Ether 8:22-25
22. And whatsoever nation shall uphold such secret combinations, to get power and gain, until they shall spread over the nation, behold, they shall be destroyed; for the Lord will not suffer that the blood of his saints, which shall be shed by them, shall always cry unto him from the ground for vengeance upon them and yet he avenge them not.
23. Wherefore, O ye Gentiles, it is wisdom in God that these things should be shown unto you, that thereby ye may repent of your sins, and suffer not that these murderous combinations shall get above you, which are built up to get power and gain—and the work, yea, even the work of destruction come upon you, yea, even the sword of the justice of the Eternal God shall fall upon you, to your overthrow and destruction if ye shall suffer these things to be.
24. 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 be among you; or wo be unto it, because of the blood of them who have been slain; for they cry from the dust for vengeance upon it, and also upon those who built it up.
25. 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; even that same liar who beguiled our first parents, yea, even that same liar who hath caused man to commit murder from the beginning; who hath hardened the hearts of men that they have murdered the prophets, and stoned them, and cast them out from the beginning.
The Apocrapha:
The original King James Bible between the New and the Old Testaments was a collection of books know as "The Apocrapha." In 1885, the Apocrapha was removed from future printings by the Church of England. Joseph Smith commented on the Apocrapha in 1833:
Doctrine and Covenants 91:1-6
1 Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you concerning the Apocrypha—There are many things contained therein that are true, and it is mostly translated correctly;
2 There are many things contained therein that are not true, which are interpolations by the hands of men.
3 Verily, I say unto you, that it is not needful that the Apocrypha should be translated.
4 Therefore, whoso readeth it, let him understand, for the Spirit manifesteth truth;
5 And whoso is enlightened by the Spirit shall obtain benefit therefrom;
6 And whoso receiveth not by the Spirit, cannot be benefited. Therefore it is not needful that it should be translated. Amen.
