(Note: This article is adapted from The Three Pillars of Zion, a series of books on becoming a Zion person. This series of books will be released in August.)

Jesus said we cannot serve God and mammon. Mammon is “the standard Hebrew word for any kind of financial dealing.” Serving both God and mammon is as impossible as simultaneously walking east and west. The two are polar opposites like love and hate. To the degree that we give our affection to one, we withhold our affection from the other: “either [we] will hate the one, and love the other; or else [we] will hold to the one, and despise the other.” Neither can we choose to participate in both God’s and Satan’s economies: Zion and mammon. According to Hugh Nibley, “Every step in the direction of increasing one’s personal holdings is a step away from Zion.”

The test of riches

The harsh reality is this: life is a test. At the center of that test is money. Our attitude toward our financial dealings serves to prove the condition of our heart, loyalty, character, willingness to sacrifice, and trustworthiness. We can no more avoid this financial test than we can avoid choosing between the relentless opposing forces that try to influence our financial dealings. But choose we must. If we fool ourselves into believing that we can succeed in choosing both God and mammon, we are deceived. But that has not deterred people from trying. Most of humanity has attempted to combine God and mammon, but not one person has ever succeeded-and we will not be the first. From the first moment that we make the attempt, we have already chosen Satan and his economy. Jesus’ words are perennially true: “no man can serve two masters.”

So what should we do? Should we take the concept to extremes, take a vow of poverty, shun money, and live lean like medieval monks? Of course not. “You always do have to handle things,” Hugh Nibley says. “But in what spirit do we do it? Not…by renunciation, for example…. If you refuse to be concerned with these things at all, and say, ‘I’m above all that,’ that’s as great a fault. The things of the world have got to be administered; they must be taken care of, they are to be considered. We have to keep things clean, and in order. That’s required of us. This is a test by which we are being proven. This is the way by which we prepare, always showing that these things will never captivate our hearts, that they will never become our principal concern. That takes a bit of doing, and that is why we have the formula ‘with an eye single to his glory’ (Mormon 8:15). Keep first your eye on the star, then on all the other considerations of the ship. You will have all sorts of problems on the ship, but unless you steer by the star, forget the ship. Sink it. You won’t go anywhere.”      

The test of wealth determines if we can we be trusted with God’s resources-those things that he has placed in our hands for safekeeping and prudent management. As accountable stewards, some pointed questions are always before us: Will we choose to remain within the guidelines of stewardship? Will we manage the stewardship according to God’s desires or will we “cheat the Lord?” Will we redefine the terms of stewardship, claim ownership of the Lord’s property then enlarge and indulge ourselves with the proceeds rather than use the surplus for its intended use: to take care of God’s children and build up the Kingdom of God for the establishment of Zion? Our answers to these questions determine our passing or failing the mortal test of riches.

Only the pure in heart can pass this test

Without divine intervention, we could not have the power to choose God over mammon. Babylon simply has too great a hold on the hearts of men. Consequently, only the pure in heart who receive a spiritual endowment can make this choice and thereafter live the Law of Consecration. The pure in heart alone receive the spiritual help to view money for what it is and put it in its proper place. They are children of Zion who do not venture into Babylon and partake of its philosophies. Rather, they enter the temple and make an informed, resolute covenant to receive and manage the Lord’s property in an ordered way; then they return to the world and implement that covenant as the Lord directs. Clearly, this test is too hard for the natural man. Only those who know and love God can do it. Hence, God or mammon is the ultimate test that determines the condition of the heart and lands us in or out of the Celestial Kingdom. Nibley writes:

God has always given his people the same choice of either living up to the covenants made with him or being in Satan’s power; there is no middle ground (Moses 4:4). True, we spend this time of probation in a no-man’s-land between the two camps of salvation and damnation, but at every moment of the day and night we must be moving toward the one or the other. Progressive testing takes place along the way in either direction; the same tests in every dispensation and generation mark the progress of the people of God.      

(1) Do you, first of all, agree to do things his way rather than your way-to follow the law of God? (2) If so, will you be obedient to him, no matter what he asks of you? (3) Will you, specifically, be willing to sacrifice anything he asks you for? (4) Will you at all times behave morally and soberly? (5) Finally, if God asks you to part with your worldly possessions by consecrating them all to his work, will you give his own back to him to be distributed as he sees fit, not as you think wise?      

That last test has been by far the hardest of all, and few indeed have chosen that strait and narrow way. The rich young man was careful and correct in observing every point of the law-up to that one; but that was too much for him, and the Savior, who refused to compromise or make a deal, could only send him off sorrowing, observing to the apostles that passing that test was so difficult to those possessing the things of the world that only a special dispensation from God could get them by. 

The Lord’s willingness to be tested

Perhaps because this test requires so much faith, the Lord both promises and offers evidence that if we will live the Law of Consecration, he will take care of us and even prosper us. The law of tithing, as we have observed, is one of his proofs: “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.” Paying tithing is always an act of faith. The math doesn’t make sense. Ten minus one is supposed to equal nine, but somehow the product is always more than ten. Clearly, celestial math is baffling in a telestial setting, and only faith can urge us on. But if we will persevere and apply the principle of tithing then experience the pouring out of blessings, we will be prepared to employ that principle to other consecrated offerings, which will require even greater faith.

