They Lie In Wait To Deceive | Do We Need A Prophet Like Moses? Exposing Zo-ma-rah

(Yes, we discontinued this blog a long time ago, but I came across a particular anti-Mormon post that shocked me.  What shocked me was how many readers of his missed the blatant misleadings and contradictions in his article.  So I had no choice but to expose, in detail, his subtle and not-so-subtle deceptions hoping to empower those of God's children seeking truth who are easily tangled in the webs of the adversary and encourage them to seek truth from another Source.  I also include screenshots of this writer's blog post so he cannot delete the portions I am exposing and claim I am making this all up.)

Introduction

In Ephesians Chapter 4, the Apostle Paul teaches us why Christ organized His church. The last reason he gives is us is to protect us from those who “...lie in wait to deceive.” (Eph 4:15)

In other words, Christ set up a system of apostles, prophets, pastors, evangelists, and teachers for

• the perfecting and edifying of the saints
• the work of the ministry
• to bring us to a unity of faith and knowledge 
• and to protect us from being deceived by blog posts like those written by Zo-ma-ra.

The following is my examination of Zo-ma-ra's article "Prophecy and Paradigm" in which he attempts to convince the reader that "there are no 'official channels' for God."  

I guarantee you will be as shocked as I was when I expose his outright distortions of scripture, word for word, betraying your trust as I compare his words with the scriptures he both references and quotes as evidence.  

Hopefully, by the end of this article, you will be better able to spot this type of deception in your future pursuit of truth, and disassociate yourself with a writer who is too willing to rewrite, misrepresent and misquote scripture to persuade you to his way of thinking.
The overall thrust of Zo-ma-rah's argument is that men called by God to preside over the Lord's people like the Old Testament Moses or the New Testament Peter is not necessary today, nor is it a reality, and that all men can be prophets.   

With this premise, his article aims to discredit The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Church) because it makes the claim that it is led by living prophets and apostles today.

But in doing so, Zo-ma-rah uses a litany of invalid argument techniques and logical fallacies, mixing truth with untruth, and literally rewrites scripture in front of our eyes.  

He is adept at quoting a verse of scripture then making a false claim about other verses in that chapter without quoting them to back up his claim.

For example:

He quotes D&C 107:91 where it describes the role of the "President of the office of the High Priesthood" who has authority to preside and receive revelation for the whole church like Moses.  The person occupying this office is who Mormons affectionately call the Prophet.

BUT, after quoting this scripture, Zo-ma-rah claims:

1. "Their duty is not to be supreme infallible dictator."  
   Where does the Church make that claim?  Where does it teach prophets are infallible or dictator-like?  Zomarah is tainting your interpretation of this scripture by insinuating that the Church does teach it.
2. That "according to section 107 the First Presidency, Quorum of the Twelve, Quorum of the Seventy, High Council of Zion, and the combined High Councils of all the Stakes of Zion, all are equal in authority." (emphasis added)  
   "According to section 107?"  Really?  Where in D&C 107 does it say that?  Why doesn't he show us the scriptures he's referring to, and show it in context?  Here's the link to 107, read it for yourself.  Where does it say all the councils within the church are equal in authority to that of the First Presidency?  

That's just it.  It doesn't.

You see, Zo-ma-rah is betraying your trust.  Throughout the article, he has spent time building credibility by quoting lots of scripture and church authorities.  Now that he has your trust, he also knows the odds are that you will not take the time to study all 100 verses of D&C 107 to know for yourself.  So he takes advantage of the trust you have given him and lies to you.  

If it's not a lie, then it's the most incompetent, laziest reading of scripture I've seen.

Lastly, Zo-ma-rah references a scripture in Numbers (that we will address in Part 6 below) where Moses approved of others in the camp of Israel prophesying.  The implication he is attempting to draw in your mind is that President Monson is not a true prophet "like unto Moses" because members of the church are forbidden to "prophesy."

Where is the basis for this claim?  What church authority, church handbook or church President has said that no man can prophesy in the church?

But this is not the worst of it.  The most shocking parts of his article are two instances of a complete rewriting of scripture right in front of your eyes.  I don't know about you, but where I come from, that's flat out dishonest.

I wish I could answer every claim, misstatement, and argument made in Zo-Ma-rah's article, but unfortunately the content would fill up a book, so I will primarily address these two instances.

Now, to those of you who seek out literature, opinions, and blogs that are critical or "anti-Mormon" in nature, I ask this question: 

“What are you looking for?  Are you seeking truth, or justification?”

