John Taylor’s Conversation on Temples
with Baron Rotschild (Jew):
In looking still forward we find
that there are other things ahead of us. One thing is the building of Temples,
and that is a very important item, and ought to rest with force upon the minds
of all good Saints. I remember, some time ago, having a conversation with Baron
Rothschild, a Jew. I was shelving him the Temple here, and said he—"Elder
Taylor, what do you mean by this Temple? What is the object of it? Why are you
building it?" Said I, "Your fathers had among them Prophets, who
revealed to them the mind and will of God; we have among us Prophets who reveal
to us the mind and will of God, as they did. One of your Prophets
said—"The Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to his Temple, but who may
abide the day of his coming? For he shall sit as a refiner's fire and a
purifier of silver." "Now," said I, "Sir, will you point me
out a place on the face of the earth where God has a Temple?" Said he,
"I do not know of any." "You remember the words of your Prophet
that I have quoted?" Said he—"Yes, I know the Prophet said that, but
I do not know of any Temple anywhere. Do you consider that this is that
Temple?" "No, sir, it is not." "Well, what is this Temple
for?" Said I, "The Lord has told us to build this Temple so that we
may administer therein baptisms for our dead (which I explained to him,) and
also to perform some of the sacred matrimonial alliances and covenants that we
believe in, that are rejected by the world generally, but which are among the
purest, most exalting and ennobling principles that God ever revealed to
man." "Well, then, this is not our Temple?" "No, but,"
said I, "You will build a Temple, for the Lord has shown us, among other
things, that you Jews have quite a role to perform in the latter days, and that
all the things spoken by your old prophets will be fulfilled, that you will be
gathered to old Jerusalem, and that you
will build a Temple there; and when you build that Temple, and the time has
arrived, 'the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his Temple.' Do you
believe in the Messiah?" "Yes." "Do you remember reading in
your old prophets something like this—'They shall look upon him whom they have
pierced, and mourn, and be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness
for his firstborn. And one shall say, What are these wounds in thine hands and
in thy side? And he will say—These with which I was wounded in the house of my
friends?'" "Ah! Is that in our Bible?" "Yes, sir, that is
in your Bible." I spake to him then about the Nephites having left
Jerusalem and told him that the Book of Mormon represents them as descendants
of their people, and that Jesus came among them, and that they, because of
their iniquity and departure from the word and law of God, were stricken with
blackness. Said he—"What, as Cain was?" "Yes, sir, as Cain
was." Said I—"These people, the Lamanites, according to this
record," a French copy of which I gave him, be being a Frenchman;
"this people are beginning to feel after these things, and they are coming
by hundreds and by thousands and demanding baptism at our hands, just as you
find recorded in that book that they would do, and that is given there as a
sign that God's work had commenced among all nations. Said he—"What
evidence have you of this?" This conversation took place in the Townsend
House, and when the Baron asked me for evidence, said I—"Sir, if you will
excuse me a few minutes I will give you some evidence? and I went to Savage's
book stand, in the Townsend House, and obtained a photographic copy of David
Cannon baptizing Indians, standing in the midst of a great crowd of them. Said
I—"Here is the evidence." "Well, what shall we do?" Said
I—"You can do nothing unless God directs. You as a people are tied hand
and foot, and have been for generations, and you can't move a peg unless God strikes
off your fetters. When he says the word the things spoken of by the Prophets
will be fulfilled; then the measuring line will go forth again in Jerusalem,
then your Messiah will come, and all those things spoken of by the Prophets
will be fulfilled."
I mentioned these matters to Baron
Rothschild merely to exhibit some ideas pertaining to the work in which we are
engaged; and in speaking of the Temple—"Well, this is not the Temple?
