THE ERA OF RESTITUTION.
The Call of the Shepherd.
"Come Out of Her, My People."—The Dispersion of Israel has for its complement the Gathering of Israel; the prophets who predicted the one likewise foretelling the other. The Savior's personal visits to the various branches of the Israelitish race, before or after His resurrection, were prophetic of a general restoration of the Lord's people to their ancient lands, and the folding of the scattered sheep into one great flock, with him as the Shepherd over all.[1]
Prophecies of the Gathering.—The more notable of the Hebrew prophecies pertaining to the Gathering are as here given:
Isaiah.—"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." . . . .
"They shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the West." . . . .
"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."[2]
Jeremiah.—"I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion." . . . .
"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 the 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." . . . .
"Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the coasts of the earth. . . . .
"For I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my first born.
"Hear 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."[3]
Jesus Christ.—"And again this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world, for a witness unto all nations, and then shall the end come, or the destruction of the wicked."[4]
"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."[5]
The Savior also predicted to the Nephites the gathering of the House of Israel;[6]and John the Revelator foresaw the same event in his great vision on Patmos.[7]
The Realization.—How marvelously and how rapidly these predictions are being fulfilled, the history of the past hundred years plainly tells. The Angel with the Everlasting Gospel has flown from heaven to earth, and the message borne by him is being preached "again" in all the world, as a final witness to the nations.
Isaiah's reference to the setting up of an Ensign for Israel's gathering finds its fulfilment in the restoration of the Gospel and the Priesthood, and in the organization of the Church of Christ in this dispensation.[8]Then and there was raised a rallying standard for the sons and daughters of Ephraim, the first scions of Jacob's household to be "born again," to embrace the ancient faith in modern times—the first of the broken off branches of Israel's "olive tree" to be "grafted in again" and bear good fruit.[9]
Keys of the Gathering Restored.—Before there could be a complete gathering of the chosen people, the Keys of the Gathering had to be restored. Accordingly, when the time was ripe, they were conferred upon the founder of the Latter-day Church. Moses, who held those keys at the time of the Exodus from Egypt, was the messenger who now restored them. The place of restoration was the Kirtland Temple; the time, April, 1836. Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery testify that "the veil" was taken from their minds, and they "saw the Lord," even Jehovah, who proclaimed to them his identity with the Savior of Mankind. The record then continues: "After this vision closed, 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."[10]
First Latter-day Saints.—Then began the great work for which these keys had been restored. All preceding it was but preparatory. "Mormonism's" first converts had been made in the region where the Church arose—the farming districts of Western New York and Northern Pennsylvania. But Kirtland, Ohio, was the cradle of the Kingdom. There a Temple was built, and the Priesthood more perfectly organized, preliminary to the sending of the Gospel to foreign nations, and the gathering of scattered Israel to the Land of Zion. Up to the summer of 1837 the "fishers of men" were busy only in the United States and in Canada. Now they crossed over the British Isles, and later to the continent of Europe. Instant and marvelous was their success. In parts of England—notably Lancashire and Herefordshire—whole villages and congregations were swept into the Church by the unlettered yet divinely empowered Apostles of the new dispensation.[11]
Earliest Immigrants.—A small company of Latter-day Saints, numbering but forty-one—the first to "gather" from abroad—sailed on the ship "Britannia" from Liverpool for New York, in June, 1840. They were bound for Nauvoo, Illinois. Each succeeding year added its quota to the fast growing nucleus of the Savior's kingdom. Thus was set in motion the mighty tide of immigration which, swelling the numbers of the Saints in the Mississippi Valley, eventually peopled with the skilled mechanics and hardy yeomanry of Great Britain, Scandinavia and other European countries, the mountains and valleys of the Great West.
The Impelling Motive.—How different the motives impelling these people, from the motives generally imputed to them! It was not for gold and silver, flocks and herds, nor any of "the good things of this world," that they forsook home and country and "gathered" to the Land of Zion. It was not to better their temporal condition, that they abandoned comfort and in some cases affluence, crossed the stormy ocean, dragged rickety hand-carts over parching plains and snow-capt mountains, to settle in a barren wilderness and endure hardships and privations innumerable, while redeeming the waste and dotting it with cities, farms and vineyards. It was for God and his Kingdom—nothing less; and it was the love of Truth that inspired and impelled them.[12]
Character of the Saints.—Utah's early settlers were stigmatized as ignorant and malicious. It was ignorance or malice that so stigmatized them. "Scum of the earth," "offscourings of civilization," were some of the pet names bestowed upon them by their enemies. How utterly unjust these epithets, how grotesquely misapplied, everyone must know who has any knowledge of the facts. In reality, they were among the best men and women of their time. Many of them were descended from the Pilgrims and the Patriots who founded this nation, and in their veins, as Children of the Covenant, flowed the blood of priests and kings, illustrious through a thousand generations.[13]
These modern Zion-builders were not among those who wait for a cause to become popular before embracing it. Lowell little realized how admirably he was painting their portrait when he penned these lines:
Then to side with Truth is noble,When we share her wretched crust,Ere her cause bring fame and profit,And 'tis prosperous to be just.Then it is the brave man chooses,While the coward stands aside,Doubting in his abject spiritTill his Lord is crucified,And the multitude make virtueOf the faith they had denied.* * *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.