Alma taught that faith grows like a seed. First, faith takes root in our hearts by hearing the word of God. Then it sprouts and blossoms by continual nourishing, which we are willing to do because we observe incremental proofs that the plant is growing. Over time, the seed becomes a great, fruit-bearing tree. Tithing is such a tree, and it provides us a way to test the Lord on the principle of consecration; tithing allows us to get to know each other. Once we discover that the Lord will not let us down and that he will prosper us, we are willing to take the next step and pay offerings. Once again we discover the Lord’s care and abundance, and as we do, we grow in our appreciation of consecration until we can live the law according to its ideal. But every step of the way, between initial tithing and eventual total consecration, requires our venturing into the darkness hoping and anticipating that the light will appear. Each step demands giving before we receive, and every time we take another step, it will make absolutely no mathematical sense. The laws in Babylon that govern finance will scream at us to hold back: “It won’t work!” Only our testimony of the celestial laws of tithing and consecrated offerings can provide us the confidence that all will be well and that the outcome will result in safety and abundance. Nibley writes,

In giving his children the law, God repeatedly specifies that he is placing before them two ways, the ways of life and death, light and darkness. For parallel to the one law runs another. It is part of the plan that Satan should be allowed to try us and to tempt us to see whether we would prove faithful in all things: Who does not live up to every covenant made with the Lord will be in his power (cf. Moses 4:4, 5:23). So we find ourselves drawn in two directions (Moroni 7:11-13). Thus this life becomes a special test of probation set before us in this world-it is an economic one. If the law of consecration is the supreme test of virtue-the final one-money is to be the supreme temptation to vice; sex runs a poor second, but on both counts, this is the time and place for us to meet the challenge of the flesh. It is the weakness of the flesh in both cases to prove our spirits stronger than the pull of matter, to assert our command over the new medium of physical bodies before proceeding onward to another state of existence. As Brigham Young often repeats, “God has given us the things of this world to see what we will do with them.” The test will be whether we will set our hearts on the four things that lead to destruction. Whoever seeks for (1) wealth, (2) power, (3) popularity, and (4) the pleasures of the flesh-anyone who seeks those will be destroyed, says the Book of Mormon (1 Nephi 22:23; 3 Nephi 6:15). Need we point out that those four things compose the whole substance of success in the present-day world. They are the things that money will get you.    

Tithing, therefore, is the preparation to become Zionlike; offerings are the opportunity to become Zionlike. In each case, God is willing to be put to the test. The only question remaining is are we? Do we really want to become Zion people or not?

Hugh Nibley, Approaching Zion, p.37

See Howard W. Hunter, Conference Report, April 1964, p.35

Matthew 6:24

Hugh Nibley, Approaching Zion, p.37

See Marion G. Romney, Conference Report, October 1962, p.94, quoting Matthew 6:24

Hugh Nibley, Approaching Zion, p.336

Hugh Nibley, Approaching Zion, p.426

Hugh Nibley, Approaching Zion, p.342

Malachi 3:10

See Alma 32:28

See Romans 10:17

See Alma 32:28-37

See Alma 32:37-42

Hugh Nibley, Approaching Zion, p.434-35, emphasis added

Mormon had the ability to foresee our day and marry latter-day troubles with Nephite events. One intriguing entry is Samuel the Lamanite’s prophecy of “slippery treasures.” That Mormon would record Samuel’s words in such detail should signal to us their latter-day import. That Samuel delivered his message only years before the advent of the Savior, listing attendant destructions should add more weight to our latter-day consideration. That the resurrected Jesus would draw attention to Samuel and insist that his missing prophecies be recorded accurately should draw us into Mormon’s account and cause us to dissect and apply the principles.

Let us consider Samuel’s denunciation of the Nephites’ Babylon as that denunciation parallels Babylon today.

Samuel the Lamanite’s Parallel Denunciation of Babylon

A few years before the birth of Christ, Samuel, a Lamanite prophet, entered the land of the Nephites to warn the people, cry repentance and prophesy of simultaneously glorious and catastrophic events. To set the stage, Mormon describes the Nephite world as one of “great wickedness.” Only a few “did observe strictly to keep the commandments of God.” The Nephites’ reaction to the prophet’s preaching ranged from disregard to violence. Immediately, we see our latter-day condition mirroring that of the Nephites.

Frighteningly, Samuel warned that “the sword of justice hangeth over this people…. Yea, heavy destruction awaiteth this people, and it surely cometh unto this people, and nothing can save this people save it be repentance and faith on the Lord Jesus Christ.” The Nephites’ condition had resulted from “the hardness of the hearts of the people.” That hardness of heart was being manifested in a variety of ways:

•          The misuse of money that the Lord had given them.
•          Setting their hearts on acquiring riches.
•          Not hearkening unto the Lord, his prophets or his words.
•          Neither remembering the Lord nor his blessings nor thanking him for them.
•          Always thinking about their riches and how to acquire more of them.
•          Their hearts not being “drawn out unto the Lord.”
•          “Great pride, unto boasting, and unto great swelling, envyings, strifes, malice, persecutions, and murders, and all manner of iniquities.”
•          Mocking and rejecting the prophets.

Following “Blind Guides”

Another sinful condition of the Nephites was their willingness to follow, idolize and uphold people who flattered their egos-”blind guides,” Samuel called these deceivers. The Nephites were more interested in the philosophies of these smooth-tongued “guides” than the prophets. The Nephites would enrich these people and canonize their words as if they were scripture.

“But behold, if a man shall come among you and shall say: Do this, and there is no iniquity; do that and ye shall not suffer; yea, he will say: Walk after the pride of your own hearts; yea, walk after the pride of your eyes, and do whatsoever your heart desireth–and if a man shall come among you and say this, ye will receive him, and say that he is a prophet. Yea, ye will lift him up, and ye will give unto him of your substance; ye will give unto him of your gold, and of your silver, and ye will clothe him with costly apparel; and because he speaketh flattering words unto you, and he saith that all is well, then ye will not find fault with him.”

