If I feel the liberty of the Spirit to do so, I shall read a number of
quotations, this afternoon, from the Book of Doctrine and Covenants
and from the Bible, and perhaps from the Book of Mormon in relation to
some of the great events which are about to take place on the earth,
more especially the judgments that are coming to pass speedily. The
first that I will read will be the 9th and 10th paragraphs of a
revelation given through the Prophet Joseph Smith, July 23rd, 1837—
Verily, verily, I say unto you, darkness covereth the earth, and gross
darkness the minds of the people, and all flesh has become corrupt
before my face. Behold, vengeance cometh speedily upon the inhabitants
of the earth, a day of wrath, a day of burning, a day of desolation,
of weeping, of mourning, and of lamentation; and as a whirlwind it
shall come upon all the face of the earth, saith the Lord.
And upon my house shall it begin, and from my house shall it go forth,
saith the Lord; First among those among you, saith the Lord, who have
professed to know my name, and have not known me, and have blasphemed
against me in the midst of my house, saith the Lord.
I will make a few remarks upon these passages as I read them. It seems
that this is a dispensation peculiar in its nature, differing from
former dispensations. It is a dispensation of mercy and of judgment—of
mercy to those who receive the message of mercy, but of judgment to
those who reject that message. In other words it is a dispensation in
which the Gospel has been revealed from heaven, the servants of God
called to labor in the vineyard for the last time, and in which the
Lord intends to pour out great and terrible judgments upon the nations
of the wicked after they have been warned by the sound of the
everlasting Gospel. We are told in the revelation I have just read,
that vengeance cometh speedily upon the inhabitants of the earth; that
it is a day of wrath, burning, desolation, weeping, mourning and
lamentation, and that as a whirlwind these things shall come upon the
inhabitants of all the earth.
Where shall these great and severe judgments begin? Upon what people
does the Lord intend to commence this great work of vengeance? Upon
the people who profess to know his name and still blaspheme it in the
midst of his house. They are the ones designated for some of the most
terrible judgments of the latter days. This should be a warning to the
Latter-day Saints; and not only those who are parents, but those who
are children should diligently consider whether they are numbered
among those who are mentioned in the 10th paragraph, which I
have read. Upon my house, saith the Lord, shall it begin, first upon
those among you who have professed my name and have not known me and
have blasphemed against me in the midst of my house.
There are some who have been baptized into this Church, baptized,
perhaps, when they were eight years of age, entered into a covenant
with the Lord to keep his commandments according to the best of their
ability and understanding, some of whom, when they have been brought
into temptation, have turned away from that covenant. Have they
blasphemed the name of the Lord? I do know that as I walk along the
streets of Salt Lake City, I often see boys from six or eight up to
fifteen, sixteen, eighteen, and perhaps twenty years of age collected
together, and so far as my ears are concerned, I can bear testimony
that they have no regard nor respect for the word of the Lord nor for
the covenants into which they have entered, for they blaspheme his
name in the midst of his house or kingdom. Will the Lord hold them
guiltless? Can they escape his wrath and indignation? Can their
parents escape the judgments of the Almighty if they have neglected to
teach them the wickedness of taking the name of the Lord in vain? If
the parents have not done this the sins of their young and
inexperienced offspring will rest more or less upon their heads. If
the children are lost the parents who have not properly instructed
them may be lost also, for the Lord has said in one of the revelations
which this book contains that inasmuch as they who are parents do not
teach their children the doctrine of repentance, and faith in Christ,
and the doctrine of baptism, that they may be baptized when they are
eight years old, and be confirmed by the laying on of hands for the
reception of the Holy Ghost, the sins of the children shall be upon
the heads of the parents. Again he says, "You shall teach your children
to walk uprightly before the Lord, and teach them to pray to and have
faith in God, and if you do not these things, the sins of your
children shall rest upon your heads. And this shall be a law unto my
people in Zion, and in all the stakes of Zion that shall be
established."
Do we teach our children to walk uprightly and keep the commandments
of the Most High? Do we read to them the revelations of God, and show
them how wicked it is to take his name in vain? Do we point out to
them how that we should not curse ourselves, nor one another, nor
anything that is about us? Do we not often hear children in the
streets of our city heaping curses upon the heads of their fellows?
