|
LESSON SIX
THE LORD'S "CONTROVERSY WITH THE NATIONS"(Remarks made by Elder Joseph Fielding Smith, November 18, 1942, in Barratt Hall.)
The subject for tonight's talk is "The Lord's Controversy With the Nations." We hear a great deal and we see a great deal in the prints today about this great second world war. I think in a previous talk I said I did not call it the second world war. This is the first world war. It is only a part, a continuation of the war of 1914 to 1918, and even that was not the beginning. I have been asked a great many times if I thought this present war was the great last war before the coming of Christ, and I have said yes; but I do not mean when I say that that we will not have another spell, another armistice, when they may lay down their arms for a season only to get ready to take them up again, although I hope that will not be the case. I think the great world war commenced in April, 1861. At any rate, that was the beginning of the end, and I am going to read to you this prophecy on war given to the Prophet Joseph Smith on Christmas Day in the year 1832.
"Verily, thus saith the Lord concerning the wars that will shortly come to pass, beginning at the rebellion of South Carolina, which will eventually terminate in the death and misery of many souls:
And the time will come that war will be poured out upon all nations, beginning at this place.
"For behold, the Southern States shall be divided against the Northern States and the Southern States will call upon other nations, even the nation of Great Britain, as it is called, and they shall also call upon other nations, in order to defend themselves against other nations; and then war shall be poured out upon all nations.
"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.
"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;
"That the cry of the saints, and the blood of the saints, shall cease to come up into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth, from the earth, to be avenged of their enemies.
"Wherefore, stand ye in holy places, and be not moved, until the day of the Lord come; for behold it cometh quickly, saith the Lord. Amen." (Doctrine & Covenants, Section 87.)
Now, that's the revelation. You find here written, then that the Lord said that beginning with the rebellion of South Carolina eventually war would be poured out upon all nations. That was a very bold thing to say; that is, if the Lord had not said it. Some people think that the Prophet said it, not the Lord, but he would not have dared to have made a statement of that kind of himself because in 1832 there was no thought in minds of men that eventually, beginning with the rebellion of South Carolina, the time would come when the whole world would be in conflict.
I only want to refer to this briefly because I want to go on to other things, but let us consider some things that grew out of the war of the rebellion.
Up until the rebellion of South Carolina, warfare was very crude, judged from the standpoint of warfare today. They had no machine guns. They had no submarines. They had no armor-clad vessels, and a great many other things that we have today that men are using in this terrible destruction were unknown. In all of the wars up to that time and largely even in that war the vessels that were used were wooden vessels. The guns would not shoot so very far. They were made to penetrate wood, but out of that war we call the Civil War there came the ironclad. There came the submarine. There came the machine gun. There came the use of balloons. Of course, they did not have airplanes, but they used balloons, and a great many other things that are now used had their beginning in that conflict.
We are familiar with the great battle which played such a great part in the Civil War between the Monitor and the Merrimac, the two iron clads, and the Monitor was the first iron vessel with a turret. From that time the nations have had to revise their method of warfare, and I maintain that war has been going on in this world ever since, perhaps not open conflict, and yet I am not so sure that there has not been somewhere upon the face of the earth open conflict constantly since that day. It would be a nice thing some day to go into our history and find out if hostilities have not been going on somewhere upon the face of the earth ever since the Civil War, but whether so or not it makes little difference.
Out of that war came the modern instruments of destruction. The nations had to build stronger guns. They had to build steel vessels. Then they built great guns that would penetrate steel, and then thicker armor for their vessels so that the guns could not penetrate, and then still more powerful guns to penetrate the armor, and this warfare has been going on ever since, and from that very day until the outbreak of the present war, nations have been preparing, increasing their armaments, and almost everything that we have today—not everything but nearly everything—has developed from that which was discovered or invented during the Civil War. They did not have the radio, but they had the telegraph.
And so what the Lord says is absolutely true. Would the Prophet of himself dare say that eventually war would be poured out upon all nations? I do not think he would dare say that because he would not have inspiration enough without the help of the Lord to declare that the time would come when peace would be taken from the earth and the whole world would be in conflict.
It was only a few months before the outbreak of the war in 1914 when David Starr Jordan said in a number of places, and he said it right here in the Salt Lake Tabernacle, that the nations could never go to war again. It was too expensive. The financiers would not finance a war and, therefore, we could not have a war, and almost before his words quit echoing the great conflict broke out.
