Moses 7 and the Establishment of Zion

This week our study in the Old Testament in Come, Follow Me points us to Moses 7 in the Pearl of Great Price. There is not another topic that fires one's imagination more than the establishment of the ideals represented in the revelations of God to His prophets, particularly as it relates to Enoch's society and the establishment of the ancient city of Zion that was translated. Even the chapter heading is a fabulous summary for all who desire further light and knowledge:

Enoch teaches, leads the people, and moves mountains—The city of Zion is established—Enoch foresees the coming of the Son of Man, His atoning sacrifice, and the resurrection of the Saints—He foresees the Restoration, the Gathering, the Second Coming, and the return of Zion.

In 1982, I concluded my research in the scriptures by producing a pdf manuscript consisting of every reference to the word "Zion" in all four standard works and the Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith. It was a personal quest born out of my inexhaustible curiosity over what the future of the Church might hold for all the faithful saints of the latter-days.

My conclusions all those years ago will follow in this post. My daughter Emily asked me this morning if I had ever gone back to make revisions to the original manuscript, and my answer was, "No." It goes without saying as I now share this link with everyone "out there" that my foresight in 1982, could not possibly have predicted that I would live long enough to see the proliferation of temples worldwide we are witnessing in 2026. That is only one example, but I am certain there are others. 

With that said, please enjoy your study of Enoch's society in Moses 7, and my blessings as you delve deeper into the topic of Zion. Truly, it is the study of a lifetime that will bless you and your families.

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CONCLUSIONS:

There is an inherent weakness in this compilation that might be as obvious to the reader who has waded through the material, as it is to the author. The weakness I speak of is the learning curve. Not only have I learned as I have written, but my awareness of all that I do not know about Zion has increased exponentially. Further, prophetic events in the world seem to fill the headlines each day at an accelerated pace. That which I wrote a year ago is not as complete as it would be if I were writing today, nor is it as comprehensive as it may someday be. Further, as these rapidly unfolding events in the world occur each day, the shrouded prophetic picture of Zion seems to materialize more clearly. Predictions made in yesteryear are more accurate as events shape and focus our future destiny. We are all learning day by day, and I suppose for this reason the wisest authors reserve publishing their views until late in life when they are full of wisdom and knowledge. I do grow older – in that sense I qualify – but make no claim to either wisdom or knowledge. In my ignorance I would nevertheless make the attempt to state my conclusions if for no other reason than to brush a little dust and grime off the portrait of our destiny.

People

Zion is a covenant people, set apart, consecrated, and sanctified from the rest of the world. They are different, they are peculiar and they are pure. They have come out of the world, entered in at the gate of baptism, are born of the Spirit and have taken hold of the iron rod. They reject the clarion voices from amid the mists of darkness, and ignore the taunts and jeers of those in the spacious building of sin. God has purged his people in all the other dispensations of which we have record, and the purification has come as a result of extreme adversity and affliction. Gold is never refined in an air-conditioned chamber. If the covenant people cannot sacrifice and consecrate their lives to God, it has forever been the case that the rest of the world was willing to cast them out, throw them into the lions' den, or stoke up the fiery furnace. Let us never be deluded into thinking we will inherit Zion in any other way, nor be worthy of the company of earlier martyrs at that future wedding feast unless we consecrate.

Place

Zion is two world centers of righteousness and judgment that are ultimately joined together physically. One is Independence, Missouri, the "centerstake," from which “the law” will emanate, the other is Jerusalem, from which “the word” will go forth. Those who love and cherish the Constitution of the United States, it would seem, will rally to Zion and her stakes upon the American Continent. Christ will come to the Earth and sit in his temples in Jerusalem and in Jackson County, from which will go forth his word. They will combine eventually in the Lord's timetable with the heavenly Zion when the earth enters the terrestrial phase of its existence, thus returning to the status it once enjoyed referred to in the 10th Article of Faith as "paradisiacal glory."

This telestial world in which we now live will give way to a terrestrial world that will stand for one thousand years, a period of time referred to as "The Millennium." This is the place at the end of the path in Lehi's vision where the tree of life grows.

