The Prophetic Chronology Template
I have heard the phrase, “The first shall be last and the last shall be first” or “The last shall be first and first shall be last” oft repeated throughout my life. Out of curiosity I have asked different people what they thought the phrase meant? In the two most recent conversations the people I spoke with said they understood it to refer to divine justice. Essentially those who were granted wealth and privilege in this life would forfeit those benefits in the next and those who were deprived in this life would reap those benefits in the next life.
Several years ago a different perspective of these phrases came to me. It has come to represent another template that provides a chronological framework for the future.[i] Like the Elias, Elijah, Messiah template, Joseph Smith discussed this topic in a letter to N.E. Seaton, editor of a newspaper January 4, 1833. Joseph does not specifically refer to the template but he clearly follows the pattern in his letter. The following are excerpts from Joseph’s letter.
The Covenant and Christ during His Mortal Ministry
Speaking of the covenant God sought to make with Israel, Joseph states, “This covenant has never been established with the house of Israel, nor with the house of Judah, for it requires two parties to make a covenant, and those two parties must be agreed, or no covenant can be made. Christ, in the days of His flesh, proposed to make a covenant with them, but they rejected Him and His proposals, and in consequence thereof, they were broken off, and no covenant was made with them at that time.”[ii]
The Jews, as a remnant of Israel were granted the opportunity and privilege of entering into a covenant with Christ. When they rejected Jesus they rejected the covenant opportunity granted them. Following the Jewish rejection the covenant opportunity was given to the Gentiles through Peter during the reign of the Apostolic Church. The crucifixion of Jesus marked a covenant transition where the “first”, (Israel) forfeited their opportunity as the chosen people and the “last” (Gentiles) became the next beneficiary of covenant blessings.
The Gentile Covenant Opportunity
Joseph explains the Gentiles did little to take advantage of their opportunity. Said Joseph, “Thus after this chosen family had rejected Christ and His proposals, the heralds of salvation said to them, “Lo we turn unto the Gentiles”; and the Gentiles received the covenant and were grafted in from whence the chosen family were broken off; but the Gentiles have not continued in the goodness of God, but have departed from the faith that was once delivered to the Saints, and have broken the covenant in which their fathers were established; and have become high-minded , and have not feared; therefore, but few of them will be gathered with the chosen family. Have not the pride, high mindedness, and unbelief of the Gentiles, provoked the Holy One of Israel to withdraw His Holy Spirit from them, and send forth His judgments to scourge them for their wickedness? This is certainly the case.”[iii] This completes the first two steps of the phrase. Israel was “first” and the Gentiles were “last.”
The Dark Night of Apostasy
Following the first covenant opportunity for Israel and the Gentiles, the earth enters a period of apostasy where no group was given the opportunity to covenant with God. Of these dark days Joseph wrote: “By the foregoing testimonies we may look at the Christian world and see the apostasy there has been from the apostolic platform; and who can look at this and not exclaim, in the language of Isaiah, “The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinances, and broken the everlasting covenant?”
The dark days of apostasy began to close with the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ through Joseph Smith. The Prophet wrote: “The plain fact is this, the power of God begins to fall upon the nations, and the light of the latter-day glory begins to break forth through the dark atmosphere of sectarian wickedness, and their iniquity rolls up into view, and the nations of the Gentiles are like the waves of the sea, casting up mire and dirt, or all in commotion, and they are hastily preparing to act the part allotted them, when the Lord rebukes the nations when He shall rule them with a rod of iron, and break them in pieces like a potter’s vessel. The Lord declared to His servants, some eighteen months since, that He was withdrawing His Spirit from the earth; and we can see that such is the fact, for not only the churches are dwindling away, but there are no conversions, or but very few: and this is not all, the governments of the earth are thrown into confusion and division; and Destruction, to the eye of the spiritual beholder, seems to be written by the finger of an invisible hand, in large capitals, upon almost every thing we behold.”[iv]
The restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ initiated the Gentile covenant opportunity. It was the “last’s” opportunity (or Gentile turn) to receive the covenant opportunity first. Joseph said that when the “light of the latter-day glory begins to break forth” iniquity would roll into view and the time would fast approach when the Lord would rebuke the nations with “a rod of Iron.”
Lessons from the Past
The template represents four stages, three of which were just reviewed. The third stage has not been completed but is still in process. The fourth stage lies in the future. Having come thus far, what can we learn by looking back on covenant history? A repeating pattern seems to emerge. The house of Israel was given the first opportunity to covenant with God and their final act of rejection was to crucify the Son of God. The consequence for covenant rebellion is destruction and dispersal of the people.[i]
After Israel rejected the covenant with God they lost their power to prevail over their enemies and the nations of Gentiles replaced Israel in both power and wealth. Eventually the Gentiles followed the pattern set by Israel and refused the Lord’s covenant. This led to complete withdrawal of the covenant opportunity, the loss of revelation between God and man and a period of war and destruction so evil as to be labeled the “Dark Ages” by some historians.
Near the conclusion of the Dark Ages God began to turn the hearts of the Gentiles back to God. Fleeing religious persecution and searching for religious freedom, the pilgrims came to America and began to lay the ground work for the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and a democratic government established to protect those freedoms. Against all odds God blessed these people and strengthened them to stand against all other governments. Once the groundwork was laid the covenant opportunity was introduced through the Prophet, Joseph Smith.
The Gospel has been restored for nearly two hundred years. Joseph said that God had begun to withdraw His Spirit eighteen months before Joseph wrote his letter to N. E. Seaton. Joseph Smith warned that God intended to rule the Gentile nations with “a rod of iron” and eventually would break them in pieces “like the potter’s vessel.”
[i] 1 Nephi 13:42, 1Nephi 22:3-12
[ii] “Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith”, Joseph Fielding Smith, Deseret Book, 1974, pgs.14-15
[iii] “Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith”, Joseph Fielding Smith, Deseret Book, 1974, pg.15
[iv] “Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith”, Joseph Fielding Smith, Deseret Book, 1974, pgs.15-16
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