What is the “Tower” mentioned in D&C 101? and its relation to the U.S. Constitution?
Consider this…
The following comes from The Doctrine & Covenants Section 101, versus 43-62. After reading this parable please read the quote by Joseph Smith below it.
And now, I will show unto you a parable, that you may know my will concerning the redemption of Zion. A certain nobleman had a spot of land, very choice; and he said unto his servants: Go ye unto my vineyard, even upon this very choice piece of land, and plant twelve olive-trees; And set watchmen round about them, and build a tower, that one may overlook the land round about, to be a watchman upon the tower, that mine olive-trees may not be broken down when the enemy shall come to spoil and take upon themselves the fruit of my vineyard.
Now, the servants of the nobleman went and did as their lord commanded them, and planted the olive-trees, and built a hedge round about, and set watchmen, and began to build a tower. And while they were yet laying the foundation thereof, they began to say among themselves: And what need hath my lord of this tower? And consulted for a long time, saying among themselves: What need hath my lord of this tower, seeing this is a time of peace? Might not this money be given to the exchangers? For there is no need of these things.
And while they were at variance one with another they became very slothful, and they hearkened not unto the commandments of their lord. And the enemy came by night, and broke down the hedge; and the servants of the nobleman arose and were affrighted, and fled; and the enemy destroyed their works, and broke down the olive-trees.
Now, behold, the nobleman, the lord of the vineyard, called upon his servants, and said unto them, Why! what is the cause of this great evil? Ought ye not to have done even as I commanded you, and—after ye had planted the vineyard, and built the hedge round about, and set watchmen upon the walls thereof—built the tower also, and set a awatchman upon the tower, and watched for my vineyard, and not have fallen asleep, lest the enemy should come upon you? And behold, the watchman upon the tower would have seen the enemy while he was yet afar off; and then ye could have made ready and kept the enemy from breaking down the hedge thereof, and saved my vineyard from the hands of the destroyer.
And the lord of the vineyard said unto one of his servants: Go and gather together the residue of my servants, and take all the strength of mine house, which are my warriors, my young men, and they that are of middle age also among all my servants, who arethe strength of mine house, save those only whom I have appointed to tarry; And go ye straightway unto the land of my vineyard, and redeem my vineyard; for it is mine; I have bought it with money. Therefore, get ye straightway unto my land; break down thewalls of mine enemies; throw down their tower, and scatter their watchmen. And inasmuch as they gather together against you, avenge me of mine enemies, that by and by I may come with the residue of mine house and possess the land.
And the servant said unto his lord: When shall these things be?
And he said unto his servant: When I will; go ye straightway, and do all things whatsoever I have commanded you; And this shall be my seal and blessing upon you—a faithful and wise steward in the midst of mine house, a ruler in my kingdom.
And his servant went straightway, and did all things whatsoever his lord commanded him; and after many days all things were fulfilled.
…also Consider…
…According to the laws and constitution of the people, which I have suffered to be established, and should be maintained for the rights and protection of all flesh, according to just and holy principles; That every man may act in doctrine and principle pertaining to futurity, according to the moral agency which I have given unto him, that every man may be accountable for his own sins in the day of judgment. Therefore, it is not right that any man should be in bondage one to another. And for this purpose have I established the Constitution of this land, by the hands of wise men whom I raised up unto this very purpose, and redeemedthe land by the shedding of blood…
…and this…
by Joseph Smith ( Sermon Delivered at Nauvoo, Illinois July 19, 1840. Source: Howard and Martha Coray Notebook ).
“We shall build the Zion of the Lord in peace until the servants of that Lord shall begin to lay the foundation of a great and high watch Tower and then shall they begin to say within themselves what need hath my Lord of this tower seeing this is a time of peace & Then the Enemy shall come as a thief in the night and scatter the servants abroad when the seed of these 12 Olive trees are scattered abroad they will wake up the Nations of the whole Earth. Even this Nation will be on the very verge of crumbling to pieces and tumbling to the ground and when the constitution is upon the brink of ruin this people will be the Staff up which the Nation shall lean and they shall bear the constitution away from the very verge of destruction. Then shall the Lord say go tell all my servants who are the strength of mine house my young men and middle aged and come to the Land of my vineyard and fight the battle of the Lord. Then the Kings & Queens shall come then the rulers of the Earth shall come then shall all saints come yea the Foreign saints shall come to fight for the Land of my vineyard for in this thing shall be their safety and they will have no power to choose but will come as a man fleeth from a sudden destruction.”
Putting some of the pieces together
In D&C Section 101 we read about the parable of the Tower, the servants only started on the foundation, but never completed the tower. Then we read about the U.S. Constitution that “should be maintained for the rights and protection of all flesh, according to just and holy principles.”
