The Law of Moses, only in the Heartland!
The title of this blog, “The True Meanings of the Law of Moses were far better Understood by the Nephites than by the Jews”, comes from John Taylor below. Having the Book of Mormon adds to and validates the importance of the Law of Moses as a precursor towards the Great Sacrifice of the Son of God.
It is very apparent there were specific items needed for a true sacrifice of the Law. The proper animals, sheep, goats, rams, bullocks, and doves. The proper grains in wheat and barley, and the use of pure wine from the grape. No where in Mesoamerica do these things exist. See my blog here:
Common sense says, if the Lord directed Lehi to the Promised Land, that Land the Lord chose, would have the necessary items needed to practice the Law of Moses that the Lord asked the Lehites to practice. Correct? How can something this simple be confusing?. Those intellectuals who believe in Mesoamerica try and explain things by saying the Lord allowed the Lehites to use substitution for the Law of Moses. In other words, if you don’t have a lamb, use a llama, or if you don’t have doves, use turkey’s or substitute goats for agouti’s. It is an insane argument. This alone verifies North America in my opinion, to be where Lehi landed.
The history and writings about the similarity between the Native American and the Hebrew is remarkable. It is obvious that Lehi and his family were part of the Natives of North America. There is Hebrew DNA found near the Great Lakes similar to that found in Haplogroup X in the Middle East. See article here: There is only found Asian DNA in Central and South America and even in the Western United States.
Mordecai Manuel Noah
“Mordecai Manuel Noah (July 14, 1785, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – May 22, 1851, New York) was an American sheriff, playwright, diplomat, journalist, and utopian. He was born in a family of Portuguese Sephardic ancestry. He was the most important Jewish lay leader in New York in the early 19th century, and the first Jew born in the United States to reach national prominence…
In 1811, he was appointed by President James Madison as consul at Riga, then part of Imperial Russia, but declined, and, in 1813, was nominated Consul to the Kingdom of Tunis, where he rescued American citizens kept as slaves by Moroccan slave owners…
In 1825, with virtually no support from anyone — not even his fellow Jews — in a precursor to modern Zionism, he tried to found a Jewish “refuge” at Grand Island in the Niagara River, to be called “Ararat,” after Mount Ararat, the Biblical resting place of Noah’s Ark. He purchased land on Grand Island for $4.38 per acre to build a refuge for Jews of all nations. He had brought with him a cornerstone which read “Ararat, a City of Refuge for the Jews, founded by Mordecai M. Noah in the Month of Tishri, 5586 (September, 1825) and in the Fiftieth Year of American Independence.”
Noah also shared the belief, among various others, that some Native American “Indians” were from the Lost Tribes of Israel, on which he wrote the Discourse on the Evidences of the American Indians being the Descendants of the Lost Tribes of Israel. In his Discourse on the Restoration of the Jews, Noah proclaimed his faith that the Jews would return and rebuild their ancient homeland and called on America to take the lead in this endeavor.
On September 2, 1825, soon after Noah’s arrival in Buffalo from New York, thousands of Christians and a smattering of Jews assembled for a historic event. Noah led a large procession headed by Masons, a New York militia company, and municipal leaders to St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. Here, there was a brief ceremony — including a singing of the psalms in Hebrew — the cornerstone was laid on the communion table, and the new proclamation establishing the refuge was read. “Proclamation – day ended with music, cannonade and libation. 24 guns, recessional, masons retired to the Eagle Tavern, all with no one ever having set foot on Grand Isle.”This was the beginning and the end of Noah’s venture: he lost heart and returned to New York two days later without once having set foot on the island. The cornerstone was taken out of the audience chamber of the church and laid against the back of the building. It is now on permanent display at the Buffalo Historical Society in Buffalo, New York. Afterwards, despite the failure of his project, he developed the idea of settling the Jews in Palestine and, as such, he can be considered a forerunner of modern Zionism.” Wikepedia Mordecai Noah
“It has been the general impression, as before mentioned, that great resemblance existed between some of the religious rites of the Jews, and the peculiar ceremonies of the Indians ; and the belief in one great spirit has tended to strengthen the impression.” Evidences of the American Indians Being the Descendants of the Lost Tribes of Israel. By Mordecai M. Noah
OBSERVING THE LAW OF MOSES IN THE BOOK OF MORMON
Nephi recounted when commanded to obtain the Plates of Brass: “Yea,
and I also thought that they could not keep the commandments of the Lord
according to the Law of Moses, save they should have the Law. And I also
knew that the Law was engraven upon the Plates of Brass” – 1 Nephi
4:15-16. The Law of Moses was instituted to bring the children of Israel to
Christ, “And for this intent we keep the Law of Moses, it pointing our souls
to Him” – Jacob 4:5. The Law provided for seasonal holy ceremonial
assemblies whereby specific items were symbolically used to focus the
people’s actions and thoughts on the role the Holy One of Israel (Jesus
Christ) had on their salvation (see pp. 15, 142, 144, 169 and 300).
