A Voice of Warning / Or, an introduction to the faith and doctrine of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

by Parley P. Pratt

This view is given in the last chapter of Ezekiel, where he divides the land, by lot, to the whole twelve tribes; and lays off the city, and sanctuary in the midst, with its twelve gates, three on each side, the whole lying four square. But in the forty-seventh chapter, we have a description of a beautiful river, which will issue forth from the eastern front of the temple, from under the sanctuary, and run eastward into the Dead Sea, healing the waters, and causing a very great, multitude of fishes; so that from Engedi, and Eneglaim, the fishers spread forth their nets; while the miry places shall not be healed, but shall be given to salt. And on either side shall grow all trees for meat, whose leaf shall not fade, nor shall the fruit thereof be consumed; it shall bring forth new fruit according to its months, because of the waters issuing from the sanctuary; and their fruits shall be for meat, and their leaves for medicine.

But to set forth more fully the building of the city, and the materials of which it will be built, we quote Isaiah, liv, 11, to the end of the chapter: "O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colors, and lay thy foundations with sapphires. And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones. And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children. In righteousness shalt thou be established; thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear: and from terror; for it shall not come near thee. Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by me: whosoever shall gather together, against thee shall fall for thy sake. Behold I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy. No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord."

From these verses we learn something of the beauty of their city, and of the materials of which it is composed. Their stones of fair colors, their foundations of sapphires, their windows of agates, their gates of carbuncles, and all their borders of pleasant stones, are well calculated to beautify the place of His sanctuary, and to make the place of His feet glorious, as well as to give a lustre and magnificence to the whole city, of which the Gentiles, with all their boasted wealth and grandeur, can form but a faint idea; and then to mark, in the same description, the knowledge, as well as the peace and security, of all the inhabitants; while they who gather together against them to battle are sure to fall for their sake: surely this is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, surely this is a delightful city, and well worth a pilgrimage like Abraham's.

But in order to form a still more striking idea of the prosperity, wealth, beauty and magnificence of the cities of Zion and Jerusalem, we will quote Isaiah lx: "Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and His glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising. Lift up thine eyes, round about, and see; all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side. Thou thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee. The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Epha; all they from Sheba shall come: they shall bring gold and incense; and they shall show forth the praises of the Lord. All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together unto thee, the rams of Nebaioth shall minister unto thee: they shall come up with acceptance on mine altar, and I will glorify the house of my glory. Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows? Surely the isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from far, their silver and their gold with them, unto the name of the Lord thy God, and to the Holy One of Israel, because He hath glorified thee. And the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee: for in my wrath I smote thee, but in my favor have I had mercy on thee. Therefore thy gates shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day nor night; that men may bring unto thee the forces of the Gentiles, and that their kings may be brought. For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish: yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted. The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir-tree, the pine-tree, and the box together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary; and I will make the place of my feet glorious. The sons also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee; and all they that despised thee shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet; and they shall call thee, The city of the Lord, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel.

"Whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated, so that no man went through thee, I will make thee an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations. Thou shalt also suck the milk of the Gentiles, and shalt suck the breast of kings: and thou shalt know that I the Lord am thy Savior and thy Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron: I will also make thy officers peace, and thine exactors righteousness. Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise. The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory. Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself: for the Lord shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended. Thy people also shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified. A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation: I the Lord will hasten it in his time."

In this chapter we learn—First, that there is a city to be built in the last days, unto which, not only Israel, but all the nations of the Gentiles, are to flow; and the nation and kingdom that will not serve the city shall perish and be utterly wasted. Second, we learn that the name of that city is Zion, the city of the Lord. Third, we learn that it is called the place of His sanctuary, and the place of His feet. Fourth, that the best of timber, consisting of fir, pine, and boxwood, is to be brought in great plenty, to beautify the place of His sanctuary, and make the place of His feet glorious. Fifth, the precious metals are to abound in such plenty, that gold is to be in the room of brass, silver in the room of iron, brass in the room of wood, and iron in the room of stones. Their officers are to be peace officers, and their exactors righteous exactors; violence is no more to be heard in the land; wasting nor destruction within their borders. Their walls are to be Salvation, and their gates Praise: while the glory of God, in the midst of the city, outshines the sun. The days of their mourning are ended; their people are ail righteous, and are to inherit the land forever, being the branch of the Lord's planting, that He may be glorified. A little one shall become a strong nation, and the Lord will hasten it in His time.