If you are seeking justification, you are wasting your time reading this.  

This post is for those of you who have not yet surrendered your mind to proving the Church is false.  Such surrender blinds one's eyes to even the sloppiest deception, giving men like Zo-Mah-rah great power to seduce you away from truth. 

To those of you who are honestly seeking, if I have sufficiently proven beyond a reasonable doubt that this man has led you along dishonestly, regardless of whether or not you agree with his conclusion, I invite you turn away from this man's writings, and to start seeking truth from God first.

Part 1:  The Invalid Argument

The devil will tell you 100 truths to get you to believe one lie.   

John Lovitz as Mephistopheles, the devil, Saturday Night Live

And that is exactly what Zo-ma-rah has done.

But he wants you to believe more than just one lie.  In addition to two HUGE deceptions that I will expose in Part 6, I need to point out that Zo-ma-ra uses several invalid argument styles to persuade you to his point of view.  

• "Hyper-limitation." That is the intentional and/or needless limiting of the number of options or possibilities. For example, to Zo-ma-rah, the word “prophet” and "prophesy" can only mean one thing.  
• "Loaded Statements." Just like Loaded Questions, these are statements that cannot reasonably be answered with a simple response. Hence the length of this post -- and I'm just dealing with two issues.

In addition to these invalid arguments, he uses

• invalid syllogisms 
• non-sequiturs
• isolation and misquotation of scripture references: taking verses out of their religious and historical context to give the illusion of scriptural support for his view.

He also uses what I like to call "dumping" - which is a pile-on of red herrings that are irrelevant to his conclusion, but serve as distractions disguised as evidence.

The purpose of all this is to generate negative, and/or doubting feelings within the reader toward the Church of Jesus Christ. And these feelings will influence the reader's perception and interpretation of Zo-ma-rah's final conclusion.

Part 2:  Specifics

First, let me say I believe there is a lot of truth in his article. Even statements within his final conclusion are true, but when truth is mixed with a false premise and untruths, the truth is transformed into a toxic concoction.  

The author's conclusion is based on the false premise that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints teaches that there can only be one prophet on Earth at a time.  

This is not true.  

The Church does not teach that.  If it did, why then does it sustain the First Presidency and the 12 Apostles as Prophets?  But Zo-ma-ra must use this false premise to give the appearance that scripture, and even modern day prophets, are in conflict with the Church today and support his view instead.

This is where his use of “hyper-limitation” comes in. Zo-ma-ra can only allow for one limited use of the term “prophet,” which not only makes for an invalid argument, but makes it an unreasonable one as well; filling his blog with contradictions.

Part 3:  Prophets

Some active members of the church say, 

"But it is true that there can only be one prophet on the earth at a time."  

Even the FAQ on Mormon.org virtually says that very thing.

They are right.  There can only be one "chosen prophet" as Mormon.org states (emphasis added), or Presiding Prophet, as I like to call it.  But there can also be many prophets.  The confusion is that the word "Prophet" is getting lost in translation amid its various uses.

The LDS church's Bible Dictionary points out two different meanings. If Zo-ma-ra had just gone there first, then he'd understand why Mormon's commonly call the President of the church, the Prophet.  But Zo-ma-rah is failing to draw a distinction between the two meanings, thereby confusing the issue and making it easier for him to persuade you.

The Bible dictionary defines prophet as:

1.) “Prophet” as a description of one's authority or calling. (Consider Amos 3:7)  Authority, or Priesthood keys, are given to a presiding prophet to receive instruction directly from the Lord for His people as a whole... just like Moses.

"The work of a Hebrew prophet was to act as God’s messenger and make known God’s will....He taught men about God’s character.... When the people had fallen away from a true faith in Jehovah, the prophets had to try to restore that faith and remove false views about the character of God and the nature of the divine requirements...." (read the full definition here.)   

Jehovah Himself explains this particular definition of a prophet perfectly when He compares Moses' relationship with Aaron to Moses' relationship with Jehovah.  In Exodus 7:1-2:   

1 And the Lord said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh: and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet. 2 Thou shalt speak all that I command thee: and Aaron thy brother shall speak unto Pharaoh...  

Rewind to Exodus 4:15-16  

15 And thou shalt speak unto him, and put words in his mouth: and I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do. 16 And he shall be thy spokesman unto the people: and he shall be, even he shall be to thee instead of a mouth, and thou shalt be to him instead of God.  