Then to side with Truth is noble,When we share her wretched crust,Ere her cause bring fame and profit,And 'tis prosperous to be just.Then it is the brave man chooses,While the coward stands aside,Doubting in his abject spiritTill his Lord is crucified,And the multitude make virtueOf the faith they had denied.
* * *
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.
Not slaves, but free men and free women, founded the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They were of the sheep that knew the Shepherd's voice, and when put to the test, they showed "the mettle of their pasture."
"One of a City and Two of a Family."—Jeremiah's prediction was uttered at a time when families (tribes) were much larger than they now are—large enough for one tribe to fill several cities.[14]Otherwise, the prophet might have changed his wording to read: "One of a family and two of a city." Phrased either way, the forecast has been literally fulfilled in the painful and pathetic experiences of many Latter-day Saints, including women and children, turned out-of-door by parents or guardians, for daring to be "one of a city" or "two of a family," in identifying themselves with a people everywhere "spoken against."[15]
"The Shoulders of the Philistines."—This phrase translates itself into the facilities for far and rapid transportation owned and operated by the Gentiles, but utilized by the God of Jacob in bringing his people from foreign shores, and up into the tops of "the high mountains of Israel."[16]"They shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the West." When Isaiah wrote those words, he was gazing with prophetic eye upon this very period. He beheld the ships and railroads of the Gentiles, likewise the Land of Zion, now occupied by the Gentiles, but formerly peopled by the Nephites (Joseph and Judah) and included in the lands that God gave to their forefathers.[17]Israel needs the help of the Gentiles—their wealth, their power, their wonderful insight into and command over material things, their intelligence and skill in manipulating temporalities. How, without the children of Japheth, could the children of Jacob be gathered out from the nations?[18]
The Lost Tribes.—It is maintained by some that the lost tribes of Israel—those carried into captivity about 725 B. C.—are not longer a distinct people; that they exist only in a scattered condition, mixed with the nations among which they were taken by their captors, the conquering Assyrians. If this be true, and those tribes were not intact at the time Joseph and Oliver received the keys of the gathering, why did they make so pointed a reference to "the leading of the ten tribes from the land of the north?" This, too, after a general allusion to "the gathering of Israel from the four parts of the earth." What need to particularize as to the Ten Tribes, if they were no longer a distinct people? And why do our Articles of Faith give those tribes a special mention?[19]
The "Highway."—Isaiah's reference to the "Highway" points directly to the lost tribes, respecting whose return from "The North Country," his fellow prophet, Jeremiah, promises an event that shall so far eclipse in scope and grandeur Israel's exodus from Egypt, that the latter will no more be mentioned.
Joseph the Seer must have had the same thing in mind when he wrote: "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."[20]
Already he had foretold the removal of the Latter-day Saints to the Rocky Mountains—then a desolate, uninhabited region—and was evidently pondering that thought when he further declared: "And in the barren deserts there shall come forth pools of living water; and the parched ground shall no longer be a thirsty land."[21]
Ephraim and the Returning Tribes.—It was Ephraim who lifted the Ensign for the Gathering. It is to Ephraim that the returning tribes will "bring forth their rich treasures," receiving from him their spiritual blessings. "And the boundaries of the everlasting hills shall tremble at their presence."[22]
Judah and Jerusalem.—The same prophecy mentions the tribe of Judah, whose gathering place, however, is not the Land of Zion, not the New Jerusalem, but Jerusalem of old, yet to be rebuilt upon a scale of magnificence paralleled only by the splendor of her sister city and twin capital of Christ's Kingdom.[23]
Even as the Waters.—Hear, O Israel! Children of Jacob! The night of dispersion is past. The day of gathering has dawned. The tempests that broke above the heads of your ancestors have spent their fury, and the clouds have parted and are rolling away. The barren ground, refreshed by the fearful visitation, has brought forth abundantly, and a ripened harvest awaits the reaper's cycle. The revivifying rains, having fulfilled their mission, must now return to the ocean whence they were taken. Such is the meaning, the symbolism, of the scattering and gathering of Israel.
1. John 10:16; 3 Nephi 15:21; 16:1-3; 21.
2. Isa. 11:12, 14, 16. See also 5:26; 35:10; 43:5, 6. The same Prophet declares:
"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." (Isa. 2:2, 3.)
This prophecy, however; seems to refer, not so much to a gathering of Israel, as to an Israel already gathered, unto whom the nations will come to learn the ways of the Lord.
3. Jer. 3:14; 16:14-16; 31:8-10.
4. Matt. 24:31, as rendered by Joseph the Seer, Pearl of Great Price, p.78.
5. Ib. Bible, King James' version.
6. 3 Nephi 21.
7. Rev. 14:16; 18:4. See also Deut. 33:17; Psalms 50:5; Ezek. 34:12-14.
8. D. & C. 115:4, 5; 45:9; 64:42.
9. Jacob 5 and 6.
10. D. & C. 110:1-4, 11.
11. Heber C. Kimball, one of the Twelve, was placed at the head of the first foreign mission. He was accompanied by Orson Hyde, Willard Richards, and other Elders. Subsequently another apostolic mission, headed by Brigham Young and including a majority of the Twelve, carried the Gospel to all parts of the British Isles.
