A Compendium of the Doctrines of the Gospel 22

A Compendium of the Doctrines of the Gospel 22

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: