established; nor did its original workings long continue. Selfishness
within, and persecution without, were the two-fold cause. The Church,
driven from place to place, found it impracticable, with an imperfect
acceptance by its members of the Law of Consecration, to bring forth
Zion at that early day. The great event, however, was only postponed.
The realization of the ideal is still in prospect.
The Jackson County Expulsion--An attempt to rear the New Jerusalem was
made in the summer of 1831, a colony approximating fifteen hundred
men, women and children, settling for that purpose in Jackson County,
Missouri, [15] upon lands purchased from the Federal Government.
Ground was consecrated, and a City laid out, including the site for a
Temple. But a lack of the perfect unity necessary on the part of those
selected for this sacred task, prevented its accomplishment at that
time. "There were jarrings and contentions, and envyings and strifes,
and lustful and covetous desires among them; therefore, by these things
they polluted their inheritances." [16] Forewarned by the Prophet of
what would result if these evils were not corrected, the colonists did
not as a whole pay sufficient heed to the admonition, and the Lord
permitted their enemies to come upon them and drive them from "the
goodly land."
Persecuted and Persecutors.--The Jackson County colonists, whatever
their faults, were superior to the people who mobbed them and drove
them from their homes, misinterpreting their motives and falsely
accusing them of unfriendly acts or intentions toward the earlier
settlers. The persecuted were better than the persecutors; but not good
enough to completely carry out the high and holy purposes of Deity. It
was in the autumn of 1833 that the "Mormon" colony was expelled from
Jackson County. [17]
Zion Not Moved.--Then, and at a later period, when similar and
worse mobbings and drivings had taken place, those who committed or
countenanced the outrages were wont to say mockingly: "Whenever the
Mormons are driven from one Zion, their Prophet gets a revelation
appointing Zion somewhere else." How utterly unfounded this assertion,
is best told in the language of a revelation given a few weeks after
the Jackson County expulsion. Therein the Lord says:
"Zion shall not be moved out of her place, notwithstanding her children
are scattered;
"They that remain, and are pure in heart, shall return, and come to
their inheritances, they and their children, with songs of everlasting
joy, to build up the waste places of Zion. . . . .
"And, behold there is none other place appointed than that which I have
appointed; neither shall there be any other place appointed . . . .
for the work of the gathering of my saints,
"Until the day cometh when there is found no more room for them; and
then I have other places which I will appoint unto them, and they shall
be called stakes, for the curtains or the strength of Zion." [18]
Stakes of Zion.--Hear it, ye Gentiles! Hear it, O House of Israel!
Jackson County, Missouri, is the chosen site for the City of Zion. No
other place has been or will be appointed for that purpose. All other
gathering places for God's people are Stakes of Zion, holding the
outside cords and curtains of the spiritual Tabernacle of the Lord.
Zion's first Stake was at Kirtland, Ohio; and other stakes were
organized in Missouri, Illinois, and Iowa. All these have been
abandoned; but many others, since established, now flourish in the
region of the Rocky Mountains. There was no stake organization in
Jackson County, though that part is sometimes referred to as "The
Center Stake." Zion is there, or will yet be there--the very City of
God; but no Stake of Zion. [19]
In Abeyance.--Zion is greater than any of her Stakes. It will require
the Law of Consecration to bring forth Zion; while a lesser law
suffices for the creation of stakes, When the building up of Zion was
postponed, the Law of Consecration was suspended, and the United Order
went into abeyance. Then was introduced the Law of Tithing, [20] a law
adapted to the undeveloped condition of the Church. Since that time
the work of founding and maintaining Stakes of Zion, preparatory to
the coming forth of Zion proper, has engrossed the attention of the
gathered children of Ephraim.
Footnotes
1. Isa. 11:12.
2. D. & C. 45:64-71; 57:1-4.
3. Ib. 104:48.
4. Ib. 97:21.
5. Matt. 5:8.
6. Hist. Ch. Vol. 6 pp. 318, 319.
7. D. & C. 57:2.
8. Moses 7:18-21.
9. Acts 4:32-35; 4 Nephi 1:2, 3.
10. Psalms 50:2, 48:2.
11. D. & C. 82:19.
12. Ib. 78:5-7.
13. D. & C. 82:17
14. Ib. 41:9; 72:8
15. D. & C. 45:64-71.
16. Ib. 101 :6.
17. Hist. Ch. Vol. 1, pp. 390, 426.
18. D. & C. 101:17, 18, 0, 1; 115:6.
19. Zion, in sacred writ, is symbolized by a tent or portable
tabernacle, such as the Israelites carried with them in the Wilderness.
