The scattering of Israel ain’t over, yet

The scattering of Israel has been the gospel topic du jour in my mind lately.  I thought about the prophecy about the state of Israel ceasing to exist and its inhabitants being scattered and then my mind turned to the seed of Lehi on the reservations and I asked myself, “Can the Indians truly be considered in a scattered state if they are gathered onto reservations?”  I then wondered if they, too, would be further scattered off of the reservations.  My curiosity piqued, I then took up the scriptures to find out if there was any prophetic indications that the scattering of this land’s remnant (Lehi’s seed) was not yet over.  Here’s what I found and how I ended up reading (interpreting) the text:

1 Nephi 22:7

Nephi, expounding Isaiah 49:22-23 to his brothers Laman and Lemuel, said:

And it meaneth that the time cometh that AFTER all the house of Israel have been scattered and confounded, that the Lord God will raise up a mighty nation among the Gentiles, yea, even upon the face of this land; and by them shall our seed be scattered.

Now, notice the timeline of Nephi’s prophecy.

First, “all the house of Israel” will be scattered and confounded.  That includes the current State of Israel.  So, this prophecy is still future to us.

Second, only AFTER “all the house of Israel have been scattered and confounded,” the Lord will raise up a mighty nation among the Gentiles.  I have always been taught that we Americans, the citizens of the United States of America, are that mighty nation that scattered the Indians, but according to this new reading of the text, we are just a shadow fulfillment.  After Israel ceases to exist as a State, I suppose we do, too.  Then there will be another Gentile nation afterward upon this land, “a mighty” one, which the Lord God will raise up.

Third, it is this other Gentile nation, raised up by the Lord God on this land, after the USA has come and gone, that kicks the seed of Lehi off the reservations.  The U.S. Federal government oversees the Indian reservations, so if there is no more federal government, there is no more federal protection for the Indians, and their land is, essentially, up for grabs.  No one today dares take the reservation land from the Indians because it is essentially federal government land, and doing so would pit one against the feds, which is a no-win situation.  But without the feds, the Indians, which truly are weak these days, are easy prey.

Helaman 15:12

Samuel the Lamanite prophesied the following to the Nephites:

Yea, I say unto you, that in the latter times the promises of the Lord have been extended to our brethren, the Lamanites; and notwithstanding the many afflictions which they shall have, and notwithstanding they shall be driven to and fro upon the face of the earth, and be hunted, and shall be smitten and scattered abroad, having no place for refuge, the Lord shall be merciful unto them.

Although it is true that the Indians have been moved off of their traditional lands, and thus scattered from these lands, the reservations can still be considered places of refuge.  Only if they are kicked off of the reservations, and the reservation lands are occupied and inherited by the Gentiles (so that there are no more “reservations”), and the Indians are scattered among the Gentiles, only then can this prophecy of them “having no place for refuge” be literally fulfilled.  This interpretation shows, yet again, that the scattering of Israel is not yet complete.

Mormon 5:9

And also that a knowledge of these things must come unto the remnant of these people, and also unto the Gentiles, who the Lord hath said should scatter this people, and this people should be counted as naught among them—therefore I write a small abridgment, daring not to give a full account of the things which I have seen, because of the commandment which I have received, and also that ye might not have too great sorrow because of the wickedness of this people.  (Mormon 5:9)

There are two things about this prophecy: first, that the Indians will be counted (by the Gentiles) as nothing, and second, that the Indians will be counted among the Gentiles.  In other words, they will be scattered off of their lands and assimilated into the Gentile populations.  So, there will be no more Indian lands, no more Indian tribes, no more “Indian” anything.  They will completely lose their identity and will incorporate into the Gentiles, yet the Gentiles will not view them as full persons.  This reminds me of the 3/5 person accounting of slaves for direct tax apportionment, as written in the U.S. Constitution.  If I had to venture a prophetic guess, I would say that the seed of Lehi, at this future point, will enter the Gentile population as slaves, which is why Mormon uses the term “naught” to describe how the Gentiles will count them.

Now, taking this further—for I will treat this interpretation as a prophetic mood, at this point, and see where it leads—if indeed they will enter bona fide slavery among the Gentile population of the new, mighty nation raised up by the Lord God upon this land, then the prophecies of the Book of Mormon which speak of them being brought down into captivity and being brought out of captivity will be fulfilled literally.  So, although legal slavery has been abolished in this Gentile nation, the next Gentile nation to appear on this land will bring it back.

