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There was a 5.7 Richter earthquake that hit Salt Lake City yesterday, March 18. It was strong enough to make the Angel Moroni lose his trumpet.
https://kutv.com/news/local/angel-mormoni-loses-trumpet-in-salt-lake-earthquake
SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — As a 5.7 magnitude earthquake shook Salt Lake City Wednesday morning, it also damaged one of Utah's most recognizable icons, causing the statue of the Angel Moroni — on the top Salt Lake City temple of the LDS Church — to drop its trumpet.
Placed on the top spire of the most famous temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of of Latter-day Saints on April 6, 1892, the arm photos show that the trumpet is gone and as well as part of the statue's arm. Church spokesman Daniel Woodruff said there was some minor damage to the building, including displacement of the building's smaller spire stones.
As the Mormon legend goes, Mormon had a son named Moroni, who led the army of Nephites that was destroyed by the enemy. Moroni then supposedly recorded the history of his people on golden plates, which he buried in America and later, appearing as an angel, showed them to Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormon church. Joseph Smith then published these records as The Book of Mormon in 1830.
The angel also supposedly gave Joseph Smith an amulet which he promptly labeled, The Pearl of Great Price. It was actually an artifact from Egypt with writing which, at the time, was unknown. But the angel “interpreted” it, and a few unknown symbols suddenly morphed into an entire book.
Unfortunately for Smith, however, the Rosetta Stone had just been discovered in Egypt, which was the key to translating Egyptian hieroglyphics. It showed that Smith’s Pearl of Great Price was nothing more than a common funeral dirge. In the late 1970’s I heard an ex-Mormon speak about this. He had been a fifth-generation Mormon and was educated as an Egyptologist. He was honest enough to see that the Pearl of Great Price was a fraud and tried to get the church to admit their fraud. Instead, he was excommunicated.
As for the Book of Mormon, history shows that an innkeeper named Solomon Spaulding, who was a good storyteller, had been convinced by friends to write down some of his stories in 1815 in order to make money during the recession brought about by the War of 1812. Patterson’s Printshop agreed to publish them if he would write a forward. However, he failed to do this, and so the book was never published, and Spaulding himself died in 1816.
Meanwhile, an employee at the printshop, Sidney Rigdon, left his employment, and the manuscript disappeared with him. He later became a friend of Joseph Smith, who founded the Mormon Church in 1830. When Mormon missionaries came to preach Mormon doctrine and tell the stories in the Book of Mormon, the local residents recognized the stories from Solomon Spaulding.
Needless to say, they made no converts there. But Spaulding’s wife had kept another copy of her husband’s book, and as Mormonism began to spread, many people came to view the book for themselves and to see Spaulding’s proof of authorship. One day, however, two men came to see it, and when the widow left the room, they disappeared and the manuscript was never seen again. Such is the nature of carnal men, who do not care about truth but about maintaining their beliefs.
So I have no faith in The Book of Mormon.
The Mormons have a long and sordid history, and their belief that they were allowed to defraud and steal from “gentiles” (i.e., non-Mormons) finally caught up with them. Being very unwelcome in Illinois, Missouri, and Iowa, they migrated to Utah, where they set up their own government and built a temple with the Angel Moroni on top of the highest spire. This, they claimed, was the angel prophesied in Revelation 14:6,
6 And I saw another angel flying in the mid-heaven, having an eternal gospel to preach to those who live on the earth, and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people.
The name Moroni, ironically enough, is derived from our word moronic, which pertains to a moron. This, in turn, comes from the Greek word moros (“dull, stupid”) and moria (“silliness, absurdity”). Moroni’s trumpet, then, signifies an absurd gospel. We might also identify Mormon doctrine as being another gospel of “foolishness” (moria) that seems wise to “gentiles” (1 Corinthians 1:23).
In my own personal revelation, the angel in Revelation 14:6 is the Angel of Hastening Hope. The “hope” is found in the true gospel of the Kingdom, not in the Book of Mormon.
The earthquake yesterday caused Moroni’s trumpet to fall to the ground, reminding me of the word that Samuel received long ago. 1 Samuel 3:19 KJV says,
19 And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground.
I see the Moroni trumpet’s fall as a sign that false gospels are falling to the ground. It is the counterpart to the true Gospel of the Kingdom which will soon be trumpeted around the world by those of us who are inspired and assisted by the Angel of Hastening Hope.
The Salt Lake City earthquake occurred on March 18, 2020, which is 3-18. This has been a watch date since 1986, because of the revelation, “March 18 I set you free.” That word has had many applications over the years, but in 2020 it appears to indicate that the Gospel of the Kingdom is being set free, or released. That too is somewhat ironic, given that travel is now being restricted. But God works best when things seem to be impossible, so we will see how this works out in the months and years ahead.
Dr. Stephen Jones has been writing blog posts since 2005 on a variety of topics from Bible Studies to World News, and he has been writing books since 1992. Dr. Jones' most important writings came after God brought him back into the full-time ministry in 1991. It is here that all his earlier years of searching the Scriptures began to come into clear focus. He combines a knowledge of the Old and New Testaments with a personal revelation of God that began and developed during the "wilderness" period of his life, which he often refers to as God's True Bible College... Read More
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