| 263 the land will marshal themselves, and shall become exceeding angry, and shall vex the Gentiles with a sore vexation; and thus, with the sword, and by bloodshed, the inhabitants of the earth shall mourn; and with famine, and plague, and earthquakes, and the thunder of heaven, and the fierce and vivid lightning also, shall the inhabitants of the earth be made to feel the wrath, and indignation and chastening hand of an Almighty God, until the consumption decreed, hath made a full end of all nations; that the cry of the saints, and of the blood of the saints, shall cease to come up into the ears of the Lord of Sabbaoth, from the earth, to be avenged of their enemies. Wherefore, stand ye in holy places, and be not moved, until the day of the Lord come; for behold it cometh quickly, saith the Lord. Amen."
We need not occupy space to point out how literally some of the events of the late conflict are foretold. It is so accurate that often it has been asserted that "the Mormons have gotten this up since the war." This assertion however is proved false by "The Pearl of Great Price," bearing date of 1851, which is now lying before us. Elder John Hyde, Jun., published a work in 1857, three years before the secession of South Carolina, in which he cites a. statement of Joseph Smith made on April 6, 1843, concerning this matter, showing that Joseph declared publicly the place where it would begin and the cause.
"I prophesy in the name of the Lord God, that the commencement of the difficulties which will cause much bloodshed, previous to the coming of the Son of Man, will be in South Carolina (it probably may arise through the slave question); this a voice declared to me, while I was praying earnestly on the subject, December 25, 1832."-Mormonism by Elder Hyde, p. 174.
On Thursday, December 27, 1832, a lengthy and important revelation was received. 2
2 1 Verily. thus saith the Lord onto you, who have assembled yourselves together to receive his will concerning you. Behold, this is pleasing unto your Lord, and the angels rejoice over you; the alms of your prayers have come up into the ears of the Lord of Sabbaoth, and are recorded in the book of the names of the sanctified, even them of the celestial world. Wherefore I now send upon you another Comforter,
(page 263) |
