13. 15-17 I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth.
14. 18, 19 Melchisedek took bread and wine and blessed Abraham.
16. 10 the angel said to Hagar, I will multiply thy seed exceedingly.
17. 6 I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.
7 God covenants to be a God to Abraham and his seed.
16 Abraham is promised that Sarah should be a mother of nations.
19 the Lord promised to establish his covenant with Isaac.
20 Ishmael to become a great nation.
22. 17 the seed of Abraham to possess the gate of their enemies.
24. 60 Rebecca to be the mother of thousands of millions.
25. 23 Rebecca is promised that she should be the mother of two nations.
27. 28, 29 Isaac's blessing on his son Jacob.
39, 40 Jacob's blessing on Esau.
28. 1-4 Isaac sends Jacob to Padan-aram and blesses him.
31. 55 Laban kissed and blessed his sons and daughters.
32. 12 Jacob claims the blessings of Abraham and Isaac.
24-29 the Lord wrestles with and blesses Jacob at Peniel.
35. 10-12 the Lord names Jacob Israel, and declares that a company of
nations shall come of him.
46. 2-4 Jacob is promised that he should be made a great nation in
Egypt, and be brought out again.
48. 15-20 Jacob's blessings on the sons of Joseph.
49 1 Jacob called his sons together to bless them.
22-24 Joseph a fruitful bough by a well, whose branches run over the
wall; * * * from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel.
Book of Mormon.
1 _Nephi_ 5. 5 I have attained a land of promise.
2 _Nephi_ 1. 31, 32 the seed of Zoram to be blessed with the seed of
Nephi.
3. 3 Lehi promised Joseph that his seed should not be utterly
destroyed. 25.
5 a righteous branch to be raised up from the loins of Joseph.
24 a mighty man to be raised up among the seed of Joseph the son of
Lehi.
4. 9 the blessing of the children of Laman left on the children of
Lemuel.
_Ether_ 1. 43 none greater than the nation I will make of thee.
2. 7, 15 but they shall come forth to a land of promise choice above
all other lands.
Pearl of Great Price.
_Page_ 26. Abraham sought for the blessings of the fathers, and
obtained his right to the office of high priest, which came down to him
through the fathers from Adam.
_See sermon by P. P. Pratt, J. of D., Vol. 1. page 256_.
" _J. Smith, " " 6, " 237_.
" _B. Young, " " 9, " 86, at Mill Creek_.
" _B. Young, " " 9, " 279_.
" _B. Young, Des. News, " 11, " 68_.
" _B. Young, Des. Eve. News, June 2, 1877, at Logan_.
" _B. Young, Mil. Star, Vol. 15, page 493_.
_Article, Mil. Star, Vol. 4, page 1_.
" " " _15, page 486_.
" _J. A. Little, Mil. Star, Vol. 18, page 145_.
" _Geo. Taylor, " " 19, page 796_.
" _C. W. Penrose, " " 29, page 177_.
_O. Spencer's Letters to Rev. Wm. Crowel, No. 9_.
_A pamphlet, Items on Priesthood, by John Taylor_.
_A Pamphlet, Succession in the Priesthood, by John Taylor_.
_History of J. Smith, June 1829_.
" " _April 13, 1833_.
" " _May 2, 1835_.
" " _July 2, 1839_.
" " _April 28, 1842_.
" " _May 1, 1842_.
CHRIST'S FIRST COMING.
The oldest Bible prophecy, of the coming of Christ, is in Jacob's
blessing on Judah: "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a
lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come;" _Gen_. 49. 10.
When Christ was born, the sceptre had not wholly departed from Judah,
for Herod the king, who reigned at the time of his birth, was virtually
king of Judea. Christ was condemned to be crucified by Pontius Pilate,
a Roman governor. The Shiloh had come and the sceptre had entirely
departed, for Judah was under Gentile rule.
