I will read the third paragraph of a revelation that was given in
1834. It commences on page 292 of the Book of Doctrine and Covenants.
"But verily I say unto you, I have decreed that your brethren which
have been scattered shall return to the land of their inheritances,
and build up the waste places of Zion. For after much tribulation, as
I have said unto you in a former commandment, cometh the blessing.
Behold, this is the blessing which I have promised after your
tribulations, and the tribulations of your brethren—your redemption,
and the redemption of your brethren, even their restoration to the
land of Zion, to be established, no more to be thrown down.
Nevertheless, if they pollute their inheritances they shall be thrown
down; for I will not spare them if they pollute their inheritances.
Behold, I say unto you, the redemption of Zion must needs come by
power; Therefore, I will raise up unto my people a man, who shall lead
them like as Moses led the children of Israel. For ye are the children
of Israel, and of the seed of Abraham, and ye must needs be led out of
bondage by power, and with a stretched-out arm. And as your fathers
were led at the first, even so shall the redemption of Zion be.
Therefore, let not your hearts faint, for I say not unto you as I said
unto your fathers: Mine angel shall go up before you, but not my
presence. But I say unto you: Mine angels shall go before you, and
also my presence, and in time ye shall possess the goodly land."
It is many months since I met with the people here in this Ward. I
recollect when I was here last I partly promised to say something
about the redemption of Zion. What I may be able to communicate to you
in relation to that great event, regarded as of so much importance by
this people, I am unable to say. I may not be able to throw upon the
subject any special information more than what you are already in
possession of. All that any of us know, and all that we possibly can
know in relation to the future is that which God in his mercy reveals.
The Lord understands the future as well as the past and the present,
and his Spirit understands that which is to come, and the promise is
that that Spirit shall be given to us through the prayer of faith, so
that we may be able to comprehend in some measure the things
of the future. The promise of the Savior to the ancient Apostles was,
that when the Spirit of truth should come he should guide them into
all truth, and show them things to come. That same Spirit, imparted to
the servants of God in the 19th century of the Christian era, is just
as capable of opening up the future, lighting up the mind of man and
showing him events that are to take place, as it was the first year
after the crucifixion of Christ, on the day of Pentecost, or in any
other former age of the world—it is the same from eternity to
eternity, and it is just as needful for us, as Latter-day Saints, to
know the things of God, as it was for the former-day Saints to know
them. The great and important thing with us is to exercise sufficient
faith before the heavens, that God may pour out the spirit of prophecy
upon us. The same faith will procure the same blessings, and the
spirit of prophecy was considered by the ancient Apostles as one of
the best gifts, far greater than the gift of tongues or than the gift
of interpretation of tongues. It was a spirit that was given for the
edification of the Saints of the living God, and the same spirit is
promised to all his servants who live faithful before him.
I well recollect, when I was but about nineteen years old—forty-four
years last fall—that believing Joseph Smith to be a Prophet, and being
led by the Spirit, I went a journey of two hundred miles to visit him.
I well recollect the feelings of my heart at the time. He inquired of
the Lord, and obtained a revelation for your humble servant. He
retired into the chamber of old Father Whitmer, in the house where
this Church was organized in 1830. John Whitmer acted as his scribe,
and I accompanied him into the chamber, for he had told me that it was
my privilege to have the word of the Lord; and the Lord in that
revelation, which is published here in the Book of Doctrine and
Covenants, made a promise which to me, when I was in my youth, seemed
to be almost too great for a person of as humble origin as myself ever
to attain to. After telling in the revelation that the great day of
the Lord was at hand, and calling upon me to lift up my voice among
the people, to call upon them to repent and prepare the way of the
Lord, and that the time was near when the heavens should be shaken,
when the earth should tremble, when the stars should refuse their
shining, and when great destructions awaited the wicked, the Lord said
to your humble servant—"Lift up your voice and prophesy, and it shall
be given by the power of the Holy Ghost." This was a particular point
in the revelation that seemed to me too great for me ever to attain
to, and yet there was a positive command that I should do it. I have
often reflected upon this revelation, and have oftentimes inquired in
my heart—"Have I fulfilled that commandment as I ought to have done?
Have I sought as earnestly as I ought to obtain the gift of prophecy,
so as to fulfill the requirement of heaven?" And I have felt sometimes
to condemn myself because of my slothfulness, and because of the
little progress that I have made in relation to this great, heavenly,
and divine gift. I certainly have had no inclination to prophesy to
the people unless it should be given to me by the inspiration and
power of the Holy Ghost; to prophesy out of my own heart is something
perfectly disagreeable to my feelings, even to think of, and hence I
have oftentimes, in my pub lic discourses, avoided, when a
thing would come before my mind pretty plain, uttering or declaring
it for fear that I might get something out before the people in
relation to the future that was wrong. But still, notwithstanding all
this, there is one thing that I have endeavored to do, and that is, to
inform my mind as far as I could by reading what God has revealed to
both ancient and modern Prophets, in relation to the future, and if I
have not had many important prophecies and revelations given directly
to myself, I certainly have derived great advantage and great
edification from reading and studying that which God has revealed to
others; and hence most of my prophesying throughout my life, so far,
has been founded upon the revelations given to others.
We are told that Zion—this people, the Latter-day Saints, are called
Zion—shall be redeemed and restored to the lands of their
inheritances, and in consequence of this promise made to us by the
Lord, many of us have felt much anxiety to know when the Lord would
fulfill this great revelation, and some perhaps who were little boys
and girls when it was given, and now greyheaded—for it is about
forty-two years since—have not considered or reflected much about what
God has promised to do with, or what blessings he has promised to
bestow upon, this people. In their family prayers they have heard
their fathers pray to the Most High to remember Zion and to redeem
Zion, and to restore his people to the lands of their inheritances,
and perhaps some of them have reflected upon the subject. Some may
have thought it was merely a form of prayer which their fathers had
learned, without any expectation of anything of the kind taking place,
and they have felt careless about it, knowing nothing about whether
Zion was ever to be redeemed or not. But those who have reflected upon
the subject, and who have made it a matter of prayer and of deep
study, in order to know the times and the seasons, and the mode in
which God would bring to pass this great event, have been full of
hope, expectation and desire, and their constant prayer has been,
before the family altar and in the public congregations, that the
redemption of Zion might be brought about soon.