Evidently it was the custom then, as it is now, when setting up a
tent, to drive stakes and fasten cords thereto--cords stretched from
the tent, to make it firm and secure. Hence the phrase: "Lengthen
thy cords and strengthen thy stakes," a metaphor applied to Zion by
the Prophet Isaiah. (54:2; 33:20). When a tent is erected, no center
stake is driven; it would be in the way--an obstacle to stumble over.
Figuratively and in a larger sense, the same would be true of a Center
Stake of Zion. There is no need for such a thing, and it would spoil
the symbolism of the picture.
20. D. & C. 119.
ARTICLE TWENTY-FOUR.
Redemption by Power.
To Redeem Zion.--The failure of the Latter-day Saints, through lack of
unity and obedience, to build up Zion in Jackson County, has been dwelt
upon. It remains to tell of an effort to "redeem Zion," to reinstate
the plundered people upon the lands of which they had been unlawfully
and violently dispossessed. This effort was put forth early in the year
1834, when an expendition was organized in Ohio for that purpose.
The Zion's Camp Expendition.--So was it styled. The Camp consisted of
two hundred and five men, led by Joseph Smith in person, and including
quite a number of Elders subsequently called to positions of high
prominence in the Church. The expendition failed of its object--its
avowed object--for reasons similar to those which had caused the
expulsion from Jackson County. Disobedience and rebellion on the part
of some members of the Camp, and the continued disregard, by many
of the exiles, of the divine requirements made of them, prevented
their restoration to the homes and possessions of which they had been
despoiled.
A Want of Preparedness.--Zion might have been redeemed, even at that
early day, had the redemptive machinery been ready and in condition to
do the necessary work. [1] But such a condition did not exist. "Gather
up the strength of my house," the Lord had said concerning those upon
whom he proposed to lay the sacred duty of Zion's redemption. But "the
strength" of his "house" did not hearken to the appeal, [2] and the few
who enrolled themselves as members of that historic band were not all
trained for the task nor equal to the trials that lay before them.
"The Redemption of Zion Must Needs Come by Power." [3]--So spake the
Divine Oracle. But "power dwells in unity, not in discord; in humility,
not in pride; in sacrifice, not selfishness; in obedience, not
rebellion." [4] Had all the Jackson County colonists borne this in mind
and practiced accordingly, no such catastrophe as that which occurred
would have befallen them. And if all who went to their relief had acted
consistently with the same righteous principle, they would have escaped
the tribulation that came upon them as a chastisement.
Transgression the Cause.--The failure to build the New Jerusalem was
due to transgression; [5] in other words, to a lack of preparedness on
the part of those selected for the sacred undertaking. Had the players
been ready, the play could have been staged and presented. But nothing
could compensate for the absence of readiness on their part. There is
no substitute for the qualities that men and women must possess who are
chosen for so exalted an enterprise.
All Not Responsible.--All members of the Church were not responsible
for the Jackson County failure; [6] but all had to share in the
consequences entailed. The strength of a chain is proverbially
the strength of its weakest link, and the general average of the
newly-formed and inexperienced community was not high enough to justify
a better outcome.
Not a Complete Failure.--The Camp of Zion did not utterly fail.
Indeed, there are good reasons for believing that it accomplished
everything expected of it under the circumstances. And if this be true
of the members of the Camp, it is also true of those whose relief and
reinstatement were the announced purpose of the expedition.
All Things Foreseen.--At all events, what occurred must have been
foreseen. Divine prescience extends to all things connected with the
Lord's work. When He commanded his people to build the New Jerusalem,
he knew how much, or how little, they were capable of accomplishing in
that direction--knew it just as well before as he did after. Such a
thing as surprise or disappointment on his part is inconceivable. An
all-wise, all-powerful Being who has created, peopled, redeemed and
glorified "millions of earths like this," [7] is not one to be astounded by
anything that happens on our little planet. [8]
The Time Not Ripe.--The All-knowing One knew in advance what those
Zion-builders would do, or leave undone, and he shaped his plans
accordingly. Evidently the time was not ripe for Zion's redemption. The
proof is in the trespasses committed by them against the divine laws
ordained for their government.