"D—n your soul," is often used by them; "d—n my eyes," and d—n this
thing, and d—n that thing, as though they had no fear of God before
them. Is this wicked or is it not? Every person who reads the word of
the Lord, knows that it is wicked; and these children growing up thus
in our midst go from one degree of sin to another until they finally
lose, altogether, the Spirit of the Lord. What will be the
consequences? There is a day of reckoning and judgment coming, and it
shall begin at the Lord's house, and from there it shall go forth
among all the nations of the earth. Let parents awake and see to it
lest the same destruction that will overtake their children because of
their apostasy come upon them also.
To show what the Lord has said further in relation to some of the judgments which are coming upon the earth, I will read the
third paragraph of a revelation given to the Prophet Joseph Smith in
March, 1829, before this Church was organized. It will be found on
page 173 of the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, and is as follows—
"Behold, verily I say unto you, I have reserved those things which I
have entrusted unto you, my servant Joseph, for a wise purpose in me,
and it shall be made known unto future generations; But this
generation shall have my word through you; And in addition to your
testimony, the testimony of three of my servants, whom I shall call
and ordain, unto whom I will show these things, and they shall go
forth with my words that are given through you. Yea, they shall know
of a surety that these things are true, for from heaven will I declare
it unto them. I will give them power that they may behold and view
these things as they are; And to none else will I grant this power, to
receive this same testimony among this generation, in this the
beginning of the rising up and the coming forth of my Church out of
the wilderness—clear as the moon, and fair as the sun, and terrible
as an army with banners. And the testimony of three witnesses will I
send forth of my word. And behold, whosoever believeth on my words,
them will I visit with the manifestation of my Spirit; and they shall
be born of me, even of water and of the Spirit—And you must wait yet
a little while, for ye are not yet ordained—And their testimony shall
also go forth unto the condemnation of this generation if they harden
their hearts against them; For a desolating scourge shall go forth
among the inhabitants of the earth, and shall continue to be poured out
from time to time, if they repent not, until the earth is empty, and
the inhabitants thereof are consumed away and utterly destroyed by the
brightness of my coming. Behold, I tell you these things, even as I
also told the people of the destruction of Jerusalem; and my word
shall be verified at this time as it hath hitherto been verified."
Here we see what the Lord promised unto his servant Joseph concerning
the testimony that should go forth unto this generation. Those things
which the Lord had entrusted Joseph Smith with were the plates from
which the Book of Mormon was translated, Joseph being then engaged in
that work. The Lord gave him a promise that there should be three
witnesses raised up who should know from heaven of the truth of those
plates. Joseph, at that time, had no knowledge who these witnesses
should be, but a promise was made that they should be raised up.
Before that year expired—the year 1829—there were three witnesses
raised up, namely Martin Harris, Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer.
They saw the plates from which the Book of Mormon was translated, and
they were commanded to bear record of them to all peoples, nations and
tongues to whom the work should be sent. These three witnesses saw the
Angel of the Most High God, and after the work had been published with
their names contained therein, the Lord began to raise up his Church
and to bring it out of the wilderness. It was in April, 1830, that,
the Church was organized, a little over a year after this revelation
was given, and those who believed in the Book of Mormon and in the
things here spoken, were visited by the manifestations of the Spirit
of the Lord—they were born of the water and of the Spirit—and their
testimony went forth in connection with that of the three witnesses, and the Lord says that through the united testimonies of
those who believed in this work he would condemn this generation, that
he would send forth a desolating scourge, and it should be poured out
upon the inhabitants of the earth until the earth should be empty and
desolate inasmuch as its inhabitants would not repent of their sins.
The Lord informed us on that occasion that it should be with the
inhabitants of the whole earth as it was with the inhabitants of
Jerusalem in ancient times, that is, as he spoke concerning their
destruction and his word was verified, so should they be verified at
this time in relation to the inhabitants of the earth in the latter
days. Consequently we see from these revelations, that the judgments
of the Almighty are to be universal—upon all the earth desolation and
destruction, a day of vengeance and burning and sore calamity until
the inhabitants are wasted away and the earth made empty and desolate.