The records of three dispensations assert that Christ came to his own,
and they did not receive him; _John_ 1. 11. 3 _Nephi_ 9. 16. _Doc. &
Cov_. 6. 21. He came to his own covenant people, the house of Israel,
and, though they still retained most of the forms of the Mosaic ritual,
they had apostatized from the faith of their fathers, had drank deep
into pagan philosophy, had become wicked and corrupt, and, when the
Shiloh came, they new him not, rejected him, and were the means of his
death.
The numerous prophecies of the first coming of Christ, in both the
Jewish and Nephite records, had a veritable fulfilment in his birth,
life, sufferings, death and resurrection, and furnish overwhelming
testimony of the Divine inspiration of those records. That Jesus Christ
was the same being who called Abraham from his native country, who led
Israel out of the land of Egypt with mighty miracles and wonders, who
made known to them his law amid the thunderings of Sinai, who delivered
them from their enemies, who chastened them for their disobedience, who
inspired their prophets, and whose glory filled Solomon's temple, is
evident from all the inspired writings, and in none more so than in the
Bible.
His lamentation over Jerusalem evidences that, in his humanity, he had
not forgotten his former exalted position: "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem,
thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto
thee, how often _would I have gathered_ thy children together, * * and
ye would not;" _Matt_. 23. 37. It was this creator of the world, this
mighty ruler, this controller of the destinies of the human family,
who, in his last moments, cried out in the agony of his soul, "My God,
my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" _Mark_ 15. 34.
He was the great sacrifice for the world's redemption. It was a
sacrifice worthy of Deity. How grandly, how nobly it was made! It
was made in the meridian of time, and it changed the character of
dispensations. Israel ceased to be a nation, and the Gentile rule was
ushered in, to continue for many long centuries, in which God's chosen
people were to suffer terrible persecutions. We must look at Jesus
Christ in his true character of God and Savior, in order to form a
proper conception of the great sacrifice which has opened, to the human
family, the way to immortality.
Bible.
_Deut._ 18. 15-19 a prophet to be raised up in Israel like unto Moses.
_Psalm_ 22. several prophecies concerning Christ.
69. 20, 21 in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
118. 22, 23 the stone which the builders rejected. 26.
_Isa_. 7. 14 a virgin shall conceive and bear a son.
9. 2 the people that sat in darkness have seen a great light. 6, 7
42. 1 he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. 3, 4.
53. 3 he is despised and rejected. 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12.
_Mic_. 5. 2 of thee shall he come forth that is to be ruler in Israel.
_Zech_. 9. 9 just and lowly and sitting on an ass. 10.
11. 12 so they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver.
_Acts_ 3. 22, 23 he that will not hear that prophet shall be cut off.
Book of Mormon.
1 _Nephi_ 10. 4, 5 six hundred years after Lehi left Jerusalem Messiah
should come.
12. 4-4 a great destruction to take place before Christ should appear
to the Nephites.
19. 10 the God of Abraham yieldeth himself up.
11, 12 at his death Christ shall manifest himself to the house of
Israel.
2 _Nephi_ 9. 5 he suffered himself to become subject to men in the
flesh, that all men might be subject to him.
10. 3 expedient that Christ should come among the more wicked part of
the world.
25. 26 we talk of Christ, rejoice in Christ, prophesy of Christ, preach
of Christ.
26. 24 he layeth down his life that he may draw all men to him.
_Mos_. 3. 5-10 the Lord came among the children of men, was crucified
and rose from the dead, that a righteous judgment might come on them.
13, 15.
4. 2 Jesus, the Creator of heaven and earth, who shall come among men.
13. 33-35 Moses and all the prophets since the world began, prophesy of
Christ.
15. 1-11 God, himself, shall come down among the children of men.
_Alma_ 39. 18, 19 as necessary that the plan of salvation should be
known before, as well as after the coming of Christ.
_Hel_. 14. 12 Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Creator of heaven and
earth.
