Translation Please!

CityOfZionHow often have people declared to have the “fullness” of truth? How many have stood with those who have cried, “Behold, I, I am the Lord’s.” Is there a church on earth that hasn’t made the cry in one way or another?

Just recently I talked to some wonderful people about a particular movement that the readers have heard about, and one of them said “we will be the ones to build up Zion.” Hmmm… I would like to write today about something that must happen before any of us can claim a “fullness,” but first here are some great truths recently written by Denver Snuffer.

“The original Gospel taught from Adam down to Enoch has not been recovered.”

“The future of the Gospel will return us to the original body of information, covenants and ordinances which were revealed in the beginning to the first fathers…”

“We are nowhere near Zion and only a small fraction of what needs to be recovered has been given.” – Denver Snuffer

Thank you Denver and amen! In the “fullness” of times, it is promised that all of the ordinances of God, all of the keys, all of the powers, and indeed even Zion will return to the earth. We haven’t got them yet! I know how wonderful it would be if we had, and how preachers often lull people to sleep with wonderful claims and pats on the back when they speak of “a fullness.”

People just want to believe they have it all figured out. Let’s talk about one item of the priesthood that has yet to be restored…

“Now the doctrine of translation is a power which belongs to this Priesthood. There are many things which belong to the powers of the Priesthood and the Keys thereof, that have been kept hid from before the foundation of the world; they are hid from the wise and prudent, to be revealed in the last times.

“Therefore all things had under the Authority of the Priesthood at any former period shall be had again-bringing to pass the restoration spoken of by the mouth of all the Holy Prophets.” – Joseph Smith

At another time Joseph actually refers to translation as an ordinance. So when is this going to be revealed? Often I think people have the misconception that the work of translation will happen only after Zion is built up, but what if it is actually the exact opposite? What if we can only build up Zion once people are translated first?

A TYPE AND SHADOW

Adam-and-EveBefore Adam and Eve were cast out of the garden their bodies were not in this state of corruption. They were immortal. Blood did not flow through their veins, but rather the spiritual element or fluid was what gave them life. When they partook of the fruit, and lost access to the tree of life, their bodies began to decay, and death was introduced to the world.

In the tabernacle of Moses, God left us an outward map of how to return to the Garden of Eden, or bring our bodies back to the state of immortality. We have come to know someone that has achieved this as being “translated.”

To enter the tabernacle you need to enter through the east gates, symbolizing your journey back to Eden. Anything outside of the gates is “east of Eden” where Cain was exiled. As we make our journey the first stop is in the outer court of the tabernacle. This is where outward ordinances and washings are done to prepare us to enter the inner court. Sounds a little like preparatory or Aaronic priesthood.

Everyone reading this I would have to imagine has entered the outer court of the temple. We are seekers. Sometimes we get a little hung up on the outward motions, but we are all seeking the Lord. Pharisees love the outer court. They convince themselves the outer court is actually the highest degree of spirituality. They are convinced that whoever doesn’t act like them is wicked.

All people sometime in their existence will believe that outward works are what makes a person righteous. They imagine heaven to consist of the stuff they will have, instead of the glory of God that only can be experienced inwardly. As we move forward toward the garden, we must all enter the inner court at some point.

The inner court is where something has happened to the seeker, not just a bunch of outward ritualistic dead works, but a conversion, a renewal, a rebirth of some kind. In the inner court we find the lamp (menorah) with the seven flames. When someone has entered the inner court at least one of these is lit, and they will remain until all seven are aflame. Usually the beginning of the lighting of the menorah consists of what we call the baptism of fire.

tabernacle-of-mosesAlso in the inner court, we find the altar of incense. This not only represents the prayers of the saints, but it also represents our prayers being heard, and God speaking back. How a person’s perception changes immediately after the Lord speaks to them by power for the first time!

Nothing will ever be the same for them. This incense also represents the presence of the Lord, and us tasting of His presence within us. Here is a prophecy that uses some imagery from the altar of incense about our time from the book of Revelations.

