| 6 Rom. xi:5, whom God will gather from among all people whither they are scattered, and will be sanctified in them in the sight of the heathen; then shall they dwell in their land which God gave to his servant Jacob, and they shall dwell safely therein, and shall build houses and plant vineyards, yea they shall dwell with confidence, when I have executed judgments upon all those that despise them round about; and they shall know that I am the Lord their God; Eze. xxviii:25, 26. Isa. xi:11, to 16, and when this gathering shall be completed, it shall no more be said the Lord liveth that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; but the Lord liveth that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither he had driven them; and I will bring them again unto this land which I gave unto their fathers, Jer. xvi:14, 15, &c. to the end.
Rom. xi:7. What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for, but the election hath obtained it. And why have they not obtained it? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law, for they stumbled at that stumbling-stone; as it is written, behold I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offence [offense], Rom. ix:32, 33, to both the houses of Israel; and for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and many of them shall stumble, Isa. viii:14, 15, but have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid; but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, Rom. xi:11, und [and] Jerusalem shall be trodden down by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled, Luke xxi:24, and when the house of Israel shall be restored to their possession in Canaan, it may truly be said the election hath obtained it; for the fulfilment [fulfillment] of God's oath of the faithful, and the promises to his children, will obtain that for Israel, which he has sought for in vain by the law of Moses.
This is the election that we believe in, viz: such as we find in prophets and apostles, and the word of the Lord himself, and as we have not room to give all the quotations in full, relating to election, in this epistle, we would invite the saints to examine the scriptures in connection with these quoted; and whenever they find election or any other principle or blessing given or applied to the house of Israel, let those principles continue with the house of Israel; and not apply that to Esau which belongs to Jacob; or to the churches of modern times, which belong to the ancient covenant people; and always ascertain how the Lord, the apostles, and prophets, have applied their words, and ever continue the same application, and wisdom and knowledge will be added unto you: and in the words of the beloved Peter and Paul, we would exhort you to work out your own salvation with fear and trembling: for it is God which worketh in you, both to will and to do, of his good pleasure; Phil. ii:12, 13, giving all diligence to make your calling and election sure, 2 Peter i:10, for this is that sealing power spoken of in Eph. i:13, 14. In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth; the gospel of your salvation, in whom also, after that ye believed ye were sealed with that Holy spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance, until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory, 2 Peter, i:11, for so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
BRIGHAM YOUNG, WILLARD RICHARDS.
THE JEWS
continued.
We suffered a good deal from heat, the thermometer sometimes 95 degrees, in our tent. . . No object attracts your eye, there is only one wide ocean of sand round and round. No sound breaks on the ear but the plaintive song of the Bedouin cheering on his slow paced camel; we entered the land of the Philistines on the first of June; it may be described in one word as an open pasture country, composed of vast undulating plains, or more graphically in the words of Zephaniah, "dwellings and cottages for shepherds and fold for flocks." I have counted 10 flocks of an enormous size from a single eminence. We did not enter Gaza, as the plague was raging there; but as we stood on Sampson's mount, and looked down upon the town, encircled with gardens of figs and olives, we could trace the fulfilment [fulfillment] of every word that God had spoken against it. The old city of Gaza seems to be buried beneath smooth round hills of sand; "baldness is come upon Gaza." The next day we found the reapers busy in the valley of Eschol, and met many a camel carrying to the threshing floor the ripe barley, its vines and pomegranates are gone; some fine spreading fig trees remain.
Our first view of the hill country of Judea was truly heart stirring. Emerging from a mountain pass, the immense plain of Jeptha lay stretched like a map before us; the rays of the morning sun glanced on the brown walls of the many towns that lay beneath us; the hills of
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