3 _Nephi_ 1. 9-14 Christ made known to Nephi, that, on the morrow he
would come into the world.
20. 23 the prophet of whom Moses spake was Jesus Christ.
_Ether_ 3. 16 Christ said to the brother of Jared, as I appear to thee
in the spirit, so will I appear to my people in the flesh.
Doctrine and Covenants.
_Sec_. 20. 26, 27 not only those who believe after he comes, but all
those from the beginning, as well as those who shall come after.
76. 39 who was in the bosom of the Father before the worlds were made.
CHRIST'S SECOND COMING.
Christ's first coming attracted comparatively little attention. He was
born a helpless infant, under very humble circumstances. Through the
ministration of an angel, a few shepherds rejoiced over his advent,
and some wise men, who must have known of, and believed in prophecies
concerning him, visited and made presents to him. They were warned
to leave the country in a private manner, on account of the evil
designs of Herod. He grew up in obscurity, performed his labors in the
ministry, in affliction and persecution and apparently, to men, died
the death of a malefactor.
At his second appearance he will come "With clouds; and every eye shall
see him, and they also which pierced him; and all kindreds of the earth
shall wail because of him;" _Rev_. 1, 7. "Behold the Lord cometh with
ten thousand of his saints, to execute judgment upon all;" _Jude_ 14,
15. "He shall have dominion from sea to sea, and from the river unto
the ends of the earth;" _Psalm_ 72. 8. "Yea, all kings shall fall down
before him; all nations shall serve him;" _verse_ 11. "The Son of Man
shall come down in heaven, clothed in the brightness of his glory, to
meet the kingdom of God which is set up on the earth;" _Doc. & Cov_.
65. 5.
When will Christ come in his glory and power? This question many
millions of the human family have asked, and the query still remains
unanswered. Jesus said to his disciples, "Be ye therefore ready also:
for the Son of Man cometh at an hour when ye think not;" _Luke_ 12. 40.
"But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night;" 2 _Pet_.
3. 10. "But the hour and the day no man knoweth, neither the angels in
heaven, nor shall they know until he comes;" _Doc. & Cov_. 49. 7.
The Lord has not told us that there shall be no period of time
designated in which he will come, but that neither the day nor the
hour shall be known. Had we a correct chronology we might, perhaps,
approximate very closely to the year, for according to _Sec_. 77. 12,
it will be in the beginning of the seventh thousand years. It will be
a time of destruction for the wicked; "The Lord shall punish the host
of the high ones _that are_ on high, and the kings of the earth upon
the earth;" _Isa_. 24. 21. "The Lord who shall come down upon the world
with a curse to judgment; yea, upon all the nations that forget God,
and upon all the ungodly among you;" _Doc. & Cov_. 133. 2.
There will be great commotion and changes in the elements; "The
foundations of the earth do shake. The earth is utterly broken down,
the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly. The earth
shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a
cottage; and the transgressions thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it
shall fall, and not rise again;" _Isa_. 24. 18-20.
The fulfilment of the prophecies and the signs of the times indicate
that the coming of the Son of Man is nigh at hand. The Lord through
Joseph, the Seer, also informs us that this is the case. "Not many days
hence and the earth shall tremble and reel to and fro as a drunken man,
and the sun shall hide his face, and shall refuse to give light, and
the moon shall be bathed in blood, and the stars shall become exceeding
angry, and shall cast themselves down as a fig that falleth from off a
fig tree;" _Doc. & Cov_. 88. 87.
Israel requested Moses, when around Mount Horeb, that they might no
more hear the voice of the Lord, nor see his glory, lest they should
die. They had not faith to behold his presence, and the law of carnal
commandments was given them. When they were about to enter into the
land of their inheritance, Moses rehearsed these things to them, and
repeated what the Lord had said to him concerning a future prophet: "I
will raise them up a prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee,
and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all
that I shall command him. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever
will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will
require it of him;" _Deut_. 18. 18, 19. The Book of Mormon informs us
that this prophet was Jesus Christ: "Behold, I am he of whom Moses
spake, saying, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of
your brethren, like unto me;" 3 _Nephi_ 20. 23.
