Book of the Week: An Ancient American Setting for
the Book of Mormon-Sorenson
Sperry-
Linquistic; on the basis of his knowledge of Hebrew alone, he knew the Book of
Mormon could not have exclusively 19th century origins.
Nibley-
put the Book of Mormon is a Near Eastern context
Sorenson
- Presents the Book of Mormon in an ancient American background.
Gary's
"GREEN VERSES" Third Nephi 19-30
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3 Nephi 19:9
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Should having the Holy Ghost in our lives be the thing we most
desire.
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3 Nephi 20:41
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A great admonition; don't touch or associate with the unclean.
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3 Nephi 21:2
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The coming forth of the Book of Mormon is a sign that Israel is
to be gathered soon.
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3 Nephi 22:17
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A great promise with regard to people who try to keep the Gospel
of Christ from spreading.
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3 Nephi 23:1
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A commandment to search Isaiah diligently. Not just a
suggestion.
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3 Nephi 24:7
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The verses that follow is a great way for people who have
strayed to show that they want to return.
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3 Nephi 25:6
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A nomination for God's favorite verse in all scripture.
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3 Nephi 26:14
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I find it very interesting that Jesus would have the children
speak even greater things than He.
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3 Nephi 27:27
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Here it is; what our goal should be; to be like Jesus.
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3 Nephi 28:10
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Attributes in a fullness of joy; be with God and to be like God.
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3 Nephi 29:1
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Another verse testifying that the coming forth of the Book of
Mormon is a sign of the times.
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3 Nephi 30:2
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A personal invitation from the Savior to all gentiles to repent
and come unto Christ
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3 Nephi 19-30
3 Nephi 19
Vs. 3 - The effort we put forth to hear the word of the Lord.
(Puertas family)
Vs. 9 - Praying for that which we most desire.
Vs. 12 - The Nephite 12 re-baptized just like on April 6, 1830
Vs. 19 & 31 - Cross
reference to John 11: 4--41 - Going away to pray
Vs. 24 - an example of an inspired prayer. We should pray to know
what we should pray for.“On the first day of June in this year, 1978, the First
Presidency and the Twelve, after full discussion of the proposition and all the
premises and principles that are involved, importuned the Lord for a
revelation. President Kimball was mouth, and he prayed with great faith and
great fervor; this was one of those
occasions when an inspired prayer was offered. You know the Doctrine and Covenants statement, that if
we pray by the power of the Spirit we will receive answers to our prayers and
it will be given us what we shall ask (D&C 50:30). It was given President
Kimball what he should ask. He prayed by the power of the Spirit, and there was
perfect unity, total and complete harmony, between the Presidency and the
Twelve on the issue involved. “And when President Kimball finished his prayer,
the Lord gave a revelation by the power of the Holy Ghost. … “On this occasion, because of
the importuning and the faith, and because the hour and the time had arrived,
the Lord in his providences poured out the Holy Ghost upon the First Presidency
and the Twelve in a miraculous and marvelous manner, beyond anything that any
then present had ever experienced. The revelation came to the President of the
Church; it also came to each individual present. There were ten members of the
Council of the Twelve and three of the First Presidency there assembled. The
result was that President Kimball knew, and each one of us knew, independent of
any other person, by direct and personal revelation to us, that the time had
now come to extend the gospel and all its blessings and all its obligations,
including the priesthood and the blessings of the house of the Lord, to those
of every nation, culture, and race, including the black race. There was no
question whatsoever as to what happened or as to the word and message that
came. “The revelation came to the President of the Church and, in harmony with
Church government, was announced by him; the announcement was made eight days
later over the signature of the First Presidency. But in this instance, in
addition to the revelation coming to the man who would announce it to the
Church and to the world, and who was sustained as the mouthpiece of God on earth,
the revelation came to every member of the body that I have named. They all
knew it in the temple. All worthy men may use the priesthood to bless others. “In
my judgment this was done by the Lord in this way because it was a revelation
of such tremendous significance and import; one which would reverse the whole
direction of the Church, procedurally and administratively; one which would
affect the living and the dead; one which would affect the total relationship
that we have with the world; one, I say, of such significance that the Lord
wanted independent witnesses who could bear record that the thing had
happened.” (BRM“All Are Alike unto God,” (Symp. on the Book of Mormon, p. 2.)