The Prophet and Historian Mormon, when reviewing the history on the
Large Plates of Nephi, noted that “…the Lamanites did observe strictly to
keep the commandments of God according to the Law of Moses.”
(Helaman. 13:1; p. 369). Joseph Smith wrote in his Church History to Mr.
John Wentworth, “The principal nation of the second race fell in battle
towards the close of the fourth century. The remnant [the conquering
Lamanites] are the Indians that now inhabit this country.” (See p. 551.)
Mordecai M. Noah (1785-1851), a prominent Jewish lay leader
published his, “Discourse of the Evidences of the American Indians Being
the Descendants of the Lost Tribes of Israel,” New York, James Van Norden, 1837-39
He based his discourse on their religious beliefs and seasonal ceremonies, “In their divisions of the year in four seasons, answering to the Jewish festivals of the feast of flowers [Feast of Weeks; see p. 300], the day of atonement, the feast of the tabernacle, and other religious holydays,” and, “by their laws of sacrifices, ablutions, marriages; ceremonies in war and peace, the prohibitions of eating certain things, fully carrying out the Mosaic institutions.” (p. 8.) He writes, “The most sacred fast day uniformly kept by the Jews is the day of Atonement, usually falling in the month of September or in early October…Precisely such a fast, with similar motives, and nearly at the same period of the year, is kept by the Indian natives generally…[James] Adair (see p. 544) stat[ed] the strict manner in which the [American heartland] Indians observe the revolutions of the moon, and describing the feast of the harvest, and the first offerings of the fruits, gives a long account of the preparations of putting their temple in proper order for the great day of atonement, which he fixes at the time when the corn is fully eared and ripe, generally in the latter end of September.” (p. 14.)
Editor’s Note: Ancient Mesoamerican worship revolved around the Sun and not the Moon like it is with the Jews and the Native Americans. “Maya astronomers had the ability to predict and mark the passage of the seasons by observing the movements of the Sun along the horizon, or the Sun’s movements with respect to the pyramids and other temples. The Sun and its cycles are the foundation for Maya calendar keeping.’ Source
“…It appears indubitable from the two records, the Bible and the Book of Mormon, that the intent and true meaning of the Law of Moses, of its sacrifices, etc., were far better understood and comprehended by the Nephites than by the Jews. But in this connection, it must not be forgotten that a great many most plain and precious things, as the Book of Mormon states, have been taken from the Bible, through the ignorance of uninspired translators or the design and cunning of wicked men.” – John Taylor, The Gospel Kingdom: Selections from the Writings and Discourses of John Taylor, Third President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co. [2002], 107.
