House to House

Aug 4, 20247 min read

In his great, sweeping vision of the latter days, Isaiah wrote about us. He knew our place and time.

He is among the eminent prophets, and looked ahead with joy towards the building up of the Lord’s kingdom in our day.

He has a lot to say to us. His words give me peace and consolation as I consider the dramatic events to come as we see the Lord bring about Zion through His servants, to prepare for His own return and a full Paradisiacal glory on Earth.

Jesus will take His rightful place as King of kings and Lord of lords, and unite Jews, Christians and Muslims under one heavenly banner. Indeed, all the honorable of the earth will be invited to hold a name and a standing in this glorious society.

Isaiah poetically describes the full breadth of opportunity available to us now, including the depths of despair due to those who disregard or disobey divine direction.

The heights of happiness are also majestically shown, as we see those who hasten to heavenly harbors.

Through his writings, Isaiah masterfully shows us things, instead of merely telling.

It causes me little wonder why the Lord would command a sincere study of the words of Isaiah. Following His resurrection, He told the Nephites:

“And now, behold, I say unto you, that ye ought to search [Isaiah’s teachings]. Yea, a commandment I give unto you that ye search these things diligently; for great are the words of Isaiah.

For surely he spake as touching all things concerning my people which are of the house of Israel; therefore it must needs be that he must speak also to the Gentiles.

And all things that he spake have been and shall be, even according to the words which he spake.”

3 Nephi 23: 1-3

One interesting pronouncement of his is a woe, directed at a particular group of latter-day businessmen.

“Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth!”

Isaiah 5: 8

Isaiah is warning those who seek to build real estate empires of their own, in preference to seeking to build the Lord’s kingdom.

These “land sharks,” as I call them, are those who invest in properties with the goal of gathering unto themselves a great body of worldly wealth manifest by exploiting the temporal housing of their fellows.

Joining “house to house” calls to mind the construction of apartment complexes and other multi-family dwellings, which seek to maximize profits by crowding as much housing as possible into a given parcel of land.

Laying “field to field” and “house to house” also demonstrates a misguided attitude that urbanization properly separates our dwelling places from the land that provides for our needs—that we should concentrate our cities of buildings far away from open agricultural areas, out in the periphery.

These things ought not to be.

Plans for Zion cities described by the Prophet Joseph Smith involve large house lots, able to bear a house for each family, as well as fruit trees, and enough space for gardens, livestock and fields in the back, to amply provide for all citizens no matter how many people are living in a certain place.

When one city is filled by building up a square mile thusly, said he, "Lay off another in the same way and so fill up the world in these last days."

Some voices in our current global arena speak of overpopulation and dire consequences due to increasing demand for limited resources such as water, food and electricity.

Laying out Zion cities according to the idea that home-centered, Church-supported, self-reliant households are the fundamental units of a sustainable society will allow as many people to comfortably live here as the Lord sees fit to give life upon the Earth.

Yes, it will require changing many conventions and expectations, based on what we are used to seeing.

What sorts of technologies and ways of doing things have been prevented from bettering our lives merely because a less effective method has been crowding out other, more useful though obscure innovations?

I have very little respect for justifying any practice by only saying “because that’s the way we’ve always done it.” If it is not defensible by any other arguments which certify its value, it has little value, other than predictability, perhaps.

We have great power to overcome the current systems that seem to be “just the way things are.” We have what it takes to create a new way of things! It is the will to do so, leading to a consistent, dedicated effort.

The time is coming when we will see the downfall of real estate empires, and will see families enjoy the blessings of secure, equitable housing.

This will comprise an important development in the unfolding of the Kingdom of God on the earth.

The Lord wants every one of us to be fully accountable for our own stewardship of His beautiful Creation, and to properly manage our own affairs independent of taskmasters or overlords.

We must strive to engender a spirit of independence among the inhabitants of the earth, to bring about a full measure of the blessings of self-reliant stability and equality.

We must throw off yokes of oppression to establish our families as the fundamental units of our society, of which we currently see corporations unjustly filling this role.

We must reject consumerism and supplant it by our consecration. We can carve out holy enclaves of strength and safety, and encourage others to do the same.

Blessings promised to the liberated include each family enjoying fruits from their own land, something George Washington frequently wrote and spoke about. (See 1 Kings 4: 25; Micah 4: 4; Zechariah 3: 10)

The sweat of our own face shall be the means of eating our own bread, and not the means of enriching greedy systems that are designed to keep some in perpetual poverty and others in positions of power. The need for food to sustain life, and the universality of impending death are great equalizers in our mortal journey here. (Genesis 3: 19)

Some may see reduced economic specialization as regression. Rather, it is really progress toward the glorious ideal of establishing the family as the fundamental unit of society, and of ensuring each person is fully accountable to the Lord for the management of the magnificent blessings they’ve been offered.

Shifting the economic power from companies to families will not alter the fundamental needs for living out a successful life; it will only shift the benefits to those who directly participate in the system, instead of those benefits being absorbed into some overgrown industrial complex, built on taking from those who have less and giving it those who have more. At best, in our current system, we see benefits return to these participants only in a "chopped and formed" returned product. Why not allow people to keep the whole "ham?!"

And not only keep what they need out of what they produce, but allow and encourage them to produce beyond their own needs, to amply supply those in their community who are disabled? Our divine charge to look after the widows and the fatherless is a basic duty.

Since work will always be required, personal responsibility will be magnified, not diminished. Personal responsibility will promptly and properly reward the free exercise thereof, causing it to become the new currency in this economy of equalized effort.

Some may dismiss calls for greater liberty, since there is no money to be made in such pursuits.

Disrobing corporations as the guardians of our economic welfare will cause deep disruptions to our way of life, as we enthrone the family as the basic unit of our new social order. Indeed, the family is destined not only for preeminence as the basic unit socially, but also politically, governmentally, economically, educationally, and religiously. As we make our homes strongholds of peace and security, the family may be considered the basic unit of society militarily as well. (Isaiah 4: 5)

Will a reduced burden of worldly work encourage greater innovation and industry in individuals and families, or will it lead to idleness and a reduced sense of purpose?

Answer:

Yes.

The choice will be freely offered to all who pursue such a path. This choice will—indeed, must—be up to them. True liberty always has risks. These risks are all acceptable, for the potential of personal empowerment is to enable an environment of experimentation leading to eager effort. The benefits will far outweigh the risks.

Though some may choose to shrink away from others as they adopt a more self-reliant lifestyle, those who want to invest more into others will be given greater opportunity to do so. This situation will facilitate hastening in the Lord's timetable for sifting and sorting, to enhance the exercise of personal agency and manifest the desires of our hearts.

Those who withdraw will exert less influence on the world, which will be overcome by those with positive pressure towards serving their fellows to enormous effect.

Considered collectively, increasing independence will allow for greater community among the human family. Pure hearts will prevail.

This will help lead us toward bringing about the brotherhood of man, unitedly organized under the fatherhood of God.

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We must seek to reclaim the earth from its fallen condition, and see it through a Terrestrial transformation, exalting it beyond the Telestial limitations imposed following the Edenic period.

Perhaps the word “Restoration” will take on more meaning as we consider it this way, as it pertains to the earth, and not only to individuals stepping onto the covenant path by accepting the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Think of the full breadth of God’s great plan of redemption. Remember the collective plan of salvation for the human family, as witnessed by watching Earth progress from Telestial to Terrestrial for the Millennium, then to Celestial for its eternal felicity in the full presence of God.

Improving Our Time

House to House

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