Vs 25 - 12 transfigured
3 Nephi 20
Vs. 11- We are never told to read Isaiah
Vs. 10-24 - Gathering of Israel - 1) 3 Nephi 16:4-5 - Through the
Book of Mormon scattered Israel will gain of knowledge of Jesus and thus be
gathered. 2) 3 Nephi 16:6-14 - In the last dispensation the gospel will go
first to the Gentile (nations) and then when they reject it, to the Jews.
What
the Book of Mormon Teaches about Israel
The name Israel (Hebrew for "God rules" or "God
shines" "let God prevail") has two particularly distinctive
modern applications to Latter-day Saints. First, it refers to members of the
Church. Second, it points to modern descendants of ancient Israelite stock,
who, because of God's fidelity to ancient covenants made with their forebears,
are to become recipients of his blessings in the latter days. Ideally, a
true Israelite is one who both recognizes the prevailing of God and also
prevails with God through earnest prayer and covenant righteousness.
Israel is the name God gave to Jacob (Gen.
32:28: 35:10 After his posterity settled in the land of Canaan, the name Israel
referred to the league of tribes and
later the united monarchy of Saul, David, and Solomon was known as Israel.
Following Solomon's death, the name Israel denoted the northern kingdom while
the name Judah designated the southern realm. In the New Testament, the name
Israel refers to the people of God designating those who are, or will be,
gathered to Jesus Christ. The Holy One of Israel is name for the Savior used 34
times in the Old Testament, most frequently by Isaiah, who cites it 28 times. The
term is used frequently in the Book of Mormon, especially in 1 and 2 Nephi. Identified
as Christ in 2 Ne. 25:29.
Latter-day Saints apply the name Israel to themselves. First, Moses
appeared to Joseph Smith, and Oliver Cowdery in the Kirtland Temple on April 3,
1836, and conferred on them the keys, or authorization, for "the
gathering of Israel" (D&C
110:11); Second, Latter-day Saints learn from patriarchal
blessings that they are literally of the lineage of Israel. It is the
particular responsibility of Israel to carry the message of the restored gospel
to the world, and Ephraim has the responsibility of directing this work (D&C
133:26-34; cf. TPJS, p. 163). Those who are not of Israel's
lineage become such through adoption at the time of their baptism and reception
of the Holy Ghost (2 Nephi 30:1-2; TPJS, pp. 149-50). Third, Elijah
restoring the sealing powers for turning the hearts of the children to the promises
made to their ancestors (Mal. 4:5-6; D&C
2:1-3; JS-H 1:38-39) The
Book of Mormon Peoples were literally of Israel. Those who journeyed to the
Western Hemisphere from Jerusalem with Lehi around 600 B.C. were descended from
Joseph of Egypt through his sons Manasseh and Ephraim (Alma
10:3; 1 Ne. 5:14-16; Erastus Snow, JD 23:184-85). A second
group had links to the royal house of Judah through Mulek, son of Zedekiah (Hel.
6:10,; Hel. 8:21; Omni
1:14-16).
In
the New Testament era Gentiles were offered a broad opportunity to become full
partakers of Israel's blessings. Jesus limited his personal ministry to
Israelites (Matt. 15:24; 3 Ne. 15:23)
and told the Twelve to proselytize only among Israel (Matt.
10:5) John the Baptist proclaimed that "God is able of these
stones to raise up children unto Abraham" (Matt.
3:9). Peter learned that the
righteous in "every nation" who hearken to God are "accepted
with him" (Acts 10:35).
SCATTERING-
A two-edged cursing and
blessing comes with the scattering of Israel or the people of the Lord. The
people are literally cursed because they lose a true knowledge of the Lord and
His gospel, thus they become bereft of the Priesthood and the holy ordinances
which would have, by and by, led them back into the presence of God. And, the
earth is blessed by the scattering of Israel because of the spreading of the
seed of Israel, or the chosen blood line among all nations.Possession
of the promised land was one of the blessings of God's covenant with Israel,
therefore possession was conditional upon obedience to the commandments. Moses
prophesied that if they were rebellious God would scatter them from one end of
the earth to another. (Dt. 4:27; 28:64) The
scattering occurred in three primary phases: (1) the Assyrian captivity of the
northern kingdom of ten of the tribes of Israel (c. 722 B.C.); (2) the
Babylonian captivity of the kingdom of Judah (c.605- 587 B.C.); and (3) the
destruction of the Judean state and second temple by Rome (A.D. 66-70). While
other cases of scattering occurred, these phases accomplished the Lord's
purposes of punishing his covenant people by scattering them; but he mercifully
made preparation for gathering their descendants in the latter years when they
"come to the knowledge of their Redeemer" (2
Ne. 6:8-14). "The lost tribes are not lost in the sense
that we do not know where they are. The scriptures plainly tell us they have
been scattered among every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. How then are
they lost? They are lost temporally in the sense that they are in many
instances lost to the lands of their inheritance. Of greater importance, they
are lost in a spiritual sense; they are lost to the gospel and its saving
ordinances, they are lost to the priesthood and all the blessings that flow
from it...They are so intermingled with the Gentiles of the world that they can
only be identified by revelation-this revelation must come through ordained
patriarchs, declaring to them their lineage and promised blessings as the
chosen seed, but this only after they have found their way back to the fold of
God...Our Israelite forebears were scattered because they rejected the
gospel." (DCBM 1:10) Numerous references to Israel's scattering appear in
scripture. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Nephi, and others wrote much
concerning it (e.g., Isa. 50-53;
Jer.