A Season of Waiting.--"In consequence of the transgression of my
people, it is expedient in me that mine Elders should wait for a little
season for the redemption of Zion." So came the voice of the Lord to
Zion's Camp, on Fishing River, Missouri. But this word of comfort came
with it: "I have heard their prayers and will accept their offerings;
and it is expedient in me that they should be brought thus far for a
trial of their faith." [9]
"A Trial of Their Faith."--Such then, was the real purpose of the call
for that expendition. More was not expected of the members of Zion's
Camp, than a manifestation of willingness to do all that the Lord might
require of them.
No Endowments.--Another proof that Zion's redemption was not intended
for that time, is found in another part of the same revelation: "And
this cannot be brought to pass until mine elders are endowed with
power from on high." [10] Take note that the Church had no "endowments"
in 1834. There was no Temple that early, and the sacred ritual of
the House of God, even if revealed to the Prophet, had not been made
known to the people. Whether this was the endowment referred to in the
revelation, or whether it meant something else, it is evident that the
blessing spoken of was in the future. [11]
Zion could not be redeemed until the Elders were "endowed with power
from on High." And yet these same Elders, unendowed, had been sent
forth to redeem Zion! Surely, the Lord did not design it then to be.
Else would He not have endowed them beforehand? This admitted, and
what becomes of their "failure?" They were blameworthy for their
disobedience, but surely not for their failure to do what could not be
done by men unendowed and consequently not equal to the undertaking.
Left to the Future.--Zion was not redeemed in that dav for precisely
similar reasons to those which kept ancient Israel wandering for forty
years in the Wilderness, almost within sight of their coveted Canaan,
which they were not permitted in that generation to possess. [12]
Like Moses, these modern pilgrims beheld, as from Pisgah's top, their
promised land. Like Moses, on account of transgression, they were not
permitted to "cross over." There were Calebs and Joshuas in the Camp
who were worthy; but the great event, in the wisdom of the Highest, was
not destined then to be. It was left for a future generation and its
Joshua to go up in the might of the Lord and redeem Zion. [13]
"With a Stretched Out Arm."--The Lord made it plain to His people that
they must prepare themselves for the great things awaiting them. Before
they could hope to accomplish their glorious destiny, they must become
mighty, not only in numbers and material influence, but morally and
spiritually mighty--mighty by the power of God, descending upon them
as an endowment from on High. [14] When ready to redeem Zion, the way
would be prepared for them, angels and even the Divine Presence going
on before. They were not to use violence to secure their rights. God
would fight their battles. They were "the children of Israel, and of
the seed of Abraham," and "must needs be led out of bondage by power
and with a stretched out arm." [15]
Tried and Proven.--From the ranks of the survivors of Zion's
Camp--decimated by cholera while on its way to Jackson County--were
chosen the first Twelve Apostles and the first quorums of Seventy in
this dispensation. [16] These men were deemed reliable. They had been
put to the test, and had endured valiantly The trial of their faith was
complete.
Nigh at Hand.--When will end the "little season" of waiting? When will
the day of Zion's redemption dawn? I know not; but this I know. That
day is rapidly approaching. The Order of Unity and Equality, involving
the consecration, not only of properties, but also of hearts and hands,
will yet be established and perpetuated. It must be, for Zion cannot be
built up without it: [17] and until there is a Zion on Earth, the Lord,
the King of Kings, will not come.
Footnotes
1. D. & C. 105:2.
2. Ib. 103:30; 105:16.
3. D. & C. 103:15.
4. "Life of Heber C. Kimball," p.77.
5. D. & C. 105:2, 9.
6. Ib. 105:7.
7. Moses 7:30.
8. Some may question this assertion, and point to the passage, "It
repented God that he had made man" (Gen. 6:6), as an instances of
divine disappointment. But it should be borne in mind that makers
of Scripture, like all wise teachers, adapt their language to the
comprehension of those whom they teach, speaking that they "may
naturally understand" (D. & C. 29:34; 19:6-12). Whatever the dead
letter may seem to say, God is not man, that He should "repent"
(1 Sam. 15:29), or fail to foresee how his creatures will conduct
themselves. It was Noah, not God, who "repented," in the case now under
consideration.--Moses 8:25.
