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BOOKS:
- We know of many prophesied signs leading up to the Second Coming. But in what order will they occur?
- Examine the Second Coming through the lens of Types and Shadows from Old & New Testament stories, as well as from examples from the Book of Mormon.
ARTICLES:
The War in Heaven
Understanding the Creation
The Contradiction in Eden
The Keeper of the Gate
- If God can banish them at a word, why did it take a war in heaven to cast out Satan and his followers? And how was this war in heaven fought?
Understanding the Creation
- Have you noticed? The creation accounts that are recorded in our scriptures (Moses & Abraham) are different from the creation account given in the endowment. Also in this article, find out how to explain the existence of dinosaurs.
- Why did God give Adam and Eve a commandment they could not keep (multiply and replenish the earth), unless they first broke another one of God's own commandments (partaking of the forbidden fruit)?
- We know that Satan appeared to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, but did he appear as himself, in the form of a man, or did he speak to them through a serpent?
Adam's Coat of Skins
The Temple - Reversing the Fall
- Why did Satan want Adam and Eve to cover themselves with fig leaves after they transgressed?
The Temple - Reversing the Fall
- Find out how the temple symbolically reverses the Fall of Adam.
- Would it surprise you to find out that technically Noah was not told to take two of every animal into the ark? In addition, find out how Noah's ark was built to represent a temple.
- Did the builders of the Tower of Babel really believe that they could literally get to heaven? Or is it possible that we may have misunderstood this famous Bible story?
- Learn about many of the "types of Christ" in the Old Testament.
- Is Jesus the Savior for an infinite amount of earths? Or does each earth have its own Savior?
The Keeper of the Gate
- Joseph Smith taught that there is an actual door or gate that will one day stand between us and the celestial kingdom. This article will discuss many of the scriptures that describe this future scene of us at the celestial veil.
- Do we really know where Kolob is located? And is it possible that our Sun is actually a Telestial kingdom?
- Because of the design of the Liahona, its pointers or spindles would have to point in some direction at all times, even during those times of unrighteousness, so how did you know if it was working or not? Also in this article, learn how familiar a device such as the Liahona would have been to the ancient world.
- Where did the events in Book of Mormon took place?
The Sword of Ammon
Captain Moroni's Fortified Cities
The Great Storm in 3 Nephi
The Sealed Portion of the Book of Mormon
The 7 Prophetic Feasts of Israel
- Would it surprise you to find out that the sword that Ammon used to cut off multiple Lamanite arms was made of wood?
Captain Moroni's Fortified Cities
- Has archaeology uncovered some of Captain Moroni's ancient fortified cities?
The Great Storm in 3 Nephi
- What exactly was the great storm that nearly destroyed the Nephites at the time of the crucifixion? A hurricane? Earthquake? Something else? The answer might surprise you.
The Sealed Portion of the Book of Mormon
- What is contained in the sealed portion of the Book of Mormon, and when will we get to read it?
- Find out how the Gold Plates are a model or "type" of Christ.
- Had Elijah not been sent, the whole earth would have been smitten with a curse. What was this curse exactly and what did it entail? Also in this article, find out what trees represent in the scriptures.
- What does harvesting Wheat have to do with temple worship, both anciently and in modern times?
The 7 Prophetic Feasts of Israel
- In the Old Testament, the Lord instituted seven feasts that He expected the children of Israel to celebrate every year. The Lord went into great detail as to what exactly He wanted the children of Israel to do on each of these seven feast days; and He was very specific. What is incredible is that each of these seven feasts were prophetic of future events.
- This page is dedicated to humorous stories, videos, and quotes relating to Latter-day Saints.
- History teaches us that God is serious about having the inhabitants of this land keep his commandments. When they were wicked, entire civilizations were removed from this land and allowed to live in the spirit world. We have warning from the Lord that the same could happen to us in our day if we are not careful.
- Find out how the Israelites exodus from Egypt has since been repeated by several other groups in history, and how we are symbolically acting it out now in our lifetime.
- Find out how each of the 10 plagues associated with the exodus was a direct attack against one of Egypt's Gods.
- The Book of Daniel contains a prophecy that revealed the exact day the Messiah would come. Jesus fulfilled this prophecy on the exact day predicted by Daniel, yet was still rejected.
- Just how similar is the Freemason ceremony to the Endowment? This article will show a clip of an actual Masonic ceremony.
- What is the light of Christ? Find out how it relates to sons of perdition, the atonement, the 2nd coming and more.
The Great Storm in 3 Nephi
This article has moved! Please visit https://www.ldstheology.com/articles/the-great-storm-in-3-nephi-8 for the updated version!