We are promised that after much tribulation comes the blessing. The
Lord says—"I the Lord have decreed a certain decree that my people
shall realize, that after their tribulations they shall be redeemed,
and restored to the lands of their inheritances." Little did we
suppose when we were driven out from Jackson County, the place where
God has promised to give his Saints their inheritances, and in the
regions round about, that nearly half a century would pass over our
heads before we would be restored back again to that land. This long
period of tribulation, and the dispersion from our homes and
inheritances, have been the cause perhaps of a great many going down
to the grave without having the opportunity and privilege of returning
to participate in the blessings that were promised. Now, it would be a
source of comfort and consolation to those who are still living, to
whom this promise was made, if they could be assured in their own
minds that they would live here in the flesh to behold that day. But
let me say a few words in relation to this. We need not expect, from
what God has revealed, that a very great number of those who were then
in the Church and who were driven, will have the privilege of
returning to that land. We need not expect anything of the
kind. "Why not?" inquires one. Because the Lord informs us that but a
few of those who were then driven out should stand to receive their
inheritances. We read this, or indications thereof, in several
revelations, the language being something like this—"You shall be
persecuted from synagogue to synagogue, and from city to city, and but
few shall stand to receive their inheritances." Now if a great portion
of those who were driven out should live and they should be restored
back again, they might afterwards say—"This does not seem to agree
with the revelation, here are pretty much all that were driven out."
But this will not be the case. When you come to count up, a few years
hence, those who were driven forth from that land, you will find that
there will be very few indeed; there will, however, be some out of
that number, but only a very few. There will be some that will live to
behold that day, and will return and receive their inheritances, they
and their children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren, according
to the promise.
We have a special promise in relation to that land given to us as
Latter-day Saints, a promise which I believe I have formerly repeated
in this house. It was first given on the 2nd day of January, 1831, at
a general conference of pretty much all the Saints who lived in the
State of New York, held in the house where the Church was first
organized. The revelation was given in their presence, written by a
scribe as the sentences fell from the mouth of the Prophet Joseph.
Among the great things then made known was the following—"I hold forth
and deign to give to you greater riches, even a land of promise, a
land upon which there shall be no curse when the Lord shall come; and
this is my covenant with you, that I will give it unto you and unto
your children after you, for an everlasting inheritance; and you shall
possess it in time and possess it again in eternity, never more to
pass away." If there are any strangers here I will say, for their
information, that this is the reason why we call that land a land of
promise. And though we have been deprived of it, now for upwards of
forty years, some of us hold deeds for portions of it which we
purchased, paying our moneys to the United States officials, who sold
it to us at the government price, but we were not permitted to live
upon the lands thus purchased. You may think this rather a curious
thing in this great American republic, one of the most liberal
governments on the face of the whole earth; but if it is a strange
thing it is known as the truth to thousands and tens of thousands that
we were dispossessed of our inheritances. The land is still there, but
it is occupied by those who do not own it.
Inquires one—"Why were you driven from that land?" I might answer you
by repeating the words of our enemies, for they have published their
reasons for driving us from our homes. One reason was that we
pretended to speak in tongues, which was considered a mortal offense
against religionists. This was one accusation that they brought
against us, as you will find in their published declarations, in which
they pledged their lives, their property and their sacred honor to
dispossess us of our homes.
Another accusation was that we professed to heal the sick. What a
terrible crime it was for a man to lay his hands on sick persons and ask the Lord to heal them, and then if the Lord healed the
sick they should not be worthy to keep their land, but should be
driven from their homes and be deprived of their property!
Another reason was that, besides believing in the gifts of speaking in
tongues and healing the sick, we assumed to foretell future events.
They did not like that at all. To think that people should believe in
that part of the Gospel in the 19th century was too much for our
enemies, and they said—"We cannot have such people in our midst, to
corrupt our morals, and to introduce the old-fashioned religion that
is taught in the New Testament. We have a religion that does away all
these things, it does not believe in the order of things that the New
Testament sets forth, and you pretend that this New Testament religion
is to be enjoyed in our day; our wives and children must not be
corrupted by it."
These were the main reasons for driving us, as set forth in their
published program. I did not know, in those days, that it was a
crime for the Latter-day Saints to believe in this part of the New
Testament; I really thought that, in our country, the Constitution
guaranteed to us the privilege of believing the whole of the New
Testament as well as a part; but it would seem to be otherwise, for
forty years have passed away and we are still disfranchised so far as
our property is concerned. We have appealed to the United States
government to bestow upon us our rights as American citizens. Have
they done it? Oh no; they have referred us, however, to those persons
who drove us out of the State, supposing that they would have the
magnanimity to restore to us our rights. Who ever heard of mur derers,
robbers and thieves turning round and restoring that to their victims
of which they had plundered them? I scarcely ever heard of such an
instance; there may be some few instances in history, but they are
very rare, in which a person will repent and try to restore fourfold.
The United States Government told us that we must appeal to those who
had murdered, robbed and driven us from our homes, for the redress we
sought. But we have had the revelation of the Lord pretty well
fulfilled—"You shall be persecuted from city to city and from
synagogue to synagogue, and but few shall stand to receive their
inheritances."
We were driven from Jackson County, in the State of Missouri, in the
Fall of the year 1833, and three or four months after that event the
revelation was given from which I have read this extract, promising
that, after much tribulation, we and our children after us should be
restored to the lands of our inheritances.
