From the Collected Works of Hugh Nibley
the Prophet Joseph: "I say in the name of the Lord that the kingdom of God was set up on the earth from the days of Adam to the present time, whenever there has been a righteous man . . . unto whom God revealed his word. "
I would have given [millions] if the people had been prepared to then receive the kingdom of God according to the pattern given to Enoch. But I could not touch them." (JD 18:244.)
When the Jews accused Jesus of treason and sedition, they labored mightily to make their case stick with the Romans, for it was only under Roman law that Jesus could be judged guilty of those crimes--under Jewish law there was no such crime. To come forward as a prophet or even as the Messiah was no crime; to proclaim the kingdom of God and even to be chosen king by the people was accepted procedure in Israel; if any of those crimes could have been charged against Jesus, then the Maccabees would have been the worst of offenders. But under Roman or Greek or Persian law the Lord could have been charged with lèse-majesté and treason.
Those who fondly suppose that "the gates of hell shall not prevail" is a guarantee of the security of the church on this earth are inventing a doctrine diametrically opposed to the belief of the early church. If there was one point on which the primitive saints and their Jewish contemporaries saw eye to eye, it was the belief that Satan is "the prince of this world," nay, "the god of this world." It is here that men are under his power, and here that he overcomes the kingdom of God by violence. "The days are evil," says the Epistle of Barnabas, "and Satan possesses the power of this world." Beyond this earth his power does not extend: Jehovah alone rules in the spirit world, according to the Jewish doctrine, and his angels stand guard over the wicked ones. It is on this earth that the devil is to be conquered and his power finally broken--he has no other stronghold to which to flee. When he goes to hell, it will not be in triumph, but to be bound and imprisoned there. His bonds are the "snares and deceptions" that "bind the flesh of men with lust," and which will be meaningless after the judgment, when none may enjoy the prerogative of being deceived. When the devil rules hereafter it will be only over those "sons of perdition" who willingly follow his example.
"Go not from house to house" (Luke 10:7), but "in that city that does not receive you, go your ways out into the streets of the same and say: Even the very dust . . . we do wipe off against you: notwithstanding be ye sure of this, that the kingdom of God is come nigh unto you" (Luke 10:10-11). After they have had their chance, the apostles' business with them is over: "Ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them . . . and ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake" (Mark 13:9-13). "Ye are witnesses for me . . . unto the uttermost part of the earth" (Acts 1:8), for "repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things" (Luke 24:47-48, italics added).
And Peter reminds the church, "first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts," and only later will the Lord come, being meanwhile "not slack concerning his promise," since "one day is with the Lord as a thousand years" (2 Peter 3:3-9). The joy is coming, but first the woe. There are ends and other ends. The "signs of the times" are significant because things follow a pattern: "When you see these events," says the Lord, stating a general rule in a present general condition, "know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand" (Luke 21:31); for example, you look at the trees, and "when they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand" (Luke 21:29-30, italics added). It is a characteristic and repeated event, this "end of all things" and "restitution of all things," which we shall discuss in the next section. Whose coming was expected by the saints? The Lord's, according to some accounts, the adversary's, according to others. Why should this be a cause (as it has been) of ferocious controversy? Plainly they expected both; and not at one and the same time, but first the deceiver, and then the Lord.
Think of your brethren like unto yourselves, and be familiar with all and free with your substance, that they may be rich like unto you. But before ye seek for riches, seek ye for the kingdom of God. . . . The one being is as precious in his sight as the other. And all flesh is of the dust; and for the selfsame end hath he created them, that they should keep his commandments and glorify him forever (Jacob 2:17-21).
Nibley's comments are not to be misconstrued as a call to reinstitute formally the law of consecration. Nibley explains that it does remain the privilege of individuals to live the law in their personal lives, as they so covenant regularly in the temple--to seek first the kingdom of God, and to share freely one's various resources with those who may have less. In time the law will be reinstituted; in the meantime, Nibley sets forth lucidly the principles that enable us to live that law in face of the feeble realities of the present. The ideal is before us, and nothing prevents us as individuals from living that law, thus enjoying its blessings and preparing ourselves for its renewal.
"Who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth?" ( Malachi 3:2). Only those who have prepared for the new environmental change by adapting themselves to it though a rigorous course of training. First must come the "literal gathering of Israel" in which we are now engaged. Then the return of the Ten Tribes, which we hope is soon to come. Then the building up of the kingdom of God on earth preparatory to the establishment of Zion, Zion in turn preparing the earth to receive the Lord, after whose coming it will be possible to achieve the final state in which the earth is renewed and given its former glory. The midpoint and focus of the whole operation is Zion. Zion is the great moment of transition, the bridge between the world as it is and the world as God designed it and meant it to be.
"How long shall we travel, how long shall we live, how long shall God wait for us to sanctify ourselves and become one in the Lord, in our actions and in our ways for building up of the kingdom of God, that he can bless us?" "The Lord is merciful to us, that he still remembers us, that he is still feeling after us, and that he is sending forth his voice--the voice of his Spirit, into the hearts of his people, crying unto them
It was one of the first commandments or revelations given to this people after they had the privilege of organizing themselves as a Church, as a body, as the kingdom of God on earth. I observed then, and I now think, [as Moses says] that it will be one of the last revelations which the people will receive into their hearts and understandings, of their own free will and choice and esteem it as a pleasure, a privilege, and a blessing unto them to observe and keep most holy.
I knew well a bishop, Charles W. Nibley, my grandfather, who had a standard appeal for tithing. I was sort of his favorite grandson, the only one that ever stayed at his house. We had long talks together, and of course, he was quite successful in his day. We talked a lot about all these things. What he said stayed with me, believe me. His argument--and he was using it throughout the Church in conferences and I remember it well--was that after you had paid the Lord 10 percent, you still have 90 percent for yourself, all yours to do with as you pleased. That can never be tithed; the Lord can't touch it. He gets only 10 percent and leaves you with all the rest.that you will never miss.
There is quite a difference between consecrating 10 percent of your net gain to the building up of the kingdom and consecrating your time, talents, and everything you have been blessed with up to this time to the building up of the kingdom of God. Tithing is no part of consecration, though it is an eternal law. There is no conflict here; the law of consecration demands everything you have, but at the same times it fills your every physical need; and it is from that sustaining income, from that substance, that you pay your tithes. This makes it a genuine sacrifice and not a mere token offering skimmed off from a net increasThe one thing that keeps us from being united and keeps the kingdom of God from being here is that men are subject to each other. They’re in debt to each other. It’s debt that enslaves us and holds us down. We can’t be free and equal in the kingdom of God [with that situation]. Remember, in Zion they had all things in common. "And the Lord called his people Zion, because they were of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there was no poor among them."