This is the perfect metaphor of how a prophet is to operate in the governance of God's kingdom on Earth.  As Aaron was to Moses, so Moses was to God.  

Okay, so that's more of a simile, but simply stated, a prophet is one man chosen by God, who is given the authority by God to be His mouthpiece for the direction of His people.

  

Part 4: The "A" Word

When Christ came, he restored the Authority, or keys, of the Higher Priesthood to act in God's name to direct the Lord's work on earth. These keys had been given to His prophets of old (Elijah being the last prophet to hold that authority).  

When Christ fulfilled the Law of Moses and set up the organization of His church, He passed these keys of authority onto the Apostles (Mark 3:13-19).  

"The president of the church, who is the senior apostle, holds all the keys presently on earth and presides over all the organizational and ordinance work of the Church." (source http://eom.byu.edu) 

At that time, it was Peter.  In our time, it is currently Thomas S. Monson. 

The senior Apostle serves in the same manner and capacity as did the Old Testament prophets, like Moses.  They preside, which is why they are given the title of President.  

In the Church, we tend to use the titles of Prophet and President interchangeably.   

Why is this form of church government necessary?

As mentioned in my introduction, Paul tells us in Ephesians chapter 4:

• there is "...one Lord, one faith, one baptism," (verse 5).  

Then in verse 11 he explains the organization, or priesthood offices and callings:

• "And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some,evangelists [patriarchs]; and some, pastors[bishops] and teachers;"

Third, he explains in verses 12 – 14 the purposes of such callings and organization.  

• For the perfecting of the saints,
•  for the work of the ministry,
• for the edifying of the body of Christ:”
• To “come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ:"

Question:  How can there be a unity of faith if there is no one authorized by God to correct us when we start wandering into our own self-indulgent paths as we mix our own philosophy with scripture?  

The New Testament itself is primarily a compilation of the writings of the Apostles as they clarify, teach and reteach doctrine to branches of the church who were straying.

• Are we any better than those saints?
• Have we come to a unity of faith yet, and do we measure up to the “stature and fullness of Christ?”

No? 

Well, it looks like we're going to need some Apostles and Prophets to get us there, huh?

The last reason Paul gives in verse 14:

• v14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; (emphasis added)

The Lord's pattern of calling a “Presiding Prophet” will help keep us from being misled by bloggers who "lie in wait to deceive" those who are "children" in the gospel, and susceptible to being "tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine."

Part 6: Everyone's A Prophet

The Bible Dictionary's second definition of a prophet:

2. "In a general sense a prophet is anyone who has a testimony of Jesus Christ by the Holy Ghost."  

This is essentially Zo-ma-rah's definition of a prophet. It is a person who has received a witness of Christ by the Holy Spirit, can testify of that truth and is worthy of many gifts of the Spirit.  

But although this person has the faith to prophesy when moved upon by the Holy Ghost, they do not have the authority to receive revelation to direct the operations of the Lord's church.

Za-mo-rah's FIRST Big Deception

When it comes to understanding scripture, context is important.

To support Zo-ma-rah's anti-authority viewpoint regarding the necessity of living Apostles and Prophets, the blogger uses the example of Moses in the book of Numbers chapter 11:24 - 28.  He posts the scripture word for word. If you want to discover it on your own, click here to read all of those 8 verses, then read his summary below and see if you notice anything out of place. 

After quoting the scriptural event, he then proceeds to retell the event in his own words as follows:

"Here we read an interesting occurrence. Moses had gathered men to the tabernacle. They began prophesying. But low and behold what happened. There were these two ordinary guys in the camp, they were not part of those seventy leaders, yet they started going around 'prophesying.' Aren’t the leaders of the Church the only ones who can do that? The Israelites seems to have had a similar idea, since one of the men named Joshua told Moses that he should forbid these two guys from prophesying."

This is where the deception begins.  

First, Zo-ma-rah fails to give us the context in which this is taking place, so we, the reader, don't understand why this is taking place.  

Here's why:

Moses is feeling overwhelmed with the weight of his calling as God's prophet.  The Israelites start complaining about having to eat manna and wanted meat, and Moses just couldn't take it anymore.

v11"And Moses said unto the Lord, Wherefore hast thou afflicted thy servant? and wherefore have I not found favour in thy sight, that thou layest the burden of all this people upon me?"

