Friday, September 4, 2020

Orson Pratt's Commentary on the "Civil War Prophecy" (D&C 87) in April 1854

 

The following, which is taken from Orson Pratt, The Seer Vol. 2. April, 1854. No. 4, pp. 241-47, is perhaps the earliest commentary we have available in print of what would later become D&C 87 (at the time, it was part of the 1851 Pearl of Great Price)

 

WAR.

 

A REVELATION AND PROPHECY BY THE PROPHET, SEER, AND REVELATOR, JOSEPH SMITH.

 

GIVEN DECEMBER 25th, 1832.

 

Verily thus saith the Lord, concerning the wars that will shortly come to pass, beginning at the rebellion of South Carolina, which will eventually terminate in the death and misery of many souls. The days will come that war will be poured out upon all nations, beginning at that place; for behold, the Southern States shall be divided against the Northern States; and the Southern States will call on other nations, even the nation of Great Britain, as it is called, and they shall also call upon other nations in order to defend themselves against other nations; and thus, war shall be poured out upon all nations. And it shall come to pass, after many days, slaves shall rise up against their Masters, who shall be marshalled [sic] and disciplined for war.--And it shall come to pass also, that the remnants who are left of the land will marshal themselves, and shall become exceeding angry, and shall vex the Gentiles with a sore vexation.--And thus, with the sword, said by bloodshed, the inhabitants of the earth shall mourn; and with famine, and plague, and earthquakes, and the thunder of heaven, and the fierce and vivid lightning also, shall the inhabitants of the earth be made to feel the wrath, and indignation, and chastening hand of an Almighty God, until the consumption, decreed, hath made a full end of all nations; that the cry of the Saints, and of the blood of Saints, shall cease to come up into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth [sic], from the earth, to be avenged of their enemies. Wherefore, stand ye in holy places, and be not moved, until the day of the Lord come; for behold it cometh quickly, saith the Lord. Amen. (Pearl of Great Price, page 35.)

 

The above revelation was given twenty-one years ago last Christmas. We learn by this, some particulars in regard to the nature of that universal war which is soon to deluge all the nations and kingdoms of the earth.--The first indication of this fearful calamity was to begin in the rebellion of South Carolina. The revelation does not inform us that the first symptom of this rebellion would exhibit any thing very alarming in its appearance, but says, that it "will eventually terminate in the death and misery of many souls." "Eventually" (not directly or immediately,) should the rebellion of that State lead on to a war more general in its nature, involving the whole nation in a fearful revolution resulting, not in the loss of a few, but in the "death and misery of many souls."

 

The revelation does not inform us of the particulars of this general war, but shows, in very few words, the order in which it would spread First, South Carolina should rebel second, "the Southern States" should "be divided against the Northern States;" third, the Southern States should call on Great Britain for help; and fourth, Great Britain should call on "other nations in order to defend themselves against other nations." It seems from this, that Great Britain will already be at war with some nations at the time the South will appeal to her for assistance; for she will be obliged to seek assistance to defend herself from other nations.--Whether Great Britain, under such critical circumstances, will render aid to the South, is not stated. She will, perhaps, in order to secure commercial advantages favour the South; this will enable the latter to compete with the superior numbers of the North. and prolong the war, until, as the revelation slates, it results in the destruction of many souls.

 

During this fearful revolutionary struggle between the South and the North, it seems that the South will marshal and discipline their slaves for war.

 

From this, it is quite evident, that the South will consider themselves hardly competent to withstand the force of the North without bringing into requisition the strength of the slave. However much assistance this may for awhile render to the South, it is certain, according to the revelation. that this strength will fail them: for, saith the Lord, "And it shall come to pass after many days, slaves shall rise up against their masters." From the expression, "after many days," we are led to conclude that the calamity, arising from the rebellion of the Slaves, will not take place, until the nation has, by its previous struggles been reduced to great weakness.

 

To add to the sufferings and great calamities of the nation, they will be greatly distressed by the aborigines, who "will marshal themselves and become exceeding angry" and vex them "with a sore vexation." We are inclined to believe that this will not take place until millions of the nation have already perished in their own revolutionary battles. To what extent the Indians will have power over the nation is not stated in this revelation; but from what Jesus informed their forefathers at the time of his personal ministry among them, as recorded in the Book of Mormon, they will have power in a great measure over the whole nation. in speaking upon this subject, Jesus prophesies as follows:--

 