3;18; Ezek.
6:8-10;11-12;36;
2
Ne. 10). Perhaps the most notable of these is the prophecy of Zenos
given "unto the house of Israel" and cited in the Book of Mormon by
Jacob, son of Lehi (Jacob 5). Joseph Fielding Smith, summed up
this allegory thus: "It records the history of Israel down through the
ages, the scattering of the tribes to all parts of the earth; …or in other
words the mixing of the blood of Israel among the Gentiles by which the great
blessings and promises of the Lord to Abraham are fulfilled" (ATGQ
4, pp. 141-42). Book of Mormon prophets and the resurrected Savior also spoke
of the scattering. Reflecting on his people's situation in a new land, Nephi
noted that they were part of
scattered Israel that would one day be gathered (1
Ne. 22:3-12). Jacob observed, "We have been driven out of the
land of our inheritance; but we have been led to a better land" (2 Ne. 10:20-22). The resurrected Jesus told hearers
in the Americas that though the prophesied scattering was not yet complete, the
promised gathering was certainly forthcoming (3 Ne. 20:11-18, 29-46; 21:1-9, 26-29). It is rare in the Book of Mormon to
read about the scattering without reading about the gathering right after.
GATHERING - The Hebrew word for gather means literally "to
grasp with the hand" and denotes a very personal touch from someone, such
as a warm handshake, but with the addition "to catch with the hand"
as if to not let go. Book of Mormon prophets affirmed that the Lord had not forgotten
the ten tribes, and that they are keeping records that will yet be revealed (2
Ne. 29:12,13,14). When the resurrected Jesus Christ appeared
in the Americas, he spoke of being commanded of the Father to minister unto the
lost tribes, "for they are not lost unto the Father" (3
Ne. 17:4). Jesus also promised that the Lord's redemptive work
in the last days would include "the tribes which have been lost" (3
Ne. 21:26). Latter-day Saints "believe in the literal
gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; [and] that Zion
(the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent" (A of F
10). In the LDS perspective, gathering Israel in the latter days consists of
the following: (1)
the spiritual gathering, which includes coming to know that Jesus is the Christ
and joining The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; (2) the assembling of Church members to organized stakes; and (3) the gathering of the descendants of Jacob's twelve sons-including the
lost ten tribes (D&C 110:11)-to the lands of their
inheritance. The Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants are seen as tools
"to gather out mine elect" from all the earth (Moses
7:62;). The risen Jesus declared "that when the words of Isaiah
should be fulfilled…then is the fulfilling of the covenant" that the Father
made to gather Israel (3 Ne. 20:11-13). Further, he proclaimed
that the Book of Mormon would come forth as a sign that scattered Israel was
about to be gathered (3 Ne. 20-21).
Nephi quoted Isaiah 48 and 49,which
he regarded as a herald of Israel's future gathering and glory (1
Ne. 20-22). "The
Book of Mormon is central to this work. It declares the doctrine of the
gathering. It causes people to learn about Jesus Christ, to believe His gospel,
and to join His Church. In fact, if there were no Book of Mormon, the promised
gathering of Israel would not occur." (RMNelson, Ensign, Nov. 2006, p.
80) *The gathering of Israel continues in the post-earthly spirit world where
Christ "organized his forces and appointed messengers…and commissioned
them to go forth and carry the light of the gospel to them that were in
darkness, even to all the spirits of men" so that they too may be gathered
(D&C 138:30, 34;1
Pet. 3:18-19; 4:6). In the implementation of this gathering,
ordinances such as baptism and confirmation are performed in latter-day temples
by Church members on behalf of the dead (cf. 1
Cor. 15:29). Missionaries were sent out after the Church was
organized (1830) to gather both spiritual and bloodline Israel. In the spirit of
gathering, many converts immigrated from the eastern states, Canada, Britain,
and Western Europe, first to Ohio, then Missouri, Illinois, and eventually the
Great Basin. Between 1840 and 1890, more than eighty thousand converts came
from continental Europe and fifty-five thousand from Great Britain (P. A. M.
