"And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed. * * * * * *
"I beheld and the same horn made war with the Saints, and prevailed against them;
"Until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given to the
Saints of the Most High; and the time came that the Saints
possessed the kingdom."
Here, in this most ancient region, where, parallel with the stream of Time, the great river of mortal life arose, had pitched their tents the Saints of latter days.
Here dwelt Adam and Eve in the world's infancy; here they tasted of the fruit forbidden, and were driven forth from Eden, their fall predestined that mortal man might be. Here the great sire of mankind built altars unto God, offering sacrifice unto the Father in commemoration of the atonement of the Son. Here fell the first martyr; here righteous Abel's blood was spilt; here burst the awful thunders of heaven's awakened wrath upon the guilty head of earth's first murderer. Here Adam, bowed with age, blessed the righteous residue of his seed, and predicted whatsoever should befall his posterity to the latest generation.
All this ere the days of Peleg, in whose days "was the earth divided;" ere Enoch's city rose to heaven, or the ark of Noah floated over a wave-buried world. Ere Babel's towering folly mocked the skies; ere wrecked was language on confusion's strand; ere the great river of humanity, dividing into rills, went forth to water with the streams of life the soil of every land.
Here, in the times of restitution, when all things in Christ are gathered in one, Adam, Michael, the great Prince, Ancient of Days, is to come in power and glory, revisiting the scenes of his earthly pilgrimage.
America, the old world, not the new! Cradle of man, mother of nations, grave of empires!
Unto Missouri, land of promise; the ancient, the chosen, the favored above all other lands, had the Lord's Prophet, Joseph, led His covenant people.
Spring Hill, Daviess County, Missouri, one of the settlements of the Saints in this region, had been renamed by revelation, Adam-ondi-Ahman, because, said the Lord, "it is the place where Adam shall come to visit his people, or the Ancient of Days shall sit, as spoken of by Daniel the Prophet."