"Therefore, it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not believe in my words, who am Jesus Christ, which the Father shall cause him" (Joseph Smith) "to bring forth unto the Gentiles, and shall give unto him power that he shall bring them forth unto the Gentiles, it shall be done even as Moses said, they shall be cut off from among my people who are of the covenant; and my people who are a remnant of Jacob, shall be among the Gentiles, yea, in the midst of them as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep, who, if he go through, both treadeth down and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver. Their hand shall be lifted up upon their adversaries, and all their enemies shall be cut off.--Yea, wo be unto the Gentiles, except they repent, for it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Father, that I will cut off thy horses out of the midst of thee, and I will destroy thy chariots, and I will cut off the cities of thy land, and throw down all thy strongholds; and I will cut off witch-crafts out of thy land, and thou shalt have no more soothsayers; thy graven images I will also cut off, and thy standing images out of the midst of thee, and thou shalt no more worship the works of thy hands; and I will pluck up thy groves out of the midst of thee; so will I destroy thy cities.-And it shall come to pass that all lyings, and deceivings, and envyings, and strifes, and priestcrafts, and whoredoms, shall be done away.--For it shall come to pass, saith the Father, that at that day whosoever will not repent and come unto my beloved Son, them will I cut off from among my people, O house of Israel; and I will execute vengeance and fury upon them, even as upon the heathen, such as they have not heard." (Book of Nephi 9: 12.)

 

From this prophecy of our Saviour. it will be seen that the aborigines or remnants of Jacob will prevail against the nation, even as a lion prevails against the beasts of the for eat. Naturally speaking, this could not lake place, unless the nation were first greatly weakened by former judgments, or unless God should so ordain, and suffer them to be overcome by their enemies. That Gull himself will fight for the remnant of Jacob, is clearly manifest in the foregoing quotation. it is God who is to cut off the horses, destroy the chariots, cut off the cities, and throw down all the strongholds of the nation: it is God who is to cut off the graven and standing images, and pluck up the pleasant groves, and destroy all wickedness from the land: it is God who is to "execute vengeance and fury upon them even as upon the heathen, such as they have not heard." God will, therefore, be with the remnant of Jacob, even as He was with their forefathers in the days of their righteousness: and as He destroyed the wicked nations from the land of Canaan, so will He utterly destroy this nation unless they repent and obey the word of the Lord revealed in the Book of Mormon.

 

The prophet Mormon, a little less than fifteen centuries ago, delivers a prophecy, concerning this remnant of Jacob and this nation of Gentiles in the following words:

 

"But behold, it shall come to pass that they" (the Indians) "shall be driven and scattered by the Gentiles; and after they have been driven and scattered by the Gentiles, behold, then will the Lord remember the covenant which He made unto Abraham, and unto all the house of Israel. And also the Lord will remember the prayers of the righteous, which have been put up unto Him for them. And then, O ye Gentiles," (meaning the people of the United States,) "how can ye stand before the power of God, except ye shall repent and turn from your evil ways! Know ye not that ye are in the hands of God? know ye not that He hath all power, and at His great command the earth shall be rolled together as a scroll? Therefore repent ye, and humble yourselves before Him, lest he shall come out in justice against you; lest a remnant of the seed of Jacob shall go forth among you as a lion, and tear you in pieces, and there is none to deliver." (Book of Mormon, 2: 6.)

 

Before the Lord would suffer the remnant of Jacob or the Indians to fall upon the Gentiles, He promised their forefathers that He would bring forth their sacred records unto the Gentiles, that they might have the privilege of repenting and of being numbered with the house of Israel. Jesus spake unto their ancestors as follows:

 

"In the latter day shall the truth come unto the Gentiles, that the fulness of these things shall he made known unto them. But we saith the Father, unto the unbelieving of the Gentiles, for notwithstanding they have come forth upon the face of this land, and have scattered my people who are of the house of Israel; and my people who are of the house of Israel have been cast out from among them, and have been trodden under feet by them; and because of the mercies of the Father unto the Gentiles, and also the judgments of the Father upon my people who are of the house of Israel; verily, verily, I say unto you that after all this, and I have caused my people who are of the house of Israel, to be smitten, and to be afflicted, and to be slain, and to be cast out from among them, and to become hated by them--and to become a hiss and a bye-word among them. And thus commandeth the Father that I should say unto you, at that day, when the Gentiles shall sin against my gospel," (meaning their rejection of the book of Mormon,) "and shall be lifted up in the pride of their hearts above all nations, and above all the people of the whole earth, and shall be filled with all manner of lyings, and of deceits, and of mischiefs, and all manner of hypocrisy, and murders, and priestcrafts, and whoredoms, and of secret abominations; and if they shall do all those things, and shall reject the fulness of my gospel, 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; and I will show unto thee, O house of Israel, that the Gentiles shall not have power over you; but I will remember my covenant unto you, O house of Israel, and ye shall come unto the knowledge of the fulness of my gospel. But if the Gentiles will repent, and return unto me, saith the Father, behold, they shall be numbered among my people, O house of Israel: and I will not suffer my people. who are of the house of Israel to go through among them, and tread them down, saith the Father. But if they will not turn unto me, and hearken unto my voice, I will suffer them, yea, I will suffer my people, O house of Israel, that they shall go through among them, and shall tread them down, and they shall be as salt that hath lost its savor, which is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of my people, O house of Israel." (Book of Nephi 7: 4.)