Taylor, Expectations Westward [Edinburgh, 1965], p. 144). "Every
person who embraces the gospel becomes of the house of Israel. In other words,
they become members of the chosen lineage...The great majority of those who
become members of the Church are literal descendants of Abraham through
Ephraim, son of Joseph. Those who are not literal descendants of Abraham and
Israel must become such, and when they are baptized and confirmed they are
grated into the tree and are entitled to all the rights and privileges as
heirs." (JFS, Doctrines of Salvation 3:246) See also TPJS p. 149-150. "Jesus
Christ taught that there would eventually be 2 centers of gathering-the New
Jerusalem and the Old Jerusalem (see 3 Nephi 20:21-22, 29) As Church membership
expanded into other lands, President Kimball taught that the gathering place
today is wherever someone lives: The gathering of Israel for Mexicans is in
Mexico; in Scandinavia, for those of the northern countries; gathering place
for the Germans is in Germany; and the Polynesians, in the islands; the
Brazilians, in Brazil; for the Argentines, in Argentina." (Ensign, May
1975 p. 4) The gathering of Israel includes the Lamanites. To their ancestors
in the Americas, the resurrected Jesus promised: "This people will I
establish in this land, unto the fulfilling of the covenant which I made with
your father Jacob" (3 Ne. 20:22, 25;21:1-7).
The Book of Mormon states that the Jews "shall be gathered in from their
long dispersion, from the isles of the sea, and from the four parts of the
earth" (2 Ne. 10:8; 25:15-17). Moreover, Mormon,
editor and compiler of the Book of Mormon, declared that "ye need not any
longer hiss, nor spurn, nor make game of the Jews, nor any of the remnant of
the house of Israel; for behold, the Lord remembereth his covenant unto them,
and he will do unto them according to that which he hath sworn" (3
Ne. 29:8).
STATE
OF ISRAEL. LDS leaders have viewed the creation of the modern state of
Israel in the Middle East as a consequential world event but not as the
complete fulfillment of prophecy. After noting the glory of God's work yet to
be done among all branches of Israel and after discussing the redemption
promised to Judah, Bruce R. McConkie, an apostle, wrote of the present
immigration of a few million Jewish people to the Holy Land, "Is this the
latter-day gathering of which the scriptures speak? No! It is not…. [It] is nonetheless
part of divine plan" of a more complete gathering yet to occur (p. 229).
References:
Encyclopedia of Mormonism (Ludlow editor); Book of Mormon Reference Companion
(Largey editor); The Gathering of Israel in the Book of Mormon: A Consistent
Pattern by Robert Millet in "Rediscovering the Book of Mormon"; The
Destiny of the House of Israel by Daniel Ludlow in "Nurturing Faith
Through The Book of Mormon"; God Will Fulfill His Covenants with the House
of Israel by Leland Gentry in "Second Nephi, The Doctrinal
Structure"; Nephi on the Destiny of
Israel by Robert Millet in "Studies in Scripture Vol. 7"; Book of Mormon Student Manual p. 415-416, The
Final gathering to Christ by Joseph F. McConkie in "Studies in Scripture
Volume 8, p. 184-194.
3 Nephi 21
Vs. 1-7 - One sentence
Vs. 9-10 (also 3 Nephi 20:43-46) How many similarities can you
list between the lives of Jesus and Joseph Smith?
3 Nephi 22 - "no one, absolutely no one, in this age and
dispensation has or does or can understand the writings of Isaiah until he
first learns and believes what God has revealed by the mouths of his Nephite
witnesses" (Bruce R. McConkie, "Ten Keys to Understanding
Isaiah," Ensign,
Oct. 1973, 81)
Vs.
17 - “As surely as this is the work of the Lord, there will be opposition.
There will be those, perhaps not a few, who with the sophistry of beguiling
words and clever design will spread doubt and seek to undermine the foundation
on which this cause is established. They will have their brief day in the sun.
They may have for a brief season the plaudits of the doubters and the skeptics
and the critics. But they will fade and be forgotten as have their kind in the
past. “Meanwhile, we shall go forward, regardless of their criticism, aware of
but undeterred by their statements and actions” (GBH, Ensign, May 1994, 60).