"No, not that you are going to build, this is ours, and we expect to build
hundreds of them yet, and to administer in them in carrying out the work of
God." I speak of this, that you may reflect a little, you Latter-day
Saints. Has God organized a First Presidency? Yes. Has he endowed them with the
Spirit and power of God? Yes. Has he organized the Twelve? Yes. Have they the
spirit of their office? Yes, in part. He has organized Seventies; have they the
spirit of their office? In part. He has organized a High Priests' quorum; have
they the spirit of their office? In part, and many of these things are only in
part. He has organized an Elders' quorum, and a great many Elders have been
ordained; have they the spirit of their office? In part. Are they magnifying
it? Only in part. Why we have got really and truly a nation of Kings and
Priests, ordained, set apart and authorized to carry out the purposes of God
here upon the earth, to operate with the Priesthood behind the vail in the
accomplishment of these things. What are we doing? A little, but many of us, I
am afraid, not very much. A great many are doing the best they know how, and
are desirous, with their whole soul and spirit, with their intellect and their
substance and everything they have, to dedicate themselves and all they have for
God and for his cause and kingdom, and for building up Temples, and for
accomplishing everything that God requires at their hands. Then there are some
that feel like the boy said about his father. A Gentile came along and spoke to
a little boy down street here, and said—"Boy, are you a Mormon?"
"I don't know," said the boy. "Is your father a Mormon?"
"Oh, yes," said the boy, "but he does not potter much about
it." There are a good many who feel a good deal like that—they don't
potter much about it. When their minds are lit up by the Spirit of God they
feel like dedicating themselves and all they have to God, yet, by and by they
begin to weaken and falter, and quiver, and go away. (John Taylor, April 6, 1876 | JOD 18:199-200)
Orson Pratt’s Description of the
Temple to be Built in Jerusalem:
In
another revelation given in an early period of the history of the Church, the
Lord commanded his people to build unto him a House, promising that if they
built a house unto his name, according to the commandment and pattern which
should be given, and providing they suffered no unclean thing to enter it, so
that it should not be defiled, the Lord himself would appear in it; his
presence would be there; his glory would be there; and all that should go into
that House, who were pure in heart, should see him. Here then you perceive that
there are certain places appointed, and certain provisions to be complied with
before the face of the Lord can be seen. He has said that his people are always
to build unto his name a house. What for? That his name might be there; that
his angels might be there; that his presence might be there; and that there the
fullness of the holy Priesthood might be more fully revealed, and that there
all the ordinances might be performed, that were ordained from before the
foundation of the world. This is the object of Temples. It is to connect the
children to the fathers: it is to bring about an organization between the
living and the dead. It is seen that when the seventh angel shall sound his
trumpet, preparatory to the coming of the Son of Man; when the Saints shall
receive their inheritances and be made equal with him, they, the dead, as well
as the living, receive their inheritances; that will be a perfect organization.
When Adam, and Enoch, and his Zion, and all the righteous men before the flood,
and all the holy patriarchs and Prophets of the eastern and western Continents,
men who lived on the earth as strangers and pilgrims, but who through the eye
of faith were permitted to behold, that in the dispensation of the fullness of
times, all things would be gathered in one that were in Christ, even all things
which are in heaven and which are on the earth; I say that when all these
receive their inheritances, this will be an organization that takes hold of
eternity, that takes hold of the children of God in all ages, that unites all
dispensations in one, that brings all the kingdoms. and authorities, and
powers, of all other dispensations, and unites them in one; and upon whom
knowledge like a flood will be poured out even upon the vast congregations of
the Church of the First Born, the living and the dead, for the dead will then
be living.
