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The Evening and The Morning Star/1/6
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| Source document in Mormon Publications: 19th and 20th Centuries online archive: The Evening and The Morning Star Vol. 1
Note: Some headings and bracketed texts are editorial and not part of the original text. |
| THE EVENING AND THE MORNING STAR | ||
| Vol. 1. | Independence, Mo. November, 1832 | No. 6. |
THE TRIBE OF JOSEPH.
HAVING given a sketch of the history of the ten tribes, in our last, the next subject which presents itself, is the tribe of Joseph. The Lord was with Joseph in his youth and not only his dreams, one of which says, that the sun and moon, and the eleven stars made obeisance to him, but much of his life was a type of future events in relation to his seed. His being sold unto the Egyptians, was a wise plan of the Lord to show his power to Israel, and to convince the world, that he is merciful to such as keep his commandments, and seek the path of endless virtue; yea, all the workmanship of his hands. The history of Joseph, in full, cannot at present be given; but in part, it will occupy a great place in the hearts of such as seek diligently the kingdom of God and the welfare of scattered Israel. It is so well known that Joseph was the beloved of his father, that we can quote the words of the good old man pronounced upon him, as what should befal [befall] him, or come to pass among his seed, in the last days, without the fear of contradiction, and with a great deal of pleasure, as well as satisfaction, knowing that the very days have arrived for the fulfilment [fulfillment] of that prophecy: Joseph is a fruitful bough, a fruitful bough by a well, whose branches run over the wall: The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him: But his bow abode in strength, & the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob: (from thence is the Shepherd the Stone of Israel:) Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee, and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breast and of the womb: The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills; they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren.
This is one of the greatest prophecies in the bible, and contains more of the economy of the Lord than will be seen till the Redeemer comes to dwell on the earth. What an admirable expression is that; the branches run over the wall; as plain as to have said, some of his seed shall cross the ocean. But the most profound is, From thence is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel. It could not mean the birth of the Savior, for Paul says it is evident our Lord sprang from the tribe of Judah: But when Paul said to the Romans, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and turn away ungodliness from Jacob, he must have meant the Deliverer, which is to come and gather his sheep into his fold, and becomes the good Shepherd: and according to the blessings of Moses, Joseph is the firstling of his bullock. Let us read it: And of Joseph he said, Blessed of the Lord be his land, for the precious things of heaven, for the dew, and for the deep that coucheth beneath, and for the precious fruits brought forth by the sun, and for the precious things put forth by the moon, and for the chief things of the ancient mountains, and for the precious things of the lasting hills, and for the precious things of the earth and fulness [fullness] thereof, and for the good will of him that dwelt in the bush: let the blessing come upon the head of Joseph, and upon the top of the head of him that was separated from his brethren. His glory is like the firstling of his bullock, and his horns are like the horns of unicorns: with them he shall push the people together from the ends of the earth: and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh.
The beauty, the wisdom, and the extent of this blessing upon the seed of Joseph, have never yet been found out by the world, nor fully understood by all the saints.-In the first place, Moses says, Blessed of the Lord be his land, &c. And why?-Because it is the land on which the saints of the living God shall gather in the last days, to receive the Savior at his second coming. It is blessed of the Lord, too, for the precious things of heaven: the fulness [fullness] of the gospel in the Book of Mormon: for instance, I am a descendant of Joseph, which was carried captive into Egypt.-And great was the covenants of the Lord, which he made unto Joseph: wherefore, Joseph truly saw our day. And he obtained a promise of the Lord, that out of the fruit of his loins, the Lord God would raise up a righteous branch unto the house of Israel; not the Messiah, but a branch which was to be broken off; nevertheless, to be remembered in the covenants of the Lord, that the Messiah should be made manifest unto them in the latter days, in the spirit of power, unto the bringing of them out of darkness unto light; yea, out of hidden darkness and out of captivity unto freedom. For Joseph truly testified, saying: A seer shall the Lord my God raise up, which shall be a choice seer unto the fruit of my loins. Yea, Joseph truly said, thus saith the Lord unto me: A choice seer will I raise up out of the fruit of thy loins; and he shall be esteemed highly among the fruit of thy loins.