6. Among its many and varied vicissitudes incident to the fortunes of war,[1033] may be mentioned:—the destruction of the city and the enslaving of the inhabitants by Nebuchadnezzar, 588-585 B.C.;[1034] its re-establishment at the close of the Babylonian captivity[1035] (about 515 B.C.); and its final overthrow at the disruption of the Jewish nation by the Romans, 70-71 A.D. In importance, and in the love of the Jews, the city was the very heart of Jewry: and in the estimation of Christians, it has ever been invested with sanctity. It occupied an important place in the earthly mission of the Redeemer, and was the scene of His death, resurrection, and ascension. The Savior's high regard for the chief city of His people is beyond question. He forbade that any should swear by it, "for it is the city of the great King;"[1036] and because of its sins, He lamented over it as a father for a wayward child.[1037]
7. But, great as is Jerusalem's past, a yet greater future awaits her. Again will the city become a royal seat, her throne that of the King of Kings, with permanency of glory assured.
8. The Latter-day Zion; New Jerusalem.—The biblical statements concerning the Zion of the last days as separate from the ancient or the re-established Jerusalem of the east, are silent regarding the geographical location of this second and modern capital of Christ's kingdom. We learn something, however, from the Bible as to the physical characteristics of the region wherein Zion is to be built. Thus, Micah, after predicting the desolation of the hill, Mount Zion, and of Jerusalem in general, describes in contrast the new Zion, wherein the house of the Lord is to be built in the last days. These are his words:—"But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it. And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths; for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem."[1038]
9. The prophecy of Isaiah is not less explicit regarding the mountainous character of the country of modern Zion;[1039] and, furthermore, this writer assures us that the righteous man only shall be able to dwell amid the fiery splendor of this new abode; and of him the prophet says:—"He shall dwell on high: his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks;" and adds the statement that the land shall be very far off.[1040] In another passage, he mentions a gathering place "beyond the rivers of Ethiopia," and, "on the mountains" where the Lord is to "set up an ensign" to the world.[1041]
10. The teachings of the Book of Mormon, and the truths made known through revelation in the present dispensation, regarding the Zion of the last days, while agreeing with the biblical record as to the general description of the situation, and the glories of the city, are more explicit in regard to the location. In these scriptures, the names Zion and New Jerusalem are used synonymously, the latter designation being given in honor of the Jerusalem of the east. John the Revelator saw in vision a New Jerusalem as characteristic of the latter times.[1042] Ether, writing 600 B.C. as a prophet among the Jaredites,—a people who had inhabited parts of North America for centuries before Lehi and his followers came to this hemisphere,[1043]—foretold the establishment of the New Jerusalem on this continent, and emphasized the distinction between that city and the Jerusalem of old.
11. The Nephite prophet, Moroni, in the synopsis of the writings of Ether, says of the latter, that he saw concerning the land of North America, "That it was the place of the New Jerusalem, which should come down out of heaven, and the Holy Sanctuary of the Lord." And adds: "Behold, Ether saw the days of Christ, and he spake concerning a new Jerusalem, upon this land; And he spake also concerning the house of Israel, and the Jerusalem from whence Lehi should come; after it should be destroyed, it should be built up again a holy city unto the Lord, wherefore it could not be a New Jerusalem, for it had been in a time of old, but it should be built up again, and become a holy city of the Lord; and it should be built unto the house of Israel: And that a New Jerusalem should be built up upon this land, unto the remnant of the seed of Joseph, for which things there has been a type: For as Joseph brought his father down into the land of Egypt, even so he died there; wherefore the Lord brought a remnant of the seed of Joseph out of the land of Jerusalem, that he might be merciful unto the seed of Joseph, that they should perish not, even as he was merciful unto the father of Joseph, that he should perish not; Wherefore the remnant of the house of Joseph shall be built upon this land; and it shall be a land of their inheritance; and they shall build up a holy city unto the Lord, like unto the Jerusalem of old; and they shall no more be confounded, until the end come, when the earth shall pass away."[1044]
12. Jesus Christ visited the Nephites in North America soon after His resurrection, and in the course of His teachings said:—"And behold, this people will I establish in this land, unto the fulfilling of the covenant which I made with your father Jacob; and it shall be a New Jerusalem. And the powers of heaven shall be in the midst of this people; yea, even I will be in the midst of you."[1045] Our Savior predicted further, as set forth in a previous lecture,[1046] that the Gentiles, if they would repent of their sins, and not harden their hearts, should be included in the covenant, and be permitted to assist in the building of a city to be called the New Jerusalem.[1047]
13. Ether the Jaredite, and John the Revelator, separated by more than six centuries of time and prophesying on opposite hemispheres, each saw the New Jerusalem come down from heaven, "prepared," says the Jewish apostle, "as a bride adorned for her husband."[1048] We have already spoken of the Zion of Enoch,[1049] a city once situated on the North American continent, whose inhabitants were so righteous that they too were called Zion, "because they were of one heart and one mind."[1050] They, with their patriarch leader, were translated from the earth, or, as we read, "it came to pass that Zion was not, for God received it up into His own bosom, and from thence went forth the saying, 'Zion is fled.'"[1051] But before this event, the Lord had revealed unto Enoch the Divine purpose in regard to humanity, even unto the last of time. Great events are to mark the latter days; the elect are to be gathered from the four quarters of the earth to a place prepared for them; the tabernacle of the Lord is to be established there, and the place "shall be called Zion, a New Jerusalem." Then Enoch and his people are to return to earth and meet the gathered elect in the holy place.
14. We have seen that the names Zion and New Jerusalem are used interchangeably; and, furthermore, that righteous people as well as sanctified places are called Zion; for, by the Lord's special word, Zion to Him means "the pure in heart."[1052] The Church in this day teaches that the New Jerusalem seen by John, and by the prophet Ether, as descending from the heavens in glory, is the return of exalted Enoch and his righteous people; and that the people or Zion of Enoch, and the modern Zion, or the gathered elect on the western continent, will become one people.
15. The Book of Mormon is explicit in foretelling the establishment of Zion on the western continent; but the precise location was not revealed until after the restoration of the priesthood in the present dispensation. In 1831, the Lord commanded the elders of His Church in this wise:—"Go ye forth into the western countries, call upon the inhabitants to repent, and inasmuch as they do repent, build up churches unto me; and with one heart and with one mind, gather up your riches that ye may purchase an inheritance which shall hereafter be appointed unto you; and it shall be called the New Jerusalem, a land of peace, a city of refuge, a place of safety for the saints of the Most High God; and the glory of the Lord shall be there, and the terror of the Lord shall also be there, insomuch that the wicked will not come unto it, and it shall be called Zion."[1053]