p. 5 | An Allegory by Geo. E. Price

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Mar 12, 1902

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 28, No. 11.

An Allegory

By Geo. E. Price

HESPERIA, OR THE LAND OF THE WEST.—NO. 1.

An Allegory.

There was once a king who had vast estates in the West. Now these estates were wilderness land; they were not inhabited.

But the people of the East were at war with the Great King, and they oppressed His people very sore. And when they cried unto the King for help, by reason of their hard bondage, the Great King sent them a proclamation, saying, “Arise ye, My people, and flee unto My land in the West, where none shall molest or make you afraid, and where ye may worship and serve Me as I have commanded.” Then many of His people obeyed the words of their King; and they arose, and after sailing across the great seas, they came to the land of the West and dwelt there; and they called the name thereof Hesperia.

Now the beginning of their trouble with the people of the East was on this wise. The people of the East were rebels against the Great King, they served Him not. And they had many princes over them who ruled with great power. But the chief of them all was Diabolus, prince of Babylon; for he was mightier than all the other kings of the East, and he made war on some of them and subdued their cities.

Now Diabolus was a very subtle prince, and he ruled only as the governor of the land under the Great King. “For,” said he, “all the people of the world do know that the Great King is the rightful ruler, and is not dead, neither does He sleep. And if I say that the kingdom is mine alone, no one will believe me; for many of the people have been personal friends of the Great King in the time past. But if I shall say that the Great King has appointed me to rule in His stead, then will they all honor me, and I shall become great, and shall rule over them all. For all people do know that for these many years the Great King has not visited this land, neither has He sent us any messages or laws, and the old laws are fast fading from the people’s minds. So, lest the people forget the Great King and renounce His authority, I shall have myself proclaimed as His governor, and then all the people will serve and obey me.”

So his servants proclaimed him, and the people shouted and said, “Long live Prince Diabolus.”

But when he was established on the throne, he became a very wicked king. For he put forth laws of his own which were contrary to the King’s laws, and made the people obey them under pain of death.

Now the King’s laws had been published in a Great Book which the Great King had caused to be written and scattered over the land, that His people might know the law; and in it He had promised long life and many blessings and honors to all His obedient people. But Diabolus said, “How shall we know what the law means? Must there not be some one to interpret it for us?” So the people received the explanations and amendments which he offered them as indeed the very laws of the Great King.

But it soon came to pass that the wise people began to say that the new laws did not make the people happy and contented as the old laws had done. “For the old laws,” said they, “not only taught what was right to be done, but gave power to those who wished to obey, to do what was commanded, and they were all reasonable and just laws, and were based on the ancient constitution of the country, and were exactly suited to our situation and our needs.”

But the laws of Diabolus were very different. For there was no necessity for fresh laws, save that Diabolus wished to make the people forget the Great King and His former rule. So his laws were all directed to substituting something in place of what the Great King had commanded, and to turning the hearts of the people away from Him. So he changed the day of public worship from the seventh day, on which the Great King had been crowned, to the first day, which was the day that he had devised in his own heart. And he also added many more days of his own, and ceremonies and rites which every one must learn from him and his prophets.

Moreover, he told the people, saying, “The old laws are hard and grievous; now therefore I will give you laws which are better.” Also, if any transgressed, instead of the former restitution and amendment of life, he only paid a certain fine into the prince’s treasury, or engaged to do a certain amount of work under the direction of his servants the priests.

So it came to pass that the people of the East forgot the Great King and His laws, and they served Diabolus, prince of Babylon, and obeyed his laws.

Now the sons of the prophets, who dwelt in Montibus, had copies of the Great Book. Many also of the priests of Diabolus had the Great Book. And the sons of the prophets said one to another, “What is this? for the Great King hath never given the government of this land into the hand of Diabolus.” They said, moreover, “What shall we do? Shall we even obey this Prince Diabolus instead of the Great King?”

So they refused to obey the new laws, and attempted to bring back the old laws again. But Prince Diabolus gathered his armies and made war against them, and slew very many of them. And the rest, in terror of their lives, fled everywhere; but as they went, they taught the people saying that the Great King had never appointed Diabolus to rule the land or to enact new laws. And it came to pass after the war had lasted many years, that very many of the people believed the sons of the prophets; and Diabolus, seeing the people turning against him, was forced to let them alone.

Now it came to pass in those days that there was a man of the sons of the prophets whose name was Justus, and he dwelt by the seashore.

The same was a good and upright man, one who obeyed the King’s laws as far as he knew. And the people of the seacoast and the islands gave heed unto him; for he taught them concerning the laws of the Great King. Howbeit, he did not teach them all of the law; for they still worshiped as they had been accustomed on the day that Diabolus had appointed.

Now Justus said unto himself: “Behold, now the Great King does not come Himself, neither has He sent His Son, the Prince Imperial, to take charge of His people and to rule the land as He has promised. And Prince Diabolus is strong and has great armies. Now, therefore, we will covenant together against him; and we will appoint captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, and we will rule this country in the name of the Great King. And we will subdue all the land; and when the Prince Imperial shall come, behold, all the land will be subdued before Him, and will be ready to welcome Him; and He will even make us rulers under Him, for that we have accomplished this great work in His name.”

Tracadie, N. B. GEO. E. PRICE.

(To be continued.)