-And unto him will I give commandment, that he shall do a work for the fruit of thy loins, his brethren, which shall be of great worth unto them, even to the bringing of them to the knowledge of the covenants which I have made with thy fathers. And I will give him a commandment, that he shall do none other work, save the work which I shall command him. And I will make him great in mine eyes: for he shall do my work. And he shall be great like unto Moses, whom I have said I would raise up unto you, to deliver my people, O house of Israel. And Moses will I raise up, to deliver thy people out of the land of Egypt. But a seer will I raise up out of the fruit of thy loins; and unto him will I give power to bring forth my word unto the seed of thy loins; and not to the bringing forth my word only, saith the Lord, but to the convincing them of my word, which shall have already gone forth among them. Wherefore, the fruit of my loins shall write; and the fruit of the loins of Judah shall write; and that which shall be written by the fruit of thy loins, and also that which shall be written by the fruit of the loins of Judah, shall grow together, unto the confounding of false doctrines, and laying down of contentions, and establishing peace among the fruit of thy loins, and bringing them to the knowledge of their fathers in the latter days; and also to the knowledge of my covenants, saith the Lord. And out of weakness he shall be made strong, in that day when my work shall commence among all my people, unto the restoring thee, O house of Israel, saith the Lord. And thus prophesied Joseph, saying:-Behold, that seer will the Lord bless; and they that seek to destroy him, shall be confounded: for this promise, of which I have obtained of the Lord, of the fruit of thy loins, shall be fulfilled. Behold I am sure of the fulfilling of this promise.-And his name shall be called after me; and it shall be after the name of his father. And he shall be like unto me; for the thing which the Lord shall bring forth by his hand, by the power of the Lord shall bring my people unto salvation; yea, thus prophesied Joseph. I am sure of this thing, even as I am sure of the promise of Moses; for the Lord hath said unto me, I will preserve thy seed forever. And the Lord hath said, I will raise up a Moses; and I will give power unto him in a rod; and I will give judgment unto him in writing. Yet I will not loose his tongue, that he shall speak much: for I will not make him mighty in speaking. But I will write unto him my law, by the finger of mine own hand; and I will make a spokesman for him. And the Lord said unto me also, I will raise up unto the fruit of thy loins; and I will make for him a spokesman. And I, behold, I will give unto him, that he shall write the writing of the fruit of thy loins, unto the fruit of thy loins; and the spokesman of thy loins shall declare it. And the words which he shall write, shall be the words which is expedient in my wisdom, should go forth unto the fruit of thy loins. And it shall be as if the fruit of thy loins had cried unto them from the dust: for I know their faith. And they shall cry from the dust; yea, even repentance unto their brethren, even that after many generations have gone by them.-And it shall come to pass that their cry shall go, even according to the simpleness of their words. Because of their faith, their words shall proceed forth out of my mouth unto their brethren, which are the fruit of thy loins; and the weakness of their words will I make strong in their faith, unto the remembering of my covenant which I made unto thy fathers.
Thus spake Lehi to his son Joseph, and who is there that can not rejoice when he reads such a glorious and sacred promise? When we look abroad in the earth and view the extent of the Lord's dominions in this world; when we reflect upon the space of time that the Lord has allowed the sons of men to set these dominations in order, by giving them the privilege of the gospel; and when we consider how much the Lord has promised to such as build up his kingdom on the earth, we are astonished! When Jacob, or as he was named, Israel, blessed the children of Joseph, he crossed his hands and put Ephraim the youngest first, saying his seed shall become a multitude of nations; and Lehi says, repeating the words of Joseph of Egypt, the fruit of my loins shall write; and the fruit of the loins of Judah shall write, &c. and the writings shall grow together. Let us now compare these great sayings with the prophecy of Ezekiel: Moreover thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions: And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thy hand. And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not shew [show] us what thou meanest by these? Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in my hand. And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be one in thy hand before their eyes. And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land: And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all: Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwelling places, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God. And David my servant shall be King over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgment's, and observe my statutes, and do them. And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt, and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children's children forever: and my servant David shall be their prince forever. Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for ever more. My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And the heathen shall know that I the Lord do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.