The Psalmist David has told us, concerning the time of the building of this city, in his one hundred and second Psalm, from the thirteenth to the twenty-second verse: "Thou shalt arise and have mercy upon Zion; for the time to favor her, yea, the set time, is come. For Thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and favor the dust thereof. So the heathen shall fear the name of the Lord, and all the kings of the earth Thy glory. When the Lord shall build up Zion, He shall appear in His glory. He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and not despise their prayer. This shall be written for the generation to come: and the people which shall be created shall praise the Lord. For He hath looked down from the height of His sanctuary; from Heaven did the Lord behold the earth; to hear the groaning of the prisoner; to loose those that are appointed to death; to declare the name of the Lord in Zion, and His praise in Jerusalem; when the people are gathered together, and the kingdoms, to serve the Lord."

From this scripture we learn—First, that there is a set time to build up Zion, or the city of which Isaiah speaks, namely, just before the second coming of Christ; and that when this city is built, the Lord will appear in His glory, and not before. So from this we affirm, that if such a city is never built, then the Lord will never come. Second, we learn that the people and kingdoms are to be gathered together, to serve the Lord, both in Zion and Jerusalem; and third, that this Psalm was written expressly for the generation to come, and the people which shall be created shall praise the Lord, when they read it and see it fulfilled.

I will now call the attention of the reader to the first paragraph of the sixth chapter of the Record of Ether, contained in the Book of Mormon: "For he truly told them of all things from the beginning of man; and how that after the waters had receded from off the face of this land (America), it became a choice land above all other lands, a chosen land of the Lord, wherefore, the Lord would have that all men should serve Him who dwell upon the face thereof; and that it was the place of the New Jerusalem, which should come down out of heaven, and the holy sanctuary of the Lord. 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 up 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 up on 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. And there shall be a new heaven and a new earth, and they shall be like unto the old, save the old have passed away, and all things have become new. And then cometh the New Jerusalem: and blessed are they who dwell therein, for it is they whose garments are white through the blood of the Lamb; and they are they who are numbered among the remnant of the seed of Joseph who were of the house of Israel. And then also cometh the Jerusalem of old, and the inhabitants thereof; blessed are they for they have been washed in the blood of the Lamb; and they are they who were scattered and gathered in from the four quarters of the earth, and from the north countries, and are partakers of the fulfilling of the covenant which God made with their father Abraham. And when these things come, bringeth to pass the Scripture which saith, "There are they who were first, who shall be last: and there are they who were last, who shall be first."

From this prophecy we learn—First, that America is a chosen land of the Lord, above every other land. Second, that it is the place of the New Jerusalem, which shall come down from God, out of heaven, upon the earth, when it is renewed. Third, that a New Jerusalem is to be built in America, to the remnant of Joseph, after a similar pattern, or like unto the old Jerusalem in the land of Canaan; and that the old Jerusalem shall be rebuilt at the same time, and, this being done, both cities will continue in prosperity on the earth, until the great and last change, when the heavens and the earth are to be renewed. Fourth, we learn that when this change takes place, the two cities, together with the inhabitants thereof, are to be caught up into heaven, and being changed and made new, the one comes down upon the American land, and the other to its own place as formerly: and, fifth, we learn that the inhabitants of these two cities are the same that gathered together and first builded them. The remnant of Joseph, and those gathered with them, inherit the New Jerusalem. And the tribes of Israel, gathered from the north countries, and from the four quarters of the earth, inhabit the other; and thus all things being made new, we find those who were once strangers and pilgrims on THE EARTH, in possession of that better country, and that city, for which they sought.