I will read a portion of the word of God contained in the 85th Psalm:
"Lord, thou hast been favorable unto thy land: thou hast brought back
the captivity of Jacob.
"Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people, thou hast covered all
their sin. Selah.
"Thou hast taken away all thy wrath: thou hast turned thyself from the
fierceness of thine anger.
"Turn us, O God of our salvation, and cause thine anger towards us to
cease.
"Wilt thou be angry with us for ever? wilt thou draw out thine anger
to all generations?
"Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee?
"Shew us thy mercy, O Lord, and grant us thy salvation.
"I will hear what God the Lord will speak: for he will speak peace
unto his people, and to his saints: but let them not turn again to
folly.
"Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him; that glory may dwell
in our land.
"Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
"Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look
down from heaven.
"Yea, the Lord shall give that which is good; and our land shall yield
her increase.
"Righteousness shall go before him; and shall set us in the way of
his steps."
This was a prayer and prophecy uttered by the ancient Psalmist in
relation to the house of Israel. These psalms were written by the
inspiration of the Holy Ghost, and most of them were prophetic in
their nature. David was a man especially inspired of the Lord, not
only to reign as king over the house of Israel, but to utter forth
many predictions in the form of psalms to be sung in the
congregations of Israel. He clearly spoke concerning the coming of the
Messiah; his death, and the afflictions that should come upon him as
the Redeemer of the world, and of many events in connection with his
coming, all of which were fulfilled. He also spoke in many psalms in
regard to the preaching of the servants of God in all nations,
declaring the wonderful works of God. He also spoke concerning the
second coming of this Messiah, the great glory that would be revealed
on that grand occasion; He also spoke by the spirit of prophecy
concerning the downfall of the twelve tribes of Israel and the great
affliction that would come upon them; also, that the Lord would
remember them in the latter times, and bring them to a knowledge of
the truth.
This psalm which I have just read contains a prayer, uttered by this
inspired man, for the redemption of the covenant people of the Lord.
That he would not be angry with them forever, that his anger might not
be drawn out towards them to all genera tions; that he would turn
himself from the fierceness of his wrath and show mercy unto his
people again.
The Lord saw proper, in answer to that prayer, to inspire the Psalmist
to utter these words—"Mercy and truth are met together, righteousness
and peace have kissed each other. Truth shall spring out of the earth
and righteousness shall look down from heaven. Yea, the Lord shall
give that which is good and our land shall yield her increase.
Righteousness shall go before him and shall set us in the way of his
steps."
The Lord did not leave David in uncertainty about the blessings that
should come upon his covenant people; he was informed, in the words
which I have repeated, that the Lord intended again to bestow his
blessings after he had sufficiently punished Israel; that he intended
to bring them back to their own land; that he intended to bless that
land which was given to them as an inheritance, and, that that land
should again yield its increase to his people. But before he would do
this he promised that truth should spring out of the earth, and that
at the same time righteousness should look down from heaven; that
truth should go before his face and set his people in the way of his
steps.
We live, Latter-day Saints, in the age when this prophecy is being
fulfilled. We have lived to behold the glorious period dawn upon this
creation when God has condescended to bring forth truth out of the
earth, and at the same time has manifested his righteousness from
heaven—that is his law. I need not tell the Latter-day Saints that are
now before me how this prophecy was fulfilled, for they already
understand it. There may be strangers, however, in our midst who do
not understand these things, as we understand them; and it may be well to briefly notice the fulfillment of this prophecy as
manifested in the rise and progress of this Church. This Church has an
existence this day in consequence of the fulfillment of their words.
There never would have been any such people as the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints, unless God had again manifested himself
in fulfillment of this prophecy. He has seen proper after so many
generations have passed, to again reveal himself to the children of
men, although it was contrary to their opinions and ideas that God
would ever again speak to the inhabitants of the earth. They concluded
that all communication from the eternal worlds was shut off, that,
although there was a God and plenty of angels and messengers in his
presence, he would never send them again to the inhabitants of our
globe to reveal anything new.
These have been the ideas of our fathers for many generations that are
past.
The whole Christian world were deluded with these ideas for some
seventeen or eighteen centuries.
The idea took its rise in the apostate church that sprang up in the
days of the Apostles; a church which denied the spirit of revelation
and had the wickedness and audacity to proclaim in the face and eyes
of the Bible that it needed no new revelation; that it had sufficient.