He felt so burdened that he even begged God for death.

v14 "I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me.  v15 And if thou deal thus with me, kill me, I pray thee, out of hand, if I have found favour in thy sight; and let me not see my wretchedness." (emphasis added)

So the Lord told Moses to call 70 of the elders of Israel upon whom He would pour out his Spirit, giving them authority to help carry the burdens of Moses.

16 "And the Lord said unto Moses, Gather unto me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom thou knowest to be the elders of the people, and officers over them; and bring them unto the tabernacle of the congregation, that they may stand there with thee. 17 ...and I will take of the spirit which is upon thee, and will put it upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with thee, that thou bear it not thyself alone." (emphasis added)

By putting this event in context, we now understand Moses' state of mind and why these 70 men were at the tabernacle in the first place.  But if Zo-ma-rah had told us this, we would see that there is order and organization in the Lord's kingdom which is led by men who are given authority to receive revelation for His people. 

Instead, Zo-ma-rah jumps ahead with verse 24 so the reader is not shown the characteristics of a Presiding Prophet and that it was for the support of Moses in leading and governing of the Israelites that these 70 men were chosen.

 24 "And Moses went out, and told the people the words of the Lord, and gathered the seventy men of the elders of the people, and set them round about the tabernacle." (emphasis added)

(Wait, Moses "told the people the words of the Lord?"  Then that would mean God's pattern of church government involves choosing and giving ONE prophet authority to speak to His people.  And Zo-ma-rah is okay with that?  Is it possible that if he lived in Moses' time, he'd be blogging "Who needs Moses?  We can ALL be prophets!"  But I digress...)

By ignoring the first part of the story and biblical context, Zo-ma-rah leads us to believe this gathering of seventy men at the tabernacle was no big deal, just a normal gathering of local leaders when, "low and behold," the Spirit fell upon them and they started prophesying.

But then he gets even sneaker.  

In his retelling of the story, he says that "two ordinary guys," (his words) who were just hanging out in the camp, minding their own beeswax received the Spirit and started prophesying too. Zo-ma-rah says, "they were not part of those seventy leaders."  

Oh, but they were.  

In verse 24 it says Moses chose seventy men from among the people in the camp and "set them around the tabernacle."  Those were the only men called to come up.  And it was upon those men, and those men only, that He would pour the Spirit.

In verse 25 it talks about the Spirit falling upon those men, which we could assume was in part to demonstrate to Israel that God had chosen these leaders.  These seventy men are the only men that are being spoken of.

Then in verse 26 is says: 

26 "But there remained two of the men in the camp..." (emphasis added)

"Remained" and “of.”  Those are the first key words that indicate these two men were actually a part of the original 70 that left the camp. You can't “remain” unless you are part "of" a group that left.

We also know that these two men were a of the seventy because their names were recorded. 

26 "...the name of the one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad: and the spirit rested upon them; and they were of them that were written, but went not out unto the tabernacle: and they prophesied in the camp."

The Israelites were excellent record keepers. When elders were called, or appointed, their names were written down.

According to the actual scripture, there were two men of the seventy elders who, for reasons undisclosed, did not go with the others who were called.

They weren't two "ordinary guys" as Zo-ma-rah would have you believe.

Its right there! In black and white!

And this isn't just my "interpretation." It is an interpretation shared by every Bible commentary I could find. I even tried to find an official commentary, or scholar, who said otherwise but could not. See for yourself: http://biblecommenter.com/numbers/11-26.htm

Yet Mr. Zo-ma-rah states immediately after quoting the scripture:

“There were these two ordinary guys in the camp, they were not part of those seventy leaders, yet they started going around 'prophesying.' Aren’t the leaders of the Church the only ones who can do that?” (emphasis added)

Well, sir, they were the leaders.  You just proved it with the scriptures you shared.

They were chosen by God.  And to prove they could not hide from God, God found them in the camp and poured His Spirit on them as a witness to all.

So who's right?  Zo-ma-rah... or the scripture?

This either has to be one of the most arrogant examples of a bloggers' intent to deceive that I have ever seen, OR he has a horrendous case of reading comprehension.


I hope it's the latter.

Part 7: The Moses Response

Now Moses' response to Joshua who asked him to stop the men from prophesying was:

v29"...Enviest thou for my sake? would God that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit upon them!"

Zo-ma-rah uses this verse to point out a truth that, yes, God wants us all to be “prophets” so that His Spirit may be upon us. Now, even though I agree in the principle, this scripture actually does not say "God wishes all his people were prophets." Only that Moses hoped to God that all the people of Israel were prophets.   

