Show au a 1 DELIVERED BY ny mm mm A LITTLE before a joint meeting of the Y M H af M I 1 A in the third ward 3 city of st george on the evening of february 1878 it Is the first time I 1 have had the privilege iego lego of lecturing before an As bo elation of our young people we have here bere the bible and book boob of mormon the records of two streams of population which flowed in di merent different directions from the towe to berof babel when the language of the people was confounded about one hundred years after noaha flood one of these peoples known to us as the gentiles of which we have some account in the book of mormon traveled eastward across the continent of asia to the shores of the pacific butau which they cro ero crossed and landed on the west boust coust or worth north america we will not riot notice their history farther at this time but turn our attention this evening to the other branch who held the p lest iest hood the abra bamie barnic family whose history is recorded in the bible we form forin but very imperfect ideas of history without some data to guide us and with all the imperfections of bible chronology it is better than none I 1 do not dot expect that we will have anything much better until that remarkable history of the world written by the brother of jared is revealed to us one hundred years after the flood the tower of babel was constructed if you will examine a map of asia on the river euphrates a short distance above its junction with the tigris you will lind the little town of near it are bup eup supposed posed to be the remains of the tower of babel audom and of the ancient eity city of babylon probably the most of you recollect the story of the confusion ct ef tongues at the tower of babel and the declaration of the lord that he would scatter the people from there over the whole face of the earth the priesthood descended from noah through the lineage of shem consequently the Jared ites and the abra Abru hamic family are his descendants ant aut abraham was born three hundred and fifty one years aft after erthe the flood if as ia is stated shem lived yea yen years after the flood he and abraham were although abraham abrahams kindred appear to have fallen into idolatry he sought after the true god and attained to the blessings of the priesthood of which he was the rightful heir through the fathers in the year 1921 B D C at the a age 9 0 of seventy five years abraham was called of god to leave the land pt his nativity and go into the land laud of canaan which was promised to him and his children for tor an everlasting inheritance the ca were descendants of ham as were also algio the people of those famous cities Nineveh and babylon Baby iou lou after the arrival of abraham in the land of canaan he be and his immediate Ine lne diate descendants appear to havu have had no abiding place but were wanderers in the land wa wai to be the future heritage of their children in fact it may be said that israel thus far have mostly been only wanderers and sojourners in the earth at the time of abrahams abraham return from his ills battle with the four kings an account of which may be found in the ilch chapter of genesis in which he released lot his brother lp son sou from captivity he was b hospitably entertained by king of salem who was also the priest of the most high god he blessed abraham and abraham gave him tithes of all some of our elders believe that shern shorn and wera one and the same person I 1 do not hot feelth feel to que question ulon alon the correctness of this opinion there are not wanting wuting men of thought and study outside of our cb church who are also of this opinion nir dir mr air priest in his work on the antiquities of america published I 1 think in la 1832 advances some good arguments in favor of this idea the city of salem balem here hero mentioned was after afterwards known was as jerus Jerusi iem liem its subsequent history is intimately connected with that of the bouso house of israel and is full of interest its location and history have bave been definitely understood for nearly years a significant fact which pertains to no other city that has ever existed on the earth eaith its whole history indicates that its location ia IS the peculiarly sacred spot of the vast eastern hemisphere josephus the jewish historian who wrote seventy years after christ states that built a temple there if so it is the first temple built in the interest of the priesthood of which we have any account either in or out of the bible but little is known with certainty of the cities of nineveh and babylon which flourished or years before christ except what is recorded in the bible the history of the first two centuries of the city of rome which is said to have been founded B 0 is considered not reliable by many of the learned and the story that the two brothers who founded it were suckled in their infancy by a she wolf certainly partakes of the fabulous in fact we are pretty much indebted to the bible for what little reliable history we have of the old world from the to within five or six centuries of the birth of our savior in the chapter of genesis we are informed that abraham went into theland the land of moniah moriah to offer up his son isaac josephus further farther says that he built the altar on mount moriah where