History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Volume 2Smith, Joseph, Jr.
History
History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Volume 2
Smith, Joseph, Jr.
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; Smith, Joseph, Jr., 1805-1844
was organized did Moses appear and commit the keys of the gathering
of Israel from the four parts of the earth. What order is here? The
organization of the foreign ministry to go into all the nations of
earth, and then the coming of Moses to commit the keys of the gathering
of Israel from the four parts of the earth, and the leading of the ten
tribes from the land of the north. In this incident as in a thousand
others in the great work of God in the last days, the evidence of a
divine wisdom having regard for the eternal fitness of things, for the
proper sequence in the order of events in the development of the Lord's
purposes, is apparent. Note, too, the spiritual effect upon the Saints
of the restoration of these keys of the gathering of Israel. Before the
mission for England under Elders Kimball and Hyde departed, the prophet
enjoined them to adhere strictly to the first principles of the Gospel,
and say nothing for the present in relation to the gathering; this,
doubtless on account of the unsettled condition of the Church at the
time. Similar instructions, and for the same reason, were given to the
Twelve Apostles in 1839 when they went on their mission to England. But
the Saints could not be kept in ignorance of these matters. No sooner
were the people baptized than they were seized with a desire to gather
with the main body of the Church. "I find it is difficult to keep
anything from the Saints," writes Elder Taylor in his journal of this
period, "for the Spirit of God reveals it to them. * * * * Some time
ago Sister Mitchell dreamed the she, her husband and a number of others
were on board a vessel, and that there were other vessels, loaded with
Saints, going somewhere. She felt very happy and was rejoicing in the
Lord." Another sister, Elder Taylor informs us, had a similar dream,
and was informed that all the Saints were going. Neither of these
sisters nor any of the Saints at that time, knew anything about the
principle of gathering, yet all were anxious to leave their homes,
their kindred and the associations of a lifetime, to join the main
body of the Church in a distant land, the members of which were total
strangers to them. [5] The same spirit has rested upon the people in
every nation where the Gospel has been received. There has been little
need of preaching the gathering, the people as a rule have had to be
restrained rather than encouraged in the matter of gathering to Zion
and her stakes.
_The Spirit of Gathering on the Jews_.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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