Three groups of captives; three divine deliveries

The Book of Mormon prophesies of three groups of people that will be brought down into captivity and then delivered by the power of God: a group of Gentiles, the saints of God and the remnant of this land.  Here is an example concerning the Gentile group:

And it came to pass that I beheld the Spirit of God, that it wrought upon other Gentiles; and they went forth out of captivity, upon the many waters.

…

And I, Nephi, beheld that the Gentiles that had gone out of captivity were delivered by the power of God out of the hands of all other nations.  (1 Nephi 13:13,19)

And these scriptures show the captivity and deliverance of the saints and remnant:

And the angel said unto me: Behold the formation of a church which is most abominable above all other churches, which 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.  (1 Nephi 13:5)

Wherefore, Joseph truly saw our day. And he obtained a promise of the Lord, that out of the fruit of his loins the Lord God would raise up a righteous branch unto the house of Israel; not the Messiah, but a branch which was to be broken off, nevertheless, to be remembered in the covenants of the Lord that the Messiah should be made manifest unto them in the latter days, in the spirit of power, unto the bringing of them out of darkness unto light—yea, out of hidden darkness and out of captivity unto freedom.  (2 Nephi 3:5)

And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld the power of the Lamb of God, that it descended upon the saints of the church of the Lamb, and upon the covenant people of the Lord, who were scattered upon all the face of the earth; and they were armed with righteousness and with the power of God in great glory.  (1 Nephi 14:14)

Now, by way of explanation, this righteous branch that Lehi spoke of is the remnant of his seed in the latter days*.  Jacob prophesied the following:

And behold how great the covenants of the Lord, and how great his condescensions unto the children of men; and because of his greatness, and his grace and mercy, he has promised unto us that our seed shall not utterly be destroyed, according to the flesh, but that he would preserve them; and in future generations they shall become a righteous branch unto the house of Israel.  (2 Nephi 9:53)

It would appear then, according to these scriptures (and others that I will not get into), that prior to the final scattering of the remnant upon this land and their entrance into captivity (slavery), a great and abominable church must be in existence, one which brings the saints into captivity (slavery) and which, perhaps, is also responsible for the captivity of the aforementioned Gentiles (who go out of captivity) and the subsequent captivity of the remnant.  The appearance of that great and abominable church is a prophetic marker, which indicates the final phase of the scattering.  It should be fairly easy to identify the church when it is formed, since slavery (and other abominations) will be one of its tenets.

Mormon 5:20

Finally, Mormon also wrote this, concerning the scattering of the remnant of this land:

But behold, it shall come to pass that they shall be driven and scattered by the Gentiles; and AFTER they have been driven and scattered by the Gentiles, behold, THEN will the Lord remember the covenant which he made unto Abraham and unto all the house of Israel.  (Mormon 5:20)

This means that the scattering of Israel begins with all the other tribes of Israel (they are the first to be scattered) and ends with the seed of Lehi (they are the last to be scattered.)  And only after the seed of Lehi is finally and fully scattered, then and only then will the Lord remember the covenant that He made to all the tribes of Israel, to bring them out of captivity, gather them, restore them to their lands and to the knowledge of their fathers, etc.  Then the last tribal branch that was scattered (the seed of Lehi) will be the first tribal branch that will begin to be gathered, and so on and so forth (first to last and last to first.)

*And when they repent and come to Christ, they shall take upon themselves the name of Nephi, calling themselves Nephites, which is a topic I might fully unfold in a future post.  In the meantime, see here and here.

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The Concept of Race, in the Gospel

I expect to hear much more about the priesthood ban the LDS church imposed on black Africans as the US presidential election gets closer.  And I’d expect LDS blogs to begin either defending the ban, attempting to explain it away, or talking about how the church needs to formally apologize for being racist and move on — [This recent one from Wheat & Tares comes to mind]

Brand-nu’s comments on the It maketh no matter to me, God accepteth no [one]’s person post got me to write out my view of human race — especially as it pertains to the racist doctrines of Cain’s mark and Canaan’s curse being the black skin of Africans and their enslavement by Europeans.

The origins of associating Cain’s mark with having black skin – and then tying that together with Canaan’s curse of slavery – and then rolling it all in with the priesthood restriction pertaining to Pharaoh [through Ham] in the book of Abraham — all originate with Victorian-era, Western European/American attempts to justify the enslavement of Africans.

No group ever persecutes, enslaves, tortures, or murders another group without first justifying their actions by placing the subjugated group outside the moral community of all human-beings [by one means or another].