Peter, when he reproved the Jews for killing the "Prince of life,"
repeated this prophecy, rendering the latter part of it a little
plainer: "Every soul, which will not hear that Prophet shall be cut off
from among the people;" _Acts_ 3. 22, 23. It is evident from _verses_
19-21, that the time when those who would not hear that prophet should
be cut off, would be at the time of the restitution of all things, when
he whose right it is shall reign, and the kingdoms of this world shall
become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ.
The prophet Joseph says, "I was once praying very earnestly to know the
time of the coming of the Son of Man, when I heard a voice repeat the
following--'Joseph, my son, if thou livest until thou art eighty-five
years old, thou shalt see the face of the Son of Man: therefore let
this suffice, and trouble me no more on this matter.' I was left thus,
without being able to decide whether this coming referred to the
beginning of the millennium or to some previous appearing, or whether
I should die and thus see his face. I believe the coming of the Son of
Man will not be any sooner than that time;" _Doc. & Cov_. 130. 14-17.
"I have asked of the Lord concerning his coming; and while asking the
Lord, he gave me a sign and said, 'In the days of Noah I set a bow in
the heavens as a sign and token that in any year that the bow should be
seen the Lord would not come; but there should be seed time and harvest
during that year; but whenever you see the bow withdrawn, it shall be a
token that there shall be famine, pestilence, and great distress among
the nations, and that the coming of the Messiah is not far distant.' *
* *
"I also prophesy, in the name of the Lord, that Christ WILL NOT COME
IN FORTY YEARS; and if God ever spoke by my mouth, he will not come in
that length of time. Brethren, when you go home, write this down, that
it may be remembered. * * * Jesus Christ never did reveal to any man
the precise time that he would come;" _His. of J. Smith, March_ 10,
1844.
Bible.
_Job_ 19. 25 he shall stand in the latter day upon the earth.
_Psalm_ 50. 3-5 our God shall come and shall not keep silence.
_Matt_. 16. 27 the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father.
_Chap_. 25. 31-46
_Acts_ 1. 11 this same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven.
1 _Thess_. 3. 13 at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his
Saints.
_Heb_. 9. 28 shall he appear the second time, without sin unto
salvation.
1 _Peter_ 4. 13 that when his glory shall be revealed ye may be glad.
1 _John_ 2. 28 and not be ashamed before him at his coming.
3. 2 when he shall appear we shall be like him.
Book of Mormon.
3 _Nephi_ 26. 3 Christ expounded all things from the beginning to the
time he shall come in his glory.
28. 7 the three disciples to remain until Christ come in his glory.
29. 2 ye need not say that the Lord delays his coming.
Doctrine and Covenants.
_Sec_. 33. 17, 18 verily, I say unto you, that I come quickly.
34. 6 preparing the way of the Lord for his second coming.
35. 15 the poor and the meek shall be looking for my coming.
45. 38-44 shall be looking to the coming of the Son of Man.
74, 75 all nations shall be afraid because of the glory of the Lord.
_See Sermon by O. Pratt, J. of D., Vol. 18, page 57_.
" " " " " _15, " 53_.
" " _W. Woodruff, J. of D., Vol. 15, page 275_.
_History of J. Smith, April 6, 1843_.
THE SCATTERING OF ISRAEL.
During the administration of Moses, the Lord promised Israel,
conditionally, many blessings and curses. The former if they were
obedient to his commandments, the latter if they were rebellious.
These promises were, in their nature, prophetic. Evidently, no man,
unless inspired by the Holy Ghost, as was Moses, could have thought of
blessings and curses so varied and comprehensive in their nature, much
less have spoken and recorded them.