The Voice of the Lord to All Men
I want to read to you one or two things from the revelations. The Lord proclaimed to all the world the restoration of the Gospel. He called upon the nations of the earth and upon the Church to heed this warning, and I will read to you from the Doctrine & Covenants, Section 1, beginning with the first verse.
"Hearken, O ye people of My church, saith the voice of him who dwells on high, and whose eyes are upon all men; yea, verily I say: Hearken ye people from afar; and ye that are upon the islands of the sea, listen together.
"For verily the voice of the Lord is unto all men, and there is none to escape; and there is no eye that shall not see, neither ear that shall not hear, neither heart that shall not be penetrated.
"And the rebellious shall be pierced with much sorrow; for their iniquities shall be spoken upon the housetops, and their secret acts shall be revealed.
"So this proclamation as we explained in other talks was made. The missionaries went forth to preach this Gospel to the nations of the earth crying repentance and calling upon them to repent and turn to God and keep His commandments, and the nations have refused. They did not want the message.
I want to read to you a few words from Section 133. In verses 17 and 18 the Lord says:
"For behold, the Lord God hath sent forth the angel crying through the midst of heaven, saying: Prepare ye the way of the Lord, and make his paths straight, for the hour of his coming is nigh—
"When the Lamb shall stand upon Mount Zion, and with him an hundred and forty-four thousand, having his Father's name written on their foreheads.
"And so He sent the Elders forth with that message.
The Wicked to Be Cut Off
The verses that I want to read to you contain a declaration from the Lord of judgment upon the nations because they refuse to hear.
"And upon them that hearken not to the voice of the Lord shall be fulfilled that which was written by the prophet Moses that they should be cut off from among the people.
"And also that which was written by the prophet Malachi: For, behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an oven, and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble; and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, and it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
"Wherefore, this shall be the answer of the Lord unto them.
"To make clear what I shall read I will make a comment at this point.
The people, when they see the judgments of the Lord and when His sign is given, the sign of His coming according to these words and according to the words of Isaiah, will want to know what it is all about.
They will say, "Who is this that comes with dyed garments," because we understand the Lord will come in red apparel as one that has trodden in the wine vat.
And so they will ask, "What do you mean by all of this?"
And so the Lord will say unto them, "This shall be the answer.""In that day when I came unto mine own, no man among you received me, and you were driven out.
"When I called again there was none of you to answer; yet my arm was not shortened at all that I could not redeem, neither my power to deliver.
"Behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea. I make the rivers a wilderness; their fish stink, and die for thirst.
"I clothe the heavens with blackness, and make sackcloth their covering
."And this shall ye have of my hand—ye shall lie down in sorrow.
"Lie down in sorrow, why? Because you have rejected the message of the Gospel which was sent unto you. Now to continue.
"Behold, and lo, there are none to deliver you; for ye obeyed not my voice when I called to you out of the heavens; ye believed not my servants, and when they were sent unto you ye received them not.
"Wherefore, they sealed up the testimony and bound up the law, and ye were delivered over unto darkness.
"These shall go away into outer darkness, where there is weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth.
"Behold the Lord your God hath spoken it. Amen.
"The Lord's Controversy With the Nations
So we see that the Lord had a controversy with the nations because they have rejected His servants; because they rejected Him first; and when He sent others unto them, they treated them the same way they treated Him and refused to receive the truth, therefore, in this day of judgment when the cup of iniquity is full they shall lie down in sorrow and there shall be none to deliver them.
Don't you forget it was the Lord who said that!
In the book of Matthew, 24th chapter, and again in the book of Luke, the 21st chapter, we have the teachings of the Savior to His disciples in regard to events as they are unfolding in this present day, and I am going to read a few of these verses from the 21st chapter of Luke, beginning with the 25th verse.
"And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;
"Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth; for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
"And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
"And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.
"And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees;
"When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.
"So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.
This Generation Shall Not All Pass
"Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.
"Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away
."That passage of Scripture has been a puzzle to the Christian world.
One minister wrote a letter to a great many ministers and said, "Unless we can find a suitable solution to this remark, we might just as well quit.
'Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.' "Now, this man, like almost every other man in the so-called Christian world, had an idea that the Savior was speaking of the generation in which He lived. He was not speaking of that generation at all. He was speaking of the generation in which these signs should be shown forth, and in the revision of the 24th chapter of Matthew as it was given to the Prophet Joseph Smith the Lord makes that very clear in the 34th verse on page 44 in the Pearl of Great Price. The Lord says:"Verily I say unto you, this generation in which these things shall be shown forth shall not pass away until all I have told you shall be fulfilled. Although the days will come that heaven and earth shall pass away, yet my words shall not pass away but all shall be fulfilled.