3 Nephi 23
Vs. 6 - World's best ever Institute class!
Vs. 9-13 - Jesus edits the record
3 Nephi 24
Vs. 7 - How do you return to God?
Vs. 13 - How do we speak against God?
3 Nephi 25
Vs. 6 - Mal. 4; Luke 1:27; 3 Nephi 25:6; Da&C 2:1-3;
110:13-16; 128:16-18; JSH 37-39
3 Nephi 26
Vs. 9 Now the Lord has placed us on probation as members of the
Church. He has given us the Book of Mormon, which is the lesser part, to build
up our faith through our obedience to the counsels which it contains, and when
we ourselves, members of the Church, are willing to keep the commandments as
they have been given to us and show our faith as the Nephites did for a short
period of time, then the Lord is ready to bring forth the other record and give
it to us, but we are not ready now to receive it. Why? Because we have not lived
up to the requirements in this probationary state in the reading of the record
which had been given to us and in following its counsels. (JFS - CR. Oct. 1961)
Vs. 14 - What do we learn from children?
3 Nephi 27-
Compare with 2 Nephi 31-32
Vs. 1-2 - A later appearance of the Savior. He came to answer
their prayer
Vs. 8-11 - How can we tell
which church is the Lord's? His church would be 1)called in his name, 2)built
upon his gospel, and 3)show the works of the Father in it. Churches which are
not the Lord's may "have joy in their works for a season" but lack
power to guide people to eternal life.
3 Nephi 28
Vs. 1 Elder Maxwell said he felt each was done alone like a PPI
Joseph Smith
(President) Many may
have supposed that the doctrine of translation was a doctrine whereby men were
taken immediately into the presence of God, and into an eternal fullness, but
this is a mistaken idea. Their place of habitation is that of the terrestrial
order, and a place prepared for such characters He held in reserve to be
ministering angels unto many planets, and who as yet have not entered into so
great a fullness as those who are resurrected from the dead....[A translated
being] obtains deliverance from the tortures and sufferings of the body, but
their existence will prolong as to the labors and toils of the ministry, before
they can enter into so great a rest and glory.... Translated bodies cannot
enter into [Celestial] rest until they have undergone a change equivalent to
death. Translated bodies are designed for future missions. ("History of
Joseph Smith," Deseret News,
Vol. V, No. 11; quoted in John Taylor, Mediation and
Atonement, p.72-76)
Joseph Fielding Smith (Quorum of the
Twelve) Translated beings are still mortal and will have to pass through
the experience of death, or the separation of the spirit and the body, although
this will be instantaneous, for the people of the City of Enoch, Elijah, and
others who received this great blessing in ancient times, before the coming of
our Lord, could not have received the resurrection, or the change from
mortality to immortality, because our Lord had not [yet] paid the debt which
frees us from mortality and grants to us the resurrection. ( Answers to
Gospel Questions, 1:165)
Bruce R. McConkie (Quorum of the Twelve) Some mortals have been translated. In this state they are not subject to sorrow or to disease or to death. No longer does blood (the life-giving element of our present mortality) flow in their veins. Procreation ceases. If they then had children, their offspring would be denied a mortal probation, which all worthy spirits must receive in due course. They have power to move and live in both a mortal and an unseen sphere. All translated beings undergo another change in their bodies when they gain full immortality.... Millennial man will live in a state akin to translation. His body will be changed so that it is no longer subject to disease or death as we know it, although he will be changed in the twinkling of an eye to full immortality when he is a hundred years of age. He will, however, have children, and mortal life of a millennial kind will continue. (The Millennial Messiah, p.644)
3 Nephi 29
Vs. 1 - Coming forth of the Book of Mormon is a sign that Israel
is to be gathered.
3 Nephi 30
The Holy
Ghost "is more powerful in expanding the mind, enlightening the
understanding, and storing the intellect with present knowledge, of a man who
is of the literal seed of Abraham, than one that is a Gentile, though it may
not have half as much visible effect upon the body; for as the Holy Ghost falls
upon one of the literal seed of Abraham, it is calm and serene; and his whole
soul and body are only exercised by the pure spirit of intelligence; while the
effect of the Holy Ghost upon a Gentile, is to purge out the old blood, and
make him actually of the seed of Abraham. That man that has none of the blood
of Abraham (naturally) must have a new creation by the Holy Ghost. In such a
case, there may be more of a powerful effect upon the body, and visible to the
eye, than upon an Israelite, while the Israelite at first might be far before
the Gentile in pure intelligence." (Teachings, pp. 149-150.)