 

It is evident from the foregoing that before the Indian are suffered to have complete power over this nation, God will thoroughly warn them through the medium of His word in the book of Mormon, which, if they reject, will ripen them for the threatened judgments; but first the Lord will bring the fulness of His gospel from among the nation, delivering them over, because of their wickedness, to hardness of heart and blindness of mind, that He may execute vengeance and fury upon them. Jesus more fully describes this calamity on another occasion, as follows:

 

"And the Father hath commanded me, that I should give unto you this land for your inheritance. And I say unto you, that if the Gentiles do not repent, after the blessing which they shall receive" (meaning the blessing of the Book of Mormon,) "after they have scattered my people, then shall ye who are a remnant of the house of Jacob, go forth among them; and ye shall be in the midst of them, who shall be many; and ye shall be among them, as a lion among the beasts of the forest, and as a young lion among the flocks of sheep, who, if he goeth through, both treadeth down and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver. Thy hand shall be lifted up upon thine adversaries, and all thine enemies shall be cut off.-- And I will gather my people together, as a man gathereth his sheaves into the floor, for I will make my people with whom the Father hath covenanted, yea, I will make thy horn iron, and I will make thy hoofs brass. And thou shalt beat in pieces many people; and I will consecrate their gain unto the Lord, and their substance unto the Lord of the whole earth. And behold, I am He who doeth it. And it shall come to pass, saith the Father, that the sword of my justice shall hang over them at that day; and except they repent, it shall fall upon them, saith the Father, yea, even upon all the nations of the Gentiles." (Book of Nephi, 9: 8 and 9.)

 

This last quotation shows most clearly that it is God who will, through the instrumentality of this remnant of Jacob, bring this nation down; and because God is against them "none can deliver them" out of His hands, or out of the hands of the aborigines who are of the house of Israel: they will beat in pieces many people, and there will be no power in the Gentiles to stand before them, because they have sinned against Goal in rejecting His word which He has taken so much pains to preserve and bring forth unto them: But they treat it as a thing of naught, and despise the same; therefore shall they be treated as naught, and trodden down by the house of Israel even as nations of old. Say not in your hearts that you are strong, and that these calamities will not come upon you; for though you increase your strength an hundred fold, and fortify yourselves with walls and gigantic towers; and by your wisdom invent engines of destruction that will cause the nations to tremble, yet you shall be as naught before the power of the Almighty, and your strong-holds shall be thrown down, as were the walls of Jericho, and you shall fall a prey to the devouring sword, and your caresses shall moulder away upon the face of the land, and your flesh shall become meat for the dogs and for the ravenous birds of the air; and there shall be none left to blaspheme against the Holy One of Israel, or to fight against His holy word upon all the face of this land. For this is a choice land, and it must be redeemed from the hand of wickedness, that the righteous may dwell thereon for ever, and rejoice in the fulness of the blessings thereof.

 

The day is at hand when the Lord will visit all the nations of the earth with a proclamation of repentance and mercy, and blessed are that people, nation, or tongue who know the joyful sound; but wo unto that people who hearken not unto the voice of the Lord, neither unto the voice of his servants; for the Lord has a consumption decreed upon all the face of the earth, and all flesh shall come in remembrance before Him to render unto them according to their works; to redeem the whole earth from wickedness, and to make a full end of all nations who will not become subject to His laws. Wherefore nation shall war against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and the slain of the Lord shall be many. In regard to the wars of the latter days, the vision of Nephi, seen about six hundred years before Christ, is highly instructive. We quote the following:

 

"And it came to pass that the angel spake unto me, Nephi, saying, thou hast beheld that if the Gentiles repent, it shall be well with them; and thou also knowest concerning the covenants of the Lord, unto the house of Israel; and thou also hast heard, that whoso repenteth not, must perish; therefore, wo be unto the Gentiles, if it so be that they harden their hearts against the Lamb of God, for the time cometh, saith the Lamb of God, that I will work a great and a marvellous [sic] work among the children of men; a work which shall be everlasting, either on the one hand or on the other: either to the convincing of them unto peace and life eternal, or unto the deliverance of them to the hardness of their hearts and the blindness of their minds unto their being brought down into captivity, and also unto destruction, both temporally and spiritually, according to the captivity of the devil, of which I have spoken. And it came to pass that when the angel had spoken these words he said unto me, rememberest thou the covenants of the Father unto the house of Israel? I said unto him, yea. And it came to pass that he said unto me, look, and behold that great and abominable church, which is the mother of abominations whose foundation is the devil. And he said unto me, behold there are save two churches only; the one is the church of the Lamb of God, and the other is the church of the devil; wherefore, whoso belongeth not to the Church of the Lamb of God, belongeth to that great church, which is the mother of abominations; and she is the whore of all the earth.

