Watchmen on the Tower
I previously posted scriptures and statements regarding the parable of the Tower (D&C 101), and the Constitution, and asked for your thoughts, also promising to share my thoughts later on. It seems the parable of the Tower can be related to many things.
Put simply, I believe the tower is Zion and the watchmen are the “pure in heart”.
The prophets are often referred to as the watchmen on the tower, and that is quite fitting considering their call to be prophets, seers, and revelators. We are privileged to receive their counsel on a regular basis, in General Conference, and elsewhere, which, if followed, will be a protection to us. I believe, furthermore, that we all can be watchmen on the tower, we all should be, especially within our own families and communities.
In the parable of the Tower, the Lord asked for watchmen to be placed around the vineyard, upon the walls, as a well as a watchman upon the tower. The reason for the tower was to see the enemy coming from far away. Unfortunately, after only working on the foundation, the servants felt, because it was a time of peace, that they had no need for the tower, and this resulted in much destruction.
I believe this parable applies to us, individually, and as a Church. Since 2 years after the Church was founded in 1830 we have been under condemnation. “And they shall remain under this condemnation until they repent and remember the new covenant, even the Book of Mormon and the former commandments which I have given them, not only to say, but to do according to that which I have written.” Fortunately, as individuals, we can remove ourselves from such condemnation by reading and using the Book of Mormon as we should, and by keeping the commandments and covenants we have received.
As we strive to follow Christ, and seek guidance and revelation from the Lord, we become watchmen upon the tower. It is primarily through being in-tune with the Spirit that we can see the enemy coming from afar and act accordingly. As we continue to build Zion, to establish the Kingdom of God upon this earth, in other words, as we do our part to build the Tower, the Spirit of the Lord will be upon us, and will warn us of danger.
The Tower also represents our homes and communities.
We must become watchmen upon our own towers and keep the enemy from destroying ourselves and our families. We must have a good relationship with our spouse and raise our children in righteousness.
We also have a civic responsibility to be involved in strengthening our communities, and standing up for correct principles and good government. As more and more people stand up for what is right within our communities, they will be protected from the evils of the world, for “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is Liberty“.
I believe the building of the tower also relates to the building up of the political Kingdom of God as mentioned in the scriptures. The Book of Revelation, Chapter 12, refers to a woman who flees from the dragon into the wilderness, and brings forth a man child, “who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron”. We read in the Bible Dictionary that “The woman is the Church; the man child is the political kingdom of God growing out of the Church.”
How does the Constitution relate to the parable of the watchtower?
I believe that Joseph Smith’s mention of the “constitution on the brink of ruin” helps us to better understand the timeline of events related in the parable. It is also stated that “they (the saints) shall bear the constitution away from the very verge of destruction”. This should serve as a reminder of those principles we must be upholding, the principles of Liberty.
After relating the parable of the watchtower, Joseph Smith said:
” …the Enemy shall come as a thief in the night and scatter the servants abroad when the seed of these 12 Olive trees are scattered abroad they will wake up the Nations of the whole Earth. Even this Nation will be on the very verge of crumbling to pieces and tumbling to the ground, and when the constitution is upon the brink of ruin, this people will be the Staff upon which the Nation shall lean, and they shall bear the constitution away from the very verge of destruction. Then shall the Lord say, “go, tell all my servants who are the strength of mine house, my young men, and middle aged, and come to the Land of my vineyard and fight the battle of the Lord”. Then the Kings & Queens shall come, then the rulers of the Earth shall come, then shall all saints come, yea the Foreign saints shall come to fight for the Land of my vineyard, for in this thing shall be their safety, and they will have no power to choose but will come as a man fleeth from a sudden destruction.”
I believe Joseph Smith was prophesying about events past, events currently happening and those to come.
We are currently in the days where the Constitution is “hanging by a thread”, the Secret Combinations have obtained sole management of the government, and the nation is getting ripe for destruction. The enemy is among us, and people are waking up.