solomon afterwards ter wards built the temple in passing permit me to call your attention to the promises made by the lord izord to abraham after he had offered sacrifice in the land of moriah the lord said in blessing E will bless thee and in multiply jegi in gi I 1 will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven and as the sand upon the seashore it is the latter part of the promise not so often repeated as the other which it is well to bear in mind in all ail our studies of the history of israel and thy seed shall possess the gate of the their ir enemies ene mies miep a promise which still remains to be fulfilled after thirty seven centuries have passed away what little we have learned of this city of salem and its priest serves to excite our curiosity to know more of their history and why and when the priesthood disappeared and the city went into the hands bands ef of the wicked Canaan ites we are told in the bible that the children of israel were in bondage years josephus in one place makes the same assertion but afterwards ter wards explains by stating that this period is reckoned from the calling of abraham 1921 B cr C from that to 1706 B 0 when jacs jaes jacob and his ais family moved into egypt t as one half of the time and from the going into egypt until the exodus in 1491 B U another beaud of years according to our chrono chronology log y joseph did nt die until seventy one years after the family moved into egypt which reduces the time of ot the bondage of isrnel israel to the egyptians to years this appears to me to be a reasonable view to take of this subject until further farther light is given us in the latter part of this peri perl period od moses the great leader and lawgiver was born he gave to israel a code of laws involving principles of equity which christians have never yet improved upon the I 1 history of the deliverance of israel from egypt is of such length and interest that I 1 will barely notice it in this general outline moses and aaron holding the priesthood of the most high through faith worked mighty miracles in the deliverance of israel the egyptians the descendants ants of ham holding a fallen priesthood also worked wonders and per perhaps hapy at that time the two powers ran as ne nearly a 1 I parallel arallen a as A they may do in th this t the be dispensation of the falness of times the thia israelites went out of egypt under moses in 1491 B 0 they wandered in the deserts of arabia forty years passed around the south end of the dead sea and appeared on the east side of the river jordan nearly opposite the city of jericho Jeric bo in 1451 here moses rehear rehearsed S ed to them the blessings god had bad bestowed on them and their fathers the commandments he had given and caused them to renew their covenants of obedience no man could pronounce the terrible comprehensive curse that moses did upon israel if they failed to keep the commandments of god no man could bless as he blessed in case of obedience without the inspirations of the almighty it is wonderful with what earnest earDest of spirit with what an intensity of interest he labored belabored to establish his people in righteousness righteous nero neap in his last days on the east bide aide of jordan As had bad been before appointed mosea moses died and joshua led israel into the prom ed land the lord had com V 4 banded israel that they should utterly destroy and waste away the Canaan ites and warned them that if they did not do this they would prove a snare and lead them into idolatry and wickedness disobedience to this command led to promised results and numerous in ter m arry 1 n ga took place the degrading gr ad 1 14 ir 14 results of which on the then future of israel it is difficult to estimate about twenty seven years after the cros oros crossing sing of jordan joshua died just before his death he assembled the tribes rehearsed the great blessings god had bestowed upon them and caused them to renew their covenants of obedience two years after his death jerusalem was partly taken and occupied aupied by the children of benjamin a portion still remaining in the hands of the Jebus ites in forty five years after israel had crossed over jordan they had fallen into idolatry and were in bondage to t their enemies from the crossing of jerdan jordan to the anointing of saul was years ill years of this period or nearly one third israel were in bondage to their enemies and and aDd their whole history isa is a record of the fulfillment fulfilment of the promises of the lord to them through moses perhaps some of us scarcely take into consideration what bondage meant in those times while it often varied in severity it generall generally meant that the cattle the grain the personal liberty and lives of the people were at the mercy af the conquerors As a sample of one of the smaller annoyances the bible says that in the beginning of the reign of saul there were no smiths in israel and they were compelled to get their work done at the shops of or the philistines so that in case they should rebel against their oppressors they would not have the means of manufacture in garms A portion of the city of jerusalem remained of the Jebus ites years after the wars of joshua when the were conquered by david and it became the capital city of israel probably most