"Lord, to whom shall we go?" Charting the Course of the Church from Here to the Second Coming: Part 10

Wine and Wrath

If you're reading this blog, chances are you're interested in at least two of the following things:

   1. The Gospel
   2. The Church
   3.  The Last Days
   4.  Wine

This is your lucky day! We're going to hit all four in this post. 

You'll recall in our last post we discussed the concept of new "bottles" into which the Lord will pour His wine in the last days.  

I want to clarify something.  There are actually TWO wines.

(And just to confuse the matter, there are also TWO separate wraths being poured out.) 

   What?

   1.  Wine of Babylon (Great and Abominable Church). 

We find the Mother of Abominations making "all the nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication" (Revelation 14:8).

Notice that the wrath here is not God's.  It is the wrath of a Woman scorned. 

And what is the Wine of Wrath that Babylon pours out?  It is the persecution of the saints of God (see, D&C 88:94).

   2.  Wine of Zion (Church of Christ).  

Contrast the Great Whore's counterfeit wine to that of Christ's.  "The Lamb of God hath overcome and trodden the wine-press alone, even the wine-press of the fierceness of the wrath of Almighty God" (D&C 88:106).

Here, Christ receives wrath (the wrath of God).

Turning water to wine?  Child's play compared to turning wrath into wine.  From all that wrath Christ turns it into wine.  The wine of His atonement, which is his blood. 

"And the Lord shall be red in his apparel, and his garments like him that treadeth in the wine-vat" (D&C 133:48).

So everyone drinks wine in the last days.  But we choose whose wine we drink.

The Three Pillars of Zion

I want to suggest there are at least three "bottles" the scriptures speak about. 

When we refer to Zion as a "refuge" from the storm, I think we should keep these three vessels in mind.

   1.  A Holy House.

No, not the temple. 

We've seen all the good a temple did the Jews when they rejected the Lord.  A physical temple is nothing without a Holy House to fill it. 

What do I mean?  I am talking here about the Holy House of Israel.  (This includes all the covenant holders of old, like the Remnant of Jacob.)

The irony is that the House of Israel has generally not been holy.  But in the end times, a few of the House of Israel will turn again to the Lord.

   For in mine holy mountain,
   in the mountain of the height of Israel,
   saith the Lord God,
   there shall all the house of Israel,
   all of them in the land,
   serve me.

(Ezekiel 20:40)

This group also includes the "adopted" (repentant) Gentiles, who are numbered with the remnant of Jacob.

   For mine house
   shall be called an house of prayer
   for all people.

   The Lord God
   which gathereth the outcasts of Israel
   saith, Yet will I gather others.

(Isaiah 56:7-8)

Who are the "others?"  The gentiles, the lost sheep of Israel, the 10 Tribes, the remnant, etc.

Okay, so now we've got a Holy House (people) who are pure in heart. 

   What do we do now?

   2.  A Holy City.

Zion is more than being pure in heart. 

Zion means gathering with others who are pure in heart.   

They will form a society, or a city, dedicated to the Lord.  That city will need sewer works and water systems.  It will need libraries and schools.  It will need you.  

A Holy City where the word of the Lord may be heard . . . in person, for He shall walk among them.

There are at least three Holy Cities that I am aware of:

   a.  Jerusalem is a holy city (Isaiah 52:1).

   b.  The New Jerusalem is a holy city (Ether 13:8).

   c.  The City of Enoch is a holy city, which shall return again (see, Revelation 21:2 and Moses 7:62-63).

   3.  A Holy Name.

Okay, once we've gathered the House of Israel into a Holy City, what next?

This is the best part!  

Isaiah prophesied:

   Thou shalt be called by a new name,
   which the mouth of the Lord shall name.

   Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken;
   neither shall thy land any more
   be termed Desolate.

(Isaiah 62:2-4)

Remember what King Benjamin gave his people when they entered into the covenant?  A Holy Name.

   Ye shall be called the children of Christ,
   his sons, and his daughters . . . .

   There is no other name given
   whereby salvation cometh;
   therefore, I would that ye should take
   upon you the name of Christ.

(Mosiah 5:7-8)

So here we've got (1) a holy house that is (2) gathered into a holy city and who receive (3) a holy name, even the name of Christ.

This is the "oil" or "wine" that will be preserved (bottled) in order to survive the coming calamity and judgment.  

   I will make my holy name
   known in the midst of my people Israel;
   and I will not let them pollute my holy name
   any more: and the heathen shall know
   that I am the Lord, the Holy One in Israel.

(Ezekiel 39:7)