Condition

Zion will stand apart from all worldly influences. Men and women of honesty and truth will seek the peace Zion affords, trust their temporal and spiritual welfare to each other, or sink lower and lower with the rest of the world who will be at war. There will be no middle ground -- either total acceptance of God's salvation, or Lucifer's damnable embrace of death and destruction. Zion will be the light on the hill, and so formidable will be her strength and beauty because of God's overshadowing presence that her enemies will shrink at the sight of her. The society will be characterized by people of one heart, one mind, and one objective -- spreading the truth of God's salvation over the face of the earth as with a flood.

Time

Zion will come to pass in the due season of the Lord, and that season is upon us even now. We live at the end of the sixth seal of John's Revelation, meaning the end of the sixth thousand-year period since the Fall. It is called "today" in the scriptures, and it is a day of sacrifice. It is not a day in which to trust in the arm of flesh, seeking security in the carnal pleasures of today's society. Zion's time is not fully ripe until the Bridegroom comes to accept the Bride, as John foresaw. The paradox of Zion's timetable is that she will be nurtured as it were in the bull rushes like Moses, in the midst of unparalleled wickedness and abominations among men. The wheat and tares continue growing together, and the tares keep looking more and more like the weeds they are. And we also see the fig tree putting forth its leaves every day.

The Spirit whispers the truth that Zion will indeed have to be led out of bondage as the children of Israel were led out under Moses. While we are in the midst of spiritual bondage right now, the scriptures are replete with types and shadows of a physical bondage yet to come that will precede the day when all things are fulfilled.

We will not see the establishment of the headquarters of Zion until the temporary landlords who now occupy the sacred sites of the habitations of the New and the Old Jerusalem are swept off. The reclamation of those lands will come in the wake of destruction as foretold by all the prophets who witnessed the promised day, and that time is not far distant. Without an understanding of the impending destruction as the lynch pin to prophecy, the promises of the Lord to Israel that she will ultimately redeem the promised lands of her inheritance seem incomprehensible. One need not read far into The Book of Mormon to discover that this land is not promised to the Gentiles who now occupy it. Rather, it will be given to the scattered remnants of the House of Israel now being gathered, and to those relatively few Gentiles who repent, embrace the gospel and by adoption become Israel. To think otherwise would be to deny the very faith that gave the prophets their utterance. And this despite the obvious evidence that the Gentiles who occupy this Promised Land today have material wealth and military might beyond even the wildest imaginations of the prophets who foresaw their destruction.

Ephraim's descendants will figure prominently in the leadership of the House of Israel in the development of Zion, but it would be a gross error to assume that Zion is the private domain of Ephraim. The scriptures speak plainly of ALL the tribes coming to their inheritances in their various lands. We are witnessing the emergence of all these long-lost cousins in Israel in our day, as adversity, lawlessness, and political upheavals continue to drive them to our borders of freedom.

They come because of wars, famines, diseases, natural disasters, and the love of freedom, but whatever the reasons, they are coming to claim their promised blessings at the hands of Ephraim. Let us never be so surfeited by the things of this world that we cannot embrace them, when they come with little more than the clothes on their backs.

There is not a clear road map to Zion, a "checklist" if you will, that will land us unerringly at the gates of the Holy City. To come to Zion requires clean hands, a pure heart, and pure faith. To be a consecrated saint is to hearken to the voice of the Lord by the power of the Holy Ghost, to receive revelation upon revelation, and to possess a submissive heart that endures all that the Lord sees fit to inflict upon us. All the inhabitants of Zion are as little children, full of faith, and eager to do the will of the Father in all things.

We are not worthy of Zion's society in our present state. The institution of the Church that has served us so well to this point in the dispensation will be of little worth in the wilderness that still must be traversed by Zion's caravan. Programs, like scaffolding, must be dismantled, institutional thinking, like jetsam, must be thrown overboard as the caravan rolls onward. Those who cling steadfastly to their institutional faith, never risking the failure of individual responsibility for their decisions will sink in the depths of forgotten dust with the discarded baggage. We cannot endure the journey to Zion on borrowed light, nor will we find the oil of the Spirit to buy at midnight.