Have we had much tribulation? Yes. Look at the many times we have been
driven since that revelation was given. We were driven out of Clay
County, then out of Kirtland, in Geauga County, now called Lake
County, Ohio; and after that we were driven from Caldwell County, from
Davies County, Ray County, and several other surrounding counties in
the State of Missouri, and finally expelled from the State, leaving a
great many thousand acres of land for which we hold the deeds to the
present day. After that we settled in the State of Illinois, in
Nauvoo. We were there but a few years when the Prophet, his brother
and several others were killed, and again we were driven, and finally
there was a treaty made with this people. Now, whoever heard
of one part of the United States making treaties with another part of
the United States? Or whoever heard of the people in one part of the
country making a treaty with the people in another part? That treaty
was in words like this—"You must leave all the States of the Union,
you must not stop this side the Rocky Mountains, you must go beyond
the Rocky Mountains; if you will do this you may depart in peace, but
we will take your houses and lands and occupy them without
remuneration, we will not pay you for them; but if you can get away
without selling your property and you will agree to go beyond the
Rocky Mountains you may have the privilege of going, otherwise we will
kill you."
What were the crimes of which we were accused in the various places
from which we were expelled? If any of our people had been guilty of
breaking the laws it was in the power of our enemies to bring us
before their courts of justice, for in all these places they held all
the civil offices in their own hands. But they very well knew that, so
far as the laws of the country were concerned, they could not reach
this people. Why? Because we were not guilty of the transgression of
any of their laws.
When we were driven from Nauvoo there were some unable to leave—poor,
feeble and sick; Nauvoo was a kind of a sickly place and a great many
people were sick there and many of the sick, infirm and poor had to be
left behind, being unable to leave with the main body of the Saints.
We walked over the Mississippi River on the ice and wandered and
wallowed about in the snowdrifts of Iowa with our teams and wagons,
but these poor people could not get away in time. The mob were very
anxious to come in possession of our property, and hence after the
main body got out one or two hundred miles from Nauvoo, where there
were no inhabitants, cut off from all resources, and unable to obtain
any information from our poor brethren, the mob was so anxious to get
the property of which they had forcibly deprived us, that they
attacked the city with cannon and musketry, and finally drove these
poor people out and compelled them to cross the river, where a great
many of them perished. Were not these tribulations? Yes, and they were
all foretold years before they came to pass. "After much tribulation
comes the blessing, and this is the blessing which I, the Lord God,
have promised unto you, that after your tribulation you shall be
redeemed and be restored again to the lands of your inheritance."
Since our arrival in these mountains we have had a hard time here. We
have had a land such as no other people would ever have pretended to
occupy. It was once considered the most dreary, desolate, barren place
on the face of all North America, a land where it was supposed that no
human being could subsist, or in which if he undertook to subsist by
the labor of his hands by cultivating the earth, he would perish. But
by hard labor and perseverance we have made ourselves comfortable
homes in what was formerly a desert, and the Lord has been very
favorable to us and really has blessed us far beyond anything we could
have anticipated when coming here, and he has caused that the seasons
should be very fruitful as a general thing; and this land, which
appeared so desolate, barren, parched up and so full of drouth, has be come a fruitful land, and the Lord has fulfilled many and
many a prophecy recorded in Isaiah and the Psalms of David in relation
to making the desert blossom as the rose and making it like the garden
of the Lord. It is thus prophesied, and that it has been fulfilled no
one can dispute, who will reflect and realize for a moment what the
Lord has done since we came here to this land. When the pioneers
reached here, in July, 1847, we went out to what is now termed Black
Rock, over beyond the first point of the western mountains; we went
into the lake to bathe, and we could walk up to that rock, the water
being several feet below the dry ground on which we walked to get to
it. What do you now behold? Ten feet of water over that ground on
which we walked. The Lake, since then, has been continually rising,
until ten or twelve feet of water have been added to it. We might
naturally have supposed that it would have fallen that much instead of
rising. Why? Because the waters, which before then had been
continually emptying into the Lake were withheld from it and used to
irrigate the soil and evaporated again into the heavens. This,
according to natural appearances, would have a tendency to lower the
streams; but with all the use of the waters and of the streams for the
irrigation of crops, &c., there has been a continual rise in the Lake.
We read numerous prophecies referring to the last days, in which it is
said that the wilderness should be like the Garden of Eden, and that
the desert should be made to blossom as the rose, that it should
blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing, and that
they should have songs of melody, thanksgiving in the desert, &c. I
might quote you numerous chapters in Isaiah and in the Psalms of
David, relating to this subject, but I have not time, I want to pass
along to some other points.
Notwithstanding all these favors and blessings since we came here, we
have had to wear ourselves out, so great has been the labor we have
had to perform. We could not go out before breakfast and cut and haul
a load of wood, as we could in Jackson County; we could not go out and
get in one day three or four loads of logs and poles to fence our
farms as we could in places where we formerly resided. But we had to
expend an immense amount of labor, and a great deal of capital and
means was expended in working roads up into these difficult rugged
canyons in order to get timber for building and fencing purposes, and
for fuel. Then we had to stop up of nights to take the little amount
of water allotted to each man or family, for it was necessary to
husband it as economically as possible in order to bring our crops to
maturity. This excessive labor has worn many out, and sent them to
untimely graves. It is a marvel to me that we have been able to build
schoolhouses and educate our children in any degree, especially when
considering the vast labor that has been required of them, for as they
began to grow up and ought to have been at school, they have had to be
in the mountains herding sheep, or at work irrigating the soil; and
under all these multiplied difficulties, it is certainly astonishing
beyond measure, that the people throughout all the settlements of Utah
Territory have been able to build schoolhouses and to educate their
children, but the feeling, on the part of both parents and children,
has been to acquire as good an education as possible under the circum stances. Would any other people have accomplished this?
No. Had any other people come to this desert wild and undertaken to
cultivate the soil they could not have done it, they would have broken
up; there would not have been union enough among any class of people
on the face of the American continent to accomplish what the
Latter-day Saints have accomplished in reclaiming the desert. Others
would have fought over the water and thousands of other things, where
this people have been peaceable and quiet, and subject to good order.
