Introductory--The promises of God to Abraham and his Posterity--The
seed of Joseph in America--The Journey of the Ten Tribes
Northward--Ephraim mixed with all Nations--Testimony of Prest. Brigham
Young.
CHAPTER II.
Israel a Maritime Nation--Tyre and Sidon--The Lacedemonians claim
relationship with Israel--The Ionians, Etrurians, Danes, Jutes,
etc.--The various captivities of Israel and Judah--Media.
CHAPTER III.
The Land of the North--Jeremiah, Ether and Esdras' Testimonies--The
Course of the Israelites Northward--The Jordan, the Don, the Danube,
etc.--The Land of Mæsia and Dacia-The Getæ Zalmoxes.
CHAPTER IV.
Israel's Journey Northward--Esdras and Modern Revelation Compared-The
Testimony of Jesus to the Nephites--Ephraim to be gathered from all
Countries--The Coasts of the Earth--The Ancestors of the Latter-day
Saints.
CHAPTER V.
The Origin of the Anglo-Saxons--Derivation of the Word Saxon--The
Goths and Vandals--Overthrow of the Roman Empire--The Mythology of the
Ancient Scandinavians--Baldur--Their early Literature.
CHAPTER VI.
The Numerous Identifications Considered--Religion and Laws of the
Ancient Northern Races--Free Masonry--Language
CHAPTER VII. Salvation a Gift to all--God's Covenant with
Abraham--Proselytes--The Dispersion--Conclusion.
ARE WE OF ISRAEL?
"Israel shall blossom and bud and fill the world with
fruit"--_Isaiah_.
CHAPTER I.
_Introductory--The promises of God to Abraham and his Posterity--The
seed of Joseph in America--The journey of the Ten Tribes
northward--Ephraim mixed with all nations-The testimony of President
Brigham Young_.
The belief that the Latter-day Saints hold that the great majority of
their number are of the house of Israel, and heirs to the promises
made to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob, like many other portions of
their faith, has received the ridicule of the unthinking and the
contempt of the ungodly. However, it is not our present intention to
answer such, but to seek to adduce evidence outside of the sure word
of modern revelation, to prove that the Latter-day Saints have good
reasons, drawn from history and analogy, for believing the words of
their Patriarchs who, in blessing them, pronounce them of the house of
Abraham and of the promised seed of Jacob.
It is unnecessary to here quote all of the many gracious promises made
by the great Father of us all to His friend Abraham, and to that
Patriarch's immediate posterity, as they are cherished by the Saints
as of more than earthly value, as pearls beyond all price, as sweet
comforters in the day of trial, and as strong towers of defense in the
hour of temptation; yet it may not be out of place to refresh our
minds by the recital of a few of the most prominent, that we may
better comprehend the ideas and statements that follow after.
It is recorded (_Genesis xvii: 4-7_) that the Lord covenanted with
Abraham, saying:
"As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a
father of many nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called
Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations
have I made thee. 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 me and thee and thy seed after thee in
their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee
and to thy seed after thee."
Again (_Genesis xxii: 16-18_.) Jehovah declares:
"By myself have I sworn saith the Lord, for because thou hast done
this thing, and has not withheld thy son, thine only son, that in
blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy
seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea
shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; and in thy
seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed."
To Isaac and to Jacob were these glorious promises confirmed if
possible in yet stronger wording. (_Genesis xxvi: 4-10; xxviii: 14_.)
To the latter it was said:
"And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth; and thou shalt spread
abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the
south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth
be blessed."
The blessing of Jacob upon his son Joseph is doubtless so familiar to
the majority of our readers, that we shall simply quote the latter
portion:
"The blessings of thy father have prevailed, above the blessings of my
progenitors, unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills. They
shall be upon the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him
who was separate from his brethren."
We will take but one step further in this direction. Jacob, in
blessing Ephraim and Manasseh, the sons of Joseph, said: (_Gen.
xiviii: 16_.)
"Let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers, Abraham and
Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth."
When Joseph reminded the aged Patriarch that his right hand was placed
on the head of the younger boy, he declared:
"I know it, my son, I know it. He (Manasseh) also shall become a
people. And he also shall be great. But truly his younger brother
shall be greater than he; and his seed shall become a multitude of
nations."