We will now read other revelations confirmatory of the same thing, so
that we can judge a little concerning the nature of the judgments
which will be poured out. In a revelation given in February, 1831, the
Lord thus speaks of his servants, in the fifth paragraph, near the
middle—
Lift up your voices and spare not. Call upon the nations to repent,
both old and young, both bond and free, saying: Prepare yourselves for
the great day of the Lord; For if I, who am a man, do lift up my voice
and call upon you to repent, and ye hate me, what will ye say when the
day cometh when the thunders shall utter their voices from the ends of
the earth, speaking to the ears of all that live, saying—Repent, and
prepare for the great day of the Lord? Yea, and again, when the
lightnings shall streak forth from the east unto the west, and shalt
utter forth their voices unto all that live, and make the ears of all
tingle that hear, saying these words—Repent ye, for the great day of
the Lord is come?
And again, the Lord shall utter his voice out of heaven, saying:
Hearken, O ye nations of the earth, and hear the words of that God who
made you. O, ye nations of the earth, how often would I have gathered
you together as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, but ye
would not! How oft have I called upon you by the mouth of my servants,
and by the ministering of angels, and by mine own voice, and by the
voice of thunderings, and by the voice of lightnings, and by the voice
of tempests, and by the voice of earthquakes, and great hailstorms,
and by the voice of famines and pestilences of every kind, and by the
great sound of a trump, and by the voice of judgment, and by the voice
of mercy all the day long, and by the voice of glory and honor and
the riches of eternal life, and would have saved you with an
everlasting salvation, but ye would not! Behold the day has come, when
the cup of the wrath of mine indignation is full.
Here we perceive how long the Lord will bear with the people—all the
day long, stretching forth his hand, pleading with them by the voice
of lightnings, thunders, earthquakes, great hailstorms, famines,
pestilences of every kind, and by the voice of mercy and judgment, yet
they will not repent, but will harden their hearts when all these
things go forth among them, from nation to nation, people to people,
and from kingdom to kingdom, and they will refuse the message of
salvation. It is true that the Lord has not yet spoken by the voice of
thunders, calling upon the people from the ends of the earth, saying,
"Repent and prepare for the great day of the Lord," but such an event
will come; and when it does come it will not be a mere ordinary,
common thunderstorm, such as we experience occasionally, extending
only over a small extent of country, but the Lord will cause the
thunders to utter their voices from the ends of the earth until they
sound in the ears of all that live, and these thunders shall use the
very words here predicted—"Repent O ye inhabitants of the earth, and
prepare the way of the Lord, prepare yourselves for the great day of the Lord." These words will be distinctly heard by every soul
that lives, whether in America, Asia, Africa, Europe, or upon the
islands of the sea. And not only the thunders, but the lightnings will
utter forth their voices in the ears of all that live, saying,
"Repent, for the great day of the Lord is come." Besides the voices of
thunder and lightning, the Lord himself, before he comes in his glory,
will speak by his own voice out of heaven in the ears of all that live
commanding them to repent and to prepare for his coming. I do not know
how the Lord will send forth his voice so as to make all the people on
the four quarters of the globe hear it, for the loudest sound that we
can produce only extends over a small area, a few miles at most; but
the Lord has power to make his voice heard by all that live on the
four quarters of the earth, and when he fulfills this prediction, all
that live will literally hear the words that are here named; and the
wicked will perish out of the earth as they did in the days of Noah,
and so far as they are concerned the earth will be made empty and
desolate.
I will now read a paragraph, testifying in different words to the same
things in a revelation given in August 1833. Speaking of Zion that is
to be built up in Jackson County, Mo., and of the Temple that is to be
reared there unto his name, the Lord says—
And inasmuch as my people build a house unto me in the name of the
Lord, and do not suffer any unclean thing to come into it, that it be
not defiled, my glory shall rest upon it; Yea, and my presence shall
be there, for I will come into it, and all the pure in heart that
shall come into it shall see God. But if it be defiled I will not come
into it, and my glory shall not be there, for I will not come into
unholy temples.