"This ought to cause us to do a little thinking, because today we see all these things taking place. The signs of the times point to these difficulties, these dangers, these troubles spoken of here in these two chapters, so we know as we might know when the fig tree begins to put forth its leaves that summer is nigh.
You know, that old fig tree is a pretty wise tree. It is not foolish like the apricot tree and the peach tree. The first few days it begins to get warm the peach tree and the apricot tree put out their buds and then a frost comes along and there is trouble; but that wise old fig tree waits and does not get in a hurry, and when you see that tree putting forth its leaves you know summer is just about there.
And so the Lord used this as an illustration. So we know when we see all these signs that are taking place in the earth that summer is nigh; the coming of the Lord is nigh.
The Prophet Joseph Smith declared that the signs of the coming of the Son of God were even in his day being made manifest.Based upon what the Lord says in this Section 87 of the Doctrine & Covenants—the Section on war which I read—
I place the time of the beginning of the end at the rebellion of South Carolina. I say I place it there. I beg your pardon. The Lord places it there because it says beginning at this place these things would take place.
The Words of Isaiah
I am going to read to you from the prophets, these Old Testament prophets, some of the things that have been written and that have a bearing upon this present world condition in this very day. I am going to go through these Scriptures, beginning with Isaiah through to Zechariah, and take them in order.
In the 34th chapter of Isaiah we read this:"Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people: let the earth hear, and all that is therein; the world, and all things that come forth of it.
"For the indignation of the Lord is upon all nations, and his fury upon all their armies: he hath utterly destroyed them, he hath delivered them to the slaughter.Their slain also shall be cast out, and their stink shall come up out of their carcasses, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood.
"And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll; and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig tree.
"For my sword shall be bathed in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment.
"Now, some Bible commentators, because the name of Idumea, a little country east of the Jordan, is mentioned, have an idea that this had reference to that little country; but the term Idumea is one that the Lord uses to mean the world. You will find it so recorded in Section 1 of the Doctrine and Covenants. He is speaking of the world. That is very evident from these words that I have read to you.
The Day of Vengeance
Now to continue:"The sword of the Lord is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, and with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams: for the Lord hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea.
"And the unicorns shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls; and their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness.
"For it is the day of the Lord's vengeance, and the year of recompense for the controversy of Zion.
"We will learn more before I get through about what is meant by the controversy of Zion. Here is a thought conveying to our minds the fact that this has reference to our own day, because the Lord says, "And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll.
" That is to take place in the dispensation of the Fulness of Times, and this prophecy had nothing to do with that little country called Idumea but to the nations of the earth.
I will read from the 25th chapter of Jeremiah, and it is from this that I get the text for tonight's remarks.
"For thus saith the Lord God of Israel unto me; Take the wine cup of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send thee, to drink it.
"And they shall drink, and be moved, and be mad, because of the sword that I will send among them.
"Then took I the cup at the Lord's hand, and made all the nations to drink, unto whom the Lord had sent me:
"To wit, Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and the kings thereof, and the princes thereof, to make them a desolation, an astonishment, an hissing and a curse; as it is this day;"Pharaoh king of Egypt, and his servants, and his princes, and all his people;"And all the mingled people, and all the kings of the land of Uz, and all the kings of the land of the Philistines, and Ashkelon, and Azzah, and Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod,"Edom, and Moab, and the children of Ammon,"And all the kings of Tyrus, and all the kings of Zidon, and the kings of the isles which are beyond the sea,"Dedan, and Tema, and Buz, and all that are in the utmost corners,"And all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the mingled people that dwell in the desert,"And all the kings of Zimri, and all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of the Medes,All Kingdoms of the World"
And all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another, and all the kingdoms of the world, which are upon the face of the earth: and the king of Sheshach shall drink after them.
"Therefore thou shalt say unto them. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Drink ye, and be drunken, and spue, and fall, and rise no more, because of the sword which I will send among you.
"And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at thine hand to drink, then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Ye shall certainly drink."For lo, I begin to bring evil on the city which is called by my name, and should ye be utterly unpunished?
Ye shall not be unpunished: for I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith the Lord of hosts.
"Therefore prophesy thou against them all these words, and say unto them, The Lord shall roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation; he shall mightily roar upon his habitation; he shall give a shout, as they that tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth.
