“From the Bowels of My Mother Hath He Made Mention of My Name”
All of scattered Israel are now invited to listen to the voice of a servant of the Lord, one called from “the womb,” not one “self-ordained” but rather one “foreordained and known by name even before his birth. All are entreated to listen to Joseph, the son of Joseph, who was ”ordained from before the foundation of the world“ (D&C 127:2; Teachings, p. 365). He raises the warning voice in the very language prophesied: ”Hearken, O ye people of my church, saith the voice of him who dwells on high, and whose eyes are upon all men; yea verily I say: Hearken ye people from afar; and ye that are upon the islands of the sea, listen together“ (D&C 1:1). No more appropriate language could be imagined—words recorded by Isaiah, words to be fulfilled in the last days. Such are the words used to introduce the compilation of revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants as it announces that the kingdom of God has again been established on the earth and that the time for Israel to gather has arrived.”
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