Having now brought the people down to the present period, and having
seen the fulfillment of ancient and modern prophecies, literally
before our eyes, the question now is, What prophecies to be fulfilled
in the future relate to this people and to the great events which must
take place when Zion is redeemed? I will endeavor to point out some
things that must take place before Zion is redeemed, besides the
tribulations which we have endured. One thing which I will name is
contained in the Book of Mormon, in the teachings of Jesus. It is a
matter which directly concerns the Saints, and something which they
must fulfill and accomplish before the redemption of Zion. I will read
the passage. The words it contains are the words or our Lord and
Savior after he had risen from the dead, and when he descended from
heaven upon this American continent, and taught the Israelites who
dwelt on this land. The passage I refer to commences with the second
paragraph of the 7th chap. of the book of Nephi, pages 464 and 465 of
the Book of Mormon. It reads as follows:
"And now it came to pass that when Jesus had spoken these words, he
said unto those twelve whom he had chosen: Ye are my disciples;" —this
did not mean the twelve Apos tles chosen at Jerusalem, but the twelve
chosen by our Savior on this American land—"and ye are a light unto
this people, who are a remnant of the house of Joseph. And behold,
this is the land of your inheritance; and the Father hath given it
unto you. And not at any time hath the Father given me commandment
that I should tell it unto your brethren of Jerusalem. Neither at any
time hath the Father given me commandment, that I should tell unto
them concerning the other tribes of the house of Israel, whom the
Father hath led away out of the land. This much did the Father command
me, that I should tell unto them: That other sheep I have, which are
not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they shall hear my
voice; and there shall be one fold and one shepherd. And now, because
of stiffneckedness and unbelief they understood not my word;
therefore I was commanded to say no more of the Father concerning this
thing unto them. But, verily, I say unto you that the Father hath
commanded me, and I tell it unto you, that ye were separated from
among them because of their iniquity; therefore it is because of their
iniquity that they knew not of you. And verily, I say unto you again,
that the other tribes hath the Father separated from them; and it is
because of their iniquity, that they know not of them," —that is the
ten tribes. "And verily I say unto you, that ye are they of whom I
said: Other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must
bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and
one shepherd. And they understood me not, for they supposed it had
been the Gentiles; for they understood not that the Gentiles should be
converted through their preaching. And they understood me not that I said they should hear my voice; and they understood me not
that I said that the Gentiles should not at any time hear my voice—
that I should not manifest myself unto them, save it were by the Holy
Ghost. But behold, ye have both heard my voice, and seen me; and ye
are my sheep, and ye are numbered among those whom the Father hath
given me.
"And verily, verily, I say unto you, that I have other sheep, which
are not of this land, neither of the land of Jerusalem, neither in any
parts of that land round about, whither I have been to minister. For
they of whom I speak, are they who have not as yet heard my voice;
neither have I at any time manifested myself unto them. But I have
received a commandment of the Father that I shall go unto them" —these
other sheep he is now speaking of were the ten tribes whom he visited
after he had visited the people on this land—"and that they shall hear
my voice, and shall be numbered among my sheep, that there may be one
fold, and one shepherd; therefore I go to show myself unto them. And I
command you that ye shall write these sayings after I am gone, that
if it so be that my people at Jerusalem, they who have seen me and
been with me in my ministry, do not ask the Father in my name, that
they may receive a knowledge of you by the Holy Ghost, and also of the
other tribes whom they know not of, that these sayings which ye shall
write shall be kept and shall be manifested unto the Gentiles," —that
is, they should come forth in the latter days, manifested unto the
Gentiles as it has been to this great nation—"that through the fulness
of the Gentiles, the remnant of their seed, who shall be scattered
forth upon the face of the earth because of their unbelief, may be
brought in, or may be brought to a knowledge of me, their Redeemer.
And then will I gather them in from the four quarters of the earth;
and then will I fulfill the covenant which the Father hath made unto
all the people of the house of Israel.
"And blessed are the Gentiles, because of their belief in me, in and of
the Holy Ghost, which witnesses unto them of me and of the Father.
Behold, because of their belief in me, saith the Father, and because
of the unbelief of you, O house of Israel, in the latter day shall the
truth come unto the Gentiles, that the fulness of these things shall
be made known unto them. But wo, saith the Father, unto the
unbelieving of the Gentiles—for notwithstanding they have come forth
upon the face of this land, and have scattered my people who are of
the house of Israel; and my people who are of the house of Israel have
been cast out from among them, and have been trodden under foot by
them; And because of the mercies of the Father unto the Gentiles, and
also the judgments of the Father upon my people, who are of the house
of Israel, verily, verily, I say unto you, that after all this, and I
have caused my people who are of the house of Israel to be smitten
and to be afflicted, and to be slain, and to be cast out from among
them, and to become hated by them, and to become a hiss and a byword
among them." —Has that been fulfilled? Have the Indians been hated?
Have they been cast out and trodden under foot? Have they been
despised? The people who are acquainted with the history of the
Indians can answer this question.—"And thus commandeth the Father that
I should say unto you: At that day when the Gentiles shall sin against
my gospel" —that is the Gospel contained in this book which he promised
to bring forth unto them—"and shall be lifted up in the pride
of their hearts above all nations, and above all the people of the
whole earth," —you can judge whether this is true or not so far as the
American nation is concerned—"and shall be filled with all manner of
lyings, and of deceits, and of mischiefs, and all manner of hypocrisy,
and murders, and priestcrafts, and whoredoms, and secret abominations;
and if they shall do all those things, and shall reject the fulness of
my gospel, behold, saith the Father, I will bring the fulness of my
Gospel from among them."