The councils that were called towards the close of the third and
fourth centuries of the Christian era concluded to introduce laws and
rules among the church. The Greek and Catholic churches excommunicated
all persons that would believe in the God of revelation.
They collected together various manuscripts which they had picked up
in various parts of the earth, which they called the fullness of the
canon of Scripture; then they passed a decree that if any person
should be found believing anything except that which was contained in
their canon, that he should not be permitted full fellowship in the
church; that he should be disfellowshipped and anathematized. This
wicked and abominable doctrine was handed down for a great many
generations in the Greek and Roman Catholic churches, and will be
found throughout all their writings—the writings of their most noted
archbishops. They declare that they neither received nor believed in
any new revelation; that their rule of faith and practice was ancient
Scripture; that the church must be guided by those ancient laws, and
by the traditions of their fathers—traditions handed down from the
days of the Apostles to their day. Thus you see all communication from
the heavens was cut off by their own decree; they were worse than the
heathen. Nebuchadnezzar, a great heathen king accustomed to worship
idols all his days, had not apostatized from the true God as those
professed Christians had, for he believed in the God that gave
revelation. We have an account in the Book of Daniel how the Lord did
reveal himself to that heathen king in a dream. But he forgot the
dream and sent a proclamation to all the wise men of Babylon to see if
he could find out an interpreter. He, at length, found one in the
person of Daniel the Prophet, who gave the king the dream that the God
of heaven had given him; also the interpretation, and we have many
instances on record where ancient heathen kings had not so far strayed
from the God of heaven but what they could believe in new revelation;
but we have the example before us for many generations where people
who have assumed the name of Christ disbelieved in new revelation, and persecuted those who believe in receiving any new
communication.
Some two or three centuries ago there was a great reformation in
Europe—a protestation against this wicked, corrupt and abominable
power that had held sway under the name of Christian.
They did reform from many of their corrupt practices, and they had
power given to them, although perhaps they did not understand it
fully, and the God of heaven did give power to these reformers to
bring about more liberal principles; but they had to do it through
great persecution. They succeeded, however, in building up
denominations which they called Christian, that had forsaken, in some
measure the corruption of the mother church. These reformers followed
the mother church in regard to limiting their faith to ancient
Scripture; they would tell the people that there was to be no more
revelation. John Calvin and Martin Luther held the view, that there
was to be no more revelation from heaven; that the canon of Scripture
was full. They received this false dogma from the mother church; they
could not find it in the New Testament; but it was a tradition handed
down by the mother church that such was the fact.
Now, the devil did not particularly care how many good principles
people retained, so long as they should deny one of the most important
principles of heaven. Cut off communication from the Lord, shut up the
heavens, keep angels out of the question concerning any more new
communication to be given to the children of men, and the devil has
accomplished his object. These falsehoods were handed down, after the
reformers came out, in all the various denominations until the present
day, until the time when the Lord, by the mouth of his holy angels,
called Joseph Smith and gave unto him a knowledge by vision of the
place where the ancient records of a portion of the Israelitish nation
were deposited. At that period of time there was scarcely a people on
the face of the whole earth but what were more or less under the
delusion of this apostate doctrine. Mr. Smith, however, was
uncontaminated by these traditions, as he was not a member of any
church; this is manifest in the prayer offered by this young man at
the time when the Lord first revealed himself to him.
He went out to pray, being then a little over fourteen years of age,
in a little grove not far from his father's house. The great object
which he had in praying was to learn some few principles, which he saw
were absolutely necessary to know, according to his understanding, in
order to serve the true and living God. He desired to know which,
among all the denominations with which he was surrounded, was the true
church.
It is not often that boys of this age would be so exercised, but this
was the fact in regard to Joseph Smith. He was uneducated; he had not
been to college; he was not trained in the vices of all large cities;
but merely a country boy accustomed to hard work with his father.