The subject of the scattering of Israel is historical, and needs to
be well understood, in order to comprehend the great work of their
gathering in the latter times. A moderate comprehension of the
scattering of Israel requires much careful study of their history in
the Old Testament, and as written by that eminent Jewish historian,
Josephus, a general knowledge of history, and of the many prophecies
yet to be fulfilled concerning them.
If a complete history of the house of Israel were written, it would
be the history of histories, the key of the world's history for the
past twenty centuries. The student is particularly recommended to
study the last chapters of _Deuteronomy_, from the beginning of the
twenty-seventh to the end of the book.
The scattering of the seed of Joseph, among all nations, was
foreshadowed in the blessing of his father, Jacob: "Joseph is a
fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well, whose branches run
over the wall;" _Gen_. 49. 22.
A terrible prophetic picture of the afflictions which the Lord would
heap upon Israel, is drawn by Moses in the twenty-sixth chapter of
_Leviticus_. If persistently disobedient, they were to be scattered
among all nations and suffer great afflictions in the lands of their
enemies.
The prophet Abijah said to the wife of Jeroboam, "The Lord shall smite
Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water, and he shall root up Israel
out of this good land, which he gave to their fathers, and shall
scatter them beyond the river;" 1 _Kings_ 14. 15. This prophecy was
fulfilled when the ten tribes were carried into captivity by the king
of Assyria 721, B. C.; 2 _Kings_ 17. In the Apocrypha, the prophet
Esdras states that these ten tribes went a year and a half journey into
the north country; 2 _Esdras_ 13. 39-45. That many remained is evident
from _verses_ 48 and 49 of the same chapter.
The great historian of Israel, Josephus, who wrote nearly 800 years
after the captivity of the ten tribes, corroborates this view of the
subject. Speaking of the return of the Jews under Esdras, he says:
"Many of them took their effects with them, and came to Babylon, as
very desirous of going down to Jerusalem, but then the entire body
of the people of Israel remained in that country, wherefore there
are but two tribes in Asia and Europe subject to the Romans, while
the ten tribes are beyond the Euphrates till now, and are an immense
multitude, and not to be estimated by numbers;" _Ant. B_. 11. _C_.
5. Over twenty-six centuries these scattered tribes of Israel, which
Josephus declared, 1800 years ago, were an immense multitude in Asia,
have continued to mix up with the nations of the earth.
The second great scattering of Israel was brought about by the
Babylonish captivity. The Lord said through the prophet Jeremiah, "I
will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon;" 20. 4. There
is an account of the fulfilment of this prophecy in 2 _Kings, chapters_
24 and 25. Jerusalem was desolated and only the poor left to till the
land.
The Jews, like the ten tribes before them, were scattered among the
nations of Asia. In _Ezra, Chap_. 2, we have an account of those who
returned to build the waste places of Judah, but multitudes of them
remained in their scattered condition, as is evident from the book
of Esther. Some nine years after the completion of the term of their
captivity, they were scattered from India to Ethiopia, through the 127
provinces of the Persian empire; 8. 9.
Jeremiah prophesied the entire desolation of Judah; "Judah shall
be carried away captive all of it, it shall be wholly carried away
captive;" 13. 19. It was nearly 600 years from the consummation of the
Babylonish captivity to the fulfilment of this prophecy, by the final
destruction of the Jews, as a nation, by the Romans, when a remnant of
some 97,000 were sold into slavery in the cities of the Roman empire,
and were scattered wherever the caprice of their masters led them.
During this period, from the Babylonish captivity to the destruction
of Jerusalem, the Jews suffered much from their enemies, and many
thousands were sold into slavery. A few references to Josephus will
assist to comprehend this subject:
_Ant. B_. 11. _C_. 5. Miserable condition of the Jews as represented to
the prophet Nehemiah.
_B_. 11. _C_. 6. Haman said to the king of Persia, "There is a certain
wicked nation (the Jews), and it is dispersed over all the habitable
earth that is under thy dominion."