Now here is a point which I wish to speak upon and explain before I go
on to the next sentence, which has a bearing upon something which we
have yet got to do. The Lord has told us in this saying that if the
Gentiles should not believe in this book—the fulness of the Gospel—and
should be lifted up in their pride above all nations, and be filled
with all manner of lyings, mischiefs, whoredoms, abominations and
every kind of evil, that he would bring the fulness of his Gospel from
among them. I wish to state that when I read this in 1830 it was a
great mystery to me. Recollect this was written and printed before
there was any Latter-day Saint Church in existence, and yet here was a
prophecy that the Lord would bring the fulness of his Gospel from
among the Gentiles if they did not receive it. When the Lord commanded
us to go up and settle in Jackson County I thought to myself—"Well, if
we build up a great city here, according to that which is predicted in
the Book of Mormon, we shall be right in the midst of the Gentiles,
and how will it be possible for that prophecy ever to be fulfilled?"
It was a mystery to me, I could not see it. I knew it was true, for
God had given me a witness and evidence that I knew as well as I knew
that I lived that that book was true; but yet I could not understand
how the Lord would bring the fulness of his Gospel from among the
Gentiles if we were going to be permitted to build up a city in
Jackson County, Missouri, and stay there. But some seventeen years
after the rise of this Church circumstances rolled round by which the
Lord fulfilled this prophecy in taking the main body of the people
from among the Gentiles. Not voluntarily altogether, for we did not
all feel perfectly willing to leave our houses. We had been driven
four times before from lands and homes, and we did not really feel
willing to leave; but still, rather than be shot down and mobbed, as
many of our people had been, we concluded to move the fifth time, and
we did so because we were obliged to, but little did we think then
that we were fulfilling a prophecy in the Book of Mormon, such a
thought had not entered into our hearts. But we were brought out west
here to these mountains, and I do not know of another place on the
face of this vast continent where we could have been so completely
isolated from the Gentiles, the wicked who had rejected the Gospel, as
we were by coming out en masse to this land. "If the Gentiles shall
sin against the fulness of my Gospel, behold, saith the Father, I will
bring the fulness of my Gospel from among them." It was done, the
prediction was fulfilled to the very letter. You might have passed
through the land there for hundreds and hundreds of miles, from city
to city, and inquired for an Elder who had authority to baptize for
the remission of sins and to build up the Church and kingdom of God,
and the answer would have been—"There is no such person here." "Where are they?" "They have gone away beyond the Rocky
Mountains,"
more than a thousand miles away from civilization as they called it.
When we got here and again searched the prophecies we found that the
Lord had been as good as his word, and had literally fulfilled that
which he had spoken concerning taking his Gospel from the midst of
those who had sinned against and rejected it.
There is one thing which I am now about to read which has not yet been
fulfilled, and which we must fulfill before Zion is redeemed. I will
read it—"Behold, saith the Father, I will bring the fulness of my
Gospel from among them, and then I will remember my covenant which I
have made unto my people, O house of Israel, and I will bring my
Gospel unto them." Now then, we are here in this land, the house of
Israel are scattered all around us, some in the great basin, some in
Arizona, some in Idaho, some in Colorado, some in Montana, some in one
place, some in another; I refer to the American Indians, all remnants
of Joseph and belonging to the house of Israel. They have become very
degraded in consequence of the apostasy and wickedness of their
ancient fathers. This people—the Latter-day Saints, before they can
ever return to build up the waste places of Zion and receive their
inheritances in Jackson County, Missouri, have got to exert themselves
to bring the remnants of Joseph to a knowledge of the truth. We have
not made any very great exertions in this direction unto the present
time. The Lord has given us time since he brought the fulness of the
Gospel from among the Gentiles to lay a foundation so that we could
commence this missionary work in behalf of and among the remnants of
Joseph. We have got the foundation laid, we have succeeded in building
many cities, towns, villages, &c., for some four hundred miles north
and south; we have got our farms fenced and our water ditches dug, and
we have begun to prosper in the land, so that now, I think, is the
time for us to wake up our minds in relation to the scattered remnants
of the house of Israel." "Behold, then I will remember my covenant
which I have made unto my people, O house of Israel, and I will bring
my Gospel unto them."
It seems that the Lord is working among that people, and that he is
determined this prophecy shall be fulfilled whether we take it in hand
or not. What do my ears hear? What do we all hear? Messengers are
visiting these wild tribes in the basin, and in the regions round
about hundreds of miles apart. These messengers come to them, and they
speak in their own language in great plainness, and tell them what to
do; they tell them to repent of their sins and to be baptized for the
remission thereof; tell them also to cease roaming over the country
and to cultivate the land; tell them to go to the Elders of this
Church and receive the ordinances under their hands.
Who are these messengers? Read the Book of Mormon and you will find
what God promised to do for the remnants of Joseph fourteen hundred
years ago, about the time that most of them were becoming wicked and
corrupt. The Lord said when their record should come forth in the
latter days that he would send his messengers to them, and among these
messengers he mentioned three persons who lived some eighteen hundred
years ago, three of the Twelve who were chosen on this land. The Lord
made a promise to these three that they should administer, as holy mes sengers in the latter days, for and in behalf of the
remnants of the house of Israel, which should fall into a low and
degraded condition in consequence of the great wickedness and apostasy
of their ancient fathers; that they should be instruments in his hands
in bringing these remnants to the knowledge of the truth. We hear that
these messengers have come, not in one instance alone, but in many
instances. Already we have heard of some fourteen hundred Indians, and
I do not know but more, who have been baptized. Ask them why they have
come so many hundred miles to find Elders of the Church and they will
reply—"Such a person came to us, he spoke in our language, instructed
us and told us what to do, and we have come in order to comply with
his requirements."
Perhaps you may inquire—"May not this great work, the redemption of
these Indian tribes, take place after we have returned to our
inheritances?" No doubt but what there will be a great work transpire
among the Indians after we do return; but let me say to you that there
will also be a great work performed among them before we return to
receive our inheritances and before the redemption of Zion. In order
to prove this I will read what Jesus has said further on this subject.