An Introduction to Book of Mormon Geography
This video has moved! Please visit https://www.ldstheology.com/videos to watch!
Christ As Bridegroom
Understanding the Second Coming through Types and Shadows
By Rick Brunson
Several years ago, as a result of curiosity, I began to study the prophesied events of the last days. What initially began as a hobby, soon turned into a passion, and finally into a book. The book which I choose to entitle Before the Second Coming, was published in 2016 and describes in as much detail as possible all of the known events leading up to the Second Coming of Christ.
The book you are about to read—Christ as Bridegroom—was also written on the topic of the Second Coming. However, unlike my first book, Christ as Bridegroom was not written with the purpose of describing the events of the last days. Rather, it was written with the sole purpose of examining the Second Coming through types and shadows. These types and shadows, which are often hidden throughout the scriptures, do not necessarily reference Christ's Second Coming directly; however, they nevertheless have much to say concerning this great future event if we are but able to read between the lines.
It is my hope that the reader will enjoy learning about these Second Coming types as much as I did when I first came across them myself.
To continue reading Christ as Bridegroom, please purchase this ebook below.
What You'll Get...
By Rick Brunson
Several years ago, as a result of curiosity, I began to study the prophesied events of the last days. What initially began as a hobby, soon turned into a passion, and finally into a book. The book which I choose to entitle Before the Second Coming, was published in 2016 and describes in as much detail as possible all of the known events leading up to the Second Coming of Christ.
The book you are about to read—Christ as Bridegroom—was also written on the topic of the Second Coming. However, unlike my first book, Christ as Bridegroom was not written with the purpose of describing the events of the last days. Rather, it was written with the sole purpose of examining the Second Coming through types and shadows. These types and shadows, which are often hidden throughout the scriptures, do not necessarily reference Christ's Second Coming directly; however, they nevertheless have much to say concerning this great future event if we are but able to read between the lines.
It is my hope that the reader will enjoy learning about these Second Coming types as much as I did when I first came across them myself.
To continue reading Christ as Bridegroom, please purchase this ebook below.
What You'll Get...
This book will explain what the below events have to do with Christ's Second Coming, and explains why they are so important for us to understand in this light:
- The Parable of the Ten Virgins
- The Marriage Supper of the Lamb
- Ancient Israelite Weddings
- The Story of Abraham and Isaac
- The Marriage of Isaac to Rebekah
- Rebekah's Veiled Face
- Joseph in Egypt
- The Exodus Pattern, including:
- The Plagues of the Exodus
- The Parting of the Red Sea
- The Events at Mount Sinai
- The 40-year Journey in the Wilderness
- Entering into the Promised Land
- The Seven Mosaic Feasts of Israel, including:
- Passover
- The Feast of Unleavened Bread
- The Feast of Firstfruits
- The Feast of Weeks (Pentecost)
- The Feast of Trumpets
- The Day of Atonement
- The Feast of Tabernacles
- Book of Mormon History
- The Coming Forth of the Gold Plates
- The Tree of Life
- Wheat and Tares
- And More!
UPDATE: As of 2025, Christ as Bridegroom is now included in Part II of Rick Brunson's book, Before the Second Coming, published by Cedar Fort.
To purchase a copy, click here.
The Wheat and Temple Connection
This article is no longer available because it was included in Before the Second Coming. To purchase a copy of this book, please visit www.BeforetheSecondComing.com.
Creation and Numerology
This article is no longer available. We hope to revise it and repost it soon at www.LDSTheology.com.
The Great Storm 3 Nephi
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Before the Second Coming
By Rick Brunson
Book of Mormon Lesson 13
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Book of Mormon Lesson 5
This video has moved! Please visit https://www.ldstheology.com/videos to watch!
The Sealed Portion of the Book of Mormon
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Book of Mormon Lesson 2
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The Sword of Ammon
By Rick Brunson
According to historians and archeologists, the people who occupied this region of Mesoamerica between 600 B.C. and 400 A.D., used swords called macuahuitls. These were wooden swords, but they were not used as clubs. Instead, they were a slashing weapon, similar to traditional swords. The macuahuitl “consisted of a long, flat piece of hardwood with grooves along the side into which were set and glued sharp fragments of flint or obsidian (volcanic glass).”[5]
At first glance, one might think that these wooden swords were less effective than steel swords. However, the volcanic glass in these wooden swords had the potential to be much sharper and cut much deeper than even steel swords. In fact, one of Cortez’s companions in his conquest of central Mexico said that the macuahuitl, “cut worse than a knife.”[6] So sharp in fact, that “in one famous incident, a Maya warrior cut off the head of a Spaniard’s horse with one blow of a macuahuitl.”[7]
Truth be told, I have always been fascinated by
swords. My sword collection began at the
age of three when my parents bought me my first toy He-Man sword. It went everywhere with me; always tucked in
my belt just in case. As I grew older, I
began collecting real swords. Although
my current sword collection may be impressive to some, I am afraid it will not
be complete until I have a real lightsaber in my possession. Maybe one day.