In the sermon given by the Prophet Joseph Smith in 1840 he spoke of that same parable of the Tower and also of the Constitution, and that “when the constitution is upon the brink of ruin this people will be the Staff up which the Nation shall lean and they shall bear the constitution away from the very verge of destruction”.
Have you done any studying into the significance of this connection? Do you have any thoughts regarding what this “tower” was supposed to be? (a “tower” that the saints didn’t think was important enough to build, yet it resulted in a surprise attack from the enemy). What does the “tower” represent? and what is the relation of the Constitution to the “Tower” the Saints were supposed to build, if any?
I have several thoughts regarding this which I will share later on, some ideas based on talks given by Church leaders, and other ideas of my own.
I would like to know your thoughts via the comments below…
I will have to give this some consideration. I am not sure that I can fit the pieces together yet, but I am sure they fit some how. How did you even make this connection? Very good!
I believe life is easy enough for us to ignore these warnings just a little longer. I pray we wake now to start the return, no begin living as a Zion nation. The stakes are higher than in 1776 so let’s obey the gospel and live life fully as a Christian nation.
I have been thinking about the meaning of the Tower, here are my thoughts. The servants are founding fathers. The foundation is the Constitution and the tower is our vigilance in defending it. We, the people, got lacks in our defense of and didn’t “build the tower” and dispute amongst ourselves the necessity of a vigorous defense of the principles of the Constitution. The enemy is secret combinations (Satan, banking cartels, criminal minded monopoly businesses, etc). They break in, run out the honest politicians (servants of the Lord of the Vineyard), and then they setup there own defenses (politicians, CIA, IRS, Fed Res, ATF, lawyers, judges, the list goes on). One day we (the Elders of Israel) will be called to repentance by the Lord of the Vineyard (Jesus Christ) and we will be commanded to go back and take back N. & S. American, as it is ALL the property of Jesus Christ. I believe it will be bought by blood.
That is my take on this parable and Joseph Smith’s commentary on the parable. Boy, what would I give to just sit down and spend a day talking to Bro. Joe?!
I’ve been studying Ezekiel 33 myself… and finding tons of scriptural cross-references, so it’s interesting that you have been thinking along the same wavelength, Brian. I’m anxious to learn more of what you think. Mizpah.
Okay, I have been patient. What are you idea’s Brian?
I have some thoughts on D & C 101:43-62, but I have been anticipating a response from Brian. I hope by this weekend you will share your thoughts. I will post mine Sat. or Sun. Thanks.
This is my followup regarding the parable of the Watchtower and the Constitution: Watchmen on the Tower
We just studied this in seminary. The lesson identifies the temple as the tower. The Saints were kicked out of Jackson County because they did not give heed to the words of the prophet Joseph, even after he made a special trip to lay the cornerstones for the temple, the saints never picked up a shovel. “What need hath my Lord of this tower?”, was truly their attitude. Had they done as the Lord commanded instead of being so worldly and abusing the laws of Zion, the Lord would have protected them.
Beginning in verse 44 of D&C 101 the nobleman(Christ) Ether 2:12 had a spot of land, very choice; (America) 1 Ne. 2:20, Ether 2:7-10 and he said unto his servants: (The Founders) D&C 101:80 Go ye unto my vineyard, even this very choice piece of land, and plant twelve olive trees; (House of Israel) 1 Ne. 10:12-13. The inspired idea of the Founding Fathers was the catalyst that severed the yoke of captivity from their mother gentile and cultivated the ground for the transplanting of the House of Israel.
1 Ne.13 (15-19). The early immigrants were filled with the blood of Israel among which the early church leaders (Watchmen) were. The Founders constructed a tower, a system of defense a safeguard to preserve religious and economic freedom (Constitution) D&C 101:77-80. Like a tower that extends its Watchman’s vision to see threats to freedom coming from afar off; the Lord established the Constitution which if observed would be a protection against oppression. Unfortunately while laying the foundation the servants began to be in a state of disagreement one with another; the contest between a centralized federal government (Federalists) or the confederacy of sovereign and equal states(Anti-Federalists). This was a focus of American political debate from the time of the founding until the 1860s.