12. I was once asked by a gentleman, friendly to the Latter-day Saints, why they did not co-operate with the millionaire philanthropists who have endeavored in recent years to place upon arid lands poor Jews taken out of large cities; but whose efforts, owing to inexperience in such enterprises, have been more or less futile. My questioner thought a copartnership between such capitalists and such colonists—one to furnish the money, the other the knowledge and skill necessary for the undertaking—might work a splendid result. He added with unction: "You could stipulate, you know, that every Jew thus colonized should become a Mormon—and just think how that would build up your Church!"
The intent was serious, but the effect was to amuse. It suggested the Shakespearean court scene, where the Venetian Duke decides that the Jew Shylock, as part of his punishment for seeking the life of Antonio, shall "presently become a Christian." ("Merchant of Venice," Act 4. Scene 1). As if Christians could be made by judicial decisions or "Mormons" by contracts for colonization.
13. Talent and genius, brain and brawn, from every part of the world came in the early immigrations to Salt Lake Valley—farmers, laborers, tradesmen, mechanics, merchants, manufacturers and business men, with a liberal sprinkling of artists, musicians, writers and other professional people. "In their degree the pick and flower of England," was the comment passed upon a ship's company of "Mormon" emigrants, by Charles Dickens, the great English author, in his sketch "The Uncommercial Traveler," published in 1863.
14. Joshua 21:41
15. Acts 28:22
16. Ezek. 34:14
17. Jer. 16:15; Deut. 33:13-16; Gen. 49:22-26.
18. The work is too vast, too arduous, for any one people to accomplish, particularly a people who are a mere handful among earth's teeming millions. God, not man, is doing this work, and He is not limited in his choice of instruments to his own covenant people. All men, all nations, knowingly or unknowingly, are playing into his hands.
19. The fact that Arctic explorers have found no such people at the North Pole—where some theorists have persisted in placing them—does not prove that the "Ten Tribes" have lost their identity. It was tradition, not revelation, that located them at the North Pole. "The north country," "The land of the north," these are the scriptural designations of their unknown abode. All the rest is inference. Those tribes could still be intact, and yet much of their blood be found among the northern nations. Some of the pilgrims might easily have mixed with the people encountered by them while journeying toward their ultimate destination; and that Ephraim did so mix, Hosea the Prophet (7:8) declares.
20. D. & C. 133:26, 27.
21. Ib. 133:29.
22. Ib. vv. 30,32.
23. Isa. 2:3.
In April 1840, Orson Hyde and John E. Page, both Apostles, were sent from Illinois on a mission to Palestine, to bless the soil, that its barrenness might depart and the way be opened for the restoration of the Jews to their ancient homeland. John E. Page faltered and fell by the way, but Orson Hyde accomplished his mission. On the 24th of October, 1841, from the summit of the Mount of Olives, overlooking Jerusalem, he offered to the God of Israel, a fervent and eloquent prayer in behalf of his down-trodden people. He blessed the sterile land that in might once more become fruitful, and that Judah might repossess his heritage. Elder Hyde afterwards predicted that the British nation would take an active part in the redemption of Palestine; a prophecy fulfilled during the World War. In 1872, President George A. Smith went with a party from Salt Lake City, and again dedicated the Holy Land for the return of the Jews and the rebuilding of Jerusalem.
The Zion of Latter Days.
A Work of Preparation.—The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints stands for the gathering of the House of Israel and the building of the modern Zion, New Jerusalem, preparatory to the Millennial reign of righteousness. Israel must be gathered, because it is the God of Israel who is coming to reign, and the descendants of Jacob are the only people who have the right to receive him when he appears. And they must become pure in heart, in order to be worthy of that high privilege.
To His Own—The Christ is coming to "his own," as he came anciently; but it will not be said again that "his own received him not." They are even now preparing to receive him, as fast as circumstances will allow. All of "Mormonism's" varied activities—proselyting, migrational, colonizing, commercial, industrial and educational—have this as their paramount objective. The Latter-day Saints claim lineal descent from the Hebrew patriarchs. They are literally of the seed of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—mostly through Ephraim, the "first-born" in the divine process of gathering Israel and bringing forth Zion.
The Ensign Lifted.—It developed upon Joseph Smith, a lineal descendant of Joseph of old, to begin, upon the Land of Joseph, the gathering of God's people from the nations. The organization of the Church was the setting up of the prophetic "Ensign,"[1]to assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. Joseph lived only long enough to assemble a portion of the half tribe of Ephraim, to which he belonged; but the work begun by him will go on until all the tribes of Israel are gathered, and the way is fully prepared for the blest reign of the King of Kings.
