FIRST LAST LAST FIRST

Spirituality, , , ,

A chiasmus is ancient Greek and Hebrew literary style where the writings are repeated in reverse order.  For instance, the Old Testament shares how God’s word was received by them; they were the FIRST (Israel) to receive God’s word. However, because the Jews rejected Christ, the gospel was taken to the Gentiles, as described in the New Testament (Matt. 21:42-43).  So, then we have the FIRST becoming the LAST, as the Gentiles gladly receive the gospel.

Following the New Testament story, the Dark Ages brought about a Great Apostasy from the original church.  Then, in North America, following the reformation from the Dark Ages, we have the LAST becoming the FIRST.  The restoration of the fullness of the gospel came through the Prophet Joseph Smith. The LDS scripture canon added greatly to the Bible. This restoration was prophesied by the Apostles Peter and Paul (Acts 3:18-20; Eph. 1:10). Now, in our day, this Gentile nation is rejecting Christ. So, now the FIRST (Israel) is becoming the LAST. We are seeing this grand chiasmus being played out over world history. Jesus is the FIRST and the LAST–ALPHA AND OMEAGA.

The Lord’s Visit

When the resurrected Lord visited North America, He prophesied this would happen in our day: “And thus commandeth the Father that I should say unto you: At that day when the Gentiles shall sin against my gospel, and shall reject the fulness of my gospel, and shall be lifted in the pride of their hearts above all nations, and above all the people of the whole earth, and shall be filled with all manner of lyings, and of deceits, and of mischiefs, and all manner of hypocrisy, and murders, and priestcrafts, and whoredoms, and of secret abominations; and if they shall do all those things, and shall reject the fulness of my gospel, behold, saith the Father, I will bring the fulness of my gospel from among them” (3 Nephi 16:10). That is happening now. We have to ask the hard question, “Who can reject the fullness of the gospel except those who have it?”

David Hocking, in his ANNOTATED EDITION, THE NEW TESTAMENT of JESUS CHRIST, THE JOSEPH SMITH TRANSLATION, discusses “When the Times of the Gentiles Shall be Fulfilled.” This is in conjunction with the disciples asking Him, “Master, tell us concerning Thy coming” (Luke 21:25-28). David shares a quote from President Ezra Taft Benson on page 144 explaining the “times of the Gentiles,” and shares the diagram below. The fullness of the Gentiles began with the restoration and is ending now, as the Savior prophesied, “…when the Gentiles shall sin against my gospel, and shall reject the fulness of my gospel.” Notice, He says, “when,” not “if.”

Moroni saw our day and gave us a profound warning: “Behold, I speak unto you as if ye were present, and yet ye are not. But behold, Jesus Christ hath shown you unto me, and I know your doing. And I know that ye do walk in the pride of your hearts; and there are none save a few only who do not lift themselves up in the pride of their hearts, unto the wearing of very fine apparel, unto envying, and strifes, and malice, and persecutions, and all manner of iniquities; and your churches, yea, even every one, have become polluted because of the pride of your hearts. For behold, ye do love money, and your substance, and your fine apparel, and the adorning of your churches, more than ye love the poor and the needy, the sick and the afflicted. O ye pollutions, ye hypocrites, ye teachers, who sell yourselves for that which will canker, why have ye polluted the holy church of God? Why are ye ashamed to take upon you the name of Christ? Why do ye not think that greater is the value of an endless happiness than that misery which never dies—because of the praise of the world? Why do ye adorn yourselves with that which hath no life, and yet suffer the hungry, and the needy, and the naked, and the sick and the afflicted to pass by you, and notice them not? Yea, why do ye build up your secret abominations to get gain, and cause that widows should mourn before the Lord, and also orphans to mourn before the Lord, and also the blood of their fathers and their husbands to cry unto the Lord from the ground, for vengeance upon your heads? Behold, the sword of vengeance hangeth over you; and the time soon cometh that he avengeth the blood of the saints upon you, for he will not suffer their cries any longer” (Mormon 8:35-41).