Cain’s mark:

The entire point of the YHVH-author’s writings in Genesis was to explain how the world at the present [the time at which he was writing] came to be that way.  Why does man labor to till the earth, why does woman labor to birth children, why do some people organize as separate family-units and wear clothing – while others organize as sexually-open tribes and wear little clothing, why do some people raise crops and flocks – while others roam the earth and hunt nomadically, why do humans speak different languages? – etc.

The story of Cain’s mark is that author’s attempt to explain the existence of the nomadic Sleb tribes of Arabia, which were contemporaries with the people who wrote the biblical text.  These people were qayin [the word translated as “Cain”], which means “workers in metal”.

Their own cultural traditions explain that they were nomadic because, “the ground does not yield fruit to them.”  Also, as a tribal group, they are known to take seven-fold revenge on a person who kills one of their own fellow-tribesmen.  In other words, they start to sound a lot like:

and Cain went into the field
and Cain talked with Abel
his brother
and it came to pass
that while they were in the field
Cain rose up against Abel
his brother
and slew him
and Cain gloried in that which he had done
saying

I am free
surely the flocks of my brother
falleth into my hands

and YHVH said unto Cain

where is Abel
thy brother?

And he said

I know not
am I my brother’s keeper?

and YHVH said

what hast thou done?
the voice of thy brother’s blood
cries unto me from the ground
and now thou shalt be cursed from the earth
which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood
from thy hand
when thou tillest the ground
it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength
a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth

and Cain said unto YHVH

satan tempted me because of my brother’s flocks
and I was wroth also
for his offering thou didst accept
and not mine

my punishment is greater than I can bear
behold
thou hast driven me out this day
from the face of YHVH
and from thy face shall I be hid
and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth
and it shall come to pass
that he that findeth me will slay me
because of mine iniquities
for these things are not hid from YHVH

and I
YHVH
said unto him

whosoever slayeth thee
vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold

and I
YHVH
set a mark upon Cain
lest any finding him should kill him

and Cain was shut out from the presence of YHVH
and with his wife
and many of his brethren dwelt in the land of nod
on the east of eden

Note there is no mention of priesthood – only that a mark and a different lifestyle would characterize Cain’s family from Seth’s family.

Ham’s curse:

To get from Cain’s mark to banning priesthood – we have to go through Ham:

and Noah began to be a husbandman
and he planted a vineyard
and he drank of the wine
and was drunken
and he was uncovered within his tent

and Ham
the father of Canaan
saw the nakedness of his father
and told his two brothers outside
and Shem and Japheth took a garment
and laid it upon both their shoulders
and went backward
and covered the nakedness of their father
and their faces were backward
and they saw not their father’s nakedness

and Noah awoke from his wine
and knew what his younger son had done unto him
and he said

cursed be Canaan
a servant of servants shall he be
unto his brothers

and he said

blessed be YHVH
god of Shem
and Canaan shall be his servant
god shall enlarge Japheth
and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem
and Canaan shall be his servant

Still no mention of priesthood restriction or black skin.  In fact, if this curse means anything about the rights of the priesthood [given the servant/minister role of priests], there’s a case to be made that Canaan was being given the priesthood [being a servant of servants, a servant to his brothers] — though I think it’s more likely that the priesthood isn’t even part of this story at all.

There’s nothing about the rights of the priesthood until we get to Enoch’s prophecies:

and again YHVH said unto me

look

and I looked towards the north
and I beheld the people of Canaan
which dwelt in tents
and YHVH said unto me

prophesy

and I prophesied
saying

behold the people of Canaan
which are numerous
shall go forth in battle
array against the people of Shem
and shall slay them that they shall utterly be destroyed
and the people of Canaan shall divide themselves in the land
and the land shall be barren and unfruitful
and none other people shall dwell there
but the people of Canaan
for behold
YHVH shall curse the land with much heat
and the barrenness thereof shall go forth forever
and there was a blackness came upon all the children of Canaan
that they were despised among all people

and it came to pass
that YHVH said unto me

look

and I looked
and I beheld the land of Sharon and of Enoch and of Omner and of Heni and of Shem and of Haner and of Hanannihah
and all the inhabitants thereof
and YHVH said unto me

go to this people
and say unto them

repent

lest I come out
and smite them with a curse
and they die

and the record of Abraham:

now this king of egypt
was a descendant from the loins of Ham
and was a partaker of the blood of the Canaanites by birth
from this descent sprang all the Egyptians
and thus the blood of the Canaanites was preserved in the land

the land of egypt being first discovered by a woman
who was the daughter of Ham
and the daughter of Egyptus
which in the Chaldean language signifies egypt
which signifies that which is forbidden
when this woman discovered the land
it was under water
who afterward settled her sons in it
and thus
from Ham
sprang that race
which preserved the curse in the land

now the first government of egypt was established by Pharaoh
the eldest son of Egyptus
the daughter of Ham
and it was after the manner of the government of Ham
which was patriarchal