With this background, is it any wonder that some of my
favorite Book of Mormon stories revolve around swords and warfare? From the opening pages of the Book of Mormon,
to the final Nephite battle, swords are everywhere and play a major role in
Nephite civilization. This article will
take a closer look one of the more famous Nephite swords, namely, the sword of
Ammon.
 |
| The Sword of Laban |
The
Sword of Laban
What struck me when I first learned about Ammon’s
sword was how different it was from the sword of Laban. “Laban’s sword fits nicely into the pattern
of a high-quality Middle Eastern weapon – a sheath, gold hilt, fine
workmanship, and a “blade…of the most precious steel” (1 Nephi 4:9).”[1]
However, the sword of Ammon, as we shall see, was designed much
differently. Originally, after the
family of Lehi arrived in the new world, the Nephites manufactured their swords
after the sword of Laban. In other
words, they likely manufactured steel swords.
Nephi recorded:
And I,
Nephi, did take the sword of Laban, and after the manner of it did make many
swords…. And I did teach my people…to work in all manner of wood, and of iron,
and of copper, and of brass, and of steel (2 Nephi 5:14-15).
However, in the words of LDS
scholars Hamblin and Merrill:
“In view
of the evidence of archaeology, it seems possible that after the Nephites moved
inland away from the land of first inheritance, they may have been unable to
discover adequate sources of ore.
Without access to the ore necessary to train the new generation in
extensive metal making skills, their metallurgical technology in some fields
could have been lost after a single generation had passed.”[2]
Or, in the words of BYU’s Matthew Roper:
"Chronologically speaking, steel is never mentioned after Jarom's day (Jarom 1:8). And iron, although known to some of the Zeniffites in the land of Nephi, is never mentioned after Noah's day (Mosiah 11:3, 8). This tends to support the idea that some metallurgical technologies possessed by Nephi and others may have been lost over time."[3]
If this were true, if steel or iron
was no longer available to their society in the quantities they needed for
manufacturing weapons, how did the Nephites make their swords? What material did they use? As one would expect, they adapted to their
surroundings by using the resources that were available to them, which
consisted mainly of wood and rock.
 |
| Map of Mesoamerica |
A
Mesoamerican Setting
As I discussed in a previous article, “Book of Mormon Geography,”[4] most LDS scholars believe that the Book of Mormon took place in Mesoamerica. The reasons that I gave in “Book of Mormon Geography” as to why I currently favor a Mesoamerican setting are as follows:
- The only known civilization to occupy the New World between 1500 B.C. and 250 B.C., and whose population numbered in the millions (both Book of Mormon requirements for the Jaredites) were the Olmec’s of Mesoamerica. Thus, the Olmec’s are currently the best known candidate for the Jaredites. Since the Jaredites and Nephites occupied much of the same land, finding the Nephites and Lamanites becomes much easier once we determine who the Jaredites were. The Maya civilization preceded the Olmec’s in Mesoamerica, making them a great candidate for the Nephites and Lamanites.
- Mesoamerica is the only known area in all of North and South America which had civilizations that could read and write between 600 B.C. and 400 A.D., also a requirement of the Book of Mormon text.
- Mesoamerica geography fits very nicely with the geography described in the Book of Mormon. Every river, mountain, sea, hill, lake, and city mentioned in the Book of Mormon is in a great relationship to one another in Mesoamerica. For example, Mesoamerica is the only region in all of North and South America that has a mountain range that runs from east to west and touches two oceans, which is a Book of Mormon requirement (Alma 22:27).
There are many more reasons in addition
to the above, but they will not be discussed here. (For the complete list of
arguments/references for a Mesoamerican setting, see the end of my article
“Book of MormonGeography.”)
How does this information relate to Book
of Mormon sword making? Simple. Knowing where the events in the Book of
Mormon took place can help us determine what types of swords they made.