Probably one reason why his mind was thus exercised was in consequence
of the religious excitement existing in that neighborhood at the time;
some of his own relatives had joined the Presbyterian Church, and he
was earnestly sought after to join himself with some church, and his
mind being somewhat wrought upon, seeing many of his young
acquaintances turn to the Lord, he greatly desired to know which was
the true church. It was a great question; he knew not how to satisfy
his mind, for he had not read the Bible much. He heard a great many
different doctrines advocated by ministers respecting the
different denominations, which caused him to read the Bible. He
happened to fall upon a certain passage contained in the Book of
James, "If any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth
liberally and upbraideth not." This passage, when he read it, seemed
to sink with great weight upon his mind. He thought it was his
privilege to go to the Lord and ask him respecting the desired
information. As I told you before, he had not been trained up in any
of the creeds of the existing denominations, and therefore he was
confiding enough to believe what was here written, "If any man lack
wisdom," &c. He thought to himself that he did lack wisdom, for he did
desire to know which was the true church. He went into the grove with
a determination to claim this promise. When he was thus praying he saw
a light which appeared to be approaching him from the heavens. As it
came nearer it seemed to grow brighter until it settled upon the tops
of the trees. He thought it would consume the leaves of the trees; but
it gradually descended and rested upon him. His mind was immediately
caught away. He saw in this light two glorious personages, one of whom
spoke to him, pointing to the other, saying, "This is my beloved Son,
hear ye him." This was a glorious vision given to this boy. When these
persons interrogated him to know what he desired, he answered and
said, "Lord show me which is the true church." He was then informed by
one of these personages that there was no true church upon the face of
the whole earth; that the whole Christian world, for many generations,
had been in apostasy; that they had denied communication and
revelation from heaven; denied the administration of angels; denied
the power that was in the ancient church that comes through the gift
of the Holy Ghost, and gave him much instruction upon this point, but
did not see proper upon that occasion to give him a full knowledge of
the Gospel, and what was necessary to constitute a true church, and
gave him some few commandments to govern him in future time, with a
promise that if he would abide the same and call upon his name, that
the day would come when the Lord would reveal to him still further,
making manifest what was necessary to the constitution of the true
church. The vision withdrew; the personages attending and the light
withdrew. He returned to his father's house, and told the vision, not
only to his parents and neighbors, but to some of the preachers of the
religious denominations in that place. He was expressly commanded in
the vision to unite himself to none of these churches. When he related
that which he had received in this vision, the ministers immediately
made light of it, and said to him, "God does not reveal anything in
our days; he revealed all that was necessary in ancient times; he has
not spoken for 1,800 years to anyone." From that time forth he was
persecuted, not only by ministers, but all denominations in that
region persecuted him. "There goes that visionary boy." This seemed to
be the feeling manifested, not only by professors, but by all; but yet
he knew that God had manifested himself to him; he could not be
persuaded to the contrary, any more than Paul could when he heard
Jesus in his first vision.
When about four years had elapsed, he retired to his bed one Sunday
evening, reflecting upon the former vision, praying to the Lord that
he might receive a fulfillment of the promise—namely, that if he was
faithful, the true order of the Church of the Son of God
should be revealed to him. While he lay thus praying, all at once the
chamber was lighted up; this light continued to grow brighter and
brighter until he saw a glorious personage, and this personage
revealed to him the condition of the world, the apostasy of the
Christian nations, and the darkness that reigned; also revealed to him
what the Lord intended to accomplish upon the face of the whole earth
preparatory to his coming. He informed him that this continent had
once been occupied by a religious people, who understood the law of
Moses and the Gospel; that they kept sacred records among them, and
wrote them upon plates of gold, which were deposited in a certain hill
about three miles from his father's house. At the same time this angel
was telling him about these plates, the vision of his mind was opened
so that he could see the place of their deposit. After the angel had
given many instructions he withdrew. Joseph Smith continued to pray;
the angel came a second time, related the same things over again, and
gave him the same view of the plates, and still further information
concerning the work of the last days, and then withdrew a second time.
He continued to pray; the angel came the third time, gave him some
further knowledge and information, opening still further the
prophecies concerning the grand events that must be fulfilled in the
latter days. When the angel withdrew from him the third time, instead
of going to sleep, he arose and it was daybreak. He had been
conversing with this angel nearly the whole night.