Today, we see this Gentile nation (North America) in significant decadence: secularism, materialism, relativism, scientism, wokism, socialism, and a significant decline in morality, pornography, and human trafficking are epidemic—especially among the rich and publicly powerful.

First Becomes Last

At the same time,  we observe the Lord now gathering Israel, as the FIRST becomes the LAST, we see a fascinating statistic for the LDS. The converts per thousand members went from 7.6 to 17.6 from 2020 to 2024.  Most of the converts have been outside of the United States. The African saints have enjoyed enormous increases in LDS membership. And Christianity in Africa has grown from 9 million in 1900 to over 700 million today. Christianity in China grew from about 1–2 million in 1949 to 60–100+ million today. Now, 8.5% of Chinese are Christian, and the percentage is significantly increasing. Many of the Chinese Christians have worship services in their homes because of government constraints. It is reported that there are 8 million Persian Christians in Iran, and the number is rapidly increasing. The Persians are the children of Abraham.

The Lord declares FIRST LAST LAST FIRST

The Lord declared: “But remember that all my judgments are not given unto men; and as the words have gone forth out of my mouth even so shall they be fulfilled, that the first shall be last, and that the last shall be first in all things whatsoever I have created by the word of my power, which is the power of my Spirit” (D&C 29:30). I have below several examples of FIRST LAST LAST FIRST.

Some Examples of FIRST LAST LAST FIRST 

  • ATONEMENT: I will be thy Son; Only Begotten; Resurrected; and became our Father
  • MAN: offspring of God, opportunity for mortality, resurrected, become as God now is
  • EARTH: spiritual, physical, redeemed physically, celestialized
  • FALL: Garden, Expulsion, Christ overcomes effects of the Fall, Paradisiacal glory
  • ZION: Enoch Zion, taken up, Lord brings Zion, Enoch’s returns to New Jerusalem
  • PLAN: Council in heaven, Need for the Fall, Need for Savior, Can become as God
  • COVENANT: Israel (OT), Gentiles (NT), Gentiles (BoM), Israel (gathered)
  • SCRIPTURES: Old Testament &Brass Plates, NT, BoM, etc., New Scriptures
  • TEMPLES: Father’s Throne, Old Temples, Restored Temples, Path to Celestial Kingdom
  • FAMILY: Offspring of God, Given families on earth, Sealings, Joined in Heaven
  • CHRIST: Firstborn of the Father, Only Begotten, First fruits, Christ is our Father
  • ISRAEL: Father makes covenants, broken, keys restored, Father fulfills promises
  • BIRTH: Spirit birth, Physical birth, Born again, Birthed into Father’s presence
  • CHURCH: Patriarchal & Kings, NT priesthood offices, Restored, Church of Firstborn
  • OFFSPRING: Of Heavenly Parents; of earthly parents; resurrected; become heavenly parents
  • AGENCY: Choose Father’s Plan; Choose to follow Christ; King of kings…; Enjoy Celestial realms
  • FIRST of BoM translated LAST; LAST of BoM translated FIRST
    BoM = Book of Mormon; in Harmony, PA, and then in Fayette, NY.

Now we are living in this very important transition time, as this grand chiasmus for the history of Earth is being played out by the Lord. It is the most exciting time. In spite of the world spiraling down in wickedness as Satan increases his efforts, knowing this is his last hour before the Second Coming, the Lord is hastening his work to bring as many as will to Him.

This FIRST LAST LAST FIRST is discussed in the scriptures in many places (Isa. 44:6; 48:12; Matt. 19:30; 20:16; Luke 13:30; Mark 10:31; and D&C 110:4). Then the Prophet Nephi gives a classic explanation of the significance of this grand chiasmus:

“And the time cometh that he shall manifest himself unto all nations, both unto the Jews and also unto the Gentiles; and after he has manifested himself unto the Jews and also unto the Gentiles, then he shall manifest himself unto the Gentiles and also unto the Jews, and the last shall be first, and the first shall be last” (1 Nephi 13:42).