So, then, it appears, that Ephraim, besides becoming a multitude of nations, writes and keeps one of the sticks or books of the Lord. The stick of Judah, the bible, is about as much acknowledged and received as the Savior was, when he came to fulfil [fulfill] the words of the prophets, to be offered a sacrifice for sin. But there
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is another light, which presents itself to us, which ought not to be omitted. Say, our Savior came through the tribe of Judah, and the Jews kept the record or the bible, as it is called, for the scepter was not to depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and then, that the Redeemer, shall come the second time, to the tribe of Joseph; and they have also written and kept a record, called the book of Mormon, for, from thence is the Shepherd the Stone of Israel: who can mistake what Ezekiel meant by the Two Sticks? They are the Lord's reading sticks [or records] for the benefit of Israel. The circumstance of Jacob's serving seven years for Rachel, and his great disappointment when finding himself wedded to Leah, may with propriety be connected with the history of Joseph, as one of the great similes of the Lord to show great things to some, according to their faith, and nothing to others agreeable to the blindness of their minds. Passing, however, this with many other circumstances, which are connected with the well-being and final glory of Joseph, but, which can be sought out and read by the humble searcher for truth, with pleasure, in the bible and book of Mormon, we proceed to quote the word of the Lord, in relation to saving of the House of Joseph: for Joseph may now be considered as bearing the ensign of the Lord to the nations. As the Lord hath written unto Ephraim the great things of his law, and they are counted as a strange thing: so also, is the Lord preparing to show unto him the glory of the last days; for his horns are the horns of Unicorns, with them he shall push the people together from the ends of the earth. Now what a sublime figure this is! The sons of Joseph among the nations, to come forth as the servants of the Lord, in the last days and push the people to Zion; for at the same time, saith the Lord, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people. Thus saith the Lord, The people which were left of the sword found grace in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest. The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn thee. Again I will build thee, and thou shalt be built, O Virgin of Israel; thou shalt again be adorned with thy tabrets, and shalt go forth in the dances of them that make merry. Thou shalt yet plant vines upon the mountains of Samaria: the planters shall plant, and shall eat them as common things. For there shall be a day, that the watchmen upon the mount Ephraim shall cry, Arise ye, and let us go up to Zion unto the Lord our God.-For thus said the Lord; Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations: publish ye, praise ye, and say, O Lord, save thy people, the remnant of Israel. Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the coasts of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her that travaileth with child together: a great company shall return thither. They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them; I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a strait way, wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my first born. Hear the word of the Lord, O ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd doth 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. Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, both young men aud [and] old together: for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow. And I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, saith the Lord. Thus said the Lord; A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rachel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not. Thus saith the Lord; Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears: for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the Lord; and they shall come again from the land of the enemy. And there is hope in thine end, saith the Lord, that thy children shall come again to their own border. I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus; Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke:-turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art the Lord my God. Surely after that I was turned, I repented; and after that I was instructed, I smote on my thigh: I was ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth. Is Ephraim my dear son? is he a pleasant child? for since I spake against him, I do earnestly remember him still: therefore my bowels are troubled for him; I will surely have mercy upon him saith the Lord.
Now mark, Ephraim is the first born; the Lord's dear son, and a pleasant child, and the Lord will have compassion upon him, notwithstanding it is said by the prophet Hosea, that they, (the seed of Ephraim) shall be wanderers among the nations; notwithstanding Ephraim is joined to idols; let him alone; notwithstanding Ephraim hath mixed himself among the people; notwithstanding Ephraim is a cake not turned; notwithstanding Ephraim is like a silly dove without a heart, and notwithstanding Ephraim is a heifer taught, and loves to tread out the grain, Ephraim shall ride, for the Lord hath spoken it. Half the tribe of Manasseh, being absent near the lost tribes in the region of Arsareth, we shall not pretend to say as much in relatiou [relation] to Manasseh as Ephraim.
But to make all things plain let us remember, what the Lord has said in relation to Joseph as a house, or particular portion of Israel; that he would save it. The words of Zechariah are in point: I will save the house of Joseph, and I will bring them again and place them: for I have mercy upon them; and they shall be as though I had not cast them off: for I am the Lord their God, and will hear them. And they of Ephraim shall be like a mighty man and their heart shall rejoice as through wine; yea their children shall see it, and be glad; their heart shall rejoice in the Lord. I will hiss for them, and gather them; for I have redeemed them; and they shall increase as they have increased. And I will sow them among the peoples and they shall remember me in far countries; and they shall live with their children, and turn again. I will bring them again also out of the land of Egypt, and gather, them out of Assyria; and I will bring them into the land of Gilgad and Lebanon; and place shall not be found for them. And he shall pass through the sea with affliction, and shall smite the waves in the sea, and all the deeps of the river shall dry up: and the pride of Assyria shall be brought down, and the sceptre [scepter] of Egypt shall depart away. And I will strengthen them in the Lord; and they shall walk up and down in his name, saith the Lord.
