Today's Favorite Verse: Jeremiah 51:6, 45

Today's Favorite Verse: Jeremiah 51:6, 45
"Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul: be not cut off in her iniquity; for this is the time of the LORD’s vengeance; he will render unto her a recompence.
My people, go ye out of the midst of her, and deliver ye every man his soul from the fierce anger of the LORD."

What the Lord told Jeremiah is exactly what we are to do today, flee out of the midst of Babylon. Babylon represents the world and all its wickedness. We cannot serve two masters, the world and the Lord. We would hate the one and love the other. We are to flee, leave, come out of Babylon and turn to the Lord, and be healed. This is a decision only we can make for our own souls. It all comes down to where are hearts are and not our physical location.

"No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon."
(Matthew 6:24)

Day 4008

Today's Favorite Verse: 2 Chronicles 6:36

Today's Favorite Verse: 2 Chronicles 6:36
"If they sin against thee, (for there is no man which sinneth not,) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them over before their enemies, and they carry them away captives unto a land far off or near;"

Solomon is offering a dedicatory prayer for the temple. I find dedicatory prayers very interesting. In this one it speaks of what was to come in time. That Israel would go astray and sin. Then their enemies would come upon they and carry them into Babylon.

Day 3868

Today's Favorite Verse: Jeremiah 51:1, 5

Today's Favorite Verse: Jeremiah 51:1, 5

"Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against them that dwell in the midst of them that rise up against me, a destroying wind;

For Israel hath not been forsaken, nor Judah of his God, of the LORD of hosts; though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel."

Though the Lord had allowed Babylon to carry away those in Jerusalem, he will not forget them. Babylon will be destroyed and it was. Israel will be redeemed. Promises had been made to the fathers and though the children may loose those blessings at times, eventually the children will turn back to Him. God desire to bless is stronger than the need to curse.

Day 2955

Today's Favorite Verse: Isaiah 23:18

Today's Favorite Verse: Isaiah 23:18

"And her merchandise and her hire shall be holiness to the LORD: it shall not be treasured nor laid up; for her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before the LORD, to eat sufficiently, and for durable clothing."

I'm reading that Tyre would sing as a harlot and commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world. Then all of a sudden its goods are used as holiness to the Lord. I turned to the Institute manual to understand what happened better.

Like Babylon, Tyre represented the world and so eventually would come under the judgments of God. Like Babylon, she was seen as a harlot committing fornication (joining in wickedness) with the kingdoms of the world (see Isaiah 23:15, 17–18; compare Revelation 17:1–2). The seventy years may refer to her coming judgments. Isaiah 23:18 shows that eventually the merchandise of Tyre (the world) will be put to proper use in building the kingdom of Jehovah.

(Old Testament Student Manual, "A Voice of Warning to the Wicked" (Isaiah 13-23)

Day 2861

Today's Favorite Verse: Isaiah 13:3

Today's Favorite Verse: Isaiah 13:3

"I have commanded my sanctified ones, I have also called my mighty ones for mine anger, even them that rejoice in my highness."

It's pretty much terrible to think of the destruction of Babylon at the Second Coming. As I'm reading this I kept think where would I be. Where are the people that love the Lord and worship him?

The footnotes says "sanctified ones" and "saints" are synonymously translated from either of two Hebrew words in the Old Testament." OK, so I'm going to take it that I'm one of the saints.

The footnote for "mighty" references Joel 3:11

"Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause thy might ones to come down, O LORD."

Ah, so come down from where? The verse before tells me where.

"Lift ye up a banner upon the high mountain, exalt the voice unto them, shake the hand, that they may go into the gates of the nobles."

(Isaiah 13:2)

The saints are standing in holy places. Exactly where we are told to be right now. There has to be a place of refuge for those that want to flee Babylon before it is to late.

"Wherefore, stand ye in holy places, and be not moved, until the day of the Lord come; for behold, it cometh quickly, saith the Lord. Amen."

(Doctrine and Covenants 87:8)

Day 2851

Today's Favorite Verse: 2 Kings 24:2, 17

Today's Favorite Verse: 2 Kings 24:2, 17

"And the LORD sent against him bands of the Chaldees, and bands of the Syrians, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the children of Ammon, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by his servants the prophets.

And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah his father’s brother king in his stead, and changed his name to Zedekiah."

Was Lehi one of the prophets being referenced here?

"For it came to pass in the commencement of the first year of the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah, (my father, Lehi, having dwelt at Jerusalem in all his days); and in that same year there came many prophets, prophesying unto the people that they must repent, or the great city Jerusalem must be destroyed.

