Reminiscences of Joseph, the Prophet, and the Coming Forth of the Book of MormonStevenson, Edward
Religion
Reminiscences of Joseph, the Prophet, and the Coming Forth of the Book of Mormon
Stevenson, Edward
Book of Mormon; Latter Day Saint churches; Smith, Joseph, Jr., 1805-1844
"Thus saith the Lord; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the
midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth.
"Thus saith the Lord of hosts, there shall yet old men and old women
dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, and every man with his staff in his
hand for very age.
"And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing
in the streets thereof.
"* * * Behold I will save my people from the east country, and from
the west country;
"And I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of
Jerusalem: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God."
Soon after the message of the angel to the young man Joseph, he, in
obedience to God's command, organized the church. In due time there
were Twelve Apostles, and he appointed two of those Apostles on a
mission to Jerusalem. Upon Mount Olivet, one of the apostles,--Orson
Hyde,--offered a dedicatory prayer unto God, the Eternal Father.
In that prayer he supplicated God to remember his promises made to
Father Abraham concerning this dry and barren land, and Abraham's seed
which should inhabit this thirsty country, and who had wandered as
strangers in a strange land. The land had become barren because of the
sins of those who, in their ignorance, crucified God's Only Begotten
Son, Jesus Christ. He further pleaded:
"And as Jesus, thy Son, in his sorrowful and trying hours, cried,
'Lord, forgive them, they know not what they do!' so do thou, O God,
have mercy on them and let the promises of the prophets come up in
remembrance before thee. Be pleased, O Father, to send the rains on
these parched lands; and may the dews fall upon the hills and valleys,
that the land may again teem with plenty, and cities be built up unto
the Lord our God."
This is the substance of the supplication of the Apostle who dedicated
the land of Palestine. Since then the way is being prepared with a
railroad from the Mediterranean Sea to Jerusalem; and lo! the time has
come for God's mercy, as foretold by Isaiah, 40th chapter:
"Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye
comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is
accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of
the Lord's hand double for all her sins."
Joel, another of God's ancient prophets, prophecying of future events,
in 2nd chapter, says:
"Fear not, O land; be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in
the Lord your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately,
and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and
the latter rain in the first month. And the floors shall be full of
wheat, and the vats shall overflow with wine and oil. * * * And ye
shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord
your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you, and my people shall
never be ashamed."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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