Asmireen
©2024 by Jonathan Scott
- - - - - - - - - -
An Afterword
- - - - - - - - - -
An Afterword
It is now May of 2024. I finished writing Asmireen in January of 2004. I've had over twenty years to think about my book and reflect on it in its finished state. I have also read it several times, updating it here and there. I am quite proud of it, although, I have received several unflattering reviews from friends and such. One guy said that it was crazy. Another person actually looked at me like they were worried about me. Some people get it though. One woman was so happy after having read the first several chapters that she walked up to me and kissed my cheek. It's not a nice book. I admit that. I can understand why some would be upset about it.
Two years after having it first self-published, I put the book up at my home page. I was tired of trying to find a publisher and I wanted people to be able to read it instead of just hiding it in my closet. I thought it would be a waste to write a thing such as this and then never allow anyone else to look at it. It was probably a bad career decision. It made it so no publisher would ever be interested in it. I'm putting it back up on the internet now. I'll try to keep it up. For those who are interested, there will be a link on the following home page so you can go and order a physical copy if you would like.
StuffbyJonathanScott.com
There are a few things about this book though that I would like to explain. I'll try to be brief.
Concerning the Quotes I Will Use
I'm going to try and explain a bunch of stuff now, and to do it, I will often refer to the scriptures and give other quotes. None of what I offer here is proof of anything. I use the quotes simply because they often illustrate a point I am trying to make very well...and the quotes also show that I am not the only person who has had these thoughts before. And, depending on who the writer was, the quotes can sometimes be viewed as almost a mathematical way of calculating what the truth is on any given subject.
a - An Apology
Profanity. When I first wrote this book, I actually included some in it. To make the book cleaner though, I didn't actually spell any of the profanity out, I simply used pound symbols ("#") for each of the letters of each word of it.
I recently figured out that even though the letters of it all were replaced, it was still pretty offensive. People can figure out the words pretty easily and people who don't want to hear profanity end up hearing it anyway.
I apologize for having put it in there. It seemed like a good idea twenty years ago. It doesn't seem to be a good one anymore.
b - My Goal and Influences
When I decided to write the origin of the Devil, I decided to use all of the popular definitions of him that have happened over the centuries. Horns... Wings... Claws... Huge... etc.
I gathered up a bunch of different sources on the Devil and I tried to put it all together in a way that made sense. Why would he behave that way? Why would it be like this? Basically, I was trying to write a new version of C.S. Lewis's "Screwtape Letters" for the new generation. Here are a few of the sources I used to design this particular universe.
Dungeons & Dragons
Asmireen was initially just a D&D campaign that I ran while I was in college. Back then, I thought it might be interesting to have the devil Asmodeus from the Monster Manual (1977) create a world for his daughter Glasya to rule over (from the Monster Manual II in 1983). The way I decided to have him do this was to dispatch teams of pit fiends (Monster Manual 1977) to the smaller cities to destroy them, but then to create a new religion inside the main city of Eastbrook itself which had the goal of enslaving everyone. The campaign didn't make it very far, but the storyline stayed with me. I stayed pretty true to this basic design throughout all of Asmireen.
The city of Eastbrook itself I designed while I served my mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Paris, France from 1985 to 1987. I had been playing D&D ever since I was about 13 or 14. For a while I also played with Fred Funk in St. Paul. Fred Funk was one of the original playtesters for Dungeons & Dragons. He was a great dungeonmaster and a really nice guy. He was also quite famous in the cities. So, I got to participate in some very high quality games. It was a wonderful experience that really stayed with me.
The Garden of Earthly Delights
by Heironymus Bosch
Why would devils be eating people and then pooping them out? I got this idea from the below painting.
According to the Wikipedia article, in about 1500 A.D. a painter from the Netherlands called Hieronymus Bosch painted a triptych (a painting with three panels) for, probably, a private patron.
The painting is in the public domain, so I can show it to you. If you would like a closer look at it though, please check it out online.
The three panels, left to right, show The Garden of Eden, the Earth, and Hell. I'm not going to go into much detail on it all. It's a very famous painting and there are lots of people much better qualified than I am online who can teach you all about it in detail.
In this painting though, in the right panel, on the right side towards the bottom, there is a figure on a throne that appears to also function as a toilet. He is simultaneously eating, but also excreting men. The entire right panel is trying to show all of the torments of the damned in Hell. This then is one of the torments.