Ought
not these things, Latter-day Saints, to stimulate every individual to be
diligent in the work given him to do, lest he fall out by the way; lest his
crown be taken front him and placed upon the head of another; lest the talent
he may have hidden in the earth be taken from him and be given to him that hath
more abundantly? How diligent we should be! How faithful in the performance of
our several callings, and how willing to hearken to the counsels and
instructions of those placed over us? By and by we will have Temples, with a
great many things contained in them which we now have not; for with them, as
with all other things, the Lord begins little by little; he does not reveal
everything all at once. He gave the pattern of these things in Kirtland, Ohio,
as the beginning; but there were not rooms for the washings, no rooms such as
we have now, and such as were prepared in the Nauvoo Temple; and in other
respects, there was something added to the Nauvoo Temple. Why; Because we had
greater experience, and were prepared for greater things. There was no font in
the basement story of the Kirtland Temple, for baptismal purposes in behalf of
the dead? Why not! Because that principle was not revealed. But in the Nauvoo
Temple this font was prepared, which was something in advance of the Kirtland
Temple. We have, of late, constructed a Temple at St. George. Blessings have
been administered in that Temple, that were totally unknown in the two former
Temples, namely, endowments for the dead. Again, by and by, we build a Temple
in Jackson County, Missouri. Will it be built according to the pattern of our
present Temples? No. There will be, according to the progress of this people,
and the knowledge they receive, and the greatness of the work that is before
them, many things, pertaining to the pattern, that will then be given, which
will differ materially, or will be, at least, in addition to that which is in
these Temples now built. I think if you will go and search in the Church Historian's
office, you will find a plan of a Temple, that is to be built in Jackson
County, which will be very different from the little Temples we now build. By
and by there will be a Temple built at Jerusalem. Who do you think is going to
build it? You may think that it will be the unbelieving Jews who rejected the
Savior. I believe that that which is contained on the 77th page of the Book of
Mormon, as well as in many other places, in that same book, will be literally
fulfilled. The Temple at Jerusalem will undoubtedly be built, by those who
believe in the true Messiah. Its construction will be, in some respects
different from the Temples now being built. It will contain the throne of the
Lord, upon which he will, at times, personally sit, and will reign over the
house of Israel for ever. It may also contain twelve other thrones, on which
the twelve ancient Apostles will sit, and judge the twelve tribes of Israel. It
will, very likely, have an apartment, with a table, on which food and drink
will be prepared, such as are suitable to the taste and happiness of immortal
resurrected beings, thus fulfilling the words of Jesus—"Ye that have
followed me in the regeneration shall eat and drink at my table, and sit upon
twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." Amen. (Orson Pratt,
May 20, 1877 | JOD 19:18-20)
Charles W. Penrose on the Blessings
Associated with the Building of the New Temple in Jerusalem:
The
people who dwell in these mountain valleys labor to build up homes, to redeem
the land and make it a desirable place to live in; but they are here chiefly,
and as their primary object to serve God and learn of Him. They are here in
fulfillment of prediction made by Micah, Isaiah and Daniel. Isaiah declared,
"It shall come to pass in the last days that the mountain of the Lord's
house shall be established in the tops of the mountains, and shall be exalted
above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go
and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of
the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in his
paths," etc. The prophecies of these ancient men of God are being
fulfilled literally; and this people called Latter-day Saints have come here to
learn of the ways of the Lord. They learned something of his ways in the lands
where they were born, and the word tasted sweet to their souls; communion was
opened up between them and the heavens, and they received a testimony for
themselves. They did not ]save to depend upon the testimony of Joseph Smith, or
of Brigham Young, or of John Taylor, or of the Apostles whom God has called in
our day, but they obtained one for themselves. They were all baptized with one
spirit into one body, and all received of the same influence; all obtained a
similar testimony; and the gifts and graces of the everlasting Gospel are
enjoyed by them, according to their several faiths and desires for God and the
truth. This, therefore, is the beginning of the great latter-day work, the
restoration of the Gospel, the opening up of the dispensation of the fulness of
times. The work now is to gather the Saints of God. First of all the Gospel is
to be preached to the Gentiles and then to the Jews. "The fulness of the
Gentiles" has not yet "Come in," but the time is close at hand
