The Literal Gathering of Israel, Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Fifteen

A Roar From Zion

After Zion is established in her strength we are told that “The Lord will roar from Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the habitations of the shepherds shall mourn.” Amos 1:2

Which shepherds shall mourn? They will not only be the shepherds in the Mormon Church, but all other churches for they will see that the light of truth will cause their foundation of sand to crumble away. Also the shepherds in the governments of the world will mourn for their people will demand more freedoms like unto Zion and the leaders will no longer be able to leech off the people. All other shepherds shall also mourn: shepherds in education, finance, science, industry – even all departments of human life which have their growth restricted by Babylon.

The day will soon come when “the saints of the Most high shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever… 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 7:18&27

Of Zion the Lord said: “Thou art my battle axe and weapons of war: for with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee I will destroy kingdoms.” Jer 51:20 Then of Babylon he said: “Behold, I am against thee O destroying mountain, saith the Lord, which destroyest all the earth: and I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt mountain.” Jer 51:25 In other words, the kingdom of God will destroy those that destroy the earth in order to prevent the end of all flesh as Jesus mentioned. But remember, it is the system that will be destroyed arid not necessarily all the members thereof.

“But fear not thou, O my servant Jacob, and be not dismayed, O Israel: for behold, I will save thee from afar off (America is far from the land of Israel), and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and be in rest and at ease, and none shall make him afraid. (Such is not the case with the present inhabitants of Israel.) Fear thou not, O Jacob my servant, saith the Lord: for I am with thee; for I will make a FULL END OF ALL THE NATIONS WITHER I HAVE DRIVEN THEE: but I will not make a full end of thee, but correct thee in measure; yet will I not leave thee wholly unpunished.” Jer 46:27-28

During the building of Zion we are told that Babylon will fall and in this time John said: “The cities of the nations fell.” Rev 16:19 After the fall of these cities the Lord commands: “Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them (The inhabitants of Zion) stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations; spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes; for thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and MAKE THE DESOLATE CITIES TO BE INHABITED.” Isa 54:2-3

Isaiah also tells us that the righteous are not the only ones who gather together, but that the wicked will gather together for the purpose of destroying Zion: “Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by me: whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake… No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord.” Isa 54: 15&17 “The Lord of Hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.” Amos 5:15 “And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, and lick the dust of thy feet; and thou shall know that I am the Lord: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.” Isa 49:23

Isaiah also tells us that the ruined cities will be rebuilt: “And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, AND THEY SHALL REPAIR THE WASTE the desolations of many generations. And stranger shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the alien shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers. But ye shall be named the priests of’ the Lord: Men shall call you the ministers of our God: YE SHALL EAT THE RICHES OF THE GENTILES, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves.” Isa 61:4-6

Ezekiel speaks in a similar vein: “And the cities shall be inhabited and the wastes shall be builded: And I will multiply upon you man and beast; and they shall increase arid bring fruit: and I will settle you after your old estates, and will do better unto you than at your beginnings… Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness arid from all your idols will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh, And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments and do them. And ye shall dwell in the land I gave to your fathers… And they shall say, this land that was desolate is become like the Garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are become fenced and are inhabited.” Eze 36:10-11,25-27, 36

It is interesting that after the destruction of the wicked Ezekiel says: “And they that dwell in tile cities of Israel shall go forth, and shall set on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields and the bucklers, the bows and the arrows, and the handstaves and the spears, and they shall burn them with fire (use them for fuel) SEVEN YEARS.” Eze 39:9

These scriptures all appear to refer to a time near the beginning of the millennium. We will cease here as far as the future goes for most of us are familiar with the prophesies of the thousand years of peace.

SUMMARY

It is hoped this treatise gives the reader an idea of the importance of the gathering in the Lord’s eyes. It is hoped that he will grasp that Zion is more than just church members scattered throughout the world. After all John Taylor said: “I repeat, our mission is to preach the Gospel, and to gather the people who embrace it. And why’? That there might be a nucleus formed, a people gathered who would be under the inspiration of the Almighty, and who would be willing to listen to the voice of God, a people who would receive and obey his word when it was made known to them. AND THIS PEOPLE IN THEIR GATHERED CONDITION ARE CALLED ZION, or the pure in heart.” J.D. 23:262

