"For the preparation wherewith I design to prepare mine apostles to prune my vineyard for the last time, that I may bring to pass my strange act, that I may pour out my Spirit upon all flesh--But behold, verily I say unto you, that there are many who have been ordained among you, whom I have called but few of them are chosen. They who are not chosen have sinned a very grievous sin, in that they are walking in darkness at noon-day." (D&C 95:4-6)

Here God is saying that He is designing to do a preparatory work. What is this preparatory work for? So that at some point His apostles (or those that He anoints)1 can "prune my vineyard for the last time." The "strange" part of this act is similar to how Enoch was a "wild man" or those who heard Jesus were offended and exclaimed "Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us?"2 Or similar to how John the Baptist, a strange man who ate locusts and wild honey, who dwelt hiding in the wilderness and wore "clothed with camel's hair, and with a girdle of a skin about his loins", "wrested the keys, the kingdom, the power, the glory from the Jews".3

Why else might it be called "strange"? Perhaps it has something to do with God always working by the smallest of means. Perhaps it is unexpected or contrary to popular thought.

The result and desired end of this act is so that the Lord "may pour out my Spirit upon all flesh." This phrase echoes the promise contained in Jeremiah, that a day would come where no man need say "Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them."4 So the purpose of the strange act seems like it has these promises in mind.

"That I may proceed to bring to pass my act, my strange act, and perform my work, my strange work, that men may discern between the righteous and the wicked, saith your God." (D&C 101:95)

Here again, the Lord is talking about his "strange act" so that "men may discern between the righteous and the wicked."

And finally we come to Isaiah 28, the only pre-restoration place in scripture where the Lord's strange act is mentioned:

"For the Lord shall rise up as in mount Perazim, he shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that he may do his work, his strange work; and bring to pass his act, his strange act. Now therefore be ye not mockers, lest your bands be made strong: for I have heard from the Lord God of hosts a consumption, even determined upon the whole earth." (Isaiah 28:21-22)

This strange act is in response to the wickedness He sees in the "drunkards of Ephraim" who live in the "fat valley", "whose glorious beauty is a fading flower." Who repeat endlessly words which have no life.5

The consumption upon the whole earth are the calamities that are now upon us, many of our own doing and it is coming to a fulness as the Lord withdraws His spirit.

The strange act coincides thematically with Ezekiel 14, where the Lord promises to deceive those who come to the prophets according to idols and both the asker and the prophet are destroyed together. All this:

"That the house of Israel may go no more astray from me, neither be polluted any more with all their transgressions; but that they may be my people, and I may be their God, saith the Lord God." (Ezekiel 14:11)

The promises in Ezekiel 14 also seem to coincide with the Jeremiah verses. Here the Lord is describing how He would allow this deception for the reason that man would no longer rely on man, but would trust in God6—at least all that remained and were able to abide the time when "they that come shall burn them".7

It is interesting to note, that the reason those people come to inquire of God at the hand of the prophet, always have idols. Because had they not, they could avoid Nephi's lament regarding his brothers,8 and could have inquired themselves of a being that gives to all liberally9 as he did to Nephi.

Shortly before he died, Joseph applied this condemnation to the church in the last days. 

"President Joseph Smith read the 14th chapter of Ezekiel--said the Lord had declared by the Prophet, that the people should each one stand for himself, and depend on no man or men in that state of corruption of the Jewish church--that righteous persons could only deliver their own souls--applied it to the present state of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints--said if the people departed from the Lord, they must fall--that they were depending on the Prophet, hence were darkened in their minds, in consequence of neglecting the duties devolving upon themselves...." (Joseph Smith, TPJS, Section Five 1842-43, p.237)

So the Doctrine and Covenants mention the strange act twice. The "strange act" is only talked about in Isaiah 28, which eerily and unerringly seems like it's describing the current LDS church. The strange act is referred to as coming to pass in the last days, so that the Lord could pour out His spirit on all flesh, a promise found in Jeremiah. Joseph uses Ezekiel 14 and applies it to the current church shortly before his death which talks about both the prophet and those who come to them would both be destroyed. And the single most defining, and really the only teaching left in the LDS church is "Follow the Prophet."