We must beware of repeating the patterns of old. The institution of the Church today can easily be discerned of bearing all the earmarks of the institution of the Jews in Christ's day. Despite the law of Moses designed by the Lord himself to prepare them for his kingdom, they tripped on form, on organizational neatness and perfection, on vain practices, and on outward works of professed righteousness for all men to see. In reality they were nothing but whited sepulchers having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof. There is a tendency among us toward this same condition today. The liability of institutions is they tend to produce the undesirable qualities of self-righteousness and they miss the mark. Satan loves a parade, but Zion is a caravan of strangers and foreigners seeking a city built without hands. It is to be expected that the "corporate" Church would have difficulty implementing the celestial principles upon which Zion will be built. That reality does not make the Church's doctrines any less true.

This is an important point that cannot be glossed over. The Church’s compromise with Babylon in 2002 is nearly complete. In a forthcoming day there will be an entire separation of the righteous from the wicked. Babylon is slated for destruction. That fact is a well-documented scriptural reality, and so is the establishment of Zion. We are in the world as never before in our history, and we are more of the world too. We have a long and well-established history in the twentieth century of trying to have it both ways. We had to give away our “weird” history to convince the world we are no longer “weird.” 

President Gordon B. Hinckley has made the point well in his unprecedented outreach to the mass media on the world’s stage. In order to fulfill our mandate to take the gospel, even the least part of the gospel – that salvation is in Christ – to the world we had to make peace with our past. From the days of Brigham Young whose mission was to separate the saints from the world by leading them to these remote valleys of the Mountain West, to the administration of Gordon B. Hinckley who has welcomed the world with the red carpet, we have come full circle. Living prophets lead the way.

But the caravan is on course, never fear, though there will always be those among us who cling to the past fiercely, as though we are going to return somehow to the purity and simplicity of an earlier time. These somehow wish they could live in the days before the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands and started rolling downhill. We are picking up speed as the little stone rolls forward. But let us not be smug. We are no better than our earlier counterparts in Israel who sinned against the covenant. 

President Ezra Taft Benson made a convincing case that the Church was still under condemnation for treating lightly The Book of Mormon. God will cut short the work in this last dispensation of the fulness of times. The Bride may have grown weary while waiting and defiled herself with the world, but this time there will be a wedding with the Bridegroom and the Church will become the Bride of Christ. The best course we can take is individual repentance and to let the rest of the Church and the world who fail to repent go their merry way to destruction.

As midnight draws nigh there will be fewer opportunities to obtain oil to light our little lamps of faith. Unconsecrated material possessions in that hour will be a poor store of value, ancient prophets used the word “slippery.” (Helaman 13:31).

Now I offer this final observation. Patience with the unfolding timetable of the Lord is indispensable to the true disciple. Many, knowing what the scriptures reveal concerning conditions in a Zion society, and observing these circumstances do not now exist in the Church, and thinking they have somehow been "called" to lead the way, have made unwise and premature decisions to move out in front of the caravan. Like the ancient Rechabites of Jeremiah’s day they prefer the separatist life to the heat of the day in the kingdom with all its paradoxes, contradictions and ironies. They are never wise stewards, and seem to lack the faith they proclaim. The keys of the priesthood reside with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and those keys and this kingdom will never again be taken from the earth. The path to Zion is first discovered deep within the hearts of men and women, and they gravitate to others who have made a similar discovery, all of whom are subject to the Lord's mouthpiece. That man, the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, like Moses who stood at the head of another caravan, will lead Israel out of whatever form of bondage awaits us.

Until that promised day comes, it is enough to hear the Lord whisper again, "Be still, and know that I am God." His promises will never fail, and the gates of the Heavenly City await us.

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Jesus Christ will come again in the last days.

Enoch’s vision, especially what’s recorded in Moses 7:59–67, is one of history’s first prophecies of the Savior’s Second Coming. What impresses you about the way these verses describe the last days? For example, consider how you feel the prophecies from verse 62 are being fulfilled. What do these phrases teach you about God’s work in the latter days?

Enoch was a true prophet whose entire city of the faithful saints was translated:

And Enoch and all his people walked with God, and he dwelt in the midst of Zion; and it came to pass that Zion was not, for God received it up into his own bosom; and from thence went forth the saying, Zion is Fled.

What Are Your Ideas About Studying the Old Testament?

