What the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teaches on it’s own website
List of terms defined
Articles published by the Church
- What Is a Jew?
- Jewish Migrations
- The Holy Land: The First Presidency Speaks
- The Birth of Modern Israel
- Religion In Israel Today
- Judah Must Return
- The Future of the Holy Land
- “For the Law Shall Go Forth from Zion”
- Israel in Asia
- The Lasting Effects of the Fall and Captivity of Judah
- The Messianic Hope in Ancient Israel
- How have the Jewish people come to view their early expectation of a Messiah?
- Of the House of Israel
Ephraim
- See also Book of Mormon; Israel; Joseph, Son of Jacob; Manasseh
In the Old Testament, the second son of Joseph and Asenath (Gen. 41:50–52; 46:20). Contrary to the traditional manner, Ephraim received the birthright blessing instead of Manasseh, who was the elder son (Gen. 48:17–20). Ephraim became the father of the tribe of Ephraim.
The tribe of Ephraim
Ephraim was given the birthright in Israel (1 Chr. 5:1–2; Jer. 31:9). In the last days their privilege and responsibility is to bear the priesthood, take the message of the restored gospel to the world, and raise an ensign to gather scattered Israel (Isa. 11:12–13; 2 Ne. 21:12–13). The children of Ephraim will crown with glory those from the north countries who return in the last days (D&C 133:26–34).
The stick of Ephraim or Joseph
A record of one group from the tribe of Ephraim that was led from Jerusalem to America about 600 B.C. This group’s record is called the stick of Ephraim or Joseph, or the Book of Mormon. It and the stick of Judah (the Bible) form a unified testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ, His Resurrection, and His divine work among these two segments of the house of Israel.
- A branch of Ephraim will be broken off and will write another testament of Christ, JST, Gen. 50:24–26, 30–31.
- The stick of Judah and the stick of Joseph will become one, Ezek. 37:15–19.
- The writings of Judah and of Joseph shall grow together, 2 Ne. 3:12.
- The Lord speaks to many nations, 2 Ne. 29.
- The keys of the record of the stick of Ephraim were committed to Moroni, D&C 27:5
Israel
The Lord gave the name Israel to Jacob, the son of Isaac and grandson of Abraham in the Old Testament (Gen. 32:28; 35:10). The name Israel can refer to Jacob himself, his descendants, or to the kingdom those descendants once possessed in Old Testament times (2 Sam. 1:24; 23:3). After Moses led the children of Israel out of Egyptian bondage (Ex. 3–14), they were ruled over by judges for over three hundred years. Beginning with King Saul, kings ruled over united Israel until the death of Solomon, when ten tribes revolted from Rehoboam to form a separate nation. After the kingdom of Israel was divided, the northern tribes, as the larger part, kept the name Israel, while the southern kingdom was called Judah. The land of Canaan is also called Israel today. In another sense, Israel means a true believer in Christ (Rom. 10:1; 11:7; Gal. 6:16; Eph. 2:12).
The twelve tribes of Israel
Abraham’s grandson Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel, had twelve sons. Their descendants have become known as the twelve tribes of Israel or the children of Israel. These are the twelve tribes: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun (the sons of Jacob and Leah); Dan and Naphtali (the sons of Jacob and Bilhah); Gad and Asher (the sons of Jacob and Zilpah); Joseph and Benjamin (the sons of Jacob and Rachel) (Gen. 29:32–30:24; 35:16–18). (Read more)
Jew
The name indicated first of all a man of the kingdom of Judah, as distinguished from persons belonging to the northern kingdom of Israel. Its first chronological occurrence in the Bible is in 2 Kgs. 16:6, about 740 B.C. It has become customary to use the word Jew to refer to all the descendants of Jacob, but this is a mistake. It would be limited to those of the kingdom of Judah or, more especially today, those of the tribe of Judah and his associates. Thus all Jews are Israelites, but not all Israelites are Jews, because there are descendants of the other tribes of Israel also upon the earth. See also 2 Ne. 33:8.
Jews
[Under Study Helps, Guide to the Scriptures]
Jews can be (1) descendants of Judah, one of the twelve sons of Jacob, (2) people of the ancient southern kingdom of Judah, or (3) people who practice the religion, lifestyles, and traditions of Judaism but may or may not be Jewish by birth. It has become customary to use the word Jew to refer to all the descendants of Jacob, but this is a mistake. It should be limited to those of the kingdom of Judah or, more especially today, those of the tribe of Judah and his associates.
- The sceptre shall not depart from Judah until Shiloh come, Gen. 49:10.