And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake. Rev 8:5

This actually symbolizes the glory and presence of the Lord being quickly thrown across the whole earth. Things are going to change quickly! I would highly recommend studying the Ketoret (or qetoret) to learn deeper meaning and significance of incense. This is something else that will return to the earth in the last days.

Last we find the showbread in the inner court. The table would have twelve loaves of bread, which symbolized the twelve tribes. It is not until the inner vessel begins the process of sanctification, that we can make claim to any blessings of Israel.

Pharisees often boasted of their Israelite blood, and yet Jesus called them whited sepulchers. This also gives a lot more meaning to John chapter six, and the claim from Jesus that He was the “Bread of life.”

ENTERING THE HOLY OF HOLIES

offering-in-templeFinally as we progress we come to the Holy of Holies. This is all about translation! What do we see immediately upon entering? Cherubim are guarding the contents of the ark. These represent two very real people, but more importantly for each of us they represent the Cherubim guarding the tree of life. Finally we have been sanctified and can partake of the fruit once again!

Of course the Holy of Holies is also where we can see Jesus face to face. Not only can we see Him, but we can see Him in all His glory because we have been sanctified, spirit and body. His name and glory can be placed upon us, because it has grown within us! We outwardly reach the Holy of Holies only when we have reached it inwardly first.

So what are the contents of the ark? First the jar of manna is found, symbolizing the change of the person’s body, and the new food that will be consumed. Manna in the Bible was called the “angels food.” It is the food that was brought by the angel and allowed Elijah to fast for 40 days. It is the food the disciples “knew not of.”

We see the ignorance of the Israelites, who were given manna from heaven, and they pretty much said “we don’t want it, the taste is kind of getting old.” Such action perfectly symbolizes their refusal to go up the mountain with Moses to enter the Lord’s presence for themselves, to enter His rest. They wanted someone else to do it for them.

tree-of-lifeNext we find the rod of Aaron. Some legends suggest that the rod of Aaron literally was from the tree of life. Either way the Lord showed us the symbolism when the seemingly dead piece of wood miraculously bloomed in front of Israel. The tree of life, although seemingly forgotten and lost, will bloom once again in the coming days, and one person at a time will enjoy the fruit.

Last we find the tablets of stone, the very same that were brought down the mountain by Moses, containing the law. What is their significance? The Lord tells us plainly in Jer 31:31-34

Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:

Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord:

But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.

And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

When the Lord puts the law on our inward parts, this means much more than just a spiritual witness of doctrine, this is the Lord changing our body, fusing the light of God into the very elements, and bringing us back to the state of Adam and Eve before the fall.

Death will flee, disease will be no more, the Fulness of Truth will be given, and all enemies will be put under our feet through the atonement of Christ.

new-jerusalem1Prophecies exist of the New Jerusalem, the city of Zion, that claim only the sanctified will be able to enter. The wicked that approach will fear and tremble because the glory and light of Zion will be too much for them to bear. Unless our bodies are sanctified, there will be no Zion.

If we are not seeking translation, we are not seeking Zion. The same pattern we find with the people of Enoch must happen again on a global scale. Even now the Lord is preparing His people.

There are thousands upon thousands who identify as Christians, Protestants, Jews, Hindus, New-Agers, Buddhists, Muslims, and dare I say even atheists, who are being prepared by the Lord for the building up of Zion.

The Lord knows His sheep. He is calling after them, they must turn their heads and listen.

God bless

17 thoughts on “Translation Please!”

