This land of America is truly one of a kind. It is in many cases the leader of the world. This nation is the nation to which everyone turns for help, and the nation that shoulders most of the blame from others. It is always in the spotlight for better and for worse. Why should this nation, which is still relatively very young be the center of so much attention? The answer, simply put, is that America is blessed of God. America is great because it is sitting on a promised land; a land chosen by God. The land of America is blessed by the hand of God; therefore, the nation is blessed as long as it qualifies for those blessings. This choice land has always been favored by the Lord and will be forever as long as a righteous people inhabit it. This writing aims to reveal why the land of America is so special, by examining the scriptures that reveal its past, present, and future, revealing in effect, the doctrine of America.
Modern revelation reveals that the Garden of Eden was located on this land (“What do we know about the location of the Garden of Eden?” Ensign January 1994). So, from the very beginning we see that this land is chosen of the Lord, for He placed his crowning creations here: Adam, Eve, and the Garden of Eden. This land is the birthplace of all human life.
It is assumed that the city of Enoch; also known as Zion, which was taken up to dwell with the Lord was located on this land. This assumption is made based on the assumption that the descendants of Adam lived near where Adam dwelt. We know from scripture that Adam-ondi-Ahman is located at Spring Hill in Missouri (D&C 116) and that near the end of his life, Adam blessed his descendants at this location (D&C 107: 53). This assumption is also drawn from the fact that the city of Enoch will come down from heaven (Revelation 21:2) and will join with the city of Zion that the Lord has built up on the American continent. “…this land… was the place of the New Jerusalem, which should come down out of heaven, and the holy sanctuary of the Lord” (Ether 13:2-3). Since the city of Enoch will come down to this land, it is likely that it departed from this land.
Thus, we see that at the beginning of days on this Earth, this land was a chosen spot for the Lord and His people. Even after the flood of Noah, where the Lord washed the Earth and cleansed it from its filth, we learn 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 who dwell upon the face thereof” (Ether 13:2). The Lord started life here, but after wickedness grew too much the Lord destroyed the wicked in the flood, saved Noah, and established him and the new human race on a land other than this land. He hid it from the world to preserve it for His righteous people. From that moment forward this promised land became a hidden promise land, “and behold, it is wisdom that this land should be kept as yet from the knowledge of other nations; for behold, many nations would overrun the land, that there would be no place for an inheritance” (2 Nephi 1:8). This scripture teaches us why the Lord kept this promise land hidden. Therefore, “there shall none come into this land save they shall be brought by the hand of the Lord” (2 Nephi 1:6). From these scriptures we learn that the Lord hid this land and brought over select peoples who He deemed worthy to live here and serve Him; this because it is a blessed land and a choice land (see also 2 Nephi 1:5).
Concerning this promise land the Lord declares this a choice land in multiple verses: “we have obtained a land of promise, a land which is choice above all other lands” (2 Nephi 1:5 emphasis mine); “he would that they should come forth even unto the land of promise, which was choice above all other lands, which the Lord God had preserved for a righteous people (Ether 2:7 emphasis mine); “For behold, this is a land which is choice above all other lands” (Ether 2:10 emphasis mine); “Behold, this is a choice land” (Ether 2:12 emphasis mine); while elsewhere this land is referred to as “a good spot of ground” (Jacob 5:25). Lastly, the Lord promised this land to the posterity of Lehi, a descendant of Joseph: “Wherefore, I will consecrate this land unto thy seed, and them who shall be numbered among thy see, forever, for the land of their inheritance; for it is a choice land, saith God unto me, above all other lands, wherefore I will have all men that dwell thereon that they shall worship me, saith God” (2 Nephi 10:19 emphasis mine).