Regardless, Zo-ma-rah applies this principle improperly by implying that because God wants everyone to be a prophet, there is no need for a Presiding Prophet chosen to be God's mouthpiece for the general body of the church.

If that's the case, then I have a few questions:

• Were these 70 elders now equal with Moses?
• Did God now personally instruct the 70 where to lead the Israelites through the wilderness?
• Did these new Elders replace Moses?
• Did Israel say, “We have 70 prophets now so we don't need Moses anymore?"
• When Christ appointed 70 to go out and represent Him in the places where He would go, and gave them power and authority to do what He would do in those cities, did that diminish the authority of Christ?  Were they now equal in authority with Christ?  Or even Peter? (Luke 10)

And finally...

• If this new organization of the Seventy rendered the need for a presiding prophet irrelevant, then why did the Lord need to call Joshua after Moses died?

“...as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee...” Joshua 1:5

And when Joshua delivered the Lord's commandments to Israel, why did Israel say?

16 ...All that thou commandest us we will do, and whithersoever thou sendest us, we will go. 

17 According as we hearkened unto Moses in all things, so will we hearken unto thee: only the Lord thy God be with thee, as he was with Moses. 

18 Whosoever he be that doth rebel against thy commandment, and will not hearken unto thy words in all that thou commandest him, he shall be put to death: only be strong and of a good courage. (emphasis added)

(This sure sounds like the same blind faith in prophets Zo-ma-rah accuses the LDS church members of. Too bad he wasn't there to warn the Israelites not to follow Joshua blindly because God wants us all to be prophets.)

Why didn't the Israelites tell Joshua, 

“We have 70 prophets now, so we don't need any of your new 'commandments from God' anymore. And, in case you din't hear Moses the first time, we can also be prophets, and we're going to break down this whole antiquated corporate structure we used to have and make this an employee run operation. Coolio?”

Let's take this further and apply the same scrutiny to Moses that Zo-ma-rah applies to our modern day prophets and Presidents of the church.

• Moses is not infallible.
• He's human.
• He didn't say “Thus saith Jehovah” before claiming all men should be prophets. It was just his opinion.
• There was no scriptural basis for what he said at the time.  None.
• He was speaking as a man who was overwhelmed with this job.
• You have to take what he said with a grain of salt and go pray about it.

See the double standard?

Part 8: Can Anyone Prophesy?

So what does it mean to prophesy, and can anyone worthy of the Spirit do it?

The archaic definition of “to prophesy” is “to teach religious subjects.” 

We don't know what was prophesied by the 70 elders in this account. Bible scholars typically use prophesying interchangeably with prayer, preaching, and praising God. So, in that context, it totally makes sense.

At that time, Moses was the only one teaching Israel the law. Which is why Joshua freaked out when other men started "prophesying." In a sense, Moses' response to Joshua in modern language could very well have been, 

“I can't personally teach everybody. It's too much.  It is time to call other teachers who can teach and prophesy by the Spirit.”

How much lighter would the burden of every Bishop, Stake President and on up the chain, be if every member was a prophet? If every member was of the caliber of Moses, Joseph Smith, Spencer W. Kimbal and Thomas S. Monson. 

• There would be 100% home teaching, 
• the missionary work would be unstoppable 
• and the Gospel Doctrine class would be amazing!

Well, you know, there was a society like that. A society where every person was a prophet in their own right. That city was the city of Enoch. It was so righteous the Lord took the city up to Himself where He could dwell with them.

But here's the kicker... they STILL had a Prophet – Enoch! One man chosen to be the mediator between man and God for the entire people. Enoch was that man. 

1. Enoch was the one who talked with God in an official capacity. 
2. Enoch was the one who was commanded to teach the people, correct false doctrine, call them to repentance and lead them to a unity of the faith. 
3. It was called the City of Enoch because it was through him that God's will was communicated and executed.

We learn from this that even if all are prophets within the church, God would still require a Presiding Prophet, President, Senior Apostle, whatever title you wish to assign the one chosen to be the Lord's voice for His people.

Nowhere in official Church doctrine does it claim that the gift of prophecy is reserved for the President of the Church.

Anytime one speaks by the power of the Holy Ghost, in the testimony of Christ, they are a mouthpiece for the Lord and therefore a prophet.

But that does not authorize the individual to receive revelation for the entire church, or any part thereof outside the jurisdiction of their own calling. 

For example, a ward Primary President cannot receive revelation on how to direct the affairs of the Stake.

