For all my life and for many
years before, people have used the 37th chapter of Ezekiel as pointing towards
the Book of Mormon. But after looking at Latter Day Saintism more closely I
find that here is yet another point they have erred on.
Some say this passage suggests
the Book of Mormon to be "the stick of Ephraim" because of a
reference in Doctrine and Covenants (RLDS) Sec. 26:2a, b
"Behold, this is wisdom in
me; wherefore marvel not, for the hour cometh that I will of the fruit of the
vine with you on earth, AND WITH MORONI, WHOM I HAVE SENT UNTO YOU TO REVEAL
THE BOOK OF MORMON, CONTAINING THE FULLNESS OF MY EVERLASTING GOSPEL; TO WHOM I
HAVE COMMITTED THE KEYS OF THE RECORD OF THE STICK OF EPHRAIM; ...."
(sic.)
Capital letters in the above set
out the part that was added in 1835 to the "Revelation" as it was
originally printed in the Book of Commandments. Close comparison shows fully
3/4 was made up and added in 1835 to usher in a masterpiece of deception.
Let us review Ezekiel 37:16, 17
& 19:
"Moreover, thou son of man,
take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of
Israel his companions: Then take another stick, and write upon it, For
Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions:
And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine
hand.... Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I will take the stick
of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his
fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make
them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand."
We see in v.16 there will be one
stick for Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions. More than one
tribe is spoken of here. We also have one stick prophesied for Joseph, the
stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions. Again we have
more than one tribe spoken of. Now, we know that at the time of Rehoboam, there
was a split in Israel. Judah ruled the southern kingdom of two or three tribes
and Ephraim ruled the northern kingdom of nine or ten. From that time Ephraim
is used as a name interchangeably with Israel as in Isa. 7:2
With this thought in mind then,
we find several places where two sets of records are mentioned:
"Now the rest of the acts of
Jehu, and all that he did, and all his might, are they not written in the book
of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?"
(II Ki. 10:34)
"...the acts of
Hezekiah...written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?"
(Ibid.20:20)
"...the acts of
Josiah...written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?"
(Ibid.23:28)
"...the acts of
Asa...written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel."
(II Chr. 16:11)
"...Hezekiah, and his
goodness...written in the vision of Isaiah...and in the book of the kings of
Judah and Israel."
(Ibid. 32:32)
We may have some of their records
in the Bible, but when they were scattered into Assyria they would have taken
most of their records with them to continue their history.
Ezekiel 37:19 says, "behold,
I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim," The
reader is called to note the Book of Mormon is not in the "hand of
Ephraim" for it is very plain that it came forth to and that we are
GENTILES.
"And after that thy seed
shall be destroyed and dwindle in unbelief, and also the seed of thy brethren,
behold, these things shall be hid up, to come forth unto the Gentiles by the
gift and power of the Lamb;" (I Ne. 3:185)
We also see where it is called
the "stick of Joseph" in the nineteenth verse and the "stick of
Ephraim" in the sixteenth. The reason for this is that Joseph and Ephraim
are often used interchangeably as in Rev. 7:8-8 where Manasses is listed as a
tribe in place of Dan, and Joseph is used for Ephraim.
The Book of Mormon, for it to be
the "stick of Joseph" or "Ephraim", Lehi would have had to
be of the lineage of Joseph through Ephraim. But he was not, according to the
following:
"And Aminadi was a
descendant of Nephi...the son of Lehi, who came out of the land of Jerusalem,
who was a descendant of Manasseh...the son of Joseph, which was sold into
Egypt...." (Alma 8:3)
Furthermore, the Book of Mormon
covers but the history of two families, not "and all the house of Israel
his companions." Also it tells of there being a record of the Jews, for
the Nephites, and for the lost tribes of Israel.
"For behold, I shall speak
unto the Jews, and they shall write it...the Nephites, and they shall write it;
And...the other tribes of the house of Israel, which I have led away, and they
shall write it; And...and all the nations of the earth...they shall write it.
And it shall come to pass that the Jews shall have the words of the Nephites,
and the Nephites shall have the words of the Jews: And the Jews shall have the
words of the lost tribes of Israel; and the lost tribes of Israel shall have
the words of the Nephites and the Jews." (2 Ne. 12:67-72)
The Book of Mormon can not be the
"stick of Ephraim" as these evidences point out. (Robin R. Tucker, “The
37th Chapter of Ezekiel,” The Book of Mormon Foundation [January-March
1971]: 5-6)
