General Conference, ‘A Choice Seer Will I Raise Up.’ October 2016; “Perhaps the most stunning passage in the Book of Mormon to young Joseph may have been the third chapter of 2 Nephi. This chapter contains an ancient prophecy about a “choice seer” whom the Lord would raise up in the latter days—a seer named Joseph, named after his father. This future prophet would be “esteemed highly” and would do a work “of great worth” unto his people. He would “be great like unto Moses” and would be given “power to bring forth [God’s] word.”15 Consider how Joseph Smith must have felt as he realized that this prophecy was about him! He was not just translating history; he was translating a vision of the last days, of the miraculous Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ—and Joseph himself would help fulfill it!” – Craig C. Christensen

Daniel 9:24-26; “Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. 25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. 26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.”

This is one of the most incredible prophecies in all of the Bible. There’s no other prophecy that gives the actual year for when the Israelites could expect to receive their Messiah, and arguably, it’s the most debated as well.

Circa 531-530 BC Daniel read what Jeremiah told the Israelites about being in captivity for 70 years, and knew that only four years remained of their captivity. (See Jeremiah 25:10-14; 29:10-14.) In Daniel 9:2-19 he reminded God of His faithfulness through history, telling Him if ever there was a time they needed mercy, it was now.

From Daniel 2:24-27 we see a miraculous event when God told Daniel to deliver a message to the nation. The Lord basically gave the Israelites a game plan stretching out for the next 600 years, beginning at the end of the 70 years. The Lord’s interaction with His people is just amazing, and serves as a great reminder He’s always watching out for us!

The fulfillment of these events went on as predicted in stages from that time, until 70 AD with the complete destruction of the temple, and the dispersing of the Jewish people. They were a misplaced people group until 1947 when they began returning to Israel.

Notice in the biblical text how every stage of Daniel’s prophecy came to pass! The Israelites were taken captive and exiled to Babylon when Daniel wrote this. Around 445 BC Persian king Artaxerxes gave the Israelites permission to rebuild the temple, as well as Jerusalem, which had been sitting in ruins since the Babylonian takeover c. 586 BC.

All the adjectives we could use would seem redundant to many, however, the way in which the God of the Bible operates is much, much better than anything we’ve seen in Mormonism!

The Mormon reference today claims Joseph Smith was the 2^nd fulfillment of Deuteronomy 18:15-18, and the Church will also try and tell you Smith would be the one who will bring everything to pass that needs to happen during the end times.

In order for his prophecy to be true, one would have to ignore everything in Daniel, Genesis, Nehemiah, Isaiah, and Revelation, to name a few. See 2 Nephi 3:6-17 for more info. If I were witnessing to a Mormon on this subject, I’d ask them where Smith fits into the story we read about just in Daniel alone. Smith’s name isn’t mentioned there.

You see, the BoM is trying to take away the glory in the absolute rock solid evidence of how great God is, and the work He’s done throughout history. They’d love to overshadow Daniel’s prophecy, and insert 2^nd Nephi. From the outside looking in, does the prophecy in the BoM sound real to you?

Sadly, there’s no mention of Jesus in this whole thing. Our hearts hurt for the Mormon people who have unfortunately bought into many of the lies Mr. Smith passed around. Pray that God will cause them to ask questions about Mr. Christiansen’s talk and wonder where Jesus fits into this.

With Love in Christ;

Michelle