How plain the Lord has told the world, that he would do great things for the house of Joseph, and well might the Psalmist exclaim: Give ear, O shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth. Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh stir up thy strength, and come and save us. Turn us again, O God, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved. O Lord God of hosts, how long wilt thou be angry against the prayer of thy people? Thou feedest them with the bread of tears; and givest them tears to drink in great measure. Thou makest us a strife unto our neighbors: and our enemies laugh among themselves. Turn us again, O God of hosts, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved. Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt, thou hast cast out the heathen and planted it. Thou preparedst room before it, and didst cause it to take deep root, and it filled the land. The hills were covered with the shadow of it, and the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars. She sent out her boughs unto the sea, and her branches unto the river. Why hast thou then broken down her hedges, so that all they which pass by the way do pluck her? The boar out of the wood doth waste it, and the wild beast of the field doth devour it. Return, we beseech thee, O God of hosts: look down from heaven, and behold and visit this vine: And the vineyard which thy right hand hath planted, and the branch that thou madest strong for thyself. It is burnt with fire, it is cut down, they perish at the rebuke of thy countenance. Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, upon the son of man whom thou madest strong for thyself. So will not we go back from thee: quicken us, and we will call upon thy name. Turn us again, O Lord God of hosts, cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.
Here let us pause. The Lord is great and his words fail not. The shepherd of Israel, which comes leading Joseph like a flock, stir up thy strength before Ephraim, and Benjamin, and Manasseh. Ah what precious words! Judah is to be gathered at old Jerusalem; the lost tribes, with the half tribe of Manasseh, will be restored by Elijah, which leaves Ephraim, the remaining half tribe of Manasseh, and Benjamin to be stirred up by the good shepherd. What a consolation! No wonder Ephraim was likened unto a green fir tree, for says the Lord: From me is thy fruit found. When the Savior was on the Earth, he spake this parable: There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man. And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man; yet, because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith. And shall not God avenge his own elect which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.
Now, beloved reader, when the Son of man comes shall he find faith on the earth? He will find some with Ephraim, if Hosea's words are true, that-From me is thy fruit found. Again, taking this parable for a sample, will he come to those that pray in fine houses and fast by states and nations, as it were, giving bountifully of their wealth, to Bible societies, and temperance societies, while the poor, are forgotten by them, or will he come to them that humble themselves and cry mightily, Not our will but thine, O God be done?
Joseph was a type of coming events unto his seed; Ephraim was to become a great many nations, and all these things were to be fulfilled in the last days.-The land of Joseph was to be blessed above all others, and Joseph was to be honored by his parents and brethren, according to his dream of the singing hosts of heaven. Joseph was sold into Egypt to save his father's household from famine as a type of what should be afterwards. It is thus said in the Book of Mormon, by Moroni the chief captain of the Nephites, who lived about seventy years before the birth of the Savior: Behold, we are a remnant of the seed of Jacob; yea, we are a remnant of the seed of Joseph, whose coat was rent by his brethren, into many pieces; yea, and now behold, let us remember to keep the commandments of God, or our garments shall be rent by our brethren, and we be cast into prison, or be sold, or be slain; yea, let us preserve our liberty, as a remnant of Joseph; yea, let us remember the words of Jacob, before his death; for behold, he saw that a part of the remnant of the coat of Joseph was preserved, and had not decayed.-And he saith, Even as this remnant of garment of my sons hath been preserved, so shall a remnant of the seed of my son be preserved by the hand of God, and be taken unto himself, while the remainder of the seed of Joseph shall perish, even as the remnant of his garment: And again: Moroni the son of Mormon, who sealed and hid up this record, says in the book of Ether: Behold, Ether saw the days of Christ, and he spake concerning a New Jerusalem upon this land; and he
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spake also concerning the house of Israel, and the Jerusalem from whence Lehi should come; after it should be destroyed, it should be built up again a holy city unto the Lord; wherefore it could not be a New Jerusalem, for it had been in a time of old, but it should be built up again, and become a holy city of the Lord; and it should be built up unto the house of Israel; and that a New Jerusalem should be built up upon this land, unto the remnant of the seed of Joseph, for the which things there has been a type: for as Joseph brought his father down into the land of Egypt, even so he died there; wherefore the Lord brought a remnant of the seed of Joseph out of the land of Jerusalem, that he might be merciful unto the seed of Joseph, that they should perish not, even as he was merciful unto the father of Joseph, that he should perish not; wherefore the remnant of the house of Joseph shall be built upon this land; and it shall be a land of their inheritance; and they shall build up a holy city unto the Lord, like unto the Jerusalem of old; and they shall no more be confounded, until the end come, when the earth shall pass away.
