9/23 For Unto Us a Child Is Born Part II

Jupiter's Crown from Jun 30, 2016

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are not necessarily official doctrines or positions of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Please pray for the Spirit's guidance to truth and its confirmation. 

Introduction: While I have been writing the next article in my series of The Seven Levels of Mankind, I felt prompted to pause a follow up to my article For Unto Us a Child is Born. I was prompted to write this when my friend send me a beautifully written article from Avraham Gileadi about the sign of Revelation 12 that is given on 9/23/2017. Avraham Gileadi's article essentially serves as another witness to what has been revealed to me personally about not just the importance of the sign on 9/23 but what the sign actually means.

My friend sent me the article while I was driving with my wife. My wife read to me the article while we were returning home. After we got home I pondered what had just been read to me. The Spirit enveloped me like a warm blanket as I felt the Spirit confirm to me again of the veracity and meaning of 9/23.

Another LDS Scholar, Val Brinkerhoff, made a wonderful video about heavenly signs, including the eclipse on 8/21 and the eclipse that follows seven years later. Though he mentions 9/23, he opined it was a physical birth. I emailed him my prior article on 9/23 and how the sign is a spiritual birth and he responded.

Wonderful conclusion....the Spiritual rebirth - the baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost. ~ Val

He has written a full article on 9/23 that goes into great detail about the sign, accompanying sings, and Jewish holidays and all their implications here. 

I can't help but think there are but a few wise men who see the sign clearly. We have Avraham Gileadi and Val Brinkerhoff who are both Ph.D.s - now if we can only find a third wise man. :)

Certainly there are thousands if not millions of Christians who are aware of the sign, but from what I can tell, most think they will be raptured on that date believing that the man child represents the "Body of Christ" which is somehow different than the woman who represents the "Church of Christ." The church giving birth to itself makes about as much sense as a single-entity trinity.


Commentary on Avraham Gileadi's Article: Though this article is intended to be a companion and update to my earlier article on 9/23, Avraham Gileadi's article is the basis and reason for my update. As such, I will be quoting his entire article sequentially with breaks for personal commentary. His article meant a great deal to me personally--many thanks Brother Gileadi for your years of hard work and study!

I have been posting my blog articles on a website named www.ldsfreedomforum.com - big kudos to the forum owner BrianM for providing a space to discuss ideas openly with rules that compliment a space where all should be free to discuss their beliefs without being overtly ridiculed or attacked. Still, there are many on the site who seem to fit within the Internet Troll phenomenon who enjoy getting a rise out of people. Gileadi provides several relevant scriptures in supporting both heavenly signs and their belief in them:

To many people, the “signs in the heavens” the scriptures predict that will precede the Second Coming of Jesus Christ (Luke 21:11; Acts 2:19) are a subject they categorically dismiss. In their minds, astrological events are unrelated to realities on the ground. Associating them with fortune telling and other forbidden practices, they ignore the part of God’s Word that deals with “looking forth for the signs of my coming” (Doctrine & Covenants 39:23). And yet, hasn’t it always been in the nature of God, who created the heavens, to reveal his truth through heavenly mysteries?

When Abraham inquired of God, for example, he learned of “the set time of all the stars that are set to give light, until thou come near unto the throne of God” (Abraham 3:10). As a celestial embodiment of God’s children who attain exaltation, the stars God showed Abraham informed him of different degrees of exaltation and that exaltation was a work in progress: “I saw the stars, that they were very great, and that one of them was nearest unto the throne of God; and there were many great ones which were near unto it,” the nearest being Kolob (Abraham 3:2, 16).

There are a surprising number of LDS on ldsfreedomforum who reject the notion that the sign on 9/23 or the eclipse on 8/21 have any significance. Granted, these are the same users who seem to find enjoyment from shutting down discussion and even tearing down individuals. However, we know from Moses 6:63 that all things bear record of God and all things have their likeness. But, how do we discover the true meaning behind the symbolism? From Gileadi's article again:

Such esoteric knowledge, which deals with the mysteries of God, forms a part of the gospel of Jesus Christ that is accessible to all: “For he that diligently seeketh shall find; and the mysteries of God shall be unfolded unto them, by the power of the Holy Ghost” (1 Nephi 10:19). While on the one hand “he that will harden his heart, the same receiveth the lesser portion of the word,” on the other, “he that will not harden his heart, to him is given the greater portion of the word, until it is given unto him to know the mysteries of God until he know them in full” (Alma 12:10).

