War in the United States

History of the Church, Joseph Smith 1:315 And now I am prepared to say by the authority of Jesus Christ, that not many years shall pass away before the United States shall present such a scene of bloodshed as has not a parallel in the history of our nation; pestilence, hail, famine, and earthquake will sweep the wicked of this generation from off the face of the land, to open and prepare the way for the return of the lost tribes of Israel from the north country.

Journal of Discourses, Joseph Smith 20:41 Were we surprised when the last terrible war took place here in the United States? No; good Latter-day Saints were not, for they had been told about it. Joseph Smith had told them where it would start, that it should be a terrible time of bloodshed and that it should start in South Carolina. But I tell you today the end is not yet. You will see worse things than that, for God will lay his hand upon this nation, and they will feel it more terribly than ever they have done before; there will be more bloodshed, more ruin, more devastation than ever they have seen before. Write it down! You will see it come to pass; it is only just starting in. And would you feel to rejoice? No; I would feel sorry. I knew very well myself when this last war was commencing, and could have wept and did weep, over this nation; but there is yet to come a sound of war, trouble and distress, in which brother will be arrayed against brother, father against son, son against father, a scene of desolation and destruction that will permeate our land until it will be a vexation to hear the report thereof.

Journal of Discourses, Orson Pratt 20:18 And the Lord also made a similar decree, recorded, too, in the same book, in regard to the present great populous nation called the people of the United States. They must perish, unless they repent. They will be wasted away, and the fullness of the wrath of Almighty God will be poured out upon them, unless they repent. Their cities will be left desolate. A time is coming when the great and populous city of New York–the greatest city of the American Republic, will be left without inhabitants. The houses will stand, some of them, not all. They will stand there, but unoccupied, no people to inherit them. It will be the same in regard to numerous other cities, or, in the words of the Lord, “I will throw down all their strongholds, and I will execute vengeance and fury upon them, even as upon the heathen, such as they have not heard.” It will all be fulfilled. But there will be a remnant who will be spared. It will be those who repent of their sins; it will be those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and are willing to obey his commandments, willing to hearken to his voice, willing to be baptized for the remission of their sins, willing to be born of the spirit, or receive the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands, willing to walk uprightly and honestly with all men, and justly one with another.

Journal of Discourses, Orson Pratt 20:18 But what about the American nation. That war that destroyed the lives of some fifteen or sixteen hundred thousand people was nothing, compared to that which will eventually devastate that country. The time is not very far distant in the future, when the Lord God will lay his hand heavily upon that nation. … It will be a war of neighborhood against neighborhood, city against city, town against town, county against county, state against state, and they will go forth destroying and being destroyed and manufacturing will, in a great measure, cease, for a time, among the American nation. Why? Because in these terrible wars, they will not be privileged to manufacture, there will be too much bloodshed–too much mobocracy–too much going forth in bands and destroying and pillaging the land to suffer people to pursue any local vocation with any degree of safety. What will become of millions of the farmers upon that land? They will leave their farms and they will remain uncultivated, and they will flee before the ravaging armies from place to place; and thus will they go forth burning and pillaging the whole country; and that great and powerful nation, now consisting of some forty millions of people, will be wasted away, unless they repent.

Scriptural Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith :161 I saw men hunting the lives of their own sons, and brother murdering brother, women killing their own daughters, and daughters seeking the lives of their mothers. I saw armies arrayed against armies. I saw blood, desolation, fires. The Son of Man has said that the mother shall be against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother. These things are at our doors. They will follow the Saints of God from city to city. Satan will rage, and the spirit of the devil is now enraged. I know not how soon these things will take place; but with a view of them, shall I cry peace? No; I will lift up my voice and testify of them. How long you will have good crops, and the famine be kept off, I do not know; when the fig tree leaves, know then that the summer is nigh at hand.

Cyclone Pam: Faith and Self-Reliance in Vanuatu

People who lived through the cyclone that passed over the South Pacific island of Vanuatu in 2015 describe the frightening experience and how they learned to have faith in the Lord. They also describe how they worked to become physically and spiritually self-reliant.