Pharaoh
being a righteous man
established his kingdom
and judged his people wisely and justly all his days
seeking earnestly to imitate that order
established by the fathers in the first generations
in the days of the first patriarchal reign
even in the reign of Adam
and also of Noah
his father
who blessed him with the blessings of the earth
and with the blessings of wisdom
but cursed him as pertaining to the priesthood

now
Pharaoh
being of that lineage by which he could not have the right of priesthood
notwithstanding the Pharaohs would fain claim it from Noah
through Ham
therefore my father was led away by their idolatry

The assumption is that Noah’s curse of Canaan is the curse pertaining to the priesthood mentioned in Abraham’s record.

However, that blessing/cursing was given to Pharaoh:

Pharaoh
being a righteous man
[…]
and also of Noah
his father
who blessed him with the blessings of the earth
and with the blessings of wisdom
but cursed him as pertaining to the priesthood
now
Pharaoh
being of that lineage by which he could not have the right of priesthood […]

and we do not have any scriptural record for what Noah said to Pharaoh.

Cain/Ham/Canaan have nothing to do with black Africans:

In summation:

• Cain’s mark mentions nothing about rights of the priesthood or about having black skin [because his descendants were Arabians]
• Ham/Canaan’s curse [although mentioning the rights of the priesthood] is said to pertain to Egyptians [who aren’t black, but are Arabians]

Any appeal to Cain’s mark or to Ham’s curse is completely irrelevant with respect to black Africans and the priesthood because neither of them were black Africans.  Cain and Ham would be the ancestors of Arabian people.  Even though Egypt is technically in the continent of Africa [geographically-speaking] – Egyptians are Arabs [cultural/genetically-speaking].

Furthermore, even if it were possible to assert that the historical character named Cain [and/or Ham], is the forbearer of black Africans – to associate that with a priesthood-ban on them [by lineage], one would then have to demonstrate something that would be equally impossible to assert – i.e., that their lineage is also found in no other human-being on Earth.

You see, every generation back we go in time, the number of forebearers a person has increases at an exponential rate [2 parents, 4 grandparents, 8 g-grandparents, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, and so on].  So as a bit of mental exercise – let’s wind the clock back to 1400 AD [~30 generations].  At this point, the number of potential ancestors you would have (2³⁰) is two-times what the world population was at that same time.

When we re-wind the clock back to biblical time-periods [588, 1700, 2300, or 4000 BC] and ponder not only the exponential number of forebearers one will potentially have – but also how they have been scattered across the globe by things like the flood of Noah, the tower of Babel, the scattering of the 10 tribes of Israel, war, famine, persecution, etc. – it gets pretty silly to start talking about the odds that each-and-every African person alive today does not have even one of the “righteous” in their family tree and that each-and-every European person alive today does not have even one of the “cursed” in theirs?.

Racial distinctions in the gospel:

The best thing to do is to take it as granted that the current scriptural record we have in the Bible is a pretty incomplete picture concerning the affairs of God throughout the whole human race.  The Bible is the book that’s come by way of the Jew and is their record — and so we find that it deals primarily with Arabians [go figure].

Until the scriptural record is more complete — until we receive the prophets of the other nations, tribes, and people, with their prophetic records that will come forth from Western and Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, Pacific Islands, etc. — we cannot speak with certainty of how God has dealt with the other races and if there are promises made to them that we know that of.  Which is why the best thing to do [until then] is stick to an:

[god] hath made of one blood
all nations of men

and

there is neither jew
nor greek

approach to associating a state of righteousness or a cursed state to any of the races of human-kind that are around today.  Because if we allow ourselves to be guided by a race-based rendering of something like:

the order of this priesthood was confirmed
to be handed down from father to son
and rightly belongs to the literal descendants of the chosen seed
to whom the promises were made

the sword of judgment cuts both ways.  Personally, as a literal descendent of Scottish/Irish forebearers, who [as far as our scriptures tell us] received none of the “original promises” themselves – I’ll end-up cutting myself out too.

But to attempt to include myself as a European by saying something like the scattering of the lost 10 tribes would be sufficient to “count me in” to the blessed lineage — would also likely allow for the inclusion of a whole host of other races and nationalities that someone might be trying to separate themselves from in the first place.

[God] hath made of one blood all nations of men:

All races were [at one point] a single race — the family of Adam and Eve.  The division into separate races has been a story of adaptation to unique human conditions, meaning all that we currently call “race” is a form of the miraculous human ability to adapt to the environmental conditions they find themselves in.

