A Voice of Warning - Battle of Armageddon

A Voice of Warning - Battle of Armageddon

Parley P. Pratt
Chapter Two, On The Fulfillment of Prophecy Yet Future
What is Prophecy, but History Reversed?
(Excerpts regarding the Battle of Armageddon, pages 38-43)

Joseph Fielding Smith Quote regarding A Voice of Warning

I advise you to get a copy of Parley P. Pratt's Voice of Warning. It was published first in the year 1837 and received the endorsement of the Prophet Joseph Smith and was published in several editions during the lifetime of the Prophet...This work should be read by all members of the Church and all good men everywhere. It was approved by the Prophet Joseph Smith.
(Joseph Fielding Smith, The Signs of the Times, page 159, 237)

Ezekiel 38th and 39th chapters, present us with a view of about ten nations, united under one great head, whom the Lord is pleased to call Gog; and being mounted on horseback, and armed with all sorts of armour, they come up against the mountains of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; their object is to take a prey, to take away silver, and gold, and cattle, and goods in great abundance.

This is an event which is to transpire after the return of the Jews, and the rebuilding of Jerusalem; while the towns of the land of Judea are without walls, having neither bars nor gates. But while they are at the point to swallow up the Jews, and lay waste their country, behold, the Lord's fury comes up in his face, a mighty earthquake is the result, insomuch that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air, and all the creeping things, and all men upon the face of the earth, shall shake at his presence, and every wall shall fall to the ground, and every man's sword shall be turned against his neighbour in this army, and the Lord shall rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, great hail-stones, fire and brimstone. And thus he will magnify himself, and sanctify himself, in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that he is the Lord; thus they shall fall upon the open field, upon the mountains of Israel, even Gog and all his army, horses and horsemen; and the Jews shall go forth and gather the weapons of war, such as hand staves, spears, shields, and bows and arrows; and these weapons shall last the cities of Israel seven years for fuel, so that they shall cut no wood out of the forest, for they shall burn the weapons with fire; and they shall spoil those that spoiled them, and rob those that robbed them, and they shall gather gold and silver, and apparel, in great abundance. At this time, the fowls of the air, and the beasts of the field, shall have a great feast; yea, they are to eat fat until they be full, and drink blood until they be drunken. They are to eat the flesh of captains and kings, and mighty men, and all men of war. But the Jews will have a very serious duty to perform, which will take no less than seven months; namely, the burying of their enemies. They will select a place on the east side of the sea, called the Valley of the Passengers; and there shall they bury Gog and all his multitude, and they shall call it the valley of Haman Gog. And the scent shall go forth, insomuch that it shall stop the noses of the passengers; thus shall they cleanse the land. "And I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them; so the house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God, from that day and forward." "And the heathen shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity, because they trespassed against me; therefore hid I my face from them, and gave them into the hand of their enemies, so fell they all by the sword." "According to their uncleanness, and according to their transgressions, have I done unto them, and hid my face from them; therefore thus saith the Lord God, now will I bring again the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel, and will be jealous for my holy name; after that they have borne their shame, and all their trespasses, whereby they have trespassed against me, when they dwelt in their own land, and none made them afraid. When I have brought them again from the people, and gathered them out of their enemy's lands, and am sanctified in them, in the eyes of many nations; then shall they know that I am the Lord their God, who caused them to be led into captivity among the heathen; but I have gathered them into their own land, and left none of them any more there; neither will I hide my face any more from them, for I have poured out my Spirit upon the whole house of Israel, saith the Lord God."

In the foregoing, we discover that the heathen are to know, that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity, and are gathered again by the hand of God, after having borne their shame for all their trespasses, and the house of Israel shall know that it was the Lord their God who caused them to be led into captivity among the heathen, and that he it was that gathered and defended them, and he will hide his face no more from them, but will pour out his Spirit upon them.

