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Kevin Kraut
THE WHITE HORSE PROPHECY
by
Ogden Kraut
Table of
Contents
Pioneer
Publishing
P.O. Box 201
Santaquin, UT 84655
February 1993
CONTENTS
Preface
1. INTRODUCTION . . . . . 7
2. CONTEXT OF THE
PROPHECY . . .
18
3. ANALYSIS OF
THE PROPHECY . . .
26
A. SETTING THE STAGE
1. The date and weather conditions . .
26
2. A toast to overthrow mobocrats . .
27
3. The Prophet Joseph orders abusive
man to leave . . . .
27
4. The Prophet tells Rushton and Turley
about future sufferings of their
persecutors . . . . . 28
5. This prophecy is a parable like the
one used by John the Revelator . .32
B. SETTLING IN THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS
6. The White Horse to be established
in the Rocky Mountains . . 35
7. Joseph Smith would never go to the
Rocky Mountains . . . 43
8. Persecutions and laws against the
White Horse would continue . .
45
9. The Saints will be defended by a
few friends . . . . 56
10. The Saints should continue to
petition Congress . . . 61
C. SAVING THE CONSTITUTION
11. The U.S. Constitution will hang
by a thread . . . . 62
12. The Prophet Joseph expresses his
love for the Constitution . . 75
13. The Constitution was inspired by God . 77
14. The Constitution will be saved by the
White Horse and the Red Horse . .
80
15. The White Horse will raise an ensign
on the mountain tops . . . 88
D. FINDING GOLD AND WEALTH
16. The White Horse will become rich
from minerals in the mountains . .90
17. Why gold will be of little value
in a mercantile capacity . . . 94
18. All nation's banks will fail; only two
safe places: White Horse and
England's vaults . . .99
E. FLEEING TO ROCKY MTNS. FOR PEACE
19. A terrible revolution will take place
in America, leaving it without a
supreme government . . .104
20. Rocky Mtns. will be the only place
of peace; thousands of "honest
in heart" will gather there . .113
21. Multitudes will flee to Zion-many
with bundles under their arms . .117
22. Those that flee to Zion will try
to keep the laws, etc. . . .121
F. DISCOVERING THE ROLE OF FOREIGN POWERS
23. The Turkish Empire
will be one
of the first powers disrupted . .123
24. Some of the best blood is in
England
and Great Britain . .125
25. England
and France
will be allied
together against Russia . . .127
26. The Greek and Catholic Popes
will be united together . . .128
27. England, the conqueror in red
coats,
has much blood of Israel . .131
28. England will break her neutrality
and
unite with France to stop bloodshed .133
29. "The doings of the Black Horse
will
be terrible!" . . . .135
30. Joseph Smith asked the Lord to
close up the terrible scene . .143
G. SETTING UP THE KINGDOM OF GOD
31. The Elders will gather the honest in
heart and preach the Constitution .144
32. The Kingdom of God will never again
be "thrown down" . . ..145
33. All nations will eventually recognize
the power of the Kingdom of God .149
34. The White Horse and Red Horse
together will protect the Saints . 152
H. ESTABLISHING ZION
IN JACKSON COUNTY
35. The Messiah will come and give
His laws to Zion . . .160
36.
Temple will be built in
New Jerusalem
with help of Ten Tribes . . .167
I. INCREASING POWER OF THE WHITE HORSE
37. The land beyond the Rocky Mtns.
will be invaded by the heathen
Chinese unless care is taken . .175
38. Power of the White Horse will
rebuke nations afar off . . .183
39. The Americas will be made the
Zion of God . . . . . 190
40. The Power of the opposition, God
and Magog, will be great but will
be overcome . . . .192
J. EDWIN RUSHTON'S TESTIMONY
He heard this prophecy twice.
Joseph Smith's countenance was white
and transparent . . . .200
4. LDS CHURCH
POSITION TODAY. . . . .207
5. CONCLUSION . . . . . .211
* * * * *
* * *
*
PREFACE
Most of the sermons, sayings, and
prophecies of Joseph Smith were written down by other people, many of which are
found in their private diaries and journals. Among the hundreds of prophecies
given by Joseph Smith, one of the most interesting and controversial is the
so-called "White Horse Prophecy." It has been published and
re-published by many different authors and compilers, most of whom believe it
is true.
There are some, however, that do not
believe the prophecy because they feel it is based on insufficient documented
evidence. That alone does not necessarily mean the prophecy is untrue or not
factual. It is written as a prophecy and should be studied and analyzed to
determine its merit and value. Since it contains many predictions of incidents
and conditions that could seriously affect our lives, we should seriously
consider the possibility that it is just as authentic as any of Joseph Smith's
other prophecies--not just stick one's head in the sand and throw out the whole
thing. We would do well to heed Peter's warning:
We have also a more sure word of
prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth
in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:
Knowing this first, that no prophecy
of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
For the prophecy came not in old time
by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy
Ghost. (II Peter 1:19-21)
Prophecy is a most fascinating subject
and is a vital part of scripture. Prophecy should be considered as scripture
when it is given by the inspiration of the Lord. Paul the Apostle said,
"Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may
prophesy," and "he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification,
and exhortation, and comfort." (I Cor. 14:1, 3)
To us as individuals, the future
should be of greater concern than the past because it will probably have more
serious consequences in our lives. There are few men today who prophesy;
therefore, we should search all prophecy to determine which are pertinent to us
and our time, and which will shed a little light on the darkness of the future.
By seeking out and learning from prophecy, we can better prepare ourselves for
future events.
Naturally, the true test of prophecy
is in its eventual fulfillment. For many disbelievers, the verification was
unfortunately fulfilled with their own destruction. The world disbelieved
Noah's prophecy until the rains came; then they knew it was true.
In these days prophecy is just as
important and for similar reasons. It is hoped that through this study of the
White Horse Prophecy, it will be of greater significance and benefit to those
who are struggling through today's troublesome times.
[7] Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION
The White Horse Prophecy, attributed
to Joseph Smith, is one of the most comprehensive and detailed prophecies given
in the past 2,000 years, yet it has not received its rightful consideration and
appreciation. There are several interesting parallels between this prophecy and
that given by Jesus as recorded in Matthew 24; for example:
1. Matthew 24 contains one of the last
prophecies that the Savior made before His crucifixion; the White Horse
Prophecy, whether in whole or part, was one of Joseph Smith's last major
prophecies before his martyrdom.
2. Both elaborate in detail the
magnitude and scope of the judgments to come upon the earth.
3. Both pertain to the same period of
time--just prior to the second coming of the Savior.
4. Both are very important and
enlightening for those living at the present perilous time, and should be
carefully studied.
The White Horse Prophecy has been
reproduced and circulated both in and out of the LDS Church for many years, but
no one has ever produced the original handwritten copy of it. So there is a
problem with its validity, and it has never been [8] officially accepted by the
Church as a reliable historical record. But that does not mean the contents are
any the less true, and they should be considered on their own merits.
The White Horse Prophecy was
supposedly given in the presence of two men--Edwin Rushton and Theodore Turley,
both of whom were active members of the Church and had no apparent "ax to
grind" or particular reason to make up this prophecy. If either of these
men had a history of a dishonest or questionable nature, perhaps it would throw
a cloud of doubt on the prophecy; but both remained faithful and active Church
members. Duane Crowther, presented brief life sketches of these men:
Edwin
Rushton
was an English convert who came to the United States a few months before the
time when the "White Horse Prophecy" was given in 1843. Little is
known of his life until after his coming to Utah in 1851. There he worked as a
millman, a farmer and a stock raiser until his death in Salt Lake City in 1904.
His membership in the 22nd Quorum of Seventies and his later position as a High
Priest and first counselor in the Bishopric of Sixth Ward, Salt Lake City,
indicate his standing in the Church. It was he who recorded the prophecy and
gave a copy of it to Patriarch John Smith (son of the Prophet's brother,
Hyrum).
Theodore
Turley
was a devoted follower of the Prophet, and Joseph Smith's history of the Church
makes frequent mention of him. He was chosen to superintend the removing of the
poor Saints from Far West in 1839. He was appointed to go with Heber C. Kimball
to Jefferson City to see Governor Boggs to secure the release of Joseph and his
companions who were in the Liberty and Richmond jails. At the risk of his life,
he defended the prophetic statement made by Joseph that the Twelve would leave
on missions from Far West when he was confronted by the Missouri mobocrats, and
accompanied the Twelve to their secret [9] rendezvous there. His was the first
home built by the Saints in Commerce, Illinois. He filled a mission to England
with Wilford Woodruff and John Taylor. As he returned to the United States, he
presided over the shipload of Saints who accompanied him. Elder Turley was one
of the close group of friends who went to protect Joseph on his trip to
Carthage in May of 1844. Just ten days before the Prophet was martyred he was
appointed by Joseph as the Armorer-General of the Nauvoo Legion. It was Turley
that the Prophet sent as a trusted messenger to Governor Ford with a letter
just five days before his death. After the Prophet's death Theodore Turley came
to Utah in 1849 where he lived until he died in Beaver, Utah, in 1872. Theodore
Turley was a trusted assistant to Joseph Smith and always supported the
Prophet. If Edwin Rushton's recording of the "White Horse Prophecy"
was false, wouldn't he have let it be known that such was the case? (Prophecy,
Key to the Future, Crowther, pp. 301-302)
Robert W. Smith stated that he had had
a copy of the White Horse Prophecy in his possession since 1910 and published
it in his 1947 edition of The Last Days. He also stated:
This Prophecy, a valued possession of
Patriarch John Smith, son of Hyrum Smith (the Martyr), was presented to him by
Edwin Rushton, original recorder of the prophecy. This copy is now in the
possession of Ralph G. Smith, great grandson of Patriarch Hyrum Smith, brother
of the Prophet, and is highly esteemed by him. (The Last Days, Smith, p. 25)
However, Ralph G. Smith has since
passed away and the relatives do not know what happened to it.
Some of the copies of the White Horse
Prophecy have an introductory paragraph explaining:
[10]The following is a copied form
from the Journal of Elder John J. Roberts of Paradise, Utah. Elder Roberts
makes this explanation as a preface: "On the next page will be found a
prophecy by the Prophet Joseph Smith, related to Edwin Rushton and Theodore
Turley. This prophecy has never been given to the public. I received it from
Robert Pace (Pearce) on Friday, Feb. 28, 1902." (George Osborne's Journal, n.p., n.d.,
located in Church Historian's Office)
In Don L. Penrod's thesis mentioning
the history of the White Horse Prophecy, he elaborated on the above statement:
John J. Roberts was born in Paradise,
Utah, on June 22, 1877. He returned home from a mission to Samoa on February 4,
1902, and received a copy of the recorded prophecy from Robert Pearce which he
entered into his journal. Robert's statement, "This prophecy has never
been given to the public," seems to indicate that it had been written down
fairly recent to the time that he received it. This is compatible to the
explanation given by Norman Pierce of the recording of the prophecy. Pierce
states:
"Several years before the death
of Edwin Rushton in Salt Lake City, in 1904, he was subjected to rigid cross
examination and requested to make many repetitions by James H. Anderson and
Arnold G. Giauque; all of which proved the complete absence of any
contradictions in his story. Edwin Rushton was then requested to have the White
Horse Vision recorded and notarized before these gentlemen. This was done with
James H. Anderson acting as recorder and Arnold G. Giauque as notary." <3-1 b="" years="">, Pierce, pp.
153-154> ("Critical Analysis of Certain Apocryphal Reports in the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as Related by Members of the
Church", BYU thesis by Don L. Penrod, August 1971)
By way of verifying the existence and
credibility of these two men, a brief description of each is included here:
[11] James H. Anderson (1857-1934)
A prominent Elder in the Salt Lake
Stake of Zion. *** He served an apprenticeship in the composing departments (of
the "Deseret News"), and became an expert book and job printer. ***
became the foreman of the "Deseret News" book and job printing
departments. *** In February, 1885, he was made city editor of the
"Deseret News," which position he filled with marked success until
August, 1890, when he was called on a mission to Europe. *** On his return from
Europe in 1892 he was associated for a time with Bishop Orson F. Whitney, on
Volume II of the History of Utah,
and in the spring of 1893 he again became connected with the "Deseret
News" editorial department. *** Jan. 4, 1901, he retired from the
"Deseret News" and on January 7th assumed the duties of county
commissioner in Salt Lake County....
In 1893 he was made one of the seven
presidents of the 2nd quorum of Seventy, and when the 110th quorum of Seventy
was organized in 1897, he was chosen its senior president. *** Elder Anderson
always has been energetic in his efforts to promote the dissemination of useful
knowledge. *** In December 1890, he was called to Liverpool, and from that time
until his return home, in October 1892, Elder Anderson conducted the editorial
work of the "Millennial Star." *** In August 1898 he accompanied
Apostle Francis M. Lyman on the latter's tour of the Stakes of Zion in central
and southern Utah.
Secretary of the Genealogical Society
of Utah from 1894 to 1896.
A member of the General Board of
Y.M.M.I.A. from 1907 to 1929. (LDS Bio.
Enc., Jenson 1:778-780; 4:231, 680)
Arnold
G. Giauque
Native of Switzerland (born abt. 1857)
*** came to Utah in 1868 *** In 1872 he engaged as an apprentice stone cutter
*** was placed in charge of one of the departments of the firm of Morris &
Evans. *** Mr. Giauque had a wide experience in handling large building
contracts, notable among which were the [12] depot buildings and shops for the
Rio Grande Western Railroad, the University of Utah and many others. *** He was
secretary and treasurer of the first Hungarian roller flour mill in Utah, with
which enterprise he remained for a period of 14 years. *** Mr. Giauque was
connected with the firm of Morris, Houlahan and Griffith in constructing the
masonry of the City and County Building. *** Later he was appointed by Governor
William Spry as a member of the State Board of Land Commissioners.
("Biography and Public Career--Arnold G. Giauque," pamphlet on file
in LDS Historians Office Library)
In reading the above information about
these two men, one can better understand their interest in Edwin Rushton's
account of the White Horse Prophecy.
Norman Pierce received his copy of the
White Horse Prophecy from Edwin Rushton's son-in-law.
Edwin Rushton, as a good member of the
Church, always maintained his testimony that he personally knew Joseph Smith
and that he was a true prophet. Rushton must have been a man of spiritual integrity
because the Lord revealed to him the location of a special seer stone which he
later found and cherished until his death in 1904. The experience of locating
this stone is recorded in his journal and related by his daughter, Edith
Rushton Christensen:
In July 1845, while Father was resting
in the middle of the day, he received a vision, or quoting from Father's
record, "I was caught away by the spirit and taken on a frequented
footpath across lots to a ravine a few blocks south of Nauvoo Temple. As I stood
in contemplation, the earth on the right side of me opened to the depth of
about five feet, and I beheld a pot of treasure on top of which was a beautiful
seer stone, clear as crystal, which I was told belonged to me. At the time I
received the vision, I did not know anything [13] about a seer stone and had
never sought for a vision. This same vision was repeated to me three times
about two weeks apart. With this vision ever in mind, the following day I
proceeded to hunt for the stone, taking three of my relatives with me. After
digging for a short time, the stone was thrown out with a shovel of dirt. It is
my firm conviction that this stone is one of the stones spoken of by John the
Revelator (2:17)." (This stone is clear and beautiful. It is about the
size of an egg and shaped somewhat like a kidney. It is treasured by the family
and has been shown to hundreds of people.) (Edwin Rushton Journal, p. 3)
This seer stone, once belonging to
Edwin Rushton, was photographed by the author with permission of one of his
descendants.
[14] Rushton's daughter wrote a brief
life history of her father, which included information about the White Horse
Prophecy, referring to it as a revelation:
Frequently during Father's life he
spoke of a revelation given to the Prophet, Joseph Smith, in the presence of
him and Theodore Turley at the Prophet's home, May 6, 1843. This revelation is
known as the "White Horse Prophecy." Some years before Father passed
away, two prominent Church officials questioned Father at great length
concerning this prophecy, and recorded the statement he made at that time.
("Edwin Rushton--Bridge Builder and Faithful Pioneer," as quoted in Pioneer Journals, p. 6, pub. by Pioneer
Press; p. 5 in copy available at Church History Library)
The "two prominent Church
officials" that questioned Edwin Rushton and recorded his statement were
apparently James H. Anderson and Arnold G. Giauque, mentioned earlier in this
chapter.
Besides Edwin Rushton, there were many
other men who wrote down similar statements and prophecies of Joseph Smith.
Seldom did anyone have the assigned job of recording the Prophet's sermons, so
many of the teachings of the Prophet Joseph are available only through such
recordings. Many of these sermons and statements were given under such a
spiritual and powerful influence that they made a strong impression on the
hearers, often lasting throughout their lifetime.
A similar recording of another prophecy
was taken down by Elder L. O. Littlefield in Zions Camp:
The Prophet Joseph there made a speech
to the members of the camp, and, if I remember correctly, a few strangers were
present. Joseph spoke almost with [15] superhuman force and clearness. He told
us that the storm had been sent by the God of Israel to place a barrier between
us and our enemies, to prevent them from falling upon us during the night to
massacre us, as the men who rode into our camp the evening before had declared
was the intention. We soon learned from the inhabitants that this was certainly
in the program of a few hundred men to do, who were posted not far from the
ford on the opposite shore.
Could we now have the prophetic
declarations made by the Prophet Joseph in his speech at that place they would
be far above the value of gold. They
were of such import that no man but an inspired servant of Jehovah could have
uttered them. I can see him to this day, in memory, as his tall, manly form
stood erect and commanding. His face shone with the light of the Holy Spirit,
his mild blue eyes fairly sparkled with the fire of the divinity that possessed
his being. I can only let that scene live in memory, and thank my Heavenly
Father that I heard that mighty man in the days of my youth, when early
impressions are not apt to die.
He declared the storm of that night
was to be numbered among the manifestations which were to follow in the last
days in defense of the house of Israel, scattered among the nations of the
earth. He said the fury of elements would yet waste away the wicked, and floods
would overflow the river banks and sweep the precious fruits of soil from the
possession of those who had labored to mature them. The sea would sweep beyond
its bounds and work wonderful havoc, and that earthquakes would shake the earth
and cast down the dwellings of those whose hearts rebelled against the
everlasting gospel. God would visit the wicked nations with just retribution,
for many of them would harden their hearts against the testimony of the humble
ambassadors of truth; that the time was nigh when He would have a controversy
with the people of the earth, for they would yet shed the blood of His prophets
and cast out His people from their borders. (Fate of the Persecutors . . ., Lundwall, p. 289, as quoted from Juve. Instr. 27)
[16] Many of the events prophesied in
the White Horse Prophecy were stated by the Prophet Joseph on other occasions
as well, either before or after this White Horse account. Some of the
principles and prophecies were also recorded in scripture and taught by other
Church leaders. It is important to note that there is nothing contrary to that
which had already been written.
The inspiration that comes through the
testimony of others, spiritual gifts or the word of God, comes from the same
spiritual light. If we gain that divine light, does it really matter where or
who it comes from, as long as it gives us an increase of intelligence,
spirituality and understanding?
So it is with the White Horse
Prophecy. It should not be a serious issue as to its documentation or its exact
date or whether or not it is in the same wording that Joseph Smith would have
used. There is even the possibility that Rushton could have added remarks made
by the Prophet at other times. But the main consideration should be the content
and message. Let the reader judge for himself.
In conclusion, then, the following
points should be kept in mind as each of us determines the validity and
importance of the White Horse Prophecy:
1. The two men who witnessed the
relating of this prophecy by Joseph Smith (Rushton and Turley) were honest and
reputable Church members.
2. Its content closely corresponds
with other prophecies of Joseph Smith.
3. Many other leaders of the Church
have, in many cases, made almost the very same comments.
[17] 4. There are nearly identical
scriptures that corroborate many statements of
the prophecy.
5. There is nothing unbelievable or
impossible in the statements made in the prophecy.
6. Several parts of this prophecy have
already been fulfilled, so the rest of it may well come true also.
7. Its content is pertinent because we
are now living during the very time that many of these events are supposed to
occur.
8. If it is true prophecy, we should
not take its message lightly.
[18] Chapter 2
CONTEXT OF THE
PROPHECY
A few years before the death of Edwin
Rushton, he was requested by close friends to make a recorded and notarized
statement regarding the White Horse Prophecy James H. Anderson, acted as
recorder and Arnold G. Giauque was notary for the following account of this
prophecy. The original, uninterrupted text is recorded in this chapter, in
numbered subsections to correspond with the analysis that follows in Chapter 3.
(There are some minor variations in subsequent renditions, but this one seems
to be the most accurate and complete.)
* * *
1.
On or about the sixth day of May, 1843, a grand review of the Nauvoo
Legion was held in Nauvoo. The Prophet Joseph complimented them for their good
discipline and evolutions performed. The weather being hot, he called for a
glass of water.
2.
With the glass of water in his hand, he said, "I will drink you a
toast to the overthrow of the mobocrats," which he did in language as
follows: "Here's wishing they were in the middle of the sea, in a stone
canoe with iron paddles, and a shark swallow the canoe, and the Devil swallow
the shark, and him locked up in the northwest corner of Hell, the key lost and
a blind man hunting for it."
[19] 3. The next morning a man who had heard the
Prophet give the toast here referred to, visited the mansion of the Prophet,
and so abused him with bad language, that he was ordered out by the Prophet.
4.
It was while the two were out, that my attention was attracted to them,
and hearing the man speaking in a loud tone of voice, I went toward them, the
man finally leaving. There were then present the Prophet Joseph Smith, Theodore
Turley and myself. The Prophet began talking to us of the mobbings and
drivings, the persecutions we as a people had endured. "But," said
he, "We will have worse things to see; our persecutors will have all the
mobbings they want. Don't wish them any harm, for when you see their sufferings,
you will shed tears for them."
5.
While this conversation was going on, we stood by his south wicker gate
in a triangle. Turning to me, he said, "I want to tell you something. In
the future I will speak in parables like unto John, the Revelator."
(Little did I then think the prophet of the Lord would so soon be slain in cold
blood.)
6.
Continuing, he said, "You will go to the Rocky Mountains, and you
will see a great and mighty people established, which I will call the White
Horse of Peace and Safety."
7.
When the Prophet said, "You will see," I asked him where he
would be at that time." He answered, "I shall never go there."
8.
"Your enemies will continue to follow you with persecutions, and
they will make obnoxious laws against you in Congress to destroy the White
Horse.
[20] 9. "But you will have a friend or two to
defend you and throw out the worst part of the laws, so they will not hurt
much.
10.
"You must continue to petition Congress all the time, but they will
treat you like strangers and aliens, and they will not give you your rights but
will govern you with strangers and commissioners;
11.
"You will see the Constitution of the United States almost
destroyed; it will hang by a thread, and that thread as fine as the finest silk
fiber."
12.
At this point the Prophet's countenance became sad; because as he said,
"I love the Constitution;
13.
"It was made by the inspiration of God,
14.
"And it will be preserved and saved by the efforts of the White
Horse and the Red Horse who will combine in its defense.
15.
"The White Horse will raise an ensign on the tops of the mountains
of peace and safety where all nations may flee unto for safety.
16.
"The White Horse will find the mountains full of minerals, and they
will become very rich. You will find silver piled up in the streets. (At this
time, it must be remembered that it was not known that the precious metals
existed either in the Rocky Mountains or in California.) You will see gold
shoveled up like sand.
17.
"Gold will be but of little value even in a mercantile capacity,
for the people of the world will have something else to do in seeking for
salvation.
[21] 18. "The time will come when the banks in
every nation will fail, and only two places will be safe where the people can
deposit their gold and treasure. These places will be with the White Horse and
England's vaults.
19.
"A terrible revolution will take place in the land of America, such
as has never been seen before, for the land will be literally left without a
supreme government, and every species of wickedness will run rampant; it will
be so terrible that father will be against son and son against father, mother
against daughter and daughter against mother. The most terrible scenes of
murder and bloodshed and rapine that have ever been looked upon will take
place.
20.
"Peace will be taken from the earth, and there will be no peace
only in the Rocky Mountains. This will cause hundreds and thousands of the
honest in heart of the world to gather there, not because they would be saints,
but for safety, and because they would not take up the sword against their
neighbors.
21.
"You will be so numerous that you will be in danger of famine, but
not for the want of seed time and harvest, but that so many will have to be
fed. Many will come with bundles under their arms to escape the calamities, and
there will be no escape, only by fleeing to Zion.
22.
"Those that come to you will try and keep the laws and be one with
you, for they will see your unity and the greatness of your organizations.
23.
"The Turkish Empire or the Crescent will be one of the first powers
that will be disrupted as a power, for freedom must be given for the Gospel to
be preached in the Holy Land.
[22] 24. "The Lord took of the best blood of the
nations, and planted them on the
small island now called England, or Great Britain, and gave them great powers in the nations for a
thousand years, and this power will
continue with them, that they may keep the balance of power, that
they may keep Russia from usurping
power over all the world.
25.
"England and France are now bitter enemies, but they will be allied
together in order to keep Russia from conquering the world.
26.
"The two Popes, Greek and Catholic, will come together and be
united. The Protestant religions do not know how much they are indebted to
Henry VIII for throwing off the Pope's bull and establishing the Protestant
faith. He was the only monarch that could do so at the time, and he did it
because the nation was at his back to sustain him.
27.
One of the peculiar features in England is the established red coat, a
uniform making so remarkable a mark to shoot at, and yet they have conquered
wherever they have gone. The reason for this will be known by them some day.
The Lion and the Unicorn of England is the ensign of Israel. The wisdom and
statesmanship of England comes from there being so much of the blood of Israel
in the nation.
28.
"While the terrible revolution of which mention has been made is
going on, England will be neutral until it becomes so inhuman that she will
interfere to stop the shedding of blood. England and France will then unite
together and come with intention to make peace, not to subdue the nation. They
will find the nation so broken up and so many claiming government, still there
will be no [23] responsible government. Then it will appear to the other
nations or powers as though England had taken possession of the country.
29.
"The Black Horse will flee to the invaders and will join with them,
for they will have fear of becoming slaves again, knowing England does not
believe in slavery, fleeing to them, they believed would make them safe. Armed
with British bayonets, the doings of the Black Horse will be terrible."
30.
So the Prophet said he could not bear to look longer upon the scene as
shown him in vision, that he asked the Lord to close the scene.
31.
Continuing, he said: "During this time, the great White Horse will
have gathered strength, sending out elders to get the honest in heart of the
United States to stand by the Constitution of the United States, as it was
given by inspiration of the Lord.
32.
"In these days, God will set up a kingdom, never to be thrown down,
for other kingdoms to come unto, and these kingdoms that will not let the
Gospel be preached will be humbled until they will.
33.
"England, Germany, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, Holland,
and Belgium have a considerable amount of the blood of Israel among their
people, which must be gathered. These nations will submit to the Kingdom of
God. England will do it as a whole, in comparison as she threw off the Catholic
power. The nobility know the Gospel is true, but it has not enough pomp and
grandeur and influence for them to embrace it. They are proud and will not
acknowledge the Kingdom of God, or come unto it until they see the power which
it will have.
[24] 34. "Peace and safety in the Rocky Mountains
will be protected by a cord and band of the White Horse and the Red Horse.
35.
"The coming of the Ten Tribes of Israel, the coming of the Messiah
among His people, will be so natural that only those who see Him will know He
has come, but He will come and give His law unto Zion and minister unto His
people. This will not be His coming in the clouds of heaven to take vengeance
on the world.
36.
The Temple in Jackson County will be built in this generation. The
saints will think there will not be time to build it, but with all the great
help you will receive, you can put up a great temple quickly. You will have
gold, silver, and precious stones, for these things only will be used for
beautifying the temple, all the skilled mechanics you want, and the Ten Tribes
of Israel to help you build it. When you see this land bounded with iron, you
may look toward Jackson County."
37.
At this point he made a pause, and looking up as though the vision was
still in view, he said, "There is a land beyond the Rocky Mountains that
will be invaded by the heathen Chinese, unless great care and protection are
given. Speaking of the heathen, where there is no law there is no condemnation;
this will apply to them.
38.
"Power will be given the White Horse to rebuke nations afar off and
they will obey, not that they will be one with the White Horse, but when the
law goes forth, they will obey, for the law will go forth from Zion.
39.
"The last great struggle Zion will have to contend with will be
when the whole of America will be made the Zion of God.
[25] 40. "Those opposing will be called Gog and
Magog The nations of the world led
by the Russian Czar and their power, will be great, but all opposition will be overcome, and this
land will be then the Zion of our
God."
* * * * *
Thus ended the actual White Horse
Prophecy, but Rushton concluded his notarized statement with the following
testimony:
The words of the Prophet made a strong
impression upon me. I have never forgotten them. On an occasion about two weeks
later, after I first heard him speak these words, I was at a meeting where he
preached a sermon, which he said would be the greatest of his life. On that
occasion he reiterated the matter which I have now written, so that the subject
became firmly rooted in my memory, and I know them to be true.
Now, therefore, I testify that these
are the inspired words spoken by the Prophet, Joseph Smith, as he stood looking
up into heaven. His countenance became white and transparent; he looked as if
he had as much of the Heavenly influence as he could bear and stay with the
saints. His voice was powerful and his words cut like a two-edged sword.
This account of the White Horse
Prophecy is the one that is attached to Edwin Rushton's daughter's brief
account of her father's biography.
[26] Chapter 3
ANALYSIS OF THE
PROPHECY
The quotations from the actual
prophecy will be typeset in bold to distinguish them from the supporting
commentaries that follow each subsection. Needless to say, this is only a small
representative selection of numerous quotes that could be used in support of
the information contained in the White Horse Prophecy.
A. SETTING THE STAGE
1. On or about the sixth day of May 1843, a
grand review of the Nauvoo Legion was held in Nauvoo. The Prophet Joseph
complimented them for their good discipline and evolutions performed. The
weather being hot, he called for a glass of water.
The only discrepancy or minor error
that this author found in the recording of this White Horse Prophecy is the
reporting of the weather. Rushton said the day was hot; however, in the History of the Church it states:
May 6, 1843--At the close of the
address, the Legion marched to the city and disbanded in Main Street, about two
p.m., the day being windy and very cold. (DHC 5:384)
[27] Since the notarized statement was
not recorded until several years after the incident, the date could have been
incorrect. Note, however, that Rushton did say, "On or about the
sixth," which could make quite a difference in the weather conditions.
Then, too, since the substance of the White Horse Prophecy was apparently given
again by Joseph Smith two weeks later, Rushton could have been confused on the
weather.
2. With the glass of water in his hand, he said,
"I will drink you a toast to the overthrow of the mobocrats," which
he did in language as follows:
"Here's
wishing they were in the middle of the sea, in a stone canoe with iron paddles,
and a shark swallow the canoe, and the Devil swallow the shark, and him locked
up in the northeast corner of Hell, the key lost and a blind man hunting for
it."
Most of the publications of the White
Horse prophecy do not contain this toast made by the Prophet. But it was
included in the earlier copies.
Apparently one of those who heard
Joseph give this toast was one of the mobocrats or a sympathizer with them, and
he felt offended because--
3. The next morning a man who heard the Prophet
give the toast here referred to, visited the mansion of the Prophet and so
abused him with bad language, that he was ordered out by the Prophet.
[28] Joseph's feelings on this
occasion were not unlike those of Heber C. Kimball's concerning those who had
mobbed, plundered and killed the Saints. Heber was once relating how he had
been "driven five times--been broken up and my goods robbed from me, and I
have been afflicted almost to death." He then stated that their enemies
had a "design" to come out west and "to take brother Brigham
Young, and Heber C. Kimball, and others, and slay us." Then he said,
"How do I feel towards them? Pray for them? Yes, I pray that God Almighty
would send them to hell." (JD 5:90) Joseph had often said that in hell
they might learn to repent!
So it is no wonder that the Prophet
ordered this abusive man to leave the Mansion House!
4. It was while the two were out, that my attention
was attracted to them, and hearing the man speaking in a loud tone of voice, I
went toward them, the man finally leaving. There were then present the Prophet
Joseph Smith, Theodore Turley and myself. The Prophet began talking to us of
the mobbings and drivings the persecutions we as a people had endured.
"But," said he, "We will have worse things to see; our
persecutors will have all the mobbings they want. Don't wish them any harm, for
when you see their sufferings, you will shed bitter tears for them."
The Prophet gave other prophecies
pertaining to the destruction of the wicked in this country. As early as 1833
he said:
And now I am prepared to say by the
authority of Jesus Christ, that not many years shall pass away before the
United States shall present such a scene of [29] bloodshed as has not a
parallel in the history of our nation; pestilence, hail, famine, and earthquake
will sweep the wicked of this generation from off the face of the land. (TPJS,
p. 17; also DHC 1:315)
Many of those who fought and died in
the Civil War were the same ones who had persecuted the early Saints. Joseph
elaborated:
I saw men hunting the lives of their
own sons, and brother murdering brother, women killing their own daughters, and
daughters seeking the lives of their mothers. I saw armies arrayed against
armies. I saw blood, desolation, fires. The Son of Man has said that the mother
shall be against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother. These
things are at our doors. * * * How long you will have good crops, and the
famine be kept off, I do not know; when the fig tree leaves, know then that the
summer is nigh at hand. (TPJS, p. 161)
As the Jews were responsible for the
crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ and have suffered because of it, so too
the Gentiles of this nation were responsible for the martyrdom of Joseph
Smith--and are under condemnation to this day for that action. George Q. Cannon
explained this very well:
Light came into the world, but men
chose darkness rather than light; therefore the light that was in them became
darkness. The Jewish nation became abandoned to hardness of heart and unbelief.
They were left to be prey to that spirit of unbelief which they encouraged,
until they rejected God, until they rejected the Son of God, with all His
divinity, with His great miracles, with His mighty power, with His pure and
spotless life--they rejected Him, they slew Him, and the light that was in them
became darkness. * * *
The blood of righteous men has been
cruelly, inhumanly shed upon this free soil. This man who beheld these visions;
this man, the first for hundreds of [30]
years who described, who could
describe the personage of God, who could say that he beheld Him, who arose as a
mighty witness in the midst of this generation to say of a truth that God
lived, that Jesus lived; this man was cruelly, treacherously and inhumanly
murdered; and murdered, too, under the pledged honor of one of the sovereign
states of this our nation; the Governor of the State himself, pledging his own
honor and the honor of the State that he (Joseph Smith) should be protected,
but he was cruelly slain like the prophets who had gone before, who had borne a
similar testimony. He sealed his testimony with his blood, declaring to the
very last that that which he had testified of was the truth, willing to die if
it were necessary, to seal his testimony and render it so unimpeachable that it
never could be questioned from that time forward. This man was thus slain, and who is there that has been punished for
it? No more than the murderers of the Prophets were punished in ancient
days, no more than the murderers of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ were
punished, no more has it been the case in this instance. No, his blood still stains the soil, still
cries, with the blood of all the martyrs, unto God in heaven for vengeance on
his guilty murderers. (JD 25:157-158)
After the martyrdom of Joseph and
Hyrum, an Oath of Vengeance was incorporated into the endowment ceremony:
You and each of you do covenant and
promise that you will pray and never cease to pray and never cease to pray
Almighty God to avenge the blood of the prophets upon this nation, and that you will teach the same to your children
and to your children's children unto the third and fourth generation. (Reed
Smoot Hearings 4:495)
Some of this vengeance has already
been meted out to these persecutors and their descendants; however, there is
still much more to come. In a revelation given to John Taylor [31] and recorded
by Wilford Woodruff it describes some of the terrible scenes of bloodshed:
I continued on my way passing through Omaha, Council Bluffs, and Iowa, and saw many women
moving about in an excited manner. Sickness and death prevailed on all sides.