For the record, in the Wikipedia article, this character is referred to as the "Prince of Hell" and in the caption it is said that this is the person "who feeds on the souls of corrupt and lecherous clergy."
My goal with the book was to try to take all of the pieces of folklore surrounding the Devil and Hell and to try to make it all make some kind of sense. I simply couldn't understand why someone would choose to do these things. Who in the world would want to be eternally eating people...especially evil priests? From the tormentor's perspective, wouldn't they lose their motivation for it at some point?
If a person could profit from eating others though, they might be willing to do it eternally. So, how could a person profit by consuming another?
There are people who buy binoculars and walk around staring at finches, robins and all sorts of other birds as often as their schedule permits. Other than that, people tend to leave birds alone.
Things sure do change though for chickens and other animals that happen to taste good. Around animals like that, entire industries come into being. We raise them, feed them, kill them, package them and sell them. In other words, if you can profit off of an activity, people will make profiting off of it a huge part of their lives.
So, that's what I did. I designed a world where, in Hell, the people there could get stronger, and therefore safer, by consuming one another. Once they realized the advantages of consuming, the evil people there just began treating one another like cattle.
The Divine Comedy
by Dante Alighieri
Why was the devil so big in the book. Isn't the devil supposed to be normal-sized? Dante is where I got the idea to make him larger.
Here is a quote from the "The Divine Comedy" by Dante Alighieri.
The Emperor of the kingdom dolorous
From his mid−breast forth issued from the ice; And better with a giant I compare
Than do the giants with those arms of his; Consider now how great must be that whole, Which unto such a part conforms itself. (The Divine Comedy, Canto XXXIV).
"Dolorous" means to feel great sorrow or distress.
In the book, written in the early 1300s, the devil is sitting in a lake, half-frozen. The previous illustration, according to Wikimedia Commons, was drawn by the french artist Paul Gustave Louis Christophe Doré in 1861. He is depicted as having three faces and he is not nearly as tall as I describe him in the end of my book. This image is also in the public domain.
In other more current sources he is depicted as being even taller. In the movie "Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey" by Director Peter Hewitt (1991) he is perhaps 300 feet tall or more. On the cover of the album "Holy Diver" by the band Dio (1983), he is depicted as several thousand feet tall, and on that cover, he is shown hunting after a priest. In my book, he is shown as being over 10,000 feet tall.
Once I gathered up all of these ideas, it was just a matter of filling in the blanks so that it could make some sense for their universe.
c - What is Evil?
Because the Devil is the most evil being in existence many people are surprised when they read my book, because in it he appears to have a pleasant personality. And to put it in one reader's words, "He seemed like he was a good guy."
I think I need to explain that. Every aspect of the Devil was done intentionally in this book. The character, as I portrayed him in my book, was, in my opinion, what the most evil person would be like in the universe that I was describing. Please let me explain.
What are truly evil people like? Have you ever really stopped to think about it? What are the people who do the most damage in this world like? I'm not talking about those who merely just sin. I'm talking about those who aggressively seek after evil repeatedly, often to the harm of themselves and those around them. I'm talking about those who seem to love evil.
Here is a scripture that will help us:
Matthew
22.35 Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying,
22.36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
22.37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
22.38 This is the first and great commandment.
22.39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
22.40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
I always use this scripture to explain to people what good is or what it takes to be a good person. Simply, to be good, we have to love. And, specifically, we should love God and love our neighbors (a.k.a. other people). I'm not sure exactly how this applies to atheists. I know a few who live very admirable lives and I would hate to refer to them as evil simply because God hasn't blessed them with a testimony yet. If you do happen to be an atheist, please simply bear with me for a few more paragraphs and trust that I have no ill will towards you.
It's my intention to show what evil looks like by taking the above passage that describes goodness and inverting it. The opposite should show us what evil looks like. Before I do this though, I believe the above scripture says a little more than what it appears to say at first glance. I'm going to explore the above passage a little more deeply before we proceed to the next step.
First, if you choose to love God, then it also means that you believe in the existence of God.
Second, if you love God, then you are also accepting the fact that God is, in fact, a God. This means that you accept that He is omnipotent, omniscient, immortal and that He loves you, because this is how the Bible defines Him.
Third, if you believe that there is a God and you believe that He is a God, the third thing that you would also accept is that His commandments are things that should be obeyed. Obedience. You would decide that your own mortal and imperfect attempts at wisdom are nothing compared to His infinite wisdom. And you would defer all of your decisions in preference to His.