when it will come in. After that the Lord will say, "Turn ye to the Jews
also." The servants of God are going out among the Gentile nations
preaching the Gospel of the kingdoms, and bearing testimony that it is His
cause; not preaching what they think, or giving expression to any opinions they
may have formed, but from knowledge of the will of God through the testimony of
Jesus, which is the spirit of prophecy which they obtained by bowing in
obedience to the ordinances of the Gospel They know what they preach. They do
not go out with the "enticing words of man's wisdom," but to preach the
everlasting Gospel as God has revealed it, as He has manifested it from on
high. They are not sent to preach to please the popular ear, but to deliver in
plainness, as the Spirit shall give them utterance, the message of salvation,
whether the people believe it or not. And our missionaries find that the same
spirit exists to-day that the servants of God had to meet and contend with
anciently. The wicked oppose the message of truth they bear; and the most
vehement opponents to it are those who profess the most piety. They have it in
their hearts to destroy or bring trouble upon t, his people. Why? They do not
know why themselves. It is because they shut their own hearts to the truth like
he Pharisees of old, who made long prayers that they might be heard and seen of
men, and not entering the kingdom themselves, they will not suffer those who
would, to enter therein. They have the same spirit in their hearts that slew
the prophets and put Christ to death. When our Elders go out, instead of
meeting them with argument, these men stir up the people to oppose them by
force. They have stirred up Congress to pass inimical laws to oppress the
"Mormons," to deprive them of the commonest rights of citizens, to
take their leaders and put them to death. This is the spirit that has been
arrayed against this Church from the beginning. Joseph Smith and Hyrum his
brother, were slain in Carthage jail. What for? For the word of God and the
testimony of Jesus; because they taught the truth as it came from God and claimed
to have divine authority, to have received power from on high. They could not
oppose the testimony of these men by truth, nor by Scripture, nor by argument,
neither could they overcome them by law. But as the mob said that put these
servants of God to death: "The law cannot touch them, but powder and ball
shall." This is the spirit by which the prophets of old were put to death.
This is the spirit by which Christ was crucified on the cross. This is the
spirit by which Peter was crucified head downward. This is the spirit by which
others were thrown unto wild beasts and some were cast into caldrons of boiling
oil. And this is the spirit that is exhibited in the latter times by some who
claim to be ministers of the Gospel.
The
work of gathering has commenced, then. That is part of the work of the
dispensation of the fullness of times, the gathering of the people of God in
one. The Saints of God will be gathered. The wicked may do what they please.
They may pass laws; fulminate decrees; send circular letters to the governments
abroad to prevent "Mormon" emigration; but as God lives and rules and
reigns on high, this is His work and He will bring it about in His own way and
time and there is no power on the earth that can thwart His purposes. His people
will come from the east and gather from the west. The Lord will say to the
north, "Give up; and to the south, Keep not back: bring my sons from afar,
and my daughters from the ends of the earth." And they will gather to Zion
as the prophet foretold, and build up temples to the living God, that His
ordinances may be performed therein, and that they may learn of His ways and
walk in His paths. Then the Gospel, as I before remarked, will be preached to
the Jews. The way is now being prepared for this. The work is moving on for the
gathering of the Jews to their own land that they may build it up as it was in
former times; that the temple may be rebuilt and the mosque of the Moslem which
now stands in its place may be moved out of the way; that Jerusalem may be rebuilt
upon its original site; that the way may be prepared for the coming of the
Messiah, who shall be seen in the midst of those whose ancestors nailed him to
the cross, and who, when they see the marks in His hands, shall say in answer
to their inquiries, "These are the wounds with which I was wounded in the
house of my friends."
This
is only a small part of the latter-day work that is to be performed. We are
just in the beginning of it. The Gospel, has to be preached. The Saints must be
gathered. The ten tribes must be brought from the north. The Gospel must be
preached to the Lamanites, those red men of the forest, who are a branch of the
house of Israel, whose forefathers came from old Palestine to this continent.
The Lord is working among them by visions and dreams and by the manifestations
of His divine power. What else? Why we are building temples in this land. We
have built one in St. George, and have others in course of construction in this
city, in Logan, and in Manti. Some people say: "What are you spending so
much money for in building temples? Why don't you put it to better use?"
