And they who are in the north
countries shall come in remembrance before the Lord; and their prophets shall
hear his voice, and shall no longer stay themselves; and they shall smite the
rocks, and the ice shall flow down at their presence. (D&C 133:26)
Some
critics claim that this is a false prophecy; in response to one such critic, John
Tvedtnes wrote that:
On
page 10, Mr. Baer says that the Ten Tribes will not return from the north
country. Several Biblical prophets said that they would! E.g., Isa. 49:12; Jer.
3:18; 23:7-8, 31:8. (Even in the New Testament, James addressed his epistle
"to the twelve tribes, which are scattered abroad"1:1.) If Mr. Baer
is right, then these, too, were false prophets. I believe that they were true
prophets and that it is Mr. Baer who is mistaken. (John A. Tvedtnes, A
Reply to Dick Baer)
George Reynolds, in his Are We of Israel? noted that:
It is very evident from [D&C 133] that Ephraim, or at least a
large portion of that tribe, had at some period of his history, separated from
the rest of the tribes of Israel, and at the time of this restitution was to
dwell in a land far from the north country in which the residue were hidden.
These tribes are to have the frozen barriers of the north melted, so that the
ice shall flow down, then a highway is to be cast up for them, in the midst of
the great deep, next they cross barren deserts and a thirsty land and
eventually arrive with their rich treasures at the home of Ephraim, the first
born of God of the house of Israel, to be crowned with glory at his hands.
(George Reynolds, Are
we of Israel and The Book of Abraham [5th ed.; Jackson
County, Miss.: Zion's Printing and Publishing Company, 1931], 34, comments in
square bracket added for clarification)
George
Reynolds and Janne M. Sjodahl, commenting on D&C 133:26, wrote that:
The whereabouts and identity of the so-called "lost tribes
has often been discussed. As seen in this section of the Book of Mormon, they
are in a place where Jesus could visit and minister to them at the time of His
death; that is, they or at least part of them, were dwelling together. That
place is called the "North Countries" in the Doctrine and
Covenants (Section 133:26). That might refer to the northern parts of
Europe, and also America, and even Asia. The traditions related by Esdras (2 Es. 13)
is, that the Ten Tribes were carried over the waters (the Euphrates and the
Tigris, perhaps), and so came into another land. But some of them decided to
flee to another place, "where never mankind dwelt," and they
"entered into the Euphrates by the narrow passages of the river, and from
there they traveled a year and a half to a place called, Arsareth,"
where they were to dwell until the time of their restoration. If the events
predicted in the Doctrine and Covenants, Section 133, are to take place
consecutively, their complete restoration will not take place until immediately
after the second advent of our Lord. The Icelandic sagas and myths, and the
traditions of Aztecs and Mayas might profitably be studied in this connection.
They, too, tell about wonderful journeys on land and sea. (George Reynolds and
Janne M. Sjodahl, Commentary on the Book of Mormon, 7 vols. [Salt Lake
City: Deseret Book Company, 1976], 7:171)
Stephen E. Robinson and H. Dean Garrett, in volume 4 of A
Commentary on the Doctrine and Covenants, offered the following commentary
to the passage:
26–27. They who are in the north countries. This
refers to the ten tribes who were taken north by the Assyrians and other
Gentiles (see 2 Kings 17). The Lord has promised that these tribes of Israel
will return and be reunited with the two remaining tribes in the latter days.
Members of these tribes of Israel are even now "returning" from the
"north countries" (from wherever they were scattered after being
taken north from the Holy Land by the Assyrians). They are returning
individually and as families as they hear the gospel and join the Church in a
multitude of countries around the world. We know of no large, identifiable
groups of Israelites under the direction of prophets who might literally
fulfill the expectations given in verses 26–27. Perhaps an appeal to
apocalyptic or symbolic interpretation may be helpful here. Are the prophets
referred to true prophets with priesthood and keys, as we know prophets, or are
they social or political leaders to whom people look for direction? Are the
"ice" and "rocks" physical ice and rocks, or a
representation of communication barriers which must be broken down to
facilitate the understanding and acceptance of the gospel? Is the highway a
literal road, or a highway designated by the prophet Isaiah as "the way of
holiness," a path the "unclean shall not pass over" but on which
"the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs of
everlasting joy"? (Isaiah 35:8–10; 51:10–11). After the continents have
been reassembled into one land mass (v. 23), what will "north" mean,
the original north or the new north created by the rearrangement of the earth?
On the other hand, because north was the direction associated symbolically with
apostasy and evil in biblical times, the language here may be symbolic,
describing the return of the tribes from being "scattered" among the
Gentiles. This interpretation would seem to be supported by 1 Nephi 22:3–4, 12.
D&C 133:26 is not an example of a “false prophecy,” but one that will
be fulfilled in the future, like many prophecies and promises in the biblical texts.
Further Reading: