By Olya Lambert
As a preface to this, I would like to say that my experience with the leaders of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been incredibly positive. I have learned so much from those I have loved and served with over the years and feel very grateful for the experiences I have had. My comments are not intended to belittle, berate or condemn anyone, but rather provide a new perspective on some old issues.
Questioning your leaders in our church culture is tragically considered an unpardonable heresy. Most of us, rather than second guess the prophet or the twelve, would be much more willing to stand before the merciless courts of Spanish Inquisition.
Erasing the boundary between the concept of ‘faith’ and ‘religion’ and equating the two, we “doubt our doubts” and sheepishly walk away from answering questions that create cognitive dissonance. We travel the world to invite OTHERS to approach God in prayer for heavenly answers and direction, but choose to abdicate our sovereignty when it comes to US receiving that guidance.
Brigham Young expressed his concern on the matter, when he said: “I am more afraid that this people have so much confidence in their leaders that they will not inquire for themselves of God whether they are led by Him” (Brigham Young, 1862). Indeed, confidence in our leaders has become so unshakable over the last 200 years, we have hardly noticed it was at the expense of our own ability to receive personal revelation from God and standing firmly in that divine witness.
The notion that the Shepherds of Ephraim would never lead us astray is extremely comforting, but it goes against the principle of free agency central to our beliefs. Why would Heavenly Father “not allow” for the leadership of the church to take us down the wrong path, while at the same time “allowing” for the worst tragedies and atrocities in human history to take place on both a personal and national scale? Why does He “allow” for bad things to happen to good people? Do we get to decide when that principle takes effect and when it doesn’t? It appears that as a church that is exactly what we are doing!!!
To some, the leaders of the church will always be infallible. And, of course, I am fully aware of the following statement by Wilford Woodruff that supports such notions:
The Lord will never permit me or any other man who stands as President of this Church to lead you astray… If I were to attempt that, the Lord would remove me out of my place, and so He will any other man who attempts to lead the children of men astray ….” (Official Declaration 1).
It’s interesting that the statement above got included in our scriptures, but the one below by Brigham Young, did not:
Brethren, this Church will be led onto the very brink of hell by the leaders of this people. Then God will raise the one mighty and strong, spoken of in the 85th Section of the Doctrine and Covenants, to save and redeem this church. [i]
The two quotes are in massive contradiction, but perhaps one way to reconcile them is NOT by saying that leading astray is an impossibility, but rather WHEN it happens the Lord will intervene. Section 85 seems to suggest the same:
7 And it shall come to pass that I, the Lord God, will send one mighty and strong, holding the scepter of power in his hand, clothed with light for a covering, whose mouth shall utter words, eternal words; while his bowels shall be a fountain of truth, to set in order the house of God.(…)
(Note, that setting the church in order suggests that there is a need, that it became “out of order”.)
8 While that man, who was called of God and appointed, that putteth forth his hand to steady the ark of God, shall fall by the shaft of death, like as a tree that is smitten by the vivid shaft of lightning.
The mighty and strong one (who that could be is a discussion for another time) becomes the Lord’s chosen leader and end time servant, while the one who had previously been called of God is removed by divine means!!! This narrative, that end time church leaders not only CAN, but WILL lead us astray and can be REMOVED, is not one we are familiar or comfortable with.
Interestingly, speaking of the end time servant in almost identical terms as those mentioned above, Isaiah provides a poignant description of latter-day Ephraim and its shepherds:
1 Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, whose glorious beauty is a fading flower, which are on the head of the fat valleys of them that are overcome with wine! (Isaiah 28)
For non-drinking Latter-day Saints, it could be difficult to grasp why Isaiah would use such alcohol-heavy imagery to describe modern Ephraim. Perhaps the wine allusions have more to do with a state of mind, when like drunkards we can’t discern what is real from what is not. We embrace the notion of our self-importance and grandeur to a point of Rameumpton. We sustain flawless leaders that flawlessly sustain and justify us, and in our LDS centered view of the world, with the blinders firmly on, our vision and judgment become out of alignment with God’s.
In very clear terms Isaiah communicates that the shepherds of Ephraim are equally guilty of “drunkenness”:
7 But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment.
But he goes even further in his pronouncements of Ephraim’s wickedness:
15 Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves (Isaiah 28).
A scourge???? As in pandemic???? This couldn’t be more current. Clearly, the above verse thunderously echoes Brigham’s concern about the shepherds of Ephraim leading others to the “brinks of hell”. I doubt it’s intentional, but it doesn’t absolve us from the God-given responsibility to seek for The Shepherd and hear His voice, even as the shepherds of Ephraim would lead us astray.
[i] Provo Bowery Conference, August 24th, 1867; [BX 8693 .C559 C547o, Americana Collection, L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah], page 106. See also The Complete Discourses of Brigham Young, volume 4, edited by Richard S. Van Wagoner [Salt Lake City: The Smith-Pettit Foundation, 2009], pages 2478–2479.)
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Very timely.
Very scary.
Very heavy…
Thank you. I appreciate this and will share with others to help them make sense of what is going on.
WoW! so much depth, I can see what is being said and yet find myself still steeped in that blind trust in our Leaders of the Church. this is yet my greatest challenge or test.
I’m so thankful for those of you all who are foreordained to be here on this earth at this time that have opened my eyes! I love you so much.
Prayer and Fast is a must for me right now.
Study of scripture through the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Daily clearing my space of negative energy, thoughts and patterns is also a must for me right now.