  1. StillStruggling

    Thank you Nate. This is a very difficult concept for people to understand. I find so many are simply depending on their works to save them. They feel their outward actions are not only enough but truly think that outward actions is all that is required. Somehow they are convinced that if they are performing good deeds that the inner vessel is also clean. Performing good works is a great start but we must take the next step and consider the inner vessel. We must consider the heart. We must seek for charity the pure love of Christ. I am finding that this process takes much effort and a lot of time. I would suggest that anyone serious about coming unto Christ should begin this process immediately if they haven’t done so already. We must all go to Father in the depths of humility and ask Him what we need to do. He will help you. If you are willing to listen He will revel to you things that you must personally do. You must then be courageous and at least try to do whatever it is He reveled to you. Kind of like nourishing the seed that Alma spoke of. If you can then the feeling of the swelling within will begin and you will know that the seed is good and desirable. Many already believe that they have planted this seed in their lives long ago when in reality it still needs to be done. Thanks again for your post. Good stuff to ponder.

  2. Hi MoO – I have done a lot of study on how the tabernacle of Moses represents the steps of spiritual development and I have come to an understanding similar to yours. It seems to me that 2 Nephi 31 and 32 and the Beatitudes line up with the layout of the abernacle of Moses. I have a blog with a few posts where I comment on that layout. Here are the links to some posts that comment on the layout:

    http://priesthooddoctrine.blogspot.com/2015/02/the-way-of-eternal-life.html
    http://priesthooddoctrine.blogspot.com/2015/02/the-beatitudes-and-way.html
    http://priesthooddoctrine.blogspot.com/2015/02/faith-and-priesthood_24.html
    http://priesthooddoctrine.blogspot.com/2015/02/the-middle-of-way-baptism-of-fire-and.html
    http://priesthooddoctrine.blogspot.com/2015/03/the-place-of-sacrament-in-way-to.html

  3. Jh.

    Thank you for sharing your articles I read a couple and intend to read the rest. I love the correlation with 2 Nephi 31-32.
    It is so beautiful to see how everything relates.

    Still struggling,

    Great points I agree completely. Sometimes I think people seek to want to know the truth of everything, and a religion sets up a full set of doctrines and people want to know if everything in that religion is true, or not, and that hinders them from getting an answer. If you haven’t had the baptism of fire, my suggestion is set everything aside, and pray to God in complete honesty and be frank. Say something like “God, if there is a God that is out there, I want to know first and foremost if you are real, if you will speak to me in a way that I can’t possibly ignore, with a real revelation, I will do what you tell me.”
    Set aside everything about prophets (people) and doctrines. First and foremost admit you don’t know anything, and tell God you are willing to set every human and religion aside. I mean Joseph Smith from his account suggested he was willing to give the finger to everyone on earth if God would just tell him the truth. This is a pattern for us. We must get to the point where we would be willing for God to show us that everyone on earth is wrong, and follow God by ourselves. His voice is that powerful that men’s testimonies and supposed witnesses are like the yapping of dogs when you have God’s own word on the subject. Above all else though, seek Charity. We can only fully receive the pure love of Christ in us if we put ourselves aside to make room.

  4. Minority of One,

    Delicious stuff!

    John Pontius had some things to say about translation. It seemed to be one of his major focus points in a few of his books. Have you read any of his books?

    A question I have for you is: did you mostly gather this information from the scriptures, or the scriptures and other books? Either way it’s great stuff. I am asking because it (old testament tabernacle symbolism) is something I have been wanting to study for a while now. Any recommendations?

    Thanks!

    1. Sorry the first stuff I have read besides the scriptures were from j Hutchings blog which I read this morning from his links. So if you find anything really good let me know!
      I did study the ketoret online just in different online articles which was pretty fascinating and worth the time. The Old Testament takes more mental exertion than other books but I find there are so many cool teachings that it is worth the study and struggle.
      I read the visions of glory. The spirit bore witness page after page up until about right where the earthquake happens, then I feel like there was a lot of story and private views put in that were not all accurate but there were some great nuggets. I also have a witness that at least part of the lost tribes are in the “nethermost part of the vineyard” as Jacob 5 describes it:) most people do not ever think to look up what the word “nethermost” means. I have received a witness of the portals he mentioned, and a few other little snippets. I don’t agree that the change to a translated state will happen exactly how he described but I did find the book a good read! Definitely a quake coming in salt lake! I haven’t read any of his other books. Thanks for the comment.