- The gospel of Christ is the power of God unto salvation, to the Jew first, Rom. 1:16.
- A prophet would the Lord raise up among the Jews—even a Messiah, 1 Ne. 10:4.
- When the book proceeded out of the mouth of the Jew, the things were plain and pure, 1 Ne. 14:23.
- The Jews shall be scattered among all nations, 2 Ne. 25:15.
- The Jews are mine ancient covenant people, 2 Ne. 29:4.
- Jews which are scattered shall begin to believe in Christ, 2 Ne. 30:7.
- Jews will reject the stone upon which they might build, Jacob 4:14–16.
- The Jews shall have other witness that Jesus was the very Christ, Morm. 3:20–21.
- Two prophets are to be raised up to the Jewish nation in the last days, D&C 77:15.
- Call upon all nations, first upon the Gentiles, and then upon the Jews, D&C 133:8.
- In those days shall be great tribulation on the Jews, JS—M 1:18.
Judah
In the Old Testament, the fourth son of Jacob and Leah (Gen. 29:35; 37:26–27; 43:3, 8; 44:16; 49:8). Jacob blessed Judah that he would be a natural leader among the sons of Jacob and that Shiloh (Jesus Christ) would be his descendant (Gen. 49:10).
The tribe of Judah
The tribe of Judah took the lead after the settlement in Canaan. Its chief rival was the tribe of Ephraim. Moses blessed the tribe of Judah (Deut. 33:7). After the reign of Solomon, the tribe of Judah became the kingdom of Judah.
The kingdom of Judah
In the reign of Rehoboam the dominions of Solomon were broken up into two separate kingdoms, mainly because of the jealousy between the tribes of Ephraim and Judah. The southern kingdom, or kingdom of Judah, included the tribe of Judah and the greater part of Benjamin. Jerusalem was its capital. On the whole it remained more faithful to the worship of Jehovah than did the northern kingdom. Judah was less exposed to attack from the north and east, and the supreme power remained in the hands of the family of David until the Babylonian captivity. The kingdom of Judah managed to exist for 135 years after the downfall of the more populous and more powerful kingdom of Israel.
The stick of Judah
This refers to the Bible as a record of the house of Judah (Ezek. 37:15–19). In the last days, when the various branches of the house of Israel are gathered, their sacred records will also be gathered together. These scriptural records complement one another and form a unified testimony that Jesus is the Christ, the God of Israel and the God of the whole earth (JST, Gen. 50:24–36 [Bible Appendix]; 2 Ne. 3; 29).
What Is a Jew?
“Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country … unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great. …” (Gen. 12:1–2.)
With this command and promised blessing, Abraham became the progenitor of a numerous people, the Hebrews. The etymology is thought by some to be heber (other side), suggesting a people from the other side of the Euphrates, the area of Abraham’s origin (Ur of the Chaldees).
Thus, the descendants of this great patriarch might be designated as Hebrew: Ishmael, the son of Abraham’s wife Hagar, and Midian, the son of Abraham’s wife Keturah, the progeny of both being frequent antagonists of the posterity of another son, Isaac, the divinely promised child of Abraham’s aged wife Sarah. (Read more)
A capsule history of the dispersion of the Jews to the distant cities of the earth
When the Lord directed Abraham to the chosen land, he also promised him that through his countless seed, all nations and families of the earth would be blessed. Abraham may have asked himself whether all the nations and families would come to his descendants and receive these blessings or whether his descendants would have to be dispersed among these peoples. One thousand years would pass before this question was answered.
The scriptures tell us that the descendants of most of Abraham’s twenty-one grandsons remained in the lands near Palestine. Twelve of these grandsons were the sorts of Ishmael, to whom the Arabs look as their ancestor. Seven of the grandsons descended from the six sons of Abraham’s third wife, Keturah, and we are told practically nothing of them. The remaining two grandsons were Isaac’s sons, Esau and Jacob. . . . (Read more)
The Holy Land: The First Presidency Speaks
Central themes of the Restoration have been the gathering of the dispersed seed of Abraham and the redemption of their holy lands.
As the Latter-day Saints, a portion of modern Israel, were being driven from their homes and lands in 1845, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, which was presiding over the Church, issued a circular that drew parallels between the plight of ancient and modern Israel. It said, in part:
“The spirit of Prophecy has long since portrayed in the Book of Mormon what might be the conduct of this nation towards the Israel of the last days. … The same evil that premeditated against Mordecai awaited equally all the families of his nation. … Two cannot walk together except they be agreed. Jacob must be expatriated while Esau held dominion. It was wisdom for the child of promise to go far away from him that thirsted for blood. Even the heir of universal kingdoms fled precipitately into a distant country until they that sought to murder were dead.” (Read more)
The Birth of Modern Israel
The way it happened seems incredible, but it did happen.