An important note: Loving God, the first commandment, is placed over loving thy neighbor in importance. This makes sense in that, men are not perfectly wise. And, if the main goal of the commandments is to bring about as much happiness as is possible for all, then it only makes sense that whenever our own opinions contradict the wisdom of an omniscient, all-loving and perfect God that we should forsake our own imperfect logic in favor of His. Because God knows all, His decisions will create more happiness than would our own.
Considering this, the most evil person in existence therefore would break all five of these commandments to the largest extent possible.
1. They would not love God
2. They would not treat anyone the way they themselves would prefer to be treated in any given situation.
3. They would not believe in God
or perhaps a better way of saying this would be...
4. They would not believe that God was omnipotent, omniscient, immortal and that He loved all.
5. They would not love God enough to choose to obey any of His commandments.
If this is what ultimate evil would look like, then, my task then became this: how do you write a plausible character that fulfills all of these requirements?
Perhaps we need a longer list. More details will help us to write our character out more fully.
Here is another clue from the scriptures.
Timothy
6.10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
According to the above scripture, an evil man would have as his primary motivation the acquisition of money. Why do people seek after money though? The answer, obviously, is so that they can get things. How do you get the things though that aren't for sale? Power (Political, religious...etc.). Therefore, I will add the following to our list of qualities of evil:
6. They would have as their primary motivation to seek after money and power in order to get the objects or experiences they most desire.
I will add to this list another quality: a state of non-ignorance. If I hurt an innocent person accidentally, it is wrong. Obviously, if I hurt an innocent person intentionally though, it is more wrong. Therefore...
7. They would know that what they are doing is hurting themselves or others.
I'm going to use the following quote though and modify this last item on the list slightly.
Ignorance is not innocence but sin. - Robert Browning
Therefore...
7. They either know or should know that what they are doing is hurting themselves or others.
The last quality I felt like adding to the list was acceptance. The most evil people would be those who have done the wrong that they do for such a long amount of time that they simply accept their evil as common and comfortable. They would be used to doing these things. Therefore...
8. They would be so comfortable with their sin that they can do the sin without feeling any shame or remorse.
So, let's put it all together. This is what evil would look like in my opinion. And, the greater extent to which you do these things, the more evil you are. And, in Asmodeus' case, he did these things to the greatest extent possible in the world in which he lived, thereby making himself the most evil being in his universe.
1. They would not love God
2. They would not treat anyone the way they themselves would prefer to be treated in any given situation.
3. They would not believe in God
or...
4. They would not believe that God was omnipotent, omniscient, immortal and that He loved all.
5. They would not love God enough to choose to obey any of His commandments.
6. They would have as their primary motivation to seek after money and power in order to get the objects or experiences they most desire.
7. They either know or should know that what they are doing is hurting themselves or others.
8. They would be so comfortable with their sin that they can do the sin without feeling any shame or remorse.
For the record, concerning Asmodeus, all of the pleasantries, all of his nice words, all of his false caring and all of his false thoughtfulness were there only for the sake of his own entertainment. He simply wanted to be pleasant most of the time because he enjoyed that more than all the other alternatives and as you may have noticed in the book, he threw away that facade at a moment's notice if he felt so inclined.
He really was the worst man I could design.
d - Satan vs Asmodeus
Asmodeus, as I wrote him in my book, is not what I believe the true Devil to be like.
In my book, Asmodeus has a body and gains powers and skills by "consuming" other souls. In my book, Asmodeus is capable of physical and mental growth. In reality though, Satan is damned. He can no longer progress. He cannot grow. This is a significant difference.
In my book, the reason why Asmodeus talks people into sin is so they will go to Hell and so he can consume them thereby gaining more power. His ultimate goal is to kill God and take over Heaven.
In reality though and in my book as well, God could never be killed and therefore could never be dethroned. Satan cannot grow and Satan could never take over Heaven. Therefore, Satan's reason for tempting and destroying humanity is not for the sake of gaining power or money. It is for another reason. In my opinion, it is merely because he knows he is damned; he is out of options and out of happiness and all he has left to provide him with entertainment, or revenge, is our misery. In my opinion, he is now nothing more than bitterly and diabolically insane. This also is a very significant difference.