As a part of the restoration of all things — the gospel will be taken to every tribe, nations, kindred, tongue, etc. on the earth.

for behold
I say unto you
that Zion shall flourish
and the glory of YHVH shall be upon her
and she shall be an ensign unto the people
and there shall come unto her
out of every nation under heaven

As a part of the gathering of the people of the Lord – these human races will be brought back into the one, single human family.  Meaning that since Zion will not be established by unrelated persons — every nation under heaven will become connected by and will b be engaging in inter-racial marriages.

Race is purely conventional – and has no application of eternal significance.  The main component of what we use for racial distinction is skin color, which is composed largely of just two things:

• Melanin, which is produced in the skin as a response to oxidative stress of UV light
• Blood, which is visible through the skin in the vascular system

Now, a resurrected body has no need for protection from oxidative stress, and it will also not quickened with hemoglobin.  Thus, the skin color will not appear as any mortal human on the earth has ever looked.

When the scriptures say that resurrected persons will come forth in either the resurrection of just or the resurrection of the unjust:

and [they] shall come forth
they who have done good
in the resurrection of the just
and they who have done evil
in the resurrection of the unjust

it is saying that there will only be two discernible groups [what we could call “races”] of human beings after the resurrection from the dead:  the just and the unjust.

All those who come forth in the resurrection of the just will have a new body, patterned after the body of Christ, which is patterned after the body of God [meaning we’ll all have the same “genes”] – thus the color of their skin will all look exactly the same.

The fleshy-body that is sown in the earth upon death will arise as either wheat or tare [just or unjust], and this is according to the spirit that possessed that body at the time it died:

you do not sow the body that will be
but you sow bare grain
and it may chance be of wheat
or of some other grain

What makes a person “just” or “unjust” is not merits, nor lineage — but solely the state of the person’s right-brain-heart and their faith in Jesus Christ.  God looks only upon the right-brain-heart of mankind, which is something that has nothing to do with their genetic lineage or any supposed curses on black Africans.

So, given a future state in which no resurrected bodies will be colored by melanin and hemoglobin, and given that God has made of one blood every nation of mankind from the beginning, and that, as far as the gospel is concerned, “there is neither Jew nor Greek” – any race-based exclusion from the gospel [or from the priesthood] based on such flimsy ground as being related to someone who lived over 5,000 years ago makes a pretty poor “hill-to-die-on”.

Next Article by Justin:  The Written Records

Previous Article by Justin:  Deep Waters:  Having their Hearts Knit Together in Unity and in Love

In Search of a New Church Home:  Part II — Unitarian Universalism

The End of the State of Israel

Some background

For the past few months, I’ve been searching the scriptures an awful lot, especially the prophecies concerning the last days and the fulness of times.  In the last week (January 7-14), as I read the scriptures that dealt with the scattering and gathering of Israel, I was also listening to the news we’re getting of the conflict happening in Gaza and, both being in my mind, I began to hold up the State of Israel to prophetic scrutiny, meaning that I compared the State of Israel to the prophecies that were before me to see if it fulfilled them.  The conclusion I came to was that its existence did not fulfill prophecy, both the prophecies concerning the scattering of the Jews, as well as the restoration (gathering) of the Jews to the lands of their inheritance.

As this realization dawned on me, a feeling came over me that the State of Israel would be broken up, and its inhabitants scattered and then later the real gathering of the Jews would take place.  This feeling has persisted to this day.  As it wasn’t a direct revelation from the Holy Ghost, with attendant manifestations, I filed it under miscellaneous and kept it to myself.

However, on Thursday, January 15, in preparation for some advertising I was doing for the silver bartering currency, I went to the LEAP/EUROPE2020 web site to print out their summer 2009 prediction, their September 2008 prediction (which came true), and their March 2009 prediction and I noticed that they had a new article published about Israel:

Israel 2020: 2 scenarios for the future Scenario 1: Towards the end of the State of Israel / Scenario 2: Towards a durable Israeli state

Upon seeing this, I thought, “Maybe there is something to this feeling, after all.”  I called up what4anarchy to get his two cents and then decided to broach the subject on this blog.

Why the State of Israel does not fulfill prophecy

The main problem I have with the existence of the current State of Israel is that it does not appear that the Lord is the one who has gathered them.  It looks like the hand of man (the nations of the earth) used their colonial powers to establish them in Palestine.  Unlike the redemption of Zion, which will be redeemed by the power of the Lord, the gathering of Jews to Jerusalem appears to be the hand of man trying to force the fulfillment of prophecy.