He went out in the morning, as usual, with his father to labor in the
field, and his father, observing that he looked pale, asked him if he
was ill. He replied that he did not feel very well. His father advised
him to go to the house. He started to go home, and after going a
certain distance from his father, and before he reached the house, the
angel again appeared to him—this was in daylight—and told him to turn
back and tell his father what he had seen. He did so; he was also
commanded by the angel in this fourth vision that he should go to the
place where these plates were deposited. After relating to his father
what he had seen, his father declared that it was a heavenly vision,
and told him to be faithful to what had been revealed to him. He,
therefore, on the morning of the 22nd of September, 1823, repaired to,
and saw the place where these plates were deposited, just as he had
seen in the night vision. They were deposited in a stone box not far
from the summit of the hill Cumorah. The crowning stone that covered
the box was oval; by taking away the turf from its edges he succeeded,
by the use of a lever, in raising it from the box. When he saw the
plates, he also saw an instrument that was called by the ancient
prophets a Urim and Thummim. While he was thus gazing upon the plates,
the angel came again to him, and as he was about to put forth his hand
to take them, forbade him, saying that he needed further experience;
that they could not be entrusted with anyone only with those having
an eye single to the glory of God; that they were sacred records, and
that no person could have them for speculative purposes; and gave him
certain commandments to keep, and told him to visit that place again
one year from that time when he would again meet with him. He did so
at the expiration of the year, and did so until four years had passed
away; and on the morning of the 22nd of September, 1827, the angel
permitted him to take the plates, and also the Urim and
Thummim.
Thus I have shown you how Truth sprang out of the earth; according to
the words of our text. Mr. Smith being uneducated, except in the
elementary branches as taught in our common schools in the East,
therefore felt himself incapable, by his own learning, to perform so
great a work. He was commanded of the Lord to draw off some of these
characters from the plates and send them to the learned, which he did;
they were sent to the city of New York by the hands of Martin
Harris, the old gentleman whom you saw here last Conference. That old
gentleman being then a middle-aged man, went to New York to see if he
could find any person among the learned that could translate the
characters. He went to Professors Mitchell and Anthon, and they were
exhibited to them; and Mr. Harris received a certificate, stating that
to them the translation of Joseph Smith seemed to be very correct.
Martin Harris had not told Mr. Anthon how Mr. Smith came in possession
of these characters. The Professor asked Mr. Harris how Mr. Smith
obtained the plates from which the characters were taken; he said that
he obtained them by the administration of an holy angel by obedience
to the commandments of God. Mr. Anthon requested him to let him see
the certificate, he did so; and without any further consultation tore
it up before his eyes, and then said, if he would bring the plates to
him he thought he could assist him in the translation. We all know
that some of the characters and hieroglyphics that have been
discovered in some parts of America cannot be deciphered by the most
learned men of our day. The Professor wrote an article some time
afterwards against the Latter-day Saints, in which he corroborates
that which I have just told you concerning a plain countryman coming
to him with characters.
Thus we have the testimony of Professor Anthon that such a
circumstance did transpire, and that such characters were handed to
him. After Martin Harris returned to Joseph Smith and told him the
conversation that had taken place, how that Professor Anthon could not
decipher the records, Joseph inquired of the Lord, and the Lord
commanded him that he should translate the records, and that he should
do it through the medium of the Urim and Thummim. He commenced
translating, but being a poor scribe, he employed Martin Harris to
write some for him; he also employed other scribes to write from his
mouth, and at intervals continued to work upon the farm. Being
persecuted, however, he had to leave his father's house and went down
to Pennsylvania, where he was also persecuted. He continued the work
of translation until it was completed, and this is the book (Book of
Mormon) which is the translation from these plates, a book which
contains some five or six hundred closely written pages. After Mr.
Smith had almost completed the translation, he found that there was a
prediction contained in the book that the Lord would show to three
witnesses, by his power from heaven, the truth of the divinity of this
work. The query immediately arose who these three should be. Martin
Harris, Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer were very anxious that they
might be the favored individuals. They were told to humble themselves
before the Lord and pray unto him, and that if they would do this the
same should be shown to them. They did so. Mr. Smith went with them;
this was in Fayette, Seneca Co., New York, in the year 1829. While
they were praying the angel descended from the heavens in the
presence of these four men, and took the plates and exhibited the
pages and engravings of that portion that was unsealed—for the whole
of them were not permitted to be translated; and thus the engravings
were shown to three other witnesses. The angel at the same time placed
his hands upon the head of David Whitmer and said, "Blessed be the
Lord and they that keep his commandments." At the time that the angel
was showing the records, they heard a voice out of the heavens saying,
that the records had been translated correctly by the gift and power
of God, and they were commanded to bear witness of the same to all
people to whom the work should be sent. They have therefore given
their solemn testimony in this book in connection with Joseph Smith,
concerning the appearing of the angel, and the exhibition of the
plates; their testimony has gone forth wherever this book has been
published. Mr. Smith was also permitted to show the plates to eight
other witnesses whose names are also given in testimony of these
things, that they saw the plates and handled them.