"A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the Lord hath a controversy with the nations, he will plead with all flesh; he will give them that are wicked to the sword, saith the Lord.
"Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth."And the slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground.
"Howl, ye shepherds, and cry; and wallow yourselves in the ashes, ye principal of the flock: for the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions are accomplished; and ye shall fall like a pleasant vessel.
"And the shepherds shall have no way to flee, nor the principal of the flock to escape.
"A voice of the cry of the shepherds, and an howling of the principal of the flock, shall be heard: for the Lord hath spoiled their pasture.
"And the peaceable habitations are cut down because of the fierce anger of the Lord.
"He hath forsaken his covert, as the lion: for their land is desolate because of the fierceness of the oppressor, and because of his fierce anger.
"Now, can't you see the picture of the world today here told by Jeremiah?
And yet people ridicule Jeremiah and ridicule Isaiah and other prophets, and what they said is coming to pass right now.
We Should Understand the Warnings
I know these are unpleasant things. It is not a pleasant thing even for me to stand here and tell you that this is written in the Scriptures.
If the Lord has a controversy with the nations, He will put them to the sword. Their bodies shall lie unburied like dung upon the earth.
That is not nice, is it, but should we not know it?
Is it not our duty to read these things and understand them? Don't you think the Lord has given us these things that we might know and we might prepare ourselves through humility, through repentance, through faith, that we might escape from these dreadful conditions that are portrayed by these ancient prophets? That is why I am reading them. I feel just as keenly as you do about the condition, and I pray for it to come to an end, but I want it to come to an end right.
We have two chapters of Ezekiel—I am not going to read them—chapters 38 and 39. If you want to know about these two chapters, I advise you to get a copy of Parley P. Pratt's "Voice of Warning." It was published first in the year 1837 and received the endorsement of the Prophet Joseph Smith and was published in several editions during the lifetime of the Prophet. If you want to know about the great battle of Gog and Magog—sometimes we say Armageddon—you read these chapters.
They are too long for me to read, and so I am just calling attention to them; and if you want the explanation, Brother Parley P. Pratt has given it in a very excellent manner, so we will pass them by.
Then we come to Daniel. Today a great many people are talking about Daniel and what Daniel has said, the whole 11th chapter of Daniel and some things in the 12th.
I am not going to read it all, maybe none of it, but I make this comment.
The opening of this chapter 11 of the book of Daniel begins in the days of the Medes and Persians, and Daniel saw in vision the conflicts between Persia and Grecia, as he calls it—that is, the Macedonian empire—and also that which followed at least the dividing of Alexander's kingdom among his four generals. These chapters contain history from that day down to the coming of the Son of God. A lot of people like to point to this and read it and say it fits Hitler to a T.
If you want to think that, that is your privilege. The only comment I want to make on it, and you can read it for yourselves, is that the latter part of this revelation is to take place just preceding the resurrection. So if Hitler is the man, we are getting pretty close; and whoever the man is, he is going to be destroyed in a certain time and place.
A Time of Trouble
In the 12th chapter and in the first verse Daniel says:
"And at that time"—that is, when this destruction comes—"shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.
"And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
"So you see this chapter comes right down to the time of the siege of Jerusalem and the coming of Christ, the opening of the graves and the coming forth of the dead. Now, you can put your own interpretation upon it. I have not time to read it.
Next I come to Joel.
Of course, we have all read part of the second chapter of Joel, the last part of it.
"And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the Lord your God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed.
"And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh," and so forth. We are all familiar with that.
But we are not so familiar with the first part of this chapter, and I want to read it to you. If you want to picture the German army when I read this to you, that is all right with me.
Day of Lord Nigh at Hand
"Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand.
" This is going to be in the last days."A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations.
"A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
"The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run.
"Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array.
"Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness.
"They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks.
"Neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk every one in his path: and when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded."
Perhaps that has reference to tanks. I don't know."They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief.
"The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining:
Rend Your Heart, Not Your Garments
"And the Lord shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the Lord is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?"
Therefore also now, saith the Lord, turn ye even to Me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:"And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God: for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.
"Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him; even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the Lord your God?
"Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly:"Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet.
"Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O Lord, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God?
"Then will the Lord be jealous for his land, and pity his people."Yea, the Lord will answer and say unto his people, Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, and ye shall be satisfied therewith: and I will no more make you a reproach among the heathen:
Will Remove the Northern Army
"But I will remove far off from you the northern army, and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things.