“Blind guides” are those people who receive our support and adoration for flattering us with their mouth, but more often with their life-style. We give them riches not for what they produce or contribute; we give them riches for being famous. They are famous for being famous! They flatter us by parading the rewards that come with a lifestyle that glamorizes Babylon, and we applaud them for their having legitimized a life of wealth, self-indulgence, power, recognition, and excess.

Ripe for Destruction

The Lord’s spirit cannot abide in such wickedness. In Samuel’s day, only the presence of a few righteous individuals was holding back the judgments. But the clock was ticking. The gathering of the righteous was taking place. Soon the faithful few would be called out (or cast out). The wicked would be ripe for destruction, and only the repentant would be spared.

A fruit that is ripe will fall from the tree–an interesting analogy of separating one’s self from the Tree of Life. In its insistence for a sinful, independent life from the tree, the ripe and fallen fruit can ultimately do nothing on its own except lie on the ground and rot.

Curses

Speaking for the Lord, Samuel pronounced a series of curses:

1. “I will take away my word from them.”
2. “I will withdraw my spirit.”
3. “I will suffer them no longer,” that is, I will not allow them to continue living this way.
4. “I will turn the hearts of their [enemies] against them.”
5. “I will cause that they shall be smitten…with the sword and with famine and with pestilence….I will visit them in my fierce anger.”
6. “Whoso shall hide up treasures in the earth shall find them no more…save he be a righteous man.”

Slippery Treasures

If the people cared little about the first five curses, the last one was sure to get their attention. This curse was aimed at what they loved most: their treasures. The curse stipulated that a righteous person was exempt; he could “hide up” his treasure unto the Lord-that is, he could consecrate it-and remain safe.

But a wicked person or a good person who still trusted in Babylon would not be so fortunate. Because he was in the selfish habit of hiding his treasure unto himself and not unto the Lord, he would discover that his treasure had become “slippery.” Consequently, the fortunes of those who were wicked or those good people who still trusted in Babylon would slip away from them; the economy would collapse, and financial ruin would result. “And behold, the time cometh that he curseth your riches, that they become slippery, that ye cannot hold them; and in the days of your poverty ye cannot retain them.”

Vulnerability to Enemies

Then things would go from bad to worse. In the people’s impoverished situation, they would be vulnerable to attack from their enemies, particularly those enemies who constituted secret combinations. We note here that Samuel’s prophecies were followed by the near destruction of the nation by the Gadianton robbers. Samuel foretold that following the economic collapse the people would “flee before their enemies” Their lamentations should strike fear in every person who trusts in his riches and adores Babylon:

            And in the days of your poverty ye shall cry unto the Lord; and in vain shall ye cry, for your desolation is already come upon you, and your destruction is made sure; and then shall ye weep and howl in that day, saith the Lord of Hosts. And then shall ye lament, and say:

            O that I had repented, and had not killed the prophets, and stoned them, and cast them out. Yea, in that day ye shall say: O that we had remembered the Lord our God in the day that he gave us our riches, and then they would not have become slippery that we should lose them; for behold, our riches are gone from us.

            Behold, we lay a tool here and on the morrow it is gone; and behold, our swords are taken from us in the day we have sought them for battle.

            Yea, we have hid up our treasures and they have slipped away from us, because of the curse of the land.

            O that we had repented in the day that the word of the Lord came unto us; for behold the land is cursed, and all things are become slippery, and we cannot hold them.

            Behold, we are surrounded by demons, yea, we are encircled about by the angels of him who hath sought to destroy our souls. Behold, our iniquities are great. O Lord, canst thou not turn away thine anger from us? And this shall be your language in those days.

            But behold, your days of probation are past; ye have procrastinated the day of your salvation until it is everlastingly too late, and your destruction is made sure; yea, for ye have sought all the days of your lives for that which ye could not obtain; and ye have sought for happiness in doing iniquity, which thing is contrary to the nature of that righteousness which is in our great and Eternal Head.

            O ye people of the land, that ye would hear my words! And I pray that the anger of the Lord be turned away from you, and that ye would repent and be saved.

Failure to Repent

Samuel’s prophesies began to be fulfilled, but the Nephites did not repent. Mormon reported that “there was but little alteration in the affairs of the people, save it were the people began to be more hardened in iniquity.” Even when “great signs [were] given unto the people, and wonders; and the words of the prophets began to be fulfilled,” the Nephites hardened their hearts.” They simply would not believe the signs or respond to the Lord’s invitation to repent that he offered by means of cataclysmic events.

Mormon identified four reasons why the people did not repent:

            1) Prophecies are nothing more than good guesses: “Some things they [the prophets] may have guessed right, among so many; but behold, we know that all these great and marvelous works cannot come to pass, of which has been spoken.”

            2) Prophecies do not make sense: “And they began to reason and to contend among themselves, saying: That it is not reasonable that such a being as a Christ shall come.

            3) Prophecies are false traditions: “But behold, we know that this is a wicked tradition, which has been handed down unto us by our fathers, to cause us that we should believe in some great and marvelous thing which should come to pass… therefore they can keep us in ignorance.”

            4) Prophets deceive us to keep us bound to them: “And they [the prophets] will, by the cunning and the mysterious arts of the evil one, work some great mystery which we cannot understand, which will keep us down to be servants to their words, and also servants unto them, for we depend upon them to teach us the word; and thus will they keep us in ignorance if we will yield ourselves unto them, all the days of our lives.”