The inhabitants of Illinois and Missouri were in
dreadful condition, the men and women killing each other in the most brutal
manner.
Next I visited the City of Washington,
D.C., and found the place deserted and in ruins. From there I went to Baltimore and on the
square, where stands the monument of 1812, dead bodies of the inhabitants of
the place were piled in heaps. While there I saw mothers cut the throats of
their own children and drink the blood in order to quench their thirst. The
waters of the Chesapeake Bay were so befouled
from the effect of dead bodies that the water could not be used. Sickness and
death prevailed throughout the city and the stench was something awful.
After these scenes had passed, I found
myself standing on the left bank of the Missouri River, just opposite to where
stood the City of Independence and soon discovered that the states of Illinois,
Missouri, and part of Iowa had been swept clean of its inhabitants and the
surrounding country was a complete wilderness. (Visions of the Latter Days, comp. by Kraut, pp. 104-05)
More prophecies regarding these
latter-day destructions will follow in Section 19 of this book, but for this
section, we'll close with Isaiah:
Behold, the day of the Lord cometh,
cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall
destroy the sinners thereof out of it. And I [32] will punish the world for
their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy
of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
(Isaiah 13:9, 11)
5. While this conversation was going on, we
stood by his south wicker gate in a triangle. Turning to me, he said, "I
want to tell you something. In the future I will speak in parables like unto
John the Revelator." (Little did I then think the Prophet of the Lord
would so soon be slain in cold blood.)
It was during April of 1843 that the
Prophet Joseph began to refer much to the book of Revelation by John. He
devoted considerable study to it at this time. (See DHC 5:323-326.) In fact, he
said, "This is the first time I have ever taken a text in
Revelation." (p. 324) This was only one month before he gave the White
Horse Prophecy.
The parable of John the Revelator
referred to in the White Horse prophecy is the one dealing with the four horses
of the Apocalypse, which reads:
And I saw when the Lamb opened one of
the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts
saying, Come and see.
And I saw, and behold a white horse; and he that sat on him
had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to
conquer.
And when he had opened the second
seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see.
And there went out another horse that was red: and power
was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they
should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.
[33] And when he had opened the third
seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him
had a pair of balances in his hand.
And I heard a voice in the midst of
the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of
barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.
And when he had opened the fourth
seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beasts say, Come and see.
And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him
was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the
fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death,
and with the beasts of the earth. (Rev. 6:1-8)
In the White Horse Prophecy Joseph
refers to the same four colors of horses--white, red, black and
pale--signifying races of people and the color of their skin. The
interpretation of his allegory can be made from within the prophecy itself. The
"White Horse of Peace and Safety" refers to the Saints located in the
Rocky Mountains, which he mentions several times. The "Pale Horse"
refers to the "people of the United States;" they got their name from
the Indians who called them "pale faces." Joseph said the "Black
Horse" would "have fear of becoming slaves again," which is
obviously talking about the Black race. The Red Horse ("Redskins") is
the name that has been applied to the Indians. These four horses are basic to
the whole White Horse Prophecy and the part they will play in the final winding
up scene of this telestial world.
Another account records a similar
definition of the various colored horses:
. . . the White Horse represents the
members of the Mormon Church, the Pale Horse, residents of the United States
who are non-Mormons, the Red Horse sym-[34]bolizes American Indians, the Black
Horse the colored people of the United States. (Prophetic Years, Wing Anderson, p. 33)
Elder Orson Hyde also spoke about the
Book of Revelation during this time, and the Prophet quoted him when he said,
(alluding to the second coming of the Savior), "When He shall appear, we
shall be like Him, and He will appear on a white horse as a warrior, and maybe
we shall have some of the same spirit. Our God is a warrior. (John 14:23)"
(DHC 5:323)
Joseph Smith had one time related the
end of the world with the parables of Jesus concerning the wheat and the tares,
to which He gave a very unique interpretation--very fitting to present times:
Now we learn by this parable, not only
the setting up of the Kingdom in the days of the Savior, which is represented
by the good seed, which produced fruit, but also the corruptions of the Church,
which are represented by the tares, which were sown by the enemy, which His
disciples would fain have plucked up, or cleansed the Church of, if their views
had been favored by the Savior. But He, knowing all things, says, Not so, as
much as to say, your views are not correct, the Church is in its infancy, and
if you take this rash step, you will destroy the wheat, or the Church, with the
tares; therefore it is better to let them grow together until the harvest, or the end of the world, which means the
destruction of the wicked, which is not yet fulfilled, as we shall show
hereafter, in the Savior's explanation of the parable, which is so plain that
there is no room left for dubiety upon the mind, notwithstanding the cry of the
priests--"parables, parables! figures, figures! mystery, mystery! all is
mystery!" But we find no room for doubt here, as the parables were all
plainly elucidated. (TPJS, p. 97)
[35] B. SETTLING IN THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS
6. Continuing, he said, "You will go to the
Rocky Mountains, and you will see a great and mighty people established, which
I will call the White Horse of Peace and Safety."
Several months before giving the White
Horse Prophecy, Joseph Smith had said almost the same thing:
I prophesied that the Saints would
continue to suffer much affliction and would be driven to the Rocky Mountains,
many would apostatize, others would be put to death by our persecutors or lose
their lives in consequence of exposure or disease, and some of you will live to
go and assist in making settlements and build cities and see the Saints become
a mighty people in the midst of the Rocky Mountains (Aug. 6, 1842) (DHC 5:85)
There are other references to Joseph
Smith's making such a prophecy, such as in Anson Call's Journal:
Joseph, as he was tasting the cold
water, warned the brethren not to be too free with it. With the tumbler still
in his hand he prophesied that the Saints would yet go to the Rocky Mountains;
and, said he, this water tastes much like that of the crystal streams that are
running from the snow-capped mountains. (DHC 5:86)
The Rocky Mountains have their roots
in ancient as well as modern prophecy. When the great patriarch Jacob placed
blessings on the heads of his sons, he was the first to mention these mountains
and their destiny. To his favored son, Joseph, he said:
Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a
fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall. . . . The [36]
blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors
unto the utmost bound of the everlasting
hills; they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of
him that was separate from his brethren. (Gen. 49:22, 26)
When George Washington took his oath
of office, he placed his hand on this 49th chapter of Genesis as he said:
No people can be bound to acknowledge
and adore the Invisible Hand which conducts the affairs of men more than those
of the United States. Every step by which they have advanced to the character
of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of
providential agency. . . . (George Washington's First Inaugural Address)
His own hand was also a part of that
"providential" power of the "Invisible Hand". It was an
indication of providence that the land of "the everlasting hills" was
now a nation for the gathering of the tribe of Joseph.
The Apostle Orson Pratt gave a clear
explanation of this scripture in Genesis 49 and its fulfillment:
According to the Book of Mormon, all
of the great western continent, with all the valleys, hills and mountains,
riches and resources pertaining thereunto, was given to the remnant of Joseph,
as their "land of promise." The Almighty sealed this covenant and
promise by an oath, saying, that the land should be given unto them forever.
The western world, including both North and South America, is the "land of
promise" to the remnant of Joseph, in the same sense that the land of
Palestine is a promised land unto the twelve tribes of Israel. Now this
testimony of the book of Mormon agrees most perfectly with the prophetic
blessing placed upon the head of Joseph by the patriarch Jacob; who, just
previous to his death, called together his sons and predicted upon each what should
[37] befall them or their tribes "in the last days." The blessing
upon the tribe of Joseph is as follows: (Gen. 49th chapter)
"Joseph is a fruitful bough, even
a fruitful bough by a well, whose branches run over the wall: the archers have
sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him: but his bow abode in
strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty
God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel:) even by the
God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless
thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under,
blessings of the breast and of the womb: the blessings of thy father have
prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors, unto the utmost bound of the
everlasting hills: they shall be the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the
head of him that was separate from his brethren."
In the preceding chapter, when
blessing the two sons of Joseph, he says, "Let them grow into a multitude
in the midst of the earth." And again, "His seed shall become a
multitude of nations." From these predictions it will be perceived that
Jacob prevailed with God, and obtained a greater blessing in behalf of the
tribe of Joseph than what Abraham and Isaac, his progenitors, had obtained.
While the blessing of Jacob's progenitors was limited to the land of Palestine,
Joseph had confirmed upon him a blessing, or country, above, or far greater
than Palestine--a country at a distance, represented by "the utmost bounds
of the everlasting hills." Some of the "branches" of the
"fruitful bough" of Joseph were to spread far abroad from the parent
tree--they were to "run over the wall" of the mighty ocean--they were
to "become a multitude of nations in the midst of the earth." There,
among the "everlasting hills," they were to be "made strong by
the hands of the mighty God of Jacob." It was to be there among the
"multitude of nations" of the posterity of Joseph, that the.
"Shepherd--the stone of Israel" was to establish a kingdom, which
should break in pieces all other kingdoms, and "fill the whole
earth."
[38] In America there is "a
multitude of nations," called by us "Indians." These Indians
evidently sprang from the same source as is indicated by their color, features,
customs, dialects, traditions, etc.; that they are of Israelitish origin is
also evident from their religious ceremonies, their language, their traditions,
and the discovery of Hebrew inscriptions, etc. If America is not the land given
to a branch of Joseph, where, or in what part of the globe shall that tribe
receive the fulfillment of Jacob's prediction? Where, if not in America, has a
land been peopled by a multitude of the nations of Joseph? Can a multitude of
the nations of Joseph be found in Europe, Asia, or Africa, or in any of the
adjoining islands? If not, then America seems to be the only place where that
great prediction could receive its accomplishment. The Book of Mormon testifies
that America is "the land of Joseph," given to them by promise. Is
not this an additional evidence that Mr. Smith was sent of God? If Mr. Smith
was an impostor, how came he to discover that the tribe of Joseph was to be
favored so much above all the other tribes of Israel? Perhaps it may be
replied, that it was easy to discover that from the scriptures; but, we ask,
why did not Swedenborg, Wesley, Irving, or some of the other impostors of
former times, make this scriptural discovery, and incorporate it in their
pretended dispensations? (Orson Pratt's
Works, pp. 19-20)
When the Saints first arrived in Utah,
Orson Pratt and others delivered very interesting and stirring sermons showing
that the Saints were fulfilling many of the ancient prophecies of the Bible by
coming to the Rocky Mountains.
Mosiah Hancock was a witness to the
prophetic insight of Joseph Smith concerning the Rocky Mountains:
The next day the Prophet came to our
home and stopped in our carpenter shop and stood by the turning lathe. I went
and got my map for him. "Now," he said, "I will show you the
travels of this people." He then [39] showed our travels thru Iowa, and
said, "Here you will make a place for the winter; and here you will travel
west until you come to the valley of the Great Salt Lake! You will build cities
to the North and to the South, and to the East and to the West; and you will
become a great and wealthy people in that land." (Mosiah Hancock Journal, p. 19)
Other incidents and statements by the
Prophet indicated that a grave concern for the Saints, and even himself, was to
travel to the Rocky Mountains:
Saturday, June 22, 1844, about 9
p.m. Hyrum came out of the Mansion and
gave his hands to Reynolds Cahoon, at the same time saying, "A company of
men are seeking to kill my brother Joseph, and the Lord has warned him to flee
to the Rocky Mountains to save his life. Good-by, Brother Cahoon, we shall see
you again." In a few minutes afterwards Joseph came from his family. His
tears were flowing fast. He held a handkerchief to his face, and followed after
Brother Hyrum without uttering a word. (TPJS, p. 377)
The Apostle Erastus Snow told of the
importance of gathering to the Rocky Mountains and gave a beautiful account of
the prophecies, mission and final victory of the Lord through the Latter-day
Saints:
We are not the only people who believe
in these things, and look forward with anxious expectation for the glorious
reign of righteousness and peace upon the earth. It has been the faith and the
hope of all the righteous upon the earth, the theme of their prophecies and of
the songs of the inspired songsters of Israel. It is the hope of these things,
and the faith which is begotten in our hearts, that the Lord has set his hand a
second time to recover the remnants of the house of Israel, and to fulfill the
glorious things which he has foretold through the mouths of his Prophets, that
has brought [40] us together in these mountains. It was
the faith and hope that induced the pioneers, twenty-six years ago, to face the
savages and to penetrate through a trackless, howling desert. To make the roads
through the mountains, to bridge the streams, and to endure all the perils of establishing the people of Zion in the
Rocky Mountains, when there were no human beings but the untutored savage
for a thousand miles or more from them, when it was a thousand miles on the
west, a thousand on the north, a thousand to the south, and thirteen hundred to
the east to the nearest settlement. It was this faith in the latter-day work,
the assurance we had received that God had spoken from the heavens, which
prompted us to this great work. It was because God had spoken from the heavens by his own voice to his servant Joseph
Smith, by the voice of his Son, and by the voice of angels, calling his
people to gather from the nations into the heart
of the mountains, that we are here today. I can place my eyes upon many in
this congregation, and I know of many more throughout this Territory, who heard these things from the mouth of the
Prophet Joseph Smith.
When the pioneers left the confines of
civilization, we were not seeking a country on the Pacific Coast, neither a
country to the north or south; we were
seeking a country which had been pointed out by the Prophet Joseph Smith in the
midst of the Rocky Mountains, in the interior of the great North American
continent. When the leader of that noble band of pioneers set out with his
little company from the Missouri River, they went, as did Abram, when he left
his father's house--knowing not whither he went--only God had said, Go out from
your father's house unto a land which I will show you. That band of pioneers
went out, not knowing whither they went, only they knew that God had commanded
them to go into a land which he would show them. And whenever the Prophet
Brigham Young, the leader of that band of pioneers, was asked the question--"Whither
goest thou?" the only answer he could give was--"I will show you when
we come to it."
[41] The prayers of that band of
pioneers, offered up day and night, continually unto God, was to lead us, as He
had promised, unto a land which, by the mouth of his servant Joseph, he had
declared he would give us for an
inheritance. Said the Prophet Brigham--"I have seen it, I have seen it
in vision, and when my natural eyes behold it, I shall know it." They,
therefore, like Abram of old, journeying by faith, knowing not whither they
went, only they knew that God had called them to go out from among their
brethren, who had hated, despised and persecuted them, and driven them from
their possessions, and would not that they should dwell among them. And when they
reached this land the Prophet Brigham said--"This is the place where I, in
vision, saw the ark of the Lord resting; this is the place whereon we will
plant the soles of our feet, and where the Lord will place his name amongst his
people." And he said to that band of pioneers--"Organize your
exploring parties, one to go south, another north, and another to go to the
west, and search out the land, in the length and the breadth thereof, learn the
facilities for settlement, for grazing, water, timber, soil and climate, that
we may be able to report to our brethren when we return;" and when the
parties were organized, said he unto them--"You will find many excellent
places for settlement. On every hand in these mountains are locations where the
people of God may dwell, but when you return from the south, west and north to
this place, you will say with me, `this
is the place which the Lord has chosen for us to commence our settlements, and
from this place we shall spread abroad and possess the land.'"
It is this faith which has brought the
multitude who have followed to this land, year after year, from then until the
present time. This is the work and the mission that is upon the Latter-day
Saints. "Come out of Babylon, O my people, that ye be not partakers of her
sins, that ye receive not of her plagues. Gather
yourselves into the midst of the mountains, where the Lord will establish
his house and place his name, and teach you his ways, and where you will learn
to walk in his paths." (JD 16:206-208)
[42] As just mentioned, Brigham Young
saw the Rocky Mountains in vision, as a place for the Saints to settle:
Wilford Woodruff relates a similar
incident as occurring at the mouth of Emigration Canon (sic) and on the 24th.
His statement is as follows: "When we came out of the canon into full view
of the valley, I turned the side of my carriage around, open to the west, and
President Young arose from his bed and took a survey of the country. While
gazing on the scene before us, he was enwrapped in vision for several minutes.
He had seen the valley before in vision, and upon this occasion he saw the
future glory of Zion and of Israel, as they would be, planted in the valleys of
these mountains. When the vision had passed, he said, `It is enough. This is
the right place, drive on.'" (Utah
Pioneers, p. 23)
It took more than optimistic
statements, enthusiasm and hope to fulfill these prophecies of settling in the
Rocky Mountains. The Saints were led by the inspiration and vision of their
Prophets, Joseph Smith and Brigham Young, through direct revelation of the Lord
to accomplish this great modern miracle. They camped in a land that seemed
impossible to colonize permanently because of the hostilities of cold frosts
and Indians.
B. H. Roberts gives an account of the
Saints meeting Jim Bridger who knew the land as well as anyone at that time:
Bridger . . . camped with us and gave
us much information relative to roads, streams, and country generally.
"Bridger considered it imprudent to bring a large population into the
Great Basin," says Brigham Young, "until it was ascertained that
grain could be raised; he said he would give $1,000 for a bushel of corn raised
in that basin." President Young replied, "Wait a little, and we will
show you." (CHC 3:201)
[43] God certainly had a hand in
fulfilling that part of the prophecy, or else the Saints would not have
accomplished the building of the foreseen Rocky Mountain empire.
Brigham Young vividly described they
type of people that were settling here in the Rocky Mountains:
We are now gathering the children of
Abraham who have come through the loins of Joseph and his sons, more especially
through Ephraim, whose children are mixed among all the nations of the earth.
The sons of Ephraim are wild and uncultivated, unruly, ungovernable. The spirit
in them is turbulent and resolute; they are the Anglo-Saxon race, and they are
upon the face of the whole earth, bearing the spirit of rule and dictation, to
go forth from conquering to conquer. They search wide creation and scan every
nook and corner of this earth to find out what is upon and within it. (JD
10:188, 1863)
7. When the Prophet said, "You will
see," I asked him where he would be at that time. He answered, "I
shall never go there."
The Prophet Joseph Smith knew that he might
be slain by his enemies. Even as early as 1829 before the Church was organized,
the Lord suggested that he would have eternal life "even if you should be
slain." (D & C 5:22) He must have had other indications of this
because he said he would never live to be 40 years of age. According to Brigham
Young:
Though he had
prophesied that he would not live to be forty years of age, yet we all
cherished hopes that that would be a false prophecy, and we should keep him
forever with us; we thought our faith would outreach it, but we were
mistaken--he at last fell a martyr to his religion. I said, "It is all
right; now the testimony is in full force; he has sealed it with his blood, and
that makes it valid." (JD 1:364)
[44] The Lord gave further information
on Joseph’s death that revealed the intents of "the hearts of men" in
his own land. He told Joseph that they were meeting in secret chambers and
plotting for his death:
For all flesh is corrupted before me;
and the powers of darkness prevail upon the earth, among the children of men,
in the presence of all the hosts of heaven--
Which causeth silence to reign, and
all eternity is pained, and the angels are waiting the great command to reap
down the earth, to gather the tares that they may be burned; and, behold, the
enemy is combined.
And
now I show unto you a mystery, a thing which is had in secret chambers, to
bring to pass even your destruction in process of time, and ye knew it not; * *
*
And
again, I say unto you that the enemy in the secret chambers seeketh your lives.
Ye hear of wars in far countries, and
you say that there will soon be great wars in far countries, but ye know not
the hearts of men in your own land.
I tell you these things because of
your prayers; wherefore, treasure up wisdom in your bosoms, lest the wickedness
of men reveal these things unto you by their wickedness, in a manner which
shall speak in your ears with a voice louder than that which shall shake the
earth; but if ye are prepared ye shall not fear.
And that ye might escape the power of
the enemy, and be gathered unto me a righteous people, without spot and
blameless-- (D & C 38:11-3, 28-31)
These enemies of Joseph Smith did not
cease their opposition to the work of the restoration even after his death.
They merely transferred their plots and plans to others who believed in the
same principles that he did. Joseph had prophesied:
It is thought by some that our enemies
would be satisfied with my destruction; but I tell you that as [45] soon as
they have shed my blood, they will thirst for the blood of every man in whose
heart dwells a single spark of the spirit of the fullness of the Gospel. The
opposition of these men is moved by the spirit of the adversary of all
righteousness. It is not only to destroy me, but every man and woman who dares
believe the doctrines that God hath inspired me to teach in this generation.
(DHC 6:498)
When the principles of the Gospel are
the same, the opposition to them will also be the same. It has always been so,
and always will be.
When people become so wicked that they
plot to kill the prophets and apostles of the Lord, then their destruction will
soon follow. This was stated by John the Revelator:
And I heard another voice from heaven,
saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and
that ye receive not of her plagues. * * *
Therefore shall her plagues come in
one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with
fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her. * * *
Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye
holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her. (Rev. 18:4, 8, 20)
8. Your enemies will continue to follow you with
persecutions, and they will make obnoxious laws against you in Congress to
destroy the White Horse,
Shortly after the Saints arrived in
this Rocky Mountain region, the Government sent out a massive army to "put
down" the Mormons. However, when some of the Mormons in the east learned
of the plot, Smoot, Rockwell, and Stoddard traveled 513 miles in five days from
Fort Laramie to bring the [46] news to Governor Brigham Young. The armed
expedition didn't accomplish what they set out to do, and it proved to be a
blessing in disguise for the Saints. Later when the Army was disbanded in Utah,
millions of dollars in goods were sold to the Mormons for less than 3% of their
actual cost.
It was under Buchanan's administration
that this "expedition" of troops, cannons, guns and ammunition came
to Utah to "bring peace". There is little doubt as to the intentions
of that superior army. B. H. Roberts made it very clear:
The "Expedition" was an
army, and an army meant war, not peace. It meant coercion, and very likely the
subordination of the civil to the military authority. The coming of that armed
"Expedition," therefore, meant to the Latter-day Saints of Utah the
subversion of their constitutional rights, the destruction of their
liberties--their religious freedom; their right of community self-government;
perhaps, even, their community existence. (CHC 4:262)
"We were well informed as to the
object of the coming of the army," said Elder John Taylor, of the council
of the apostles, when discussing this subject with Vice-President Schuyler
Colfax, in 1869:
"We had men in all the camps, and
knew what was intended. There was a continued boast among the men and officers,
even before they left the Missouri River, of what they intended to do with the
`Mormons.' The houses were picked out that certain persons were to inhabit;
farms, property, and women were to be distributed. `Beauty and Booty' was their
watchword. We were to have another grand `Mormon' conquest, and our houses,
gardens, orchards, vineyards, fields, wives and daughters were to be the
spoils." (DHC 4:259)
As prophesied, there were a series of
"obnoxious laws" made against the Saints; they were made directly
against the [47] Saints and were not meant to be enforced upon anyone else. The
first of these unconstitutional laws was signed in 1862 by Abraham Lincoln. It
even violated his own previous statements regarding the Mormons:
When asked bluntly what he intended
doing with the Mormon problem, he replied by relating an instance in his youth,
when, while plowing a field for planting, he had come upon a large hemlock
stump which was too solid to cut, too green to burn, and rooted too deeply to
dislodge. Therefore, he had decided that in order to avoid a great deal of
trouble, effort and unhappiness, he should leave it alone and plow around it.
This, he explained, was exactly what he intended doing with the Mormon problem.
(Mormonism, Americanism and Politics,
R. Vetterli, p. 499)
Lincoln had also stated to Elder
Stenhouse, "I will let them alone if they will let me alone." (Mill. Star 25:508)
However, on July 2, 1862, Abraham Lincoln
signed an anti-polygamy bill known as House Bill 391 (Congressional Record 37th
Congress, 2nd Session, p. 158) This bill imposed a five-year sentence in
prison, a $500 fine, or both, for unlawful cohabitation in the territory. It
further stated that if a church taught and practiced plural marriage, they
would forfeit all property valued over $50,000.
The Constitutionality of this law was
tested by Brigham Young when he sent his secretary, George Reynolds, to trial
so they could contest it before the Supreme Court. Reynolds lost and was fined
$500 and sentenced to two years in prison at hard labor.
On February 16, 1882, another law was
passed against the Mormons called the Edmunds Bill. (Congressional Record 47th
Congress, 1st Session, Vol. 13:1152-3) This would [48] prohibit any polygamist
from voting, holding public office or public trust. It was also intended to
overturn the "political power" in the territory.
In March 1887, another law was passed
called the Edmunds-Tucker Bill, which stated that a wife had to testify against
her husband. Polygamists could be taken to jail without investigation or
subpoena, and compelled immediate witnesses to attendance. All marriages were
to be reported with the names of the witnesses, nature of the ceremony, and the
name of the officer or religious dignitary performing the ceremony. Female
suffrage was abolished. Anyone believing in plural marriage would be barred
from voting and prohibited from teaching or advocating plural marriage. It also
dissolved the Perpetual Emigrating Company which had been set up to assist
Mormons in gathering to the territory. It provided for the disincorporation of
the Mormon Church and all property over $50,000 was escheated to the federal
government.
As a result, the U.S. Government took
a great portion of Church property, including land and buildings. Leonard
Arrington in his Great Basin Kingdom
(page 371) listed some of the items which were seized:
1. The Temple Block . . . .No
Value Stipulated
2. The Tithing Yard and Offices . . .
$50,000
3. The Historian's Office . . . . 20,000
4. The Gardo House . . . . . 50,000
5. The Office of the President of the
Church .No Value Stipulated
6. The Office of the Presiding Bishop . . . 12,000
7. The Church Farm in the Salt Lake
Valley . . 150,000
8. Note for aggregate amount of values
settled
by order of Supreme Court on July 9, 1888 . 157,000
9. Coal interests at Grass Creek, near
Coalville . 100,000
10. Note promising delivery of cattle
(or cash)
in lieu of church livestock herds and tithing
produce transferred to stake ecclesiastical
associations on February 28, 1877 . . 75,000
[49]
11. 30,000 head of sheep at $2.00 per
head . . 60,000
12. Stock (4,732 shares) in Deseret
Telegraph Company 22,000
13. Stock (800 shares) in Salt Lake
Gas Company . 75,000
14. Dividends received on Gas Company
stock . 4,000
15. Notes for Salt Lake Dramatic
Company stock . 27,000
16. Payment in satisfaction of
receiver's claim to
capital stock in Deseret News Company . . 5,000
Total Stipulated Value . . 807,666
(Great Basin Kingdom, Arrington, p. 371)
The Salt Lake Temple was rented back to
the Mormons for over $400 a month. The annual rent for the Tithing Office and
Historian's Office was $4,400 a year, and the Gardo House was rented to the
Saints for $400 a month. When Utah gained statehood in 1896, most of these
possessions were returned to the Mormons, but much of the land seized by the
Federal Government has never been returned.
One wonders what happened to the
glorious government that was founded by inspired men with an inspired
Constitution! Where did it get off course and when did it begin to decline? The
Prophet Joseph said that it reached its greatest moments under President Andrew
Jackson (who served two terms from 1828 to 1836), and it has deteriorated ever
since:
General Jackson's administration may
be denominated the acme of American glory, liberty, and prosperity; * * *
At the age, then, of sixty years, our
blooming Republic began to decline under the withering touch of Martin Van
Buren! Disappointed ambition, thirst for power, pride, corruption, party
spirit, faction, patronage, prerequisites, fame, tangling alliances,
priestcraft, and spiritual wickedness in high places, struck hands and revelled
in midnight splendor.
[50] Trouble, vexation, perplexity,
and contention, mingled with hope, fear, and murmuring, rumbled through the
Union and agitated the whole nation, as would an earthquake at the centre of
the earth, the world heaving the sea beyond its bounds and shaking the
everlasting hills; so, in hopes of better times, while jealousy, hypocritical
pretensions, and pompous ambition were luxuriating on the ill-gotten spoils of
the people, they rose in their majesty like a tornado, and swept through the
land, . . . (DHC 6:203)
The average American cannot conceive
of anyone plotting and scheming to destroy other people, to take over the
Government, or to rule the world. It is not in their nature because it is so
far from their own feelings that they cannot conceive of anyone being that
wicked. Gary Shapiro said it well:
It is difficult for the average
individual to fathom such perverted lust for power. The typical person, of
whatever nationality, wants only to enjoy success in his job, to be able to
afford a reasonably high standard of living complete with leisure and travel.
He wants to provide for his family in sickness and in health and to give his
children a sound education. His ambition stops there. He has no desire to
exercise power over others, to conquer other lands or peoples, to be a king. He
wants to mind his own business and enjoy life. Since he has no lust for power,
it is difficult for him to imagine that there are others who have . . . others
who march to a far different drum. But we must realize that there have been
Hitlers and Lenins and Stalins and Caesars and Alexander the Greats throughout
history. Why should we assume there are no such men today with perverted lusts
for power? And if these men happen to be billionaires, is it not possible that
they would use men like Hitler and Lenin as pawns to seize power for
themselves?
Indeed difficult as this is to
believe, such is the case. (The New
World Order, Shapiro, pp. 30-31)
[51] There were many people who
plotted the death of Joseph Smith. Certainly as great a prophet as he was, it
would have been clear to him what was going on in the minds of wicked men in
high places. Obviously it was not just fallen apostates, prejudices of a local
community, or religious bigots who alone did the planning and execution. It
came from much higher sources, as Brigham Young clearly explained:
And when he would have saved the
people of the nation, they crowned him a martyr of Jesus. They performed an act
that secures to him crowns of glory, immortality, and eternal lives. They
succeeded in shedding his blood and that of the Patriarch Hyrum. They shed the
blood of the innocent, and the nation said amen to it. Were they aware of it at
the seat of Government? I have no doubt they as well knew of the plans for
destroying the Prophet as did those in Carthage or in Warsaw, Illinois. It was planned by some of the leading men
of the nation. I have said here once before, to the astonishment of many of
our own countrymen, that there was a
delegate from each State in the nation when Joseph was killed. These
delegates held their council. What were they afraid of? You and me? No. They
were afraid of those eternal principles God has revealed from the heavens; they
trembled and quaked at the sound of them. Joseph would have saved that nation
from ruin. * * *
Is the form of the Government ruined?
Has its form become evil? No; but the administrators of the Government are
evil. As we have said many times, it is
the best form of human government man ever lived under; but it has as corrupt a
set to administer it as God ever permitted to disgrace his footstool. There is
the evil. Can they better the condition of our country? No; they will make
it worse every time they attempt to do so. (JD 8:321)
Four years later President Brigham
Young again mentioned those at the source of the plan to kill Joseph Smith:
[52] The great majority of that class
of persons appear in society as polished gentlemen, whose suavity of manners
would deceive, if it were possible, the very elect. They have been educated in
our seminaries of learning, and this
class of men are now seeking to denude the Constitution of the United States of
all its protective and saving powers.
Why
all this? They killed the Prophet. The mob that collected at Carthage,
Illinois, to commit that deed of blood contained a delegation representing
every State in the Union. Each has received its blood stain. In the perpetration
of this great national sin, they acted upon their own free volition which God
implanted within them, as much so as if they had been willing to hearken to the
advice of the Prophet and his friends when they showed them how to preserve the
nation from destruction, how to do good to all, and how to introduce every holy
principle that is calculated to bless and exalt a people. But, said they,
"we will not hearken to the counsels of this man;" for, like the Jews
of old, they were afraid if they let him live he would take away their place
and nation. (JD 12:121)
Most people cannot believe that a
conspiracy could possibly exist within the American government. But these
conditions have been observed in every government and in every age since the
days of Cain who secretly plotted to destroy and despoil for gain. The words of
Cicero could not have been any more plain in describing this danger:
A nation can survive its fools, and
even the ambitious. But it cannot
survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for
he is known and he carries his banners openly. But the traitor moves among
those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the
galleys, heard in the very hall of government itself. For the traitor appears not traitor--he speaks in the accents
familiar to his victims, and wears their face and their garments, and he
appeals to the baseness that lies [53] deep in the hearts of all men. He rots
the soul of a nation--he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine
the pillars of a city--he infects the body politic so that it can no longer
resist. A murderer is less to be feared. (Cicero, 42 BC, To Seduce a Nation, Lindsey Williams, p. 138)
Even in Joseph Smith's time, many
unconstitutional laws had been passed, so a decision had to be made on whether
they should be submitted to or objected to. It was written in the Articles of
Faith that, "We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and
magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law." (No. 12) So,
how far should Saints honor an unconstitutional law? The Prophet explained:
The different states, and even
Congress itself, have passed many laws diametrically contrary to the
Constitution of the United States. * * *
Shall we be such fools as to be governed by its laws, which are
unconstitutional? No! * * * The Constitution acknowledges that the people
have all power not reserved to itself. I am a lawyer; I am a big lawyer and
comprehend heaven, earth and hell, to bring forth knowledge that shall cover up
all lawyers, doctors and other big bodies. This is the doctrine of the
Constitution, so help me God. (TPJS, p. 279)
And it was revealed in Section 98 of
the Doctrine and Covenants:
And now, verily I say unto you concerning the laws of the land, it is
my will that my people should observe to do
all things whatsoever I command them. And that law of the land which is constitutional, supporting that
principle of freedom in maintaining rights and privileges, belongs to all mankind,
and is justifiable before me. Therefore, I, the Lord, justify you, and your
brethren of my church, in befriending that law which is the constitutional law [54] of the land;
And as pertaining to law of man, whatsoever is more or less than this, cometh
of evil. (vs. 4-7)
So the Lord had made very clear which
course the Saints should take.
During these trials, persecutions, and
"obnoxious laws", the Lord gave many encouraging revelations to the
Saints. All of them indicated that the Government had become an enemy to the
Mormon people and that no compromise was to be made with them. The greatest
government on earth had descended to the power and force of a mob, and instead
of protecting the rights of its citizens, it was tyrannizing and stealing their
property. The last written revelation to the Church was given to Wilford
Woodruff on November 24, 1889; and it relates to the relationship of the LDS
Church to the US Government:
Thus saith the Lord to my servant
Wilford, I the Lord have heard thy prayer and thy request, and will answer thee
by the voice of my Spirit. Thus saith the Lord, unto my servants, the
Presidency of my Church, who hold the keys of the Kingdom of God on the earth. I the Lord hold the destiny of the courts
in your midst, and the destiny of this nation, and all other nations of the
earth in mine own hands; all that I have revealed, and promised and decreed
concerning the generation in which you live, shall come to pass, and no power
shall stay my hand. Let not my servants
who are called to the Presidency of my Church, deny my word or my law,
which concerns the salvation of the children of men. Let them pray for the Holy
Spirit, which shall be given them, to guide them in their acts. Place not yourselves in jeopardy to your
enemies by promise; your enemies seek your destruction and the destruction of
my people. If the Saints will hearken unto my voice, and the counsel of my
servants, the wicked shall not prevail. [55] Let my servants, who officiate as
your counselors before the courts, make their pleadings as they are moved upon
by the Holy Spirit, without any further
pledges from the Priesthood, and they shall be justified. I the Lord will hold
the courts, with the officers of government, and the nation responsible for
their acts towards the inhabitants of Zion. I, Jesus Christ, the savior of
the world, am in your midst. I am your advocate with the Father. Fear not
little flock, it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom. Fear
not the wicked and ungodly. Search the scriptures, for they are they which
testify of me; also those revelations which I have given to my servants since
the world began, which are recorded in the records of divine truth. Those revelations contain the judgments of
God, which are to be poured out upon all nations under the heavens, which
include great Babylon. These judgments are at the door, they will be
fulfilled as God lives. Leave judgment with me, it is mine saith the Lord.
