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
