Redemption of Zion through the Remnant of Joseph
Journal of Discourses vol. 17, pp. 289-306 by Elder Orson Pratt, delivered in the Twentieth Ward Meetinghouse, on the Evening of Sunday, February 7, 1875. Reported by David W. Evans.
Redemption of Zion
“There is one thing which I am now about to read which has not yet been fulfilled, and which we must fulfill before Zion is redeemed. I will read it—“Behold, saith the Father, I will bring the fulness of my Gospel from among them, and then I will remember my covenant which I have made unto my people, O house of Israel, and I will bring my Gospel unto them.” Now then, we are here in this land, the house of Israel are scattered all around us, some in the great basin, some in Arizona, some in Idaho, some in Colorado, some in Montana, some in one place, some in another; I refer to the American Indians, all remnants of Joseph and belonging to the house of Israel. They have become very degraded in consequence of the apostasy and wickedness of their ancient fathers. This people—the Latter-day Saints, before they can ever return to build up the waste places of Zion and receive their inheritances in Jackson County, Missouri, have got to exert themselves to bring the remnants of Joseph to a knowledge of the truth. We have not made any very great exertions in this direction unto the present time. The Lord has given us time since he brought the fulness of the Gospel from among the Gentiles to lay a foundation so that we could commence this missionary work in behalf of and among the remnants of Joseph.
We have got the foundation laid, we have succeeded in building many cities, towns, villages, &c., for some four hundred miles north and south; we have got our farms fenced and our water ditches dug, and we have begun to prosper in the land, so that now, I think, is the time for us to wake up our minds in relation to the scattered remnants of the house of Israel.” “Behold, then I will remember my covenant which I have made unto my people, O house of Israel, and I will bring my Gospel unto them.”
It seems that the Lord is working among that people, and that he is determined this prophecy shall be fulfilled whether we take it in hand or not. What do my ears hear? What do we all hear? Messengers are visiting these wild tribes in the basin, and in the regions round about hundreds of miles apart. These messengers come to them, and they speak in their own language in great plainness, and tell them what to do; they tell them to repent of their sins and to be baptized for the remission thereof; tell them also to cease roaming over the country and to cultivate the land; tell them to go to the Elders of this Church and receive the ordinances under their hands.
Who are these messengers? Read the Book of Mormon and you will find what God promised to do for the remnants of Joseph fourteen hundred years ago, about the time that most of them were becoming wicked and corrupt. The Lord said when their record should come forth in the latter days that he would send his messengers to them, and among these messengers he mentioned three persons who lived some eighteen hundred years ago, three of the Twelve who were chosen on this land. The Lord made a promise to these three that they should administer, as holy messengers in the latter days, for and in behalf of the remnants of the house of Israel, which should fall into a low and degraded condition in consequence of the great wickedness and apostasy of their ancient fathers; that they should be instruments in his hands in bringing these remnants to the knowledge of the truth. We hear that these messengers have come, not in one instance alone, but in many instances. Already we have heard of some fourteen hundred Indians, and I do not know but more, who have been baptized. Ask them why they have come so many hundred miles to find Elders of the Church and they will reply—“Such a person came to us, he spoke in our language, instructed us and told us what to do, and we have come in order to comply with his requirements.”
Perhaps you may inquire—“May not this great work, the redemption of these Indian tribes, take place after we have returned to our inheritances?” No doubt but what there will be a great work transpire among the Indians after we do return; but let me say to you that there will also be a great work performed among them before we return to receive our inheritances and before the redemption of Zion. In order to prove this I will read what Jesus has said further on this subject. After having foretold a great many things that should transpire in the latter days our Lord and Savior also spoke of that portion of the Gentiles which would repent and receive this book called the Book of Mormon, and he makes the following promise unto them—“If they will repent and hearken unto my words, and harden not their hearts, I will establish my Church among them.” This the Lord has done, and the Church now numbers over a hundred thousand right here in this great desert. “I will establish my Church among them, and they shall come in unto the covenant and be numbered among those of the remnant of Jacob unto whom I have given this land for their inheritance.”
