“…they do study at this time that they may destroy the liberty of thy people, for thus saith the Lord…” (Alma 8:17)
“The United States is the promised land…”
– L. Tom Perry
Latter-day Church leaders continue to be consistent with the foretelling by Book of Mormon prophets of the rise of America. Elder L. Tom Perry once stated: “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is truly a worldwide Church. Nevertheless, it is important to realize that the Church could never have become what it is today without the birth of a great nation, the United States of America.
The Lord prepared a new land to attract the peoples of the world who sought liberty and religious freedom… “The United States is the promised land foretold in the Book of Mormon, a place where divine guidance directed inspired men to create the conditions necessary for the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It was the birth of the United States of America that ushered out the Great Apostasy, when the earth was darkened by the absence of prophets and revealed light. It was no coincidence that the lovely morning of the First Vision occurred just decades after the establishment of the United States” – Elder L. Tom Perry, “The Tradition of Light and Testimony,” Ensign [Dec. 2012], 29; emphasis added. See page 24 in the Annotated Book of Mormon by David Hocking and Rod Meldrum.
Liberty vs. Freedom
Book of Mormon Definition of Freedom vs. Liberty
“Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose [first choice] liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose [second choice] captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself.” (2 Nephi:2:27; emphasis added.)
“And thus he was preparing to support their liberty, their lands, their wives, and their children, and their peace, and that they might live unto the Lord their God, and that they might maintain that which was called by their enemies the ‘cause of Christians.’” (Alma 48:10; emphasis added.)
“For behold, they do study at this time that they may destroy the liberty of thy people, (for thus saith the Lord) which is contrary to the statutes, and judgments, and commandments which He has given unto His people.” (Alma 8:17; emphasis added.)
Freedom provides the ability to choose between good and evil—God’s Natural Law or Satan’s counterfeit plan. True liberty is the conscientious choice to follow God’s law.” Annotated Book of Mormon page 216 by David Hocking and Rod Meldrum
Liberty then is far more important that simple freedom. Freedom means we can do anything we want, as we are free to choose. Liberty means we can do what ever we choose under God’s Laws. This is why the United States of America in not a Democracy meaning the majority rules. The United States has a Republic form of government in which elected individuals represent the citizen body and exercise power according to the rule of law under the Constitution.
Have you ever heard of the:
Liberty Bell, not the Freedom Bell.
Statue of Liberty, not the Statue of Freedom.
Land of Liberty, not the Land of Freedom.
Title of Liberty, not the title of Freedom.
One of the sad events in history was the 9-11 attacks on Sept 11, 2001. The building that was built to replace the Twin Towers is now called the “Freedom Tower”. Remember Freedom is a tyrannical rule and Liberty is under God’s care. Rod Meldrum has an awesome video that gives you more information about 9-11 and how the attacks are related to the USA’S disobedience to God. HERE:
Which country in the world has Liberty under God’s Law, the coming forth of The Book of Mormon and The Constitution of the United States of America?
The answer is simple, The United States of America where the Lord Himself said, “I established the Constitution of this land, by the hands of wise men whom I raised up unto this very purpose, and redeemed the land by the shedding of blood.” (D&C 101:80) Our Bill of Rights gives us 3 unalienable rights, Life, Liberty and Property. From this Promised and Choice Land we spread the Gospel of Christ through the most correct book on earth, even The Book of Mormon, which is the real history of a real people who lived here in the Heartland of the Promised Land of Liberty, even these United States.
When the Lord declares the United States as “CHOICE above all other lands” (1 Nephi 2:20), does he mean that those who live in the United States are better than people of other lands? Of course not. He loves all of His children equally. But, just as the Lord made the Land of Israel a Promised Land, He has also made the United States as the other Promised Land. The people who live on these lands MUST obey the commandments or they will be swept off this Choice Land. It happened with the generation of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, the Jaredites and the Nephites. What is the fate of this Choice Land? It will remain Choice so the question is, who will live on the Choice Land? Only those people who keep all the Commandments of God, which ever land they are from, the Choice people of God will dwell on the Choice lands of God. Jerusalem and the New Jerusalem.
“The remarkable alliance between Israel and the United States has always been above politics. It must always remain above politics. Because America and Israel, we share a common destiny, the destiny of promised lands that cherish freedom and offer hope. Israel is grateful for the support of American — of America’s people…” Benjamin Netanyahu’s Speech to U.S. Congress MARCH 3, 2015
Ezra Taft Benson
Ezra Taft Benson said, “I desire, therefore, to speak to you about our divine Constitution, which the Lord said “belongs to all mankind” (D&C 98:5; italics added) “and should be maintained for the rights and protection of all flesh, according to just and holy principles” (D&C 101:77; italics added).
The Constitution of the United States has served as a model for many nations and is the oldest constitution in use today. “I established the Constitution of this land,” said the Lord, “by the hands of wise men whom I raised up unto this very purpose” (D&C 101:80). For centuries the Lord kept America hidden in the hollow of His hand until the time was right to unveil her for her destiny in the last days. “It is wisdom that this land should be kept as yet from the knowledge of other nations,” said Lehi, “for behold, many nations would overrun the land, that there would be no place for an inheritance” (2 Ne. 1:8)
In the Lord’s due time His Spirit “wrought upon” Columbus, the pilgrims, the Puritans, and others to come to America. They testified of God’s intervention in their behalf (see 1 Ne. 13:12–13). The Book of Mormon records that they humbled “themselves before the Lord; and the power of the Lord was with them” (1 Ne. 13:16).