Because the term President and Prophet are used interchangeably within the church, it is understandable how it could be confusing for someone.

If a teacher states “I know this church is true because it is led by a living prophet,” that's Mormon-speak for “God has organized his church today as it was in Biblical times.” 

Part 9: It's An Authority Thing

The church is not a Democracy. Never has been; never will be. Because it is the Lord's church, not ours. It is our schoolhouse and we are the students.

His house is a house of order, and, until this earth becomes as the City of Enoch and we all come to the “unity of the faith,” God will continue to work with his children on Earth as he has always done.

Death mask of Joseph Smith, Jr.

Joesph Smith, Jr. clearly stated "No man is a minister of Jesus Christ without being a prophet," (History of the Church 3:389) 

He also said, “God hath not revealed anything to Joseph, but what He will make known unto the Twelve, and even the least Saint may know all things as fast as he is able to bear them.” (Discourses of the Prophet Joseph Smith pp. 150 – 151. emphasis added.)

Joseph's frustration in his desire to reveal all the mysteries of the kingdom to the saints was evident when he said,

“I could explain a hundred fold more than I ever have of the glories of the kingdoms..., were I permitted, and were the people prepared to receive them.” (Teachings of the Prophet J.S. p. 304 speaking in reference to D&C 76. emphasis added)

So anyone, if they are prepared to bear the responsibility of such knowledge, can see what the holy prophets have seen, and know all that they have known.

But it requires a great leap of faith, or should I say logic, to say a prophesying body of saints negates the need of a prophet chosen to preside.

Since Zomarah is so fond of quoting Joseph Smith, Jr. to support his “everyone's a prophet” philosophy, it only makes sense that he would omit this Joseph Smith, Jr. quote:

“[I]t is contrary to the economy of God for any member of the Church, or any one, to receive instruction for those in authority, higher than themselves . . . if any person have a vision or a visitation from a heavenly messenger, it must be for his own benefit and instruction; for the fundamental principles, government, and doctrine of the Church are vested in the keys of the kingdom.” (History of the Church 1:338.  Emphasis added.)

Joseph Smith, Jr, clearly differentiates between having the attributes or gifts of a prophet and having the Apostolic authority given a prophet to lead within an apostolic presidency as established by Jesus Christ.

Since the church supports members becoming prophets, why then does Zo-ma-rah spend so much time convincing you the church does NOT support that principle?

Simple. 

He has a problem with authority.

It is evident from his musings and writings, twists and deceptions, charts and comparisons, that Zo-ma-rah favors a more “democratic/non-corporate,” or better yet, a more anarchistic model of religion.  He seems to recoil at the thought of someone else telling him what God says he should or should not do.

For example:

• Zo-ma-rah doesn't want to be told what he should and shouldn't take into his body, so:
  • he ignores the full context and evolution of the Word of Wisdom to convince you the Church's current adherence to it is wrong.

(Wait, didn't Satan do that to Eve in the Garden of Eden? Didn't Satan subtly mix truth with a lie to convince Eve that God was wrong in telling her not to eat the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil?)

• Zo-ma-rah doesn't want to be told he has to pay tithing, so:
  • he attempts to discredit the Church's demand for the tithes of the members.
    
    

Part 10: What's Up With Tithing?

Zo-ma-rah's Big Deception #2

(After this I will conclude.)

One of the Red Herrings Zo-ma-rah throws out in his article is a sly attempt to make you doubt the validity of paying tithing.

He does this, presumably, to make you doubt the authority of the Apostles and the President of the Church.  He wants you to believe they are not true prophets like unto Moses because they are unlawfully tithing you... so they can use your money to, I don't know, build a mall in downtown SLC.  (...which claims are false.)

Notice that up until now, Zo-ma-rah has quoted scripture directly in his article.

Except here.  

So why would he not quote the scripture, D&C 119, he is using as proof for his claim? He did it for the other claims, why not this one?

This is what he tells you:

"The Gospel Principles manual teaches that Tithing is paying one-tenth of our income. However Doctrine and Covenants Section 119 gives us a different story. Only after we consecrate all of our property to the Bishop can we begin to pay tithing." (emphasis added)

Zo-ma-rah comments on this topic for two short paragraphs, and just gives us a link to D&C 119 instead of quoting it.  Why?  He knows statistics of you actually clicking on it are very low. 

He's worked very hard to build your trust in the first half of his article, so why would you doubt him now, right?