Now as Joseph caused all the Egyptians to leave the room when he made himself known to his brethren: So the branch of his seed, which was lead to this continent by the hand of the Lord, to prepare the land of their inheritance, and the other branches which are wandering among the nations, may be brought from the east, and gathered from the west, ready to meet the Redeemer when he brings again Zion.
In the view of this coming scene is a joy, which can not be known by them that are without the hope of a glorious resurrection. Before Joseph went into Egypt the great day of a thousand years' holiness on earth, was better known among some men than now. What started a party of high-mined [minded?] men to build a Tower to go to heaven? The world had just been immersed with water: Zion had previously been taken to paradise, and for fear that it might again be destroyed, as they had again begun to trust in themselves, this evil generation, sat out to force themselves into heaven, without coming in as the Lord had appointed. Now, it is well known that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, were so much in favor with the Lord, that he talked with them and gave them commandments, and they were filled with the Holy Ghost, and knew many things in relation to the last days, which they taught, to their posterity.
Although Joseph, or Ephraim, may be mixed among the nations, so that feet have scarce trod where he hath not been, & good and evil have not come to the lot of any on earth, more than him, still as the blessing to him was the greatest, and as he was lord over all Egypt, so shall he become a multitude of nations, reaching from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth, among the rest of the saints. For it shall come to pass, that many nations shall come, and say, Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. But they shall sit every man under his vine and fig-tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath spoken it. For all people will walk every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of the Lord our God for ever and ever. In that day, saith the Lord, will I assemble her that halteth, and I will gather her that was driven out, and her that I have afflicted; And I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was cast far off a strong nation: and the Lord shall reign over them in mount Zion from henceforth, even for ever. And thou, O tower of the flock, the strong hold of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion; the kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem. Now why dost thou cry out aloud? is there no king in thee? is thy counsellor [counselor] perished? for pangs have taken thee as a woman in travail. Be in pain, and labor to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail; for now shalt thou go forth out of the city, and thou shalt dwell in the field, and thou shalt go even to Babylon; there shalt thou be delivered; there the Lord shall redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies. Now also many nations are gathered against thee, that say, Let her be defiled, and let our eye look upon Zion. But they know not the thoughts of the Lord, neither understand they his counsel: for he shall gather them as the sheaves into the floor. Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion: for I will make thy horn iron, and I will make thy hoofs brass: and thou shalt beat in pieces many people: and I will consecrate their gain unto the Lord, and their substance unto the Lord of the whole earth.
To close: what can be said more than the Lord hath said? Judah would not receive the Savior at his first coming, and he was crucified. He then manifested himself to the other tribes and remnants. The word was, whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. The Jews fall upon that stone and were broken: and, O ye inhabitants of the earth, beware! for if that stone falls upon you, it will grind you to powder. Remember that Joseph's glory, is the firstling of his bullock, & also, that with his horns, he is to push the people together from the ends of the earth.
God made the world in six days, and rested on the seventh, and blessed and sanctified it: and thus will he do with creation, for the creation of the spiritual world was in the likeness of the temporal; the temporal a preparation for man to enter into the Sacred Rest: The Lord has now begun to feed the flock of his heritage with the rod, [or word of truth] as in days of old, and according to the days of his coming out of the land of Egypt, will he show marvelous things. The oceans have to roll back into one place; the valleys have to be exalted; the mountains have to flow down at his presence, the sun has to be darkened, and the moon turned into blood, and stars have to fall, then behold, he will come to reign on the earth with power and great glory, and all the holy angels with him; yea, with the church of the first born, even Zion which was received up to the bosom of the Father, in the days of Enoch, before the flood; that the righteous that died in the hope of a glorious resurrection, may arise and meet the Lord in the air, and live again, in the flesh, on the earth.
COMPARISON BETWEEN HEATHENISM AND CHRISTIANITY.
Concluded.
"HE that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" Grace, so clearly revealed in our Scriptures, that the most accurate reasoning, heresy the most extravagant, and infidelity the most obstinate, cannot enervate his declarations. For, the death of Christ may be considered in different views: it is a sufficient confirmation of his doctrine; it is a perfect pattern of patience, it is the most magnanimous degree of extraordinary excellencies, that can be imagined: but the gospel very seldom presents it to us in any of these views, it leaves them to our own perception; but when it speaks of his death, it usually speaks of it as an expiatory sacrifice.-Need we repeat here a number of former texts, and express decisions on this matter? Thanks be to God, we are preaching to a christian auditory, who make the death of the Redeemer the foundation of faith! The gospel, then, assureth the penitent sinner of pardon. Zeno, Epicurus, Pythagoras, Socrates, Porch, Academy, Lycaeum, what have ye to offer to your disciples equal to this promise of the gospel?
