“Neither shall they learn war any more”

Last updated on: September 5, 2018 at 9:53 am by Dan Peterson

“Neither shall they learn war any more” 2018-09-05T09:53:27-06:00 Dan Peterson

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A plowed field in Israel (Wikimedia CC public domain image)

Nearing the end of the first draft:

There is no such thing, in this terribly complex matter, as “the Lord’s side.” Neither side is without sin, and neither side is without just cause. As a Church, we must attempt to steer a neutral course between the various factions. As Latter-day Saints, we must hóld ourselves and everyone who would seek our support to the standards of justice and charity that the gospel mandates. It is only after a purging and a cleansing that Israel will be truly worthy of all the blessings that the Lord is willing to grant. “Then shall Jerusalem be holy.”[1]

In that day shall the branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel. And it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even everyone that is written among the living in Jerusalem: When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning.[2]

The Lord’s justice and mercy extend to all peoples of the earth. Every human individual of every race is his child and the object of his love. Our task as individuals is to emulate that divine love. Our mission as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is to work toward the day when all the nations “shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.”[3]

The prophet Isaiah foretold such a time, when the example of God’s people would draw all the world’s attention and make many from all nations desire to know more of what the Saints have.

And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.[4]

The prophet Micah gives almost precisely the same words, but then adds, “But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath spoken it. For all people will walk every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of the Lord our God for ever and ever.”[5] As the prophets have consistently taught, there will be differences of religious opinion on the earth even during the Millennium. What will be missing at that day is the hostility and the lack of respect that too often characterizes our relationships with those who disagree with us now. If we are serious about working for the establishment of Zion, we will do all we can to drive those characteristics out of our lives.

[1] Joel 3:17.

[2] Isaiah 4:2-4.

[3] Zechariah 14:16.

[4] Isaiah 2:2-4.

[5] Micah 4:4-5.

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