Place and Plan.—The Church, organized on the sixth of April, 1830, was less than one year old when it removed from its birth-place, Fayette, New York, to Kirtland, Ohio, where its infancy was cradled. There the Prophet announced the place for the New Jerusalem and the plan whereby the Holy City was to be established. Western Missouri was the place.[2]The plan became known as "The United Order."[3]
The Pure in Heart.—"This is Zion—the pure in heart."[4]So said Joseph Smith. For Zion is not only a place; it is also a people and a condition. "Blessed are the pure in heart; for they shall see God."[5]They are the only ones who will be permitted to see Him. Zion the place is where Zion the people will assemble for that purpose. In a general sense, the whole of America, North and South, is the Land of Zion.[6]Specially, Zion, "the place for the city," is in Jackson Country, Missouri.[7]
Consecration.—The Zion of old—Enoch's commonwealth—was sanctified and translated through obedience to the Law of Consecration,[8]a heaven-revealed principle subsequently practiced by the followers of Christ, both Jews and Nephites.[9]The modern Zion, "the perfection of beauty," "the joy of the whole earth,"[10]is to be brought forth upon precisely the same principle—"every man seeking the interest of his neighbor, and doing all things with an eye single to the glory of God."[11]
Equality and Unity.—As a preliminary to the wonderful achievement in prospect, the Latter-day Saints were required to consecrate all their properties to the Lord. This was done, not to enrich any man nor any set of men, but to establish equality in material possessions, as a prerequisite to the unity and power necessary for the mighty undertaking. Equality—not of intelligence and capacity, of course, but of ownership and of opportunity to advance and achieve—this was the purpose in view. The members of the community were to be equal in earthly things, that they might be "equal in obtaining heavenly things."
A Celestial Law.—It was a law of the Celestial Kingdom—the Zion of Eternity—that the Saints were required to obey, to the end that the Lord's will might be done on earth even as it is done in heaven—that Earth might become a heaven, in fact, and they who made it so be prepared for "a place in the celestial world."[12]
Stewardships.—It was not proposed to take from the people their possessions, and demand all their time and service, without making ample provision for their support. They were not to be pauperized, but enriched, through obedience to God's law. The properties they consecrated—farms, printing offices, mills, work-shops, money, etc.—were to be returned to them as "stewardships," differing, as talents, aptitudes, and the ability to handle much or little differ, but all to be managed in the interest of the common cause. All earnings were to go into a general fund, from which each steward would derive a maintenance, "every man according to his wants and his needs, inasmuch as his wants are just."[13]
First Bishops.—The introduction of this system was the occasion for the call of the first Bishops. The men chosen to manage, under the direction of the First Presidency, the temporalities of the United Order, were Edward Partridge and Newel K. Whitney. The former, as Bishop in Zion, received consecrations, Missouri. The latter officiated in a similar capacity at Kirtland, Ohio, the headquarters of a State of Zion.[14]
Against Lawlessness.—The United Order did not encourage lawlessness. It was the very antithesis of anarchy. It stood for law and government, for wise and good government—the government of God for the benefit of man. Sounding the death-knell of monopoly, fraud, and the misuse of power and privilege, it proposed to do away with class distinctions, founded on pride, vanity and the worship of wealth. It would abolish such conditions—not by violence, but peacefully and by common consent. Doctrine, not dynamite; humility, not self-assertion; love of God and fellow man, not hatred and strife, were to effect the desired emancipation. Under the benign influence of the Holy Spirit—God's gift to all who take upon them his name—envy and greed would give way to brotherly love and mutual helpfulness.
No Drones in the Hive.—While philanthropic in the highest degree, the United Order was no mere alms-giving concern, no eleemosynary institution. Every member of the community was expected to work, to do that for which he or she might best be fitted. There were to be no drones in the hive, no idleness eating the bread of industry. Employment for all, a place for everything and everything in its place—such was the ideal of this social-religious organization. It stood, in short, for justice and fair-dealing, with every man in the secure possession and full enjoyment of his own. Out of the righteous unity resulting from this ideal condition, was to come the power to build up Zion and prepare the way of the Lord.
Why the Ideal Was Not Realized.—The United Order was not permanently established; nor did its original workings long continue. Selfishness within, and persecution without, were the two-fold cause. The Church, driven from place to place, found it impracticable, with an imperfect acceptance by its members of the Law of Consecration, to bring forth Zion at that early day. The great event, however, was only postponed. The realization of the ideal is still in prospect.
The Jackson County Expulsion—An attempt to rear the New Jerusalem was made in the summer of 1831, a colony approximating fifteen hundred men, women and children, settling for that purpose in Jackson County, Missouri,[15]upon lands purchased from the Federal Government. Ground was consecrated, and a City laid out, including the site for a Temple. But a lack of the perfect unity necessary on the part of those selected for this sacred task, prevented its accomplishment at that time. "There were jarrings and contentions, and envyings and strifes, and lustful and covetous desires among them; therefore, by these things they polluted their inheritances."[16]Forewarned by the Prophet of what would result if these evils were not corrected, the colonists did not as a whole pay sufficient heed to the admonition, and the Lord permitted their enemies to come upon them and drive them from "the goodly land."
