For a Latter-day Saint, the message of salvation cannot
be disassociated with the name Joseph Smith any more than the Law of
Moses can be disassociated with the man whose name it bears. The Book of Mormon
contains a prophecy attributed to Joseph, son of the Patriarch Jacob (Israel),
wherein he prophesies of a descendant of his who is destined to stand at the
head of the gathering of Israel in the last days and who would bear his name.
“His name shall be called after me,” the ancient Joseph said, and continued:
and it shall be after the name of his father. And he
shall be like unto me; for the thing, which the Lord shall bring forth by his
hand, by the power of the Lord shall bring my people unto salvation. (2 Nephi
3:15)
In this context, the etymology of the name Joseph is
of special interest. Usually rendered “the Lord addeth” or “increaser” from the
Hebrew word yasap, a richer meaning is also associated with it. At the
birth of her son Joseph, Rachel proclaimed, “God hath taken away my
reproach” (Genesis 30:23–24). The Hebrew word ’asap, “taken away,”
carries not only the meaning “take away” but also “gather.”5 Significantly
enough, the idea of gathering is prominently associated with ancient Joseph.
And just as he gathered the family of Israel together that they might have
grain to eat, so his latter-day counterpart was to gather Israel to the bread
of life or doctrines of salvation that they might know of the covenants God had
made with their fathers. (Joseph Fielding McConkie, “The Doctrine of Names in
the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ,” in Perspectives on Latter-day Saint
Names and Naming: Names, Identity, and Belief, ed. Dallin D. Oaks, Paul
Baltes, and Kent Minson [London: Routledge, 2023], 205)
The Gathering
The whole concept of the latter-day gathering of Israel,
as revealed to Joseph Smith, centered in the promise that Jacob’s posterity
would return to their God and once more take his [Christ’s] name upon them.
I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.… For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour.… Fear not: for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west; I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back: bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth; Even every one that is called by my name. (Isaiah 43:1–7; italics added)
In the title page of the Book of Mormon, Moroni sets
forth the two basic doctrinal threads that bind the book together: first, that
those who bear the name Israel—the descendants of Abraham—are to come to a
knowledge of the covenant God made with their ancient father and, second, that
they come to the knowledge of their Redeemer. Only then are they to return to
the lands of their fathers.
It is held by the prophets of the Book of Mormon that the
latter-day gathering must be first spiritual and then temporal. The scattered
remnants of Israel must first return to the covenants and faith of their
ancient fathers. Only after they have taken upon themselves the name of the God
of Abraham will they have rightful claim to their ancient lands of inheritance
(cf. 2 Nephi 9:1–2). Joseph Smith explained:
The time has at last arrived when the God of Abraham, of
Isaac, and of Jacob, has set his hand again the second time to recover the
remnants of his people, which have been left from Assyria, and from Egypt, and
from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath,
and from the islands of the sea, and with them to bring in the fulness of the
Gentiles, and establish that covenant with them, which was promised when their
sins should be taken away. See Isaiah xi; Romans xi:25, 26 and 27, and also
Jeremiah xxxi:31, 32 and 33. This covenant has never been established with the
house of Israel, nor with the house of Judah, for it requires two parties to
make a covenant, and those two parties must be agreed, or no covenant can be
made. (Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 14)
This is the doctrine that binds the restored Church of
Jesus Christ so closely to the prophecies of the Hebrew Bible. As early as
1831, the year after the Church was organized, the Prophet Joseph Smith
received a revelation that stated in part:
Abraham received promises concerning his seed, and of the
fruit of his loins—from whose loins ye are, namely, my servant Joseph—which
were to continue so long as they were in the world; and as touching Abraham and
his seed, out of the world they should continue; both in the world and out of
the world should they continue as innumerable as the stars; or, if ye were to
count the sand upon the seashore ye could not number them. (D&C 132:30)
This text announces that Joseph Smith is a descendant of
Abraham and reaffirms the importance of the promises God made to the ancient
Patriarch concerning his seed, and as seen in the above passage from Isaiah,
this covenant relationship requires that the descendants of Abraham take upon
themselves the name of the God of Abraham. (Ibid., 206-7)
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