A great many have desired to know what this means. Are you Mormons going to be numbered with them and wander about with them in these mountains? Are you going to hunt as they hunt, and lead a wild, nomadic, vagabond life as they do? No. What is the meaning of it then? The meaning of it is this—the Lord God made a promise to the forefathers of the Indians, about six hundred years before Christ, that all this continent should be given to them and to their children after them for an everlasting inheritance; and he made a promise also by the mouth of Nephi, one of the first colonists who came from Jerusalem, some twenty-four hundred years ago, that, when the Gentiles in the latter days should come forth upon the face of this land and receive the records of the descendants of those ancient colonists, they should be numbered with the remnants of Jacob in the inheritance of the land. Not numbered with them to come down to their foolish, degraded, wicked, warlike customs, but numbered with them in the inheritance of the land.
Another thing mentioned in prophecy is that they, “the Gentiles,” shall assist my people, the house of Israel, the remnant of Jacob, and also as many of the house of Israel as shall come, that they may build a city, which shall be called the New Jerusalem; and then shall they assist my people, who are scattered upon all the face of the land, that may be gathered in unto the New Jerusalem; and then shall the power of heaven come down and be in the midst of this people, and I also will be in their midst. And then shall the work of the Father commence, at that day, even when this Gospel shall be preached among the remnant of this people. Verily I say unto you, in that day shall the work of the Father commence among all the dispersed of my people.”
What I wish to call your special attention to now, so far as these sayings are concerned, is this—the Latter-day Saints in these mountains never can have the privilege of going back to Jackson County and building that city which is to be called the New Jerusalem, upon the spot that was appointed by revelation through the Prophet Joseph, until quite a large portion of the remnants of Joseph go back with us. Now then, here is a work for us, and we have no need to pray the Father to return us to Jackson County until that work is done. We can pray to the Father, in the name of Jesus, to convert these Indian tribes around us, and bring them to a knowledge of the truth, that they may fulfill the things contained in the Book of Mormon. And then when we do return, taking them with us, that they shall be instructed not only in relation to their fathers and the Gospel contained in the record of their fathers, but also in the arts and sciences. They will also be instructed to cultivate the earth, to build buildings as we do, instructed how to build Temples and in the various branches of industry practiced by us; and then, after having received this information and instruction, we shall have the privilege of helping them to build the New Jerusalem. The Lord says—“They,” the Gentiles, who believe in the Book of Mormon, “shall assist my people, the remnant of Jacob, that they may build a city, which shall be called the New Jerusalem.”
Now, a great many, without reading these things, have flattered themselves that we are the ones who are going to do all this work. It is not so; we have got to be helpers, we have got to be those who cooperate with the remnants of Joseph in accomplishing this great work; for the Lord will have respect unto them, because they are of the blood of Israel, and the promises of their fathers extend to them, and they will have the privilege of building that city, according to the pattern that the Lord shall give. Do not misunderstand me, do not think that all the Lamanite tribes are going to be converted and receive this great degree of education and civilization before we can return to Jackson County. Do not think this for a moment, it will only be a remnant; for when we have laid the foundation of that city and have built a portion of it, and have built a Temple therein, there is another work which we have got to do in connection with these remnants of Jacob whom we shall assist in building the city. What is it? We have got to be sent forth as missionaries to all parts of this American continent. Not to the Gentiles, for their times will be fulfilled; but we must go to all those tribes that roam through the cold regions of the north—British America, to all the tribes that dwell in the Territories of the United States, also to all those who are scattered through Mexico, and Central and South America, and the object of our going will be to declare the principles of the Gospel unto them, and bring them to a knowledge of the truth. “Then shall they assist my people who are scattered on all the face of the land, that they may be gathered in to the New Jerusalem.”
Will not this be a great work? It will take a good while to gather all these tribes of South America, for some of them will have to come from five to eight thousand miles in order to reach the New Jerusalem. This will be quite a work, and yet we shall have to perform it after the city is built.