There are two points in these blessings that are very noteworthy. The
first, that the seed of these Patriarchs should become innumerable,
and grow to be a multitude of nations in the midst of the earth; the
second, that in or through this seed all the nations and families of
the earth should be blessed. With Abraham a covenant was made by the
Most High, that he should become the father of many nations, and when
we have laid aside the descendants of Ishmael--the Arabians and their
fellows, who have grown into mighty multitudes, and not even counted
the posterity of the sons of Keturah and of Abraham's other wives, yet
in the one son Isaac the promise is renewed, his seed also is to
multiply "as the stars of heaven." Once again we will divide the
posterity, and leave unnoticed the dukes of Edom and the other
descendant of Isaac's favorite son. We will speak alone of Jacob. To
him was repeated the divine promise: "Thy seed shall be as the dust of
the earth;" and again, "A nation and a company of nations shall be of
thee." Here let us pause for a moment and ask, are they whom the world
regard as the only representatives of Jacob today--the dispersed of
Judah--all that that holy man has to show as the fulfillment of so
great a promise as the one last quoted? We think not, but believe that
future research will vindicate prophecy, and prove that the promises
of the Eternal are not cut short in their complete fulfillment.
We are well aware, so great is the tendency of the races of the earth
to mix and intermingle, that the Jews, as well as many Christians,
point to their continued existence as a distinct people, as an
unanswerable argument in favor of the divinity of their scriptures and
the inspiration of their prophets. But their history, their
exclusiveness, their dispersion, etc., do not fulfill a vast number of
the prophecies uttered with regard to Israel. Yet when the history of
all Israel is written, of Ephraim as well as of Judah, we are
satisfied that no portion of God's holy word will be found to have
returned to His mouth unfulfilled, and He will be as much glorified in
the hiding up of the Ten Tribes and the mixing of Ephraim among the
nations, as in the scattering of the sons and daughters of Judah.
Jacob had one son (and he not the ancestor of the Jews), to whom these
blessings were not only renewed, but extended. To Joseph it is said
that his blessings have prevailed above the blessings of his
progenitors unto the utmost bounds of the everlasting hills, while of
Joseph's younger son it was declared, "his seed shall be a multitude
of nations." Thus we observe that with each succeeding heir to these
choice blessings the promises seem to have grown, extended and spread
out. To Abraham it was promised that he should be the father of many
nations; to Ephraim, his grandson's grandson, it was said of his seed,
his seed alone, that it should become a multitude of nations. Where is
that multitude of nations today? is a pertinent question, for God has
promised it and they must exist.
The average student of history cannot answer this question. He knows
nothing of the posterity of Ephraim; they are hidden from his sight.
But the believer in the Book of Mormon will point to its record and
declare that in the aborigines of North and South America and of many
of the Pacific isles, we find the seed of Joseph grown into a
multitude of tribes, peoples and nations. We thankfully admit this
truth, we cannot contradict it did we wish to do so. God has so
revealed it, and the external confirmatory evidences are growing
stronger and more convincing every year. Yet another pertinent
question here presents itself. We understand, from the Book of Mormon,
the Lamanites to be of the house of Manasseh; that is their great
father Lehi and his sons, the founders of the Nephite and Lamanite
races, were of that tribe. If so, his greatness does not fulfill the
promises to Ephraim, who was to be greater than he. Surely the Lord,
having so abundantly fulfilled His promise to the one brother, has not
forgotten His covenant with His "first born." But shall we be deemed
inconsistent if we say that we do not think that the whole of that
multitude of nations is found in the descendants of Lehi, of Mulek and
their companions. Is it supposable that the Lord has confined the
fulfillment of the promises to Joseph (whose blessings were to prevail
above those of his progenitors), to tribes who are today and the
majority of which have been for fifteen hundred years--or one-quarter
of this world's existence since mortals dwelt hereon--among the
wildest, the most degraded of mankind? If so, the descendants of those
to whom no promises were made have enjoyed the greater blessings.
