesus what he meant when he says that some will be taken and others left. He answers that question with the metaphor, "Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together." The "body" is the body of Christ. The imagery is clear, although somewhat graphic. Carrion birds gather where there is a corpse or a body. The Joseph Smith Translation of Revelation 17:37 is more clear.
"And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is gathered; or, in other words, whithersoever the saints are gathered, thither will the eagles be gathered together; or, thither will the remainder be gathered together."
In the last days, before the second coming of Christ, the "eagles" with gather with the saints (the Church, the body of Christ.) No one is going to get "beamed up." Those who survive the terrible times of the beasts of Revelation will be gathered to places of safety and refuge. That's what we call "Zion." Those who reject the invitation to join the Lord's restored Church will not find that refuge.
So where does Qanon fit into this? Space does not allow a full explanation, but I'll do my best while keeping this brief. Revelation 13 and Daniel 7 can be correlated. Those passages speak of beasts. The JST tells us that the beast in Revelation 13 is "in the likeness of the kingdoms of the earth." It is a political entity, not a monster, not a person.
Daniel says the beast has ten heads and two horns, perhaps two divisions or a sequence in its dominion. John sees two beasts. The first one has a deadly wound to the head and apparently dies. A second beast comes along to take the place of the first beast, gives honor to the first beast, and exercises all the power of that beast and more. The second beast is more powerful than the first and it makes displays of seemingly deceptive, supernatural power. Most concerning of all, the second beast is given power to make war on the saints of God for a time and to overcome them.
In the Book of Mormon, in the first chapters of Third Nephi, we read about a war that came upon the Nephites that was caused by a secret combination: a Cabal called the Gadianton robbers. I believe this is analogous to today. The events are very similar. The Nephites gathered together in unity and, by calling upon God in faith and repenting of their sins, as well as sharing their substance, they outlasted and defeated the Cabal's army of Lamanite and apostate dissidents.
However, the peace is kept for only about six years. After that time, prospertity causes class divisions, pride, and wickedness to resurface. The Lord's Spirit withdrew from the Nephites and they formed a secret combination. This secret combination destroyed the central government and assassinated the chief judge who governed it.
Here's my interpretation. I'm not claiming any special inspiration or gift of prophecy. I'm just trying to link together some events that fit the current situation. Here goes:
Q and Trump will probably succeed in throwing down the Cabal, the Deep State, and shadow government. The crimes of many will be exposed. Some of the traitors and criminals will be executed or jailed. There will be the promise of an American Renaissance. New technologies, medical cures, etc. will begin to emerge. But something is going to go wrong. Perhaps POTUS will be assassinated or he will die in office. Disunity will be renewed and it will start us down the road to corruption again.
This will not take long--it only took the Nephites six years. There will be a strong anti-Mormon and anti-Jewish element in this. Persecution of the saints and the Jews will bring down God's wrath in the form of a devastating war that lasts 13 months (a year, a month, a day, and an hour) and has nearly 200 million combatants. Revelation chapter 9 speaks of two "woes" that come upon humanity. The first is a war that lasts five months. (I think this one was the first Gulf War, the five-month war which started the series of wars that have continued in Iraq and Afganistan, Syria, Yemen, and Libya even to the present.) The second "woe" is the big thirteen-month one that kills a "third part of the men." It is not the final battle of Armageddon.
The second beast emerges from this war. It will be the completion of the New World Order. It will be ruled by the "little horn" and exercise the power of the first beast, plus demonstrate supernatural powers like calling fire out of heaven in the sight of men. This beast fights against Zion, which will have begun to gather physically because of the tribulation and the war. The scriptures say this beast will make war upon the saints of God and overcome them for a time. We know who God's saints are in the last days: those who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus. The testimony of Jesus, the angel told John, is the spirit of prophecy. How can Protestants and Catholics, whose doctrine teaches against modern prophets and prophcy, be the saints of God? The scripture refers to us, the latter-day saints.
So Q and Trump will cause the deadly wound that kills the first beast, but like the Book of Mormon, the victory will be short-lived. Wickedness and anti-Mormon hatred will cause the rise of the second beast. The second beast has dominion until Christ comes and destroys him at the battle of Armageddon.
One last tidbit of knowledge that may prove helpful. Around 1843 or so, Joseph Smith prophesied to the father of Mosiah Hancock (recorded in Hancock's autobiography) and some other men of the Church an amazing prophecy. It accurately foretold the travels of the saints to the Rocky Mountains and foreshadowed Joseph Smith's martydom. Then he segued to modern times. He said that there would be two political parties, called the Democrat and Republican. The Republican party did not exist at the time and would begin in the last years of the 1850s, ten years after Joseph's murder. Joseph said these two parties would "go to war." The civil war they would cause would divide the country and foreign countries would seek to divide up the lands of the US. The country is to be invaded and the ragtag remaining army would fight until it is almost defeated, then the latter-day saint elders will join in the fight, aiding in the ultimate victory. After that, however, the nation does not reconstitute itself. The United States will be finished. Only Zion will remain as a center of stability.
The exact order of events is not clear to me. There are many LDS prophecies that refer to the complete and utter destruction of the US government, a deadly plague, and invasions by foreigners. The thing that does see clear to me is that Q and Trump are playing a role that kills the first beast, but there will be a second beast after that one, after a brief respite. We are standing on the threshold of the civil war between Republicans and Democrats. I support Q because his success buys more time for the Church to prepare and begin establishing Zion, the place of safety for the rest of the world.
What can we do? What messages is the living prophet sending us today? Primarily his message has been to "Hear him," meaning for people to learn to hear and heed Christ's voice as it speaks to them personally. I could tell you a lot of things to do, but heeding the Lord's voice will tell you all you should do. Hang in there. Repent, pray, study scriptures, but don't put too much stock in Qanon for the long term. God wins, but it will only be after Q and Trump's plans collapse after a short peace
תגובות