People who talk thus do not understand our position. This is part of the work
we have to perform. We have temples to build, that the Lord may reveal many more
things to His people concerning this latter-day work, and we are building them
according to the pattern He has revealed, that we may attend to ordinances that
He has made manifest; ordinances for the living and also for the dead; that we
may be baptized for our dead, so that the spirits who have been preached to in
prison may be brought forth, and that ordinances they can not perform for
themselves in the spirit world may be performed for them here in the houses we
are building. There are many more things connected with this great dispensation
that I have no time to refer to—and would not if I had time—because they belong
only to the people of God, to those who have entered into the everlasting
covenant, to those who have received the Holy Ghost, and who understand the
things of God; for "no man knoweth the things of God, but by the Spirit of
God." But this work will go on; the Saints will be gathered, and temples
will be built, and Israel will be redeemed, and the kingdoms of this world will
become more and more divided; and the sects and parties of Christendom will
become more and more contentions even than they are to-day. Infidelity will
increase, for the Spirit of God is being withdrawn from them, because they
receive not the truth when it is presented to them. And nation will rise
against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and people against people. War
will be poured out eventually upon all nations; the only place where there will
be peace and safety will be in the Zion of God. The judgments we read of in the
revelations will all he poured out just as the Prophets have predicted and just
as John the beloved has declared. All the woes that John saw are bound to be
poured out upon the inhabitants of the earth; every word will be fulfilled, not
one jot or tittle will pass away without its fulfillment. (Charles W. Penrose,
May 18, 1883 | JOD 24:214-16)
W. Cleon Skousen, Fantastic
Victory: Israel’s Rendezvous with Destiny (1967)
It
is true that the Jews must locate among themselves those who can trace their
lines to Levi, the brother of Judah. It was through Levi that the priesthood
was to be administered, not Judah. Judah was to have political rule. Now that
the Jews have become the rulers of Palestine they must now encourage their
brother-Israelites, the Levites, who descended through Levi’s grandson, Aaron,
to come forth and perform the ordinances in the future Temple. They alone are
authorized by God to function in that Temple before the Messiah comes.
The
same problem confronted the Jews when they returned from their exile to Babylon
during the sixth century before Christ. After Cyrus had issued an edict dated
538 B.C. authorizing the Jews to go back to Jerusalem and build their temple, a
total of 50,000 responded. But among them were only 4,000 who could prove by
unquestionable pedigree charts they were descendants of Aaron. Many others came
forward claiming the right to the Priesthood but had not kept their genealogies
intact and therefore they could not prove their claim. Concerning these the Bible
says, “These sought their register among those who were reckoned by genealogy,
but they were not found: therefore were they [considered] as polluted, PUT FROM
THE PRIESTHOOD. And the Tirshata [governor] said unto them, that they should not
eat of the most holy things [as Temple priests] till there stood up a priest
with Urim and with Thummim [to verify their true lineage]” (Ezra 2:62-63).
Unfortunately,
the Urim and Thummim, like the Ark of the Covenant, were never heard of again
following the destruction of Jerusalem, so these unfortunate claimants to
ordination apparently had to remain outside the pale of the Priesthood service.
When
the Jews rebuild their modern Temple they will undoubtedly follow the same rule
in selecting worthy descendants of Levi and Aaron to administer in its sacred precincts.
Only a few of the orthodox have been zealous in maintaining creditable genealogies
and only these should be allowed to serve as Cohens or Priests. Actually, the
number need not be large. Ezekiel assures us that this Temple somehow will be built
and that prior to the coming of the Messiah the Priests of Aaron will offer up
an offering unto the Lord in righteousness (See Ezekiel, Chapter 44).