"Now, do you understand it? Well, here we have a great, terrible army, marching with unbroken ranks and crushing everything before it, finding the garden like Eden before them, leaving the wilderness behind, causing mourning, causing suffering; and so the prophet raises the warning voice, and that voice is to us, if you please, that we might turn unto the Lord and rend our hearts.
You know, they used to rend their garments and sit in sack cloth when they were repentant.
So the Lord says, "Rend your heart and not your garments." Humble yourselves. Prepare yourselves, oh Israel, that you may receive My blessings, that you might be protected from this condition that is going to come. And then the last words that I have read from this part of this chapter, the Lord says that He will take that great army in hand, that He also has an army.
His army is terrible, just as terrible as the other army, and He will take things in hand. When I say the other army, the Lord's army, do not get an idea He is thinking about England or the United States. He is not.
He is not thinking about any earthly army. The Lord's army is not an earthly army, but He has a terrible army; and when that army marches, it will put an end to other armies, no matter how terrible they may be; and so He says in these closing words I have read to you that He would do this thing.
He would drive this terrible northern army into the wilderness, barren and desolate, with his face towards the east sea and his hinder part towards the utmost sea. He would do that, and then He would bless His people—having reference, of course, to Israel.
If you want to figure that out in your own imagination as the German army, it is all right with me.
All Nations to Be Gathered
Joel has more to say in the third chapter."For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem."
There you got it pictured. That is, when I bring back from captivity Judah and Jerusalem. That is when this is going to take place.
"I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land."
I am going to skip some of these verses because I do not want to take all the time to read everything here, so I go down now to the ninth verse.
"Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up:
"Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong."Assemble yourselves, and come all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O Lord.
"Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about.
The Valley of Decision
"Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great.
"Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.
"The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.
"The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the Lord will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.
"So shall ye know that I am the Lord your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more.
"And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord, and shall water the valley of Shittim.
"Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness, for the violence against the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land.
Jerusalem and Zion
"But Judah shall dwell forever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation.
"For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed: for the Lord dwelleth in Zion.
"Now, do you understand that? There are other passages I had better read first before I make any explanation.
Now we will turn over to Zephaniah. This is the third chapter, and I am reading beginning with the eighth verse.
"Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the Lord, until the day that I rise up to the prey: for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy.
"For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve him with one consent.
"From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia my suppliants, even the daughter of my dispersed, shall bring mine offering.
"In that day shalt thou not be ashamed for all thy doings, wherein thou hast transgressed against me: for then I will take away out of the midst of thee them that rejoice in thy pride, and thou shalt no more be haughty because of my holy mountain.
"I will also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people, and they shall trust in the name of the Lord.
"And then he goes on to say more about the gathering of Israel, but I will not take time to read it.
Prophecy of Zechariah
Now we come to Zechariah.
All of these prophecies that I am reading to you by these ancient prophets have a bearing upon what is taking place right now.
The 12th chapter of Zechariah, beginning with the first verse:
"The burden of the word of the Lord for Israel, saith the Lord, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him.
"Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.
"And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces through all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.
"In that day, saith the Lord, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness; and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah and will smite every horse of the people with blindness.
"And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength in the Lord of hosts their God.
"In that day will I make the governors of Judah like an hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf; and they shall devour all the people round about, on the right hand and on the left: and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem.
The Defense of Judah
"The Lord also shall save the tents of Judah first, that the Glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem do not magnify themselves against Judah.
"In that day shall the Lord defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of the Lord before them,
"And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
"And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication; and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.
"In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon."And the land shall mourn, every family apart; the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart.
"The family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of Shimei apart, and their wives apart;
"All the families that remain, every family apart, and their wives apart."
What Are These Wounds?
Now, in the 13th chapter, I will just read this one verse because it has a bearing upon the same time.
"And one shall say unto him. What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.
"Now, we turn to the 14th chapter of Zechariah. These prophecies are from the Old Testament.
"Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.
"For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
"Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.
"That is where He is going to bring His army.Christ Shall Stand on Mount of Olives"And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.
"And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains, for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah King of Judah: and the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.
"And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark:
"But it shall be one day which shall be known to the Lord, not day, nor night; but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light.
"And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be.
"And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one
."Then later on in this same chapter the Lord tells us what is going to happen to these armies that come against Jerusalem.