There is still time to strengthen ourselves and others, to preach the Gospel unto all the earth, to stand up for freedom; to lift where we stand.
Ezra Taft Benson warned us that one of the devils most effective neutralizers is:
“‘Don’t do anything in the fight for freedom until the Church sets up its own specific program to save the Constitution’… To those slothful servants who will not do anything until they are ‘compelled in all things’, maybe the Lord will never set up a specific church program for the purpose of saving the Constitution. Perhaps if he set one up at this time it might split the Church asunder, and perhaps he does not want that to happen yet for not all the wheat and tares are fully ripe.”
The prophesied time will come, the moment we’ve all been waiting for, when we will finally take back the Lord’s vineyard (from the enemy), place watchmen round about and on the walls, and finish building the tower (Zion).
“The field is white already to harvest; wherefore, thrust in your sickles, and reap with all your might, mind, and strength.” (D&C 33:7)
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Beyond the thoughts I have shared with you, I’d also like to share some insights from others that I have asked about the meaning of the parable of the tower in the past:
The Tower was supposed to be a Watch tower to view the enemy while they were afar off. I believe a modern day ‘watch tower’ would have been a news service like like a CNN or Fox News. It would’ve been extremely expensive to build but we could have watch the politicians during Christmas breaks changing our Constitution by passing unratified ammendments and Federal Reserve Acts. We could further warn the Saints concerning the deceptions in war and promote truth and expose wickedness to a worldwide audience. It would be a broadcast “tower” to the world.
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I take this as, the Tower is the Constitution or the knowledge of it (Knowledge = Power) and that knowledge acts as a Tower. If you know the principles of freedom then you can see the enemy afar off when they say things that are in conflict with constitutional principles. Remember anything more or less than the Constitution cometh of evil, the Tower is the principles of the Constitution (“know your constitution!”). The people do not want to know all about what is in the constitution because they have no need and then the enemy, Gadiantons, have taken the constitution (tower) and the Lord is commanding US to take it back! The Lord asks for his strong servants, young men and middle age?? This is the youth that have been held back for 6000 years! Think on it carefully. “Young men and middle age servants, the old ones had their chance and they messed it up in the Pres. Mckay and Pres. Benson’s times, they had no need to study the constitution (tower) and refused to listen to Mckay and Benson (save a few). Now it has been taken over by the evil men scheming to change our Tower (constitution) to their own liking! This is what I take from all this, now is our time, this is our moment to take back the Tower.
I also know there is a lot of “endure to the end” to be done, John the revelator talks of the great patience of the Saints. Just a thought.
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In the other parables of the vineyard, it meant the earth.
This vineyard is a choice spot in the land, and that would be the US in my eyes.
Those on the towers are those that would guard this land, protect the liberty.
If liberty falls, the church does not exist in this land.
To me, this says that we have been called to stand up, climb the towers and uproot all those that are enemies to liberty, because they are enemies to the gospel of Jesus Christ by being such. And in order to do that, we must preach the gospel, and preach it in action. We stand up, we get involved, we educate the people, and we take the country back. As we do this, it destroys their strong holds, their power, and they crumble to the earth.
That is how I was impressed. To get up and defend the gospel through protecting the liberty of this nation. That it is my mission to do so, and that I was sent in this time because I will risk it all to save liberty, therefore protecting the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Thank you for the response. That was great.
Reading this makes me want to cry. There are so many who reject the truth, reject even the concept of the gadiantons or subscribe them to the ‘mafia’ or other obvious criminal element. What was said was spot on. How we can be effective in our educating is another matter, until the people wake up.
I actually think that the wolves in sheeps clothing are the Republicans. I am just waking up to this myself so hear me out–I am certainly no democrat. Republicans talk the talk but never walk the walk. All they do is support Wall Street business who through their greed almost destroyed the global financial system. I thought it was the dems who were to blame but when you think about it–who is the party that demanded that no strings be attached to the govt bailout. You’ll be surprised to find that Republicans wouldn’t pass the bailout unless it was a free sum that the investment banks took and then used to pay huge bonuses to their executives. These same people were given huge tax breaks as well, while their companies enjoy offshore tax loopholes.