His claim was a claim I had never heard before, and it startled me. So, after reading his two paragraph commentary, I clicked to read the section 119 for myself. And I have to admit, after reading it, I thought, 

“Oh my gosh, he's right!” 

 Here is what it says in verses 1 – 4:

 1 Verily, thus saith the Lord, I require all their surplus property to be put into the hands of the bishop of my church in Zion, 3 And this shall be the beginning of the tithing of my people. 4 Andafter that, those who have thus been tithed shall pay one-tenth ofall their interest annually; and this shall be a standing law unto them forever, for my holy priesthood, saith the Lord. (emphasis added)

Sounds legit, right?

But here's what's NOT legit.

Zo-ma-rah claims we are to pay tithing only after we “consecrate ALL of our property to the Bishop.” These are his exact words.

Do these verses say that?

NO.

But here's how effective his tactic is:  

When I clicked the link to read the verses, I thought that's what it did say because I had been prejudiced by this blogger's interpretation...or should I say lie?

The scripture does NOT read "all their property" as Zo-ma-rah told you it read. It says “... all their surplus property....”

Marion G. Romney

What does that mean exactly?

In doing my own homework, knowing this blogger's penchant for not giving you the context, I ran a quick search and found this by Elder Marion G. Romney:

“The principles underlying the United Order [or Law of Consecration] are consecration and stewardships and then the contribution of surpluses into the bishop’s storehouse. When the law of tithing was instituted four years after the United Order experiment was suspended, the Lord required the people to put ‘all their surplus property … into the hands of the bishop’ (D&C 119:1); thereafter they were to ‘pay one-tenth of all their interest annually. …’ (D&C 119:4.) This law, still in force, implements to a degree at least the United Order principle of stewardships, for it leaves in the hands of each person the ownership and management of the property from which he produces the needs of himself and family.”

And touching on the same subject, J. Reuben Clark stated:

J. Reuben Clark

“… in lieu of residues and surpluses which were accumulated and built up under the United Order, we, today, have our fast offerings, our Welfare donations, and our tithing, all of which may be devoted to the care of the poor, as well as for the carrying on of the activities and business of the Church.”

(Click here to investigate it yourself.)

According to the actual scripture, not Zo-ma-rah's rewritten version, the leftover surpluses, if any, resulting from the suspended United Order experiment, were to be delivered to the Bishop, and then, in place of the United Order, the Law of Tithing, or the lesser law, was instituted.

Our modern day “surplus” is our fast and other good-will offerings that we contribute in addition to our tithes. We're not required to turn in all our property and then pay our tithing as Zo-ma-rah wants you to believe.

He's done it again.  Here we have another clear instance where Zo-ma-rah needs to rewrite scripture to create within you a contentious attitude toward the leaders of the church. But this time, he hides the scriptures from you in an internal link, giving him leeway to lie to you about what it actually says by just changing one word.

Maybe it was an oversight. Maybe it was a misinterpretation. 

If you believe this was the case, let me ask you this:

• Do the words “surplus” and “all” mean the same thing? Even if English is your second language, that's not a hard one to get confused.
• And how many "oversights" and "misinterpretations" does it take to diminish one's credibility as an honest seeker and teacher of truth?

All the information I've used to turn Zo-ma-rah's "evidence" upside-down is easy to find.

The depth that he has gone in order to distort scripture in order to deceive you into his way of thinking is offensive to the extreme. With these two DECEPTIONS I've exposed in detail, how can you trust him to tell you the truth?

He is free to believe what he believes.

He is free to persuade you to his way of believing.

But when he needs to lie, distort, and deceive to accomplish that, then there is evil in his motives and he does not have your best interests in mind as he claims.

His end game is to destroy the credibility of the Lord's church, preying on the weakest sheep, lulling them into “carnal security,” “cheating their souls,” and “[leading] them away carefully down to hell.” 2 Nephi 28:21

Part 11: Conclusion and Invitation

Zo-ma-rah, in his conclusion, states:

"There is no such thing as 'official channels' for God."

This statement is intended to lead you away from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. By limiting the definition and appropriate use of word “prophet," he tries to convince the reader there is no need for Prophetic, or Apostolic authority today.

But God is the same yesterday, today, and forever.  To assert, directly or indirectly, that God no longer calls Prophets and Apostles to whom He gives divine authority to direct His affairs on earth, just as He has done throughout every dispensation of time, is to assert that God has changed, and if God has changed, then God has ceased to be God.  