9. D. & C. 105:9, 19.
10. Ib. v. 11.
11. Ib. v. 18.
12. Compare Article Eighteen, paragraph "A Period of Preparation."
13. D. & C. 103:16.
14. Ib. 105:11.
15. Ib. 103:17.
16. Hist. Ch. Vol. 2, pp. 180, 201.
17. D. & C. 105:5.
ARTICLE TWENTY-FIVE.
Clearing the Way.
"I Will Fight Your Battles."--In a revelation, already cited, given
through Joseph the Seer while Zion's Camp was resting on Fishing River,
the Lord says concerning the Elders of his Church:
"I do not require at their hands to fight the battles of Zion; for, as
I said in a former commandment, even so will I fulfill. I will fight
your battles."
"Behold, the destroyer I have sent forth to destroy and lay waste mine
enemies; and not many years hence they shall not be left to pollute
mine heritage and to blaspheme my name upon the lands which I have
consecrated for the gathering together of my Saints." [1]
War and Deity.--There are many good people who believe that anything
of a war-like character, anything involving violence and bloodshed, is
wholly incompatible with the benign disposition and benevolent purposes
of Deity. According to their view, God has nothing to do with wars.
From first to last they are the work of the Evil One, moving upon
wicked men to stir up strife for selfish and sordid ends. Everything
peaceful and pleasant comes from him who is the Prince of Peace;
everything of an opposite nature, and especially war, that prolific
source of misery and sorrow, is due entirely to the Adversary. It is
all well meant, of course, the object being to forefend Deity against
the reproach that these good people fear would lie at his door, if it
were admitted that he had even a share in what they conceive to be
an unmixt evil, a thing absolutely wrong and unjustifiable. But how
can such views be reconciled with divine revelation and the history
of God's dealings with man? If war is always wicked, and destruction
ever at variance with the will and purposes of Providence, how are we
to understand such passages of scripture as the foregoing, wherein
Jehovah, who is no other than Jesus, the meek and merciful, assures
his servants that he will fight their battles, and assumes full
responsibility for sending forth the destroyer to lay waste his enemies
and theirs?
Prince of Peace and Lord of Hosts.--The problem, seemingly complex,
is in reality simple and easy of solution. There are two sides to the
Divine Character, two distinct and differing phases of God's dealings
with mortals. The Lion as well as the Lamb plays a part in the stirring
drama of human progress. The same perfect Being who counseled patience,
charity, and the turning of "the other cheek," sternly rebuked
hypocrisy, denounced wickedness in unmeasured terms, and with wrathful
speech and thong of knotted cords, drove the thieving moneychangers
from the Temple. "Blessed are the merciful," said the Author of the
Beatitudes. [2] "Love your enemies," enjoined the Redeemer of the
World. [3] But already He had proclaimed: "Vengeance is mine--I will
repay;" [4] and that high decree has never been revoked. Jehovah is
both Prince of Peace and Lord of Hosts, the God of Sabaoth. These are
among the titles belonging to him. Why are they his, if he has nothing
to do with war--if such things are independently and exclusively the
work of Satan?
Providence Over All.--The student of this problem must not lose sight
of the fact that Satan's sphere, like man's, is limited. Neither can do
more than the Most High is willing should be done; and his willingness
extends only to such things as contribute, ultimately if not
immediately, to the carrying out of his beneficent designs. The Book of
Job is very plain upon this point. Only so far as the Almighty would
permit, and it was deemed wise for that righteous man to be afflicted,
in order to test his integrity, further develop the excellence of his
character, and endow future ages with a deathless example of godlike
patience--only so far was Satan allowed to go. He seemed to be having
his own way with Job, and up to a certain mark did have it; but nothing
beyond. The Lord had his way. Whatever he bade Satan not to do. Satan
had to leave undone.
The Uses of Adversity.--Job's case is a reminder of the fact that
the wicked can be used as a means of developing and improving the
righteous, or of chastising and correcting people better than
themselves. The painful experiences of the Latter-day. Saints furnish
many cases in point. In Missouri, for instance, they were the victims
of atrocious wrongs. They had done nothing, so far as their fellow
men were concerned, to justify the cruel treatment meted out to them.