IV. But that, which principally [principally] displays the prerogatives of the Christian above those of the philosopher, is an all-sufficient provision against the fear of death. A comparison between a dying Pagan and a dying Christian will show this I consider a Pagan, in his dying-bed, speaking to himself what follows. On which side soever I consider my state, I perceive nothing but trouble and despair. If I observe the fore-runners of death, I see awful symptoms, violent sickness, and intolerable pain, which surround my sick-bed, and are the first scenes of the bloody tragedy.-As to the world, my dearest objects disappear; my closest connexions [connections] are dissolving; my most specious titles are effacing; my noblest privileges are vanishing away; a dismal curtain falls between my eyes and all the decorations of the universe.-In regard to my body, it is a mass without motion; and life: my tongue is about to be condemned to eternal silence; my eyes to perpetual darkness; all the organs of my body to entire dissolution; and the miserable remains of my carcass to lodge in the grave, and to become food for the worms. If I consider my soul, I scarcely know whether it be immortal; and could I demonstrate its natural immortality, I should not be able to say, whether my Creator would display his attributes in preserving, or in destroying it; whether my wishes for immortality be the dictates of nature, or the language of sin. If I consider my past life, I have a witness within me, attesting that my practice hath been less than my knowledge, how small soever the latter hath been; and that the abundant depravity of my heart hath thickened the darkness of my mind. If I consider futurity, I think I discover through many thick clouds a future state; my reason suggests, that the Author of nature hath not given me a soul so sublime in thought, and so expansive in desire, merely to move in this little orb for a moment: but this is nothing but conjecture; and, if there be another economy after this, should I be less miserable than I am here?-One moment I hope for annihilation, the next I shudder with fear of being annihilated: my thoughts and desires are at war with each other, they rise, they resist, they destroy one another. Such is the dying Heathen. If a few examples of those, who have died otherwise, be adduced, they ought not to be urged in evidence against what we have advanced; for they are rare, and very probably deceptive, their outward tranquillity being only a concealment of trouble within. Trouble is the greater for confinement within, and for an effected appearance without. As we ought not to believe, that philosophy hath rendered men insensible of pain, because some philosophers have maintained that pain is no evil, and have seemed to triumph over it: so neither ought we to believe, that it hath disarmed death in regard to the disciples of natural religions, because some have affirmed, that death is not an object of fear. After all, if some Pagans enjoyed a real tranquillity at death, it was a groundless tranquillity, to which reason contributed nothing at all.
O! how different do Christians die! How doth revealed religion triumph over the religion of nature in this respect! May each of our hearers be a new evidence of this article! The whole that troubles an expiring Heathen, revives a Christian in his dying bed.
Thus speaks the dying Christian. When I consider the awful symptoms of death, and the violent agonies of dissolving nature, they appear to me as medical preparations, sharp, but salutary; they are necessary to detach me from life, and to separate the remains of inward depravity from me. Beside, I shall not be abandoned to my own frailty; but my patience and constancy will be proportional to my sufferings, and that powerful arm, which hath supported me through life, will uphold me under the pressure of death. If I consider my sins, many as they are, I am invulnerable; for I go to a tribunal of mercy, where God is reconciled, and justice is satisfied. If I consider my body, I perceive, I am putting off a mean and corruptible habit, and putting on robes of glory. Fall, fall, ye imperfect senses, ye frail organs, fall, house of clay, into your original dust; ye will be "sown in corruption, but raised in incorruption; sown in dishonor, but raised in glory; sown in weakness, but raised in power." If I consider my soul, it is passing, I see, from slavery
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to freedom. I shall carry with me that which thinks and reflects. I shall carry with me the delicacy of taste, the harmony of sounds, the beauty of colors, the fragrance of odoriferous smells. I shall surmount heaven and earth, nature and all terrestrial things, and my ideas of all their beauties will multiply and expand. If I consider the future economy, to which I go, I have, I own, very inadequate notions of it: but my incapacity is the ground of my expectation. Could I perfectly comprehend it, it would argue its resemblance to some of the present objects of my senses, or its minute proportion to the present operations of my mind. If worldly dignities and grandeurs, if accumulated treasures, if the enjoyments of the most refined voluptuousness, were to represent to me celestial felicity, I should suppose, that, partaking of their nature, they partook of their vanity. But, if nothing here can represent the future state, it is because that state surpasseth every other. My ardor is increased by imperfect knowledge of it. My knowledge, and virtue I know will be perfected; I know I shall comprehend truth, and obey order; I know I shall be free from all evils, and in possession of all good; I shall be present with God, I know, and with all the happy spirits, who surround his throne; and this perfect state, I am sure, will continue for ever and ever.