Watch the signs of the times, and they will show the fulfillment of the words
of the Lord. Let my servants call upon the Lord in mighty prayer, retain the
Holy Ghost as your constant companion, and act as you are moved upon by that
spirit, and all will be well with you. The wicked are fast ripening in
iniquity, and they will be cut off by the judgments of God. Great events await
you and this generation, and are nigh at your doors. Awake, O Israel, and have
faith in God, and His promises, and He will not forsake you. I, the Lord will
deliver my saints from the dominion of the wicked, in mine own due time and
way. I cannot deny my word, neither in
blessings nor judgments. Therefore let mine anointed gird up their loins,
watch and be sober, and keep my commandments. Pray always and faint not;
exercise faith in the Lord and in the promises of God; be valiant in the
testimony of Jesus Christ. The eyes of the Lord and the Heavenly Hosts are
watching over you and your acts. Therefore be faithful until I come. I come
quickly, to reward every man according with deeds done in the body. Even so, Amen.
(Messages of the First Presidency,
3:175-176, Clark; also Gospel [56] Doctrine Manual for 1979-80, "My
Kingdom Shall Roll Forth," p. 58)
As difficult as conditions were for
the Mormons at that time, the Lord gave no indication that they should compromise
or make concessions to the Government. Ironically, all of this occurred just
shortly before the "Grand Compromise"--the 1890 Manifesto, which
began the course to abandon plural marriage, the United Order and the political
kingdom of God.
9. But you will have a friend or two to defend
you and throw out the worst part of the laws, so they will not hurt much.
Fortunately, there were a few
political, military and other official non-Mormons who provided assistance and
friendship to the Mormon people, i.e., Lazarus H. Reed, who became the
territory's Chief Justice, and Benjamin G. Ferris, the Territorial Secretary.
One of the most famous friends of the Saints was Alfred Cumming, Governor of
the Territory during some of its most difficult times. Historian B. H. Roberts
spoke very favorably about him:
Commenting upon his
administration the Deseret News also
said: "Of the official acts of Governor Cumming as the chief magistrate of
Utah, we do not wish to speak particularly at this time, further than to say
that his straight forward course pursued in the discharge of his executive
duties, and the independence he has manifested and maintained in the midst of
the difficulties which have surrounded him at times have secured for him many
friends, by whom he will not soon be forgotten whatever the future may bring
forth. We wish him and his lady a prosperous trip across the plains, and a safe
arrival at their dwelling place on the banks of the Savannah."
[57] Thus passed from the community
life of Utah one of the kindliest-hearted gentlemen, and one of the truest and
bravest friends the people of Utah ever had. (CHC 3:545)
Charles S. Kane was also considered a
friend of the Mormons, and in most conditions he supported and respected them,
as this incident demonstrates:
When Colonel Kane came to visit us, he
tried to point out a policy for me to pursue. But I told
him I should not turn to the right or left, or pursue any course, only as God
dictated. I should do nothing but what was right. When he found that I would
not be informed, only as the Spirit of the Lord led me, he felt discouraged and
said he would not go to the army. But finally, he said, if I would dictate he
would execute. I told him that as he had been inspired to come here, he should
go to the army and do as the Spirit of the Lord led him, and all would be
right. He did so, and all was right. (CHC 3:349)
However, he later became very
antagonistic towards the Mormon marriage system, and inflicted severe
punishments under the Edmunds law.
Other "friends" helped the
Saints after these perilous times--even Grover Cleveland and Teddy Roosevelt
and some in the Canadian and Mexican governments.
Three judges were also mentioned as
friendly to the Mormons: Kinney, Shaver and Reid. Brigham Young and Jedediah
Grant refer to them:
Our friend who
came here in the dead of winter, having left his wife sick nigh unto death, is
one of those who will yet have a celestial crown; he is on the road to it. When
Judge Kinney was in Washington, he
spoke well of this people. So far [58] as I know, he has never spoken evil of
this people, but every time he met an Elder in Washington he received him as a
friend, spoke to him kindly, and was not ashamed to walk arm-in-arm with him in
the streets of that city. There is a kingdom for him--a kingdom of glory. When
they wanted him to come here as a Governor, I am told that he said, "Yes,
if you send no soldiers there." He has a heart; and I say, God bless him
and every other good, honest man, whether he is a "Mormon" or not.
Who ever walked more correctly in his sphere of business than Judge Shaver? No man. He was as upright
as a man could be. He came here as judge, and he honoured the people, he
honoured his office, he honoured the President in his appointment, and he
honoured the laws of the Territory and the laws of the Government. There is a
kingdom for him; he will have his reward. (Brigham Young, JD 8:204, 1860)
One of our judges, Judge Shaver, has been here through the
winter, and, as far as he is known, he is a straightforward, judicious, upright
man, and a good adjudicator in the law. This I believe, and so do others who
are acquainted with his acts. He cannot be beaten among Jews or Gentiles. He
and Judge Reid, who has lately
arrived, I believe will do the best they can, and all is right. (Brigham Young,
JD 1:187, 1853)
Did you ever hear such a man as Judge Shaver threaten us with the
United States? Did you ever hear Judge
Reid do such a thing? No. Or Millard Fillmore or Andrew Jackson? No, such
men would scorn to threaten an innocent people with the armies of the nation.
(J. M. Grant, JD 3:235, 1856)
Some of the most important friends to
the Mormons came on the scene during the time that the Cullom Bill was being
discussed in Congress in 1884--between the Edmunds and the Edmunds-Tucker laws. It promoted open
and notorious robbery and called for the confiscation of personal property of
the Mormons:
[59] The Cullom bill was introduced
January 11, <1884>, which aimed to reorganize the legislative power of
the Territory of Utah. * * * Cullom declared, quoted by the Congressional
Record, Vol. 15, p. 357:
"If the people of Utah were loyal
to the government of the United States and were yielding obedience to the laws,
I would be among the last to insist upon placing over them a government not of
their own; but they occupy today the position of defying the Government, of
trampling the laws of Congress under their feet, and that being so, it seems to
me it cannot be doubted that Congress has the right to strip them of every
vestige of political power, and put all power into the hands of whomsoever the
Government sees proper to entrust with the functions necessary to be
exercised."
If the Senator wanted to punish a
people who were really disobedient to Federal statues, he might have looked
into the deep South where five states openly defied the Fifteenth Amendment.
Friends
of these "disobedient" Mormons rose in the Senate and refuted the
frustrated Cullom for his irrational views. One such was Senator Brown of
Georgia who called Cullom's law a "usurpation of power". (Ibid. pp.
357-364):
"The eighth section of the act is
a palpable violation of the Constitution, and is therefore null and void. The
Utah Commission, which is acting under that unconstitutional statute and
prescribing test-oath to voters, are acting without authority of law. Every act
performed by them under said section is without law, and every infringement of
personal liberty or private rights is an unjustifiable and indefensible
usurpation of power."
Commenting on the Cullom bill, the
News editor was sarcastic, January 16, p. 825:
"We hope, for the credit of our
country's leading legislators, that they will refuse to pass a measure so
outrageously unconstitutional as Mr. Cullom's Utah bill.
"It is refreshing to find such
champions of constitutional rights in the Senate as Mr. Brown of Georgia. He
looks upon the Edmunds law as an [60] unconstitutional abridgement of the right
of people in the territories to local self-government, and the Cullom measure
as a radical step in the same direction, practically sweeping that right out of
existence. Brown denies the right of Congress to perpetuate this flagrant piece
of anti-republican despotism, and his position is simply invulnerable. No
system that is worthy of being called republican can consistently make
glaringly unjust distinctions between the communities existing under its
rule."
At the juncture Senator Hoar added his
amendment to the scandalous bill. The
Brooklyn Eagle called it a "nostrum" which could not "cure
the evil," . . (History of Utah, Vol. 1, Wayne Stout,
pp. 209-210)
Reports of some other friends appeared
in the newspapers. The editor of the Omaha
Herald, commenting on the bill, said:
If the Cullom bill shall become a law,
it will produce war and bloodshed. * * * but we do not think we are speaking
unadvisedly when we continue to warn all that the Cullom bill means violence,
war, and the certain destruction of great interest. (CHC 5:316)
The response from the New York World said much the same:
This bill means war. Its terms and its
provisions are in the nature of preparations for war. Its execution will
assuredly be followed by war. * * * Congress should understand this, and the
country should be warned of these things before the passage of Cullom's bill.
(CHC 5:316)
B. H. Roberts noted that
"comments from leading journals of the country . . . were the potent
forces that defeated the Cullom bill." (CHC 5:317)
[61] So because of these few
"friends", the Cullom bill was defeated and personal property was not
confiscated--which would have really "hurt" the Mormon people.
10. You must continue to petition Congress all
the time, but they will treat you like strangers and aliens, and they will not
give you your rights, but will govern you with strangers and commissioners;
Important advice is given
here--indicating that even though the Saints would not be given their rights,
yet they were to continually petition Congress for them. It matters not if a
law is just or unjust, those who are wronged should constantly demand justice
and their rights. This is not different from the teachings of Jesus to His
disciples:
And he spake a parable unto them to
this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;
Saying, There was in a city a judge,
which feared not God, neither regarded man:
And there was a widow in that city;
and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary.
And he would not for a while: but
afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard men;
Yet because this widow troubleth me, I
will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.
And the Lord said, Hear what the
unjust judge saith.
And shall not God avenge his own
elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?
I tell you that he will avenge them
speedily. (Luke 18:1-8)
And in this dispensation, this
practice was also revealed to Joseph Smith:
[62] And again I say unto you, those
who have been scattered by their enemies, it is my will that they should
continue to importune for redress, and
redemption, by the hands of those who are placed as rulers and are in
authority over you--
According to the laws and constitution
of the people, which I have suffered to be established, and should be maintained
for the rights and protection of all flesh, according to just and holy
principles; . . . (D & C 101:76-77)
It is bad enough to be governed by
"strangers and commissioners", as were the early Saints for awhile
here in the Salt Lake Valley, but today we are governed by foreigners and
enemies. Our laws are often made by men who have little sincere interest in
America--only in personal power and gain. Our finances are managed by
International Bankers; our defenses are regulated by United Nations forces and
supervisors. Yet, in spite of this condition, the Saints are instructed to
continually petition Congress and those "unjust judges" who are
placed over us, and never yield or give up.
C. SAVING THE CONSTITUTION
11. "You will see the Constitution of the United
States almost destroyed; it will hang by a thread, and that thread as fine as
the finest silk fiber."
This statement by Joseph Smith is one
of the most significant in the entire White Horse Prophecy. Why? First it
depicts one of the most important missions of the White Horse and the Red Horse
(as the prophecy goes on to say that they will be the ones to preserve and save
it); and secondly, it gives validity to a prophecy that has been subsequently
quoted on numerous occasions, all of which seem to stem back to the White Horse
Prophecy.
[63] (picture of Constitution hanging
by a thread.)
(Deseret News, Dec 15, 1948)
[64] In 1948 Church Historian, Preston
Nibley, wrote a short item on the Constitution prophecy: He began by saying:
Frequent inquiry is received as to the
validity of the great prophecy said to have been made by the Prophet Joseph
Smith that the time would come when the Constitution would hang by a single
thread, and at that particular time the Mormon people would step forth and save
it from destruction.
For a number of years I have searched
through the writings and sermons of the Prophet, but to date I have not found
any record of the above prophecy as having been recorded by the Prophet
himself, or by those who worked with him in his office and assisted him in
writing his history.
The first reference to substantiate
this important prophecy was given in a sermon by President Brigham Young in the
old Tabernacle on the Temple Block, on July 4, 1854. The occasion was the
celebration of Independence Day by the people of Salt Lake City. President
Young was the principal speaker. (Des.
News, Dec. 15, 1948)
(This quote referred to is found on
page 67 of this section.)
Nibley went on to quote several other
early leaders who substantiated this statement attributed to the Prophet
Joseph, and then concluded with:
From all the above it is abundantly
evident that the Prophet Joseph Smith did make the marvelous prediction that it
is the destiny of the Latter-day Saints to some day save the Constitution of
the United States from destruction. (Ibid.)
No one can honestly deny that the
Constitution is not already torn apart, rejected and denied in our courts.
Major national decisions are now made by the courts of the United [65] Nations
rather than in our own U.S. courts. The U.S. President makes many decisions
according to the United Nations Charter. We seem to be fast approaching that
critical point in history that Joseph Smith warned about.
A silken thread can be used by both
good and bad. It can bind down the wicked or it can be a power to chain down
the righteous. In our present society we can see how it can be used in either
way.
Though a fairy tale, a lesson can be
learned from the story of Gulliver's Travels that relates how the tiny
Lilliputians succeeded to hold Gulliver powerless until they were sure he could
be trusted. When they found him unconscious on the beach, they began to bind
him down with fine silken thread. They worked frantically through the night,
knowing that in the morning he would awaken from his sleep. When Gulliver did
awake, he found himself so bound down that he could not move even a finger. The
thread which he could have easily broken a strand at a time, had been wrapped
so many times that he was firmly secured.
For nearly 200 years ambitious and
wicked men have bound down the American people with their cunning and devious
plots to rule the world. Their seemingly trivial and inconsequential laws,
which often have the appearance of being needful or beneficial, have gradually
bound down the American people just as was Gulliver.
Each year the U.S. Government has been
passing over 250,000 new regulations, many of which they eventually enforce as
laws. How many more years will it take before the American people realize that
they have been gradually tied down by these artificial laws and have finally
lost their freedom?
[66] On the other hand, the Lord has
revealed laws and principles to the Saints that will protect them from the
corrupt laws and devices of the wicked. These eternal principles and laws, and
the righteous who support them, will compose the silken thread that will
support and defend the Constitution and the principles of freedom, eventually
curtailing and binding down the powers of evil that were formerly in control.
This prophecy by the Prophet about the
Constitution hanging by a thread has been met with criticism and unbelief, yet
there can be little doubt as to the veracity of Joseph Smith's saying it--too
many people have declared that they heard him say it. To substantiate the
source and validity of this prophecy, let's listen to Mosiah Hancock, Brigham
Young, Jedediah Grant, Eliza R. Snow, John Taylor, Orson Hyde, Moses Thatcher,
George Q. Cannon, and Ezra Taft Benson. As these statements are read, however,
keep in mind that the only recorded
account of Joseph Smith making this statement about the Constitution hanging by
a thread is in the White Horse Prophecy.
Mosiah Hancock relates an incident
that happened in Nauvoo when the Prophet Joseph "came to our home and
stopped in our carpenter shop and stood by the turning lathe." He then
proceeded to tell him how the Saints would go to the Rocky Mountains and become
a "great and wealthy people." Then among other things he said:
There will be two great political
parties in this country. One will be called the Republican, and the other the
Democrat party. These two parties will go to war and out of these two parties
will spring another party which will be the Independent American Party. The
United States will spend her strength and means warring in foreign lands until
other nations will say, "Let's divide up the lands of the United
States," then the people of the U.S. will unite and swear by the blood
[67] of their fore-fathers, that the land shall not be divided. Then the
country will go to war, and they will fight until one half of the U.S. Army
will give up, and the rest will continue to struggle. They will keep on until
they are very ragged and discouraged, and almost ready to give up--when the
boys from the mountains will rush forth in time to save the American Army from
defeat and ruin. And they will say, "Brethren, we are glad you have come;
give us men, henceforth, who can talk with God." Then you will have
friends, but you will save the country when
its liberty hangs by a hair, as it were. (Mosiah Hancock Journal, p. 19)
Brigham Young:
The general Constitution of our
country is good, and a wholesome government could be framed upon it; for it was
dictated by the invisible operations of the Almighty. He moved upon Columbus to
launch forth upon the trackless deep to discover the American continent. He
moved upon the signers of the Declaration of Independence, and he moved upon
Washington to fight and conquer, in the same way that he has moved upon ancient
and modern prophets, each being inspired to accomplish the particular work he
was called to perform, in the times, seasons and dispensations of the Almighty.
. . .
If the framers of the Constitution and
the inhabitants of the United States had walked humbly before the God who
defended them and fought their battles when Washington was on the stage of
action, the nation would have now been free from a multitude of evils. . . .
Will the Constitution be destroyed?
No. It will be held inviolate by this people; and as Joseph Smith said, "the time will come when the destiny of this
nation will hang upon a single thread, and at this critical juncture, this
people will step forth and save it from the threatened destruction."
It will be so. (Journal History, July
4, 1854; see also JD 7:13, 14, 15)
[68] Jedediah Grant:
We are friendly to our country and
when we speak of the flag or our Union, we love it, and we love the rights the
Constitution guarantees to every citizen. What
did the Prophet Joseph say? "When the Constitution shall be tottering, we
shall be the people to save it from the hand of the foe." (The Mormon Battalion, Tyler, p. 350)
Eliza R. Snow:
My sisters, my remarks in conclusion
will be brief. I heard the Prophet
Joseph Smith say if the people rose up and mobbed us, and the authorities
countenanced it, they would have mobs to their hearts content. I heard him say that the time would
come when this nation would so far depart from its original purity, its glory
and its love for freedom, and its protection of civil rights and religious
rights, that the Constitution of our
country would hang as it were by a thread. He said also that this people,
the Sons of Zion, would rise up and save the Constitution and bear it off
triumphantly. (Des. News, Jan. 19,
1870)
Brigham Young:
These are practical teachings; they
are things which this people must be taught, for if we do not learn to take
care of ourselves and save ourselves, who will do it for us? Will the Gentiles
help us, and care for us? Will they do us good? No. And I tell you further,
Elders of Israel, that you do not know the day of your visitation, neither do
you understand the signs of the times, for if you did, you would be awake to
these things. Every organization of our government, the best government in the
world, is crumbling to pieces. Those who have it in their hands are the ones
who are destroying it. How long will it be before the words of the Prophet Joseph will be fulfilled? He said if [69] the
Constitution of the United States were saved at all, it must be done by this
people. It will not be many years before these words come to pass. How long
will it be before they will be coming here for bread, for the bread of life,
and for the bread which sustains the body? Do you know this? You do not. (JD
12:204)
Brigham Young:
Brethren and sisters, our friends wish
to know our feelings toward the Government. I answer, they are first rate, and
we will prove it, too, as you will see if you only live long enough, for that
we shall live to prove it is certain; and when
the Constitution of the United States hangs, as it were, upon a single thread,
they will have to call for the "Mormon" Elders to save it from utter
destruction; and they will step forth and do it. (JD 2:182)
John Taylor:
Again in regard to political matters,
where is there a nation today, under the face of the whole heavens, that is
under the guidance and direction of the Lord in the management of their public
affairs? You cannot find one. It is true that the founders of this nation, as a
preliminary step for the introduction of more correct principles and that
liberty and the rights of man might be recognized, and that all men might
become equal before the law of the land, had that great palladium of liberty,
the Constitution of the United States, framed. This was the entering wedge for
the introduction of a new era, and in it were introduced principles for the
birth and organization of a new world. The Prophet Joseph Smith said that
"The Constitution of the United States was given by the inspiration of
God." But good, virtuous and holy principles may be perverted by corrupt
and wicked men. The Lord was opposed by Satan, Jesus had his Judas, and this
nation abounds with traitors who ignore that sacred palladium of liberty and
seek to trample it [70] under foot. Joseph
Smith said they would do so, and that when deserted by all, the elders of
Israel would rally around its shattered fragments and save and preserve it
inviolate. (JD 21:31)
John Taylor:
When
the people shall have torn to shreds the Constitution of the United States, the
Elders of Israel will be found holding it up to the nations of the earth
and proclaiming liberty and equal rights to all men, and extending the hand of
fellowship to the oppressed of all nations. This is part of the programme, and
as long as we do what is right and fear God, he will help us and stand by us
under all circumstances. (JD 21:8)
John Taylor:
These secret combinations were spoken
of by Joseph Smith, years and years ago. I have heard him time and time again tell
about them, and he stated that when these things began to take place, the
liberties of this nation would begin to be bartered away. We see many signs of
weakness which we lament, and we would to God that our rulers would be men of
righteousness, and that those who aspire to position would be guided by
honorable feelings--to maintain inviolate the Constitution and operate in the
interest, happiness, well-being, and protection of the whole community. But we
see signs of weakness and vacillation. We see a policy being introduced to
listen to the clamor of mobs and of unprincipled men who know not of what they
speak, nor whereof they affirm, and when men begin to tear away with impunity one plank after another from our
Constitution, by and by we shall find that we are struggling with the wreck
and ruin of the system which the forefathers of this nation sought to establish
in the interests of humanity. But it is
for us still to sustain these glorious [71] principles of liberty bequeathed by
the founders of this nation, still to rally round the flag of the Union,
still to maintain all correct principles, granting the utmost extent of liberty
to all people of all grades and of all nations. If other people see fit to
violate these sacred principles, we must uphold them in their entirety, in
their purity, and be patriotic and law-abiding and act honorably toward our
nation and to its rulers. (JD 22:143-44)
John Taylor:
We will do right, we will treat all
men right, and we will maintain every institution of our country that is
according to the Constitution of the United States, and the laws thereof, and
we will sustain them. By and by, you
will find they will tear the Constitution to shreds, as they have begun now;
they won't have to begin; they have started long ago to rend the Constitution
of our country in pieces; and in doing so they are letting loose and
encouraging a principle which will re-act upon themselves with terrible
consequences; for if law-makers and administrators can afford to trample upon
justice, equity, and the Constitution of this country, they will find thousands
and tens of thousands who are willing to follow in their wake in the demolition
of the rights of man, and the destruction of all principles of justice, and the
safeguards of the nation; but we will
stand by and maintain its principles and the rights of all men of every
color, and every clime; we will cleave to the truth, live our religion and keep
the commandments of God, and God will bless us in time and throughout the
eternities that are to come. (JD 26:38-39)
Orson Hyde:
You may afflict, you may pass laws,
you may call upon distant nations to help you, you may shut down the emigration
against the Latter-day Saints, you may drive them, you may burn their
houses--you may do all [72] this, but they will continue to live and to stretch
forth in spite of all the powers beneath the heavens, and become a great people
under the Constitution of this great land. We never want to be freed from the
Constitution of our country. It is built upon heavenly principles. It is
established as firm as the rock of ages, and when those that abuse it shall
moulder in corruption under the surface of the earth, the American Constitution will stand and no people can destroy it,
because God raised it by our ancient fathers, and inspired them to frame that
sacred instrument. The Constitution is one thing: corrupt politicians are
another thing. One may be bright as the sun at noonday, the other as corrupt as
hell itself; that is the difference. (JD 24:31)
Orson Hyde:
It is said that brother Joseph in his lifetime declared that the
Elders of this Church should step forth at a particular time when the
Constitution should be in danger, and rescue it, and save it. This may be
so; but I do not recollect that he said exactly so. I believe he said something
like this--that the time would come when the Constitution and the country would
be in danger of an overthrow; and said he, If
the Constitution be saved at all, it will be by the Elders of this Church.
I believe this is about the language, as nearly as I can recollect it.
The question is whether it will be
saved at all, or not. I do not know that it matters to us whether it is or not:
the Lord will provide for and take care of his people, if we do every duty, and
fear and honour him, and keep his commandments; and he will not leave us
without a Constitution (JD 6:152)
Moses Thatcher:
There is no power in this land to turn
this people against the government of the United States. They will maintain the Constitution of this country [73] inviolate, and although it may have been
torn to shreds, they will tie it together again, and maintain every principle
of it, holding it up to the downtrodden of every nation, kindred, tongue
and people, and they will do it, too, under the Stars and Stripes. (JD 26:334)
George Q. Cannon:
We came here to stay, here we expect
to stay, and here we shall stay as long as we do right. And we shall not only
stay here, but we shall spread abroad, and the day will come--and this is
another prediction of Joseph Smith's "I want to remind you of it, my
brethren and sisters, when good government, constitutional government liberty
will be found among the Latter-day Saints, and it will be sought for in vain
elsewhere; when the Constitution of this land and republican government and
institutions will be upheld by this people who are now so oppressed and whose
destruction is now sought to diligently.
The day will come when the Constitution, and free government under it, will be
sustained and preserved by this people. This is saying a great deal, but it
is not saying any more than is said concerning the growth of this work, and
that which is already accomplished." (JD 23:104)
George Q. Cannon:
It seems like a strange thing to say,
but on all proper occasions I say it with a great deal of pleasure, at home and
from home, that I have been taught from early life that the day would come when
republican institutions would be in danger in this nation and upon this
continent, when, in fact, the republic
would be so rent asunder by factions that there would be no stable government
outside of the Latter-day Saints: and that it is their destiny as a people, to
uphold constitutional government upon this land. Now, a great many people think this is a [74]
chimera of the brain; they think it folly to indulge in such an idea; but the
day will come nevertheless. (JD 23:122)
Ezra Taft Benson:
Concerning the United States, the Lord
revealed to his prophets that its greatest threat would be a vast, world-wide
secret combination which would not only threaten the United States but seek to
overthrow the freedom of all lands, nations and countries. In connection with
the attack on the United States, the Lord told his prophet there would be an
attempt to overthrow the country by destroying the Constitution. Joseph Smith predicted that the time would
come when the Constitution would hang, as it were, by a thread, and at that
time this people will step forth and save it from the threatened destruction. It
is my conviction that the Elders of Israel, widely spread over the nation, will
at that crucial time successfully rally the righteous of our country and
provide the necessary balance of strength to save the institutions of
constitutional government. ...
The prophets in our day have
continually warned us of these internal threats--that our greatest threat from
Socialistic Communism lies within our country .... As the First Presidency
pointed out in a statement signed in 1936, if we continue to uphold Communism
by not making it treasonable, our land shall be destroyed, for the Lord has
said that whatsoever nation shall uphold such secret combinations to get power
and gain until they shall spread over the nation--behold they shall be
destroyed. The Lord has declared that before the second coming of Christ, it
will be necessary to destroy the secret works of darkness in order to preserve
the land of Zion--the Americas. The world-wide secret conspiracy which has
risen up in our day to fulfill these prophecies is easily identified. (Conf.
Rept., Oct. 7, 1961)
[75] As time has passed on, the
evidence of a crumbling Constitution becomes more apparent. Those who love the
Constitution are suffering from the attacks on their rights and the gradual
increase of tyranny over them. Ezra Taft Benson saw these things from
first-hand experience during his several years in Washington, D.C., and he
expressed:
Today the Christian constitutionalist
mourns for his country. He sees the spiritual and political faith of his
fathers betrayed by wolves in sheep’s clothing. He sees the forces of evil
increasing in strength and momentum under the leadership of Satan, the
arch-enemy of freedom. He sees the wicked honored and the valiant abused. He
senses that his own generation faces
Gethsemanes and Valley Forges that may yet rival or surpass the trials of the
early Apostles and the men of `76. (Tchgs.
of Ezra Taft Benson, p. 397)
The fact that those who support and
defend the Constitution may have to face a Gethsemane and a Valley Forge should
be enough to awaken this people of the troubles that lie ahead. To be able to
endure tests and trials "that may yet rival or surpass the trials of the
early Apostles and the men of `76" is a strong warning for
Constitutionalists to prepare for the test.
12. At this point the Prophet's countenance became
sad, because as he said, "I love the Constitution;"
The Prophet's love of the Constitution
was probably never expressed more beautifully or with greater emphasis than
when he declared:
The Constitution of the United States
is a glorious standard; it is founded in the wisdom of God. It is a heavenly
banner; it is to all those who are [76] privileged with the sweets of liberty,
like the cooling shades and refreshing waters of a great rock in a thirsty and
weary land. It is like a great tree under whose branches men from every clime
can be shielded from the burning rays of the sun. (TPJS, p. 147)
Joseph studied the Constitution very
closely to determine any faults, weaknesses, or possible improvements. He
concluded:
It is one of the first principles of my
life, and one that I have cultivated from my childhood, having been taught it
by my father, to allow every one the liberty of conscience. I am the greatest
advocate of the Constitution of the United States there is on the earth. In my
feelings I am always ready to die for the protection of the weak and oppressed
in their just rights. The only fault I find with the Constitution is, it is not
broad enough to cover the whole ground.
Although it provides that all men
shall enjoy religious freedom, yet it does not provide the manner by which that
freedom can be preserved, nor for the punishment of Government officers who
refuse to protect the people in their religious rights, or punish those mobs,
states, or communities who interfere with the rights of the people on account
of their religion. Its sentiments are good, but it provides no means of
enforcing them. It has but this one fault. Under its provision, a man or a
people who are able to protect themselves can get along well enough; but those
who have the misfortune to be weak or unpopular are left to the merciless rage
of popular fury.
The
Constitution should contain a provision that every officer of the Government
who should neglect or refuse to extend the protection guaranteed in the
Constitution should be subject to capital punishment; ... (TPJS, pp.
326-327)
If all the politicians, who are
neglecting and refusing to protect the rights of the American citizens
guaranteed by the [77] Constitution, should be sentenced with capital
punishment, Washington, D.C., would be a ghost town!
13. It was made by the inspiration of God,
The Constitution of the United States
has been considered one of the most inspired documents ever written by men. This
fact has been admitted by both Mormons and non-Mormons alike. The story of its
conception is itself an inspiring story:
During these sessions the tension was
great and the debate heated. Gloom settled on Washington for a time, and he
wrote, "I almost despair of seeing a favorable issue to the proceedings of
our Convention, and do therefore repent having had any agency in the
business."
One day Dr. Franklin arose and
appealed to the members to consider the
need of divine guidance in their actions. He said, "In this situation
of this Assembly, groping as it were in the dark to find political truth, and
scarce able to distinguish it when presented to us, how has it happened, sir,
that we have not hitherto once thought of humbly applying to the Father of lights to illuminate our understandings?
In the beginning of the contest with Great Britain, when we were sensible of
danger, we had daily prayer in this room for the divine protection. Our
prayers, sir, were heard, and they were graciously answered. . . .
"I have lived, sir, a long time,
and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth: That God governs in the affairs of men. And
if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that
an empire can rise without His aid?
"We have been assured, sir, in
the Sacred Writings, that `except the Lord build the house they labor in vain
that build it.' I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without His concurring aid we shall succeed
in this political building no better than the builders of Babel." (Our Heritage of Faith, 1:56, M. F.
Neff)
[78] After complying with Franklin's
appeal, the members of the Assembly formulated the Constitution with much
greater ease.
Even the Lord Himself said that the
Constitution is an inspired document--in a revelation to Joseph Smith:
And for this purpose have I
established the Constitution of this land, by the hands of wise men whom I
raised up unto this very purpose, and redeemed the land by the shedding of
blood. (D & C 101:80)
And the Prophet declared, "The
Constitution of the United States is a glorious standard; it is founded in the
wisdom of God" (TPJS, p. 147)
Many other Church leaders have
repeatedly stated the inspired nature of the Constitution; to mention a few:
Brigham Young JD 2:170, 176-77; 7:13-15, 182
Franklin D. Richards JD 26:171
John Taylor JD 22:295
Orson Hyde JD 6:151-54
Orson Pratt JD 3:71; 7:215-17
Parley P. Pratt JD 1:138-40
Wilford Woodruff JD 12:275; 24:243;
25:210-11
The Prophet Joseph put the truthfulness
of the Constitution in the same classification as the scriptures:
We say that God is true; that the
Constitution of the United States is true; that the Bible is true; that the
Book of Mormon is true; that the Book of Covenants is true; that Christ is
true; that the ministering angels sent forth from God are true, and that we
know that we have an house not made with hands eternal in the heavens, whose
builder and maker is God; ... (TPJS, p. 148)
[79] So likewise should we, as
Americans--and Latter-day Saints--honor and obey this great document.
Nevertheless, the Constitution is not
fool-proof, and men are capable of misinterpretation and mismanagement. J.
Reuben Clark eloquently points out this danger:
Every organism, social, animal or
plant, that belongs to this world has in it the seeds of death. So we have in
our midst those seeds, which if they grow, shall cause the death of our body
politic. * * * These are the ranks from whom the enemies of our government,
both at home and abroad, hope to recruit the forces that shall overturn our
government and destroy our free institutions.
Curiously while we have become
extremely careful about the matter of infection for physical disease, while we
appreciate and we understand thoroughly that disease may be passed from person
to person, and we provide against such contamination, yet though so awake, and
so understanding the principle of physical infection, we stand blind and dumb
at the other and more subtle infection, the infection equally difficult to handle,
the infection of the body politic, by ideals, standards, aims, ends, hopes that
are alien to us and to our great free institutions.
Beware of laws made by strangers! * *
* Let us not tinker with the Constitution. It is my belief that the
Constitution, as it stands today, can handle all of the problems that are being
presented to us for solution.
* * * With these declarations from the
Lord, as we believe, and from the Lord's prophets, as we believe, can there be
among us people any spirit that will tolerate tinkering with this Constitution?
Given by the Lord, must we not be certain, before we enter upon changes, that
such changes also are dictated by the Lord? (Des. News, Sept. 22, 1923)
George Q. Cannon states that the
Kingdom of God is provided for in the inspired Constitution:
[80] When he establishes
his kingdom, it will protect all in their equal rights; I as a Latter-day
Saint, will not have power to trample on my fellow-man who may not be orthodox
in my opinion, because I am a Latter-day Saint; nor will my fellow-man to whom
I am heterodox, have the power to trample upon me. Does not that look right?
That is the kind of kingdom we have to contend for; that is the kind of kingdom
we have to establish, and it is already provided
for in the Constitution given unto us by God, and through the glorious
labors of the fathers who laid the foundation of this government, who were
inspired and raised by our Almighty Father for this express purpose.
There is no liberty that a human being can desire, neither is there a right
that can be exercised properly, that we do not have under the Constitution of
our land. It needs no amendment about it; it is broad enough, if interpreted in
its true spirit, to cover the individual, the continent, and the entire globe
and furnish freedom for all. (JD 20:204)
14. And it will be preserved and saved by the
efforts of the White Horse and the Red Horse, who will combine in its defense.
Joseph Smith here is combining the Red
Horse, or Lamanites who are generally of the House of Manasseh, with the White
Horse, or Ephraimites. The following seven quotations clarify the lineage of
the Lamanites, or the Red Horse:
And Aminadi was a descendant of Nephi,
who was the son of Lehi, who came
out of the land of Jerusalem, who was a
descendant of Manasseh, who was the son of Joseph who was sold into Egypt
by the hands of his brethren. (Alma 10:3)
* * *
[81] Israel are upon all the face of
the earth. Some think that these American
Indians are Israel, and we think that they are too; but they are only one part
or portion of the twelve tribes; indeed, they are only a very small portion of
the tribes of Joseph, the most of them
being the descendants of Manasseh. (Orson Pratt, JD 2:262, 1855)
* * *
It is true that Lehi and his family were descendants of Joseph through the lineage of
Manasseh, and Ishmael was a descendant of Ephraim, according to the
statement of the Prophet Joseph Smith. That the Nephites were descendants of
Joseph is in fulfilment of the blessings given to Joseph by his father Israel.
