Israel's Mission.
Privileges and Requirements.—It was intended that the children of Israel should have "room to dwell;" and it was of the utmost consequence that they should have. They were to be the oracles of God, the custodians and dispensers of heavenly wisdom. Upon them devolved the high duty of keeping alive on faith's altar the fire of divine truth. They were not to worship idols, as did the heathen nations around them, but were to worship the true God, the invisible Jehovah, "walking by faith," where others, less worthy, "walked by sight," believing only when they could see. The children of Israel were not to intermarry with other nations, lest they might worship their gods, practice their vices, and pollute the noble lineage through which was to come, in due time, the Savior of the world. The Lamb of God, when he came, was "without spot or blemish," physically as well as spiritually; a condition partly due, no doubt, to the choice parentage and ancestry that had been provided for him.
Christ the Seed of Abraham.—This brings us again to the divine promise given to Abraham: "In thee and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." Undoubtedly that promise was fulfiled in the coming of the Son of God as the Redeemer and Savior. In the body he was a descendant of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and in more ways than one he has been a blessing to all nations.
The Gem and Its Setting.—In treating this great theme, however, it is not enough to consider that such a personage as Jesus of Nazareth lived and labored and died. We must not separate the gem from its setting. We must not isolate the central fact of the Savior's personal ministry from the related facts that went before and followed after. Christ came to save the world; but the house of Israel prepared the way for his coming, gave him a proper lineage through which to come, and after his crucifixion carried on the work he had inaugurated. This is especially true of the patriarchs, the prophets, the apostles, and others bearing the Priesthood; but it is also true, in a general way, of the whole house of Israel.
The Salt of the Earth.—While there is but one Savior in a universal sense, and in the sense of the atonement and the resurrection, that Savior has many assistants, sent to play subordinate parts in the great drama of salvation. Did not Jesus tell his disciples that they were "the salt of the earth"—the saving or preserving element among men? And did he not warn them against allowing "the salt" to "lose its savor"—its power to save and preserve? For how could they save others, if their own feet were not firmly planted upon the Rock of Salvation?
Followers of the Lamb.—John of Patmos saw a Lamb standing upon the Mount Zion, "and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads" (Rev. 14:1). And he heard a voice from heaven saying, "These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth." Then they follow him in the work of salvation, not only in this world, but also in the spirit world, where he ministered while his body was lying in the tomb.
Who are these 144,000? They are not the whole house of Israel, which numbers millions; but they are "of all the tribes of the children of Israel," twelve thousand of every tribe. The Prophet Joseph says: They "are high priests, ordained unto the holy order of God, to administer the Everlasting Gospel; for they are they who are ordained out of every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, by the angels to whom is given power over the nations of the earth, to bring as many as will come to the Church of the First Born" (D&C 77:11). They are not the entire army of the Lord, but might well be termed the flower of that army, the body-guard of the great Captain of Salvation.
Keystone and Arch.—Christ is the keystone of an arch, and that arch is, or is in, the house of Israel; a circlet of gold upon the forearm of Omnipotence, a setting of satellite gems, from the midst of which the supreme jewel, the Signet of Salvation, sends forth its lustre.
Overruling Providence.—Under Jesus Christ, the Savior, the great house of which he is the spiritual head also has a mission of salvation. And, strangely enough, the children of Israel have accomplished that mission, not only when obedient to God, but while disobedient and suffering the consequent calamities that came upon them. A notable instance of the power of overruling Providence, bringing order out of chaos, light out of darkness, success and victory from seeming failure and defeat.
Calamity and Compensation.—The compensations of calamity—a theme treated philosophically by Ralph Waldo Emerson, in one of his noblest essays—are apparent in some of the mightiest events of human history. For instance, to Adam it was said: "The day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." He ate, and death came into the world; a terrible calamity, but not without its compensation; for the fall of man proved to be the means of peopling the earth, according to a divine plan, ordained before the creation of the world. Christ's martyrdom, the preordained means of man's salvation, was an overwhelming calamity to his terror-stricken disciples, who were disconsolate until they looked upon it in its true light, acknowledging God's hand in the awful tragedy. Even so, Israel's dispersion, that dire calamity under which the chosen people have suffered for ages, and from which they are just beginning to emerge, has been overruled for good, and made the means of fulfiling the Lord's purpose and promise in the blessing of all nations.
