GPC42: Comments and Resources

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Gospel Principles
Unit 9: The Second Coming of Jesus Christ
Chapter 42: The Gathering Of The House of Israel
Comments and Resources

'Elder Bruce R. McConkie said: "Two things are accomplished by the gathering of Israel: First, those who have thus chosen Christ as their Shepherd... need to be gathered together to strengthen each other....

"And second, those who are seeking the highest rewards in eternity need to be where they can receive the blessings of the house of the Lord."  ("Come: Let Israel Build Zion," Ensign, May 1977, p. 117.)

During the study of this topic, we will learn what is meant by the gathering of Israel and how missionary work is related to the gathering.


Resources
Gospel Principles, chapter 42
A Marvelous Work and a Wonder, chapters 15, 16.
Articles of Faith, chapters 17-19.
Topical Guide: Israel, Gathering of,
Bible Dictionary:  <http://Scriptures.lds.org/en/bd/contents> Israel, Kingdom of; Israel.


Concept 1: The House of Israel Are God's Covenant People

'Jacob was a great prophet who lived hundreds of years before the time of Christ.  Because Jacob was faithful, the Lord gave him the special name of Israel, which means "a prince of God" (Genesis 32:28 "And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.").  Jacob had twelve sons.  These sons and their families became known as the twelve tribes of Israel, or Israelites (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.").
Jacob was a grandson of Abraham.  The Lord made an everlasting covenant with Abraham that was renewed with Jacob and his children (Deuteronomy 32:7-9;
"7. Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations: ask thy father, and he will shew thee; thy elders, and they will tell thee.
8. When the most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel.
9. For the LORD'S portion [is] his people; Jacob [is] the lot of his inheritance."
 see also chapter 15, "The Lord's Covenant People"  http://www.lds.org/library/display/0,4945,11-1-13-22,00.html  ). 
God promised that the Israelites would be his covenant people as long as they would obey his commandments (Deuteronomy 28:9-10;
"9. 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. 
10.  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.").  They would be a blessing to all the nations of the world by taking the gospel and the priesthood to them.  Thus, they would keep their covenant with the Lord and he would keep his covenant with them.

Discussion

Discuss the promise of the Lord to make the Israelites his chosen people.'



Concept 2: The House of Israel Was Scattered

'Again and again prophets of the Lord warned the house of Israel what would happen if they were wicked.  Moses prophesied, "And the Lord shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other" (Deuteronomy 28:64).

Gradually the Israelites began to break the commandments of God.  They fought among themselves and split into two kingdoms: the Northern Kingdom, called the kingdom of Israel, and the Southern Kingdom, called the kingdom of Judah.  Ten of the twelve tribes of Israel lived in the Northern Kingdom.  During a war they were conquered by their enemies and carried away into captivity.  Some of them later escaped into the lands of the north and became lost to the rest of the world.

About one hundred years after the capture of the Northern Kingdom, the Southern Kingdom was conquered.  The capital city of Jerusalem was destroyed in 586 B.C., and the remaining two tribes of Israel were taken captive.  Later, some of the members of these tribes returned and rebuilt Jerusalem.  Just before Jerusalem was destroyed, Lehi and his family left the city and settled in the Americas.  The Lamanites are descendants of Lehi's people.

After the time of Christ, Jerusalem was again destroyed, this time by Roman soldiers.  The Jews were scattered over much of the world.  Today Israelites are found in all countries of the world.  Many of these people do not know that they are descended from the ancient house of Israel.

Discussion

Have class members list the important events that are part of the scattering of the house of Israel.'


Concept 3: The House of Israel Must Be Gathered

'The Lord promised that the Israelites, his covenant people, would someday be gathered: "I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them" (Jeremiah 23:3).

The Lord has some important reasons for gathering the Israelites.  The people of Israel need to learn the teachings of the gospel and prepare themselves to meet the Savior when he comes again.  The Israelites have the responsibility of building temples and performing sacred ordinances for ancestors who died without having this opportunity.  The covenant people of God must take the gospel to all nations.  They must fulfill the covenant to be a blessing to all the world.

The power and authority to direct the work of gathering the house of Israel was given to Joseph Smith by the prophet Moses, who appeared in 1836 in the Kirtland Temple (D&C 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.").  Since that time, each prophet has held the keys for the gathering of the house of Israel, and this gathering has been an important part of the Church's work.  The house of Israel is now being gathered as they accept the restored gospel and serve the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Deuteronomy 30:1-5;
"1. 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,
2. 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;
3. 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 hath scattered thee.
4. 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:
5. 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.")

Discussion

List some of the reasons why the house of Israel must be gathered.'


Concept 4: How Will the House of Israel Be Gathered?

