A Voice of Warning, Parley P. Pratt [classic books for 11 year olds txt] 📗

will discover a promise that Israel are to return from all the nations whither they have been scattered, and to be brought again to the land which God gave to their fathers; Jerusalem is to be filled with flocks of men, and all the desolate cities of Judea are to be rebuilt, fenced and inhabited; the land is to be fenced, tilled and sown, insomuch that they shall say: "This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden." "I the Lord have spoken it, and I will do it; and the heathen shall know that I the Lord build the ruined places, and plant that that was desolate." "So shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men, and they shall know that I am the Lord." In the thirty-seventh chapter you will find, after the vision of the resurrection of the dead, the Prophet goes on to speak of the two nations becoming one nation upon the mountains of Israel, and one king being king to them all; and when this takes place, they are no more to be divided into two kingdoms. Moreover, the Lord's tabernacle is to be with them, and His sanctuary in the midst of them forevermore. He will forever be their God, and they shall be His people. "And the heathen shall know that I the Lord do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them forevermore." Now, it is a fact well known, that Judah and the ten tribes have never been one nation, upon the mountains of Israel, since the day they were first divided into two nations.

But, when this does take place, even the very heathen are to know it, and are to be convinced of the true God, as was Cyrus. Now if the missionaries should convert the world, before the Lord does this great work, then it will save the Lord the trouble of doing it in His own way, and it will save the trouble of fulfilling the Prophets, and the word of the Lord will fail, and all the world lay hold of infidelity. Well did the Lord say: "My ways are not as your ways, nor my thoughts as your thoughts." Chapters xxxviii and xxxix present us with a view of many nations united under one great head, whom the Lord is pleased to call Gog; and being mounted on horseback, and armed with all sorts of armor, they come up against the mountains of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; their object is to take a prey, to take away silver and gold, and cattle, and goods in great abundance.

This is an event which is to transpire after the return of the Jews, and the rebuilding of Jerusalem; while the towns and the land of Judea are without walls, having neither bars nor gates. But while they are at the point to swallow up the Jews, and lay waste their country, behold the Lord's fury comes up in His face, a mighty earthquake is the result, insomuch that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air, and all the creeping things, and all men upon the face of the earth, shall shake at His presence, and every wall shall fall to the ground, and every man's sword shall be turned against his neighbor in this army, and the Lord shall rain upon Gog, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, great hailstones, fire and brimstone. And thus He will magnify Himself, and sanctify Himself, in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that He is the Lord; thus they shall fall upon the open field, upon the mountains of Israel, even Gog and all his army, horses and horsemen; and the Jews shall go forth and gather the weapons of war, such as handstaves, spears, shields, bows and arrows; and these weapons shall last the cities of Israel seven years for fuel, so that they shall cut no wood out of the forest, for they shall burn the weapons with the fire; and they shall spoil those that spoiled them, and rob those that robbed them, and they shall gather gold and silver, and apparel, in great abundance.

At this time the fowls of the air, and the beasts of the field shall have a great feast; yea, they are to eat fat until they be full, and drink blood until they be drunken. They are to eat the flesh of captains, and kings, and mighty men, and all men of war. But the Jews will have a very serious duty to perform, which will take no less than seven months; namely, the burying of their enemies. They will select a place on the east side of the sea, called the Valley of the Passengers, and there shall they bury Gog and all his multitude, and they shall call it the Valley of Hamon Gog. And the scent shall go forth, insomuch that it shall stop the noses of the passengers; thus shall they cleanse the land. "And I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them: so the house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God from that day and forward. And the heathen shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity; because they trespassed against me, therefore hid I my face from them, and gave them into the hand of their enemies; so fell they all by the sword. According to their uncleanness, and according to their transgressions, have I done unto them, and hid myself from them. Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Now will I bring again the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel, and will be jealous for my holy name: after that they have borne their shame, and all their trespasses whereby they have trespassed against me, when they dwelt safely in their own land, and none made them afraid. When I have brought them again from the people, and gathered them out of their enemy's lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations; then shall they know that I am the Lord their God, which caused them to be led into captivity among the heathen; but I have gathered them into their own land, and have left none of them any more there. Neither will I hide my face any more from them; for I have poured out my Spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord God."