Moses Predicts the Dispersion.—Prophecies of this calamity were made as early as the time of Moses, fifteen hundred years before the coming of the Savior. The twelve tribes, the most notable of whom were Judah and Joseph—the latter represented in Ephraim and Manasseh—had been in Egypt for several centuries when Moses led them out of bondage and brought them to the borders of Canaan, the land which the Lord had given to their forefathers when he promised to make of them "a great nation." The leader of Israel told his people, who were about to possess themselves of the land of Canaan, that so long as they served Jehovah and kept his commandments, they should be prospered and remain an independent nation; but if they forsook Jehovah and served other gods, He would scatter them among all people, from one end of the earth even unto the other.—(Deut. 28:64.)
A Martyred Nation.—They were commanded, as Adam and Eve had been, not to do a certain thing, and a punishment was to come upon them if they disobeyed; and yet it must have been foreseen, as in the case of our first parents, that they would disobey, and the transgression was overruled for good. The dispersion of Israel, like the fall of Adam, like the crucifixion of Christ, seems to have been part of a mighty plan for the progress and salvation of the human race. Adam fell that man might be; Christ died to burst the bands of death; and Israel was scattered among all nations, that the gospel of the Redeemer, which was to follow, might make its way more readily among those nations. As in the fall, as in the crucifixion, and in every instance where some great service has been rendered to humanity, there was sacrifice, suffering, martyrdom, in order that blessings might come. The history of the house of Israel is the history of a martyred nation, suffering for the good of other nations—whatever may be said of transgressions that justified God in bringing upon his chosen people the calamities that were doubtless among the "offenses" that "must needs come."
"'Tis sorrow builds the shining ladder up,Whose golden rounds are our calamities."
"'Tis sorrow builds the shining ladder up,Whose golden rounds are our calamities."
To the Ends of the Earth.
A Decadent Empire.—Joshua, succeeding Moses as the leader of Israel, conquered the land of Canaan and divided it among the twelve tribes. Then followed the reigns of the Judges, during which period Israel began to depart from God, and to invite, by rebellious conduct, the national calamity that had been predicted. The glories of the monarchy founded by Saul, David and Solomon being past, the curse, long suspended, fell, and the Israelitish empire hastened to its decay.
Ahijah's Prophecy.—In the reign of Rehoboam, the successor to Solomon, ten of the twelve tribes revolted, and choosing Jeroboam to be their ruler, set up the kingdom of Israel (in the north), distinct from the kingdom of Judah (in the south), over which Rehoboam continued to reign. During the days of Jeroboam, who had made idolatry the state religion of the northern kingdom, the dispersion of Israel was again predicted; the prophet Ahijah then voicing the word of the Lord to his disobedient people:
"The Lord shall smite Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water, and he shall root up Israel out of this good land, which he gave to their fathers, and shall scatter them beyond the river."—(I Kgs. 14:15.)
Amos and Hosea.—Another prophet who foretold the dispersion was Amos, who said that Israel should "surely go into captivity," and be "sifted among all nations" (7:11, 17; 9:9). Still another was Hosea, who, substituting rhetorically the past for the future, said: "Ephraim, he hath mixed himself among the people" (7:8).
Beginning of the Scattering.—In the year 721 B. C., soon after the time of Hosea's prophecy, and while a monarch of the same name was reigning over the kingdom of Israel, the Assyrians, under Shalmaneser, came against that kingdom and began to destroy it. In a series of deportations they carried away the ten tribes (Ephraim and all) into captivity.
The Lost Tribes.—These are the famous "lost tribes," concerning whom very little is known. Josephus, the Jewish historian, who wrote during the first century after Christ, says that the ten tribes were then beyond the Euphrates, the "river" referred to by Ahijah in his prophecy. Esdras, in the Apocrypha, declares that those tribes went a journey of a year and a half into the north country.