This is certainly a sobering commentary, and a very thought provoking one. The main emotion I feel in reading it is overwhelming sadness, tinged with disgust. I believe your analysis is right on the money. It is readily apparent to me that we as a nation are at the same point that the Nephites were in during the days of Helaman.(Helaman 6:38-39)Today, as then,a secret combination has established a corporatocracy of fake jew(Revelations 2:9 & 3:9)zionist bankers in place of our constitutional republic. Today, as then, the majority of our people are partaking of their “spoils”, i.e. social security, medicare, medicaid, food stamps, AFDC, etc., and are now dependent upon them. Today, as then, no one seeking a political office has a prayer of getting into government unless he promises to continue these “spoils”. Thus we have become our own worst enemies, voting for the scum of the earth if they promise to “spoil” us, with little if any consideration being given for their moral character or their committment to principles of freedom and prosperity. Any and every attempt on my part, or that of anyone else around here, to “awake” the members “to a sense of {their} awful situation” is met with a stern rebuke from our branch president and stake president. We get accused of mixing politics with religion, and of “preaching negative pessimisms”. I was placed on probation for quoting directly from Ether 8:24-25 from the pulpit. My branch and stake presidents forbid me to say such things or to preach against socialism because “it hurts the members feelings”. I kidd you not. I keep thinking of the warnings from Presidents J. Reuben Clark Jr. and Ezra Taft Benson about the “ravening wolves” in priesthood leadership positions that will increasingly be misleading us with “the precepts of men” as the Lord warned in 2nd Nephi 28:14. Today, if you are a typical “spoils”-dependent socialist, you get treated with respect by your leaders and the members in general. You get callings and have no trouble obtaining a temple recommend. But if you heed the warnings in D&C 84:54-57, 60:2, 101:77, etc., you get ostracized, persecuted, ignored, and humiliated. We enjoyed being LDS when we were baptized 39 years ago. We no longer do, and don’t even attend meetings anymore. The original conservative principles of liberty and limited government taught by Heavenly Father through prophets from Adam to Ezra Taft Benson have been largely abandoned. We remained in our original position to the right while it seems that nearly everyone else in the Church around here has shifted far to the left. It became increasingly difficult for us to tolerate the ostracism and persecution by our local leaders and many of the members around here, so now we just stay home on sundays, read the Book of Mormon, the Ensign, or whatever. I hate missing sacrament meeting in particular, but one can only be a sincere hypocrite for so long. We did it for as long as we could stand it. Very sad.
Oh No!!! G Micheal Craig!!! dont stop now. The tares are growing with the wheat!! you MUST hang in there so what if the other member where you are, are being decieved bad luck for them! Never let anyone stop you from going to the Lords house and partaking of the sacrament, you must go please go, have faith in the lord he knows your heart, stand with the prophets, keep going to church and at the very least be a thorn in the side of those who feel more comfortable with you not attending!! truth is never comfortable!! as my husband says to me: thats who we are and what we do!!!!!we take solace in the fact that there are others out there who understand like we do, unfortunately they are not in our little branch, but oh well, what can you do? I hope and pray that you go to church, the Lord needs you and you need him!!
G Micheal Craig I am Nats husband who just recently left a message, and I am the Branch President of the Armidale Branch in NSW Australia, I am greatly sadened by your comments, and urge you to continue to always attend church no matter how hard it may be, I also would encourage you to contact a General Authority to discuss this awful situation(how ironic!) please dont be discouraged as this is what satan wants, you need to go to church to partake of the sacrament, and renew your convenants each week, I know it will be difficult but these things will make you stronger, please continue to leave comments so that we may know how you are going! Love your Brother and Sister in the Gospel.
So, is this topic closed? If not, I have something to add, if you want?
Thank you for that quote from Joseph Smith. Since November of 2005, I have been doing some studying on this very subject because of a “dream that wasn’t a dream” that I had that month. That’s the only way I have to explain what happened. In that experience, I saw a place that I have never been to before and was shown it in great exacting detail. When I was ‘told’ where this place was, I told my guide that there was absolutely no way that place could exist there. I have since found out that it does….exactly as I was shown. There have been several other such instances helping me to ‘understand’ and I have struggled to comprehend what it all meant as I have been taught line-upon-line.
I am writing it up and will be looking for a publisher soon…however, not sure anyone will touch this so I may have to publish it myself. At any rate, I will tell you what I understand about this as it relates to my situation. (Although, I believe that the “Watchtower” has several meanings.)
What I saw was so horrible that at first, I was somewhat angry at being brought to view this destruction. When I ‘left’ where I was and returned to my room, I immediately fell to my knees and begged to be told what it was that I had seen. The ‘mountain burning with fire’ verse came to my mind and I grabbed my scriptures to look it up (Revelations 8:8-10 and 16:3/Sister chapters…the same angels with slightly different perspectives. Wrath of God for the wicked…trumpets to hail his imminent arrival for the righteous.). I cannot say ‘why’ I was shown this…only know that it IS part of my most sacred stewardship to know it although it took me several years of struggling with the spirit to find even this out for myself.