O, ye blind, ye stiff-necked, ye hard-hearted generation, with the Bible circulated among all nations; will ten whole nations be so blind as to fulfill this prophesy, and not know it, until it brings destruction upon their own heads? Why all this blindness? Alas! it is because of false teachers, who will tell them the Bible must be spiritualized. Others declare that these prophesies can never be understood, until they are fulfilled. If this be the case, then we can never escape the judgments predicted in them, but must continue the children of darkness, until they come upon us unawares, and sweep us from the earth. Then where will be the consolation of looking back and seeing them fulfilled? But blessed be God, he has told us by the mouth of Daniel that many, shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased, and that the wise shall understand, but none of the wicked shall understand. And now, I would ask, who are more wicked than the willfully blind leaders of the blind, who tell us we cannot understand the Scriptures? Whoever will look into this subject, will find that Ezekiel has here described scenes very nearly connected with the coming of Christ; indeed, Zachariah, in his 14th Chapter, has told us much, concerning the same great battle and overthrow of Gog and his army, and he has said in plain words, that the Lord should come at the very time of the overthrow of that army; yes, in fact, even while they are in the act of taking Jerusalem, and have already succeeded in taking one half the city, and spoiling their houses, and ravishing their women. Then behold their long expected Messiah, suddenly standing his feet upon the Mount of Olives, a little east of Jerusalem, to fight against those nations and deliver the Jews in the midst of the great shaking, which Ezekiel describes, when every thing should shake at his presence, Zachariah says, "the Mount of Olives shall cleave in twain, from east to west, and one-half of the mountain removes to the north, while the other half falls off to the south," suddenly forming a very great valley, into which the Jews shall flee for protection from their enemies, like they fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah; while the Lord cometh with all the saints with him: then will the Jews behold that long, long expected Messiah, coming in power to their deliverance, as they always looked for him. He destroys their enemies, and delivers them from trouble, at the very time they were in the utmost consternation, and about to be swallowed up by their enemies. But what is their astonishment, when as they are about to fall at the feet of their Deliverer, and acknowledge him their Messiah, they discover the wounds which once pierced his hands and feet and side, and on inquiry at once recognize Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews, the man so long rejected. Well did the Prophet say, they shall mourn and weep, every family apart, and their wives apart. But, thank heaven, there will be an end to their mourning; for he will forgive their iniquities and cleanse them from uncleanness. And Jerusalem shall be a holy city from that time forth; and all the land shall be turned as a plain from Geba to Rimmon, and shall be lifted up and inhabited in her place, and men shall dwell there, and there shall be no more utter destruction of Jerusalem; "and in that day there shall be one Lord, and his name one, and he shall be King over all the earth." John, in his 11th chapter of Revelations, gives us many more particulars concerning this same event. He informs us that, after the city and temple are rebuilt by the Jews, the Gentiles (that is, Gog and his army,) shall tread it under foot, forty and two months, during which time, there shall be two Prophets continually prophesying, and working mighty miracles. And it seems that the Gentile army are hindered from utterly destroying and overthrowing the city, while these two Prophets continue. But after a struggle of three years and a half, they at length succeed in destroying these two prophets, and then overrunning much of the city. They send gifts to each other, because of the death of the two prophets, and in the mean time, will not allow their dead bodies to be put in graves, but suffer them to lie in the streets of Jerusalem three days and a half: during which the armies of the Gog, consisting of many kindreds, tongues, and nations, (passing through the city, plundering the Jews,) see their dead bodies, lying in the street. But after three days and a half, on a sudden the Spirit of life, from God, enters them, and they will arise and stand upon their feet, and great fear will fall upon them that see them. And then they hear a voice from Heaven saying, "come up hither," and they ascend up to Heaven in a cloud, and their enemies behold them. And having described all these things, then comes the shaking, spoken of by Ezekiel; and the rending of the Mount of Olives, spoken of by Zachariah. John says, "the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell; and in the earthquake, were slain of men seven thousand." And then one of the next scenes that follow, is the sound of voices, saying, "the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever."

Now, having summed up the destruction of these great events spoken of by these three Prophets, I would just remark, there is no difficulty in understanding them all to be perfectly plain, and literal in their fulfillment.

Suffice it to say, the Jews gather home, and rebuild Jerusalem. The nations gather against them in battle. The armies of Gog compass the city, and have more or less power over it for three years and a half. A couple of Jewish Prophets, by their mighty miracles, keep them from utterly overwhelming the Jews, until at length they are slain, and the city is left in a great measure to the mercy of their enemies for three days and a half; the two prophets rise from the dead, and ascend up into Heaven. The Messiah comes, convulses the earth, overthrows the army of the Gog, delivers the Jews, cleanses Jerusalem, cuts off all wickedness from the earth, raises the saints from the dead, brings them with him, and commences his reign of a thousand years; during which time his Spirit will be poured out upon flesh; men and beasts, birds and serpents, will be perfectly harmless, and peace and the knowledge and glory of God, cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. And the kingdom and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the saints of the Most High.

During this thousand years, Satan will be bound, and have no power to tempt the children of men. And the earth itself will be delivered from the curse which came by reason of the fall. The rough places will become smooth; the barren deserts fruitful; the mountains leveled; the valleys exalted; the thorn and thistle shall no more be found, but all the earth shall yield her increase in abundance to the saints of God. But after the thousand years are ended, then shall Satan be loosed, and shall go out to deceive the nations which dwell in the four quarters of the earth, to gather them to battle, and to bring them up to battle against the camp of the saints. Then the great and last struggle takes place between God and Satan, for the empire of the earth. Satan and his army shall be overthrown. And after these great things, comes the end of the earth; the resurrection of the wicked and the last judgment. And there shall be a new earth and a new Heaven, for the former earth and the former heaven have passed away, that is, they will be changed from temporal to eternal, and made fit for the abode of immortals. Then cometh Jerusalem down from God, out of Heaven, having been renewed, as well as the heavens and the earth. For said he, "behold I make all things new." This new city, placed upon the new earth, with the Lord God and the Lamb in the midst, seems to be man's eternal abode, insomuch that, after all our longings for a place beyond the bounds of time and space, (as saith the poet,) we are at last brought to our common senses, and given to understand, that man is destined forever to inherit this self-same planet, upon which he was first created; which shall be redeemed, sanctified, renewed, purified, and prepared as an eternal inheritance for immortality and eternal life, with the Holy City for its capital, the throne of God in the midst, for its seat of government; and watered with a stream clear as crystal, called the Waters of Life, issuing from the throne of Jehovah; while either side is adorned with trees of never-fading beauty.