The Cairns of Scandinavia.—Missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, returning from Scandinavia, have told of rude monuments—cairns or piles of stones—in that northern region, concerning which tradition says that they were erected many centuries ago by a migrating people. Whether or not these were the tribes of the Assyrian captivity, it is interesting to reflect that it was an Israelitish custom to raise such monuments in commemorating events, especially the migratory movements of the nation.
Other Ancient Monuments.—If it be objected that monuments erected by the Ten Tribes, 721 B. C., could not have lasted down to this day, how will the objector account for the perfectly preserved monuments of Assyria, Babylon, Egypt, and other ancient empires, whose remains have been uncovered by modern archaeology? Such a theory will not stagger the faith of the Latter-day Saints, when they recollect that the ruins of Adam's altar are still to be seen in the State of Missouri, where they were identified by the Prophet Joseph Smith, A. D. 1838.
To Return from the North.—At all events, it is from "the north country" that the ten tribes are to return, according to ancient and modern prophecy; and it is also a fact that from Scandinavia and the nations of Northern Europe has come much of the blood of Israel—the blood of Ephraim now within the pale of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Are the Ten Tribes Intact?—A much mooted question among our people, particularly since the discovery of the North Pole, where theorists have insisted upon locating the ten tribes, is whether or not those tribes have lost their identity. The fact that no such people were found at the pole by Peary and other explorers, shatters the exact location theory; but does it dispose of the main issue—the supposed existence of the ten tribes as a distinct people, somewhere "in the land of the north?" Such a supposition might be well founded, and yet much of the blood of Ephraim be among certain northern nations. Some of the pilgrims might easily have "mixed" with peoples encountered on the way, while journeying to their ultimate destination. Beyond this suggestion, I have no theory to advance. A tradition of the Church has assigned to John the Revelator the mission of leading the ten tribes from the land of the north.—(D. and C. 77:14.)
The Babylonian Captivity.—After the predictions of Amos, Hosea, and others, in relation to the kingdom of Israel, came the prophecies of Isaiah and Jeremiah, foretelling the fate of the kingdom of Judah. This kingdom, about 585 B. C., was destroyed by the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar, and the Jews were carried into captivity.
Lehi and His Colony.—Just before that disaster, Lehi and his colony left Jerusalem, and crossed over to this land—America—which, by them and by Mulek's colony that came later, was peopled with the descendants of Joseph and of Judah, both of whom are represented, in a degenerate state, by the American Indians.
Israelitish Characteristics.—Look at the features of the Indian. Are they not Jewish? Quite as strikingly so as that many of his customs and traditions are Israelitish. Who, than the savage Lamanite, better understands the Mosaic law of retaliation—"an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth"? Nor does he care whose eye or whose tooth it is, whether that of the person who injured him, or one of the latter's tribe or nation. He is too much of an Israelite to object to proxies and substitutes.
Jerusalem Rebuilt.—The Babylonian captivity lasted seventy years. Some of the Jews, under the permissive edict of Cyrus, then returned and rebuilt their city and temple. Only a remnant came back, however, a colony of fifty thousand, led by Zerubbabel and Joshua. The rest remained in their scattered condition. The Jews who rebuilt Jerusalem were those to whose descendants Christ came, and predicted, after their rejection of him, that their "house" should be "left unto them desolate" (Matt. 23:37, 38).
Twelve Tribes Scattered.—Before the Savior's time, however, the prophets Ezekiel and Zachariah,—the former in exile among the Babylonians, the latter at Jerusalem after the restoration by Cyrus,—had added their predictions to those already uttered relating to the dispersion of Israel. That the fated nation was pretty well dispersed in the days of the apostles, is evident from the Epistle of James, who addresses himself "to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad."