2 Esdrus 10:59-12:46 - Ezra's Eagle Prophecy
2 Esdras
Chapter 11
7 And I beheld, and, lo, the eagle rose upon her talons, and spake to her feathers, saying,
8 Watch not all at once: sleep every one in his own place, and watch by course:
9 But let the heads be preserved for the last.
10 And I beheld, and, lo, the voice went not out of her heads, but from the midst of her body.
11 And I numbered her contrary feathers, and, behold, there were eight of them.
15 Then came there a voice unto it, and said,
17 There shall none after thee attain unto thy time, neither unto the half thereof.
18 Then arose the third, and reigned as the other before, and appeared no more also.
21 For some of them were set up, but ruled not.
23 And there was no more upon the eagle's body, but three heads that rested, and six little wings.
26 And I beheld, and, lo, there was one set up, but shortly it appeared no more.
27 And the second was sooner away than the first.
28 And I beheld, and, lo, the two that remained thought also in themselves to reign:
30 And then I saw that the two other heads were joined with it.
35 And I beheld, and, lo, the head upon the right side devoured it that was upon the left side.
38 Hear thou, I will talk with thee, and the Highest shall say unto thee,
41 For the earth hast thou not judged with truth.
43 Therefore is thy wrongful dealing come up unto the Highest, and thy pride unto the Mighty.
2 Esdras
Chapter 12
7 And I beheld, and, lo, the eagle rose upon her talons, and spake to her feathers, saying,
8 Watch not all at once: sleep every one in his own place, and watch by course:
9 But let the heads be preserved for the last.
10 And I beheld, and, lo, the voice went not out of her heads, but from the midst of her body.
11 And I numbered her contrary feathers, and, behold, there were eight of them.
15 Then came there a voice unto it, and said,
17 There shall none after thee attain unto thy time, neither unto the half thereof.
18 Then arose the third, and reigned as the other before, and appeared no more also.
21 For some of them were set up, but ruled not.
23 And there was no more upon the eagle's body, but three heads that rested, and six little wings.
26 And I beheld, and, lo, there was one set up, but shortly it appeared no more.
27 And the second was sooner away than the first.
28 And I beheld, and, lo, the two that remained thought also in themselves to reign:
30 And then I saw that the two other heads were joined with it.
35 And I beheld, and, lo, the head upon the right side devoured it that was upon the left side.
38 Hear thou, I will talk with thee, and the Highest shall say unto thee,
41 For the earth hast thou not judged with truth.
43 Therefore is thy wrongful dealing come up unto the Highest, and thy pride unto the Mighty.
One Possible Example
Ether 8 is a prophetic warning of Secret Combinations. The following is a story by Dr. Emanuel Tanya, a well-known and well-respected psychiatrist, titled "Islam, A German View." Islam - A German View A man, whose family was German aristocracy prior to World War II, owned a number of large industries and estates. When asked how many German people were true Nazis, the answer he gave can guide our attitude toward fanaticism. "Very few people were true Nazis," he said, "but many enjoyed the return of German pride, and many more were too busy to care. I was one of those who just thought the Nazis were a bunch of fools. So, the majority just sat back and let it all happen. Then, before we knew it, they owned us, and we had lost control, and the end of the world had come." "My family lost everything. I ended up in a concentration camp and the Allies destroyed my factories."
"We are told again and again by 'experts' and 'talking heads' that Islam is a religion of peace and that the vast majority of Muslims just want to live in peace. Although this unqualified assertion may be true, it is entirely irrelevant. It is meaningless fluff meant to make us feel better, and meant to somehow diminish the specter of fanatics rampaging across the globe in the name of Islam." "The fact is that the fanatics rule Islam at this moment in history. It is the fanatics who march. It is the fanatics who wage any one of 50 shooting wars worldwide. It is the fanatics who systematically slaughter Christian or tribal groups throughout Africa and are gradually taking over the entire continent in an Islamic wave. It is the fanatics who bomb, behead, murder, or honor-kill. It is the fanatics who take over mosque after mosque. It is the fanatics who zealously spread the stoning and hanging of rape victims and homosexuals. It is the fanatics who teach their young to kill and to become suicide bombers." "The hard, quantifiable fact is that the peaceful majority, the 'silent majority,' is cowed and extraneous. Communist Russia was comprised of Russians who just wanted to live in peace, yet the Russian Communists were responsible for the murder of about 20 million people. The peaceful majority were irrelevant. China's huge population was peaceful as well, but Chinese Communists managed to kill a staggering 70 million people."
"The average Japanese individual prior to World War II was not a warmongering sadist. Yet, Japan murdered and slaughtered its way across South East Asia in an orgy of killing that included the systematic murder of 12 million Chinese civilians; most killed by sword, shovel, and bayonet. And who can forget Rwanda, which collapsed into butchery? Could it not be said that the majority of Rwandans were 'peace loving'?" "History lessons are often incredibly simple and blunt, yet for all our powers of reason, we often miss the most basic and uncomplicated of points: peace-loving Muslims have been made irrelevant by their silence. Peace-loving Muslims will become our enemy if they don't speak up, because like my friend from Germany, they will awaken one day and find that the fanatics own them, and the end of their world will have begun."
"Peace-loving Germans, Japanese, Chinese, Russians, Rwandans, Serbs, Afghans, Iraqis, Palestinians, Somalis, Nigerians, Algerians, and many others have died because the peaceful majority did not speak up until it was too late." "Now Islamic prayers have been introduced in Toronto and other public schools in Ontario, and, yes, in Ottawa too, while the Lord's Prayer was removed (due to being so offensive?). The Islamic way may be peaceful for the time being in our country until the fanatics move in." "In Australia , and indeed in many countries around the world, many of the most commonly consumed food items have the halal emblem on them. Just look at the back of some of the most popular chocolate bars, and at other food items in your local supermarket. Food on aircraft have the halal emblem just to appease the privileged minority who are now rapidly expanding within the nation's shores." "In the U.K, the Muslim communities refuse to integrate and there are now dozens of 'no-go' zones within major cities across the country that the police force dare not intrude upon. Sharia law prevails there, because the Muslim community in those areas refuse to acknowledge British law." "As for us who watch it all unfold, we must pay attention to the only group that counts - the fanatics who threaten our way of life."
