TESTIMONY TO THE INSPIRATION AND DIVINE CALLING OF JOSEPH SMITH DERIVED FROM THE COMPREHENSIVENESS OF THE WORK HE INTRODUCED.
 
Next to the evidence of divine inspiration to be seen in the organization of the church and the spirit of its government, are those which may be seen in what I shall call the comprehensiveness of the great work founded by Joseph Smith. I mean by this that the New Dispensation contemplates the fulfillment of all things predicted by the prophets; the gathering of Israel, the redemption of Jerusalem, the founding of a city called Zion or New Jerusalem, the ushering in of a reign of peace and righteousness on earth, with Christ as king; the completion of the work of God relative to the salvation of the human race and such a final redemption of the earth as shall convert it into a celestial sphere, the happy abode of such of its inhabitants as have obeyed and are sanctified by celestial laws.
 
These items have already been alluded to in a former chapter;[1] but it is now my purpose to consider some of them more in detail, and to that consideration this chapter and the one following are devoted.
 
That Israel—by which I mean all the twelve tribes which sprang from the twelve sons of Jacob, together with their descendants scattered among all the nations of the Gentiles—that Israel will be gathered together and re-established upon the lands covenanted by the Lord to their forefathers is abundantly evident from the prophecies of the scripture.
 
"Hear the word of the Lord, O, ye nations," exclaims Jeremiah, "and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him as a shepherd does his flock. For the Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he. Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of the Lord, for wheat and for wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flock and of the herd; and their soul shall be as a watered garden, and they shall not sorrow any more at all."[2]
 
Again the prophet says: "Therefore, behold the days come saith the Lord, that it shall no more be said, the Lord liveth that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; but the Lord liveth that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north and from all lands whither he had driven them: and I will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers."[3]
 
Speaking of that day when the enmity of man and beast shall have departed; when they shall not hurt nor destroy in all God's holy mountain; when there shall be a reign of righteousness in which the poor and meek of the earth shall be accorded equity—"It shall come to pass in that day," says the prophet Isaiah, "that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathos and from Cush, and from Elam and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off. Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim. * * * And there shall be an highway for the remnant of his people, which shall be left from Assyria; like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt."[4]
 
This is one of the prophecies that the angel Moroni repeated to Joseph Smith on the occasion of his first visit, and assured him that it was about to be fulfilled.[5]
 
Again Jeremiah: "Turn, O back-sliding children, saith the Lord; for I am married unto you; and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion: and I will give you pastors according to my own heart, and they shall feed you with knowledge and understanding. And it shall come to pass when ye be multiplied and increased in the land in those days, saith the Lord, they shall say no more the ark of the covenant of the Lord: neither shall it come to mind. * * * At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem. * * * In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north, to the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers."[6]
 
It is needless to multiply passages; if any credit is to be ascribed to prophecy at all it is clear that Israel, the chosen people of God, though now smitten and scattered, are to be gathered together again and reestablished in the land given to their fathers. The lost tribes are to be brought from the land of the north, Judah is to return to Jerusalem, and the envy of Ephraim and Judah is to depart, and the mighty power of God which was manifested in the deliverance of Israel from Egyptian bondage is to be so far surpassed by a display of his power in the latter-day deliverance, that the former shall not be called to mind.
 
Not only are the tribes of Israel to be re-assembled upon the lands of their inheritances, but the descendants of the children of Israel scattered through all the nations among which they have been "sifted," are also to be gathered. The Jews since the destruction of their city and nation by the Romans have been scattered among all nations, but they have succeeded in a remarkable manner in preserving their identity as a distinct people. Still it is not to be doubted that there are instances where Jews have married and inter-married with the Gentiles among whom they lived, until they lost their identity, and thus the blood of Israel, unrecognized, is in the veins of many supposed to be Gentiles. The tribes of Israel sent into Babylon, Assyria and the surrounding countries at the fall of the kingdom of Israel, in the sixth century B. C., in like manner intermingled their blood with the people of those nations. Moreover there are good reasons to believe that in that exodus of the ten tribes from Assyria to the north—(spoken of, it is true, only by the apocryphal writer Esdras; but as what he says agrees so well with the idea that Israel is to return from the "north," according to the prophets, I am inclined to accept it as true[7])—many became discouraged and stopped by the way. Others unable to prosecute the journey abandoned the expedition, and those that halted, uniting and intermarrying with the original inhabitants of the land, doubtless constituted those prolific races that over-ran the western division of the Roman empire. In this manner the blood of Israel has been sprinkled among all the nations of the earth, until the word of the Lord which says: "I will sift the house of Israel among all nations,"[8] has been literally fulfilled.
 