Dispersion by Titus.—But there were to be other acts of dispersion. One of the most notable occurred in the year 70 A. D., when Titus the Roman came against Jerusalem, besieged and captured it, and sold the inhabitants, such as had survived the horrors of the siege, into slavery, or scattered them through different parts of the empire. To follow the fortunes of this branch of the house of Israel, in all their subsequent wanderings and scatterings, would fill volumes.
The Blood that Believes.—Next, let us consider the question: In what way did these calamities upon Israel prove a blessing to the human race? How, by the dispersion of the children of Abraham, was the promise to the patriarch fulfiled, that in him and in his seed should all the nations of the earth be blessed? I answer, that by this dispersion the blood of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—the blood of faith, the blood that believes—with choice spirits, answering to that blood, and selected for that purpose, were sent into those nations where the Gospel was afterwards preached; spirits capable of recognizing the truth, and brave enough to embrace it regardless of consequences; thus setting an example to others and influencing them in the same direction. Manifestly this was of far more importance than the carrying by the captive Israelites of their laws and traditions into those nations; though this would also help to prepare the way for greater blessings to follow.
Spread of Christianity.—And such things told in after years. One of the marvels of history is the rapid spread of Christianity in the days of the apostles, who, unlettered as most of them were, and in the midst of the fiercest persecution, planted the gospel standard in all the principal cities of the Roman Empire, spreading the tidings of Christ crucified, from India on the East to Britain on the West, and from Scythia on the North to Ethiopia on the South; all within the short space of fifty years.
"Mormonism's" Growth.—A similar marvel is the spread of "Mormonism"—ancient Christianity restored—through the Gentile nations of modern times, a work yet in its infancy. Villages and congregations converted at a sweep, as in Lancashire and Herefordshire, England; in America the gospel preached to white men and red, and the Church established in the tops of the Rocky Mountains, with nearly half a million souls for a nucleus, and others continually coming from the various nations of the earth. And then—the extraordinary attention attracted by the Latter-day Saints—altogether out of proportion to their numbers; for after all, they are only a handful, compared with the hundreds of millions of earth's inhabitants. What more strikingly fulfils the prophetic picture drawn by the Savior: "Ye are as a city set upon a hill, which can not be hid."
How could such things be, had not Divine Wisdom prepared the way by sending the blood of Israel, with spirits answering to that blood, among all nations, prior to pouring out upon them the spirit of the gospel and of the gathering?
Many Nations Sprinkled.—Others before Abraham had shown their faith by their works; but this does not invalidate his claim to the title, "Father of the Faithful." Neither does it prove that the believing blood, even in the veins of the Gentiles, is not Abraham's blood, with which God has "sprinkled many nations." The Latter-day Saints themselves are of a mixed lineage—Gentile and Israelitish; most of them having descended from Ephraim, who "mixed himself among the people."
The Centurion's Faith.—Was not the blood of Abraham in the veins of the Roman centurion, whose faith caused even the Savior to marvel? The centurion's daughter was sick nigh unto death, and her father said to Jesus: "Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter beneath my roof, but speak the word and my daughter shall live." "Be it according to thy faith," was the reply, and straightway she was healed. This incident caused the Son of God to say: "Such faith I have not found in Israel." Moreover, it formed the basis of a prediction, that many should come from the East and from the West, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of God, while the children of the kingdom, such as were degenerate,—salt that had lost its savor,—would be cast into outer darkness.
Other Gentile Believers.—Other cases in point are those of Cornelius and the woman of Samaria—Gentiles, in whose veins was the blood that believes, "the salt of the earth," sprinkled over the world for its preservation. The Moabite maiden, Ruth, who was numbered among the ancestors of Jesus Christ, is another example of the same kind. They are of Abraham who do the works of Abraham.
According to Their Faith.—God works among men according to their faith. Jehovah, as Jesus, came unto his own, and his own received him not. He could not do many mighty works among the Jews, "because of their unbelief," at which he marveled, as much, no doubt, as he marveled over the faith of some of the Gentiles. And so, leaving the latter to be converted by the Holy Ghost, he who had been sent to the lost sheep of Israel, turned from Judah unto Joseph, from the Jews unto the Nephites, whose faith was greater, and among whom, in consequence, more if not mightier miracles were performed.
