Gospel Principals - Chapter 42

CHAPTER 42 – THE GATHERING OF THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL

The House of Israel Are God’s Covenant People

What responsibilities do God’s covenant people have to the nations of the world?

Genesis 49: 28—All these are the twelve tribes of Israel:  and this is it that their father spake unto them, and blessed them; every one according to his blessing he blessed them.

Deuteronomy 28: 9 – 10—The LORD shall establish thee an holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee if thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, and walk in his ways.  And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the LORD; and they shall be afraid of thee.

Abraham 2: 9 – 11—And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee above measure, and make thy name great among all nations, and thou shalt be a blessing unto thy seed after thee, that in their hands they shall bear this ministry and Priesthood unto all nations;  And I will bless them through thy name; for as many as receive this Gospel shall be called after thy name, and shall be accounted thy seed, and shall rise up and bless thee, as their father;  And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curse thee; and in thee (that is, in thy Priesthood), for I give unto thee a promise that this right shall continue in thee, and in thy seed after thee (that is to say, the literal seed, or the seed of the body) shall all the families of the earth be blessed, even with the blessings of the Gospel, which are the blessings of salvations, even of life eternal.

The House of Israel Scattered

Deuteronomy 28: 64—And the LORD shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and stone.

What benefits have come to God’s children because His covenant people have been scattered throughout the earth?

The House of Israel Must Be Gathered

Why does the Lord want His people to be gathered?

How will the house of Israel be gathered?

Jeremiah 23: 3—And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase.

3 Nephi 20: 26—The Father having raised me up unto you first, and sent me to bless you in turning away every one of you from his iniquities; and this because ye are the children of the covenant –

Doctrine & Covenants 110: 11—After this vision closed, the heavens were again opened unto us; and Moses appeared before us, and committed unto us the keys of the gathering of Israel from the four parts of the earth, and the leading of the ten tribes from the land of the north.

Deuteronomy 30: 1 – 5—And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath driven thee,  And shalt return unto the LORD thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul;  That then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hat scattered thee.  If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the LORD thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee:  And the LORD thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers.

Abraham 2: 9 – 11—And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee above measure, and make thy name great among all nations, and thou shalt be a blessing unto thy seed after thee, that in their hands they shall bear this ministry and Priesthood unto all nations;  And I will bless them through thy name; for as many as receive this Gospel shall be called after thy name, and shall be accounted thy seed, and shall rise up and bless thee, as their father;  And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curse thee; and in thee (that is, in thy Priesthood), for I give unto thee a promise that this right shall continue in thee, and in thy seed after thee (that is to say, the literal seed, or the seed of the body) shall all the families of the earth be blessed, even with the blessings of the Gospel, which are the blessings of salvations, even of life eternal.

Galatians 3: 26 – 29—For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.  For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.  There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female:  for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.  And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

President Joseph Fielding Smith said:  “There are many nations represented in the … Church.  … They have come because of the Spirit of the Lord rested upon them; … receiving the spirit of gathering, they left everything for the sake of the gospel” (Doctrines of Salvations, comp. Bruce R. McConkie, 3 vols. [1954 – 56], 3: 256; italics in original).

2 Nephi 9: 2—That he has spoken unto the Jews, by the mouth of his holy prophets, even from the beginning down, from generation to generation, until the time comes that they shall be restored to the true Church and fold of God; when they shall be gathered home to the lands of their inheritance, and shall be established in all their lands of promise.

Doctrine & Covenants 133: 26 – 34—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.  And an highway shall be cast up in the midst of the great deep.  Their enemies shall become a prey unto them,  And in the barren deserts there shall come forth pools of living water; and the parched ground shall no longer be a thirsty land.  And they shall bring forth their rich treasures unto the children of Ephraim, my servants.  And the boundaries of the everlasting hills shall tremble at their presence.  And there shall they fall down and be crowned with glory, even in Zion, by the hands of the servants of the Lord, even the children of Ephraim.  And they shall be filled with songs of everlasting joy.  Behold, this is the blessing of the everlasting God upon the tribes of Israel, and the richer blessing upon the head of Ephraim and his fellows.

3 Nephi 20: 13—And then shall the remnants, which shall be scattered abroad upon the face of the earth, be gathered in from the east and from the west, and from the south and from the north; and they shall be brought to the knowledge of the Lord their God, who hath redeemed them.

Doctrine & Covenants 97: 21—Therefore, verily, thus saith the Lord, let Zion rejoice, for this is Zion—THE PURE IN HEART; therefore, let Zion rejoice, while all the wicked shall mourn.

Conference Report, Oct. 2006, 85; or Ensign, Nov. 2006, 81).

Joseph Smith – Matthew 1: 37

Jeremiah 16: 14 – 15—Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that it shall no more be said, The LORD liveth, that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;  But, The LORD liveth, that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither he had driven them:  and I will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers.