In my book, Asmodeus is mostly just a monster. In reality, the devil is not much more than just a source of bad information and temptation. He is only as scary as we and others allow ourselves to obey him. He does have some power, although it is not much. There are a few instances in scripture where the devil actually does show that he has some control over the physical world. Here are a few references:
Joseph Smith - History
1.14 So, in accordance with this, my determination to ask of God, I retired to the woods to make the attempt. It was on the morning of a bountiful, clear day, early in the spring of eighteen hundred and twenty. It was the first time in my life that I had made such an attempt, for amidst all my anxieties I had never as yet made the attempt to pray vocally.
1.15 After I had retired to the place where I had previously designed to go, having looked around me, and finding myself alone, I kneeled down and began to offer up the desires of my heart to God. I had scarcely done so, when immediately I was seized upon by some power which entirely overcame me, and had such an astonishing influence over me as to bind my tongue so that I could not speak. Thick darkness gathered around me, and it seemed to me for a time as if I were doomed to sudden destruction.
1.16 But, exerting all my powers to call upon God to deliver me out of the power of this enemy which had seized upon me, and at the very moment when I was ready to sink into despair and abandon myself to destruction ‑ not to an imaginary ruin, but to the power of some actual being from the unseen world, who had such marvelous power as I had never before felt in any being‑just at this moment of great alarm, I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me.
Exodus
7.10 And Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharaoh, and they did so as the LORD had commanded: and Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh, and before his servants, and it became a serpent.
7.11 Then Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers: now the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments.
7.12 For they cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents: but Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods.
I am hesitant to mention that Satan has any power whatsoever though. It's simply because, effectively anyway, it is not true. The following is a quote from the April 2006 General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints where an apostle of God, Robert D. Hales, states in more accurate terms the limits of Satan's power.
Some may remember the old adage: "The devil made me do it." Today I want to convey, in absolutely certain terms, that the adversary cannot make us do anything. He does lie at our door, as the scriptures say, and he follows us each day. Every time we go out, every decision we make, we are either choosing to move in his direction or in the direction of our Savior. But the adversary must depart if we tell him to depart. He cannot influence us unless we allow him to do so, and he knows that! The only time he can affect our minds and bodies‑our very spirits‑is when we allow him to do so. In other words, we do not have to succumb to his enticements!
Hales, Robert D.. To Act for Ourselves: The Gift and Blessings of Agency. 2006. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. 6 May 2006.
So, from all of the above information, it can be known that Satan does have some power, but none that matters and no more than we give him. Speaking with perfect accuracy. Satan is not necessarily something that needs to be feared...only disobeyed.
He therefore is quite different from the devil of my book, Asmodeus.
e - Hell
In my book, the afterlife all occurs on one planet. Everyone who has ever been born lives there in one of three different areas: Heaven, Hell and the Middle Kingdoms. This architecture was designed loosely after the three degrees of glory mentioned by Paul and others.
1 Corinthians
15.40 [There are] also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial [is] one, and the [glory] of the terrestrial [is] another.
15.41 [There is] one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for [one] star differeth from [another] star in glory.
The version of Hell my church teaches differs quite a lot from the one I describe in this book and from the usual description of Hell as found in most other Christian religions. In Mormonism, Hell is merely a stopping point for the wicked as they wait for the resurrection. While there they are tormented.
Alma
40.11 Now, concerning the state of the soul between death and the resurrection ‑ Behold, it has been made known unto me by an angel, that the spirits of all men, as soon as they are departed from this mortal body, yea, the spirits of all men, whether they be good or evil, are taken home to that God who gave them life.
40.12 And then shall it come to pass, that the spirits of those who are righteous are received into a state of happiness which is called paradise, a state of rest, a state of peace, where they shall rest from all their troubles and from all care, and sorrow.
40.13 And then shall it come to pass, that the spirits of the wicked, yea, who are evil ‑ for behold, they have no part nor portion of the Spirit of the Lord; for behold, they chose evil works rather than good; therefore the spirit of the devil did enter into them, and take possession of their house ‑ and these shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth, and this because of their own iniquity, being led captive by the will of the devil.
40.14 Now this is the state of the souls of the wicked, yea, in darkness, and a state of awful, fearful looking for the fiery indignation of the wrath of God upon them; thus they remain in this state, as well as the righteous in paradise, until the time of their resurrection.