The Nephites were of the Jews, not so much by descent as by citizenship,
although in the long descent from Jacob, it could be possible of some mixing of
the tribes by intermarriage. (Jos. Fldg. Smith, Doc. of Sal., 3:262-263)
* * *
Jacob himself, the father of all
Israel, prophesied of one of his sons: "Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a
fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall" (Gen. 49:22),
thus foreshadowing the establishment of the Lehite civilization in the
Americas. Lehi was of the tribe of
Manasseh. (The Mill. Messiah,
Bruce R. McConkie, p. 187)
* * *
Both the Lamanites and the Nephites
were of the tribe of Manasseh, whose
father, Joseph, was sold by his brethren into Egyptian slavery. (Ibid., p. 211)
* * *
Thus also they were of the House of
Israel. Lehi was of the tribe of
Manasseh (Alma 10:3), Ishmael of the
tribe of Ephraim, and Mulek of the tribe of Judah. (Hela. 8:20-22.) (Morm. Doc., McConkie, p. 33)
* * *
[82] If we turn back to the blessing
which Moses gave to the twelve tribes of Israel, as found in Deuteronomy, we
shall there see that in blessing the tribe of Joseph, he especially charged
them with the duty of gathering the people from the ends of the earth. Said he, Joseph's horns are like the horns of
unicorns, which shall push the people together from the ends of the earth, and
they are the thousands of Manasseh and ten thousands of Ephraim; showing that
it shall be the ten thousands of Ephraim and thousands of Manasseh who shall be
in the foremost ranks of bearing the Gospel message to the ends of the earth,
and gathering Israel from the four quarters of the world in the last days. Whoever has read the Book of Mormon carefully
will have learned that the remnants of the house of Joseph dwelt upon the
American continent; and that Lehi
learned by searching the records of his fathers that were written upon the
plates of brass, that he was of the lineage of Manasseh. The Prophet Joseph informed us that the
record of Lehi, was contained on the 116 pages that were first translated and
subsequently stolen, and of which an abridgement is given us in the first Book
of Nephi, which is the record of Nephi
individually, he himself being of the lineage of Manasseh; but that Ishmael was
of the lineage of Ephraim, and that his sons married into Lehi's family, and
Lehi's sons married Ishmael's daughters, thus fulfilling the words of Jacob
upon Ephraim and Manasseh in the 48th chapter of Genesis, which says: "And let my name be named on them, and
the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in
the midst of the land." Thus these descendants of Manasseh and
Ephraim grew together upon this American continent, with a sprinkling from the
house of Judah, from Mulek descended, who left Jerusalem eleven years after
Lehi, and founded the colony afterwards known as Zarahemla and found by
Mosiah--thus making a combination, an intermixture of Ephraim and Manasseh with
the remnants of [83] Judah, and for aught we know, the remnants of some other
tribes that might have accompanied Mulek.
And such have grown up on the American continent. (Erastus Snow, JD
23:182)
And again in the last days shall the
descendants of Ephraim and Manasseh work together to benefit the rest of the
Israelite tribes--as well as other nations.
But before the great day of the Lord
shall come, Jacob shall flourish in the wilderness, and the Lamanites shall
blossom as the rose. Zion shall flourish upon the hills and rejoice upon the
mountains, and shall be assembled together unto the place which I have
appointed. (D & C 49:24-25)
The mission of the Lamanites is
different from the Ephraimites, yet both need each other in the final wind-up
scene. The Book of Mormon indicates that the mission of Jacob might be that of
helping in a cleansing process:
Therefore, repent ye, and humble
yourselves before him, lest he shall come out in justice against you--lest a remnant of the seed of Jacob shall go
forth among you as a lion, and tear you in pieces, and there is none to
deliver. (Mormon 5:24)
And again from the Book of Mormon--
And my people who are a remnant of
Jacob shall be among the Gentiles, yea, in the midst of them as a lion among
the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep, who, if he
go through both treadeth down and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver.
Their hand shall be lifted up upon
their adversaries, and all their enemies shall be cut off.
Yea, wo be unto the Gentiles except
they repent; for it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Father, [84] that
I will cut off thy horses out of the midst of thee, and I will destroy thy
chariots;
And I will cut off witchcrafts out of
thy land, and thou shalt have no more soothsayers;
Thy graven images I will also cut off,
and thy standing images out of the midst of thee, and thou shalt no more
worship the works of thy hands;
And I will pluck up thy groves out of
the midst of thee; so will I destroy thy cities.
And it shall come to pass that all
lyings, and deceivings, and envyings, and strifes, and priestcrafts, and whoredoms,
shall be done away.
For it shall come to pass, saith the
Father, that at that day whosoever will not repent and come unto my Beloved
Son, them will I cut off from among my people, O house of Israel;
And I will execute vengeance and fury
upon them, even as upon the heathen, such as they have not heard. (3 Nephi
21:12-21)
The mission of the Ephraimites is to
teach, ordain and administer the higher ordinances of the Gospel, as revealed
by the Lord to Joseph Smith. They hold the keys of the greater blessings to
whom all the rest of the House of Israel will come and receive their portion:
And the Lord, even the Savior, shall
stand in the midst of his people, and shall reign over all flesh.
And they who are in the north
countries shall come in remembrance before the Lord; and their prophets shall
hear his voice, and shall no longer stay themselves; and they shall smite the
rocks, and the ice shall flow down at their presence.
And an highway shall be cast up in the
midst of the great deep.
Their enemies shall become a prey unto
them,
And in the barren deserts there shall
come forth pools of living water; and the parched ground shall no longer be a
thirsty land.
And they shall bring forth their rich
treasures unto the children of Ephraim, my servants.
[85] And the boundaries of the
everlasting hills shall tremble at their presence.
And there shall they fall down and be
crowned with glory, even in Zion, by the
hands of the servants of the Lord, even the children of Ephraim. And they
shall be filled with songs of everlasting joy.
Behold, this is the blessing of the
everlasting God upon the tribes of Israel, and the richer blessing upon the head of Ephraim and his fellows.
And they also of the tribe of Judah,
after their pain, shall be sanctified in holiness before the Lord, to dwell in
his presence day and night, forever and ever. (D & C 133:25-35)
The Ephraimites will gather together
those from Manasseh whose work has only commenced in a small degree, to prepare
them for the work that they both must do. Orson Pratt explains:
". . . 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 [86] 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 reading
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 co-operate 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 go 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 [87]
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. (JD 17:301-302)
Parley P. Pratt wrote an article which
was read to the High Council in Nauvoo. It was later published in a pamphlet entitled,
"Angel of the Prairies," and considered as a valid prophecy. The part
referring to the Indians stated:
My guide now handed me the same
curious glass in which I had formerly viewed the country. But now how
different, how wonderful the change of all things around me! Instead of lone
prairies and wild and dreary forests, I now beheld one vast extent of populous
country. Cities, towns, villages, houses, palaces, gardens, farms. fields,
orchards, and vineyards extended in endless variety where once I beheld little
else but loneliness and desolation.
"This," said the Angel of
the Prairies, "is the country in which, one hundred years ago, you
commenced to explore, in your journey to the west. Behold," continued he,
"what truth and knowledge and perseverance can accomplish in a single
century." To this I replied: "I am lost in wonder and amazement, and
can hardly understand what I see. Who are these populous nations and tribes,
who in happy myriads occupy the country immediately to the west, which was
formerly occupied by savage hordes, but which now presents one vast scene of
neatness, beauty, civilization and happiness? Have the Indian tribes, then,
been entirely exterminated, and their country overrun by civilized
nations?"
"Nay," said he, "these are still the Indians. A
mysterious Providence preserved their remnants, and gathered and concentrated
them into [88] one peaceful nation.
When they were first brought together from all parts of the continent, they
numbered a population of about seven millions of ignorant, degraded people. But
the light of truth dawned upon them, and with it came all the blessings of
peace, plenty, civilization, cleanliness, and beauty, which you behold, and
they constitute some thirty--five millions, and occupy all the country west of
the Mississippi and bordering on the Rocky Mountains." ("Angel of the
Prairies", P. P. Pratt, pp. 15-16)
15. The White Horse will raise an ensign on the
tops of the mountains of Peace and Safety where all nations may flee unto for
safety.
Perhaps only a few Mormons know the
story of why the Saints settled here in the Salt Lake Valley and the
significance of Ensign Peak. Apostle George A. Smith explained:
After the death of Joseph Smith, when
it seemed as if every trouble and calamity had come upon the Saints, Brigham
Young, who was President of the Twelve, then the presiding Quorum of the
Church, sought the Lord to know what they should do, and where they should lead
the people for safety, and while they were fasting and praying daily on this
subject, President Young had a vision of Joseph Smith, who showed him the
mountain that we now call Ensign Peak, immediately north of Salt Lake City, and
there was an ensign fell upon that peak, and Joseph said, "Build under the
point where the colors fall and you will prosper and have peace." The
pioneers had no pilot or guide; none among them had ever been in the country or
knew anything about it. However, they travelled under the direction of
President Young until they reached this valley. When they entered it, President
Young pointed to that peak, and said he, "I want to go there." He
went up to the point and said, "This is Ensign Peak." * * *
[89] I have travelled somewhat
extensively in the Territory, and I bear my testimony this day, that this is
the spot, and I feel confident that the God of Heaven by His inspiration led
our Prophet right here. (JD 13:85-86)
Brigham Young recognized the
"peace and safety" that these mountains afforded:
An inland Empire will be established
in these valleys of the mountains, which will be a place of refuge for millions of people to gather to, when the great
day of the judgments of God comes upon the earth, and the righteous come here for safety. Our people will go East,
West, North, and South, but the day will come, when they will be glad to come
back. We will be shut out from the rest of the world. (Prophecy, Key to the Future, Crowther, p. 310)
On another occasion Brigham Young
remarked:
We are blessed in these mountains;
this is the best place on earth for the Latter-day Saints. Search the history
of all nations and every geographical position on the face of the earth, and
you cannot find another situation so
well adapted for the Saints as are these mountains. Here is the place in
which the Lord designed to hide His
people. . . It has been designed,
for many generations, to hide up the Saints in the last days, until the
indignation of the Almighty be over. His wrath will be poured out upon the
nations of the earth. (Des. News,
May 1, 1861)
The Lord will save the House of Israel
in the last days just as He has saved them in ancient times--by gathering them
out of the world. This last dispensation is the time for the final gathering of
the elect:
Listen to the voice of Jesus Christ, your
Redeemer, the Great I am, whose arm of mercy hath atoned for your sins;
[90] Who will gather his people even
as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, even as many as will hearken
to my voice and humble themselves before me, and call upon me in mighty prayer.
* * *
And ye are called to bring to pass the
gathering of mine elect; for mine elect hear my voice and harden not their
hearts;
Wherefore the decree hath gone forth
from the Father that they shall be
gathered in unto one place upon the face of this land, to prepare their
hearts and be prepared in all things against the day when tribulation and
desolation are sent forth upon the wicked.
For the hour is nigh and the day soon
at hand when the earth is ripe; and all the proud and they that do wickedly
shall be as stubble; and I will burn them up, saith the Lord of Hosts, that
wickedness shall not be upon the earth;
For the hour is nigh, and that which
was spoken by mine apostles must be fulfilled; for as they spoke so shall it
come to pass;
For I will reveal myself from heaven
with power and great glory, with all the hosts thereof, and dwell in
righteousness with men on earth a thousand years, and the wicked shall not
stand. (D & C 29:1-2, 7-11)
D. FINDING
GOLD AND WEALTH
16. "The White Horse will find the mountains
full of minerals, and they will become very rich. You will find silver piled up
in the streets." (At this time, it must be remembered that it was not
known that the precious metals existed either in the Rocky Mountains or in California.)
"You will see gold shoveled up like sand."
Vast amounts of wealth have not been
given to the Lord's people very often because comparatively few have ever been
able to properly handle great wealth. It seems to draw [91] out the worst
weaknesses in their character. However, prophecy indicates that God has made
the promise that in the last days wealth would be a tool in the hands of the
Lord's people. In a revelation to Joseph the Lord said:
And if ye seek the riches which it is
the will of the Father to give unto you, ye shall be the richest of all people,
for ye shall have the riches of eternity; and it must needs be that the riches of the earth are mine to give;
but beware of pride, lest ye become as the Nephites of old. (D & C 38:39)
The Book of Mormon has given us the
key to unlocking the stores of wealth that have been reserved to come forth:
Think of your brethren like unto
yourselves, and be familiar with all and free with your substance, that they
may be rich like unto you.
But
before ye seek for riches, seek ye for the kingdom of God.
And after ye have obtained a hope in
Christ ye shall obtain riches, if ye seek them; and ye will seek them for the
intent to do good--to clothe the naked, and to feed the hungry, and to liberate
the captive, and administer relief to the sick and the afflicted. (Jacob
2:17-19)
In an April 1862 talk, Brigham Young
said:
Brother Lorenzo Snow says that the
Lord will bless my brethren and sisters. He says that all the mules in the
territory cannot haul away the gold that is concealed in these mountains. (JD
10:34-35)
And a year and a half later he
declared:
When it is necessary that we should
possess gold in great abundance, the Lord will show it to us in vision, and we
shall not have to prospect and dig to find it, as the wicked have to do. The
liberty of the [92] Saints is to possess power with God to open gold mines,
when we want gold. (JD 10:288)
Orson Pratt foretold:
Now, when the time comes for
purchasing this land, we will have means. How this means will be brought about
it is not for me to say. Perhaps the Lord will open up mines containing gold
and silver, or in some other way as seemeth to him best, wealth will be poured into the laps of the Latter-day Saints till they
will scarcely know what to do with it. I will here again prophesy on the
strength of former revelation that there are no people on the face of the whole
globe, not even excepting London, Paris, New York, or any of the great
mercantile cities of the globe--there
are no people now upon the face of the earth, so rich as the Latter-day Saints
will be in a few years to come. Having their millions, therefore, they will
purchase the land, build up cities, towns, and villages, build a great capital
city, at headquarters, in Jackson County, Missouri. (JD 21:136)
These statements all indicate that the
Latter-day Saints will be given great wealth while the rest of the world will
be in a terrible economic ruin. God controls the wealth of nations, just as he
does that of individuals. Brigham Young explained:
People do not know it, but I know
there is a seal set upon the treasures of the earth; men are allowed to go so
far and no farther. I have known places where there were treasures in
abundance; but could men get them? No. (JD 19:39)
These treasures that are in the earth
are carefully watched; they can be removed from place to place according to the
good pleasure of Him who made them and owns them. He has His messengers at His
service, and it is just as easy for an
angel to [93] remove the minerals from any part of one of these mountains to
another, as it is for you and me to walk up and down this hall. This,
however, is not understood by the Christian world, nor by us as a people. (JD
19:36-37)
When people worship wealth the way
they do now, God will eventually take it away from them. Only when people learn
the true purpose of riches and are willing to use them the way God has
intended, will He give them to the people. In the last days there will arise
just such a people. God will give them so much wealth that they will overthrow
the value of the world's economic standard. A gentile reporter once recorded a
sermon by Brigham Young in which he stated:
The able speaker
painted in lively colors the ruin which would be brought upon the United States
by gold, and boldly predicted that they would be overthrown because they had
killed the prophets, stoned and rejected those who were sent to call them to
repentance, and finally plundered and driven the Church of the Saints from
their midst, and burned and desolated their city and temples. He said God had a
reckoning with that people and gold
would be the instrument of their overthrow. The Constitution and laws were
good, in fact the best in the world, but the administrators were corrupt, and
the laws and Constitution were not carried out, therefore they must fall. (Des. News, Feb. 16, 1897)
Bishop Koyle of the Relief Mine said
he saw a dream of the future when people would walk down the street and $20
bills would be blowing down the street, and they would not even stoop over to
pick them up. The paper money system of this country would be in ruins. He also
saw the Relief Mine producing vast quantities of gold that would be shoveled up like sand. He said so much
gold would be produced that a person could not take it all out in his
generation, or his son's, or his son's son's.
[94] Even if there has not been an
ounce of gold in the Relief Mine, the Lord could put it there when the time is
right. The riches of the earth are His to take or to give. He uses them to His
own purpose and reason. He can change water to wine, multiply bread and fish,
change a stick to a snake, or turn rocks to gold.
Reason, logic and scientific
evaluations may have little or nothing to do with the comprehension of God's
work on earth. Noah's ark, Joseph's grain bins, Moses' rod, or Joseph's golden
plates were objects for ridicule and scoffing, but to God they were a means of
saving Israel. The work of God is foolishness to most men, and conversely, most
of men's work is foolishness to God.
17. Gold will be but of little value, even in a
mercantile capacity, for the people of the world will have something else to do
in seeking for salvation.
Apostle Orson Pratt almost quoted
Joseph Smith word for word when he said:
By-and-by the Spirit of God will
entirely withdraw from those Gentile nations, and leave them to themselves. Then they will find something else to do
besides warring against the Saints in their midst--besides raising their
sword and fighting against the Lamb of God; for then war will commence in
earnest, and such a war as probably never entered into the hearts of men in our
age to conceive of. No nation of the Gentiles upon the fact of the whole earth
but what will be engaged in deadly war, except the Latter-day Kingdom. (JD
7:188)
When "gold will be of little
value even in a mercantile capacity," it will be the day that there is an
extreme abundance [95] of it. In those days it will also appear that there will
be much difficulty "for the people of the world." Brigham Young
describes these conditions:
The time will come that gold will hold
no comparison in value to a bushel of wheat. Gold is not to be compared with it
in value. (JD 1:250)
The Old Testament even contains a
prophecy to this effect:
The great day of the Lord is near, it
is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the Lord: the mighty
man shall cry there bitterly. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and
distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess,
a day of clouds and thick darkness. And I will bring distress upon men, that
they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord: and
their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung. Neither their silver nor their gold shall
be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord's wrath; but the whole land
shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy
for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the
land. (Zephaniah 1:14-18)
When calamity hits a community or
nation, the people are concerned only about surviving. In a war zone or a
tornado area, business shuts down, commercial enterprise halts and no one can
buy or sell. When earthquakes, fires, plagues, war, famine and distress fall
upon this nation, they will not be idolizing their cars, homes and riches. They
will have something else to do besides laboring with all their business schemes
in order to get rich.
These are the "last days"
which were so much talked about by former prophets. Jesus gave specific
illustrations of the calamities that will befall the nations during these days:
[96] And ye shall hear of wars and
rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to
pass, but the end is not yet.
For nation shall rise against nation,
and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and
earthquakes, in divers places.
All these are the beginning of
sorrows. * * *
When ye therefore shall see the
abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place,
(whoso readeth, let him understand) ***
For then shall be great tribulation,
such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever
shall be.
And except those days should be
shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days
shall be shortened. (Matt. 24:6-8, 15, 21-22)
The reason a nation or people suffer
the judgments of God is simply because they have rejected the revelations of
messages that God has given them. This nation is in deep trouble because it has
rejected the message delivered to it from God; and they have killed the Prophet
who gave it to them. Their fate is sealed and destruction will follow. In that
day they will "have something else to do in seeking for salvation."
They will be seeking for ways to stay alive. It will be their temporal
salvation that they will seek to keep. The Lord told Joseph Smith:
Thy brethren have rejected you and
your testimony, even the nation that has driven you out;
And now cometh the day of their
calamity, even the days of sorrow, like a woman that is taken in travail; and
their sorrow shall be great unless they speedily repent, yea, very speedily.
For they killed the prophets, and them
that were sent unto them; and they have shed innocent blood, which crieth from
the ground against them. (D & C 136:34-36)
[97] The Lord has never changed his
mind about the calamities that are due to come upon this and all other nations.
They have not repented, nor have they accepted the Gospel. So as late as 1880
God still insisted that He was going to bring His judgments on the wicked:
I have already revealed my will
concerning this nation through the mouth
of my servant Joseph, who sealed his testimony with his own blood, which
testimony has been in force upon all the world from the hour of his death.
What I the Lord have revealed in that
testament and decreed upon this nation and upon all the nations of the earth,
shall be fulfilled, saith the Lord of hosts. I the Lord have spoken and will be
obeyed. My purposes shall be fulfilled upon this nation and no power shall stay
My hand. The hour is at the door when My wrath and indignation will be poured
out upon the wicked of this nation.
Their murders, blasphemies, lying,
whoredoms, and abominations have come up before my face and before the heavens,
and the wrath of my indignation is full.
I have decreed plagues to go forth and
waste my enemies, and not many years hence they shall not be left to pollute my
heritage.
The devil is ruling over his kingdom
and my spirit has no place in the hearts of the rulers of this nation, and the
devil stirs them up to defy my power and to make war upon my Saints. Therefore
let mine Apostles and mine Elders who are faithful obey my commandments which
are already written for their profit and guidance. * * *
This nation is ripened in iniquity and
the cup of the wrath of mine indignation is full and I will not stay my hand in
judgments upon this nation or the nations of the earth.
I have decreed wars and judgments upon
the wicked and my wrath and indignation are about to be poured out upon them
and the wicked and rebellious shall know that I am God.
[98] As I the Lord have spoken so will
I fulfill. I will spare none who remain in Babylon, but I will burn them up,
saith the Lord of Hosts. As I the Lord have suffered, so will I put all enemies
under my feet. For I the Lord utter my word and it shall be obeyed.
And the day of wrath and indignation
shall come upon the wicked.
And I say again, woe unto that nation or
house or people who seek to hinder my people from obeying the Patriarchal law
of Abraham, which leadeth to Celestial Glory, which has been revealed unto my
Saints through the mouth of my servant Joseph, for whosoever doeth these things
shall be damned, saith the Lord of Hosts, and shall be broken up and wasted
away from under heaven by the judgments which I have sent forth, and which
shall not return unto me void.
And thus, with the sword and by
bloodshed, and with famine and plagues and earthquakes and the thunder of
heaven and the vivid lightnings shall this nation and the nations of the earth
be made to feel the chastening hand of an Almighty God until they are broken up
and destroyed and wasted away from under heaven, and no power can stay my hand.
Therefore, let the wicked tremble; let them that blaspheme my name hold their
lips, for destruction will swiftly overtake them. * * *
The blood of my servants Joseph and
Hyrum and of mine Apostles and Elders which has been shed for the Word of God
and the testimony of Jesus Christ, cries from the ground for vengeance upon the
nation which has shed their blood.
But their blood shall speedily be
avenged and shall cease to cry unto me, for the hour of God's judgment is fully
come and shall be poured out without measure upon the wicked. (Revelation given
to Wilford Woodruff, Jan. 25, 1880, Sunset, Arizona)
Wilford Woodruff talked about similar
conditions in a sermon in August 1880:
[99] When I contemplate the condition
of our nation and see that wickedness and abominations are increasing, so much
that the whole heavens groan and weep over the abominations of this nation and
the nations of the earth, I ask myself the question, Can the American nation
escape? The answer comes, No; its destruction, as well as the destruction of
the world, is sure; just as sure as the Lord cut off and destroyed the two
great and prosperous nations that once inhabited this continent of North and
South America, because of their wickedness, so will He then destroy, and sooner
or later they will reap the fruits of their own wicked acts, and be numbered
among the past. (JD 21:300)
Bishop John Koyle also saw many of the
conditions that would take people's minds off of gold and riches at that time:
... About this time transportation
would stop all over the country, and manufacturing would cease, and the people
would have to return to their horses, if they had any, or go on foot. Then we
could no longer buy any wheat because there was no way to get to where the big
supplies were located, nor could it be brought to us; and those who did have
any wheat on hand would not sell it for a bushel of gold.
Then the really big troubles began
with famine, warfare, plagues, and judgments, and we would have to make White
City and the Dream Mine into a fortress to protect ourselves from ravaging
mobs. In many places, he said, the dead wouldl outnumber the living, while in
others there would not even be enough living to bury the dead. (Three Nephites, Kraut, p. 166)
So there will be many "something
elses" for the people of the world to be concerned about.
18.
The time will come when the banks in every nation will fail, and only two
places will be safe where the people can deposit their gold [100] and treasure. These places will be with
the White Horse and England's vaults.
Another of Joseph Smith's prophecies
along this line was related to Charles Card by Samuel Smith in 1887:
When Samuel Smith of Brigham City
visited Card on 21 January 1887, Card discussed his northern
venture, arguing that "the land of refuge is the
north." To his surprise, Smith related that he had been present at an 1843
priesthood meeting in the basement of the Nauvoo Temple when Joseph Smith
prophesied that:
"England or the nation of Great
Britain, would be the last nation to go to pieces. She would be instrumental in
aiding to crush other nations, even this nation of the United States, and she
would only be overthrown by the Ten Tribes from the north. She would never
persecute the Saints as a nation. She would gather up great treasures of gold
and yet we should seek refuge in her dominion." (Charles Ora Card Journal,
21 Jan. 1887)
Orson Pratt was apparently permitted
to see and understand that Zion would be a safe place for people from other
nations to bring their riches:
A flowing stream is one that runs
continually; and the Gentiles will, in that day, come to us as a flowing
stream, and we shall have to set our gates open continually, they will come as
clouds and as doves in large flocks. Do you suppose that the Gentiles are going
to be ignorant of what is taking place? "Now this will not be the case;
they will perfectly understand what is taking place. The people will see that
the hand of God is over this people; they will see that He is in our midst, and
that He is our watchtower, that He is our shield and our defense, and
therefore, they will say, "Let us
go up and put our riches in Zion, for there is no safety in our own
nations."
[101] Those nations are trembling and tottering and will eventually crumble
to ruin, and those men of wealth will come here, not to be baptized, but
many of them will come that have never heard the servants of God; but they will hear that peace and health
dwell among us, and that our officers are all peace officers, and our
tax-gatherers men of righteousness. (JD 3:16)
It is evident that Joseph Smith
foresaw the terrible economic conditions that would come to the nations of the
world. But when he revealed the Lord's plan for economic security (The United
Order), it was met with much opposition and difficulty. Brigham Young tried it
several times in many places, but the weaknesses of men continually came to
light. The spirit of greed and individual wealth never got out of their
systems. So now they have become a part of the world's economic system under
the International Bankers. They labor for federal notes and the Babylonian
system of money. But how sound is that system?
First, let's take a closer look at the
Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). Listen to
the warnings of men who know how fraudulent those organizations really are,
because they are in reality not even a part of the Federal Government. Dave
Saleh, author and staff researcher for the "McAlvany Intelligence
Reports" has warned:
At no time since the Great Depression
has the U.S. banking system been in worse condition than it is today, with
lower earnings, declining profitability and more bad loans than anytime since
the 1930's.
The ominous condition of American
banks should be a warning to all depositors and savers that trouble lies ahead,
and all with eyes to see and ears to hear take heed! You must take specific,
deliberate steps to insulate yourselves, your families, and your businesses
from what may be a repeat of the horror of 1933. (American Survival Guide, p. 44, Sept. 1991)
[102] But people continue to put their
faith in the economy of Babylon and the FDIC. Saleh continued:
If just one major money center bank
fails, the FDIC insurance fund would be completely wiped out and require a
massive federal infusion of cash to make up the shortfall. * * * The FDIC at
present has only 12 to 19 cents insurance for every $100 of insured bank
deposits, and is the weakest it has been in its 56-year history. (Ibid.)
He then presents the following chart
to prove his point:
(copy chart here)
Years ago the coming crash was
predicted. All of the sign posts were evident and it has been gradually falling
into place. It was stated that first the savings and loan companies would begin
to fail. We have seen that. Then the banks were going to fail. They are now
beginning to do that. Then the insurance companies would show signs of failure;
and a few of them have already collapsed.
[103]
(chart of US Bank
Failures)
The fact is that our paper money,
Federal Reserve notes, is just that--they are notes. In and of themselves they
are worth only the paper they are printed on if they cannot be exchanged for
something of value. There is no gold or silver backing them up today. The
International Bankers have taken the reserves, and, as if that were not enough,
they have taken all the value out of the coins and left us with nothing but
pot-metal for values.
[104] All the banks that are failing
are swallowed up by the bigger banks. It is a case of the big fish eating the
little fish, said Joseph Smith of the bankers. When a depression comes, it
appears that everyone will lose what they have; but when someone loses, someone
else is gaining--and who gains? The big bankers! During a depression, the
average Americans lose their cars, their homes, their bank accounts and
everything else that has a mortgage on it. The bankers are picking them up at
bargain prices. The big depression is coming, and it looks as if most of the
Mormons will go down with it.
To emphasize this, in November 1992 a
strong warning was issued regarding the serious nature of the world financial
condition:
Warnings
of Global Economic Depression: End of an 18-Year Bull Market?
The world economy is in the worst
recession and financial crisis since the 1930's. But authorities in many
countries are making the problems worse by not recognizing that the industrial
world economy has entered a period dramatically different from anything
experienced in the past 45 years. (The
International Bank Credit Analyst, Nov. 1992, p. 1)
The redemption of Zion will not be
brought about with federal notes. God will pour out wealth upon His elect, the
White Horse, and they shall establish a correct and honorable banking system of
their own. God will give them gold, silver and riches of the earth to back up
their money in that critical day.
E. FLEEING
TO ROCKY MOUNTAINS FOR PEACE
19. A terrible revolution will take place in the
land of America, such as has never been seen before, for the land will be
literally left without a [105]
supreme government, and every species of wickedness will run rampant; it will
be so terrible that father will be against son and son against father, mother against
daughter and daughter against mother. The most terrible scenes of murder and
bloodshed and rapine that has ever been looked upon will take place.
Many prophecies from both Mormons and
non-Mormons have been made about this forthcoming revolution in America. One
prediction was even made by Lenin in his book, The State and the Revolution, which has now become the world's most
translated book:
The supersession of the bourgeois
state by the proletarian state is impossible without a violent revolution. . .
.
This course of events compels the
Revolution to concentrate all its forces of destruction against the state power
and to set itself the aim, not of perfecting the state machine, but of smashing
and destroying it. (The State and the
Revolution, pp. 35, 51)
The Prophet Joseph warned Stephen A.
Douglas that he would someday aspire to the presidency of the United States;
but if he ever turned against the Saints, he would feel the chastening hand of
God upon him. He did turn against the Mormons, and within a year, Douglas died
in regret and sorrow. Joseph also told him:
I prophesy in the name of the Lord God
of Israel, unless the United States redress the wrongs committed upon the
Saints in the state of Missouri and punish the crimes committed by her officers
that in a few years the government will be utterly overthrown and wasted, and
there will not be so much as a potsherd left.
(TPJS, p. 302)
[106] Brigham Young quoted Joseph
Smith's telling about the eventual destructions:
Joseph said that if they succeeded in
taking his life, which they did, war and confusion would come upon the nation,
and they would destroy each other, and there would be mob upon mob from one end
of the country to the other. Have they got through? No, they have only just
commenced the work of wasting life and property. (JD 10:255)
Just prior to his death, David
Whitmer, who also was closely associated with Joseph Smith and his prophecies,
foretold this time of destruction:
Question: When will the Temple be built in Independence?
Answer: Right after the great tribulation is over.
Question: What do you mean by that?
Answer: A civil war more
bloody and cruel than the rebellion. It will be a smashing up of this nation,
about which time the second great work has to be done, a work like Joseph did,
and the translation of the sealed plates, and peace all over. (Des.
News, Aug. 16, 1878)
In 1879, both Orson Pratt and John
Taylor said this coming revolution would be worse than the American Civil War:
But what about the American nation?
That war that destroyed the lives of some fifteen or sixteen hundred thousand
people was nothing
compared to that which will eventually devastate that country. The time is
not very far distant in the future, when the Lord God will lay his hand heavily
upon that nation. . . . What then will be the condition of that people, when
this great and terrible war shall come? It will be very different from the war
between the [107] North and the South. Do you wish me to describe it? I will do
so. It will be a war of neighborhood against neighborhood, city against city,
town against town, county against county, state against state, and they will go
forth, destroying and being destroyed and manufacturing will, in a great
measure, cease, for a time among the American nation. Why? Because in these
terrible wars, they will not be privileged to manufacture, there will be too
much bloodshed, too much mobocracy,, too much going forth in bands and
destroying and pillaging the land to suffer people to pursue any local vocation
with any degree of safety. What will become of millions of the farmers upon
that land? They will leave their farms and they will remain uncultivated, and
they will flee before the ravaging armies from place to place; and thus will
they go forth burning and pillaging the whole country; and that great and
powerful nation, now consisting of some forty millions of people, will be
wasted away, unless they repent. . . .
Now these are predictions you may
record. You may let them sink down into your hearts. . . .They are not my
words, but the words of inspiration--the words of the everlasting God, who has
sent forth his servants with this message to warn the nations of the earth.
(Orson Pratt, JD 20:151)
* * *
Were we surprised when the last
terrible war took place here in the United States? No; ... You will see worse things than that,
for God will lay his hand upon this nation, and they will feel it more terribly
than ever they have done before. There will be more bloodshed, more ruin,
more devastation than ever they have seen before. Write it down! You will see
it come to pass; it is only just starting in . . . . There is yet to come a
sound of war, trouble and distress, in which brother will be arrayed against
brother, father against son, son against father, a scene of desolation and
destruction that will permeate our land until it will be a vexation to hear the
report thereof. (John Taylor, JD 20:318)
[108] This national, even
international, calamity was prophesied on many occasions by Brigham Young,
i.e.:
Do you think there is calamity abroad
now among the people? Not much. All we have yet heard and all we have
experienced is scarcely a preface to
the sermon that is going to be preached. When the testimony of the Elders
ceases to be given, and the Lord says to them, "Come home; I will now
preach my own sermons to the nations of the earth," all you now know can
scarcely be called a preface to the sermon that will be preached with fire and
sword, tempests, earthquakes, hail, rain, thunders and lightnings, and fearful
destruction. What matters the destruction of a few railway cars? You will hear
of magnificent cities, now idolized by the people, sinking in the earth,
entombing the inhabitants. The sea will heave itself beyond its bounds,
engulfing mighty cities. Famine will spread over the nations, and nation will rise up against nation, kingdom
against kingdom, and states against states, in our own country and in foreign
lands; and they will destroy each other, caring not for the blood and lives
of their neighbours, of their families, or their own lives. They will be like
the Jaredites who preceded the Nephites upon this continent, and will destroy
each other to the last man, through the anger that the Devil will place in
their hearts, because they have rejected the words of life and are given over
to Satan to do whatever he listeth to do with them. You may think that the
little you now hear is grievous; yet the faithful of God's people will see days
that will cause them to close their eyes because of the sorrow that will come
upon the wicked nations. The hearts of the faithful will be filled with pain
and anguish for them. (JD 8:123, July 15, 1860)
* * *
I told General Kane that the
Government of the United States would be shivered to pieces. (B.Y., JD 12:119,
1863)
[109] And once more from Orson Pratt:
God has sent forth his warning message
in the midst of this nation, but they have rejected it and treated his servants
with contempt; the Lord has gathered out his people from their midst, and has
planted them here in these mountains; and he will speedily fulfill the prophecy
in relation to the overthrow of this nation, and their destruction. We shall be
obliged to have a government to preserve ourselves in unity and peace; for
they, through being wasted away, will not have the power to govern; for state
will be divided against state, city against city, town against town, and the
whole country will be in terror and confusion; mobocracy will prevail and their
will be no security, through this great Republic, for the lives or
property of the people. When that time shall arrive, we shall necessarily want
to carry out the principles of our great constitution and as the people of God,
we shall want to see those principles magnified, according to the order of
union and oneness which prevails among the people of God. (Des. News, Oct. 2, 1875)
* *
*
They must perish, unless they repent.
