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First Servant Last Time

It seems fitting that spring should arrive and our thoughts turn to our lawn and garden just as we reach Jacob 5, the allegory of the Olive Tree. The Lord’s garden, as it were, is the House of Israel and he never rests. Consider this verse,

“And that I may have joy again in the fruit of my vineyard…go to, and call servants, that we may labor diligently with our might in the vineyard that we may prepare the way, that I may bring forth again the natural fruit….Wherefore let us go to and labor with our might this last time, for behold the end draweth nigh, and this is the last time that I shall prune my vineyard” (Jacob 5:60-62).

In the spirit of good gardening, may I tell you of one those first servants called to prune the vineyard this last time.

Solomon Chamberlain was born in Connecticut. When he was eight years old, his father died. Solomon said, “From the time my father died, till I was 19 years of age, I lived a very wicked life. About that time, I had a vision of hell… which alarmed me very much, and I reformed…. My visions so alarmed me, I was in sorrow and repentance for many days, on account of my sins, I thought I would give all the world if I could find a man that could tell me what I should do to be saved. I sought much, but could find none.” Solomon prayed night and day, pleading, until finally the word of the Lord came to him, “Solomon, thy sins are forgiven thee. Go in peace and sin no more.”

Then, about the year 1816, Solomon received another vision where he was told that there was no true Church on the earth, but that the true faith with prophets and apostles would soon be restored. He was also told that another book like unto the Bible would come forth.

Years passed and Solomon grew restless. Then one day, he had occasion to travel to Upper Canada. He boarded a canal boat and traveled west along the Erie Canal. As he passed the village of Palmyra, Solomon felt strangely impressed to get off the boat. He did. Then came another impression to journey south, which he did. He put up for the night with some local residents. The next morning, the lady of the house asked him if he had heard of the Gold Bible.

“When she mentioned Gold Bible,” Solomon recorded, “I felt a shock of the power of God go from head to foot. I said to myself, I shall soon find why I have been led in this singular manner.”

At that moment, Solomon was only a half mile from the Smith farm. He went there. As he entered the home, he asked, “Is there anyone here that believes in visions or revelations?” Can you imagine Hyrum’s surprise? Upon learning they were a visionary household, Solomon expounded his views of a future restoration of Christ’s Church. The Smiths were astonished.

Solomon spent two days with them while they taught him. Then, Hyrum and Solomon went into Palmyra, to the Grandin Print Shop, where the printing of the Book of Mormon had just begun. When the proof sheets containing the first 64 pages of the Book of Mormon came off Grandin’s press, Solomon was so excited that he asked for permission to take some. He was given leave to do so, and Solomon went on his way to Canada, preaching the Book of Mormon before it was even completed. He raised the warning voice, telling people to prepare for the great work of God that was coming. Among those who heard him were Phineas and Brigham Young.

When the Church was organized, Solomon was there, and where the Church went, Solomon went, suffering everything but death while he served faithfully and followed the prophets all the way to Utah. Solomon died in 1862, his last days spent, he said, “endeavoring to live every day in a way that I am willing to meet the Judge of all the earth at any time.”

Solomon Chamberlain–one of those first servants of the last time the Lord would prune his vineyard.

Sources: http://www.boap.org/LDS/Early-Saints/SChamberlain.html