In what ways have you been gathered spiritually as one of the Lord’s covenant people?

In what ways have you participated in the gathering of others?

Additional Scriptures

God’s covenant with Abraham

Genesis 17: 1 – 8—And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.  And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly.  And Abram fell on his face:  and God talk with him, saying,  As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations.  And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.  And I will establish my covenant between thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.  And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.

Those who follow Jesus Christ and His word are the children of the covenant

Romans 9: 4 – 8—Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and thecovenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises;  Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever.  Amen.  Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect.  For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel:  Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children:  but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called.  That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God:  but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.

Galatians 3: 29—And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Those who repent, follow the prophets, and have faith in Jesus Christ become the Lord’s covenant people

2 Nephi 30: 2—For behold, I say unto you that as many of the Gentiles as will repent are the covenant people of the Lord; and as many of the Jews as will not repent shall be cast off; for the Lord covenanteth with none save it be with them that repent and believe in his Son, who is the Holy One of Israel.

Mosiah 5: 10 – 11—And now it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall not take upon him the name of Christ must be called by some other name; therefore, he findeth himself on the left hand of God.  And I would that ye should remember also, that this is the name that I said I should give unto you that never should be blotted out, except it be through transgression; therefore, take heed that ye do not transgress, that the name be not blotted out of your hearts.

Northern Kingdom taken captive

2 Chronicles 36: 11 – 20—Zedekiah was one and twenty years old when he began to reign, and reigned eleven years in Jerusalem.  And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD his God, and humbled not himself before Jeremiah the prophet speaking from the mouth of the LORD.  And he also rebelled against king Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God:  but he stiffened his neck, and hardened his heart from turning unto the LORD God of Israel.  Moreover all the chief of the priests, and the people, transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen; and polluted the house of the LORD which he had hallowed in Jerusalem.  And the LORD God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place:  But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against his people, till there was no remedy.  Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age:  he gave them all into his hand.  And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king, and of his princes; all these he brought to Babylon.  And they burnt the house of God, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt al the palaces thereof with fire, and destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof.  And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia:

Twelves tribes scattered abroad

James 1: 1—James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.

Nephite migration was part of the scattering

1 Nephi 10: 12 – 13—Yea, even my father spake much concerning the Gentiles, and also concerning the house of Israel, that they should be compared like unto an olive tree, whose branches should be broken off and should be scattered upon all the face of the earth.  Wherefore, he said it must needs be that we should be led with one accord into the land of promise, unto the fulfilling of the word of the Lord, that we should be scattered upon all the face of the earth.

One from a city, two from a family

Jeremiah 3: 14 – 18—Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you:  and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion:  And I will give you  pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.  And it shall come to pass, when ye be multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith the LORD, they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the LORD:  neither shalt they remember it; neither shall they visit it; neither shall that be done any more.  At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the LORD; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem:  neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart.  In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers.

Israel will be gathered from all countries

Ezekiel 20: 33 – 36—And I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out, will I rule over you:  And I will bring you out from the people, and will gather you out of the countries wherein you are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out.  And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there will I plead with you face to face.  Like as I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I plead with you, saith the Lord God.

Jews will be gathered to Jerusalem

3 Nephi 20: 29 – 46—And I will remember the covenant which I have made with my people; and I have covenanted with them that I would gather them together in mine own due time, that I would give unto them again the land of their fathers for their inheritance, which is the land of Jerusalem, which is the promised land unto them forever, saith the Father.  And it shall come to pass that the time cometh, when the fulness of my gospel shall be preached unto them;   And they shall believe in me, that I am Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and shall pray unto the Father in my name.  Then shall their watchmen lift up their voice, and with the voice together shall thy sing; for they shall see eye to eye.  Then will the Father gather them together again, and give unto them Jerusalem for the land of their inheritance.  Then shall they break forth into joy—Sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem; for the Father hath comforted his people he hath redeemed Jerusalem.  The Father hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of the Father; and the Father and I are one.  And then shall be brought to pass that which is written:  Awake, awake again, and put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city, for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean.  Shake thyself from the dust; arise, sit down, O Jerusalem; loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion.  For thus saith the Lord:  Ye have sold yourselves for naught, and ye shall be redeemed without money.  Verily, verily, I say unto you, that my people shall know my name; yea, in that day they shall know that I am he that doth speak.  And then shall they say:  How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings unto them, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings unto them of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion:  Thy God reigneth!  And then shall a cry go forth:  Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch not that which is unclean; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord.  For ye shall not go out with haste nor go by flight; for the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel shall be your rearward.  Behold, my servant shall deal prudently; he shall be exalted and extolled and be very high.  As many were astonished at thee—his visage was so marred, more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men --  So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him, for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider.  Verily, verily, I say unto you, all these things shall surely come, even as the Father hath commanded me.  Then shall this covenant which the Father hath covenanted with his people be fulfilled; and then shall Jerusalem be inhabited again with my people, and it shall be the land of their inheritance.