Prophecies, when they are fulfilled are totally obvious to those who live during their fulfillment.  There is no guess-work involved or straining to make a prophecy fit.  Even the most enigmatic of prophecies become plain to those who live during their fulfillment.  This is why Nephi says that the Lord “doeth nothing save it be plain unto the children of men” (2 Ne. 26: 33).  The Lord aims to leave the children of men without the excuse of saying, “I couldn’t recognize the fulfillment of your prophecies.”  All men who are aware of the prophecies and who live during their fulfillment will be able to recognize their literal fulfillment.  That goes even for the prophecies of Isaiah, of which Nephi says, “in the days that the prophecies of Isaiah shall be fulfilled men shall know of a surety, at the times when they shall come to pass” (2 Ne. 25: 7).

Forcing the fulfillment of prophecy

As men, we are often guilty of super-imposing our current circumstances upon the ancient prophecies and if there is a resemblance, will often declare them fulfilled.  Those who believe in the prophecies want to see them fulfilled every whit, as their belief and faith depends upon it.  Unfulfilled or false prophecy is a great trial to faith while fulfilled prophecy confirms it.  Besides, no one likes to be wrong by believing a lie (a false prophecy), so every effort is made to force interpretations that make the prophecy seem fulfilled.

This anxiousness on the part of preachers and religionists is unnecessary because, in their literal fulfillment, prophecies become plain to all men.

Forcing prophecies is also unwise because if the literal fulfillment is still future and you broadcast its fulfillment now, conditions may change which undo the supposed fulfillment, which may cause a loss of faith.  Those putting forth the forced interpretations end up looking like jack-asses and those who otherwise might have believed the prophecies and gospel begin to doubt.

A prime example is section 87 of the Doctrine and Covenants, which prophesied the War Between the States and that it would be started “at the rebellion of South Carolina.”  At the time that the prophecy was received, though, South Carolina was already in rebellion with its nullification convention and the smell of war was in the air.  Many broadcast the prophecy far and wide, sure that its fulfillment was imminent.  Then conditions changed and South Carolina backed down.  Those taking the prophecy on their missionary journeys stopped showing it to people as proof that Joseph Smith was a prophet.  Its literal fulfillment did not come until decades later when conditions changed again.

Unless all the conditions called for in a prophecy are exact, no one should force a fulfillment upon it, no matter how closely the conditions come to the actual conditions needed for its fulfillment.

Many Christians (and LDS) have done this with the State of Israel.  Seemingly overnight the Jews went from a scattered state to a gathered one in Palestine (by the nations of the Gentiles.)  “The hand of the Lord!  Prophecy fulfilled!”  So went, and still goes, the cry.  (The religious right in particular is guilty of this.)  All government programs which supported and aided and supplied Israel with arms and other things it needed to survive in the region have been lobbied by this group so that the apparent fulfillment of prophecy remains fulfilled.  After all, the promise is that once the Jews are gathered by the Lord in the last days, they will never be scattered again.  (See 1 Ne. 15: 20.)

Not all Jews agree with the forced establishment of the State of Israel.  Over the years, I have come across Jews and Jewish organizations that say that the Jews are to remain scattered until the Lord, and the Lord alone, gathers them, and that this forced gathering is a false gathering and does not fulfill scripture.  For example, consider the following quote by one such organization:

“God-fearing Jews believe that the ultimate Redemption of the Jewish Nation will come about only through the Hands of God, and that at the time of the Redemption, peace will reign in the entire world. Any other type of forced redemption is but a sinful transgression, condemned by God and His Holy Torah.”  (Taken from The Torah Position on the Current Conflict in Gaza article found on the JewsAgainstZionism.com web site.)

My study of the prophecies bears this assessment out.

If, or when, the State of Israel ceases to exist and the Jews are scattered again, what will become of the religious right?  Will they lose credibility in the eyes of the people?  If our own LDS people have bought their faulty arguments concerning the fulfillment of prophecy, will our own people lose faith?  According to LEAP/EUROPE2020’s analysis, Israel can cease to exist in a matter of weeks. Conditions can change that rapidly.  Can our confidence in prophecy change to doubt as quickly?

The LDS are prophetic morons

Sadly, we LDS tend to skip over prophecy and just focus on the doctrines of Christ when reading the scriptures.  We rely on the chapter headings, institute and church manuals and general conference addresses to interpret prophecy and tell us what it all means.  When those sources only go so far, we then rely on the Christians’ analysis of prophecy.  In other words, we haven’t done our prophetic homework and obtained the spirit of prophecy and revelation so that we can understand these sayings.  There are few prophets left in the church.  The rest of us are led by blind guides (the Christians) who are even more in the dark concerning prophecy than we are, having less prophetic writings than we do.

