The Sum of Life

Zion and Jerusalem By Joseph Fielding Smith, of the Council of the Twelve

The following question is from a reader of the Improvement Era, in the Southern States: Referring to Isaiah 2:2-3, please explain whether it is the New Jerusalem that is to be built in the land of Zion, or Jerusalem that is to be built on the eastern continent, from whence the word of the Lord will go forth in the last days."

The scripture in question is as follows: And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's House shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. 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.

The statement is very clear that two separate cities, or centers, are mentioned by Isaiah. In modern revelation this is confirmed, and we are informed just where the city of Zion which — is the New Jerusalem —shall be built. In order to get a proper understanding of this question, it is necessary to explain the fact that Palestine is to be the gathering place of the tribe of Judah "and the children of Israel his companions," after their long dispersion as predicted by the prophets. America is the land of Zion. It was given to Joseph, son of Jacob, and his descendants to be an everlasting inheritance. The children of Ephraim (son of Joseph) "and all the house of Israel his companions," will be gathered to Zion, or America. In the blessing given by Jacob to his son Joseph the inheritance of America is foreshadowed and predicted in the following words: Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall: * * * The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bounds of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren. Because of his faithfulness and integrity, Joseph received greater blessings than the progenitors of Jacob, and was rewarded with the land of Zion. His brothers, with malicious intent, separated him and cast him out from among them. The