The Question?
“Would you like to be a big part of the greatest challenge, the greatest cause, and the greatest work on the earth today?”
The Answer
On June 3, 2018, President Russell M. Nelson and his wife, Wendy W. Nelson, invited the youth to “enlist in the youth battalion of the Lord” and take part in “the greatest challenge, the greatest cause, and the greatest work on earth.”
And what is the greatest challenge? The gathering of Israel.
“My dear extraordinary youth, you were sent to earth at this precise time, the most crucial time in the history of the world, to help gather Israel,” the prophet said. “There is nothing happening on this earth right now that is more important than that. There is nothing of greater consequence. Absolutely nothing. This gathering should mean everything to you. This is the mission for which you were sent to earth.” President and Sister Nelson’s Devotional for Youth. A Call to Enlist and Gather Israel By Charlotte Larcabal Church Magazines
Sometimes when we hear about gathering Israel, we become confused on who that is? We hear the words, Judah, Jew, Israel, Gentile, Joseph, Lamanite, Shem, Tribe, etc. Who is who? How can I gather someone whom I don’t understand who it even is? Let me share with you answers to questions like, Who, then, are the Jews, What does the name Jew mean? Who is a Gentile? What does it mean that I am from the tribe of Ephraim or Manasseh? Who are the Lamanites? Are the Lamanites Jewish? Who are the Indians and where do they fit in? Who is Ham, Shem and Japeth? Who are the lost 10 tribes of Israel?
The Prophet wants us to gather Israel, so let’s discuss a little information about who is who. At the very end, our Prophet, Russell M. Nelson has a simple answer for us.
Who, then, are the Jews
“Who, then, are the Jews, and what part shall they yet play in the gathering of Israel and the return of their King? There is a maze of fuzzy thinking and shoddy scholarship, both in the world and in the Church, that seeks to identify the Jews, both ancient and modern, and to expound upon what they have believed and do believe. It is not strange that the divines of the day-not knowing that the kingdom is to be restored to Israel at that glorious day; not having the Book of Mormon and latter-day revelation to guide them-it is not strange that they come up with false and twisted views about the mission and destiny of the Jews. It is a little sad that church members sometimes partake of these false views and of this secular spirit so as to misread the signs of the times.
What is a Jew?
The term Jew is a contraction of the name Judah, but the Jews are not the members of the tribe of Judah as such. After the reign of Solomon, the Lord’s people divided into the kingdom of Israel and the kingdom of Judah. Nearly ten tribes served Jeroboam in Israel and two and a half tribes served Rehoboam in Judah. The Levites were scattered among all the tribes. Judah, Simeon, and part of Benjamin comprised the kingdom of Judah. In actual fact, and considering blood lineage only, both kingdoms had in them people from all of the tribes. Lehi, who lived in Judah and was a Jew, was of the tribe of Manasseh. The Jews were nationals of the kingdom of Judah without reference to tribal ancestry. Thus the descendants of Lehi, both the Nephites and the Lamanites, were Jews because they came out from Jerusalem and from the kingdom of Judah. (2 Ne. 33:8.)
Who are the 10 Tribes?
The Jews today are also those whose origins stem back to the kingdom of their fathers. Clearly the dominant tribe-dominant, however, only in the sense of political power and rulership-was Judah. As to the bloodlines, who knows whether there are more of Judah or of Simeon or of Benjamin or of some other tribe among the Jews as we know them? Paul, a Jew, was of the tribe of Benjamin. The name Judea, now used as a noun, is actually an adjective meaning Jewish and is the Greek and Roman designation for the land of Judah.
Who is a Gentile?
Since the Ten Tribes were taken into Assyria and lost from the knowledge of their fellows more than a century before the Jews went into Babylonian captivity, the prophets began to speak of Jews and Gentiles and to consider as a Gentile everyone who was not a Jew. This classifies Ephraim and the rest of scattered Israel as Gentiles. Everyone, in this sense, who is not a Jew is a Gentile, a concept that will enable us, in due course, to set forth what is meant by the fulness of the Gentiles.” Titles Added (The Millennial Messiah: The Second Coming of the Son of Man, p.221-222)
The Midst of the Lamanites; Means?
“My father was living in a good hewed log house in 1840 when one morning as the family all sat at breakfast old Father Joseph Smith, the first Patriarch of the Church and father of the Prophet Joseph, came in and sat down by the fire place, after declining to take breakfast with us, and there he sat some little time in silence looking steadily in the fire. At length he observed that we had been driven from Missouri to this place; with some passing comments, he then asked this question: “And how long, Brother Huntington, do you think we will stay here?” As he asked this question I noticed a strange, good-natured expression creep over his whole being-an air of mysterious joy.
Father answered, after just a moment’s hesitation, “Well, Father Smith, I can’t begin to imagine.”
“No,” said the old Patriarch, his whole being seeming to be alive with animation. “The Lord has told Joseph that when we leave here we will goin to the Rocky Mountains; right into the midst of the Lamanites.”