In the foregoing, we discover that the heathen are to know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity, and are gathered again by the hand of God, after having borne their shame for all their trespasses: and the house of Israel will know that it was the Lord their God who caused them to be led into captivity among the heathen, and that He it was that gathered and defended them, and He will hide His face no more from them, but will pour out His Spirit upon them.

O ye blind, ye stiffnecked, ye hardhearted generation, with the Bible circulated among all nations, will whole nations be so blind as to fulfil this prophecy, and not know it until it brings destruction upon their own heads? Why all this blindness? Alas! it is because of false teachers, who will tell them the Bible must be spiritualized. Others declare that these prophecies can never be understood until they are fulfilled. If this be the case, then we can never escape the judgments predicted in them, but must continue the children of darkness, until they come upon us unawares and sweep us from the earth. Then, where will be the consolation of looking back and seeing them fulfilled? But blessed be God, He has told us by the mouth of Daniel that many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased, and that the wise shall understand, but none of the wicked shall understand. And now, I would ask, who are more wicked than the wilfully blind leaders of the blind, who tell us we cannot understand the Scriptures?

Zachariah, in his fourteenth chapter, has told us much concerning the great battle and overthrow of the nations who fight against Jerusalem; and he has said, in plain words, that the Lord shall come at the very time of the overthrow of that army; yes, in fact, even while they are in the act of taking Jerusalem, and have already succeeded in taking one half the city, and spoiling their houses, and ravishing their women. Then, behold their long expected Messiah, suddenly appearing, shall stand upon the Mount of Olives, a little east of Jerusalem, to fight against those nations and deliver the Jews. Zachariah says, The Mount of Olives shall cleave in twain, from east to west, and one half of the mountain shall remove to the north, while the other half falls off to the south, suddenly forming a very great valley, into which the Jews shall flee for protection from their enemies, as they fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah; while the Lord cometh and all the saints with him. Then will the Jews behold that long, long expected Messiah, coming in power to their deliverance, as they always looked for Him. He will destroy their enemies, and deliver them from trouble at the very time they are in the utmost consternation, and about to be swallowed up by their enemies.

But what will be their astonishment, when they are about to fall at the feet of their Deliverer, and acknowledge him their Messiah! They discover the wounds which were once made in his hands, feet, and side; and, on inquiry, at once recognize Jesus of Nazareth, the king of the Jews, the man so long rejected. Well did the Prophet say, they should mourn and weep, every family apart, and their wives apart. But, thank heaven, there will be an end to their mourning; for He will forgive their iniquities, and cleanse them from all uncleanness. Jerusalem shall be a holy city from that time forth, and all the land shall be turned as a plain from Geba to Rimmon, and she shall be lifted up and inhabited in her place, and men shall dwell there, and there shall be no more utter destruction of Jerusalem; "and in that day there shall be one Lord, and His name one, and He shall be King over all the earth."

John, in his eleventh chapter of Revelations, gives us many more particulars concerning this same event. He informs us that, after the city and temple are rebuilt by the Jews, the Gentiles will tread it underfoot forty and two months, during which time there will be two Prophets continually prophesying and working mighty miracles. And it seems that the Gentile army shall be hindered from utterly destroying and overthrowing the city, while these two Prophets continue. But, after a struggle of three years and a half, they at length succeed in destroying these two Prophets, and then overrunning much of the city; they send gifts to each other because of the death of the two Prophets, and in the mean time will not allow their dead bodies to be put in graves, but suffer them to lie in the streets of Jerusalem three days and a half; during which the armies of the Gentiles, consisting of many kindreds, tongues, and nations, passing through the city, plundering the Jews, see their dead bodies lying in the street. But, after three days and a half, on a sudden, the spirit of life from God enters them, and they will arise and stand upon their feet, and great fear will fall upon them that see them. And then they shall hear a voice from heaven, saying, "Come up hither," and they will ascend up to heaven in a cloud, their enemies beholding them. And, having described all these things, then come the shaking, spoken of by Ezekiel, and the rending of the Mount of Olives, spoken of by Zachariah. John says: "The same hour there was a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell; and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand." And then one of the next scenes that follow is the sound of voices, saying: "The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever."

Now, having summed up the description of these great events spoken of by these Prophets, I would just remark, there is no difficulty in understanding them all to be perfectly plain and literal in their fulfilment.

Suffice it