George Reynolds - Are We of Israel?

BY ELDER GEORGE REYNOLDS

"Israel shall blossom and bud and fill the world with fruit."Isaiah.

SECOND EDITION.

GEO. Q. CANNON & SONS CO. PRINTERS,
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH,
1895.

IntroductoryThe promises of God to Abraham and his PosterityThe seed of Joseph in AmericaThe Journey of the Ten Tribes NorthwardEphraim mixed with all NationsTestimony of Prest. Brigham Young.

Israel a Maritime NationTyre and SidonThe Lacedemonians claim relationship with IsraelThe Ionians, Etrurians, Danes, Jutes, etc.The various captivities of Israel and JudahMedia.

The Land of the NorthJeremiah, Ether and Esdras' TestimoniesThe Course of the Israelites NorthwardThe Jordan, the Don, the Danube, etc.The Land of Maesia and Dacia-The Getae Zalmoxes.

Israel's Journey NorthwardEsdras and Modern Revelation Compared-The Testimony of Jesus to the NephitesEphraim to be gathered from all CountriesThe Coasts of the EarthThe Ancestors of the Latter-day Saints.

The Origin of the Anglo-SaxonsDerivation of the Word SaxonThe Goths and VandalsOverthrow of the Roman EmpireThe Mythology of the Ancient ScandinaviansBaldurTheir early Literature.

The Numerous Identifications ConsideredReligion and Laws of the Ancient Northern RacesFree MasonryLanguage

Salvation a Gift to allGod's Covenant with AbrahamProselytesThe DispersionConclusion.

"Israel shall blossom and bud and fill the world with fruit"Isaiah.

IntroductoryThe promises of God to Abraham and his PosterityThe seed of Joseph in AmericaThe journey of the Ten Tribes northwardEphraim mixed with all nationsThe 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 (north countries) 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 Ishmaelthe 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 todaythe dispersed of Judahall 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.