This land is “preserved for a righteous people” (Ether 2:7) and the Lord warns those who inhabit it that they must serve Him or be destroyed. “Whoso should possess this land of promise…should serve him, the true and only God, or they should be swept off” (Ether 2:8); “we can behold the decrees of God concerning this land, that it is a land of promise; and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall serve God, or they shall be swept off” (Ether 2:9); “wherefore he that doth possess it shall serve God or shall be swept off; for it is the everlasting decree of God” (Ether 2:10). Three verses in a row declare the same warning that those in possession of this land must serve God or find themselves no longer possessing it. This is a serious warning that none should take lightly; we as present possessors of the land of America are under the same warning. The Lord destroyed both the Jaredites and Nephites – both chosen people of God – for this very reason. Moroni warns us of this exact thing “And this cometh unto you, O ye Gentiles [his name for us], that ye may know the decrees of God – that ye may repent, and not continue in your iniquities until the fullness come, that ye may not bring down the fullness of the wrath of God upon you as the inhabitants of the land have hitherto done (Ether 2:11). The message is clear, if we do not keep His commandments and serve God, then nothing will stand in the way of our fate and the fate of this nation; being swept off exactly as the Lord warned and did twice already.
As we serve the Lord we are promised blessings. “Behold, this is a choice land, and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall be free from bondage, and from captivity, and from all other nations under heaven” (Ether 2:12 emphasis mine); “Wherefore, I, Lehi, have obtained a promise, that inasmuch as those whom the Lord God shall bring out of the land of Jerusalem shall keep his commandments, they shall prosper upon the face of this land; and they shall be kept from all other nations, that they may possess this land unto themselves. And if it so be that they shall keep his commandments they shall be blessed upon the face of this land, and there shall be none to molest them, nor to take away the land of their inheritance; and they shall dwell safely forever (2 Nephi 1:9 emphasis mine). Additionally, “this land shall be a land of liberty” and “there shall be no kings upon the land…And I will fortify this land against all other nations” (2 Nephi 10:9).
This land has been promised to the house of Joseph as well as a blessed place for the Gentiles. We know that Joseph was promised his own land by the Lord. “And of Joseph he said, Blessed of the Lord be his land” (Deut. 33:13 emphasis mine). This is land given to Joseph in addition to the promised land given to all of Israel. The blessings given to the house of Joseph by his father Jacob and by Moses give details about his land. Moses speaks of “the precious fruits brought forth by the sun, and for the precious things put forth by the moon,” the “ancient mountains,” the “precious things of the lasting hills,” and the “precious things of the earth” (Deut. 33:14-16). This is a land that is described as precious, with an abundance of fruit and vegetation and with hills and ancient mountains. Jacob gives a key insight that the seed of Joseph will cross water. “Joseph is a fruitful bough [have much posterity], even a fruitful bough by a well [source or body of water]; whose branches run over the wall [his branches or posterity will run over or cross the divide]” (Genesis 29:24). Jacob also speaks on the blessings that Joseph will receive from the ground, military superiority, and alludes to the everlasting hills that will be Joseph’s (Genesis 49:22-26). The Book of Mormon makes this teaching plain and straightforward: “Wherefore, the remnant of the house of Joseph shall be built upon this land; and it shall be a land of their inheritance;” (Ether 13:8). The Lehites are a fulfillment of that prophecy as the Lord promised Lehi multiple times that this land would be for his posterity. “I will consecrate this land unto thy seed” (2 Nephi 10:19). “We have obtained a land of promise…which the Lord God hath covenanted with me [Lehi] should be a land for the inheritance of my seed. Yea, the Lord hath covenanted this land unto me, and to my children forever, and also all those who should be led out of other countries by the hand of the Lord” (2 Nephi 1:5). This verse also points out that this land is meant for any righteous people the Lord wants to bring to it, including the Gentiles. “This land, said God, shall be a land of thine inheritance, and the Gentiles shall be blessed upon the land” (2 Nephi 10:10). The Lord did choose to bring select Gentiles here in order to establish a nation in America.