And, now, behold, if Zion do these things she shall prosper, and spread
herself and become very glorious, very great and very terrible. And
the nations of the earth shall honor her, and shall say: Surely Zion
is the city of our God, and surely Zion cannot fall, neither be moved
out of her place, for God is there, and the hand of the Lord is there;
And he hath sworn by the power of his might to be her salvation and
her high tower. Therefore, verily, thus saith the Lord, let Zion
rejoice, for this is Zion—THE PURE IN HEART; therefore, let Zion
rejoice while all the wicked shall mourn. For behold, and lo,
vengeance cometh speedily upon the ungodly as the whirlwind; and who
shall escape it? The Lord's scourge shall pass over by night and by
day, and the report thereof shall vex all people; yea it shall not be
stayed until the Lord come; For the indignation of the Lord is kindled
against their abominations and all their wicked works. Nevertheless,
Zion shall escape if she observe to do all things whatsoever I have
commanded her. But if she observe not to do whatsoever I have
commanded her, I will visit her according to all her works, with sore
affliction, with pestilence, with plague, with sword, with vengeance,
with devouring fire. Nevertheless, let it be read this once in their
ears, that I, the Lord, have accepted of their offering; and if she
sin no more none of these things shall come upon her; And I will
bless her with blessings, and multiply a multiplicity of blessings
upon her, and upon her generations forever and ever, saith the Lord
your God. Amen.
Here we perceive what the Lord intends to do both for Zion and for the
wicked. Zion shall spread herself if she will only keep the
commandments of God, and she will become great, glorious and terrible;
or as one of old said—The church will come forth out of the
wilderness, leaning upon the arm of her beloved, and she will be as
fair as the sun, as clear as the moon, and terrible as an army with
banners. So will Zion be clothed upon with the glory of her God and
armed with the panoply of Heaven, and the nations will fear and
tremble because of her, for God will be in the midst of Zion, and he
hath sworn by the power of his might that he will be her refuge, her
high tower and her strength, and he will uphold and sustain her, if
she keep his commandments in all things; but if not, here is another
declaration to all— fathers and mothers, middle aged, old and
young—who transgress the commandments of God, "If Zion does not
observe to do all things whatsoever that I have commanded her, I will
visit her according to all her works, I will visit her with sore
tribulations—with pestilence, plague, vengeance, sword, with the flame
of devouring fire," &c.
The Lord means what he says. He has told us in one of the first
revelations published in this book, that though the heavens and the
earth should pass away, not one of the prophecies and predictions
contained in these revelations should go unfulfilled; therefore if
Zion sins, if her people suffer pride to arise in their hearts, and
follow after the foolish fashions of the Gentiles who come into their
midst, and are lifted up one above another, the rich and wealthy
looking down upon the poor with scorn and derision because they cannot
clothe themselves in the same costly apparel as the rich, and begin to
make distinctions of classes among themselves, behold the Lord will
visit Zion according to all her works, and he will purge her and pour
forth his judgments upon her, according to that which he has spoken.
I hope that we shall take a course to prevent these things coming upon
us. It is better to be chastened and receive judgment in this world,
even if it be sword, pestilence, famine and the flame of a devouring
fire, if we can be brought to repentance thereby, than to remain
unchastised and go down swiftly to the pit. If we, because of our
sins, need chastising by the Almighty, let the chastisement come while
we are in the flesh, that we may repent; and I would say still
further, and pray in the name of the Lord, "Oh Lord, if chastisement
must come, may it come from thine hands." When the Lord through the
Prophet gave David the choice of one of three terrible judgments—first
to fall into the hands of his enemies, and for the people of Israel to
be afflicted many years; second, a lengthy famine, and third, three
days' pestilence, he chose the three days' pestilence, for he said it
was better to fall into the hands of the Lord, who was full of tender
mercy, and who might repent and withdraw the chastisement, than to
fall into the hands of the wicked who have no mercy. I would say the
same so far as my feelings are concerned, and if it be needful let the
Lord chasten those who need it, and not suffer us to continue in our
sin, and to grow and flourish like the green bay tree, as the wicked
do until we are cut off finally from the earth and cast away in the
eternal worlds. It is better for us to be saved there if we are
punished here.