Elder Stevenson sits down with Vanuatu residents to talk about the aftermath of the natural disaster and about our relationship with our Heavenly Father—how He cares for us, strengthens us, and helps us through the unexpected trials in our lives.

“As we are dependent on [Jesus Christ], we begin to develop our own spiritual and temporal strength and independence. We get a gospel perspective and we can really see the hand of the Lord helping us, even in the midst of trials and afflictions.” –Elder Stevenson

Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence

And all the king’s servants, that were in the king’s gate, bowed, and reverenced Haman: for the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence (Esther 3:2)

The Old Testament often demonstrates the nationalism of the kingdom of Israel in preference to an understanding of the kingdom of God. Mordecai, as a proud Jew, refuses to bow to Haman. If he were to ask counsel from church leaders today, he would likely have been reminded to respect the law of the land. He may even be quoted the following, “We believe that all men are bound to sustain and uphold the respective governments in which they reside” (D&C 134:5). Right or wrong, a sense of Jewish nationalism would not allow Mordecai to bow nor revere Haman.

The Book of Esther paints him as a hero, but his stubborn refusal to show reverence almost cost all the Jews their lives. Should we consider Mordecai to be a hero or a villain?

The Loss of the Urim and Thummim

"And the Tirshatha said unto them, that they should not eat of the most holy things, till there stood up a priest with Urim and with Thummim." (Ezra 2:63)

Through its means (the Urim and Thummim), Saul once sought to fix guilt for an offense (1 Samuel 14:41; see the Greek and Hebrew texts); David sought divine guidance to know in advance what kinds of situations would develop (1 Samuel 23:6–13); we infer that the Urim and Thummim were in the Ephod. Saul complained that the Lord neither spoke to him nor revealed his will to him by any means, including the Urim. (1 Samuel 28:6.)

We hear nothing more of the Urim and Thummim in the history of Israel until it becomes obvious after the Babylonian captivity that the Jews no longer are in possession of it. We would take it for granted, however, that until then, righteous kings and peoples used the Urim and Thummim when they sought counsel from the Lord. It is interesting to note that if a Urim and Thummim had been available to the Jews after exile, the problem of lost genealogy could have been solved. This problem was significant for those Jews since priesthood prerogatives were based upon descent from Levi or Aaron. (Ezra 2:62–63.)

We do not know exactly when the Jews lost use of the Urim and Thummim. However, the people were rejecting the prophets in Jeremiah’s and Ezekiel’s time, although the Lord warned them that a time was coming when they would no longer enjoy the light of revelation. Thus one wonders if they lost the Urim and Thummim through wickedness rather than conquest or carelessness.

(Keith H. Meservy, “I Have a Question,” Ensign, Oct. 1973, 61)

Created in the Image of God

The first chapter of Genesis describes the most important product of the Creation: mankind.

"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them" (Genesis 1: 26–27).

The operative word in this section is the Hebrew verb tsalam. It is the core of the verbal expression “to create in one’s own image.” It means exactly what it says and more. Tsalam in modern Hebrew is used to mean “photocopy.” The word means, as clearly as it is possible to express, to create an exact duplicate of something. So when Genesis, Moses, and Abraham speak of God creating man in God’s own image, it is as literal as can be. This is one of the first lessons of man’s divine Godlike origin. Man is not a graduate of primordial ooze, but is created in the express image of his Father.

THEY WERE NOT FOUND: THEREFORE WERE THEY, AS POLLUTED, PUT FROM THE PRIESTHOOD

I will read now a few verses from Section 85 of the Book of D&C, commencing at the 9th verse:

"And all they who are not found written in the book of remembrance, shall find none inheritance in that day, but they shall be cut asunder, and their portion shall be appointed them among unbelievers, where are walling and gnashing of teeth.

"These things I say not of myself; therefore, as the Lord speaketh, He will also fulfill.

"And they who are of the High Priesthood, whose names are not found written in the book of the law, or that are found to have apostatized, or to have been cut off from the Church; as well as the lesser Priesthood, or the members, in that day, shall not find an inheritance among the Saints of the Most High;

"Therefore it shall be done unto them as unto the children of the priests, as will be found recorded in the second chapter and sixty-first and second verses of Ezra." (D&C 85:9-12)

I am going to turn now to Ezra and see what is said there. We read:

"And the children of the Priests; the children of Habaiah, the children of Koz, the children of Barzillai; which took a wife of the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite, and was called after their name;

"These sought their register among those that were reckoned by genealogy, but they were not found, therefore were they, as polluted put from the Priesthood.