The watchtower—as I know it—relates not only to this second angel but also to the quote from Joseph Smith that you shared and Joel 2:28-32 and Acts 2:16-21 (The Lord really wanted to make sure we got this one so He included it twice in the scriptures. ) Have you never stopped to think…why the revelations and visions of saints would be related to the ‘physical salvation’ of the people of Zion? They’re included together in both of these citations. When God wants something done….He inspires a mother/father/grandfather and they prepare a son….or sons to fight the battle that is to come.
The second ‘angel’ was not meant to go down in the sea by the wicked men who sent it. (Or will send it…I can only think of it in the past tense since I have already seen it happen.) Its destination was changed (or will be) by these warriors who have been prepared for its coming. It must go down in the sea because it is Satan’s last ditch attempt to destroy the Kingdom of God upon the earth. These warriors will see its approach by the “Watchtower” which will be built for this purpose on the western coast of the U.S.
I have often wondered why the U.S. and Israel’s other allies were not there to defend her when Israel is surrounded by the hosts at Armageddon. Now I know…we will fighting for our own existence…for our very lives against the forces that have converged against both our nations and any who would defend us. Anyone who does not want to fall to those forces must come to our aid because alone they will fall…and the Kings & Queens of the earth will know that. If we fall, so do they. The reason that the nations shall lean upon the staff of this people is because a latter-day Captain Moroni and his stripling warriors shall be raised up to lead the fight in this battle. As he did, this man will ‘know’ through his gifts of the spirit where to face his enemies even before his enemies themselves know that they are going. His preparations will seem unnecessary to many (‘what need hath my Lord of this tower’) but his efforts shall be inspired and lead by the gifts of God and the priesthood which he holds.
For any that may doubt this, examine closely Revelation 8:10-11 & 16:4-6. Consider them as I ask you, “in what place do we know that a prophet of God, his fellow apostles (themselves prophets) and the saints of God were viciously and violently murdered in recent history?” When I visited Nauvoo and stayed with some members there, I found that their drinking water came from the Mississippi River. If an enemy with limited resources wanted to destroy our nation, they would strike something that they know to be the most valuable…especially in the Middle East…the sources of water. For our country that would be mainly the Great Lakes (fountains of waters) and the Mountain West. Consider a strike on the Great Lakes to contaminate them with the weapons that exist today. The survivors ‘burning’ with pain (and no hospitals left) would go to the rivers to ease their wounds and die. “True and righteous ARE thy judgments.”
Now perhaps you have some small sense of why I was angry at being shown what I was shown. It makes me weep to think of it still.
These 3 chapters in Revelations then are a guide for the man that they were meant for…this latter-day leader. There are other things that he will also “know” and prepare for in defending this people….Revelations 8,9 & 16 let him know what he can and cannot (or should not) try to prevent.
friends
i have been warned many years ago of the coming destruction which is upon us now. i first became a food storage sp in the stake i learned that we are in dire trouble and was warned of what would soon come upon us. i was told to store food. back then we were just starting on d.h. food goods. graines were the most we could hope for. so i stored grains and lots of them. i ask the lord what about fd can goods and got a very good answer and did so. each and every time i sat back and said ” enough, i have enough for my family” the still small voice spoke ” no my son more” would keep it up till i once again stored more. not knowing why i obeyed. now i know why. lager family and those around me who are dum and would reather buy toys and not prepepper at all.
i was told to teach all i could. i did so with great desire tohelp those around me. 4 years ago i was told to stop. that it is all but too late for those who do not get ready. so i did. i may have placed myself as a target for those around me who wish to shair what i have. but it is too late for them. the rise of food shortly to come upon us will destroy this country and if you have not prepaired by now get the heck bussey. dont delay. time is so very very short. for the love of god , your family, and those you lovc. GET READY TIME IS SO VERY SHORT.
BR. MIKKELSON
If it’s a secret organization then how do you know of it? Just saying, I see a lot of off happenings going on here in the u s of a as well all over the world. Now these are things what I see, but that doesn’t make me an expert or correct all of the time. It does feel like someone behind the scenes pushing the buttons in a very real way and not in a good way. Our leaders counsel with inspiration to draw close to God and prepare in many ways so that is something you can take to the bank. Remember God can beat anyone up so do not fear. And how about that dude complaining the leaders asking him to cease his preaching on certain subjects and insisting they are wrong AND he is right. Man oh man what are you thinking! Have a little faith and more humility, you will never be misled if you trust in them , his anointed. I’ve been there dude! It seems like what your being told is bogus but really it’s you and it’s like a test, you need this so trust in your Savior. You know this is His church and it will all work out for your good if you just do what is right. And as far as tests you know some of us will have to die, some to suffer, some saved, I mean it’s like no matter what don’t let anything separate you from God. Just chill !