They will be wasted away, and the fulness of the wrath of Almighty God will be
poured out upon them, unless they repent. Their cities will be left desolate. A
time is coming when the great and populous city of New York--the greatest city
of the American Republic, will be left without inhabitants. The houses will
stand, some of them, not all. They will stand there, but unoccupied, no people
to inherit them. It will be the same in regard to numerous other cities. (O.P.,
JD 20:152)
Dumitru Duduman also described this
revolution:
Russian spies have discovered all the
most top secret nuclear deposits in America. Just when America believes that
all is peace and safety and that [110] everything is all right, then is when
the nations from Central America, Cuba, and Mexico will be pushed by Russia to
revolt and America will be burned. (Through
the Fire, Duduman, p. 91)
He saw Las Vegas and was told it was
Sodom and Gomorrah and that it would burn. He also saw New York City and
Florida and was told they, too, would burn.
The recital of such prophecies could
go on and on. Unfortunately, when such catastrophes occur, most people seem to
lose their reasoning and common sense, which only makes the situation
worse. In a fire people will trample
each other to death trying to escape, forgetting that a little calm thinking
and reasoning would allow many more people to get out safely. So it is when
floods, tornadoes, war or economic collapse occur. From a vision of the future
recorded in an early LDS Church publication comes the following:
Factions now sprang up as if by magic:
Capital had entrenched itself against labor throughout the land; labor had
organized against capital. The voice of
the wise sought to tranquilize these two powerful factors in vain. Excited
multitudes ran wildly about; strikes increased; lawlessness sought the place of
regular government. At this juncture I saw a banner floating in air whereon was
written the words, "Bankruptcy, Famine, Floods, Fire, Cyclones, Blood,
Plagues." Mad with rage, men and women rushed upon each other. Blood
flowed down the streets of cities like water. The demon of hate had enthroned
itself on the citadel of reason; the thirst for blood was more intense than
that of the parched tongue for water. Thousands of bodies lay untombed in the
streets. Men and women fell dead from the terror inspired by fear. (Contributor 15:638)
This section was begun with a
prediction by the well-known Communist, Lenin, and will conclude with the words
of [111] a former Soviet agent, Kenneth Goff, who personally gave the author
the following outline for a United States revolution as taught by special
Soviet agent, Gene Dennis:
At that hour large race riots are
supposed to take place in every city of any size. Leaders of these mobs are to
be carefully chosen and trained in advance (to work on both sides). The
disturbances are to be of some extent so as to require sending large forces of
police to those areas. While the authorities are trying to quell these riots,
picked bands of Reds are to seize the radio and TV stations and telephone
exchanges. With the aid of their comrades, who are employed inside, all
communication systems are to be instantly crippled, or taken over.
Flying squads of Communists are to
seize control of the water supply and shut it off; also the electrical power
and gas. This means that no elevators or streetcars, subways or electric buses
would be running. Other buses would be seized. Homes would be without water, fuel,
light or telephone. It would be impossible to communicate with friends or loved
ones, even in another part of the city.
Goon squads of professional murderers
would round up the people in the business districts. Men are to be held as
hostages in some of the larger buildings. Women are to be turned over to the
sex-crazed mobs unless the men surrender.
These are exactly the methods used in
Russia, Spain and other places where the Communist Party was allowed to
organize and come to fruition. They expect to do the same thing in the United
States.
Bridges, subways and railroad stations
are to be blown up and airports seized. Downtown areas are to be isolated from
the rest of the city. Sharpshooters and snipers are to be detailed in taxicabs
and private cars, which are to be taken over to wipe out the police, soldiers,
uniformed persons and known vigilantes. Smoke bombs, properly located in
subways, buildings and large stores, are to add to the terror of the people.
[112] When night comes, the city is to
be in pitch darkness. Murderous bands of Reds will roam the streets, plundering
shops and stores, and starting fires in old buildings. This will increase the
panic and facilitate the surrender of men.
Then, as the morning's sun casts its
first rays on the community, one will be able to see blood flowing in the
streets. (Printed statement in possession of the author.)
These last days have been foreseen by
all the great prophets and considered as "great and dreadful"
times--great for the righteous but dreadful for the wicked. Jesus likened them
to the days of Noah because of the great miracle of preserving His people and
the dreadful means of destruction upon the wicked.
We live in a time when fraud,
deception, war and crime are prevalent everywhere, and these are supposed to be
considered the "good times", as we have more wealth and luxury than
at any other time in history. The marvels of science have surrounded us with
comforts such as we have never known, with great protection, and with more than
an abundance of what we need. Yet, in spite of this, we have some of the
greatest deceptions and fraud in business and in our government; war breaks out
constantly somewhere in the world; and we are continually suffering from crimes
of robbery, rape and murder. What will people do when in addition to all this
they also suffer from no work, no money and the country is in terrible turmoil?
As Jesus said, "For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be
done in the dry?" (Luke 23:31)
For the Spirit of the Lord will not
always strive with man. And when the Spirit ceaseth to strive with man, then
cometh speedy destruction, . . . (2 Ne. 26:11)
[113] 20. Peace will be taken from the
earth, and there will be no peace only in the Rocky Mountains. This will cause
hundreds and thousands of the honest in heart of the world to gather there, not
because they would be saints, but for safety, and because they would not take
up the sword against their neighbors.
Orson Pratt described what it will be
like when "peace will be taken from the earth:"
When that day shall come there shall
be wars, not such wars as have come in centuries and years that are past and
gone, but a desolating war. When I say
desolating, I mean that it will lay
these European nations in waste. Cities
will be left vacated, without inhabitants.
The people will be destroyed by the sword of their own hands. Not only this but many other cities will be
burned; for when contending armies are wrought up with terrible anger, without
the Spirit of God upon them, when they have not that spirit of humanity that
now characterizes many of the wars amongst the nations, when they are left to
themselves, there will be no quarter given, no prisoners taken, but a war of
destruction, of desolation, of the burning of the cities and villages, until
the land is laid desolate. (JD 20:150)
This part of the White Horse Prophecy,
as well as so many other segments, was reiterated by President Brigham Young.
He also understood the final destiny of those "honest in heart" and
the Saints who would settle in the Rocky Mountains:
We are blessed in these mountains;
this is the best place on earth for the Latter-day Saints. Search for the
history of all nations and every geographical [114] position on the face of the
earth, and you cannot find another situation so well adapted for the Saints as
are these mountains. Here is the place in which the Lord designed to hide His
people. . . . It has been designed, for many generations, to hide up the Saints in the last days, until the indignation of
the Almighty be over. His wrath will be poured out upon the nations of the
earth. * * *
I heard Joseph Smith say, nearly
thirty years ago, "They shall have mobbing to their hearts content, if
they do not redress the wrongs of the Latter-day Saints. Mobs will not
decrease, but will increase until the whole government becomes a mob, and
eventually it will be State against State, city against city, neighborhood
against neighborhood." . . . it will be Christian against Christian, and
man against man, and those who will not take up the sword against their
neighbors, must flee to Zion. (Des. News, May 1, 1861)
Other early apostles prophesied the
same about those who would not fight against their neighbors--four of whom were
John Taylor, George Q. Cannon, Orson F. Whitney, and Moses Thatcher:
And the day is not far distant when
this nation will be shaken from centre to circumference. And now, you may write
it down, any of you, and I will prophesy it in the name of God. And then will be fulfilled that prediction
to be found in one of the revelations given through the Prophet Joseph Smith.
Those who will not take up their sword to fight against their neighbor must
needs flee to Zion for safety. (John Taylor, JD 21:8)
* * *
I expect to see the day when the
Latter-day Saints will be the people to maintain constitutional government on
this land. Men everywhere should know that we believe in constitutional
principles, and that we [115] expect that it will be our destiny to maintain
them. That the prediction will be fulfilled that was made forty-four years ago
the seventh of last March, wherein God said to Joseph Smith, "Ye hear of
wars in foreign lands: but behold I say unto you, they are nigh, even at your
doors, and not many years hence ye shall hear of wars in your lands;" but
the revelation goes on to say that the day will come among the wicked, that every man that will not take his sword
against his neighbor, must needs flee unto Zion for safety. A portion of
that revelation has been fulfilled, the remainder will be. The causes are in
operation to bring it about. We are not alone in the thought that the republic
is drifting steadily in that direction; that we are leaving the old
constitutional landmarks, and that the time is not far distant when there will
be trouble in consequence of it, when there will be civil broils and strife;
and to escape them, we believe, men will
be compelled to flee to the "Mormons," despised as they are now.
(George Q. Cannon, JD 18:10)
* * *
God will bring judgments upon the
world until He has humbled the people to a state where they will be glad to
receive it. He says to His Elders: Go ye into all the world and preach the
Gospel to every creature; and after your testimony, comes the testimony of
earthquakes and tempests, of thunders and lightnings, of the sea heaving itself
beyond its bounds, of wars and rumors of wars, of famine and pestilence. Says
He, the time shall come when he that
will not take up his sword against his neighbor must needs flee unto Zion for
safety, for there shall be gathered to it of every nation under heaven, and
they shall be the only people who are not at war one with another. (Orson F.
Whitney, JD 26:268, 1885)
* * *
. . . I will say when this nation,
having sown to the wind, reaps the whirlwind; when brother takes up [116] sword
against brother; when father contends against son, and son against father; when
he who will not take up his sword
against his neighbor must needs flee to Zion for safety--then I would say
to my friends come to Utah; for the
judgments of God, commencing at the house of the Lord, will have passed away,
and Utah, undisturbed, will be the most delightful place in all the Union.
When war and desolation and bloodshed, and the ripping up of society come upon
the nation, I have said to such, "Come to Utah and we will divide our
morsel of food with you, we will divide our clothing with you, and we will
offer you protection."
I will tell you, my brethren and
sisters, the day will come, and it is not far distant, when he who will not take up his sword against
his neighbor, will have to flee to Zion for safety; . . . (Moses Thatcher,
JD 26:334)
* * *
The actual fulfillment of this
prophecy is, of course, still yet to come, and at that time people will come
under very difficult circumstances. But they had the chance to come much
earlier--the invitation was first given to all the "honest in heart"
when the pioneers arrived in the Salt Lake Valley in 1847, at which time the
Quorum of the Twelve wrote:
Come then, ye Saints; come then, ye
honorable men of the earth; come then ye wise, ye learned, ye rich, ye noble,
according to the riches and wisdom, and knowledge of the Great Jehovah; from
all nations and kindreds, and kingdoms, and tongues, and people and dialects on
the face of the whole earth, and join the standards of Emmanuel, and help us to
build up the Kingdom of God, and establish the principles of truth, life and
salvation . . . .
The Kingdom of God consists in correct
principles; and it mattereth not what a man's religious faith is; whether he be
a Presbyterian, or a Methodist, or a [117] Baptist, or a Latter-day Saint or
"Mormon," or a Catholic, or Episcopalian, or Mohammedan, or even
pagan, or anything else, if he will bow the knee and with his tongue confess
that Jesus is the Christ, and will support good and wholesome laws for the
regulation of society,--we hail him as a brother, and will stand by him while
he stands by us in these things; for every man's religious faith is a matter
between his own soul and his God alone; but if he shall deny Jesus, if he shall
curse God, if he shall indulge in debauchery and drunkenness, and crime; if he
shall lie, and swear, and steal; if he shall take the name of the Great God in
vain, and commit all manners of abominations, he shall have no place in our
midst. . . . (Mill. Star 10:81)
21. You will be so numerous that you will be in
danger of famine, but not for the want of seed time and harvest, but that so
many will have to be fed. Many will come with bundles under their arms to
escape the calamities and there will be no escape, only by fleeing to Zion.
According to these prophecies, the
destructions will cause millions of people to gather to Zion:
The Lord our God has therefore
fulfilled that which he spoke; and as I said this work, instead of being nearly
accomplished, nearly fulfilled, and all things brought about according to the
purposes of the Almighty, only the foundation, as it were, is now laid, and
instead of being gathered in a little company of 150,000, by and by we shall be gathered in hundreds of thousands and even
millions. (Orson Pratt, JD 21:135)
Young men, prepare yourselves; for a
greater responsibility will come upon you than you have ever dreamed of. Millions will seek to you for salvation.
Are you prepared for this? No, you are not. There are but very few men, old or
young, that are capable of [118] taking proper charge of themselves, to say
nothing of a ward, a community, or a nation. (Brigham Young, JD 9:143)
Some prophecies even state that all nations shall flow to Zion:
. . . it shall come to pass in the
last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the
top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.
(Isa 2:2; also Micah 4:1)
We must lay up grain against the
famines that will prevail upon the earth. What shall we lay up that grain for?
Shall we lay it up to feed the wicked? No, we shall lay it up to feed the
Saints who gather here from all the
nations of the earth, and for the millions of lovers of good and wholesome
laws who will come from the old countries and from the United States, fleeing
to this place for their bread, and I know it. (Heber C. Kimball, JD 3:227)
And Heber said on another occasion:
The day will come that you (strangers)
will have to come to us for bread to eat; and we will be your saviours here
upon Mount Zion. You don't believe it now; but wait a little while, and you
will see that it will come to pass. * *
*
The time has come for us to lay up our
stores. Will the world follow our example? No, they will not; and if we do our
duty, who cares whether they do or not. They will come with their bonnets, their
fine clothing, and their jewelry, and be glad to work for us to get their
bread. (Heber C. Kimball, JD 5:9, 10)
When both Mormons and non-Mormons are
gathering to the Rockies, it will cause the towns, cities, and outlying areas
to be flooded with people, as Brigham Young prophesied:
[119] . . . The day will come when
there will be large places of manufacture and storage constructed West of the
Jordan River, and there will be over
three millions of people living there. and Jordan River will practically
run through the center of Salt Lake City. (Prophecy made by Brigham Young to
Wm. B. Armstrong and recorded by Ben H. Bullock)
It is obvious that this prophecy is
well on its way to fulfillment because of the growth on the west side of the
valley in recent years. The Jordan River divides the geographical valley in
half (as is shown in the map below), and when the rest of the three million
people come here in time of trouble, most of the available space for them will
be on the west side of the river, causing the population then to be more evenly
divided by the Jordan River.
(SL Valley divided by
Jordan River)
[120] It is difficult for us to
comprehend that conditions could get so bad that people would be able to bring
only what they could carry in small bundles. This prophecy has been given by
several people on various occasions, especially Brigham Young, Heber C.
Kimball, and John Taylor:
I am looking for the words of Joseph
to be fulfilled. The time will come when men and women will be glad to catch what they can, roll up in a small
bundle, and start for the mountains, without team or wagon (sic). That day
will shortly come. (Brigham Young, JD 8:356)
Two companies have come through safe
and sound. Is this the end of it? No; there will be millions on millions that will come much in the same way, only they
will not have hand carts, for they will
take their bundles under their arms, and their children on their backs, and
under their arms, and flee; and Zion’s people will have to send out relief
to them, for they will come when the judgments come on the nations. (Heber C.
Kimball, JD 4:106)
The day will come when the people of
the United States will come lugging their bundles under their arms, coming to
us for bread to eat. (Heber C. Kimball, JD 5:10)
I then looked over the country; in
every direction as far as I could see, a similar condition prevailed. I then
passed eastward above the earth and looking down saw many people coming west, mostly women who were carrying small bundles on
their backs, and I thought it strange that there were so few men among them.
They were on their way to the mountains, and I wondered how they could get
there as the railroads were abandoned and the rails were in bad condition.
(John Taylor's Vision as related by Wilford Woodruff, Visions of the Latter Days, Kraut, p. 104)
[121] Many references have already
been given about fleeing to Zion, but we'll end this section with one more from
Joseph Smith:
I prophesy that that man who tarries
after he has an opportunity of going, will be afflicted by the devil. Wars are
at hand; we must not delay; but are not required to sacrifice. We ought to have
the building up of Zion as our greatest object. When wars come, we shall have to flee to Zion. * * *
The time is soon coming, when no man
will have any peace but in Zion and her stakes. (TPJS, pp. 160, 161)
22. Those that come to you will try and keep the
laws and be one with you, for they will see your unity and the greatness of
your organizations.
What a strange turn of events this
would be! The Gentiles have ridiculed, persecuted and driven the Saints from
state to state and then into the wilderness of the Rocky Mountains; and in the
end they will come to the Saints for help! This will be similar to Jacob's son,
Joseph, who was cast out by his brothers and sold into Egypt; and eventually
they were forced to come to him for both temporal and spiritual help.
The following four supportive remarks
and prophecies are only a few of the samples that vindicate this part of the
prophecy:
Those who will not take up their sword
to fight against their neighbor must needs flee to Zion for safety. And they
will come, saying we do not know anything of the principles of your religion,
but we perceive that you are an honest
community; you administer justice and righteousness, and we want to live with
you and receive the protection [122] of
your laws, but as for your religion we will talk about that some other
time. Will we protect such people? Yes, all honorable men. (John Taylor, JD 21:8)
* * *
You will see the time when thousands will seek salvation at the
hands of this people, and say, "Guide us in the way of life; the earth
is emptied of wickedness, and it has come to an end." (Brigham Young, JD 9:143)
* * *
There are millions of people, both
among the Christian and heathen nations, that are still in darkness, and
exclaiming, "Oh, how glad we would be to have some knowledge of the Gospel
of salvation!" By-and-by, when the Lord sends forth his servants and his
angels to gather them, they will be brought home to Zion and be taught the peaceable things of the
kingdom: and those that abide a celestial law will receive a celestial
glory, and those that can abide the next law in order can abide the glory
pertaining to it, and so on. (Brigham Young, JD 9:138-139)
* * *
Then I saw a great tumult commence all
over the United States, which ended in a great deal of blood being shed. And a
great many of the people who had heard our Elders preach, and had believed what
they heard, but had not had the courage to embrace the Gospel when they heard
it, gathered what little effects they could take with them, and came to this
people in the Rocky Mountains.
Then I saw many thousands of women and
children take refuge in the timber, hazel rough, or any place they could
conceal themselves from the turmoil that was going on in the States. And when
word reached this people of their situation, there were hundreds of Seventies
called upon to go and hunt them up and bring them to this people in Utah.
(Newman [123] Bulkley Vision, 1886, Visions
of the Latter Days, pp. 109-110; original published in a small, now very
rare, pamphlet; also reprinted by Magazine Printing Co., SLC, Utah, in
"Remarkable Visions.")
F. DISCOVERING
THE ROLE OF FOREIGN POWERS
23. The Turkish Empire or the Crescent, will be
one of the first powers that will be disrupted as a power, for freedom must be
given for the Gospel to be preached in the Holy Land.
History records how the British forces
laid siege against Palestine and took it away from the Turkish Empire in 1917.
It had been under the Turkish rule for over 400 years. Field Marshall Edmund
Allenby directed the Palestine campaign in World War I with the Third Army:
In June 1917 he took command of the
Egyptian Expeditionary Force. The strength of his personality created a new
spirit in his army, and after careful preparation and reorganization, he won a
decisive victory over the Turks at
Gaza (Nov. 1917) which led to the capture of Jerusalem (Dec. 1917). (Enc. Britannica 1:279)
This was the beginning of an
opportunity for the Jews to gather back to their land of Jerusalem:
Arthur Balfour, the British secretary
of state for foreign affairs, addressed a letter to Lord Rothchild promising
British support for the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the
Jewish people. . . . In July 1922 the mandate instrument for Palestine was
approved by the League of Nations Council, its preamble incorporating the
Balfour Declaration . . . . (Enc.
Britannica 25:418)
[124] The Turkish dominions have since
been embroiled with Communism and with the recent wars in Iraq and Iran. All of
these have created a focus for the Jews to gather to their native homeland.
More events such as these seem to be impending.
The announcement of the Gospel to the
Jews was given by the angel Moroni on his first visit to Joseph Smith. He
quoted part of the third chapter of Malachi which announced the coming of a
messenger to prepare the way for the coming of the Lord--
He shall purify the sons of Levi, and
purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in
righteousness. Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto
the Lord. . . . (Mal. 3:3-4)
Strangely enough, the Apostle Orson
Hyde was a descendant of the tribe of Judah and received a blessing from the
Prophet Joseph in 1832 which stated:
In due time thou shalt go to
Jerusalem, the land of thy fathers, and be a watchman unto the house of Israel
and by thy hand shall the Most High do a work, which shall prepare the way and
greatly facilitate the gathering together of that people. (CHC 2:45)
In October of 1841, Elder Hyde reached
the top of the Mount of Olives and gave a prayer for the gathering of the Jews
to that land, and dedicated Jerusalem for that purpose, and to be rebuilt and
become a Holy City. (See DHC 4:454-459 for information on his Dedicatory
Prayer.)
It was another century, however,
before the fulfillment of that came to pass; in 1947 Jews began to return to
Jerusalem in great numbers. Probably the best known example was of their first
major effort:
[125] It was in July, 1947, that an
ancient, rusted-out American coastal vessel carrying 4,300 refugees came wallowing
into Palestine waters bearing the name EXODUS 1947. * * *
Many Christian ministers testified in
favor of some type of partitioning or compromise which would allow the Jews,
without prejudice to the Arabs, to fulfill the prophetic promise that one day
they would build a prosperous nation in this territory. (Fantastic Victory, Skousen, p. 229)
Even though the Exodus
episode was unsuccessful in returning some of the Jews to Palestine, it showed the
first big effort to accomplish what was soon to follow.
24. The Lord took of the best blood of the
nations, and planted them on the small island now called England, or Great
Britain, and gave them great powers in the nations for a thousand years, and this
power will continue with them, that they may keep the balance of power, that
they may keep Russia from usurping power over all the world.
The English were the first people
outside North America that the Elders of the Church were sent to with the restored
Gospel. The Lord has blessed and preserved that nation--from the Spanish Armada
to the Nazi war machine. It appears that she will still play a very important
role in the future of the world to preserve freedom from the Soviets.
An unusual experience occurred in the
ministry of Heber C. Kimball when he opened the door of England to the
restoration of the Gospel:
"In the interval," writes
Heber, "I went and visited the branches in the regions of Clithero and
Chatburn, and on the morning when I left Chatburn many were in [126] tears,
thinking they should see my face no more. When I left them, my feelings were
such as I cannot describe. As I walked down the street I was followed by
numbers; the doors were crowded by the inmates of the houses to bid me farewell,
who could only give vent to their grief in sobs and broken accents. While
contemplating this scene I was constrained to take off my hat, for I felt as if
the place was holy ground. The Spirit of the Lord rested down upon me and I was
constrained to bless that whole region of country. I was followed by a great
number to Clithero, a considerable distance from the villages, who could then
hardly separate from me. My heart was like unto theirs, and I thought my head
was a fountain of tears, for I wept for several miles after I bid them adieu. I
had to leave the road three times to go to streams of water to bathe my
eyes." * * *
The Prophet Joseph told him in after
years that the reason he felt as he did in the streets of Chatburn was because
the place was indeed "holy ground", that some of the ancient prophets
had traveled in that region and dedicated the land, and that he, Heber, had
reaped the benefit of their blessing. (Life
of Heber C. Kimball, Orson F. Whitney, pp. 187-188)
In the White Horse Prophecy, three
times Joseph mentions how Russia will try to rule the world, and this is the
first of those quotations. The first time the author read this prophecy in
1947, it did not make any sense--World War II had just recently ended, during
which Russia had been a good ally to America. I could not conceive of such a
nation ever trying to conquer the world. But in only a few years, Joseph's
prophecy began to be fulfilled.
In 1847 Karl Marx and Engels wrote a
Communist Manifesto which was to be the credo of Communism, with the goal of
taking over the world. The objective was to establish a political and military
power that would use any and all means to justify accomplishing that end. They
adopted German philosophical thought, English economic systems and French [127]
socialist ideas for a worldwide society of infiltration and exploitation. Their
evil system supported the idea that all religious and moral codes were based on
fantasy. Today they have all but achieved that objective with their power and
influence directing the affairs of over 90 different nations.
Marx, Engels, and Lenin lived and died
promoting their long-awaited day of victory. It was in every breath they took,
and it didn't matter how long it would take, what pains would result, or how
horrible it would become; they still awaited and worked for the day of
worldwide revolution. As a student anticipates the day of graduation, the bride
looks forward to her wedding, or the expectant mother awaits the hour of her
deliverance--so do the international revolutionaries await the day of their
takeover.
But with England's power and strength,
they will some day be a strong force in preventing Russia from taking over the
world entirely.
25. England and France are now bitter enemies,
but they will be allied together in order to keep Russia from conquering the
world.
This is the Prophet's second mention
of Russia trying to conquer the world. For the past 50 years, Russia has been
preparing to do just that by building armaments and training troops. Their
efforts toward accomplishing that objective are almost too obvious for comment.
In spite of the propaganda that Communism is dead, Russia still continues to
build war machinery.
The following document was presented
in the Congressional Hearings to substantiate the final objectives of the
Soviet Union:
[128] The single purpose of the
Communists has been proclaimed for 60 years as the "liquidation of our
form of free society and the emergence of a sovietized, communized world
order." The Communists have not tried to hide this fact. Their literature
is full of such references. ("Export of Strategic Materials to the
USSR", Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, 87th Congress, 23
Oct. 1961, p. 2)
During World War II both England and
France united for several years against their common enemy--Germany. Within a
couple of years afterward they again united their forces against the Soviet
Union in the cold war. Thus, for over 50 years they have been allies, and
apparently in the final war instigated by Russia, they will remain so. Just how
they will unitedly stop the final effort of the Soviets is yet to be made
known.
26. The two Popes, Greek and Catholic, will come
together and be united. The protestant religions do not know how much they are
indebted to Henry VIII for throwing off the Pope's bull and establishing the
protestant faith. He was the only Monarch that could do so at that time, and he
did it because the nation (England) was at his back to sustain him.
The two Popes have gradually been
merging their beliefs and doctrines over the last several years. They are now
accepting the baptisms and ordinances performed by each other as valid in the
eyes of the Lord.
Recently there has been a general
movement among many of the religions of the world to unite together. The World
Council of Churches has continuously worked for this objective; the United
Nations leaders have made strong efforts towards this unity; and influential
people in government [129] agencies have been working specifically to bring the
oriental religions into this conglomeration.
New
Leader of World Council Seeks Improved Evangelical, Catholic Ties
THE ASSOCIATED
PRESS
GENEVA
-- German theologian Konrad Raiser, newly elected to head the World Council of
Churches (WCC), says he hopes the global organization can improve its ties with
evangelical groups as well as Roman Catholics.
* * *
"The World Council can radiate
only as much confidence as the member churches together can muster."
Raiser said during a news conference.
He was chosen general secretary-elect
in late August by denominational representatives from around the world. The
council includes 320 denominations, totaling more than 400 million members.
(The Salt Lake Tribune, Saturday,
September 12, 1992)
Even the Mormon Church has taken
extreme efforts to become a "world church". They have been inviting
many noted world leaders as speakers and visitors to discuss that unity.
[130] In the 1989 LDS Bishops Handbook it was the agreement of Church leaders that
attending or holding membership in another church would no longer be considered
apostasy. It reads: "Total inactivity in the Church or attending or merely
holding membership in another church
does not constitute apostasy." (p. 10-3)
Regarding Henry VIII, his life reads
like a novel. He was hardly the type of man that heroes are made of, yet his
decisions proved to be a victory for the cause of freedom. He was a dedicated Catholic
for many years; and at the outbreak of the Lutheran reformation, Henry
published a work called "Defense of the Seven Sacraments against M.
Luther." The Pope was pleased with it and gave him the title of
"Defender of the Faith."
Henry was deep thinking, athletic, led
armies to victory, achieved political respect, was a theological conservative,
loved lavish display and, of course, women. The latter was the main reason for
throwing off the "Pope's bull and establishing the Protestant faith."
His first problem with the Catholic
Church came when Henry VIII wanted to have his marriage annulled. A cardinal
from Rome came to try the case, but Henry lost. The Lord Chancellor Wolsey was
fired because he failed, and Sir Thomas More, a layman, took his place. He also
failed in his attempt, so More was beheaded. Parliament was called the next
year with the objective of separating the English Church and the papacy. The
clergy recognized the KingÕs office as supreme head of the Church in England
"so far as the law of Christ allows," and so papal interdicts and
excommunications were declared void in England. Henry ended up with a total of
many marriages.
[131] 27. One of the peculiar features
in England is the established red coat, a uniform making so remarkable a mark
to shoot at, and yet, they have conquered wherever they have gone. The reason
for this will be known by them some day. (Joseph Smith's next statement
helped to explain that reason.) The Lion
and the Unicorn of England is the ensign of Israel. The wisdom and
statesmanship of England comes from there being so much of the blood of Israel
in the nation.
A person of English nationality or
descent is an Anglo-Saxon--commonly used in describing anyone of the white
race. It is interesting to see where this term actually originates:
. . . the warrior Ephraimites became
more markedly referred to as Sons of Isaac. In writing this name it took on
different variations according to language but the pronunciation was the same,
leaving no doubt as to their identity. Ancient documents and monuments refer to
them as I-Saccusuns, I-Sak-suna, Sakasuna, Saksens, and finally Saxons. (Drama of the Lost Disciples, George
Jowett, p. 53)
Many of the early pilgrims and
immigrants to America came from England--hence the establishing of Ephraimite
blood in the New World. An interesting letter from Ambassador College (at that
time owned and operated by Herbert W. and Garner Ted Armstrong) was received by
the author in March of 1974. The Armstrongs were both considered as authorities
on Bible research and history.
Dear Friend:
You wanted to know what individual
nations of the world are identified as the tribes of Israel.
[132] The tribes of Manasseh and
Ephraim, respectively, are identified in our free book The United States and British Commonwealth in Prophecy. Briefly,
Manasseh is the United States and Ephraim basically constitutes the
English-speaking member countries of the British Commonwealth (Great Britain,
Canada, Australia, South Africa)
The tribe of Judah (the Jews) is
scattered among all nations, with a large number now living in the modern
nation of Israel.
Putting together the evidence now
available from Biblical and secular history, we can be reasonably certain that
the other tribes are located as follows: Levi and Simeon--scattered among
Israel; Reuben--France; Dan--Southern Ireland; Benjamin--Norway and Iceland;
Issachar--Finland; Naphtali--Sweden; Zebulun--Holland (the Netherlands);
Gad--Switzerland; Asher--Belgium and Luxembourg.
Personal Correspondence Dept.
And further information along this
line--
The word "Scot" is derived
from the word "Scyth." It means "an inhabitant of Scythia."
The Scots are part of the House of Israel. Interestingly, the word Scythia, in
Celtic, has the same meaning that Hebrew does in the Sematic language--a
"migrant" or "wanderer." (Where Did the Twelve Apostles Go?, Herman L. Hoeh, p. 7)
* * *
. . . it has been claimed that Denmark
was colonized by the tribe of Dan (in Danish it is Danmark, or Dan's land, to
this day), so, according to this, a Dane is simply a Danite. Jutland,
adjoining, is regarded as Judah's land, Jute being considered merely another
form of the word Jew; while a little further north we find Gottland, Gothland,
or Gad's land, as those writers believe, thus tracing in immediate proximity
the homes of three prominent tribes of Israel through the names given to the
regions they settled in. (Are We of
Israel?, George Reynolds, p. 18)
[133] 28. While the terrible
revolution of which mention has been made is going on, England will be neutral
until it becomes so inhuman that she will interfere to stop the shedding of
blood. England and France will then unite together and come with intention to
make peace, not to subdue the nation. They will find the nation so broken up,
and so many claiming government, still there will be no responsible government.
Then it will appear to other nations or powers as though England had taken
possession of the country.
Apparently, something will occur to
cause England to get involved with these terrible events. Some of that
groundwork has already been laid and is making its mark in our government
today.
President Bill Clinton was a Rhodes
scholar at Oxford University in England. In the May 4, 1992, issue of Newsweek, it was noted that Clinton has
surrounded himself with Rhodes scholars who are concerned with "how to
save the world" Historian Eustace Mullins mentioned in his study of
"The World Order", that Cecil Rhodes (whose wealth funded the scholarships)
was an international operator fronting in the African diamond fields for the
Rothchild family of Europe, whose objectives are toward world control. Reported
William Fulton tells this story:
Cecil John Rhodes, the empire builder,
held a lifelong burning ambition to bring about "the ultimate recovery of
the United States of America as an integral part of the British empire."
Today many American Rhodes scholars are working assiduously to make the dream
of their imperial patron come true.
[134] Rhodes cherished schemes for a
world power federation dominated by Anglo-Saxons. His American scholars
returning from England are the leaders in the drive to sink Uncle Sam deeper in
the morass of the affairs of other countries.
Politically, it is pointed out, the
United States has surrendered some sovereignty to a supra-body, the United
Nations, in which the British Foreign Office wields tremendous influence.
But in recent years the scholars have
infiltrated the government in increasing numbers. They hold key positions,
particularly in the vital foreign policy making State Department. Rhodes
scholars also command posts in the United Nations and the Economic Cooperation
Administration. (Chicago Tribune,
July 14, 1951)
As recently as January 14, 1993, the
English government was reported as not having a very promising or stable
future:
. . . Harold Brooks-Baker, an expert
on the royal family and the peerage, said: "If the royal family and the
prince of Wales continue to hide their collective head in the sand, there will
be no monarchy in a few years' time. They are paying for arrogance and they are
paying for duplicity. A republic is already at the back door." (Salt Lake Tribune, Jan. 14, 1993, p.
A3)
But England will not be the only
nation to be in serious trouble. According to Brigham Young:
The nations will consume each other,
and the Lord will suffer them to bring it about. It does not require much
talent or tact to get up opposition in these days. You see it rife in
communities, in meetings, in neighborhoods, and in cities. That is the knife
that will cut down this Government. The axe is laid at the root of the tree,
and every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit will be hewn down. (JD 8:143)
[135] Even in the Doctrine and
Covenants it is prophesied that there will be a "full end of all
nations:"
And thus, with the sword and by
bloodshed the inhabitants of the earth shall mourn; and with famine, and
plague, and earthquake, and the thunder of heaven, and the fierce and vivid lightning
also, shall the inhabitants of the earth be made to feel the wrath, and
indignation, and chastening hand of an Almighty God, until the consumption
decreed hath made a full end of all
nations; . . . (D. & C. 87:6)
Orson Pratt also prophesied that the
European nations would lay "in waste":
The Lord has a controversy among the
nations of the Gentiles. He has sent to them a warning. He has sent his
servants to prophesy to them. He has sent them to preach and bear record of the
truth. He has sent them to call upon the nations to repent, . . . and receive
the Gospel in its fulness, and not only to do this, but to gather out from
these nations. Will they hear? They will not. . . . If you do not receive it,
the Lord, who is long suffering, will, after He has borne with the people all
the day long, withdraw His servants from your midst. * * * When that day shall
come, there shall be wars, not such wars as have come in centuries, . . . but a
desolating war. When I say desolating, I
mean that it will lay these European nations in waste. Cities will be left
vacated, without inhabitants. The people will be destroyed by the sword of
their own hands. Not only this, but many other cities will be burned; . . .
there will be no quarters given no prisoners taken, but a war of destruction .