So, if you are among the membership that believes the State of Israel was established by God and fulfills prophecy, I invite you to take up your scriptures alone and to leave aside the Christian and LDS commentaries.  Let nothing but the Spirit and the scriptures guide you and see if you still come to the same conclusion.

To help you in that end, let me list some Book of Mormon prophecies that deal with the scattering and gathering of the Jews.  You may start to see an emerging pattern once you take a look.

The prophecy of Lehi in 1 Ne. 10

1. Messiah slain (1 Ne. 10: 11)  2. Jews scattered (1 Ne. 10: 12-13)  3. Jews gathered/come to knowledge of true Messiah (1 Ne. 10: 14)

The prophecy of Nephi in 1 Ne. 11-15

1. Messiah slain (1 Ne. 11: 33)  2. Jews fight apostles (1 Ne. 11: 35)  3. Jews broken up, destroyed (1 Ne. 11: 36) and scattered (1 Ne. 15: 12-18)  4. Jews believe in Redeemer (1 Ne. 15: 13-16)  5. Jews restored (1 Ne. 15: 19)  6. Jews never to be scattered again (1 Ne. 15: 20)

The prophecy of Zenos in 1 Ne. 19

1. Messiah slain (1 Ne. 19: 10)  2. Jews reject Christ (1 Ne. 19: 13)  3. Jews scourged and scattered (1 Ne. 19: 13-14)  4. Jews believe in Christ (1 Ne. 19: 15)  5. Jews gathered by the Lord (1 Ne. 19: 16)

The prophecy of Nephi in 1 Ne. 22

1. Jews reject Christ (1 Ne. 22: 5)  2. Jews scattered (1 Ne. 22: 3-5)  3. Lord does marvelous work among Gentiles (1 Ne. 22: 8)  4. Jews believe in Christ [through new records] (1 Ne. 22: 9-12)  5. Jews gathered by Christ (1 Ne. 22: 12, 25)

The prophecy of Jacob in 2 Ne. 6

1. Messiah slain (2 Ne. 6: 9)  2. Jews reject Christ (2 Ne. 6: 10)  3. Jews scattered (2 Ne. 6: 11)  4. Jews believe in Christ (2 Ne. 6: 11)  5. Jews gathered by Lord (2 Ne. 6: 11, 14)

The prophecy of Jacob in 2 Ne. 10

1. Messiah slain (2 Ne. 10: 3, 5)  2. Jews reject Christ (2 Ne. 10: 5)  3. Jews scattered (2 Ne. 10: 6)  4. Jews believe in Christ (2 Ne. 10: 7)  5.  Jews gathered (2 Ne. 10: 7-8)

The prophecy of Nephi in 2 Ne. 25-30

1. Jews reject Christ (2 Ne. 25: 12)  2. Messiah slain and resurrected (2 Ne. 25: 13-14)  3. Jews fight against church of God (2 Ne. 25: 14)  4. Jews destroyed, scattered (2 Ne. 25: 14-15) and scourged for many generations (2 Ne. 25: 16)  5. Jews believe in Christ (2 Ne. 25: 16; 2 Ne. 30: 7)  6. The Lord “sets his hand again the second time to restore” Jews (2 Ne. 25: 17; 2 Ne. 27: 26)  7. Jews receive new records that will judge them (2 Ne. 25: 18; 2 Ne. 29: 11-13)  8. Both Jews and records gathered in one (2 Ne. 29: 14; 2 Ne. 30: 7)

The prophecy of Jacob in Jacob 4: 15 – 6: 4

1. Jews reject Christ (Jacob 4: 15)  2. Jews scattered (Jacob 5)  3. The Lord sets “his hand again the second time to recover” Jews (Jacob 6: 2)  4. Servants of the Lord go forth for the last time to nourish and prune vineyard (Jacob 6: 2)

The prophecy of Zenos in Jacob 5

1. Jews scattered (Jacob 5)  2. Servant and Lord bring forth new records (Jacob 5: 55-56)  3. Servant, Lord and other servants bring forth new records (Jacob 5: 61-69)  4. Servant, Lord and other servants labor for last time (Jacob 5: 70-73)  5. Both Jews and records gathered in one body (Jacob 5: 74)

The prophecy of Mormon in 3 Ne. 5

1. Jews scattered, then gathered by Lord (3 Ne. 5: 24)  2. Jews to receive new records of Christ (3 Ne. 5: 25-26)  3. Jews then to be gathered after they believe in Christ (3 Ne. 5: 26)