The "Other Sheep."—From the Nephites, the Savior went to "other sheep," not of the Nephite fold, nor of the Jewish fold, but still of the house of Israel, and therefore entitled to his personal ministry. These may have been "the lost tribes," or they may have been other scattered sheep, unknown to man, but known unto God, "keeping watch above his own," in the mystical and remote regions whither his judgments had driven them.
The Call of the Shepherd.
"Come out of her, my people."—(Rev. 18:4.)
All in Christ.—The Savior's personal visits to the various branches of the house of Israel were preliminary to a general gathering of the sheep into one fold, with himself as the Shepherd over all. The prophets who predicted the dispersion, likewise foretold the return of God's people to their own lands, after "the times of the Gentiles" should be fulfiled. It was to be in the latter days, when God has purposed to "gather together in one all things in Christ." The most notable prophecies pertaining to the gathering of Israel are here presented:
Moses.—"The Lord thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations whither the Lord thy God hath scattered thee."—(Deut. 30:3.)
David.—"Gather my Saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice."—(Psalms 50:5.)
Isaiah.—"And it shall come to pass 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 God 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 2:2, 3.)
"And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.
"And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.
"The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off; Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim.
"But they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines to ward the west."—(Ibid, 11:11-14.)
"And there shall be an highway for the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria; like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt."—(Ibid, 11:16.)
"Fear not: for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west;
"I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back; bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth."—(Ibid, 43:5, 6.)
"And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.
"Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side."—(Ibid, 60:3, 4.)
The Ensign.—According to the faith of the Latter-day Saints, the "ensign" referred to by Isaiah was set up, when the Church of Christ was organized on the sixth of April, 1830. Thus far, however, only a portion of the half tribe of Ephraim has been gathered out from the nations.
Shoulders of the Philistines.—"The shoulders of the Philistines" are understood to be the steamships, railroads, and other facilities of the Gentiles, whereby the gathering Saints have been and are being carried westward to American shores and into the tops of the Rocky Mountains.
The Highway.—"And there shall be a highway," etc. This part of Isaiah's prophecy seems to have reference to the tribes that were carried into captivity by the Assyrians, and in connection with whose return a miracle is promised similar to the dividing of the waters of the Red Sea, in the days of Moses, that Israel might go over dry shod.
Jeremiah.—"Turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord; for I am married unto you; and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion;
"And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding."—(Jeremiah 3:14, 15.)
"Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that it shall no more be said, The Lord liveth, that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;
"But, The Lord liveth, that brought up the children of Israel from land of the north, and from all the lands whither he had driven them; and I will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers.
"Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the Lord, and they shall fish them; and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks.
"For mine eyes are upon all their ways; they are not hid from my face.
"The Gentiles shall come unto thee from the ends of the earth, and shall say, Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit."—(Ibid, 16:14-17, 19.)
"Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the coasts of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her that travaileth with child together; a great company shall return thither.
"They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble; for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.
"Here the word of the Lord, O ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd doth his flock."—(Ibid, 31:8-10.)
One of a City.—Jeremiah's prediction concerning "one of a city and two of a family" has been literally fulfiled in the experience of many Latter-day Saints, turned out of doors by their own parents or guardians, despised and persecuted by former friends and associates, because they dared to be "one of a city," or "two of a family," in espousing so unpopular a cause.
A Stanza on Freedom.—A few lines from an American poet—James Russell Lowell—seem appropriate here. The poem from which they are taken is entitled "Stanzas on Freedom:"
"They are slaves who fear to speakFor the fallen and the weak;They are slaves who will not chooseHatred, scoffing, and abuse,Rather than in silence shrinkFrom the truth they needs must think;They are slaves who dare not beIn the right, with two or three."
"They are slaves who fear to speakFor the fallen and the weak;They are slaves who will not chooseHatred, scoffing, and abuse,Rather than in silence shrinkFrom the truth they needs must think;They are slaves who dare not beIn the right, with two or three."