The scourge of the Lord, we are told in this revelation, shall go
forth by day and by night, and the report thereof shall vex all
people. Among all those revelations concerning the scourges that were
to go forth, the one which I have read was given long before the
cholera broke out. The first year that we have any knowledge of that
terrible plague, if I mistake not, was 1837, some four years after
this revelation was given that the Lord would send forth scourges. He
did send forth a scourge that seemed to sweep over all the nations of
the earth. Did it come among the Latter-day Saints? It did. Why?
Because they did not keep his commandments, and as the Destroyer was
abroad laying waste the nations, the Latter-day Saints had to receive
their share, I mean those among us who did not keep the commandments of the Lord. When we were journeying between Ohio and the
State of Missouri, Joseph told us if we did not keep the commandments
of God and hearken to his counsel we should die off like rotten sheep
in that camp. There was no sickness among us at that time, and
probably some in the camp did not believe that the words of the
Prophet would be fulfilled; but after we had traveled a few weeks, and
did not do that which we were told, we learned to our sorrow that the
hand of the Lord was upon us, and found the words of the Prophet
verified to the very letter, and numbers were laid low by cholera.
The Lord has told us in this book that he would scourge this people,
and would not suffer them to go on in wickedness as he does the world.
He will make a difference in this respect between those who profess
his name and the world. The world may prosper. They have not the
religion of Heaven among them; they have no revelators and prophets
among them; they have not the baptism of the Holy Ghost, nor the gifts
and blessings of God among them, and consequently though they
transgress the revealed word of God, he suffers them to go on,
apparently without checking them, until they are fully ripened in
iniquity, then he sends forth judgment and cuts them off, instead of
chastening them from time to time. Not so with the Saints. God has
decreed, from the early rise of the Church, that we should be
afflicted by our enemies, and by various afflictions, and he would
contend with this people and chasten them from time to time until Zion
should be clean before him. He has done this, and more especially
while we were in the States. We were inexperienced, and did not then
under stand the necessity of strictly obeying every word spoken by the
mouth of God, and we had to suffer because of this. We were first
driven from Kirtland, in the State of Ohio; driven again from Jackson
County, in the State of Missouri; again from Clay County into other
counties in Missouri; again from Far West and Caldwell County; driven
from the State of Illinois, though we were prospered there until the
people waxed wealthy through their industry, then we were driven
again. We have been literally fulfilling the prophecies contained in
this good old book, the Bible. Zion has been tossed to and fro and not
comforted. She has been driven from place to place and from State to
State, until finally she was driven into the wilderness. What have all
these afflictions been for? To fulfill the word of the Lord by the
mouth of the Prophets. Joseph Smith told us, or the Lord did through
him, and it is printed here in this book, that when he first planted
this people in Jackson County, in the State of Missouri, if we did not
take such and such a course, our enemies would come upon us, our blood
would be shed by them, and we should be scattered and driven from
place to place, and this has been literally fulfilled upon our heads.
I do not know that it is necessary to say any more about the new
revelations, let us turn now to some of the old ones. I might refer
you to many prophecies contained in the Book of Mormon, as well as
those contained in the Book of Covenants relative to the great
judgments of the latter days, but I perceive that I shall not have time
to do so, and also to refer to some that are in the Bible. I will turn
now to the revelations of St. John, and will refer first to a few
sayings contained in the 14th chapter, commencing at the 6th verse—
And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the
everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to
every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,
Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the
hour of his judgment is come.
It seems that the dispensation in which the Angel should fly was to be
characterized as a dispensation of judgment. Immediately after the
Angel brought the Gospel judgment was to be poured out on the nations
of the earth. In the 8th verse we read, "And there followed another
angel, saying, 'Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because
she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her
fornication.' And a third angel followed, saying with a loud voice,
'If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in
his forehead or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the
wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his
indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the
presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.'"
To show that this preaching of the Gospel and the pouring out of these
judgments upon spiritual Babylon the Great, was a work which should
precede the coming of the Son of Man, I will read the 14th verse and
to the end of the chapter
And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat
like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in
his hand a sharp sickle.
And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to
him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle and reap: for the time
is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.
And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and
the earth was reaped.
And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also
having a sharp sickle.
And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire;
and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying,
Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the
earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.
And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the
vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath
of God.