Such are the all-sufficient supports which revealed religion affords against the fear of death. Such are the meditations of a dying Christian; not of one, whose whole Christianity consists of dry speculations, which have no influence over his practice; but of one, who applies his knowledge to relive the real wants of his life.
Christianity, then, we have seen, is superior to natural religion, in these four respects. To these we will add a few more reflections in farther evidence of the superiority of revealed religion to the religion of nature.
1. The ideas of the ancient philosophers concerning natural religion were not collected into a body of doctrine. One philosopher had one idea, another studious man had another idea; ideas of truth and virtue, therefore, lay dispersed. Who doth not see the pre-eminence of revelation, on this article? No human capacity either hath been, or would ever have been equal to the noble conception of a perfect body of truth. There is no genius so narrow, as not to be capable of proposing some clear truth, some excellent maxim: but to lay down principles, and to perceive at once a chain of consequences, these are the efforts of great geniuses; this capability is philosophical perfection. If this axiom be incontestable, what a fountain of wisdom does the system of Christianity argue! It represents us, in one lovely body, of perfect symmetry, all the ideas that we have enumerated. One idea supposeth another idea; and the whole is united in a manner so compact, that it is impossible to alter one article without defacing the beauty of all.
2. Pagan philosophers never had a system of natural religion comparable with that of modern philosophers, although the latter glory in their contempt of revelation. Modern philosophers have derived the clearest and best parts of their systems from the very revelation which they effect to despise. We grant, the doctrines of the perfections of God, of providence, and of a future state, are perfectly comfortable to the light of reason. A man, who should pursue rational tracks of knowledge to his utmost power, would discover, we own, all these doctrines; but it is one thing to grant, that these doctrines are conformable to reason; and it is another to affirm, that reason actually discovered them. It is one thing to allow, that a man, who should pursue rational tracks of knowledge to his utmost power, would discover all these doctrines: and it is another to pretend, that any man hath pursued these tracks to the utmost, and hath actually discovered them. It was the gospel that taught mankind the use of their reason. It was the gospel, that assisted men to form a body of natural religion. Modern philosophers avail themselves of these aids; they form a body of natural religion by the light of the gospel, and then they attribute to their own penetration what they derive from foreign aid.
3. What was most rational in the natural religion of the pagan philosophers was mixed with fancies and dreams. There was not a single philosopher, who did not adopt some absurdity, and communicate it to his disciples. One taught, that every being was animated with a particular soul, and on this absurd hypothesis he pretended to account for all the phenomena of nature. Another took every star for a God, and thought the soul a vapour [vapor], that passed from one body to another, expiating in the body of a beast the sins that were committed in that of man. One attributed the creation of the world to a blind chance, and the government of all events in it to an inviolable fate. Another affirmed the eternity of the world, and said, there was no period in eternity in which heaven and earth, nature and elements, were not visible. One said, every thing is uncertain; we are not sure of our own existence; the distinction between just and unjust, virtue and vice, is fanciful, and hath no real foundation in the nature of things. Another made matter equal to God; and maintained, that it concurred with the Supreme Being in the formation of the universe. One took the world for a prodigious body, of which he thought God was the soul. Another affirmed the materiality of the soul, and attributed to matter the faculties of thinking and reasoning. Some denied the immortality of the soul, and the intervention of providence; and pretend, that an infinite number of particles of matter, invisible, and indestructible, revolve in the universe; that from their fortuitous concourse arose the present world; that in all this there was no design; that the feet were not formed for walking, the eyes for seeing, nor the hands for handling. The gospel is light without darkness. It hath nothing mean; nothing false; nothing that doth not bear the characters of that wisdom, from which it proceeds.
4. What was pure in the natural religion of the Heathens was not known; nor could be known to any but philosophers. The common people were incapable of that penetration and labor, which the investigating of truth, and the distinguishing of it from that falsehood, in which passion and prejudice have enveloped it, required. A mediocrity of genius, I allow, is sufficient for the purpose of inferring a part of those consequences from the works of nature, of which we form the body of natural religion; but none but geniuses of the first order are capable of kenning those distant consequences, which are enfolded in darkness. The bulk of mankind wanted a short way proportional to every mind. They wanted an authority, the infallibility of which all mankind might easily see. They wanted a revelation founded on evidence plain and obvious to all the world. Philosophers could not show the world such a short way: but revelation hath showed it. No philosopher could assume the authority, necessary to establish such a way; it became God alone to dictate in such a manner, and in revelation he hath done it.-[Saurin.]
AUTUMN.
AUTUMN comes. The spring with her flowers; the summer with her heat and thunder, is past; and autumn-sear, fruitful autumn, appears at last.-Well so it is-and so it has been-and so it will be, while the seasons come and go over our earth. Autumn is pleasant; autumn is sweet. True, in it there is a shade-a more sober aspect thrown around us. But it is as the soft twilight of eye, closing over the theatre [theater] of mirth, of bustle and confusion. Like the youth, who has been, by the flight of time, brought to the sedateness of manhood-so is autumn. Along the horizon, the dark hills stretch away, bearing the heavy forest; the vales are no more an ocean of living green, but they are wide and naked; the hand of the reaper has been there, and nought but the short, yellow stubble, and the fresh, tender growth which followed the swing of the scythe, lays before the eye. Plenty-the harvest of the year-the toil of the busbandman [husband man], is here. Bending to the earth and loaded to profusion, stands a group of yonder trees, whose fruit one by one, as the breeze stirs through its branches, strikes the earth, ripened and delicious, by the sun and rains of the by-gone summer. The song of the bird wakes not the echoes of autumn-but in its stead the crickets, beneath the soft, bland beams of a meridian moon, join in one solemn song, which throws over the listener, a shroud of thought, pointing backward to the things which have been; which now are past, and which shall be no more. Autumn-autumn; there is a thousand recollections connected with the season. I love the social few, who have with me passed over the flowers of spring; who have laughed away the sultry hours of summer beneath the projecting arms of the oak, or took the cool draught at the bursting spring-I say, I love to meet them again, when the heat of summer is tempered away, and autumn reigns over the wide earth. I love to repeat the sweet communion which we have had together. I love to catch the tear which glistens in their eyes, as they bend along the world below, and catch the expression, which doubly saith, "All things must fade." It seems to me that feeling grows stronger at this season. It seems as if we, to, with the departing year, were hastening to a close, and that now, even now, we were treading the threshold of eternity. And again, the rich banquet which is spread over the earth, inspire us with a noble gratitude to its Giver and Benefactor. We see pictured out in "bold relief," the certainty of a Supreme Being, and cannot refrain from adoring him for his goodness.
-> REMARKS.-The above essay on autumn, is extracted from one of the literary papers of the day, and it is not unworthy of a place with us. Autumn is a season for reflection. It seems indicative of the end or close of something. The glory of the earth passes. The birds that filled the woods with their melody, have flown away with the falling leaves, and the beautiful bloom of summer, is fading into a holy gloom, that carries on its very brow, the everlasting promise of God:-While the earth remaineth, seed-time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night, shall not cease. But there is another idea attaches itself to autumn, of more consequence, than all the rest; it is this; it is the season to gather and secure the fruits of summer before winter: An emblem that the fruit of man must be gathered and secured before the great day: For when John the Revelator, looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe. Yes, beloved reader, and behold the time draws nigh, when not only the autumn of the year, but the autumn of our lives, and of the world, shall come, and there shall be time no longer.
WE accidentally came across the following sketch:-"NEW ZEALANDERS.-The natives are cast in beauty's perfect mould: the children are so fine and powerfully made, that each might serve for a model of the statue of the Infant Hercules; nothing can excel the graceful and athletic forms of the men, or the rounded limbs of their young women. These possess eyes beautiful and eloquent, and a profusion of long, silky, curling hair; while the intellects of both sexes seems of a superior order. All appear eager for improvement, full of energy, and indefatigably industrious:" And it really affords consolation to think that such a people exists upon the Islands of the sea, for the Lord will not forget them. The Isles are to wait for his law, and the gospel of the kingdom, is to be preached to every nation on the globe so that some may be gathered out of every kindred, tongue and people, and be brought to Zion.
LETTERS.
Letters have been received, at the office of the Evening and Morning Star since our last, from Eden, (Maine,) and answered; from Prattsburgh, (N. Y.) from Mount Eden, (Ky.) and answered; from Spafford, (N. Y.) and answered; 2 from Kirtland Mills, (O.) answered; and from New-York City.
Unpaid letters remaining in the Post office: Calais, (Me.) Hickory Swale, (N. Y.) Wooster, (O.) Chillicothe, (O.) Elyria (O.) Martin, (N. J.) Winchester, (Con.)
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