So,
in spite of the almost insurmountable obstacles which stand in the way of
modern Temple project., it will succeed. As we shall see in the last section of
this book, the ancient prophets who discussed this Temple of the last days
unanimously confirmed that it would be built. When this is finally achieved it
will no doubt be a “marvelous work and a wonder” just as with everything else
the Lord undertakes. The main consideration at his moment is the prophetic fact
that “it shall be done!” (W. Cleon Skousen, Fantastic Victory: Israel’s Rendezvous
with Destiny [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1967], 162-63)
A
major lesson of life, of course, is that all things are possible with God. That’s
why it should be exciting to see just how He is going to work this one out.
That
He will work it out the Prophets are quick to assure us. Zechariah even
identifies the coming Prince David as being the Jewish leader who will
supervise the work (Zechariah 6:12-13). Zachariah even had a special message specifically
addressed to modern Jews who are assembling in Israel. He wrote:
“Thus
saith the Lord of Hosts; 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, in truth and righteousness.
“Thus saith the Lord of hosts; LET YOUR HANDS BE STRONG, YE THAT HEAR IN THESE
DAYS THESE WORDS BY MY THE MOUTH OF THE PROPHETS . . . THAT THE TEMPLE MIGHT BE
BUILD” (Zechariah 8:7-9).
And
it must be built with clean hands. The message continues:
“These
are the things that ye shall do; Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour;
execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates.
“And let none of you imagine evil in your heart against his neighbor; and love
no false oath; for all these are things that I hate, saith the Lord” (Zechariah
8:16-17)
The
question might arise, “Ho will the Jews know how to build their Temple? Where
are the plans?”
The
answer to that question is rather amazing. God apparently anticipated that when
it came time to build the Temple of the last days, the Jews would have neither
prophets nor Urim and Thummim. Therefore God revealed to Ezekiel nearly 600
years before Christ exactly what this temple would be like. He was given the
measurements and architectural arrangement of not only the Temple itself but
the entire area surrounding it. All of these details are in the last ten
chapters of Ezekiel. The Jews, therefore, have everything they need to proceed
with the schematic design of this prophetic structure. Ezekiel even provided a
detailed description of the ritual and sacrifices which will be required.
So
the stage is set and the opening scenes have commenced which will finally bring
about the literal fulfillment of all these things. There is no doubt but what
this generation will live to see a beautiful Temple of Israel arise on the
plaza in Old Jerusalem (Isaiah 49:20). (Ibid., 269-70)
Howard H. Barron, Judah, Past
and Future: L.D.S. Teachings Concerning God’s Covenant People (1978)
Jews
Will Rise from the Dust and Re-build the Temple
In
whatever light the Jews may be looked upon by the world, it is evident, that they
will ere long assume an important attitude. That they will “rise from the dust,”
gather up from their long dispersions, return to their much loved lands,
re-build the Temple, and again take the lead among the nations of the earth, is
abundantly proven from the word of God.
The
assurance of these things are calculated to raise feelings of no ordinary kind
in the bosom of every Saint of God. It was the anticipation of the glorious
events connected with the return of the Jews, and the building of the Temple,
that caused the sweet singer of Israel to tune to sweetest harmony, and strike
his golden lyre in praises to the Lord, and which called forth the unrivalled eloquence
of Isaiah, and the pathos of Jeremiah, who, while contemplating the scenes
which are now about to be fulfilled upon the heads of the scenes which are now
about to be fuiflled upon the heads of the Jews, broke forth into such sublime
and delightful strains, which have a powerful effect upon every mind, and carry
conviction, that the writers were then under the operation of the spirit of Him
who hath said, “I am a Father to Israel and Ephraim is my first born.”
Not
only have we “the most sure word of prophecy,” but the events which have
recently transpired, on the old continent, have been gradually preparing the
way of Israel to gather to the places where their fathers once flourished, and
which are endeared to them by unnumbered pleasing and interesting associations,
calculated to raise and give scope to the most lively feelings of the heart. (Howard
H. Barron, Judah, Past and Future: L.D.S. Teachings Concerning God’s
Covenant People [Bountiful, Utah: Horizon Publishers and Distributors, 1979],
214-15)
