2 Nephi 12:3

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Reference Search: 2 Nephi 12:3

3 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.

Quotes for Discussion

Law from Zion—Word from Jerusalem

It would be foolish to say that these references [isa. 2:2-5; Mic. 4:107; 2 Ne. 12:205] to Zion were to the hill in Jerusalem where David dwelt. Through modern revelation the Lord has made it known that the American continent is Zion. It is to be on this land that the city Zion, the New Jerusalem, shall be built. These predictions are clearly stated in the Book of Mormon and are in perfect accord with the writings of the Bible. (Era, vol. 26, 960; 3 Ne. 20:22; 21:20-29; Ether 13:2-11.)

This western continent is known as the land of Joseph and is also designated as the land of Zion. The holy city which is to be built upon this land is sometimes called the City of Zion. We should keep in mind that these terms (City of Zion, and New Jerusalem) have reference to the same sanctified place from whence shall go forth the law, with the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation: Sermons and Writings of Joseph Fielding Smith, p. 67

He [God] will assemble the Natives, the remnants of Joseph in America; and make of them a great, and strong, and powerful nation: and he will civilize and enlighten them, and will establish a holy city, and temple, and seat of government among them, which shall be called Zion.

And there shall be his tabernacle, his sanctuary, his throne, and seat of government for the whole continent of North and South America for ever.

In short, it will be to the western hemisphere what Jerusalem will be to the eastern.

And there the Messiah will visit them in person; and the old Saints, who will then have been raised from the dead, will be with him. And he will establish his kingdom and laws over all the land….

The city of Zion, with its sanctuary and priesthood, and the glorious fullness of the gospel, will constitute a standard which will put an end to jarring creeds and political wranglings, by uniting the republics, states, provinces, territories, nations, tribes, kindred, tongues, people, and sects of North and South America in one great and common bond of brotherhood….

Americans! This mighty and strange work has been commenced in your midst, and must roll on in fulfillment.

“Proclamation of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to all the Kings of the World,” April 6, 1845, as quoted in James R. Clark, comp., Messages of the First Presidency, 5 vols. [salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1955-1975], 1:259-61

Out of Zion shall go forth the law says the prophet. What law? A law to regulate the nations, a law teaching them how to be saved, a law informing the kings and emperors and the nobles of the earth how they can save themselves, and how they can save their dead.

Orson Pratt, JD, 14:350

Moses received the word of the Lord from God Himself; he was the mouth of God to Aaron, and Aaron taught the people, in both civil and ecclesiastical affairs; they were both one;…so will it be when the purposes of God shall be accomplished: when “the Lord shall be King over the whole earth” and “Jerusalem His throne.” “The law shall go forth from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”

Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 252

These will be the two religious “capitals for the kingdom of God during the millennium.” (Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, 3:71.) One will be located in independence, Missouri (D&C 57:3; 84:2-4); the other will be found in old Jerusalem (Ether 13:2011). Both centers will be called Zion and Jerusalem, and they will possess great temples.

Donald W. Parry, Jay A. Parry, and Tina M. Peterson, Understanding Isaiah, p. 27

Traditionally the world has supposed that Isaiah’s reference to the law going forth from Zion and the word of the Lord going forth from Jerusalem was a Hebrew parallelism and that both references pointed to the Old World. That such was not Isaiah’s intent is illustrated in a revelation given to Joseph Smith wherein it was announced that the Gentiles (meaning non-Jewish nations) were to flee to the Zion of the New World while those who are of Judah were to flee to Jerusalem, “unto the mountains of the Lord’s house” (D&C 133:12-13).

Joseph Fielding McConkie and Robert L. Millet, Doctrinal Commentary on the Book of Mormon, 4 vols. [salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1987-1992], 278

We believe the people of the United States, moving forward under the provisions of this inspired Constitution, have a manifest destiny—not a destiny of territorial expansion and worldly aggression, but the destiny of promoting, upholding, and defending the ideals of free institutions in government and righteousness in human relations….

To proclaim these truths—0free government, free institutions, free men—to live them, to encourage their observance by example—this is the destiny of America….

Then America will take her true place as a leader among the nations, and her principles, her ideals, her laws, shall fill the earth.

Thus would be realized the prophecy of Isaiah of old, “for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”

J. Reuben Clark, Jr. Liahon1: the Elders’ Journal, 31:461-62

The statement about the law going forth from Zion and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem will come to pass during the Millennium….

We expect to see the day when temples will dot the earth….Perhaps they will number in the hundreds, or even in the thousands, before the Lord returns. During the Millennium their presence will be everywhere, for the billions of church members will all be entitled to the fullness of the ordinances and blessings of the Lord’s holy houses. But there are two great temples in particular, two glorious houses of the Great Jehovah, that must be built by his people before he comes—one in Jerusalem of old, the other in the New Jerusalem….

Solomon built a majestic mansion for the Lord in the day of Israel’s glory. Zerubbabel built it anew when the remnant returned from bondage in Babylon. And Herod—a wretched, evil man whose every act bore Satan’s stamp—built it for the final time in the day our Lord made flesh his tabernacle….This is the temple that was torn apart, stone by stone, by Titus and his minions. And thus ended temple work in Jerusalem….And thus was it to be in Jerusalem until the promised day when a new temple should arise—perhaps on the very site of the old one—in which the gospel ordinances of the new kingdom shall be performed….

And then shall the Millennium be ushered in….Who shall build this temple? The Lord himself shall do it by the hands of his servants the prophets….There is only one people who know how to build temples and what to do in them when they are completed. That people is the Latter-day Saints. The temple in Jerusalem will not be built by Jews who have assembled there for political purposes as at present….But it will be built by Jews who have come unto Christ, who once again are in the true fold of their ancient Shepherd….

All of this brings us to that inspired statement of the Prophet Joseph Smith relative to the temple in Jerusalem and the Second Coming: “Judah must return,” he said, “Jerusalem must be rebuilt, and the temple, and water come out from under the temple, and the waters of the Dead Sea be healed. It will take some time to rebuild the walls of the city and the temple, etc.; and all this must be done before the Son of Man will make His appearance” (Teachings, 286).

We now turn to a consideration of the temple in the New Jerusalem….In July 1831 the Prophet Joseph Smith, then in Jackson County, Missouri, importuned the Lord in these words: “When will the wilderness blossom as the rose? When will Zion be built up in her glory, and where will thy Temple stand, unto which all nations shall come in the last days?” (Introductory heading, D&C 57). In answer the Lord said: “This is the land of promise, and the place for the city of Zion….Behold, the place which is now called Independence is the center place; and a spot for the temple is lying westward, upon a lot which is not far from the court-house” (D&C 57:1-3).

It is in this city, the New Jerusalem in Jackson County, that the house of the Lord unto which all nations shall come in the last days shall be built….When the appointed time comes, the Lord will reveal it to his servants who preside over his kingdom from Salt Lake City, and then the great work will go forward….Some Lamanites may assist and some Gentiles may bring their wealth to adorn the buildings, but the keys are with Ephraim.

Bruce R. McConkie, The Millennial Messiah, 276-81