Satan’s Great Hold on the People’s Hearts

Mormon informed us that the Nephites “began to depend upon their own strength and upon their own wisdom.” They “imagine[d] up in their hearts” “many more things” “which were foolish and vain.” Mormon said that the people “were much disturbed, for Satan did stir them up to do iniquity continually; yea, he did go about spreading rumors and contentions upon all the face of the land, that he might harden the hearts of the people against that which was good and against that which should come. And notwithstanding the signs and the wonders which were wrought among the people of the Lord, and the many miracles which they did, Satan did get great hold upon the hearts of the people upon all the face of the land.”

Latter-day Application

It is difficult to read this account and not see the condition of Babylon today. Clearly, we are mere years away from the Savior’s advent. The prophets are widely mocked, ignored, and often soundly rejected. Only a few Zion people practice righteousness, and for the sake of those few the Lord is holding back the destructions.

The condition of Babylon’s people is defined by hardness of heart. They love their money and selfishly misuse it; they always think about their riches and how to acquire more. They will not hearken unto the Lord or his words; they will not remember or thank him for their blessings. Their hearts are not “drawn out unto the Lord.” Their lives are marked with “great pride,” boastings, envyings, strifes, malice, persecutions, and murders, and all manner of iniquities.” They follow “blind guides,” who use flattering words to stroke their egos and legitimize a lifestyle that glamorizes wealth, self-indulgence, popularity, power and excess.

Now the curses of the Lord are becoming apparent. Personal treasures are becoming slippery; economies are lying in ruins. In this condition, the people of Babylon are vulnerable to their enemies, especially those of secret combinations. Despite cataclysmic events, they will not repent and return to the Lord. Rather, they find all sorts of reasons not to repent, and they grow in wickedness. Samuel might as well have been warning and prophesying to us today.

Go ye out from Babylon

Knowing the condition and future of Babylon, why do we try so hard to stay here? The Lord has instructed us implicitly: “Go ye out from Babylon. Be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord…. Yea, verily I say unto you again, the time has come when the voice of the Lord is unto you: Go ye out of Babylon; gather ye out from among the nations, from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other…. Go ye out from among the nations, even from Babylon, from the midst of wickedness, which is spiritual Babylon.”

As we know, Babylon is simultaneously a location, the sum of false philosophies and doctrines, and a condition of the heart. While our present circumstances might not involve moving away from physical Babylon, we nevertheless must flee from spiritual Babylon. In unmistakable language, the Lord has commanded us to “forsake the world,” and “lay aside the things of this world, and seek for the things of a better.” He charges us to escape for our own safety: “For after today cometh the burning–this is speaking after the manner of the Lord–for verily I say, tomorrow all the proud and they that do wickedly shall be as stubble; and I will burn them up, for I am the Lord of Hosts; and I will not spare any that remain in Babylon.”

If we choose to remain in spiritual Babylon, we do so at our own risk. Most certainly, we will be caught up in the destructions: “…that great whore, who hath perverted the right ways of the Lord, yea, that great and abominable church, shall tumble to the dust and great shall be the fall of it.”

Come to Zion

The Lord’s command to leave Babylon is also an invitation to come to Zion with the Lord’s offer to help us. Still, there is nothing easy about leaving Babylon and converting to a Zionlike way of life founded on celestial doctrines. Occasionally, we must be “stirred up” so that we might see the truth about Babylon and decide once and for all to leave. Blaine Yorgason writes:

“Whether we think we need to give up [the things of Babylon] or not, it seems that the Lord is frequently willing to help us in the giving up of worldly things. He might do this by allowing financial reversals to occur, bringing loss of homes, cars, boats, and incomes; personal or corporate bankruptcy; and so forth. We might also experience a severe loss of health or death of a loved one, which can do the same thing by making worldly things unattractive or meaningless…. This is called being stirred up unto repentance. In this case, however, I will substitute the word humility, which always strikes at the heart of pride, vanity, and worldliness! ‘Behold, the world is ripening in iniquity; and it must needs be that the children of men are stirred up unto humility, both the Gentiles and also the house of Israel’ (D&C 18:6); and, ‘The kingdom of the devil must shake, and they which belong to it must needs be stirred up unto repentance, or the devil will grasp them with his everlasting chains, and they…perish’ (2 Nephi 28:19). When we experience this divine assistance in leaving behind the things of the world-and to some degree we will all experience it-then above all else we ought to be filled with joy and rejoicing in the Lord’s goodness and mercy (D&C 52:43).”

Zion is and always has been the safety and security of the Saints. However, having one foot in Babylon and the other in Zion will never do. We simply cannot chose both, because Zion and Babylon are mutually exclusive-exact opposites. Samuel told the Nephites that they had to choose, and we need only read the account to see the consequences of those who chose Babylon and those who chose Zion.

Samuel’s slippery treasures were ultimately a curse, but first they were an invitation. The Book of Mormon testifies that the few who chose to accept that invitation were kept safe, and shortly thereafter, the Lord came and established Zion among them.

See Helaman 13:19-24

Helaman 13:29

Helaman  13:27-28

See Helaman 13:12-14

Helaman 13:8-10, 18

See Helaman 13:18-19, 31, 33, 36

Helaman 13:31

See 3 Nephi 1-4

Helaman 13:20

Helaman 13:32-39

See Helaman 16:12-15

Helaman 16:15, 22-24

D&C 133:5, 7, 14

D&C 53:2

D&C 25:10

D&C 64:24

1 Nephi 22:14

Blaine M. Yorgason, I Need Thee Every Hour, p.206-207

The process of leaving Babylon and coming to Zion begins with the discovery that we are not home. We have fallen into a lone and dreary world that is as foreign as hell is to heaven. From the moment of that discovery and for the rest of our lives, if we want to be Zion, we must point our direction away and up.