“The Nephites definitely kept and observed the law of sacrifice, yet no procedural explanations of how such sacrifices were performed are presented in the Book of Mormon. However, there are three instances of animal sacrifice offerings recorded that shed some light on this: The first instance was an offering sacrifice performed by Lehi in the Arabian wilderness using an altar of stones in order to give thanks to God for his family’s deliverance: “And it came to pass that he built an altar of stones, and made an offering unto the Lord, and gave thanks unto the Lord our God.” (1 Nephi 2:7)
The second is an animal burnt offering when Lehi and Sariah rejoiced on the return of their sons from Jerusalem: “And it came to pass that they did rejoice exceedingly, and did offer sacrifice and burnt offerings unto the Lord, and they gave thanks unto the God of Israel.” (1 Nephi 5:9)
The third was also a burnt offering of sheep or goats (flocks) performed in the new land of promise when king Benjamin gathered the people at the temple in Zarahemla and “took of the firstlings of their flocks, that they might offer sacrifice and burnt offerings according to the Law of Moses.” (Mosiah 2:3) Amulek taught that sacrifices were symbolically a reminder of the future great and last sacrifice of Jesus Christ: “And behold, this is the whole meaning of the law, every whit pointing to that great and last sacrifice; and that great and last sacrifice will be the Son of God, yea, infinite and eternal.” (Alma 34:14) ” Annotated Book of Mormon David Hocking and Rod Meldrum Page 533
DISCOURSE THE EVIDENCES THE AMERICAN INDIANS BEING THE DESCENDANTS LOST TRIBES OF ISRAEL. MERCANTILE LIBRARY ASSOCIATION, CLINTON HALL. BY M. M. NOAH. PRINTED BY JAMES VAN NOUDEN,
Those who study the Scriptures, either as a matter of duty or pleasure — who seek in there divine revelations, or search for the records of history, cannot be ignorant of the fact that the Jewish nation, at an early period, was divided into twelve tribes, and occupied their ancient heritage under geographical divisions, during the most splendid periods under the kingdoms of Judah and of Israel,
Their early history — the rise, progress and downfall of the nation — the proud distinction of being the chosen people — their laws, government and wars — their sovereigns, judges and temples — their sufferings, dispersions, and the various prophecies concerning this ancient and extraordinary people, cannot be unknown to you all. For their history is the foundation of religion, their vicissitudes the result of prophecy, their restoration the fulfillment of that great promise made to the Patriarch Abraham, almost I may say in the infancy of nature.
It is also known to you that the Jewish nation was finally overpowered, and nine and a half of the tribes were carried captives to Samaria ; two and a half, to wit : Judah, Benjamin and half Manasseh, remained in Judah or in the Trans Jordan”* cities.
The question before us for consideration is, what has become of the missing or dispersed tribes — to what quarter of the world did they direct their footsteps, and what are the evidences of their existence at this day?
An earthquake may shake and overturn the foundations of a city’ — the avalanche may overwhelm the hamlet — and the crater of a volcano may pour its lava over fertile plains and populous villages, but a whole nation cannot vanish from the sight of the world, without leaving some traces of its existence, some marks of habits and customs.
It is a singular fact that history is exceedingly confused, or rather I may say dark, respecting the ultimate dispersion of the tribes among the cities of the Medes. The last notice we have of them is from the second Book of Esdras, which runs thus.
” Whereas thou sawest another peaceable multitude : these are the ten tribes which were carried away prisoners out of their own land in the time of Hosea, whom Salmanazar King of Assyria led away captive, and he carried them over the waters, so they came unto another land.”…
On the discovery of America by Columbus, and the discoveries subsequent to his time, various tribes of Indians or savages were found to inhabit this our continent, whose origin was unknown. [We know them to be the Jaredites and the Nephites and Lamanites]
It is, perhaps, difficult for the human mind to decide on the character and condition of an extreme savage state. We can readily believe that children abandoned in infancy in a savage country, and surviving this abandonment, to grow up in a state of nature, living on herbs and fruits, and sustaining existence as other wild animals, would be stupid, without language, with- out intellect, and with no greater instinct than that which gov- erns the brute creation. We can conceive nothing reduced to a more savage condition ; with cannibal propensities, an ungovernable ferocity, or a timid apprehension, there can be but a link that separates them from other classes of animal creation. So, with herds of men in a savage state, like herds of buffalo or wild horses on our prairies, they are kept together by sounds common amongst themselves, and are utterly unacquainted with the landmarks of civilization.
This, however, was not the condition of the American Indians when first discovered. They were a singular race of men, with enlarged views of life, religion, courage, constancy, humanity, policy, eloquence, love of their families ; with a proud and gallant bearing, fierce in war, and, like the ancients, relentless in victory. Their hospitality might be quoted as examples among- the most liberal of the present day. These were not wild men — these were a different class from those found on the Sandwich and Fiji Islands. The red men of America, bearing as they do the strongest marks of Asiatic origin, have for more than 2000 years (and divided as they are in upwards of 300 different nations) been remarkable for their intellectual superiority, their bravery in war, their good faith in peace, and all the simplicity and virtues of their patriarchal fathers, until civilization, as it is called, had rendered them familiar with all the vices which distinguish the present era, without being able to enforce any of the virtues which are the boast of our present enlightened times.
