=17. Modern Revelation Concerning the Gathering.=--We have found abundant proof of the severely literal fulfilment of prophecies relating to Israel"s dispersion. The predictions relative to the gathering have been but partly fulfilled; for, while the work of concentration has been well begun, and is now in active progress, the consummation of the labor is yet future. It is reasonable, then, to look for revelation and prophecy concerning the subject, in modern scripture as well as in the inspired writings of former times.
Speaking to the elders of the Church in this dispensation, the Lord declares His purpose to gather His people "even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings,"[1001] and adds: "And ye are called to bring to pa.s.s the gathering of mine elect, for mine elect hear my voice, and harden not their hearts; wherefore the decree hath gone forth from the Father, that they shall be gathered in unto one place upon the face of this land, to prepare their hearts and be prepared in all things against the day when tribulation and desolation are sent forth upon the wicked."[1002]
[1001] Revelation given 1830, Doc. and Cov. xxix, 2; see also x, 65; xliii, 24.
[1002] Doc. and Cov. xxix, 7-8; see also x.x.xi, 8; x.x.xiii, 6; x.x.xviii, 31; cx.x.xiii, 7; xlv, 25; lxxvii, 14; lx.x.xiv, 2.
=18.= Hear further the word of the Lord unto the people of His Church in the present day, not only predicting the gathering of the Saints to Zion, but announcing that the hour for the gathering has come:--"Wherefore, prepare ye, prepare ye, O my people; sanctify yourselves; gather ye together, O ye people of my Church.... Yea, verily I say unto you again, the time has come when the voice of the Lord is unto you, go ye out of Babylon, gather ye out from among the nations, from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."[1003]
[1003] Doc. and Cov. cx.x.xiii, 4, 7.
=19. Extent and Purpose of the Gathering.=--Some of the prophecies already cited have special reference to the restoration of the Ten Tribes; others relate to the return of the people of Judah to the land of their inheritance; yet others refer to the re-establishment of Israel in general, without mention of tribal or other divisions; while many pa.s.sages in the revelations of the present dispensation deal with the gathering of the Saints who have numbered themselves with the Church of Christ as re-established. It is evident that the plan of gathering comprises:--
1. Return of the Jews to Jerusalem.
2. Restoration of the Ten Tribes.
3. a.s.sembling in the land of Zion of the people of Israel from the nations of the earth.
=20.= The sequence of these subdivisions as here presented, is that of convenience only, and has no significance as to the order in which the work is to be done. The division last named const.i.tutes the present great work of the Church, though the labor of a.s.sisting in the restoration of the Lost Tribes is included. We are informed by revelation, given in the Kirtland Temple, that the appointment to and the authority for this work were solemnly committed to the Church. And through whom should such authority be expected to come? Surely through him who had received it by Divine commission in a former dispensation of united Israel. Moses, who was the chief representative of Israel"s G.o.d when the Lord set His hand the first time to lead His people to the land of their appointed inheritance, has come in person and has committed to the latter-day Church the authority to minister in the work now that the Lord has "set his hand the second time" to recover His people.
=21.= Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, each of whom had been duly ordained to the apostleship, testify of the manifestations made to them, in these words:--"The heavens were again opened unto us, and Moses appeared before us, and committed unto us the keys of the gathering of Israel from the four parts of the earth, and the leading of the ten tribes from the land of the north."[1004] The importance of the work thus required of the Church was emphasized by a later revelation, in which the Lord gave this command:--"Send forth the elders of my church unto the nations which are afar off; unto the islands of the sea; send forth unto foreign lands; call upon all nations; firstly upon the Gentiles, and then upon the Jews. And behold, and lo, this shall be their cry, and the voice of the Lord unto all people: Go ye forth unto the land of Zion.... Let them, therefore, who are among the Gentiles flee unto Zion. And let them who be of Judah flee unto Jerusalem, unto the mountain of the Lord"s house. Go ye out from among the nations, even from Babylon, from the midst of wickedness, which is spiritual Babylon."[1005]
[1004] Doc. and Cov. cx, 11.
[1005] Doc. and Cov. cx.x.xiii, 8-9, 12-14.
