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    A Concise History of Zion
    A Concise History of Zion
    A Concise History of Zion
    Ebook102 pages1 hour

    A Concise History of Zion

    By E. Keith Howick

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    When Joseph Smith received the keys to gather Israel and learned the location of the city of Zion, the Saints joyfully left Ohio to gather in their promised land. Independence was "the center place" and hopes were high. But hope soon faded under the weight of relentless persecution. The dream of Zion was postponed until the day when the Saints could gather before the throne of their Lord and King.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherWindRiver Publishing
    Release dateMay 4, 2010
    ISBN9781886249509
    A Concise History of Zion
    Author

    E. Keith Howick

    E. Keith Howick was born and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah. He attended the University of Utah where he received his bachelor's and master's degrees in political science and Juris Doctor in law. He also taught and did PhD studies at Pennsylvania State University.Keith has taught religion classes on all levels: in his ward, in seminary, in institute classes at the University of Utah and Montana State University and in the religion department at the Brigham Young University. He has also taught courses in American political government and conducted graduate seminars in public law at Pennsylvania State University.

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      Book preview

      A Concise History of Zion - E. Keith Howick

      A Concise History of Zion

      By

      E. Keith Howick

      A Concise History of Zion

      Copyright ©2010 by E. Keith Howick

      Published by WindRiver Publishing, Inc.

      http://www.WindRiverPublishing.com

      Smashwords Edition, License Notes

      This ebook is licensed for your personal use only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      Cover design by WindRiver Publishing, Inc. Cover photograph by Dennis Weiser, Jefferson City, MO (www.MissouriMemories.com). Cover insert of Haun's Mill memorial at Breckenridge, MO by Joe and Tonya via www.LyndonIrwin.com. All rights reserved. Neither this book nor any part thereof may be reproduced in any form whatsoever, whether by graphic, visual, electronic, filming, microfilming, tape recording or any other means, without the prior written permission of the Publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

      WindRiver Publishing, the WindRiver Brand Logo, and the WindRiver Windmill Logo are trademarks of WindRiver Publishing, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

      Library of Congress Control Number: 2007926895

      ISBN-13 978-1-886249-50-9

      Table of Contents

      Prologue

      The Promised Land of Zion

      The Temple in Zion

      Chapter 1 — Zion Begins

      The Gathering

      Chapter 2 — Mobocracy

      The Printing Press

      A Missouri Mob Stratagem

      The Battle of crooked River

      Haun's Mill Massacre

      Chapter 3 — Trials and Excommunications

      The Trial of David Whitmer

      The Trial of Oliver Cowdery

      Chapter 4 — The British Mission

      Chapter 5 — Witnesses Against the Prophet

      Sampson Avard

      Chapter 6 — The Extermination Order

      Doniphan's Mercy

      Silencing the Guards

      Agony at Liberty Jail

      I Can Do Nothing For You

      Chapter 7 — Reasons for Persecution

      Epilogue

      Foot Notes

      End Notes

      PROLOGUE

      The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was officially organized at the Peter Whitmer home in Fayette, New York, on April 6, 1830.[1] Six months later, the Lord commanded Joseph to initiate the first mission to the Lamanites.[2] In that same revelation, He also revealed that He would establish a city of Zion; but He did not tell Joseph where it would be located.[3]

      The word Zion can mean many things. In the scriptures, it is used more than seventeen different times to describe such things as a mountain, a doctrine, a country, a people, a promised land, and the location of a specific city.[4] However, it was the specific location of the city of Zion, together with the excitement surrounding the gathering of Israel and the coming of the Lord, that fired the imagination of the early Saints.

      The Promised Land of Zion

      The tenth Article of Faith states: "We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth; and, that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory."[5] Joseph's astonishing declaration of the location of the city of Zion represented a radical departure from what other religions of his day believed, for at that time Zion was (and continues to be) interpreted as a synonym for old Jerusalem and its environs on the eastern hemisphere. This is one of the major reasons that scriptures which refer to these latter-day cities are misinterpreted.

      For the gospel to be true and not just another reformation of Christianity, its restoration had to include a promised land: not the old promised land, which was reserved for the gathering of the Jews and the restoration of Israel, but a new promised land where the covenant of Abraham could be restored—a gathering place for all the tribes of Israel except Judah. The Prophet Ether saw this land in vision hundreds of years before the time of Christ. He called it a New Jerusalem and stated that it would be established upon this land, meaning the Western Hemisphere.[6]

      While visiting the western hemisphere after his resurrection, the Lord also prophesied that Zion would be established in this land, meaning the Americas,[7] and that both the remnant of Jacob and the Gentiles would assist in its construction.[8] Enoch viewed the establishment of the city of Zion after his translation into heaven.[9] But it was two of the Lord's ancient Biblical prophets, Isaiah and Micah, who foresaw and described its glory. They envisioned it as one of the two world capitals from which the Lord would govern during the millennium: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, they declared, or as Joel metaphorically described it, the Lord also shall roar out of Zion.[10]

      The concept of a New Jerusalem or the city of Zion (also referred to by the Lord as just Zion)[11] has been specifically defined by the Lord. It will be a land of peace, a city of refuge, [and] a place of safety for the saints.[12] Both the glory and the terror[a] of the Lord will be there and the wicked will not go there.[13] The inhabitants of Zion will be from every nation of the earth; it will be the only city where the people will not be at war one with another.[14] The righteous who gather to the city will sing songs of everlasting joy under the Lord's protection, and the wicked will refuse to go up against it, contending that the inhabitants of Zion are terrible.[15] Because the Lord blessed the people of Enoch, the fear of the Lord was upon all nations. Their enemies stood afar off because the glory of the Lord was upon them and they feared the Lord would fight for them. All Enoch had to do was speak the word of the Lord when enemies approached, and the earth trembled, and the mountains fled. In addition, the people of Jericho had their hearts melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man after they heard what the Lord had done for Israel. When Zion is again established in Missouri, its inhabitants will be feared in a similar manner.[16]

      Historically, the Saints' anticipation of Zion increased their commitment to the many commandments the Lord had given them, including their willingness to serve missions and to live under the United Order. However, for reasons we don't understand, the Lord led the early Saints through the following slow, step-by-step process before he revealed Zion's exact location:

      September 1830

      The Lord said, [N]o man knoweth where the city of Zion shall be built, but it shall be given hereafter. Behold, I say unto you that it shall be on the borders by the Lamanites.[17]

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