After having foretold a great many things that should transpire in the
latter days our Lord and Savior also spoke of that portion of the
Gentiles which would repent and receive this book called the Book of
Mormon, and he makes the following promise unto them—"If they will
repent and hearken unto my words, and harden not their hearts, I will
establish my Church among them." This the Lord has done, and the
Church now numbers over a hundred thousand right here in this great
desert. "I will establish my Church among them, and they shall come in
unto the covenant and be numbered among those of the remnant of Jacob
unto whom I have given this land for their inheritance."
A great many have desired to know what this means. Are you Mormons
going to be numbered with them and wander about with them in these
mountains? Are you going to hunt as they hunt, and lead a wild,
nomadic, vagabond life as they do? No. What is the meaning of it then?
The meaning of it is this—the Lord God made a promise to the
forefathers of the Indians, about six hundred years before Christ,
that all this continent should be given to them and to their children
after them for an everlasting inheritance; and he made a promise also
by the mouth of Nephi, one of the first colonists who came from
Jerusalem, some twenty-four hundred years ago, that, when the Gentiles
in the latter days should come forth upon the face of this land and
receive the records of the descendants of those ancient colonists,
they should be numbered with the remnants of Jacob in the inheritance
of the land. Not numbered with them to come down to their foolish,
degraded, wicked, warlike customs, but numbered with them in the
inheritance of the land.
Another thing mentioned in prophecy is that they, "the Gentiles," shall
assist my people, the house of Israel, 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, who are scattered upon all the face of the land,
that may be gathered in unto the New Jerusalem; and then shall the
power of heaven come down and be in the midst of this people, and I
also will be in their 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, in that day
shall the work of the Father commence among all the dispersed of my
people."
What I wish to call your special attention to now, so far as these
sayings are concerned, is this—the Latter-day Saints in these
mountains never can have the privilege of going back to Jackson County
and building that city which is to be called the New Jerusalem, upon
the spot that was appointed by revelation through the Prophet Joseph,
until quite a large portion of the remnants of Joseph go back with us.
Now then, here is a work for us, and we have no need to pray the
Father to return us to Jackson County until that work is done. We can
pray to the Father, in the name of Jesus, to convert these Indian
tribes around us, and bring them to a knowledge of the truth, that
they may fulfill the things contained in the Book of Mormon. And then
when we do return, taking them with us, that they shall be instructed
not only in relation to their fathers and the Gospel contained in the
record of their fathers, but also in the arts and sciences. They will
also be instructed to cultivate the earth, to build buildings as we
do, instructed how to build Temples and in the various branches of
industry practiced by us; and then, after having received this
information and instruction, we shall have the privilege of helping
them to build the New Jerusalem. The Lord says—"They," the Gentiles,
who believe in the Book of Mormon, "shall assist my people, the
remnant of Jacob, that they may build a city, which shall be called
the New Jerusalem."
Now, a great many, without read ing these things,
have flattered themselves that we are the ones who are going to do all
this work. It is not so; we have got to be helpers, we have got to be
those who cooperate with the remnants of Joseph in accomplishing this
great work; for the Lord will have respect unto them, because they are
of the blood of Israel, and the promises of their fathers extend to
them, and they will have the privilege of building that city,
according to the pattern that the Lord shall give. Do not
misunderstand me, do not think that all the Lamanite tribes are going
to be converted and receive this great degree of education and
civilization before we can return to Jackson County. Do not think this
for a moment, it will only be a remnant; for when we have laid the
foundation of that city and have built a portion of it, and have built
a Temple therein, there is another work which we have got to do in
connection with these remnants of Jacob whom we shall assist in
building the city. What is it? We have got to be sent forth as
missionaries to all parts of this American continent. Not to the
Gentiles, for their times will be fulfilled; but we must go to all
those tribes that roam through the cold regions of the north—British
America, to all the tribes that dwell in the Territories of the United
States, also to all those who are scattered through Mexico, and
Central and South America, and the object of our going will be to
declare the principles of the Gospel unto them, and bring them to a
knowledge of the truth. "Then shall they assist my people who are
scattered on all the face of the land, that they may be gathered in to
the New Jerusalem."
Will not this be a great work? It will take a good while to gather all
these tribes of South America, for some of them will have to
come from five to eight thousand miles in order to reach the New
Jerusalem. This will be quite a work, and yet we shall have to perform
it after the city is built.
What then? After they are all gathered, "then shall the powers of
heaven come down and be in the midst of this people, and I also will
be in your midst." Now I do not say that this will be a period after
his second coming in the clouds of heaven, but I believe that it will
be a coming prior to that time, when he comes to manifest himself to
all the nations and kindreds of the earth. It will be a fulfillment of
that saying in the Psalms of David—"Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,
thou that leadest Joseph like a flock. Stir up thy strength and come
and save us." He is called, in a peculiar manner, the shepherd of
Israel. This is what is meant also in the blessing of Jacob upon the
twelve tribes of Israel, or more especially upon the tribe of Joseph.
You recollect he called up his twelve sons to bestow upon them his
last prophetic blessing. He told them that he would inform them what
should take place in the latter days. Joseph, he said, is a fruitful
bough by a well, whose branches run over the wall. As much as to say
that the descendants of Joseph would be so numerous that they would
not all stay on the old homestead near Jerusalem, but some of them
would run over the wall, that is, go to some other place. "The archers
have sorely grieved him, they have shot at him and hated him, but his
bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by
the hand of the mighty God of Jacob; from thence is the Shepherd, the
Stone of Israel."