intelligent israelites today to day would refer you to the reign of solomon as the most glorious period in the history of their people his world renowned temple tample was waa completed 1004 years B C or years after the egyptian exodus that is the only temple built for the purposes of the holy priesthood of which we have account in the bible although we may well suppose that others were built both before and after the food flood solomon notwithstanding his great wisdom and the many great blessings he be received from ene gioia married many maDy strange wives and concubines who led him into idolatry and wickedness in his old age they with their numerous children with their wealth and social p position 0 91 I 1 combined with the weight of solomon Solomons s personal example exercised an immense influence over the nation for evil A As 4 a nation israel never recovered from these pernicious influences As had been foretold by the prophets after the death of solomon the kingdom was divided Rhea Bhea boom his son reigning over judah and benjamin and jeroboam over the other tribes so rapidly did judah sink into the degradations of the idolatrous nations around them that in the nith alth year of the reign of Rheo boam and I 1 in less than thirty five years after the completion of the temple Sh ishak king of egypt took jerusalem and plundered the house of the lord of all its ita treasures from that time both judah and israel ismel were frequently in bondage to their enemies besides having many long and destructive wars with each other from the division of the kingdom to the captivity of the ten tell tribes a period of two hundred and fifty nifty four years nineteen kings reigned over israel all without exception idolatrous and wicked from the divid division 0 0 n of the kingdom to the babylonian captivity a period of three hundred and eighty seven years twenty one kings reigned over judah all except four or five idolatrous doubtless the great influence of solomon and his family had done much to perpetuate these evils evila in B 0 hashen king of israel became tributary to maneger ma king of assyria nine years after hamar Samar lathe capital of the kingdom was taken by the As syrians and the national existence of the ten tribes of israel ceased for the people were carried captive into the countries of asia beyond the river euphrates and peoples from other coun counti tiles tries ies les were put in possession of their inheritance wo we may consider this event as the be ginning of the more comprehensive fulfill fulfillment ment went of the word of the lord through moses that in case of disobedience the would scatter them among all people from the one end of the earth even unto the other we are informed by modern revelation that the tha ten and a half tribes journeyed into the north country and were hid bid up to come forth in this dispensation but it is not probable that more than a few thousands of this widely scattered people were gathered up tip for this purpose and that the great mass masi remained to intermingle with the nations and thereby carry out the designs of the almighty this idea is 19 strengthened by jocephus Joe ephus the jewish historian who wrote nearly years after and who states that only the two tribes judah and benjamin were subject to the romans for the ten tribes who were carried away by the assar lans ians still remained in multitudes beyond the river euphrates I 1 have often asked the question how came our fathers of the ten tribes mostly of ephraim Ephr alm aim mixed up with the modern nations of europe about 1000 years after the captivity of the tribes a sufficient time for them to have become well mixed up with the nation nations of asia Asial in I 1 think the third century of the christian era there appeared on thed the thee astern eastern bank of the river danube then the extreme limit of the roman empire in that direction ons an immense horde of semi bemi barbar ian people from the plains of asia from the roman boman officers in charge of the military posts which commanded the passage of the river they requested the privilege of taking sh shelter elter in the territories of rome borne stating slating that they were driven to thia thib hla hit hia extremity by their enemies their casel easel was brought to the notice of the government and they were permitted to take shelter in the empire tinder under treaty stipulations one of which was waa that they should deliver up their arms one of the most difficult diff cult euit of terms for a warlike nomadic people to comply with they succeeded in retaining hing their arms by bribing the roman koman officials even by presenting some of their sons and daughters daughtery gifts of peculiar ar significance in that licentious age it Is supposed that the roman officials very indifferently fulfilled their treaty stipulations 1 l and the barbarians be boan began bean an to carve out their own fo fortunes and shape the destinies ef of rome with their swords horde followed after horde until they in time crushed the roman empire by valor and the weight of numbers devastated win ern Ein rope conquered peoples and lahl laii theroun the foundation of tha the present nations of europe this Is the most plausible answer to the query where did our fathers come from that history at present appears |