Serving others with love and respect.
This only happens as I CRY UNTO THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, through repentance, daily, for his love and mercy and power to go before my face.
I Choose JESUS CHRIST! I love Him
I love this☝️
Thank you for your insight and wisdom! I believe we are at the doors and that it will be a great stumbling for many members. Learning to hear the voice of the Shepard will be the only thing that saves us and leads us to know what to do and who to trust. Thank you! Much love ❤️
Well said and amen!!💜
Thank you Olya! I have been thinking along these same lines. You wrote it beautifully.
This very topic has been weighing heavily on my mind for months now. The Lord has been showing me all year through the scriptures, how far off track the church has become. Isaiah 28 tells us plainly what is to happen, as does D&C 85 as you have pointed out. Thank you for your timely thoughts
Thx
I’m right there with you. There parable of the olive trees was the game changer for me. When we embrace the fate of the church and turn to the Lord, Father and Mother, a whole new paradigm unfolds and brings a next level of liberation and understanding. And gives us eyes to see and ears to akin to the disciples of Jesus while he walked the earth. It’s absolutely sublime.
Olya, thank you for your essay. I am very glad to hear another voice like yours at this time.
Very well said. I do believe this is God’s church but I also think that the statement in Declaration 1 is incorrect. Blacks would be one example and there are many others.
For example why didn’t the following get inclused as well?
“What a strange people these Mormons are. They are like a flock of sheep; if I should jump into Hell, I believe they would follow me!” (Joseph Smith, in reference to the secular block-voting of the Saints, Macomb Journal, January 25, 1837, p.2)
“We have heard men who hold the priesthood remark that they would do anything they were told to do by those who preside over them (even) if they knew it was wrong; but such obedience as this is worse than folly to us; it is slavery in the extreme; and the man who would thus willingly degrade himself, should not claim a rank among intelligent beings, until he turns from his folly. A man of God would despise the idea. Others, in the extreme exercise of their almighty authority have taught that such obedience was necessary, and that no matter what the saints were told to do by their presidents, they should do it without any questions. When the Elders of Israel will so far indulge in these extreme notions of obedience as to teach them to the people, it is generally because they have it in their hearts to do wrong themselves.”10 0 Millennial Star, Vol. 14, Num. 38, pp.593-595 Brigham Young
President Joseph Smith read the 14th chapter of Ezekiel18—said the Lord had declared by theProphet, that the people should each one stand for himself, and depend on no man or men in that state of corruption of the Jewish church—that righteous persons could only deliver their own souls1—applied it to the present state of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—said if the people departed from the Lord,2 they must fall—that they were depending on the Prophet,hence were darkened in their minds,3 in consequence of neglecting the duties devolving upon themselves, Joseph SMith address to relief society. Pages 237-239
And of course we would never see this one either and should as believing they are other than men is idol worship.
“ I have known many times I have preached wrong.” brigham young Thomas Bullock minutes May 8th 1854
It takes hard work to get personal guidance or revelation.. Most of us have had that trained out of us as we just look to a man (not Christ) for all the answers never thinking to question anything.
What are we afraid of?
Beautiful said thank you!
Thanks for these additional quotes. I think you are right. We have had this trained out of us. Curiosity and candor are no longer part of our church culture. It’s become cult like. What’s that old adage? The philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy of the government. I would add the church there as well. We have blindly trusted our Gov run education system to “educate”
Thank you! There must be no other between the Lord and me. I must learn to trust that absolutely!
Well said, Olya. Thank you! And welcome to the Doctrinal Essays. It is wonderful getting some feminine energy included here. 🙂
Thank you everyone for the kind words. It’s great to be here!!!!
Hello Olya, thank you for speaking out and standing for the light! We know Eric and Greg and a little bit about thier lives and who they are, it would be great to know a little more about yours. Just a thought. Much love
Anna,
I will gladly oblige . Thank you for asking! 🙂
My name gives away a Russian descent. I was born and raised in the Urals, which is in central Russia. I joined the church there some 20 years ago shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union. I came to go to school to BYU and eventually graduated with a bachelor’s in Linguistics. I decided to serve a mission and while I was serving in Chicago, my husband served in Moscow, Russia. We both taught Russian at the MTC, started dating and got married .
We have 5 boys ages 2-15, which makes for a happening household!
In between having babies and our various adventures, I was able to get a Master’s degree in Russian Literature from FSU, which allowed me to do some extensive writing, reading as well as teaching. Over the years I have studied deeply literatures, philosophy and religion. That background also opened doors for me to teach Russian at BYU, Provo, which was a brief, but amazing experience.
About a year ago, I felt an awakening and a renewed quest for Truth. This unprecedented drive lead me to stumble across Eric and Julies podcast and this blog. I have not stopped devouring the amazing truths they have to share and have been greatly blessed by them and many others that have enough faith to be taught by God directly . I love the Lord, Truth and Light!!! And I am always seeking for more. If anyone is interested, you can find me on Facebook. I’ll be happy to be friends!!! 😉
Thank you for sharing your insightful research findings (and introducing yourself:)! Your post has provided me(and no doubt many others) with a wonderful, powerful document to share on this important subject. Thank you thank you!
Thank you, Olay. Really appreciate that quote from Brigham Young.
Chris Miller
I believe the scourge and the covenant of death to be the C shot. There’s is much more to this shot than it just being physically dangerous. Since it was made using aborted fetal cells people are unknowingly participating in child sacrifice.