It is, however, in the religious belief and ceremonies of the Indians that I propose showing some of the evidences of their being, as it is believed, the descendants of the dispersed tribes.” This opinion is founded —
1st. In their belief in one God.
2d. In the computation of time by their ceremonies of the new moon. , . ., ,
3d. In their divisions of the year in four seasons, answering to the Jewish festivals of the feast of flowers, the day of atonement, the feast of the tabernacle, and other religious holydays.
4th. In the erection of a temple after the manner of our temple, and having an ark of the covenant, and also the erection of altars.
5th. By the division of the nation into tribes with a chief or grand sachem at their head.
6th. By their laws of sacrifices, ablutions, marriages; cere- monies in war and peace, the prohibitions of eating certain things, fully carrying out the Mosaic institutions; — by their traditions, history, character, appearance, affinity of their language to the Hebrew, and finally, by that everlasting covenant of heirship exhibited in a perpetual transmission of its seal in their flesh.
If I shall be able to satisfy your doubts and curiosity on these points, you will certainly rejoice with me in discovering that the dispersed of the chosen people are not the lost ones — that the promises held out to them have been thus far realized, and that all the prophecies relative to their future destination will in due time be strictly fulfilled.
It has been the general impression, as before mentioned, that great resemblance existed between some of the religious rites of the Jews, and the peculiar ceremonies of the Indians ; and the belief in one great spirit has tended to strengthen the impression ; yet this mere resemblance only extended so far as to admit of the belief, that they possibly may have descended from the dispersed tribes, or may have been of Tartar or Malay origin.
It was, however, a vague and unsatisfactory suspicion, which, having no tangible evidence, has been rejected, or thrown aside as a mere supposition. All the missionaries and travelers among the Indian tribes since the discovery of America — Adair, Heck- welder, Charlevoix, McKenzie, Bartram, Beltrami, Smith, Pena, Mrs. Simon, who has written a very interesting work on this subject, &c., have expressed opinions in favor of their being of Jewish origin — the difficulty, however, under which they all labored was simply this ; they were familiar with the religious rites, ceremonies, traditions and belief of the Indians, but they were not sufficiently conversant with the Jewish rites and cere- monies, to show the analogy. It is precisely this link in the chain of evidence that I propose to supply.
It has been said that the Indians believing in one great Spirit and Fountain of Life, like the Jews, does not prove their descent from the missing tribes, because in a savage state their very ignorance and superstition lead them to confide in the works of some divine superior being. But savages are apt to be idolaters, and personate the deity by some carved figure or image to whom they pay their adoration, and not like the Indians, having a clear and definite idea of one great Ruler of the universe, one great Spirit, whose attributes are as well known to them as to us. But if the continued unerring worship of one God like the Jews prove nothing, where did they acquire the same Hebrew name and appellation of that deity? If tradition had not handed down to them the ineffable name as also preserved by the Jews, how did they acquire it in a wilderness where the word of the Lord was never known?
Adair, in whom I repose great confidence, and who resided forty years among them, in his work published in 1775, says, ” The ancient heathens worshipped a plurality of gods, but these Indians pay their devoir to Lo-ak (Light) Ish-ta-hoola-aba, distinctly Hebrew, which means the great supreme beneficent holy Spirit of Fire who resides above.
They are, says Adair, utter strangers to all the gestures practiced by the pagans in their religious rites — they kiss no idols, nor would they kiss their hands in tokens of reverence or willing obedience.
These tribes, says Adair, so far from being Atheists, use the great and dreadful name of God which describes his divine essence, and by which he manifested himself to Moses ! and are firmly persuaded that they now live under the immediate government of the Almighty Ruler. Their appellative for God is Islo-hoolo, the Hebrew of Esh-Eshys, from Ishto, Great but they have another appellative, which with them as with us, is the mysterious essential name of God, which they never mention in common speech, and only when performing their most sacred religious rites, and then they most solemnly divide it in syllables, with intermediate words, so as not to pronounce the ineffable name at once.