We contend that where Israel is not under the ban of God's displeasure
through his sins and follies, he leads the world. His sons are princes
among men and the ministers of God's law to all people, indeed that in
him, according to the oft repeated promise, all the families of the
earth will be blessed. Here we may be interrupted by our readers (for
it is Latter-day Saints we are addressing) with the question if we
have forgotten the Ten Tribes hidden by Divine Providence in the far
off frozen regions of the north, and environed by a belt of snow and
ice so impenetrable that no man in modern days has reached them. No,
we have not forgotten them, and through them, we believe, as through
Lehi and others, have the promises of God to Jacob and Joseph been
partially fulfilled. But we ask further, is it altogether improbable
that in that long journey of one and a half years, as Esdras states
it, from Media, the land of their captivity to the frozen north some
of backsliding Israel rebelled, turned aside from the main body,
forgot their God, by and by mingled with the Gentiles and became the
leaven to leaven with the promised seed all the nations of the earth?
The account given in the Book of Mormon of a single family of this
same house, its waywardness, its stiffneckedness before God, its
internal quarrels and family feuds are, we fear, an example on a small
scale of what most probably happened in the vast bodies of Israelites
who for so many months wended their tedious way northward. Laman and
Lemuel had, no doubt, many counterparts in the journeying Ten Tribes.
And who so likely to rebel as stubborn, impetuous, proud and warlike
Ephraim? Rebellion and backsliding have been so characteristically the
story of Ephraim's career that we can scarcely conceive that it could
be otherwise and yet preserve the unities of that people's history.
Can it be any wonder then that so much of the blood of Ephraim has
been found hidden and unknown in the midst of the nations of northern
Europe and other parts until the spirit of prophecy revealed its
existence? But before proceeding further in our research, it may be
well to insert the words of one having authority, to the effect that
the Latter-day Saints are of Ephraim; to adduce ideas and reasons to
substantiate this statement will be our pleasure as we proceed.
President Young delivered a discourse in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake
City, April 8th, 1855, from which the following are extracts:
"The set time has come for God to gather Israel, and for his work to
commence upon the face of the whole earth, and the Elders who have
arisen in this Church and kingdom are actually of Israel. Take the
Elders who are now in this house, and you can scarcely find one out of
a hundred but what is of the house of Israel. It has been remarked
that the Gentiles have been cut off, and I doubt whether another
Gentile ever comes into this church.
"Will we go to the Gentile nations to preach the gospel? Yes, and
gather out the Israelites wherever they are mixed among the nations of
the earth. What part or portion of them? The same part or portion that
redeemed the house of Jacob and saved them from perishing with famine
in Egypt. When Jacob blessed the two sons of Joseph, 'guiding his
hands wittingly,' he placed his right hand upon Ephraim, 'and he
blessed Joseph, and said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and
Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life long unto this day,
the Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads,' etc.
Joseph was about to remove the old man's hands, and bringing his right
hand upon the head of the oldest boy, saying, 'Not so, my father; for
this is the firstborn; put thy right hand upon his head.' And his
father refused, and said, 'I know it, my son, I know it: he also shall
become a people, and he also shall be great; but truly his younger
brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a
multitude of nations.' Ephraim has become mixed with all the nations
of the earth, and it is Ephraim that is gathering together.
"It is Ephraim that I have been searching for all the days of my
preaching, and that is the blood which ran in my veins when I embraced
the gospel. If there are any of the other tribes of Israel mixed with
the Gentiles we are also searching for them. Though the Gentiles are
cut off, do not suppose that we are not going to preach the gospel
among the Gentile nations, for they are mingled with the house of
Israel, and when we send to the nations we do not seek for the
Gentiles, because they are disobedient and rebellious. We want the
blood of Jacob, and that of his father Isaac and Abraham, which runs
in the veins of the people. There is a particle of it here, and
another there, blessing the nations as predicted.
"Take a family of ten children, for instance, and you may find nine of
them purely of the Gentile stock, and one son or one daughter in that
family who is purely of the blood of Ephraim. It was in the veins of
the father or mother, and was produced in the son or daughter, while
all the rest of the family are Gentiles. You may think that is
singular, but it is true. It is the house of Israel we are after, and
we care not whether they come from the east, the west, the north or
the south; from China, Russia, England, California, North or South
America, or some other locality; and it is the very lad on whom father
Jacob laid his hands, that will save the house of Israel. The Book of
Mormon came to Ephraim, for Joseph Smith was a pure Ephraimite, and
the Book of Mormon was revealed to him, and, while he lived he made it
his business to search for those who believed the gospel. * * *
"You understand who we are; we are of the house of Israel, of the
royal seed, of the royal blood."