Our Father in Heaven planned the coming forth of the Founding Fathers and their form of government as the necessary great prologue leading to the restoration of the gospel. Recall what our Savior Jesus Christ said nearly two thousand years ago when He visited this promised land: “For it is wisdom in the Father that they should be established in this land, and be set up as a free people by the power of the Father, that these things might come forth” (3 Ne. 21:4). America, the land of liberty, was to be the Lord’s latter-day base of operations for His restored church…
During his first inaugural address in 1789, President George Washington, a man who was raised up by God, said: “No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the invisible hand, which conducts the affairs of men, more than the people of the United States. Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency” (First Inaugural Address, 30 Apr. 1789)…
Unfortunately, we as a nation have apostatized in various degrees from different Constitutional principles as proclaimed by the inspired founders. We are fast approaching that moment prophesied by Joseph Smith when he said: “Even this nation will be on the very verge of crumbling to pieces and tumbling to the ground, and when the Constitution is upon the brink of ruin, this people will be the staff upon which the nation shall lean, and they shall bear the Constitution away from the very verge of destruction” (19 July 1840, as recorded by Martha Jane Knowlton Coray; ms. in Church Historian’s Office, Salt Lake City)…
Only in this foreordained land, under its God-inspired Constitution and the resulting environment of freedom, was it possible to have established the restored church…
Two great American Christian civilizations—the Jaredites and the Nephites—were swept off this land because they did not “serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ” (Ether 2:12). What will become of our civilization?… I have faith that the Constitution will be saved as prophesied by Joseph Smith. It will be saved by the righteous citizens of this nation who love and cherish freedom. It will be saved by enlightened members of this Church—among others—men and women who understand and abide the principles of the Constitution.
I reverence the Constitution of the United States as a sacred document. To me its words are akin to the revelations of God, for God has placed His stamp of approval upon it.
I testify that the God of heaven sent some of His choicest spirits to lay the foundation of this government, and He has now sent other choice spirits to help preserve it.
We, the blessed beneficiaries of the Constitution, face difficult days in America, “a land which is choice above all other lands” (Ether 2:10)… Exra Taft Benson “Our Divine Constitution Ensign Oct 1987
President Russell M. Nelson
“The Book of Mormon reveals the inheritance of Joseph, son of Israel, who was not forgotten when land was distributed to the tribes of Israel. This was promised in the Abrahamic covenant. Because … Joseph’s inheritance was to be a land CHOICE above all others. CHOICE because it was chosen to be the repository of sacred writings on golden plates from which the Book of Mormon would one day come. CHOICE because it would eventually host the world headquarters of the Restored Church of Jesus Christ in the latter days. And it was CHOICE because it was a land of liberty for those who worship the Lord and keep His commandments” – Elder Russell M. Nelson, President of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles, Provo Missionary Training Center, Provo, UT, June 2016, emphasis added.
George Washington’s Address to the Inhabitants of Canada
(14 September 1775)
Friends and Brethren,
The unnatural Contest between the English Colonies and Great-Britain, has now risen to such a Heighth, that Arms alone must decide it. The Colonies, confiding in the Justice of their Cause, and the Purity of their Intentions, have reluctantly appealed to that Being, in whose Hands are all human Events.
He has hitherto smiled upon their virtuous Efforts—The Hand of Tyranny has been arrested in its Ravages, and the British Arms which have shone with so much Splendor in every Part of the Globe, are now tarnished with Disgrace and Disappointment.— Generals of approved Experience, who boasted of subduing this great Continent, find themselves circumscribed within the Limits of a single City and its Suburbs, suffering all the Shame and Distress of a Siege. While the true born Sons of America, animated by the genuine Principles of Liberty and Love of their Country, with increasing Union, Firmness and Discipline repel every Attack, and despise every Danger… Come then, my Brethren, unite with us in an indissoluble Union, let us run together to the same Goal.—We have taken up Arms in Defence of our Liberty, our Property, our Wives, and our Children, we are determined to preserve them, or die.
We look forward with Pleasure to that Day not far remote (we hope) when the Inhabitants of America shall have one Sentiment, and the full Enjoyment of the Blessings of a free Government… Incited by these Motives, and encouraged by the Advice of many Friends of Liberty among you, the Grand American Congress have sent an Army into your Province, under the Command of General Schuyler; not to plunder, but to protect you; to animate, and bring forth into Action those Sentiments of Freedom you have disclosed, and which the Tools of Despotism would extinguish through the whole Creation… I invite you therefore as Friends and Brethren, to provide him with such Supplies as your Country affords; and I pledge myself not only for your Safety and Security, but for ample Compensation. Let no Man desert his Habitation—Let no one flee as before an Enemy. The Cause of America, and of Liberty, is the Cause of every virtuous American Citizen; whatever may be his Religion or his Descent, the United Colonies know no Distinction but such as Slavery, Corruption and arbitrary Domination may create. Come then, ye generous Citizens, range yourselves under the Standard of general Liberty—against which all the Force and Artifice of Tyranny will never be able to prevail.
[G. Washington; emphasis added]
Source: The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 1, 16 June 1775?–?15 September 1775, ed. Philander D. Chase. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia [1985], 461–463 George Washington’s Address to the Inhabitants of Canada (14 September 1775) 297
https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-01-02-0358)