Knowing that only the Lord determines who will inhabit His promise lands (2 Nephi 1:6), He used His Spirit to prompt Christopher Columbus to discover the Americas and brought other Gentiles as well (1 Nephi 13:13). Because of their faithfulness, God blessed the Gentiles on the land of America to establish their own free nation by winning the Revolutionary War; “the wrath of God was upon all those that were gathered together against them [the Gentiles in the Americas] to battle” (1 Nephi 13:15-19; 2 Nephi 12-13; 3 Nephi 21:4). Shortly thereafter, the Lord inspired the founding fathers to create the Constitution of the United States. “I established the Constitution of this land, by the hands of wise men whom I raised up unto this very purpose” (D&C 101:80). This constitution “should be maintained for the rights and protection of all flesh” (D&C 101:77) and “belongs to all mankind” (D&C 98:5). This inspired document ensured the right to freely practice one’s religion, which created a place on the earth where the Lord could fulfill His prophecies; a place where He could raise up an ensign, establish His kingdom, gather scattered Israel, and prepare the world for His Coming.
The future and purposes of America are clearly laid out in the scriptures. The Lord declared through Isaiah that He would perform a “marvelous work and a wonder” (Isaiah 29:14) by lifting up an ensign, or standard, in the last days, which is our day. When read together, the various scriptures in Isaiah, and elsewhere, that speak of this ensign (or standard), give clarity to where this ensign will be set up and for what purpose. The Lord declared that He would set up His ensign among the Gentiles to gather scattered Israel. “He shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth” (Isaiah 11:12). “I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people: and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders” (Isaiah 49:22-23). This aid given to Israel from the Gentiles will come from a land far from Israel on top of mountains. “And he will lift up an ensign to the nations from far” (Isaiah 5:26); “they shall behold the land that is very far off” (Isaiah 33:17); “see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains” (Isaiah 18:1-3); “Lift ye up a banner upon the high mountain” (Isaiah 13:2). Lastly, this ensign will also be led by one called and chosen of God (a prophet) – Isaiah refers to him as the “root of Jesse”. “And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people” (Isaiah 11:10). What we have learned from these verses is that the Lord will establish an ensign, or standard, for all nations. He will do this by calling a prophet in a mountainous land that is far away among the Gentiles. We have already established that the land promised to the tribe of Joseph was far away, as it would be across the water. His land is also where the Gentiles were brought by the hand of the Lord. The ensign would be raised up in the land of America, and this land would be called Zion; the name the Lord uses to call a land which holds His standard. “Set up a standard toward Zion” (Jeremiah 4:6); “this is the land of promise, and the place for the city of Zion” (D&C 57:2, see also D&C 58:7).
America’s religious freedom is also necessary for the fulfillment of other prophecies about the work in the last days: such as the Lord sending a “messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me” (Malachi 3:1); or “the God of heaven [shall] set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed” (Daniel 2:44); or a place for the “restitution of all things” (Acts 3:19) during “the dispensation of the fullness of times [where] he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him” (Ephesians 1:10, see also D&C 27:13).
America sits on a blessed land. Its history is blessed, its present is blessed, and its future is blessed. America was raised up by the hand of God to fulfill prophecies and to fulfill the promises that God made to His people – that He would gather them a second time. It is the place where Zion will be built, where the Kingdom will be prepared for its King who will come again. America is prosperous because of the blessings of the Lord. However, these blessings will only last as long as righteousness abounds. If wickedness goes unchecked and the people drift from God, they will have no blessings. They will forfeit their blessings of freedom, security, prosperity, abundance, military strength, not being ruled by any other king or nation, and so forth. This warning has been given to all inhabitants who possessed the land. We read from the Book of Mormon of the fate of the Jaredites and Lehites, who both possessed the land as a righteous and chosen people. Their wickedness brought about their destruction. Thus, our fate will be the same unless we hold to the word of God and keep His commandments. The doctrine of America is that this land is a choice land, chosen by God to be the center of His latter-day work. May we always remember He who sustains us and choose to assist in His great work.
Note: for a more in-depth reading of this subject, read “The Covenant: One Nation Under God” by Tim Ballard.
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