Looking Forward to the New Jerusalem
Book of Mormon Notes - Sunday, June 16, 2024, Ether 13, Part 3
Where is Zion today? Why haven’t we begun to build the New Jerusalem? As far as I know, there aren’t too many extermination orders to drive the Saints from the states in which they now live. The Lord seems to have removed most if not all external impediments to Zion or the New Jerusalem.
What about the internal impediments to Zion or the New Jerusalem that were caused by the transgressions of the early saints - their jarrings, contentions, envyings, strifes, and lustful and covetous desires among them? Are we doing any better?
My honest assessment is that the transgressions of the early Saints - even their jarrings, contentions, envyings, strifes, and lustful and covetous desires - seem like great virtues in comparison to the transgressions of too many of the modern Saints. Nevertheless, I also believe that the vast majority of latter-day Saints are among the best people in the world.
There are many great, good, and noble members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who are probably eager and ready to build the New Jerusalem. However, I’m not fully persuaded that the Lord has lifted the condemnation that rested upon the Church beginning in 1832:
And the whole world lieth in sin, and groaneth under darkness and under the bondage of sin.
And by this you may know they are under the bondage of sin, because they come not unto me.
For whoso cometh not unto me is under the bondage of sin.
And whoso receiveth not my voice is not acquainted with my voice, and is not of me.
And by this you may know the righteous from the wicked, and that the whole world groaneth under sin and darkness even now.
And your minds in times past have been darkened because of unbelief, and because you have treated lightly the things you have received
Which vanity and unbelief have brought the whole church under condemnation.
And this condemnation resteth upon the children of Zion, even all.
And they shall remain under this condemnation until they repent and remember the new covenant, even the Book of Mormon and the former commandments which I have given them, not only to say, but to do according to that which I have written-
That they may bring forth fruit meet for their Father’s kingdom; otherwise there remaineth a scourge and judgment to be poured out upon the children of Zion. (D&C 84:49-58)
If the COVID and VAX disaster was not a scourge and judgment, I don’t know what is. I am opposed to the groups that carry this condemnation of the Church rhetoric too far, but in my experience and observation, Babylon is still too much with us. The rampant selfishness and materialism in the world have seeped too much into the Church, and such evils are antithetical to the building up of Zion and the New Jerusalem. The wheat and the tares are growing together, but the time will come when they will be separated.
Ether saw the New Jerusalem come down out of Heaven. It sounds to me that when the time is right, the City of Enoch will descend from Heaven to join whatever Zion community has been built upon the earth. To my knowledge, this has not happened yet, perhaps for the aforementioned reasons. Therefore, how do members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints think about Zion, the New Jerusalem today?
The Saints’ attempts to redeem Zion, including appeals to the United States legal system, did not result in an acknowledgment of their rights or in an immediate return to Jackson County. In a January 1841 revelation regarding the failed attempt to build a temple-centered Zion in Jackson County, the Lord explained, “It behooveth me to require that work no more … but to accept of their offering.”10 The same revelation commanded the Saints to build a temple in Nauvoo, Illinois, and establish that city as a new place of gathering.
In Nauvoo, Joseph Smith taught that Zion “consisted of all North and South America,” adding that, in one sense, “any place where the Saints gather is Zion.”11 He also emphasized the importance of the temple for Zion and the gathering, declaring that “where we can get a [temple] built first, there is the place.”12 Joseph anticipated that a temple city such as Nauvoo would serve as the center of gathering, and that stakes of Zion would be established in many places, each serving as a refuge for the faithful.13
The Latter-day Saints continued to hope for a return to Jackson County, Missouri. At the same time, Church leaders such as Brigham Young taught the importance of building Zion wherever the Saints were. Not long after they settled in the Salt Lake Valley, President Young spoke of their growing city as a New Jerusalem and the rising Salt Lake Temple as the focal point of the gathering.14
In the 1950s and 1960s, the Church began to establish stakes of Zion in many locations around the world. Describing this effort, Elder Spencer W. Kimball explained that “the First Presidency and the Twelve see great wisdom in the multiple Zions, many gathering places where the Saints within their own culture and nation can act as a leaven in the building of the kingdom.”15 Today, Latter-day Saints gather to local stakes of Zion and build temples in many countries, and Church leaders emphasize the importance of becoming a people who live up to the ideals of Zion—unity, godliness, and charity.16
This makes sense. It makes sense that the building up of Zion must be done locally, beginning in our own hearts, minds, and souls, and spreading outward to our families, branches, wards, stakes, neighborhoods, and communities. It also makes sense that Salt Lake City has been the center place of the gathering ever since the Saints left Nauvoo.
