"Man naturally clings to this earth; there seems to be something inherent in his nature that draws and binds his affections to the earth; hence he strives all that lays in his power to possess as much land as he can reasonably obtain; and not always honestly, but wars have been waged for the acquisition of territory, and the possessions of the earth," wrote President John Taylor in The Government of God.
"But what avails it all without God! So far from benefiting man, it is an injury, if obtained by fraud; for he has got to pass that test which none can avoid. And if circumstances here give him the power over his brother, when he leaves this world and appears before God, he goes to be judged for that very act of oppression; and the thing that he so anxiously desired to obtain in this world is his curse in the next. An honorable desire for property is not wrong; but no man can have a lasting claim unless it is given him of God."President Taylor wrote of the covenant the Lord made with Abraham: "And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession." (Gen. 17:8.)
President Taylor wrote: "This covenant was an eternal one; yet Abraham did not possess the land, for Stephen says, `He gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on.' (Acts 7:5.) . . .
"Here then, we find land given to Abraham by promise, a land that he did not possess; but he will do so, . . . He looked forward to the redemption of his seed, the establishment of the kingdom of God, and the inheritance of those blessings eternally. If any one doubts this, let him read the 31st chapter of Jeremiah, and the 36th and 39th chapters of Ezekiel; wherein it is stated that Israel is to gather to their own land, that it is to become as the Garden of Eden, and to be no more desolate.
"Ezekiel speaks of the resurrection of the dead, the coming together of the bones, flesh, sinews, and skin, of a living army; of the uniting of the nations of Judah, and Israel, in one; and in consequence of the great development of the powers of God, the heathen would be filled with astonishment.
AndT finally, that God's tabernacle should be planted in their midst for evermore.
"Then let them read from the 47th to the last chapter of Ezekiel; and they will find an account, not only of the restoration of the Jews, and ten tribes, but that the land is actually divided to them by inheritance, in their different tribes, according to the promise made thousands of years before to Abraham.
"In the 13th and 14th verses of the 47th chapter, he refers to this, and says, `Thus saith the Lord God; This shall be the border, whereby ye shall inherit the land according to the twelve tribes of Israel: Joseph shall have two portions. And ye shall inherit it, one as well as another: concerning the which I lifted up mine hand to give it unto your fathers: and this land shall fall unto you for inheritance.' "
President Taylor declared, "Thus we find that the promise unto Abraham concerning territory will be literally fulfilled."
