False Prophet
by Mike James
In early June the missing children (Joshua and Tylee) of Lori Vallow were discovered dead on the property of her present husband Chad Daybell. The children were missing since at least November of 2019. Vallow is presently being held in Idaho on desertion charges.
Chad Daybell Mugshot
A friend of Vallow’s reports that Vallow believed the children were “zombies” who were possessed by “dark spirits.” The friend said that Vallow had learned many of the ideas behind her present spiritual beliefs from Daybell, a religious author and declared prophet who often wrote about the end of the world and of preparing for the Second Coming.
Daybell and Vallow are also connected to a string of other deaths. Vallow’s fourth husband Charles Vallow was shot to death by Lori’s brother in July 2019. Her brother later died in December 2019. Daybell’s ex-wife also died under mysterious circumstances in 2019.
Daybell and Vallow have connections to the Mormon Church and Daybell has written a number of popular books on the end of days for Mormon audiences. They are also associated with a Mormon organization known as “Preparing a People (PAP).”
According to the organization PAP, “It is not a ‘group’ and is not a ‘cult’ or something people join, but has educational lecture events that can be attended or watched on video.” Daybell spoke at several PAP events and he and Vallow appeared on an episode of the organization’s podcast where they discussed his two near-death experiences and his “visionary gift.” According to a Daybell friend, the visionary gift helped him see the death of his first wife Tammy.
In divorce paperwork filed by Charles Vallow prior to his death, he claimed that Lori Vallow believed she was a god preparing for Christ’s Second Coming in July 2020, “receiving spiritual revelations and visions to help her gather and prepare those chosen to live in the New Jerusalem after the great war as prophesied in the Book of Revelation.”
In the paperwork Charles detailed a phone call in which Lori told him she was a “translated being who cannot taste death sent by God to lead the 144,000 (Revelation 14) into the Millennium.”
The Daily Mail reports that Daybell believed Vallow’s two children were possessed by “evil spirits.” There are also reports that Daybell and Vallow were part of a cult-like offshoot of the Mormon Church called Another Voice of Warning (AVOW).
Here are some comments from a woman who was involved in some of these Mormon offshoot groups. She joined a Mormon Church in eastern Idaho in 2015 and soon after she was offered a job by a man in the congregation. The man claimed to have the ability to see spirits and cast evil spirits from people. He would counsel people in his home and claimed to cast evil spirits out of them. People would tell their friends and others would come to be helped by him. He also helped this woman with celiac, blood sugar, and thyroid problems (Matthew 24:24). She claimed to be healed and she stopped taking her medication. She later found these problems had not been completely eradicated.
She received tickets from her boss to attend a PAP conference in Rexburg, Idaho. She met Chad Daybell at the conference; he was one of the organizers. Julie Rowe was one of the speakers. She learned that both Chad and Julie were predicting a foreign invasion of the United States, plague, and an economic collapse. At the conference they learned about tent cities that would be created when the end-times came. People would be called out of their churches to set these cities up. Many Mormons are into the prepping lifestyle and have saved up food and supplies for what the future may bring.
Another person involved with these groups told the East Idaho News that Chad taught about multiple mortal probations. According to Mormon teachings, this life is a probation to see if people will live by God’s commandments. Both Daybell and Rowe taught that people can be reincarnated and live multiple lives and have multiple probations on earth. Reincarnation is not accepted teaching in Mormon doctrine.
In some of these offshoot groups there is a belief that a man and a woman might be destined to be together, even if that person is married to someone else. Again, this is not what the Mormon Church teaches.
According to Utah State University Religion Professor Patrick Mason, “The internet has facilitated for these types of groups…a kind of church-within-a church sensibility.… They believe they really get it and understand the true church teachings. They are more than happy to go to church with (other) people who are nice church-going folks, but they view these people as not as committed as they are, or as people who just don’t get it.”
More information will be coming out on this strange story, but it helps us see the danger out there from false prophets (Matthew 7:15-20). Mormonism is a false gospel and within it there are even more diverse beliefs. Stay rooted to the Bible to guard against being fooled by false prophets (2 Peter 2:1).
Sources:
“Chad Daybell Tried to Pretend He ‘Didn’t Know’ Lori Vallow Well When Initially Confronted by Police, Affidavit Says,” Oxygen Crime News, https://www.oxygen.com/crime-news/chad-daybell-initially-tried-to-pretend-he-didnt-know-lori-vallow-well, June 23, 2020.
“Inside Preparing a People, the Doomsday Prepper Group Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell Were Involved In,” Insider, https://www.insider.com/lori-vallow-chad-daybell-doomsday-beliefs-preparing-a-people-explained-2020-1, by Paulina Cachero, January 28, 2020.
“A Look at the Religious Circle Surrounding Chad and Lori Daybell,” Nate Sunderland, EastIdahonews.com, https://www.eastidahonews.com/2020/02/a-look-at-the-religious-circle-surrounding-chad-and-lori-daybell/, February 27, 2020.
“Cult leader on the run with mom…,” Martin Gould, Dailymail.com, https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7823081/Man-run-new-wife-kicked-Mormon-church-declaring-prophet.html, December 24, 2019.