'The Israelites are to be gathered spiritually first and then physically.  They are gathered spiritually when they join The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  This spiritual gathering began during the time of the Prophet Joseph Smith and continues today all over the world.  Converts to the Church are Israelites either by blood or adoption.  They belong to the family of Abraham and Jacob (Abraham 2:9-11;
"9. 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;
10. 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;
11. And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curse thee; and in thee (that is, in thy Priesthood) and in thy seed (that is, 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 salvation, even of life eternal."

Galatians 3:26-29;
"26. For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. 
27. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 
28. 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. 
29. 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 the Spirit of the Lord rested upon them; . . . receiving the spirit of gathering, they have left everything for the sake of the gospel" (Doctrines of Salvation, 3:256).

The physical gathering of Israel means that the Israelites will be "gathered home to the lands of their inheritance, and shall be established in all their lands of promise" (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.").  The tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh will be gathered to the land of America.  The tribe of Judah will return to the city of Jerusalem and the area surrounding it.  The ten lost tribes will receive from the tribe of Ephraim their promised blessings (D&C 133:26-35;
"26. 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.
27. And an highway shall be cast up in the midst of the great deep.
28. Their enemies shall become a prey unto them,
29. And in the barren deserts there shall come forth pools of living water; and the parched ground shall no longer be a thirsty land.
30. And they shall bring forth their rich treasures unto the children of Ephraim, my servants.
31. And the boundaries of the everlasting hills shall tremble at their presence.
32. 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.
33. And they shall be filled with songs of everlasting joy.
34. 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.
35. And they also of the tribe of Judah, after their pain, shall be sanctified in holiness before the Lord, to dwell in his presence day and night, forever and ever.").

When the Church was first established, the Saints were instructed to gather in Ohio, then Missouri, and then the Salt Lake Valley.  Today, however, modern prophets have taught that Church members are to build up the kingdom of God in their own lands.  Elder Bruce R. McConkie said:

"Every stake on earth is the gathering place for the lost sheep of Israel who live in its area.

"The gathering place for Peruvians is in the stakes of Zion in Peru, or in the places which soon will become stakes.  The gathering place for Chileans is in Chile; for Bolivians it is in Bolivia; for Koreans it is in Korea; and so it goes through all the length and breadth of the earth.  Scattered Israel in every nation is called to gather to the fold of Christ, to the stakes of Zion, as such are established in their nations" ("Come: Let Israel Build Zion," Ensign, May 1977, p. 118).

The physical gathering of Israel will not be complete until the second coming of the Savior (Joseph Smith--Matthew 1:37 "And whoso treasureth up my word, shall not be deceived, for the Son of Man shall come, and he shall send his angels before him with the great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together the remainder of his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.").  Then the Lord's promise will be fulfilled:

"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" (Jeremiah 16:14-15).

Discussion

In what two ways will the house of Israel be gathered?  Discuss each of these.'

Additional Scriptures 
Genesis 17:1-8 (God's covenant with Abraham)
http://Scriptures.lds.org/gen/17/1-8#1

2 Kings 17 (Northern Kingdom taken captive)
http://Scriptures.lds.org/2_kgs/17

2 Chronicles 36:11-20 (Southern Kingdom taken captive)
http://Scriptures.lds.org/2_chr/36/11-20#11

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

1 Nephi 10:12-13 (Nephite migration was part of the scattering)
http://Scriptures.lds.org/1_ne/10/12-13#12

Jeremiah 3:14-18 (one from a city, two from a family)
http://Scriptures.lds.org/jer/3/14-18#14

Jeremiah 31:7-14 (lost tribes to come from the north countries)
http://Scriptures.lds.org/jer/31/7-14#7

Ezekiel 20:33-36 (Israel will be gathered from all countries)
http://Scriptures.lds.org/ezek/20/33-36#33

3 Nephi 20:29-46 (Jews will be gathered to Jerusalem)
http://Scriptures.lds.org/3_ne/20/29-46#29

3 Nephi 21:26-29 (gathering starts with restoration of the gospel)
http://Scriptures.lds.org/3_ne/21/26-29#26

D&C 133:26-34 (ten tribes to return from the north)
http://Scriptures.lds.org/dc/133/26-34#26

Isaiah 11:11-13 (the Lord will recover his people)
http://Scriptures.lds.org/isa/11/11-13#11

Revelation 18:4-8 (a voice will proclaim the gathering)
http://Scriptures.lds.org/rev/18/4-8#4

D&C 133:6-15 (Gentiles to Zion, Jews to Jerusalem)
http://Scriptures.lds.org/dc/133/6-15#6


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Moroni 10:4-5
"4. And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost. 
5. And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things."

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