Nearly 2500 years ago the prophet Isaiah described in vivid detail how the Jews would return to their ancient homeland in the latter days. He said, “… they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations.” (Isa. 61:4).
From the Lord’s point of view the reconstruction began in America, rather than Palestine. On June 15, 1841, Orson Hyde, an apostle of the restored church, wrote a letter to the Reverend Dr. Solomon Hirschell, the leading rabbi in England, describing how the first intimation from heaven had already been received that the rise of modern Israel was imminent. Here is what he wrote. . . . (Read more)
Religion in Israel Today
Religion has historically been more than just a faith for the Jew; it has been his way of life, involving many of his economic, social, and political attitudes and activities as well as his spiritual life. Religion has been of the highest value in enabling the Jews to survive the persecutions of the past 1900 years, but the return of many Jews to the land of ancient Israel has been motivated by other reasons that are not religious.
From the time that early proponents of the return began their campaign, a combination of human and divine motivations has existed. For example, one of the early Zionists, Jehudah Alkalai (1798–1878), thought it no irreverence for human effort to begin to prepare the way for the miraculous redemption. And certainly a practical (political) way to try to save Jews from a repetition of such atrocities as the “Damascus blood libel” was, in his opinion, to persuade the Turkish rulers to allow a modest return of Jews to the land of their ancient forefathers. (Read more)
Judah Must Return
The setting was a hotel dining room in Jerusalem. Because I was a foreigner in a group of Jewish guests of the hotel, one of them asked what had brought me to Israel. I explained that I was studying Hebrew. Considerable interest seemed to be manifest in my having come from the United States to study their language, and as the conversation progressed I remarked, “I believe you will be pleased to know that the church I belong to—the ‘Mormon’ Church—has long been interested in the ingathering of the Jewish people.”
“Is that so?” one of the diners inquired. “Tell us about this interest.”
“In the early part of the nineteenth century,” I began, “Joseph Smith, the prophet founder of this Mormon Church, predicted that in this day and age the Jews would return to Jerusalem. In fact, in 1841 Orson Hyde, one of his associates in the leadership of the Church, made a special trip to Jerusalem. When he got here he went out to the Mount of Olives and offered a prayer, which we regard as a dedicatory prayer, in behalf of the Jews, that they would be moved upon by the spirit of the return; in behalf of the climate and soil, that they would be favorable to the support of a large population; and in behalf of the political governments of the world, that they would cooperate to make the Jewish settlement possible.”
I hadn’t meant to deliver a lecture, but the whole group had stopped eating and was listening intently, so I continued. (Read more)
The Future of the Holy Land
Daniel H. Ludlow
Because of its strategic location at the crossroads of the great continents of Europe, Asia, and Africa, the Holy Land has always been of paramount importance. Today many people, including the leaders of most countries, would like to know more concerning the future of this strategic and important area.
As Latter-day Saints we probably know more about its future than do any other people. The only definite way the future can be illuminated is through the spirit of prophecy, and this gift of the Holy Spirit should always be evident in the true church. Thus, as Latter-day Saints we have access to everything the world knows concerning the future of the Holy Land, and in addition we have the inspired statements of ancient and modern prophets to guide and direct us.
The future of the Holy Land is closely allied with the future of the house of Israel, more specifically with the future of the descendants of Judah. Thus, an examination of some of the prophecies concerning Judah in the last days should help to illuminate the future of this area. This article will deal with fourteen such prophecies. The following principles were used in helping to determine which prophecies to include. . . . (Read more)
“For the Law Shall Go Forth from Zion”
He who visits Palestine today cannot but marvel at what is taking place—desert wastes beginning to blossom as the rose; springs of water literally rising out of arid places, carried hither in water lines from distant sources; new cities arising where a generation ago there was but drifting sand; age-old cities fringed with new high-rise construction; forests newly planted on a thousand hills.
The visitor is surprised at the extent of new agricultural projects, industry, highways, power plants, and factories. There is an aggressiveness everywhere that gives one a sense of both uplift and foreboding. The cost of such aggressiveness is great—the hatred of the Arab world. It is felt wherever one goes in the surrounding Arab nations. It seethes in the poverty-stricken camps of displaced former occupants of Palestinian cities. And it is not without cause. (Read more)
Israel in Asia
Recorded scripture, the teachings of the living prophets, and a fascinating array of historical evidence abundantly witness that descendants of Israel have been scattered into the far reaches of Asia—that the peoples of the Orient are legitimate heirs of the promises made unto Father Abraham. And while many writers have identified contemporary European and American races with particular tribes of ancient Israel, few have considered the dispersal of Israelites into Asia.