_B_. 12. _C_. 1. The first Ptolemy took a great many captives in Judea
and carried them into Egypt.
_B_. 12. _C_. 2. The second Ptolemy liberated 120,000 Jews who where in
bondage in Egypt.
_B_. 12. _C_. 3. Antiochus set free all the Jews who had been carried
captive.
_B_. 12. _C_. 4. The Samaritans were in a flourishing condition, and
much distressed the Jews, cutting off parts of their land, and carrying
off slaves.
_B_. 12. _C_. 5. The daily sacrifice was taken away, and 10,000 Jews
carried captive.
_B_. 14. _C_. 7. The Jews were scattered over the habitable earth.
Cassius, the Roman general, carried 30,000 Jews captive.
_B_. 14. _C_. 11. Four Jewish cities sold into slavery for taxes.
_B_. 15. _C_. 3. Not a few ten thousands of Jews that dwelt about
Babylonia.
_B_. 16. _C_. 2. A great multitude of Jews dwelt in the cities of Ionia.
_B_. 16. _C_. 6. The cities of Asia and Lybia ill-treated the Jews. The
northern part of Africa was then called Lybia.
These references to Josephus, and their contexts, well considered, will
greatly assist the student in forming a proper idea of the scattered
condition of the Jews about the commencement of the Christian era.
We have no knowledge of the location or condition of that part of the
ten tribes who went into the north country.
B. C. 600, a colony left Jerusalem, under one Lehi, to people the
western hemisphere. Eleven years after, it was followed by another
under the direction of Mulek. Their descendants have scattered over the
American continent from Cape Horn to the Arctic Sea.
This branch of the house of Israel may truly be said to be scattered
over half the globe. The Book of Mormon, and the monumental ruins they
have left on the land, give us all the information we have of them down
to the year 1492, A. D., when Christopher Columbus discovered America.
Since that time, their history forms a part of the general history
of the continent, which is a record of the fulfilment of many of the
prophecies, in the Bible and Book of Mormon, concerning the scattering
of Israel.
Bible.
_Deut_. 28. 37 thou shalt become a proverb and a by-word.
64 Israel to be scattered from one end of the earth even unto the
other. _Chap_. 32. 26.
_Psalm_ 106. 27 to overthrow their seed also among the nations.
_Isa_. 5. 13 my people have gone into captivity.
10. 3 what will ye do in the day of visitation?
32. 14 the multitude of the city shall be left.
42. 24 who gave Jacob for a spoil and Israel to the robbers.
64. 10 Zion is a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation.
_Jer_. 5. 15-18 I will bring a nation upon you from afar. _Deut_. 28.
49-57.
6. 8-12 their houses, fields and wives shall be turned to others. 7. 15
and I will cast you out of my sight.
8. 3 which remain in all the places whither I have driven them.
9. 11 I will make the cities of Judah desolate. 16.
10. 22 to make the cities of Judah desolate. 25.
15. 4 I will cause them to be removed into all kingdoms of the earth.
34. 17 to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.
_Ezek_. 20. 23 I would disperse them through the countries. _Chap_. 22.
15. _Chap_. 34. 6. _Chap_. 36. 19.
_Hos_. 7. 8. Ephraim hath mixed himself among the people.
_Joel_ 3. 2 the Lord will plead with all nations who have scattered his
people.
_Amos_ 7. 17 Israel shall surely go into captivity.
9. 9 I will sift the house of Israel among all nations.
_Mic_. 3. 12 Zion shall be ploughed as a field.
_Zach_. 7. 14 I scattered them with a whirlwind among all nations.
10. 9 I will sow them among the people.
_Matt_. 23. 38 your house is left unto you desolate. _Luke_ 13. 35.
_James_ 1. 1 to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad.
Book of Mormon.
1 _Nephi_ 10. 12-14 the house of Israel to be scattered over all the
face of the earth. _Chap_. 14. 14. _Chap_. 22. 3.