Now consider if this fits Ether 8:22-25.
22. And whatsoever nation shall uphold such secret combinations, to get power and gain, until they shall spread over the nation, behold, they shall be destroyed; for the Lord will not suffer that the blood of his saints, which shall be shed by them, shall always cry unto him from the ground for vengeance upon them and yet he avenge them not.
23. Wherefore, O ye Gentiles, it is wisdom in God that these things should be shown unto you, that thereby ye may repent of your sins, and suffer not that these murderous combinations shall get above you, which are built up to get power and gain—and the work, yea, even the work of destruction come upon you, yea, even the sword of the justice of the Eternal God shall fall upon you, to your overthrow and destruction if ye shall suffer these things to be.
24. 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 be among you; or wo be unto it, because of the blood of them who have been slain; for they cry from the dust for vengeance upon it, and also upon those who built it up.
25. 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; even that same liar who beguiled our first parents, yea, even that same liar who hath caused man to commit murder from the beginning; who hath hardened the hearts of men that they have murdered the prophets, and stoned them, and cast them out from the beginning.
A Dream
"And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:" - Joel 2:28
My friend shared his dream from September 2005, which might be descriptive of the three headed eagle in the Ezra's Eagle prophecy.
I am not much of a dreamer and I have very rarely had any dream that I felt had any significance. This morning, however, I had a dream ight before I woke up that seemed so full of powerful symbolism that I felt I should record it.
In my dream I had returned to my home one evening. It was dark outside and as I walked up my driveway I noticed that a flagpole in my front yard had a flag that had been torn. (I don't have a flag in my front yard and the house was old and rather run down. Although neither the house nor the flag pole are really mine, they were in my dream.)
When I examined my flag, it looked somewhat like the picture below with only part of three stripes left on the bottom. My first thought was that there must have been a strong wind which had torn the flag.
As i inspected the flag more closely, I found tangled in the rope and folds of the flag a severed eagle talon. Upon further inspection I then found a severed head of a bald eagle. The head was small and rather scrawny, much like the head of a chicken though I could easily tell that it was a bald eagle head. I looked around and saw on the roof of the house the body of the eagle. It was large and full and I thought it was strange that such a small scrawny head would have been attached to that large full body.
My eyes wandered to the right and I saw another dead bald eagle. This one was hanging upside down from the soffit of the roof much like a bat. I felt it and it was dry and brittle as thought it had been dead for some time. The eagle was entirely small and scrawny.
I attempted to start cleaning when I saw a third eagle. This one was large and fierce looking. It was still alive and was watching me. Not wanting to be attacked by it while I was cleaning up the mess, I tried to scare it away. It flew off the roof but kept coming back. Finally I scared it down the street. Once down the street a little way, large metal gates came crashing down blocking the street and separating me from the live eagle. The gates were the type you would see on parkinig structures and they formed an inpenitrable wall. They came down with such force that they startled me and my first thought was that I was being imprisoned. Then I thought to myself, "no, these gates are for my safety."
I turned back to my work and taking down the large carcass with no head, a pile of red maggots dropped out onto the ground. At this point in my dream, I had family helping me clean up the mess. We were using some kind of pelletgs to clean up which were very scarce and we wanted to use them sparingly. The more we tried to clean, the more mess we seemed to make. The red maggots were strewn all over the ground and werre difficult to clean up. I was asked why I was cleaning up the mess rather than just calling the police. Now that I had started to dispose of the carcasses I would be in trouble if anyone else found out. I stated that I didn't trust the police and felt that I would be in trouble regardless if I had called them.
It was then that I woke up from the dream.
I don't know if these items have any significance but since the dream they have stood out in my mind. There were three stripes left on the flag. There were three eagles. The first dead eagle had a small and scrawny head ba a large full body.