The Originator and Promoters of Babylon

This earth began as Zion but soon was infiltrated by a being, who determined to wrest ownership from the Creator and reign as the god of this world. That being, of course, was Satan. From the outset, he systematically reversed every Zion doctrine with his anti-Christ philosophy, which he designed to appear so reasonable and close to the truth that he could even deceive the very elect. Imitating God the Father, Satan searched for a son to champion his anti-Christ gospel. He found a willing candidate in Cain, who advanced a doctrine so damaging that the entire antediluvian world became irretrievably corrupt and eventually warranted annihilation in the days of Noah.

After the Flood, Cain’s descendant, Nimrod, became heir to the diabolical throne, and a new anti-Christ dispensation began. Nimrod perfected what Cain had started by conquering much of the world and building a capital with a tower or temple to ascend illegitimately into heaven. Nimrod’s temple city was called Babel or Babylon. Forevermore, Babylon would be the code name by which prophets of God would identify and describe the Satanic culture, which always led its people to individual damnation and collective destruction. Sodom and Gomorrah are examples. Today, the anti-Christ philosophy dominates the earth. Both figuratively and literally, it “slayeth the saints of God, yea, and tortureth them and bindeth them down, and yoketh them with a yoke of iron, and bringeth them down into captivity.”

Escaping Babylon

In one way or another we have all been infected by Babylon, and when we become sufficiently sick, we seek heavenly help to get out and go home. To escape Babylon completely requires information, courage and covenants. In the process of leaving, we might react like Laman and Lemuel for a season, constantly looking back and longing for life in Babylon. But at some point we will come to realize that Zion and Babylon do not mix and we have to make a choice. We can only straddle the gulf between Zion and Babylon for so long; because the two go in opposite directions, we will eventually be forced to jump to one side or another. The only safety, according to Nephi, is summed up in his statement: “We heeded them not.”

Descriptions of Babylon

Babylon is so diverse, pervasive and disgusting that the prophets seem to struggle to find adequate language to describe her. Babylon is often called “the world,” but that term usually gives way to more graphic descriptors that focus on Babylon’s central elements: “whore” to portray her many sexual perversions; “The Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the Earth” to illustrate her continually spawning myriad seductive evils; “carnal, sensual devilish” to depict her strategy to exploit our human nature, tempting us to gratify our senses, which will cause us to become like the devil; “Great and Abominable Church” to illustrate that she is full of idolatry, envy and covetousness, and that her vile desires and philosophies are worshipped by her adherents as if they were doctrines of a perverse religion; and “Great and Spacious Building” to express her pride and scope of influence.

By whatever name, Babylon’s aim is to trap and destroy us. Nephi reveals Babylon’s four-fold strategy:

1. The pursuit of wealth 
2. Fashion and materialism 
3. Sexual sins 
4. Peer acceptance and popularity

This strategy is so successful that even Satan is taken aback by Babylon’s “dark and blackening deeds [which] are enough to make hell itself shudder, and to stand aghast and pale, and the hands of the very devil to tremble and palsy.” Without question, Babylon has made us to “bow down with grief, sorrow, and care, under the most damning hand of murder, tyranny, and oppression.”

Nephi describes Babylon in terms of the extent of her detestable deeds and the depth her corruption. His list includes:

• • contention 
• • man’s wisdom replacing God’s wisdom 
• • denying the power of God 
• • “eat, drink and be merry,” as a way of life 
• • pride 
• secret sinning 
• reviling against that which is good 
• placing trust in carnal security 
• flattery 
• taking and giving offense.

These items and more define Babylon as a physical location, and a spiritual condition: i.e. false philosophies and doctrines, and a corrupt condition of the heart.

Competition

In Babylon competition rather than cooperation is the name of the game. In Babylon, competitive enterprise is the primary engine that drives progress. Competition, however, spawns more losers than winners, and therefore is the cause of widespread misery. Competition accounts for social classes, educational disparity, poverty, oppression, dishonesty, murder and war. Like it or not, Zion is devoid of competition. If we love to compete, we are living in the right place.

Hypocrites

Babylon is filled with hypocrites, whom Jesus labeled the worst sinners-those people who pretend to be what they are not, to be better than they really are, or to appear pious and virtuous when they are not. Hypocrites have no place in Zion.

Man’s Philosophies and Pseudo Religions

Babylon bounces her adherents from one false philosophy to another, always keeping them off balance so that they will never find the truth. These man-made philosophies are like flavors of the month; when one fades in popularity, another takes its place. These philosophies are embraced by the people of
Babylon as pseudo religions; humanism, intellectualism, atheism, fundamentalism, modernism are a few. All these are designed to limit or remove God from our consciousness and to enthrone man and his genius.

Babylon Today

Prophets have compared Babylon today to the days of Noah and Lot, whose antediluvian world and later the societies of Sodom and Gomorrah were completely obliterated, as punishment for their sins. To negotiate through Babylon’s filthiness in the last days, the Lord has given us the Book of Mormon. This book of scripture contains two accounts of once-mighty nations that imploded by their embracing Babylon ideals.

Do we really believe we are immune?