Therefore, I would that ye should know, that after the Lord had shown so many marvelous things unto my father, Lehi, yea, concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, behold he went forth among the people, and began to prophesy and to declare unto them concerning the things which he had both seen and heard."

(1 Nephi 1:4, 18)

Day 2496

Today's Favorite Verse: Revelation 18:4

Today's Favorite Verse: Revelation 18:4
"And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues."

I pondered how even now I am to come out of Babylon, being in the world but not of the world. Christ set the example when he said "They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world." (John 17:16) I cannot physically isolate myself, but the call is to spiritually not participate. In order to even be called "my people" I would need to not be a spiritual partaker of Babylon's wickedness. This voice from heaven isn't something that is to come, it's something being told to me now.

Day 1758

Today's Favorite Verse: Jeremiah 51:8

Today's Favorite Verse: Jeremiah 51:8
"Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: howl for her; take balm for her pain if so be she may be healed."

This made me think that I never give up hope. No matter how bad the world or Babylon becomes we always pray and hope it will be healed. God never writes anyone off that will repent, and neither should I. There is no limit on how many times the repentance card can be used. Sorrow for their sins and what has fallen upon them. I should never rejoice in someone's down fall. It is only the world that teaches such things.

"Judge not, that ye be not judged.
For with judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again."
(Matthew 7:1-2)

Day 1371

Today's Favorite Verse: Jeremiah 27:9-11

Today's Favorite Verse: Jeremiah 27:9-11
"Therefore hearken not ye to your prophets, nor to your diviners, nor to your dreamers, nor to your enchanters, nor to your sorcerers, which speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon:
For they prophesy a lie unto you, to remove you far from your land; and that I should drive you out, and ye should perish.
But the nations that bring their necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him, those will I let remain still in their own land, saith the Lord; and they shall till it, and dwell therein."

The Lord is saying there are people telling you lies that you are not to serve the king of Babylon. He reminds them in verse 5

"I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground, by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and have given it unto whom it seemed meet unto me."

The Lord has a purpose in who rules a nation. Mostly because its exactly what we deserve. I am reminded of the 12th Article of Faith

"We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law."

This reminds me today of people that call themselves sovereign citizens. Thinking they do not need to pay taxes and obey the laws of the lands. They see the constitution giving them rights that they cling to, but don't understand how they have been changed. We need to obey the laws that we have. Because of lies they see themselves as patriots, are imprisoned, loose their lands, and put themselves into bondage. This is not the Lord's way. For such actions stop them from serving the Lord. To preserve the land the Lord has given you, we must obey the ruler and laws set over it. There is a big difference between bringing my neck under the yoke of Babylon, and giving my heart to it. It is only when those laws prevent us from worshiping the Lord and serving him, that he will step in and free us.

Day 1347

Today's Favorite Verse: Isaiah 39:3-4

Today's Favorite Verse: Isaiah 39:3-4
"Then came Isaiah the prophet unto king Hezekiah, and said unto him, What said these men? and from whence came they unto thee? And Hezekiah said, They are come from a far country unto me, even from Babylon.
The said he, What have they seen in thine house? And Hezekiah answered, All that is in mine house have they seen: there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shewed them."

Hezekiah had been sick and when he recovered the son of the king of Babylon sent letters and a present to him. Hezekiah was glad of them and then showed them everything in his household.That is when Isaiah comes in and asked the questions in these verses. He goes on to prophesy the everything Hezekiah has including his sons will be carried away into Babylon.

On the surface I wondered what Hezekiah did that was wrong. They I saw that is was prideful and boastful to show all that he had. This sin of pride was his downfall because now others wanted what he had. It reminded me of what happened here in Utah. We had taken care of our homeless population. Anyone that wanted a place to stay had one, then news of it went out in all the papers. Massive amounts of homeless people came here on their own or the mayors of other cities bused them here to get rid of them. Now we are overrun and cannot care for all of them. This is what happens with boasting in a matter. It's best to take care of matters and not advertise your success.

Day 1293

Today's Favorite Verse: Isaiah 13:19-20

Today's Favorite Verse: Isaiah 13:19-20
"And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there."

Chapter heading: The destruction of Babylon is a type of the destruction at the Second Coming - It will be a day of wrath and vengeance - Babylon (the world) will fall forever.

It was rough reading and thinking about all the destruction. Hard to find a positive thing to dwell on in this chapter. Then I realized that in these verses it means Babylon is gone, never to be rebuilt and inhabited again. All the pain, suffering and hardship is over for the saints of God. That is something positive to look forward to and dwell on.

Day 1267