Thus, in their sacred dances at their feast of the first-fruits, they sing Aleluyah and Mesheha, from the Hebrew of Masheach, Messiah, the anointed one. ” Yo mesheha,” ” He mesheha,” ” Wah meshehah,” thus making the Alleluyah, the Meshiah, the Yehovah.”
Can we, for a moment, believe that these sacred well known Hebrew words found their way by accident to the wilderness 1 Or can it be doubted that like the fire of the burning bush which never is extinguished, those words of religious adoration are the sacred relics of tradition, handed down to them from generation to generation 1 In the same manner, says Adair, they sing on certain other religious celebrations, ailyo ailyo, which is the Hebrew el for God by his attribute of omnipotence. They likewise sing heioah, hewah, He chyra, the ” immortal soul.” Those words sung at their religious rejoicings are never uttered at any other time, which must have occasioned the loss of their divine hymns. They on some occasions sing Shilu yo — Shilti he — Shilu wah. The three terminations make up in their order the four lettered divine name in Hebrew. Shilu is evidently Shaleach, Shiloth, the messenger ; ” the peace maker.”
The number of Hebrew words used in their religious services is incredible ; tlius, in chiding any one for levity during a solemn worship they say, Che hakeet Kana, ” you resemble those re- proved in Canaan,” and to convey the idea of criminality, they say Hackscl Canaha, ” the sinners of Canaan.” They call lightning eloah, and the rumbling of thunder yowah, from the Hebrew runch, ” spirit.”
Like the Israelites they divide the year into four seasons, with the same festivals ; (bey calculate by moons and celebrate as the Jews do the berachah halebana, the blessing for the new moon.
The Indians have their prophets and high-priests, the same as the Jews had ; not hastily selected, but chosen with caution from the most wise and discreet, and they ordain their high priests by anointing, and have a most holy place in their sanctuaries, like the Holy of Holies in the Temple. The Archimagus or High Priest, wears, in resemblance to the ancient breast- plate, a white conch-shell ornamented so as to resemble the precious stones on the Urim, and instead of the golden plate worn by the Levite on his forehead, bearing the inscription Kodish Ladonaye, the Indian binds his brows with a wreath of swan’s feathers, and wears a tuft of white feathers which he calls Yatira.
The Indians have their ark which they invariably carry with them to battle well-guarded. In speaking of the Indian places of refuge, Adair says, ” I observed that if a captive taken by the reputed power of the holy things of their ark, should be able to make his escape into one of these towns, or even into the winter house of the Archimagus, he is delivered from the fiery torture, otherwise inevitable. This, when taken in connection with the many other faint images of Mosaic customs, seems to point at the mercy-seat of the sanctuary. It is also worthy of notice, that they never place the ark on the ground. On hilly ground where large stones are plenty, they rest it thereon, but on level prairies, upon short logs, where they also seat themselves. And when we consider, continues Adair, in what a surprising manner the Indians copy after the ceremonial law of the Hebrews, and their strict purity in the war camps ; that opae, “the leader” obliges all during the first campaign which they have made with the beloved ark, to stand every day they are not engaged in warfare, from sunrise to sunset, and after a fatiguing day’s march and scanty allowance, to drink warm water embittered with rattle snake root very plentifully, in order to purification ; that they have also as strong a faith in the power of their ark as ever the Israelites had in theirs, ascribing the success of one party to their stricter adherence to the law, than the other, we have strong reason to conclude them of Hebrew origin. The Indians have an old tradition, that when they left their own native land, they brought with them a sanctified rod by order of an oracle, which they fixed every evening in the ground, and were to remove from place to place on the continent towards the sun rising till it budded in one night’s time. I have seen other Indians, says the same writer, who related the same thing. Instead of the miraculous direction to which they limit it, in their western banishment, it appears more likely that they refer to the ancient circumstance of the rod of Aaron, which in order to check the murmur of those who conspired against him, was in his favor made to bud blossoms and yield almonds at one and the same time. It is a well attested fact, and is here corroborated by Adair, that in taking female captives, the Indians have often protected them, but never despoiled them of honor.