And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of
the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand
and six hundred furlongs.
You see then from this what is to follow the coming of that Angel with
the Gospel. The one representing the Son of man is to thrust in his
sickle and reap the earth, then the Angels are sent forth to thrust
in their sickles and also to reap. These Angels are to gather the
clusters of the vine of the earth into one place that they may be
punished and the judgment which will overtake them who are thus
gathered together will be so severe as to cause the blood that is shed
to reach to the horses' bridles. That is called the winepress of the
Lord. Would you like to know where that spot is, and why the people
are gathered there? The Lord will suffer three unclean spirits, John
tells us in another place, to go forth about that time, spirits of
devils working miracles, and they shall gather together the kings and
great men of the earth and their armies to a place called in the
Hebrew tongue Armageddon, the Lord calls it a great wine press. Where
is this Armageddon? It is a little east of the old city of Jerusalem.
In order to show you that that is the wine press where the Lord will
pour out these judgments, let me call your attention to the third
chapter of the prophecies of Joel, where this same thing is alluded
to, the valley of Jehoshaphat mentioned by Joel, and the
valley of Armageddon spoken of by John, being very near together, in
the same neighborhood. Joel says—
For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again
the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem,
I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the
valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people
and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations,
and parted my land.
In the 9th verse he says—Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare
war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let
them come up:
Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears:
let the weak say, I am strong.
Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves
together round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O
LORD.
The Lord will come with all his Saints in the clouds of heaven just
about the time this army gets into the valley of Jehoshaphat.
Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat:
for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about.
"Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe" —the same harvest
mentioned in the 14th chapter of John.
Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for
the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great.
Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the
Lord is near in the valley of decision.
The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw
their shining.
If you want to know about the time when the sun and moon are to be
darkened, and when the stars will no longer give any light, and when
there will be total darkness over all the face of the earth, here is
an event predicted so that you cannot mistake. When you see the
nations of the earth, especially the heathen nations, and also those
north of Jerusalem—the great nation of Russia and other nations on the
continent of Asia, together with many in Europe, gather up against
Jerusalem after the Jews have returned and rebuilt their city and
Temple, and when their armies become exceeding great multitudes in the
valley of decision, then you may look for the Lord to come down with
his mighty ones, and for the constellations of heaven to be darkened.
The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from
Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the Lord
will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of
Israel.
The children of Israel as well as Judah will put their trust in the
Lord God of their fathers in that day, and they will look for
deliverance from his hand. They will know that they cannot stand
without the aid of the Lord against all those from the north
quarters—Gog and Magog, all the hosts of Russia, and of the various
nations round about that come up there and cover the land like a
cloud. They will know that unless God helps them they cannot obtain a
victory over this mighty host; but they will put their trust in the
Lord, and he will "roar out of Zion and utter his voice from
Jerusalem," and he will be the hope of his people and the strength of
the children of Israel.
So shall ye know that I am the Lord your God dwelling in Zion, my holy
mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers
pass through her any more.
And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop
down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers
of Judah shall flow with waters, and the fountain shall come forth of
the house of the LORD, and shall water, the valley of Shittim.
Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness,
for the violence against the children of Judah, because they have shed
innocent blood in their land.
But Judah shall dwell forever, and Jerusalem from generation to
generation.
For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed: for the Lord dwelleth in Zion.
Let me make a few remarks here in relation to the difference between
Zion and Jerusalem. Zion will be favored with the presence of the Lord
before the Jews are permitted to behold him. The Lord will come to the
Temple of Zion before he comes to the Temple at Jerusalem. Before he
comes in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory, he will
manifest himself in the city and Temple of Zion; or in other words all
the pure in heart who are permitted in those days to enter into the
Lord's Temple in Zion, which will be built on this continent, the
Lord will reveal his face onto them, they will see him and he will
dwell in the midst of Zion. His throne will be there. This land—the
land given to the children of ancient Joseph, now called the American
continent—will be the land of Zion, and the great central capital on
this land will be the New Jerusalem; and the inhabitants of that city
and their habitations and Temple will be overshadowed by the glory of
God. But after he has come to and roared out of Zion, after he has
"suddenly come to his Temple," and visited his people there in the
character of a Shepherd, and dwelt in their midst for a long space of
time, he then goes with all his Saints to visit old Jerusalem, the
last work before the day of rest shall come being to visit those
nations that are gathered together in the great winepress to be
trodden without the city on the east side of the city, and there the
blood of horses, camels and men will be mingled together, and in those
small valleys, so great will be the number slain that the blood will
reach to the horses' bridles, for a certain distance, according to the
words of the Lord.