President Kimball stated that latter-day Babylon would deceive even the very elect-as many as half the saints, according to the parable of the Ten Virgins, would not be ready for the Savior’s coming. President Kimball had three primary concerns: 1) The abuse of the environment: the pollutions of mind, body and our surroundings; 2) The pursuit of personal affluence: man’s transferring his trust in God to trust in material things, in an effort to assure security and happiness for the remainder of his life; 3) Trust in military security. The folly in pursuing these elements of Babylon can only result as it did for the Jaredites and Nephites.

Babylon’s Pervasiveness

Jesus, John, Paul, and Moroni join Nephi and other prophets, who foresaw Babylon’s latter-day dominance. Their descriptions are chilling, and yet many of us still make no attempt to flee. Jesus portrayed our day as a time when “darkness covereth the earth, and gross darkness the minds of the people, and all flesh has become corrupt before my face.”

We live in physical Babylon and partake of spiritual Babylon as though we have no option. At times, we seem powerless to cease participating in her lifestyle and believing her philosophies. We assume that this is just the way life is and that we are helpless to change things. The people in the days of Noah and Lot held similar views and were caught up in the destructions: “And as it was in the days of [Noah], so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that [Noah] entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; but the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.”

Babylon’s Future

Babylon will fall. Can there be any doubt? From the days of Enoch to the present, Babylon’s latter-day demise has been prophesied repeatedly. There have been countless prophetic descriptions of Babylon and myriad authoritative declarations concerning why she must be destroyed once and for all. When we consider Babylon’s characteristics, we are astonished that anyone would want to stay.

Zion is Our Only Safety

The prophets have indicated that Zion will rise in proportion to Babylon’s collapse. So we have a choice. If Babylon and Zion were two elevators, one crashing and the other ascending, which would we choose to ride? We cannot choose both. The one and only solution for safety and security in a world gone mad is to flee to Zion and hold fast to the true doctrines, covenants and ordinances. Without sounding alarmist, the days of indecision and straddling are past. We must make a choice. Hugh Nibley said, “Babylon’s time is all but used up, and the only thing for the Saints to do is to get out of her.”

The Law of Consecration is the very core of the gospel, and it permeates every gospel principle. This highest law defines a Zion person. Although programs of consecration have come and gone, the template of consecration remains the same. Consequently, consecration is current; it is now. Only by living this law can we hope to obtain an inheritance in the celestial kingdom.

What is Consecration?

To consecrate something is to sanctify, purify and set it apart for a sacred use, to make it holy, to dedicate it solemnly to a special service, or to give it religious sanction as with an oath or a vow. When we make the covenant of consecration, we agree to consecrate our lives, including everything that we have, will have, are or will be. According to President Kimball, we consecrate “our time, talents and means to care for those in need-whether spiritually or temporally-and in building the Lord’s kingdom.”

Hugh Nibley asks, “And how much is one able to give? Exactly as much as the Lord has given him-all that which the Lord has blessed you, or with which he will bless you.” Lived properly, the covenant of consecration paves the way and lays the foundation for the establishment for Zion in a righteous person’s life.

A Brief History of Consecration

The first recorded revelation concerning consecration was April 7, 1829, when the Lord instructed Joseph Smith to “seek to bring forth and establish the cause of Zion.” This was no small task. Zion is the celestial order of things, for both individuals and societies. Some descriptions of consecrated Zion people include: their belief that all things belong to God and that they are stewards; their willingness to be unified by esteeming other people as themselves; their retaining and exercising their free agency; their willingness to set aside selfishness and become equal with all the saints of God, according to their wants, needs and family situations by consecrating their “time, talents, strength, properties, and monies”; and their being accountable to the Lord for the discharge of their covenant and stewardships.

Anciently, Enoch managed to establish the ideal of Zion among his people, who later joined to create Zion, the city. These people exercised faith in Jesus Christ, repented of their sins, embraced the fullness of the New and Everlasting Covenant, and thereby became “of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there was no poor among them.” The vehicle that made this condition possible, and that will make it possible in the latter-days, was the Law of Consecration.

At the beginning of 1831, “the Lord revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith in Fayette, New York, that anciently he had taken the Zion of Enoch to himself and then commanded him to go to Ohio to receive the law [the law of Zion].” A month later, February 9, 1831, the Lord revealed to the Prophet “the law,” or the law of Zion, that which the Prophet specified as “embracing the law of the Church.” This law became known as Section 42 of the Doctrine and Covenants, and in it the Lord revealed the cornerstones of the Law of Consecration.

D&C 42-The Cornerstones of Consecration

The “Law of the Church,” Section 42 of the Doctrine and Covenants, lists four cornerstones of the Law of Consecration:

• First, mutual assistance–the Lord expects his disciples to sustain and help one another.
• Second, proper use of priesthood–the priesthood is to be used to benefit those who are physically and spiritually ill or in need.
• Third, the need for faith-according to God’s will, a person can be healed [physically, emotionally and spiritually] by the power of the priesthood if that individual has faith in Jesus Christ and if he is “not appointed unto death,” information that gives confidence to the person as he realizes that the Lord has given him time to work out his exaltation.
• Fourth, reciprocal love–the Lord expects his disciples to love one another and to become one.

The Law We Must Live to Achieve the Celestial Kingdom

President Ezra Taft Benson said, “The law of consecration is a law for an inheritance in the celestial kingdom. God, the Eternal Father, His Son Jesus Christ, and all holy beings abide by this law. It is an eternal law.” People whose lives are consecrated to the Lord “set their hearts on righteousness and having actually put first in their lives the things of God’s kingdom.”