Now who can explain and tell us what this means? Can any of the wise
commentators of the day? Can any of those who have studied theology
all their lifetime, tell us why it is from Joseph that the Shepherd,
the Stone of Israel is to be made manifest? Says one—"It cannot have
reference to his birth, because Jesus descended from Judah, instead of
Joseph, out of the loins of Judah, through the lineage of David. He is
the Lion of the tribe of Judah." Why then this peculiar saying of the
old Prophet Jacob, about the tribe of Joseph, that from thence is the
Shepherd, the Stone of Israel, if he was not born of Joseph, and did
not descend through that tribe? This is a very curious kind of a
saying. But he will be made manifest in the character of a shepherd,
and that shepherd will lead Joseph as a flock, and he will stir up his
strength and will save the house of Joseph. But it will be in his own
time and way. First, a remnant will be converted; second, Zion will be
redeemed, and all among the Gentiles who believe will assist this
remnant of Jacob in building the New Jerusalem; third, a vast number
of missionaries will be sent throughout the length and breadth of this
great continent, to gather all the dispersed of his people in unto the
New Jerusalem; fourth, the power of heaven will be made manifest in
the midst of this people, and the Lord also will be in their midst, in
the character of a shepherd, and he will lead Joseph as a flock, and
he will instruct and counsel them personally as he did their ancient
fathers in the days of their righteousness.
This is what we must look for—these are the things that must be
fulfilled, and for which we must seek and pray in an understanding
manner. Not asking God to redeem Zion before he has redeemed a portion
of the remnants of Joseph; not ask ing God to establish this
people upon their inheritances in Jackson County, until the other
things are fulfilled in their order, and in their times and seasons.
Perhaps some may inquire—"Have you any idea, brother Pratt, how we
will be redeemed when we have accomplished this work you have spoken
of?" Not much, I do not pretend to have a great deal of understanding
upon the subject; but there are some few things revealed, some of
which I read to you at the commencement of my remarks. Speaking of the
redemption of this people, the Lord says—"Behold I will raise up a man
like unto Moses." This did not mean Joseph Smith, he was already
raised up and was among us. He was the one who received that
revelation; he was the one who brought to light the Book of Mormon,
and translated it by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. But the Lord,
who understands the end from the beginning, saw that when his work was
completed, he would be taken away, and that another would be raised
up. When this was first given I used to inquire, in my own mind,
whether it meant Joseph, and I got it into my heart that Joseph,
perhaps, would lead us until he became a very old man; I was in hopes
all the time that such would be the case. I, like many others, did not
seem to understand that this was a prediction of the future.
When Joseph was taken away, and our beloved brother, President Young,
was appointed to take the lead, and received the keys and the power of
the holy Priesthood that had been conferred upon Joseph, I was in
hopes that he might be the man, and I still have a lingering hope that
such may be the case. But he is now becoming aged, and how long the
Lord will bless us with his presence I do not know, but this much I do
know, that either he will be preserved, or that some other personage
will be raised to fulfill that prophecy. "Behold I say unto you, the
redemption of Zion must needs come by power, therefore I will raise up
unto my people a man who shall lead them like as Moses led the
children of Israel, for ye are the children of Israel, and of the seed
of Abraham, and ye must needs be led out of bondage by power, with an
outstretched arm, and as your fathers were led at the first, even so
shall the redemption of Zion be."
It seems then that this people, at some future time in their sojourn
here in this land, may possibly be in bondage greater than they are at
the present time. I try to hope for the best, and to think that the
bondage we are in and have been in for years, in consequence of the
efforts of those who are striving to take away our rights as American
citizens, and to trample us down in the dust; I say I have been in
hopes that that would be all the bondage that was meant here in this
prophecy, but I do not know but what there may be a greater
signification to these words. I do not know what the purposes of the
Lord are in relation to this particular thing. It may be that we shall
have our rights completely taken from us; it may be, if we do not live
sufficiently faithful before the Lord, that he will yet bring us into
still greater tribulation than that which we have hitherto had. It may
be that we shall yet be in bondage like the Israelites in the land of
Egypt; for the Lord has said that, when this man should be raised up,
he would redeem his people by power out of bondage, and they should be
led as their fathers were led at the first. Says the Lord—"I say not
unto you as I said unto your fathers—'mine angel shall go
before you, but not my presence'—but I say unto you that mine angels
shall go before you, and also my presence." It was, in ancient days, a
great calamity to Israel, when the Lord swore in his wrath that he
would not go up in their midst, but that he would send an angel before
them. Why did the Lord do this? Because of the wickedness and
stiffneckedness of that people. He had redeemed them out of the land
of Egypt, and they would not hearken to the words of Moses, they would
not obey the voice of the Lord, but they stiffened their necks and
hardened their hearts against the counsels that they received, and for
this reason the Lord was under the necessity of leading them for forty
years in the wilderness, considering them unworthy to go into their
choice and promised land, and he swore an oath that all of that
company—hundreds of thousands—who had come out of the land of Egypt,
from twenty years old and upward, except Joshua and Caleb, should not
enter into the Land of Promise, so great was their wickedness; and he
fulfilled his word. So provoked was he on one occasion at their
rebellion, that he threatened to consume them in a moment, but Moses
plead with the Lord to spare his people, lest the people around about
should say that the Lord could not bring his people into the Promised
Land. Moses said—"Remember thy covenant which thou didst make with
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, our fathers, that they and their seed should
have this land for an everlasting inheritance." "No," said the Lord,
"I can raise up seed unto you Moses, that you may go in and possess
the land." "No," said Moses, "remember that ancient covenant,
that thy people may not be deprived of their inheritance;" and the Lord finally
concluded to hearken to the voice of Moses, and to let them go into
the land. But said he—"My presence shall not go up with you, lest I
break forth upon you in my wrath, and you be consumed in a moment, but
I will send an angel with you."
In these last days, in redeeming his people from bondage he has told
us in plain words, that his angel should go before us and also his
presence; and as, in the deliverance of Israel in ancient times the
waters were divided and plagues sent forth upon the Egyptian nation,
it would not surprise me at all if there should be similar power
manifested in the redemption of Zion. There may be a few individuals
go to prepare the way, to purchase a little more land and get things
in orders; but when that is accomplished, this people as a body will
return to that land, the Lord going with them.