What then? After they are all gathered, “then shall the powers of heaven come down and be in the midst of this people, and I also will be in your midst.” Now I do not say that this will be a period after his second coming in the clouds of heaven, but I believe that it will be a coming prior to that time, when he comes to manifest himself to all the nations and kindreds of the earth. It will be a fulfillment of that saying in the Psalms of David—“Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock. Stir up thy strength and come and save us.” He is called, in a peculiar manner, the shepherd of Israel. This is what is meant also in the blessing of Jacob upon the twelve tribes of Israel, or more especially upon the tribe of Joseph. You recollect he called up his twelve sons to bestow upon them his last prophetic blessing. He told them that he would inform them what should take place in the latter days. Joseph, he said, is a fruitful bough by a well, whose branches run over the wall. As much as to say that the descendants of Joseph would be so numerous that they would not all stay on the old homestead near Jerusalem, but some of them would run over the wall, that is, go to some other place. “The archers have sorely grieved him, they have shot at him and hated him, but his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hand of the mighty God of Jacob; from thence is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel.”
Now who can explain and tell us what this means? Can any of the wise commentators of the day? Can any of those who have studied theology all their lifetime, tell us why it is from Joseph that the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel is to be made manifest? Says one—“It cannot have reference to his birth, because Jesus descended from Judah, instead of Joseph, out of the loins of Judah, through the lineage of David. He is the Lion of the tribe of Judah.” Why then this peculiar saying of the old Prophet Jacob, about the tribe of Joseph, that from thence is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel, if he was not born of Joseph, and did not descend through that tribe? This is a very curious kind of a saying. But he will be made manifest in the character of a shepherd, and that shepherd will lead Joseph as a flock, and he will stir up his strength and will save the house of Joseph. But it will be in his own time and way. First, a remnant will be converted; second, Zion will be redeemed, and all among the Gentiles who believe will assist this remnant of Jacob in building the New Jerusalem; third, a vast number of missionaries will be sent throughout the length and breadth of this great continent, to gather all the dispersed of his people in unto the New Jerusalem; fourth, the power of heaven will be made manifest in the midst of this people, and the Lord also will be in their midst, in the character of a shepherd, and he will lead Joseph as a flock, and he will instruct and counsel them personally as he did their ancient fathers in the days of their righteousness.
This is what we must look for—these are the things that must be fulfilled, and for which we must seek and pray in an understanding manner. Not asking God to redeem Zion before he has redeemed a portion of the remnants of Joseph; not asking God to establish this people upon their inheritances in Jackson County, until the other things are fulfilled in their order, and in their times and seasons.
Perhaps some may inquire—“Have you any idea, brother Pratt, how we will be redeemed when we have accomplished this work you have spoken of?” Not much, I do not pretend to have a great deal of understanding upon the subject; but there are some few things revealed, some of which I read to you at the commencement of my remarks. Speaking of the redemption of this people, the Lord says—“Behold I will raise up a man like unto Moses.” This did not mean Joseph Smith, he was already raised up and was among us. He was the one who received that revelation; he was the one who brought to light the Book of Mormon, and translated it by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. But the Lord, who understands the end from the beginning, saw that when his work was completed, he would be taken away, and that another would be raised up. When this was first given I used to inquire, in my own mind, whether it meant Joseph, and I got it into my heart that Joseph, perhaps, would lead us until he became a very old man; I was in hopes all the time that such would be the case. I, like many others, did not seem to understand that this was a prediction of the future.
When Joseph was taken away, and our beloved brother, President Young, was appointed to take the lead, and received the keys and the power of the holy Priesthood that had been conferred upon Joseph, I was in hopes that he might be the man, and I still have a lingering hope that such may be the case. But he is now becoming aged, and how long the Lord will bless us with his presence I do not know, but this much I do know, that either he will be preserved, or that some other personage will be raised to fulfill that prophecy. “Behold I say unto you, the redemption of Zion must needs come by power, therefore I will raise up unto my people a man who shall lead them like as Moses led the children of Israel, for ye are the children of Israel, and of the seed of Abraham, and ye must needs be led out of bondage by power, with an outstretched arm, and as your fathers were led at the first, even so shall the redemption of Zion be.”
