| 407 continue to move on in mighty power, with great speed, until it will fill the whole earth.
It matters not if the authorities of Missouri do set down our faith as high treason, because we believe the bible. And all the bells of Babylon have a mighty ringing, and her craftsmen incessantly-Great is Babylon, great is Babylon! as did the ancient Ephesians, yet the time is near at hand when it shall be announced, Babylon the great is fallen!! The rapidity of the latter day work is truly astonishing. If six members, organized in 1830, in the short period of twelve years gain 150,000 how many will 150,000 gain in 25 years at that rate; but I must close.
It is the fervent prayer of every saint-Roll on thy work, mighty God, Let thy kingdom come, and on earth be established.
Your's in high esteem.
H. TATE.
TIMES AND SEASONS.
CITY OF NAUVOO.
MONDAY, JANUARY 15, 1844.
THE GATHERING,
The gathering of the saints is a subject which has created not a little speculation among the religious world, although some of its leading features are very familiar to the saints. It is thought a strange thing that the saints should gather; and mankind being generally "ignorant of the scriptures, and the power of God." are ready to ascribe it to an impure motive political intrigue, a thirst after power, or some other unholy influence. It is true that the gathering of the Jews is a subject which has attained some credence, and has been advocated by a portion of our modern theologists; the scriptures pertaining to this subject have been thoroughly investigated, and the idea of "Jerusalem being inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem," is one that has been entertained by many; and they have reflected with pleasure and delight upon the time when the promises made to God's ancient people should be fulfilled; when "he that has scattered the house of Israel shall also gather them." But upon what principle, for what purpose, or by whom they should be gathered, is a subject about which men are most egregiously ignorant. Nor has it entered into their minds that any other people should be gathered together, under the direction and guidance of heaven, nor that the principle of the gathering was one upon which Jehovah had acted in the different ages of the world, for the building up of his kingdom, and the accomplishment of his purposes. Whereas the scriptures are full of subjects of this kind, unfolding the designs of Jehovah, pertaining to the different nations of the earth. Not only are Israel and Judah mentioned, as objects of God's mercy, but other nations also. The Moabites, the Amorites, and the Elamites will not be among the least of those who shall participate in God's mercies. As the father of the spirits of all flesh, Jehovah does exercise a paternal care over all his creatures, and in order to accomplish this will erect a standard, for, according to the prophet, 'Zion shall be established in righteousness, and all nations shall flock to her standard."
The purposes of God, in regard to the human family, are great and comprehensive, and are marked by the most consummate wisdom, and as in the formation of worlds, the organization of the solar system, and the order of nature, his intelligence is displayed, so in regard to the well-being, safety and happiness, both present and future, of the universal world, he, as the great father of the human family, feels highly interested. It is true that he adopts plans and makes use of means, which in the estimation of men in many instances would be foreign from the point, yet when we consider, that with Him dwells wisdom, that "his thoughts are not our thoughts, nor his ways as our ways," we shall not be surprised that he makes use of means for the accomplishment of his designs, which in many instances are, to us, incomprehensible.
When the Lord created the heavens and the earth, he had a design in it, and had certain purposes to accomplish, and when he created the beasts of the field the fish of the sea, and the fowls of the air, he did it to promote his purposes and to advance his glory and when man was placed as lord of creation, it was for a purpose, and the which, though it may now be mysterious, yet when the curtain of heaven shall be withdrawn, and we shall comprehend eternal things, we shall see and acknowledge "that the judge of all the earth has done right," The council of heaven was had among the Gods' in the eternal world, pertaining to all these subjects of their creation, before ever they were formed, "or the morning stars sang together for joy;" and by him who comprehends the end from the beginning and before whom, and with whom, the present, the past and the future are one eternal now, their organization, habits, propensities, the object of that creation, the position they would take in the order of that creation, and how, and by what means they would be made happy, and increase his glory, was fully
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