A Marvel and a Wonder.—Wonderful as has been the work of the gathering, thus far, judging from the words of Jeremiah, it is destined to be more marvelous still.
Ezekiel.—"As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.
"And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country.
"I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be."—(Ezekiel 34:12-14.)
The Christ.—"And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come."—(Matthew 24:14.)
"And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."—(Ibid, 24:31.)
John the Revelator.—"And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people."—(Rev. 14:6.)
"* * * 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."—(Ibid, 18:4.)
Enoch.—One of the most ancient prophecies on the gathering, is that recorded in the Book of Moses—a portion of the Lord's word to Enoch concerning the latter days:
"And righteousness and truth will I cause to sweep the earth as with a flood, to gather out mine elect from the four quarters of the earth, unto a place which I shall prepare, an Holy City, that my people may gird up their loins, and be looking forth for the time of my coming; for there shall be my tabernacle, and it shall be called Zion, a New Jerusalem.
"And the Lord said unto Enoch: Then shalt thou and all thy city meet them there * * * and there shall be mine abode."—(Moses 7:62-64.)
Keys of the Gathering Restored.—Moses held the keys of Israel's gathering, and he committed them to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, in the Kirtland Temple, April 3, 1836. (D. and C. 110:11.) The record says: "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."
Query.—Why this explicit reference to the ten tribes, following a general allusion to "the gathering of Israel from the four parts of the earth," if the ten tribes are no longer a distinct people?
Joseph Smith.—"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 God upon the tribes of Israel, and the richer blessing upon the head of Ephraim and his fellows.
"And they also of the tribe of Judah, after their pain, shall be sanctified in holiness before the Lord to dwell in his presence, day and night, for ever and ever."—(D. and C. 133:26-35.)
Book of Mormon Predictions.—The Book of Mormon contains many predictions of the gathering of Israel; the more notable being those of Ether the Jaredite, and of first, second, and third Nephi. We learn from them that the City of Zion, New Jerusalem, to which, as well as to Old Jerusalem, the children of Israel will gather, is to be built upon this continent; the precise place, as pointed out by the Prophet Joseph, being Jackson County, Missouri. There, in the summer of 1831, a site for the New Jerusalem was consecrated. There shall yet stand the City of God, the central point for the gathering of the tribes of Israel, all except Judah, which tribe, with its fellows, are to reinhabit the land of Palestine. Until Zion is redeemed and the city built at the place appointed, the gathering will continue unto the Stakes of Zion.
Jesus to the Nephites.—"Verily, I say unto you, I give unto you a sign, that ye may know the time when these things shall be about to take place, that I shall gather in from their long dispersion, my people, O house of Israel, and shall establish again among them my Zion."—(III Nephi 21:1.)
"Therefore, when these works, and the works which shall be wrought among you hereafter, shall come forth from the Gentiles, unto your seed, which shall dwindle in unbelief because of iniquity:
"For thus it behoveth the Father that it should come forth from the Gentiles, that he may shew forth his power unto the Gentiles, for this cause, that the Gentiles, if they will not harden their hearts, that they may repent and come unto me, and be baptized in my name, and know of the true points of my doctrine, that they may be numbered among my people, O house of Israel;
"And when these things come to pass, that thy seed shall begin to know these things, it shall be a sign unto them, that they may know that the work of the Father hath already commenced unto the fulfiling of the covenant which he hath made unto the people who are of the house of Israel.
"And when that day shall come, it shall come to pass that kings shall shut their mouths; for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider.
"For in that day, for my sake, shall the Father work a work, which shall be a great and marvelous work among them; and there shall be among them who will not believe it, although a man shall declare it unto them.
"But behold, the life of my servant shall be in my hand; therefore they shall not hurt him, although he shall be marred because of them. Yet I will heal him, for I will show unto them that my wisdom is greater than the cunning of the devil.
"Therefore it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not believe in my words, who am Jesus Christ, whom the Father shall cause him to bring forth unto the Gentiles, and shall give unto him power that he shall bring them forth unto the Gentiles, (it shall be done even as Moses said,) they shall be cut off from among my people who are of the covenant.