Persecuted and Persecutors.—The Jackson County colonists, whatever their faults, were superior to the people who mobbed them and drove them from their homes, misinterpreting their motives and falsely accusing them of unfriendly acts or intentions toward the earlier settlers. The persecuted were better than the persecutors; but not good enough to completely carry out the high and holy purposes of Deity. It was in the autumn of 1833 that the "Mormon" colony was expelled from Jackson County.[17]
Zion Not Moved.—Then, and at a later period, when similar and worse mobbings and drivings had taken place, those who committed or countenanced the outrages were wont to say mockingly: "Whenever the Mormons are driven from one Zion, their Prophet gets a revelation appointing Zion somewhere else." How utterly unfounded this assertion, is best told in the language of a revelation given a few weeks after the Jackson County expulsion. Therein the Lord says:
"Zion shall not be moved out of her place, notwithstanding her children are scattered;
"They that remain, and are pure in heart, shall return, and come to their inheritances, they and their children, with songs of everlasting joy, to build up the waste places of Zion. . . . .
"And, behold there is none other place appointed than that which I have appointed; neither shall there be any other place appointed . . . . for the work of the gathering of my saints,
"Until the day cometh when there is found no more room for them; and then I have other places which I will appoint unto them, and they shall be called stakes, for the curtains or the strength of Zion."[18]
Stakes of Zion.—Hear it, ye Gentiles! Hear it, O House of Israel! Jackson County, Missouri, is the chosen site for the City of Zion. No other place has been or will be appointed for that purpose. All other gathering places for God's people are Stakes of Zion, holding the outside cords and curtains of the spiritual Tabernacle of the Lord.
Zion's first Stake was at Kirtland, Ohio; and other stakes were organized in Missouri, Illinois, and Iowa. All these have been abandoned; but many others, since established, now flourish in the region of the Rocky Mountains. There was no stake organization in Jackson County, though that part is sometimes referred to as "The Center Stake." Zion is there, or will yet be there—the very City of God; but no Stake of Zion.[19]
In Abeyance.—Zion is greater than any of her Stakes. It will require the Law of Consecration to bring forth Zion; while a lesser law suffices for the creation of stakes, When the building up of Zion was postponed, the Law of Consecration was suspended, and the United Order went into abeyance. Then was introduced the Law of Tithing,[20]a law adapted to the undeveloped condition of the Church. Since that time the work of founding and maintaining Stakes of Zion, preparatory to the coming forth of Zion proper, has engrossed the attention of the gathered children of Ephraim.
1. Isa. 11:12.
2. D. & C. 45:64-71; 57:1-4.
3. Ib. 104:48.
4. Ib. 97:21.
5. Matt. 5:8.
6. Hist. Ch. Vol. 6 pp. 318, 319.
7. D. & C. 57:2.
8. Moses 7:18-21.
9. Acts 4:32-35; 4 Nephi 1:2, 3.
10. Psalms 50:2, 48:2.
11. D. & C. 82:19.
12. Ib. 78:5-7.
13. D. & C. 82:17
14. Ib. 41:9; 72:8
15. D. & C. 45:64-71.
16. Ib. 101 :6.
17. Hist. Ch. Vol. 1, pp. 390, 426.
18. D. & C. 101:17, 18, 0, 1; 115:6.
19. Zion, in sacred writ, is symbolized by a tent or portable tabernacle, such as the Israelites carried with them in the Wilderness. Evidently it was the custom then, as it is now, when setting up a tent, to drive stakes and fasten cords thereto—cords stretched from the tent, to make it firm and secure. Hence the phrase: "Lengthen thy cords and strengthen thy stakes," a metaphor applied to Zion by the Prophet Isaiah. (54:2; 33:20). When a tent is erected, no center stake is driven; it would be in the way—an obstacle to stumble over. Figuratively and in a larger sense, the same would be true of a Center Stake of Zion. There is no need for such a thing, and it would spoil the symbolism of the picture.
20. D. & C. 119.
Redemption by Power.
To Redeem Zion.—The failure of the Latter-day Saints, through lack of unity and obedience, to build up Zion in Jackson County, has been dwelt upon. It remains to tell of an effort to "redeem Zion," to reinstate the plundered people upon the lands of which they had been unlawfully and violently dispossessed. This effort was put forth early in the year 1834, when an expendition was organized in Ohio for that purpose.
The Zion's Camp Expendition.—So was it styled. The Camp consisted of two hundred and five men, led by Joseph Smith in person, and including quite a number of Elders subsequently called to positions of high prominence in the Church. The expendition failed of its object—its avowed object—for reasons similar to those which had caused the expulsion from Jackson County. Disobedience and rebellion on the part of some members of the Camp, and the continued disregard, by many of the exiles, of the divine requirements made of them, prevented their restoration to the homes and possessions of which they had been despoiled.
A Want of Preparedness.—Zion might have been redeemed, even at that early day, had the redemptive machinery been ready and in condition to do the necessary work.[1]But such a condition did not exist. "Gather up the strength of my house," the Lord had said concerning those upon whom he proposed to lay the sacred duty of Zion's redemption. But "the strength" of his "house" did not hearken to the appeal,[2]and the few who enrolled themselves as members of that historic band were not all trained for the task nor equal to the trials that lay before them.