The warning contained in Isaiah 28 is the same as is contained in the temple endowment ceremony. It is a warning not to mock God. For those who fail to recognize that he is acting, and that his voice is sounding, and point in an attitude of mocking,10 for them, their bands will be made strong, and the whole earth will be consumed.

"Pray ye, therefore, that their ears may be opened unto your cries, that I may be merciful unto them, that these things may not come upon them." (D&C 101:92)

 

Notes

1. "You have been indebted to other men, in the first instance, for evidence; on that you have acted; but it is necessary that you receive a testimony from heaven for yourselves; so that you can bear testimony to the truth of the Book of Mormon, and that you have seen the face of God. That is more than the testimony of an angel. When the proper time arrives, you shall be able to bear this testimony to the world. When you bear testimony that you have seen God, this testimony God will never suffer to fall, but will bear you out; although many will not give heed, yet others will. You will therefore see the necessity of getting this testimony from heaven.

"Never cease striving until you have seen God face to face. Strengthen your faith; cast off you doubts, your sins, and all your unbelief; and nothing can prevent you from coming to God. Your ordination is not full and complete till God has laid His hand upon you. We require as much to qualify us as did those who have gone before us; God is the same. If the Savior in former days laid His hands upon His disciples, why not in latter days?" (Oliver Cowdery, HC v 2, ch 13, p 195)

2. See article Christ is the Prototype of the Saved Man.

3. HC volume 5, chapter 13.

4. Jeremiah 31:34

5. Isaiah 28

6. "Cursed is he that putteth his trust in man, or maketh flesh his arm, or shall hearken unto the precepts of men, save their precepts shall be given by the power of the Holy Ghost." (2 Nephi 28:31)

7. Joseph Smith History 1:37

8. "Behold, we cannot understand the words which our father hath spoken concerning the natural branches of the olive tree, and also concerning the Gentiles. And I said unto them: Have ye inquired of the Lord? And they said unto me: We have not; for the Lord maketh no such thing known unto us. Behold, I said unto them: How is it that ye do not keep the commandments of the Lord? How is it that ye will perish, because of the hardness of your hearts? Do ye not remember the things which the Lord hath said?—If ye will not harden your hearts, and ask me in faith, believing that ye shall receive, with diligence in keeping my commandments, surely these things shall be made known unto you." (1 Nephi 15:7-11)

9. "While I was laboring under the extreme difficulties caused by the contests of these parties of religionists, I was one day reading the Epistle of James, first chapter and fifth verse, which reads: If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. Never did any passage of scripture come with more power to the heart of man than this did at this time to mine. It seemed to enter with great force into every feeling of my heart. I reflected on it again and again, knowing that if any person needed wisdom from God, I did; for how to act I did not know, and unless I could get more wisdom than I then had, I would never know; for the teachers of religion of the different sects understood the same passages of scripture so differently as to destroy all confidence in settling the question by an appeal to the Bible. At length I came to the conclusion that I must either remain in darkness and confusion, or else I must do as James directs, that is, ask of God." (Joseph Smith History 1:11-13)

10. "And I also cast my eyes round about, and beheld, on the other side of the river of water, a great and spacious building; and it stood as it were in the air, high above the earth. And it was filled with people, both old and young, both male and female; and their manner of dress was exceedingly fine; and they were in the attitude of mocking and pointing their fingers towards those who had come at and were partaking of the fruit." (1 Nephi 8:27)

See also: Restoration Interrupted: Lehi's Dream, part 1 and part 2.

 

See Also

"But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them." (D&C 84:98)

"None of this was my doing. The Lord's strange act, was not, could not, be planned by me. Was not, could not, have been controlled by me. It was not anticipated by me, or even understood by me, until after the Lord had accomplished His will, and made it apparent to me on the evening of May 1, 2014. He alone has done this. He is the author of all of this." (Denver Snuffer, 10th Lecture)