How many Republicans need to end up on Craiglist shirtless before we wake up to the conservative hypocrisy. They are the wolves and they are seducing the elect in the last days.
Our nation is being destroyed because almost everyone today in the nation (even in the church) ‘support or cause’ the disintegration of marriage & the family.
It is impossible to save our nation, no matter what we do, unless we 1st stop divorce from happening.
As long as we believe in & allow divorce & remarriage or support others who do it, there is no chance for our nation or even Church to survive much longer.
When marriages are destroyed, so are the individuals involved & the churches & the societies.
Only Christ’s law of ‘unconditional true love’ can save marriages or our nation, all other efforts will be in vain if we don’t live this high law.
No one who possesses this ‘unconditional true love of Christ’ would ever divorce for any reason, nor would they ever remarry, even if their spouse left & divorced them. They would wait until their spouse returned & repented in this life or the next & thus save their marriage & family eternally.
As long as the nation & churches, especially the LDS church (the salt of the earth) allows divorce & remarriage so easily without consequences, which just encourages it’s members to do it, then it will be impossible to stop the Gadiantons from complete takeover. Which has already happened & we are thus living on borrowed time until the Lord cleanses the earth for good.
Only the rare few who have kept their covenants to their spouse of ‘unconditional true love’ & have not supported their family & friends in divorcing their spouse & destroying themselves & their children, will be able to escape the coming calamities & holocausts & finally help build up Zion.
For Zion can only be built upon the foundation of keeping marriage covenants by having unconditional true love for a spouse, no matter what they do or where they may go or with whom. Nothing less will do or save us.
A M A Z I N G !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! tHANKS… : )) !!!
Prophecy of Joseph Smith, as recorded by Parley P. Pratt (January 21, 1841):
The government is fallen and needs redeeming. It is guilty of blood and cannot stand as it is now, but will come so near desolation as to hang as it were by a single hair! Then the servants go to the nations of the earth, and gather the strength of the Lord’s house! A mighty army! And this is the redemption of Zion when the saints shall have redeemed that government and reinstated it in all its purity and glory![D&C 101:43] (Source: George A. Smith Papers, Church Archives, Box 7, Folder 5; D. Michael Stewart, Ensign, vol. 6, No. 6, Jun 1976, pp. 64-65)
I have enjoyed this discussion on the Constitution and this Parable. After reading many related articles, but especially Section 101 and 103 it is apparent that Joseph Smith is the servant to whom the lord of the vineyard (the Savior) asked to go and reclaim his vineyard in D&C 101:55(See D&C 103:21-22, 105:16 for this).
If this is true then the vineyard must have been mostly “lost” before his calling as a prophet (and maybe even the church being restored?). This would point to the beginnings of our country, being that Joseph Smith was born only about 30 years after our country was founded (1776-1806), otherwise it would be a reference to the Great Apostasy caused by the earlier “servants” of the vineyard (church Christ established).
The vineyard being the world, and the “very choice spot of land” being America, and the tower being the Consititutional Freedoms purchased through the shedding of blood (D&C 101: 56 purchased with money=live savings of early saints, blood of patriots, and/or Atonement?), all point to the argument that the freedoms we hold as given to us from God are to be that tower spoken of, showing the people of the world where to go for security and life.
President Benson, a wonderful patriot of our Constitution, unceasingly spoke of the constant evils in the world seeking to overthrow its God ordained mission to the world. Whether it was Communism then, Naziism, Socialism, or any other “ism” including Terrorism today, if they seek to take away our freedom to worship God according to the dictates of our own conscience then they are of those “secret combinations” spoken and warned of.
Today they are everywhere, in our government, in every government, and in most political organizations. The Lord warned that the wheat would grow up with the tares, when talking about the church established by Joseph Smith for the last time. This means that we will have “faithful” members of the church fighting against the truth and supporting such things. Instead of removing ourselves from the church, our duty is to stand faithful where the Lord can use us to help others -see D&C 103:27-28 “Let no man be afraid to lay down his life for my sake: for whoso layeth down his life for my sake shall find it again. And whoso is not willing to lay down his life for my sake is not my disciple.”
