The Lions Are Coming
The lion based theme of this website is based on one of the most dire warnings contained in the Book of Mormon. This warning is that unless the Gentiles repent, a fearsome body of the House of Israel that will return in the latter days to utterly destroy them, and wipe them off the face of this promised land. Consider one such example from Mormon.
And then, O ye Gentiles, how can ye stand before the power of God, except ye shall repent and turn from your evil ways? Know ye not that ye are in the hands of God? Know ye not that he hath all power, and at his great command the earth shall be roller together as a scroll? Therefore, repent ye, and humble yourselves before him, lest he shall come out in justice against you—lest a remnant of the seed of Jacob shall go forth among you as a lion, and tear you in pieces, and there is none to deliver. Mormon 5:22-24
Mormon said that this coming group will be like lions, which will tear us apart and there is nothing that we, the most powerful country on earth, can do about it. Think about this. What remnant of the House of Israel do you know of that is capable of such a feat as this? There is much to discuss regarding this group.
To understand who this group is we must start at the beginning, which in this case is 2 Kings 17. The context of this chapter is the destruction of the Kingdom of Israel by the Assyrians. Because the children of Israel were given a land of promise, the Lord required that they keep the covenants their fathers had made with Him. They had been repeatedly warned that if they would not keep those covenants they would be removed from their lands and scattered among the nations of the earth with at least a subgroup of them being scattered to the uttermost ends of heaven (see Deut 30:1-4 and Neh 1:8-9).
After the children of Israel had been carried off captive into Assyria, the king repopulated their promised lands with other conquered people. These other inhabitants did not know the God of Israel, nor did they understand that the promise lands of Israel they were forced to inhabit. Such being the case, a very curious thing happened shortly after their arrival into the lands of Israel. It is described in 2 Kings 17:24-28
And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel: and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the cities thereof. And so it was at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they feared not the Lord: therefore the Lord sent lions among them, which slew some of them. Wherefore they spake to the king of Assyria, saying, The nations which thou hast removed, and placed in the cities of Samaria, know not the manner of the God of the land: therefore he hath sent lions among them, and, behold, they slay them, because they know not the manner of the God of the land.
Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying, Carry thither one of the priests whom ye brought from thence; and let them go and dwell there, and let him teach them the manner of the God of the land. Then one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and dwelt in Beth-el, and taught them how they should fear the Lord.
These lions of the Lord were a symbolic foreshadowing of things to come upon the American continent when the Gentiles no longer feared the God of the land. Anciently, among the Samaritans, these lions began to slay the people to such a degree that the people knew without question that they were not just random attacks, but a message from the Lord. They only found relief from these lions when they petitioned the king of Assyria to learn more about the God of the land. I is interesting that it was to the Samaritans that Christ first announced Himself as the Messiah.
These people were the forefathers of the Samaritans of whom the New Testament Jews were so leery. Nevertheless, they recognized and received the God of Israel immediately and with open arms when He came to minister unto them while in the flesh. The same could not be said for the “righteous” Jews, who both rejected and crucified their King. As a result, the Jews were once again scattered from off their homelands for the better part of 2,000 years.
We would be wise to understand and anticipate these events as we see the America of our fathers crumbling into godless disbelief. As the Lord used lions to stir up the ignorant Samaritans, much worse has been prophesied against the latter-day Gentiles who forsake the Lord after He miraculously preserved their forefathers from the most powerful countries of the world, and delivered them a free people upon the choicest of promise lands. To this end, Christ personally repeatedly warned the latter-day Gentiles regarding the coming lions that would visit them in the days of their forsaking.
And the Father hath commanded me that I should give unto you this land, for your inheritance. And I say unto you, that if the Gentiles do not repent after the blessing which they shall receive… then shall ye, who are a remnant of the house of Jacob, go forth among them; and ye shall be in the midst of them who shall be many; and ye shall be among them as a lion among the beasts of the forest, and as a young lion among the flocks of sheep, who, if he goeth through both treadeth down and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver. 3 Nephi 20:14-16
Christ warned of latter-day lions that would come among the Gentiles in the day that they forsake the God of Israel. These lions would not be wild animals, such as in the days of Samaritans, but rather a returning remnant of the Israelites that had been carried away captive into Assyria anciently. The Lord works in mysterious ways, and uses patterns to teach and instruct His people.
The work He is about to perform will amaze! He said that this remnant of Jacob would be restored in a day when the Gentiles had become powerful beyond all other nations, and will have multiplied to a great degree upon the American promised land. Nevertheless, Christ warned that our military might and our numerous population will account for nothing before these latter-day lions, who will tread the wicked down and rend them in pieces. In fact he specifically states that "no weapon formed against them shall prosper". Righteousness is the only thing that can deliver the unrepentant Gentiles from these lions in that day.
When the resurrected Moroni came to visit the 17 year old Joseph for four consecutive visits in a 24 hour period, he quoted many passages from the scriptures of great importance. Of particular note, was a change that Moroni made to one of the verses found in Malachi. The change was small, but profound. The altered verse as given by Moroni reads as follows with the change highlighted in bold.
For behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an oven, and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly shall burn as stubble; for they that come shall burn them, saith the Lord of Hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. (JS History 1:37)
Those that come are the lions of Israel, the righteous body of the Lost Ten Tribes. Regarding this mighty host that will purge the Lord’s vineyard before His coming, Isaiah taught the following, which was transcribed verbatim by Nephi into the Book of Mormon:
They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, even the Lord, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land.
Howl ye; for the day of the Lord is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man’s heart shall melt: And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames. Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. (2 Nephi 23:5-9)
Isaiah’s words confirm that this mighty host was indeed grafted far beyond the confines of our vineyard, in the ENDS OF HEAVEN. There, in their place apart, they have become mighty. They have become powerful enough to be described as the weapons of the Lord's indignation. These lions of the Lord come as the forerunners of the Second Coming, to purge the earth and "destroy the sinners".
There is far too much information regarding this mighty host to include in this blog post. If you are interested in learning more about the covenants and promises surrounding this I urge you to study my book, A Remnant Shall Return available in both hard copy and audio formats on this website. It details why Nephi selected the Isaiah chapters for transcription that he did. Why Christ commanded the Gentiles to study those selections of Isaiah. It analyzes in great detail the incredible prophecies regarding the latter-day restoration of the House of Israel.
If you are not familiar with this subject, you are not ready for what is coming. Get ready - The Lions are coming!