. . . (JD 20:150)
29. The Black Horse will flee to the invaders and
will join with them, for they will have fear of becoming slaves again, knowing
England does not believe in slavery, fleeing to them, they believed would make
them safe. Armed with [136]
British bayonets, the doings of the Black Hose will be terrible.
The Black Horse that Joseph describes
is, of course, the Black race who will someday "have fear of becoming
slaves again." Many Black people feel they have been wronged in the past;
they have built up resentment, and occasionally have retaliated. Much of this
resentment, however, is building up to a breaking point.
Two years after the Mormon settlement
in Canada was established, Apostle John W. Taylor spoke at a fast meeting and
mentioned the doings of the "Black Horse" and "Red Horse"
that were soon to take place:
Elder J. W. Taylor rose and spoke and
bore a powerful testimony, stating he had beheld the Savior. He predicted that
this would become a fruitful land and yet in time of need, it would be a haven
of rest for those people who desired to serve God. Those who were seeking fame
of our people, who flaunt so much about liberty in Utah,
would be put to the fruit of the battle when
the Negroes rise up against their masters, which soon would be the case.
The Red Man would stalk through the land as the battle axe of the Lord, and
after they had done their work, they would be changed to a skin of whiteness in
a day. (Charles O. Card Journal, July 4, 1889)
Apostle Taylor was probably referring
to the passage in the Doctrine and Covenants concerning the Negro and the
Indian:
And it shall come to pass, after many
days, slaves shall rise up against their masters, who shall be marshaled and
disciplined for war.
And it shall come to pass also that
the remnants who are left of the land will marshal themselves, and shall become
exceedingly angry, and shall vex the Gentiles with a sore vexation. (D & C
87:4-5)
[137] During the Civil War, slaves did
not rise up against their masters; it was a war that was started and ended with
whites against whites. The Negro slaves would eventually rise up against their
masters some time after the Civil War. That part of the prophecy has just begun
within the past few years, and some of the "doings of the Black
Horse" are already terrible.
For example, on August 11, 1965, at
7:45 p.m. California Highway Patrolman Lee Minikus made a routine drunk driving
arrest, involving 21-year-old Negro Marquette Frye. Within three hours autos
had been turned over and some burned; drivers were stoned, kicked and knifed.
Soon 6000 rioters kept the night sky blazing with fires. Several hundred stores
worth millions of dollars were reduced to ashes. Fire and destruction spread
over 20 square miles, while shouting and screaming mobs ravaged homes. Police
and firemen were shot at by snipers. One thousand firemen battled day and night
for five days trying to control the holocaust. The dead and injured reached
well over 1000. It was a serious insurrection.
This catastrophe in Watts was labeled
merely a "dress rehearsal" for the future riots which were to come.
The pattern of destruction in Detroit, Washington, Chicago, and Pennsylvania
were all the same. Behind each disturbance is the hard core insurrectionist who
labors for a total revolution in America.
It seems impossible that such a thing
could occur in America! This happened in Los Angeles--a city that had never
been segregated; a city where public facilities are open to all; where Negroes,
Jews, Japanese, Chinese, Mexicans and many different nationalities, races and
religions have worked side by side for many, many years. This is a city whose
police departments have won more major awards in law enforcement than [138] any
other city in the country; yet this is where the worst race riots in America's
history have taken place.
In reflecting on these horrid events,
we should examine how and why they got started. Who is really behind such
destruction and mayhem?
Benjamin Gitlow was head of the U.S.
Communist Party in 1928. After he was later expelled from the party, he made an
expose of their conspiracy in America. Here is an excerpt from his article in
the Congressional Record of August 7, 1963:
The Communists are deliberately
maneuvering among the American Negroes to create a situation for the outbreak
of racial violence, to such an extent that it can be turned into a civil war--a
civil war on a racial basis. . . . In such a civil war, should they succeed in
fomenting it, the Communists hope to so undermine the American government and
our social structure that they can take over power. In the racial civil war
they envisage, they are sure Negroes will be in the front ranks, the shock
troops of the Communist revolution. . .
The Communists . . . know where they
are going and they are hell bent on getting there, even if they have to drown
the American Negroes in their own blood to get the power they covet.
Investigations have clearly pointed
the finger of guilt to the proper source. Former FBI Investigator, Dan Smoot,
looked into the riots that occurred in Washington D. C. and discovered:
The night Martin Luther King was
murdered in Memphis (Thursday, April 4, 1968), Stokely Carmichael was in
Washington, D.C. Within a few minutes after the news was out, Carmichael was
leading a small gang of Negroes up and down the streets, storming into stores,
ordering the places closed in honor of King, forcing customers and employees to
leave.
[139] The gang grew larger and more
violent, began smashing windows and looting stores. Negro mobs formed
throughout the Negro business district of Washington; and by 9:00 p.m. the
sacking and burning of the capital had begun. Carmichael slipped away and
disappeared from the streets.
All night, Negro mobs burned, looted,
and robbed, assaulted, murdered, and threatened wholesale slaughter. Scores of
whites, including police and firemen, were beaten, hit by rocks, bottles,
clubs. Some were kicked and dragged by gangs of howling young Negroes. Whites
were pulled from their cars and stomped in the streets. Motorcycle officers
were hauled from their vehicles, stoned and mauled. Police in cruising cars and
firemen trying to get to fires were targets. One white man, stopping at a
filling station to get directions, was clubbed, beaten, and stabbed to death.
The violence subsided about 4:00 a.m.,
Friday, April 5. A few hours later, city and federal officials were meeting
with Army people at the Pentagon to discuss the calling out of troops. They
decided there was no need for troops.
Early Friday morning, controversy
arose in the District over the question of whether Stokely Carmichael had had
anything to do with causing the Thursday night riot. Carmichael obligingly
cleared up that point. He called a press conference Friday morning to announce
that he had started the riot and had led the first gang of vandals and looters.
Carmichael said:
"Let me make clear what happened
last night. Last night, we led all of those youngsters up and down the street
to close the stores in memory of Dr. King." ("Dan Smoot Report",
Vol. 14, No. 18, April 29, 1968)
Stokely Carmichael was, of course, a
notorious Communist!
The twenty million Negroes in America
undoubtedly own more automobiles, more bathtubs, and more television sets--and
have more freedom and more opportunities--than all of the [140] Negroes on the
continent of Africa and all of the two hundred million residents of Soviet
Russia put together. But the Communists never allow such facts to interfere
with their propaganda. They will use any form of injustice to create riots and
revolution.
In May of 1992 it began again:
Whole city blocks aflame, looters
streaming out of stores with anything they could carry--these were images the
nation hadn't seen for years and had hoped never to see again. But last week's
acquittal of four white policemen in the beating of motorist Rodney King
induced a convulsion of violence in Los Angeles that left 44 dead, 2,000
injured and $1 billion in charred ruins. After years of ignoring the misery of
the inner cities, the country shuddered at the bloody wake-up call.
"We've got shooting all over the
city."
"They're destroying their own
neighborhoods--it's as bad as an earthquake." * * *
Like bulletins from a war zone, the
words and images came flying out of a city going up in smoke and flames. (Newsweek, May 11, 1992)
(picture)
Fire and Fury in Los Angeles (Newsweek, Ibid.)
[141] About 25 square blocks of
central Los Angeles were ablaze. It was like a combat zone. Buses and trains
stopped running; schools closed and panicking drivers rushed to freeways
clogged with people trying to get out of town. Stores and offices all shut
their doors and the smoke from over 1,000 fires grew so dense that the Los
Angeles International Airport could keep only one runway open. Looting took
over the town in spite of a dusk to dawn curfew.
The 81 seconds of the Rodney King
beating was an excuse for 72 hours of a massive one-billion-dollar destruction
spree in which no one was exempt, even Blacks and Black owned businesses. The
5000 troops could not even stop it. One of the jurors was asked if her
conscience bothered her, and she replied, "Not at all. The riot would have
broken out in any case because these individuals were just waiting for a
cause." (Newsweek, May 11,
1992)
The riots so far have been with
matches and bottles of gasoline, bricks and knives; but the revolution of the
future will be with sabotage, automatic weapons and bombs.
The troubles with the Black Horse will
not only be the result of those within the United States, but will also come
from Africa. In a vision given to George Washington, he saw the following:
At this the dark, shadowy angel turned
his face southward, and from Africa I
saw an ill-omened spectre approach our land. It flitted slowly and heavily over
every town and city of the latter. The inhabitants presently set themselves in
battle array against each other. * * *
I saw hordes of armed men, who moved
with the cloud, marching by land and sailing by sea to America, which country
was enveloped in the volume of the cloud. And I dimly saw these vast armies
devastate the whole [142] country and burn the villages, towns and cities that
I had beheld springing up. ("The George Washington Vision", Visions of the Latter Days, Kraut, p.
44)
Joseph Smith's views concerning the
Blacks and slavery were quoted by Warren Parrish, advocating that he "did
not believe that the people of the North have any more right to say that the
South shall not hold slaves, than the South have to say the North shall."
And he said that "the sons of Canaan (or Ham) were cursed with servitude
by a "decree of Jehovah," and that the curse was "not yet taken
off the sons of Canaan, neither will be until it is affected by as great power
as caused it to come." He stated that he believed that the course of
abolitionism was "calculated to . . . set loose, upon the world a
community of people who might peradventure, overrun our country and violate the
most sacred principle of human society--chastity and virtue. . . .." (See Messenger and Advocate 2:289, Apr.
1836)
Warren Parrish continued by adding his
own views, saying that the Church was not advocating abolition because of the
rebellion and civil war that it would cause. He wrote:
We would therefore be distinctly
understood, that we do not countenance the abolition system, nor fellowship
those who advocate its principles; and he that would stir up rebellion among
the Blacks, is an enemy to the well being of society, and instead of bettering
their condition is heaping upon them innumerable evils that they would
otherwise be strangers to, and is indirectly shedding the blood of his fellow
men. (Mess. and Adv. 2:296)
Oliver Cowdery firmly stated his views
on these issues by writing a short column for the same publication:
. . . Let the Blacks of the south be
free, and our community is overrun with paupers, and a reckless [143] mass of
human beings, uncultivated, untaught and unaccustomed to provide for themselves
the necessaries of life--endangering the chastity of every female who might by chance
be found in our streets--our prisons filled with convicts, and the hangman
wearied with executing the functions of his office! This must unavoidably be
the case, every rational man must admit, who has ever travelled in the slave
states, or we must open our houses, unfold our arms, and bid these degraded and
degrading sons of Canaan, a hearty welcome and a free admittance to all we
possess! A society of this nature, to us, is so intolerably degrading, that the
bare reflection causes our feeling to recoil, and our hearts to revolt. . . . (Mess. & Adv. 2:296)
These are the issues that the White
Horse Prophecy states will be the cause of great future disasters.
30. So the Prophet said he could not bear to look
longer upon the scene as shown him in vision, that he asked the Lord to close
the scene.
This scene has been described on
previous pages, but to add just a little more--
As early as 1831 the Lord revealed the
nature of some of these devastating events:
Verily, I say unto you, that the day
of vexation and vengeance is nigh at the doors of this nation, when wicked,
ungodly and daring men will rise up in wrath and might, and go forth in anger,
like as the dust is driven by a terrible wind; and they will be the means of
the destruction of the government: and come the death and misery of menÕs
souls, but the faithful among my people shall be preserved in holy places,
during all these tribulations. (Letter to Brigham Young from W. W. Phelps, July
17, 1831)
[144] And the Lord also gave morbid
details of what is to come in the Doctrine and Covenants. No wonder the Prophet
asked for the scene to be closed up!
And it shall come to pass, because of
the wickedness of the world, that I will take vengeance upon the wicked, for
they will not repent; for the cup of mine indignation is full; for behold, my
blood shall not cleanse them if they hear me not.
Wherefore, I the Lord God will send
forth flies upon the face of the earth, which shall take hold of the
inhabitants thereof, and shall eat their flesh, and shall cause maggots to come
in upon them;
And their tongues shall be stayed that
they shall not utter against me; and their flesh shall fall from off their
bones, and their eyes from their sockets;
And it shall come to pass that the
beasts of the forest and the fowls of the air shall devour them up.
And the great and abominable church,
which is the whore of all the earth, shall be cast down by devouring fire,
according as it is spoken by the mouth of Ezekiel the prophet, who spoke of
these things, which have not come to pass but surely must, as I live, for
abominations shall not reign. (D & C 29:17-21)
G. SETTING
UP THE KINGDOM OF GOD
31. Continuing, he said: "During this time,
the Great White Horse will have gathered strength, sending out elders to get
the honest in heart of the United States to stand by the Constitution of the
United States, as it was given by the inspiration of the Lord."
This is a very interesting part of the
prophecy because the Elders have never been required to specifically tell the people
of the United States to stand by the Constitution. But according to this
prophecy and those remarks of John Taylor, Brigham Young, and Orson Pratt, this
will be the case:
[145] When the people shall have torn
to shreds the Constitution of the United States the Elders of Israel will be found holding it up to the nations of the
earth and proclaiming liberty and equal rights to all men, and extending
the hand of fellowship to the oppressed of all nations. This is part of the
programme, and as long as we do what is right and fear God, he will help us and
stand by us under all circumstances. (John Taylor, JD 21:8)
* * *
I expect to see the day when the Elders of Israel will protect and sustain
civil and religious liberty and every constitutional right bequeathed to us
by our fathers, and spread these rights
abroad in connection with the Gospel for the salvation of all nations. I shall
see this whether I live or die. (Brigham Young, Discourses of B.Y., p. 553)
* * *
32. In these days, God will set up a kingdom,
never to be thrown down, for other kingdoms to come unto, and these Kingdoms
that will not let the gospel be preached, will be humbled until they will.
It is interesting to note that in the
midst of national and international disasters, God will set up His Kingdom on
earth. The powers, constitution and priesthood for that kingdom have already
been established and eventually it will be the kingdom that all other kingdoms
"come to". This kingdom, however, is not a church--but will include
many churches, as Joseph Smith explained:
The Kingdom of God when established
will not be for the protection of the Church of Jesus Christ alone, but for the
protection of all men, whatever their [146] religious views or opinions may be.
Under its rule, no one will be permitted to overstep the proper bounds or to
interfere with the rights of others. (DHC 7:382)
When Jesus prayed "thy Kingdom
come," He was talking about a literal kingdom, not a church. On some
occasions he spoke of the "kingdom" and in other places about the
"church". He talked about them as though they were separate
organizations--and the Prophet Joseph agreed that they were. He said the
Kingdom organization would grow out of the Church, but the Church was not the
Kingdom. When Joseph made the Inspired Translation of the Bible, it was very
clear that such was the case. In the 12th chapter of Revelation, John spoke of
a woman as a church and "upon her head a crown of twelve stars." He
continued:
And the woman being with child, cried,
travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. And she brought forth a man
child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron; . . . And the dragon
prevailed not against Michael, neither the child, nor the woman which was the church
of God, who had been delivered of her pains, and brought forth the kingdom of our God and his Christ. (Rev. 12:2, 3,
7)
So the woman, as the Church, gave
birth to a man child who was to rule all nations as the Kingdom of God.
The Prophet Daniel foretold how the
Lord would give that kingdom to the Saints in the latter days and all nations
would obey the dominion of that kingdom:
And the kingdom and dominion, and the
greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people
of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and
all dominions shall serve and obey him. (Dan. 7:27)
[147] This was the same kingdom of the
last days that Daniel described to Nebuchadnezzar:
And in the days of these kings shall
the God of heaven set up a kingdom,
which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other
people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it
shall stand for ever.
Forasmuch as thou sawest that the
stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces
the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath
made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is
certain, and the interpretation thereof sure. (Dan. 2:44-45)
The Prophet Joseph felt he would be
instrumental in fulfilling Daniel's prophecy:
I calculate to be one of the
instruments of setting up the kingdom of Daniel by the word of the Lord, and I
intend to lay a foundation that will revolutionize the whole world. (DHC 6:365,
May 12, 1844)
Brigham Young explained when Joseph
Smith accomplished this:
The Prophet gave a full and complete
organization to this kingdom the Spring before he was killed. . . . I shall not
tell you the names of the members of this kingdom, neither shall I read to you
its constitution, but the constitution was given by revelation. The day will
come when it will be organized in strength and power. (JD 17:156)
Dr. Hyrum Andrus of Brigham Young
University gave further details:
It gives conclusive evidence that the
Prophet included within his concept of the Kingdom of God the [148] development
of a political government that would be administered under the direction of the
Priesthood of Zion. The Kingdom of God, then,
was considered as something more than the Church. It included the idea of a
future world government where the Church and State were to be separate bodies,
but united in the fact that both institutions were to be subject to priesthood
direction. * * *
From the spring of 1844 to at least
1870 the political organ the Prophet organized played a dominant role in the
history of the Mormon movement. It was this body, not the Church, that planned
and carried out the Exodus. After locating the Saints in the Great Basin, this
political body then organized and incorporated itself into the State of
Deseret. All this has escaped the student of Mormonism. (Joseph Smith and World Government, Andrus, coverpiece)
The nations of the earth have
generally not accepted the work of the Lord, but as Joseph said, "they
will be humbled until they will." In words very similar to those of the
White Horse Prophecy, Orson Hyde predicted:
Even the devils in hell will burst
forth from their fiery cells to unite with the fallen sons of earth, to oppose
the kingdoms of this world becoming the kingdom of our God. The kings and
rulers of the earth will not willingly cast their crowns and sceptres at the
feet of the Priesthood, and worship the God of Hosts. His almighty power, in judgments, alone will humble them into this submission. "He shall send forth
judgment unto victory." (JD 4:258)
And from the New Testament:
For these be the days of vengeance,
that all things which are written may be fulfilled. And when these things begin
to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption
draweth nigh. So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye
that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand. (Luke 21:22, 28, 31)
[149] 33. England, Germany, Norway,
Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, Holland, and Belgium have a considerable amount
of the blood of Israel among their people, which must be gathered. These
nations will submit to the Kingdom of God. England will do it as a whole, in
comparison as she threw off the Catholic power. The nobility know the gospel is
true, but it has not enough pomp and grandeur and influence for them to embrace
it. They are proud and will not acknowledge the Kingdom of God or come into it
until they see the power which it will have.
As mentioned in an earlier section
(No. 27), the Personal Correspondence Dept. of Ambassador College in Pasadena,
California, wrote the author with the following information:
Putting together the evidence now available
from Biblical and secular history, we can be reasonably certain that the other
tribes are located as follows: Levi and Simeon--scattered among Israel;
Reuben--France; Dan--Southern Ireland; Benjamin--Norway and Iceland;
Issachar--Finland; Naphtali--Sweden; Zebulun--Holland (the Netherlands);
Gad--Switzerland; Asher--Belgium and Luxembourg.
So these nations with so much of the
blood of Israel in them will be gathered:
How shall Israel be gathered? First will come the
conversion and gathering of the tribe of Joseph. Then Joseph shall gather the
other tribes. "His horns are like the horns of the unicorns : with them he shall push the people together to the ends of the
earth." It will not be an easy work. Every lost sheep must be taught the
gospel; every new convert must believe the Book of Mormon; all must repent and
forsake the [150] world and come voluntarily, often in the face of great
opposition, into the latter-day kingdom of the God of their fathers.
Missionaries must labor with zeal and in the face of great odds. They must
"push the people together." And who shall do this work? Moses says:
"They are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of
Manasseh." (Deut. 33:17) And such is an apt and accurate definition of the
missionary force of the great latter-day kingdom. (A New Witness for the Articles of Faith, Bruce R. McConkie, pp.
528-529)
Erastus Snow beautifully explained
this final gathering of the tribes of Israel, who will be prepared to accept
the Kingdom of God:
Now the same spirit of revelation that
sought out the Prophet Joseph from the loins of Joseph who was sold into Egypt,
and that raised him up in this dispensation to receive the keys of the
Priesthood and to lay the foundation of this great work in the earth, has also
called the children of Abraham from
among the kingdoms and countries of the earth to first hear and then
embrace the everlasting Gospel; and the remnants of the seed of Ephraim who
were scattered from Palestine and who colonized the shores of the Caspian Sea
and thence made their way into the north of Europe, western Scandinavia and
northern Germany, penetrating Scotland and England, and conquering those
nations and reigning as monarchs of Great Britain, and mingling their seed with
the Anglo-Saxon race, and spreading over the waters a fruitful vine, as
predicted by Jacob, whose branches should run over the wall. Their blood has permeated European society,
and it coursed in the veins of the early colonists of America. And when the
books shall be opened and the lineage of all men is known, it will be found
that they have been first and foremost in everything noble among men in the
various nations in breaking off the shackles of kingcraft and priestcraft and
oppression of every kind, and the foremost among [151] men in upholding and
maintaining the principles of liberty and freedom upon this continent and
establishing a representative government, and thus preparing the way for the
coming forth of the fullness of the everlasting Gospel. And it is the foremost
of those spirits whom the Lord has prepared to receive the Gospel when it was
presented to them, and who did not wait for the Elders to hunt them from the
hills and corners of the earth, but they were hunting for the Elders, impelled
by a spirit which then they could not understand; and for this reason were they
among the first Elders of the Church; they
and the fathers having been watched over from the days that God promised those
blessings upon Isaac and Jacob and Joseph and Ephraim. And these are they that
will be found in the front ranks of all that is noble and good in their day and
time, and who will be found among those whose efforts are directed in
establishing upon the earth those heaven-born principles which tend directly to
blessing and salvation, to ameliorating the condition of their fellow-men, and
elevating them in the scale of their being; and among those also who receive
the fullness of the Everlasting Gospel, and the keys of Priesthood in the last
days, through whom God determined to
gather up again unto himself a peculiar people, a holy nation, a pure seed
that shall stand upon Mount Zion as saviors, not only to the house of Israel,
but also to the house of Esau. (JD 23:185-186, May 6, 1882)
In some of the later versions of the
White Horse Prophecy, there is the statement in this section that reads:
"England will be the last of these kingdoms to surrender." Charles O.
Card made an interesting statement in corroboration. His remarks were given in
a formal address of welcome to Lord Stanley, Queen Victoria's representative in
Canada, when Stanley visited Fort MacLeod, Alberta, in the fall of 1889:
Our Prophet Joseph hath discerned that
all the Kingdoms of this world, the British Principalities, [152] by
reason of their high integrity and their judicial purity, will be the last to
fall , and it is for this reason, as well as from an affectionate
admiration of her own womanly virtues, that we invoke the blessings of heaven
upon the Sovereign of these vast realms. (Card, 14 oc. 1889)
Regarding the statement that
"these nations will submit to the kingdom of God," Orson Pratt said:
All the great and glorious principles
incorporated in this great republic will be incorporated in the kingdom of God
and be preserved. I mean the principles of civil and religious liberty,
especially, and all other good principles that are contained in that great
instrument framed by our forefathers will be incorporated in the kingdom of
God; and only in this manner can all
that is good in this and in foreign governments be preserved. (JD 13:125)
The law for the government of all
nations will go forth from Zion as the laws for the government of the United
States now go forth from Washington. Zion will be the seat of government and
her officers will be far more respected, and have far more influence, than
those of any government of earth; all
nations will yield perfect obedience to their command and counsels. (The Seer, p. 266)
34. Peace and safety in the Rocky Mountains will
be protected by a cord and band of the White Horse and the Red Horse.
It is a stirring experience to even
visualize this band of both the White Horse and Red Horse--together guarding
and protecting those who had gathered in the Rocky Mountains. In Section 14 of
this book, the prophecy was discussed about these two peoples working together
in defending the Constitution. Now this part of the prophecy says they will be
defending the people.
[153] But before the great day of the
Lord shall come, Jacob shall flourish in the wilderness, and the Lamanites
shall blossom as the rose. (D & C 49:24)
Brigham Young and Erastus Snow, along
with many others, explained that the Lamanites (Red Horse) would eventually
become. "a white and delightsome people":
Here are the Lamanites, another
example. Their wickedness was not so great as those who slew the Son of God.
Jesus revealed himself to them after he was slain, preached to them the Gospel.
But in the fourth generation the Priesthood was driven from their midst, and
after that, the laws, ordinances, and power of the Gospel ceased to be with
them. Is their curse as great as that of those in Palestine? No, it is light,
in comparison. They began to thirst for each other's blood, and massacred each
other, from generation to generation, until they sunk into wickedness, and evil
principles the most degrading, and have become loathsome and vile. Still, the curse will be removed from them before
it will be removed from the children of Judah; and they will become "a
white and delightsome people." (Brigham Young, JD 2:143, 1854)
* * *
With regard to the aborigines of this
continent, there are several prophecies in the Book of Mormon to the effect
that they will one day become a pure
people; but that will not take place until the fulness of the Gentiles has
come. Then, according to the promise, the Spirit of the Lord will be poured out
upon them and they will inherit the
blessings promised. Until that time we expect they will be a scourge upon
the people of Zion, as the Lamanites were a scourge to the Nephites of old.
That which the Lord is pleased to use as a scourge today, He may use in days to
come as a means of support and of
strength. (Erastus Snow, JD 12:214)
[154] Mosiah Hancock records in his
journal the great promises made to the Lamanites:
He conversed
freely on the situation of the Saints in the mountains, and said that he
dreaded the time when the Saints would become popular with the world; for he
had seen in sorrow, in a dream, or in dreams, this people clothed in the
fashions of Babylon and drinking in the spirit of Babylon until one could
hardly tell a Saint from a black-leg. And he felt like shouting, "To your
tents, Oh Israel!" because it was the only thing that could keep the
people pure. "I know that my families court the ways of the world too
much," said he, "And our hope
lies in the Lamanites. I hope that you brethren who labor among the Indians
will be kind to them. Remember that
someday they will take their position as the rightful heir to the principles of
life and salvation, for they never will give up the principles of this Gospel.
Many of this people, for the sake of
riches and popularity, will sell themselves for that which will canker their
souls and lead them down to misery and despair. It would be better for them to
dwell in wigwams among the Indians than to dwell with the gentiles and miss the
glories which God wishes them to obtain. I wish my families would see the point
and come forth before it is too late. For oh, I can see a tendency in my
families to hug the moth-eaten customs of Babylon to their bosoms. This is far
more hurtful to them than the deadly viper; for the poisons of the viper can be
healed by the power of God, but the customs of Babylon will be hard to get rid
of. (Typescript copy of Mosiah Hancock Journal, p. 73, BYU Special Collections)
Joseph Smith mentioned another way
that the two horses would be combined. While on a mission to the Lamanites in
1831, W. W. Phelps and several elders were with the Prophet Joseph when he
received a revelation. Brother Phelps [155] wrote it down and later presented
it to President Brigham Young for recording. In it the Lord said:
Verily, I say unto you, that the
wisdom of man, in his fallen state, knoweth not the purposes and the privileges
of my holy priesthood, but ye shall know when ye receive a fulness by reason of
the anointing: For it is my will, that in
time, ye should take unto you wives of the Lamanites and Nephites, that
their posterity may become white,
delightsome and just, for even now their females are more virtuous than the
gentiles. (W. W. Phelps' Letter to Brigham Young, Aug. 12, 1861)
After their role of protection here in
the Rocky Mountains, the Lamanites will gather to the New Jerusalem, where they
will have further important duties to perform:
While all these scenes had been
transpiring, the remnants or Lamanites of the land had gathered in from all
quarters east of the Rocky Mountains, and some had come from South America.
("Newman Bulkley Vision", Visions
of the Latter Days, Kraut, p. 112)
* * *
My
attention has been called to statements in the Book of Mormon which some
interpret to mean that the Lamanites will take the lead in building the temple
and the New Jerusalem in Missouri. But I fail to find any single passage which
indicates that this is to be the order of things when these great events are to
be fulfilled.
Most of the passages used as evidence,
in an attempt to prove that the Lamanites will take the lead and we are to
follow, seem to come from the instruction given by our Lord when He visited the
Nephites after His resurrection. Chapters 20 and 21 of Third Nephi are the main
sources for this conclusion. But I fail to find in any of the words delivered
by our Savior [156] any declaration out of which this conclusion can be
reached. It all comes about by a misunderstanding and an improper
interpretation.
In these chapters the Lord is speaking
throughout of the remnant of Jacob. Who is Jacob whose remnant is to perform
this great work in the last days? Most assuredly Jacob is Israel. Then again,
when he speaks of the seed of Joseph, who is meant? Those who are descendants
of Joseph, son of Israel, and this includes, of course, the Lamanites as well as the Ephraimites who
are now being assembled and who are taking their place, according to prophecy,
at the head to guide and bless the whole house of Israel.
In his discourse, the Savior states that
the gentiles who are upon this land will be blessed, if they will receive the
gospel, and they will be numbered with the house of Israel. The gentiles were
to be a scourge to the remnant upon this land. Again, they were to be nursing
fathers to them, and this they are beginning to be in these latter days, after
the terrible scourging in former days.
The gentiles were promised that they
would be entitled to have all the blessings which were given to Israel, if they
would repent and receive the gospel. All this was seen in vision by Nephi and
was stated by the Savior on the occasion of his visit to the Nephites.
He also said that if the gentiles, not only
upon this land, but also of all lands, did not repent he would bring the
fulness of the gospel from among them. The
remnant of the house of Israel spoken of in First Nephi, chapter 13, and
Third Nephi, chapters 16, 20, and 21, does
not have reference ONLY to the descendants of Lehi, but to ALL the house of
Israel, the children of Jacob, those upon this land and those in other
lands. Reference to the gentiles also is to all the gentiles on this land and
in other lands. (Doc. of Salvation,
2:247-248, Jos. Fldg. Smith)
At this point, the reader may want to
refer again to Orson Pratt's explanation of the roles of the White and Red
[157] Horses in building the New Jerusalem together, as quoted in Section 14.
So there are great promises in store
for the Indians. When the Messiah visited America and its inhabitants shortly
after His resurrection, He told of their promising future:
. . . and although the descendants of
that ancient God-favored people were now fallen from the high estate of their
fathers, yet were the promises and prophecies great concerning them. God would
again visit them by His grace, they should be redeemed from their ignorance and
barbarism, and they should yet be
important factors in establishing a "New Jerusalem", the Zion of
God on this land of America, given to the descendants of the ancient patriarch
Joseph, whose descendants principally the Indians
are. (DHC 3:Intro. xxxiii)
More of the great blessings and
promises to the Lamanites are included in this "Proclamation":
He (the Lord) will assemble the
natives, the remnants of Joseph in
America, and make of them a great, and strong and powerful nation; and he will
civilize and enlighten them, and will establish
a holy city, and temple, and seat of government among them, which shall be
called Zion. . . .
The despised and degraded son of the
forest, who has wandered in dejection and sorrow, and suffered reproach, shall
then drop his disguise and stand forth in manly dignity, and exclaim to the
Gentiles who have envied and sold him--"I am Joseph; does my father yet
live?" or, in other words, I am descendant of that Joseph who was sold
into Egypt. You have hated me, and sold me, and thought I was dead; but lo! I
live and am heir to the inheritance, titles, honours, priesthood, sceptre,
crown, throne, and eternal life and dignity of my fathers, who live for evermore.
[158] He shall then be ordained,
washed, anointed with holy oil, and arrayed in fine linen, even in the glorious
and beautiful garments and royal robes of the high priesthood, which is after
the order of the Son of God; and shall enter into the congregation of the Lord,
even into the Holy of Holies, there to be crowned with authority and power
which shall never end.
The spirit of the Lord shall then
descend upon him like the dew upon the mountains of Hermon, and like refreshing
showers of rain upon the flowers of a Paradise.
His heart shall expand with knowledge,
wide as eternity, and his mind shall comprehend the vast creations of his God,
and his eternal purpose of redemption, glory, and exaltation, which was devised
in heaven before the worlds were organized; but for the exaltation of Israel.
He shall also behold his Redeemer, and
be filled with his presence, while the cloud of his glory shall be seen in his
temple. ("Proclamation of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints," Oct. 22, 1845, pp. 8-10. This Proclamation
is included at the end of Vol. 6 of the Millennial Star, with separate page
numbers.)
Brigham Young mentioned the strength
and protection to be offered by the Lamanites:
Now, supposing you take the Indians.
You commence to teach them the doctrines of Christ. Unless you tell them that
it will unite them together and stop their bickerings, you will find it useless
to talk to them. They have always been taught that when the true religion came,
it would unite them together. It is a tradition handed down to them from their
fathers. The Gentiles have tried some little to convert them, but they have
never made much headway. I am looking
forward to that time when they will come forth to save Israel. You know
where the Book of Mormon speaks of the Gentiles helping them redeem Zion. I am
very much afraid that we will be their servants instead [159] of their masters,
unless we do a little faster than we have been doing. Whether we like it or
not. When they do come forth to save
Israel, look to see them like a flame of fire, a mighty rushing torrent, like
the grand march of angels. (Young
Woman's Journal 1:263)
Orson Pratt elaborates on the prophecy
in Deuteronomy where it describes Ephraim and Manasseh working together in this
"great and marvelous work":
The Lord had commenced the gathering
and restitution of the house of Israel among the very lowest specimens of
humanity, and he will raise them up first, to carry on his great and marvelous
work. The tens of thousands of Ephraim,
and the thousands of Manasseh, will push the people together to the ends of the
earth. Ephraim will not do the work
alone, but he will be assisted by Manasseh.
The Indians, and Lamanites, who will take hold in this great latter-day
work, are the horns of Joseph, not to scatter the people, but to push them
together. Where? To the ends of the earth, the 33rd of
Deuteronomy says, and I have no doubt that when Moses saw this continent in
vision, he called it "the ends of the earth." There was to be a gathering there; they were
to be pushed together; instead of being gathered from the nations of the earth
back to Palestine, they were to be gathered in the latter days away in some
distant country, that Moses designates by the term "ends of the earth."
(JD 18:167)
The following simple chart shows how
the tribe of Joseph was separated for thousands of years, but will once again
unite in the last days:
[160]
ABRAHAM
|
|
ISAAC
|
|
JACOB
|
________________________|___________________________
| | | |
| | |
| | |
| |
ASHER SIMEON ZEBULON
ISSACHAR JUDAH REUBEN
NAPHTALI BENJAMIN JOSEPH
DAN LEVI GAD
|
|
/ \
/
\
EPHRAIM MANASSEH
\ /
\ /
JOSEPH
H. ESTABLISHING
ZION IN JACKSON COUNTY
35. The coming of the Ten Tribes of Israel, the
coming of the Messiah among His
people, will be so natural that only those who see Him will know He has come, but He will come and give His
law unto Zion and minister unto His
people. This will not be His coming in the clouds of Heaven to take vengeance on the world.