Regarding this dispersion, the Lord declared through the prophet Amos: “I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth.” (Amos 9:9.) In partial fulfillment of that prophecy, it is recorded in the Bible that “in the days of Pekah king of Israel came Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, and took Ijon, and Abel-beth-Maachah, and Janoah, and Kedesh, and Hazor, and Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali, and carried them captive to Assyria.” (2 Kgs. 15:29.)
Those captives of Israel exiled in the north beyond the Euphrates have never returned as a whole to Palestine, as did many of their brethren, the captives of Judah. (See Ezra 2:1.) (Read more)
The Lasting Effects of the Fall and Captivity of Judah
Enrichment
The Northern Kingdom of Israel had ripened in iniquity, and the results were inevitable. The Assyrians took them captive in 721 B.C. Now Judah was facing the same fate.
Judah had a history of wars and treaties with neighboring countries and suffered constant internal turmoil. Twenty kings ruled Judah from the time of the separation into two kingdoms until Judah fell to the Babylonians, but only a few kings were righteous. These few righteous kings may have been the reason Judah lasted a hundred years longer than the Northern Kingdom of Israel.
After the people of Israel were taken north by the Assyrians, the people of the Southern Kingdom, Judah, were governed by King Hezekiah, who, as the scriptures state, “did that which was right in the sight of the Lord” (2 Kings 18:3). He removed the high places of idolatry and prostitution and the images of false gods from among the people. “He clave to the Lord, and departed not from following him, but kept his commandments, which the Lord commanded Moses. And the Lord was with him; and he prospered whithersoever he went forth.” (2 Kings 18:6–7.) With the miraculous aid of the Lord, Hezekiah and his people were spared from the powerful Assyrian army. (Read more)
The Messianic Hope in Ancient Israel
Enrichment
For centuries the prophets of Israel had foretold the coming of a Messiah. From Adam to Malachi, the prophets told the people of the day when the God of Israel would come to earth, take flesh upon Him, and become their Savior and Redeemer. Isaiah’s prophecy represents the Messianic hope that existed among the covenant people: “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.” (Isaiah 9:6–7.)
And yet when the long-awaited day arrived, most of the Jewish people failed to see that the prophecies were fulfilled and rejected Jesus as the Messiah.
The Apostle John wrote that Jesus was “the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world,” and yet, “the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not.” (John 1:9–11.) (Read more)
How have the Jewish people come to view their early expectation of a Messiah?
Avraham Gileadi, graduate student of ancient scripture and research assistant at Brigham Young University: The mission of Jesus on the earth in the meridian of time was to accomplish the way whereby mankind might be redeemed from death and from the other effects of the Fall. Even a Jewish rabbinical tradition, now contained in the Talmud, spoke of a man who would come and die on behalf of all mankind. This atonement was foreordained in a council held before the creation of the earth, according to the tradition.
But in Jesus’ time the quality of religious observance of the chosen people was perhaps at its lowest ever. The keepers of the spiritual well neither drank themselves nor let others drink. Nationally the Jews had enjoyed no lasting independence since before the Babylonian captivity, over 400 years earlier. It was at this time that Jesus performed his mission of effecting the atonement. Indeed, the atonement of Jesus perhaps could only have been accomplished in such a dark hour of the Jewish nation’s history.
At his death, Jesus became numbered among the false messiahs of his day who sought the political redemption of Israel. Nevertheless, many Jews did believe him to be the Messiah, in spite of his seeming failure. These included his personal disciples whose missions were to testify of the death and resurrection of Jesus. Thousands of Jews, including many priests, were converted by their preaching. (Read more)
Of the House of Israel
Are most members of the Church literal descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, or are they Gentiles who have been adopted into the house of Israel?
The question is raised hundreds of times each year throughout the Church: Are Church members literal descendants of Israel, as most patriarchal blessings state? Or are we Gentiles and belong to the house of Israel only by adoption?
The answer is important, for the literal seed of Abraham are the natural heirs to the remarkable promises given anciently to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Most members of the Church understand the principles of heirship and adoption, but they often misunderstand the meaning of some key terms in the scriptures. Terms like literal descendants of Abraham by birth, tribe of Israel, house of Israel, lineage, and Gentiles are sometimes confused, and some terms have a range of meanings, referring to different ideas in different contexts.
Let’s review these terms, then, and examine what the prophets, both ancient and modern, have said about the topic. (Read more)