=22.= The last sentence of the foregoing quotation expresses the purpose for which this work of gathering the Saints from the nations of the earth has been ordained. The Lord would have His people separate themselves from the sins of the world, and depart from spiritual Babylon, that they may learn the ways of G.o.d and serve Him the more fully. John the Revelator, while in exile on Patmos, saw in vision the fate of the sinful world. An angel came down from heaven, "and he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.... And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and G.o.d hath remembered her iniquities."[1006]
[1006] Rev. xviii, 2, 4-5.
=23.= The faith of the Saints teaches that in the day of the Lord"s righteous fury, safety will be found in Zion. The importance which the Latter-day Saints a.s.sociate with the work of gathering, and the fidelity with which they seek to discharge the duty enjoined upon them by Divine authority in the matter of warning the world of the impending dangers, as described in the Revelator"s vision, are sufficiently demonstrated by the great extent of the missionary labor as at present prosecuted by this people.[1007]
[1007] See Note 1.
=24. Israel a Chosen People.=--It is evident that the Lord has conferred the choicest of blessings upon His people Israel.[1008] With Abraham, the patriarch of the nation, G.o.d entered into a covenant and said:--"I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing; and I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee, and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed."[1009] This was to be an everlasting covenant.[1010] It was confirmed upon Isaac,[1011] and in turn upon Jacob who was called Israel.[1012] The promises regarding the mult.i.tudinous posterity, among whom were to be counted many of royal rank, have been literally fulfilled. No less certain is the realization of the second part of the prediction, that in and through Abraham"s descendants should all nations of the earth be blessed. For, by a world-wide dispersion, the children of Israel have been mingled with the nations; and the blood of the chosen seed has been sprinkled among the peoples.[1013] And now, in this the day of gathering, when the Lord is again bringing His people together to honor and bless them above all that the world can give, every nation with the blood of Israel in the veins of its members will partake of the blessings.
[1008] See Note 2.
[1009] Gen. xii, 1-2; see also Gal. iii, 14, 16.
[1010] Gen. xvii, 6-8.
[1011] Gen. xxvi, 3-4.
[1012] Gen. x.x.xv, 11-12.
[1013] See Note 3.
=25.= But there is another and a more striking proof of blessings flowing to all nations through the house of Israel. Was not the Redeemer born in the flesh through the lineage of Abraham? Surely the blessings of that Divine birth are extended, not only to the nations and families of the earth collectively, but to every individual in mortality.
=26. Restoration of the Ten Tribes.=--From the scriptural pa.s.sages already considered, it is plain that, while many of those belonging to the Ten Tribes were dispersed among the nations, a sufficient number to justify the retention of the original name were led away as a body, and are now in existence in some place where the Lord has hidden them. To them Christ went to minister after His visit to the Nephites, as before stated.[1014] Their return const.i.tutes a very important part of the gathering, characteristic of the dispensation of the fullness of times.
[1014] Pp. 338-339.
=27.= To the scriptures already quoted as relating to their return, the following should be added: As a feature of the work of G.o.d in the day of restoration we are told:--"And they who are in the north countries shall come in remembrance before the Lord, and their prophets shall hear his voice, and shall no longer stay themselves, and they shall smite the rocks, and the ice shall flow down at their presence. And an highway shall be cast up in the midst of the great deep. Their enemies shall become a prey unto them. And in the barren deserts there shall come forth pools of living water; and the parched ground shall no longer be a thirsty land. And they shall bring forth their rich treasures unto the children of Ephraim my servants. And the boundaries of the everlasting hills shall tremble at their presence.
And there shall they fall down, and be crowned with glory, even in Zion, by the hands of the servants of the Lord, even the children of Ephraim; and they shall be filled with songs of everlasting joy.
Behold this is the blessing of the everlasting G.o.d upon the tribes of Israel, and the richer blessing upon the head of Ephraim and his fellows."[1015]
[1015] Doc. and Cov. cx.x.xiii, 26-34.
=28.= From the express and repeated declaration, that in their exodus from the north the Ten Tribes are to be led to Zion, there to receive honor at the hands of some of the children of Ephraim, who necessarily are to have previously gathered there, it is plain that Zion is to be first established. The establishment of Zion will receive attention in the next lecture.
NOTES.
=1. Gathering Now in Progress.=--The Latter-day Saints "are building up stakes of Zion in the Rocky Mountain valleys, and in this way are fulfilling predictions of the ancient prophets.