The
Macuahuitl
According to historians and archeologists, the people who occupied this region of Mesoamerica between 600 B.C. and 400 A.D., used swords called macuahuitls. These were wooden swords, but they were not used as clubs. Instead, they were a slashing weapon, similar to traditional swords. The macuahuitl “consisted of a long, flat piece of hardwood with grooves along the side into which were set and glued sharp fragments of flint or obsidian (volcanic glass).”[5]
 |
| A Replica of the Maya Macuahuitl |
At first glance, one might think that these wooden swords were less effective than steel swords. However, the volcanic glass in these wooden swords had the potential to be much sharper and cut much deeper than even steel swords. In fact, one of Cortez’s companions in his conquest of central Mexico said that the macuahuitl, “cut worse than a knife.”[6] So sharp in fact, that “in one famous incident, a Maya warrior cut off the head of a Spaniard’s horse with one blow of a macuahuitl.”[7]
The
Sword of Ammon
As it turns out, this wooden sword
fits very nicely into the text of the Book of Mormon. After all, if a Maya warrior could cut off
the head of a horse with one swing, then Ammon would certainly be able to cut
off a Lamanite arm with one blow. Here
is what Habmlin and Merrill had to say about this famous Book of Mormon story:
“Actually
severing an enemy’s forearm or hand with a sword is a difficult task. What will generally occur is that the sword
will cut into the flesh until it reaches the bone, partially severing or
cracking it. However, since the victim’s
arm is free to rotate at the shoulder, the sword will simply push the limb in
the direction of the blow rather than cut deeper into the limb. Thus, in most situations one would expect a
sword to make a deep gash but not actually to sever the arm. In order to sever an arm with a sword, the
sword must be extremely sharp, must be swung swiftly, and must strike against a
limb that is either somehow fixed, or that is moving toward the sword blade.
 |
| Ammon's Sword (Macuahuitl) |
“Thus
Ammon’s sword technique makes perfect military sense. He waits for the enemy to attack him with his
club. As the club is raised and brought
down swiftly toward Ammon, Ammon swings his sword in a fast powerful blow aimed
at the forearm. The combination of the
attacker’s swing toward Ammon and the
force of Ammon’s own swing is sufficient to sever the forearm. Thus, according to the Book of Mormon, Ammon
waited for precisely the right moment to initiate his arm-severing sword
technique with maximum efficacy against his enemy.”[8]
The
Anti-Nephi-Lehies
Additionally, if the Nephites really
did use macuahuitls rather than steel swords, the story of the
anti-Nephi-Lehies begins to make a little more sense to the reader. After this group of Lamanites was converted
to the gospel, they made a covenant with God that they would shed the blood of their
brethren no more. As a sign of their
covenant, “they did bury [their swords] deep in the earth” (Alma 24:17). The interesting part of this story however, were
the words spoken by this group of Lamanites right before they buried their
swords:
Now, my best beloved brethren, since God hath
taken away our stains… let us stain our
swords no more with the blood of our brethren (Alma 24:12; emphasis added).
Can a steel sword be stained? Hardly!
But a wooden sword can be! Perhaps
this scripture in Alma is was meant to be read much more literally than what we
originally thought. According to Roper:
“The
king’s metaphor for redemption that involved stained weapons and their
cleansing might actually be more powerful if it referred to blood-soaked wood
than to a metal or even an obsidian blade.”[9]
How so? Hamblin and Merril noted:
|
| Maya (Nephite) warriors with their swords (macuahuitl's). |
“Removing
a bloodstain from wood is virtually impossible since the blood soaks into the
fibers of the wood. Thus the metaphor of
the great mercy of God in removing bloodstains from the swords becomes much
more powerful and understandable if it refers to wood stained with blood, which
only a miracle would remove, rather than if it refers to metal stained with
blood, which a piece of cloth could clean.”[10]
Notes:
[1] Hamblin and Merrill, “Swords in
the Book of Mormon,” Warefare in the Book
of Mormon, p. 334-335.
[2] Hamblin and Merrill, “Swords in
the Book of Mormon,” Warefare in the Book
of Mormon, p. 345.
[3] Roper, FARMS Review of Books, 9/1 (1997): 150.
[4] Brunson, “Book of MormonGeography.”
[5] Roper, “Swords and Cimeters in
the Book of Mormon,” Journal of Book of
Mormon Studies 8/1 (1999), p. 36.
[6] Bernal Diaz del Castillo, The Conquest of New Spain, p. 142-43, as
quoted by Roper, “Swords and Cimeters in the Book of Mormon,” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 8/1
(1999), p. 36.
[7] Hamblin and Merrill, “Swords in
the Book of Mormon,” Warefare in the Book
of Mormon, p. 341.
[8] Hamblin and Merrill, “Swords in
the Book of Mormon,” Warefare in the Book
of Mormon, p. 335-337.
[9] Roper, “Swords and Cimeters in
the Book of Mormon,” Journal of Book of
Mormon Studies 8/1 (1999), p. 39.
[10] Hamblin and Merrill, “Swords in
the Book of Mormon,” Warefare in the Book
of Mormon, p. 342-43.
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