In ancient times, so long as the Lord did continue with Israel, he
manifested his glory over their camp by a cloud by day; and whenever
the cloud arose they followed it, and wherever it rested, there they
pitched their tents and remained until the cloud moved again, when
they again journeyed on. Now, if Zion is to be redeemed after the same
manner, you need not be surprised if the Lord God should let his
glory, in the form of a cloud by day and the shining of a flaming fire
by night, be over all the camp of Zion. This is what I look for;
perhaps I am a little enthusiastic, but it is really what I look for
and expect; and when the Lord says that his presence shall go with us,
I expect he will be in the midst of this people as he was in the midst
of ancient Israel until they rejected him from their midst.
Did he converse with them in the wilderness before he left them?
Yes, he talked with them out of a burning cloud in the burning mount,
he spoke in their ears by the voice of a trump, and sounded in the
ears of all the house of Israel the ten commandments, and they all,
men, women and children, heard it. Do I look for similar
manifestations of God's power and presence when Zion is redeemed? I
do. He may not come down upon any mountains, but he will converse with
this people as audibly to men, women and children, as he did in
ancient times. Zion must needs be redeemed by power, with an
outstretched arm, the angel of the Lord going before the camp of this
people, and they will return, and a remnant of the Lamanites with them
to build up the city of Zion in Jackson County.
How about our inheritance when we get back there, our farms, &c.? We
need give ourselves no uneasiness about that, there will be no
speculation, no grabbing in those days; no one to say—"I am going to
take up all the land round about so that I can speculate with it in
selling it to my brethren." No such thing as this, not a solitary soul
among all the Latter-day Saints will receive an inheritance in this
way. Another person is to come for the special purpose of dividing to
the Saints their inheritances. "Behold," saith the Lord God, "I will
send one mighty and strong, clothed with light as with a garment,
whose bowels shall be a fountain of truth, who shall utter words,
eternal words, and who shall divide to the Saints their inheritances
by lot."
Have you read this revelation? It was published in the fourteenth
volume of the "Millennial Star," and it has been published in other
publications. Says one—"If the inheritances of the Saints are to be
apportioned by lot, a good man, perhaps, will be put off with the
poorest inheritance, and some not so good will get some of the best,
it is all haphazard." Oh no, we find that lots cast by divine
appointment in ancient times were cast upon a principle which
designated the very thing which the Lord desired. How was it on a
certain occasion about casting lots to discover the transgressor among
all the hosts of Israel? A certain man had taken a gold wedge, and the
people had been forbidden to take it. No one knew anything about it,
but the transgressor, and he hid it in the earth. Lots were cast and
the lot fell upon a certain tribe, it did not designate the man at
first; they cast lots again, and it fell upon a certain portion of
that tribe; they cast lots again, and it fell on a certain family, and
finally it fell on a certain man in that family, and being called up,
it proved that he was the very man among all the hundreds of thousands
of Israel. Now here was a casting of lots by divine appointment, and
the Lord, who orders all these things well, caused the very thing to
be revealed according to his own mind. And when the lots are cast for
this people to receive their inheritances, the Lord will so order it
that every man will be rewarded according to his works, and that too
by lot, however great the miracle may be.
Now I have told you about all I know, so far as it is revealed,
concerning the redemption of Zion. There is one little thing, however,
that I wish to name—that there will be quite a company of us before
the redemption of Zion. Saith the Lord, in a certain revelation—"Let
mine army become very great, and let it become sanctified before me,
that they may be as fair as the sun, as clear as the moon, that their banners may be terrible unto all the nations of the earth." We
learn from this declaration of the Lord, that before Zion is redeemed
we are to be quite a numerous people; and this agrees with what is in
the sixtieth chapter of Isaiah—"A little one shall become a thousand,
and a small one a strong nation." That is our destiny. However much
our enemies may howl, whatever may be our future tribulations, the
Lord God has decreed that Zion shall become a strong nation, that the
armies of Israel shall become very great, and not only very great, but
they will be sanctified before him, and there will be such a power
made manifest in their midst, that their banners will be terrible to
all the nations of the earth. They will not be terrible because we
outnumber the nations, but this terror of Zion which will be among the
nations, will be because of the power of the great Jehovah that will
be manifested in their midst, something that the nations will discern
and understand; and when telegraphic dispatches are sent forth to the
most distant parts of the earth, it will be said—"Who can stand before
the armies of Zion? Behold, the Lord God is with them as a cloud by
day, and as a pillar of fire by night." Fear will seize upon the
nations of the earth, and the banners of Zion will be terrible.
These are some few things pertaining to the redemption of Zion. I
would to the Lord that we were righteous enough to know a few more!
There are a great many things that I would like to know about the
redemption of Zion that I do not know, and I presume that you also
would like to know them. But what the Lord has revealed is very plain
when connected together; and when we reflect upon it, it is
aston ishing to us to think that in our day the Lord has decreed to
perform such a great work in the midst of the earth. It will be
astonishing to us when the time comes for the Lord to gather in, from
every part of this great continent, these poor, miserable, degraded
Lamanites, that his servants may have power over them in order to
bring them to civilization. It looks impossible to us, but remember
that that is the day of the Lord's power, and that then will be
fulfilled the saying in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, that the
Spirit of the Lord shall be shed forth upon the hearts of those who
are ordained to that power; that every man among these remnants of
Joseph will hear the Gospel in his own tongue, by the power of the
Holy Ghost shed forth upon those who are ordained unto this power.
There is such a saying as that in the Book of Covenants, and when that
day comes the Lord God will work mightily by signs, wonders and
miracles in various ways that will have an influence over these
remnants of Joseph to convert them and bring them to a knowledge of
the truth, that the prayers of their ancient fathers, and of the
Prophets and Elders who once dwelt on this American continent, may be
fulfilled upon their heads.
I do not know that I have done justice to the subject of the
redemption of Zion; if I have not, it is because I do not sufficiently
understand it. I do not know that I know anything in relation to the
matter only what God has revealed. I have had no vision, no revelation
in relation to that particular subject; yet I know, from what has been
revealed to me, that these things are true, and that, in their times
and seasons, every jot and every tittle thereof will be fulfilled.
Amen.