It seems then that this people, at some future time in their sojourn here in this land, may possibly be in bondage greater than they are at the present time. I try to hope for the best, and to think that the bondage we are in and have been in for years, in consequence of the efforts of those who are striving to take away our rights as American citizens, and to trample us down in the dust; I say I have been in hopes that that would be all the bondage that was meant here in this prophecy, but I do not know but what there may be a greater signification to these words. I do not know what the purposes of the Lord are in relation to this particular thing. It may be that we shall have our rights completely taken from us; it may be, if we do not live sufficiently faithful before the Lord, that he will yet bring us into still greater tribulation than that which we have hitherto had. It may be that we shall yet be in bondage like the Israelites in the land of Egypt; for the Lord has said that, when this man should be raised up, he would redeem his people by power out of bondage, and they should be led as their fathers were led at the first. Says the Lord—“I say not unto you as I said unto your fathers—’mine angel shall go before you, but not my presence’—but I say unto you that mine angels shall go before you, and also my presence.” It was, in ancient days, a great calamity to Israel, when the Lord swore in his wrath that he would not go up in their midst, but that he would send an angel before them. Why did the Lord do this? Because of the wickedness and stiffneckedness of that people. He had redeemed them out of the land of Egypt, and they would not hearken to the words of Moses, they would not obey the voice of the Lord, but they stiffened their necks and hardened their hearts against the counsels that they received, and for this reason the Lord was under the necessity of leading them for forty years in the wilderness, considering them unworthy to go into their choice and promised land, and he swore an oath that all of that company—hundreds of thousands—who had come out of the land of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, except Joshua and Caleb, should not enter into the Land of Promise, so great was their wickedness; and he fulfilled his word. So provoked was he on one occasion at their rebellion, that he threatened to consume them in a moment, but Moses plead with the Lord to spare his people, lest the people around about should say that the Lord could not bring his people into the Promised Land. Moses said—“Remember thy covenant which thou didst make with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, our fathers, that they and their seed should have this land for an everlasting inheritance.” “No,” said the Lord, “I can raise up seed unto you Moses, that you may go in and possess the land.” “No,” said Moses, “remember that ancient covenant, that thy people may not be deprived of their inheritance;” and the Lord finally concluded to hearken to the voice of Moses, and to let them go into the land. But said he—“My presence shall not go up with you, lest I break forth upon you in my wrath, and you be consumed in a moment, but I will send an angel with you.”
In these last days, in redeeming his people from bondage he has told us in plain words, that his angel should go before us and also his presence; and as, in the deliverance of Israel in ancient times the waters were divided and plagues sent forth upon the Egyptian nation, it would not surprise me at all if there should be similar power manifested in the redemption of Zion. There may be a few individuals go to prepare the way, to purchase a little more land and get things in orders; but when that is accomplished, this people as a body will return to that land, the Lord going with them.
In ancient times, so long as the Lord did continue with Israel, he manifested his glory over their camp by a cloud by day; and whenever the cloud arose they followed it, and wherever it rested, there they pitched their tents and remained until the cloud moved again, when they again journeyed on. Now, if Zion is to be redeemed after the same manner, you need not be surprised if the Lord God should let his glory, in the form of a cloud by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night, be over all the camp of Zion. This is what I look for; perhaps I am a little enthusiastic, but it is really what I look for and expect; and when the Lord says that his presence shall go with us, I expect he will be in the midst of this people as he was in the midst of ancient Israel until they rejected him from their midst.
Did he converse with them in the wilderness before he left them? Yes, he talked with them out of a burning cloud in the burning mount, he spoke in their ears by the voice of a trump, and sounded in the ears of all the house of Israel the ten commandments, and they all, men, women and children, heard it. Do I look for similar manifestations of God’s power and presence when Zion is redeemed? I do. He may not come down upon any mountains, but he will converse with this people as audibly to men, women and children, as he did in ancient times. Zion must needs be redeemed by power, with an outstretched arm, the angel of the Lord going before the camp of this people, and they will return, and a remnant of the Lamanites with them to build up the city of Zion in Jackson County.
How about our inheritance when we get back there, our farms, &c.? We need give ourselves no uneasiness about that, there will be no speculation, no grabbing in those days; no one to say—“I am going to take up all the land round about so that I can speculate with it in selling it to my brethren.” No such thing as this, not a solitary soul among all the Latter-day Saints will receive an inheritance in this way. Another person is to come for the special purpose of dividing to the Saints their inheritances. “Behold,” saith the Lord God, “I will send one mighty and strong, clothed with light as with a garment, whose bowels shall be a fountain of truth, who shall utter words, eternal words, and who shall divide to the Saints their inheritances by lot.”
