# The Evening and the Morning Star, v1n03, editorial matter attributed to W. W. Phelps (editor)
# Date: August 1832 (Independence, Missouri)
# Source: http://www.centerplace.org/history/ems/v1n03.htm (centerplace.org transcription). Pieces: The Cholera; RESTORATION OF THE JEWS; PRESENT AGE OF THE WORLD; TO THE HONORABLE MEN OF THE WORLD; THE BOOK OF ETHER. Notes: unsigned editorials in Phelps-edited issue (confidence medium; 'To Man' June 1832 signed W. W. PHELPS = high); revelations, scripture extracts, reprints, hymns, and others' letters excluded; quoted matter and detected unmarked scripture paragraphs stripped; transcriber bracket-corrections removed (original spelling retained).

[The Cholera]

This desolating sickness is spreading steadily over the United States. The account of its ravages, in many places, we cannot give: The whole number of cases in New-York, to July 31, is-3731. Deaths-1520.

No man can stop the work of the Lord, for God rules the pestilence, and the pestilence rules men. Oceans, sentinels, and forts, may hinder men, or money may bribe, but when the pestilence rides on the wings of the wind, the ocean is no barrier; the sentinel has no power; the fort is no obstacle, and money has no value: the destroying angel goes, waving the banner of death over all; and who shall escape his pointed arrow? Not he that could brave death at the cannon's mouth, but shrink at the sound of the cholera; not he that worshiped his god in some stately chapel, every sabbath till the cholera comes, and then flees for his life; no; none but him that trusts in God, shall be able to stand when a thousand shall fall at his side, and ten thousand at his right hand, by the noisome pestilence.

[RESTORATION OF THE JEWS]

Few commentators extend the time for the restoration or conversion of the Jews beyond the year 1866. Of the fact of their conversion, none who believe the New Testament can doubt. But the precise time, and the way and the manner in which this will be effected, the Lord has reserved to himself, and it must be expected, that the opinion of men in regard to it will be various, and in many instances contradictory. In all probability it will take place near the time of that thousand years of peace and rest, foretold in the Revelation, when satan shall be bound, and not be permitted to deceive the nations any more till the thousand years are finished.

-> Remarks. Neither the house of Joseph in America, nor the Jews among all nations, nor the Ten Tribes which went to that country can be converted by ministers, though the Gentiles are:

[PRESENT AGE OF THE WORLD]

There are so many different opinions upon, as well as various periods to the age of the world, that we fear the truth of the matter will be believed by few. Whether by the commentators upon the sacred writings, or by the clergy, the term of four thousand and four years, was put down as the exact time from the beginning till the birth of the Savior, we shall not pretend to say, but content ourselves by stating, that 4004 years, which is the present Christian calculation, added to the current year of our Lord, makes but 5836 years since the commencement of time in this world. But upon collecting the passed periods that the Lord has been pleased to measure out to his servants, by the prophets, we find a very different amount of years from the beginning. We compute thus:

Gen. 5 & 8 From Adam to the end of the flood, ... 1656

Ex. 12. The children of Israel in Egypt, ..... 430

From their departure out of Egypt till the birth of the Savior.

Years before Christ, ................. 4159

Since his birth, ..................... 1832

From the beginning till now, ......... 5991

Here we have more than a century and a half difference on a subject of the utmost importance to the human family; and that, too, from the word of the Lord: And how comes this, asks the humble enquirer , I thought the spirit of God taught his disciples alike in all ages, and in all things? Be patient, beloved reader, and you shall know where the error comes from. The different parcels of time, from the creation till Jacob told Pharaoh the days of his pilgrimage were 130 years, are just as explicit as words at full length can make them; and he that will, may add the years of each man from birth to birth, till he comes to Jacob's pilgrimage, when he entered Egypt, and he will find 2238 years. Very well, but notwithstanding the word of the Lord says, in several places, that the children of Israel sojourned in Egypt four hundred and thirty years, in words at full length, yet all christendom reject the account, and declare that the said 430 years commenced when Abram departed from Ur in Chaldea, leaving Israel in Egypt but 220 years; and some have actually had the presumptuous audacity, to endeavor to strengthen this calculation, by quoting Paul's words in the third chapter of Gallations : The covenant, that was confirmed before of God is Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, can not disannul, that it should make the promise of none affect. Now let us search out the word confirm, and we shall learn that Paul allowed the children of Israel to be in Egypt 430 years, according to the record of the prophets. The 105th Psalm says, O ye seed of Abraham his servant, ye children of Jacob his chosen: He is the Lord our God; his judgments are in all the earth: He hath remembered his covenant to a thousand generations; which he made with Abraham, and his oath unto Isaac, confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant. He that believes the bible, knows that God made a covenant with Abraham; and said to Isaac, I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father, and when the same God spoke to Jacob saying, Fear not to go down into Egypt-I will surly bring yon up again, in addition to the promise before, that, in him and his seed should all the families of the earth be blessed, he has the confirmation, that Paul when he used confirm had no reference to the time when God made the covenant with Abraham. Besides the prophetic declaration that the seed of Abraham should be a stranger in a land not theirs; and they should be afflicted 400 years (Gen. 15.) Stephen says, in the 7th chapter of Acts, that they were evil entreated that length of time, which just agrees with the general account, that about 30 years after Jacob went into the land of Goshen a new king rose up, who began to torment Israel and to increase the tale of his labor, which lasted four hundred years!