    2. Hi Jeff –

      This is Joe who lives close to you in Columbus. I forgot to put my first name on my post above. If you happen to look at my blog you will see some stuff about the symbolism of the layout of the tabernacle of Moses. Everything I know about it I learned on my own, so it’s just one guy’s observation. I’ve been thinking it’s about time we actually got together. Maybe we can draw pictures of the tabernacle 🙂

      Joe

      1. That was a good article. It still bothers me though that in all of the Christian articles they talk about how the blood sacrifices represent Jesus, and yet they always fail to mention that God commanded the Israelites to sacrifice female animals at times.
        This doesn’t fit the typical Christian agenda so they just ignore it and it does the world a disservice. Most Mormons have no idea they sacrificed female animals.

  5. StillStruggling

    Thank you for your suggestion Nate. I am seriously going to prepare myself and do as you proposed and ask those questions and commit myself to God – Commit myself to truth, no matter what it is. I get weary of the philosophies of men and ideologies of this world. Things that will not have mattered in the end. Sometimes I fear I have wasted much time in this mortal period and it is time to truly commit myself to God and His precepts and to NOTHING else; to follow whatever it is that He directs, irregardless of the many, many other voices and opinions around us.

  6. “The Old Testament takes more mental exertion than other books but I find there are so many cool teachings that it is worth the study and struggle.”

    so so so true.

    fun fact:

    3 of the 4 most important events in the history of the world are found in the first 10 books of genesis and we basically happily say “oh i guess thats all there is to that” and barely read them.

    i say as someone who ha studied extensively the creation and noahs flood, there is A LOT more than you think hidden in plain sight actually. but it did require a lot of mental exertion.

    1. Adam

      I would love to hear more about what you have learned about the flood, which is something so many cultures teach about.
      What is your understanding of the “hidden springs?”

  7. i can’t get into it right as Im pressed for time, but I will quickly ask

    what do you mean hidden springs? maybe ive heard of it but its called something else or maybe im unaware of it all together.

    whats your email? or even still email AdamAHutto@gmail.com

    i can send you something i wrote on it a while back(too long for comments and im too lazy to rewrite it all), its a bit of a rough draft, but it more or less outlines the plot of the flood.

    i will just briefly say you cannot under any circumstances understand the flood, and why it even occurred, without first grasping the creation story. the two are tied together.

  8. i warn you now….it will literally challenge everything you think you know about God, the creation, the flood, the end days, and the GodHead and even everything you think you know about Satan.

  9. Nate,

    Thank you for the effort way from the family to put this together to search deeply the things of the Lord. My favorite say in from Mother Teresa, “When I see a homeless beggar, I see the image of Christ just covered by a disfigured body. Our inward parts are so ready for change. It is full time. We create the invisible images or elementals that surround us. We like to blame our faults, our actions and results on other things, people, devils, but we create all that we have in front of us. Our thoughts create and will create for us Zion in the future, because Zion, Law of Consecration is the “fulness”. There is no fulness without it. The misnomer of the Book of Mormon being the fulness is correct only so much as we have the blueprint given by the Savior when he visited the people in the meridian of time.

    That portion is “not” in the Book of Mormon. It is curious that it isn’t. Christ brought the fulness with him with the establishment of Zion and the Higher Priesthood. The people could not hold on. Without the Zion blueprint and the higher priesthood, there is no fulness and Zion cannot come. It will come when our inward parts are willing to accept these items and all in good time. We cannot force it nor think we can create it without the Higher Priesthood, and most of all, the presence of the Lord mingling with the people. There have been utopias on the earth in many times and seasons, but the important items didn’t attend like in Enoch or Salem’s days.

    As we learn that it is our thoughts that create the elementals that govern our lives and those around the world, we will emerge. Our thoughts that form images cannot be destroyed once created, but can be de-energized once we ignore them or they are fulfilled; good and bad Thoughts continue forever. What we think creates peace in the world, not just the laying down of arms. Thank you for this piece; it was amazing.

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