 

"And it came to pass that I looked and beheld the whore of all the earth, and she sat upon many waters; and she had dominion over all the earth, among all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people.

 

"And it came to pass that I beheld the Church of the Lamb of God, and its numbers were few, because of the wickedness and abominations of the whore who sat upon many waters; nevertheless, I beheld that the Church of the Lamb, who were the Saints of God, were also upon all the face of the earth; and their dominions upon the face of the earth were small, because of the wickedness of the great whore whom I saw.

 

"And it came to pass that I beheld that the great mother of abomination did gather together multitudes upon the face of all the earth, among all the nations of the Gentiles, to fight against the Lamb of God.

 

"And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld the power of the Lamb of God, that it descended upon the Saints of the Church of the Lamb, and upon the covenant people of the Lord, who were scattered upon all the face of the earth; and they were armed with righteousness, and with the power of God in great glory.

 

"And it came to pass that I beheld that the wrath of God was poured out upon the great and abominable church insomuch that there were wars and rumours of wars among all the nations and kindreds of the earth; and as there began to be wars and rumours of wars among all the nations which belonged to the mother of abominations, the angel spake unto me, saying, behold, the wrath of God is upon the mother of harlots; and behold, thou seest all these things: and when the day cometh that the wrath of God is poured out upon the mother of harlots, which is the great and abominable church of all the earth, whose foundation is the devil, then, at that day, the work of the Father shall commence, in preparing the way for the fulfilling of his covenants, which he hath made to His people, who are of the house of Israel." (First Book of Nephi, 3: 45-51.)

 

From this quotation, it will be seen that there will be wars and rumours of wars among all the nations of the Gentiles. Whether the present war that has commenced between Russia and Turkey is the one predicted as the beginning of that more general war in which all the nations will participate, is not for us at present, to say; it has every appearance of becoming general, at least, as far as Europe is concerned. The European nations with the United States come more particularly under the dominion of the "great and abominable church," which includes all the churches of apostate christendom, both Catholic and Protestant. It is the nations of christendom that are to be visited with the heaviest of all judgments; for not only will they war among themselves, but every plague, mentioned in John's revelations as coming upon great Babylon, will surely come upon these apostate christian nations, and they will gnaw their tongues for pain, and finally, as one of the last judgments of a temporal nature, they will be totally destroyed--they and their cities, by devouring fire. But Oh, what soches [scorches] of wretchedness and misery await them, before the day of burning comes! No tongue can describe the fearful desolating judgments that will sweep through the land; but yet, they will not repent, for their day of grace will then be past, and they will be sealed over unto the judgments written; therefore, in the depths of their miseries, they will lift up their voices and curse God who has power over these plagues.

 

In order that God may punish these nations and utterly overthrow them, he is calling upon his people to come out from them and flee far away, and hide themselves in the chambers of the mountains, and purify themselves before the Lord, lest they also perish in Babylon; for the Lord hath decreed that he will spare none that remain in Babylon. Let the Saints remember, that the Lord hath said, that the people of Zion are to be the only people upon the face of the whole earth but what shall be at war one with another. They alone will escape if they observe diligently all the commandments of the Lord in the Book of Mormon and in the other revelations which God has given or shall hereafter give; but if not, they will in no wise escape; for the Lord will chasten the Saints until they will learn to live by every word that proceedeth forth from His mouth. Those who call themselves Latter-day Saints are no more precious in the sight of God than other people, unless they do better than others. Indeed, the greater the light against which the Saints sin, the greater and more severe must be their judgment, unless they repent, therefore, let us fear before the Lord, and tremble exceedingly, if we have any of us sinned; let us go before Him and confess our faults, and seek mercies and forgiveness at His hands; let us put away every evil, and strive most earnestly to give heed to the word of truth: for how can we stand before Him unless we do this! The great and terrible day of the Lord is at hand, and all nations shall fear and tremble exceedingly; but if the Saints are prepared, it shall be a day of rejoicing and of great glory to them; it shall be the day of their redemption, and the commencement of a glorious reign of which there shall be no end.

 

EDITOR

 

Further Reading

 

Resources on Joseph Smith’s Prophecies