Have you read this revelation? It was published in the fourteenth volume of the “Millennial Star,” and it has been published in other publications. Says one—“If the inheritances of the Saints are to be apportioned by lot, a good man, perhaps, will be put off with the poorest inheritance, and some not so good will get some of the best, it is all haphazard.” Oh no, we find that lots cast by divine appointment in ancient times were cast upon a principle which designated the very thing which the Lord desired. How was it on a certain occasion about casting lots to discover the transgressor among all the hosts of Israel? A certain man had taken a gold wedge, and the people had been forbidden to take it. No one knew anything about it, but the transgressor, and he hid it in the earth. Lots were cast and the lot fell upon a certain tribe, it did not designate the man at first; they cast lots again, and it fell upon a certain portion of that tribe; they cast lots again, and it fell on a certain family, and finally it fell on a certain man in that family, and being called up, it proved that he was the very man among all the hundreds of thousands of Israel. Now here was a casting of lots by divine appointment, and the Lord, who orders all these things well, caused the very thing to be revealed according to his own mind. And when the lots are cast for this people to receive their inheritances, the Lord will so order it that every man will be rewarded according to his works, and that too by lot, however great the miracle may be.
Now I have told you about all I know, so far as it is revealed, concerning the redemption of Zion. There is one little thing, however, that I wish to name—that there will be quite a company of us before the redemption of Zion. Saith the Lord, in a certain revelation—“Let mine army become very great, and let it become sanctified before me, that they may be as fair as the sun, as clear as the moon, that their banners may be terrible unto all the nations of the earth.” We learn from this declaration of the Lord, that before Zion is redeemed we are to be quite a numerous people; and this agrees with what is in the sixtieth chapter of Isaiah—“A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation.” That is our destiny. However much our enemies may howl, whatever may be our future tribulations, the Lord God has decreed that Zion shall become a strong nation, that the armies of Israel shall become very great, and not only very great, but they will be sanctified before him, and there will be such a power made manifest in their midst, that their banners will be terrible to all the nations of the earth. They will not be terrible because we outnumber the nations, but this terror of Zion which will be among the nations, will be because of the power of the great Jehovah that will be manifested in their midst, something that the nations will discern and understand; and when telegraphic dispatches are sent forth to the most distant parts of the earth, it will be said—“Who can stand before the armies of Zion? Behold, the Lord God is with them as a cloud by day, and as a pillar of fire by night.” Fear will seize upon the nations of the earth, and the banners of Zion will be terrible.
These are some few things pertaining to the redemption of Zion. I would to the Lord that we were righteous enough to know a few more! There are a great many things that I would like to know about the redemption of Zion that I do not know, and I presume that you also would like to know them. But what the Lord has revealed is very plain when connected together; and when we reflect upon it, it is astonishing to us to think that in our day the Lord has decreed to perform such a great work in the midst of the earth. It will be astonishing to us when the time comes for the Lord to gather in, from every part of this great continent, these poor, miserable, degraded Lamanites, that his servants may have power over them in order to bring them to civilization. It looks impossible to us, but remember that that is the day of the Lord’s power, and that then will be fulfilled the saying in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, that the Spirit of the Lord shall be shed forth upon the hearts of those who are ordained to that power; that every man among these remnants of Joseph will hear the Gospel in his own tongue, by the power of the Holy Ghost shed forth upon those who are ordained unto this power. There is such a saying as that in the Book of Covenants, and when that day comes the Lord God will work mightily by signs, wonders and miracles in various ways that will have an influence over these remnants of Joseph to convert them and bring them to a knowledge of the truth, that the prayers of their ancient fathers, and of the Prophets and Elders who once dwelt on this American continent, may be fulfilled upon their heads.
I do not know that I have done justice to the subject of the redemption of Zion; if I have not, it is because I do not sufficiently understand it. I do not know that I know anything in relation to the matter only what God has revealed. I have had no vision, no revelation in relation to that particular subject; yet I know, from what has been revealed to me, that these things are true, and that, in their times and seasons, every jot and every tittle thereof will be fulfilled. Amen.”
Journal of Discourses vol. 17, pp. 289-306 by Elder Orson Pratt, delivered in the Twentieth Ward Meetinghouse, on the Evening of Sunday, February 7, 1875. Reported by David W. Evans. (Italics, color and bold added)