"The Redemption of Zion Must Needs Come by Power."[3]—So spake the Divine Oracle. But "power dwells in unity, not in discord; in humility, not in pride; in sacrifice, not selfishness; in obedience, not rebellion."[4]Had all the Jackson County colonists borne this in mind and practiced accordingly, no such catastrophe as that which occurred would have befallen them. And if all who went to their relief had acted consistently with the same righteous principle, they would have escaped the tribulation that came upon them as a chastisement.
Transgression the Cause.—The failure to build the New Jerusalem was due to transgression;[5]in other words, to a lack of preparedness on the part of those selected for the sacred undertaking. Had the players been ready, the play could have been staged and presented. But nothing could compensate for the absence of readiness on their part. There is no substitute for the qualities that men and women must possess who are chosen for so exalted an enterprise.
All Not Responsible.—All members of the Church were not responsible for the Jackson County failure;[6]but all had to share in the consequences entailed. The strength of a chain is proverbially the strength of its weakest link, and the general average of the newly-formed and inexperienced community was not high enough to justify a better outcome.
Not a Complete Failure.—The Camp of Zion did not utterly fail. Indeed, there are good reasons for believing that it accomplished everything expected of it under the circumstances. And if this be true of the members of the Camp, it is also true of those whose relief and reinstatement were the announced purpose of the expedition.
All Things Foreseen.—At all events, what occurred must have been foreseen. Divine prescience extends to all things connected with the Lord's work. When He commanded his people to build the New Jerusalem, he knew how much, or how little, they were capable of accomplishing in that direction—knew it just as well before as he did after. Such a thing as surprise or disappointment on his part is inconceivable. An all-wise, all-powerful Being who has created, peopled, redeemed and glorified "millions of earths like this,"[7]is not one to be astounded by anything that happens on our little planet.[8]
The Time Not Ripe.—The All-knowing One knew in advance what those Zion-builders would do, or leave undone, and he shaped his plans accordingly. Evidently the time was not ripe for Zion's redemption. The proof is in the trespasses committed by them against the divine laws ordained for their government.
A Season of Waiting.—"In consequence of the transgression of my people, it is expedient in me that mine Elders should wait for a little season for the redemption of Zion." So came the voice of the Lord to Zion's Camp, on Fishing River, Missouri. But this word of comfort came with it: "I have heard their prayers and will accept their offerings; and it is expedient in me that they should be brought thus far for a trial of their faith."[9]
"A Trial of Their Faith."—Such then, was the real purpose of the call for that expendition. More was not expected of the members of Zion's Camp, than a manifestation of willingness to do all that the Lord might require of them.
No Endowments.—Another proof that Zion's redemption was not intended for that time, is found in another part of the same revelation: "And this cannot be brought to pass until mine elders are endowed with power from on high."[10]Take note that the Church had no "endowments" in 1834. There was no Temple that early, and the sacred ritual of the House of God, even if revealed to the Prophet, had not been made known to the people. Whether this was the endowment referred to in the revelation, or whether it meant something else, it is evident that the blessing spoken of was in the future.[11]
Zion could not be redeemed until the Elders were "endowed with power from on High." And yet these same Elders, unendowed, had been sent forth to redeem Zion! Surely, the Lord did not design it then to be. Else would He not have endowed them beforehand? This admitted, and what becomes of their "failure?" They were blameworthy for their disobedience, but surely not for their failure to do what could not be done by men unendowed and consequently not equal to the undertaking.
Left to the Future.—Zion was not redeemed in that dav for precisely similar reasons to those which kept ancient Israel wandering for forty years in the Wilderness, almost within sight of their coveted Canaan, which they were not permitted in that generation to possess.[12]Like Moses, these modern pilgrims beheld, as from Pisgah's top, their promised land. Like Moses, on account of transgression, they were not permitted to "cross over." There were Calebs and Joshuas in the Camp who were worthy; but the great event, in the wisdom of the Highest, was not destined then to be. It was left for a future generation and its Joshua to go up in the might of the Lord and redeem Zion.[13]
"With a Stretched Out Arm."—The Lord made it plain to His people that they must prepare themselves for the great things awaiting them. Before they could hope to accomplish their glorious destiny, they must become mighty, not only in numbers and material influence, but morally and spiritually mighty—mighty by the power of God, descending upon them as an endowment from on High.[14]When ready to redeem Zion, the way would be prepared for them, angels and even the Divine Presence going on before. They were not to use violence to secure their rights. God would fight their battles. They were "the children of Israel, and of the seed of Abraham," and "must needs be led out of bondage by power and with a stretched out arm."[15]
Tried and Proven.—From the ranks of the survivors of Zion's Camp—decimated by cholera while on its way to Jackson County—were chosen the first Twelve Apostles and the first quorums of Seventy in this dispensation.[16]These men were deemed reliable. They had been put to the test, and had endured valiantly The trial of their faith was complete.
Nigh at Hand.—When will end the "little season" of waiting? When will the day of Zion's redemption dawn? I know not; but this I know. That day is rapidly approaching. The Order of Unity and Equality, involving the consecration, not only of properties, but also of hearts and hands, will yet be established and perpetuated. It must be, for Zion cannot be built up without it:[17]and until there is a Zion on Earth, the Lord, the King of Kings, will not come.
