The Word of the Lord to Moses (continued)

"And the Lord would not suffer that they [the Jaredites] should stop beyond the sea in the wilderness, but he would that they should come forth even unto the land of promise, which was choice above all other lands, which the Lord God had preserved for a righteous people; ¶

"And he had sworn in his wrath unto the brother of Jared, that whoso should possess this land of promise, from that time, henceforth and forever, should serve him, the true and only God, or they should be swept off when the fullness of his wrath should come upon them. ¶

"And now we can behold the decrees of God concerning this land, that it is a land of promise, and whatsoever nation shall possess it, shall serve God, or they shall be swept off when the fullness of his wrath shall come upon them. And the fullness of his wrath cometh upon them when they are ripened in iniquity; ¶

"For behold, this is a land which is choice above all other lands; wherefore, he that doth possess it shall serve God, or shall be swept off; for it is the everlasting decree of God. And it is not until the fullness of iniquity among the children of the land, that they are swept off. ¶

"And this cometh unto you, O ye Gentiles, that ye may know the decrees of God, that ye may repent, and not continue in your iniquities until the fulness come, that ye may not bring down the fulness of the wrath of God upon you, as the inhabitants of the land have hitherto done. ¶

"Behold, this is a choice land, and whatsoever nation shall possess it, shall be free from bondage, and from captivity, and from all other nations under heaven, if they will but serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ." ¶

This scripture does not leave the Gentile nations in doubt as to whom it is that must be worshiped as God. He is — ¶

"The God of the land, who is Jesus Christ, who hath been manifested by the things which we have written." (Book of Ether,' ch. ii.) ¶

How valuable to the Gentile nations and to Israel, too, so far as he occupies the land, is this knowledge ! What a great message is in this revealed American Scripture— the very conditions upon which the nations who occupy the land may hold an inheritance, is here written down and proclaimed in this great Nephite record. How precious it is unto the inhabitants of this land! How honored we ought to feel that we can, through the blessings of the Lord, make proclamation of these conditions and deliver the very word of the Lord unto the inhabitants of this land, and especially to our own nation, which exercises the dominating political power in the land — that we can give them the conditions upon which they may perpetuate their inheritance and their power. And I say, notwithstanding a terrible arraignment might be made of the wickedness and of the corruption that is in our own nation, yet I believe the people en masse are yet sound, and have enough of virtue to build upon, and which may be caused to grow in strength and in volume until the favor of the Lord may be perpetuated upon our nation. ¶

I think it is a good omen, a splendid omen, that the executive of the nation in this hour of the world's trial can call all the inhabitants of the land to come to the throne of God and pray for peace, thus recognizing God and His influence upon the. affairs of men. If we can only perpetuate that kind of spirit in the land, I believe that having had our chastisement as a nation for our national sins — including the shedding of the blood of our prophets— having had our chastisement in the terrible Civil War that swept the land, that filled it with mourning and sorrow for a generation — I hope that the correction will be enough, and that from now on we shall have power to preach the Gospel in such plainness and manifest power of the spirit of the Lord, that we shall keep the nation in the favor of the Lord, and go on from righteousness to righteousness, from peace to peace, until we shall develop more completely than we have yet developed those great underlying principles of civil government that God gave to our nation, and that finally will become the inheritance of the world — God's law that shall go forth from Zion. I pray so, in the name of Jesus, Amen. ¶