I reflected upon this question overnight after someone at Church asked me to give them some tips as they looked at the course of study in “Come, Follow Me” Curriculum for next year. My grand-daughter Katelyn, I noted, also asked this question recently.

Let me be so bold as to state that the Old Testament has seldom been the preferred book of scripture, for most Latter-day Saints. Only as it comes up in the four-year rotation do we dare to dip our toes in the seemingly murky waters, compared to the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price. Even the New Testament is more understandable and enjoyable — we tell ourselves.

I was blessed many years ago in the “old” Church to teach Gospel Doctrine for four consecutive years every Sunday. I know who was the most blessed of all, and it was me. The Old Testament is an acquired taste for sure. You can’t begin to love someone without that first kiss, and the scriptures are no different.

Grandfather Lee and Me on His Birthday

My first introduction to the Old Testament came back in the days when I was studying the scriptures topically, and my study of Zion led me directly into the ancient scriptures first to see if I could understand what the Lord had in mind in the establishment of Zion. My quest for knowledge became insatiable. I remember so well my Grandfather Harold B. Lee’s observation, when asked by one of his Brethren how he had become such a revered scriptorian. “There are no royal roads to learning,” he responded.

By that statement, he meant everyone had to search out the truth in the scriptures for themselves. His knowledge could not be automatically transmitted by birthright to any of his posterity, and I got that message very early in my life. It motivated me to begin my own quest that began with a contest (which I won in my junior year) in Seminary to read the Book of Mormon. In the mission field there was little emphasis in my labors to read and study the Old Testament. We were focused almost exclusively on the Book of Mormon. There again, I found myself winning the contests among the elders and sisters, all of which proved less than satisfactory, I can now admit.

I was well into our married lives before the Old Testament “hit my radar,” and I must affirm my topical study of Zion is what triggered me because of its foundational emphasis in the history of the world in setting the stage for the latter-day Zion and all the prophecies associated with it.

So my counsel, for what it’s worth, is to select a topic or topics that interest you most from Biblical history, and delve into the pages that way. Along your path, don’t be surprised if you chase down some rabbit holes you hadn’t expected to find. I know I did, and it all worked to my blessing and benefit.

Eventually, in my manual search for Zion (there were no computer search engines back in the day) I would move through the Old Testament page by page until I had highlighted every occurrence of the word “Zion” and then “ZION” and then “Sion” until I had satisfied my curiosity. I was just naïve to think such an exhaustive search would somehow qualify me as an expert in the subject of Zion. I certainly had no academic credentials to suggest that was true, just an overactive curiosity to drive me forward in the wee hours of the night and early morning.

My Finding in the New Testament

One quick example I have cited before. When I discovered the actual dimensions and the location of the city of the latter-day Zion in the scriptures, it was late one night and I was exhilarated beyond imagination. I cross-referenced the Old and New Testament with the Doctrine and Covenants and the Book of Mormon, and I was rewarded a hundredfold in my estimation. I showed my Dad, who excitedly took my findings to Elder Bruce R. McConkie who casually stated he had seen it “many years ago.”

My experiences in scripture study have confirmed the “no royal roads” observation of Grandfather Lee. Don’t EVER compare yourself against someone else. We are all in a different place, and now we have a whole Church synced and dialed in on the same study format each year. It took years of concentrated reorganization and recalibration at Church headquarters that started way back in the day of “Church Correlation” spearheaded by Grandfather Lee under President David O. McKay’s leadership to bring us to this point under the “Come, Follow Me” Curriculum. Gospel scholarship is a vast ocean upon which we each launch our little dinghy and hope to stay afloat for as long as we are able. Don’t be discouraged, and press forward through the Old Testament this year with the enthusiasm of new discoveries you haven’t even considered before. You will be rewarded beyond your wildest imaginings.

My Christmas Angels

I testify to all my posterity, growing in number now each year, that when we put forth our best efforts, the Lord blesses us by multiplying and magnifying our talents. It is a lifetime quest, and I’m still on the journey with you. He blesses us exponentially.

Someday . . .

On another topic, I had a phone call from my son Mike this morning. He’s escaped from the confines of his home chasing deer who are running a few miles from his home for more pictures. He had a total hip replacement recently, and we discussed being careful and wise in his post-surgery exertions. Then he reminded me that tomorrow is our infant daughter Adrienne’s death date anniversary, December 9th, 1992. Thirty-three years ago!! Seems impossible to me now. Somebody check that math! We had her in mortality for a short 49 days, seven weeks of seven days, and then she was escorted home to her spirit-world home.