[161] So much has been written on the
subjects of the Ten Tribes and the second coming of the Messiah, that it's
obvious to see the truthfulness of the above statement. This "natural" coming of the Savior
could refer to one or more of His many future appearances:
as a thief in the night
in a whirlwind
to selected righteous individuals
while Saints are in the Rocky
Mountains
to lead Saints back to Jackson County
in his temple on the Mount of Olives
in Jerusalem
at Adam-ondi-Ahman, etc.
Most of these appearances will not be
known by the world in general--just His coming in glory "in the clouds of
heaven".
The Savior is now preparing His people
for the events that are to take place. The time will soon come when He will
have to personally instruct and guide His people, and the Priesthood has been
given to help men become worthy of that experience. (See D & C 84:19-23)
Both God and Christ have made personal
appearances to selected individuals and gatherings throughout the history of the
world, and their coming and talking to us in the last days will be no
exception. Thus, the elect of God have been called to gather in the mountains
to prepare for such glorious events:
And in order that they might the
better prepare themselves, the servants of God are commanded to call upon the
people to gather out from the various nations where they are living to a place
that God has designated as a place of gathering for His elect, where they might prepare themselves for the
coming of our Lord and Savior. (George Q. Cannon, JD 26:40)
[162] * * *
This people will go into the Rocky
Mountains; they will there build temples to the Most High. They will raise up a
posterity there, and the Latter-day
Saints who dwell in these mountains will stand in the flesh until the coming of
the Son of Man will come to them while in the Rocky Mountains. (Wilford
Woodruff, Conf. Rept., Apr. 8, 1898,
p. 57--quoting Joseph Smith)
Brigham Young talked about the many
unknown appearances of the Savior:
Jesus has been upon the earth a great
many more times than you are aware of. When Jesus makes his next appearance
upon the earth, but few of this Church and kingdom will be prepared to receive
him and see him face to face and converse with him; but he will come to his
temple. (JD 7:142, May 22, 1859)
Apparently here Brigham Young is
talking about two separate appearances: (1) when few are prepared to receive
Him, and (2) to "his temple", which, according to the rest of the
quote in the Journal of Discourses,
refers to the temple in the New Jerusalem.
Bruce R. McConkie tells of Christ's
coming to His temple in the New Jerusalem:
Then, before the Second Coming,
gathered Judah, as directed by Ephraim, shall build up anew the Old Jerusalem and
prepare therein a holy temple; and gathered Ephraim, aided by Manasseh, shall
build a New Jerusalem in an American
Zion and prepare therein a holy temple. It is to these two temples in
particular that the Lord shall come at his glorious return, and it is from
these two cities--Zion in America and Jerusalem in Old Canaan--that the
governance [163] and worship of the world will be directed. Thus Jesus,
continuing his preaching to the Nephites, said: "And behold, this
people"--this Lehite remnant of Israel--will I establish in this land,
unto the fulfilling of the covenant which I made with your father Jacob; and it
shall be a New Jerusalem. Jacob is Israel, and Israel is the one with whom the
Lord made covenant that his seed should inherit the blessings of Abraham,
Isaac, and Israel. "And the powers of heaven shall be in the midst of this
people; yea, even I will be in the midst
of you." (3 Nephi 20:18, 21-22.) After
gathered Israel builds the New Jerusalem, the Lord will come and dwell with his
people. (A New Witness for the
Articles of Faith, pp. 586-587)
In his day, Brigham Young hoped that
the Salt Lake Temple would stand through the Millennium:
I want to see the Temple built in a manner that it will endure through the Millennium. This is
not the only Temple we shall build; there will be hundreds of them built and
dedicated to the Lord. This Temple will be known as the first Temple built in
the mountains by the Latter-day Saints. And when the Millennium is over, and
all the sons and daughters of Adam and Eve, down to the last of their
posterity, who come within the reach of the clemency of the Gospel, have been
redeemed in hundreds of Temples through the administration of their children as
proxies for them, I want that Temple
still to stand as a proud monument of the faith, perseverance and industry of
the Saints of God in the mountains, in the nineteenth century. (JD 10:254,
Oct. 6, 1863)
Notice that this is not given in the
form of a revelation, but only as Brigham Young's strong personal desire.
Newman Bulkley saw an interesting
vision of both Jesus Christ and Joseph Smith sitting in the Salt Lake Temple:
[164] During all this time, our people
were laboring in the Temples day and night, endowing the Elders of Israel with
the fullness of the blessings of the
Holy Priesthood, until they got the number of fifty thousand endowed. During
this time the Temple in Salt Lake City had been completed, and in one of the
rooms situated in one of the towers, Jesus
and Joseph, with their council, were sitting. Then preparations were made
for the fifty thousand to go down to the Center Stake of Zion, with Jesus and
Joseph at their head, riding in their chariots of fire. (Vision of Newman
Bulkley, Jan. 8, 1886, Visions of the
Latter Days, Kraut, p. 112; also in "Remarkable Visions")
It has been prophesied that both the
Savior and Joseph Smith will lead the Saints back to redeem Zion:
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 up before you, and
also my presence, and in time ye shall possess the goodly land. (D. & C
103:16-20)
* * *
As I walked
over the plains of Illinois (toward Nauvoo) . . . the Spirit said unto me,
"Lift up your head and rejoice; for behold, it is well with my servants
Joseph and Hyrum. My servant Joseph still holds the keys of my kingdom in this
dispensation, and he shall stand in due
time on the earth, in the flesh, and fulfill that to which he is appointed.
(Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt,
p. 333)
[165] Heber C. Kimball spoke of the
conditions that would exist at the time of the Prophet's return:
The western boundary of the state of
Missouri will be swept so clean of its inhabitants that, as Brigham Young tells
us, when you return to that place, there will not be left so much as a yellow
dog to wag his tail. Before that day comes, however, the saints will be put to
tests that will try the integrity of the best of them. The pressure will become
so great that the more righteous among them will cry unto the Lord day and
night until deliverance comes. Then the
Prophet and others will make their appearance, and those who have remained
faithful will be selected to return to Jackson County, Missouri, and take part
in the upbuilding of that beautiful city, the New Jerusalem. (Des. News, May 23, 1931; also Prophecy and Modern Times, Cleon
Skousen, pp. 31-32)
In probably his last public discourse
to the Saints, Joseph Smith himself prophesied that he would return.
You will gather many people into the
fastness of the Rocky Mountains as a center for the gathering of the people,
and you will be faithful because you have been true; and many of those that
come under your ministry, because of their much learning, will seek for high
positions, and they will be set up and raise themselves in eminence above you,
but you will walk in low places unnoticed and you will know all that transpires
in their midst, and those that are my friends will be your friends. This I will
promise to you, that when I come again
to lead you forth, for I will go to prepare a place for you, so that where I am
you shall be with me. ("Diary of John E. Forsgren," Fate of the Persecutors, Lundwall, p.
154)
After the Savior and Joseph Smith have
led the righteous Saints back to Jackson County, Christ will appear again:
[166] Many of you will be living in
Jackson County and there you will be assisting in building the Temple; and if
you will not have seen the Lord Jesus at that time, you may expect Him very
soon, to see Him, to eat and drink with
Him, to shake hands with Him and to invite Him to your houses as He was
invited when He was here before. I am saying things to you now, which I know
something of the truth of them. (Lorenzo Snow, Temples of the Most High, Lundwall, p. 259)
* * *
And the Lord Jesus will appear and
show Himself u temple in holy places, to counsel and instruct and direct. He
will appear in the glory of His Father, in His resurrected body, among those
who can endure His presence and glory. And all this I expect long before He
will waste away and destroy the wicked from off the face of the earth. (Erastus
Snow, JD 25:34)
And concluding with Orson Pratt--
When the Temple is built, the sons of the two Priesthoods . . . will enter into
that Temple. . . and all of them who are
pure in heart will behold the face of the Lord and that too before he comes
in his glory in the clouds of heaven, for he
will suddenly come to his Temple, and he will purify the sons of Moses and
of Aaron, until they shall be prepared to offer in that Temple an offering that
shall be acceptable in the sight of the Lord. In doing this, he will purify not
only the minds of the Priesthood in that Temple, but he will purify their
bodies until they shall be quickened, and renewed and strengthened, and they
will be partially changed, not to immortality, but changed in part that they
can be filled with the power of God, and they can stand in the presence of
Jesus, and behold his face in the midst of that Temple. (JD 15:365-366)
[167] 36. The Temple in Jackson County
will be built in this generation. The saints will think there will be not time
to build it, but with all the great help you will receive, you can put up a
great Temple quickly. You will have gold, silver, and precious stones, for
these things only will be used for beautifying the Temple, all the skilled
mechanics you want and the Ten Tribes of Israel to help you build it. When you
see this land bound(ed) with iron, you may look toward Jackson County.
Joseph said the temple would "be
built in this generation"--the generation in which the Lord would take
vengeance upon the wicked, and then come again among His people.
They (the saints) will come to the
Temple prepared for him, and his
faithful people will behold his face, hear his voice, and gaze upon his glory. From
his own lips they will receive further instructions for the development and
beautifying of Zion and for the extension and sure stability of his Kingdom.
(C. W. Penrose, Mill. Star 21:582)
One of the marvels of modern-day
construction is how rapidly structures can be built. The Salt Lake Temple took
40 years to build just 100 years ago, but now buildings are completed in a
matter of months. According to the prophecy, the temple in New Jerusalem will
be built very quickly--because of the advanced knowledge, skilled manpower, availability
of materials, etc. Apparently the Lord will see that gold, silver, and precious
stones are available, as Orson Pratt prophesied:
Perhaps the Lord will open up mines
containing gold and silver, or in some other way as seemeth to him best, wealth
will be poured into the laps of the Latter-day Saints till they will scarcely
know what to [168] do with it. I will here again prophesy on the strength of
former revelation that there are no people on the face of the whole globe, not
even excepting London, Paris, New York, or any of the great mercantile cities
of the globe--there are no people now upon the face of the earth, so rich as
the Latter-day Saints will be in a few years to come. Having their millions,
therefore they will purchase the land, build up cities, towns and villages,
build a great capital city, at headquarters, in Jackson County, Missouri. Will
we have a temple there? Yes. Will we have a beautiful city? Yes, one of the
most beautiful cities that will ever be erected on the continent of America
will be built up by the Latter-day Saints in Jackson County, Missouri. (JD
21:135)
John Taylor also described this
beautify city and temple:
Zion will become the praise of the
whole earth; and as the Queen of Sheba said anciently, touching the glory of
Solomon, the half of it had not been told her, so it will be in regard to
Israel in their dwelling places. In fact, if there is anything great, noble,
dignified, exalted, anything pure, or holy, or virtuous, or lovely, anything
that is calculated to exalt or ennoble the human mind, to dignify and elevate
the people, it will be found among the people of the Saints of the Most High
God. This is only a faint outline of some of our views in relation to these
things, and hence we talk of returning
to Jackson County to build the most magnificent temple that ever was formed on
the earth and the most splendid city that was ever erected; yea, cities, if
you please. The architectural designs of those splendid edifices, cities,
walls, gardens, bowers, streets, etc., will be under the direction of the Lord,
who will control and manage all the matters; and the people, from the President
down, will all be under the guidance and direction of the Lord . . . (JD 10:147)
John the Revelator describes in more detail
the riches and majesty of this future Zion:
[169] And I John saw the holy city,
new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned
for her husband.
And I heard a great voice out of
heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell
with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them,
and be their God. * * *
And he carried me away in the spirit
to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy
Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,
Having the glory of God: and her light
was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as
crystal;
And had a wall great and high, and had
twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which
are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel:
On the east three gates; on the north
three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates.
And the wall of the city had twelve
foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. * * *
And the building of the wall of it was
of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass.
And the foundations of the wall of the
city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation
was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an
emerald;
The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth,
sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the
tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst.
And the twelve gates were twelve
pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was
pure gold, as it were transparent glass. (Rev. 21:2-3, 10-14, 18-21)
And again from Orson Pratt--
God intends to have a city built up that
will never be destroyed nor overcome, but that will exist while [170] eternity
shall endure; and he will point out the pattern and show the order of
architecture; he will show unto his servants the nature of the streets and the
pavement thereof, the kind of precious stones that shall enter into the
buildings, the nature of the rock and precious stones that will adorn the gates
and the walls of that city; for the gates will be open continually says the
Prophet Isaiah, that men may bring in the force of the Gentiles. ...
Suffice it to say that God by
revelation will inspire his servants and will dictate to them the order of the
buildings of that city--the number and width of the streets, the kind of
houses, the character of the Temple that is to be built therein, the kind of
rock, timber and the various materials that will have to be brought from a
distance to enter into the composition of that beautiful city. (JD 15:365)
Many more elaborate descriptions could
be given here of the New Jerusalem and its temple which would make it only more
amazing that such a community could be built in a short period of time.
There is no positive answer as to how
these valuable materials will be provided, but according to the following
account the Ten Tribes could have something to do with it:
In the Doctrine and Covenants (D &
C 110:11) we have a revelation about the Lost Tribes of Israel. They are going
to assist in the building of the Temple and theyÕre going to bring with them
all the precious and semi-precious materials that will go into the building of
the walls which will be made of different precious stones which we donÕt have.
* * * That temple is going to go up very fast; in fact, the temple and
buildings are going to be built in record time, just because of the preparation
that has been going on. (Interview with Carl Jentzsch, 1971, by Rhea Kunz, and
printed in Reminiscences of John W. and
Lorin C. Woolley, Vol. 1, No. II, p. 26)
[171] Wilford Woodruff saw angels
bring materials to build the temple:
I saw people coming from the river and
from distant places to help build the Temple. It seemed as though there were
hosts of angels helping to bring material for the construction of that
building. Some were in Temple robes, and the pillar-like cloud continued to
hover over the spot. (Wilford Woodruff,
His Life and Labors, M. Cowley, p. 505)
When this gathering takes place in the
New Jerusalem, many of the people from all the nations will be Israelites. It
will be the greatest gathering of Israel yet to take place and will be the
fulfillment of both ancient and modern prophecies. It has been stated that the
Ten Tribes (who according to the White Horse Prophecy are supposed to help
build the temple in the New Jerusalem) were scattered among the nations because
they did not keep their covenants with God nor honor the higher Priesthood
which Moses tried to give them. One of their punishments was that they were
scattered among the nations. A few scriptures are given here in support of
this:
Wherefore, the things of which I have
read are things pertaining to things both temporal and spiritual; for it
appears that the house of Israel, sooner
or later, will be scattered upon all the face of the earth, and also among all
nations. And behold, there are many who are already lost from the knowledge
of those who are at Jerusalem. Yea, the
more part of all the tribes have been led away; and they are scattered to and
fro upon the isles of the sea; . . .
And
it meaneth that the time cometh that after
all the house of Israel have been scattered and confounded, that the Lord
God will raise up a mighty nation among the Gentiles, yea, even upon the face
of this land; . . . (I Nephi 22:3, 4, 7)
[172] * * *
For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all
nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain
fall upon the earth. (Amos 9:8-9)
Jesus told His disciples to go
"to the lost sheep of the house of Israel". (Matt. 10:6) James began
that ministry with the following statement:
James, a servant of God and the Lord
Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which
are scattered abroad, greeting. (James 1:1)
Many other scriptures with this same
message could be cited, such as: 1 Nephi 10:12; 14:14; 21:1; 3 Nephi 5:24; 16:4-5;
21:26-29; Gen. 35:11; 17:4-6; 49; 22:18; 28:14; Ezek. 37:19-23; Jer. 16:14-15;
23:8; 30:11; 31:8-9; 36:16-24; Acts 26:7; Apocrypha II Esdras 13:40, 49-50.
The historian, Josephus, who lived at
the time of Christ, wrote that:
.
. . the ten tribes are beyond the Euphrates till now, (60 A.D.) and are an
immense multitude, and not to be estimated by numbers. (Antiquities of the Jews, Bk. II, Ch. 5, v. 2)
Stephen Malan, an outstanding Mormon
scholar, spent over 30 years researching the subject of the 12 tribes of
Israel. After the conclusion of his research in 1912, he wrote:
A long period of spiritual darkness
was brought to an end by the restoration of the gospel to the Prophet Joseph
Smith. Were the ten tribes enjoying the blessings of the gospel during this
apostasy? Assuredly not--unless they were somewhere on the outside of the earth
on another planet, but this could not be [173] sustained because it would be
contrary to the declaration of the latter text. (D & C 133:26) Christ
informed the Prophet Joseph that there were none on the earth except the
Latter-day Saints who were recognized as his church. It is evident, then, that
the ten tribes did not have the true church nor the holy priesthood nor the
ordinances of the gospel. The presiding authorities of our modern church in
their succession are the only prophets the ten tribes have, because the
Latter-day Saints are of the seed of Ephraim, as thousands of patriarchal
blessings testify, and Ephraim has
therefore come again into his birthright, in his commission of the ministering
for the whole ten, being heir to the holy priesthood to officiate in the holy
ordinances for the whole; hence the precursor to build up Zion.
Thus, . . . we have shown that there
are no grounds whatever for believing that the ten tribes are now and have been
for centuries a separate and distinct nation living in complete isolation from
the rest of mankind. Also from the further fact that should they have
multiplied during twenty-four centuries upon any part of the known earth, they
could not be isolated nor unknown to mankind at this age; hence the argument so
often repeated of their being "lost," and of their being recovered
from their hiding places, cannot be construed otherwise than by the process of having become mixed with other people, and
recovered from said mixture. (The
Ten Tribes--Discovered and Identified, Stephen Malan, 1912, pp. 143-145)
The Ten Tribes are lost as to their
identity; they don't even know themselves who they really are, but when that
time comes that destructions and wars cover the earth, they will see the place
of safety that God has prepared, and they will come from all nations:
And they who are in the north
countries shall come in remembrance before the Lord; . . . and there shall they
fall down and be crowned with glory, even in Zion, by the hands of the servants
of the Lord, even the children of Ephraim. (D & C 133:26, 32)
[174] The Lord says they will be
coming from "the north countries", and it is interesting to note that
nearly all white people are in the northern hemisphere. Some people believe
that the Ten Tribes would come back here to straighten everything out, thinking
that they will save the Church, the Constitution and the nation. Vain hope!
They will come for help and safety and to be taught the gospel. The Ten Tribes
of Israel will not be administering to Ephraim; it will be the reverse.
In the final setting in order, the two
most honored tribes will be Judah presiding in the Old Jerusalem and Joseph
presiding in the New Jerusalem. The other tribes will come in under their
protection and rule.
And he shall set up an ensign for the
nations, and shall assemble the outcasts
of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four quarters of
the earth. (Isaiah 11:11-12)
The last statement in this section of
the White Horse Prophecy--"when you see this land bounded with
iron"--could have a literal or figurative interpretation, such as:
The completion of the railroad has brought us immediately in
contact with the outside world, and it has also brought us prominently before
the nations--not only our own nation, but other nations; and many people who
have heretofore felt little or no interest in regard to the people called
Latter-day Saints are now, through travel, being brought in contact with them,
and are disposed to investigate and to inquire concerning their faith and the
nature of their organization. (George Q. Cannon, JD 14:46, Aug. 1869)
* * *
[175]
A message of simple truth, when sent from God--when published by divine
authority, through divinely inspired men, penetrates the mind like a sharp
two-edged sword, and cuts asunder the deeply-rooted prejudices, the iron-bound sinews of ancient error and
tradition, made sacred by age and rendered popular by human wisdom. (Orson
Pratt, "Divine Authority," No. 1, 1848, p. 1)
So "land bounded with iron"
could refer to the railroad, becoming commonplace in the country or sinful
traditions of mankind binding and restricting them--or maybe something that is
yet to be understood.
I. INCREASING
POWER OF THE WHITE HORSE
37. At this point he made a pause, and looking up
as though the vision was still in view, he said, "There is a land beyond
the Rocky Mountains that will be invaded by the heathen Chinese, unless great
care and protection is given. Speaking of the heathen, where there is no law,
there is no condemnation; this will apply to them.
The "land beyond the Rocky
Mountains" is the west coast of America; and for about 50 years the
Communist regime has been preparing the Chinese for the ultimate invasion of
America, which would undoubtedly mean the west coast. The two countries have
worked and planned together for the final overthrow of America--and the world.
Edward Hunter went to China as an
American newspaper-man in Hankow in 1928, and for 30 years he gathered a wealth
of information on Asia--one of the most complete compilations ever. In one of
his several books, he described the unity of China and Russia:
[176] "Big brother" remains
Moscow, but "little brother" in Peking is a bit older and stubborner,
but there is no disagreement as regards the principle foe--the United States.
One end of the Peking-Moscow Axis regards Uncle Sam as more corroded in
character and more of a push-over than the other.
Red China's indoctrination books teach
that the communist world depends on the Kremlin's survival and guidance, and
that the highest patriotism of any Chinese must therefore be to support Moscow
policy in every possible way. Soviet Russia is referred to as "Big Brother"
and the "Father of Socialism."
* * *
Kuo Mo-jo, chairman of the Federation
of Literary and Art Circles and former Vice-Premier, has put it into a poem as
clearly as it can be said:
"The Soviet Union, Big Brother
No. 1,
is good beyond compare;
Our Own China, Big Brother No. 2,
must imitate him without fail."
(The
Black Book on Red China, Edward Hunter, pp. 7, 118-119)
Chinese and Russian leaders carefully
planned the Korean and Viet Nam wars. History has shown that Soviet giant tanks
and guns littered those battlefields with Chinese troops operating them.
Treaties, truces and peace policies with both China and Russia have never meant
a thing to them; Lenin described them as "pie crusts--made to be
broken." Quoting once more from Hunter:
After three years of bloodshed in
Korea, a costly truce was finally signed. The record shows that from the day of
its signing, its violation began by these same aggressors, until by now,
practically every clause in the agreement has been broken. Never in history has
a signatory to an international treaty shown more contempt for the spirit of a
treaty than the Peking-Moscow Axis has displayed towards that truce agreement.
(Ibid., p. 12)
[177] The Soviet Union has signed over
107 treaties and agreements in the United Nations--and has broken over 102. Yet
we continue to make more treaties and truces with them on disarmaments. In the
final conflict of war, China and Russia will once again be seen as bedfellows.
Another source reports the same
situation:
In one main scenario, we have
neglected to take the "great care" the Prophet Joseph Smith advised,
so now the consequences will have to be suffered. We apparently failed that
critical juncture in 1945, as will be explained here by relating John Birch's
experiences leading up to that year.
Most Americans have heard of the John
Birch Society, but few have known who John Birch really was. Oddly enough, John
Birch never heard of or knew anything about the society that bore his name.
(picture of Captain John M. Birch)
[178] He was the first American to
speak Chinese and work in the field with the Chinese Army--gaining hard
experience by living on two dollars a month, eating only rice and bamboo
shoots, but acting as a missionary to the Chinese and becoming the most
valuable intelligence officer of American forces in the Far East.
His mission began to take gigantic
proportions when Colonel James Doolittle's flyers bombed Japan in April of 1942
and had to dump their planes over China. As they parachuted onto the mainland,
the Japanese were frantically and fanatically seeking to capture, torture and
ultimately kill them for what they had done. John Birch was not only able to
save Col. Doolittle, but also many of the other flyers.
With intelligence gained from the
Chinese, John was able to radio information all along the Chinese coast to
guide American bombers to Japanese strongholds and ships and inform them of
their movements. He worked directly under Major General Chenault, who later
said by 1945 that 90% of his downed flyers had been saved by John's rescue
arrangements--the highest percentage in any war theatre. John also received the
highest awards of General Hsueh Yo, Commanding General of China.
It is reported that at times Birch's
work required him to walk 300 miles at 30 miles a day and then walk back. He
made one long trip to Tibet and another journey of 60 miles on a Mongolian pony
through a snowstorm. At times the Japanese would bomb or invade places that he
had just left. He could disguise himself as a Chinese coolie and spoke Chinese
so well that he could fool even the
Chinese. Often working 20 hours a day, he was able to build and camouflage
American airfields in China for supplies, rescue and secret information.
[179] John was a man of excellent
character--he never smoked, drank or swore. He wanted to be a missionary, and
it is reported:
Captain John M. Birch, intelligence
officer, had never stopped preaching. There have been many stories written of
fighting preachers, but John Birch presents the first clear-cut case I know
about of the preaching fighter. While his military duties always came first,
and the preaching always had to be both incidental and additional to military
activities and movements, it is extremely doubtful if any full-time chaplain in
China conducted more religious services or preached more sermons than John
Birch during the three years John wore an army uniform. (Life of John Birch, R. H. Welch, Jr., p. 41)
In July of 1944 John Birch received
the Legion of Merit medal, and had received a commendation for the
Congressional Medal of Honor and recommendation for the Distinguished Service
Cross. In addition to these, there were a multitude of other recognitions and
tributes.
Before the end of World War II, the
Communists had invaded the northern provinces of China, in accordance with
their long-range plan to take over Asia. The Communists had been making
guerilla raids into villages, seizing supplies, tearing down telephone lines
and causing havoc among the Chinese people as they took new territory. Birch and
others heard of the intrusions but had no fears, personally, because they were
Americans and the Soviets were supposed to be our allies.
As he entered one of the villages that
the Communists had taken, Captain Birch and Lt. Tung asked to speak with the leader
of their garrison.
[180] . . . the Communists kept
stalling about taking them to the commanding officer or identifying anybody in
charge. Lt. Tung frankly warned Captain Birch to turn back as his life was in
danger. John's reply, as later quoted verbatim by Lt. Tung was: "It doesn't make much difference what
happens to me, but it is of utmost importance that my country learn now whether
these people are friend or foe." He got a very clear answer to that
question, which could have been of tremendous value to his country--and could
have saved tens of thousands of other American boys, as well as literally
millions of the Chinese whom he loved. He got it at the cost of an agonizing
death. (Ibid., p. 59)
John told the Communists that he was
in the service of the United States Army, which should have given him free
clearance. However, they ordered him to be disarmed and then shot him and Lt.
Tung in their legs, after which they were bayoneted. The Communist soldiers
dragged the two wounded men to the side of an open pit by the edge of the
village and left them to die.
Soon after, an old Chinese woman
wandered past and thought they should be buried, but Lt. Tung was just barely
able to speak and asked for help. Later she returned with help and carried them
away. John Birch was dead, but despite the loss of one eye and one leg, Lt.
Tung survived to tell the story.
Amazingly and strangely, the story was
suppressed! The only inkling that came out was a short article by Constantine
Brown in which he said:
Long dispatches are reaching
Washington from Chungking and other tender spots in China. They are all marked
top secret, although they deal with what is happening to the American soldiers
and sailors in that area. None has yet been officially informed about the [181]
murder of Captain John Lirch by the Chinese Communists. (Washington Star, Nov. 15, 1945)
Another newspaper reporter wrote a
letter to Captain Birch's parents, saying that "had not the truth been
suppressed, Captain Birch's death would have headlined every newspaper in the
United States." And W. T. Anderson, editor of the Macon Telegraph in John's hometown, said that "the murder was
kept a `hush, hush' affair, and no China correspondents were able to send out
the story." (Life of John Birch,
p. 64)
General Wedemyer sent continuous
reports of all this to Washington, but the reports were merely filed away. The
Communist forces continued their rampage through China, executing and
plundering the Chinese with a total estimated killing of nearly 40 million people.
While all of this was going on, Washington officials continued to send billions
of dollars worth of materials to the Communists. Every month for the past 50
years our government has sent grain, technical supplies, and even war materials
to Communist countries. One Communist official accurately stated that America
will finance its own destruction.
It was mostly in the incident of John
Birch's death that great care was not taken and will eventually result in the
invasion of the United States, as prophesied by Joseph Smith.
Former FBI agent, Dan Smoot, made this
report:
By 1933, the Soviet Union was doomed:
Stalin had murdered more than 6 million Russian farmers; and the starving
population was ready for revolt. Hitler's Germany was a menace in the West;
Japan, in the East. Stalin stretched out his hands (red with the blood of
millions) across the Atlantic, and Franklin Roosevelt grasped them in cordial
friendship.
[182] It is improbable that the
Soviets could have survived another year if Roosevelt had not given them
diplomatic recognition in 1933. It is certain they could not have survived
World War II without our help.
Following the war, American policies
and direct American aid helped communists conquer eastern and central Europe,
and gave them China in Asia.
Though
China under Chiang Kai-shek was our most valuable ally in the Pacific,
Roosevelt, at Yalta, agreed to Soviet control of Manchuria, a province of
China. After we had beaten Japan without any help from the Soviets, Soviet
armies--equipped with American material--occupied Manchuria. Before
withdrawing, they gave Chinese communists enough American supplies to make war
on our friend, Chiang Kai-shek. Communists and pro-communists in our State Department manipulated American
decisions to favor the Communists. ("The Dan Smoot Report", May
2, 1966, Vol. 12, No. 18)
Even recently we can see evidence of
this alliance between Russia and China still continuing:
Russia and China signed agreements Friday
that pledge the most extensive cooperation between the two countries since the
early 1950's, when Moscow befriended the struggling Chinese Communists with
massive economic aid and military cooperation.
Russian President Boris Yeltsin,
marking what he called a "new stage" in relations, said the two sides
had signed 24 joint statements, documents and memorandums of understanding in
areas including military and technological cooperation, space exploration and
nuclear energy development. (Salt Lake
Tribune, Dec. 19, 1992, p. A5)
So if and when an invasion takes place
on the west coast by China, Russia will surely be involved as well.
A vision given to Lorin Woolley tells
about this same type of invasion:
[183] A black cloud also arose over
the Pacific Ocean and traveled eastward as far as the Sierra Mountains, where
it was arrested, not reaching Utah.
In relating the above
to President John Taylor and others of the brethren, President Taylor said the
vision showed two wars, the first reaching only to the Eastern shores of the
United States, while the second would reach to the shores of the Missouri
River. The Asiatics will over-run the Western Coast, but will not be able to hold
it. He said, "It will be a war of desolation." (Visions of the Latter Day, p. 120)
For 25 years, Dumitru Duduman
(previously quoted in this book) was a minister and Bible smuggler in Romania,
delivering hundreds of thousands of Bibles throughout Communist countries. In
1984 he was exiled from the country and came to America. While miraculously
surviving many sufferings and tortures from the Communists, God revealed things
to comfort him, and also gave him a warning message to deliver to America. He
saw in vision some of the destruction on the west coast:
Suddenly, I heard a big explosion,
then a powerful voice said, "California is burning. California is burning!
Climb to the top of the mountain; there you will be safe." I saw
California engulfed in flames. * * * Looking down I saw fire bursting out of
the ground, trees and houses disintegrating before my eyes. People were
screaming in agony and pain, and I saw some of them trying to climb up the
mountain, but most of them weren't able to. Then two men dressed in white
appeared, and one of them said in a powerful voice, "Do you see how
California is burning? This is how it will happen." (Through the Fire, Duduman, p. 99)
38. Power will be given the White Horse to rebuke
nations afar off and they will obey, not that they will be one with the White
Horse, but
[184] when the law goes forth they will obey, for the law shall go forth from
Zion.
This "power" to be given the
White Horse is not necessarily guns, bombs and military personnel; rather God
will bring His secret weapons to help "rebuke nations afar off." The
scriptures refer to this tremendous power:
One man of you shall chase a thousand:
for the Lord your God, he it is that fighteth for you, as he hath promised you.
Take good heed therefore unto
yourselves, that ye love the Lord your God. (Joshua 23:10-11)
* * *
And ye shall chase your enemies, and
they shall fall before you by the sword.
And five of you shall chase an
hundred, and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight: and your
enemies shall fall before you by the sword.
For I will have respect unto you, and
make you fruitful, and multiply you, and establish my covenant with you.
And I will set my tabernacle among
you: and my soul shall not abhor you.
And I will walk among you, and will be
your God, and ye shall be my people. (Lev. 26:7-9, 11, 12)
* * *
How should one chase a thousand, and
two put ten thousand to flight, except their Rock had sold them, and the Lord
had shut them up? (Deut. 32:30)
Many early Church leaders also
mentioned these same unbelievable, but victorious odds:
Learn to control yourselves; learn to
be in the hands of God as clay in the hands of the potter; and if he will turn
our enemies away, praised be his name. [185] But if it should become a duty to
take the sword, let us do it, manfully and in the strength of Israel's God. Then "one will chase a thousand, and
two will put ten thousand to flight." The day will be in which a man
will go out and say to an army of a hundred thousand men, "Do thus, and
so, or we are upon you;" and they will hear the rumbling of chariots and
the rushing of troops, as in the days of Elijah. (Brigham Young, JD 5:229,
1857)
* * *
In the days of Israel, we read that one chased a thousand and two put ten
thousand to flight. The Lord would send an influence, perhaps a spirit
rapping would get into their midst, and they would go to work and slay one
another. Cannot the Lord do the same now? Cannot He turn over mountains, if we
were followed up by enemies, and heap them upon them just as easy as I can turn
over an apple? (Heber C. Kimball, JD 2:356)
* * *
The day is to come when one shall chase a thousand, and two put ten
thousand to flight. When that day comes, the Lord will make the enemies of
His people flee as if there were thousands after them, when there is only one;
and that is the way that God will deal with our enemies. The day of God
Almighty is at hand, when He will show forth His power, and when He will
deliver His people from all their enemies. (Heber C. Kimball, JD 4:375)
* * *
The time is coming when one shall chase a thousand, and two shall
put ten thousand to flight. When will that be? When Israel is united. If
all this people were absolutely united with all their hearts to pull upon one
grand thread, upon one grand cord, they would have power and dominion over the
whole earth; all the men and devils in hell, on the earth, or anywhere else could
not make a successful opposition against us. (George A. Smith, JD 2:366, 1855)
[186] * * *
. . . that if the Church would be
united, and exercise faith in God, he would protect them, though their enemies
were ever so numerous. But in order to get protection and favor from God, they
must become one, and be perfectly united in all things; cleanse themselves from
every kind of pollution, and keep the whole law of God; and, if they would do
this, God would strengthen them against their enemies, his arm should be their
arm, and the time was not far distant
when, if they purified themselves properly, one should be able to choose his
thousand, and to put their ten thousand to flight. (History of the Mormons, John Corrill, p. 29)
Jesus also offered the same promise:
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He
that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do;
because I go unto my Father.
And whatsoever ye shall ask in my
name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
If
ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it. (John
14:12-14)
And from Wilford Woodruff:
By and by the testimony of the Gospel
will be sealed among the Gentiles, and the Gospel will turn to the whole house
of Israel, and the judgments of God will back up the testimony of the elders of
this Church, and the Lord will send
messengers who will go forth and reap down the earth. (JD 18:38)
Similar events will be seen by the
elect, as shown in vision to Lorin C. Woolley:
[187] In about the year 1886, after
having retired to rest, all of a sudden I appeared to be standing on a high
range of mountains, from which point I could see a cordon of Elders reaching
from Yucatan, South America, north to the Arctic regions. Then there appeared a
black cloud in the Blakans traveling westward. It only reached to the shores of
the United States when it seemed to stop and go back to its starting point.