The Church Welfare Plan describes a consecrated person as one who does not seek for worldly riches; who esteems his brother as himself; who, through tithes and offerings, helps to build up the Kingdom of God by caring for the temporal needs of those General Authorities whom God has called into full-time service; who makes his worldly goods available, over and above his family’s necessities, for the Lord’s work; and who, with his time, talents and means, takes care of the temporally and spiritually poor. Quoting the Church Welfare Plan, Bruce R. McConkie wrote,

“The practice of the law of consecration is inextricably intertwined with the development of the attributes of godliness in this life and the attainment of eternal life in the world to come. ‘The law pertaining to material aid is so formulated that the carrying of it out necessitates practices calculated to root out human traits not in harmony with requirements for living in the celestial kingdom and replacing those inharmonious traits with the virtues and character essential to life in that abode.’ (Bowen, The Church Welfare Plan, p. 13).”

Then quoting a supporting scripture, Elder McConkie added, “For if you will that I give you a place in the celestial world, you must prepare yourselves by doing the things which I have commanded you and required of you.”

Consecration’s Foundational Principles

Elsewhere in the scriptures, we learn that the Law of Consecration is built on the foundational principles of agency, stewardship, accountability and labor.

• Agency. An agent is someone who has the power and authority to act. Therefore, agents have agency, which is the ability to “act for themselves,” or to the ability to act for himself with respect to a given responsibility or obligation. Agents have the capacity to be accountable for their actions. Whereas freedom is the power and privilege to exercise our will and act upon it, agency is the power, independence of mind and individual will to choose in the first place.

Elder McConkie wrote: “Four great principles must be in force if there is to be agency: 1. Laws must exist, laws ordained by an Omnipotent power, laws which can be obeyed or disobeyed; 2. Opposites must exist–good and evil, virtue and vice, right and wrong–that is, there must be an opposition, one force pulling one way and another pulling the other; 3. A knowledge of good and evil must be had by those who are to enjoy the agency, that is, they must know the difference between the opposites; and 4. An unfettered power of choice must prevail.”

Moral agency describes our ability to act upon and be accountable for spiritual matters. Zion people exercise their God-given agency to choose to make and keep the New and Everlasting Covenant (the Covenant), and to reject the enticements of Babylon. And choose we must. Posing the choice between Zion and Babylon, Elijah asked, “How long halt ye between two opinions? if the Lord be God, follow him: but if Baal [Babylon], then follow him.” Being lukewarm on the issue is not acceptable: “I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.”

That these opposites (hot and cold) exist makes agency possible: “And it must needs be that the devil should tempt the children of men, or they could not be agents unto themselves; for if they never should have bitter they could not know the sweet.” Therefore, we are free to choose our destiny: Zion, to our salvation, or Babylon, to our condemnation. “Behold, here is the agency of man, and here is the condemnation of man; because that which was from the beginning is plainly manifest unto them, and they receive not the light.”

Having chosen Zion and thus having overcome Babylon, Zion people enjoy the highest degree of moral agency and its resulting freedom. Agency and freedom flourish in Zion: “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. “And because that they are redeemed from the fall they have become free forever, knowing good from evil; to act for themselves and not to be acted upon….” Conversely, agency and freedom decrease in Babylon: “And the whole world [Babylon] lieth in sin, and groaneth under darkness and under the bondage of sin.” Choosing Babylon results in fewer choices and less freedom to exercise agency, while choosing Zion results in limitless choices and unequalled freedom to exercise agency.

• Stewardship. When a person exercises his agency to live the Covenant, he makes a conscious choice to become a steward of the Lord’s property. His approach to ownership is “the earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof….” Elder Bruce R. McConkie said, “Underlying this principle of stewardship is the eternal gospel truth that all things belong to the Lord. ‘I, the Lord, stretched out the heavens, and built the earth, my very handiwork; and all things therein are mine …. Behold, all these properties are mine, … And if the properties are mine, then ye are stewards; otherwise ye are no stewards.’ (D&C 104:14, 55-56).”

We are expressly forbidden to hoard property or claim it as our own: “I command thee that thou shalt not covet thine own property….” Therefore, a Zion person’s claim to his property is subordinate to the Lord’s claim. As Martin Harris learned, property must be consecrated for the building up of the Kingdom of God and the establishment of Zion, which provides that no poor should exist among us. Ultimately we will be held accountable for the discharge of our stewardship.

A Zion person’s stewardship, sometimes referred to as “portion,” or “inheritance,” is to be used to support his own family, and then “conveying back to the Lord’s storehouse any surplus which accrued [for the poor]. (D&C 42:33-34, 55; 70:7-10).” Elder McConkie added, “It is by the wise use of one’s stewardship that eternal life is won.” Zion people do not take their covenant of stewardship lightly; they know that everything depends on their faithfulness in this responsibility: “And whoso is found a faithful, a just, and a wise steward shall enter into the joy of his Lord, and shall inherit eternal life.”

• Accountability. The Lord said, “…every man shall be made accountable unto me, a steward over his own property….” Upon the principle of moral agency, stewards are free to manage their stewardships, but they are not free from being accountable to the Lord: “…it is required of the Lord, at the hand of every steward, to render an account of his stewardship, both in time and in eternity. For he who is faithful and wise in time is accounted worthy to inherit the mansions prepared for him of my Father.” Clearly, we will one day stand before God to give an accounting of our deeds, which will include the management of our stewardship. Our performance will determine the trusts and stewardships given to us in eternity.