These scattered remnants, I say, are to be gathered, hence the prophet Jeremiah says, "I will take you one of a city and two of a family and bring you to Zion;"[9] and Isaiah says, "It shall come to pass that in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, * * * and all nations shall flow unto it."[10] John the Apostle in those visions received on Patmos foretells a time when a voice shall be heard speaking from heaven, calling upon God's people to come out of Babylon, "that ye be not partakers of her sins and that ye receive not of her plagues; for her sins have reached unto heaven and God hath remembered her iniquities."[11] This not only predicts the gathering together of God's people, but makes clear one of the reasons for which they are brought from among the nations. It is that they may escape the judgments of God that have been decreed to fall upon the wicked.
 
The New Dispensation introduced by Joseph Smith includes the fulfillment of these prophecies concerning the return of Israel to their lands. As already stated,[12] Moses, the great prophet of ancient Israel, appeared in the Kirtland Temple and there committed to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery "the keys of the gathering of Israel from the four parts of the earth, and the leading of the ten tribes from the land of the north." Indeed the revelations received by Joseph Smith are replete with references to this subject. In one of considerable note occurs the following passage: "The Lord, even the Savior, shall stand in the midst of his people, and shall reign over all flesh. And they who are in the north countries shall come in remembrance before the Lord, and their prophets shall hear his voice, and shall no longer stay themselves, and they shall smite the rocks, and the ice shall flow down at their presence. And an highway shall be cast up in the midst of the great deep. Their enemies shall become a prey unto them, and in the barren deserts there shall come forth pools of living water; and the parched ground shall no longer be a thirsty land. And they shall bring forth their rich treasures unto the children of Ephraim, my servants. And the boundaries of the everlasting hills shall tremble at their presence. And there they shall fall down and be crowned with glory, even in Zion, by the hands of the servants of the Lord, even the children of Ephraim; and they shall be filled with songs of everlasting joy. Behold, this is the blessing of the everlasting God upon the tribes of Israel, and the richer blessing upon the head of Ephraim and his fellows. And they also of the tribes of Judah, after their pain, shall be sanctified in holiness before the Lord to dwell in his presence day and night, for ever and for ever."[13]
 
Since this matter of the gathering of Israel and their restoration to the lands of their forefathers is so prominent a subject in the prophecies of Jewish scriptures, it would have proven fatal to all claims of a divine commission by Joseph Smith had he failed to have included this important item of prophecy among the things to be accomplished in the new dispensation. And since to have missed it would have proven him an imposter, the fact that it is incorporated as an important part of the great work of the last days, is, at least, a presumptive evidence in favor of the genuineness of the prophet's claims. It is all the stronger from the fact that this gathering of Isarel and their restoration to their lands and the favor of God seems to have been lost sight of by the world. The announcement of it partakes almost of the nature of a discovery in prophecy: and it shows how universal is the sympathy of the New Dispensation, when it is seen that it carries to the smitten remnants of Israel a message so burdened with hope.
 
It is also necessary to the completeness of the New Dispensation that it shall include in its list of events the personal and glorious appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ, the resurrection of the worthy saints and a reign of righteousness for a thousand years. These matters are no less the subject of prophecy than the gathering of Israel: and to omit them from the New Dispensation would be as fatal to Joseph Smith's claim of possessing divine authority as to omit the gathering of Israel. I propose to quote a few of the prophecies relating to the personal coming of Messiah, that the reader may be reminded how direct and emphatic they were.
 
In the first chapter of the acts of the Apostles an account is given of the departure of Jesus from his disciples into heaven. "And while they beheld he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus which is taken from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven."[14] It is generally conceded that the two men in white apparel were angels of God. This prophecy is also in strict harmony with what Jesus himself said: "For the Son of Man shall come in the glory of his Father, with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works."[15]
 
Paul is very explicit on the subject. Writing to the Thessalonian Saints, he says: "I would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep (the dead), that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died, and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord, shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord."[16]
 
Writing a second time to the same people, evidently to encourage them in the midst of their tribulation, he said: "And to you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ; who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; when he shall come to be glorified, in his saints and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was not believed) in that day."[17]
 
Closely allied with these prophecies is the prediction of the writer of the Apocalypse which tells of the binding of Satan for a thousand years and the resurrection of "the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the word of God * * * And they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years * * * This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.[18]"
 
The orthodox sects............