The Prophet Moroni then ties this chiasmus to our day regarding the Old Jerusalem and the New Jerusalem here in North America:

“And now I, Moroni, proceed to finish my record concerning the destruction of the people of whom I have been writing. [The Jaredite nation; 2200 BC to 600 BC]. For behold, they rejected all the words of Ether; for he truly told them of all things, from the beginning of man; and that after the waters had receded from off the face of this land it became a choice land above all other lands, a chosen land of the Lord; wherefore the Lord would have that all men should serve him who dwell upon the face thereof; And that it was the place of the New Jerusalem, which should come down out of heaven, and the holy sanctuary of the Lord. Behold, Ether saw the days of Christ, and he spake concerning a New Jerusalem upon this land. And he spake also concerning the house of Israel, and the Jerusalem from whence Lehi should come—after it should be destroyed it should be built up again, a holy city unto the Lord; wherefore, it could not be a new Jerusalem for it had been in a time of old; but it should be built up again, and become a holy city of the Lord; and it should be built unto the house of Israel. And that a New Jerusalem should be built up upon this land, unto the remnant of the seed of Joseph, for which things there has been a type. For as Joseph brought his father down into the land of Egypt, even so he died there; wherefore, the Lord brought a remnant of the seed of Joseph out of the land of Jerusalem, that he might be merciful unto the seed of Joseph that they should perish not, even as he was merciful unto the father of Joseph that he should perish not. Wherefore, the remnant of the house of Joseph shall be built upon this land; and it shall be a land of their inheritance; and they shall build up a holy city unto the Lord, like unto the Jerusalem of old; and they shall no more be confounded, until the end come when the earth shall pass away. And there shall be a new heaven and a new earth; and they shall be like unto the old save the old have passed away, and all things have become new. And then cometh the New Jerusalem; and blessed are they who dwell therein, for it is they whose garments are white through the blood of the Lamb; and they are they who are numbered among the remnant of the seed of Joseph, who were of the house of Israel. And then also cometh the Jerusalem of old; and the inhabitants thereof, blessed are they, for they have been washed in the blood of the Lamb; and they are they who were scattered and gathered in from the four quarters of the earth, and from the north countries, and are partakers of the fulfilling of the covenant which God made with their father, Abraham. And when these things come, bringeth to pass the scripture which saith, there are they who were first, who shall be last; and there are they who were last, who shall be first. And I was about to write more, but I am forbidden; but great and marvelous were the prophecies of Ether ” [the last Jaredite prophet] (Ether 13:1-13).

So, as mentioned before, Joseph in Egypt was a “type.” He saved the House of Israel temporarily. Now, the descendants of Joseph will help to save the House of Israel temporally and spiritually. Again, we ask, “Are we at that juncture at the end of abundance? Will we now have seven lean years?”

Zion

We know that ZION is coming, and we know a purging is coming because we see the world spiraling down in wickedness. As we go forward in faith, trusting in the Lord, we have the assurance from the Prophet Nephi that the Lord will not let the wicked destroy the righteous:

“For the time soon cometh that the fulness of the wrath of God shall be poured out upon all the children of men; for he will not suffer that the wicked shall destroy the righteous. Wherefore, he will preserve the righteous by his power, even if it so be that the fulness of his wrath must come, and the righteous be preserved, even unto the destruction of their enemies by fire. Wherefore, the righteous need not fear; for thus saith the prophet, they shall be saved, even if it so be as by fire” (1 Nephi 22:16-17).

It is fascinating to see this grand chiasmus play out: FIRST LAST LAST FIRST in our day and in the Lord’s timing. Let us be true disciples of Christ and listen and harken to His voice and see His smiling face as we live and share His TRUTHs (D&C 93:1).
“THE FIRST SHALL BE LAST, AND THE LAST SHALL BE FIRST.

David W. Allan