Nevertheless, I admit that I consider Salt Lake City to be a very poor Zion or New Jerusalem. As much as the Lord accepted the offering of the early Saints who were driven from Missouri and then built the Temple in Nauvoo, and then in Salt Lake City, and many other places, I don’t think that the Lord would have established a center place for Zion only to change His mind and make Salt Lake City the permanent center place for Zion.
In other words, as much as the primary efforts toward Zion must continue in our own hearts, minds, and souls, and spreading outward to our families, branches, wards, stakes, neighborhoods, and communities, I can’t help but hope that such efforts will eventually lead to the migration to and establishment of Zion, the New Jerusalem, by the seed of Joseph in the very spot that the Lord originally indicated. Moroni abridged Ether’s prophesies concerning this very thing, and I believe Moroni and Ether.
When Moroni recorded that Ether spoke concerning a New Jerusalem upon this land, it makes the most sense to me that Ether spoke of North America. This land may include all of North and South America, but the center place for Zion that the Lord originally established was in the middle of what we now call the United States of America. I don’t think that this is coincidental or something of the past. But the building up of the New Jerusalem, of Zion, will be according to the Lord’s will and timing.
Ether taught that the Old Jerusalem would be built upon again, a holy city unto the Lord, after it had been destroyed. My reading of this passage is that Ether spoke of the destruction of Jerusalem after Lehi and his family left Jerusalem. More destruction has fallen upon the Old Jerusalem, and it has been built up again, and if I understand correctly, more destruction will yet precede the rebuilding of the Old Jerusalem as a holy city unto the Lord.
According to Ether’s prophecies, the seed of Joseph obviously has a special role and purpose in the building up of the New Jerusalem. Just as the Lord in His mercy brought Jacob (Israel) out of Goshen down into the land of Egypt in order to preserve him and his family, the Lord in His mercy brought a remnant of the seed of Joseph (the Lehites and the Ishmaelites) out of the land of Jerusalem into the Promised Land. The Lord promised to preserve and build up the remnant of the house of Joseph upon this land (which in my opinion means this land of the United States of America especially). This land is the land of inheritance for the remnant of the seed of Joseph, and it is primarily their task to build up a holy city unto the Lord, like unto the Jerusalem of old.
Ether also prophesied that the seed of Joseph shall no more be confounded, until the end come when the earth shall pass away. When was the seed of Joseph confounded? I take this to mean that when the Gentiles inherited the promised land and scattered the Lamanites, the seed of Joseph was temporarily confounded. The native Americans were smitten, destroyed, and scattered. But the time is at hand when the seed of Joseph shall no more be confounded. In fact, there are many prophesies regarding the seed of Joseph of which modern Gentiles must beware.
The New Jerusalem will come during a time when there shall be a new heaven and a new earth. The New Jerusalem will be like unto the Old Jerusalem, but old things will pass away and all things will become new.
Who will dwell in the two capitals: the New Jerusalem and the new Old Jerusalem?
