Many prophecies and events in the scriptures describe not only an immediate event or application, but also an important event in God's plans, which will apply to far distant future generations.
Latter-day Saints, or Mormons, understand Ezekiel 37:15-20 to be one of those with multiple meanings.
15 ¶ The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying,
16 Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions:
17 And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand.
18 ¶ And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not shew us what thou meanest by these?
19 Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand.
20 ¶ And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes.
In a study manual for Latter-day Saint Old Testament classes we learn,
This passage is another example of the dual nature of prophecy. Sperry explained: “What is the meaning of these ‘sticks’ and what is their significance? Most commentators simply believe that each piece of wood represents one of the two kingdoms, either Judah or Israel (Ephraim), which are to be bound together or united under the Lord’s direction. This act symbolizes the reunion of Ephraim and Judah into one kingdom. . . . However, the Latter-day Saints insist that such an interpretation is by no means complete. . . . What they do believe is that each of the sticks represents a scripture, a significant piece of writing. The Bible represents the scripture of Judah. To an average person not of our faith this conclusion may seem reasonable, but he will ask immediately what scripture represents the stick of Ephraim. To which we reply, the Book of Mormon. The Nephite scripture is the record of the descendants upon this continent of Joseph who was sold into Egypt.” ( Voice of Israel’s Prophets, pp. 226–27.) [Old Testament Institute Study Manual]
 |
Image: Christy's Clip Art |
The Bible is not the stick of Judah because it was written by Judah himself, or necessarily by his descendants or ancestors. Not saying that there weren't those of the tribe of Judah that wrote in the Bible, that just isn't the primary reason. The Lord said "write upon it, FOR Judah" [v 16 emphasis added] even implying that Judah and his tribe would not be the ones writing it, but that it would be written on their behalf.
In verse 16 you can see that scholars that translated the Bible into Spanish also chose to translate these verses using FOR rather than BY. In Spanish, PARA is used which the Spanish speaking missionaries I work with say may be used when you've purchased a gift for someone.
16 Y tú, hijo de hombre, toma ahora un palo y escribe en él: Para Judá, y para los hijos de Israel, sus compañeros. Toma después otro palo y escribe en él: Para José, palo de Efraín, y para toda la casa de Israel, sus compañeros.
In Slovenian, the scholars that translated the verse made an interesting choice. Rather than translating it to say that it is written on FOR Judah and Joseph, the translators chose to translate it to describe that these are written TO the tribes of Judah and Joseph, as if these are letters to them.
16 Ti, sin človekov, si vzemi kos lesa in zapiši nanj: »Judu in Izraelovim sinovom, ki so njegovi zavezniki.« Vzemi še drug kos lesa in zapiši nanj: »Jožefu – Efrájimov les – in vsej Izraelovi hiši, ki je njegova zaveznica.«
The Holy Bible and the Book of Mormon are certainly written with instruction to both of these tribes.
Jesus Christ was the most notable descendant of Judah, by blood through his mother Mary, and by adoption by his earthly father Joseph. The Bible was certainly written for him, since he is the main subject, and we have no record of him actually putting pen to paper himself.
Another point making the Bible a record for Judah, is the genealogies contained in it. While many of them make short tangents to follow related bloodlines, most of the genealogies featured in the Bible give a family tree that holds Judah as a constant. Indeed the 2 most impressive genealogical lists in the Bible showcase Judah's ancestry beginning with Abraham or Adam, down through his legal heirs or posterity up to Jesus Christ; see Matt 1:2-17 and Luke 3:23-38.
Another interesting feature of the Book of Mormon is that it contains prophesies specific to the northern Kingdom of Israel, which was led by the tribe of Ephraim after they split from the Kingdom of Judah. Many of these prophecies are not in the Old Testament, which was preserved by the Kingdom of Judah. These important prophecies make the Book of Mormon the stick of Joseph. That record was preserved by the Kingdom of Judah and contains the prophecies relating to it and much of their fulfillment.
"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 world." [LDS BD: Judah, Stick of]
No comments:
Post a Comment