Ye hear of wars in far countries, and you say there will be soon great
wars in far countries, but ye know not the hearts of men in your own land. (D&C
38:29 [January 2, 1831])
Ye hear of wars in
foreign lands; but, behold, I say unto you, they are nigh, even at your doors,
and not many years hence ye shall hear of wars in your own lands. (D&C
45:63 [March 7, 1831])
D&C
38:29:
29. Wars in far countries] Only a few months
previous to the date of this Revelation (July 27th, 1830), France was shaken by
a revolution which forced Charles X to abdicate and flee from the country. The
disturbances in France were felt in Belgium, and on the 25th of August the performance
of a revolutionary opera at Brussels was the signal for an insurrection that
spread from town to town throughout the Southern Netherlands. In the autumn of
1830 an outbreak occurred in Poland, which required the concentration of all
the military forces of the Czar to quell it. It was about this time that the
Brazilians compelled their Emperor, Dom Pedro, to resign.
There will soon be great wars] The Belgian revolution threatened to involve all Europe
in war, because it broke up a kingdom established by a general treaty.
Ye know not the hearts of men in your own land] In the United States the
opinion prevailed that internal troubles, such as those from which France,
Belgium, Poland, and some other countries suffered, could not arise in the
great Republic. The people generally did not know what was in the hearts of men,
but the Lord knew, and He gave, in this paragraph, the first intimation that
there would be civil war in the United States. (Hyrum M. Smith and Janne M.
Sjodahl, The Doctrine and Covenants: Containing Revelations Given to Joseph
Smith Jr., the Prophet, with an Introduction and Exegetical Notes [Salt
Lake City: The Deseret News Press, 1945], 267-68)
D&C
45:63:
63. In your own lands] See
Sec. 38:29. The Spirit of Revelation again, through the Prophet Joseph,
predicts the American Civil War. And these prophecies were uttered at a time
when, humanly speaking, a war between the Northern and Southern States was
highly improbable. The first indication of serious trouble came when South
Carolina declared that the tariff laws enacted by Congress were not binding
within her territory, and fixed February 1st, 1833, as the date of abrogation.
But this dispute was settled by an agreement which gave the State an
opportunity to retire from its defiant position without humiliation. See Sec.
87. (Hyrum M. Smith and Janne M.
Sjodahl, The Doctrine and Covenants: Containing Revelations Given to Joseph
Smith Jr., the Prophet, with an Introduction and Exegetical Notes [Salt
Lake City: The Deseret News Press, 1945], 338)
Further Reading:
