Gospel Themes

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.)

CHAPTER V

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.