Orson Pratt said that the gathering is so essential that it would be a sign of a false prophet if the principle were left out of his teachings: “Now supposing that Joseph Smith had all these proofs that I have named to testify concerning the divinity of this book, and had said nothing about the gathering, what then? Why you and I could go to our homes and say ‘Good bye Joseph Smith, we do not believe you to be a prophet.’ Why? Because the latter day dispensation was to be characterized by the gathering together of all things in one that are in Christ, and you have said nothing about it, and therefore we reject you.” J.D. 17:275

Using Orson Pratt’s logic then it looks as if we must reject the Mormon leaders today, but he not only includes the leaders with this principle, but angels: “Now if this angel who brought this gospel from the heavens, and commanded this church to be organized, HAD LEFT OUT THIS GATHERING TOGETHER IN ONE, we would have reason to suppose him TO BE AN IMPOSTER. why? Because the great essential feature of the latter day dispensation was a gathering together in one of all things in Christ.” J.D. 18:45

We have also indicated that the gathering, that is a literal gathering, will be essential to our physical survival. This is nowhere more vividly portrayed than by Joseph F. Smith “In the days of Noah, when he preached the gospel to the antediluvian world, he was given a special commandment, to build an ark, that in case the people would reject him and the message sent unto them, that himself and all who believed on him might be saved from the destruction that awaited them. In this dispensation there is a principle or COMMANDMENT PECULIAR TO IT. WHAT IS THAT? IT IS THE GATHERING THE PEOPLE UNTO ONE PLACE. The gathering of the people is as necessary to be observed by believers as faith, repentance, baptism, or any other ordinance. It is an essential part of the gospel of this dispensation, AS MUCH SO, AS THE NECESIITY OF BUILDING AN ARK BY NOAH, for his deliverance, was a part of the gospel of his dispensation. Then the world was destroyed by a flood, now it is to be destroyed by war, pestilence, famine, earthquakes, storms, and tempests and the sea rolling beyond its bounds, malicious vapors, vermin, disease, and by fire and lightenings of God’s wrath poured out for destruction upon Babylon. The cry of the angel unto the righteous, of this dispensation is, Come out of her my people, that ye partake not of her sins, and that ye receive riot of her plagues.” J.D. 19:192

This statement by Joseph F. Smith when he was a young man was made during his finest hour. If he had the stamina to follow through with this conviction in later life he would go down in the history books of the millennium as a great man, but unfortunately, later in life he seemed to lose his zeal for the gathering.

We were told that to fulfill the commandment to gather we are to build cities unto the lord. Sidney Rigden said that the gathering together “into cities appointed” was “the object for which the saints are gathered together.” Elders Journal I Pg 53

Yea, the time will again soon come when actual cities of light will be raised to the Most High and the pure in heart will gather there and a modern Noah’s ark will be established.

Many will ask where these cities are to be and when they will be built. When a significant number respond to the gathering message the places of gathering will be made known.

“And the spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” Rev 22:17

The invitation is out for the pure in heart to gather and Joseph Smith’s words still apply to us today: “Some may have cried peace, but the saints and the world will have little peace from henceforth. Let this not hinder us from going to the stakes (Cities); for God has told us to flee, not dallying, or we shall be scattered, one here, and another there. There (in the cities) your children shall be blessed, and you in the midst of friends where you may be blessed.” TPJS Pg 160

Up to now the church has been blessed with a degree of the Lord’s Spirit even though it has been out of order, but now the invitation to the wedding feast is going out; those who reject it will be disturbed in spirit and there will be will be a noticeable change in the spirit of the members of the church in the next few years.

The time is verily approaching when the saints are to gather anew. Is it not obvious that the final days of this age are upon us and that great desolations await the wicked and the time of the next gathering is at hand? Come, then, out of Babylon, my friends that ye receive not of her plagues for great will be the physical and spiritual suffering of those who do not heed the commandment. Will you not drop to your knees my brethren after having read this with a prayerful heart and then ask God in the Name of Christ if this principle of gathering still applies to us today as outlined here? Do this really wanting to know and He will manifest the truth to you by the power of the Holy Ghost accompanied with the peace that passeth all understanding. Others have received this witness, and God is no respecter of persons. Will he not answer you? Verily, yes.

My desire is that all who wish to call themselves Latter-Day Saints will heed the words of Brigham Young who pleaded: “O ye saints in the United States, will you listen to the voice of the good Shepherd? WILL YOU GATHER? Will you be OBEDIENT to the heavenly commandments?” Mill Star 14:22

Copyright 1979 by J J Dewey

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