After Hell, those who so deserve are sent to a place called the "Telestial Kingdom." Those who deserve even worse, such as Satan, will be sent to another place called "Outer Darkness." Being placed in Outer Darkness is the worst punishment God gives and the people who go here are referred to as "Sons of Perdition." Concerning these two places, here are a few scriptures and references.
Matthew
8:12 But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
PUNISHMENT OF SONS OF PERDITION. The extent of this punishment none will ever know except those who partake of it. That it is the most severe punishment that can be meted out to man is apparent. Outer darkness is something which cannot be described, except that we know that it is to be placed beyond the benign and comforting influence of the Spirit of God -- banished entirely from his presence.
This extreme punishment will not be given to any but the sons of perdition. Even the wicked of the earth who never knew the power of God, after they have paid the price of their sinning -- for they must suffer the excruciating torment which sin will bring -- shall at last come forth from the prison house, repentant and willing to bow the knee and acknowledge Christ, to receive some influence of the Spirit of God in the telestial kingdom.
"For they shall be judged according to their works, and every man shall receive according to his own works, his own dominion, in the mansions which are prepared; And they shall be servants of the Most High; but where God and Christ dwell they cannot come, worlds without end."
With the sons of perdition, however, even this blessing is denied. They have wilfully made themselves servants of Satan and servants to him shall they remain forever. They place themselves beyond the power of repentance and beyond the mercies of God.
(Smith, Joseph Fielding Jr.. Doctrines of Salvation, Vol.2. Salt Lake City, UT: Bookcraft Pub., 1956. 220.)
Telestial Glory
...that glory granted the inhabitants of the lowest kingdom of glory is called telestial glory. In the infinite mercy of a beneficent Father it surpasses all mortal understanding, and yet it is in no way comparable to the glory of the terrestrial and celestial worlds. Telestial glory is typified by the stars of the firmament, and "as one star differs from another star in glory, even so differs one from another in glory in the telestial world" (D. & C. 76:81-112; 1 Cor. 15:41), meaning that all who inherit the telestial kingdom will not receive the same glory.
Telestial Kingdom
Most of the adult people who have lived from the day of Adam to the present time will go to the telestial kingdom. The inhabitants of this lowest kingdom of glory will be "as innumerable as the stars in the firmament of heaven, or as the sand upon the seashore." They will be the endless hosts of people of all ages who have lived after the manner of the world; who have been carnal, sensual, and devilish; who have chosen the vain philosophies of the world rather than accept the testimony of Jesus; who have been liars and thieves, sorcerers and adulterers, blasphemers and murderers. (D. & C. 76:81-112; Rev. 22:15.) Their number will include "all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly" (Mal. 4:1), for all such have lived a telestial law. "And they shall be servants of the Most High; but where God and Christ dwell they cannot come, worlds without end." (D. & C. 76:112.)
(McConkie, Bruce R.. Mormon Doctrine. Salt Lake City, UT: Bookcraft Pubs., 1958. 778.)
f - The Ratio of Women to Men in Heaven and Hell
In chapter 12 of my book, Asmodeus states that the ratio of women to men in Heaven is 7:1. He then also states that the ratio of women to men in Hell is 1:7. I'd like to explain why I chose those ratios.
Isaiah
4.1 And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach.
I found this scripture many years ago when I was young and studying. I didn't understand the full meaning of it. I merely saw Mormonism's polygamous past, read the scripture and kept on reading assuming that I understood it well enough. When I began writing this book, it was my intention to design an afterlife somewhat similar to the afterlife that I believe in, but to also marry that afterlife with all of the popular little pieces of religious folklore that Christians classically believe about Hell and the Devil.
So, I added this tidbit to my book as well. It seemed to fit. In my opinion, the inclination for women to reach for spirituality tends to be greater than that for men. It also seemed particularly scary. In my opinion anyway, it seemed scary for women to think of what they would go through in Hell and scary for men to consider that the odds of them making it to Heaven were much less than they might have believed.
Later on though, after I studied Isaiah with more depth and caution, I learned that the above scripture does not refer to the state of all beings in Heaven, but rather to something that will occur in the last days.