The objection to this account of time, is, like others against the scripture, made by man upon the supposition, that if Levi begat Kohath, and Kohath begat Amram, and Amram began Moses, there could not have been 430 years, as the age of man at that day rarely exceeded 120 or 130 years.

As there is but one place, as we recollect, tha carries an idea that Moses was the SON of Amram, if the world will furnish us with The Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah, mentioned in the 9th chapter of I Chronicles, wherein the genealogies of the fathers of Israel were regularly kept we will endeavor to explain the secret: so we add 430 years to the last sum, and it makes 2668, years when God brought Israel out of bondage.

From this till the Savior came, are 1491 years: Divided thus: To the commencement of Solomon's Temple, 480, as mentioned in the 6th chapter of the first book of Kings. From thence to the Babylonish captivity of the Jews, are 411 years, drawn from the different reigns of the various Kings. In this account, we think there is a small difference, not to exceed 8 or 10 years; we take the least. From the Babylonish captivity till the birth of the Savior, not only the scripture and commentators, but the Book of Mormon also, agree in 600 years; which three sums, added to 2668, give an aggregate of four thousand one hundred and fifty five years to the commencement of this present era.

We will remark here, that years cannot be calculated by generations: For the 1948 years from Adam to Abraham included 20 generations: 97 1/4 years to a generation in all, but before the flood about 165 years. From Abraham to Christ were 42 generations, 2211 years; which would give about 52 2/3 years to a generation: But as the sacred writer divided the said 2211 years into three portions of fourteen generations each: We have, from Abraham to David, 1126 years; equal to 80 1/2 years to a generation. From David to the captivity at Babylon, 485 years; equal to 34 2/3 years to a generation: And from the captivity to the birth of Christ, 600 years: equal to 42 1/2 years to a generation. Wherefore, he that is wise will watch the signs, without measuring the length of a generation.

As no serious objections have been made to the current account of time, called the christian era, we shall not only suppose it correct, but set it down so, at 1832, and, with the old and new eras, we have Five thousand nine hundred and ninety one years; leaving the world NINE years from the beginning of the seven thousandth year, or sabbath of creation: But as all have the privilege of ascertaining such facts for themselves, we ask no man to take our word for the age of the world; the word of the Lord is enough, and whether it be 160, or only 9 years to the morning of the Great Day, is not so much matter, as the solemn reality-Are we ready?

[TO THE HONORABLE MEN OF THE WORLD]

To the honorable searchers for truth, we, in a spirit of candor and meekness, are bound by every tie that makes man the friend of man, by every endowment of heaven, that renders intelligent beings seekers of happiness, to show you the way to salvation. In fact, we are not only bound to do thus for those that seek the riches of eternity, but, to walk in the tracks of our Savior, we must love our enemies; bless them that curse us; do good to them that hate us, and pray for them that dispitefully use us, and persecute us, or you and the world may know, that we are not the children of God. Therefore, to be obedient to the precepts of our divine master, we say unto you, Search the Scriptures-search the revelations which we publish, and ask your heavenly Father, in the name of his Son Jesus Christ, to manifest the truth unto you, and if you do it with an eye single to his glory, nothing doubting, he will answer you by the power of his Holy Spirit: You will then know for yourselves and not for another: You will not then be dependent on man for the knowledge of God; nor will there be any room for speculation. No: for, when men receive their instruction from him that made them, they know how he will save them. Then again we say, Search the Scriptures; search the prophets, and learn what portion of them belongs to you, and the people of the nineteenth century. You, no doubt, will agree with us, and say, that you have no right to claim the promises of the inhabitants before the flood; that you cannot found your hopes of salvation upon the obedience of the children of Israel, when journeying in the wilderness; nor can you expect that the blessings which the apostles pronounced upon the churches of Christ, eighteen hundred years ago, were intended for you:

Every man lives for himself. Adam was made to open the ways of the world, and for dressing the garden. Noah was born to save seed of every thing, when the earth was washed of its wickedness by the flood; and the Son of God came into the world to redeem it from the fall. But except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. This eternal truth settles the question of all men's religion. A man may be saved, after the judgment, in the Terrestrial kingdom, or in the Telestial kingdom, but he can never see the Celestial kingdom of God, without being born of water and the Spirit. He may receive a glory like unto the Moon, or a star, but he can never come unto mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels; to the general assembly and church of the first-born, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, unless he becomes as a little child, and is taught by the Spirit of God. Wherefore, we again say, Search the revelations of God: study the prophecies, and rejoice that god grants unto the world seers and prophets: They are they who saw the mysteries of godliness; they saw the flood before it came; they saw angels ascending and decending upon a ladder that reached from earth to heaven; they saw the stone cut out of the mountain, which filled the whole earth: they saw the Deliverer come out of Zion, and turn away ungodliness from Jacob; they saw the glory of the Lord when he showed the transfiguration of the earth on the Mount; they saw every mountain laid low and every valley exalted when the Lord was taking vengeance upon the wicked; they saw truth spring out of the earth, and righteousness look down from heaven in the last days, before the Lord came the second time, to gather his elect; they saw the end of wickedness on earth, & the sabbath of creation crowned with peace; they saw the end of the glorious thousand years, when Satan was loosed for a little season; they saw the day of judgment when all men received according to their works, and they saw the heaven and earth flee away to make room for the city of God, when the righteous receive an inheritance in eternity:

[THE BOOK OF ETHER]

The Book of Mormon contains a short history of a race of people, which lived on this continent many generations before the children of Israel came to it. This brief account was written by a prophet of the Lord, named Ether; and his account, embracing a period from the confounding of the language at the building of Babel, to about 600 years before the birth of the Savior is supported by the Bible; for the Lord declares, that he scattered them abroad from thence, upon the face of all the earth. This nation, which, in honor of one of the first families that came over, were called Jaredites, must have had the unmolested control and use of America, near 1500 years. No nation, since then, can boast of so long a national existence; and but few before: the Adamites, or, at least, some Cainites, had the world to themselves about 1600 years before the flood.-As to the Jaredites, no more is known than is contained in The Book of Ether. Perhaps in Massachusetts, may hold an unknown tale in relation to these Pioneers of the land of liberty, which can yet be revealed. God is great, and when we look abroad in the earth, and take a glimpse through the long avenue of departed years, we can not only discover the traces in artificial curiosities, and common works, and small hills, mountain caves, and extensive prairies, where the Jaredites filled the measure of their time, but, as they were a very large race of men, whenever we hear that uncommon large bones have been dug up from the earth, we may conclude, That was the skeleton of a Jaredite. The mystery of man in this world, has not been unfolded to all, yet; and it may not be, in full, till the Savior comes; but enough has come to light, in these last days, to show that man was made to multiply and replenish the earth and subdue it, whether a few branches of christendom knew it or not. To the point; a beautiful sketch of the Book of Ether is handed down to us, in the Book of Mormon, by Moroni. We give an extract.

And now I, Moroni, proceed to finish my record concerning the destruction of the people which I have been writing. For behold, they rejected all the words of Ether: for he truly told them of all things; from the beginning of man; and how that after the waters had receded from off the face of this land, it became a choice land above all other lands, a chosen land of the Lord; wherefore the Lord would have that all men should serve him, which dwelleth upon the face thereof; and that it was the place of the New Jerusalem, which should come down out of heaven, and the holy sanctuary of the Lord.

And then cometh the New Jerusalem; and blessed are they which dwell therein, for it is they whose garments are white through the blood of the Lamb; and they are they which are numbered among the remnant of the seed of Joseph, which are of the house of Israel. And then also cometh the Jerusalem of old; and the inhabitants thereof, blessed are they, for they have been washed in the blood of the Lamb; and they are they which were scattered and gathered in from the four quarters of the earth, and from the north countries, and are partakers of the fulfilling of the covenant which God made with their father Abraham.

Let every one that queries about more Revelations from the Lord, take his bible and see if God ever acknowledged a church to be his, unless there was a prophet in it. This is one of the most important points relative to salvation, for, as it is written, not every one that says Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven.

-> One of the commandments says, My servants who are abroad in the earth, shall send forth the account of their stewardships to the land of Zion, for Zion shall be a seat, and a place to receive, and to do all these things: Wherefore we would remind the elders at a distance, to send forth, to the Editor of the Star, post paid, all matters connected with their mission, embracing historical facts, the number of sheaves the faithful laborers are blessed with, and all else, that may be well-pleasing in the sight of him who said, What thou seest, write in a book.

-> The prophet told the truth, when, prophesying of the last days, he said, The good is perished out of the earth; for so it is. Christ's disciples were nick-named CHRISTIANS, in the meridian of time; and his disciples, are now called MORMONITES without authority or provocation, by the sectarian papers, as well as the political; not, however, with an intimation to follow the Savior's golden rule, or to teach mankind, to embrace Paul's more excellent way! Let brotherly love continue.

-> The editor of this paper, husked, of this season's growth, ripe corn on the 28 July last; some of which has been planted for a second crop, and is coming on finely.