This statement of Adair, in relation to the ark, is corroborated by several travelers. Major Long, a more recent traveler, in his expedition to the Rocky Mountains, says, in relation to the ark, ” It is placed upon a stand, and is never suffered to touch the earth. No person dare open all the coverings. Tradition informs them that curiosity induced three different persons to examine the mysterious shell, who were immediately punished for their profanation by instant blindness.” This is the Jewish punishment pronounced for looking on the holy of holies — even now for looking on the descendants of the High Priest who alone have the privilege of blessing the people.
The most sacred fast day uniformly kept by the Jews is the day of Atonement, usually falling in the month of September or early in October, This is deemed in every part of the world a most solemn fast, and great preparations are made for its celebration. It is in the nature of expiation of sin, of full confession, penitence and prayer; and is preceded by ablution and preparation of morning- prayer for some time.
It is a very sacred fast, which lasts from sunset on one day until the new moon is seen on the succeeding evening. It is not in the nature of a gloomy desponding penance, but rather a day of solemn rejoicing, of hope and confidence, and is respected by those most indifferent to all other festivals throughout the year.
Precisely such a fast, with similar motives, and nearly at the same period of the year, is kept by the Indian natives generally.
Adair, after stating the strict manner in which the Indians observe the revolutions of the moon, and describing the feast of the harvest, and the first offerings of the fruits, gives a long ac- count of the preparations in putting their temple in proper order for the great day of atonement, which he fixes at the time when the corn is full eared and ripe, generally in the latter end of September. He then proceeds:
” Now one of the waiters proclaims with a loud voice, for all the warriors and beloved men whom the purity of their law admits, to come and enter the beloved square, and observe the fast. He also exhorts the women and children, with those who have not been initiated in war, to keep apart, according to the law.
” Four sentinels are now placed one at each corner of the holy square, to keep out every living creature as impure, except the religious order, and the warriors who are not known to have violated the law of the first fruit-offering, and that of marriage, since the last year’s expiation. They observe the fast till the rising of the second sun ; and be they ever so hungry in the sacred interval, the healthy warriors deem the duty so awful, and disobedience so inexpressibly vicious, that no temptation would induce them to violate it. They at the same time drink plentifully of a decoction of the button snake root, in order to vomit and cleanse their sinful bodies.
” In the general fast, the children and men of weak constitutions, are allowed to eat, as soon as they are certain that the sun has begun to decline from his meridian altitude.
” Now every thing is hushed. Nothing but silence all around. The great beloved man, and his beloved waiter, rising up with a reverend carriage, steady countenance and composed beha- viour, go into the beloved place, or holiest, to bring them out the beloved fire. The former takes a piece of dry poplar, willow, or white oak, and having cut a hole, but not so deep as to reach through it ; he then sharpens another piece, and placing that in the hole, and both between his knees, he drills it briskly for several minutes, till it begins to smoke — or by rubbing two pieces together for a quarter of an hour, he collects by friction the hidden fire, which they all consider as proceeding from the holy spirit of fire.
” The great beloved man, or high priest, addresses the warriors and women ; giving all the particular, positive injunctions and negative precepts they yet retain of the ancient law. He uses very sharp language to the women. He then addresses the whole multitude. He enumerates the crimes they have committed, great and small, and bids them look at the holy fire which has forgiven them. He presses on his audience, by the great motives of temporal good and the fear of temporal evil, the necessity of a careful observance of the ancient law, assuring them that the holy fire will enable their prophets, the rain makers, to procure them plentiful harvests, and give their war leaders victory over their enemies. He then orders some of the fire to be laid down outside of the holy ground, for all the houses of the various associated towns, which sometimes lay several miles apart.”
Mr. Bartram, who visited the southern Indians in 1778, gives an account of the same feast, but in another nation. He says, ” that the feast of first fruits is the principal festival. This seems to end the old and begin the new ecclesiastical year. It commences when their new crops are arrived to maturity. This is their most solemn celebration.”