Alma 12:10 is one of my favorite scriptures. Many LDS tow the "we should stick to the basics" line as though delving into the mysteries are dangerous. Certainly there have been many who have apostatized on the pretext of higher light and knowledge, but a true understanding of the principle shared in Alma 12:10 also reveals those who selfishly misuse the principle to live after their own manner rather than after the manner of happiness. Gileadi continued:

Remembering the many precedents of astrological signs that portended significant events, including the birth of Jesus Christ at his first coming (Helaman 14:1–8, 12; 3 Nephi 1:9), surely the four blood moons on the four successive Jewish feastdays of Passover 2014, Tabernacles 2014, Passover 2015, and Tabernacles 2015 convey a message significant to the times in which we live, particularly for the Jews.And what of the solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 that cut across the entire United States, which has been followed by one national disaster after another?

I got into a tedious debate with a forum member on whether 8/21 was a sign. While we were debating more states were reporting wildfires, reports of more hurricanes continued to storm in, and massive CME solar flares were being reported during a solar minimum baffling scientists. Brother Gileadi has a better retort for the doubter and naysayer than I could muster:

The question is one of belief or unbelief: “He that believeth shall be blest with signs following, even as it is written. And unto you it shall be given to knowthe signs of the times, and the signs of the coming of the Son of Man” (Doctrine & Covenants 68:10–11); “And it shall come to pass that he that feareth me shall be looking forth for the great day of the Lord to come, even for the signs of the coming of the Son of Man. And they shall see signs and wonders, for they shall be shown forth in the heavens above, and in the earth beneath” (Doctrine & Covenants 45:39–40).

To those who “fear” or reverence God, the messianic planet Jupiter’s gestation in the womb of the Virgo Constellation, and of its “birth” on September 23rd 2017, evidently contains far more significance than to those who don’t fear God. Particularly is that so when we perceive that all messianic prophecies aren’t equal—that many refer to a temporal savior who restores God’s people Israel to prepare them for Jehovah’s coming to reign on the earth; while others, such as Isaiah 53:1–10, refer to a spiritual Savior who “saves his people from their sins (Matthew 1:21).

These signs are are the birthpangs:

The phenomenon called the “Birthpangs of the Messiah” deals with Zion’s entering a time of travail until she brings forth a deliverer—God’s endtime servant: “Before she is in labor, she gives birth; before her ordeal overtakes her, she delivers a son! Who has heard the like, or who has seen such things? Can the earth labor but a day and a nation be born at once? For as soon as she was in labor, Zion gave birth to her children. Shall I bring to a crisis and not bring on birth? says Jehovah. When it is I who cause the birth, shall I hinder it? says your God” (Isaiah 66:7-9).

Like the scribes and Pharisees of Jesus’ day, who feared being displaced, those who attempt to hinder Zion’s deliverance oppose the servant’s efforts of gathering Israel’s natural lineages into a new nation of God’s covenant people in God’s Day of Judgment. Despised, abhorred, accused, and disfigured (Isaiah 49:7; 50:8–9; 52:14), God’s servant—his “arm” of righteousness (Isaiah 51:5, 9–12; 52:10)—nonetheless succeeds in restoring Israel in preparation for Jehovah’s coming (Isaiah 49:8–13; 52:13, 15; 55:3–5). Israel’s Creator sustains him (Isaiah 42:1; 44:24–26).

At the conclusion of Avraham Gileadi's brief article, he mentions that the sign on 9/23 implies the servant's translation. Though I have speculated that 9/23 will be the servant's translation on ldsfreedomforum and with friends and family, I have not written about this on my blog. I certainly believe this may be possible, and there are many evidences that the servant is empowered. He is referred to as "Mighty and Strong" and "Jehovah's Arm of Righteousness." Isaiah 11:4 certainly brings extraordinary power to the mind:

Isaiah 11:4 But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.

He sounds rather like Superman with his frost breath.

With the breath of his lips ...

Whether he is translated or not he will be empowered by Jehovah. In the last article, I discussed the symbolism here. This first seven dispensations were ministries of descent and overcoming adversity--each dispensation head illustrating how to overcome a law of the gospel, or an estate (or both.) This is the ministry of reward symbolizing both the power and rewards that await those who overcome. Translation or not, the power of the Lord will be behind his ministry. 

If I have time before 9/23, I'd like to write an article on all the scriptures I have found that are prophecies regarding the Temporal Messiah. There are many of these scriptures--especially among the prophets during time of the dispersion of Israel and the Babylonian Captivity--Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Ezekiel, Hosea, etc. Several of these prophecies have been mistakenly associated with the Spiritual Messiah Jesus Christ. Stay tuned!