Messenger

The Gathering of Israel
as taught by the Prophet Joseph

Posted on 9/17/2004 at 11:46:38 AM

Our tenth Article of faith tells us that “We believe in the literal gathering of Israel,” but what does that mean? Is it just speaking of “the return of the ten tribes” or does it apply to us too? Early LDS history shows us that many newly converted Saints came from foreign lands across the ocean to this country to help build up Zion, yet that time – as far as most Church members are concerned – seems to have passed, so what relevance or importance can that doctrine have to us today?

To answer this question we will go back to the teachings of Joseph Smith, whom many of those early Mormons traveled thousands of miles to come and see and learn the restored Gospel from. The Prophet Joseph was not ambiguous about how important he viewed the doctrine to be, and told the Church members of his day that “One of the most important points in the … fullness of the everlasting Gospel, is the gathering of Israel…” (TPJS 92) Not only did he believe it was important to the Saints of his age, but in all eras of the earth’s history:

All the prophets have written, from the days of righteous Abel, down to the last man who has left any testimony on record for our consideration, in speaking of the salvation of Israel in the last days, goes directly to show that it consists in the work of the gathering. (TPJS 83, see 308)

Enoch, Noah, Moses, and Lehi are all examples of prophets who led God’s people to the promised lands of their day. But Joseph did not begin the commencement of the gathering in our dispensation until he had received the keys to do so from Moses himself in the Kirtland Temple in 1836. (D&C 110:11)

This event was followed by extensive missionary work to British isles and elsewhere by the Apostles and others which brought in tens of thousands of converts. Converting these individuals was not the same thing as gathering them however: There were missionaries preaching and men converted before the keys of gathering were restored, and those in foreign lands were strongly encouraged to leave their active and stable Mormon branches to join the more persecuted Saints in America.

Almost 100,000 men and women would eventually cross oceans and plains to find the religious refuge they sought, and they considered their journeys to be part and parcel of their faith. In fact an early hymn some of them may have sung stated, “A Church without a gathering is not the Church for me; The Saviour would not own it, wherever it might be;” (T&S 6:799) Even the modern LDS hymn book is full of hymns on this subject.

Some have speculated that the the foreign converts who joined the Church needed the strength of the Church in America to maintain their faith, and that this is the reason they were told to move there. Yet this does not reflect the realty of the situation in England, where, during one period, they had three times as many members as the U.S.A. did. Certainly though for many the desire to share fellowship and to support one-another was a motivating factor, and Joseph commented how the gathering could allow the Mormons to “be together and bear each other’s afflictions in the day of calamity.” (TPJS 101)

To the early Saints gathering to America was not merely an option or suggestion, but a commandment. This was taught explicitly on several occasions by the Prophet Joseph, leaving no doubt to his teachings on the matter:

… if we are not sanctified and gathered to the places God has appointed … we must fall; we cannot stand; we cannot be saved; (TPJS 71, see p. 83 & 183)

What made coming to America so urgent though? America as a nation was not without its social problems, nor exempt from the ravages of nature. To the early Saints it was not enough to be in the promised land, they sought to be amongst the Saints and apart from the rest of society. This was the reason for Nauvoo, and later the territory of Deseret: The Saints wanted to be part of a sanctuary of spiritual and physical safety, apart from the influences of the world, and not involved in its petty conflicts. Otherwise they would be liable to be caught up in the moral and real destructions that God had in store for the wicked countries and cities they lived in, as Joseph Smith again made plain:

… this gathering together of all the Saints, must take place before the Lord comes to “take vengeance upon the ungodly,” (TPJS 183, see 71 & 330-31)

Some might ask though why the U.S. was chosen, rather than some other country. America is where the pilgrim Fathers came to find religious freedom, it is where the Lord raised up men to create a country that guaranteed the rights of its citizens. The Book of Mormon tells us it was the promised land of the Jaredites, and of the people of Lehi and Mulek, and that the Lord intended it from the start to be a land of liberty to those who keep God’s commandments:

Wherefore, this land is consecrated unto him whom he shall bring. And if it so be that they shall serve him according to the commandments which he hath given, it shall be a land of liberty unto them; wherefore, they shall never be brought down into captivity; (1 Nephi 2:7)

People didn’t gather to become part of American culture. They weren’t looking to be cowboys, Republicans or to carry guns. They didn’t really care if they were following the American way or even being un-American. It was belonging to and building up God’s kingdom they sought, and to secure the promise of Paul that they would be “no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the Saints, and of the household of God.” (Eph 2:19)

The desire to gather burnt in their heart, it was always in their prayers, and as long as they remained in foreign lands they felt exiled from their true home. Wanted to claim what the righteous have always been promised by the lord ““ a place to build up God’s kingdom. This particular land was promised to the descendants of Ephraim and Manasseh (which tribes most LDS belong to) by the father of the faithful Abraham thousands of years ago:

Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall: … unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills … (Gen 49:22,26)

In summary the land of America has fulfilled and will yet fulfill a crucial role in God’s plans and for his people:

• It was the site of the garden of Eden
• It is the land promised as an inheritance to the descendants of Joseph of Egypt (the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh).
• It was the promised land of the Jaredites, Nephites and Mulekites.
• It is the place where the Lord restored his gospel
• It is where the great Salt Lake temple envisaged by the Prophet Isaiah was built
• It is here the keys of the Priesthood and God’s prophet is
• It (or at least parts of it) will be refuge from physical destructions
• It will be the location of the New Jerusalem, the return of the Ten Tribes, and Enoch’s city

Some say that the need to gather is passed or its meaning has changed. If this were so it would raise the following questions:

• Have spiritual dangers ceased?
• Is the influence of Babylon diminished?
• Is the world now a safer place and will always be so?
• Has the Lord chosen a new promised land?
• Have the keys of gathering been taken from the earth?
• Has the commandment and law been revoked?

The answer to all these questions is of course “No!” The reasons and need for gathering are just as great if not greater than they have ever been. The truth of this doctrine has not changed, and the “gathering of Israel” the Articles of Faith says we believe in is not a figurative, symbolic or allegorical gathering, but still means a literal and physical bringing together of the Saints, as it has done throughout all the scriptures and all the ages of the world. There are destructions still coming and if we live in a latter-day Sodom or Gomorrah, we will not be safe until we leave it, and gather to Zion:

And that the gathering together upon the land of Zion, and upon her stakes, may be for a defense, and for a refuge from the storm, and from wrath when it shall be poured out without mixture upon the whole earth. (D&C 115:6)

Others say that the Lord no longer has one promised land, but that the gathering place for the Saints is in their own home lands. One wonders whether some Israelite slaves made similar arguments to Moses, and would have tried to convince their comrades in bondage that if they waited long enough Egypt might turn into their Zion. The Lord has promised though that:

And, behold, there is none other place appointed than that which I have appointed, neither shall there be any other place appointed than that which I have appointed, for the work of the gathering of my Saints. (D&C 101:20)

Those who have testimony of this doctrine still have obligation to keep this law, yet some would discourage such gathering as no longer practical, or bring up legal objections, as if the arduous journeys the early Saints undertook were easy, or as if God’s laws are superseded by those of man, or that he cannot help faithful Saints circumvent or overcome such obstacles. The scriptures have a stark warning for those who would discourage their fellow Saints from gathering:

Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! Saith the Lord. Therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them; behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the Lord. (Jer 23:1-2)

Yet what happens to those who do not heed the warning to flee to Zion? Those who have had a chance or the opportunity to have create one, but have put it off as inconvenient or not yet necessary? Here again the Prophet warns us of the consequences of waiting too long:

God has told us to flee, not dallying, or we shall be scattered … I prophesy, that that man who tarries after he has an opportunity of going will be afflicted by the devil. (TPJS 160)

If we do not take the chance when we have it, we cannot be surprised when we find that our children go astray because of the continued influence of the world, nor can we blame God when the world spirals to its demise if we are caught in the crossfire. Our exaltation is at stake over this issue!

What about those of us already here, what is our obligation? Can we sit back in ease and comfort and forget our brethren and sisters who ““ without our help ““ may be effectively trapped in their lands of birth? The Lord tells us it is also our mission to “bring to pass the gathering of mine elect;” (D&C 29:7) and we would be ungrateful and unworthy servants if we left other Saints stranded outside Zion. Those who do help such Saints will truly become saviors unto them.

Even if we live in the mountainous mid-West, we still may have the need to more fully gather together as Saints and separate ourselves more completely from the world. This brings up sobering questions, that we each must answer for ourselves:

• When we live in neighborhoods with those who are not part of this work are we fully fulfilling the law of gathering ourselves?
• Could we ever live the law of consecration fully whilst in such a situation?
• What can we do individually and collectively to remedy this?

Each of us need to live as true Saints and servants of God, each of our homes need to be a refuge from the world, and the communities we live in need to be places of spiritual fellowship and co-operation. Because if we are not living in such a condition we will be giving Satan all the ways he needs to try to break apart what God has offered us, and we will be in danger of reaping the same curses He has in store for the rest of the world. The Lord though has designated the remedy to such dangers (if we will follow his prescription with heart, mind, and spirit): “Come to Zion! Come to Zion!”

Go ye out from among the nations, even from Babylon, from the midst of wickedness, which is spiritual Babylon. (D&C 133:14)