But the Lord, in order to chasten his people and teach them wholesome
lessons that they needed to learn, allowed their enemies to drive and
despoil them. [5]
Divinity Always Supreme.--Despite all appearances to the contrary,
the Divine Will reigns supreme. To conclude otherwise is to mentally
dethrone Deity, and allow that Evil is stronger than Good. God is above
Satan, and holds him in leash. [6]
Destruction Essential.--We are not to suppose, however, that the Lord
delights in war--that He prefers it to peace; or that he would have
aught to do with strife and devastation, if his good and wise purposes
could always be accomplished by other and milder means. But if strife
becomes necessary, and destruction essential, as when an old building
is torn down to make room for a new one, and if the All-wise be the
doer or director of the deed, who can question its rightfulness? "Shall
the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith? Or shall the
saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it?" [7]
Wars Decreed.--"I have sworn in my wrath and decreed wars upon the
face of the earth, and the wicked shall slay the wicked." [8] So says
the Almighty to his servant Joseph. And there lies the problem in a
nutshell. God has "decreed wars"--decreed them for a purpose. Human
iniquity brings down divine retribution, and the wicked are permitted
to slay one another--partly as a punishment for their sins, but mainly
to help clear the way for a higher and better order of things.
Just and Unjust Wars.--Michael and the Dragon.--Some wars are righteous
and just; others wrong and unjust. All depends upon the purpose for
which they are waged, and whether or not the Lord sanctions them. All
unrighteous wars are the work of Satan and his minions. But all wars
are not unrighteous. When Michael and his angels fought against the
Dragon, and overcame him, [9] surely the fight was a righteous one on
Michael's part. As for the provocation--that springs another question.
It is undoubtedly true that there would have been no "war in heaven,"
if Lucifer had not rebelled; but, having rebelled, he had to be put
down, and a righteous war was waged for that purpose. The conduct of
those who make such wars necessary, is not to be compared with the acts
of those who rise up to vindicate right and vanquish wrong.
Agnostic Arguments.--Joshua's conquest of Canaan--let us consider
that. [10] Agnostic writers, taking the view that all such wars are
wicked, affect to regard this event as a grave crime. They brand Joshua
as a murderer, and charge Jehovah with being a violator of his own
statutes--a greater murderer, in short, who, after punishing the first
slayer of his fellow man, the fratricidal Cain, [11] and laying down
the law to Noah, "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood
be shed." [12]--emphasizing it later with the commandment, "Thou shalt
not kill" [13]--directed the general of his armies to commit wholesale
slaughter and extermination. Therefore was he a murderer and a
lawbreaker. Such is the logic of Robert G. Ingersoll and other writers
of his class.
And what a wretched piece of sophistry it is. How utterly shallow
and vain. As if the Giver of life could not take back what he had
given--the right to it having been forfeited--without committing a
crime! As if the Author and Ruler of the universe could not repeal or
suspend one of his own enactments, without being a law-breaker! Think
of it: Colonel Ingersoll, an experienced lawyer, a practitioner and
devotee of the science of jurisprudence, denying to the great Law-Giver
a right inherent in and exercised by the humblest legislative body on
earth! To such illogical extremes will men go, when they presume to
pass judgment upon Providence.
The Case of the Canaanites.--Joshua's war upon the Canaanites was a
just war, designed to rid the earth of a corrupt generation, which
had forfeited its right to longer remain, encumbering the soil,
particularly that part which the Creator and Owner of the planet had
given to a worthier people. Jehovah's command to clear the ground upon
which he proposed erecting a national structure that should stand
as a temple of wisdom and light for the welfare of all succeeding
generations, did not impinge upon any command of his previously given.
Neither is the Divine One amenable to human judgment. "Thou shalt not
kill" was a commandment _from_ God, not to him. His word is superior
to all human enactments and to all man's notions of right and wrong.
The war waged by Joshua and the hosts of Israel against the wicked and
usurping Canaanites was in every respect justifiable, so far as it was
conducted according to Jehovah's command. [14]
"The King Can Do No Wrong."--This proverb, when used by corrupt rulers
to justify and cloak their crimes, is flagrantly false and pernicious.
When applied to the King of Heaven, it is eminently and unquestionably
true. The Author of life can send forth the destroyer and lay waste his
enemies, without blood-guiltiness or even the shadow of wrong-doing.
He can decree wars, and allow the wicked to slay the wicked, without
partaking of their evil deeds or making himself responsible for their
demon-inspired atrocities. These must all be accounted for at the bar
of Eternal Justice.