The church today is run by an apostolic presidency as it was when it was organized by Christ himself, with the senior apostle holding all the keys of authority to administer the fundamental principles, government, doctrine and ordinances of the Church of Jesus Christ.

Zo-ma-rah's desire that all God's children become prophets is not contradictory to the restored gospel. 

His issue is he doesn't like it when Mormons refer to the President of the church as the prophet. That's fair. 

But do insignificant cultural semantics void the truthfulness of the restored gospel?  Of course not. 

Is this really worth losing the blessings of eternity over?

Blind Faith

Are there lazy Church members who follow the prophet blindly? Sure. 

Are there lazy readers of Zomarah who follow him blindly, take his word on everything, and don't fully investigate or pray about his claims to find the truth for themselves?  Sure.  Just look at the comment section on his blog. It's full of Chicken Littles, Henny Pennys, and Ducky Luckys who willingly follow Foxy Loxy into his den.

(And, I'm sorry, but a cute primary song about following prophets is not evidence that the LDS church teaches blind faith. I bet those who drowned in the flood wish they had followed the prophet, Noah.)

At every level, members of the LDS church are encouraged to pray to receive their own witness of anything the prophet asks us to do. Which is interesting, because Zomarah conveniently leaves that little nugget of truth out of his comparison chart. 

As I mentioned, it is evident Zomarah has a big problem with authority.

Any title of authority given, or any top-down organization of people is too "corporate" for him, and that such an organization could not be of God.

He's the typical apostate of our time, much like the Pharasies, who easily accepted the prophets of the past, but stoned the prophets of the present.  

He wants to live his own religion based on his own interpretation.  And that's perfectly fine, but the real evil lies within: 

1. the twisting and rewriting of history and scripture, 
2. selectively cherry picking the words of past prophets to justify his own ambition 
3. and then using it to pull away others to join him in his idolatry of "self-worship."

Here is my invitation to you, the reader:

Some of you who have come across Zomarah's writings are in search of truth; others are in search of justification.

For those of you who are in an honest search for truth, Zomarah is not a source of truth.

In fact, I've proven just how anti-truth he really is.

If he feels the need to misrepresent, hide, take out of context, rewrite and lie about the truth in order persuade you to his way of thinking, then his motives are impure as his intent is to deceive, NOT to enlighten. In other words, it is “deception dressed in enlightenment.”

As ends never justify the means; lies never lead to truth.

Run away from such preachers. This is what Paul meant when he wrote of those who are “lying in wait to deceive” those who are “children” in the gospel. Ephesians 4

But at the same time, you should not look to me as a source of truth either.  I am just a fellow truth seeker.

So how is truth found?

Prayerfully study the source materials for yourself.

• If you want to know if the Book of Mormon is truly the word of God, sincerely read it and pray to know;
• If you question the doctrine of tithing, sincerely live it and pray to know if it is true;
• If you question the Word of Wisdom as a commandment in our day, sincerely live it and pray to know if it is true;
• If you honestly want to know if Joseph Smith was a true prophet, like Moses, Abraham and Elijah, and given the keys of authority formerly held by those ancient prophets and apostles...
• If you want to know if that authority remains on the Earth today and exists within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints...

...Then read, ponder, humble yourself, and pray in faith, knowing that you will receive an answer.

It doesn't matter what the issue is. If you are sincere, and ask in faith, believing in God and in his Son, Jesus Christ, you will receive an answer by the power of the Holy Ghost.

What does a sincere heart look like?  Click here. (Alma 22:15-19)

If you go to Him willing to make life changes, both big and small, regardless of how difficult, scary, or even embarrassing it may be, then He will answer you. You must show Him you are willing to receive before He gives.

I invite every one of you to stop tangling yourselves in the web of the adversary who uses blogs like Zo-ma-rah's to entrap you in confusion, doubt and ultimately blindness; causing you to lose the very blessings of eternity that God has for you.

I invite you to stop reading the words of modern day Korihors (Alma 30) and study the word of God yourself, like your life depended on it, and ask God, the Eternal Father, if the Book of Mormon is true, if the church was restored through Joseph Smith, Jr., and if Thomas S. Monson holds the same keys to lead the Lord's church today.

And I invite you, Zo-ma-rah, if you are reading this, and if you are as open minded as you claim to be, to repent of what you have done in deceitfully leading away God's children with lies, half truths and distortion. If you have been blinded yourself, I pray you open your eyes! For if you do not repent, the blood of those you have led astray will be on your hands, and their sins upon your head at the last day.

And of this I so testify. Amen.