Early Saints view role in light of prophecy
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From the early days of the Church, members knew they were to establish Zion in Missouri. They viewed themselves, often unwillingly and unwittingly, as part of prophetic fulfillment.
Even after being exiled from Missouri and fleeing to Illinois where they built Nauvoo, the early members continued to interpret much of what happened to them between 1839 and 1847 in light of Old Testament prophecies.
Such Biblical interpretations greatly reinforced and solidified their claim to being God's people, on God's errand, a modern Zion in the wilderness.
But a Church that had bode well in 1830 to come forth "clear as the moon, and fair as the sun, and terrible as an army with banner," was by 1839 in wide-scale retreat, bowed, bruised and bloodied from its tortured trail from Independence to Haun's Mill.
The ignominious Mormon expulsion from Missouri posed more perplexing questions than physical survival and resettlement, as pressing as those issues were. At stake was their core doctrine of Zion.
Having surrendered the place of Zion, did they still see themselves as the people of Zion? Or was that perception lost in the mud fields of Far West and in the massacre of Haun's Mill?
Had their disobedience disqualified them? Was their "errand into the wilderness" now on the verge of becoming just another chapter in American History, just the story of yet another sad and persecuted people?
Remove their conviction of being a Zion people and their perception of prophetic errand and what was left of their religion?
Yet, in the view of the Prophet Joseph Smith, their failures, setbacks and disappointments, his imprisonment in Liberty jail not excluded, all were redeemed in prophecy. Though their expectations and timetable may now have to be postponed, neither their place nor their view of themselves as God's chosen people were surrendered in their wintry departure from Missouri. God would try His people to the testing point.
One might be tempted to see Nauvoo as but a temporary place, one more stop on a forward migration pattern. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Of the many significant events in Nauvoo history, three took on particular prophetic meaning. The first was the gathering; the second was the temple; and the third was the martyrdom.
The gathering to Nauvoo of the British Saints in such large numbers marked the first time that "Israel," despised and scattered, was gathering to Zion from such distant lands. Speaking of the phenomenon, one of the Twelve put it this way: "Isaiah's soul seemed to be on fire and his mind wrapped in the visions of the Almighty while he declared in the name of the Lord, that it should come to pass in the last days that God should set his hand again the second time to recover the remnants of His people. . . . (Taken from Wilford Woodruff's Journal.)
The building of the Nauvoo Temple was also seen as a fulfillment of prophecy. "The fact that this place when established is to be a place of gathering of the people," wrote the editor of the Nauvoo Times and Seasons in February 1841, "can admit of no doubt from the words of the prophecy which says, 'a people shall flow unto it, that they may be taught the ways of the Lord.' "
Third, the deaths of Joseph and Hyrum rapidly took on a prophetic meaning in direct proportion to the mounting sense of loss.
Wilford Woodruff confided to his journal in Boston in mid-July 1844 that "in consequence of the death of the prophets the editors [of eastern newspapers] seem to get the spirit of prophecy and say the work is done and will stop and die. But as I am in the midst of the prophetic editors like Saul I catch some of the spirit of prophesy, and so I will prophecy that instead of the word dying it will be like the mustard stock that was ripe that a man undertook to throw out of his garden and scattered seed all over it and next year it was nothing but mustard. It will be so by the shedding of the blood of the prophets. It will make 10 Saints where there is one now." (Taken from Wilford Woodruff's Journal.)
It is significant to note that the martyrdom did not trigger an immediate desire to leave Nauvoo. However, 18 months after Carthage, the Latter-day Saints found themselves unwillingly on the verge of leaving their City of Joseph, once again through no choice of their own.
Yet, few, if any, in early 1846 saw their leaving [Nauvoo for the West] as fulfilling prophecy, Isaiah's or any other. In Brigham Young's mind they were still a Zion people, and that they would find their place only if they followed their God.
It is virtually impossible to determine with certainty where or when their awareness of a modern exodus crystallized into permanent interpretation. However, by the time they reached the Great Basin it was well in bloom. It ripened the further west they traveled.
As much a discovery as the valley itself, Elder Orson Pratt deciphered rich scriptural benediction to their wanderings, fulfilling the prophecies of Isaiah in a way they had not supposed before.
"For many years I have not read that good old book," he said as he began his sermon Aug. 1, "but I remember the predictions in it and some that are now very nearly fulfilled by us."
Using several chapters from Isaiah as text, Elder Pratt emphasized at least four ways their recent journey had accomplished the vision of the ancients. First, they had located a new mountain Zion; second, they had secured safety and refuge from their enemies; third, the Lamanites should blossom as a rose; and last, they would build anew the mountain of the Lord's house.
Richard E. Bennett is a professor of Church History and Doctrine at BYU.