I will read a verse or two of it beginning with the 12th verse
.Destruction of Armies
"And this shall be the plague wherewith the Lord will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.
"And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the Lord shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.
"And Judah also shall fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the heathen round about shall be gathered together, gold, and silver, and apparel, in great abundance."And so shall be the plague of the horse, of the mule, of the camel, and of the ass, and of all the beasts that shall be in these tents, as this plague." (Compare D. & C. 29:17-20.)
Now I have read these passages of Scripture from these various prophets. Here you will find Isaiah saying the Lord will pour out war upon all the world; Jeremiah saying the same thing and speaking of these terrible things; Daniel saying so; Ezekiel saying so. We find Joel, Zephaniah, Zechariah, all proclaiming that in this last day, the day when the sun shall be darkened and the moon turned to blood and the stars fall from heaven, that the nations of the earth would gather against Jerusalem. All of them speak of it; and when that time comes, the Lord is going to come out of His hiding place.
You can see what a terrible condition it is going to be; and the Jews besieged, not only in Jerusalem but, of course, throughout Palestine are in the siege; and when they are about to go under, then the Lord comes. There will be the great earthquake. The earthquake will not be only in Palestine. There will not be merely the separation of the Mount of Olives, to form a valley that the Jews may escape, but the whole earth is going to be shaken.
There will be some dreadful things take place, and some great changes are going to take place, and that you will find written in the book of Ezekiel (38:17-23), which I did not read to you.
Now, this is very interesting. You can take your Doctrine and Covenants and turn to Section 45 and read what the Lord says about it, confirming what is written here in the book of Zechariah.
During this siege, when the nations are gathered and the Lord comes, there will be a great destruction. The armies will become so confused they will fight among themselves. There will be great slaughter. Then the Lord comes to the Jews. He shows Himself. He calls upon them to come and examine His hands and His feet, and they say, "What are these wounds?" And He answers them, "These are the wounds with which I was wounded in the house of my friends. I am Jesus Christ."
Then Comes Building of Jerusalem
hen they will accept Him as their redeemer, which they have never been willing to do. Then is the time as spoken of in this passage from Zechariah when every family will go and mourn apart; the house of David, the house of Nathan, the Jews.
They will fall down. They will rend their garments, and they will mourn and they will weep because they were not willing to accept the Son of God but accepted the teachings of their fathers and rejected their Redeemer and Messiah. Then they will fall down at His feet and worship Him.
After these days will come their redemption and the building of Jerusalem. They will be given their own land again, and every man will live under his own vine and his own fig tree and they will learn to love the Lord and keep His commandments and walk in the light, and He will be their God and they will be His people, and that is right at our doors.
I read to you here in one of these other talks the words of Ezekiel in chapter 37 where it speaks of the two sticks, the stick of Judah and the stick of Ephraim being joined together; and when the people ask, "What do you mean by the joining of these two sticks; what do you mean by preaching this Gospel anew again among us," in that day these things are to take place:
"Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land:
Israel Shall Be One Nation
"And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all:
"Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwelling-places, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them; so shall they be my people, and I will be their God.
"And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them.
"And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children's children forever: and my servant David shall be their prince forever.
"Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore.
"My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
"And the heathen shall know that I the Lord do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore." (Ezekiel 37:21-28.)
A Glorious Ending
And that is a glorious ending for Israel, very glorious ending.Now, I will conclude, if you will permit me to take that much more time, by reading the last verses of this 14th chapter of Zechariah, which has to do with the same time.
"And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.
"And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain.
"And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the Lord will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.
"This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles."In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD; and the pots in the Lord's house shall be like the bowls before the altar.
"Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the Lord of hosts: and all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and seethe therein: and in that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the Lord of hosts.
"These things are right before us.We see the great things that are taking place in the earth today—all this turmoil, all this trouble, men's hearts failing them, the commotion, but we have only seen the beginning of it. The elements have not yet become angry as they shall become angry, and the sea heave beyond its bounds; and the earthquakes and the sinking of cities and the great destruction by plague and by famine and pestilence and all the rest of it will have to come first, and bloodshed, war, destruction.
So I pray everyday of my life that the Lord will hasten His work; and while all this has to take place, I hope He will hasten it, that it may soon come to an end, that peace may come; and so I repeat, as I said in one of the talks sometime ago, I am praying for the end of the world because I want a better world. I want the coming of Christ. I want the reign of peace. I want the time to come when every man can live in peace and in the spirit of faith, humility and prayer.
The Lord bless you I pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Ament
|
