Gathering to Zion
We believe in
the gathering of God’s people to Zion (Jerusalem in Israel and New
Jerusalem in Jackson County, Missouri), or to one of its stakes
(historically Kirtland, Ohio; Far West, Missouri; Nauvoo, Illinois;
and Voree, Wisconsin), or to the Islands of the Great Lakes where God’s
literal kingdom was established in 1850. Voree has a special
promise of peace and refuge, and in keeping with that prophecy there
has never been persecution there. Instead of gathering to stakes of
Zion, other Mormons now put stakes among the gentiles, for
convenience, and never mention gathering to a sacred city. In the early
church periodicals from Zion, Kirtland, Far West, and Nauvoo, gathering
was emphasized over 1000 times, whereas the endowment was mentioned only
about 150 times. The numbers are similarly proportioned in the scriptures.
Surely, it is important to live in sacred places.
66 And it shall be called the New Jerusalem, a land of peace, a city of refuge, a place of safety for the saints of the Most High
God. (D&C 45:66)
39 And whatsoever city thy servants shall enter, and the people of that city receive their testimony, let thy peace and thy salvation be upon that city; that they may gather out of that city the righteous, that they may come forth to Zion, or to her stakes, the places of thine appointment, with songs of everlasting
joy. (D&C 109:39)
6 And that the gathering together upon the land of Zion, and upon her stakes, may be for a defense, and for a refuge from the storm, and from wrath when it shall be poured out without mixture upon the whole
earth. (D&C 115:6)
10 For the day of my visitation cometh speedily, in an hour when ye think not of; and where shall be the safety of my people, and refuge for
those who shall be left of them? (D&C 124:10)
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