ORSON HYDE - FIRST JEWISH ADHERENT AND FAITHFUL SAINT

I have to say I am totally impressed with Orson's life. He spent time with some of the best early leaders in the Church - what an enviable life!:

ORSON HYDE (1805-1878)


This is the modern Apostle who was assigned by direct revelation to dedicate Palestine for the return of the Jews and the other tribes of Israel.
Orson Hyde was born January 8, 1805, in Oxford, Conn. His mother died when he was age 7 and he was therefore raised by Nathan Wheeler until he was 18 years of age.

Striking out on his own, he reached Kirtland, Ohio, where Sidney Rigdon converted him to the Campbellite Church. Orson became a diligent worker and an intense student of the scriptures and was therefore made a "pastor" in 1830. When he first read the Book of Mormon he preached against it, but feeling he had done something terribly wrong, he decided to study it more thoroughly. He was further shaken when he learned his friend, Sidney Rigdon, had become a "Mormon." After an intensive investigation, Orson Hyde was baptized by Sidney Rigdon and confirmed by Joseph Smith in the fall of 1831. During the confirmation Orson Hyde was told that one day he would dedicate the Holy Land for the return of Israel. He was ordained a High Priest in 1831 and immediately started out on several tremendously successful missions, traveling without purse or scrip. His companions on these various missions included such outstanding men as Hyrum Smith, Samuel H. Smith, Parley P. Pratt, and Orson Pratt.

In 1835, Orson was ordained one of the first Apostles in this dispensation. In 1837, he went with the other Apostles to England where they converted and baptized 1,500 people in one year. In 1840, he was sent on his mission to Palestine. His companion abandoned him, but he went on alone and, after much privation and suffering, dedicated that land on October 24, 1841. Upon returning home, he was evicted with his family from Nauvoo, and was asked by the Church leaders to leave his family with friends on the frontier while he went to England to set the Church in order there.

When Orson returned from England he was placed in charge of the way station at Winter Quarters (later Kanesville) and did not move to the mountains himself until 1852. Upon arrival in the mountains, he was instructed to take a company to settle Fort Supply, Wyoming. In 1855 he was given a company to open up Carson Valley, Nevada. Then he was placed in charge of the settlement in San Pete County, Utah. He made his home in Spring City, helped build the Manti Temple, served in the legislative assembly, and died at Spring City on November 28, 1878.

With his mission completed, Orson Hyde made his way slowly back to America and thence to Nauvoo. When Joseph Smith received Orson Hyde's report he was highly pleased. The tiny acorn had been planted for the gathering and growing of a mighty oak of Judah.

In 1845, following the death of Joseph Smith, the Quorum of the Twelve issued a proclamation to all the world.1 After bearing witness of the restoration of the Gospel, the proclamation read:

"And we further testify that the Jews among all nations are hereby commanded, in the name of the Messiah, to prepare to return to Jerusalem in Palestine, and to rebuild that city and temple unto the Lord.

"And also to organize and establish their own political government under their own rulers, judges, and governors, in that country.

"Be it known unto them that we now hold the keys of the Priesthood and kingdom which are soon to be restored unto them. Therefore, let them also repent, and prepare to obey the ordinances of God."

This Apostolic proclamation warned the rulers of nations that they must not "stand as idle and disinterested spectators" but help expedite the work of the Lord in the latter days and thereby reap a great blessing. They were told that they would "either be led by the good spirit to cast in your lot, and to take a lively interest with the Saints of the Most High, and the covenant people of the Lord; or on the other hand, you will become their inveterate enemy, and oppose them of every means in your power."

The proclamation then continued:

"To such an extreme will this great division finally extend, that the nations of the Old World will combine to oppose these things by military force. They will send a great army to Palestine against the Jews, and they will besiege their city, and will reduce the inhabitants of Jerusalem to the greatest extreme of distress and misery.

"Then will commence a struggle in which the fate of nations and empires will be suspended on a single battle.

"In this battle the governors and people of Judah will distinguish themselves for their bravery and warlike achievements. The weak among them will be like David and the strong among them will be like God or like the angel of the Lord.

"In that day the Lord will pour upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and supplication and they shall look upon the Messiah whom they have pierced.

"For lo! he will descend from heaven as the defender of the Jews, and to complete their victory. His feet will stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives, which shall cleave asunder at his presence, and remove one half to the north, and the other to the south, thus forming a great valley where the mountain now stands.

"The earth will quake around him, while storm and tempest, hail and plague, are mingled with the clash of arms, the roar of artillery, the shouts of victory, and the groans of the wounded and dying.

"In that day, all who are in the siege, both against Judea and against Jerusalem, shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth should be gathered together against it.

"This signal victory on the part of the Jews so unlooked for by the nations, and attended with the personal advent of the Messiah and the accompanying events, will change the whole order of things in Europe and Asia, in regard to political and religious organization and government.

"The Jews as a nation become holy from that day forward, and their city and sanctuary become holy. There also the Messiah establishes his throne and seat of government.

"Jerusalem then becomes the seat of empire and the great center and capital of the world."

While all of this is transpiring, the Lord will have directed the building of the New Jerusalem in America. There Ephraim and Manasseh of the Tribe of Joseph will have their inheritance. The world will then be prepared for the Millennial reign with the house of Judah and house of Joseph combining their efforts to spread the Gospel and the government of the Lord to the four corners of the earth. Truly, in that day, "Ephraim shall not envy Judah and Judah shall not vex Ephraim."2

1. See James R. Clark, Messages of the First Presidency, Vol. 1, pp. 253-266.
2. Isaiah 11:13.

Pages 237-238, Treasures from the Book of Mormon, Volume One, by W. Cleon Skousen