I do not know that I have time to enter into a full investigation of
some other terrible judgments that are to come, but I will refer to a
few of them mentioned in the revelations of St. John. Before doing so,
however, let me say for your information that the Lord gave through
the Prophet Joseph Smith what is termed a key to John's revelation.
The Prophet on one occasion asked the Lord what was meant by the
sounding of the trumpets of the seven angels, and the Lord answered
him in this language, as near as I can recollect: "As the Lord made
the earth and the heavens in six days, and on the seventh day finished
his work and made man out of the dust of the earth, so in the
beginning of the seventh thousand years will the Lord God sanctify the
earth and redeem man, even all that is within his power, and shall
seal all things unto the end of all things. And the sounding of the
seven trumps is the preparing and finishing of his work in the morning
of the seventh thousand years."
This gives a clue to the time when the seven angels will sound. They
will not sound their trumpets in the evening of the sixth thousand
years, but when the six thousand years shall have passed away from the
creation, and the morning of the seventh has commenced, then these
great events will happen. Jesus does not come immediately at the
commencement of the seventh thousand years, but as there was a work in
the beginning which he performed on the seventh day, such as planting
the garden and placing men therein, so there will be a certain work to
be performed in the beginning of the seventh thousand years, namely,
the resurrection and redemption of man, including the heathen nations
and those people in prison who have died without the law and
have been punished for their sins. When the Lord has caused these
seven angels to sound their trumps, he will bring about all these
purposes which he has ordained, and which must be accomplished in that
morning. Before Jesus appears in the clouds of heaven they are to
sound to prepare the way of the Lord before his coming. What will take
place when they sound? I will tell you some few things.
When the first angel sounds there will come upon the inhabitants of
the earth a great hailstorm mingled with fire and blood, and so severe
will be this storm of fire and blood, that one-third of the trees will
be destroyed, and all the green grass will be burned up. The second
angel will sound his trump, and the Lord will pour out his judgments
upon the water, and a third part of the sea will become blood, and in
consequence of the corruption thereof one-third part of all the
animals living in the sea will die.
When the third angel sounds his trump, John says he saw a star fall
from heaven to earth, burning as it were like a lamp, and it fell upon
the fountains and rivers of water, and they were turned into
bitterness, and the name of the star was called "Wormwood," and great
were the numbers of the people who perished and died because of the
bitterness of the waters.
The fourth angel will sound his trump and certain judgments will
follow. By and by the fifth angel will sound his trump, and an angel
will descend holding the key of what is termed the bottomless pit, and
he will open the door of this pit, and there shall issue therefrom
certain terrible creatures called locusts. And it will be given unto
them to torment men five months—the time which is to intervene between
the sounding of the fifth and sixth trumpets, and during that time
these awful creatures, such as neither we nor our forefathers, in all
the generations before us, have ever seen on the earth, will torment
the wicked. These creatures have wings, hair like women, teeth like
lions, tails like scorpions, and with their stings they will torment
the wicked for five months. But it will not be given unto them to
destroy men, only to torment them. That will be a terrible judgment.
They will have a king over them, whose name in the Greek tongue is
"Apollyon," in other words the devil. He has power over them and with
them, and commands these awful beings, and they go forth and torment
the inhabitants of the earth, but are not permitted to kill them. Men
in those days will seek for death, but it will flee from them,
although they will greatly desire it on account of the terrible
torment they endure.
When the Lord permits the devil to go forth and torment people he has
considerable power. You can see this in the case of Job. When the
devil stirred up the Lord to torment Job, the devil was permitted to
go and strike Job with pestilence, with sore boils, and to make him
feel sorrow, pain and distress. Said the devil to the Lord, "He will
curse you to your face," and to prove whether he would or not Job was
sorely smitten and afflicted; and so will men be afflicted by these
awful creatures which will issue from the bottomless pit, and are
under his command.