The earlier saints and “warriors” called by the Lord through Joseph Smith to reclaim his vineyard did not hearken to His words (D&C 105:17). Those faithful at the time kept their reward, but it appears the reclaiming of the vineyard will fall to those of His church at another time. We all fought for freedom to gain our bodies, and it is my opinion that part of keeping our second estate here will be to fearlessly stand for those found in our great Constitution today. We must all be true, real, sincere and fearless in the truth we have. Be men, and be women! With the Lord we WILL NOT fail!
-Sincerely,
Jason Israel Bishop
I wish I could do so much more, I have left, like Lehi did, and occasionally hold out hope that I was wrong. First let me say there’s no such thing as a fallen prophet because God would kill him first. There are false prophets and true prophets, no fallen ones. Now let me say what can save America and spare even more than just a residue or remnant of the saints when it hits, no votes, no legislation, nothing can save a nation whose enemy is not China, is not the Secret Combinations, but is the very One of Israel whose sword and arm cannot be held back. He is the One who can stay His own arm and sword if He chooses based on the prayers, and faith of that nation’s people. Ah I hear them saying in one accord that they have faith but have forgotten what works can be claimed as faith: doing what the Prophet says, and this is what Pres.Monson and all the others have said repeatedly: listen to the Holy Ghost and do what it says. And also understand Isaiah because it reveals the entire last days events in their entirety. Because the saints do not know why the sword hangs above them, I assume they did not understand Isaiah. There’s no time here to explain, and there’s no use. When death comes, do not fear, we all make mistakes and the sword strikes all of us from time to time, it does not mean we are condemned, not all who died in the Flood of Noah were sons of perdition, many babies drowned were noble elect, and even of the adults not all were completely culpable. Even Moses, even the Apostles made mistakes. So I don’t judge, I merely state the facts that a sword is about to fall and only a remnant or residue will be spared. Farewell until we’re all clothed and crowned at our next meeting my dear brothers and sisters! Facebook.com/BenArnold4u
http://loyaltotheword.synthasite.com/the-secret-combination.php
For the singing watchman, I just wanted to share a couple of scriptures, that when used in conjunction are very effective in disentangling people minds from the lies.
Awaken in Christ!
As we began to prompted to awaken ourselves to the scandal and corruption around us and are summoned to either join with our brothers on the left or on the right to defend ourselves against the opposing party. Please remember this; The commandment to awaken ourselves has been amongst us ever since the resotoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
In Ether 8:24 it says,
Wherefore , the Lord commandeth you, when ye shall see these things come among you that ye shall awake to a sense of your awful situation, because of this secret combination which shall shall be among you. For it cometh to pass that whoso buildeth it up seeketh to overthrow the freedom of all lands, nations and countries, and it bringeth to pass the destruction of all people, for it is built up by the Devil, who is the father of all lies.
So the commandment has always been there, but now we are being pushed and prodded to awaken ourselves, but by whom?
Are they friend are foe? Check out this scripture.
D&C 38:30
I tell you these things because of your prayers; wherefore treasure up wisdom in your bosoms, lest the wickedness of men reveal these things unto you by their wickedness, in a manner which shall speak in your ears with voice louder than that which shall shake the earth; but if ye are prepared ye shall not fear.
If we want a true awakening in Christ, it is my prayer that we will all subscribe to the teachings of ancient and latter day prophets. We have a living prophet, his presidency and 12 apostles. These men are oracles of God. If God intends on establishing his Kingdom in this dispensation you can be rest assured that he has reserved the most qualified for the last days. Let us all turn from worldy teachings and place our faith in the instructions of God’s servants. God Bless.
As I work to prepare for the Second Coming, I cast my lot with the watchmen on the tower. I pray that each of us will do the same, in the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen.