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CHAPTER 21Israel shall be gathered when the Book of Mormon comes forth—The Gentiles shall be established as a free people in America—They shall be saved if they believe and obey; otherwise they shall be cut off and destroyed—Israel shall build the New Jerusalem, and the lost tribes shall return. [A.D. 34] |
Israel begins to be gathered as a Hen gathereth Her chicks and Zion begins to be established as the Book of Mormon goes forth, this is a primary purpose in it—The Gentiles will become fully established as a free people in America—The Gentiles are saved as they become converted, believe and obey God's Gospel as it is preached among the remnant of the Joseph and Israel; otherwise they shall be cut off and destroyed—The Remnant of Jacob, of Joseph, of the Israel as out of and assited by the Gentiles shall build the New Jerusalem upon this land of Joseph and the lost tribes which the Father hath led away shall return. [About 34 A.D.] |
 as a Hen gathers Her Chickens |
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1 AND verily I say unto you, I give unto
you a asign, that ye may know the btime
when these things shall be about to take place—that I shall gather in,
from their long dispersion, my
peoplea, O house of
Israela, and shall establish
again among them my Ziona;
2 And behold, this is the thing which I will give unto you for a sign—for verily I say unto you that awhen these things which I declare unto you, and which I shall declare unto you hereafter of myself, and by the power of the Holy Ghost which shall be given unto you of the Father, shall be made known unto the Gentiles that they may know concerning this people who are a remnant of the house of Jacob, and concerning this my people who shall be scattered by them; 3 Verily, verily, I say unto you, when these things shall be made known unto them of the Father, and shall come forth of the Father, afrom them unto you; 4 For it is wisdom in the Father that they should be established in this land, and be set up as a afree people by the power of the Father, that these things might come forth from them unto a remnant of your seed, that the b-bcovenant of the Father may be fulfilled which he hath covenanted with his people, O house of Israel;
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1a my people ... house of Israel ... my Zion Here again the Lord names varius designations pertaining to those who are the Lord's. They are 'his people'. They are they who do 'prevail in the Lord' Israel and are of house of God. They, even they we be known as Zion who are the pure in heart and as Jerusalem, the Holy City, the city of the peace of the Lord. |
1a
Isa. 66:19 b TG Last Days 2a 1 Ne. 10:14; Ether 4:17; D&C 20:9 (8-11); JS-H 1:34 3a TG Witness of the Father b 3 Ne. 20:13; Morm. 5:15 (10-21) 4a John 8:32 (32-36); 1 Ne. 13:19 (17-19); D&C 101:77 (77-80) b Ps. 89:35; 3 Ne. 16:11 (8-12); Morm. 5:20; TG Abrahamic Covenant b BD Abraham, Covenant of
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5 Therefore, when these works and the works which shall be wrought
among you hereafter shall come forth afrom the Gentiles,
unto your seed which shall dwindle in unbelief because of iniquity;
6 For thus it behooveth the Father that it should come forth from the aGentiles, that he may show forth his power unto the Gentiles, for this cause that the Gentiles, if they will not harden their hearts, that they may repent and come unto me and be baptized in my name and know of the true points of my doctrine, that they may be bnumbered among my people, O house of Israel; 7 And when these things come to pass that thy aseed shall begin to know these things—it shall be a sign unto them, that they may know that the work of the Father hath already commenced unto the fulfilling of the covenant which he hath made unto the people who are of the house of Israel.
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5a
3 Ne. 26:8 b 2 Ne. 30:5; Morm. 5:15; D&C 3:18 6a 1 Ne. 10:14; Jacob 5:54; 3 Ne. 16:4-7; 3 Ne. 21:24-26; Morm. 5:15 b Gal. 3:7, 29; 2 Ne. 30:3; 3 Ne. 16:13; Abr. 2:10 (9-11) 7a 3 Ne. 5:23 (21-26); 3 Ne. 21:26
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8 And when that day shall come, it shall come to pass that kings
shall shut their mouths; for that which had not been told them shall they
see; and that which they had not heard shall they
aconsider.
9 For in that day, for my sake shall the Father awork a work, which shall be a great and a bmarvelous cwork among them; and there shall be among them those who will not believe it, although a man shall declare it unto them. 10 But behold, the life of my servant shall be in my hand; therefore they shall not hurt him, although he shall be amarred because of them. Yet I will heal him, for I will show unto them that bmy wisdom is greater than the cunning of the devil.
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8a
3 Ne. 20:45 9a TG God, Works of b 1 Ne. 22:8; TG Restoration of the Gospel b Acts 13:41 (40-41) 10a D&C 135:1-3 b D&C 10:43
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11 Therefore it shall come to pass that whosoever will not believe in
my words, who am Jesus Christ, which the Father shall cause
ahim to bring forth unto the bGentiles,
and shall give unto him power that he shall bring them forth unto the
Gentiles, (it shall be done even as Moses said) they shall be
ccut off from among my people who are of the covenant.
12 And my people who are a remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles, yea, in the midst of them as a alion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep, who, if he go through both treadeth down and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver. 13 Their hand shall be lifted up upon their aadversaries, and all their enemies shall be cut off.
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11a
2 Ne. 3:11 (6-15);
Morm. 8:16, 25;
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14 Yea, wo be unto the Gentiles except they
arepent; for it shall come to pass in that day, saith the
Father, that I will cut off thy horses out of the midst of thee, and I will
destroy thy bchariots;
15 And I will cut off the cities of thy land, and throw down all thy astrongholds; 16 And I will cut off awitchcrafts out of thy land, and thou shalt have no more soothsayers; 17 Thy agraven images I will also cut off, and thy standing images out of the midst of thee, and thou shalt no more worship the works of thy hands; 18 And I will pluck up thy agrovesa out of the midst of thee; so will I destroy thy citiesa.
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18a I will pluck up thy groves ... so will I destroy they cities The groves were the places of worship of idols and of sinful practices. Thus are the cities the centers of, they are the centers of the modern day 'groves' wherein do the people worship idols and endulge in all sinful practices. Thus the cities shall be destoryed even as the centers of the groves of wickedness. |
14a
Eph. 3:6 (1-7);
2 Ne. 10:18;
2 Ne. 33:9 b Lev. 26:22 (21-22); Hel. 14:24 15a 2 Ne. 12:15 16a TG Sorcery; TG Superstitions 17a Ex. 20:4 (3-4, 23); Isa. 41:29 (24, 29); Mosiah 13:12; D&C 1:16; TG Idolatry 18a 1 Kings 16:33 (32-33)
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19 And it shall come to pass that all alyings, and
deceivings, and envyings, and strifes, and priestcrafts, and whoredoms, shall
be done away.
20 For it shall come to pass, saith the Father, that at that aday whosoever will not repent and come unto my Beloved Son, them will I bcut off from among my people, O house of Israel; 21 And I will execute avengeance and bfury upon them, even as upon the heathen, such as they have not heard.
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19a
3 Ne. 30:2;
D&C 109:30 20a Amos 5:18; Alma 29:2; Morm. 9:27 b Jer. 44:8 (6-8) 21a Isa. 34:8; Isa. 61:2; Jer. 23:19-20; Mal. 4:1, 3; D&C 97:26 (25-28) b Ezek. 21:17 (14-17)
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22 But if they will repent and hearken unto my words, and
aharden not their hearts, I will
bestablish my church among them, and they shall come in
unto the covenant and be cnumbered among this the remnant
of Jacob, unto whom I have given this land for their
dinheritance;
23 And they shall assist my apeople, the remnant of Jacob, and also as many of the house of Israel as shall come, that they may build a city, which shall be called the bNew Jerusalem.
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22a
TG
Hardheartedness b 1 Ne. 14:12, 14; TG Dispensations; TG Millennium, Preparing a People for; c 2 Ne. 10:18-19; 3 Ne. 16:13; 3 Ne. 30:2 d TG Lands of Inheritance; 23a 3 Ne. 16:8-15 b 1 Ne. 20:22 (21-22, 39); Ether 13:2 (1-12); TG Jerusalem, New
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24 And then shall athey assist my people that they
may be gathered in, who are scattered upon all the face of the land, in
unto the New Jerusalema.
25 And then shall the apower of heaven come down among them; and bI also will be in the midst. 26 And then shall the work of the Father commence at that day, even awhen this gospel shall be preached among the remnant of bthis people. Verily I say unto you, at that day shall the work of the Father commence among all the dispersed of my people, yea, even the tribes which have been clost, which the Father hath led away out of Jerusalem.
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24a in unto the New Jerusalem Now confederate to the concept of Zion, the concept of the 'New Jerusalem' is both an actual place as well as a state of being. The 'establishment of peace', Jerusalem has from before the foundation of the world been a designation pertaining to the people of the Lord. And just as Zion will be an actual place as well as the state of the pure in heart, so is the New Jerusalem both an actual physical city site as well as being a designation applied to all those who are the true church and people of Christ. Before Melchizedek was, was the concept and state of being of Jerusalem. In the preexistence at the judgment council betwix Jesus and Satan, those of Christ were stated to be of Jerusalem, being those establish in the peace of the Lord (See Commentary Zechariah 3;2). Thus those who come 'unto the New Jerusalem' need not relocate physically but are in fact those who are converted unto the Lord, His Church and become His Disciples. This is the building up of New Jerusalem. For before the final actual physical city is built, there needs be those who are worthy and do belong unto it. |
24a
3 Ne. 21:6 25a 1 Ne. 13:37; 3 Ne. 20:22 b Isa. 2:2-4; Isa. 59:20-21; 3 Ne. 24:1 26a 3 Ne. 20:31 (29-34); Morm. 5:14 b 1 Ne. 14:17; 3 Ne. 21:6-7 b TG Israel, Ten Lost Tribes
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27 Yea, the work shall commence among all the
adispersed of my people, with the Father to prepare
the way whereby they may bcome unto
mea, that they may call on the
Father in my name.
28 Yea, and then shall the work commence, with the Father among all nations in preparing the way whereby his people may be bgathered home to the land of their inheritance. 29 And they shall go out from all nations; and they shall anot go out in bhaste, nor go by flight, for I will go before them, saith the Father, and I will be their rearward.
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27a the work shall commence among all the
dispersed of my people, with the Father to prepare the way
whereby they may come unto me Jesus was born on April 6th
according to our calendar, the date of the restoration of His Church. It
was Joseph Smith who was born on December 23rd and shortly following this
young farm boy would recieve the latter day vision of the Father and the Son
to the world. "Joseph, this is My Beloved Son, hear
Him." 
How important was it that the Father establish by His anouncing to Joseph that
His Son was He to Whom we must turn in all things unto the salvation of man?
This simple verbal action of anouncement and introduction made to Joseph Smith
at the first vision, just how important was it? It established the order of
Heaven unto the salvation of man, that by and through Jesus Christ the Son, all
things that are accomplished respecting this second estate are done by and
through Him. And the very word which began that introduction was more than to
a single man, it was unto the promised remnant and seed of Joseph to the
fulfilling of the covanant of the Fathers preserved down to and through the
seed of Joseph of Egypt unto the ends of the earth (D&C 27:10). This depth of
understanding the order of things an unschooled plow boy could not have made
up of his own understanding. No single man or group of men could have
contrived the intricacy of it and how it all fits into the eternal scheme of
things as set forth by the Biblical scriptures. It could have only been and
was of God. Joseph Smith is God's prophet of the latter days. In Jesus name,
Amen.
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27a
3 Ne. 16:5 (4-5) b TG Israel, Restoration of 28a TG Israel, Gathering of 29a 3 Ne. 20:42 b Isa. 52:12 (11-12)
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