The prophecy of the Lord in 3 Ne. 16

1. Jews scattered (3 Ne. 16: 4)  2. Gentiles take new records to Jews (3 Ne. 16: 4)  3. Jews believe in Christ (3 Ne. 16: 4)  4. Jews gathered (3 Ne. 16: 5)

The prophecy of the Lord in 3 Ne. 20

1. Covenant of Father to Israel fulfilled when Isaiah’s words fulfilled (3 Ne. 20: 11-12)  2. Jews scattered (3 Ne. 20: 13)  3. Gentiles scatter Jews (3 Ne. 20: 15) and scourge them (3 Ne. 20: 28)  4. Jews receive new records (3 Ne. 20: 13, 30)  5. Jews believe in Christ (3 Ne. 20: 30)  6. Jews gathered by the Lord (3 Ne. 20: 13, 18, 21, 29, 33, 46)

The prophecy of the Lord in 3 Ne. 21

1. The sign that Israel is about to be gathered and Zion is about to be established (3 Ne. 21: 1) is when the record of the ministry of the Savior to the Nephites goes to the Gentiles (2 Ne. 21: 2) and from the Gentiles to the remnant of Israel (3 Ne. 21: 3.  See 3 Ne. 21: 1-7)  2. In that day kings will shut their mouths (3 Ne. 21: 8)  3. In that day Father will perform great and marvelous work (3 Ne. 21: 9)

—I will expound 3 Ne. 21: 11.  “Therefore it shall come to pass that whosoever will not believe in my words, who am Jesus Christ, which the Father shall cause him to bring forth unto the Gentiles, and shall give unto him power that he shall bring them forth unto the Gentiles, (it shall be done even as Moses said) they shall be cut off from among my people who are of the covenant.”

—”My words” in the phrase “whosoever will not believe my words” means the record of the ministry of the Savior to the Nephites (not the abridgment made by Mormon.)  Remember, Mormon was about to write the full account of the ministry contained on the large plates of Nephi, because these words were prophesied to come forth, as these were the words meant by the Savior in this verse, and these are the words that would implement the “cut off” clause of the prophecy, but the Lord forbade it (3 Ne. 26: 11).

—”Him.”  Can you guess who “him” is in the phrases “the Father shall cause him to bring forth unto the Gentiles, and shall give unto him power that he shall bring them forth unto the Gentiles”?  (See 3 Ne. 21: 9-10.)  This “him” man will bring forth the record of the Savior’s ministry.  Again, this is not speaking of the abridgment.

—”Cut off.”  The prophecy of Moses says, “A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. And it shall come to pass that every soul who will not hear that prophet shall be cut off from among the people.”  This prophet is Christ.  The fulfillment of this prophecy happens when the record of the Savior’s ministry to the Nephites (not the abridgment) comes forth.  Then, everyone who reads the record will be left without excuse.  Either they believe the words of Christ and become numbered with the house of Israel, or they disbelieve them and cut themselves off.  In other words, Moses had view of this last record coming forth when he spoke his prophecy.

—What this all means: At some point a “healed” servant of the Lord will appear and will bring forth the record of the Savior’s ministry (the full account) as well as other records.  These “last records” will show that the first records (including the Book of Mormon) are true and will convince everyone that Jesus is the Christ, leaving no one with an excuse.  They will go first to the Gentiles and then to the Jews, which will turn them both to the Lord and into bona fide Israelites.  Then the Lord will gather with power those who have accepted these last records to the lands of their inheritance.  Everyone else will be cut off and gathered into bundles to be burned.  The “last records” will cause a great division among the people (2 Ne. 30: 10).  This latter work, in which this “healed” servant comes forth and produces the “last records,” first to the Gentiles and then to the Jews, after which everyone is gathered, is known as the marvelous work and a wonder, the great and marvelous work, the second time the Lord will set his hand again to restore his people, etc.

That is all I will say about this chapter.

The prophecy of Mormon in Morm. 5: 14

1. Scattered Jews receive new records, believe in Christ and are restored (Mormon 5: 14)

The prophecy of Ether in Ether 13

1. Jerusalem destroyed (Ether 13: 5)  2. Jews scattered (Ether 13: 11)  3. Jerusalem to be built up again (Ether 13: 5)  4. Jerusalem to be a holy city of the Lord (Ether 13: 5)  5. Jews to be clean “washed in the blood of the Lamb” (Ether 13: 11.  See also 2 Ne. 25: 16 “with pure hearts and clean hands.”)

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