1. D. & C. 105:2.
2. Ib. 103:30; 105:16.
3. D. & C. 103:15.
4. "Life of Heber C. Kimball," p.77.
5. D. & C. 105:2, 9.
6. Ib. 105:7.
7. Moses 7:30.
8. Some may question this assertion, and point to the passage, "It repented God that he had made man" (Gen. 6:6), as an instances of divine disappointment. But it should be borne in mind that makers of Scripture, like all wise teachers, adapt their language to the comprehension of those whom they teach, speaking that they "may naturally understand" (D. & C. 29:34; 19:6-12). Whatever the dead letter may seem to say, God is not man, that He should "repent" (1 Sam. 15:29), or fail to foresee how his creatures will conduct themselves. It was Noah, not God, who "repented," in the case now under consideration.—Moses 8:25.
9. D. & C. 105:9, 19.
10. Ib. v. 11.
11. Ib. v. 18.
12. Compare Article Eighteen, paragraph "A Period of Preparation."
13. D. & C. 103:16.
14. Ib. 105:11.
15. Ib. 103:17.
16. Hist. Ch. Vol. 2, pp. 180, 201.
17. D. & C. 105:5.
Clearing the Way.
"I Will Fight Your Battles."—In a revelation, already cited, given through Joseph the Seer while Zion's Camp was resting on Fishing River, the Lord says concerning the Elders of his Church:
"I do not require at their hands to fight the battles of Zion; for, as I said in a former commandment, even so will I fulfill. I will fight your battles."
"Behold, the destroyer I have sent forth to destroy and lay waste mine enemies; and not many years hence they shall not be left to pollute mine heritage and to blaspheme my name upon the lands which I have consecrated for the gathering together of my Saints."[1]
War and Deity.—There are many good people who believe that anything of a war-like character, anything involving violence and bloodshed, is wholly incompatible with the benign disposition and benevolent purposes of Deity. According to their view, God has nothing to do with wars. From first to last they are the work of the Evil One, moving upon wicked men to stir up strife for selfish and sordid ends. Everything peaceful and pleasant comes from him who is the Prince of Peace; everything of an opposite nature, and especially war, that prolific source of misery and sorrow, is due entirely to the Adversary. It is all well meant, of course, the object being to forefend Deity against the reproach that these good people fear would lie at his door, if it were admitted that he had even a share in what they conceive to be an unmixt evil, a thing absolutely wrong and unjustifiable. But how can such views be reconciled with divine revelation and the history of God's dealings with man? If war is always wicked, and destruction ever at variance with the will and purposes of Providence, how are we to understand such passages of scripture as the foregoing, wherein Jehovah, who is no other than Jesus, the meek and merciful, assures his servants that he will fight their battles, and assumes full responsibility for sending forth the destroyer to lay waste his enemies and theirs?
Prince of Peace and Lord of Hosts.—The problem, seemingly complex, is in reality simple and easy of solution. There are two sides to the Divine Character, two distinct and differing phases of God's dealings with mortals. The Lion as well as the Lamb plays a part in the stirring drama of human progress. The same perfect Being who counseled patience, charity, and the turning of "the other cheek," sternly rebuked hypocrisy, denounced wickedness in unmeasured terms, and with wrathful speech and thong of knotted cords, drove the thieving moneychangers from the Temple. "Blessed are the merciful," said the Author of the Beatitudes.[2]"Love your enemies," enjoined the Redeemer of the World.[3]But already He had proclaimed: "Vengeance is mine—I will repay;"[4]and that high decree has never been revoked. Jehovah is both Prince of Peace and Lord of Hosts, the God of Sabaoth. These are among the titles belonging to him. Why are they his, if he has nothing to do with war—if such things are independently and exclusively the work of Satan?
Providence Over All.—The student of this problem must not lose sight of the fact that Satan's sphere, like man's, is limited. Neither can do more than the Most High is willing should be done; and his willingness extends only to such things as contribute, ultimately if not immediately, to the carrying out of his beneficent designs. The Book of Job is very plain upon this point. Only so far as the Almighty would permit, and it was deemed wise for that righteous man to be afflicted, in order to test his integrity, further develop the excellence of his character, and endow future ages with a deathless example of godlike patience—only so far was Satan allowed to go. He seemed to be having his own way with Job, and up to a certain mark did have it; but nothing beyond. The Lord had his way. Whatever he bade Satan not to do. Satan had to leave undone.
