We hear of Zion coming forth in the last days but Zion is not just a last day’s idea. Enoch from the Old Testament was the first to talk about Zion. He was seven generations removed from Adam who was still alive when Enoch was preaching and died only 57 years before the city of Zion was taken off the Earth by the Lord. The City of Enoch was translated in the 987th year from when Adam was cast out of Eden and Enoch was 365 yrs old. Enoch was 65 when he begat Methuselah and Methuselah died in the 1656th year, the same year of the Great Flood. The Lord showed Enoch all of the generations of the earth and promised him that the Messiah, which should come in the meridian of time, would come forth from his seed. Noah was the son of Methuselah and of course Christ came from the seed of Shem the son of Noah.
When you read the account of Enoch written by Moses (The book of Moses in the LDS scriptures and Genesis in the Restoration Edition of the scriptures) one can only imagine the tragedy and the heart ache Enoch felt as he watched the generations of wickedness unfold, to be swept away by the flood, then to see the descendents of Noah falling into the same wickedness as before. “When shall the day of the Lord come? When shall the blood of The Righteous be shed that all they that mourn may be sanctified and have eternal life?” asked Enoch. (Moses 7:45 LE; Gen. 4: 18 RE) When you read that passage from Moses you may consider a different meaning of the word “mourn” than what you may have before. May he be talking about those who, like Enoch, feel sorrow and empathy, and weep for the wicked and those who suffer because of them? And what of mother earth of her sorrow and pain because of the wickedness of men? Mother earth lamented to Enoch: “When shall I rest and be cleansed from the filthiness which has gone forth out of me? When will my Creator sanctify me, that I may rest, and righteousness for a season abide upon my face?” (Moses 7:48 LE; Gen. 4:20 RE) Enoch asked the Lord if He would come again and give mother earth her well deserved rest, and was shown the events of the last days. As a result of the Lord showing Enoch all of these things and Enoch asking and pleading for the children of Noah, the Lord covenanted with him:
Wherefore, I ask you if you will not come again on the earth. And the Lord said unto Enoch, As I live, even so will I come in the last days, in the days of wickedness and vengeance, to fulfill the oath which I have made unto you concerning the children of Noah. And the day shall come that the earth shall rest. But before that day, the heavens shall be darkened, and a veil of darkness shall cover the earth; and the heavens shall shake, and also the earth. And great tribulations shall be among the children of men, but my people will I preserve. And righteousness will I send down out of Heaven. Truth will I send forth out of the earth to bear testimony of my Only Begotten, his resurrection from the dead, yea, and also the resurrection of all men. And righteousness and truth will I cause to sweep the earth as with a flood, to gather out my own elect from the four quarters of the earth unto a place which I shall prepare, a holy city, that my people may gird up their loins and be looking forth for the time of my coming. For there shall be my tabernacle, and it shall be called Zion, a New Jerusalem. And the Lord said unto Enoch, Then shall you and all your city meet them there, and we will receive them into our bosom. And they shall see us, and we will fall upon their necks, and they shall fall upon our necks, and we will kiss each other; and there shall be my abode. And it shall be Zion which shall come forth out of all the creations which I have made, and for the space of a thousand years shall the earth rest. (Moses 7:59-64 LE; Gen. 4:22 RE)
The Lord will prepare a city of refuge for His elect (the faithful followers of Christ) who will be gathered from the four quarters of the earth. This will eventually be called The New Jerusalem/Zion. In order to get there we must become as the Lord described “And the Lord called his people Zion because they were of one heart, and of one mind, and dwelled in righteousness, and there was no poor among them.” (Moses 7:18 LE; Gen. 4:14 RE)
The purpose of brining again Zion is to restore what was lost at the beginning, and to vindicate the promises and covenants the Lord made with the Fathers. The magnificence of the Garden of Eden was not the perfection; it was that man, Adam, walked and talked with God. Zion will be a place where God will again be in the midst of men. Joseph Smith was given the task of preparing a people to bring Zion, three times he was commanded to build a temple that the Lord could come to. The Kirtland temple was completed and much was experience and revealed, however, the people were so caught up in the opportunity to make money that they would not accept what was offered to them. The Lord was forgiving and gave them another chance in Missouri but again they would not do as the Lord commanded; …”behold, I say unto you, were it not for the transgressions of my people… they might have been redeemed, even now. But behold, they have not learned to be obedient to the things which I require at their hands, but are full of all manner of evil…” (D&C 105:2-3 LE; T&C 107:1 RE). Again the Lord would bring Zion to Nauvoo if they would build a temple that He could come to and perform His ordinances for the living and the dead; …”build a house unto my name for the Most High to dwell therein. For there is not place found on the earth that he may come and restore again that which was lost unto you, or which he has taken away, even the fullness of the Priesthood. For a baptismal font there is not upon the earth, that they my saints may be baptized for those who are dead; for this ordinance belongs to my house and cannot be acceptable to me, only in the days of your poverty wherein you are not able to build a house unto me. But I command you, all you my saints, to build a house unto me, and I grant unto you a sufficient time to build a house unto me, and during this time your baptisms shall be acceptable to unto me. But behold, at the end of this appointment, your baptisms for your dead shall not be acceptable unto me. And if you do not these things, at the end of the appointment you shall be rejected as a Church with your dead, says the Lord your God”. (D&C 124:27-32 LE; T&C 141:10-11 RE) The Lord was giving His people an opportunity to get it right this time. In the two previous attempts the Lord had given them the opportunity but they failed, after which the Lord reproved them telling them what they lacked in the effort. This time He was being even more specific regarding baptisms for the Dead and later refers to their washings and anointings. The Lord even goes on to say their baptisms “…”cannot be acceptable unto me, for therein are the keys of the Holy Priesthood ordained that you may receive honor and glory.” (ibid) He cannot bless them with honor and glory and the Holy Priesthood after they have been disobedient. But these things would return in Zion and Jerusalem after they have been set up as holy places.
The Lord is still waiting for a people to step up and be obedient and at His command build a house for Him to come to.