The following is a quote by LDS prophet Wilford Woodruff:
I had been reading the revelations...[when] a strange stupor came over me and I recognized that I was in the Tabernacle at Ogden. I arose to speak and said...I will answer you right here what is coming to pass shortly...I then looked in all directions...and I found the same mourning in every place throughout the Land. It seemed as though I was above the earth, looking down to it as I passed along on my way east and I saw the roads full of people principally women with just what they could carry in bundles on their backs...It was remarkable to me that there were so few men among them...Wherever I went I saw...scenes of horror and desolation rapine and death...death and destruction everywhere. I cannot paint in words the horror that seemed to encompass me around. It was beyond description or thought of man to conceive. I supposed that this was the End but I was here given to understand, that the same horrors were being enacted all over the country...Then a voice said 'Now shall come to pass that which was spoken by Isaiah the Prophet That seven women shall take hold of one man...'
(Journal of Wilford Woodruff, June 15, 1878 as taken from Isaiah: Prophet, Seer, and Poet, by Victor L. Ludlow, p. 109)
So, apparently, in Isaiah 4:1, what is being referred to is a time after or during the great and final war before the 2nd Coming. It will be a time when many many men will die. How many? If the ratio of 7:1 as stated in Isaiah is correct (seven women marrying each man), then it means that, during that great war, six out of seven men will die. This is roughly 86% of all men. In other words, if I understand the scripture adequately, Isaiah is prophesying that a time will come when 43% of the population of the entire earth will die.
Also, Isaiah never mentions the number of women that will die. He only mentions the ending ratio after all of the death has occurred. Therefore, the 43% is a minimum and could increase if women die in the war as well...which, of course, probably many will.
I made the decision to keep the false ratio of 7:1 in my book...merely to be more scary. I don't think it's the truth. I do believe that there will be more women in Heaven than men...although there is no real way of knowing.
g - An AfterAfterword
It's 2024, 20 years after having finished this novel. I'm going to put Asmireen up on the internet now. I'm going to try to keep it there from now on.
The world sure has become strange: Covid, The sudden increase of insanity on the left, George Floyd, Same Sex Marriage, Transsexuality, The Suicide of American Corporations, Illegal US Immigration...
When I first wrote this book, I was very upset primarily about abortion. They killed two billion children worldwide since Roe vs. Wade in 1973. It enraged me.
This new evil though simply doesn't even make sense. Some sins are just people seeking after their own pleasures or freedom. God doesn't approve of these sins, but I can at least understand why some people would want them. This new evil is just odd. It seems that it's only goal is to leave the world feeling uncertain about as much as possible. What is a woman? What pronoun should I use when I speak about a person? Is it Ok to be a caucasian? Is it Ok to be male? So many fundamental truths are now being questioned. No part of me understands why anyone would bother to support the left now...but they do. I am amazed by it. Many are.
Come to Zion. Please. You will find peace and sanity there. You can get in touch with missionaries by going to:
h - An Important Scripture That is Often Misunderstood
Isaiah 2
1 The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
2 And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.
(The "mountain of the Lord" is symbolic for the word "temple" or in this case, it may even mean "religion." "The top of the mountains" is the definition of the word "Utah" by the Ute tribe of indians. The state was originally going to be called "Deseret" but this name was rejected by the US Government and they insisted the state instead be called "Utah.")
3 And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
4 And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
5 O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord.
(The first five verses seem to refer to what will happen to the obedient in the last days; they will go to God's true church for safety and truth. The remaining verses of this chapter appear to refer to the disobedient; those who reject God. They will try to hide in holes under mountains for safety from war, thieves, natural disasters...etc. What they will find is that no place on the planet will be safe...except for where the obedient went.
In other words, the good will go to the tops of the mountains while the evil will try to hide under them.)
6 Therefore thou hast forsaken thy people the house of Jacob, because they be replenished from the east, and are soothsayers like the Philistines, and they please themselves in the children of strangers.
7 Their land also is full of silver and gold, neither is there any end of their treasures; their land is also full of horses, neither is there any end of their chariots:
8 Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made:
9 And the mean man boweth down, and the great man humbleth himself: therefore forgive them not.
10 Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty.
11 The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day.
12 For the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low:
(All who are proud will be humbled when Christ comes back...)
13 And upon all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan,
(...even if you hide in the forests...)
14 And upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up,
(...or in the mountains...)
15 And upon every high tower, and upon every fenced wall,
(...in the cities...)
16 And upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all pleasant pictures.
(...or at sea...)
17 And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day.
(...No matter where you hide, you will be humbled.)
18 And the idols he shall utterly abolish.
19 And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.
20 In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats;
21 To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.
(The last verse is the last piece of counsel God gives to people in this section. Don't put your faith in people. Put it in God instead.)
22 Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of?