Gathering starts with Restoration of the gospel

1 Nephi 15: 13 – 18—And now, the thing which our father meaneth concerning the grafting in of the natural branches through the fulness of the Gentiles, is, that in the latter days, when our seed shall have dwindled in unbelief, yea, for the space of many years, and many generations after the Messiah shall be manifested in body unto the children of men, then shall the fulness of the gospel of the Messiah come unto the Gentiles, and from the Gentiles unto the remnant of our seed --  And at that day shall the remnant of our seed know that they are of the house of Israel, and that they are the covenant people of the Lord; and then shall they know and come to the knowledge of their forefathers, and also to the knowledge of the gospel of their Redeemer, which was ministered unto their fathers by him; wherefore, they shall come to the knowledge of their Redeemer and the very points of his doctrine, that they may know how to come unto him and be saved.  And then at that day will they not rejoice and give praise unto their everlasting God, their rock and their salvation?  Yea, at that day, will they not receive the strength and nourishment from the true vine?  Yea, will they not come unto the true fold of God?  Behold, I say unto you, Yea; they shall be remembered again among the house of Israel; they shall be grated in, being a natural branch of the olive tree, into the true olive tree.  And this is what our father meaneth; and he meaneth that it will not come to pass until after they are scattered by the Gentiles; and he meaneth that it shall come by the way of the Gentiles, that the Lord may show his power unto the Gentiles, for the very cause that he shall be rejected of the Jews, or of the house of Israel.  Wherefore, our father hath not spoken of our seed alone, but also of all the house of Israel, pointing to the covenant which should be fulfilled in the latter days; which covenant the Lord made to our father Abraham, saying:  In thy seed shall al the kindreds of the earth be blessed

3 Nephi 21: 26 – 29—And then shall the work of the Father commence at that day, even when this gospel shall be preached among the remnant of this people.  Verily I say unto you, at that day shall the work of the Father commence among all the dispersed of my people, yea, even the tribes which have been lost, which the Father hath led away out of Jerusalem. Yea, the work shall commence among all the dispersed of my people, with the Father to prepare the way whereby they may come unto me, that they may call on the Father in my name.  Yea, and then shall the work commence, with the Father among all nations in preparing the way whereby his people may be gathered home to the land of their inheritance.  And they shall go out from all nations; and they shall not go out in haste, nor go by flight, for I will go before them, saith the Father, and I will be their rearward.

The Lord’s covenant people will be saved

Doctrine & Covenants 38: 31 – 33—And that ye might escape the power of the enemy, and be gathered unto me a righteous people, without spot and blameless--  Wherefore, for this cause I gave unto you the commandment that ye should go to the Ohio; and there I will give unto you my law; and there you shall be endowed with power from on high;  And from thence, whosoever I will shall go forth among all nations, and it shall be told them what they shall do; for I have a great work laid up in store, for Israel shall be saved, and I wil lead them whithersoever I will, and no power shall stay my hand.

The Lord will recover His people

Isaiah 11: 11 – 13—And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be 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 he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.  The envy also of Eprhaim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off:  Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephaim.

A voice will proclaim the gathering

Revelation 18: 4 – 8—And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.  For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.  Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works:  in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.  How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her:  for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.  Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire:  for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.

Gentiles to Zion, Jews to Jerusalem

Doctrine & Covenants 133: 6 – 15—Call your solemn assemblies, and speak often one to another.  And let every man call upon the name of the Lord.  Yea, verily I say unto you again, the time has come when the voice of the Lord is unto you:  Go ye out of Babylon; gather ye out from among the nations, from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.  Send forth the elders of my church unto the nations which are afar off; unto the islands of the sea; send forth unto foreign lands; call upon all nations, first upon the Gentiles, and then upon the Jews.  And behold, and lo, this shall be their cry, and the voice of the Lord unto all people:  Go ye forth unto the land of Zion, that the borders of my people may be enlarged, and that her stakes may be strengthened, and that Zion may go forth unto the regions round about.  Yea, let the cry go forth among all people:  Awake and arise and go forth to meet the Bridegroom; behold and lo, the Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.  Prepare yourselves for the great day of the Lord.  Watch, therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour.  Let them, therefore, who are among the Gentiles flee unto Zion.  And let them who be of Judah flee unto Jerusalem, unto the mountains of the Lord's house.  Go ye out from among the nations, even from Babylon, form the midst of wickedness, which is spiritual Babylon.  But verily, thus saith the Lord, let not your flight be in haste, but let all things be prepared before you; and he that goeth, let him not look back lest sudden destruction shall come upon home.