Thus you have the testimony of twelve men, eleven witnesses besides
the one who found the plates, three of whom saw the angel of God; and
all this before there was any latter-day church in existence. There
was a circumstance, however, that took place, before the organization
of this Church, on the 15th day of May, 1829. Two men, Joseph Smith
and Oliver Cowdery, being exercised before the Lord in regard to the
ordinance of baptism; how and in what way they should receive this
ordinance acceptably before him they did not know. They understood the
mode of baptism, for in the translation of this record they found that
the ancient inhabitants of Israel baptized by im mersion, and that the
words used in connection with it were also given. The question arose,
Who could baptize them? The Lord had already told them that there was
no true church on the earth, and that there was no authorized minister
to administer baptism; and, of course, this was a question that would
arise in the mind of any individuals under similar circumstances; they
would naturally want to know how they could be baptized, so as to have
their baptism recognized in the heavens. They understood that they
might just as well jump into the water themselves, as to be baptized
by a man having no authority on him. They did not understand how it
could be done, and they therefore were troubled in their minds with
regard to it, and went and humbled themselves before the Lord, who, on
the 15th day of May, 1829, sent an angel to them. This angel informed
them that he was John the Baptist, who was beheaded, and who baptized
their Savior, and that he held the priesthood of his fathers, the
priesthood of Levi. He laid his hands upon their heads and ordained
them unto the priesthood that he himself had, which priesthood had
authority to baptize for the remission of sins, but had no authority
to lay hands upon the people for the gift of the Holy Ghost. John, who
baptized our Savior, himself declared:
I can baptize you with water, and that is the extent of my authority,
but there cometh one after me who is mightier than I, he has greater
authority, he can baptize you with fire and with the Holy Ghost; but I
have the right to baptize you with water. This was in substance what
John said to the Jews in his day. He conferred this same priesthood
upon these two men, and commanded them to baptize one another, giving
them a promise that that priesthood should never be taken from
the earth, but should remain forever; consequently the priesthood
conferred by the angel is never again to be banished from the earth,
as it has been throughout the dark ages.
They went and baptized each other, for the Lord did not permit them to
organize the Church until the fullness of time had arrived. He
appointed the day by new revelation, the very day on which they should
commence the organization of the Church—namely, the 6th of April,
1830; also gave a commandment on the day of its organization, how the
Church should be organized, with what offices, or those necessary to
constitute a true Church of God here on the earth. Previous, however,
to this organization of the Church they received higher authority than
that which John the Baptist gave them.
For when they found they only had authority to baptize by water, but
could not minister the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands, the
question arose immediately: How shall we obtain that authority? They
again prayed; they again called upon the name of the Lord, and the
Lord sent messengers from heaven with a higher priesthood than that
which John the Baptist held, whose names were Peter, James and John,
three ancient Apostles, and they conferred upon them the priesthood
and Apostleship that they themselves had, which gave them authority
not only to baptize, but to administer in the ordinance of the Holy
Ghost by the laying on of hands in the name of Jesus, precisely the
same as the Apostles did when on the earth.
Thus they received, not only the lesser priesthood, but also the
Apostleship, and having authority granted unto them from heaven they
were fully qualified to organize the Church; but still they could not
do it by their own wisdom. There was nothing to be done in this Church
by the wisdom of man. The Lord, as I heretofore stated, had already
told them what the necessary offices were, and what the duties of
these several offices should be in the Church.
The Church was organized, and we might give you a relation of its
history from that day down to the present, but I see that the time
allotted for our forenoon meeting has already passed.
I wish before I close to cite one or two testimonies from the
prophecies in relation to this great work of the latter days. If you
will turn to the 29th chapter of Isaiah and read the prediction
contained therein you will find that nearly the whole chapter pertains
to the events of the latter days, one of the predictions is the
destruction of the nations of the wicked, which has never been
fulfilled. It reads thus—That all nations that fight against Mount
Zion shall become as a dream of a night vision, etc., etc.