Now, I think of all those who are with her there, and that leads me to think about my own mortality. I’ve outlived most of my progenitors now, and I am routinely drawn to my thoughts about all of them these days. How much more time will I need to prepare myself for their company? 

I don’t know the answer to that question, but what I do know for sure, Katelyn, is that the Old Testament characters we will be reading about this coming year lived VERY LONG LIVES on this earth. We can learn from their experiences, I am certain.

"Have You Ever?" "No, I've Never."

That question and its response are resounding again and again this year in Utah. We have been in a sustained drought here in the West, and this winter we have been literally buried in snow, the likes of which tests the memory for recalling another winter that's been this intense. The winter of 1983-84 comes to mind when the temperatures in May soared into the 90's for several weeks and all the snowmelt came down in a hurry. There were pictures of water running down a sandbagged State Street in Salt Lake City, because the infrastructure back in the day was not sufficient to handle the runoff. I was an elders' quorum president back then, and we were being called out routinely to sandbag several homes in our ward threatened with flooding.

Fast forward to today. Overnight we had over fourteen inches of snow, and our ward worship services were cancelled. It's all our plow guy can do to stay ahead of all the snow that continues to fall. We worshipped at home today, and were grateful for the authorization to administer the sacrament in our home. The two of us sang hymns, partook of the sacrament, studied in Come Follow Me, and watched the Tabernacle Choir broadcast. Then we bore our testimonies to one another in an intimate setting of our home. It was a rare spiritual feast, and we were so grateful to have each other as we looked outside and watched the snow continue to fall all around.

I am acutely aware and thankful beyond expression for the wisdom of our leaders who called out this audible early this morning via e-mail. How blessed we are on several fronts. We have study materials designed for home-centered, Church- supported curriculum to bless our lives. The intrusion of COVID-19 was the first indication that the direction toward more focus on our home worship would be needed, and the Church made provision to satisfy that need.

In addition, President Russell M. Nelson has been persistent in his repeated invitations to increase our spirituality to enable us to receive enhanced and more frequent revelation in our daily lives. 

Couple that with the ongoing revelation about our temple worship that has made it more spiritual and more instructional than ever before. And no, I have never felt more inspiration and more pure revelation from my Savior Jesus Christ than what I am receiving each time we attend the temple. Nothing has been left unattended, and nothing has been overlooked in enhancing the temple experience. I am so grateful to President Nelson for his leadership.

Our home is safe, warm and is indeed a sanctuary, not unlike a temple. Today, my dear companion and I prayed, partook of the sacrament and bore our testimonies to one another. What a blessing it is to have a faithful helpmeet and spiritual soulmate on a day like today. We are blessed beyond measure, and I am so grateful. I ache for those who are not so blessed that lie beyond our reach today because of the heavy snowfall. I pray that those who are closer can be raised up to bless them.

I am thankful for the technology that ties us together with family on days like today. After I brushed the snow out of the satellite dishes, I was able to send out e-mails to everyone to assure them we were safer than they might otherwise imagine. When you are of a certain age (which I now am), our children are rightfully concerned for our welfare and wellbeing. 

I testify of the divinity of our Eternal Father in Heaven, our Savior Jesus Christs and the Holy Ghost who bears witness to my soul of their true identity and my relationship with them. I am grateful for that knowledge that anchors my soul and provides much-needed perspective on the overall plan of salvation for all God's children.

I am grateful for the Prophet Joseph Smith, who laid the foundation for the Restoration of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. On days like today I am in awe of all the "overcoming" that had to be done to assure our pleasant circumstances here in 2023. I testify the Church is the true manifestation of the ancient Church that came out of the garden of Eden and was established later in Christ's day.

My soul reverberates with the truth that President Russell M. Nelson is God's prophet on the earth today. All the living Apostles today hold the relevant priesthood keys to facilitate the work of the kingdom of God on earth today. You may rely upon them and you may trust them to do God's will in all things.

My testimony runs as deep as the twelve foot drifts out my back door this morning.