"And my people who are a remnant of Jacob, shall be among the Gentiles, yea, in the midst of them as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep, who, if he go through both treadeth down and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver.
* * * * * * * * * * *
"But if they will repent, and hearken unto my words, and harden not their hearts, I will establish my church among them, and they shall come in unto the covenant, and be numbered among this the remnant of Jacob, unto whom I have given this land for their inheritance.
"And they shall assist my people, the remnant of Jacob, and also, as many of the house of Israel as shall come, that they may build a city, which shall be called the New Jerusalem;
"And then shall they assist my people that they may be gathered in, who are scattered upon all the face of the land, in unto the New Jerusalem.
"And then shall the power of heaven come down among them; and I also will be in the midst;
"And then shall the work of the Father commence at that day, even when this gospel shall be preached among the remnant of this people. Verily I say unto you, at that day shall the work of the Father commence among all the dispersed of my people; yea, even the tribes which have been lost, which the Father hath led away out of Jerusalem.
"Yea, the work shall commence among all the dispersed of my people, with the Father, to prepare the way whereby they come unto me, that they may call on the Father in my name;
"Yea, and then shall the work commence, with the Father, among all nations, in preparing the way whereby his people may be gathered home to the land of their inheritance."—(III Nephi 21:5-12, 22-28.)
The Author to the Reader.
And now, a word to the brethren—particularly the young brethren—who will read this book. I have endeavored to impress upon you the relationship that you bear to heaven and to earth, the duty that you owe to God and to your fellow men. You are among the chosen spirits that constitute the house of Israel. You are of the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and consequently lawful heirs to all the promises made to your great progenitors. You are of Ephraim, most of you—Ephraim, "the first born," the first branch of the Israelitish tree to bear the fruits of faith and obedience in modern days; the first to receive the Gospel, and to officiate as its ministers in the Dispensation of the Fulness of Times. Your lineage is noble—I care not how obscure your earthly origin, how meager your possessions, how limited your opportunities for education and advancement. You are of a royal race, and your conduct should be royal to comport with it.
This does not mean that you should be proud and arrogant. Pride and arrogance are no proofs of gentility; they betoken the upstart; they are the badges of the base-born. Faith and humility must be your watchwords, and the insignia of your mission, as saviors of mankind. Much is required of you, for much has been committed to you. As children of Abraham, you must do the works of Abraham, and keep yourselves unspotted from the sins and follies of a sordid, pleasure-loving, money-worshiping generation. You must not bow down to the gods of the Gentiles, nor pander to the lusts of the flesh. It is not given unto you to live after the manner of the world. Whenever tempted to intermarry with those not of your faith, and to wander away from the fold, think of the great purpose for which you were placed upon the earth; remember that you are children of the covenant, and that these are the days of the gathering, not the scattering, of the blood of Israel.
The same general obligations now resting upon you, rested up on your ancestors; and neglect and disobedience brought upon them all the calamities that befell them as a nation. The salt, sent to preserve, lost its savor, and was therefore cast out and trodden under foot of men. Invite not a repetition of those evils. What was done in the green tree, must not be done in the dry. There is no time, no necessity, for another dispersion of Israel. It would be as inappropriate and superfluous as the flooding of soil already soaked by the waters of irrigation, or the sowing of a field already "white unto the harvest," waiting for the reaper's sickle. No good could come of it—nothing but waste and destruction. The children of the covenant have been called home, and the blood that believes must now flow back to its fountain.
"Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the Lord: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged.
"Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him.
"For the Lord shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody."—(Isaiah 51:1-3.)
The night of dispersion is past; the day of gathering has dawned. The tempests that broke above the heads of our ancestors have spent their fury, and the clouds have parted and rolled away. The barren ground, refreshed by the fearful visitation, is clothed with verdure and covered with flowers. The freshening and revivifying rains, having fulfiled their mission, must now return to the ocean whence they came. This is the meaning, the symbolism, of the dispersion and gathering of Israel.