The Lord intends, in the last days, to build up a people called Zion,
or, in other words, his Church. It matters not how numerous the people
of the nations may be, this is their destiny; they will become as the
dream of a night vision; or as the Prophet Daniel expresses it—all
kingdoms and governments organized by human authority shall become
like the chaff of the summer threshingfloor; the winds of heaven
shall blow them away, and no place shall be left for them; and that
the stone cut out of the mountain should become a great mountain and fill
the whole earth; and the kingdom and the greatness of the kingdom
should be given into the hands of the Saints of the Most High—this is
what Daniel has predicted. Isaiah has predicted the same; but, before
this destruction of the wicked, certain events are to happen;
among which he speaks of a book. He says, "And the vision of all is
become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men
deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this I pray thee, and he
saith, I cannot, for it is sealed. And the book is delivered to him
that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee. And he saith, I
am not learned. Wherefore the Lord said, For as much as this people
draw near me with their mouths, and with their lips do honor me, and
their fear toward me is taught by precepts of men: Therefore behold, I
will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, even a
marvelous work and a wonder, for the wisdom of their wise men shall
perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid." "In
that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of
the blind shall see out of obscurity and darkness."
These words of the Prophet Isaiah were fulfilled so far as the coming
forth of this book was concerned. It was not the book itself that was
to be sent to the learned; if that had been the case the prophecy
would not have been fulfilled; but it was "the words of the book," and
not the book itself. "And the book was given to him that is not
learned, saying, read this I pray thee. He says I am not learned."
Then comes in the declaration of the Lord—Because of the wickedness
of the people, etc., that he would "proceed to do a marvelous work
and a wonder," and in that event he would cause the wisdom of the wise
men to perish, etc., all of which has been fulfilled. "And in that day
shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind
shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness." Now, I would ask,
are there not many in this congregation of Latter-day Saints who can
testify that they have seen this literally fulfilled? Have you not
seen those who have been literally deaf, in the enjoyment of their
hearing, and this by the power of God in this dispensation? Yes, there
are scores of witnesses that can testify that this has been literally
fulfilled. Have you not seen those who have been afflicted with
blindness restored immediately to their sight? Yes, and all this in
fulfillment of this prophesy. The meek shall increase their joy in the
Lord, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel."
Who, I would ask again, is the most benefited by this prophecy? In
ancient days, while the learned and the chief priests rejected the
Gospel of the Son of God, was it not the poor among men that were
benefited by the Gospel preached to them? Yes, and so it has been in
these days.
How many scores of thousands have been taken from the oppressions of
the old world, and brought some six or seven thousand miles here, into
the interior of this glorious land of America, a land of promise?
Although we have come into a very poor portion of it, yet you have
been benefited; you now own houses and lands, cattle, horses and
property that you never would have possessed had you not participated
in the literal fulfillment of this prophecy. The poor among men are
literally, as well as spiritually, blessed. Then comes in another
prediction concerning the destruction of the nations of the wicked.
"For the terrible one is brought to nought, and the scorner is
consumed, and all that watch for iniquity are cut off, and all nations
that fight against Mount Zion, will perish and vanish away." When this
marvelous work and a wonder is commenced, and its truths preached and
fully declared to the nations, and they reject them, the desolation and destruction that were brought upon the ancient Jews for
the rejection of the Gospel will, according to this prophecy, be
visited upon the wicked of this generation. How about Israel?
According to the words of our text, "Truth shall spring out of the
earth, and righteousness shall look down from heaven, yea, the Lord
shall give that which is good, and our land shall yield her increase;
righteousness shall go before him, and shall set us in the way of his
steps." Thus you see, in that day, when the wicked will be so sorely
afflicted the God of heaven will signally favor Israel. These things
will transpire when we get through with the Gentiles, because the
direct commandment of the Lord is, first to the Gentiles, and then to
the house of Israel. And when the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled,
then the Lord will restore the blessings he promised to Israel; he
will then fulfill literally that which was uttered by the Psalmist
David, "Turn us again, O God of our salvation; how long will thou be
angry with us? how long shall we have to suffer in consequence of our
wickedness and the wickedness of our fathers?" Until truth shall
spring out of the earth; until then your captivity must remain; until
then your sufferings and great afflictions must continue. But when the
Lord brings truth out of the earth and sends righteousness down from
heaven he will again remember Israel; then the Gentile nations will be
punished, and Israel be saved.