By and by the sixth angel sounds his trumpet, and what will take
place? The powers around the great river Euphrates in Asia will be
loosed, and they will come forth riding on horses, and the number of
them is two hundred thousand thousand, that is two hundred millions—a great and tremendous army, greater than the inhabitants of the
earth ever saw before. Who will be with them? This same class of
beings with animals such as the earth never saw nor heard of, only as
they heard of them in the revelations of St. John. Animals with
brimstone and fire issuing from their mouths, having tails like
serpents, and heads to their tails, and with these one-third part of
the inhabitants of the earth are to be destroyed. How long will it be
before they are destroyed? There will be at least a year pass away
between the sounding of the sixth and seventh trumpets. This great
army is prepared for a day, and an hour, a month and a year. Now I
have named some of the judgments, not all, that will transpire before
the coming of the Son of Man. Let me refer in a few words to some of
the last ones that will come before Jesus makes his appearance, called
the seven last plagues. I shall only refer to a few of them.
One of the four beasts gives seven vials filled with the wrath of God
to the seven Angels that came out of the Temple and Tabernacle in
heaven, and these vials are to be poured out upon the earth. We find
that the inhabitants are to be visited with greater judgments than
what they have been heretofore, so much so that when the second Angel
pours out his vial upon the great waters, instead of a third part of
them becoming blood, they all become as the blood of a dead man; and
there shall not any living thing be preserved in the great mass of
waters on our globe, but everything living in the sea will perish, the
whole ocean becoming as the blood of a dead man. Quite a difference
between the blood of a dead man and the blood that comes from a living
man—one is very nauseous when compared with the other. No wonder then
that everything having life in the sea should perish.
A third Angel pours out his vial on the fountains and rivers, and they
also become blood. You have already learned that when the third Angel
sounded his trump, the third part of the waters become bitter with
wormwood, and it was accompanied by certain judgments not universal,
but when the last plagues are poured out the fountains and rivers of
water, and the ocean become blood. Does this cause the people to
repent? One would imagine that all the earth would repent when they
see judgments of this kind; yet we are told that for all this the
people will blaspheme God, because of their plagues, sores and pains,
and the calamities they have to endure. They are given up to hardness
of heart, the Spirit of God is withdrawn from them, and instead of
repenting of their evil deeds, their murders, sorceries, whoredoms,
idolatries, thefts and various crimes that are mentioned, they
continue in their wickedness, and judgment after judgment is poured
upon them until they are consumed.
When the rivers and fountains are turned into blood, a certain Angel
cries out saying, "Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art and wast and
shall be, because thou hast judged thus. For they have shed the blood
of Saints and Prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink, for
they are worthy." This shows that there will be Prophets in those days
and that these people will shed their blood. A great many people think
there are to be no more Prophets; but the Prophets have their blood
shed in those days, and God will give the wicked blood to drink.
There are many other things on my mind that I would be glad to lay
before you concerning the terrible judgments of the last days, but I
have already occupied too much of your time. We are living in this
Territory, comparatively at peace, but unless the Latter-day Saints
live according to the light which God has revealed to them, they
cannot escape. If God sends judgments upon the nations, he will send
them upon us. If he cuts off the horses of the nations, as he has said
in the Book of Mormon that he will, upon the face of this land, unless
we keep his commandments he will cut off ours. If he visits the
inhabitants of the earth with pestilence and blood, he will visit us
in a similar manner unless we keep his commandments. If the
inhabitants of the earth who know not God are to perish because of
their wickedness, how much more will he visit those who have greater
light and knowledge if they will not keep his commandments? The Lord
sent forth the destroyer in ancient times to lay waste the firstborn
of the Egyptians, pointing out the means by which his people might
escape, and those who failed to do as they were commanded had no
promise of being preserved; so in these days when judgments come, they
will begin among his Saints, and those who have not attended to the
word of wisdom and the laws of life that he has pointed out and have
no claim to mercy and favor, God is no respecter of persons. They who
have great light and yet sin will endure tribulation and indignation
from his hand unless they repent. Amen.