The Uses of Adversity.—Job's case is a reminder of the fact that the wicked can be used as a means of developing and improving the righteous, or of chastising and correcting people better than themselves. The painful experiences of the Latter-day. Saints furnish many cases in point. In Missouri, for instance, they were the victims of atrocious wrongs. They had done nothing, so far as their fellow men were concerned, to justify the cruel treatment meted out to them. But the Lord, in order to chasten his people and teach them wholesome lessons that they needed to learn, allowed their enemies to drive and despoil them.[5]
Divinity Always Supreme.—Despite all appearances to the contrary, the Divine Will reigns supreme. To conclude otherwise is to mentally dethrone Deity, and allow that Evil is stronger than Good. God is above Satan, and holds him in leash.[6]
Destruction Essential.—We are not to suppose, however, that the Lord delights in war—that He prefers it to peace; or that he would have aught to do with strife and devastation, if his good and wise purposes could always be accomplished by other and milder means. But if strife becomes necessary, and destruction essential, as when an old building is torn down to make room for a new one, and if the All-wise be the doer or director of the deed, who can question its rightfulness? "Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith? Or shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it?"[7]
Wars Decreed.—"I have sworn in my wrath and decreed wars upon the face of the earth, and the wicked shall slay the wicked."[8]So says the Almighty to his servant Joseph. And there lies the problem in a nutshell. God has "decreed wars"—decreed them for a purpose. Human iniquity brings down divine retribution, and the wicked are permitted to slay one another—partly as a punishment for their sins, but mainly to help clear the way for a higher and better order of things.
Just and Unjust Wars.—Michael and the Dragon.—Some wars are righteous and just; others wrong and unjust. All depends upon the purpose for which they are waged, and whether or not the Lord sanctions them. All unrighteous wars are the work of Satan and his minions. But all wars are not unrighteous. When Michael and his angels fought against the Dragon, and overcame him,[9]surely the fight was a righteous one on Michael's part. As for the provocation—that springs another question. It is undoubtedly true that there would have been no "war in heaven," if Lucifer had not rebelled; but, having rebelled, he had to be put down, and a righteous war was waged for that purpose. The conduct of those who make such wars necessary, is not to be compared with the acts of those who rise up to vindicate right and vanquish wrong.
Agnostic Arguments.—Joshua's conquest of Canaan—let us consider that.[10]Agnostic writers, taking the view that all such wars are wicked, affect to regard this event as a grave crime. They brand Joshua as a murderer, and charge Jehovah with being a violator of his own statutes—a greater murderer, in short, who, after punishing the first slayer of his fellow man, the fratricidal Cain,[11]and laying down the law to Noah, "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed."[12]—emphasizing it later with the commandment, "Thou shalt not kill"[13]—directed the general of his armies to commit wholesale slaughter and extermination. Therefore was he a murderer and a lawbreaker. Such is the logic of Robert G. Ingersoll and other writers of his class.
And what a wretched piece of sophistry it is. How utterly shallow and vain. As if the Giver of life could not take back what he had given—the right to it having been forfeited—without committing a crime! As if the Author and Ruler of the universe could not repeal or suspend one of his own enactments, without being a law-breaker! Think of it: Colonel Ingersoll, an experienced lawyer, a practitioner and devotee of the science of jurisprudence, denying to the great Law-Giver a right inherent in and exercised by the humblest legislative body on earth! To such illogical extremes will men go, when they presume to pass judgment upon Providence.
The Case of the Canaanites.—Joshua's war upon the Canaanites was a just war, designed to rid the earth of a corrupt generation, which had forfeited its right to longer remain, encumbering the soil, particularly that part which the Creator and Owner of the planet had given to a worthier people. Jehovah's command to clear the ground upon which he proposed erecting a national structure that should stand as a temple of wisdom and light for the welfare of all succeeding generations, did not impinge upon any command of his previously given. Neither is the Divine One amenable to human judgment. "Thou shalt not kill" was a commandmentfromGod, not to him. His word is superior to all human enactments and to all man's notions of right and wrong. The war waged by Joshua and the hosts of Israel against the wicked and usurping Canaanites was in every respect justifiable, so far as it was conducted according to Jehovah's command.[14]
"The King Can Do No Wrong."—This proverb, when used by corrupt rulers to justify and cloak their crimes, is flagrantly false and pernicious. When applied to the King of Heaven, it is eminently and unquestionably true. The Author of life can send forth the destroyer and lay waste his enemies, without blood-guiltiness or even the shadow of wrong-doing. He can decree wars, and allow the wicked to slay the wicked, without partaking of their evil deeds or making himself responsible for their demon-inspired atrocities. These must all be accounted for at the bar of Eternal Justice.
The American Revolution.—It was not Satan who caused the heroic struggle of the American colonies, giving them power to win their freedom and independence, to the end that a nation might arise upon this chosen soil with a mission to foster and protect the infant and growing Church of Christ. That was a righteous war, and the divine inspiration for it rested upon the Patriot Fathers,[15]who, at the hazard of their lives, signed the immortal Declaration, and drew their swords to defend and perpetuate that sublime annunciation of liberty and equal rights.
The World War.—So with the great war that over-threw the German Kaiser, putting an end to the wicked strife that he was waging. It was a righteous against an unrighteous exertion of military force. What better motive could a nation have than that which actuated the American people in sending forth their armies and navies to check the on-rushing hordes that were bent upon crushing freedom and setting an iron heel on the neck of the world? It was a holy war, so far as America was concerned; and a just war, a war of self-defense, on the part of her associated powers. The God of Justice was in it for the welfare of humanity. Who can doubt that He upheld and sustained the arms of those who carried it to a victorious conclusion? And if the result shall be even a partial clearing of the way for the introduction or further spread of Liberty's Perfect Law among spiritually benighted nations, the mightiest and costliest of earth's conflicts will not have been in vain.