“We will just stay here seven years,” he answered. “The Lord has told Joseph so-just seven years,” he repeated. “Now this is not to be made public; I would not like to have this word go any further,” said the Patriarch, who leaned and relied upon his son Joseph in all spiritual matters as much as boys generally do upon their parents for temporalities. There were then two or three minutes of perfect silence. The old gentleman with more apparent secret joy and caution in his countenance said, “And where do you think we will go to when we leave here, Brother Huntington?” Father did not pretend to guess; unless we went back to Jackson County.
Editors Note: Into the midst to me would mean, “to the very heart”, or “the middle of” or “into the Heatland of the United States”. As as I look at this today the area of the Heartland of America is where the Book of Mormon began, (the heart) and all around it are the remnants or outskirts, or the hinterlands as we call it. So there are Lamanites all around the heart of the land through marriage and inter mingling. Father Lehi would have distant relatives in South and Central America, but the heartland is where it all began.
Huntington continues, “This information filled our hearts with unspeakable joy, for we knew that the Book of Mormon and this gospel had been brought to light more for the remnants of Jacob upon this continent than for the Gentiles.
Father Smith again enjoined upon us profound secrecy in this matter and I don’t think it was ever uttered by one of Father Huntington’s family. The history of Nauvoo shows that we located in Nauvoo in 1839 and left it in 1846.
The Church did move to the Rocky Mountains into the midst of the Indians or Lamanites -or more properly speaking the Jews-and here expect to live until we move to the spirit land or the Lord moves us somewhere else.” Oliver B. Huntington, “Prophecy,” Young Woman’s Journal 2, no. 7 (April 1891): 314-15
Who are the Remnants of the House of Israel?
“I am asked to occupy the few minutes yet remaining: If the Spirit gives me liberty I will pursue the train of thought that has passed through my mind while Brother Richards has been speaking upon the spirit that has gone abroad upon the remnants of the house of Israel who occupy this land, the American Indians whom we understand to be the descendants of the Nephites, the Lamanites, the Lemuelites and the Ishmaelites who formerly possessed this land, whose fathers we have an account of in the Book of Mormon.” The Indians—The Influence of the Elders Among Them in the Interest of Peace, Etc. Discourse by Elder Erastus Snow, delivered at Logan, Sunday Afternoon, February 5th, 1882
Who is Shem?
Name. Son of Noah (Gen. 5:29–32; 6:10; 7:13; 8:16; 9:26; Moses 8:12); his descendants (Gen. 10:21–31; 11:10–32; 1 Chr. 1:17; Luke 3:36). Shem was the traditional ancestor of the Shemitic or Semitic races, a group of kindred nations, which includes the Arabs, the Hebrews and Phoenicians, the Arameans or Syrians, the Babylonians and Assyrians. The languages spoken by these various nations were closely related and were known as the Semitic languages. In latter-day revelation Shem is referred to as “the great high priest” (D&C 138:41). See also Melchizedek. Bible Dictionary
Noah had three sons Ham and Japeth, who were not the priesthood lineage and Shem who was the chosen lineage.
Lehi-Manasseh/Joseph
Daughters of Ismael-Ephraim/Joseph
Mulekites-Judah
You can see how the Nephites, Lamanites, Joseph, Manasseh, Ephraim and Judah (All from Shem) intermingles with each other.
Do you believe the Lamanites of the Book of Mormon are in fact of Jewish descent? I do! Why is this such an important idea? There are only 3 races of people on the earth today. We all come from Adam through the sons of Noah. Noah’s three sons are Ham, Shem and Japeth. (ONLY 3 RACES)
Japeth
The eldest son of Noah, an Old Testament prophet (Moses 8:12).
God shall enlarge Japheth, Gen. 9:27.
Ham
The government of Ham was patriarchal and was blessed as to things of the earth and wisdom but not as to the priesthood, Abr. 1:21–27.
Ham’s wife, Egyptus, was a descendant of Cain; the sons of their daughter Egyptus settled in Egypt, Abr. 1:23, 25 (Ps. 105:23; 106:21–22).
Shem
In the Old Testament, a righteous son of Noah and, according to tradition, the forefather of the Shemite, or Semite, peoples, including the Arabs, Hebrews, Babylonians, Syrians, Phoenicians, and Assyrians (Gen. 5:29–32; 6:10; 7:13; 9:26; 10:21–32; Moses 8:12). In latter-day revelation Shem is referred to as “the great high priest” (D&C 138:41).
Ham Shem and Japeth
Lamanites are Descendants of the Jews
We need to look no further than the scriptures to know the Lamanites ARE DESCENDANTS of the JEWS.
“And again, I command thee that thou shalt not covet thine own property, but impart it freely to the printing of the Book of Mormon, which contains the truth and the word of God—Which is my word to the Gentile, that soon it may go to the Jew, of whom the Lamanites are a remnant, that they may believe the gospel, and look not for a Messiah to come who has already come.” D&C 29:26-27
“Which is my word to the Gentile, that soon it may go to the Jew, of whom the Lamanites are a remnant, that they may believe the gospel, and look not for a Messiah to come who has already come.” D&C 19:27 “And then shall the remnant of our seed know concerning us, how that we came out from Jerusalem, and that they are descendants of the Jews.” 2 Nephi 30:4
D&C 57:1 “Hearken, O ye elders of my church, saith the Lord your God, who have assembled yourselves together, according to my commandments, in this land, which is the land of Missouri, which is the land which I have appointed and consecrated for the gathering of the saints.