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. (Ether 13:10-11)
Thus both the remnant of the seed of Joseph in the New Jerusalem and the scattered and gathered tribes of Israel - from the north countries and from the four quarters of the earth in the original Jerusalem - share a special characteristic: they have been washed in the blood of the Lamb:
And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. (Revelation 7:14)
Entire volumes could be written on the meaning of having our garments washed in the blood of the Lamb. The Book of Revelation helps us to better understand this doctrine. Moroni taught that when these things come, then the scripture will be fulfilled concerning the first and the last:
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. (Ether 13:12)
Jesus taught:
But many that are first shall be last; and the last first. (Mark 10:31)
And, behold, there are last which shall be first, and there are first which shall be last. (Luke 13:30)
What did Jesus mean? The Book of Mormon and other scriptures help us to understand:
And the time cometh that he shall manifest himself unto all nations, both unto the Jews and also unto the Gentiles; and after he has manifested himself unto the Jews and also unto the Gentiles, then he shall manifest himself unto the Gentiles and also unto the Jews, and the last shall be first, and the first shall be last. (1 Nephi 13:42)
Graft in the branches; begin at the last that they may be first, and that the first may be last, and dig about the trees, both old and young, the first and the last; and the last and the first, that all may be nourished once again for the last time. (Jacob 5:63)
And now, behold, there are others who are called to declare my gospel, both unto Gentile and unto Jew;
Yea, even twelve; and the Twelve shall be my disciples, and they shall take upon them my name; and the Twelve are they who shall desire to take upon them my name with full purpose of heart. (D&C 18:26-27)
That through your administration they may receive the word, and through their administration the word may go forth unto the ends of the earth, unto the Gentiles first, and then, behold, and lo, they shall turn unto the Jews. (D&C 90:9)
One of the reasons why I look forward to the New Jerusalem is because of the quality of the inhabitants thereof and the safety and refuge that will be found there:
And it shall be called the New Jerusalem, a land of peace, a city of refuge, a place of safety for the saints of the Most High God;
And the glory of the Lord shall be there, and the terror of the Lord also shall be there, insomuch that the wicked will not come unto it, and it shall be called Zion.
And it shall come to pass among the wicked, that every man that will not take his sword against his neighbor must needs flee unto Zion for safety.
And there shall be gathered unto it out of every nation under heaven; and it shall be the only people that shall not be at war one with another.
And it shall be said among the wicked: Let us not go up to battle against Zion, for the inhabitants of Zion are terrible; wherefore we cannot stand. (D&C 45:66-70)
In a certain sense, the gathering of the Saints in the New Jerusalem has already begun:
Yea, the word of the Lord concerning his church, established in the last days for the restoration of his people, as he has spoken by the mouth of his prophets, and for the gathering of his saints to stand upon Mount Zion, which shall be the city of New Jerusalem.
Which city shall be built, beginning at the temple lot, which is appointed by the finger of the Lord, in the western boundaries of the State of Missouri, and dedicated by the hand of Joseph Smith, Jun., and others with whom the Lord was well pleased.
Verily this is the word of the Lord, that the city New Jerusalem shall be built by the gathering of the saints, beginning at this place, even the place of the temple, which temple shall be reared in this generation. (D&C 84:2-4)
The Lord accepted the offering of the early Saints even though the New Jerusalem was not built:
Therefore, for this cause have I accepted the offerings of those whom I commanded to build up a city and a house unto my name, in Jackson county, Missouri, and were hindered by their enemies, saith the Lord your God. (D&C 124:51)
But the New Jerusalem shall be built as Enoch, like Ether, prophesied:
And righteousness will I send down out of heaven; and truth will I send forth out of the earth, to bear testimony of mine Only Begotten; his resurrection from the dead; yea, and also the resurrection of all men; and righteousness and truth will I cause to sweep the earth as with a flood, to gather out mine elect from the four quarters of the earth, unto a place which I shall prepare, an Holy City, that my people may gird up their loins, and be looking forth for the time of my coming; for there shall be my tabernacle, and it shall be called Zion, a New Jerusalem. (Moses 7:62)
I believe in and look forward to the fulfillment of these prophecies.