"And the Tirshatha said unto them, that they should not eat of the most holy things, till there stood up a Priest with Urim and Thummim." (Ezra 2:61-63)

This is the position the people will be in when they come to claim an inheritance in Zion, if their names are not found recorded in the book of the law of God. And I want to tell you that this refers directly to the law of tithing. In the first place it referred to the law of consecration, but that law, as has been explained, was not properly kept, and inasmuch as people are under greater condemnation when they keep not the laws that are given them, the Lord in His mercy withdrew from the Latter-day Saints the law of consecration, because the people were not prepared to live it, and as long as it was in force and they kept it not they were under condemnation. The law of tithing was given in its place.

Some people may not care very much whether their names are recorded or not, but this comes from ignorance of the consequences. If their names are not recorded they will not only be cut off from the assistance which they would be entitled to from the Church if they needed it, but they will be cut off from the ordinances of the house of God; they will be cut asunder from their dead and from their fathers who have been faithful, or from those who shall come after them who shall be faithful, and they will be appointed their portion with the unbelievers, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. It means that you will be cut off from your fathers and mothers, from your husbands, your wives, your children, and that you shall have no portion or lot or inheritance in the kingdom of God, both in time and in eternity. It has a very serious and far reaching effect. It is therefore the more obligatory upon me and upon my fellow-servants in the Church of God to make these matters known to the people, that our skirts may be free from their blood.

(Conference Report, October 1899, Afternoon Session)

Zion Must Increase

For Zion must increase in beauty, and in holiness; her borders must be enlarged; her stakes must be strengthened; yea, verily I say unto you, Zion must arise and put on her beautiful garments. (D&C 82:14)

Thousands of Saints started gathering to Missouri-site of the new geographic Zion. Within a few short years, however, they were driven from the state. Still, they maintained the hope that they would return sometime in the future and redeem, or reclaim, the latter-day Zion.

Yet even before the Saints were expelled from Missouri, the Lord provided through the Prophet Joseph Smith an even broader vision of Zion. In 1832 the Prophet was told, 'Zion must increase in beauty, and in holiness; her borders must be enlarged' (D&C 82:14). Then in 1844, while the Saints were living in Illinois, the Prophet Joseph Smith boldly declared:

'You know there has been great discussion in relation to Zion-where it is, and where the gathering of the dispensation is, and which I am now going to tell you. ... The whole of America is Zion itself from north to south.' [1] 

When the Prophet announced this remarkable view, it must have been stirring to the Saints. It foreshadowed the most expansive concept of Zion: many stakes spreading over the earth as multiple gathering places for faithful Church members. In 1833, during the time that the Saints were being expelled from Jackson County, Missouri, the Lord offered a glimpse of this broad vision of Zion. He revealed to the Prophet Joseph that the day would come when there would be 'no more room' for the Saints in Missouri; 'and then I have other places which I will appoint unto them, and they shall be called stakes, for the curtains or the strength of Zion' (D&C 101:21).

More recently, President Spencer W. Kimball underscored this important doctrine:

'The First Presidency and the Twelve see great wisdom in the multiple Zions, many gathering places where the Saints within their own culture and nation can act as a leaven in the building of the kingdom.' [2]

We look to the day when Zion can be fully built, but the Lord reminds us: "But first let my army become very great." (D&C 105:31.)

While we are powerfully and energetically enlarging the Lord's army, we remember also President Brigham Young's prophecy: 

"The kingdom will continue to increase, to grow, to spread and prosper more and more. Every time its enemies undertake to overthrow it, it will become more extensive and powerful; instead of its decreasing, it will continue to increase, it will spread the more, become more wonderful and conspicuous to the nations, until it fills the whole earth." [3]

1. Discourses of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p 188, HC 6:318-19

2. Arnold K. Garr, "Growing with a Living Church," Ensign, Oct. 1996, 29

3. Journal of Discourses, 1:203