2 Wherefore, this is the land of promise, and the place for the city of Zion.
3 And thus saith the Lord your God, if you will receive wisdom here is wisdom. Behold, the place which is now called Independence is the center place; and a spot for the temple is lying westward, upon a lot which is not far from the courthouse.
4 Wherefore, it is wisdom that the land should be purchased by the saints, and also every tract lying westward, even unto the line running directly between Jew and Gentile;” D&C 57:1-4
At that time the Lamanites (or Jews) lived on the west and the Gentiles (or Whites) lived on the east. In this way you may interpret D&C 57:1-4 as separating the Jews and Gentiles or the Lamanites and Whites
Who is the House of Joseph?
“I would say to the Lamanites, if I could speak to them understandingly, that you are also a branch of the house of Israel, and chiefly of the house of Joseph, and your forefathers have fallen through the same examples of unbelief and sins, as have the Jews, and you, as their posterity, have wandered in sin and darkness for many generations; and you, like the Jews, have been driven and trampled under the foot of the Gentiles, [See chart below] and put to death through your wars with each other, and with the white man, until you are almost destroyed. But there is still a redemption and salvation for a remnant of you in the latter days. It is time for you to cease shedding each other’s blood or making war upon your fellow-man. Cease to destroy one another, learn to cultivate the earth, and raise your food therefrom; call upon the Great Spirit to protect you and deliver you from bondage and darkness, and the Great Spirit will hear you and deliver you, and a remnant of you will again become a delightsome people as your forefathers were when they kept the commandments of God.” Wilford Woodruff History of His Life and Labors AS RECORDED IN HIS DAILY JOURNALS PREPARED FOR PUBLICATION BY MATTHIAS F. COWLEY Salt Lake City, Utah 1909 Blog here
Who are the Indians?
“The Book of Mormon is a record of the forefathers of our western tribes of Indians; having been found through the ministration of an holy angel, and translated into our own language by the gift and power of God, after having been hid up in the earth for the last fourteen hundred years, containing the word of God which was delivered unto them. By it we learn that our western tribes of Indians are descendants from that Joseph who was sold into Egypt, and that the land of America is a promised land unto them, and unto it all the tribes of Israel will come, with as many of the Gentiles as shall comply with the requisitions of the new covenant. TEACHINGS OF THE PROPHET JOSEPH SMITH Page 17:
Where is Zion?
The word Zion is used repeatedly in all the standard works of the Church and is defined in latter-day revelation as “the pure in heart” (D&C 97:21). Other usages of Zion have to do with a geographical location. For example, Enoch built a city that was called Zion (Moses 7:18–19); Solomon built his temple on Mount Zion (1 Kgs. 8:1; see also 2 Sam. 5:6–7); and Jackson County, Missouri, is called Zion in many of the revelations in the D&C, such as 58:49–50; 62:4; 63:48; 72:13; 84:76; 104:47. The city of New Jerusalem, to be built in Jackson County, Missouri, is to be called Zion (D&C 45:66–67). The revelations also speak of “the cause of Zion” (D&C 6:6; 11:6). In a wider sense all of North and South America are Zion (HC 6:318–19). For further references see 1 Chr. 11:5; Ps. 2:6; 99:2; 102:16; Isa. 1:27; 2:3; 4:3–5; 33:20; 52:1–8; 59:20; Jer. 3:14; 31:6; Joel 2; Amos 6:1; Obad. 1:17, 21; Heb. 12:22–24; Rev. 14:1–5; and many others. (In the New Testament, Zion is spelled Sion.) Bible Dictionary
Joseph Smith said Zion is in Independence Missouri
“You know there has been great discussion in relation to Zion–where it is, and where the gathering of the dispensation is, and which I am now going to tell you. The prophets have spoken and written upon it; but I will make a proclamation that will cover a broader ground. The whole of America is Zion itself from north to south, and is described by the Prophets, who declare that it is the Zion where the mountain of the Lord should be, and that it should be in the center of the land. When Elders shall take up and examine the old prophecies in the Bible, they will see it. (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, Section Six 1843–44, p.362)
See my blog here for more information called, “CITY OF ZION AND THE NEW JERUSALEM IS ONE AND THE SAME” JOSEPH FIELDING SMITH
With a better knowledge of the Jews, Gentiles, Shem, Israel, Lamanites or Indians, we can better understand our Prophet’s words about the importance of gathering Israel. Who is Israel and how can I help gather them, to Zion, to Missouri, or how can I just help period?
The Answer Specifically?
President Russell M. Nelson declared, “Anytime you do anything that helps anyone—on either side of the veil—take a step toward making covenants with God and receiving their essential baptismal and temple ordinances, you are helping to gather Israel. It is as simple as that” (Russell M. Nelson, “Hope of Israel,” worldwide devotional for youth, June 3, 2018, churchofjesuschrist.org/broadcasts).