Then it came again and covered all the eastern part of the United States and north
into Canada. As I looked, I saw what appeared to be large birds (now
interpreted as being airplanes) emerge from the dark cloud; also horseless
carriages appeared, (automobiles) all loaded principally with women, travelling
westward. * * *
As the cloud traveled westward, groups of men holding the Priesthood
seemed to run in circles, one in the center of each group, rebuking the cloud through prayer. The cloud would stop and start
again and it made headway until it reached the Missouri River west of Independence.
At this point, three groups of Elders with three men, (instead of one as
before) in the center of each group, formed in circles, one group being in
Canada, one group in the United States, and one in Mexico, * * * As we prayed,
the cloud went back. (Visions of Latter
Days, pp. 119-120)
In a document written by Parley P.
Pratt entitled "The Angel of the Prairies" and read in the High
Council of the Church, he described these events:
To this inquiry the Angel of the
Prairies replied as follows:
"The American system was indeed
glorious in its beginning, and was founded by wise and good men, in opposition
to long established abuses and oppressive systems of the Old World. But it had
its weaknesses and imperfections. These were taken advantage of by wicked and
conspiring men, who were unwisely placed at the head of government, and who, by
a loose and corrupt administration, gradually undermined that [188] beautiful
structure. In their polluted hands justice faltered, truth fell to the ground,
equity could not enter, and virtue fled into the wilderness. A blind,
sectarianized and corrupt populace formed themselves into numerous mobs,
overturned the laws, and put at defiance the administration thereof. These were
either joined by the officers of Government or secretly winked at and
encouraged by them, until the injured and persecuted friends of law and order,
finding no protection or redress, were forced to abandon their country and its
institutions, now no longer in force, and to retreat into the wilderness, with
the loss of a vast amount of property and many valuable lives. These carried
with them the spirit of liberty which seemed as a cement to form them into
union, and thus was formed a nucleus around which rallied by degrees all the
virtue and patriotism of the nation. Thus rallied and re-organized, the bold
and daring sons of liberty were able to stand in their own defense, and to hurl
defiance upon their former enemies. Thus the spirit of freedom had withdrawn
from the mass and they were abandoned, like King Saul of old, to destruction.
Divisions and contentions arose, and multiplied to that degree that they soon
destroyed each other, deluged the country in blood, and thus ended the
confederation under the title of "E Pluribus Unum".
"The remnant who fled into the
wilderness and rallied to the standard of liberty on the plains of the West,
combining the wisdom of former experience with the light of truth which shone
into their hearts from above, laid the foundation of their perfect form of
government--this mighty empire of liberty which you now see, and the
institutions of which you shall be more fully informed in due time. The wisdom,
intelligence and peace which flowed from this centre soon served as an ensign
to the nations abroad. This filled some with envy, others with admiration and
delight. The good, the great, the noble, the generous and patriotic lovers of
truth rallied from all nations, and joining the standard of freedom, were a
constantly increasing strength to their new and perfect organization. While by
the same means the old and corrupt [189] institutions were proportionately
weakened and abandoned. This soon stirred the envy and jealousy of old and
corrupt powers to that degree that they united in a general declaration of war
against their young and more prosperous neighbors. These allied powers sent out
an armament of five hundred ships of the line, and a half a million of men.
Their object was not only to gratify their vengeance and envy, but their
avarice and ambition. They aimed at nothing less than the subjugation and
plunder of the whole country. These powers were a portion of them landed, with
implements and effects, and the remainder reserved on board their ships. They were met by the sons of liberty, both
by sea and land, who were at length victorious, and this whole army were
overcome, and their riches and armor, which was immense, were taken for
spoil. This brilliant victory greatly enriched and strengthened the new empire
of freedom, and at the same time nearly ruined the nations who commenced the
war. They sued for peace, and finally obtained it on condition of perfect
submission to the will of the conquerors. This gave them new and liberal laws
and institutions, broke off the fetters of their old masters, and utterly
forbade the use of arms or the art of war. These brilliant and highly
commendable measures soon opened the eyes of millions more, and won them to the
cause of liberty and truth. Other and distant nations, who had watched all
these movements at length, saw the beauties of liberty and felt the force of
truth, till finally, with one consent, they joined the same standard. Thus, in
one short century, the world is revolutionized; tyranny is dethroned; war has
ceased forever; peace is triumphant, and truth and knowledge cover the
earth."
Thus spake the Angel of the Prairies.
(pp. 16-19)
So with God's power, the righteous
forces will destroy the governments and unrighteous dominions of the wicked, as
the Lord has stated:
[190] And thus, with the sword and by bloodshed the inhabitants of the earth shall
mourn; and with famine, and plague,
and earthquake, and the thunder of heaven, and the fierce and vivid
lightning also, shall the inhabitants of the earth be made to feel the wrath,
and indignation, and chastening hand of an Almighty God, until the consumption
decreed hath made a full end of all nations. (D & C 87:6)
39. The last great struggle Zion will have to
contend with will be when the whole
of America will be made the Zion of God.
Two months before his death, Joseph
Smith again identified Zion, in its broadest sense, as being the whole of
America:
You know there has been great
discussion in relation to Zion--where it is, and where the gathering of the
dispensation is, and which I am now going to tell you. The prophets have spoken
and written upon it; but I will make a proclamation that will cover a broader
ground. The whole of America is Zion
itself from north to south, and is described by the Prophets, who declare
that it is the Zion where the mountain of the Lord should be, and that it
should be in the center of the land. When Elders shall take up and examine the
old prophecies in the Bible, they will see it. (TPJS, p. 362)
The "last great struggle"
will be the destruction of the kingdom of the devil and the rise of the kingdom
of God. The labors, works, miracles, and mighty things of God that have been in
the past are only a small part of those larger events in the future. Avraham
Gileadi explained this very well:
That events surrounding the
restoration of the gospel through the Prophet Joseph Smith in part resemble the
coming forth of the great and marvelous [191] work should not surprise us.
Scriptural history functions typologically in every age (compare Isa 44:7;
Eccl. 1:9). Though the great and marvelous work is still future, its
"commencement" has taken place.
Many things that happened in the days
of Joseph Smith and Brigham Young portend what is yet to come: the corruptness
of professors of religion (JS-H 1:19), heavenly visions and the ministering of
angels (D & C 110:1-16), the translation of ancient records (D & C
20:6-8), Zion's Camp through the wilderness to redeem the New Jerusalem (D
& C 105:1-17), the great division among the people after the Prophet Joseph
died, and the exodus of the Saints to the Rocky Mountains ( D & C
136:1-16).
All these events constitute types and
shadows of what is to come. From any one of the analyses we have completed, we
see that the events involving the early restored Church correspond only in part
to the Lord's great and marvelous work. The translation of ancient records in
Joseph Smith's day did not include the sealed portion of the Book of Mormon and
other important records. Zion's camp to redeem the New Jerusalem did not result
in the reinheritance of promised lands. The great division among the people was
largely local, not worldwide. The exodus to the Rocky Mountains involved but a
relatively small number of Saints and was an exodus away from and not to the
center place. Lastly, the early scenario of the Church's history lacks the great
and marvelous work's aspect of universal judgment and destruction that precedes
Jesus' second coming. What Isaiah and Nephi prophesy, and what the Book of
Mormon typifies, will involve the whole house of Israel. The Lord's people will
gather from throughout the earth when the Lord pours out his wrath upon the
wicked. Jews, Gentiles, Lamanites, and
Ten Tribes will yet participate in events the like of which the world has known
only piecemeal--through types. (The
Last Days, A. Gileadi, pp. 91-92)
Orson Pratt described some of the
events that these are "types" for:
[192] When the time shall come that
the Lord shall waste away this nation, He will given commandment to this people
to return and possess their own
inheritances which they purchased some 44 years ago in the state of
Missouri. We own a great deal of land there. . . . that land was taken from us
by mobocracy; we were driven from it. All that this people have will be put
into the hands of the Servants of God, and each
one will receive his stewardship at their hands, without any law
interfering from abroad, . . . Then this
people will be united, . . . but there will be an approximation to it, here
in these mountains. We will learn a great many pure principles to enable us to
carry out the law. . . . But then there
will be a full execution of that law. Now that order of things will
continue and spread forth from that nucleus in Jackson County and the Western
counties of Missouri. . . and all the people will be required to execute the
law in all their stewardship, and then there will be Oneness, and Union which
will continue, and it will spread wider
and wider, and become greater and greater, until the desolate cities of the
Gentiles will be inhabited by the Saints. Then will be fulfilled the prophecy
of Isaiah, in which he says, "Thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles and make
the desolate cities to be inhabited;" for God will visit them in judgment,
and there will be no owners left to occupy the country. (O.P.'s discourse
delivered Sept. 26, 1875, Des. Even.
News, 8:265, Oct. 2, 1875)
40. Those opposing will be called Gog and Magog.
The nations of the world led by the Russian Czar and their power, will be
great, but all opposition will be overcome, and this land will be then the Zion
of our God.
Some general definitions of Gog and
Magog, as pertaining to the last days, are:
[193] . . . the nations that, under
Satan, are to war against the kingdom of God. (Webster's New World Dictionary)
Gog and Magog symbolically represent
the God-less nations of the world. * * *
There are three major divergent
interpretations of the story of Gog. Some hold it to present a literal
description of a future attack on Israel by certain identifiable nations led by
Russia. Others regard it as a symbolic description of some future event--either
the final conflict of the nation Israel with unidentified fores, or the final
catastrophic struggle between the Church and the forces of the world. Still
others look upon it as a prophetic parable illustrating, not a specific historical
event, but a great truth--that whenever in history evil forces array themselves
to destroy God's people. He comes to the aid of His own. (Zondervan's Encyclopedia of the Bible, Vol. 2, p. 770)
Some of the references to Gog and
Magog pertain to events that will occur before the Millennium and some
afterward. So apparently there will be battles between the people of God and
representatives of Satan during both time periods. A few examples of each are
included below:
Before
Millennium:
The
battle of Gog and Magog against Israel shall usher in the Second Coming--The Lord will
come amid war and pestilence, and all men shall shake at his presence.
Gog and Magog destroyed--For seven
years they burn the weapons of war--For seven months they bury the dead--Then comes
the supper of the great God and the continued gathering of Israel.
(Introductory paragraphs to Sections 38 and 39 of Ezekiel)
* * *
[194] As President Young said, the
vail will be rent, and when the armies of Gog and Magog arise, they will say,
let us not go against Israel to battle, for her sons are terrible, and we
cannot stand. (Wilford Woodruff, JD 4:100)
* * *
. . . the present is an important era,
an era in which the nations are becoming angry. They thirst for each otherÕs
blood; and who knows but that all nations will, respectively, file off under
the heads of Greek and Roman, or "Gog and Magog", to fight the
terrible battles spoken of in sacred writ? (Orson Hyde, JD 2:210)
The Prince of Rosh, Meshech, and
Tubal, whom Ezekiel said would invade the restored land of Israel from the far
distant northern land by the appointment of God in the last times, and with a
powerful army of numerous nations with the intention of plundering Israel * * *
and when Gog shall fall upon Israel,
he is to be destroyed by a wrathful judgment from the Lord, that the nations
may know that God is the Lord. On the
mountains of Israel will Gog, with all his hosts and nations, succumb to the
judgment of God." (Unger's
Bible Dictionary, p. 418)
There is "a popular
identification of Rosh with Russia, Meshech with Moscow and Tubal with Tobolsk
in Siberia" and the possibility that "some of the wild Russian tribes
would fit into the explanation given." (The Illustrated Bible Dictionary, 1:574)
After
Millennium:
And
when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his
prison,
And shall go out to deceive the
nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of
whom is as the sand of the sea.
[195] And they went up on the breadth
of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city:
and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.
And the devil that deceived them was
cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet
are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
And I saw a great white throne, and
him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and
there was found no place for them. (Rev. 20:7-11)
* * *
The
battle of Gog and Magog will be after the millennium. The remnant of
all the nations that fight against Jerusalem were commanded to go up to Jerusalem
to worship in the millennium. (DHC 5:298)
Before
or After the Millennium:
I, (Brigham Young) went to the stand
in the forenoon. Elder Sidney Rigdon preached. His discourse was complicated
and somewhat confused; he said he had all things shown to him from this time to
the winding-up scene, or the great battle
of Gog and Magog; there were great things to take place, . . . (DHC 7:266)
* * *
For the third in the White Horse
Prophecy, Joseph Smith is warning us about Russia. As mentioned previously, for
many years the Communist objective has been to overthrow all nations and rule
the world. However, from the moment they had placed their agents in every
government, every church, and every strategic place for that overthrow, they
publicly sought for peace and disarmament. We were led to believe that for
three days, 150 demonstrators in Moscow Square made so much commotion that
Communism was finally overthrown. Immediately designated men in every nation
parroted the [196] Russian newscast with the announcement, "Communism is
dead!"
How strange that with all the
military, scientific and political powers of the world opposing Communism for
over a century, they have not been able to win the war that supposedly a little
band of demonstrators in Moscow finally won!
The news media is telling us that
there is no more Communism and we should disarm. Our government has rushed to
destroy our weapons and throw down all our arms. We are voluntarily eliminating
our own defenses without them being destroyed by enemy warfare. At this rate,
we will soon be almost defenseless.
The true story may have been told best
by a Russian Olympic weight lifter. When a newscaster asked him, "I
understand that you have been forbidden to come to the Olympics for the last
two times because of your speaking against Communism. How do you feel now that
Communism is dead?" He looked at the commentator and said, "If I were
you, I wouldn't feel too secure; they still have the same people in the same
jobs!"
At the present time we are sending our
troops to little hot spots around the world under the direction of the United
Nations, while the troops of other foreign nations are training (with their
weapons) within the United States. Could this be a shrewd ploy to get our
military out of the country and bring enemy troops inside the U.S.? Would that
not be the most brilliant military strategy ever used for the overthrow of a
nation? What a massive trojan horse that we are building for our own
destruction!
[197] (United Nations Insignia)
The man in charge of the U.S.
government department which designed the UN emblem was a secret member of the
Communist party.
This peace-promoting concept was
conceived many years ago by the Communists:
Dimitri Z. Manuilsky, one of the
Russian representatives to the United Nations who has been a leader in the
Communistic movement in Russia for many years, in a speech before the Lenin
School of Political Warfare in Moscow in 1930, boasted, "War to the hilt
between Communism and Capitalism is inevitable. Today, of course, we are not
strong enough to attack. Our time will come in 20 or 30 years. To win, we will
need the element of surprise. The bourgeois will have to be put to sleep. So we shall begin by launching the most
spectacular peace movement on record. There will be electrifying overtures,
and unheard of [198] concessions. The Capitalistic countries, stupid and
decadent, will rejoice to cooperate in
their own destruction. They will leap at another chance to be our friends.
As soon as their guard is down, we shall smash them with our clenched fist. (Patterns of Communist Espionage,
Committee on Un-American Activities, House of Representatives; 85th Congress,
Second Session, Jan. 1959, p. 1)
And from Dr. Fred Schwartz, one of the
leading authorities on the international conspiracy:
After he has the whole of Europe,
Africa, and Asia, he will unleash up to a million aircraft against this
country. From the north, from the south, from the west and from the east they
will converge, manned by suicide pilots with no expectation of returning and
they will devastate this country within a few days. (Communist Interpretation of Peace, Schwartz, p. 17)
One of our nation's counterspies
discovered this from a Soviet leader:
Soviet Russia is growing in strength
each day, General Sascha Korotkov boasted. "When the time is ripe, we will
strike, Comrade. In one day we will wipe out all the American war bases from
Spain to Alaska." He drew in his breath sharply and added, "and on
the very same day the one hundred most important Americans will die. Some of
them will be poisoned, some crushed under falling rocks, some in unavoidable
automobile accidents. The sooner these American exploiters, these blood-suckers
of the poor, are liquidated, the better." (My Ten Years as a Counterspy, Boris Moros)
All of this was seen in a vision as
long ago as 1892:
[199] Cities were swept away in an
instant, missiles were hurled through the atmosphere at a terrible velocity,
and people were carried upward only to descend an unrecognizable mass. (See Contributor 15:638-640)
Bruce R. McConkie explained how great
this power could be:
We do not say that all of the Saints
will be spared and saved from the coming day of desolation. But we do say there
is no promise of safety and no promise of security except for those who love
the Lord and who are seeking to do all that he commands.
It may be, for instance, that nothing except the power of faith and the
authority of the priesthood can save individuals and congregations from the
atomic holocausts that surely shall be.
And so we raise the warning voice and
say: Take heed; prepare; watch and be ready. (Ensign, May 1979, p. 93)
Should we believe the news reports
from Moscow, Washington, and the United Nations? Or should we believe this
great White Horse Prophecy of Joseph Smith? Every other major prophet has also
foretold of the great wars that would nearly empty the nations of the earth of
their inhabitants. Even the Savior Himself said these destructions would be so
bad that nearly "all flesh" would be destroyed. (See Matt. 24.)
In recent years a book called Tragedy and Hope was published by
Professor Carroll Quigley, a professor at Princeton and Harvard Universities.
This 1300-page book explains how some of the inner workings and selected
members of financial and political circles have taken control of the whole
world. It was known that this man was a part of that intriguing combination,
and everyone assumed that he had turned against it, but not so. He merely laid
down the history, present procedures, and future exploits of these people with
[200] the attitude that they have total control of everything and everyone, and
there is nothing that anyone can do about it.
The world has descended back into the
old feudal system of servants and lords--the "haves" and the
"have nots", where only a few control the rest. Changing all this and
overcoming all opposition so that this land will be the land of Zion, will
indeed be an awesome task!
The last great struggle of Zion will
be to overthrow the host of traitors and Judases from within our own nation.
Our enemies have constructed a great Trojan horse to defeat us--but strangely
enough, under camouflage they have built it within our own borders! They have
deceived us by stealing our wealth, overtaking our government, flooding our
country with foreigners, destroying our Constitution, plunging us into an
impossible debt, and setting us up to be ruled by the most diabolical men who
ever lived. In the words of Walt Kelly's Pogo, "We have found the enemy,
and they are us!"
But the White Horse Prophecy concludes
with the promise that "all opposition will be overcome and then this land
will be the Zion of our God."
* * * * *
J. EDWIN RUSHTON'S TESTIMONY
The
words of the Prophet made a strong impression upon me. I have never forgotten
them. On an occasion about two weeks later, after I first heard him speak these
words, I was at a meeting [201] where
he preached a sermon, which he said would be the greatest of his life. On that
occasion he reiterated the matter which I have now written, so that the subject
became firmly rooted in my memory, and I know them to be true.
Now,
therefore, I testify that these are the inspired words spoken by the Prophet,
Joseph Smith, as he stood looking up into heaven. His countenance became white
and transparent; he looked as if he had as much of the heavenly influence as he
could bear and stay with the saints. His voice was powerful and his words cut
like a two-edged sword.
These two concluding paragraphs were
part of the early reports of the White Horse Prophecy and were included with
the biography of Edwin Rushton by his daughter.
It is significant that Edwin Rushton
commented on Joseph Smith's countenance becoming "white and transparent."
This was a peculiar mark of divinity that seemed to signify divine approval for
what was said by the power of revelation. At times others noticed when Joseph
Smith was filled with the spirit of revelation because of this same appearance.
For example, Mary Lightner recorded:
Said he, "There are enough here
to hold a little meeting." They got a board and put it across two chairs
to make seats. Martin Harris sat on a little box at Joseph's feet. They sang
and prayed. Joseph got up and began to speak to us. As he began to speak very
solemnly and very earnestly, all at once his countenance changed and he stood
mute. Those who looked at him that day said there was a searchlight within him,
over every part of his body. I never saw anything like it on the earth. I could
not take my eyes off him; he got so
white that anyone who saw him would [202] have thought he was transparent. I remember I thought I could
almost see the cheek bones through the flesh. I have been through many changes
since, but that is photographed on my brain. I shall remember it and see in my
mind's eye as long as I remain upon the earth. (Mary Lightner's 1905 BYU
Address, typescript copy, p. 1)
This same effect was noticed on the
Prophet at one of the early Relief Society meetings:
There was much valuable instruction
given in these meetings. Sometimes Emma would bring the Prophet in to give
instructions. One in particular, I remember, he opened the meeting by prayer.
He was so full of the Spirit of the Holy Ghost that his frame shook and his face shone and looked almost
trans-parent. (Nancy Tracy Autobiography, typescript copy, BYU Library, pp.
24-25)
This "transparent"
appearance seemed to come upon the Prophet only when he was transfixed in a revelation
or vision, or shortly thereafter. Philo Dibble also observed this unusual
manifestation:
On a subsequent visit to Hiram, I
arrived at Father Johnson's just as Joseph and Sidney were coming out of the
vision alluded to in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants (D & C 76), in
which mention is made of the three glories. Joseph wore black clothes, but at
this time seemed to be dressed in an element of glorious white, and his face shone as if it were transparent, but
I did not see the same glory attending Sidney (Rigdon). Joseph appeared as
strong as a lion, but Sidney seemed as weak as water, and Joseph, noticing his
condition, smiled and said, "Brother Sidney is not as used to it as I
am." (Philo Dibble Narrative, Early
Scenes in Church History, No. 8 in Faith Promoting Series, p. 81)
[203] Brigham Young was also familiar
with Joseph's transparent countenance when the "spirit of revelation"
was upon him:
Those who were acquainted with him
knew when the Spirit of revelation was upon him, for his
countenance wore an expression peculiar to himself while under that influence.
He preached by the Spirit of revelation, and taught in his council by it, and
those who were acquainted with him could discover it at once, for at such times there was a peculiar
clearness and transparency in his face. (JD 9:90, 1861)
However, the most interesting
testimony to substantiate Rushton's account of the Prophet's speech on the
White Horse Prophecy was written by Edwin Tullidge:
A block schoolhouse had been prepared
with shade in front, under which was a barrel of ice water. Judge George
(James) Adams was the highest Masonic authority in the state of Illinois, and
had been sent there to organize this lodge. He, Hyrum Smith, and J. C. Bennett,
being high Masons, went into the house to perform some ceremonies which the
others were not entitled to witness. These, including Joseph Smith, remained
under the bowery. Joseph, as he was tasting the cold water, warned the brethren
not to be too free with it. With the tumbler still in his hand, he prophesied
that the Saints would yet go to the Rocky Mountains; and, said he, this water
tastes much like that of the crystal streams that are running from the
snow-capped mountains. We will let Mr. Call describe this prophetic scene:
"I had before seen him in a
vision, and now saw while he was talking
his countenance change to white; not the deadly white of a bloodless face, but a living brilliant white. He seemed
absorbed in gazing at something at a great distance, and said, `I am gazing
upon the valleys of those mountains.' This [204] was followed by a vivid
description of the scenery of these mountains, as I have since become
acquainted with it. Pointing to Shadrach Roundy and others, he said, `There are
some men here who shall do a great work in that land.' Pointing to me, he said,
`There is Anson, he shall go and shall assist in building up cities from one
end of the country to the other, and you,' rather extending the idea to all
those he had spoken of, `shall perform as great a work as has been done by man,
so that the nations of the earth shall be astonished, and many of them will be
gathered in that land and assist in building cities and temples, and Israel
shall be made to rejoice.'
"It is impossible to represent in
words this scene which is still vivid in my mind of the grandeur of Joseph's appearance, his beautiful descriptions of this
land, and his wonderful prophetic utterances as they emanated from the glorious
inspirations that overshadowed him. There was a force and power in his
exclamations of which the following is but a faint echo: `Oh the beauty of
those snow-capped mountains! The cool refreshing streams that are running down
through those mountain gorges!' Then gazing in another direction, as if there
was a change of locality: `Oh the scenes that this people will pass through!
The dead that will lay between here and there.' Then turning in another
direction as if the scene had again changed: `Oh the apostasy that will take
place before my brethren reach that land!' `But,' he continued, `The priesthood
shall prevail over its enemies, triumph over the devil and be established upon
the earth, never more to be thrown down!' He then charged us with great force
and power, to be faithful to those things that had been and should be committed
to our charge, with the promise of all the blessings that the Priesthood could
bestow. `Remember these things and treasure them up. Amen.'" (History of Northern Utah and Southern Idaho
, p. 271 et seq.)
[205] There are obvious parallels in
this account and the White Horse Prophecy:
1.
The surroundings were much the same.
2.
He started prophesying while holding a glass of water in his hand.
3.
He foretold that the Saints would go to the Rocky Mountains.
4.
He spoke with great power.
5.
He described scenes that were in his vision.
6.
He explained the final wind-up scenes of the world.
7.
A peculiar whiteness came upon his countenance.
If a particular event or doctrine or
prophecy is true, it should ring true to the sincere reader or hearer, for the
spirit of truth will carry its own weight. According to the Prophet:
This is good doctrine. It tastes good.
I can taste the principles of eternal life, and so can you. They are given to
me by the revelations of Jesus Christ; and I know that when I tell you these
words of eternal life as they are given to me, you taste them, and I know that
you believe them. You say honey is sweet, and so do I. I can also taste the
spirit of eternal life. I know that it is good; and when I tell you of these
things which were given me by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, you are bound to
receive them as sweet, and rejoice more and more. (DHC 6:312)
According to a statement by Rhea Kunz,
who personally knew the early Mormon fundamentalist leaders, the early LDS
Church leaders accepted this White Horse Prophecy as "genuine and very
valuable":
In 1928 and '29 more than once in the
home of Daniel R. Bateman in Midvale, Utah, I had the privilege of seeing and
handling an old copy of the "White Horse Prophecy." It was printed on
a single once-white sheet [206] of paper, worn and yellow with age. The
printing, however, was clearly legible. Brother Bateman told my husband and me
that he had acquired the copy when he was a bodyguard for John Taylor and that
he and President Taylor had discussed the prophecy which was accepted by all
the early Church leaders as genuine and very valuable. (The One Like Unto Moses, Rhea Kunz, unpublished manuscript, p. 183,
ftnt. 3)
With the gift of the Holy Ghost for
our individual discernment, we should be able to distinguish the truthfulness
of the contents of Joseph Smith's White Horse Prophecy. Edwin Rushton quoted
Joseph Smith (when he gave the sermon two weeks later) as saying this was the
"greatest of his life." Because of the valuable information contained
in it, this author believes it is!
[207] Chapter 4
LDS CHURCH POSITION
TODAY
Many of the current Church leaders
take the same position toward the White Horse Prophecy as Apostle Joseph F.
Smith did in his 1918 General Conference address:
. . . I have discovered that people
have copies of a purported vision by the Prophet Joseph Smith given in Nauvoo,
and some people are circulating this supposed vision, or revelation, or
conversation which the Prophet is reported to have held with a number of
individuals in the city of Nauvoo. I want to say to you, my brethren and
sisters, that if you understand the Church articles and covenants, if you will
read the scriptures and become familiar with those things which are recorded in
the revelations from the Lord, it will not be necessary for you to ask any
questions in regard to the authenticity or otherwise of any purported
revelation, vision, or manifestation that proceeds out of darkness, concocted
in some corner, surreptitiously presented, and not coming through the proper
channels of the Church (Conf. Rept,
Oct. 1918, p. 56)
Joseph Fielding Smith, spoke at the
same conference as his father, and stated his very similar opinion:
The ridiculous story about the
"red horse," and "the black horse," and "the white
horse," and a lot of trash that has been circulated about and printed and [208]
sent around as a great revelation given by the Prophet Joseph Smith, is a
matter that was gotten up, I understand, some ten years after the death of the
Prophet Joseph Smith, by two of our brethren who put together some broken
sentences from the Prophet that they may have heard him utter from time to
time, and formulated this so-called revelation out of it, and it was never
spoken by the prophet in the manner in which they have put it forth. It is
simply false; that is all there is to it. (Conf.
Rept., Oct. 1918, p. 58)
Pres. Joseph F. Smith never spoke
publicly of this prophecy again--he died the following month. It appears that
Joseph Fielding never spoke of it again either. However, his son-in-law, Bruce
R. McConkie, continued on with the subject; for example—
From time to time, accounts of various
supposed visions, revelations, and prophecies are spread forth by and among the
Latter-day Saints, who should know better than to believe or spread such false
information. One of these false and deceptive documents that has cropped up
again and again for over a century is the so-called White Horse Prophecy.
(Mormon Doctrine, p. 835)
At another time he referred to that
prophecy as--
. . . that spurious bit of prophetic
imagery that refuses to die out among sensation seekers which is called,
"The White Horse Prophecy." ("How to Start a Cult," p. 4)
From the comments made, these Church
leaders have looked upon the validity of the White Horse Prophecy strictly from
an historical point of view. They assume that since there is no actual written
statement signed by Joseph Smith, or since it was not taken down at the time by
one of the General Authorities, that it cannot be classed as a true historical
account.
[209] However, many correct and true
records of speeches, visions and prophecies of Joseph Smith were written down
by his listeners, and they may contain errors, individual interpretations, have
missing parts, and contain expressions characteristic of those who wrote them
down; but it does not necessarily mean they are "false,"
"proceed out of darkness," are "concocted in some corner,"
"surreptitiously presented," and are definitely "deceptive
documents."
Much of the New Testament was recorded
in the same manner. The sermons of Christ were not written down by Him; nor did
He sign them; and they were put together many years after the death of Christ.
Historically, there is little evidence that Christ even lived, let alone proof
of the exact wording and manner of his speeches which composed the four
gospels. The varying accounts of Joseph Smith's first vision also fall in this
same category.
These and other "official"
statements against the White Horse Prophecy have really been given only as
opinions and by the best of human wisdom, not by any new revelation. A claimed
"revelation" can be detected only by the spirit of revelation. This
particular prophecy by Joseph Smith is such a powerful, broad, and important
revelation, that it can be understood and believed only by those who have that
spirit of revelation to attend them. It is a message of such magnitude at this
particular time that anyone with the spirit of its message can see the
importance of its contents. The circumstances of its origin, its contents and
preservation are very bizarre to say the least, but like the scriptures
themselves, they both must be taken in the spirit in which they were given.
For those who do not believe that
there was such a thing as the White Horse Prophecy, hopefully the analysis and
[210] supporting evidence as presented in this book will show that the
information contained in the prophecy itself is basically true--because of the
similar and parallel messages from "official" and authentic sources.
[211] Chapter 5
CONCLUSION
The Prophet Joseph Smith saw in vision
the terrible results of the Civil War and he knew how to prevent it, but they
killed him first. In the revelation of the White Horse Prophecy he also saw the
terrible end of this government and he knew how it could be prevented, but when
a nation will persecute and kill the prophets that are sent to it, their doom
is sealed and they must pay the price.
Heber C. Kimball saw the end of this
nation and said the final battles would occur between the Great Lakes and New
York City--the same place the Nephite nation was destroyed and the same place
the Jaredite nations was destroyed.
Brigham Young quoted Joseph Smith who
prophesied—
. . . that if they succeeded in taking
his life, which they did, war and confusion would come upon the nation, and
they would destroy each other, and there would be mob upon mob from one end of
the country to the other. (JD 10:255)
The question now arises as to who will
survive this warring revolution and the destructions that follow? Wilford Woodruff
explained:
[212] Can you tell me where the people
are who will be shielded and protected from these great calamities and
judgments which are now at our doors? I'll tell you. The priesthood of God who
honor their priesthood, and who are worthy of their blessings are the only ones
who shall have this safety and protection. They are the only mortal beings. No
other people have a right to be shielded from these judgments. They are at our
very doors; not even this people will escape them entirely. They will come down
like the judgments of Sodom and Gomorrah. And none but the priesthood will be
safe from their fury. (Young Woman's
Journal, Vol. 5, Aug 1894)
The ancient prophet Isaiah also saw
this day and time and prophesied:
Behold, the day of the Lord cometh,
cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall
destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
For the stars of heaven and the
constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in
his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
And I will punish the world for
(their) evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy
of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
I will make a man more precious than
fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir. (Isa. 13:9-12)
John Taylor gave the LDS people the
following warning and promise:
Therefore, Latter-day Saints, fear
God; work the works of righteousness; live your religion; keep the commandments
and humble yourselves before him; be one, and be united with the holy
priesthood and with each other, and I will tell you in the name of God that
Zion will rise and shine and the power of God will rest [213] upon her; and her
glory will be made manifest, and we will rejoice in the fullness of the
blessings of the Gospel of peace; and the work of God will go on and increase
until the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our God and his
Christ, and every creature in the heaven and on the earth and under the earth
will be heard to say, Blessing, and glory, and honor and praise and power,
might and majesty and dominion be ascribed to him that sits upon the throne and
to the Lamb forever and ever. Amen. (JD 21:8)
The ultimate outcome will be victory
for God and His people:
And I will bless and be with you,
saith the Lord; and ye shall gather together in your holy places wherein ye
assemble to call upon me, and ye shall ask for such things as are right, and I
will hear your prayers, and my Spirit and power shall be with you, and my
blessing shall rest upon you, upon your families, your dwellings and your
households, upon your flocks and herds and fields, your orchards and vineyards,
and upon all that pertains to you; and you shall be my people and I will be
your God; and your enemies shall not have dominion over you, for I will
preserve you and confound them, saith the Lord, and they shall not have power
nor dominion over you; for my word shall go forth, and my work shall be
accomplished, and my Zion shall be established, and my rule and my power and my
dominion shall prevail among my people, and all nations shall yet acknowledge
me. Even so, Amen. (1882 Revelation to John Taylor, Messages of the First Presidency, Clark, 2:349)
Whatever doubts people may have about
the White Horse Prophecy, evidence shows that much of it has already come to
pass and most of the remaining parts are supported by other Church leaders
and/or scriptures. Many other prophecies by Joseph Smith say the same thing.
[214] The judgments of God come upon
people or a nation according to their acceptance or rejection of the word of
God. This nation has failed to accept the restoration of the Gospel through the
Prophet Joseph Smith, and for this reason they must suffer the consequences.
The White Horse Prophecy describes only a small portion of that final picture,
but its message should be of utmost importance to the Latter-day Saints.
Thanks for putting that up. It is going to take a while to read it though. I will let you know when I finish it and give my commentaries on it.
ReplyDeleteIt was my belief that in the runup to the Romney 2008 Campaign that the PR dept. of the Church came out and disavowed the White Horse Prophecy. Even so I will give it a closer look to see what's going on.
Further comments.
ReplyDeleteThere are quite a few things there that have happened in the White Horse Prophecy. The Ottoman Empire is disbanded in 1924 and Atatürk (Father of the Turks) imposes a secular regimen that has lasted up to this time.
Russia appears to be leading two groups at the same time, the Shanghai Coop Organization and the nascent Eurasian Economic Union.
Even so I believe that the interpretation of the horses shown by Mr. Kraut to be incorrect. The Scriptures tell us what happened with the Four Horsemen and what happened in the first four thousand years. Perhaps they may come back under the banner of Zion (white), the Communists (red), and Islam (black). At least that is what I see.