The Exodus of Ancient and Modern Israel

Not Like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door."

This sonnet "The New Colossus" was penned by Emma Lazarus and is inscribed on a bronze plaque located in the Statue of Liberty exhibit. When I was little my parents used to have a small replica of The Statue of Liberty; a souvenir my father picked up during his earliest years in the military. I was always intrigued by it. With childlike naivety I pictured our great country, the United States of America, welcoming everyone.

The United States of America is a land choice above all other lands. But it has not always welcomed exiles, or "huddled masses yearning to breathe free", or the homeless. In fact, there are two groups of people that have been driven out of its "sea-washed sunset gates." The first group was the Native Americans. Starting in 1831 thousands were forced from their homes. The Trail of Tears began after Andrew Jackson implemented the Indian Removal Act of 1830. The second group was the Mormon people. Starting in the winter of 1846, they were also forced from their homes. Both peoples were stripped of their rights and forced to leave the United States because of bitter persecution.

For seven years I tutored high school age Native Americans. This new generation of Native Americans have not forgotten their ancestor's sufferings and would frequently mention their trials. As a daughter of Utah pioneers, I empathised what their people went through because the Mormons and Native Americans share similar experiences of an exiled people. One of my ancestors, Joanna Lewis, was a widow who lived in Nauvoo, Illinois. Her husband, Benjamin, was killed in the Haun's Mill massacre. She died, at age of 40, just a few days before the Mormons were forced out of Nauvoo. Her six children crossed the plains without her. They, and thousands of others, endured a 1,400 mile trek across the plains to a land no one wanted. Fortunately, they were led by Brigham Young.

Brigham Young was a modern day prophet who led the covenant people of the Lord across the wilderness, just like Moses. Why were the Mormons the "covenant" people? Because they made sacred covenants with the Lord in a temple, like the ancient children of Israel. Temple ordinances were frantically performed in the Nauvoo Temple, 24 hours a day, because of mob pressure to leave as soon as possible. They were performed until the moment of departure.

Nauvoo was located on the edge of the wilderness. When the Saints were driven out of the Untied States, there was no place to go but into the wilderness. Similarly, when the children of Israel left Egypt there was no where to go but into the wilderness. Both ancient and modern Israel depended on the God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob for guidance and survival, especially while traveling in the wilderness.

Moses organized the children of Israel into companies with captains over hundreds, etc. so did Brigham Young, see D&C 136:3. Both were the Camp of Israel.

The Saints were commanded to "walk in all the ordinances of the Lord" (D&C 136:4) and "to keep all the commandments and statues of the Lord our God" (D&C 136:2), just as the ancient Israelites were commanded to "Be holy, live righteously, love thy neighbor, keep the commandments" (Leviticus 19).

Anciently, there were miracles performed in behalf of the children of Israel while they were in the wilderness. There were also many miracles that occurred among the Saints along their 1,400 mile trek to Utah. One miracle especially resembles the Exodus. The Saints were very hungry, food was scarce. Out of nowhere, thousands of quail appeared providing nourishment, just like in Numbers 11:31, when the Lord provided quail for the ancient Israelites.

It was necessary for the children of Israel be isolated for 40 years in the wilderness in order to become the Lord's sanctified people. The Saints were also isolated in the wilderness for at least a decade. This isolation allowed the Saints to become strong in faith and principle. Then they carried the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world. From humble beginnings in 1830, when there were just 6 members, membership has grown to over 11 million members world wide. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is no longer a "Utah" religion.

When Brigham Young arrived in the Salt Lake Valley, one of the first things he did was pick a location for a new temple. It would take 4o years to build. Isn't it interesting that the Saints, who were driven out of the United States, fled to the Rocky Mountains and built a temple to Israel's God? Well did Isaiah prophesy "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 house of of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths"...(Isaiah 2:2-3).