Zion people are under covenant to account for their earthly stewardships to the Lord’s servant, the bishop: “Verily I say unto you, the elders of the church in this part of my vineyard shall render an account of their stewardship unto the bishop, who shall be appointed of me in this part of my vineyard. These things shall be had on record, to be handed over unto the bishop in Zion.” For this reason, we report to the bishop each year regarding our tithes and offerings, and we account to him during our temple recommend interview. Elder David A. Bednar said that we account to God every night in prayer.

• Labor. Elder Bruce R. McConkie wrote, “Work is the great basic principle which makes all things possible both in time and in eternity. Men, spirits, angels, and Gods use their physical and mental powers in work.” Work, like other principles, exists in degrees ranging from telestial to celestial. Adam was commanded to work to support his family, which is a celestial endeavor, but he was not commanded to set his sights on empire building, plundering, extorting, leveraging, competing, augmenting his balance sheet or amassing personal wealth on the backs of the poor, all of which are telestial. Adam worked to create the first Zion upon the earth: Adam-ondi-Ahman. There he labored to sustain his immediate family and to bless the lives of others.

Likewise, Enoch worked to establish Zion, as did Melchizedek and Nephi: “And it came to pass that I, Nephi, did cause my people to be industrious, and to labor with their hands.” They worked together for the benefit of all. They labored to establish righteousness. They worked in unity to raise crops, smelt ore to create weapons for defense, and fashion objects of beauty. Together, they built buildings and a temple. Because of their celestial level of labor they were blessed with prosperity and familial strength: “And it came to pass that we began to prosper exceedingly, and to multiply in the land.”

Things began to fall apart when the Nephites became selfish and began to work on a telestial level. Jacob chastised them for searching “for gold, and for silver, and for all manner of precious ores” for the purpose of obtaining riches “more abundantly than that of your brethren,” causing the errant one to be “lifted up in the pride of your hearts, and …suppose that ye are better than they.” This kind of labor is not justified in Zion; it is condemned. President Kimball said, “As I understand these matters, Zion can be established only by those who are pure in heart, and who labor for Zion, for the ‘laborer in Zion shall labor for Zion; for if they labor for money [riches] they shall perish’ (2 Ne. 26:30).2 Ne. 26:31).”

Jacob taught the celestial law of labor and its underlying motivation: “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. And after ye have obtained a hope in Christ ye shall obtain riches, if ye seek them; and ye will seek them for the intent to do good–to clothe the naked, and to feed the hungry, and to liberate the captive, and administer relief to the sick and the afflicted.” Clearly, we must work, but what we work for determines if the work is telestial or celestial.

Conversely, “idleness has no place [in Zion],” said President Benson, “and greed, selfishness, and covetousness are condemned. [Zion] may therefore operate only with a righteous people.”

Conclusion

The Law of Consecration is a subject as glorious as its Founder. It is the law of the Celestial Kingdom revealed to us in this telestial setting for our salvation and exaltation. By this law the Kingdom of God prepares the way for the establishment of Zion as a holy community and Zion as individual people. We must learn all we can about this law then live it, otherwise we cannot expect to obtain an inheritance in the Celestial Kingdom. The foundational principles and cornerstones of Consecration are equality, unity, mutual assistance, proper use of the priesthood, faith, reciprocal love (charity), agency, stewardship, accountability and labor. This is the law by which hearts are purified, and by which we are ushered into the presence of God. Only upon the Law of consecration can we become one in our marriages, families, wards, stakes, the Church, and one with the Father and the Son.

Spencer W. Kimball, The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, edited by Edward L. Kimball, p.366

Hugh Nibley, Approaching Zion, p.427

D&C 6:6

See D&C 105:5

See D&C 38:17; 104:11-14

See D&C 38:24-27; 51:3, 9; 70:14; 78:6; 82:17

See D&C 104:17

See D&C 51:3

Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, “Consecration,” p.157

See D&C 72:3; 104:13-18

Moses 7:18

Encyclopedia of Mormonism, “Consecration,” p.312

D&C 42 introduction

List adapted from Clark V. Johnson, Sperry Symposium 1989, “The Law of Consecration: The Covenant That Requires All and Gives Everything”

Ezra Taft Benson, The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson , p.121

Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, “Consecration,” p.157

See Albert E. Bowen, The Church Welfare Plan, p.6

Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, “Consecration,” p.157

D&C 78:7

See American Heritage Dictionary, “Agent”

2 Nephi 2:26

See D&C 29:35

Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, 2d ed., “Agency,” p.26

See D&C 29:35

1 Kings 18:21, insertion added

Revelation 3:15-16

D&C 29:39

D&C 93:31

John 8:36

2 Nephi 2:26

D&C 84:49-50

Psalms 24:1

Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, 2d ed., “Stewardships,” p.767

D&C 19:26

See D&C 72:3-4; 51:19; Luke 16:2; 19:17; Matthew 25:14-30; D&C 82:3, 11; 78:22

D&C 51:4

D&C 51:4; 57:15

Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, 2d ed., “Stewardships,” p.767

D&C 51:19

D&C 42:32

D&C 72:3-4

D&C 72:5-6

See David A. Bednar, “Pray Always,” Ensign, November 2008

Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, 2d ed., “Work,” p.847

Genesis 3:19

2 Nephi 5:17

See 2 Ne 5:10-16

Jacob 2:12-14

Spencer W. Kimball, The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, p.363

Jacob 2:17-19

Ezra Taft Benson, “A Vision and a Hope for the Youth of Zion,” Devotional Speeches of the Year [Provo, Utah: BYU, 1978], p. 74.