Isaiah hath it written, "And it shall come to pa.s.s in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord"s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the G.o.d of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths; for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem" (Isaiah ii, 2-3). It is remarkable how minutely the Latter-day Saints are fulfilling the terms of this prophecy: 1. They are building the temples of G.o.d in the tops of the mountains, so that the house of the Lord is truly where Isaiah saw it would be. 2. The Saints engaged in this work are people gathered from nearly all the nations under heaven, so that all nations are flowing unto the house of the Lord in the top of the mountains. 3. The people who receive the gospel in foreign lands joyfully say to their relatives and friends: Come ye, and let us go up to the house of the Lord, and he will teach us of his ways and we will walk in his paths."--Roberts" _Outlines of Ecclesiastical History_, p.
409.
=2. Israel a Chosen People.=--"The promise to Abram that he should become a great nation, has been fulfilled in his chosen seed occupying the land of Palestine, as such, for fifteen hundred years. It will again be fulfilled when they become a nation on that land forever. The history of the eastern hemisphere for the two thousand years which intervened between the calling of Abraham and the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, witnesses that every nation that fought against Israel, or in any way oppressed them, pa.s.sed away. Time will show the same general result from the destruction of Jerusalem to the millennium. The Prophet Isaiah, speaking of the time when the Lord should favor Israel, said, "All they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing; and they that strive with thee shall perish" (xli, 11).
"I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood" (xlix, 27). "I have taken out of thine hand the cup of trembling, even the dregs of the cup of my fury; thou shalt no more drink of it again: but I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee; which have said to thy soul, Bow down, that we may go over.""--_A Compendium of the Doctrines of the Gospel_, by Elders Franklin D. Richards and James A. Little, pp. 246-247.
=3. Israel Among the Nations.=--"When we reflect that it is thirty-two centuries since the enemies of Israel began to oppress them in the land of Canaan, that about one-third of the time they were a people in that land they were more or less in bondage to their enemies; that seven hundred years before the coming of Christ the ten tribes were scattered throughout western Asia; that we have no record that any have as yet returned to the land of their inheritance; that nearly six hundred years before Christ, the Babylonish captivity took place, and that, according to the Book of Esther, only a small part of the Jews ever returned, but were scattered through the 127 provinces of the Persian empire; that Asia was the hive from which swarmed the nomadic tribes who over-ran Europe; that at the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans the Jews were scattered over the known world; we may well ask the question, Does not Israel to-day const.i.tute a large proportion of the human family?"--_Compendium_, by Elders F. D. Richards and James A.
Little, p. 90.
LECTURE XIX.
ZION.
=Article 10.=--We believe ... That Zion will be built upon this [the American]
continent, etc.
=1. Two Gathering Places.=--Some of the pa.s.sages quoted in connection with the dispersion and the subsequent re-union of Israel, make reference to Jerusalem which is to be re-established, and Zion which is to be built. True, the latter name is in many cases used as a synonym of the first, owing to the fact that a certain hill within the Jerusalem of old was known specifically as Zion, or Mount Zion; and the name of a part is often used figuratively to designate the whole; but in other pa.s.sages, the separate and distinctive meaning of the terms is clear. The prophet Micah, who ministered during the seventh century before the birth of Christ, "full of power by the spirit of the Lord, and of judgment, and of might,"[1016] predicted the destruction of Jerusalem and its a.s.sociated Zion, the former to "become heaps," and the latter to be "plowed as a field;"[1017] and then announced a new condition which is to exist in the last days, when another "mountain of the house of the Lord" is to be established, and this is to be called Zion.[1018] The two places are mentioned separately in the prophecy:--"For the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem."[1019]
[1016] Micah iii, 8.
[1017] Micah iii, 12; see also page 337 of this book.
[1018] Micah iv, 1.
[1019] Micah iv, 2; Isaiah ii, 2-3.
=2.= Joel adds this testimony regarding the two places from which the Lord shall rule over His people:--"The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem."[1020] Zephaniah breaks forth into song, with the triumph of Israel as his theme, and addresses the daughters of both cities:--"Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem."[1021] Then, the prophet predicts separately of each place:--"In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear thou not: and to Zion, Let not thine hands be slack."[1022] Furthermore, Zechariah records the revealed will in this way:--"And the Lord shall yet comfort Zion, and shall yet choose Jerusalem."[1023]