With respect to the sacrifices, we have had none since the destruction of the temple, but it was customary among the Jews, in the olden time, to sacrifice daily a part of a lamb. This ceremony is strictly observed* by the Indians. The hunter when leaving his wigwam for the chase, puts up a prayer, that the great Spirit will aid his endeavors to procure food for his wife and children, and, when he returns with the red deer, whatever may be the cravings of hunger, he allows none to taste until he has cut part of the flesh, which he throws in the fire as a sacrifice, accompanied with prayer. All travelers speak of this practice among the Indians, so clearly Hebrew in its origin.
The bathing’s, anointings, ablutions, in the coldest weather, are never neglected by the Indians, and, like the Jews of old, they anoint themselves with bear’s oil.
Editor’s note: None of the anointing, ceremony, altar, one God, prayers and eating of clean flesh remind me of any tribe in South or Central America. The Native Americans of the Untied States are the Hebrew. The Great Spirit is Jesus Christ.
The Mosaic prohibition of eating unclean animals, and their enumeration, are known to you all. It would be supposed that, amidst the uncertainty of an Indian life, all kinds of food would be equally acceptable. Not so : for in strict conformity with the Mosaic law, they abstain from eating the blood of any ani- mal, they abominate swine flesh, they do not eat fish without scales, the eel, the turtle or sea cow ; and they deem many animals and birds to be impure. These facts are noticed by all writers, and particularly by Edwards in his History of the West Indies. The latter able historian, in noticing the close analogy between the religious rites of the Jews and Indians, says, ” that the striking conformity of the prejudices and customs of the Caribbee Indians, to the practices of the Jews, has not escaped the notice of such historians as Gamella, Du Tertre,and others;” and Edwards also states, that the Indians on the Oroonoke, punished their women caught in adultery, by stoning them to death before the assembly of the people.
Among the Mosaical laws is the obligation of one brother to marry his brother’s widow, if he die without issue. Major Long says, ” if the deceased has left a brother, he takes the widow to his lodge after a proper interval and considers her as his wife.” This is also confirmed by Charlevoix.
It would occupy a greater space of time than I can afford, to trace a similitude between all the Indian rites and religious ceremonies, and those of the Jewish nation. In their births, in their separation after the births of their children, in their daily prayers and sacrifices, in their festivals, in their burials, in the employment of mourners, and in their general belief, I see a close analogy and intimate connection, with all the ceremonies and laws which are observed by the Jewish people ; making n due allowance for what has been lost, and misunderstood, in the course of upwards of 2000 years.
A general belief exists among most travelers, that the Indians are the descendants of the missing tribes.
Manasseh Ben Israel wrote his celebrated treatise, to prove this fact, on the discovery of America. William Penn, who always acted righteously towards the Indians, and had never suspected that they had descended from the missing tribes, says, in a letter to his friends in England, ” I found them with like countenances to the Hebrew race. I consider these people under a dark night, yet they believe in God and immortality, without the aid of metaphysics. They reckon by moons, they offer their first ripe fruits, they have a kind of feast of tabernacles, they are said to lay their altars with twelve stones, they mourn a year, and observe the Mosaic law with regard to separation.” i
Emanuel de Moraez, in his history of Brazil, declares that America has been peopled by the Carthaginians and Israelites, and as to the Israelites, he says, nothing is wanting but circumcision, to constitute a perfect resemblance between them and the Brazilians.
The Rev. Mr. Beatty, a very worthy missionary, says, ” I have often before hinted, that I have taken great pains to search into the usages and customs of the Indians, in order to see what ground there was for supposing them to be part of the ten tribes, and I must own, to my no small surprise, that a number of their customs appear so much to resemble those of the Jews, that it is a great question with me, whether we can expect to find among the ten tribes wherever they are at this day, all things considered, more of the footsteps of their ancestors than among the different Indian tribes.”
Discourse of the Evidences of the American Indians Being the Descendants of the Lost Tribes of Israel. By Mordecai M. Noah page 2-15
Jewish Hamsa Symbol found in prehistory Native American Artifacts
The Jewish hamsa is a symbol a hand with the all seeing eye in the palm is used by Jews and Arabians still to this day. This symbol is found in North America specifically the Mississippian native culture. The Mississippian culture is dated after the Hopewell and the Book of Mormon but I believe that they were strongly influenced by the descendants of the Hopewell. The Jewish symbol is shown below as well as the Mississippian hamsa symbol.
